Flipskript Ink

During recent years, internships and unpaid work have been quite the testy subject with good reason. The main problem with internships (for students in high school or college) or externships (for adults looking for more work or going back to work) is that some companies don't pay at all...at least in cash. With the economy being tighter than leather pants, companies big and small are trying every way possible to save money without compromising the pays of higher-ups. Young adults have become boomerangers, and went back to living with their parents. Some are even working 5 jobs to make ends meet. Even though unpaid work can enhance your skills in your desired trade or career, it can start to feel like your being exploited for what you bring to the table. A Madame Noire writer  expressed her pros and cons about unpaid work as well, using the fashion industry and mainstream media as examples to explain the heavy workloads of interns and entry level employees. I know Drake got ever...

Being a nerd was socially unacceptable, until it was time for a big exam. Then the outcasts were temporarily invited inside the cool kids circle, only to be used for the intellectual creativity in their cranium. I've seen ads where it can be sexy (i.e. nice looking girl with thick glasses) or profitable. The awkward appearance, the use of superfluous vocabulary, the nasally execution of the voice when talking to others, and thick coke bottle glasses are the common stereotypes of nerds depicted in movies and TV. As generations evolved, so did the styles and personalities. So what if they are just characters...a girl can dream, right? One day, I began thinking to myself, "If I had the chance to go back to school, I wish these people were in my class..." 5) Michael Evans from Good Times Photo courtesy of TV Land . This little boy always had me cracking up. He was an all-around kid who had a habit of filling his little mind with whatever he could. Dub...

I had the most intriguing memory from my adolescence. This will eventually turn into a poem, when it's time. As a teenager, I like to listen to different kinds of music (and still holds true today). My mom showed concern because I was into heavy metal, alternative rock, and grunge. In her mind, the Four Tops and the Staple Singers can never top Alice in Chains and Metallica. One day, she said she needed to talk to me. I thought I was gettin grounded all up and through for not washing the dishes. Out of the blue, she informed me that she was subscribing me to Vibe Magazine and wanted me to stay up-to-date on the news in Black music. Not knowing what to think, she handed me my first issue addressed to me. I was waiting for her to tell me when my thesis would be done for each issue. Unsure of what she was trying to say, I kept the issues and read them while listening to my regular music. I appreciated what she was trying to do, but at the time rap and...

Tia & Cree, Photo courtesy of Mrs. Grapevine . Tamera & Aden, Photo courtesy of Bossip . Are you really gonna slam on somebody's child? Like...really? First, Tia Mowry-Hardric t received harsh and insignificant feedback on her baby boy, Cree's appearance. Now, her sister is going through the same thing. Tamera Mowry-Housely is receiving flak for her interracial marriage and how "white"baby Aden's skin color is. Seriously?  Whether you're full of melanin or not, check out your baby photos and take a gander at what color you were at birth. Were you brown? Light brown? Dark brown? White? Pink? Yellow? Blue? Red? You eventually came into your color, right? And who are you calling ugly? Have you seen yourself in the morning, before the face wash, astringent, make-up and whatnot? Are you even aware of your stank face? These awesome women have some beautifully adorable babies and are no different from any other good parents who want ...

Photo Courtesy of Life in the Village . I'm a domestic violence volunteer and I work mainly with children when I'm not on the clock. Before I left to spend time with the children, I found out some disturbing news about a couple of rapes and murders. With very limited TV, I manage (almost 100% of the time) to find out about news reports at the last minute. With the crimes that happened not too ago in my area, I talked to my youth advocate about what happened. I would list the links of what happened, the location, and morph into my hard news persona, but sadly, she told me that there were very little reports about these crimes. My boss told me about the incidents but they were brief stints on the evening and morning news. What else could be more important than the safety of people, especially young women? It's bad enough that these crimes are happening and worse that no one has said anything. All the while some sinister mystique keeps clouding the minds of earthly cit...

Photo courtesy of UCL News . Photo courtesy of Public Relations Blogger . Is it wrong to ban sex offenders from social networking sites? Some think so and some think not. While checking the frigid forecast on the Daily Freeman , this story was one of the latest headlines this past week. The AP reported that an Indiana law preventing registered sex offenders from using social media websites accessed by children was declared unconstitutional by a federeal appeals court. Even though U.S. District Judge Tanya Walton Pratt noted that the internet remains open to convicted offenders, she ruled that social networking did create a "virtual playground for sexual predators..." I am not a parent, but I am an auntie, teacher, childcare volunteer and mentor and can understand why officials and others would want to enact a law such as this. With the iElectronics evolution and new smartphones and tablets coming out every week, talking about this is purely inevita...

Photo courtesy of 360° Success . Finding a soul mate seems nearly impossible in today's society. With divorce rates, adultery, and sex out of boredom increasing by the second, it's not surprising that people have lost faith in the sacred authenticity love once had. The attributes and values that people look for in a potential mate have evolved drastically over the years and no one can find a perfect man today. In every sitcom and movie I have watched, women delve into their snacks and love lives, spending all hours of the night constructing their "ideal guy." (Girlfriends, Sex and the City, etc). This topic has been discussed so much that studies are being done on them. Christine Roberts of the New York Daily News wrote about a study conducted by dating website, WhatsYourPrice.com , on the perfect man for a woman. Out of the 9,000 plus women who participated in the survey, 40 percent of women who reside in NYC say that their perfect man should be in hitting t...