This is her deal... she and her producers got together and pretty much researched their audience. They looked for 276 people who were basically in need of a car. So each of those people in the studio audience were people who were actually in some kind of need of a car.

Oprah is amazing. She's just so generous. For that I say, "Go ahead, Oprah!!" She just needs to drop down and get her eagle on... do the perculator... SOMETHING!

In contrast to Oprah's awesomeness, I must allude to the lameness of BRITNEY FREAKIN' SPEARS. So this AM I heard one of the local radio stations debut her "My Perogative" cover. Ummm, let me break it down for you:

#1. Usually, when current artists cover songs from another artist, there's usually some kind of hot twist to it... making it better than the original (if humanly possible). But this song lacked any spark; it was basically "Bobby Brown meets Disney electronica." Cause of death: DUMBNESS.
#2. I am convinced now that Britney Spears has no artistic originality when it comes to making her music. Is it me, or do all of her songs consist of at least one of the following: A) a breathy voice over in the beginning talkin' about how or why she hates feeling the way she feels, or why she thinks that people need to get off her nuts... B) her mediocre vocal range ---no wait, her lack of vocal ability. And C) the message of her songs basically centering on the premise that she's in some kind of mental anguish because she simply can't handle her fame. UMMM, yeah Britney. Whatever. GET OVER IT!
#3. In the beginning she tries to sound like Madonna... OK, Brit, the whole oral-fixation with Madonna was so 5 eons ago. And her attempt to correlate herself to another old school songster, like Bobby Brown, is just wrong. If I were Bobby, I'd bitch-slap her like she was Whitney and curse her for ruining the song.

Britney Spears has given me yet another reason for me to choose her as the bane of my existence.

In realtime, I witnessed a prostitute get arrested not too far from my office this morning. It was a very fast and simple process. In fact, I think the prostitute might have actually been a dude in drag. Yeah, that's what it looked like to me. Hmmm, I wonder if the cops caught on to the white-girl prostitute that was tryin' to sell her goodies behind my office building?! Trife.

Manhattan. Arlington. Somerset. I will never forget.

It's just sad that you realize how life is for yourself... and, to an extent, for others around you... especially when you realize that the life you're analyzing is truly marred by personal inadequacies and unbelievable delusions. I'm pretty sure that we all experience some sort of personal crisis in our lives. That's just a matter of going with the wind, letting your hair fall down, or allowing the cookie to crumble. Life comes with it's ups and downs, and we're supposed to take them any way we want; hopefully learning by our mistakes and learning how to channel our new-cropped energies in order to prioritize the things in our lives to best suit our needs. But a person can't learn to prioritize anything unless they learn to love themselves first. Without loving yourself, you lose self... and no matter what you do, what friends you supposedly have, what state of mind you seem to be enraptured in --- NOTHING, and I mean NADA, of that will matter unless you can love yourself. You've gotta take care of yourself, build yourself up, and inevitably humble yourself to accept things that you cannot change. In doing so, you can change your life for the better; living it with no regrets. After all, we only get older... and, hopefully, wiser.

It's sad when you know of a person in your life that can't seem to find that kind of self-assurance in themselves. It's even more sad watching that person waste themselves away with things that they believe are actually making them happy. And you can only say or do so much to a person in order to help them along. But if they don't want to take your advice or word as something to help facilitate change, then that's totally their bad. A couple of nights ago, I had a conversation with my own brother AND my Godbrother about this very issue... and it was interesting to hear what they had to say. Not that we were talking about anyone in particular, but they made me see things that I didn't want to see. And at the same time, they made me realize that the person in question (ok, we were talking about someone in particular... ahahah) surely has issues that he/she really has to deal with on their own. Surprisingly, both my brother and Godbrother decided that, as that person tries to figure that out, they really can't stop their lives for him/her; that while that person continues to set him/herself backward, they've gotta move forward... and that I've gotta do the same. Plain and simple... and true, no doubt. So with that, my Godbro shifted back to talking about the LA move, and he wants us to get down and dirty with the details. He's currently scopin' out the airfare - and he says that the first one he sees he'll book for us... as long as it's before the Thanksgiving holiday. He wants to go in late October, but not sure if I'll be able to get approved vacay time for that. Early November is an option, but that week before Thanksgiving might actually work to our advantage. Whatever. I'm down with whatever he decides or finds.

Anyway. I'm very surprised at the wisdom that my Godbro and younger brother have gained. It makes me proud to see that they're continuing to build themselves up --- taking care of business like it's no joke, and turning into responsible people. If only the rest of the world could do the same, perhaps we'd have less problems, huh? Bottom line is, if you can't handle the pressures of family, friends, and relationships, then you've gotta handle stuff ON YOUR OWN; find yourself, own yourself, and begin to re-live yourself. It's probably one of the best things you can do for yourself. Entangling yourself in hasty relationships, being unbelievably immature, and wasting your own precious time sitting around people's houses or chattin' it up on the phone until the wee hours are NOT going to help you in the long run. In fact, those very things will keep you from growing in ways that you could truly miss out on. In the end you're able to please no one, not even yourself, and all the people hurt in the process will find it hard to forget.

You've gotta live and learn as you go... but at the same time, you've gotta grow to accept responsibility at your own hands... not at the hands of others.

As I blog, I am snacking on Keebler animal crackers --- in The Lion King shapes. I went to BJ's Wholesale Club with my sis and parental units the other day, and I loved it. I love going to the grocery store with mom and dad. It totally makes me feel like I'm 7 years old again. You know - you pick things up, put it in the cart, then they buy it for you. *sigh* Such WAS the life. I totally miss it. AHAHA. Those old school days shopping at the commissary on base with mom/dad were simply timeless... Anyway. So I picked-up this box of these animal crackers thinking that they were individual little packs... you know, so that I could tote them to work daily. Come to find out, I opened the freakin' box, and there are like three BIG bags. I was blown. Oh well. I need to give those other two bags out, or else I'm going to end up eating them all. I can't have that. I just can't.

Oh, and I secretly want Kelly Clarkson's song, Breakaway, on CD. Same with Ryan Cabrera's On The Way Down. But shhh... you didn't hear that bullshit from me. AHAHAHAAHAHA.

Happy FRiDAY!!@!

I guess I have nothing to show for the month of August. Oh well.

So on to September. Glad you're with me. Not much has been going on in the past month and few days that I last blogged on here. Not much different, at least. Well, in the past month, my dear old friends, Debbie and Godfrey, got married. I was honored to be chosen as one of G's groomsmen. The wedding turned out to be awesome. And I usually hate weddings...! But this one was pretty cool. Actually, all of the weddings that I've been to this year have been pretty awesome. Thank goodness... Well, the same day as D&G's wedding, my other very dear ol' friends, Mae and Dennis, got married in Norfolk. I really wish I could've been there. Mae is a dear friend, as is her new hubby D. But Mae was just a little slower at asking me so... ahahaha. I LOVE YOU, MAE! Anyway, I missed that one, but I know that it was just as fun as D&G's. Having fun at your wedding is the most important thing, right?! Right... WoOhOo! I have another wedding to go to this weekend, then another in two weeks, then another in early October. This is madness, I tell you. Sheer madness. I don't know if I can take it anymore... I'm absolutely wedding-ed out.

Even funnier... I'm always a groomsman, never the groom. LOL! Who wudathunk that euphemism, usually shared between bridesmaids, would ever apply to a guy. Then again, it's ME we're talking about here. With me, anything is remotely possible. AHAHAHAAH. All good. Marriage is so not in my forecast anytime soon. I travel solo, thanks. *wink*

Aside from the weddings, the bachelor parties, hanging out with friends, and trying my hardest to save money, I've done absolutely nothing of particular interest. But only cause I'm on a mission... I'm on a mission to save the ducketts in preparation for my proposed move to the LA area in January of next year. Ya'll got mah back, right?! Emmm... I sure hope so... *sigh*

The Olympics just ended... it ended on the day we celebrated my cousin's (Jackie) wedding shower. OK, no more wedding talk!! So the Olympics. I wish I were in Athens. Not just for the Olympics, cause Greece is one of the countries that I would like to visit in my lifetime. No wait, yeah, I probably would've gone to Athens just for the Olympics. I thought it was very cool that the games were brought back to its country of origin. I'm sure it was a pretty sentimental experience for Athenians and Greeks in general. For the most part, the events went without a hitch. There were some issues with athletes doping, thus resulting in stripped medals. But that's pretty much the norm at the games these days. You'd think that these athlete's would know the deal by now. SAY "NO" TO DRUGS, IDIOTS. There was also the judging debacle surrounding men's gymnastics. But who cares now. That's pretty much an old hat compared the running issue that came about during the Olympic marathon, when the Brazilian runner (who is in the lead, mind you) was stopped by some crazed former Irish priest. Apparently, the Irish dude has disrupted major sporting events before. I guess he's just not all there. Anyway, the Brazilian runner ended up with a bronze, with two other athletes taking away the gold and silver before him. All good. Mr. Brazilian was pretty gracious despite it all. And regarding gymnastics, I'm just glad that Paul Hamm got his gold... No matter what, his story is 10-times more worth the gold medal that Yang Tae Young's. Sorry. Off to Beijing in 2008.

The next issue of mass-importance?! I guess that would be our national election, which, according to Miss Philippines (at the Miss Universe pageant) is the "latest fad" to hit our country. A national election? A fad?! Ummm. Whatever, Miss Philippines. And you don't have the crown because... Democrats/Republicans... who gives a flying FUCK?! At this point in time, I think our nation is fucked either way. Although I am a self-professed Republican (umm, a Liberal Republican... or a Conservative Democrat... call me what you want), I can't stand George Dubya. But at the same time, I honestly feel that those people who actually think that John Kerry is capable of doing better are jaded. You people are just mentally warped by the unfathomable idiosyncrisies that George Dubya has gotten us (and himself)into. You honestly think that John Kerry is the answer?! Emmm... Wishful thinking, my friends. Perhaps if the Democrats choose a different candidate, I'd be quicker to make a stand on who I would like to vote for. But for now, it's not Kerry. I don't even want to vote for Bush, but I stand by my party. I stand by the underlying issue of the Republicans, and that is the Pro-Life movement. That's all; bottom line. Enough said.

Anyway. Politics-schmolitics. WHO CARES?! I'm more worried about what I'm going to eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner... These days my body image issues are more of an issue than any financial or world crisis that the USA is encompassed with. If that's too superficial for you then sorry for ya'. I just speak the truth here. Hey... at least I keep up with the issues. My friends were telling me about some loser who didn't even know that President Estrada was impeached (in the Philippines). How can you not know about that?! Ummm, yeah. Loser.

Whatever though. Too much going on in my head for me to have to worry about the political state of our country. We win some, we lose some. We go to war, we don't. I'm sick and tired of people crying about the fucking economy, or wah-wah-ing about the violence in Iraq. Bottom line is that these things are being experienced by us at the moment, and we must deal with them in the best way that we can. Bitchin' and complaining won't help you OR me, so shut the fuck up and go about your damn business.

I think my allergy medicine is finally getting to me. *eh* I hate this job. But I think I told you that already.

The Bush twins are 10-times hotter than the Kerry daughters. Those Kerry girls are HUUUUUUURRRRRRRRTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT!

OK. Welcome home, Wen. Hopefully, The Dish will be back on track. Umm, I hope so...