It's THAT time of year again....
The National Black Arts Festival is back ... and I'm about to be up in the mix as much as I can stand it! I'm not volunteering AS much this year, but you'll see me around town at each of the main venues at least once during the duration of the festival.
As expected, there is a fabulous lineup of dance, music, film, theatre, visual and literary arts of the African Diaspora to experience and I DO hope if you are in the ATL area you come on down! If you aren't in the area - make plans to BE in the area. It is not something to be missed!
From the Pan African Film Festival at the Alliance Theater, the DNA Project at various venues, musical events featuring Roberta Flack, Les Nubians, ever my favorite, Julie Dexter, and Russell Gunn, among others, the Artists Market at Greenbriar and the Vendor Marketplace at Atlantic Station, there is much to do, see, hear, buy, experience...
It is so much more than music.
It is so much more than movies.
It is so much more than theatre, more than dance, more than literature....it is the best of African Diaspora passion, exhibited for all the world to see, here in Atlanta, for the next 10 days.
I hope you will take advantage of this extraordinary learning opportunity!
7.19.2007
Posted by sj-the-infamous at 19.7.07 2 comments
7.16.2007
Less than 24 hours....
Soooo.....
The old folks are enroute. Happy Happy Joy Joy. Yea, I'm so happy I could, what? Spit....
This time though, the visit is about 5 days -- still, enough time for a field trip, since I'm NOT taking anytime off. Me thinks they'll enjoy getting acquainted with Helen, GA. Afterall, pops has been asking me about the place since he had a timeshare exchange come up. And moms, well, she loves her an alpine village and one of her namesake, just can't be all that bad, now can it? May they find out.
Interestingly enough, I wanna go. Not so much to Helen, that can be a date, should I ever HAVE one, but come to find out Babyland General is in the general vicinity and item #93 on the 101 Things list is what -- visit Babyland General and see where Cabbage Patch Kids come from! So you KNOW I am all about that! Always down to cross some more things off the list :)
But I gotta get my MIND right in the next 24 hours because the old folks will be staying with yours truly. I've been in my guest room since the weekend, cuz Moms doesn't do futons, no matter how expensive, or nice, firm, fluffy or quality they are. But I also gotta get my mind right because right now, we are not speaking to each other. Well, moms and I are cool -- imagine that -- but Daddy and I, we're smack dab in the middle of a what? A mis-under-fucking-standing!! I have not spoken to him since I hung up on him over a week ago.
This is NOT good, folks!
The menz in my family have me peeved -- well, with the exception of my Papa, but he's getting to be too senile to piss anyone off, gotta luv him! But my father, and my brother -- I really don't need to talk to either one of them anytime soon, but as luck would have it, someone is gonna have to speak to someone in less than 24 hours. And we KNOW it won't be my brother speaking to me, cuz I ain't heard from his azz since he walked outta my door Christmas Day!
I feel my daddy's pain, truly, I do. But he can stop preaching at me. He needs to talk to his son. I can't do nothing for him. If his son can't figure out how to maintain familial relationships, then he needs to be the one to guide him on that. That ain't my job, as I OFTEN tell BOTH my parents when it comes to both my siblings -- "that ain't my child." Please handle your own.
What is all boils down to is this:
Neither my brother, his wife, nor his children, my beloved "lil people" can manage to keep in contact with either me or my sister. Apparently their fingers and toes are all broken and they can't make phone calls and they damn sure don't know how to get on 285 and drive to my side of town. Oh, but they know how to call my parents and beg for moolah. But that's neither here, nor there. Well actually, its HERE, because when they do go a begging, I hear from my parents, with an inquisition. My response is always -- "shit, don't ask me, I don't talk to them negroes, they don't talk to me! You got questions -- ask THEM!!!"
Let the record show for approximately 1.5 years after my moving to Atlanta, every visit with "them negroes on the southside" was initated by me and involved me traveling some 35+ miles to their house to shuttle kids around the metro atlanta area. Gas prices went up, Auntie sj got tired...and broke, especially since I not once even got a phone call and to this day I don't hear from them! Oh, scratch that, when my niece had a celly she did text me to death, but THAT is neither here nor there. In general, I concluded, if I wanted to be a part of their lives, it would be up to me, because my lazy, trifling, brother sure wasn't gonna make an effort to see that I was. But that's also his wife's fault. I can't EVEN begin to go there....
So, these days, it's like I don't have a brother, or niece and nephews in the general vicinity because they sure don't attempt to be a part of my world, nor include me in theirs. Christmas was a suprise fluke -- I was shocked as hell, that they showed up! Ain't spoken to any of them since. That's a lie -- Moms was here in January and she MADE me go over there. Ain't been no communication between us since. Why? Because I haven't made the effort. Ask them negroes on the southside, if they even thought about it....
So, when my father calls me at a quarter to midnight, the day I get back from New Orleans, dead tired, and TELLS me that I have to "plan your brothers birthday party", and when I initially say, negative, he responds with "don't give me any lip", I say hell, fuck nah and hang up the damn phone. And who the hell is he talking to like that? I am, what? A grown azz woman, dawg. Yea, I may be your child, but respect the woman. Damn a birthday party, not on my time or my dime. The reasons for that are much deeper, I just don't feel like typing it all out.
I'm just tired, really. I really don't have much patience for men in general, no, I am admitting that, but this ongoing nonsense with my family is really taking the cake. I can't "be nice" anymore, so I'd rather remove myself from the situations, but damnit if my parents wanna keep me involved. As I said, I feel their pain, but they are preaching at the WRONG child. The woman in me knows when to give up and let go.....I hope my parents come around soon.
..::More to Come::..
The old folks are enroute. Happy Happy Joy Joy. Yea, I'm so happy I could, what? Spit....
This time though, the visit is about 5 days -- still, enough time for a field trip, since I'm NOT taking anytime off. Me thinks they'll enjoy getting acquainted with Helen, GA. Afterall, pops has been asking me about the place since he had a timeshare exchange come up. And moms, well, she loves her an alpine village and one of her namesake, just can't be all that bad, now can it? May they find out.
Interestingly enough, I wanna go. Not so much to Helen, that can be a date, should I ever HAVE one, but come to find out Babyland General is in the general vicinity and item #93 on the 101 Things list is what -- visit Babyland General and see where Cabbage Patch Kids come from! So you KNOW I am all about that! Always down to cross some more things off the list :)
But I gotta get my MIND right in the next 24 hours because the old folks will be staying with yours truly. I've been in my guest room since the weekend, cuz Moms doesn't do futons, no matter how expensive, or nice, firm, fluffy or quality they are. But I also gotta get my mind right because right now, we are not speaking to each other. Well, moms and I are cool -- imagine that -- but Daddy and I, we're smack dab in the middle of a what? A mis-under-fucking-standing!! I have not spoken to him since I hung up on him over a week ago.
This is NOT good, folks!
The menz in my family have me peeved -- well, with the exception of my Papa, but he's getting to be too senile to piss anyone off, gotta luv him! But my father, and my brother -- I really don't need to talk to either one of them anytime soon, but as luck would have it, someone is gonna have to speak to someone in less than 24 hours. And we KNOW it won't be my brother speaking to me, cuz I ain't heard from his azz since he walked outta my door Christmas Day!
I feel my daddy's pain, truly, I do. But he can stop preaching at me. He needs to talk to his son. I can't do nothing for him. If his son can't figure out how to maintain familial relationships, then he needs to be the one to guide him on that. That ain't my job, as I OFTEN tell BOTH my parents when it comes to both my siblings -- "that ain't my child." Please handle your own.
What is all boils down to is this:
Neither my brother, his wife, nor his children, my beloved "lil people" can manage to keep in contact with either me or my sister. Apparently their fingers and toes are all broken and they can't make phone calls and they damn sure don't know how to get on 285 and drive to my side of town. Oh, but they know how to call my parents and beg for moolah. But that's neither here, nor there. Well actually, its HERE, because when they do go a begging, I hear from my parents, with an inquisition. My response is always -- "shit, don't ask me, I don't talk to them negroes, they don't talk to me! You got questions -- ask THEM!!!"
Let the record show for approximately 1.5 years after my moving to Atlanta, every visit with "them negroes on the southside" was initated by me and involved me traveling some 35+ miles to their house to shuttle kids around the metro atlanta area. Gas prices went up, Auntie sj got tired...and broke, especially since I not once even got a phone call and to this day I don't hear from them! Oh, scratch that, when my niece had a celly she did text me to death, but THAT is neither here nor there. In general, I concluded, if I wanted to be a part of their lives, it would be up to me, because my lazy, trifling, brother sure wasn't gonna make an effort to see that I was. But that's also his wife's fault. I can't EVEN begin to go there....
So, these days, it's like I don't have a brother, or niece and nephews in the general vicinity because they sure don't attempt to be a part of my world, nor include me in theirs. Christmas was a suprise fluke -- I was shocked as hell, that they showed up! Ain't spoken to any of them since. That's a lie -- Moms was here in January and she MADE me go over there. Ain't been no communication between us since. Why? Because I haven't made the effort. Ask them negroes on the southside, if they even thought about it....
So, when my father calls me at a quarter to midnight, the day I get back from New Orleans, dead tired, and TELLS me that I have to "plan your brothers birthday party", and when I initially say, negative, he responds with "don't give me any lip", I say hell, fuck nah and hang up the damn phone. And who the hell is he talking to like that? I am, what? A grown azz woman, dawg. Yea, I may be your child, but respect the woman. Damn a birthday party, not on my time or my dime. The reasons for that are much deeper, I just don't feel like typing it all out.
I'm just tired, really. I really don't have much patience for men in general, no, I am admitting that, but this ongoing nonsense with my family is really taking the cake. I can't "be nice" anymore, so I'd rather remove myself from the situations, but damnit if my parents wanna keep me involved. As I said, I feel their pain, but they are preaching at the WRONG child. The woman in me knows when to give up and let go.....I hope my parents come around soon.
..::More to Come::..
Posted by sj-the-infamous at 16.7.07 1 comments
7.09.2007
Recovery
No one can be more glad that the first 6 months of the year are over! Never have I been on such an emotional rollercoaster in my life! All unexpectedly, of course, and I'm just thankful for those milestones, date markers, and what not, that allow for reflection, reconnection....and new beginnings.
I've been seeking a word, praying for a sign -- a signal of hope, and things began to come together for me during service on yesterday. Leaving....
I've been seeking a word, praying for a sign -- a signal of hope, and things began to come together for me during service on yesterday. Leaving....
....Returning. That's next week's message.
But leaving, eh? I've been so focused on what has LEFT my life that I couldn't fully appreciate what I have.
Over the last month I've been pretty much gone myself. Funny enough, years ago, my world was full of psychologists -- my then-best friend and then-boyfriend are both psychologists, and I used to be an arm-chair shrink myself, since I was around them all the time LOL However, I remember, one time, my then-best friend making a comment about how I'm always leaving a situation. Running, if you will, from whatever the issue is. When she made the comment I was, in fact, at her house in NC, on the pretense of needing a weekend away, when in fact I was running away from my emotions. Or the weight of them in a relationship I was involved in.
I can't apologize for my desire to get away when I am feeling overwhelmed.
I've been in South Carolina, Vermont, Washington, DC, and Louisiana over the last month and it HAS been healing for my soul.
It was an interaction I had while in Vermont that made me realize I'd been focusing on the wrong things. My blessings are what sustain me, and I am incredibly BLESSED to have the love and support of my friends, especially my male friends, and I had lost focus of that.
What I realized is that for every negative male interaction I've had over the years, and trust there's been more that I care to count, I've always had a positive interaction to counteract that, be it platonic, familial, professional,or sometimes, even romantic in nature. The key is that things seemed balanced -- there was no need to fully give up on the Black man, because sometimes they do RIGHT.
The last 6 months, though, I haven't had that, or perhaps I hadn't paid attention to it, so all I could focus on was the latest negro that done messed up. And brothas gave me grief -- because I let 'em. But, something positive happened while in Vermont that made me realize how much I MISSED the positive interactions I was accustomed to in my life.
Having lived here almost 3 years now, I've grown tired of "making friends" and I don't relegate brothas to the dreaded FZ -- either we're on or we don't know each other. So outside of the men I already knew when I got here (most of whom are married, or hooked up and we just don't connect like we used to), I haven't made many new male friends, so I haven't had those experiences to counteract the negro gone awry.
But that's what getaways provide, when you least expect it.
But leaving, eh? I've been so focused on what has LEFT my life that I couldn't fully appreciate what I have.
Over the last month I've been pretty much gone myself. Funny enough, years ago, my world was full of psychologists -- my then-best friend and then-boyfriend are both psychologists, and I used to be an arm-chair shrink myself, since I was around them all the time LOL However, I remember, one time, my then-best friend making a comment about how I'm always leaving a situation. Running, if you will, from whatever the issue is. When she made the comment I was, in fact, at her house in NC, on the pretense of needing a weekend away, when in fact I was running away from my emotions. Or the weight of them in a relationship I was involved in.
I can't apologize for my desire to get away when I am feeling overwhelmed.
I've been in South Carolina, Vermont, Washington, DC, and Louisiana over the last month and it HAS been healing for my soul.
It was an interaction I had while in Vermont that made me realize I'd been focusing on the wrong things. My blessings are what sustain me, and I am incredibly BLESSED to have the love and support of my friends, especially my male friends, and I had lost focus of that.
What I realized is that for every negative male interaction I've had over the years, and trust there's been more that I care to count, I've always had a positive interaction to counteract that, be it platonic, familial, professional,or sometimes, even romantic in nature. The key is that things seemed balanced -- there was no need to fully give up on the Black man, because sometimes they do RIGHT.
The last 6 months, though, I haven't had that, or perhaps I hadn't paid attention to it, so all I could focus on was the latest negro that done messed up. And brothas gave me grief -- because I let 'em. But, something positive happened while in Vermont that made me realize how much I MISSED the positive interactions I was accustomed to in my life.
Having lived here almost 3 years now, I've grown tired of "making friends" and I don't relegate brothas to the dreaded FZ -- either we're on or we don't know each other. So outside of the men I already knew when I got here (most of whom are married, or hooked up and we just don't connect like we used to), I haven't made many new male friends, so I haven't had those experiences to counteract the negro gone awry.
But that's what getaways provide, when you least expect it.
Reflection. Reconnection. New beginnings.
I have growing to do; my emotional intimacy issues are at the surface and it's time to start working on those. Especially if I am to have a successful, committed, long-term, loving, romantic relationship with a Black man. I have some work ahead of me, personally, professionally. To re-examine my goals, my vision, my steps for achieving the things that matter.
I've also accepted that it's okay for me to grieve, for what I have lost. It's a natural part of my healing process, even if it seems to last longer than I want it to. As cliched as it is, this too shall pass.....
So I'm looking ahead to the next 6 months of the year, my life, and praying they are fruitfully blessed, full of love, excitement, adventure, and peace. Whatever experiences and opportunities are in store for me, I welcome, for they allow me to grow. To leave the past behind.
Recovery.
[Song of the Day: "No Regrets" on the NBAF Compliation Disc 2006]
Posted by sj-the-infamous at 9.7.07 1 comments
A lil bit of Essence
Another thing has come back to me from N'awlins:
"Gushing" is definitely a product of direct G-spot stimulation. Research has been conducted and I stand by that claim, personally speaking, of course....
So, in addition to my coming to the conclusion that heels over 3 inches are now strictly "come-hither" material, made solely for sexin', I've listed TWO things I learned while at Essence Fest. I had a whole list of ish at one time, but I'm still recovering and it's not all coming back to me. May or may not be a good thing.
Essence was a helluva lot of fun and I'm so glad I decided to go! I'm no longer a virgin...er, rookie, and I've gotta go back and apply all my lessons learned next year. LOL @ me.
Sheratons, while nice.....are NOT swanky.
I've got to update my 101 Things List....
Posted by sj-the-infamous at 9.7.07 2 comments
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
