I have wanted one of these Flip Videos for some time. Today, I threw caution to the wind (and a handful of feathers so now my pillow will be flatter when I go to bed tonight) and wrote this. I’m only halfway expecting a response from the people at Flip Video Central.If it works, it was all my idea. If it fails, I’m blaming her. She used the Flip Video to catch me talking about dairy products. MOO. (I’m at the very end, right after one of my twins. I blink a lot. Did you know I blink a lot?)

You’ve been waiting to hear who won my awesome prize pack, haven’t you? Some of you have clicked here several times today and some have just outright emailed me to stop torturing you. Aren’t you cute? Also, are you medicated? Just a question buzzing around in my mind.

I didn’t intentionally make you wait. It’s just that I used the Random website and it came up with 166 and then I thought, “Oh, easy enough. I’ll just look at which number commenter that was.” Before I go any further, I should explain that I rarely read my comments directly on my site. They come to my email account where I can access them anywhere (and I can reply back to people directly) so I had completely forgotten that MY WEBSITE DOESN’T USE NUMBERS TO COUNT THE COMMENTS.

This morning, I pulled up my site and stared at the screen until I realized that I would actually have to carve out some time today to count down to the 166th person who commented.

My eyes are crossed now and someone needs to take me to a roller coaster where, after going on a few loops, they will return to normal.

The winner of the gift basket is Crystal GB who simply needs to email me to let me know where to have it shipped!

My Suckiness Factor goes all the way back to last Friday when I noticed that gasoline was $3.49 per gallon and saw all the people lined up at the pump during my lunch hour.

Can we all just pause and reflect on the fact that during these next three weeks while all the principals are working and no students are in the buildings yet that I HAVE A LUNCH HOUR AND I CAN ALSO PEE WHENEVER I WANT.

Thank you for pausing there. Let’s get back to my suckiness.

Since I waited until after work that day to get gas I got stuck with a 50 cent increase. I filled up with $3.99 per gallon because I was foolish enough to wait until after work.

Tell you what…I’ve since learned my lesson and I’m going to be giving away $100 in free gasoline (note how I write out “gasoline” because my “gas” that I give is normally free). This one is sponsored by BP Gasoline who gave me free gasoline to try (who tries free gasoline? me, that’s who!) and, I never thought I’d utter such words, but that’s some seriously good gas.

Stop by for more instructions this week to win free gasoline. Who couldn’t use some of that free stuff?

You know you’re back into the swing of things at work when you’ve neglected to write on your blog. Your blog that’s been so good to you. Given you back rubs when you need it, told you that your eyes looked pretty, bought you pretty trinkets and such.

What? Don’t your blogs do that for you? Hmm. I’d see about taking it out to the woodshed if I were you.

Today’s main post is a review I wrote for JC Penney and can be seen by clicking right here. Go over there and see how I stretched $500 that BlogHer and JC Penney gave me into $1,000 worth of products. Go now! Learn, grasshopper. Learn.

*The contest and comments on the post closes at midnight tonight (manually, too, so can someone call me at 11:59 p.m. CST to remind me or wake me up, thanks). The winner will be announced on Monday after my blog paints my toenails a bright pretty purple color.

I have spent much of today getting some writing done for three publications other than this place. Anyone who’s ever written for someone other than themselves knows this is a feat done best in the cliche cafe while wearing a beret and smoking French cigarettes. Mostly, though, I just listened to my iPod (which is stuck on a new playlist I was creating to go on my marathon bike rides and I went on one yesterday wearing shorts without pockets so I stuck it in my sports bra and it has boob sweat on it – I can’t wait to take it in to get fixed: Tech guy or gal: Ok, so what happened to it? Me: Oh, it’s drenched in sweat from my boobs. Can you fix it?).

Finally, I just left the house to get a passion fruit iced tea and sip it while I let the ideas come to me.

I’m going to slap the Cover Girl off the next girlfriend of mine who says, “Don’t be nervous! Just write! You write every day!”

Then I’m going to crawl into her lap in the fetal position and ask her to rock me to sleep.

So, I’m looking for inspiration. I mean, I have ideas and all, but I seem to write impassioned things when I just happen upon them and it strikes me.

Right now, all I have going for me is a tiny daughter who can’t reach the cereal on the top cupboard (hidden there from her brothers who EAT BOWL AFTER BOWL OF CEREAL WITHOUT STOPPING TO BREATHE). Would you like to see?

What’s on your mind, dear gentle readers? Give me some inspiration, would you? Actually, on second thought, anyone who inspires me the most will win something. I should probably have something to give away because you don’t want me going over to my junk drawer and pulling out expired coupons or pink paperclips with butterflies on them.

Oh! How about some water?

No, seriously. I got some Primo water which uses bottles NOT made from crude oil, but from renewable resources, like corn. Don’t believe me? Watch this video. You’re skeptical, I know. Why should I offer Mocha inspiration for a case of WATER? Because! You’ll be doing something good for the planet! You’ll be helping the environment!

It’s either water or a broken boob-sweated iPod. You want the water.

*EDITED* Votes have been tallied and winners have been chosen. Next post will announce the winners.

As dispassionate scribblings dictate, it’s time for some links. And some answers.

1. Belinda erroneously believes that the Black character in an ensemble cast always dies. Not true. Smoking Aces left my boyfriend Common alive as well as Alicia Keys. So there.

2. I’m sad. I got this fabulous invitation to be flown to San Francisco and make coffee for a How-To video back in September and I couldn’t go. Something about being a “supervisory administrator” and “homecoming” and “we need you” so now I’m forced to watch Erin’s new project for BlogHer and cry big, fat, juicy tears.

3. Tricia asked me a question on this post which led to this post and then she left this comment:

I’ll have to read this again when I have more time to ingest it… I know you took no offense at my question, but I was thinking about it the other way- Does the question or fact of your racial heritage get ‘thrown at you’ (these being the important words here- I don’t know how to italicize in a comment- but hey I spelled italicize right on the first try!) often?

I think it’s a bit of a different question.

So here is my answer to that one:

Yes, it gets thrown at me. For instance, in dealing with a student who is Black I might be asked to “deal” with them because (this is awful, terrible) sometimes the White teachers seem afraid to deal with them or get told off for asking. However, I get “told off”, too, but I can sometimes couch the counseling of that student in different terms that they might respond better to and that’s precarious in and of itself. Yes, the Race Card is always there and I can’t help but to think of things in racial terms that others might not think of without my prompting.

So we’re having this discussion of allowing students to wear hoodies in the classroom but the problem as I see it lies in the fact that students have these and almost nothing else with long sleeves to wear. Let me clarify: many of the Black students own only these (in my noting them while walking around my school) and if we say they can’t wear them in the classroom then we’re limiting them. But we’re also punishing them by writing detentions for wearing them. It’s an ugly, stupid rule and I hate it.

Another one was when a student had her braids ripped out of her head by her parents when she misbehaved on a field trip. She came to school in a bandana and refused to remove it because she was so embarrassed so she was made to sit in the In House room until she followed the “no scarf” rule. I’ve had to go on and on about Black Girl Hair Issues to no avail, but I truly believe that any color girl would have done the same thing. I just hate that it was a form of punishment for her by her parents and then that we punished her again. Rules are rules I’m told. Which is why I hate them. Some of them keep us safe, but we honestly could have had some compassion for the child.

Ok, that just got really long for an answer and I feel that I’m no longer making sense on the issue.

Oh, and another thing! I hate it when sentences start with, “Ok, so you’re Black. Answer this question for me…” and yet I put myself in positions where non-Blacks don’t show that much-needed empathy because they’re trying so hard to UNDERSTAND, BECAUSE I JUST DON’T UNDERSTAND.

Now I’m really not making any sense.

4. Sometimes people write things that hit you between the eye. Ouch. Others write things you’ve actually done before and you wonder why they wrote about it so well. Could be that you I just don’t make much sense sometimes.

5. And sometimes you jump from post to post and find gems that make you giggle and want to be friends with complete strangers.

6. Dealing with lint? Look no further. This product that someone sent me was met with an “ehh. big deal” smirk on my face. It’s basically tape. I could do that. But NO. I couldn’t cut it into squares that fit into my purse perfectly where I can take them out, take off the backing and viola! Lint removed! Sheer genius.

7. Need a super-duper snack during these days before Thanksgiving that make you feel smug about eating healthy? vegan? gluten Free? Look no further. (Who writes this drivel? And these were the brilliant words of the ad writers of my youth.) But the Cinnamon Sugar Soynut Butter from Simple Food is pretty darn satisfying on a graham cracker. You might just finish the jar in one sitting. You might. I wouldn’t. No no no. I would NOT do a thing like that. It might take me two sittings. It’s worth it to buy a jar for the cute little saying on the side:

Sing it when you chomp!

Cheer it when you chew!

Ask all your friends,

“What’s food to you?”

8. So, what did I think of the new Chevy Malibu? Here’s my quick-and-dirty: the outside looks fabulous, I liked the V6 better than the others, that was my first hybrid driving experience and it didn’t disappoint. However, the materials used on the interior felt a little low-end to me. I realize why they asked me to drive it, though: I have a new driver in the family and my opinions stemmed from my concerns about being 15 and doing this confounded driving thing for the first time. To wit: I want them to change the speedometer from jumping 20 miles at a time because even though the average person can calculate that 70 is, indeed, between the 60 and the 80 I thought that a new driver has too many other things to think about and that it should be made plain. Much better review and great pictures found here by my buddy Andrew whom I met in Memphis.

9. Lest you believe that I’m hanging on to Soynut Butter, lint remover, and finding great new blogs and that that is what is making my mouth turn upward these days into a semi-smile, I have a secret: I’m trying a new make-up for a company that also wants me to model it for them. Model? Me? WHATWHATWHAT?

I’m hanging on to that mostly because I missed out on making coffee in SanFreakingFrancisco. And because it made me feel pretty when I was asked.