Tonight on BET's Ed Gordon, guest Karen Mills-Francis made this comment: "I think, from my own experience, we, as black people, are either afraid of or hate domestic animals." Not only was the comment stupid and generalized an entire group of people, but what disturbed me more was the other guests laughed. I've already been vocal about the
Michael Vick issue. I'm over it. I wish that man the best of success in his football career and personal life, too. I enjoyed his show on
BET and learned a lot more about dogfighters while interviewing
Carroll Care Center and
Humane Society workers. The topic of conversation came up because of Michael Vick.
I'm off Vick. However, I really wish people would stop acting like dogs (or any other domestic animal) is lesser than. A dog chooses not to bite its owner. A dog is more often than not forced to be in a human's home and shouldn't be treated like an unwelcome guest. Every dog is not Cujo nor is every dog Lassie, but this belief that black people don't like animals is crazy to me.
What always surprises me when visiting the front desk or representatives from a company is the audacity to ask me (or anyone) to sign a blank document or a digital screen without knowing what I'm signing. This has happened to me a few times, usually in the medical arena. I got my teeth cleaned and was asked to sign a blank form confirming my regular dentist appointment. I asked the front desk rep why did the form have nothing on it but my name. She told me, "I'll fill the rest in later." I responded, "Why don't you fill it in now so I know what I'm signing?" She looked surprised, but she did fill out all of the info. It took less than five minutes to do, and I left knowing what I'd signed off on.
This also happened at a doctor's office this year. I gave my health care insurance ID and co-pay to a rep, and I was asked to sign off on a blank digital screen. I asked her, "What am I signing?" She said it was to confirm that I got a privacy notification. I told her, "But I didn't get one." Then, she reached across her desk and gave it to me. I told her I'd sit down, read it and then come back to sign it. She also looked surprised, but she waited less than a few minutes for me to read the two-page form.
My dining room table: There's a plaque on the table that says 'Laugh Often.'
I've been counting down the days until I got a copy of "
The Twilight Saga: Eclipse," and considering I'm all about
Jacob Black, I figured I'd be fast forwarding to every bonus scene about
Taylor Lautner. Instead I was paying more attention to the bonus scene about set design for the Cullen home. One of my favorite entries to write for Yahoo! Contributor Network was about how to
rent your home out for movies, not just because of the process but because I found out just what has to be done to get a home ready for a film (unless it's being rebuilt from a stage).
I hate doing do-it-yourself (DIY) projects and would prefer to have everything I buy come to me already assembled, but I'm fascinated by home design. When I walk into someone's home, I immediately start memorizing everything in his/her household that I'd want in my own, what the artwork says about the home owner, the condition of the furniture, the way things are (dis)organized and even what kind of centerpieces are on the tables.
I thought the way the Cullen home looked was beautiful.
Update 12/7/2010: After seeing how many people were also going Digitally Dead I wondered, "If all of these people participating would join, wouldn't we all raise the $1 million ourselves?" I decided to cancel my Digitally Dead promise and just donate myself. I donated to Alicia Keys and then Swizz Beatz. I could've gone without Facebook, but I'd have missed Twitter. However, I felt more satisfied to just donate instead of not use the social networking sites where I try to link to stuff that I think we should know about anyway (outside of my random ramblings). You can still donate to the link below if you like though. I still support donating to the organization.
Shamontiel Vaughn sacrificed her digital life to help save millions of real lives affected by HIV/AIDS in Africa and India. That means no more
Facebook or
Twitter updates from her until enough money is raised to buy her life back. Shamontiel joined Alicia Keys and Swizz Beatz in sacrificing their digital lives to fight HIV/AIDS. Donate $1 or more by visiting this link:
http://bit.ly/hEl6pV #buylife
A bunch of my family members are still appalled that I'm so anti-cell phone. I don't like talking on my cell phone in public because no matter how interesting the conversation may be to me, the rest of the world doesn't need to know my business. I think paying for text messaging is a waste of money, especially when I can send an e-mail for free. I also tried owning a T-Mobile Dash just to find out what it's like to have nonstop access to the Internet. Never again! All it did was make me work more. However, I still love technology.
As much as I hated going to NMU, one of the few things I can say that I liked about that university was that it had a mandatory laptop policy. My grandfather was the first person I knew who owned a computer. (Crazy how that goes because he calls it his "Dirty Hearts machine" now and still has no interest in learning how to send an e-mail.) In 1999 (the year I graduated from high school), I had no desire to learn anything about a computer and thought it would just make people blind. However, NMU forced the bill for the laptop in my tuition so I figured, "It's here now. May as well use it."
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