What a day

5AM, enough said! But since this is a blog, I'll say more. 5AM was the time I had to be at work this morning, talking about FML. The worst part of it all was the fact that I haven't been able to sleep the last few days, so were talking about only 3 hrs of sleep here. So I sucked it up and went to work, only to be encountered by loud, obnoxious, horny teens(yes, horny). For about four hours, as the demon seeds(teens) were checking out of camp , I had to listen to them cry about how much they were going to miss each other, their favorite moments at camp, a guy play a banjo(banjo, wtf), and oh yeah, my favorite, I had to hear about how many blow jobs this guy received while he was here at summer camp.

I got off of work at 12pm and went to eat at the dining center next door, again to be reminded of how nasty the food is. After about 20 minutes of experiencing the worse meal of my life, I decided to go back to my room and take a nap.

5 hours later(don't judge) I awoke to a text from priscilla that reminded me how I forgot to curse her out for her ditching me the before. After I awoke, I went to the Ann Arbor art fair with Brittney and Nick(my role models lol). The art fair is a place where University of Michigan students realize just how poor we are and are immobility to save money. When you're not able to afford a $3500 painting, you reexamine your whole life. After hours of walking to the streets of Ann Arbor and encountering multiple sources of entertainment such as adults dressed up as reindeer marching through the streets(really, where is the art in that?), a priest shouting at us reminding everyone that their going to hell and of course, drunks. But at the end of the day, you remember that there is really no place like Ann Arbor(thank goodness).



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"Orgy" It Up With VH1

“FLAVOR FLAV,” if anyone is/was a fan of VH1, you know that those words could come from only one reality show, The Flavor of Love. The Flavor of Love went on to become one of televisions highest rated shows and VH1’s flagship reality show. But Why (Really, why in the hell)? Basically the show is about 20, twenty year old women “orgying” it up with the Public Enemy hype man, the 50 year old, Flavor Flav. The show made millions and after three seasons, Flavor Flav picked none of the women (basically, he passed up about 60 women, wow, they all have to feel stupid).

And just when you thought it was over, we can’t forget the highly dramatic, I Love New York (Again, another orgy, this time just involving guys), featuring Flavor Flav’s own personal flavor (or hoe, harsh, huh), Tiffany Pollard, also known as New York. So after New York fails to find love(like we wasn’t expecting that), we are then given Brett Michaels, Rock of Love, a show about “love” that is so strong, he is willing to kiss the girl, even after they vomited just 7 seconds before(now, that’s real love). Then of course, we have the other dating (orgy) reality shows, The Real Chance of Love and Daisey of Love.

I bring all these shows up because I really want to know why people watch these shows, myself incorporated. I think we know by now that they are not going to find love, so we can immediately eliminate that possibility. Personally, I like to see the cat fights (or the replay that they have of Pumkin spitting on New York) or dog fights. Others might like the girls/guys themselves and others just like the drama. So one has to wonder, is this what America has come to? Remember, all these shows drew in record amounts of viewers.

I got involved with watching these shows when I took the time to watch the reunion special of the flavor of love(the first season) when I saw New York flip over a table to get to one of the girls. After that, I was hooked. The probability of someone getting hurt was exciting to watch. Show after show you were guaranteed an argument or fight or some type of orgy. But it became pathetic after the third season of Flavor Flav and the first season of New York when they kept making the same shows with basically the same thing happening. These shows continued to garnish high ratings. That is truly sad that Americans have nothing better to do than to watch violence and orgy’s on television. But I guess it’s true what they say, sex does sell.

My favorite part about the whole thing would have to be Charm School. It really made you believe that these women wanted to change, until you saw the episodes. So, for the most part, Charm School remained orgy-less but the violence escalated. Not only were the girls themselves getting into fights but the hostess of the show (Sharon Osborne and Monique) even got into a few confrontations with the girls. Now you knew that the show wasn’t about bettering these women.

I bring these shows up because they drew in a lot of viewers. Millions flocked to their TV to watch these women/men tear into each other for a chance at love with someone that they don’t even know. But we were really seeing more than that. We were seeing women degrading themselves, shaming their children, selling out for money, forcing themselves to fall in love with a complete stranger, and many setting back the black movement(like another network I know, lets just say its initials are BET). We should not let these shows determine where we are moving as America or as a people (Deep, huh?, stole it from Rev. Sharpton).

If I wouldn't wear it, neither should you!

Fall is quickly approaching, so that can only mean one thing, new clothes.

Always remember to be unique!

TWO WORDS: D&G

Everyone should have a Burberry scarf in their collection

You can never go wrong with boats(but never wear them with khaki pants, it really makes you look like an old man).

Want to impress her, wear Gucci(there colors are classic)

BLACK ALWAYS MAKE YOU LOOK SLEEK!

Scarves always will help you personalize your look

Cardigans always adds a few years to your age(girls always like guys that are older)and they show that you are an "exclusive" dresser.

PEACOATS!(thats all I have to say)

Don't underestimate the power of brown, it may be dull, but it is casually unique.

Military Shirts is a very creative way to dress, but don't over do it with all the badges.

Dark Blue denim accompanies brown very well.

Am I worthless or what?

This summer, I decided to stay on campus and become an Ann Arbor lover, plus I had to work. I was placed in Couzens Hall in an awesome apartment styled dorm. It have everything, 2 different rooms, a bathroom and a kitchen(that is a luxury suite for a dorm room). Like always, with the good, you have to expect the bad.

First problem was my internet connection, Couzens does not have wifi, so I had to use an ethernet cord. I tried to connect with the ethernet cord, but it was a fail. The second problem was my cable connection, not only was my cord too short, but it wasn't working neither. Then if that's not enough, when I went happily into my own private bathroom to urinate, the toilet water was brown(ugh). At that point I knew I wasn't going to stay for the summer. But like always, God sends a little rain, but then comes the rainbow. Since I can't fix a paper cut, I decided to call on the multi talented, Priscilla, also known as Per. She came over and literally fixed everything(actually all she did was flush the toilet, plugged the cable into the right socket, and click on the internet icon on my laptop). Once again I was satisfied with life.



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The cost of having the best, The price of being grown

(CREATIVE NON-FICTION PIECE)

I like having really nice things. Not just things that are nice, but things that are the best. If I buy shoes, I buy the best shoes. If I buy clothes, they have to be the best clothes, so that’s why I like to shop at Neiman Marcus. When I get a new cell phone, it’s usually the best cell phone. But when you live your life by having the best, it usually comes with a price. Yes, it can be a moral price, but more than that, a physical price that comes right out of your pocket. I had to learn that the hard way.

I always thought that paying bills was such an adult thing to do. Over the years, I have spent my parent’s money, leaving them with the consequences. I never thought twice about the clothes I bought, or the shoes I bought. I spent money like it grew on trees. I left my parents with the responsibility of making sure everything got paid off. I was probably the only 7^th grader that had access to his fathers’ Discovery, or to his mothers’ American Express and to both of their Visa’s.

I went through a stage where I always had to have the newest cell phone. For a while, it seemed like every other month I was getting a new cell phone. I remember when the first blackberry came out; I knew I had to have it. It was the best phone to have at the time, so I begged my mom to get it for me for a Christmas present and which she did. Like always, she got stuck with paying the bill, including all of the downloads I purchased on the phone.

When I came to college, I knew I would have to grow up but not this soon. I bought the new blackberry. It was the blackberry curve, burgundy and black. I bought the most expensive plan that included wifi internet, 1500 message bundle, free nights and weekends, with email capability. It was a dream phone. The first month passed and then came the bill to the phone. I wasn’t worried, I sent the bill home to my father with all the information that he needed to pay the bill. I went home the next weekend, and when I got there, my father wanted to talk to me about something. I did not know what. We were in the kitchen and on the table laid my phone bill. He smiled, grinned and laughed as he gave me the phone bill and said with a passion in his voice “All Yours!” I was shocked and really upset because not only was my bill not paid, but the fact that I would have to find some money to pay this two year contract off.

And just when I was about to leave the kitchen upset and bewildered, he reached in his pocket. I thought he was about to give me some money because he pulled out his wallet. But instead of reaching in his wallet to give me some money, his hand reached over to me and he had said “My card.” He wanted his credit card back. At that point I could not do anything but smile as I gave him his credit card. That’s when I realized “Oh Shit”, I am grown.

WHAT EVERBODY WANTS TO KNOW (1): HAPPY OR GRATEFUL

Every morning when I wake up, I always ask myself, Am I happy? Well as you could have guessed, the answer is always yes (I am really good at this rhyming thing). Even when things always don’t go my way, I have learned to see the goodness in it and have learned to be entirely grateful. But I thought for a second, what if I wasn’t happy or grateful or neither? I bring this up because as I get older, I am starting to realize that happiness and being grateful really isn’t the same thing. I believe that when you’re grateful, it’s just willingly accepting what you can’t change, but when you’re happy, you’re only satisfied with the best.

Every now and then I do think about have I made the right choices in life. I question everything, from religion, to family, to friends, and relationships. From where I’m standing, it looks like my decisions have been all for the best. Even though I have lost best friends and maybe even family members, this ride that I’m on in my life seems worth it. I say with out a doubt, “I’m happy”, but then there’s the grateful part. Yes, earlier I did say that happiness and gratefulness is two different things but they have to intersect each other. Because happiness is being satisfied with the best (meaning you can’t go no higher), so gratefulness comes when you realize that you can’t go no higher. The point I’m trying to make is that you can never just have either happiness or gratefulness but you are only truly happy, if you’re grateful (I know it’s complicated but what else would you expect coming from me).Moral of the story is only be grateful when you have reached your best.

Why Not Ardella?

Who needs a role model? I don’t, well, that is what I thought. Everyone needs somebody to model themselves after because if you don’t model yourself after something, then you become nothing (you like how I rhymed, don’t you?). But sometimes life gives you the most unlikely role models. They come in all different shapes and sizes, different beliefs, and races but you have a connection with them that surpasses kinship and even friendship. Out of all people that was placed in my life, why Ardella Williams?

Just a brief overview of Ardella, she is extremely goofy, fashionable, beautiful inside and out, intelligent, and sometimes a little dorky. I haven’t always known that about Della. I met her the summer of 2008 when I enrolled in the University of Michigan’s Bridge Program. My first thought of Della was that she was a loud mouth, snotty, black girl who just wanted to exalt her power and control over the little freshman. Well, I’m not the only to think that, but let’s just say if we were on an island and had to vote someone off; Ardella would have been the first one off.

Throughout bridge, I did not have many encounters with Ardella; she did not live on my floor. I just stayed away from her because I knew that if we bumped heads, it would be a showdown. My first encounter with Ardella may not have been a showdown but it certainly was a major putdown. One of my favorite PA’s during bridge was Garrison Paige, my first bridge crush. She would proof read my papers for me before I turned them in. When she would give me back my papers, they were bleeding with red ink. My very last paper that Garrison was to look at, she had Ardella proofread it. Ardella, just like Garrison, made my paper bleed. She was way harsher. The first thought that came to mind was ‘Who do this bitch think she is’ marking up my paper (okay, I actually did not think bitch, that is just for reader entertainment).

That is when I found out that Ardella was a writer, even better, an English major. I knew that I wanted to be an English Major and of course, and now kind of found a little respect for Della. I had so many questions to ask her. Then Garrison told me that Ardella is in a program that is for people that is interested in the writing and the arts, so now I was really turned on (Get your mind out the gutter) by Della. Ardella was a kind enough person to tell me about The Lloyd Hall Scholars Program and she really got me interested.

So after bridge was over, I managed to get a job at the Alice Lloyd Community Center and I was to start work immediately. As I was moving in to Alice Lloyd, I saw a familiar face leaving from her room and with the biggest smile ever I screamed “DELLA” and she said in reply “Oh damn”. She wasn’t the happiest camper. Throughout the fall school year, I stalked Della (don’t judge me) and even though it was slow going, she warmed up to me. Now, she has me more enthusiastic than ever to be an English major. Yes, we are two completely different people, and yes, I annoy her, and yes, I’m good looking (just had to throw that in there) but we somehow manage to get along. We both have life long dreams to get involved with magazines and I hope one day that I will be able to call her my co-worker or even better, my boss.

The moral of the story is be careful who you call a bitch because one day she could be a bitch and the next day your boss! But on a serious note, I find myself trying to mold myself in her character (no, not becoming a 21 year old female) and follow her footsteps (sometimes literally). She’s always there to give me advice (Most of the time its ‘Victor, why do you need to buy that’). At the time when I met her I did not know that she would be my big sister on campus but she somehow is. Too often in the world today, we look pass the simple people and always go for someone larger to follow after. Why try to live up to Michael Jordan standards when we you have Lebron James to follow after? Why try to live up to Michelle Obama standards when you have your mother, or sister. It’s not limiting yourself, its realizing reality. Maybe one day you will find your on Ardella, I know I have found mine!

Jackson is a historic figure, NO WAY!

Someone asked the question on their Facebook status ‘Why is Michael Jackson death so important?’ Before I can even attempt to answer that question, everyone was shocked on June 25, 2009 when Mr. Jackson was pronounced dead. No matter whom you were, what you believed in, or what you thought of Mr. Jackson, you were shocked! Personally when I found out, my Facebook status read ‘OMG…..I can’t believe it’ and then about 10 minutes later my status read ‘……Over it already’. I may have been over the death of Mr. Jackson but I know about nearly a billion people who weren’t.

Now maybe my total disregard for Mr. Jackson’s death may have been because I did not grow up in the Jackson era (some believe that the Jackson era never really ended). But still I did not understand the flooding of the markets buying Mr. Jackson’s albums and memorabilia or the constant tearing up of fans watching his videos, so what was I missing? The Michael Jackson that I knew about was perhaps a homosexual, child molesting, weird, highly disturbed entertainer.

Not at all saying I believe that Mr. Jackson molested any children, I believe in innocent until proven guilty (But we all know O.J. did it). Yes, this guy could dance his ass off and get millions excited. Yes, he has record album sales, and yes, his sister is Janet Jackson (Okay, that maybe came out of nowhere but Janet and Michael is just so different), but really why is Michael Jackson death such a historical revelation. Many suggest that his death surpass that of Elvis, the Beatles, and some may even say his impact may have been much larger than that of Barack Obama.

Now I can possibly imagine him being larger than Elvis or even the Beatles, but Barack, I thought no way. Barack is the first African American president, 300 years in the making. All Mr. Jackson did was entertained and went double platinum. Michael Jackson is maybe the King of Pop, but Barack is possibly King of the World. The thing that really had me confused was the news media. Back during his court case in 2004, they were bashing Mr. Jackson, even giving him the name wacko-jacko. Then we he was pronounced dead, he was a hit once more. Some may say he became even more of an Icon when he died. The news media couldn’t help but stand up for Mr. Jackson and now they praise him. Even in the world of politics, the same government that was trying to get him thrown in jail, now wanted to have a resolution sent to the house floor(It wasn’t long before speaker of the house, Nancy Pelosi, shot that down, actually it was the next day)to commemorate his legacy. It took for Mr. Jackson to die for people to realize how important he really was to world.

Now getting back to the question posed “Why is Michael Jackson death so important?” Though I may never be able to admit that Mr. Jackson impact has been larger than that of Obama’s but I will say that he brought happiness to a lot of people obviously. He reminds many people of a simpler time. Though the color of his skin tone may not show it, he broke down race barriers in music, him being the first African American to have his videos played on MTV.

He made it possible for little sister Janet to be such a hit. He showed many African Americans that it is possible to walk on the moon, even if it is in your own home. He brought joy to children world wide and his philanthropy efforts were second to none. Americans, as well as the rest of the world, have chosen to remember Mr. Jackson as he was, a humanitarian of mankind. I believe that it is also important to remember that Jackson died an innocent man(unlike O.J., well he isn’t dead, though his career is), whether we like it or not. To bottom line his life, his daughter, Paris, at eleven years old stated at his memorial service “My father has been the best daddy ever”. Forget that Mr. Jackson was a humanitarian or a philanthropist, forget that he taught you to grab your crouch or taught you the best routine dance ever (thriller), Mr. Jackson was a human, a man, a father, and for that, we pay our respect to a legend. In the words of Rev. Sharpton, “there was nothing strange about Jackson; it was strange what Jackson had to deal with.”

SARAH PALIN: What ever happened to the women rights movement?

So, if you haven’t heard, Sarah Palin is resigning her position as the governor of Alaska. Many presume (basically hardcore liberals or anybody who have ever seen Palin do an interview) this to be the happiest day in politics. I felt that way at first when I heard the awesome news. But then when I watched the video on YouTube of a news correspondent belittling Palin, I thought to myself WHAT HAPPENED TO THE WOMEN RIGHTS MOVEMENT! The correspondent that was talking about Palin was non-other than a woman.

I bring this up because I have noticed that NO ONE has stood up for Palin(McCain is really no help). Yes, Palin maybe isn’t the brightest bulb in the bunch, but she is still an opportunity to further the rights of women. I know that this is the 21^st century, and I know that this is the year 2009 and women want to be treated equally as men but there is yet the fact, SHE IS A WOMAN. Where was Oprah, Hilary, Maya, or even Michelle when this fellow woman was being “raped” of her womanhood? Then she was criticized by her fellow republicans for her wardrobe budget during the 2008 presidential race. Where were the critics when Michelle was carrying a $5,000 hand bag? Palin has stated that one of her reasons for resigning is because “lawmakers has given her a hard time” but I think the truth is because her personal life, not political, has been mocked repeatedly. Even her parenting skills have been questioned. When someone makes a joke of your daughter being raped on national television, the jokes end there, bottom line.

It is Palin right to resign as governor, if Bush would had resigned as governor of Texas, maybe we wouldn’t be in a war. The woman correspondent that was bashing Palin was even hinting that Palin may have a mental disorder, furthermore going on and saying “Palin is not fit to work any job”(despite Alaska having a budget surplus). Now it may just be my intuition but isn’t that a little too hardcore? I thought that she (the correspondent) should have been just a little more sympathetic towards Palin since both are women.

I maybe am just being dramatic over this whole thing, maybe even wrong, but I really don’t think that I’m the only one noticing that Palin has been hit hard by fellow politicians and news correspondents. I mean I could talk about how the vice presidential debate was set up to make Palin look like an idiot but I’m not (Whoever heard of a vice presidential debate, and if there have been some, none was more criticized than Palin’s). And I bring up the whole women’s right movement because I just feel like that Palin (just like Hilary) was a chance to really further women rights but instead she was used as a tool to postpone it.