A Cornball Blogger

Yesterday, I blogged on the issue of  Beyonce being voted the most beautiful woman in the world.  I had no problem with her being thought of as beautiful as she is indeed a beautiful woman, no doubt about that.  She could even be a front runner for most beautiful celebrity.   I have no problem with the honor bestowed on her or anyone else.  Instead, I have a problem with the last three words in the title, ‘in the world’.   I think it is misleading when those three words are used, it is misleading.  Read more on what I wrote here.

I am very argumentative and opinionated so of course I took it upon myself to argue why I thought it was wrong to name the lovely, oh and BLACK Beyonce the most beautiful woman in the world.  My take was that it was not a very level playing field as I am sure the other countries that make up the world did not not send a delegate.  (Is this another example of the USA’s egotistical side?  Everything has to be the best/biggest/etc in the world?).

A few hours after publishing, I noticed that I a reader had left a comment.  I was excited as I love reading comments from readers but my excitement quickly turned to disappointment and a tinge of embarrassment when I read the following posted by one Nanci Lynn.

U R SUCH A LOSER!! Firstly, we all know there are other beautiful woman in the world prob more beautiful than Beyonce and if they put your wife , the girl next door or any of those ebony beauties on the cover someone else would say the same thing you’re saying about Beyonce about them!! Beauty IS in the eye of the beholder but if a publication, who has NEVER put an ALL black woman on their cover decides they want to FINALLY give and black woman props and if THEY feel she deserves that title along with all the other white woman who have graced their pages (i hope you also complained when they were on the cover) than let it be!! How many times are positive images of african americans projected to the world!! They wont even give our wonderful president his props because he’s a black man!! How could a person of color complain at all!! Yes, beauty is skin deep and Beyonce is the one young artist who we never see drinking, doing drugs, sleeping around with different men, gossiping!! She’s always rehearsing, working on herself and everyone that knows her says she has the best heart, character, morals and treats her friends and family with respect and love!! She deserves her title and prob much more!!! Celebrate our african beauty and if u cant give props where due SHUT UP CORNBALL!

At first I thought of deleting the post before anyone could read it and spare myself the embarrassment of being called Loser and Cornball.  Then I thought of responding in kind and throw out a few barbs of my own.   Cooler head prevailed and I decided against either.  I reread her comments and formulated a level headed response:

Must it always come down to being a BLACK thing? I am not taking anything away from Beyonce. I have nothing against her. I find her quite attractive and one of my favorite female voices around. (After Mariah). Giving her the title of the world’s most beautiful is quite a stretch, won’t you say? After all, like I said in my blog, the world is bigger than Hollywood.

And please go easy on the name calling. My blog is called my take for a reason. You could disagree without malice.

Thank you for reading and commenting.

Nanci, if you are reading this, please note that my blog is called My Vuze and I always reiterate that it is MY TAKE and everyone is entitled to their own, without being chastised.  I like to think that democracy is alive and well, maybe I am wrong.  Also note that had Obama been named most handsome man in the world, I would have felt exactly the same, nothing against the Prez.  I have no argument that Beyonce is everything you have mentioned BUT there are others like her around the WORLD who is all of that AND MORE, did they have a chance to compete? Or was this judging open only to American celebrities?

Note:  I looked upthe word ‘Cornball’ and found out that I am either a popcorn rolled into a ball and flavored with molasses, a person who indulges in clichés or sentimentality, a country bumpkin or I am just unsophisticated.   Sadly, I am a bit of each but again, that’s just my take.

 

Related articles

• Beyonce world’s most beautiful woman? (myvuze.wordpress.com)
• People magazine’s most beatutiful woman: Beyonce (examiner.com)
• Dear People Magazine, You’re Wrong For This One (clutchmagonline.com)

Pssst…Office Gossip

Image via Wikipedia

This has been bothering me for some time.  Gossip.  It’s EVERYWHERE, your home, your office, my home, my office, my lips…Yes, I am not perfect, I have gossiped and do gossip.  (Not proud to say it).  It’s not something I take pleasure in but it’s something that is sometimes unavoidable.  What’s bothering me is not the little juicy gossips about Helen cheating on her diet or the neighbor having different women over every weekend.  No, it’s the daily office ones that tears down that other sweet but quirky woman down the hall, the simple but honest and trustworthy man working at the menial job.  Maybe they are deserving of being called nosy and holier than thou or lazy and maybe even potentially postal but who are we to be the judge? The Good Book says ‘Let he who is without sin cast the first stone” and, ‘Remove the bean from your own eye before you try to remove it from your brother’s”.

How and why is it that much easier to cast the first stone or blindly seek to remove the speck from the eyes of others?  Is it because of our fear that if we do not react first, then someone else will and we would be the victim and not the assailant? Or we may as well gossip about that person before they gossip about us? Heck, they may be already gossiping about us so why not get our licks in?

At the end of the day, I mentally beat up myself for succumbing to the gossiping that goes on around me. In my office I usually intend to be just a listener and not a partaker but do sometimes get dragged in to the point where I would nod or put in a few words, much to my regret.

It takes a degree of strength to listen to your friends talk disparagingly about another employee as they gather around in your cubicle.  As part of the clique, how do you say ‘Not here guys, we are not doing this today.’ or how do you just get up and walk away? You very well know that you will be the next gossip topic if you do any of those.  Peer pressure all over again.

I did some research on how to combat this viper and found this helpful link: http://www.wikihow.com/Not-Gossip.  In case you don’t have a chance to read it, here’s an important bit taken from it.

Ask yourself these several simple questions mentally about what you’re about to say before speaking aloud:

• How would you like it if someone said this about you?
• Is it true? Maybe it is, but is repeating it necessary?
• Is it kind? It may be true, about yourself or someone else, but if it will harm another, you have no right to repeat it.
• Is it just? Is it honest, compassionate, with the person’s best interest at heart?
• Is it necessary? Will it do any good and satisfy all the other conditions? Not only is it necessary, but is it necessary for the other person to hear? Remember, “Need To Know.