Poppin Bubbles

So instead of going to a couple of events, birthday parties and the BLSA banquet, after a very long day at work (mind you I don't usually go in on Fridays), I chose to stay home and spend some quality time with my godson and my goddaughter, who I love dearly and treat as the kids I probably will never have... My godchildren are very precocious and like their, aunt have their opinions about the things that are going on around them...

So I cooked some curry chicken and channa and alloo with roti (that was for your benefit Ms. HILA) and we had some sweet potato pie for dessert with butter pecan ice cream,(sooo in violation of my claorie counting diet), anyway I digress, we sat down to play a very loud and boisterous game of monopoly. After playing for about 15-20 mins. my godson had landed on the just visiting part on the jail spot on the board and then said on his next turn, "See ya later Kwame Kilpatrick, I was just visiting!'. LMAO Needless to say I was on the floor with tears in my eyes, then he landed on the chance spot and got the card, 'go to jail, go directly to jail...', he then says to me and his sister, 'Oh no I can't be like Kwame Kilpatrick here is my $50, I need to get out of jail fast'. LOL Hilarious! For anyone who has heard about and is aware of the details surrounding the scandal that the Mayor of Detroit is in... you can understand the hilarity of the situation.

We as adults, nurturers, caregivers, leaders etc, have a responsibility to teach our young ones. They are watching and observing everything that we do and we need to pay close attention to what example we are leaving with our kids. They understand a whole lot more than we give them credit for, especially the things that they are exposed to in the media. My godson is only ten and he understood the details and being the jokester that he is felt the need to poke fun, even when he was stealing money from the monopoly bank.

I don't have to go out every night to have fun and a few laughs, nope I sure don't, I can spend quality time with a couple of smart kids and have a great time!!

It is the first day of spring and it was a beautiful sunny day, but nevertheless still too cold for me to really enjoy it like I should. Easter is right around the corner and I still won't be able to go outside without a jacket/coat, why you say, cause it is supposed to snow tomorrow and the day after that... Go figure, I live in in MI and have done so for the past decade, so I should know better. We have been know to have snow all the way up until June sometimes.

Ok so I lost my zeal to finish this post and had to go to sleep... snuggling under the covers with an over sized stuffed monkey would make you want to go to sleep too, right? Anyway so I have been doing some research on this whole "green" movement for a friend and it would stand to reason that we are all to blame for this shift in weather patterns, hence the reason snow every other day or so it seems. When I think of spring, I think of sunny days with cool brisk breezes and flowers blooming all over, the birds chirping, the leaves finally being back on the trees, cotton candy, Easter treats, chocolate bunnies etc. Now I have seen some of it, but I need more. Is that me being greedy or is it just time for me to stop being SAD( Seasonal Affective Disorder) Yes folks from time to time I do self-diagnose, and in my case usually I am right. Having grown up in a land of sea, sun and fun, the dreary Michigan winters can be quite trying. The endless cloudy, gray days, where you are hard pressed to get out of the bed to brush your teeth much less eat and get to work on time... entirely too much, I usually have to ponder for a while first, hit the snooze button a couple times and then I can sense the urgency to get up.


Don't get me wrong there are some things that I do really like about the winter weather. And by far one of the best things is the coats and jackets that keep us all so warm and cozy, and make us look so trendy and fashion forward. For those of you who know me well, you can attest to the fact that I love to shop. It is an experience like no other (sigh)... I am what you would call a bargain hunter, a cost effective sista with caviar and champagne taste on some welfare cheese and saltines budget...I make it work and i think I do look awfully nice at times. My favorite purchase this season was a new walking/car length coat, in a grey, yellow and almost pale olive green hounds tooth. I love it and could not find my size here in MI, so what did I do? Looked for it in NYC and eureka! I found it. The state of Euphoria I was in, boy oh boy... Had not planned on finding it so as to accommodate my carry on luggage on the way back I had to wear my new coat, but it worked out just lovely, until I got on the plane i.e. and was told that my carry on luggage was still to big to fit in the overhead compartment...LOL c'est la vie, especially when you have found a good bargain...

So even though I may bitch and moan about the snow and the weather, I have to smile inwardly, cause all this stuff just gives me another excuse to wear my new coat...

OK, so first let me apologize for the unusually long header/title for this post, it just seemed to be the most appropriate. And secondly it really does not have anything to do with the Sex Text Scandal currently heating up the sound waves here in D-Town, but don't be surprised if it gets mentioned at some point. At this point I shall have to put a small disclaimer in right here,this post is not meant to hurt or harm anyone in particular in any which way or form, if you find that the text mentions people, places and events that might seem relevant to a situation or yourself, please don't let it consume you... It's not about you (or your crew), it's just my observations...

Over the years I have had some very interesting dating experiences, and from time to time as I work through "poppin some bubbles" in my life, you are going to hear about some of them, but for right now we will just concentrate on the present post at hand. 'To Text or Not to Text...', found its place in cyberspace thanks to a very clear reminder that I got yesterday when I received a text and my phone promptly alerted me that I had used up 87% of my allowed text storage. Well this particular text that I received came from someone who I am not so sure I even need/want to/deserves a response. I have not been out on a date in more than a year, so correct me if I am wrong, but don't people still call and ask each other out? Well I was still under that impression about a month ago, until a certain young man invited me out via text... Ding ding ding! That should have been the light bulb right there, going off in my head with the loud noise of an alarm. Anyway, I accept this invitation to go out and then the conversation started about what we were going to do and where we were going to go (all via text), so I was told whatever you decide is fine.

Being the cost effective sista that I am, I found something that I thought might be fun to do and not cost too much. A movie at the DIA, "Honeydripper" with Danny Glover, an excellent movie I might add, and refreshments in the cafe, and then later on to the Erotic Art show and possibly dinner at Berts. Now this was all decided upon two days before the date, at least the first part, which the person said was cool. So now the day of the date arrived and I had not spoken to my date, so I decided to call to confirm, there was no answer, so of course unlike most, I left a message, a very detailed one at that, with all the particulars for the evening. I even did one better, I attempted to use the preferred method of communication 'text' to see if I would get a response... Alas, no luck and it soon became apparent that I was being stood up. Needless to say, I still had a great time at the movie, art show and late night dinner, minus my date, thanks to a couple of married friends who decided they would be my dates...

But the tale does not end there, for we must get to the most recent text message... So, two weeks after being stood up, this person sends me the standard text line that every guy seems to have pre-saved, "What's up? What are you doing tonight?" I was immediately incensed, after standing me up, not returning my phone call, and basically ignoring me for two weeks, this person, decided that they would contact me, via text no less, to make plans for that very night. At the time I was doing some paperwork with a friend, she saw the incredulous look on my face and after explaining the situation to her, she asked "are you going to respond to that?" The answer is yes folks, I did respond...however, I did let that person know in an ever so nice way how I felt about them standing me up and the situation in general, via text of course... claims were made, "oh you never called, I didn't get any msgs. from you, etc, etc..." Surprise, surprise, we have not made it out on a date yet, but didn't I get a text last night, "What's up? What are you up to?" (A slight variation of the standard text line) Amazing, men are amazing, is this a blindspot that they are just not trying to acknowledge as they cruise along dating? Ok dudes, let me break it down for you, texting me shows me how little you think of me, so I am not going to take you seriously if your preferred method of communication is text messaging... it reeks of laziness, (sloth is one of the seven deadly sins) and further proves my hypothesis for my thesis paper that, "the whole video gaming industry has a significant role to play in the diminishing of effective communicative skills among the male population between the ages of 7 thru 45" You might say that texting has absolutely nothing to do with video games, but lets think for a moment, picture in your mind if you will a person who is texting and a person who is playing a video game on whichever gaming system... hmmm? See the similarity, there are non verbal communications taking place here, and lets not forget the uttered expletives when you have just made a mistake or lost a game. Who are they talking to? Themselves? What's the response? I seriously think that the lack of communication skills required for gaming has affected the ability of men to effectively communicate, much less to communicate with someone they are attempting to date.I think that it is in poor taste to try to date someone and only communicate via text. Part of what attracts one person to another is the voice, the tone, the timbre, the accent. At least for me that plays an important part in determining if I want to date person. Barry White was sexy to me, let's see had he been alive today, I wouldn't want him to text me, no Barry, I would need you to call me...

I would love to say that this most recent incident was my first experience, but sadly to say within the last three years I have found this to be very commonplace and I am sure this is not going to be the last... Well I gotta go now, but wait... lol you are not going to believe this, I just got another text...until next time, take care of you!

So much like my journalling, I have been remiss in posting to my blog, but somehow the level of guilt is not the same when I don't blog... anyhoo, like the title says it has been some very long days of late and very short nights. Attempting to get alot of work done and succeeding at failing so well. It is no wonder that I have had and currently still have the same headache for the past two days... As much as I would like to get drugged up and go sleep it off, it didn't seem to work yesterday so why even bother, I doubt it will work now.

Sex scandals seem to be the order of the day in the media now, both locally and on a national level. Now I can't seem to fathom why some reasonably intelligent males who propose to do so much good for their constituents, could be so addled brain to think that they could get away with what they did. The former Gov. S (for Sex) pitzer, (yes unlike some others he has stepped down), is independently wealthy and should survive this, but on a local level I am not so sure what is going to happen. Is it like Jay Z says, "It's the power of the P-U-S-S-Y, that's why every N***a in the world dress fly..." ? Help me here people? This type of scandal has seemed to plague our elected officials through the decades and one can't seem to learn from the other. The old adage says, "What goes up, must come down," and What goes on in the Dark, will come to Light" With the dawn of the technological age, I am not sure why anyone thinks they are safe anymore from scrutiny... even us as private citizens.

Now I have always maintained that K2 was either too dumb or too drunk on power to be thinking straight. When you know you are not liked by many, why would you do or say anything in print or over the airwaves that might be construed as suspect... It amazes me in this day and age where there are so many pick up and go phones (the commercial is catchy-"Ay, Oh let's go"), cricket, metro PCS, etc., etc... Why is it then that K2 could not support his habit/drug of choice, privately. Corporations who give their employees phones, have codes of conduct for cell phone usage in their policy manuals and have always maintained that it is their property. The corporation here is the city and so it stands to reason that the phone belongs to us all. Why not buy a phone, a dedicated line so that you could conduct your personal affairs on that level and not on the backs of the taxpayers? But whoever has it out for K2 (the conspiracy theory he has intimated) sure has a good poker face, cause it has been six years in the making...Now on to the former, Gov. S (for Sex) pitzer, a man who planned on cracking down publicly on the same people he was funding, it is interesting how he was caught. Now this is what I heard on the news, (anyone who knows me, knows I am addicted to the news), anyway, it was reported that his banks noticed that he was transferring funds alot from different accounts and moving stuff around and making payments and suspected him of taking bribes, so they alerted the IR service people. Is that really their job? I am just curious? who's paying the fees here?

Anyway, the good book says, "He who is without sin let him cast the first stone..." I am by no means a saint (I was born on All Saints Day, Novemebr 1st, so I tend to think so myself), if you did it, you did it, admit it and move on, but what I cannot fathom/understand is the denial and the grandstanding. Accusers usually don't accuse w/o proof (of insurance)that they won't get into trouble). Do I empathize/sympathize with their wives? Nope, not really, I cannot relate to the situation for one, and secondly they both knew what they were dealing with and chose their own path, to "stand by their man" so to speak...It takes strength to do what they are doing, don't know if I could be the one... Must be some long days and short nights for them too...

Contrary to what is the norm, I am trying to wind down from a very busy weekend, I find myself in need of a nap. It's Monday, and unlike everyone else I am not busy at work, but I am busy, I have so much work to catch up with it isn't funny. I had a plan for how my weekend was going to go, and needless to say it didn't quite work out that way, for various reasons. The most of which included me being in a kitchen, cooking for everyone else other than myself...but nevertheless, I found some time to attend services and that was refreshing and interesting... Usually we wind down on the weekend, not so for me this weekend, and here it is that I am trying to wind down on Monday morning, oh shame!

It's one of those lazy, rainy days too! Ooh boy no wonder I feel like just crawling back into the bed, pulling the covers over my head and going back to sleep... that's what I like to do to wind down, to the point where it has become addictive. Sleep is my drug, I feel like I can never get enough... And for someone who only gets it in spurts, any sleep is something you treasure. What do you do to wind down? Bath, Candles, glass of wine???

OK ! So this is the first time I have ventured into the world of blogging and I am still a bit skeptical about putting myself out there (or I guess out here) like this, but here goes... It is the first day of March 2008, a significant year for that matter, why? Cause yesterday was the 29th of February, its a 'Leap' Year! Taking the 'Leap' of faith this year was, Ms. Lauri Ann Gibson, by launching her singing career, who is the inspiration for the whole idea that Soapy Bubbles needs her own blog, by the way... Now don't get me wrong, I happen to love Lauri Ann myself, that sista can dance her tooshie/ass off, but I was mortified when I first saw her music video some weeks ago and had to call Yassi to vent, I was like WTF! Is this stuff for real? Now don't get me wrong the choreography was da bomb, but the music and the lip synching were awful. It took me back some and as much as I love to give people their props, this was a flop... I love you Lauri Ann, but unlike the other dancer chick who connected herself with a certain record mogul (SJC), this first song is not cutting it. You had the right recipe for succcess but I have no idea what went wrong, and trust me it did somewhere along the line... Like I have been saying since 11:59 pm on 12.31.07, "It's going to be great, in '08!", and greatness will follow you too Lauri Ann, just keep on doing your thang, dancing i.e.

Anyway, I need to continue with the rest of my day and making my lists of things to do and budgeting, yes it is the first of the month, bills must be paid, so keep reading and feel free to comment or just hit me up to say hi or whatever... and remember to always take care of you, (I had to learn how to do that last year, but that's another blog altogether).
Laters!

SB