Black Tie Lounge

I was determined to do absolutely nothing all day but I got the urge to blog since I've never blogged on Christmas day since having this. I finished wrapping all my presents at 3AM Christmas morning, mostly because I left the house to celebrate with some friends for a couple of hours. A night filled with old friends, strawberry and peach daquaries, spades, and just being a straight up clown. One thing about Christmas that I find annoying but I'd complain if people stop all together are the Merry Christmas text messages. I get over 30 of them throughout the day. What is crazy to me are the numbers that come up that I don't recognize. Like I said, they are annoying but if people did not do it, I'd be a little ticked. Another thing, I got txt messages and saw Facebook status saying Merry Christmas Eve. Huh? Who says that? I'm sorry, but I didn't get the e-mail on that one. As I get older, Christmas is more about being with good people than it is about gifts. Gi...

This past fall, I lended some writing support to a minister named Bagu, originially from the Democratic Republic of Congo and now living in Philadelphia, who has a vision to rescue African civilians in the Democratic Republic of Congo from the conflicts that have devasted the land and killed millions of people over the years. Out of his heart was birthed the Central African Parternship that will serve to rescue refugees from the DRC, provide evangelism and discipleship, and teach the refugees how to farm and build sustainable communities. Interviewing Bagu really caused me to look deeper into what was going on in Central Africa. As a media and marketing professional, I find it strange that the conflicts in this area are hardly publicized in the U.S. None the less, I thought I'd bring my readers up to speed and share something different. Check out the CAP website and read more about Bagu. You can read about how the minister rescued his family and several other refugees during an a...

I'm starting to really dig Talentzoo.com . This article really encouraged me. I'll be back later.

Sometimes it's what you don't say that can get you in an interview. I got a call from KT this morning and I was told that I wasn't a good fit. That's ok. Honestly, I asked God to close the door on opportunities that weren't for me. Apparently I made myself look more like a brand planner than an account manager. That's understandable because I did a lot of brand planning work in my last job. The team saw my passion but apparently it was in the wrong place. I'm not too upset about it. Gotta keep it moving.

I just knew that I would not like Weber or KTG. Even though I could have called off both interviews and stayed in bed all day, I got up early Wednesday morning and hopped on the Megabus to NYC. (With Megabus you can travel from DC to NY and back for under $30). Turns out the opening with Weber is in a practice area that I would love. I may even get placed with a client that I have experience working with. That definitely changed my perspective about it. KTG is really popular for it's work with Wendy's, Afflac, and Trojan. It's a smaller agency and will afford me the opportunity to gain tremendous amounts of exposure in terms of account leadership. Now I don't know what I really want. Both offers pay the same and there is no guarantee that the DC job will work on my watch. I called my former advisor to see what he thought and he said, "You have some pretty good problems on your hands." I got snowed in for the majority of the weekend. While listening to One Repu...

I found this on one of my buddy's AIM profile. Check out Clients from Hell .

I've been playing Donny Hathaway's Someday We'll All Be Free throughout the evening. I'm in that sorta mood where I'm reminding myself how bomb I really am. I'm reminding myself how my dreams are right around the corner and how I haven't knocked the hustle out completely. I have a few new developments on the job front. I have an interview at Weber Shandwick in NYC. I got a call from an ad agency I interviewed with previously and they have an opening on one of their account teams. The product deals with women's sexual health. Yes there was a serious smirk on my face. I also found a job with DC Public Schools which is completely up my alley. We'll see what comes of what. I figured that I am entitled to see how each interview goes. Here's something to chew on if you need motivation .

Raphael Saadiq performed at the 930 club last night. Here are some pics. I was lucky enough to catch a video before the concert marshall caught me.

I finished the P90X Ab Ripper. I've been more dedicated to staying shape these past few months and since I'm getting older I intend to keep it that way. It feels good. A few days I was reminded of a poem that I read some odd years ago at a large group gathering for the Impact Movement . The poem was entitled Risks by William Arthur Ward and it fit neatly into a message I gave on taking risks. Thought I'd share it with you and motivate myself as I review it. To laugh is to risk appearing a fool, To weep is to risk appearing sentimental. To reach out to another is to risk involvement, To expose feelings is to risk exposing your true self. To place your ideas and dreams before a crowd is to risk their loss. To love is to risk not being loved in return, To live is to risk dying, To hope is to risk despair, To try is to risk failure. But risks must be taken because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing. The person who risks nothing, does nothing, has nothing, is nothin...

I was talking to a friend about hip hop and the many references to Illuminati and the New World Order (NWO). Curious to see what I could find, I turned to YouTube. Maybe not the best source but it's a start. I don't claim to trust every source. I'm also very familiar with framing and how an individual can ultimately find the facts to support their argument regardless if it is fair and balanced. Long story short I stumbled across this 8-part series entitled Hip Hop & Freemasonry: Culture Creation and the Shape of Things to Come . After watching it the connections that it made were striking. This definitely calls for some digging on my part. Check it out and let's talk people. P.S. Regardless of how you feel about the wikipedia links lets use this information to begin a conversation.

Today was the final day of training for my new job at the Youth Center. This is a training course I've been through a total of 3 times now. I don't wish to explain why, but check this: I actually walked away with something profound. The theme was "World Class Customer Service," which is the MCCS philosophy. We were completing the first module on attitude and I wanted to share this snippet of something written by Charles Swindoll , a noteable pastor . The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitue we will embrace for that day. We cannont change our past. . . we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannont change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. . . I am conviced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you . . . we are in charge of our "ATTITUDES." I ended up getting something out of the training s...

Another day and another move. I touched base with the PR firm I interviewed with earlier last month to find out that I'm not a fit. This means that I'll be home for a little bit longer than I thought. This also means that I won't be in the city as soon as I expected. A little heated about that but it is what it is. I took a moment then I bounced back. Lucky for me, I'm finding more openings at agencies that weren't hiring previously. I've committed myself to keeping up with the Account Activity section in Adweek . Looks like some agencies I've become familiar with are about to win some accoutns that I wouldn't mind working with. This is nice. To my credit, I get some more time to put things in order where I am. I've gotten a few offers to do some grant research, so that is exciting. I took a job with a youth center--one I previously worked for. I'm not exactly thrilled about it but at least my mentoring, project management, and creative skills wi...

If you don't know or never realized, this it is high time that you understand that you cannot be an ugly somebody and think that you will make it into an advertising or public relations agency. I guess that is one point for me because I do very well in the looks department. So tell me, do looks matter much in business?