Friday Freestyles!

TGIF!!!

Soooooo glad it's FRIDAY!

AND it's PAYDAY!

*backflips, cartwheels and SPLITS*

LOL

Man, it's been a long long week. Been working like a DOG! I've been scrambling hard due to having a doctor's appointment on Tuesday. I could have left my doctor's appointment and reported on in to work but...

NOPE!

Didn't do that. No way, no how. Just too k the day off and enjoyed my day.

My doctor's appointment was ho-hum. I was there a little longer than I should've been because it was lunchtime for the dude who does my bloodwork, so that was a bit annoying waiting to get that done. But the waiting room is nicer now. It use to be chocked full of people, and if you know anything about Henry County... well, the trailer park crew would be up in there and uh... that was NOT a good thing.

Next appointment is in 6 weeks... that will roll around soon enough.

HUGE development at work last night. My current supervisor has been promoted, and will no longer be associated with us. I am happy for her, because she just hasn't cared much about us over the past year. Our group is in complete turmoil, and I couldn't figure out why... And it was because she was jumping ship.

This was rumored some months ago. To the point where I went and said something to her about it. I had been in conversations with a couple peeps over in the other building, who are in the department she's taken over. They were hollering

"We need a director who will stand up for us against the upper level people! We hear your boss is gonna be our new director!"

*lee snickering HARD*

Had me laughing. My boss ain't standing up for them! WOW!

Now this bunch of folks are... how can I put it. You remember the movie "Do the Right Thing?" And how Radio Raheem and the other black dude were tripping on the Italian man's pizza shop, hollering 'bout "Why aren't there in any black people's pictures up on the wall?"

Real militant, solidarity type folk...

*snickering hard*

Let's just say their last director refused to meet with them, and sat in her office and read her books all day. My boss won't do that, but she ain't gonna stand up for them. I even went and said something to my boss.

"Sonya and them... they CRAZY! THEY CRAZY!"

My boss was saying something about we always starting rumors. Wasn't a rumor, I see. She's in for one hell of a ride. Good for her. Hope that works out for her. Not sure what will happen with our group. She's leaving it in complete turmoil. Hopefully we will rise up again.

Someone was telling me to apply for the supervisor position. I'll slit my wrists and throw myself off the roof before that happens. That is not my calling in life. I am not a "Yes" man. Nope.

Anyway, that will be the talk of the day. I was on the phone for awhile yacking with Cowgirl Cre last night.

On to other things...

Post of the week. Two good ones. One from one of my favorite bloggers, the Infamous La, intitled Sleep in the Middle, a very nice veiled piece on choices and motives. (You know how I feel about motives). Very good, La. Made me think.

Another is by my future president of these United States of America. She'll be the first black female president, and she'll do it anonymously, lol... Yes, Ms. Not So Anonymous wrote a very FINE post that appeared to be about networking, but it was more of a detailed look on Purpose, Passion, Character and Gratefulness. Very good piece. Go check that out.

Yeah, she's working on her presidential speeches already. Go gal!

Quote of the Week: From Miss Celie... I won't link her, but she posted this over on Facebook:

"Dear Democrats, I am going to vote, ok. But these this last-minute entreaties feel kinda like a middle-of-the-night booty call. Dems, you never send me flowers, check on me just to see how I'm feeling... but now you need a vote and you blow up my facebook, my email, telling me how important I am, how you can't live w/o me... Who knew that the Democratic Party was the reincarnation of my bad boyfriend from college."

Yeah... this whole election thing feels like a late night booty call. I don't care for the voting season at all, but I will vote. I've done my research, and I'm ready to vote!

Make sure you vote!

Song of the week. "Heartbeat" by Seduction



That's a manufactured group right there. And the lead singer ain't the best sanger in the world. But we use to love that song some 20 years ago... That wss the cut back then!

Well, that's it for my freestyles... I am looking forward to my weekend.

You have a good weekend! On purpose!

"Red, White, and Green"

Hot like fire
A cinnamon sweet fire on my tongue.
Burning my hand.
Burning my land.
Burning my mind with anger.

Vulminous clouds
As far as the eye can see
Snowy, cottony
Cool in my hand
Cooling my land.
Last things I see
Or even I remember
Before I faint and my mind fades to darkness.

Envious and snarling
As I lay here on the grass
The feelings that shroud and engulf me as you walk by with her.
Fresh on my hand
Fresh in my land
Letting me know that spring is here
A time for renewal
And starting over.

From August 2010 Women of Color Writing Workshop. Writing prompt: Pick three colors and use them in a poem or story. I was trying to do red white and blue but that didn't work out. I'm sure those colors I used are some country's flag colors, which would take the ish to some whole other level, lol

Of Field Trips and Twists

So...

I mentioned in Monday's post that I had a field trip planned for Monday night.

And it was to one of my favorite places.

The Dekalb Farmer's Market.

I absolutely LOVE this place. This is probably my best place for organic fruits and vegetables at a reasonable price. Everything is super fresh, and it's only a 20 minute drive from my home.

This became a field trip because one of my homegirls wanted to go. She's been before, but we'd been talking for the past few weeks about getting together and going. I don't care to go on the weekends, because everybody and their Mama is up in that joint. On a weekday evening, I can take my time, look around, and shop in peace.

So my girl Dawn and I hooked up.

Now you've heard me talk about Dawn before. She's one of my former book club sistas, and she facilitates my writing workshop.

She's the one who comes up with those odd wonderful writing prompts.

She's also, according to LadyTee, the world's best massage therapist. LadyTee thinks she's black Jesus.

"Whhhooooo Lawd! When Dawn get through with you, you can do anythang!"
*Me rolling my eyes at the incredible amount of jocking LadyTee does whenever Dawn's name come up*

"She get it allllll, babes! Ears, fangers, toes, left butt cheek, right butt cheek. She get it all, except the cat and the breasts! And that's cool."

Ladytee goes on and on and on... to the point where, whenever I see Dawn, I expect her a halo to pop up over her head and for angels to sing!

But this never happens. She's just good ol' Dawn...

And since we both work downtown, she decided to just trail me out to the Eastside for our little field trip.

The funniest part of this high speed jaunt down I-20 and I-285 was me calling Dawn on her cell phone and going OFF on her.

"Dawn if you don't turn those high beams off, I'm gonna pull over, park this car, and beat your butt, man!!!!"

LOL

We finally made it out there. And we had a great time. Dawn is like a little kid, having to run around and smell everything. I did my usual. She has this thing for baking tilapia these days, and she tried to bake some catfish recently. (I'm still laughing about THAT, lol). I pointed out some good fishes for baking (Amberjack, halibut, grouper), so she could kick some variety.

She frowned up when I ordered some some rainbow trout and had them cleaned. I plan ahead, man. I may want some doggone fish. I may not. Who knows. I also bought some chicken wings. (Don't worry. All that ish is in the freezer in the garage. Still inhaling my plants and fruits with a vengeance man).

I left with a basket full of fruits and veggies. Dawn left with a few items... one of which was a pint of coconut oil.

Hmmm... You know I was hollering, "Hey, that's what you put in your hair. That's what the natural heads use in their heads!"

Anyway, we finished up and headed back to my house, which is on the way to her place on the Westside. She has been on me to make her a salad.

I make the BEST salads. That's like my staple food or something. Whenever I go anywhere, and I know I'll be gone for awhile, I take a huge salad. I took one to her house awhile back, and she has been wailing for salad every since. So we came back to my house and I made her a BIG one, enough to last her for 3 days, consisting of baby green lettuces, raddichio, strawberries, cucumbers, tomatoes, grapes, mushrooms, raisins, seeds and nuts.

She was happy. Very happy.

LadyTee called. I told her Dawn was over.

I could hear the glee in LadyTee's voice. She's such a jocker. lol

Then Dawn did something odd.

She went out to the her car, got her coconut oil, and started playing with her hair.

I didn't pay much attention at first. Unsung was on, and they were doing Angela Winbush. I was chopping up the salad fixings and mixing them together.

Dawn was sitting on a stool, next to the kitchen island.

"You're twisting out your hair!" I whispered loudly.

She peered at me curiously, rubbed her fingers in the coconut oil... and continued to twist.

"You're twisting out your hair! In MY kitchen. I must go get my camara!!!!!!"

*breaking out into a HARD sprint into the laundry room to get my camera out of my bag*

I was SOOOOOO amazed.

"You're twisting out your hair in my kitchen. I gotta get some pictures! This gonna make me so popular with the natural heads!"

"What?" Dawn said, as she continued to twist.

"You natural headed chicks. Ya'll are like a gang or something. Some type of force!"

Dawn had that look on her face that said "LadyLee is off in the head"

So I took a few pictures... All the while yelling... "You're twisting out your hair! In my kitchen!!!

I must've taken 4 bazillion pictures.

And she was doing it... without a comb! (Can you do that? I would've gave you a comb, Dawn!)

Poor Dawn, I even followed her in the bathroom when she was trying to check it in the mirror! Still hollering "You are doing some twists!"

She couldn't quite get the back twisted. I couldn't help her with that. "You gotta ask them natural hair broads about that one, Dawn!" I said. "It looks alright to me, man!"

I must admit... I do like the coconut butter.

The picture is fuzzy, but a pint of good organic thai coconut butter is $3.99. And it has a melting point of 75 degrees, so it melts in your hand. (this amazed the Dr. LadyLee chemist part of me).

I mixed some with my shea butter, olive oil and herbal mixture I use on my head, and it was ON!

Whooo... Too much adventure for your friendly neighborhood Oldgirl. My heart is still beating fast. Had me hollering, "Serenity and them gonna love this!" LOL

DAWN! I can't wait for our next field trip.

I think we as a writing group are suppose to catch the MARTA train and do a little people watching and do some writing...

Now, that's gonna make for an interesting blog post, lol...

Good Rainy Monday Morning

I tell you, there's nothing like laying in bed listening to the horn of the morning train, and the sound of the morning rain.

And then there's that sad realization of "It's Monday Morning, and I gotta drive in this mess."

With all the other ATL drivers. And we can't drive in the rain. Sigh.

And that's okay. Just gotta be extra extra careful.

Hmm... maybe I'll stay off that freeway, and take some back roads to work...

Anyway, the current temperature in the rainy ATL is 65 degrees.

Nice and cool indeed.

Sorry I haven't been posting much. My laptop is acting janky, and I've been busy. I was left in charge a couple of days last week (not sure why, as I don't get off on being left in charge. The management people ain't the sharpest tools in the shed, you know). Plus I was sick one day. (Thought it was the end of the world!) Wasn't in the mood to get my blogging done, or any of my other writing done. Hard sigh.

My weekend. It was a good one. I deem this a family weekend, which is rare for me. I saw TWO members of my family this weekend, well three really. Friday night after work I stopped by my grandmother's house to drop off her new debit card. I hung out for a good half hour and watched television with her and my uncle. I wish I could've stayed longer but I was bone tired and I came on home.

Saturday, my sister Kentucky came over. We'd planned earlier in the week to go bowling, but I was wailing hard about Aunt Flo, and almost didn't go. I took a chance and went, and we ended up having a great time. Of course, I being the big sister, beat my sister three games in a row.



That's one of my scores. I got a score of 115 on another game which is GREAT for me.

We left there and went to an old Pizza joint one neighborhood over. I didn't know the place was still there. I took my siblings there when they were kids, when I was in Grad school and rented a place over that way.

I had a couple of slices of pizza: a slice of spinach and mushroom, and a slice of broccoli and tomato...

That's how I like my broccoli on my pizza - barely cooked. Very good place. The only thing I'd like better is if they offered a whole wheat crust. (Not big on white bread these days, man.)

We had some doughnuts from Sublime (My sister left hers at my house... those doughnuts are either going in the trash or being taken expediently to work, lol).

A carby day indeed, man, lol... That's why we took a little time to walk around the neighborhood track at dusk. I love the ATL skyline around this time, when the lights in the building are on.



(It was getting dark and I live in the hood... This means, snap that picture and let's get the heck out of dodge!)

We returned to my place and watched a few episodes of the Boondocks that I'd rented.

It was really good to see her. I have only seen her a three or four times in the last 4 to 5 months, and I miss her terribly. I am adjusting to living alone, even though I thought I never would. I'm beginning to envision my plans for the upstairs portion of my house, and I plan on spending the holidays doing some much needed painting and furnishing up there.

Sunday was a lazy day. My pastor had been robocalling the cheese outta folks telling us it was very important to come to church. Uh, no pastor. When you do that, that means everybody and their mama was gonna be there. So I caught the internet stream. Yes, it was a terribly improtant message, confirming some things I'd been thinking on all year, really. So I was thankful for that.

I managed to get a little writing done also. My major problem is that I spend more time thinking about what I want to write rather than writing. I need to correct that somehow. National Novel Writing month is coming up in November so I plan to finish off this current manuscript during that time.

So that's it for me. It's 8 in the morning right now and still dark outside. NOT a good look, man.

I don't have many plans for the week. Me and my writing workshop leader have planned a field trip this evening to the farmers market. I'm off on Tuesday for a doctor's appointment. (Management still hasn't approved that. Don't let an Oldgirl have to call in sick!) But as for the rest of the week, I'll be a little worker bee. There's a singles conference at church the latter part of the week that will go more into detail over Sunday's sermon, so I may get nosy enough to go check that out.

But that's it for me... I don't really have a quote of the week. Well yes I do.

"The secret to your success is in your daily routine."

I'm having to remind myself that what I do consistently is what matters and what builds me up and propels me towards my goals.

Yeah. Easier said than done.

Song of the week? Well, one that's in my IPOD... a bit too sad for me, but definitely good for the context for which it was written ("If trouble were money" by Mint condition (Jason's Lyric Soundtrack).



That's for MsMarilie... one of her FAVORITE groups, lol.

Well, ya'll another week is upon us.

Y'all have a great week. No, ya'll MAKE it a great week... on purpose.

"Gone"

That chapstick with sand all around the cap...
Got my lips all cut up and bleeding.
Sand all in my teeth now, been spitting all day, trying to get rid of it
And it ain’t working.

This paper clip necklace around my neck may not be made of diamonds,
But I feel like a million dollars when I wear it.
I walk down the street, my head held high
And people are looking at me
Starstruck by my royalty
Blinded by the glare of the sun off my special diamond necklace.

I practice my name over and over
In the same notebook, over and over again
Until I get it perfect.
Just right.
L’s big and loopy.
C’s curvy and strong.
G’s fat as they want to be.
No room for the vowels, as they don’t matter.

I run down the street holding Powerball tickets,
I picked out of the trash
I yell “I won, I won, I won the 300 million! I won!”
People look at me, keep passing me by.
No one to celebrate with me.
And I wander why.

This power chord,
It’s all I got.
Someone stole all my other stuff
Paper clip necklace gone,
Chap stick gone,
Notebook gone
300 million gone.
Everything gone.
I may as well go to the top of this bridge
The bridge I sleep under every night
And tie one end of this chord around something up there.
And wrap the other end around my neck.
And jump like they do off them bridges
That bungy thing, I think they call it
And Fly and fly and fly,
All the way down…
Hoping I’ll bounce back
So I can do it all over again.





From October 24, 2010 Women of Color Writer's Workshop...

Writing prompt: Pulled a notecard from a stack... use what is written on the card in a story/poem (10 minutes).

On my card was written

1. Chapstick with sand around the cap.
2. A necklace made from paperclips.
3. A notebook for practicing your name over and over
4. A power chord
5. Old winless powerball tickets.

Sigh. When I got that card, with all that written on it, I wanted to throw it out the window. I don't like long complicated writing prompts. This one involved things possibly found in a bag. Those were strange things to find in one's bag. (Poor Dawn, who made up the cards, got some sideway looks from the stuff she came up with for the cards, lol)

But I am glad I made a go of it. Got a useful little poem for my blog out of it!