Day 17: What is Your Favorite Genre of Movies?

My favorite genre of movies has to be the romantic comedy. I am a sucker for sappy love stuff. I also love comedy, so mixing the two together....instant win! The race of the cast members doesn't matter to me either way. I watch them all from Brown Sugar to My Best Friend's Wedding (..two of my favorite movies).

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Day 16: What Did You Want To Be As A Child?

When I was a child, I think the dream that I had for myself changed with the wind. By the time I was in the 8th grade, I think that it was cemented in my mind what I wanted to do. I wanted to be a band director. By then, I had been in my school's band for 3 years and taking private clarinet lessons for 2 years. I was obsessed with music and everything that went into it. That was the first thing I can remember that I had a great passion for. I did everything in my power to learn as much about my craft as possible. I carried that passion straight to college. I was a music major for my freshman year.....then realized that I had stepped into the 7th circle of hell other passions that I wanted to make happen outside of music. Making music a career made me lose my love of it. So I let it go as a way to keep my love of music fresh. I did manage to minor in music.....making my degree a really creative one.

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Day 15: What Decade Do You Think You Should Have Been Born In?

I'm an 80's baby. I spent all of my formative years growing up in the 90's. I think that I grew up at the best time because the world is going to hell in a hand basket these are turbulent times we are living in. If I got the choice, I would have liked to have born in the 1970s. Music tends to evokes memories inside my mind. Music from that era tries to jump start a memory, but can't process it. Like I may have been here before. The 1970's were the business when it comes to music. I would have loved to have been a part of the feminist movement. The culture of the 1970s speaks to my soul.

What about you guys? What decade speaks to your soul?

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Day 14: Something You're Addicted To

Coffee!!! This is a recent development. I didn't really start drinking coffee until I was working at Jacob Law Group. That job gave me blues, lol. Because it was SO monotonous, I needed something to keep me going. Now I have to have it anytime I need to devote several hours to something. I'm not even particular. I would spring for Starbucks if there was one in my city. I'm more at home with Folgers, lol.

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Day 13: Favorite Season and Why?

My favorite season is fall. It is my favorite season because the seasons that we experience in Mississippi are: Hot, Hot As Hell, Not So Hot, and Cool. Fall goes into that "cool" season, lol. All of my favorite memories are in the fall because football season in the fall. Football games, marching bands, cool weather, falling leaves.....my time of year.

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The Game vs. Let's Stay Together: Do We Really Support Healthy Relationships?

Tuesday, January 11, 2011 was a very monumental day for many people in the Black community because it meant the long awaited return on The Game on BET. That show has a cult following. I can honestly say that I was one of those 7.7 million people who were pins and needles to see the continuation of the story of Melanie, Derwin, Tasha, Malik, Kelly, and Jason. Then the train wreck show came on. BET (and of course the original writers who they said all came back....that fact that I question seriously) managed to turn The Game into fried chicken, Black & Milds, and a Maury paternity test show. Thanks! The show really broke down to these simple themes.

1. Melanie is still traumatized by the fact that Derwin has a baby with his ex-girlfriend, Janay. She goes behind his back and gives the baby a DNA test. Finds out the baby doesn't belong to Derwin. Derwin, who's attached to said 2 year old, doesn't want to know the results because he loves the baby. Melanie tells him anyway. Melanie then finds out that the test was wrong and holds back that information from Derwin. Classic Melanie move.
2. Malik is sleeping with his boss's wife. Steals his cousin's girlfriend from him because he wouldn't drive Malik home.
3. Kelly and Jason, still divorced, have issues because Kelly is using her divorce as a way to gain fame by painting Jason in a negative light.

And the crowd goes wild!!!! I was on Twitter during commercial breaks and noticed that my whole timeline was about the show. It was going so fast that I could barely keep up with tweets.

Meanwhile, BET premiered a brand new show, Let's Stay Together right after The Game. Let's Stay Together is described by BET,

"Love has no limit or boundaries when it's real. LET'S STAY TOGETHER is an updated, urban - romantic comedy that takes an unconventional look into the lives of five young, ambitious African Americans. The series centers on a married couple, an engaged couple and a single sister who all take courageous steps as they navigate life, love and matrimony."

My timeline became totally different when the show changed. Tweets were coming in by the dozens that resembled this: "Changes channel." "Let's Stay Together, January 11, 2011 - January 11, 2011." "I'm not even going to give this show a chance." This bothered me not only for the obvious reason (you know the reason why major networks don't give Black shows a chance is because we don't), but because of what it symbolizes to me. Why are we so quick to tune into a show that portrays us as drama-filled, relationship challenged people but don't want to give out attention to a show that paints us in a better light. I watched Let's Stay Together. It's actually a pretty good show. The couples have their issues, but they are solved within 30 minutes in responsible ways. The show balances comedy with issues that are apparent in every relationship.

In discussing this with the boyfriend and another close friend of mine, a bigger question came to mind. Does the way we allow ourselves to be portrayed in entertainment affect our real-life interactions? The answer seems to be a resounding "yes!" Some times it hurts me to my core to hear some women talk about how Melanie is always right and is always the victim. These are women that emulate that same behavior in real life. Sleeping with random men to get over the one they truly love. Holding men to an impossible standard that they wouldn't be able to handle if tables were turned. Being selfish. Playing the victim. Taking drama to their man's place of employment. They do all of these things thinking that it is right and it is validated on TV. These are the same women that are struggling to figure out why they can't keep a man. I guess they ignore the fact that Melanie is barely able to hold on to Derwin. I'm an equal opportunity stone thrower, so I am not leaving out the men in this equation. Men look at Malik and think it is okay to still live with their mother and be too dependent on their mothers well past 30. Or being so cocky that you think it is okay to sleep with your boss's wife for revenge. Or hurting your loved ones because they refuse to hold you up in stupid behavior is the way to go. Malik may be the quintessential playboy on TV, but some men haven't figured out that this is why the world is a lonely place for them as well.

I think that we are doing ourselves a disservice by not viewing and celebrating healthy Black love. With all the studies out there that show that a lack of examples of healthy relationships being the reason why there are so many single parent families and so on and so forth, why shouldn't we help keep Let's Stay Together on the air. What do you think? Do the antics of characters on TV validate unhealthy ways of dealing with relationship situations?

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Confidence IS Key...

So I have been studying for this last attempt at the Mississippi Bar Exam. Needless to say that I am breezing through all of these classes. You wanna know why? Because I know all of this material. There are a few things that I mess up on, but for the most part I know this material. I CAN pass this test next month. I have failed the bar exam twice before. The first time by 4 points and the second time by 10 points. You know what equals 10 points on the bar exam. CONFIDENCE. I have always gone inside that conference room scared as hell. I always doubt myself. That is sabatoging behavior and I know that now. I can quote law off the tip of my toungue. I can tell people exactly where people messed up and exactly why they are going to jail on The First 48. I can do this in my sleep. Somehow those 3 days of testing rip me to shreds.

It always starts a couple of weeks before the test. I always get so nervous and start to think about the pressure that is on me to pass the test. By the time I take the test I am so exhausted from that, I don't have the stamina to make it through three 8-hour days of testing. Not this time. I am going into this with confidence. I have been praying every morning and reading Scripture before I go to class. I do it again before I start my evening study session. I am determined to make it through this time. I have to.

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Day 12: Describe Your Day With A Picture

This is the closest thing to describe my day. BarBri in the morning, study time at night. Apparently I get enough Twitter time in.....but barely. I am so tired of staring at computer screens and books. And there is 3 more weeks of class and 6 weeks until the bar exam. Slight freak out coming....... 

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Day 11: A Sport You Love To Watch/Play

My favorite sport to watch has to be football....hands down. I was a member of a marching band from the time I was in the 5th grade all the way through undergrad. What's a marching band without football? Most girls loved football because of boys, but I spent a lot of that time actually learning the game that I was forced to sit through to play my clarinet and tenor saxophone. I love collegiate and NFL. My favorite NFL team of all time is the Carolina Panthers. Because they tend to be on the losing side of the football a lot of times, my secondary team is the Pittsburgh Steelers. (black and yellow!)

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Day 10: Worst Day Of Your Life

The worst day of my life.....June 15, 2010. This was the day that my mom passed away. Period. No more need to elaborate.

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Day 9: Best Day Of Your Life

(Here I am again with the procrastination!! Fixing it now!)

The best day of my life was May 10, 2008. This is the day that I graduated from law school. Law school is the most challenging thing that I have ever done and to finish with my juris doctor is the proudest moment of my life. I knew that I wanted to be a lawyer from the time I was in the 11th grade. Took a lot of twists and turns until I got to law school but I made it. I can't remember feeling more accomplished than at this moment.

See!!! Cheesing all the way down the processional. Happiness was the word!

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Starting 2011 With A Bang

Happy New Year!!! I know it's late but it's better late than never, lol. Every time that I start to blog something keeps holding me back. I don't want this to be a part time thing...so I am urging myself to do better lol.

Most people start off every year with a list of New Year's resolutions. I can't with a straight face do that anymore. I tend to break everything that I call a resolution. That being said, I have a list of workable goals that I want to accomplish throughout the year 2011 and beyond. This list is as follows:

1. Pass the Mississippi Bar Exam. This has got to happen THIS YEAR. If it doesn't then my whole law school experience has been in vain. I have been consistently close to passing, but no dice. I have to be a fully licensed attorney or I feel like I will stuck in mediocrity. I know that it has been said that you can get any job you want with a law degree.....but this is total bullshit. In today's economy, the only thing a law degree does is scare regular employers off because they don't want to pay you what you are really worth. So by April, I hope to be flashing my bar card.
2. To get a job that doesn't have me living paycheck to paycheck. I am 27 with no kids. Why in the hell am I just barely getting by? I am not living beyond my means. I gave up shopping for the most part and am only splurging rarely. Much more than the amount of money I make, I need a job that makes me feel fulfilled. I think that #1 will help out with this. I also need a job with benefits and I need job security. I've been laid off. That shit is not cute.
3. To lose weight gradually. My goal is to get down to about 140 pounds. Since I have started my weight loss journey, I have lost about 5 of those, lol. I want to be a healthier, better me. It has nothing to do with what I look like. I think I am a pretty young thing already....I just want to enhance what I have. I also need to fix things before they get out of hand. I don't want diabetes, heart disease, or anything of the like to get me.
4. To read more. I have always had an amazing love of books. Seems like being in law school pushed that to the side with the nearly 400 pages of assignment material every two days. I would love to make the time to read more and get that back.
5. To blog more. Today is the first step. My blog throughout the years has always been more personal than informational. It has been like my public diary. Because I haven't been doing this, I have been holding a lot of stuff in.....leading me to stress more.
6. To go to church regularly. The Sunday after Christmas was my first time setting foot in a church since September. I know that's probably terrible. I have not been able to find what I am looking for when I go to church. Sermons at the church I used to go to are always focused on some particular person inside. They are homophobic and way out of touch with the real world. I am seriously going to find me a church home for 2011 and start to get closer to God.
7. To move away FAR AWAY from Oxford. I love Oxford. I have lived here on my own for 6 years. All of my best memories were made here. BUT it is time to go experience something different. I am SO ready to leave here. I want to come back and visit and I ultimately want to own rental property here. Living here has been a crutch to me because family is so close. I need to really strike out and do this thing by myself.

So those are my goals. I most likely am going to add to this list between now and December 31st. What are your goals? What are you working on this year?

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