A pore rebellion :-(

So..... I feel like I am in high school.... Actually, this is different from high school because I was sort of blind-sided....

Here is the back story --- High blood pressure runs in my family on my father's side and typically, the hereditary effect on blood pressure manifests itself in the lower to mid 30's. So, it is manifesting itself in me in the past year or so.... One of the other things that is thought to have an additional effect on blood pressure in women is birth control pills (the majority of them) because the estrogen in them is thought to raise BP. Therefore, many woman who have high blood pressure, are encouraged to pursue birth control options that are progesterone-only based. There are a number of them, ranging from pills to injections to IUDs. At any rate, while I was deciding on what I wanted to do, I went off birth control for a little while.

So I vaguely remembered stated that one of the benefits of birth control pills was the clearing up of acne and better skin. But I never really put much creedance in it. Well, I do now....

About 2 weeks after I stopped taking the pills, I began to notice a few pimples -- but I sort of chalked it up to the warm summer weather. Now I know, it is NOT the weather.....

And last week, I started to develop one of the biggest nastiest pimple that I have ever had. I am talking a big nasty pustule! And it was not pretty. Let's just put it this way..... I wore a band-aid on my face yesterday because that looked better than the alternative. Attempts to drain it didn't work. I had to take a trip to the drug store and dig deep through the acne medicine to find stuff to use on it. I the end, I ended up purchasing 3 different kinds of medicine with 3 different active ingredients. This is serious business!

So I have begun a multi-staged regimen to get rid of this sucker. Trying to get rid of anything huge before the weekend starts and I start going to these cookouts. So far, I have seen some good results, thank god! The difference between how it looked yesterday morning and this morning is dramatic. Today it is flat and just slightly pink, although still fairly large in circumference but I decided to leave the band-aid off today to let it get some air. A friend at work told me I was better off with the band-aid on..... :-(

I hope it won't cause any permanent scars.....

Respondez s'il vous plait!

I have blogged before about my big pet peeve about people who do not RSVP to events etc. If someone extends you the courtesy of an invite, you should at least respond one way or another. Even if that invite comes in an electronic form. It is just good hometraining!

So, the other day I was told a story that just took the act of not RSVPing to an extreme. A friend's cousin started his freshman year at a well-known HBCU. Turns out, this HBCU had more students show up their freshman year than they were expecting or had room for because a number of them never responded to the admission letter per instructions. The school still admitted them and secured housing off campus for them!

First of all, what kind of example is this setting for them?? Oh, don't worry about following instructions, we will still let you have your way...... And if they can't bother to follow these simple instructions, what does this tell you about their ability to say.... get their assignments in on time, or follow other rules. Yes, they are young..... but they do have parents!!! And most likely parents who can read!

I know I am coming off as a real stick in the mud but I think we do a disservice to kids when we don't teach them that actions or inaction does have consequences.

And that's all I have to say about that!

Getting over myself....

I have recognized a pattern in my behavior...... The reason why I was never very successful at keeping a journal for any length of time was that I would get busy and not have time to write about it, then, I would think that I needed to write about the things I missed writing about before I could start writing about things that happened now and so marked the end of my journal.

So, I was threatening to do the same thing with this blog, in the name of making sure that I had a complete record of my life. So, I am giving myself permission to write about the now, and finish up the stuff that happened in April and May later.... I will fill them in when I can!

TMI....

So a strange thing has happened at work..... There is a woman who works in another part of my group. I work with her from time to time and she is the only other black woman (other than assistants) under my Executive Director. We haven't particularly bonded, she and I, in fact, there is something about her that I can't quite put my finger on.

At any rate, twice now, I have been privy to side comments made by now her direct boss and her boss' boss that indicate to me that they are not pleased with her performance and that she may not have that position before the year is up!

How strange is that!?!? I mean, the first conversation occurred when I had only been on the job for about a month. It just is a little awkward to have this information about someone you work with. I sort of feel like I am in an awkward position. For a second, it made me wonder if it was a test of me --- to see if I would go tell her --- but that was just a fleeting thought, especially since I have worked with her more and more. Personally, I find that she tends to rush through things, not pay attention to detail and does just about the least amount of work possible.

So, I guess I am keeping my mouth shut and waiting to see what if any of those words actually come to fruition.....

Reader questions.....

So I got a question from Keisha about "crinkling" locks and the possibility that doing it too much would cause them to break off. Well, as I sit here just finishing braiding mine for the 15 thousandth time, I would say that as long as you are careful and take care of your locks then I don't think that you have much to worry about. Also, I guess that it depends on the method that you use.

I simply braid my hair after I wash it and let it dry then take them out. And I have been doing this about every 2 weeks or so since 2002....

Also, Sunsail, did you ever see my reply comment to your question on the New Years Resolution post? I know it was forever ago, but I thought I would check....

Cloudy Coffee Town!

I got sent on my first business trip this past week to .... Cloudy Coffee town! (You can probably figure out where I am talking about....)


The flight there was not too bad, although it was delayed about an hour since they decided they needed to switch us to a different plane right after we started boarding. The more dramatic thing for me though was the temperature when we landed! It has been unseasonably warm here and apparently it has been unseasonably cold there so when I landed I was confronted with a temperature that was 50 degrees colder than where I left!!! A bit of a shock but I got out my jacket and rolled with it.

Most of the time I was in meetings while I was there. We did get out for a couple vendor sponsored dinners (gotta love that!) and had some great food but I didn't get out of the suburbs until my last afternoon.

My last afternoon I had a rental car and a few free hours before I would meet a grad school friend for dinner so I got the opportunity to go to the famous Pike Street Market! As I was strolling the market I couldn't help thinking how much fun it would be to do grocery shopping there..... The flower markets are so beautiful and the fresh fish, produce, pasta, nuts etc. are like a culinary dream.
These are about the biggest lobster tails and crab legs I have ever seen!

And of course, what is Cloudy Coffee Town without......salmon!

And of course, some one had to get their picture taken catching a fish....

Then I walked over to the original Starbucks, just to take a peak -- I actually don't drink coffee (shhh! Don't tell them!) and on the way I stopped that this bakery called The Confectional.
Now, I pride myself on my cheesecake. I even seriously considered opening a wholesale bakery specializing in cheesecake. So, I couldn't pass up an opportunity to try some of the interesting flavor combinations that this little bakery offers.


I decided that I needed to taste 4 flavors so I tried Mexican Chocolate (chocolate with a hint of cinnamon and cayenne pepper -- Spicy!! Quite an unusual sensation), Quadruple Chocolate (dark chocolate, milk chocolate, white chocolate and....??? I don't remember!), Coconut Cherry Chocolate (surprisingly the yummiest of the 4) and Caramel (eh, too sweet in my opinion.) It was decadent to have all these different cheesecake tasters, especially for a cheesecake-lovin gal like myself.

Then, I went to meet up with my friend in International City ( or Square or something) at this Vietnamese restaurant called Tamarind Tree for dinner. It was yummy! We ordered this lemongrass beef platter that you make your own spring rolls from. They also had, oddly, some of the best mojitos there.

It was a nice end to end the trip!

You go, George!

So I was watching coverage from the Indiana Jones party in Cannes.... They were showing pictures of the Red Carpet (Le Tapis Rouge, for all you French speakers) and you saw Harrison Ford and Calista Flockhart, Stephen Spielberg (dateless, I believe -- but of course he is married) and George Lucas with his date...... Mellody Hobson!




For those of your who don't know, Mellody Hobson is the chief financial contributer for Good Morning America, writes regularly for Black Enterprise magazine and president of a financial advising firm called Ariel Capital Management/Investments, the first such firm started by an African American (John W. Rogers Jr. in 1983). Apparently, they have been dating since 2006.

Here they are at a Costume Institute Gala earlier this year.

And at Time's 100 Most Interesting People gala........

You go, George! And you go, girl too!

I am encouraged!

What a night tonight was...... History in the making..... I am proud, I am encouraged, I am excited about the political process!

I know that I have posted the "Yes We Can" video that Will.I.Am produced already but check out www.dipdive.com where you can check it out again as well as a video that a number of Latino artists put together on the eve of the primaries in Puerto Rico.

You all have probably noticed that I have taken a little unplanned hiatus from blogging for the past couple months. What can I say, life just got in the way.....

You will understand as I catch you all up on what has been happening -- check previous posts as I fill in from now through mid April...