will the real men please stand up?

so here is one of my first rants of the year. I enjoy watching the show Man vs. Wild on The Discovery Channel. If you have not seen it, this guy with a nice accent goes to locations all over the earth that have extreme climates and circumstances and shows you how to survive. By "extreme" I mean there is no civilization in the locations he chooses and he usually has nothing but the clothes on his back and water. Ive seen episodes where he was somewhere in Antarctica, the swamps of the bayous of Louisiana, the desserts of Kenya...you get the point, but the things he does is ridiculous!! For instance, he was in the dessert and he ran out of water, so he killed a snake with his bare hands and peeled the skin off. He urinated in the skin and kept it around his neck until he was almost dehydrated then drank it. He makes shelter, keeps warm or cool and stays out of danger. Then i started to think about how many people I knew that would be able to survive outside of civilization and with nature. Not many. I know I wouldn't! So then I started thinking about how beneficial it would be to have a man that does. God forbid that anything happens, I would like to be with someone who can survive!

This is where I got upset. I know we have evolved into a modern civilization and much of the skills that Bear (yes, that's his name) uses to survive can't be of use to us, but I feel like they would bring us so much closer to the Earth and essentially close to being one with ourselves which is definitely what we need as humans at this point in history. And even if a man is not able to follow the pattern of a mountain or outsmart a lion etc, at least have the skills that can help me survive in the habitat we do live in! I began to think about all of my male counterparts ( african american men aged 18-25) that do not hold essential life skills ie: fishing, hunting, changing a tire, carpentry etc, or at least the wits to figure it out when neccesary. I do not know that number exactly, but I do know that there are more guys that know about the lastest gucci sneaker vs the first thing about plumbing.

What am I going to do?! I was blessed to have a father who learned from his father how to do everything; and I mean everything! Yardwork, plumbing, electric, mechanics, you name it. Besides the fact that our society places these occupations on the lower end of the totem pole, young men usually do not have a male in their life to teach them these things among others. I am sorry gentlemen, after 18 this is no longer an excuse. There are plenty of other men (and women) who are not your mother or father that will teach you a thing or two about life. Bear is an ex-marine I believe, so thats where he conjured up most of his expertise, but a mentor, a teacher or someone who knows these things.

To me it really boils down to survival of the fittest. What happens when you don't have a shelter, food, protection? and i mean aside from the superficial and superfluous things most Americans call "essential". What if there is all of a sudden no America, no computer, no car, no grocery store, just you, other people and nature....What would you do? So I arrived at the notion that these are things I should be looking for in a man above all else. As lovely as your shoes, clothes, and watches may be, what good are they to me? Can you at least change my tire? Something? lol. I had this conversation with two of my friends and I put it just like this: If everything were to all of a sudden fall aprat, what would there be? Itd be you, the man, and nature. You all would need to work together to eat, stay warm or cool, and keep each other company and you all would be naked and naturally attracted to each other so you would have sex which would result in offspring so you would now how have to take care of them too. LOL. My friends agreed, so this is the theory I am going with about what life is REALLY all about. It's just funny because every time I meet a guy I think about him in a "adam-ish" kind of way... It's good though because I think people define themselves nowadays based on too many material things, all of which could dissapear as we are now witnessing... well with that said, watch the show sometime (Mondays @ 10pm on Discovery Channel), and think about it...

Art is cool.

so maybe i should have or should study art. lol. it's great. i went to the Hirshorn Museum and Sculpture Garden today and it was very cool. other museums are nice but they become boring really fast. this one had paintings and sculptures and videos and exhibits that were various materials, colors and just exciting overall. Soo here are my favs... i was too lazy to document the artist, medium, year etc. so just enjoy and go see for yourself if you wanna know details...

this was scary but interesting nonetheless,; I remember learning about it in art class, it's called The Healer:

This guy was huge!!!

Andy Warhol: Marlyn Monroe's lips

This was the whole length and width of the wall. Wow what if I could have my name in my house like this?

This steel disc was suspended on nylon string only 1/8 inch above the floor

This was an energy efficient light but it was a whole entire room, I wanted to have a photo shoot in front of it.

All the many ways we can look at one thing… cool.

This was cool just because. Simple lamp but powerful statement.

It was a book out of straight pins

A soft bathtub

Andy Warhol

So that's enough, I have more pics but I think you should go see for yourself…these things make me happy!

bap down!

Alright. Breathe in....Breathe out. Woo-Sah. Clearly, I have neglected this blog for an entire month for reasons I am about to share. Once I graduated, I was elated to say the least and kind of flowed into the summer waiting to see what would be next. All of a sudden, six months passed and I was lost. This is the first time in my life where I have no idea what is next. I know a lot of recent grads are going through the same thing but I feel like it just does not fit me. With this said I guess I went into a slight depression. I had bitterness, anger, anxiety, impatience and other negative emotions throughout December. I went to New York and loafed around, came back and on my birthday, I was literally in my bed all day, and did not care. I did not care about Christmas or anything else. I went back to New York for New Years, and now I am back home. I am not sure how I feel.

Not having a job is really getting to me, but it is more than that. I cannot describe it. It's like an internal struggle between "you are okay, and you will fine" and "whats wrong with you, you are obviously doing something wrong". I am trying to convince myself that this is a new year and anything is possible. But of course that is easier said than done. I have family and friends and i think i am happy with myself so there's something missing and I think it has to do with purpose. So... this will be an enduring mission this year and hopefully it will be accomplished. ill write on here to release and motivate and take it from there.....

808s and Fierceness...

so in my ears now is nothing but beyonce and kanye. the albums I've been waiting for. i listen to both of them from beginning to end sometimes repeating songs 2 or more times lol. the beats are ridiculous on kanye's and nothing like you've ever heard from him or anyone else i would say. beyonce... well you know how i feel about her, she is fab, period.and the songs just bless me. kanye just goes on girls that pissed him off and you cant even be mad at him because the beat is so hott. i feel his grown man comin on too. lil wayne's appearance is hott as well. so i put on high heels and strut around belting out all of her tunes and noddin heavily to kanye's beats. i suggest you put these on your christmas list for sure.... enjoy.

no honking allowed.

ok. i just read a post about rude men in the club grabbin ass, and it reminded me about something else that gets me all worked up. So you are walking down the street, and you can be doing a number of things: you can be walking to work with a cup of coffee and headphones on, standing at the bus stop, or you can be simply strolling down the street about to enter into your favorite store. Then all of a sudden...BEEEP BEEEEP!! *blink*blink*-----what-the-fuck-. I cannot explain how much this pisses me off. After the initial shock that I suffer from the blaring sound, my mind begins to go... first of all, I was under the impression that you honk at a dog to get them to move out of the way or at a hooker to show her that you are interested in her "business" and i am neither so what am i supposed to do?? Bat my eyelids and run recklessly into the street to greet you!?? hell to the no, so what would you like to happen. Now it is one thing for you to honk in passing because the obvious message is "you're cute". That is just as bad, but your disrespect can be overlooked...i guess. But when you honk at me, then signal for me to engage in a conversation with you or give the impression that you want my number, i wish I had an AK to spell "fuck you" in the side of your vehicle. You don't even respect me enough to get out of the car to acknowledge me, why would I be interested in knowing that you exist? Then you all have the nerve to be offended!! What is happening in the world when you think this is ok? Ugh. it disgusts me and it says in 5 seconds the type of person you are. an idiot. period. So fellas, next time you are in your car and you see an attractive female that you are interested in, please consider getting out of your vehicle at least to get her attention instead of honking at her as if to warn her that you are about to hit her.

ps. i wish i had one of these "no honking" signs to whip out the next time the madness occurs.

baps r us

ok so i had the pleasure of attending the first annual Essence Young Women's Leadership Conference here in Washington, DC. Because I have been deprived of being around black people for a while, whenever I am surrounded by us, i get excited, lol. The convention center had tons of young, fab black women all dressed in fly suits, skirts and dresses with luxurious hair everywhere. There were a few panels all talking about being young,female, black and my fav: successful. We touched on topics such as entrepreneurship, personal finances (credit,debt, loans, mortgages) and or course our image in this country and around the world. Notable faces were Jeff Johnson, Angels and Vanessa Simmons and others you may not know my name, but have fab careers and doing big things... great event.

speaking of great events, last night i went to the VSB happy hour at the mahogany restaurant... it was a great time, shoutouts to verysmartbrothas.com for having the event. i am looking forward to the next time.

my president is black. yours is too.

sooo im back. had to get my life together, still haven't quite gotten there... still looking for a full-time job, yeah. say a prayer.

in other news. my president is black! i am a little late, so i can't make that big of a deal, but i feel it necessary to let it be known that there is an extra pep in my step and my nose is a lil higher in the air than it usually is. i am now reading all the hype and aftermath and I am loving it. On election night i was on U street with 2 of my girlfriends and I have never seen anything like it. There were roars after every state was announced, essp. after Pennsylvania and Virginia, then when the announcement flashed across the screen. I cannot explain to you the amount of excitement and happiness that flowed from my head to my toes. I was elated to say the least. A random white woman hugged me as well as this little fly Asian dude. The dj busted out Cameo's "Candy" and as all black people do in times of celebration, we began an intense session of the electric slide that only ended to hear whack ass mccain speak. in my head i was saying " why didn't he say this speech earlier in his campaign?" but i was also happy he didn't because people may have actually considered him... anyway the club turned into a church when President Elect Barack Obama took the stage. That man is wonderful, I swear. Everything he said rang clear for everyone around the world and I choked up when he began his story about the 106 year old woman and how as an african american and female in this country, she was able to vote, essp. because this was my first time voting...

*sidenote* did you all see them lines!! I was telling my friends about the thugs in line waiting to vote... it was wonderful! anyways...

after President Elect Barack Obama (i like saying that in case you can't tell) gave his profound speech, everyone poured into the streets to act like complete fools. It was all in good spirits though. I hate the sound of honking horns but it sounded so good that night! people were hanging out of car windows, slappin hands, wavin flags and signs, standing on the corner clapping and dancing. it was glorious.

now i only have one bone to pick with the obama-haters.... the people who continue to question whether or not he is black or whether this is really a win for african americans..*ahem* excuse the chicken about to arise... well it aint a loss for us got damnit! and how the hell are you arguing whether or not he is black?? have you seen the last 43 presidents?! i dont care if he is light skinned, purple or red, he represents power as another color other than WHITE. it really upsets me when black people want to discredit this election and it shows that the psychological slavery in this country has really taken a toll on the minds of many. first of all you should not need anyone to validate your being, so if you need a certain type of "black" to be satisfied, you are what we like to call ignorant and ass backwards. On the other hand you must also understand the power of his presence and what it says to the world. I believe this should be a time for everyone to reevaluate the power of "power" in the world, what "color" it has been and the effects it has had. Also look at the history or our country and its position in the world for the last 200+ years. After that, shut up and jump for joy and shout for the 44th President of the United States of America, Barack Obama and the First Family.