So, after watching Real Housewives of ATL tonight (Don't ask. All i will say is that that's an hour of my life i can't get back) I decided to stop avoiding the issue and tame this thing on my head in prep for the upcoming weekend. I don't care about workweek fug (i'm lyin), but the weekend i do try to be presentable. lol. I'm bored with my hair, want to do something different (toying with the idea of a drastic cut but so far all my trusted confidantes have vetoed this idea) so i went on the innerwebz for some inspiration. These are just some of the pics i came across while searching for images of women with big/curly kinky hair. Not only am i inspired, but i am humbled. With women as hot (no lesbo) as this walking around with the bomb locks, what hope is there for me?? Beauty and hair?(i don't know these ladies but i'm sure they've got the brains as well) Thats my trifecta! Too much. My self esteem was looking like the Dow Jones Industrials. Ok, not really... but basically.
I totally have to take a photo like this. If its the last thing i do. (btw she is the inspiration for the Rolling Stones' "brown sugar")
This is the kind of thing i'd do if i had more time and imagination and skills. I'm a big fan of stop motion animation, and you guys already know about my Star Wars obsession (and if you don't know now you know) watching this has just made my night.
Speaking of Star Wars - Did you know that there was a concert tour to launch in the upcoming months?
(click the pic)
Yes, my heart is a flutter too. A full symphony orchestra, music from all six of the films AND a giant LED that will display scenes from the movie in time with the orchestra. A fanboy(or girl's) dream! Right now the tourdates are only listed for the west coast (BOOO), but best believe that if and when they get to my part of town I will be in attendance. I might even toss my draws at the bassoonist.
Oh, you didn't know i was a star wars nerd? lemme give you a sample:
This is my keychain. Yes i have one of those obnoxious keychains with lots more gewgaws than actual keys. But nevermind that. See those figures there? From left to right: Bobba Fett, Princess Leia*, (the letter A, souvenir from when i holidayed in St. Thomas) R2-D2 and of course Darth Vader. So far these are the only keychain figures i have found. I'd love to find a han solo and a greedo. Maybe a stormtrooper. Oh... luke would be nice too. I have other stuff (not key chain related - but definitely all about Star Wars. ( but i'll spare you guys that... for now) *ignore leia's face please. It has a bluish cast because of an ink pen that exploded in my bag. Yeah. All of my pocketbooks have ink in the bottom because they all have been the victim of exploding pens. Its my signature. You can always tell its my bag because of the ink stain in the lining. Red Hot Chili Peppers - Under the bridge (listening to this album tonight, still fresh as ever.)
I've been quite the busy little bee(aver), but i just haven't felt like making notation here.
Or there.
But that is neither here nor there.
Oh, the places you'll go!
Anyway.
It seems my blogging zeitgiest has past. As a matter of fact, the two year anniversary of this blog came and went in june (yay me!) - I totally missed it. Again. Missed my first anniversary, and now my second.
(by the way - the few people who read this thing: thanks for indulging my crazy "eccentricities." You guys rock! i was looking back on some of my entries, and um, yeah i have issues. lol)
So yeah I hope that forgetting my blogiversary doesn't foreshadow how i'll be with more important milestones. Say, my wedding anniversary. But where was I? Ah yes. I no longer feel compelled to blog everyday, or even attempt a semblance of regularity. I'm sure this isn't a shock to anybody, given my posts of late. In fact, if it wasn't for MJ's passing my last entry would probably be dated June 17th. So yes, as the mood hits, i'll write. And when it doesn't?
So, we are in the throes of summer. I gotta be honest, this summer sucks. So far anyway. Well, let me clarify, not the goings on of my summer - that has been all too good - but the actual summer months themselves. Call me a weirdo (but just call me) but summer isn't summer until its butt booty make- me-wanna-walk-around-house-nekkid-but-thats-wack-so-i won't- hot, with random body parts perspiring that you didn't even know had sweat glands. THAT is summer. Yeah, 80 degrees is nice, but that is spring. I like to my summers to be hot, "languid, and bittersweet." (special prize to the first person who can source the quote) Summer begs for lemonade and fresh fruit, sweet and juicy in its ripeness, sundresses and damp tendrils clinging to salty skin and shimmery upper lips under heated gazes...
I think i'm getting off track.
Yeah. I crave those delicious permutations that are the hallmarks (at least in my mind) of the (alleged)warm months, and these 80 degree days (with some 70 degree ones!) are not getting it. It wasn't until today and yesterday that I actually felt the stultifying heat and humidity that is indicative of my favorite season of the year. Yes i moaned when i almost burned my palms off because of my hotter than hot steering wheel, BUT it was a pleasure pain. Pleasure in the fact that finally, finally it was starting to feel like the summers i remembered.
[scene: hot summer afternoon sometime in july. heatwaves ripple off the pavement and asphalt, the convection taking on the appearance of the sea. Children's laughter mingles in with the roar of automotive engines. A mature larchwood's leaves catch a rare breeze, the rustling leaves bring a quaint country sound at odds with the cityscape. A stream of water trickles down the curb, as the red fireplug up the street has been opened and delivers its essence to adults and children alike.The smell of barbecue perfumes the atmosphere, and a ten year old girl runs down the street, knobby kneed and ashy limbed, with pigtails flying. ]
me: (slightly breathless)"mommy, can i play in the fire hydrant? please?" my mom: (watering her beloved day lilies) "no... i don't think that's a good idea" me: (sad faced but secretly happy because i didn't really want to get wet) "you never let me have any fun!"
< / end reverie>
The moist air has wreaked havoc on my hair** (and i am avoiding doing something with it by blogging) but for once i don't mind, because it actually FEELS like summer now, and lord knows i've been waiting to experience this feeling all year long. Too bad its waited til the end of july to kick into high gear.
But now that i'm actually *feeling* summer, i'm feeling summer. Good stuff. Of course now that means i'm in a race against time to cram all my summer activities into a short span of time. Suddenly i feel like a kid again, with the realization that it's almost August - and i haven't done this that and the other. Panic! Only now I control what i do, not my parents, so i can't blame them if i fall short (or can i? lol) The first thing i'm going to start doing is watching my summer movies. Yes, I have movies that i watch every summer. Its a thing with me. Certain films mean summer just as much as ice cream cones, booty shorts, and slim goodies on the bball court. I am ashamed to say that i have not watch nary a one of my summer films. I gotta rectify that.
And you know what, I'm going to review my favorite summer films and post them here. Nothing big, (i'm no siskel or ebert or roeper or shalit) but maybe it'll get my writing juices flowing, and prevent this blog from going completely fallow.
Hi - Five I like the way (the kissing game) Hi - Five - She's Playing Hard to Get
Yes, yall get a two-fer (i couldn't choose between these two and they both make me think of summer)
**ED Note - In case anyone is wondering (and you guys were dying of curiosity i know) Operation waves/curls/naps/kinks is still in effect. My hair is bigger and deffer than ever. Its grown too! Of course when wearing it curly it looks a lot shorter than it is, but i *think* it's almost at my -- well i won't say anything until i do a length check. I plan on blowing it out next month. Stay tuned.
Despite the absolutely lovely weekend i just experienced, I am still sad about Michael Jackson. Leave your giggles and judgment at the door. Its hard to explain how blown i am about his passing. I would never in a million years think it would have hit me this hard. I've been pretty much avoiding the endless coverage about him. Its at saturation point, teetering dangerously close to farce. With the memorial service taking place today, it will probably get worse. I feel that in their own snide way, the media is still making fun of him, even in death. No matter how you feel about him, he's dead. You're alive. Advantage YOU. Give him dignity.
Its hard for me to translate my grief into words. As i reread my entry that followed immediately after learning his death, i realized that it had a detached editorial voice, belying the extreme sadness i felt at the moment. Although that may have been a good thing. I can't have my readers thinking i'm one of those crazies that do things like get a likeness MJ's sparkly glove tattooed on the right buttcheek. (just made this up but i'm sure someone has done it) Anyway, i considered writing another blog, less neutral in its tone, but I don't have it in me. However, there are some folks who were able to capture my feelings, and put it in better words. Phonte of Little Brother, "penned" this Excellent essay My Baby Pharrell expressed himself
And last, but not least, my Brother (your favorite producer's favorite producer) even had some pithy things to say on his blog(which i won't link here - worlds colliding and all that):
i’ll be perfectly honest.
when TMZ ran reports yesterday that michael jackson had suffered cardiac arrest and died in LA, i was moderately shocked, but largely unmoved. i can’t really put a finger on why, but i’m inclined to believe that so much of my recent experience and familiarity with the man had next to nothing to do with his music; he had been rendered a mere caricature of the iconic figure he once was: largely due to his own raging indiscretion, but ushered along to the stratospherically farcical display it had become by an abnormally intrusive media, even by Hollywood standards.
as i watched CNN for confirmation, my immediate recollection of him was that of a suspected (assumed) child molester, a man who’d possessed at least 5 of the most famous faces in the world- the most recent face being so far removed from the handsome young man who exploded into the world’s consciousness 35 years ago so as to be nearly unrecognizable; in short, a total mockery of the legacy he’d created over the years. it was easy to dismiss his death as the final chapter in a long, sordid story. i was taken aback by how unaffected i was.
then i started listening to his music.
and wiki’ing the incomprehensible breadth and scope of his career. and listening some more.
it finally started to hit me. michael jackson had died.
not just the michael jackson fumbling through interviews, saying all the wrong things in attempts to defend himself, or the michael jackson who couldn’t seem to wrap his mind around the disconnect the rest of the world was having with his questionable dalliances with children, or the michael jackson who butchered his face into oblivion.
this was also the michael jackson who was a brilliant singer, one of the most talented vocalists of our time- with a fantastic range, precision vibrato and inimitable emotive skill. the michael jackson whose ability to take a stage and perform has gone unrivaled to this day. the michael jackson inducted into the rock and roll hall of fame TWICE, possibly one of the most important figures in the entire span of the ART FORM, surely vying for the most important in popular music, undisputed in a laundry-list of categories and creator of the musical backdrop for 100s of millions of people spanning nearly 4 decades. feats so awe inspiring, it makes the news of his untimely passing that much more criminal.
i spent about 20 minutes looking for a good image to attach with this entry. i won’t even touch on some of the things i saw, it just doesn’t seem right in this light. not trying to come off as above it; i spent my fair share of my time gawking and laughing at his expense (i even wanted him to go to jail) but the difficulty of the search quickly encapsulated what this man had to endure. i suspect even the most steely, detatched individual would struggle under the tremendous weight of an entire planet being obsessed with your every move. michael jackson was nothing of the sort, from all indication. to assume the attention- coupled with an unfortunate childhood- took its toll on his mind and body in ways we can only speculate on isn’t much of a reach.
in retrospect, everybody who had any contact with michael- whether it be directly, or just thru his music- is fortunate to have experienced his presence here. he had a rare energy he could synthesize and output to the world so that anybody in earshot could understand and enjoy it thoroughly. music outlets built their empires on his back. tabloids kept themselves in business at his expense. and now, we’re left finally to absorb the deafening impact of a genius silenced far too early.
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