*Alert* New Strain of HIV Found!

Be Safe Readers! Keep it wrapped- keep it tight!


"French researchers have identified a new human immunodeficiency virus, the first derived from gorillas, a report said Monday."

The other three strains (I had no idea there were three!!) were found in chimpanzee's.

"The new virus, called RBF 168, was detected in a 62-year-old woman who moved to Paris from the western Africa nation of Cameroon[...]The new gorilla virus "has many of the biological properties necessary for human infection[.]"

"The human case described here does not seem to be an isolated incident, as before coming to Paris the subject had lived in the semiurban area of Yaounde, the capital of Cameroon, and reported no contact with apes or bush meat[...] That would indicate that the woman contracted the virus from another human."

Forgive me for being ignorant on the subject (I hope to remain so in many respects...) but I thought that HIV was only contracted through the transmission of bodily fluids (i.e. saliva, blood, ejaculate). The subtle mention of bush meat scares me. Granted...I dont eat human flesh but you can contract HIV from eating cooked meat? Or is this a reference to eating raw bush meat? Someone help me out!

Here's the Source if you want to read for yourself! Read more...

More to Love? (Or Hate)

This show was an experiment on many levels. The premise: an overweight bachelor and 20 or so overweight bachelorettes attempt to find love in the typical alcohol-filled elimination-game setting. Is society ready to see several overweight people fall in love? This show will apparently answer that question.

I watched the first episode on Hulu this morning- meaning that I didn’t have all the first night hype that many of these shows that people regularly follow have. I also skipped commercials which meant that I didn’t have as much anticipation. Now…my reaction is as follows:

Decent show but I have a lot of issues with some of the way the women were portrayed and how they portrayed themselves.

ISSUES:

-Where did they find these women? Cry babies anonymous? When you watch shows such as the Bachelor (what this show is essentially modeled after) the women are confident and know they are worthy of this man. This show--- not so much. So much crying and whining about how they never felt loved and never had a date or been kissed and all of it was due to their weight. I personally didn’t notice one woman who was happy with her body and happy with the way her life was going… Not to be racist or feed into stereotypes…but they should have had some of my fellow sistas on there! I personally hate my size and want to lose weight but some of the women I see down here LOVE their bodies and are HAPPY. They dress well and carry their weight well…they are not sloppy. Which brings me to my next point.

- What the hell are these chicks wearing? I saw so many bras and bra straps. There is a certain way to dress for your body and these women do not know it. No one can wear EVERYTHING. You’ve got no boobs? Cant wear a halter top! My problem, at my skinniest, was that my hip and rib bones protruded- even as a skinny girl I had to worry about what I wore!!… Some of these girls… come on! Some dresses were like two sizes too small and made some of the girls have like 14 different muffin tops peeking out. You should essentially be able to wear whatever you want…but if you do…make sure that your its and bits aren't showing (underwear, areas of skin that aren't meant to be shown with that outfit, privates...) These were BEAUTIFUL girls packing themselves into ill-fitting dresses. Come on now...



- Some of the first things out of the girls’ mouths while meeting this man are “What do you like to eat?!” …There’s nothing totally wrong with this…I just thought it was interesting. Not…do you speak any languages? Where do you work? Do you like puppies?

- The show, similar to the other ones, places the girls name and their occupation under them. In addition this show thought it important to put the girls’ heights and weights on as well. Now…I don’t know what’s up with their scales…but…uh…. Well you watch the clip and you decide..

- One other thing…a lot of them women were crying and going on about how people judge them immediately based on their size and don’t give them a chance or try to get to know them. Then a couple of seconds later… "they’d rather have the skinny bitches”. So, let me get this straight, you want someone to treat you with respect regardless of your size but you can so quickly dismiss someone else and judge them because they are a different size? Please…

POSITIVITY:

Uh..there’s not much. They did find some interesting women but most are unhappy with their weights. I think it is good for society to get more used to seeing normal sized and larger people on t.v. instead of brainwashing us into thinking that everyone should be a size 0. Is it good for us to get TOO comfortable with obesity? Who knows… It’s definitely not good for us to see anorexic and sickly people all the time...

THOUGHTS/SPINS:

I wonder why they did a large man searching for love with large women. If I was a t.v. exec- I would have made bank on this! This would have been my set up. In the hills of Hollywood there are two adjacent houses. In one house, Jason, a gorgeous and very muscular architect is searching for a beautiful woman to spend his life with. In the next, Vanessa, a beautiful and athletic exec also begins her own quest for love. The catch? Both of them prefer the love of a curvier significant other. That would be interesting! Two shows for the price of one!
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Gonna do my best to keep up with this show and see how it goes. I'm sure...like all of the rest...whatever marriage happens at the end will fall through quickly after but its always interesting to watch the train wreck as it goes.

To the women... GROW SOME BALLS! Stop crying!

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*Highlights* - PUMP IT!!!

So I'm looking to joining a gym. Really about time I did that.

A friend of mine suggested the 24 Hour Fitness gyms. Derek Jeter partnered up with 24 Hour Fitness and opened up a few spots in NYC. The newest one should have opened up this past Friday in the SoHo area but it got pushed back to sometime next week. Patience...patience...

I went to a different 24 Hour Fitness location instead to check out their set up and see if I want to shell out the money there or back at the Houston Street YMCA (which is hella expensive, too...almost a G a year.). And you know what? I like it! I really really like it!

I like that most of that facility is above ground. At the Y, everything was in the basement. I like my windows and I don't like feeling confined. The machines are good. They have a mat area and punching bag. The showers are nice. The lockers...like WOW. The lockers are awesome!!! My friend who is already a member, she really enjoys the personal training sessions. She even said that her experience with the trainer was the highlight of her gym experience. I hope they have a pool. That's pretty key to my decision.

24 Hour Fitness is an international gym and there are locations in a lot of states and right now there is a 7-Day FREE TRIAL!!! CHECK IT OUT!!! I mean it's free. What's there to lose except a few pounds?

YAY for good gyms!!!


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Almost a Woman

15 (almost 16)


That's when I lost it. When I was younger…I was pretty hard on myself. I figured I’d never get married or be in love…who could love me? I felt ugly, too skinny (definitely not a problem now!), and just overall…I didn’t see much potential in myself. Thus…I didn’t value myself and my gifts; my virginity was not something I held in high accord nor cared about.

In fact, when I moved to Georgia, I thought even less of it. My middle school was a hotbed for horny kids. Once…in my science class (by far the horniest class I had) these two kids ran to the back before the teacher was in class. We had 5 rows of normal desks and then in the back back of the classroom, there were the taller lab desks (5 rows again). These two kids had SEX back there without the teacher realizing. Kids were always getting caught in bathrooms and closets…just disgusting. Well…I remember stating matter-of-factly to some friends that I had not ever had sex or done anything. The next day…guys that I had NEVER spoken to were in my face flirting/asking me to be their girlfriend. I liked the attention at first…until I realized why. Rumors of my virginity up for grabs… It got to the point of harassment. This one guy would try to rub up my legs in my EIGHTH GRADE science class. It made me so uncomfortable. No matter how many times I said stop or slapped his hands…there they were trying to creep up my thighs. Yuck. I started to hate being a virgin…it was like a scarlet letter. Here I am…pure and innocent…and I’M the outsider…what the hell?!

So two years later...I’m back in North Carolina (living with dad again) and have been dating this guy for awhile. I didn’t like him…at all really…he was just the best friend of my best friends’ boyfriend. Convenience. They were older than us…so we had rides and access to alcohol (beer’s nasty…lol) so we kept them around. Plus...how cool is it to brag about having a boyfriend that's not in high school when you're 15 (now that I look back...ew...)? He started pressuring me shortly into the relationship. Ugh I thought…here we go again. I have to admit…I was curious about sex. I had not discovered masturbating yet (though it would have saved me a lot of trouble…). I had not watched porn yet. So I definitely wanted to see what was up- what all those kids in Georgia were so hyped about. After a year of him bugging me I literally said fuck it and gave it up. It was TERRIBLE lol. I watched t.v. during it. He was just…lame. I’m not sure he really took my virginity at all but, whatever. And YES we used protection.

Though it was a dumb and stupid reason to lose it…I don’t regret losing it at that time or anything like that. I didn’t cry or mark the day in my diary. I didn’t throw a parade. It didn’t (and still doesn’t) mean anything to me. I’m still skeptical about being in love (its more pain than its worth) and I still don’t value the little things (1 month anniversary…place we met etc etc). I’m just not that kind of girl. If I could do it all over again…would I do it the same? Nah…there was this much better guy later on down the road.



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Uh...What is ALL THAT down there???

GROSS!!! One of the few times I'm NOT 110% proud to be a New Yorker. According to a study last year, more than 1 in 4 New Yorkers have HERPES. Not the innocent mouth one you get from kissing your parents and sharing a soda with your BFF. I mean the YUCKY one that pops up all over your junk. The ones that make your ish a Hot Zone with that ill burn.

Son. You nasty.



Scariest part of that study though, more than 80% of the people infected don't even know they have The Herps. This goes for a lot of other STIs, too, like HIV. Which is why I give every guy at the clubs the side eye. Do YOU have something?!

Son. You don't even KNOW you're nasty.

Like the father-in-law said in The Hangover,
"What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. Except herpes. That shit stays with you."

8th grade health class was really scary. First, that was when I learned exactly WHERE things are supposed to go to make a baby. (Yes, I didn't fully understand 'til 13. Much more innocent times then.) Second, the pictures the teacher showed us of gonorrhea, genital warts, etc. REALLY F'd me up in the head. That stuff was NASTY. I won't post those pics up here but holla at the links. (O geez. I almost threw up looking them up.) And folks, Crabs are actually pubic lice. If you have them, it means you are DIRTY.

Ok. So what do you do if people don't even know they have any STIs (sexually transmitted infections) until the symptoms start coming in?

CONDOMS, people. WRAP it up. THEN get down.

As appealing as raw doggin' it can be, I have to REALLY trust the person and I would have to be ready for that baby. Ain't love a person like that yet.

TRUST is more than being ok with hearing "O baby, I'm clean." I need to see the test results. Yes. PLEASE GET TESTED. Symptoms aren't always apparent so get tested regularly. And don't skimp when you go in. If you tryna ball, go for the works. Get the blood work done. Get ya swab on. This goes for all the gents AND the ladies. No one is immune.

People, condoms don't work 100% of the time. They break. Some jizz can jump the wall even if they don't break. So if you're not ready to infect someone with your seed or if you don't want to be infected with someone's seed, then take some extra precautions. NO. I do NOT mean double cap Jimmy. That makes the condom tear. I mean, use other methods of birth control in conjunction with a condom. Spermicide. The Pill. The Shot. The Patch. Get vaccinated. There are others as well.

For those of you think "O well I don't let them hit. I just go down on them." News to you: STIs don't stay down there. You can gonorrhea up your face. Genital warts can appear on your face, too, and pretty much anywhere else if that's where the infested genitals touched. Condoms. Dental Dams. Be safe, folks. Some things out there can really mess you up for life.

And if you find yourself with something, there is a sure fire thing that helps stop the spread. It's called the RESPONSIBILITY PILL. Take it. It means, call up people you messed around with and let them know that you have something and they should get tested, too. Difficult calls, I'm sure. But, it's the right thing to do.

Personal choice: I need to see RECENT STI test results before anyone can put it on me.

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Bee Afraid!

Imagine...you are strolling along listening to your Ipod (Zune if you're a rebel!!!) when all of a sudden you see a 6'1 black woman running at you and screaming for her life...the look of fear in her eyes very real...and very scary....What would you do?

This was the scene Saturday, many different times, as wasps and yellow jackets chased me all over Six Flags Over Georgia.

I don't know why I'm so afraid of bees (and spiders...)... I have only been stung once in my life...and I didn't even know I was stung initially. Someone had to tell me a bee was stuck to my shirt and when I went to the Nurse...she couldn't find a stinger but there was a raised red area. Every since then though... I will run like a machete wielding crazy is chasing me down the street. I have even...and I'm ashamed to admit this...run out into oncoming traffic.

THEY FOLLOW ME TOO!! What the hell!!! Like...I'll walk a few feet away...and the bee will follow. Heartbeat begins to increase and my face gets hot....A few more steps a different way...still following me. Eyes widen...breathing speeds up...I take many more steps a different way...and the bee attempts to land on me. That's when I freak! I have nightmares about bees...where I'm being covered by them and they just wont stop stinging me. I wake up in cold sweats...My fear has changed my life in many ways. I tend to stay in the house during the spring and summer months. I will never have a garden (though I desperately want one...) nor will I have fruit trees or plants in my yard. I cannot wear floral perfumes and try to avoid bright flowery colors in my wardrobe.

I need therapy.... I really do. My fear of bees and spiders has really begun to affect me. For instance...one night...I saw this huge spider crawling up my wall. I knocked it down...and it just ran back up faster. I jumped up...turned the light on and there it was staring at me. I took off running across the hall and beat on my brothers' door...scaring the shit out of him. He thought a burglar was in the house! He comes barreling out of his room with a baseball bat in hand. Imagine how pissed he was when he found out that I was freaking out about a spider... and how even MORE pissed he was when we both realized the spider was simply a figment of my imagination. I had dreamt that scenario...but it felt so real that I actually woke up and really woke my brother up... I think I'm crazy.

And Saturday...at Six Flags? Please...I can't even tell you how many nervous breakdowns I almost had. The worst (and most embarrassing one) happened in a very cramped line where there were at least 150 people near me. I was already freaking out because there was a tiny wasps nest being built above my head and there were two or three wasps flying back and forth. They were staying up pretty high though...but I would not take my eyes off of them. All of a sudden...out of the corner of my eye...I see a large flying object heading towards me and then feel it land on my hand. My purse...water bottle...phone all go flying and I let out this horrible scream. Everyone looks at me and when I look down...its not a bee...its a huge (and pretty) dragon fly!!!! Some guy bends down and gives me the dirtiest look and says "You killed it!!!!!" and I hear some "awwws.." and people smacking their teeth at me. Some little girl says "why did she hurt it mommy? (tragic and cliche...I know...but wow...that shit really does happen!). I feel HORRIBLE! Luckily the dragonfly flipped itself over and flew away. That's when I knew I needed therapy...

I mean...I don't want to be totally oblivious (i.e. walking through tarantula pits naked or standing next to bee hives covered in honey) but I'd like to be able to lead a normal life...where I'm not constantly looking over my shoulder or scanning every bush/plant/tree for a damn bee or spider web...Help!






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*Hightlight* - Trimming the Bush to Make the Tree Look Taller

That is all...

5/5 Educational Value!


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MOOBS

LOL

Ok since this week's schedule seems to be a little out of wack with Memorial Day and all so forget a real entry...I'm going to just throw in a little something for all you MALE SOY LOVERS out there...

Do you see the title of this entry? YEAP

BEWARE OF ITS SIDE EFFECTS!!!

(Don't get me wrong...I love Asian tofu and most other soy products...yuck to soy drink/milk though)

Enjoy...

Remember: EVERY thing in moderation...

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