Bathroom Tale #3

The bathroom is a repeat. Different day. Different storytellers.
Different tale, obviously.
The title of this tale, Sex Is A Weapon. The author, MinDog.
The illustrator, CJC.
The characters, Mindog and Metch, Yasmeen, and CJC.






...things DO look different in black and white.

photography by Christine Jean Chambers

Bathroom Tale #1, Bathroom Tale #2

"Pretty Friday"

"Pretty Friday. That's what we should call it."

-Christine Jean Chambers

Still blogging away...still making myself live out front. MinDog reminds me to make myself live out front. It's getting easier. I must admit the journey, the living, the realizations, the recognition, and the honesty are all less taxing when my self created wall isn't fortified by the fear of being simple and visible.

Scarier too.




...sometimes living out front requires being social...





Sometimes it's better if social is called something else.





Pretty Friday. That's what we WILL call it.




Sometimes it's better to let the photographs do the talking.
all photography by Christine Jean Chambers.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

I had the task of planning the first Pretty Friday. I did okay...actually I over planned. I had us all over the city. The bottom, to the top and then we finished somewhere in the middle. It was fun and of course there were lots of laughs...oh the laughs, the laughs, the laughs. We learned/decided to take a GODESSS moment once a day(definition and more on that later), also we decided that you can body roll to any song... next time a more simple plan...in the meantime grab your friends and have Pretty Friday or Monday or Tuesday...you get my point...if you want to see more of
Christine Jean Chambers'
photographs from our first Pretty Friday click here.

Warmth

"The bird a nest,
the spider a web,
man friendship."
- William Blake

"I do not wish to treat friendships daintily, but with the roughest courage.
When they are real, they are not glass threads or frost-work,
but the solidest thing we know."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Friendship? Yes Please."
-Charles Dickens

Dreaming/It Continues...

Dreaming
I have seriously been dreaming about a bike with a basket. A pretty basket. A very pretty basket. I've been dreaming about it for more than two years now. The dreams where my bike asserts itself as the star have become more frequent.

I can't stop. The dreams won't stop.

The frequency of the dreams about my future bike may be inspired by my longing for a country like life in the city and my obsession with a particular blog. the wild and wily ways of a BRUNETTE BOMBSHELL. It's as if she's in my head. There are words that make me think of SANDY(that's my bike's name) and pictures that sort of look like SANDY or SANDY'S sister or cousin all over that blog's pages...check out the third image down in this post. It doesn't have the very pretty basket and it's not chrome-ish/copper-ish/strategically rusted/sometimes a rusty burnt orange/sometimes red/sometimes green/sometimes yellow or royal blue but that bike is definitely in my bike's family.

...SANDY goes on my list of things I want but just can't have yet...guess that's why dreaming is good(deep, deep sigh).

Some days I wake up thinking the first thing I will do is go for a ride.

The future is most definitely on my mind(another deep, deep sigh- the sighs are good ).

SIMPLICITY!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It Continues...
Bathroom Tale #2 (Did you miss the first installment of Bathroom Tales? Click here to check it out.)

This is a nice mirror, the best one yet.

Indeed, the pics leave a lot to be desired in terms of clarity but our lives are SHITTY FABULOUS. Shitty Fabulocity or Shitty Fabulous-ness(whichever you prefer) doesn't always include clarity...

Critique: Blurry but cute.

Critique: Comedy. T, did I catch you
off guard or was that face on purpose?
CJC definitely got caught mid laugh.I don't know
what I was doing besides being the
Black spot that you can't really make out...HA!

Critique: The best of the batch...I kinda love it.
I immediately get into CJC's direct eye contact/come hither look,
T's smile gets a gold star, and I am digging the story
I was trying to tell with that hand on my neck...makes me wonder
if everything I do is a not so secret comedy...

Can I can convince CJC to bring out the real cam so that the "Bathroom Tales" pics can be less blurry and provide more inspiration for my fake criticism? I'll work on that.

JOY!

Bathroom Tales...

 BATHROOM TALES...this is silly, but I give good silly.

Somewhere during an evening out we decided: whenever the three of us are galloping apace together we should go into the restroom of the establishment we are in and take a picture.

What inspired this?

I have no idea. Can't quite remember. But once the decision was made we went for it. Maybe it's sort of like this blog. Another way to document the ridiculous and not so ridiculous moments in my life. The insanity, the fun, the rage, the shitty fabulous-ness of it all, the whatever...ok on to Bathroom Tale #1.

After calculating that we could hit four bathrooms in four different locations in this one outing, we began.

This was the first stop. We had a nice light meal and chilled beverages at that location.

Critique: I need to work on giving more neck in future bathroom shots. CJC you gotta look in the mirror and manage the camera at the same time. I need more eyes from you. T this is a good one for you. Nice smile. Then again you did "challenge your husband" so you should have a nice smile.

Second stop. We entered the location. Headed down the stairs to the restroom and before we could open the bathroom door the fake security guard/bouncer/I always wanted to be in a position of power man yells at us, " hey, hey, two of you come back upstairs. Only one at a time. When the first one is finished another one can go in but two of you have to come back up." WHAT THE WHAT? Where am I? We were so confused by the yelling and what he yelled. I thought he must be joking. He wasn't. We left immediately. Darn, no picture tale from that restroom. 1 for 2.

Third stop. They were closed. 1 for 3.

We were not doing very well for our first night on the job.

Fourth stop. We wasted no time here. We went directly to the bathroom. There were two. YAY!

We chatted with some folks, laughed too much and drank some water before we hit the second restroom in the joint.

Critique: This is a good one all around. Too bad it's blurry.

That's the second restroom. It had much better lighting.

Critique: We all look lost! CJC you give a good lost look.

In the end...3 out of 5.

JUST PLAIN SILLINESS!

Notes on Motherhood and the Economy

Sooooooooo...

My nieces are here, in NYC, for the month and I have been having a good dose of "Mommy" practice.

AAAAAHHHHHHHHH!! I love them!! I am indeed obsessed...BUT...

Do Mom's really have to find things to do with the kiddies all the time!? I am running out of FREE...meaning "costing $0 and 0 cents" FREE activities! AND WHY IS NOTHING ACTUALLY FREE?!

Thank goodness they love to ride bikes around the block. BIKES $180.00

And thank goodness they actually were impressed by meeting Corbin Bleu from High School Musical. Tickets $200.00

What da what!? REALLY!

WHY ARE KIDS SO EXPENSIVE!!!! If I gave you the actual list of what it is costing me to have them here...I'd CRY.

But that is when I stop, think, and realize that I'd rather spend all I have and have them here than not...

So... since our attempt at a virgin cocktail party girls' night failed tonight...off we go to the movies! $50.00 (after snacks)

OH SO SHITTY FABB! MinDog OWT!

Failure, Getting Up…Again, Progress

The allotted amount of time for wallowing in self pity varies. It can be anywhere from 30 minutes to 24 hours. It depends on what has you wanting to wallow. That's the agreement between my friends and me. If my mother is involved I get 5 minutes or it may be less and I am told to say prayer and move forward. Sometimes I don't even tell my mother what the deal is because I NEED A FULL 24 HOURS TO WALLOW.


Well, my 24 hours is over. Thanks T-Bone for daintily handling this bout of self pity and checking in with text messages, calls every few hours and trying to get me out of the house. I have put down the ice cream, let go of the fork that was shoveling cake into my mouth, no more super salty crispy bok choy, no more sitting in my room catching up on missed episodes of True Blood and Big Love. It's time to re-enter the world, get back to the gym, say that prayer and move forward.

I have things to do…so nice to have sister friends who keep you in line and make sure you don't pass the 24 hour mark. Life is so SHITTY FAB!

That's T-Bone...always good for a laugh.


Sister friends are a blessing!
Photography by Christine Jean Chambers

CJC Does It Again...

CJC is a photographer, a storyteller. I'll never forget the day she took these photographs of us. It was so hot, humid, sticky, sunny, and we had a ton of fun...we laughed a lot. Good times! Do you want to know how to find Christine? Click here and check out this post, it includes a brief bio about
Ms. Christine Jean Chambers...she's so FAB!
To see full albums from this shoot click here to view
THE THREE AMIGAS or click here to view WINDOW SEAT.

LOVE!

I AM A RECORDING ARTIST

I am announcing that I am going to record a RECKHAD!

I have randomly been looking on the Internet and sampling some of the beats that folks have out there and I have decided that I am gonna buy some and make an album of fun stuff that I want to SING/RAP/POETRY SLAM DOWN/BE STUPID/CRAZY/ACT, etc. on!!!!

NOW...SIDEBAR! I always get ideas to do things and a lot of the time start and do not finish...hence the time gaps in my blog posts!

This is why acting is so special...because I always go back to it!

So now that I am a recording star I will expect everyone to buy my tunes (NO BOOT LEGS PLEASE and when I am BEYONCE JR-ette NO PAPARAZZI, THANKS!) please and I will keep everyone posted on the status of said endeavor as it unfolds...

That is if I can keep my word.  Can I even keep up with my blog posts?

WHY IS LIFE SO HARD!

GOSH I LOVE FAKE COMPLAINING!!!

WELL...That's all.

MINDOG OWT!

There Are Many Mood Changers

I listed six and an additional eight in this post- SIX INSTANT MOOD CHANGERS. Staying true to my form I must add to the list...you know I love a list. Six more instant mood changers...absolutely no drugs needed.

7. Kale and garlic. Lots of garlic.

8. MinDog returning to the blog.

9. African Dance Workout Class with Fanzy Monguehy...take the class...it is an instant mood changer for sure. I can't say what mood you'll be in after the class but your mood will be changed...you may be sweaty and you may be hungry and you may be tired or you may get a burst of energy. Who knows? I can say you will have burned lots of calories and moved your entire body and that feels so good...click here for class info. at NYSC or email him - fanzy.monguehy@gmail.com.

10. Sun on my skin. Apparently there is a danger here but I like it. So I spray on the protection and I keep it moving. Sun on my skin, YUMMY!

11. Saying, "yummy." It makes me happy. I think it's because it reminds me of being a child. No, I'm not longing to be a child again but I do appreciate the simplicity of childhood description. Yummy. Yummy can be used to describe anything good/great(food, people, places, things). Friends are YUMMY, ice cream is YUMMY, sun on my skin is YUMMY, certain kinds of danger are YUMMY(more on this later)...

12. Taking a second to realize how blessed I am. That causes me to be thankful. The thankfulness leads to happiness and that leads to openness and that leads to my desire to be generous and acknowledge the generosity of others and that leads to easiness as I walk through the world, the ability to get over myself, shed nastiness and remove myself from the presence of it quickly. QUICKLY. This one seems to be the most instant of mood changers and I usually get here by taking a deep breathe.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nine additional instant mood changers: Reading anything about, seeing, or hearing Ellen DeGeneres-she is funny, cold water, warm water, tea, cold almond milk, cold ruby red grapefruit juice(has to be 100% juice), entering an air conditioned room after being outside in the heatwave for four or more hours, any place kind of like or better than the place pictured below, and music of course.

IM BAAAAAACCCCKKK!!!

So MinDog has been a way for a while...guess she forgot her blog etiquette...she knows what she's talking about but you don't...I have sneakily decided to add to her post... She is referencing a comment left by Mike on the post Get Your Numbers Up. That's all you need to know. Now that you know that, what she writes below may make more sense...if you want, read Get Your Numbers Up and the comments Mike was inspired to leave by clicking here. I'm glad Mike got her out of the "I'm not writing closet" because all of the guilt I was laying on sure wasn't working. I am publicly giving MinDog the side eye for slacking on her blog duties. I accept no excuses. Read MinDog's post below. -Metch


Well,

I am back in action. After a heck of a lot of life trauma and writers' block I am back to the blog!

METCH! WERK SON!!!

I woke up this morning to a message on my Blackberry from Mike!

OH MIKE!! Thank you for bringing me back to the blog.

1. I don't know anything.

2. I think that it is funny that anyone thinks they know anything.

3. I appreciate that you commented and shared your own lack of knowledge on the page. (Don't be offended...it is all in fun :))

OH MIKE!!

Min Dog is (wait...I am living for a third person reference right now) MINDOG (me), is inspired.

OH MIKE!!!

Let me share another one of my opinions...Over-Exposure and Experience does not always make a person insensitive. To say that it does is a gross generalization. That is to say that folks who help out in destitute countries develop a lack of compassion for those they serve...

There is absolutely nothing wrong with dating folks... more than one, and more than two, and more than three...any number you choose. You shouldn't lie about it though, and you (in this day especially) shouldn't have sex with all or any of them...But going out, getting to know and having a good time...IS GREAT!!! And it doesn't have to have a side effect of making that person insensitive.

DIG THIS...It could actually make that person appreciate the qualities of one of them in particular because they realize just how special that one person is when compared to the others...

OR DIG THIS...It could just be a lot of fun.

As long as the folks are grown and HONEST about what is actually going on...PALEEZE! It is all good!

But like I said...I don't KNOW anything...I just have some thoughts on things...

Thanks Mike for bringing me out of retirement!

MINDOG OWT!!

Easy Hicks

A couple of weeks ago I had an interview, a meeting (an audition of sorts) with a director and an actor/playwright. I was meeting with them because I was up for a role. The meeting went well, immediately after I was sure the role was mine. I called MinDog and told her to pack her stuff because she would have to visit me while I was away. We planned, laughed and I recounted what happened in the meeting. This was going to be a nice dose of good in the middle of our summer.


I was floating after the meeting. I've had meetings before but I don't recall floating after them, something was different about that day. Being near levitation had everything to do with the meeting, specifically a particular set of questions they had asked me. Who is the most influential director you have worked with and why? I paused when they asked the question and the director elaborated. She asked, "Who do you think you learned the most potent lesson from at this point? Who did you enjoy working with at Juilliard and why?"


Of course I began my answer with the generic that we are all obligated to give because it's true. "I've learned from everybody I've worked with….blah, blah, blah." After delivering the generic statement I checked their eyes to see if they really wanted the detailed answer that was ready to slip off of my tongue the minute the question was asked. They wanted it. They also saw that I was ready to give it.

Israel Hicks.

"I've heard of him." That's what the actor/playwright said. "I don't know who he is," the director said.
Well, I went on, he was the most influential because he was so EASY in the room. He was so easy that the work seemed easy. Well, easier. I wasn't accustomed to working in that kind of environment. I wasn't accustomed to breaking rehearsal early because everyone was tired. I was accustomed to beating a scene to death until something worked or until I knew it wasn't working because of me. I wasn't accustomed to laughter and jokes in the room but the work still getting done. I wasn't used to hearing the best stories a director could possible tell…secretly influencing the storytelling that would happen on stage. I was accustomed to directors telling stories and basically saying, now get that in there, show me that. I wasn't accustomed to WANTING to be in and going to rehearsal when I wasn't even called. I wasn't accustomed to a director taking time to speak to each person in the cast truthfully. I wasn't accustomed to asking can I trail you for a day and getting the answer, "sure." As if it was nothing. I wasn't accustomed to someone telling me to be easy in an easy manner. Israel Hicks was so EASY. It was at a time when I needed it most and those around me needed it most. I watched him at work and wondered why he wasn't saying anything about that, or that, or that…but he was saying something about all of it just not in the "I'm going to make you feel really bad about yourself way." He was easy and gentle and smart and inventive and creative and nurturing and made me feel like I was a part of a process and taught me that I should always should be a part of a process…he taught me to not shy away from what I have to offer. He talked to me about first impressions and reminded me that everyone isn't easily attuned to my heart so I may need to be easy…EASY, EASY, EASY.There is so much more…

After the meeting that day, since I had talked Israel up, he was on my mind. So of course I was levitating. When I think of him I think of so many things but mostly I remember to be easy and take my time. Even talking about him in the meeting changed my demeanor…yummy! I think of the people that had the opportunity to be around him for decades…wow. The gems they must have. I have a whole sack full of gems given to me by Israel Hicks and I didn't have the opportunity to be around him that long, they must have truck loads.

That has to be the mark of a great teacher…it has to be.

A few days later I got an email from the director of the project I was up for that basically said we loved you but we went with someone else.

Uh, Ok. There was nothing I could do about that except bemoan my existence for two seconds and then move on. And that's what I did because I really have learned how to be easy with myself, I'm getting better at it and of course I'm still working on being easy with others.

Thanks for the gems Israel Hicks! I'm trying to rock them every day.

Read more about Israel Hicks in this Denver Post article...just click here.