A few years ago I went to a funeral of a man who was very popular and well known. It was the longest funeral I have ever attended and it was one of the largest funerals I have ever attended.  It was such a sad occasion but it was also quite the celebration.  While there I was bombarded with continuous blasts from the past!  I saw dozens and dozens of people I hadn’t seen in probably 10 – 15 years or more! It has got to be in the top 25 most fun weekends I have ever had in my life! Why? Because it reunited me with so many old friends and memories! It was an amazing weekend! It was such a pleasure seeing old faces and catching up. Well now, here we are with Facebook!

I have either been found or found so many friends, acquaintances, coworkers, classmates, etc. from yesteryear on FB. It is fascinating! Fascinating that this venue affords me the opportunity to reconnect with so many people that touched my life at some point.  It tickles me when somebody is on “Face”Book and doesn’t have their picture/face on there but still, isn’t it something! I don’t do all the daily talking and whatnot, I’m more a 3 – 4 times a week “Facebooker”, but still, I do it! I am also not one to give blow by blow accounts of my day, e.g., ”I am getting up now to take a shower and get ready for work” or “I am going to bed now”; to me that is sad because it seems like a lonely person who utilizes FB as a companion but still, I am there! I am not an intelligent user yet and I have to ask about some of the functions and features but still, I will continue to be there! I only have two pictures on my page but soon, I will add some and become a little more hip, but still, my face is there!

I must say, every time I go to FB I am anxious to see if anyone has requested me as a friend. lol. Yesterday I told my new coworker to find me on FB and add me as a friend. I told her she didn’t have to talk to me; I just want to rack up on my friends and have a long impressive list of friends. dlol (double laugh out loud) I will say, I like to know all the friends I have. I don’t accept people as my friends if I don’t know them. Why would I? I guess it is an opportunity to get to know people. I do have a two part question. Is FB exposing too much of our lives and who we are and is there any aspect of FB that could be dangerous? I don’t know. To me, I feel it is pretty safe.

Recently I found someone on FB that let’s say, is an undesirable, or at least they were years ago when I knew them! They had a very, very bad impact on my life and owe me. Well lo and behold, there they were as big as day on FACEBOOK for all the world to see! As far as I’m concerned, they should be in hiding! tlol! (you got it, triple laugh out loud!)

So what about Facebook? I like it and an enjoying it immensely. I am not a dedicated user or a regular user; I am just a social user and do it for entertainment purposes only. I know it is a great vehicle to do networking and business, but for now, I just use it for fun! What do you think about Facebook? Are there any drawbacks or dangers of being part of this fast growing online community? Let me know what you think, how and why you use it and… if I am not your friend, request me, I want to be!

Gotta go see who requested me today!

Holla back!

So here’s what happened. Last season DeAnna Pappas, who had not been chosen the previous season, was selected as the new bachelorette. It came down to Jason, a single dad and Jesse, the snowboarder. She picked the snowboarder. Uh… anyway. Since Jason was so “boy next door-ish” and a sweet single dad whose son meant everything to him, Jason became the new bachelor.

He had 25 women to choose from. It got down to Molly and Melissa. I liked them both but leaned toward Melissa, however, my instincts told me he would choose Molly. He chose Melissa. He explained it to Molly, walked her to the car while listening to her tell him what a big mistake he had made, and then walked back in the house and almost fell over the balcony (I exaggerated a little bit) because he was crying so hard after letting Molly go! Was this our first clue or what!!! He then goes in, gets on one knee and proposes to Melissa. Yippie! Especially since Melissa had been dumped/hurt three times before and had never been the one to do the dumping. Life was good. Fast forward to six weeks later when we get to see them and hear how things have been going since he proposed. I knew something was up when Chris Harrison – the host – said there would be no audience because of the tricky nature of what was about to happen.

They bring them out and Jason breaks up with Melissa and lets us all know he is still in love with Molly and is going to ask her for another chance! OMG! Melissa is hurt and dumped for the fourth time! She leaves the stage and Molly comes out. Molly is hurt too! She is hurt because he initially dumped her for Melissa but then…he begins to talk and tells Molly that on national TV he just dumped Melissa and asks her if they could go out for coffee or drinks and see if they can’t have another shot. She looks startled but eventually – seconds or minutes later – says, yes. Duh! Just like that! Six weeks of hurt vanishes and she takes him back! Old timers use to say, if he’ll do it to her for you, he’ll do it to you for somebody else! Molly, I’m just saying…

So last night – six weeks later again – they show us Molly and Jason who are so happy. Boo Hiss! I liked Jason and I felt bad for him because DeAnna didn’t choose him when he was one of the 25 hopefuls. Now he topped that and hurt Molly for six weeks and now Melissa, possibly for life. As much as I enjoy the romance of it all, I am mad at ABC and “The Bachelor” and think they should not have shown this on TV. This right here is the kind of thing suicides are made of! It is one thing to have your heart broken and be humiliated; it is another to have it done publicly!

As far as Jason goes, he is always crying, he is a whiny boy, and said he did what he did because he had to follow his heart. As much as I liked him, I have now lost respect for him. They should have never publicized this turn of events! I know when these men and women sign on the dotted line, all bets are off, but this went too far. This turn of events was unprecedented and, I feel, should have been left for them to work out without America watching. These are real people!

So I guess this is what I want you to tell me:
• Is following your heart ALWAYS the right thing to do regardless of who gets hurt?
• How do you feel about a CRYING WHINY boy on national TV? I saw one news report talking about the fact that Jason cried so much on the show and how women feel about men who cry.
• Have we gone too far with the countless made-for-television romances?

I know this is a diversion from our normal topics but according to how we roll here in the good ole US of A, this is the news of the day! We’ll get more serious tomorrow. Stay tuned and holla back!

Once again Tyler Perry does what he does best, makes you goes into the ugly laugh watching Madea Goes to Jail. I went to see the movie last night, and although I did arrive early, I must say it is the first time I have ever stood in line to see a movie. When my sister told me my niece had gone to two movie theaters and they were sold out, I knew I’d better get my ticket early. And I did!

So like all of Tyler Perry movies/plays, Madea Goes To Jail tells a story, gives a clear message, offers hope, gives a subtle recommendation of how to overcome your plight in life, and makes you laugh! Will it win him an Oscar? Probably not. It is the greatest story ever told. No. Is the storyline predicable? Yes it is. Did I walk away smiling, feeling good and glad I went? ABSOLUTELY!

According to the one and only review I read here is what they had to say about Madea Goes to Jail and Tyler Perry movies in general: A) they are review-proof as they’re not screened for critics, and they make tons of money on their own, anyway, and B) not made “for” white people, so if white people see them and don’t get them, it’s because they’re, well, white people. I don’t agree with either, especially B. The part I like the most is: and they make tons of money on their own!

I think I have seen every play and movie that Tyler Perry has done. I probably have scar tissue in my belly from laughing so hard at him and his stuff. Although his plays are just as long as the movies, for some reason, they seem a little more connected, story wise, than his movies. Notably The Family That Preys and Madea Goes to Jail, until about an hour and a half into the movie, felt disconnected.  I was anxious for it to hurry and all be tied together. I knew we were going to get there eventually but I will admit, last night at one point I looked at the time because I knew we were pretty deep in the movie and Madea had still not gone to jail! I guess I thought much more of the movie was going to actually be about Madea being in jail. Uh uh. Not at all. Very little happened in jail, but as I think about what did happen in jail, I begin to smile. Madea is a mess!

With that said, let me clarify, I love me some Tyler Perry and I will tell you why.  Tyler Perry does what nobody else is doing, he consistently employs black actors and actresses thus showcasing their talents, Tyler never ever gets too big to bring God and the “pull yourself up by the boot strap” message into everything he does, Tyler attracts some of the biggest and the best and they want to be a part of this season of his life, IE – in Madea Goes To Jail we had: Judge Mablean, Judge Mathis, Dr. Phil, Al Sharpton, Whoopi Goldberg, Sherri Shepherd, Joy Bahar, Elisabeth Hasselbeck, Michael Baisden, Steve Harvey, and Tom Joyner. Seeing all those folk pop on the screen was the icing on the cake!

I will continue to support Tyler and my Madea addiction by: buying my ticket early and standing in line, trying to boost his value as a powerhouse in Hollywood by seeing his movies the day they come out, laughing out loud, praying for his continued success, and encouraging others to see his work. Can I ask a favor of you? When you are ready to buy the DVD for your collection, please buy first quality and don’t buy a bootleg copy! Hear me; that is not true support! Don’t make me write an entire story about how I feel about that, and I won’t, but let me say this: that is so ghetto and country! If you are a single young mother with two kids, working two jobs, going to school full time, and trying to make ends meet, ok, I can see going the bootleg route (although… if you call me, I will buy you a fresh new one still factory sealed) other than that, I’m not hearing it! Surely God has blessed you to be able to afford a “real” DVD and if He hasn’t, maybe it is because you still live life with a poor man’s mentality, like buying bootleg copies of Tyler Perry’s DVDs!!! Here’s the thing, as long as we are buying bootleg copies, Tyler Perry, and the naysayers, will never be able to gauge his real success. The numbers won’t add up! I’m done. I’m off my soapbox. Just buy it new!

For now, Madea Goes To Jail is still in theaters and my guess is, will be for some weeks. It is rated PG13 but I didn’t see anything that would disallow you to take the whole family. He did it again y’all! Finally Madea went to jail with her bad self! Holla back!