Musical

Rukus! ... reps Nigeria born in U.S.A. (Imo not Enugu State but it's all love). I think it's beautiful that African messages are being passed through our generation's music. We'll have to bring him to the Bay someday... I wore his CD out! Cop his CDs! More pix of this cutie...

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Mary J. Blige: What people say about her music touching their soul is so true - I would have murdered people my younger youth had it not been for "Love is All We Need". And somebody in my fam better buy me her newest CD, Reflections, for Christmas else there's gonna be problems. Finally Queen of Hip Hop Soul gets props from mainstream America!

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Amerie: Another artist I LOVE! I believe she's the next MJB (see above) because her music is so real. All I Have didn't blow up like Touch, but she needs to drop an album of singles like Janet or Mary do to solidify her true status: I missed her performance at the "Destiny Fulfilled" concert in Atlanta where she & Mario opened, for which I pouted (at the time I wanted to see the openers, not the headliners...). A friend pointed out that Amerie only had 3 major songs from 2 albums; I replied that her albums are good but not enough singles make radio. Hopefully her new CD,Take Control, brings more respect to her...

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My sister called me out about my musical tastes: it's true I'm old school at heart...well, not old school but the '90's had the best music! There's an article in Jan/Feb Vibe that pays tribute to music from this era (it's not online so I'm gonna have to scan it) and features new artists who sound like that era (because they're our age and were brought up on it). So yes, Mint Condition, Tony Toni Tone, Janet Jackson, En Vogue, Mary J Blige, Jodeci, Mista, Tevin Campbell, LL Cool J, Tony Terry, Soul 4 Real, Another Bad Creation, Bell Biv Devoe, and countless others should be mentioned here (especially since some still rock my MP3 player regularly) but I guess I highlighted the above because they're more recent, my students have a tendency to call my favorite music "old skool" (and I have a tendency to struggle not to clown them-LOL), and I genuinely like their music, maybe because it sounds like what I grew up on but a bit more modern. So that's that Josephine!

LMAO! Get that money baby!

Watching Run's House. Rev. Run is trying to retire and is putting all his kids to work to get out his pocket. He sets his youngest son up with a garage sale. This child puts on a 3-piece suit to sell on their driveway. He makes over $100 selling his stuff. Russy is so cute. Then Angela and Vanessa come up with another business idea. I hadn't realized there was no market for women's athletic shoes, mostly because I won't work out (no comments from the peanut factory!!), but come to think of it when I did buy sneakers for walking with a friend I was shocked that my local athletic store didn't have anything I liked. In high school I had plenty of options for my 3 sports but the store did have a limited color palette if you're not girly-girly. But boy, Rev. Run's kids are on the loose...a new generation of Simmons trying to get our money!

Confused State of Affairs

How do they do it? Get a job, display complete incompetence and retain said job? Does no one see the truth? They say "you can fool some of the people some of the time but not all of the people all the time", I always seem to smoke people out and get hated on for it but I wonder how others don't catch on? The situation shall remain off the blog for confidentiality but DAMN! how many more times will I have to put up with these situations? It makes job longevity hard for me because I won't deal with other people's incompetence, ESPECIALLY when they to make me the scapegoat for their mistakes, which never works because most people can't fool me. So, what do we do? Keep on keeping on and try to stay ahead of the negativity and keep writing to vent frustrations.

I'm getting married!

The signs all point to it: I've seen

• a ring I love (Daniel K Uternity Band)
  


• a dress I love (Robert Danes Marisol 20162)
  


• I already own shoes I love that are perfect for any occasion


• a man I love!?!?!?!?

Well, there's no man I love yet so no wedding. And I suppose there are no "signs", it's wedding season as magazines advertise for the June brides...but still, someday all these elements will come together!

I am a Diamond:

Your beauty is both breathtaking and stunning. Your friends could see you everyday and still be enchanted.

Click here to take this quiz

About diamond shapes

I've been robbed 2 times in the past 3 months

In trying to get Oakland Police Department to my house to take a police report of a breaking and entering and stolen goods, my family and I have now spent approximately 10 hours wasted waiting for an officer to show up. I woke up and called OPD around 5:20am and received a successful dispatch; unfortunately I was trying to convey the information to my parents, OPD left voicemail instead of actually calling me, which would have interrupted my other phone calls, and within 5 minutes had visited my house and left. We then allowed sufficient time intervals to pass, calling every half hour for status, and at 6:30am were notified that the officer on our beat was meeting with the sergeant (presumably for breakfast at that hour) and we were next on his schedule.

The second robbery had to do with Emeryville Police Department. I was at work and 2 individuals decided to hold myself and a client up for our belongings when it became evident that the business did not have funds on hand. Unfortunately they got away with quite a bit because I carry too many valuable objects in my purse. When my tied hands were freed from their ropes I called 911 to report the incident: the officers who showed up couldn't even do us the courtesy of coming to our aid, I had to walk outside to prove there was no hostage situation before they would come to the building. We spent another 2 hours while they took our statement and took fingerprints of what they could; in that time the individuals used my atm cards to get fuel (a whole other 10-15 calls to my bank to resolve). It has been 2 months to the day of that incident: I had to find time to visit Emeryville PD myself to get a copy of the police report so my employer could *hopefully* reimburse me for some of my stolen items; in order to have the report mailed I had to send them a letter and apparently no officer or detective thought about dropping it off despite the fact that Emeryville is about 20 blocks long and I have seen several of them in the interim since the event. Though I was able to get the detective to commit to showing me Emeryville's facebook of known suspects this week, he left voicemail that another case had priority, did I catch the news? I replied him back that no: with 2 jobs I barely watch television which is also why it took us 2 months to get back in contact.

The outcome is that if I were not here, alive to blog about these incidents and provide in-person testimony, these robberies would have been investigated more timely and thoroughly than they have been since I am alive to write about the incidents. How sad is that? I understand strained resources very well: I am after all a teacher in Oakland Unified School District. I don't understand the disregard for customer service and indeed human life: by not solving the small crimes the police leave the way wide open for criminals to become more emboldened and commit larger crimes. Why not since they have no records proving their involvements in smaller crimes so the consequences for getting caught are much lower than with a proven criminal history.

In the meantime, I have received a traffic violation that I must now find time to go to court to fight because it is bogus: the result of a trigger-happy camera light. I regularly witness 3 police cruisers pull over 1 car for minor traffic violations. I see officers break up peaceful celebrations early as working adults attempt to relax after a work week, admittedly these are persons of the "majority", mainstream media would call them "minorities". As I continue to wait patiently for my tax dollars to assist me in my time of need I wonder if there is a way to not pay for certain services or hold people accountable? All I can do at this moment is to continue fighting my personal battles and leave it to those who have more time to battle the powers that be. But someday I hope to bring my experiences to broader light because change is definitely needed.

So disappointed in [so-called] law enforcement

A lot has happened in these last couple of months where I have had contact with law enforcement and been very dissatisfied in their service levels or indeed common sense. After the robbery the detective has been very unresponsive to catching the criminals to the tune of there may be fingerprints on an item I have had in my possession since January and he has made no attempts to come collect this "evidence". Today I called 911 from my cellphone to report a man writhing on the ground: the entire phone call took 4:11 minutes. I was transferred at least 3 times, spoke to 2 individuals, repeated the same info 2 times, and was speaking to someone who needed to clean her earwax. It took an ambulance less than 5 minutes to get there, which was good, but the dumb-asses you speak to on the phone, and admittedly not just in law enforcement because I'm about to fire my bank (Washington Mutual) also due to dumb-asses, but in an emergency, do you want to speak to someone insensitive/demanding/stoopid? I practice maintaining patience because I am naturally impatient, but in life and death situations you want someone on the ball, right?

Fame and Fortune...

...is not all it's cracked up to be. A pseudo-co-worker (pseudo because she works with us not for us) returned to the Bay from another job because she was making more money but not getting enough time with her kids. Smart move? Some would say the extra money is good for her kids' college funds or to provide a better living for her family. Having been in a similar position (choosing between a life or a job) I can understand. But what about the what-ifs? If you're happy with your decision, the what-ifs should be minimal

Personality Type

You Have A Type A- Personality

You are one of the most balanced people around Motivated and focused, you are good at getting what you want You rule at success, but success doesn't rule you. When it's playtime, you really know how to kick back Whether it's hanging out with friends or doing something you love! You live life to the fullest - encorporating the best of both worlds

You Have A Type B+ Personality

You're a pro at going with the flow You love to kick back and take in everything life has to offer A total joy to be around, people crave your stability. While you're totally laid back, you can have bouts of hyperactivity. Get into a project you love, and you won't stop until it's done You're passionate - just selective about your passions

Do You Have a Type A Personality?