I’ve noticed something about the representation of women, especially black women in reality television.  IT’S ALL NEGATIVE!  If you think about the kinds of women on shows like Love and Hip Hop, Basketball Wives, Bad Girls Club, and the Real Housewives of Atlanta you’ll come up with words like: dramatic, immature, violent, and loud.  These aren’t the kind of women that would make positive role models.  The best positive African American female on a reality show is probably America’s Supernanny and I doubt that show gets as many viewers as the shows I previously mentioned.  There should be a reality show about a college student trying to figure out what she wants to do with her life (SIGN ME UP!) or about a woman with her own business and the ups and downs she goes through.  Those would be just as interesting in my opinion.  What do the women on these shows even do besides sleep with someone to get famous?  With the exceptions of the women who are musicians.  But I guess I’m part of the problem since I tune in to most of these shows with women who are too old to be acting the way they do.  Why do we watch these shows?  Are our lives not interesting enough?  Or are we just trying to escape our own realities?  I suppose in a way they are entertaining and at times funny but there could be much better shows on television.  There’s a limited amount of black people on television in the first place and the majority of them in the reality genre, which has to change.  We need some positive representation or white people will think we’re all that crazy!  Maybe it’s up to me to change things and write a screenplay or pitch an idea for a new show.  Until then we’ll just have to wait.

What up StudentBS?  I hope everyone’s summer has been going good thus far.  Mine is just about over since I am about to begin fall classes here in Aggieland.  My summer was pretty good.  Chilled with friends, family, took French, got an A and now I’m back! And I’m ready to make all A’s or drink an arsenic cocktail!!! Okay maybe not arsenic but I’m pretty serious about doing better than my best this time around.  There’s really no room for me to mess up from here on out.  But I’m very confident in my abilities.  I’m even considering eliminating a social life this year in order to focus on my grades.  I’ve already submitted myself in what I think will be a very rigorous academic bootcamp (THANKS MOM!) and if that doesn’t keep me on track then nothing will.  And seeing as my Aggie Pride died yesterday after I left financial aid it will be easy for me to ignore any social events.  Shoutouts to the class of 20?? we don’t know when we’re graduating, we just know that we are!  Stay classy students, and don’t let the BS bring you down.

Clarice Taylor more commonly known as Grandma Huxtable died of congestive heart failure on Monday at the age of 93.  For years Taylor played Dr. Heathcliff Huxtable/Bill Cosby’s mother.  Before popularizing that role Taylor was a theater star.  She played Addapearle the Good Witch of the North in the Broadway version of The Wiz.

As someone who LOVES the Cosby show and sings song from The Wiz on a daily basis I think this is a great loss for Hollywood.  Well Ms. Taylor you shall be missed and if you happen to see Sammy Davis Jr. up there tell him I say hey!

For more information on Ms. Taylor check out these links:

http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory?id=13743288

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarice_Taylor

Malicious Thoughts doesn’t always wanna be so Malicious!  She wants to get out and smile at strangers instead of doing the usual scowl!  She wants to go outside and live it up instead of complaining about how hot it is! And most importantly she wants to see less of the Greensboro Transit Authority and Amtrak! (I’m so over them right now.)

But where can she go…….hmmm *puts on thinking cap* Okay well there’s always my ancestors home land of St. Kitts and Nevis!  But I don’t have the funds to support that trip so let me think of something closer.  Virginia Beach possibly??? That could work, I can see myself now, walking along the boardwalk, buying things from the many shops….getting pizza or whatever other fattening foods I see.  Yea I like that a lot but let me slap myself back to reality, how am I going to get there?  And how much gas money am I gonna have to shell out? (Get it? Cuz Shell is a gas station! ha…..ha.)  And I’ll probably want to stay there for a few days so I’ll need hotel money too.  But I think I can make this trip a reality.  If not this summer then some other time in the future.  I’ll be assembling the crew soon.  Yesssssss *laughs manically* My plans SHALL come to fruition!!!!!!

The video Future in The Kids was made by a recent North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University graduate and fellow Journalism and Mass Communications major Joshua Washington.  I don’t have to say much because the video speaks for itself but please watch it, leave comments and encourage others to do the same.  And then go check out  Josh Washington Signature Films on Facebook!

If you’re an avid reader of mine. (And I only have a few, shout’s to select members of “The Crew” and Chelly D!) Then you remember one of my earlier posts which discussed my distaste for higher education.  Now this was last fall semester when my schedule sucked, I wasn’t excited about school, and my I was having roommate issues. Fast forward to this semester where I like most of my classes, I am living in a new apartment with much better roommates, and I am becoming increasingly excited about furthering my education.  It took a while for me to get to this point but I finally did it.  The year did start off a little slow with me getting injured (slipping on ice HARD before class), getting sick, and getting a little depressed about life in general.  But it looks like I’m going to come out on top by the end of this semester and after going to summer school.  Due to some decisions I made last semester I’ll be just  a few credits shy of being a junior by the time this semester ends. However, once I take two or three classes this summer I’ll be right as far as credits go and my gpa will be on the up and up!  There are still mountains to climb, hurdles to get over, and all that other cliche mess but I am in a much better place than I was last semester! Who can I thank for this you ask? Well lets see….there’s God and his son Jesus, a host of family, friends, and one other significant person for holding me down…and my awesome academic advisor! (Professor Wiggins you are the absolute best!) I appreciate each and every one of  you guys, ya’ll have no idea. And I can’t forget to give one super duper shoutout to Aaron for giving me this outlet! You are greatly appreciated!

Now let’s just pray that I continue to like college….

Nowadays I hear girls say things like, “He’s too nice for me,” or “I want a guy that’s an asshole but will still treat me good.”  When I hear things like this I can’t help but give them a side eye or raised eyebrow.  WHAT DO YOU MEAN????? First of all, there’s no such thing as a “nice asshole.”  Maybe this asshole could have certain nice qualities but he’s still gonna treat you like a dick in the end.  And there’s nothing you can do to stop that because it’s in his asshole nature and hey, you asked for it!  Secondly, yes I do agree that some guys can be too nice BUT are you really gonna keep that guy that’s perfect for you in the friend zone because he’s done nothing but respect you???  I understand if there is no attraction because hey that happens sometimes but do you really wanna sacrifice happiness for a rough neck?

I once put a nice guy in the friend zone because I was confused about what I wanted out of life back then and I was scared I would ruin a good friendship.  After re-evaluating things and finding myself I realized that I didn’t want my nice guy to be in the friend zone anymore.  Of course I didn’t rush things because that could have ruined everything.  Now that we got off the friend-ship and hopped on to the relation-ship I can honestly say I am truly happy with the way things are going.  It’s like friendship amplified to the umpteenth degree!  Of course we have our little arguments/disagreements sometimes but there’s a balance there that I couldn’t have with an asshole who had not been my friend first.

So the moral of this post is don’t knock the nice guy!  They can be your best friends and even turn into an unexpected but wonderful relationship!  My crew is full of nice guys and their looking for some nice girls to R.E.S.P.E.C.T.!  Ladies, don’t you think you deserve to be treated like a queen? Then get you a nice guy and he’ll make you serene! (#CorninessRules)

in an alternate universe of course. lol

*Disclaimer: I do not condone cheating*

That lovely video was by up-and-coming artist Paris Jones.  He is a 20 year old rapper/producer from LA and his mixtape (From Paris With Love http://soundcloud.com/b-11/sets/paris-jones-from-paris-with-love-mixtape ) is in heavy rotation on my mp3 device. (Which is currently my BlackBerry)  He produces intelligent rhymes and beats that will be changing the game soon.  He has a very strong fanbase who support him through his twitter page and he actually responds to their tweets and retweets them quite often.  You can find him on twitter at @IAmParisJones and on facebook by searching Paris Jones.  I’m predicting great things for this guy in 2011…I feel like he could pull an Esperanza Spalding at the 2012 Grammys!  (If the world makes it that far…*crosses fingers*)

She’s the 2011 Grammy’s best new artist.  She’s an exceptional singer and bass player.  An all around great musician.  And someone who I feel you all should get to know!  Now I was first introduced to Ms. Spalding while watching the 2010 BET Awards this summer.  I will admit, the first thing I thought when seeing her on stage was, “I love her hair.”  My second thought was, “What is this instrument she is playing?”  But after listening to her I was intrigued and I wanted more, especially after hearing that Prince himself requested that she perform for his tribute.  So I youtube’d her and I’ve been a fan ever since.  I was super excited when she won that Grammy last night and super pissed to hear all the shade being thrown at her for winning it.  Why couldn’t we be happy that a jazz artist won when that hasn’t happened in years?  I shouldn’t be surprised though right?  People are a**holes after all, but this woman is something special.   She first discovered the bass in high school after having mild flirtations with a slew of other instruments before getting bored with them.  She got her GED at 16, graduated from Berklee College of Music at 20 and soon began teaching there.  Check out her wikipedia page for more info and please listen to the song below, it’s my favorite.  Get to know her  and maybe you’ll find your a favorite of your own!

I don’t want to be the kind of person that sets goals with no intention of fulfilling them.  But the other day I realized that I was that kind of person.  During my freshman year in college I made a list of goals that I wanted to achieve during my four years at A&T.  I recently reviewed that list and discovered I’ve only done two of those intended goals.  Now I still have time to do some of the things on that list because some aren’t even attainable until my senior year but I’m not even sure if they will happen anymore.  I’ve changed a lot since freshman year and so have my future plans.  Originally I wanted to pursue my master’s in communications at Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts after I received my undergrad of course.  But now that I’ve rediscovered my first love of photography I really want to get my Masters in Fine Arts in just that.  Where at I’m not sure yet but I’ll definitely figure it out.  I’ve always been more in tune to my creative side and now I’m realizing that I can market my own brand and become successful.  I know a lot of people are more concerned with making as much money as possible after graduation or starting a family but I want to work on my career first.  And I want to do something that makes me truly happy.  I may struggle in the beginning but what is this beautiful thing called life without challenges?  What are your future goals, what’s your passion?  Let me know! Leave some comments!