Happy Birthday Ted

Just began reading Media Mogul and Philanthropist, Ted Turner's Book, Call Me Ted. I had the good fortune of working for Ted Turner under the Turner Broadcasting System, Inc, brand before the AOL/Time Warner Merger. I was laid off the day after the merger.

Prior to the merger, it was so exciting going to work everyday! Ted was such a visionary! Ted had a way of making every single employee feel like they were part of something bigger. Our company was always making money while also giving away millions of dollars to charity. It was such a great place to work. Ted has been quoted as saying "that if he had not been lied to by Gerald Levin and AOL/Steve Case had not "cooked the books", he would still be there." Ted also said that if you were one of the ones that had been laid off, not to be too sad. He was Time Magazine Man of the Year twice and made the company millions of dollars. He was still laid off also. Ted tells the story that when Gerald Levin told him that he was going to pay him a million dollars a year for the rest of his two year contract. Ted didn't have to do anything as he would be Chairman of nothing. Ted told him he would not take money for doing nothing while people making $40K a year were being laid off. You don't hear Chairman and CEO's of big corporations in America saying that. Think Enron or more recently, financial companies, Detroit automakers, and AIG. There are not many men like Ted Turner that would turn down millions of dollars for doing nothing. He truly is one-of-a-kind.

The thing besides Ted's brilliance and generosity that makes him such an interesting person, is that he always says exactly what's on his mind. You are never perplexed or wonder where he stands. We need more people like Ted who will say what they mean and mean what they say.

As Ted Turns 70 this week, he could take his billions, buy a yacht , sail around the world, with a full staff. Instead, he still gives his time, talent and treasury to those with less. He has inspired so many people. He is the reason why Warren Buffet and Bill Gates finally invested their billions in foundations that do good for others. Ted likes to say that he was cable before cable was cool. While watching the news this week or your favorite cable show, think of Ted, and send him good wishes as he turns 70. I know I will raise my glass to him and thank God that I had the chance to cross his path during my lifetime. Happy Birthday Ted! Hope to see you over the next 70.

Ne-Yo Year Of The Gentleman Widget

Gasoline Shortages in the ATL

Last Sunday, in anticipation of the upcoming work week, I went to several neighborhood service stations to fill up. To my dismay, none of them had gas. So I got up early Monday, and started out again. I never anticipated, living in one of the top 50 cities in the US (by population) and not being able to find gasoline. This only happens in third world countries, I thought. Eleven stations later, and 16 miles from my home, I found gas. I was so depressed about this, I went back home, turned on my laptop and started working. I let my boss know of course. I had two meetings that day so I had them come to my home. They apparently had fuel. I checked the CNN news section and saw that our governor, Sonny Purdue, had just flown off to Europe. I can't find gas in my state and my governor has flown to Europe, WOW!. I then ran across the Pickens Plan for energy independence. This billionaire oil man in Texas has a plan to reduce America's independence on oil, but is anyone listening? We have a plan and this is the first I have heard of it. It got me to wondering about conservation of everything from water to oil. I built a solar house with geothermal, rainharvest, greywater harvesting, etc, etc in 2002 and I remember how difficult it was for me to get permits to use greywater and rainwater to water my plants. First we have the mortgage crisis, then the gas crisis. I am certain water is next. In the ATL, we have had a drought for 2 years. It reminded me of Janelle Monae's song Sincerely Jane and its powerful words "Are we really living or are we walking dead now?" We have all of these problems in America, "Are we really living or are we walking dead now?" You tell me...

Bowling 4 Fun

Bowling seems to be making a comeback! I have been invited to 5 bowling parties over the last month at various bowling alley's in the ATL, Dolce, 300, etc, etc. Bowling today is so different from when I was a little girl. The bowling alley's of past had hot dogs, grilled cheese, nachos and soda and we used no. 2 pencils to fill in our score as we played. You had to know how to add your score and that of your teammates. Today's bowling is all electronic, with full bars, gourmet restaurants, and full screen videos on each lane. When I was a kid, it was all about the sport and the competitive spirit. Today, it is clearly all about the social component and how well you dance in between frames. At one of the parties, every time someone hit a gutter ball, they had to drink a shot of Patrone. At another party, you had to remind the person that followed you that they were up. No one is the least bit interested in their form or score. When I was growing up on the sport, we were more interested in the brand and weight of the ball and that we had our own ball and shoes. Today, when you walk in with your ball and shoes, they think you are crazy. No one seems the least bit concerned that their play cannot be consistent with a different ball each time they play. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy all the new technology, but I am not sure it has helped my score in the least. Have you been bowling lately? What has been your experience? Would love to hear from you!

DL in the ATL, NOT

I was invited to a party outside the ATL in a suburb called Sandy Springs. My friend and I had been to two other fundraiser's in town earlier in the night so we were not all that excited about going outside the Perimeter but we heard this was going to be a fun party for a hip hop artist that my friend knew from her recent trip to Hong Kong. His poster was apparently plastered all over Asia. He lives in ATL and I have never heard of him. I had no idea who the artist was but figured it might be more exciting than the same old same old.

We moaned and groaned the whole way there because it was so far outside town. We drove up into a subdivision and gave our names to the party organizers. They were staffing the security booth. We drove to the end of this subdivision after driving by hundreds of cars. We got to the next check point to find a police officer trying to talk us into parking on the street. We told him we were in heels and had no intentions of walking miles to the house. We told him we were on the VIP list and he told us to go to the gate and buzz the house and they would let us through. We got right through after ringing the buzzer. We drove up the long, winding driveway and stopped right in front of the step and repeat. The first thing we noticed was all of the valets were white. This was unusual in the ATL but the burbs seemed different.

We jumped out of the car just in time to see the helicopter that had just landed with the hip hop artist making his grand entrance. I have seen grand houses of the rich and famous all over Buckhead but never seen anything this Grand. This was like Country Club of the South on steroids. This place was a feast for the eyes. On one side was two Bengal Tigers in Cages, (I didn't know this was legal) on the other was a full length turf basketball court with lights. There were photographers everywhere and MTV was filming their show Cribs. We went to the bar for a glass of bubbly to be told they had run out. You have a party in a multi million dollar house, and you can't afford bubbly. As a professional event planner, I found this unbelievable but I went with the flow. We started walking around introducing ourselves to all of the other guests. We were 2 of 5 white people at this party. I found this comical. We had just been to two parties, one in Buckhead, and one in Midtown that had the exact opposite demographic. I really don't understand how the ATL can continue to be so segregated 40 years after the great MLK, Jr died to bring us all together. Things really do stay the same. I would love to do an event Black and White blending the two cultures together as one for a common cause. Don't know if the ATL has the courage to attend. That is for another day. Back to the party...

Just as we started upstairs to the pool and hot tub area, I looked up and saw letters DL projected onto the top of the house in cursive writing. This really got me thinking. I had heard about JL King's book about men in the ATL living on the down low. These are men that act like they are straight but actually have male sexual partners. He claims many of them are in the hip hop world. This is a hot topic in ATL but no one wants to go on record talking about it. I was sure this was going to be my first foray into meeting all of these hip hop men on the down low. I looked all around and saw nothing to indicate anyone was on the down low. I started asking people what the DL projected on the house meant, to be really embarrassed, DREAM LAND, I was told, WOW! Just as I learned what DL stood for, my friend introduced me to the owner of the house. His name was AKON. He was taller than me (unusual for the hip hop world) very handsome, well dressed, and well spoken. I said, even though I am not familiar with your music, I am sure it is good, or you would not be able to have this great big house. He said that the song playing was his but all I could make out was Snoop Dogg, singing. He was surprised I knew Snoop and not him but that is because Snoop was on Showtime's L Word. He said that he was the one that wrote it and was featured in the video with Snoop. Since there are probably other people like me that don't know who AKON is, this song is for you... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fZF9UsS8LY
This song is about a convicts love for the other person behind bars. Even though it features women as the object of desire, I think there are so many undertones of the DL but then there is also Dream Land... What do you think?

IKEA

http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=3675&id=1450153385
Worked with IKEA on a fundraising event over the last few months so I was in the store more times than I can count. I have always loved that Swedish Store. In fact, when I built my eco-house, I poured over the IKEA website to get ideas. I wanted to furnish my house with their products, but there was no store in the ATL six years ago when I built. I even had the idea that I would drive to DC in a U-HAUL and pick up everything but I just never had the time. Once you buy IKEA's products, someone has to put them together. While things like that used to give me pause, I have since learned there is a great company, CAI, that contracts direct with IKEA customers to do exactly that, put everything together correctly. So this year, I had IKEA design my office space ergonomically and CAI installed it all. It was still less expensive than most any other design stores in town and their products are so cool looking and have such clean lines. I love the modern look which is probably why I have always enjoyed IKEA. I usually don't like the big box stores but IKEA really stands apart. I love the fact that they have a place called playland for kids to be dropped off while their parents shop. For those of us that will never have children, we are not as enamored by them as their family members when they are whining, screaming, and jumping on everything in sight while you are trying to furnish your house. Playland gives them a place to act out while the rest of us can enjoy our shopping venture.

I also like the fact that they have those really big reusable shopping bags. I use those over and over, even when I am not shopping there. I enjoy being able to find items that are not made in China too. IKEA has its share of china-made products but you can also find things manufactured in Europe. You cannot find that at the big box retailers not matter how hard you look.

I also love the smell of those cinnamon rolls baking in the store It evokes a feeling of my grandmother's house. She used to bake apple dumplings every Saturday and the smell of the cinnamon reminds me of her when I am shopping there. Nothing makes me more emotional than the thought of eating apple dumplings with my grandmother on a cool fall afternoon. I think this is another thing that is so brilliant about IKEA marketing. They know that creating a sense of home is more than just the goods you buy to fill it up. It is more about the feelings it evokes from the fond memories of your family. I wish there were more stores like IKEA. It really doesn't feel like the US-based big box stores like Wal-Mart, Target, and K-Mart. Would love to hear any thoughts you have on IKEA.

Being First

Received an email this week that mentioned Brock Homes had built the first level three Earth Craft House in the city of ATL, which reminded me of another story I heard on TV a few months ago where the owners of the Eco Manor were stating that they were the first LEED certified Green Energy Home in ATL. I built a Green Energy House in 2002 in the ATL before there were certifications for this and that. So, it got me to wondering why everyone was so eager to say they were the first? It is interesting that when someone does something that they think is so unique, they want to claim that they were the first. But why? Is it not enough just to do something good?

I heard it said many times this year when Hillary was running for President that she was the first. But when I was 10, my Dad took me to Asheboro, NC to hear Shirley Chisholm, an African-American woman who was running for President, speak. That was the same year, my grandmother taught me about recycling and source separation. Was she the first to recycle? I also heard about lots of firsts while watching the Olympics. Phelps was the first to win 8 Gold. I watched Mark Spitz when he was the first to win 7 gold. The Phelps Olympics had a 50 M race that didn't exist during Spitz's time so he only got 7 tries. I have been told that the pool is deeper now and has least resistance than during Spitz's time. The swim suits are different too, better suited for faster times. I was excited and energized by both wins not because they were the first, but because, it was exciting. Why do you think we have this preoccupation to be the first? If anyone has thoughts about this, I would love to hear them.

Good 'Ol Girls

Visited Eddie's Attic, an ATL music venue for singer/songwriters. It's where John Mayer, Sugarland, Billy Pilgrim, and countless other singer/songwriters got traction right before their big break and subsequent record deals. Tonight's show was 2 women singer/songwriters and 2 women novelists. When the record companies in Nashville dumped the singer/songwriters, they called each other and found a new purpose for their work. They are touring the country with a social commentary, poetic monologues called Good 'Ol Girls, sort of Eve Ensler's Vagina Monologues crosses Lily Tomlin's In Search of Intelligent Signs of the Universe for southern red neck girls.

Published novelists Lee Smith and Jill McCorkle wrote the monologues in 1999 and incorporated songs written by Nashville singer/songwriters, Marshall Chapman and Matraca Berg. The show was about all types of women from all types of places, Good 'Ol Girls that are real survivors. The NY Times has called the show a "feminist literary country music review." The thing I really enjoyed about these 4 women together is that it takes master Nashville storytellers, Berg (six #1 Billboard Hits by artists like Reba McEntire, Patty Loveless, Trisha Yearwood, Linda Ronstadt, Deena Carter, Martina McBride, Dixie Chicks, and Faith Hill) and Chapman who has written songs for Emmy Lou Harris, Conway Twitty, Joe Cocker, and Jimmy Buffett and award winning novelitsts Smith and McCorkle out of their normal routine, while repurposing their words and music to show that no matter how different we think we are, we are all really the same. We share the same hopes, the same fears, the same dreams and the same heartbreak. We just experience it in different ways. As one of my all-time favorite poets, Audre Lorde, said "“It is not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to recognize, accept, and celebrate those differences.” This is really what I got out of the evening. It is not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to recognize, accept, and celebrate those differences.

As I was leaving, I bumped into my old friend Happy from Chattanooga, turns out Happy went to Vanderbilt with Chapman and they have remained friends over the years. She introduced me to Chapman, Chapman's husband and then Berg. It was Berg that kept me intrigued, talking about the Nashville Music Industry, being a woman in that industry and living your life as an aging musician. Berg told a story of how young the Nashville establishment thought she was when she recorded her first song at age 26. Now, she is considered a dinosaur, and just barely over 40. She said that today, if you are not under 20, the record labels don't notice you. After seeing all of the baby boomers at this venue, I told her I was trying to get word to Simon Cowell about my idea of Senior Idol. For all those that tried to make it in Nashville, Memphis, and LA and were rejected by the Good 'Ol Boys, their time has come!

Loving Kindness

I am always running around like a bat out of hell. All of my friends keep saying that I need to learn how to relax and take time to become more centered. My grandmother always said "idle hands make idle minds." I guess that is something I took very seriously and carried with me throughout my life. This is probably why I always have my day filled with activities and seem to work 24/7. I love being positive and upbeat. I love that feeling so much that I don't really want to come down. One day I was in an airport, missed my flight, instead of feeling frustrated, I said out loud, I would love to take two hours and get a massage. I walked about 50 feet and there was a spa in the RDU airport. I had never seen a spa in an airport so I thought I had willed this to happen. Ten minutes later, I am flat on the massage table and the masseuse, very intuitive healer, said , "I don't know what you do for a living, but what ever it is, you need to stop it NOW! "She then asked when I had my last massage. I replied, "3 days earlier". She said she had never seen anyone so tight and that I was headed for serious repercussions if I didn't change something. This got me to thinking about all of my friends comments to take time for me each day and relax. As soon as I returned home, I bought the 10-minute meditation book and searched for a Buddhist temple that I could visit to start on my new journey. A week later, I found my self in NM visiting a Buddhist temple where they had numerous meditation sessions throughout the day. I walked up, read all of the rules; you must be quiet, take your shoes off, do not sit on pillow that has white flag, enter only after the bells have rung, etc, etc. Whenever I see rules, I am certain, I am going to break one of them, not from disrespect, but because I can't remember them all at once. I took my shoes off and entered this temple only after the bells rang. Of course, I was the first one there, I am always early. There was no one there to watch so I looked around and saw all of these pillows aligned perfectly every twelve inches apart all around the perimeter of the room. I was looking for one that did not have the flag and was not near one that had a flag. There was a flag on almost every other one. So I looked for one that is closest to the restroom because I am sure I will need to go in the midst of the meditation. I sit down on a single pillow and look out into the room so that I can assess all of the others, one by one, as they enter the room. I am hoping to pick up some tips on how this is done. As I watch, people enter one by one, hands folded at chest. Each one bows to the Buddha sculpture prominently displayed on the table at the entry vestibule. That's when I realize I have already done something wrong, as I did not enter hands folded or bow to the Buddha. I looked around for security cameras to see if anyone captured my mistake. Couldn't find any, so it looks like I may have escaped embarrassment. As everyone is taking their seat on the floor, I couldn't help but notice how unfriendly everyone was. Just as I had that thought, a man dressed like the Dali Lama knelt down beside me and whispered in my ear, "at our noon meditation, we face the wall, not the people in the room." Boy, was that embarrassing. All my life, I have been taught to face people as they enter the room, make eye contact, and watch their body language. You really can learn so much from the body language. I quickly turn around and face the wall. It was literally 12 inches in front of me. I couldn't imagine how I was going to stare at this wall for 1 hour with only a few inches between me and the wall. I did it anyway. An older, very new age, looking woman sat next to me. She was one of the experts with the flag on her pillow. I noticed, instead of just one pillow, she had three. She was sitting on her knees with all of the pillows resting comfortably between her two thighs. All I could think of is how I needed three pillows, because my right foot had already fallen to sleep on the one hard pillow and I was only 5 minutes into my meditation. Then I noticed all of these scratches on the wall. It really looked like the temple was in need of a paint job. Wonder who is the caretaker here? Back to meditation, I am supposed to not be thinking but turning my mind off. I started practicing one of the techniques I had learned in my 10 minute meditation book. I would take a deep breath in through my nose and exhale through my mouth. This seemed so easy in the comfort of my own home, but with all of these meditation experts next to me, it seemed like I was being way too loud. So then I kept thinking about how deep and loud my breaths seemed. I would look through my peripheral vision and see if the two women on each side of me were noticing how loud my breathing was? If they noticed, it didn't seem like they minded. Once again, I had veered away from my meditation, thinking when I was supposed to be turning my mind off. I felt a sudden sharp pain in my right leg from my thigh all the way down to my foot. I tried to shift quietly but in a room with no noise, again, it seemed very loud. I could not help it, if I didn't shift, my leg was going to need amputation when I finished meditating. I then, realized, that I had to go to the restroom. How was I going to stand up and walk by all of these people while they were being so still. I kept telling myself, I could hold it. Back to breathing... I decided to take a small breath in and exhale more gently. I repeated this several times when I felt like I may be having a panic attack. I needed to have deeper more controlled breaths than the short shallow ones but I was afraid I was making too much noise. That was when the lady next to me shifted slightly so I rearranged my entire body on the pillow again. This meditation was hard work. I haven't felt so uncomfortable since I had to recite a poem in front of my entire kindergarten class. Then I thought of my last trip to Hawaii, how warm the sun felt beating down on my skin, how beautiful the rainbows were after an afternoon rain, how friendly and kind the natives are everyday. It seemed to me that the native Hawaiians practice loving kindness as an everyday way of life. Why was I having to seek it out in an awkward and uncomfortable setting? What makes the Hawaii natives everyday practice of loving kindness so difficult to achieve in my own daily life? These are all questions I didn't have answers to? Then I heard three bells ring...Thank God was all I could think. This hour of torture is finally behind me. Then the lady next to me, says, Are You Ok? It seems like you could not find comfort in stillness. I said, if you only knew. She proceeded to tell me ways to find comfort in various positions on the 3 pillow configuration. I thanked her as I exited the temple, hands folded at chest and bowing to the Buddha on the way out.

Attracting Your Desire

Met with two philanthropic partners to discuss the reception of an upcoming event. The event is an auction of 100 IKEA clocks that have been transformed into 100 works of art by various celebrities and professional artists. After reviewing the celebrity list, Jesse (one of our partners) said, "you should try to approach Ne-Yo about creating a timepiece." I said, never heard of Ne-Yo. Tell me more... He went on to talk about this R&B/ hip hop artist that was young but sophisticated, living in the ATL but worldly, hip hop roots with R&B sound, clean cut, yet hip. So I left the meeting, not giving much more thought to this Ne-Yo. The very next morning, my boss's assistant said that my boss wanted to know why we were meeting with Ne-Yo, a hip hop artist for lunch and what was on the agenda. After explaining that I had never heard of Ne-Yo prior to yesterday, I was certain, we were not meeting with Ne-Yo. It turns out that our meeting was with Simon Malls at Neo, a new restaurant at the Mansion on Peachtree. As I was driving to the meeting with my boss, I told her how comical this was that before yesterday, I never heard of Ne-Yo and now he has come into my life two days in a row. I predicted (out loud) that for some reason, Ne-Yo and I were destined to meet even though, I still didn't even know who he was or what he looked like. As soon as I got back to my office, I searched Ne-Yo and landed on his myspace page. I listened to his music and couldn't believe how musically diverse and talented he was, like an old soul in a young person's skin. He was like a cross between Frank Sinatra or Dean Martin and John Legend. I was so inspired by his music, I ran into one of my co-worker's office and asked if they had heard of Ne-Yo. Apparently, he is someone that all the 20 somethings know and once again, I was out of the loop. I restated again, that I must be destined to meet him for some reason. Literally, four days later, I received an email inviting me to a private reception, the Network for Net Worth, with you guessed it, Ne-Yo hosting. I rsvped to the event and invited Jesse and other philanthropic partners to join me. The networking event was being held at Dolce, another partner of ours that we were in the midst of organizing a bowling party with at their Ten Pin Alley property. When I asked William at Dolce about the networking event, he said they were not the organizers, just the venue, and that he would reserve the perfect table for us. We decided to go early, have dinner, and catch up on each other's lives. We were so deep in conversation, that we hardly realized when Ne-Yo's two Managers bumped into our table and introduced themselves. I never mentioned my story to either of them, but one of them sat with us for sometime as he waited for Ne-Yo to arrive. He was about to leave us to finalize details of Ne-Yo's arrival. I told him that I really wanted to meet Ne-Yo, but I could not wait much longer cause it was already past my bedtime. These urban musicians' night just begins when mine ends. Ne-Yo's manager reiterated that he would be arriving any minute. He gave me his cell phone number and told me to make sure to call him before leaving. I called him from across the room when I had too much networking and told him we were leaving. He said Ne-Yo had just arrived and they were bringing him to our table first. They were there in seconds and I could hardly believe that just 10 days earlier, I had never heard of Ne-Yo and now he was right before me. I told him about our clock project and he said he would love to participate, we talked, hugged each other (everyone does that in the South) and got our picture made together. As I was leaving, he said don't forget to get the clock to me tomorrow, so I can participate. I told his managers, I would text them in the morning. The next day, we connect, and I am delivering a clock to Ne-Yo's studio and touring this up and coming, soon to be R&B sensation's private studio. I believe he has the potential to be the next Michael Jackson without all of the drama. I am still in awe of how simple it is to state something out loud and then it happens. You really do have the power to attract your desires. What are you doing to attract yours? Would love to hear your story.

Girls Night Out

Had a most amazing night! Met 8 new girls out at a friends house in the ATL. She purchased a cooking lesson with a celebrity chef, Virginia Willis, at a local charity event. Did not know what to expect! Our most charming host had talked her husband into going out of town so the girls could come over for girls night out. It is never a good idea to have preconceived notions about new folks you are about to meet. My first conversation centered around everyone trying to guess which hip hop star lived on West Paces Ferry. Some thought it was Usher, others Big Boi, Jermaine Dupri and then Ne-Yo. To settle it , I called my real estate friend that covers that territory. It wasn't a hip hop artist that lived there at all but a strip mall mogul from Columbia. Met Ms. Chattanooga next, a blonde version of Linda Dano. I was so intrigued by her beautiful blue eyes and yes, her golden ring. She designed, molded and made the ring, very Bvlgari meets David Yurman but so unique and truly a one of a kind. Every time she opened her mouth, we finished each other's sentences. She even knew my friend Happy that lives in Chattanooga, such a small world, truly six degrees of separation. Met another woman that divides her time between Hong Kong and the ATL, how exciting! She had all of the hook ups for bling and couture there. We drank wine, champagne, laughed, and believe it or not, the discussion turned to politics several times. We found out that about half were democrats and half were republicans. Despite the fact that the DNC was broadcast tonight from Denver, not one of us got into an argument and left early to listen to the discussion. We talked about everything from the love of our lives, to the women who lost their loves to women just like us. We talked about how China had taken over the world and how India wasn't far behind and how America had lost its soul. There were even discussions of our favorite libations, how each course was so simple but so tasty and how at the end of the night, no matter how freshly caught the halibut was from Alaskan waters, which local farm churned the goat cheese, to which vineyard in Napa Valley corked the wine, not one of us could wait for the chocolate pot de creme. Just as we thought we had solved all of the world's problems, my friend's 21 year old showed up with her friends and their case of beer and bags of chips. Life was simpler then but not nearly as fun. It was interesting that their party was just beginning as ours had ended. When is the last time you had a girls night out? Would love to hear about it...

Hip Hop Girl

I heard a song yesterday called Sincerely Jane by Janelle Monae, a rising star in the R&B/ hip hop world. She looks like a protege of Grace Jones, which is why I listened to her song anyway. I was looking for someone to perform at an upcoming conference on teen pregnancy prevention. Her lyrics kept sticking with me. She says "Left the city, my momma she said don't come back home, These kids round' killin each other, they lost they minds, they gone, They quittin' school, making babies and can barely read, Some gone off to their fall, lord have mercy on them, One, two, three, four, your cousins is round' here sellin' dope, While they're daddies, your uncle is walking round' strung out, Babies with babies, and their tears keep burning, while their dreams go down the drain now, I've seen them shootin' up funerals in they Sunday clothes, Spending money on spinners but won't pay college loans , And all you gangers and bangers rollin' dice and taking lives in a smokey dark, Lord have mercy on you, Teacher, teacher please reach those girls in them videos, The little girls just broken Queen, confusing bling for soul, Danger, there's danger when you take off your clothes, all your dreams go down the drain girl." WOW, POWERFUL WORDS. I work in a non profit where we work really hard to inspire futures and change lives every day in the inner city. The entire song seems to capture the spirit of what these young people go through every day. It reminded me of all of these hip hop artists/professional athletes and other celebrities that start their own foundations because their managers advise them that this is a good idea or maybe it is their own ego. I am not sure, either way, they will start out by investing a $500K to $1M then they will ask their manager or mother to manage the Foundation. A year or two later, they host a fundraising event, and with their cache as a celebrity, actually get people to sponsor to the tune of several hundred thousand dollars. Then at the end of the day, they actually paid so much for the party and entertainment, that their is not much left for their cause. Then they will host something for a day or a few weeks for inner city kids so the world can see how generous they are with all of the money they are making on the ringtones that that the inner city kids just paid .99 cents for. Truth is, many of these athletes/hip hop artists and other celebrities will spend more money in an evening at a gentleman's club than they will on the kids in the neighborhoods in their own backyard. What would it take to get these guys to invest their money in existing non profits in their own backyards? Instead of hosting a one day or two week event that essentially does nothing for the young people, you actually change a young boy or girl's life by investing your time and your money in a non profit that is professionally staffed and poised for change. Like Janelle says in the song "spending money on spinners but you won't pay for college loans"?

changing lives, inspiring futures

I heard a story today about a guy in Afghanistan that was climbing there and when he finsihed, these locals asked him to build a school there. When he got back to the states he decided to send letters to several celebrities and ask them to send money to help build a school in Afghanistan (12K for one school) The only celebrity that sent him money was Tom Brokaw and he sent a $100. This inspired him to send letters to his friends and their friends to ask to help him build a school in Afghanistan. In two short years, he has collected millions of dollars and he found out in the course of his work that people all over the world were more interested in making peace than making war. As a professional partnership builder helping those with less partner with those with more, I found this an intriguing concept. I have been reading blogs for months and it struck me that oftentimes, the blogs are about beefs or gripes or negative things in general. It propelled me to want to start my on blog and see if bloggers are more like politicians, enjoy making war than making peace or if they are like this climber in Afghanistan that says humankind is really more interested in making peace than making war. What do you think?