Friday, April 24, 2015
Some of My Favorites (April is Poetry Month) (Poetry Corner)
So, it is April and this month is known as National Poetry Month. Last year I shared with you some of my works. You can read that post HERE. This year, I will tell you about some of my favorites works from others.
Full Figured Potential by Ga Me (Georgia Me)
I probably would be a Spoken Artist if it was not for the fact that I hate reading in front of people. Reading and Praying out loud are the only parts of public speaking that make me stutter. Now reciting what I memorize or talking from the top of my head, I can do. And for some reason I don't memorize me own stuff. That's why I leave that field to people like this talented lady in the clip above. I love this poem.
Ego-Tripping (there may be a reason) by Nikki Giovanni
Blame the show A Different World for introducing me to this gem. The descriptive tones are so powerful.
I was born in the Congo
I walked to the Fertile Crescent and built
The Sphinx
I designed a pyramid so tough that a star
That only glows every one hundred years falls
Into the center giving divine perfect light
I am bad
I sat on the throne
Drinking nectar with Allah
I got hot and sent an ice age to Europe
To cool my thirst
My oldest daughter is Nefertiti
The tears from my birth pains
Created the Nile
I am a beautiful woman
I gazed on the forest and burned
Out the Sahara desert
With a packet of goat's meat
And a change of clothes
I crossed it in two hours
I am a gazelle so swift
So swift you can't catch me
For a birthday present when he was three
I gave my son Hannibal an elephant
He gave me Rome for mother's day
My strength flows ever on
My son Noah built New/Ark and
I stood proudly at the helm
As we sailed on a soft summer day
I turned myself into myself and was
Jesus
Men intone my loving name
All praises All praises
I am the one who would save
I sowed diamonds in my backyard
My bowels deliver uranium
The filings from my fingernails are
Semi-precious jewels
On a trip north
I caught a cold and blew
My nose giving oil to the Arab world
I am so hip even my errors are correct
I sailed west to reach east and had to round off
The earth as I went
The hair from my head thinned and gold was laid
Across three continents
I am so perfect so divine so ethereal so surreal
I cannot be comprehended except by my permission
I mean...I...can fly
Like a bird in the sky
We Wear the Mask by Paul L. Dunbar
My Elementary School was named after him so we learned a lot of his poems. Sad to say we still have to "wear the mask, sometimes
We wear the mask that grins and lies,
It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes—
This debt we pay to human guile;
With torn and bleeding hearts we smile,
And mouth with myriad subtleties.
Why should the world be over-wise,
In counting all our tears and sighs?
Nay, let them only see us, while
We wear the mask.
We smile, but, O great Christ, our cries
To thee from tortured souls arise.
We sing, but oh the clay is vile
Beneath our feet, and long the mile;
But let the world dream otherwise,
We wear the mask!
Oh! The Places You’ll Go! By Dr. Suess
Many of us heard this one as children but it was not until I was an Adult that I really felt the words.
Congratulations!
Today is your day.
You’re off to Great Places!
You’re off and away!
You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself any direction you choose.
You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the guy who’ll decide where to go.
So, those are some of my favorites. What are your favorites? Leave them in the comment box below.
As Always, Talking to You in Adult Terms
Monday, April 20, 2015
So, Did Gwyneth Paltrow Really Fail the Food Stamp Challenge
This post is written by the Kelly Royce Williams portion of OUTSPOKEN_DIVA personality. Please refer to the post HERE for further information about Kelly Royce.
Oh, America and her Food Stamps! Some feel she can live without them. Some say fighting to keep her on them. Some people are on the fence and are trying to understand how the system works and maybe fix the system. A few of those trying to understand the system take the Food Stamp Challenge.
Food stamp or SNAP challenge is a trend in the United States popularized by religious groups, community activists, and food pantries, in which a family of means chooses to purchase food using only the monetary equivalent of what a family that size would receive in the US federal government Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), colloquially called food stamps.[1] In 2012, this amounted to US$133.41 per person per month or $4.39 per day.
CNN reporter Sean Callebs did an experiment where he spent the month of February 2009 eating only as much food as what a person could get with the maximum possible amount of food stamps. Since he was living in New Orleans, Louisiana, this amounted to $176. At the end of the experiment, he said that he had eaten pretty well and that the biggest drawback was a social one, not a nutritional one because he could not go out to eat at restaurants with friends.
In June 2013, Donny Ferguson, the communications director for Rep. Steve Stockman (R-TX), attempted to counter the popular opinion that food stamp funds were not enough to survive on. He spent $27.68 without a shopping list or coupons or discounts and argued that at such rates, the government could afford cuts to the SNAP program as deep as 12%. He further argued that savings could be made by buying vegetables instead of rice and beans, advanced planning, and pooling of resources with a larger family stipend. Ferguson failed the challenge when he went 14% over budget. The items he purchased were highly processed, high in sugar and sodium, and included no fresh fruits or vegetables. Thank You, Wikipedia
While some criticize those that are trying to understand the system by calling them elitists, OUTSPOKEN_DIVA tips her hat to those who are trying to help fix the system. There is even a blog post (called Putting Your Fork in Someone Else's Plate) of me giving praise for even trying.
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The latest person of influence to try to understand is Gwyneth Paltrow. She was challenged by Chef Mario Batali. Last week when it was announced that she was doing so I posted on Twitter that I do this blog and I am No Liar.
I looked at Paltrow's food buy and knew she was not going to be able to feed her family 7 days of a week on that. Paltrow is Not Jesus. But it was going to be interesting to see what she came up with. I believe that some fresh foods could be bought with food stamps. It is all about being educated about food pricing in my opinion. I think if not just food stamp recipients but all the American public was taught that it is cheaper to buy
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a Bag of apples and cook them down to make applesauce instead of buying a processed squeezable product.
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I think that if we all were taught Convenience costs are higher in making fajitas from preseason frozen than from fresh chicken.
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All because I still remember when I was a preteen seeing someone buy an $80 cake for a 1-year-old's birthday party with stamps. I am still weirded out by that. Cake mix & frosting are so much cheaper.
I have to say though Paltrow didn't get to feed her family for a week on that bounty, what she did make looks very tasty. I especially like the black bean taquitos. The recipes are on her website. I actually don't think she failed completely. I will say she was wrong for eating at the Victoria Beckham event. That was clearly cheating. But she succeeded in showing it can't exactly be done. Her experience should show that the system is flawed. $29 (she spent under $25) a week for a family of 3-4 is not realistic. The food prices are rising and nutritional assistance benefits are not rising with them. It is easy to criticize and banish a flawed system instead of teaching and fixing it. But the elitists & lawmakers that sit and complain instead of experience and raise awareness are just as flawed.
Crazy that someone with the star power of Gwyneth Paltrow has so many of us talking about food stamps. Crazier to know if you think our system is flawed, take a look at the ramen noodles, doughnuts, and Kool-Aid the US sends to its territory, The Marshall Island (Here is the link). The craziest part is Mainstream Media will be onto something else within a blink of an eye.
*sigh*
Fix the System!!!
As Always, Talking to You in Adult Terms
Food stamp or SNAP challenge is a trend in the United States popularized by religious groups, community activists, and food pantries, in which a family of means chooses to purchase food using only the monetary equivalent of what a family that size would receive in the US federal government Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), colloquially called food stamps.[1] In 2012, this amounted to US$133.41 per person per month or $4.39 per day.
CNN reporter Sean Callebs did an experiment where he spent the month of February 2009 eating only as much food as what a person could get with the maximum possible amount of food stamps. Since he was living in New Orleans, Louisiana, this amounted to $176. At the end of the experiment, he said that he had eaten pretty well and that the biggest drawback was a social one, not a nutritional one because he could not go out to eat at restaurants with friends.
In June 2013, Donny Ferguson, the communications director for Rep. Steve Stockman (R-TX), attempted to counter the popular opinion that food stamp funds were not enough to survive on. He spent $27.68 without a shopping list or coupons or discounts and argued that at such rates, the government could afford cuts to the SNAP program as deep as 12%. He further argued that savings could be made by buying vegetables instead of rice and beans, advanced planning, and pooling of resources with a larger family stipend. Ferguson failed the challenge when he went 14% over budget. The items he purchased were highly processed, high in sugar and sodium, and included no fresh fruits or vegetables. Thank You, Wikipedia
While some criticize those that are trying to understand the system by calling them elitists, OUTSPOKEN_DIVA tips her hat to those who are trying to help fix the system. There is even a blog post (called Putting Your Fork in Someone Else's Plate) of me giving praise for even trying.
I looked at Paltrow's food buy and knew she was not going to be able to feed her family 7 days of a week on that. Paltrow is Not Jesus. But it was going to be interesting to see what she came up with. I believe that some fresh foods could be bought with food stamps. It is all about being educated about food pricing in my opinion. I think if not just food stamp recipients but all the American public was taught that it is cheaper to buy
I have to say though Paltrow didn't get to feed her family for a week on that bounty, what she did make looks very tasty. I especially like the black bean taquitos. The recipes are on her website. I actually don't think she failed completely. I will say she was wrong for eating at the Victoria Beckham event. That was clearly cheating. But she succeeded in showing it can't exactly be done. Her experience should show that the system is flawed. $29 (she spent under $25) a week for a family of 3-4 is not realistic. The food prices are rising and nutritional assistance benefits are not rising with them. It is easy to criticize and banish a flawed system instead of teaching and fixing it. But the elitists & lawmakers that sit and complain instead of experience and raise awareness are just as flawed.
Crazy that someone with the star power of Gwyneth Paltrow has so many of us talking about food stamps. Crazier to know if you think our system is flawed, take a look at the ramen noodles, doughnuts, and Kool-Aid the US sends to its territory, The Marshall Island (Here is the link). The craziest part is Mainstream Media will be onto something else within a blink of an eye.
*sigh*
Fix the System!!!
As Always, Talking to You in Adult Terms