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Tara, You and Sookie Need To Raise Your Standards, Really

I know times are hard when it comes to finding that special someone. The women of True Blood really take desperation to another level. I'll start with Sookie, the star of the show. She falls in love with Bill, and I have to admit, Bill is a pretty hunky vampire. He works for her to a point, because he is basically dead and she can't penetrate his thoughts with her telepathic powers. Fine. But how many times can you let somebody suck your blood before it gets old? I don't know, only Sookie knows but she will probably need to get herself checked out for anemia sooner or later.
I think Tara is the one I struggle with the most. Like Sookie she is very attractive and I have the sneaking suspicion if she left Bontemps she could have her pick. Instead, she parades her dysfunction in the form of bad attitudes and emotional outbursts and evey freak within a 20 mile radius has answered her call for further abuse. It starts out with a crush on a childhood friend who is very much a slut-puppy, to a drug dealer who is under the spell of a mythical creature, to a stalky, creepy vampire who kidnaps her and insists that she um, love him. Oh and can't forget the affair with her boss who happens to be a dog part-time. Yeah...times are hard but they ain't that hard.
As much as I love this show I am growing tired of the romantic antics. Part of the appeal of the show is the non-stop drama for sure, but why can't Tara just settle down, even for a little while with someone that isn't just completely warped? Oh, wait that won't work since eveybody is either a vampire, werewolf, or just plain crazy. Well I'm still rooting for you Tara Thornton, but you might want to stop running around announcing how screwed up you are and I bet the freaks will leave you alone.

Chandra Adams
Author
Shades of Retribution

Posted by The Man Shortage at 9/1/2010 10:45 PM | Add Comment

Shades of Retribution Excerpt 1

Sit back and enjoy an excerpt from my first book Shades of Retribution.

Join us at The Los Angeles Black Book Expo, Saturday August 21st at the Sheraton Gateway LAX Hotel. Visit LABBX.com for details!

Chandra Adams

Download | Duration: 00:05:01

Posted by The Man Shortage at 7/12/2010 10:27 PM | Add Comment

I Apologize, Tiger Podcast

Walk down memory lane with me and remember the Tiger Woods scandal, get details on The Los Angeles Black Book Expo coming Saturday, August 21, 2010

Download | Duration: 00:04:46

Posted by The Man Shortage at 6/29/2010 10:22 PM | Add Comment

Throw Him A Party

That guy that ran through your life, made a fool of you, made you cry, or cheated on you? Throw him a party.

You say what? Spend more of your hard earned money and time on that loser? Well I must admit that I exaggerate. But I want you to think about something here. Ladies, when it feels like that loser has left his footprints all over you, go ahead and cry for a little while, burn his pictures, and lick your wounds. But let me tell you, that fool did you a favor of a lifetime. He came in to fulfill his own needs and boost his own low self-esteem but he showed you exactly what you think you want but definitely don’t need. If you ever see the dust bunny again, smile, thank him, and tell him that you might even throw him a party for leaving you alone.

Posted by The Man Shortage at 6/13/2010 3:29 PM | Add Comment

What About Your Friends

Do you have friends that seem to be unhappy when you are doing well? Do you keep people around you that are always criticizing your appearance or your choices? Do you stay in contact with people who have happy, healthy relationships, or do their lives always seem filled with drama? Chances are, if their lives are in chaos, they will want yours to be as well.

Don’t get me wrong - everybody deserves a second chance. People change and grow, make mistakes, experience and project pain. At the end of the day, though, you want to surround yourself with people who enrich your life, not take what they want and leave you to fend for yourself.

Your true friends will remain, and I count relatives in that same group. You can’t choose the family you are born into, but you can decide who you will spend your time with and whether others are worthy of your time and love.

Are you looking for someone special to spend your life with, but can’t seem to find the time or the opportunity? Try going out by yourself to a concert, book event, or art exhibit. Believe it or not it can be very intimidating for someone to strike up a conversation with a group of your friends standing nearby. Unless of course your friends want to see you happy with someone.

However you decide to proceed in your friendships remember to remain compassionate and forgiving. I believe that often people who have hurt others are just not capable of giving the kind of love that is required to maintain healthy relationships. I also believe that if they were capable of doing better by others and even within themselves, they would do better. It is your job to lead by example, and you can’t do that if you are allowing others to treat your time, your heart and your love like something to wipe their feet on, or worse.

Chandra Adams

Shades of Retribution

Posted by The Man Shortage at 5/17/2010 8:35 PM | View Comments (1) | Add Comment

Disappearing Acts

I know some of you might have asked lately, where has Chandra been? I’m still here, and so is the man shortage. As a matter of fact, I recently ran across a headline that stopped me in my internet tracks:

Status Report Finds Black Males Disappearing From College Campuses

My first thought was, oh @#$% somebody is reading Shades Of Retribution and is trying some of the girl’s ideas at home. After I calmed myself, though I read the story and found it only a little less shocking. I’ve been hearing statistics about the disparities between college educated black men and the rest of the population for a couple of decades now, and the issue still perplexes me. Combine that with the fact that things only appear to be getting worse for the numbers of black males who actually graduate from college, and I have to ask a few questions.

Black men, why won’t you go to college and finish? I know you have the brains, but what happens to your motivation once you have been provided the opportunity? Those questions are just for those black men who have dropped out of college. Now, questions for people who put these statistics together. Are your really giving us the whole picture? Most of the black men I attended college with not only graduated but went on to receive masters degrees and PhD’s.

Does this study include community colleges? A very reliable source, a black man who attended community college before attending a four-year college, told me that many of his fellow black males stayed long enough at school to meet a few females and then dropped out. Is that what this study is about? Undoubtedly our difficult economic times have intensified the problem of attaining higher education. I think a study showing how many black men who do have college degrees go on to earn as much as their peers would be a much more revealing study. A Chicago public school has been highlighted in the news recently because the school is made up of only African-American males, and all of the graduating class has been accepted into college. What are they doing at this school to guarantee this type of success, and where is this same support on college campuses? My hope is that with the push to make education more affordable, these types of statistics will one day soon become a thing of the past.

Chandra Adams

Shades of Retribution

Posted by The Man Shortage at 4/14/2010 8:06 PM | Add Comment

Open Letter To Kim Kardashian Podcast

Download | Duration: 00:04:31

Posted by The Man Shortage at 3/23/2010 9:54 PM | Add Comment

A Letter to Bitter Women - Guest Blogger Richard

Every once in a while I like to hear different opinions of what men really think. That's why I have a guest blogger and he will share his perspective on some women and their problems finding suitable men.

Hello Ladies,

This letter goes out to all of the bitter women who feel as though a good man is hard to find either because they are in Jail, with a white woman or converted by a gay man. Now I am no expert nor claim to be on the subject of a black man being wronged by "The Man" nor why he strayed over to the "other side" for a token white girl. However, I feel that I am more than an expert on the subject matter of why a "straight" man may have decided to turn left or right.

Let's start off with the basics, curiosity. Just as the old saying goes, curiosity kills the cat but satisfaction brought him back. It rings true to this day! Humans on the whole have been groomed to let curiosity get the best of them. It's part of our DNA as Humans. Some men are trying to find that ultimate sexual high. Their "freaky" side has been itching within them for years and they have to scratch it. Now ladies, your man may have come to you to voice this itch for quite some time now. Asking you to go down or better yet go in through the back door however, you were too modest to fulfill the sexual needs of your man for one reason or another. Forgetting that every action has a reaction.

Now with that being said let's process this equation. Your man comes to you because you have told him to come to you with all of his problems, concerns and issues that pertains to your relationship. So he fulfills that very request that you set forth. Then you shoot him out of the sky without even attempting to fulfill his desires. Yet you run to your girlfriend to have "Girl Talk" about what your man has asked you to do and how you will never do that! Ladies, you have basically pushed your man out of an open door unto my front porch.

Don't get me wrong ladies. I am all for the pro women movement and that women should be treated equal. However, this whole Independent Ladies trend is actually pushing your men away from you . The word independent according to Websters dictionary is defined as not requiring or relying on something else. Now how many of us Male or Female have never relied on someone else for some form of assistance. Yet, you ladies walk around all day with a chip on your shoulder. Waving your hands in the air at nightclubs and yelling at the top of your lungs that you are independent and doing it for yourself! Yet turn around in the same breath wondering why you are man-less. Hmmm... Isn't that not an oxymoron? Furthermore, ladies you don't cook, clean nor do your man's laundry because it's considered "old school" and the modern woman does not do that. Remember ladies nothing is new under the sun and no matter how you slice it, a man still needs to be nurtured.

My doorbell is ringing ladies and I can go on and on about this subject. But like all things, this must come to an end. So in parting I have a couple words of wisdom. Be careful what you wish for! Also be careful of what you speak out to the Universe for she does take heed and listens quite well. For your man is going to talk to other guys just like you may be talking to your girlfriends. The only difference is you never know who's lending him an understanding ear. Willing to go down and allow him to enter through the back door and at the same time nourishing him and handling all of the household duties, allowing him to be the man that he is, Mine!

xoxo

The man on the other end

Richard

Shades of Retribution

Chandra Adams

Posted by The Man Shortage at 3/18/2010 7:22 PM | Add Comment

Speaking of Wesley Snipes…

While writing a movie review about Brooklyn’s Finest with Charles, I really paused a few times to think about Wesley Snipes and his Hollywood tenure. Despite all of the uproar about his alleged lack of love for all black women, I still enjoy him as an actor.

Before I get skewered by the legions of black women who hate his guts, let me just say that I can separate the actor from the man. I don’t know him personally and I can only speculate on where his preferences originated. Never, ever, was there a chance that I would have ever become romantically linked to this cat, which he so affectionately refers to himself as, and whatever bitterness he feels toward black women is clearly a reflection of how he feels about himself. No reason for me to take his words personally.

How can I say that? I re-read an interview he gave to Ebony in 1997 and I took away a couple of things. One, he mentioned having a Napoleon complex - code word for trouble. He has always had lots to prove, and any challenge to his ego would not have been quickly forgotten. Secondly, who really gives a rat’s derriere? So he hooked up with a few black women that had as many issues as he appears to have. Most of us in our dating lives have encountered a few troubles, but anyone with any common sense would not draw the conclusion that all people of a certain shade or background are out to get them and should therefore be avoided.

Now this is where it gets confusing if you care about his personal preferences in women. Snipes has been associated with several movies and projects, including Down In The Delta and Disappearing Acts. These are two movies that I believe are excellent and he actually acted in and produced both. The former is a great family movie, showing the strength of a black family, and the latter, adapted from the novel by Terry McMillan doesn’t necessarily show black men in the most positive light. I doubt that someone who truly despises black women would be associated with either project. In addition to these two projects he has demonstrated impressive range in moving from romantic drama to action hero and all points in between.

His off-screen persona versus on-screen ability highlights the complexity of people and relationships. There’s absolutely no denying that race as an issue is a factor in daily life, and if you don’t believe that it’s probably because you don’t have to deal with anyone outside of your own race. Stereotyping and running to another opposite of the one who broke your heart makes sense on one level but that person will eventually find that heartbreak, just like love knows no color.

I absolutely am a fan of Wesley Snipes the actor. His life experiences have contributed to his on screen charisma. I hope he can evolve from his race-based characterizations of women and all the other nonsensical chatter and focus on what he does best, which is act.

Chandra Adams

Shades of Retribution

Posted by The Man Shortage at 3/6/2010 10:58 PM | Add Comment

Shades of Retribution Book Event

If you're in the Los Angeles area, join me this Saturday at Classic One Books as we talk about what happens when three women attempt to solve the issue of the man shortage in my suspense novel, Shades of Retribution. We'll discuss that and other issues related to the book.

Classic One Books is located on 1425 W. Manchester Ave, L.A. CA, 90047. The book signing/discussion begins at 2:00 PM. Support your local independent bookstores.

Chandra Adams
Shades of Retribution

Posted by The Man Shortage at 3/3/2010 10:43 PM | Add Comment

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