Category: Holiday

Thanksgiving 2011

11/26/2011

My brother was in town to pick up his car, and my grandfather came by for dinner. We were all at my mother's house, and as usual, the meal was outstanding. (She makes better vegetarian food for me than most restaurants.) Anyway, here are a few of my favorite shots with all of us on Thanksgiving. (I don't know who's a bigger ham, me or my brother.)

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Happy Father's Day! Happy Juneteenth!

06/19/2011

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All right, folks, two very important days are here, and I hope you make the most of them. I'll be supporting Real Men Cook for the third year in a row after finally convincing my regulars we should go. I think I look forward to Father's Day more than they do just so I can go to RMC. Keep in mind I'm also looking out for the most useful, educational and positive thing I can do for Juneteenth. And while we're at it, let's pay homage to Black Music Month, too.

Here are a couple of examples and interviews of stuff I've done for both days in the past:

Juneteenth:
Celebrating Juneteenth with Canadian History
Celebrating Juneteenth 2010 at IMAN's 'Takin' It to the Streets' Urban International Festival

Father's Day:
Real Men Cook Chicago Co-founder Yvette Moyo Gillard Talks About Father's Day and Chicago
Co-founder Kofi Moyo and Other 'Real Men' Discuss 20 Years of Real Men Cook Chicago
Dating a Daddy's Girl

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Complainers, 11 more months to learn black history

03/16/2011

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While reading this article about Cleo Johnson, I was thinking, "This is interesting, and timely for Women's History Month right after Black History Month ended." Of course I wish the woman was still alive. I don't mean it in the sense of celebrating an obituary but just admiring her contributions to black history. But while reading this, it triggered a conversation I've had over and over (and recently) through the years about Black History Month. I once wrote an article about the reason "Celebrating Black History Month is Necessary" as a counterargument to another Yahoo! Contributor network source writer.

I'm always somewhere between disappointed and disgusted whenever someone complains about Black History Month being in February "the shortest month of the year" and how we should learn black history every month, not just February. One reason is because the February comment tells me that person never bothered to find out why Carter G. Woodson started Negro History Week in February and how it was then extended to Black History Month decades later. The second reason is I've yet to meet someone who complains about Black History Month who actually gives a damn about black history. Right after the comment is made, I ask whether that person knows about the date and then, "What do you do the other 11 months?"

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My top five favorite R&B songs, Valentine's Day

02/13/2011

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I was headed on a shopping trip, got in my car and the first song I heard was Joe's "Baby, Where You At?" featuring Papoose. I adore that song. I first heard it on an author's MySpace page a few years back. He always had the best R&B songs on there (and the craziest stories about some woman he was having trouble with), and I first heard songs #5 and #4 on his page before I heard them on the radio. Great author, even better taste in music! Then again, the East coast tends to get songs before the rest of us do, so there ya go. Anyway, these are my top five favorite R&B songs about love, in honor of Valentine's Day tomorrow.

5. Joe featuring Papoose "Baby, Where You At?"
Favorite part: As much as I like Joe's singing, it's Papoose who killed this song for me. He lost me when he accused a man of being stupid for telling a woman he loves her, but he cleaned it up with "Words don't express your love/You've gotta prove it." Then I went, "Ah, okay." (Side note: This was what I was pretty much saying in this blog entry.) But I also liked how strong he came with, "You don't even got to accept my apology/But I'm man enough to admit it/Acknowledge me." I liked that, that he knew the odds were against him, but he apologized anyway because he knew he was wrong.

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My first 2011 Valentine card

02/12/2011

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I got home Friday night after working hard at the j.o.b. and saw a card-sized letter in the mail. Now getting a Valentine's Day card is always a treat for me. I love love love cards. Gifts are cool, but I enjoy cards because people have to go through a gang of them to find one that they think is suitable for me, even if it's one of those boxed sets. Every year, I give out cards to loved ones, and I still remember a very special moment for me one Valentine's Day a few years ago. (If you want to know what that special moment was, pick up the Sunday ["Love is in the Air"] section of the Chicago Tribune and look under "Sweet Surrender." Or, click "Celebrating the bitter...and the sweet.")

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Valentine's Day, Busta Rhymes and birthdays

02/07/2011

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I was flipping through the channels waiting on "90210" to come on when I stopped at "106 & Park." I laughed at Terrence's joke about Valentine's Day being around the corner so it's time to break up with your significant other and save money on gifts. As absolutely trifling as that sounds, it's not something strictly for guys. True story. I remember going out with a guy in high school who I did that to. We'd just started dating and his birthday was around the corner. I kept thinking, "If we're together on his birthday, I'll have to buy him a gift. If we don't last, I'm going to be so mad." I picked every argument I could think of with him, but it didn't work. You see, minus one or two guys, I rarely date guys who aren't nonchalant or peacemakers. Why? I'm fiery. Why would I want to date someone who's just like me? We'd butt heads all day long.

I'm attracted to people who can hold their own. I've never dated a "yes, dear" dude nor would I. I have no respect for a guy who won't stand up for himself. I'd much rather a guy stand on his own two and say, "Look, I've already told you ___________. Now that's all I have to say about it. Talk to me when you calm down" than the "Baby, please, baby" guy. Bleh. That last guy makes me cringe. Anyway, back to the topic at hand.

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Lessons in 2010, hopes for 2011

12/31/2010

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Today has been a really relaxing day off. I raced to the post office before noon to get some good music (R. Kelly's "Love Letter" is the ish) I'd ordered, permed my hair, put away Christmas decorations, ate pizza and Sour Patch Kids for breakfast (not all vegetarians eat healthy all the time *shrug*), cracked up laughing at Steve Harvey as the host of one of my favorite television shows (and the only game show I'll watch) "Family Feud" and put the last money on my Chicago card before it expires. Basically I've done nothing useful but a bunch of fun stuff. I did finish the last few pages of a book called "The Summer Son" by Craig Lancaster. The book was kind of dark, but I'll be damned if it wasn't realistic.

All right, anyway, let's get to the point of the blog. While I was drying my hair I started thinking about what lessons I've learned from 2010 and what I want to take and leave for 2011. So here it goes.

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Christmas was way better than expected

12/28/2010

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Merry (late) Christmas, folks! I'm pleasantly surprised to report that my Christmas was way better than expected. I spent the entire weekend relaxing, defending my "Twilight" obsession to my older brother, snuggling up with my best friend/Mom, cracking jokes with my father and stealing his house shoes off his feet (I could've gotten my own shoes, but why should I when he's right there to bother?), gushing over how much my nephews have grown (one is now taller than me and both are pretty damn handsome) and yakking it up with my grandfather. I bounced between my parents' house to my grandfathers' house with my suitcase and bags in tow. I didn't check Twitter, my e-mail and I stayed away from work-related activities, too. I doubted I'd last a full weekend away from my laptop, but I did! And by the time I caught up with e-mails, I found out that a very good childhood friend of mine thought I was dead. No seriously, really dead due to that Digital Death blog below. Glad I got that straightened out!

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