Sgt. Darian Interactive

Calling Sgt. Darian Interactive..... I bet you didn't know that in my spare time I'm an Army Sergeant barking out orders in an online training exercise. The folks at iMedia-it are leaders in the development of performance based on-line learning. By infusing cutting-edge gaming technologies into objective based scenarios, critical thinking and decision points are exercised beyond traditional training approaches. I think I got carried away a couple of times when I kept saying...Your score is unacceptable.. My other favorite line, "Let's get started soldier. You have a lot to accomplish." They do quite a bit of work for the Army. I'm one of 16 characters in the latest online training video. Marcos handled the audio, Shari made sure I didn't miss any words in the booth..Roosevelt, Shari and Leslie cheered me on in front of the blue screen at the studio where my "green room" was green like the walls, clothes, boots, t-shirts and all. The Animators, flash designers, and multi-media video group hangs out in the pit. There are programmers, instructional designers and my stylist involved in making sure my character is on-line ready. They've been designing training programs for about 10 years, that's why the Army looks to them for the latest online tools... BY the way, some of the 3-D Effects are outstanding. There's a lot of creativity over there with Vincent and the crew. Check out a few great websites. http://www.imediait.com/ http://www.generalsoundwave.deviantart.com/ http://www.2cents.tv/

GREAT Author! Karen Ward

My sister Karen Ward is a GREAT writer. She has a passion for young people and enjoys inspiring and encouraging them. She has an innovative book, "It's All About School." She also has networking opportunities and seminars planned to get young people talking about their challenges and issues. They'll also come up with solutions they can implement. There's a great opportunity to support a solution-based organization by putting your company's name or logo on the back of the latest edition. The book has been enhanced with open discussion questions, advice from educators, youth comments and a listing of community resource agencies. Various topics in the book include, teen pregnancy, HIV/AIDS, conflict resolution, bullying, gang involvement, and peer mediation. Gracious Hands Literary Company will have a book give-away for youth on Saturday, January 13, 2007.
Support young people....Support the book, "It's All About School," www.gracioushandsliterary.com or e-mail Karen at kwgracioushands@yahoo.com

Pre-Thanksgiving Feast

You missed some Great Food this week. Members of the Houston Texans and the Houston Firefighters thoroughly enjoyed fantastic turkey, dressing, greens, candied yams, dirty rice, lemon cake and sweet potato pie, etc. provided by Frenchy's and Glennlock Foods. Our event at Fire Station #33 went off without a hitch. Regina Woolfolk with the Texans and her crew were fantastic. My sister Karen pitched in to help. As you can see, we had great media coverage...

Elegant Evening!

The Holiday Season has started...My hubby and I were invited to dinner recently by our buddy Glenda. Her super chef buddy-- Charles whipped up a magnificent meal of salmon with sun dried tomatoes with a Chardonnay vinaigrette reduction and salmon with a rasberry kiwi vinaigrette with cracked pepper and sea salt. Grilled sauteed squash, scallions, and orange bell peppers were a treat along with the grilled portobello mushrooms and sauteed mussels. The wines of choice were a 2004 Sonoma Ridge Chardonnay and a 2005 Panarroz Jumilla. Charles, the Super chef picked up everything from Central Market and Specs. Charles says cooking is relaxing and a chance for him to be free, experience new flavors, textures, smells and educate the palate. What a wonderful evening surrounded by great friends, wonderful food, find jazz, and awesome art- Glenda is a big collector.. Let the Holiday's BEGIN.. By the way, my photo was used for one of Glenda's art pieces by Lionell Lofton. By the way, Charles is a private chef.. e-mail me, and I'll send his information. info@darianward.com.

Afghanistan - Landscape

I found more photos from my bro, Jerome Ward. Mr. Hard worker, life-saving, Sargeant. He's back home saving lives and bossing people around in Tennessee. Family comes first, that's the lesson he learned in Afghanistan. There must be a way to close the wounds...and let the healing begin in Afghanistan, Iraq and Africa. OK, I'm done preaching...for now...

Afghanistan - Jerome Ward

I I have the best Family in the world...My brother Jerome Ward, Jr. has been in the Army for a number of years. We're grateful that after two tours of duty, he's back home safe and sound. Check out some of the photos from Afghanistan. My bro was on the medical team. He tries to boss us around..We let him get away with it sometimes.

Pinnacle Awards

The Pinnacle Awards hosted by the Houston Citizens Chamber of Commerce was a wonderful event. The committee was led by Margo Williams who did a fabulous job. The guest speaker was Reverend Jesse Jackson, Lisa Whitlock and Jose Grinan from KRIV-TV (FOX) were the MC's of the awards night. More than 300 people attended including our crew from the Minority Executive Report. Craig Amos is the publisher, he does a fantastic job with the multi-cultural publication. I'm the Managing Editor and Craig Blackmon is the Chief Financial Officer. Check out our website- www.minorityreport.web.com You'll see more pictures from the elegant event!

Mike Jones Movie - Mrs. Williams

I've been talking about the new Mike Jones movie - American Dream. So here are a couple of pictures of me in character as Mrs. Williams. In my scene, I played Mike's friend's mom- Mrs. Williams. Yes, a young mom...We tried to put a little powder in my hair and I had a little shawl to age my character. In the PIVOTAL scene, I have a flat tire late at night and Mike drives by then notices it's Mrs. Williams.. He swings back around in his Sleek, Black BENTLEY, gets out and changes the tire for me.. He saves Mrs. Williams from the unknown...It was a fun scene, we hug and he sends me on my way... You're going to really like this movie.. It's about his life in Houston. American Dream the movie and the CD comes out in December.

Mike Jones Movie

Get Ready for the Mike Jones film- American Dream. We're in the process of the final edit now. I had a chance to help with locations, product placement - (check out Frenchy's) and I had a small role as Mrs. Williams. What a great group of people to work with including top notch talent, producers and crew. Mike's film and his new CD will be released in December by Warner Brothers.

Joyce Cooling- Jazz Artist

You MUST pick up Joyce Coolings new CD! The jazz guitarist performed during the Grand Opening of West 57th Jazz Cafe on Westheimer. Terry, Mark and the other owners should be proud. Back to Joyce, what a great talent, wonderful personality and a slammin' band. Make sure you check out her new guitar, it's the bomb... You can order her CD from the website www.joycecooling.com and a portion of the proceeds will go to NAMI. www.nami.org Every week West 57th Jazz Cafe will have "national" talent. They are located at 5757 Westheimer near the Galleria. My hubby, Byron and I checked out the club with two buddies, Priscilla and Theo. We'll be back soon...