Rant & Rave...In An Accent

Inspiration.

rraccent — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 14:33:11 +0000

I have my bouts about “becoming a writer”. Should I try, Should I remain silent? Do my words matter? Do they inspire? Yesterday I strolled around Borders for quite sometime and saw that books need not have a significant purpose anymore. Do you feel like writing? Do you feel like you have something important to share? Who cares…just do it. And if I needed any more convincing that I should pick back up the habit of writing – I stumbled upon this article- Danielle Steel owns 6000 pairs of Louboutin’s. If ever I needed motivation….

I’m not the only ONE!

rraccent — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 14:23:38 +0000

95% of the time I dress feet up. Yes, I pick out my shoes for the day and dress around my shoes. This is done for work, partying, hanging out- It is all about the shoes. (and, yes, I do have a pretty exhaustive shoes collection). And here I am watching an interview of JCREW’s Creative Director who claims she also puts her outfits together based on her shoes (the shoes her son picks out for her each morning). I was quite excited to hear this Check out her interview!

Chopped!

rraccent — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 19:51:09 +0000

It hasn’t been this short since I was 3 yrs old. Chopped my hair off last Friday and decided that this is a blog-worthy event. After having long hair for as long as I can recall childhood memories I decided to get a layered, crop slightly above the shoulder/below the chin hair cut. What possessed me to actually let Coco (my hairstylist for over 7 years) do such a cut, I have yet to figure that out. I have been daydreaming about cutting my hair, but didn’t imagine that I would, not until I saw 5.5 inches drop to the floor. :-0!

Incidentally, I am not as devastated as I thought I would be..I’m actually enjoying the look and learning how to style it.

EXCITED!

Recession-Proof Halloween

rraccent — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 15:36:28 +0000

So Halloween is right around the corner and on Friday, October 30th there will be very long lines wrapped around street corners with people attempting to purchase a last minute costume. I have not always been a avid fan of Halloween (I know plenty of people are, and I can definitely understand the Halloween Bday babies excitement during this time of year) I however usually stick to my homemade costumes. Homemade does not equal tacky, but rather resourceful. last year I resorted to a typical 70′s disco chick. We all have something retro-looking in our closets. Combine a tie-dye top or retro skirt with color coordinated accessories and a vibrant pair of boots and there you are-A Hippie!

I am also seeing quite a few referee costumes. Get a whistle, a black and white stripe top, pair it with black shorts and long sweat socks. Now mediate that play! Why purchase a referee costume for $29.99? And even if you don’t have a pair of black shorts in your closet, isn’t it a better investment to buy the shorts for $49.99 than a Halloween outfit that you will probably only wear once?!?!

Happy Trick or Treating!

Practical Boots doesn’t mean I’m Old!

rraccent — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 15:34:38 +0000

The weather has been anything but cooperative here in NYC. Taking the MTA in NYC is my most annoying, unsatisfactory daily experience. With that said, what shoes do I wear for my 1.5 hr commute to and from work?
During the summer I live in flats and comfortable sandals (while commuting with my wedge heels in my bag). During the Fall and Winter months, I stick to one pair of shoes per a day.
Thus far, the winning boot has been my impulse purchase on Fashion Night Out. A pair of Aldo ankle boots. They are quite comfortable and versatile. Today I stood on the train for about 45 minutes and it wasn’t as painful as it usually is with my other heeled boots. Plus I can wear these boots for work and play; over jeans or with leggings and even under slacks! The heel is ideal for that practical city style I crave and seems to be able to withstand all the galloping I do during the day. You can see the grit if you look close enough .

Being Centered

rraccent — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 15:33:13 +0000

I recently began experimenting with “the middle part” also known as the center part. You know, that part that goes straight down the middle of your head. At first I received comments such as, “Oh, you looking like a real coolie gyal”, but I ignored them; I was going to make the look work. I initially thought that the center part hairstyle was simple, clean and lacked variety, and after years of layers, it seemed fitting. However I have discovered the versatility of a middle part- soft waves, pin straight, loose curls, even a thin head-band with a low french braid all seem to work well with a center part.
The key to making the “middle part” work on my olive-brown skin tone: Jet black healthy hair.
Dry hair, frizzy hair, stringy hair, multi-toned brown/black hair leaves the style looking drab and middle-aged.
And I definitely could not rock the “middle part” with last season’s highlights.

Going Green this Winter?

rraccent — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 15:31:43 +0000

Like many or unlike many I take my nail polish seriously. It reflects my mood, the weather, the season…Needless to say I tend to follow the “trends”; always looking for the current season’s “in color”.
I recently came across Essie’s Fall Collection
My personal favorite is Angora Cardi. It has the warm feel, classy vibe. Great for a night out or an office meeting.

Take a look at Essie’s Winter Collection
Hummmm, this is definitely at odds with my season, mood classification. But because I am a green fanatic I will definitely be on the look out for Mint Candy Apple

Verizon has hit rock bottom…

rraccent — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 20:12:23 +0000

Employee’s of VERIZON FIOS
Agent ID V783675
Agent ID V961697
Agent ID V868629
Mrs. Meade
Ms. White
Rachel

Customer Service.
Verizon has done a poor job in training their employee’s in “customer service”. My recent experience with them leaves me to believe that they are disgruntled, rude, and ignorant because they are stuck doing a job that they are not proud of. The tech agents are primarily concerned with making overtime without doing additional work. The customer service reps care little for the customer service inquiry unless it’s about an upgrade. They pose as supervisors and prevent customers from speaking with upper management.
Do I have any proof? Verizon claims that all calls are recorded for customer assurance quality, yet no one can pull the call records to verify my calls. I have all agent names and ID number’s as well as the time of each call.

Customer Support Incidents:
1. One representative threatened to recall a credit issued by their supervisor.
2. Told that my HDdvr is free (I’m on a one year promotion for being a new customer) so deal with the broken box set.
3. Tech support told me to move my box to another room by myself since he can’t assist me.

My experience with Verizon FIOS has been one of frustration, fatigue, and poor customer satisfaction.

Cablevision, here I come…

Fat People should pay up.

rraccent — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 12:45:20 +0000

Fat people should really have to pay $4.80 to get on the train. I got on the 2nd stop of the train and low and behold there were no seats. The bronx has the highest obesity rate in all of nyc so go figure 1/3 of the people on the train were taking up 2 seats…
If they have the cash to stuff themselves silly with unhealthy food they should have the cash to pay for additional seat they are taking up.
Smh.

Campaign Strategies

rraccent — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 16:58:26 +0000

Dear Oliver Koppell,

7:58 on a Wednesday morning is not the appropriate time to campaign in a middle-class area of the Bronx where residents are frantically hustling to get to work. You may or may not take the train (I highly doubt it, since you were donning an impeccable baby blue tweed suit that would definitely be spoiled if you were to take the train).
Riding the train is a art form:
1. Time of Train
2. Time it takes to commute from home to train
3. Time to walk up or down the staircase (depending on an underground or above ground train) to get to the turnstile.
4. Metro Card has to be accessible to swipe. (Time to purchase new Metro Card)
5. In the case of the Bronx stations, the amount of time needed to run up the stairs after the swipe so that one does not miss the train (while holding onto the Metro Card that has money on it for the commute home).

Positioning yourself and supporters with pamphlets and cordial handshakes at the staricase that leads to the train platform is, for lack of a better word, “dumb”.
Individuals still have their metro card in hand, therefore handing them a pamphlet is creating risk of loosing the metro card. Having your supporters stop individuals is cutting into their calculated time for running up the staircase. And most importantly, you forcing a handshake onto people during the age of “swine flu” shows you lack of health awareness.

Please take into account the middle-class workers. The ones who rush from task to task and have to endure the trials of the MTA daily, they and have several factors that impede their day…You should not be one of those impediments.

Thank You,
RRAcent

- A phone call was made to Oliver Koppell’s office with a few suggestions:
1. Do not Campaign during Rush Hour. If he must campaign during those hours he should position himself away from the turnstile. Possibly on the street that leads to the train, but yet away from the staircase.
2. Do not have several supporters attack individuals with pamphlets. Simply hand them out on the street.
3. DO NOT SHAKE PEOPLE’S HANDS without having hand sanitizer visible and accessible.

Suggestions Welcomed.