I Have Abandonment Issues....

HELLO CYBER UNIVERSE!

I know it's been a LOOONNNGGG time since I posted anything. Three whole years, in fact...

So...what can I talk about? Hmm...

How about all of the amazing stuff I did while I was gone?...Hmm...

Well...





















I taught some AMAZING kids...




















I graduated from Howard University...

Packed my bags, left DC, and went straight into grad school at NYU,

Performed Off-Off Broadway....

Met some AWESOME people....



















Became a model....

Picked up a gentleman caller...


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I could go on, but I don't have enough time or energy to continue this blog post.

So, yeah...I figured it's about time I started blogging again. Why not, right?

What harm could it do to express myself and allow millions of people to see what I've been doing?

I would say YOLO in light of that, but I hate that phrase...So I won't say it...

I just did. 

This isn't going well....

I'll leave before things get awkward.

TaTa for now....

Date Night: Disaster Gone Right

So, last night, I went out to the movies...

I'm not a frequent movie-goer (mainly because of financial limitations) but when I do go to the movies, I make a big deal out of it. So, I took two of my closest friends and went out for a girl's night.

The movie that we ended up seeing was Date Movie. I was originally going to go see Death at a Funeral, but I thank God that we showed up late, because (only depending on the reviews my other friends gave about the movie...and I totally value my friends' opinions...) I would have probably spent the whole time in the movie theater complaining about how bad the movie was before I walked out.

But, luckily I ended up catching Date Movie, just missing the first 2 minutes, which is cool because the first two minutes were all opening titles and credits anyway. But I digress...

I wanted to talk about the genius of this movie.

So this movie stars Steve Carell and Tina Fey as a "boring married couple from New Jersey" who, on their "date night," have a case of mistaken identity that leads to a Bourne Identity-esque dangerous adventure that, inevitably, deepens their relationship and brings the "spark" back into their lives.

I have been a fan of Steve Carell since The 40-Year-Old Virgin, and he had made me an even bigger fan with Evan Almighty. And Tina Fey stole my heart when she did that spot-on Sarah Palin impression on Saturday Night Live a couple of years back.

So, I was expecting nothing short of a gut-busting, laugh-out-loud comedy.

And honestly, I was more than satisfied with this movie. Pairing Steve Carell's dorkiness and Tina Fey's quick-witted sarcasm was a match made in heaven. It was hard trying to contain my urge to fall out in laughter, particularly during (I'm not trying not to give away the plot here) their pole-dancing performance in front of a large audience in a "dark and seedy" NYC strip club. (yeah, it gets that crazy...)

Some honorable mentions: That 70's Show's Mila Kunis and James Franco make a random, quirky, and almost disturbing appearence as a con-artist couple on the run from the law.

Also, be ready (my Howard people) to recieve some golden treasure nuggets for the eyes. (Yeah, I said golden treasure nuggets because I was pleasantly surprised...)

Taraji P. Henson, Howard U Fine Arts Alum, makes a very believable appearance as a no-holds-barred Head Detective in the NYPD. Not only that, but (my favorite rapper in the whole world) Common also makes an appearence as a crooked cop, along with comedian JB Smoove as a cabbie who gets caught in the crosshairs of Fey and Carell's adventure.

What's so great about Date Night is that this is not just the kind of movie to watch on the first date; married couples will find the humor in this too. This movie does not just make you laugh, it also makes you think about the worth of your closest relationships.

And although this movie debuted in the second-place spot at the box office behind historical-action thriller Clash of the Titans, I still definitely believe that it is a movie worth seeing, and I fully recommend others to see it. Second place is nothing to sneeze at.

My #1 Movie Pick for the Summer: Predictions, Expectations, and Concerns

Hello, everyone! It's Bee the Drama Queen!!!

So today, I wanted to talk about the one movie that I'm just DYYING to see this summer...

The Last Airbender!!!!! YAAAYYY!!!

Why? Because I am a HUGE fan of the Nickelodeon-produced TV Series, "Avatar: The Last Airbender." It was this series that spawned the idea for this movie.

And the fact that M. Night Shyamalan, creator of such awesome films as: Signs and The Sixth Sense has his hand in this doesn't hurt either.

"The Last Airbender" tells the story of 10-year-old Aang, the chosen "Avatar." (No, not talking about James Cameron, the title stealer...) As the Avatar, Aang's job is to bring peace to a war-torn ancient Asian-inspired world, split into nations by the four elements: Earth, Water, Fire, and Air.

I am definitely expecting this movie to do the same for me as the TV series.

"Avatar: TLA" not only entertained me, but it excited me as well. Every episode made my heart pound as if I were watching a Bourne movie, made me laugh as if I were watching a sitcom, and, yes, ladies and gents...even made me shed a tear or two. And because so many people think the same way as I do about the series and the movie, I predict that this movie will probably be #1 in the box office within the first few weeks of its release. I know it sounds a bit rash, but this movie may even stay on top for a whole month.

But I do have some concerns...

Is it just me, or are Sokka and Katara looking a bit...pale?

In the TV series, the characters of Katara and Sokka were based on the Eskimos of the North and South Pole, so they had some color in their skin. I definitely did not expect two very pale children to play the live-action versions of these characters of color. Frankly, I'm disappointed. I believe that if they were to choose these young actors, they could have at least tanned their skin a little bit. While some critics emphasize that skin color shouldn't matter, to me, it does. I believe that to keep the inspiration behind the story, they should have at the very least been tanned.

I mean, they have Dev Patel, star of Slumdog Millionaire, playing Zuko, for crying out loud. Patel is dark-skinned, but in the series, Zuko was pale...it's all backwards to me! But, I digress...

Honestly, it seems to me that the Hollywood casting has definitely made the creators compromise as it relates to issues like this. But that's the way this world works, right? Sacrifices must be made, and things must change...

Despite this controversy, I will respect their decisions, and I will still be at the movie theater the day of the release, waiting in line with the rest of the "Avatar" (no, not yours, James Cameron!) fans and watching to my hearts content.

Teen Dramas: How Much is Too Much??

Ok, so another idea struck me...I want to talk about teen dramas. Why?

Because at one point in my life, I fell victim to at least one teen drama in my life. My faves were: Degrassi, Instant Star (RIP), and the occasional episode of Gossip Girl.

Every night, I was "glued to the tube" so to speak....and I remember having to fight my little brother and sister (and sometimes my mom) for the remote whenever my favorite show came on.

It seems that nowadays, more and more teen soaps are popping up on every network...

Shows like The Vampire Diaries on the CW (made exclusively for Twilight fanatics) and Glee (made exclusively for High School Musical fans and Theater geeks, like myself...) on Fox are sprouting limbs and running all over the top spot when it comes to ratings.

I can't help but think though...are writers of these uber-popular dramas "pushing the envelope" too much?

I mean, don't get me wrong. I like drama as much as the next chick (hence my blog name) but sometimes, I find myself flinching and pulling an ugly face or two when I see teens engaging in activities that I definitely was not allowed to even think about.

Looking as far back as the 1990's, the typical teen drama always touches on relatively controversial issues, that include: sex, drug use, abuse, homosexuality, teenage pregnancy, suicide....I mean, I could go on.

I definitely pay homage to the teen soaps that paved the way, like Beverly Hills 90210 and Party of Five...and how could I forget Dawson's Creek?

I remember being alive when Jennifer Love Hewitt, Katie Holmes, and Tori Spelling were the most popular girls in high school, and I often fantasized about my own high school experience. I spent many a night praying that one day, I could have an awesome life just like them.

Unfortunately, that was not the case....but I digress.

It was these dramas that introduced a whole new era of prime-time television. But now, I find that teenagers are getting more and more desynsitized to this kind of behavior. In fact, after talking to my little sister about it, I found out that because of their admiration and slight obsessions of the shows, she sees more and more of her classmates adapting some of the same attitudes and thoughts as the rebellious characters...indirectly because they imitate what they see on their favorite shows.

To me, that's sad, and it makes me think. Although these shows have positive messages at the end (like PSAs and such), it seems as though they are pushing too far for the message to be heard, and actually harming, and not helping teenagers deal with these issues.

So, is this too much? I'll let you decide...but honestly, it wouldn't hurt for the networks to tone down a bit.

Debut Blog: Good Cartoons, Bad Decisions

Hey everyone! This is my first blog ever! I'm sooo excited to be sharing with you the ins and outs of what's going on in the Film, TV, and Theater world, and my thoughts about it.

So, I have a little brother and sister, who are 12 and 14, respectively. Even though they are officially "teenagers," I still find that they are not too old to watch cartoons (even though they claim to be), and to be perfectly honest, neither am I. So, because of that, I've decided to dedicate my first entry to them, and talk about some of their favorite programs on TV.

After I did my little bit of research about the programs that interest my younger siblings, I found out some things about their favorite TV station, Cartoon Network....Unfortunately, these things are kinda sad and disappointing. So, I'm sorry, you guys, but you deserve to know. Here's what I've discovered:

Cartoon Network is cancelling some of their most popular cartoon programs to make room for more "Real" programs.

According to The Daily Cartoonist, a blog about the ins and outs of all things cartoon, some of the kid-oriented cartoon programs in Cartoon Network's line-up are being cancelled to make room for tween-targeted "reality" shows. The main reason? Budget cuts. The "Real" programs, apparently, are cheaper to film and produce.

For instance, Chowder, an off-beat, but quite funny show about a young, chubby apprentice chef who is studying the culinary arts under the tutelege of famed chef Mung Daal, has halted production on all new episodes after only three years and three seasons in production. It now only airs reruns during the late morning hours---basically, when the intended audience is out at school, and after the peak of prime time--basically, when the intended audience is already in bed. And pretty soon, the show will cease to air altogether.

Yeah...This glorious thing? Never happening again.

In its place, shows that feature real kids and teens doing "extraordinary" things, like Destroy! Build! Destroy! (which is totally a rip-off of some show I saw on Discovery Kids some years ago) and Dude, What Would Happen? (which is--again--a rip-off of MTV's Jackass) are taking over the prime-time slot.

Unfortunately, this is not the first time that Cartoon Network has cancelled potentially good shows for the sake of new or different programming.

Do you remember, Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends? Or how about Kids Next Door? Let's go further back. How about Dexter's Labratory, Cow and Chicken, Courage the Cowardly Dog, Johnny Bravo, or The Powerpuff Girls?

I can still watch some of these programs on their sister channel Boomerang (unfortunately, those who only have basic cable don't stand a chance in even dreaming about seeing these shows again...), but still, wouldn't you have liked to see at least one new episode of your favorite show from back in the day? I know I would've.

So, sorry bro and sis...but in a few years, Chowder is going to be added to the long list of programs on this network that were good, but had to go.