REMINISCE ON THE LOVE WE HAD

HALLOWEEN SPOOKTACULAR
Okay so, on Saturday my neighbor and I hosted my buildings' Spooktacular Halloween Party in the Community Room. We had a Bob for Donuts Game (Dunkin Donuts hanging from a ribbon, the kids had to bite them off, hands free. Told yall those are some hard donuts!), Pin the Nose on the Jack O Lantern, some music and lots of junk food. We had about fifteen kids and six adults. We had a graduate (her mother’s subliminal message), two angels, a fire truck, a fireman, Frankenstein/Richard Seymour (??!?!!), an escaped convict, Superman (with sewn-in muscles), a Transformer/Astronaut, a 5'6" eleven year old Wonder Woman, two “Pop Divas,” a female pirate, a mother and daughter in matching feather boas and sunglasses and I was a Gypsy/Voodooenne.

The kids were supposed to march in the neighborhood Halloween Parade afterwards but the weather was horrendous, so the Parade was taken inside to the senior citizen home’s community room around the corner. Our part of the festivities only lasted two and half hours and I WAS EXHAUSTED!!! I gladly stayed behind to clean up while my neighbor (who has more energy than I do) took the kids over to Amy Lowell (senior home). I needed a drank...and a nap!

BLACULA
On Sunday, I finished up some projects I always wanted to while I watched Blacula on DVD. Blacula came out in 1972. In this rendition, African Prince Mamuwalde and his Princess Luva of the Ibani People met with Count Dracula in Transylvania in 1780 to gain his support to end the Slave Trade. Count Dracula, disagreeing with the African couple, kidnapped both of them and bit the Prince. Flash forward to 1972. Two gay Interior Designers buy Count Dracula’s home and the contents and ship the Prince’s coffin back to the US, where the Prince wakes up and begins to suck the life out of half of Los Angeles! LOL.

In addition to the big cars (Chrysler was product placement in this movie), big 'fros and micro minis, this movie featured, William Marshall, Thalmus Rasulala, TheHuesCorporation (singing group), Vonetta McGee and a VERY young Denise Nicholas...who looks the same age twenty years later in the Heat of Night series!???! I tell you Black Don’t Crack! LOL

BACK DOWN MEMORY LANE
Anyway, during the movie, I also went through a pile of dusty books, papers and mementoes to organize and throw out as much as I could. I needed those people from Clean Sweep to help me out! Riffling through all those papers books and pictures took me down memory lane:

My Copy of Balm In Gilead-Journey of a Healer: This is Sara Lightfoot’s genealogy/tribute book about her mother Dr. Margaret Morgan Lawrence. Dr. Lawrence, a Black woman, attended Cornell in 1932, graduated and attended Columbia Medical School, with her residency at Harlem Hospital in the early 1940s. Dr. Lawrence was the first female Professor at Meharry Medical School. She remarked how she wished she’d had the guidance, mentoring and alumni network her husband had from his professors and colleagues at his HBCU Alma Maters, Morehouse and Meharry. However, in some instances, she was proud to be the “first” and the “only” almost everywhere she went. Some things havent changed.

My Glasses: Yes. Im nearsighted and Im supposed to wear glasses to drive and watch movies. In New York, my driver’s license required that I wear my glasses. But when I transferred my license to Massachusetts back in 2000, I took another eye exam. The guy at the Registry (of Motor Vehicles), told me he would leave my glasses off my license because, “If you get pulled over, the cop will ask you where your glasses are. Besides you can see well enough to drive.” ?!?!?!

I havent worn my glasses since.

My Records: No not my school records or medical records. My vinyl. I stole a stack of my favorite 45s from Mommy’s house when I left. Needless to say, no one I know has a record player (well, except DJ Nomadik). Maybe one day Ill ask her to let me play One Nation Under A Groove, Off the Wall, and both Grazing In the Grass(es) (Hugh Masekela and Friends of Distinction) so I can...burn a CD. LOL

Stack of Postcards: Collected from all the cities my friends, family and I have been to in the past ten years including, NOLA, Montego Bay, Ocho Rios, West Palm, Miami, The Keys, The Breakers, Virginia Beach, Denver, Seattle, Houston, Vicksburg, San Juan, Boston (yeah I actually have Boston postcards which were sent to me before I moved here)...and one Yankee Stadium postcard which I actually bought at Grand Central Station to keep on my desk at Law School. Picture that! I actually thought I was far from home in Flushing, Queens LOL!!!!

Event Flyers, Invitations and Programs from:
Purple Rev’s Graduation from Union Theological Seminary 2006
Mommy’s Convocation at Lincoln Center Graduating from her Masters 2005
Boston Pops Gospel Night Playbills 2005 and 2006
Peoples Baptist Church 200 Year Anniversary Banquet 2005
Purple Rev’s Graduation from Oberlin 2003
Blackfeminista’s Diaspora Show at Roxbury Community College 2003
Blackfeminista’s Rites of Passage Show at Simmons 2002
Purple Rev’s Senior Thesis Show at Oberlin 2001

I flew out to Western Pennsylvania two months after 9/11 to see my BabySister's Senior Thesis Show. Her thesis included music, singing, spoken word, dance and a photo Powerpoint to tell the story of her transformation from shy girl in the South Bronx to victorious Oberlin graduate. Her show included traditional Afro-Cuban dancing, Sam Cooke, Gospel Music, spoken word about racism at Horace Mann (Elementary) School and a finale group hiphop dance number to South Bronx by KRS1. We LOST IT! Cheering Screaming Jumping DooDoot!!! We thought we would be too loud, but the whole crowd was on its feet! Folk from Yeadon, Elyria and Cleveland were all Honorary Bronxites for the finale!

My Parties:
I only give Theme Parties so I research and plan the h*ll out of my parties, which generate a lot of paper. I have drafts of my Evites, email lists, grocery lists, signs and recipes for my:
NBA All-Star Party-Newton MA
Independence Day CookOut-Newton MA
HouseWarming-Boston MA
Birthday Dessert Party-Boston MA
Bronx-Style Birthday Party-Boston, MA
Victory Martini Party-Boston MA
Birthday Pajama Party-Dorchester MA
First and Second Adult Costume Halloween Parties-Dorchester MA

Articles and Stories Submitted to Contests and Anthologies: Including the story of my first Boston boyfriend, GayHomelessMan. It involved another man, a drug problem, the veterans homeless shelter on Court Street and a Thanksgiving weekend arrest...One day Ill post that story.

My First Published Work:
In first and second grades, I attended a school that published a small annual “yearbook” which included pictures of the fifth grade “graduates” and poetry and writing from other students. The students were all Velez, Melendez, Rivera, Brooks, Barksdale, Payne, Davis, Reid, Wilson and Taylor. The teachers were all Beckman, Greenberg, Levy, Savitz, holding their pocketbooks in the class pictures (probably afraid to put them down anywhere). The Principal was a harried looking guy named Santalis. One fourth grader wrote what she thought about New York City. After one short paragraph of what she liked and a lengthy paragraph about the crime and grime and other things she didn’t like, her last line was, “Even though I wrote a lot about not liking the city, I somehow still like living here.” Now you know that's right!

I was first published in the (Benjamin) Banneker Banner in June 1974 at the tender age of almost seven. On page thirteen, the first grade ChezNiki from class “1-108" (First Grade, Room 108) wrote that Happiness included visits from friends, traveling, a “clean room,” flowers, and love. Some things havent changed.

...Au Revoir



RIP Red Auerbach

MID-WEEK OBSERVATIONS

...not in any particular order...

It's On!
Coke vs Pepsi
McDonald vs Burger King
Talk Shows vs Soaps
Yankees vs Red Sox
Fayva vs Payless (Oh Dayum!)

The greatest rivalries have stood the test of time. But now there is a new rivalry literally brewing in the South: KrispyKreme vs DunkinDonuts!
Apparently Dunkin Donuts will be opening several locations in Nashville and other Southern cities in direct competition with Krispy Kreme.

Krispy Kreme has been holding down the South since 1937, but in the late 1990s they began to move North. New York got Krispy in Harlem and Penn Station in 1996. Boston got a couple locations in 2004. Most of the Eastern Massachusetts locations closed because Dunkin is based in Massachusetts and they like hard donuts up here. Now its Dunkin's turn to try to move into the South.

Soft Hot Glazed Addictive Ultra-Fattening "Krispy Krack" or Knock in Nails Hardscrabble New England Style Cake Dough Dunkin Donuts? You decide. They even have a poll on the Today Show website.

My take? Its apples and oranges. Dunkin is only good for its coffee and Krispy Kreme is only good for its donuts, and so long as you stay outta Starbucks, you're all set! LOL!

Night at the Roxy
No. After that frightening trip to the Roxy during Techno Night back in 2001, I wont be returning to The Roxy anytime soon. But last night after choir practice, I went to Slade's to watch the World Series Game Three. On Tuesday nights they have live jazz and free appetizers including delicious chicken wings! Yum Yum!

I sat down on a stool in my regular spot: Second Mauve table in front of the TV so I can see the TV, the front door and the stage. There was a Spanish dude at "my" table watching the game. He explained to me, at length, that he is a Red Sox fan who also routs for whoever beats the Yankees. Now St. Louis beat the Yankees, but the Tigers beat the Mets, also a New York team, so he really didnt know who to rout for, but he put $50 on St.Louis anyway because he likes Pujois "The Puerto Rican." Whew! He was talkative but friendly. He purchased my first ever BudLight (That will also be my last. Yuck!) and gave me a high-five every now and then.

All the local celebrities were there: Comedian Jonathan Gates came in; I had another beer and chicken wings (Corona with a lime) with DJ PMS; and several local blues singers came in and took the stage. I wanted to sing too. But after three concerts this weekend and choir practice, that was enough singing! Blah, I saw your husband there: A dude in a denim jacket with leather strips flames sewn on to the front and back, matching jeans with red leather stars sewn on, topped off with a bowler (hat)...yes a bowler, like on The Avengers and a lightening bolt earring like LT. But the Topper was his dead Bluetooth. Yes, Gurl! He had an inoperable Bluetooth in the same ear as the earring! His other accessory was a red-headed white woman in a red leather jacket...He is Slade's Yall LOL!

Republicans and the Ads They Play
Ive already told you about the anti-Deval Patrick Ads the Republican Opponent has on the air up here in the Massachusetts race for Governor. Scary black and white pictures, music straight out of a horror films and more than a suggestion trying to link Patrick to rape or a rapist.

Well in Tennessee, the TV Ads in the upcoming US Senate Race are going the same way. Black Democrat HaroldFord opposes white Republican Bob Corker for United State Senator representing Tennessee. A recent anti-FordAd features a blond white woman who tosses her hair and tells Ford he can come visit her anytime, while "respectable" whites stand around and cluck their tongues and shake their heads in disapproval. There's even a white male actor in the commercial (who I hope was a miner) whose face was covered with some kind of brown dirt or paint ??!?!?

This is straight outta BirthOfANation! Images of scary, out of control Black men (played by white actors in blackface) who like rape and white women came straight out of that 1915 film that promoted lynching and the Klan. Another thing you have to understand about Birth of A Nation was that according to the storyline (such as it was), all the trouble started when BLACK MEN WERE ALLOWED TO VOTE. You have to remember, this film came out before Black people (and white women) could vote. It was a cautionary tale of what could happen to "good" white folks when Black men had political power. It was also the first major feature film shown on a big screen in the US, so it had a strong, and apparently lasting, effect on how Black people are portrayed in the media and how Black men are perceived in real life.

In reality, DevalPatrick and Harold Ford are two of the prettiest, ultra-educated, intelligent, well-spoken, non-threatening Black men you or I will ever see on TV. One is under 6 feet tall and regularly wore bow ties to court during his long career as an attorney; the other is young (only twenty-six!) and slim with blue/green eyes and neither one of them has a lick of facial hair!?!? This is living proof that the oppression reaches ALL people of color, and that skin color/tone is something we use to divide ourselves. From Esther Rolle [RIP] and John Amos, to Vanessa Williams and Terrence Howard, Tiger to BigPapi, Al Reynolds to Michael Eric Dyson and everybody in between. These are all our people. We have the duty to think critically and love/support eachother.

...A Bientot

MONDAY MORNING OBSERVATIONS

Due to cell phones, our most private conversations can be overheard on a street corner. The convos you have at home are monitored by Bush. Between the internet, cell phones and government surveillance, no conversation is private.

That huge cold sore on Pujois’ lips during the Game One post-game interview. D*mn Homie! Valtrex works in two days...or so I heard...
:-o

There’s no medication for hard-headedness

Soft on crime we can compensate for...soft in the head? we cant

Molestation victims who grow up and molest, who have been to counseling, know to blame it on their own molester when they get caught.

No one missed me while my phone was off...except KC

Older women don’t tell younger women that your butt drops after you turn 25, you grow hair under your chin after age 30 and you become violently horny after age 35...they just stand around, point and laugh at you.

Sex with the mentally deranged and/or sex in Harlem is the hottest sex you will ever have...

Second hottest? Sex with a discreet ex...

I was gonna write my next Sexcapade story about an discreet ex in a grocery store...but I don’t have any discreet exes, so Im not sure how to approach the subject

Doctors with scratch tickets down by MGH. Why? You already hit the lotto.

New York Cops Shows never have car chases. You always see the police actors chasing the suspect actors on foot. Even fictional New York traffic doesn’t allow for car chases...Matter fact if you see a NYC car chase on TV or in a movie, theyve probably filmed in Toronto

Wasnt till I saw Banachek on the A+E channel that I understood what Boston City Hall was really supposed to look like.

After the characters break out of prison, escape from the kidnapper and the sun sets, they will have to think up some new storyline for Prison Break, Kidnapped and 24.

Appalachian Emergency Room is the second funniest reoccurring skit on SNL

The Weekend Update is the funniest

Does Leno often have Black musical guests to compensate for using that Attica footage in a skit years ago?

People who micro manage always complain that they are busy

Dillon for President! KennyRogers for Detroit Mayor!

My second favorite quote:
Don’t hang out with anyone who doesn’t understand why youre so wonderful,
or who needs to be told,
or who doesnt tell you at regular intervals, or when you forget.
-Lisa Scottoline

But my first favorite is still:
Be who you are and say what you feel
Because those who mind don’t matter
And those who matter
Don’t mind
-The First Rapper, Springfield's Own
Theodor Seuss Geisel aka Dr. Seuss


...Sayonara

CONCERT OF HOPE

Sang at the Sinikithemba Concert last night. It was phenomenal! Sinikithema Choir is a choir of South African HIV patients who perform all over the world. My choir, Boston Community Choir, Sharing A New Song Choir performed as well as Tim Hobson co-founder of Spare Change Newspaper. Jon-Daniel Durbin, stage actor and producer, performed and was our MC for the night. The concert was a fundraiser for their non-profit Sibusiso, which provides health services, awareness and training to those "infected and effected" by HIV/AIDS. The concert was held at Memorial Church "on the yard" at Harvard University.

SharingaNewSong sang first. They are a choir that was formed right after the Cold War ended to bridge the cultural gap between the United States and Russia. Later they traveled to South Africa, the Gullah Islands (South Carolina) and to the post-Katrina Gulf area.

My choir sang next. BostonCommunityChoir is a group that formed about thirteen years ago after the first Boston Pops Gospel Night. After the concert, they wanted to stay together and sing more. We sing contemporary Gospel and any other uplifting music all over New England.

Tim Hobson performed a heart-wrenching blues song on his guitar. It was called Unholy Blues and it had us in tears. The song ended with a plea for people to get tested and get medical help where needed.

Then we heard from the Headliner: Sinikithemba!
They flew nineteen hours and had their liquids confiscated, but they were here dancing and singing right here in the church at Harvard. The Choir sang religious and pop songs in English and Zulu about abstinence, safe sex and getting medical care. Some of the English lyrics:

If you are positive (index fingers crossed)
Stay positive (pointing to their heads, keep positive thoughts)
If you are negative
Stay negative (making wipe out sign with hands)

They even had a song above taking your medicine on time!

The performance was spectacular! All of their songs had choreography. All the ladies, even the big sistas kicked their legs shoulder-high while doing that South African step dance (you know the one Black Lady Smith Mambazo does). The men did a little floor work that looked like break dancing/capoeiro. On lady did a step that looked a whole lot like "the Butterfly" reggae dance from back in the 1990s.

While they danced and sang, I heard soca, reggae, soul, hiphop, second line, bounce, snap and swing all inside the beat of the music. This is truly where it all come from!

The choir had come up to the sides of the chapel (we were seated in the back) to get a good look. I turned and looked back at the audience. Folks on canes tapping in time to the music; Asian student jamming by the side door on the right; Black church ladies in the middle, hands raised with the rhythmic shoulder shrug; Little four year old white boy who started dancing after the second number and never sat down; The South Africans who now live in Massachusetts who just stood and clutched their hearts. All ages, all races, all abilities, all orientations, all shapes, all sizes, all shades...

...at Harvard?!?!?! Harvard University ?!??! In a church!?!?! In Massachusetts?!?!? Wow!

All choirs came back on stage at the end to sing a couple songs together. Brother Dennis (BCC Choir Director) taught Sinikithemba some of our songs when they were here last year, and weve performed with SANS before...but that was last year, and we had not had any joint rehearsal with all three choirs together! We took a breath, prayed to our respective Gods, and sang...together with just sheet music, Brother Dennis and memory to guide us.

We sang Siyahamba (from the Lion King), Oh Happy Day and a song called Be Like Him (recorded by Kirk Franklin), which in Zulu was Kwabona kala thina so fananaye. But my favorite was a song that went like:

Akanamandlha Hallelujah! Akanamandla uSathane!

I dont have a direct translation for that one. But it means that the Devil has no power over us and that we will be victorious...

...now that's what Im talking about!

...See yall later
(GO METS!)

MONDAY MORNING QUICKIE

SPORTS SECTION-WORLD SERIES EDITION
Have to change the font and add an orange outline to my letters over there for a moment and cheer for the Mets...Cause they are the only New York team left in it. I wore my CUNYLaw sweat-top today to support. Also, I LUV Pedro and ElDuque...for totally different reasons. ((evil grin))

But TheLou has its hot spots, too. That little red Slish-Style Goatee is kinda hot and can I just have a moment of silence for Pujois’ thighs?...Ahhh!

Go Tigers! Congratulations! (That was for Knockout)...but unfortunately they aint got nothing for the Mets! (That was for Organized aka Mr.Mets). Guess I have to learn the Jose (Reyes) Song.

FOOD SECTION
God made Salmon Cakes and Plátanos Maduros (Yum Yum!)

FRANKENSTEIN FIDO
Have you heard about the new dog for allergy sufferers? It is genetically engineered to have less dander. This is clearly science gone crazy. Of all the illnesses and medical breakthroughs needed for humans, someone took time to study and alter the genetics of a dog for some people who cant figure out how to buy some d*mn goldfish? Here’s a thought: IF YOU HAVE ALLERGIES, YOU CANT HAVE A DOG! ((shaking head in disbelief))

POLITICAL SECTION
DevalPatrick (Democrat for Massachusetts Governor) is a former defense and civil rights attorney. His Republican opponent has been running TV ads and press releases outlining some of his more heinous past clients and their cases. The last line of one attack ad says, “While attorneys have the right to defend a convicted cop killer do we want one for Governor?” One what? One attorney? One convicted cop killer? That case was in Florida; why is this case part of her campaign in Massachusetts? And what’s with the staged re-enactment in the ad? This is not America’s Most Wanted, it’s a political campaign!

Her newest attack ad quotes a Boston Globe article that outlines the gruesome details of a rape case where Patrick was the defense attorney. The commercial ran every forty minutes on the Fox channel during NFL. Every few minutes I had to visualize this brutal crime...or hurry to find the mute button. In her new positive campaign ad, the Republican opponent coos, purrs and shakes her head “no” for all the things she promises not to do if elected...like some kind of coquettish Barbie doll.

But the most disturbing attack was on Patrick’s family this past weekend, when a newspaper released a past domestic violence incident in Patrick’s family, revealing it to the general public and to some family members for the first time. The Republican opponent denies involvement in the leak to the press. You know that’s a real B*tch move, when you have beef with someone and you insult, humiliate or attack your opponent’s family members.

Also, it’s the oldest trick in the book to link a Black man to sexual assault to justify a lynching.

SOCIAL COMMENTARY
Food Stamps should also cover Toilet Paper...Ill give you a moment

HAIR UPDATE
My hair is finally locking, but I don’t like the way it looks. Im used to my hair being longer. Cutting my hair put ten years on my face...Okay so, I still look like Im in my early thirties, but that’s not the point.

BIG DIG UPDATE
The SEC (Federal Securities and Exchange Commission) is conducting a full investigation into the Big Dig. Apparently the Big Dig was scheduled for inspection for structural defects once a year. However, the Connector (the part that fell on and killed Milena DelValle) was last inspected in 1999 ?!??!?! If they had inspected as scheduled, would someone have found the bolt that was held by duct tape sooner? If they had found the duct tape, would they have reported it?
Or hid it?

Told you it wasnt Amorello’s fault.

MISGUIDED FOLK OF THE WEEK
(Don’t wanna call Clergy A$$holes of the Week)
Whoever sponsored the Ecumenical anti-gay marriage service/ rally at the Tremont Temple Baptist Church in Downtown yesterday (Sunday October 15th) especially the Black clergy and Politicians of any race who attended or supported it. There have been five murders committed with either a gun or a knife in Greater Boston since last Wednesday. Our youth are dropping in the streets. The infrastructure of the city is literally crumbling. There are weekly water main breaks. Jobs and people are leaving Massachusetts in droves…all of which are more pressing issues, or should be more pressing issues, than trying to stop grown adult people, who will be together anyway, from having legal protection as a couple. Religion and Law should be separate. This is the United States, not Afghanistan.

And to the Black folks, in particular: Know your history and stay out of this mess! Before a 1967 Federal case (Loving vs.Virginia) it was against the law for Blacks and white people to marry each other in certain states due to "Racial Integrity" laws. There was also a time in this country when Black couples (two Black people)couldn’t legally marry each other…and we couldn’t own or pass property to each other as families because we ourselves were property. As Black people, we should never participate in stripping or denying some other group their rights…forty years ago it was us…next week it could be us again.


...Hasta Luego

P.P.S. Happy Birthday to BarBriMan and AfroMan...Enjoy your day! Dont hurt nobody!-ChezNiki

ONE HUNDRED AND ONE NUNYA

1. I didn’t want to do this MEME
2. Cause this sh*t aint nunya business
3. Plus, I just don’t trust anyone enough to put this on the internet
4. When someone might use it against me later
5. Cause when some people hear about other folks’ hardship
6. They assemble a crowd, Point and Laugh
7. Some others put on the stern judgmental face and Blame the Victim
8. The first forgets how it felt when she was down and out
9. The other forgets that she had help staying up
10. And neither remembers the HelpComfortHospitalityKindnessAdvice
11. I gave them when they needed it
12. Cause (s)he remembers when they wouldn't lend a helping hand/ Till (s)he was sittin' on green like a Celtics fan
13. Besides, when you cant trust your own mother
14. You really cant trust anyone

Okay So, Here Goes Nothing
15. I havent had full-time permanent work, cable service or sex in sixteen months
16. I havent had home phone service for over three months
17. My intercom is attached to my home phone
18. If you drop by, you have to call my cell phone
19. Then Ill come down and get you
20. But my cell phone has been off for a week
21. So don’t drop by right now, cause you cant get in
22. We had a fire in my building last weekend
23. I was terrified
24. When I heard the alarm
25. I packed up my ID, passport, certified birth certificate, wallet and my dead cell phone, ran down the stairs, bag on my left, shoes in my right, Navy on Periwinkle Yankee on my head
26. And stood across the street
27. Cause that’s how you watch a fire in New York
28. My neighbors stood right up under the fire truck ladders to see what was going on
29. Cause that’s how you do it in Boston
30. No one was hurt
31. Six fire trucks, two EMS, rubbernecking (curiosity) drivers f*cking up morning traffic
32. On the street, DredlockMan from the new hotel on Merrimac tried to holler
33. I was mixmatched, sweaty, scared and unshowered...I couldn’t
34. Plus, I saw his teeth up close for the first time
35. Guess they don’t cover Dental at the hotel
36. He’s West Indian, so I put on my thickest Southern drawl
37. He wont holler again
38. Called my sister from my neighbor’s cell phone
39. Her cell is still on with the Boston Area Code
40. “Why they trying to burn down Boston?”
41. “Gurl, Iown know but I gotta get outta here!”
42. Six Twelve wasnt home, but somehow the electric stove caught on fire
43. Sprinkler system water damage throughout the building
44. I’ve had three different court dates in three different cities in the past three months
45. Beat the First in Traffic Court-Cop didnt show up to defend that bogus ticket
46. Continuance on the Second in Small Claims Court-Attorney for private student loan company sent a twelve year old who just graduated law school yesterday...Wanted to say, “Youre wasting your money and my time...You might as well dismiss this case...Its almost seven years old anyway...You still cant get blood out a stone, MFer!” I go back in three months.
47. Signed an Agreement in the Third
48. SistaGurl classmate of my baby sister, Purple Rev, is a Housing Court Paralegal. She helped me out, BronxGurls in the House(ing Court)! LOL!
49. I know from Housing Court in Westchester, Bronx and Kings County. I used to work there
50. Don’t know jack about Suffolk County
51. Landlord Attorney had no idea I am an attorney, but he was decent enough
52. Eight Oh Seven in Downtown
53. Brick building (in case of a fire), live security guard, indoor mailboxes, 24 hour laundry room, true one bedroom (not a studio), wall to wall, terrace, dishwasher and a bathroom that’s bigger than most bedrooms in New York City...for those who even have separate bedrooms
54. I signed the Agreement
55. Even though I think I promised them my first born in paragraph seven
56. Joke’s on them
57. I cant have kids
58. I can have kids
59. But I have to have more surgery and IVF to do so
60. But FreeCare doesn’t cover IVF
61. Thank God MassHealth did cover taking fibroids out
62. In 1999
63. My fibroid was the size of a grapefruit
64. Or a sixteen week gestation
65. Couldn’t sleep on my stomach
66. Couldnt close my pants
67. Severely anemic. Cramps from my waist to my knees
68. Ten dollars a month on Feminine Products
69. Damaged clothes linens towels
70. The first doctor couldn’t remove it
71. The second doctor gave me hormones to shrink it
72. Then he took it out
73. At the Brigham
74. On December 17th 1999
75. It was a war zone in there
76. Who knows if I was ever fertile
77. This list is making me cry
78. Like when I went on a second interview last week
79. Met with the President (First interview was with the Vice President)
80. Neither one wore suits or shoes during my interview. One hadnt even shaved.
81. National For-Profit Internal Auditing firm based in Norwood
82. Two writing samples, two related college degrees, seven years of experience, two interviews, eight hours of travel (two hours each way)
83. Soft offer of forty
84. Because, of course, Im “not proven” in the field
85. ??!?!?!?!?!??!?
86. On the bus home, I cried
87. Out of rage
88. When we were children
89. My father would slap us around and dare us to cry
90. A grown (then) six foot man slapping little girls
91. Until I was twenty-two, I could only cry out of one eye
92. As I got older, I showed every emotion I could, but mostly rage
93. No one will ever silence me again
94. I don’t like silence
95. I have friends
96. Who wish they could be alone, away from their families, man, pets or children for a while
97. They want peace and quiet
98. But when Im alone and quiet, my thoughts race
99. I
100. PlotPlanSchemeOverthinkDrawDanceReadReadReadSomeMoreSitUpPlay
SpiderSolitaire PlayWithBigPapiDreamWatchOldTVComediesOnDVDWrite...
...I even Cook and Clean
101. Even though no one’s gonna drop by


...Auf Wiedersehen

REMEMBERING FRANTZ

When I found out my classmate Frantz Simpson passed last weekend from a car accident, I wanted to post something dignified and somber about him...then I remembered what a nut he was!

When we first came to Ujamaa Residential College at Cornell University, he was a round loud yellow Haitian dude from New York City with a widows peak and round fingertips. We were in the Architecture school together, at first. Though I later transferred to Human Ecology, I remember long nights working on scale models in the drafty studio with Randy, Luis and Frantz. We were a motley crew. Picture this:

Me, a troublemaker from the Bronx who really should have been in the Urban Planning School;
Randy from the deep South, a singer who still had his Jherri curl;
Luis, a South American dude who loved to play spades and taught me how to pack a tight suitcase;
and Frantz, a graphic artist who was always tagging some artistic graffiti somewhere.



Above is a pic of Room 10214 in Ujamaa, Frantz’ dorm room, the spot for all us Freshman to hang out. Malc, an Exeter Graduate is in the blue; Luis is the Spanish dude in the grey, Randy is sporting the brown jacket/ white hoodie/ Jherri curl ensemble, Tanya is in the middle and Mr. Simpson himself is in the white Kangol. Note the Miami Vice poster on the top left, this pic was taken in February 1986, Yall! [D*mn Im old!]

After Parents Visiting Weekend, I asked Frantz what his mother thought about that great big, nekked butt white-woman-in-the-shower poster on the wall. He said something like, “She's just glad Im not gay!” LOL. Frantz' wall inspired me to create my own "Chocolate Wall," a collage of beautiful Black men on my dorm room wall...lovely Chocolate and CaramelMen from Taimak to Gregory Hynes, to Phillip Michael Thomas to Jesse Jackson...well this was 1986, whatdya expect?

I remember when I returned to the dorm from my first rush, invited by my cousin. Frantz told me, “You arent pretty enough to pledge [that sorority].” And I thought to myself, “Who the hell does he think he is? Looking like that telling me Im not pretty?!?!?” Later, I found out he’d attended a Kappa Smoker and I was like “Aw hell naw!” But by the time Summer rolled around, he had grown a couple inches, lost weight and prepared to pledge the Iota Phi Chapter of the so-called "Pretty Boy Frat" and all that! And by the time the freshmeat...I mean freshman, came in over the Summer, all the new Black girls from the suburbs (my year was the last year they admitted Black folks from the 'hood) were talking about Frantz. People from the upper classes were like “What?!?!?!”

Later, Frantz worked on (stage) crew for the Black dance group on campus, Uhuru Kuumba. He traveled with us to Philly, where I had an unfortunate incident with a spiked can of Hawaiian Punch. The Hawaiian Punch/Southern Comfort mix caused me to earl, black out and pass out during a party at the Penn Relays. For weeks afterwards, thanks in part to Frantz, my new nickname amongst the Kuumba Crew was “Stop Drop and Roll” LOL!


This is us hanging out outside Ujamaa in May 1986. This was before they installed the gates around North Campus. In Upstate New York, youre just glad to see the sun once a month! Rodney's in the back in the shades, Mark has his tongue stuck out, Rhonda has the Auburn Farrah hairdo (she's a judge in Brooklyn now), Im in the middle in the red, and Frantz is giving the thumbs up, in his shorts and striped socks.

As he pledged, he often hid out with his favorite Kappa Diamond, a Chem E student from Maryland, AMW. Apparently, there was an extremely large angry SuperSenior who came on campus to terrorize Scrollers. AMW helped Frantz stay clean, well fed and sane. AMW and Frantz were quite an item for a while...until AMW left Cornell to her parents' alma mater, Hampton University.

Fast forward almost twenty years: Frantz had become the scary SuperSenior and later went back home to New York City to work with youth, art and music. I left architecture, graduated from CUNY Law and became ChezNiki. AMW graduated from Hampton, then NC A+T, and is now working on her PhD on Chemical Engineering at Ohio State. AMW marries her TruckDriverMan in DC on Saturday October 14th...the same day Frantz Simpson will be laid to rest in Queens, New York.

The beginning and the end.

Rest In Peace, Brother.

...Until We Meet Again


Condolences to the family, friends and fans of CoryLidle, 34 the Yankee Pitcher and his flight instructor, Tyler Stanger, 26 who passed in a plane accident yesterday in New York City. RIP

COLUMBUS DAY

...a holiday to commemorate lost syphilis carriers everywhere...Ill give you a minute

FOLEY’S FOLLIES
WooHoo! I work for the President! Now I can run through as many Congressional Pages as I want!
Well, I should slow down, that last one made a complaint. But if I support this Child Protection Legislation, no one will believe that Page if he goes public.
Damn, I got caught! Its all gonna come out now. I better tell em Im gay...Oh? They already know?
Okay then...um Oh I know! I can tell em I was a Priest-Abuse victim! Oh f*ck it, let me go into rehab so I cant be contacted for questioning until after the mid-term elections...Ill go in to rehab for...um , er ALCOHOLISM! That’s it! Alcoholism, ‘cause THEY DON’T HAVE REHAB FOR NASTY A$$!

BOSTON MOBILIZATION EVENT
Last Wednesday October 4th, I went to the fund raiser for Boston Mobilization, www.bostonmobilization. com which is an organization which focuses on environmental and youth social justice issues. DJNomadik and Afro-DZ-ak were hosting and I was already in Central Square that night, so I dropped by. Of course when I walked in to the Downstairs Lounge at the Middle East, people mistook me for my sister, hugged me up introduced me around...

“This is Blackfemnista! She does great work in the community, she has dance and art workshops for the youth. And she works with the Women’s Center and...” I had to stop her and tell her I was ChezNiki.
“Gurl Im so sorry. I should know better! I know all us Black folks dont look alike!”
“Its alright, happens all the time. In the case of me and my sisters, we all really do look alike...” LOL!
In fact, the only one who knew I wasnt my sister was Nomadik! By the by, DJ Nomadik will be in New York spinning at VH1 Hip Hop Honors Week on October 14th as part of the No Sleep Till Brooklyn performance at the powerHouse Arena/37 Main Street/ Brooklyn, New York 11201. See her webpage for details

Anyway, I got to see Afro-DZ-ak (say it phonetically) for the first time, he is a rapper/musician who stops mid-flow and plays riffs on a trumpet! It was also my first time seeing Iyeoka and DanielleScott flex their vocal skills. Justice, and Christopher Johnson gave us riveting spoken word performances. Amatul and NateBox was spoken word satire over a human beatbox. Reflect and Strengthen, an all-female youth support and performance group, knocked it out, as usual. The headliners, local rappers The Foundation, a multi-cultural dynamic duo, one Liberian and one Puerto Rican, tore the house down. Luv them!


I watched that Cambridge crowd (part hippie, part college student, all activist) and performances from the old-folks section by the bar. I even saw Grace Ross (Green Rainbow Candidate for Governor) in the house! Nomadik and I are about the same age but everyone else in there was in their early twenties. I remember being young college-aged and fiery...and believing that if I fought the good fight, I could change the world. One college date-rape, a bout with homelessness, four surgeries, ten years of irregular work history and several failed bar exams later, at this time in my life, there is very little I believe I can change.

TODAY THROWS A WEDDING
I watch this segment every year. The Today show gives a contest where couples compete to have a wedding on the Today show in October. This year they had a Survivor Style contest where the couples had to perform tasks to win, such as: riding tricycles through an obstacle course in wedding garb, or a dancing contest where they had to learn a couples dance and then perform on the plaza. They had diverse couples this year, a Black couple, a young mixed couple (Black girl, white guy), an older couple (both in their forties) and a May December couple. The May December couple won and they got married on Friday October 6th 2006.

My friend AMW is marrying her truckdriver fiancee (the one she met on the internet last year right after she bought her house) next Saturday October 14th. I had to call with regrets this week. She told me she understood and then promptly told me what gift she wanted me to buy for the couple off the registry. Now I am hardheaded. I never buy from Bridal Registries. Don’t tell me what gift to get you! It’s a gift! Youre not supposed to know what it is ahead of time. Besides most couples I know already live together. Im not gonna cover your third toaster!

I make wedding gifts, usually something embroidered, personalized and spectacular. But here was AMW, one of my oldest friends, asking me to buy her groom-to-be something off their Sears Registry...preferably a power tool (??!?!?) I wanted to say, “I don’t know dude like that!...Im not buying no power tools for that African!” but I didn’t say that. Im not buying either one of them any power tools. They will get embroidered and/or personalized linens. Its just safe that way.

WHY WOMEN SHOULD NEVER PAY A COVER
I get emails all the time for club events in Boston and New York City. However, many of the Boston events do not include the cover price in the Email. Now the Consumer Advocate/ Lawyer in me has a problem when they don’t tell you the price of something ahead of time, and also when there is a price for something which is not in writing. The New Yorker in me has problems paying any cover in Boston when the DJ may be wack, I may or may not get asked to dance, I probably wont get any phone numbers, and they close at 2am. But as women, me and my c**chie agree, we should not have to pay a cover because together we benefit the club. Its simple mathematics.

As an average-looking, older, overweight woman with natural hair, Im worth at least two drinks in the club. I like Cosmos. Cosmos are $8-$10. Two Cosmos with the tip are $20-$25 depending on how drunk the purchasing guy is. A younger, lighter-skinned girl with a decent weave, perky breasts and a big booty is worth five to seven drinks...at least $50! Not to mention appetizers. Why should either one of us pay at the door, when together with a couple of our plainest-looking friends, we make the club’s light bill for the month? Post-Op Trannys shouldnt pay either, no one with a c**chie! In the dark, s/he is good for a couple dranks, so long as her/his weave covers up the Adams Apple. LOL!

THE DON’T LIST
There are several restaurants, hotels and clubs that repeatedly disrespect, overcharge and jack people of color in Boston. Jillian’s, The News in Chinatown, the Onyx Hotel’s Ruby Room, Enterprise Rent A Car in Cambridge and the Fleet Center Friday’s Location (now closed) should never have another Black patron, ever. These establishments, their owners, GM and staff will never understand that Blacks are people too. They are not even savvy enough to see us as consumers, customers or possible repeat customers. Repeat customers are the money-makers in a post-9/11 service industry. Yes New York is racist, too. But in New York they have enough sense to collect the money from us Uptown now, and burn their crosses back home on Staten Island later. Black New Yorkers also know how to vote with their feet; refuse to patronize where we arent treated well; and use the ghetto phone tree, churches and the Black media to make sure no one else wanders in by accident and spends money in those establishments.

There were a couple First Friday/Friendly Takeover events in Boston this weekend. The venue for the Friday event, lets call them Venereals, pulled out of the event less than twenty-four hours before the event. It seems that after reviewing the response to the Evite, Venereals was “concerned over the number of people” expected at the event. This was despite the fact that only a third to half RSVPs actually show up; this promoter has used Venereals several times before; and this promoter has never had violence or problems at their events in the past. These promoters in fact, are three professional Brothers who started their organization about ten years ago to provide social and professional networking for Black professionals in Boston. This weekend, the group had to change the event location to the Aqua and Black Rhino and send out a second Email twelve hours before the event, to give the new location. The same night, there was water main break in Downtown. I was hoping the Venereals were affected, but unfortunately the water main break was on the other end of Arch Street. Also unfortunately, other Black promoters will probably use Venereals again. Venereals needs to be on the don’t list...places where we don’t spend our money anymore.

BONUS: A$$HOLE OF THE WEEK
I was flipping through Essence Magazine, and after reading the article on suburban Black women who were domestic violence victims (I personally think the article focused too much on the womens’ lifestyles and not enough on what happened to the men after they were caught), I flipped over to the Brothers page. This is the section of Essence where a Black Man writes on an issue and they print his full name and picture, so that people can find that Brother after he completely shows his a$$ in an International publication.

This month, the Brothers section featured a young cat who admitted that he dated white girls exclusively...not out of self hatred or lack of knowledge of his heritage, but due to “proximity.” He apparently lives in a white neighborhood and didn’t want to drive “thirty minutes” to get to the clubs where the Black girls frequent. Besides, he’s just fooling around now, but when he gets ready to “settle down” and look for a wife, he will choose a “sister.” In fact, since he’s run through....I mean, met...all the women he could in his current city, he plans to move to New York City soon and only date Black women after he arrives. When I got to the end of that article to read the City and State of the author. Instead of “name, city and state withheld,” (which is what I would have recommended) the Brother gave his full first and last name AND his City and State...Boston, Massachusetts.

You New York Gurls know what to do...

...A Bientot

BOSTON'S WEST END

Ive had a lot of time to read lately. One of the books I picked up was "Boston's West End" by Anthony Mitchell Sammarco published in 1998. This book is a photo history about my neighborhood. The original West End was a racially, ethnically and culturally mixed neighborhood, bordered by Beacon Hill, Charlestown, the Charles and the North End. Blacks, Jews, Catholics, Baptists, Italians all lived there together until the late 1950s, when the entire neighborhood was bulldozed due to "Urban Renewal." Poor people and People of Color were forcibly and brutally removed from the neighborhood. A developer, Jerome Rappaport under the Urban Renewal Administration and the City of Boston (Boston Redevelopment Authority) rebuilt the neighborhood with new apartment buildings which were out of reach for the original people of the West End. The change was drastic and complete, churches, synogogues, whole blocks of retail stores were razed. The very streets were removed.

The same happened in the South End (Back Bay) and in Roxbury (near Roxbury Crossing) and several neighborhoods were effected and demolished when I-90 MassPike (the highway that links Upstate New York with Boston) was built. After reading this book, I can understand why Bostonian get so terrified when somebody wants to do any redevelopment...this type of situation is in their collective recent memory. All the black and white pics are from the book, most Courtesy of the West End Historical Society. The color pics are mine.

The Old West Church is at the corner of Staniford and Cambridge at the corner of the grey "L" on the map above. It is one of the few original buildings left in the West End.

This is what the West End used to look like in the mid-1950s. Old West Church is on the bottom right, Cambridge Street runs into the West Boston (now Longfellow) bridge on the top left.

This is Staniford Street in the 1950s looking up the hill. The Old West Church is peeping out above the building in the center of the picture.

After the City of Boston bulldozed the neighborhood, in the early 1960s, Schepens Eye Research Institute and the Boston Biomedical Institute are two of the first buildings to go up, right behind Old West Church. The buildings are still there at 20 Staniford Street.

Above is an aerial view of the West End in about 1962, after the original neighborhood was bulldozed and before Charles River Plaza was built.

This is the West End in 2004 looking down the hill. (Old West Church is behind you). Every building in this picture was built after I was born.

Every neighborhoood in Boston has a blue welcome sign. The West End just got its sign last year in 2005. The Old West Church and the Schepens Building are behind the trees on the top right.

Today this is my neighborhood. But had I lived in the West End back in the day, I would have lived on the other side of Cambridge Street up on Beacon Hill or down near Charles Street. If you take the National Park's Service BlackHeritageTrailTour (free walking tour starting at the Shaw Memorial across from the State House at Park and Beacon Streets and ending at the African Meeting House and Abiel Smith School) the tour is two hours long and you never leave Beacon Hill. Which means that in the 19th Century, Beacon Hill was the 'hood! Hah!

...Au Revoir

SLOW DOWN

...I was getting too deep for a minute. So now Im gonna do a MEME to relax. Ill get back to the deep stuff this weekend...

1. Do you try to look hot when you go to the grocery store just in case someone recognizes you from your blog?
Nope. The Boston Bloggers already know what I look like, too late to make another first impression.

2. Are the photos you post Photoshopped or otherwise altered?
Um...why?

3. Do you like it when creeps or dorks email you?
Ive had a couple strangers email me from my Blog, but no one strange or creepy.

4. Do you lie in your blog?
No. But I will tell a very detailed version of what I do tell you, so you wont miss (ask questions about) the other missing parts of the story.

5. Are you passive-aggressive in your blog?
Yes.

6. Do you ever threaten to quit writing so people will tell you not to stop?
Why?

7. Are you in therapy? If not, should you be? If so, if it helping.
My Blogger Therapy is very effective and much cheaper than my old shrink. No co-pay! LOL

8. Do you delete mean comments? Do you fake nice ones?
Ive only deleted two comments since I opened my Blog last year. One suggested that I worshipped the devil. The other commented on the first...so I deleted both them fools.
This is ChezNiki and you dont got no wins in mi casa!

9. Have you ever rubbed one out while reading a blog?
No...too hard to scroll the page down while...Hey! Mind your business ovah there!

10. If your readers knew you in person, would they like you more or like you less?
Depends on the reader.

11. Do you have a job?
Again, Why?

12. If someone offered you a decent salary to blog full-time without restrictions, would you do it?
Yes. I love to write, that's why Im here.

13. Which Bloggers have you met in real life?
Pops, Con1, BZ, SpChrist, BigTrev, Blah, Slish, Venom, Will, Organized, Phoenix, Lightweight (even though I dont know where her Blog is), Knockout, Royce's, OneFromPhilly, FullyLive, MissyPinoIllNana. Rumpshaker and Spankinazz (who should have Blogs, but dont) Sorry if I left anyone out...

14. Which bloggers have you made out with?
Heh Heh!

15. Do you usually act like you have more money or less money than you really have?
No. Ive been broke ever since I started this Blog...maybe if I stop I could make some money. Hmm?!?!?

16. Does your family read your blog?
My sister, Blackfeminista, my cousin, HottCarmell and her mom, Cold In Yeadon, but only if I send specific articles.

17. How old is your blog?
About a year old...its just a baby!

18. Do you get more than 1000 page views per day?
Nope, my friends have lives. They look once, read it, and keep it moving.

19. Do you have another secret blog in which you write about being depressed, slutty, or a liar?
Nope. All that is on this Blog. LOL!

20. Have you ever given another blogger money for his/her writing?
Huh?

21. Do you report the money you earn from your blog on your taxes?
Who are you the IRS?

22. Is blogging narcissistic?
Of course it is.

23. Do you feel guilty when you don't post for a long time?
Hasnt happened yet. But no, I wouldnt feel guilty. Yalld just have to live without me for a while.

24. Do you like John Mayer?
His music.

25. Do you have blog enemies?
I cant get pissed at people Ive never met...people I know, on the other hand...

26. Are you lonely?
Yes.

27. Why bother?
Instant Publishing. Positive Attention. Free Therapy.

28. If they were to make a movie of your life, who would play the mailman?
Terrell Owens...I would mail myself packages everyday, just to get him to come to the house...in the movie that is...

BWHAHAHAHAH!

...Hasta Luego

LAST APPOINTMENT

Okay so, today it went up to the high 70s in Boston. So I did what any self-respecting CancerGurl would do. I went to the beach! Hah!

My plan was to go to Revere (which has three syllables in Boston: Ra-vee-yah) and go to Revere Beach. But I had to go to the library. So I wound up at Orient Heights in East Boston instead. After hitting the library, I went over to “Constitution Beach” which is really a bay off the back side of Logan Airport. I think people come here to watch the planes.

There were all the elements of an Urban Beach…pigeons, seagulls, the ice cream truck, garbage, folk laying out (?!?!?!) but nonetheless it was very peaceful. I put my feet in the water. When I go to a beach, I usually put at least my feet in the water to honor the ocean, Yemayah and to reflect on the fact that the water on my feet may have, at one time, touched an ancestors bones, or someone’s feet in Africa or a child’s feet on their first trip to Miami...un cielo siempre nitido/que sirve de dosel/y dan arrullos placidos/las olas a sus pies...right here in New England!

Anyway, today is my last session with my free shrink, (you get up to fourteen free visits depending on how crazy you are), so she gave me some homework. She wanted me to write a list of things I took away from counseling. Well, I learned more about myself…but isn’t that the goal of all counseling? To contemplate your navel? the list went something like this:

I have to change professions
I have to continue with my social justice work
I do have a lot to offer
I have to value myself and my accomplishments more
I do want a family more than anything
I want a boat (I just added that last one)
That what I am is different from what I do

The last one is the hardest. Not being a student, or a mother, or a wife (and half the time not being a daughter) and being a professional woman, I would naturally define myself by my profession…except I don’t have one right now...

I mean, how do I get from: I was born son of Byford/ Brother of Al/Anna’s my Mamma/And Run’s my pal!

to: I don’t wanna be anything other than what I been tryin’ be lately/All I have to do is think of me and I have peace of mind/Im tired of looking ‘round rooms wonderin’ what I gotta do/Or who Im supposed to be/I don’t wanna be anything other than me!

Better just Live your life! Mama used to say…because only God can save the world. The sun has moved to the West a little and the sunbathers have shifted their chairs to the right and the wind has picked up and...Im packing up to go back to Boston.

…all this introspection stuff can really hurt your head!

Au Revoir...

MONDAY MORNING PMS RANT

The best revenge is living well…until I start living well, Ill use regular revenge.

DONNIE MCCLURKIN
After you’ve done all you can…you just STAND
STAND and endure!
STAND and be sure!

LATEST SCHOOL SHOOTING
Yo!?!? Why was there a school shooting today (Monday October 2nd, 2006) at an AMISH ONE-ROOM SCHOOL HOUSE!?!? The details are just now coming to light. This shooter also seemed to target the female students. There are six dead including the gunman who apparently killed himself. But I mean, d*mn! Who woulda thought you would need metal detectors in a one-room schoolhouse?

WHY I CHOSE LAW
Some people call it “blaming other people for your problems”
I call it “holding Mfers accountable”
And do you notice it’s the people who always get away with f*cked up sh*t over and over again, who want you to “move on,” “forget about it,” and “just walk away?”
I mean if they actually had to pay for the harm they caused others, they would want other wrong-doers to ante up as well. They would never crack their lips to blame the victim, because their own victimization would be fresh in their minds.
I didn’t get into law to become a high-powered flashy attorney who lives in the spotlight
I got into it so I could help people empower themselves and fight back when they are harmed…
…because pulling yourself up by your bootstraps is something white folks made up…right after they stole all the boots and bought all the bootstrap factories.

CURIOSITY KILLED THE CAT...
So I called the job I interviewed for in New York City months ago, out of sheer curiosity. Not the NYU position with the shoeless interviewer, but the American Conference Institute, a company that produces nationwide legal conferences. If you remember, I interviewed and was sent home with a writing assignment to draft plans for a mock-conference. I was told by all three interviewers that anyone who finished the four page assignment would be grated a second interview. I asked,

“But only if you like the writing assignment,” to which they replied,
“Oh no! If you take the time to do all that work, we will definitely bring you back in for a second interview.”

I sent the assignment in, made a follow up call and sent a follow-up email and never heard from ACI again…Until I called them this morning. I spoke to the Division Manager, a fellow Cornell grad. At first, he tried to tell me my writing was not up to their standards, then he remembered that I was the candidate from Boston and Cornell. So then his next “excuse” was that I was from out of town, and it would be a hardship for me to move to NYC and out of courtesy, they wouldn’t ask me to return to NYC to second interview since they wouldn’t be hiring me (?!??!!?)

In reality the fact that my friends, family and my mother all still live in NYC, and that I intended to relocate myself back home, was included in my cover letter and discussed for several minutes during my interview. Since no one expected them to pay relocation, why the f*ck do they care where Im moving from? Today I replied that if the company wanted to be courteous, they could have notified me of all of this in a rejection letter, by email or return phone call. He replied,
“Oh? We never contacted you? Well I apologize…”
I couldn’t hang up the phone fast enough.

...BUT SATISFACTION BROUGHT HER BACK
Youre not gonna believe this but after that phone call, I left my house and saw “Flaca” from BobbleheadandSons on the street near my house. I looked her dead in her eye and she looked away. You remember Bobblehead and Sons? The agency that sent me on an interview for a long term Document Production assignment at Large Mega Law Firm in Downtown Boston. However, an hour before the interview was scheduled, I got a call advising me not to go to the interview because no one would be there to interview me? Yeah them.

Anyway, about an hour after seeing Flaca in the street, I appeared in the waiting room of BobbleHead and Sons with a copy of my updated resume, asking to speak to her. We spoke and I told her what happened. She feigned innocence, but pretended to have a new job lead for me. She did tell me that Large Mega Law Firm changed the work order several times, hired three different area agencies to fill the positions and that there was stiff competition and sabotage between the three agencies to fill the job order at Large Mega Law Firm. One agency even “stole” temp workers from another and sent them to interviews under their company name. I shook Flaca's hand and left. She apologized and said she would look into the mysterous phone call... WHAT BULLSH*T!

SAITH YOUR GOD
Saw a televangelist on TV on Sunday. I stayed home this Sunday. After seeing my preacher supporting Senator Wilkerson at a press conference, Ive decided to take a little break from my church. Anyway, the Televangelist told the story of Daniel who interpreted King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream (that King's name was actually in spell check!). The King didn’t listen, didn’t stop being proud, didn’t praise God enough and wound up getting struck down by God. The King was forced to live as an animal in the wilderness for seven years. He even grew fur and claws. After seven years he praised God and returned to rule his Kingdom. (Daniel 4:29-37)

I was never too proud and I d*mn sure didn’t have a Kingdom in New York. I didn’t grow fur, but I did gain sixty pounds and a f*cked up attitude. July 1, 2006 made seven years of me in Eastern Massachusetts. Can I go home now?

THE RACE FOR GOVERNOR
Kerry Healey, (Republican Candidate for Governor) began running a new anti-DevalPatrick (Democratic Candidate for Governor) ad last week. The ad features actual footage from the recent signing of a bipartisan child-sexual abuse law. She used clips from that footage and clips from a televised Democratic Candidate Debate (filmed before the Primaries) to create her new campaign commercial. Sounds harmless enough, right? Except that the footage she used featured Democratic elected officials, one of whom came out in the press yesterday to say that he never gave permission for his likeness to be used to support Kerry Healey. His position is that the commercial is misleading and implies that he supports Kerry Healey, which he does not. Some Democrats asked the various local television networks to pull the ads altogether.

Now the complaining Democrat is a politician/public figure, so he doesn’t have strict control over his likeness. Also, it is the policy of the local networks to run political ads, as is, without any editing. Even ChristyMihos’ (Independent for Governor) ad featuring cartoon politicians with their heads up their a$$es concerning the Big Dig was allowed to air uncut. But Im sayin’. Kerry Healey couldn’t find ONE sitting Republican politician to endorse her in a commercial? Or was this a deliberate ploy to make the Democrats look like they are not supporting their own candidate? If she’s this dirty during the campaign, what makes her think people will vote for her in November? Arent we all tired of that back-biting bullsh*t up on The Hill? I guess who ever she hired to produce her ads is not.

MY RESPONSE
“Your Welcome” since I know you meant to say “Thank You” for the Boston info I gathered for you. Don’t get me wrong, I did like you…had a crush on you, whatever...back in the Spring…and I did pay you some attention (apparently too much). But don’t go crazy ovah theah. If your head gets too big, you wont be able to fit yourself through the doors on the Amtrak. But ‘for real, for real’? As long as you stay Black, don’t ever put me on a group email with that one. That sh*t was not cool.

SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL
Luuved the way they let Dillon make that touch down, when they coulda just done the field goal after the first couple tries. I think they know in the face of Maroney’s glowing youth, they have to allow Dillon be the man as much as possible to avoid Haterade later on in the season. Number 39 Maroney is 'sexy sexy,' though, Luving his hair! 5’11”, 220…

…Oh Word? He’s only TWENTY ONE?!??!?! D****mn!

SLY AND THE FAMILY STONE
STAND!
In the end, you’ll still be you
The one who’s done all the things you set out to do.

I need a drank!


…Until we meet again