If Sex Can Be Reinvented...

Then there's hope for the nightlife...right?

I can remember that a part of my wanting to be an adult when I was younger, was wanting to get dressed up and  going to clubs and bars. Oh how my mind has changed and I'm not even 25, but I suppose I'm a "tween" again, meaning I'm somewhere in between being young and being old, or that maybe my generation is getting younger and I'm lost in translation. Either way, the nightlife and I have grown apart.

Perhaps I shouldn't have started thrill seeking in 21+ clubs as an underage teen, I should've partied a little less in college or club hopped a little less when I moved back home. While I enjoy getting dressed up, dancing and a few drinks here and there, I could really live without: the large, sweaty crowds; the long lines; the ridiculous cover charges; the crunk music;  the kids; the creeps and the barsexuals.

And I find that sometimes for me to stomach the club setting I end up being the drunk, hot girl...rarely, but still I don't want to have those nights I can barley remember.

So I'm exploring some old ways with a new little twist to enjoy the nightlife again.

The dinner and a movie setting...[Muvico, ICON] perfect for g.n.o, bromances and everything in between...sure I can't shake my groove thang but it's good food, good entertainment and with the right group of people, it's a really good time.

The bowling alley, or should I say "club bowl"...[10 Pin, Lucky Strike] upscale bowling alleys provide the ambiance of a club without the "kids" & "creeps" and  if the music is right, I'm subject to bust a few moves.

Winetasting...helllllooo Coopershawk...okay so no bootyshaking and it doesn't jump all night but it's a tasteful way to get overserved lol and it's only as fun as the folks you bring along.

.....And these days I'm all for an old fashioned house party and music that reminds of the days when I was just a kid wishing to be a grown up. And don't let there be a strobe light...can we say tearing up the dance floor! lol

Although finding a good club is like finding a needle in a haystack, I haven't given up hope yet but I am becoming reinventive. Eat your heart out Usher! #yeahisaid!t

No Longer "Waiting", It's Time to Breathe

Author Terry McMillan is back with a new book! On September 7th, she released "Getting to Happy", the follow up to the 1992 novel turned movie 'Waiting to Exhale'.

The four women are back this time, with different perspectives on life. Bernadine, Gloria, Savannah and Robin who are no longer middle-aged, but now into their 50's, or almost, are dealing with failed relationships, failed businesses, kids and even grandkids this time around. But still with same sisterhood and sass, the ladies who were once waiting to exhale, are finally learning to breathe in 'Getting to Happy'.


McMillan also announced that she is currently working on the screenplay for this novel.

She is currently on her book tour and will stop in Chicago later this month.


***Chicago, IL - 7:00 PM Monday, September 20

Barnes & Noble

297 Oakbrook Center

Oakbrook, IL 60523

Barnes & Noble

Waiting to Exhale Flashback

Young Black Athletes...the Lost Ones

    Straight up scholar or straight up sports?  Given the choice which would you choose or would have chosen?  I stand by thoughts that I'd send my child to school on an academic scholarship or on academic merit before I let or allow him/her to believe sports is the way to go for college.
    Families who allow their kids to attend college for sports aren't necessarily wrong but it is particularly dangerous in the black community.  I remember having the conversation before with a person who was a young, black male who was attending school on a basketball scholarship and strongly felt that for many black young men coming from where he came from, it was the only way out.  But was it, is it? 

He wasn't the only one who felt that way, as I've talked to many others who felt the same way, many of whom shared the same NBA hoop dream, had been heavily pampered and classroom rules had been bent or broken; leaving academics as the least of their worries. In fact, so much time was spent focusing on their NCAA careers,(a huge money making scheme for universities) that when basketball or football was removed from the equation, they were pretty much left with nothing...well, just their books like the average student. Need I point out that in 2008 NCAA reported the graduation rates for blacks in football and basketball were less than 50 percent in each sport.

Professor Billy Hawkins of the University of Georgia discusses in his new book how black athletes are being exploited in the intercollegiate athletic world. Hawkins even describes the experiences of black athletes to that of slaves on a plantation...that's deep. Here's a little more on that: http://www.bvonmoney.com/2010/06/19/black-scholars-black-athletes/

Could it be that sports scholarships for young black men is the equivalence of welfare to the black community? And why is it that we allow young men to believe that this is "their way out"? Just as much emphasis that is placed on a kid with exceptional basketball skills to be a great athlete, should be placed on them to be the next president or geneticist.  They should be taught to be great at one thing outside of being great at another. 

Take a look at the young men at the Urban Prep Academy in Chicago, who participated in a Signing Day on May 25th, and instead of donning sports jerseys and hats of their new teams, they proudly put on baseball caps from the universities they'll be attending this fall.  On June 12, 2010, the entire senior class of 107 graduated, all of whom have been accepted into colleges and universities. See video below:




We have to help each other dream bigger than the court or field, and tackle what's really important in life. To educate is to empower, there's promise in power, there's only potential in playing. #YEAHISAID!T