Rantings of a Creole Princess

Is Olivia Pope a Sidepiece?

And as for Olivia Pope being a sidepiece?

“I think that’s debatable. I don’t like the expression sidepiece because I think when you call a woman a ‘piece,’ it objectifies her. But I think also: the president has said to her ‘I will leave my wife or you’ and she said no. Is she a sidepiece or is she just somebody who’s afraid to be all in? I don’t know. Only Shonda Rhimes knows!”

From:  Kerry Washington Launches Debate: Is Olivia Pope A Sidepiece?

 

Mo'Nique Weight Loss 2013

Mo'Nique has lost a lot of weight through exercise and healthy eating.  GET.IT.MO'NIQUE!

Check it out:  Monique World

SIP:  Wonder if she still thinks skinny chicks are evil?

HILARIOUS!!!!!!!!!

Reasons My Son Is Crying

Things I've learned from yall!

I dried my hair with a t-shirt this morning and I must say.  OH YEAH BABY!  It was darn near DRY when I finished!  GO ME!

Yall give some majorly awesome tips.  Another fave is mine was from either Nerd Girl or ARGal.  They said they polish their toesies in the evening and don't worry about "staying inside the lines" and simply take a bath the next morning and the excess on the skin comes off easily in the water.  CHILE!  THAT CHANGED MY LIFE!  LOL!  And there are seriously so many more tips I've recieved from yall which make life easier and/or better.

SIP:  It's truly the little things.

What have YOU learned from the Tribe that you are super grateful that you now know?

Wear What You Love!

This is pretty much the hottest pic and best fashion advice I've seen in a while.  Go check her out.  She'll make you smile silly!   Wear What You Love

Instrastin Blog / Work Scenario...

You left one of your FAVORITE blogs open on your office computer.  A co-worker walks behind you and is like...that looks cool...what's that all about?

You are all vague and whatnot and close it...getting back to work.

Later that week you're in the breakroom and the co-worker is all like...did you see the post about _____ on that blog you read?  Thank you for introducing it to me by the way...I read it every day now.  What's your screenname?

 

How do you respond?

 

Now say what now?

I guess "Thank You" is the appropriate response?

What would YOU do?

...with a prize of $100?

 

Go tell Mimi:  http://mimigoodwin.blogspot.com/2012/09/100-giveaway-woot-woot.html

God Bless Them All

Meeting A Troll...

My Morning Smile!

Client Chronicles:  Ms. Betty

Pebbles

For a while now I've been questioning blogging.  Why I still do it.  My enjoyment of it.  My dedication, if you will.

I've been blogging for a while.  Seriously...since like 2005.  I started because I lived so far from home and I wanted to put up pictures and write up stuff I was doing so my friends and family could see it and know what's what without my having to be on the phone telling the same stories over and over and over again. I would post something once every few days and kept it moving.  My family and friends were entertained and they commented.

Then they started sharing stuff I'd put down.

And those people shared it.

And so on and so forth and I remember Robby telling me what my stats were one day and I didn't believe him and made him show me.

And I was blown away.

And I would get so much email about how much they enjoyed the blog and how it was cool that they found someone out there who was just like them and so on and so forth.

So I kept going.  Throughout everything.  Infertility, surgeries, scars, life challenges and changes, dream-making.

I mean yeah...sure...there were lots of things I didn't share like practically anything regarding my family because everyone isn't as comfortable sharing their life with strangers as I am or like the time I had a chemical pregnancy and it almost killed me.

IT.ALMOST.KILLED.ME.

Because I wanted it so much.  I was so happy when I got that positive and I was pregnant for a few days and when it just went away...well...I almost died.

Or about racist family shit.  The kinda shit that could cut a person deep and kill the most vibrant spirit if it's allowed.

I'm pretty real over here you know?  I don't feel the need to put on airs or pretend I'm this perfect chick people should look up to cuz seriously...I ain'tcha damn hero.  Just like you're struggling with life and the choices life forces you to make...so am I but I just feel like there are so many people out there who are ashamed of where they come from or of the mistakes they've made that they don't feel like they deserve to step outside their front door, take a deep breath and YELL TO THE WORLD THAT THEY ARE HERE AND THEY AREN'T GOING ANYWHERE THAT IS NOT ON THEIR TERMS!

Shit...I ain't perfect.  I'm 42 about to be 43 and still trying to figure it all out.

I've gone through wardrobe changes/challenges, beauty changes/challenges, and a COMPLETE career change faced with challenges, all right here on this blog.  All able to be searched out and read at your leisure.  I've made friends and lost "friends" here.  I've realized you could have enemies in people you've never even been in the same zipcode with.  I've recognized that blogging can be so personal to not just me...but to so many other people as well.  About me.  And my life.  

And I get tired.

I GOT tired.

I mean...I have a lot going on you know?  I'm in the middle of selling a movie and in pre-production for another movie and I want to share but only because I believe there are so many people out there who don't get to see the nitty gritty of following through with a dream by someone who looks like me.  Who've had the challenges in life I've had.  Who started off life kinda fucked up but not all ghetto, hood, drug dealing fucked up you know?  Just regular people fucked up.  And then...figured it out.  Taught myself lessons.  Followed people who lead by example.  Worked HARD.  Created a support system from those I connected with who love and support me because I do the same.

You know...the shit a real family is supposed to do.

In the folds of the bosom of love.

Yeah...that shit kinda got cut short for me.  But I figured it out and I also figured out that there were a lot of people who didn't figure out that it didn't make them who they are and that, just as I did, they can get their phoenix on and rise from the ashes.

So...I said all that to say that I've been questioning continuing to blog because I wondered if I still had anything left in me to give.  I split up my Facebook so I could transfer all the randoms to a "fanpage" and keep a private, personal wall to really express myself.  You know...a fanpage as a watered down version of me.  The ANTI-THESIS of me.  Something I wouldn't mind the world seeing.  While I kept the rest to fewer than few.  The only people I spoke of this to were The Robinator, Shelly Bean and Lesley.

And I made up my mind on Thursday that yeah...I'm pretty much done with blogging.  I'm tired.  It's a lot of work and folks tend to not appreciate it.  The numbers are still in the thousands and yet...folks don't comment, they don't respond and therefore engage.  So yeah...why the fuck am I killing myself trying to put shit out there when folks obviously don't respect the process or the progress.

And I was resigned to scaling it back.

Way back.

And then...tonight I was at the movies when I looked down at my phone and saw the following message posted to my wall from the loveliest woman:

Hi Monica. I recalled an older blog post by you today called "Cherished" when I arose this morning having to face the second worse day of my life: attending the funeral of my sweet husband Ted, who died suddenly on Monday. Thank you for the role you've played in our lives. He thought you were way special for the support you offered me time and time again. To be cherished is truly a gift from God. Blessings.

My heart broke for her and I instantly teared up not knowing what to say.  Not knowing if there was anything I COULD say and then I returned home and contacted her.  Let her know if there was anything I could do...please...please...

And then I had a glass of wine and checked my FB messages and I found the following message from yet another lovely woman:

Hi Monica,

I am responding to your birthday celebration post and wish to receive an invitation. I just wanted to say that though I've never had the pleasure of meeting you in person, you absolutely ROCK! You are responsible for not only helping me to deal with my mother's battle with cancer, but also with my struggles of infertility. I was able to laugh through some of the toughest parts of my IVF treatment with my husband because of you. I'd like to thank you for keeping it real, humorous and honest, because I swear, if you had not posted that series of "Big Azz Needles" videos, I don't think I would have made it. You're a doll with a golden heart and I hope that you keep doing what you do!

Whoa...is God sending me pebbles or what?

Truth be told...I get messages like that all the time and it makes me proud knowing that I'm being used as a vessel in so many lives and then...I get scared, recognizing the tremendous responsibility that entails cuz yeah...again...I ain't no damn hero.    I can be a bitch.  A BIG one when something or someone attempts to get in the way of the end result I envision.  I can be all cold and mean as hell when I'm not pleased and I'm quick to express my displeasure in something not right.  In the world we live in...women should be pretty and fun.  Not pretty and smart enough to call you on your shit when you attempt to dish it out and yeah...I don't care.

About a lot of stoopit ish.

But I do care.

About a so much it can be debilitating.

I see a family's belongings on side of the road being evicted and, instead of passing by tut-tutting...I pull over to see if I can help in any way.  I help when I can.  All the time.  Sometimes I tell yall about it.  Most times I don't.  I do that because of my mommy.  Plain and simple.  It's all about her and her legacy and what it means to me.

So yeah...

Yeah...

Hell...I don't know why I'm writing this.  

I got a text message from ShellyBean after she read the post on my wall.

Shelly:  That post from _____.  You can't quit blogging.

Me:  Stunned.

Shelly:  Yeah, that was super deep.

Me:  I know that poor woman's heartbreak wasn't about me but I am stunned at how quickly the Universe answers me.

Shelly:  Isn't it funny how that sometimes happens?

Me:  Not funny...down right creepy.

Shelly:  "The Universe conspires."  ~ The Alchemist.

Yeah...

Look...I'm dealing with my doggies getting older and I'm being reigned in tightly in dream-making by something totally out of my control.  Something I know nothing about and rely on others to deal with.  The control fool in me is not dealing with it well and I feel idle.  Too idle.  It's not a good thing.  Me and Boobie are DYING!  I mean...it's been over a year since we've been on our own set which is KILLING.US!  My health issues have pissed me off and I want to grab Robby's clippers and cut all my hair off and be bald for the rest of my life so I don't have to deal with hair.  No...I don't want to go natural.  No...I don't want to rock a tiny afro.  I seriously want to just be hairLESS.  

I wish with all of me that certain members of my family lived close enough where I could see them every.single.day and I think about my mortality more and more.  I know I'll probably live to be 110 mind you...but sometimes I feel as if my body has been through so much that it's going to just give up one day and say fuck it.

My marriage has never been better.  My husband is healthy and happy.  My career as a filmmaker is moving in leaps and bounds even as we're in waiting mode.  I'll be in New York the first part of the week getting to experience something amazing and yet...I've wondered if I should say anything about it because I've also learned that everyone won't be happy for you when you're succeeding and that makes me so sad because I believe I'm one of those people who goes out of her way to champion successes of others.

But yeah...so...yeah...nothing...

So I'll keep blogging.

Because God is sending me pebbles...

...BEFORE HE HITS ME WITH A BRICK.

CreoleInDC@gmail.com 

I MISSED YALL!!!!!!!!!

I feel like yall get mad at me when I have to put the blog to the side for a bit but I promise I miss yall!!!!!!!!!

What's been going on with yall?  I know 1969 and TravelDiva knocked out another Triathlon, TheBrokeSocialite released her first book at a gorgeous soiree and a couple of people had birthdays so let me know what else I missed please!

On Fat Black Women...

http://55secretstreet.typepad.com/revenge_of_the_curves/2012/05/why-black-women-are-fat.html

Ms. Brittany is Too Fly

http://pocketsandbows.blogspot.com/

From Mimi G!

Sewing Machine GIVEAWAY!!!!

She is seriously so awesome for doing this!

 

DAMN GINA!

http://www.blacknbougie.com/2012/02/valentine-wddda-ask-bougie-chick.html

What say YOU?

Babysitting While White

TBS WAS ON TV!!!!!

Blogger Shameeka Ayers on DIY Websites: MyFoxATLANTA.com

Blogger Shameeka Ayers on DIY Websites: MyFoxATLANTA.com

YESSIR!

That’s Just Something They Know

AWESOME!

Creative Cooking...Easy Baked Egg Rolls

Simply Lovely

Knight Blog

From Ms. Smart:

"Award Winning Crime Scene"

ROFL from pSerendipity!!!!!!!!!!

"And the Greatest of These"

From K. Rock

"Not Music to My Ears"

From Nerd Girl:

"Let's Talk Books"

NOTICE!

I promise I'm going to read all of your emails I received while I was gone. 

Some of them are really long.

One of them includes a word document that seems to be about 3 pages long.

That had better be good or Imma fight somebody.

David Allen Grier is a Food Blogger

DAG's Food Blog

That's hot.

Question...

When yall come over here...where do yall start reading?  Just whatever is at the top?  Do you read the comments too?  What about the chatbox?  Do you pay attention to what's in that?

No.

"What Did MrsTDJ Say?"

This is what I'm TERRIFIED of...

Every Latina a Slut, and other Hollywood secrets revealed



THAT'S MY DAWG!!!!!!!

From kiz4tj:

She is so beautiful to me with her evil, foot stomping behind. HUMPH! Catch up on da random vlog style

The REAL.DEAL!

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY MOM AND DAD!!!

oneblackman is DRIVING!!!!!!!!!!

SIP:  Please remember it's cold and the cold always affects those of demented personalities worse than others.  oneblackman?  DEMENTED personality. 

I'd like to take this time to remind you that views expressed by oneblackman most likely are NOT the views of Monnie.

Yall asked for it.

Blame yourselves!  LOL!

What say YOU?

http://hearmysecrets.com/

Hmmmmm...Instrastin...

Stand up! -- Ludacris

DAMN GINA!

Fake Psonya is GANGSTA!

CreoleInDC FAVOR!!!!!

 

Aiight...I seriously don't ask yall for much but I need to ask yall for a favor.

My girl Butta is in the running for a real life Soul Train award for her site, SoulBounce. 

Soul Train Awards x CentricTV.com - Best Soul Site Awards

 You can vote once a day per IP address until the polls close and I'm sorry...but Butta REALLY deserves to win.  Yall have no idea how hard she works for SoulBounce and the sacrifices she's made to provide the site with FABULOUSNESS we can connect with.

That said...please, please, PLEASE go vote for SoulBounce.  PLEASE put this on YOUR blogs.  PLEASE put this on your Twitter.  PLEASE put this on your Facebook!  She's currently trailing today's lead by 100 votes.  We can do that in 10 minutes yall.  You KNOW we can!  Just think of one of US...someone we really, REALLY know at the Soul Train Music Awards RECEIVING AN AWARD!!!!!!

She sooooooo deserves this!

 

 

From SIP:

I AM GOING TO BEAT PSERENDIPITY TO WITHIN AN INCH OF HER LIFE FOR THIS! 

"Star Student"

Just keep swimming...

Getting To The Other Side

From SIP:

Forward Notion is going through some things regarding a career decision.  SIP decided to answer his queries today using the gloves off approach:

When you are pursuing what you believe to be your passion or your calling, and you want something so bad you can taste it, how in the world do you know if it’s right for you???

Because I would do it for free. Because I would do it on 2 hours of sleep. Because even if I have to be on set for 4:00am…I don’t need an alarm clock to wake me. Because it doesn’t feel like WORK…it feels like moving in the middle of my LIFE.

All that to say, what we think will help us get closer to our dreams can turn out to be the very thing that takes us further away from it. So how do tell the difference??

I truly believe that God will send you the pebbles. He always has in my life. I’ve always known when I wasn’t following my life’s dream but never believed it was something I could actually do. I’ve always known because I know my work ethic and I know when I’m not giving something my all. AND…I know that I’m happiest when I’m giving something my all. Listen to how you feel. In order to do that…you have to REALLY know and trust yourself and not give a shit about what anyone else thinks. Once you get there…in that personal ZONE…you can flipping FLY off that power. I PROMISE YOU.

I just go for it. That can’t be the right way, can it??

God has given you everything you will need to succeed and this is where a lot of people go wrong. They FORGET or BYPASS the things in front of them. You can’t just jump out there unprepared. God gave you what you need to be prepared. You got good sense. You have Mr. Google. You have the fortitude to read and process what you learn. Put that to work and WRITE IT DOWN AND MAKE IT HAPPEN! Folks step out all willy nilly without a plan and then…fall on their faces talking about they guess it wasn’t meant for them. I don’t agree. Milton Hershey went bankrupt 15 times trying to make chocolate candy before his research and proper planning caught up with his hard work. He had the passion but didn’t have the plan for a long damn time. He figured it out finally through preparation and PLANNING.

If I REALLY think this out and pray on it and decide that this is the direction I need to go, and THEN the daggum committee tells me that I wasn’t selected, then what?!?!?

So what you might not be selected. What does that say about you? About your body of work? About your passion? About your dream? Not a GOT.DAMN.THING other than the selection committee didn’t believe in you as much as you do, as much as your family, framily and friends do, as much as the most random person who gets to meet you does. Fuck them. You want this…then we have faith that you’ve done everything possible to get this. Hell…you could be bypassed because of a selection committee’s second cousin’s niece for all we know hell. The true great ones get this and they know one monkey don’t stop no show. Do it your damn self. Make your own rules and if you need help getting there…the beauty of being a child of God is that you never know who you already know that could be a blessing to you and your dream. Open your mouth and start talking. Once the Universe is made aware of what you want…the pieces will start coming together and you will already have the plan in place to follow.

So, how have ya’ll handled these sorts of things? Any advice?

Don’t be scared of shit. Least of all…failing. That’s just dumb. True failure is sitting on your azz doing nothing scared of how it’s going to look if you don’t get what you want once you’ve tried once. ‘GONE GET YOUR DREAM HELL.

I’m waiting and while I’m waiting…I’m getting mineZ.

SIP has spoken. Don’t make me fight you.

This is the same thing I'd tell any of yall.  If you have a dream...don't be dumb about following it.  WRITE IT DOWN and then?  MAKE IT FLIPPING HAPPEN!  Keep the naysayers out of your space, surround yourself with likemindeds and have a core group of people you TRUST to be your focus group.  You can do anything you fucking want to do.  Period.  Stop counting yourself out.

What say you?

Hmmmmm...

Someone told me recently that they love this blog because we have an extraordinarily high group of married women around here and it gives her hope.  She says she believes in the power of being around what you want to be which is a wife.

I never thought about it like that.

What say you?

Sorry Guys!

Sorry for it being so light around here today.  I usually blog at night but last night I was celebrating and this morning I was yanked up about carpet nonsense.

Imma do better.

Yall got anything yall wanna talk about while I go straighten up this closet?

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...

ACK.RIGHT!

"Pretty, Paid and Passed Over"

AMEN!

Proof in the Purchase

Sniffle...

Things to be Grateful For

Well? Whatcha 'sposed to do?

She's In Love With Another Man

Well? Whatcha 'sposed to do?

She's In Love With Another Man

FABULOUSLY Unique!

Playhouse by Aboday

Thanks Guys!

Thank you guys so very much for always sending me great articles, etc. my way when you see them.  It makes blogging sooooooooooo much easier for me when I'm busy.  YALL ROCK!