Living Life with Charisma

Getting back in the habit....

2010-01-25T10:48:00.000-08:00

I am not really sure what has happened... I have announced my intention to blog again to the world. I have even started mentally planning some blog post topics, thinking in "blogpostese", but I haven't managed to put words to screen. It is a funny thing. Maybe I am just out of the habit but I have trouble feeling like have time to blog, that I have the spare time to do it.

Is it because I am still mentally recuperating from all the stuff that contributed to me stopping blogging in the first place?? Primarily, most of that stress has subsided. (most of it.) But I am still feeling a little mentally inefficient. Maybe I have PTSD? I do know that I have felt like I have not been as good a communicator as I once was over the past few months/year. So, I will use this blog for communication rehab! After all, I do feel like there are some things in my life again that warrant talking about. I guess it is okay to start out slow.

So here we go....

Back on the Blog!

2010-01-11T08:12:00.001-08:00

I know I said it before but.... It's 2010! 2009 is gone (thankfully!) and I was able to sort through a bunch of things that were stressing me and taking up mental space. (Whew!)

I have missed my blog friends. I have even gotten a few nudges from the digital galaxy over the past couple months to remind me that my blog is still out here, waiting....

So, I am answering the call! I promise!

Stay tuned..... more to come! ;-)

Springtime....

2009-05-27T02:09:00.000-07:00

Spring is a time of rebirth and resurrection..... A time to start anew. And so.... I am resurrecting my blog. It has been a while since I have been able to write regularly and so now, I am working on rededicating myself to that. But.... the reason why I ended up stopping last year was that it became another requirement or obligation as opposed to something that I enjoyed. Like I have said before, I often think in blog posts.... that would make a good post.... I structure descriptive thoughts as draft blog entries in my brain, etc...

But last year was just a hard year for me... so many things became burdens, so many things were complicated. I have dedicated myself to simplifying my life --- I have no husband or kids. Shouldn't have been as stressed or pressed up as I had been.

So.... I am restructuring my life.... see my new blog posts soon!

My absence: Just call me Pat Benetar!

2008-12-01T19:24:00.000-08:00

So the reason why I have not managed to make my regular appearances in the blogesphere for the past few month, well really, at least a half a year is because life has just been working me out!

I went from having no job to basically having 3 jobs! My regular full-time job has been going really well. I am really enjoying what I am doing and feel like I am making a contribution that is being valued. I have had two bosses in the past 8 months but that is because the guy who hired me got promoted to his boss' position, which is not a bad thing for me since he thought well enough of me to hire me in the first place and has direct knowledge of my work. And I like my new boss, who is a woman. I was not sure of her when I first started the job and she was in another group within my department. I got a strange vibe from her then but now that I report to her, she has been really great. She was promoted when she came to my group and is very inclusive and treats me very congenially, which is the opposite of what I felt from her before. So things are good!

Additionally, I am still working at The Container Store. A lot of people have asked me why I am still working there and it is not that the money makes a huge difference but I like it and it doesn't really interfere with my schedule that much. I work truck uploads, which is normally one night every 5-7 days (9-midnight on a weeknight/Saturday or 6-9 on Sunday) and I have started picking up store hours on some evenings and on the weekend. I cannot under emphasize how different this company is from regular retail --- and the people I work with are all pretty much very nice, helpful, agreeable people. But of course, that is why they were hired.

And lastly, I have been dealing with some investment properties that I purchased last year. The long and the short of it is that they have not worked out quite as I had originally envisioned. I have ended up renting them out as Section 8 housing, at a loss, and using a property manager (who is also an owner in the subdivision) to manage them. I was very hands off for a little less than a year but then the finances of it all caused me to take a closer look. I had not foreseen not having a job for 6 months when I purchased them and any extra that I could have dedicated to these properties disappeared into living expenses. But honestly, even if I had kept my job, the economics of this endeavor disintegrated as the housing market started going south. So while I am able to collect income on each property every month, it is not enough to cover the mortgage by a sizable amount. So I have spent a fair amount of time trying to figure out what to do. And I still haven't gotten it figured out.

What I did figure out was that I could not continue to afford a property manager if I was already losing money so this fall I started the process of managing them myself. And in the process I discovered that a few things were not being managed as I expected. So I had to dive in on my own -- manage the transition in management with the manager and tenants, sign new leases, sort through a whole mess of things with the housing authority including rent increase requests, etc, steering clear of an investigation that they launched against my former property manager, and finding someone to do maintenance for the units. Additionally, one tenant and the former property manager did not get along, for a number of reasons, and while I has trusted his advice in the past with regard to tenant matters, I started to question if the rendition of events he had been telling me was completely accurate.

There have been periods where I worked at least 5 hours a day for 13 days straight plus had to manage stuff with the properties in addition.

I definitely feel like an adult these days.... Got some big ol' adult issues to deal with. Whew!

Birth and Death

2008-11-25T18:10:00.000-08:00

I have had a very pivotal year this year. Not that major life changing events have happened in my life, but I have seen things happen around me. A number of folks I know have had babies in the past couple years but a few months ago, I learned that my best friend is pregnant. We have been friends for 22 years now. As an only child I have the gift to be able to choose the people I get to think of as sisters, and she is about the closest thing to a sister I will have. So, in spring next year, I will become an aunt!

On an opposite note however, I have seen the family of some good friends struck with some unbelievable tragedy. A friend of mine from graduate school was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 29, a few months after we graduated and a week after she married another classmate of ours. In May, 3 years after a great 35th birthday celebration at her parent's home in NC, five and a half years after she was diagnosed, she lost her fight with this disease. I have been meeting to write about her, her wonderful spirit, and the joy with which she embraced life for months now. And I will do so soon.

But tonight I wanted to write about another friend of mine, who I mentioned in an earlier post. Ryan was living his dream, getting the recognition he deserved and being able to earn a living pursuing his passion --- opera singing. Ryan attended Morehouse University as a voice major and was a proud member of the Morehouse Glee Club. After graduation he went on to pursue a masters degree at Ohio University. But after school he struggled to earn a living singing. He secured a few regular paying gigs, including parts with the Atlanta Opera and as a featured tenor with a church in the area. But after numerous rejections, he started to give up on his dream. In a last attempt, he decided to audition for the Metropolitan Opera's Young Artist competition, a yearly competition that whittles down approximately 11,000 applicants into the 6 most promising young singers in the industry. The cut off age for the competition is 30 and this was Ryan's last year of eligibility. And in 2007, at age 30, Ryan became one of the winners of this pretigious competition. As a winner, he finally started getting recognition for he talent. He performed in a couple Met performances. He won an internship to the Summer Opera program in Sante Fe, New Mexico, something analygous to Summer Stock for opera singers. Agents were starting to take notice of him. He won a position this year as an ensemble member of the Lyric Opera of Chicago and started in the cast in April of this year. As an ensemble member with a regular salary, he was finally able to make a living solely from pursuing his passion and also given regular opportunity to audition for larger roles in Opera performances.

Unfortunately, Ryan was diagnosed with stomach cancer in late March of this year and started going through treatment while in Chicago. Initial accounts were encouraging. Burkitt's Lymphona is considered one of the more treatable forms of cancer and he was expected to recover quickly and be back to singing at the Opera. He went through 2 rounds of chemo and was back at home recuperating and started attending rehearsals again. Then, he got an infection and had to return to the hospital since his immune system was so compromised from the chemo. He did not end up leaving.... At first, I would talk to him pretty regularly on the phone. And then, the calls became less frequent. Me and his best friend discussed going to visit him. We were not able to go the same week, so he and some other friends went up one weekend and I went up the next. I am not really sure what I expected when I got there but I have to say that I was startled when I first saw him in the hospital.

Honestly, I could have walked by him 5 times and not known it was him if he hadn't opened his mouth! Ryan had been working out and losing weight before he went off to Chicago but he had probable lost another 50 pounds since then. Also, apparently, an affect of chemotherapy can be the darkening of skin because he was probably 4 shades darker than he used to be. Also, the shape of his face and facial features had totally changed. He had very little soft tissue on his face so his nose was even shaped differently. His teeth had an orangish hue from the medecine he had been taking. It was startling. But he was the same Ryan. I sat there with him and his family all day. He dosed in and out and we watched the documentary from his MET competition. To see and hear him perform was amazing! It was just beautiful! Such a gift! And to be watching it in him hotel room was particularly poignant. We all teared up..... It was hard to know what to do other than just be there. His parents were upset by the latest discussions with the doctors which seemed to not give them much hope. They had started trying to sneak herbal therapies into his room. A friend from NY had sent a reiki therapist over to do a treatment on him. I came back to see him the next morning on my way to the airport.

Three days later, on my birthday, I heard that the doctors had reported that his tumor has shrunk 40% so they were encouraged and were going to try to boost up his immune system for another round of chemo. It never happened. Ryan died a few weeks later. It was awful...... so much promise unrealized..... so young, only 32......

With all these tragedies happening amongst my peers, it has really gotten me thinking about my age. For me, there is not really anyone around generationally older than my parents. Death is a much closer reality for me now after this year. I reflect on what I have accomplished in my life and I don't really have regrets. I have had some great experiences, wonderful friends and learned a lot from the challenges I have worked through. I have not yet found the person I want to spend the rest of my life with and have children with but I understand that this is something that cannot be rushed. I don't particularly feel anxious about it personally. But what I am starting to comtemplate is that I really want to give my parents the experience of seeing me married and meeting their first grandchild. I know two friends whose mothers died right before they gave birth to their first child. So it is not for me that I feel anxious, but for my parents. However, my parents are not the kind to pressure me about these types of things and I know that they would not want me to rush into something that was not fulfilling for them. So, I will just concentrate in enjoying all my moments, my experiences with the people I love, searching for other fulfilling connections with new people and not taking any of it for granted!

Today's hip hop

2008-11-20T06:46:00.000-08:00

There are very few instances these days that I am impressed by the lyrics in today's popular music. There are very few poets, especially in hip hop music, and very few fully crafted thoughts and images that get portrayed lyrically with any type of skill.

So eventhough, he doesn't make the "h" silent when he says it, I would like to pay homage to T.I.'s lyrics in the song, Live Your Life. Now, he is not talking about curing world hunger or anything, but I applaud his word play!

Here is one of my favorite parts....

" I got love for the game but ay I’m not in love with all of it.
Could do without the fame and the rappers nowadays are comedy.
The hootin’ and the hollerin’, back and forth with the arguing.
Where you from, who you know, what you make and what kind of car you in.
Seems as though you lost sight of whats important when depositin
them checks into your bank account, and you’re up out poverty.
Your values is a disarray, prioritizing horribly.
Unhappy with the riches cause you piss-poor morally.
Ignoring all prior advice and fore warning.
And we mighty full of ourselves all of a sudden aren’t we?"

On my daily commute this morning.....

2008-11-20T05:54:00.000-08:00

People are a trip....

This morning, while I was driving to work this woman honked at me because I didn't let her in front on me when and where she wanted to be let in! Mind you, we were on a street where there was no one in front of her, no one behind me, and she was at least 2000 ft from the place where she was going to turn right.

Where does this sense of entitlement come from?? These people need to be put on the streets in a real city. Then they would learn to drive!

My friend Ryan......

2008-11-18T12:45:00.000-08:00

Here is the obituary of my friend..... (I am really too young to be saying something like that!)

*****************************************
Ryan Smith, 31, sang with Morehouse, Met

By KIRSTEN TAGAMI

Saturday, November 15, 2008

After years of setbacks and struggles, Ryan Smith fulfilled a dream this past spring. He sang on stage at the Metropolitan Opera, playing the minor role of Don Ricardo in the rarely performed Verdi opera “Ernani.”

Not long ago, Mr. Smith, formerly of Decatur, was working in a Lithonia video game store and had given up his unlikely goal of becoming an opera singer.

Friends prodded him to get back to singing and auditioning. He did, and was a national winner of the 2007 Metropolitan Opera Auditions — leading to stage roles, interest from talent agents, and a prominent part in an upcoming documentary about the Met auditions.

Mr. Smith, 31, died Wednesday of lymphoma at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, where he was a first-year ensemble member of the Lyric Opera of Chicago’s prestigious artist development program. His family plans a private funeral in Los Angeles, where he grew up. There also will be a memorial service at 3 p.m. November 30 at First Presbyterian Church.

In the opera world, Mr. Smith was an up-and-coming talent to watch, said Dennis Hanthorn, general director of the Atlanta Opera, where Mr. Smith portrayed Camp Williams in “Cold Sassy Tree,” last February.

“He would have been one of the leading lyric tenors in the next five years,” Mr. Hanthorn predicted. “He would have been performing all over North America and Europe.”

Mr. Smith was from South-Central Los Angeles and sang in his church and school. A career in the opera never occurred to him until he won a scholarship to the Aspen Music Festival at age 17.

There, he was moved to tears by a performance of “Che Galida Manina,” a famous romantic aria from “La Boheme.” Mr. Smith went on to study music at Morehouse College and was featured in performances by the famous Morehouse Glee Club. He earned a master’s in music at Ohio University.

Mr. Smith returned to Atlanta but was stymied on the audition circuit. After being told at one tryout that he was “too fat,” he vowed to give up singing. He took the video store job and spent the next three years in a funk, he told the AJC.

It wasn’t until friends pressured him to return to singing that he began to practice for the Met auditions — opera’s version of “American Idol.” He made it to the regional finals in 2006 and won the nationals in 2007.

Chosen as an understudy for the Met’s production of “Ernani,” he won the role when the singer had to drop out. “It was great. It came out of the blue,” he told the AJC. “I started break dancing.”

Shortly before his Met debut in March, Mr. Smith began feeling extremely tired, said his father Paul Smith of Los Angeles. “He would perform and then go back to his apartment and sleep all day,” he said.

Doctors later confirmed the diagnosis of lymphoma, said his father, who described seeing his son on stage at the Met as one of the most rewarding moments of his life.

“Many opera singers can be heard to say, ‘My dream is to sing at the Metropolitan Opera.’ Ryan accomplished that goal in a very short time — through disappointment and joy, through hard work, and belief in his gifts,” said Walter Huff, chorus master for the Atlanta Opera and a voice coach to Mr. Smith.

“But just as important were his personal gifts of humility, kindness and a down-to-earth genuineness that made you root for him on stage, even before he began to sing,” he said.

Other survivors are his mother Renee Smith and sister Nya Assis, both of Los Angeles.

*******************************************

Ryan is featured in a documentary that was produced chronicling the 2007 Metropolitan Opera Auditions called "The Audition" by Susan Froemke, which premiered at the Tokyo Film Festival in October. The film is planned to be shown stateside in spring of 2009. Check out a link to a clip on the Met website.

Also see the press release issued by the Lyric Opera of Chicago.

Historical Perspective....

2008-11-13T10:49:00.000-08:00

From Campbell Brown at CNN.....

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/politics/2008/11/07/ec.campbell.brown.byrd.cnn?iref=videosearch

Haters....

2008-11-11T05:40:00.000-08:00

Well, you knew there would be haters......

Here are some folks already creating Impeach Obama paraphenalia.

And here is a summary of racially motivated incidents that have been occuring since the election....

There is still a lot of work to do....

Headlines from around the world.....

2008-11-05T11:43:00.000-08:00

And here is another massive site........

A new day has come!

2008-11-05T07:02:00.000-08:00

So..... When I was riding into work today, already ecstatic from last night's events, the radio station played the song that Will.I.Am put together after Obama's inspiring speech in New Hampshire, and like it did, when I first heard/saw it, it made me cry. I posted the video up here back in February when I first saw it and I credit that video with turning the tide for me on my choice for which Democratic candidate I wanted to back for president.

So I was looking online for the video or song "Yes We Can" this morning (I mentioned it in a previous post as something that helped influence my decision to support Barack Obama in the primary) and I found this article on Huffington Post written by Will.I.Am about why he was inspired to create something that inspired so many others....

Wil l.i.am
Post ed February 3, 2008 | 12:11 PM (EST)

Why I Recorded Yes We Can

I was sitting in my recording studio watching the debates...
Torn between the candidates

I was never really big on politics...
and actually I'm still not big on politics...

The outcome of the last 2 elections has saddened me...
on how unfair, backwards, upside down, unbalanced, untruthful,
corrupt, and just simply, how wrong the world and "politics" are...

So this year i wanted to get involved and do all i could early...

And i found myself torn...
because this time it's not that simple...
our choices aren't as clear as the last elections ...
last time it was so obvious...
Bush and war
vs
no Bush and no war...

But this time it's not that simple...
and there are a lot of people that are torn just like i am...

So for awhile I put it off and i was going to wait until it was decided for me...

And then came New Hampshire...

And i was captivated...

Inspired...

I reflected on my life...
and the blessings I have...
and the people who fought for me to have these rights and blessings...

and I'm not talking about a "black thing"
I'm talking about a "human thing" me as a "person"
an American...

That speech made me think of Martin Luther King...
Kennedy...
and Lincoln...
and all the others that have fought for what we have today...

what America is "supposed" to be...

freedom...
equality...
and truth...

and thats not what we have today...
we think we are free...
but in reality terror and fear controls our decisions...

this is not the America that our pioneers and leaders fought and
died for...

and then there was New Hampshire

it was that speech...
like many great speeches...
that one moved me...
because words and ideas are powerful...

It made me think...
and realize that today we have "very few" leaders...
maybe none...

but that speech...

it inspired me...
it inspired me to look inside myself and outwards towards the world...
it inspired me to want to change myself to better the world...
and take a "leap" towards change...
and hope that others become inspired to do the same...
change themselves..
change their greed...
change their fears...
and if we "change that"
"then hey"..
we got something right...???...

1 week later after the speech settled in me...
I began making this song...
I came up with the idea to turn his speech into a song...
because that speech affected and touched my inner core like nothing in a very long time...

it spoke to me...

because words and ideas are powerful...

I just wanted to add a melody to those words...
I wanted the inspiration that was bubbling inside me to take over...

so i let it..

I wasn't afraid to stand for something...
to stand for "change"...
I wasn't afraid of "fear"...
it was pure inspiration...

so I called my friends...
and they called their friends...
in a matter of 2 days...
We made the song and video...

Usually this process would take months...
a bunch of record company people figuring out strategies and release dates...
interviews...
all that stuff...
but this time i took it in my own hands...
so i called my friends Sarah Pantera, Mike Jurkovac, Fred Goldring, and Jesse Dylan to help make it happen...
and they called their friends..
and we did it together in 48 hours...
and instead of putting it in the hands of profit we put it in the hands of inspiration...

then we put it on the net for the world to feel...

When you are truly inspired..
magic happens...
incredible things happen...
love happens..
(and with that combination)

"love, and inspiration"

change happens...

"change for the better"
Inspiration breeds change...

"Positive change"...

no one on this planet is truly experienced to handle the obstacles we face today...
Terror, fear, lies, agendas, politics, money, all the above...
It's all scary...

Martin Luther King didn't have experience to lead...
Kennedy didn't have experience to lead...
Susan B. Anthony...
Nelson Mandela...
Rosa Parks...
Gandhi...
Anne Frank...
and everyone else who has had a hand in molding the freedoms we have and take for granted today...

no one truly has experience to deal with the world today...

they just need "desire, strength, courage ability, and passion" to change...
and to stand for something even when people say it's not possible...

America would not be here "today" if we didn't stand and fight for
change "yesterday"...
Everything we have as a "people" is because of the "people" who fought for
change...
and whoever is the President has to realize we have a lot of changing to do

I'm not trying to convince people to see things how i do...
I produced this song to share my new found inspiration and how I've been moved...
I hope this song will make you feel...
love...
and think...
and be inspired just like the speech inspired me...

that's all...

Let's all come together like America is supposed to...
Like Japan did after Hiroshima...

that was less than 65 years ago...
and look at Japan now...

they did it together...
they did it...

"We can't?...

Are you serious..?..

WE CAN!!!

Yes we can...
A United "America"
Democrats, Republicans and Independents together...
Building a new America

We can do it...
"TOGETHER"

Thank you for reading and listening...
will.i.am

As it unfolded....

2008-11-05T00:35:00.000-08:00

I get daily email alerts from the Wall Street Journal and they have been coming out one after the other as the election results are being announced. When I got this one from this now more conservative periodical a couple minutes before CNN projected the winner, I knew it was done!

date Tue, Nov 4, 2008 at 10:50 PM
subject WSJ NEWS ALERT: Obama on Verge of Historic Victory
_________________________________
NEWS ALERT
from The Wall Street Journal

Nov. 4, 2008

Barack Obama appeared set to become the nation's first African-American president, after beating John McCain in key battleground states.

Obama won Pennsylvania and Ohio earlier in the night, and was projected to win Colorado and Virginia as well.

California releases results at 11 p.m. ET.

And then these came.....

date Tue, Nov 4, 2008 at 11:35 PM
subject WSJ NEWS ALERT: McCain Concedes Race, Saying Americans 'Have Spoken'
__________________________________
NEWS ALERT
from The Wall Street Journal

Nov. 4, 2008

Sen. John McCain conceded the presidential race to Sen. Barack Obama, telling his supporters in Arizona that the "American people have spoken, and spoken clearly." He congratulated Obama in a phone call shortly after 11 p.m. EST, Obama's spokesman said. Obama thanked McCain for his graciousness, accepted his concession and asked his rival for help in leading the country.

date Wed, Nov 5, 2008 at 12:20 AM
subject WSJ NEWS ALERT: Obama Tells Supporters 'Change Has Come to America'
__________________________________
NEWS ALERT
from The Wall Street Journal

Nov. 5, 2008

Barack Obama claimed victory at a speech in Chicago, telling thousands of cheering supporters: "If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible; who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time; who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer."

He applauded John McCain's hard-fought campaign and his long record of service to the country.

Obama said: "It's been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this day ... change has come to America."

Wow!..... Yeah! That is what I'm talkin about!!

Today is the day!!

2008-11-04T08:18:00.000-08:00

The thing that is so amazing to me about this whole presidential campaign is how Obama has given dis-enfranchised some hope, belief in the possibility that they can actually affect a change in their lives by voting! And they are waiting in lines, sometimes 2, 3, 5, 8 hours long to exercise their right to that change!

It is really something......

And in that spirit..... a musical contribution produced by Babyface featuring many artists you should recognize.

Get out and VOTE, people!

I love David Letterman.....

2008-10-17T17:54:00.000-07:00

Check out David giving John McCain a little grief.....

What a bargain!

2008-10-16T10:54:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I bought some bad a** boots for 4 cents!

Now, how did she do this you might ask........

So I am a member of the DSW Rewards club. I got a certificate for $70 because of some prior purchases I made. I went into the store looking for something to spend it on. I found these boots..... I can't remember how much they were but they were more than $70 --- probably more like $85. But there was a spot on them. So I got the manager to knock 20% off of them!

So then, I was under $70 so, I bought a bunch of these gel inserts I like and the total came up to...... like $69.96. But, the terms of the certificate says that it can't be applied unless there is a cash transaction. So, and the complete logic of this escapes me, I was charged 4 cents..... I didn't really question it though. 4 cents!!!! And I love them!!

I couldn't have said it better myself!!!

2008-10-09T07:52:00.000-07:00

I was beginning to think that sanity was becoming an endangered quality in this political season.....

Here is a little sanity from across the pond!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2008/oct/03/sarah.palin.debate.feminism

Listen, I am all for women in the White House and OEB but.... not this woman! My IQ drops more each time I hear her talk! I think the writer has a point here, read the transcript of the debate just to underscore how incoherent it actually was.

Stress Management

2008-09-21T18:11:00.000-07:00

This morning I forced myself to go for a little run since I had only been up for less than an hour and my shoulders were already feeling tight. The weather seems to have broken here and it is actually cooler than 70 degrees in the morning here now!

I didn't have that much time but I thought 20 minutes was better than nothing.

So I ran up my street, around the corner, and up the hill to this other residential neighborhood. And all of a sudden, ahead of me I started seeing women in pink t-shirts walking up the street. As I knew what it was...... I was coming upon the route for a breast cancer walk. And I started tearing up.

For my birthday in 2006, I participated in the Susan G Komen 3-day Breast Cancer Walk. It was an amazing, inspiring experience that I undertook partially because a friend of mine from grad school had been previously diagnosed with breast cancer a couple months after we graduated, and 2 weeks after she got married to another classmate, at the age of 29. I will have to paste more about her later......

I need to find a way to do more to others......

Options

2008-09-15T05:43:00.000-07:00

Isn't it great when you are in the middle of a difficult situation and discover an option that you didn't know that you had that opens up some new possibilities!! I am feeling encouraged!

This fall is proving to be very challenging for me. But just when I thought I was out of options and faced with a really unpleasant choice, I discovered an alternative path.... A temporary solution but hopefully I will find a permanent one soon.

Unpresidented!

2008-09-10T15:58:00.000-07:00

So one thing that I have been really surprised and pleased by is the unpresidented involvement of the black music artists in the Presidential race this year.... regular comments on concert tours, making calls for candidates, creating politically aware content to support the candidates.....

But, today I was watching BETJ Soul Sessions and I saw the video for a song by Big Boi and Mary J Blige called "Something's Gotta Give." I had actually heard it on the radio before and thought it was a politically aware song but I didn't truly realize how direct the political message was until I saw the video today.

Take a look! (Sorry, embedding is disabled for this clip...)

Good for them!

An interesting result of Facebook friendship....

2008-09-08T16:43:00.000-07:00

So.... The other day I was helping my boss with her blackberry and I saw that she had a Facebook app on it. So, I asked her where she got it and she showed me how to download it. Well, that night I got a friend request from her. It lead to a little dilemma....... Do I really want my boss to be my Facebok friend??? But.... I know she knows I use Facebook so if I don't accept that will raise suspicion. So, I accepted -- she's pretty cool anyway. I will just have to censor my status updates a little.

So, then, other people from work started friending me since they saw I was her friend. One of them is this woman who I have known professionally, although we haven't worked much together, for a while. We have worked at the same last 3 companies so she is a good professional contact.

But, after we became Facebook friends I began to realize that...... she is a RAGING Republican! Ugh! A Palin supporter nonetheless...... So, this has an interesting affect on our hallway chatter. Basically, now I strongly question her judgement and am not as excited about speaking to her. Am I wrong? Anyway, it doesnt affect my opinion of her work but I don't think I will be clamouring to hang out with her or go to lunch.... especially not before the election is over for a little while!

The unintended affect of technology!

Caribbean Eats!

2008-09-07T20:00:00.001-07:00

I was flipping the channels the other day and I ran across a new 4 part series that is being aired on The Food Network -- Feasting on Waves -- and it caught my eye. Alton Brown, the amusingly nerdy but adventurous chef, is sailing across the Caribbean, in search of all the delicious local cuisine that the region has to offer. And the cool thing is, he is not just going to restaurants, but also to local dives, roadside stands, farms etc. to really learn about the local ingredients and flavors and get an idea of what food the locals enjoy on a daily basis. I wonder if they will delve into the intracacies of roasted/fried breadfruit, ackee, and guinep along the way?

Check for show information and schedule here.

Number 1 fundraiser for the Obama campaign this week?

2008-09-04T20:11:00.000-07:00

Sarah Palin!

While the Republicans raised $1 million after the Sarah Palin speech last night, the Democrats raised.........$8 million.

I have to say.... I am amazed, and encouraged by Obama's ability to raise so much money across such a large base. Now, it just needs to translate into votes!

Good Friends.....

2008-09-01T20:16:00.000-07:00

So what was so great about my trip to the West was my being able to catch up with a lot of friends, some I hadn't seen in quite a while, some I finally met for the first time after hearing so much about them, and some I don't get to see nearly enough. It was great to see everybody!! In the end, it is your friendships and relationships that are what is most important.

Actin' silly!

At the wedding.....

Obama Girls!

Old classmates and their new addition!

Awww! So cute!!

Quite a wedding!

2008-09-01T13:17:00.000-07:00

I just got back from a trip to that flashy city to the West to attend a wedding and visit some friends..... Seems like I have a lot of friends there, from all stages of my life now. There have been times when my mind has flirted with the idea of moving there, especially when I am feeling wistful and lonely but it is just not a good place for me to be careerwise etc so, I will just have to visit often! (And I seem to be averaging a visit a year these days....)

Anyway, the key reason for this trip was..... the wedding of one of my good friends from grad school. Suzy is this crazy smiley ball of energy who is so genuine and nice and fun to be around. I actually didn't meet her fiance until the weekend of the wedding but from what I had heard about him, they are the perfect pair.

How they met: Interestingly, Steve is the best friend of Suzy's ex-boyfriend's brother (I think I got that right....) Or the brother of her ex-boyfriend's best friend..... Well, one of those!

Where the wedding was located: It was held in this old art deco hotel that was renovated and is rented out for special events. It actually borders this infamous park in the middle of the city (it is even named in a popular song from the late 70's -- the park, that is.) These days it is infamous for not the most positive of things but it is really interesting to have these anachronistic interplay between the park and this hotel. Those staying at the host hotel took shuttles to and from the event which worked out really well since 1) there was not a lot of parking available and 2) we had been informed, jokingly by the bride, that there was an 8 drink minimum at the open bar!

The ceremony: So Suzy's mother is Japanese American and her father is Mexican American of Persian decent. Steve is Canadian. So how did all of this play out in the wedding ceremony? Well, the ceremony was held in a square courtyard in the middle of the building. When you first walked into the hotel, you were greeted by a large Asian -inspired flower arrangement of orchids, draped by paper origami cranes that Suzy's friends and family created for the couple. It is a Japanese tradition to create a 1000 of these cranes as a wedding gift by the folder, who is wishing a thousand years of happiness and prosperity upon the couple.

The ceremony was actually a Buddhist ceremony held under a gazebo by the family Buddhist minister in traditional dress. It included the a version of the Shinto San San-Kudo ceremony of three x three (9 is a lucky number in Shinto tradition) sips of sake from three flat cups, almost like dishes with small, medium and large size. Both the bride and groom sip from the cups and the ritual was also shared with both of their parents.

Attire: In a move that was probably less Canadian and more reflective of his personality, Steve and his groomsmen wore tuxedos and.... brand new black Converse low top tennis shoes! Suzy's bridesmaids wore brown or black strapless cocktail length dresses. Suzy herself, wore this beautiful strapless Oscar de la Rente dress will an a-line multi-layered tulle skirt, hand embroidered with beading and tulle flowers. It was really amazing as you can see....

The brand: Suzy is in marketing so, everything related to her wedding, from the Save the date card to the invitation to the program, menus, gazebo, and candles at the ceremony, to the spotlight shining down on the dance floor at the reception were all consistently branded with their fonts, monogram and logo.

The reception: After the ceremony, there was a cocktail reception with hors d'oeuvres in the room right off the courtyard where the wedding ceremony was held. Then the whole party moved to the the ballroom where the full reception was held. The ballroom was true art deco style and old black and white movies were being projected onto the wall above the stage at one end of the ballroom.
The tables were decorated with big centerpieces with large white ostrich plumes and the wedding party sat in the middle at a long table which was really nice because everyone else could see them.
The cutting of the cake happened at the top of the stage so everyone could easily see it as well.
The party!!!: After all the formalities and eating were complete, we all got down, drinking and dancing and having a great time.

As you can see, she doesn't get out much anymore! Two kids will do that to you!

A good time is being had by all!

Afterwards: The next morning, Suzy's parents had a brunch at their house, full of great comfort food to soak up any residual alcohol. It was a nice relaxing way to recuperate and get a chance to chat with folks before we all went our separate ways!

A little break.......

2008-08-26T19:53:00.000-07:00

I'm off tomorrow to see some good friends and attend a wedding. Going to make a little vaca out of it! Should be fun! Talk to you when I get back!

2008-08-18T18:45:00.000-07:00

So I am not a big beach volleyball fan, in fact I don't think that I have watched a beach volleyball match before this year.....

But I have to say I am really impressed with Kerri walsh and Misty May-Treanor.... They won the gold at the Olympics in Athens and since then have a record of 458-18 and are currently on a 107 win run.

They just won the semifinal round so they will play to defend their medal against a Chinese team for the gold!

You go girls!

The Olympics: Is it fair?

2008-08-16T08:23:00.000-07:00

There is this big hoopla about Michael Phelps and his gold medals. And it has gotten me thinking....

Not to take anything from him, he really is an amazing athlete (swim, eat sleep... that is all he does, and he is supposed to ingest 8000 -10,000 calories a day! Can you imagine?!?!?), but this has me thinking.... 8 gold medals is quite an accomplishment but what about the athletes who compete in mutliple rounds all games long just to get one medal -- like volleyball, tennis, soccer..... Are they lesser athletes because they will never have the opportunity to win that many medals in a single Olympics?

Olympic Fever

2008-08-10T15:41:00.000-07:00

I'll admit it.... I have Olympic fever....

The second ever black person, Cullen Jones, is on the Olympic swimming team this year. He learned to swim after he almost drowned at the bottom of a water slide when he was 5. He just won a gold medal as part of the World Record setting Men's 4x100 relay team.

Dara Torres has become the oldest person to win an Olympic medal at age 41

Why is the time that Bush has spent at the Olypmics ( 4 days total) the longest time he has spent in any country since he has been president......

I think it is interesting how instrumentals of popular hiphop songs have become the background music for the montages and feature stories during major sporting events -- I have heard Take a Bow by Rihanna, Superstar by Lupe Fiasco (a favorite -- it was also used heavily during the Superbowl) and Apologize by One Republic and Timbaland so far.

Gotta go.... more Olympics to watch!

Some of the best microwave-steamed vegetables ever!

2008-08-04T19:24:00.001-07:00

I have been a big fan of the microwave steamed vegetables that they sell in the frozen food section and have been for a while. It is a quick and easy way to get something really close to fresh without having to worry about spoilage.

I have noticed that this segment has really taken off and there is more variety, especially since Bob Green tagged some as "Best Life" products.

The last time I was in the store, I noticed that Birds Eye had created another line extension of these vegetables called "Steam & Serve" that comes in a black oval serving dish. I decided to buy a couple varieties since they seemed a little different from what I normally buy. They are all medleys with a light sauce. The first one I tried was a variety called Beans with a Twist. It is a combination of green and yellow beans, carrots and cranberries (yes, cranberries) in an herbed butter sauce. Can I say that this medley is to die for! They have about 4 or 5 other varieties as well that are very good but this one is by far my favorite.

So, next time you are in the grocery store, think about picking one of these up!

Personally applied restriction

2008-08-03T19:25:00.000-07:00

I am going through some financial challenges right now so in an effort to watch my budget, I decided to challenge myself to a little financial exercise this past weekend. --- Go all weekend without spending any money (except for gas.) And I did it, and without really any discomfort. I ate food I had at home. I actually went to a party that a friend had at her house and brought my contribution for the party from stuff I already had and didn't go to the grocery store.

It is easy to mindlessly spend money when you don't really need to --- a $1 here, $5 there --- and I just can't really afford to do that for now.

So, I am glad that I did it. It had taught me a bit about my spending habits.

My grand re-entrance delayed.....

2008-08-03T13:05:00.000-07:00

So I had big plans to retroactively post all the blog posts that I have been saying for the past couple months but my plans were foiled temporarily a computer virus. But after consulting a number of personal technophile friends and then some experts, I had to go to the great folks at Bleepingcomputer.com for help. There they provide a great service free of charge which has really helped me twice already.

Not only are they a wealth of knowledge about everything having to do with your computer, they are a real helpful resources when your computer gets "sick" with something that typical antivirus/antispyware programs can't cure.

Basically, to start the process you have to post some logs to a forum and then one of their experts picks up your case and starts working with you. Now, the solutions and steps they have you go through are not for beginners and require a lot of back and forth, posting logs, running programs to get to a complete fix but it is a godsend. So I am back and blogging! Thanks to the folks at Bleepingcomputer.com!

Doing without one of the world's greatest inventions!

2008-07-31T20:33:00.000-07:00

I have long said that air conditioning ranks up there as one of the top inventions of mankind, behind fire and the wheel. Well, last week, mine went out! I luckily have 2 units in my house, one for the front of the house and one for the back of the house, so I am not completely without AC but the back of the house is where I spend most of my time.

I have a home warranty and it does not seem to have done me any good... They sent a guy out who was literally in my house for about 10 minutes. He came in, told me that it looked like my motor was dying because the drain pipe was backing up. He looked around unsuccesfully for the model number for the fan and then told me that we would have to have the office figure out what size motor it was and call me back.

Well, after not hearing from anyone for 2 days, I called back the repair company and they told me that the warranty company was supposed to call me because they were denying to cover the repair since it happened due to neglect. Then when I didn't hear back from the warranty company I called them on Monday. I was told by a rep that 1) they were still evaulating whether or not to replace the motor or the whole unit and that 2) I was in the queue to call back that day. So, on Wednesday, when I called back again the woman on the phone told me that when I called on Monday that they told me that the repair would not be covered. Okay..... does that sound like what I just told you the guy said?? Then she put me on hold and said that she went to ask the guy about his note. She said that he swore that what he had written was what he had told me and practically accused me of lying! I told her, why would I bother to call back if that is what someone told me!? Why would I waste my time if that was my understanding??

That really rubbed me the wrong way and this experience, combined with past one has led me to really reconsider having this home warranty in the first place. Basically, it seems that unless you have all new everything, they will try to find a way to get out of covering what ever you call them for.

I guess I will call back the company that came out to see how much they would charge me to replace the fan motor......and try my best to stay cool!

I am not a hypochondriac....

2008-07-30T20:32:00.000-07:00

Some odd stuff has been happening to me health-wise lately....

First, around the end of June/beginning of July, I started experiencing some extreme bloating --- I mean, EXTREME. It didn't really respond to regular antacids or OTC medicine like Prilosec. Let me elaborate a little more on what this was like. I was so uncomfortable that I had trouble sitting up straight. My posture was suffering, I had to adjust the seat in my car because I was started to have lower back pain. Sometimes I would feel slightly better but didn't want to eat much because when I did, I felt even more full and bloated. I was starting to think that something was seriously wrong with me. Now, I am not one to have a fragile digestive system. I have traveled around the world and eaten many things in many places with little consequence but there is nothing more humbling than having prolonged gastro-intestinal distress. It just saps the energy out of you.

Finally, I decided to go to my doctor. I have had a bit of trouble finding a good internal medicine doctor here. A couple years ago I went to a female doctor that was highly recommended and conveniently located and on my first visit she told me that this was my annual exam just to get a baseline and if I had any other particular issues that I wanted to discuss I would have to come back for another appt! Needless to say, that rubbed me the wrong way and I never went back. So last year, I asked my GYN to recommend someone and she recommended another female doctor who was part of a popular practice. I had gone to her once last year for an annual exam so I made an appt to go see her to figure out what was wrong with me this time. The visit was not fulfilling or comforting at all. I told her everything that was going on -- I was practically in tears --- and she basically asked me some questions, pressed on my stomach and asked if I had any sharp pain. Then she prescribed a medication for acid reflux, told me to take something for gas if I needed it and said to let her know in TWO WEEKS if I wasn't feeling better. Well, I left there feeling pretty upset. But, I figured that if she didn't think that this was anything life-threatening that I would go ahead and try some other things to try to improve my situation in addition to what she prescribed me. I did, with a combination of the medicine she prescribed, from Gas-X, and some probiotics that I started taking too, start feeling better later that day. But I am not really any closer to understanding why it happened in the first place. In my doctor's defense, she did give me about 2 weeks of free samples of the medicine she prescribed, which ended up to be about $50 worth, given my insurance coverage...

Then.....

A few days ago, I woke up in the morning with a crick in my neck, like I slept wrong. A day or so later it was still sore. Then, the next day the muscle soreness turned to more of a sharp stiff pain. And then, the next morning, my throat started feeling weird. By about mid day, I started to feel like there was a lump in the back of my throat, literally. I was feeling very uncomfortable and worn out. I considered going to the doctor again, although not very excited about it. That night I came home and washed my hair and took some Advil (previously, I had been taking Aleve) and I almost immediately I started feeling better. It was all really strange but after about 12 hours of taking Advil, I was almost completely back to normal. Again, really odd.

So, I still don't know why either of these things happened. I am normally pretty boring and regular from a health perspective and pay a lot of attention to my body. Anytime anything is out of wack, I notice it. I am not completely sure what it was trying to tell me with these two things but I decided that maybe I need to rid myself of some toxins or something. So I started an herbal cleanse -- it can't hurt and I have already felt a difference in my sleep.

It's not just black folks.... or Americans for that matter!

2008-07-25T06:35:00.000-07:00

It's not just black folks who get a little too creative with their childrens' names. Check out this story from the USAToday about what a family court judge did in New Zealand!

Ugh!

http://www.usatoday.com/news/offbeat/2008-07-24-New-Zealand_N.htm

Code words.....

2008-07-25T05:57:00.000-07:00

So the latest thing that the pundits have been talking about it that, although Obama is ahead in the polls overall, when folks are asked clarifying questions, it seems that there are no specific issues that people are uneasy about Obama's position on, they are just trying to decide if they like his in general, if they think he will make a good president.

Key findings show that many don't think that they can relate to "his background and values." Okay, background??? You mean the fact that he is black???? And he has pretty traditional values --- married, 2 kids, worked his way through school, believes in giving back to society.......

I guess we knew it would come down to this. He is a professional, intelligent, compassionate, well spoken, diplomatic candidate with a great 3-point shot! What more do you want, people!?!? But I guess that all matter but so much.

The bottom line: Enough people just need to decide that they are comfortable enough with having this black man for president.

See the Wall Street Journal article http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121684823498078481.html?mod=djemalertNEWS

An oilman goes green?

2008-07-24T16:25:00.000-07:00

Who would have thought that environmentalists' biggest ally would be a good ol Texas oilman!

But that seems to be the case. T. Boone Pickens, legendary oil tycoon has decided that our dependency on oil -- namely foreign oil -- is out of control. Our dependancy on foreign oil has grown since 1970 from about 24% of our total consumption to 70%!!!

And he has decided that we need to take advantage of wind and solar power to break this dependency and has used his own money to fund a plan for how to do just that. He even has commercials running on network TV.

Take a look at his plan at www.pickensplan.com

Mind blogging....

2008-07-24T16:23:00.000-07:00

So, even though I haven't been posting as much as I normally do, I find myself blogging in my mind all the time!

I think about something or hear about something and think "I need to blog about that!" and start writing the blog in my head...

See, I am thinking about you all! Now if I can only get it down on the screen....

A statesman......

2008-07-24T10:48:00.000-07:00

I just watched the end of Obama's speech in Berlin while I was eating lunch today.....

Such a well crafted speech....... Strong, poignant analogies, steeped in historical reference.... It is so nice to hear someone who is a great orator, a diplomat, a statesman. Isn't that what a president should be?

And as one reporter mentioned, there was such a stark contrast in the crowd assembled today and the ones that assemble when good ol' W comes to speak in Europe. Namely, there were people waving American flags and clapping and cheering instead of yelling and protesting.

The time has come for a return to diplomacy and consensus building.... because closing our ears and just doing what "we" (and I mean that term loosely) want to do really has not worked!

Creative spelling....

2008-07-07T13:05:00.000-07:00

why did I just make up a new word...... alphabeticalized..... Sad, sad, sad..... Let's all say it together -- alphabetized!! I guess my brain is still on vacation!

You have to hand it to him....

2008-07-01T06:32:00.000-07:00

As strange as he has become in recent years, you really have to credit Michael Jackson with revolutionizing what it means to entertain in the modern music world. I was reminded of this recently with all the talk of the exciting music performances on the BET Awards last week. I didn't watch them but have been trying to catch clips on You Tube. And it got me thinking....

If you look at those artists that have been praised as great entertainers in recent years, they all seem to follow the Michael Jackson formula in some way shape or form..... You can tell that when they were kids, they say around learning every move in Thriller, Beat It and Billie Jean. But it was those theatrics, big bold crisp synchronized dance numbers and signature style, without sacrificing vocal performance, that have become the blueprint for what an entertainer is in the modern world.

You can see the influence everywhere, across music genres, but I am most reminded of it when I think of a number of 3 current R&B artists, Usher, Ne-Yo and Chris Brown. The cool thing is that these guys have managed to let us know of the influence the gloved on has had but have each re-interpreted it with their own style.

Usher is an all around entertainer who now even has Broadway under his belt. While his street cred has suffered over the past year and talk of his opening performance at the BET awards was lukewarm at best, let me remind you of some of his earlier performances. Check out his video for "U Remind Me" --- especially the breakdown which starts at about 2:20. (You will have to follow the link -- embedding is not supported for this clip)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arE0UOtZfIw

Ne-Yo --- I have just recently "fallen in love" with Ne-Yo. It took me a while. I thought his name was stupid. His performance in Stomp the Yard didn't really make me take notice. And the fact that they played his songs like crazy on the radio had minimal impact since I was boycotting the stuff they played on the radio more and more. But there was a song or two that I liked, so I felt compelled to get his last two albums. Then, one of the unintended consequences of my new job was that I began to have a growing appreciation for Ne-Yo as a song writer. Since I have to test music for my job (and that is all that I will say about that) I have a subset of albums that I use for this purpose. One of them just happened to be Ne-Yo's "Because of You" album. And result of listening to it over and over was that, I really started to like the body of work. The combination of songs touch on a range of emotions, convey a range of tones -- so different from what we are seeing in popular music these days. So, I started paying attention. And I have to say, I love his new single "Closer" Folks who watched the BET awards were all a buzz about Ne-Yo's performance there. It is pretty evident that with this new album, Ne-Yo is evolving his image, with finely tailored crisp suits, hats, a real homage to 40's and 50's fashion with a modern twist. His new image speaks to culture and refinement with a Cary Grant flair and a Micheal Jackson "Hee, hee!" I am really excited to hear his entire album. I can't say that I have been really excited about any new music in a while now.

Take a look at Ne'Yo's Closer Video and then his performance at the BET Awards. I think you will see that little Michael Jackson flair (without weird, scary plastic surgery) in there.

I wish this was better quality but I think you get the picture.....

Now, Chris Brown.... You all already know about the secret crush I have on the little boy... But he just gives some of the best award show performances (not sure I would include this years BET awards as one of them but check out this one from the MTV Awards last year....

A pore rebellion :-(

2008-06-30T06:21:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-06-29T13:01:00.000-07:00

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....

2008-06-25T14:19:00.000-07:00

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....

2008-06-24T11:19:00.000-07:00

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.....

2008-06-18T08:43:00.001-07:00

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!

2008-06-14T20:42:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-06-10T19:28:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-06-04T16:44:00.000-07:00

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...

Okay, I've had it....

2008-04-15T17:43:00.000-07:00

I have watched American Idol for many seasons..... This year, it didn't really grab me. There are some contestants that I think are really great (like every year.) You know, you watch the judges give their opinions at the end of a performance and you know that some of it is for show -- especially Simon. But, I could always count on Randy Jackson to give relatively fair and objective feedback.

Since I haven't been watching much, I hadn't heard much about what the judges were saying this year. I knew that there were a couple favorites this year but that was about it. It wasn't until a local radio station commented on it did I start to pay attention. One of the best singers on the show is a young woman from Miami called Syesha Mercado. Syesha is such a powerhouse and I have rarely heard her make a mistake.

So I watched tonight, it's Mariah Carey day, and Syesha sang Vanishing, one of my favorite Mariah songs, back from the old days.....

Here is a clip of her performance:

And what did Randy say? "I was really scared when you decided to sing this song..... You did a good job, all things considered...."

What!?!?!? Maybe he just needs to clean out his ears or he has been listening to folks sing for too long....

And Paula is a joke. All she does is say that people did well, in the most inarticulate way possible. Oh, and that they look great....

And haven't you heard of this song before??? A song that most people don't know.... maybe most pre-pubescent teenagers......

Okay, I'm done..... :-)

big?

2008-04-13T10:53:00.001-07:00

So, last night my parents and I had to opportunity to so see "big." No, not the movie, it is a collaboration between Andre "Big Boi" Patton of Outkast and the Atlanta Ballet. Click here to hear some of the tracks used in the performances.

I definitely felt like I was seeing something historic, something never done before.... It was basically a modern ballet performance, a hip hop concert, and a visual media display all in one. Very interesting concept. Reality, however..... I felt like I had ADD watching this thing! There would be dancing on this part of the stage and then Like Big Boi and Sleepy Brown performing on the other part of the stage and then some visaul art thing going on in the back....

Also, the performances were a bunch of vignettes that didn't seem to have much continuity between them. And while I knew the songs, my parents nor likely most of the regular Atlanta Ballet season ticket holders had no idea what the songs were saying. But, with that being said, none of us really had any idea what was going on in this thing. And a few of the vignettes just mysteriously disappeared from the program, maybe because of time, maybe because the performers were not there, ut it didn't seem to be a planned thing since they normally announce program changes and substitutions before the performance starts.

With all that being said, i guarantee this was the first time that the Ballet company performed to songs with the words "hamhocks" and "probation" in them. It also this performance definitely opened up the audience to a whole new demographic --again probably the first time that folks rolled up to the front of the theater for a ballet performance in a stretch Hummer limo or folks in the audience were wearing their best embroidered jeans and hoodies or dress from Wet Seal.

It definitely was a cool idea though. Even if the execution was a little rough. I am impressed that Big Boi himself was open and dedicated to the idea of exploring expression of his music in another medium.

The History

This clip gives you a little bit of the history behind how the idea to do the ballet even happened.

The Explanation

Here is an explantion of the concept of the ballet

Rehearsals

Check out some of the rehearsals (I actually like looking at some of these better just because you have the opportunity to see how the dancing works with the music, which is something that got lost in the real performance)

Janelle Monae performance....

Here is a clip to give you an idea of one of the better vignettes from the actual performance. It is interspersed with rehearsals and shots from backstage but you get the idea.....

Kids love raw fish!

2008-04-10T17:57:00.000-07:00

When I was home for Easter, I was flipping through channels on Saturday morning and happened upon the cutest new cartoon --- Sushi Pack! The characters are based on a subject that is near and dear to both me and Brunsli's heart -- SUSHI!

In fact, Brunsli was the first person to introduce me to sushi when I went to visit her in undergrad and I have been a lover ever since. But I digress....

Now if you haven't see the Sushi Pack cartoon it is the cleverest thing.... There are 5 main characters, based on 5 different types of sushi and they use their wits and their emotions to save the world and educate young children. The Sushi Pack team lives in a Japanese restaurant with humans. Despite the superhero element of the story, violence is used only as a last resort.

The main characters include:

Ikura: Named after salmon egg sushi. He is very headstrong and charges in when it comes to helping his friends. He has the power to shoot sticky fish eggs. He's also terrified of bears!

Kani: An easily angered girl named after crab sushi. Her pigtails are tough crab claws, which she uses to give her foes a powerful pinch!

Maguro Maki: The calm, peaceful member of the group named after tuna sushi. She's in touch with her inner tuna, and enjoys meditation and Feng Shui. She can float, and has almost psychic powers.

Tako: The unofficial leader. Named after octopus sushi, he certainly looks the part! He has six long tentacle arms, and an eye patch. He would rather use his powers of shooting multi-colored ink to be a world renowned painter than to fight evil, and gets insulted when his paintings are called bad (which they are.)

Wasabi: The smallest, cutest, and speechless character of the Sushi Pack. A spicy ball of hot mustard, he can only communicate with squeally noises, and has the power to fly and shoot fireballs at foes. He is very sensitive, and gets upset easily.

Meet the characters here.

Then, there is also a band of "villans" who the Sushi Pack "battles" against, the Legion of the Low Tide.

Titanium Chef: Where there is bad sushi, there's a bad sushi chef. He's one mean catfish who not only orders the Legion of Low Tide to fight dirty and scheme evil plots, he also manages the sushi bar they live in.

Toro: A very fat tuna who isn't very smart. He's strong but gullible and usually just follows along.

Unagi: This mutated electric eel packs a ton of voltage. He's slimy savage with an eye for detail.

Mochi Mochiato: A frozen ball of rice coated ice cream who freezes her enemies in their tracks. She is candy coated, but cold as ice. She one time befriended Maguro and later Kani.

Fugu: A blowfish who can puff himself up to many times his original size. He's dead set on doing no good and has a eye with video functions.

Uni: An unstoppable sea urchin with a talent for scheming evil plots. He is one of the Sushi Packs biggest threats because he is seemingly unstoppable. He has the ability to morph.

Check the link below for some video clips from recent shows:

http://www.agkidzone.com/sp_videos.action

Apparently, this show is doing very well in CBS's Saturday morning Kewlopolis line-up.

Character descriptions courtesy of Wikipedia

What a difference a day makes....

2008-04-09T20:30:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I started my day at the County Tax Assessors office...

And the day just continued to be stressful, including some incidents at work (which actually were just more stressful given the day's tone.) It was just one of those days where nothing went quite as planned and you just want to crawl in bed and start over the next day....

And that is about what I did.

And this morning I vowed not to let the previous day's events shake me. And today was a good day. Work went well and I even got some face time with my Executive Director who I really haven't spoken to much at all since I started this job.

What a difference a day makes!....

Everyone is getting involved in the presidential race..

2008-04-09T07:17:00.000-07:00

Jay-Z and Mary J Blige are in the middle of the Heart of the City tour, which is apparently wildly successful and making money hand over fist. (no wonder Jay-Z can't stay retired!) I had the opportunity to see Jay-Z on his first final tour and Mary as well as Puffy, Memphis Bleek and others joined him on stage at various times. He gives great concert!

At any rate, I was listening to an account of the concert and they were mentioning that in the middle of the show, Jay-Z put up a picture of George W. Bush and the crowd started to "Boo!"

Then he says, "It's time for a change!" and the picture is replaced with a picture of Barack Obama.

I have to say, I can not ever remember a time when so many popular entertainment and media figures, let alone black ones, were so outspoken and involved in the political process! It is rather inspiring....

Addendum:

And apparently, Jay-Z has been making calls for Obama. Listen here for the call that some voters in Ohio got the night before the presidential primary there.....

Please send good thoughts....

2008-04-05T20:12:00.000-07:00

I was all set for a week of cheerful and pithy blog posts when I got some news that totally threw me for a loop.....

A good friend of mine recently went to New York for a couple months to perform before moving to Chicago to participate in a well renowned training program. He is a singer who's career is just now getting off the ground and I was so proud and happy that his dreams were starting to come true.

Monday, he called me with some earth-shattering news. A couple months ago he had suffered a bout of food poisoning (he thought) that he had never completely recovered from. Once he got up to New York and was covered by health insurance, he went to a doctor to check it out. She thought it might be gall stones or something and put him on a restrictive diet. Then a week or so later, he was feeling such intense pain that he went to the hospital and ended up being hospitalized for a couple days. At that point, he was told that he had gotten an infection from the food poisoning and it was causing intestinal swelling. After he got out he was to go for a follow up CT scan to double check everything.

Well, at his follow up scan, he was told that he had stomach cancer....... He has a biopsy scheduled for this week and that will give a better idea of what exactly he is dealing with but it was quite a blow! I did a little research online on stomach cancer and in some cases it can be beatable so I remain optimistic. He is such a nice guy and has worked so hard to get where he is in his career and things were really taking off for him, it just breaks my heart that it all could be threatened by this predicament.

So please, please send all the good healing thoughts and prayers you have his way. I hold out hope that he can beat this thing and be back on track towards his dream!

Picture from a recent performance

A little culture

2008-03-30T20:08:00.000-07:00

This afternoon I went to see a Georgia O'Keefe exhibit . Actually, it was an exhibit of 6 female artists whose champion and benefactor was Alfred Stieglitz, a photographer and NY gallery owner in the early 1900s, who championed photography as an art form and eventually became Georgia O'Keefe's husband.

Surprisingly, the painting that I enjoyed the most was not painted by Georgia O'Keefe. It was instead painted by Georgia Engelhard, the niece of Stieglitz, who obviously studied the same style that O'Keefe did.

I love the colors , lines , shapes and shading. Take a look!

My Sunday evening theraputic TV....

2008-03-30T17:38:00.000-07:00

With the addition of a new show to the Sunday line-up a few weeks ago, I have realized that 3 shows that I regularly watch on Sunday night end up being really theraputic for me and help put me in the right mindset for the week.

60 Minutes
I inherited my penchant for watching 60 Minutes from my parents. For as long as I can remember, they have watched the show every Sunday night. I used to sort of watch it as a kid and even thought it was interesting then. The mixture of insightful investigative new and one of a kind entertainment stories just make it great thought-provoking television. Plus, I really remember the pride and comfort I took at seeing Ed Bradley on the show each week.

Extreme Makeover, Home Edition

Okay, this show always makes me cry --- like a snotting, blubbering cry. I don't know what it is, but I always cry at happy things. Each week, the lives of a deserving family who has faced or is facing serious struggles, is dramatically changed by the grand gesture of a brand new home, tailored to their specific needs built in a miraculous 7 days. I am always inspired by the love and perseverance that these families have and how gratified they are to have their struggle recognized and their lives improved.

The Big Give
How can you not be inspired by a giving reality show. The participants are going around to different cities on giving challenges --- being given money and a set amount of time to find deserving people to help. Some gestures are big, some are smaller but you can never underestimate the impact an act of kindness can have on the lives of the recipient.

I have actually thought about doing some community service and giving some of my time to help others a lot lately. I had intended to do something while I was out of work but didn't get to it unfortunately. Eventhough I have less time now, there is so much that you can gain by giving of your time. I am going to work to integrate something like that into my regular routine. Stay tuned for what I arrange to do soon!

The Brunsli effect

2008-03-30T12:49:00.000-07:00

I was reading a post by Cluizel where she was talking about feeling bad for not posting for a few weeks and I could empathize. I have also felt the same way when I didn't post any new blog posts for a while. But why do we feel guilty when living life gets in the way of posting regular updates on our blogs?? Don't we need to live life to be able to have something interesting and meaningful to write about? Who says we need to post something every single day or every few days?

I call this "the Brunsli effect." How do we live up to someone who just recently posted her 1001st post after about 3 years of blogging. That is almost 1 post everyday -- and most of them with pictures! I don't know about you, but a lot of times the pictures are what hold me up on posts. I have one post that I have been planning on writing for the past couple months but it has been held up by the fact that I have yet to get the picture that should accompany it off my phone.

How does she manage to do it? Anyone who has read her blog knows that she is not just sitting around the house. On the contrary, she has been completing a law degree at a top law school, shuttling up and down the California coast for work, and traveling to beautiful and exotic cities around the world. Does the fact that she does not have a TV make that much of a difference?

Seriously though, perhaps the guilty pang comes from a desire not to disappoint our readers. It really is nice to feel that you have an online community and support system to share your life with. And I think that we really should not underestimate the theraputic effect of blogging, modern day journaling. It is always good to get things off your chest and perhaps when we are stressed by life is exactly the time when we should be blogging more, not just to talk about what is stressing us but alternatively to concentrate on something else than the situations that are sapping our positive energy.

Just a thought....... (and while I did poke a little fun, Brunsli, you know I love ya! ;-)

My chartreuse thumb

2008-03-29T20:07:00.001-07:00

So, since I have had my house, I have dipped my little toe into the gardening pool.... Well, basically I have only bought some hanging plants and attempted to plant some flowers in the rectangular containers on either side of my front porch.

When I bought the house, there were some pink Impatiens (just now learned how to spell their name) in the pots. Last year, I decided to try something new and bought these hot pink/magenta colored dianthus. They didn't quite end up looking like this picture unfortunately, thanks to a drought and some interference by a furry four-legged creature who likes to dig and bury her rawhide bones. The impatiens actually tried to come back and looked better than the dianthus so, I got the hint.

Today, I bought some more impatiens to plant for the year. They are sort of a purply pink. There were a lot of folks at the Garden section at Home Depot because it was such a beautiful day. But then, about 2pm, grey clouds rolled in, lightening splashed across the sky and it started to pour.....

So, about 8pm, when the rain seemed to have let up and it was still rather warm. So, I decided to get to planting since tomorrow is going to be a busy day. Things were going fine. I finished with one pot and then decided to go ahead and do the next one and got finished just in time, sort off. When the flash lightening and the big raindrops returned, I decided to call it quits. Hopefully, I can keep these growing and the dog away from them this year!

Spring has sprung!

2008-03-29T19:58:00.000-07:00

Pretty!

Can you say "stylish!"?

2008-03-29T19:53:00.000-07:00

Okay, this just cracked me up so I had to take a picture of what I saw when I went to the grocery store one day..... Notice the matching scarf!

Starting to get the hang of things....

2008-03-27T20:36:00.001-07:00

Two and a half weeks in and I am starting to feel like I am getting the hang of things at work. At least I think so.

Today I was running down a few launch affecting product issues, got to do some user experience testing, was taken out to lunch by a vendor, and got a bunch of cool gadgets to play with and use to support my job responsibilities. I am still excited about the job.

Also, coincidentally, a guy who was in the same group with me at my previous job, has interviewed for 2 positions at my company, one in the same group I am in and one in a different group from me but one that I personally interact with every day. I guess that it is not completely coincidentally. This other woman who I have worked with at my last 3 companies, put in the good word for him and helped him get the interview. So I have been putting in the good word for him whenever I could. Yesterday, I was asked to write a recommendation for him so I think that his chances are pretty good, at least for one of the positions. I am glad that I am able to help him. I think that is is so important to reach back and help out someone else in their job search after you get a job. It's sort of like paying it forward....

How I know Missouri is not in the south....

2008-03-22T14:18:00.001-07:00

So, I confess. I grew up in St. Louis. But it was not until I moved to the East Coast that people tried to tell me that I was from the South. I think Nelly had something to do with this. Everyone knows he grew up in St. Louis but no one knows he was born in Texas. I didn't really know anyone growing up who had a southern accent. If they did have any type of twang, it was because their people were from..... the South! I mean, come on people, St.Louis is "the Gateway to the West" There is that big Arch thingie at the Mississippi River and it could not be more clear that Missouri is the MidWest. But over the years I have come up with a few sure-fire irrefutable justifications of how I know that St. Louis is not in the South

1. I never actually had grits until I moved away from St. Louis. In fact, I barely knew what a grit was until late in high school. It was not served as a regular side on any breakfast platter that I ever had growing up. (Case in point, no Waffle Houses!)
2. I thought Luther, Bubba or Justus were just names for black men. I had no idea that somewhere there were white people with these names to.
3. No sweet tea!

I rest my case! :-)

Payday!

2008-03-21T15:06:00.000-07:00

Today is my first payday at my new job! It seems that they didn't get the direct deposit set up yet so I will be getting a physical check and since they pay one week in arrears, I will only get paid for one week but a paycheck is a paycheck!

Yay, money!

I think I am going to take this opportunity to revisit my budget......

I have an office!

2008-03-20T14:43:00.000-07:00

So, I forgot to mention..... by the luck of the draw, I managed to get an office at my new job instead of a cube. I actually don't mind the cubicles they have. They are pretty roomy and full of light. And I think that you can learn alot by overhearing other people's business conversations (and personal ones but that is another story!)

So, I sort of had mixed feelings when they showed me my office. It is an interior, closet-like space, with a desk that forces you to sit with your back to the door. There is no window and intially it seemed a little dark. I am somewhat light-affected and my spirits and energy level is really lifted by sunlight. It was also filled with the previous occupant's stuff but I finally got that cleared out.

But, it does have a door which can be pretty nice. And, it's own printer, nice as well! I also set up my computer so that I am sitting sideways and can see the door out of the corner of my eye which eliminates the sneak-up factor. I do sometimes feel a little isolated since I have to make a conscious effort to go out and talk to people but it has been good since I have a lot to do to get up to speed. And, as I learned this week, while I can't tell when it is sunny outside, I also can't tell if it is rainy and gloomy outside! There is a fli side to everything.

Now, the whole building is moving in 5-6 months to a different complex that I actually worked in before so I am familiar with the layout. There, I will not have an office and will be returned back to cubeland. So, I better just enjoy it while I can!

How do you choose?

2008-03-18T09:03:00.002-07:00

Imagine this scenario....

You enter a public restroom and all the stalls are empty....

How do you choose which stall to go to?

I ask because now that I am working at a new job, I get to use the semi-public restroom on my floor. Even though it is public, I know that I like to use the same stall over and over if I can. Call it an attempt to personalize the bathroom experience. So, last week, I was faced with picking which one would be "my stall" and it had me thinking......"how do other people decide which stall to choose in these situations?" "How does the choice criteria change when there is someone else in a stall at the same time you are there?"

In this instance, I was drawn to the middle stall. But if there was someone else in the bathroom I would either 1) still pick the middle stall if they were on the other side (this bathroom has 2 rows of 3 stalls across from each other) or 2) find a way to have at least a 1 stall buffer between me and any other person.

How do you choose? Or am I the only one who thinks about this that much!?!?

I bought a belt!

2008-03-16T20:00:00.000-07:00

So something somewhat unusual about me is that I don't really wear belts. I don't know when it happened but I phased belts out of my wardrobe somewhere around college. It was not really a conscious thing but they just seemed like an encumbrance that I didn't need.

Well, last week, I bought my first belt in years. What precipitated this purchase? Low-rise jeans. In order to get jeans that fit me most other places, I have to buy a certain size but after the first wearing, the waist gets too loose. So, I when I was out doing some pre-job shopping I got the whim to buy a belt, something simple and I got a bonus as well....... it's reversible!! Just a twist and it goes from brown to black. Two for the price of one! I love it!

Fridays mean something to me again....

2008-03-15T16:21:00.000-07:00

So the first week of work down and I am feeling pretty good about it, although I definitely have a lot to learn. The folks in my group seem pretty nice. My boss, and the rest of the group, took me out to lunch the first day, and then a bunch of us went out again on Tuesday.

The guy who is training me, whose responsibilities I am taking over, is actually the guy I talked to get info on the group back in December. He had been really helpful then and had actually worked for my former company. My former boss knew him and gave me his contact info originally. Well, now, I am taking over his responsibilities as he is moving to a different role in our group. So the good thing is that he will be around if I ever need to pick his brain. There is a lot to pick though as he had been doing the job for 4 years and knows all the history, all the people and all the vendors.

But I am plugging along.... some days I feel excited, some days I feel a little overwhelmed but I think this is going to be a really good opportunity for me. I have a lot to learn. I realize that I know a lot less than I thought. But I am up for the challenge! My big accomplishments this week are that I got my ID, parking pass, computer (delivered and set up), and blackberry (delivered and set up) and lot of reading (lots more to do though)!

Oh, and as to the title of this post..... I had blogged previously about how weekends lost their meaning when you don't have to go to work during the week. Well, they have returned to their prominence and they seem shorter than ever!

I was the victim of an elevator hair fondling!

2008-03-13T17:59:00.000-07:00

So this week has been my first week of work and I am meeting and seeing a bunch of new people, and they are seeing me.....and my hair.

This afternoon when I was leaving for the day, I was waiting for the elevator and the woman I was waiting with told me that she liked my hair and asked how I got it so uniformly wavy. So when I get these types of questions, I always answer them with the assumption that they do basically understand that I have locks, which I know is not a foregone conclusion. I have adopted this strategy partially because recent experience has shown me that not all white people are ignorant about black hair and also in an attempt to keep the conversation short. Sometimes I don't feel like being the approachable impromptu black hair educator for the majority. So, I just told her that I braid it after I wash it and let it dry and then take it out after it dries.

DING! The elevator arrived and I was saved.

But then, I got on the elevator with about 10 people and the woman standing to my right, who was about as tall as my shoulder says "Pretty Hair!" and reaches out and touches it. Now, I am in an crowded elevator so what can I do? But I really wonder.... what is with these people and their impulse control problems!?!? I mean, would you see a woman wearing a dress you like and say "Nice Dress" and then reach out and start touching it? No! Why? Because this is not socially acceptable behavior. Now, I am not sure why people decide to dispense with social norms when they see my hair but it is annoying! I suppose I should be flattered but still.....

Why I love The Container Store.....

2008-03-07T20:39:00.000-08:00

Back in November, at one of my "job search support" breakfast meetings, one of the regulars mentioned that they had a part-time job at The Container Store and that she really enjoyed it. Well I LOVE The Container Store and thought that since I had some extra time on my hands, I might as well apply to work there and maybe pick up some seasonal work over the holidays. So, I applied online and waited....

So, what is The Container Store, you ask? Some of you may not be familiar with the store since there are only 43 brick and mortar stores in the US (soon to be 44, as of this weekend! But more about that later) but the company also does a strong catalog business. I think that I first became familiar with The Container Store through their catalogs because I didn't live in an area where they had a store until college. Simply put, The Container Store sells stuff to put your stuff in! They like to say that they help people save space and valuable time. They specialize in storage and organization exclusively (plus gift wrap and boxes -- which technically is "gift storage") and sell a broad range of solutions to solve your organizational conundrums. And it is a perfect place for a sometimes anal/organization person like me. Don't know what to do with the lids of your pots? They have a number of pot lid organizers. Do you spend hours searching for matching shoes or socks. They have solutions for that too! Is your mail piling up on every free surface you have? Not a problem, The Container Store has many different solutions for you. And while some of the things they sell are not the cheapest that you might find, you can be sure that they are high quality and that the store has the broadest selection of options you will find anywhere.

At any rate, I got a call back from The Container Store in late January to come interview for a part time position. Although, at this point, any work I did there would just reduce the amount I would get in unemployment, (what a dilemma --- do no work and make $x or work part-time and still make $x) I decided to still interview because 1)I knew they offered health insurance and other benefits to part-time employees, 2) there is a GREAT employee discount and 3) I actually suspected that having something to do during the week outside of the house might actually make me more productive when I was back in the house.

Now, I have never worked in retail before but this was not seen as a drawback at The Container Store. They just viewed me as a person that they didn't have to untrain from the "typical retail mindset." I knew that I liked their products but I didn't realize how different they really were as a company until I started interviewing and learning about the company

A little history
The Container Store was started in 1978 by it's two founders, in Dallas. At that time, they were focused on providing commercial storage and organization products, such as dairy milk crates and Metro commercial shelving, things that normal consumers couldn't readily get, to those consumers. Everyone thought that they were crazy, that they couldn't possibly build a successful business model for a store that sold boxes. But they remained dedicated to the idea and have since built a $ million private company that is run based on the personal principles that have meant something to the founders since high school.

Their principles
The Container Store runs it's business based on certain core principles that address everything from relationships to manufacturers, to how they communicate with and treat employees to customer service. They work directly with many of their manufacturers as partners, even placing orders during a manufacturers low season to help them maintain their business. They believe in fully training each employee so that they fully know how to do each aspect of their job before they are allowed to do it on their own. They also believe in training all employees on all aspects of running the store -- from truck to sales. They are very selective about the people they hire, believing that a great employee equals 3 good employees, and, as a result, they believe at compensating them on a higher scale than typical retail jobs. They also believe in communicating store level and company level goals, metrics etc to all levels of employee, whether full or part time as well as fully training each employee so that they know how to do each part of their job before they do it. Also, they believe in being contributing parties to the communities that they are in and donate 10% of the opening weekend proceeds from a new store to a local charity. And most importantly, they believe in providing excellent, proactive service to their customers. Yes, they do have sales goals but the viewpoint is that if they do all these other things well, then the sales goals will come naturally as each employee feels empowered and has a sense of ownership. All these things have given them a place in the top 20 of Fortune's Top 100 Companies to Work For list every year since they became eligible to compete in 2001, ranking #1 in 2001, #2 in 2002 and 2003 and #3 in 2004. You can learn more about the company here.

They were interested in hiring new people to help support a new stocking and merchandising process they are trying out and I decided to join the team. So I have spent the past 2 weeks, coming in at 5am 2 days a week to learn the truck and merchandising process. This includes unloading the truck, sorting merchandise, unpacking the merchandise and putting it on the shelves. If you have ever been to a store, you know how amazingly clean, organized and fully-stocked the shelves always are. I now know how they get that way. There is definitely no lull in activity, which is actually good since, if you have to be up at 5am, you want to be busy so you will stay awake! And, I know I can skip my workout on these days. It's fun though and the people are all really cool. I want to keep working there after I start my new full-time job and with the process change and the slower schedule through April, I think it will be pretty managable. After all, I have a bunch of things I want to buy with my employee discount!

And oh yes, the 44th store opened in Little Rock, Arkansas this weekend. So, if you are in the Little Rock area, stop by and check it out! Other new stores are planned for Plano, TX, Scottsdale, AZ, Edina, MN & Cincinnati, OH. Find info about current store locations here.

I can't get sick on my last week of freedom!

2008-03-05T20:19:00.000-08:00

On Monday, I started feeling a little tickle in my throat and I knew what that meant! I can't get sick the week before I start my new job!!

One good thing about being unemployed is that you are not exposed to other peoples germs all the time and I managed to stay healthy for most of the entire 5 months! But on Monday, I started to feel the first hint of sickness.

So I went into my stay healthy regimen. I took my vitamin and also this Brazilian version of Airborne that I got when I was down there. I aired out the house. I drank Danactive and Kombucha, both of which have lots of active cultures, the natural bacteria that occurs in your digestive tract and helps boost your immune system and I immediately went home and brushed my teeth and changed my sheets. I also drank lots of liquids.

It seems to work because I got better and averted an immune system melt-down! Yay!

What I have learned from my job search - Create your own job seach support group!

2008-03-04T18:29:00.000-08:00

One really great idea that one persone in my group at my previous company had when we all got laid off was to create a little "support group" for all of us as we dealt with the impact of losing our jobs and started our searches for our next opportunity. So, since September, a group of us met every Tuesday morning, not too early, for breakfast/brunch and conversation.

It ended up being a great thing. Not only did we have folks to commiserate with on a regular basis, but also, since we were all looking for jobs at similar companies, it was a great way to share job leads, resources and contacts. We were witnesses for each others' severance papers, shared ideas for small businesses, shared interviewing and negotiating tips and celebrated successes.

Membership obviously changed over time. Folks came and left as they got new jobs. Some only came once or twice, others came for months. There was another round of lay offs so we gained a few new members in December. We also opened up the group to other friends we knew who were looking too and even some of our "still employed" former co-workers started coming (more around lunchtime) for the camaraderie, and to be proactive.

It now seems like the group will be coming to an end. February and March have been good for our group as for getting results from our search efforts. There are only a couple folks left and they are the ones who just joined in January.

So, I strongly suggest, if you find yourself in a similar situation, don't be too proud and suffer in silence. Find others in your same boat and help each other. And if you don't know enough people to start your own group, then tap into local job search groups in your area. A lot of churches seem to have regular group meetings that anyone can attend. But don't go it alone. Your search can only be helped by tapping into and expanding your network.

When it rains, it pours!

2008-02-28T20:42:00.000-08:00

So, the same day that I started to get an inkling that I was going to get an offer from Company A (I got contacted by HR to complete an employment application) I also got a call from a recruiter at Company B. He and I chatted and he told me he wanted to set up a phone interview with the hiring manager for a position I applied for after I had interviewed at Company A.

The next day, I was called by the recruiter at Company A who asked me if I would consider an offer that was a little lower than my requested salary. I told her that I would consider it and she said that she would have to get special approval for the offer and would plan to send me an offer in two days.

Day 3, I had my phone interview with the hiring manager and I started to get excited about that position. Although it was not a consumer-facing business, it would be working on a product that had a lot of exposure and could include some international travel. The hiring manager told me that I would be contacted to schedule a round of in-person interviews in a week and a half. I also got contacted by a recruiter at Company C who had encouraged me to apply for a position at her company a week or so back. She wanted to talk to me more about the position and some of my past experience. Now, I knew when I applied for that position that it was a good fit from some of my prior experience but not really something I wanted to continue with in the future. I still applied though because any job is better than no job, okay! But, now that I knew that I was getting an offer, I declined to go any further with Company C.

Day 4, I was supposed to get the offer. Instead I got a call from the recruiter at Company A going over the offer. While I didn't quite get the money I wanted, I reasoned that given their historical propensity to payout well on the yearly bonus (something that didn't really live up to it's potential at my old company) I would end up at about the same as what I was making before, if not a little better. But, you should always negotiate. Women historically are afraid to negotiate, and black folks as well. It seems to be drilled into us that we are lucky to have a job. But, traditionally, white men aren't hindered by the same viewpoint and just about always negotiate. So remember, always negotiate --- they will not take the offer from you! In fact, they expect you to! If you don't, you will be leaving stuff on the table. And there are more things that you can negotiate on besides salary. I was able to get a few more vacation days out of the deal.

Day 5, I got the offer. It was like we discussed but I was confused that there was not anything to sign and send back. So I sent an email asking about that.

The weekend was pretty quiet, save a yummy dinner that I cooked and a Brazilian party with a few too many caipirinhas!

Day 8, the recruiter from Company A saying that email acceptance would be fine for the offer. When I was just about to send the email accepting the offer, I got an email from Consulting Company D. (are you confused yet??) A great friend of mine who lives in the city I used to live in works for Company D and when he heard about my situation at the beginning of the year, he offered to submit my resume as an interal referral. Now, I was not all that excited about the travel associated with consulting but like I said before, a job is better than no job, okay! To be honest, I had forgotten all about it until the recruiter contacted me. Now Company D has done some really exciting projects in my industry and it was very flattering that a senior director there was interesting in my resume. But what do I do?!

Well, I tried to find out as much about Company D from my friend as I could and I called back the recruiter there the next day. I also called a guy I knew in the group at Company A to ask some more specific questions about what it is like to work there on a daily basis and what it is like to work for my potential new boss. Then, about 45 minutes later, I got a call from the recruiter at Company A telling me that she was hearing rumors that I was going to reject the offer. First of all, rumors?? It was a little bit of a strange conversation. It was like she was trying to do the final sale, telling me that there were 300 applicants for the position and how great my manager would be, and also trying to put the screws to me. So, I don't know if someone actually talked to her or if this was just a final negotiating tactic but it sort of worked. After the conversation I knew that I would not be able to effectively stall Company A until I could get anything tangible from the other companies. I called Company B and declined to interview further.

I did still follow through with a call with a principal at Company D, just to find out more about the company. And I made a decision. It was rather flattering to have multiple companies competing for me, even if the timing wasn't right. And, while I got the position that I wanted, this situation underpins the need to continuously network, even when you have a job, so that you won't need to start from scratch when "things happen." I am the kind of person who really dedicates themselves to their job and the group that I work in but there are no guarantees, no matter how big the company is. So, while I will continue to be dedicated to my job, I will still keep my eye out for the next opportunity.

It's over!

2008-02-25T20:05:00.000-08:00

Well, it looks like, after 5 months, my sometimes paid vacation is coming to an end! A few weeks ago I was finally contacted by a company I was targeting to come in for an interview. In fact, that day I was contacted by two hiring managers at Company A to interview for two different positions that week. So I scheduled both.

Now one was in a group that I have been working on getting a position in since December. I had talked to a number of folks about the group and have a number of people forward my resume to the hiring manager. The other one, apparently some of the folks I know from job had recommended me to the hiring manager. I started doing a little research as I prepared for the interview and found out that both hiring managers sit on the same floor, around the corner from each other.

So I went to the first interview that week and it was organized for me to talk to 3 people, with the hiring manager being last. 45 minutes with each person separately. It was a rather long afternoon. 2 1/2 hours is a long time to talk about yourself. And to re-introduce yourself each time. I started to forget who I had said what to! I was also warned that the hiring manager was a tough interviewer and that she didn't really give much feedback at all during the interview. And it was the truth. Plainly put, I would not want to play poker with her! You cannot read any emotions on her face or in her voice during interviews. But I felt well prepared and thought I did pretty well.

The other interview was 2 days later, with only one person (Thank God!) The funniest thing was that I had to walk past the office of the other woman I interviewed with 3 times before the end and the third time she says "Hi RedDred (well not really but you get the point)!" with a big smile on her face and I had to say back "Hi Poker-faced Interviewer Lady!" right in front of the guy I was interviewing with. It happened to be a great segue to introduce to him that I had already interviewed with her earlier in the week. In fact, at the end of the interview he asked me when she said that she would get back to me and then he assured me that he would be making a decision a few days before when she said she would. So I left the interview feeling pretty positive.

Now, given my new dedication to positive thinking , I decided to alter my approach to how I thought about the interviews as I waited to hear word. I knew that I had done the best job I could in my interviews and I was not going to fret about what I could have said or done differently. I would only think positively about the experience and not let fear or worry get the best of me. So I took two post-it notes and wrote the titles of the positions on each one and stuck them to my mirror in my bathroom. Then, every time I saw them I would think, "I am going to get one of these jobs!" or " I am going to be working at Company A soon!" A few days I did something that I felt was a little corny but I figured it was not bad to send this type of energy out into the universe... I visualized, turn by turn, me driving to work at Company A on the first day with my box of stuff to put on my desk and then parking and walking up to the building and talking to the receptionist. I also decided to pro-actively buy a pass for the toll since I would have to pay a toll to get to and from Company A so I wouldn't have to carry quarters with me all the time.

Now, a pragmatist would say that these things really didn't make a difference and that the difference was made during the interview but I figured my attitude couldn't have hurt. And the punchline is, I got an offer last Friday for the second position I interviewed for, which was the one I had been tracking down since December! So I am returning to the realm of the employed and not a moment too soon and doing something that I think I will really enjoy!

Thanks so much to all of you for your words of encouragement during these times, especially Brunsli, BlackRussian, and Naturally, Sophia. You helped me keep my spirits and my resolve up. It is great to have a supportive online network of friends cheering you on when you need it the most. Thanks guys!!!

What a scam!

2008-02-25T18:13:00.000-08:00

I just bought some tickets for a concert that I really want to see from Ticketmaster. Now, I don't go to concerts very often, maybe once at year at the most. I only go see the people that I really, really want to see. The people who, to me, are worth the money to pay for a great seat. So I had already resigned myself to the idea of spending some money on these tickets.

What I was not prepared for was the exorbitant "convenience fee" that Ticketmaster tacked on to the ticket price. I mean $35 a ticket!!! Who is that convenient for?!?!? And what is this fee for anyway? It is not like there is any overhead cost associated with selling tickets. The paper and ink don't cost a whole lot. I have the same feeling that I get when I see how much popcorn and soda cost at the movies. They know that they've got you, you have no choice, so they take fun advantage of their monopolistic position! And....... they don't tell you about the fee when they advertise the ticket price. They wait until you are emotionally invested, you have found the seats that you want and then they spring it on you! And to top it all off, they put pressure on you by giving you a limited amount of time to enter your payment information or the tickets go back up for grabs, where they could be scooped up by another purchaser who is just sitting in wait for your tickets! (or at least that is how they make you feel!)

So, of course I bought the tickets, and I am sure that I will love the show --- I will be 10 rows from the stage! --- but these fees have really left a bad taste in my mouth. I just wish there was another choice because I would surely take it!

I have two first cousins....

2008-02-25T07:06:00.000-08:00

Brunsli's post about meeting one of here 53 paternal cousins for the first time got me thinking about my family. I have two first cousins, on my father's side and they are about 8-10 years older than me. They also grew up in CA so I never got to know them all that well.

I have 8 second cousins, 2 are the children of my father's uncle and 6 are the sons of my mother's aunt. Yes, I have a great aunt who had 6 sons! My great uncle was good with those Y chromosomes! And just about all of these cousins have children who are older than me, some significantly.

And then we get to the 3rd cousins and this is when it gets a little harder to count but it still doesn't come close to 53! My father's side is still pretty easy. One second cousin had 2 children, the oldest is 16. But on my mother's side, each of those sons' of my great aunt had multiple children, except one. I think I can count just about all of them because they all pretty much stayed in the city where I grew up, except for the kids of one of the older ones because he lived somewhere else and didn't come back that often. So third cousins equals 9 plus maybe 2 or 3 from the cousin who I don't know well. But the thing was a bunch of these cousins were the same age and I was about 4 years younger than the youngest of most of them and at least 4 years older than the 3 youngest ones.

Four years is a big difference when you are a kid. It is the difference between 2nd and 6th grade, 5th and 9th grade, 8th and 12th grade and that is a big difference! So I never really felt connected to those older 3rd cousins, who were all pretty close. Same thing but the opposite way for the younger ones, plus they were all boys which added another dynamic.

So this, combined with the fact that I am an only child (I have mentioned that before, haven't I?) means that I have never really felt that close-knit big family feeling. I am not complaining and I probably have had a lot less drama in my life as a result but sometimes I think it would be nice....

Taking care of the whole person - A New Years Resolution follow up

2008-02-24T18:36:00.000-08:00

When I wrote about my new years resolutions earlier this year, number two was about "rededicating myself to my health and physical and emotional well-being." One thing that I didn't really grasp when I was writing this was how integral taking care of my spiritual well-being would be in actualizing this resolution.

I refrain from talking about my religious beliefs here on my blog because I think of spirtuality as a very personal journey. But I am going to now because I believe that it is a key reason for the changes that are happening in my life these days. Now I am not saying that these things are a direct result of me reevaluating my spiritual path, but likely more so because I am in a better mindset to receive them. And the thing was, I had everything i needed to take advantage of these resources for months now, just wasn't yet in the right place to take advantage of them. Being unemployed for 4 months can be compelling motivation!

I started attending this center at the urging of my best friend P (you may remember her from previous posts). She has actually been attending one in her city and sent me info about one in my area months ago. She actually sent it twice because I lost the email the first time. So I started going about a month ago.

As I said, I think of spirituality as a personal journey and it has been a while since I attended any organized religious gathering. But I have been finding that it is nice to recharge my spiritual batteries in a comforting welcoming environment of like-minded positive people. And it has helped me keep a positive mindset while going through some tough professional times.

There is a tenet that is common to just about every world religion. It appears in the religious texts of Christianity, Buddhism, Confusianism, Islam, Hinduism, Judaism and even Ancient Egyptian and Yoruba. It is most commonly known in modern times as "The Golden Rule" --- Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

It is a tenet that I have always tried to live my life by. You give what you get. If you extend this concept further it can prescribe a way of thinking, recently popularized by the book and movie "The Secret." Referred to as "the law of attraction," otherwise known as the power of popular thinking, it is the concept that visualization and a truly positive attitude about your life can "attract" exactly what you seek.

So I figured that it was worth a try. Negativity and insecurity has never really helped anything. I figured I could gain some peace of mind from trying to apply this in my life, especially now. Trying times can be the best times to make positive changes in your life.

Our disability - In the words of Patrick Henry Hughes

2008-02-18T16:14:00.000-08:00

I was watching one of my guilty pleasures last night, Extreme Makeover Home Edition when I heard some very profound words from a young man who has overcome a lot of odds. There is something about giving these families a chance at a better life that sucks me in and almost every time I see a show I end up bawling at the end --- It never fails!

Yesterday, i watched the show as they built a new house for Patrick Henry Hughes and his family. Now, I had heard of Patrick before. He was in a story on CBS's Sunday Morning program sometime last year. See, Patrick was born without eyes and with only limited ability to straighten his arms and legs. He lives his life in a wheelchair. But despite this, he became a music prodigy. He can play a number of instruments, including the piano, and, with the help of his father who pushes him around into formation, is a member of the University of Louisville marching band, playing the trumpet.

I was expecting to get the normal teary emotional boost I normally get from the show but then, during the pre-construction interview, Patrick explained his viewpoint on his disabilities. He said that he actually views sighted people with the disability because, by not having sight, he is not distracted by physical appearance. He does not know what red, black, or yellow looks like. He only gets to know what a person is like on the inside and that is something that he considers as an advantage.

Wow! Such an eloquent point and a inspiring viewpoint.

No maybe about it!

2008-02-15T16:00:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, I went to go see the movie Definitely, Maybe with Ryan Reynolds and Abigail Breslin and I have to tell you..... it was the sweetest movie I have seen in a long time!

for those of you who are not familiar with it, the story is about this guy, who is in the process of getting a divorce, who's 10 year-old daughter, out of concern for her father's happiness, convinces him to tell her the story of his love life in an effort to understand why he ended up with her mother and get a clue to how he might be able to find happiness post-divorce. He agrees under the stipulation that the real names were changed and it becomes a game for her to try to figure out which woman he tells her about is actually her mother.

I have to tell you, this is like every Nora Ephron movie and Serendipity (with John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale) all rolled into one with the cutest most endearing daughter you have ever seen. I think I got about 3 or 4 good cries out of this move and not necessarily in the places you would expect. Derek Luke (of Antwon Fisher fame) also has a role in this movie. I can't wait to this to come out on DVD so I can buy it (and put it next of Love, Actually in the girlie part of my DVD collection!)

Rats!

2008-02-15T09:29:00.000-08:00

Or rather.....Mice!

I had previously blogged about my ongoing saga with these four-legged creatures and I have to say, I think I would rather take roaches anyday. These mice are not only sneaky but also incredibly adaptive. Below are pictures of the previous mentioned damage done to soda bottles and dog treats. These were full! Not after the mice got to them.
I don't really understand how they drained them slowly from the bottom but they did!

Holy dog biscuits!

As an update, my first attempt with the old school traps was not successful at all. Those snaps I heard 15 minutes after I set them out did not catch any of them! So I decided to bait them, despite what the instructions said. I slathered them with peanut butter, replaced them and waited. Still no luck (even though some of them had been activated!) A couple had even been activated, moved and then the peanut butter licked off! These dang creatures! Maybe we have really underestimated the intelligence of mice and rats. Maybe "Pinky and the Brain" and "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Universe" are not that too far off and they really are going to take over the world!

So I went to go buy glue traps next. And when I went to put out the traps out I discovered that one of the old school traps had actually caught one mouse. Yicky!!! I needed gloves and some plastic thongs and a couple days to get used to the idea before I attempted to remove the little creature from under the sink. In the meantime however, the glue traps just disappeared from where I put them! Where did they go? I have not idea but the mice hauled them off somewhere. So much for the glue traps.....

I buy these dehydrated chicken breast treats from Costco for the dog in 3 lb bags. They were in a box in the basement that I checked regularly for any changes. Well, apparently the little sneaky varmits (to borrow a term from Yosemite Sam) had been siphoning these treats off through a hole that they had gnawed in the underside of the bag and had been stashing away about 2 1/2 pounds of these chicken breasts!

Well, this was about the last straw! I was starting to get really discouraged and was about to call the exterminator when I resolved that NO! I would not let these little furry rodents get the best of me!!! I took any remaining foodstuff or dog treat that was not in a can and put them in hard plastic containers. Then I took this expanding foam stuff and closed up the holes I saw in the walls that I thought the mice were using to travel under the sink and into the closet where the dog treats were. And then....... I went to buy POISON! Enough of this sissy stuff!! And I don't really care at this point if they die in an area that I can't reach them, I just want them out! These are protein-loading, dirty, furry squatters who are not paying rent and are eating me out of house and home! No more mercy for them!

I put out the poison in the areas where I know they travel and, with nothing else to eat, they have taken to it very quickly. In fact, I can't keep the trays full. After a couple days I was beginning to wonder if they were bionic, poison-resistant mice as well until I looked at the box and saw that it takes about 4-5 days for the poison to take affect. So today is day 5, all the poison trays are empty (and some of them even licked clean!) and I am waiting to see if those sounds of the mice crawling through the walls at night are finally gone!

It has been confirmed!

2008-02-14T21:17:00.000-08:00

So, it is a well known legend and I have suspected that this rumor had legs, based on my own personal experience, but I wouldn't say that I have observed a statistically relevant sample size but apparently there has been scientific study on this topic and it has now been confirmed.....

African-American men are, ON AVERAGE, more well-endowed than white and Asian men. And this applies to not only length but girth as well.

Tracey Cox, a sex and relationship expert who has appeared on CNN and Oprah, writes about this and many other sex myths in her article "The Top Ten Sex Myths (Only 2 are true!)" at iVillage.com.

Happy Valentine's Day!

2008-02-14T11:57:00.000-08:00

So Valentine's Day is sort of a mixed bag of emotions for me....

It is my parents' anniversary, which is nice, although probably not as romantic as it might seem. My mother alluded that she knew that my dad would never forget their anniversary with a whole industry reminding him, weeks in advance, that the day was coming. Anyway, they celebrate their 41st wedding anniversary today! Wow!

As for me, two years ago, I got broken up with on my Valentine's Day weekend trip to see my boyfriend. So, that is not such a good memory but it was actually a catalyst for me to start blogging! My second ever post was a poll about the situation, as a few of you may remember.

I can count the times that I have gotten flowers on Valentines day on one hand, two fingers to be exact, and one time was from my parents! Until today! Now, let's hear it for 3 fingers! As you can see, I recieved a lovely bouquet of red, pink and white tulips this year and I have to admit, I am really pleased!

I know it seems a little stupid to get all wrapped up in a holiday that is largely the creation of commercialism but for me it is really about being appreciated. And, while it is truly better to feel appreciated throughout the entire year and not just on one day, especially when relationships are new, it is really nice when someone takes advantage of the opportunity to show that they care!

13!

2008-02-04T16:45:00.000-08:00

What is the significance of this number you ask?

Well, Brunsli's post about her 4 year lockversary reminded me that I didn't post about my 13 year lockversary! Yeah, 13 years..... Can you believe it!

It is actually not anything that I would readily remember and recognize at this point except when people stop me and ask me questions about my hair.

As I have said before, I am immensely happy with it and can't imagine myself any other way!

On the eve of Super Tuesday (and Mardi Gras but that is not what this is about..)

2008-02-04T08:46:00.001-08:00

So, a friend of mine sent me the link to this video and it actually made me tear up!

Inspiring! Please watch and please vote!

I love Lupe!

2008-02-03T08:47:00.000-08:00

Okay, it has taken me a while to write about this because my appreciation for his latest album has grown as I have taken the time to really listen to it all. But I think Lupe Fiasco's album is just great! It is not the kind of album that you just turn on in the background and listen to. I mean, you can do that but then you miss out on all of the poetic genius and social commentary that is interwoven into this album. Now, I liked Food and Liquor a lot but I think The Cool just takes it to the next level. With commentary about the disintegration of the black community, the misguided views of current mainstream rappers, the story of young African boys who have been stolen from their families and used as soldiers in rebel armies... every song has something profound to say and that is so exciting to me, an excitement that I don't feel about music often these days. Plus, like many of the Chicago rappers, Lupe is looking to creative musical sources and inspirations to build great musical productions.

A male friend of mine told me the other day that he had a "man crush" on Lupe, that he just wanted to meet him and hang out with him. I chuckled when he said it but I really am feeling that statement now. A man with artistic integrity who is making it on his own terms and with enlightened and empowering things to say -- I have a little crush myself!

So with that, I am going to gift you with a clip from this great live performance of the song "Superstar" from the House of Blues in Chicago last year with Michael Santos. I think I am going to start scouring his concert dates to see when he comes here! And I recommend you get a little Lupe for yourself!

I only get one vote, huh?

2008-02-02T10:01:00.000-08:00

This past week, I proudly concluded my streak of never watching one of George W Bush's State of the Union addresses. I just can't stand to see what he has to say and the poor and unpolished way he says it. I can't stand his little beady eyes and his little smirkish grin. And what I cant stand the most, what makes me cringe is that people in other countries actually think he represents me in any way!

With that being said, how nice it is to have two democratic candidates that I would be happy to have in the White House, representing me and promoting the things that are important to me! But as I was concluding watching the debate on Thursday, from a policy perspective, i didn't really see much appreciable difference between Clinton and Obama. And the things that he did hold up as differences, who was opposed to the war from the start, some intricacies of their health care reform initiatives, and some points on immigration policy don't seem like that big of differences. Let's face it, almost anything would be better than what we have!

This is truly a historical time and an exciting one! Either a woman or a black man will be the Democratic candidate for president this year. Momentous is that say 100 years ago, neither of those groups were even allowed to vote in this country. I am sure there are many of the older generation who never thought they would see this day in their lifetime. And it is here, and it is exciting. One of the most impressive things about Barack Obama has been his ability to mobilize and engage previously politically disenfranchised sections of the population, namely the youth and black communities. I see my 22 year old cousin actively inspired by Barack and actively involved as a volunteer in his campaign, putting up flyers, attending speeches. Barack likely has some of the broadest financial support of any presidential candidate. He has refused to take money from PACs and lobbying groups and 90% of his campaign contributions have been in amounts of $100 or less! And he raised $23 million dollars in the month of January alone, more than any presidential nominee in history.

I was struck by a question that was asked by a 38 year old woman during the debate which said that she has never had the opportunity to participate in a presidential election where there wasn't either a Bush or a Clinton running. Obviously, this is the same case for me. For 20 years there has been either a Bush or Clinton in the White House! I did like Hilary's response though ("Maybe what we need is another Clinton to clean up after this Bush!") And let's face it, the 8 years of the Clinton presidency were not bad ones. We had a trade surplus, a strong economy and good diplomatic relations around the world. But, I can't assume that similar things would automatically happen with Hilary in the White House. As she likes to remind us, she is not Bill. Hilary says that she has the experience on her side but sometimes it takes impassioned eyes, not exposed to all the seediness and backdoor dealsmanship of the Washington political machine to really get things done.

If I am taking the political process seriously, I can't pick who I want to be president based on who I like better. I should pick based on who is best for this country. As a black woman, I would be happy to see either a woman or a black man as president of this country.

So the long and the short of it is, that am still not completely decided. This is going to be a far more difficult decision for me than the actual presidential election. I guess I will just see who I am feeling most inspired by on Tuesday!

Juno, you know?

2008-02-01T18:58:00.000-08:00

What is the sleeper hit that is running away with box-office reciepts and award nominations? It's Juno. I have seen commercials for it for a while and, after a glowing recommendation from my best friend, I went to go see it. And I have to say I loved it!

In these days of Bring It On (I, II and III), Step It Up and John Tucker Must Die, there is a real void for movies like Sixteen Candles, Breakfast Club and Pretty and Pink that really spoke to a generation of young kids and told them that it was okay to be quirky and different. Juno serves that purpose for the generation of today. But what is different about this movie, is that it is not as much about a teenage girl finding herself but more about one who knows herself and teaches others around her. She is quirky, sarcastic, funny and wise and has such clarity about things that even adults like me can respect and learn something.

Go see this movie! It is really well made and although the music is not really my style, it is interwoven in a way that serves a purpose as almost a whole other character in the movie. It is a sweet, smart movie that deals with a difficult subject with the utmost straightforwardness and cleverness.

What I have learned from daytime TV....

2008-01-31T14:34:00.000-08:00

I seem to not have the patience to watch soap operas anymore. I basically don't watch anything between 12-3 because there are not any other choices besides soap operas (and maybe judge shows) and I really could be doing something more productive with my time. But I have learned a few things from the shows that come on during the other hours of the day.

From Montel Williams - Coconut water is really good for you. In fact, it is a great natural energy drink. It s excellent for replacing lost electrolytes from exercise and illness. It actually has 15 times the amount of potassium as most sports and energy drinks which helps regulate blood pressure and heart function. It also regulates the functioning of the intestine which can help to promote digestive health and can can help promote smoother, more hydrated skin. Another odd and interesting fact: The electrolyte profile of the coconut water is similar to human plasma. In World War II and the Vietnam War coconut water saved many soldiers lives. Doctors used coconut water as an intravenous solution to prolong life on the battlefield when IV solutions were in short supply. Coconut water was also injected directly into the blood stream to prevent dehydration. Coconut water can be found at health food stores and stores like Whole Foods.
From Rachel Ray - Black Vinegar has a hearty taste like balsamic vinegar and is great in salad dressings. It is also good for reducing high blood pressure and drinking a dose of vinegar each day became a popular health trend in Asia, so much so that vinegar bars started to become all the rage in Tokyo. In fact, drinking 15 milliliters of vinegar each day has been shown to lower high blood pressure. The compound also suppresses the buildup of lactic acid, which helps people to recover from fatigue; promotes secretion of saliva, which aids digestion; and contains antifungal agents. Black vinegar can be found at Asian markets.
From Suze Orman on Oprah - A messy house is an indicator that there is disorder and something unsettled in your life that needs attention. She was actually helping a family stop bailing out a sister/daughter who was using them as her own emergency fund and an excuse to not exercise her own fiscal responsibility. But I find that I do this when I am troubled, overwhelmed, or stressed by something in my life. I lose the energy to clean up and put away things. But it is important for me to take that time because it is an indicator about how I feel about myself.

So I guess daytime television is not all bad!

Want to know how your produce is grown?

2008-01-30T06:47:00.000-08:00

Months ago I posted about Ideal Bite and have been getting their daily emails ever since. Here is an interesting tip to help you tell quickly if the produce you are buying is conventionally grown, organic or genetically modified.

Look for the labels stuck on your fruits and veggies:

A four-digit number means it's conventionally grown.
A five-digit number beginning with 9 means it's organic.
A five-digit number beginning with 8 means it's GM.

Thanks Ideal Bite!

US Political Science 101

2008-01-28T11:34:00.000-08:00

Given all the energy around the presidential elections this year, I decided I needed a little personal refresher on the American electoral process and I thought I would share it with you!

Most Americans are of the belief that the United States is a true democracy and that our president is popularly elected. However, this is not the case. In fact, as we have seen most recently in the 2000 election between George Bush and Al Gore, it is possible for a president to be elected without winning the majority of the popular vote. (Bush actually had 500,000 fewer popular votes than Al Gore.)

But how can this be!?!?
It is because of a little thing called the electoral college. The electoral college is a system in which states are assigned a certain number of delegates and these delegates are the ones who actually determine who becomes president. The electoral college system was devised by the framers of the Constitution, ostensibly because of the difficulty of actually counting each popular vote at the time, and also as a way to ensure that smaller states were not penalized and were given a more even shot at determining a president.

So, how are the number of electoral college delegates a state gets determined?
The Constitution stipulates that the state are allowed to have a number of delegates equal to their total congressional representation, the number of senators and representatives they have in Congress. And, since 1836, all states, except Maine and Nebraska, have chosen to give the winner of the popular vote in a state all of their electoral votes. So when you think about election day coverage and you remember seeing, as the votes rolled in, states on a map being classified as Red (Republican) or Blue (Democrat) that is what is happening. And they are classified as such because that party's candidate has been awarded all of that states electoral votes.

While most of the time the electoral college system serves to amplify the results of the popular vote, the winner of the popular vote receives proportionally speaking a higher percentage of the popular vote, there have been 3 times, included the election in 2000 (when Bush won with 5 more electoral votes than Gore) when the popular and electoral votes were not in line. Both Rutherford B. Hayes and Benjamin Harrison, in 1876 and 1888 respectively, were elected with a electoral majority but popular minority. And these types of occurrences, especially in the modern day when popular votes can easily be counted, bring into question whether or not the electoral college system is truly out of date. But since it would take a constitutional amendment to change this and there is significant fear among smaller states that it would jeopardize their ability to shape a presidential election, it seems unlikely that this will change in the near future.

But what about the presidential primaries?? What purpose do they serve in all of this?
When citizens vote in presidential primaries and caucuses, they are determining the number of delegates that will vote for a particular candidate in that political parties national presidential convention the summer before the presidential election. At this convention, the Republican and Democratic parties officially announce their presidential nominees, although the results are often known beforehand given the scrutiny with which the media tracks the primaries.

With that being said, please see the Presidential leaderboard I have added to my blog, at the bottom of the left nav bar, for up to the minute presidential primary results.

And that is the end of your US political science lesson for the day! ;-) Now, you know how important your vote can be! If you are already registered to vote, please come out and vote in your state's presidential primary. The margins separating the presidential candidates on both sides are very small. Also, please make sure that you are register and come out and vote in November. This is going to be a very important and pivotal election. We have seen where 8 years of complacency have gotten us! Exercise your rights as US citizens and remember those who don't have the ability to shape the political futures of the countries in which they live!

Waging war!

2008-01-26T14:12:00.000-08:00

So for a little while now, I had been hearing little noises in my ceiling downstairs at night. It took me a while to suspect that it was living things. And I wasn't sure that it was mice because I hadn't seen any evidence. Then, one Friday night, I had fallen asleep downstairs and I heard a bunch of them screeching through a vent! And finally. about 2 weeks ago, I saw some droppings (yick) in the closet where I keep the dog food and I realized that 3 entire boxes of dog treats had been devoured, through little holes gnawed in the corners of the boxes. Ah ha! Confirmation at last!

So, I went out and got these humane, nice sanitary round plastic traps. You put the bait inside and then the mouse goes in, the door closes and, voila, the mouse if caught! Nothing to see or touch. Well, they didn't work at all! And it started to sound like there was a party going on under my sink at night. I also went out and bought the ultrasonic things that you plug into an outlet and it is supposed to keep the mice out. But, apparently, the sound doesn't travel so well through walls and stuff.

So today, I just had it! I went out and, as much as I didn't want to, I got the old-school mousetraps. Except, the old school traps don't require bait anymore. They have this yellow plastic piece that looks sort of like swiss cheese. I don't know if it smells like cheese to mice too but it didnt smell like anything to me.

Anyway, when I went to set the traps under the sink, I discovered the following.....

They had chewed through the bottom of 3 2 liter bottles of soda and 1 64 oz bottle of cranberry juice, drank all the juice and soda (don't ask me how they acheived this) and shredded all the labels, They had also gone in the back of the drawers and eaten more dog treats and chewed on a rawhide bone. It was totally disgusting! They are such dirty nasty creatures! Everything was dirty. At least they left the cans of soda alone. I guess mice can't chew through metal.

So I set the traps about 2 hours ago and within 15 minutes I heard the first "snap!" And two more since then. Followed by scratching and stuff. I am totally disgusted! I think it will take a day before I can summon up the courage to look under there! I tell ya, sometimes owning a house is nasty business! Yick!!!

Rising above....

2008-01-21T18:25:00.001-08:00

I am not a very dramatic person. I give people the benefit of the doubt and try to see all sides of something. I do not fly off the handle. You have to do something really extreme to make me mad. But when I do get mad, I get mad.

Even when I am mad though, I do not fly off the handle right then and there. But I have an intense need to confront the person afterwards, especially if I feel that something was done deliberately.

But when someone does something to you purposefully to illicit a reaction then you lose your power in the situation when you react. And, lets face it, many people often don't really learn the consequences of their actions unless the consequences are clear and definite.

So, I am in a situation where a person's actions makes me question if I even want to be around them anymore. What makes it even more disappointing is that it was immediately preceded by a very enjoyable time when I thought we were really connecting. I really want to yell and go off on this person, maybe even hang up the phone on them (which I never do) if I hear anything other than an apologetic tone. But I am going to rise above, at least for now. Silence can have a powerful message.

Bureaucracy - Your Tax Dollars At Work

2008-01-16T18:36:00.000-08:00

Today, I did one thing that I have been dreading. No one really wants to go try to get something done at a place where you know you are going to get the run around. But that is what you have to expect when you deal with a government agency. Today, I went to try to dispute the property taxes charged on some properties I purchased last year. I noticed that the amounts are severely out of wack for the value of the properties and their location within the city. I expected that this wouldn't be a simple thing to fix, especially since the county has already gotten their money but I decided today was the day to start trying to unravel the process. After all, it means money back for me which, especially at this time, is sorely needed.

So first, I went to one office that could only help with with disputes for taxes for the current year. The woman was very helpful and told me that I needed to get copies of the deeds for the properties in the courthouse next door and then come back and go to the office next door to hers to speak to the assessor in charge of the area where the property is. Getting the deeds was a relatively simple and quick process. The woman at the records office was very helpful. And then I came back to talk to the assessor. My assessor was actually in court that day so another guy filled in for him. He and I spent 2 hours trying to sort through everything. The end result was that I was told that there were not individual parcel numbers for each property, they were still in larger lots and that the assessments for the properties were not up to date -- last done in February and did not reflect completed construction. So the plan I left with was to do or make sure everything got done to get individual parcel numbers for each property (that included surveys etc.) and also schedule a time for the assessor to come back out and re-assess the property. This would require him having access to the inside of the buildings which are all already occupied -- not very convenient. All this has to be done before I can even talk to the people who set and collect the taxes about getting money back!

After this, I decided, I might as well make a day of it and go to the unemployment office and file for unemployment. It couldn't be worse, right? After all, people file for unemployment every day..... The process was rather streamlined, simple, and non-particularly time consuming. I was out in about an hour and 20 minutes. I was glad to get that off my list.

However, it seems that there will be many more days at the tax assessors office ahead for me. The builder claims that they have already gotten parcel numbers for the individual properties and that they were issued by the City, although the COunty has no record of them. So, I am going to try to go back with the builder to the assessors office for another saga of "Bureaucracy - Your Tax Dollars At Work." Stay tuned!

Starved for interaction!

2008-01-11T11:14:00.001-08:00

So one of the things that is hard about being out of work is that everyone else is at work. After wearing the same clothes for 3 days and sitting in the house without going further than the sidewalk in front of my house, I can honestly say I am starved for human interaction!! There definitely is a social component to going to work and right now I miss it. I think I am doing all my annoying customer service errand calls in an attempt to have someone to talk to!

I am not sure that I would be good at working from home, unless it was just something that I have really passionate about. And I am going to have to arrange to have lunch with some friends or something so I won't become some crazy hermit who has conversations that are way too long and involved with her dog!

Is it cheating? My disclaimer.

2008-01-10T14:29:00.000-08:00

So I seem to have this bad habit. I write blog posts in my head but then don't manage to get them typed in. If I am lucky, I get the titles written in draft in Blogger to trigger my memory about what I want to write about so that I will remember when I actually get around to or feel like writing it.

So, I will confess that the next few posts, while they were written in my head on the dates listed, were not actually up on the blog on the dates listed. So, if you are wondering where all these posts came from all of a sudden, I confess that I have fudged the dates to more accurately reflect the time when I was thinking about these things.....

Presidential musings....

2008-01-08T20:51:00.000-08:00

I saw a funny bumper sticker the other day that, after I realized what it said, made me chuckle. It said:

Democrats are sexy
Who ever heard of a fine piece of elephant?

So I have been watching the presidential primaries/caucuses this week, especially the Democratic race. Many things have been said in recent weeks about who should or will become president, why this person could, why this person shouldn't etc...

I was listening to the radio the other day and I overheard the DJ talking about a comment posted on the website of a well-respected African-American organization saying something about how if Barack Obama was to become president it would be a step back for the black race because he would undoubtedly be killed in office. Whether he would or not remains to be seen, but I just thought that this was one of the stupidest comments I had ever heard. This is a smart man, he and his family know the potential personal security risk that they are taking by him running for President and making a stand for change in our political arena. And this is a risk that he is willing to make. And which is better for the black race, to ask our leaders to hold back and not aspire to the highest heights so they won't be killed. This also means that they won't be as effective. I don't wish assassination on anyone but part of the reason the those like Martin Luther King Jr are so inspiring to us is because they paid the ultimate sacrifice, and this ultimate sacrifice was what spurred and motivated a greater populace to work and fight for change. It is unfortunate that this has to happen to get people of their butts in protest but lets face it, it really does. There is too much complacency in this country.

I am really puzzled about what the outcome of this presidential race will be come November. It will likely become clearer after the primaries are over. There are thousands of polls being taken across the country to try to predict how and why people are and will vote the way they do. But it possible that the most accurate predictors and most telling polls that anyone could ask could probably end up being the following:

Who would you rather have as president of the United States? A Mormon or a black guy? or..... A Mormon or a woman? (although it is unlikely that you would actually get people to respond honestly.)

I can't wait to see what the results of this election are. We have had enough of Bush (I actually had enough of him in November 2000 but apparently the rest fo a you all didn't!) and it's time for some new, smarter, more articulate more worldly blood in the White House!

A funny Journeyman coincidence?

2008-01-08T20:37:00.000-08:00

An article on Yahoo News about a recently re-opened FBI case where a man hijacked a plane and parachute jumped out of it with a briefcase of money, alluding authority sounds extremely familiar to all of us Journeyman watchers! Um, can you say Dylan McCleen?!?!?

This story smack of an episode on Journeyman, The Legend of Dylan McCleen, about a soldier from Vietnam who jumps from a plan with $150,000 never to been seen again and how Dan Vasser, the shows main character, ends up rendezvousing with him throughout time.

So this is interesting because we have a family friend who is in business development for a TV production studio in LA (at least through the end of January -- if this writer's strike continues she will be out of work in February but that is another story!) Anyway, her job is to not only read new scripts that come into the studio but also to look for interesting news stories etc that might make good ideas for new shows. I guess the writers of Journeyman follow a similar process to get ideas for new episodes. I think what they came up with sounds a little more interesting than this true story, although I am amazed that this guy was actually allowed to hijack a commercial airliner, submit demands and actually get them.

Watch episode 105, The Legend of Dylan McCleen here on NBC.com

No, no, no! We must save Journeyman!!!

2008-01-07T13:13:00.001-08:00

http://www.candorville.com/wordpress/2008/01/01/journeyman/

I am upset! You may remember in my post about visiting LA a few months ago I mentioned seeing the pilot for a new show named Journeyman that is on NBC. On the surface this show seemed a little Quantum Leap-esque but week after week I continued to get drawn into this show! It is not often that I like a new show so much right off. I mean, I let a whole season of Lost go by and it wasn't until the summer season re-run that I got interested in that show. But Journeyman is really pretty intriguing and smart. It is not a corny travel back in time show. It really shows a more "realistic" viewpoint of what might happen if you mysteriously started traveling back in time randomly with little control, what it would do to you, the effect it would have on your family and job, what would happen if you were tempted to try to change things about your life, what would happen if you left things from the future in the past etc....

I mean this is really interesting stuff! And I have been sitting rivoted to my TV (or Tivo) after Heroes every Monday just to see the next installment. Now there are very strong rumors that the show has been canceled by NBC, right in the midst of this writer's strike and the show's ardent fans (I am starting to become one of those as well) are launching a multi-faceted campaign to let NBC and other networks know how much we like the show.
Prong 1: Spreading comments across numerous message boards, comment areas etc, sharing our enthusiasm for the show and our disappointment at a possible cancellation, especially NBC messageboards. Here is a listing of a few key ones to hit:

http://boards.nbc.com/nbc/index.php?showforum=93
http://save-journeyman.blogspot.com/
http://www.ew.com/ew

imdb.com Journeyman message board

youtube.com (search and comment on journeyman videos)
digg.com (search for Journeyman articles, digg them and comment. If you don’t already have a digg account, it’s really quick to create one and very easy to use)

Prong 2: Sending Rice-a-Roni boxes to NBC in support/protest because since Journeyman is set in San Francisco, we think of it as the latest"San Francisco treat!" Corny, I know.... but effective. When tons of Rice-a-Roni boxes show up at NBC studios, someone is going to notice. Info on where to send the boxes can be found here: http://boards.nbc.com/nbc/index.php?showtopic=779766

Prong 3: Organized download-aramas organizing fans to download episodes from NBC.com at organized times to show NBC how big the fan base is. The first one is scheduled for today, January 7 at 10pm (the regular time for the show, which is not airing today.) Fans, those interested in finding out what the show is about etc should download/stream/watch the first episode of the season "Love of a Lifetime" at 10pm from NBC.com

It just upsets me that in this age where what is real TV is being increasingly replaced by meaningless reality dribble like he return of American Gladiators, any number of the new mindless gameshows based strictly on luck or chance, oh, and lets not forget the karaoke shows, or the 50 million shows about the real life of some rapper or celebrity du jour (Irv Gotti, the Kardasians, Kimora Lee Simmons, Snoop -- do I really need to see their everyday life on a weekly basis!?!?) that a show that is complex, detail oriented, smart and intriguing can be canceled while shows like Fear Factor are allowed to live on in perpetuity!

I urge you, if you are a fan of Journeyman, let your voice be heard. If you have not ever watched an episode, check them out at NBC.com. But please people, let the studio know that we actually care to see well-written, suspenseful fiction protrayed by professional actors on our TVs!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080101/ap_on_re_us/looking_for_cooper

Calling for advice/suggestions from my fellow bloggers

2008-01-03T19:58:00.000-08:00

I am looking for help with two very different geographically-specific problems that friends of mine are having. I thought I would put them out to they blogging community to see if any of your can help and/or have suggestions....

First, I have a friend who's 8 year old son decided a few months ago that we wanted to have locks. So he has been growing out his hair for a few months and now they are ready to get his locks (palm-rolled) started. Does anyone out there have suggests for a good place in the Atlanta area (preferably in Cobb County) where his parents can take him to get his locks started and maintained? Any suggestions would be appreciated. Unfortunately, since I have always maintained my hair myself I am not a good resource. Hopefully, one of you will be!

Second, a friend of mine called me because a friend of hers is in a dilemma. She is scheduled to arrive in Paris tomorrow to start an exchange program for a quarter. Unfortunately, she and her roommate were scammed and have no place to stay! It seems that they had found a place through Craigslist, like a lot of their other classmates, and sent in a $2000 deposit in October but when her roommate arrived earlier this week, she discovered that the building where the apartment is supposed to be does not exist! So, they are out of a deposit and are scrambling for some place to stay through the end of March. Does anyone know of anyplace in Paris that does short term rentals or have any suggestions for where they might look? They both have places to stay for the next few days but need to find something more permanent.

Thanks in advance, my Blogger fam!

New Year traditions

2008-01-01T12:15:00.001-08:00

So, for some reason, maybe in an attempt at comfort, I decided on a whim to make black eyed peas this year. This is funny because 1) I have never made them before and 2) I never really liked them when I was a kid and I don't think that I have ever had them since then. Also, I decided to buy 2 1 lb bags of beans. Maybe subconsciously I figured, the more good luck the better! So now, having convinced myself that I could make them taste good, I have a 9 qt stockpot full of peas and you know... they really taste good! I think the difference is that I cooked them in chicken stock instead of just water.

So the New Years tradition with black eyed peas is that you are supposed to eat them on New Years Day for good luck but I was talking to a friend of mine and she mentioned something her mother told her about not washing clothes or dishes on New Years Day because that would be bad luck --- something about washing away good fortune or something like that. Have you heard of this tradition? What other New Years traditions do you know about?