Thursday, May 17, 2007
So...on my random rambles of recent events.
Inappropriate gym attire
Somethings simply should not be worn the the gym. I don't see how anyone can find comfort in working out with tight jeans on. Like...how can you really bend and stretch with nut hugger jeans on. I just don't get it. Oh, and what about those crock shoes. Granted, for some odd reason those shoes bother me in general (if not being worn inside of a medical setting), however, it really got under my skin when I saw this young guys wearing them in to the gym. At first I thought that he wore them in with the intent of changing them when he got into the dressing room, but nawwww...this foo came out with basketball shorts, a wife beater, and those DOGGONE crocks! WTF! Oh, and this had to take the cake. I saw a girl running on the treadmill with FLIP FLOPS on! Flip flops? fa real? Like, who does that. It's bad enough trying to run on concrete with flip flops on....like say if you're trying to catch a bus. But damn, running on the treadmill with those suckers on! I mean....that requires someone making a conscious decision to get on the machine to actually run with the most unsupportive shoes EVER!
The licence plate and car don't seem to match....but whatever
So I walk to work every morning. Well not actually walk to work, but I walk from the parking lot located 1/2 mile from my office everyday. Meaning....I at least walk a mile a day or sometimes 2. HOORAY for incorporating physical activity into my day. Anyway, so as I walk to work, I tend to notice things in my surrounding. I watch people and tend observe their behaviors and mannerisms. I watch as veterans sit out side of the V. A. hospital inhaling cigarettes (while being hooked up to a ventilator...mind you). I watch children as they hold the hand of their parent as they scurry to cross the busy street. I watch as cars go by hurriedly to reach their destination. And for some odd reason I tend to notice all the cars parked in the lots near my job. Some fancy, some...not so much. Well anyway, there's a couple of cars that tend to stand out to me. Not because there's anything particularly special about the car per se....but, something just doesn't seem right. O.K. so as some of you know...I work around medical facilities, and as such, there tends to be a lot of cars belonging to MDs. Anyways, there's this car that has a licence plate that reads "Diva Dr" "Dr. Diva" or something like that. So 1, I automatically assume that the car belongs to a blk woman. Might be wrong...but hey, that's my guess. Anyway, nothin against the licence plate. Hey do what you do. Be proud of that MD. Shyt...you earned it! BUT....something just doesn't match when the customed license plate (that's obviously written to draw ppls attention) is on that of a Toyota Corolla. Now, don't get me wrong, there's nothin wrong with a TC. Shoot...I drive a Honda Civic...so I'm the last one to be talking. BUT, if you're gonna have a licence plate as flashy as that, it would seem fitting to have a flashy car to match. Anyway, those are just my thoughts.
Speaking of cars...
Is it wrong for me to find something wrong with seeing handicapped plates on the back of sport vehicles? I mean damn! How handicapped can you be driving a car with a v-8 engine? There's this one car...candy apple red new Mustang convertible that's always parked by my job...and for some reason it just doesn't seem right to see the handicapped placard in the window. Hmmmm...
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Common Concert!!!! LIVE LIVE LIVE
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
I'm BAAAAAACK !!!!!
Yup that's right..I'm back in the game! Since my last post, I've been visiting the gym, working up a sweat, burning calories, and working on getting back in shape. It's crazy how good my body feels after working out at the gym. Though we all experience the whole tiredness that comes when you force your body to exude extra energy, I feel so ENERGIZED and AMPED when I've completed a good workout!
*public service announcement * THE GYM IS NOT Aries Lounge (for my NC folk) or the Air Lounge (for my Cali folk)...the gym is just that...the gym! I swear to God, sometimes I walk into to the gym and forget where I am. Blast the music a little louder, and you'd think you were at the club. Girls walking around with make-up on, dudes tryna holla left and right. It's ridic! Please please please...DO NOT try to talk to me while I'm crunched over trying to do these annoying ab exercises. And if you see me sweating up a storm, breathing hella heavy, again, don't try to talk to me because I'm probably in "the zone" and shyt... I prolly stink.
Anyway, so all this work in the gym has given me the energy that I've been missing in my life. I feel good, and by the summer, I'll look GREAT!
Now to the real subject at hand....DANCE CLASS #2! Like I said above....I'm BAAAACK B*THCES! You woulda thought I was a different person from the one writing the last posting. You couldn't tell me NOTHIN on Monday....I was tight!...lol. So I got to class early...woo hoo! I changed into my dance clothes with time to spare before it was time for me to hit the floor. Apparently the beginners hip hop class was immediately before mine, so I was able to catch a glimpse. And boy oh boy am I happy I didn't sign up for THAT class. I could just see it now....me sitting there irritated by all the two left footed people dancing around me. Not a good look.
So my class began promptly at 7:00pm. We stretched and went through a whole warm up routine. Parts of my body ached...but I was fine with that. This was gonna be a better dancing experience dangit! I did a quick scan of the room and noticed that I was not the only one not wearing those doggone jazz hip hop dance shoes. *sigh of relief*. I really tried to find some...granted I only began my search the day before the 2nd class...and I couldn't find any that were reasonably priced. Plus, who wants to spend 65 of their hard earned dollars on shoes that are ugly as hell, and won't get worn again after the class is over. Not I! And with that said....I didn't! The only thing wrong this time around was that...unlike the other 2 females who wore regular sneakers, mine had the never to squeak the entire time. Now I'd be damn! Just when I thought I was clear of all embarrassment...
The new chorography was to Ciara's "Promise". Now, if you don't know what song this is...its the one that say somethin' like "come enjoy the life, baby take your time, I just wanna find is, you, you." (yeah, I had to google the lyrics, cuz ya'll know I don't know the words to NOTHIN) Anyway, so the song is slow, but the dance has a cross between slow and fast tempo moves. Kinda cool too. The dance has a lot of sex appeal, and the moves are kind of seductive, so you know I was alllll over it. Anyway, to make a long posting short....lets just say I had a GREAT time! You couldn't tell me a damn thing on the dance floor. We'll be building on this routine in our future classes, so I'm definitely eager to see what the instructor has in store. Until next week folks...
Yay! to having a good 2nd dance class experience
Thursday, April 05, 2007
I've lost my mojo! :(
Anywho, here it was happened on my first day...
I get to the class (30 freak'n minutes LATE)....mind you, the class is only 1 hour! I got there late because I had an interview for this mentor program (lil plug for Durham Companions- www.durhamcompanion.org) that I've recently signed up for, and the interview went a lot longer than anticipated. Thank God the office of the mentor program was in the same area as the dance class. It took me all of 2 minutes to get there. Had I not already paid for the dance class, I wouldn't have even gone when I finally realized how late I was. But you know....foo's don't be tryna waist no money, so I took my butt to the class anyway cuz dammit I was gonna get my 30 minutes worth...lol
As a arrived at the dance studio, I looked through the glass window and noticed that there were about 15 females in the course being instructed by the cutest lil white girl ever. The instructor looked like one of those typical L.A. dancers. She was real petite, nice body, wore hella layers of clothes. You know what I'm talking about right...like when they wear the tank top, with a cut up, of the shoulder sweat shirt, and big baggy shorts, with tights, and funky hip hop jazz shoes and somehow EVERYTHING looks trendy.
Anway, so I quickly run into the bathroom to change into my clothes. I mean, I was ALREADY 30 minutes late, and now I had to use up more time to get out of my work clothes. So here I am practically throwing stuff off of my body. F tryna get into a lil ass stall, I changed right in the middle of the bathroom. I figured, hey if someone walked in on me, so what! We're all dancers right, I'm sure they've seen a practically naked female body before.
I walk into the dance studio, set my things down, and quickly stretch, so that I join the rest of the class. Everyone seemed all advanced and shyt! Looked like they'd been doing the routine for years....not 30 minutes! I try to fall into place, and catch on to what others were doing. I was bending, kick'n, pop'n and lock'n with the best of em'. I hadn't rolled my body like this in a loooong time (and club gyrating don't count...lol). Obviously my body was not used to this. I felt bones crack'n, muscles cramping and being strained like they hadn't been strained before. It was crazy. What the hell was happening to my body.
Looks are definitelty deceiving. At least they are in my case. I am sooooo out of shape. Here I am, one of the only 3 black females in the class (and you know how we think we're just TIGHT at dancing), and I can barely hang. I'm sweating (which is good) and huffing and puffing (which is not so good), and feeling like I'm bout to pass the f*ck out! Mind you, I've only only been dancing for 30 minutes, and the lil white girls in the class were putting me to shame. I really need to get it together. My body aint what it used to be. *sigh*
I'm a DANCER dammit! DAAAAANCER!
So things that went wrong in my first day of dance class:
* I was 30 minutes late for a class that was only 1 hour
*I couldn't fully grasp the dance routine (b/c I was late)
*My body was not trying to cooperate and do the things that the teacher was instructing
*I was huffing an puffing as if I weighed 300lbs and was carrying a baby
*OH....and I forgot to mention the fact that I had on my Nike shocks...while everyone in the class had on hip hop jazz shoes. So not only am I late, but I'm also scuffing up the dance floor. By the time the class what over, you could see black skid marks everywhere! How embarrassing....*sigh* But shyt who knew...I've been doing hip hop for a while, and never had it even crossed my mind that my cute lil sneakers were not the lick! I mean, maybe it's the hood in me and the fact that I'm from Oakland, but I tell ya this, wasn't none of my friends running to the dance store to buy some fancy"hip hop jazz shoes" when we were gonna dance in the basket ball rally, or homecoming, or anything like that. So shoot me for not being prepared!
Needless to say, this experience was a reality check. Again, it reinforced the fact that I really need to get it together. I'm out of shape, and I know that my body will not always look the way it looks now so I need to take care of it. To avoid embarrassment, I'll be getting some dance shoes. Oh...and though I'm late to almost everything, I WILL be making it to dance class on time. These girls will NOT upstage me!..lol
Oh, and for the record, this experience has also inspired me to join a gym. I'm happy to announce that I just enrolled for a year membership to Peak Fitness. So if any of you reading this have a membership to this club, get at me so that we can be work out buddies. Lord knows I'm gonna need the motivation and support.
I'll be sure to fill you in on my 2nd dance class session. Hopefully it'll be better than the first.
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
It's been a minute...
1) The more I make, the more I spend. *sigh*. I really need to make more AND save more. How else am I going to accomplish one of my goals of building up my savings if I can't stop spending. I have GOT to get it together.
2) I've had some really interesting conversations with people about relationships which has caused me to re-evaluate myself and what I really want in life. I went to a dinner party on Sunday, and the question of the night that was asked of everyone sitting at the table was "What did YOU do to f*ck* up your last relationship?" And though I thought this was an easy enough question to answer, I had a really hard time coming up with a reason that was not directly or indirectly pointing blame at my partner (this is not good). I know that I've been the cause problems in past relationships, but it's very hard for me to vocalize my faults. And until acknowlege my own faults and can clearly communicate these problems with the person that I am with,I will continue to make these mistakes again ansd again. hmmmmm.....
3) For some odd reason it feels like a lot of people that I know (myself included) have had some unfortunate things happen to them this month. Family members have passed, cars have been broken into, relationships have ended, folks have been faced with unexpected loss of employement, and money troubles seem to persist. And though one would assume that all these negative things would have consequential affects on my attitide and state of being, I have not let these things get me down. Through it all, I have remained happy & hopeful. Thank you Lord.
4) Its interesting to visit different places of worship. This past Sunday, a friend of mine invited me to his church. Myself and a few other friends took him up on his invitation and went to see what it was all about. I can honestly say that I have never felt more welcomed and valued as a visitor of a church until this past Sunday. Besides the fact that this was their international month(most of the congregation was African), in which they've been having presentations (songs, dance, plays, video viewings) representing different countries in Africa, which I found to be very entertaining and educational... the pastor seemed to be one of the niceest, most genuine men I've met to serve in this capacity. During service not only did the pastor acknowledge the visitors (as they do in most all churches), but they held a short meeting with the visitors shortly afterwards to express their sincere appreciation of our attendance. Later on that day, I recieved a call from one of the sisters of the church to again express how happy they were to have me there. It was AWESOME. I will visit again.
5) I bought two new dresses this week! And let me tell ya...they are Ka-YUTE! I love um. Ok, so one of them isn't that new...I got it from a thrift store in the area...but hey, it's new to me and thats all that counts! The other dress was purchased from one of my favorite stores. Where you ask? No not Macys, not BEBE, not GUESS, not Norstorm or any of those fancy store. I got it from ROSS! Like they say...ROSS, dress for less. And LESS it was! I only paid 15 bucks for it! Hooray for bargains!
6) I made many new friends over the past month, however, my relationship with others seems to have shifted. I don't know the exact reason for this change, but I guess we all have some things to discuss.
7) Having pets can be expensive. Lets see.....how much have a spent on this spoiled pooch of mine this month. Food($10) + Clothes($20) + Vetinary cost($126) + Grooming($43) + Pet Health insurance ($24/month) = TOO MUCH DAMN MONEY!
Monday, February 05, 2007
Extroverted Introvert?
So I went to an event at church this weekend. The event was titled “Real Talk about Relationships” featuring dinner, entertainment, and discussion. Overall, I will have to say the event was really nice. The atmosphere was nice, and food was cool, and it was a great opportunity to meet and fellowship with other young believers in the church. Many of the faces I had seen before, but there were also other folks that I hadn’t recognized. As far as the discussion went, it was more of an open forum where they had a panel of married, engaged, and single individuals all speaking on their views on relationships and what influences God plays in their lives. And though I felt the panel did a good job answering questions that were asked of them, many of the responses were what I had expected. I expected people to say “Trust in God… he will provide you with the man that you pray for.” “If you want a real man, a leader….then you as a woman need to be able to follow…to submit.” But for some reason I was looking for something else. I was looking for more tangible responses. I wanted to hear something that I hadn’t heard before. But maybe what I really needed was reinforcement. Maybe I DID need to hear it again.
Anyway….I just realized that I went of on a huge tangent. My original reason for even mentioning the event is because I hardly said a thing that night. I listened attentively to what people had to share, but did not share any real thoughts of my own (though a lot was going on in my head given all that’s going on right now). That night I really withdrew myself from all that was going on around me. I’m still wondering if my behavior was the result of not really feeling like I’ve been as involved in church as I should be and not really knowing people, or maybe it was because of the topic of discussion. I don’t know what it was, but it was a strange feeling.
This weekend, I also attended a couple of Superbowl parties. (Yaaay for Black Coaches!!!) I ate a lot, talked to people who I hadn’t seen in a hot minute, watched the game, and commentated throughout the night. However, as opposed to the first party where I knew almost everyone, the second party was comprised of many people who I had never seen before. It felt like everyone there knew one another. And though there were a few people that I had seen at his events before, there weren’t many people that I actually knew. Everyone seemed to be having a good time. I did as well actually. But it was weird…I felt a little shy. I didn’t go out of my way to introduce myself or mingle with the pre established cliques. I pretty much kept to myself, and observed the scene. O.K….so if you know anything about me, you know this is not typical of me. Me,,…SHY? Naw,… not me. I’m usually the hype woman (or so I thought). But not this weekend. This weekend I found myself being very introverted, a bit timid and reserved. So now I'm left to wonder, am I really an extrovert? I mean… I love to party, go out, meet new people, speak in front of crowds and all that good “extroverted” stuff. OR and I an introvert? I would have never labeled myself as one, but maybe deep down I really am. Maybe I use my extroverted character to mask my insecurities and introverted self. Hmmmm……(a person can be both right?)
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Parents, Toilets & Gmail
Randomness
Parents need to parentI was listening to the radio today, and they were talking about how cold it is, (low 30’s upper 20’s) and how there are some parents that allow their children to go to school without a jacket on. (Mind you, its cold as shyt out here!). A woman called in to the station saying that no matter what she does, no matter how many times she tries to tell her daughter to put on her coat, her daughter refuses to keep it on. So much so that it’s gotten to the point that she doesn’t even ask her daughter to put on her coat anymore. O.K….so here’s the kicker. She daughter is 4 years old! 4 freak’n years old!!! How does a mother let her 4-year-old child go outside into this bone chilling weather without a coat on. I don’t care how resistant a child is, a parent needs to parent. I’d be damn if my child tries to tell me NO, I’m not gonna (fill in the blank with whatever you want). It is NOT going down. I especially won’t be arguing with my 4-year-old child. But hey…that’s just me.
Automatic Toilet FlushersI think these automatic flusher thingies are the best things ever invented. Nothing is worse than having to use some extra tissue to push down on the handle to flush the toilet. Or better yet, having to hike up your skirt so that you can use your foot to flush, because God forbid you actually touch that feces contaminated handle. Ewwwww. Anyway, so now they have all these sensor operated toilets that automatically flush when you’re done which is GREAT…until you have episodes when the toilet starts flushing before you’ve completed your business, and you begin to feel the nasty toilet water splashing up on you. Ewwwwww. Thats just Gross!...lol Oh, and how bout the times when the darn thing won’t flush. Now that’s the WORSE! You’re sitting there waving your hand in front of the little red sensor light, hoping that the silly thing will detect that you’re done and ready to leave the doggone stall. Am I the only person this happens to? I know it can’t be just me.
Gmail and Google talkAre GRRRRRREAT! It’s been my saving grace all day. I was a little resistant about signing up for it at first, but I’ve really come to appreciate it. If you haven’t already started an account, you should prolly look into it. It might make your communication a bit easier.