Monday, March 23, 2009

Happy Monday everyone!

I hope everyone had a nice relaxing weekend; I know I did. With the exception of going to Annamaria's ridiculously fun SURPRISE birthday dinner/game night - I didn't do a damn thing! Felt good. I did, however, manage to get a bad nosebleed and headache last night. I was so out of it that the wonderful, thoughtful, amazing Anthony Otero (aka "Latinegro") generously agreed to guest blog for today. Show my boy some love!




Hello all! The Latino Negro will be taking over the Brooke Spot for today. This is my first guest blog so please write your comments in Spanish...(yeah right!)

For those of you who do not know, I am a Syracuse Alum. I also work at Syracuse University as an Assistant Director within Student Affairs and love what I do. Last semester, I had to deal with an issue with one of my students that I wasn't entirely ready to deal with. There was this site called Juicy Campus (it does not exist anymore), where anyone could post, anonymously, any rumor that they heard on any campus. So, essentially, you can log onto this site, pick a school and read these posts - or even create one. I guess if you are a teenager, it might be appealing to find out who the biggest whore is on campus or who's fraternity was the wackest (these were real posts).

So, I knew several students whose business was very much out there for the public to see. I have read some of these things, and my reaction was like...wow. How times have changed since I was a student! I mean, this isn't really funny when you think about how many people can read rumors about how good some girl is at giving head or if some guy has herpes. Just imagine how crazy would be if students on your campus read this, let alone people on another campus!

I remember when I started going to college, I thought that I was in a whole new situation. I wouldn't have to deal with the pettiness of high school - only to find out that it is ten times worse. People talk about each other like dogs! There is no shame in it!

Of course with black and brown people on a campus as small as Syracuse University, it is even worse! I have heard so many things about so many people; and I wont lie, it was fun to tell stories about this person or that person. However, it is NOT fun when YOU are that person being talked about. In the case of these students, I knew them - and whether or not what they did was true or not, it really is no one's business. I am one to believe that we all have the freedom to do what we want...and be as freaky as we want ;-)

Gossip is a hater's game. Only haters really gossip. Sure, we all like a good story about someone, but let's think about how much harm that does. For example, a hater will say that this girl is a ho. Does it matter if it is true? Maybe she likes sex...who are we to judge? Perhaps, the hater (male) was dissed and is getting none from her. Perhaps the hater (female) is jealous that this girl got it like that. Let's not forget that those who a point finger will always have 4 fingers pointing back at them.

One would think that perhaps after college we would not gossip, because after all, we are more mature, right? Well that is crap too. How many gossip magazines are out there? How many gossip shows and websites are out there? How many times do I have to hear about Jennifer Anniston, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie? It's crazy to think that we can tear each other down like this. But, when you look at the media (which I blame for many things), you can see how good we can get at it.

I bring all this up because I think that as we get older, we need to be aware of what is going on around us. Sites like Juicy Campus may be gone for now, but there are other sites popping up just like it. We all talk about how social networking sites like Facebook are wonderful - but we need to be aware of the downsides to social networking sites as well.

Granted, we are all adults here so I would assume we don't talk about each other... or do we?

- Latinegro

68 comments:

Brooke said...

Gossip doesn’t go away simply because we get older. You would think that it does, but hardly. In fact, in today’s world, gossip is a business - Celebrity Gossip that is.

I think the culture today is enhancing our desire to know everything and see everything. With tabloid magazines and tv shows, websites, etc. it seems like we are now society that permeates people’s personal spaces and lives with no regard to privacy or even facts. Like you said, we hardly care if what we read or see is even true anymore. How many times have we read People Mag, and then InTouch, and then US Weekly…only to see the same photo of our favorite celebrities with 3 different captions under each photo detailing a different scenario? One caption will say “body language signals break-up,” while the other caption reads “lovebirds out shopping for engagement rings.” It’s crazy! And it seems like magazines can get away with fabricating stories just to sell magazines with little to no ramifications at all. It’s the greatest illusion – to make us see what they want us to see. And we believe it.

YBF.com, TMZ.com, MediaTakeout.com – all of these sites are ridiculous. Sure, they provide hours of entertainment and help our day go by faster. But the sad thing about all this is that the media has tremendous power to influence a potentially unsuspecting audience. Most of us know better…or should. But there are a bunch of young people out there who are being duped, and live their lives based off the images and rumors and stories these media outlets put out there.

Now, as far as adults gossiping about each other – it’s silly. I know it happens, but hopefully maturity will dictate that as we know better, we’ll do better. That’s all we can hope for. I try to steer away from gossip at work, simply because the less I know the better. And I certainly don’t participate in it – because the person who is gossiping about someone else is most certainly gossiping about me too…so I keep my distance. On a personal level, most of my friends are mutual friends, so we’re all in each other’s business equally anyway. Not saying I’ve never participated in it on a personal level, but for the most part, if there’s something I don’t want anyone to know, I keep it completely to myself; and if I want to share, I share with everyone at the same time so that there’s no need for gossiping to take place.

Craig n 'em said...

Wait a minute, what are you saying??? Mediatakeout ain't true?

Anthony Otero said...

See, I wanted to bridge the gap between this and the comments about Brooke being a flirt. While I think it is innnocent remark...that remark can snowball into something big...

Brooke said...

LOL!! Nobody better be starting any rumors about me flirting! That's why I do all my flirting out in the open on my blog. I don't think I'm that good at flirting in person :-)

Craig, you read MediaTakeout? Where's Liz? :-)

Craig n 'em said...

I looooooooooove Mediatakeout!

Method Man is broke!

Chris Brown going to College!!!

Where else am I gonna see a random dude suckin' on a tittie in a club?

I learned the phrase 'SMH' on Mediatakeout!

And where else am I gonna learn how to do the "SKANKY LEG"?

Who the EDDIE F is Liz???

Brooke said...

Liz is EJackson on the blog comments silly! Maybe if you were CONSISTENT you'd know who everyone is! LOL!!

Craig n 'em said...

I know EJACK! I just don't know Liz...I think I just got my next blog...;-)

Anonymous said...

Brooke,

Thanks for my cheesecake IT's CRACK!!!!!!!!!!! And thanks for coming over on Saturday I was soo surprised & had soooo much fun.. Sorry you gys were in the dark for sooo long..lol
Gossip doesn't go away cause you get older. It's actually more annoying as you get older. Usually it's due to HATERS... You just gotta let it slide off your shoulders

Craig n 'em said...

ANAJOLIA!!!! ;-)

You're getting closer to squirting that weight out your belly...Give your Tazer a rest for the day. I had my SNOTTIE SHOTTIE cleaned out!

Is there anyone you want me to blast???

KAPOW!!! RIGHT IN THE ASSPANT!!!

Brooke said...

sidenote: Annamaria's bday party was a surprise, so her boo made everyone sneak in thru the basement and wait til he was ready to bring her downstairs. The guy in charge of bringing the balloons was AN HOUR late...so we were all downstairs in the dark waiting for him. Meanwhile, we hear Annamaria, her boo, and another couple singing the "Give me back my filet o' fish, gimme that fish" song having a grand ole time upstairs. We're in the dark (cuz we didn't know if they'd be able to see a glimmer of the light from the door if we turned on the light)...listening to them cut up upstairs. It was all worth it tho, cuz she was genuinely surprised... and I think a lil bit afraid :)

okay...back to gossip. I got a healthy dose of gossip from Annamaria's friends on Saturday, even though everyone who was gossiped about was present - so there was no backstabbing. I learned that some of her friends hide to watch porn and wore g-strings on the beach back in the day (MALE) and thought nothing was wrong with it...THEN :) LOL!!

Anthony Otero said...

Wow...well it sounds like you had fun! Yeah, my friends can be just as bad. I try not to give them information they can use...lol

Anonymous said...

LOL...Craig I'm at my halfway point. 20 more weeks to go and then munchkin is HERE...lol NOT putting the taser down though...lol
Saturday was ridiculous & yes I was genuinely surprised & SCARED. lol
And yes we all get together to gossip about each other to each other..LOL

Craig n 'em said...

Brooke is the BIGGEST FLIRT!!!

-I saw Brooke run towards a traffic officer, pleading not to give her a parking ticket...they chatted, Brooke was witty...she gave him the INFAMOUS Brooke head tilt and smile...This man had no defense for the "Brookeheadtiltandsmile"...She looked him in the eyes and said.."you delete those NUMBERS and I'll replace them with my DIGITS...(Brooke is smooth)..He cheesed, she gave him her number.....DELETE: No ticket!!!!...The happy traffic officer walks away...scratching his ass...

Thing is.........It wasn't even her car....Just so happen to be walking down fifth avenue....random ass car....She took the train that day...SMH...

PASS THIS ALONG, I'M SPREADING RUMORS!!!

Brooke said...

THAT WAS FUNNY AS HELL!!!

I WISH I had that power...TRUST ME - I'D USE IT!

oh, and somehow reading "squirting that weight out your belly" made me throw up a little bit in my mouth. Yuk Craig!!

Anonymous said...

That sounds like Brooke!!! She got SWAGGER! lol.

Anonymous said...

yeah I tried to ignore that part

Brooke said...

OMG!!!! See Ant, that's how rumors get started!

I remember this guy named Terrance told EVERYONE in my high school that I dunked during a game. The reason he did it was to get more people to come to the women's basketball games. So the next game, MAD people are there... waiting for me to dunk. I told everyone he was lying, but no one believed me! Needless to say, everyone still thinks I can dunk a basketball to this day. SMH. (that was for you Craig) lol

Craig n 'em said...

What's with all this throwing up in the mouth????

WTF is that???

Do you spit or swallow? Tell the truth!!!

Craig n 'em said...

LOL @ lying about dunking...great strategy....

Brooke said...

As Chris Rock said, "Spitters are quitters!" LOL!!

yeah, that rumor was crazy. Even my sister was like "Brooke can't dunk" but no one wanted to listen!

Craig n 'em said...

so you swallow...hmmmm...

Anthony Otero said...

"Look at all these rumors surroundin' me every day
I just need some time, some time to get away from
From all these rumors, I can't take it no more
My best friend said there's one out now about me and the girl next door"

Georgia Peach said...

Good topic LN. I agree with Brooke in that if I don't want my biz out there then I keep it to my DAMN SELF - otherwise your biz is destined to become misconstrued out in the streets. I try not to do too much gossiping myself, but I'll admit sometimes I get caught up in workplace stuff like our lights are about to be cut off or such and such is about to get fired. Not healthy I know, but hey I can't lie - it's something I have done and want to curb. The elementary/high school nature of gossip annoys me a great deal, but all I can do is try not to spread things on my own.

I personally take my celeb gossip on dlisted.com, but if someone sends me a link on mediatakeout.com I'll check it out. Usually all of the gossip websites are just strictly for my entertainment and I just check them out for the laughs (most are SUPER RIDICULOUS).

Sad that gossip has such a stronghold in our community - I def don't think it's helpful or uplifting to us as a people, but other than personally not reading them or passing them along, I'm puzzled as to how to change such a monstrous problem.

Brooke said...

The worst is finding out about a rumor about you like...15 years later! There are SO many people on Facebook that I knew of in school, but wasn't really TIGHT with. Then we become friends on FB and start chatting regularly and then you hear, "you know...I never believed that rumor about you." And you're like "what rumor?" Next thing, you hear all this stuff that people thought was true about you only to discover it was a rumor. I haven't heard anything really BAD so far, but it's funny how people thought I dated someone I never even said hello to, let alone sleep with! Crazy!

Craig n 'em said...

There was a rumor in H.S. that I slept with the Assistant Principle....;-/

Brooke said...

...and I would totally believe that Craig :-)

Craig n 'em said...

Huh??? Why in the world would you believe that???

Brooke said...

She was probably "supplying" you man!

In exchange for your "youthful enthusiasm." LOL!!

Craig n 'em said...

Um....HE wasn't supplying me with ANYTHING!!!!

People were speculating because I had excellent grades but I was always high....

Anthony Otero said...

So..i guess the questions is...

do you swallow?

hahaha

Craig n 'em said...

I was not having sex with the ASST. PRINCIPLE!!!!!

I was having sex with our high school female janitor...;-/

Anonymous said...

I know I am all late...

Yes, 'tis I...ejack, AKA liz!! :-)

Annamaria, you are lucky that you are pregnant...I was harassing Brooke for cheesecake this weekend and I just HAPPEN to be in Queens too...

But I will comment AFTER lunch...I'm hungry!

Brooke said...

so wait...everyone thought you slept with the MALE principal? ewww! I get the janitor, but why would they start a rumor about you sleeping with the MALE principal!?

Liz was scheming on your cheesecake Annamaria...SCHEMING!

Anonymous said...

SOOOO GOOD... I think I'll go have a piece of it RIGHT NOW!!! LOL

I'm soooo going to milk this pregnancy thing...LOL

Craig n 'em said...

As soon as you get some props...people wanna' call you GAY! That's the first rumor for success...so it seems...

Diddy, Halle, Wayans Bros., Dick Cheney...

Ne-Yo...;-/...well....

Anthony Otero said...

First it is cheesecake...then it is Flan...

Serena W. said...

oooooooooooooooh I hate GOSSIP! It's so alive today and the older we all get the worst is gets in our community for real. I think we've all dealt with our fair share.

And men are just as bad as women in regards to gossiping lol! They will talk about each other in a heart beat and then when their boy is walking say, "Yo what's up, congrats on the new wife."

As soon as they turn their back they say..."Yo he's crazy and so is his wife!" True story. I was like, "Wow y'all are just as bad as women!"

But yeah something can spin off and snowball and that's when it can get ugly.

Anthony Otero said...

Personally, I think guys are worse! I could not tell you how many times I have seen guys gossip about women.

I wont lie though, when something happens hear at work. I just have to tell my someone...lol

Georgia Peach said...

LN - I agree guys gossip worse than women in most regards, but wouldn't you say they draw the line at discussing any one you have some attachment to (your wifey etc)?

Brooke- why are you holding out on the cheesecake. I want a slice!!!

Anthony Otero said...

GP - I wouls agree with that. Until there is a break up, then depending how bad it is, info may just leak out...lol

Anonymous said...

Diddy HAS been involved in some fruitiness...lol.

Gossip will never go away. People are just nosy and like to talk about other people's ish for a variety of reasons - sometimes it's hate, sometimes it's living vicariously through the subjects, other times it's idolization...whatever tha case, it's been going on since the first humans communicated. It won't go away now or after we're dead and gone...the only thing that's changed is the way we can spread info now...

I always lay everything on front street when it comes to me and what I do. That way, if and when people gossip, those who are hearing it are usually like "nah" or "if that was true, we'd KNOW - he don't hide that type of stuff". And the funny thing is, I'm a private, secretive person at times - but I don't put out anything I don't want to be on the front page of the paper. If I truly don't want something talked about or misconstrued, then I make sure no one except me and God know. And believe me - there are quite a few of those things in life that are just between me and The Creator.

When I joined Facebook, I got hit with a few heads asking me to confirm or deny some gossip about me...it usually had to do with girls, cuz I had a "don't confirm or deny" policy in college. And I was REAL TIGHT with my info - to this day, the only people who def know who I messed with are my boys and the girls themselves. And, this may sound weird, but I only dealt with girls who could keep their mouths shut for the most part.

This drove gossip hounds nuts, cuz I knew and hung with so many girls, you could never tell if there was something going on. And I treated no one different in public...those girls I was tight with, we were tight in public. Those I was just cool with, we were just cool in public. Me and my boys still laugh and how I went through 4 years and no one knows who I had relationships with.

We've all gossiped or participated to some extent. I try not to do it at all; I don't say anything about anyone that I'm not willing to say and WILL say to the person.

Ant's partly right - a lot of gossipers do it out of hate, but some just idolize certain people or find it more interesting to talk about other's business cuz the have nothing substantive in their lives. Hell, the gossip sites and blogs are literally hurting the REAL media industry! It says a lot the the most popular show on CNN Headine News is "Showtime Tonight".

But don't front - everyone on here as watched an "E! True Hollywood Story"...what do you think THAT is?? Just a quality gossip report...was it really important for you to know Pamela Anderson was discovered at a sports game? Or that Michael Jackson made friends with rats in his house?

We are a nosy-ass society. And we all have varying degrees of just how nosy we are. But I get what type of gossip is decribed in this post...and I don't excuse or encourage it.

Usually when someone gossips about me and someones asks, you can expect the stupidest, most sarcastic answer whether it's true or not:

Person: Dude, I heard you and your boys used to jump whte boys on campus!

Me: Word! WE used to gaffle them fools - we all carried gats, shanks and ninja stars! We figured we'd get back at them for the whole 500 years of slavery thing...

Person: No, I'm serious! I heard they even questioned y'all ans was monitoring y'all activities...

Me: Word! We used to see 'em - in their Black suits, talking into their watches...but them fools couldn't stop LA PRIMERA! Don't you know we LOCO???

Person: I'm being serious...

Dude: So am I! You know how many white boys we buried in the Hall Of Langages? And we STILL maintained 3.0 averages - you can't fadt THAT!


LMAO...by the way, I really had that convo with someone...

Just take gossip with a grain of salt, and when people gossip about you, have fun with it. If you have good friends, they won't gossip anyway, and will come to you with any real questions. I defy anyone who isn't close to me or really cool with me to even say they were able to confirm or deny any stupid rumors about me - I never give a straight answer to people I ain't real cool with or who I label as typical gossipers.

Person: I heard you boned such-and-such...

Me: Word! I did that ish at noon in the middle of the quad...you ain't see me goin' to town on that a$$ on the lawn??

LMAO...

Oh...and men are MUCH worse gossipers than women. Didn't usedto be that way...once again, Bitchassness rears it's ugly head...

By the way...

I heard Latinegro don't even speak SPANISH! Y'all heard that, too?

Lol...

Craig n 'em said...

WTF is going on? What is this, MAKING THE BAND?

What kind of F'n Cheesecake is this???? Is is that good?

I want some...

Anthony Otero said...

Wow...Rameer! It is like that son??? lol

Anonymous said...

Lol...You know i'm just messin' with you, Ant!

I remember Maria Lina Salinas GRILLING ME when she learned I was Panamanian and wasn't bilingual...I damn-near felt like turning in my Latino crd...lol!

She even took to talking to me in only Spanish for a week...like THAT was going to make me suddenly awaken my dormant bilingual gene...

Anthony Otero said...

OMG...MariaLina! Is she still alive? Lets not talk about rumors and that girl...

It is all good Rameer, my spanish is really not that great. But, I can survive!

Anonymous said...

LMAO! Yeah...TELL ME about it...she had some doozys...

I'm the same with the Spanish - I can get by if I need to, but don't ask me to go on Univision for an interview any time soon...lol!

Brooke said...

I'm gonna have to make a cheesecake for everyone.

I agree, men can gossip MUCH worse than women.

I can teach you both Spanish :)

Steve Harvey on Oprah :-)

Anonymous said...

Fake spanish men!!!!!!
Porque no hablan espanol???? Aye dios mio!

Strawberry cheesecake!! YUM I just a slice!!! :)

Brooke said...

Okay, is anyone else watching Steve Harvey on Oprah? This woman just said "my man needs to be able to bring me to orgasm ALL THE TIME both thru intercourse and orally."

wow...and she said that in person on live tv. And she was dead ass!

Okay...back to gossiping.

Annamaria, I want some cake now :)

Anonymous said...

lol... you can have some Brooke...I'll share!

Anthony Otero said...

My parents felt their divorce was more important than me learning spanish...lol

Anonymous said...

That Juicy Campus site was the worldwide version of the old school high school slam books. It was pretty darn brutal from what I saw. Gossip and talk in those types of tight nit communities is always gonna happen. Unfortunately now with the the web it goes worldwide in less than 3 minutes.

Didn't read all the comments, but I think the female gossips are more prone to carry along the feelings of the gossip as well as the story. The males reduce it to a byline and carry it. Either way, it's annoying to me.

Anonymous said...

Brooke I did see that chick talk about her man has to bring her to orgasm from intercourse and orally...did you see her face when he asked if she was going to do the same??

She was shook! Like am I gonna admit I give head on OPRAH!!? you better chick! Cuz you just threw a boulder in a greenhouse!

Anonymous said...

Anamaria - no fake over here! All PAPI CHUO!!

As Ant and I both said, we can get along fine if we had to. But no, I can't just start up a random Spanish convo in the middle of Peru or Brazil. If one speaks slowly enough, I MAY get the gist of what they said.

I can typically decifer most written things...

Ant and I are DEF LATINO TO THE CORE...but I'd rather NOT be fluent in it - that way, I can have the beautiful Ms. Brookes teach it to me! ;)

Don't be hatin' on all this LATINO HEAT...we OOZE Machismo!

Lol!

Brooke said...

These women on here are trippin. And the other one who said she RECEIVES head but doesn't give it. Don't believe it for a second. Steve Harvey looked at her like she was an alien.

Brooke said...

Oh, and Rameer...anytime you want a lesson just let me know! :)

Anonymous said...

Rameer: all that & your point was lost cause you spelled CHULO wrong!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOL

Go take a DAMN lesson

Anthony Otero said...

Latino Heat! Hey...at least he did not spell CULO...

I dont need a lesson. I know how to order food, ask for a bathroom and a doctor!

More importantly, I know when someone is cursing me out!

I would get a lesson from Brooke, but clearly her class is full (see..still starting rumors..)

Brooke said...

I see Ant is trying to get me in trouble...but it's not working! Don't make me cuss you out in Spanish!

Serena W. said...

Brooke...I'll take a marble cheese cake when I hit Queens in May for a visit! LOL!

OR

You can freeze dry that sucker and send it to me to Dallas!

Brooke said...

I'll give it to you in person when you get here...that way I can meet you! Now I just gotta learn how to make marble cheesecake :-)

Anonymous said...

Annamaria - that's a TYPO, not me not knowing how to spell "chulo"...lol! Blame this crappy computer I have to use until they can fix my work computer...

And I agree with Ant - I know the essentials. Shoot, first time I went on vacation in Miami, I ws the translator for my whole crew at the hotel we stayed at - like 90% of them spoke Spanish, and the other 10% had trouble really communicating English pretty well...

Wait a second, why am I explaining myself to a woman who specializes in schizophrenic tasing??? Lol...

Besides, Ms. Brookes got my back...mi bonita mami!

Brooke said...

awwww, gracias mijo! I'm going to start calling Rameer "El Guapo." LOL!

Anonymous said...

LOL YES YOU ARE EXPLAINING YOURSELF TO THE TASING QUEEN!!!!!!!!! LOL

Serena W. said...

Hey Annamaria...Rameer didn't want me to tell you that on Facebook there is a feature called "Super Poke" and you can send kisses, hugs, flirt, bake cakes, etc with people.

So on the mean tab you can tase someone! I had to tase this dude last night who doesn't get it through Facebook. He doesn't catch a hint!!!

Sorry hombre...I had to tell her ;-)

And Brooke I can't wait to meet you, give ya a big hug and then we can dive into my cheese cake!

Anthony Otero said...

Sounds like Brooke is taking orders...

Brooke said...

Yes, but I may have to start charging folks! Vanilla beans are expensive! :-)

Serena W. said...

Hey Brooke you can do an online bake sale! My girl sells her cakes through her website, people can add them to the cart and she bakes away and ships em ;-)

I'm telling you...this jacked up economy is making people creative!

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