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!

Eight is e-damn-nough!!!

So, I know this is sooooo last week's news, but I am just now getting around to posting about it.
I'm sure you all have heard of Nadya Suleman or at least her great feat of delivering eight babies on the same day. That's is without doubt newsworthy, but perhaps the most newsworthy thing of all is that this woman is single and already had six other children at home.
*Insert all your four-letter expletives and grunts here*
Did I mention that she's unemployed and all the kids are younger than eight? I'll say it for you, "Double Damn!"
OK, so, I was trying to get myself together on this one before I gave my opinion. Part of me says, she's a grown woman and she can do what she wants. Another part of me says, how is she going to take care of all those kids by herself. And yet another part of me is concerned about her mental and emotional well-being.
Let's do the math of how she got all these kids in the first place. First off, according to the Jones Institute for Reproductive medicine, I swear it's not me, the In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) success rate varies based on age and the health of both the male and female donors. I won't bog you down with numbers, but based on my research, for each of the six embryos implanted into Suleman had about a 48 percent chance of survival.
So you see, the fact that all six embryos survived, and two split to form two sets of identical twins, it is no doubt a miracle that this woman was able to carry these babies for as long as she did and that they all survived.
Given that, I say we all praise the Lord and pray for her and her family in the same breath. As a Christian, I know God doesn't make any mistakes, but giving this woman 14 children at the age of 33 leads me to believe that He blinked or sneezed or something.
That woman might as well shave her head and admit herself to a psych ward now. After this, I hope she's had her tubes tied, cut, clipped and burned so that this does not happen again and whatever "friend" she's been getting sperm from needs to stop giving it to her.
Now, the state of California is "probing" into why she was allowed to have more than four embryos implanted at once and they are investigating her doctor. Quite frankly, I think these people need to get out of this woman's uterus and work on something that matters like the damn economy!
The only reason this is even an issue is because this woman is single and because she is unemployed. My question is, who the freak isn't unemployed or in danger of being unemployed? The bottom line is she was impregnated seven months ago, where were all these people then?
They didn't have any reason to step in then and they don't have any reason to step in now. Leave that woman and her uterus alone and let her hit Oprah and Ellen to get some free diapers and clothes and stuff for those kids. She's gonna need it.
In a few interviews last week, Suleman told reporters that she's always wanted a big family to make up for the fact that she was an only child. And she also had three miscarriages over a seven-year period.
This is why I am concerned about her emotional state because from what I understand, once you've lost a baby, you never really recover. Plus, I watch "Jon and Kate Plus Eight" and "Then Came Six" and I see what those families go through with two parents in the house, God only knows what she will go through by herself. My heart goes out to her, it really does.
*SMH*
On a side note, she said she plans to breast feed them all, is it just me or do you think her nipples are going to fall off?

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!"