Saturday, July 30

An Open Letter to...

LAURYN HILL

Yea though you walk through the valley of fools who ridicule that which confuses them. Know this, God's child..Your battle is not to make fools understand or to school humans on the art of humanity and Karma. You are only responsible for a mastering an understanding of self and remembering to appreciate this responsibility as it is the single most important task for every individual in the world. No matter how famous, talented, rich, poor, weak, strong, infamous, angelic, demonic or whatever. It is then that these wooden soldiers of society will either crumble around you or get in line and march to your tune...Pay them no mind and continue to rhyme.

Peace, Love and Happiness,

Dayna

Thursday, July 28

T "blank"C

Dear Disrespectful DJ,

When "No Scrubs" spins on the radio sans Left-eye's invigorating lyrical contribution to the song, what you have is T and C...no Love. I know it's considered a "remix" but you must've forgotten. So here's a reminder...

Left eye's contribution:

See, if you can't spatially expand my horizon
Then that leaves you in a class with scrubs never risin'
I don't find it surprisin'
If you don't have the g's
To please me and bounce from here to the coast of overseas
So, let me give you somethin' to think about
Inundate your mind with intentions to turn you out
Can't forget the focus on the picture in front of me
You as clear as DVD on digital TV screen
Satisfy my appetite with something spectacular
Check your vernacular
And then I get back to ya
With diamond like precision
Insatiable is what I envision
Can't detect acquisition
From your friend's expedition
Mr. Big Willy if you really wanna know
Ask Chilli, could I be a silly ho
Not really, T-Boz and all my senoritas
Is steppin' on your Filas
But you don't hear me though



It's just not worth playing without. Thank you for your time,

Dayna




Reminding myself to keep a copy of the song..in it's entirety, in my Calimobile. I lip synched to TLC's "What about your Friends" track on national television..1991 or 1992... MTV's game show - Lip Service.....Who's part did I take? (my) Soul sister #1, Lisa Left-eye Lopez(RIP)...Do not get it twisted.

Wednesday, July 27

Nubian Ambassador..


So I'm gonna get this out of my system in staying with the pen is mightier than the sword. With the hopes of release, cooling the flames burning within' me and easing my angst before I'm forced to draw.

I'm not an "Angry Black Woman" so don't start....Perplexed, Appauled and Aghast maybe, trying hard not to be angry but "For real?"

Somehow I have come to be the Ambassador to race relations amongst production Salt and Pepper. I was never offered the job. Didn't ask for it and most definitely don't want it....but I guess it's needed. And one of my blessings and curses is that I am to go where I'm needed and flee when I have outstayed the needy's "need" for me. But this is hard and as a I settle into this weird soul-less area called Los Angeles the "need" for a (sensible) Ambassador becomes more and more evident. I'm not qualified for the gig that hath been bestowed upon me. Why? Because I don't know how long I can stay calm and try to "peacefully join" or come to a "respectful" understanding for that which makes us (us being blacks &whites) different.


PREJUDICE
Pronunciation: 'pre-j&-d&s
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Old French, from Latin praejudicium previous judgment, damage, from prae- + judicium judgment -- more at JUDICIAL
1 : injury or damage resulting from some judgment or action of another in disregard of one's rights; especially : detriment to one's legal rights or claims
2 a (1) : preconceived judgment or opinion (2) : an adverse opinion or leaning formed without just grounds or before sufficient knowledge b : an instance of such judgment or opinion c : an irrational attitude of hostility directed against an individual, a group, a race, or their supposed characteristic



RACISM
Pronunciation: 'rA-"si-z&m
Function: noun
1 : a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race



How am I to respond to all the prejudices and racism I have been subjected to in my one year in Los Angeles? I have experienced every Webster given definition of... What is the proper way? Because I'm ready to flex my supposed physically superior frame on some of these silly caucasoids who habitually offend me at Yo or Hey Sistah (Hello works, biyatches.)

Who the F*&^ are you talking to like that and why? You are not Dian Fossey in the jungle trying to "relate" to a F*&^&% Gorilla (cause I know that's what you believe). You are speaking to another individual and yes I have on occasion been known to say Yo, and Word and I might slap a high-five to one of my sisters (meaning black or white female FRIENDS) but that is not the way you greet a random black woman walking into a company to do a job. Or maybe I should just go ahead and get with the... Me being inferior because of my skin color and affinity for watermelon, fried foods and dancing. The brainwashing is wearing off and I'm becoming too aware. I need more brainwashing drugs please. Purchase my screenplays so I can afford stronger medication. It's the only way, if I'm to march to this beat. Because I swear it's Yo this and Yo that and sister this and sister that. Calling someone sister (who's not of my mother's womb) or someone calling me sister (who's not of my mother's womb) is a privilege not a right. I choose my "other" sisters. DON'T F%$#ing call me sister unless we've already established a sisterly friendship, which we will never if you take this grace without permission.

And if one more person white, black, green or yellow refers to my hairstyle as braids, I deserve to get off for temporary insanity. There's not one braid on my head...NOT ONE....NOT ONE SINGLE SOLITARY....these are Dred Locs or Dreadlocks (if you prefer)....tiny hair follicles who have joined together to form a strong bond...let's take a hint from some hair follicles....they locked together and formed a bond so strong....I can't take credit for it....Forces beyond me have blessed this hair and I appreciate it. I hope one day a force beyond "our" control will bless "us" with some kind of strong bond cause' help is very necessary right about now. I can't even believe I'm forced in 2005 to address these things. I've written a screenplay about a black girl and white guy getting together and the usual crap that goes along...with a twist of course...I was told by several white people "Oh, that part of society is over." Yes... out here in the last year....It's been said to me more than once, how that part is over, not a big deal anymore.<-----them, backstroking in the river of Da'Nile.

I'm just going to give examples because folks who float in the river of Da'Nile need clear, concise examples. You can't beat around the.....

My first week here I go to a fourth of July party. I guess I should feel honored to be the "exception" but I'm sorry, I'm not. My life out here so far seems to be me proving I'm the exception to what all these protected white folks think all black peope are about...robbing, stealing, dancing, violence and weaves. I guess, I don't really know. I just feel and am most times told.

I didn't know I was proving these pre-judgements wrong, by just being me,(didn't really know I was expected to) but after a few drinks and once they realize I'm not going to pull out a knife and stab them and rob them, they feel comfortable enough to tell me how he was surprised I was there and how I 'm not like other black people..

let's pause on that thought for a minute.....

The one "unexposed to blacks" guy...told me..to my face...that when I walked into the party he thought "A black girl, Why bother?" Why bother....I'm starting to feel the same way about the whole scene. He later explained how his previous dealings (now keep in mind this man lives in Santa Monica, CA) with black women were so negative, we seem to be so angry and walk around with chips on our shoulders. Well, I wonder why. I am one perceptive fool and I swear on a cow's tit, I felt that energy when I walked in and thought " I'll be here all of twelve minutes." I stayed all night, shut the party down because I love people and I'm not secretly thinking "Why Bother?" about someone I'm having a conversation with because if I'm secretly thinking it then I'm not going to engage in a conversation with you in the first place. I'll admit I have my prejudices and I have looked at a certain race and thought the same thing and do right now feel the same way but I don't think I'm particularly superior to this entire race I am just doing what I try to avoid doing and reacting to their treatment of me....I'm not going in to who exactly I'm talking about but man have I had some confrontations with these folks.

So that was one...This guy was great and I wound up liking him and I do appreciate the honesty (I'd rather know you are inclined to hate my guts for no solid reason than not know) but I have to admit it was disheartening. Talk about misunderstood. And does the fact that I don't particularly know all the words to all the Foo Fighter's songs mean I can't accompany you to a Foo Fighter's concert. One of my friends out here tested me on this...it was a stipulation of attending an outdoor concert (one in which we had a smack ass great time.) He's one of my bud's and excused for his trespasses. I wouldn't ban someone from an Alicia Keys concert because they couldn't run down the track listing from her first album. I love exposing the unexposed to things I appreciate. It's called sharing. He is one of my best buds out here and has earned the right to call me "Sister" as I call him "Brother". The proper way. The "I managed to have a conversation with a black woman and not get my head chopped off" way.

I actually have a lot more examples but as I revisit, it really does bother me and I don't feel like piling past insults on top of ones that continue to happen each and every day I go to work. Damn I'll be glad when I don't have to do this day to day grind shit. It's much easier to gather peaceful thoughts of love and happiness for the world when you're not forced to deal with "the world" everyday. So I'm not giving anymore specific moments.

And please white people of Southern California, I know you love rap music and you are fascinated with our lyrics and lingo and lifestyle and want to observe it (nestled in the safety of your own community) and sing along and use Dave Chappellisms in the street...but.....if I'm in ear shot.....don't do it.....just don't do it to yourself. Because I don't give a damn how much money you make, what job you can offer me or how I might never work in this town again....I will .........long break.......Excuse the abrupt stop. I'm posting at work and I had to "work" for a minute...in that minute I picked up O magazine...browsed through and saw the article from her "LEGENDS" weekend...and it helped ease the fire....it put me back on the peace train... and back on the "I've been moving in the wrong circles" train. Things I'm most upset about......Dayna wasn't there and Whitney Houston's life choice in men and descent into (temporary)"insanity" has left her off the legend train (Whitney, you'll always be on my legend train..hold up the light). I mean...I would've been a waitress, a sous chef, a gardener, anything to get a hint of exposure to the energy at that lunch. Damn! Okay, Oprah, I'd like to attend the next one if not as a guest (which I'm working on) then as whatever. I'll dress up as Elmo if necessary. I suggest youpick up a copy of O magazine this weekend, wrap it in plastic and save it. I don't have a subscription to O. I keep reminding myself I have to get one but I do make sure I pick up an O magazine each and every time I have to buy a bunch of magazines for art references or for the client area on a production job...every single time. One of my best buds used the following phrase on someone in front of me and now I kill it "If you're not part of the solution, your part of the problem" love it and it's so true..so I'm not going off on this white and black tangent. I don't feel like it. You all know the deal. It's just really evident out here in Southern California. Makes any racist or prejudice New Yorker I've had the displeasure of coming across, look like a quaker. And I just can't believe how segregated it is out here. I get it but I don't get it. But I will finish the thought on these people who think it's okay to call a black person a Nigger because Dave Chappelle uses it. You are not a comedian, you are a production tart and peace train or not if I hear it.....one of two things WILL happen....Lawsuit or I'll take the easier more gratifying way out and SCAIR you. Just sit and think about it for a minute. We possess the ability to greatly entertain we we're not put here for your entertainment.....Damn!
Oh... let me add how the black men I've come across out here seem to be dealing with the aggravation of asinine assumptions. It seems black men deal with this situation by believing in "empowering themselves through p^&&#. Conquering the world one white woman at a time. And it's not an observation made from jealousy...Lord knows I'm about loving who you love and liking who you like. It works out better for everyone. Maybe if these caucausoid mountain men would pause and stop making stupid assumptions about the unapproachable "black" me, they might have a chance to love who they love and like who they like. It's a sad state of affairs and so obvious because God knows I didn't think it was going to be like this. I had no idea and I don't walk into every situation believing I'm somehow going to be discriminated against. I wasn't raised in or around that kind of scene. Montclair High School is beautifully diversified. And the white folks in Montclair, New Jersey have a clear understanding that though we may have cultural differences....if a black woman and a white woman, walking down the street, both trip and fall in front of a bus....they will both bleed red blood and even if we did have different color blood..does that mean we can just be expected to take any kind of offensive and degrading thought a human can spit out. Smile and Nod, Huh?

So, I don't know who died and left me, Nubian Ambassador of Production, but I'll continue to hold the torch (a little longer) because yes one is needed and at times it's okay, but just remember you've been warned and some help from some other black women would be nice...but the ones I've come across who are "in the mix" seem to be missing something..so much so that I can't be bothered. Missing what? Confidence is not coincidental. Will I raise my daughter in Southern California....possibly...her saving grace will be she is being raised by moi. me<-----Steeped in confidence....delusional or not I'd rather possess delusional confidence than none at all.
So, I just can't wait until I start to move in more comfortable circles, like with some former east coasters. Interesting people who love interesting people because they're interesting not because it takes their skin longer to burn in the sun....that'd be a nice scene for me. Hint, hint to some of my east coast friends and family members. The weather's really nice here. I'll scout out living situations for you and yours.

Hey, the pen might be mightier because I feel a smidge better.



SCAIR = snatching a chunk of hair from an adversary's head.

oh the yin and yang of it all....

Monday, July 25

Stinkin' Starbucks

1 out of 5 Starbucks stinks? You heard me. Stinks..What is that about? I would like to go sit in a Starbucks and sip some gross burnt coffee like the rest of the writers out here in LA but....they stink. I can say 1 in 5 because, working as a production gopher, you best believe I have been in 70% of the Starbucks out here in Los Angeles and New York. I think it's a combination of a few things but mainly..and this is just a guess, it's whatever they use to clean the floors with. I hope that's part of the reason otherwise there is no rhyme or reason. Am I wrong, or is the draw of hanging in a coffeehouse the beautiful aroma of those yummy and addictive coffee beans.



That's the draw for me..so I 'm on a search for a comfy (close to my home) cozy coffeehouse where I can sit and write and sip and people watch. I do go to the beach and write but my laptop runs out of juice to quick and I like to mix it up, (not to mention the parking situation out at the beach.) It's unfortunate because you can't go three blocks without stumbling across a Bucks of Star, but until they work on the sour mop aroma, I can't get with them.


and by the by....How about that Lance Armstrong
I'll admit, I could give a rat's tail (usually) about the Tour De France, I can't lie for the sake of being interesting, but a human, winning a major (incredibly hard) competition like this, seven years in a row....he didn't lose one year and then come back to claim his title..he straight won and won and won and won and then won and won again and won one last time, just in case you questioned his skills.
I might have to pick up a book on his life because he's not only this incredible cyclist...he's a cancer survivor..He's one of those beat incredible odds by all means guys and I love those kinds of guys (and girls.)
Inspirational!

Friday, July 22

Marley, Man



I'm going to have the lyrics tatooed to my back and painted on my car.


Redemption Song

Old pirates, yes, they rob I;
Sold I to the merchant ships,
Minutes after they took I
From the bottomless pit.
But my hand was made strong
By the 'and of the Almighty.
We forward in this generation
Triumphantly.
Won't you help to sing
These songs of freedom? -
'Cause all I ever have:
Redemption songs;
Redemption songs.

Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery;
None but ourselves can free our minds.
Have no fear for atomic energy,
'Cause none of them can stop the time.
How long shall they kill our prophets,
While we stand aside and look? Ooh!
Some say it's just a part of it:
We've got to fulfill de book.

Won't you help to sing
These songs of freedom? -
'Cause all I ever have:
Redemption songs;
Redemption songs;
Redemption songs.
----
Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery;
None but ourselves can free our mind.
Wo! Have no fear for atomic energy,
'Cause none of them-a can-a stop-a the time.
How long shall they kill our prophets,
While we stand aside and look?
Yes, some say it's just a part of it:
We've got to fulfill de book.
Won't you help to sing
Dese songs of freedom? -
'Cause all I ever had:
Redemption songs -
All I ever had:
Redemption songs:
These songs of freedom,
Songs of freedom.


Bob Marley


I beg your pardon people, but it is a full howling-of-a-moon this night. Bear with me.

Why did the chicken cross the road?

To get to the other side, people of Los Angeles, not to get a false sense of superiority by making cars screech to a halt and drivers tremble with fear or anger.
I don't know who empowered the pedestrians of this town, but they have created wide-eyed foolish monsters who might wind up falling victim to a motor vehicle operator who is not as sharp as myself (taking a bow.) I understand you have the "right" of way but if I can' t see you when you dart out into the street like, Bambi, your "rights" will be snatched away from you as well as your ability to walk. Or if you should have the misfortune of exercising your "rights" when the Where's the Beef? lady is behind the wheel of a big 1985 Cadillac.....You may lose your life. It's not worth it. Just wait until the coast is clear and then walk, not crawl, saunter or creep, across the damn street. Jeesh!

Modeling after a chicken, might just save your life!

Thursday, July 21

Might as well face it...

I'm addicted to Blog!!
It's a hot ass day here in Cali....my friend has a pool....wants me to come by and go for a swim...and how I would love to...but my ass is glued to this chair....We Be Bloggin'.....been checking out OPB (other people's blogs). I do get up when a jammin' song comes on....love my Mac and the Party Shuffle....I'm talkin.....Notorious BIG..."Ready to die" ..just played....now...."Sara Smile".... Hall and Oates...."Superstar"....the Carpenter's version just came on.....buzz kill......had to skip that one...."Bump it"....Erkyah Badu just shuffled in......great.....Push up the fader, bust the meter, shake the tweeter.......I know I'm caught up in this blog, because I have some(long) html codes memorized....sick....But the positive reinforcement I'm receiving is validating beyond words....gathering all my confidence into my arms and about to jump over the moon.....and I've decided to get back to my novel.....I'm not going to psych myself out about the proper way and can I really...and do I really..... blah....blah..blah.....I've got fiction whirling around in my head....I'm putting it to paper....and man....if it actually becomes a piece of work that sells.....Ideally....I'm on an island....taking a 4 month break from the big city......I finally finish the first draft of my second novel and have to take a ride on a catamaran to the post office to mail my next novel to my editor....Pass the Dutchie...Musical Youth just shuffled on.......how fitting for Island dreams....I have to go.......have to do some research.... figure out how to secure funding for my children's book....self-publishing baby...All the way.....at least for the Children's book....I'm not hardly self-publishing my adult novel(unless I absolutely have to, please don't make me do it.)

Peace out!!!!

Wednesday, July 20

POP - F4, W.O.W. and Wedding Crashers

Blessed are those who expect nothing for they shall not be disappointed....

Tis' the new way I'm going to approach these box office movies...Why? Because I walked into Fantastic 4 with the intent on getting a twofer (two movies for the price of one)....did that...Second movie was War of the Worlds....Nothing beats a twofer if your toosh can take it..mine can and did and will again. I would've preferred to pull a twofer on Charlie and the Chocolate factory.

I went alone late at night. Walked out of War of the Worlds at 12:10am....still a bit disturbed....not disturbed at the quality of the movie...Senor Spielberg has mastered his craft....he can now go master the Culinary Arts or Karate or whatever else he feels like......because he is the man when it comes to Directing a movie...I don't have a bad thing to say. I was told to save my money on this movie. Are they kidding me? Tis' why I tend not to listen to other people...only my inner people and they said go see it. I was on the edge of my seat (good thing considering I had just sat through 2 hours of F4). I mean I really just went there...lost myself... even after I saw a part of the War of the Worlds set at Universal Studios ....I got drawn in so hardcore that I found myself rooting for the aliens...I wanted to yell at the screen "What are you looking at dumb ass Run, Humans, Run........if that's the way humans act in a crisis then I hope an Alien ship lands right on my head so I don't have to witness it (unless I'm to save a few people.) The lead character, single part-time Dad, Ray Ferrier (Tom Cruise) got under my skin just like he was supposed to....that little Dakota Fanning is not of this earth with her talent. Talk about a Hollywood leading lady..little lady

She has already played opposite...Sean Penn, Denzel Washington and now Tom Cruise to name a few, all by the age 11. And I've loved her performances in all of them....not just me.....everyone....Critics, Directors and Joe Blow at the newstand all agree.....Dakota Fanning is a screen gem. So tiny and talented. I mean that's all I have to say really....I spoke to some movie goers who really moaned about the last three minutes of the film...some didn't get it..some got it and were really pissed about it.....I get it, got it, liked it...what can I say. Dakota Fanning also shared the screen with Robert De Niro in HIDE AND SEEK, but I'm always slow to see movies I consider scary...

FANTASTIC 4

Another pleasant surprise for this apprehensive yet eager movie goer. One annoyed reviewer felt there was no reason for Jessica Alba to be in the movie and I was prepared to agree....mostly because of the movie HONEY which I'm trying to never see. I liked her and everyone else in the movie. I am a big fan of Marvel Comics, though not Fantastic 4 really and the movie has now sparked my interest in the comic book. I'm not saying I'm going out to buy a bunch of F4 comic books and read them but I will buy one to read and one special edition to package away for a hundred years from now..Overall a fun and action packed movie.....You go Marvel Comics. Make em' all....X-men, Spiderman, F4 keep em' coming. I eagerly await F4's next box office adventure (and X-men and Spiderman) and though I sound like I can be easily sold on a Marvel Comic turned Movie...I'm not...not at all. And was very disturbed about the casting of Halle Berry as Storm for X-Men....don't suck your teeth....I like Halle Berry and I love that she is a working actress....but....Storm the comic book character is straight from Africa....Straight...untouched by massa'....How the hell? Why the hell? A search for a woman who resembles former supermodel and wife to, David Bowie, Iman, should have ensued. I take it as a personal slap in the face to the deeper shades of brown ie....myself. Now that's a STORM..If they just couldn't go there, then they should've tried for Jada Pinkett...a much more commanding and confident Storm. I mean come on...Storm is an action hero who commands the weather for God's sake. But X-Men and X-Men 2 were so damn good...I have partially forgiven Hollywood. Maybe in 2050 when it's remade..they'll cast a proper STORM. Again...I like Halle Berry...and I would've taken this role to. If they came to my non-acting ass right now and said would you please try being Storm for X-men 3....best believe I'd inhale, try to avoid looking at myself with platinum hair and go to it....the outtakes would be priceless. But I guess I should be happy they didn't just kill her character off and use some inferior mutant to replace her....wow I really just went off on a tangent. What was I reviewing...Fantastic 4.....
The movie was made to entertain and thrill....it succeeded...the audience (including myself) clapped at the end. Same clapping action went down in Spiderman 2 (myself included.)

WEDDING CRASHERS

Another movie where a single actor saves it from the Abyss.....Vince Vaugn was doing his thing. How much you gettin' man? Tell them you officially go for more now. It was a cute movie. Funny moments. Everyone played his or her part. And....if cloning is really going down in some secret underground goverment lab in the middle of Arizona.....please clone Sir Christopher Walken...please...just do it...I can never get enough of this man....I forgot he was in this movie (even though his name is on the poster) and the movie was dragging a little in the beginning....so when this Hell of a guy, made his first appearance I almost stood up and clapped...I felt like he had just walked out on stage and waved to me (but that's my own issue)...I know he's up there in age...but damn...he's just....I'm not going to take you there...he's great...ANNIE HALL....he was in this 1977, Woody Allen classic for about 5 minutes and it is my absolute favorite part of the movie. He really is the man. He would've been a more commanding STORM, if he could stand the platinum wig.


So the movie was good. Not great...good...It could've been great....a lot had to happen in two hours.. and it all happened.....the pace of the movie....I don't know....I'm not a Director.....but it felt weird...Like a car that needs a wheel alignment....would I add it to my DVD collection....No....but I would take a six pack to a friends house and watch their copy.

I didn't do a threefer...no way...I went with friends to see Wedding Crashers.




.

Tuesday, July 19

Make the music with your mouth Biz...










What I have to remind myself to NOT do....before going to work....play old school rap/ hip-hop in my car....man...I was ready to skip work.... go back home... grab up all my Eric B & Rakim and Run-DMC cd's.....and all my old school rap compilations and drive to wherever....

I grabbed an old-school 4 disc rap cd on my way out the door....just wanted to switch up the feel in my car.....heavy rotation in Dayna's Calimobile: Stevie Wonder - Fulfillingness' First Finale, Nirvana - Nevermind, John Legend, Alicia Keys - Songs in A minor, Jay-Z - Reasonable Doubt (my fav- Can't Knock the Hustle) and of course one of Mix Dayna-dee's cd's.
I almost swerved off the road when the beat for Cindafella (Dana-dane) dropped...maybe it's because we share names....or maybe it's just the funky beat and oh how it took me back...... memories of being in high school..trying to go to Nassau Coliseum to see DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince(for the life of me I can't remember who else was performing)....and having my aunt beg me and my friend to reconsider....She told us she'd buy our tickets from us and take us out to dinner....I'm a softy and Nassau Coliseum is a bit of a voyage (unless of course it's Whitney)....so....a meal with my Aunty it was....We were like 15 and 16 years old....I remember my Great-Grandmother, fussing at me and my friend....she called us Stupid and Dumb Dumb...."Wherever Stupid goes, Dumb Dumb follows and wherever Dumb Dumb goes Stupid follows".....she was right...and I can't wait to use that line on some silly kids who think they're indestructible ...me and my high school buddy were definitely fools being watched out for by a higher being..cause'.....FOOLS!!! For sure....but damn we had fun....I can't say I regret not going...I regret not getting to see Mr. Will Smith perform as The Fresh Prince....but.......who knows what would've happen to Stupid and Dumb Dumb on the journey to Uniondale, NY....when we had no idea how to get there....in our new outfits from Annie Sez no less. I never wore that outfit in public....it was a black and white tank...it had a black cross and it read "Lifeguard".....along with my black stretch shorts.....Surely I jest you say.....It became my sleepwear.

And I can't express how pleased I am to have grown up (east coast) at the same time Eric B and Rakim, Slick Rick, Run-DMC, Dougie Fresh, Dana-Dane, Big Daddy Kane, Special Ed, Kid N Play, Salt & Pepa and MC Lyte were doing the damn thing...don't get me wrong....Love hip-hop..now and then...and here's where I might sound a little old.....I feel like I'm at this moment...the proper age to listen to current hip-hop.....I'm right...come on ....you know it.....Rakim was talking about being paid in full and moving the crowd....at 15....I don't know how the WAIT song by the Ying Yang twins would've affected me......I like it now...kind of...if I let go of the reality of what they are saying and just groove to it...but I'm grown. And I definitely feel love for the angry hip-hop songs..ie....The What - BIG and Method Man....because being an adult who has to go out and deal with the stress of adult life and other foolish adults......having a crazy rap release is a wonderful thing...the angry fella' in the movie "Office Space", would agree....in 1988...I needed to roll with Kid N Play (who are like...in there 40's now) and yes Slick Rick was going there a bit with songs like Treat her like a Prostitute....but....he didn't say and after you treat her like a prostitute beat her up, kick her in the teeth and dump her in the trunk (plus he rapped in that crazy "English?" accent to throw us off).....and in 1989/90.... I needed Tribe begging for attention from Bonita Applebum, De La Soul to Take it Off and Queen Latifah schooling us on proper etiquette...... "Ladies First" and more Salt & Pepa of course.....I feel the movement of Hip-hop is flowing with me...personally.....and I appreciate it......Oh..... and even though I'm not feeling this cat as an actor.....Get out of my way if some (old school) LL COOL J should happen to spin....Rock the Bells and I Can't Live Without My Radio...to begin....1985 (I didn't listen until 86) strict grade school....but in high school......in the great words of Prince "Let's Go Crazy". I'm still looking for the purple banana....no truck in sight.
After WAIT(the whisper song)...where else is there to go? I hope backwards so my kids(if I have any) can listen freely...and let me add....

I do remember one west coast hip-hop group who tried....JJ Fad - Supersonic...child...please.....Dr. Dre was their producer and we know he's good at what he does.....practice makes perfect....I was not checking for Supersonic on any level and unlike my beloved east coast hip-hop trailblazers, when this song plays I'm not amazed at all with how I remember the lyrics to a song I haven't heard in umpteen years.....because....I don't know the lyrics, not consciously or subconsciously on any level.

Personal lyrical Hip-Hop triumphs for Dayna.....Learning all the words to Public Enemy's, Bring the Noise......flowing with MC Lyte in Lyte as Rock..Oh yes...I took a deep breath and practiced..... lastly.....I'm still not down from the high of being taught how to make that sound Biz Markie makes...my cousin's best bud told me...all nonchalant about it...She had no idea....in the dictionary under pleased......should've been a picture of me...Make the music with your mouth Biz.....take your hand and lightly yet rapidly tap your throat...while saying whatever you want....until she told me....I used a table fan to get (what I thought was) the same effect I honestly don't know if that's the way he does it... but......What a fool believes.....I'll take it..

I also have RunDMC's , Rock Box, on a 45 yes 45rpm...I'll take my old school hip-hop purple heart now please.

Monday, July 18

POP - Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Caught a Sunday evening showing of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory".

A wild and trippy ride - yes
A great movie - no...
A good movie - Eh...

Some may argue...the original 1971 version "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" is a darker version than this new 2005 version. I would vote for the 2005 as darker. First off..I heard Steve Martin, Robin Williams, Christopher Walken, Nicolas Cage and Michael Keaton were all considered for the roll of Strange fellow - Willy Wonka. Not one of those fine actors would've been able to save this madness (maybe a younger Christopher Walken) Whatever amount of money Mr. Johnny Depp and his agent and lawyers and yadda, yadda negotiated for.....was not enough. Half the budget should've gone to Johnny Depp.....the other half should have gone to less CGI(computer generated image) and more grit...
I tried to pretend I had never seen my beloved 1971 Willy Wonka with the great Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka...a hard act to follow....as Faye Dunaway will forever be Joan Crawford because of "Mommie Dearest", Gene Wilder will forever be Willy Wonka.....when I see Gene Wilder in other movies......it's Willy Wonka in his new career as actor....Willy Wonka in Young Frankenstein, Stir Crazy, Silver Streak, Blazing Saddles and even The Woman in Red (love each of these movies)...it's not Gene Wilder...it's Willy Wonka. So my admitting how I accept and mostly enjoyed Johnny Depp as the new Willy Wonka (in a creepy kind of way) is a major accomplishment. Johnny Depp's look in this movie has been compared to Michael Jackson and Marilyn Manson.....so I guess if those two got together to have a kid.....Willy Wonka 2005 is what it would look like.... I see the comparison but I refuse to acknowledge...

I walked in....a big fan of the original Willy Wonka so I was ready to go on another wild chocolate factory ride....That it was.....but it almost felt like a bad trip.....like someone had slipped me a mind altering shroom' to see how I might respond to this strange adaptation...I read how the man who wrote the screenplay had never seen the 1971 version. He watched it after he had written the screenplay...the lack of respect shows....maybe it would've turned out more pleasurable for the Willy Wonka fans had he watched the original before the re-write.

Things I appreciated..... Johnny Depp and the back story on Willy Wonka's life(though sometimes less is more.) Charlie was cute enough. Kids we're a perfect fit for the roles they played (though their performances get washed out by trippiness of the film)

The main thing I didn't appreciate.....the ridiculous oompa loompas....they made me wish they had been eaten up by the monsters Willy Wonka saved them from.

Let's take a -GENE WILDER WITH THE ORIGINAL OOMPA LOOMPAS break!!!


Back to "Charlie and the Charlie Factory"
Things happened too fast and then some things didn't happen fast enough...their were parts of the movie where I was checking my watch to see if it was time for the movie to get to the point.

The overall feel I got from this movie was the movie industry moving into an era where the audience is considered less and less and it becomes more about showing your fellow Directors or Producers what you can do with special effects and how crazy you can go before the audience violently rejects your self-serving movie making antics. Though it does stay in line with the feel of Tim Burton movies...I was hoping for something different.

At times, "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" felt like a music video....with the audience being bombarded with a chain of photos. Overall....a wild and trippy ride....would I take my (yet to be conceived) children to see it....not without showing them the 1971 version...I don't know I feel like this movie might spark my child to experiment with drugs. The lesson for children is far less obvious in the 2005 version. In the original it was made very clear how honesty pays and brattiness doesn't. In this new one, I walked out feeling like drugs might pay and being clear-headed and drug free doesn't.

Because of my love for the original and my stubborn streak in appreciating the new, maybe I'll perform a test on kids ages 8-15. Show them the 2005 version first and then the 1971 version....put them to the test.. Will I add "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" to my dvd collection...Yes...would I recommend seeing it....yes (but try to get a two for one deal) Sneak into another movie before or after you see this one.

If "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" is lucky it'll grab cult movie status and possibly grow on me.

Sunday, July 17

Desperate Jackass...

forces prideful lioness wife to air business for the sake of peace and harmony on the homefront.....the new name for "Being Bobby Brown".
I have not seen the show and am actively avoiding seeing it. I've seen it all before. Dysfunctional obsessive love for being in a dysfunctional obsessive love. I've heard enough and read enough about it to last me a lifetime. I may have even been in a few....short-lived....

Let me start by saying..my love and adoration for Whitney Houston spans two decades and up until this moment I have exercised my right to remain silent on her personal life. Because........

1. Is it really my business (although I kinda feel like it is, but not in a star gossipy way, more of a concerned cousin kind of way.)

and

2. Is it really your business

But now that she has signed a contract for all the world to see, I am officially prepared to release a statement.

My heart breaks for what I see when I look at this life Whitney Houston has been fooled into living.

What Whitney as performer has done for me...1987...was the first year I saw Whitney live and it was my first "Hey this is the greatest singer I've ever heard". I was gone. Completely won over and on my way to being the biggest Whitney fan of all times...I really am....I'm not trying to prove it...it is what it is. Framed photos of Whitney are on my walls (plural) Unconditional fan. I'm sure I am here (meaning alive and thriving) because of my love for Whitney Houston...Kept a depressed suicidal 15 year old girl preoccupied...guided me to Arista Records as an intern and from there begins my crazy life in the world of entertainment. I am working in the entertainment industry right now because I wanted to work at Whitney's record label.

We're talking about 1991.....I was brizzzzzoke (broke) out of my mind....half working, half going to school, half just figuring out where I wanted to be in the world and what kind of person I wanted to be (a decision more people should spend time on.) Owned a raggedy ass 1987 mitsubishi mirage. It looked nice enough but man....don't sit still in traffic....the fumes were out of control...but it got me all around New Jersey and New York, in to and out of all kinds of mischief...more importantly it got my ass to Hershey, Pennsylvania to see my favorite singer/entertainer.

To this day, I have not felt the kind of thrill I felt at this concert. My cousin(invited herself) and friend(fellow Whitney fan) came along...My friend's financial situation was worse than mine....I with my no money havin' yet determined self..wound up paying for her as well. But my cousin...God Bless her.....had some dough and God Bless her again...I'll never forget what she did for me and my friend....Paid the extra cash for second row center seats....We would've been sitting on the lawn....instead....a scalper came to us...I had not one extra cent (had to make sure I had gas money home) My cousin paid for me and my friend. She barely knew my friend. I actually need to drop my cousin a note and some photos from that day....over 14 years ago...One of the best days of my life....not to mention how we spent the day in Hershey Park, met Whitney's dancers and her brother, hung out with them for a little bit and kept it movin' and I won a huge stuffed animal. Security thought I was bringing it for Whitney, wrong, that was for my Great-Grandma. It was Babs Bunny and she is still in my Great-Grandma's room, right now in the year 2005 thank you very much...If I had given it to Whitney, Bobby would have thrown it out of a window in some angry fit.
Waited for hours outside her tour bus....the crew kept telling me she had left...I mean the woman who played piano in the band tried to tell me Whitney had already left....yeah right....I waited and waited...backed down a one way street in the smoke-mobile and my poor cousin and friend had no choice but to wait with me..My cousin started to complain...I turned a deaf ear to her and walked closer to Whitney's tour bus.....and guess what.....after hours...Whitney was tired and I'm sure not in the mood...I asked "Whitney will you take a picture with me?" she stopped, her security stopped, she turned to look at me....studied my face for a moment (I guess saw the painful desperation and took pity on me ) walked away from her security and towards me...."Okay, baby come on" as she stretched her arm out to me.....GOOD GUGAMOOGA....I could've died right then...
Yeah baby, I have too many "Oh my God I just met Whitney" moments.....I'll share later..if it comes up. All this to say I was a huge fan, And still a huge fan , except I'm older and I have more of an indepth understanding for life..its fulfillment and its disappointments and how this might affect an "individual".

Whitney the "individual" not "entity" is what I see and have seen and every time I see her now...My heart breaks a little more. I wish I could carry the addictions for this woman....kick them for her and allow her to regain the light she has allowed her "betrothed" to smother out. Seriously...

Bobby Brown is obsessed with fame and stuck in a nostalgic box of memories of his former fame.....he is failing, has failed, at his current career, which is father and husband and being a grown ass man.....It's a job and he is not on it...when someone fails at his or her job what usually follows is his being fired. Fire that fool. I wish an angel would come to Whitney in the night pack her and Bobbi Kristina's belongings....move them, while they remain asleep, out of GEORGIA (I will address my contempt for this place at another time) and either back to some remote town in New Jersey or California or Florida.....or out of the damn country. And somehow magically keep Bobby Brown held captive in the house they once shared (like the ghosts in beetlejuice).....Just leave the whole scene behind and focus on her daughter and kicking her addictions...one being addicted to her husband...addicted to chaos and aggravation. I understand those addictions and I also understand the only way to kick them is to put some space between yourself and whoever or whatever you're addicted to....It's impossible to kick something when it's staring you right in the face. Remove yourself from the situation and take the blinding goggles off so you can see how crazy things really are.

Every time I see Bobby Brown shucking and jiving for the camera (other places, not "his" new show) I'm reminded of a scene in The Five Heartbeats when the washed up ego maniac of a drug addict ex-lead singer shows up..all beat down.....talking about TA-DA...donning an old shirt from one of their performances.....Pitiful.
Bobby Brown was never, will never, has never been the King of R&B. If he's the King in the Houston-Brown household so be it...but give the rest of the world a break. And please give me a break. I can't take it. I get it. I totally understand it. But I can't take it.

Instead of being grateful for the life and wealth Whitney has provided him with he's mad about it. Trying to make her believe something's wrong with her cause' he's the man. Classic scene. Except this one is on a more public scale.....Some of the best advice I've ever heard was in Forrest Gump (I love this movie and will refer to it many more times)....Some kids were coming to harrass Little Forrest....His best friend Jenny, yelled "Run, Forrest, Run"....to my Whitney I give similar advice..."Run Whitney, Run." and take that little girl with you. It's not to late. Look at Tina Turner, she ran, late, but better late than never. You can still live the great life God planned for you and get out of the life the Devil tricked you into believing you were supposed to live.



P.S....when I say unconditional fan...I have met Whitney when she's not in the greatest of moods....and got my feelings hurt a little but I've also met her at her best and she treated me wonderfully.....everyone has a bad day...Rich, broke, star, unknown whatever and we all get burned by someone in a bad mood....from a Judge who had an argument with his wife before coming to work...to a doctor who's not feeling too well but still performing an operation....to the guy in charge of french fries at the fast food restaurant and lastly a celebrity....I'd rather fall victim to a cranky celebrity than a cranky judge deciding my fate or some angry french fry guy dropping fries on the floor or throwing gross objects into the fryer with my fries.

And don't get it twisted....back in the day..Loved me some Bobby Brown....My Prerogative and Every Little Step...what....he was a dancing and entertaining fool.....turned ego maniac....the young R&B girls have Usher now Bobby, hang up your dancing shoes and feel pleased about making room for the next generation of dancing fools....and either love her or leave her....don't stick around hating on her....

Houston he has a problem....

Bobby Brown is to Whitney Houston what the moon is to a werewolf.....a terrible influence.










What a fool believes he sees, no wise man has the power to reason away.

-WHAT A FOOL BELIEVES (written by Michael McDonald & Kenny Loggins) performed by the Doobie Brothers..

Which Doobie you be??????

Thursday, July 14

an excerpt from : Undefined Attraction©

It’s never really a restful sleep. Living a few stories above the streets of Manhattan. We all say we do, sleep restfully, us New Yorkers. It’s similar to when one under dresses for the weather but will swear up and down they’re fine, when if you had x-ray vision you could see the goose bumps on their back and the chill on their bones, so us Manhattanites always claim,

“Of course I sleep, once you get used to the noise you don’t even notice it.”

You never get used to the noise. So at six years old, living in a small apartment two stories above the continuously buzzing streets of Manhattan, I certainly hadn’t experienced a restful sleep. Most noisy nights, I would rest my head on my mother's lap, while she cradled my ears in her hands, until I drifted off to sleep, shielding me from the fire engines, the ambulances, the police sirens or car alarms, the barking dogs, the happy couples, the angry couples and the mad rantings of her live in boyfriend.

On this particular night, shielded from the world by my mother’s magic hands, you couldn’t tell me I had not drifted off into heaven. A blissful angelic sleep. The last blissul sleep I would know for a long time. I was shaken out of my deep slumber moments later, by what every other resident of the apartment building may have assumed were two firecrackers. Maybe one little bad ass boy had lit one seconds after the other.

“Bang”
“Bang”

I leapt to my feet and screamed.

“Mommy!”

Standing on my bed, waiting for my mother to enter, with her magic hands and shelter me. I screamed again.

“Mommy!”

I waited. I heard our front door slam. I heard a thump. This thump sounds in my head over and over. On any bad days in my life to this day, which are any in which that thump sounds in my head, twenty-five years later. It still hits me…hard. I don’t believe it myself on most days. How this thump, this sound sends me right back to the worst day in my life, when I was a six year old standing on my bed, waiting for my Mommy’s hands.

Always afraid of that man, I wouldn’t dare venture out of my room in the middle of the night. Not for anything, not a drink of water, not to pee, not even to see my mom. But on this night, that thump, forced me out. I had to risk it. I had to go see what this sound, more disturbing then any firecracker, police siren or car alarm was. I stuck my toe out first. If he was there and mad at me for venturing beyond my boundaries, I’d prefer to have my toe knocked off before my head. Next, my entire foot. I wiggled it, tried to get his attention. I felt nothing. I heard nothing. No yelling. No, “Get back to your room you nosey brat!” Didn’t hear it. Only silence.

Enough of this scared little girl routine. I’m going to find my mother. I swung the door open and boldly stepped out into the living room. She’ll tell me what this disturbing sound was about and why out of all the noises I’ve heard every night of my six years of life, this noise would move me so. And screw that loser. I’m even going to call for her.

“Mommy!”

I feared at any moment I was going to get slugged for waking the fool. But he must’ve been awake. No one but his rude ass would have slammed the door so hard. And my mother would not, could not, ever leave me alone, not for five seconds with that volatile fool. He was a volcano set to erupt. When, was the question. Unhappy and miserable, he hailed from a filthy rich, quite white upper west side family who loathed him and his love of the darker women and in return he loathed them back and everyone else in the entire world including himself. He felt my mom owed him. He had sacrificed his family’s love for her. Delusional. Best believe if it weren’t my mother, it would have been some other woman of color, seeing as how he cheated on her several times with her chocolate counterparts. Ungrateful, loser. Go get a job trust-fund baby. His family paid him to stay away. College drop-out and lover of black women. God forbid they have a baby. They didn’t have a chance to.

I took a deep breath, stuck out my chest and marched right into the bedroom. Not a soul to be found. Where the hell is my mommy? I heard a moan from the kitchen. The hair on the back of my neck stood straight up, until that moment, I hadn’t even realized I had hair on the back of my neck.

“Mommy?”

I froze at the kitchen door.

“ Go back to your room, Pumpkin.”

She nicknamed me pumpkin at birth. She said when I was born I was as round as a pumpkin and every part of my plump body was dimpled, my cheeks, my chin, my arms, my legs and my little baby butt; her little pumpkin.

And there she was. Looking as if she were simply resting on the kitchen floor. Still being strong for her little Pumpkin.

“I’m okay, go back to your room.”

I eyed my mother. Her face seemed so angelic, I almost believed her until the thump replayed in my head. I scanned the floor. My eyes followed the pool of blood on the floor to the holes in my mother’s chest and stomach. The holes bubbled with deep red clumps of my mother’s lifeline. She was a living breathing oil refinery being drilled. Drained of life.

I remembered hearing the door slam before hearing the thump. The faggot didn’t even wait for her body to drop. This woman he claimed to love so.

What goes through a child’s mind when she sees such a horrific sight? Wouldn’t you, my aunt, my father, my grandmother, a slew of cousins, uncles, friends, three child psychologists and even myself like to know? God, I believe is the only one who knows because I certainly don’t. What I do know is, I am a product of that night. Everything I am and am not is because of the night I heard my mother’s body hit the kitchen floor. And I had believed I had grown to be the best person I could possibly be, against all odds. Proud of myself first and foremost. Happy, I chose wine and weed over cocaine or crack. I always felt every bad choice or rundown road a person chose to take could be justified someway, somehow.

I smoke crack because my mother abandoned me when I was a child.
I smoke crack because I never knew my father.
I smoke crack because I saw a man get shot in our backyard.
I smoke crack because I was molested.
I smoke crack because my parents are divorced.
I smoke crack because my mother is crazy.
I smoke crack because my father is crazy.
I smoke crack because I lost a slew of money in the dotcom industry.
I smoke crack because I made a slew of money in the dotcom industry.
I smoke crack because I got caught cheating on my wife.
I smoke crack because I caught my husband cheating on me.
I smoke crack because I can’t keep an erection.
I smoke crack because I was a straight A student until I got a B in Gym.
I smoke crack because I asked for Malibu Barbie and got Balibu Marbie.
I smoke crack because this….
I smoke crack because that….
And I smoke crack because the gotdamn other….
I smoke crack because one day my reality became too much to bear, some situation, some accident, some thing. I needed to escape. I chose to escape. I thought I could escape.

I, Destiny Marie Bell, chose to be okay. Some people don’t know how to be okay. I’m not judging. But thankfully, I’ve always known this: Crack won’t make it okay. I’ve had no real run ins with crack, no temptations and no long lost brothers climbing through the window to steal my television for a vile of crack, but to me crack epitomizes escapism, a sure fire way to not be okay. So whenever I f#@$ed things up somehow or someway, offended a love one, smoked too much weed, drank to much wine, drove to fast, slept too long, cried too hard (this was a weakness in my book), ate a jelly donut while grocery shopping and forgot to mention it to the cashier… My cure all phrase: “At least I’m not on Crack”

My method of escape, My crack of choice, fleeing. And I mean really fleeing, running away in the middle of the night like a fugitive. ©



This is the first page of my soon to be abandoned novel. I needed to show some of it. I might have to leave it alone and get back to the screenwriting....I'm not really trying to write long ass serious ass novels.........I like comedy...I like funny movies....I wanna write those....but I don't think my mind will allow me to continue until I get the rest of this book out of me. Thanks for reading."


Every time I read that part of the book, I hope it ends differently...Is that crazy?

Wednesday, July 13

I will forever....


play #8 on the Roulette table in Las Vegas and Atlantic City (preferably Vegas) because tis' the episode of Chapelle's show..with the musical guest. The wonderful, the talented, the extremely beautiful...Miss Erykah Badu....beyond....

Monday, July 11

Beyond advertising...

I've heard of being desperate...I've been desperate (unspeakably so in the last year) ....I understand....we all make sacrifices, but,this woman.....this mother.... who sold her forehead as an advertising vehicle.
In my most desperate moments, I thought of selling an egg...(5 to 10 grand for an egg). I'm out of the age range now, but this woman who made the deal is still in the age range (or so they say)...and personally, before I permanently scar my forehead for 10,000 dollars (my child would have to need a life-saving operation)..I would sell his unborn, unfertilized sibling. No doubt about it. But...to each her own...I guess... She said 10,000 was like a million to her and would allow her to send her child to private school. Okay....but who's gonna save the child from the teasing about his mom's forehead. I'm reminded of a scene from Forrest Gump , Sally Fields played young Forrest's mom....The principal wanted to place Forrest in a "special" class. His mom wanted him to have the same opportunity all the other kids had...so....she invited the principal over for a "meeting".....the principal exits the house...Wiping his face and gathering himself..young Forrest sits on the porch....The prinicipal looks at Forrest and says "Your mother sure does care about your education" Forrest looks back at him and starts to moan (the way he heard the principal moan during the "meeting")....Craziness...

What's more disturbing is the company who agreed to pay her for such a thing....Come on....Over the top..... And I would intentionally boycott a company for outlandish advertising ploys...this is such. What a company should've done was....match her e-bay bid of 10,000 for her forehead and give her an extra 10,000 to not do it. grand total = 20,000... and have her advertise on her car or give her a bunch of T-shirts with the company logo....Same publicity except they would appear to be a more humane company......Very Scary.......in the great words of Eddie Kendricks......"Goin' up in Smoke."

Wednesday, July 6

POP - JOHN LEGEND

There is nothing better than an extremely talented musician, with cuteness to match....I, two days ago decided to check out this John Legend I hear so much about. I kept hearing songs on the radio and in all my (R&B) friends cars and at parties and so on and so forth...but like a frightened kitten who waits til' the coast is clear to ease from its hiding place to enjoy the bowl of milk set down for him/her...I must discover things in my own time. I have discovered, ya'll...... And am so pleased..the piano players have it. From Stevie Wonder and Barry Manilow (that's right), to D'Angelo, Alicia Keys and finally my new found love...Mr. John Legend....do the damn thing. I learned the words to "Ordinary People" in one day....not intentionally but I wore my new double-sided John Legend cd out...already.

I'm not going to break down each track....I'm no official (jaded) reviewer....I am a consumer....didn't call some company begging for a freebie....purchased with my HARD EARNED money...I have nothing to gain or lose....so Truth it is....I do suggest buying the album (he even has the lyrics- love that.) If you like only three songs on the album (you'll like more) you will still feel like you got your money's worth....how 'bout that?

I will say this about the one single I can't stop listening to.....even though it's been played to death...... If I had to go to the record store in search of the single "Ordinary People" I would have been willing to bet 2 billion dollars that the name of this song was "Take it Slow" and I would've failed to pay up on that one.

Most folks or most folks I know, have a Stevie Wonder box set or two.......I have every album re-released on compact disc.....Not mad at it.....pleased to have them....as I am a collector....but.....the reason is not because I just went and bought up all the Stevie Wonder cd's. Many, many moons ago..while in search of a very specific Stevie Wonder song....I would buy a cd if the track's listed seemed like they could possibly be the song I just had to have..."AS" was the song..is the song..I know it well and so do most...but before it was featured on movie soundtracks....Dayna was in search. Already owned, Original Musiquarium, hoped for the best....wasn't on there. Innervisions, Fulfillingness' First Finale were my first "on the search" buys and then you couldn't tell me it wasn't on Talking Book.......I knew I had it....got home discovered a plethora of beyond beautiful songs.....Knew it wasn't on Hotter than July (already had that one cause' my favorite club cut...All I DO)..... couldn't find the song I thought was called "ALWAYS" would've bet 2 billion on that one as well......would have lost as well.....and I'm almost ashamed to admit because it just seems like something a child of the 70's should pop out....knowing.....of course the song was on Songs In The Key Of Life.....things seem so obvious later......This translates as a sign as to what's to come for John Legend.... He is on his way....and good for him....and I look forward to being taken on the John "becoming a" Legend train...

And now I know how the universe looks out for Sistah' Dayna.....I was expecting to see John Legend open for the talented and beautiful and kind in nature, Alicia Keys, memorial weekend........instead.....love him dearly.....he's a gifted artist......Common......nice and all....but had I jumped on the John Legend bandwagon before her concert and was all aglow at the thought of actually getting to hear John Legend live and Alicia Keys.....in one night....on one stage.....I would have been devastated....instead I was allowed to enjoy, Common, without the grumpiness of LEGENDARY disappointment....Thank you, John, for practicing on that piano and thank you, Kanye West, for helping get the brother a check for his talent (cause' it suffers when you have to wait tables.)


FREE LIL' KIM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
they seriously try to break a sista' down and a sista' sure made herself easy prey.....
Is there that much space in these correctional facilities? I'll answer..no. Give the woman a fine and house arrest ....damn!!!!

Tuesday, July 5

SWEATIN' TO BEAT THE BAND....

AND WALKING TO THE EDGE OF NOWHERE,
would be the title of my Sunday walk in Los Angeles (if I had to title it.)
I map these walks out in my head and they seem totally do-able. I hit the streets(i-pod-less) with just me and my thoughts and a credit card for the reward , a hearty meal....that's right...could be worse. I could have it delivered, roll over in bed, eat a hearty meal and roll back....Instead I set out on a mind clearing, waist-maintenance walk (patting myself on the back.) The walks are nice for the mind and it gets the blood pumping.....but I do believe genetics play the bigger role in the "decent" waistline area. I'm not obsessed with weight gain or loss.... I come from family with a vast variety of sizes and shapes....and nobody's trippin' about it.....Out here in lovely LALA land.....everybody seems to be trippin' (even me now..a little) The kicker is when some (heterosexual) guy I thought was kind of cool starts going on about his weight and how much he's gained and has to watch what he eats......Good Lord.....I've never noticed men talking about their weight until I moved here.....Not to insinuate the average East Coast man doesn't care about his weight...but he refrains from talking about it in mixed company....it's not the norm. It's the norm here. They could use the "Hey we live near the ocean!!" excuse, but I'm not going for it. Don't talk about it.....Just be about it...Please spare us the details.....MAN.
So......I head out with the plans of a two hour walk....one hour until my destination...nice meal...or movie.....and an hour back. I do believe, a man who wanted to see how crazy people would become if the roads and freeways were crazy must've designed Los Angeles.....because.....my so called two hour walk...turned into a five hour journey through the desert (at least that's what it felt like when I tried to find a place to BUY a bottle of water). And once I found a place that was open I was scared to drink water because you know what comes after input...output..... and who knows where I would be when nature decided to call....... MadDayna beyond the thunderdome....Streets just friggin' end....no rhyme, no reason.....and a lot of them. Then they pick up again....but if you're on foot, you can't chance following a road that just ends..and you can cut two hours off a walk by heading south on this block instead of that block but if you take this block...going the same way...it's going to take you four hours......I was like a mouse in a maze.......A not so innocent looking citizen pulled over and asked me if I needed a ride.....mind you...I'm decked out in workout gear, no purse, no backpack....I look like I'm excercising but to him I guess I just looked like a victim.....I don't make a very good victim so.....I yelled back....LOUD....so the people hidden away in their homes would hear...."I'm exercising, man!" Apparently not into a scene.....he sped away......I steered a Ford Expedition filled with six ready to shop girls....Away from Rodeo drive....I didn't mean to...being a woman...I'll admit it....I said make a right instead of left..they we're well on their way before I could correct myself...I just hoped they wouldn't get the opportunity to reprimand me for my mistake.....and three hours in....just when I thought I could not go on and considered calling a cab, but knew I was too close to home and food to go out like a sucker...A sweet (cute) guy on a bike slowed down...told me I had nice skin and kept it moving.....Thank ya Sailor...I needed that......A little compliment sure goes a long way.....I was able to continue (by foot) to my (first) destination and take enough of a break to continue home.

Now to admit where my first destination wound up being.....originally it was another store.....Los Angeles is much bigger than the map in my head ....so I had to forget my original goal....it was beyond unrealistic....I wound up at...a..... THAI restaurant... I was not a Thai fan in New York, at all, though everybody and his or her brother was....I would always say please no Indian or Thai but somehow I always wound up at a Thai resturant (lesser of two evils) with Production folks...Lemongrass on seventh ave was one of the favorites, Republic in Union Square was another...though I don't really know if they were officially Thai....I do know it was a Production favorite and I left the east coast, not having found a dish I long for or even really want just for nourishment.....Especially since Republic was across the Square from Zen Palate.....a vegetarians haven.....I'm not a vegetarian......but they really did wonders with vegetables....and I do miss the Cranberry Iced Tea....I could sometimes talk the less militant production folks into Zen Palate over the "trendy" Republic. Every attempt to find a "safe" dish was useless...I just couldn't get with the daring mix of beef, shrimp, noodles, pineapples, papaya and nuts of all sorts. Food being my first love, nothing was more stressful to me than trying to find something I like at one of these THAI restaurants folks love so.....I have officially been converted. Sunday, July 3rd was the first day in all my life.....I have ever craved and initiated a Thai meal. I even passed one of my yummy little french restaurants to make it to this restaurant (only a few blocks.) I ordered Nutty Chicken (mild) and Chicken Pad Thai...I can't believe it.....and as I type right now...I'm sipping on coconut juice(wondering what they thought I was going to accomplish with this plastic spoon and this hard coconut) and about to end this post so I can go enjoy the Thai that was just delivered to my home...What's happening to me.....I can no longer think while the aroma of yummy Thai food(clearly laced with crack) sits on my kitchen counter.....Peace...

And let me add....the guy who asked me if I needed a ride could've just been a good samaritan (yeah right) but I'm always about placing safe over sorry....

Also props to my favorite woman in the world......My Great-Grandma for giving me the cool saying "Sweatin' to beat the band"......and many more of my Grandma's verbage.... will, I'm sure, float from the caverns of my mind out into the universe. At least I hope so...because she is a gem and comical in a very serious way. I say hope because its involuntary. I usually don't notice what I'm saying until someone else flashes me a "Did she just say what I think she said?" grin.

Still haven't seen WAR OF THE WORLDS....dangnammit!!

Monday, July 4

A Holiday Ode To Chevy Chase

On a hazy day with my modern problems
I found out fletch lives
I followed him under the rainbow
Into a dusty caddyshack
It was filled with foul play
On our european vacation
That man was nothing but trouble
He conspired with three amigos
Made a deal of the century
Impersonating spies like us
Which landed them all in the funny farm.





God Bless Chevy Chase!!!!!!

Sunday, July 3

Say it Loud....

VENUS WILLIAMS defeats Davenport!!!!
For years I have had an issue with the way commentators, report the Williams sister's tennis matches..and for the way their fellow professional tennis players talk about them. Whenever talking about a Willliams' win, they love to point out the injuries of the opponents and how Venus just barely outlasted or Serena pulled ahead due to her opponents foot, finger or knee injury..and yadda, yadda, yadda.....Just say it loud......the Williams sisters are skilled, gifted and proud.... Is that wrong?

I've also heard a lot of "Oh Venus was lucky this" and "Serena was lucky that" and luck..luck...luck...

Luck is a matter of preparation meeting opportunity. -Oprah Winfrey

Venus and Serena are lean mean PROFESSIONAL tennis playing machines....Just face it......In the great words of Notorious B.I.G. -"Player haters get away or my lead will spray". It took too many years and this EPIC win for Lindsay Davenport, who I could kind of like (because she reminds me of Sally Fields- bitter version) if I didn't question her sincerity, to give a smidget of the load of respect Venus Williams as a professional tennis player deserves. Professionals, professionals..professionals who work hard on their craft to perfect it.....remember this fact and stop talking about them and treating them like they are just some really lucky inner city kids. Yes, Venus Williams outlasts Lindsay Davenport to take the Wimbledon.....She also outplayed her.
and yes I did miss it competely...I had to read about it on-line. Coulda' gone to a sports bar....but I don't really like to watch these matches in mixed company. The usual feel I get from watching a Williams match, especially when she is gaining on her competitor, is not "Venus was lucky the ball cleared the net" or "Serena was lucky with her 110mph serve", I'm more reminded of a lion tossing a mouse back and forth between his paws before he dines.

Still floating in the river of Da' nile about Luther Vandross....sad loss for the musical world.....relief (I'm sure) for his soul...RIP.
The first substantial amount of money I won on a casino slot machine was during the intermission at a Luther Vandross concert in Atlantic City, NJ. One of my buds worked at Epic records...we had backstage passess and the ability to come and go as we pleased. The man put on a show....his voice thundered across a venue like a direct order from Mt.Olympus, commanding well deserved attention and keeping it on him as he graced us with songs embedded in my psyche. I haven't had a mini Luther concert in forever....maybe I'll jump in the car with a collection of his work and take a cruise on the PCH while inhailing the fresh ocean breeze.

Saturday, July 2

Walk the Quote Land Deux

Once made equal to man, woman becomes his superior. -Socrates

Life is my college. May I graduate well, and earn some honors. -Louisa May Alcott

Education's purpose is to replace an empty mind with an open one. -Malcolm S. Forbes

Forgive your enemies, but never forget their names. -John F. Kennedy

Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable. -John F. Kennedy

We must never forget that art is not a form of propaganda; it is a form of truth. -John F. Kennedy

We declare our right on this earth to be a human being, to be respected as a human being, to be given the rights of a human being in this society, on this earth, in this day, which we intend to bring into existence by any means necessary - Malcolm X

Truth uttered before its time is dangerous. -Mencius (Mengzi Meng-tse

Right is right, even if everyone is against it; and wrong is wrong, even if everyone is for it. -William Penn

A true friend unbosoms freely, advises justly, assists readily, adventures boldly, takes all patiently, defends courageously, and continues a friend unchangeably. -William Penn

There is no greater delight than to be conscious of sincerity on self-examination.-Mencius (Mengzi Meng-tse

An ant on the move does more than a dozing ox. - Mexican Proverb



To lighten things.....
I'm not offended by all the dumb blonde jokes because I know I'm not dumb... and I also know that I'm not blonde.
-Dolly Parton

The trouble with the rat race is that even if you win, you're still a rat.
-Lily Tomlin

To the man who only has a hammer, everything he encounters begins to look like a nail.
-Jane Fonda