gdp's Comments

Single Black Male : Why Nice Guys Finish Last & How They Can Win

Fri, 11 Nov 2011 21:06:00 +0000

This is true! A lot of people (Lawd knows I was one of them in my younger days) spend their time trying to prove their "niceness" or "goodness." People either appreciate it or they don't. And if you're nice regardless of the situation - not just because it's with this person or that one - then it will come back into your life in ways you can't even imagine... My recent post The Waste Land aka The Life of a Single Black Woman

Single Black Male : Why Nice Guys Finish Last & How They Can Win

Fri, 11 Nov 2011 20:42:31 +0000

Yep yep - shonuff! Last guy who really made me swooon. It was during our first encounter and I was just telling this story about how I had to prepare the budget for this church board I was on and they told me to cut 10% and I had cut more. And he said all authoritative like with that bass in voice - "why did you cut so much. [Something else smart]]. Don't do that again." And I was like okayy sir. And I was hooked! Lol. Grown person (man or woman) no matter how good, nice, kind you are - you gotta have that don't 'eff with me' line which adds onto your attraction level... My recent post The Waste Land aka The Life of a Single Black Woman

Think Pretty Smart : On My Honor

Fri, 28 Oct 2011 14:55:33 +0000

Yeah. It's rough in these Samoa selling skreets. You have to keep in mind Girl Scouts works because it's run by volunteers and so everyone brings their own issues, prejudices, etc., into a situation. Everyone isn't equipped to deal with 'different' kids. And some just don't want to. So they don't. They make it difficult. Or uncomfortable. Or they're just plain rude and disrespectful. And in the DC Metro urrea where some people treat GS like their own personal Jack and Jill or a country club - things get cutthroat. Parents get cliquish. There are waiting lists. There are tales of parents not liking one child/family, 'fake ending' the troop to get that person out and then coming back together. So yeah it has the potential to get cray. My recent post When It Hurts So Bad

Think Pretty Smart : On My Honor

Fri, 28 Oct 2011 14:16:40 +0000

Hmmm...I worked for Girl Scouts for almost 3 years - just left in September - and every Council operates differently - which is part of the problem. I also think Girl Scouts is just now stepping into the 21st century and really beginning to address these modern day issues so we will see more of this in the future. My supervisor made an off hand comment in a meeting once that if a transgender child wanted to join Girl Scouts we'd have to let him in. In my soul I had a long, "hmmmm... o rly moment? That's what you think?" And I was mainly coming at it from a parent POV. Oh those parents can be so cutthroat about who they let into their troop. Don't let it be a physically and/or mentally or emotional disable child - they might not make it. And a transgender? A lot of folks ain't ready for that. And that has to be taken into consideration - how do you just get the conversation started with folks who can't even wrap their minds around it? My recent post When It Hurts So Bad

Think Pretty Smart : Right Is Right

Wed, 26 Oct 2011 23:44:19 +0000

This is interesting because I come from a family where the women tend to cover up or make excuses for the men's ill behavior - mostly as it relates to dating multiple women, covering up, etc. Not like murder. Anywho. When I was younger I used to feel so bad for some of the women that were brought around like, "someone need to tell her." Now that I'm grown I see and have issues with the behavior. And shut it down when it comes my way. But Lawd ducking and dodging the scheming ain't easy! My recent post What Will You Do With It Wednesday

Madame Noire : New Documentary: ‘Black Girls in Suburbia’ Explores Ignored Identities

Wed, 26 Oct 2011 23:02:20 +0000

I grew up in the suburbs of Montgomery County, Md - about 10 minutes outside of DC. While it was majority white - it was still pretty diverse- for instance our high school was like 35% white, 30%black, 20% Hispanic, 10% Asian, 5% other ethnicities and cultures. It was pretty cool! That was school life. My family/home life - everything was Black - church was all Black, Girl Scout troop (affiliated w/ church) was all Black, dance class was all Black. For the most part it was middle class, educated folks, two parent households - people supported, nurtured, and encouraged you to be the best. And that was "Blackness" for me. Never felt like I had to defend or prove otherwise. Truly a blessing...

Think Pretty Smart : Rule Book

Sat, 22 Oct 2011 04:51:35 +0000

Does this relate - that I got on the bus one morning a few weeks ago and this teenage boy was sitting there and another man (maybe in his 30's) gently checked him and had him give up his seat for the old lady who had just boarded the bus with us. It was done in a really cool, loving without being demeaning in a 'say bruh' kind of way. Made my day! My recent post Lost In Translation

Single Black Male : Everybody Doesn't Need a Degree to Succeed

Fri, 14 Oct 2011 00:13:47 +0000

Good post! I agree with a majority of the comments - you don't need a degree to be "successful". Of course success is relative. However, I also think it depends on the person's natural intelligence, critical thinking skills, drive, etc. I have a friend who doesn't have a degree who's been working in the government probably since we were 21/22 years old and she makes good money. But she had to fight her way to the top because there were managers who had plans for her life, who thought she should toil as a secretary for 5 years before she could even think about advancing. She disagreed and proved them wrong. Contrast that with folks who stay GS-4s and 5s until the day they die because they don't think they can do any better. You have to see something better for your life, in whatever form and fashion that means for you, and then work, take risks, and try to get there... My recent post What I Learned From The PBS Prohibition Documentary Wednesday

Single Black Male : Is the N-Word a Treasure to Behold?

Wed, 28 Sep 2011 03:29:04 +0000

I'm not sure I understand how this exchange disintegrated so. I thought it was pretty much historical (common) knowledge that the word nigger was derived from the word negro. Of course no one can pinpoint the exact day and time that the first white person uttered the word nigger -but we can be certain they were the ones to do so. The meanings/definitions of words change all the time - the same way 'wench' in the Middle Ages referred to a young girl - fast forward to slavery times and it's what they're calling Black women on slave posters. And then was associated with promiscuity. Personally I think Black folks probably been calling each other 'nigga' for years - but in their own homes, blues clubs, and juke joints - not in the streets and on records. I would also guess that old heads take issue with our generation's casual/cavalier use of the word because it goes against our favorite adage, 'don't air all your dirty laundry.' Is it a treasure? Sure, ain't nothin like a well placed 'nigga please' . But it's a curse when Black folk act like/forget the true origin of the word and think that a white person won't hurl it at you in a fit of rage as a means to put you in your "place" or take you back to that "place." My recent post The Real (McCoy) Deal

Madame Noire : Artists We'd Like To See On Unsung

Thu, 15 Sep 2011 20:36:32 +0000

Atlantic Starr, The Emotions

Single Black Male : So Don't You Fall In Love: A Thesis for Emotionally Unavailable Men

Tue, 30 Aug 2011 00:54:58 +0000

Well I was basing those things off what Most wrote in the post about bringing a chick soup, sending good morning and night texts, etc and the idea that there was reciprocity not that the woman is just doing these things for kicks. That's just crazy. Although that does happen. So my point was if a woman feels like she's special she in turn will (might) do special things for him. But then it's like BOOM POW "SURPRISE" got ya b*tch you ain't special at all and you shouldn't be surprised cause I tried to told ya yada yada. But you said it right with that theater of horror - this whole situation ain't nothin' nice. Ever. My recent post Angels We Have Heard On High

Single Black Male : Will & Jada: Don't Cry. This Is Not Your Life.

Fri, 26 Aug 2011 16:35:02 +0000

"Even the sun goes down heroes eventually die. Horoscopes often lie and sometimes why nothin' is for sure nothin' is for certain nothin' lasts foreverI" Sorry had to get that out the way - there's an Outkast lyric for erythang! I wasn't torn apart by the Will and Jada breaking up rumor - but then again I recognize that I'm blessed to see loving married couples (my parents included) who are in it to win it. And the older folks in my Bible study who have been married for 50, 60+ years serve as an inspiration but are also a constant reminder that marriage is hard, hard, hard work. I will say that I was rattled my mom's friend's divorce - she had known her husband for almost 40 years (since high school), had worked to help put him through law school. They had it "all", two kids, nice house, etc. And he dropped the divorce bomb on her and was on some 'Waiting to Exhale' hiding assets and ish. That was my first encounter with real nigs who do shady ish. And that rocked my world... My recent post We Who Believe In Freedom…

Think Pretty Smart : Rejection

Thu, 25 Aug 2011 02:07:13 +0000

I <3 your response to this whole thing! Although for the record on the show the one time it didn't work, Barney got thrown out the chick's apartment nekkid and shivering...So someone feels you.

Think Pretty Smart : Rejection

Thu, 25 Aug 2011 01:58:57 +0000

HAAHAHA! The naked man! "Works two out of three times..." according to the dude Mitch aka the naked man. Ahhh love that episode!