By SANDRA LORD — Caribbean (read bio)

Caricature: (©) 2010 Lord Sisters. All Rights Reserved.

My sister, Allison, cringes everytime I publicly admit to having voted for G.W. Bush. Although I am quick to add that it was ONLY the second term (I voted for Gore first time around), it is something, which for obvious reasons, I am still not proud.

While my Republican friends embraced me like “E.T., the prodigal daughter,” who had at last ‘come home,’ my Democrat friends were aghast. After all, in their eyes, that was inconsistent with the person whom they knew – one who subscribed to the belief that government should play some role in alleviating poverty and social injustice, one who had herself created and supported community outreach programs for the less fortunate.

The thing is, as someone who comes from a different political system; who had no preconceived ideas about American politics; who got to take a good impartial look at the two major parties in this country, I must say I don’t consider myself (more…)

By ALLISON LORD — Caribbean (read bio)

By Guest Blogger: SANDRA GLUSCHANKOFF — Argentinian (read bio)

Corpo: Italian for body

Rate: fee, price, toll

I’ve been accused many times of being extremely analytical. I admit it; I’m guilty of evaluating and tearing up situations to pieces until they make some sense to me.

One of the many things that I do is teach Hebrew (I’m making a mental note to add it to my bio, surely I will forget by the time I’m done writing this article). A good trick for teaching a language is making your students understand the root and significance of words. In doing so, they can discover the many directions a particular word can be related to the ones they already know.

When the term “corporate” started playing games in my mind, it was no surprise to me that the meaning was defined as a toll or price that you pay with your body. Now, hold your horses! Don’t run for your Webster’s, because this definition is not there. But I wouldn’t be surprised if it will be added in a few years time.

The corporate world today in America is the new definition of the American (more…)

By Guest Blogger: JASMINE RAFATI — Iran (read bio)

I always thought of myself as the citizen of the world. I could easily move to a new place and adapt. It was always hard at first but it would change for the better pretty fast.

As some of you may know, I recently moved to Paris, temporarily. I feel as I am getting older, it is harder for me to adapt to a new place; even though, I have lived here before. I long for my family, friends, and familiar faces. I have much missed the wonderful city of Los Angeles.

I miss my place of peace, Los Angeles County Museum, where I forget all my troubles. I miss my beautiful family who is the rock in my life. And of course I miss my beautiful friends without whom my life would be dull.

My sister, who is my best friend and critic, is literally my second half who listens to me talk about everything and everyone only to offer good advice.

To my Mr. T, whom life is hell with and without; I miss drinking pomegranate tea (more…)

By Guest Blogger: KAZ MATAMURA — Japanese (read bio)

I was raised by a Pollyanna mother.

When I broke my nose, she praised the fact that I had the guts to physically take on boys. When I ran from home at the age of eight, she encouraged me to become an explorer in the Amazon. Having her permission to smoke, drink or fight took away the excitement and desire to do these things. In her eyes I could do no wrong. But in my teen years, as typical as a teen can be, I rebelled against her view of the world. I started to train myself to be pessimistic.

By seventeen, I was running an independent advertisement agency in Tokyo. My job required no previous training because each situation was different; I was a troubleshooter. When one thing went wrong, such as a client getting red roses (more…)

By Sandra & Allison Lord

THE MOST ANNOYING MEDIA PERSONALITIES:

(©) 2010 Lord Sisters. All Rights Reserved.

KATE GOSSELIN

It isn’t because she dances with two left feet or makes iRobot look like Fred Astaire or Ginger Rogers that Kate Gosselin has made our Media Jerks list. We are just sick of Kate using her kids to further her so called “career,” crying ad nauseum about struggling to make ends meet, and acting like she’s some poor single mom having to take every job in the limelight to feed her children. She is not the only person in the world with multiples to feed!

In fact, the Harris kids, born in 2002 — America’s first recorded set of surviving African-American sextuplets — have no television show and the family has barely been able to survive on the father’s salary of about $30,000 a year as an elementary school teacher.

Kate Gosselin is making enough money off her books and appearances that should allow her to stop crying already!

We don’t doubt that Kate loves her children very much and wants to provide for them but it (more…)

By Sandra & Allison Lord  

THE MOST REMARKABLE MEDIA PERSONALITIES:

Tyler Perry and alter ego , Madea (©) 2010 Lord Sisters. All Rights Reserved.

Six foot five, good looking, and successful – is this what makes Tyler Perry a media icon? We don’t think so. It is his determination to overcome his difficulties, sticking to his faith, and believing in himself, even in the toughest moments.

After Tyler attempted suicide due to a childhood trauma, where he was a victim of physical abuse as well as sexual molestation, he understood that he had to take the reins of his life in order to defeat the ghosts of his troubled past and set on a journey of a thousand miles, which began with a single step. 

Being a high school drop out, Tyler quickly realized that it took lots of (more…)

By SANDRA LORD – Caribbean

When I attended performing arts school in New York, each semester I found myself one of few black students in the classroom. The rest of the students were primarily Caucasian, many from Europe and Canada.

I thought nothing much of it until one day a fellow classmate from Holland asked me if I knew how she could get her Green Card. I was taken off guard. The fact is, until that moment, it had never dawned on me that any of my fellow classmates was in the U.S. illegally – after all, they were um…white.

It turned out that several of them were here illegally, including those from CANADA.

I’ve never stopped thinking about that for like many Americans, I had (more…)

By ALLISON LORD – Caribbean

It all started when I recently decided to take my elderly mother to the Caribbean islands for a well-deserved vacation.

HOWEVER, before reveling in the luxury of rest and relaxation, I had to prepare myself to deal with the endless shenanigans of today’s travel experience. I cringed at the thought.

First: call my preferred airline of more than twenty years — American Airlines.

My accented voice is greeted by an even heavier accent from a man named Habib.

For a moment I thought my call had been re-routed and I was talking to Microsoft, India.

Habib’s customer service skills are horrible. Despite my many attempts to be polite, this rude English-challenged young man is determined to ruin my day at all costs. I am now reconsidering my decision to make these travel arrangements if basking in the tropical sun, eating mangos and drinking coconut water means having to deal with the bad attitude of this idiot.

I opt for the Internet!

With my Citibank Advantage Card in hand, I peruse the American Airlines website and other (more…)

By Guest Blogger: SANDRA GLUSCHANKOFF – Argentinian

Driving home from work, I fantasized about the moment I would take off my shoes, fill up a glass of my favorite Malbec from my native Argentina (my newly acquired taste), and finally relax after a long day.

Anxiously, I slid the key into my front door, pushed it open, and before I could announce myself to my kids with my usual greeting, “Mami is home”, I tripped onto my younger son’s shoes that were lying right by the entrance.

In a second the spell was broken as my new pantyhose ripped when I landed knees first onto the floor.

I looked around, dazed and pissed, and reality hit me. My workday was (more…)