Kicking Back

Well, my good pal Travonte wrote this note giving the ladies an inside look into the mind of men. My gift to him is to return the favor…I hope I do this right…

1. Girls are extremely obvious when it comes to displaying emotion. The over-friendly hugs and tendency to touch on you a lot is just a side effect. We’re sorry; its something we can’t control. You’re just gonna have to deal with it.

2. Girls for the most part go WAY out of the way to look like we aren’t interested. Some succeed. Most don’t.

3. I have to agree with Travonte…smiling at us has the same effect. (and smiling does mean that teeth are visible; the smirk isn’t gonna cut it)

4. A lot of girls like to play hard to get. Don’t be an idiot. PLAY ALONG. But if she blantly comes out and tells you she’s not interested, back off. We don’t want any arrests for stalking.

5. Girls have the horrid habit of talking about ex boyfriends. We don’t do this to annoy. Its our secret way of telling you what NOT to do.

6. If you’re interested in a girl and she talks about a particular ex more than what is necessary (generally he comes up in every conversation you have) that means she’s not over him! But if its occasional mention of multiple ex’s see #5

7. When a girl likes you, she may tell you a lot…in MANY different ways. This kinds refers to #1.

8. When we say “You know what? Nevermind…” we really don’t mean any harm. Usually we were on the verge of saying something extremely irrevelant and it truly isn’t worth your worry. Sorry for the resulting stress caused by that.

9. If a girl opens up to you about her problems things can be tricky. Some girls want advice which requires listening and comprehensive skills. On the other hand, other girls just want to air out some frustrations; you may or may not have to pay close attention.

10. When a girl is ranting (this involves loud tones/yelling) about her day at school or people she works with, listen and AGREE WITH EVERYTHING. This is her just cooling off. Later, after she is calm (and not near any sharp objects), make her aware of any wrongdoings on her part.

11. Girls like to hear your opinion. Tells us what you think when we ask questions. We always know when you’re telling us what you think we want to hear. That nakes us angry.

12. When being teased or tickled or picked up or anything of the sort, girls whine and squeal, often resembling the noise of small pigs. Sorry again…it’s the estrogen.

13. We like it when you say we’re beautiful.

14. Don’t assume girls are not checking you out when you’re checking us out. We may not be looking at the same areas, but…wait, I am so lying: WE DO! Lol

15. We often have fits about little insignificant things and take them out on you or do something random in response to them. Honestly, we’re not mad at you, we just need someone to “get mad at” that we know will forgive us. PLEASE FORGIVE US!

16. If a girl does something stupid in front of a guy, it causes an emotional breakdown (no…really. It does). Tripping over a crack in the sidewalk will almost bring us to tears. If you think we’re feeling insecure about a dumb moment that’s a key moment for a hug or kind word brownie points count fellas!!!

17. If a girl gives off the façade (yes façade) that she’s ok after a stupid moment, don’t believe it. She’s freaking out…refer to #16.

18. Pleas believe as much as you’re talking about her, she’s talking about you. When you meet her friends/relatives and they say “I’ve heard so much about you” they’re not lying. They’re probably sick of you already and you’ve just met. But don’t worry, they’ll forgive you for our giddiness.

19. When a girl asks you to leave her alone. She doesn’t mean it. You could probably walk out of the room, count to 10, and walk back in with everything alright. HOWEVER, if she is angry and says “You know what? Nevermind…” you should be afraid. That means she is mad at YOU. Time to start apologizing.

20. Don’t apologize without knowing what you’re apologizing for. That will get you put UNDER the doghouse.

21. When you believe you have done something to anger a girl, ask what it is. Being informed is better than being ignorant to the slap coming your way. Refer to #20.

22. The only reason why we object to you saying we’re beautiful is because we’re surprised. Many of us have high self-esteem, but that is SELF esteem. Ain’t nobody telling us nothing. We want to hear it, so just repeat it once more…PLEASE……

23. When a girl looks at you longer than a few seconds, don’t get weirded out. We’re either admiring or thinking about you or making a memory of how cute you are.

24. If you wake up and a girl is watching you sleep. Don’t spazz out. We like the way you look……#23

25. Many girls have deep, deep, DEEP, dark holes of bad experiences and memories. If we’re telling you something and start to cry, don think you’ve done something wrong. It just means we haven’t completely dealt with the issue at hand.

26. A good time to pay attention to/comfort/hold/(possibly) kiss a girl is when she his crying.

27. Don’t ask for kisses. Take them.

28. Don’t ask for hugs. Take them.

29. We love it when you brush the hair away from our faces.

30. If a girl tells you no or stop, we don’t mean it. But if we’re telling you to stop a sexual act, QUIT. We will press charges.

31. Understand that a girl’s friends are as close as family members. Impressing them is the prelude to impressing her parents.

32. Massages are good.

33. Compliments are necessary.

34. Cuddling is a must.

35. When we ask to wear your clothes, don’t freak out. We just like the feeling of being consumed in clothes (and your clothes smell like you….). Wearing tight jeans is a pain!

36. If a girl wears no makeup and sweats around you. She REALLY likes you. The fact that she has not broken her neck to wake up at the crack of dawn to get pretty says a lot about you. It means she trusts you to accept her and her flaws.

37. And finally: When it’s that time of the month…DON’T FREAK OUT. We don’t want you coming in contact with any body fluid. The most we’ll do is ask you to make a store run (sorry…sometimes you just can’t avoid those). If we call you over we want to cuddle and kiss. You can keep your pelvic area on the other side of the room for all we care. We just like you around.



On that skateboard...GRINDIN' Ghost.

Nappy Roots article

I was fortunate to meet 5 of the COOLEST guys coming out of Bowling Green, Kentucky...yeah, I'm talking about Nappy Roots. I wrote an article about them for my school newspaper. ENJOY!


What do you get when you mix two suburbans, a DJ, 7 guys, 2 dancers, a GPS system, and a couch? A really great tour! This past Wednesday I was able to get a passenger seat ride into the lives of touring artists. Platinum recording, Grammy nominated rap group Nappy Roots are making their way across the US promoting their upcoming album The Humdinger (in stores August 5) and made a stop in Jackson to reunite with a few friends and do a show. You may remember the group from their catchy country-infused debut single “Aw Naw” or the even more memorable “Po’ Folks” from the album Watermelon, Chicken, and Grits. The album went on to sell over a million copies and they quickly followed up with their second album Wooden Leather, which spawned the single “Round the Globe”, but label politics and the departure of one of its members, led to what became a 4 year hiatus.

Since then they’ve released an internet-only album, started an independent label (Nappy Roots Entertainment Group), and are preparing to release their long-awaited third album. The first single is the infectious “Good Day”, a feel-good record with a catchy chorus. Nappy Roots performed this and other new selections from the upcoming album this past Wednesday at Hal and Mal’s along with special guest Kamikaze, who also promoted the event. Nappy Roots treated Jackson to the type of live show that made them darlings of the music industry a few years ago. On the campus visit here at Millsaps in the Student Center, Big V said this record is a departure from what people know Nappy Roots to be “everybody knows us for the country thing, on this record we’re going to show some maturity”. Other songs on the album include “Flex”, “No Static”, and “Small Town” all of which are available for your listening pleasure on their MySpace page (www.myspace.com/nappyrootsmusic).

My two day “mini-tour” with the group confirms what they say in their songs; they truly are down-home “country boys”, enjoying good laughs and good food. Running around Jackson and Cleveland, Mississippi, giving interviews, and having meet and greets didn’t seem to phase them (other than the occasional yawn, of course). No matter how hectic the day or how mixed up the schedule became, the group was always smiling and in good spirits; doing everything with a distinctive swagger and charm that can only be chalked up to their country upbringing.