Fun Facts: Good Hair

I just finished watching good hair by Chris Rock and the movie was funny and scary. I was scared at the amount of money we spend on our hair. Fun facts I learned during the movie:

• We are 13% of the population, 80% of hair product consumers, and less than 5% of manufacturers of these products. The hair industry is ran by Asians and Whites. That's sad.
• Many women will spend four figures on their hair and opt not to pay their rent for the month. So we'd rather be cute and homeless. Great.
• Lye is a deadly chemical. Yes I said it people, Lye is actually classified as a deadly chemical by scientists . According to the scientist in the film, Lye can cause baldness and side effects from inhaling the fumes. If Lye damages a soda can and a brush, Imagine what it does to our hair. The scientist actually asked, "why would they do that?" when he found about relaxers.
• Side effects of Lye (Sodium Hydroxide): loss of vision, difficulty breathing, minor and major burns of the esophagus and stomach, collapse / fainting, blood in the stool, chemical skin burns, necrosis (holes) in the skin or underlying tissues.
• Weave is 70% of the hair business.
• Most Indian women will sacrifice their hair to the temple at least twice in their lifetime believing it's a religious practice. It's really just a business. Exploitation is a trip. Literally and figuratively.
• A kiddie perm is equal to a kiddie beer. No one should be using it and it's no safer than a regular perm.
• Lauren London wears a weave. For some reason, I thought that was her hair.
• At the Bronner Bros show, you're only allowed 10 people on stage but can have as many people as you want off the stage.
• Perm manufacturers actually know that Lye is a deadly chemical when producing perms.
• The hair industry is a mess.
• Ladies, we must do better

"Step Your Game Up in 2010"

Here's the new column:

Now it’s time to give 2009 its deuces. It was a great year but it still gets a good riddance. This issue is dedicated to the good and bad in 2009 and helping you enter 2010 with a positive attitude. So often we enter the New Year with the wrong attitude, so I want you to do me a favor. I want you to take a piece of standard size and fold it twice, creating four boxes. Label the boxes: physical, personal, mental, and financial. In each box, write several goals you have that fall into each category. Personal is for your emotional, social, spiritual goals, and any other goals you have. I had to improvise because I didn’t know how to fold paper to create five boxes. This piece of paper will help you in the New Year. In this column, you will meet three people who will help you cherish your body, mind, and heart.

Cherish you health: we all know that the Holiday’s is the time to overeat. We’re at our family’s house, our significant other’s family house, our friends’ family house, the neighbor’s house and anywhere else we’re invited to eat during the holidays. We also know that sitting at the table refusing to eat doesn’t work either, so we’re all a few pounds heavier. Here are a few tips from my father/ health guru, Keith Broadway, to help you start the New Year in better health:

1. Get a physical: yearly physicals check your cholesterol, blood pressure, etc and help you ward off potential problems and major diseases. Once you find what’s going on, you can treat yourself in the way you feel works best for you.

2. Maintain a cleansed and detoxified body: people don’t realize that what makes you work is on the inside. Taking a vitamin or supplement without detoxifying is like putting on deodorant without showering first.

3. Check your pH level: according to medical research, diseases can flourish in an acidic environment. Human blood stays in a very narrow pH range right around 7.3. Below or above this range means symptoms and disease. Your body cannot do its job of warding of diseases and being strong if it’s not balanced. Too reduce acid in the body, limit fats, unhealthy carbohydrates, and meats such as beef and pork.

4. Eat more fruits and vegetables: most people don’t allow their body to have natural nutrients from living foods.. Eat lean meats like chicken and fish and drink lots of water.

Cherish your mind- the brain is the most powerful organ in the body. Without your brain, you cannot function at all. You also have to get your philosophical mind right. Is there something you think you can’t do? Have you been looking at the same dream since 2000 and now it’s 2010 and the dream is just that, a dream? We have author of Know Thy Self Power: Change Your Thinking Change Your Life, Chris Duncan here to help you get your mind right for 2010.



”Opening your mind to success determination and belief are the starting points for success. They open you up to new opportunities to do and be anything you desire and all you need is a subconscious thought to plant the seed.



Positive thoughts and energy empower you. Whatever you think, you attract back to yourself in greater degrees. Literally, your thoughts create your reality. Evidence is all around you, Are your thoughts negative or positive?

Is a closed mind holding you back and keeping you attached to the past? Once you let go of this programming, doors of possibilities and success open to you.



There is nothing that can make you happy or at peace. You either are, or you are not. You decide to be happy, and you decide to be at peace. Again, it is a determination and belief, once you determine that you are happy and at peace, you act in happiness and peace. When a negative situation presents itself, just remind yourself that you are happy and at peace. It allows you a moment to mentally step back from the situation and find a positive reaction.

Be open-minded in all situation respond to new situation, ideas, and knowledge with an open mind to keep the “ need to be right” at bay. In those situations say to yourself:



“I may never have thought, of this before or in this way. I want to listen with put comment, even if it’s only to learn more about this person who is speaking.”



Working towards success, you must give to and serve others. Focus on your goal in the now by continually working towards it without been “attached” to it. As soon as you attach emotion to your goals, it eludes you.

Attach your emotion to helping others and your success will chase after you

Christopher Duncan

Knowthyselfpower.com

Cherish your heart- one of the most important things we have to do in our lives is protecting our symbolic and real hearts. Too often we eat things that are toxic for us and we invite people in our lives that are toxic for us. We cannot be healthy if our heart isn’t healthy. In this segment, I will give you tips that I found on wikihow on how to have better relationships and friendships.

1.) Pick the people in your life carefully: would you buy a car that had a broken engine? Or eat bruised and rotten fruit? No, we’re picky when it comes to our houses, cars, clothes, food, and anything else but when it comes to picking people, we often let the wrong people enter our hearts. If this is someone you want to have a bond with, look carefully at their values and actions.

2.) Be responsible for yourself and your happiness: no amount of money or anyone else will make a miserable person happy. Also, depending on others will leave you broken and disappointed every time. If you want to be happy, just be happy. The only person who can live your life is you.

3.) Accept people for who they are: the only perfect person was Jesus and I’m sure there were a few thousand people who hated him. You’re not perfect so looking for perfection is futile. Learn how to accept people for the quarks in their personalities because people have to accept you for the quarks in your personality. I’m talking about some personality problems not including abuse of any kind.

4.) Learn to let ish go: it’s not so serious that everything has to be World War III. Some things you’ll just have to learn to accept. If your friend is late, maybe you should keep a clear schedule on that day and be ready at 9 instead of 8. Good people are hard to find.

5.) Communicate: in any relationship, you have to tell people how you feel. Too many friendships are lost because of a miscommunication. Say what you mean and mean what you say. I hate when people say one thing but really mean another and then have the nerve to get upset when there’s a miscommunication.

6.) Relax your expectations: not everyone is your best friend or your future husband or wife. Some people are in your lives for a season and some are forever. Take everything at face value and have fun. That doesn’t mean that they’re bad people, because you’re not everyone’s friend, but it just means their role is minimal and too enjoy them while they’re in your life.

Side eyes and blank stares of 2009, I.E. people who got on my nerves in 2009.

Senator Joe Wilson: he doesn’t get a side eye for what he said; he gets one for that apology. It’s obvious he meant what he said and he only apologized because it was politically correct. I would prefer that he didn’t apologize. I’d rather have his outburst than his no effort apology.

Chris Brown: we all know why. At first he received a blank stare for the pre-Grammy night incident. Then he received a side eye for his “ I’m sorry tour”. Although people have moved on and are accepting his new music, his “I’m sorry tour” failed because it prompted more jokes than sympathy. I think he should have waited until next year and donated some money to domestic violence shelters, foundations, or spoke out against domestic violence.

Wall Street: they really need a kick in the behind but they will get a blank stare. I don’t understand how some people make over two billion dollars a year and their companies are asking for bailouts. I wish I made .05 percent of what they make but these people are so greedy that they can’t see living without their ridiculous salaries coupled with an even more ridiculous bonus. F.Y.I Wall Street, you don’t get a million dollar bonus for doing your job.

The government: they get a side eye for giving out all of those pointless bailouts. They gave a few trillions in aid to companies that still failed. Since we’re giving out money to anyone who asks, can I get a few million or my student loans paid?

MTV: they get a side eye for not having better security at the VMA’s. I know that there are potential stage crashers at every award show, but two in one night is unacceptable. There is no way two people should get on the stage with little to no resistance.

Joe Jackson: I really don’t know what he gets. I’m appalled at his behavior since Michael died. I understand that everyone grieves differently, but to use your son’s death as self-promotion is just wrong. Joe actually said that Michael was worth more dead than he was alive. He’s trying to milk Michael’s death for everything it’s worth. I don’t know how to feel about that.

People with camera phones: The get a blank stare because there is no way you should be taping anyone being beaten to death and not once think about calling 911. There is not one explanation that would justify watching someone be raped or beaten, especially since you can text 911 now. We are that desensitized as a society that we can’t call 911 if someone is in trouble. I would hope that if something horrible is happening to me, that someone would shut the camera down and call or text 911. Maybe I have too high expectations.

The Real Housewives of Atlanta: all of them get side eyes. They get side eyes for being 30+; Kim gets a side eye on her age, and acting like they’re in high school. What 40-year-old woman tries to pull the wig, or shift it, off of another grown woman’s head? They’re too old for that; just stop it. My mother is in her 40’s and I would be embarrassed if she acted like that. I understand it’s a TV show but they know they’re too old for all the drama.

Jon and Kate: This has been the year of Jon and Kate. The reality ex-couple became famous after becoming parents of sextuplets and twins but years of Kate berating Jon in front of America, their marriage finally crumble. The thing that blows me away is how they ask for privacy, mainly Jon, and the cameras manage to find them at every move. If you want privacy, then act it and keep your business private. We don’t want to know what you did, how you did it, and when you did it. The TLC show ended but when will the minstrel show end.

Instant Celebs: what’s really good here? You mean to tell me if I have an affair with a powerful man that I will be rich and (in) famous and I don’t have to have a real talent or job? This is ridiculous. The woman who brought down the governor of New York is an advice columnist with the New York Post. Can she even give advice? I’m pretty sure Tiger Woods’ alleged mistresses will be fishing for their own reality show or a way to milk this 15 minutes of infamy. Look at Kim Kardashian. She turned an embarrassing sex tape into a multi million-dollar empire.

Greedy Baby Mama’s and the men that: you get the heave ho in 2010. There is a difference between child support and adult support. A real man doesn’t need an order to take care of his child, but he does need an order to support a grown woman. Just because you opened your legs to a rich man, does not mean you’re set for life. Ladies we have to do better. If you want to live it up, get a job that allows you to live it up.



Why are we still going raw in 2009/2010? There are too many incurable STD’s for you to sacrifice your life for questionable sex. Yes I said questionable and you can take it how you want to. If the only time you like this person is when you’re in the sack with them, it’s time to reevaluate what you’re doing. Time to step your game up in 2010.

Donna’s last words of 2009:

If I have not given you anything else besides this, it’s okay. This is my advice, for everyone including myself, for the New Year. Do not take 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, or 2009 into 2010. Let 2010 be it’s own year. Look at it through new eyes. So what the other four years may have sucked, let it go. It doesn’t matter what happened because you survived. Yesterday is history and tomorrow is a mystery. All we have is today. Cherish today and live today. Whatever you want to do, just go out and do it. I feel like if it doesn’t hurt anyone else, embarrass your family, or break the commandments, then do it. Just do it. 2010 is the year to just do it. Go out and enjoy yourself and have fun. If you have a dream, why not take baby steps to make it happen. Do whatever you want to do. Live 2010 to the fullest.

See you next year.



Hugs and Kisses,



Donna

Side Eye of the Week: People Who Cross the Street During Green Lights

This is one of my biggest pet peeves. I hate when I'm a light and it's red for five minutes and then someone decides they want to cross the street when it turns green. It's not like they do it at an intersection that turns green again quickly or a long light, but a quick light. The crossing guard at the intersection of Lyons Mill and Marriotsville road is notorious for this. She never lets the kids cross when the light is red but as soon as it turns green, she walks into the middle of the intersection with that stop sign. It's annoying. One time I sat through three lights. I also hate people who turn two miles per hour at quick lights. I'm not saying whip the car around the corner but you can safely turn at more than five miles per hour. I promise the car won't flip over.

Side Eye of the Week: Bad Weaves

There is nothing worse than a bad weave. I'm already not a fan of weaves but to have a bad weave, is just horrible. I remember a few years ago, I was standing in the lunch line at Randallstown High and there was a girl in front of me with a horrible weave. The top was in need of a flat iron and she had a piece of green string hanging out of her head. Why? I don't understand why people would go through all the trouble of a weave and it's a mess. I feel like if you want to weave it, weave it right. I see too many people with wigs that are wrong for them in everyway or weaves that look like they came out of the $.99 cent bin out if the beauty supply store. Your weave should not be knotted. It's unexcusable. I have a suggestion, let's get our real hair right then we wouldn't have to put yak's hair in our hair.

Bonus Side Eye: whoever let Britney walk out with her hair looking like that, needs to be dropped ASAP. They knew it looked a mess when she left the house. Britney needs better people because the people around her are not her friends if they let her look like that.

Tell Em' How You Really Feel DT: Black Women and Their Hair

For some reason this came to me as I was mopping the floor but I've been thinking about this for years. What's the biggest market for hair care? Black Women. Go to your local beauty supply store, walmart, and any place that sells hair products and you will notice that they are targeted towards Black women. I am a frequent visitor to Carroll County, the mostly white county about 10 miles north of Randallstown, and I hear there's only one beauty supply store in a 30 mile radius. But in Randallstown, there is a beauty supply store in every shopping center, and there are at least 10 shopping centers between the beltway and Deer Park Road. They are all targeted towards Black Women. I am a Black Women, obviously, and my hair has been an issue since I was little. I have thick hair that will grow past my shoulders but I have permed it for the past 11 years. When I first relaxed it, my hair immediately went from very long to a little above my shoulders. Is that a coincidence? Considering that relaxers are designed to breakdown the natural bonds of our hair so that they can be manually restructered to be straight, I think it's intentional. How many products are made for hair growth and moisture but leave the hair dry? I have spent at least $500 dollars on hair products that don't work and I won't count the amount of money on hair dressers that didn't do my hair how I liked. A few weeks ago I went to the Dominican salon in New Jersey and I was so mad when I left. I am growing my relaxer out and there were two people trying to straighten my hair. I was too through. Mind you, I can straighten my hair when I am at home and I'm not a professional, but these people can't. I paid and left. I couldn't do it anymore. My head was sore, my edges burnt and it took two weeks for my hair to stop breaking. It was from that point on, that I knew I would be very selective about who puts their hands in my hair. The first thing people do is try to put a relaxer in my hair. Why would I want to do that? I don't want an afro but I want healthy hair that will grow and not be damaged. We need to stop trying to make our hair do what it's not meant to do. It's not meant to lay down like women's of other races.

"My Weekend at the Movies"

If you live anywhere on the east coast, you know that we had a blizzard. If you know me, you know that red Honda was not leaving the house. So what's a girl to do when she's trapped in the house for 48 hours. Watch movies!!! That's exactly what I did. I watched at least three movies this weekend and here is the Rundown of those and the other movies I've recently viewed.

This is It: I know the movie has out for over two months but I took my time seeing it. The movie itself wasn’t bad but when I watched it I couldn’t get over Michael Jackson’s appearance. He was very frail and thin and if they ever decided to bring back Tales from the Crypt and Michael fell on hard times, he would have been the perfect stand in for the Crypt Keeper. Seriously the man didn’t look human. I also heard the cash register ringing the entire time. It was great watching Michael create the tour but we all know it was about AIG recouping the $200 million they spent on the tour. My favorite line in the movie: “That’s good but I want it the way I wrote it.”


Precious: based on the novel Push by Sapphire: First, let me congratulate Mo'Nique, Gabourey Sidibe, and Lee Daniels on their Golden Globe nominations. Now that I've done that,  I must confess, I laughed during Precious. I know the movie is not supposed to be funny but there were some scenes I couldn’t help but to laugh at. For example, when Precious asked her mother if she had AIDS, Mary said “no because we aint never done it in the _____.” I know it was the late 1980’s but the line was still funny because of its ignorance. I have to be honest about this also, the bootleg I watched the movie on was so bad, that I have to watch it in the movies. I know I should support my people but if anything they should support me, they have millions while I barely have a hundred. My favorite line in the movie: “he said shut your fat ____ up, and I shut my fat ___ up.”

2012: This movie was good but it was so long. It reminded me of Dreamgirls, the movie was good but it was so long that I started wondering when the movie was going to end. A filmmaker should never let their audience get bored. It was good and it was predictable in the sense that everyone lived happily ever after. I want to know how you can live happily ever after when the world is gone and there’s only a few arks worth of people left? Don’t see this movie if you, A.) have a short attention span, B.) plan to have dinner after it ends, C.) if you don’t want to be scared about the end of the world. It’s a good movie overall but don’t go unless you have 2 hours and thirty minutes to spend at the movies. If you fall into those categories, I suggest you wait until it comes out on DVD.

Law Abiding Citizen: I fell asleep during this movie, not once but twice. The first time was after eating at Tapas Teatro and the second time was for 15 minutes during a questionable date. Nevertheless, the movie was good. It is the type of movie that makes you think the entire time. The first question is: i"f he’s in jail, how is he killing all of these people?” I won’t answer that for you but I suggest you see the movie for yourself.

The Princess and the Frog: I just saw this on Saturday and it was good. It was different from other Disney movies, whereas the prince needed a princess to save him. Tiana is a very hardworking woman with a dream. She is not a Caricture of Black women but a real person who does not have a silver spoon in her mouth. I am really glad that the Shadow Man got what he deserved and I loved the ending. It was very unexpected.

Left Behind: I started watching this series on Thursday and have yet to see the third movie but this series is really good. Movie one started with the rapture where millions of people including all children dissapeared in without warning, causing the world to go into chaos. But one man, Nicholae Carpathia the secretary general of the UN is here to make peace. But is he really?

Left Behind: Tribulation Force: the world is in chaos and the tribulation force is on the move to let the world know that Nicholae is the anti christ. Besides that, the movie is really uneventful. The director missed crucial opportunities to have major events happened. It was okay but not great.

"Welcome to B'more Entertained Online"

Welcome to the new website. The  purpose of this website is to act as a bridge between columns. Let's face it, two weeks is a long time between columns and alot happens in 14 days. On this websiite, I will write side eyes and blank stares, daily rants, rundowns, and updates. I will also be able to extend my articles because my column on the Baltimore Times is limited to a few paragraphs and you guys really miss out on alot. Thus meaning, B'more Entertained will simultaneously be published on the Baltimore Times website and this website.The email for the website is bmoreentertained@gmail.com. So please feel free to email me. Hope you enjoy the website.