Back and in Effect!

How was your Memorial Day weekend? Mine was relaxing (no more work at the Grill!) and productive (I cleaned out my car, organized my financial papers.) I also read my personally signed copy (thanks, Demby!) of Ta-Nehisi Coates' The Beautiful Struggle. It was excellent, and I highly recommend you get a copy. Coates (whose blog I frequent) writes poetically about growing up black in Baltimore. The book certainly deserves more analysis than I can give at this very moment, but it holds within it the rhythm of hip-hop, the fear of youth, the cruelty of poverty, and ... multitudes. It's definitely a must-read.

May 10 & 11

I have the misfortune of being the child of a woman who was born on May 10. That means that my mother's birthday often falls just before or after, if not on, Mother's Day. This wasn't so much of an issue when she lived in Jamaica, but since we're in America, and she's been spoiled by our land of freedom, it's expected that I get her both a birthday and a Mother's Day gift. That was kind of bratty. But you try dealing with a woman who calls to ask whether you're coming home for Mother's Day ("uh, no... you live 3,000 miles away, and I'm a struggling young person"), and then wants to know what you're getting her for the dual-holiday. I messaged my sister on GTalk to ask her what she was getting our lovely matriarch. "I'm taking her to brunch." Blast! It was so much easier when my sister lived in Jamaica, because she never got my mom anything, which made me look pretty rosy with two $5 cards. But now that she has returned to California, I clearly have to step my game up. Here's what I'm thinking. Flowers for her birthday and a gift card to Macy's for Mother's Day. I know, it's really bad and impersonal, but the woman is impossible to shop for. Stop judging me. Fine. What do you suggest, huh?

AIM archives, Vol. 11: the "Tomato Tomato" Edition

Shani-o presents: the return of the AIM archives. V-Day foolishness betwixt me and the Wife. Lauren So which of your many paramours will be delighting in your company for fat baby with a crossbow day? Lol Shani lol none Lauren *gasp* Lol Shani a) none of them are here b) i'm so not a holiday person Lauren Lol Right? Shani yeah like, if you're not doing it every day, then doing it on v-day isn't gonna cut it lol Lauren Everyones all "boo yuck vday" and I'm like "what? Its thursday..." Lol Shani and i hate the chicks who are all bitter lol! seriously Lauren Precisely wife! Lol Shani i repeatedly forgot that it was v-day Lauren Its so easy to do! Shani the only reason i remembered is because of all the lame guys who called the restaurant on monday trying to get a reservation of course, we've been booked for two weeks, lol Lauren It's 1 of those holidays that I don't recall readily Shani i know! it's... thursday, lol Lauren Like pres day or columbus day Or flag day Lol Shani like, why get all in a tizzy Lauren Aww those stupid guys Lol They could at least do something unordinary This chick got all excited here cuz her bf sent her flowers Shani lol Lauren Red roses at that Shani that's cute Lauren *blank stare* Shani lol if it means something to her more power to 'em Lauren I didn't have the heart to say anything. She was so excited Shani lol Lauren I wanted to be like "u know they're gonna die right?" Lol Lol Shani lmao hata Lauren I'm just sayin Last week she wanted to kick him outta the apt Shani yeah Lauren This week he spends 7 min on the phone ordering the most generic flower on earth and she's reinlove Shani oooh, i'm more and more firmly convinced that living with an SO is for the freakin' birds NEVER EVER we are not living together until we walk down the damn aisle Lauren Noooooo Lol I need to know if I can live with u before we make it legal Lol Shani no way lol NOPE Lauren Lol Shani if you love the person, you'll work it out Lauren That's just as ridiculous as not having sex before marriage Lol Shani but merging everything with the option of picking up and walking away... nope oh PLEASE sex before marriage... go for it Lauren Lol Shani but living together... if you care enough to live together, get married Lauren That's good! If it doesn't work out, u don't have to spend a year getting divorced Just decide who moves and gets what cds Lol Shani i just don't think i could go through the merging of the stuff and the living together, and then splitting the stuff when it doesn't work out marriage isn't perfect, but it at least gives you an obligation to TRY at least that's the plan when i get married Lauren U should be obligated to try before u get married Shani but you aren't! that's why it's not marriage Lauren The ceremony won't make u more obligated if you're not already Its just a party Shani haha i see that's where we differ lol the ceremony is symbolic of a commitment that wasn't there before Lauren And u think u couldn't go thru that moreso than getting divorced when u find out about hubby's kiddie porn fetish he could hide cuz u weren't living together? Lol Shani i firmly believe that you can find out everything you need to know about your S.O. without living together unless you're trying not to Lauren Totally disagree Shani lol Lauren Lol Shani eh tomato tomato hahaha Lauren Hahahahaha! I was just typing that! Lol Shani HA! love you Lauren Love u too dear There you have it. Ladies and gentlemen, I think I've found my valentine! (Note: please, please, please, start using Adium as your chat client if you're on a Mac. I love it b/c I can connect to AIM and Gtalk through it -- it supports Yahoo and a host of other chat services too!)

peace vs. violence

I've been on a quote spree, and I was looking at some Malcolm quotes, in an effort to understand why he doesn't get any love. Obviously the violence (if necessary) he advocated was a turn off to those who decide who's worthy of remembrance. But why do we pick peace (MLK) over violence (Malcolm)? Because peace isn't scary. What people fail to realize is that which is scary is only scary because it's unknown. Violence leads to the unknown (sometimes better, as in the French Revolution; sometimes worse, as in Israel/Kenya/Afghanistan). Peace leads to...? Anyway, I came across this Malcolm quote, and I love it. Hopefully I can live it.

"Don't be in a hurry to condemn because he doesn't do what you do or think as you think or as fast. There was a time when you didn't know what you know today."

Words to live by

"Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power. We have guided missiles and misguided men." -Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

I think this is the most relevant King quote for 2008.