My Favorite Things 2017, Part I

This the time of year that I like to think about the things I fancied this year, i.e., my favorite things. Today I wanted to do a post on my favorite foods.

1. Sweet Tango Apples

I'd taken a picture of my apples, but my flash was too bright. I wanted you to see the label, so I grabbed a pic off the internet. I came across this apple at my favorite Farmer's Market. I think I also saw it once at the White Peoples' Whole Foods store out in Buckhead. Both of these places are quite a drive away (10-25 miles away), but when I go, I make sure I get a big bag of at least 6-8 of them... and I make them last.

They remind me of my favorite apple over the years: the Fuji apple. These have a stronger flavor. I don't know how to describe the flavor, but they keep me coming back for more.

2. Pomegranate arils

So when I went to Dubai last year and found them for $4 a pint- the going price over there- I bout lost my mind. Every time my sister and I went to the store, I would grab a pint. And I would eat them straight from the plastic container.

I do that now here at home. Especially since I saw a video on the proper way to peel and gut a pomegranate. When I catch them on sale, I buy them. And I can peel them in less than 5 minutes. Oh joy!

When I was little, I loved pomegranates. But I made such a mess when chewing up the fruit and spitting out the seeds. Who would've known that we were missing out on fiber and nutrients in those seeds. I learn something new every day!

3. Golden Berries

I'd never heard of these before. And I make an effort to try a new fruit or vegetable from time to time. This is my favorite thing I tried this year. And they remind me of grapes, but with a tropical flavor. This is odd to me, as I don't really care for tropical fruit. But these have grown on me. I've only bought them once, but they have been my favorite new food that I've tried this year.

Wordless Wednesdays: LadyLee's Favorite Things, Part 2

Wordless Wednesdays: LadyLee's Favorite Things

Wordless Wednesday: LadyLee's Favorite Things

August Favorites, Part I

The month of August is coming to an end pretty fast.

And I have this thing about reflecting on the highlights of my month.

One of those highlights involved my FAVORITE author in the whole wide world, Tayari Jones.

Now if you haven't read this blog much over the last 9 years, you won't know of allll my stalker stan antics concerning this chick.  She is my favorite author and I have harassed her endlessly. These days, I actually consider her my friend. Or it may be that she just think I am plum crazy. And it might be good to keep an eye on "crazy". But I don't think that's the case. She is Celie. I am Nettie. And she has mentored me in my own writing. Over the years, I have called her up and asked her some questions and she will answer. Now, I will debate her down about it. But she's the creative writer (and she also teaches on the universtiy level)... alas, I take her advice and it is always right. Always.

But she is one of the silliest people I know. I been somewhere with her and she will "jone" on folk. And that is hilarious.

But back to my highlight...

I have stalked her something awful over the years for bits and pieces of something to read, as she is always writing something interesting. I remember a couple of Christmas' ago being down at her Ma and Pa house over in SWATS (if you haven't read that post, read it -Christmas Eve with my Favorite author- it is quite funny), and talking smack about her giving me something to read, and that day she actually let me read a couple of paragraphs on her cell phone. I remember having thoughts of running out the house with that phone so I could read everything.

But we are both SWATS (Southwest Atlanta) girls. There would have been a huge fight in the front yard. And no, we don't want that.

But I tell you, it is always a joy...

To be sitting at my computer, and a new email pops up and it is from her...

And the subject line reads "something to read".

There is always a moment of ...

*silence*

And I want to shout:

GLORY!!!!

But I don't. Because the cubicle area is very quiet for the most part, save for the sounds of the air handlers.

I just quietly forward the document to my kindle address. And I may read a few pages while sitting there at my desk. But I usually read around bed time.

And I remember thinking "My goodness, this is awesome. I have no one to read or discuss this with."

So I go into stalker mode...

And I blow up her text messages. I know her phone was vibrating so hard that it jumped off the table.

Then I might read something particularly disturbing and I just MUST voice my opinion on it.

So I CALL her.

*phone ringing*

"Wassup," Tayari says.

"Man, listen...," I say with a hard sigh.

And she allows me to go on and on and on... and she tries to explain. And I go on and on... and she tries to explain more.

Oh. joy.

It may not seem like a "happy" moment... but how often does one even sit and read a book, and then can dial up the writer of the book and ask questions (or cuss and vent.) 

I CAN.

And that makes me happy. 

So thanks Tayari for the 250 pages of pure loveliness. I enjoyed texting you my favorite lines from the draft. And it was great talking to you about the characters.  It was such a a joy.

Please send the remaining 100 pages when you finish.  Immediately when you finish. Don't wait around. Because I want to know what happens.

Don't forget about me...

Don't let me revert to stalker stan mode :)

LadyLee Favorites: Ice Cream

I really love ice cream.

But I don't eat much of it because it gives me serious mucus issues. And that is putting it mildly. Anything over a scoop is a problem. I hope I'm not becoming lactose intolerant. I like good ice cream, so I just have to deal. I like ice creams made form cashews, coconut, or almonds. But I still love dairy ice cream. Sigh.

So as a result, I don't mind paying good money for expensive locally made small batch ice creams.

One of my favorites is Bourbon pecan ice cream.

It's not the butter pecan ice cream of your childhood, honey.

It's made with a little bourbon. That makes it ice cream for Grown Folks.

LOL

This is a locally made ice cream. And it retails at $6.99 a pint, which is the going rate for such specialty ice creams.

It has that bourbon in it. It is definitely not enough to make me walk sideways or fall flat on my face, but I can a taste a slight slight hint of it.

And it is quite tasty.

I'm not sure I would buy it if there's a bunch of folk living in the house. It's the type of ice cream that would get gone... real fast. If I bought it, I would have to hide it way in the back of the freezer where no one could find it.

I don't have those issues. It takes me 2-3 weeks to get through a pint of ice cream.

So that's one of my favorite ice cream...

What's your favorite ice cream?

My Favorite Concert

I'm not particularly a concert person.

Especially in this day and time, where it's not unheard of to pay a hundred bucks for a ticket.

No, I liked the concerts of old, when tickets were 18 dollars.

I've seen many artists at that price: New Edition, Fat Boys, Whodini, Salt N Pepa Boys II Men, Jodeci, Beastie Boys just to name a few.

I paid 30 bucks for a ticket for an MC Hammer concert. Me, my brother and sister went. What fun! (But I know now not to take a 3 year old to a concert. Humph).

Those were some great concerts.

But I wanted to blog about my favorite of all...

The year was 1996, I believe, some 15 years ago. I was in the lab, working on my research, when my friend and classmate came into the lab, talking about a concert.

"Meshell Ndegeocello is going to be playing at the Variety Playhouse. You wanna go?"

I didn't answer immediately.

"I'm just going around asking people right now. I'm going to go pick up the tickets. And someone needs to go with me. I don't wanna be the only white person there."

"Well, let me know who else is going," was my answer of choice at the time.

Now I like Meshell and her music. She is quite eclectic. She writes all of her own music and plays all the instruments for her songs. And even back in 1996, it was rare to find people like that. So many artists were and still are manufactured.

I liked her music, but I wasn't all crazy about hitting up a concert.

She was one of my favorite singers at the time, but she was a lesbian.

No, I ain't got nothing against lesbians. Nope.

But I knew that EVERY lesbian in the ATL would be at that concert.

I don't have an issue with that, either. Do you. Whatever.

But here's my thing: I have this AWFUL fear of there being a news camera would be there, and my face would show up on the news, etc...

And my best friend LadyTee would see me on TV.

And if you know LadyTee like I know LadyTee, she like to jone. She's one of the BEST at it.

And I would've never lived that down. I could hear her in my head! "Lee, you was on the news! Is there something you wanna tell me, girl?"

LOL...

And she's that type that like to stare at you. Who wants to deal with that?

Well, Timmy-Tim came back with a report of who else was going. Keisha and Jill wanted to go. These were two sisters, two other chemists that I was in school with. I agreed to go then. I called up my friend Carter-Anne, and she wanted to go.

Me and Keisha had much discussion about this concert with Timmy-Tim.

"Boy, every lesbian in the ATL is going to be there."
"I don't care," Timmy-Tim said. "I just don't want to be the only white boy there."
Keisha laughed. "Well this is what we're going to do. We're going to all pretend we're with you, Tim. We don't want nobody to think we're lesbians."
"Whatever. I just want to go to the concert."

(Yes, there was much strategic discussion about this. Hey, we were young, in our mid-twenties. Terribly concerned about impressions!)

The evening of the event arrived and we all went to the concert. For days I'd been hollering about something.

Meshell sings one of my favorite songs. A song I still LOVE to this very day.

"Ya'll," I hollered. "If she sings my favorite song, I'ma pass out! Ya'll gonna have to pick me up and carry me out. I don't know what I'd do if she sang it. OH LAWD!"

They rolled their eyes. They knew the song well. I played it continuously in the lab. (Those who know me, if I like a song or movie, I play it to death! Even to this day!)

I went on and on and on about this. I was sooooo excited by the time the concert came along.

When we arrived at the concert, we saw much. We didn't know there were that many lesbians in the ATL. But there were just as many other people there. Timmy-Tim's fear of being the only white boy was alleviated. Carter-Anne was white, so we had a good mix of folk in our crew.

The seating was first come first serve, and it looked like the concert venue held a couple thousand people. So we had good seats, around the 10th row. We received free posters of Meshell, all made up. I remember whispering "She don't look like this!" LOL.

(And me and Keisha were chatty, and doing much people watching... and whispering "look at them two women over there all up on each other! Wow!)

And we made sure to hang on to Timmy-Tim so nobody would think we were together, lol. (He had to be thought of as a lucky man that night, showing up with 4 women!)

The concert started. She sauntered out on stage. This woman had to be all of five feet tall. That was funny.

But that concert... It was FANTASTIC! We were on our feet the whole time. Meshell would sing, then sit down and paly the keyboards, and then play the bass guitar.

We had a good time! I remember looking over at Carter-Anne, who was drinking wine, and saying "This is SO cool!"

Me and Keisha were hollering "We love you Meshell!" right along with everybody else.

MAN we had a great time!

But alas, she didn't sing my favorite song.

So my friends didn't have to see me pass out.

I had a good time. Best concert EVER! She is truly a great singer and entertainer.

We talked about that concert for days.

And my folks were like, "Thank goodness she didn't sing your favorite song!"

What was that song, you may ask:

It's this one.


Soul Searchin'. It wasn't on any of her CDs, but it was a part of the Higher Learning soundtrack.

I LOVE THAT SONG! She has the smoothest voice. And the arrangement was on point.

Those opening lyrics:

"Come caress my saddened heart
My sunrise, my darkest dreams
All my hostilities tame when you kiss me"

*lee passing out at computer keyboard*

I was DEEP in love when that song came out. Deep. Mind blown bad.

That was me and man's song right there!

Really though.

I still get goosebumps when I hear it.

Too bad she didn't sing it that night....

Too bad!

But I loved that concert. I've always told people if you get a chance to see her, GO. What talent! What a show!

So that was my favorite concert.

Like I said, I don't go to concerts these days. And that's okay.

I have my memories of my favorite one.

Yes indeed.

LadyLee's Favorites: Silk's Tonight

This has to be one of my FAVORITE CDs.

And normally, it is something that I wouldn't even think of buying.

Back in 2000, I lived in New Orleans, and I would try to get back home to the ATL at least every three months. I'd also try to visit friends while here. One of my friends lived in a small town in South Georgia, some 3 hours south of the ATL.

Anyway, whenever I drove through small towns, I always made sure to check out the local Wal-Marts. I've found over the years that small country Wal-Mart stores carry the BEST yarn, and they have plenty of it.

So, while in some some small town in Middle Georgia, I saw a Wal-mart store from the highway, and decided to check it out. The music and electronics section was nearby, and they were playing a CD really loud of some boy group crooning. I remember thinking, after hearing four songs... "I don't know what they're playing over there, but it is off the chain!"

So I went over and talked to the brother who was manning the section, and he said it was the new Silk CD, Tonight. He liked it, and he played it his entire shift. I wanted the CD, but unfortunately, they were sold out. (Everyone came over to pick it up when they heard it playing. Go figure.)

I managed to find it in my friend's town... and I've been playing it every since.

It is one of the very few CDs where I love every single song. I actually think some of the better songs on the album are ones they didn't release as singles.

So that's my favorite CD. I've been playing that in the ride lately.

Very smooth.

Very soft.

Very Silk.

LadyLee Favorite's, Part 1

for Carter...

When people ask me what my favorite movie is, they are often suprised by the answer.

You would think it would be The Color Purple.

Nope. But that one is surely in the top ten.

My favorite movie is a little known movie called Passion Fish.



This movie came out in 1992, and I remember going to the little art house theater over in Atlanta's Poncey Highland section of town (the only place that carried it) to see it with my friend Carter Anne. She is singlehandedly responsible for me enjoying and seeking out offbeat types of entertainment, even to this very day.

And it's the only movie I know of that has two of my favorite black actresses (Alfre Woodard and Angela Basset).



Yeah, both of them look so young in their scene together.

I fondly remember Carter and I quiet, sitting in the dark movie theater, and me turning to her and whispering "This is a GOOD movie."

It's the story of a soap opera star, who, while working in New York City, is hurt in an accident. She returns to her Lousiana childhood home for rehabilitation. She is helped along in her process by a nurse.

The concept is simple enough. And I'm sure that this happens every day.

Yet it is so complex. But each woman has a past, and has their own idiosyncracies and bad habits. We learn much of this through the variuos people who come by the house to visit, and their interactions with people in the local town.

This is my favorite movie. I watch the whole thing, or part of it on a regular basis. I watch it so much that I scratch it or wear it out. I have to reorder it from time to time.

Lately, I watch some part of it every day. It's great background for when I'm getting ready for work, or doing chores.

I learned something interesting back in 1992, when I was 22 years old.

It reminds me of how every one who crosses my path crosses it for a reason. And of how I cross peoples paths for a reason.

Nothing just happens. Ever.

It's usually a good thing. Rarely is a bad thing. (And I hope it stays that way.)

In any case, personal growth is the result.

This movie reminds me of that. It always centers me when I tend to get out of sorts mentally.

I may have touched on some of these personal principles during my "40 in 40" food for thought bonanza...

And I wanted to give this movie away as one of the prizes...

To a lurker who left the best of comment in those posts... Love Joi.

Oddly enough, it was on post #1 where I wrote "My past... I can't unscramble those eggs."

She left the following comment:

"and you know why you [don't] want to unscramble them?

Our pain, mistakes, etc, are valuable. I feel so humbled when God chooses to use my brokenness to bless someone else. He rightly positions them on my path to water, rain upon, or help reap a harvest. Without the pain why I'd never love and empathize with others like I do or have the knowledge to aid them. The pain softens our hearts so that we may freely give.
Freely you give and freely you receive. It all works together...Just a few thoughts humbly submitted..."

Very good comment. And very true. And it reminded me of this movie, my favorite movie.

So Miss Love Joi, if you're sneaking around here, lurking around... send your addy to my Oldgirl email.

oldgirl_1@earthlink.net.

I'll get your movie right out to you.