My Trip to Cannes with Sonnyboy (Part 4)

My Trip to Cannes with Sonnyboy (Part 3)

My Trip to Cannes with Sonnyboy (Part 2)

My Trip to Cannes with Sonnyboy (Part 1)

Quote of the Week (from The Wiz)

"...and the world has got no shame..."

((((Let's get the rhythm of the...hot dog!)))

Yeah...I Don't Get It

As smart as I think I am, there are a few things in this world that I just don't get (and don't want to). Here they are, in no particular order:

1. "For the Love of Ray J."

2. March Madness.

3. "Family Guy" (I remember, in the beginning, when it wasn't so over the top).

4. People who try to make their point by yelling, screaming, and hurling insults.

5. Boots in the summer time.

6. Fake sugar (Saccharin, Splenda, and God knows what else has been manufactured).

7. Weaves (There was a time when most women didn't want the world to know that they were wearing a weave. Long gone days).

8. Why I love "Blues Away" so much (by The Jacksons) even though it's such an incomplete song.

9. Why we can't seem to remember that the world has birthed all kinds of evil people. Greedy, selfish people pre-date any political, economic, or social system of oppression that we can think of.

10. Why more Black people don't go to the theater (and the price of the ticket is not an acceptable reply to me; not when I survey what we tend to spend money on)

If these things make sense to you, help a sister out.

Come On, Gurl! Focus...

I always find extra blessings on Thursdays (my favorite day of the week). Today, I'm determined to find my bag of "focus" and strap her on my back real tight and secure. She's been running loose all week.

Quote of the Week

"Nothing replaces diligence and discipline in the pursuit of growing your business...not hope, not good intentions, not luck. Nothing."

~ April R. Silver

Thirteen (VERY RANDOM) Things I Learned While Off Facebook/Twitter for Two Weeks

1. PutOnBLAST!/Facebook/Twitter junkie that I am, even I recognize that fasting from social media, email, and even the telephone is good for the soul er’ once in a while. I survived!

2. TV and news fasts are even more nutritious.

3. My cue to exit: Right before the “can’t we all just get along” beer fest amongst Obama, Gates, and Crowley, the top news story of the day focused on the beer of choice for these men. I promise you that that set back race relations a few years. Harriet had to be turning in her grave.

4. Human interaction and hugs are underrated these days.

5. So is in-depth thinking.

6. “Morning Pages” work! (For my fellow Julia Cameron readers).

7. The power of positive attraction is very real, but I find that it is most amplified within this context: “a clean heart, clean hands, a clear head, and a clear path.” When I get rid of the crud that’s all around me (my own and that of others), I tend to make the healthiest choices. The blessings flow instantly.

8. Conversely, when I focus on fear, guilt, and lack, I make narrow-minded, crippling decisions.

9. “THANK YOU GOD for not answering some of my prayers. If you had listened to me and I ended up with ---, I’d be pitiful and miserable right now. What the hell was I thinking?”

10. Given my path, some may find this hard to believe, but for real…I ain’t mad at Creflo Dollar.

11. My heart still hurts thinking about Michael Jackson. I am writing an open love letter that I will share on or near his birthday.

12. From Kwame Ture: “Corporate media always lies. When they tell the truth, it’s a double lie!”

13. If you are an independent artist, activist, advocate, or otherwise public figure and you believe that ownership is fundamental to independence, then why don’t you have your own website that you control? Why don’t you have a way to stay in communication with your friends, followers, and subscribers beyond Facebook, Twitter, and/or MySpace? What if the next DDoS (distributed denial-of-service) attack lasts more than a few hours or what if it causes irreparable damage to your communication network? What becomes of your online communities then? If you can’t do it right now, then make it your primary goal for the future: invest in a communication platform that YOU control…lest your online lifeline be cut from beneath you because some hacker has an axe to grind. My primary mean of online interaction is via the email communication system that I created. I invest a lot of time and money into my Put On BLAST! service. There are no short cuts here. It’s not without flaws, of course, but if Facebook, Twitter, and Google go down again (like they did last week), and if the next time is more widespread and radical, then I am well poised to connect with thousands of people regardless, and can do so my own terms and without interruption.

My "Going Away" Party

Today is the first day of spring and I had a going away party recently. I learned the hard way that I had to do something bold to sweep away the things, the people, and the energy in my life that were eroding me. My extra special guest was Tardy. You know Tardy, don't you? Always late, no time management skills, and hugely popular. Tardy bought two of her closest friends, Mai Excusis and Just T. Ficayshuns. I invited them all but gave a single condition: That they must arrive and be willing to play the surprise game that I had planned. They agreed, never being the ones to turn down a party or to be with their own kind.

When they arrived, I made them strip naked. They were anxious but willing. I think they thought that I had some men in the back, ready to do their bidding. They're kinda bold like that. So they striped naked and I looked the trio from all angles. I observed them wandering around the apartment, mindlessly waiting for company and the fun to begin. They don't know that they are coming only to be put down. Didn't feel sorry for them, though.

After a while, I gathered them around and said, very clearly: "I invited you all here today to tell you something. I want you to listen closely. All of y'all make me sick. You make me look bad, and I'm done with you. We ain't friends, we ain't cool, and you got to get the hell up out of here!"

And with that, it was over. I've been moving deliberately ever since. Amazing what happens when you make up your mind. I have not been late to anything for two weeks straight. In fact, I arrive to my appointments early. I'm thrilled!

My next going away party is for what I call my "communication debt." I'm flipping through my scraps of paper now to see who I owe a phone call to.

ars.

I Am Not Blogging!

Remember Richard Pryor's classic piece about his children lying? (see Jan. 13 entry or go here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x541sggu4x4

Well, that's how I felt about previous announcements about me re-launching my blog. I've had my blog for years. My interest in "blogging" would shift as easily as my moods, but I'd always encourage my clients: You just HAVE to blog! It's a great way to connect with people." I'd bark about the power of the blog, but wasn't even invested myself.

Then sometime last summer, I challengened myself. I said I would blog EVERYDAY and I was all super aggressive about it...in my mind. Then I wore myself out. It's damn near impossible to do that with a schedule as demanding as mine. Still, I had to prove to myself. I tried. Then I'd decrease the frequency. Still, I'd blog, but only privately. I wasn't ready just yet to go live.

And then it hit me: I'm not a blogger. Duh!

What the hell is a "blogger" anyway? It sounds like a cheap tag for non-writers who vent online. I, and so many other creative people I know, are writers who take the craft for more seriously. So with that in mind, the pressure is off. I'm not blogging, but I do write commentary, poetry, and I love sharing info info on this site, a blog named "aprilisms."

Now that's the God honest truth.

Quote of the Week: "You Look Like a Hoochie Mama"

That's what one of my mentors
told me upon seeing this photo:

"It's the boots." she said. I hollered!

It's a different look for me, yes (for those who don't know me, I'm a jeans and tee-shirt kind of woman). But hoochie mama...don't think so. In fact, only two women that I know objected to this image. And one male colleague was not to sure and expressed concerned. Everyone else in my world (male and female), if they commented at all, was "thrilled" to see the new look and "inspired." Their words, not mine.

So what do you think? I ask the question not to focus on me, but to bring to the fore what this image triggers: wrong dress code for business, empowerment...what?

Quote of the Week: Life Lessons from Jenny B. (Moms)

"You can't say you love me and *?@! me over at the same time."

"Call it crazy when you see crazy coming!"

"You have to deal with some people with a long-laddled spoon so they won't bite your finger."

Jenny B. on the finer things in life: One day I'd asked my mother about the pros and cons of buying a new or used car. In one of her classic witty comebacks, she said, "I never liked the idea of used cars. I've always bought new ones. If it becomes time for me to get another one, then what would I want with a used car? I already got a "used" car!"

- Jenny B.

Richard Pryor's "I Wasn't Really Running" Classic

Remember Richard Pryor's classic piece about his children lying?

5 Things I Did to Close Out 2008

Pampered myself
Called my family
Closed my eyes and envisioned a brilliant 2009
Paid down on my communication gap
Closed out a lot of loose ends

And thanked God for the peace and quiet.

What I Love

Tis the season where love is comtemplated more now then any other part of the year. Here's a random list a just a few of the people and things that I love, from the silly to substantive (just a few):

God, my parents, my siblings, my extended family, chocolate covered peanut clusters, pecans, pecans with raisins, quiet sundays, harriet tubman, adelaide sanford, malcolm x, kwame ture, my friends, learning, writing, reading, listening to music, teaching, akila, h20, salmon cooked with cabbage carrots peppers...on top of the stove (thanks, zed), coach bags, sexy boots, bolthouse juices, playing monopoly, open spaces, palm tress in LA, the laughter of children, being understood, being forgiven, 20 minute power naps, weekly massages, when the trains come on time, solutions to problems, order, balance, harmonious relationships, the color purple, the color silver, the bluest eye, the women of brewster place, khalil gibran, the dictionary, being wealthy.

Hello. My Name is JJ and I Am So Important to You

it is a myth that woman talk more than men.

OMG! i am on the train headed to the congressional black caucus in washington, dc. (from new york city). there is a young guy sitting across the aisle and one row behind me. from the moment he stopped to unload his bags to the time the train pulled out of the tunnel at 34th street (a lapse of about 15 minutes), the guy - let's call him JJ for "JabberJaws" - has NOT stopped TALKING!!

take me, now!

the poor woman sitting next to him is slightly engaging. not good.

in the time it takes me to wash my face and brush my teeth, i learned this about JJ:
he is a blogger for time magazine
what he wants his family and friend to do with his ashes when he is cremated
that he turned thirty today
that he missed his two early morning trains and ended up on this on
that he borrows his landlord's juicer once a year to go on what he calls a "juice fast"
that he's no "richard simmons typle" health guru
that he doesn't like to take medicine
that he was on his way to the congressional black caucus, as well
and about 17 other mindless things that no stranger should know about you in the first 15 minutes of saying "Hello."

is there a quiet car on this train? i need an upgrade to business class!