post thankful day....

*** i bought food... i was gonna whip up an elegant non-turkey thanksgiving feast with fresh fish, roasted carrots and potatoes, string beans, cornbread stuffing... but my laziness overcame me.

*** i went out wednesday night and brought home leftover chinese food so i had vegetable mei fun, spring rolls... along with some moscato spumanti!

*** i can't recall the tv program i was watching... i am sure the memory will return to me later but i do recall listening to the music backdrop and hearing corinne bailey rae singing "is this love". i didn't recall how i knew the song until a couple of minutes later. i've said this before, that i do not like remakes... yet this one almost fooled me... her version of bob marley's original is nice!

*** i made 2 moves on thursday... from the bedroom to the livingroom... it was a solitudinal day. i spoke with my friends and relatives but i wasn't motivated to move and it was just what i needed... in my quiet time i took a moment to reflect over the 11 months of 2010 and all that i had to be thankful of... food i didn't want to cook, shelter, a closet spilling with clothes and shoes, steam from the radiator, and lastly but certainly not least my loving family... i'm so blessed....

who i am digging...

two weeks ago i sat in a forum listening to the gifted edwidge danticat, author of krik? krak!, a book of beautiful short stories detailing a war-torn haiti... when i first read krik? krak! 13 years ago, i was introduced to a haiti i never knew... a beautiful, lush, green island with a history deep and soulful... people with resilience and triumph etched in their bones... and i fell in love with her poetic style of writing.
i am hooked on edwidge and though some find her work to be a little dark... i find her to be riveting... engraved in her writings is perpetual empathy... i don't see "those haitian people" but a story of us... she has found a way of capturing and revealing the human spirit and connecting us all...
a fellow in the audience asked her to write about the beauty of haiti, to flip her stories into something more colorful and lifting... and her response was "that is not my story to tell but it seems like it's yours. you write about a colorful and lifting haiti. write the stories you want to read".
she is a strong advocate for issues surrounding haiti... much like wyclef jean, she loves and cherishes her island... her pride is estimable...

last night... i sat in that same forum listening to zadie smith... now i have to admit right here that i have not read through a zadie smith novel. i have picked up, borrowed white teeth, on beauty and autograph man from the library but can't seem to get past page 100... but i dig her and my email is set to track her so i receive updates and read her book reviews and articles... i used to have her picture on my desk at work... one day my co-worker/cut buddy asks me if i was crushing her and i had to admit that i was...  see zadie is october born, just like me... we were born in the same year... and she published her first novel the same year i graduated with my bachelor's degree... something about her seems so cool... so yeah, she's my girl-crush...
i thought i would have a problem listening to her interview because she has a british accent and when they get to talking freely it could very well sound as if she's speaking a foreign language but i did all right and her interview was perfect. she spoke eloquently and read that crafty feeling, an article she wrote on her writing process.
in her interview she said that writers are always reading. they don't mind waiting for a friend they are meeting because they will always have time to read. they measure time by how much they will be allowed to read... she was funny and sarcastic... a lover of english literature and america's hip-hop and that just made me like her all the more...

fine man friday... driis

2 Black 2 Strong... Hold On... Rise Up... Please Be True... Best That I Can... Extraordinary Love... Absolutely... Family... these are all songs on his High Class Problems debut release.

he's an actor... he's got a sexy british accent that i hope he never loses even though he's mastered an american accent... but he's also a rapper... and a singer... and on some of his tracks he sounds like he's originally from the jungles (pronounced jung-les) of jamaica as opposed to canning town, east london...


i like this one particular song where the sexy soul singer side of him sings... let your guard down... let this brother enter... your private garden... oooh can i assist you with your problems girl... let me show you a way to celebrate your life... i will be gentle with you baby... just let me show you... i won't hurt ya...


the song is private garden
and the sexy soul singer is

Idrissa Akuna Elba... aka Idris Elba / Alter Ego... Driis

fine man friday... love jones

Say baby, can I be your slave

I've got to admit girl, you're the shit girl

And I'm diggin' you like a grave

Now do they call you daughter to the spinning pulsar

Or maybe Queen of 2,000 moons

Sister to the distant, yet risin' star

Is your name Yemaya

Oh hell nah, it's got to be Oshun

Oooh, is that a smile me put on your face child

Wide as a field of Jasmine and Clover

Talk that talk honey, walk that walk money

High on legs that'll spank Jehovah

Shit, who am I?

It's not important

But they call me Brother to the Night

And right now

I'm the blues in your left thigh

Tryin' to become the funk in your right

He was O-Dog in Menace II Society - the street hustler that we all hated and loved... Drew Tate in The Inkwell - the potential arsonist who comes of age in Martha's Vineyard... Anthony Curtis in Dead Presidents - The Vietnam Vet turn armored truck robber ... but when he played Darius Lovehall in Love Jones... his character was oh so sincere and sexy...

This week's fine man Friday is....

Larenz Tate

I didn't see Love Jones when it came out in 1997. I must have been busy or something because I didn't get a chance to see the flick until I bought the DVD in 2008... right when my last relationship ended... right when I was seeking solitude and balance... right when I needed my faith in love restored...

This is a quote from LT's facebook page:

"Whether in a mainstream film or cult classic hit, I try to stay true to my personal mission of striving for excellence. As an actor, writer, and activist, I apply that same dedication to every aspect of my life."

Larenz aka LT has played in quite a few movies, but nothing touches me like Love Jones... the fact that the movie has a sweet combination of romance, intellect and sexiness makes this a Friday-night-I-have-no-plans, Nothing-good-is-on-cable, 3rd-date-let-me-feel-this-man-out-and-see-if-he-also-digs-this-flick kinda staple. And Larenz, hands down, delivers one of his best performances...

The link below is the Loves Jones flashback from this year's BET Awards... could Larenz be even more finer? Wheeew!

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