Music I'm feeling....The Shanghai Restoration Project--Last Night of the Dynasty

Late starts and skin bleaching in South Africa??? Say What!?

So I'm starting out late as usual.  I really don't like to do anything i the morning.  Okay, that's not exactly true.  I don't like to use my brain in the morning if I don't have to.  I wake up around 5:50-6:00 a.m.. I then start cleaning, exercising, checking the email, watching anime, etc....What I don't do is start stressing or working to resolve my problems.  This has not been working so well for me and has been counter-productive.  However, after noon, I am good to go, ready to tackle the day.  It's been working for me, so I am going to run with it.

On a more informative note: Skin bleaching in South Africa!  Yes folks, South African artist, Mshoza, has jumped on the ever disturbing skin bleaching train.  While she doesn't look hideous, there is a real issue with blacks equating beauty with whiteness.  It's really sad and also says a lot about the standards that our society push on all cultures.


source: http://www.clutchmagonline.com/2011/12/south-african-singer-bleaches-skin-has-a-passion-for-whiteness/

I'm back!!!! And I've been employed and unemployed again!  Sheesh.  Well I'm going to try to keep this site updated from now on for my own sanity.  If you read, which I don't know if anybody does, thanks!

New Music: Beyonce.

Okay, so this title might be somewhat of a misnomer, but these songs by B are new to me; and I absolutely love them!  I'm not sure why I've never heard them before or why they never came out, but I am in love! Poison is my fav, with Roc and Slo Love coming in close second.

New Hair-Do.

Just wanted to share my latest hair-do.

Birthday Presents

I'm feeling a bit lazy today, but just had to post my birthday presents.  So I got: a kindle, Princess Tiana doll, and a new wig!  Love em all!  The wig is seen in the pics from my bro's bball tourney.

Ja's Basketball Tournament!

Yesterday, the whole family went to my brother's basketball tournament!  We had so much fun!  However, my sister was a bit of a nut job and was yelling at everyone! lol.  In the end it turned out to be  a good day, with my brother's team--the Franklin Heat--taking home bronze.

TWA: What I'm having a hard time with right now.

They said it would happened.  At some point during one's natural hair journey, they would run into a bump in the road.  One will feel discouraged, or just so over it--and I have hit that point.  For me, that hardship is coming in the form of how short my hair is.  I am not having an issue with my hair's texture--in fact I love it, and could never imagine straightening it again.  It is simple to detangle, just run water over it and wala, detangled.  Its thick, soft, fun to touch, and fluffy.  What I can't stand, however, is how short it is.  I am not a fan of short hair!  It was cute and a novelty at first, something different; yet, now I am so over it!  I look like a boy!  I don't have traditionally feminine features, and every stitch of makeup I can put on my face really goes a long ways--however not far enough.   So for now I have turned to wearing wigs, not because I long for silky, straight, European hair, but because I just long for long hair!  Does this make me a traitor to the natural me?  I don't think so.  I naturally don't have short hair.  Natural does not equate to short, it equates to texture for me.  The good of going natural is that I feel so comfortable with myself that rocking a wig does not take away from my confidence (where before you would never have caught me wearing a wig or weave!)  So hip hip hooray! for keeping it natural and real all at the same time; and growing a 'fro so big that I block out the sun! P.S. I actually love my hair in this picture!

What I am reading now: Crystal Rain

Currently, I am reading a book entitled Crystal Rain by Tobias S. Buckell.  It is the first book in a series, which I've already read two of the subsequent books--Sly Mongoose and Ragamuffin.  I read Sly Mongoose first--which is at least the third installation in the series--and it is my favorite so far.  All three of the books more or less revolve around a man named Pepper.  We follow Pepper, and any other character, through their trials to free and keep free humanity.  What I really like about this series is that it involves a diverse character cast---with the main character often being brown/black.  I love this!  It is no secret that brown/black characters are often not represented in scifi/fantasy novels--and I for one have always struggled with this.  While I love these genre's, I always wished that they included a more diverse cast--brown, black, and even yellow.  Tobias Buckell, who appears to be white but raised in the Caribbean, has done this.  I recommend this series for anyone who is looking for a new and refreshing take on the scifi genre.

My "Dear John" letter to Final Fantasy.

As I sit here in my chair at my Auntie's house, I am seriously wondering "What happened to the Final Fantasy series?"  As anyone within a hundred yard radius of me may know, I love (or loved) the Final Fantasy series.  Like many, I was a late bloomer; I didn't start playing the series until FF7--one of the greatest rpg's and games of all time!  I could not get enough of Cloud or Sephiroth (both of who I had major crushes on); and I cried when Aerith died.  Then FF8 came out, and I adored it just as well.  Then FF9, which I also loved, but most people underrate; and FF10 everyone agrees was epic!  But after that, everything went down hill.  FFX-2 was horrible, and I never finished it; although, I tried to twice.  Squarsoft effed up by putting FF11 on pc (in my opinion, although people played it like crazy so I guess it was a good move even if it did alienate me a bit.)  After all this failure, imagine my enthusiasm when I learned about FF12 coming back to the PS2!  I needed it more than I needed air; however, when I played it, it was more like sulfuric acid.  The game was a snore.  My main gripe being the way that one traveled through the land.  I didn't feel connected to it.  I felt alienated, again.  But did I loose all hope?  NO!!!  I waited for FF13 with open arms, feeling that Squaresoft had finally gotten it right, especially with a woman as the lead character!  And how did it turn out?! Waah wahhh.....a joke.  I can't get through this game.  I give.  I feel like FF has run out of steam.  It feels like giving up on a boyfriend that you have dated forever, but the love is no longer there.  And with these words I may regrettably be saying good-bye to FF.  However, one cannot say that I won't be coming back for a fling or even a marriage later on.  It's just for now we need our time apart.

Fashion Icon: Kimora Lee Simmons.

Never afraid to wear a weave or photoshop her head on a body that is obviously not hers; Kimora is absolutely FABULOUS!

Jadia's Cookies

Jadia's cookies are delicious but have lots of sugar!  She got the recipe from a magazine.  They were super messy to make, but worth it!  I can't wait for her to bake some more!

Daily Makeup Inspiration: Summer Pop.

Can't wait to try this look. I've never done anything like it, so it should be exciting!

Life's Randomness.

I'm sitting at my Auntie's house, looking into the backyard, reading my daily news sites when two ducks (a male and a female) land in the pool!  How cool is that?  Very cool.  Gotta love life's randomness. = ) Zen and Love.

Wonder Woman #606 and Spider Girl #606

I haven't posted a comic post in a while, so now's the time to catch up.  And what great issues to catch up with! First, Wonder Woman is Kick ASS right now!  I'm not going to give anything away, but just trust when I say it is really juicy right now.  As for Spider Girl, I appreciated the last issue for all of its delicacy w/ dealing with the death of Anya's father, but come on!  Fillers in a comic is no bueno, and that's exactly what I felt issue 606 was. Let's get to the good stuff: ASS KICKING!  They also changed the artwork in this latest issue of Spider Girl for the worst. I hate it.  Hopefully this was all a horrible misunderstanding, and the nice crisp artwork I've come to love will return with the next issue.  I mean, in this issue I couldn't tell that the blob of light brown on the page was Anya sans Spidey Girl costume until one of the characters called her by her name! WTF!  Enjoy these pics. The cover for Wonder Woman #606 was nice--really clean and classic.  They did that for most/all?? the marvel comics last month.

Inspiration of the Day: Ethereal Country

Where's my fresh squeezed lemonade, mint julep and nice cool breeze?

Daily Makeup Inspiration: Dior's 2010 Spring Collection.

I'm still feeling the lingering romantic feelings of V'Day, and this look fits that feeling perfectly. Love it!

Valentine Cookies--All baked in Stilettos!

The Perfect Song for V'day: Meiko "Reason to Fall in Love"

Valentine's Day!!!

Today is Valentine's Day; and I love it!  To tell you the truth, I'm more into Valentine's Day as a single gal than I ever was when I was in a relationship.  I mean all the girly, touchy, feelie stuff is really appealing to me.  I've got my extra long barbie pink nails going, and am going to make heart shaped chocolate chip cookies!  Fun times! Happy V'day!  And enjoy these Valentine's Day inspired photos! Love is in the Air!

Latest Makeup Obsession: Contouring!

After going gaga over eyeshadow, lipstick, then foundation; I have found my latest obsession--Contouring!  I'm amazed at how it can complete reshape and transform a face!  It's so bad that I dreamed of contouring last night.  I'm on a mission to perfect this art, and will be posting my attempts as I go.  This picture of Kim Kardashian is pure contouring heaven! Wish me luck!

Song of the Moment: 311's "Amber" and Nikki Jean's "Sunshine"

My songs of the Moment are 311's "Amber" and Nikki Jean's "Sunshine."  I heard "Amber" in the car the other day while driving to that bs job interview, and I swear it kept me from going off and strangling Mr. Garcia (dude that interviewed me.)  It's got such a warm, relaxed vibe that it dissipated some of the anger I was feeling.

I heard Nikki Jean's "Sunshine" the other day while I was watching a makeup tutorial.  I had never heard it before, but it is absolutely fabulous!  And so perfect for Valentine's Day.  Even though I'm single, I'm feeling festive!  Both are posted below, check them out!

Another Unprofessional Interview

Yesterday I had yet another unprofessional interview.  I got the call on Monday scheduling the interview for Thursday @ 10 am.  My mom has been using my car for work, so I got up extra early to get dressed and drop my mom off, then prepped to go to the interview.  I got to the interview 10 min early, and the fuckers had the audacity to be 10 mins late (i.e. they didn't come speak to me until 10:10.) Then before I could even say anything, the fucker told me that they had interviewed someone yesterday that they were going to hire.  WTF! I could not get a courtesy call canceling the interview before I drove all the way to fucking Folsom!?  At this point I'm pretty pissed and feel that today will be a wah wah day.  Thanks Fuckers. Zen and Love.

15 Color Concealer Pallet

I received my 15 Color Concealer Pallet from HK today!  I'm pretty excited!  It's really slick and slim. The casing feels a bit flimsy.  I haven't tried the pallet out yet, but I'm hoping its of a decent quality. I <3 makeup!

Bohemian Rhapsody

I had a baby shower to go to!  My friend Precious is a having a baby boy (she's 8 months prego).  I pulled this look together because it was a nice sunny day.  Of course, others from my ex-bf group of friends were there and it was awkward. I mean, I was cool, but they were acting stiff.  Oh wells, cookies crumble in that fashion sometimes.  I'm just glad I got to see my girl and show support.  Again, forgot the camera (I've got to stop doing that stuff! LOL) I did get pics of my looks though (in my self-obsessed fashion!) Love ya!

Goth a Go, Go!

I haven't blogged in a while, so I'm doing a series of updates.  First, I went to a goth club!  It was pretty freaking fun!  My friend Kai extended the invite, and I had to accept.  Music was good, vibe was good, drinks were cheap!  That was the reason I had one too many Manhattans (my new drink of choice.)  I forgot my camera in the car, so I only have pics of myself b/4 going to kai's and borrowing this ultra Final Fantasy-esqu corset.

My Tim has gone....

It is Mon. Feb. 7, 2011 and I just said bye to my friend.  He'll be gone until Aug. This is the first thing that has made me shed any tears in the past year.  I'm sad right now. That is all. Just sad.

The New Year Brings New Changes

Happy New Year! 2011 is upon us and it probably means different things to all of us.  For me it means acceptance and change.  As you can tell from earlier posts, prior to the New Year I made some big changes.  I decided to go natural, then cut off all of my hair, I embraced my inner drag queen Frederique DuBoise, and came to peace with the fact that I am an adult that love video games, comics, and all things geeky.  This was all in the process of accepting the fabulousity that is me.  On that note, I don't have any resolutions--not a single one.  I won't go through that head fuck this year, its kind of like setting yourself up for failure.  

Further changes came on New Year's Eve and that is where the story begins.  My initial plans were to stay @ home, play video games, and ring in the new year with my mom and bro--but I had a friend (Lady M) who wanted to go out.  Since she is in CA by herself, I decided to go out and celebrate with her.  She made me swear not to back out (like I've been doing lately), and I did.  Frederique DuBoise picked out an outfit, hair, and did fabulous makeup--She looked fierce!  I get to Lady M's house, spruce up her outfit (not enough if you ask me, but she looked better), and went to Palare.  Now, Palare is my least favorite club.  The men are not chivalrous, and the music is the same top 40 they play at every Sacramento club--but Lady M really wanted to go to this club, so I obliged because I can have fun at an old folks home as long as I look great and everyone around is having a fun time.


When we arrive around 10:30 p.m. it is packed, but okay.  The night goes on, and while I don't really like the music, everyone is having fun--even Lady M appears to be having fun.  But come 12:33 she taps me on the shoulder and says "let's go."  I mean are you effing kidding me!?  I pretended I had a hearing problem, and no matter how many times she said it, I wasn't hearing her.  I mingled, danced and had a good time since I was out anyways.  


We then left, when the club closed at 1:30 (Sacramento is truly the armpit of CA for many reasons) and went to find my sis.  When we got to the other club, I pointed out that the people were better dressed, and she commented that it looked like a black club (Lady M is Laos.)  I mean are you serious?!  I'm black, hello-goodbye.  And I replied that the only colored I'm concerned with is green.  By this point, I was truly over Lady M.


And If that is not bad enough, she felt the need to confess that she had been fooling around with some twenty year old that she thought I had a thing for (she's done this before.)  I had to remind her that he was 20, and a bit of an ass, and therefore I never really took him for anything but a really good friend.  Later that morning, I sent her an email calling it quits.  I was kind, and told her that we just should not hang out anymore.  All-in-all New Years was a bust, but I did get fabulous pics.  Lady M is in some of them, but out of courtesy, I'll block her face. Enjoy!  Oh yeah, I did wear a wig.  Mr. DuBoise thought it matched the look better.

There heeeerrrreeeeee……

My military boots came in the mail today and I absolutely love, love, love them!  They are so cute, chic, and tough at the same time.  I can’t wait until spring comes and I can wear them with shorts and skirts.  They look really cute with leggings though.  Funny thing is, I was playing Final Fantasy XIII when they came in, and they remind me of Lightnings boots.  Dope.

Spider-Girl #2 and Batman: Dark Knight #1

So I made my stop by my comic book store (Big Ups to Metrolpolis Comix) and picked up Spider-Girl #2 and Batman: Dark Knight #1, and let me say I am not disappointed!  Let’s start with Spider-Girl #2.  Last month I considered subscribing to this series, but I was on the fence.  I had heard that it was going to be an excellent, mind blowing series, but I wasn’t sure if I wanted to start collecting marvel comics again.  I sat in the comic store, scanned the first issue, and had it put in my subscription box at my local comic book store in case I wanted to purchase it.  It was left sitting there for at least 3 weeks.  When I went back in to pick up my usual (Wonder Woman and Batman Inc.) Spider Girl was waiting for me.  I took this as a sign of fate and decided to purchase it–and thank God/Kami/Buddha/Allah that I did!  I was instantly hooked.

In this new series, Spider Girl no longer has her powers; so she basically is just kicking ass on her own superior athletic ability.  One of the neat things about the comics is that she relates her adventures via tweet/some type of tweet like service.  It really makes the comic relatable and modern.
I also added Batman: Dark Knight to my subscription.  The artwork is good, and the story line seems to focus on Bruce being back in Gotham trying to locate an old friend/flame?  Where the story line is going is hard to tell, but so far it looks to be promising.
I dropped Batman Incorporated from my subscription after purchasing two issues.  I would like to say it was the story line that was too dull, but to be honest, I think that I just could not get past the artwork.  It really bugged the shit out of me.  It was just not aesthetically appealing to me.  I know its a shallow reason to drop a comic, but hey, I’m known to be shallow from time to time.
I also got a taste of my current wish list.  Walking Dead and Y: The Last Man.  I think I will be asking for something for my b’day.

Attorney’s are D*cks, Starbuck is Awesome, and a Wig is Okay every now and then…

Right now I’m sitting @ Starbucks waiting to go to an interview @ a bankruptcy firm for an Associate position.  This morning I was feeling pretty bummed/pissed off b/c of an interview I had yesterday @ another Bankruptcy firm.  Riddle me this: the managing attorney had my resume and even conducted a phone interview based on the resume; so why would he call me in to an interview to go point for point over all of the criminal experience that I have had and then say that he was going to keep looking for someone with more experience in the field?!?  And if that’s not bad enough, he asked if I had any writing samples other than criminal ones?!  Excuse me, did he not read my resume?  Did he not see that all of my experience is criminal?  What the F***?  This was just a waste of my time.  I would have respected if he simply (a) did not respond to my inquiry at all, or (b) sent a polite email that they were looking for someone with more experience.  Instead, I got dragged away from sending out more resumes and my ego got knocked down all just so he could see what a Berkeley Law Grad looked like?  Why is the legal field full of so many d***s?  The world may never know.

On another note, for my job interviews, instead of rocking my TWA, I have been donning my sisters “go to wig.” She has this theory that people in Sacramento are not prepared for natural women.  We shall see.  Me personally, I could care less.  I love my TWA, and I love changing my style every now and then with a wig/weave (as long as its not too often!) As for the job thing, we shall see.  I will def. post if I get any offers.  For now wish me luck on the job I have today!

Music I’m feeling for the Month of December

As anyone who knows me must know, I have a very, very, very eclectic taste in music.  This months music picks is a perfect example of that.  First, I have finally discovered Dubstep (or discovered the name for the music that I’ve been groovin’ to for a while.)  As a result, my artists choice for this month are Magnetic Man and Skrillex.  I cannot stop playing “I need Air.”  I play it so much my sister said she will kill herself if she hears it again.  And Skrillex’s mix of La Roux’s “In for the Kill” may be one of the most magnificent things I have ever heard.  Second, I love, love, love the Korean Pop group 2NE1.  Those b****es get down.  I just heard and saw the video for the song “It Hurts,” and I absolutely love it.  The voices are so soulful.  It’s definitely a must see. Find all three artists represented below. Peace.

After-Christmas Sale Haul

After Christmas, all of the family piled into Andy (my ’01 Blue Celica GTS) and went shopping.  We initially planned to go to the mall, but the streets just getting their was super crowded. So we did a quick change of plans, and went to Kohl’s.  At Kohl’s I picked up the cutest glove and skirts.  Gloves = 1.99. Skirt = 4.50.  We then headed over to Ross where I found the cutest Guess pumps for….10.99!  I <3 so much!  Sexy!!!!  I also ordered some lace-up military boots from makemechic.com.  They’ve just shipped, but when they arrive; I’ll put up a pic.

X-Mas!!!

My family stayed home this Christmas, and my Uncle Joe came into town.  I got up and styled my newly minted TWA, but everyone else decided to stay in more relaxed clothes.  Anywho, my mom and sis cooked gumbo (together sort of), and we had a movie marathon on the new 42″ LCD television.  We watched Snatch, SALT, Wrong Side of Town (a movie my sis bought for my brother) and something else no one can remember.  All in all it was a good Christmas.  

The Beatles in the City

I was in the City (SF) a few weekends ago, and came across this billboard several million times!  I absolutely love it!  Paul McCartney looks so scrumptious!  Yummy.

Kawaii Love Nails

My sister has a new-rekindled love for doing nails (how oxymoronic is that?) She found some adorable nail art paint at the $ store.  I let her do some designs on my nails and it came out pretty kawaii.  Check it out.