SUMMER SOLSTICE (60 REASONS WHY SUMMER IS MY FAVORITE)

In honor of this longest day of the year, and the official start of summer, i decided to make a list of the things I love about the best season. And no, summer being the best season is not up for debate. :-) Feel free to tell me why you love summer too!

Without further delay:


1. The heat.
Call me a weirdo (but just call me) but... i kinda like waking up to 70 degree mornings, and going to sleep to 75 degree nights. Ok, maybe not *like* (sweating immediately after you shower is NOT the business) but i find it reassuring. Its the environment's way of saying "summer is HERE." You're gonna be hot, you're gonna be uncomfortable, and by golly, youre gonna be sweaty!" But I dont mind. What i can't stand are those weak summers where the temperature doesn't get past 85 degrees. I like my summers hot, sunny and long. :-)

2. That wonderful breeze that comes out of nowhere during a still, hot day.

3. Riding with the windows down... and the AC blasting.

4. The beach.
The beach rocks all year, but the summer just makes for optimal enjoyment. I can never pick which i enjoy better, the beach sunset or sunrise - but suffice it to say, both are awesome. Biking on the beach is the ultimate. Then theres the salty air that smells divine, the soothing sound of the ocean... the feel of the sand underneath your feet. What's not to love? Oh.. ok, i don't love the gull footprints. Creepy!

5. Cute bikinis and swimsuits you worked all winter to fit in.

6. Sunny days = Sunny Moods.

7. Sunglasses that double as headbands.

8. Sangria.

9. Vacations, staycations, plain old relaxation.

10. BBQ
What is it about barbeque/grilling that makes everything taste better? And why do i lose all sense of space and time as soon as i smell the charcoal percolating? During the summer i can grill every day and not get tired of it. Everything is subject to open flame... veggies, meats... fruit even! (i grilled some peaches the other day. BOMB) Grilling is wonderful year round (and props to those who do it!), but the grill was made for the summer. Or is it that the summer was made for the grill? Hm...

11. Fireworks.

12. Long walks.

13. Bike rides.

14. Sundresses.
During my preteen years i was a a bit of a tomboy and you couldn't pay me to wear a dress. You had to order me to do it. No, seriously. (Which, btw, my dad did. lol. but thats another story for another time.) And this is why it is more than a little incongruous how much i love wearing dresses now. And sundresses? Shucks. What's easier than throwing on a dress on a hot summer day? They're cool. They're feminine, and simple. No searching for tops and bottoms. Effortless and expedient. Bonus: my dad feels a whole lot better. lol

15. Sandals.

16. Blowing bubbles.

17. Getting Tan.
Don't believe the hype, black people tan. How do i know? Im one of em. When summer is over i like to be brown and glowing. Oh yes, im a sun worshiper. lol :-)

18. Free outdoor concerts.

19. Big floppy hats.

20. Dining al fresco.

21. Road trips.

22. The summer blockbuster.
Get thee into the movie theater and pay exorbitant prices for popcorn, drinks and other concessions while watching the film that everybody is talking about which may or may not suck!

23. Trashy novels with no redeeming literary value.

24. Going to the mall simply because its free air conditioning.

25. Birds singing all times of day... and night.

26. Long days.
Today was the longest day of the year ( I still saw remnants of daylight at around 9:15) but even though the days will be gradually getting shorter (sadface.gif) we still have a good bit of time to enjoy the long lazy hours of daylight. What's better than getting off of work at 5 and still having a good 3-4 hours of daylight?

27. Yoga outside!

28. The sound of crickets.

29. Doing nothing all day because its too hot to do anything. And not feeling guilty about it.

30. Lemonade.
Made from scratch. With real lemons. lol.

31. (Extra) Sweet Tea.
Like diabetic strength. None of that weak tea, all bitter on my palate. Gimme sweet, gimme sugar rush, gimme the tummy ache that follows after reckless indulgence. Gimme gimme gimme!

32. Drinking either of these out of mason jars!

33. The sound of lawnmowers.

34. Fresh fruit (in season!)

35. Watermelon.
I know i just said fresh fruit, but watermelon deserves a mention on its own. :-)

36. The night sky.
Summertime is just better for stargazing. Why? Well mainly because you're not freezing your bum off! Its kinda hard to enjoy galactic beauty when youre worried about frostbite. But in the summer? Enjoy to your hearts delight. Or until you've had enough of the mosquitos. lol.

37. Big sexy humidified hair. :)

38. Fireflies!

39. Vintage metal fans.
Remind me of my grandmom. LOVE them.

40 Mr. Softee
This may be a city thing, but where im from, mr softee is an earmark of summer. I may not have patronized one in years, but i still get excited when i hear the familiar mr softee jingle in the neighborhood. Shoot... im kinda jonesin for a cone now. lol

41. Water ice.

42. Cool cotton sheets.

43. Ripe red juicy tomatoes.

44. Summer Storms.
Not to be part of the culture that labels things without sex "sexy" but... i'll be durned if thunderstorms arent like extra sexy. lol. I love a brief summer storm. The feel of the electrically charged air against your skin, rumblings of thunder... the sound of rain against the window... ooh wee! Nature is a beast. A sexy beast!

45. Car rides on the countryside.

46. Spotting random flea Markets during those rides and pulling over quickly, extra excited to look at someone else's crap. :-)

47. Baseball Games.
Baseball is more fun in person.

48. Block parties.

49. Open Fire Hydrants.
Ok so youre not supposed to do this (without city permission) but i wont tell!

50. Summertime naps.

51. Summertime sex.
Its hot, sticky and kinda dirty... but in a good way of course.

52. A fresh pedicure.

53. Tiki torches
I have some of these in my back yard. They are a wonderful accompaniment to those long summer nights.

54. Swings
Few things are as pure a joy as swinging on a swing. Beat it kid!

55. Halter tops

56. Going Braless

57. Pellegrino with lemon/lime

58. No snow.

59. The sound of the sprinkler on lawns.

60. The smell.
Summer smells like freedom. and long weekends. and dreams. and endless possibilities. :-)

Dj Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince - Summertime

THINKING

Thinking...

Thinking...

Thinking...


Back in the halcyon days of my youth, (known to historians and geologists alike as the early triassic) before things like mp3 players, touch screens, 4G, Justin Beiber, and things requiring 1.21 gigawatts existed - i would go to computer class, and type on machines slightly smaller than the eniac. The dark ages of personal computing. My elementary school had a set of Apple IIe computers, and while they were exciting to play with, they were dreadfully slow. Printing (remember dot matrix printers?) took quite a while, and it was nothing for the printer to pause in the middle of the job to "think." The machines were blessed with an "astounding" 1.0x MHz processor and 64kb of RAM (contrast with the current industry standard of at least a 2 GHz processor and 4GB of RAM) and so it makes sense that between input and output there was a bit of... lag. lol.

If i recall correctly, i went through puberty waiting for the printer to complete printing my fifth grade's classroom newspaper.

But my aim is not to provide a written(typed) anodyne caused by wading through the detritous trivia of my past, yapping about my fond memories of Mrs. Skolnick's (my computer teacher from 3-8th grade) computer class. (Making banners was the sure shot though!) Really, all that prelude was to tell you all that im still here, i still consider myself a blogger (albeit a sporadic one) and i hope i haven't lost all my readers to attrition. Im just in the midst of a thinking period, like the computers of yore. Unfortunately thinking does not put up blog entries, which means lag time and the inevitable...

Blog funk.

Its a heavy cloying funk, kinda like this moist air that is around tonight - whose intent, i surmise, must be to threaten and ruin everything for which my hair stands. That funk found in back woods juke joints were everything is close and damp and musty, The funk where the downbeat is amplified and extended and all you can do is just stand there and make that "funk face" because the groove is just so dirty...

That kind of funk.

But despite the funk, i've got a lot on my mind (ooh its juicy too!), and even now, as i compose this, im feeling a writing jones come on. Perhaps the torrents will rush forth this week.

Maybe.

Anyway, until i make my next entry (tomorrow? next week? a fortnight? a month... year?) Humor me and tell me your type. I'll even tell you mine :-)


And when you're done that, put on your best funk face and rock to this:

Lyn Collins - Think

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 something 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

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?)