Category: using our powers for good

And just like that NYC is freezing. Sigh. I hate the cold gray days of winter as much as I hate full length fake fur coats. Well Almost. ‘Cause I really, really hate those damn coats.

Anyhoo, I went to a sneak preview of Will Smith’s new movie, Seven Pounds last night. Ummm-hmmm, don’t hate. We should all have friends with hook-ups as wonderful as Charreah.
So I won’t spoil the movie for you guys but there was definitely a lot of emotional upheaval and mortality confrontations going on. Not sure it exactly fits the upbeat-feel-good holiday movie genre… But on an upnote, Rosario Dawson was killer. She acted her ass off in this one. So if for nothing else, go see her.

Oh and I loved the dog too.

Ever complain about something so much, the very sound of your own voice starts to become annoying? Well that’s exactly the point my girl Toya and I reached about our recent “I’m so happy all I do is eat” weight gain last week Wednesday.

Cause truth be told, most folks battle with those annoying ‘last 5 lbs’ when life is good. But that 7th or 8th pound? Those are beyond annoying. Those are the straight game changers. Let me explain: With 5lbs, your jeans might rub btwn the thighs and leave embarrassing indenture marks on your waist. With an extra 8lbs, your ass is popping buttons and begging the doctor to deduct a pound from the scale for the paper gown and sweat socks! See? It’s too much.
I know, I know, in the grand scheme of things, 8 lbs is nothing when people everywhere are dealing with much more serious weight/ health issues. Look at poor Oprah for Chrissake… all that money and home girl is tipping the scale at 200lbs??? Uh, uh you got more people than this O. Speaking of which, where is Gail? Why isn’t her trifling behind taking the cookies out of the cupboard? But I digress.
I assure you, this is bigger than simple vanity. This is really about being a bunch of lazy cheap asses. Hoenstly, with the economy going down the shitter, who da hell has the extra $175 to replace a pair of jeans just cause you couldn’t say no to that chocolate souffle at Campo? Mmm-hmmm, I didn’t think so.
With that said, Toya and I came up with the bright idea to train for a 5K run. We figure if there’s something to accomplish, we’ll stay on our workout/ better eating habit regiment forreal, forreal this time. Sounds believable, right?
Well here’s the thing, she and I are both instant gratification whores that can’t wait longer than two seconds or we’re off the little red wagon. So we’ve decided to stage our very own race and even picked a date (drumroll, please)- THIS Saturday, December 16th.
Yes, you read that correctly. 10 days from the initial conversation and a mere 2 days from now, Toya, myself and I about six other mutual girlfriends who generally only run to sample sales and from the rain after getting the hair did (you didn’t really think we were going to put ourselves through this craziness alone did you??) will be running/ walking/ dragging our behinds around NYC’s Central Park Resevoir in the freezing cold in the 1st ever Race To Save Our Thighs 5K Run to raise awareness to the fact that cuteness kills.
You love it, right?

This evening I’m headed to Detroit for my goddaughter Sydney’s christening. And I gotta be honest, I’m really excited. The last time I saw Sydney she was an 8-month bump and stretching my poor BFF’s stomach into something straight out of a bad sci-fi movie. Seriously.

So it looks like this whole weekend I’m going to be immersed in young Black suburban life:

Tomorrow, Shayla and I are scheduled to chaperon Sydney’s big sister Sam and her entire pre-k class on their apple-picking trip. No, it’s not exactly the ‘sophisticated-ladies-who-lunch’ type of day I had envisioned when I said I was gonna come in early so we could spend some time together but you know, things are a little different in Ann Arbor Michigan. For the record, mama has already packed her nerve pills.

Then on Saturday, the husband got tickets to the annual Michigan v. Michigan State game. Woo Hoo!! So while Shayla is off being a good AKA soror at our classmate Crystal’s wedding (god bless her heart), Steve, his frat brothers and I will be screaming our heads off at Michigan Stadium aka The Big House alongside 110,000 sloppy, beer-filled, possibly shirtless and definitely over the top college football fans… can’t wait!
Finally, on Sunday we’re all headed to the church. Where Lord willing, I will not to fall asleep during the service or drop Sydney in the water basin when it’s time to present her. ‘Cause as you can see, if she ain’t nothing else my goddaughter is a big baby.

Wish me luck!

So I spent all day Sunday running around D.C. producing a photo shoot of skateboarder Darren Harper for SET Magazine. And can I just say, if every day of work could look like this… bring it on!

In addition to being super talented (among a bunch of other accolades/ affiliations, he’s the first African American skater sponsored by Travis Barker’s Stars & Straps clothing line), Darren has the most amazing skin and teeth I’ve seen on a non-model Black boy like, EVER. And something tells me that this kid (easy ladies, he’s only 26 years old) who makes a living by spending his days rolling through the world on a damn board is so not the one for the expensive bath products.

Watching Darren for six hours (and yes, I got paid to peep him out) got me to thinking about the state of black men’s skin. More specifically the recent string of guys with bad skin that I’ve come across recently.

Its 2008, why do you still have razor bumps? I get the whole curly hair conspiracy but how about you make sure you’re using a clean blade to cut? I dated a professional barber for almost six years, and the first thing I learned was that half of all razor bumps are cause by dirty blades. Mmm-hmmm… And what’s really good with the dry flaky skin? Ya’ll just looking ashy all around the mouth and eyebrow area… My brothers, please stop acting like facial moisturizer (no, not your girl’s hand lotion or mama’s tub of Vaseline) is freaking kryptonite and handle that.

And do not get me started on all the folks with twisted, yellow, jumbled, rock biter mouths. You know what, when your teeth are wrecked, my natural thought process is to assume that your breath stinks. Uh-uh, I can’t…

And you know what? You shouldn’t want me to either.

It’s that’s time again (drum roll, please)…..
The latest installment in my Essence Magazine certified, Publisher’s Weekly praised, African American Literature Award nominated teen series HOTLANTA; IF ONLY YOU KNEW; is in bookstores nationwide RIGHT NOW. WooHoo! Yip-Pee! This is where the bottles pop and the crowds start chanting my name!! ;)

IF ONLY YOU KNEW continues the crazy, drama-filled adventures of ATL hotgirls Sydney and Lauren Duke- the ‘flyest’, wealthiest, ‘it’ girls Buckhead has seen in a loooong time. If you ain’t know before, it’s a page turner for all ages! If you watch The Hills, Gossip Girl, Baldwin Hills or any of the many scandalous young adult shows on television, you’re gonna LOVE my book. And if you don’t, you still love me and that should be more than enough.
So seriously, what I really, really, really need you do is, run, not walk or stroll to your nearest bookstore and purchase your copies IMMEDIATELY-one for you, your mom/aunt/sister/baby cousin and the closest teenager in your life. And then puh-lease, TELL SOMEBODY I DON’T KNOW to buy a copy. At $8.99 a pop, its the perfect birthday/ holiday/ everyday gift.

And if you’re caught up inthe gas crisis, by all means, make your purchase online at amazon. Every sale counts, not to mention there’s a free shipping incentive going on RIGHT NOW:
http://www.amazon.com/Hotlanta-Novel-Only-You-Knew/dp/0545003091/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1222962095&sr=1-1

Keep it real, don’t you like being able to say you know an author who’s at the top of Amazon’s bestseller list? Wouldn’t you like to see me sitting on Oprah’s couch talking smack?? Well if you support my books, that very well might happen. But if you don’t… what you’re gonna be saying is, I KNEW a writer who is now break dancing for dollars at the 34th Street/ Herald Square subway station.
And nobody wants that, right?

Yep, I went to see the movie, The Women this past Saturday. And let’s just say it wasn’t the best acting I’ve ever seen (could Meg Ryan’s bloated lips be any more distracting? Or Jada Pinkett-Smith behave like more of a caricature of the butchy lesbian?). Howsomeva, it wasn’t necessarily the worst (can we all agree anything featuring Nicole Kidman a.k.a the patron saint of long suffering, sun deprived, frail white women who always need rescuing is a waste of your hard earned $10.50?). There were definitely a couple points where I laughed, got involved and even felt an emotional tug which is pretty much the point of these chick flicks, right?

But I will say, what the movie really made me do was start thinking about the lack of Black women on the big screen. Aside from your quarterly Tyler Perry release, Black actresses don’t seem to be working at all. And I know they exist because I see Meghan Good and her girls hosting the opening of every third Dunkin Doughnuts around the world. It’s like there’s an unspoken movement in Hollywood to return to the days when Black women (not the Eva Mendez/ Halle Berry/ other bone that they toss us in the girlfriend or adulteress role) were never seen. And that really sucks.

Sigh. So much for me plotting on how to become America’s Next Desperate Housewife. Clearly, there’s still a lot of work to do… Otherwise the only TV show my goddaughter is going to see her image reflected in on the 101th season of I Love New York. Boo.

Okay party people, it’s about that time for you to log back onto Amazon.com! After five long months, the second book in the HOTLANTA series- IF YOU ONLY KNEW is on sale not now but RIGHT NOW.
The official drop date (read: when it will be on shelves in bookstores nationwide) is actually October 1st. So pls prepare yourself for the string of shameless self promoting e-blasts and posts on my blog around that time. But puh-lease, feel free to be ahead of the curve…
It’s time to be a friend (and keep Mitzi off the cheese line). Log on NOW and purchase your copy TODAY! And then, here’s the really important part, tell someone that I don’t know about it! I can only keep this cha cha line moving with your support.

Attention, attention!

I know some of you have been asking/ wondering what ever happened with the African American Literary Award. Unfortunately, at this time I do not know whether or not HOTLANTA won this year’s award. According to official website, the polls are closed and the winners will be announced at the Award ceremony on September 25th. So stay tuned Mitzi-fans, I’ll have an answer for you in t-minus 14 days!

And again, thanks for all of your continued support.

Err-umm, why did Barack Obama just singlehandedly bring back the lightskin black man????
Not since the days Christopher Williams and Al B. Sure has anyone cared this deeply what a brother with wavy hair had to say about any damn thing. I am so excited to part of this historical moment. Obama is the truth.
Trust, I’ll be saying a prayer every day from now until election day. Cause I know every redneck in the backwoods of America who swore up and doen it could never happen is now rev’d up and about to mobilize in order to prevent this man from stepping foot into the big House.

Turns out the bike riding is just what the doctor ordered to strech out the crazy muscle that’s been kiling me softly for a week. Unfortunately, I’m so out of shape-or as I prefer to call it, soft and squishy- the three miles that we rode to the beach (and another three back), almost sent me to an early grave. With each push of the petal, I kept thinking dear God did I really do this EVERY freaking day when I was a kid? How in the world did I not give myself a heart attack?? Good grief. The only thing that stopped me from simply falling over into the ditch on the side of the street was the fact that I knew none of my equally unbalanced homegirls could’ve saved me. And I’d be the broken up chick on the side of the road in Edgarstown waiting for the ambulance to come get me and all my parts. Not cute.

But as usual, the actual beach was fun. Sure there was no soft white sand or seventy degrees, crystal clear aqua water but it was still a rocking, Pomegranate wine cooler, very opaque green water, seaweed filled time. At least until the jelly fish showed up. Then we scooted (yes, scooted) our jiggly behinds right up to the towels and prayed for the strength to pedal back.
Note to self: jellyfish are better viewed from behind the glass in an aquarium and I will never, ever, ever need to attend a spin class.


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