Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Random Kat Fact: Loaning Money

Today's Kat fact:

I'm not one of those people who stays annoyingly on top of someone after I loan them money. Admittedly, I've never loaned anyone more than about $100 so if it was a really large sum of money like in the triple digits or more I might feel differently. But if it's something smaller like 10 or 20 bucks I won't go crazy. I know a few people that will bug the hell out of you until you pay them back. It's really annoying which is why I've never borrowed a significant amount money from anyone. At most I've asked someone to loan me a couple of dollars until I could make change or if I didn't have cash on me at the time but nothing serious.

Long story short, the point is simple: Don't loan what you can't afford to give away. I don't know who said that but they were right. Chances are a true friend or family member will pay you back as soon as they can but that isn't always the case. So if you can't afford to let it go, don't.

Monday, June 28, 2010

Review: BET Awards

I knew the BET Awards were gonna be nothing but fuckery and coonishness because that's really all BET is lately anyway (which is why I really don't watch anymore, except for The Game). I was actually looking forward to having a good laugh....and I did. I'm not gonna talk about everything, just a few moments that stood out for me.

Let's start with the host. As much as I love Queen Latifah, she really wasn't that funny as a host. And what was up with those weird costume changes and half assed skits? Weird. The best part was the very beginning when she opened and that rap she did. Also the white outfit at the end was fly. Queen always looks good.

Alicia Keys. She sounded good and looked good for sure and I'm glad she won. I just don't understand why she was crawling around on that piano. Is it okay for a pregnant woman to do that? I was a little worried. I wonder if Mashonda was watching, HAHAHAHA! (That was wrong, I know)

Chris Brown. I must admit that his MJ tribute was SO on point. Much better than that nonsense BET tried to pass off as a tribute last year. But what the hell was he crying about? People on twitter talking about they got emotional because he was crying and all this bullshit about him breaking down. People PLEASE! I'm so over this dude I don't know what to do with myself. Yes he's talented but he's also a woman beater. People keep saying you have to forgive, etc but he doesn't need my forgiveness. I'm not the one he beat up so it doesn't matter. I'm sure he's sorry and he should be. I still just can't fuck with him anymore. *shrugs*

Patti Labelle. YES bitch! Kick those shoes off and SANG!!!! That is all.

Monica. First off, she should have been nominated for best female R&B instead of that bootleg ass centric award. Second, what the hell was up with those big ass shoulder things on her outfit when she was performing? Girl NO! Last but not least, despite being partially distracted by the oversized shoulders, her performance was on point. That girl has a voice.

Prince Tribute. It was cool, but his facial expressions during it were the best part. And who wears a shirt with their own face on it? Vain much?

DeBarge. To be honest I'm still not sure which one of the DeBarge's it was but he gave those youngins a lesson.

These are all the things that really stood out for me. Everything else was just whatever. And yes I will be tuning in for next year's coonery as well.

Review: Daytime Emmy's

To be honest I don't even know why I still bother to watch the Daytime Emmy's. It's basically just a rigged popularity contest rather than an actual place to honor people who are deserving for their work. The same people are always nominated and the same people always win. For example, Anthony Geary (Luke, GH) pretty much always wins whenever he's nominated. I think he even got a pre-nom this year but I have no idea what for. What the hell did he do? Whatever.

First of all there was way too much stuff going on that had nothing to do with daytime which was really annoying. They also didn't bother to show the reels/clips that the nominees submitted when they were announcing the awards which was a big WTF for me. Then at the end it seemed like they were rushing through to big awards because they spent so much unnecessary time on musical numbers that no one really cared about. On top of that, there was only one winner from the shows I watch and that was Julie Berman (Lulu, GH). I'm only talking individual winners because I think GH won for something else unrelated to acting. 

The one good thing I saw was Trevor St. John in a suit =D. Other than that the show was a bore.

Overall I thought the Daytime Emmy's were a boring waste of life. No wonder the genre is going down the drain. So sad. SMH

Friday, June 25, 2010

RIP MJ

This isn't going to be a long drawn out post, just a little acknowledgment and my opinion on a few things regarding Michael Jackson. I just finished watching the 20/20 special about MJ for the one year anniversary of his death so I guess that's why I'm writing this. A few things I got from it:

1. This so-called "Dr." Conrad Murray needs to be put down. He admitted that when he performed CPR on MJ that it was his first time ever performing CPR. Really dude? Then on top of that he was doing it on a bed with only ONE hand. Newsflash idiot you're supposed to put the person on a hard surface in order to do the chest compressions and unless it's a baby you need both hands! And don't get me started on the amount of meds he prescribed. Michael was obviously addicted but as a "doctor" this loser shouldn't have been enabling him. Fuckery I tell you.

2. Also, why is it that not 2 seconds after their father's death there's videos and pictures of the kids all over the place? It's really a shame considering all he did to keep exactly this type of thing from happening. Some people thought the masks were too much and while it was a bit extreme, I can totally understand the reasoning behind it. It was for protection plain and simple. Being Michael Jackson's kid you need all the protection you can get because people are crazy. I really can't blame the guy.

Now on to something a little more lighthearted. Some of my MJ favorites or at least one:

Favorite Video: Remember the Time (I know for most people it's probably Thriller but for me it's a close second)

Favorite Song: Too many to choose. I really can't pick just one so I'll go with my top five.
1. Dirty Diana
2. Remember the Time
3. Heaven Can Wait
4. They Don't Care About Us
5. Man In the Mirror

That's all for now. DEUCES!!!

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Relaxed or Natural

A pretty heated debate in the Black community. I've heard/read some comments from natural women saying that Black women get relaxers because somewhere in their mind they want to look White or because they are ashamed of their natural hair. That may actually be true for some people but it kind of sounds like bullshit to me. Then there are the relaxed girls who say they get relaxers because they just don't want "nappy" hair and the straight hair is easier to manage. That's pretty much the case for me. I just like my hair straight. It's that simple. There's no underlying reason buried deep in my subconscious. It is what it is.

I can't for the life of me understand why all this deep philosophical thinking goes into something like hair. No offense to my natural girls but from what I've seen and heard it's mostly you all who are making a big thing about relaxers, hair textures, etc. What's the big damn deal? It's just hair! Why do you care what I do with my hair anyway? I'm the one who has to live with it so why is the fact that I use a chemical straightener so significant to you?. Why does it bother you so much? Now I'm not saying all natural women are like this. But I don't like how some of them seem to look down on you or make you feel bad for having a relaxer like it's the worst thing in the world. That natural hair on your head doesn't bother me at all because that's your business. I don't look at you and think "ugh, this nappy headed bitch needs to straighten that mess" because that would be mean and unnecessary. And to be honest I don't really care that much about what decide to do with YOUR hair. So I don't understand why you care so much about MY hair.

Anyway, a couple of my friends are starting to transition over to Team Natural and it started making me think about my own hair. After doing a little (emphasis on the little) research I'm seriously considering going the natural route. But that doesn't mean I'm gonna rock an afro, braids or dreads because when I try to picture myself with any of those hairstyles it just looks all kinds of wrong. I don't mind giving up the relaxer and being chemical free but I still want straight hair. Does that mean I'm not really natural? Maybe, at least according to some sources. I'm NOT doing any kind of big chop on my hair because I really like length and the TWA isn't for me. You can't even imagine how weird I would look with any kind of afro, much less a teeny weeny one. I hear it's harder to transition with the two different hair types but it can be done, it just takes more work.

I just got a relaxer at the beginning of this month so I still have a good amount of time to decide if this is something I really want to stick with. No matter what I'm still gonna straighten my hair just in a more healthy, non permanent way. I'll let you know what happens.

Saturday, June 19, 2010

Mini Vacation Update

I know it's only been a few days since my last post but I feel like I've been gone forever. Anyway, I'm still here just on a weekend vacation....sort of. My dad and I drove down to Virginia with my cousin to visit my family for the weekend. It's actually the one year anniversary of my uncle's death and my cousin wanted to be down here with her mom and sister for it. He actually died on Father's Day of last year...the universe has quite a sick sense of humor.

Now I'm down in the country for the weekend where they drive slow and don't have sidewalks. We're staying near the Fort Lee army base so the place is crawling with soldiers because they got paid this week. According to my cousin a lot of the soldiers take hotel rooms for the weekend when they get paid. I don't know why but whatever. My dad wanted to take me to show me where he was stationed but he wakes up way too early, especially for a Saturday. And did I mention my family calling and waking me up at 7:34am to see if I wanted to come over for breakfast? Umm, call me in like 5 hours for lunch. Not much to say so I guess that's all for now. I know this post is a little all over the place so here's a pretty picture of the backyard for your enjoyment:

Monday, June 14, 2010

Asshole Army Recruiters

This kind of randomly popped into my head today while I was looking around my house noticing all the American flags and army memorabilia. Why you ask? Because my dad is an army vet so there's tons of flags, hats, stuff from the VA and other armed services related things floating around my house. Looking around at this stuff made me flashback to a phone call I got in high school from an army recruiter who was a total ass.

So we all know that once you reach your junior or senior year in high school you start getting letters, phone calls, etc from recruiters asking you to join the armed forces in exchange for tuition. I was no exception to this solicitation during my last days in high school. For the most part they were okay and generally nice about me turning them down. I actually went so far as to have a meeting with one of them at their office and he was really cool but eventually I turned that down too, even after I took some kind of reading test or whatever it was on the computer. It was a while ago so I don't remember exactly.

Unfortunately not everyone was so nice about my decision not to enlist in the army. One guy called and gave me his little speech about why I should join and I said "no thanks, I'm not interested" to which he replied "so you're gonna leave our nation's freedom up to other people?" To that I replied "I guess so" to which he replied "well, freedom isn't free" and hung up the phone. Really sir? Who the hell does that?! JERK! Everything isn't for everyone. Not everyone and their mother was meant to join the army! And I think it was a very asshole move for him to try to make me feel bad that I turned him down. Believe me when I tell you, I was NOT meant to be anybody's soldier. Though I did consider working as a nurse for/in the army for a short time.

Anyway, after that little exchange I really had a bad taste in my mouth about any and all army personnel. Actually I have a problem with most men in uniform (i.e. cops, army guys, marines, etc), I don't think I could ever date one which is odd because my dad was in the army and he's great (and I'm not just saying that because he's my dad). Weird how that works out. Maybe I've seen too many Law & Order episodes about guys coming back from overseas with PTSD or police officers who abuse their wives and get away with it just because they're cops.Who knows?

Now of course I appreciate everything that people in the armed forces do for our country, however I do NOT appreciate being made to feel uncaring or un-American just because the army wasn't MY calling in life. So asshole army recruiter if you're out there, kick rocks and fuck off. Please and thank you.


ps: Where were all those "Proud to be an American" bumper stickers BEFORE 9/11? Yeah, exactly. 

Thursday, June 10, 2010

2nd Trip to Atlantic City

This trip to AC was sort of the opposite of the first one. This time around it started out great but the ending kind of sucked and the last time things started kind of sucky but ended up being fun. Just a friendly warning that this post is probably gonna be kinda long but there are some pretty pictures in it for you along the way.

This time around we caught the train to Jersey because my friend 'M' got some kind of hook-up through some guy she didn't really know for a free room. And so the trouble began. We waited around the lobby of the hotel for this guy who M had never actually met to come and sign us in for the room because she didn't know if it was reserved under his name or hers (it was under his). There were 4 of us girls and suddenly there were 4 of those guys too....that stench you smell is a set up. They offered to walk us to our room and carry our bags but unfortunately it didn't end there. Somehow they ended up making themselves annoyingly comfortable INSIDE our room. One dude had the nerve to stretch out on the bed and put his crusty sneakers on the comforter WE have to sleep on and talk on his cell phone. Really asshole? UGH!

The girls and I sat by the window trying to figure out subtle ways to get them to leave. Eventually we told them that my friend L needed to change clothes and they left. But not before pretending that they couldn't find the fourth room key. Umm, are you serious? You really thought we were gonna let you leave that room with one of the keys to our room?! FUCK OUTTA HERE!!! Not surprising after M told us that he asked the woman at the desk for 5 keys when there were only 4 of us staying in the room. Fuckery I tell you. SMH


View from the window in our room.

So once we ditched those losers we decided to walk along the boardwalk to find some food which was great until the seagulls kept trying to attack us. There was one in particular that kept inching closer and closer to us when we were trying to eat. And they have a habit of flying uncomfortably close to your head. My friend L was literally a step away from being pooped on. I swear, had she been up a foot further it would've landed right on her head. Needless to say we ate indoors for the next meal. After that we went to this mall called the Pier and caught a water show which was pretty cool before heading to the liquor store. Did I mention those guys kept calling M trying to hook up and hang out with us during the day and at night? Eww, get lost.

This slice of pizza was bigger than my head...truly


This was in the liquor store...very cool if you ask me.

Quick side note: How is it possible that they don't have fried dough in Atlantic City? None that I saw anyway. I swear these places either have funnel cake or fried dough but never both. Fried dough is so much better by the way. And did my friend L really ask 'what is fried dough'? Unreal...I can't.

Then came the magic dress incident. Have you all heard of this thing? The magic dress/skirt thing can be tied in all these different ways so that it ends up being a bunch of different dresses in one. It's actually pretty cool once you figure out how to tie it (I'm still working on it). All of us except J got one because she couldn't find a color she liked. Then on the way out we saw one on the mannequin at the door that we all loved. It was freaking perfect. At first we were all kind of playing around about who wants it or was anyone gonna switch, yadda yadda. Then it ended up being J and L trying to decide. Apparently J saw it first (according to M, I'm actually not sure) and since she didn't have one I figured it would be no big deal for her to have it. Then when no one staked claim L grabbed it and went to the cashier and switched for the one she had. J was pissed, obviously. L didn't really care too much.

This was from the water show at The Pier.

To top off the night we went to party at mur.mur in the Borgata (yay!). Now I know what mur.mur Mondays are all about. It was SO much fun. That is until M lost her phone. This may sound bad but I'm glad she lost it towards the end of the night because if she lost it earlier it would've ruined the fun completely. L, M and I spent our last half our or so staring at the floor looking for a phone. J had disappeared with some guy she met. I wonder how her boyfriend felt about that...hmm. Turns out she was just upstairs in the casino and he was unsuccessful in his attempts to get her to go back to his room but still. Anyway, we waited around for the club to close but they wouldn't allow us to go back in to look for the phone. After sitting there for who knows how long they told us we had to check with security in the morning to see if anyone turned it in. Fine, whatever. One thing that pissed me off was the fact that L and I seemed to be looking harder for M's phone than she was and then she had the nerve to catch an attitude talking about how it doesn't effect us the same and we don't understand because it's not our phone missing. Really? So why the fuck are we sitting around after the let out for an hour or more trying to find YOUR phone? Ugh.

This how our night started by the way. Lovely adult beverages.

Anyway, we left after a while and L and I were both hungry so we stopped at a little corner spot. J wanted to go back to the room because by this time it was almost 6am and she had to leave AC early to catch the train back to Philly and go to work. Why she scheduled herself to work the next day I don't know but hey, get your money girl. M on the other hand was just stank about it which pissed me off again. I didn't get anything because I still had pizza from earlier in the room but L looked around for a while before getting something. M was all like 'is it really that serious? do you have to eat right now?' and she went with J back to the room. Again, really? After this girl sat around a hotel for over an hour trying to find your phone you can't even wait 5 or 10 minutes for her to buy a sandwich? Cut the bullshit.

The next morning we went to the hot tub and the pool then we checked out. We went back to the security office at the Borgata but no one turned in the phone. No clue what happened to it but whatever. I was over it from the first little hint of M's attitude and claiming that we didn't care or understand. Fuck your phone dude, seriously.

Like I said, everything was pretty great up until the end. Even the crazy birds which I'm sure we'll all be laughing about for a while. And if you've never had apple dumplings with ice cream you should. It tastes like hot apple pie with ice cream....yummy!

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Book Review: Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man

I've been wanting to read Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man by Steve Harvey for a while now but with school I really didn't have much time for leisure reading. Now that I finally had the chance to read the whole thing I thought I'd share my thoughts with whoever stumbles upon this blog.

For those who don't know, the book is basically a relationship guide for women from a man's perspective. He gives pretty good insight about how men think about relationships which is very different from the way women thing about them. Anyway, I really liked the book. The only part I didn't read was the chapter about single parent dating because I don't have any kids so none of his advice on the subject would apply to me.

The main thing that really stood out to me was that women really do have a lot of power over what goes on in a relationship but either they don't realize it or they just don't use it. Steve talks about how women are the ones who decide when, where, or if they have sex with a guy. It doesn't always seem like it but when you think about it it's actually true. The best thing was where he said that women need to get standards which I totally agree with. Not like Chilli or anything but enough to let someone know that you're only going to accept the best. The women with standards are the ones he referred to as 'keepers' while those without standards are pretty much just 'game fish' to be thrown back once men get what they want from them (which is sex of course).

In the book he also talks about the differences between men and boys. He gives women questions to ask to guys they're interested in and based on their answers you can tell if he's a real man with his shit together (or at least working on getting it together) looking for a meaningful relationship or just a boy playing games to get some ass. I really don't feel like going into too much detail here but some of the questions were about his future plans, what he thinks of you, etc. Perfectly logical stuff that I don't think most women ask. I know I never have but I'll definitely start after reading this book. I'm not in the mood to deal with the same nonsense from guys anymore.

One thing I got from the book that I pretty much already knew is that all men are basically the same. But I'm sure most people knew that already. They're very simple creatures when you really think about it. And I don't mean that in a bad way. Anyway, long story short, I would definitely recommend this book to any woman out there wondering what the hell is up with dudes and how they can get the type of relationship they want. I'll give it 4 out of 5 stars.


p.s. On the radio show Steve said he's working on a second book where he drops even more knowledge about men for women. I'm looking forward to it :)

Saturday, June 5, 2010

Hot Jam

It's summer (almost) which means that every radio station worth anything is promoting some special summer concert with most people's favorite artists. Lucky us. My friends and I went to a concert in Hartford promoted by one of our local radio stations and I came home somewhat annoyed after the events of the night. Here's what happened.

First off, the concert was supposed to start at 7 or 7:30pm and we left sometime close to 9pm. If it were up to me we would've been on the road by 6/6:30 at the latest but it's not my car so what can I really say. These broads thought it would be okay because when they went to the winter concert promoted by the same station they didn't get there until around 10pm but were still able to see 4 or 5 acts. That wasn't the case this time. By the time we got there they were already on to the second to last act (Nicki Minaj). She was almost done with her set when we got there so we really only saw about 2 1/2 songs. I swear, these people take CP time to a whole new level...smh. (sidenote: CP time = colored people time). So that was strike 1 for the evening.

Then we got to see the full set of Ludacris which was good. We were excited at first because we thought we were gonna see Drake because he came out on stage while Nicki was on. We were wrong. It turns out that he had performed his set already and that was just an extra little tidbit on her song. He was the main person we all wanted to see so naturally we were pissed >:(. Strike 2 for the evening.

We go outside after making our way through the crowd of hot mess that was in the building. Naturally it was raining and we parked on the street because we were so late and had to walk to the car. Did I mention I just got my hair done earlier that day? Yeah. Then instead of going to one of the after parties nearby, these fools decide they want to drive back to New Haven and go to a regular bar and just chill and drink. Really? How anti-climactic. Again, if it were up to me we would've gone to one of the after parties with Ludacris, Lil' Jon or Young Money. But again, I wasn't driving and apparently I was outnumbered 2 to 1. Then on the ride we heard about all the stuff we missed at the beginning of the concert on the radio. Like Lil' Jon DJing or something, Gyptian (who my friend LOVES) opening the show, and some girl throwing a leopard print bra on stage at Drake. Then of course all the callers on the radio kept saying that Drake was their favorite part of the show. Nice. Would this be strike 3 or 4?

So we ended up going to this dry little bar that I don't much like anyway but they have good wings and make good drinks so whatever. Whenever there happens to be more than 3 people in that place they're usually 35 or older. Sorry but I'm not interested in partying with people 10 years older than me. This time we walked in on some girl's birthday party. I guess she was also a biker because there were a lot of them in there with their tricked out leather jackets and bikes parked outside. We used the bathroom, had 2 drinks and left. At least the one bartender was hot.

The night wasn't a total bust because I really enjoyed the Luda performance and what we actually saw of Nicki and Drake. Maybe next time people will leave on time, especially since we ended up paying $65 to see 2 people perform. Actually 1 1/2. SMFH

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Job Interview Nonsense

So after applying to practically every job that I'm just barely qualified for I finally got called for an interview for a nurse externship at a local hospital. For those who don't know, being a student nurse extern is probably the best job a student nurse can have. It's basically like paid clinical. It's great because you can get a real feel for what it will be like when you actually become a nurse and start working in the real world. You can also get much more time to learn and master skills than you get with a few hours of clinical a week.

Now for the crappy news. I interviewed for a position on a med/surg unit so they wanted a recommendation from my med/surg clinical instructor. Unfortunately for me, I took med/surg in the fall of 2008 and my former instructor no longer works at my school so I have no idea how to contact her. I was able to get a recommendation from my OB instructor after blowing up her email and phone for the past week but apparently that's not good enough. The nurse recruiter told me that she can't offer the position without a recommendation from the med/surg instructor. *sigh* FMMFL (that is: fuck my mother fucking life)

I do and I don't understand why this is necessary. I can understand why it would be better to have a recommendation from a med/surg instructor if I'm trying to get a job on a med/surg floor. On the other hand, I don't understand why the recommendation from my OB instructor isn't good enough. She can comment on my abilities the same way my old instructor would be able to. And on the form they give the instructors to fill out it asks for their opinion on my performance, time management, ability to teach, etc. which to me is something that anyone I've ever worked for can attest to, not just a clinical instructor for a particular unit. That's the part that really bugs me. The questions they ask in the recommendation are totally generic but they make a big deal about who it comes from. So annoying.

Now I have to call the secretary in the nursing department at my school to see if they have any kind of contact info for my old instructor which somehow I seriously doubt. I don't even know how long she's been gone. At the very least they should have her notes about me in my personal file so maybe I can at least get a copy of that to send the nurse recruiter. Anyway, that's all for now. Another trip to AC is in the works so I'll let everyone know how that goes. DEUCES!!!