Thursday, May 13, 2010

50 RANDOM FACTS ABOUT ME

A lazy thursday evening exercise :-)

1. im left handed.

2. my first job was at a bakery when i was sixteen. i worked there ONE day. *blink*

3. ..that was also my only job until i finished college (well just about finished.)

4. i get excited when cartoon network has a scooby doo marathon. and sad if i find out i've missed it.

5. i used to be a member of a stepping squad/team.

6. i wore braces. (yep, total brace face/metal mouth.) I still have a thing about smiling as hold over from those days.

7. im the first grandchild of both sets of grandparents.

8. i collect keychains and have one keychain for every country and city i've visited.

9. im the oldest of five children

10. i learned to ride a bike at 12 (one long summer afternoon, at my cousin's house, i decided that i was NOT coming in until i learned to ride. And guess what, that day i learned to ride! :-) One of the proudest moments of my life.)

11. ...but i don't know how to rollerskate. (maybe i'll do that this summer?)

12. im an awesome hula hooper (two and three hoops at a time! ask about me.)

13. in fourth grade i came in fourth place for PA's black history month writing contest. (my mom still has my certificate and ribbon.) I wanted to be in the top three, but considering the hundreds of kids who participated, fourth place isn't so bad.

14. Will Smith is my cousin.

15. When i was a little kid, i had recurring dreams (nightmares) about tornadoes. Since becoming an adult, they've been few and far between, but i still have them. :(

16. Im the neatest sleeper ever. I can sleep through the night and be in the same spot i laid down, the covers having barely moved. I don't know if this is a good or bad thing.

17. I never learned to whistle.

18. In H.S i was fairly athletic. Surprised? lol. I was on the badminton team, field hockey, and tennis.

19. I've since become a sedentary slob.

20. I've never had a broken bone.

21. My Dream Job is working at a book store. Not like barnes and noble, or borders - but an old school bookstore. Wall to wall books, dusty corners... ahh. :)

22. The only physical altercation i've been in is with my brother. I was 14 and he was 12 and we were fighting over who was going to be in control of the stereo. lol. Unfortunately i had underestimated the age at which young men get strength, and in a matter of a few minutes of scuffling, i was down. My first and last fight. lol

23. When i was 18 i rode with my girlfriend to Delaware meet this guy she was messing with. We got to his house, she and the dude disappeared (they went out somewhere) and left me at his crib with a couple of his male friends. We were in a dicey neighborhood, his friends looked a bit scurrilous, and his house was DIRTY and roach infested. Oh... and it reeked of weed smoke. It was really an SVU episode waiting to happen, fortunately the dudes were cool, and i made it back home alive. I never told my parents.

24. The last spanking i got was when i was 12. I had gotten my mom angry (serious because my mom NEVER gets angry) and i was due for some belt-to-booty action. But as soon as the belt hit my behind, my mom fell out laughing and i did too. After we finished with our guffaws, she said it was ridiculous for me to still get a whoopin and that i should be maturing to the point where i don't need one. Then the kicker, how she was disappointed that she felt that she still had to discipline me like she would a five year old. That hurt. Her words made me act right more than any corporal punishment ever could.

25. If i think about about my pet cat Fitzgerald (r.i.p) too long i will cry. I miss him like the dickens.

26. I've thought about getting another pet (cat or dog) but i don't know if i can handle the emotional investment. Losing my cat was seriously one of the hardest things in my life.

27. When im angry, i don't get physical. I use words unflinchingly, and i use them to hurt. Im way better now, but i still have to count before i say so
mething that i can't take back.

28. I live for summer.

29. The most popular girl in my elementary/middle school class requested me as a friend on facebook months ago. She was unkind to me in school. I still haven't added her.

30. Mushrooms on trees FREAK ME OUT. I find them so creepy and they make my skin crawl.

31. I have to sleep with at least a sheet over me. I feel weird and oddly exposed without something covering my body. Even in the hottest of weather. I may kick it off for a moment, but as soon as my body cools off, up comes the covers.

32. I pick up accents quickly. Southern, latino, New Yorker... if im around someone with a noticeable accent, before i know it, i'm sounding like they do. lol

33. For the longest time i hated "Can You Stand the Rain" by New Edition because I heard it on the day i got my period. And for a long time that song made me thing of that awful day. lol

34. I still have and read my babysitter's club and Nancy Drew Mysteries from time to time.

35. I got My First F in 9th grade. Mr. Meroney and his stupid blue books and key words.

36. Im not a big fan of romantic comedies. I tolerate them at best.

37. I've never seen an episode of 24.

38. I stayed up late with my cousin and we sneaked and watched Private School. It was the first time i saw ta-ta's on screen. lol

39. Past urban hang suite - I just can't get into Maxwell.

40. I find Jill Scott pretentious(i loved who is jill scott though), and i die for Erykah Badu.

41. Jill Scott graduated from my High School, as did Bebe Moore Campbell. (author and mother of Maia Campbell)

42. I work in IT but inside of me there is a stalwart luddite.

43. Im seriously thinking of shaving my hair off.

44. My make up collection is in the hundreds of dollars but i rarely wear any of it.

45. I wanted Toni Braxton's first CD so bad, but i was 15 and broke, so i asked my dad to buy it for me and i'd pay him back. I still haven't. :-/

46. Im kinda conceited about my music collection. :-)

47. When i see the word Hors d'oeuvre I have to make myself say it in my head before i say it aloud.

48. I have trouble remembering the correct spelling of words with multiples of the same letter in sequence. i.e: Tomorrow, embarrass, occur...

49. I've walked to the top of the Statue of liberty, twice.

50. I'm a sucker for love.

Evelyn Champagne King - Love Come Down

Monday, May 10, 2010

RIP LENA HORNE



Elegance, class, and beauty.

My first memory of her was in the movie "cabin in the sky." I was around 10 and fell in love with the movie, watching her bewitch Little Joe (Eddie "rochester" Anderson) much to the consternation of his wife Petunia (ethel waters). I was weaned on old movies, and to see a beautiful and BROWN screen goddess enchanted me. I became a hardcore fan.

In fact, i went out and bought her daughter's family biography, "The Hornes." I found it to be an interesting - if self congratulatory - panegyric. (wait, was that redundant?) It provided me with impetus needed to document my own family history (im obsessed with ancestry and family trees and all that) and gave me more insight on the always elegant Lena. I fell in love with her at 10 and 20 years later, the enchantment hasn't faded.

RIP LENA. One of the last of the classy dames. They don't make em like that anymore.



My thoughts go out to her family. I lost an icon, but they lost their Mother.



Aside: LOVE her dress. a few adjustments and i'd wear it today. No lie, i love fashions from back then.

(Harold Arlen composed and wrote "stormy weather" and "somewhere over the rainbow" how come people don't write songs like this anymore? Like actual thought behind lyrics. Is it too much to ask?)

Thursday, May 6, 2010

I GOT IT FROM MY MOMMA

...and her momma

... and her momma

... and so on.


The most beautiful word on the lips of mankind is the word 'Mother,' and the most beautiful call is the call of 'My Mother'. The Mother is Everything - She is our consolation in sorrow, our hope in misery and our strength in weakness. She is the source of love, mercy, sympathy and forgiveness and the Mother, the prototype of all existence, is the eternal spirit, full of beauty and love.

-Khalil Gibran


In the spirit of mother's day that is approaching, and the fact that it's throwback thursday, i am posting some vintage pictures (finally getting my photo albums together!) of two of the most important women in my life, my grandmother and my mother. Words cannot express how dear these women are to me, and loved these women are by me. They epitomize elegance, grace and warmth. So large hearted, to a fault even. They are my heart and soul and constantly inspire me to do better and be better.... and to look good while doing it. Or at least try. :-)

I am so blessed to have them in my life.


my wonderful grandmom


my fly momma


me :-)


So happy mother's day to all mothers..and mothers to be! ;) (can't forget about us!), grandmothers, aunts(i feel like my nephew's mom sometimes. lol) ... with or without children... happy mother's day to ALL women who teach the babies! We are amazing, amazing beings, with this enormous capacity to love and thus, be loved. I salute you. And me. :-)


And now a word from Mos Def...

Mos Def - Umi Says


  © Blogger template 'Minimalist H' by Ourblogtemplates.com 2008

Back to TOP