When I work out at the gym, I like to get a treadmill between 2 TVs. I like one screen to have CNN American Morning on and the other to have Good Morning America? Why? I feel like I’m getting both my national and local news all in one shot. Being that there is no sound, I don’t feel like one is interrupting the other. I can get the headlines I want to go look into further at work. So, the point of this was there was a CNN story this morning was about texting addictions and teens. 3/4 of 12 to 17 year olds have cellphones, up from 45 percent in 2004. That is RIDIC in my opinion. WOW!!
The average teen is sending 50 texts a day. Girls, obviously, texting more than boys. This was like ehh, whatever to me. But it made me think of the good old art of passing notes in class. Why was this the correlation? Because these 12-17 year olds are in school all day and thats what we did in school when it was my day. Sure, you u can be more stealthy sending a quick text in class, and its great, hopefully noiseless. But can you refer back to those texts 10 years later ?? Being the pack rat that I am, I still have some old school notes in a shoe box somewhere. Whenever I’m packing up to move I come across this box (which is sooo hard to part with) and I get nostalgic reading those letters. I laugh at the sheer trivial-ness and blasphemy of it all. You cannot do that with texts. These kids/teens are missing out. SERIOUSLY!!!
Flicking a match on my old yellowing papers will rid me of them quickly. Some of my friends don’t even know I have these letters. One day we’ll have a drunken ladies night, reminiscing over bad high school crushes and horrible ideas.
What phone/server is storing messages for years? What if you lose your phone. Also noted, texts are NEVER truly destroyed. If the cops/feds/super hackers reeaaalllyy wanted they could get incriminating texts. Someone may have saved the convo to email (*ahem Tiger’s hoes*) and they can come back to haunt you, but that’s not the same as these nostalgic letters.
The sad thing about this is that these frequent texters aren’t going to get any better as they get older. Don’t get me wrong, my blackberry is *almost* always in my hand and BBM is a way of life, but I still can socialize. I still know how to say ‘hello can I speak to —–” if I call somewhere vs “hey” from always calling cells. We’ve alll heard my gripes about people who communicate only via text. if you have my #. Use it
In case you don’t know, Janelle Monae does NO wrong in my book. She is dope. Her new album The ArchAndroid is set for release in May, and I absolutely can’t wait. She is one of the 2 celebs I follow on Twitter. She is proof that good music does exist. Idk what she is doing signed to Bad Boy, which is where artists go to kill their career… she used to be signed to Wondaland (i think that’s right) with Big Boi .. and he worked with her for this song, TightRope
One of my FAV Janelle Monae songs is Sincerely Jane. Man this song is perfection personified.
Love don’t make no sense, ask your neighbor
The winds have changed; it seems they have abandoned us
The truth hurts, and so does yesterday
What good is love if it burns bright, and explodes in flames
(I thought every little thing had love but uhh)
My first listen to her was on The Audition, songs like My Favorite Nothing got me hip to her. She hasn’t let me down since. Check her new vid. If you aren’t on board, get on:
i.) Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, and the Easter Bunny are all neighbors. . . And Cupid is the devil!!!
Good morrow to you good folks of cyber-space. The Man in the Moon is back with some food for thought. Did you bring the juice? You cheap b&st&rd. Go make some Kool-Aid. Red.
While going through my daily internet probing (blogs, emails, FB, etc.), I came across this article on Yahoo! News (link).
Summary: Wisconson “D.A. Scott Southworth last month sent a letter to area school districts warning that health teachers who tell students how to put on a condom or take birth-control pills could face criminal charges. The warning has left many teachers, school administrators and parents flabbergasted.”
I love that word – Flabbergasted. It’s like the ideal word for befuddled.
Does anyone else see the fundamental flaws with keeping the sex out of sex-education? (other than the obvious)
Absinance only sex-ed means the children will never learn about sex. And how do you expect little Jimmy to carry on the family legacy? Unless you know a stork that I’ve never met. . . .
What I’ve learned about the education system in this country is that K-12 is a general education in which you learn most of the things you will need to be an asset and not a burden to society. They include math, a basic understanding of science, and how to talk good and read some things good, too. So if this stage of education is responsible for the fundamentals, isn’t sex one of these things? Shouldn’t pre-collegiate education include the basic explanation of reproduction?
I mean when the hell else are they supposed to learn about sex? Not in college. . . well, not sober in college anyway . . . .
Oh yeah, from television and Skin-e-max. Wait, you don’t want them to watch that?
What about Twilight books? No? Fair enough.
So when are you going to have the conversation with them? You’re going to avoid it as long as possible? Now that’s responsible parenting. . . .
“Dear parents, you can’t shield your children from reality forever. At some point they’ll have to meet me and the longer you wait to introduce them to me, the worse off they will be. Truly yours, Reality”
Children can handle information if you give it to them and trust that they will ask you questions if they are uncertain. And know that if you don’t teach them, someone else will. Not someone responsible like a teacher, but their friends older sibling who knows as much as your kid, but is an icon in their pre-pubescent eyes. Or even worse, their “internet friend”, you know, the one that they are going to meet up with behind your back because they have so much in common. . . . .
And for my main point, weren’t these politicians children at some point? How did they learn about these things? Maybe not from school, but the curiosity would not have been nearly as strong as it is today. Sex is EVERYWHERE. Have you watched a Disney movie lately? You can’t shield your children from these things without locking them in a blank room with no input other than your voice and a few episodes of WonderPets on carefully filtered DVD’s.
They think old. They seem not to realize that society has changed drastically from just 20 years ago (1990, yeah, don’t you feel old. . . ). Information is at your fingertips through every medium. I mean, I knew McNabb got traded before Jason Campbell. They’re going to learn about these things eventually and the more taboo a subject is, the more they’re going to want to do it.
Destroy the mystery of sex for kids, have the conversation, and watch how much more responsible they’ll be.
So CleoSunshine readers, what do you think? Let your love come down. . . .
I really wanted to share this BBM conversation. BBM is short for BlackBerry Messenger (in case you’re NOT in the know) This application is the sole reason young people are flocking to the Blackberry lately, IMO. Anywho, this conversation was had between a former college classmate and myself. We’re both mid-twenty somethings and pretty amusing if I do say so myself. I think the convo started from a comment on someone’s BBM status message, and then it developed a mind of its own. **names have been edited for security reasons**
A: Me & boo boskie split b4 new years
A: : *dueces* were chucked
B: Dam. Son that’s life. Ppl not makin the cut for 2010. Apps r in heavy rotation. Don’t call me. Ill call uuuuu! Lol
A: Lol yup yup
A: Suckas need not apply
B: Yea min experience is 3 yrs of commitment. And start investing in that 401k(arat) plan is a requiremnt after 1 full year of the signed contract. Company is progressively growing at an alarming rate and we need not waste time investing in non potential co-executive CEO’s. Thank u!
A: Llmmmaaaoooo
A: Hilarious
B: But tru.
A: Very true
A: These dudes out here aint ready for a good woman though
A: They busy bs’ing
B: I knooooo. And the f’d up part about it is that we have a biological clock to attend too. Like wtf! If were not atleast close to engagment by 30 them its a wrap. Our time diminshes greatly.
A: I kknnooww :’(
A: As I approach my quarter century bday in 3 mths its all i can think of
A: Fuk this clock
A: I’m late for everything anyway lol
B: Lmfao!!!!! Yooooo ur wild!!!! That was a good one
My FAVE parts of this convo were the application requirments and the idea that we have a clock to attend to. Whenever I read back on this convo, I crack up. I won’t say which one is me though. I can’t incriminate myself. I just can’t!
I think Dubb touched on this today that many women are surrendering their feminine qualities in lieu of masculinity and success in the workforce and their issues with submitting. (Check it HERE) Many women are ignoring their ‘biological’ clock to pay attention to the ladder they need to climb. I believe that while it shouldn’t be your sole focus in life, it shouldn’t be completely discarded. Balance. I want to have a succesful career, but at the same time I want to be a stay at home mom for maybe the first 5 years. Or work but part-time or on a per diem basis. What’s so wrong with that? I’m not living in fear that my job (or any job) won’t be there. I plan (HOPE) to have my work speak for itself. I guess this would be different if I was, for arguments sake, someone in an entry-level position for my job. But that’s the thing, I don’t want just a JOB. I’d much prefer a career. Just like I’d much rather prefer a family to none. A real family though. Dinner is served at 7pm and I made it all from scratch boo, so let’s eat together and discuss our day. Is that too much? Does this exist? Do guys even want this anymore? I told my grandfather I wanted to meet a guy, fall in love, and get married and have babies. I said I want to meet a man who’s as into me as I am to him. He pretty much said “Get real, it doesn’t happen that way” #crusheddreams.
I woke up Sunday morning to a friends very sad Facebook status update. When I asked him what was wrong, he texted me information regarding these two young people. Mike was a member of his fraternity and he knew Nia through him. These senseless acts of violence are saddening. Later in the day I ran into several other people who knew the couple and they all were deeply devastated. I didn’t know them, and I was devastated. Death is never something easy to cope with, but when it happens to TWO young people with their lives ahead of them, it hits so close to home. I think EVERYONE can be touched by this story.
On April 3, a young couple was returning home from their engagement party and parking their new Honda CR-V, in Jersey City, New Jersey, when they were approached by two women and a man, who shot them both twice in the head, according to authorities.
Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio said that the motive for these senseless murders was robbery and carjacking. Nia Haqq and Michael Muchioki were found dead near their car on Randolph Avenue in Jersey City.
Muchioki was a software engineer in Jersey City and Haqq was an associate producer for an affiliate of Nickelodeon in New York.
The suspects took Haqq’s engagement ring, Muchioki’s wallet, the pairs’ cell phones and the gift cards they had received at the engagement party, held at Delta’s Soulfood restaurant in New Brunswick, New Jersey, authorities say.
We had the opportunity to speak with Haqq’s best friend and maid-of-honor in her upcoming wedding, who would prefer to be called simply “Ty” at this time, as the murder case is still open. Ty shared with ESSENCE.com exclusive images of her best friend and her fiance, as well as a few tender memories of the two.
Friends describe the couple as inseparable, telling us that the two always traveled together. She was by his side at most of his black and gold Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity functions. Muchioki’s fraternity brothers have already created a website for the couple with over 2,000 views. The site proclaims their relationship “is the definition of love.”
Muchiokis’ friends remember him as the type who would often go the extra mile to lend a hand to someone in need. They also describe his great sense of humor; he would regularly update his Twitter account with funny quotes for his followers on the social media site. Haqq, we are told by her maid-of-honor, was the life of the party. Ty says she will miss speaking to Haqq every morning on G-chat. “She would always welcome me with a positive message,” shares her friend.
Muchioki’s funeral will be held on Friday, April 9 at Monumental Baptist Church in Jersey City at 10 a.m. Haqq’s funeral arrangements have not been confirmed.
Good day folks. I am the Man in the Moon (no relation). I will be a part-time contributor to Cleo’s cause of bringing sunshine to your everyday. She’s shining some of her light on me, so that I may shine some light on you. . . .cause isn’t that how the moon works anyway?
My first post will be about one of my favorite topics: Hip-hop. I love music, but hip-hop speaks to my soul. It’s in my heart. I love H.E.R. She lives in my lap. . .
That’s why I get upset when I see talent wasted. Not everyone can rap. It’s a combination being able to say the right thing, the right way, at the right time, to the right rhythm. . . .to the left, to the left. . . .
Case in point: Nikki Minaj
Umm, you're not selling sex. . . no, not at all. . .
Raw talent like this comes along once in a blue, but in a female who gets exposure: priceless. She can flow with the best of ‘em and piques my interest . . . plus, she doesn’t look like Grace Jones.
The problem is she’s a gimmick. Everything about her persona (now) is an elaborate front. Research her on YouTube and see that she used to be a straight-forward rapper. Raw talent. Kashi. . .
It’s disappointing because people still haven’t learned that rappers worth their weight in the CO2 that they emit don’t do gimmicks. Costumes are not necessary. Weird inflections and goofy faces are not needed to be a legend. Just be yourself.
Just a few modern examples of rappers who have left their mark without being a cartoon character: Fabolous, T.I., Kanye West (although he’s an a$$, he is himself at all times), DMX (he’s just effin crazy).
For females, I understand it’s hard to make it in a male dominated realm, but there are women who held their own without the mask: MC Lyte, Missy, Eve, Trina, Foxy, Lil’ Kim. Each of them seemed so genuine. Trina is about her paper, Kim is . . . loose, Eve is a tom-boy, Missy is strange, Lyte was a girl from the hood just trying to get out, telling her story to whoever would listen, and Foxy was def even before the hearing problem.
WHAT? OK!!!!!
It just seems to me that 18 months from now, people will still be rockin out to her stuff, but only if it comes on the radio. She’ll get no burn, No smoking sign.
To her credit, in an interview with Fadar Magazine, she says: “I think it’s … important that people get accustomed to seeing a female rapper again,” Minaj says. “Before I drop an album, people need to come out and see. People don’t even know what a female rapper does. We’re so not used to seeing it. It’s nonexistent in categories. I don’t know where I fit in the spectrum of rap yet; I think now I’m kind of proving myself, but before, people thought I was more of a sex symbol or wannabe sex symbol. That’s why I make the goofiest faces; I don’t want people to think I’m up here trying to be cute. I’m trying to entertain, and entertaining is more than exuding sex appeal. I don’t think that’s fun. I don’t find it fun watching someone trying to be sexy. It’s wack. I’m trying to just show my true personality, and I think that means more than anything else. I think when personality is at the forefront, it’s not about male or female, it’s just about, ‘Who is this weird character?’”
Ok, so she’s a goof ball, admittedly. . . But a Barbie though? You don’t want to exude sex, but you walk around naked and accentuate your, umm, assets. . . and boobs. So you’re entire style is a contradiction? In your old stuff, you were a borderline lesbian with an ill flow, nothing remotely goof troop about you. So which one is the real you? If this is you now, please lie to me and take off the wig. . .
If you keep this up Nikki, you will fall the way of Stagga Lee and D4L; it’s not that no one knows where they are now, it’s just that no one cares. . . .
Dope. Crazy. Perfectly Imperfect. I'm not the best writer and probably not the worst either, but I am happy while doing it. Stick with me and you'll never be bored! I mean, maybe you won't and maybe you will....
