Soul Spin

Thursday, December 21, 2006

Kinda slow today, so let's talk about Christmas plans.

So now I'm thinking that since I've had so much success this week, I can just kick back and do nothing. Probably not the attitude to have, but with half my team gone and my boss MIA, concentrating is challenging.

Sooooo what can we do to procrastinate. Anyone tried this out? http://www.stationerymovies.com/ Basically a scene from a movie has been created using office supplies. Since I see about one movie a year, I could only figure out six. You?

I leave tomorrow for St. Louis where I'll visit my grandparents for the holidays. Typically, I spend Christmas in Atlanta with my parents, but since the grands are getting older, I suggested we make the trek to the homeland this year. As much as I'm looking forward to seeing my wonderful grandparents, I'm really not jazzed about packing gifts in a suitcase and having to lug gifts back home. Kinda sucks. And of course I'm not going to make the time or find the money to ship things to people. All gifts are fun-sized for my packing pleasure.

I guess that since I'm living in New York, this whole traveling by air for Christmas thing is something I'm going to have to get used to. Maybe next year I can get some folks to converge upon Brooklyn. That could be fun...but could present its own set of challenges. Like I'm not going to want to clean up after a bunch of people or be the one responsible for meals, house decoration, etc. Gosh, I sound like a big ole Grinch. I'm really not, I'm just lazy when it comes to Christmas.

Christmas equals laying around doing nothing for hours on end. Nothing except playing with gifts and eating food someone else prepared. I guess now that I have the grown-up apartment I have to start doing grown-up things like not being lazy and having people over for formal gatherings. Actually, if I really do it right, it could be a lot fun. And by that time the a-p-t will be in fine form with decorations, paint in every room and real live furniture.

Check in next week for the Christmas weekend recap. With all the Your Girl kin in the house, I'm sure I'll have lots of fun stories...

Tuesday, December 19, 2006

Today was like, the best day of my life.

Over the past month or so, my success rate at work was slowing to a crawl and I was starting to worry. As a publicist, I'm only as good as my most recent media hit (e.g. the last time my client's name was in the paper or face was on TV). I couldn't get a producer or editor to talk about my clients to save my life. Well, that's not true. Local papers and TV will chat me up all day, but the big national outlets of the world were giving me the cold shoulder. It was getting really depressing and I was starting to question my skills.

After a wonderful weekend in Atlanta with my family, a pep talk from a very important someone and some major meditation, I started this week with a new outlook. On Monday I was (pleasantly) cracking the whip on my team...setting deadlines, making calls and being strategic about it. Something just felt different...I felt more focused.

Lo and behold, I booked my clients on the TODAY show, Good Morning America, Regis & Kelly and secured a story in Women's Wear Daily today. In fact, ALL OF THESE CALLS CAME POURING IN TO ME THIS MORNING. Craziness! By lunch I was on such a high I almost forgot to eat.

Just goes to show the power of the mind. It's beyond what we can comprehend...or at least what I can. I'm not a super new age chick, but I believe I willed this success. And life is so good as a result! It's funny how one thing affects so many other aspects of life.

Anyway, currently happy and loving it.

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Christmas Wishlist

1. MACE - I got chased out of the subway station by a homeless man yesterday.

2. Doesn't matter...just get me mace please!

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Red Hot + Riot

Weekend before last my girlfriend was in town from Atlanta for work and extended her trip so that we could hang in the big city. So I make my way to her midtown Manhattan hotel to meet up and make plans on how we were going to spend our Saturday together. We're brainstorming things to do when all of a sudden her face lights up, she whips a piece of paper out of her bag and asks me if I want to go to a concert in Brooklyn that night. I scan the page that's been ripped from Spin magazine and see that Red Hot + Riot is scheduled to take over the Brooklyn Acacemy of Music (BAM) and inspire the masses at 7:30p sharp. It's an all-star concert benefiting the African Services Committee, "an organization which promotes the health and self-sufficiency of New York City's African and Caribbean immigrant communities through the provision of HIV/AIDS care and support services."

I cannot contain my excitement when I see who's on the bill:

Tony Allen
Amadou and Miriam
Cheikh Lô
Dead Prez
Keziah Jones
Les Nubians
Meshell Ndegeocello
Yerba Buena with special guest John Medeski

And they were all in the building to celebrate none other than Fela Kuti (who died a few years ago from HIV-related illnesses).

So we called BAM to see if we could go to the show and were told the show was solid out. Our hearts sank! I was looking forward to jammin' up and down the aisles. But my girl and I are little too determind to let "sold out" status mess with our plans. So we decided to decend upon the venue and buy from a scalper, a no-show patron, SOMETHING!

To pass the time till *showtime*, we hit up an FIT fashion show. I'm sure FIT is a fine institution, but the fashion show was NOT good. Totally lame...totally unorganized. And frankly, totally boring. Was not wowed by anything that came down the runway-that-was-really-just-a-stage. I'm hoping that the show was produced by high school students hoping to make it into the program. Sorry kids, but just was not feelin' it.

After the fashion show we did a little light shopping and decided that we needed to get our stuff from the hotel, b-line it to my place in Brooklyn to change and then head over to the venue to score some tickets.

When we got to BAM we asked a man near the ticket window where we should go to purchase any cancelled tickets. *and this is where being a cute black chick comes in handy* He gives me a wink and tells me that the line starts over there, but that we should check back in with him in about 30 minutes because he will probably have something for us. SCORE!

We make it to the line...my girl is going to hold our place while I make a round outside the building to see if there are any scalpers. Having zero luck, I come back to the line only to find my friend gone. Panicked and thinking we'd lost our place in line she strolls over cooly and says she just bought a ticket. This girl is just too slick! So now we only have one ticket to buy. Not five minutes later, a woman comes walking down the cancellation line with a man looking to sell one ticket. My girl and I practically knock the woman over clammering for the little sliver of paper that will grant me entrance to the hottest show of the season. Apparently the folks in front of us didn't want to buy just one ticket because they were looking to sit together. Their loss! My girl and I now had two tickets into a HOT ass concert! And I didn't have to pimp myself to the dirty old man at the ticket window! The stars had aligned and my karma was showing her good side.

The show was absolutely amazing. My seat was three rows back, far stage right. About halfway through the show my girlfriend came and got me, took me to sit next to her which was about 10 rows back...directly center. We danced and sang and clapped and hollered and had a good 'ol time in our fabulous seats.

Fela's song "Zombie" put me in such a good mood...something about the beats and the chanting...I just loved it.

Some of the artists on the bill I knew, some I had the pleasure of hearing for the first time live. They were all magnificently off the chain. :-)

I cannot say enough about the brilliance of the musicianship and talent collected on one stage. And all in support of such a great cause!

Love live Fela!

Monday, December 11, 2006

Coloring the palace

I painted my bathroom over the weekend and it is soooo cute. Those who know me well know that I painted it purple. It's a really dark majestic color and it works because my bathroom is fairly large and has a lot of white in it. Exhibit A:

This is from one side of the room. See how it works with all of the white tile that goes halfway up the wall? I took off the blue tape tonight and she really looks lovely. Here's a shot from the entrance:

And just for kicks, here's my beautiful sink that I love so much. It's so big and inviting!

My dad was here for a couple of days when I first moved in. He helped get my kitchen to a state of non-griminess and hooked me up with several necessary new home tools such as this gem:

I never knew I could love a step stool so much. For some reason I'm starting to feel like this apartment was constructed for someone about a foot taller than me. LC is going to love this place when he gets here. He'll have no problem reaching the super high storage in the kitchen or painting the top of the living room walls. *wink wink*

My new step stool helped me get the bathroom painting job done in no time. I've painted just about every apartment I've lived in and every time I paint I tell myself that I'm never doing it again. It's so much work and such a pain in the ass...but I always love the finished product so much more than plain jane white walls. But for some reason this time around I thoroughly enjoyed it. Maybe it was because I knew I would get satisfaction of a job well done a lot quicker than I ever will when I decide to tackle my has-too-much-wall-space living room. It makes me sweat just to think about painting that living room. But the bathroom was a breeze and quite enjoyable. I took my time and did it right...no splotches, no missed spots, no thin coats...I did it right this time.

I'm still on the hunt for a sofa even though I know I'm going to end up spending way too much money on that Thomasville goodness that I saw. AND I'm on the market for a flat screen. Thinking about this one, but that's a totally uneducated decision...I just think it's cute and reasonably priced:

Although I did spend 30 minutes on cnet.com brushing up on the difference between plasma and LCD. I'm still torn...I feel myself leaning towards LCD, but plasma makes a good case. Will probably come down to which one is cute and which do I feel is worth my thousand buckaroos.

I'm having so much fun shopping and settling into the new place, but being a big girl is expensive. Hmph.

Wednesday, December 06, 2006

Subway Stalker

Two or three weeks ago I was minding my business waiting for the train to take me to work. The 4,5 comes speeding up to the stop and it's packed so everyone on the platform has to smoosh in, adjust bags, give dirty looks to the person who won't smoosh, etc. We are literally packed like sardines and there is someone pressed up against my front and a guy pressed up against my back.

So we're riding along trying not to breathe on each other and I feel something touching my butt. There are so many bags, jackets and bodies in the train car that I figured someone's purse was inappropriately groping me.

It wasn't until the train arrived at the first stop that I realized it was some dude's HAND. Disgusted, I shifted so that he wasn't plastered against my back...now he was more over my right shoulder. Dude proceeds to maneuver his hand (very subtly because I didn't notice the maneuver) so that it's on my butt again! Now let me clarify...it's not like he's palming my butt cheek. He's basically got the back of his fist on the lower part of my butt...kind of underneath the curve.

I cannot begin to describe my disgust. But for some reason I didn't say anything. When the doors swung open at the next stop, I bolted from the train feeling so creeped out. Since I have to cross the platform to take the 6 train to my final destination, I made a point to walk down a few doors so that I could be assured to be free of the perv.

So I get into another fairly crowded train, settle in, the doors close, turn to my right and HE'S RIGHT NEXT TO ME!!! So I make it a point to put as much space between us as I can. You will not believe his next move....He takes his hand and kind of suspends it in mid-air so that it's touching the side of my hip. It's like the back of his fist has a gravitational pull with my body! At this point I feel so violated that the doors open at the next stop (which is mine) and I tear up the stairs out of the train in a complete panic.

After venting to LC about the whole incident I felt a little better. (Especially after he told me that it was probably the jeans I was wearing that made me irresistible...aww, thanks, LC).

Fast forward to this past Monday. Again, cramming onto the 4,5 and CREEPY DUDE FINDS ME AGAIN AND HAS HIS HAND UNDER MY BUTT!!!!

Do not ask me why I didn't say (or scream) something like "GET YOUR HAND OFF MY ASS YOU SICK F**K" but I didn't. By the time I recovered from the shock that he had found me again and had attached himself to my ass, it was time to get off the train.

I mean, what are the chances? Maybe he trolls around the subway in the morning looking for women to feel-up hoping that one, just one, might realize he's groping them, turn around and look up with a smile and then they'll go back to his dirty apartment and he can have his way with them. I don't know.

But what I do know is I'm probably the most action he's had in five years. Any ideas for how I react to "Your Girl Gets Groped" episode three?

Thursday, November 30, 2006

What's natural?

My blog friend over at Afrobella posted about what constitutes "natural hair" and it got me to thinking about living naturally.

I started making a mental note of all the things in my life are so NOT natural, like:

Brushing my teeth. Now of course I realize the importance of brushing my teeth...I don't want to be toothless by 45. And I'd like for what does remain in my head to be shiny and bright. But how natural is it to brush? When you think about it, it's kind of random. Back in the day they just woke up, ate breakfast and kept it moving.

Wearing make-up. I don't wear it much at all...mostly when I go out on the town or it's a special occasion. Like a hot date with a mystery man (just kidding, LC!). But it's so completely unnatural to cake your face with powdery substances. Do you think we're trained to know that a face perfected with make-up is more attractive than one without? Or do we just know a made up face is cuter than a natural one?

Drinking through a straw. Why don't we use glasses? What added value does a straw have? For me it was always about not having to put my lips on public cups...but still. Not really that natural.

Cutting my fingernails. God did not invent scissors, nail clippers or emory boards. So why do we trim down our tresses, push back our cuticles and keep our legs smooth and hairless? Makes no sense. But then again, thank God we do.

So in the end, how can we criticize women like Leela James for rocking fake naturals? Seems like little we do is natural, so why get upset about some dead follicles?

Sofa Shopping

So my next big purchase for the new crib is a sofa. It took me a while to figure out what I want, but I'm pretty sure that I want a big, deep, comfy sofa that's nice looking, but still slouchy and casual. And I want to have a big chair with an ottoman.

So I did some couch sitting over the Thanksgiving holiday to see if anything looked really good to me. I saw a set at Thomasville Furniture that was calling my name. But once I get my custom fabric on it and get it shipped to NYC, I will be paying a pretty penny (like almost six grand for the whole kit and kaboodle).

I've decided that since I'm a big girl now with her own place that I need nice furniture. But six stacks worth may be too nice. So here are some sofas I've seen online that are calling my butt cheeks to come sit on them:

Restoration Hardware:

Problem with this one is that I think the back is too high to fit through my apartment door. And I'm not sure that it's quite slouchy enough.

Pottery Barn:

Mmmmmm....comfy. :-)

Thomasville:

Not to worry, I have taste. Their fabrics are custom.

I sat on this last one in the store and it is heavenly. But it's the expensive one, so we'll see.

Anyone have any couch advice? I was reading Martha Stewart's new Homekeeping Handbook (it's like a Bible) and she was telling me all kinds of things I need to look for. Like how the springs are mounted and if the parts are glued together or screwed in. Helpful stuff! Send any suggestions or ideas my way!