A Hard Day At The Office...

One day while working in Manhattan I had a tumultuous day at the office. And the following is the result of my sentiments on that particular day.

I'm here to let everyone know that THE MAN still exist. It is a fact. I've seen him with my own two eyes. Remember when you were younger and your parents/grandparents told you to go to school so that you could get a good job and make lots and lots of money? That was the man speaking . Why or how could this happen you ask? Because They've been brainwashed by the man themselves--thats how. School was set up to treat us how to be subordinate and fall into a systematic way of thinking, only to keep you in the same frame of mind from your academic pursuits all the way through to your career. Think about it, back in the day when anything major went down, who did you report to? The PRINCIPLE. Only difference is, in the office, your principle is your BOSS. and if you ARE the boss, the boss is the GOVERNMENT. Guess what, you've been trapped by THE MAN. yup. It sucks to admit it but you've been tricked, bamboozled, led astray, run amuck. whatever u wanna call it----dude you've been PUNK'D. And i'm not on that black and white tangent, this is a whole nother level. this is US and THEM. I'm ready to start a revolution, who's with me?

Dear Facebook. I Fear For Your Future...

** Please Note: This op ed was written prior to the FB public buy***


Watch out original facebook users, the coons are movin’ in! I think it may be too late, but I’m here to warn you, there’s a new group of facebookers invading our territory and they’re making it hard to navigate through what was once a simple social network. Let’s compare the old FB to a new neighborhood—clean, neatly manicured tree lawns, nice sidewalks, paved streets and respectful neighbors. Now fast forward to the NEW FB—red cups and chicken bones thrown about, cracked sidewalks, disruptive neighbors and a shitty mailman. What the hell happened?? I’ll tell you what I think happened…

· Facebook started off as a virtual facebook (a correspondent to the hard copy face books that originated on college campuses, introducing the upper classmen to the new freshmen). The original purpose was to bring the circle of nationwide college students into their own social network and create familiarity amongst users through the web. The great thing about this was that you HAD to have a university or college e-mail to set up a facebook page. NOT anymore. I’ve run into people on FB who never USED a computer a day in their lives (or even texted). These MFers are playing Mafia Wars and raising cattle on Farmville. There are NO filters. Anyone and everyone can join FB, just like anyone and everyone can live wherever they want to…right?

· Revenue. Once the number of users increased (Nationally and Internationally) advertisers joined in and stepped their game up, adding banners to the side of each page, catering to you and your friend’s interest. We’ll compare this to say, a liquor store on every corner. Next thing you know there’ll be blinking banners every time you attempt to sign in (don’t be surprised if and when this happens!). The more money they garnered from advertisers, the less filters they created for who could and could not join the network.

I can’t tell you how many professional (eeeheeem) strippers, call-girls, rappers, models, (and the list goes on and on) that I see baring it all on Facebook, or just posting some outrageous shit that I would have seen on Black Planet years ago. People, must we make fools of ourselves on facebook, too? Why are you naked on your FB page with pictures of your kids in the same album? Why do I have to know what cup size you are as well as the fact that you had sautéed salmon and broccoli for dinner? And last but not least WHY are you bare azz naked leaning up against a wall on your profile pick? If you are unemployed perhaps Sorority Life should NOT be a priority. Mark Zuckerberg, please clean the streets of FB, it’s time to put this shit under construction---foreal this time.

Well, seeing as how every new neighborhood eventually turns into an old neighborhood, and gets recycled over and over again, I’m wondering how FB will adapt to its new population of users. Will all of the original users pick up and move to a more peaceful, filtered and “cleaner” social networking environment? Or will they grin and bear it, wait for the fad to die out, and hope that the unruly and disruptive intruders will find another social networking site to call home? I doubt it…but it does look like FB is taking steps to move some of these people out. The rumor is that they will begin charging a fee for the service, which will surely deter most people from using FB (I think). Those people who don’t mind paying the extra fee will get their nice clean neighborhood back, free from all the garbage, the loud noise, and the unnecessary requests. Until then, can you PLEASE tell your uncle to stop requesting me?? THANKS!

When Too Much Azz Is Enough.

I know what you’re probably thinking, “Why is she hatin’ on all dat azz? There’s never enough azz!” . Well, I have nothing against ass at all, except for when it’s just to the point of exaggeration and far-fetched extremes. I think I need to remind everyone that there are plenty of other body parts to enjoy, and I just think this ass thing is spreading quicker than lace front wigs and 4 inch eyelashes.

It’s one thing to buy a pair of sexy jeans that accentuate your derrière but it’s another thing to purchase but cheek pads, or even put your life in danger by having ass augmentation surgery. Are we serious ladies?? Instead of injecting and accentuating a body part that mother nature’s promising demise will soon alter, why not read a book, get some self-esteem, and tell these magazines and the rest of the media to kiss your tiny, cute ASS.

Why Bougie is Boring.

According to Urban Dictionary.com, bougie is defined as an “Adjective meaning extravagant, often to the point of snobbery. Usually used in relation to the conspicuous consumption of the urban upper-middle class. Dervived from "bourgeoisie"”. According to me, bougie is best defined as boring, usually lacking substantive value. My opinion is probably biased, so please take my words with a tiny grain of salt. I am probably bitter from growing up in a working-class environment surrounded by upper-class peers who never actually realize how good they have it. Debutante balls, Jack & Jill meet ups and high society shindigs are the norm to these types, and of course they wouldn’t have it any other way.
The more I mature, the more I come to realize that this gap (between my bougie friends and I) only widens instead of narrows, and our differences speak louder than our similarities once did. When I was working at age 15, they were going on vacations to the Bahamas and enjoying the upper-class fruits of their parents’ labor. It’s no wonder that we are now two completely different worlds apart, wondering how and why we ever got along without barely noticing our obvious differences. In my bitter resentment for these bougie-types (the ones that I love and also dislike), I’ve decided to come up with a brief list, a manifesto of sorts—for why I personally think BOUGIE IS BORING:

1. The bougie sort tends to be judgmental and condescending towards others based on superficial grounds, (i.e. the type of car one drives, clothes one wears). All superficial indications of where one stands on the latter of social stratification.
· Yes, we are all guilty at one time or another of judging someone, but the main difference for the bougie folks is that they not only use their judgments to look down on people, but rather to raise themselves on a higher pedestal—so tacky.

2. The bougie individual usually socializes in circles that encompass people of their own socioeconomic status, engaging mainly with people who they’ve met through academia (usually top tier colleges and universities) or through social and family connections.

· The exception to this rule would be the rare case of the bougie having an “artsy friend” or a “cool gay friend”, these are usually relationships of convenience that one looks to as adding some sort of “spice” to their own lives or to avert any thoughts that the bougie individual merely sticks to their own sort.
· While it is natural to gravitate to like-minded individuals and to feel more comfortable with people who are like ourselves, the main difference between the bougie individual is that they choose, willingly and unabashedly to stick to their own in all and any situations—without privilege they would never have a choice.

3. These aforementioned characteristics bring me to the third point—lack of variety mixed with narrow-minded judgments often leaves the bougie individual with limited conversation and little interests other than, A.)Subjects which he or she has a wealth of knowledge and are sure to never be upstaged, and B.) Conversations that are futile and often lack any substantive or moral value (think pop music and mainstream media).
· The bougie individual cannot stand being made to look ignorant on any topic or subject, and also tends to keep simple conversations so as to not make any indications of their own judgments and to avert any judgment away from themselves. This keeps them in the clear and on track to what all bougie people crave and yearn for—admiration and respect from their seemingly lower-class counterpoints. I sometimes wonder if they came up with the term “Politically Correct”….hmmmmm.

To be completely honest, I do think that everyone has a little bit of bougie in them to some degree. So glad I’ve finally gotten that bougie sh*t off my chest!

Reading Between The Lines…Think Like A Man, Write Like A Lady

I don’t have a clever thesis statement or ideological synopsis to sum up my disdain for Steve Harvey’s latest work, Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man. I can only hope that you will wrap your mind around my recent late night tirade.


I have to say that I'm disappointed that a man of Steve Harvey’s age and past experience with a failed marriage would concede to such an archaic mindset. One that says it is “okay” to play the game, its all in how you play it. When will we abandon this immature attitude towards relationships and sex that has been pervasive through generations and set us back so far? I have to believe that Mr. Harvey made a conscious decision to cash in on this tactic to stunt our mental and emotional growth as it relates to how we interact emotionally and physically with one another. Perhaps this is why so many view having multiple children with multiple people outside the family unit the norm. Are we easily fooled? We laugh at talk shows that feature women unable to decipher who the father of their child might be. It’s not funny anymore. It’s sad. And I’m not laughing – but Steve Harvey is. I guess the joke’s on us…again.

Whatever happened to thinking like YOURSELF and stumbling upon someone who actually respects you for having the audacity to do so? Someone, who for once can view you as a lady for thinking like YOURSELF. But no. Instead you are told to mimic the miniscule minds not of men but of boys who see the fun in the chase rather than courtship. I have to say it baffles me that one sincerely thinks it takes nothing more than picking up the piss poor character traits of adolescent boys to win the affection of someone worthy. Not to mention someone far less likely to actually appreciate your individuality and mental aptitude. So once you get this man are you supposed to then stop thinking like him and commence to thinking like yourself? I don’t get it. You play the game to get him, and then retreat back into the impressionable, docile, simple-minded woman you had to be in the first place. That is, the impressionable, docile, simple-minded woman you had to be to take advice from, dare I say it – a comedian. He’s laughing at you and so am I.

It’s quite humorous, the 90 day rule, isn’t it? To make a man wait 90 days before sex to “strengthen” your relationship. WHAT RELATIONSHIP? That’s no relationship. Where I’m from we call that a TEASE. So while you’re keeping your kitty locked up for 90 days he’s banging the next woman who had the gall to actually think for herself! If it’s sex that you want then by all means, be forthcoming and let it be known. If not, then don’t have sex. Simple, isn’t it? This is not an ode to loose women by far, this is an ode to women and men who believe that a relationship is founded on respect, principle and understanding – not trickery.

The most obvious and blatant element of this book is the plot behind the text. Train us to be with men who play games, until we’re so good at it that we cheat ourselves out of love. We play each other til the death like it’s a fierce duel, and then end up babies mama’s and babies daddies – jaded and bitter about the world and the people around us. But wait there’s more; come out with a blockbuster film featuring a beautiful cast that we trick ourselves into believing we can relate to. We laugh at the cliché one-liners, sink in our seats at the scenes that remind us of the mistakes we’ve made and are presently making. But life, my friends, is not a feature film. There are no “sets”…there’s simple reality. And until we dig our heads out the pages of this bullshit fairytale long enough to see that, we will constantly be fooling each other and ourselves.

Photogasms

The Sartorialist has been the bread to my butter for years.
There's something about raw, unadulterated photography that gets me going.Not quite sure why, but I've always loved snapping moments in time. I've always had an itch to take photos at the most inopportune moments. It's something about capturing the most candid seconds of someone's life that usually go unseen by most and forgotten by all.






Perhaps it's Scott Schuman's keen eye and his bold yet effortless approach to his work. Not exactly sure what it is, but I absolutely love it.











**photos courtesy of thesartorialist.com

My Good Clothes...A Man With Style

Photo snagged from Young Gentlemen's Society, LLC



There is nothing (and I mean NOTHING) better than a man with style. That is why I've been blogger blocking and stalking Marcus Troy for the past 3 years. He has an established style not only for himself, but for the ladies as well.












In the "She Match My Fly" subsection of his blog, he features sophisticated and sharp-super-fly accessories and pieces that will make any woman follow him from the block to the boardroom.




I get tingles just clicking through his blog. Please don't judge me.



Photo snagged from RenaissanceDC.com

During my senior year in undergrad, I met Nick (pictured above) -- a freshman who stood out because of his amiable personality and dare I say it -- STYLE! I was happy to find out that his creative side had manifested into what he calls the Young Gentleman's Society (Thank you Facebook!). I love Nick's style and his use of creative talents to inspire and improve the style of young men. Exquisite.

My cousin Leroy, aka "fresh-to-def"

Where to shop

On a recent trip to NYC, my cousin filled me in on a little secret that I never knew existed.











Gilt Groupe -- the fashion savvy site and exclusive online shopping hub for those seeking affordable pieces without leaving their loft. You have to set up an account to shop, so be prepared. As you can see from the photo to the left, my cousin never compromises style no matter the occassion.