Friday, August 31, 2007

I did it...


















I cut the sorriest fringe of a bang....pictures coming. What I really want is the kind of action Aisha Tyler has going, but I haven't worked up enough nerve to cut that far back.
I haven't met any stylists familiar with cutting Sisterlocks...perhaps it's time I found one...

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Second Anniversary

Well, I got through it...I completely immersed myself in work and even stayed late to try and make things go faster. I toyed with the idea of staying home, but when I woke up this morning I really wanted to get to work and stay busy. I have been determined to learn how to update our website-- I took a Dreamweaver workshop but never followed up. So today, I spent most of the day inputting new information for our website, reorganizing pages, and generally boosting my confidence. I know that I can learn these things, but on an irrational level I sometimes freeze a little contemplating projects that I'm not comfortable with or have lots of experience.

I was just not up to seeing Bush have his photo opps around New Orleans and Bay St. Louis. Ironically enough, my family is from both New Orleans and Bay St. Louis. I haven't been back to Bay St. Louis yet.

Tomorrow I have a big campus event. I hope it goes smoothly. I have no idea what to expect. Once that's over, I'll be able to exhale a little. But the campus is buzzing...students are coming back to campus and soon the pace will be brisker and there will be more calls and fires to put out.

Sunday, August 26, 2007

Look who's got a new do...



Helga commented about the dust-up when Brad Pitt--trying to give Carol's Daughter a thumbs-up-- rubbed some people the wrong way because he said he didn't know what to do with his daughter Zaharah's hair. I thought people took it the wrong way. Just yesterday I was talking with a black woman who said she was glad she had a son because she 'couldn't deal' with doing hair.

Anyway...guess the Hair Milk is working...Z's got a cute new do...Check it out!

**I don't know why the photo didn't make it the first time. The post doesn't make any sense without it!**

Friday, August 24, 2007

The Sublime and The Ridiculous--A Sisterlock Story













So I was whining about my hair earlier this week. Aggravated with myself because I can't bring myself to hack in and cut myself some bangs. Despite the fact that it would look better, despite the fact that it's good to shake it up every so often, despite the fact that I really don't want to fall into any kind of rut about how I look. And Sunsail asked for some pictures...So even though I go off on tangents, I figured I'd circle back around and come back to my hair for a minute.

I know there are some of you checking out blogs to get an idea of how Sisterlocks will turn out over time. So let me clarify, I love my hair. I am completely tongue-in-cheek about complaining it's 'too long.' It really isn't much of a problem at all. I want to take full advantage of the possibilities for styling my hair though.

To bring you up to date, I've had Sisterlocks since Spring 2002 and I've been maintaining them myself since Winter 2002. Except for one visit to a SL consultant last year when I was in Virginia, I have done every single retightening since I took the class. I have colored my hair...several times. Ahem. I do not recommend it, but if you want to do it...wait until your SLs are completely settled in, be prepared for some breakage, and do not attempt anything crazy...like going more than one or two shades darker or lighter than your natural color. Pick a color and stick with it. Black over blonde or red makes green, remember that. But I'm talking about styles now...

The consequence of my hair having reached this length is, on the one hand, roller sets don't last because my curls fall by their own weight. But on the other, it means I can make all kinds of interesting styles by arranging my own hair. So...

In a couple of these pictures you can see me making like Cousin It...somewhat for comedy, I admit. My point is that there's lots of room to jazz things up and let SLs fit your personality.

In the others, you can see the fruits of my creativity. I'm convinced I made up this hairstyle, so when you copy it give me respect...lol. It should be possible with medium to long SLs. I did it without pins but a few hairpins would do the trick. And it was very easy. I did it in about five minutes while I was watching the Today show. It is basically a cluster of bantu knots. After gathering my hair in a ponytail with a loose band, I took small sections of hair, twisted them like a candy cane and then wrapped the twist into little buns right next to each other. And they lasted all day without pins...cause my hair is too long (smile). I am starting to think updos are easier for the office. Wearing it down and uncurled, especially in a ponytail seems a little casual to me. And I'm trying to polish up after all.

Sorry about the glare, the only way I could take the pics is in the bathroom mirror over my own shoulder...And I still cannot figure out how to get the pictures to go where I want them...

My Celebrity Look-Alikes...

http://www.myheritage.com

Since Linford Christie didn't come up this time--lol--I posted my Celebrity Look-Alikes...

I don't look like ne'er one of these chicks!

Thursday, August 23, 2007

...it's coming up soon.

When I got home, HBO was replaying "When the Levees Broke..." and I watched it.

It's the craziest thing that triggers the sadness. Looking too long at a photo, realizing that something I'm trying to find isn't around anymore, wanting some stewed okra but realizing there is nowhere to buy decent fresh shrimp...

These past two days, my body has been letting me know the anniversary is coming. My throat closes, my hands are all shaky, and the stuttering is back. I hate that. Because I can't disguise it. And I have no intention of explaining it to everybody. I dread answering the phone at work. But I'm glad too. I'm doing pretty good considering. Like Frankie Beverly says...

"Joy and pain is like sunshine and rain...
Over and over you can be sure
there will be sorrow but you can endure
Where there's a flower, there's the sun and the rain...
Oh and it's wonderful...They're both one in the same"

I guess I figured I would get over or past everything, but I think you just learn to live with it. As far away as I have moved, there has not been a day...720 come next Wednesday...that I do not hear the word Katrina. I know most people don't hear it at all anymore. But I hear it everyday. And that's OK...

For the next week, my posts might be kind of scattered...but I'm alright. Just have to talk about it sometimes.

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

You da man!


Brad Pitt has been using his celebrity to redirect attention to the unacceptable pace of recovery in New Orleans. He's also bought a house in the French Quarter and invested his money in an effort to develop a significant amount of green housing in the Ninth Ward.

Brad Pitt, I think I love you.

This country has been slammed with a whole bunch of 'stuff' (she says euphemistically) and I think, as a result, as a nation we've collectively checked out and vegged on celebrity twits who drive drunk, wear no panties, and bring the collective IQ down about ten points. I enjoy a little foolishness and gossip as much as the next person. But enough. If you are famous, use it for something worthwhile. You have everyone's attention? Well, say something!

While the media would rather focus on all things Brangelina, Brad Pitt has flipped the script and unwittingly tricked them into having to cover one of the most important, ONGOING social problems in our country right now. The slow, almost indifferent pace of recovery from Hurricane Katrina. It's sad commentary, but if not for Brad Pitt and a handful of other celebrities (I see you Don Cheadle and George Clooney!) the word DARFUR might never get mentioned in some media outlets or be on the radar screens of many of my disconnected, uninformed brethren.

Since they following him around anyway, Brad Pitt figures out a way to use the cameras for something important! He's forcing real news to resume their job descriptions and cover pertinent issues instead of pandering for the entertainment audience. And he's trapped entertainment programs into using clips of him saying things like 'social responsibility,' 'government accountability,' and 'social justice.' It's like someone turned on light and opened a window! Obviously, he is not just a pretty face. Brad got game!

So from this Ninth Ward Girl, thank you Brad Pitt. Next Mardi Gras we gon' Second Line just for you!

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Five Words I never thought I'd say...

My hair is too long!

This has been coming on for a while. At first it was little things...my curls drooped. Then it got more serious... my locks all tangled in the neck of my shirt. Then it was code red...ponytails everyday.

I don't want to do anything drastic. But I think, given my face shape, I'm going to have to do some cutting. I really need some bangs. Really. Nothing severe. But I need a shorter layer to soften this fivehead I've got going. Not even a real bang...a one-row fringe just below my nose so that I could swoop it over to the side.

Here's the problem. Every time I go to the mirror with the scissors, I chicken out. This has happened three times this month already. Whenever I go to snip, I hear all these voices saying "How can you cut all that hair off!" The 'trim' would take four or five inches off. But it's just one row. Why am I being such a chicken? It's six or seven locks. Cause I'm too chicken to go more than one row.

I'm going to end up on the Maury show...you know how they bring those sorry women out who haven't cut their hair since Ford was in office. Their hair trails sorrily behind them. They have on those elastic waist pants and knit tops. Sigh.

Help me. Tell me to stop being a wimp and cut the six locks. It's just hair. It will look better. And if it doesn't, it's just one row and I can hide the dirty deed.

Monday, August 20, 2007

Lauryn Hill





I didn't forget about this post...I can't believe it's been two weeks since the concert!

So I saw Lauryn Hill perform free in Wingate Park. And I left with a swirl of thoughts. The next day I saw photos and reviews of the concert all over the internet and it made me want to write about how I felt about the concert, the way Lauryn Hill has been treated in the media, and Lauryn Hill herself.

I stayed for only one hour of her performance. She didn't take the stage until 9:44PM and I had to get back home to bed. I have a job. Plenty of people left. This is not uncommon at that time for the Wingate Park concerts or for me. I once left Wingate Park before Cameo hit the stage because I had to go to work the next day. And I LOVE Cameo. But it is true that a lot of people left in disgust and disappointment with Lauryn Hill. With only one opening performer--a young man with one popular song-- many people expected Lauryn to take the stage a LOT earlier than she did. But the crowd was just as prepared to hear she was a no-show. I know I was. Reading all these stories about Lauryn's unusual behavior and performances, I figured anything might happen. I had a book and a magazine. Instead of taking to the field inside the Wingate track, I sat on the bleachers and settled in for the evening. People were getting tired of waiting for her and there was a buzz in the crowd. Eventually, as I said, she took the stage at nearly 10PM.

Her band played an extra long intro, leaving many wondering what they were in for with this show. But she did come out. You could hear the whole crowd kind of pause. She was wearing a leather vest, a high-necked, long-sleeved blouse, and wide leg trousers. Her hair was an auburn-topped afro. When she started singing, it was a mixture of scratchiness and the deep, velvet tone that I remember. But her delivery was staccato and the arrangements furious, fast, and barely recognizable. She attacked the songs and rapped like she had somewhere else to go--hard, angry and so fast, so fast. Even when she sang familiar songs, the arrangements were so unfamiliar that the crowd couldn't recognize much less join in with her as they had been waiting to do.

Like I said, people leave the Wingate Park concerts early all the time. But many of the people who left were aggravated, confused and disappointed. I noticed that all the people who remained on the bleachers were women about my age. Their heads tilted, their mouths set in perplexed faces. You could almost see their thoughts...What is this?

I'm sure you've heard some of the stories about Lauryn Hill's personal life as she skyrocketed to critical acclaim and popular success with the Fugees and as a solo artist. I'm not going to rehash them. Suffice it to say, many people have been concerned about Lauryn Hill. Her most recent tour dates have allegedly been difficult. Depending on who you ask she has sung poorly, acted bizarrely, and dressed outlandishly...Everything about Lauryn has been picked apart and the consensus has not been positive. If you believe what you hear and read, Lauryn Hill has become an aloof, tempermental, disconnected woman. People brought all that to Wingate Park. In many ways, it distorted what they saw. Many people expected that Lauryn Hill would be terrible and that's the show they came to see and felt they got. Others came hoping that she would prove the rumors wrong. But the truth is somewhere in the middle.

I don't know Lauryn Hill. And I certainly don't know for sure that some of the stories about her are true. But I saw on that stage a woman who was disconnected. Her band seemed tense and obviously under her complete control. I couldn't help but wonder if a more experienced set of musicians might have resisted some of the arrangements she chose or encouraged her to edit or question aspects of her performance. As it was, the show came off, in my view, like her own private jam session. Unedited, uncritiqued, unchecked. If the stories are true, then Lauryn may not feel as if she can trust her peer musicians or be willing to share the creative process of her work with anyone. And that is too bad because every creative person needs not only an audience, but also a community. Art cannot be made in isolation. And you cannot perform in front of an audience, yet not invite them in to share. Whatever the reason for the unusual arrangements, the audience was so alienated and frustrated that they could not connect. And they desperately wanted to...The women in the bleachers came looking to see their Lauryn, the one whose voice narrated their love, their life. They wanted if she was hurt to help heal her with their love and support. But the Lauryn we saw, didn't want or couldn't accept the love. She was surrounded by protective armor and ready for battle. She didn't even realize that she was the one picking the fight. There were moments though when you could hear the power of her voice and glancingly touch her song.

A lot is made of Lauryn Hill's appearance. When her album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill was released nine (!) years ago, she was on fire. Her skin glowed, her makeup was fierce. She was undeniably that chick. She was so hot that she rocked locks on the cover of Harper's Bazaar. She mixed couture and street effortlessly...in printed interviews, she has said that she grew weary, anxious and uncomfortable about being on display.

So I find myself ambivalent about what she is doing now. On the one hand, her choice of stage wardrobe was odd--it was August and she was wearing a leather vest and long trousers-- and her makeup in photos seemed garish, almost grotesque. But is this because she's unhinged or because she is trying to make a statement about how she was commodified before? I wondered if her attire was an attempt to be defiantly modest. Only her face and hands were not covered. And her make-up, was it deliberately over the top? Or was it simply exaggerated stage application taken out of context by close-up photographers. From our spots in the bleachers, we would have never guessed that her makeup was as it was. Even on the jumbo screens, she seemed at worse a bit heavy-handed. But those photographs. I questioned whether some of them weren't enhanced to make her look clownish and weird. And when I read the reviews of the concert I had attended, I couldn't help but put myself in her shoes. What it must be like to have so many people ready to throw dirt and negativity at you. To call you crazy. To say you are terrible. I would find it surreal, it might even infuriate me. Maybe make me defensive and indignant. So while I didn't agree with her aesthetic choices, I certainly could understand how, even why she might have made them. If I had my creative integrity challenged and undermined, I might be resistant to collaboration and assert my right as a diva...be the HBIC.

I think so many women my age stayed, perplexed with Lauryn because, even though they were pissed off with Lauryn, deep down they understood how she got to that point. I think they also realized how easy it is to slip over the edge. If Lauryn Hill, with all the fame and fortune in the world could be laid low by love and life, can't we all so easily fly apart?

I hear Anita Baker gave a similarly perplexing performance the next week. When I was growing up, I remember my parents talking about Chaka Khan's volatility. And it wasn't too long ago that Mary J. Blige was the one we all worried about and spoke about in hushed tones. Billie Holiday. Every black woman has an artist of her generation who seems to embody their hurt, their struggle. I guess now it's Lauryn's turn. As aggravated, as alienated as we may be with her now, I also know we are also waiting for her renewal and return. We'll be there, ready with open arms.

A little bit of home

This made me homesick...

Sunday, August 19, 2007

Thursday, August 16, 2007

Just silly...

So I have time to squeeze in a bit about Diddy...

I have watched some or all of the Making the Band series on MTV. Yeah, I said it. I've bumped into a little pocket of people who are very snobby about their cultural pasttimes. I'm over it. I try to enjoy and learn from everything. Even reality shows.

So if you've missed it, every season Sean Combs, that's Diddy to you(!), promises some group of young hopefuls that he's going to make them the next big thing. That proposition in and of itself is foolish because by now every black artist should have figured out that the fastest route to one-hit-wonderdom or even undeserved obscurity is to be on the Bad Boy roster (Cheri Dennis, Carl Thomas, 112, New Edition, Faith Evans, Craig Mack, Black Rob, and the contestants of the previous three installments of MTB--especially MTB2...should be deposed on how Diddy systematically squandered the heat from their careers). When was the last time someone even said Total. Sigh. Anyhow, every season a group of wide-eyed young performers try their best to get Diddy's attention.

One season he actually did not 'make a band'--those girls were hilarious! Two or three of them got held over to another season--then cut. That eventually spawned the goofiness that is Dannity Kane. Unless you are like 15, you probably have never even heard of Dannity Kane. Yawn. I've just told you all you need to know. The most infamous season of Making the Band...lol...Diddy put together a sorry, obviously doomed hodge-podge of a thing called "The Band." The fact that he didn't even bother naming their group should have alerted these poor kids they...in the words of Craig Mack...wouldn't be around next year. This was the season Diddy infamously sent the hopefuls to walk all over the boroughs of New York and finally to Junior's in Brooklyn to bring him cheesecake...back in his Manhattan office. Other hilarity ensued, but I'm writing about MTB4...

This season Diddy is (allegedly) putting together a boy band. Dannity Kane moved a few units (though someone should tell those girls it's over) so Diddy figured he'd do the same thing in pants. The whole show would have probably slipped under the radar and probably in the rest of the country it is...but since it's located in NYC, during the production word slipped out that Diddy and his choreographer had got into it on the show and that he had thrown a chair at her during production! What?! So that has been the buzz about this season...rather than the band itself, hmm...what actually happened between Diddy and his choreographer Laurie Ann Gibson? Is she really suing him? So leading up to the episode that included this altercation people pretty much thought Diddy was the villain. And he very well may be...Laurie Ann Gibson went on the Wendy Williams radio show right before the show and dished a lot of dirt with Miss Wendy--of the "how you doin'?" variety. If you know Wendy, you know what I'm talking about...It seemed to be worth a watch.

So I got pulled in...I find MTB amusing anyway. I don't go out of my way, but so far just about every season, I've stumbled in and caught the episodes. One night I found this season and remembered the dust-up to come and started watching. Besides Diddy...this season has Michael Bivins from New Edition (Diddy rescued them from their MCA contract) and Laurie Ann Gibson. What can be said about Laurie Ann? She takes herself very seriously. And while she works, she has this habit of counting time by saying "boom kack, boom kack kack..." Eventually I started calling her Boom Kat and I see others have too. To the point that the chick now wears a satin jacket (!) that says BoomKat in crystals. Hilarious. Anyway...She' been the choreographer since the Dannity Kane cycle and pretty much in the background. But with the chair-throwing buzz, all of a sudden, Boom Kat is front and center. Hmm. I ended up hearing her interview with Wendy Williams on the internet. I was ready to see what went down with this chair throwing.

The episode finally comes on --don't worry it will be repeated many times. Like I said Miss BoomKat is taking herself extra serious. She tells the boys that their test for the week is to show how much of the dance routine they can learn in one day....ooookkkkkayyy! These guys do the best they can. Diddy saunters in, sits down with a toothpick in his mouth and dares these fools to impress him. Somebody's getting eliminated! But something is wrong...all these guys are terrible. Diddy finally asks how long did you guys practice and Laurie Ann very (sheepishly) slips in..."just today, their test was to show how quickly they could learn the routine and..." Well, all of a sudden Mr. Diddy is on his feet and furious. It's on and popping. And eventually he, BoomKat and Michael end up in a room off camera. A huge clatter. Then Laurie is gone! Wow.

Now if you hadn't heard Boom Kat on the Wendy Williams show, you probably thought Diddy was 100% in the wrong. It certainly seems like he's being a real jerk. And if he threw a chair? Well that's a wrap. But if you heard BoomKat's interview, you learned a few things that aren't very obvious, but are quite crucial to seeing this incident in context. One Miss BoomKat is trying to get a reality show of her own. Nothing wrong with that. Got to plan for the future...But she fails to mention she was trying to get her reality show during the taping of MTB4. You don't figure that out until you see the episode and connect the dots. Oh...and even though she's my age!...Miss BoomKat thinks she's about to become the next pop princess. What!? Hilarious.
So armed with that information, you notice how shady Laurie Ann sounds when she says..."uh this is the challenge, you're going to have one day..." And when Laurie Ann, Diddy and Michael are sitting together waiting for the guys to start dancing, you realize that Laurie Ann is being quite obnoxious. Diddy puts 2 and 2 together and realizes that instead of working with the guys all weekend, Laurie Ann has only with them one day because of her schedule. Diddy asks why have you only been here one day. BoomKat weakly and evasively keeps saying "that was the challenge" but off camera a producer tattles that she was only available one day because...wait for it.....apparently Miss Laurie Ann was busy taking meetings about her own reality show!

Then it all starts making sense. Laurie stunting on Diddy, daring him to replace her, appearing on Wendy all in her face....This chick thinks she's about to blow up! Priceless. She made this 'one day challenge thing' up and had Diddy not asked WHY the guys were so bad, she wouldn't have said a word. So when Diddy goes ballistic..."I ain't taking no objections, baby girl, I ain't taking no objections!" I actually agreed with him-- I'm actually trying to find an occasion to say that myself..."I ain't takin' no objections"--heehee. The way Laurie Ann handled the whole situation was wrong and underhanded. While she may want her own fame and fortune, for now, she is a bit player on Diddy's show and her behavior was COMPLETELY out of pocket. Now the whole chair throwing thing happens off camera...so I have no idea what really went down. He might have thrown it AT her or he might have just knocked a chair over. He seems pretty confident Miss Laurie's lawsuit ain't worth filing. But when you put all that BoomKat lays out together... she actually ended up persuading me to take Diddy's side. I can't believe it. Any chick in her mid-thirties or better that thinks she's the next big thing in a teenager's game is clearly delusional and unreliable as a source for information! And she obviously has poor judgment. Girlfriend played right into Wendy's "how you doing" game and implicated Diddy, Michael Bivins and Andre Harrell. These are not the things you do when you are trying to be a senior citizen pop star. Sigh. And the first rule is to get a new job before you jeopardize your current one.

Just silly...

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

It's Up to You, Part Two...

I had no intention of keeping you all in suspense. This week I've just been swamped at work. So I will be following up on all four topics. But my Lauryn Hill post will have to wait because it's going to take a minute....

So...facebook. Even though I felt really ancient doing it, I started a MySpace page... I think that was last year. Yawn. It's ok. But then one of my much younger friends sent me an invitation to join facebook a few months ago. I love it! It could just be the novelty of it all, but I like the environment at facebook much better. It's like they've taken the best elements of all the other social networking sites and combined them into something that really works like a community.

1) Invitations-- I really like that you have to have a real connection to another person to add them to your network. LinkedIn, the professional networking site works this way also. I got invited to join LinkedIn when it was still in beta... also Doostang--but I don't even know if they're still around. Friendster is just boring...but it's very easy on that site and especially on MySpace to get flooded with 'fake' friends. MySpace is really like a free-for-all. There's porn and blatant shilling...you've got to wade through a lot of muck to enjoy it.

2) Groups-- The ones I relied upon most are my (many!) alma maters, but you can also extend tour network by geography. I managed to find someone I went to elementary school with (!) and someone from my high school graduating class found me. Cool. I also joined a whole lot of the interest groups.

3) Applications-- OK. I am a dork. Somebody 'bit' me and made me a zombie...after that I was hooked. I became a vampire and a werewolf. If you're not on facebook, you're probably wondering what I'm talking about...there are all these silly applications like the Vampires and 'buying' rounds of drinks or gifts for your friends that are just fun ways to pass the time... The best application so far is Virtual Bookshelf. You can add titles you want to read, have already read and are currently reading. Plus you can share your bookshelf with others. There are similar applications for movies and music. Very cool. It's really interesting to see what is popular right now....

Which is a good segue to the next topic...A book a day. At the beginning of the summer, I found myself with a lot of time on my hands and decided I wanted to get back to reading. I've been burned out on reading for a long time--I associated it with graduate school All the joy was sucked out of it...but I won't go there. Anyhow, since I am doing all this rediscovering, I decided reading should be right up there.

Having started the new job, I decided what I really needed was to escape. I've read enough Literature to last me awhile so I thought it would be fun to read some contemporary authors I missed out on because I didn't have the time and they didn't fit canonical standard. And I just wanted to read some trashy books...and many were, but with some I've been pleasantly surprised. I still have the residue of my academic past so I quickly decided that I would read as many titles any particular author had written.

I started with Zane. I told you I wanted trashy (lol). Wow. That stuff was...what's the word...graphic. I am very intrigued that after so many generations of trying to combat stereotypes of black hypersexuality Zane has embraced a very defiant sexual tone. While she calls her work erotic, I can't really agree. I've read some authors who fall more comfortably in the category of erotic. I found Zane to be really just interested in depicting sex in the most graphic terms possible. Her story structure suffered as a result. I read 5 of her books, all full of steamy sexual encounters. But her plots always reached a point of incredulity. Her endings were often just ridiculous. But I'm glad I finally found out what the fuss was about.

Staying on that theme, the next writer on my list was E. Lynn Harris. His books started on the market when I was in grad school, so I missed them. I just didn't have time to read 'popular' books. I was really impressed with his writing and though a bit gimmicky, I liked the continuity of characters across books. Gay and lesbian writing was one of my 'sub-fields' in African American literature. I was very touched by the realization that while gay and lesbian writers of previous generations-- especially during the Harlem Renaissance--were compelled to cloak their thematic interests and personal orientations...and that even open writers like Baldwin were often marginalized for their honesty, E. Lynn Harris has been able to attract a wide popular audiences and write some pretty good novels about gay characters. On the down side, I find a lot of the conversations that followed his works pretty tired. I'm sorry y'all..I think the whole Down Low thing is just ridiculous, black men and women have been gay and lesbian since forever-- I can't process homophobia. This is not some new ''plague" in our midst...But that's fodder for another post. Let me get off that soapbox.

After that, I've just been bouncing around. I read three books by Benilde Little, very good. And I forget her name...but I started on the second book of the Nappily Ever After series...I'm currently going through Bebe Moore Campbell's books. I loved 72 Hour Hold and also read What You Owe Me and Singing in the Comeback Choir. All really good writers...Not stellar, but very enjoyable was the work of Kayla Perrin. I had never heard of her , but she's quite prolific.

I decided to ratchet things up a bit. So now I'm reading Shay Youngblood's Black Girl in Paris...I met Shay while I was in grad school...she's definitely an Important Black Writer. I've had New England White by Stephen L. Carter for months. It's so damn big! I just start a new book rather than cracking it open. But I will get to it because I really enjoyed The Emperor of Ocean Park.

The best thing about all this. I finally got a library card. I realized right away that I could not afford to buy all the books I was tearing through. So now I'm working two branches for titles.

OK...I need to get to bed....I'll blog about the other topics soon!

Friday, August 10, 2007

It's Up to You...

I was going to get all fancy with it and try to put a fancy poll-a-majicky in here. But I get all flustered...So I'm just gonna keep it simple.

What should I blog about next?

Lauryn Hill...I saw her concert last Monday and have a million thoughts about it.

Making the Band 4...so much foolishness...BoomKat and Diddy! Where would I start first?

facebook...it's like crack. Should I elaborate?

A book a day...seriously! I've been reading all these books I was too busy...and snobby to read when I was in graduate school or teaching.

OK...that's four choices. Let me know what you think I should blog about!

You would not believe...

It is 58 degrees in New York City. Right now. I kid you not.