A simple goal.

I'm going to read a book this weekend. Maybe two.


That's it.

A little less of me in '08: 2.0 The better version.

17 days ago I declared there would be a little less of me in '08 and that I'd be active in my mission to 'lose weight and get my body into a shape I feel most comfortable with before my 25th birthday'. To date, I've worked out once and am not happy about it. **Note that the 'once' I'm referring to was today and damn it felt good to do some yoga.

I love yoga. No, really I do. People underestimate the power of yoga but when done properly, that shit will have you burning, aching and more sweaty than running ...but in a good way.
Russell Simmons tapped into something wonderful. Psh, I wish I had my very own Porchla Coleman and could get a few beach side lessons of my own. ;) I guess I'll have to settle for the 7 episodes of my favorite yoga t.v. show I have on DVR. Trust, I'll put them to good use.

Oh, and I really need to stop claiming veganism.
I do not eat ...and probably will not ever go back to eating... dairy products, eggs, poultry and red meat, but damn it if I haven't been eating seafood like ...daily!!! Blackened salmon, fried tilapia, shrimp, scallops and flounder are the devil and have totally thrown me off track ...and I never even liked seafood! To this day the smell of tuna makes my stomach churn, ugh.

Let's be clear, while I am, and always will be, an advocate for the ethical treatment of animals, IN LIFE AND IN DEATH, I did not go vegan for them. I just happened to get my hands on a copy of
Skinny Bitch: A no-nonsense, tough love guide to savvy girls who want to stop eating crap and start looking fabulous! ...and baby let me tell you, the juicy tidbits they let you in on are enough to have you cleaning house that night; straight second guessing everything you put in your mouth. I loved it!!! ...it's a must read.

So why did I go vegan? I went vegan because 95% of what the local supermarket has for sale is trash full of hormones, covered in pesticides and I wanted to improve my quality of life, starting with what I put in it. Just eliminating dairy from my diet has made my skin clearer, I no longer suffer with acid reflux and overall just FEEL BETTER. Seriously, try not eating ANY dairy for a week and I'm telling you, you'll noticed a marked difference. Besides, soy alternatives are to die for ...just visit your friendly, neighborhood Trader Joe's; good quality vegan and organic products at affordable prices.

Anyways, I don't want to sound like an infomercial and I sure as hell am not getting paid to advertise. Long story short, going vegan was a decision I will never regret and plan to go back to as soon as I can work this fish thing out of my spirit.

Back to 'less of me'.

From today on, I won't be claiming less of me ...just a better me. I'm sexy ...curvy to be damned and full/firm in all the right places. Even the kids think so and I'd hate to let that go. While losing weight, say 20 lbs., would be nice, I'm way more concerned with getting healthy, tight and toned just in time for my summer birthday bash.

...and who did I think I was kidding??? Give up leather boots, shoes, jackets and purses? Who, Sapphic???

What??? Absurd.

Hey QKoC ...I see you!!!
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One to add to your respective blogroll's: Gorgeous Black Women

I came across this today ...and loved it, to say the least.
...so many beautiful BLACK women all in one place ...I can't take it.

Gorgeous Black Women

I know I plan to check in daily.
Please, please, please do the same.

I've reposted their initial post below.

Why I started this blog
1. Positive portrayals of gorgeous black women in the media are limited. It's Jezebel or Mammy. These two stereotypes are far from the norm.
2. Black women are indeed gorgeous, whether you're 18 or 80 with espresso bean or honey colored skin, skinny mini or curvaceous body, no hair, short hair, long hair, fros, twists, locs or straightened. This blog will feature everyone.
3. Who doesn't love gorgeous women?
4. There needs to be a shift in how black girls and women perceive themselves and their looks. Bonus points if everyone else gets with the program.

Lupe Revisited

An 80’s baby and avid music listener …I love hip hop.
Wholeheartedly.

I had quite a bit to say with regard to what has been dubbed ‘Fiascogate’.

Totally disgusted, I’ve likened his forgetting the lyrics to a classic banger like Electric Relaxation to hip hop sacrilege and while I am not …and will never, EVER forgive his appearance on VH1’s Hip Hop Honors…

Lupe Fiasco’s The Cool is that shit!!!

Little Weapon is without a doubt my favorite track on the album. I hadn't heard anything beyond Bishop G's intro and was compelled to restart the track like 6 times before I actually got all the way though. Once I did, I was hooked. Child soldiers, high school shooters, kids with guns and video game violence ...absolutely brilliant.

Now little Terry got a gun he got from the store.
He bought it with the money he got from his chores.
He robbed a candy shop; told her 'Lay down on the floor, put the cookies in the bag, take the pennies out the drawer.'

Lil' Khalil got a gun he got from the rebels to kill the infidels and the American devils.
A bomb on his waist. A mask on his face.
Prays five times a day and listens to heavy metal.

Little Alex got a gun he took from his dad that he snuck in the school is his black book bag.
His black nail polish, black boots, and black hat.
He gon' blow away the bully that just pushed his ass.

Intruder Alert is a masterpiece. Rape, drug abuse and immigration ...Mathew Santos' mellow vocals just reinforce your head nod. He appears several times on the album and never disappoints.

Hip-Hop Saved My Life is another standout. If you're not up on Nikki Jean ...please make yourself familiar immediately. Aside from being absolutely beautiful ...she's got real talent. Check out her YouTube channel here. Also, the free Noveau Riche album (her band) is definitely worth a download and burn.

Fighters, Streets On Fire, The Die, Put You On Game, The Coolest, Dumb It Down and of course Superstar, his current single, are all faves. Together they make for an overall bomb ass album. It will be in heavy rotation at least through summertime ...right along with Graduation, The World Has Made Me The Man of My Dreams, American Gangster and Just Like You.

Watch this Nikki Jean video that was featured on YouTube ...it's actually how I came across her. You can't help but feel her happiness.


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Beloved

"Here in this here place, we flesh; flesh that weeps, laughs; flesh that dances on bare feet in grass. Love it. Love it hard. Yonder they do not love your flesh. They despise it. They don't love your eyes; they'd just as soon pick em out. No more do they love the skin on your back. Yonder they flay it. And O my people they do not love your hands. Those they only use, tie, bind, chop off and leave empty. Love your hands! Love them. Raise them up and kiss them. Touch others with them, pat them together, stroke them on your face 'cause they don't love that either. You got to love it, you!"

"... This is flesh I'm talking about here. Flesh that needs to be loved. And the beat, beat, of your heart... Love it. More than the lungs that need yet to breathe free air. More than the womb, which holds life. More than the private parts that give life. Love your heart. This... this is the prize. Amen. This the prize... Amen!"

"Let the children come. And let your mothers hear you laugh."
-Beah Richards as 'Baby Suggs' in Beloved

I can only hope the dialogue is somewhat close to that of the film as would hate to do a disservice to what I believe is one of its most powerful scenes. Seeing as how it was taken from the internet and much to my dismay, I can not recall it verbatim, I will have to rely on the help of others.

I consider myself an avid movie watcher. I even have the heavily used netflix.com subscription to prove it. Foreign and subtitled, drama, horror, documentary, 'stupid comedy' and most everything in between ...at some point, I've watched them all.

There are very few movies able to evoke tears or any other visceral reaction beyond an initial viewing, if even at all. Most that do usually have something to do with race, gender or sexuality; issues to which I am inextricably bound. Rosewood, The Women of Brewster Place **Shut up!!! I love that movie** and The Color Purple being prime examples as I cry every time I watch them. Another came to mind today and I was glad.

Beloved, the film, didn't necessarily do well. It only made a total of $28,000,000 whereas the novel won a Pulitzer Prize and although loosely based on the life of Margaret 'Peggy' Garner, is, according to a survey of 125 'eminent authors and critics' by The New York Times, considered the best work of american fiction in the past 25 years. See the 1987 review here.
Toni Morrison's irrefutable brilliance aside as I am dealing with performance not word, Beah Richards is absolutely breathtaking in this scene.
I kissed my own hands.

Also, if you haven't already seen it, I implore you to watch Beah: A Black Woman Speaks at some point in the near future. Directed by Lisa Gaye Hamilton, it's an award winning documentary birthed from over 70 hours of taped conversation on Beah Richards life and career.

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Meet Garvey.

...like Marcus Garvey as that is his namesake. Big, strong, broad, powerful, serious, formidable.
All things obvious in the way that Garvey carries himself.

He growls, grunts, barks, huffs, runs, twitches and grinds his teeth ...all in his sleep while in the real world, he proffers as much protection as a wilting house plant; he's nothing more than decoration.

Soft, cuddly, timid, EXPENSIVE, passive, spoiled rotten, whiny and overly friendly ...the only way he'd harm you would be to crush you under his massive weight. See, Garvey has it in his head that he's a lap dog and if left undeterred, he will climb up in your lap for a nap. I've often let him do it and have pretty much created the monster that is Garvey, The Inept Watch Dog.

I'd like to think that he'll rise to the occasion if the need ever presented itself, but I'm not so sure.



I'll be the first to admit, Garvey does not live a life conducive to that of a large breed dog. A 3 year old, 80 lb., Lab Mix should have access to a huge backyard, take long walks daily and visit the park regularly. Garvey gets / does none of that. More often than not, his days are spent tucked off into a corner asleep and when he is active, he's amazingly clingy, attention starved and annoyingly hyperactive. You WILL play fetch, by choice or default and in one way or another, there WILL be physical contact.

He's taken to depositing his slobbery tennis ball in your lap so even if you don't want to play, you end up tossing it away and there is his cue to repeat the process OR he'll rub up against your legs as if he were a cat so that you'll touch him ...even if it is to shoo him away, never mind the fact that he is a shedding animal *ugh - he didn't always do that, it started about 6 months after I got him and by then I was attached* whose feet smell like a fresh bag of Frito's as soon as it's around about that time for him to visit the groomer.
Fortunately, he doesn't have dog breath.

Garvey is stupendous.

I adore him. We have our very own ritual greeting when I get home from work. It consists of him charging at me, full speed, like a ball out of a cannon, hugs, rubs, pats, various pet names and a walk directly across the street for him to pee. *yes, his walks should be longer but I don't have time. I walk him until he does his business, I clean up and we head home - at least 3 times a day* Afterward, he's usually ready to eat his too large dinner *on our last two visits, his vet informed me that Garvey could stand to "slim down a bit" - I like to eat, my family likes to eat ...WE EAT. No one in my company will EVER go hungry, Garvey included*.

My one complaint with Garvey is he has too human tendencies. He doesn't bark AT ALL, EVER but when he does ummmm, communicate, for lack of a better word, it's almost as if he's mimicking human speech. Scary to say the least.

Oh, and he sleeps like people do ....on pillows, with blankets, etc. Long story short, Garvey has taken over in a lot of respects, totally flipped my household upside down. I mean I can't even go out after work unless I want to come home to a brown surprise - and that ain't happening.

Did I say one complaint?
I lied.

I'm sure I can come up with several others but the one that takes the cake is as follows:

Garvey has ....shall we say, a sensitive stomach. Any little thing can set him off and he won't eat / drink for a while and back when we first got him, it raised a lot of concern and made for several trips to the vet *thank the creator for Banfield and their doggie health care plans*. This long story short, Garvey vomits ...often. As a matter of fact he did twice yesterday and once today ...but it is fairly early so that isn't saying much.

He's like a grown man after a night of heavy drinking and a few White Castle burgers too many.
...and I don't appreciate having to keep a plastic bag handy to stick his head in just in case he starts heaving, which he does for about 3 minutes before he actually erupts *blah*. I don't even get that kind of personal treatment and I shouldn't have to do that for a dog.
It's gross.

I love him though.
We're complicated *sigh*.

The World Has Made Me The Man Of My Dreams - Meshell Ndegeocello

Refusing to be categorized, the melding of so many different genres with an ease and fluidity that today, is unmatched ...we have yet another banger from Meshell Ndegeocello.

I've had my copy since last week.
Undoubtedly, Sloganeer is my favorite. Simply consuming, it stays in heavy rotation. I fear I may wear a grove in the cd itself.

Coming in right behind it are Elliptical, Michelle Johnson, Evolution, Virgo, Shirk, Relief, Solomon, Lovely Lovely, ...shall I stop short of an out of order track listing?

Save for a set in Charlotte, where she seemed more like the introduction and not the headliner she is, Meshell has yet to disappoint me.
Please support her raw artistry.
**Note the version of Sloganeer now playing is not the album version. This comes from a live show in Zurich.

'I'm just a soul on the planet. Trying to do good, be good and feel good.'
...Meshell Suhaila Bashir-Shakur 'Michelle Johnson'

**UPDATE**
Praise YouTube ...I found a video of her performing Sloganeer.




Get a bang out of life.
...Suicide
Straight to paradise.
If you're the chosen...
Why don't you just
...Kill yourself now, kill yourself now.
Cause I hate all the beautiful people.
Just open your legs.

Supposedly, the song is to / about a suicide bomber. I need more time to digest it before I can draw any conclusions.

Also, I don't advocate for the taping or photographing of Meshell with out her permission as in her case, among other things, it is a health hazard ..but, please don't bother to point out the contradiction in reposting this video; I'm aware.

**Link to information re: Epilepsy

Tattoos and Drum Sticks

I came across this again today and I don't know why I didn't post this video earlier.
Tavis Barker is amazing ...actually makes the song bearable.