Bklynmom3's Xanga

Be A Sponsor To Something Bigger Than Ourselves, Sponsor Workshops For Children - Pay It Forward

Sat, 14 Mar 2009 03:45:23 GMT

You’ve heard of Paying It Forward, right? Well, a great way to do it is by partnering with the Association of New York City Education Councils. (ANYCEC)

Your donation will provide New York City schoolchildren with free finance, entertainment or spoken word workshops during afterschool or on weekends, so they can be motivated to want to learn. Their parents are given classes on how to best advocate for their children's futures.

And if you volunteer to be an role model, to us an ,b>Everyday Superhero!, you can help hundreds of kids envision a better future.

By providing sponsorship to literally thousands of children, you are able to reach out to all of our education colleagues and partners which increase your visibility ten times over. (See our partners page on http://anycec.net)

While we work with over thousands of parents from all over the country, we also partner with over two dozen parent/educational list serves.

We utilize the expertise of over a dozen renowned experts of their own fields which range from Finances, to the Entertainment Industry, to Engineering and Technology and we work alongside a dozen organizations who we share our sponsors with.(THIS MEANS YOU!)

This evening, I am suggesting you assist sponsor, the children of NYC Public Schools, NJ Public Schools, where we've had the pleasure of being invited, and how they too all inspired me and my colleagues to take that leap of faith of making this work a reality across the country. We want children to love their educational experiences the way my school mates and I have and we want them to look forward and enjoy their reunions and have great futures!Join us, see the magic that you've helped create, revel in the possibilities of your own childhood dreams as they come to life for some of us and open the doors and windows for the rest of us.

Please join us at our SNEAK PREVIEW of our 2009 campaign commercial and Music Video entitled:
Everyday Superheroes "We Are Our Brothers' Keepers" This is the year of the Black Male Role Model! Come and meet our everyday super heroes!
Terms for admission to Sneak Preview of ANYCEC's National Commercial / Investors Party:
$25 provides admission for one, placed on list of sponsors on party's program and on website ANYCEC with link to your site

$100 provides admission for one, Quarter Page Advertisement in Black and White in journal and on website ANYCEC with link to your site (submission requirements are as follows, etc...)

$250 provides admission for two, Full Page Advertisement in journal and Full 468 x 60 banner on ANYCEC website (submission requirements are as follows, etc...)

$500 provides admission for two, Full Page Advertisement in journal, Full 468 x 60 banner on ANYCEC website (submission requirements are as follows, etc...), get free access to live web stream during party, 30 second commercial on web stream website during repeat airings - once commercial has been completed and approved by you (images, music to be provided, voice-overs to be added)Courtesy of Black Phoenix Productions

$750 provides admission for three, Listing as a CO-Sponsor of the event, Full Page Advertisement in journal, Banner on display at party, Full 468 x 60 banner on ANYCEC website (submission requirements are as follows, etc...), get free access to live web stream during party, 30 second commercial on web stream website during repeat airings - once commercial has been completed and approved by you (created from conceptual script collaborated on with Director)Courtesy of Black Phoenix Productions

$1000 provides admission for three, Priority Listing as a CO-Sponsor of the event, Full Page Advertisement in journal, Banner on display at party, Full 468 x 60 banner on ANYCEC website (submission requirements are as follows, etc...), 30 second commercial on webstream website (created from conceptual script collaborated on with Director), one ticket for the Annual GALA at Steiner Studios on September 28, 2009 (a $250 VIP value).Courtesy of Black Phoenix Productions

All payments can be made via PayPal, using eChecks, Debit and Credit Cards,
using sponsors@anycec.net as Payee Contact Email Address.

Meet Karen Demmery - My Australian SISTA

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 03:00:22 GMT

THE HIGHEST PEAK: Why I do what I do
Issue 166 - 13 Nov 2008

ISSUE 166, November 13, 2008: In a new fortnightly column, KAREN DEMMERY urges you to think outside the... shape.

Hello, my name is Karen Demmery. My goal is to help one million women to believe in themselves. I want to help my people and everyone else on top of that will be a bonus.

I would first like to acknowledge my old people who have gone before me to clear the path I walk today. I am who I am because of you.

I am a Wiradjuri woman born in Dubbo NSW. Although I have lived in Canberra for nearly 20 years, I love my hometown. I love being Aboriginal. We have the greatest culture in the whole world. I love being a woman. I love that I have skinny legs and bigger hips (some days more than others), or that I can change my mood depending on the day or time. I also love being a strong proud woman.

I'm cut from the cloth of a long line of strong women, three who are still with me, and two who are with me now in spirit.

My mother, who is the greatest woman to ever live, taught me what a work ethic really is. My Nan who is amazing because she is my Nan. My aunty who guides and supports me. My two aunties who guide me in spirit do so much for me. To all these women, I can never thank you enough.

I'll be talking about women and empowerment, women and business and women and money. Now, I don't claim to be an expert on any of these topics. I talk about these topics from a place of my experience with my story firmly behind me. These are my opinions based on my life experience. So I invite you to question me.

I love hearing different opinions because it gives me an option I may have never thought of. I might not agree with it, and if I don't then I let it go. However, if I agree with it, I have two options, rather than the one I had myself.

So once you've questioned what I've written and thought about your opinion on it, then I'll invite you to go one step further and question where that opinion you hold comes from.

Is it your own? Has it been taught to you by someone and you've never stopped to question it or ask if it's actually working for you and serving you, or is it working against you?

If it's not working for you, or serving your greater good, I'd invite you to respectfully decide if you can let it go or change it.

I say respectfully because from a cultural perspective, I would never intend for you to disrespect the culture, or the person who gave you the information. Are your opinions and thoughts serving your greater good? Or do they work against you and keep you in a place of anger and resentment?

To decide this you must question it.

I read a story once about a mother and daughter who were preparing the traditional Sunday dinner. The mother cut the ends off the roast before placing it in the large baking tray as she had done for probably a decade.

Her daughter asked her why she cut the end off the roast. The mother replied that her mother had done it so she just did it as well.

The daughter asked if she could ask her Nan next time why she always cut the end off the roast. The mother called the Nan and asked the question. After the grandmother had stopped laughing, she informed them both that the only reason she cut the end off the roast was because the baking tray was too small to hold the entire roast.

Both mother and daughter decided to continue to cut the end off the roast, but they now knew why they were doing it. Respectfully questioning.

Sometimes it pays to question your actions. It made me wonder what those women thought about while they were preparing the roast each week. Did they stop to think about the reasons they did this? Our thoughts are wonderful things. We have complete control over them. Good or bad, we decide.

You cannot stop a thought, however, you can decide to let go of a negative thought and turn it into a positive one. It takes a decision to do that.

For example, you come out to get into the car and take the kids to school and you find the car won't start. Do you smash up the car, yell at the kids and kick the dog? Or do you jump on the phone and ring your best friend's uncle's son, who you know is a mechanic and ask him to come and look at your car?

Since it's off pay week, do you tell him that you can't pay him today, so you can either owe him a favour or this Sunday, he is invited to Sunday dinner with you and your family (with the ends cut off the roast, of course).

Have you controlled the situation or has the situation controlled you?

When you decide to control the situation it's fabulous because you become responsible for your life. And it all starts with a thought.

Life is managed, it's not cured. Life is about how you handle the breakdowns that happen everyday. The break in the flow of your's and your family's life. It's my belief that the thoughts you hold play a big part in how you handle those breakdowns.

You can decide to sit and wallow in pity, thinking the world is against you, or you can get on and do what is in your power to fix, change, or ignore the situation or problem.

Yes some situations are out of your control, but how you think about those situations is not.

It may not be fair, or right, but it is my belief that wasted energy is just that, wasted.

You have the power to decide what you think about. Even those people in prison can choose to think free thoughts. They can choose to think that they are serving a higher good because they can be an example of how not to live your life. Perhaps they can see themselves as teachers. How wonderful would that be to think like that?

As I've said, I speak from experience. I have done things that I would like to be an example to others of how not to do something. I cannot change the past, but my family can learn from it, as can I.

The amazing thing about your thoughts is that you alone have the power to change them, every day, every minute, even every second. And as black women, we change our minds all the time, which is awesome.

I love the way I think. I think like no one else around. You have probably heard the saying 'to think outside the square'. Well I think so far outside of it, you could say I'm a different shape altogether, which I love, although I'm sure I drive my family insane sometimes because of it.

I also love how children think. I love how children also question everything.

So as I've gotten older, I've started to question things again. I don't take what someone tells me as the absolute truth anymore. I ask why. When someone says "they" reckon this or that, I usually ask 'Really, where did they get that information from?'

Does that sit with me? Do I agree or disagree or do I need more time to think about it, or do I even care enough to spend time thinking about what I think about it. It's completely up to me to decide. That's just wonderful.

I'm in the business of empowering women, that's what I was born to do. Everything I have been through in my life has gotten me to this point right here.

You may not agree with what I say, and that's ok, I don't mind. If one person out there reading this gets something useful from it, then it was worth it for me.

I am okay assisting one million women to believe in themselves, even it if is one woman at a time. If it reaches more than that, hey it's a bonus.

You may ask why I want to help empower women? I do so in taking nothing away from our black brothers, uncles and sons. There are many strong black men out there making changes. This is not about you. This is about our women.

I would like to see our strong women take their place at the table, at the head of the organisation, in the community, or more importantly to me, take their place in their family.

As I said at the start of this article, I come from a long line of strong women. Single mothers who decided to do what they had to for our family. Leading the way everyday to show us, their daughters, how it can be done when you decide to get up and do it.

So many of us women do this everyday without even realising how wonderful we are. How strong and powerful we are, how smart we are. I want to remind you of that. You must believe it for others to see it. There is no shame in being proud. It all starts with the thought. This is why I do what I do.

Every day is a new day. What will you do today to make your world a little brighter? I invite you to start by questioning why you do what you do.

I'm very excited about assisting you on your journey, should you decide to allow me the honour of sharing in it with you.

* Karen Demmery runs training courses in leadership, skills development, mentoring, self esteem/confidence and life Management. She is also a life coach, motivational speaker and businesswomen, and now a fortnightly NIT columnist and writer. You can email Karen direct at karen.demmery@live.com.au

POLL: Have you ever been ripped off? YES / NO

My Predictions, Hopes, Dreams and Inspiration For 2009 in NYC

Wed, 24 Dec 2008 18:17:26 GMT

Peace and safety for all, first and foremost.
That Billy Thompson, Jr. becomes Mayor and sends a message to all affluent and self-absorbed business people that politics should be handled by politicians and not bored billionaires thinking they are deities and almighty know-it-alls.
NOTE: Brilliant in business does not translate being brilliant in the education administration world.
In my opinion, Mr. Mayor, your arrogance and confidence in a limited and even more "arrogant MBA few" was and will always be your downfall. My dearly departed ex-cousin-in-law Ann used to say, "Hard head makes for a soft bottom..." I think of Ann and this saying of hers every time I hear your arrogant rants when it comes to education Mayor Bloomberg.

And how dare you say that parent representatives are simply looking for media attention??!! I promise you that if we had the media coverage that we needed to give our data out to the NYC parents as well as the businesses that "swear you walk on water", you WOULD have been voted out in spite of all your dirty buying-people-off money and regardless of some of the great things you actually had accomplished. WHY?? Simply because what you've done to this past generation of children will haunt this city for years to come and possibly more generations to follow. You failed them, you failed us and you failed this city in larger ways that any of your business acumen could have saved you from. We will forget you, you've no legacy here - so go away and let someone else do right by our children.
That more foster children get adopted and cared for! All orphaned children for that matter!
That the NYC Council members that voted FOR the turning over of the term limits ALL LOSE THEIR SEATS, even though I love and respect many of you for what you've done during your OFFICIAL TIME there in that position, you know in your hearts it was wrong. You can do just as much elsewhere.
(Anyway, you know you can find another job so don't act as if you'll be on the unemployment line anytime soon. Having had the position gives you a toe in the door where the rest of us can't get in...)
That all of the ASPCAs have a shortage of pets to give away because all of the foster and adopted kids all got one!
That the Board of the MTA are all fired, removed or found guilty of their other nefarious and heinous crimes against the people of New York.

CRAZY IDEA: Hire a Board from retired MTA WORKERS, pay them a salary that is in this stratosphere, and have the Public Advocate's Office oversee them, as well as the NYC Council.

That the President-elect's plans to invest in infrastructure really happens here and that our bridges and highways will actually look as if they will eventually be finished.
That Mayoral Control over NYC Public School is allowed to SUNSET! That the definition of parental involvement DOES NOT simply mean fund raising for the school and homework help at home.
That all of the truth about how our children have been fairing for seven years in Public School FINALLY comes out and proves that testing is a cruel and heinous way of proving that you are getting the job done and is really covering up arrogant incompetence and is ruining generations of future NYC residents and creating more unemployable people.
That the No Child Leave Behind Law is burned in the streets and re-written to mean what it says and actually give a damn (and give it a backbone with funding ok)
That Senior Citizens are overwhelmed with visits from loved ones who suddenly remembered where Grandma and Grandpa were living!
That slumlords are hunted down like the rabid animals they are by Dog the Bounty Hunter. LOL (sorry, had to say it!)

And my one prediction and hope of all hopes, (and yes this is very personal for me because I drempt of being a part of this since I was 12) that Norman Siegel, the People's Advocate was accessible to everyone and would be able to teach everyone what they need to know and do so that they can be the best advocates they could be for themselves and their families!

AND yes, the only way I see that happening would be if everyone simply voted him for the office of Public Advocate (DUH!)(Why I Idolize Norman Siegel: CLICK HERE)

We must remember that the NYC Public Advocate should not be affiliated with ANY political party except for the Party of the People!

We should remember that our childrens' future will be in the hands of the next Mayor and New York City Council. Who better for them to work alongside, than the man who has spearheaded many actions necessary to keep corporations and rogue politicians honest? NORMAN SIEGEL, THAT'S WHO!

IMPORTANT SIDE NOTE: Currently the candidate for Mayor (or shall I say, my candidate for Mayor) and several NYC Council members ARE Norman Siegel's CLIENTS in the suit against Term Limits! If that is not a vote of confidence in his abilities and if he is NOT ALREADY DOING THE DARN JOB, then tell me what is!

No more soapbox! Happy Holidays from my family to yours. AND a many thanks to the Gotham Gazette for caring about what I think, giving me a place to say it and making this blog submission happen!!

A very special thank you to David Dadey and Gail Robinson, (who I had the pleasure of being on a panel with) you two make being a concerned citizen feel like such an honor and more important than everything else, you want others to join in and be a part of their own lives, decisions and futures!

Gotham Gazette is my favorite website for advocacy news and NYC news in general!

Happy Holidays everyone, from me and mine to you and yours!

This is BklynMom3, over and out and I believe in justice, love conquering almost everything, equality, fairness, impartiality, transparency, accountability, education as a human right for all, and most of all beating you at your own game with your own stick. Especially if you are looking for it by pushing around others and deserve it."

John Quincy Adams: If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader."

Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.:"It is precisely because education is the road to equality and citizenship, that it has been made more elusive for Negroes than many other rights. The walling off of Negroes from equal education is part of the histoical design to submerge him in second class status.
Therefore, as Negroes have struggled to be free they have had to fight for the opportunity for a decent education."

California Here I Come!

Tue, 04 Nov 2008 14:42:21 GMT

I'll be speaking before the national Council of Women In Technology this week. So I'm off to Irvine California. I will be writing about my experiences as they occur and I hope to provide you with an inside look into the world of public speaking.

I've spoken before groups from 3 to 3000 and they are all daunting. The movie perception of wanting to throw up is right on the money but I use an old Yul Brenner technique. Remember him? If you don't goodness help you. I use history to help me make my future and that includes knowing what I can about the people before us.

Yul Brenner was a wonderful actor and his most memorable role (for many) was that of the King of Siam from the King and I. I remember him in West World and a few others but now I'm showing my age.

He always felt sick before going out on stage so, according to an interview I read in the 70s, he would extend his arms at 90 degrees and press against a wall. Once he felt all of his upper body strength was being used in creating this 90 degree angle against the wall he would exhale (almost yell out even) as hard as he could, starting from the diaphragm and pushing up.
I have used this all of my adult life and it works for me.

So tonight I will spend with my sons as we watch the closing of the polls. I saved the SNL Presidential Bash on my DVR for tonight and we will watch this, while eating popcorn, and then we will tune into Comedy Central for Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert. Then when my children go to bed, I will tune into CNN and watch history having been made.

My flight leaves at 5 AM so I will pack my trusted laptop, my digital camcorder and my audio tape recorder and be ready for the next chapter of my life's journey. To all of you, a sound and peaceful night as the next President of the United States sounds a bit more like us, lives a bit more like us and looks a lot more like us.

First the Absentee Ballot and now the Affidavit Ballot!

Sun, 02 Nov 2008 14:59:00 GMT

http://michellemag.com/stories/politics/2008/10oct/politics102708.htm

I love voting! I used to hate it because the lines were horribly long, machines went down and the polling volunteers were (I'm sorry but it's true, at least in Brooklyn) too old and slow to get on the ball. Here in Kings County poll workers have to know people, so I went to people that knew people and I became a poll worker for two years.

OMG! It was such a farce I cried for days. The Board of Elections is a joke. The systems are so old that even I who "cut my teeth" on learning the binary system and used punch-cards in my computer learning hey day couldn't fathom this system.

The poll workers cared more about the pot-luck after party and the organizer was such a damned Nazi !(yes, I said it! She walked around as if she was Queen and everyone else was beneath her and all beacuse she knew the Queen Bee who was the Female District Leader and the one who got people's names on the list of poll workers).
Anyway, the Board of Elections quiz and testing site was ridiculous and answers were yelled at so that everyone passed and basically got paid for having a pulse!

This year I chose not to sell myself for the 400 bucks and save myself a serious headache and do some real work on Election Day! First by taking my mom who uses a can and has trouble every year because she goes alone. SOooooooooooo, I sent in for an Absentee Ballot! AND I LOVED IT! I will escort my mom every year if it means that I can cast my vote in the privacy of my own home. Now many may say this is selfish. Why not have my mom vote by Absentee Ballot instead? BECAUSE PEOPLE, she is a new American Citizen of only five years! SHE WANTS TO STAND ON LINE AND go through the hooplah. I was born here and have voted since Reagan (don't ask).

ANYWHO! That was my experience and now I want to introduce you to Michellemag.com where I learned all about the latest and greatest way to vote: AFFIDAVIT BALLOT!

http://michellemag.com/stories/politics/2008/10oct/politics102708.htm

When you get to the polls, if your name is not in the Poll Book and if you never received your Voter Registration Card, it doesn't mean you can't vote. It simply means the system failed -- again. Know your rights.

The huge number of newly registered voters is being vastly under reported this election year. Most voter protection officials, from lawyers to the actual Boards of Elections across the country, have little idea just how many people have been registered state to state.

There are three major reasons for this: massive voter registration drives by the Obama Campaign's ground team, poor planning on the part of the Board of Elections, and the antiquated system of data entry used to put new voters into the system. Oh yeah, and the fact that Google was registering new voters on their Google Maps site put the situation right over the edge.

So, here is the story. At least in New York, where the deadline to register to vote was end of day, October 10th, there were more than 200,000 voter registration forms dumped at the State Board of Elections office. In addition, Rock the Vote slammed the voter registration system with hundreds of thousands more on the deadline day. These last minute tidal waves of voter registration forms were smashed into the system on top of the hundreds of thousands of other voter registration forms that were yet to be entered into the system at the time of the deadline.

So, while traditionally the Board of Elections promises newly registered voters and change of address voters a registration card in the mail at least a few weeks before election day, confirming their entry into the system, this is not going to happen for hundreds of thousands -- possibly millions of Americans. Why? Because the names and addresses are still being entered into the system. Even as you sit here and read this post.

The result is that not only will millions of Americans not receive Voter Registration Cards. They will not even be listed in the election district poll books, because they have not been entered into the system.

The good news is that if you registered to vote within your state's mandated deadline, you are registered to vote. Period. The bad news is, the poll watchers at your election district will likely not know this if you are not in their poll book. And the even worse news is that you may not be in the poll book because the Board of Elections just ran out of time to enter everyone who actually registered to vote.

So, what you must do if you know that you registered to vote, never received your Voter Registration Card but show up to the polls like you are supposed to, is to request an Affidavit Ballot. You must be given one if you can prove that you are in the right election district, by showing some kind of utility bill, your driver's license or whatever. Just prove that you are entitled to vote in the election district in which you have shown up to the polls.

The Affidavit Ballot is a paper ballot with an affidavit on the envelope. It is used when a voter's name has been omitted from the computer generated poll books. When you vote using this, you must swear you are a registered voter and provide current and previous address. In a less common circumstance you may use this type of ballot to challenge your party enrollment stated in the poll book. Fill out the ballot and seal it and give it to the appropriate person.

It counts as a vote. Folks, let me say this again, it counts as a vote. It will be tallied at the end of the day.

REMEMBER EVERYONE: THIS CAME FROM MICHELLEMAG.COM, my new place to go for information.

http://michellemag.com/stories/politics/2008/10oct/politics102708.htm

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My Latest Article - How To begin Your Online Career

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 22:54:20 GMT

My apologies sistas and brothas!

"Get a book written and you'd think I'd fallen off the edge of a cliff!"

I know it's been a while since we've connected but I did not create my blogs to let them sit in Cyberspace and gather ghosts. (hee hee, that's a geek joke)

Updates: Hmmm, let's see. I got the book out last year and immediately became a part of the Latino and African American Authors community. LOVE IT but it is so vast! I did the online interviews, was reviewed left and right (grateful for all of the comments, I took them all to heart!) and my hand is so cramped from the book signing that I welcome when all people want is to snap a picture on their cellphone - it'll last longer!

Then the economy showed up in Bed Stuy and basically as been kicking my butt up until now! Day job got flaky, (acquisitions that took our jobs north! Ugh!) have been looking for a new one for six months, people and jobs getting twitchy and I'm counting pennies and foregoing lattes for instant at home. Now I know this recession/depression has not hit everyone so I'm not looking for any pity parties but I acknowledge and respect my fellow communities and neighbors that understand why I say "hell yeah" to a block of good ole American cheese! (This is a welfare joke, back when public assistance was called welfare)

Anyway, all of that and three boys I have to raise kept me from this part of what I love doing. I've put my networking in place for now, created and updated my four websites/blogs, was commissioned on several others, was in the street "Hustling for Obama" (http://apps.new.facebook.com/causes/122064?recruiter_id=13670413)- AND I STILL AM! - and am now putting it all here to some good use.

So check out the latest article - How to Begin Your Online Career at http://www.ehow.com/how_4528772_begin-career-online.html. Comments are always appreciated. Let me know what you're up to and how we can as the say "hook each other up!"

Click here to claim your blog on Blogged.com

The Skinny: Hotep on Hustle - Feb '07

Mon, 29 Sep 2008 20:33:54 GMT

Express Night Out | Arts

WHAT'S NEW @ HUSTLE U?

9/03/08- Hustle U President Hotep enters the fight! Agrees to donate proceeds from all product sales (including limited edition t-shirt) to campaign for Barack Obama! Hotep says "I have been deeply touched and inspired by (Obama) and can no longer sit on the sidelines. I’m on the team. It’s the fourth quarter, 4th and goal…and I’m gonna see to it that we score a touchdown!”

http://my.barackobama.com/page/outreach/view/main/HustleForObama
or
https://www.causes.com/fb/donations/new?cause_id=122064&fundraiser_id=13670413&m=c3885
or
http://www.dosomething.org/project/hustle-for-obama-fascinating-motivator-engaging-our-youth

Heart of A Soldier tribute to barack Obama by. J. Phoenix

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Thu, 21 Aug 2008 14:05:13 GMT

Raising The Bar

I was a child of the seventies. If the movies were considered the silver screen in the fifties and sixties then in the seventies television was golden. It was the decade of Mash, All in the Family, the Jeffersons, and really funny game shows that make me wish that the regulars of Match Game and Password were still around. That was reality TV at its best, not the crap that the kids are allowed to watch today.

I grew up knowing the TV Guide backwards and foreward and would have loved getting a job watching television because I loved it so much. So maybe it’s because I am so biased and so tired of crappy shows that I’m the worst kind of critic. It’s not as if I’ve worked in the industry and yet watching so closely and teaching my sons how to really watch and appreciate the old shows makes me just another backseat driver, the fan that thinks they know what’s best for the show because they stake their emotions to gauge their responses.

I saw a show the other night and it’s by one of my favorites, Steven Bochco. See, dad’s a retired Homicide Detective in NYC and all of the cop shows were especially dear to me. I was jazzed because the title gave me a sense that this was going to be cutting edge.

So here’s the thing, by the third episode I was exhausted and frustrated. Was this the intent? I will say that I was also insulted and offended at least once in each of the episodes. Again I find myself hesitating. Who am I to say but then if I were to get a chance to be heard by the people who made this would they even care what one woman in her forties thought? Then I looked at my boys and I figure that they care about what I think and how would they react to this show if I let them watch it and would I? No, I guess I wouldn’t.
Here are my two cents. The only characters that came across as genuine and fully faceted were the fabulous Jane Kaczmarek, Gloria Reuben and Nick Balco. I can actually think of a few people who are very much like them. The others are just so cartoonish and one dimensional.

The lead character blows up into a rage, usually at the Judge Kessler character, in every episode that I got tired by the second one. No lawyer would survive this craziness and no boss would allow such a loose cannon. The Rubens character seems too levelheaded to allow it. I guess I expected him to be more of a “Stormy Weathers” (From the Hip with Judd Hirsh and John Hurt) character. Now that attorney knew how to manipulate the system without looking as if he was going to have a coronary every five minutes. I can’t imagine any judge tolerating it or even enjoying sparring with such a hot head. There is one thing in a courtroom that isn’t captured here and that is a respect for it so even his appearance turned me off. The long hair is one thing but never changing out of the same suit? Hey, the attorneys in Brooklyn may look mussed up but never like this guy and he didn’t have any reason to, unless he had disdain for himself as well – therefore not a role model for my kids.

Ok, I’m getting too into this thing right but hey, it’s my one chance to do what I wanted to do as as a kid – and for free. Tell you what – I know I won’t be quitting my day job. The biggest problem that hit me immediately was the Charlie Sagansky character. Guess what everyone, my sons are gay and the cardboard cut out of a 1980s gay man was offensive. Trolling out in public at night but looking embarassed in the courthouse hallways during the day? NOT! It was not believable and it is not how the majority of the gay men that I know really are. Ok, he’s doing whoever he has to, be it female, because he’s ambitious and yet he goes into really public gay places? If he were hiding it or trying to he wouldn’t hang out in a gay bar, he’d go to a lawschool library or teach at night and know which students were gay or not but a gay coffeehouse? Hmmm, don’t think so. By the way my son loves Wilson Cruz and I can see why! He made me wish I was a dude he was so hot.

The others just seem cookie cutter characters with the ballsy girl but she got tired quickly and while I liked “Brooklyn” for obvious reasons I wondered why everyone was asking her to help as if they’d never had those connections in Manhattan before. The least believable is the rich dude. Living in NYC I’ve come across so many people who are affluent who do believe in doing their part but they won’t wear it so as to allienate their co-workers or worse, their clients. By the way, any rich dude that can have access to a jet would never walk the halls of a courthouse and its daily dose of reality and not want to jet out of there. I just couldn’t believe him ever.
I left the hardest one for last. The young black ADA. On the one hand he’s the only one that is straight forward about his convictions but during one episode I almost felt as if he was a self hating black man and it really pissed me off. If he is, then is he going to be seen with a white girlfriend or rejecting his less achieving family members? I really hate that. Why can’t he just be straight forward and still respect other black people?

Look, I’m the divorced mother of three Black/Latino boys of which two are gay. I hit the trifecta but we are blessed in that we love watching TV together, we love each other and enjoy who and what we are. Watching TV is a host of things for us and if “Raising the Bar” wants to do just that then I hope they portray blacks and gay people more appropriately. I wanted to like it, I really really did but in the end I knew I couldn’t let the boys watch it and think that people are like that because they’re just not, at least not in my New York. And hell, I live in Bed Stuy not on the Upper West Side.

Due to the high volume... (Companies Can Now Be Rude & Not Be Present!)

Sun, 27 Jul 2008 14:13:14 GMT

Hey, I've Been Waiting For A Customer Representative For Over Ten Minutes Already!

Let's face it ladies, either we get treated like we're victims or real bitchy when we call customer service, or 311 (the City Complaint Department in NYC) or the phone company or if you tried to email your elected official! Since when was it ok to put us on hold forever? To make us go through hoops and dial in through a maze of voice activated options so that all we get is frustrated! All we get in the end is a damned message saying that the office is closed and THAT is if we "really need" to speak to an actual human being it has to be during "**normal" business hours or we get patched over to the upstate prison or to a country of representatives who simply read off a script, in an accent I can't make out and waste more of our time! WHEW! That was a mouthful!

**[NOTE: Normal business hours? Hello! In the 21st Century where Sales Offices ar open 24/7/365, why can't these same companies/public services and servants devote as much time to servicing their customers and constituents properly?? And lest you realize, we Alphawomen are working online 24/7/365 from home! Those are our NORMAL Business Hours! Check out the mug baby! It says so!]

So I decided that if companies were going to downgrade their customer service areas, if elected officials were all going to blame or use the EVER POPULAR excuse "due to the ENORMOUS volumes of emails and letter and calls I get all day, I'll really try to give you feedback..." (and we get that damned AUTO-REPLY that I have come to HATE!), then I, that target demographic, that target audience, that swing vote constituent was going to upgrade my "I'll make you give me feedback if it's the last thing I do" quotient!

WRITE THIS DOWN...

The longer they make you wait - the slower you speak and the lower in volume your voice should go. By the end of the message you've left or the end of the customer service interview from Hades is over, the other person on the line will have tagged your file with, "CAUTION - EXTREMELY EMOTIONAL, POSSIBLY UNSTABLE, MAY BE DANGEROUS IF NOT PLEASED WITH SERVICE!" This is a good thing because crazy people get quicker service. (I mean, wouldn't you be afraid?)

Ask for every iota of information about your service account or their office. Get their names, their ID numbers, the names of their Supervisors, their Supervisors' ID numbers, the complaint number, the confirmation number, request number, their bra or boxer size while you're at it... get this, what city and country they are in, the customer service complaint mailing address and the direct exchange number- NOT the toll free number for people who have an hour to waste! For that pesky - and elusive - elected official, (and they are not all rotten, there are some gems out there but like you I don't want to have to go mining every time I need my potholes fixed or the streetlight repaired) get the name, their title, the direct number of their staff member who got the short straw that day you when you called their office, the mailing address of both the district and government offices and oh yeah, their fax numbers. Those can really come in handy...

Now, you might think this is a waste of time but is it? You've already been put on hold for a lousy twenty minutes (gasp, or more), why not be in control of the next five. Besides, if THEY give YOU trouble, go back to what I said and start to speak s-l-o-w-e-r and l-o-w-e-r. They'll be so afraid of you showing up and asking for them personally that you've just gotten a new BFF and an insider at that place for LIFE (or at least until they can get transferred out).

THAT extra five to ten minutes will not be wasted ladies. After the phone call and complaint portion is over, I do one last thing. I go to my list of elected officials (categorized in two ways, those who represent me and my business and then by topic of interest and committee) anad I get the ole fingers ready. It's the 21st Century ladies and we're not ON THE cusp, we jumped OFF THE cliff a long time ago! In a quick click of my manicured nails (still smelling of bleach - the boys needed their underwear cleaned, but I digress), my email software is up, my quick contact by those two categories have been clicked in the CC:ed section and I email the CEO and SVP of Customer Service. In two little paragraphs I write in short brief lines what transpired, what I want done and the amount of time they have to see that it does before I start blogging my mouth off. (policy as given to them by me - the master of all things mine!)

Hey, works for me. And I get some nifty coupons, credits and discounts too.

Monday, July 21, 2008

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 18:39:44 GMT

QUOTE OF THE DAY:

"If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader."

John Quincy Adams

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