Congrats grads! + wisdom from SATC

This past weekend, mom and I went down to Florida to attend my big sister’s graduation.  She finished her undergraduate degree in family, youth and community studies with a concentration in some kind of education.  We clearly have a pattern of wordy majors in this family.  lol  I wanted to post pictures but I seem to have lost my camera cord.  :-(  That sucks.

Anyway, congrats to all the grads - high school, college and grad school - and best wishes!  I’ll be right back in Florida in a few weeks for my cousin’s graduation.  I’m hoping gas prices go down in the meantime.  My goodness…

So, I caught an episode of Oprah with the cast from Sex and the City (one of my favorite shows ever!) and they said something really profound: your twenties are a time to figure stuff out.  There was a brief discussion after that about how people tend to think that folks have to ‘get it together’ during their twenties.  If you think about it, only a few years before your twenties you were a teenager.  No one expects teens to have everything figured out.  Why, then, should twenty-somethings?
I think it was Charlotte who said her twenties were sad, her thirties were ok and her forties are a time to figure it all out.  I like that…except the sad part!  So I’m spending the next 5 years learning  and doing and I’ll figure out the important stuff when I’m in my thirties.  So to hell with the stress and worrying about what’s next.  I’m just doing.

Got it?

They think I’m an international student!

I was told about a really good summer position with a government agency.  I sent my resume, cover letter and writing sample in immediately.  I got a quick response asking when my graduation date was.

I answered.

Got another response that said this:

Great!  And it looks like you’ve done quite a bit of international study.  Are you a US citizen or a permanent resident, or are you an international student at GSU?

My first reaction was “of course I’m a citizen”.  After a minute I realized that this is probably a common assumption of folks who read my resume.  I have more international stuff than education and my name doesn’t really give any clues about where I’m from.  I bet lots of folks have thought I was a doggone international student!

I’m going to update my resume now.  I have to find the best way to capitalize on all my experience but be clear about having an American passport.  :-/

A little bounce in my step (Sisterlocks)

My friend finally contacted me. It was brief, but he’s promised that we will talk more later. Whew.

So guess who experimented with rollers today? ME! I was bored and I had found some of my mom’s super old school, plastic rollers and I went for it. I was looking very Big Worm-ish (a la Friday). Remember him?

This is how my hair usually looks. It just kinda falls where it may. I think this was right before I went to see ‘big’.

Hard times and good people

I can’t figure out if I’m being a good friend or if I’m being super selfish.  Either way, I just wanna help.

One of my good friends is going through a very rough period.  He’s having a hard time finishing his degree (but he hasn’t given up), he doesn’t know where he will be living in a few months and, worst of all, his father is extremely ill.  His dad has been sick for quite a while now, but I thought he had gotten better.  Whenever I would ask, he would tell me that he was doing ‘alright’.  I never pressed the issue because I knew he didn’t like to talk about it.  Last week, we talked and he finally just opened up and let me know what was really going on.  I had no idea things were so bad.  We talked for quite a while.  All I could do was listen as it seemed he just wanted to get some things off of his chest.  I encouraged him.

Since then, I haven’t been able to talk to him at all.  I call and he doesn’t answer.  I text and he doesn’t respond.  I don’t know what to think.  I don’t know if he wants space to just be alone or if things have gotten worse.  I continue to try and contact him everyday, but I still haven’t talked to him in a while.  I am worried but at the same time I don’t want to be a nuisance.   I don’t know what I should do…and I get upset at myself for even worrying about what I should do because it’s so not about me.

I’m just really worried - there’s no better word to use.  He’s an only child and I know he’s just having a hard time coping.  I want to be there for him but I don’t know if he wants me to be.  It’s rough.  I don’t want him to keep holding everything in; when we talked he said that he hadn’t told anyone what was going on.  I wonder if he’s talking to anyone else.  It’s just not good to hold all that stuff inside but no one else can feel the way you feel when your parent is sick.

He’s truly one of my best friends.  I have no problem telling him anything.  It’s been like that since September 1996 when we first met.  I remember the day.  I just wish there was something I could do.  I love him dearly.  You hate to see friends in pain but you don’t want to add stress by pestering them.

I just want him to be alright.

Please pray for him and his family.

Guilty pleasure #1: Reality tv

Everyone has guilty pleasures, right?  Some folks like extra corny music.  Some folks like pig feet or some crazy food.  My #1 guilty pleasure is reality tv, but not like The Real World or Dancing with the Stars or even American Idol. I LOVE shows like A Baby Story, The First 48, Bringing Home Baby, Snapped and pretty much anything else on TLC and A&E.  You know the shows where there’s just a camera following folks around - totally unscripted.  It borders on obsession.

Here’s the thing, I’ve been addicted to A Baby Story for forever.  I don’t know when it started, but I remember being in school and making sure I was in front of the television at 2pm and 2:30pm to watch it.  I’m still doing just that.  And it’s such a gross show!  I mean, you watch these poor women scream and shout and curse and push out these yucky babies.  I guess it’s the miracle of life, but man…I get all caught up.  I’m talking about counting with the doctors and holding my breath as the moms push.  But I don’t realize I’m doing it at the time.  Not until they stop pushing and I’m out of breath does it register.  lol

Bringing Home Baby is like the 36 hours after A Baby Story.  I think I like getting a sneak peek into people’s lives.  I dunno.  But The First 48 is something serious.  There are always 2 homicides being investigated and you follow the cops during (you guessed it) the first 48 hours because the chances of solving a case are severely diminished after the first 2 days following.

So…that’s my #1 guilty pleasure, reality tv on the idiot box.

Do you have any guilty pleasures?

Sisterlocks update!

I was trying to get in touch with my Sisterlock consultant for weeks with no luck.  I called and left messages and got no return call.  Normally my lady’s good at answering or calling right back.  So I knew it was time (probably past time) for me to get my do done so I asked my homegirl who she goes to now (she recently changed consultants for different reasons - her old consultant was SLOW as molasses!  I mean, she’d sometimes have to get her retightenings done on 2 days!!  Can you imagine?).  She gave me Miss Alva Clemmons’ name and I called and took her first available appointment.

She was very friendly.  She has an entire shop set up in an added room in her home.  It’s quite nice too!  Tiled floors, nice chairs, big tv, beautiful artwork and the walls are painted the most beautiful shades of color.  She makes a good first impression!  I sat down and she got started.  Something I immediately  noticed was that I barely felt her working in my head.  Like, I knew that she was working, but my head wasn’t hurting.  Let me explain…
Whenever I got my hair retightened before, my I would flinch as every loc was worked on because it hurt.  I thought it was because I was tender-headed.  I’d been told that before and my SL consultant told me that as well.  I was used to getting my hair done and waiting 2 or 3 days before I could wash or style because my head would be so tender and sore.  I figured this was part of the process.  So having Alva work in my head with no discomfort made me think something was wrong.  When she snuck away to answer a phone call, I looked in the mirror at the progress and was shocked!  It was tight but not too tight.  When she returned, I told her that I wasn’t accustomed to not being in pain.  She told me that it was being done too tight and it wasn’t good, especially for the areas of my hair that are thin.  I don’t think I’ll be going back to my old consultant.  She’s great, don’t get me wrong.  But I think she’s better for folks with matured locs and not-so-tender  scalps.

So…I like her a lot!  Already made my next 6 week appointment.  I felt that she was more sensitive to the current state of my hair and where it could go.  Plus she made herself available to me and called to confirm the appointment twice.

I also noticed that, despite what I previously thought, my locs are maturing pretty well!  I gotta get my camera batteries in order so I can post some pics ASAP.

Cops acquitted in Sean Bell killing

NY cops acquitted in shooting death of unarmed Sean Bell - CNN.

The sh!t is about to hit the fan.  Be aware.

Apparently cops can “accidentally” kill anyone and never be punished.  Bullshit.

Wish I’d have thought of this

Unlikely, but I appreciate the effort. Clever, huh?

Honors Day

Last night, mother bear and I attended my college’s Honors Day banquet.  I was loopy in the beginning because I had guzzled too much cough syrup on an empty stomach just before leaving home.  I didn’t realize I was loopy until my favorite professor was talking to me and I honestly couldn’t muster up words to respond.  Awkward.

So the evening started with a reception in the lobby.  Fun fingers foods were served and I was able to talk to some of my old classmates whom I hadn’t seen since the summer.  I didn’t realize I missed them until yesterday!  I actually made some really good friends in grad school.  Gonna miss them.

Back to the cough syrup - I still have a pretty bad cough and I didn’t want to be hacking through an entire banquet and awards presentation.  As I walked out the door, I took a big gulp of Robitussin.  yuck.  It calmed the cough but made me a little light-headed.  I thought it was because of the car ride.  I hadn’t been in the car for that long in about 2 weeks.  At the reception, as I tried to express my excitement for some upcoming opportunities, my prof said “are you sure you’re excited?  you seem pretty melancholy.”  I said “yeah, sure I’m excited”.  He said “oooooookay.  If you say so”.  lol

Anyway, the evening was great.  I sat next to the most hilarious classmate I’ve ever had!
I’m waiting for the pics to be posted online and I’ll steal some to post here.  lol

That’s all. 

Tag - you’re it!

I knew this tagging thing would find me eventually! 2 folks got me at once. Double team! lol.  thaboogiemonsta and the brran pinned me down, so here goes…

The rules are the following:
1. Link the person who has tagged you.
2. Mention the rules in your blog.
3. Tell about 6 unspectacular quirks of yours.
4. Tag 6 following bloggers by linking them.
5. Leave a comment on each of the tagged blogger’s blogs letting them know they’ve been tagged.

An easy 6

1. I have 2 beauty marks on the left side of my mouth - one on the upper lip and one on the bottom.
2. I sleep with a ceiling fan on 365 days a year.
3. I record “Sex and the City” and “A Different World” daily.
4. I share my first and last name with 865 people in America.  lol
5. I have been the same height (5′2″) with the same shoe size (7.5) since I was in the 4th grade.

Who’s got next?  Mel, Erica C, MeikMeika, divine, Babs (did you have a ‘no tag’ policy?), and Brit (that’s what you get for having 2 pages! lol)

Thanks for the well wishes everyone.  I’m getting better.