Creative accessorizing! The Daasanach people of Ethiopia’s Omo Valley who turn broken watches and bottle tops into elaborate hairstyles! Recycling at its best! Fab idea!

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All she wanted to do was to use the Starbucks bathroom before they called the cops on her. I’m literally in tears right now. I for one have found myself in need of a pee many times while running errands and stepped into many establishments to use their facilities without having to buy anything. All she wanted was to pee!!!! Starbucks ought to be ashamed of themselves as well as the police for the unnecessary manhandling of this lady. Whatever happened to warnings before arrest? So sad. A Judge threw the case out of court and ruled that the lady can now sue the city for using excessive force. #policebrutality #StraightOuttaCompton.

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It’s taken me 2 weeks to summon up the strength to write about what I endured at a Chinese owned nail salon in the East Village, just below 14th Street. I was a loyal customer for well over 3 years with a habit of going only during the week when the foot traffic is usually slow and I could get the most attention during a mani-pedi. I made an exception 2 weeks ago to get my nails done on a busy Saturday. It’s the worst time to visit a nail salon because most places usually want to get through the customers so fast in other to sit the next person. I always request the same person to attend to me because I like his work.

I noticed shortly after Ebola broke out, all of the nail specialist started wearing gloves when working on customers. However, on this very busy Saturday, my favorite person was busy working on a white female prior to my arrival. I decided to wait for my turn by soaking my feet in the basin. For the first time, I paid close attention to their weekend working environment. I noticed he wasn’t wearing gloves while working on the white female. So I thought perhaps things were changing. As soon as he was done with her, he slapped on a pair of gloves when he came over to me. I was shocked! I asked him and the owner why he wore gloves for me and not her. The guy, without missing a beat immediately got up and started working on another white customers without bothering to even answer me, and yes he took his gloves off for her! The owner answered saying that it was not up to her to tell him when he can and can not wear gloves. I asked her if what he did was right though. She said, oh they are regular customers. I said that’s odd, I have been coming here for over 3 years. She was dumbfounded and the guy in question couldn’t look me in the face but simply kept working on the new white lady’s nails. On that note, I announced my departure and vowed to never return again. And to think I usually tip this guy at least 20-25% after every job! So much for my loyalty.

NYC has nail salon’s on just about every block. I went to the competition next door to get my nails done. They were much nicer, no gloves, bigger, cleaner and even cheaper!

I have endured my fair share of racism in America but never thought the nail salon of all places would be the next breeding ground for such prejudice!

Lesson learned!

Folks! The day this practice becomes the norm at all major US airports, that will be the day I cease traveling and become an Amish!

According to ABC news in Texas: A Spring woman says she was sexually assaulted by a deputy during a traffic stop earlier this summer.

It happened around 10:30 pm on June 21 near Ella Blvd and Barren Springs Drive, according to Charnesia Corley. The 21-year-old says she was just going to the store to get something for her sick mother when she was pulled over by a Harris County Sheriff’s deputy.

“I feel like they sexually assaulted me! I really do. I feel disgusted, downgraded, humiliated,” Corley said.

According to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office, the deputy pulled Corley over for allegedly running a stop sign. A spokesperson for HCSO says the deputy then asked Corley to step out of her vehicle upon smelling what he believed to be marijuana. Corley was handcuffed and placed in the back of a patrol car. No marijuana, however, was located in a search of her vehicle.

Upon returning to the patrol car, Corley says the deputy told her he smelled it then inside his vehicle. She tells us he called for a female deputy, who then ordered her out again into the parking lot.

“She tells me to pull my pants down. I said, ‘Ma’am, I don’t have any underwear on.’ She says, ‘Well, that doesn’t matter. Pull your pants down,'” Corley said.

She admits hesitating. Deputies say she resisted.

“I bend over and she proceeds to try to force her hand inside of me. I tell her, ‘Ma’am, No. You cannot do this,'” Corley told us candidly.

She insists at no time did she give consent for any such search. She’s retained an attorney, Sam Cammack, who argues that a search like this in a public parking lot is a violation of her civil rights.

“It’s undeniable that the search is unconstitutional,” he said.

Harris County Sheriff’s spokesperson Thomas Gilleland said the deputies did everything as they should. Gilleland said the one deputy even wrote in the report that Corley said they could “strip search her if I needed to.”

Corley is planning to file a complaint with the Harris County Sheriff’s Office’s Internal Affairs Division.

She is charged with two misdemeanors: resisting arrest and possession of marijuana. Investigators say they found .02 ounces of marijuana on her.

The body of 10-year-old Jivan Kohar was found on July 24 on the outskirts of Kudiya village in southwest Nepal. The child had gone missing three days earlier.

Police superintendent Nal Prasad Upadhyaya, who headed the investigation, told CNN on Monday that Kodai Harijan admitted committing the gruesome crime with his relatives after consulting the priest. In some cultures, priests are believed to have magical or spiritual powers to cure the sick.

According to testimony given to police, Harijan and his relatives found the child playing with friends in the village and lured him away by giving him a pack of biscuits and promising him 50 rupees (49 cents).

4 of the guilty 5 who were involved in the cruel killing

The boy was taken to a temple on the outskirts of the village, where they performed a religious ritual. He was then taken to a field nearby, where three people held him down as another slit his throat. When police found him, the boy’s head was almost severed from his body.

Eleven people in total, including the holy man, have been arrested for their involvement, with the perpetrators facing a life sentence. At least five have confessed to their part in the killing.

Untouchables

The village, in the Nawalparasi district bordering India, is home to some of the country’s poorest and uneducated people — often known as “untouchables” in the traditional caste system. Both the victim and the accused in this recent killing are from this social class.

Superstitions such as the sacrificial slaughter of animals such as water buffaloes, goats and chickens are common among the country’s mainly Hindu population. The ritual killing of animals during the Gadhimai festival — celebrated every five years — takes place in the belief it will bring prosperity.

“(It’s) very unfortunate what happened,” said Hari Prasad Mainai, Nawalparasi’s chief district officer.

“From the government level, we are going to launch (an) awareness program against these superstitions in the villages of Nawalparasi district.”

Just when I thought Brooklyn couldn’t get any sweeter and more unique! Brooklyn help the 4th annual festival of graffiti street art celebration on June 6, formally known as The Bushwick Collective. Super talented street artists came from far and wide to take advantage of the opportunity to showcase their craft by taking over the walls in Bushwick, Brooklyn. The festival turned Troutman Street & St. Nicholas Avenue into an outdoor gallery of fascinating art display. Many of the artists were on hand to answer any questions. It was a block party of art celebration. Below are some of my findings, seen through my camera. Enjoy!

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Is it me or does she not look like Cindy Crawford a bit? Well…I must confess that he does look FABULOUS than a lot of women out there! Get it Bruzzer!…I mean Caitlyn!

From TMZ…

It’s the biggest reveal of 2015 for sure … Bruce Jenner as a woman, and the pic is dramatic.

The name’s now Caitlyn.  She posed for the cover of Vanity Fair’s July issue and it was shot by famed celeb photographer Anne Leibovitz.

It’s interesting the name is spelled with a C and not a K … possibly a break from the Kardashian klan.

In the Diane Sawyer interview Bruce made it clear he was saying farewell to his male persona.  This pic is a full reveal of the transformation.

Watch the video below, where Caitlyn models several outfits and seductively poses.

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Yeap, she was pregnant and didn’t even know it!

I will not bore you with rhetorics. You have to watch the video footage below to witness this. I am still trying to make sense of it all myself.

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After my 4th visit to Japan and 8th to Korea just shy of 2 weeks, today NYC celebrates Buddha’s birthday and I didn’t waste time in joining the revelers! Obviously still in the spirit of the Asian culture, I unpacked one of my favorite vintage kimonos paired it with my super high Geisha inspired platform shoes to get in the mood of the festivities. But changed before the ceremony at the park not to take away the spotlight from the monks.

NYC Asian community, particularly Koreans, assembled some of the top Buddhist monks in the city for a formal celebration at the park. Don’t ask me how I ended up in the official group portrait, but I did! I was lucky to have actually visited the birthplace of Buddha in Banaras, India few years ago.

And no, I am not a buddhist but you could very well call me one, by association. I respect for all types of religion, as long as its main focus is about peace and equality.

And no, those shoes are not toys but a true work of art! Click here to see me walk in them.

Next year, I might opt for the Korean Hanbok, which I happen to own as well. You can see a picture of that on my instagram page 🙂

Happy birthday Buddha! Namaste everyone!

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Me at Buddha’s birthplace in Banaras, India