EVERYTHING OLD IS NEW AGAIN!

So you think fashion changes every season...right? Well take a look at some of the pics below, and try to guess if it's a 2010 fashion statement...or a throwback to the 1960's!

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Well how did you do?

Answers

1. This is fashion circa 1960! Yep that's right, and the look is stylishly 2010...

2. This look hit the runway for Fall, 2010...looks kinda "Mod" if you ask me!

3. This too is a retro look, popular in the 60's. You could wear this now and be a total fashionista!

4. 2010 fashion....but tell the truth...it does look retro.

So all you divas and fashion police, consider raiding granny's closet, or hitting the local vintage clothing shops. You can save tons of money and be totally in style!

YARDWORK BLUES..I'M TIRED OF SINGING THAT SONG!

OH SPRING! I JUST COULD NOT WAIT FOR THE FIRST SIGN OF THE GROWING SEASON. I FAITHFULLY CONDITIONED MY SOIL. I FERTILIZED LIKE A PRO. I WEEDED, SHEARED, MOWED, PRUNED, DUG, MULCHED AND TRULY ENJOYED THE TASKS. HOME DEPOT WAS THE PLACE TO BE FOR ME. SHOULD I BUY GAS OR ELECTRIC YARD TOOLS? WHAT KIND OF PLANTS WOULD DO WELL IN MY YARD? I WAS SO INTO IT. I COULD SPEND ALL DAY IN MY YARD...AND THE BENEFIT IS THAT IT IS TRULY BEAUTIFUL. THAT WAS THEN...THIS IS NOW...

THE TEMPERATURES IN CLEVELAND HAVE BEEN IN THE UPPER 90'S FOR THE MAJORITY OF THIS SUMMER. THE HEAT IS INTOLERABLE. I ABSOLUTELY HATE GOING OUTSIDE! I CAN'T WAIT FOR ALL THIS CRAP I PLANTED TO DIE SO THAT I DON'T HAVE TO TEND TO IT ANYMORE. THE GROWING SEASON HAS BEEN PHENOMENAL THIS YEAR. GRASS GROWS SO FAST THAT I SHOULD INVEST IN A GAS CARD JUST FOR MY LAWN MOWER!


AND LET'S NOT TALK ABOUT THE INSECTS. I HAVE SO MANY BITES AND STINGS THAT I SHOULD HAVE INVESTED IN THE COMPANY THAT PRODUCES OFF, WHICH BTW...I THINK ATTRACTS BUGS. AT ANY RATE...THE YARD AND THE GARDENING TASKS THAT ONCE PRODUCED SUCH EXCITEMENT FOR ME...NOW FILL ME WITH DREAD. EVERYTHING GROWS SO FAST, AND I AM THE ONE MEMBER OF THE FAMILY WHO HAS TO TEND TO THEM. HEAT STROKE...DEHYDATION...SUNBURN...OH YES...SUMMER, SUMMER WONDERFUL SUMMER.

I HATE MY YARD AND I CAN'T WAIT FOR THE SEASON TO CHANGE!

AN ORIGINAL DIVA...INTRODUCING DOROTHY DANDRIDGE~

DOROTHY DANDRIDGE Graphics & Dorothy Dandridge Pictures


MZ DOROTHY DANDRIDGE, THE ORIGINAL DIVA



DOROTHY DANDRIDGE Graphics & Dorothy Dandridge Pictures


Born: 9 November 1922
Birthplace: Cleveland, Ohio
Died: 8 September 1965 (drug overdose)
Best Known As: Star of the movie Carmen Jones
Dorothy Dandridge is the Oscar-nominated actress whose career as a leading lady was curtailed by racism and personal problems in the 1950s. As teens she and her sister Vivian were part of an act known as the Dandridge Sisters; they were good enough to reach New York's famous Cotton Club, and from there Dorothy worked her way into small movie parts in Hollywood. She married dancer Harold Nicholas of the Nicholas Brothers in 1942, but it wasn't until they divorced in 1949 that Dandridge's career really took off. A charismatic and striking beauty, she began touring as a nightclub singer. Her big Hollywood break came when she starred as the sultry heroine of the 1954 film Carmen Jones, an adaptation of the Bizet opera Carmen. The film was a hit, and Dandridge became the first African-American woman ever nominated for an Academy Award as best actress. (Grace Kelly won that year, for The Country Girl.) Dandridge also began a stormy affair with the film's director, Otto Preminger. Carmen Jones proved to be the high point of her career; leading roles for black actresses were rare, and she refused to take the bit parts and lesser roles that were offered. Her film career sputtered, though she did star in the daring Island in the Sun (1957, with Dandridge sharing an interracial romance with John Justin), and Porgy and Bess (1959, with Dandridge and Sidney Poitier in the title roles). Her marriage to restaurant owner Jack Denison (1959-1962) was troubled, and Dandridge declared bankruptcy in 1963. She began to revive her nightclub career, but also began drinking heavily and taking antidepressants. She died of an overdose of the antidepressant Tofranil in 1965.

Dandridge was played by actress Halle Berry in the 1999 TV movie Introducing Dorothy Dandridge. By coincidence, Berry became the first African-American woman to win the Oscar as best actress, for her role in the 2001 film Monster's Ball... Dandridge and Harold Nicholas had one daughter, Harolyn, born in 1943. She suffered from brain damage and was institutionalized for much of her life... It's unknown if Dandridge's fatal overdose was a suicide or an accident; the coroner declared this to be "undetermined."

THERE ARE NO BEAUTY SUPPLY STORES IN HEAVEN!

I love the beauty supply store. This is a place that sells magic waiting to happen! Only in a beauty supply store can you find the goods that will transform the average looking girl into a Beyonce’ Knowles look-a-like…..and all it takes is some hair color….and a few packs of wonderful…wonderful weave.

Oh yes..weave…let’s talk about weave! Give me a number 1...yaki straight, or maybe I’ll get a curly look this time. The possiblities are endless. I can get it glued in..sewed in…thermal bonded..or braided. I can look any way I want to….and all of it’s for sale right in my handy dandy beauty supply store. I can even buy a whole wig…..half wig…or lace front??!?!? Whew!

Makeup…body paint…glitter…beads…barrettes and all sorts of lotions and potions are there at the beauty supply store. You can find shoes…boots…body piercing jewelry…and all sorts of exotic body enhancements.

I can buy lingerie, fishnets, jeggings, and the very latest sensuous items to titillate my significant other. I can wear gold, silver, bronze, ebony or ivory….The sky’s the limit!

I have a 20 year old daughter, and I can’t remember the last time she talked about getting her own hair done…which by the way is beautiful and healthy. When she talks about getting her hair done, it inevitably includes a trip to the beauty supply store to buy perms, weave, bonding glue, spritz, gel and anything else she thinks she needs to acquire the “LOOK”. She’s had pink hair, blue hair, purple hair, orange hair, and platinum blonde! I don’t even remember her real hair color.

I don’t quite understand the fascination with weave. It’s expensive, it’s difficult to maintain, it’s not real, and men don’t like it. I’ve heard too many men express this thought…they say they just “put up with it cuz that’s what their girls do!” Crazy huh???


Now don't get your panties twisted ladies...I have nothing against weave...or your right to wear it. I'm only saying..be proud of your own hair...it is your "crowning glory"! There is nothing more beautiful to me than a natural head of healthy hair.

I know many of us better hope that heaven has beauty supply stores! Our loved ones may not recognize us with our natural …heavenly hairdo’s!

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO FANTASIA BARRINO!

Fantasia Barrino Graphics & Fantasia Barrino Pictures

Fantasia Barrino Graphics & Fantasia Barrino Pictures


Former American Idol winner Fantasia Barrino tried to take her own life after her married boyfriend Antwaun Cook called-off their relationship.

The stress of the break-up , plus the fact that Cook's wife Paula filed a complaint against the singer accusing her of sleeping with her husband caused the performer to snap.



A North Carolina police report revealed that Barrino attempted to commit suicide with ‘possible internal injuries’ after ‘ingesting medication’ at her home in Glynwoor Lakes on Monday night.

Barrino has now been released from the hospital. Antwaun was fed-up with all the drama and called the relationship off with Fantasia. She begged him not to leave her but he wouldn’t listen.

He has not gone back to his wife either but Fantasia was still devastated because she believed they had a future together.

She was also stressed-out about the complaint filed by his wife but her relationship with Antwaun has been rocky for the past few months.

Fantasia had gotten herself involved in a war of words with Paula Cook over him and there were several nasty phone calls between the two women.

It is also true that a sex tape exists and although Fantasia’s people will try and put a spin on the story, it has become really messy.

Fantasia got really possessive of Antwaun but he was never willing to fully commit to her – she even got a tattoo with his name before getting it covered-up.

The sad part is that there are kids involved with both sides.

JEGGINGS ARE TAKING THE FASHION WORLD BY STORM...OR GETTIN JEGGIE WITH IT!

After the skinny jean, the latest pants to take the fashion world by storm are the jeggings.


Jegging is a cross between a pair of jeans and leggings, a new season trend that is being adopted across the board and on many a runway.


The jegging style is a more comfortable alternative to skinny jeans and a more modest and stylish alternative to wearing leggings as pants.

Women are wearing leggings like they are pants and they are not; the jegging is a legging that is meant to be worn as a pant.


If you wear them in black or a dark denim it's fine to wear them as a pant but in a lighter wash you'd probably wear them as a legging.

Jeggings is not a style for everyone.

Everyone cannot do every fashion but I think that jeggings can be adapted to suit just about everyone. It's about proportions, you can do a few tricks and illusions with a wedge heel, a tunic top, a long cardigan or mini-dress or skirt.

Jeggings are quite often printed with belt loops, pockets, buttons and zips and are designed to look like a super skinny pair of jeans.

While they might be more comfortable than skinny jeans, they give wearers no room to hide.

They are designed to suit all ages when they're styled appropriately.

So come on ladies...LET'S GET JEGGIE WITH IT!

Violence

I have always considered myself to be a person who can listen to the news of the day without bias, but some of the things that have happened over the course of the last couple weeks has got me thinking...Is violence the way folks are reacting to problems in their lives?

A worker who was terminated for stealing in New Hampshire opened fire on his former co-workers and killed many of them. The shooter cited "racism in the workplace as his motivation for the carnage. Whether or not his reasoning was real or imagined...did his violent act solve any problems?

Two women were brutally murdered here in Cleveland recently. No one can say what drove their murderers to act, we can only see that it was a violent reaction to some real or imagined problem. Is it becoming easier to kill one another? Does the media glorify violence in film, videos, music and print? Do the viloent video games that kids play set them up to be assassins, dope dealers, pimps and car thieves? I say all of the above contribute to the attitude that violent reactions are "ok".

The world has really changed since I was a kid. When we had a beef with someone..it might result in fisticuffs, but nowdays kids will arm themselves with guns, knives or someother deadly weapon. The stringent security measures at schools today is testament to that fact. School administrators, faculty and parents are afraid of the students. This is nuts! Violence in the schools is running rampant.

I know that it is a different world today...with different challenges, but is the answer more violence? Violence begats violence.

On a personal note...my niece was witness to a violent car-jacking just last night. She was in her car one block from a police station, when an old jeep came out of nowhere and cut the mercedes benz in front of her off. A hooded thug ran out of a doorway with a gun and told the driver of the benz to "give it up!", which he did. My niece was quick to call 911... after being transferred to three different dispatchers she reported the incident. The inefficiency of the 911 system here in Cleveland is legendary...but that's a whole other blog!

I tell you this story just to further talk about violence in the streets. It is everywhere...and I for one am sick of it. I used to say.."Oh, it's not as bad as people say", but it actually is worse. No more bleeding heart for me. If you do the deed...then let the punishment fit the crime. AN EYE FOR AN EYE...A TOOTH FOR A TOOTH..NUFF SAID...