“Brand New” Vantage Point

Yoko Ono's A Hole

        There comes a time in everyone’s life when they will get asked, “What’s up with the change?” or “Why’re you acting brand new?”, to which you should reply, “Define brand new” or “From who’s stand point?”.

        I say this because, often times, vantage point can make a world of difference. John Lennon’s wife, Yoko Ono (sp), did an amazing piece of artwork where she does a bullet hole through a glass pane. She makes you look at the glass from both sides so that you can see if you are the shooter or the one shot. She said, “Unfortunately, I was on the bad side”. I can bet my soul I know which side she would have rather been on if she had a choice in the matter. But this artwork is a symbol of life and life’s vantage point.

        Recently, while on a vacation with someone who I deemed friend, I watched the vantage point change. And although it was rather subtle at first, I started to notice her behave “brand new”, or at least it seemed that way to me. But was that bad? Well, this morning on Twitter @SimplySandraG  said, “Someone asked me why I was acting brand new & in response I asked them why are they still acting the same.” Which made me think….is acting brand new always a bad thing, or can it be a good thing? And I think it depends on what that new behavior is and how it is executed.

        For example, If you are a hoe on land… I’m pretty sure you will be a hoe at sea.  Not calling anyone a hoe, used term for dramatic effect. But if the condom fits….wear it. There is no switch in that unless you get hit with the Holy Ghost and change your ways before departing the port. But is there really brand new behavior or is it that the revealing of such behavior is deemed incorrect for the current situation? Like the kid who jumps on furniture at home and then the parents pretend to be outraged in public pretending that they’ve never seen their children do this before. I say this because, there are always signs of a person’s behavior, but maybe the situation lends for it to be okay, therefore causing the person to become accustomed to executing such behavior. Thus, when the environment changes, the one who is more keen to changing does so while the other person keeps doing the same behavior and is therefore deemed as “acting brand new”. Confused? I’ll explain further.

        If you have a friend who can NEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEVER be on time to save their life unless they are representing themselves, their business, or their family and can NEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEVER respect the time of others (those deemed friends)….then how can you expect them to change when stepping outside of those guidelines just because the environment changes? If everyone caters to such rude and inconsiderate behaviors by changing their arrival times, joking that they know this person is never on time, or re-routing caravans to cater to this person….you can only expect that this person will get use to being catered to and that this behavior is acceptable. You can also believe that the minute someone is smart enough to stop enabling this type of behavior the Tardy for the Party person will inevitably get defensive and think that you have a problem with them because, after all, they deserved to be catered to at all times…. right? So EVEN if they spend 4 nights of a cruise in the stateroom with 2 guys that they just met 3 days earlier (the first night being your birthday night, despite whatever the circumstances may be)……you should be perfectly okay with such “brand new” behavior, right? And even if they hand your stateroom key to a complete male stranger ( 3 days does not a friend & trust factors make) to come check on you in your room because you went missing and they didn’t feel the need to get out of the bed from snuggling with their new cruise guy….you should be perfectly okay with such “brand new” behaviors…right? I mean, after all, you’re the one that is remaining the same, right? Or are they the ones who are remaining the same and you are changing because common sense tells you to do better and therefore your change is making someone else look as if they are acting “brand new”?

*Side note*: THE GIVING OF THE STATEROOM KEY TO A STRANGER BECAUSE YOU TRUST TOO MANY GOT DAMN PEOPLE FAR TOO SOON AND ESPECIALLY IF THEY HAVE A PENIS>>>>IS ENOUGH TO GET YOU FUCKED UP! I DONT SUGGEST THAT ANYONE EVER TRY THIS WHILE ON A CRUISE! USE SOME COMMON SENSE ,PEOPLE! THAT’S ALL I’M ASKING! COMMON SENSE!!!!

        If you are confused by this… so am I. lol. But perhaps the environment is what has changed, and both parties are remaining true to their character ( or lack there of) and therefore both parties feel as if the other has changed, when in fact….. they havent. For instance, if 2 people sit in the dark at midnight and one ( due to the dark) appears to have a black shirt on but as the sun rises (environment change) now appears to have on a purple shirt…. did the person really change or did the environment change causing the appearance of change? Meaning, that person hasn’t changed and neither have you… the sun has finally shifted therefore revealing to you something that has been there all along and you are just now seeing it.  Like the time I was starting up my own sisterhood, when my top divas (Vice President, Secretary, Event Planner, etc) all saw the new recruits misbehaving, slacking on turning in assignments, and even watched me put them in check. When I dismissed a recruit for not following the rules or carrying their weight, my top divas were right behind me….agreeing with every step & damn near virtually hi-fiving me for getting rid of dead weight. I didn’t cater to anyone; if you didn’t carry your weight you had to bounce. But ooooooooh no! As soon as they started slacking on assignments and not pulling their weight, they had to go. Of course it came up that I had changed.  When in fact, I had been the same person, upholding the same standards, and not the only difference had been who was being punished for falling below those standards. They had encouraged my behavior, they told me that I was doing good when I saw a wrong and went to fix it ( I wasnt always the most tactful, I admit but the job got done) So you see, I had not changed, the vantage point did, the environment had changed. So, do you get mad at the person, the behavior, or the environment?

        I say blame yourself for not noticing. lol. We often push our better judgement to the side when dealing with so-called friends. We must STOP that. We must hold our friends to the same standards as we do for strangers since those closest to us can screw us over faster than those furthest from us. If your friend doesn’t curse in front of their parents but does at a bar….that person curses. Point. Blank. Period.  If this person has bad judgement when it comes to men at home, taking a trip isn’t going to change it. Point. Blank. Period. If your friend is quick-tempered and ready to beat anyone’s ass back home, I suggest you don’t try to come out the side of your neck via text messages during the holiday season…..because you can still get that ass whooped! POINT! BLANK!PERIOD!!! It is an evolution of changing environments and we already possess those behaviors that will be revealed upon entering such situations. It is up to us to pay more attention to others sooner. Hold ourselves accountable for our own actions; be they wrong or right, new or old. And we must not be willing to accept poor behavior from ANYONE at ANY TIME that does not show full respect to us and our situation. Now, go ahead…insert this rule into your life, and watch the ones you’ve been catering to for far too long say that you’re “acting brand new”.  Then….agree with them.

Sincerely,

~*My Mother’s Daughter*~

Deep Kamasutra: #2 Flirt Limits

Welcome back….. I see that you just cant get enough of us. Trust me, we cant either! lol

Our second question of the series comes from another Twitter follower who asks:

“Where do you draw the line with flirting?”

Ooooh, pick me! Pick me!!! I know the answer to this one!!!

BREAK!

        Okay, much like anything in life… there is not a steadfast rule for this one. I can’t tell if you are asking as a single person or as a person in a relationship….I cant even remember if you are male or female…so I will treat this question as if you are a shemale in an open relationship. Deal? Deal.

        No matter your gender, you first have to check in with your insecurities. If your insecurities are not in check, nothing that will follow will make any sense and will not prove productive. If you think you are ugly, then you are. If you think you are fat, then you are. Dont get mad at me.. you said it first….to yourself. Once you have all in order and your confidence is raised in market value… then you can begin to assess your true limitations. If you know that you are the shit then your man or woman can flirt for days and that nonsense wont even bother you.

        Ladies, it is not a sign of disrespect, most men play this childish ass game just to see how far they can push you, make you jealous, and come up out the pocket to fulfill their fantasy of girl-on-girl fighting action. Dont feed into it. Let his actions starve to death in diuretic challenge between Ashley Olsen and the old Courtney Love. Men love confidence, but they hate nothing more than to feel that a woman can do without them. I think they were created to battle for our attention. But I digress. Getting upset while he tries out his latest moves on some chickenhead will only show your hand and cause you to renig on the strong and independent woman that he fell for in the first place. Let him flirt, then you smile on the inside at the Joker, Joker and throw up the Duece, Duece at his sorry attempt to make you come up out the pocket. But all bets are off if he turns things sensual and/or sexual. BEAT A NEGRO’S ASS like he turned Republican and tried to bring Jeb Bush into the White House. So, for women in relationships.. you have to set the standards of what is allowed and not allowed in your relationship early on. Have a talk about it logically and NOT emotionally. Once the rules are in place that work for you both then and ONLY then do you have the right to be upset.  After that, DO YOU BOO, flirt until you pass out, in your own bed, alone, without the aid of date rape drugs. Flirting for us can be a game as well, guys don’t know that majority of the time we just want their attention for the moment. Draw the lines at anything sensual…because sensual to a guy equates to sexual. I have no clue why God missed that programming chip in their design, but it is what it is. If you don’t want him to touch you, kiss you, pull you close, or sleep with you… DUH! Dont do it to him. Done!   

        Fellas, when your girl starts to flirt…. that is a dead ass sign that someone, OKAY YOU!!!!, are not handling business at home. Women are loyal by nature (okay we do have a few model defects ie. Hoochies, hoes, hood rats, ya mama…etc) and it takes a lot for us to take our eyes of the one object of our affection. This is where you need not get mad, but reevaluate your home situation and actually listen to what it is that she is telling you she needs. But be aware that females have levels of flirting. Sometimes she just wants to feel pretty, wants to have a guy tell her that whoever has her is a lucky man….you know, the things you should be telling her. But once a woman flirts and comes home and doesn’t communicate with you, trust me, you need to call your mama and tell her to dust off your old bunk bed because you have already lost your placement in that relationship and in the happy home. And while you flirt, keep in mind that you shouldnt do anything that you wouldn’t want your woman to do. And since the male ego is often times more fragile than a woman’s….you’ll do far less than she would..lol.

        In conclusion, I say all flirting is healthy if you are not married. The world is full of people who will entice us, and yes, a little self-control is needed but flirting is healthy for self-image. So, set up the rules of safety if you are single, and set up rules of engagement if you are in a relationship and everyone should have nothing to fight about. And scene.

~2Deep

The woman has spoken. Man…..what sayest thou?

 

        I swear I have been wanting to answer a question like this for quite a bit of time. Had you asked me three years ago about flirting, I would have said, “Don’t hate the playa, hate the game, son.” People get older, people get wiser, and the ish just got real in here! It’s about to go down!

         It was all good just a week ago, when you met that girl and y’all kicked it and everything was wonderful. She was into you and you were into her, but where did everything go wrong, huh (Juvenile voice in his Cash Money days)! Flirting is only bad in two instances; the first one is when you are in a committed relationship and you going hard in the paint like your name is (Insert First Name) Flocka Flame. Why you flirting and you committed man? Same goes to her lil fine butt? The other instance is when one person has more feelings than the other. This problem is not even really a problem—you need to check yo self before you wreck yo self fool! She OR he can do whatever they please, you’re nobodies’ parents out this joint. I used to have problems with that flirting ish, me doing it and seeing my potential mate do it. But YO! I’m a man (Muddy Waters voice)! No reason to sit around with that jealousy trait, that’s female ish! Don’t sit around feeling bad for yourself, swipe that dirt off your shoulders.

        In all reality though, I am indifferent about this topic, the man in me says flirt, flirt, flirt, flirt. Its natural, keep your skills honed because women are finicky man! They tend to straddle the fence and you don’t even know they are doing so. Until they say those dreaded words, “We need to talk…” You’re prolly screaming inside, “Fuuuuuucccckkkkk.” So now your relationship is over, you’ve just been thrown to the wolves and yo ass forgot how to hunt! You’re going to go without eating for at least a few months, but that’s not even the end all be all. You’re not going to eat GOODT for at least another few months. But then, you got your SCHWAGGG back and now, you’re eating good! Enjoying the fruit of your labor! That makes me say flirt all you want, just make sure you, throw the numbers away, don’t be an infidel, and keep your woman’s sixth sense in mind.

        Now for what I do, I get hit on EVERYDAY but hunting for me is like riding a bike, I’m never going to forget. So, I shut chicken heads down! “Nawh, I’m dating someone, I’m good,” is my response—I don’t know if she does that, but I am only speaking for myself. I shut them down down down (Drake voice). If anybody is going to mess up, it’s going to be on my own merit and not because I was being an infidel! She’s not gonna hate on the kid because he was running around town with three or four women trying to be Bill Bellamy in “How to be a Player.” I devote all my attention to one woman, the woman I am talking to…does she deserve it? I think yes, but you have to know that feelings change and people do as well, they just forget to tell the person they are talking to. Keep your flirting limited and at all possible, don’t even do it at all. Why tempt yourself into getting that “strange?” Strange is defined as unknown pussy and/or but not limited to head from the female counterpart that you just met.

         This message was finance by Deep Kamasutra and I, Kamasutra endorse this message! If you have anymore questions (two barks) get at me dawg! (DMX voice)

~Kamasutra

VERDICT: IF YOU ARE SINGLE… FLIRT & MINGLE *bangs gavel*

Sincerely,

~Deep & Kamasutra~

Think Like a Hoe… Act Like a Lady

 

        For ages our mothers have taught us to always be a lady in the street, while magazines tell us to be freaks in the sheets….just to have a book tell us that the male ego can’t stomach the idea of his woman having had practice sexually before meeting him, thus making you undateable. I say….MAN THE HELL UP!  But those words wont get you into a meaningful relationship. So, I say….think like a hoe, but act like a lady.

        Popular belief would mix and match that very theory…. and I am highly aware that I did not just reinvent the atom here, but work with a sister will you. The reason women don’t really get along with one another is because of two very simple reasons:

1. She was once naive and some more experienced girl came along and blew her dreams out of the water and now she is weary of every female; Good Girl Gone Bad Syndrome

2. She was the loose girl in the group who would do what the others wouldnt but always couldn’t get the guy or the relationships that the others could; Hoe Gone Remorseful Syndrome.

        The reason why I don’t leave a female, even a friend, around my good man is because…”if the woman thought anything like I had to in order to get him…” , I’d have to kill her. Women are ruthless. They say that men are hunters by nature. Cute. We sent you all out into the woods while we hunted out which route we would take to capture you. We are architects of manipulation, sorry…but we are. Why do you think it takes us so long to get dressed? Even our outfits are battle gear preparing us to go out on the battlefield and attack the enemy in order for us to win the war. Make-up;war paint. Heels; couture army boots. Girdles, push-up bras, and spanks; camoflauge! lmao!!!!! Women, since the beginning of time, have been the baited traps that the guys fall for, and yet somewhere they thought that they were catching us when we were catching them….if I ruined anyone’s idea of this set up….my bad, your fault (stole that from my brother…lol. Thanks, Dre)

        Yes, Biblically speaking you are supposed to wait to be found…..but it is where you place yourself and how you behave that will get you found. CHURCH IS NOT THE PLACE TO BE FOUND!!!! Girl, people are supposed to be finding Jesus and not your cooking skills at the annual bake sale for choir robes. Clubs are not the place to be found. Between the Ciroc and dim lights, you have to wonder if his judgment is just in picking you. You can still follow the old adage of being found, but having control in how you are found. Notice I said how… not when… don’t hit me up complaining that you havent been found yet. That’s a personal problem.

        Athletic and Celebrity groupies have the right idea, but wrong execution. They hang out after all events, creep up to the hotel rooms, and try to get pregnant just to stake claim to the fortune of a celebrity. Some are successful but even then many never make it past the baby mama and jump off stage. Then you have the ladies who dress appropriately but shut out every single guy who doesn’t fit her criteria…..wrong idea, semi right execution. I say wrong idea is because you are supposed to experiment, find out what it is that you really like, plus experience REALISTICALLY what the world is willing to give back to you. The semi-right execution is in being honest with what you will and wont take and moving on to the next one if it doesn’t work out. So what would happen if we mixed the two? Maybe then we would get the girl who would place herself in intellectual settings, dressed appropriate, not allowing herself to be objectified while still maintaining her game face. Thinking like a hoe , but acting like a lady.

        I could be wrong, I doubt it…and again I know that I am not saying anything new. But honestly…. this technique needs to be used. Have that “larger than life” appeal about you that the groupies have, but then execute your approach like a deaconess and watch the guys become baffled over the fact that they cant figure out how to get you. They say they don’t like game… BULL….because as soon as you admit how you really feel they think that the chase is over and they retreat like soldiers on the outside of the Trojan horse. I think that I can appropriately call this the Lysistrata Movement. Or as Medea would say it, “Clink, Clink”. lol.

        As women, we have the urge to be sensual and sexual, men are not the only ones, but we must learn how to control that urge and remain ladies in trying to reach that ultimate relationship with a guy. Protecting his frail ego and our reputation go hand in hand…and once you forget one you lose the other as well. It is a balancing act that we must always keep in our heads. It must whisper to you like your bladder right before you get on a roller coaster.

        But then again….I’m single….so I may not know what I am talking about… but all of my friends’ boyfriends love the way that I calm down their women and get the ladies to see things from his perspective. So, there is that to think about too…..it is always the single woman who gets the man…hint hint. So maybe it wouldn’t hurt to listen to one in order to keep him. Just a thought. *Wink*

Sincerely,

~*My Mother’s Daughter*~

He’s the Exception to All of My Rules

 

        Algebra Blessett singing so soulful in my headphones, professing that she “thinks” she loves someone….it makes me think of him. Yes, him… the very him that has had my heart since the day that I met him; Mr. GI3. Him… the him who was a Tuskegee University engineering student who had this masculine presence with a quiet force about him, the same man who has managed to tame the shrew and heal the wounded bird in me. And I think saying it out loud will solidify it for me…. maybe then I can move on.

*Selects REPEAT* *Song Starts over*

(Lyrics to I Think I Love You)  Click Here to Play> I Think I Love You by: Algebra Blessett

We’ve been friends for quite some time
And now I see you differently
There’s a cloudy picture that’s becoming clearer to me
I hesitate to tell you how I feel cuz I Don’t want you to be afraid
And I dont want to make a mistake being too shy to say

I think I love you and I dont ever wanna let you go
I think I need you in ways that I am unable to show
I think I love you and I want everybody that we know to know
Just how you make me feel….. just how you make me feel

You make it so frustrating cuz you’re so spoiled like me
Then it drives me insane when we agree to disagree
When my words don’t come together to make much sense
You recite the perfect sentence to put my mind at ease, you see

I think I love you and I dont ever wanna let you go
I think I need you in ways that I am unable to show
I think I love you and I want everybody that we know to know
Just how you make me feel ……just how you make me feel

Time and time again I’m trying to convince
To myself that what I’m feeling it does make sense to me
Sometimes it’s difficult for me….(difficulty)
Like when days are here to stay and you bringing me my smile
But tomorrow comes around and some how you let me down
Its confusing…. (its confusing) baby you’re driving me crazy

I think I love you and I don’t ever wanna let you go
I think I need you in ways that I am unable to show
I think I love you and I want everybody that we know to know
How you make me feel…… just how you make me feel

I think…I think I love you
I think …i think I need you
This is how you make me feel

~*Algebra Blessett

        There is no “thinking” of whether or not I love him; I do. I do love. I do love ……him. He is in so many ways everything that I “think” I want in a man. He makes me laugh, he listens when I cry, he calls me on my BS and he is the only man who can put me in check without getting cussed out. lol. That is so sexy…lol. He is witty, he is highly intelligent, he is giving, he is caring, he is genuine, he can calm me down with just a few words and can make me see things clearly with just a few more words. And yes, the body captivates both my eyes & other anatomical parts (BACK UP LADIES>>> I WILL CUT FOR THIS ONE!!!!) and his voice makes Barry White sound like a soprano…..but nothing grabs my attention more than the tiny glimpses of himself that he allows me to be a part of. I cherish those moments.

        He is a very private individual…and strangely, I know very little about him. Well, I know not too much more about him now than I did 6 years ago. That could be a plus or a minus, but I take it at face value…..it adds to the mystery of him and though I try to tell myself, “Girl, he just isn’t that into you” , I can’t break myself from how he directly or indirectly makes me feel.

        No matter how upset with him I get ( like not talking to him for 2 years) I still feel connected to him, still feel wrapped up in my thoughts of him….and I don’t know what to do about that. I don’t even think that there is anything that I could do about it.  Like how he says things when he thinks I am not listening, or says them swiftly and moves on to the next topic….. I just want to say “Negro, I heard you. ” But I don’t say a word. I think he knows that I heard him and that was the only way that he could tell me. (Yes, I know I sound psycho or as if I am making excuses… but try living it.. its even more confusing.) And though I know that his bad out numbers the good at times, the good outweighs and overpowers the bad….I have NO clue how that works, but it does. Or at least it makes sense to me. He’s not perfect by any stretch of imagination, but from what I know and a perception of what I dont….he is amazingly great. Even the memories of him are great.

        Like, how I went to Minnesota one summer and the devil rose up and caused some situations to cause me to almost be homeless over 1,000 miles away from Alabama…..he managed to be there for me. Well, I opened up an email once I was safe and there he was telling me to give him a call immediately. So I did. He was concerned. He was more concerned than my family had been….at least he was looking for me. And much to my surprise, he was in Minnesota too!!! We met up at his apartment and that was when I introduced him to the Tyler Perry stage plays as we sat back, laughed and watched the movies…and I just felt like he cared. Or what about the time I got mad at him and stopped talking to him for MONTHS and he still managed to show up for my graduation from undergrad saying, “he wouldn’t miss it for the world.” That made me feel like such a princess…..and he was my prince. And Lord knows that I simply miss the kisses on the forehead that he use to give me when I would visit him on his campus. Great times…..*sigh*

        I know most of you are not used to me being this mushy… because I don’t do mushy…but I don’t do love poems because I can’t have him.

        I had hoped that maybe one day over the past few years something would have made both sides emotionally mutual…but I don’t think that is the case. I asked him a question and received a very honest answer. It wasnt bad by any stretch of the imagination…it was genuine and I loved that about him. But at the same time it was a bitter-sweet feeling. I would have to only be his friend from here unto eternity in order to spare my heart.

        It hurts genuinely loving someone and not hearing it back. To feel as if you are possibly fantasizing something that may not even exist. It hurts to think that the other person may not trust you with their heart enough…when the only thing you want to do is to guard and protect it. It hurts to know that no amount of professing your love will ever change this person’s mind….that the stubbornness that you find so attractive is the very stubbornness that would provoke you to move on.

        My aunt once told me that the worse thing a woman could do is to sit around waiting for a man to make up his mind about her. I’m soooo guilty of this, to a certain extent. But dang it…. he is the exception to all of my rules. I don’t know why, but he just is. He’s the ONLY guy who I truly accept both his good and his bad, the times he ticks me off to no end, and anything that comes with him. But I understand that I have to go live my life… I love him just that much that I can let him go. Weird, right?

        I want him to be able to go about his own pace, to find whomever he feels would make him happy. That doesn’t hurt to even say that….it would taint how I really feel if I were to ever be jealous. But then again… I’m speaking as if I ever had him….lol. But you catch my drift. This guy is genuinely special and just as special to me. So, yeh… there is no thinking…. I really Love him. And I thank him for allowing me to be comfortable enough to express that love to him. I will take those lessons as I move forward in life and I wont let fear hold me back from loving someone else any more.

Thanks, G. I love you…. *exhales*

Sincerely,

~*My Mother’s Daughter*~