Convergence

Online Dating Advice For the Brethren

Clarissa Rodney, the lead character in my upcoming film "Something Worth Waiting For" just posted some fun tips for online dating for those brothers in Christ who might be trying to find that special someone in cyberspace. See what she has to say here.

Also, don't forget we're still looking for your help with the making of the trailer for the movie. Whatever you can give would be greatly appreciated--whether its $10, $25, $50 or $100! Consider making a donation today by clicking here. Thank you for your support!

My Birthday Weekend

So I ended up having a decent birthday/weekend. Wednesday I had to work late but when I got home, Khalilah had a gift waiting for me. It was a can opener with some Twix and Fun Dip (my two favorite candies). It was great because Ive been wanting a new can opener to replace my old school one. And, well, as far as I'm concerned you can never go wrong with Twix and Fun Dip. 

Thursday I went to the Global Night of Worship at Buckhead Church which was AMAZING! I had a great time. Praise and Worship is my favorite part of the service so an hour and a half of it is like heaven to me! Friday I tried a new Indian restaurant with my friend Shandra and it was AMAZING! I'll definitely be back there again. We then went to check out the Tyson documentary. It was very interesting. Disturbing, but interesting. Overall a very good film.

Saturday I had Tea Time with Tony, which is always a blessing. What was funny was that I ran into Michael Wynne while I was there so he joined us and we had some really good conversation. It's always nice to hear the male perspective on some things. And it's always a blessing to hear Tony's ideas and wisdom on things. Tony's one of those people that always wants to know what God is doing in my life and what He's teaching me in this season. It's good to have someone like that in your life so that you can always be aware of how God is moving. Because sometimes we get so busy or frustrated with the things that aren't happening that we forget to see the forest for the trees. After that I hung out for a little while with Jon. He said he had a birthday surprise but we ran out of time so we'll have to do that some other time.

Sunday morning I went to church -- fantastic message. Andy just concluded a series called "God and Country" talking about the moral conscience of America. It was really really good. Sunday afternoon my family and I went to the Green Manor for dinner. If you've never been to the Green Manor you OWE it to yourself to get down there if you like southern cooking. Fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, turnip greens, string beans, dressing, rice, yams....it was all so good!!! I'm still thinking about the chicken even this morning! After that I went to my parents house and then hung out a little while there. Shari had to drop me off at the airport because I left my car there at her job so that we could ride to Green Manor together. Well, while we were in the car we realized that we had gotten hungry again so we stopped at Malone's Bar and Grill and had the BEST crab legs I have ever had in my life! So well seasoned and tender! OMG...I'm still thinking about those too.

Overall it was a good weekend. People say you don't have to celebrate your birthday on just one day. I guess that's true. Tonight I will be celebrating it at my friend Shandra's house. And I still want to celebrate somehow with all my friends and I still want to do karaoke. Looks like I might be celebrating my birthday for the next few weeks!

Day 2 in NYC - Things I Learned Today

Boy am I one tired soul. I forgot that NYC requires so much walking! The good thing, though, is that I've gotten plenty of exercise and it's actually helped my back. It doesn't hurt as much as it has been.

Today I woke up and went for brunch at a place called Sarabeth's. I had a salmon scramble and it was good but it was no Flying Biscuit. After my brunch was when I realized that I was so exhausted from yesterday that I had to go back to my hotel room and take a nap. After resting up a bit I set out to go to the Met.

Since it was such a nice day out and my hotel is so close to Central Park, I got the bright idea to walk through the park to the east side. Huge mistake  -- well kind of. It took a really long time and I got really tired halfway through but once you get that far, there's no turning back. I started to get a little frustrated because I was losing time to spend at the Met. But then I decided to really take in the scenery surrounding me and the day suddenly got a whole lot better. I slowed down my walk, took a seat on a bench, and learned a lot of things during my time in Central Park:

• It's perfectly possible for me to entertain myself. Here I am in NYC with no set agenda and I am having a great time. How's that for an independent woman?
• NY is a place where you have to take risks. Even just getting around on a daily basis requires risk. Hanging out with my friend Rich last night and Priscilla today, I had no idea where I was going. But I had to just take the risk and get on the train and figure it out as I went along. Reading the signs. Such is life. Sometimes we gotta be willing to take risks and figure it out as we go.
• Living in the moment means focusing on and enjoying what's in front of you now instead of always waiting for the destination. For example, taking the time to enjoy Central Park rather than getting frustrated about getting to the Met. I was missing out on the beauty right in front of my face. Also, I'll admit that being here in NY has made me want to move back here. But then I realized that I've got great things going on in Atlanta that I still have yet to take advantage of. The grass always looks greener on the other side. Sometimes it's worth it to sow the seeds in your own yard first.
• The whole time I was here in NY I missed out on a lot. For one thing, I rarely ever went to the east side of town. So today's journey was quite an adventure in and of itself. It's different over there in those parts. For some reason it seems a little cleaner over there. I don't know. Maybe it's just me. 
• Throughout all these years, God has never let go of me. I've had ups and downs before and He's gotten me through. Why should I believe He'd stop now?
• I have to get back to TRUSTING God, not just believing in Him.
• I think me and Jon could have a great friendship if we both tried a teeny bit harder, and if we actually took the time to be friends (whether as boyfriend and girlfriend or not). I'm willing to try.
• Love means reaching out. I was watching this couple in Central Park and watchiing how they interacted with each other. She would put her head on his shoulder. They would read a book together. She would read his text messages on his phone. They would flirt with each other. All from this position. It was very sweet. 

So yeah, I did eventually make it to the Met but they were about to close so I just sat on the steps for a few minutes after trudging all that way through the park. I continued on my journey and went to Starbucks on Lexington & 78th. Then I went to Brooklyn to hang out with my friend Priscilla and her beautiful daughter Sophia. She made dinner and I had such a great time! It took me a long time to get home because I unknowingly got on an express train that skipped my stop. But after a lot of back and forth I finally made it back to my hotel.

Another great day in NY. I know I said it before but I am exhausted!! And, I am ready to go back home to the ATL. I think I got what I came here for. A renewed sense of purpose and drive. As I sat in Central Park, one of my favorite songs came on my iPod and I had to repeat it several times because it gave me great peace. The song is "You Never Let Go" by Matt Redman. I'll leave you with the lyrics as a reminder that no matter where you are in life, God's always got your back and He always has something to say to you.

You Never Let Go

by Matt Redman

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death
Your perfect love is casting out fear
And even when I’m caught in the middle of the storms of this life
I won’t turn back
I know You are near

And I will fear no evil
For my God is with me
And if my God is with me
Whom then shall I fear?
Whom then shall I fear?

Chorus:
Oh no, You never let go
Through the calm and through the storm
Oh no, You never let go
In every high and every low
Oh no, You never let go
Lord, You never let go of me

And I can see a light that is coming for the heart that holds on
A glorious light beyond all compare
And there will be an end to these troubles
But until that day comes
We’ll live to know You here on the earth

Chorus:

Yes, I can see a light that is coming for the heart that holds on
And there will be an end to these troubles
But until that day comes
Still I will praise You, still I will praise You

Day 1 in NYC - DO YOU!!

So today is my first day in NYC and so far I'm having a blast!

As soon as I stepped foot off the plane I felt the charge....ok, well maybe I'm being a bit dramatic. But getting on the NE Corridor to Penn Station just brought back all kinds of memories and took me back to a time in my life where I did my thang...

Which is why I wanted to come to NY this week. I'm starting to feel like I'm losing my mojo...like I'm getting to comfortable with things the way they are. I'm comfortable with getting in my car and driving around time. Not having to think, not having to figure things out. Not having to hustle. I just wanted to go someplace where I had to think on my toes again.

When I got to NY I could feel the energy. Everything felt the same as if I had never left it. All of Penn Station was in the same place, it smelled the same, it looked the same. My first stop in NY was my Ben's Pizza on Spring & Thompson. They have the best pizza around imo. They hadn't changed a bit either. Although they do lose one cool point because they no longer having fountain drinks (grape drink and coupon). That place used to be my hangout spot for lunch when I used to work at AIVF on Houston, so it felt good to be back there. For all you NJ/NY'ers who are longing for that REAL NY pizza, here's a picture:

There it is...

And there it went....

I tried to get a picture of the slice before I started eating it but I couldn't help myself. I just had to dig in. The white stuff on the plate is the powdered sugar from my two zeppoles, which were also always part of my routine. :-)

After my lunch, I went ahead and checked in my hotel. Boy is it TINY! Here are some pictures but I don't think the pictures even do justice of showing just how small this room is...

I wish I could've taken a pic of the shower but the bathroom is so small I can't get a good shot of the shower withiut stepping into the toilet. But aw well, I'm not complaining too much. It's a place to lay my head. And it's just for me so it works.

So after resting for a little while, I caught up with a friend of mine named Rich Chew. Rich was an actor in one of my first short films, Soul Connection. He invited me to come with him to a bible study for models. It was really good. I'm glad I went. Maybe I'll have to share more insight on it later because I'm getting increaingly sleepy.

All in all, I'm having  a good time. And what I love most about this trip is that I have wing me to do no agenda. I go wherever the wind takes me and in the meantime it's allowing me to DO ME! I get to set my own pace and chart my own life--not my schedule. Tomorrow I'm supposed to be having dinner with my friend Priscilla. I also make walk through Central Park, pay a visit to the MET  and take in the day.

I"ll keep you posted. Bur right now I'm pooped! I'll give you another recap tomorrow. Peace and G'night!

Post-Election Thoughts

I know it's been 4 days but I'm still in awe over Tuesday night. When I see certain pictures of President-Elect Obama I get chills and the tears well up. When I see pictures of his girls I feel an even greater sense of pride because I feel like those little girls remind me of me when I was younger. When I see those girls I see my niece Zharya and every other little black girl with press and curls and cornrows. Wow. When I saw him hold his first press conference yesterday a couple of times I felt like I should pinch myself to see if this was really for real. I'm glued to the TV everyday because I want to know his every move. I'm not so concerned about what kind of puppies he's going to get, but I do want to know who's

going to be in his cabinet. And I'm anxious  to see what kind of moves he makes during this transition period and which policies he plans to implement when he first gets into office. He seems to be very smart, but I'm still very cautious. Times are really tough right now, and everybody is putting a lot of expectations on this one man to be the answer. I haven't bought into the hype that he's the Messiah, but I just pray that he doesn't disappoint. Either way, I feel so privileged to be alive during a time when history was made.

It's so interesting, when I was in college and became an African American studies major, I went through a period where I was very vocal about certain issues. Especially issues that had to do with women or blacks in the media. These were issues that I felt very passionate about and I didn't have a problem getting into heated debate over whether or not the  latest McDonald's commercial was racist because they had black people dancing in it. I remember attending a small protest on my school lawn because they were getting ready to take away our minority scholarships. I remember working for our black campus newspaper and feeling like I was a part of an organization that was contributing to the thoughts of young black students. I remember attending the Million Man March with a group of my friends. And even though I have to admit that a part of us selfishly went so that we could see some men'ses, I do remember that by the time we left we felt like we were a part of history. 

Sometimes I feel like when I became a Christian that that part of me disappeared. I guess I felt that in God's kingdom there was no room for black consciousness. But now I'm starting to see that I don't have to leave my intelligence and my pride at the door for the sake of my faith. I can love God and still celebrate who I am. But with that I sometimes feel like I've lost that urgency and awareness that I had during my college days.

One thing I regret about that election night is that I didn't do anything special on election night. There were people gathered down at the King Center that night and I wish I was there. If this were 14 or 15 years ago (ouch, was I REALLY in college 15 years ago?? :-(...) I so would have been there. As I sat and watched Obama's victory speech, I thought about the Civil Rights Movement, specifically the March on Washington. My parents didn't go to the historic march. I'm not sure why they didn't go, but as I sat watching CNN the other night I thought how awesome it must've been for those people at Ebenezer Baptist Church and at the King Center to tell their kids and their grandkids for generations to come that they were there. I missed that opportunity, so I think I'm going to try to do my best to make it to inauguration. It's the least I can do in marking such a historic moment of my history and America's history....

Other post-election thoughts...

• the results came in pretty quick. I really didn't expect to know who the next president was until the next morning because I thought it would be so close. Well surprise, surprise! Way to go USA!
• I'm also blown away by the enthusiasm of people around the world. I'm not sure why they're so excited, he's not their president? I guess the historic moment is not lost even on foreigners. But that's pretty cool.
• I think I said it before but McCain gave a really cool concession speech. He's a cool guy.
• I think it sucks how the Republician party is really throwing Sarah Palin under the bus now. I wasn't a big fan of hers since her RNC speech. But just a week ago, Republicans were hailing the Alaska governor and telling the world how wonderful she was and how prepared she was to take office. Now all of a sudden she supposedly doesn't know that Africa is a continent, according to her own party? The same party that still backed her up when she said she could see Russia from her backyard? Sheesh! I don't think that's very fair to her. On the same token I don't think it says very much of her to be calling debate preppers "jerks" in all the national media. Aw well, so much for party loyalty. 
• It touches me to see that so many young people turned out to vote. I was watching the news one night and they were showing some students from Georgia State who walked from campus up to the state capitol. Black students and white students alike, they were soooo excited. When I see them so excited it makes me feel like in another sense this is their president. How exciting. 
• I still get a little nervous about his safety. Please keep praying for the president and his family, even if you didn't vote for him. As Christians, we always teach that we should pray for our leaders. I prayed for Bush even though I didn't vote for him and didn't agree with most of his policies because that was still my president, so let's continue the tradition of prayer...
• Also, when is D.L. Hughley Breaks the News gonna get cancelled??? That show SUCKS!!!
• Is it just me or is President Bush looking REEEEAAALLLL happy these days? When he gave his speech acknowledging Obama's win, he just looked real light-hearted, like he's counting down the days til he's up outta there. I often feel kinda sorry for the guy. It's gotta be tough to be the president, especially when everybody seems to be blaming you for everything. I mean how would you feel if everytime you turned on the TV or radio there was somebody calling you an idiot or incompetent? I remember looking at Clinton during his 2nd term inauguration and thinking "Wow, he's aged a lot in the last four years." I think the same thing has happened to Bush as well. Something happens to men when they become president. They turn kinda raggedy looking. Presidency brings on lots and lots more gray hair and wrinkles in a very short period of time. Not that gray hair and wrinkles make a person look raggedy but they just like worn and tired. I guess being the leader of the free world will do that to you. It'll be interesting to see what Obama looks like in 4 years.

One thing I can say about the Obama camp is that they were (and still are) very hip to the pulse of young America and to the power of the internet and social networking. So much so that they even have a Flickr photo album of Obama and his family on election night. So if you want to see more of the behind-the-scenes pictures like I have posted here, go to Flickr and you can see the Obamas as they await the election results.

Ok, that's it for now. I have to go get a grip on the fact that I was in college 15 years ago. Geez, I'm getting old......

Empowerment

I feel so liberated. Empowered.

A couple of weeks ago I told Khalilah that I want to become THAT customer. You know, the one that actually fills out the surveys and turns them in. The one that actually calls the manager to complain about bad service or to celebrate good service. Well, this past Tuesday afternoon I went to Party City on Roswell Rd. to pick up some birthday balloons for a couple of my co-workers. As soon as I walked in the door the woman behind the counter glared at me with eyes as if to say "Oh, no you di-in't just come into this store." I didn't even do anything and she already had an attitude. She asked me  if I needed a balloon and I told her I was looking for a helium balloon that would be suitable for an adult. In a very nasty tone she informed me that all they had available was what was on the wall. After a little while I finally decided on a balloon, gave her my order and she started to blow up the balloons. As she was curling the ribbon with scissors, another woman came in the door and she gave her a very nasty look. Then the phone rang. She SLAMMED the open scissors on the counter, picked up the phone and said in another nasty tone, "Party City Buckhead." There was a long pause and then she said (still in nasty tone) "No!" and slammed the phone down, angrily picked up the scissors and started slicing the balloon ribbon again. I couldn't believe how she had this major attitude with two customers who hadn't even done anything to her. I felt very uncomfortable being there. I felt sorry for being a customer. If I didn't need those balloons that very day I definitely would have left. I thought about saying sarcastically as I left the store "You have a nice day, now." But I figured I'd just leave. This was actually the SECOND time I encountered this woman at Party City and she had an attitude back then, but Tuesday just took the cake.

At any rate, that service was so bad that I did become THAT customer. I sent an email to the corporate office of Party City and complained. A couple hours later I got a personal call from the manager who told me he would take care of the situation and talk to her. He even gave me his cell phone number and told me that he hoped he could change my mind about shopping at Party City and that if I ever needed anything to give me a call. The very fact that he called me back made me feel very empowered as a consumer. So much so that while I was at it I went ahead and sent an email to TGI Friday's about the great service I DID receive when I went there that same Tuesday night. My server Laury was the absolute greatest so I wrote to management and told them that. So let this be the start of me standing up for my rights as a law-abiding, decent, hard-working American consumer. You can't treat me just any kind of way!!

Speaking of empowerment, many of you have probably heard me complain about the fact that it's hard for me to find good, ACTIVE blogs written by black people. It's been frustrating feeling like most of the blogs that I read on a consistent basis are written by white people. Not that that's a problem. I love white people. Some of my best friends are white. :-) It's just more of a question of where are the black folks who are ACTIVE in the blogosphere? (I keep stressing ACTIVE because I keep coming across certain blogs whose links are defunct or who only actually write on their blog like once a year). With all the studying I've been doing about the Digital Divide it just made me wonder. Well I have to eat my words. I have been finding TONS of black bloggers who talk about several issues that are important to me. There are black folks who are blogging. Consistently. There's A Work in Progress, there's Afronerd, there's AverageBro, DVRepublic (although they're technically not a "black" blog, but they do often write about topics affecting the black community and the media), The Root, and What About Our Daughters. Those are just a few but all of them have been added to my Bloglines so I can follow them everyday and stay informed. Now my Bloglines is starting to reflect more of what I mean by Convergence. It represents my young, single, black, Christian, female, creative self...

Free "Sex and the City"

What an awesome night I just had! This morning I was in my car thinking about how badly I wanted to go see the new "Sex and the City" movie. When could I go? Who could I go see it with? Then the grand announcement came over the radio--Star 94.1 was giving away chances to win tickets to tonight's midnight screening in Tucker. Me and Khalilah were one of the first people at the movie theater as early as 9:30. We had to answer Sex and the City trivia in order to get tickets and I got three of the questions right so we got to see the very first showing of the movie for FREE! And can I just say, the movie was FREAKING AWESOME!!!! FANTABULOUS!! I'd even go see it again. Go grab a bunch of your girlfriends--heck, even grab your boyfriend 'cuz I think there's something in it for him too--and go see this movie!

Summer, Summer, Summertime!

I actually had a good day today. It started out with a trip to the doctor for a routine physical. Apparently I'm in good health. Let me just say that I love my doctors. My OB/GYN is Dr. Felicia Dawson and her office is right across the street from Crawford Long. She is a holistic doctor and gives great advice about eating and lifestyle habits to improve your health, rather than being quick to give out quick-fix drugs to solve problems. My general practitioner is Dr. Dwana Bush, which is who I went to see today. She's located in Buckhead off Roswell Rd. It's a small office but she's great about making you feel comfortable and like she is actually paying attention to you and your health needs, not just trying to rush through to get to the next patient. It's been about 2 years since my last physical, but she seemed to remember me. Even if she didn't really remember me at least she took the time to read my chart and give herself a refresher before entering the room, which meant a lot to me.

At any rate, I got to school and gave two out of my three finals. They seemed to go well. I give the last final tomorrow and then I'll be done for this quarter--well kind of. After that then I have to do my grades (oh, fun). But I've been keeping up with the grades pretty well this quarter so hopefully it won't take me as long as it usually does.

It looks like this summer break is going to be a very busy one for me. The good news is that we don't have to be in the office for 7 weeks. This is the first time since I've been teaching at that school that we'll finally get a summer break. Usually we teach year-round. Two of those weeks I have vacation but the other 5 I have to do faculty development stuff. I've got a lot of stuff planned for those 5 weeks. For starters, I'll be finishing up Faithfully Divided. Shandra gave us the schedule and we should be locking picture by July 8. I'm also editing a project for author Shaunti Feldhahn. I'll be shooting a short with Jon in a couple of weeks and I'm going to do the 48 Hour Film Festival again this year. Then I got an email today from Jon's parent's that they want me to teach a media class for teens as part of this summer program that they're doing, so that should be fun. I'm also going to be doing some research and hopefully writing my first scholarly paper on Online Learning and the Digital Divide (more on that later). It's been my dream for awhile to publish an article in some kind of academic journal so hopefully this'll be the ticket. I'm also revamping all my course curriculum for Quarter 3. So yeah, it'll be a busy summer. I have to make sure I make a schedule for myself so I don't get off track and start slacking.

I'll be moving in less than 3 weeks and so I have that to add to my list of to-do's as well. I'm so looking forward to moving though. June 15 can't get here fast enough, although I dread the thought of actually moving all this furniture...

But hopefully in the midst of all this I'll be able to kick back and enjoy at least a little bit of this glorious summer in Atlanta. 

In the meantime, can you finish the rest of this song?

"Summer, Summer, Summertime! Summertime...time to sit back and unwind...Here it is a groove slightly transformed. Just a bit of a break from the norm. Just a little somethin' to break the monotony of all that hardcore dance that has gotten to be....."

Girls Nite Out

Me and the girls stepped out this past Monday for Girls Nite Out at the Melting Pot. It was fabulous! We had so much fun and we ate GOOOOOD!! If you've never been to The Melting Pot and had the fondue experience, you need to save up your pennies and get there. It is a little pricey, but it is so much fun. It  took us about 4 hours to get through all the courses, but we had so much fun we didn't even realize it had been that long. the prepare the cheese dips and various cooking styles right in front of you at your table and then you get to cook your meats in the various broths. It was so good. The chocolate fondue for dessert was delectable and so was my chocolate fontini! :-) Here's some of the pics...

 
 

Birthday Recap

So yesterday was my birthday. It was a day that started and ended very sobering, with some good stuff in between. It started off at the doctor's office. I had an early follow-up appointment with my OB/GYN to get the results of the ultrasound I had a couple weeks ago to check for fibroids. Well, the good news is I don't have fibroids. But apparently my poor diet and lack of exercise is to blame for my excruciating cramps during a certain time of the month. I tell you, every year is a new reminder that I'm no spring chicken. I read a quote in the doctor's office that said something like if you don't have time to take care of your body, eventually it'll catch up to you and you'll have to take time for illness. How true. So I've got to come up with a plan to whip this ever-aging body back into shape...

I left the office to find a message from my mom singing her own version of the Happy Birthday song. I love when people sing Happy Birthday to me, especially when they create their own renditions, so that was nice.

When I got to work I had flowers from Jon. And then my co-workers did the sweetest thing for me. They know how much I like pound cake so one of the ladies made me a pound cake, put it in a pretty cake box and wrote Happy Birthday on it. And she knows how much I like Fun Dip so she got two giant Pixy Stix (she couldn't find Fun Dip so it was the next best thing) and stuck them into the box. Everyone got me a card and signed it. It was the cutest thing! I just kept staring at it all day. Maybe I'll take a picture of it when I get back to work.

When I walked into my History International Cinema class they all sang Happy Birthday to me--both the traditional version and the Stevie Wonder version, so I got a kick out of that. Then after my night class, I got a call from my niece and nephew in Texas and they sang Happy Birthday. Did I say how much I love it when people sing Happy Birthday to me? :-)

I got lots of texts, emails, e-cards, Facebook and Myspace greetings from friends and family, some of which I didn't even expect so that was wonderful. I must admit though, I was a bit disappointed that no one took me out last night. I don't know, I guess I'm just a sucka for quality time spent with the people I love. And I know I'll celebrate hard on Saturday, but there's nothing like celebrating on your actual birthday too. I guess everyone assumed I would be out with Jon. But I wasn't. Instead I came home last night and made tuna fish and proofread a midterm exam. :-(