I Am SO Happy I Am NOT Gay!

Being gay seems like a lot of work.  I'm already black and female; I don't need anything else to add to the stresses of life.  I watch my best friend go through it, and it sucks major ass.  I don't envy her life.  I don't have the energy to put on my cape, channel my superhuman powers, and battle ignorant, racist, chauvinistic, AND homophobic evildoers on a daily basis.  

I support the LGBT community when I can (just as I do with any other disenfranchised group) and often find myself defending them against bullshit.  Still, it's easier to defend the bullied, than to be the bullied.  Seriously, I'd rather have a V8.  

If you're gay, doing your thing, and loving it, you get MUCH respect for me.  If you're still struggling with it, I wish you the best of luck.  I know it gets hard, but don't let the ignorance defeat you.  You're better than that.

/end rant

Ladies, it don't cost a dime to CLOSE YO LEGS!

Why do some women INSIST on having children they can't afford to raise?

                 

                                    

                                   

I was with a chick today with 3 YOUNG children.  The oldest kid was clearly no older than 7.  She and all three of those kids were DIRTY. They had crusty faces.  There was mad dirt under their nails.  The clothes they were wearing were FILTHY.  I couldn't help but get angry.  I understand times get hard.  It's a recession!  Maybe her water got cut off.  Maybe she can't afford to go to the laundry mat right now.  Maybe she can't afford more clothes for them to wear at the moment.  I completely get that.  What angers me is that she obviously can't afford to take care of HERSELF, let alone 3 little kids.  Shouldn't she have figured that out after child #1 AT LEAST?  I mean, MY GOODNESS!! 

Close your legs and problem solved.  If that's too hard, then open 'em and put a condom on it.  If that's not up your alley and disease doesn't frighten you, then I hope and pray that he at least puts a ring on it.  Something's gotta give.  It's already bad enough that they ain't got no daddy (What's Goody, Teairra Mari?).  Must you add insult to injury and let 'em be dirty, too?

For the person eager to remind me that the men are responsible, too: 

I am aware that this young lady (and the many girls like her) did not get herself pregnant.  The father(s) are equally to blame for the filthiness of those children and anything else going on in their lives.  Ultimately, though, women are the baby carriers.  We are the only ones that can say, WITHOUT A DOUBT, that we will be around at birth.  For that reason, once the child arrives, we become responsible for them.  Hopefully, there is someone (or several people) around with us to hold our hands from the moment the baby starts crowning to the moment they leave our houses.  That's just a hope, though.  Hope don't keep those babies fed or keep a roof over anyone's head.  Money does and if you don't have enough to take care of those necessities, then do not pass go.  Do not collect 200 sperm deposits.  We have to be smarter than that.

I wouldn't be shocked if the mother came from a similar childhood situation and is keeping the cycle going.  I've seen this waaaaaaaaaay too often.

If you're reading this and have your shit together, PLEASE take some time and mentor a young fool...errrr sister.   Someone's gotta stop it and it starts by looking out for these girls early and often.

Disgusted, but Motivated to Help,

Daniella

Same Ol' G? Not Quite.

So, I had been avoiding the new Ginuwine song because I was expecting it to be complete and utter wackness, but I caught the video by mistake a few minutes ago.  

The song's not bad song at all.  I actually like it a lot.  The video budget seems like it was decent, too. Surprisingly, it was the dancing that was terrible.  Who woulda thunk'it?  This is BY FAR the worst Ginuwine choreography I have seen.  I expected more.  Oh well, you can't have it all.

Change of Blog Plans: The Milk's Gone Bad!

I woke up this morning feeling inspired to write about something else, and then I discover that the net world is all a'Twitter over Cassie's barbelled boobies. Thanks to Janet Jackson, we can all say we saw a titty before [shudders], but this is deeper than a titty.  I believe it is a cry for help.

It started with the drastic haircut:

                 

One could say she was just trying to be different, especially if different meant trying to bit off of Amber Rose.  Some even thought it was "edgy".  Oooooh kaaaaaaaay, that's all well and good, but when my girl Britney did it, she was diagnosed as crazy.  I guess being crazy, ya know, an absolute Looney Tune, can tooootally be edgy...different even.  

Now, I don't think Cassie is crazy.  I believe her illness is in the form of TryingTooGotDamnHarditis.  You know that thing Ciara is currently suffering from [So (Love, Sex, and) Traaagic].  Even with the signs there, I tried to give Cassie a pass.  Maybe she got tired of being too "pretty, pretty" and wanted to lure us in by showing the public a different side.

The pass was swiftly snatched back when I saw her bare breasts this morning.  

Ms. Ventura claims:

                                            

...but I call bullsh*t.  For one, it's bucking Cassie. I think Cassie is gorgeous and Me & U was the joint, but she can't get another song on the radio or a video played.  She barely created any buzz with that dreadful haircut, as the concern lasted no longer than a day or two.  On top of that, I don't know ONE Cassie fan not named Diddy or Ryan Leslie.  Now, I am supposed to believe that, after a series of events confirming that no one cares about her as an artist on a very basic level, someone was pressed enough to hack into her computer for pics no one knew existed.  Girl, Bye! 

For two, how interesting is it that hours before (Thanks Twitter) the pictures leaked she alerted her fans to the fact that she's shooting her new video tomorrow and doing promo for the album the following week. O'Rly? So, it's just a coinky-dink that the release of these photos coincides with the promo for her new video and album. 

Come on now, Cassikins.  Do you really believe we are that dumb?  You ain't got to lie, Craig...um Cassie!  It is clear that she is grasping at straws.  

When simply giving her best vocally wasn't enough, she always had selling pretty as an option.

When being pretty wasn't enough, she served as a muse for Ryan Leslie.

When Ryan Leslie's dope production wasn't enough, she started clinging to Diddy.

When Diddy's excessive "I'm locked in and riding over the bridge blasting that new Cassie Must Be Love! Let's GO!" tweets weren't enough; she lost her natural mind and shaved half her hair off.

When cutting her hair and going for the 1/2 Sinead O'Conner hairdo resulted in an epic promotional failure, she resorted to leaking her own boobies onto the innanets.

There have been instances where leaking "private" photos/videos has been effective. I mean, look at Kim Kardashian and Ray-J.  Kim is a starruh now and that dreadful, dead fish performance she gave (so I've heard) was powerful enough to make her whole damn family famous.  Likewise, Ray-J is more famous than ever before.  He got another hit song out of the deal with Sexy Can I and For the Love of Ray-J seems to be headed for a second season.

On the flip, things can go completely south. Again, See: Janet's antediluvian titty.

Time will tell if this stunt will have a Kim K or Janet J effect, but I'm thinking the latter.  The fact is, while she's gorgeous, terrible buzz cut and all, she has no talent.  She is a studio creation and even with the help of the studio, she doesn't sound that great.  We all know that being a good singer isn't a requirement for success, but she doesn't make up for it in other areas.  Her dancing is subpar and she has ZERO stage presence.  What does she have left to sell the public, but sex?  Problem is...she's not sexy either.  When she tries to serve it up on a platter, it's just not convincing.

When there are no products to sell, the only way to get attention is through stunts and attention whore tactics.  It's not the most respectable way to get attention, but hey, you got it. Now the question is: What are you going to do with this newfound attention?  Well, this is where the plan falls flat for little Cassilita.  She has nothing to offer that will hold the public's attention beyond a couple of days.  It doesn't help that people, like myself, believe she intentionally leaked the photos.

My advice to Cassie is to get back in Ryan's good graces because that was when she was at her best.  Once that is taken care of, get a vocal coach and take more dance classes.  She won't ever have the vocal chops of Whitney or the dance skills of Janet in her prime, but there's always room to get better.  That's a much better look than being sprawled out on a bed with your tig-0-bits showing.  Besides, perfecting her craft is a tactic that might actually help her career.

ETA: So, I hit up Necole Bitchie's page and discovered that these photos have been on the market, since December.  This further proves my point that no one cares, seeing how she had to give them away for free. 

So, Um...Black Novels.

So, Um...Black Novels. Where the hell are they? When I'm not doing things I have to do (i.e. work), I like to sit back and read a good novel on occasion. Many of those novels are written by or about white people. There's nothing wrong with that, but every now and then it would be nice to read about some black folks or support some up and coming black writers. Well, I have failed miserably on this journey to find the great black novel, and it hasn't been from a lack of trying.

I'm sure some smart ass will ask me, "Why don't you go to a bookstore? Oh, and while you're at it, head to the section labeled African-American, you eeediot (Let's just pretend the smart ass was Ren lol)." Well, guess what, smart ass? I have looked and do you want to know what I see each time?

This:




and This:




Oh, and This:



Now, those books have black people in them, but they're of what I call the chit'lin variety. Before I offend anyone...well, more like "the one person that stumbled across this blog by mistake and left as quickly as they entered"...these books have their place in the world. I have read one or two myself, but overall, they're not my cup of tea. If you enjoy them, more power to ya. My issue is BALANCE. The bookstores don't seem to realize that every black person is not interested in reading about gangsters and gangstresses, ballers, groupies, video vixens, hot in the pants youth doing strange things for change, down low bruthas, bling, and other things heavily promoted on BET. If they aren't of they chit'lin variety, then they tend to be in of the super churchy variety and that gets a firm "No Thanks" from me.

If all else fails, there's always a Native Son or a Their Eyes Were Watching God on the shelf amongst all the chit'lin clutter, but I am not necessarily looking for that either. I want to read NEW material. I want to read the material that will become fodder for the next generation of English students and African Studies majors. Who are the new Ralph Ellisons? Who are the new Toni Morrisons?

I want NEW, GOOD writing from NEW, YOUNG, BLACK WRITERS who aren't perpetuating the stereotypes outsiders looking in often have of black people and have more to talk about than how good Jesus is. He is good, but he has a book. It's called the bible.

To the one person reading this, if you haven't exited the page already, can you help a sista out? What great black novels have you come across in the last 10 years? Maybe the bookstores around my way are just buggin' (Yes, I used buggin'...keep it moving people). Please point your girl in the right direction because this can't be life.