NO SHOPPING Thurs - Sat. Nov. 1-3rd!!! We CAN IMPACT economy!

Please Do NOT Shop Thursday thru Saturday (Nov. 1, 2nd or 3rd) in honor of National Black Out Day (Nov. 2nd). Get off that shopping train for a minute. Give your wallet a break and send a message that OUR money is important to the economy. No ONLINE shopping either;-).

Click HERE for one article explaining National Black Out Day. There are others if you care to google it;-).

...I now return to my previously scheduled hiatus... and below is further inspiration for me to stay focused;-)


*click top image (taken during 2003 NYC Black out) for source.

**STAY TUNED...when I return (in about a month) - it's going to be on a WHOLE DIFFERENT LEVEL.....

Wednesday Wisdoms & Wonders - FINALE

Welcome Back for Wednesday Wisdom, vol. 21
The Grand Finale of Wisdoms!

This post offers a sampling of the many family wisdoms & witticisms that I was blessed to grow up with. They're finally starting to make sense to me & now, I can Dig It:

"I'm not your friend. I'm your mother."

"We don't send you to that school to make friends. We send you there to get an education."
~ Ma

"Advice: Wise men don't need it and fools won't heed it."

"Please and Thank you, Please and Thank you..." (reinforcing most important
words in English language).

"Learn to do it the correct way then you can lean or put your arm out the window." (when teaching me to drive, of course;-)
~ Daddy

"Better to be quiet and thought a fool than open your mouth and remove all doubt."

"Every knock is a boost!"
~ Great Aunt, Martha - R.I.P.

"I wanna be buried on my side. My friends can come and see my smiling face and my enemies can go around and kiss my Black azzz!"
~ Great Uncle, Popeye - R.I.P.

"Be what you gonna be."
~ Great Uncle, William - R.I.P.

"I'll bet you read them signs from now on!"
~ Eldest Nephew, at the age of 4 or 5 (as I grumbled about a parking ticket;-)

I CHOOSE to...

... BECOME MY OWN DREAM!
I've discovered the REAL Secret to success. Simply BE...
I'm inspired by many of you, but feeling that last kick in the butt that I needed from Sistah Kiki's recent post .

It's time for me to stop talking 'bout it and be about it. I've hinted at it before, but now I am on a serious one woman crusade to live the BEST life through my efforts.

*I Choose to EAT healthy options!
No longer complain about health issues. If I "know" that bad health is hereditary because terrible eating habits were passed down then I simply choose to break those slave mentality chains.

*I Choose to INGEST healthy images!
I won't complain about racism and other injustices - I simply no longer support the networks or let the suggested media hyped shyt into my head.

*I Choose to DO healthy ACTIVities!!
As my nephew liked to sing when he was three: I got to MOVE it! MOVE it!

All that to say - I've sat at this computer and interacted on the internet long enough. I've been blogging just over a year, now. And love y'all as I do - it's time for me to make a REAL change - not just take a li'l break like I've tried in the past. I'm gonna pull a Jac, or Dan and be GHOST for a good while!

Please, do NOT think the above are judgments on how you choose to live or decisions you choose to make. I'm posting this so each day that I'm drawn back to this blog-o-sphere - when I peek in here I'll have a glaring reminder to GET up off my azzz and make my life ALL that I want it to BE! No excuses and NO regrets!!

So, for now, I'm going to have a nice, tall, frosty glass of ... my own advice;-). Aaaaaahhhhhhh!

*** Of course, I'll be back at some point & will continue to attend blogger gatherings. First, I've got some LIVING to "catch up on".


HUGZ!!

*click on image for source.

We interrupt Wed. Wisdom for a bit of fun: Throwing Caution & "good sense" to the WIND

The answer my friend is blowing in the wind....or so some songwriter said! Here lately, I have been having an AB.So.LUTE. Flirtatious BLAST during most of my weekends! Do I care that I have been "funky blind" during the flirtatious interludes? Do I care that the Brothers did NOT find my inebriated flirtations S.E.X.Y. or Attractive? HELLL to the NAWWW! My actions and pure bliss had NOTHING to DO with THEM (it's ALL about MEE, dammit!!;-)! Do I care that they'll talk about me negatively...maybe a li'l bit, but NOT really. LOLOLOL;-). I won't end up on any YouTube video moments of Girlz Gone Wild or Pole Dancing like the chick in the following clip, so I'm "guit".



But, I must say I feel as if I've been flying. Maybe I was too restrained during my college years and early twenties, so maybe I'm living out some delayed fantasies. Let me clue ya in. Maybe, I'm "too old" to be acting like this but it is TRULY hilarious to me - especially since no one is getting hurt. Here are is one example:

Went to dinner with some girl friends recently (well, a girl friend and her friend). Gentlemen proceeded to buy us drinks. Caution: Free Liquor will get ya EVERY time! LOL!

I knew I needed to "walk it off", so we left that restaurant/bar to head to a lounge/bar four blocks away. The air and walk felt great, but I was still "tipsy" & flirtatious! Flirted w/ the door man at the bar/lounge when he said he needed to frisk us. "Bring it ON! Can I frisk U back?" It must be awful to be a bouncer after midnight. LOL! We go in. My girls find seats. I know I need to keep standing and dancing to gauge my level of intoxication (see? I'm not that drunk afterall. I'm just "nice". Ha Haaaaa!). I dance with two short brothers. I'm 5'5" and one of them I had to look down at, doesn't matter that I was wearing my fly stacked heels (that only takes me up to 5'8")!

First shortie was a well dressed "Rog" from What's Happening who my girls were clowning when we first walked in. But, I don't tend to join in on "joanin'" on brothers and will dance with anyone. So, we get our boogie on. I excuse myself after the songs to go to the ladies. Whew! Finally, this alcohol is working its way out of my system. When I return, well dressed "Rog" offers me a drink, I order water. I'm drunk, not stupid;-). Then the second shorty asks me to dance (this one I should've said NO to). He smells like last week's cigarettes and keeps telling me he's in love and has found his wife in me. I repeatedly tell him: "It's just a dance, Bruh. Enjoy it for what it is." Again, I'm drunk - not stupid -or- blind.

Then, Lo & Behold, Tall, Sexy, Caramel with a chocolate coating strolls in and I ask how much he charges for his body guard services. LOL! I figure: what the hell! He and I flirt, talk smack, kick the willy bobo and what have u. I don't know what the hell led upto his desire to pick me up (Refuse to admit I'm drunk, but I'm not really that sober, either;-). Maybe he needed to flex his musKles and show all that he could lift a "healthy" girl! I indulged his need to flex & thought it hilarious when he attempted to lift me at the bar! My girls were "appalled". "How could u let that man lift you up? U don't even know him!" Exactly, if I knew him he wouldn't be lifting me at a public venue while I'm fully dressed in jeans and all!

Strength in Vulnerability

I get it. Not sure if I'm ready to practice it, yet. But, I finally get it. I finally understand the strength that lies within vulnerability. I understand that the "strong", independent women who didn't need nobody who I have grown up surrounded by were actually afraid of being vulnerable. We have been afraid to trust the strength that is in vulnerability. I went to see Tyler Perry's newest movie, Why Did I Get Married. It was an entertaining movie. I most appreciate the fact that it sparked some real conversation with a close friend about a key aspect in relationships: vulnerability.

Generally, going into relationships I'm "looking for" honesty, commitment, financial sense, blahde, blah... After watching and discussing the various aspects of those four or five movie relationships I was made aware of the fact that I have only allowed myself to truly open up and be completely vulnerable to ONE man in my romantic past. Wow...it was a revelation to know how guarded I really have been in the past. In the discussion with my good friend, I realized that being vulnerable will not lead to catastrophe - even if the individual with whom I'm vulnerable does not appreciate me or all that I give. The worst that can happen is they fuck up my credit, spend all of my life's savings, take all of my earthly belongings including a few "cookies";-). But, those are material objects that Do Not Define me. I can always recuperate material gains. But, love, passion, faith - those cannot be gained without the vulnerable action of stepping into God's flow with another fallible human being. I already know what it's like to be broke financially. I even know what it's like to be broken hearted and to fly solo for years. Now, I want to know what it's like to fly in tandem. Creator, I'm not sure what you're planning for me, but I. think. I'm. ready. May The Creator bless you in your relationships. Thanks for "listening".

*click on image to enlarge and for source.

A Voluntary Public Service announcement:-)

One of my favorite blogs is: Encourage a Brotha (now: BlackMaleAppreciation.com). I never see any comments on their posts - but I love their content. They give a sistah like me, HOPE! One of their articles (which I pray everyone will read) focuses on the Three Doctors, who have written a new book about making peace with their fathers! There is much positive going ON - despite what the media is promoting! So, I ask, if we can spread the Jena 6 news can we spread something to uplift us and bring a SMILE to our faces, please? Thanx!

Check out the link below:
http://blackmaleappreciation.com/2007/10/12/three-black-doctors-work-on-daddies/


Enjoy this beautiful interview of three professional Black men BY a professional Black man:

What do U do when U find yourself alone?

There was a question on another blog about whether you can live without sex. Now, technically mammals only need water, air and food to live. But, the responses were such that most did not believe it possible to live without sex. So, I want to take that question a step further.

IF you find yourself without a partner, what do you do?
Instead of CAN you live without sex, I ask: How do you live without sex?

Addendum after responding to several comments:
I guess what I'm really asking is - If you don't have a partner that you adore - do you deal with Mr./Mrs. Right NOW?

Okay - I'm puttin' my bi'ness out here: I never in my post-teen years IMAGINED that I would experience such a drought as I am now. This is clearly God's way of making me slow my role. I wasn't a SUPER freak - but I was SUPER picky. I was one of those sistahs who enjoyed the company of a Brother ... critically. In my head: if I could "get" this Brother then surely, I could trade up for a better model? Yea, it was what it was. No lie: I was that kind of sistah. So, now I am given puh-lenty of time to really evaluate myself. I'm not gonna lie, this ish ain't NO JOKE! Now, I know that I had it ALL wrong - I'm not supposed to make the decision: that's The Creator's job. He knows all that I need & He implanted me with these desires. Loaard, knows I hope I've learned my lesson and when the next GOOD, FINE to me, Brother comes into my life I will appreciate all that he IS and all that he offers. In Jesus' name I pray!

*click on image to enlarge and for its source.

Wednesday Wisdoms & Wonders

Welcome Back for Wednesday Wisdom, vol. 20

Come in, set a spell and give us your take on the wisdom U dig in the selection:

"...It was like having a secret pregnancy and miscarriage every week."
~ laments of a frustrated, young housewife in Alice Munro's Cortes Island.

Alice Munro's excerpts appear in the following book. I was blessed with the gift of this book from my Dad who gives me much enCOURAGEment (click on image to read more about the book):

Favor to ask on behalf of my fave living author:-)

Before I give up all the details about my fabulously fun & mad-venturous weekend at Ms. Bev's PJ party I am asking for a favor! There is a Romance Author's Poll and we BevLanders want Ms. B's book Topaz to win! Please vote that Topaz is your favorite romance novel, too! Even if you haven't read it - trust me, once you DO - we're confident that it WILL be one of your faves;-)

Here are two of our reasons:
1) We love all of her books, but think it'll be best (& not watered down) if we focus on ONE title, it's the tenth year anniversary of that book AND besides the rules state only one book per author (they probably know i'll list ALL of Ms. B's books;-)

2) The Hero, Dix Wildhorse is probably the most "fought" over of Ms. B's characters. LOL!

So, please take a moment to help us & our favorite living author!
Please Click on All About Romance and list Topaz as your favorite Bev Jenkins novel. No need to add others if you don't want, but you can list upto 100 of your faves AFTER Topaz;-).

On Behalf of Ms. B and all of her fans - THANK U in advance!

Click the image below for an excerpt & more information about Topaz;-).



P.S. If any of you are blessed to be living in the Chicago area here's a treat for ya:

Beverly Jenkins and Francis Ray will be in town Friday and Saturday, October 12
and 13, 2007.

On Friday, from 7 to 10 p.m.
Books Ink.
1835 W. 103rd St.
(773) 445-9984

On Saturday, from 2-4 p.m.
Borders
2210 W. 95th St.
(773) 445-5471
www.bordersstores.com

*BJ PJ party photo taken by an Angel;-)

Something New

Posting this early cuz I'm 'bout to hit the road for the weekend. When U get a chance, check out the New Kidz on the Block: Bloggers Delight! U won't be disappointed;-).

Have a wonderful, longgggg weekend!
I'm going to have a lovely time filled with romance!

At a romance novel PJ Party (For Ms. Bev Jenkins, of course;-). Ha Haaaaa! Gotcha!


*click image for its source.

Spontaneous 3am brain-splosion...

Stumbling, in search of ... me
Out there
Under, over...peering, digging
Living ... near or far?

Moments away or miles apart
At some point
Two hearts
Embrace.

CAPaige 2007

Wednesday Wisdoms & Wonders

Welcome Back for Wednesday Wisdom, vol. 19

Come in, set a spell and give us your take on the wisdom U dig in the selection:

There is NO Failure,
Only Divine ReDirection!
~ Chin-Ning Chu

I discovered her wonderfully divine gem of a book: Do Less, Achieve More!
If you don't have time to read the entire thing - stop by your nearest book store and open up to page 92! Click on the image below to get to her website:
AND HAPPY Birthday SHOUT to MizREPRESENT (who is destined to Achieve MORE;-)!

Feel Joy! My kinda "Bling"

Went to Sistah JMW's & got all fired up about my Golden Freedom. So, I'm sharing it here! Today calls for a Double Scoop of the Best Friend I never met;-).




Those who "know" me, know my fave part of the Golden video: kids driving! I.Love. IT!!!!