Cut the Strings, BECOME YOURSELF

The devil is a liar, showing you pretty things instead of fire...
All the pretty things, shiny selling wedding rings, models bewitch with Victoria wings, we want the ego the pretty things bring...
But who are you underneath?

With all the glaring pretty things, it's hard to see the colorful auras that illuminate the earth. Your soul is not to be accessorized. You are beautiful, infinite, most high and capable of expressing so much of yourself that its imagery could dazzle the blind, yet many of us humans get so caught up in the physical illusion that we lose ourselves. As children we are told to think about what we want to be when we grow up instead of who we are going to be. What kind of person will you be? Will you be known for your humility or will you be heartless? Instead of filling their minds with fireman's dalmatians and astronauts spaceships, we need to fill their minds with Gandhi's peace.
You see, if these kids grow up wanting to BE something rather than exuding something, then they will end up populating a passionless world like what we have today. Because desolation disguised by pretty things is not prepared for the spirit realm. Behold, an organized effort by the elite to make you envy, sell yourself, fall for that mirage that gives you a false sense of security. The TV screens serenade lies that you can win it all and with it, you can be happy.
But the truth goes unseen. 

In a fast-paced, cosmopolitan, Starbucks latte, world of diamond dreams; many fall victim to the sell spell. Passion is often paralyzed in the debilitating bite of materialism. Every day the same hustle, the same grind and yet you always feel that with the bills, you perpetually fall behind. This is a fear-based world; GOT TO PUT FOOD ON THE TABLE, DISEASES ARE COMING TO GET YOU, VACCINATE NOW! I NEED THE LATEST IPHONE OR I WILL NOT BE UP TO DATE, I MUST GET A GOOD PAYING JOB SO THAT I CAN SPEND MONEY TO IMPRESS OTHERS! IF I DON'T GO TO COLLEGE, I WON'T BE EDUCATED, I WILL BE STUPID AND WORK AT MCDONALDS, THE TERRORISTS ARE COMING! RED ALERT! THE ONLY WAY I CAN HAVE AN ADULT RELATIONSHIP IS BY GETTING MARRIED, IF I DON'T MARRY HIM, HE WILL LEAVE ME!!!...the fear goes on and on as it sends you into tunnel vision. It assures that you will remain in a matrix of lies that keeps billions looking to others instead of looking to the skies. I don't know about you, but I don't want to merely work for a living, I want to LIVE for a living. Instead of living lives of passion, many spend their lives working for the MAN and conforming as someone they are not, a lesser version of the greatness that God created. This is the world we live in, The American Dream extends farther than the Roman Empire, dominating the media and brainwashing the vulnerable. I don't want to come across as someone who insanely drowns themselves in conspiracy theories but the assembly line of bullshit is too glaring to go unnoticed. Fuck theories, this is factual information. Mere observation is only required.

The Pursuit of Happiness

Look at yourself, what are you working toward? Security for the golden years I presume. But why can't today's years be the golden years? Why wait for weekends, vacation time or old age to be so-called happy? Why not live in the NOW? Why do we settle for societal norms? Why not create a new society, especially since most of us are unhappy in this matrix. If you stand up against the way things are, watch how quickly you will be demonized. You'll be called "Crazy" We must stop materialism which contributes to the wide gap of the rich and poor, no middle class in between. We must stop the notion that there are classes, we must reevaluate each other, and see everyone as equal. Why do we have so many homeless in America? A nation that constantly bails out mega corporations with CEO's who profit in the billions while hiring the few. If we are hired, how are we told to spend our earnings? Do you splurge on NEEDS or WANTS? Why do we have third world nations instead of one world, unified and prosperous? It can happen, just a little change; change which Obama will never deliver but something the people can deliver. No government can do it, but we can. RETHINK the world instead of living in it complacent. Capitalism bleeds, yet we keep planting its seeds.


Instead of dressing comfortably with originality we spend top dollar to wear the same designer every one else rocks, and we don't even care about how it was made. We don't even care that the people who made it, will die having been unable to ever purchase the kind of clothes they made for chump change their entire lives. Look, this is not meant to be preachy, but it is meant to make you feel uncomfortable. It is time that someone told you the truth rather than fluff your imaginary pillows. Let me let you in on a secret. A truth that many of the so-called successful people of the world are aware of. EVERYTHING AROUND YOU IS ORCHESTRATED and nothing that you see is real. Your senses have fooled you ever since you were pulled out of the vagina. What is real is emotion; and with enough positive emotion, we can drown out that orchestra and create a new reality that plays beautiful music that doesn't cost a thing. What's real is the places in your dreams at night, your personality and your thoughts. What you think, creates your reality. (See Law of Attraction)

But as of late, reality has been manipulated by the "orchestra" and the rest of humanity's thoughts have been influenced by their music, thus painting the rather unimpressive portrait that is the reality of society. The orchestra doesn't want you to know what is real. (See Bilderberg Group) What is real is love. Love is what will endure you, love is what will be your legacy if you dared to express it at all. Love is eternity. Love is formless, invisible to the naked eye and this a good thing. Because everything that can be seen, lies. You can never feel or look like a million bucks, but you can feel and act like compassion. If the worlds currency was love, and everyone worked hard to achieve love on payday, hugs were exchanged instead of dirty money, if everyone gave out love to receive love, then just imagine how beautiful, peaceful, simple, true this world would be, instead of constantly at war over dirty money currency. We are spiritual Beings in a temporary physical existence that isn't even real in the grand scheme of things. So why spend your life chasing pretty things and pretty people? Spend it growing the spirit that you are, spend it expressing the spirit that you are, spend it LOVING your spirit and the spirits around you and spend your life immersed in PASSION.

The Orchestra

Because when your physical lie dies, what will be left for eternity is the Being that is you. Are you prepared to deal with yourself? On the earth plane, you've spent a lot of time believing that what the mirror reflects, what decorates you, who employs you is who you are. But when this charade is all over, the distractions will cease and you will soon realize that your earthly existence was an identity crisis. Some of us are ahead of the rest, recognizing who you really are is the first step to enlightenment. Keep in mind, that who you are is more than the human brain can comprehend, because we all are infinite beings in an infinite existence. Yet with all this infinity, we get a short period of time to experience this human realm, so while you are in it, focus on the vibrations of who you are. Express yourself, but don't limit it to hipster hairstyles and limited edition shoe wear, dominate that expression with the originality of soul. If people FEEL you, rather than SEE you as you enter a room, then you have mastered self expression. If people only ask you, "where did you get those shoes?" Then you have a lot of work ahead of you. Their first impression should be YOU. Devalue the pretty things. Become yourself.

Pound Puppies: More than Nostalgia

                                                                     Above: Spot Puppy

As a child of the 80s, I enjoyed the simple pleasures of childhood imagination that kids today are deprived of. Before X Box and electronic baby dolls who actually urinate and talk to you, there were Pound Puppies. Growing up, My sister and I weren't allowed to have a dog. Our father was terrified of dogs as a result of a violent childhood altercation with a belligerent pit bull; but if you asked him, he was allergic to dogs. Our substitute was an endless supply of cuddly, lovable, pocket-sized stuffed animals called Pound Puppies. They were all the rave of the 80s and they even became a Cartoon, though short lived of only two years. Their marketing by the Tonka company, was irresistible, as the commercials would beg you to please help the Pound Puppies who need a home, they are abandoned and all they want is love. The little stuffed animals were more than cotton filled toys, they had personalities and adoption certificates that almost made you feel like you made a difference in the world similar to adopting a malnourished baby from Cambodia. I named all of my Pound Puppies and each had a unique personality; for instance, "Pouchie" was palm-sized, brown with freckles and long floppy brown ears, quiet but witty. Unfortunately, Pouchie was lost during a family vacation to Toronto/Niagra Falls and I mourned his disappearance for YEARS. Another, "Spot Puppy", was Grouchy. None of the other puppies would dare talk back to him or dare question his authority, he was a stern dalmation who made me feel like I could rule everyone around me, when in actuality, I was a scared little boy, afraid of my own shadow; shy, with a stuttering problem. "Britney" was a gray female puppy with luxuriously long brown ears and seductive eyes. She was the Carmen Jones of the group, she could stop any dog in his tracks with one flip of her left ear. She was my gossip partner. Now, don't think it was all about puppies, oh no, there were Pound Purries as well. Pound Purries were cats of course, just as cute as the puppies, well I only had one, an orange cat whose name was simply Pound Purry because there were no other cats, she was attractive, reserved and very cunning. You see, with my Pound Puppies, I always felt like I had friends, and they had something in common with me that I was told by my parents to never reveal to the outside world.  Pound Puppies were more than just play toys for me, they were my best friends, my pillows at night, my entourage, my security blankets, my imagination, my creativity, my outlet of expression and my reflections of inner pain. You see, the biggest revelation from my parents occurred with my Pound Puppies...

You see Pound Puppies would come to you with an adoption certificate that you would receive and the Pound Puppy would finally have a home and be elated to be with you. You would give the Pound Puppy the love that they never had while sitting on a shelf (at the pound) A puppet show of sorts was performed for me by my parents who were preachers and teachers by day and horrible actors at home. The puppet show revealed that just like these Pound Puppies who needed a home, I once needed a home as well. I had finally been rescued like my dear sad Pound Puppies. It occurred to my young mind that these puppies were the only ones who understood my identity issues, many of the Pound Puppies, like me, were ripped away from their biological siblings. My Pound Puppies would call each other sisters and brothers but they were clearly of different breeds and they always asked me questions about their biological family. I felt horrible that I had no information for them and would ask my parents about where the puppies came from, and Toys R Us wasn't enough for me, oh no, I needed to know where the mommy and daddy dogs were! And this continued throughout my childhood and into adolescence, somehow the Pound Puppies never left my side as I became a teenager and even as an adult. They remained as my pocket-sized secrets, my best friends who went through the same struggles as I, because they represented a lot more than child's play, they were a nostalgia of a deeper kind, a reminder that I had found a home and it doesn't matter where the mommy or daddy dogs are, all the matters is that new parents have been found and love abounds. Pound Puppies, manufactured by Tonka, have since stopped production in the 90s, but I hope to soon be able to bring them back, I don't know how since my letters go unanswered, but I believe that today's kids need to feel the love that I felt with my Pound Puppies. Simple imagination, companionship and creativity spring alive with these stuffed animals, just like Barbie did for young girls. My remaining Pound Puppies still keep me warm at night, they are old; Spot Puppy is still grouchy, and Britney is like a Sophia Loren of Pound Puppies, elderly but a stone fox! I will never let go of the 80s and early 90s, I will never relinquish my childish imagination. I was happiest in the days of Oscar the Grouch, Fraggilrock, Pippy Longstocking Adventures and Punky Brewster, so I will never let go of the innocence of Pound Puppies and everything they represent. Adulthood is overrated, often times uninspired and down right terrifying. So why not crawl backwards in time, reach into that dusty box and take out your freedom. Embrace your childhood imagination. I know you remember the characters you created back then; the world seemed infinite in those days and life was a joyous adventure where new and exciting things were always around the corner. 

LOOK AT ME! As I'm Antisocially Networked

Who have we become in this digital age? Instead of getting caught up in the rapture of love we have been caught up in the rapture of the matrix. The internet is statistically now the first place people look for dating partners and friends. The internet no longer hides behind a massive computer screen, it's become who we are. It's all around us, it comes to work with us and for some of us, IT IS WORK. It is our entire social life and instead of scrap books, why not put everything on Facebook?! Facebook brings the WORST out of most people and usually it's in the form of narcissism. Facebook, among other social SELF GLORIFICATION sites, has provided people with an accepted God Complex. Yes, it's true, everyone wants to feel special, everyone wants to be heard...and with social networking and the ability to broadcast oneself GLOBALLY with instant feedback from strangers, people now feel like celebrities basking in the glory of groupies. "Yes, "LIKE" my photo, look at me, I'm shirtless! Don't you love my muscles and how the baby oil makes the light hit the creases of my six pack? Share my photo, Retweet my genius. Read my Tweet, aren't I funny?! I may be a Secretary but man, I can really come up with a witty tweet." We want the audience, we want the praise and we want the illusion that people like us. "WOW! I'm famous! My video reached a thousand views! My life is complete!" Lets face it, we could use the ego reinforcement; back in grade school, we were staring out of the window in the school bus, way in the back, afraid to talk to the person next to us because we stuttered. (At least I did) Some of us were even afraid to go to school period. Because at 11:25, we would be bullied, called a faggot or may be a few ignorant boys would chant, "BEEP-BEEP! WIDE LOAD" behind us as we lumbered down the hall, we were a bit over weight and now we look a lot better, skinnier and of course we have 2,000 photos to prove it. Unfortunately for your kid, the modern grade school bully can continue that bullying after school, and do it anonymously online. Hence the increasing suicide rates of teenagers, especially among gays. But I won't go there, this isn't meant to be a dark, gritty post intended to conjure up tears of sympathy or even guilt, I just wonder if this new second reality called the internet is steering humanity in the right direction. I love social networking, I'm online everyday, so I am not preaching or judging, But what gets under my skin, is the arrogance of cyber space. The "LOOK AT ME" mentality of the profiles that lack personality. Stop telling "commercially attractive" people that they are the best thing since Marilyn and Joe. Commercially attractive, what's that you say? They look like the people you see on THE YOUNG THE RESTLESS, Abercrombie and Fitch posters or the people who get in free and fast at trendy Miami night clubs. (If you've clubbed in Miami, you know what I'm talking about) They tend to be arrogant. You wonder why they're arrogant? Well you keep "Liking" their photos, trolling their Facebook pages, leaving them DM's on Twitter. Certain people have heard ENOUGH compliments so leave them to their mirrors and exalt THINKERS. You know the thinkers, the ones with the philosophical statuses and the blogs about what the internet is doing to society. (See, I'm self glorifying, just as guilty) However, Self glorification through a bombardment of SHIRTLESS or bikini in bathroom mirror photos is rather pathetic considering Facebook isn't a modeling agency and there are no paychecks coming your way. The groupies that comment like drooling, panting dogs in heat will post similar photos the next day to compete. Self absorbed is the new promotional strategy for anyone with a web browser these days. It's only getting worse, but the thing is, we aren't self absorbed, we just want people to give us a reason to start. Because as of now, we are insecure. Oh no, it's been two hours and I haven't posted a status, someone else is going to be WITTY on Twitter, someone else will have a longer thread response on Facebook. I HAVE TO BE FACEBOOK KING! I HAVE TO BE TWITTER QUEEN! But you're never crowned, because the fact is, no one cares about you. They may LIKE a photo, comment a status, answer a Direct Message or Follow you, but they did the same thing to 5,000 other people. And tomorrow, that number will triple. We are over 30 and have regressed back to high school, desperately trying to be popular... **IRRESPONSIBLY!**Everyone has to know what color underwear we are wearing today, what supermarket overcharged us for an apple and what boyfriend is about to make you change your relationship status. As the 90s/post 2000 baby generation matures in a world where all they know is computer lingo, reading books will be even less desirable. Instead of reading books, we read statuses or MEDIATAKEOUT.COM. Oprah is off the air and so is her book club. But what about friendship? Does that mean anything anymore? NO. Socially, we will be lost. Especially if we can define a friend as someone who shows their appreciation with a few mouse clicks. Is society headed for social disaster? With the public determining what news is with all the eye reporters, news feeds instead of news organizations, Kim Kardashian ass analysis rather than poverty analysis, what becomes worthy of news? If a nuclear bomb is made and everyone's on Twitter, will anyone hear it? NO. Who are you? That's the question. Are you an infinity of statuses? A collage of twit pics? Is your worth measured in LIKES? Let's face it, we are all addicted to social networking, addicted to the thrill of finally feeling popular, but look around you, there's no one there. Just you and your phone, all alone. I think it's time we get offline, smell the roses and stare into each others eyes; pupils, cornea and all! The world is so much bigger than a Craigslist personals section. If you want everyone to FOLLOW you, you better know where you are headed. There's no point in following the lost and there's no point in being a leader if you have nothing to say. There are a few souls left in the world, there's a couple of them online as well; the rest are being swallowed up by the matrix, several thousand a day, posting away, giving their identity away. Look, it makes sense, the internet is LIBERATING, we can be anyone we want to be, anonymous here, glorified there, but many of us seem to be having an identity crisis. Which personality is really you? The offline or the online? Which website best represents you? The Book or the Tube? Remember that thing called the Telephone? You've seen the Gaga video. Well originally, it was a device invented for people to have conversations on, they spoke in complete sentences and would talk to each other fairly often. What you have in your hand is a Cell Phone, I know you don't talk on it, why would you? When you can text, comment, LIKE, poke and tweet? How could you ever feel lonely? How could you ever feel like no one is listening when you have 2,000 friends? Oh that's right, your phone isn't ringing and neither is your door bell. It's ok, just pretend that you are popular, keep as many websites and apps as possible, because eventually, you'll be numb and it won't even feel like you are alone. With all the updates, you won't even realize there's a war outside of your window. No not the Twitter war silly, the nuclear bomb that just went off across the ocean. You missed it because Kanye was tweeting about his new watch. A few people died but they didn't matter, they weren't on Twitter and they tried to warn you about the alien spaceship above your capital building, but you didn't hear them either because they didn't say it on Twitter. No, if something isn't said on Twitter, it's not important. I know it's the digital age and many of you have the attention span of Bart Simpson so I'll get to my conclusion now. I'll end with a challenge: Use your internet wits in real life. Try to impress people in public, throw a party, invite a few Facebook friends and Followers if you dare, be as witty, charming and profound as you might be online. Instead of telling people to add you on Facebook, tell them to come to your next party, and at the next party, invite them on your group trip to the mountains, if they are still around for the mountains, you may have actually found REAL FRIENDS. Then give them your phone number and BEHOLD the beauty of a phone conversation! WARNING: The person will not interrupt you to tell you that they LIKE what you just said, continue talking.

Take me to Love

Take me away from the mindless

Take me away from the heartless

Take me to soulful

Caught up in it

and out of control

Take me to Love.

Take me away from the mundane

Take me way from the indifference

Take me to theme parks

High up in the air like roller coasters

Take me to Love

Take me away from the profanity

Take me away from the vanity

Take me to ugly

Waking up with you

You see beyond the scruffiness

Take me to love

Beat red

Blushing and out of my head

Laughing with no jokes

Telepathically comical

Take me to love

Undress my loneliness

Dress me up in fulfillment

I've arrived on our island of Love.

You've brought me here

Didn't expect it,

You've taken me to love.

EGOTISTICAL BITCHES: Formulaic & Entertaining in "Apprentice"

Sunday night's 3 hour Celebrity Apprentice special made love to a stale pile of Meatloaf. I'll get to that fat cry baby later. What Trump should have done was glorify the egotistical bitches, a component that put his shows on the map in the first place. **Omarosa circa 2004 & 2008** One of this seasons egotistical bitches, Star Jones, may have gastric bypassed her 300 pounds away, but now carries 1000 pounds of attitude. She may be over compensating for a career in the toilet. Even with all that attitude, playing the "sexist" card and reminding everyone that she is an accomplished lawyer, her ass still got fired...AGAIN! **The View circa 2006** (Latoya Jackson was fired twice in a matter of a week) I think it's safe to say, that Star is a star for being fired. Absent of egotistical bitches, what's the incentive to watch? The Star Jones nemesis, Nene Leakes (The worst kind of egotistical bitch: an uneducated one) quit because she felt Trump favored Star. Nene wasn't on the show for her charity anyway, she's a reality "star" trying to rise. The punch line of the show, NBC used Nene's ghetto fab, angry black woman persona to sell the show. It worked. Nene caught on to how she was being portrayed and decided to step away from her own typecasting; but the damage...done. The Atlanta Hoodrat, I mean housewife, was in over her head. Her next stop: The Bad Girls Club. She can mud wrestle with Tanisha. The wrath of Nene was getting tired & I hate to see two black women fight on national television. Trump clearly favored Star and so did I. Televison execs love an angry Black woman but Star wanted to make sure her credentials outshone her persona. Instead people just "view" her as an egotistical black woman with a few degrees/similar to Omarosa Nene's only credentials was a stripper pole and rich husband whose now broke. Sorry Nene, You're fired! And your plastic surgeon should be as well! The smart thing for Nene to have done was to say she quit because of Trump's radical views on Obama, but lets face it, Nene probably doesn't even watch the news unless she's a topic on it. Her head is too far up her liposuctioned ass to know what Trump said about Obama. Didn't bother me to see her go, Latoya wasn't going to go far anyway....but Star.. Her arguments were captivating: "YOU DON'T HAVE THE CREDENTIALS TO ARGUE WITH ME!" Shouted Counselor Jones to smelly, emotional rock star Meatloaf. After crying about Painted Turtle kids for two hours, the stale loaf of meat conjured up his grouchy old man alter ego & yelled at Star outside of the boardroom. I have to admit, Star was in charge of branding for the OnStar commercial challenge, kinda made sense for her to go, but the woman pulls in ratings. Her arguments should win Emmy's. Marlee was overlooked by Trump being that she's deaf and happy go lucky. The project manager didn't delegate and let Meatloaf stink up her entire operation. She's adorable but she should have been chopped. Now there will be more no arguments. I can't imagine Meatloaf arguing with Marlee, (her ballroom queen interpreter may be) John Rich is the clear prospective winner of Celebrity Apprentice having won a record breaking amount for St. Jude. As for Star, I have a feeling she's about to become a Supernova. And Nene, I have a feeling Star will be asking her, "Now where's Andy Cohen?!" Is it a negative that the press isn't discussing John Rich's record breaking fundraising for St. Jude? Should the hype be about the charity rather than angry cat fighting Black women? Is NBC and/or Trump exploiting negative stereotypes about Black women for ratings? I can say yes the focus should be more on the charities, I love that aspect of the show and it gives me an excuse not to boycott it. I can't say Black women are being exploited considering the fact that it is reality. These women choose to represent themselves this way, ask Omarosa and she'll tell you they edited a BITCH into her vocal chords. Sure there have been outlandish fights on The Apprentice franchise between non-blacks and men, but the Black women get the most press while Trump smokes a cigar and counts his dead presidents. After all, didn't Omarosa co-produce a television series ALONG SIDE Donald Trump on TV ONE? Right Omarosa. Lets face it, the Black woman brings something to the table no other woman can to television: RATINGS. Whether it's educated or uneducated attitude, the Black woman's swagger and "I'm not having it" persona will bring in the Nielson's every time. But they will always get FIRED in the end.

Famous & Stupid: Reality Irresponsibly

Gone are the days when people achieve actual success and CELEBRITY follows as a result, now anyone can get famous and success is an after thought. Accomplishments was what used to get one famous, however this modern YOUTUBE & Celebreality Matrix has young people growing up wanting to curse and fight their way into fame and may be as a result they can buy a Bentley. Yes, it's a great thing that anyone can showcase their vocal abilities and other rare talents to an instant international audience, and there are a lot of talented people on YOUTUBE who deserve the fame, but much of what gets glory these days is the Antoine Dodson's and Nene Leakes of the world. I'm not even going to touch the race issue. The fact that much of the bafoonery comes from the African American stereotype's of classless uneducated trash, niggers fighting to the death, pulling weaves off, "hiding kids and wives" and banging pans together to become a legend in the Bad Girls Club. As Oprah Winfrey exits stage right, the television becomes almost completely absent of Black women of class. Wendy Williams gossips about celebrities while resembling a drag queen blow up doll, a funny lady with a degree or two, but silicon and weave don't exactly help the image. Star Jones would be a great person for young girls to emulate had it not been for the SLAVE MASTERS MOUTHPIECE Nene Leakes who tears down the intelligence and accomplishments of a professional Black woman any chance she can get. It's almost like she was strategically placed there in a show of stereotype and belittlement of the Michelle Obama's of the world & those striving to become it. Yes, Nene Leakes, an ex stripper with limited education arrives on the silver screen to curse out other black women in The Real Housewives of Atlanta, only to do further damage by lightening her skin with make up and getting a nose job to look more European. She behaves this way on a national stage in front of the eyes of her adolescent son who no doubt has to go to school every day to taunts and judgments. Often unprovoked, racially ashamed glorified hoodrat, stereotype extraordinaire, Nene acted on cue in the reality show's shes starred in, making the invisible puppet masters proud. "At some point, Nene attacked all the black women on the show and scared the other women to death with her aggressive approach," stated Star Jones to Hip Hollywood about her experience with Leakes on Celebrity Apprentice. In a nutshell what Jones said is like most Black women on TV these days, Leakes hated on the other Black women and their accomplishments while making the Whites fearful of her. Effectively, this ongoing placement of loud mouth sista's, sets an environment in the real world for Whites to be fearful of the angry Black woman and to negatively view the culture as self hating, not unified and lower class and even if you find a Black woman of esteem and education, there will be a hoodrat a few feet behind her. A few hoodrats on TV is fine, yes they do exist in real life, but for them to be the diva's while the Dr.'s play backup singer, is unacceptable. What we need is more substance, sophistication, diversity and hard work reflected on television. Children need to understand that it's ok to dream of being famous, but it's not ok to think it should be easy to get there. Hard work, education and dedication are what should illustrate your obituary. No matter the race, the world is dumbing itself down, pop culture shouldn't be popcorn eating entertainment alone, it should be engaging, progressive and clever. The accomplished lawyer, Phaedra Parks
has an outstanding resume, though it was ruined by her participation on a show that dumbs her down and associates her with the gold digging sisterhood of haters such as Nene Leakes and Sherre Whitfield. Yes we have Paris Hilton and Kim Kardashian, white stupid and famous for being famous, and the overarching concern I have is that there is an unrealistic and irresponsibly damaging focus on the superficial, random, controversial and entertaining celebrity. What the rose colored glasses don't let you see is that, What fame comes quick fades into obscurity even faster. I am guilty for watching shows like Bad Girls Club, Real Housewives, Celebrity Apprentice (though "CA" is about charity after all) and I admit I love the bafoonery of YOUTUBE, but as a humanity that is here to evolve and diversify itself increasingly over time, it seems that we are devolving, at least in our portrayal of ourselves. The questions I have is, If anyone can get famous, what is special about fame anymore? Does every loud mouth sass box deserve success? And is it ok to broadcast stereotypes because your filming a "REALITY"?

Boycotting Charity? Hate the Trump not the Apprentice

Racist or not... Controversial real estate tycoon Donald Trump delivers a weekly Sunday night Super Bowl with ratings topper Celebrity Apprentice. The comb over rocking, solemn faced Billionaire is often a bigger celebrity than the celebrities on the show. Celebrity Apprentice is a staple in pop culture, grown out of The Apprentice where mere mortals would fight to win a successful job with the Donald. In the celebrity version, celebrities battle it out for their chosen charities. So why are people rallying to boycott a show about charity? Celebrity Apprentice actually has nothing to do with Donald Trump or his company, it is a show that acts as: 1: An exposure medium for fading or rising stars 2: A two hour advertisement

for certain companies paying for product placement 3: An excuse to see how dramatically celebrities respond to pressure & competition, otherwise known as entertainment drama!

Yes the Donald has been off his rocker the last few weeks and it all began when he somehow thought he was qualified to run for President in 2012.

Following his announced interest in the presidency, Trump took it upon himself to criticize President Obama, claiming there had to be something up with him not releasing his birth certificate to being skeptical of his qualifications for attending Harvard. Obama had something for that ass by roasting Trump at the White House Correspondents Dinner then interrupting Celebrity Apprentice (ET) to declare he killed Osama. Could you blame Obama after Trump bitched: "I have friends who have smart sons with great marks, great boards, great everything and they can’t get into Harvard," Trump continued, "We don’t know a thing about this guy. There are a lot of questions that are unanswered about our president." Another alarming statement: "He needs to get off his basketball court and worry about gas prices." Trump has been crucified for being the new celebrity racist and is quickly joining the ranks of radio racist, Rush Limbaugh. Professor Michael Dyson called Trump, "Racist by inference." Whether he is racist or not, his show has done wonders for such charities as, St. Jude's medical research hospital and their work with children suffering with aggressive cancers. And what about the Black celebrities who are on his show? Should they forget their charities and walk off Celebrity Apprentice because of Trump's controversial statements about Obama? OF COURSE NOT! Most of us are not going to boycott the show, it's just too damn entertaining and much of it is heart warming. Last week I shed a tear watching a little boy suffering from Luekemia, give a fist bump to country star John Rich before he hand delivered $20,000 to St. Jude's and has donated upwards of $650,000 to the hospital thus far through Celebrity Apprentice. Trump has even matched many of the donations companies have made who have been featured on the show. How could anyone boycott such a positive and necessary show?!

Other charities represented on the show this season include, AIDS Project L.A. (Latoya Jackson) The United Methodist Children's Home of North Georgia Conference (Lil Jon) Save the Music Foundation (Mark McGrath) American Red Cross (Niki Taylor) American Heart Association (Star Jones) Atlanta Union Mission: My Sister's House (Emotionally Violent Nene Leakes) Boycotting Celebrity Apprentice won't shut Donald Trump up nor will it bring down his Trump Towers of fortune. You probably don't have a Nielson ratings box on top of your TV anyway. Boycotting Celebrity Apprentice only implies that you don't care about little bald babies at St. Jude who benefit from the donation dependent hospital and other charities.

Do I think Donald Trump is racist? I can't say, what I do know is that as a black man it's upsetting to hear a white man question a black man's merits to get into ivy league schools. However, its far too satisfying to hate Nene Leakes and far too entertaining to see what eccentric outfit Latoya Jackson will throw together.

Eat, Pray, Love: An Inspirational Memoir, without being Preachy

Eat, Pray, Love: By Elizabeth Gilbert

334 Pages, Penguin Group, $13.12

“People think a soul mate is your perfect fit, and that’s what everyone wants. But a true soul mate is a mirror, the person who shows you everything that is holding you back, the person who brings you to your own attention so you can change your life.” That is just one of the many meaningful quotes from Elizabeth Gilberts bestselling memoir, Eat, Pray, Love. The book can be summed up by the title alone. Each word, “eat,” “pray,” and “love,” represents three stages in the authors journey, a journey that all of us take in life. The theme of the book is that we should all strip down our lives to the basics, because after all, the simplest of things is where our happiness lies. We are all on a journey to happiness, or at least we want to be, but many of us do not know where to start. This book helps us to create a road map to internal happiness.

The author tells a story of her life where she is overworked, underappreciated and void of fulfillment. She wants to feel alive instead of just being awake in a nine to five world. First, she travels to Italy. Italy is a nation which symbolically represents the “Eat” portion of the title, thus it being first in the title and her first destination. Italians are known for their food made with passion and how generous they are with their food and hospitality. She goes there on a mission to get away from it all, but doesn’t expect to find so much comfort in a foreign land beyond its tourist attractions. She encounters people who have more of an effect on her than anyone had previously in her life. She learns here that all that matters is things that make you happy. Leisure in this nation is held to a higher regard than overworked and underpaid America. Here she appreciates how people don’t just eat, but they indulge.

Gilbert narrates eccentrically in a way that is comical and profound in unison. She describes Messina, Italy, as "a scary and suspicious Sicilian port town that seems to howl from behind barricaded doors, 'It's not my fault that I'm ugly! I've been earthquaked and carpet-bombed and raped by the Mafia, too!” You get a real sense of her inner subconscious in way that is refreshing and multidimensional. For her, it was more than a culture shock but it was like an awakening of a world that has always existed for her, yet she never thought to wake up to it. In Italy, she gradually liberates herself, a lot of the time unaware, and allows herself to indulge so much so that she no longer worries about her waistline. Her journey begins one course at a time.

The culprit behind her spontaneous desire for self discovery enveloped from a contentious divorce, a volatile rebound romance and a bout of depression. At 34, she went out on a whim to spend a year traveling in Italy, India and Indonesia. "I wanted to explore one aspect of myself set against the backdrop of each country, in a place that has traditionally done that one thing very well," she writes. "I wanted to explore the art of pleasure in Italy, the art of devotion in India and, in Indonesia, the art of balancing the two."

After the, “art of pleasure” in Italy and gaining 23 Italian pounds, it was off to India where she would enter more spiritual journey. Here in India, she finds it a quieter setting. She meditates, or at least attempts to, and spends her days in deep reflection. Her assignment given was to scrub the temple floors and it was a way to humble herself and to get closer to humility. The Hindu religion dictates here that, “discontentment is only due to the notion that our entire egos constitute our entire whole nature.” Gilbert is certainly discontent and the mediation does not initially save her from this feeling until a strong willed Texan named Richard greets her with a raw nature that initially rubs her the wrong way. He immediately notices her amateurish ways when it comes to “spirituality” and coaches her without her even asking. Gilbert is stressed over a lost love and all of the other wrongs in her life. Richard instructs her to simply let go. He helps her to see beyond everything on the outside that is wrong and look inward for peace and harmony with what she wants in life. He nicknames her “Groceries,” a name that fits her flustered personality where she can’t seem to let go of anything, constantly carrying her baggage on her shoulders where everyone can see it. She has been scaring love and serenity away from herself for her entire adult life and now it is time to let go. India is her prayer, the “pray” in the title and here she finds a greater peace.

“I got to thinking about how much time I spend in my life crashing around like a great gasping fish, either squirming away from some uncomfortable distress or flopping hungrily toward ever more pleasure,” writes Gilbert of her reflection in India.

It was hard for Gilbert to leave Richard but she had to go to her third destination, after all, the publisher was financing her voyages to the three nations. The third destination was Bali, a nation in Indonesia. Now she would learn about and surrender to “love.” This is the hardest journey to take for her, this is the last destination and the final test.

“The Balinese are global masters of balance,” she writes, “the people for whom the maintenance of perfect equilibrium is an art, a science and a religion.” In Bali, she reconnects with Ketut, a medicine man she met two years earlier, and they develop a profound relationship. Gilbert also meets a medicine woman who proves to be a very important person in her own emotional education as she tries to “hold steady in this chaotic world.” Ketut was something like a prophet where he told her two years earlier that she would return two years later. His very presence seems to bring her peace and she trusts him.

In Bali, Gilbert discovers love in all of its forms; Family, friends and romance. The book has a pleasant ending but it is surely not an ending at all for Gilbert whose journey is no doubt continuing like all of ours is. She leaves us to answer our own questions rather than providing one for us.

The novel for me was a breath of fresh air among all of the other novels labeled “self help,” “inspirational” or “spiritual” because it does all of that without the prescriptions and sermons. She is comical and off beat, she tells it like it is, sometimes awkwardly and other times poetically. It is a book that is a must read for anyone who questions where their life is going and what might fulfill them. It is a book that everyone can relate to because it ponders on issues that are universal such as God, Self Awareness and your position in all of it. I love how the book is broken apart and how it is not too overwhelming of a read. I enjoyed the characters that surrounded her and instead of distracting the reader, the compliment the main character, some may be even being an extension of the main character. The book is real, sort of a reality show only in novel form. The movement of the book ebbs and flows and soothes the reader rather than crashing over the readers head.

Other Reactions

It is hard to score the internet and actually find negative reviews of any of Gilberts work, especially, Eat, Pray, Love. About.com is littered with positive reviews from readers who were truly moved by a book that was inspirational without being preachy.

From COP to CAMERA: The new INJUSTICE of SPEED CAMS

You're in the zone. Listening to your favorite jam, caught up in the rapture of melody and bass as you cruise down the boulevard. You've driven this route a million times, it's been a hard day at work, may be you had a class after work and you're tired. Your foot has applied too much pressure on the petal but you don't notice, Hell you just want to get home. It's 8pm, it's dark. All of a sudden, LIGHTNING!

A bright flash of light.

You wish it were lightning. Yea you know what just happened. Blood races to your face.

HOLY FUCK! GOD DAMN IT!

Caught by the speeding camera.

The speed limit was 30, you were going 42mph and quite frankly, you are pissed the fuck off.

It used to be a human police officer on the side of the road with a radar gun, now it's a mindless machine with a lens, watching you, photographing you...FINING YOU.

I have collected speed camera tickets like teenagers collect acne bumps but I've never gotten a speed ticket from an actual police officer. For some reason, most of us intuitively knew where those cops were hiding...lurking. At first we thought we were getting off easy, cameras several feet high atop metal poles, obvious from a half mile away, But now with portable radar cameras, they could be anywhere and they are hard to spot because they get smaller every year. Some on the fronts of inconspicuous vehicles like Range Rovers and even construction vehicles in construction zones.

Most of us are not reckless drivers, if that was the case, then the $24, 828 that Washington DC acquired in the first 8 months of 2010 from its speed camera program is otherwise alarming.

Should state governments be profiting from slightly heavy feet or actually cutting down on reckless driving?

Entrapment sucks.

People say that the solution is to simply slow down on the roads, No speeding, no ticket. But frankly, cameras are set up maliciously in areas of entrapment such as stretches of road where the speed limit suddenly drops I.E. construction zones and on the perimeters of school zones. Oftentimes, the driver is unaware that they are in a construction zone and that the speed limit has drastically dropped from 65 to 35mph or they haven't been given enough time to slow down. Other times, the driver is unaware that they are even in a school zone as conveniently, Maryland has increased the size of some of its school zones and speed limit signs prove to be deceiving.

What sucks more is that these cameras are not a product of police departments, they are owned by private companies which are usually based elsewhere. The incriminating photographs are sent off to police departments who issue the tickets. The proceeds do help local governments but millions are still going into the pockets of these private companies.

But whose getting the ticket? It's not the person driving the car, no, its the vehicle. The camera does not know who is driving the car, hasn't confronted the person and explained to them why they are being photographed, there is no due process, its just a machine with a lens and an instant assumption of guilt. Ideally, the vehicle should be paying the ticket, not you. No police force ever saw YOU speeding.

Is the camera radar equipment calibrated daily? Was it calibrated within 24 hours of your unpleasant photo shoot? If it wasn't, it is unlawful for you to receive a ticket. People have contested these tickets and won because of these premises. More people are fighting these speed camera tickets, more people are winning and more people are forced to use "photo blocker," a spray applied to the license plate that blurs the numbers and makes them unreadable in a photograph. It may save you thou$ands.

For us drivers, we know its wrong to speed and we admit, the programs work. People slow down at these cameras when they know they are there and will do so in the future after they've learned they are there the hard way. But it's upsetting to know that this new camera cop program that also catches people ignoring red lights, has become a second police force. And yes, may be it does allow cops to conduct more important crime solving business than passing out minor traffic violation tickets but it also takes cops off the roads when they could be catching drunk drivers. Yes in Maryland, police departments have taken a significant number of police officers off of street patrols in the advent of traffic camera programs.

Now stop signs, school buses and cross walks will be equipped with cameras in Maryland. What about invasion of privacy? Your suspicious spouse finds out where you were after viewing the incriminating police issued photo of you cruising down 9th street at 11pm. and after you deal with an inquisitive spouse, ask this: What about the fact that your personal property is being photographed without your damn permission?

The fact that POINTS are not issued with camera cop tickets is proof that the government is aware that the ticket issued is not 100% justifiable.

Needless to say, I am getting me a can of photo blocker. I can't afford any more of these fines, which in DC can well exceed 100 dollars for one minor moving violation.

MUSIC & MAYHEM in Real Housewives of ATL season 3

Season 3 of Real Housewives of Atlanta stood out from previous seasons with new faces; no really, Nene bought a new face! The new housewives were a trip; We got to laugh at celebrity Attorney Phaedra Parks and pity supermodel Cynthia Bailey.

Dwight seemed to be ousted by the housewives, so we THANKFULLY didn't have to be subjected to his painted face and over sized suits as much. The token gay guy was replaced by MISS LAWRENCE who has always been in the show as Sheree's friend/hairstylist but he now has become a fixture this season. The season finale exploded with the debut of his new single, "Closet Freak." As he performed it, I was an instant fan and his new club banger is forever stuck in my head. After watching his performance, I ran to I Tunes.

Sheree and her best friend Lawrence are having a great year. We didn't quite know what Sheree wanted to do with life after money...Oops I mean divorce. But in my opinion, I think she found her calling; ACTRESS! The finale revealed a Broadway Sheree! One of the casting people, a nameless chitlin' circuit actress who probably wanted the role for herself, seemed to hate on Sheree the minute she walked into the audition. She rolled her eyes, pouted her mustache and was way overly dramatic about her underwhelming feelings about Sheree's acting. Apparently her opinion wasn't the only one that mattered since my girl got the part! Quote me on this, WE WILL BE SEEING MUCH MORE OF SHEREE and it won't just be on BRAVO!

Cynthia Bailey never ceased to irk me. She comes across as a weak, emotional train wreck who seeks value of her self in other people, specifically Peter, her now HUSBAND. I was more of a fan of Peter's looks than his position as Cynthia's husband. (Even though she wore a metallic trash bag for a wedding dress and read her vows under dinosaur balls, I loved how the couple seemed genuinely in love at the ceremony) Right up until she grabbed her bouquet, She never seemed happy, the mention of her own wedding made her cry tears of misery, Peter was unemployed and demanding. OK so your man is jobless yet wants to take control of the relationship? WHAT A WEAK BITCH Cynthia is. Who am I to judge though, I don't know them, but like everyone else, I witnessed their awkward relationship on Bravo and I was hoping that Cynthia's gangsta sister and mother didn't give her that marriage license. NOW THAT WAS A G MOVE mom and sis! Tough love at it's most triflin!

Nene got on my damn nerves too. She is one hating ass bitch. As soon as Kim Zolciak gets a bit of fame and tour dates, Nene starts hating. Uh Nene, have you ever heard of Cassie or Ciara? They can't sing worth a lick yet they still have sold millions of records. Originally Nene wanted to be on "Tardy for the Party" and Kim ousted her. See ever since then, Nene has been a bitter bitch. Nene and Kim had the nerve to hate on the strippers at Cynthia's bachelorette party as if bachelorette parties are suppose to have ballerinas. (No ballerinas are reserved for BABY SHOWERS) Didn't Kim & Nene used to be strippers? Yet they look down upon male strippers at the most fitting situation for them to be apart of. And so...Nene got fame and a couple of paychecks with HER OWN name on them so I guess she figures she can divorce Greg. She has no more use for him. That's the real situation on that. Moving right on along...The women on this show don't make any damn sense, Kandi is the only one who says things out of her mouth that makes sense, that is, if you can understand what she's saying. Miss. Lawrence gave a rather accurate impression of her. In short, this season was about the falling stars of Nene and Dwight, the rise of Sheree and Miss Lawrence, the stupidity of a dumb supermodel, the lactating breasts & scandalous mouth of a hot mama Attorney & the horrible business arrangements of Kim and Kandi. I loved season 3 & I look forward to a divorced Cynthia and Nene on season 4.

What does a degree really mean?

When we go to college we expect to serve a four year sentence, hopefully learn something in that time; but the ultimate goal is to receive a diploma. This diploma is a symbol that supposedly represents an accomplishment, a transition into a better life where you can climb to new career heights. But in this economic downfall of the modern era, the symbol of a diploma, does not represent much to a lot of graduating seniors such as me. I do not project it helping my 30 year old life and as of now I only see it adding to my overwhelming debt. Student loans, years seemingly wasted in classrooms only to wait in bread lines seems rather bleak. The symbol of the diploma has become rather cynical these days. YES we all should go to college and ideally get masters degrees afterward, but realistically speaking, and fiscally speaking, it sometimes becomes more of a burden then it's worth. In my fathers time, a diploma for him as a black man meant breaking down barriers and achieving something that nobody before him in his family had before; which was sitting in a classroom full of white people and graduating with them. He was suppose to be apart of the working class, (STEREOTYPE) of black people who work all day then come home to watch "Good Times" and dance in their section eight home and liquor filled living rooms. However, my product of a single mother, project raised father didn't follow the stereotypical path assumed for him; no he went to Wilberforce University then Boston University and recently, he hosted the President of the United States at a church he is the pastor of. He grew up a stereotype but became much more than anyone expected, married with college bound children in the suburbs. I want to make him proud and someday I will, but college for me has created a wealth of debt for my family.
I would love to be a scholar, a Ph.D. talking head on MSNBC discussing offshore drilling and gay marriage, however, rising tuition costs and increasing student loan debt makes that dream impossible. What does it mean to have a title in front of your name? What does it mean to have certificates and degrees framed on your office wall? Does it make you more of a contributor to society? Does it get you V.I.P. seating in heaven?
For my sweet aging my mother, a diploma represents for her also aging son, finally becoming something and making her proud. For the aging son, it represents oncoming years of debt, the stress of having to pay back thousands of dollars of student loans.
I am graduating in May, yes I am happy about it, but I wonder, what does it really mean to be a college graduate?

LINKS

Stephen Krewson "What's the point of college?" http://www.dailypennsylvanian.com/node/57743

Janet Stemwedel "What's the point of a college education?" http://scienceblogs.com/ethicsandscience/2006/10/whats_the_point_of_a_college_e.php

Laura Petrecca, USA TODAY "Toughest test comes after graduation: getting a job" http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/employment/2010-05-19-jobs19_CV_N.htm

Conspicuous Consumption: BLACKS Bewitched by Celebrity Materialism

KANYE WEST is an arrogant, rich, Illuminati sorcerer, who is using his fame and money to glorify himself religiously & to lead the masses to brain bankruptcy. He paid $200K for a solid 18K gold watch that no doubt has his ugly face displayed on it in DIAMONDS. West may think that diamonds are forever but they really aren't. West nor anyone else on this earth, cannot take diamonds with themselves in death.

West isn't the only sorcerer bewitching billions of blacks into an LSD-like dependency on materialism. The hallucination of happiness has injected itself into the veins of our youth from nation to nation due to Usher, Jay Z & the plethora of others who are machines for the CEO greeds.

Blacks aren't the only materialists? Not all blacks are materialists you say? TRUE but who are the biggest consumers in America? Blacks. Whose music videos typically worship materialism? BLACKS (HIP HOP) Who owns the Hip Hop industry? WHITES. Who owns the major retail? WHITES.

Example

Oh but wait!!! Jay Z has own profitable clothing line, "ROCAWEAR"

But who does Rocawear report to and make richer?

ICONIX

Who is the head of Iconix?

Neil Cole.

What race is he?

WHITE.

Who does Rocawear market to?

Blacks and those who want to be black.

Backwards.

It infuriates me that our people have been so successfully brainwashed, not all of us, but enough of us to create a race in debt and behind the white race economically.

Before you focus on a car to transport your family, you focus on the chrome rims to decorate it. You focus on tinted windows instead of a paid Geico bill.

What happens to a people that are constantly bombarded with media messages of materialism and stereotypes that are commonly delivered by our own people?

SLAVERY

The media has an idea of what makes a good nigger

A good friend is someone who doesn't snitch, a good car is one with candy paint and 24 inch rims, a good watch is not one that simply tells time so that you can read it, but is one that costs thousands of dollars and lights the night sky. A good nigger is one who calls themselves a "nigga"

True Religion jeans are appropriately named because this new religion is that of materialism. We worship the retail giants while acting as if the clothing is FOR US BY US. We act as if we are individuals while we wear the same sagging $250 dollar jeans that Tyrone spent his rent money on.

Currently, people of all races, step over homeless people in the street, refuse them spare change as they wear the new craze, "HOMELESS JEANS" that are made to look cheap and dirty but which cost over 400 dollars. Usher and Jay Z, two major sorcerers for the Illuminati, are glamorizing these overpriced jeans which real homeless people would never seek to get because they've worn a pair of 20 dollar jeans that look the same as the 400 dollar ones. The unfortunate people who made the jeans got paid 2 bucks to make them while the 400 dollar profit goes to the puppet masters in pants suits and Rolex'es.

The bullshit is overflowing our coffee mugs, every morning, the first thing we see on TV is what we don't have, transformed into what we want to have. The sell spell continues, black people are the targets. Told subliminally not to shop at Target, it's too corny and not expensive enough. The whites can get the discount, while we get the mark up.

We need to wake up and see what we are worth. We are worth something decent rather than something that is costly. We are worth more than a pair of 200 dollar Nike's.

Lebron James, Michael Jordan and the rest of the hoop dream sorcerers have made black young men as obsessed with shoes as women. My God brother almost killed himself in an auto accident trying to get the latest basketball shoe craze last Christmas. Woke up at 4am and ended up in the ER. Our basketball culture has created a materialism and stereotypical obsession with the NIGGAS BALLING ASSOCIATION.

Just like Jay Z, Lebron James is a sorcerer for the Illuminati slave masters. Bewitching young black men into spending mama's money on a pair of shoes that dictate what black men are good at; "Hoop Dreams." We know we are good at running a nation, developing peanut butter products and designing the nations capital; but what the media messages imply is that we are only good at throwing balls and making bastards with our balls.

Be an individual rather than a walking advertisement for CEO heads who use your brain bankruptcy to cash in.