I finally had the courage to make movements across the road, knowing that the old ladies were making the first movements.

I never really take the time to actually witness the architecture that exists minutes from my college. I have to pick up my camera from my room, stick it into my bag and walk down the road to find time to stop and capture something wonderful.

The previous day, I wasn’t feeling so well so instead of buying McDonalds, or a lovely bagel, I went to Millies Cookies. By the time I ate two, I was like ‘that is seriously enough!’ I had to get back to college for my 2 hour Philosophy lesson.

I don’t like chocolate. Since the day I was born, me and chocolate haven’t gotten along really well. I absolutely hate the taste of it. I do like white chocolate though.

Costa has to wait because it is cold, and I only had half an hour for lunch, so I had to skip this destination.

Even though I had class soon, I had to fit in a few shots of my friend. The strange moment when your friend likes his picture taken and you comply because that is what friends do. They look out for each other.

Well, that is my lunch break. Everyday ends up being different because what we choose to eat seems to change quite a lot. When we make a decision well before the point of lunch break, we end up doing the complete opposite. Typical teenagers growing up. What do you expect?

The media has a clear idea about what beauty is and what beauty should look like in society. If we had to make a definition of beauty in terms of the media, the definition would be as follows.

” As long as you look lighter, you look more beautiful. If you are darker, your beauty is worth less.”

In terms of the media and their control, beauty is exactly that and will never change unless we change our individual perception of beauty. Corporate industries are more likely to put a black woman with really light skin in their million dollar marketing campaign than a dark skinned woman. Even better, they would prefer to put a white woman who hasn’t got a shade of black. We as a society, accept these conditions because we have been conditioned to believe that fairer skin is more attractive, sexy or beautiful. Hollywood is an excellent example of beauty perception. When we see any type of film that is directed by a top Hollywood director, we never see a dark skinned women as the woman of great sex appeal. Instead we see someone that is white. It is like we use dark skinned women as a last resort.

In the clothing industry, the perception of beauty is even more apparent. A prime example of a shop that doesn’t have any advertising campaign with a black woman, or even a light skinned women is Hollister. I really like their clothes and fashion style, but I have never seen a poster with a black woman or advert with a light skin woman. We could say their demographic is middle-class white people, but if so many people of all cultures are purchasing their goods, they should change their marketing demographic a little. It is not like only white people shop there. You have a variety of people, of all nationalities and backgrounds. A different company, with a very similar style that does really well is Ralph Lauren. They cater for the same market, but they appeal to all people, from all backgrounds.

We need to start to appreciate all beauty. I talk to some of my friends from college and as guys we talk about women. A LOT. The conversation is interesting because we talk about typical women everyone likes. Women like Kim Kardashian, Beyonce, Kelly Rowland, Rihanna, Mila Kunis and Katy Perry. What I realise is that we never talk about dark skinned girls. We only ever talk about light skin women, like dark skinned women don’t exist. I mentioned Kelly Rowland, I know. Everyone loves her. She is like the dark skinned beauty queen of the world. I want to talk about the dark skin women we don’t see very often.

Beyonce looks ugly in the picture on the left. That isn’t her natural skin tone. Loreal obviously lightened her skin to make her look more beautiful. When they did that, they were hoping people would buy their product. Obviously, buying the product makes you look beautiful to a certain degree, but when you make a black woman look less black, it shows how the media is so against dark skinned women. Beyonce isn’t the only example. A lot of celebrities have been photoshopped to the max to increase a company’s income and present an idealistic look that isn’t true. We lose our identity and self value entirely. A sort of false consciousness, run by the capitalist society.

I want to stress that all women are beautiful. It doesn’t matter if you are dark skin or light skin. Black women are simply black women. They are all beautiful regardless of skin tone. I would also like to stress that we should appreciate all beauty, not only media’s perception of beauty. We should not be ignorant, stupid and/or foolish by going onto Twitter and any other social sites, debating if dark skinned black women are better looking than light skinned black woman. We should not easily be led by society’s perception of beauty but see the beauty that lies beyond the skin tone. If you are light skinned, appreciate it and feel beautiful. If you are dark skinned, appreciate it and feel beautiful. Don’t fight it and cause yourself to feel out of place. If you do feel out of place, the media has taken control of you.

I would simply like to say that I find it rather strange when a woman appreciates a dark skinned man compared to a light skin man. But when it comes to women, we prefer the opposite. My overall opinion on women, which I haven’t clearly given is this. I love all types of women regardless of nationality. Me being brought up in an African household, I feel closer to black women. When it comes to choosing a dark skinned woman or a light skinned women, I don’t give a shit. Just show me that you are a loving, understanding, caring, honest and a faithful human being and I will love you back. Simple as that.

Here’s an excerpt:

A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 2,200 times in 2011. If it were a cable car, it would take about 37 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

I have learned that communication is powerful among us human beings. I have talked with people about shallow things like ‘Is Jay Z a better rapper than Kanye?’. I have talked to people about deep things like politics and if freedom actually exists among us human beings. With everyday going, I have learned that as we grow, we become more intelligent and with positive communication, the world can change completely. In this year, I have realised that in order to do anything you want, you have to work HARD for it. You should never give up and never procrastinate. Never put things off thinking you will do it at a later stage. Just make the most of the time you have. In addition, I have learned that you should take advantage of you talents and your ability to do anything you want in your life.

Right, at this second, I hope to develop knowledge that I can preach to the world and reach the people that I cannot see. I hope to do what is good rather than what seems to be good. I want to do the the right thing always and never say ‘because 2012 start in a few hours, I will start then.’ I would gladly start at this second.

Next year is indeed 2012. That means another year on this planet. We as people should not change ourselves to fit other peoples needs, but become better people within ourselves and hopefully fulfil our own happiness. I believe that we should not wait for greatness but seek greatness within ourselves wherever we can. And that means starting RIGHT now!

HAPPY NEW YEARS TO EVERYONE, ALL OVER THE WORLD!

I took structure and planning for granted through out my whole life till I realised that my grades in school weren’t adding up. My English grade was below my expected. If you looked at my writing, you would assume the curriculum got my papers wrong with someone else’s. I am good at English and have potential, but my structure for work is wrong, not my knowledge or understanding of the concepts. I need to plan my work and plan it well so that my success is satisfying my interpretation of what success means to me. (If you are wondering, the letter A is what I call success). I did well in some subjects and did not so good in others this term in school. My structure for learning is a total fail, period. My latest post on TheLookoutDiary, ‘Am I The Only One That Hates Multitasking In School?’ is about not wanting to multi-task but what I have learned, is that multi-tasking only works when your structure is well thought out, and implemented according to your plan.

My mother and grandfather pushed and pushed and pushed me until I made a structured timetable for my life. Since I started going by my timetable, I have practically forgotten about prioritising school subjects and giving each subject, the same amount of time and attention. I NOW FEEL MY BEST.

Do you ever wonder why you can do different subjects in school one after the other, and not feel like you are missing out on one subject compared to the other? The reason you feel so at ease when you are at school, is because a structure has been put in place to help you go through school with ease. That is what you have to do for yourself, when you are at home. If you are ever faced with so many things to do in your life, make a plan, make a structure that works for you, and stick by it and if you do, you will be successful. It doesn’t have to be work or at work by the way. It could just  be your life as a whole.

I recently did a post about relationships, and where we stand in them, in the post modern world. The question I want to answer is ‘why don’t girls like close guys?’ They simply don’t. Girls don’t like it when a guy opens up to a girl straight away and tell them their whole life story. It freaks them out or it makes them automatically put you in the friend zone. Girls like a challenge. If you aren’t challenging or hard to get, you are simply not interesting. It is the same with guys. Guys don’t like girls that are easy to get. The easy girls are simply boring.

As a blogger, I love to interact with people and get along with them in the shortest time possible, because I have other things to do like writing,education and my personal pursuit of happiness and development as an individual. Also every second is time, and time is money. I don’t have much time to do  the long waiting process of 4 to 6 weeks before you get a girls number or Facebook or BBM. I usually like to give myself, a week maximum and if nothing happens, I move on. Sometimes, I talk to female bloggers online and I give them more time (1 month) just because, I naturally give people in my field more time to interact with me. Also I believe, people in the same community and field, tend to look out for each other, anyway. For me, that is the process that works for me, it may not work for everyone.

Using the above example, in terms of relationships, being close with a female is bad. Telling her your life story, is also really bad. You gotta give yourself distance and make females want to talk to you. It is the same with girls attracting boys. A girl has to distance herself, so that the guy realises he has to work for a girl who hasn’t got her priority on a him. The priority is living your life to full and taking charge of it.

One thing I learned in the last week, was that sometimes you can rush things, and that can really annoy the person you are interacting with, regardless if you like them, or getting to know them. It is like invading their personal space and rushing a slow process that needs to be grounded. If you are a person that is constantly doing something in your life and wants to build strong relationships with people, a rush process is good but it is risky because you are rushing the grounding stage and hoping it can solidify in the future.

I would go to my Business lesson and get really into it and love the topic that I am learning, then I would realise that 65 minutes has gone, and I have to move to my next lesson. The enthusiasm and drive to do more, is automatically killed by the thought of another subject, I have to attend in less than 5 minutes. Then it happens in my next lesson. I later begin to prioritise subjects and it causes me to be excellent in one and average in the other.

You should be able to learn things once, and grasp it with you undivided attention, only if you focus. If you don’t, then you have to learn it all over again. I believe that if you are in a lecture, and you are focusing and making notes, you have to share concentration on the notes and listening. It doesn’t make sense in my opinion. Give one your 100% attention and you shall learn everything precisely as they are supposed to be taught. And that also counts for subjects you learn in school.

Maybe we could concentrate on one subject till that subject is complete. It could also be part of the daily tasks you do and how you live your life. What would life be like if you could just give one subject you undivided attention and not have to multi-task?

I didn’t expect this at all! Straight after school at Westfield London. Hip Hop always makes my day. XD

TheLookoutDiary:

When it comes to dating and relationships, I believe you should go out with someone that you really get along with. Never go out with a woman that doesn’t get along with you and doesn’t have similar interests as you. If you talk and do the things you like and not worry about if the woman is going to like it or not, or if she will like the conversation or not, it makes life easier. By doing the things you like and enjoy, she should become interested in you. By doing that, you don’t have to pretend in front of her. A few similar interests are cool but a woman who likes every single thing you like, is pretty scary. Difference is powerful in itself. You can learn and experience new things from one another.

Look for someone who accepts you for who you are and enjoys your company. Look for someone who enjoys your comedy. Never try to be funny in a relationship. It kills the vibe completely and what happens is, the girl finds out that you aren’t original and you are actually pretending to be something you are not. You should just be yourself and that should make the girl laugh. So many people try too hard to be comedians in front of women because they want to be accepted quickly. You either look like a fool or you are funny for a short period of time, but they catch you out and see your true character and distance themselves, because your true character isn’t what they expected, beyond the comedy mask.

As I said, I haven’t been in a relationship but I have looked at women and thought deep within, I don’t think they are the right person. I won’t go out with them just because it makes me look cool or I will have an extra woman to put on my list of the women I have dated. I believe that when you wait, you really get to live your life and find out who you actually are, and from developing as an individual, you realise and develop an idea of the sort of woman that would fit your character and COMPLETE YOU! Completing is very important. Some may say that a woman that completes you is someone that is perfect and perfect doesn’t exist. I think personally, a person that completes you, puts you at ease and makes you feel your absolute self. The self you are when you talk to your mother.

BE HONEST! That is the most important thing in a relationship. All men should be honest. By being honest, you are yourself. By being honest, you can separate the women that will respect and accept you to the women that act like fakes and beggars. By being honest, you will have a seriously good relationship that will last and be meaningful.

I would just like to say that a relationship should be completely natural. You should be yourself always. Be honest and don’t worry about who you are because whoever you are, your woman should accept you for that completely.

Brooklynn:

I have been in some very serious and long term relationships/commitments. One thing people have to understand is that being in a relationship means there is no more “I” and it is now “us” and “we.” Compromise is the key word in order to maintain a relationship. Communication is another thing that is also EXTREMELY important. A relationship is a major responsibility and I think a lot of people fail to realize and understand it for its reality.

I am single now, and after emerging from a 4 year relationship I realized that I was too young to be occupying a role that I wasn’t ready for. In your youth, it is your time to get to know yourself and live for yourself. Not to be attached to someone else. Having your own Individuality is something that is really important before you get into a relationship because once you’re in one, we sometimes lose sight of what’s best for US and end up doing what’s best for the other person FIRST. A relationship takes time and needs constant maintenance in order to survive. A lot of people forget that, and become too comfortable, which is why so many relationships break.

If you’re going to get involved with somebody just like Derrick said, don’t do it just for the sake of being able to say “that’s my girlfriend/boyfriend”. Make sure you are completely comfortable to all extremes with the other person and make sure your levels of communication are 100%. Do NOT settle for the first person who comes your way and makes you smile. When I say this, I mean especially for the females out there, it’s easy for us to be swept away by the smallest gestures but you have to know, that not all gestures are pure ones. Know your worth so that someone can appreciate it even more, and not take advantage of you.

In the end, take your TIME and pace yourselves. You have all the time in the world to hold hands, cuddle and kiss and call someone your Boyfriend/Girlfriend. It’s like shopping…browse, try things on and if you don’t like it or it doesn’t fit well…don’t buy it!

xoxo Brooklynn

If we listen to Tyler, the Creator on a deeper level, we start to actually realise that he is speaking sense. He isn’t your typical artist, he goes against the normal structure  of the music industry. Most artist talk about drugs, sex and money whereas Tyler, sadly talks about ‘raping  bitches.’ Yes, that is kinda disturbing but lets go deeper than that.

Lets look at Yonkers for example. Tyler, rebelling against the normal structure of the music industry, makes him an outcast. In society, if we are an outcast, we are seen to not be normal but Tyler, in a strange way, embraces it and curses heavily as a way of saying ‘I don’t care.’ In Yonkers, Tyler contradicts himself a lot in his verses. He says one thing and then comes back saying the complete opposite.

EXAMPLE #1: “ I’m a f-ckin’ walkin’ paradox, no I’m not,

Threesomes with a fuckin’ triceratops, Reptar”

EXAMPLE #2: “ While Syd is tellin’ me that she’s been gettin’ intimate with men,

Syd, shut the fuck up, Here’s the number to my therapist, he’s f-ckin’ awesome with listenin”

When a person contradicts himself, we think they have no clear idea what they are actually saying. In some cases, that is true. Tyler on the other hand, contradicts himself as a point. He says one thing about himself or something in general and then says the complete opposite. The lyrics about Syd and the therapist is a perfect example. He doesn’t care if Syd is getting intimate with men. She should go and see a therapist because he doesn’t give a shit. He ignores Syd’s problem, like he ignores societies expectations of a mainstream rapper. He is definitely not a mainstream rapper. Neither is his group, OFWGKTA.  We have norms in society and his lyrics are simply mad rather than ‘normal.’ We obviously know, nothing will change Tyler’s lyrics but all we can do is just accept it as his personality. A thoughtful person would say, that by looking at the music video above and his music in general, he isn’t making a point. The truth is that there is no point to make, other than every persons personality is different. Even so, every persons personality is unique. And all one can do, is accept it.

I am not saying Tyler, the Creator is perfect. I am just saying that before an artist is labelled, we need to look deeper at their music to really understand their message. Once we do that, then we can make a valid judgement. It is not shocking that many people make unintelligent judgments because a lot of people, lack the drive to discover how deep the ditch can go. Some will say ‘cool, let me listen to more,’ others will say ‘not my thing,’ and his typical fans will say ‘burn shit, fuck school.’

I want to hear your point of views. Comment below on what you think. I have told you my view, now it is time to share yours. And does it take a intelligent person to do such a thing like this?

Post Inspired by my friend Yasmin O. Follow her Tumblr on www.thatdopeass.tumblr.com