Excerpts from the Diary of a Diva

This is a bad time in our history. The economy is absolutely awful, and I know I'm not the only one feeling the effects. President Bush says we're not in a recession. That's laughable, but also scary. If this ISN'T a recession, I'm afraid of what a recession looks like. Gas prices are sky-high, people aren't making as much as they need to if they have jobs, and those of us who are under-employed aren't able to find work that'll allow us to re-introduce our ends. Even everything is looking bad, I refused to be depressed. I personally think that the way we feel about a situation is a choice. Since my Bible tells me in 2 Corinthians 5:7 that we walk by faith and not by sight , I know that what my eyes see isn't all there is. We have to understand that our fight isn't about the physical things we deal with. In Ephesians 6:12, it says that we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the ...

I read Hillary Clinton's new comments about Rev. Jeremiah Wright with interest. In case you missed it, the former first lady told reporters that if she were a member of the Trinity United Church of Christ, she would've moved her membership after hearing what she referred to as his divisive remarks. In fact, her exact quote was, I think that given all we have heard and seen, he would not have been my pastor." She said this to deflect criticism over her erroneous accounts of her Bosnia trip. If I had any doubt about my support for Barack Obama before, I certainly don't now. First of all, I find it amazing how Hillary waited to weigh in on the controversy surrounding Obama's association with Rev. Wright until she was in the hot seat. Reporters have been asking her about the controversy since it first came to light, but she used her response as a "Get out of Jail Free" card. She basically said, "Yes, I made a 'mistake' by saying that I landed in ...

Time waits for no man -- or woman, in this case. No matter what blows life deals us, we still have to keep it moving. As I struggle to come to terms with Granny's death, I realize that I have to move out of my apartment. Why, you ask? Because my meager budget just won't allow me to keep paying this exorbitant rent. Of course, in defense of the rent, I have to say that I knew it could be a strain when I first got this place. It was just that I loved the space. Being fresh off the plane from New York, it looked like I was moving into a vast estate. If you've ever seen New York apartments, you know what I'm saying. LOL Anyway, I fell in love with the place, and I thought that I'd be able to afford it once I got my dream job. Fast forward to now. The dream job I was looking for has yet to be found, and I'm struggling to re-introduce my ends. The last thing I need to pay -- in addition to a car note, insurance, gas, and food -- is a grip of rent. Hence th...

I’m a huge fan of romantic comedies. It’s cool to see my fantasies played out on the big screen. Tales of handsome men and beautiful women falling in love entertain me no matter how many times I’ ve seen them played out. The Wedding Planner , How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days , Something New , Brown Sugar , Sweet Home Alabama , and countless others make me believe that one day, I, too, will find the unconditional love I so desperately yearn for. Even though I’ ve been hurt more times than I care to remember, I still believe that love can and will happen to me. I don’t know when and I don’t know how, but I that my very own Mr. Wonderful is waiting in the wings to sweep me off my feet. He’ll be cute, smart, financially sound, and perceptive enough to see me for the beautiful, sexy, intelligent angel I am. This man will think I’m the bee’s knees, the butter on his rice, and the ham hock in his collard greens all rolled up in a MackDiva - licious package, and I’ll think the same thing about ...

I think I finally understand why my father makes me so mad. It’s because he doesn’t know how much his indifference to me hurts. Please understand, I didn’t want him at Granny’s funeral because I didn’t want to deal with the rejection and pain he provokes in me. But the fact that he traveled all the way to Florida to be with my sister in her time of need while just sending flowers to me in mine just magnifies the differences between my sister and to me. I know it’s probably irrational, but it’s still very hurtful to me. As I told you, I didn’t meet my father until I was 22 years old. It wasn’t his choice to know me. Instead, his sister forced me on him. She contacted me after hearing me on the radio and invited me to Christmas dinner. I went out of sheer curiosity, and I sometimes think it was the biggest mistake I’ve ever made. Those of us who grow up without a father always fantasize that the man who contributed half of our DNA will love us unconditionally like parents are supposed to...

I am angry. This evening I spoke to my mother's baby daddy. I would refer to him as my father, but that wouldn't adequately reflect our relationship. He's the man whose genetic components mixed with my mother's to produce me. That was the end of his contribution to my existence. This is the man I'd longed to know for years when I was a child. My mother, to her credit, never spoke ill of him. Instead, she'd always say, "You'd really like him if you got to know him." In my mind, he was the one who would rescue me from a stepfather who didn't love me and a mother too preoccupied with keeping the peace to notice. I used to love the song, Daddy's Home, because I thought he really cared about me, but just couldn't get to me to show it. When I finally met him at the tender age of 22, I found him to be an arrogant, selfish person who had eyes like mine. He's into making good impressions, and he's very curious about everything. We share ...

Even though funerals are designed to celebrate a person's life and times, they ultimately become impromptu family reunions. No matter how raggedy your relatives are, they'll come together to support those who are grieving. While it can be an enjoyable situation -- I mean besides the actual death -- these situations can expose or reinforce any rifts in the family structure. If you've been keeping up, I told you that I'd be giving some in-depth explanations about some aspects of my grandmother's funeral. Today's subject is my uncle and aunt from California. Uncle Spineless is my grandmother's oldest living son. He's about 13 years older than my mother, and he left home when he was 19. For reasons unbeknownst to me, he stayed away for 13 years. By the time he'd returned to my grandmother's house, my mom -- the baby of the family -- was 18, and he was married to Aunt Cruella. From what I can gather, Aunt Cruella hates our family and she's done ev...