Flipskript Ink

Okay, I was about to vent about how much of enough I've had with the Tiger Woods scandal, but I realized that I would be a hypocrite to my own self. My previous Michael Jackson posts say it all...so I retract my deliberate venting. I've been using this awesome internet browser, Blackbird; I call it the Black Mozilla because it's like a internet and search engine targeted toward African-Americans, too awesome for words. But anyway, the majority of the top headlines are all about Tiger's loss of endorsements, his wife breaking his face and buying a new house, and so much stuff that the media thinks we need to hear. I just finished a class at school, Press in America, and my professor kept challenging my class to consider if the information we receive from the media is making us a more informed person and helping us to become a productive member of society. Me, born with the consistency to find the optimistic side out of anything, tried to find some good out of this whole

Sensational. A wesome. E xciting . Simply put in the words of Berry Gordy, “ the greatest en tertainer that has ever lived.” The creative ingenuity of Michael Joseph Jackson will forever be a special mystery to those who loved him and his music . His voice has captivated audiences by the thousands since the age of five . His danc ing put the crowd s into a standstill as they try to mimic his moves. His lyrical expressions plus the melodic journeys that he produced from his active imagination to the studio resulted in a plethora of number one hits, awards, and earning the title as the King of Pop, Rock and Soul. Jackson was both musically and socially inclined to make a n ame for himself. A humble, compassionate human being, Jackson has supported almost 40 charities dedicated to enhancing the lives of children and making their comm unities a better place for them to flourish. He created the Heal the World Foundation in 1992 in efforts

This is a group assignment I finished in my public affairs reporting class about less than a half hour ago. Here is an excerpt: Crime rates drop statewide; Paterson credits Operation IMPACT By Casey Quinlan, Dana Morris, Michael McDonald, Regina Rivers and Elizabeth Cross, Legislative Gazette contributors According to new information from Operation IMPACT, a program operated by the state Division of Criminal Justice Services, crime in New York state has dropped 4.7 percent in the first half of 2009 compared to the same time period last year. The most notable decreases in statewide crime have been murder, rape, car theft and robbery. The drop is fueled mostly by lower crime in New York City, which has decreased by 6.6 percent, while crime outside the city decreased by 3.1 percent. New York City, which has the highest number of murders in the state, saw its murder rate drop by 19.8 percent. Robbery, another prevalent crime in New York City, has decreased by 15.6 percent. However, rape cr

Yeah, so I'm definitely going to see this movie. The rehearsal movie is 100% much of a better way to remember Michael Jackson instead of that horrific lifeless picture of him that was blasted onto newspapers and entertainment news shows. For the record, 2 weeks, really? I hope SONY is considering making a DVD of the movie. It's been three month's since Jackson's passing and the world keeps spinning, people still have to go to work, school, dentist appointments and take care of a whole bunch of other obligations to tend to. Yet the tributes keep flowing and his music keeps playing. If you're like that senator King who is sick of hearing about Jackson, change the channel, turn off the music or the computer; talking ignorant nonsense on YouTube is just flat out ridiculous on his part. It really makes me wonder, did anyone or does anyone consider the traumatic mental anguish of his kids? His family doesn't still shed tears because their brother, son, uncle is gone?

10) One week before I went to NYC, my mother allowed me to hack away at our tree with a chain saw. The left over wood will be used for seating stumps and shelves we plan to build in our house. 9) I was stressed during the semester that I wouldn't get into any of the 30 internships that I applied for and I was blessed with two of them: Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia for Web Productions and Honey Magazine for writing. Now, I will finish my degree in December!!!! 8) During my lunch hour, I walked 20 blocks around West Chelsea, and lost 15 lbs as a result...I like this :0). 7) I realized that the city is both expensive but awesome for bargains (bought the cutest bag for $10)! 6) Prince was in NYC at the Apollo at the beginning of June with song diva Mariah Carey...how did I miss this????? [Photo courtesy of www.lovebscott.com] 5) Piggy-backing off of highlight number 7, did I really spend $22.50 on a sandwich, chips, green tea and a Boston creme cheesecake? 4) I found myself floating

This is another one of the emails I produced during my internship. Below is an example of a web page I worked on.

My summer in New York City is coming to an end. I had quite the experience working at MSLO and Honey Magazine (and fortunate as well). I've been hearing people talk to me about how hard it is getting jobs in the writing field and I was blessed to have two of them. I learned skills in web production and am having one of my stories reviewed for Honey. I plan to continue on with my freelance writing and getting published and whatnot. While I was browsing the books of Borders, I came across Freelancing for Dummies. I read a few chapters and was hooked. On top of that, I'm still trying to get through How to be a Teenage Millionaire. Granted, I'm no longer a young whippersnapper anymore, but the same advice and tips still apply, right? My next step is to create an e-portfolio and show off some of my work. It seems like everyone is buying a website nowadays and I must admit myself, I would love to have my own domain. But I think I'm making good use of the basic free ones; I&#

First, Tyler Perry’s “Why Did I Get Married” gave people a comedic analysis of why they choose to marry. Now, author Nika C. Beamon gives a closer look as to why some people choose to remain single in her book, I Didn’t Work This Hard Just to Get Married: Single Black Women Speak Out. “It didn’t take that long to do the research and writing,” Beamon explained. “It took two to three months for the research and interviews, and six months to write. After one year, the book was completed.” Beamon interviewed professional and successful black women from various walks of life, including actress and comedienne Kim Coles, and author Deborah Gregory . It also dis cusses their viewpoints on marriage, children, careers as well as the typical ups and downs of life. “Most women I know or talk to are 35 years- old and complaining about not being married,” Beamon starts as she tells of the motivation behind her positively reviewed book. “I was watching an

I swear I wasn't planning this part two to the previous blog post, but the writer of this article took the words out my my mouth and uped the ante to the next level. I give her major kudos!!! Here is an excerpt, a little teaser if you will, of HiStory by Kim Rose of Honey Magazine: We are so easily entertained. Somewhere, in a dark corner, there’s a young man wringing his hands, steeped with guilt and angst. There are tiers behind his tears, grief stacked in layers. Michael Jackson has been dead to him for years now. And though he is cash rich, he is flat broke in the conscience. Or maybe he’s out tearing the mall up, not a care in the world, cruising comfortably above the fray of the commoners’ recession. Either way, we’d love to know what’s up with Jordan Chandler right about now. You may not know him by name, but you have seen his work. He was the star of 1993 when at 13 he accused MJ of putting a hand in his little glitter glove. For the rest of this article, check out http://w

So, I just received the word that the boy from the first molestation case against Michael Jackson circa 1993 just came out and said that his father made him lie. Jackson never touched him. I knew this since I was six years old. I read in an old school GQ article (1994) about the molestation case and even Steve Harvey brought it up on his radio show once with Jackson, the lying father drugged his son and made him lie and ruin Jackson's good name. It's a little more than late because the man was already scrutinized by the media, paparazzi and the like. And now it's more gone of than usual because the man has succumbed to the very thing that killed him. To the father and son, let America know what it feels like to live with a guilty conscience! Photo courtesy of commentsfromleftfield.com .

Words can't express the shock, anger, and sadness that came over me when this man suddenly passed away on June 25th of this year. I've read many reports, Googled every news and music site before it crashed. I don't have the guts to log into MTV yet. I've been working on a blog to muster up what I've been trying to say through lyrical, poetic words, in addition to my j0urnalistic voice. I'm also working on a song, "Now You're Gone," because when I listen to his music, it still seems so unreal. More to come. RIP, MJ 1958-2009 Photo courtesy of http://pragmaticideas.wordpress.com.

Beautiful. Fierce. Natural. Captivating. The woman that grabs attention not only in front of the camera but also behind the snapshot is none other than Crystal Jenkins. As a model, photographer, cosmetician, and mother, Jenkins is a force that has no qualms about expressing herself and showing the world who she is through her pictures. Inspiration, determination, and the passion for beauty is indeed a beautiful thing. “I was a very shy individual in elementary school and I wouldn’t talk to any of the children,” Jenkins states as she talks briefly of her childhood. “When I entered high school, I was more open to people and joined the Track and Field team.” Jenkins was so successful; she maintained her status as an All County Track Runner throughout her years in high school. “Being a track star in high school defiantly gave me popularity,” she added. Contrasting from her childhood beginnings, Jenkins’ personality began to explode when appearing in front of the camera. “What inspire

It's been forever and a day (or so it feels like). Where do I start? I'm done with school for the summer and I'm home upstate right now. I graduated college, well sort of. See, I'm scheduled to complete my degree in December, but due to various cuts in my school's budget, December graduation was canceled for a while. So what did I do? I participated in First World Graduation. I don't think that any other school has this but at my school (New Paltz), it's smaller but more intimate than traditional graduation. It was originally started in 1973 by the Educational Opportunity Program Graduation as a means to acknowledge students of color who were the first in their families to earn a Bachelor's degree. As time pressed on, the focus of the FWG student club has changed its focus and now seeks to provide a culturally rich ceremony that recognizes indivudials and their heritage (paraphrase of my program). It was a real fun day. My family and friends came. Our pr

Sassy...Hilarious...Real...Whitty. These are just a few of the words that come to mind when Ms. Kym Whitley jumps in the scene. This actress, comedienne, producer, and director has been busy with many projects, which includes her show, “Cruisin’ for Love” on TV One, and appearances on a variety of popular sitcoms. “I’m all over the place when I’m doing a film,” Whitely said. “When doing movies, I have to develop my character, whereas it’s more stable with a television setup. And doing stand-up is a whole other beat.” Whitley became an actress before doing stand-up and she is enjoying what she does best. Her latest work includes a variety of characters that she plays in the controversial smash series, “The Boondocks,” which she stated is quite a challenge. “Animation is hard work,” she stated. “You would have to act what you’re gonna say with words and looks.” This beautiful busybody has so many projects going on, she started Kwick Whit Productions with the help of her partner, Willa Co

Needless to say, the entertainment world is shocked, appalled, and aggravated about the Chris Brown and Rihanna situation. I was aware of Brown's past and how his mother was involved in a turbulent relationship with Brown's stepfather. I was glad that he talked about it on his interviews with Tyra, MTV and so forth because his fans got to see him grow from that and become a better man. Now, I think twice about his personality and behavior. As for the Disturbia diva, I had no idea that she was actually disturbed as a child. The silence that she maintained about her father's drug abuse and the arguments she heard between him and her mother took a toll on her mentally (http://giant.blackplanet.com/articles/rihanna-punked/). Did anyone see this coming? It's hard to say. However, the fact that Brown turned himself in...I kind of have to give him a tad bit o' props for that. In an article entitled "Chris Brown Haunted by Family's History of Violence," Brown

Okay, seriously people, seriously? I can't tell you how many reports I 've seen on this woman because of her shape. She had a nice petite shape before and she has a nice shape now. Just because she has some meat on her bones, everybody is trippin like it's something serious. I'm in no way cracking on skinny girls in the country, but the media needs to stop putting negative connotation on weight gain. A little thickness never hurts nobody, right? I mean, when it starts to get out of control and affecting a person's health, then common sense would call in an intervention. I think this chick looks great. Her fans who admire her for her beauty and talent and see her new look will probably now realize, "Wow, Jessica Simpson put on a few pounds but she is still beautiful." Young girls are conditioned in society today that a negative zero body size is the way to go if you want to be successful. Being a media student myself, it's not that hard to figure out h

Regulating your sugar intake. Everybody loves to eat foods that have a sweet taste to them. While there is nothing wring with enjoying tasty treats, many people aren't disciplined enough to regulate their diets. However, it's important for a person to moderate what food is put into their body and as usual, drink plenty of water. Back in October [of 2008], health and nutrition counselor Camille Herbert hosted a 'Sugar Blues" workshop with the intent to inform college students on the negative effects of abusing sugar. She stated that the average adult consumes over 140 lbs of sugar annually; that's roughly 4 lbs a day. Eww! Sugar can also upset and suppress the immune system, contribute to diabetes and obesity, increase body's fluid retention, and contribute to both prostate and ovarian cancer (Appleton). Herbert also suggested that when a person contracts an illness, it's best to avoid sugary foods as much as possible so the insulin won't disrupt the im