oh god the 4 of you who read my blog are probably gone. because i’m not posting regularly. so sad.
well, i graduated
i got more into work
had work issues (still in it!)
trying to dj again
and trying to move this blog onto another free host.
please bear with me. i’m not trying to Nas you guys. promise 
so since we’ve moved to bk, the boyfriend and i have become real wanna-be foodies
we have our cloth whole foods bags and make runs constantly. we need to get at trader joe’s and fairway too. i already know there are things to be copped that are cheaper at those places, but neither are on the way home for us so for now, WF wins.
so yesterday i had plans to make lentil soup for us.
and he challenged me to a battle. a lentil soup battle.
ok sucka!
so i go to the spot and get my ingredients and some other groceries i needed for the week (fage yogurt. get up on that. get the 0% and add granola and/or honey. then thank me later) and went home to prep.
he had already prepped since he got home before me. and he had a secret weapon: smoked turkey neck.
those are like my 3 favorite words. thanksgiving time the neck is all me-my whole family knows this. and it was a pretty dirty trick considering he doesn’t even eat meat but i apparently proved to be a worthy adversary and we called a draw.
i won’t lie his soup was FANTASTIC. oh man. the turkey, the dumplings (of course he had to infuse some west indian flavor into it!), just delectable. i brought some for lunch and I’m looking forward to it for dinner tonight too. he’s a really great cook.
cooking together is fun. we’re going to start cooking together more often and he’s going to teach me some moves. i can’t wait.
so the boyfriend asked me who i planned to vote for
and i really have no idea
kucinich was my man and he bailed (come back, boo!)
NONE of the republicans are speaking my language. Shit, the closest one to speaking my language was Guiliani and I’d want nothing more than to fling elephant dung on him.
Edwards, well he’s gone and he wasn’t my choice on 04 and he definitely hadn’t done anything to make me view him in another light.
So that leaves Ron Paul (ha! Libertarian???? NO), HRC, and Obama.
HRC…well…I dunno. Compared to Bush #1, Clinton was a great prez but people need to stop with the ‘black people were living large when Bill was president!’ and that bullshit ‘he’s the first BLACK president’ . Stop. I like Clinton, and I definitely think he had fucked conditions to deal with, but come on now.
Now HRC, I can respect her hustle-moving to NY, getting her senator on, etc. She had this plan for a LONG TIME and put in her work as first lady and whatnot. However, I can’t say her views fall 100% with mine and she’s definitely queen of rhetoric. All queens must have a king.
So let’s talk about Obama.
Pretty much him and HRC have very similar view on the issues. So what’s the real difference? Experience? History? I think it boils down to hope and potential. Here you have a multiracial, multicultural candidate who appears beholden to none of the typical ‘old boys club’ stuff we’ve seen for decades and we think ‘wow, things might be different with him around’ and they really might.
But, what if that doesn’t happen?
Do you realize that Obama could be the NAS of AMERICAN POLITICS for our generation??????
Come on guys! You know Nas! You bought Illmatic and bumped it and marveled at his tecnique. You thought he was bad when he said on “Live at the BBQ” that at age 12 he went to hell for snuffin Jesus and you were like ‘’WOW” because your moms was still making you go to church and shit.
You were anxiously awaiting “It Was Written” and you were a tad disappointed but its ok! He’s still young! Sophomore jinx a little bit, there’s still gems on there! “Street Dreams"? “If I Ruled the World"?
Then all that The Firm bullshit came out and you were getting nervous. Then “Nas Is Like” dropped in the streets and you were like “YES! I KNEW IT! HE’S GONNA KILL IT THIS TIME!!!” and I Am is aiiight but ugh…come on man. What’s going on?
Then he drops that turd-assed album Nastradamus and ugh. At that point I just gave up and had to endure that Braveheart Oochie Wally fiasco.
Stillmatic was decent, but you were still hurt. Still not believing that he might come and stay dope. Though deep down, you really hope he’d prove you wrong. God’s Son…you still weren’t believing but the hope was growing a little bit.
You get what I’m saying. In the end, you’re more disappointed when you look @ what he’s done than not and you just don’t think you can give him another shot.
Now, Obama’s Illmatic was that DNC speech in 04′. He’s doing alright but he’s definitely not showing himself to be too different yet. Could be because he doesn’t want to scare folks off. Could be because he really isn’t different. He’s got lobbyist dealings and political tanglings just like everyone else. Can he wade through all that muck and come out to be the change he proclaims himself to be? Who knows? I hope for his sake and the sake of his supporters he does, but I don’t know if I can vote for him. If he wins, I’ll definitely be checking for him in the second term if he comes through. If he doesn’t win, I definitely hope he stays on the straight and narrow and gets a little more seasoned for another campaign try. I wouldn’t want him to end up like Nas.
Shit, do we even CARE he has a new album dropping???? SHEESH!
i dedicate this to the white guy performing the fashion faux pas (white socks with dress shoes???) while laying face down across about 5 subway seats completely passed out this morning on the 1 train going uptown. i felt bad about thinking of taking a photo but at least i checked to see if he was breathing!
this song goes out to him, and me damnit. its very apropos right now.
(i dare you to not get chills when the song crescendos. you gotta play it real loud)
Interpol-NYC
I had seven faces
thought i knew which one to wear
But I’m sick of spending these lonely nights
training myself not to care
the subway is a porno
And the pavements they are a mess
i know you’ve supported me for a long time
somehow i’m not impressed
But New York Cares (got to be some more change in my life)
New York Cares (got to be some more change in my life)
New York Cares (got to be some more change in my life)
New York Cares (got to be some more change in my life)
subway she is a porno
and the pavements they are a mess
i know you’ve supported me for a long time
somehow i’m not impressed
It’s up to me now turn on the bright lights
It’s up to me now turn on the bright lights
But New York Cares (got to be some more change in my life)
But New York Cares (got to be some more change in my life)
New York Cares (got to be some more change in my life)
New York Cares (got to be some more change in my life)
It’s up to me now turn on the bright lights
(got to be some more change in my life)
oh, It’s up to me now turn on the bright lights
(got to be some more change in my life)
i think i’ve gotten a bit too much heartache over considering others in my life plans
and sharing a bit too much of myself as far as what the future holds
and i don’t get too much of that back in exchange
actually, i don’t think i ever have
sure, the ex and i were talking marriage, but at the end of the day it was all talk on one end
while i was in the muck uprooting my life on the other end
granted i’ve already touched on the whole marriage thing in another entry
but at this point i’m just hoping to find someone who loves me and thinks of me enough to want to have a future with me in it and expresses that sentiment. often.
sometimes i don’t think i’ll ever have that. i’m not even sure what to think about it because sometimes i wonder if i’m even ready for it. but deep down, i really think i am.
ugh. yet another long hiatus from blogging. forgive me.
its been a crazy 4 weeks!!! trust! the holidays didn’t make things easier either!
well, we finally landed in planet brooklyn. very happy to be here. granted i only spent 2 days in the crib before i went off to mississippi but i do love it! got an official welcome last night with a nice dinner out at a byob restaurant. i’m glad to be back in an area where i have family and friends nearby!
and well, i went to mississippi. got back on saturday. i’m hoping to post up photos and videos with some stories this week so stay tuned. i met a bunch of interesting people and its amazing to see how things are in the area 2 years later. i’ll tell you this much: not as much has been done in certain areas as the media would like us to think.
in the meanwhile, check out this mp3 of a radio show we did on Mississppi Public Radio. Granted the story got butchered a bit (there were only 5 of us but we did have 35 volunteers from law schools around the US working with us), and my name got butchered A LOT (those who know me will laugh), at least I got a sound bite! Holler!
yes, i is.
i handed in my paper/report/project thing with half an hour to spare. haha.
i spend the equivalent of whole days in the computer lab between friday and sunday
i don’t want to see excel for at least a week but that’s unpossible because of the job
but alas, i am free
and i celebrated by starting a book for *gasp* personal enjoyment!
CAN YOU BELIEVE IT??!!??? I CAN READ BOOKS THAT AREN’T FOR SCHOOL!
so this is what i’m reading
i have literally read every one of her books-even the anthology she edited. and i know folks are going to claim its the haitian connection, which it is because a lot of what she writes i totally can relate to personally.
but she just has a very quiet and beautiful way about her writing. i can’t describe it any other way. she just seems like she’s really soft spoken and thinks before she chooses each word she says.
maybe i’m wrong on that, but its my impression.
enough about that. this was what i really wanted to talk about today, kiddies.
so without giving too many details away, someone i know got trapped in an elevator and was stuck for hours. the fire department had to come and pry this person out with the JAWS OF LIFE.
now, granted the situation was hairy and i’m really happy they are ok, but i’m intrigued.
i’ve never personally known someone who needed the JAWS OF LIFE.
i mean really. OF LIFE. they are the JAWS OF LIFE. doesn’t that sound just heavy?
don’t they look like industrial sized speculums ? (sorry ladies, i know i just made you shift in your seat right now)
i don’t ever want to be in a position to need the JAWS OF LIFE to get out of a situation, but damnit if i wouldn’t want to see them in action
and i got mad
not because i got coffee on me
but because i wasted some of my coffee
TODAY IS ONE OF THEM DAYS
this school project needs to be OVER already damnit.
i was sitting next to some kid on the train. i was peeping his ipod contents since he was shuffling like a motherfucker.
Nas
Mobb Deep
The Game
Avril Lavigne
some more Nas
Notorious B.I.G
So much for my happy endiiiing!
back in the day i was a herb.
well, i still am a herb.
but i was special.
i was very slow to dating i guess compared to some. my first boyfriend was a forbidden love. i wasn’t allowed to date until i was married and had multiple degrees under my belt
so at aged 16, i had a fling with a boy who went to the all boys school near my all girls school. his sister was a year older and went to my school and he peeped me singing chorus one year at one of our school concerts and we met in person at a dance and hit it off
his name began with an H.
and back in the day, we used to take our soda/hawaiian punch cans and run through the alphabet until the tab broke off.
the letter you were on when it broke was the letter that started your true love’s name
i used to rip them bitches off when i reached H and rocked them on my neck on a chain
needless to say, i was WAAAY ahead of my time because looka what you can buy @ catbird in billyburg!
however their explanation was way different. i only kissed Mr. H twice and both were horrid events. granted, they was my first 2 kisses but i knew the problem wasn’t me! im an excellent kisser. but anyways, here’s what they say on their site
“Back in the day, young’uns would take the tabs off their sodee cans and hang ‘em on their sneaks. They were called “f%ck tabs” and they signified something to do with how much sex you were having, or whether you had had sex in the past month or something like that. You know, all that sex you were having in 7th grade. Made in New York. Obviously.”
wow.
so anyway, in a funny turn of events, Mr. H went off to college in NYC like me
and is god knows where.
and he’s gay.
but anyway, i really want this necklace.
it came in the mail late last week. i didn’t get an SD card until sunday. ive only taken a few shots but i love it.
i’m going to take a CRAPLOAD of photos when i get to mississippi! yay!
unfortunately, i have a long road ahead before all that. aside from all the prepwork my team and i have to do, i have to do this monster of a final project for this clas s that is worth half my grade. ugh. then i have to pack up my life and move to brooklyn. i’m excited about it because i’m really feeling being out of touch with my good friends and just people in general. at least when i move back to BK i’ll be real close to my brother and he has to suffer through my presence because i’m family.
i can’t really say anything really eventful has been happening and im surprised if the few of you who do check my blog are still reading at this point. know that this is the only real outlet i have as far as expressing my inner feelings go, and being that im not really putting it all out there, you can imagine i’m pretty loony-especially since its finals time!
thanksgiving was interesting.
i cooked everything but the turkey. mashed potatoes (sweet and regular), mac n cheese, biscuits, blanched broccoli w/ lemon zest, and 3 sweet potato pies. my first time baking too.
all turned out well, thank goodness.
we had a couple of guests this year which was really great and fun. however at the end of the night, i caught a wicked migraine and couldn’t even finish my first plate.
next day, chilling and SO family visiting.
saturday is when things got a little interesting
to make a long story short, i was involved in a minor accident but the passenger side airbag deployed. guess where i was sitting?
dude! omg that shit HURT. my face BURNED for about 5 minutes. it was like a big thick latex balloon popping in your face. ouchie.
but its not over!
after my face burn went away, the eye burn REALLY set in. that’s when the smoke and whatever powders and chemicals that were in the bag basically goes right in your eye! i could imagine it was about half a step down from tear gas.
and of all movies for my brother to pick for us to watch later on that night, DEATHPROOF. way to be empathetic guy.
ok not really.
but im getting there
i haven’t bust out the haitian cuisine too often but i’ve been pretty successful on the first times out
rice and peans
diri dion dion (rice with these really stinky mushrooms)
akra (like a black eyed peas croquette)
and i decided to try my hand again at cremas, which is kind of a holiday coquito-like drink. the first time i made it, it was a disaster
this time, it is actually pretty friggin good. im amazed
i’m going to try anisette if i can get my aunt to show me how she does it
yeah a lot is going on yo. thank goodness “moving december 1st” isn’t one of them
-my trip to mississippi is definitely on and poppin in early January
-SCHOOL. oh man i’m so not getting an A in this class. the teacher is tough
-i’m on a boot hunt. the ones i want are 300 bucks. i might just go for it
-i’m on a digital camera hunt.
-im poor! (well, getting there!)
it was also the mister’s birthday on monday. i already got him his gift a few weeks ago so the day was pretty uneventful. poor babe. he was in a conference all day and i had class. thankfully he was still in nyc when i got out he met me at the apple store and waited an hour for me to give them my laptop for servicing. we had dinner at our ethiopian spot afterwards and went back home and chilled and watched sister act 2 (or maybe that was sunday night, i forget)
i want to take him out for a real birthday dinner. hopefully soon. i might hold off on the digicam until right before i go to mississippi in order to make that happen. i’m not in such a rush for it. plus, boots come first. 
love in the time of cholera comes out this week and i already made him promise to take me. its one of my most favorite books ever. my top 5 favorite novels are
1.100 years of solitude
2.white boy shuffle
3.song of solomon
4.love in the time of cholera
5.trick baby
woohoo!
ok first off i was in a pissy mood friday night and then i couldn’t sleep (i think im allergic to the carpet in the crib)
we both woke up running late for the first apartment viewing.
we got there and the crib was nice. not huge but definitely a livable size with a dishwasher
so we applied
then ran to the next spot. similar layout but bigger, no dishwasher, but the rent was 50 bucks cheaper
after chit chatting with the landlord, we asked about applying, he said its ours if we want-he doesn’t deal with apps, just talks to folks to gauge how they are
so we go to the next spot-too small.
after that, we start really thinking about apt #2…wondering how far it is from the train, where the nearest laundromat is, etc
i call my brother, who just moved nearby and what do you know? he lives 1 block from apt #2!
SOLD!
we talked to the landlord and offered to put the deposit down. while we ate lunch apt #1 came through with an offer, but they’d want us to sign 2 weeks before we could move in which is a no-no.
so yeah, january 1st, i will be a bed stuy resident once again!
i have 5 apartment viewings lined up for us.
hopefully SOMETHING comes of it
i give it 2 out of 5 stars
(haha my little impromptu restaurant review. would you rather this or a rant about apartments? alrighty then)
yeah, so we went in here yesterday as we had been eyeing it for a while
its middle eastern cuisine and they’ve been running this special all October with Biblical fare-basically their interpretations of what folks ate in and around (before and after?) jesus’ time
i chose the leek and goat cheese tart off this special menu as my appetizer, and the chicken shwarma, which is a regular menu item. he chose the french onion soup off the regular menu, and the jesus grilled fish off the special
first off, this place ain’t cheap. its not overpriced either but…well, maybe it is
my tart was like ALL goat cheese. no leeks. i don’t know if it was supposed to be heated up or what but ugh. i pretty much treated it like goat cheese croutons for the watercress salad and pomegranate seeds it came with.
his french onion soup was not bad. the crouton/cheese thing on top was pretty ingenious but it was a little hard (considering it was more pastry crust than bread) and not very tasty
the chicken shwarma was actually really well spiced. unfortunately, both the chicken and the spinach were pretty salty so i could only eat half of it. they crisp the pita and serve the shwarma over it so i couldnt really eat it along with the chicken and spinach b/c it just turned to mush at some parts.
his jesus fish was ok. it was snapper. which is funny because snapper is already on the menu for 3 dollars less. it was spiced but it wasn’t too appetizing (like we broke anthony bourdain’s fish rule. i think the fish wasn’t too fresh). the barley it was served with was bland, and the plate it came on was chipped. twice.
needless to say, we won’ t be back.
2 stars for the decor, music (santessa and nina simone!), and the nice and friendly waitress
aka the apartment hunt chronicles
so yeah, it has begun.
this past friday, we hiked it up to inwood/washington heights. admittedly neither of us know much about the area. we almost moved there last year, as someone gave us the info on a place. by the time we were offered it, we already agreed on the downtown jc place. which sucks too b/c that inwood apartment was gorgeous.
now, this apartment was large, but the building was not so hot. its right across the street from ft. tryon park which is a huge plus, but its also on the 5th floor of a walkup. so we had to give up the dream on that one.
the next day, the rain continued and so did the search. we ended up in stuy heights and saw a great, beautifully renovated apartment in our price range. the owner was very nice (and haitian!) so we left on a good note with definite intentions to apply, even though someone had already beaten us to the punch.
the next place was on the clinton hill/bed stuy border. it was advertised as a 2 bedroom but it was nothing of the sort. it was a 1 bedroom with a separate livingroom. or it was 2 tiny beds and no living room. either way, at that price, it was a NO GO.
then we moved on further into bed stuy. now, i know this neighborhood pretty well but i lived over by fulton street, not over by dekalb or lafayette, which is where the G or JMZ trains are near. we saw this HORRIFIC place advertising itself as a 2 bedroom loft style with a huge backyard.
first off
a. it was pretty much barely a legal basement apartment. i think in nyc if its more than 50% subgrade, its illegal. i could see it being at 50% or just under it. either way, no windows.
b.the backyard enterance was so scary looking i didnt even want to go back there
c.the floors were grossly uneven and it was all cold hard ceramic tile. couple that with the basement and you’ve got a pretty cold winter
d.bedrooms? please.
e. stall shower akin to something you’d see in a HS locker room.
f. it was mad far from the train and definitely THE HOOD. for the rent he was asking? HELL NO.
and finally, we ended up a little closer to the G train with affordable rent, but the rooms were really small and compared to what we saw earlier, it wasn’t worth the price.
so, out of 5 we’ve seen, we got one winner so far.
and that’s a GOOD percentage. 20%. ugh.
the saga continues!
after so many years of declaring refusals of going through the apartment hunt another time
im back at it
now that i work in upper manhattan, and need to be on Long Island helping the parental units out more, its time to get back into New York City life
high rents! more restaurant choices i will not able to afford because of high rents! living in an area that will undoubtedly NOT be in the fresh direct delivery area forcing me to buy price-inflated food at key food or whatever rat infested market is nearby!
YAY!
so yeah. i’m looking. if you know of a 1.5 or 2 bedroom apartment in bk or queens-near a subway and no more than 30 minutes from manhattan [preferably from midtown but not all the way downtown]. i likey express trains too
please hit me up
i want an apartment we can STAY in for a while.
i mean the first apt i lived in alone was great
and had i not shacked up, i would still be there
the next illtown jc apartment was cool
but there were issues with electricity and the other apartment (the one we’re in now) was a steal at the cost
and this apartment, though quite a steal, and quite large
is housed in a ridiculously dirty building
and the effects of that are starting to affect our apartment and general living condition
plus JC has way more apartments you have to pay heat for which is not as common in NYC
and PSE&G is EXPENSIVE as fuck
so yeah. time to go back to cramped quarters and 50 dollar electric bills.
once you get starteeeed! © chaka khan
yeah. something i’ve been thinking about lately
maybe this isn’t true but its really just my impression
with maybe the exception of one relationship
i’ve loved the other person more than they loved me
and i think that will always be my downfall