I have about 6 pairs of shoes in total. In my mind, I have a shoe collection that can rival Kimora's LOL.
My lack of finances does not prevent a girl from dreaming... so check out the latest footwear to sport my imaginary walk in closet:
From Lulu's: Classified Ivana Tan Multi Vegan Leather Strappy Sandal is slide in style in an adorable quintet of mustard, teal and green with light and dark tan. Priced at $17.00, these shoes are not only adorable... they stir a nostalgic feeling.
My Aunt had a pair of sandals very similar to them, and I remember walking around in them, the shoes flopping around my too-small little girl's feet.
These Kimchi Blue Herringbone Gladiator Sandals are $38 at Urban Outfitters and are TOTALLY GORGEOUS!!!
These would be perfect coupled with a nice summer dress!!
And for summer days on the 9-to-5, these Seychelles Teardrop Slingbacks ($88 - Urban Outfitters)is how I dream to rock my workin' girl steez. These would just pop with a blue blouse and black suit!!
And I had to save my favorites for last....
These Steve Madden Creatte Natural Multi Boho Chic Platform from Lulus is $48 bucks and I have to be mindful of my laptop's keyboard because just looking at them makes me drool profusely! LMAO
And here is my imaginary walk-in closet in all it's glory! Ain't is divine!!?!?!
Neneh Cherry is one artist that (if I could get away with it) I would remake her entire catalog of songs.. they're that dope!
It bugs me that when people talk about female rappers, her name never comes up. She's no Latifah, but she did have spitting skills and her own creative spin.
Part of the cosmetics giant L'Oréal was yesterday found guilty of racial discrimination after it sought to exclude non-white women from promoting its shampoo.
In a landmark case, the Garnier division of the beauty empire, along with a recruitment agency it employed, were fined €30,000 (£20,300) each after they recruited women on the basis of race. The historic ruling - the first time a major company has been found guilty of systematic race discrimination in France - saw a senior figure at the agency given a three-month suspended prison sentence.
The French campaign group SOS Racisme brought the case against L'Oréal, the world's largest cosmetics firm, over the campaign in 2000. Garnier France sought saleswomen to demonstrate the shampoo line Fructis Style in supermarkets outside Paris. They sought young women to hand out samples and discuss hairstyling with shoppers.
In July 2000, a fax detailing the profile of hostesses sought by L'Oréal stipulated women should be 18 to 22, size 38-42 (UK size 10-14) and "BBR", the initials for bleu, blanc, rouge, the colours of the French flag. Prosecutors argued that BBR, a shorthand used by the far right, was also a well-known code among employers to mean "white" French people and not those of north African, African and Asian backgrounds.
Christine Cassan, a former employee at Districom, a communications firm acting for Garnier, told the court her clients demanded white hostesses. She said that when she had gone ahead and presented candidates "of colour" a superior in her own company had said she had "had enough of Christine and her Arabs".
One woman working in the recruitment firm involved said foreign-sounding names or photos showing a candidate was of Moroccan, Algerian, Tunisian or other African origin would ensure candidates were eliminated. Another said: "I once had a good woman candidate but she was non-white. I had to ask someone to pretend that our list was full. It was hard."
One experienced candidate said she realised she was not eligible because she was of mixed race. In a normal sample of women recruited for similar sales work, around 40% would be non-white. For the Fructis project, less than 4% were of "non-European" origin.
SOS Racisme said hundreds of jobs had been subject to discrimination in the case. Garnier and the recruitment company were initially acquitted last year, but the appeal court yesterday overturned the ruling. A former Garnier head and a senior recruitment agency executive were acquitted.
Anti-racism campaigners in France hailed the ruling. Racial discrimination in employment is a huge problem in France with a recent survey finding three out of four firms preferred white workers.
President Nicolas Sarkozy's new justice minister, Rachida Dati, the first woman of north African origin to hold a ministerial post, has ruled that special departments in prosecutors' offices should be set up to deal with race discrimination.
Samuel Thomas of SOS Racisme told the Guardian: "This ruling is an enormous victory for everyone currently suffering race discrimination in France. It shows that economic interests cannot be put before the law and morality. Companies here clearly thought that racism was in their financial interest."
He said consumers of L'Oréal products in the UK and the US would be horrified to learn about the racial discrimination.
L'Oréal owns brands ranging from Lancôme to the Body Shop, which it bought last year. It said yesterday it would immediately appeal against the decision, which it found "incomprehensible".
"We believe that diversity and difference are a source of richness and we do not tolerate any form of racism or discrimination," the statement said.
The company was hoping for an altogether different type of publicity in France this weekend when it created a special lipstick for the Paris wedding of Desperate Housewives' star Eva Longoria to the French basketball player Tony Parker.
Century of beauty
L'Oréal was founded in 1907 by a French chemist who invented one of the first synthetic hair dyes.
It is the world's biggest beauty products company and owns brands from Maybelline to Helena Rubinstein and the Body Shop. In the 90s L'Oréal was hit by claims over past links to fascism, anti-semitism and the giving of jobs to Nazi collaborators after the second world war. It went some way to satisfy its critics with a boardroom change and other measures. Liliane Bettencourt, L'Oréal's major shareholder, is the wealthiest woman in France. Two years ago L'Oréal's slogan was softened from "Because I'm worth it" to "Because you're worth it" after concerns in France that the original appeared too money-oriented.
I remember seeing this Beyonce ad where she is lightened so much she looks like Reese Witherspoon or something, and I remember thinking "They don't value their customers if they don't value their spokespeople"
I am glad that the French Court of Cassation found them guilty and fined them. I am sure that fine is a mere drop in the bucket... but hopefully this will result in people boycotting the product which will be a bigger hit to their wallets. Hmmph! "Money-Oriented" is right... they want that non-blanc money, but they don't want to allow any people of color to make money off the brand.
I stopped using their cosmetics a long time ago (primarily because they're shitty) I did not know about Maybelline, though.. which means I will not be spending money on the clear Great Lash anymore! Does anyone know who else makes a good one?
I am at a lost for words. I am watching the news, and I am remarking about the generation of children that grew up watching tv and seeing him sing and dance and just.... gasped and stared in a daze. And my children will never get a chance to see him live... never get a chance to hear new music from him.
His legal and personal problems should not discount the impact he had on music and on popular culture. This is one of my favorite songs of his...
A few years ago, I saw a bumper sticker that had the above message on it, and naturally I cracked up. When I read stories like this, I shake my head and sincerely ask this request.
A former Southern Baptist Convention officer who on June 2 called the death of abortion provider George Tiller an answer to prayer said later in the day he is also praying "imprecatory prayer" against President Obama.
Wiley Drake, pastor of First Southern Baptist Church in Buena Park, Calif., and former running mate of American Independent Party presidential candidate Alan Keyes, said June 2 on Fox News Radio he didn't understand why people were upset with his comments quoted by Associated Baptist Press from a webcast of his daily radio talk show.
"Imprecatory prayer is agreeing with God, and if people don't like that, they need to talk to God," Drake told syndicated talk-show host Alan Colmes. "God said it, I didn't. I was just agreeing with God."
Asked if there are others for whom Drake is praying "imprecatory prayer," Drake hesitated before answering that there are several. "The usurper that is in the White House is one, B. Hussein Obama," he said.
Later in the interview, Colmes returned to Drake's answer to make sure he heard him right.
"Are you praying for his death?" Colmes asked.
"Yes," Drake replied.
"So you're praying for the death of the president of the United States?"
"Yes."
Colmes asked Drake if he was concerned that by saying that he might be placed on a Secret Service or FBI watch list, and if he believed it appropriate to talk or pray that way.
"I think it's appropriate to pray the Word of God," Drake said. "I'm not saying anything. What I am doing is repeating what God is saying, and if that puts me on somebody's list, then I'll just have to be on their list."
"You would like for the president of the United States to die?" Colmes asked once more.
"If he does not turn to God and does not turn his life around, I am asking God to enforce imprecatory prayers that are throughout the Scripture that would cause him death, that's correct."
I wonder if there is a "special bible" out there for fanatics and kooks that tells a different story of Jesus than the one I read.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Testing mobile blogging via my cell phone. This is probably the shortest blog in my long-winded life, but it is what it is! LOL
First Writing Since
(Poem on Crisis of Terror)
by Suheir Hammad
New York, New York
1. there have been no words.
i have not written one word.
no poetry in the ashes south of canal street.
no prose in the refrigerated trucks driving debris and dna.
not one word.
today is a week, and seven is of heavens, gods, science.
evident out my kitchen window is an abstract reality.
sky where once was steel.
smoke where once was flesh.
fire in the city air and i feared for my sister's life in a way never
before. and then, and now, i fear for the rest of us.
first, please god, let it be a mistake, the pilot's heart failed, the
plane's engine died.
then please god, let it be a nightmare, wake me now.
please god, after the second plane, please, don't let it be anyone
who looks like my brothers.
i do not know how bad a life has to break in order to kill.
i have never been so hungry that i willed hunger
i have never been so angry as to want to control a gun over a pen.
not really.
even as a woman, as a palestinian, as a broken human being.
never this broken.
more than ever, i believe there is no difference.
the most privileged nation, most americans do not know the difference
between indians, afghanis, syrians, muslims, sikhs, hindus.
more than ever, there is no difference.
2. thank you korea for kimchi and bibim bob, and corn tea and the
genteel smiles of the wait staff at wonjo the smiles never revealing
the heat of the food or how tired they must be working long midtown
shifts. thank you korea, for the belly craving that brought me into
the city late the night before and diverted my daily train ride into
the world trade center.
there are plenty of thank yous in ny right now. thank you for my
lazy procrastinating late ass. thank you to the germs that had me
call in sick. thank you, my attitude, you had me fired the week
before. thank you for the train that never came, the rude nyer who
stole my cab going downtown. thank you for the sense my mama gave me
to run. thank you for my legs, my eyes, my life.
3. the dead are called lost and their families hold up shaky
printouts in front of us through screens smoked up.
we are looking for iris, mother of three. please call with any
information. we are searching for priti, last seen on the 103rd
floor. she was talking to her husband on the phone and the line
went. please help us find george, also known as a! ! del. his family is
waiting for him with his favorite meal. i am looking for my son, who
was delivering coffee. i am looking for my sister girl, she started
her job on monday.
i am looking for peace. i am looking for mercy. i am looking for
evidence of compassion. any evidence of life. i am looking for
life.
4. ricardo on the radio said in his accent thick as yuca, "i will
feel so much better when the first bombs drop over there. and my
friends feel the same way."
on my block, a woman was crying in a car parked and stranded in hurt.
i offered comfort, extended a hand she did not see before she said,
"we"re gonna burn them so bad, i swear, so bad." my hand went to my
head and my head went to the numbers within it of the dead iraqi
children, the dead in nicaragua. the dead in rwanda who had to vie
with fake sport wrestling for america's attention.
yet when people sent emails saying, this was bound to happen, lets
! ! not forget u.s. transgressions, for half a second i felt resentful.
hold up with that, cause i live here, these are my friends and fam,
and it could have been me in those buildings, and we"re not bad
people, do not support america's bullying. can i just have a half
second to feel bad?
if i can find through this exhaust people who were left behind to
mourn and to resist mass murder, i might be alright.
thank you to the woman who saw me brinking my cool and blinking back
tears. she opened her arms before she asked "do you want a hug?" a
big white woman, and her embrace was the kind only people with the
warmth of flesh can offer. i wasn't about to say no to any comfort.
"my brother's in the navy," i said. "and we"re arabs". "wow, you
got double trouble." word.
5. one more person ask me if i knew the hijackers.
one more motherfucker ask me what navy my brother is in.
one more person assume no arabs or muslims were killed.one more person
assume they know me, or that i represent a people.
or that a people represent an evil. or that evil is as simple as a
flag and words on a page.
we did not vilify all white men when mcveigh bombed oklahoma.
america did not give out his family's addresses or where he went to
church. or blame the bible or pat robertson.
and when the networks air footage of palestinians dancing in the
street, there is no apology that hungry children are bribed with
sweets that turn their teeth brown. that correspondents edit images.
that archives are there to facilitate lazy and inaccurate
journalism.
and when we talk about holy books and hooded men and death, why do we
never mention the kkk?
if there are any people on earth who understand how new york is
feeling right now, they are in the west bank and the gaza strip.
6. today it is ten days. last night bush waged war on a man once
openly funded by the
cia. i do not know who is responsible. read too many books, know
too many people to believe what i am told. i don't give a fuck about
bin laden. his vision of the world does not include me or those i
love. and petittions have been going around for years trying to get
the u.s. sponsored taliban out of power. shit is complicated, and i
don't know what to think.
but i know for sure who will pay.
in the world, it will be women, mostly colored and poor. women will
have to bury children, and support themselves through grief. "either
you are with us, or with the terrorists" - meaning keep your people
under control and your resistance censored. meaning we got the loot
and the nukes.
in america, it will be those amongst us who refuse blanket attacks on
the shivering. those of us who work toward social justice, in
support of civil liberties, in opposition to hateful foreign
policies.
i have never felt less american and more new yorker, particularly
brooklyn, than these past days. the stars and stripes on all these
cars and apartment windows represent the dead as citizens first, not
family members, not lovers.
i feel like my skin is real thin, and that my eyes are only going to
get darker. the future holds little light.
my baby brother is a man now, and on alert, and praying five times a
day that the orders he will take in a few days time are righteous and
will not weigh his soul down from the afterlife he deserves.
both my brothers - my heart stops when i try to pray - not a beat to
disturb my fear. one a rock god, the other a sergeant, and both
palestinian, practicing muslim, gentle men. both born in brooklyn
and their faces are of the archetypal arab man, all eyelashes and
nose and beautiful color and stubborn hair.
what will their lives be like now?
over there is over here.
7. all day, across the river, the smell of burning rubber and limbs
floats through. the sirens have stopped now. the advertisers are
back on the air. the rescue workers are traumatized. the skyline is
brought back to human size. no longer taunting the gods with its
height.
i have not cried at all while writing this. i cried when i saw those
buildings collapse on themselves like a broken heart. i have never
owned pain that needs to spread like that. and i cry daily that my
brothers return to our mother safe and whole.
there is no poetry in this. there are causes and effects. there are
symbols and ideologies. mad conspiracy here, and information we will
never know. there is death here, and there are promises of more.
there is life here. anyone reading this is breathing, maybe hurting,
but breathing for sure. and if there is any light to come, it will
shine from the eyes of those who look for peace and justice after the
rubble and rhetoric are cleared and the phoenix has risen.
affirm life.
affirm life.
we got to carry each other now.
you are either with life, or against it.
affirm life.
Published in In Motion Magazine November 7, 2001
Suheir Hammad is the author of "Born Palestinian, Born Black" (Harlem River Press, 1996, $12.00, ISBN 0-863-16244-4) and other books. "First Writing Since" is published here with permission.
This summer's humidity has been straight up hell on my hair, so I've decided to give it a rest for a few months and invest in some kinky twists. I've never had the style before, so I am very much looking forward to getting them done.
I've braided my own hair for the past 10+ years, and I was considering doing them myself (armed with the numerous YouTube how-to videos), but I haven't gotten my hair done by a professional in almost a decade, and I thought it would be a great spirit boosting, self affirming, "I deserve it" kind of treat.
In my mind, I picture a Tracee Ellis Ross (Joan from Girlfriends) sort of do with kinky twists. I am not even sure this is possible. I've been scouring the web searching for pics that convey this vision, but to no avail.
Of course, if I wasn't unemployed, I would probably opt for something more daring like these, but I figured I would keep it conservative the first time, ya know?
After I take them out, I plan on following this regimen I scouted online via the Long Hair Don't Care website about Shikai-Co Washing, and I thought I would try that, coupled with deep conditioning to see how I like it.
I am ga-go cuckoo crazy over these adorable hair flowers & feather headbands from Bohemian Soul out of Brooklyn, New York (Representin'...LOL). They are soo unique and I love seeing them smack dab in the midst of deliciously natural hair. Perfect addition for a rockin' summer outfit!!
Honey Bee Hair Flower Clip
Citurus
Royal Plastic Rose Head band
Priced between $10-$15, these headbands are definitely an style must have!! I have my eye on two at the moment and will be sure to post pictures of me rockin' them when I get them!
To get your hands on your own, visit Bohemian Soul online at www.bohemiansoul.com
If I were to die today, in a manner similar to Charles Foster Kane... I think instead of the famous "Roooose Buuuuuud"... my dying words would be vastly different, though (dare I presume) equally cryptic:
I was born in 1977. This makes me definitely a child of the 80s. And one of the fashion trends of the era I never got to participate in (thanks to maternal disapproval) was the wearing of jelly sandals. And I got to wear almost all the trends:
Michael Jackson glove? Check.
Remember the colorful, plastic charm necklaces? I was rockin' em.
Eva Joia clothes? Oui Oui
Acid Wash? Uhhhh... yeah
The only thing seriously missing from my style arsenal was jellies. And everytime I think about it, I feel a pang of regret.
I remember watching other little girls walk around in their jellies, and thinking they look so cute. I was reflecting on that a few minutes ago, and I decided, "Damnit, I'm 31 years old... I am going to get my arse a pair of Jellies".... LOL
So if you know of anyplace that sells the old school style mary jane jellies, drop me a line! I will be sure to post pics!
This last week has been pretty... bleh. With the exception of two interviews in one week, there hasn't been much going on in my world.
Summer is the worst time of the year to be unemployed and looking. A lot of people are on vacation and simply aren't looking for employees. The jobs I've been seeing on Craig's List have truly been a head scratcher. And I have a lot of questions:
1) Have all Russian/Korean/Chinese people left their jobs recently? It seems like 2 out of advertisements are asking for people with these specific language skills.
2) Does "polished" really mean W-H-I-T-E? I hope not, but I wonder sometimes...
3) Do employers looking for Ivy League graduates only truly expect to get a shitload of replys when they are paying $9 an hour? I'm a dropout myself, but if I graduated from an Ivy League I would assume I'd be looking for more than a receptionist gig, ya know? But then again, I'm an L.I.U. drop out! lol
4) How can you be an Office Manager and only work PT? I mean... does the office only require managing 25 hours a week? I don't get it!!
5) Employers: Stop writing the BLOODCLOT BIBLE in your ads, okay? You wouldn't read a 3 page resume, why should I read the Declaration of Independance when reading about a job opening? I appreciate you wanting to give as much information about the job and the company as possible... but that's what Google and Job Interviews are for, man!
Anyway, despite these frustrations, I keep pounding the virtual pavement, and am confident an awesome kick ass job will be coming my way sooner rather than later. I am a good person, a hard working sistah, and I am open... which is a recipe for success.
I love this song so much! It truly lifts my spirits and motivates me!! And the video makes me want to hop on a bike and pedal alongside Corinne Bailey Rae... if I could actually RIDE a bike! LOL
So yesterday I saw the video of 6 women attacking the owner of an Oakland Beauty Salon. The video, which I will not be posting on my blog (but can be seen by clicking here - I warn you,though...it's tough!), hurt my heart so much that I wanted to blog about it, but decided to wait 24 hours to do so... in order to give me time to process it, so that I can really express my feelings on this.
This is really really why I am so effin' proud to be a Pirate Sista, man. I love and respect my sistren so much that I could never see myself ever stooping so low, over a man, over anything!
At first I was so angry and had such violent energy towards the women (especially the woman filming this and the women watching), but I realized that these women obviously have enough violence in their lives, so why should I block my blessings to add to it.
I think I continue to be astonished when I am confronted with grown ups acting like teenagers. Last year, I went through this at my former job, having a group of "Mean Girls" (lead by a male "Mean Girl") single me out. I didn't go through that shit in HIGH SCHOOL, so at 31 years old, it really was a head scratcher for me!!!
And it continues to be mind boggling! I have actually had women want to fight me(!) because I was looking at them, admiring their earrings or their shirt or whatever. I usually smile and say, " I was looking because your [item] is beautiful... you are beautiful, my sister!", and they light up.
Cree Summer has this excellent quote (from an article in TheHotness) about the relationships between women that really sums up my feelings far better than I can:
" So many women don’t respect other women. When I’m confronted with animosity from another woman, because I’m spoiled rotten with my friends, I’m always so shocked. I can’t believe that we would have anything to possibly compete about. Women fighting each other. I mean who could possibly win? We’re creators. Just yesterday I’m out in the garden looking at these brand new flowers that sprouted out and said look no one makes colors like the Mother. And in those moments I think how could I ever be sad to be born Woman."
So I propose we counteract this violence and negativity with a love movement. Tell as many women (black, white, brown, yellow, etc.) that they are beautiful... no strings attached. It's difficult at times, but it will be a beautiful thing for yourself and for others. I mean... like attracts like.
This is what is so wrong with racism today. Rusty DePass has the nerve to SWEAR that his comments had nothing whatsoever to do with Michelle Obama's race. He acted as if he was so shocked to hear why people who "misinterpret" him that way... like he didn't know African-Americans were compared and are still being compared to monkeys today.
Despite his backward beliefs, I would respect him so much more if he simply owned up to it. Instead he's proven himself to be not only a racist, but a coward as well.
Warriors walk alone
But stay protected by their pack
Give them everything they wanted
Then take it all back
Make them find their icon in the mirror
Sprout their own fear and watch them grow
Tell their story – cry when you do it
Turn your blood to funkadelic polkadots
Sign your name in red
Change the I to why
Because we have to change
Because black girls are dying
Because no one showed them how to live
Mama fish, the children will revolt
Whispers and reports of oil spills
Will kill the women
Who make revolution, food for their children
A penny bank full of butterflies
Will never cocoon into enough cash
To pay for the expectations of spectators
Gypsy haters
Wash your colorful wings in the well
Know that all your wishes
Add to our spicy bitches brew
We are who was sent to you
So, who sent you?
When the shit goes down
Will you remember which way the blue bird flew?
I advise you carry your compass and your scissors
Next time you go fishing for the worst part of good
I hope your ideas of consciousness
Can get you out this hood
In one piece
We wolves always come in peace
We are the traveling leaf, that cries for trees
Music angel.
Stretch your warrior marks
Mark your warrior path
Stretch marks tattoo your temple
Swallow your dimples
Hide your style/market your spirit/sell something/cut it off/save
them/sacrifice/drink water/pray/laugh and breath/cross your legs/get your
gun/wage the war/make them buy it/bat your eyes/rock it out/make them
beg/put the hits on the b side/smile warrior
Listen for your tribe
Here we go!
Check your footprints
Pick them up/shoot em down/take the a train/bite your story
Save your tongue//just get there sista/even if you have to leave a few of
us
behind/chant backward rhymes/store your milk for ammunition/ use your
intuition/shave your hair/wish them luck
tell the witch doctors/we don’t give a fuck/
scar your face/pierce your nose/unwrap the package
define the present
tell them no
just when they think they’ve have it
meditate while they criticize it/burn sage for the liars who print it/turn
down the stove/only boil with natural fire/burn down their house/watch the
words melt /save the ink/write a new song/return to the ocean/leave them
to
the mermaids/carry your pepper spray/wear your hooker books/tease
them/make
them prove their identity/brand it to their bodies/force them to pin a
star
to their clothes/convert the masses/design the logo/create a real
revolution
... my Nappturality fam will know exactly what I mean when I say THAT episode... the episode entitled "What is Good Hair"?
I've been purposefully avoiding that episode because I knew it would raise my blood pressure, but I was inspired to watch it when I read Coily World!, a blog about natural hair that I am really enjoying (the authoress has become my new hair idol.. I am trying to reach her level, man!. I really wanted to gain an understanding of the show and I suppose a morbid curiosity got the better of me, so I sauntered off my high horse (ha!) and decided to watch the episode on You Tube. I am up to Part 3, and I had to pause that bad boy to write this blog!!!
I worked last year for several months for Carol's Daughter as a Customer Service Representative (so if you called or emailed in that time, maybe you got me!) and that was 99.5% of all the calls... women saying they want "good hair" for themselves or for their children. I cringe every time I hear that expression: "good hair"
As long as your hair is not leaving your head and committing random acts of violence on the community... it's good. And (much to my supervisor's chagrin) I didn't hesitate to tell my customers so. I would always stress to them to first embrace the natural texture of your hair and to love yourself exactly as God made you. If you decide to put a relaxer in your hair, so be it.. but be safe and take care of your hair. And if you mention relaxing a child's hair to me.. don't be surprise if you get a lecture. LOL
Believe me, I wasn't always so evolved. I transitioned from getting my hair pressed by my Mum in the "pressing chair" to enduring a relaxer at the beauty salon when I was eight years old. I put my last relaxer in my hair at age 17, and my hair has been natural ever since. I wore it in braids for years out of sheer laziness, so much so... that people who have known me for YEARS had never seen my real hair.
When I was approaching 30, I decided to do my version of the "big chop": I took my braids out, having no idea what I would find in there and with no idea on how to take care of it.
Blessed with internet access, I armed myself with oodles of info on products, techniques and advice. It's been almost two years and a lot (!!!) of mistakes later, I feel like I am starting to understand what my hair needs, and it's growing like a weed, so I must be doing something right!
I think what really started this process was not looking at my hair like a burden, but as something natural and wild that I can have fun with!!
How psyched am I that Torrid has a new feature that enables you to put together outfits?!? Called The Dressing Room, powered by Polyvore, it allows you to put together a dream outfit prior to making a purchase...
Check out the outfit I created out of items that STAY on my wish list (I'm actually stalking this outfit) until I get some moola.
What's really cool is that you can (once you are ready to buy) add the items straight from a list to your shopping cart. Technology rocks...!
Frank Zappa's a SUPERHERO to me, I don't care who knows it!!! LOL
When I was thinking about what I wanted to do with my blog, I knew that I wanted to do something besides Music Therapy with Miss Moon, because music is a great love of mine.
So I thought that I would create a weekly post called A Little [FILL IN THE BLANK] for a Saturday Night, where I will share some of my favorite songs with you.
I have a pretty eclectic taste in music, be warned... muahahahahahahahahaaaaaaa
AND.... any suggestions for artists/albums/songs you think I'd dig, be sure to comment me.
This week's "...for a Saturday Night" is (obviously) Frank Zappa, performing one of my favorite songs of his, "Cosmik Debris". Enjoy!!!
I indulge in watching political commentary as much as I can stand: Keith Olbermann (love him!), Rachel Maddow (love her!), Bill Maher (he has his moments!) and Chris Matthews (ehhh)... I watch them all to get informed opinions and to gain perspective about the current political environment. And while my own personal commentary tends to lean more towards Jon Stewart's (meaning: sarcastic), I had a revelation about right wing pundits and bloggers (forgive the slang) hatin' on President Obama. And to do so, please allow me to offer an analogy from my own life experience.
A few years ago, I went on a job interview at a well known textile designer here in NYC... I don't exacly remember what the job was for, but I believe it was something administrative, like office assistant. I might've even been a customer service job... who knows? I arrived at the interview a few minutes early and was greeted by a gentleman, who introduced himself as the designer and offered assistance to me, thinking I was a buyer, presumably.
When I explained that I was here for an interview, he introduced me to his office manager, and I was asked to have a seat in front of her desk. I sat there for almost 30 minutes as she typed on the computer, ate a buttered roll, and chit chatted with various employees who were wandering around the showroom. Well after the buttered roll was consumed, she invited me to pull my chair up and join her at her desk, which I did.
She leans in and asks me, "You did know you were coming in for an interview today, right?", I said yes, I was fully aware of this matter. She then asks me if I would consider some advice, to which I also said yes...curious where all of this was going. She then proceeded to tell me that she will not be interviewing me today because my "appearance" was unsuitable for a job interview. She said that my resume and cover letter both indicated that I was a professional woman, and my appearance does not match.
I kindly said that I begged to differ. She asked me in based on my resume and cover letter which are definitely the sign of a intelligent, professional woman. And since I was the author of the cover letter and the resume reflects my personal work experience and qualifications that it most certainly matched, as it was me (and my "appearance") that worked the jobs and gained the experience. I thanked her for her time and advice and left, head held high.
I started walking as I left the building.... I walked all the way to Columbus Circle, silently crying and feeling utterly helpless. As I hit 59th Street, the smell of freshly ejected horse maneur snapped me out of my sadness when I was hit with the realization that every word that woman said to me was utter utter HORSESHIT!!!
There was nothing wrong with my appearance: I was dressed in a suit which was clean and freshly ironed. I had my nose ring in (but so did three other employees that I witnessed there) and it wasn't certainly my size because there were women employed there as big as me. I realized that her problem with my "appearance" wasn't something that could be changed: my skin color. Not that I would want to change it in the first place.
In today's litigous society people can't really go out and say, "We don't like you because you're [fill in the blank]", because they will end up getting sued, boycotted, and publically persecuted. So they have to really find something to focus on as a flaw. Thus my "appearance".
I think a lot of the commentators (please note that not once in this post did I include every right wing blogger or commentator in my statements) who take offense to President Obama taking his wife out to the theatre, being photographed unbeknowst to him with his feet up while talking to the Prime Minister of Israel, getting a dog not from a kennel but from another family in consideration of his child's allergies (and I wont even get into the whole "Birth-ers" hoopala)... they are basically saying, "I do not like the fact that we have a African-American President with a Muslim name and we are going to make it very hard for him every step of the way.
Lyrics to a song I'm working on, still in progress:
They can't call him the n-word, so they call him a facist. They can't call him the n-word, so they call him a socialist. They can't call him the n-word, so they call him a pawn. They can't call him the n-word, so they ring the alarm. They can't call him the n-word, so they call him unpatriotic.
Janeane Garofalo hit it right on the head when she said that most of the Tea-Baggers were racists and bigots who were just angry that a black man was in the WHITE House. The outrage at her statements put me in mind of Hamlet (which I paraphrase), me thinks thou doth protest too much!!!!
LMAO @ Janeane: "You can tell these type of right wing-ers anything and they'll believe it... except the truth" I see it exactly the same way!
" She called me one night and said, 'We gotta be pirates... Women who are able to take back what's ours spiritually, to search for treasure, and share the booty." Her creation of the pirates has made me see that part of being an extraordinary, talented, beautiful woman comes from surrounding yourself with other extraordinary, talented, beautiful women. It's like, "Damn ,that sister over there is bad, and if I'm in a group that she's in I must be bad too."
-- Cree Summer, discussing how Lilakoi Moon (Lisa Bonet) created the Pirates
" Its from the deep waters that we come. And we are heartfelt and trecherous like those waters. We come with an unflinching devotion to the mystical and to God - representing life and embracing death."
- Lisa Bonet, defines what being a Pirate means to her
One of the things that I am most proud of in my present and future existence is my participation with Pirate Sistahs United. Founded in 2001 by Pirate Rainy Black Crow, Pirate Sistahs United was created to carry the message of pride, peace, love-power and sisterhood so openly expressed by Cree Summer and Lilakoi Moon (Lisa Bonet), and all the Pirate Women (or O.P.s - Original Pirates...as I like to call them!). The original group is no more, but you can still find Pirate Sistah groups on MySpace, FaceBook, Tribe and Ning.
In my travels, I am always asked to explain the purpose of Pirate Sisterhood, which is usually really hard to for me explain. Hopefully, this will make it easier for all to understand.
I will say this. In modern pop culture, we are bombarded with images conjuring the most hateful and superficial stereotypes about women amongst other women. It's the old myth that women cannot be friends with one another because we are too "petty, competitive, jealous,...etc.". Pirate Sistahs United was founded to dispel this myth, among many others.
PIRATE WOMANIFESTO
Pirates move on the water. The element in which the primal feminine is at home. It seems that at sea, women have the home advantage. Women on board ships were either feared or regarded as bringers of luck. Pirate women were considered especially dangerous, and accepted as leaders at a time when women on land had been robbed of their rights and dignity. We pirates set sail for new shores into a world of adventures. Breaking out of structured obedience, preset orders and moral unities. We plunge into unpredictability, danger, excitement, dance, song and everything that strong, free, cheerful action implies. A pirate has developed her own kind of pirate life, determined by her self and no other. Under the Jolly Roger, the black sea robber's flag, pirates show what it means to live in a permanently actualizing process of individualization and liberation. The love, loyalty and friendship that we have found in our pirate sisterhood springs from nothing less than a serious attempt to find a form of life that can fulfill the piratical desire for truth and freedom.
In my last entry, I was writing about "whispers" and how I saw that tacky ass wedding on You Know You Dead Azz Wrong as a sign to be mindful about going over the top. I walked away from sharing that realization with y'all feeling very good about myself, 'cause a lesson learned is awesome, ya know?
Why did I go on Offbeat Bride today?!? LOL
I stumbled across this video of a wedding that had me drooling so much I thought I might've shorted out the keyboard!!!
It isn't my IDEAL wedding, but I love primarily how much fun it looks like they're having and how unique and fabulous this wedding is. Though there are plenty of bite-worthy elements of the wedding (especially the smudging and ancestor's altar!!!)
One of the goals in my life (beside job searching and getting an apartment) is planning a wedding. My boyfriend (now fiance) Chris proposed to me on March 14, 2009, and we plan on tying the knot on August 13, 2011.
Because I don't have a job, and we are dealing with only Chris' income, the planning is basically limited to looking things up and noting what I like LOL
I've noticed a few times that I tend to go a little overboard with the ideas and I have to pull myself back before going WAAAAAAAAAY to far!! LOL
Chris says that when people see something that resonates with them or makes them take note, they're call "Whispers"... I call them my "Pretty Sneaky, Sis" moments.
I took this as a definite whisper to make sure that I dial it back or else our wedding could end up a likkle something like this (From You Know You Dead Azz Wrong)
LMAO @ The lights in her veil. Who told her that was a good move!?!?!
Music is a huge part of my life. I think that I have a song for every emotion, every situation under the sun. My friends will testify to this, Whenever they are happy, sad, grieving or celebrating...I am quick to post a video, or name a song to play.
I always say to play the long on a loop for an hour, but if that type of thing is not you... 30 minutes will do. I call this, "Music Therapy with Miss Moon"
So I have a job interview tomorrow, and I need to strut my stuff. Now I have a bunch of struttin' songs, but this is one that I've been shaking my too-fine booty to lately, Adriana Evans, "7 Days":
And you KNOW I am going to strut into my job interview tomorrow!! Wish me luck!!!
" to the surprise of the spry seafarers/ sassafrass announced/ "i'ma be a cunjah." they laughed credulously/ sayin/ "you awready a geechee / how much more magic you want?"
--Ntozake Shange, "Sassafrass, Cypress and Indigo"
Gee·chee(gch)
n. Coastal South Carolina and Georgia
1.
a. The Gullah creole.
b. A speaker of Gullah.
2. Offensive Used as a disparaging term for a person who speaks a nonstandard local dialect, as in Savannah, Georgia, or Charleston, South Carolina.
I don't remember when I exactly came up with "Brooklyn Geechee". I just remember that from reading "Sassafrass, Cypress & Indigo" and ultimately "Daughters of the Dust" that I resonated with these woman, called backward, ignorant, heathen and immoral when they were basically trying to honor their ancestors by keeping to the old ways and living the most genuine happy life they could live.
I related to that because walking around Brooklyn, I felt like the onliest little black girl that wasn't into rockin' a name brand, thinking about dating a brother with rims (or even a car for that matter!), and listening to some of the goddess-awful music spewing out of the radio. People would see me with my gig bag on my back and go "You play the guitar?" almost with this shock. So I decided to call myself a Brooklyn Geechee : Ridiculed for being different, weird, heathen and strange.... and loving themselves and their lives regardless!
My name is Audrey. I have been called many, many things. My Pirate Sistahs dubbed me Pirate Yemaya Chalice Moon, Mother of the Secret Realm (or Yemmy for short), which I remixed P-Diddy style into Miss Moon the Brooklyn Geechee. This blog is basically all about me and my life. I call it the rantings, ramblings and revelations of your average Brooklyn Geechee.
I have a lot of interests, and I admittedly get a bit dorky about them. So this blog will be about music, movies, politics, tv, getting healthy, and as Lisa Jones dubbed her book Bulletproof Diva (a must read!)... tales of race, sex, and hair.
I hope you like it. And if not, I welcome constructive criticism.
My only rule is be nice or leave.
" (Harlem River Press, 1996, $12.00, ISBN 0-863-16244-4) and other books. "First Writing Since" is published here with permission.
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