Sunday, July 06, 2008
Friday, July 04, 2008
Happy Independence
Wednesday, July 02, 2008
Yet Another WTF Moment in the Presidential Race
Friday, June 27, 2008
Burrito Fun
Okay so the longest time I heard about Chipotle mexican restaurants and how yummy their burritos are. But I had heard that they were owned by
Anyway I ordered the food that looked a bit like this.
Chipotle Fan.com
*I've recently lost 12 lbs and have 5 more to go!
~F
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Oh Ralphie
"I haven’t heard him have a strong crackdown on economic exploitation in the ghettos. Payday loans, predatory lending, asbestos, lead. What’s keeping him from doing that? Is it because he wants to talk white? He doesn’t want to appear like Jesse Jackson? We’ll see all that play out in the next few months and if he gets elected afterwards."
Ralph Nader y'all said this. Oh my oh my. Where to even being? Via Racialicious an interesting & thought provoking post on what the hell Nader was talking about. My favorite comment so far on the blog is by deathblossom saying:
"Wait, wait, let me get my card out! 1. Caucasian guy telling a black man what it really means to be a black? Check. 2. Mention of the ghetto? Check. 3. Equating black with poor and inner city? Check. 4. Mention of the “threatening” black man? Check. 5. Free Space. BINGO! Thank you, Ralph Nader!" Amen to that! Sigh!
~F
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Link-a-dinks
"Then why do people insist on claiming that they don’t notice color? Often, it’s because they are scared to death of being labeled a racist.
But here’s the thing. Noticing a person’s race doesn’t make you racist. What does make you racist is if you make assumptions about that person’s intellectual, physical, or emotional characteristics based on the race you think the person is.
And unfortunately, too many of us do make those assumptions. We’ve all internalized racist ideas – consciously or subconsciously – from our families, our environments, our media consumption, and more. Until we can understand that and begin to de-program ourselves, we cannot be truly “post-racial.”
Damali Ayo who some of you may remember as starting Reparations Day has her very own clothing line. And it's great! She's dynamic & so it's no surprise that her clothes are the same. And best yet the entire line is made with sustainability in mind. Plus where else can you get easy to wear fashion on a sliding scale price range. Check out CROW here.
And a bit of randomness with Arnold.
Do you think he actually punched that camel? I hope not!
Lastly is an announcement of sorts. Soon this blog will change it's name & possibly URL. QWOC has been good to me but I'm feeling the need to move on from that identity on the Internet & other places. No this is not some post-racial thing. I just feel that the way I see myself is far beyond socially constructed labels. The core of me is effected by such labels but does not make up the majority of who I am. An important & significant part, but not all. At all! So I'm working on the design & focus of the revised blog that will still discuss my being a queer woman of color, and intersectionality in general, but will not be the primary focus anymore. It's just part of me going to the next level in becoming myself.
Much love y'all!
~F
Well Poop!
31 As a 1930s wife, I am |
I thought I'd make a great 1930's wife. Oh well! Also I found this in the blogs of note. Funny stuff at Fake Interviews with Real Celebrities.
~F
Monday, June 23, 2008
Mustache Anyone
~F
Sunday, June 22, 2008
On Love
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Monday, June 16, 2008
Long Time, No Post
For a while I've been interested in a more global focus to my activism. Not always centering of just Americans of color or queers or women. But really finding a way to creatively do works for those in places where they may not have a voice, regardless of their backgrounds or identifications. After the last few weeks I've had, with a death, a son who needs help, & a complete breakdown in positive communication with a group I was volunteering for, I just feel the time is ripe to refocus on what is really important to my work & re-energize my body, mind & soul.
My sobriety sponsor walked me through the hardest days of the last few weeks. And has suggested something radical. She told me to have fun. Fun! I nearly forgot how to do that for a while but I do agree with her that a break from service and a focus on my own joy will be what I need to go on to the next journey. So I get to be a little selfish & do what is needed to remember the core of my life & work. This weekend I went with my beloved to the Avalon & played video games until my fingers were sore. It was great. We watched movies at home in in the theater (btw the new M. Night Shyamalan movie is not very good) and went dancing on Saturday night. It was just what I needed to start a summer of R&R.
Also I began doing the Artists Way program starting with the morning pages. Holy crap is it amazing how much I look forward each day to 3 pages of non-stop writing. It's really a meditation than just some creativity exercises. I'm excited to go deeper into the weekly exercises!
Anyway my Rob Brezney horoscope for the week really set the tone for where I need to be not only right now but always. I'm looking forward to a soulful summer. Peace!
You really have no right to tear yourself down. Badmouthing yourself is a first-degree sin, and so is being mean to yourself or depriving yourself of the care you need to thrive. This is always true, of course, but in the coming week it's more crucial than ever that you refrain from even the subtlest forms of self-abuse. To be anything less than an imaginative lover and nurturer toward yourself could upset the cosmic equilibrium so profoundly that everyone else would suffer, too. Therefore, you owe it to the rest of us to shower yourself with blessings.
*update*
I darn near forgot about a moment I wanted to share. Saturday night after going to a pride party downtown my sweet & I went to Holocene to check out their Dj's. The music sounded fun but we were tuckered out & wanted to relax without necessarily going home yet. We landed up the block at Rimsky's and ordered tea while listening to The Beatles. As we chatted quietly in a corner the song Blackbird came on. It's a song I like but have only heard a few times. As the song played we happened to be discussing my own personal re-emerging & re-energizing. My ears heard the following words sung:
"Blackbird singing in the dead of night, take these broken wings and learn to fly. All your life, you were only waiting for this moment to arise."
Tears came to my eyes as my partner looked into me, holding my heart with such an expression of understanding and love. In that moment I felt broken & whole. Sadness and hope. I knew from that moment that many beautiful moments are ahead for me & us. Deep inside my body was a feeling of absolute acceptance for the past, present and future. The song was indeed the clear signal that this little bird is ready to fly. Peace.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Sunday, June 08, 2008
Stressed Out!
Good gawd I'm feeling utterly overwhelmed. I mean so overloaded that I'm just trying to make it hour to hour today. I want to go on vacation & skip this whole next week. Want to sit on a warm beach with my sweetie & not have to worry about shit. About making anyone happy or follow through with plans. Just read in the sunlight & nap in the shade. But that's not an option & that's okay I guess. I know this is all in part of my own making.
The event next weekend will be a blast. But folks let me tell ya, event planning is pretty fucking hard. And for those of us planning it, it's been a week from hell in our personal lives for various reasons. So we are carrying on despite even little things going wrong like the office fax going kaput.
Don't get me wrong. I'm grateful too. For the lessons & the ability to try to even attempt to coordinate a LGBT pride block party. But never again will I do this. From here on out I only work on what has deep meaning for me. I mean parties are fun, don't get me wrong, but I would like to do a little more to actually improve the lives of marginalized peoples. And this has been the most important lesson I could learn right now. What my destiny truly is & what I really want to do with my life.
So this week I ask for your prayers QWOC readers. I can't do this alone. My grief over my friends death combined with concern for his son & my uncle with cancer & my cousin who leaves for Iraq soon is enough to make things hard. So the addition of finishing up an event of this scale just puts me this close to the edge of wanting to run away. Not drink or use or anything. Just run & run far. And that is, in the end, not a good option for me now or in the future.
Right now I'm trying to remember to keep things in perspective & breathe. And I thank each of you in advance for your loving thoughts!
~F
Tuesday, June 03, 2008
Portland Black Pride is Coming!
Sunday, June 01, 2008
The Difference Between Sadness and Tragedy
Three young men on bicycles, one with a gun, shot my friend, fatally wounding him on July 31st 2007. I found about this yesterday and am feeling so many emotions that it's how to even name the feelings. My friend had been much more than a friend. He was a father figure and the only man in my young life who ever loved me & protected me. It was not my father but Melvin. Even when I saw him in Detroit a few years ago he was protecting me. The only man who ever protected my life & future.
He had had a stroke a couple years ago & had trouble recovering but finally got better. When my mom, who was sweethearts with him when I was a very young girl, and then 25 years later for a time, hadn't heard from him in a few months she got worried. Was afraid he had a permanently debilitating stroke and couldn't contact us. So finally she sent a certified letter that needed to be signed upon receipt. When she finally got a response back it was from Melvin's son explaining what had happened to his father and him.
The son is without a phone. Without lights or heat. The home he lives in is paid for but there are property taxes and utilities that this 19 year old doesn't know how to deal with on his own. Yes the son was spoiled by his dad. Yes it was a disservice. But Melvin was trying to do his best and make up for other mistakes in his life. Now his son, at this very moment has no mother, no father, no TV, no lights, no family nearby, no phone, no help. And it appears no one investigating his father's murder.
I'm not sure what else to say. This type of death feels so different than any other. All death is hard, but to have a loved one killed... it's shocking & beyond understanding right now. And his son needs help. Needs someone to help him help himself. Since July 31st Melvin's son has needed help. It's high time he gets some.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Racist Feminists & Bizarre Fruit
Will Hillary Clinton be taking a stand against Susan Smith, the white woman who murdered her children a year after the Simpson-Goldman murders and blamed their disappearance on a mysterious black man? Should she be expected to? The idea is ludicrous and so is any notion that black people always need to answer for the behavior of people who share their skin color.
I don’t need Barack Obama to be the second coming of Andrea Dworkin or a Black Panther. As a black person and a woman, I need to know that, as president, he will move this country closer to equality for all people. That means helping to close the wage gap between women and men, and white women and women of color. It means ensuring committed gay couples have the same rights as committed heterosexual ones. It means ensuring that kids in poor inner-city and rural areas are guaranteed a good education just like rich kids in the suburbs. I’m not arrogant enough to think that I am the only person on earth to face inequality, and I am not entitled enough to think that a president’s work need be all about me. I wish some of my fellow American citizens felt the same way.
Almost worse than Ms. Burleigh's racist assertion's about what Mr. Obama should address as feminist issues was the writers blatant low regard for Black men she has & has not encountered:
The black guys came to school with picks in their huge Afros, and joints in their pockets, and we danced with them to Bootsy’s Rubber Band, in parentless, pot-scented, subsidized living rooms.
We never imagined that in our lifetime, we would someday be competing for the spoils of dying-Empire America. [umm you're surprised you would be competing because they're Black & therefore not able to compete?]
...I have no idea what happened to any of those young black men. Did they get lucky, draw the affirmative action straw and get into private colleges and law school, get promoted up the EEOC ranks of a multi-national? Or, are they delivering mail, pounding nails, in jail?
Ghaaah! Treacle on Racialicious made a great comment: "Obama is not campaigning to be the President of black people in the United States." And you know Hilary is not campaigning to be President of white women or all women for that matter. Dear gawd can this election be over soon?
So on to better things...
Last night I tasted a very strange fruit indeed (and I'm not talking about my girlfriend) called a miracle fruit. This little fruit provides one of the strangest culinary experiences a person could have. The fruit is about the size and shape of a very large fleshy seed & is red in color. You bite into it & let it's juices coat your tongue for at least 10 seconds, but I think 30 seconds is best. As you chew this fruit it's flavor begins to change & suddenly a burst of absolute sweet fills the mouth. Next is the real fun. Take something sour like a lime or lemon and put it in your mouth. Everything sour tastes sweet! It's amazing! And what's great is there is no fructose in this fruit so it's perfect for diabetics or anyone needing to avoid sugar. Apparently there's a restaurant in Japan that serves desserts without sugar & has patrons eat the fruits before consuming said desserts. Cool huh?!
You can get these fruits at: http://miraclefruitman.com/
Peace!
~F