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Antarctica: Apparently I have been living in Antarctica and didn’t know it. Saturday night was a record 20 something degrees here in good ol’ Berkeley. Sunday was slightly colder. When I woke up this morning in my apartment, there was snow on my windows, icicles dangling from my doorway and I could see my breath when I spoke, and I promise you I saw a penguin roll by with a sweater on. Oh and let me mention that this was all going on INSIDE of my apartment. Last year my PG&E bill was 200 + a month due to my excessive use of my gas heater. This year I decided to be smart and simply use the oven as my heater. It worked for a while, but when I have to leave the oven on ALL DAY just to be able to wear one sweatshirt instead of two, I have to go ahead and accept that this heating method is not effective. This morning I woke up and was in pain from the cold. I had on a thick sweatshirt, long sleeved shirt, tank top, boxers, sweatpants, thick socks, sheets, two comforters and my bear and was still too cold to actually get out of bed. The sad thing is that I am rarely home, so when I do come home it is freezing and by time the place gets warmed up, I’m heading for bed. To further explain the severity of this situation I am hereby making this declaration, *deep breath….for the month of January, I will be using my monthly stipend that is allocated toward the purchase of Carol’s Daughter products and the like and will be applying said funds to the Gas portion of my Gas and Electric bills. Desperate times call for desperate measures. I can’t be cute if I’m cold. I’m just sayin’…
AC Transit: Its been a while since I have had an adventure on the AC Transit, but never fear…the tomfoolery is back. Friday night I was on my way to Downtown Berkeley to meet up with my girl. I hop on the bus which came right on time…sadly an indication that tomfoolery lay ahead. I was not wrong. A few stops past mine, we pull up to a stop where a woman in a motorized scooter is waiting. The driver pulls up, lets the ramp out and…we sit there…and wait. The woman in the scooter has not moved an inch as she is engrossed in a very important conversation…with herself. Seeing that passenger is not interested, the driver proceeds to reel in the ramp. At this point the passenger snaps her head around and snarls at the driver… “I’m getting on the bus.” The bus driver, literally bits her lip and lets the ramp back out. The passenger at this point takes 3 minutes to wheel herself backward, then forward to position herself on the ramp. The driver lifts her up, she slowly and I mean painfully slowly wheels herself into the aisle where she proceeds to sit perfectly still. The driver pulls the ramp back in and sits down in her chair, watching the woman. After 2 minutes the woman speaks and tells the driver that she needs the other side to be lifted. The driver lifts the side and the woman begins the task of turning herself around. She pauses mid turn and says “You damn Californians, all you do is stare at people. I wish I was back in New York. Haven’t you seen anyone in a wheel chair before.” A voice from the back responds “We’ve seen wheelchairs before but we are wondering why you are moving so damn slow.” The woman looks into the direction of the voice and sees a very large black woman staring right back at her. She returned to her task of turning around. After another 3 minutes and with direction from the driver, the woman is finally strapped in and we’re off. As soon as the driver took off, the woman in the scooter flew forward and then flew backward as the driver stopped. The driver turns and asks her what the problem is, at which point she informs all of us that her scooter does not have brakes. The look on the bus drivers face was beyond description, but I’m pretty sure she wanted to cuss her out. We pull up to the next stop and the driver secures her with “all of the available safety measures” and the woman is still be tossed to and fro. The Driver tells her “If I had known that you didn’t have brakes I would not have let you on.” The woman says “I know, that’s why I didn’t tell you.” I got off of the bus at the next stop and walked the rest of the way. All of that was too much for me to deal with at the end of the week! No Tanto Mucho!
The Doing Too Much Award: This month’s Doing Too Much Award goes to Reality Television. Like everything in life, you have to know when to stop. Last night I saw a commercial for a new reality series where celebrities go to a police academy and are trained and certified to be police officers. The celebrity panel includes LaToya Jackson, you know what I’ll just stop there. LaToya is enough. You know you have hit rock bottom when this is what you are coming up with. It is truly no wonder why show’s like Grey’s Anatomy and all of the CSI’s are so popular, and shows like Real World and Top Model are slowly but surely losing their following. America is craving intelligence in their television experience. So Reality Television, you are officially Doing Too Much…I’m just sayin’
Peace Y’all
B
So, as the year draws to a close (THANK GOODNESS!!!) things in my life are starting to fall apart. I don’t know if this is indicative of the year to come, or if it is a simple physical representation of 2006, I personally pray it’s the latter, but in any event, Like the novel says, things fall apart.
Glasses: The other night I was sitting at my laptop Dino, getting my work on and suddenly, my glasses just slid off of my face, silently, almost angelically, cascading gently to the ground. I looked at them and saw that one of the arms had fallen off and was subsequently still stuck in my hair. These were my favorite pair too, the transition glasses, you know the ones that turn into sunglasses when you go outside...yep, those. No worries though. I have a back up pair, my second favorite glasses that have become my back up glasses. I put them on, settle back in in front of Dino and I promise you thirty seconds later, the same exact freaking thing happens!!!!!!! Come on Blood!!! Are you serious right now?! So both of my glasses decided to crumble apart and fall out from all of the hard work they put in in 2006. Sigh...
Dino: Now, anyone who knows me knows that I have a love hate relationship with my laptop. With all of the freezing and internet problems and attitude problems, Dino and I have had more than out fair share of fights! Well, I think Dino is now on his way out. It has taken me a day and a half to write this blog because Dino only stays on for 20 minute intervals these days. I suppose the task of being on and computing is too much for him these days, so he just shuts off mid sentence at his whim, usually after 20 minutes of typing. No Tanto Mucho. I think my favorite part though is when Dino freezes, then turns off and then won’t turn back on. And then we won’t even get on the times when the mouse decides it only likes the right bottom corner and won’t come out until I turn him off, try for about 10 minutes to get him back on, and then we are back in business. Dino is definitely on the outs, but I do have to thank him for all of his hard work. Spoken Silence was produced on his hard drive and for that I am thankful. It looks like I am able to produce one book per laptop! LOL!! DIZAMN Dino just froze again!!!!!!!
While both of these things may seem like minor deals, for me it is my life. I can’t see or write without either one of these things! Ah well. Hopefully the LONGEST YEAR EVER will draw to a close quickly (here’s hoping) and I will be able to recollect myself and get it together in 07. Okay, all this freezing and rebooting is not the business, so I will end this here!
Peace Y’all!
B
I happened upon this website today and was curious. If you follow the link below you can pick words that best describe me. I'd love to see what people think!
http://kevan.org/johari?name=Beencee
Peace Y'all
B
I find myself becoming frustrated with the lack of action within the Black community. I’ve always said that I was born too late. I could have totally seen myself as a part of the civil rights movement, but God always knows better, with my smart mouth, who knows where I would have wound up. But right now, in 2006, there is so much complacency within our community and it makes me sad. Predominately black high schools and Historically Black Colleges and Universities are losing their accreditation, while brilliant students are roaming their halls earning diplomas and degrees that mean absolutely nothing. Why does it take measures that drastic for schools to get themselves together and struggle to earn their accreditation back. How do we as parents and sibling and alumni even let the situations get that bad? Where is the accountability? Less and less black students are applying to college because they are academically unprepared and trained to think that it is acceptable not to expect more than just barely graduating from high school, and the students who are applying are not trained to think that they deserve to attend a top tier university.
Suddenly it is alright for people to call Blacks Niggers and there is no real response from the Community except for interesting jokes from Paul Mooney. Why is it that it takes some sort of drastic situation, some shooting by the police or beating by white supremacists in Texas before the black community gets fired up enough to band together and do something? What about the everyday happenings and daily injustices that have become the building blocks for the trouble we are in now? Where is our fire now? Why aren’t questions being asked and our students being prepped to position themselves to become the next leaders? Where are our leaders? We have been resting on Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson for so long, but where is the movement? Why is that people in positions of power, positions to make change, reach a hand back and help pull the next generation in, simply are not doing it, having learned that you have to get yours and yours only and that’s just how it goes. Me first and hopefully before its too late, I’ll try and volunteer somewhere. Where is the accountability?
We have gotten so comfortable with the way things are, flying under the radar, accepting what we can get, meanwhile, our right to vote is being placed in question, the decision of Rode Vs. Wade is now being reviewed by the supreme court, Black people are being called Niggers all over television and we are just taking it. Where is the fire? When does enough become enough? Where is the responsibility they used to have back in the day when people actually looked out for each other? How did we get to this place and what can we do to fix it? I’m frustrated and I feel like my fears for the progression of Blacks in this country are my own and that in and of itself is scary.
Peace Y’all
B
I have a problem. Yesterday was a very long and taxing day. I got home from work, put on my ugliest sweats, (why are they always the most comfortable) rummaged through my terribly sparse freezer, came up with a chicken stir-fry, settled in with a glass of wine and turned on the television. Having no interest in anything that was coming on, America’s Next Top Model Finale, (big deal) Top Chef (it will come on 50 times this weekend) I had more important things to worry about. I was in the middle of Disc 2 of Season 2 of Grey’s Anatomy. I had to find out what was going to happen next. My problem is that I have now become addicted to the show. My head was swimming and I had a terribly painful headache from everything I had endured during the day, but all of that was erased when I heard the wonderful words “Previously on Grey’s Anatomy.” I knew I had work to do but I couldn’t bring myself to read another word. Even though I had an early morning, I somehow managed to stay up until 2:30 am watching the show because I just had to know what happened next. I called my girl to ask her if certain characters were still on the show this season because there was trouble brewing and I had to ease my mind that they would make it out of this. In fact the only reason I turned the show off and went to bed was because I had to keep rewinding to rewatch the parts I’d dosed off on. I knew it was time to let it burn. But This show is awesome. I am half asleep and quite achy as I sit here at work typing this, but my mind is at ease knowing that Dr Bailey’s husband is still alive and that Meredith survived the explosion. If you haven’t seen season 2, sorry. But I’m just sayin’! How exactly did I become so enthralled by the lives of these fictitious characters? My only dream is that someday people will be saying the same thing about my characters, but the point is this show is great and I can’t believe that I have slept on it this hard for this long. I’m so glad I am able to catch up on the seasons and understand the relationships and the stories behind them. Man, I love it! Of course this means that this is going to severely cut into my interaction with people until I finish season 2. But that is a sacrifice I am willing to make
Peace Y’all!
B
I had an extremely important realization yesterday. I was sitting at my desk, at work, where I usually write my blogs, and I realized that I had absolutely nothing to write about. From there my overly analytical mind began to explore why and I realized that it is because I have not been around people for the past few weeks. I’ve been so self-absorbed and focused on my many projects that I literally been on my own private island where I am the only thing that exists. I called my grandmother last night and she told me about my life because I have only talked to her once since Thanksgiving. I am so wrong for that. Another friend of mine is upset with me because I missed the deadline to RSVP for her event, I have been so self consumed. Sadly, I don’t see it getting any better any time soon. I just started job number 3 this week and it is going to be as if not more time consuming as jobs number 1 and 2. It is a really good thing that the new job gave me a very pretty stainless steel coffee mug because I see a lot of caffeine in my near future. I’m cracked out right now on the stuff, as we speak. You have no idea how long it is taking me to type this blog! LOL!! But to all of my friends, fans and loyal reader, I apologize for my neglect. There is a method to my madness I promise and I will try to do better. There should be some tomfoolery to report in the near future and I am going to try and to a point where I can interact with human beings again, we’ll see. Last night was really refreshing for me. I went out to the city and just hung out with my girl for a few hours. And I found a brand new danger that I wish I was not aware of. If you know me at all, you know that if it wasn’t completely terrible for my eyesight I would live by candlelight. I freaking love candles, but even more specific, I love Illuminations candles. Oh these things are the greatest! Great quality, GREAT smells and not so bad prices. Since moving to the bay, they have become a distant memory since there were no locations close to home, until last night. Yeah, you guessed it. Illuminations is now open in the city, a very convenient BART trip away, and what makes it even scarier....its right across the street from my Carol’s Daughter fix. Unhunh...No Tanto Mucho...I am going to have to learn the practice of self control Post Haste. How do I get myself into these things?
Anywho...I must biD you all a due, (did yOu catch the rhyme? Oh WHY DID I DRINK THAT INCREDIBLY STRONG CUP OF COFFEE!!!!) But I must, must must say Go Bears Pac 10 Co- Champs, congrats to you for a great season! Let’s kill em’ at the Holiday BoWl. I have To say Go Buckeyes for the National Title and of course GO BLUE for the Rose bowl, ( I can’t say wHat I really want to say oUt of respect for my reader$hip...shout out to beCcaanne whom I love dearly, but perhaps you can catch my subliminal message...LOL!!! ) But I will say that I’m sad to see College football come to an end. What am I going to stress out about on Saturdays now? LOL!
Peace!
B
