This blog is the combined version of writer Cherryl Aldave’s formerly separate music and personal blogs, Heavy Mentalist and the Last Nerve, and is scheduled to re-launch solely as Heavy Mentalist on May 1st, 2010.

In the meantime feel free to browse the posts on this page, the posts in my “categories” drop down menu to your right or my archives menu.

Thanks for stopping by and have a beautiful day!

It’s not hard to keep a good keyword density and still have your posts make sense, it’s just tricky. And it can be funny too, because you can end up saying the person’s whole name like fifteen times in your post *cough* *cough* Caster Semenya *cough* lol.

I just have to try to remember to go over any keyword suggestions for what I am planning to blog about first, then craft my posts around those keyword suggestions from now on. What a pain, but I guess I gotta play this blogging game right to get anywhere. And in all games it’s go big or suck, right? Right.

Peace
Cherryl

I’m surprised to see the recent “Tiger Woods Adultery Scandal” block is equal to the the “2016 Olympic Selection” block, but then again the Tiger Woods story has had a brief run, being that the scandal broke so close to the end of this year. Both blocks put together look to be the same size as the “Henry Louis Gates Arrest” block in the center column of blocks beside “Economic Crisis”.

Learn more about this 2009 news infographic and how it came to be at Good.is. You can also see it in larger flash form there, and zoom in to see the smaller blocks.

Jeez it’s like news Legos or something, but wow what a great way to see the biggest news stories of the year, right?

Thank God for small improvements!

I’m in the final stretch with my Yes Weekly story, and planning a couple of “year end” type entries for this blog that I hope everyone will like.

Methinks I should do something pertaining to Beyonce…just because it seems like everyone loves to read about Beyonce and I have an idea that I believe I can tie in to a New Year’s Resolution type post, but anyhoo my Yes Weekly story is due in the morning so I gotta go tighten that up…sorry to be so short. Not just in my stature but with my post tonight (I’m 4′ 11, same height as Lil Kim, lol) but I’ll be back with a post (hopefully) tomorrow.

Take care everyone and happy holidays!

Break out the homemade eggnog, pin some mistletoe on your hat like my granny does (I swear the woman’s totally incorrigible!) and bust some moves to these funky Yuletime tunes.

These songs are my top 10 funky and funny Christmas songs — some funny, some funky, some both — in no particular order.

Some of the content in a few of these songs is bit ho ho ho-ey so they’re better suited for big elf parties, but a few of the songs are kid friendly.

This list is a mix of Christmas hip hop songs, Christmas funk and blues Songs and Christmas cartoon songs. If you have a favorite Christmas song that is funny, funky or both let me know! Ok here we go…

1. Beatbox Christmas aka What Happens When You Make Black People Take Care o’ Yo Kids for 400 years

2. James Brown – Soulful Christmas. JB cuts rugs into shreds. Owwww! Good God.

3. Snoop Dogg – Snoop Dogg Christmas (Explicit). I like this video more than the song, but the song is catchy too. LOL at the gay elf and David Hasselhoff in a Speedo.

4. Chingo Bells – Chingo Bling. I’m kinda digging his take on Run DMC’s classic, Christmas in Hollis. This one’s for my ese’s.

5. Albert King – Santa Claus Wants Some Lovin’

6. Santa Claus Go Straight to the Ghetto – James Brown from James Brown’s Funky Christmas

7. Spongebob Squarepants – Don’t Be a Jerk (It’s Christmas)

8. 2-Cent Christmas (The Ultimate Hip Hop Parody)

9. Back Door Santa, by the incomparable Clarence Carter. The opening seconds of this song might sound familiar to some of you.

10. Charles Brown – Please Come Home for Christmas, a classy tune I heard all the time this time of year when I was growing up. Grab a partner and do a drunken slow drag to this.

This post was inspired by Egon’s Have Yourself a Funky Little Christmas.

Here are more funky and funny Christmas songs. If there’s a Christmas song you think should be on this list let me know!

Take care of yourself and happy holidays! This post has been brought to you by my 30 Day Blogging Challenge.

Reed Hall portrayed “Rose” on the show that was a beloved part of many 80s babies’ evening TV viewing schedule, along with shows like “The Cosby Show”, “What’s Happening” and “A Different World”.

When these shows came on, you couldn’t unglue my bee-hind from my babysitter’s plastic couch covers until they were all over, and if memory serves me correctly they all seemed to come on in one big block of time.

Alaina Reed Hall also played Gordon’s younger sister “Olivia” on Sesame Street. She was 63.

According to Alaina Reed Hall’s Wikipedia page, she died on my birthday, but I think many media outlets may have just received the press release about her death yesterday, which may be why the news is just being reported.

I just love Best Week Ever’s tribute to this under appreciated actress: “5 Things That Made Alaina Reed Hall Awesome“.

Breast cancer also recently took the life of comedian Charlie Murphy’s wife, Tisha Murphy.

News of Reed Hall’s death may have also been overshadowed by the death of Brittany Murphy.

I think one of Brittany Murphy’s best roles was in 8 Mile. Or at least that’s the role that stands out to me. She was also the voice of “Luanne” on King of the Hill.

As happens when young people die unexpectedly, people in the media and around the world wonder why.

Brittany Murphy died from a heart attack and rumors have already started about, as Cinematical put it, “anorexia and drug addiction, diabetes and thyroid problems…”

The thyroid bit is especially frightening to me and hits very close to home. In January of 2009, I dipped a pinky toe into death’s waters when I almost died of a heart attack from my thyroid issues.

In other December death news, Oral Roberts also passed away recently.

Wow. Is it me or do people seem to be leaving this planet (plane) left and right? Or are we just more aware of these deaths because of the nature of the media?

The people on the book are performing the opera Aida.

I followed these directions and they worked out great. Happy holidays!

Pictures of my children playing in snow last night.

Contrast the picture below (see how high the snow is beside my heating thingy? Then look at how high the snow is beside it in the above photo.) It snowed a lot last night. A lot for here, anyway.

I love snow! I’ll probably go out again sometime later today and take more pictures.I took these with a cell phone, hence the err…spectacular quality, lol.