Read, Red, Read...

...gotta love the English language and all its homonyms and homographs and homophones.

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Lots going on today.
First of all, newness! :-)

The red color reflects the extremely passionate mood I've been for the past week.

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Next, a meme.

Once upon a time--turns out that it was exactly 2 months ago--I was tagged by T. Allen-Mercado of Tea and Honey Bread to participate in a book meme where I'd list some of my favorite reads. It sometimes takes me a while to complete memes that I've been tagged for, but I never forget. So here we go...

List the following:

(a) Fiction book
(b) Autobiography
(c) Non-fiction book
(d) A fourth book of your choice from any genre
Explain why the books are essential reads in no more than 30 words per book.
(We'll see about that 30 words stipulation... :-)

I've got several favorites, but these are books or authors that I've read numerous times and have yet to tire of.


Fiction: Any book ever written by J.California Cooper--Seriously. Cooper's way of telling stories and relating the innermost thoughts and feelings of her characters draws me in every time. Plus, I'm sure I've encountered most of these characters at least once in my short life.

Autobiography: Black Boy by Richard Wright--Humorous, raw, and poignant. Wright's books are some of my favorite, and this autobiography tops the list. Much has been said about him both positively and negatively. I love the man!

(Runner-up: Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt. Considered a memoir)

Non-Fiction: Living by The Word by Alice Walker--Inspirational and thought-provoking, this collection of essays and personal journal entries explores a range of topics and situations. It appeals to the part of me that appreciates the human capacity for individual thought.

My Choice: Basic Herbs for Health and Healing by Rashan Abdul Hakim--One of my favorites for natural healing methods relevant to a range of bodily ailments. On the accompanying DVD the author takes the viewer on a nature walk through Jamaica where he points out various herbs and their uses.

New category added by me...What I'm currently reading:

Medical Apartheid by Harriet A. Washington (ongoing)
Food and Society by Magnus Pyke
Linden Hills by Gloria Naylor
The Last of the Tasmanians by James Bonwick (been reading this for months)

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Lastly, towards the aim the of getting back on board with T. Allen-Mercado's Shutter Click and Chat Sundays, I dug through my photos in order to find one or two appropriate for today's theme:

Favorite Photo Outtakes




Taken on the streets of New Orleans around 2000-2002 when I was down there with friends for the annual football showdown known as Bayou Classic, these two shots reflect our yearly ritual of meeting and talking to random people then taken pictures with them. Sometimes we initiated the photo and at other times they requested it. In the first shot, I'm not sure what the guy had said to me right at the moment the picture was being taken, but apparently it was something I didn't approve of. The result: him smiling widely like it's all good, and me giving him the eyes like, "Fool..are you crazy??" The second one is pretty straightfoward, but it stands out in my mind because of the stir his colorful attire and gold teeth caused among a couple of the girls I was with. They were trying to determine if he was in a gang or what...

*sarcasm*
cause y'all know colors, bandannas, and gold teeth are automatically synonymous with gang activity, right??
*sarcasm*

It really didn't matter to me. I just recall that he was really personable and respectful when he approached me and funny when we started talking. And we're all hugged up in the shot like we'd known each other for years. When I look over all the pics taken out there from 1998-2002, though, I found that to be quite common. What can I say...I'm a hugger. :-)


Have a beautiful week!

peace.

Logical

Dress! It's similar to ones I've made before with the same navy blue fabric but with its own flavor.

Below is a close-up of the lace detail at the waist with more orange peeping through. Slowly but surely I'm finding ways to uses pieces from my lace stash.

That's pretty much it. I was preparing to go out and partake of the Sunday buffet at my favorite local Greek and Lebanese cafe but decided against spending money to eat out when I'm fortunate enough to have a kitchen full of food. So earlier I cooked a lentil and spinach dish courtesy of T. Allen-Mercado (this has become a staple), brown rice, boiled cabbage, vegetables sautéed in olive oil with rosemary (brussels sprouts, mushrooms, sweet potatoes, onion, and garlic), and made-from-scratch cornbread. Mmmmm, mmmm, mmmm. Although (for today) I only had the cabbage and sautéed veggies.

I'm gonna go enjoy some of this 68 degree weather. It's so nice for it to finally not be so cold.

For your listening/viewing pleasure, here's a video from Les Nubians, "Solide." Unfortunately I couldn't find lyric translation, but maybe you can still appreciate the essence of the song.






Wishing everyone a beautiful week!!!

peace.

Here, There, Everywhere

Here's another lil mini dress that was made a day after the previous one. The material was given to me by my grandmother, but I wasn't too sure what could become of it. There wasn't a whole lot, so the resulting scarcity of the dress was inevitable. Perfect for hot weather when just a little fabric covering the essentials is all you're going for. ha! I certainly know about that considering the hot, humid summers we have here in South Louisiana.

Over a month ago I was tagged by J over at plantFolk to list 6 things about myself that you may not know. I'm not even sure if there's anything about me left to say considering that I've done a few of these before. But It's always fun, so I racked my brain to come up with 6 more.

1. I'm naturally an all or nothing kinda girl. It's out of my control. So for instance, it translates like this: When going through a break-up with a guy, I'm gonna be an emotional wreck for however long it takes...crying, questioning, not eating, not being productive. (Loving extremely hard is also in my nature.) But then all of a sudden one day, I'll be over it. I'll wake up and think, "Man...that was crazy." Then, "Dang! My library books are overdue again!" or some other random, non break-up related thought. There will be no gradual dying down of feelings. I'm either all the way in or all the way out.

2. I've got very fond memories associated with the show CBS Sunday Morning , and although as an adult I've come to watch it for the content, there was a time when I'd just have it on in the background because of the nostalgia it evoked. When growing up, if I spent the weekend at my grandparent's house--this was very common since one of my cousins lived with my grandparents and we liked to play together--my grandmother would be up early on Sunday morning cooking grits, eggs, and bacon (or something) with the t.v. set on CBS. When eight o'clock rolled around, we'd here the trumpet selection that opens the program and know what time it was.

3. I'm a sure mix of both of my parents' personalities. Now, that doesn't sound so odd, but when you consider that they're totally different, it sometimes makes for a very chaotic life journey for me. My father's very stable, knows what he wants, how to get it, etc. My mother's indecisive, unsure, etc. Combine the two, and here I am. Drives me crazy sometimes.

4. When dealing with a purchased item that doesn't function correctly, I cut out the middle man and go straight to the manufacturer. I prefer personally writing the company and letting them know, "Hey, something's up with this product," rather than just taking it back to the store where it'll likely be repackaged (or not) and stuck back on the shelf. I've been this way since I was a teen. Properly functioning replacements are always sent to me.

5. My travel plans for this year so far include Los Angeles, San Diego, the Mississippi Gulf Coast, and maybe back to Brooklyn to hang out once more with my amazing photographer friend, Val. (And I could stand another trip to Tampa. *Hint Hint* to the person who tagged me :-D ) I'm putting it out there, and intend to make it happen.

6. Spring semester classes start today, and I've got a linguistics course at 6 p.m. While I'm really excited about the class (excuse my nerdish-ness), I'm not looking forward to being out walking from my car to the English building then back in 30 degree weather tonight. eeeek!


Have a lovely day!

peace.

Back in Stride

Yes, Maze and Frankie Beverly, I am. Hopefully for a while

So I've made it back from ATL safe and I guess sound. Despite some glitches along the way, I enjoyed myself. It never fails that when vacationing I don't wanna come back home. It was no different this time. There's just something about being away from my usual situation, free of any real responsibility. Yes, I am lazy. Ironically, though, (I think) I'm also quite responsible and hard-working. Go figure.

But it's nice to be back home in another year. Before leaving for my trip I was pretty much in a creative slump as far as clothing design ideas were concerned.This isn't uncommon, so it's no big deal. I've learned to just ride it out. Well, earlier this week I went in the sewing room determined to make something before exiting again. The red and white "picnic" dress you see to the left was the outcome. I can't recall where I got that fabric from, but I do remember that my initial reaction upon finding it in my stash was to give it away or something. Normally, though, when I let fabric that I think I have no use for sit there long enough, it eventually grows on me and ends up being used somehow. The dress is pretty simple (which is nothing new for me) and--even in its boldness--a bit plain withough some sprucing up. At least that's how I feel about it. The black belt was borrowed from this dress. And I think I works pretty well with my new bright lime green shoes picked up at a store in Hattiesburg, Mississippi (my traveling partner's original hometown) on the way back to Louisiana. . One lady's reaction when I wore them Monday: "Girl...them some wild shoes!!" Ha! It was great. To me they're just green shoes that I was attracted to. And it doesn't hurt that green is the color of growth and abundance..two things I'm working on and am grateful for.

Well, I hope all is well with everyone. I'm 4 or 5 posts behind on responding to comments, something I always enjoy doing. So in case I don't get to them, just know that I'm appreciative of anyone who takes the time to comment on my posts. The intention is to be back to regularly updating and tending to my blog within the coming week.

Have a lovely morning/afternoon/evening/night!

peace.

As I Am

Greetings from Atlanta!!

Ok...I wasn't in Atlanta when this was typed, but that's where I am as you're reading this. Blogger's scheduled posts option does come in handy from time to time.

So yes. I'm currently in Georgia visiting friends and maybe overcoming too much New Year's Eve celebrating. Thanks Attallah and Josiah for having us!

Not much to show as far as sewing. I've been doing more alterations for locals lately than anything, but I wanted to share another song that I really like by one of my favorite artists Amel Larrieux. The song resonates with me in general, but there were a couple of situations that were recently in my realm that are really relevant to the lyrics, in my opinion, and caused me to have this particular tune in heavy rotation these past few days. One was a post I read over at Tea and Honey Bread concerning her daughter's recent run-in with some inconsiderate playground meanies. *suddenly has the urge to stick out tongue*

The other situation involves a photo presentation I saw last Friday (watch it. it's good, though that's not it in its entirety. http://dirckhalstead.org/issue0603/ficara-video.html) concerning black farmers in America and the difficult times they have just trying to sustain themselves as such. Some of the farmers are 70 + years of age and still work so hard in those fields using what they have and know to keep the farm going.

And then, as I was in the process of typing this post, I went back to Tea and Honey Bread and read another of T's posts which includes commentary about the Great Brown Round aka her "hard earned" and "well maintained" be-Hind. ha ha ha!

So in my mind all of these just sort of culminate into a grand idea about self-acceptance and being and self-love and others accepting you and letting you be you and loving you for who you are and what you do have.(Of course some of these can be qualified, but hopefully you understand where I'm coming from.)

Amel Larrieux "All I Got"

Got these feet
In these shoes
They walked a mile or two,
Got these legs
They've done work
That's left them black and blue,
Got these hips
They are wide
But they know how to move,
Got these hands
To lift the weak
Or slap down a racist fool

[Chorus:]
This is all I
This is all I got

Got this place
I call my home
But it's no Taj Mahal,
Got these pockets
They ain't full grown
But I won't steal from no one,
Got this heart
Well it's been broke
But it's still beating strong,
Got this song
It ain't much
But it helps me carry on

[Chorus:]
This is all I
This is all I got

Got a will
That lifts me up
When my body can't
Got a way
Of getting' through
With no helping hands
Got a mind
That lends me strength
So I ain't afraid to stand
Got a love
So deep in me
Can't be stopped by any man

Happy '09!!!

(green's for growth. continue!!)

peace