Bitches will be Bitches....

New year, new font. I hope that it doesn't strain the eyes too much.

I've been chugging along. My bronchitis has FINALLY left me (after almost six weeks). I've started taking a multi-vitamin and drinking immunity shakes in the morning before I get ready for work. I need to be more proactive and try to remain as healthy as I can.

Apparently, there are people here (here being work) that have come to the conclusion that I am "faking" being sick for attention. Yes, because that is SO me! I don't understand how people can be so malicious behind your back and then be so sweet to your face. It makes me sick. I wish one of the kids would just throw up or have an "accident" all over these people. There are only really three in total that have been running their mouths. Funny how they thought that it wouldn't come back to me. I've got to be really careful though because these people make up complete nonsense and then run up to administration and complain about people.

I feel like we never really escape middle/high school. There is always going to be a small group of people who have nothing going for them in their lives and find satisfaction in speaking about others. I'm so thankful that my mama raised me better than that. I couldn't even think of half of the things these people concoct.

Aside from shit disturbers, all other departments in my life are in check. Nothing to complain about at all.

Here's to hoping that the rest of the school year remains a little less drama free...

Merry Christmas!

Wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas!
Be safe, be happy and spread cheer today and
always...

Peace...

Ikea's "Stupid" Sale...

There is this Ikea commercial that comes on almost every time I sit down to watch tv, that annoys the hell out of me.

It advertises the "Ikea Winter Sale". There is a woman who receives her receipt, looks at the total and then runs to the car, demanding her husband to drive off as fast as he can (as if they are in some kind of get away vehicle or something).

Now what bothers me is that this woman probably already knew her total because.. well.. she paid for her shit didn't she? I mean doesn't the cashier ring in all of your items and then tell you what your total is?... Isn't that followed by a payment of some sort? I'm assuming that is what took place because she did have a receipt in her hand.

To me the commercial makes no sense. It would be one thing if they showed her at the register reacting surprised (to say the least), but to walk outside of the store and THEN realize what you paid is sheer idiocy..That's my two cents any way.. What do I know though...?.. I only studied marketing for four long years and then had the pleasure of working in the field for a few years afterwards.. Thank goodness that phase of my life is behind me! Working with children is so much more rewarding than being pressured to come up with the perfect ad campaign!

I must say however, that I do like Ikea (not the furniture though because it's not real wood-- it's all fake.. trust me.. My dad been in furniture manufacturing since I was a fetus.. so if there is one thing that has been drilled into my head since I was young, it's "THIS is how real wood should feel. It should not sound hollow").. Aside from the furniture comprised of "wood", I do love all of the home decor, rugs and shelving units Ikea offers. I also look forward to the arrival of the seasonal catalog. It provides great room designs and I cannot lie.. the smell of the catalog itself makes me high. Yes, I'm strange. But many people know this already.

Family Affair... scratch that.. make that "Family Unfair"

I'm off from work and home in Toronto for the holidays. I'd be enjoying myself a lot more if I didn't still have a bad case of bronchitis, which I'm sure I contracted from one of my students. I'm just hoping that I start to feel a bit better, because I have things to do and people to see.

My favourite Aunty and Uncle forced me to come over for dinner at their place last night. They wouldn't take no for an answer when I told them that my cough sounds like death and that I felt like shit. They WANTED me there. Aside from my immediate family, my other family members were there. It was nice to see a slew of young cousins that have grown immensely since I last saw them.

What irked me beyond words was the fact that my fifteen year old cousin, who once thought the world of me and who I treated like a younger sister has totally changed. Everything about her is different. Her look, her attitude, EVERYTHING. She's turned into the type of person I loathed in high school and I don't know what caused this change. She used to tell me everything and come to me with all of her problems, but it seems like she thinks that she's more evolved than I am now.

Most of the time when I'd look in her direction, she'd look away with her nose up in the air. I felt like hitting her over the head with a pillow and asking her "What the hell is wrong with you?" but clearly, it wasn't the place or the time.

I went through phases when I younger where I just wanted to be alone when I was trying to "find" myself. But I was never, ever rude to anyone- especially those that were always nice to me. I have a feeling that her mother (my uncle's crazy wife) has been brain washing her with false ideas regarding moi.. My aunt hasn't been too fond of me since I told her off during my last visit. She was being her usual annoying, miserable self and was attempting to yell at my mom for no apparent reason. Obviously, being my mother's keeper, I verbally fought back and my Aunt has been "against" me ever since.

Seriously, it's all such middle school drama. My aunt is a shit disturber who really can't stand anyone around her to be happy. She always has something negative to say and is continuously gossiping and attempting to bring people down. I'm not even going to get into all the things that she has done to my poor uncle (her husband, my mom's brother).

It's just unfortunate that my cousin is allowing her crazy mother to impede her thought process. This is not the girl I knew a year ago. She has changed immensely. So much so, that I don't think that I have ever known anyone to make such a drastic change in behaviour in such a short period of time.

I'm so over the both of them. All I can do is *hope that my cousin has some kind of epiphany and realizes that she's being a brat. Until then, I'm keeping my distance.

5 fun facts about Alicia Keys

5 fun facts about Alicia Keys

12:00 AM CST on Friday, November 23, 2007

People.com

Alicia Keys has parlayed her fame – selling 20 million albums worldwide since 2001's Songs in A Minor, a perennial on the People most beautiful list – into philanthropic work in Africa. Here's some more about her.

EVAN AGOSTINI/The Associated Press

1 She adopted her signature braids at 13, when she discovered that it got her through humid New York City summers.

2 She features rappers as her love interests in her music videos: Common ("Like You'll Never See Me Again"), Method Man ("If I Ain't Got You") and Mos Def ("You Don't Know My Name").

3 "I'm happy that I'm not super skinny," Ms. Keys told Ebony in 2004. "Sometimes I've gotten photographs back, and people have literally shaven off pieces of me, and I tell them to put it back."

4 While on the road, she carries "a cute pink bunny. It reminds me that not everything is so serious," she told InStyle.

5 Bob Dylan mentions Ms. Keys in his song "Thunder on the Mountain": "I was thinking about Alicia Keys/Couldn't keep from crying/When she was born in Hell's Kitchen, I was living down the line/I'm wondering where in the world Alicia Keys could be?"

People.com

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Dreaming in threes.....

About two months ago, I had a dream that I had triplets (all girls) and did not know what to name them. In my dream, I was sitting in my parents living room holding one of the girls in my arms. Z and my mother held the other two. I found it funny that I didn't have names for them, as I have had baby names in my head since I was in high school.

Last night I dreamed about having three baby boys! And once again, I didn't have names for any of them. They looked up at me with their big eyes, laced with dark, luscious lashes and I felt my heart melt.

Why am I having these dreams? Z and I don't plan on having kids any time soon (much to the despair of many acquaintances, relatives and co-workers world wide!). We aren't ready yet. Is my subconscious trying to tell me something? Should we be saving X amounts of money because we're going to have three kids in one shot?.....

I work with children and adore them. Could this be the reason why I'm dreaming about them? Then again, I don't work with babies..... could it be because there are many people around me that are pregnant?... Is that why I'm having dreams about having triplets?....

I told Z about my dreams and he laughed it off and said I was funny. He's just lucky that I'm not like my mother when it comes to my dreams. You see, my mother ALWAYS dreams about specific events occurring prior to them actually taking place. Her most accurate dreams are about people dying (her dreams are always EXACTLY right.. to the tiniest detail.. it scares the shit out of me)..

I guess dreaming about triplets is easier to handle than actually HAVING them.

The Keys to Success

5:00AM Sunday November 18, 2007
By Rebecca Barry

Alicia Keys has a new song called Superwoman: "Even when I'm a mess, I still put on a vest with an 'S' on my chest. Oh yes, I'm a superwoman."

"I'm talking about every woman who has felt weak before and is still so strong even in her weakness," she says on the line from New York. "But that's me. I'm talking about me."

Ask Keys what her weaknesses are, and she says "ex-weaknesses. Because I'm new and improved".

"I was a very chronic people-pleaser. Like, chronic. To the point where everyone else came first, even people I didn't know."

This might come as a surprise to her fans. Ever since she hollered the empowering A Woman's Worth, Keys has represented female strength and dignity, an anomaly in a music scene dominated by sexualised, well, people-pleasers.

She has nine Grammys. Her first album, Songs in A Minor, sold 50,000 copies in its first day. Her second, The Diary of Alicia Keys, released in 2003, has sold eight million. She has banked on her biggest hits - among them, Fallin', You Don't Know My Name and Unbreakable - with a popular live album, MTV Unplugged in New York, becoming the first female R&B artist to have three consecutive number one debuts on the United States album chart.

Then there are her critically acclaimed film roles, playing a kick-ass assassin in Smokin' Aces and Scarlett Johansson's best friend in The Nanny Diaries, her philanthropic work including a charity for poor kids in Africa, and her live shows where she plays the piano with her hands literally behind her back.

Now she has her new third album, As I Am, which has already spawned a No. 1 single, No One, on the US R&B charts. It could be prescribed as an alternative to Prozac, such is its uplifting powers.

"I think I'm a person who looks for strength. That's cool. As women we definitely have to feel strong about ourselves."

Yet when Keys came off a 2 1/2-year tour for Diary, she felt anything but strong. "I just remember getting home and being totally knocked off my feet."

Still, she launched into the film work, and couldn't say no to the "incredible" opportunity to visit Africa for her Keep a Child Alive charity. She was so busy, so exhausted, she didn't notice the black clouds gathering.

"It was pretty much a full-out crash, burn-down. I became a person I didn't even know. I didn't recognise myself. I didn't like myself. I didn't like how I felt. I didn't want to go to sleep because I couldn't sleep. I was just totally reaching a point that I never thought that I would reach.

"It made me so mad and I got mad enough to realise that I never wanted to feel that way ever again."

It was during the songwriting process for As I Am that Keys says she worked out what the problem was. She wasn't just a people-pleaser and a yes-girl, she was a control freak.

"When it comes to my music I always guess I've been a little bit controlling because I'm a young woman and people often take advantage of that.

"So I always felt like I had to have everything prepared so no one could pull anything over on me.

"Even in my personal life with friends and family I'd get to this place like, 'If you're not doing it it's not going to happen'. That's ridiculous. You can't expect to be the saviour and the reason for everything."

Although the album title suggests complete autonomy, she kept her promise not to over-commit and employed help from songwriters Linda Perry, John Mayer, Harold Lilly, Sean Garrett and producers Mark Batson, Dirty Harry, Swizz Beatz and Jack Splash.

She also worked with her long-term songwriting partner, and real-life love, Kerry "Krucial" Brothers.

And if it sounds as though she's speaking to someone, that's because she is. She wrote many of the songs as reminders to herself about what she'd learned.

On Sure Looks Good to Me, she sings, "Don't rain on my parade, life's too short to waste one day, I'm gonna risk it all, the freedom to fall."

"I was definitely in searching mode and I really found out a lot about myself," she says. "I was just determined, and I still feel very determined, to create the music in my spirit and heart and not dilute it or put expectations on it. I realised I wanted to be a person who was brutally honest to myself.

"To create what you hear in your head is not always easy. In this case I felt a lot more confident in my arrangements, my skills, my production skills, writing skills, just being an artist and I've become more strong and more confident. Overall that confidence made it sound grander and helped me achieve the things I heard."

As I Am has all the hallmarks that made Keys famous. There's that huge, Aretha-meets-Janis Joplin voice, with just the right levels of sexy huskiness and vulnerability. There are her classically trained piano hands working in the background - although this album puts more of the focus on her voice and less on the keys. And there are her big, 70s-inspired soul tunes that elicit a strong sense of empowerment, the diva who always comes across as such on the red carpet.

Ironically for all the tumult behind it, the result suggests Keys is happier than ever.

"I've learned that, sometimes to be the best, you don't have to try that hard. You just have to let it be what it's meant to be, that freedom and relaxing into the moment and just allowing the moment to be as opposed to controlling the moment. I had a lot of fun. I would leave the studio at like, 4 in the morning and look around, just wow, what a day. That's a great feeling."

LOWDOWN

Who: Alicia Keys

Born: Alicia Augello-Cook, January 25, 1981 Albums: Songs in A Minor (2001), The Diary of Alicia Keys (2003), As I Am (2007), out this week

Keys Well Ahead Of Dion In Race For No. 1

Alicia Keys is poised to earn her fourth consecutive No. 1 on The Billboard 200 as her new J album, "As I Am," is tops on Nielsen SoundScan's Building Chart, released today (Nov. 14). If "As I Am" does bow at No. 1, Keys will become only the third act to see their first four albums debut atop The Billboard 200. Britney Spears did it with her first four releases between 1999 and 2003, while DMX's first five albums all started at No. 1 between 1998 and 2003. Unweighted sales for "As I Am" through the close of business Tuesday (Nov. 13) from the Building Chart's panel of reporters stood at 160,000. Billboard estimates that the merchants who report to Nielsen SoundScan's Building Chart -- Trans World Entertainment, Best Buy, Circuit City, iTunes, Border's, Target, Anderson Merchandisers, and Handleman Co. -- represent 79% of the U.S. retail market. Keys' last release, 2005's "Unplugged," bowed at No. 1 with 196,000. Her first two studio albums, 2001's "Songs in A Minor" and 2003's "The Diary of Alicia Keys," also started at No. 1 with 236,000 and 618,000 units, respectively.





I was hoping this would happen. Alicia Keys deserves all of the acclaim she is receiving for her new project (As I Am) and then some. I am so in love with As I Am. I have not stopped listening to it since I bought it on Tuesday (I rushed out of work to buy it). I haven't been this satisfied with a cd purchase in a very, very LONG time. From the intro to the ending, every song embodies a sense of maturity, experience and true expression. Alicia is an old soul and I love her for it.

YOU GO GIRL!

*I'm also happy that Alicia is beating Celine Dion in record sales. I think Celine is an okay singer-- nothing special. She is so overrated and doesn't have half the talent that songstresses like Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey do (I HATE it when people clump Dion into the same category as Whitney and Mariah!) Celine growls when she sings. I can't stand it. I know I'm going to be seeing a lot more of her plastic face now that she's released this new album. She was on Oprah the other day and I have yet to figure out WHY Oprah loves her so much. Meh.