Free Will.I

Long ago, I heard that school is life and life is school. I agree, life is high school and it gets a whole lot worse. Now this -ish is happening on TV, the Internet and all in the press.
I woke up today to a Tweet from one of my friends from college about my future ex-husband, Will.I.Am having beef with my least favorite blogger in the entire Blogosphere, Perez Hilton. Usually, I could give less than a damn about what Hilton has to say, but I followed links today to his video statement on his website and to Will.I.Am's on his site.

I'm going to preface this with the fact that I am NOT an advocate of violence but it is about time somebody hit this bitch in his mouth! YEA I SAID IT! I'm all for free speech but there is a level of responsibility that comes along with it and he has been the opposite of that.
One of the first things you learn in journalism school is you have to be responsible for everything you write and say. Since seemingly everyone with a blog and an opinion lately fancies them self a journalist, you should be treated as such. Be responsible for what you say, this stuff has consequences.
Now, everybody in this equation acted in a juvenile manner and it needs to be stopped. If I had to choose a side just based on the videos and the situations, I would have to go with Willie on this one. He got out ahead of this thing first with his drunken video when he got home from the after parties. Add to the that the fact that Perez Hilton, in all his Drama Queen glory, produced a 12-minute soliloquy and pretty much told on himself by acknowledging the fact that he intentionally said -ish to upset the situation and the fact that he "took to Twitter" to blatantly lie and say that Will.I.Am personally struck him in the face.
The dude's Tweet reads verbatim: "I was assaulted by Will.I.Am of the Black Eyed Peas and his security guards. I am bleeding. Please, I need to file a police report. No joke." Now in his video he says it was the Black Eyed Peas' manager. There are so many holes in this story, it ain't even funny. And who Tweets after they've been assaulted?
Since all of this, Will.I.Am has started a Twitter account in attempt to clear his name. Personally, I don't think he should be buying into Hilton's particular brand of bull but it's not my name being drug through the mud either. I'm not being called a thug by a crying, blubbering idiot with an audience of millions. So yes, I understand his madness.
I just wanna know what Hilton was tryna accomplish going to Twitter. And why can't he be like normal people and not mention the fact that he got his ass kicked? Trust me when I tell you that if somebody kicks my ass, I am so not gonna jump on Twitter to tell my Tweeps that it happened.
When you get your ass kicked, you don't tell that. You gotta change up the story. He made himself a victim after he spent all that time running his trap about saying that because he dishes it, he could take it. Well, obviously, he couldn't take it because now he has a small cut under his eye and several Tweets to prove what Diddy has coined #Twitassness.
Hilton has managed to do what he has set out to do and that is draw attention to himself with this little cut he got on his eye and his river of crocodile tears. I swear, this mess has been like a damn high school soap opera all day long. It was a trending topic in the Twitterverse while there is so much real -ish going on.
SHAME ON YOU PEREZ HILTON AND WILL.I.AM! SHAME ON YOU! LoL.

*** By the way, my thoughts and prayers are with the families and the victims of the train collision in DMV today.***

About Jon & Kate ...

... leave them alone!
Please America, I'm begging you. For the love of all things holy and for the sanity and security of those eight innocent children, leave those people alone.
Yea, yea, yea. How dare I say leave reality TV stars alone? Because I believe it. So what they have a TV show on - cable TV. They are still entitled to their problems and issues in life but they DO NOT have a right to have their business and issues on front street for all the world to see.
First off, I am an avid viewer of the show. I think it's interesting to see such a young couple have so many children with so many different personalities deal with it all.
Secondly, I don't give a crap if they walk around with their own cameras filming -ish and putting it up on YouTube, who are we (America) to be judging anybody for what they are doing or not doing?!
OK, let me back up. Jon and Kate Gosselin married in 1999 after two years of dating. They experienced some fertility problems and they had trouble conceiving. They tried fertility drugs and long story short, they have eight children out of two pregnancies.
The had a set of twins first, Mady and Cara and later sextuplets, Aaden, Alexis, Joel, Hannah, Colin and Leah. TLC first approached them about doing a special on their unique family that turned into two specials and eventually a TV show. The show will begin its fifth season this summer and now we fast forward to their issues.
For the past five years, we've heard accusations about Kate's quirks and her need to clock Jon every few minutes. Regardless of the situation, they still appear to be a semi-functional family who is just trying to make it. Granted they thrust themselves into the public spotlight with that show but who can blame them for trying to make a little bit of change? They got eight kids to feed.
They have their issues right now with their relationship. Kate is claiming infidelity on Jon's part and he on hers. But the bottom line is people deal with these issues everyday - off camera. Why can't we give him the same luxury?
I think Michael Jackson said it best.

Sometimes I Wonder ...

- Was it always cold on "Good Times?"

- Why did Thelma always whine?

- Exactly how many times did she get engaged?

- How come Willonia just walked in without knocking?

- Who left their door unlocked living in the Chicago projects?

- How come people never say "bye" when they hang up the phone on TV?

- Who picks the people to interview for these VH1 specials?

- How come I don't know half these so-called comedians and actors on "Ego Trippin's Black to the Future?"

- How do I become one of these random people on VH1?

- Speaking of random -ish on VH1, am I the only person who refused to watched the foolishness that was "For the Love of Ray J?"

- Who do I need to curse out and/or beat down over there to stop from putting that crap on the air?

- Why do people give a crap about these D-list celebrities finding "love?"

- Speaking of that damn word, why do you coupled off people want to set your single friends up with other single people?

- If you know both people well, shouldn't you know they're incompatible?

- Don't you think if we wanted to hook up with each other, we would have said something before?

- Why is the dating process so damn taxing?

- What is it about "you irritate the -ish outta me" that you don't understand?

- Note to men on the DL, "YOU'RE NOT AS STRAIGHT LOOKING AS YOU THINK YOU ARE!"

- Do you ever see an odd-looking couple and wonder how in hell they met?

- Is it wrong that I give them names and back stories?

- Do you think I'll be caught doing it and forced to stop?

- I'm contemplating a week of silence, think I'll make it?

- I'm gonna do the 5K Walk for Lupus Now in the Queen City of Charlotte on Saturday. You guys wanna help me reach my fund raising goal? I know it's a recession and all, but I know you got $5. Click the link and help a chick meet her goal!

DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK!!!

Lee Woodruff, a freelance writer and the wife of wounded ABC News anchor Bob Woodruff, has written a book "Perfectly Imperfect: a Life in Progress." Don't buy it. Seriously, don't buy it. No I've not read it, I don't plan to. I don't really need to. I'm not posting a picture because that book gets no play up in here! I'll tell you why.
First, lemme just say that social networking sites are awesome!!! They allow us to keep up with our friends, family and co-workers and they give us a chance to get not so up close but personal with some of our favorite celebs.
Thanks to Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, YouTube and an endless list of blogs, I have been able to meet and in some cases converse with some of my favorite celebs and journalists like Kandi Burress from Xscape, MC Lyte, Royale Watkins and Rene Syler. Actually, Rene is the reason for this post.
For those of you who don't know her, Rene did a four-year stint as an anchor for the CBS Early Show and she penned the book "Good Enough Mother - The Perfectly Imperfect Book of Parenting." You guys saw her more recently hosting BET's inauguration coverage.
She was let go from The Early Show about two years ago round the time that she underwent a double mastectomy to drastically reduce her chance of developing breast cancer. Since then, she's been working to build her web site and network of GEMs (Good Enough Mothers).
Since the book came out, Rene has been on her grind. First promoting the book. Then, doing speaking engagements and raising awareness about breast cancer, which both of her parents battled and last but certainly NOT least, raising two kids and a husband! *tehehehe*
Because we are friends on Facebook and I follow her tweets, I have seen a lot of her videos and read her blog on her website and I know she's coined a lot of terms. According to the U.S. Patent and Trademark office, she's even trademarked the terms "The Good Enough Mother," and "GEM," in 2006. And guess what else she trademarked? You've guessed it, "perfectly imperfect."
Because Woodruff and her publishers have allegedly stolen Rene's work, you'd think this could all be settled with a lawsuit, right? WRONG! Apparently, a judge has ruled that Woodruff and her publishers are merely exercising their first amendment rights in naming the book.
Not only that, apparently, Woodruff is on the speaking circuit speaking to groups about women's issues. Now, call me crazy, but this somehow sounds like this Woodruff chick is trying to jack Rene's swag - allegedly.
Ya'll know that I'm all for the First Amendment, but what I'm not for is bastardizing it for a monetary gain. I hope everything will work out for Rene but I also hope that you guys DO NOT buy this book. In fact, tell everyone you know not to buy that book.
I always like to see fellow journalists succeed, but I can't co-sign for anyone succeeding while trampling the work of others - allegedly. I hope Oprah and the ladies on "The View" get a hold of this story and do it objectively without the sympathetic slant.
Click her pic to visit Rene's site or click the link to visit her YouTube Channel. Follow her on Twitter or do a search for her on Facebook. If we're friends on Facebook, she's on my friend list. Send some prayers and encouragement her way, she's in the middle of the fight of her life!

About performance enhancing drugs ...

... I don't care.
For the past couple of weeks, news has surfaced that that super-phoine Alex Rodrigez tested positive for performance enhancing drugs back in 2003 when he played with the Texas Rangers.
SO!
The league didn't give a crap about steroids then so why should we? Now everybody's saying that calls all his achievements on the field into question because they don't know if he's been under the influence of a helper.
Honestly, I don't remember there being a whole lot of uproar on the part of anyone about steroids until the now deceased wrestler, Chris Benoit, offed his family and himself in a fit of 'Roid Rage. I'm not saying that wasn't sad, but he obviously was using too much or he shouldn't have been using that particular kind or something.
OK, I lied, I do care. I'm in favor of them, for the most part.
How is a sports fanatic like Smarty Jones in favor of "performance enhancing drugs?" I'm glad you asked.
Hear me out. As consumers and fans, we expect to see professional athletes do amazing things on the field, court and in the ring. Hell, you spend your hard earned money on those expensive ass jerseys, tickets and the expensive ass food in the arenas if you are fortunate enough to attend a game. Why shouldn't they put on an awesome show?
I'm not saying it should be like "Gladiator" where they have dudes fighting to the death, but damn, I don't want to pay $65 to see the Charlotte Bobcats get blown out when all they need to do is shoot up to get as good as their opponents!
I think if these guys are going to get juiced up, they should do it under the supervision of a trained, health care professional and not get all this crap on the black market that is causing their best asset to shrivel up and make them stupid and angry.
I swear man, if everybody could learn to kept their dang mouth shut like Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens, there wouldn't be any problems. Shoot, if the sports world would just go ahead and open up their minds, we can avoid scenes like this one:

It's time to wake up!!!

When I was nine, I saw my cousin's husband beat her. She'd just thrown him out of the house a couple of weeks before. They had a four-year-old and a one-year-old.
He came to the door saying he wanted to see the kids, when she opened the door to tell him to leave, he forced his way in and jumped on top of her hitting her in the face.
He left after my sister called the police. The whole thing probably lasted less than 10 minutes, but in my adolescent mind, it was an eternity. That was the first time domestic violence ever hit that close to home.
I had only seen men beat their wives on television. I had no reason to believe it actually happened. My father didn't beat my mother and to my knowledge, my grandfather never beat my grandmother.
All this happened nearly 18 years ago and I have never forgotten it. My point is, I never will. I still remember the fear in my cousin's eyes and the sheer evil that was in the eyes of her now ex-husband. The whole thing amazed, frightened and saddened me all at the same time.
A little more than a week ago, when news broke that Chris Brown and Rhianna had a domestic incident that resulted in assault on Rhianna, it brought all those feelings back and I don't even know them.
It seems like since everybody started watching Lifetime Movies on Sunday afternoons that we've all become desensitized to domestic violence. We don't hear about it until October during Domestic Violence Awareness Month or a woman in your city has been killed by her abusive husband and the evening news decides to throw the public some statistics.
Our society is based so much on living vicariously through our entertainers and following their every move, it almost feels like I do know them. If that's not enough, I have a couple of young nieces who are in love with that boy and have the nerve to defend him.
Friday night, I sat down to discuss with my 10-year-old niece why she thinks he didn't do it. It went a little something like this:
Niece: He wouldn't do that.
Me: Why the hell not?
Niece: Because he's Chris Brown.
Me: All the more reason for him to believe he could get away with it.
Niece: Well how do you know he did it?
Me: I don't. But if he got arrested for assault on a female, there's a pretty good chance it happened.
Niece: Well, people who didn't do it go to jail all the time.
Me: You're right, but in domestic violence cases, police tend to arrest the aggressors.
Niece: What's an ah-gress-rr?
Me: It's the person who did the most damage.
Niece: Well how you know that she wasn't the ah-gress-rr?
Me: I don't know. But the reports say that she had visable signs that she was abused.
Niece: She coulda just got in a fight with somebody else.
Me: You're right, but the chances are pretty good it was him.
Did I tell ya'll she was 10? I'm gonna get this kid into somebody's law school or j-school, she'd be great at either!
Anyway, odds are you know someone who has been affected by domestic violence in one way or another. I challenge you all to educate yourselves and others. If you are involved in an abusive relationship, get out and get help or get help so you can get out.
Love is not supposed to hurt, it's supposed to be "patient, kind, not puffed up" and everything else it says in I Corinthians. Today is the day that those blood sucking retailers and gullible people have set aside for "love," so let's remember what it actually means.
Make everyday Valentine's Day, tell your loved ones how you feel about them and by all means, keep your hands to yourself!

Old Bitties ...

... need to leave the young chicks alone.
So, I was watching Headline News this morning, like every other morning, and a story came up about Etta James blasting Beyonce for performing "At Last" at the Neighborhood Inaugural Ball.

OK, I saw it and I think she did a great job singing a song while the whole world watched to see her mess up Etta's song. Everybody of every generation since that song came out knows who originated that sound and that awesome song, she doesn't have to put Bey down.
Under normal circumstances, I am all for talking about how Bey is over-saturating the market with herself, but you gotta give credit where credit is due and she deserves the credit for a great performance.
Check it out:

What do you think?
The conversation on Twitter was that they should have just asked James to do it because she is still alive. My answer to that is have you people eh-ver seen her in concert? She's still got it as a vocalist and she probably always will.
But that woman is nasty and I mean nasty like that woman on "Meet the Browns." She was gyrating all over the stage and humping and whatnot at her age. Add to that the fact that she can't go as long as she used to. The whole show, opening acts and all, lasted about an hour. I was so glad I didn't pay for those tickets.
Another old bitty whose time has passed is Faye Dunaway. In response to a remake of the movie "Bonnie & Clyde," where she gave her break out performance, that will star Hilary Duff, she said, "Couldn't they at least cast a real actress?"
Just me or is that some hateration in that dance-o-ree?!
So to not be outdone, Duff has shown that she's not only the younger of the two but she's more equipped as she had more ammo for the "Mommie Dearest" star.
Duff's retort, "I think that my fans that are going to go see the movie don't even know who she is."
She continued, "I think it was a little unnecessary, but I might be mad if I looked like that now too."
I effin' LOVE it!!! We haven't even heard from or about Dunaway in years. She should have at least waited until the movie was released to trash it.
All of this just shows me that these women feel like their legacies are threatened by the new starlets. Jealousy is not cute on anyone and it looks even worse on those seasoned folks. I recommend these ladies do something I'm sure they know a lot about.
In the immortal words of the great prophet, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, "Drink some prune juice and let that -ish go!"