That's MONEY Honey

People keep telling me making money is so0o0o0o easy.  Really, if it's that easy why are we still forcing children to attend college?  In the digital era however, it is true that is has become ridiculously easy to build up that nest egg.  We have places like e-Bay and Amazon Marketplace that make it stupidly simple to take photos of our merchandise and there are even business for the busy (like myself) that will handle the packaging and shipping of the items.  Piece of cake.

I went to school for International Relations and Economics.  Economics = money right?  Well, really only if you get your masters or if you had enough foresight to intern for the company you wanted to end up at every year so they never forget how valuable you are.  I didn't do that.  I admit to dicking away my summers and my schools years enjoying my teens/twenties.

This has cost me an $80,000 starting salary with any decent qualitative company.  I'm now in panic mode desperately looking for a new job.

My women's business group, ABWA, meets once monthly and our guest speaker this time was Gail Perry-Mason.  She and Oprah are tight so she must know what she's talking about right????  Aside from telling us the story of her adoption and meeting her birth mother (a hilarious story btdubs) she gave us some great financial advice for making money doing nothing basically that I feel I should share.

Her first suggestion was to attend school for legal mediation.  Eight hundred bucks a day those suckers get paid to sit and watch you and some other party bicker.  I could use $800.  The course work is pretty rigorous but if you work somewhere with good vacation pay, why not flood the bank?  I'm gonna be off my parent's lease here pretty soon so she suggested paidride.com for those advertisement cars you see on the roads or swapalease.com for taking over a lease.

istockphoto.com which I had previously been unfamiliar with.  Apparently, you upload your photos and people pay for the shots they like.  Awesome!  Love taking pictures, love getting paid even better!

I could go one but I haven't investigated these all yet.  I participate in e-rewards, e-miles, bzzagent, 20/20 research panel and NCP scanning.  My e-survey habit feeds my app store habit.

Here are the rest of the sites:
westathome.com - work from home website
pinkpanel.com - try out make up for free
ebates.com - buy something, check ebates, get paid. 'nuf said.
recycle.org - free things your neighbors are trying to get rid of
-freecycle.com (more of the same)
cashmoneylife.com - not sure I remember
howtoshopforfree.com - really?
thepennyhoarder.com

DIAL 911 for Europe*

Every year of this whole early twenties thing has gone from meh to "holy uncanny photographic mental process batman" in a manner of days.  I get that the midlife crisis is a very real thing but I'd like to focus on my pre, well, barely pre, quarter-life crisis escape plan.

Quarter life - that period of life that spans from late teens to mid thirties.

Simply put, this period of life makes up a good portion of the outliers on my mental health scatter graph and I can't ride the ups and downs for much longer.

My Escape Plan: Part 1

1.  Create a minimalist wardrobe

This would involve a great deal of work on my part.  I have made many strides in the whole 'stop being a hoarder' part of my life but, um, I still have a major thrift shop problem where I can't stand to leave without buying anything.  A minimalist wardrobe is easily portable and has enough of an array of mix and match pieces that I could survive on 20-30 things and have endless outfit possibilities on the go.

2.  Account for all liquid assets

No, I don't want the be the idiot that had her crisis, blew through all her saved funds and now has to work as the 84 McGreeter with that painted on smile at the local Wal-Mart until the government says I can finally retire.  My parents thankfully gave me a pretty decent step above the rest of the Gen Y kids because of the stocks and bonds in my name.  I've already blown through the majority of my bonds sadly and now only have stock but cashing in a few of those means waiting a few more years for the returns to even out.  Not a big deal if I have a chance in the future to reinvest.

3.  Create a well thought out escape plan

I have some maps saved to my computer that should provide me with basic rail between countries in the EU.  That isn't enough this time.  I wouldn't want to just get over there, have only the money and clothes on my back available and then start wandering willy nilly throughout Europe.  I'm way to Type A for all that.  I need a plan.  I want my first flight booked open ended with no return date in sight but then I want real details.  Like how long would I spend in France?  Would I au pair there for a year, sight see for a little while in nearby areas and then switch countries or do I want to spend a month somewhere with locals?  Do I want to learn to be a chef and attend a three year culinary program in Turkey learning to cook...whatever the Turks eat?  I don't know.  I'm allowed to not know because after all, I'm floundering in my twenties.



And here is where we end.  That is all I have so far for my escape plan to Europe.  I know I'll probably fly Delta or British Airways.  I'm a stickler for those kinds of details but aside from that I'm headed back to the drawing board or cartography school to determine how I want to plan this great escape.  I think I want to throw an epic "I'm getting the eff out of here party" like two weeks before my official leave date.






*Dialing 911 will not get you Europe, but it will get you a nice hefty ticket!

Essay Questions - What's Up With That?

I love writing, obviously.  Why the hell else would I be attempting to blog if I didn't? What gets me every time are essay questions.  I think essay questions are just as pointless as interview questions.  I'm sorry, God blessed me with dyslexia and I'm pretty sure the rise of spell check has left me an even worse speller.  It's not fun to answer those short essay questions.  I'd be in the Peace Corps or working in Chicago with AUSL if it had been!

We put a lot of thought into these three and four paragraph essays that you read through with such the fine toothed comb.  We look back after we sent them in, after our rejection letters start rolling in and all we find see that we forgot to put a period at the end of the second sentence on the intro.  Suddenly, to us it becomes clear why we never heard back from anywhere.

We are all human and to be human is to make ALL SORTS OF errors.

I'm (undiagnosed) dyslexic and it has only gotten worse over the years.  Things you say all the time don't look right on paper when you finally realize that the phonetics don't match up with the lettering.  Phrasing is different in our minds than when we finally sit down to let the thoughts flow.

I have so many friends with other learning disabilities: the boyf, yes boyf,  and family have all have ADD and its happy happy happy hyperactive cousin, my cousin is on the Autism spectrum and so many more of my friends are on adderall just to focus on getting their basic tasks done.  How does this leave time for me to fill out your online auto formed disabled app and get other things done?

I understand that the reasoning is to deter lazy people and congrats, you've definitely accomplished that but at the same time, you deterred valid application with mental disabilities that find essay questions as time consuming as they do intimidating.

Love The Way You Lie

Really though, why are all facets of life based on how well you lie?

I've applied for so many jobs and haven't heard a damn thing back besides the sea of rejections emails I am currently burning to stay warm in my office.  My resumes means nothing to me.  Black and white words condensed to as close to one page as possible that with the help of a thesaurus captures a minute amount of the tasks I accomplished at each job.

But what are words on a paper without a voice to back them, right?
We now enter the realm of interviews.  Thirty minutes to an hour of nerves sitting in a room that may as well have white walls and padding to catch all the crazy that enters it.  You sit around a large table with one to four other individuals hoping they will ask you the questions to which you have the best canned responses prepared and offer you the position on the spot.

There are some really awful people that continue to be hired and promoted based on how they look on a sheet.  Why can't I be judged on my abilities, perseverance or resourcefulness?  My third grade teacher had be hook up her power point system.  The old women at the office go nuts for my work ethic; that can't be described on paper.

My GPA is not an accurate reflection of my aptitude and neither is my resume.  If you want to hire a skilled liar then I hope to god you are filling a sales position.

Demi - Is Demi Lovato Going to Give My Heart a Break?

There are no cliches.  There are no amount of Ben and Jerry's Brownie Batter pints for me to sink into to drown my sorrows.

I'm single.

How strange.  After four years of bullshit, I'm free.
It doesn't feel good.  It doesn't feel awful.  It just is a state of being.
free

This didn't even seem like a possibility when we were in our first month of dating.  There was affection and passion in our relationship.  We used to spend nights together after work that didn't end until six in the morning, thirty minutes before he would leave for work in Ohio.  I used to look at him and then back and me and never understand how I got so lucky, how anybody in their right mind could choose me.  Now, I recognize see the naivety of a depressed twenty year old with low self esteem.

The first sign of trouble in our relationship didn't start for a while.  Granted, he was still texting his exes with some fever when I did look in his phone the following May.  We cuddled and laughed like other couples but enjoyed our quirky evenings of N64 and taco dinners.  I had friends that new him before we were together that couldn't understand why I wanted to get myself his life.  But I didn't.  I wanted to have a fun summer after sophomore year, and I did with you added to the picture.

We stopped doing things together.  We didn't talk.  It became a situation where two people just coexisted pretending that they could hold onto what they once shared.  I'm happy to not deal with your lies.  I'm happy to soon be rid of your piggish behavior but most importantly, I'm glad I never had to do weight watchers to lose about half my body weight in fat like the person that is the reason I've had enough.

May you think of me often and it pain you.  May you feel the pain I've felt for years.  May the next girl experience with you all that you've done to me and then some.  May she worry about your drinking and unfaithfulness.  And may you never, no matter who it is or how much I dislike them, reign upon them the physical pain that you inflicted upon me.  How could I have lived like a fool for so long?  I hope I never have children to explain the last four years to.  These 1460 days will be a permanent reminder of my strength and character; I hope they reflect that I was dedicated and a passionate lover in my ignorance.

So you can keep every I'm sorry you have left for me.  I don't want it.
You can take ever picture we ever had together and burn them.  I will be.

I believe it was once misquoted about fury and women:
Hell hath no fury like me scorned
http://8tracks.com/wildmilk/he-s-gotta-go

You were a boy when i met you and a cheater ever since,

How did I do something as stupid as give you the first kiss?

I hope that one day when you're angry you remember what you did

And you muster up the courage to call me up so I'll forgive

Keep your I'm sorrys and the I'll change to your self

It's time for me to face the world and recaputure my health

Google Maps Told Me I Could Get There By Walking, I Drove Instead

How epic was the road trip I just got back from?  

So friggin' epic that I'm already planning my next one and learning from my mistakes.  The s/o and I took the long weekend I already had off for Lollapalooza (sold the tickets, line up was less than stellar) and headed out to the open road on a Pure Michigan road trip.  My initial plans were to hit Grand Rapids, Holland, Ludington, Traverse City, Mackinac Island, the U.P. and Frankenmuth.  And surprisingly, everything was done except the trip to Frankenmuth which is fine because that's really a day trip from my house.  Honestly, we could definitely have made it to Frankenmuth Sunday and spent the night to see the things we would have missed due to such a late arrival.

I think we definitely had the right idea.  The decision to take the trip was really rather last minute and some major improvement can be made between now and the next road trip.

We didn't have an actual map.  We picked up the local touristy maps at each hotel we stopped at but you really needed that to help plan out your trip initially.  I kind of broke the trip down to like two major cities everyday.  Since the trip was so spur of the moment, it didn't even occur to me that I needed to really plot out things to do once we got there and travel time between cities.  Thankfully, we went during a perfect time of the year; all the little quaint downtown areas had sidewalk sales going on and of course Traverse City had another record breaking year for their 9th Annual International Film Festival.

I also think I should contact some of the Big Three and see if they would let me test drive a car for the long weekend while I complete another road trip.  I could blog about the performance of the car, note how many times I need to fill up in this vehicle, how many total miles and the total drive time for the trip.  Come on Ford, wouldn't you love to see your C-Max in action this year?  Road tripping could totally be my new niche, if I wasn't so exhausted all the time.  

Taking this trip really had me forgetting I was even in the state of Michigan anymore.  Everywhere had it's own distinct beauty that I started to forget that I was still in the United States.  Have you seen Traverse City?  There isn't a colour in the crayon box that perfectly captures how blue it is up there - breathtaking.  

My goal in completing this trip was to be able to really call myself a  Michigander.  How can you if you've never gotten your fudge straight from Mackinac Island while listening to a horse empty its bladder?  

The Best Way to Pet a Cat is with Your Eyes

I think I am pushing crazy cat lady status. 

I've even contemplated starting a cat themed Pinterest board but I'm afraid that might actually cement my eccentric status.  Now that I'm older not living under my parents’ roof I've wanted to go animal crazy.  Both my rents had dogs growing up.  But dogs?  They require way too much work.  Don't get me wrong, I could use an animal in my life that actually responds, knows its name and cuddles in bed rather than tearing apart the sides of the mattress but I do not want to take the damn thing for walks all the time.  My life is already exhausting.  Dogs are way more work that cats. 

I mean but look at this sucker?  Doesn't he just scream cuddle bug?

My two cats, Benny and Eva, are quite the opposite. 

 They don't really cuddle unless it happens to be a completely inconvenient time for you.  I have noticed though since moving to the couch I have become the center of the cuddleverse.  Before Eva there was Bella but I don’t know if I’m ready to share that crazy/sad story yet.  Eva was adopted from a t-shirt shop in Ann Arbor after my friend Nicole secured her kitty who for months was known only as Furball.  Later she would be bestowed an appropriately cute name as well, Penny.  When Nicole moved out of her apartment and into a house she could no longer keep Penny so I said screw it, why the hell can’t I have two cats?! 

The first night these two litter mates came to live in my apartment was like a scene similar to 300.  Kitties were fighting and nobody wanted to stop and drink water for fear of being attacked.  I mean seriously, you have never heard two cats growl or pant harder.  Eventually they started eating and drinking.  For the most part, they get along now fine.  I often fawn over their brother/sister grooming time.  Oh, I said brother.  Penny is actually a Benny.  He grew a big old pair of fuzzy nuts that were clearly unmistakable markings of boy parts.  I mean, I was the one to say that Eva was a girl; her color pattern proves that.  But again, I only had suicidal fish growing up, how would I know what to look for on a teeny yelping kitten?!

Saturdays are Caturdays.  I know this because Animal Planet gives me all the Too Cute!  (there is a free kitten episode on iTunes this week) and My Cat From Hell I could possible ever hope to watch!  Come on dude, they have a kitten cam!  KITTENS! Penguins too if you swing that way. Have you seen a ragdoll cat?  They are like straight from fluffville.   These cities only exist if you are cat crazy like me.

I see other unabashed cat people on Pinterest going nuts with these things.  The people I’m closer friends with also have cats.  And not just one cat, some of them have houses full of cats.  I won’t get that crazy.  Fingers crossed.

I seriously just need to own something cuddly.  Did I mention I've always wanted a gecko?

It's Hard Being Black and Gifted

In the wake of the Trayvon Martin/George Zimmerman Case, I will attempt in the most positive, non-polarizing way as possible to share a personal story.

There has constantly been an issue in our society regarding the rights of African American men.  This case hits me because something similar (yet thankfully not as tragic) happened to my brother many years before.  My brother, the Talented and Gifted Adonis I grew up admiring, and hating, was the victim of racial profiling following the Columbine Massacre.

We moved around a lot as kids and I think that had something to do with the awkward way in which we developed.  Our first move to Indianapolis led me to a life full of friends and fun.  Darrell on the other hand, well, to put it lightly had it rough.  Okay well, maybe not rough but the boy was clearly awkward.  He was on track to be Valedictorian at his high school.  He participated in plays and was a fierce competitor on the soccer field which would later lead him to his love of rugby.

4-20-1999 - Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold effectively massacre several classmates and teachers before eventually taking their own lives at Columbine High School in Colorado.

Fast forward a few days
I'm sitting at home with my mother when a cop car rolls up with my brother.  My brother, never even stole from the candy bin at Meijer, came home in a cop car; I was tenish at the time and didn't quite understand the magnitude of what was going on but knew something was up.  My mother burst into tears when the officer revealed what happened to bring my brother home in such dramatic fashion.  He was expelled from Lawrence Central High School because he was a presumed member of the trench-coat mafia.  Who knew that dead teens crossed state lines to cause mayhem in our tiny waterfront community.

They arrested Darrell and subsequently expelled him because his poetry was dark and depressing (have you heard of goth or emo?).  He wore trench-coats, like many other law abiding citizens.  But those two things were nothing compared to something about him that will never change - he's a black male.  SCARY!  I don't even think Darrell was 16 at the time.  The high school for gifted juniors and seniors across the state started to receive his reference letters that went from glowing remarks of the great student to notes of fear and cowardice from teachers that barely knew what he was all about.

And that's what this all boils down to isn't it?  Cowardice from the leagues of people that do not seek to understand what they don't know, they only want what they want and that is to remain blissfully ignorant.

Larger Image Here

I actually googled so I could provide you with more accurate information about the subject.  My brother was active in y-press at the time, an Indianapolis based youth press organization, and there had been an article written about the expulsion.  The organization is now defunct and no amount of googling will bring back a dead domain.
See image to the right for the Y-Press article.

In the end, my brother is alive.  He's happily married and is a successful lawyer/engineer former blogger for Ghostface Killah.  I'd say that despite not graduating valedictorian from LC he's doing alright.  People like Trayvon Martin and Emmett Till don't have that chance and at this rate, no young black male ever will.

As a person of color, there are things I just don't engage in because of the stereotype that could come with it.  I went through a hoodie wearing phase and can't imagine what my parents would be doing now had I been gunned down on my way home from a convenience store, skittles and tea in hand.  These cases, though few, are still a reminder of the prejudices in the hearts and minds of many American citizens.  We need to stop the acceleration of these events and start to focus on what needs to happen to prevent this instances from occurring in the future or we are going to have full scale pandemonium in our streets.




I'll leave you with this response to the verdict: Melissa Harris Perry - George Zimmerman Verdict Response

Cuz I'm A Woman, W-O-M-A-N

Sometimes, I regret not having majored in women's studies or taking more feminist oriented classes but I look at the people I graduated with that did and I'm not too impressed with where they ended up.  But there are always a few Madisonians that will forever leave me doubting my own intelligence and determination.  I’m talking about you, Levin.

There isn't a women's issue out that I don't want to champion from the right to choose all the way to equal pay (especially for superior work).  I am a member of the V Day campaign.  Violence against women is a global atrocity that would continue to be detrimental to women everywhere where it not such a public issue these days.

This is one of those broad issues I try not to shove down people’s throats.  My reasoning is that I'm so passionate about it I don't want other people to misinterpret my passion.

I struggle everyday with the idiot currently know as my boyfriend because he still has this old fashioned notion that the woman, namely me, is responsible for doing ALL  of the household chores.  That was in a time before more woman than men were attending and finishing college.  That was in a time when women weren't working jobs, let alone full time jobs.  And more importantly, that was in a time when there was no need for a two family income. 

Let me mention that he is 10 months, pushing 11 behind on all of his bills while I, the college educated Team Leader of the office has no financial woes.  The mess in our apartment has finally gotten to the point where even he is sick of the mess.  Now in good conscious, could I clean this up?  Sure, I could attempt that but that undermines my authority and would never teach him a lesson.  Meh, I dunno. 

I realize V-Day and cleaning my apartment are not all that similar.  The point is that men have a problem respecting woman and often times that stems from their own internal struggles understanding women to be a strong, defiant sex.

I implore you to challenge the status quo in your house or with your friends regarding women’s issues and to help us stop saying something has to change by changing yourself.

Say It Loud

My reactions and reflections to Dark Girls:

I watched this video.  I watched, read and listened to For Colored Girls and become enveloped in a new sense of empowerment; my brain is finally acknowledging the fact that I am not the only person in this struggle, this "dark" place.

There is so much involved in the composition of the “black girl”.  We too are like onions and ogres, layers upon layers of depth and definition interwoven with a deep cultural richness.

I have a summer shade and winter shade.  My summer shade is dark, mysterious and lovely.  My winter shade makes me feel so past and pale but it makes me feel like I fit in better with my friends that lack pigmentation.  My hue has reds and yellows.  I glow.  But unlike the brand of my childhood perm, I don’t feel Dark and Lovely.

My sorority little sister is dark and beautiful.  There is nothing more to it.  I don’t think she believes that she is beautiful all the time.  How can you, when people look at you and tell you “Damn, you are dark as midnight.  If you close your eyes and open your mouth I’d think you were the Cheshire Cat!” People think they are being funny but what is really being done is something serious.  It creates this institution, this mental block that causes this circle of self loathing.  She’s rocking these blue contacts right now that just look ridiculous.  But I did that.  I wore green ones because there comes a time where you are just feed up with being black, black, black.  An aunt of mine has blue eyes and an uncle has green.  From what I’m told my Popi had blue eyes.

The thing that will hit me every day, the thing that will haunt me well after her death is the fact that I had the audacity to ever tell my mother I wanted my white mommy to pick me up from preschool.  I can’t even fathom the damage and pain I caused her at the meager age of four. 

I’ll entertain the idea of dating anybody but in actuality, I've only ever been with people of a different race because I don’t want to perpetuate a stereotype.  I don’t want to go out in public and be judged.  It’s painful and it pains me to type this.  I was bullied in school by people of matching and differing complexion: where does that leave me?  My grandmother told me I needed to wait until she died to get married because she was sure it wouldn't be a black man at the altar with me.  Ouch.  It’s still hard to find make up at a grocery store in my skin tone.  I can’t just go buy a nude bra or tights.  I have to find a specialty store and stock up because who knows how long the product will last.  I won a contest and was given shampoo that I can’t use because it is not for my hair type.

I hate my hair.  I stopped getting weaves to mimic white celebrities mostly because it was running me $300+ every two months and was just me trying to blend in to what society thinks I should look like.  My short hair is not my favorite but it is mine.  My workplace is a strange place.  The majority of the people in my office are women of color.  In another office, would I be allowed to have my hair natural and curly?  Would it be a distraction?  DOES ANYBODY ASK THAT QUESTION THAT IS NOT A PERSON OF COLOR?  Incredible that as a woman of color I have to think about that, seriously think about that.  I tried dying my hair in the same trends my friends were doing in middle school and I lost my hair just trying to fit in, with any group.

I make it a point in my life to mention that I am not just African American.  This might be because everybody else has these vivid tales of their nationalities and ancestry. I am also Cuban and Irish and I am beautiful.  In other countries, do they say I’m Polish Russian?  Do people care like they do here?

Think about this cheerios commercial drama.  Why can’t an interracial couple be in a commercial when these types of couples are a becoming a reality.

How beautiful would it be for us to just have a world free from color barriers?  This is the new/old NOH8.  

Let the revolution start with you today: Love thyself first and but nobody above thee.

Stop Look Me Over - The Rise of Internet Dating

Let's be honest, most people use online dating the same way they use Facebook, for creepin' people.  My shrink suggested I try Match and I did.  Of course, I'm still in a relationship with not the best guy but I'm allowed to look.  Eyes wander.  

Internet dating is not for the faint of heart.  I've tried e-Harmony, sadly around the time it was hacked so I deleted that sucker and didn't even get to enjoy the free communication weekends.  

Last week, I reopened my Match account after having it lay dormant for a while.  I looked at some of the matches selected for me and saw the winks and emails roll in.  I find that flattering, regardless of how creepy the person may actually be in reality.  I used to have an AllMSU dating profile too for the sheer fact that I needed a boost in my self esteem at such a demanding time in my life.  My boyfriend and his brother share a mutual friend that apparently is also online dating.  Kudos for him.  I was one of his matches…or maybe he just came across my profile by searching.  I wish I hadn't added those other pictures.  It was not like my profile had my name or any other unique identifiers.  Bleh!  That was a lovely conversation.  Thankfully, I had already told the significant other that if things don’t shape up I’m shipping out. 

Chemisty.com, an off shoot of match had its free communication weekend last weekend so I made a profile just to check it out.  Um EWW!  What is it with creepy men that could be my father sending me messages and winks when I gave an age range they did not fall into?  The other thing that bugs me being a person of color is that I rarely find a potential mate on those sites that says they would date an African America in their race preferences.  Maybe it’s time to try blackpeoplemeet.com.

For more one why it is difficult to figure out the dating world please see this thought catalog article.  She feels my feels.

Ring my Bell: You've Got Mail

The same way your cell phone service dictates how much money you have, your email address gives away just how much of a dinosaur you really are.  I can't tell you how many sheets I process and the email addresses are still something like sexymama69sofine@aol.com.  Now, let's not focus on how absurd the name itself is; instead, focus in on the @aol.com.  AOL hasn't been a major player in the email battle since dial up became obsolete.  Take the time to really understand what I'm putting down: having an outdated email address will make every other technological person straight up laugh at your face.

I do.  

Now I'm not saying, "well I use Gmail why can't you?"

A friend of my from the McGhetto (McDonald's) days recently got a nice office job and his boss couldn't believe he was using AOL.  There are so many options out there, hell, Apple gives you a @me.com email when you get your fancy new "i" product.  Yahoo, meh, that's acceptable I suppose.  Outlook, formerly the MSN family of email domains is even better.  Don't get caught in the stone age; Wilma and Fred have enough to deal with in Bedrock without you.

The Cost of Education vs. College Grads

Most of my peers are still paying off their student loans.  My parents were generous enough to pay for my four year stint at the best party big ten school in Michigan, Michigan State.


And I will always thank them for that.

from colorlines.com

Are you reading what I'm reading?  All the Millennials graduating  with any kind of student debt may have no hope if job creation continues to putter along.  We need more than minimum wage jobs with decent benefits to pay off the education we needed to get that minimum way job; I'm looking at you McDonald's!  I believe I heard somewhere recently that the actual minimum wage should be somewhere more like $21 and I'm pretty sure I also heard that the Obama's recently paid off their student loans.  Something has to give.  I went to college to get the skills I needed to be involved in the work force and now my outcome is just as bleak as when I graduated high school with honors.

Now what?

To Bey...or Not?

Whether or not you think Beyonce's publicity inundation is simply happening to boost her sales, one thing can be agreed on, bitch is fierce.

Her recent spike in ferocity has turned my thinking inward.

My Mom tells me about how when I was younger I would tell her I didn't want her to pick me up, I'd rather wait for my white mommy.  Point blank: that's hella offensive.

I still have issues going to look for nude underwear, make-up that matches my skin tone and I am used to being "the black friend".

I grew up in a...colorless community.  Well, maybe not colorless but certainly not colorful.  I've had issues throughout my life where I go out of my way to not appear like a stereotype.  We are talking to the point where if I was driving with my windows down I wouldn't allow rap to be played.  I've been ecstatic about the general public response to Beyonce for the sheer reason that it makes it acceptable for me to be a black woman.  Why shouldn't I admit to loving N.E.R.D.?  Why does it make me uncomfortable to admit to loving watermelon (let's be honest, everybody does)?  It has bothered me for years that people just can't seem to let me be the hodgepodge person I grew up to be?













But honestly, who hates fried chicken?

A Scout is Brave

THIS JUST IN Boy Scouts of America has decided to officially open it's doors to members of differing sexual orientations

I can't seem to wrap my mind around how this is such a monumental, nay detrimental, decision.

Do you recall this?

Can you see where this is going?

What was so horrifying about an African American person taking classes with a Caucasian person?

Don't Boy Scouts actually have girls at their camps and in some of their troops?  YES THEY DO!

So if you can have girls in your troop, and typically they like boys, what is the major malfunction?

I just will never understand the reason for prejudices especially in this day and age.  How many people do we need to make second class citizens because it offends Religion A.  Don't boil this issue down to anything more than that.

Our government needs to shape up and recognize that enough is enough.  Something really caught me last night while I was watching the West Wing Season 2.  Ainsley Hayes basically said that everybody is protected under the 14th amendment on the basis that we are all citizens under the law.  All citizens under the law.  What a concept.  It really got me thinking because I'm all about Equal Rights and earning a proper wage but what a slap in my face.  Why do we need these types of laws to spell out what we can and can't do based solely on gender?

I return to my regularly scheduled blog.

Whoop, I meant this.

What is so wrong about this?

My boyfriend and his family are avid Boy Scouts.  Well, were avid Boy Scouts.  I found out yesterday that after his father heard about the decision made by the board members, he mailed back his scout uniform along with a letter stating how appalled he was and how if he could he'd have sent back his two sons Eagle Scout awards he would have done that as well; as far as he is concerned now they're worthless.  I think something about tolerance is missing in the Boy Scout curriculum if the general acceptance of all individuals has led some people to such action.

Incredible.  Separate but equal is no longer lawful in America.

I Can't Get No

You've heard of this concept instantaneous satisfaction yeah? Working in customer service has left me feeling a little angry when it comes to this topic. Today, in 2013, we no longer wait to update our encyclopedias with the door to door salesman; we simply google our answers. But what happens when we can't find what we are looking for in other realms of our lives besides looking up the ever important burning question of did Lindsay Lohan really steal that brooch off of her lawyer or was that just photoshop?

We get mad.

The swift travel of information has made things a little complicated. People don't like to wait over ninety seconds for their food.  They don't want to be told you don't have all the answers.  Like Violet Beauregard said,

I digress.  My problem with people getting irrationally upset with people trying to help them is that they forget you are dealing with living, breathing, flawed human beings.  To err is to be human. We can't be expected to pull rabbits from our hats at a moments notice.  PETA probably wouldn't appreciate that either. 

I Wear, So I Care

Don't even get me started on this topic.

Let me pimp out my charities before I get too involved and forget to praise something.  The causes that are near and dear to my heart are: Lupus, Autism, Juvenile Arthritis and Diabetes.

Lupus: My Aunt Karen Martin passed away due to complications with Lupus 10/11/11.
Subsequently, this article discusses her lawsuit against Ford because of their refusal to hire her
Autism: My Cousin Kamren is a child on the Autism Spectrum
Juvenile Arthritis: My sorority, Alpha Omicron Pi, has been championing this debilitation since 1967.
and Diabetes: Sadly, there isn't a female member on my extended family living today that doesn't deal with something diabetes related...this includes my mother.

That's the short list of the issues facing us today that I care about.  But let's talk about this notion of commercialized charity shall we?

If you didn't rock one of these bad boys,
 you weren't cool.  I think it took me about three months to realize I was on the fast train to lamesville when I finally understood Lance Armstrong's yellow banded message.  And really think about it right; that trend started when I was a freshman in high school.  Not to date myself, but that was May 2004 and we are nine years past that.  Other companies and charities have flocked to this seemingly insignificant moniker but what a cash cow/promotional tool is has spiraled into.  You can tell just by looking at someones wrist what tugs their heartstrings, what gets them teary eyed and what they really, truly care about.  Well, that was the thought anyway.

Recognize this?

This charitable initiative began in 2006.  You remember the GAP clothes right?  Of course you do.  Likely because it made you aware of the plight of the less fortunate right?  Well, if you don't remember that, you at least remember Bono and the excitement you felt when they finally released an iPod that wasn't either black or white though don't you?

What about Susan G. Komen and the race for the cure?  We've all been pinkwashed into believe that this is the only organization to support in order for people to believe that you really are supporting breast cancer research.  There are individual organizations that support the research in a more grassroots manner.

Have you seen the fact sheets on some of these major charitable organizations?  Pennies on the dollar actually make it to the intended cause. PENNIES!

That having been said, guess how many people that put their pink and (red) on actually care that money went to the charity?  Of that amount, how many just care that you noticed they had a pink ribbon on their apparel or their fresh red laces?

That's been the trend.  Take this company Sevenly.  They make it pretty clear in both the name and their company description that a flat seven dollars from every product goes to the weekly supported charity.  They don't flash their logo on everything you buy.  In fact, all I have from them with their name visibly on it is my phone and that's because they sent me this sticker, see?






 It's cute, subtle and I didn't have to choose between supporting the cause and pimping it out by placing it on my phone.

We're Here To Help

After helping a family friend with some computer issues, I am completely awed by the customer service standard we have allowed ourselves to accept.  I won't bore you with my desperate attempts to save a far gone hard drive but put your seat belts on before we dig into the call.

Jennifer explains to me that she's getting some blue screen and the computer is in this kind of reboot loop.  It had been doing this for months.  This result is due to a hard drive error and instead of trying and failing to combat the problem until I'm blue in the mouth, I informed her that as long as the laptop was still under warranty, Dell should be able to fix it no problem.

I gave it my best shot anyway and then turfed her to their tech support.

I bet you can tell where this story is going: overseas!
Everything boils down to our troubled economy (again, not just because I'm an economist) and how we sent away a few of our jobs for cost purposes.  I understand that you have to work every angle from a cost/benefit analysis and that sometimes other markets just have a better comparative advantage when it comes to certain tasks and products.  This notion however, does not give carte blanche for those companies that did take advantage of these policies by neglecting the conditions of their new work force.

The first person to answer the phone once we passed through the automated triage read from a script.  In my personal dealings with companies that start off this way, things don't typically get resolve on this first call.  He took some basic information, used terms like "Ma'am" and "Miss".  All in all, he could have had a personality and he could have actually acted like he cared about the problem (minimum wage doesn't cover the cost of giving a shit).

Jennifer isn't computer savvy.  How would she have been able to convey the true issue to somebody she can't understand?  I knew the issue wasn't a virus but the way she described it, you really wouldn't know unless you had that face-to-face conversation.  Her issue was a hard drive issue and those are always, pending you didn't dump a bowl of chicken noodle soup down your keyboard, covered by warranty.  His first instinct was to tell her that viruses are not covered by a warranty.  Me, I have a hot temper and this would have sent me off the handles and onto the twitterverse.  Once we cleared the gatekeeper, we were transferred to tech support, likely the guy in the cube across the hall.  He's oral skills weren't much better and because of the incessant recaps, a 10 minute call dragged on for 35!

What happened to 90 seconds or less?  What's that? Not McDonald's.

Really though, customer service jobs are shit.  People don't think there is a real person on the other end of the phone or the computer and that puts a chip on their shoulder that having a face-to-face conversation simply doesn't allow for, well, that is unless you are a complete ass.

I've had some pretty craptastic customer service jobs and I understand how that cloak of invisibility makes them feel all powerful while make you wonder when Alice handed you the Drink Me glass.  This is something we have to think about going forward though.  Will we understand that once the complaints start rolling in via social media that there truly is a rift that formed between companies and their customer base because of the overseas outsourcing of customer service phone support? Or will companies continue to think in terms of dollar signs and rely on the fact that as long as there are more dollar signs than not things are still chugging along.

First Job Blues

Woo I graduated.  Oh, that was two years ago, almost to the day.

So like any good college kid would, I sat around my house because, well, it was freaking summer.  Eventually, my Dad reared his head upstairs.  I peered out from behind my slowly dying desktop to hear, "get off of your ass and go look for a job".  Ugh.  Wasn't I supposed to get one last summer before reality smacked me in the face and knocked me on my ass?

Work sucks.  Plain and simple.

Of course, I worked most of my summers during college as your local McCrew member.  That was a treat.  Within 24 hours, I had already been asked to apply for manager.  To be fair, this may have been because the manager working (not my current boyfriend) was into me.  And let's be honest, who isn't seduced by my childlike wonder?

I digress.

The first "real" job I had came after I stupidly put my resume on careerbuilder.com.  My phone blew up!  You'd think I was going to give money to the first person to give me an opportunity to continue paying state taxes.  Essentially, every offer that came from the exposure I got on that site was a crap job; remember, I worked at McDonald's.  As a new college graduate with...decent grades, I was being offer opportunities to sell people office supplies and telemarket.  Not my thing.

One day, I was sitting on the couch in the office with my Dad and this magical person called from Quicken Loans.  She saw my resume and wanted to know if I was still looking for a job.  Considering that all of my prior calls had been busted, and not knowing anything about the company, I told her I had found other employment.  My Dad wasn't having that nonsense.  "Quicken Loans has been named one of the best places to work for.  Why did you tell her you had a job?  You can't sit on your duff all day here you know!"  Yes, I know.  So I called them back, set up and interview and before you know it I'm dealing in a whole paperwork mess because I wanted to keep my side job selling watches at Parisian for extra cash.  Orientation was all 100 new hires for the month smuggling as much red bull out of the auditorium you could fit in your monogrammed bag.  I hated that job.  The pay couldn't keep me there.  I aced every test.  When I hit the sales floor, I had all the knowledge in the world.  But that didn't stop me crying to and from work for the first weeks.  People can be so rude over the phone, who knew.

Finally, after sticking it out about six months and constantly threatening to quit, I did.  Everything boils down to the economy (did i mention I have a BA in economics?).  My state, like many others, is hemorrhaging talented people because we aren't experienced enough to assimilate into the jobs of our elders.  The way things are going now, you just have to take any job that sounds halfway decent.  And it did.  Until it turned out to be glorified telemarketing.  The job was about money. Period.

If I had wanted to be a money hungry yuppie, I'd have gone to an Ivy League school and I'd be running away to Paris to get the next Birkin bag.  We graduate thinking the world is our oyster and we burn out trying to be the shining stars others always wanted to be.My point in this rather lengthy tale is that life is simply too short to stay in a crap job.  You have to be happy(ish) in whatever you decide to do.  My misery wasn't worth the paychecks that stopped having double pay for overtime when I had served my initial purpose.

Any first job tales?

Manifest Destiny

"I feel so sorry for your generation."

Why? Because yours is leaving us with a mess we will never dig ourselves out of?  Well don't feel sorry for us.  "Americans" have been nothing if not stubborn and persistent since it's inception.  We will keep calm, and carry on.  Oh, I guess that's only for the Brits.

We are resilient   We are young, able and willing. It's just that, well, some of you need to retire before we can even have a chance at a decent 9-5.  Ultimately, job creation is our new frontier.  More of my friends have been apart of start up companies that not only pave the way for new ideas but they also garner interest for job applications in a field that otherwise would not exist.

Chill Boomers

For example, Digital Roots (formerly 3CSI), was founded in 2009 and has quickly taken off.  This start up uses a program to monitor and respond to social media comments made for companies like Ford where they have an agreed upon account.  Honest to blog, all they did was take something simple and perfect it.  Sure, I can manipulate html but can I program? No.  But Digital Roots is all about vertically promoting the employees they train.  Now is Digital Roots the only start up in the state to have found success?  Certainly not.  What I am trying to portray is that we have our own brains.  We watch TV shows like 2 Broke Girls and get ideas in our heads that our twenties and thirties aren't meant to be spent behind the traditional office desk.  A one household income for us is just a distant dream.  We can work from home by selling items on the etsy and ebays of the world.  We create v-logs that turn viral: i.e. Jenna Marbles fabulous video on how to trick people into thinking your good looking and create income sitting on our asses and sponsors cling to our followers.

Moving On Up: Get Me the Heck Out Of Here

I've grown up in what could possibly be the worst era for a Kidult to develop in.  That being said, I'm still happy to have had such an advantage when it comes to technology because of the time I grew up in.

I lived in dorms for five years and in a sorority for one (absolutely horrible) year.  I'm used to being around people and keeping up appearances.  One thing I am over, not having MY own space.  In a world where Pinterest and Facebook dominate our lives, I've been feed so many organizational/decorating tips that I'm ready to branch out at try them myself.  The problem is that I don't have a space that actually belongs to me.

No, I'm not homeless.

I've begun my second year of apartment living. To put it simply, it sucks.

I live with my boyfriend ('nuf said).  He is a little piglet.  I can track his whereabouts based on the tell tale clues from the mess he left in his wake.  The thought has occurred to me that you can't train a lame horse but can you give them the proper spaces or visible direction to change its outlook?  I've been hopelessly looking for a home or condo for the last year and a half but have been unable to acquire any of the homes I've put offers in on for various reasons.  Today, I put an offer in on a condo in an area I wasn't even looking in originally.  This is partially due to desperation and you know, I hate paying $889 for a crappy condo when I know a mortgage payment on a piece of property larger than my 1,00 sq ft apartment would cost less if not the same (taxes and insurance included).

This condo has potential.  It is in the county I wanted.  It is in my price range.  It is conveniently located near my shopping haunts and my friends.

Why am I in such a rush to own this?
1.  Well, I've been moving around since I was seven and I'm ready to call some place my home.
2.  I have the money which puts me in a much better financial situation than my peers so why not?
3.  Nothing says keep you busy like trying out all the different things I've saved from pinterest
and most importantly 4.  It would be MINE!
Hello! Are we not called the Me Generation for nothing?  Owning a home would add to my identity in the same way trading up from a hoopty (yes, i did look up the spelling) to a lexus would increase my perceived social status.  In need this condo as much as the economy needs me to need this condo.

And So It Is

Afternoon,

As a 23 turning 24 year old kidult, I figure it was time for me to start a blog.  You know, those things that have food pictures and life hacks?  Of course by this time in my life, I have had many a blog/online journal.  I started with blurty, moved to xanga (many xangas) and ended up at livejournal where I now currently run my own personal online diary.

So what is this going to be about?

Dunno.

At this point, your guess is as good as mine but I am excited to make this work and to have an acceptable outlet for all my ranting.  For starters, I'm going to be posting once a week and the topics will likely be whatever my little brain desires.  I also want to start getting back into poetry for the sheer fact that I'm reluctant to read anything I composed between middle school and high school; I didn't write much of my own personal stuff once college essays started kicking my ass.