Wednesday, May 30, 2007
This Past WEEK!!
Detroit is depressing! Can someone please give this city some money or jobs.
My friend Tamara can blow!! for real www.tamarawellons.com
All I really want to do is write songs and freelance.
My hubby took a little jaunt to Germany and tore it up!! And soon he'll be leaving me for the Far East. And he won a grant before he left. And I can't even speak on his upcoming ALBUMS!! yes albums. i said it. and what!!
My daughter and son both got accepted to good, cool schools. That's WZUP!!!
I had to cancel my BIG HAIR appt. But it has since been rescheduled.
I'm plotting to move. I can't even speak on it. We're just going to do it!!!
I lost 4 inches because that's what its about. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
There's more to lose. And yes I will be speaking on that!!And when I do here's a sameple of what I'll be ragging!! Peep above. Oh and the bag is my new lust. No losing required to carry that. Only dollars. Several.
Labels: this week
Monday, May 21, 2007
Oh Where oh Where to Dwell??
I've been living in DC for twelve years now. I've seen a lot of things. When I lived in NW, I saw someone get shot on my street. It was late in the evening and I lived on the 2nd floor in a huge brownstone. that was by far the best apartment I rented. My roommate at the time was well I'll never blog that one. Anywho I've lived all over the city except in SW. My first apartment was in Southeast off of Central Ave. I used to catch the bus on the corner near my house to the metro station. There were times I would even walk home from the Metro. I was a young single woman working full-time and chilling. My apartment wasn't the safest. It was actually in front of some abandoned buildings. During my whole time living there, I was never bothered, robbed or hurt. And I would hear shots on a regular and read about my own neighborhood crime reports. And nothing ever happened to me or my neighbors. I know all the sterotypes that are placed on DC residents etc. I go a little more universal than that. I look at it as a city thing. In the city there tends to be more crime due to poverty, lack of jobs, education etc, gentrification etc etc on and on. I'm aware of all that yet still when crime happens to you all that goes out the window. Fortunately no one was hurt etc but you have to think "what if". It's never cool going down that road but naturally can't help it. For my children's sake and my own sanity, I feel a move out of DC may be best.
Tis sad. I love my current neighborhood. All our neighbors are extremly friendly and watch out for each other. My husband and I have taken walks through our hood and seen some beautiful houses and met people who are really into community activism. We actually saw some property for sale. And we're very aware of what the dc govt plans are for our neighborhood. So of course it would be in our best intrest to buy in now. It's not this one incident that has bought me to this decision. It's on top of a heap of other things. (check the prior country blogs) THis is what i know I want out of my hood. I need heat. I don't mind mild winters. I can't do a lot of snow and freezing. And I'm a winter baby. I need land. Lots of land. But I need museums and culture. I need diversity. I don't like too many of the same type of people be it all elderly or all housewives. Mix it up a bit. I'm leaning toward the west coast. It's a bit costly. Arizona maybe. Or New Mexico. I think I'm ready to tap into my hippy ways. So keep us in prayer as we decide where we will plant ourselves.
I've been living in DC for twelve years now. I've seen a lot of things. When I lived in NW, I saw someone get shot on my street. It was late in the evening and I lived on the 2nd floor in a huge brownstone. that was by far the best apartment I rented. My roommate at the time was well I'll never blog that one. Anywho I've lived all over the city except in SW. My first apartment was in Southeast off of Central Ave. I used to catch the bus on the corner near my house to the metro station. There were times I would even walk home from the Metro. I was a young single woman working full-time and chilling. My apartment wasn't the safest. It was actually in front of some abandoned buildings. During my whole time living there, I was never bothered, robbed or hurt. And I would hear shots on a regular and read about my own neighborhood crime reports. And nothing ever happened to me or my neighbors. I know all the sterotypes that are placed on DC residents etc. I go a little more universal than that. I look at it as a city thing. In the city there tends to be more crime due to poverty, lack of jobs, education etc, gentrification etc etc on and on. I'm aware of all that yet still when crime happens to you all that goes out the window. Fortunately no one was hurt etc but you have to think "what if". It's never cool going down that road but naturally can't help it. For my children's sake and my own sanity, I feel a move out of DC may be best.
Tis sad. I love my current neighborhood. All our neighbors are extremly friendly and watch out for each other. My husband and I have taken walks through our hood and seen some beautiful houses and met people who are really into community activism. We actually saw some property for sale. And we're very aware of what the dc govt plans are for our neighborhood. So of course it would be in our best intrest to buy in now. It's not this one incident that has bought me to this decision. It's on top of a heap of other things. (check the prior country blogs) THis is what i know I want out of my hood. I need heat. I don't mind mild winters. I can't do a lot of snow and freezing. And I'm a winter baby. I need land. Lots of land. But I need museums and culture. I need diversity. I don't like too many of the same type of people be it all elderly or all housewives. Mix it up a bit. I'm leaning toward the west coast. It's a bit costly. Arizona maybe. Or New Mexico. I think I'm ready to tap into my hippy ways. So keep us in prayer as we decide where we will plant ourselves.
Labels: where to dwell
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Okay so I bragged a bit too much about the start of my Mama Day weekend. Well my actual Mother's day ended up being a little bloody and filled with crazies!!!. My husband being the manly man that he is was putting together our new grill and ended up slicing his pointer finger on his left hand down to the bone. After I ran, threw some peroxide on it, watched him gauze it up he continued on fixing the wheel. I'm like Uhh don't you think we need to go to the hospital. Of course being the Brawny man that he is, he says" Oh I'm all right. Let's get to barbecuing." And so he proceeded to finish screwing the wheels on the grill. So I was like Look a here Cliff Huxtuble, put your shoes own, wake the kiddies from their dreamland and let's bounce to the emergency room. We get to GW Hospital and end up spending the next four hours in St. E's. Luckily being the smart mama that I am, I brought snacks for my kids yet no entertainment. There actually ended up being plenty of entertainment in er waiting room between the movie Liar Liar and the nutballs waiting to be seen. The first victim was a grown man of the caucasian persuasion who gathered up some fake tears and began to wail. His exact wail was
" I just need a pill. Please help me. I don't need an x-ray. I just want to die. I wish I was dead." And then he started banging the back of his head against the wall. My daughter Phina said " Mommy, why doesn't somebody give him a pill." I told her not to worry and to finish her fig newton. And then comes the superchucky sista yelling at the young resident because there are four people with the last name Reed or Ried or Read. She informed him rather loudly that he needs to know who is who. Finally, my husband's name is called. He returns an hour later with five stitches and apologies. The Dr. said he missed his tendon by THAT much which ain't much. I told him it wasn't his fault. As we were leaving we saw Mr. Wail all bandaged up and smiling. Carl said while he was seeing the Dr., he saw them give Mr. Wail some perk pills. Guess he got what he came for. So when we get home our neighbor tells us someone dug up her roses and stole them. As she's telling us the story, we see an older pop pop gentleman lounging on the corner of our house. And of course my husband in his polite yet forecful-you-know-i-will-jack-u-up kind of tone tells him he needs to roll. Pop pop is holding a large beer can of course and stumbles away to our other neighbors truck and decides to plant his beer onto the hood. When we get in the house, I peep out the side window and see Pop Pop sprawled out in the alleyway, shoes off while our neighbor pours his can of beer on his head. It looks like his eye was a dark blue as well. I sigh. My husband flames up the barbecue for the kids, my friend Tomi and her baby and myself. We enjoyed a lovely meal of pasta salad, scallops and curry tofo, scallops, spinach/rice, yuca, turkey/dogs (for meateaters), strawberry shortcake and other delights. My husband was getting his grill on using one hand until he noticed a long tail of a white opossum in our neighbors backyard. And the cuing was done.
Happy Mama Day
" I just need a pill. Please help me. I don't need an x-ray. I just want to die. I wish I was dead." And then he started banging the back of his head against the wall. My daughter Phina said " Mommy, why doesn't somebody give him a pill." I told her not to worry and to finish her fig newton. And then comes the superchucky sista yelling at the young resident because there are four people with the last name Reed or Ried or Read. She informed him rather loudly that he needs to know who is who. Finally, my husband's name is called. He returns an hour later with five stitches and apologies. The Dr. said he missed his tendon by THAT much which ain't much. I told him it wasn't his fault. As we were leaving we saw Mr. Wail all bandaged up and smiling. Carl said while he was seeing the Dr., he saw them give Mr. Wail some perk pills. Guess he got what he came for. So when we get home our neighbor tells us someone dug up her roses and stole them. As she's telling us the story, we see an older pop pop gentleman lounging on the corner of our house. And of course my husband in his polite yet forecful-you-know-i-will-jack-u-up kind of tone tells him he needs to roll. Pop pop is holding a large beer can of course and stumbles away to our other neighbors truck and decides to plant his beer onto the hood. When we get in the house, I peep out the side window and see Pop Pop sprawled out in the alleyway, shoes off while our neighbor pours his can of beer on his head. It looks like his eye was a dark blue as well. I sigh. My husband flames up the barbecue for the kids, my friend Tomi and her baby and myself. We enjoyed a lovely meal of pasta salad, scallops and curry tofo, scallops, spinach/rice, yuca, turkey/dogs (for meateaters), strawberry shortcake and other delights. My husband was getting his grill on using one hand until he noticed a long tail of a white opossum in our neighbors backyard. And the cuing was done.
Happy Mama Day
Labels: Sunday Bloody Sunday
Friday, May 11, 2007
Mama Day
My mama's day weekend got off to a grRRRRReat start with my daughter's K class High Tea Celebration. I think the Queen Lizzy left too early last week because the celebration was just her type of party. I mean there was real china involved here Folks. China and Kindergarteners!!
Of course my daughter pressed me the whole week about making tea sandwiches. So of course the night before, my husband and I threw some hummus, cucumber and lemon onto that good whole wheat trader joe bread, sliced them down to bitesize and fridged them until the next morning.
My daughter's classmates were dressed to the TENS!! in their garden dresses, hats (some had gloves) , suits and cheesy grins you can't take your camera off of.
There were many song selections and dancing including the function appropiate "I'm a Little Teapot," And oh there was a walz in which my daughter's partner was a first grader who can read on a six grade level. HA
A lovely start to my weekend.
Labels: mama day pt 1
`AHH THE CHICKEN BOWL!!!!!
I've been getting my fitness on and returned to my vegetarian ways, I've attended many gatherings where the food of choice has been meat, grease, fat and more meat grease and fat.
I don't know one person in this day and age who hasn't heard about the obesity epidemic or has recognized how fat this nation is. And it doesn't help that the food industry is getting FAT from pushing overprocessed greasy quicky eats every five minutes. Case in point? My husband and I were indulging in some tv coonery last week while watching VH1's latest black EXPLOITATION Charm School featuring the girls from their first coonery effort Flavor of Love. In between the ignorance, we took notice of the ads. The KFC chicken bowl is the one that really caught our eye and turned our stomach. Yes The Chicken Bowl is their latest sodium venture.
The ads promises layers of flavor by piling all white meat, sweet corn, 3 cheeses, and white gravy ontop of a white mountain of potatoes. Now if you didn't know it, KFC is standing by the 0 TransFat. Now to the average consumer who knows a lil something something about nutrition may think Oh I can down one of those chicken bowls and get my daily servings on and there's no trans fat. That's got to be good right. Sure but no Trans fat doesn't mean there isn't any fat. And while we're at it let's really get down to the greasy bizness of it all shall we. I went and looked on the oh so lovely nutrition chart the KFC website provided(becuz I"M A NERD) and found some tangs.
Though white meat is way better than dark meat nutritionally, there are still some flavorings and large sodium quanities I take issue with. As you peruse the actual ingrediates for everything, take notice of your four food groups. SALT, SODIUM, SUGAR, AND MONOSODIUM GLUTAMATE!!
Add some other forms such as enriched flour, sodium bicarbonate, dextose, syrup, mono, sugar, other forms of sodium etc and on and on.
Yes while there is no trans fat to be found, you can fill up on 2200 something miligrams of sodium in a chicken strip. And lets not even talk calories here.
Not once was the commercial shown during celebrity fit club.
So back to the functions I've been attending. One was a church function in which I ended up eating lettuce, water, and a small slice of cake since everything seemed to have had pork in it. Can I get some vegetables without pork flavoring. No. I was scared to even eat cake fearing I'd bite into a pork rind. I mean PEOPLE! Black people. My people. We know how we get down as far as cooking. But come on. Too many of us are dying early of heart disease, high cholesterol and diabetes. Can we have some better nutritional choices.
I am fortunate for my country upbringing. My parents had their own gardens and we're not talking a little vine of tomato by the curb. I'm talking a serious garden where whatever we grew, we stored away, cleaned, cooked and ate. We had rows upon rows of corn,squash, green beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, lima beans, watermelon, cantoloupe, and some more stuff. And there was a peach tree right beside our house. And the crem de la crem: White Grapes and concord grapes(u know the purple ones) grew on vines along my grandparents driveway which happened to be right by my house. So you know when they were ripe, my mother and I were THE JELLYMAKERS. We were short on Jelly. And when I was even younger at my great-great grandmother Annie's house, which had a long lane right out of a fairytale; we would churn homemade ice-cream in this contraption that looked like an ole washing machine.
And still today in all my 34 years I have yet to taste an ice cream that was just as banging!
As a rebellious teenager I couldn't stand working in the garden in 90 plus degree weather. Yet now I really wonder why I still live in the city.
I can hear Joni Mitchell now. " You don't know what you got til it's gone".
Thanks for tuning into this latest episode of As The Country Gurl Turns.
There are still some questions left unanswered.
1) Will Seshat drop her hip gurl charade, turn her back on the city life and convince her family to don overalls(funky ones of course) for life in the great wide open.
2) Will she forget about being a vegetarian and go straight to raw food?
3) Or will she turn into a fab hippie mom with big dreamgirl hair?
find out next time on As The Country Gurl Turns
I've been getting my fitness on and returned to my vegetarian ways, I've attended many gatherings where the food of choice has been meat, grease, fat and more meat grease and fat.
I don't know one person in this day and age who hasn't heard about the obesity epidemic or has recognized how fat this nation is. And it doesn't help that the food industry is getting FAT from pushing overprocessed greasy quicky eats every five minutes. Case in point? My husband and I were indulging in some tv coonery last week while watching VH1's latest black EXPLOITATION Charm School featuring the girls from their first coonery effort Flavor of Love. In between the ignorance, we took notice of the ads. The KFC chicken bowl is the one that really caught our eye and turned our stomach. Yes The Chicken Bowl is their latest sodium venture.
The ads promises layers of flavor by piling all white meat, sweet corn, 3 cheeses, and white gravy ontop of a white mountain of potatoes. Now if you didn't know it, KFC is standing by the 0 TransFat. Now to the average consumer who knows a lil something something about nutrition may think Oh I can down one of those chicken bowls and get my daily servings on and there's no trans fat. That's got to be good right. Sure but no Trans fat doesn't mean there isn't any fat. And while we're at it let's really get down to the greasy bizness of it all shall we. I went and looked on the oh so lovely nutrition chart the KFC website provided(becuz I"M A NERD) and found some tangs.
Though white meat is way better than dark meat nutritionally, there are still some flavorings and large sodium quanities I take issue with. As you peruse the actual ingrediates for everything, take notice of your four food groups. SALT, SODIUM, SUGAR, AND MONOSODIUM GLUTAMATE!!
Add some other forms such as enriched flour, sodium bicarbonate, dextose, syrup, mono, sugar, other forms of sodium etc and on and on.
Yes while there is no trans fat to be found, you can fill up on 2200 something miligrams of sodium in a chicken strip. And lets not even talk calories here.
Not once was the commercial shown during celebrity fit club.
So back to the functions I've been attending. One was a church function in which I ended up eating lettuce, water, and a small slice of cake since everything seemed to have had pork in it. Can I get some vegetables without pork flavoring. No. I was scared to even eat cake fearing I'd bite into a pork rind. I mean PEOPLE! Black people. My people. We know how we get down as far as cooking. But come on. Too many of us are dying early of heart disease, high cholesterol and diabetes. Can we have some better nutritional choices.
I am fortunate for my country upbringing. My parents had their own gardens and we're not talking a little vine of tomato by the curb. I'm talking a serious garden where whatever we grew, we stored away, cleaned, cooked and ate. We had rows upon rows of corn,squash, green beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, lima beans, watermelon, cantoloupe, and some more stuff. And there was a peach tree right beside our house. And the crem de la crem: White Grapes and concord grapes(u know the purple ones) grew on vines along my grandparents driveway which happened to be right by my house. So you know when they were ripe, my mother and I were THE JELLYMAKERS. We were short on Jelly. And when I was even younger at my great-great grandmother Annie's house, which had a long lane right out of a fairytale; we would churn homemade ice-cream in this contraption that looked like an ole washing machine.
And still today in all my 34 years I have yet to taste an ice cream that was just as banging!
As a rebellious teenager I couldn't stand working in the garden in 90 plus degree weather. Yet now I really wonder why I still live in the city.
I can hear Joni Mitchell now. " You don't know what you got til it's gone".
Thanks for tuning into this latest episode of As The Country Gurl Turns.
There are still some questions left unanswered.
1) Will Seshat drop her hip gurl charade, turn her back on the city life and convince her family to don overalls(funky ones of course) for life in the great wide open.
2) Will she forget about being a vegetarian and go straight to raw food?
3) Or will she turn into a fab hippie mom with big dreamgirl hair?
find out next time on As The Country Gurl Turns
Labels: the chicken bowl diaries and other greasy stories
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
Saving Hip Hop One Bad Word at a Time
Hip Parenting 101
Now that Russell Simmons is on his mission to save hip hop from itself, I've decided to give the rap community my lil 3 cents with some alternative words they can use to stay fresh and in the street.
tart instead ho( u get it and its not offensive because its also a dessert now who doesn't want to be a dessert. SWEET.
negro instead of n****(it still has power and allows the user to gain more a historical perspective)
fish instead of bitch (often used by the some males in the homosexual community but i believe it gets the point across yet still remains in the animal family just as bitch)
Lately I've started resurrecting some ole skool west coast slang like "set trippin" which i practiced this morning on my daughter Phina.
Hip Parents Take Note:
"I know your face didn't just frown up because you have to get up "
Girl you set trippin!
And scene.
Mind you my daughter continued to frown because she was clueless about the lingo.
stay tuned for my next blog- The Good School
Hip Parenting 101
Now that Russell Simmons is on his mission to save hip hop from itself, I've decided to give the rap community my lil 3 cents with some alternative words they can use to stay fresh and in the street.
tart instead ho( u get it and its not offensive because its also a dessert now who doesn't want to be a dessert. SWEET.
negro instead of n****(it still has power and allows the user to gain more a historical perspective)
fish instead of bitch (often used by the some males in the homosexual community but i believe it gets the point across yet still remains in the animal family just as bitch)
Lately I've started resurrecting some ole skool west coast slang like "set trippin" which i practiced this morning on my daughter Phina.
Hip Parents Take Note:
"I know your face didn't just frown up because you have to get up "
Girl you set trippin!
And scene.
Mind you my daughter continued to frown because she was clueless about the lingo.
stay tuned for my next blog- The Good School
