I Stand With Planned Parenthood

For a long time now, abortion has been one of those topics that people either try to stay away from or will fight to the death for, because so many people have such strong opinions about it. Now, I honestly feel like people, as far as politics go, are only so against the whole thing, not just because they don't support it, but because they are against the head honcho who decided he was pro-choice. But, that's neither here nor there.
The thing I want to touch on today is the situation with planned parenthood. In case you weren't aware, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to bar all federal funding for Planned Parenthood health centers. Why? What exactly does that solve? Is this their way of trying to prevent abortion? And are they saying that this is a plan to improve the economy or some load of bull? If so, I pretty much think that's dumb. It wouldn't do much good to get rid of PP. Instead of leaving women on their own to figure things out for themselves, why not continue providing the assistance they need? PP is probably one of the best, most supportive things out there for PLENTY of women, providing things like birth control and HIV testing, "and other livesaving care." What would taking that away truly accomplish? Anywhoo..
If you haven't already, I strongly encourage you to sign this petition in support of keeping Planned Parenthood around. Read up on some more information if you're not sure what all Planned Parenthood is good for. Visit: this site to sign the open letter and to find more information about the current situation.
Also, I'm totally with the whole idea of speaking out and trying to change something. I support the hell out of this movement.
Sign that shit. Save some lives. Attend the facebook event. Show whatever support you can.

♥

Word of the Day: hypnagogic [hip-nuh-GO-jik] adj: of, pertaining to, or occurring in the state of drowsiness preceding sleep.

Challenge Accepted.

So, I've been seeing people around facebook doing this things, and I've decided to get jiggy with it myself. In case anyone wants to do that shit, here's the list. I think it should be fun.

Day 01 - A picture of yourself with ten facts

Day 02 - A picture of you and the person you have been closest with the longest

Day 03 - A picture of the cast from your favorite show

Day 04 - A picture of your night

Day 05 - A picture of your favorite memory

Day 06 - A picture of a person you'd love to trade places with for a day

Day 07 - A picture of your most treasured item

Day 08 - A picture that makes you laugh

Day 09 - A picture of the person who has gotten you through the most

Day 10 - A picture of the person you do the most ****** up things with

Day 11 - A picture of something you hate

Day 12 - A picture of something you love

Day 13 - A picture of your favorite band or artist

Day 14 - A picture of someone you could never imagine your life without

Day 15 - A picture of something you want to do before you die

Day 16 - A picture of someone who inspires you

Day 17 - A picture of something that has made a huge impact on your life recently

Day 18 - A picture of your biggest insecurity

Day 19 - A picture and a letter

Day 20 - A picture of somewhere you'd love to travel

Day 21 - A picture of something you wish you could forget

Day 22 - A picture of something you wish you were better at

Day 23 - A picture of your favorite book

Day 24 - A picture of something you wish you could change

Day 25 - A picture of your day

Day 26 - A picture of something that means a lot to you

Day 27 - A picture of yourself and a family member

Day 28 - A picture of something you're afraid of

Day 29 - A picture that can always make you smile

Day 30 - A picture of someone you miss

Day 31 - A picture of yourself

Slack. Err...

Once again, I apologize, everybody, for slacking on the posting. I haven't even been that busy to not be posting things. I just haven't found the will to do it.
Anywho. Today I'm going to talk a little about one reason why I'm not a huge fan of the human race.
I can honestly say I know a fake person. I have honestly been through the experience of knowing a person that used to be a good friend of mine; I was a good friend to this person. This person would confide in me in any instance that presented itself. But here we are. I won't even bother to tell this person happy birthday. Why should I, this person didn't say anything to me on my birthday. And I know for a fact this person knows when my birthday is; it's only 9 days before their's.
I remember the last conversation I had with this person. They specifically said to me that they were trying to be friends with as many people as possible, and that popularity was like the only thing of importance to them. They were so self conscious about themselves that they were willing to do anything to be "friends" with people who didn't give a rat's ass about them. I've spoken to this person maybe three times since then. And now we don't even speak. I was the one person that listened to the serious things this person had going on in the back of their mind, but I get no credit for that, because I wasn't one of the "popular" kids, who were probably some of the fakest people I've ever know. [For the most part. I'm cool with a couple of them, because they're actually cool people.] But this one person in particular, who my mother still asks about on occasion, has the nerve to act like I don't even exist, because I'm not important enough to be a part of his "friendship" circle.
This happens all too often. And I hate that it does. I hate phony people. I hate people that are so attention starved that, when they finally get the attention they want, they don't realize it's for the wrong reasons.
Just wanted to get that off my chest. Thanks for your time.

♥

Word of the Day: doppelganger [DOP-uhl-gang-uhr] noun: a ghostly double or counterpart of a living person; alter ego, double

Black History of the Day

Here's a few names that are familiar around Chicago. Instead of just knowing them as names, here's a bit of information about them.

Gwendolyn Elizabeth Brooks (June 7, 1917 – December 3, 2000) was an American writer. She was appointed Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress in 1985

Percy Lavon Julian (April 11, 1899 – April 19, 1975) was an African American research chemist and a pioneer in the chemical synthesis of medicinal drugs from plants.

Walter Payton (July 25, 1954 – November 1, 1999) was an American football player who spent his entire professional career with the National Football League's Chicago Bears.

Harold Pierce (August 11, 1917 – March 8, 1988) was an African-American entrepreneur who founded the successful Harold's Chicken Shack restaurant chain in Chicago. The character of Harold's developed primarily out of necessity, because the larger fast food chains tended to avoid African-American neighborhoods.

Harold Lee Washington (April 15, 1922 – November 25, 1987) was an American lawyer and politician who became the first African American Mayor of Chicago, serving from 1983 until his death in 1987.

Whitney Moore Young Jr. (July 31, 1921 – March 11, 1971) was an American civil rights leader.

Prince and the King

Sup kiddos.

In a brief conversation that I had yesterday, I discovered that somebody [I'm assuming VH1 or something] comprised a list of the 100 greatest artists of all time. Apparently, the list had Prince listed as number 7.

Not only is Prince one of my [and my mother's] all time favorite artists, but this man deserves so much credit. So, naturally, I objected. First of all, and you can fight me on this, but Michael Jackson was ranked as number two. I felt that Prince should have ranked higher than Michael. Yeah, I said it, there it is.

There's a difference between being a great performer and a great musician. Michael Jackson was an amazing performer. He had all types of stage presence, is still the dance idol for numerous people, and could sing like an angel. Prince, however, could dance, sing, and control a crowd, and still make all of his own music, as well as music for other people. I think all of that makes Prince the better artist in this case. After decades, this man is still making music and has musicians all over the place trying to be like him.

Don't get me wrong, I love Michael, but I don't think it's totally fair to call him the second greatest artist of all time and plop Prince in 7th place.

Just wanted to put that out there.

That's all I got for today.

♥

P.S. Happy birthday to that one chick across the hall. Her name's Janine or something like that...lol. If you haven't already, check out her blog

Black History of the Day

On June 7, 1958, Prince Rogers Nelson was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota to a jazz singer [his mother] and a piano playing songwriter [his father]. Since both of his parents were musicians, Prince and his sister, Tika [or Tyka] both developed an interest in music. Prince also played basketball in high school. [Yes, Dave Chappele and Charlie Murphy weren't lying.] Prince has taught himself how to play over 20 instruments, and has released over 30 of his own albums in under 40 years. This doesn't even include the number of albums he has helped create with other people. He has been nominated for 34 grammy awards and has paved the way for multiple musicians. Throughout his lifetime, he has dealt with divorced parents, epilepsy, drug habits, and the loss of a child. Not only is he a beast of a musician, but he's one of the strongest people I've ever witnessed. And, therefore, I want to be like him when I grow up. ^_^ lol

Word of the Day: effluvium [ih-FLOO-vee-uhm] noun: a slight or invisible exhalation or vapor, especially one that is disagreeable.

Food For Thought

Yesterday was full of discussion about relationship issues and such. I did more observing than discussing, however, because I didn't really have much to discuss in terms of my own relationship. However, after a discussion with my boyfriend and after a drunk guy tried to see my tattoo, I got to thinking about a lot of stuff. This is one of those posts where I do more airing of my thoughts and asking questions than giving my own words of wisdom to the world, I guess.

My boyfriend is apparently secretly worried that I'm going to get into something I shouldn't get into while I'm in college without him. Basically. He said, "believe it or not, you're actually very pretty," and that he trusts me, but he doesn't really trust other people. He also expressed to me that he was worried about what would happen if I wasn't in my right mind, so to speak. I assured him that I wasn't the type of person to do anything that I knew would hurt anyone else, especially him, and that I wasn't the type of person to get intoxicated out of my mind to the point where I would do something ridiculous.

Then, I started thinking about a few things. What I said was definitely true. I've always been considerate of other people's feelings. It's not even just the fact that he is my boyfriend and I do care about him. I'm just too nice of a person to want to do anything that would make someone feel bad in any way. At the same time, everyone else around me is constantly telling me to, more or less, keep my options open, including my mother and god mother. I don't really know how to "keep my options open" and at the same time not look like I'm doing this guy wrong. Sure, I'll make friends, and I don't do anything but converse with people, but is that me keeping my options open? I've gotten better at decoding people's motives, but what happens if someone that starts off as a friend tries to become something else? What do I do then, not be friends with other guys? Not really, right?

Also, I found it kinda funny that both of us are kinda worried about the same thing. We're miles upon miles away from each other. We're two crazy kids, one in high school and one in college. We don't know what the other is doing, and we don't trust other people. So we both get paranoid, even though, honestly, I feel a little more at ease knowing that he's just as concerned as I am. He says that, since I'm in college, anything could happen, from me getting into some crazy shit at a party to me just finding someone else to hang out with, I guess. And he's in high school. Who's to stay he's going to want to be in a serious relationship right now? Especially with someone that's a state away from him. It's scary. And we're both scared. But we've promised each other that we wouldn't do anything to hurt the other if we can help it.

I guess my main question is what happens if we can't help it? What if something comes up with one of us that makes the other uncomfortable or upset? I think if that happens, it'll just be a test of how serious we are about this. Like, if we break up, we break up. But if we take the time to fight it out, then maybe it's something worth fighting for.

He once told me that if I did ever cheat on him, he wouldn't break up with me. I thought that was stupid, since if he did it to me, I'd break up with him.. But it was also nice to hear him say that, because it made me feel like I was actually worth him being that stupid.

We're both stupid for each other.

I guess that's all I've got to say for now. Catch y'all tomorrow.

♥

Word of the Day: eclat [ey-KLAH] noun: brilliance of success, reputation, etc.; showy or elaborate display; acclamation, acclaim.

Black History of the Day

In 1865, the 13th Amendment was ratified, abolishing slavery.

In 1868, the 14th Amendment was ratified, saying that any person born in America was an American citizen.

And, finally, in 1870, the 15th Amendment was ratified, granting every US citizen [meaning males over the age of 21] the right to vote, regardless of race or ethnic background.

Take advantage of those rights. Register to vote, and go out there and vote. :P

So This is a Snow Day?

Sup kiddos.

Today, I'm having my first legit snow day. Once, when I was a wee lass, we got to leave school early due to a blizzard, but never have I ever had a legitimate snow day. This excites me, but, at the same time, I'm bored as hell...

Three things I'm going to talk about today.

1] In regard to the snowpocalypse that we will be having these next few days, I will be documenting the experience with my iphone camera. I've been looking out the window, and, so far, it doesn't look as bad as people are making it out to be. Yes, there's a lot of snow, but, c'mon. I'm from Chicago. This would have been a normal day. Ain't no days off of school in this. However, back home, there's word of a snow day tomorrow. So I'm assuming this means things will get worse.. So, from my window, I will be watching the upcoming monstrosity and hoping to not have to go outside and get blown to the land of Oz.

2] Today is the first day of February. This means a) the first day of Black History Month b) Langston Hughes's birthday. In honor of BHM, I will be posting something black history related every day of February. It'll just be a quick fact thing of some sort on an important African American person in history.

Also, Langston Hughes was one hell of a poet. He's awesome in any month. Here's one of his poems, Juke Box Love Song . I thought it was pretty nice. Other Hughes poems can be found all over the internet, so, if you enjoy poetry, check his out. It's nice.

Hughes was born in Joplin, Missouri on February 1, 1902 as James Langston Hughes. He attended high school in Ohio and went to Columbia University under an agreement with his father that he would go to pursue an engineering degree. However, Hughes dropped out of school to pursue a writing career. His first published poem, as well as one of his most popular poems, was The Negro Speaks of Rivers . Langston Hughes died of cancer on May 22, 1967. His residence at 20 East 127th Street in Harlem, New York has been given landmark status by the New York City Preservation Commission. His block of East 127th Street was renamed "Langston Hughes Place".

[thanks famouspoetsandpoems.com!]

3] In case you don't read The Frisky [check my Other Good Reads section to the right], here's a new article that caught my eye today. In case you don't feel like switching pages or reading or whatever, here's the video for the product they talk about in the article...

....what...the....hell?

Lol, I wonder if dudes actually enjoy this thing...

Ta ta for now, y'all.

♥

Word of the Day: ambisinister [am-bee-SIN-uh-stuhr] adjective: clumsy or unskillful with both hands.