‘Tis the season to give, but let’s make it the season to give back. Last year the average American spent almost $900 on gifts for the holidays. Yes, even in the recession.

So with that big of a budget spent for Christmas joy, how much of that do you think went to charity?

Now, I’m no number crunchers geek, but I doubt that it was much. I’m not going to lie to you guys, I didn’t give to charity either. I would give a couple dollars to the Salvation Army outside of Walmart and the grocery store once or twice, but for the majority of December, if I saw that sad Santa jingling his bell on one end of the store, I would take the long journey to the other end to exit. (Times were hard for me too, okay?)

Obviously there are others that need help, and even though we think money may be tight for us, there are others where they have absolutely no money at all, or they might have something big happening in their life that we can’t even imagine.

Without getting all Reverend on you, plain and simple — let’s give! And while a one-time donation is great, a small monthly contribution is even better. Even if it’s $10 a month.)

Here are some charities to start out with:

• Hurricane Katrina and Rita Relief & Recovery — New Orleans and the rest of the Gulf Coast is still in disarray. And if you don’t know, watch Spike Lee’s documentary When the Levees Broke. They still very much need our help.
• Keep a Child Alive — The organization co-founded by Alicia Keys provides treatment to children and families that have been affected by HIV/AIDS in Africa and India, Over 250,000 people have been helped so far. A $30 donation can give treatment to someone for 30 days. If you look through the website, you can see what one month’s supply of treatment can do. It’s amazing.
• New Eyes for the Needy — For someone who wears glasses, such as myself, vision is very important. New Eyes for the Needy, which has been around since 1932, has given over seven million pairs of glasses to people around the world. A $60 donation buys a new pair of glasses, which is great because glasses are very costly. If you don’t want to give a monetary donation, that’s okay, because New Eyes takes used eyeglasses too.

These are great charities to start out with, but if you have others to suggest, please feel free to share!

I was at the salon the other day and my hairdresser asked me what I thought about the Tiger Woods debacle.

I honestly didn’t know what to think because I didn’t really care. Sports figures have marital affairs all of the time. Even golfers, I guess. It didn’t shock me that he had an affair. What shocked me was his number. I didn’t know Tiger had it in him!

“Tiger made one mistake,” my hairdresser, Alphonso said.

“He made fifteen mistakes,” I retorted.

“What do you mean fifteen?” he asked.

“Tiger had fifteen girls.”

“People always exaggerate.”

“I heard it was twelve and then fifteen.”

“Okay, I heard twelve too.”

“Alright, whatever. I’ll give him twelve. Twelve mistakes.” (I understand this is all nonsense.)

“No, he only made one, and that was getting married.”

I never thought of that. Was it that simple? When someone has an affair, I always think that the person wronged their spouse because of the cheating. I never thought it was wrong for them to entrap themselves in “holy matrimony” to begin with.

“Tiger was trying to be single while he was married,” Alphonso continued, “so instead of just waiting, he got married anyway. In American society, we’re told to work out our problems. ‘Work it out,’ that’s what they say. He don’t wanna be married! Ditch the wife!”

By that night, Woods had already released a statement saying he was going to take time to… gather himself, I’ll say. This was the statement he released on his website:

“I am deeply aware of the disappointment and hurt that my infidelity has caused to so many people, most of all my wife and children. I want to say again to everyone that I am profoundly sorry and that I ask forgiveness. It may not be possible to repair the damage I’ve done, but I want to do my best to try…

After much soul searching, I have decided to take an indefinite break from professional golf. I need to focus my attention on being a better husband, father, and person.”

I saw the Dateline special on Tiger Friday night, as well as other specials on this mess, and everyone tries to portray him as this family man. but I don’t really remember seeing him out with his kids much. Maybe once or twice, kind of like a Bring Your Child to Work Day, but just because someone has children does not make him a family man. And those family photos don’t count. Anyone can make an appointment for a professional photographer to swing by the house take pics with the shaggy dog. I’m mean out and about pictures.

Should Tiger be married or not? I guess I would agree with Alphonso this one time. He wasn’t ready, or maybe he was a man that wasn’t made for marriage. If everyone reveres George Clooney for being a “hot” bachelor (not me, though, so not my type) then why not Tiger?

At least then with his “indefinite break” he’ll be able to focus on what he wants to do rather than what his people are telling him he should do.

Either way I wish Tiger luck. But I’m still not going to watch golf.

Darryl Glover moved to New Jersey to be a dancer. Hip-hop was his love, and he wanted to make it happen. The commute into New York City to take classes wouldn’t be bad, and he wanted to be greater than he already was.

In reality, Glover, 24, went to New Jersey as part of the Teach for America program. Since 2007, Glover has been teaching kindergarten at the Chancellor Annex Avenue school in Newark.

He figured he could teach kids the alphabet during the day and attend dance classes at night. Just like Fame: The Newark Years.

But after nights of parent-teacher conferences, lesson plans, and going over clever ways to make his students “good scholars” (that’s what he calls them), Glover realized he didn’t have much time to dance.

When he did take the occasional class, it was centered around jazz, which Glover wasn’t even into.

One thing he did enjoy was fashion. Just like everybody else out there, he paid attention to the labels, but he wanted to be a part of something great. Since Glover was very particular in what he wore, he figured being a stylist was the perfect choice.

Everything started for him when his friend A.V. Perkins sent him a link on Craiglist for stylists for the VH1 show Glam God with Vivica A. Fox.

Having no experience, Glover made it to the semifinals (which ain’t too shabby), and it only motivated him to do more.

Styling for him is a long process. He has to create looks, or concepts, get the clothes and style the shoots. It can be very taxing on the young teacher. He books most of his gigs on the weekends since those are his free days.

“I don’t know how I balance being a teacher and styling,” he said. “I’m still trying, but teaching is what comes first.”

I was fortunate enough to watch Darryl styling a shoot, and I definietly could not do it. Surely, coming up with concepts must be hard…

“I do research after I come up with a concept, but the more I look at someone else’s work the more it becomes similar,” he said. “The industry is so small and people are talented. Nothing is original.” So Glover puts on music in his Belleville, New Jersey apartment to move him.

He still tries to make looks his own and he credits Dita Von Teese, Kanye West, and Grace Coddington, the creative director of Vogue as his influences.

Since that Glam God audition, Glover has styled for Amerie, magazines, and the Holy Grail, New York Fashion Week. Last September, he worked the shows for Oscar de la Renta, Carolina Herrera, Phillip Lim, Bagdley Mischka, and about eight other shows. Not bad for a newbie, huh?

Glover is trying to fine tune his craft. He started taking classes (when he can) at the Fashion Institute of Technology so he will receive a certificate in costuming and styling. He is learning how to sew and stitch.

With all of the good stuff that comes with styling — famous designers, celebrities — there has to be some kinds of problems.

Glover said he used to have troubles with fitting models in the beginning, but now that he is a semi-pro he has leanred from his mistakes. “I used to not have enough clothing, but you always want to make sure you have more,” he said.

“Styling is a trade. It’s a craft. How are you going to make a size 2XL fit a size zero?” So now on every shoot, he is armed with his fit kit that comprises of cotton (to stuff bras, of course), wet wipes, binder clips, pins, double stick tape, a petticoat (to make skirts and dresses fuller), a steamer, among other things.

“Now it’s pretty smooth.”

What’s next on Glover’s list? Teach for America might send him to Japan to teach English. He’s looking at it as a great opportunity to learn about Japanese culture. They’re hot over there. In the meantime, he is also trying to make the move into Manhattan to make it easier for styling.

He hopes one day to break into wardrobe and costuming for television and movies. But as far as becoming the next Rachel Zoe, not so much. “I love Rachel Zoe, and I love that she has authority,” he said, “but I don’t know if I want to be Darryl G. the stylist. I know there’s more.”

And I can’t wait to see what he’ll do next.

(Photos from Darryl G’s facebook page)

I always wanted to know what it takes to be a stylist. It didn’t look that hard to me. I watched America’s Next Top Model and Glam God. Seriously, it seemed like a breeze. Put a girl in an outfit. Zip her up. Job well done. Anybody with a sense of style could do it in their sleep. So my pal, Darryl G., a budding stylist, allowed me to watch him work his magic during a portfolio for makeup artist Ariel Vega and photographer Matthew Murphy.

I was so excited! It was taking place in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn on a rooftop. (How cool is that!) Here’s a rundown of what went down last Sunday, November 29:

• 9:45 a.m. — Catch the J to the photo shoot location.
• 10 a.m. — Call time for Darryl and German model, Stephanie Voelckers.
• 10:46 a.m. — Darryl arrives with friend Rae Holliday, blogger from Stuff Fly People Like and has shopping bags in tow.
• 10:49 a.m. — Get down to business. Darryl shows Matthew and Ariel the pieces. Concept — futuristic. Belts. Leather. Maybe some tulle. Ariel loves the sky high heels and tweed jackets Darryl got from Goodwill. Ariel has worked with Stephanie before. He raves about her “tight booty.” But there is a snafu. Ariel’s roof was recently redone, so Stephanie will have to model on the balls of her feet.

• 11:30 a.m. — Walk to Walgreens with Darryl to get some pantyhose. (Side note: Remember when they used to sell pantyhose in those eggshell thingys? FYI — they still do.)
• 11:50 a.m. — Stephanie has arrived. Ariel goes over what his hair concept is. He wants futuristic ponytails for one look and old school donuts for another. Mad Men meets Krispy Kreme.
• 12 p.m. — Darryl begins to fit Stephanie. I chat it up with Ariel. (His name is pronounced “Ari El”, while mine is said like the letters, “R-E-L.”)

• 12:30 p.m. — Matthew takes test shots on the roof. It is very sunny outside. Matthew wonders how Stephanie is going to deal with the light.
• 1:30 p.m —  Ariel is doing hair and makeup for the first look. Darryl is sewing on buttons to make his Goodwill jacket a little snazzier. He had to learn how to sew when styling. He’s getting better as he takes classes at FIT.
• 2:33 p.m. — Shooting finally begins. On the next door rooftop,  a man keeps a pigeon coop, and every once in a while he swirls this giant stick with a garbage bag attached, and the pigeons circle around. Just like Pigeon Lady from Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. Stephanie took advantage of capturing the birds in the photos by jumping around. That’s a model.
• 3:30 p.m. Darryl and Ariel get Stephanie ready for the second look of the day.
• 4:02 p.m. — Back on set. Matthew does his thing. The sun is starting to set, and it’s getting cool. I’m lying. I’m cold. My friend A.V. Perkins lends me her pink and gray gloves. I absolutely love Stephanie’s look. It’s my fave, from the tweed to the pumps.
• 4:15 p.m. — That Matthew shoots quickly. There’s another change.
• 4:37 p.m. — By this time it was definitely cold outside. I don’t know if I fell into a different zip code or what, but I swore I was in Buffalo, not Brooklyn. I had to leave early to drive back home and be financially raped by the toll booth prices, so I said good-bye while the shoot continued.

There were two more changes, and the shoot wrapped at 7:30 that evening. I learned a lot while I watched behind the scenes. Being a stylist requires a lot of work and a whole LOT of patience. Between the lint rollers and lighting and cold air, I know I wouldn’t be able to do this everyday, or even twice a week for that matter.

I was proven wrong, not everybody could do it. (I can admit when I’m wrong, and this is my one time, okay?) I never really thought about all of the elements it takes when it comes to taking a great photo. All of the hard work it all worth it.

Look at the real photos on Matthew’s blog Ranting Details.

And don’t forget to check Armoire Chic for a profile of Darryl G. later this week!

As all of you know, Disney is coming out with the first full-length animated film, The Princess and the Frog, where the princess is African American.

I, for one, am ecstatic. I absolutely love two-dimensional Disney movies from The Little Mermaid to Beauty and the Beast to Aladdin. I cannot wait to see the movie.

However, there has been growing controversy over the film. Why?

1. Stereotypical characters. There’s a lightning bug with missing teeth who sings the blues; Tiana, the main character, works for a white family in New Orleans and was originally called Maddy (Maddy = Mammy).
2. Prince Naveen of Maldonia ain’t even black. The movie is set in New Orleans where there are black people everywhere, so why can’t the prince be black too?

What disappoints me in this situation is that we make everything about race all of the time. We just saw Precious, a movie that was sad and depressing and filled with stereotypes, can we just watch a simple cartoon without searching for things that are going to make us angry?

I definitely understand that it is disappointing to have a character that was named Maddy. I really do. But this movie was set in New Orleans during the 1930s, how many Tianas do you think there really were back then?

And about Prince Naveen not being black, how many black princes were there in the United States? I’ll tell you. None. Why? Because America wasn’t founded by royalty. That’s why the Brits left England. Duh. I bet the same people who think that there should be equality for all are the ones that are balking at this interracial relationship. And honestly, they spend most of the film in frog bodies. Not black frog bodies. Not Arab frog bodies, but green, since that’s what the colors of frogs are.

I’m not saying that we should overlook the fact that there may be some stereotypical undertones in the movie, but I really believe this is going to be a great film, and I can’t wait to sing along.

But can we wait until after the film comes out before we criticize? Please?