...in the news

Bush being attacked...by shoes?



I probably wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it. It was like a bad comedy skit.

Woman sues doctor for painful childbirth.

Ummm...Initially, I was slightly speechless. Was there ever any doubt in anyone's mind that childbirth is painful? And this woman, I really didn't understand. This was child number FIVE. Now, I have been told by some women that childbirth can get easier after the first. Maybe that was what she was thinking?

Anyway, after reading the story further, I understand the woman's point. This doctor was just plain rude. He claimed that there was no time to get medications ready, telling her that she would the pain that she deserved for not calling ahead of time. He made her push before she was fully dilated. Then made her go through the pain of unnecessary stitches after the birth. It definitely sounds as if this doctor made this delivery more painful than it needed to be, both physically and mentally.

Britney Spears is in a "Blur"

As I wrote that title, I started thinking, how appropriate. The name of the song, anyway. That was pretty much her career a couple of years ago, just a total blur. And I'm sure that many of us thought she would never recover, especially after that VMA show "Gimme More" performance. The video for that song was also less than impressive. Now, I've never really been a fan of Britney's music. But her performances are off the chain. Well, until that little VMA thing (for the fond memories, click here.)

Well, Britney appears to be back with her second album after that faithful performance, entitled "Circus". I saw the video for "Womanizer" and she seems to be back on her game as far as performances go, back in shape and all. As far as the album goes, sounds typical Britney, which means I won't like it, at all. But my husband came across the song "Blur". That song is kind of hot!!! Nice beat, nice flow. Now, having said that, I may not been the best subject matter for her to chose, but hey, it's real. I have to give her credit for that. It has happened to many people. The song tells the story of waking up in a strange bed, with a strange person, not knowing what the hell happened the night before.


Britney Spears - "Blur"

Another YouTube sensation!!!

And not in a good way. Then again, most Youtube sensations are NOT sensations for the right reasons.

Anyway, I came across the blog site DC to BC (a pretty descent blog, by the way) and he had a link to T-Baby's latest release. I will not place judgment. I'll let you make up your mind yourself. Let's just say that this is further proof that anyone, I mean anyone, can get their 15 minutes of fame via the Internet, no matter how talented (or untalented) he or she is.

If you can stand it, watch both videos in its entirety.

The 100mpg hybrid car is...

...apparently a current possibility, according an article I read the other day. We drivers just need to get a hybrid and re-learn how to drive. I was intrigued. Although the gas prices have been going down dramatically ($1.69 a gallon when I filled up today), I suppose that I can still do my part to help the environment.

So anyway, here a few of the new driving habits that one should incorporate into his or her driving habits:

1. No speeding (That's reasonable, I just seem to have problems with it at times.)
   
2. No hard starts (I guess no drag racing for me. Damn.)
   
3. No hard stops (So I now have an excuse for rear ending the SOB that cuts me off in traffic just to, then, slam on his brakes)
   
4. Avoid braking as much as possible (Yeah, braking in a vehicle is highly overrated. Who needs to stop? Just roll with it!)
   

I think there was a fifth, I can't quite remember. But I am sure that everyone will be incorporating ALL of these helpful hints into there daily driving habits straight away. Right, right?? *currently imagining a room full of people and hearing nothing but crickets*

A Tribute

My great-grandmother passed away about a month before my 10th birthday. She had suffered from two strokes, the second one left her unable to speak and, as far as my family knew, unable to recognize any of us. But I think that was able to recognize me, at least for a moment. I stood by her hospital bed and she looked me right in the eyes. She reached out to me and touched my hand. I remember being a little spooked. I think it was because of the look in her eyes. They were so sad, like maybe she knew that she was going but she didn't want to go just yet. A few days later, she was gone.

Fast forward twenty years later. Yesterday, my mom told me that an old family friend, Mrs. B., was really sick and I told her that I would stop by. Mrs. B. had been sick with cancer for 5 years now, so her being sick wasn't a surprise. But how bad she had gotten was a surprise. I walked in totally unprepared. I did not realize that she was so close to death. She so tired and weak, could barely talk. She was able to recognize me though, she called me by name. But she stared at me, in almost the same way as my great-grandmother. I was taken aback, because I knew in that moment that Mrs. B. did not have much longer to live. I fought to hold back my tears, but not hard enough. I had to leave and cry it all out. I came back a little later with my mother, but she was sleeping and we wanted her to get some much needed rest. But, unfortunately, she didn't wake up. Mrs. B. left us at 2:30pm, Sunday afternoon.

This woman was more than just a friend to my family, she and her family truly was an extension to my family. I have so many wonderful childhood memories of her. She was like the den mother of the neighborhood. She was always looking out for us. You don't neighbors like that too much anymore. People tend to move much more often these days.

Mrs. B will definitely be missed by anyone that was fortunate to have known. I miss her already.

Stalker songs

I was thinking about this on the way to work today. Off the top of my head, I could think of three and they could almost be a build up of stalker-ish behavior.

"Until You Come Back to Me" - Aretha Franklin

This may not be the criminal offense type of stalking, but still an annoyance. Subtle, but annoying. Knocking on doors and tapping on window panes. You don't want to tell 'em to f**k off, but this getting old.


"Outside Your Door" - Ms'Shell Ndegeocello

You've been trying to be nice by politely ignoring the phone messages, ignore rapping and tapping at the front door at night. Now they are getting a bit more aggressive. Waiting through rain showers on your front step just to confront you. You feel bad that the person isn't taking this well, but you have moved on. But the person is so persistent, you let 'em in, talk, one thing leads to another, oops.


"Parkway" - Gaelle

Okay, maybe that last "roll in the hay" wasn't a very wise thing to do. Your consist rejections have finally pushed 'em over the edge of rational thinking. Now, the person is sneaking in your home and lacing drinks with cyanide. I suppose the person is slightly PO'd.

What other stalker songs do you know of? Any genre. I know I've heard others, I just can't think of any right now.

One of the reasons I allow myself to be subjected to music TV

Occasional music gems like this. A Zap Mama and Eryah Badu collaboration.

Very uncharacteristic of this anit-diva...

...but I went for a little retail therapy. Nothing like a trip out of town for a little motivation. What surprised me is that I actually had a little fun. I typically don't like to shop for clothes. But my wardrobe is much to be desired and I am getting a bit too old for just slapping on whatever fits.

But today, I don't know, something just came over me and I had to spend money. I found two nice sweaters and a pair of flaired out jeans, with the seams on the front of the legs. I think part of the reason that I was so gitty was after I tried on the jeans. I started with the with one size. Not quite the fit I had in mine. So down a bit, not quite. I was pleasantly surprised and pissed at the same time. It was nice to be a pants size smaller, but of course, the next size down was not there. Damn it! When I have the money and I want to spend it, I can't get what I want. Well, at least I got the sweaters. I'm still looking for those pants.

Side note about those pants, and like, every pair of pants I've tried on lately. Are all pants meant for women who are 5'7" and up in height? There does not seem to be a petite, average, tall designation anymore. I guess that means I need to wear heels now??? One step at a time for me, one step at a time.

Mixtape sessions

One of the little known things about me is that in high school, I had aspirations of being one of the few female DJs in the Baltimore area. Part of the problem was I never really cared to mix the more popular stuff, so my hip hop mixes left a little to be desired. So I did a few remixes here and there, some better than others. I've been coming across a few of those mixes and redid a few since technology makes it so much easier than it was on two turntables and a tape deck but in day. I've finally got around to posting them up on the web. The genres will be all over the place as my musically interest is, well, some would say strange, I would say eclectic.

If you feel so inclined, check out this link. My first entry is a slow jam mix. Originally, it was a strictly late 80s/early 90s mix, but changed one of tracks to a newer Janet song, I thought fit the groove better. Definitely a baby making groove. If you download it, let me know what you think. I am going to try to do this on a regular basis, but do not expect the same thing all the time. Like I said, I will probably be all over the place! It will mostly depend how I'm feeling.

Slept on album from '98

I've been going through my music collection and came across this CD from 1998.

N'dea Davenport did a few stints as the lead singer of the Brand New Heavies. After her solo, I just knew that she was going to blow up. But alas, the music loving public has not heard much from her lately. I've heard her do a few cameos here and there, but that's about it.






Here are my three favorite cuts on that album:

Whatever You Want



Bullshitin'(love Mos Def, but prefer it w/out the rap. couldn't find it on YouTube)



Bring It On (again, like it better w/out the rap)

One way to relive those teenage years

Steal your daughter's identity and enroll in high school. That's what one 33-year old in Wisconsin did. And then she joined the cheerleading team and attended an pool party.

School authorities mentioned that she did look a bit too old for high school but her demeanor appeared to be the maturity level of a teenager.

When I first read this story, I thought maybe she looked older, as in college student older. No way! Check this woman out. They is no way I would have, or anyone for that matter, mistaken this woman for a 15-year old high school student!

The Mother of all bailouts

That is what they are calling the government's move to bail out the bank industries debt. And it is a mother -- $700 BILLION in banks' mortgage debt. $700 billion...of taxpayer's money to make the payment. What bothers me is why couldn't some of this money go to the homeowners' that lost their homes due to, in part, some of the unethical practices of the same banks that the government now plans to bailout with OUR money?

On one hand, I really hate the idea that these companies are getting bailed out of a situation that they caused. Greed in the sub-prime mortgage trumped sound business practices. On the other hand, something has to happen in order to prevent a total economic meltdown. At least for the time being. There is no guarantee that this move will work. I don't really see how it could work long term. Not for the average citizen, anyway. The rich and powerful can make these huge, egregious errors and put the country in such economic disarray and the government just bails them out?

But then, maybe the government should bail them out. After all, the government is just as much to blame. They sat back and allowed much of this economic imbalance to happen. As long as the government sees plenty of their share, they were more than happy to turn the other way. All of this sounds too much like the Great Depression but potentially so much worst.

The bottom line is that the average taxpayer will be the ones who will suffer the most. There is no doubt that the government plans to replace that $700 billion by adding new taxes to an already overtaxed nation. It would probably make sense that maybe, just maybe the businesses that we are bailing out might be force to pay a bit of that debt. You would think, right? But that just makes too much sense.

This is just too much

I have a confession that I have admitted to before. But I am an avid watcher of the TV show "Cheaters". Shame on me, I know. With such a show, you get a few "interesting" product and services commercials. This one on in particular, I'm still having a hard time believing that it is for real. See for yourself...

Oh no, the end of the world is at hand!!!

I'm sure many of you have heard about the Mayan prophecy, right? Well, I just heard about it this week. According to the Mayans, the last day as we know it is on December 21, 2012. Doesn't leave us much time, I suppose.

Ok, so now what? Most of us, I'm sure, are pretty jaded on the whole end of the world prophecies. Weren't we supposed to be all supposed to be dead at the stroke of midnight 8 years ago? Well, needless to say, we are still here.

There are a bunch of prophecies about the end of the world in the bible and I'm sure that there are those people would swear me up and down that every natural disaster proves that these theories are true. Let's just say, I'm not so convinced.

Anyway, back to the Mayans. The prevailing thought is that they stopped their calendar at that specific date because time as we know it will no longer exist. I'm thinking that they stopped at the date because they knew that is was highly unlikely that any of them were going to see that date and tried of writing. That was my first thought.

Notice that I say "time as we know it" and not "life as we know it". Amidst all the end of the world paranoia, there also the thought that maybe the only thing that will change is the way we think about time. The way we keep time. Time has gotten so elusive to many of us these days. Will we finally be able to slow down and realize how precious life is? Spend more time instead of wasting it?

I guess it's just another why to look at the whole prophecy. The truth of the matter is, we will never be able to truly know what the Mayans were thinking. But I tire so with the end of world crap that so many people subject themselves to. If the time has come for the human race to cease inhabiting the planet, I don't think there is much we can do about that. Like the dinosaurs, eventually we may have to go.

New Toys

I logged into blogger account to see a few changes. I thought that maybe that a sign to change the look of the blog a little. If I had a little time, not to mention a bit more inclination, I would do it right. I would make it a bit more personalized. Oh, well it is what it is. Subtle change indeed, but at least a little something different to look at...

A Now and Then Music Flashback - "Settle for My Love"

I'm an old head when it comes to most music, so when Musiq Soulchild released his rendition of this song, I was immediately turned off. I heard the first few notes and sat there like "no he didn't!!". In my mind, there are some artists that you simply do not touch, in my humble opinion, anyway.

However, I finally gave in and listened to the entire song. Musiq did a nice job with his rendition. He made it duet (although I think I would have liked it fine with just the female lead) and added a few other touches that made it his own.

The original was performed by Patrice Rushen, one of my all time favorite R&B artists. Both versions are below.



from the album "Pizazz"



from the CD "Aijuswanaseing"

Water: The New Wine?

I came across an article about the Four Seasons Hotel in Sydney. Apparently, they have added a water list to they menu. This is to address the concerns from patrons that want to consume less alcohol, but still want the experience of fine wine selection. So, instead of selecting from the finest varietals and regions, the experience is now about minerals, levels of carbonation and guessing what water complements what dish. What??? IT'S WATER FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!!! HOW MUCH DIFFERENT COULD IT POSSIBLY TASTE???

Well, for as much as $85 dollars a bottle, it better be the best damn water that I have tasted in my life. Ok, I know water is good for you and all that. But damn!!! $85 a bottle!!! And, I can't even get a buzz? I will continue drinking water from my Brita filter, thank you very much.

I had to pause for a moment...

...and say how beautiful the weather is in B-more today. For the first time in a few weeks, I walked to my car without becoming drenched in sweat the moment I walked out the door.

It was a beautiful 72 degrees with a gentle wind, bright and sunny. Yes, this is the type of day my picturesque vacation is made of. Because of the rain the night before, (uh, scratch that, it was more like a torrential rain storm) my allergies weren't bothering me at all.

I felt the need to run away and do something fun. I so wish I didn't have to work today.

What would you be doing today if you weren't working???

Music flashback - "Don't Be Afraid"

Listening to my iPod this morning, my random play came across this '90s gem, Aaron Hall's "Don't Be Afraid". Originally on the Juice soundtrack, there were so many versions of this song, I have totally forgotten which is truly the original, the one on the soundtrack or the one on his album. There was certainly a range of versions. Fast tempo ones for the club, a slow version for the bedroom.

I wasn't really an Aaron Hall fan, especially after he left the group Guy. His solo efforts were so-so for me. Not terrible albums, just not albums that I would be playing 10 years later. And I didn't find him as attractive as so many other women. Blasphemy, I know. I just thought he was nasty. He was the "nasty man" after all. But he ain't got nothing on the music coming out these days. Male singers these days don't merely suggest what they want, they find the most raunchiest way to say it.

Anyway, I found a couple of versions of the song on YouTube and wanted to share. Enjoy!


Nasty Man's Groove Version



Jazz You Up Remix



Slow version from the album

Family friendly...sex toy store???

A family friendly sex toy store? The idea is to take the sleaze out of the sex industry. This store in particular apparently blends into the neighborhood. There are no over the top sexual images, no big banner signs advertising "XXX videos here" like most places. But, of course, there are people in the neighborhood who have a problem with it, even though you would probably not know what the store sold just from looking at the outside.

And the inside, from the video I saw, was very tastefully done. It seems to take away some of the embarrassment most people feel when entering a sex toy shop.

Here's more of the story.

I have to ask. What is the fascination with...

...Jon and Kate plus 8??? I get more traffic from google.com searches for that one topic than anything that I ever wrote in this blog. I thought it was a mistake. But sure enough, all day long, people are searching for Jon and Kate information. Wow!!! I only talked about it once, well twice now. Sorry to disappoint any one, but this is definitely not a Jon and Kate blog. I watched one full episode, thought they were insane to get pregnant for a second time with use of fertility pills and really didn't like the way Kate interacted with Jon. He seemed like the ninth child the way she talked to him at times. I figured the rest of the series would be more of the same.

But I read somewhere, I'm not sure where now, that that is the reason so many people watch this show. Unlike other "reality" TV show, this doesn't appear to be scripted in any way. Also, those of us with children especially, may look at our lives and think that things in our lives are sooooooooooooo much better in comparison. If they can do all that on one salary with eight kids, what the hell are those of us with only one or two kids complaining about? Although, I have to believe that they are getting some subsidy from TLC. Why else broadcast your private family life to the world? And seeing that there is so much interest on the Internet, there has got be a way for the family to capitalize.

Happily single and permanently celibate...on an adult single's site???

Okay. I get the 'happily single' part. That's cool. Some people seem to think that being single and happy is impossible. Personally, I love my husband, love him to death. But then there are those times when...ooooooooooo, don't get me started. If anything irrevocable ever happens and our relationship ends, I really don't think that I would ever, ever live with a man again. I could see dating again, but I couldn't see getting married again. It's just too much damn work and I'm not willing to through it a second time.

The 'permanently celibate' part? Hmmmmmm. Okay, not for me, but I'm sure that there are plenty of people out there who are fine without sex, ever. In fact, I just recently read about a 107 year-old man from Hong Kong that credits his long life on his sexual abstinence of over 70 years!!! (Damn!!! I would say something crass here, but I'll be good today.) However, if you are 'happily single' AND 'permanently celibate', then why, why I ask, would you place a profile on an ADULT singles site? If I'm not mistaken, most people go through the trouble of placing a profile on these sites to find people to date, hoping to find a relationship, which could possibly lead to sex, right? Of course, I think in this case, the members are probably strictly looking for just the sex, I'm sure. But I'm saying, I gotta ask again, if that is not your interest, why waste other people's time?

Her reason? In summary, from my prospective anyway, she takes perverse pleasure in going out with guys that want her but know that they can't. Just sounds like a big tease to me. To each their own, I suppose.

Out of curiosity, to any of my readers, I ask you, male or female, would you date a person who has taken a vow of chastity? And, I don't mean until marriage, but FOREVER?

Kanye West - more Flashing Lights

Finally!!! Different versions of the video. Unfortunately, none of them relate to the first one, so I'm at a lost as to where that video was going or came from.

2nd official version appears to be a better interpretation of what the song appears to be about. However, the unofficial version, I think, was the best. What are your thoughts???


2nd official version


3rd official version


unofficial version

Obama and racism in America

I'm not naive to think that racism does not exist. However, I like think that even the most racist individual would have enough common sense to be colorblind on important issues. Especially when it comes to running the country. Very far-fetched, I know. I realize that it may never be. Not as long as we have ignorance like this. This type of ignorance truly makes me weep for the future of my country.

Living Room Cinema - Southland Tales

Two of my favorite things lately have been watching straight to video and independent movies and trying different types of wine. Earlier this year, I attempted to swear off the alcohol for four months. I lasted four weeks. It just seems that when you decide to swear off of something, anything, the temptations are just thrown in your face. I would specifically like to thank TGFPH for her reference to a vodka that, of course, I couldn’t get out of my head until I got some liquor in me.

Okay, I’ll talk about my wine encounters later. Right now, I want to talk about the movie Southland Tales. In a nutshell, DO NOT RENT THIS MOVIE. Even if the movie rental is FREE. That’s right. It’s that bad. We should have been paid to watch it. Then again, it still wouldn’t be worth it.

I suppose if I am going to trash it, I should at least say why.

The plot (as I could gather, before falling asleep on the movie, twice) is a hypothetical look at how America could have been after 911. In this case, however, instead of the twin towers as targets, two cities in Texas are hit by a nuclear bomb on July 4, 2005, very reminiscent of the bombings of Hiroshima. This event sets off World War III. The draft is re-instated. Americans need travel visas to leave each individual state. The Internet is now under government control. And since America relies so heavily on foreign oil and friendly relations with these countries have ceased, America faces a serious energy crisis.

The story begins three years later. America, desperate to find an alternate energy source, comes across a German scientist who claims to have a solution. His project is called Karma. This is where I get a bit fuzzy, but I believe that it used the ocean in some way to generate energy. Karma, however, is not the savior to the energy crisis it appears to be.

Now, the side story that doesn’t seem to make much sense. The character that The Rock plays is some celebrity that decides to serve his country, gets amnesia, then wonders around. He is discovered by a porn star, played by Sarah Michelle Gellar. While in her care, he writes a movie screenplay. In his screenplay, he predicts the devastating effects to the world caused by using Karma. The porn star is supposedly helping the celebrity to shop the movie, I guess to somehow validate her career. She has some talk show where she and several other women talk about important issues, such as the state of the country, politics and horny teenage boys.

The other thing that bothered me was the narrator, played by Justin Timberlake. I’m a fan of Justin and all, but his role in this movie seemed so unnecessary. Then again, I’m a bit biased. I really don’t care for narration all though a movie. A little here and there, okay. But when it is an important part of telling the story, that doesn’t work for me. I should be able to get the feel of the story from well-developed characters and a decent plotline.

So far, is any of this making any sense? I like abstract type movies, but this was just an abstract piece of crap. All I could talk about was how much I wanted to slap my husband for suggesting such an awful movie. Can you believe the budget for this movie was $15 million??? It opened in limited release, I think in 2006, and made nowhere near that amount in ticket sales.
If I wasn’t clear the first time, DO NOT RENT THIS MOVIE!!! There other more productive ways to waste 2 ½ hours on a Friday night.

Thoughts about life and death

The hubby and I went to see the newest Indiana Jones movie. I won't get into too much details, I'm never good with giving a review without spilling a few spoilers. I'll say that although I thought it was an OK movie, it WAS NOT the Indiana Jones movie that I was waiting to see, which is apparently the prevailing thoughts among the critics. I didn't feel that it outdid the Last Crusade. The Last Crusade was a fine ending chapter to the series.

The previews usually piss me off. Because if it is something that catches my interest, it usually doesn't come out 6 months to a year later. I usually have forgotten about the flick by then. But there is always at least one that it pretty memorable.

I couldn't stop thinking the preview for the movie "The Curious Curse of Benjamin Button". Based on the short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald, it tells the story of a child who is born as an old man. As his life goes on, he gets younger and younger. At first, I'm thinking who wouldn't want to age in reverse. The best years of your life could be enjoyed at the end of your life instead of your worst. You could look forward to your golden years. But if the movie is going to be anything like the short story, aging in reverse could be just as bad as aging forward. Maybe even worst. In either situation, it probably most important to not let time pass you by. Far too many of us waste too much of our lives in waiting. And then we waste more time with regret.

I suppose this site could be useful

MizPee

For when you need to answer nature's call, on the go.

For those of us in Maryland, we are out of luck. The site doesn't cover MD locations as of yet.

Monogamy - Is it normal?

I consider myself a one-on-one, type of gal. I never quite understood polygamy or polyamourous relationships, at least not from a practical stand point. I mean, sure, maybe it would be nice to be like Empress Nympho from "History of the World, Part 1" and have my pick of manliness on any given evening. And, I'm sure that there are quite a few men out there love having their pick of women any given night. I'm sure that there are many doing so right now. But once the fantasy and the pleasure of the moment is over, then what? Back to the reality of emotions, diseases and unwanted pregnancies.

But in this world where monogamy is the social standard, I keep hearing time and time again that monogamy simply isn't normal. That's why men and women cheat. They are just giving in to human nature.

That got me to thinking. If it is our human nature to have more than one partner at a time, just where did the idea of monogamy come from? Is it more of a religious thing that we have just over time have socially accepted as law?

Online social networks - you can't be in just one!!!

How many social networks do you belong to?

Movie flashback - Set It Off

Started thinking about this movie on the ride into work today. My favorite song on the soundtrack, EnVogue's "Don't Let Go". Also had one of my favorite movie love scenes (I was in love with some Blair Underwood back then).

It started the rumors about Queen Latifah's sexuality. There was such a big deal about that on-screen kiss she had with another woman. She was VERY convincing! Could have been just good acting or... I guess the world may never know. Rumors aside, no one but the Queen knows whether or not she's homo or hetero and she ain't talking.

The other thing that I remember around this time frame was the group of suburban girls that, after allegedly watching "Set It Off", decided that robbing banks could be a fun way to end their boredom. Considering they all got caught, I guess they didn't watch the end of the movie to see what NOT to do.

Anyway, here's the EnVogue video:

Kobe jumps over an Aston Martin?

That's what they want you to believe with this video. The story I read was that the story has been analyzed to death and no one seems to be to prove that it is a fake. My bet is that it is a fake. Mainly because of one missing element in the video: the driver of the Aston Martin. It may just be the quality of the video on YouTube, but when Kobe jumps over the car, there doesn't appear to be anyone driving the car. When car comes back, you can clearly see the driver wearing a very distinctive colored shirt.



I don't know why they chose to advertise these new shoes in this manner. How much you wanna bet that there will be some more hospital visits as a result of some kids thinking they can jump over moving cars with a pair of Hyperdunks?

I also came across this video on YouTube that was suppose to prove that the Kobe video could be real. Although, I think this one is a little more believable, considering the skateboard and the ramp.


So what ya'll think? Is that Kobe video real or fake?

Isn't English our OFFICIAL language?

I thought it was. It was the only language that I ever learned. But lately, I'm starting to feel like the foreigner in my own country!

Now, I realize that this nothing new to other people in other parts of the country. New York, California and Texas I'm sure have been this way for years. But it has only been in the last 10 or so years that I've noticed so many foreigners living in Maryland. And so many of them do not have a working knowledge of English. at. all. It's getting a bit frustrating.

Last night, being the geek I am, I was in the library picking a few books. It was supposed to be a quick in and out. I spent most of my time there - in line. A line that was getting longer and longer because of two Chinese speaking customers. A couple was trying to decipher their library card history. Actually, I think they butted in line, totally oblivious to the long line of people forming behind the checkout desk. No matter how many times the librarian attempted to explain the paper to them, they keep coming back with more and more questions, most of time repeating themselves. Another woman with two kids was having a difficult time understanding the rules and procedures with the late fees related with a DVD. My problem with this lady was, if she was having such a problem communicating with the librarian, why didn't she ask one of the kids to translate? Usually, the kids speak the native language. I figure maybe she was trying to get in some English practice and I applaud her for that. However, that line was getting hella long. Maybe that wasn't the best time to practice???

Now, before anyone takes offense, I realize that learning English is not easy. Not easy at all. But if you been in this country over 10 years and you still can't even put together a sentence in English, that's a bit of a problem.

Self-help for your mistress

As I was perusing the shelves at my local bookstore, I couldn't help but notice this title:

"Will He Really Leave Her for Me?"

I thought that I had misread the title. I mean, I had to have misread. A self-help book for the mistress???

I'm thinking that I could sum this book up in two words: highly unlikely! Is there really much more to say? Except maybe, DTMFA! I just don't feel that there is any hope in waiting around for a married man. And if he does leave his wife for the mistress, what kind of relationship would that be? Could there ever be any unconditional trust in that relationship? Personally, it would be a long time before I started to feel completely sure of his fidelity. If he did it to one woman, what makes me immune from him doing the same thing to me?

I guess this book has some insightful information for someone, however. It's current rating is 4 1/2 stars. Still, I can't help but feel that any information that is presented in this book is anything that a woman in this situation hasn't already heard before. But I suppose maybe she's heard before and wasn't ready to listen.

I still say just DTMFA and be done with it!!!

Any other thoughts?

It's been an interesting month

Hi there, for those of you who periodically view my blog. As you can tell, it's been a slow month of posts. And I truly have no excuse. I just got a new laptop, so I can blog whenever my little heart desires. I have all these half posts that are now irrelevant, I think I'll just delete them.

I've been a little too preoccupied with trying to get back in shape, and, maybe, test for my next belt level. The thing that killed me on my last belt test were the push-ups. I had to do 100 push-ups, and not the little girlie kind either. I like. to die. Those push-ups was in addition to:

100 leg throw downs
100 stomach crunches
A shitload of squats
I can't even remember how many kicks, it's all a blur, probably 50 a leg of 5 different types of kicks
Four 1 minute long stick jumping exercises
Free sparring
Free grapple
MMA style sparring
And whatever else they felt the need to torture us with...

Needless to say, after that test, I was spent. I needed to take a break and re-evaluate, what exactly am I doing this for? At the end of my little training sabbatical, I decided that it was still important to me to train, but maybe I should get the testosterone out of my system and stop trying to prove that I can hang with the youngins in the class, and take it a little easy. And to think about what training goals I want for myself, not exactly what my instructor thinks my training goals should be. I truly respect my instructor, but I think that he sometimes forgets that I am closer in age to him than some of the other students. I am sure that he sees the potential for a hardcore, MMA female fighter in me. But my body just takes too long to heal these days. I need to step it up a notch, but in a more gingerly way.

As far as push-ups go, I'm up to about 20 a set, almost up to 3 sets with 30 second break in between. I now need to start back up with the crunches and the regular cardio. I get a bit of the cardio from class and just simply 3 sets of running up and down three flights of steps at work. If the opportunity to test again comes up, I may give it serious consideration. But I want to make sure I do it with a truly conditioned mind and body. And that it is it truly something that I want.

So there you have it! Nothing exciting, as of yet. The Anti-Diva is still alive and kicking, literally.

So has things been this month for everyone else?

Dru Hill reunion???

At least that what we were lead to believe on 92Q's Big Phatt Morning Show the other day. The reunion lasted about 10 minutes. Woody, who left the group previously, decided, on the air, that the group didn't really need him and that he should continue in his fellowship with God. There is a question as to whether or not this was a staged event. Maybe the whole thing was done for publicity? Well, Sisqo did not seem none too pleased with Woody's announcement. Of course, I wouldn't be too happy if my entertainment career was reduced to a terrible country reality TV series. Why else would Sisqo consider "Going Country" is his R&B career was on track?

I don't understand why they would include Woody in these reunion plans anyway. He left for the same reasons the first time. When they added Ruscola, aka 'Scola, to the group, I thought they were on the right track. I remember rocking 'Scola's "Let's Get Personal" track back in the mid to late 90's. He was pretty big here in the Baltimore/DC region for a minute. 'Scola added a freshness to the group that was way overdue. I was looking forward to a Dru Hill rebirth. After "Dru World Order" and Woody actually leaving the group, however, everything just seemed to fall apart. I noticed that with this reunion, 'Scola was not involved. I wonder why.

Here is the video from the radio interview. Could it be all a hoax?

The overdrive button

I've owned my car for 5 years and have never dared press the overdrive button. Until this week. That is dangerous button to press for a lead foot driver with a V6 engine and a road aggression complex. I could accelerate around the slowpokes and keep that gigantic, blocks-out-the-sunlight SUV from jumping in front of me.

I still don't think that I fully understand overdrive, but from what I gather, it is on by default, giving you better gas mileage, but shitty acceleration. When you press the button, you actually turning it off, allowing for more power.

Whatever, it does, all I know it that it brought my V6 engine back to life. If it wasn't for the high price of gas, potentially lowing my car's engine life, not to mention all the speeding tickets that I would probably get, I would probably leave that button pressed in all the effing time.

Really, Johnny Gill, really?

Back in the day, I loved me some Johnny Gill. Not so much for his looks, (mostly because, as a Balt/DC resident, the unflattering images of him as an awkward teenager with a horrible j-curl are still burned forever in my memory) but for his voice. My, my, my!! However, I haven't heard much from him as of late, at least not any solo endeavors.

So I was a bit surprised to hear about the rumors surrounding his alleged gay relationship with Eddie Murphy and how that relationship may have played a role in Eddie and Tracey's wedding disaster. What surprised me more was how he addressed the rumors. Specifically about being gay.

Gill was on the Doug Banks radio show to, in his mind, put an end to the gays rumors. But his statements instead made him wonder about his sexuality more. He states that he "is" heterosexual, “has always been” heterosexual and “always will be” heterosexual. Going further, he states:

"I got a stable (of women), I keep a stable. I've got all kinds of girls from Whites, Blacks to whatever you want to call them. I've got 'em all. Cuz that's the way I choose to live...working with the hand I was dealt. And until something comes along, one of them get their hooks in me...hey, I'm living and having fun."

A couple of problems I have with this statement. A stable of women?!? What are we, horses? Isn't that just a tad demeaning to women? What the hell does it prove about his sexuality, anyway? It just proves that he's a slut. It goes back to that old fashioned way of thinking that a man's manhood or sexuality is proven by the number of women that he keeps around him. I think Rock Hudson dispelled that myth. Another demeaning line: "all kinds of girls from whites, black to whatever you want to call them". Whatever you want to call them?!? Talk about objectifying women. Could you sound more chauvinistic?

He couldn't understand that anyone would ever think that Eddie Murphy was gay. Why? Because Eddie was married and has 8 children?!? Since when did the ability to reproduce have anything, anything to do with a person's sexuality? I know a lesbian who has a child, using the "old-fashion" method. A friend of mind was married and had three children with a man who later left her for another man!!!

I'm sorry, Johnny. But to me, any man that needs to vehemently defend his sexuality, especially in the method you chose, must be hiding something. I don't hear Eddie Murphy on the airwaves trying to plead his case for his manhood. He is obviously comfortable is his sexuality. At 41, maybe it is time for you to get comfortable in yours.

BTW, if you want to hear this interview, click here.

Unique way to keep the time

http://billychasen.com/clock/

Madea gets animated???

Apparently, a new series is in the works for a new animated Madea series. The idea came to Tyler Perry "after receiving thousands of letters from parents telling me how much their kids love Madea and realizing that a lot of the plays were not kid friendly. I wanted to do something more appropriate and this seems to be it. A 'Madea' animation looks like the best way."

Now, I'm thinking what the hell are these kids doing watching any of the "Madea" plays in the first place?

Anyway, more details here.

Words and Phrases in Music

On the way home this evening, SWV's song, "Downtown" played on my iPod. I recalled back to when this song was released and how naive I was to the metaphor. I was like, "she needs to go on a shopping spree to get in the mood to make love?!?". Then I finally really listened to the lyrics and had a big "ohhhh" (pun intended) moment. After that song, the word fairly innocuous word "downtown" now had a sexual connotation.

I started to think of other songs that either changed the meaning of some word or phrases or added new ones to our vernacular. Here's a few I thought of off the top of my head.

Cyndi Lauper's "She Bops"
I was about 10 years old when this came out. Little did I know that she was referring to a little "self-love". I just thought it was a strange little dance. Apparently, that is what Cyndi wanted us little kiddies to think it was about.

Frankie Goes to Hollywood's "Relax"
Ok, these lyrics were a bit more, um, way more obvious. But, again at ten, what did I know? It wasn't until I heard this song again in my early twenties I wondered how could have my mother allowed me to listen to such music??

Blackstreet's "Booty Call"
Actually, the first time I ever heard the term "booty call" was in Bill Bellamy's comedy stand-up act ("ladies, if a brother calls you at 2am, is that or is that not a booty call?").

R. Kelly's "Down Low"
I'm sure R. Kelly's thought with this phrase was to keep a secret. Fairly innocuous, no innuendo there. However, this term has taken on a whole new meaning with straight identified black males, who occasionally like to take it in the tail pipe and don't want anyone to know.

I may add some more if I think of them. Any songs come to your mind?

30 day challenge

A Florida pastor has issued a challenge to the members of his congregation: 30 days of sex!!!

He feels that married couples allow the stresses of life are allowed to interfere with a loving relationship. Therefore, they should attempt to make love once a day for thirty days to get back that loving feeling.

For unmarried couples, even if they live together, are challenged to abstain from sex for 30 days. The pastor feels that 30 days without sex will allow unmarried to focus more on each other, since sex has probably been too much of a major focus in their relationship. How many of you unmarried couples think you can handle that? Good luck with that!!


30 day sex challenge
(Last I checked, the bandwidth had been exceeded.)

Movie sequels - Crank 2: High Voltage

Why does Hollywood do this? Why, I ask you? Crank 2, WTF?!? To those of you that have seen the movie, how can a sequel to this movie be possible?

Here's the plot outline from IMDB.com:

"Chelios faces a Chinese mobster who has stolen his nearly indestructible heart and replaced it with a battery-powered ticker that requires regular jolts of electricity to keep working."

Is it just me or does this plot sound pretty much like the first movie?

More plot details here. Has a bit of a spoiler for the first Crank. Then again, there really isn't much of a plot line to spoil.

Waiting for the bus on I-95

At least that is what is looked like the gentleman was doing as I passed him driving down I-95 this morning. There he was, standing on the left shoulder. He was wearing a trench coat and dress pants, carrying a little plastic bag. Of course, initially I thought that he was having a bit of car trouble. However, there was no car in sight. Scratch that, there was no car in sight on the left shoulder. The only car in the vicinity was on right shoulder. Hmmmmm... I wonder how he crossed 4 lanes of 65 MPH (usually 80) traffic without getting hit. I guess a better question would be why. Maybe the same reason the chicken did???

Of course, all types of scenarios ran through my head. Maybe someone kicked him out the car and just left him on the side of the road. Maybe he was contemplating death by car and everyone missed him on his first run across the interstate. Ok, that one was a bit morbid. I truly hope that that was not the case.

In the few micro-seconds that I got a glimpse of him, he really didn't look that distressed. Didn't appear to be trying to hitch a ride. I guess he was just waiting for someone to pick him up. Odd place to wait, though.

In any event, I hope the gentleman gets home safe and sound this evening.

Kanye West's Flashing Lights

This is definitely one of those "What the f**k" moments. Can anyone explain to me the point of this video? I am definitely missing something.

What I did for Valentine's Day

Nothing... Well, what do you expect a woman married for almost 9 years to say? The specialness of that day wears so thin the longer my husband and I are together. It was just another damn day. We didn't do anything dramatically different from any other day. We spent some quality time together on the sofa, watching "Cheaters" and "Cheaters Caught on Tape". Quite interesting viewing for Valentine's Day I suppose. It kills me that G4TV showed a marathon of "Cheaters" on Valentine's Day of all days.

We didn't watch too much of "Cheaters". You've seen one cheating scenario, you've pretty much have seen them all. The other show, "Cheaters Caught on Tape", some of these people went to great lengths to cheat.

In this one situation, the husband has a PI follow his wife while he is away on business. The PI follows the wife to the local mall. The wife goes into the bathroom, changes clothes and puts on a wig. She returns to the parking lot, but leaves in a different car. She is then followed to a hotel to meet up with her lover. My girl pulled some straight deep cover sh*t! Just to cheat on her husband?? Well, if she had to cheat, at least she put a little effort into it. I hate to see or hear about a cheating spouse or lover cheating at home. It's bad enough that he or she chose to cheat, but in the house that you share? Let me tell you something, if my husband ever decides to cheat on me, he had better have enough sense to NOT bring the bitch to our house. If I was to walk in on the indiscretion, I would not be responsible for my actions. It would be like that D'Angelo song, "Sh*t, Damn, Motherf*cker". I have the ability to choke out 200+ lbs men. I could probably put a serious amount of pain on any female trifling enough to not only sleep with my husband, but to do the deed in my house, in my bed. OH, HELL NO!!!

Another woman blew my mind with her infidelity. She basically caught herself. Let me explain. Her lover was engaged to be married and she did not want the wedding to happen. So, she hired a PI to follow her and her lover and videotape their indiscretions in very public places. Well, the tape got to the lover's fiancee and stopped the wedding, as planned. However, the video also got back to her husband. Well, that pretty much ended her marriage. On the bright side, at least her and her lover no longer need to sneak around to be together.

In another scenario, the wife is getting a bit suspicious of her husband's long, late night dog walks to the park and sends the PI on him. He takes a nice leisurely walk to the park's public restroom. He is met by another man, money exchanges and then they disappear into the bathroom for about 30 minutes. Well, I guess that we can just imagine what went on there. He later claims his repressed need for a little manly love led to his double life.

I would say that I wonder why people cheat in the first place. But as a former serial cheater in previous relationships, I guess everyone has their reasons. But the one that always seems to come up the most is lack of communication. I have had heard, both men and women, complain about he or she doesn't do this or doesn't do that. But then you ask the question, "well, have you told him/her how you feel?" The answer is almost always no. I don't know about the men, but we women often forget that our men are not mind readers. If we don't express ourselves in the relationship, how can we expect to get what we want and need from the relationship? And if we express ourselves and still don't get what we want and need, then we done what we can and it's time to go. Why bother sneaking around and cheating?

I hope you all enjoyed your Valentine's Day.

To those of you that let me comments...

...I just wanted to say thank you. I really needed the boost. I also found that cheesecake, specifically chocolate mousse cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory, can do miracles.

Hope everyone is well. Have a great weekend!!

Road Rage Revisited

Ok, normally I wouldn't pick a topic that I just read on someone else's blog, but I needed to vent a little more. WARNING: There are a few choice words in this entry. There are necessary to express myself fully on this matter as far as I am concerned!

My commute is 45 minutes each way, therefore, I experience and dish out my fair share of road rage. But the drivers that I hate the most in Baltimore are the Sunday drivers that purchase their Sunday papers from the street corner newspaper person. Do you know how many MFs that I almost rear-ended because they wanted to save a lousy $0.50? They can't buy the paper when the light is red, oh no. That would make too much sense. Instead, they wait until the light is green to hail the newspaper person. They hold up the traffic just long enough for the light to change back to red. Of course, they are the last car to make it through the yellow light. Bitches. They better make the light. They going to piss off the wrong person with that BS and get they their ass jacked. If I was a different type of person...

A few Sundays ago, as I was joyfully driving to my mother's house, a car jumps in front of me. I'm still pleasant at this point, no worries. We are all going to get to where we are going safe and sound. No need to ruin my fairly good mood. Then, they do it, they fucking do it. Green light ahead, they stop and hail the newspaper person, as if all the traffic behind them has came to a stand still. As if all the traffic just suddenly disappeared and they were the only driver on the road. We were in the left lane. And get this, they had to fiddle around to find the money to pay for the paper! Two people in the car and couldn't have a dollar ready to pay for this damn paper. Un-fucking-believable!!! All the while, I'm stuck behind them because traffic is flying to the right of me. Something that should take less than a minute to do took almost 3. I'm leaning on the horn at this point. They need to know how pissed I am as far as I am concerned. I'm finally able to get around them. Ooooooooooooo, I wanted to give them the finger so bad, cause they soooooooooo deserved it. But the little one was in the backseat and didn't really need to learn any new hand gestures to show the friends at school.

There should be a law. The corner newspaper people should not sell the papers to people in vehicles while the light is green. If for no other reason, for their own safety. I'm just waiting for one of them to get hit. I'm surprised that it hasn't happened yet or maybe that's just not news worthy enough, I guess seeing that it is one of the hazards of the job. It would at least be nice if the drivers buying these papers would have a bit more consideration. At least not attempt to cause a 5 car chain reaction pile up because you had to have that Sunday morning paper.

Bored and Depressed

Having a case of BB, Blogger's Block. I don't have anything cohesive to say at this moment. I'm just working on getting over a bit of depression. Life can truly be a bitch. I feel that I am just sitting around, waiting to die, wishing it would come faster so the pain can end.

I need to break out of this cycle. I made myself get out of the house over the weekend to ease the depression a bit. Otherwise, I would have just sat home getting more depressed. It helped. I'm not as negative. I'm now on the questions of "what do I want?" and "what do I need to do to get what I want?" and "am I willing to do what I need to do to get what I want?"

I know I'm not the first person or the only person to have to answer these questions but that doesn't make it easier to deal with.

Sorry to be so down in the dumps. Just trying to go through a bit of catharsis. Blogging always helps, right? Besides, I'm sure some of you will cheer me up with some comments, right?

I hope you all are well.

Looking for love in all the wrong places

It never ceases to amaze me how some women seem to always confuse love and sex.

A friend of mine, I'll call him James, a self admitted D-O-G, met this random woman on one of the social networking websites. Within a few days of meeting face to face, she has already laid down for this man. She must have been turned out because the next thing you know, she is posting all kinds of comments, laying claim to him, informing other women that she is the one and only. Started to sound sort of stalker - ish. It could have gotten a whole lot worst for James considering he broke the number one rule in the player's handbook. He brought this woman to his house!! He had no clue what this woman was capable of. She could have wore his ass out, and not in a good way. Something straight out of Gaelle's song "Parkway". He would have deserved it, as far as I am concerned. He should have been straight with the woman. He just wanted a one night stand and then to move on. But I guess honestly wouldn't have gotten him laid so quickly.

Anyway, some time passes. About a month. She has came to realization that James was just looking for the fast ass, which should have been obvious from jump. She wrote a little blog entry, dedicated to the once, so brief, love of her life, James. She lays out his whole game, the one she fell for, whipping out the Platinum card to offer to buy her nice things, bragging about the "package" he's working with and how he can do it "all night long", which turned out to be a short night, a very short night. What was so perplexing to me, reading her blog entry, was how surprised she was. She couldn't understand why he lied to her. And she took no responsibility for her own actions. She seemed so focused by the potential of a man with money to spend on her and back breaking, mind numbing orgasms that she was blinded to realization that maybe, just maybe this was a little too good to be true. That maybe, just maybe, giving up the puddy after less than three days is most likely not the beginnings of happily after ever.

Life After People

The History Channel showed a special last night called "Life After People". It is a hypothetical look at life on Earth if suddenly the Earth's human population was decimated to zero. My husband wouldn't watch the show with me. He said it was too depressing. But there will probably come a time humans no longer walk the Earth. I've been slightly paranoid of this thought since age 10, when I picked up the Childcraft Encyclopedia, volume 4, entitled "Space". It described how the Sun is really just a star and will actually burnout, leaving the Earth frigid and inhabitable for life as we know. There is a movie based around this theory. I read way too much as a kid.

The show does not go into predictions as to why humans suddenly become extinct. However, two scenarios popped into my head. Armageddon will either be a man-made catastrophe or Mother Nature reclaiming the planet. Or, even, a combination of both. We are living in a generation, probably the first generation, in which we have the technology to blow ourselves off the planet!

They start from day one and go all the way to ten thousand years of life without people. By then, there is very little evidence that the human race ever existed. None of our skyscrapers, bridges or highways. Nature takes back everything. Got me to thinking. So many people worry about leaving behind a legacy. Is it really that big of a deal? I mean, some people scrimp and save to leave a legacy to ungrateful children. The children turn around and squander the whole wad. I understand why my grandmother always says there is no reason to wait around for her to die. She plans to enjoy every single penny of her money before she dies. She plans to just leave enough for final expenses. As far as she is concerned, nobody will be getting rich off of her death.

It's not like we can control what happens to our legacy once we are gone. Eventually, we will all be forgotten and any evidence of our existence will be lost or destroyed. It just seems that we need to focus more on the now, while we are here on this planet. Make the most of time on this planet.

The American Idol audition rounds

I'll admit it! I love watching the American Idol audition rounds. It is my guilty pleasure to watch some of the no talent wannabes try to convince the judges that they are best undiscovered new talent. It never ceases to amaze me. Confidence is one thing, but many of these people are just plain out of touch with reality. No singing ability whatsoever.

One contestant came on the show at the urging of his co-workers. Here is his audition, if you dare:



He needs to go back to work and smack the shit out of those lying ass co-workers of his. They obviously wanted him to go and make a fool out of himself.

And this guy. OMG, he was just plain scary. If I was Paula Abdul, I would have had a restraining order placed on this guy and get a 24 hour bodyguard. Creepy!!!

Techie moment - MacBook Air... wow!

I love Apple, but I am extremely displeased with their latest MacBook offering. The MacBook Air. Advertised as the world's thinnest notebook. That it is. It should also be advertised as the most expensive and useless notebook. That it is. $3000 and all I get is a lousy 64GB hard drive??? Ok, ok, but the hard drive is a solid state hard drive, hence, no moving parts, hence more durability. But $3000? And only 64GB? I'm obvious not ready to pay so much for so little hard drive space. I am too spoiled with getting 80GB to 160GB of hard drive space in a notebook for a 1/3 of the price. 64GB is barely enough to hold my applications!! It doesn't even come with a superdrive. The laptop is too thin to accommodate Apple's slot loading drive. But wait, not to worry. You can purchase a external one for an additional $99. There's no ethernet port so add on another $29 dollars for that. It is way too dependent on everything being wireless. I'm not quite there yet. And no firewire port???

Some cool points. I like the remote disc option. I can set up the optical drive on another computer to be shared with the MacBook Air. I also like the new trackpad features. They added new gestures, very similar to iPhone gestures, like pinch (zooming in and out), swipe (paging items left and right) and rotate, useful in many applications. And hey, it's thin enough to fit into a manila interoffice envelope!

Maybe I am being to hard on the MacBook Air. I guess it is not completely useless for some. But for a power user like myself, it still has a long way to go.

Baltimore men

I was with a group of women over the weekend and, of course, the discussion veered towards the lack of good men in the Baltimore area. As usual, I was quick to defend my Baltimore brothers. I just hate to think that my hometown cannot breed a descent stock of good men. But I guess it is time to come out of my denial. Seeing that I haven't been in love's battlefield in almost 10 years, I started looking at some of my dating friends and relatives.

One of my sisters has been dating a guy she met while she was in the military. They have been together for about 2 or 3 years. He was raised in New York. Prior to that, she tried a couple of online dating services, with quite a few "interesting" dates in the area. One in particular that I remember her describing was with a guy who was 24 going on 10. His table manners were hideous (remember the "see food" joke when you were a kid). He had absolutely no intelligent conversion. It sounded more like babysitting than a date.

One of my friends is currently dating a guy from Virginia. They have a descent relationship. I always know that it must be serious when she tells the guy's name. She describes as a good man, better than what she kept running into here in Baltimore.

And the more that I think about, there has been only one other man in my life that I would have considered marrying. Yes guessed it, he was not born and raised in the greater Baltimore metro area. I had to go 8 hours west to find his ass!

But I kept thinking, what about my husband's friends that are single? With the exception of about 2 of them, they appear to be good dating material. Once again, my thesis does not hold consistently. Most of those men have relocate here from other states. They're complaining that there are not enough good, single, approachable women here.

To be continued...

Another reason to not be pleased with the governor

Ok, I'm pissed!!! What the hell was O'Malley thinking? Raising the sales tax? In the past 2 years, my property taxes have raised significantly, the water bill has gone up, I cannot keep a decent budget because the BGE gas commodity charge ranges anywhere from $35 to $150 month to month. Thank goodness I never took up smoking. The tax on that went another $1. If I did smoke, it would definitely be time to quit. I just don't understand why the State is so quick to tax the hell out of its citizens, especially when the State is so SLOOOOOOOOOW to approve efforts to improve the quality of living for its citizens.

And the businesses in the State? Well, any business that is into big ticket items. Consumers are already feeling the pinch of the market slowdown. I wonder how many MD residents will cross the line to Delaware to purchase that new sofa or that new LCD television.

I realize that taxes are a necessary evil. All I'm saying is that there must be other ways to increase revenue besides consistently raising taxes.

Happy New Year!!!

I hope all my readers brought in the new year with a bang!!

A friend of mine forwarded me this email, thought I'd share:

Thanks to all who sent me e-mails in 2007
I really mean it, I want to send my thanks to all who sent me e-mails last year in particular:

• I must send my thanks to whoever sent me the one about rat poop in the glue on envelopes because I now have to use a wet towel with every envelope that needs sealing.
• Also, I now have to scrub the top of every can I open for the same reason.
• I no longer have any savings because I gave it to a sick girl (Penny Brown); who is about to die in the hospital for the 1,387,258th time.
• I no longer have any money at all, but that will change once I receive the $15,000 that Bill Gates/Microsoft and AOL are sending me for participating in their special e-mail program.
• Or from the senior bank clerk in Nigeria who wants me to split $7 million with me for pretending to be a long lost relative of a customer who died intestate.
• I no longer worry about my soul because I have 363,214 angels looking out for me.
• I no longer use cancer-causing deodorants even though I smell like a water buffalo on a hot day.
• Thanks to you, I have learned that my prayers only get answered if I forward e-mail to seven of my friends and make a wish within five minutes.
• Because of your concern I no longer drink Coca-Cola because it can remove toilet stains.
• I no longer can buy gas without taking a friend along to watch the car so a serial killer won't crawl in my back seat when I'm filling up.
• I no longer go to shopping malls because someone will drug me with a perfume sample and rob me.
• I no longer answer the phone because someone will ask me to dial a number for which I will get a phone bill with calls to Jamaica, Uganda, Singapore and Uzbekistan.
• Thanks to you, I can't use anyone's toilet but mine because a big brown African spider is lurking under the seat to cause me instant death when it bites my bum.
• And thanks to your great advice, I can't even pick up the $5.00 I found dropped in the car park because it probably was placed there by a sex molester waiting underneath my car to grab my leg.

If you don't send this e-mail to at least 144,000 people in the next 70 minutes, a large dove with diarrhea will land on your head at 5:00pm this afternoon and the fleas from 12 camels will infest your back, causing you to grow a hairy hump.

I know this will occur because it actually happened to a friend of my next door neighbor's ex-mother-in-law's second husband's cousin's beautician.

By the way....a South American scientist after a lengthy study has discovered that people with low IQ who have infrequent sexual activity always read their e-mails with their hand on the mouse.

Don't bother taking it off now, it's too late.