Tumblr Monsters (Response No. 2)

First and foremost, I was thrilled to read Tiffani's response to my personal post. I was really touched to see that someone was moved by my friend's story and reached into their very own thankful bucket to hand out thanks. You'd be surprised to know that I sent the link to that post to my hurt friend, and he was also moved; now I'm not going to say he cried, but... he did. He also sent the post over to his mother, who also cried; she even printed the story out to share with her family, friends, and co-workers (she's also a police officer in Chicago). Reading your post and seeing his reaction was such a neat moment for me. I acheived what I set out to do by writing that post--encourage people to reflect and give thanks--and I was really happy to read how thankful you are for your life.

But, honey, can we talk about your new-found love for Tumblr?! All I can say is- Welcome to other side! How awesome is Tumblr? I was just expressing how thankful I was for Tumblr in our assigned post from Thanksgiving week! Everything you mentioned in your post is exactly how I feel about Tumblr, and why I am an obsessed Tumblr monster!

"I think what I love most about Tumblr is the versatility for posting. You don’t always have to do a full text post. It can be a quote, audio, video or perhaps the best feature, a reblog. I’m just starting out but I’ve found some great people on Tumblr that I reblog all the time. I also love it because I’m able to post great YouTube videos I’ve found or new songs I love."

The reasons you love Tumblr, is exactly why I love Tumblr. The versatility for posting is hands-down Tumblr's BEST feature. Likewise, the format of Tumblr is unmatched anywhere else on the web (to my knowledge), and I what I love the most about Tumblr. Don't you find it fascinating that we all use the same tools and yet everyone's blog is so different, unique, and one-of-a-kind? I also love that we are allowed to tweak our blogs in every possible way -- which I understand if you're familiar with HTML you can do, but the average person is probably not that familiar -- Tumblr makes it SUPER easy to customize your blog and make them visually captivating.

You also mentioned that the easiness of posting is the reason you post as much as you do. Uh, I definitely have almost 4,000 posts, and I promise I do not live on my computer; I do, however, live on my phone. I have to ask, do you have the Tumblr application on your Blackberry? I don't even know what type of phone you have, but let me tell you, if you have a Blackberry, download it! It is DIVINE! I am constantly posting quotes, pictures, lyrics, and even "re-blogging" some of my favorite Tumblrs. It is, no lie, the best application I have on my phone.

Like you, I've started blogs before on other sites and had a hard time keeping up with them. I mentioned that poor & fly was my most successful blog in another post and how it sadly became boring; but to be honest, it started to feel like a full-time job! Monetizing poor & fly was always an objective of mine, so I felt like all of the exhaustion and long nights were worth it, but the amount of money I was generating was dismal. So not worth it! Although I loved everything about poor & fly, I grew tired of it because it thoroughly exhausted me and I started to feel guilty about not posting stories; the bags underneath my eyes quickly changed my mind. Now I have different plans for poor & fly... something definitely way more exciting than posting about $5 rings I discovered at Forever 21. Although that's fun and dandy, it just got old.

I've been on Tumblr for almost a year now, and I know it sounds cheesy, but it excites me every day. Every day I carve out time to sit down at my desk and peruse some of my favorite Tumblr blogs. I genuinely look forward to it...it's one of my favorite things to do. I've already discovered yours, and I'm already a follower! (: I've learned that we have a few things in common, like our musical taste. Marsha Ambrosius wrote my favorite Michael Jackson song, ever! Butterflies. She's insanely talented. I've posted it on here before.

Like Lady Gaga dubbed her obsessed fans "Little Monsters," I have dubbed myself, inspired by you, a "Tumblr Monster." I know I sound lame, but there really are so many reasons to love Tumblr. I'm hooked!

Oh, by the way, about statistics, there is a way you can do that! ;)

E is for Ethiopia, F is for Filtered (Weekly No. 11)

Ethiopia

• Officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia
• The second-most populous nation in Africa, 90 million people
• The tenth-largest by area, with its 1,100,000 km2
• GDP (ppp): $70.9 billion
• GDP Per Capita: $954

According to an annual report by the United Nations, Ethiopia is ranked as the second poorest country in the world with over 90% of its population living in poverty, 39% of its people living on $1.25 a day, and 61.5% of its population deprived of adequate schooling. I was curious to see where the blogosphere would be in a country whose people lived under such unfathomable circumstances and desolate living conditions.

Although there was an Ethiopian presence on Global Voices Online, a rather sparse presence (the last story was from August), I learned jaw-dropping information about the blogosphere in Ethiopia after further researching the web. Not only is Ethiopia one of the poorest countries in the world, but it has the lowest overall teledensity—the number of landline telephones in use for every 100 individuals living within an area—in Africa. With a population of 90 million, there are less than 1 million fixed lines in service, and a little more than 3.3 million mobile subscribers. Even more surprising, the number of Internet users was below 500,000 at the end of 2009. All Internet users in Ethiopia access the World Wide Web through the Ethiopian Telecommunication Corporation (ETC), a state monopoly and sole Internet Service Provider (ISP) in the country.

While researching the web, I was shocked to learn that Google, the site that so many of us, myself included, are so thankful for, was blocked in Ethiopia in 2007; and from what I gathered was blocked for two years until President Obama's administration released its Human Rights reports in February 2009 accusing the Ethiopian government of restricting Internet access to its citizens and of "blocking web sites." This is alarming news because as we all know, Blogger is owned by Google; millions of blogs created with Blogger were unavailable in Ethiopia as a result of this filter and still are. Ethiopian citizens heavily criticize government authorities of censorship, which is still an enormous issue plaguing Ethiopia today.

Ethiopia is the only country in sub-Saharan Africa to actively engage in political Internet filtering; authorities feel that many political bloggers who oppose the current regime are a priority in being blocked, and thus blocked. Not only does Ethiopia block Blogger, but they also block CyberEthiopia and Nazret, two extremely popular sites that aggregate Ethiopian news and has space for blogs and forums. Nazret even has a directory that displays Ethiopian blogs and bloggers.

Of the few Ethiopian blogs I did come across, many of them are hosted by Blogger and accessible by me because I live in America. I was shocked to see how much they cover American politics. This political blogger noted the death of Senator Ted Kennedy. This blogger pleads to President Obama that Ethiopians "need him" in a post. These popular bloggers, Enset and Ethio Pundit, are also blocked by the Ethiopian government; both host their blog on Blogger. The general tone of concern for the state of Ethiopia, particularly politically, from bloggers and their interest in foreign affairs was really astounding to me. Although their voices are oppressed and silenced and cannot reach their fellow citizens, they are still passionate about expressing their opinions and actively blog.

My discoveries of the blogosphere and the web in Ethiopia really blow me away. I believe as a human, we all have the right to express ourselves, but I understand that not everyone lives in a country where these rights are respected and honored. How ironic is it that I'm sitting here on my laptop using a wireless router to connect to the Internet, while using Blogger and Google as tools to help me complete an assignment for my studies at Georgetown University. Sounds fancy doesn't it? And a world away from the lives of Ethiopians, whose entire population is banned from the mighty Google, and who have limited access to computers and the Internet, let alone a space to express themselves.

Although there are Ethiopian bloggers, the blogosphere, as I know it, seems to be nonexistent in Ethiopia.

P.S. How strange is it to see this ad on an Ethiopian site while doing research for this blog assignment:

Weird.

I ♥ Tumblr (Weekly No. 10)

Choosing Google as the website that has made my life better would be the easiest choice for this assignment. Where else could I go to search for pictures of Beyonce, enter four words (possibly falling for you) to a song I am desperately trying to figure out and find exactly what I was looking for (Coffee Shop by Landon Pigg), assist in my education, and even help me figure out where I am trying to go? I suppose Bing... (Mike, that's not intended to be a low blow, I promise...)

There is no denying that Google has had a significant impact on nearly everyone's life who uses the Internet on a daily basis. Google's search engine has revolutionized the way we learn and acquire information, and Gmail isn't so bad, either. However, in an effort to choose a website that has been more impactful on a personal level, I choose Tumblr.

I initially started blogging on Blogger back in January 2009. I started poor & fly, and it quickly gained global readership. I discussed mostly fashion and entertainment on poor & fly, eh, mostly fashion, especially how to be fly on a budget. E-mails poured in where people asked me for my help in piecing an outfit together. Of course, I always obliged and did the best I could to piece the most "poor & fly" outfit together, which just means the hottest outfit for a guilt free price. Although I had a successful run, ever since grad school started in September, poor & fly has slowly fallen off of my radar. Talking about fashion and what Blake Lively is wearing, most recently Versace at an event for jeweler Lorraine Schwartz, isn't really appealing to me anymore, although she did look fly! Don't get me wrong, I still love fashion, I will never stop loving fashion, but blogging on poor & fly started to become boring to me. Nevertheless, poor & fly was my first blog and one that opened me up to the world of self-expression on the web; a world I wasn't necessarily familiar with before.

Not shortly after I started poor & fly, I started another blog on Blogger, eightsixteen:816. This blog was so different than poor & fly. It was definitely more personal, my musings in a sense. I posted everything from random thoguhts to my favorite quotes to news articles that widened my eyes to pictures that made me smile. A few months after blogging about anything and everything on eightsixteen:816, I decided to move my content over to Tumblr.

My best friend had told me about Tumblr. I had read hers religiously. Initially, I was apprehensive about making the move to Tumblr. I mean, it literally felt like a move! It was apparently a big decision for me, and one that would change my life.

This past February, eightsixteen:816 turned into the little yellow diary. I had also started the little yellow diary on Blogger, but didn't really know what I wanted to do with that space, or what I wanted to use that blog for, so it just sat empty for a little while. Actually, it's still empty. I guess I just wanted to ensure that I would get thelittleyellowdiary.blogspot.com domain, and I did get that.

Since discovering Tumblr, I have, in essence, been allowed to keep a journal of all of the things that intrigue me day by day. One of my favorite things to do is collect quotes, and I am constantly adding quotes onto my Tumblr via the Tumblr application on my BlackBerry. I also love photography, and come across really captivating pictures that I want to share. I have discovered that Tumblr is the perfect place to share the creative side of myself. It is unlike poor & fly where I rant about fashion, and, instead, a place where I share words, images, music, etc. It truly does feel like a digital diary, and it fosters an environment where people are not afraid to share their thoughts with each other. I major feature on Tumblr is the "reblog" option, where you can re-blog something you like from another person's page, kind of like a re-tweet. There is also a follow feature which allows you to follow your favorite Tumblrs and have their musings show up on your Dashboard when logging in to the site.

I am thankful for a space where I can just talk and post pictures and quotes, and actually feel connected to other people, which I never felt on Blogger. I am thankful for a space that I can be creative, where people give me feedback and share ideas. There is a huge feeling of camaraderie on Tumblr, which, in my opinion, is unparalleled anywhere else on the web. I think Tumblr is a really neat world on the web, and one that most people have yet to discover. I'm thankful I did.

When Erika Met Oscar (Personal No. 3)

"Never in history has there been a time when a woman has as much control over her destiny as she does today." — Oscar de la Renta

Earlier this year, I had the honor of attending a reception and fashion presentation at Neiman Marcus in our nation's capital, hosted by the Washington National Opera and Oscar de la Renta. I'm still pinching myself...

Oscar presented his fall 2010 collection, and the room was filled with oohs and aahs, and maybe even some drooling. Well, maybe not; this was a sophisticated crowd.

I sat in the second row, opposite of Mr. De la Renta, and was completely in awe of his presence. Was I really in the same room as him? Watching his work strut down the runway? Yes. Yes, I was.

After his masterpieces finished filing down the runway, Oscar gave a speech and thanked those in attendance. He was so gracious. No, Oscar, thank you! Then came time for him to mingle and meet those who came. This reception wasn't set-up to be a meet and greet, but he hung around to meet his admirers and take picture after picture after picture. Now, I was not about to let this moment pass me by!

I have deeply admired Oscar de la Renta since I was a little girl. Ever since my Dominican grandmother noticed my fascination with clothing as a young girl and told me about a Dominican fashion designer who was one of the best in the world, one of the best there ever was, who dressed everyone from first ladies to royalty to Hollywood stars, I've been borderline obsessed. I handed my glass of Pellegrino back to the waiter, I had only taken a sip. He looked at me like I was crazy, and in that moment I probably did look crazy. My heart felt like it was jumping out of my chest. I was really nervous and my mind was racing. I had rehearsed a speech in my head for days leading up to the event, but I couldn't remember a word. I tried my very best to keep my composure...

Now, I remember my speech only because it was saved in a Notepad file on my computer, which means I don't really remember it. Clearly, I was practicing and I don't know why. Practice didn't make perfect in this instance. Here is what I wanted to say:

It is such an honor to meet you! You have been an inspiration to me since I was a little girl, and you're the reason I fell in love with art and fashion. You make me proud to be Dominican. Thank you.

Like I said, I don't know what I was rehearsing for or even why I thought of writing/practicing a speech because when I approached him, well, actually, he approached me (I swear, he did), NONE of those words came out of my mouth. He started walking towards me, looked me up and down (I hope he liked what I was wearing. I hope he didn't think I looked a hot mess.) and smiled at me. That's when my face went blank, eyes froze, and all I could say was: It is such an honor to meet you. Ever gracious, he replied: Thank you, sweetie. And that's when this woman hollered: Mr. De la Renta, I feel like the ultimate woman in your clothes! Another woman jumped in and told him that the dress she had on was one of his from the 80's. "Do you still like it?" she shouted. Mr. De la Renta replied, "I love it." Wait a second, these women are ruining my moment! A moment I've dreamed of my entire life! I didn't get a picture, yet!

Oscar started to slowly move away from me, my heart began to beat faster and I started to clutch my camera with a nervousness I've never felt before, but before he was out of reach, I shyly asked for a picture. I don't know if he heard me, in fact, he didn't, but the lady escorting him did and told me to "jump in," grabbed my camera from my shaky hands and snapped a moment of history in my life. The result, the photo above.

For a moment, I was afraid I was going to walk away from this event with just an image in my head, but thankfully, someone recognized my nervousness and eagerness to ask him for a picture. Hallelujah!

Although, it lasted no more than ten seconds, that moment seemed like forever. And I know it's cheesy that I remember every detail, but that moment meant so much to me; it was a lifelong dream come true, and I will remember it for the rest of my life.

Here is a snippet of the show courtesy of my friend, Elaine Mensah of SVELTE TV:

'This Is It' (Personal No. 2)

Today, I finally unwrapped the clear plastic on a movie that's been sitting on my desk for a while now. The movie I speak of is- 'This Is It', a musical documentary chronicling the rehearsals leading up to what was supposed to be Michael Jackson's very last world tour. A tour that the world would never get to experience due to Michael's sudden death last June.

That movie was hypnotizing! I was completely in awe! It was as if I had never seen it before. Well, it's been a while...

If anyone is a Michael Jackson fan, it is me. A proud one at that. I never got into or distracted by the clouds of controversy that surrounded his life and career, simply because I was too distracted by his music.

I truly believe that growing up playing an instrument, just being a musician, period, makes me appreciate music on another level. On a different scale, if that makes any sense. I can break down music piece by piece, sound by sound, layer by layer. I can pretty much tell you which instrument is controlling what within a score. I can also easily identify nearly any instrument in a sea of noise as easily as I blink my eyes, and I can always tell you when a cello is present. I think that easily identifying different sounds is a skill that most musician have; some, of course, are better than others. Now, Michael Jackson was like me, maybe even you, but on mega steroids, and I don't mean the drug addiction. His ear was sick! The way he analyzed and critiqued people's sound, of course "in love" as you will witness in the movie, was astonishing! I think this is what led him to make the timeless and revolutionary music that had us dancing through decades.

I love some artists, but there is bold line that separates the great from the popular. Although Michael was pop music, he was iconic and legendary; his music is embedded in the fabric of so many generations and so many cultures. Not many musicians can say that. Michael dissolved every single music barrier by transcending race, culture, religion, gender, age, etc., in a way the world had never witnessed before. He annihilated records and his success is a true testament to his talent. When he sang, people listened, when he danced, people watched, and we were completely transfixed. His music was an experience; it was explosive, captivating, and larger than life. Many have tried and certainly will continue to want and try to replicate his iconic style and sound, but no one will ever be able to. He was truly one-of-a-kind.

Michael is one of those rare and brilliant artists that come around every few decades or so and changes the game, changes the way we not only hear music, but the way we see it. There's a difference between loving an artist and appreciating an artist. People "love" Rihanna, Britney Spears, Lady Gaga, shoot even my girl Beyonce, and although they make great music -- some are even on their way to being icons and legends, some are already considered to be-- I wouldn't go as far to say that people appreciate the music these ladies make. I so desperately want to pull Beyonce out of that group and I think I will. She's truly in a league of her own. Even Lady Gaga. Anyway, my point is people from all over the world, not only loved Michael's music, but they appreciated his art.

I remember going to see This Is It in the movie theaters; I think that's why I wasn't in such a hurry to watch it at home, because I already witnessed it. I also remember the boy who sat next to me who barely spoke English, but literally sang along to every single song. How magical is that? I know this is probably the most random post in the history of this class, but watching This Is It really made me think about Michael Jackson and all he has done for music, and it really made me miss his sound. Thank YouTube for the Michael Jackson channel!

In closing, I leave you with one of my favorite Michael Jackson songs, probably my favorite ever. It is Butterflies from the 'Invincible' album that came out in 2001. I remember coming home from school and my dad had the CD waiting for me! (:

I Refuse to be a Gamer (Weekly No. 9)

What I think about when it comes to Mario, too. Wardrobe.

Okay, I don't know if refusing to sign up and test drive Second Life will constitute a failing grade for this blog post, but just hear me out. Matter of fact, just watch this video below:

Meet Nikki. Nikki hates her boyfriend's Xbox...

Story of my life. *sighs*

Yes, people are suggesting that she stop dating losers and stop being co-dependent in the comment section and others are crying over a destroyed Xbox, but I'm actually with her on this one; and I'm definitely NOT co-dependent, and I wouldn't go as far as to say my boyfriend is a loser, well, not on the Internet, because that means I can't take it back. Nevertheless, I am so unbelievably sick of video games, it is not even funny. What I am even more sick of? My boyfriend's brain being completely hypnotized by video games; in his defense, he definitely doesn't play for 10 hours, maybe two. That's still too long, in my opinion. The slogan "EA SPORTS - It's in The Game" forever haunts me in my sleep. Oh, and don't let my boyfriend and father be in the same room as an Xbox! This only means one thing- an intense match of 2K11 will ensue. That being said, I cannot bring myself to test-drive Second Life for more than five minutes. Actually, I refuse.

I won't deny that I've heard a lot about Second Life; there was a time I wanted to sign up just to play dress up in the virtual mall and purchase anything and everything. What girl doesn't want to play dress up? Eh, a lot. But I'd much rather window-shop instead of play within the virtual closets of Second Life because window shopping is free, and I'd have to pay to pretend to shop on Second Life? Key word- pretend. That just confuses me even further. Window-shopping is pretending! And I certainly don't care about Linden dollars, I care about Benjamins. Something I am severely lacking. Thank you, Georgetown!

This idea of adult gaming really triggers my brain cells in all the wrong ways. From my boyfriend to my father, I just don't get it. Now, I'll admit I was completely transfixed by Sonic, Pacwoman, even Mario growing up, oh, and the ducks, but I would never sit down and play a game of Sonic or Mario in front of my TV or computer for hours on end. Not as as adult. I could never sit at my computer for hours and play within the virtual realm of Second Life. Frankly, I don't want a second life, this first one is enough.

However, as hard as it is for me to say this, the idea of Second Life is strangely fascinating. They plaster on their homepage- "Escape to the Internet's largest user-created, 3D virtual community." For the sake of this blog post, talk about crowd-sourcing! This community entirely functions off of its users. Not only that, Second Life is literally offering you a chance at a second life. The life you've always dreamed of, or not. That is what I find the most strange. It can seem so real with its 3D images and life-like people, but it's clearly not.

Although Second Life's promise that you can do anything, buy anything, socialize, etc. within a virtual world, a fake world, is not something I necessarily identify with, millions of people are more than loving it. Kind of like Washington loves its Redskins. Why? I don't know, and I'm a Redskins fan! Last night was just painful. With its popularity increasing, MMOG's are proving to be more than an entertainment source, but a way to recruit and woo a crowd. Garrett referenced in a class earlier in the semester that Barack Obama's presidential campaign had taken out ads within gaming sites simply because they could. Now, everyone knows that Barack Obama had more than enough money to spend, but I'd like to think that this was a valiant concentrated effort and not just a way to spend money, but a way to target an untapped crowd in a new way. Or maybe it was just another way to spend money. I'm going with the latter.

What I find even more fascinating, rather confusing, is the usage of MMOG's as a recruiting tactic for the United States military. I just find that really odd. I can't help but think that the usage of such tools is an invasive and manipulative way to tap into our minds. Psychologically, people's minds must be somewhere else when engaging in such games. I know my boyfriend's mind is at least!

As I'm sitting here writing this post, I'm starting to think that gaming is all about living a second life. The people at Second Life are clearly on to something. Do my boyfriend and father feel like they have a second life, a better life, when they play Madden and 2k11? My father was an all-star athlete, and my boyfriend swears he's LeBron James. Maybe he really feels like LeBron James when he's playing? It will certainly be interesting to see how advertisers and marketers, even politicians, tap into gamers going forward. Some people's first lives are so different than their second. Will they attempt to channel an individual through their first/real life? Or will they attempt to channel them through their second/gaming-virtual  life? Which one will be more effective and provide the results they seek?

In closing, meet John. Witness his retaliation on Nikki:

Credi-pedia (Weekly No. 8)

Illustration: Wilcox

After last weeks class discussion on Wikipedia, my position didn't change; I still strongly believe that Wikipedia is credible and should be a trusted site. However, I still believe that people should be choosy with what they believe whether the source is Wikipedia or CNN.

In many respects, Wikipedia serves as a news outlet, receiving news in the same manner traditional news outlets receive news -- as a story unfolds. People take to Wikipedia to update a story the same way news outlets continue to trace back to a story in order to report the latest news and any updates. Traditionally, many news stories aren't given a seal of approval until a credible and reputable news outlets has confirmed the news. For example, I refused to believe TMZ with every blood cell in my body when they were the first to report that Michael Jackson died; I waited until CNN confirmed his death to believe it. In retrospect, TMZ was right, but I am choosy about the things I believe on their site because of their gossip-mill reputation, so I decided to halt my beliefs on anything Michael Jackson related until I heard it from what I believe is a trusted source.

I highly doubt anyone was racing to their computer, or handheld, to read Michael Jackson's Wikipedia page to learn about the state of his health, and ultimately his death last year. There was such a rush of information, that it would be nearly impossible for the site to keep up. Every minute there was something new. Everyone's edits would take over each others and create mass confusion.

Typically, breaking news tends to be negative; so when delivering breaking news, there should be one person/channel who is constantly providing updates. This ensures that the message is concise, but also provides some sense of clarity for the viewer. On Twitter, I follow @CNNBRK, for breaking news, and the breaking news that they provide on a daily basis is enough to take in. Can you imagine tuning into every possible news channel on 9/11? Or following every single new channel on Twitter today? Your brain would be every where!

In my opinion, people like to be addressed directly, especially when it comes to not-so-great news, so I wouldn't recommend Wikipedia for breaking news, because in a sense, it's almost like tuning into all of the news stations like I mentioned before. Talk about headache! Trying to keep up with breaking news is challenging enough, and since our brains are programmed to take things in systematically, I don't find Wikipedia functional with regards to breaking news.

However, I do feel that Wikipedia is a great site for news that has happened. The wealth of information that is provided on Wikipedia's site after news breaks is unparalleled anywhere else on the web. Wikipedia would definitely be my stop on the web, even before CNN, to gather facts after an event takes place; but CNN is who I am tuned into when an event is taking place, whether it's via TV, their website, or their Twitter feed. Wikipedia comes after.