Let me get my one real criticism of this film out of the way. Ok. The romance. I didn't need any romance in this film. I would have been happy if the romance had been left out altogether and left for Spike Lee to handle in the prequel or Lee Daniels in the sequel. George Lucas was quoted in a NYT article saying the film's target audience was black teenagers--boys I'm sure. So for the one depiction of love in the movie being one airman's head-over-heels love for an unattractive Italian woman he could barely communicate with was awkward and out of place in the film, and off-putting to me. I just needed to see at least one of the airmen writing home to his sweet Odessa, or going on about how his Caroline smells just like sweet honeysuckle off the vine, or getting letters from Bessie and the kids back home, or tucking a picture of his mother into his vest pocket before leaving on a mission. SOMEthing.  If I was gonna see some love, particularly in a film like this one, I needed a black woman to be the recipient and/or giver of it. The closest thing we got to seeing black love was the one airman who took his picture of Black Jesus on every mission. I actually quite liked that relationship. 

Other than that, I enjoyed Red Tails. It was cheesy and corny and whatever other food-word that connotes being uncool. It was kind of awesome in that way. I totally agree with George Lucas' NYT interview when he says, "They have a right to have their history just like anybody else does. And they have a right to have it kind of Hollywood-ized and aggrandized and made corny and wonderful just like anybody else does. Even if that's not the fashion right now."  Among black films that have made it to the big screen with content quality ranging from the lows of Soul Plane to the heights of The Color Purple, there has to be room for black films with decent-quality content sprinkled with a little cornball. 

Red Tails has made about $48 million since the film opened last month. That's still $10 million shy of the film's budget, but not a bad showing for an all black, non-comedy. Plus, if I know George Lucas like I think I do, aside from a prequel and sequel, I'm sure there are action figures and video games in there somewhere. There is money to be made off this film yet.

No film starring mostly black people would have gotten a $58mil budget without having some historical significance. Hollywood and the mass consumers love a good black-struggle nostalgia film (see "The Color Purple" and "The Help"), but you'll never see a black "Garden State" (one of my favorite movies) because the masses don't care to see depictions of our ever day unless we're on "The Wire" or in a Tyler Perry film (but big ups to Tyler Perry's newest film Good Deeds in theaters Friday, which promises to have me eating my words here--we'll see). I'd love to see dark comedies and mellow dramas like "Young Adult" featuring all black actors on big screens, but as long as good black non-comedies trickle into theaters at barely a film-a-year pace, I rely on straight to DVD films for that. Unfortunately, people say "straight to DVD" like that's a bad thing, but there are many, very well-done low-budget black films that go straight to DVD. Perhaps, just as unfortunate, is the fact that in a post Tyler Perry America, where Hollywood likes a bankable formula, I'm afraid that "Red Tails", which was a good, but not great, movie won't open any floodgates of financial backers for good quality black stories. I hope I'm wrong. At any rate, hoorah and amen for a story about young black men who found pride in working towards and acheiving excellence. 

Oh, and y'all know I can't get through a review of a film featuring an all black male cast without objectifying those men by talking about the eye candy. Too much for a married lady like me to go into, but let me just say this...Ne-Yo has the most beautiful smile in Hollywood and the rainbow of young and older chocolatey goodness presented in Red Tails thoroughly satisfied my sweet tooth. David Oyelowo, oh my. 

Here are most of them in a really funny interview. I HEART Cuba Gooding, Jr. he's so funny. Enjoy!

Did I say David Oyelowo? Ok. Just checking.

"Painter, if you paint with love, paint me..." This song was performed in 1953.

My house is so quiet right now. It's cold and wet outside and my son went down for his nap late, but like a rock. I just finished a major thing on my to-do list and am standing here (yes, standing...as depicted here, I work on my laptop on a high counter, mostly because if I sit, I'm knitting and if I'm knitting then I'm not working down my to-do list...which, technically I'm not doing now, since I'm blogging, but whatever...) looking around my quiet house and I thought about this song by Bjork. I didn't know who she was before this video came out years ago, but I found her so awkward and aswesome in this video and fell in love with her. Now that she has resurfaced in my life, her music will undoubtedly dominate my Spotify playlist for at least a week. At least. 

Happy long weekend! On Presidents' Day, try to find something nice to say about our president, no matter what side of the fence you're on. That's a hell of a post, and any way you look at it, it takes some cojones gigante to even apply for the job. Be grateful you're not them, think happy thoughts, and carry on. 

Isn't she lovely? 

My dreams of becoming a domestic bakerist goddess are within my grasp. My husband, who is from the Caribbean, eats bananas in large quantities. I always buy too many on my trips to the grocery store and inevitably, two or three bananas go bad and I throw them out. He has tried freezing them, but I always end up throwing out frozen bananas to make room for other things in the freezer. 

Since yesterday was Valentine's Day, I thought I'd do some extra special things for him that I had never done before, that I thought he would like. I spotted four over-ripe bananas on our breakfast table, I recalled the two bread pans I bought a while ago to attempt to make everything-free bread for my son who is allergic to everything, and I figured banana bread was a cheap and excellent way to spoil my Island Boy on the Day d'Amour. It was SO easy...

With a fork, I mashed the 4 bananas with 1/3 cup of melted butter, added  1 cup of sugar, 1 beaten egg and 1 teaspoon of vanilla, followed by 1 teaspoon of baking soda and a dash of salt, and added 1.5 cups of flour last. One hour in the oven at 350 and BOOM- banana bread. 

My local radio station is playing Whitney Houston's songs in heavy rotation today. I am happy that she shared her gift with us while she as here. My heart is heavy for her daughter and for everyone who knew and truly loved her. I am feeling a little sad. About as sad as I felt when Aaliyah died and when Michael Jackson died. They are people you always root for and want to see them do well, you know? Each of their stars were rising right at the moment they fell. How hard was I rooting for Whitney's comeback? I'm sad that we will not get to see her rock the red carpet when her next film, Sparkle, premieres in the fall. The past few years have been rough on her. I believe her soul is at peace now. She probably looking down on earth right now smiling at the mark she left that says, "I was here."

I would like to remember her when she was at her best. Her smile, charisma and voice are unmatched in the music industry, yesterday and today. I have heard this song twice today on my car radio. It is a reminder, not only of how beautiful Whitney's voice was, but also that life, for all of us, really is just one moment in time.

R.I.P. Whitney.

I am SO not an old head. Technically...technically...I'm not even in my mid-thirties yet. Still, I hadn't realized that while I'm talkin' about old heads, I am indeed becoming one of 'em. The greyest head there, was obviously still young at heart, and I can dig that. What I cannot dig is how some of the older women there were bringing it to some of us thirtysomethings. I left that party with a new determination to re-evaluate my fitness lifestyle and my beauty regimen. Eye cream, H2O and a little sweat ain't never hurt nobody...except haters.

Sidebar: I really like inserting "haters" into my everyday speech, whenever I can. I'm sure I don't have any haters. Nobody wants to be me, or wants what I have, or if they do (but nobody does), they don't hate on me for it, because, honestly, I'm a really nice person. I'm not one of those people who wnts to have haters so bad that I create them in my head. Still, saying "haters" whenever it's remotely appropriate makes me giggle. And speaking of people who create haters in their heads... 

I took my son out for brunch at Magnolia Cafe South. I thought I had gone wrong as a parent, somehow, when he sat across from me still playing the game he had started while we were waiting to be seated. 

I was relieved when the waiter brought paper and crayons to our tablem,  and my son turned the Touch off and handed it to me saying, "Mom, I'm all done with Angry Birds now, I want to color."

I ran across this meme on Pinterest and knew it would be a perfect chance for me to reunite with my camera. Remember when I use to do a Daily Photo? I'll do my best to bring, at least, interesting photos based on the guidelines set by @Fatmumslim for this game.

Day 1: Your View Today

Anytime you see me online, imagine me standing here, in my living room, back to the TV, facing my kitchen. Yes, I said standing. I rarely sit when I'm at home. I sit when my husband gets home and turns on the TV. Or if I'm knitting, I will sit, sometimes. See that bowl to the right of my laptop? That's my lunch. I had collard greens for lunch today. Usually there's a hot cup of rooibos tea with a bit of cream and sugar there. 

All my photos will be posted on Tumblr.

I need my son to learn how to put a jacket on by himself and put it on a hanger. He goes to a Montessori school, so they demand early independence in children. Everything in the classroom, including the coat rack is kid-sized, and the students are required to take care of themselves and get to work, unassisted, when they enter the classroom.

Zee will be four years old in a few weeks. So far, that knowledge has been enough to encourage him to read more. He's sounding words out left and right. The first time he actually read a word I had written out, I shed two tears inside and praised baby Jesus. He's been talking since before he was two and, although I had hoped he'd be a genius baby and reading by the age of 3, I resisted the urge to buy My Baby Can Read and worked with him the old-fashioned way and it's finally happening!  I'm breaking new books out on him so he can't pretend that he's reading, when he's really just reciting from memory. He totally got away with that for a minute—gave his own self away with the little sly grin on his face as he waited for my high-five after pretending he had read something. Knowing that he will be turning four soon, or in his words, "Becoming a big four year old" has also encouraged him to insist on doing other things for himself, like plugging in the iPod Touch to charge it after he's done playing Spore Origins, picking his own afro, and "reading" more often during his quiet time at home. He is becoming a big boy in so many ways, but in many ways, he is still just an almost four year old.

Today, his teacher told me that he put his jacket on backward and then asked me why he can't put his jacket on properly. I was put off by her question, because the obvious answer is that he hasn't learned to do it yet, and I felt like her question was more like 'Why haven't you taught him to put on his jacket properly?' My answer was, "I'm excited to hear that he got both arms in! That's progress!" Then I gave him a high five, and he was excited to go home and try again after his nap. What I wanted to say was, "He's been taking off his jacket here for two and a half years, why doesn't he know how to put it on the hanger yet?" I'm annoyed by her question, but I'm trying to not let it eat at me, which is kinda why I'm bothering you guys with this whole story. Just writing it is cathartic. He goes to an awesome school, and his teacher is amazing. But her question today threw me. I'm fighting the urge to do dress-drills with my son until he gets his jacket on right this afternoon, so I won't ever have to hear about that damn jacket and hangar again. But I'm not going to disturb his chakras by drilling him like that...and it would be a drill, because I have upset myself over this and my energy just wouldn't be right.

I think I'm an awesome mom. With my son sounding out words and whatnot, I feel quite like a Super Mom. That teacher's question today totally deflated me. Maybe I'm just highly emo today and am reading way more into her words than I should. It happens. About once a month. For that reason, I won't let it color my opinion of his teacher in any way. I think she's awesome. I know that ultimately, we both want the same thing for Zack—to be confident, self-directed, self-motivated and self-controlled at school and in life. Still, I think it might be time for us to have a  little sit-down. Obviously she has some questions, and obviously, I have some too.

Between you and me, I think if my boy communicated more like an average three year old and less like a six year-old, he'd totally get a pass for being a little slow to learn to put on a jacket, but it's cool. Could be worse. I can live with higher expectations for my boy. It's actually great training for him and for me too. Raising this little brown boy to grow up and live in this country, we're both going to have to learn to deal with higher expectations  every step of the way and be ready to exceed them every time. It's gonna be a long road too…it's just a jacket and I'm in blog-therapy over it! Ay, dios mio!

P.S. Should my almost four year old know how to put on a jacket by now? Have I failed at motherhood in some way? I need to know. 

I have managed to scramble eggs and make bacon in the microwave. I have boiled water for tea and even boiled my son's hot dogs in there. Full Disclosure: I boil his hot dogs in there everyday anyway. Don't judge me. The hot dogs are grass-fed and organic and…never mind, go ahead and judge me if that makes you feel good. I don't want to put you off or seem ungrateful as I am happy you are reading my blog. So yeah, hot dogs in the microwave.

For the first couple of days, I made the most obvious choice of seasoned chicken with vegetables in the crock pot and Basmati rice in the rice cooker. Then I found Pinterest. And my whole crock pot world opened up. I found recipes for crock pot meatballs, crock pot cookies, crock pot candy, and crock pot cake! There is a theme here. I don't have a crazy sweet-tooth, but I was surprised and impressed by what people are making with slow cookers. 

Amidst all the recipes, I saw this image of zip locked bags filled with ingredients for crock pot dishes.

This appealed to the part of me that enjoys organizing things  as well as the part of me that enjoys not having to be in the kitchen. Don't get me wrong, I love the process of preparing food, but I seriously have to be in the mood to do it. So when I saw this pin of bags, I knew that I must have somehow been led to Pinterest by my happy-stay-at-hom-mom-but-reluctant-housewife guardian angel. And, to quote Sofia from The Color Purple (Because how am I supposed to ever not quote somebody from The Color Purple?), "I knowed there is a gawd." 

Here are a few recipes (including lasagna, ribs and mac & cheese) that I will definitely be putting into heavy rotation, starting with oatmeal. Oatmeal. I'm going to buy a special little slow cooker just for this. To wake up in the mornings and not have to make breakfast? I'm verklempt... 

Oatmeal

Ribs

Lasagna

Mac & Cheese

Enjoy!

I've been blogging since 2005. Over the years my blog has taken on many forms and the content has changed in waves, but one thing has not changed...I am a constant goof and crazy things happen to me. I post about them in the category, "One Time At Bandcamp." It was fun going through all those old posts. I'll probably do this for other categories from time to time too.

 In the words of THIS guy, "Let's no further then do"...or without further ado, in no particular order, here are my all time fave five what-had-happened-was moments: 

1. This happened because I'm awesome. I mean that sarcastically...but then sort of literally.
   About that time I locked my baby in the house.
2. I told my boss I did number one
   It was totally necessary.
3. Sushi
   About that time I learned that wasabi paste is NOT guacamole...the hard way.
4. So I flashed my neighbor.
   About that time, well, you know.
5. Note to Self: When traveling by air...
   About that time I wanted to put the smack down on some airline byotch.

And just because I had to share this one again, a bonus one about the time I had to use the men's bathroom...while it was in use:

No sir, don't mind me. You go right ahead and pee. I'm just changing my baby's diaper.

Martin Luther King, Jr. understood that people were not going to change fast enough for the social climate to change back then. He got that we are a nation of laws (unfair as they were) and that it is more important to appeal to the courts (white as they were) than to the cold hearts of fellow Americans who were perfectly fine with the way things were. So they fought. And some laws changed. Today, the fight continues and the changes continue. As much as we would love to look to the White House, now inhabited by a black family, and say we are finally looking down from King's mountaintop , it is imperative that we recognize that we are not there yet. 

And that's OKAY. For every 60, 70, 80 year old black person still harboring resentment from growing up and living in perpetual nobodiness, there are just as many or more 60, 70, 80 year old white folks still harboring resentment for the laws that made it possible for blacks to be treated like human beings. And these black and white people have raised children and their friends have raised children, and have very likely imparted their beliefs of racial inferiority or superiority to those children. So for every 20, 30, 40 year old black person who achieves a measurable level of education and success, there are just as many or more 20,30, 40 year old white folks who think their own ability to achieve is threatened by affirmative action. White privilege is alive and very real. Racism is alive and very real. We have made great strides, but we are not there yet.

There might be a mountaintop up there, but we have not seen it. A few more generations from now, maybe hearts and minds will catch up with the laws and there might actually be racial, social and gender equality in the United States. Hope is enough for politicians and activists and citizens to keep fighting and winning awesome, small battles that amount to awesome, big changes. Hope is good for movement and growth and momentum. 

I said all that to say that laws change overnight. People, intellectual values and grand sweeping ideas on race and equality do not. Martin Luther King, Jr. said it best,  "It may be true that the law cannot make a man love me, but it can keep him from lynching me, and I think that’s pretty important.”

I'm just sayin'.

Extra Video Clip! We share our thoughts on Brandy's Performance...

Did you see The Game? What did you think about it? 

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