AtypicalAnecdote God, Life, and Observations all aggregated in a progressive pot of goodness.

Two years ago on the fourth of July, my daughter brought me closer to God.  I remember sitting with my daughter in my lap on the porch with our family watching fireworks light the sky.  Each time a firework would go off, my daughter would bury her little face in my neck when the thundering noise would frighten her followed by a quick contradictory laugh.

Psalm 68:19 Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens. Selah 

Exodus 18:10 He said, "Praise be to the LORD, who rescued you from the hand of the Egyptians and of Pharaoh, and who rescued the people from the hand of the Egyptians.

1 Peter 5:10 And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.

 Jude 1:24 To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy—

 Psalm 30:5 For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.

I first learned the news of Carine Roitfeld's departure from visiting one of my favorite blogs, The Sartorialist at blogspot, ran by Scott Shumen.  Naturally I did some investigation, and it's true...after 10 years as the editor in chief of French Vogue, Carine Roitfeld has announced her departure from the magazine at the end of January. 

The 56-year-old, renowned as one of the most influential names in fashion, initially began her career as a model before switching to styling and eventually becoming Tom Ford's muse. She landed the role of French Vogue editor in 2001.


In a telephone interview with the New York Times' Cathy Horyn, Roitfeld explained: "It's 10 years that I'm editor of the magazine. I think it's time to do something different."  As the fashion typically loves a good scandal, there is none to report as of yet. All that is said is that Roitfeld is leaving to pursue personal projects. 


 Vogue will announce Roitfeld's successor, within the next couple of weeks.  

This national ad disturbed me.  On one end, I appreciate it being a nice relief from the sickening abortion ads and of course, I am pro-life...but to specifically have a campaign that targets abortion in minority communities that's ridden with guilt is astounding and irritating.  The sign says, " The most dangerous place for some children is in the womb," why not just have a campaign called the guilt campaign?  I think what's more important is letting young lady's know that first, God has forgiven you, but perhaps the larger part is forgiving yourself and taking preventative measures against unplanned pregnancy.

Adam Wheeler, 24,  lied his way into Harvard and benefited from more than $40,000 in grants!
Sound's like another movie is about erupts...click here to read the full story.

 VS...

“Black Swan” star Winona Ryder remembers Mel Gibson being “anti-Semitic and homophobic” long before his taped racist rants were broadcast across the world.


She says in the January issue of GQ, ,  “Fifteen years ago, I was at one of those big Hollywood parties. And he was really drunk and I was with my friend, who’s gay. Mel made a really horrible gay joke. And somehow it came up that I was Jewish."


Melly Mel just can't get a break...

Just as news hit the blogosphere surrounding Elizabeth Edwards' doctor's releasing a statement saying she had a few weeks to live, it has now been confirmed that the estranged wife of former Vice-President John Edwards', has passed.

It is no secret that Edwards has been bravely battling breast cancer since 2004. This week Monday, it was reported that her cancer had spread to her liver and that she was no longer receiving treatment.

John Edwards and her 3 children were beside her at her time of death. The funeral for Elizabeth Edwards is open to the public and will be held at Edenton Street United Methodist Church at 1:00PM.

The church is the same one where the funeral for Edwards's son Wade was held when he died and Edwards will lovingly be placed beside her son in the nearby Oakwood Cemetery. My prayers are with the Edwards family for their strength!

Psalm 27:10 (New International Version)

¹⁰ Though my father and mother forsake me,
   the LORD will receive me.

Psalm 31:7 (New International Version)

⁷ I will be glad and rejoice in your love,
   for you saw my affliction
   and knew the anguish of my soul.

Psalm 46:1 (New International Version)

 ¹ God is our refuge and strength,
   an ever-present help in trouble.

Psalm 55:22 (New International Version,)

²² Cast your cares on the LORD
   and he will sustain you;
he will never let
   the righteous be shaken.

Psalm 112:4 (New International Version)

⁴ Even in darkness light dawns for the upright,
   for those who are gracious and compassionate and righteous

Psalm 147:3 (New International Version)

³ He heals the brokenhearted
   and binds up their wounds.

West Angeles North Campus

3045 Crenshaw Blvd

Los Angeles, CA 90018

@ 7:00PM

Every Pastor is expected to call upon the Godly wisdom and past experiences of previous Church leaders to help chart the pathway to the future for their congregation.  But the extraordinary presiding Bishop of the Church of God in Christ (COGIC) denomination has searched beyond the immediate horizons.  Presiding Bishop Charles E. Blake called on his deep historical knowledge and wisdom, combined with his vision of the challenge the church faces in the technological present and made a decision that would expand the church’s reach and offer opportunities for a greater sense of community within a global landscape.

Because Bishop Blake is a true visionary, in 2006 he saw a future for the church that could safely be entrusted to his younger, technologically gifted staff. In a time when few Churches actually employed a Web Team, Bishop Blake recruited his own team at West Angeles COGIC and challenged them once to take strides in technological innovation for West Angeles COGIC, and yet again—in strategically laying a foundation for online worship for the 103rd Holy Convocation in St. Louis, Missouri.

Every year, thousands of saints across the world congregate for the Holy Convocation--hoping for a shift and expecting a deeper revelation than ever before.  Historically hosted in Memphis, Tennessee; the atmosphere was thirsting for a renewal. Like the multitudes of old, the numbers this year were doubled and tripled--through technology. For every saint physically present, there were two gathered in worship around their computer screen.

In the past, The Church of God in Christ, with members both nationally and internationally, were never able to experience such a unifying event online until last week.  But now, because of the age of technology and Bishop Blake’s prophetic vision, members from Brazil, Canada, Germany, Africa, and the United States were able to sit from the comfort of their home and join into to each service.

Many wrote in their thankfulness in having the opportunity to partake online because of physical conditions, financial strains,  and other unfortunate circumstances that forced them to stay home. Not only were member able to view each service, but were also given the option to simultaneously chat about and share their experience across the social spectrum.  Hits to the site was nothing less than miraculously synonymous with the events in the book of acts as a charted total of 10.5 million hits to cogicislive.com were recorded. And now that the Holy Convocation has ended, members still have the opportunity to fellowship with one another through cogicislive.com/myexperience

Charles E. Blake, known as the Presiding Bishop for the Church of God in Christ denomination, and council member to President Obama’s Faith Based Initiative, can be now known as the futuristic Bishop of technology.

GASP! Now...I don't think anyone saw this coming.  Hollywood doesn't really give much hope to the monogamus, committed, till death do you part, romance.

After 3 years of marriage, Eva Longoria has filed for divorce.  Multiple sources tell Us Weekly that the couple's marriage fell apart when Longoria discovered the basketball star was having an affair with a mutual female friend for nearly a year. Among her alleged findings were hundreds of text messages between Parker and the unidentified other woman.
"Eva is heartbroken by the betrayal," one insider tells the mag.

Parker reportedly pleaded for forgiveness after admitting to his infidelity.
"Eva truly thought she was going to grow old with Tony and have children with him," says an insider. "She's inconsolable."
The actress filed for divorce in Los Angeles Wednesday, citing the standard irreconcilable differences as the reason for the split.
Longoria, 35, and Parker, 28, married on July 7, 2007 in a 17th century castle outside Paris.

TSK TSK TSK...of course this asks, "will a man always be a man?!"

Hey all,  I've neglected the blogging world for a total of 15 days.  My apologies...I had to back to back trips and then I got a lil sick, but I'm better now.   I'M BACK!

Every time an infomercial comes on we think, "hmmm, I really ought to help those people" as if somehow we're privileged and above it all when the truth of the matter is, we are a country built on the backs of FREE LABOR, earth shattering, ripping lives apart--stolen labor. Let's also not forget that during WWI AND WWII, if we hadn't sold arms and ammunition to "allies" causing nations to owe large amounts of money to the US where would our wealth be? If we hadn't gotten in bed with countries devastated by bombs for "reconstruction," and charged them insurmountable amounts of money to rebuild, where would we be? Oh, and let's not forget us controlling governments of a number of countries which, as if by surprise, subsequently puts the US in the position to control their economy.  


But to bring it back, our mental recognition of "the poor" bothers me, and I say "our" because I can be accused of that as well. I think Nikki Giovanni said it best in her poem "Nikki Rosa," although somewhat racist.

to write about me

because they never understand

Black love is Black wealth and they’ll

probably talk about my hard childhood

and never understand that

all the while I was quite happy

If we replace the two subject matters " black," as "the poor" and  "white person," (journalist) as 

"society as a whole" then perhaps you'll feel me on this. Instead of categorizing them as "the

 poor" let's deal with what it is...POVERTY.  Lands stricken by consistent civil wars, stolen 

goods, and maliciously deceptive government. 

Take a look at the video below of Jessica Jackley giving a speech at the TED convention.  Jessica Jakley is the co-founder of Kiva.org, an online community that helps individuals loan small amounts of money, called microloans, to entrepreneurs throughout the world.


Let me know what you think.





I think, overall...what we need is a holistic approach to poverty with specialized organizations. And correct me if I'm wrong, but I think providing consistent food, healthcare and shelter is definitely an important complement to what was discussed here.

Willow Smith's official video for "Whip My Hair" debuted yesterday, October 18th, on BET'S 106 and Park.  I would have posted this yesterday, but I took a "blog break." Yes, I'm allowed. The video was directed by Ray King and I'm assuming from the video, Willow's goal is to bring some life into an otherwise bland world.

Take a look and let me know what you think.

The musical duo gave birth to a baby boy named Egypt Dauode Dean (Dean is Swizz' last name) late in New York's St. Luke's Roosevelt Hospital. 

Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys began dating in 2008, while he was still married (sorry, just reinforcing facts here), romantically involved around May of 2009 and announced their engagement in May of 2010.


Swizz tweeted:


"



This child is a first for Alicia Keys and a fourth for Swizz Beatz.  (Inhale...exhale, Mashondra--you'll be alright, mama).  
 

I can't express over and over again how important it is to fully equip and arm our children when they go out.
Here are some tips from their guest, Bill Stanton--safety and security expert:

1. If you are having a drink, watch where the bartender makes the drink: if you don't see it, don't drink it.
2. Girls, travel in two's or three's
3. Women, take a look online to fully see the statics of women who are taken advantage.

More importantly, he says, "this is the age that is no longer, 'Drugs, Sex, & Rock N' Roll, it's the age of Drugs, Sex, & Control'"

Sarah's  words after the tragic death of McQueen were, "The creation of modern, beautifully crafted clothes was at the heart of Lee’s vision. I intend to stay true to his legacy,”   Burton staying true to her word debuted the label's Spring 2011 line  filled with elaborate detailing, perfectly executed construction, and whimsical detailing. 

Am I the only dummy who's wearing sandals on a rainy day?  Just for giggles, here's today and tomorrow's forecast.

Christina Millian allegedly announced over the weekend that she is pregnant again.  The pseudo singer was photographed at Coldwater Canyon in Beverly Hills over the weekend with baby V for a bday celebration.

Now, I've always wanted to like @CMillian, she does have a little talent...BUT if she is pregnant again, it's safe to say she's focused on an alternate career route.  

I'll keep you posted on the details.