Absolutely Gorgeous

I love the romantic gaze between our First Lady and President. She looks good, he looks good. Hmmm, wonder what they're thinking? I bet there was a Luther Vandross CD playing in the President's private quarters later that night. ;) What a gorgeous couple.

First Lady Michelle Obama looked stunning at Tuesday night's State Dinner. India Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his wife, Gursharan Kaur were the guests of honor. Designer Naeem Khan, an Indian-American, created the dress. Khan told CNN's Larry King the dress is made of silk and crystals. Forty people worked on this beautiful handmade gown. Khan's father and grandfather design luxurious clothing in India. This is my favorite look for the First Lady so far. Thumbs up to Khan for this fashion masterpiece. Macy's needs to hook up with him so us girls who aren't on a First Lady budget can wear his clothes.

I'm Not Scared of You Adam Lambert

“Female performers have been doing this for years — pushing the envelope about sexuality — and the minute a man does it, everybody freaks out.
"People are scared and it's really sad, I just wish people could open their minds up and enjoy things, it's all for a laugh, it's really not that big of a deal."

Adam Lambert tells Rolling Stone and Access Hollywood

Its nights like this I wished I lived on the East Coast. I had to check YouTube to see all the raunch from Adam Lambert's closing act on the American Music Awards. Fitting the song is called, "For Your Entertainment." Thanks to editing and censors, we here in the PST zone missed the simulation of a male dancer performing oral sex on Lambert. We missed the groping of the pole dancer and the flip off too. But they allowed the kiss with the male keyboardist ( Ma, I told you he was kissing a guy). Lambert's show was edgy, raw, unforgiving, overly-sexed, inappropriate, sounded awful, outlandish and I LOVED IT. The performance resembled some underground, S&M sex dungeon/night club. Lambert's yelling and theme reminded me of 70s and 80s rock--David Bowie, Madonna even George Michales. You know a sexy, in-your-face, I don't give a s**t this is who I am, vibe. I appreciated the erotic. Only problem is the AMAs wasn't the right place to act out a BJ, give the middle finger, etc. Adam, your ass may be grass with the FCC on that one. According to Rolling Stone, producers didn't know about the male make out part. Not sure if they were aware of the other parts, pun intended. Adam should've saved this show for the MTV Awards. Many parents are angry and disappointed. A viewer wrote on YouTube they were going to contact the FCC. One woman on Adam's Facebook page commented her daughter ran out of the room crying during the performance. Tonight's Adam was not the good, cute boy teen girls fell in love with on American Idol. Adam could have lost his mainstream appeal because of this. Of course many people are heated because Adam put his gayness out there for the whole country to see and some Americans just can't handle it. Would people make such a big fuss if he were straight or a woman? Madonna and Britney kissed on stage... but at the MTV awards. Some fans were turned off because he sounded bad. At least he didn't like lip synch like Britney Spears some artists do live.

Kris Allen should be seeing dollar $igns tonight. Remember him? The guy who actually beat Adam and won American Idol, but isn't getting the promotion he deserves being that he won. Well, he can come out like Glenda the Good Witch in all of this. He's opposite of Adam--married, boy-next door looks, doesn't appear to be a crotch grabber, etc. People offended by Adam could give Kris more attention.

I'm still on team Adam. Based on the quote up top, sounds to me he's not trying to be a bubble gum pop star and he made that clear tonight. Adam is cute, sexy and the fact he wouldn't do me even if I came to his hotel room wearing only whipped cream makes him more appealing. I wonder if the FCC found him appealing? In case you missed the unedited version:

Janet, I Love Your Smile

Did you see last night's Janet Jackson interview with ABC's Robin Roberts? Wasn't it good? Props to Robin for landing a big interview. This was the first time Janet has spoken since the death of her big brother Michael this summer. Roberts was great and covered a lot of ground--Michael's death, her opinion of Dr. Murray (the doctor who administered the drugs) allegations of Joe Jackson being abusive, Jermaine DuPri, etc. The question on my mind: Is Janet angry? I ask because of her facial expressions at the funeral and during her tribute at the MTV awards. She looked angry to me at times and rightfully so. The media coverage on MJ's death went into overload. Janet said she's not ready to see the movie This Is It because it's too soon. I haven't seen the movie either for the same reason.

Janet also opened up about issues with her weight and low self-esteem. I nearly dropped my homemade bowl of turkey soup when she said she didn't like her smile. She compared it to the Joker's sinister, wide grin. "Girl are you crazy!!??," I yelled at the TV. Janet Jackson has one of the most beautiful smiles in Hollywood. Her smile is signature and one of her best features. She has one of those smiles that make you feel good because it's so bright and warm. I started flashing big smiles because of her. I also wore long, phony-ponies and keys on my hoop earrings because of Janet too. Miss Jackson is 43 and looking 25. For decades many of us wished we could look like Janet Jackson. And all that time she didn't recognize the beauty we saw. Interesting. She's a pop phenom but, Janet has her issues just like the rest of us. I love her!

Sammy Sosa's Feeling Unpretty?

You can buy your hair if it wont grow
You can fix your nose if he says so
You can buy all the makeup
That M.A.C. can make
But if you can't look inside you...

--TLC, "Unpretty"

I'm so thankful I didn't carry the childhood teases and insults of my dark skin into adulthood. When I saw Sammy Sosa's whitened skin and read reports he may be endorsing a skin-lightening cream the first word that came to mind was "sad." Sosa was a nice looking man before dipping in the bleach. We already associate him with corking bats and rumored steroid-use. Now the Cork Batter is the Bleaching Batter. I know my dark skin falls on the bottom of the mainstream beauty totem pole. And so what. I love my skin and wouldn't trade it for anything. The best thing about being on the dark side of the spectrum is my skin takes its sweet time aging. Melanin is keeping my behind out of the Botox chair. My grandpa is 75 and his midnight face has just a few wrinkles. Thanks grandpa!

Sosa's color complex is not just a black thing. Dark skin carries a stigma all over the world. It's an issue of race and also class. Traditionally, darker skinned indicated one worked outside and performed manual labor. Whether it's Southeast Asia, Africa, Brazil or right here in baseball country--many see darker skin as a negative.

It's sad that so many of us buy into what magazines, television, movies and peers say how we're "supposed" to look like. I watched a young lady on Tyra cry last night because she hates her ears. Know why? Years ago her grade school classmates taunted her, saying her ears were abnormal. Instead of eventually saying to herself "F*ck what they think, I look good," she's insecure. Her ears look just fine. God forbid if she were hit by a bus tomorrow, I bet her ears wouldn't be in her final thoughts. All of the hairstyles or a lover's ear nibbles she passed on because of what some ignorant, foolish kids thought of her years ago. You know I'm shaking my head right now. Girlfriend is missing out.

If you have big ears, big feet, post-baby belly pouch, wide hips, big butt, flat butt, dark skin, light skin, freckles, moles, small boobs, big breasts, wrinkles, cellulite, acne, wild hair, thin hair, tall stature, short stature, all of the above or don't qualify for America's Next Top Model -- you're beautiful. To the women who fall in the ANTM contender category--you're beautiful too. Life is too short not to love yourself because of what someone thinks or said. Mediate on this. Time is passing you by because you believed when someone, some video, etc told you God's design, aka YOU, isn't pretty or good enough. While you hold on to those insults, that person or thing has probably gone tearing someone else down. As my mama always says, "Don't let people rent space in your head." That includes ideas and images in society.

Sammy can have his colored contacts and facial creamy crack. I'm too busy lovin' the dark skin I'm in.

A Big Snoozer: Oprah and Sarah Palin Interview

She's the woman liberals love to hate and conservatives adore. So of course I was hyped about the Oprah interview with Sarah Palin. I didn't expect Oprah to pitch hardball questions because at this point they need each other. Oprah lost viewers when she endorsed then-Sen. Obama for the presidency. This was a way to get some of them back. And Sarah "Everyday I'm Hustlin'" Palin needs to sell books. If you missed the interview you didn't miss much. The ladies played it safe and I found the interview boring. Palin was charming and gave wordy answers as usual. Or as Charles Gibson referred to her answers in one interview "a blizzard of words." She didn't really say anything new and Oprah didn't ask tough questions because she's a Team Obama captain and had to stay neutral in the interview. Honestly, challenging the former-VP candidate wouldn't have been fair. Palin didn't give a yes or no to Oprah's question about whether rumors of a future talk show are true. Instead, Palin told Oprah how much she admired her as a public figure and American. ZZZZZZZZZZZ Palin did mention that her daughter's media-hungry baby daddy was going about the wrong way with the media attention, especially posing for gay men in Playgirl or porn, as Palin called it. I totally agree. Levi needs to put his clothes on and take care of his son. Palin surprised me when she admitted the Katie Couric interview wasn't her best moment. But she gave the same tired answer about why she resigned as governor--she could better serve the state of Alaska and America more out of office. Yawwwnnn.

Look Sarah, you can keep it real with me. You resigned because you're an opportunist. We all saw that during the election. That's not a bad thing from a business standpoint. But from a leader position, you let your Alaskans down. Right now you can taste the $$ and power. Isn't it sweet? Book deal, rumored talk show--you're jumping on it while it's hot. Smart move. You have a big following. Some members in my family pre-ordered your book Going Rogue and can't wait to eat up every wordy, anti-gotcha media word. But what I want to know is:

--What in the world were you thinking signing a $1.25 million book deal? You could've got way more than that.
--Did Bristol's pregnancy make you rethink your position on sex ed for minors?
--Explain your theory on the "In God We Trust" coin conspiracy, now that you've learned Pres. Obama wasn't the one who moved the words on the coin, but that the change was made when the Bush administration was in power?
--When was the last time you and John McCain spoke to each other?
--Can you promise me if you do have a talk show and it's on Fox that it'll be more interesting than Huckabee?
- You dodged Oprah's question about running for president. Just answer this: what's your campaign slogan for 2012?

Happy 87th Sigma Gamma Rho!

Happy Founders' Day to all of my BLUEtiful sisters of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority Inc. You see founders' days for members of black sororities and fraternities are like an extra holiday. It's a time where individual orgs gather to celebrate and reflect on the legacy of the founders and the organization's accomplishments.

One of the main reasons why I sought membership in this great sorority was because of the HERstory. Picture it: the year is 1922 in Indianapolis, Indiana. Or as some people called it Klandiana because the highest concentration of Klansmen lived in the state. During this time racial lynchings are prevalent around the country. Seven black school teachers, all friends, attend Butler University, a predominately white school. According to a campus historian I spoke with, one of the Klan's leaders lived blocks from Butler. For years the school wouldn't even put pictures of black students in their yearbook. Don't forget, this was way before the Civil Rights and Womens Movements. Yet, Mary Lou Little, Dorothy Whiteside, Nannie Mae Johnson, Bessie Martin, Hattie Redford, Cubena McClure and Vivian Martin defied race and gender restrictions. On November 12, 1992 these teachers had the courage to start an organization for black women that uplifts the community and serves those in need.

More people need to have this type of attitude when looking into Black Fraternities and Sororities. There's more to these orgs than parties and step shows.


EEE-YIP! to my sorors all over the world. Have a blessed Founders' Day.

When I Grow Up, I Want to Be Like En Vogue

Last night I heard REAL music. No auto tone or lip-synching. I'm talking about some real "sangin'." En Vogue lit the stage last night at Club Nokia in Los Angeles. Cindy Herron, Dawn Robinson, Maxine Jones and Terry Ellis still got it. Young girls take note: butt and breasts out don't equal sexy. The women of En Vogue are in their 40s and they can still give some of these half-talented, half-naked 20-somethings a run for their money. That aside, they sang all of their hits like: "Never Gonna Get It," "Giving Him Something He Can Feel," "Don't Let Go," "Free Your Mind" and "Hold On." The Funky Divas were pure fire. The audience couldn't stop dancing. My soror turned to me and jokingly said, "I want to be En Vogue when I grow up." I thought the exact same thing. The ladies were fierce and beautiful, just like I remembered them as a pre-teen. Dawn made me want to buy a pair of fishnet stockings and a leather strapless dress after I saw her outfit. I love it!


En Vogue are like the Supremes of my generation. I grew up during the height of Destiny's Child also, but the Funky Divas had a different effect on me. When my fellow Oaktown sistas debuted 20 years ago ( Can you believe it's been that long?), the city was hyped over the group. All the boys in my 5th grade class wanted to marry them. En Vogue were a refreshing representation of Oakland and black women. They illuminated sophistication and sexiness. Add their heavenly voices topped off with flawless style-- and this black girl from East Oakland wanted to be just like them. I couldn't wait to be "grown" so I could witness their fierceness live in concert. By the time I was old enough, girl-group drama arose. Dawn left because the group was underpaid and had a bad contract (she explains in a revealing Essence.com interview). They were down to three members. New girls filled in but it wasn't the same. Then family stuff--Cindy's son became terribly ill and Maxine took a break to spend more time with her children. Before I knew it they were off the map.

My girlhood dream finally came true when I won tickets for the show. I sang and danced last night like back in the day when I watched En Vogue videos on BET's Video Soul. I even caught myself using my fist as a fake microphone last night. Sorry, in my head I'm the fifth member. I've read on the internet they're working on another album. They didn't mention anything about an album last night. I hope they put out new material. If they do, I'll be standing in front of my computer, watching their videos on YouTube and singing off key into my reporter's mic.

Check for En Vogue and Ginuwine on tour near you.

What' s you're favorite En Vogue joint? Here's mine: