Review: The MTV VMAs

I really don't have much to say about the VMAs so I'm gonna try to make this as brief as possible. There was a lot of good and bad with this year's show, mostly bad. From the ridiculous wardrobe choices to the decision not to have a host, there was a lot going on. As far as the actual awards I really didn't pay much attention because MTV is such a joke that there's really no point in taking them seriously. I mean, they don't even play music videos anymore so who would take them seriously? Also, these days most awards shows are more of a popularity contest rather than an accurate judgment of talent. But I digress.

Let me start with the stuff I hated. Nicki Minaj's outfit, Katy Perry's multiple outfits and whatever it is that Lady Gaga did. That performance was mediocre at best and I feel like she kept up the whole dude act for entirely too long. One segment would have been more than enough. Also, I didn't find Kevin Hart to be that funny as the non-host of the evening and the dry audience didn't help matters.

About those so called "tributes" to Amy Winehouse and Britney Spears? Stop. Seriously, MTV just needs to stop. The Amy tribute was lame and very forgettable. But Britney? The fact that MTV turned Britney's moment into her pimping Beyonce was just ridiculous. Don't get me wrong, I love Bey but I don't think she should have had to combine her vanguard award win with announcing Bey's performance. I also felt that Gaga in drag took away from her moment as well. It was all so unnecessary.

Now for the performances. Gaga opening was, meh. Adele was nice and simple but I kind of wish she sang a different song but whatever. The Jay-Z and Kanye performance looked like someone just ran up to them in the audience and asked them to jump on stage real quick. Clearly it was thrown together last minute. One of the highlights for me was Jessie J rocking out in the chair with a cast on. She has a great voice and hopefully will get more recognition soon. I also love that she sang Firework better than Katy Perry ever did. That random new rock group performance? Whatever. The Britney dancers were cool and Bruno Mars was decent but nothing to get excited about. Lil' Wayne closing the show was disappointing at best. Those zebra print jeggings hanging off his ass while he ran around the stage looking crazy was just outrageous. Have SEVERAL seats sir. Chris Brown was just.....I mean, the dancing was good but the LEAST he could have done was pretend to sing in the microphone.

In my opinion, the best performance/moment of the night was Beyonce. For starters, Love on Top is one of my favorite songs from '4' so I was already happy when she started singing that. The performance wasn't too over the top and crazy, it was just enough. And of course showing off her baby bump and the end was cute then Jay and Kanye's reactions in the audience made it even better. LOVED the sexual chocolate microphone drop by the way.

Other than that, I really don't have much to say about the show. Overall, it was decent enough for what it was and as usual the Twitter commentary was more entertaining than the actual show.

Random Thoughts on Surrogacy

I don't know why but earlier today I just randomly started thinking about surrogacy. I'm mostly thinking about whether it's a good idea or not verses other methods of conceiving kids or even adoption. There's good and bad with everything I suppose but I never thought much about the problems with surrogacy. Not saying for everyone but for myself, there are some issues I would seriously have to consider before going down that road if the time came.

The Good: The potential couple could have their own biological child without worrying about being the next Jon and Kate. Unless I'm wrong and please correct me if I am. It's my understanding that in most cases you can take your own fertilized egg and implant it into a woman so she gives birth to YOUR biological child. Correct? I'm sure there's more good than this but I'm drawing a blank right now.

The Bad: If I were to ever consider using a surrogate, my biggest fear would be that she would grow attached to the baby and want to keep it after it's born. I would imagine there are laws to address such things but I don't know for sure. I'm mean legally the person who gives birth to the child is the mother right? Anyone remember that episode of Law & Order: SVU with the fertility clinic? The biological mom took the birth mom to trial for custody of her child because of a mess up at the fertility clinic they both went too. Messy, messy.

The other "bad" that I was thinking of today is the behavior of the surrogate mom. You assume that's she's taking care of her body and not doing anything that would potentially harm the baby but there's no way of knowing for sure. It's not like you can be with the surrogate 24/7 and monitor her activities, meals, etc. I'd probably be freaking out everyday wondering if she was treating this baby as if it were her own and being extra careful. But as I said, there's no way to know for sure.

That's all I have to say really. Like I said this just randomly popped into my head. That's all for now.

"Do you have any kids?"

Really sir? Since when did that become a pick-up line? I swear it's almost commonplace nowadays for guys to ask me that question. And not just any guys of course. Yep, you guessed it, it's the black guys who always ask that. Apparently every young black female HAS to have a child or multiple children and "baby daddys" out there. It's the new trend in the hood. My friends and I didn't get that memo.

The most annoying thing isn't even the question itself, it's that guys seem genuinely surprised when my friends and I tell them we don't have any children. My black girlfriends of course because I've never heard my white friends be asked that question. It probably happens, but I haven't seen it. Anyway back on topic...why is it a surprise that I don't have children? I just don't get it. And furthermore, why do you feel it's necessary for you to ask me that question within 10 minutes of meeting me? What is going on in the world where it's common and normal for a young unmarried girl to have kids? At this point it's even expected and it shouldn't be.

I think part of the problem is that so many of these young girls are out there trying to get pregnant on purpose to keep some no good man that only wanted them for sex in the first place. You see it all the time with all this 'Pregnancy Pact' nonsense and shows like 16 and Pregnant. Sweetie, have some self respect and while you're at it, some self control. I can't even tell you how many young girls that I grew up with that are my age and younger are turning up pregnant these days. I swear it must be something in the water. Depending on the circumstances getting pregnant at my age (23) isn't a bad thing, it's the young teenage girls that I worry about. But anyway I'm getting off topic again.

Back to the whole "do you have any kids" thing. I really can't stand when a guy asks me that because I think it's stupid to just assume someone has a child for no apparent reason. Do they feel the need to ask that just because I'm a twenty something black girl? I truly do not understand the logic behind this. I don't look around the bar and think "hmm, I bet he/she has a kid at home." I mean really, who does that? Maybe it just boils down to the fact that some people don't actually think before they speak. Who knows? I guess I'm done with my little rant for now. But just for the record, I'm very proud to be a 23 year old, single, African American female who does not have any children and has never been pregnant.

PS: Wear a condom kids!