krusty lips

Back in my elementary school days, I wasn’t such a stickler for basic hygeine.  I didn’t like to put on lotion (still don’t), I didn’t carry chapstick always (now I do) and I definitely didn’t care about my hair and if my clothes matched.  I remember thinkink way back then that much of it was necessary.

Well there was a small group of boys who walked home the same way I did.  I was a bit of a tomboy back then, prefering to hang with the opposite sex than comp doll hair and play house.  The boys were pretty cool and kinda served as my bodyguards in case one of the local chicks tried to fight me.  *memories*

I can’t tell you what sparked the change, but one day Shawn* decided to make fun of my chapped lips.  It started on the playground (I will NEVER forget) and continued through the walk home. Of course, I had none of my mom’s Avon Dew Kiss to moisturize, so I was stuck with ashy lips.  He just went on and on about them and even starting a song, a very simple song, but a song no less.  It went
Krusty Lips
Krrrusty
Krusty Lips
Krrrusty

It was juvenile but my feelings were so hurt.  I just couldn’t walk fast enough to get home.  And they were walking right behind me.  It was torture.  Once I got inside my place and locked the door, I heard him still singing right in front of the door…
Krusty Lips
Krrrusty
Krusty Lips
Krrrusty

I’m sure you know that from that day on, I had some Dew Kiss in my pocket.

But the funny part of it all is how this has affected me as an adult.  I must always have blistex or carmax or vaseline or something in my purse.  If I don’t, I gotta make a stop at the store.  I always here that song playing in my head…still, like something Bart would use to make fun of Lisa!

So on Sunday after I left the PT job, I stopped at Whole Foods to get some dinner and guess who I saw.  Yep.  Shawn.  I saw him before he saw me and made a bee-line to hide in the wine section.  Mind you, we went to high school together too so it’s been a while since I last saw him, but not that long.  I put down my vegetable dumplings, dug out the carmax and lathered it on.  I wanted to make sure my lips were glistening when he saw me, especially since I was looking pretty HAMtastic in my work clothes and shoes with paint on them.  I got myself right, and stepped back over to the prepared foods section, pretending to not see him. 
“Coop” I hear.  Pretending to be surprised, I turn towards him and say “Shawn?  Oh hey there!”  LOL  We exchanged a friendly hug…and I left carmax on his shirt!!  You see, he’s about 10″ taller than me and was holding food in one hand.  He didn’t see the stain.  I pretended to be in a hurry and, again, bee-lined outta there.

But my lips were not krusty! 
What a day.

…and I’m back!

The sun is a marvelous thing!  It came out and I came up.  Well the sun came out and I did some catching up on blogs (read apollocreed, brran, aff, creoleindc, babs, mel).  It kinda perked me up.  Or maybe it was the coffee.  I just LOVE reading what folks are going through.  It’s very “Rear Window”. 

I’m gonna try to post more regularly.  We’ll see how this goes.

f-u-n-k

It’s raining and gloomy today

I’m in a funk and it sucks.
I feel like I’m unnecessarily wallowing in self-pity.  I’m better than this.
I’m unhappy about lots of things now, but I’m grateful for what I have.
I’ve cried more in the past 3 weeks than I can remember ever crying (not including deaths).
I am in a funk, a rut, a valley, a dark place.  Whatever you wanna call it, I’m there.

I’m absolutely unhappy with the j-o-b and with boss lady.  She’s increasingly rude and self-serving and condescing to me and to almost anyone she meets.  It’s her.  It’s the way she feels business needs to be conducted.  It’s wearing me down.  I’ve seriously considered who I could buy cocaine from…and I don’t even do drugs!

I didn’t get into a second school.  I’m realizing that I kinda put all my eggs in one basket.  All my energy was focused on graduate school and moving to a new city in August.  With the possibility of that not coming through, I gotta regroup and figure out my next move.  I didn’t plan to be in this spot so I didn’t plan at all.  Honestly, there’s a real chance that I’ve been following the wrong dream or goal, or attempting to obtain something in the wrong way.  I get that.  I accept that.  But it doesn’t make reality easier to swallow in the meantime.

I’m concerned that I’ll never be content.  I went to school so that I could get a decent job.  In reality, I have a decent job that I just don’t like.  I’m afraid I went to school for the wrong reasons.

I need to learn the difference between goals and deadlines.  If I don’t have something done (in my personal life) by a certain time/age, I feel that I’ve failed that task, even though there’s plenty of time to get it done.  And I know that.  But I still feel that I’ve failed.

I am so grateful to the person who introduced me to “my utmost for his highest”.  It gives me hope and perspective, but it makes me cry too.  My mom says I just need to go to church; it’s been over a year since I last stepped foot in a sanctuary.  My cynicism would get in the way of any real message right now.
The funk has got to go away.

I’m trying to stay hopeful and positive, but optimism is what got me here.  I need to learn to be positive, hopeful and realistic all at once.

On a happier note, this video is hilarous!

The bilingual debate

Should the US be bilingual?  Hmm…

Here’s my stance: everything doesn’t need to be legislated.  There is no need to “make” America bilingual.  It’s gonna happen anyway!  It’s happening everyday.  And those of us who are not fluent in another language are at a growing disadvantage in the growing global market.  Forget Spanish, business is conducted across the globe and involves much more than Spanish-speaking workers in America.  OPEN YOUR EYES PEOPLE!  In any occupation at all, being fluent in 2 languages will put you at an increasing advantage over monolingual people.  When I was in England, each of my flat-mates was AT LEAST bilingual.  One of my French mates spoke French, German, English and Arabic.  There is no way you can tell me that speaking 4 languages makes her uncompetitive in the global market.

No way.

So, back to this making-America-bilingual debate…it’s gonna happen.  For folks who wanna increase their knowledge of the world and interact with people from other cultures, countries and continents, they will learn new languages.  I do believe, however, that our schools should require that students at a young age learn new languages.

That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.  Adios folks!

Irritants

Random list of stuff I don’t like that seems to be very popular right now.  I’m just not with it (right now) and I don’t apologize… suckers!
“If I don’t like it, I don’t like it.  That don’t mean that I’m hatin’” – Com

Lupe doggone Fiasco.  Ugh.  He’s cute and all, but EVERY TIME I listen to him I’m overcome with sadness over his unrealized potential.  I think we want him to be better than he is.  And he does not get credit for being a half-step or two above average.  Dude isn’t the truth like folks believe.

The “woman” dude.  “Love behind the melody” dude.  Coop just can’t get with him.  That “customer” song is just irritating.

BAPE. 

The large car necessity.  If you’re not constantly transporting serious cargo or a buttload of children, you really need to consider downsizing your vehicle.  It’s ridiculous.  America contributes over one-third of the greenhouse gases of THE PLANET.  If you are a single woman, you do not need a damn SUV.  As a status symbol, let.it.go.

Genital herpes commercials with people laughing like everything’s copacetic.  It’s not.  Stop frontin’.

Poorly written blogs.  People, it’s open to the public.  Everyone doesn’t understand your local lingo.  Let’s keep it simple with a subject, verb and maybe even a predicate.  If you wanna get fancy, throw in some compound words and adjectives.  And stop writing in all caps.  It frightens me.

Flavor Flav.

Personal attacks on political candidates…or on anyone, for that matter.  If you disagree with someone’s policies, that’s cool.  Don’t go talking about their kids and mama because you think you could provide free healthcare to all of North America.

Dishonesty in relationships.  Yeah that ish seems to be very popular right now…especially among spouses of educated, Black women who live in Atlanta…and are on my speed dial.  *sigh*

Prosperity preachers.  It’s illogical to think that EVERYBODY can be rich.  You’re promoting inflation, playboy.

Medium-point pens.  Fine tips are so much better.  Especially Pentel RSVP and Staedtler fineliner!  lol

Kobe “loser” Bryant.  Dude whines and flops (and scores the game-winning shot) too often.  Grow up Kobe.  We know your wife is calling the shots and you need to exert your manhood on the court to make up for the silent servitude your living in at home.  We know, Kobe.  We know.

Sober Mary J. Blige.  Yep, I said it and I know I’m not alone.  When Mary was jacked up on coke and whatever else, her albums were awesome.  Now I have a hard time even following her rhyme patterns.  Bring back the crackhead!  But she looks fabulous.

I need to do this more often!

20-something bloggers stand up!

OK so I read lots of blogs regularly and most are from folks older than me.  There’s nothing wrong with it, but it’s kinda like being a freshman in high school and only hanging around the seniors.  It kinda makes you feel cool to be accepted by them, but you have a totally different set of priorities and issues than they do.  So…

I need all my 20-something bloggers to stand up!  Leave your site in the comments.  If you know of others, leave their site in the comments.  I’m gonna update my blogroll to include more youngins blogging.  But make sure they type in complete sentences.  I don’t have time to decipher postings.

Obsolete skills

With technology advancing so quickly, some skills that were once a necessity are now obsolete.  How important is it hat you know how to boot off a floppy disk, or load film into a 110 camera, or degauss a CRT monitor?  Not long ago, this stuff was really important!

Check out this list: http://obsoleteskills.com/Skills/Skills

Can you think of any other now obsolete skills?  How about politely answering a phone at work, or giving directions without mapquest, or using a phone book!

You were on my mind

Hi Shamar,
I was driving from work yesterday and started thinking about you.  It was totally random.  I started talking to myself (like I always do) about you.  It was a wonderful conversation, too-full of love and smiles.

I thought about how you loved to put peanuts in your Coke when you drank it.
I thought about how you introduced me to Air Force Ones in high school and laughed at me for not knowing about them sooner.
I thought about how you introduced me to Trina and Trick Daddy (lol!), Big Tymers and BG.
I thought about how you would sit, just sit, at my house while my mom worked nights so I didn’t have to be there by myself.
I thought about how pigeon-toed you were!
I thought about how beautiful your skin was.
I thought about how I never liked your girlfriends because they were never good enough for you.
I thought about you working at Family Dollar.
I thought about you paging me (flashback!) asking for a ride and how you always gave me gas money and a kiss on the cheek.
I thought about how much your boys respected you.
I thought about your house catching on fire.
I thought about your smile.

I’m so happy I met you!  You helped me get through Ms. Thaxton’s biology class!  You introduced me to lots of music, people, fashion that I was clueless about.  You’re great.

I think about you a lot still, but it saddens me.  I miss you so much.  I tear up every single time I think of you.  When I ride the train home, I see your old street.  I pass by the gas station I got pulled over at for my first ticket, when you walked by to check on me.  You always checked on me.

Things are kinda hard for me right now.  I’m stressed about a lot of stuff.  I know that you would say something to make me feel better if you could.  I know you would tell me to calm down and stop worrying.  You never worried.  You probably didn’t even have time to worry when you were hit.  On your death bed, you didn’t worry.

I really miss you, Shamar.  I wish you were here.  I just need a hug.  I know that you wouldn’t allow me to be sad.  You’d find a way to cheer me up.  I’m so selfish to want you here for my own benefit, but it’s true.  I wish you were still here, walking, talking, smiling.  Just one more day.

Well, I gotta get back to work.  I hear you telling me to stop crying!  I am, I am…promise kemo sabe!

Love always,

Coop

Obama kicks

Oh yes we can!  lol 

Happy Singles Awareness Day (AKA ode-to-consumerism day BKA little-naked-man-with-an-arrow day).

Nerd!

Three things recently happened to solidify my position in NERDville with my homies.

1. Retail therapy for nerds is…
SCHOOL SUPPLIES! I love these pens and I treated myself to a new set after a bad day.

2. Txt msg convo

JJ (’cause we’re ‘friends’ now): What does it mean that obama does better among more ‘educated’ voters?
*Coop*: Education and hope are positively related
Do you buy that?
JJ: Hmm
Kinda but not really
*Coop*: Lol
JJ: Like athiesm goes up with education
I always thought hope and lack of education were related
And lottery ticket buying is inverse to income
So…eh
*Coop*: I think it changes during ‘times of war’
JJ: Really?
*Coop*: I dunno
Sounds like an economist’s rationale
JJ: Maybe I’ve been reading the economist too much lol
*Coop*: That ish is bad for your brain
JJ: What ish
*Coop*: The economist. It overloads the brain. It’s scientifically proven

3. Chatting with Harpo, telling her about a guy I might have dinner with on Sunday. I tell her that he’s a self-professed nerd, loves to memorize international exchange rates and has studied abroad for long periods of time as well. I expect her to say “dang Coop, he is a nerd”. Instead, she says “yeah y’all got a lot in common!”. LOL

BTW I didn’t get into GWU.  Got my first rejection letter a few days ago.