Category: Random News

Whitney Houston Dead – Saturday, February 11, 2012

Published on by Sydney Aaliyah Michelle1 Comment

Whitney Houston Dead - Saturday, February 11, 2012

I was debating whether to write anything about her on my blog because honestly in the last few years, she has been as wheels off as they come.  Every body and their grandma are posting and blogging about her on FB and Twitter.  It just seems a little hypocritical that now EVERYONE has something great to say about her.  When she was talking about “crack is whack” no one was talking about what a great influence she was on them then.   And, due to the fact that she died the night before the Grammy’s, if an artist wins, are they obligated to say something about her.   Just because she died yesterday, now she has to be a part of Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech.  Forced much!

But, then I though that I do have some favorable Whitney moments that I would like to share because no matter what has happen in her life, doesn’t change these moments for me.
“I Have Nothing” from the Bodyguard Soundtrack is my all time favorite Whitney song. I love to sing that song and am humbled by her ability to hit all the different notes in that song.
“I’m Every Women” her remake of the Chaka Khan hit was my New Orleans Anthem. It was the soundtrack to my life in NOLA and always makes me smile.

One thing I loved about that show, “Being Bobby Brown” was how they would always randomly break out into song. It is how I imagine someone who is addicted to the physical act of of sing would do. I do it too. It is that oral fixation thing working. The difference between her and I is that she could actually sing.
So, RIP Whitney. I will remember you for your great moments.

Why people on the internet are delusional!

Published on by Sydney Aaliyah MichelleLeave a comment

I am doing my normal internet reads today. I start with twitter and am entertained by the people I follow. My favorites are all the tattoos that are posted by some of the best tattoo artist in the world. In addition, it is way to keep track of what my friends and fam are doing on a daily bases.

Next I head over to The Facebook (I really like the original name) for more indepth look at where people are doing and what they are ranting about today. One friend has an interesting exchange with another friend about the difference between disrespect and racism. Another friend also posted some anti Obama administration rhetoric which is annoying, but not all together inappropriate. I know these people and know their views and it is my decision to be friends with them, so it is all good.

Next I check emails, personal before work. Priorities!! Read my daily offering, add them to my mental wish list like the 5 day trip to Paris on Living Social or those cute Jimmy Choo sandles on Rue La La. Then check out work emails, just a quick scim. Take care of anything I can take care of quickly. Then I am on Yahoo.com for my news. Read complete stories that interest me like today there was an interesting item regarding Facebooks investors and them going IPO. Thought is was very interesting that Mark Z will retain 28.2% of the company. Why is it so important to include the .2%, why not round it up? Well that .2% is projected to represent over $200 million dollars. It is all relative.

The last thing I do is a google search on whatever I happen to be obsessed with at the moment. It can range from self publishing to tattoos (big surprise there) to restaurants I want to eat at to the people who I want to know. It is usually among these searches that I discover more examples of why people on the internet are “delusional.”

It occurs when a person holds a conversation with the virtual world and spits out their opinion on people and/or place that they have never meet/been to or seen. I am not talking about blogs or post, I am talking about the comments that follow after. I won’t link to the specific article, but you can google it yourself if you are so inclined.

My latest obsession is Michael Voltaggio. They are replaying season 6 of Top Chef. He recently opened a much anticipated restaurant in LA called ink. and I am excited to try it.

Now, I do a google search to see if he is still married and how his kids are doing since it was mentioned very briefly in his Wikipedia page that he was recently divorced. Innocent search, Is Michael Voltaggio married? It took me to a chat sit where people had a conversation about this very subject. He is married, he is separated, he is divorced, she lives in Florida with the girls. Then it turned into, he is an arrogant ass who cares more about his career then his family, she supported him and now that he is successful, he dumped her, he went on top chef and she cheated on him, but he probably cheated on her. She is a saint who worked as a nanny to support him and his daughters and was verbally abused during the marriage of 10 years. It just went on and on.

I am readying all of this and then I discover that the person who is fueling all this negativity is the wife’s sister. What in the world? What was she trying to prove? What did she hope to accomplish? It all seemed so bizarre that a person would even waste her time to go on this random chat site to defend her own sister from the opinions of virtual strangers. It is delusional that she would every dignify that ridiculousness by responding.

And, what about her sisters privacy and her nieces who don’t need help from auntie to create an impression on their own father. Now, don’t get me wrong. I am all about standing up for what you believe in and the internet gives people that opportunity to do that, but let’s keep in perspective people. I can go on and on about people I don’t know and give my opinions on people I have never meet. I try to keep it positive, but I just don’t find it even necessary to try and defend people I do know because no one is every going to have the perception of that person the way I have.

I have a friend who is famous and I know him very well. Very close to him and his family. During a time in his life, he did something that he wasn’t proud of and fully admitted that to us, his family. But, when the general public made their opinion known about what he did thought television, internet and radio. It would just pist me off. They all had this opinion of him that was so far off base. I want to call in and let the world know that they were wrong about him. But, I couldn’t do that. It would not have been appropriate. In defending him I would have had to make public a relationship and a family that I hold dear to my heart and it was not worth it. It didn’t matter what others thought of him because it had no effect on how I feel about him or what kind of person he is.

So, my message to Keri Adam’s and her sister, take care of yourselves. The opinions on the internet don’t mean shit in your day to day life.

For those who think they will change the world by spouting your opinion on a random chat site or comment on everything your read, create, write, share something original and see how you feel when random people comment on it. If it is positive, it makes you feel good, but if it is negative let me know how it makes you feel.

For me, my goal for 2012 was to maintain PMA – Positive Mental Attitude. It is a constant work in progress. I know that my little blog will not change the world. My only hope is that i can continue to offers people a glimpse into what makes me happy and it’s a bonus to me if it makes you happy, too.

THE MOST F—ED UP THING I HAVE SEEN IN A LONG TIME!

Published on by Sydney Aaliyah MichelleLeave a comment

I am not even going to post a link to it and if you want to look at it, you are just as sick as these parents. No, not really. I saw it. It isn’t as bad as the actually story is. But, there is a story trending on Yahoo that says the parents at a high school pep rally organized a practical joke on the students.

All the senior sports captains were blind folded and told they would be kissed by someone special. The someone special turned out to be their parent. Some of them appeared to get into it as well. One mom put her sons hand on her ass. One dad cradled his daughters face and the kiss lasted an inappropriate amount of time. Another parent and kid were rolling around on the ground.

Is that not the most F—-ed up thing you have ever heard or seen in a long time.

White people are crazy!!!!!!!!!

The Culture of Greatness

Published on by Sydney Aaliyah MichelleLeave a comment

It’s the most important thing a leader can do because culture drives behavior, behavior drives habits and habits create the future. As the leaders at Apple say, “Culture beats strategy all day long.”

When you create a culture of greatness you create a collective mindset in your organization that expects great things to happen-even during challenging times. You expect your people to be their best, you make it a priority to coach them to be their best and most of all you create a work environment that fuels them to be their best.

A culture of greatness creates an expectation that everyone in the organization be committed to excellence. It requires leaders and managers to put the right people in the right positions where they are humble and hungry and willing to work harder them everyone else. A culture of greatness dictates that each person use their gifts and strengths to serve the purpose and mission of the organization. And it means that you don’t just bring in the best people, but you also bring out the best in your people. If you are thinking that this sounds like common sense, it is. But unfortunately far too many organizations expect their people to be their best but they don’t invest their time and energy to help them be their best nor do they create an environment that is conducive to success. They want great results but they are not willing to do what it takes to create a culture of greatness.

A culture of greatness requires that you find the right people that fit your culture. Then you coach them, develop them, mentor them, train them and empower them to do what they do best. As part of this process you develop positive leaders who share positive energy throughout the organization because positive energy flows from the top down. You also don’t allow negativity to sabotage the moral, performance and success or your organization. You deal with negativity at the cultural level so your people can spend their time focusing on their work instead of fighting energy vampires. And you find countless ways to enhance communication, build trust and create engaged relationships that are the foundation upon which winning teams are built.

If creating a culture of greatness sounds like a lot of work, it is, but not as much work as dealing with the crises, problems and challenges associated with negative, dysfunctional and sub-par cultures. While most organizations waste a lot of time putting out fires you can spend your time building a great organization that rises above the competition.

  • My boss/friend sent me this and it is really great.  She didn’t write it, but we will she if she follows it.   In every endeavor I wish to uphold “The Culture of Greatness.”