What Kerry Washington Did Right That Gabrielle Union Did Wrong

Real Talk!

Now.

I'm not trying to put Gabrielle Union and Kerry Washington in the same category.

Kerry is an A-list actress.

Gabrielle is an B-list actress.

However, I can't help but to compare the two actresses, since they have tried out for a lot of the same roles. They're about the same age. There are a lot of similarities between them. With that said, when I think about their personal lives. The reason Kerry Washington is smarter than most women in Hollywood is that she keeps her personal life private. 

She doesn't put it on display. She stays out of the public eye and lives a very low-key life. When she got married, everyone was shocked because they didn't know she was dating anyone. The football player she married allegedly had drama with an ex-wife as well. Kerry was accused of stealing him from her too. 

We didn't hear about this though because again.....Kerry lives a very private life! 

I only wish that Gabrielle took notes from Kerry. Maybe, if she did. Her business wouldn't be plastered all over the internet and tv right now. 

Let me point out all the things Kerry did right: She never flashed her engagement ring on Instagram.  She never spoke about her dating life. After she married her husband, she still didn't talk about him in interviews. She only did press for her tv show and award shows. And, when people talk about Kerry. It's always about her styles on the red carpet. There was nothing else for the press to say about her! 

And look at her now! She's married with a baby on the way and living an ideal life.....IN PRIVATE!

There is much to say about private people 'regular people' who don't put their relationships on blast on Facebook or Twitter...or where ever else. These days it just seems wise not to flaunt it, but instead cherish it. Like your best kept secret!

There is something extremely special and sort of fun about keeping your relationship under the lid. Like it feels so special that you don't want to share it out of selfishness....because if you do, then it's not so special anymore.

I'm just saying. 

Maybe, that sounds ridiculous to some of you. These days though? I think it's wise.

*To add more to this, when we make our relationships public. We give others the opportunity to not only question us, but attack us for the decisions made in our relationships.

How dare you catch an attitude with me?! Because I asked what happened between you and that hot man you were dating! You put that relationship out there.

Not me!

You didn't mind when I asked about the two of you in those cute pictures all over the country. So, don't mind when I ask about it now!

One more thing.

I'm sure many of you will agree with me on this one too.....is that those in the most loving and successful relationships don't proclaim their love for each other all over social media.

The couples who seem to be a bit incomplete though. They're proclaiming their love all over the place! With posts like, "OMG! I love my wife and babies soooooooooo much! I'm so blessed." Then 30 minutes later...sending old flames messages asking them to meet up, because they're unhappy.

Things that make you go....."hmmmmmm!"

The TLC Biopic: CrazySexyCool

I have one question after watching TLC's biopic last night!

How many TLC songs did you listen to after the movie ended?????

My answer is five.

I played Waterfalls, Creep, Baby Baby Baby, No Scrubs, and Unpretty on my Itunes for the rest of the evening.

They really were one of the best female R&B groups of all time!!!!

I loved hearing their story.

Some surprising and slightly disturbing things I learned from the movie:

1) Left Eye had a serious drinking problem! Not sure if I ever remember hearing about this in the past. I just remember her burning down her ex-boyfriend's house -- from that I guessed she was wild. Had a drinking problem though? Thought never crossed my mind. She seemed way crazier and emotional than I imagined her to be too.

2) Chili had an unhealthy obsession with having a baby at such a young age! That really irked me. She made it seem like it was her life's dream to be a mother.....when she was living the dream as one of the biggest R&B groups of all time! Did anyone else find that kind of sad? Then when she finally gave birth to the second baby by the Dallas Austin guy...she was like, "Yeah, I don't want you anymore. Peace!" Like a baby was really the only thing she wanted from him. Her obsession with him sort of annoyed me too....because he's not even cute. Like at all. Not to mention, Evan Ross played him -- and looks a thousand times more better than looking than Dallas Austin. I mean, if he really looked like him...maybe, I wouldn't be like ewwww. But look at him! Why is his head so long?  And, he should keep his mouth closed. He might look less dense that way.

3) Pebbles sounded like the Devil Wearing Prada! She was all cut-throat and what not. Did anyone peep that she seemed a bit jealous of Chili in the movie? Hence her trying to throw her out of the group. That seemed like a petty woman move right there! And then, her buying them Rav4's when they went platinum! I mean, huh? And with their own money too!? I mean, wow!!!

Then the jokes about all of TLC's money being spent on her spoiled chubby son's sweet sixteen party! I can't. So wrong!

And this meme.....circulating the web. I die laughing every time I see it. And, it's not funny. It's really sad! The Rav4's they gave them looked used too. Just like this one. Haha! So wrong.

4) Oh, and let's not forget about "Married Larry," Left Eye's ex-boyfriend who was influencing all of her bad decisions in the group. I mean because....married or not. Did y'all see this photo of him?? Married Larry was fine!!! No wonder her judgement was blurred. Mine might be a little bit too.

I like this movie so much! I might actually watch it again tomorrow.

I wish that T-Boz revealed the abuse between her and Mack 10 in the movie. Heard it was going on for a long time....but I do appreciate how strong she has been battling Sickle Cell Anemia for her entire life. I can't even imagine Doctors telling me my life expectancy and what I won't be able to do.

This was truly an inspirational movie....telling you to stand up and take control of your life. Don't let anyone stop you from your dreams and goals. And, the reminder of how precious life can be.

*R.I.P. - Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes

A Quote Worth Hollering: Seoul Edition, Vol. 1

"Some chick is going to come out of the house dressed like TLC tomorrow." #CrazySexyCool

Sweeping Up in Seoul!

I haven't posted on this blog since October 16, 2011. That's about two years and almost a week from today.

Hot damn!

I created my blog about "Seoul" shortly after my arrival to Korea and that was a complete bust up. I was like, "Blog, who?" Third week in, I was so caught up with life here.

I was probably feeling like, "Ain't nobody got time for that!"

But you know what?

I DO!!!!

I really do now.

I only work four days a week at a college for two hours a day teaching Korean students courses in Conversational English and Graphic Design. I have a personal relationship with Shaun T's Insanity workouts for one hour Sunday through Friday. *He screams at a girl named Tanya in his workout videos....it feels like he's screaming at me. This scares me....so I dig deeper!!!! I hang out with friends on the weekend, but right now....on a Monday evening, I'm bored. And there's nothing to watch on TV until Tuesday afternoon....when all of the Monday evening shows air. So, I decided to get on here and start writing again.

I need to expand my English vocabulary!

I'm losing my words.

I speak in broken English and Korean 60% of the time. The other 40% of the time. I'm correcting my students English. Speaking in very short sentences. Mainly for the sake of avoiding too many long-winded sentences.....and their eyes glazing over.

I be like.....to my students, "Chaek une odie?! Chaek ani? Chaek ani?" This means, "Where's your book? No, book? No, book?" My voice escalates as I say this repeatedly....and they get scared, as they should. Then I bust out in a loud cry, and say "No, 'A' for you. Bring your book to class."

My words are real basic.

And, real short these days.

So, I'm going back to the basics of writing in this blog.

But first,  I might have to clean up this blog a bit.

And by clean, I mean.

Sweep!

Erase.

Delete.

Eradicate.

Posts that are too edgy to be shared with the "church folk," my mother, and anyone else whose mouth might drop open.

I've turned over a new leaf!

And by this, I mean. I'm exactly the same! Only I want to be more careful about what I post. Talk about the same stuff -- on the down-low.

So.

Time to get this party started!!!!!!!

Mama's got a lot to say.

*Does the wooble!

Oh, I'll add pictures of Korea too.

Starting with this one.......

Haha!

Nothing funnier than seeing a child in Korea wear something so true about the people in your own country.

*A picture taken by another Expat English Teacher in her elementary school classroom

I Made it to Seoul!

Sorry for being MIA on here my good people!

I moved to Seoul ten days ago and have been pretty busy getting acclimated to the area.

I am extremely homesick but I am really starting to love it here!

Here are a few pictures that I took so far!

Check out my new blog on everything related to my life here, travels, Seoul, and Asia at Retta's Heart and Seoul!

DEM

DEM stands for Dale Edwin Murray who happens to be a freelance Illustrator / Graphic Designer based out of London, England.

He created designs for well known corporations like Toyota and Microsoft, and produced print work for several magazines.

In his down time, he creates a unique collection of Hip Hop portraits of famous rap artists. Here are some pieces from that collection:

The portraits that made me laugh were of Jay-Z and Flavor Flav's ugly selves, haha!

The rap artists who looked the most like themselves in these portraits are Rick Ross, 2Pac, and Snoop. Not that I didn't believe the others looked like themselves, because they do. But I felt like those specific portraits had the shape of their heads and facial features replicated down to a T.

You can browse DEM's work on his website or on his blog.

I love coming across Graphic Artists with cool illustrations on the Web!

The concept of an illustration never gets old because someone new always comes along to put their own spin on it.

Draya Michele

My blog receives on average 18 hits a day on who is possibly the most hated Basketball Wives Reality Star!

Most of the hits were from people who wanted basic information on her. While other were inquiring about who is the father of her child, her arrest, and her modeling photos.

Kind of crazy.

It's a large amount of inquiries for a person who virtually appeared on the scene a few months ago.

I think the fascination over the stripper turned reality star has everything to do with her being cast in Basketball Wives LA and being charged with a child neglect case.

Here's the thing though.

Whether you like her or not.

She is getting more press than the other Basketball Wives LA. It's like the more hated she becomes on the show, the more popular her name is on the Web.

Word on the Web is that her child's father is a drug dealer and/or is locked up in prison. Her mother helped raise her son. She was a stripper at a club in Philadelphia too.

So, she hasn't exactly been living the life of a 'Huxtable Kid' from The Cosby Show.

Not sure how she is handling all the shade being thrown at her, but I imagine it can't be easy.

Now.

I am not saying that she didn't deserve the ridicule she received for neglecting her son. Because any mother who neglects their child deserves it.

Period.

But what I am saying?

At the end of the day, she is still a human being who makes mistakes. Just like everyone else.

She just made a really bad one.

Not to mention, being linked to the likes of Chris Brown who beat up Rihanna did not help her situation.

I've been watching Basketball Wives LA religiously and there were two specific episodes that struck a cord for me.

In one episode, one of the Basketball 'Ex-Fiances' meets with Draya to reveal that she knows about her child neglect case. Then Draya basically denied the allegations of her son being taken away from her.

Now.

There's a gray area here. Because I do not believe she denied being arrested for the charges. She only denied her son being taken away from her - meaning her son was back in her physical custody.

But who knows what was really said before editing on the show?

It appeared as though the Basketball Ex-Fiance believed what Draya told her though. Which is that the arrest allegations were not true. The report made about her arrest was a lie. They were trying to paint a bad picture of her because of her connection to Chris Brown...yada yada.

But nothing from the report was a lie.

She was arrested and her son was removed from her custody temporarily.

In another episode, the women were at what appeared to be a therapy session called a Passion Party, and each one of them had to pick a word to describe each other.

And well, one of the Basketball Wives (who has a laundry list of issues over her ex-fiance) used the word "worthless" to describe Draya.

I was shocked when I heard that word. Then the camera focused in on the look on Draya's face.

Sista Girl put on a good front! But I don't care what anyone says, her feelings had to be hurt.

The look on her face said it all.

I thought it was heartless. Ugly. Uncalled for. Nasty. Hurtful. Just completely out of line to say that!

I don't believe anyone has the right to tell another human being they are worthless.

It's one thing to call someone out their name. Tell someone they are 'acting' a way.

But to tell someone they are less than their worth? Is wrong on so many different levels!

I made quite a few comments about her child neglect case, like I am sure many people did as well.

But at no point, should any of us being judging her worth!

No. She hasn't been well suited to have a baby, just like many other women who have no business birthing children.

And, no. She probably shouldn't have custody of her son either.

But she does have custody of him, and she obviously isn't the best mother. But she is still his mother at the end of the day. She's young. Troubled. Flawed even.

But worthless?

Um, no.

That's taking it too far.

Even the most hated woman in the country, Casey Anthony, isn't worthless.

She's just one terrible individual who will pay for actions for the rest of her life. So. Everyone should leave that one alone too.

My personal take on Draya?

She's ghetto. Arrogant. Extremely guarded. Not a bad person. Puts up a good front like she doesn't care what anyone says. Appears intimidated. Seems to have a few groupie tendencies, but not a lot. Doesn't appear as thirsty for the lime light as I originally thought. Acts a lot younger than 25 too. But then again, maybe I am just old? Hmm. Because I really don't remember how you act at 25 anymore.

But regardless of what any of us think, she has become quite the household name.

And, well.

We all know how scandals and reality shows worked out for Paris Hilton and Kim Kardashian.

Just saying.