Dedicated to the end of a decade...

Yesterday on Twitter, I suggested that "Bag Lady" by Erykah Badu is a song of this decade. It is actually a song of a lifetime. While the song speaks mainly to the ladies, I think that the message of the song relates to everyone, men and women alike. We are at the end of a decade. We're coming up on 2010 folks and it makes sense to leave the baggage that you've been carrying behind. It hinders you; fears, bad relationships, vices that are controlling your life, you, we, have to leave it behind. Go into this new decade free of burdens. Like the song says: Let it go, let it go, let it go, let it go...

Methodical Throwback

I was watching Fuse off and on last night; they were airing Michael Jackson Takeover, which showed many of his videos and snippets of different celebrities talking about what MJ meant to them and music in general. In light of that, I just wanted to post one of my favorite videos. Enjoy!

My thoughts on Robin Thicke's cd "Sex Therapy: The Experience"

When I heard that one of my favorite singers was coming out with a CD this year, I was extremely excited. Robin Thicke is one who could sing the phone book and have you in love. I just knew that I would be buy this CD on the release date, especially after hearing the title single "Sex Therapy". However, I began to hesitate when I heard there would be a bunch of guest appearances on this one. Jay-Z, Kid Cudi, Nicki Minaj, Snoop Dogg, Estelle, Jazmine Sullivan and Game; I'm not a serious fan of any those listed, so featuring them was not about to make me spend my money.

The cd starts off okay, I suppose, with "Mrs. Sexy". The song has a nice little beat to it and it led into "Sex Therapy", my grown & sexy song, nicely. At that point I expected it to pick up. When I heard "Meiple" featuring Jay-Z, I was underwhelmed. After listening to it several times, it grew on me; it's still not my favorite, but I no longer have my face screwed up while listening to it. I forgot about "Make U Love Me"; I had to listening to it again in order to remember to include it in this post. So I guess that says more than an actual comment on this song *smile*. "It's In the Mornin'", featuring Snoop Dogg, is a real nice laid back song, so I think that one is a winner (even though I think Snoop needs to go sit down somewhere). "Shakin' It For Daddy" featuring Nicki Minaj kind of threw me for a loop, not necessarily for a good one either. I love the beat and can definitely see it being a great workout song, but it just seems wrong for a Robin Thicke cd *shrug*.

"Elevatas" featuring Kid Cudi has an interesting sound. I do not dislike it but it also wouldn't make my list of favorite songs, on this CD or in general. There is one part of the song where I thought that J. Timberlake made a unlisted guest appearance and I thought to myself "NO! Robin please stay sounding like yourself!" Not that I dislike Justin, I'm a fan of his as well, but I want these two to keep their sounds separate from each other, if that makes sense. Moving along to, and past, "Rollacoasta" featuring Estelle. The chorus has this 70s sound to it, at least I think it's the 70s; once I heard something about "strobe-lights" I figured that must have been the sound they were going for. This song failed to strike any chords withing me, so I could take it or leave it. Actually scratch that, I could leave it. "Million Dollar Baby", featuring Jazmine Sullivan, is one that I enjoy, but then I love Marvin Gaye, so the "Trouble Man" sample was a winner in my book. "2 Luv Birds. Next! "I Got U" and "Jus Right" are two good ones with nice beats that make you want to grab someone and dance. That said, the last bit of the CD is fairly "blah" to me. The phrase that comes to mind when I think of something to sum up my feelings on this one is "Quality vs Quantity"; there were plenty of songs, but there were plenty that I could have done without.

Maybe my gripe with this cd is that I think certain people need to have a bunch of other singers and rappers featured on their albums, but Thicke isn't one of them. I think that if you are talented, you can carry an entire album on your own. Past albums have proven, to me, that Thicke is more than capable. "Sex Therapy: The Experience" did not have that Robin Thicke feel to it. It sounded like an average R&B album, nothing too special about it. I wanted to see him in concert again and was planning to do so in January when he performs in Chicago, but there really isn't much on this latest album that I want to hear him perform live. That saddens me because I am a huge fan of his music. All that said, it's an okay album, but the only reason I "might" buy this one is due to the fact that I have a slight case of OCD when it comes to having complete sets of things. This means that since I have "A Beautiful World", "The Evolution of Robin Thicke", and "Something Else", I will probably feel the need to buy this to add to my set. So it has nothing to do with the music and everything to do with my disorder.

Are they just now beginning to suspect foul play in the Mitrice Richardson case?

According to the L.A. Times, the sheriff's department has decided to start a homicide investigation for Mitrice Richardson. In case you are not familiar with this story, Mitrice was at a restaurant and unable to pay for her meal. Apparently, Mitrice was talking and behaving oddly; people at the restaurant thought she may have had some mental issues. Her grandmother was called and she offered to pay for the bill, but didn't have access to a fax machine. The couldn't accept her card payment over the phone. So, the police were called and she was arrested. The police department claims she showed no signs of drunkenness or mental issues, so they released her.

This young woman disappeared after being released from the Malibu police department in mid-September. The police claim that they had no reason to hold her at the station because she did not show any signs of being drunk or being mentally incapacitated. Now it turns out she may have had some sort of breakdown, so how is it that the police saw no reason to hold her, at least until a family member could come to the station and take her home? Mind you, she had no car (it was miles away, at the restaurant where everything started), no money, and no cell phone. Instead of dropping her off at home or simply taking her back to her car, the police department let her walk off into the night. Now she's missing. The sheriff says that they do not believe she is dead, but by starting a homicide investigation, more resources can be used to find her.

Wouldn't it have made more sense to use more resources months ago? Leads that could have been discovered back in October may be long gone! I hope that is not the case, but I'm upset at the fact that her strange disappearance did not seem to warrant a massive media blitz. I know, the story was featured on CNN Headline news, but I haven't seen or heard much else about her disappearance since October. I pray they find Mitrice and that she is able to go home to her family.

Today is my Blogoversary!!!

And I didn't even realize it! LOL! I thank all the people who have visited and commented on this blog. Sharing your thoughts and opinions on different topics I've posted. It is greatly appreciated! I hope you, and others, continue to visit and post comments. I love to interact with you!

There are many things that I want to do regarding my blog presence...I'm learning and growing, soon I will carve out a niche for myself. But of course, this blog is my first and I will always cherish it. Happy Blogoversary to me = )

It is easier to love a stranger than it is to love someone you know...

I'm a Twitter fiend. I'm on the website most days because the people I interact with bring up great topics and since I am somewhat of a "people watcher" (not in a creepy sense, lol), Twitter is the place for me. I like to listen to the views of others, especially those that challenge me to really think about my own views. That said, last week one of my "tweeps", @twendsetter54, asked a good question. That question was: "How can you really love somebody you don't know?" I had to think about this for a moment, because my first thought was "As a Christian, I am supposed to love everyone, which of course includes strangers." But I do not think that is the complete truth, there has to be more to it than that.

It is easier to love a stranger because they are just that, a stranger. You do not know their flaws, their little idiosyncrasies, the things that really make, or break, all relationships. Ignorance of who a person really is blinds you and makes it easy to profess your love of said person. This is not necessarily a bad thing (this started to sound negative), but it is a superficial love. The real work happens when you've seen the smudges, the stains and love a person in spite of the blemishes. It can be difficult because many of us want perfection immediately and that is unrealistic.

So now I ask you, how can you love someone you don't know?

Oscar Grant Update: Mehserle receives a change of venue...

This is just a brief update on what is going on regarding the murder of Oscar Grant, which occurred on January 1, 2009. In case you didn't know, this young man was shot in the back, while handcuffed and lying on his stomach, by a BART police officer in Oakland, CA. The officer, Johannes Mehserle, has been charged for the crime and has plead not guilty. According to The Associated Press, Mehserle was granted a change of venue; now the trial will not take place in Oakland. Mehserle's attorney claimed that his client could not receive a fair trial in Oakland due to all the news coverage. I think that no matter where the trial is moved, he will still be found guilty because there was no reason to shoot Grant. At least I hope he is found guilty...we all know how this kind of case usually turns out...*side-eye*...

Violence against women: A spectator event...

I don't understand this teenagers today. So angry, so violent, so desensitized to anger and violence. I'm going to write this and I ask that you bear with me because I might babble...so many thoughts are running through my head. A few hours ago, I read an article on CNN.com about a young girl, possibly 15 years old, being gang-raped and beaten by four males (can't call them men because true men do not do such things and can't call them boys because they were old enough to know the difference between right and wrong). This disgusting and violent crime happened right outside of her high school's homecoming dance. This alone makes me want to react violently, but add the fact that approximately 15 people, perhaps students, stood around and watched this girl's brutal violation and DID NOTHING TO STOP IT...NOTHING! When you add that to this story, it makes it that much more sickening! This girl was going through the ugliest, scariest, most traumatic and humiliating moments of her life and there were people standing there watching! I can only imagine that she would have been thinking "Someone please help me! Please! Someone stop this!" But no one had it within them to push these guys off of her? I mean dang, even if you want to use that weak excuse of "being afraid for one's personal safety", someone could have ran inside the school and told a teacher what was happening outside of the school! But nope, each person chose to be a spectator to the abuse of this girl. They probably have no idea that they were bearing witness to her mental breakdown, or maybe they did and they did not care at all.

I do not understand where we are as a society where violence against women is just something to watch, something to accept and not something to stop.  Women face so much hatred (direct and indirect) and abuse (physical, emotional, and mental). And we often become just as desensitized as men to the violence commited against us. Rumor is that that some girls went to a party after the crime was committed and they were overheard joking about it...joking about the fact that a girl was beaten and raped. As I said, this is a rumor, but would this surprise me if it were found to be true? Not at all. There is no solidarity among us women. We fall into the catty, back bitting foolishness and in extreme cases we defend the abuser! What in the world?!?! Maybe some of us feel that if we defend the woman, we are bashing the man? I don't believe that it has to be an either-or situation. But if it comes down to a choice between the two, I'm choosing my sisters...those deserving, of course. I say "deserving" because I know that there are women out there who lie about being abused, whether it is to save themselves from some consequence (see Hofstra rape) or to get revenge (see Megan Williams). In situations like the Hofstra story and Megan Williams, when found guilty of falsely accusing someone of rape, there should be legal consequences. But that is another story...

My main point is that we have to stop standing by, letting women be abused, and doing nothing to stop it. It's one thing to walk around wearing ribbons for Domestic Abuse Awareness, but it's a whole other thing to actually have the courage to be proactive about stopping the abuse. We have to teach our daughters, sisters, and other female relatives that violence, any violence, against women is WRONG! We have to teach our sons, brothers, and male relatives the same thing. And we have to get rid of the "stop snitching" mentality! This is probably the reason that no one went inside the school and told someone that the young girl was outside being brutalized! If you see wrong happening, SPEAK UP! If just one person had done so, maybe the what happened outside of that high school would have went differently.

*****UPDATE******
According to the Los Angeles Times, a girl, who heard some people talking about the rape, called the police. Thank goodness there was at least one person with the decency to call 911. So far, several guys have been arrested. I wish those who stood back and watched could be charged with something! I've been on simmer since last night, but now getting fired up all over again...

Maxwell + Common + Chrisette Michelle = Music at it's best!

An evening with Maxwell, Common, and Chrisette Michele? What an AMAZING concert! Each performer brought their A-game and made the price of admission totally worth it.


I wish I had been able to listen to Chrisette's entire performance, but my focus was on getting to my seat (a nice long journey, but when you make a last minute decision to go to a concert out of town what more can you expect). I listened to her sing Epiphany while I bought a concert t-shirt and from what I could hear, mind you, I'm surrounded by hordes of people within the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, she sang beautifully! Now, I had not listened to her latest cd, so I did not know the titles of all the songs she sang. However, I know that when she sang "Fragile" and "I'm Okay" I got chills! She sang those into submission....if I hadn't been in the nosebleed section during this part of the show, I would have stood up and stomped my feet! If you have the opportunity to see her live, I suggest you go because she sounds spectacular! She sings the song, she does not yell the song at the listener, lol...


Now, I've seen this next artist perform live a few years back during a tour with John Legend and De La Soul. He gave his all during the performance and I can honestly say that Common gave his all during this performance. He was on stage for a while (and I did not mind at all!); I think he performed more songs than Maxwell, I could be wrong. He started the show with "Forever Begins" which got me rocking my head and by the time he told everyone to "Go" and "Testify", I was waving my hands and dancing in my seat (like I said, I was so far up there was no way that I was about to stand up and dance, lol). I love all his songs, but I was waiting for one song in particular and the man did it! Once the beat for "Punch Drunk Love" started up, folks lost it and everyone was hyped! He singled out a woman in the audience (and I was instantly envious...) and performed "Come Close" to the music from D'Angelo's "Lady". It was an endearing performance, especially when he started to sing a little of the original song, lol...The entire audience appreciated a MJ interlude where the DJ played "The Way You Make Me Feel" and when Common came back to the stage he went into a tribute to hip hop, performing bits and pieces of some of the classics (I would have written down the titles, but I was feeling to good to be worried about that at the time, lol). The atmosphere was pretty electric; everyone was loving the hip hop tribute and when Common started to break dance folks stood up and rooted him on! The man is in great shape *wink*...My suggestion is, as it was with Chrisette Michelle, if you get the chance to see Common perform live, GO SEE HIM!


To round out an evening of great music, the man of the hour walked out onto the stage and roar of the crowd was awesome! At this point, I reached for my camera, since I was able to move to a club seating area (thanks to Reads4Pleasure, a fellow Twitter person!), however I realized that I lost my camera! So I had to trace my steps back to the mezzanine seats. Luckily, my camera was laying underneath my original seat (Thank you God!) So I rush back to my new seat just in time to watch Maxwell perform one of my all time favorites "Get To Know Ya". Maxwell and the live band sounded GREAT together! I've always loved that particular song because it is so smooth and the horns set it off...hearing it live made it that much more great! I was looking forward to hearing quite a few of my favorites and for the most part Maxwell had me covered. Of course I wanted to hear songs from his new cd, but it was great to hear some classic Maxwell, like "Til The Cops Come Knockin'", "Ascension", and "Lifetime". There were wonderful moments where the entire audience, probably hundreds, if not thousands, of people singing along. He was very interactive with the audience, very energetic. He performed two of my favorite songs from his new cd, "Cold" (I love the latin sound and hearing it live made me wanna dance with somebody!) and "Playing Possum" (the guitar in this song grabs my heart every time I hear it!). I loved the stage setup, especially the starry projection on the stage screens (that made the performance even more touching). While I would have loved it if he had performed "Whenever, Wherever, Whatever", "Suitelady", "This Woman's Work", and "Stop the World", I thoroughly enjoyed the show. Of course he performed "Bad Habits", with the lights low and Maxwell crooning, you better believe that this is a show to see with the one you love...I had to laugh 'cause he told the fellas in the audience that he was setting them up to get some love and he most definitely was. There was such a sensual feel to his portion of the show. He ended the show with "Pretty Wings" and received audience participation because everyone was singing the song with him. It was a great performance, especially when the "feathers" fell from above. And I was tempted to leave the area where I was seated to go down to the floor and grab some "feathers" but after really looking, I could tell it was paper, lol...

All around, I have to say that this was a wonderful concert and I suggest that you the next tour. This show left me feeling wonderful and I am so glad I decided to go! I floated all the way home! If you missed this one, I'm sure there will be another tour since Maxwell's second cd in the trilogy comes out next year.

(Chrisette Michele photo courtesy of Odellia via Photobucket)
(Common photo courtesy of famefatale_photos via Photobucket)(Maxwell photo courtesy of kalikarla via Photobucket)