Black History Month

Yes it is approaching...I can smell it. In 7 days, America will start celebrating Black History Month. The one month designated to cram all of the accomplishments of Blacks and African-Americans. Oh yea...be still my beating heart! Yes, I am being sarcastic!

C'mon...what is the REAL purpose of Black History Month. Well for Blacks and African-Americans it is used to remind us that no matter what we do, we will never earn the status of being just Americans. For some Blacks and African-Americans, Black History Month is a matter of pride...but shouldn't they want more? Why should Benjamin Banneker's scientific merits only be taught during Black History Month? Or the fact that Charles Drew figured out a way to preserve blood for transfusions, a discovery that has saved millions of Americans today. These are inventions that has made the lives of ALL Americans better, yet they are pushed and only talked about during the month of February.

And let's talk about the marketing that happens during Black History Month. "Mc Donalds supports Black History Month..." "Burger King supports Black History Month..." "Foot Locker supports Black History Month..." All of these places supports Black History Month, but would it be too sarcastic for me to say that they are only after the pockets of Blacks and African-Americans?

I think not!

And the movies?! Black History Month is the only time when movies like "Pootie Tang," "Soul Plane," and "The Players Ball" invade our televisions intoxicating and poisoning our youth. If it were up to me...those movies along with a few more would be locked up in a vault never to be seen again.

So what am I saying? What am I ranting about?? I just think that the true spirit of Black History Month has died a long time ago. Now it's being used by the media to further themselves. If a channel is playing back to back Black movies, it is only because they want to earn higher ratings. Stores like Mc Donalds and Burger King only want Blacks and African-Americans to become hooked on their food...that way they have a customer until death in the form of heart attacks, diabetes, strokes, or heart disease comes knocking at their door.

Give me an America where Americans are equally celebrated for bettering the country that we inhabit...no more months! NO MORE MONTHS!!!!!!

N O

M O R E

M O N T H S ! ! !

It's time...

Love, Peace, and Hair Grease!

Is it REALLY TMI?

If some you noticed one of my friends responded to my entry about the most dramatic break up that I ever had. She rated it a TMI situation. TMI= Too Much Information or Demasiado Mucho Informacion in Spanish. Well what is a blog if you don't get a little personal? It's not like I told you all my inner personal thoughts or a bowel movement that I found interesting. I just thought that it was perfect incident to write about and I did quite well thank you...lol. I read it over and felt that I was able to convey every emotion that I dealt with that day over the computer...which is shocking because anyone who IMs knows that it is often hard to let the other person know how you feel sometimes. It's not like you are over the phone or face to face.

I have always been an upfront person when push came to shove because I think that people can learn from me and I love upfront people because I learn SO MUCH from them. Someone probably read that entry and thought, "Wow I thought I was the only one who went through a bad breakup!" For others, it gives you all something to laugh at. This happened to me when I was 20-21...trust me, I'm so over it! So that's what my blog is all about readers...you get a glimpse of me. Something that I have tried all of my life to hide, but hey, I'm human. I cry, I have break downs, I crawl in my bed pull the covers over my head to escape the world...I have fears. I have loved and lost, I have been embarrassed, I have made mistakes. Haven't we all? I guess the purpose of this blog is break any misconceptions that my friends have harbored about me all of these years. Misconceptions that, I must admit, I have inspired.

Oh well...I have my work cut out for me!

Until then readers...

Love, Peace, and Hair Grease!

Maturity

I guess one could say that I am mature. I mean while I was in high school one of my friends use to ask me in an exasperated voice, "Max! When are you going to mature?!" She used to ask me this when I was 15 and I told her, "I will mature when I turn 17." Well then my senior year I finally turned 17 and she said to me one day, "Max! You told me that you were going to mature when you were 17 and now you are! Act mature!" So me being the person that I am, responded, "Well...I'll mature when I am 18." Although I graduated from high school when I was 17, I am please to tell you all that no...I didn't mature even then. I was always the type of kid who looked at maturing as a death sentence! I mean, everyone walking around with their personal calendars unable to make a date without referring to it, walking around all serious, paying bills, having apartments, getting married...there was nothing exciting about it. When I turned 20, I almost died! No longer would I have the precious "teen" suffix. At first, I tried the vanity thing...you know pretending that I was still 19 years old, but then I decided that I have control over how I lived as an adult.
So here I am. Sure I have matured over the years, I would like to meet the person who hasn't, but then again certain things still crack me up, for example;


Why did the monkey fall out of the tree?
Don't know?
Because it was dead!


I know that it is a bit morbid, but I don't laugh because some poor monkey has died. I laugh because of the looks on peoples' faces when I tell the joke. Here's another:


Knock Knock!
Whose there?
Impatient Cow
Impatient C (MOOOOOO!) ow who?


Get it? You moo while the person is responding with Impatient Cow who? Just let me get one thing straight with you readers, I don't need anyone to laugh at my jokes...that is what I am for. There have been many times when I was the only one laughing at my jokes and you know what? It makes me laugh harder.

Besides funny random jokes, the way people phrase things also crack me up. One day in my Afro-American Studies class my professor was talking about cotton balls because the topic of the day was slavery. This is how his lecture went:


"I wish I remembered to bring you all some of my cotton balls so you could see what they looked like. So you could feel my balls. See how soft they are. Look at the roundness of my balls."


While he was saying these things he was in some kind of cotton ball trance. His hands looked like he was holding some cotton balls. The way he was talking about his balls one would think that he goes home and rubs them every night. Lol! Anyways! While he was doing this, I was the only one in class who way trying so hard not to laugh, but I couldn't hold it any more. I started dying right in the middle of class. I guess by me laughing that encouraged others in the class to join me. Then he looked at me and said, "You have a dirty mind" and he laughed. But you know what I guess I did mature because when I was a grad student I once had a professor say,

"Does anyone have anything to add? I just shot my load."

I almost fell out of my chair! No one else seemed to have noticed what he said! It was a Thursday night class and it was nearing 9 pm. We were all tired. I was trying so hard not to fall asleep because there were only 9 of us in the class sitting around a table and with him at the head I knew that he would notice if I was drooling. So when he said that, I jumped! I had to first contain my urge to laugh and then I started looking around the classroom to see if anyone else noticed what he said...but they didn't look like they did! I was so upset! I mean we were all graduate students but the teacher just ended a sentence with "I just shot my load!!!!" I was so disappointed to be a graduate student, but the next class I was talking to a guy who sat near me at the far end of the table. I asked him if he remembered what the professor said and he replied, "Yes it was the funniest thing! I saw you jump and while you were looking around the classroom I started saying, 'Don't look at me, don't look at me' because if you did I would have lost it!" That made me feel better, but had one of my professors said that while I was in college, I probably would have laughed while pointing at him.

So although maturity is something that I can't escape because throughout our lives we experiences things that cause us to change our outlook on life as well as ourselves, I plan to meet maturity with a list of my demands that includes my right to turn off all of my regular lights, flick on the disco one, and dance the night away. :-)

Until then readers,

Love, Peace, and Hair Grease!

The Internet

Today, a friend of my sent me an email about free speech on the internet. Although I usually delete his forwards, I decided to check it out to check out what our government is doing now. This is the first sentence that i saw: "Last Thursday, President Bush signed into law a prohibition on posting annoying Web messages or sending annoying e-mail messages without disclosing your true identity."

Annoying emails? With all of the problems that are happening via the internet Bush is going to sign for a law that prohibits sending spam unless you identify yourself???? Do I really care who is sending me spam? Not really! I care about child pornography. I care about the fact that if someone wants, they could easily find my information on the internet. I'm talking everything from my address, my phone number (even if it is privately listed), my driver's plates, my next of kin...ANYTHING! How about protecting Americans from that?!?!?!??! I was watching Montel one day (yes, I know but I only watch him once a year) and these parents were talking about how this guy decided that he was going to stalk their daughter. He had never met this girl. NEVER. Yet he was able to find her address and her driver license plates. He even started a blog online talking about his stalking ventures. Are you kidding me?! He then drove up next to her car one day, shot her and then killed himself. All of this, from the internet. He didn't even live in the same city as her. He traveled to find her.

I remember one day this kid who I was friends with decided to look for my information. He called me one day and said, "I now know where you work, your work phone number, and your work address." He was happy about this, I wasn't. I'll even admit that I was a bit spooked out. So every now and then I google myself...lol. It's true, I need to know what is said about me and what information is on the net. I then realized that there are websites where people would find information for you if you give them some money. Now these people don't know if you are asking for this information because you love them and you wish to reunite with them. They don't even ask!

So let's talk about that. Not, "if you send an annoying web message you must put your full name." Oh my goodness! How long are we going to waste our time? There should be laws passed to protect children and anyone else who uses the internet. That's all I ask. How about that Bushy?!

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A Lil' Sancocho for y'all

Before I start, let me tell you all what Sancocho is. From what I can remember (because I never had any) Sancocho is a Latino soup where the chief throws in different types of food. There is no set recipe to the dish, I mean you could end up having Sancocho from two different people and end up tasting two different dishes. I have never tried it because I have never heard of anyone making a vegetarian Sancocho dish, so oh well. But that's what this blog is about. I haven't written in a long time, but I have different thoughts and experiences that has happened since then, so let's see which ones make it to this blog session. :-)

1. Stalkers:

I never thought that I would end up with a stalker. I'm not proud of this fact. As a matter of fact, I'm quite irritated about this. I mean, how many times do you have to tell a guy, "no I'm not interested in you?" For some reason, he takes me seriously for about 3 months and then he calls me back as if I changed my mind. Here's the trick: he calls me from private numbers because he knows that if I see his cell phone number I won't pick up. One time for about a month he called me 3-7 times a day. Some of you might say, "well she deserved it, because she gave him her number!" You don't know HOW many times men have said to me, "Why are you giving your number out to weird people?" Like I knew! Honestly, it was the summer before I moved to Amherst. He went to UMass and that was where I was going. I knew no one out there. He seemed chill. He didn't come up to me and say, "Hey, can I have your number? I promise you that if you give me your number I will stalk you!" He was a chill individual in the beginning. I mean the first time we hung out, we played chess in my house. Oh my, I'm such a tease aren't I?! :-P Darn my raw female magnetism! lol... And trust me, it surpasses phone calls. When in Amherst it became a situation where I was paranoid about where I was at all times. I mean he would call me up and tell me how he saw me that day. He would tell me what I was doing and with whom I was doing it with (let's keep it PG Nasties!), which meant that he was staring awfully hard. One time I had to tell him, "Look, stop calling me. If you don't, my boys will find you and hurt you." He apologized but then later when I was running an event and one of his boys was participating, there he was staring at me the entire time...well until my boy Thierry came in. Once that happened, he backed off. But that brings me to my next topic...

2. Certain Men:

Why is it with certain men, in order to get them to leave you alone you almost have to lie and say, "I have a man." I don't like to lie about that and certainly don't feel that it should take a man in my life to make other men back off. I mean, if I don't want you as a man, I believe that you should respect me...plain and simple! This is the case with my stalker and another kid that I know. Somehow they feel that if you are a woman, you should want a man in your life...no matter how screwed up he is! Are you kidding me?! I mean, those who know me obviously know that these two people don't know me!!! I have been single for a while now. I mean I've flirted with a few guys from time to time and they have flirted back, but nothing happened and both of us were okay with that. I don't know if many of you guys remember TLC's first CD. At that time, I had the tape, but there was this one song that I loved, "Bad by Myself." I still sing that song to this day, my favorite line is, "I've done it before I can do it again. Sure don't need you to be my man!" That's been my mantra, now don't get me wrong. I'm not a man hater. I have many guy friends in my life who have shown me that there are some great men out there...it's just that until I meet mine...I'm going to chill. I have that right and I'm not giving it up!!!

3. Let's make a movie:

Okay, so my friend Avery has called my attention to a new Antonio Banderas movie! He plays a teacher who goes into an inner city school and teaches the students, who are dealing with low-self esteem issues, how to ballroom dance! Oh my goodness! Why is it that almost EVERY movie dealing with inner city youths has a non-Black authority figure coming in to change their lives by teaching them a menial activity?! Bring me back to the days when movies like "Lean on Me" and "Stand and Deliver" ruled our movie screens! I even give props to "Coach Carter." In these movies, there aren't scenes when the main character is first rejected and once they teach the students, the students turn around and teach them slang or how to do today's new dances. I mean I saw Antonio Banderas pop-lock!!!! C'mon! And of course they incorporate hip-hop dance into ballroom dance! I don't know the end of the movie, but I can predict it...they win, they are happy, and the entire school is taught how to ballroom dance. Yay! Ballroom Dance has saved their futures!!!!!!

4. Poetry:

There was once a time when poetry ruled my life...now my poetry journals just sit there collecting dust. The though crosses my mind from time to time to write a poem, but it never goes that far. Nothing flows from my head to the page. One of the reasons why I am writing a blog is because I wonder if it will help to get my creative juices flowing. I also haven't written a script in a long time either. Oh my goodness...Avery I need to show you my spanglish soap opera! I wrote it a long time ago...I hope I still have it. I think it's call Esperanza for a better manana! Lol...anyone else who wants to hear it...give me a call...I think I could muster enough drama to act it out for you. :-)

5. Drama:

I realize that I am a dramatic person! Some of my friends are cracking up at this because they have been telling me this for years! I think that my drama is funny though. I mean, when I was in college, my friends used to always accuse me of knowing every. It used to go like this:

Them: Dang girl! Every time I see you, you are talking to someone! You know everyone at Northeastern!

Me: Whatever! No I don't!

Them: Yes you do! Gosh...you are always with someone new or saying hi to someone different.

Me: NO I DON'T! YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT!!!!

(Enter random person from the left)

Random Person: Hey Maxine!

Me: (Turns and waves to random person) Hey hun! (Turns back to friends who are shaking their heads) I don't know everyone on campus!

End Scene

The funny part is that always happened to me. Every time someone accused me of being popular and I argued back, a random person would say hello to me. Soon, I stopped fighting it...I knew the outcome. Oh but if you want to hear drama, and I think that I'm going to end the blog with this story, here is the story of a major break up for me. It’s my own major break up story. Enjoy my pain…

I was young, I was 21, I was beautiful, I was a diva in training...lol. I was president of Ghetto Phi Ghetto...the queen of the inner-city. He was the exact opposite of me. He was blonde with green eyes. Born and Anaheim, CA to republican parents. He was an all-American football player, and I was a radical who had a hard time admitting that she was American (that changed as I got older). We were in love. He wrote me a poem for the first time and for the first time in my life, I told him that I loved him and meant it (of course he told me first). Well on the day of our break up I woke up and knew that something wasn't right. I called him and left him a message because I knew that he liked it when I did that. On my way to work, he called me back and told me that he "needed to talk to me." That's when I knew what was going to happen. So I prepared myself. I called him back and told him that, he should, "say what's on his mind...don't beat around the bush." That's when he told me that he was choosing his football career over me. It hurt, it sucked, all I wanted to do was go home, but I couldn't. I had a Ruben Blades concert to attend and I had a backstage pass. Imagine sitting in an auditorium filled with lights and some of the best Latino music ever! I was so close to Ruben...I mean I could have danced out on stage. I could have danced the salsa with him, which I would have...if I wasn't so upset!!!! I eventually managed to have some type of fun. Well to make the matter even worse, on that night, all of my possessions ended up being locked in an office. No one had the key and the person who owned the office wasn't going to be in until Tuesday...it was Thursday! So I cried, I freaked out, I cursed (which is a rarity for me) and my boy Fabian wasn't the best person in the world to comfort me. He walked me to the bus station. He gave me money to get on the bus. I got home. Said hello to the local drug dealers on my street and realized that I was going to have to face my mother because I woke her up at 12:30 in the morning and she had to stay up and wait for me to arrive home. She yelled at me. I took it...I went to bed, I slept. The next day I called him. I couldn't understand how someone who tried so hard to win my heart over could decide that he rather give his all to his football career. I never initiated the relationship...it was all him! So I asked him, I wanted to know, I said, "You once told me that you loved me. Is that still true?" He said, "I did. But I changed my mind." It took him literally one day to change his mind. Talk about a knife in the heart! I don't know about y'all but I don't take those words lightly! So I hung up the phone with him and I wrote him a poem...one of my most famous poems. I put it on black stationary paper and I wrote it with one of those metallic pens. I decorated it. I used my best penmanship. On the front of the card I put, "I promised you a poem. Here it is!" Inside, I took all of the things that he made me feel and I made him feel it. I didn't curse. I didn't tell him off. The pen is indeed mightier than the sword. After that...we weren't friends.

I grieved for a few days. Then I moved on. No scars…no bitterness…he taught me a lot…but then his time was up. So he moved on.

And that my friends was the most dramatic break up that I ever had. I’m out…see you soon!

Love, Peace, and Hair Grease kiddies!