Dangerously Beautiful

Recessionista, Diva-on-a-Budget, Shabby/Chic, Man Down . . . whatever you want to call it, there are times when IT’S JUST NOT FUNNY! We all have stuff and my latest adventure (read: test) in adulthood is facing up to my stuff.

Now, how are you supposed to face up to anything when nearly every pay day, within two hours of your check clearing, all you have left is enough money for corner store potato chips and soda pop?

Call for back up.

Nobody wants to hear the sob story. You’re probably tired of hearing your own story. But, everybody knows it’s true. If you’re talking solutions –even if you don’t have any just yet –people will get on your team. Eventually a solution will arise that does not involve your becoming a borrower or lender.

So, I asked all the call center Bug-A-Boos to cut me some slack. They all seemed so happy that I called and offered a whole rack of alternatives. Cool.

Even though it’s not always easy, I am getting a big kick out of answering the phone and stating my name loud and clear.  Go me!

BET is terrible.

Now that I got that out of the way: Many nights as I’m toiling away on Dangerously Beautiful (like every night this week!!) I’ll leave the television on.  Usually it’s on some movie channel, but sometimes that gets too drab, so I switch the tube on to something…simpler.

I wound up watching Wendy Williams & Monique because of “The Game” (which is a post unto itself for another day).  Ultimately, Wendy wins.  I’ve definitely had some choice & juicy words about Wendy’s appearance, but truthfully- she’s doing her thing.

I’m probably more prone to dig Monique (remember that joke she said about every man wants a big girl? waif vs cornbred-fed, I need a woman that red beans and rice ain’t miss her), but Mo- baby-baby-BABY-BABY-BABY, it’s like the whole damn monologue is her jumping and screaming- BABY.  This ain’t no damn Ashanti song. Sorry, Mo baby, but Wendy- weaves,wigs, and twin Gs- wins this match for me.

I still can’t believe that its 2009 and there are still Black “firsts” but that’s another post in itself.  Ne-Yo’s newest song, ‘Never Knew I Needed,’ has been selected as the lead soundtrack single and featured end credit song for Walt Disney’s forthcoming ‘The Princess and the Frog‘ movie, arriving in theaters Dec. 11.

The animated comedy takes place  in the great city of New Orleans.  Starring  a beautiful girl named Tiana and a frog prince who desperately wants to be human again. A  kiss leads them through a hilarious adventure through the mystical bayous of Louisiana.

Despite seeing something absolutely wrong with taking this long for Disney to have a Black princess, I will be sure to see this when it comes out.  Hey, I loved The Little Mermaid (same creators for this movie), so Disney isn’t that bad.  And big props to Ne-Yo  for doing his thing.  He’s a great songwriter.  Check out the new video below.

Ne-Yo – Never Knew I Needed – Official Music Video

Ne-Yo | MySpace Video

Dangerously Beautiful is inspired by many things.  Life, art, creativity, experiences, culture, movies, and probably most importantly- music.  I felt like sharing some good music so here ya go.

I’ll probably post these songs again at some point. I just like them that much.
I wanted to post a song by Raye 6 titled “Chocolate Mahogany Poppy,” but I can’t find a decent youtube of it. Sooooo, go to her myspace and listen to it!

Probably the sweetest damn song of 2009: Priscilla Renea- Hello My Apple (go search for the official video)

Oh Fefe…years after Don’t Let It Go To Your Head and I still <3 you.

3-2-1, 1-2-3…what the heck is bothering me?

YOU.

Deadlines, bills, work, miscommunication.

It can all pile up on you if you let it.

Remember to try to organize and prioritize, but also let things happen (contrary, I know).  Pay attention when your body tells you that you need rest.  Don’t overwhelm yourself.  And most importantly- TALK about things, no person is an island and life is much easier when we can share with our friends and loved ones.

Woosah.

In a recent interview with Monique, T-Boz from TLC, speaks of an incident with Clive Davis, owner of Arista records. Apparently, ‘Crazy Sexy Cool’ made $75 million and the members were only given $50,000 each. The group felt that they were entitled to much more, so they took matters into their own hands.

Well to me, that would have meant calling my attorney and maybe having a not so nice conversation with the record label. Not the case with TLC. They went to the record label (limo driver as get away car) kicked Puffy out of a meeting and held the record label hostage.

Sounds insane to me, but I guess with their track record (remember Left Eye burned down the house of her boyfriend), this wasn’t out of the ordinary.

That stuff my mama said, dang it if it doesn’t always come back around just to show me exactly how right she was. One thing mama said was, “If you look for trouble you will find it.” When she said this I was young. I didn’t have any trouble for which to look. But, like a good little lady-in-training, I just tucked that tidbit in my cortex and spewed it at the homies like I knew what I was talking about.

Then, without fail, the lesson found new meaning. Of course. This is how it ALWAYS works. We don’t learn from blah-zay-blah and yackity yack. Oh, NO! We learn from experience. So, I found a “boo” and as time went on, he found a new “boo”. Ladies, you know when something just aint right with your connection. You really do. Intuition is real. Unfortunately, (for me, at least) I just have to find proof. I DO NOT believe fat meat is greasy until I see it frying. And, with intuition being what it is – I found my proof.

Now, to be perfectly honest, in this instance I was grateful for proof. Proof probably saved me a whole steaming, bubbling pile of real trouble. Since then, I can think of several situations where I did not need to seek proof. It was easy to just let it be. But, you gotta decide for you. Do you really want to know? Do you need to know? Can you accept your situation at face value or have you sacrificed to the degree that “you betta know” (mama’s words, not mine)? And be forewarned; once you know, you have a whole new drama; figuring out what to do next.

We’ve announced the winner to our giveaway with A07.  It’s an insightful young lady who goes by Anna Amazing.  Anna won our luscious purple Grind t-shirt.  Stay tuned for our next giveaway by following http://twitter.com/dangerouslyDB . Check out what she wrote:

“A question so simple, yet so many females lack a well thought out answer. I could answer this question from a naive, almost ignorant perspective. Talk about how much we as women have been looked down upon and how we are inferior to men. Talk about, how we live in a world with a glass ceiling. About how, due to our genetic makeup, it is our destiny and no matter how much we try, we will always be less than men. Which of course, seemingly would be the expected answer. Anything with a feminist connotation would best fit. In my opinion, to live life in that sense is to put a cap on our abilities. To rise in today’s society is more than just being able to do so as a woman. To rise is more than just fighting for the rights of females. The mere idea that this question had to be asked is why I must rise. There should be no female or male. To advance in this world discrimination of race, gender, social class etc. cannot and should not be an issue. My destiny, my calling, my vision supersedes gender. There is a whole world out there lacking inspiration and direction while people are fighting over which is the dominant sex. The constant discouragement which impairs the dreams of children is what empowers me to rise. It is not about proving others wrong. It is not about showing men that women can compete and be better. It is about unity. It is about advancing in this world as human beings. Seeing the lack in manners and the rise in rude antics is what empowers me to rise. The negativity empowers me. The lack of understanding and patience for the world, for others is what empowers me. The fact that the majority of the responses will be selfish answers about how they need to rise as “individuals” is what empowers me. We as woman are made to nurture, to give, to inspire, to love. As a woman, we should not offer a selfish answer. My goal is to motivate and open people’s eyes to thinking in a more broad perspective. To show them than that this world is more than us. The picture is bigger than what we see. The fact that such ideals are not already apparent is what empowers me to rise. Once we are able to look past gender, past the trivial and concentrate on what really matters, only then will be able to rise in today’s society as a person, let alone as a woman.” – Anna

The twelve time Grammy winning Alicia Keys is back with her new single Doesn’t Mean Anything. I am a true Alicia Keys fan and when I heard that she would be dropping an album this year, I got excited! I love her songs, both the lyrics and the music. Her last album As I Am is my favorite so far. While there are some amazing singles on previous albulms, As I Am told the complete story and showed her growth as an artist.

Now with that being said, Doesn’t Mean Anything didn’t really continue where she left off. Its not a bad song at all, but it sounds very similar to No One but without the energy. As I have stated in previous posts, I am a lover of ballads, but just because a song is mellow and slow in tempo, doesn’t mean that it should lack energy and emotion.

This is a good song, but not the single killer she normally releases. Its more like an album filler. I’m sure that it is very hard to compete with her past releases No One, You Don’t Know My Name, and the forever classic, Fallin’ . The lyrics are good and I like the chorus, but the song is missing something. The video which was released yesterday shows a very toned and pretty Alicia Keys that wears killer shoes! Keep rocking that Malicious But Delicious attitude Alicia!

Despite all the homewrecker drama and disputes over which blog got to premiere the video, I am a real fan of her music and will still buy the album when it drops on December 1st. After all, isn’t she a musician and isn’t that the reason why we buy albums in the first place? Seems like everyone forgets about that and focuses on people’s personal lives. What are your thoughts?