So I'm looking over my RSS feeds on my page to see what the latest headlines are for today and I see an article called "Group To Protest Outside of CEO of BET's House to Demand End of Negative Images". All in all it is basically about a group going to protest over the commercialization and use of negative images of black men and women in the media. They say that people need to be aware of how influential the media is on the public and want them to be more responsible.

It is true that there is a lot of power in the media. It has shaped and molded the world in many ways. However, what people fail to understand is that nothing in advertising, promotions, etc, is done without some type of movement, trend, fad already existing in the population. They don't make the trends, they just broadcast them. There are scouts out a public schools, in malls, everywhere covertly polling the public for the latest trends, saying, etc. They look at what the people are doing to create their ads and reach their target market. Remember the goal of a lot of these media outlets is to reach as many people as they can. If what they are showing didn't appeal to a vast majority of the people, then they wouldn't waste their times putting it out there. Now this could very much so be a chicken and the egg type debate. Is it the media that makes us do what we do, or are they just a reflection of what is already going on? I don't really care at this point. I know marketing. I know that if the people were to stop buying, stop acting ignorant, put clothes on and show respect for themselves, the marketing execs would see this as a new emerging trend and more ads, videos, etc would begin to reflect what the people are doing.

I say that to say this. Instead of putting all of your energy trying to change how the media portrays black people, why not try and change how you are portraying yourself every day. If they see that what they are doing no longer reaches the people they are targeting, they will have to change their methods. In the end it's all about money. You want to affect change, you find away to affect their profit. Until then all this pointless protest is just that. Pointless.

THERE IS A SOUL MATE FOR EVERYONE
..Too Long For A Random Thought


Is there? This question presented itself in a song on a tv show I was watching today. Some may quickly answer yes. I think we all would like to believe that everyone has a soul mate. That there is that one person out there that will match you completely. How are you supposed to find that 'one' person? The worlds population right now is 6,602,224,175. In the US it is 301,139,947. Amongst a vast array of people I'm supposed to believe that there is that one perfect one? I'm not sure.

I don't think a lot of people will find their soul mate because most don't know their souls. So many people these days try and find someone to complete them. Trying to find one person to cement over the holes they have in their life. By doing so, they often end up trying to make that person be what they 'need' them to be instead of looking at their partner for who they actually are. You can't expect someone to make you whole.

Others I think just settle for what they have right now because they are too caught up in the societal constraints put on love and relationships. The world tells you marriage is supposed to happen at a specific time. Children happen at another time. If you are not on that path in the time assigned by society you feel like you have missed something. Or you worry that you are getting too old so you have to go ahead and take what's in front of you right now. Settling and compromising are two different things. I don't feel you should ever have to settle and if you are compromising on the things that you want in your relationship, it's on small things like he may wear Curve when the man you envisioned to marry would wear Hugo Boss.

In summary, with the vast population I am unsure that there will be a soul mate to be found, or that will find me. But I'm not going to be looking for anyone to fill holes in my life. Nor will I be settling. Hopefully I'll meet that person with whom I can build an empire with. So what was the point of all this. I guess there isn't any. I was just thinking in type.

CELEBRITY (C)RAP SUPERSTAR
The final bullet to the proverbial head of Hip-Hop

This is a show that has managed to sneak in semi-under the radar. MTV has decided to take a little of Dancing With The Stars and mix it with American Idol and baked up a show called "Celebrity Rap Superstar". This is where they pair up a psudo-celebrity with a Hip-Hop artist and they are to perform songs weekly for a live audience. The audience then votes and the one with the lowest votes goes home. You know how it goes.

The psudo-celebrities include: blogarazzi Perez Hilton, Hef's own Kendra Wilkinson, rocker Sebastian Bach, Laguna Beach/The Hills rhythmically challenged Jason Wahler, K-Fed's baby-mama Shar Jackson, actress Countess Vaughn, actor Efren Ramirez, and former NFL star Jamal Anderson. Fabulous line up right? (Read with sarcasm). Well the sad thing is, they are paired up with some legitimate Hip-Hop artists. Jamal Anderson was paired up with Redman (they were the first to go). MC Lyte is working with Shar Jackson. The others include Warren G, Too Short, Bubba Sparxxx, Tone Loc, Bizarre from D12.

People what are you doing???? Why did you guys allow yourselves to participate in this minstrel show? I know that many are happy (including myself at times) about the commercial success and acclaim Hip-Hop has managed to gain over the years. However it's the same commercialization of the music that is killing it. (I would discuss that topic more ....but perhaps another time). This show is a joke. I am so saddened to see artist I hold substantial respect for allow their stock to fall by participating in this 'show'. I just hope that very few people watch this show so the execs at MTV have no reason to bring it back for another season.

...to my mu%#@ fu@&ing self. I can't believe another year has come and gone. Much love to Mr. Stark (to whom I owe credit for inadvertently inspiring my character style....and believe he will not let me forget it ) for being the first to wish me a Happy Birthday today!

I thought for a minute about if I was going to wish myself a Happy Birthday and I decided that I would. My main reason being is that two years ago on the day of my birthday, I really didn't get any love. I didn't get any well wishes until about 9pm that day. And by then I had been sitting at home. Alone. All damn day. No one took me out. No one even really asked if I had done anything or wanted to do anything. Do you know how bad that feels? From that point on I decided to make it a good day for myself regardless of who may or may not wish me well. That doesn't mean that it's not whole heartily appreciated and wanted. I just had to be happy I was alive myself. After that, my next birthday was a really great one. I'm hoping this year will be another good one.

Every birthday is a time for me to reflect. This year was a rather uneventful one. It had it's ups and downs. But all in all, I'm happy that I am making it. I'm no where close to where I thought I'd be at this age. There's a lot in my life I have yet to do. A lot of things I need to work on. A lot of personal goals I need to still accomplish. But I'm a lot further than where I was 3 years ago. And in a much better place physically and emotionally. I have evolved so much over the years and I'm starting to like who I am again. I am a much more positive person these days. (Which is MAD hard and exhausting to be. Not really in my nature.) Being positive doesn't mean being unrealistic. I've learned that. I still work entirely too hard, but I'm trying to learn how to have fun too. And I've surrounded myself with people who are truly down for me and inspire me everyday to be better. And that I will never take for granted.


Now will someone PHULEESE get me an iPhone??? That's all I want. Go half?? Whaddya say?