Rantings of a Creole Princess

Essence is Messy as HELL!

I don't care whatchall say...this is MESSY!  Doesn't this scream National Enquirerish to you? 

Fight for Kisses!

Gladys

Hey you.  You who did the Google search for Gladys on my site.  You had better not be up to no messy ish.  I ain't the one.  Fo real...fo sho.

Just a friendly warning.

:)

ANNA MAE!

Was looking up some stuff on domestic abuse for a project I'm working on and ran across this:

"Today, he is making a comeback with his fiancee, Jeanette who tours with him "I don't hit this girl here," he says pointing to his fiancee. "But I have said to her, 'you do that again, I'm getting in your ass.' And then she never forgets. But with Tina, you can't talk, that was the only way. There may have been another way but I was too busy trying to pay bills, I had 26 people depending on me for a living." (Ike Turner Quote from September 27th, 1993 issue of Jet Magazine)

Got that from this list: http://www.endabuse.org/celebritywatch/index.php?Fame=N

Superheros

Why all the superheros gotta be in New York? Just curious.

Imma make me a Creole Superhero...able to eat large pots of gumbo in a single gulp! :) Of COUSE he/she will reside in Louisiana!

Robby: This guy KNOWS rats!

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/19/AR2007031901867.html

While Channel Flippin....

...we found the channel MTV Jams which was showing The O.z.o.ne Magazine Awards.

What are the O.z.o.ne Magazine Awards you ask? Well...we asked the same to Mr. Google as we didn't know who in turn sent us to Mr. Wikipedia who told us the following: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ozone_Magazine

Wow.

While we sat for a few minutes with the remote frozen and our mouths open the host welcomed everyone to the first annual O.z.o.ne Magazine Awards. Yeah you heard me right. The FIRST ANNUAL O.z.o.ne Magazine Awards.

Robby: How they gonna have a FIRST ANNUAL? It's the FIRST ONE! They some confident folks aren't they?

Me: (blank stare)

D.

E.

A.

D.

I'm too old for all this ish.

Doesn't Brittney Spears...

HAVE A MONTH OLD CHILD????????????  WHATDAHELZ?

Jaru and Lucy

...had a rough day today.  Humph.  Needless to say there was no room for anyone else on my favorite sofa.  Humph.  Anybody want some dogs? 

Hotter Than Hades!

 

We went fly fishing in the Big Wood River today.  Or rather, the Robinator went fly fishing and I posted up on the bank and read a not-so-good book. 

Today it was HOT!  I'm talking really hot.  Too hot to be outside...BLECH!  So we just had lunch and now Robby is going play golf and I'm going to rest because being in the heat wore me out.  BLECH!

Blacker Than Usual

I'm used to being the only black person in working environments and at certain social events and/or restaurants.  I live in a really white area but for the most part...the people I hang around daily are black.  Now that's not to say that if I had white friends around where I live I would choose to hang with any one specifically...but it's more of a convenience kind of thing and I think that's how the races continue to be segregated outside of work environments.

The majority of my friends are black because, I'm sure, it's pretty effortless.  You see we'd like to be politically correct and say there are no differences between the races but deep down, you know there are.

Different races have exposure to different things on a regular basis that are generally cultural.  And that's the honest truth of it.  Black people have things that black people love to do and white people have things that white people love to do.  And it's basically about what you were exposed to earlier in your life to cause you to become habitual in your interests.

Take Sun Valley, Idaho.  If you buy your ticket, ANYONE can come here...but, as a black person, WOULD YOU? Would it be on your list of things to consider when planning a vacation?  Or do you think...Idaho?  What the hell even when there are a plethora of things to do that I'm certain you will enjoy like crazy cuz I know I do.  LOL!  And trust...ya girl is black...Creole if you wanna get specific.

My interest in places like Sun Valley stem from my childhood of having an outdoorsey kinda father.  All of the stuff we do here is stuff that we used to do growing up.  The first time I brought Robby here (people always assume HE brought ME here first...humph.) he fell in love with it too as he's like me...country deep, deep down...but with a twist of designer and 5 star....ROFL!

People figure they can talk to me about anything...well...prolly cuz they can..lol...so I have my fair share of tacky azz questions.  The main one being, "What's it like to be married to a white guy?"  My answer is always the same, "The same as being married to a black guy except they have different tastes in music."

Now I've had some significant conversations with my FRIENDS and family regarding some differences...but if you don't know me like that don't assume you can roll up on me and have a heart to heart talk about my white husband.  Humph.

ANYWAY.

I started thinking of this post on yesterday when we were at the symphony and, as always when we are here, I note that I'm the only black person...IN THE ENTIRE CITY!  I'm serious.  I never see black people here and I do believe if I saw one...I'd run over and hug and kiss them like we were long lost relatives.

No one here has that "black person sighting" look, and that's mainly because you're dealing with very wealthy, worldly, educated people who could care less what color you are long as you're not bringing their property value down.  See...the only color they seriously consider in places like this...is green.

I don't know why this is buggin me so much this time because, like I said, I'm pretty used to it by now.  I went to majority white elementary, middle, high school and college.  I worked ALWAYS in fields where I was the only black or one of two or at most three only blacks and I seemed to always live in areas that are mostly white.

I think as I get closer to this parenting journey, I'm starting to worry about my kid's environment.  I want them to have the best of both worlds but increasingly I see some lop-sidedness.  Yes, I know that the majority of their God-mother's and God-father's are going to be middle and upper middle class blacks but most of them are scattered all over and that concerns me.  Not a little.  A lot.  Their white God-parent's live close to us and they are living the "monied" life.

Side note...I'm discussing this with a friend on Google Talk and this heffa had this to say:

treci721: what are you trying to say..that the majority of what they'll be exposed to will be...more white oriented?

like the trip?

not white oriented but u know what i mean

or what

Monica: yeah

i mean

i come here every year

because the first time i came i loved it

i want my kids to enjoy it here too

even though they'll be the only black kids here

treci721: so if your kids come and love it....

thats wonderful

u're tryin to figure out the balance. but i really think they'll be fine...

cause u as black as they come

so thats enough exposure before they even leave the damn house

lol

Monica: i hate you

have i told you that lately?

treci721: but i luv u so much!

hahah

ANYWAY!

Do you guys get what I'm trying to figure out?  Cuz I'm definitely confusing myself.  I want my kids to see the best of everything our life has to offer them but I want them to see it and recognize some of their culture in it as well.  And...if we regularly find that we enjoy things that aren't as "black" as I'm used to...how do we develop a culture for our children that will support all the positives BOTH cultures has to offer?

I have a friend who has a friend with bi-racial children.  The daughter came home from school one day saying she hated being black and she wishes she was white because the black kids are dumb and ugly. 

Now...Just between me and you.  Idda beat the living snot outta her lil azz.  This mother, who is white, says she understood where it came from and attempted to pacify her daughter.  Uh...yeah.  Unh huh.  Doody doody do.  That shit AIN'T happening at my house. 

BUT...and here's a big but...does that discredit the fact that the child is, in actuality, half white?  More really if my Creole ancestors are taken into serious consideration.  Geez. 

You know I'm the first person to get mad at Tiger when he started that Blasian crap...but now that I think about it...is it really fair to expect a child of multiple ethnicities to claim one fully in essence "denouncing" the other race?

Shit...I'm prolly thinking waaaaaaaaaay too much about this huh?

Well...one good thing.  I finally WENT.  That prune and apple juice cocktail really worked.  Matter of fact...it's working a bit TOO much which is why I'm sticking close to my room this morning as I've gone from constipation to bubble guts.  LOL!  I don't wanna get "caught up" out and about around strange toilets ya know?????   Hee-hee!  I know, I know...I'm too stoopit. 

Back to my question...do you have any ideas how to raise a bi-racial child with a full honest respect for both cultures?

Answer from Diva In Demand:

simplydiva: that being said.....my mother is white/native american and my father is black

and i'm perfectly well balanced

i think my mother had the same fears you did though.

so she made every attempt to expose me to both sides

Monica: fo sho

simplydiva: but i didn't have the same childhood experience the child in your post did

the kids in my neighborhood accepted me without a doubt

nenver teased me or anything.

and so did the white kids when i went to white schools

so i'm sure that makes a difference

Monica: you guys weren't in the south right?

simplydiva: TEXAS

folks thought i was a mexican in the summer when I browned up

Monica: lol

simplydiva: and another thing, these days black people are exposing their children to more and more cross cultural experiences......like sun valley

i have friends in cali who do stuff like white water rafting and hang gliding

shyt i'd never dream of

simplydiva: and at the same time, when i was a child my mother was taking me to the symphony and people thought that was odd.

so it's not uncommon for parents to expose their children to random things anymore

i didn't say anything was wrong with white water rafting........just odd. they are the first black people i knew who did it

but then i was the first black person they knew who spent summers in spain. soooooooo

it's all about being exposed to everything.

Monica: yeah

simplydiva: true some things are "black things" like going to big mama's house in the country during the summers

or being educated about the harlem renaissance, knowing about slavery, and seeing the alvin ailey dancers

you'll do just fine. don't worry about it.

and auntie neicy over here only buys books with black people in em so don't worry that they won't be exposed. LOL

Monica: hell

so will their mama

simplydiva: that'll be my christmas gift every year. lol

Monica: robby and i were discussing it

and i guess i could take it a bit far

but my feelings are that it NEEDS to go far

simplydiva: right.....because black kids have to LEARN how to appreciate their culture

Monica: they need to know in no uncertain terms that they are black

but robby says when i talk like that he feels left out

i ain't trying to leave him out

but i want them to be prepared for anything ya know

simplydiva: yeah i understand and i guess he does have a point

that's a hard one

cause what you said is right...they're going to have to be prepared for anything

Monica: humph

simplydiva: and they're going to have to love the skin they're in to do it

Monica: how did your father feel?

simplydiva: i don't know. hold on and i'll call and ask him

i think their roles were reversed though. cause my mama was the one pushing all the black stuff in our house

Monica: lol

that's funny

Sent at 2:36 PM on Friday

simplydiva: ok he said he was happy that i got to be exposed to everything

Monica: lol

simplydiva: he said that not exposing them limits them

Monica: tell him i said thanks

simplydiva: and helps make them better people

simplydiva: now he did say that it's true, that robby will feel left out of that part of the child's life but it's important to get over that for the sake of the kids

and that y'all will be exposing the kids to SO MUCH MORE and he shouldn't let that get him down.

he said he never felt left out.

and my mother (just called her too) said that she didn't feel uncomfortale exposing me. she felt like you do.....no matter what I was going to be a colored child and needed to appreciate it and love myself

Monica: fo sho

simplydiva: there you have it.....straight from the parents of a bi-racial hood princess

lol

Monica: sigh

simplydiva: my mother did say to teach the kid how to fight though.

lol

simplydiva: i reminded her that nobody picked on me and she reminded me that's because i used to beat the boys up in elementary school

LOL

Monica: lol

simplydiva: and my father said that he always thought the kids were picking on me cause i was prettier than them and advanced in math. LOL

damn biased parents

Monica: lol

sounds like a WONDERFUL childhood!

simplydiva: girl and the craziest part is that my parents divorced when i was 8

but they still made sure i was exposed to everything possible (especially my mother) AND we lived in the hood.

Monica: well i ain't living in no damn hood for them to figure it out

they better get it in montgomery county

shit

simplydiva: so my mother started a camp fire group and used to get the companies in the neighborhood to sponsor us so we got to go to museums and things like that

lol

she didn't live in the hood to expose me heffa

that's just the life we lived

we've come a long way

Monica: oh

i was bout to say

i ain't going that far hell

simplydiva: no ma'am

Monica: lol

simplydiva: understandable

i don't think little romonica has anything to worry about.

Accumaltin' Stuff

I went shopping with my girl Amy and one of my favorite new people today.  We hit the usual suspects and browsed around talking about nothing in particular and everything in general.  My new friend is from home, which for me is Louisiana, and she moved back to the area immediately after Katrina. 

It didn't dawn on me until we were looking at purses that my new friend really did lose everything in Katrina.  She had three gorgeous purses in her hand and stated she never felt guilty buying things anymore since she lost all of her possessions. 

Of  course, my being the consumate thinker that I am...I started to REALLY think of what Katrina did to so many lives.

How would you replace everything you own?  Where would you start?  Would you buy clothes and shoes first?  Would you buy a television?  Pots and pans?  A bed?  What would be the first thing you bought if you lost EVERYTHING?

I have accumulated a lot of THINGS in my life.  Things I love.  I have a gazillion favorite pairs of shoes.  I have a favorite watch...jeans which fit me just as I like...low on the hips...not tight...hell...I even love my vacuum cleaner.  Who would I be without all of my STUFF?  And really...what would I truly buy first? 

I'd prolly buy some underwear, a pair of jeans, some t-shirts, and some comfortable shoes first...oh and a toothbrush, some toothpaste, neutrogena face soap, moisturizer, lotion, soap...geez...more stuff than I'd know what to get.  But basically, stuff to get me back to me feeling like me again.

In the top cabinet above my fridge I keep a really, really nice crystal tray.  I may use it once a year...I never think about it and never see it...but I know it's there. 

My friend says the one thing that really gets her sometimes is remembering something she used to have and realizing she doesn't anymore like a favorite pair of jeans or something.  That would definitely happen to me.  I'd definitely get pissed or worse...cry like a girl. 

Everything we own is a piece of our personality.  How would we start over rebuilding our material possessions which are a pretty big part of who we are?

I guess the real thing here is that, unlike my friend and myself, a lot of people weren't able to just get up and go buy something so maybe I should stop thinking so damn much and just be thankful. *sigh*

Guest Writers

You got anything you'd like to say?  Let me know and I'll post it for you here. 

WHO YOU TALKING TO?

I had to leave the house early this morning and I stumbled into my truck and drove off in a haze because I was still "asleep."  I was at the red light when I noted the person in front of me was talking on the phone.  And then...the cars on both sides of me were on phones too.  And I'm like...man...WHO YOU TALKING TO THIS EARLY IN THE DANG MORNING????????

I'm not a morning person.  Never have been.  When Robby leaves for the office I may have spoken 5 words to him.  I Love you.  Be Safe.  That's it for me.  No more talking until I'm forced to around 9:30ish.  When Robby is traveling...I might not say anything to anyone for HOURS other than on the computer.

So...I'm at doctor's office.  Everywhere I look...people are on the dang phone.  WHO YOU TALKING TO?  I mean dang.  Do you have to have someone to talk to every single minute of the day?  What happened to being alone with your thoughts or driving listening to some good music.  WHO YOU TALKING TO?

I leave the doctor's office and people are walking down the street EARLY in the morning with a latte and yapping on the phone.  I HAVE EVEN HEARD PEOPLE IN PUBLIC BATHROOMS ON THE DANG PHONE!  WHO YOU TALKING TO?

I always find it odd when men are hugged up on the phone in their cars.  Especially the ones wearing a wedding ring.  Most of the men I'm familiar with hate talking on the phone.  (When was the last time your father answered the phone when you called home?)  So...are you talking to your wife?  Your kids?  WHO YOU TALKING TO?

I have to be honest when I say sometimes I just get tired of the phone.  That sucker can ring all day sometimes and I will not answer it.  If you call my house and I always talk to you...please note that you're special.  LOL!  I just don't feel like talking to people all the time.  Sometimes I like to be left alone with my computer and my music. 

Another thing...I NEVER check voicemail.  LOL!  Isn't that awful?  Never, never, never.  I pick up the phone and see that you called.  If I feel like talking to you...I'll call you back.  If I haven't heard from you in a while and something is going on...please...by all means bring me up to date...BUT DO NOT LEAVE A 10 MINUTE MESSAGE ON MY DANG PHONE! (Actually the main culprit of doing this has ceased...mighta been cause I cussed her out about doing it.  LOL!)

My best friend can usually find me.  Or get me to answer the phone.  His behind will call back to back repeatedly until I pick up and then he's like..."Hey...what's up."  And I'm like....WHAT THE HECK IS WRONG WITH YOU!  I THOUGHT SOMETHING WAS WRONG CAUSE YOU KEPT CALLING BACK TO BACK!  His answer?  I knew you were there.  *sigh*  This fool is in Houston,or Chicago, or in Arizona, etc....but he knew I was here. 

I guess I have changed in my old age.  I used to not be able to keep the phone charged I talked on it so much.  But I truly have no desire to talk to people all the time.  I like peace and quiet and my computer...I like my computer.  Those that REALLY know me and need to get in touch with me know all they have to do is send me an email.  I'll get right on it.

My phone is ringing right now.  *sigh*  Think I'm answering it? Nope.  Please don't take it personal.  I'm funny actin'.  Smile!