F’book gets real.

Posted on my favorite Lilliputian MC Donwill’s page, this vid pokes (no pun intended) fun at a favorite social networking site, Facebook.

See the previous social networking parody vid here.

Fun in the Sun?

I was out last night with some friends and their friends. One of these friend’s friends, we’ll call her Amy, is white. Walking down the street, the conversation turned to Amy and her recent trip to a sunny locale and how she got tanned and subsequently sunburned. At the end of this riveting tale, Amy puts her hand on the shoulder of Black friend #1 and says, “But you wouldn’t know anything about that,” in a very nonchalant afterthought kind of way. This isn’t that remarkable if you know Amy because she tends to say a lot of things without thinking first. Still, it caused me to roll my eyes and shoot Black Friend #1 a knowing glance.

I like to lay out in the sun. At the beach, poolside, in a park. The warmth of the sun feels so good on my skin. There’s also the metallic, bronze/gold coloring that brown people tend to get when they tan up. It’s gorgeous. Plus, tan lines can be sexy sometimes. In addition to all of that, to some degree I think I lay out to dispel stereotypes that Black folks don’t DO that. Still, I always apply sunscreen. I am conscious of the effects UV rays can have. I don’t want to look old before my time and I’d prefer not to have to deal with skin cancer and other ailments. There’s a price for beauty, but not all that!

HURRY UP!

I’m pretty sure you all can feel me on this.

I don’t have any long, drawn out commentary to give. I am confident that we have a mutual feeling about inept old people (sorry, gramps), the slow and lethargic, and technologically ignorant customers who are so blinded by the shiny new Self Check-Out line that they forget they can barely change the batteries in the remote control.

Have a nice day.

The Pill.

Author/Historian Elaine Tyler May is writing a book about the history and impact of the birth control pill. To that end, she is requesting stories from both men and women about their experiences with The Pill. I found the query interesting and figured I’d respond and include an excerpt of my reply here in this space. I encourage you all to submit your own answers to the questions. Hey, if she uses your response, you get a discount when the book comes out!

The Pill is often considered one of the most important innovations of the twentieth century. As I investigate this claim for a new book—set for release on the 50th anniversary of the Pill’s FDA approval (Basic Books, 2010)—I’m looking to include the voices and stories of real people. I hope yours will be one of them. I’m eager to hear from men as well as women, of all ages and backgrounds.

Have you or any of your partners taken the Pill? Why or why not? How did it work for you—physically, emotionally, and ethically? How has it compared with other contraceptive methods you or your partners have used?

High School Confidential – II

Continuing to post entries from my high school journal entries from 10 years ago. See the previous post for some background/insight. High School Confidential – I

Dec. 6: Right now I’m mad at Rick. A couple of days ago, he told me that he was staying at Rob’s house and was smokin + stuff. anyway, Jessica, the Puerto Rican girl was there and Rick woke up with hickies on his neck. Anyways, I didn’t believe him at first, but then I did because he kept up his story and really made me believe him, and since I trust him I thought he was telling the truth. I got all mad and everything and we had a discussion. He asked me if I didn’t believe him and I said that he’s never lied to me as far as I know so I believe him when he told me he didn’t do anything. Anyways, it all blew over and tonight he tells me it was all a joke or a “test” as he says. He said he’s been getting attached and wanted to make sure I trusted him.

Breaking the 4th Wall (kinda)

Dear Reader:

If you don’t blog or aren’t familiar, you may not know that WordPress is nice enough to let me check my Blog Stats. I can see how popular certain posts are. I can see how people get to my blog (clicking a link on OKP, a link from someone else’s blogroll, from their email). What I cannot see, however, is your specific information (who you are, when you clicked, which posts you read). I don’t really want to be up in your business like that, so it’s good that way.

My point is, I know you’re here and while I appreciate it, I’d like to get your feedback and comments. This is how I’m going to know if I’m completely nuts and terribly boring or totally relevant and just plain awesome. Sometimes I put a lot of energy into what I’m typing and it’d be nice to know you didn’t just peek your head in and slam the door, but stayed a while, had a beverage and engaged in a little conversation. I know you know better. This is kind of like the time ?uesto demanded kudos on his MySpace blog. At least I am asking nicely.

By the way, the phrase “breaking the fourth wall” usually refers to an actor recognizing the audience and/or things outside of the context of the play/movie/television show. Comic strip characters have also been known to break the wall. Originating with Greek plays, I believe, the concept is that when on stage with an “indoor” set, there are three walls on the stage and the front of the stage, where the audience looks in, is where the fourth wall would be. When an actor acknowledges the audience’s presence (like when Martin deadpans to the camera), that’s breaking the wall. Me speaking directly to you, the blog audience is a stretch, but I just like the phrase. Sue me.

Partly Cloudy: A Car Story vol. 3

Finally back in Philly. You have no idea how stressful this whole situation has been. Not so much because of the car. Shit happens, ya know and I’m lucky no one got hurt. I was pretty stressed about having to rely on other people so much over the last couple of days. I don’t like flipping through my phone trying to decide who I can call for help. I don’t like borrowing money from friends. I don’t like imposing on anyone. I don’t want to ask anyone to rearrange their schedule/routine for my benefit. I had to do all of those things in the last three days. It sucked.

I guess it just goes to the kind of person I am. I almost exclusively depend on myself for everything. If life has taught me anything, it’s that the people closest to you are often times the ones least likely to be there in a pinch. In order to cope, I have learned to just deal with things my own way.

Anyway, here’s the update on the car. A generous friend of mine took a day from work to drive from PA to MD and cart me around the state handling my business. Had to drive an hour out from B’more to get to the State Police and get a release form. Then had to double back about 30 min. to get to the tow yard. Paid for the freakin’ tow (with borrowed cash, thanks to another friend) and then had to replace my tire. Luckily, I was able to get a tire I had in my trunk patched up and it carried me back to the City of Brotherly Love.

Still had to drive up 95 with my bumper in my backseat, but that’s alright. Now what? I need to replace my temporary tires and get to a body shop so I can get my bumper repaired.

The positive is that I’m back home and I got my shit. The negative is that I still have repairs to make and I don’t start working until next week (which means no paycheck until a couple weeks after that). Being a law student with a late-starting internship is bogus.

But, like always, I will just deal. I’ll get it handled. And I’ll do it all with a smile (or suntin’ like it).

I’ve noticed that my posts about the car situation have gotten a lot of hits. Either you all love to see tragedy, it’s a good story (with crazy pictures), or you are concerned with what’s going on. Regardless of why, glad you’re checking it out.

Weekly Someecards Post – #6

If you’re not laughing at and sending off e-cards from someecards.com, well you’re not as cool as you thought you were. Here’s where I post a card from the site. I do it because I enjoy them and you should too.

“I’m crooked like the ‘I’ on the toxic malt liquor…”

Peace to Thembi for reminding me about these St. Ides Commercials.

I remember when St. Ides first came out. I was a young girl growing up too fast in NY. St. Ides seemed like that hotness because all the rappers were talking about it. It was like a jazzier forty-ounce for young folks. Those “Special Brews” seemed especially inviting because of the different flavors. Basically, I’ve had a couple. That was oh so many years ago. I hate malt liquor now. Mostly I’m just principally set against it because of the type of advertising that accompanies the beverages. It’s so lopsidedly targeted to people of color and contains a ridiculously high amount of alcohol (8.0-8.2% alcohol by volume,) for the price (around $2). It’s the dollar menu of beer liquor. Ew.

Anywhoo, let’s reflect on some “Crooked I” advertising.

Happy Memorial Day!

This actually has nothing to do with Memorial Day. I just wanted to quit bitching and moaning and post something nutso. So here ya go:

Ooh baby I like it rawwwwwwww! Check out this gummy bacon. Why it’s strawberry-flavored, I dunno.

The BACON SUIT! Does the scent wear off after the wash? LAME! The models are hilarious, by the way.