As I sit....

So in my quest to evaluate and reevaluate my life, i'm having one of those rock and a hard place moments. I feel like I want to try EVERYTHING, like seriously, I want to be a producer, writer, psychologist, dancer, makeup artist, singer, lawyer, shit everything! But I have a job, and a great one at that, working on a television show. So...*all smiles*....right?

Wrong. I'm feeling for a change, time to switch up again and go in a different direction. I don't necessarily like working in a cubicle all the time, and I'm kind of getting tired of this 9 to 5 business. BUT i have a job in my field of study, journalism...which i got right out of school...and it's been paying my bills. So i dont have any right to complain...

Ugh, anybody have this problem? It's pretty selfish of me to want more, when some people don't have anything. But, maybe a change of scenery is needed, or an additional job to pass the time, because after a year of working at the same place.. it's time for a switch to a different industry. I think if everyone alternated what they did for a living every couple months or every couple years, we would all learn so much about life in general and it would be a great way to meet people who you probably wouldn't encounter on a daily basis. So.. Fashion perhaps? Entertainment? Medicine? Shit, why settle when you can have it all?

Contending with the Man in the Mirror

As I watched the heartfelt tribute poured out by fans and family alike at Michael Jackson's memorial today. One of the things that made me the most proud was World Humanitarian Award that Rep. Jackson Lee honored him with. I wish he could be alive to see it. The life and time of MJ will always be remembered through his songs, his words, and his performances. But we fail to remember that throughout all that, Michael lived a life of dedication and compassion for others.

His list of charities and organizations include: AIDS Project L.A. , American Cancer Society
Angel Food, Big Brothers of Greater Los Angeles, BMI Foundation, Inc., Brotherhood Crusade
Brothman Burn Center, Camp Ronald McDonald, Childhelp U.S.A., Children's Institute International, Cities and Schools Scholarship Fund, Community Youth Sports & Arts Foundation
Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), Dakar Foundation, Dreamstreet Kids, Dreams Come True Charity, Elizabeth Taylor Aids Foundation, Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, Love Match, Make-A-Wish Foundation, Minority Aids Project, Motown Museum, NAACP, National Rainbow Coalition...and the list goes on. You can see it here: http://www.allmichaeljackson.com/charities.html

So in these past two hours, i've learned two things. One, I think it's time to make a change. Not a physical change, not a spiritual change, but a change in the way I give back while I'm here. True, I don't have the financial ability to do as much as MJ, but maybe one day I will. Until then, you do what you can to help your family, friends, and total strangers, as Michael did. And two, you should appreciate people while they are ALIVE.

He was a universal household name, an icon. He touched lives worldwide and he was a brilliant man for who he was, while taking on the burden of sharing his gift with the world. This should be a wake up call to everyone, to not waste your talent, and never waste your gift.

I may sound like i'm preaching, but so what. Sometimes you have to ask yourself, can I contend with the man in the mirror?

RIP ~~ Michael Jackson

Vibe Magazine to Shut Down

Wow...Vibe magazine has been one of those magazines that I and many others grew up on. It seems that the recession is still so real and so very sad.

This from Gawker

"Vibe Magazine—one of the biggest music magazines in America—is folding. The entire music magazine landscape is full of the dead and dying.

The recent dead include Radio and Records, Performing Songwriter, and Blender. Vibe probably had the most demographically diverse readership of any major music magazine. Now, the hip hop magazine world is ruled by the shaky Source and XXL, with strong online competition; the trade music sector is still topped by Billboard, incredibly shaky as well; the pop music mag sector is ruled by Rolling Stone, which is a shell of its former self; and Spin, Fader, Paste, and everyone else are just trying to protect their own audiences from the free, and many times much better, online intruders. Hard times."

Music is having a horrible week.

R.I.P Michael Jackson

The world remembers a legend...Michael Jackson. 1958 -2009.

May he rest in peace.

(photo from Nicole Bitchie.com)

Ebony Magazine: Viola Davis and Taraji Henson

Talk about gorgeous and talented! Viola Davis and Taraji Henson cover the May 2009 issue of Ebony Magazine....so beee uuu tiii fuuulllll =)