the disappearing blogger.
geez louise…when will i get it together, and make time to post daily?
Spring/Summer 2010 – Im alive!
Woooo hoooo…wow…so I somehow got lost in this world of mine and abandoned my blog.
I apologize.
These past few months have been crazy busy for me, but filled with exciting adventures, and life changing decisions…all to which I am very grateful for. Let’s just say that I’m officially a ‘grown-up’ ha!
So since fall is right around the corner, be on the lookout for some fall fashion posts, updates on my new adventures, and other cool and not so cool things…lol
Hey, I gotta keep it real, everything in this life is not peaches and cream.
Although…it is the holy month of Ramadan and this is always the time of year to humble yourself, give thanks, and think of those who may not be as fortune.
Be back soon…as we have so much to catch up on…
xo.
Valentine’s Day (the movie)
Hey, what can I say, Im a sucker for chick flicks!
After leaving the office today, one of the besties and I decided to check out Valentine’s Day (the movie). It was also a good excuse to check out the new ICON Showplace theater that had just opened not too far from our offices.
All in all, I thought that the film was cute, typical, and entertaining. If youre up for some “awws” and “oohs” I say check it out. Maybe, with one of your gal pals instead of your significant other – though an open-minded S.O. would be a great date!
I’d give it a B-.
xo.
Throwback Valentine’s Day
Everyone at the office is talking about our big ‘snack day’ for Valentines Day, which is when I get an excuse to channel my inner chocaholic.
Although, I’m not a big ‘Hallmark Holiday’ person, I do like to get into the festivities from time to time (especially when there is gift receiving involved, lol. I give too, I give!!). This year I am feeling pretty festive, and plan to do something cutesy for Valentines day (though everyday is a Valentines day for me and the he – corny much?)
Anywaaaay, as I was perusing my daily go-to sites I came across some beautiful throwback covers of the New Yorker. Check it out:
1970
1992
1993 (my fav)
2003
How does ‘The love that knew no time’ sound? I like that theme.
xo.
Wish List!
Ok, Ok, OK…seriously! Back to blogging: this is on my wishlist for today.
Oh really?
Greetings! I haven’t really been blogging lately – Ive been more of a reader, but I promise to get back into the groove sooner than later. Here is an awesome blog that I read a few weeks ago. I think a lot of you will enjoy it.
OH, THE PLACES WE COULD GO: JUST THINK OF THE POSSIBILITIES IF WE COULD STEP OUTSIDE OUR COMFORT ZONES
written by Love Isn’t Enough contributor Max Reddick; originally published atsoulbrother v.2
A couple of months or so ago at the end of the summer, my wife and I planned a trip with a few other African American couples we know just to have one last bit of fun before summer ended. When we first conceived of the idea, we bandied about several suggestions, but all of them seemed so absolutely done.
Someone suggested a cookout at the beach, but I was beached out, and I don’t particularly find the beach all that fun. Of course, Disney and/or Universal Studios in Orlando were offered, but we go to Orlando several times a year already so that was out. And in that same vein, someone suggested Busch Gardens in Tampa, but that too was voted down.
Then my wife suggested that we go somewhere and do something none of us had ever done, something unlikely. And we finally decided on a destination and an activity. But on the eve of our trip, one by one the couples and families called us to say that they had to cancel, that they would not be going. And each couple and family proffered the same excuse: “We all talked and decided that that’s just something black folk don’t do.”
Evidently, all of the black folk got together, or at least enough to form a quorum, and decided that black folk didn’t do such things.
And when we arrived at our destination, we found that they seemed to be very right in their assessment. My family was the only African American family present. The other African Americans there were there either with their white spouses or partners or friends.
But nonetheless, we had the time of our lives, and my children talked about the experience for days afterward. This was an experience that they, that we, will never forget and our lives are richer because of it.
In thinking about this, I remember something my grandfather said on numerous occasions when I was a young man, but I didn’t understand then. He would say that if black folk had to discover anything, it would never be found because black folk didn’t like to step outside the familiar.
And this might seem to be a small thing to you, but the implications are much bigger. Perhaps, we can best look at this through philosopher Wittgenstein’s notion of the umvelt. Wittgenstein used that notion to explain that an individual’s knowledge of the world was limited only by the limits of that individual’s access to the world.
In other words, experience translates to knowledge, and we can further extrapolate that knowledge translates to opportunity. So, when we limit our experiences, we limit our knowledge, thus we limit our opportunities.
And I see this all too often when I am out in the community. Too often I encounter African American children not living up to their full intellectual potential simply because they believe studying and achieving is simply something little black kids do not do. And when I inquire of their dreams and aspirations as adults, the very few who do not want to be rappers or singers or professional athletes all name the same handful of occupations: cosmetologist, firemen, policemen, teacher, doctor, lawyer.
Not that these are not noble, worthwhile occupations, but there are so many others to choose from. They are so grossly uninformed of the wide range of possibilities, of opportunities, open to them simply because of their dearth of experiences.
And when I inform them of all the possibilities outside those few mentioned, the response is always the same: “Is that something black folk really do?”
You know, I had a friend in graduate school, a young African American man, who was studying something like forestry management science or national park management science or something of that nature. I don’t remember exactly what it was, but I do remember it was something that black folk don’t usually do.
And the National Forestry Service was so anxious to attract black folk to do it that they were willing to pay for him to receive a master’s degree and a doctoral degree and then hire him right out of school at a starting salary of about $65,000. When I saw his contract, I kind of wish that it was something this black man had done.
But if we are to increase the opportunities available to us and our kids, we must increase our willingness to explore our world. We must explore the full range of experiences available to us. We must step outside our zone of comfort, and go to those places we have never been before, and try those things we have never tried before. And if we begin to do this, oh the places we could go.
Here we go again…
So remember the new collection of African American Barbie’s that I talked about back in June here. Well guess what? Shoudve known there would be some controversy to go along with it.
My boy Chi, sent this article to my e-mail and I thought it was quite interesting:
What Does the New Black Barbie Say about African Americans and Hair?
BOSTON— Mattel recently released a new line of black Barbie dolls. The “So In Style” Barbies stand out from earlier black Barbies, who shared the features of their white counterparts but were painted brown. The new dolls are named Grace, Kara and Trichelle, and were designed by an African American woman, Stacey McBride-Irby. McBride-Irby told the Associated Press that she wanted to create a line of dolls for young black girls, like her 6-year old, that looked more like them. The new dolls have wider noses, more pronounced cheek bones, a variety of skin tones and fuller lips. But their hair is smooth and silky, and little girls can keep it that way with a hair straightening kit. That puts the new black Barbie in the middle of the debate over African American women’s hair, that’s been stirred also by Chris Rock’s new documentary “Good Hair.” We speak with Francie Latour, associate editor at Wellesley Magazine, about why hair has such importance for black women and what she calls “the line the new black Barbies won’t cross.”
Halloween 09
Im not big on Halloween, but I ‘dressed up’ for my friends shindig.
Yes, dress up = put on a mask and extra makeup. ha! I’m so boring sometimes.
Killing it
Okay, J-Lo is killing in the dress – but the boots are so not necessary!
I wouldve done a sleek pair of black pumps instead.
Still fierce though!
