making your way in the world today takes everything you got...

I love when I go places and the people remember me.  I mean not like Norm, but you know they recognize me.  I went to Double T last Sunday and I usually sit at the counter because it’s just faster and I’m usually by myself.  The woman who is WELL over retirement age has the counter and she holds it down!  It may seem like she doesn’t know what’s up but she does.  So I get my waffle and turkey sausage which I am not totally convinced was turkey, but I ate it anyway, but I didn’t get sick like I have been getting when I eat pork so maybe it was.  When I finished I said whew that hit the spot, she comes from the kitchen and says ‘Did that hit the spot?  You get those all the time, right?  Yeah you do!!’  I was like is this woman reading my mind?!?!? She is such a sweetheart I always wonder why she is still waitressing, but then again sometimes it’s good to just keep moving.  And then there are the times I go places many many times and the people always act like it’s the first time they have ever seen me in their life LOL

I went to Puerto Rico last week with my BFF and we had a GREAT... I mean EXCELLENT time!!! We both did a whole lot of nothing!  One of the goals was to do zip lining and hike of the rain forest but the furthest we got from the resort was an Old San Juan tour which was really nice to see some of the town and history.  Mostly though it was laying in the cabana by the adult only pool and slurping down mojitos when one of us would be inclined to go get drinks!! Sometimes what you need is to do nothing, think about nothing, and focus on nothing!  I didn’t even get past the 1^st chapter on the book I downloaded.  I only downloaded 2.  I brought 2 magazines and didn’t even crack those open either.  It was great!

I attended a 7 week (week ok so I missed 2 sessions) Alzheimer seminar for caretakers. My mom has MS which led to her moderate, but now probably a little more than that, dementia. Alzheimer is under the umbrella of dementia so everything that they talked about really did apply.  One of the facilitators kept saying it's ok to just let the medical people do what they need to do and for you to just be the daughter.  And as hard as I try to make sure everything is in it's right place and following up on just everything which is so damn exhausting I decided tonight that I would just be the daughter.  So she drank grape pop (yes I said pop) and ate peanuts (well to be fair most of them landed on her chest) and she slept which she ALWAYS enjoys doing!!  

I had another epiphany earlier this week.  When things don't work out with whatever relationship I try to have I always put the blame on myself like what did I do wrong. But the bottom line is I did NOTHING wrong and i will find someone much better!  Then I started smiling and enjoying the rest of my day.  (so what I really said was FUCK him!!! and that made me feel better too LOL).  I haven't stopped not for one second... wait I'm lying there was that 1 Saturday that I waited all day for a call that didn't come... but aside from that I do what I want to do! I go out to eat, I go to movies.  If someone I want to see is in concert I go.  I have never been one to be up under a man I mean you know what I mean LOL I put myself on a ridiculous timeline and so I'm taking myself off.  Things will happen when they happen with the right man at the right time. 

Every single ant in downtown Woodlawn found it's way to my sink for the little ass piece of watermelon I left completely by accident in there. I have been wiping down and spraying Home Defense since MAY but they still be finding the spot I didn't spray and march their lil asses in my house!!                                                                                            

and lastly... cooking is an expression of love.  My grandmothers who were severely old school when I was growing up made sure you had something to eat and on a good day mighta had a pepsi or red koolaid in the frig.  I miss them so much and I am so blessed to have had them both (and my grandfathers too).  I was going somewhere with that but nope I'll leave it at that!!

you can be mean when you look this clean!!

It is no secret that I liked the movie Magic Mike.  NOT because it was any great cinematic event, but more because Channing Tatum and that dude from CSI Miami…. Adam Rodriguez because they had their clothes off and that made me HAPPY!! So with all of that said I should have enjoyed Chocolate City much more than I did because again, not a great cinematic event but nekkid chocolate bodies!!  SO yes right?!?!  Ehhh.. not so much and here’s why.  ***Spoiler Alerts*** So like if you haven’t seen it run to your on-demand and go watch you that movie because it still made me happy and it may make you happy too!!  So here are my thoughts on the movie.  FIRST off I should have really enjoyed more nekkid Robert Ri’Chard, but he was a child star (One on One), and was cute but goofy who has grown up and looks GOOD.  And then they casted DeRay as his brother cause they had the whole light skinded brothas with light eyes thing going on, with Vivica Fox as their mother with THEE WORST curly wig on in the history of wigs.  The premise of the movie was a struggling college student who gets approached (in the bathroom) by a man who does male stripping at some random club in Atlanta.  You can guess the main points of the movie but let’s delve further into the cast.  All of the strippers were over 40, except Robert who was 30, now this should be my age range but for some reason they all just looked old to me.  AND I know Matthew McConneheay (sp) is well over 40 but he was too skinny for me in Magic Mike and wasn’t really a stripper.  But anyways…  Lem from Soul Food err Darrin Dewitt has this crazy hairdo and after one time dancing they moved Robert to his spot.. Plot holes my friend, PLOT HOLES.  You mean to tell me the newbie can dance better than the choreographer… NAH he can’t! Tyson freakin Beckford!!! **smh** He cannot act!!  Not now, not as a as a cameo person, not ever!!  In addition to him not being able to act, HE CANT DANCE!!! So he wiggled around to some reggae music and it was bad.  AND THEN we have some real strippers, and maybe this is what made me smile the most!! Bolo the Entertainer who is a real stripper who oozed the secks appeals and yes I did like seeing the crack of his bootay!! Ummm.. whew maybe that is the highlight LOL  Other people in the movie Imani (the little girl from Everybody Hates Chris) was Roberts girlfriend.  And Carmen Electra was the DJ **loud sigh**.  Another BIG ASS PLOT HOLE…. So Robert has a bike and then after working a few times alla sudden he got a Mercedes!?!!?  REALLY?  OH and he gets beat up by Tyson’s boys and then heals in like 3 days.  Then they kept trying to compare themselves to Magic Mike.  Yeah so not a great movie but it may just make you smile and that is what entertainment should be about, right?

I am currently obsessed with 2 songs Classic Man by Jidenna and Alight by Kendrick Lamar.  Both have such heavy usage of the N word and F bombs drop like crazy, but like I heard the radio version and I was like they missed a word!! So let’s get into it.  Classic Man!! Jidenna is part of the Janelle Monae camp, Wondaland and actually I just watched The Q.U.E.E.N. video and Jidenna was in it so even though it feels like he came out of nowhere he kinda has been around.  Jidenna is very interesting to look at; he is light with red hair AND a red beard and wears tailored suits.  I like a man in a suit, I just do! And I hope this is ushering a new era to hip hop were men are really concerned with looking well. I am ready for the pants below the butt and just big baggy everything and looking scruffy to be over. So we’ll see, but I do like the song and I feel like I need to hear it right now.  I watched a video with him and Janelle Monae.  He is Nigerian and his mother is Scottish (not just regualr white LOL) so that answers the red hair question. The next song is Alright.  Now the first time I heard it was at the end of Ballers which is a new series on HBO featuring one The Rock *fine ass* (oh he could get it!) Dewayne Johnson. Actually that show had another song in it and I had to rewind it which was the song Eve (or whomever the producer was) sampled for Tambourine.  Yes I have a good ear and YES this is random! So Alright came on and I was in LOVE and then I didn’t know it was Kendrick Lamar and I don’t really like rap but maybe I need to qualify that, I don’t like bad rap.  Rap where I don’t understand what they are saying or crazy innuendo’s that reference sex acts that I have to go to urban dictionary to look up or drugs.  And maybe it was just the hook that had me HOOKED!!! We gon be alright Can you hear can you FEEL ME??!  We gon be alright!  Yes Kendrick I can hear and feel you WE ARE gon be alright!! So then this week I looked for the video and it’s not just some regular ass video THIS is a cinematic experience!!  And then I’m mad cause I feel bambozzled by Fios I don’t have VH1 Soul NOR MTV Jams so I have to get my videos online which is actually ALRIGHT!!  See what I did there?!?! The song has some religious connotations even though you might miss it amongst the fucks.  Like DMX he was and I'm sure still is trying to get his life right and it's like a prayer.  Sometimes these rap songs are bigger than what is at face value.  And then sometimes all they are about is booty and bling (i had another blog about that LOL).  And then from here I went to another video from Flying Lotus that is hella disturbing but it's good and i just watched it again even though it makes me full on misty.

Why do the women who are small in frame make the most noise as they clomp past my desk?!?!  I know we can't all walk like Naomi Campbell, but let's try!!  

This past weekend we went to see my niece sing at the Big Tree festival in the middle of Juniata County PA  She did a wonderful job!!  OF COURSE she takes after her aunt LMAO... not really but she did do a great job!!  I was surprised that I didn't see any confederate flags since there were only about 5-6 black folks there. Her mother is just regular white (LOL).  

My hair must have been on fleek, as the kids say, last week because I got so many compliments!  I have been doing twist out on Sundays and then pull them out Monday and I have the good disco hair.  Alls I've been using is either WEN or Shea Moisture shampoo and conditioner and then the shea moisture cream and eco green olive oil gel to twist.  It's getting long and it's been shedding like crazy but it's all good.  I am about to get it braided for my good vacay... Puerto Rico HOOOOOOOOOO... and i can't be doing it in tropical weather.  I just refuse!!