Poppin Bubbles

Well it's been a minute since I have had a chance to sit and write, I knew this blog thing was going to work out better than my journal for me, 'cause the level of guilt I feel when I have missed a couple (ok so its more than just a couple) days is not the same. It is not that I have not had some stuff come up that I feel passionately about, it is just that I have not had a moment of quiet to write and just let my thoughts flow, in their natural state... I was going to write about the state of the City and the incinerator issue, but then I thought who cares... and then Spirit Airlines (for anyone who knows me, they know I love flying off some where for a quick trip) decided they were going to come up with a new way to make more money off of us travellers and I wanted to vent about it, but then I forgot about it, when something else took up my thoughts...And then I was on one of my addictions, facebook and a certain person who I was talking to at one point put up a blog full of BS, ok so why am I holding back, forget the acronym, bull shit... and then I was soo mad that I knew I needed to calm down before I decided to write anything. So this blog is dedicated to all three.




Firstly, let me say this, despite what everyone may think I Love Detroit. I feel as if I became the adult that I think that I am, here in this renaissance city. I have always loved history, and Detroit is one of those cities that is so full of stories, told and untold. In the past decade that I have lived here, there have been so many positive changes that have made me come to appreciate it more and more. The re-development of the city is one of those things that has made me proud to be a transplanted Detroiter. However, despite the fact that we have made great strides, we are shooting ourselves in the foot by not keeping up with other major urban cities by incorporating a comprehensive and citywide recycling program, as well as a solution to the problem of housing the largest incinerator this side of the western hemisphere. Now I can say that I was not one who really was an activist growing up or one who was marching against environmental issues... but when you open your eyes and remove the shades you can see what not being good stewards has brought upon us, just look at the way mother nature has been rebelling recently. There has been a surge in the number of hurricanes, earthquakes, fires, storms, tornadoes, and other natural disasters in the past couple years. And I have a funny feeling she is not finished with us yet...





Well back to the issue at hand-One day last week, I woke up to the sweet stink scent of the sore thumb of the citizens of Detroit, the incinerator. Living less than two miles from the incinerator, at different times of the day, varying on the temperatures, I am greeted with a scent soo pungent that your only recourse is to seek refuge inside your home (with the windows closed of course). This incinerator has fumes that you can sometimes smell all the way to the New Center Area, where the Governor's SE MI office just happens to be located. For all the good that the incinerator does by getting rid of the waste matter, not only for the city but also several of the other suburbs, and providing steam energy for alot of the downtown area, it is also harmful for us the residents who live close enough to be affected by it. The contract is up for renewal and our local goernment cannot seem to come to a decision on what should be done. NB- none of them live in close vicinity likeI do or else the answer would be very simple, shut it down.





Now as to Spirit Airlines, that low cost air carrier that I happen to frequent whenever I am trying to escape the city and its lovely scents, has recently decided to carry over more of the rising costs in airline fuel to us passengers by charging us to pick our seats in advance. When I first saw this new tactic I had to LOL, why? Because I being the very savvy traveller that I am was the very person they were targeting. I hate sitting in the middle on any airplane, I happen to prefer sitting by the window, so that I can cover my head and go to sleep in peace. I seem to never have a problem falling asleep on the plane. Anyway, I would always go online purchase my tickets and with the very next click of tohe mouse I would pre-select my seats. I usually get a window seat close to the front, never mind the fact that I may be the last person to board the plane, it means however that I am one of the first persons to exit the plane, and that's what matters the most... especially if you are trying to make it to the nearest restroom before a line ensues. Well it seems like it has all come to an end, if I am going to be sitting at a window on future spirit flights, I will have to pay an additional fee of $15 or just leave it all in the hands of the airplane gods who randomly choose seats for passengers. This practice is also becoming more widespread with other airlines, so passengers beware, they are really trying to get your money.



Lastly, like we would say in our very urban vernacular, I have to put someone on blast for a hot second...Now for fear of libel I will not name names, but a certain young man who I met on facebook(that ever so popular social networking site that I am addicted to), but knew in passing when I attended college, had the nerve to try and pull the okey doke on me. Now, we had recently started conversing on a personal level and I admit I had started to really like this guy. Now when I start dating a person, I feel like there should be full disclosure, so I asked the pertinent questions as it relates to their current relationship status. For example, question #1 Do you have a current girlfriend or are you dating anyone? Are you seeing anyone? Do you have a homie lover friend? A sexual partner, etc, etc. Ok, so I went through my list of question and this person answered in the negative to all of the above and some more. So qw commenced with the getting to know each other part and got to the stage where we were really liking each other. I went out of town on one of my various trips and came back only to find out that this same person had announced on facebook that they were now in a relationship and surprise surprise that person was not me. I had a conversation via email with this person who told me that their current relationship just"inevitably progressed to that point recently" verbatim. In my mind another load of bull shit from someone who purports to be one of the last good guys out there. Not!!! Never mind they were trying to be in a relationship with me... Well I want to share with you a little post from this person's blog, for someone who said and did something else and basically lied to me, this person felt the need to post this:

"I have always been the type to wear my heart on my sleeve; Easily displaying what I think, feel, say and do. I've had alot on my mind lately in terms of the people I'm associating myself with. It seems like the closer I get to be with some people, the further others seem to drift away. The word "friend" is thrown around loosely. People seem to have a casual attitude about who their boys or girls are. I understand that women hang with their girlfriends and fellas hang with their boys and/or girls, and that's all good. But be careful who you call "friend". To me, friendship is about: Honesty, trust, communication and companionship, which is the foundation of a relationship. Friends are those people that talk with you, confide with you in times of need; helping to keep each other's spirits up. That meaning of friendship is sometimes coincided or confused with "Associate". An associate is someone that you know, and occasionally converse and hang out with. The respect is there, but there's no mental, and emotional/spiritual bond that the "friendship" should include. An associate has a more casual, or non-chalant approach. There's a difference there that people fail to realize; The associates are the ones who come a dime a dozen, real friends are blessings from God.

I want to eliminate those who've shown themselves to be "fairweathered friends": Those who say one thing and do another, or here one minute and gone the next. I don't want to further waste my time being affected by stress/frustration, envy or just overall negativity. "B-Real" is not just a nickname for myself, but its also what I expect from those I know and love. I want to know that you're there for/with me and you want me around, or are we just wasting each others time. I know what I'm about, I know when I see something good and I won't settle for anything less. God has many ways to make His presence known, to make us realize/prioritize what and who we need within our lives. People need to put more consideration to their words and actions. Remember- The attention, respect and love you show shall be given in return. If you're considered a real friend of mine; I love you too and God Bless you.Let me know what you guys think of this Note."

Further evidence that NAS-N***as Ain't Sh*t!!! Need I say more, hope you have enjoyed my latest rant...

So, I just felt like I had to share this with the world... I am in the process of trying to lose some weight, in time for my sister's wedding in just over a month, so I have been going to the gym early in the morning (I can't sleep anyway, so might as well get up and make good use of the time). So I went to the gym this morning and got on the treadmill, put my mp3 player on and the fan on myself. I had just started getting into my stride when the only other lone occupant of the gym, came over and got on the other treadmill right next to me and moved the fan so that he could get some of the breeze. He then turns and asks me, "Do you still feel it?" The breeze from the fan i.e. And of course I said yeah, however minute the amount of air was, I just didn't feel the need to bitch about the fact that he hadn't asked prior to moving the fan in the first place.



For privacy sake we will just call him D, D then uses this opportunity to start a conversation with me, and then asks me how I was doing. I answered him quickly and tried to get back to my workout, cause usually I prefer to work out in solitude and my music. He then says to me, "Yeah I noticed how flexible you are..." Flexible??? HMMMM? I wasn't quite sure how to take this comment, but I went ahead and figured that he was giving me some type of workout/sports junkie compliment and not meaning it in a derogatory manner. I said to him, "Oh yeah, really? Well I guess, if you say so..." and then he says, "Yeah really, you know I saw you the other day and you looked real flexible, I thought you might have done gymnastics." Gymnastics??? Have you seen my very overweight behind lately? That would be the day. Well I responded by saying, "Yes I used to be very flexible, I ran track all through high school and I did the long jump and the high jump and javelin." (Yes, my lazy butt used to do all that stuff, Oh what a shame!) "I am trying to get back in shape and that's why I am here." Well we had small talk for another five minutes and then proceeded with our respective workouts.





Now I have been going to this gym for a while and have seen this guy, D, over the years and he never really spoke before, so I was more than a little surprised when he spoke this morning. And it got me to wondering where did he get the notion from that I was very flexible... most recently when I have seen him at the gym I have not been doing any stretches etc. that would show my flexibility in the first place, so I was racking my brain trying to figure what prompted his comment. Could it be that I was being observed all along and was just now being approached.... hmmmm? It figures, instead of the show, "Kids Say the Darnedest Things", they should have had a show called, "Men Say & Do the Darnedest Things"... I took the encouraging words he had to share and went about my day and tried to see how flexible I really was when I started doing my stretches. Believe you me, I was nowhere able to do all the things that I used to do in my old workouts, but I could see how he would/could say that about me.





This incident however, reminded me of another situation where a guy I once knew waited many years before he made a move/made a comment to me about his true feelings. I was in high school and I had a friend who had a friend who used to be very nice to me. He was significantly older and was always looking out for Soapy. In the very small island that I grew up on, you were cool if you had a friend with a car, especially one who was older and male. He would pick me up from school to go get lunch, if he saw myself and my friends on the road walking he would always pick us up and drop us off wherever we needed to go. Now this behavior continued for years, he even helped me when I pulled off the surprise of the century and hosted my adoptive parents' 30th wedding anniversary party. It took him the rest of that year before he called me drunk on Christmas night to tell me that he was in love with me and he was sorry to see me move away and that he had been in love with me the whole time we had known each other. This was right around the time that I had decided to make the move to da D for school and spread my wings. Needless to say, our relationship was never the same after that and I have not spoken to him in about a dozen summers. I know however that if ever the need arose he would be right there looking out for me.



But back to the topic at hand... Do you ever wonder sometimes why people say the things they say. and do the things they do? This has always baffled, sometimes it can be very inappropriate, other times it can be very insightful, and other times you can have a WTF!! moment. Which brings me to something else that has been weighing on my mind and should have its own entire blog of its own, in fact I will save it for later, but why do men say things when they know they don't mean it... or just open their mouths and put their size 13 feet into it all the way back to the oesophagus. It is amazing to me, it makes me wonder whether or not they actually think about what it is they are going to say before they actually say it. Nope. I don't think they actually do, but I'll let you help me figure it out... stay tuned for the next title from Soapy's "soapbox", hehe lol, "soapbox" you get it... yes I know I make corny jokes... and today as always take care of you...

Well, it is a brand new day and I have popped another bubble, in other words, the good Lord in his infinite wisdom has seen it fit to grant me another day of life... I woke up at three a.m. and after having only probably three hours of sleep, I forced myself to get back in the bed (okay so I was too lazy to make it back to the bed, I made it to the couch) and sleep for an additional two hours. Which I might add has done me the world of good. Those two, extra hours of sleep has allowed me to not be my usual non-smiling, I hate the mornings , being the non "morning person" that I am. Don't get me wrong I can get up early in the morning if the need arises, but if given the option to laze in the bed till midmorning, trust that that will be the option chosen.

I am typically not a "morning person". Even saying it now, makes me wonder why and who ever coined the term, "morning person" and what does it really mean? I am sure everyone is thankful, or at least grateful for the opportunity to have another day, another day to complete what they have not finished from the day before, another day to dream and hope for the future, another day to just be. So why are you not a "morning person"? The morning brings fresh hope, a new perspective, endless possibilities and the funny thing is we don't think about the fact that a new morning is something we are not guaranteed to have. A morning person as I understand it, is someone who is all cheery and happy when they have awoken in the morning, someone who enjoys what the morning has to offer, whether it be an early morning cup of java or even maybe ahuge breakfast, an early morning trip to the gym or a brisk walk. Someone who is excited for this new day to start. I happen to like the early morning trip to the gym or brisk walk myself , but who am I kidding that has more to do with my quest to lose weight more than it has anything to do with me being a "morning person". If I had it my way all my gym clothes for my morning work out would say, "I'd rather be sleeping", and it would soooo be the truth. But sleeping hasn't been coming easy, hence the reason I am up at ungodly hours filling these pages with the musings of a somewhat crazy and jaded SBF.


But, today is Friday, the end of the work week for most, for the rest of us who must make every day count, not so lucky. I find myself at the festival office at 6 a.m., waiting to start my shift, volunteerism is very big on my list of things to do, and for the past five years I have volunteered for this festival and enjoy seeing the art, the performances and tasting the food offerings of the vendors. But when you enjoy whatever it is you are doing it never really seems like work, does it? So no matter what, I still say, "TGIF"...

So I recently hosted a Sex And The City soiree' with one of my dearest friends, Wendi. It was a swanky affair and everyone who attended had a great time. (For all you facebookers there is an album, but only viewable by my friends.) Anyway, the party was a huge success, largely in part because we planned it very carefully and strategically. I mean this was months of going back and forth, with actual SATC party meetings and pre-tastings etc.

The idea originally came to me one day as I was watching probably E-TV or some other channel and they announced the movie release date-May 30th. As soon as I heard it my party planning gears in my head started turning and rolling out ideas. Initially I had only planned a small affair for some close personal friends, at a hotel suite and then going to view the movie after sipping on some cocktails and some eats, possibly playing the trivia game (which I just happen to own). Now I loved the series and got hooked on it by my best friend, who requested copies of the series for her Christmas and birthday gifts. We would sit and watch entire seasons with bowls of popcorn and/or other snacks and drinks, and lose ourselves in the lives of Carrie, Samantha, Miranda and Charlotte. We often thought that we personified elements of each of the character's personalities. (I'll let you guess who I had the most in common with of the four). LOL

Ok, so back to the party, Wendi thought my party was a good idea and decided she would like to join in on the fun, so we decided we would invite six friends each and we would have the party at a hotel suite, but then that soon changed. After having attended a group travel planners meeting, and meeting Kristin Old from Great Lakes Outlet Mall's executive office, I found out I had won a prize in the raffle drawing, ooh sweet! So we decided that could be or hotel and then we could go shopping the next day. A friend of Wendi's offered up the use of her clubhouse, which was across the street from the mall. So we took her up on the offer. The first evite went out in April and by then the guest list had grown, and more ideas had surfaced. And in the course of several out of town trips, I was able to procure items for our gift bags which each attendee received upon leaving the party on the way to the movie.

We worked around the colors of pink and orange and were able to get invites, gift bags, boxes and tissue paper with those colors, drink tags, coasters, mint boxes crystal light on the go packs, flavored lubricants, fridge magnets, candy etc, etc. All of which was done very cost effectively... I am the queen of clearance and can find a bargain somewhere. Wendi was in charge of the drinks and decorations and of course I was in charge of the food, music, prizes and the game and shoe competition. Now trust me we went back and forth soo many times, we thought our friendship would not survive this party, it has and everything went well. I have even entered our party in a contest, to win a screening... so stay tuned.

What this has taught me about myself however, is that I can really do this event planning thing well and might want to invest in learning as much as I can about the business and possibly having my own event planning firm some day. I get the knack for entertaining from both of the women who shaped my life while I was growing up, my biological mother who was excellent at cooking, decorating, and entertaining and then of course my adopted mother who never let us go to our friends places for parties or other events, but was more comfortable of the idea of me and my cousin entertaining our friends at our house. So I think that's why I have always felt comfortable having everyone come over and party at my place. Well I will be having maybe a couple more parties throughout the summer, there is of course, the Detroit/Windsor Fireworks (lucky for me, it is visible from my back porch) on June 23, 2008, and of course there is Dally in the Alley, the first Saturday after Labor Day. So of course you will hear about those too, until then and always take care of you...

So, I have not had a moment to blog in a while, thanks to my very hectic travel schedule, but I am planning to be back on the ball from now on... But it is just like my diary/journal I never keep up with either.

Ok, so now that Sen. Barack Obama has finally won the delegates needed to secure the DNC's Presidential nomination, the question burning on everyone's mind is, "Who is he going to pick as his running mate?" A good question at that, but no simple answer... In a historic move we finally have an African American nominee, but can we even go one better and have another minority- a woman for VP. Is this country ready for it? I shudder to think... personally I think it is the right time and as Obama's campaign has always said it is time for a change.

In a world where other first and third world countries have had women leaders, like Margaret Thatcher, Benazir Bhutto and Indira Ghandi, a female VP is something that should be considered inevitable here in the US. Now do I think Mrs. Clinton has a lot to offer, yes I do. All of her supporters would be happy for her to serve in the White House, I am sure. But, do I think that she would be the first choice for Presidential Candidate Barack Obama, hell naw. With all the mudslinging that has been taking place since this campaign has been going on, I would not blame him. I am sure there could have been some dignified way to compete, but history has shown that is usually not the case when it comes to politics.

I am of the opinion that the party however, is going to strongly suggest to Presidential Candidate Barack Obama that he choose Mrs. Clinton as his running mate...Would this be good for the party yes it would... and I have been saying for the past year or so that them running together would be the best thing and ensure a win for the Democrats. Now after having sit back on the sidelines for the most of the campaign and kept somewhat mum on the subject, I think it is time for me to speak my piece.

I am however very fearful for Presidential Candidate Obama(yes I like saying it, if you haven't realized that yet), I am of the mind that he is at risk of being assassinated, like JFK. I shouldn't be putting it out in the universe, but I am genuinely concerned for his welfare... and hope that people can let him do what is qualified to do-rule this country.

Well with that off my chest, see you on the next go round...