Happy Thanksgiving!

Give thanks for all your blessings.

What’s for me cannot be taken away

I’m sure I heard from overly-religious Black girl or woman who uses the church as a replacement for a man-woman relationship. But just now I heard it again: “What’s for me cannot be taken away.” It made me tear up. It made me have a catch in my throat. It made stop and think. Why should chase money? Why I should I chase that certain man? Why should I chase a particular job? What the Almighty has planned for me is there. It is already written. I have use my talents, my intelligence, my wit, my charm, my humor, my love, my compassion to live the life I have been blessed with. I don’t have to despair. I don’t have to worry. I don’t have to be hopeless. What is mine cannot be taken away. It is for me. The man that will be my husband is for me alone. The children on the otherside yet to be born are for me to bring into the world. The well paying fulfilling job is waiting for me to sit in the comfy executive chair. All the love in the world from all the people who will love me is there not to be taken away by anyone or anything. I will be relaxed. I will be calm. I will be still. I will continue to do my best. I will continue to improve. I will continue to move through life with vigor, intelligence, and honesty.

Because what is mine cannot be taken away. It belongs to me.

(Oh my, I may becoming spiritual or something.)

Odds & Ends

Just saw Happy Feet with the little one. Little one behaved well considering. Definitely a movie for kids 10 and up. Great movie. Great message. Great music. Great dancing. Great jabs and uppercuts to the religious zealots who abandon God-given reason for Man's-version of faith. Great inspiration from this guy who I have been in love with since Sesame Street and the red ball cap. You know I love the light skin boy! Speaking of light skin boys. Tried to reconnect with one from the past. Didn't work out as planned. He's a really nice guy and sweet as pie. Just not interested in me. Of course, I did pop up out of no where on him. So maybe there is hope that he will come to his senses and see what a fantastic, wonderful, and fabulous girl I am. Couldn't get this one off my mind, so I had to retrace my steps. In doing so I broke one of my cardinal rules: don't go back to revisit old relationships. Things didn't work out for a reason. Let it live and die in the past where it belongs. Another thing that I can't get out of my mind is a conversation I had with a friend a couple of weeks ago. What is the fine line between prostitution, dating, whore and just plain ol' stupid slut. We like to say that while we are dating someone the sex is apart of the pending romance. The potential potential we are testing out. But it seems most of the time it's really just a hedonistic cries to guard against alienation and loneliness. If you are trying to get something, anything from sex are you a prostitute? Of course many try to get emotional fulfillment, love, free meals and gifts from sex. Why do we look down on those who receive money? (Besides it being illegal.) At least they can take their money and do something else with it. All us daters have is our bruised egos, tearful tales of woe, and well-plotted revenge schemes. The money can be traded for goods and services. And don't give me that nonsense about prostitution chipping away at your soul and all that. The revolving door of boyfriends/girlfriends who constantly disappoint don't chip away at the soul as well??? The sex shared and then disregarded like yesterday's trash doesn't leave lacerations on the soul? What of the whore? Is this a person that just manipulates sex for things material AND emotional? Should we really feel the sorriest for the stupid ol' slut who gives it away to whoever will take it in search of love? Just searching and searching all the while being tricked literally and figuratively. From a kids movie to prostitution. Not such a far stretch. Not really.

Only heard this one song (look at the video on the far top right), but I like it.

Another year

Another year of my life has passed. How thankful I am that the Lord blessed me with one more year on earth. I’m blessed, even though sometimes I take my good life for granted sometimes. There are so many things I have and so many things for which I am grateful. There are so many things in life to enjoy: family, friends, lovers, good food, good music, good books and good, hard fulfilling work. I know there are many people out there that do not have one tenth of the love and happiness I have in my life. I pray they get some love and kindness in their life, because without it life doesn’t really seem worth living. Of course, I have known despair and sorrow in this short life of mine. I have loved and lost deeply. I have failed. I have desired, and come up short. I struggled. But things could be so much worse. I’m not a slave. I’m not a woman in an impoverished male-dominated country. I’m not living in an insane, rigid theocracy. I will not have to abandon my girl child for a foreigner to adopt. I can live in relative peace without the fear of horse-riding henchman burning my family alive and raping my body because of my skin-color. I don’t have to prostitute myself because there are no jobs in my country. Things could be so much worse. I think of the things I want for my future and I become very impatient at times. The house. The husband. The children. The vacations. I hope and pray it comes in time, but for now I will simply thank the Almighty for the time I have been given.

More later

I guess politics are like fashion: One day you're in, and the next you're out. Hee-hee.

Bittersweet Atlanta

I wrote a poem (I used to write poetry, but now I find little poetic) about Atlanta many years ago. I believe I called it an illusion in the desert. Many young, Black adults think it is the Mecca for jobs, power, and, for women, marriage. But, it's all an illusion. To find a job there is difficult because it is HIGHLY competitive. EVERYone has an advance degree, so school name recognition, grades, and connections are very important. There are tons of beautiful women with long, beautiful weaved in tresses, great professional jobs, and stylish clothes & shoes. There are not as many handsome, perfectly muscled men with professional jobs. The professional women outnumber the professional men like in every big city, so there is fierce competition there as well. In fact, many women can't find a steady, because the men find the plentiful temptations overwhelming. Asking him to be faithful is like asking a child not to touch any of the candy from the Willy Wonka Factory. (Impossible.) There is a chance for political power, but you better be extremely wealthy or apart of one the Atlanta 'royal' families, if you're not, good luck with that uphill battle. There is crime, like any major city. And the DeKalb County Police are under scrutiny because they just shot their 11th suspect to death. In case you didn't know, it's the Black San Francisco as well. Thousands of black, gay males go there to live in peace and anonymity away from there close family and friends. (I'm glad they have a place to be their true selves.) But, it's disappointed to the young women who see a beautiful man, well-mannered, and professional man only to find out he wants to know if you have any cute brothers. Good for the other gay men, bad for the straight women (one less shot). Now, there are many great things about Atlanta. A very, very large Black middle class. Tons of Black people that are doctors, lawyers, engineers, bankers, and accountants. It's very uplifting. When I was in the airport two clean cut, twenty-somethings stared directly into my eyes (and cleavage) and smiled, told me what a beautiful, black woman I was. (One saw my badge, and asked if I was a cop. I said no, a prosecutor. His response, "oh, I thought i was going to get arrested for looking!") Atlanta is filled with retail, restaurants, corporations, and small businesses ( i.e., tons of money). Tons of affordable, safe, NICE & updated housing (unlike Louisville). They even have their own "older" part of town with eclectic houses and shops called, coincidentally, the Virginia Highlands (as old as it can be in a place where Sherman burned everything). I've had many joys, pains, and little deaths in Atlanta. I enjoyed my time there and love to visit now and again. Might move back, one day, under the right circumstances. It's not a Black heaven; it has its bruises and boils like any city.

I was there the Thursday & Friday, and to all my ATLiens it was great to see you all. To those I missed, I'll catch you next time. Uh, my baby and I will be rocking and swaying to the blues this coming Friday. (Next stop Vegas to see Prince as 3121!)

Smooches JST.