The HairyKat Chronicles

4:44 Welcome Back Mr. Carter!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 2 Jul 2017 10:38:00 -0700

Welcome Back Mr. Carter! Jay-Z, Sean "Hov" Carter dropped his 13th studio album this past Friday titled 4:44, produced by No I.D. in totality! As a music connoisseur and lover of all things Jay-Z touches, I've got to say Friday definitely felt like Christmas. Don't worry if you don't have Tidal and haven't heard the album yet, the album is set for physical release and will include two bonus tracks!

This body of work is the most intimate release from Jay-Z since Reasonable Doubt. Unfortunately this album is being diminished to gossip as a response to Beyonce's Lemonade album, confirming cheating rumors, but it's soo soo much more than that. The sample heavy album brings back a sound that we've been missing in mainstream rap albums (aside from Kendrick Lamar and Kanye).

Here's my breakdown of each track on 4:44

1. Kill Jay-Z: Track 1 immediately kills the ego that is Jay-Z. He journeys through his past and the purpose of his future, Fatherhood, being a Husband, being a great Friend, enjoying the fruits of his labor. The death to the ego is the beginning of healing. On this track I imagine Jay-Z taking a real good look at himself in the mirror and thinking look at all I've done, from shooting his brother to selling drugs, and look where I am and look what I've become. "How do I enjoy this life without healing the wounds of my past?" which includes him addressing the breakdown in his relationship with his brother Kanye West and his wife Beyonce. The track ends with him saying "Nah Jay-Z, Bye Jay-Z".

2. The Story of O.J.: Track two rapped over a Nina Simone sample is a "million dollars worth of game for 9.99". The song is the realization that as a black man in America, no matter how much green you earn, you're still a black man in America. So don't get too big for your britches. Don't think your celebrity will last forever. It's also a lesson in economics! When I heard this song I immediately wanted to break out a notepad, create a budget, and define and manifest some wealth goals in my life! Jay-Z urges us to invest in our communities and invest in ourselves and create real legacies, where OJ Simpson's legacy is overshadowed by his legal troubles . Our material possessions should be investments and not for pure consumption. Some of the most significant lines on this track is "You want to know what's more important than throwing away money in the strip club? Credit!" "You ever wonder why Jewish people own all the property in America, this how they did it: Financial Freedom my only hope!" ...Wise up folks.

3. Smile: (my favorite song on the album): A story of intimacy paired with a sample of Stevie Wonder's "Love's in Need of Love today", Jay-Z raps about his mother's struggles with being a lesbian but not being out and free, and self-medicating that pain through drug use. This song also hits on the theme of legacy but legacy in a way that doesn't involve wealth, but the freedom that wealth brings, and creating good memories through the freedom of being one's self. Jay-Z dropped lessons in bars about owning your own publishing: " N***** playing for Power/ Till our Music is ours N*****only own Houses/ Ours was f**k you pay me/ Now its I pay you/ put the rest aside for Blue" . The song ends with a beautiful poem recited by his mother about living in the shadows and being free from judgement, including self-judgement.

4. Caught Their Eyes ft. Frank Ocean: Jay-Z urges us to keep our eyes open to what's true and what's not, what's real and what's fake. He touches on his disdain with Prince's family selling the use of his masters to Universal Music Group. To understand the significance of what Hov raps on this track in a few bars, you'd have to understand the huge battle Prince went through prior to his death to gain ownership of his masters in order to control his own publishing.

5. 4:44: The apology. Jay-Z opens up about his relationship with his wife Beyonce. How he wasn't ready for her and who she is as a woman. For all his mishaps as a man. Its rumored that 4:44's title comes from Jay-Z waking up at 4:44 am to record on Beyonce's mic. If this is true, it makes since to me that the apology is the title track. When a man, or human at that, has done something to cause conflict in their relationship, when those things are unsettled, there's a lot of sleepless nights. There's waking up at 4:44 am and turning to your spouse and saying I apologize. This song is the most intimate I've heard Jay-Z. With Beyonce and Jay-Z being so private as a unit, it's a little uncomfortable as a listener to hear all the shit they've been through from miscarriages to infidelity, there's some heart strings pulled in this song. It continues the theme of death to the ego in track 1 as he realizes the exchange of an amazing wife and family, for Becky with the good hair. He publicly weighs what he's giving up in being ratchet lol. He ends the song by realizing the impact of cheating on his legacy with his children. Its beautiful how he metaphorically intertwines the ending of childhood with the ending of his legacy as a great father if Blue ever knew the things he had been up to. Essentially saying, if my Father ruined our family, he isn't as great as I thought he was...if he's fake, than so was Santa and the toothfairy. Deep!

6.Family Feud ft. Beyonce: Jay-Z samples the Clark Sisters intertwined with those beautiful Beyonce vocals. He raps about being a unit, as a family and a culture, and investing in each other, "black owned things" My favorite and most notable lines are "What's better than one billionaire/Two/ Especially when they the same hue as you/ yaw stop me when I stop telling the truth". "Al Sharpton in the mirror taking selfies/ how is him or Bill Cosby supposed to help me" Family Feud, again, this album has a theme of legacy in every song. Al Sharpton and Bill Cosby were two prominent black male leaders in our community. One's legacy rides on exploiting the community and not giving back and the other is a sexual predator, who's idea of giving back is to tour as a speaker and give talks about how to be acquitted of sexual assault. These are figures we all looked up to (not so much Al Sharpton) and look at their legacy. Who's going to take charge? Who's going to teach young men to build wealth? Its like finding out your favorite Uncle that you looked up to as a child, stole from your sick dying Grandma.... Family Feud.

7. Bam ft. Damian Marley: Yas! I have a feeling this will be a single. Jay-Z starts the track with "F*** all this pretty Sean Carter sh**/ N**** Hov!" so you know he's snappin on the song. He's proving that despite being far removed from the new wave of what the rap genre has become, he still reigns king . He's "calling out names" in a less than Kurupt way, but in a way that challenges the thinking of any of these young men that think they've made it, when they've only just begun. He calls them out for not building wealth, for not having a legacy, for celebrating as if they've made it, when they've really haven't done anything yet...for skipping leg day, when they don't run s***" Metaphors galore!

8. Moonlight: Jay-z raps over a Fugees sample "we stuck in la la land/ even we win we gon lose" which is a metaphor in itself based on the title of the song, Moonlight and the "mix-up" (insert side eye) of La La Land winning best picture at the Oscars over Moonlight, when its actually Moonlight that won. As a society, we've seen the work of people of color be overshadowed by their white counterparts and peers. We can't just win off of the strength of our hard work without being snubbed. In this track Jay is telling rappers, don't let them Moonlight you. Don't let them put you in a box of being all the same "with the same flows" and telling you Macklemore gets the best rapper award over Kendrick Lamar.... Don't let them snub you. Wise up, stand out, and win!

9. Marcy Me: Jay-Z samples the sounds of Jose Cid's Todos o Mundo e No nadie mixed with the vocals of the-Dream; he travels home to where he started. He goes home. The song is play on Marvin Gaye's Mercy Me. A view of looking at what's going on around him and within him. I really love the vibe of his song.

10. Legacy: The theme of the entire album starts with sweet little Blue Ivy (is it me or does she have a British accent? lol) asking her Father, "what's a will"...the song includes a sample of Donny Hathaway's -"Someday We'll be Free". Still airing on the side of intimacy and Jay-Z opening up with his struggles with religion because one of his earliest example of a Christian was his Grandfather, a preacher and a molester. Giving the word on Sunday, but living in sin everyday of the week. I think the purpose of Jay-Z exposing such heavy information is to show us how he's come full circle, as a man, in his spirituality, in his marriage , as a father , and coming full circle allows him to create a legacy that isn't tainted by his past. He's letting it all go. He raps about black excellence again and opening our eyes to the opportunities that are before us. We are not our past, we are not slaves, or at least we don't have to be. There's room for us to build a legacy.

I love this album and everything it encompasses. I love the raw realness of Jay-Z. I've always respected his art of storytelling and his finesse as a businessman. But this album feels like his guard is down and the mask is off. He always talks about how he did it his way, and that feels real in this album. I think this album in itself is a legacy especially since he retired like 4 albums ago LOL! It feels like Kobe's last game with the Lakers.

I feel like the response to this album is going to be similar to Beyonce's Lemonade, when people discovered that they're Black. That their wealth doesn't change their experiences of navigating the world with more melanin.

Sign-up for Tidal, get you listen on and tell me what you think of this album!

Nicki versus Remy... The HairyKat Opinion

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 29 Jun 2017 22:24:00 -0700

So we're just going to ignore that I haven't blogged in a year and a half and just dive right in.... Just kidding. That would be rude of me to not say hello before writing my opinion on such a hot topic. Hello readers. I hope everyone's 2016 was awesome and 2017 is going even more amazing.

So I assumed that this beef between Nick and Remy had died down a little but it came back to life this past weekend during the 2017 BET Awards. This past Sunday, Remy Ma broke Nicki Minaj's 7 year winning streak for Best Female Rap Artist. But has the Queen really been Dethroned?

In case you've been living under a rock, I'll enlighten you on the fact that Nicki Minaj and Remy Ma are seemingly no longer on friendly terms. While it looked as if it was all love between the two since Remy's release from prison, It seems as if Remy had been feeling slighted by Nicki and things took an ugly turn.

While Nicki, according to our hip-hop head assumptions, threw subliminal shade at Remy on the track with Gucci Mane titled Make Love, Remy felt no love from Nicki's verse and dropped Shether, a direct annihilation of all things Nicki Minaj (GASP...too far...that was really dramatic...but you get the point).

Shether made everyone's headspin, leaving everyone to believe that Remy was the new hip hop queen, especially because Nicki remained silent for weeks before dropping No Frauds featuring Lil Wayne and Drake. (We're going to ignore Remy's second diss track title Another One...😒)

Now that you're all caught up, I decided to chime in on my take on this whole beef. Is rap beef old, absolutely not. There was Jay-Z versus Nas, Jadakiss versus Beanie Siegel, Tupac vs. Biggie, Tupac versus the Entire East Coast, to name a few; so in a way it's actually pretty exciting to hear two female rappers go at it from a hip-hop culture perspective. However, I stand pretty disappointed that while male rappers can co-exist in the industry and have camaraderie, we only really get to have one successful female rapper at a time (but I'll save my soapbox moments about sisterhood for another post)! Anywho, all over social media there's Team Nicki and Team Remy and who's winning and who's losing so here's my take on it all.

#TeamNicki - Remy in her current status cannot compete with the brand that is Nicki Minaj point, blank, period. While Nicki has reigned superior over the best female rapper category for years, she's more than music. She's makeup, fashion, culture, liquor, fragrances, I mean endorsements growing out of those buns of hers. Nicki has been very strategic and creating a lane for herself in not being pigeon holed into making rap/hip-hop music, but she also has pop records that has made her a worldwide commercial artist. Is she an amazing rapper...eeh (insert Kanye Shrug)...She makes hits! She rides on billboard! She's a great entertainer. Her fanbase runs deep! Despite how or what I think of her lyrical abilities (not a hater, I own her entire discography), she's a global superstar and an inspirational and reputable business woman. That's an automatic win for her despite what Lil Kim or anyone else has been saying about her for years! Style stolen or not, fake butt or not, she will win every single time. Just ask Ms. Ellen.

#TeamRemy - With Nicki Minaj being a trained entertainer, as a lyriscist, she could never touch Remy. Remy is a lyricist. Remy is hip-hop. Remy is the streets. Her time away delayed her opportunity to reach Nicki Minaj stardom, but she came home hungry. Right out the gate, she joined the Love and Hip Hop brand, making sure true hip-hop fans didn't forget her and her talent while securing a bag or two. Remy is a beast, point blank, hands down. Remy as a lyricist is what early Nicki, mixtape Nicki had potential to be, lyrically (not musically, there's a difference). I think the world recognizes that. I think BET recognized that, and that is why she won best female artist for 2017...I actually don't know what the accolades are for winning the award but I think Shether is what did it for Debra Lee and friends.

If we break this beef down by song, by lyrics, by what is hip-hop culture, what is a battle, Remy Ma wins hands down every SINGLE time (even with that 2nd diss track); buuuuuuuuut, if we're talking marketing and branding and commercial artistry, and making music, and hit records Nicki will win every time. I could be wrong, but I feel like Remy Ma will always be compartmentalized into a box that won't allow her to have the same global notoriety that Nicki has. Remy doesn't appeal to the masses in the way that Nicki does. Is Remy doing numbers, yes, Nicki Minaj numbers not so much....In the entertainment industry talent seems to be going further down the list. It's more of, do you have or are you a brand, how many social media followers, can you push this product and I'm not talking fit tummy tea and teeth whiteners either!

With that in mind, when it comes to these diss tracks and nothing else. I'm sorry, but there is no team Nicki. I feel like Nicki cowered in her response to Remy because, one she took to long and two she had features on the track (and the video, come on Rah!) which is a no-no in the realm of rap beef/battles, but while Remy made Shether a hot track, Nicki made No Frauds a hot song, a commercial success, and that is seemingly winning, until you listen to Remy lyrically obliterate Nicki!

Are you #TeamNicki or #TeamRemy ?

Just as a head's up. The HairyKat Chronicles is back. I'll be blogging again, so subscribe and tell a friend!

*Disclaimer - I do not own the music or videos posted below. They are only used as reference to the songs mentioned in this blog post.

Gucci Mane ft. Nicki Minaj - Fake Love

Shether - Remy Ma

Nick Minaj ft. Drake and Lil Wayne - No Frauds

Remy Ma's Acceptance Speech

TaTa Summer 2015

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 3 Sep 2015 22:40:00 -0700

Most attribute the last day of summer to Labor Day, others actually follow the calendar, but me, I consider summer over the day I'm back at work full-time in real shoes and clothes as opposed to flip flops and beach cover alls that I magically wear as a dress!

It went by so quickly but it definitely a good time. Let's recap some of my summer highlights from my fav songs to places I visited.

June

I kicked summer off with my birthday party at The Room in Hollywood! I originally wanted to have an event where people didn't have to dress up, could listen to 90s RnB and rap, and dance the night away. After making several calls and deciding that spending $1000 or more on celebrating myself despite how awesome I am wasn't the best idea; The Room was perfect for what I wanted. It's not the largest venue but I was able to host close to 20 folks in a private section for (insert dramatic gasp) $150! I had such a good time and so did my friends! so much fun that they've been trying to get me to go back! (Btw its $300 for bottle/drink service; essentially you don't have to get a bottle your guests can just order $300 worth of drinks buuuut they need to hand you cash so I would plan ahead)

Here's a pic of some of us! I blurred everyone's faces since this is a public forum

That same weekend my son's class decided to go roller skating for their end of school year celebration. We met up at Moonlight Rollerway in Glendale. I liked that there was no fee if you weren't skating but disliked paying $5.00 to rent a walker for my non skating child who was hilariously frustrated with his inability to skate. All n all in was a fun day! Moonlight is one of the last roller rinks hanging around LA that I know of so if you want to get on wheels check em out!

Check out Kayden and his expensive walker rental at Moonlight Skating Rink 😂😂😂

Next stop was Las Vegas because what's summer without a Vegas trip? We flew Southwest and ended up having our flight delayed 3 hours. I got a flight voucher though! I ended up staying at my fav place Harrahs and since it was my birthday and since my Friend and I were so polite to the front desk clerk at 3 am during EDC weekend, where I'm sure htoel guests were not on their best behavior, she upgraded us from some double queen bed room to a Penthouse Suite that had 3 beds, two jet powered tubs, a living room, dining room, and bar! It was such an amazing room and I had so much fun as usual! I'm learning that you can't do a big entourage of folks on trips 3-4 girls max. This time it was just My friend Britney and I and we had a ball! So much so that I'm going to leave the Vegas recap here and just share a few pics lol

We actually didn't take very many pics for

many reasons...

Did you know 5 am is happy Hour?

I actually fell asleep in the tub

Me after my tub nap

Next I hit up some of the concerts during BET weekend. I got to see Miguel Who I love , perform a set of his songs off his Wildheart Album which is out now! If you're in to like an eclectic funk, r&b, new school Prince type music then this album is for you! There's a lot of religious elements to some of the songs that I find rather interesting ;lyrics that pertain to lost Angels, lost souls baptized through love making...Miguel's lyrics are actually pretty deep. I find myself experiencing his songs rather than just listening to them! I enjoyed every second of the show! I think I was in a trance! There's still bits of the show that are engrained in my memory like the way he danced, the way he remixed some of his popular songs, his clothing. It was probably on the list of fav concerts. FYI ( my fav songs on the album are gfg, flesh, the valley, nwa ft kurupt. Oh and Hollywood dreams!) I listen to this album almost every single day

Here's some photos I stole from Miguel's page because mine weren't as good minus his set list... That's my amateur photo of me creeping on Miguel's stage plans lol!

^^^^ Wildheart album cover!

In between the BET concerts I stopped and had sushi with my friend Millie at Yen Sushi in Culver City at Westfield Mall; it was about 1 on a Saturday Annd happy hour honey! For about 8 bucks each we got a ton of food and it's super delicious. My only gripe is that they were out of champagne and sucked at making white wine spritzers but they did try! I just needed my bubbles dang it! If you do go and not interested in happy hour because you're just balling like that I highly recommend the BBQ Spare Rib roll! It's probably one of the best things I've ever tasted!

Next we hit up the Kendrick Lamar x Snoop x NWA/ Ice Cube concert which also featured TDE artists Ab Soul and Schoolboy Q! Kendrick slayed as expected. I def wanted his set to be longer but he wasn't the headliner. I've seen Snoop before and he usually performs with a live band which makes his shows so much fun! he didn't this time but he was ok. He had so many people on stage that I started getting confused and my energy died alot/instantly when he brought that Bird guy on stage I don't know his name but he sings that good morning to you song... and he's popular on social networks. It was all so confusing. Anywho Ice Cube closed the show and brought out RBX, Mc Ren, and Dj Yella and at one point Cube and his son switched and I had no idea lol! It was a good show and a really good time!

me in my concert gear

After the concert, the next morning we hit up brunch at Pann's in Ladera! Pann's has Champagne brunch every Saturday and Sunday starting at 9am I believe. It's one of my fav breakfast spots! Champagne brunch is only $6.95 too! That's like the cheapest champagne brunch in town and they are super generous with their pours! I can't tell you much about their food because I get the same thing every time I go! Fried Pork Chop breakfast! It's my fav and I refuse to try anything else! My son has had the nuggets which are identifiably real chicken pieces as compared to some other nugget manufacturers. All jokes aside they just make good homemade feeling meals but I love my fried pork chops and I'm sticking to them! There's always a wait at Pann's! For faster service nab a seat at the counter!

July

Summer was pretty chill! I took a family trip back to Vegas! We stayed off the strip at the Downtown Grand Hotel! (for details see my previous post Single Mom Travels)

We went to Knott's Soak City! Had a ball.

I tried a new restaurant called Creme de la Crepe. There's several locations I went to the Culver City one. Check yelp for coupons! They also have champagne brunch for $15 AND they time it! You get an hour to pour em back! Doesn't matter if you and your friend and like two other folks are the only ones there... Depending on what you're in the mood for I wouldn't go there for Champagne Brunch but the food was amazing! I got a salmon and cream cheese omelette with asparagus, potatoe au gratin, salad, and a baguette! Can we say mouth party???

August

In August we had my sons bday party! He turned 7 wooohoo!! I was going to blast the party vendor but I'll tell you my experience without naming/ruining someone's business. The party was at Del Aire park in Hawthorne, it's a beautiful space with shade. I paid $81 bucks and had access to 8 tables a bbq pit and space to put a jumper! The park has a list of vendors with the proper insurance so I used a company they recommended! I ordered close to $300 bucks worth of machines: cheese, snow cone, hot dog warmer + jumper and balloons with a park recommended vendor. The owner was pretty pleasant over the phone. I put a deposit down and all was good. I called her back the Thursday before the party because I didn't know my final balance, wanted to add balloons to my order, and hadn't received an email for a final invoice (we transacted through PayPal) I called the next day too... Finally she tells me my balance. The next morning the day of the party she calls to confirm what time she should have her people deliver. I say 10 am she agrees. Felt great. Day was going pretty smooth. I get to the park at 9:30 and started setting up. 10 comes and no vendor. She told me previously that it takes about an hour for the cheese machine to warm so I should get it set up in advance so my guest wouldn't have cold cheese. Cool no prob. With this in mind at 10:15 I call and check the status and she told me her driver was running late. Ok cool. 11:00 comes and they hadn't shown. At this point they were an hour late and I started to feel scammed because I had already paid my balance in full the previous night. (Silly me) by 11:15 I'm blowing up this woman's phone and she wouldn't answer. I was near tears trying to figure out what to do. I still needed to pick up the cake and set-up for the party. She finally answers after my 12th call (not exaggerating) it's about 11:40 at this point. She didn't apologize when she answered and actually was nonchalant about her driver being close to two hours late. I was upset and start yelling she asked me to calm down and I asked her if she would be upset if she was in my position. She then said she was canceling my party. I found myself begging her not to it was my child's birthday! She said she wouldn't accommodate me with a refund of any sort but would bring an additional machine at some point in the day. Her driver which ended up being her teenage son and his friend (son was cordial, friend was beyond rude) showed up at 12:10 (party started at 1) looking like they just rolled out of bed delivering items in flip flops, dragging ass, no apology, just rolling eyes and nasty attitudes. It was embarrassing to have to beg someone to do their job but I didn't want my child to be disappointed on his bday, so I swallowed my pride, stopped complaining, and hoped they'd showed up, which they did about 45 minutes before the party started. It was a horrible feeling and a horrible position to be in. She did send an additional machine at 4:30 but the party ended at 5 so I sent it back. The communication seemed to be poor internally as well because she text and called me all night asking me to return her machine which I was never in possession of. Her son had it! It was just awful. But my son enjoyed his day and that's all that mattered. Her products were great but service sucked. Hopefully it was a one off and other customers are treated better.

Jumper with a custom Sonic Banner

My son and I also went to Mulligans in Torrance where they have minature golf, laser tag, boat paddling, go cart racing, and an arcade. I only spent $32 bucks for an entire day of fun. Laser tag is my new favorite thing by the way! I had way too much fun!

Kayden getting geared up for laser tag

I attended Our Family Dinner again this summer. For those new readers Our Family Dinner is an event where a bunch of folks that you don't know become your family through food and fellowship. It's a technology free non business card networking type event with the sole purpose of building family and friendships. This year it was held at STK. Let me tell you for the first time in life I had grits without sugar and boy were they tasty!

I didn't get a pic of the food but here's a pic of me with my friends at Our Family Dinner.

My next stop was at The Strand House in Manhattan Beach! The view was perfect! Food was pretty ok but service was sub par. It wasn't that crowded but you just never know people's workload so you tip anyway... Nonetheless, It was a fun time hanging with the girls.

They did accommodate the mediocre service with these pretty babies below

Here's a pic with the girls... I blurred their faces for privacy purposes but shared because I like my outfit...

I ended the summer with my good friend Millie at the Hollywood Bowl. We went to see Moses Sumney/ St. Vincent/ Erykah Badu. I was a little up in arms over St. Vincent performing longer than Badu. Don't get me wrong St Vincent put on a show that was visually stimulating and delightfully symbolic. However, I felt like traditionally the newer artist gets less show time. She performed about 14 songs for about an 1 hour and a half to Badu's 1 hr set. I can watch Erykah Badu perform all day and night. She's funny/witty/ authentic/ and real. I wanted more of her but it is what it is. I do love love love the Hollywood Bowl you can bring your own picnic set-up which includes ding ding ding Drank! We loaded up on Trader Joe's goodies and enjoyed an evening under the stars. No one really knows how hard Millie can party until music comes on! We always have so much fun! It was the perfect way to end the summer...outside, enjoying good music in the company of my good lifelong friend.

I feel blessed in every opportunity that I'm allowed to enjoy life to its fullest potential. It is a commodity that I pray I never take for granted.

Saying goodbye to summer is tough but sweaters and boots and scarves make it so worth it! I love me some Fall fashion!

My Summer Jamz:

Miguel - FLESH

Rich Homie Quan - Flex

Sza - Babylon

Drake -Hotline Bling

Sevyn Streeter - Boomerang

Trey Songz - Don't Play

Kendrick Lamar - King Kunta

WTF Popeyes?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 4 Aug 2015 23:59:00 -0700

Have you seen the new Popeyes commercial for "rippin' chicken"?

Pause let's rewind a bit. YES I am blogging about Fried Chicken! Let's make that clear!

So I'm sitting on the couch and this commercial comes on advertising "rippin chicken" ... Now I don't know about yaw but my life has been spent as a fried chicken connoisseur and for me Popeyes is pretty top of the pops (I'll tell you my #1 favorite spot later)

It was just this evening that I was innocently driving home thinking about the yummy broccoli I was going to eat for dinner when the scent of Popeyes from the LaBrea and Centinela location slapped me in the face trying to deter my weight loss goals with the spokeswoman's voice in my head telling me to head on over to get one of her shrimp baskets but my waistline said "biatch please you got goals" so I gased it like a bank robber in a high speed chase and made it home safely and unharmed from that tasty chicken lmao but then like I was saying this commercial comes on for "rippin' chicken"

It's a fn' hand , like "what did the five fingers say to the face?" Dave Chappelle as Rick James Hand, it's five chicken strips connected together like a hand. Like word? I trusted them!: To bring me chicken shaped chicken not a human hand. Like wtf Auntie Shirley (is that her name? The spokeswoman?) like did they not see the Kentucky Fried Rat story ? That was shaped like a rat but was DNA tested and found to be chicken. The fact that they DNA tested the chicken made it clear that I shouldn't eat there! Like ever! And now this hand shaped chicken?

Why would i care if it comes with Cajun fries and that beautiful biscuit? I don't want hand looking chicken in my plate. I don't want my food waving goodbye to me before I demolish it!! Why?

Do I need to start a petition on change.org? A "go fund me" for detached chicken tender awareness?

Just why Auntie Shirley?

Here's a pic so you can gage how dramatic I'm being ! Lmao!

And here's a reference to KFC's rat chicken

Why?

BTW : if you live in L.A. (The real L.A.) The best Fried Chicken is from Louisana Fried Chicken on Manchester and Normandie!

It's not like the other Louisana Fried Chickens

This particular location stays crowded so the food is always fresh but there are rules

1. It's always crowded

2. Cash only

3. The chicken is not kid friendly (the skin is a bit spicy)

4. Be prepared for "hustle man" to try and sell you cd's , dvd's , scented oils, , t-shirts, church suits still in the cleaner's plastic on the safety pinned hangers!

5. Don't make eye contact with anyone

6. Try really hard not to finish your order of fries on the way home

Anywho... Popeye's marketing execs have lost their damn minds!

A HAND!

Single Mom Travels (it's kind of a long read, so grab a snack!)

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 30 Jul 2015 00:32:00 -0700

Well Hello There Readers!

I've been on a writing hiatus but I've got the sudden urge to blog.

A few weeks ago I was hanging out with my son and realized that as far as I'm concerned we have a pretty unique experience in terms of the way we go throughout our daily lives. I realize there's this stigma that as a single parent life becomes so limited and in many aspects this has proven true. However, I've also discovered my own ways to live and provide my child with a happy fulfilling life.

There is nothing that can truly distract my child from the absence of his father, but as his mother I've vowed to make his childhood experiences as meaningful as possible in the hopes of presenting to society a well rounded, open minded, curious, fearless, adult.

With all that being said, traveling alone and/or with your child are one of those single parent stigmas I was talking about. It seems as though as a woman I should live in fear of the world and somehow need protecting and incorporating a child into the formula is just down right unheard of. NOT! I am one to go and see a movie alone, have a meal alone, so the idea of traveling alone didn't really scare me.

I decided to do it, with my at the time 5 year old son. I had this urge to just get out of Los Angeles, out of California. Somewhere close enough in case of an emergency, but far enough to feel like I had a new experience.

I had always dreamed of going to Puerto Rico, so that's where we were headed. I told my mother and she was terrified. I think some of her fears were valid. I was traveling alone, with my five year old son. I don't speak Spanish. I'm a diabetic and what if something happened to me while we were gone, but I could only help but think, that's our everyday reality. At any given moment, when my son and I are together, I could have a medical emergency, and he would be alone to advocate for himself. Its something that can't be prevented. We have precautions, but why limit our lives because of what-ifs?

I made a decision and I stuck to it.

Here is my experience:

Booking the Trip:

For all my travel needs I use www.bookit.com I don't work for them but I should lol! Of all the travel websites I found Bookit.com provided me with the best discounts and deals.

The trips are typically priced out on a per person basis. The website has a "Kids Stay Free" filter that only shows you hotels where "Kids stay Free" so essentially your only up front costs are your Hotel Stay, Your Plane Ticket, and Your Child's Plane Ticket

Our upfront costs for 4 days/3nights came to about $1,500.

Although I was going against the stigmas of traveling alone with a child with no man to protect us, I did admittedly have some insecurities. I knew nothing about where we were going and didn't speak the native language so I chose a hotel that was close (3 miles) from the airport.

So tip #1: Kids Stay Free Travel Package

I prepaid for one of those Van Shuttles to take us to and from the airport. I wanted to limit our vulnerability of traveling alone and obviously being tourists.

Tip #2: Pre-Pay for a shuttle service or check and see if your hotel has an airport shuttle service.

When we arrived in Puerto Rico I was very disappointment in my choice to stay so close to the airport. The hotel was pretty nice but we were in the inner city and Puerto Rico's inner city wasn't very different from Los Angeles, there was poverty and gangs, and traffic lots and lots of traffic. It was far from my expectations but I didn't want to ruin our experience because I was being a snooty tourist.

Speaking of snooty tourist, I don't care where I go, if the bathroom looks suspect I automatically feel icky and uncomfortable. I'm one of those people that won't stay at a hotel that doesn't post a picture of the bathroom on their site. LOL!

We stayed at the Verdanza Hotel which is in Isla Verde, Puerto Rico

Pros: Super kid friendly, the hotel has a pool and splash pad. There's three restaurants inside the hotel. One of which served traditional Puerto Rican food like Monfongo. It was within walking distance to the beach.

Cons: This complaint is specific to my experience. The week we travelled to Puerto Rico, there was a prestigious beauty pageant going on and some sort of Professional Basketball league award ceremony. Our flight got in at 11 am and we had to wait until the 3pm check-in time because the hotel was so full. We literally sat in the lobby from about noon to 3pm. In hindsight I would've checked my bags with the front desk and explored, but I was still feeling some of my insecurities with such a new experience. (We did get to hang out with some of the Professional Athletes in the pool once we were all checked in, so that was a bonus lol, for mommy at least!)

Would I stay there again? Absolutely!

But tip #3 make sure your flight time coincides with the hotel's check-in time, especially if its your first time traveling to that area with your little one.

Kayden in the pool at the Verdanza Hotel

Kayden playing in the Splash Pad

Who's your kid?

I quickly learned that speaking Spanish wasn't a requirement in Puerto Rico. Althoughh it was refreshing to see people that looked like me with those beautiful accents, we were fine. We did pick up on some words. A lot of the natives were adamant about us at least trying to speak Spanish! The free lessons were awesome!

However, as we settled in I started to notice that the main travelers were college students and couples on vacation....My son is pretty mellow (and by mellow I mean a high energy extrovert with the gift of gab!) He's not the tantrum type of kid, so that wasn't my worry. He's loud, and silly, a kid! So I started to worry that he would disturb people who were travelling kid free. I quickly got that out of my head. It was his vacation too. It was his experience. It was his memory to hold onto or utilize to make new ones as an adult and so I just let him be him.

One of my other concerns was drinking on the trip. To some that's a huge no-no. I'm more of a social drinker and will have 1 or 2 drinks occasionally, but come on it was Puerto Rico, the land of rum and Pina Coladas. I did indulge. I didn't get drunk, but I did drink, and so did Kayden. He had about 6 mugs of chocolate milk too many (total of 8; hey don't judge he was on vacay lol) and threw up all over a restaurant table. I was startled and concerned and quite frantic because this was the first time I had experienced real kid throw-up (gross I know) he had never thrown up before. I mean he did as a baby all the time but not as a child. I felt like I got a glimpse of 21 year old college senior Kayden. It was an intense situation. It was quite the experience to say the least! and Now I know I'm going to have to monitor him once he turns 21, hell 14, because that kid is a party animal lol!

Tip #4: Let go a little so it feels like vacation, but not so much that someone gets sick, or that you're too incapacitated to care for your child (in my case, vice versa)

The Experience is Most Important:

I honestly wasn't impressed with the inner city beaches, they were prettier than Venice Beach but not $1,500 prettier. I found myself in a bit of a rut, not wanting to be confined into only hanging around our hotel. I didn't know what to do. I didn't really plan anything or research ahead of time so I felt kind of stuck.

We found a mall and our hotel shuttled us there and picked us back up. We found a movie theater in the mall and watched Mr. Peabody & Sherman for which I only paid $9.00 for two movie tickets, two bags of popcorn (we typically don't share) and two sodas. $9.00!!!!

When we returned from our excursion we headed back to the pool. We met these really cool young ladies on break from school. They were from New York. They were super sweet to Kayden and I. They told me about an expedition boat trip. It was the next day. I rushed out of the pool to the hotel lobby and hoped that we could get in the trip. We did!

It ended up being a booze cruise and Kayden was the only child on the boat, but the captains (two males, and one female ) took him under their wings immediately!) It was refreshing! People could've been easily annoyed but everyone was super nice. The boat took us to a Private Island called Icacos. It hadn't dawned on me that Kayden and I would have to exit the boat. Neither one of us can swim. (I've admittedly been super lazy about swim lessons) I was terrified, but didn't want Kayden to be scared. One of the Captains actually assisted Kayden off the boat, I had to jump on my own. LOL!

We did it though, the water was so shallow, my fear was a bit embarrassing. We stayed on the Island for about two hours. We snorkeled. Yes we did! Two non-swimmers snorkeled in the OCEAN! We played and just enjoyed ourselves. It was the Puerto Rico I imagined.

For the two of us the Excursion was $96 for me and $89 for Kayden. This included being picked-up from our hotel; lunch, unlimited drinks, time on the Island, we stopped at another Reef as well on the way back and we were picked up and shuttled to our hotel and plus they played (blasted) really good music on the boat: Michael Jackson, Prince, Smokey Robinson good!

Tip #5: Research and plan your experiences in advance or visit the hotel experience desk to find fun things to do that are kid friendly (kind of)

Had I known better I would've planned our itinerary much better but it still ended up being a great first experience travelling so far away with my child and by myself..Kayden's favorite part you ask? ROOM SERVICE: PANCAKES of course!

Here's some more photos of our Puerto Rico trip.

the picture below is the night of the Chocolate Milk incident ....

This is some traditional Puerto Rican Food called Monfongo...it was really good

This is us on Icacos Island

This is one of the boat captains

This is Kayden with another one of the captains feeding fish in the ocean

This is food from the pool side restaurant in our hotel

This is Kayden talking to strangers...that he adopts as his friends

After our Puerto Rico trip, I've vowed to take him everywhere he wants to go whether it's in Los Angeles or requires a plane ride. The best thing I feel like I can do as a mother for my child is show him a world outside of his own!

Where-to Next?

We visited Hawaii. Using bookit's Kids Stay Free filter, we ended up staying at a 4 star hotel- called the Hawaii Prince Hotel in Honolulu

Trip Cost Up-Front: Including 4 days/3 nights/ hotel and Airfare + shuttle services: about $1,300

Excursions: We did the Kuoloa Ranch Expedition $270 total which included : transportation to and from the Excursion, a tour of the property which included visiting movie sites such as Jurassic Park and Big Foot, a boat ride to a Private Island, Play time on the Private Island which including a Canoe Ride (Kayden politely asked a man traveling with his family to Canoe him around in the ocean and he did!). I relaxed on a hammock while he played with other kids in the ocean. They also served us lunch.

We also attended Paradise Cove Luau, which included transportation, food, and activities at the Luau. The total costs was $148

Photos:

This is the awesome Dad that canoed Kayden around

This is Kayden and I canoe'ing at Paradise Cove. By far one of the funniest experiences I've ever had!

This is food from the restaurant from our hotel pool

This is the view as we traveled to the Private Island on Kuoloa Ranch

A little while after we got back from Hawaii, Kayden randomly asked to go to Las Vegas for reasons unknown to me. I was hesitant but it ended up being a really fun trip! He's already asked to go to New York City to see the Statue of Liberty, Ride the Subway, and find the Ninja Turtles. He also wants to go to Mexico and eat Cactus Soup....our journey has only just begun and I'm excited for our future. Getting out of the Country on our adventures is going to be a whole new beast for us, but I'm up for it and I encourage you to be as well!

Here's some deets on our Vegas Trip:

We stayed at the Downtown Grand Hotel and Casino. It was a really nice modern hotel. Since I was traveling with my child we did a Monday - Friday trip because I feel like Vegas comes alive on the Weekends, moreso than Weekdays. This actually ended up being much cheaper. I paid $39 a night + tax+ and resort fee.

We flew in thanks to Southwest's "Wanna Get Away" deals our flights were $152 each, but we should've rented a car once we got there. We paid $40 each way to and from the airport. It was $60 total to go to the Strip (Circus Circus) from Downtown. Cab fees got pretty pricey, so we walked around alot!

We spent a lot of time relaxing in the pool. We walked Fremont Street at night and watched the Street Performances (the PG13 ones). You'd be surprised how many kids were there. It was kind of refreshing for me, because I was worried about what I was exposing my child too...

We visited New Orleans Buffet (Gluttony Central!)

We also visited Circus Circus where Kayden got to play the Midway games. My only complaint was Circus Circus' Adventure Dome fee. It was $6-$9 per ride $31 for an unlimited pass if youre over 48 inches and $17.95 if you're under 48 inches. I had never experienced an amusement park that charges by height rather than age. I refused to pay an additional $14 because my 6 year old is 50 inches when he's only going to ride the smaller rides anyway. It was a disappointing experience, so if you have giant children be prepared LOL!

Overall though, it was a rather relaxing trip for Vegas.

Photos:

This was probably the best Chilli ever. From the S+O restaurant inside the Downtown Grand

More Single Mom Travel Tips:

Pack Rat: Buy 1 piece of luggage large enough to fit you and your child's/children's belongings (preferably one with wheels!! The last thing you want to be doing is hauling a hyper kid and heavy bags.

Purse or No Purse: (that is the question): my favorite travel companion is a waterproof case that holds money, credit cards, and if its large enough to fit a phone that's even better ( for pool and water activities, because there's no one to watch your belongings while you play). I also wear a backpack for adventures that require a change of clothes or a a little wristlet for adventures that don't involve water.

Speaking of someone watching your belongings: WATER SHOES: I had this realization at Soak City, in Buena Park. There are so many people with all black old navy flip flops and when you need to remove your shoes to get in the lazy river or water slides, it's kind of a challenge keeping up with them. But water shoes have rubber bottoms so you don't risk slipping and sliding, and you can keep them on!

In case of an Emergency: Write a letter detailing your information and your family's information in case of any emergency to keep in your luggage, or wristlet, or backpack. Or if that's too much, write your emergency contact's phone number on the inside of your shirt tag or your child's shirt and explain to them what an Emergency is and how to get help so that they know when to use it..

Airport/Airplane Distractions: Avoid the meltdowns from boredom and bring a carry-on bag (preferably a backpack your child carries) that has all the essentials of happiness in it. My kid gets screen-time. I brought his Kindle so that he can watch Netflix in the hotel room while I watch the TV. I also brought my tablet to share the TV as well (duh, I saw you judging me for being selfish lol); a sketch pad and pens, video games, headphones, his favorite stuffed animal, and his favorite TSA friendly snack, chips, sealed, unopened! It's vacation, so make both your lives as easy as possible!

Etiquette: We work on manners year long but being on vacation gives you more of an opportunity to show your child how to be polite and kind to people providing you services throughout your entire trip. Give your kid the cash to tip the taxi driver, tell the front desk clerks thank you for their service and teach your child to do the same!, If you do end up staying in the more rural non-touristy areas of your destination, support your street hustlers and performers! Let your child put a few dollars in their bucket. Gratitude for having the opportunity to travel is highly important to me!

The most important tip of them all though is to have fun. We all work so hard. We get up and go to work everyday, surely we deserve to live a little. Life can't just be going to work to pay bills. If you could save $100 to $150 a month for a year you can get away for a bit. Treat yourself, don't cheat yourself.

How did the Cookie Crumble? My take on Empire

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 7 Jan 2015 22:57:00 -0800

The show Empire premiered tonight on Fox.

It stars Taraji P. Henson and Terrence Howard. Terrence plays a music mogul Lucious working to build an Empire/Legacy for his children while being troubled by the transgressions of his past one of which, is Taraji's character, Cookie, his ex-wife being released from jail after doing 17 years on his behalf. He also struggles with the present state of his health ( btw please no ice bucket challenges for fictional characters! he has ALS), which is the driving force behind his ambition of creating a legacy for Empire.

Veronika Bozeman gave us the opening vocals as an Empire Artist, and boy was it beautiful, even when she was made to sing it over!

I found the show to be entertaining although I couldn't help but feel like it was a continuation of the movie Hustle Flow lol. I kid. Kind of, I think it was Terrence Howard's hair! But in all seriousness I'm elated to see so many shows starring African-American casts, especially in a time where race relations have been sensitive and Reality Shows have been prevalent in Black representation of "television". I just appreciate yet another show, a scripted show, with some acting that is award worthy, not TMZ worthy.

I'm also a Gabrielle Sidibe fan, she gave me some glimpses of that witty attitude I'm used to in some of roles like on the show the C Word, so I'm excited to see more of her character and how her role develops as well.

What I liked about it: It went there! Point blank period. It touched on: Interracial Dating, Homosexuality, Homophobia, Life Growing Up In the Hood, Down ass Chick Syndrome, The Music Business, Loyalty and Friendship, Forgiveness, Single Parenthood, the Mother-Son Relationship, the Relationship between Straight Men and their Gay Sons, Homosexuality as a Choice, Sibling Rilvary...the list goes on and this is just Episode I...

I think Taraji as an actress has mastered how to deliver when it comes not shying away from the "shock value" just because the subject matter may be touchy for viewers. I question her acting sometimes, she has like this 4D element about her because she gets so deep into the roles, sometimes I think this is just really her, like maybe she's not acting at all, just following the script lol. There's just this element of realness about her that I appreciate when I watch her in different roles.

I think some people are going to be outraged by some of the scenes, specifically as it relates to the relationship and language associated with the character Jamal played by Jussie Smollett. There were words used like faggot and sissy which, to me would be the equivalent to hearing the word Nigger used on regular television. However, I think these scenes were, raw and real issues as it relates to being Gay and a man of color, when masculinity is defined by a very specific stereotypical prototype in Black Culture. These are issues that are often swept under the rug and I'm glad they are being highlighted on regular television. That's access people. We are giving our youth, our people, access to dialogue by having shows like this on free television!

I'm excited to see how the show develops. I was intrigued enough to continue watching. I really like the music as well. I think Lee Daniels (producer of Precious, and The Butler, and now Empire) and the entire cast has done a fantastic job so far. There's definitely some elements of pain that I'm excited to see unravel as the season progresses.

My favorite scene was when character Hakeem, interacts with his mother Cookie for the first time after being estranged for 17 years which leads him to calling her a Bitch. I believe his logic was that he didn't know her, or we don't know what he was taught about her. Nonetheless, there was animosity towards her and probably, from his perspective, most women because of the breakdown in the relationship with his mother. Anyway, Cookie wasn't having that disrespect and beat the hell out of him with a broom. I clapped! Respect is respect, especially when it comes to your mother!

What I didn't like: I felt like it was too much too fast and some of the transitions between the present and the past were a little confusing. I personally get lost when so many things occur in one episode to the point that I end up boycotting shows during the original airtime and binge watch after the season is done to make sure I didn't miss any details (again, personal problems lol!) . I get it though, we had to be lured in so we were hit hard with a lot of important facts.

Nonetheless,

Cheers to everyone involved in the show! I'm excited and praying for its success!

What did you think?

Things I can't live without -read to the end and enter to win

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 5 Jan 2015 20:56:00 -0800

Hey HairyKats,

Its about that time again for the list of things I have discovered and absolutely cannot live without. Besides consistent hugs from my son, God's forgiveness, and my mother's love, the list of things below are pertinent to my happiness and functioning about in the world!

1. Brow Wiz by Anastasia Beverly Hills - $21 (double sided, brow brush and pencil)- My eyebrows grow very strange so I need a little help. I've officially graduated from the old school Maybelline pencils; you know the two pack of pencils? They come in red? lol Anywho, I've upgraded and I've been trying to contour my brows. My only issue is that I rub my face so much and it comes off my face pretty easily. I've been having to carry it with me in my purse. So if you see me out looking half- angry, half- inquisitive just remind me to re-apply. http://www.sephora.com/brow-wiz-P202633?skuId=1056084

2. La Vie Esta Belle by Lancome -$25-$98 I was searching for Flowerbomb by Viktor and Rolf when I discovered this similar sweet smelling perfume for 1/2 the cost of Flowerbomb. I love the scent of this perfume. I spend most of my mornings sniffing myself....j/k....kind of lol If you like flowery, sweet, elegant perfume, I'd give this one a whiff! http://www.sephora.com/la-vie-est-belle-P375939?skuId=1459999

3. Bath and Bodyworks Wallflowers -$6 I am crazy about creating an atmosphere no matter where I am and it all starts with smell for me. I love Bath and Bodyworks Wallflowers. My favorite is Mango Coconut which I've only been able to find in the stores. I wait until they're on sell and buy 6 at a time. They last for about a month. I like these better than GLADE plug-ins. The scents are stronger. I can smell wallflowers outside my apartment window before I open my front door (there's one in my living room) http://www.bathandbodyworks.com/category/index.jsp?categoryId=22937806&cm_sp=LN-_-Home+%26+Candles-_-Wallflowers+Refills%3A+6+for+%2424&cp=12586994.12936203

4. Big Lots - Everyday Reflections Candles -$4 -$6 As noted above lol I'm insane about scents and I absolutely cannot live without Pineapple Sage candles from Big Lots. They are by far my favorite. I've made trips to Big Lots and have left with a basket full of their entire supply of Pineapple Sage candles. The price is unbeatable and they smell absolutely amazing. I'm obsessed. http://www.biglots.com/p/everyday-reflections-two-wick-jar-candles

5. Canton Kitchen in Inglewood-located at 402 W. Manchester Blvd they have thee freshest "fast food" you've ever tasted and the portion sizes are ridiculous. This place is probably the best kept secret in Inglewood. They've been around for years and they still maintain the integrity of their food and customer service. They also have made-to-order dishes, but the hot plate foods are pretty satisfying. For 6 dollars a plate, you can't go wrong. If you want to know my favorite just walk in the place with me and the nice lady behind the counter will yell it out : medium shrimp fried rice, with a pack of spicy mustard LOL! My son loves the chow fun and orange chicken, and my mother loves the string bean chicken. When we're sick, wor wonton soup from Canton is our go to, and please, please , please don't forget the big pork eggroll with sweet and sour sauce!

6. Self-Help/Spiritually Enlightening Books I don't know if this is what happens at 30 or what I'm obsessed with discovering the deeper meanings to life and what it means to be spiritual being having a human experience. My favorite titles thus far have been Jesus-Deepak Chopra , You are Here by Thich Nhat Hahn, and The Magic by Rhonda Bynes

7. Coconut Oil I swear by this stuff and put it on everything. In my head is an essential to function in life.My favorite brand is Sprouts. I have a jar for my skin and I've recently been using it in my smoothies, so there's a jar for the kitchen as well. It can become a little costly, but all the benefits of coconut oil seem worth all the lathering or oil on yourself.

8. Walgreens Photo Processing - I got to Walgreens for anything that requires photo printing and they almost always have a coupon code. I just made a photobook for my son and printed over 200 pictures for only about $25 dollars. That's a steal if you ask me, especially since no one prints pictures anymore.

9. Inglewood Tires - Everyone needs a mechanic that's authentic. I've been going to Inglewood Tires for years and let me tell you, I never feel like I'm being taken advantage of. Their hours kind of suck. They don't open until 8 am and they close early on weekends but I get it, their a family business. If I need immediate work done they'll let me know. If its something that can wait, they'll tell me that too. They're so honest. I've never felt as secure taking my car somewhere as I do with Inglewood Tires. Its called Inglewood Tires but they are full service. They're located at 635 S. La Brea Avenue (310) 673-1181

10. Gomo's Fish Market- I'm a frequent eater here. You have to get over the aesthetics of the place and focus on the food. The food is made to order and is always fresh. The prices are reasonable. I love this place. I always get the Fried Tilapia Dinner, double fries, but their hush puppies are pretty delicious too! I've ordered family catered meals here too. Takes about 10 minutes for your food to be ready! I'm sure I go at least once a week ( don't tell my Doc).

Well folks, there's my top 10 of things are essential to my happiness. LOL! Follow my page on instagram and tag me in a post and you could win some items from the list above! Find me : @ kat_kreations

Arguments with the Mirror

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 18 Nov 2014 21:12:00 -0800

I've noticed that the past 2 weeks that I've been working out more I've been spending less time in the mirror, all stemming from my being fed up with all the things I've put myself through over the years.

I guess the old me and I broke up....

The last time I remember being thin was at the age of 4. I was so thin that my Step-dad gave me the nickname Pee-Wee, which no one stopped calling me, until I was an adult, an overweight, adult, talk about awkward. I started gaining weight around 2nd grade and I was very aware of it. That's when it started, my arguments with the mirror. I was very aware of my weight, of my body, and that something wasn't right about it. It seemed like if I wasn't sure that I was fat people found the need to remind me. While most kids were praying to Santa Claus for toys, I was praying to God to not be fat. It was sad. I remember always feeling sad inside. I pretended, for my mother. I didn't want to burden her. She worked so hard. I remember telling myself that my body image issues needed to be something I internalized and never expressed to anyone, ever.

As a present day 30 year old woman , I just want to go to that little girl and hug her. For every time she argued with the mirror, for everytime she cried, begged, and pleaded, to be accepted and loved for who she was, I just want to console her and tell her that at some point its going to be ok. I realized that for over 23 years I've battled with myself about who I should be and how I should look. That has become mentally taxing and emotionally draining.

I remember being diagnosed as a diabetic at 20 years old. I didn't take it seriously because it was one of the most depressing moments in my life. As if I didn't already feel inadequate, being a 20 year old with Type II diabetes, meant for me that I had failed, miserably at life. Dramatic, yes. But to understand that mindset, is to understand the space that I was in, and had been in for most of my life, of feeling defeated. When everyone thought I was drunk in college, my blood levels were probably just extremely elevated, or I was also drunk, who knows lol! I didn't take it seriously until I became pregnant, and had to take insulin, it was scary, and painful. I worried throughout my entire pregnancy and so my diet was in tip-top shape, minus all my spinach dip and half cooked hamburger cravings, amongst other things. Once I had my son I began to spiral out of control again. Not taking medication, not seeing a doctor, not exercising, and interestingly enough not losing or gaining any weight.

But I was still sad. I lived life with this image in my head of who or what I should look like and why that would never happen. I remember wanting to be THAT girl, whoever she was at any given point in time, that society applauded for being the most "beautifuliest" girl in the world. I remember at some points in times feeling like I got dumped by boys because I was a diabetic, which made me a weak woman, and boys don't like weak women. I'm not sure who told me these things, or if was from all those early years of being the loner fat kid. Your mind sort of just travels in the moments, and an idle mind can think itself into the darkest of corners. I played on people's insults of me by being even harsher to myself. Whatever they said about me, I said it to myself, every time I looked in the mirror!

What an exhausting life. I didn't know what sexy meant, I've always just had this awkward body that I was insecure about and didn't know what to do with. You never forget people's words and how they treat you. Those things stuck with me to the point that I started growing a shell that was unbreakable, I thought I was protecting myself from being hurt but I was becoming a monster. The shell is SLOWLY breaking as I move past those things that hurt me.

Now, as I grow and age, my focus is unraveling all those insecurities that I've developed over the last 23 years. If someone doesn't like my little muffin top, then shame on them for not seeing the opportunity to enjoy a little chocolate cupcake LOL! Seriously, my health is my priority. I want to be active. I want to travel the world, I want to live! LIVE in every aspect of the word. But that takes work. That requires my presence. I need to be mentally present to make decisions about to getting my health in order.

The mirror is no longer my enemy but a reminder, a brief check-in, that I'm ok, that even if no one can see what's behind that reflection, I'm still there. Even if people can't accept my skinny legs and tiny butt, it doesn't change that I have the ability to make people laugh until they cry, just by being me. It doesn't change how deeply I love myself, or how much of a companion I am to my child, or that I pride myself in talking to or seeing my aging parents more than three times a week, or that I'm just me, not for sell, but for certain I'm me.

For the first time in the last ten years this past summer, I got my blood sugar levels under control, that meant also controlling my blood pressure. My doctor spent almost a year preaching to me about not wanting me to put me on insulin, that she trusted me to myself to do right and get it together, I resisted her, but finally, I did it. It felt amazing to do something for myself that could potentially prolong my life and now more than ever its important for me to keep going.

I'm excited about being myself. I've had a pretty painful journey but the past is no longer and I am here, just me, and my mirror, I'm here!

Journeys Through Life:

5th Grade

7th Grade

Summer 2013

Summer 2011

3rd Grade

2nd Grade

March 2014

August 2014

We Heard, We Saw, We Conquered: The September Lookback

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 1 Oct 2014 21:59:00 -0700

Hey HairyKat's ,

(please excuse any typos.)

Can you believe the year is almost done? It went by so quickly. September just seemed to breeze by just as fast and I tried to enjoy every second of it. September was quite entertaining, literally. Here's the rundown.

Purple Rain presented by Cinespia: Hollywood Forever Cemetery

I started the month celebrating my good friend and Kat Kreation's(www.katkreate.com) photographer Bianca's 30th birthday by attending a screening of Purple Rain at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery hosted by Cinespia. It was probably the coolest and creepiest event I've ever attended. There is a huge lawn dedicated to film screening filled with patron's openly enjoying picnic baskets of wine, cheese, and everything in between along with some of Hollywood's late and great spirits, like Toto the dog from the Wizard of Oz. You couldn't help but apologize to the gravesites as you passed through the cemetery. The event opened with Questlove of the Roots dj-ing some Morris Day & the Time, and all the funkadelic sounds of Mr. Purple Rain himself. It was insanely crowded but in a pleasant way. I had such a great time. I felt super grown up, and cool, hanging with friends under the stars, sipping wine, and cracking up at Purple Rain.

There's a line-up of movies that they screen at the Cemetery throughout the year and at $14 bucks they sell out pretty quickly. Check out their website for more info. http://cinespia.org/

Speaking of Prince, his album titled Art of Official Age dropped this past Tuesday and I am absolutely in love with it. Prince has masterfully intertwined his Prince-ness with a new age sound of music that creates, in my opinion, a new genre of music, I like to call Funk-Hop (like Hip-Hop but with a funk twist, no? whateva!). My favorite tracks are affirmation I &II and Way Back Home. The lyrics are absolutely inspiring. If you haven't already, grab your copy of Art of Official Age

Drake vs. Lil Wayne: Verizon Theater

My next stop this month was the Drake vs Lil Wayne concert at the Verizon Amphitheater in Irvine. I loved the show but hated the venue. The exit from the freeway to the Theater which is typically a 3 minute drive was an hour wait. It had nothing to do with traffic and everything to do with the lack of venue staff. There were literally hundreds of cars just following each other in the same direction like lost sheep without a Little Bo Peep in sight. yikes!

Once inside, the venue was beyond packed, to be expected, but what I didn't expect was people sneaking in the concert from some random Mountain, Forrest, entrance, it was absolutely insane and chaotic, and it made me paranoid, randomly seeing people chased down. I felt bad for the staff that were there that seemed to be no older than 21. They had a difficult time managing the crowd. Sorry that just turned into a bit of a yelp review there lol!.

Nonetheless, Drake and Lil Wayne put on very fun show. I enjoyed it because I felt like I got a glimpse of their relationship as mentor and mentee and friends. They bantered with sly jokes back and forth, Lil Wayne imitated Chris Brown's dancing while rapping his verse on Breezy's single Loyal, and Drake rode around over the crowd on a magic pole signing songs with a faux moon as his back drop, hahaha it was absolutely awesome! The show was interactive, there was Drake and Lil Wayne remake of Street Fighter characters, and fans were able to vote for their favorite performer. The entire set was amazing, from fireworks on stage to fire shooting in the air. I loved every bit of the show. It was tough to pick a favorite because I connect with both artists' music in different ways, but majority of fans picked Drake as the winner coming in 15 to Wayne's 14. I'm sure it was mostly the ladies voting for Drake LOL!

Mimi's Café: Garden Grove

The next morning after the concert we swung by MiMi's café for brunch. First off, any restaurant with a free for all coffee pot and coffee cake squares waiting for patron's while they wait to be seated is already a winner in my book. The restaurant's breakfast menu didn't have an extensive list of options. Mostly different types of pancakes/waffles/French toast, eggs benedict, or omelets. Pretty simple. I ended up getting Eggs Benedict on a Croissant. Yes! A Croissant instead of an English Muffin. It was absolutely one of thee best Eggs Benedict I've ever had, and I've had some pretty fancy ones with crab meat and such, but the Croissant changed the entire game of Eggs Benedict for me. The restaurant isn't super fancy, its actually quite casual, but the prices are reasonable and the food was delicious! Find a MiMi's café nearest you! . http://mimiscafe.com/

One Lens Film Festival : Arc Theater Hollywood

The next stop on my September journeys was the 3rd Annual One Lens Film Festival hosted at the Arc Theater in Hollywood. The festival featured 6 short films ( btw to learn more about each film, check out the hashtags noted on instagram and facebook):

Love Escapes Us #loveescapesus Directed and Produced by Craig Tovey. This contemporary silent film takes you through the life cycles of love & lust. It was powerful how the silence of the film was able to conjure up emotions from the audience whether it was laughter, happiness, resentment, or empathy. The film was insightful and real. It was perfectly aligned with some of the journeys that most of us experience when in love, or simply dating. What I enjoyed most was that I had an expectation of the film being a fairytale, which was not the case at all.

Making it In America #iamlosangeles Directed and Produced by Joris Debel, this film features an El Salvadorian woman, Alma Velasco, and her journey in attempting to live the "American Dream". This film was inspiring as you see Alma work extremely hard to provide for her two daughters. Her appreciation for the simple things in life were motivating, humbling, and heartwarming.

Only Light #onlylightmovie Directed and Produced by Evita Castine, Elena Ostroumova, and Zachary Skipp was a jaw dropping short about the human trafficking of young women and girls. It shows the parallels of a Young Teenage girl from the Congo, living in the US as a sex slave, and an American teenage girl, and her typical gripes, as a teenager. I couldn't help but think #firstworldproblems, every time the American Teenager through a fit about something that unbeknownst to her, she was taking for granted, while this other young woman was trapped and leading a completely different, daunting life. Sex trafficking is in fact an international issue, but the film allowed the audience to compare and contrast the lives of the two characters. This film was overwhelmingly powerful and would love to see it as a full feature film.

Pour Retourner #pourretournerfilm Directed and Produced by Scooter Corkle and Daniel Domachowski, was a film about a prison chef that is released into the free world and finds that his former colleagues don't appreciate his talents as much as his former fellow inmates. I'm not sure if it was the prison setting, but I was instantly in an Orange is the New Black, state of mind. You find yourself rooting for the main character in the film. It was witty and I would love to see HBO and/or Netflix pick it up as a series. I'd tune in!

Stand #raiseyourstand Directed and Produced by Melanie D'Andrea, Natalie Mirsky, and Tierney Young was a film that highlighted the lives of members of the Demolition Crew, a group of Krump Dancers in Los Angeles, that used Krump as a style of expressionism, where their only other alternative was living the street life. This film was surprisingly emotional as some of the characters face hardships in life. Their dancing was spiritual and you could fill their emotions through the big screen. The most powerful scenes for me was watching a man mourn through dancing as his two young sons, watched on. As an audience, we got to see the empathy and love these young boys have for their father was an instant tear-jerker.

The Story of Milo and Annie #miloandannie Directed and Produced by Harris Doran, Craig Lehner and Dani Faith Leonard, was by far one of my favorite features of the evening. It was a very cute and quirky love story of an ambitious secretary, Annie, and Milo, an artist that had been silent since the age of 6 years old. You watch as his story unfolds, well, you watch Annie unfold it. This movie was beautifully written, I enjoyed every second of it.

We also stopped by the After-Party at the W hotel. I've been to the W before but typically to work and never to hang out. As prestigious as I consider this place to be I was thoroughly impressed by the wait staff. The bartenders were super friendly, where they could've been super snooty...just because its the W (Sad but true, this is LA people). One of the bartenders even made it his mission to find me Coconut Rum because I was having a Puerto Rico withdrawal and really needed a Pina Colada to ease my vacation-sickness. Lol! He searched two bars to no avail. I settled for a Jalapeno Punch which was equally delicious. Props to the W staff.

Warner Brother's Artist Showcase: The Foundation Room-House of Blues:

I closed out the month of September at the Foundation Room at the House of Blues. There's so many hidden rooms at the The House Blues that I never knew existed including this one. The architecture in the room was amazing. The ceiling was 3D art work that looked hand-sculpted foot by foot. After I was done being in awe of the ceiling lol, I checked out some cool acts at the artist showcase.

My two favorites were a Nigerian-American singer named Mercy U and a Gospel-Jazz fusion band called HTG.

Mercy U has a beautiful voice and a unique style. I was definitely feeling her sound. Check her out on instagram @mercylovesmusic

Mercy U-Barbie and Ken

HTG, short for heritage, is a Gospel-Jazz fusion featuring a percussionist, bassist, guitarist, saxophonist, and two keyboardist, and boy can these brotha's play. These young men's sound was a breath of fresh air. Their music had a spirit to it that was well seasoned but I'm guessing no one in the group is over 30. I was absolutely blown away by their talent. The crowd went crazy for these guys. Their musical genius is unparallel and I loved every second of their performance. For more of HTG check out their facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/htgmusic

Check out my amateur video below:

The Wrap-Up

September was insanely busy nonetheless, I'm looking forward to what October brings.

Oh yea, and since this is was an originally hairblog, I'd like to highlight that I've gone Purple/red. Yes, in case you were wondering, I'm still buying packaged hair. The processing of the hair makes it last much longer. Virgin hair has failed me a few times, and at the price, I'm not down for taking too many more chances.

I shopped a new brand called Live by Sensationnel Hair Company. I love it. Its Keratin treated Brazilian hair to give you a longer lasting style. So far I've had no shedding and the hair is super soft. Here's a pic me rocking Live hair. Check out their site: http://sensationnel.com/catalog/catProduct/details?id=839

Specs: 16 Inch 1B; 14 Inch BBG, cut and styled by Muah!

Welp! That's all for now HairyKats. Find me on instagram @kat_kreations or email for inquiries Katrina@katkreate.com

Chris Brown Puts the X in R x B

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 18 Sep 2014 18:04:00 -0700

Hey HairyKats,

Its been a while since I've given you all my two cents on what's happening in music and I'm excited to give my brief run down on Chris Brown's latest album.

As you may already know Chris Brown released his sixth studio album titled X this past Tuesday. I got my copy a little early but wanted to enjoy it in entirety before I decided to write about it. I've been waiting for the release of this album since Fine China was a single which seems like was such a long time ago.

In this new era of music its been quite difficult to hear music and feel something other than the need to bounce :it", lol! Honestly, R&B is definitely transitioning into rapping at a slow speed because the content is virtually the same as all the rap songs. "Bitches, hoes, I stole your chick, ladies love me, blah blah blah". I must admit The release of Loyal as a Chris Brown single had me a little hesitant about the album but Breezy did not disappoint.

At first listen I had already picked out my favorite songs. By the second day of having the album I knew 60% of the lyrics and even found myself signing Lost In Ya Love in my sleep.

I'm a longtime fan of Chris Brown's music so I recognized that he stuck to his formula of giving us a few dance tracks like Don't Be Gone Too Long and Add Me In, a few ratchet hits like Loyal & Came to Do, and pure ballads of heart felt, feel good music.

The reason I fell in love with this album is believe it or not, the lyrics. Where other's lyrics have no depth or seem so typical, Breezy is singing poems on this album. There's a certain vulnerability about him on this album that I don't feel like I 've ever been exposed to in his previous albums.

One of my favorite songs is Autumn Leaves featuring Kendrick Lamar With lyrics like "I've been bleeding in your silence/I feel safer in your violence/I hold on like leaves/ and fall to what is left/ before I sleep I talk to God/ he must be mad with me/its Karma/I'm confused as to whom I'll spend my forever with" you get drawn in to the core of the music, the words. Its invigorating and thought provoking. My love for music has always been the parallels of a song and my life, or my mood and X does it for me.

One of my other favorite tracks on the album is titled Drunk Texting featuring Jhene Aiko. The harmonization of Chris Brown and Jhene Aiko on the entire song gave me goose bumps. This song is like quenching your throat with ice cold water after an extremely hot L.A. Winter Day. (You've got to be out here to get it LOL!)

Breezy also keeps it sexy with songs like Drown In It featuring R. Kelly and Songs on 12 Play featuring Trey Songz, which is a play on words as an Ode to R. Kelly song titles. Body Roll Dance in the car anyone? I think so!

This album is refreshing for a true R&B lover. There's a glimpse of hope that the romantics in contemporary music has not gone missing. I'm a little bashful to write that I appreciate this album. Its an escape from all the ordinary music being played on the radio. It puts me in the zone!

So, if you haven't already get your copy of X by Chris Brown.

Check out a snippet of my #1 favorite track from the album titled Lost In Ya Love (I play it at least 8 times a day and sing with my eyes closed on the 110 freeway! YAS Chris YAS lol)

No Dull Kittens Allowed: Reflecting on a Very HairyKat Summer

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 2 Sep 2014 21:44:00 -0700

Hey HairyKats,

Summer has officially come to a close, at least in my world. I am back in the full swing of things with work and my son being back in school. This summer was one of the best I've had. Let's do a recap of some of the places and events that took place this summer.

JUNE HIGHLIGHTS

The official first day of summer just so happen to be my birthday, June 21st. It was my 30th birthday. I wanted to do something that where I could include all the people in my life from high-school, college, work, and beyond. I decided to have an 80's themed Karaoke party at Max's Karaoke Studio (http://www.maxkaraokestudio.com/home) in Little Tokyo, Los Angeles.

To rent a room for 30 people was virtually inexpensive it costs about $20 per person to get in. You'd also be surprised how easy it was to find 80's clothing in 2014. My entire outfit minus my shoes cost me about $30 bucks total. Our only complaint about the establishment was how hot it was in the room. There was one fan, but that did not aid in cooling off all the bodies in the room. Nonetheless, it was a great time especially since there was an extensive song list.

The best moment of the night for me was someone putting on Real Love by Mary J Blige and women of all races harmonized in a circle looking and sounding like the most beautiful international gospel choir lol. It was an amazing feeling.

Here's a goofball moment from the night( pre-drinks) when the shopping cart I randomly found in front of my car didn't quite want to be pushed anymore.

I finished my birthday weekend by having brunch with one of my good friends Millie (check out her awesome fashion blog (http://ezlydistraqted.blogspot.com/). We went to The Coffee Company (http://www.laxcoffeeco.com/) in Westchester, CA. I was so shocked that I had never been there and that it was so close to my house. Apparently, everyone else knew but me because the wait on a Sunday Morning at 10:00 am was at least an hour. We killed some time by walking around the neighborhood. I wanted Champagne Brunch but they didn't have the type I was looking for, you know, bottomless Mimosas. But we ended up purchasing a bottle which would've been the same price. Millie ordered the Sole special. That fish was fried perfectly. Even though it was on her plate I couldn't resist it. I ordered the smothered Pork Chop breakfast which was equally delicious. The food is definitely worth the wait time. Its a really nice establishment with great service.

JULY HIGHLIGHTS

The next stop was 4th of July at Knott's Berry Farm's Soak City. I had never been to a water park because I can't swim and kind of have a fear of drowning like most adults that can't swim lol. Nonetheless, since the passing of my Aunt, my cousin and I decided we wanted to start a new family tradition where we load up the kids and have a fun filled time. Our brightest idea was to get a Cabana. It was $165 which didn't t include the price of food or your entry ticket but it was well worth the price. We didn't have to get there super early to grab a space in the overly crowded waterpark. We had beach chairs in the shade and somewhere to store our belongings. The food was really delicious. For $99 bucks we got 8 cheeseburgers, buckets of fries, and a drink for each kid. We also had a waitress that came and took care of us. It was definitely worth every penny. I couldn't imagine going to something like that on a holiday and having a good time because its so crowded and btw knowing how to swim wasn't an issue either. All the water was about 3ft or less, so waist deep essentially. My favorite part was the lazy river where I could just be lazy and float in water all day. Yup, my kind of party! lol

This is my son and I after being dumped by a huge bucket of water. It was so much fun! (He can't swim either but found a new love for water slides...Swim lessons next summer anyone?)

After my awesome time at Soak City I made a trip to Las Vegas. I stayed at the Flamingo. Its fairly inexpensive and in the middle of the strip. I wasn't very impressed by one of their concierge staff and I'm convinced that you're treated differently if you use a third party to book your reservation. I always use Vegas.com but the concierge was just rude and nasty and I couldn't resist telling him about himself. The rooms were ok. The only thing that was remodeled was the flooring. You could still smell the cigarette smoke in the walls, even though we had a non-smoking room. And our view was of the roof of the building below us. We got what we paid for. It wasn't amazing, but it did its job.

To unwind from the disaster of the Flamingo I visited Hash House A Go-Go(http://www.hashhouseagogo.com/). The waiters were extremely kind and accommodating. It was quite the opposite of the staff at the Flamingo. I ordered the chicken and waffles. I was thrilled to discover bacon inside my waffles but was overwhelmed by the portion of the food and their rosemary garnish. It was quite the experience. I would go back and try something different.

The next day we hung out at Flamingo's pool which was AMAZING. The cabanas were sold out but there were sitting areas inside the pool so I wasn't too worried. There were a few bars around the pool and the drinks were potent. A little pricey, but its Vegas. Their pool seriously made up for their almost crappy room, and service. We spent the entire day there just lounging. After a few hours there was a DJ that played great 90's rap. It was just a good chill time.

Later that evening, after being amazed by a street performer for at least 20 minutes, clearly sitting down, on absolutely nothing (mind explosion), we made our way to Guy Fieri's restaurant at the Quad ( http://www.thequadlv.com/restaurants/guy-fieri.html) because I really wanted some Chicken Wings. The wings weren't what I expected. They were like those lollipop wings, not sure what they're called, but its the thigh section of the wing. They weren't tender at all, but the flavor on them were ok. Nothing to write home about. BUT the nachos were by far the best thing I ever tasted EVER! Each chip was covered with every single ingredient. EVERY SINGLE CHIP. Lol I have had dreams about these nachos. There is no comparison to them anywhere ( that was dramatic, but very serious!).

This was the first time I ever went to Vegas and just chilled, I usually go out and party but I didn't have it in me. This trip was perfect, until the AC in the car died on the way home. As the legend goes, I continuously passed out until we made it home LOL. Good times.

This is me thanking God for the awesomeness of the Flamingo Pool

AUGUST HIGHLIGHTS

August proved to be just as fun-filled as July. I attended Rhetoric 2014 (http://www.p4cm.com/#sthash.EoDpjKUN.dpbs) presented by the Passion 4 Christ Movement. This event is produced by people 30 and under with a love and passion for God and Christianity. It was amazing to witness so many young people confident in their faith. There was about 10-12 performers that performed spoken word with a spiritual twist. The delivery of their message was something that couldn't help but penetrate your soul. This was my second time attending and I will be going every single year. Its held at the Cottonwood Church in Los Alamitos, but I have a very strong feeling that this event is going to outgrow that space. Check out the Perry Family snapping in this poem, that took place in the Garden of Eden .

Next stop was the Family Dinner. This event forever changed my life. The Family Dinner was introduced to me by my good friend Victoria (check out her site www.msqueenv.com). Its not a networking event per se. No business cards allowed. You go to meet new people that live in your city, you have dinner, you mingle, you talk about yourself and your life outside of work, your business, and your hustle. This dinner was hosted at Killer Shrimp in Marina Del Rey. The scenery was beautiful, the food was ok. I enjoyed the people and the atmosphere more than anything. It is seriously a family affair. You weren't supposed to shake people's hands to greet them either, but to hug them, and host them, as if you were family. . It just felt really good to be embraced by complete strangers, which could be intimidating at first, but its really a good time and I can't wait for the next event. Check the site below and look out for a Family Dinner near you. Its hosted twice a year all over the country (http://www.ourfamilydinner.org/).

Each hosted dinner takes a family photo. Check our LA 2014 Family picture

I also got to attend the Sundance NextFest 2014 where I saw Malik Vitthal's Imperial Dreams. This movie was so captivating I left with a headache from gasping so much. At every blink something was happening. The film was about a young man trapped in the system because of the lacking rehabilitation support and efforts for freed prisoners. I call them freed prisoners because you get to witness first hand the seemingly never ending traps of adversity that comes from being released from jail and having nothing or anyone to fall back on. You see the main character, played by John Boyega stuck in a battle between his old life and his new dreams. The film provided insight, where there isn't any. The story portrayed in the film rarely is told. Its based on the true stories of young men and women that fall victim to the streets and can't move past it. It was beautifully put together. I absolutely loved it.

The film was followed by a performance by Tinashe. It was lackluster. I was disappointed because while, she has a hit record on the radio, longevity doesn't come from just 1 hit. She clearly had no clue as to who her audience was. Most of the people in the crowd were between 30-45 and it was very evident that some of them didn't know who she was. Every other word out of her mouth was "nigga" it was strange and uncomfortable to watch. Nonetheless, the evening was enlightening and I had a great time lol.

Here's a picture with Rotimi Akinosho, one of the stars in Imperial Dreams

These were just some of my highlights, here's some other places and things we did below.

LEGOLAND- (rent a stroller, and go to the water park early, if you have tickets)
Polliwog Park-(park is huge and we got to feed the ducks. We were also robbed of our pre-packed sandwiches by Seagulls. One took the entire Ziplock, called for his friend, they demolished the sandwiches and left the bag for me to throw away. They also posed as ducks in the pond to catch some of the bread I was throwing, but I wasn't falling for it!!!)
Jay-Z and Beyoncé On The Run Tour- (best concert ever. But if you attend an event at the Rose Bowl leave 30 minutes early to make sure you can get out of the parking lot and catch the rest of the show on Youtube (JK, please don't do that!)....we walked a mile and waited 2 hours to be shuttled to our car...it was worth it though...sigh...my feet still hurt LOL)
Wokano's Santa Monica (live dj is amazing)
Water Aerobics at Jesse Owens Park (I prefer the classes in the evening on Tuesday and Thursday with Instructor Cruz!)
Jesse Owens (free nights in the park every Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, there was plenty of Sherriffs for safety, free food, and free activities for the kids like a video game truck, bounce house, face painting, and live jazz for the adults)
I also got my nose pierced....something about turning 30 makes you want to be a little foolish....lol

Are School Award Ceremonies Negatively Impacting Early School-Age Minority Children

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 30 Jul 2014 09:59:00 -0700

Hi HairyKats,

I'm off on vacation and decided to show my blog some love. If you you've checked out the HairyKat Chronicles, you'll know that this blog has progressed from solely focusing on topics of hair to entertainment and everything in between.

I wanted to blog about a topic that I've discussed previously with a friend and is something that I think about often raising an African-American male as a single mother. I heavily rely on my village to assist in his upbringing which includes family, friends, and his educators, yes his educators.

The topic as noted in the title "Are School Award Ceremonies Negatively Impacting Early School Age Minority Children" came about for me, when towards the end of last school year (May/June 2014) I saw lots of my friends posting photos of their children and their achievements during the school year, from awards for academics, behavior, and attendance. I was genuinely proud of their children but started to reminisce and think about my own life and my own child. I remember these award growing up in school, sometimes I got them and sometimes I didn't. For myself I didn't think of it as a big deal but having a 5 year old child that is quite impressionable and motivated by emotional connections, I started to think about how an award system would impact him and other children like him, mainly speaking of minority children.

I am making the distinction about minority children because as statistics show time and time again, its African-American and Latino males, that end up in Prison and in graves as they become products of their environment. I feel like their environment is 80% school from the age of 4-5 and 20% home. In no one am I saying school is responsible for raising our children, but with our kids spending the majority of their day at school, I think its safe to say that a great deal of their experiences that influence who they become as a person, occur at school.

My son's current school does not have award ceremonies for Elementary school students. Only for the graduating 8th graders which I find to be appropriate for that age. At the end of the school year I started to think about what my friends were posting on facebook and their kids being awarded and how I felt about not partaking in anything of this sort with my own child. But I couldn't just think about my child. I started to think about the young children that don't get rewarded for success at the end of the school year, and how they must feel seeing their peers being rewarded. I started to presumptuously think about how young African-American and Latino/Latina children develop this complex of not feeling good enough in the world as teenagers and adults, and while I cannot produce any sort of facts and statistics and can only rely on my opinion within this blog, I honestly feel like awards and singling out students for their success negatively impacts their peers that are not rewarded for their own individual successes.

Its tricky right? I wouldn't want to NOT recognize a child for being successful at school, but I feel like kids don't understand these sort of rewards in the way that adults do. They just know it feels great to be celebrated and it doesn't feel great when they aren't. Some might say that seeing your peers rewarded for something could be motivating to other children, but I think it creates a psychological complex for young children in particular.

Children begin to spend the majority of their day at school beginning at the ages of 4-5. In the context of the topic of this blog, to me, this means if they are not performing academically, or displaying outstanding behavior, they're going to school everyday for the next 12-13 years feeling not good enough based on their experiences within their first years of school.

Again, in no way am I placing the responsibility solely on educators. As a parent I have to do my part to make sure my child is performing. But then again, I also feel like my child has more years to be an adult than he does being a child. I want him to enjoy his childhood. Education is highly important in my household, however I would never want to place those sort of pressures on my child to help him win an award. I want him to like going to school and develop a love for learning, rather than feeling pressured to do something because it comes with a prize. This is generally speaking though, every child is different, some children are self-motivated. Some children want these awards for themselves and do what it takes to get them. But what happens to them emotionally when they don't get it?

Just thinking about my own child. If he saw his classmate receive an award for something and he didn't get one, he would be devastated. I'm sure he would cry. On one hand its a life lesson that you can't win at everything, and you can't be great at everything, but on the other hand is that something he needs to learn at 5? I would deem it a suitable lesson for a child that was old enough to understand but in the early years, I just don't feel like kids understand. I can't and will not coddle my child from experiencing real emotions as he will need to learn how to cope to survive life. But, again, he has his entire teenage years and adult life to learn these things.

My point or thought on the matter is that , if you have a child that is being brought up in an institution (school) where the only rewards are given to children who are considered the best in whatever given category, how is this not creating a complex of diminishing self-worth, and putting minority children that are not rewarded on the pre-school to prison pipeline? In my opinion they are becoming institutionalized when they are systems in place that teach them that they are different in a way that is not worthy of recognition or reward. Think about those actual ceremonies. If you the entire school sitting in an auditorium or community meeting space. In a school that has an enrollment of 100-450 students maybe, 2-3 students from each classroom is called up to the stage to receive an award. Parents are cheering in the background. While the other students watch on like spectators, wanting their turn to shine, to be celebrated, amongst their families, like their peers.

Award ceremonies are miniscule here, but they are common occurrences in many schools. This is also done by labeling children at home and at school. For example, If you call a child bad, long enough, they will start to think they are and act accordingly. If you tell a child they are not smart, they will believe you. If you reward one child for an achievement and not another I believe the children that are not rewarded will believe they are not good enough.

Do I have a solution? (shrug) I'm not an educator. However, if I were, I would try and figure out how to reward children, every child, within the classroom based on their own individual academic success. I would do away with the system of isolating who's the best. Every child should be celebrated for inkling of success. I firmly believe that's how young children stay motivated. That's how young minority children start to develop a sense of self, a sense of feeling smart, and feeling good enough to learn and continue to learn. This is how they make better choices for their lives as they grow into adults.

Thoughts?

How the On the Run Tour is Stealing My Joy

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 30 Jul 2014 08:04:00 -0700

Hi HairyKats,

We are days away from the LA On The Run Tour starring Jay-Z and Beyonce and although I want to be excited about attending its becoming a bit more stressful than anticipated.

Back in December 2013 my good friend Millie and I went to see Jay-Z at Home Depot Center. It was hands down the best concert I've ever been too. I've been a Jay-Z fan for years and had never seen him live. To be in the same room with him was such an amazing feeling. The concert was the week of his birthday and Beyonce was also performing at Staples that next week (don't judge my stalking ok lol). So in my head she was going to make a cameo apperance at Jay's show. I waited all night. It didnt happen. Millie and I discussed how we would love to see the two in concert together as they are by far both of our favorite music artists.

And it happened. On the Run flashed across my screen as I scrolled on facebook months later. I screamed like a white girl in a horror flick when she falls after twisting her ankle and Jason had caught up to her. This was serious. I text Millie and there was no question that we were going. She even text her twin sisters that they were going too. I was estatic.

I waited for the day that pre-sale was occuring. I will never forget being at work. The clock went from 9:59 to 10:00 am and within 20 seconds the tickets were sold out. I was disappointed and in disbelief. I started to search the internet and found some tickets. The $50 tickets on ticketmaster.com were going for $216 dollars each and there werent 4 seats together ANYWHERE. I couldn't afford that but kept telling myself its about the experience. Nonetheless, I found some more reasonably price tickets that were still overpriced and would probably get me in the front row at any other concert. The seats are awful but I just wanted to be in the building. To experience the musical and performance genuis of Beyonce and Jay-Z for a music lover like myself, was just something I couldnt let go of.

The show is on Saturday and I received a text this morning about parking from another good friend that's attending as well. I've been to many concerts and never ever has a venue sent an email about parking. But I get it, its Jay-Z and Beyonce. I tried to be efficient and buy a parking pass for which they are sold-out. Awesome. So instead of jumping for joy about this concert that I've been dying to see, I have to figure out where to leave my vehicle in enough time so that I dont miss the show. I know that once again people are going to take advantage of Beyonce and Jay-Z's fans and charge us 80 for parking space that's free on any other day. Since I work in the area I have some ideas in mind but all these logisitics just suck the joy out of going to the concert anyway. I've never experienced this sort of misfortune and anxiety when attending any other concert.

I'm disappointed that the fame of Jay-Z and Beyonce are being exploited and the fans are being taken advantage of. Maybe its not a big deal and maybe I'm just in my head and everything is going to work out perfectly, which it usually does, but I just long for the good ole days where fun and excitement felt priceless no matter how much the ticket to get in, which I originally imagined this concert to be. Especially after seeing Prince for $25 and the man did 8 encores! Parking was a no brainer and its an everlasting memory. So seriously, this is just too much for me.

I'm going to snap out of it though, and get out of my funk and just try and look forward to the day and sharing this experience with my dear friend Millie. I cried before the Jay-Z concert back in December from excitement ( again don't judge what you do not understand lol). But all the logistics involved with On The Run have me feeling meh.

And seriously, can the media please stop with the divorce rumors? It seems like they didnt start until the concert kicked off. I'm not sure what sort of publicity this is or isnt but enough is enough. Its sickening to see how people thrive and find joy in gossip and tearing people down. I get it, we live in new day and age, but I remember when entertainers were loved for their talents and we, fans, didnt have so much access into their private lives. I liked it that way. It made the distinction clear for me as to who were the talented ones and who was just thirsty for fame. Now, everyone's famous. But that's a different blog.

Nonetheless, Wish us luck on Saturday. All I wanted was to sing hella Jay-Z and Beyonce songs with my eyes closed, when it was my part, and lose my voice from screaming in excitement.

---Meh.

Why I wish the MJ Hologram Didnt Occur

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 19 May 2014 21:35:00 -0700

If you didn't know (because you were chilling under your rock) the 2014 Billboard Music Awards debuted a Michael Jackson performance last night featuring...wait for it... Michael Jackson (in hologram format of course!)

My gripe with the hologram is the same issue I have with ABC's show Resurrection. I feel that its an extremely insensitive concept for grieving people of bringing loved ones back to life. Personally, based on the recent tragedies of losing very close family members myself that I certainly wish I could see again, the hologram was just much too much for me strictly based on a respect for the emotional pain it causes family, and in Michael's case die hard fans. It provides a sense of false hope and false reality. Everyone grieves differently but, generally speaking for myself, kind of, but not really, when people are grieving they don't wish to witness their deceased relative as if their still here.

I regretfully write this. Regretfully because the Hologram performance was quite astonishing for me realizing the intricate details that it takes to make the hologram's mouth move as if its actually singing the song being played, (Michael was performing Slave to the Rhythm, from his new album released last week titled Xscape), or making the hologram, dance, and walk, and move. From a creativity perspective, it was very well put together.

Despite how amazing the work on the hologram, as an avid Michael Jackson fan I wasn't feeling it. It was odd to watch. I think that Michael's legacy should be left as that. The entire time I was watching I kept thinking "let that man rest in peace". I watched it feeling numb, wondering who thought this was a great idea, and being terrified of how advanced technology has become where the dead can re-appear or nah, because its not really them! Just a projection. Could you imagine? losing a loved one, and seeing them walking down the street, only to realize its not really them, just a projection. How difficult that would be to deal with.

Despite my respect for the hard work that went into creating the MJ hologram, Tupac Hologram, Elvis Hologram, Eazy E hologram, I just rather let grieving families grieve, and remember transitioned lives in other ways, like a slideshow, or show casing some living amazing talent, singing their songs as a dedication, or something. I much rather not see them in live performances on stage as if their present with me, enjoying the moment.

No more holograms please and thank you!

On a lighter note that Xscape Album is an amazing body of work. I was tickled to learn Michael was a crip on his song, titled Blue Gangsta. Kidding, the crip part, not the Blue Gangsta part! Check it out below in this fan video.

My Facet Fashion Week Experience

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 19 May 2014 21:01:00 -0700

Hey HairyKats,

This past weekend I had the opportunity to participate in Facet Fashion week and wanted to reflect on my experience.

Owning my own jewelry business can be challenging. Especially when I'm raising a son, working as a full-time accountant, and writing novels. As many times as I've wanted to throw in the towel I'm confronted with experiences that re-iterate that hard work pays off and to just hang in there.

In no way have I made it. I am barely scratching the surface and getting my feet wet but in every challenge comes the reward that validates for me that I'm fulfilling my purpose. And who's to say my purpose is solely to be a jewelry designer, or a writer, or an accountant for that matter. I just get this feeling every time my pieces are purchased or worn by someone, or when someone sees my work that I'm actually great at what I do.

Great, again, doesn't mean perfect. I had such anxiety about participating in Facet Fashion Week because I knew that I would be surrounded by such amazing talent and sometimes I get caught in the feeling of, is my work good enough, but I had to let it go, learn from my past mistakes, be ok with making new ones, and keep striving. If I don't have faith in my work and in my pieces than no one else will. . I also talked myself out being intimidated by vendor fees because the value of living your dreams is priceless. I said a prayer as I clicked send to Miss Dunnie O saying that I was interested in participating lol and got to work on what I wanted to showcase. I was at that crossroad where I felt like doubt and fear, would never allow me to serve my purpose, if I wanted to grow.

So when I started to prepare to be a pop-up shop vendor at Facet Fashion Week I really sat and thought about what I was trying to convey as an artist. I removed the thoughts of selling and making money and focused on myself as an artist. As I search for my niche and what sets me apart as a designer, it was this show, this huge event full of industry professionals, that I really needed to showcase what my brand was about.

My vision is for Kat Kreations to make a statement for consumers that sometimes lose their voice(figuratively speaking). I ultimately want Kat Kreations to be an experience and not just a piece of jewelry. Although, my jewelry won't be restricted to women in the future, I started out wanting to give the shy, quiet, women a piece that spoke for them or made them stand out, or felt special, because it was custom made, to fit who they were as a person but not break their pockets to do so. I want my jewelry (not just the jewelry but the concepts, thoughts, and labor, behind each piece) to make everyone that wears it feel important, and validated as I did this past weekend.

Reflecting over the weekend, it was probably the most amazing experience I've had since I started Kat Kreations in November 2011. I got to meet people that I admire and respect. I got to collaborate with an amazing fashion designer Faatui of House of 2wee, and I just got to enjoy being an artist and showcasing my work. 2wee (@only2wee on instagram) and I met at Friday's swimwear fashion shoot. My first words to him were "May I Pet You?"(lol) as I was in awe by the fur piece he was working. I instantly fell in love with his style. The brotha was rocking a bow-tie with gold chain with a fur shawl and his personality was just as cool as his outfit. When he asked me to create pieces for his runway fashion show I was in shock. I tried to play it cool but I was screaming on the inside. It was a feeling of having someone believe in me and what I was doing. I felt blessed.

I created some original pieces and pulled pieces from my trendy finds section of my online boutique. I had never even been to a fashion show before let alone be behind the scenes assisting with helping models dress. As I was physically present amongst the chaos of what goes on behind the scenes to create a successful fashion runway, I was mentally in a place where my spirit was touched by a feeling of 'this is where I belong'. It was the aha moment for me that I needed to give Kat Kreations a chance to reach its full potential. It may take years to find my niche but in this very moment I feel as if I found my small voice in a large crowd and my voice as an artist will only grow stronger, with time and faith, and for that I am grateful.

I hope that the production team at Facet Fashion Week not only celebrate the success of putting on an amazing event but also celebrate that they are giving a voice and platform to small business owners and minorities in business that often time find themselves being lost in a crowd that's not meant for them. This weekend we were the crowd.

Here's a few pics below from Facet Fashion Week and for more pics check out the #facetfashionweek hashtag on instagram:

With my one of my close friends Ainye

My vendor table

My Vendor table

3 of the 11 amazing models in 2wee's pieces

Designer 2wee and I

Check Out Draft Day in Theaters April 11th

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 4 Apr 2014 00:57:00 -0700

Hey HairyKats,

I got the opportunity to check out a private screening of Draft Day hosted by Trang Hamm @tranghammco and Mike Hill @itsmikehill starring Kevin Costner and Jennifer Garner which hits theaters April 11th.

Based on the previews of the film this movie wouldn't have necessarily been one I would pick to go see at the movies. I'm just not a football movie type of girl, so I didn't have many expectations for the film.

I must say though, Draft Day was good to the point that I found myself talking to the screen out loud.. I liked that it was simple. Simple in a sense that the storyline wasn't this huge dramatic ordeal. It almost felt like a fictional documentary, if you will: A Day in the life of the business side of the NFl, on Draft Day where Kevin Costner plays the role of General Manager for the Cleveland Browns. The producers of the film took a concept so very simple and gave enough suspense, and twists, and turns to keep us moviegoers engaged.

There is a "love story" aspect to the film between Jennifer Garner and Kevin Costner's characters, but for some reason I wasn't feeling their dynamic as a couple in the film. There was some awkwardness there and I'm not sure if that was the purpose/nature of their relationship in the film, or if it was just me.

I also wanted Kevin Costner to have a bit more"umph" in his character, he just played it way too cool for me throughout the film. He just seemed unbothered by the climax of events in the film, which again could've been the objective. Despite this, he undoubtedly played his role.

The theatrical trailer (http://www.fandango.com/movie-trailer/draftday-trailer/170260) makes the movie seem like a very serious film, and it definitely has some serious moments, but I found the movie to be quite hilarious, not just at certain points, but throughout the film. Don't worry I wasn't the only one laughing, there a more than a few scenes that had the audience tickled. There was some clapping too. The movie didn't feel like it was two hours long either. Half-way through you're so into all the events taking place within the film, that the time just passes you by.

I really enjoyed the movie. I'm glad I saw it.

Make sure you go out and support the film which hits theaters April 11th.

P.S. there is no requirement to understand football to watch this film, you will be educated!

HairyKat's March Madness: Events, Music, and Travel brought to you by www.katkreate.com

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 1 Apr 2014 00:50:00 -0700

Hey HairyKats,

March was an extremely busy month. Take a look back at how we spent our March including my experience traveling as a single mom.

Events

This month I attended Power Brunch LA hosted by Miss Dunnie O. The event was held at Maggiano's Little Italy at the Grove. It was a perfect LA day for the event. Actually it was 92 degrees in March. I'd like to officially apologize to my Midwest and East Coast readers that were literally weathering a snow storm. Any who, the event space was beautiful held in a banquet type setting but outdoors next to a garden. The event featured super talented Dj LaLaLand (previously featured in our interview serieson this blog....scroll down after you finish reading this). It was the perfect way to spend a Sunday, networking and making new partnerships. The atmosphere was perfect and the attire was Suits and Sundresses everyone looked simply stunning. I love to people watch and check out how everyone put their looks together. I really had an amazing time. I shared a table with one of my close friends, PR, and Event Planner: Victoria, Curvy Fashionista Blogger: Marie Denee, the Creator of Sheeq Cosmetics: Melissa Hibbert, Writer and Photographer Milan Carter, and Evolution of Curves Founder and Model Sandy Jean. I was so inspired to be in such a space with such successful people. Being a small business owner and having the opportunity to meet and network with other amazing business minded people that were personable and open about their journey was unforgettable.

Here's some photos of the event. Photo Cred: Victoria

Music

Of all the albums that dropped this month my pick for this month is YG's My Krazy Life. Even though I'm unfortunately becoming more out of touch with some of the new hip-hop music being released these days, this album keeps me connected to when and why I fell in love with hip-hop in the first place. I should be more specific and say West Coast hip-hop. The first album I heard was on cassette tape, and it was Dogg Food by the Dogg Pound. I was 8 years old. These types of things occur when you have an older sibling. Thanks sis :) lol. I don't know if I was infatuated by all the curse words or those funky sounding, bass clap treble beats with enough boom to blow your speakers out. I loved that music! I love that music. For me YG is that music.

If you don't know much about YG that's what the HairyKat Chronicles is here for. To get you acquainted with the artist that we love and support . Well, do you remember the song Toot It and Boot It from a few years ago? That was YG. The 24 year old rapper is from Compton, California (Whoop whoop!) and is signed to Jeezy's CTE/Def Jam Label. He's dropped several mixtapes and My Krazy Life is his debut album.

The production on this album is the epitome of West Coast hip-hop. That sound cannot be denied, if you're not inclined to pull out your stock speakers and buy some 12's at Slauson, or hang out on Crenshaw on a Sunday just to see the Low Riders dance to the rhythm of the beats, you don't know West Coast Hip-Hop. Unlike Kendrick Lamar's GOOD Kid MAAD City, YG gives us a different glimpse of Compton, from the perspective of one that was knee deep in the grit that Kendrick tried to escape. YG makes it known that Compton, or shall I say, Bompton, is the city he represents.

On tracks like Do It Ya, YG pays homage to Daz and Kurupt's Let's Play House, with his on take on what Let's Play House means these days as in Do it To Ya, I suppose lol. The heartfelt song, Sorry Momma, is one of my favorites, where YG gives us some insight of the relationship between the young black man caught up in the street life and the toll it takes on his mother.

I think this album preserves that element of LA street life culture that is very much so kept alive by its music. Although some may find the lyrics to be disrespectful and inappropriate, I respect the culture of West Coast Hip-Hop from Eazy-E, to Tupac, to YG.

Be sure to grab your copy.

Travel

I've never really travelled very far beyond the states, I've been to Atlanta, Louisiana, DC, Detroit, Las Vegas, Arizona but despite my city hopping I had this overwhelming pressure to go somewhere different. Since starting my new job as Business Manager of an amazing school where my son is also a student, I had my first Spring Break since college, a week off of work and nowhere to go. I was tired of that song. I've had a professional career for 8 years now and despite being a single parent I didn't really do much and needed a change. I went back and forth with my girl friends for months about joining me in Puerto Rico for the summer for my birthday, but something said forget that, why not give my son that experience.

I was terrified to spend money, that much money, on leisure, not sure if I'd need it for a rainy day. Single mom guilt I suppose, But something tugged at me saying what if that rainy day never comes, and if it does, have faith that everything will work out fine. So I did it. I booked a trip for my 5 year old son and I to travel to Puerto Rico, just he and I. I was super excited and I called my mother to tell her. I wanted her to be excited too but she was just as terrified as I was when booking the flight. Instead of her fear being about spending so much money, she feared how vulnerable I'd be in a "foreign" yet US place, alone, with my child. I had that same anxiety but I refused to give in to it.

I understood Spanish when spoken slowly but couldn't speak it very well but what was there to fear, its Puerto Rico, and we didn't even need passports. Right? I only packed one suitcase for he and I to share. I didn't do much shopping, mostly a few pair of swim suits and sandals but I didn't feel angst to get a new wardrobe in order to travel. Our flight was a Red Eye and I had gone out the night before so this was going to be a really good flight or really bad. My son was uber excited. He loved flying and he also loved people, he can hold a convo with any and everyone, which was my other anxiety, his over friendliness. We flew to Florida on a Saturday night. The plan ride was so bumpy that I barely slept. My son on the other hand knocked out most of the ride. It was awesome. We weren't in Florida very long before we boarded a plane to Puerto Rico. By this time I swear everyone in the Florida airport knew where we were going because my son's overzealous personality wouldn't allow him to keep a secret if you told him IronMan himself would hang out with him for week if he did.
Nonetheless two hours later we were in Puerto Rico, where everyone greeted us in Spanish. I thought great, we're doomed.

I had this perception of Puerto Rico being this beautiful tropical island but to my surprise it wasn't that at all, at first. We cabbed it to our hotel. We stayed at the Verdanza Hotel. We arrived at 11:30am and to our surprise the hotel was fully booked despite check-out being at noon and that whole, check-in early policy didn't apply unfortunately. We sat in the lobby until 2:56 pm. I was almost near tears as we sat there with our suitcase and carry-on bags full of our devices, 2 kindles, a 3ds, a cellphone, and our camera. It was super heavy. My son kept reminding me that he needed to use the bathroom in between each bite of Cheetos I had stashed in his backpack. I started to regret coming alone when I had to lug our suitcase and two bags to the bathroom because he was too small to go alone. What was I thinking I thought? I can't do this. I want to go home. We came back from the bathroom and our room was ready.

We headed to our room and I immediately took a shower and prayed to do my best to enjoy the experience. We changed clothes and headed to the beach. It was a Sunday and apparently the place to be because the beach was packed. We were definitely in the city, Carolina to be exact. We were about 30 minutes from San Juan which is where I thought we were staying. The crowded beach reminded me of a weekend in LA where there's no parking to get to the beach, except there were people in the water. We don't do that out here. I grew more disappointed that I didn't do more research. The water wasn't very blue like I had imagined, it just seemed like a normal beach, I honestly felt like I was back home, which kind of defeated the purpose of taking a trip. We made our way back to our hotel which was about a block from the beach. I was so mad at myself that I wasn't enjoying the experience or even trying to. We made it to our room. I went to the bathroom and cried. I wanted to go home. I felt alone, like I needed another person there to balance things out, to pat me on the back, or at least give me a little break because between son's excitement, the plane ride, and the wait in the hotel lobby, I felt overwhelmed.
Luckily my son didn't pick up on my disappointment which he never does. He's always ultra excited about every aspect of life. In fact every morning he says out loud "today's my lucky day" that's just how he approaches life and I admire him for it. I got over myself and the day I was having and we made our way to the pool where we met some really nice people. I was starting to feel more comfortable, like I made the right decision, especially when I saw how much of a good time my son was having. There was a splash park by the pool and he had the time of his life playing all by himself while I watched from the pool.

My objective for this trip was to not be a tourist. I don't really care for sight-seeing. I like to experience places as if I live there. Monday, we took a cab to the movies to see Mr. Peabody and Sherman at the Mall in San Juan. It was hug, the mall. After the movies I shopped a bit and made our way back to the hotel. We changed and hit the beach again. This time it wasn't too crowded which gave me some relief. I just don't do well in large groups of people. There was a small shop next to the beach where I daringly purchased a Pina Colada with Bacardi to enjoy as we relaxed on the beach. The Bacardi and the spacious view made it more enjoyable. I knew my limit. I knew how to enjoy myself while still being a mom to my boy. We built Sand castles and ate chips. He wanted to put his feet in the water so we made our way to the waves. It was warm and relaxing. I felt at ease and decided to stop seeing everything wrong with the trip and started enjoying myself more. As each wave hit me I noticed more and more things I appreciated about being in this space. I had given my 5 year old, African American Male, from the inner city, in a single parent home, a first of many experiences that would last him for life, and while he didn't recognize it as that in that moment, I did and I was touched. As the sun hit my face I thanked God for the opportunity to share that with my child. I looked around and noticed that the beach was full of half grown palm trees, there were beautiful people everywhere, there was music playing, and life was happening. I had fallen in love with Puerto Rico. Besides there were some beautiful fellas in Speedos, making their way to the beach, it was a win-win. LOL

It got a little windy and my son and I were hungry so we headed back to the hotel to eat and play in the pool. When we got to our room there was a letter stating that the pool was reserved for a private event. I thought great just when I started to like being here, we can't even use the pool. I tried to block it out of my mind as we headed to lunch. I ran into the hotel manager that told me there was an event being held for the Puerto Rican Pro Basketball team, and we in fact could use the pool. I fell right back in love. There's nothing like a little eye candy when you're feeling homesick. My son and I finished lunch and made our way to the pool. There, we met three young ladies from New York. They were super friendly and super sweet. I'm not sure if they knew it but they gave me some balance. I got to talk to adults and still enjoy the trip with my son, who was off in the pool stealing a newlywed's pregnant wife. It was awesome. We discovered that the hotel restaurant had a waiter that took drink orders at the pool, so there were more Pina Coladas that came my way. I asked the girls what sorts of adventures they were taking while they were in Puerto Rico and they told me about a boat trip to a private island. They also named some clubs and I unexpectedly lived through them. I fell in love with the idea but remembered this wasn't a girls trip for me, I brought my son for the experience. I started to think of other places we could go but was too afraid to adventure with just He and I. He loved the pool so we stayed there the rest of the night until it was dinner/bedtime.

We had dinner at a traditional Puerto Rican restaurant where he threw up from overconsumption of Puerto Rican chocolate milk. I was terrified, yet again, to take care of him in such a far away place from home. I was hoping he wasn't sick because I didn't realize it was the chocolate milk until later, but when he requested a bag a chips after demolishing the restaurant, I knew he was ok. The next day I woke up with this overwhelming adventurous spirit, sort of like the spirit I had that moved me to book the trip in the first place. I woke up, got dressed, got my son dressed and headed to the lobby to inquire about any adventures being sponsored by the hotel. This was my second attempt at taking my son more than 10 minutes away from our hotel. The day that we arrived the guy working the tours/activities booth said there were no kid friendly activities but I had to give it another try. The lady at the desk was a mom, who had actually worked at some of the destinations. There was a Bacardi Factory tour, historical sights, and shopping, she said was kid friendly because he could just drink soda at the factory and he would love the old sights and then there was the snorkeling trip. Neither my son and I could swim so I booked that snorkeling trip to live outside my comfort zone.

It was theeeee best idea I ever had. On the ride to the boat we got a tour of the different cities in Puerto Rico, the bus ride was about 45 minutes. We arrived at the boat and strapped on our gear. There were 4 Captains 3 male 1 female. The men were beautiful, and shirtless. There were people on the boat ages 5-50 including my son which made me feel more like a family trip and less like mommy's dragging baby to have fun. There were bottomless Pina Coladas, and Virgin Rum punches on the boat, and amazing music, like Michael Jackson, Prince, Marvin Gaye, amazing. I was in heaven and so was my son. He loved the boat ride. We sailed to a private island called Icacacos Island the water was clear and the sand was white. It was amazing! My son and I faux-snorkeled in the water pretending to see fish when all we saw was each other LOL! It was awesome nonetheless to the point where he didn't want to get back on the boat. We travelled to a second reef that was about 20 ft deep where I opted to stay on the boat. One of the captains, Juliexa gave my son bread to throw to the fish that swarmed around the boat. His face lit up in excitement as he fed the fish (and himself) until there was no bread left. We returned to our hotel after our adventure and he convinced me to go back to the pool until 9 oclock at night. It was his vacation too so I didn't mind at all. In fact we spent the rest of our vacay at the pool, at the beach, and we even gave ourselves a walking tour of the area. I regret not booking more adventures or asking more questions about the tours day 1. I regret not falling in love with the idea of being in Puerto Rico from the beginning, but I don't regret going. I felt free, and grown up. I feel blessed to have shared the experience with my son and I had an amazing time because I took him.

I feel more secure about travelling alone with him. I just think I'll pick more kid friendly destinations or return to places like Puerto Rico when our family is more than just He and I or as a girl's trip with friends;) . I'm so glad I took him because he has yet to stop talking about it, which is what I wanted to give him, memories. My anxieties about being vulnerable travelling alone, falling asleep and having someone steal all of our luggage, my son being "that kid" that does not stop talking on the flight, were all self-perpetuated falsehoods, minus the chatty kid. Everything was fine and we enjoyed our vacation!

That was March here at the HairyKat Chronicles. Looking forward to what April brings.

The Song I wish Nicki Minaj Would have Written : (Good) Looking Ass Man

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 19 Feb 2014 16:48:00 -0800

I'm pretty sure by now you've all heard Nicki Minaj's new song Looking Ass N**gas and the backlash from the use of Malcolm X's photo on the artwork for the single although his message and mission was a direct contradiction of the song and somehow she didn't think that his photo paired with the content of the song wouldnt offend anyone but instead would pay homage...blank stare.

The song is an "anthem" for girls who are irritated by the types of boys that look their way.Maybe I don't relate because as a grown-up I don't choose to be in places where these type of boys hang out or exist. I guess that's my issue, Nicki Minaj isn't a girl anymore in fact we're the same age.

I'm not judging her, that's not my place but I'm tired of these songs! Its like ok, we get it! Do something original, different, excite us! Its her inability to portray herself as a grown woman in her music that grinds my gears. Her lyrics are all banter and jabs at people that she looks down on, "stupid hoes" and "looking ass n**gas" to be exact. Where's the longevity in that from a musical career perspective?

Here's my gripe, I just wish these artists including Nicki Minaj, who have the ability to appeal to a wide variety of people put out content that portrays something positive like who they appear to be off the mic and off camera versus who they are on wax. But that doesn't sell of course and if the goal is to sell music then, proceed, or not. Is this our fault? We support it!

By the lyrics of the song Nicki Minaj knows everyone's looking and listening and I think she had the opportunity to shock the world and spit some real shit that would embrace the good men out there ...we pay so much attention to the negatives that we make them powerful.

Even in the responses to Nicki by the likes of Trey Songz, he mentioned that he wasnt talking to the good girls...but I wish he would.. there's bad b**ches and bum ni**as all over tv and music but what about us?..can we get a song that makes us feel good rather than songs used as ammunition to tear each other down. Could you imagine that some content was released that made young men want to be better than the stereotypical downgrades spit in the lyrics of this song?

For once I want to see an artist break the mold and use their commercial success to spread a message that I think many people would relate to cause everyone's not a Looking Ass N**ga or B**ch. In just one song. Doesnt even have to be an entire album.

We can't wonder why other races of people don't respect us if this is how we get at each other. I'm not asking for an advocate or an activist but a bit of social responsibility wouldn't kill anyone.

This song says to me that "you black boy are worth nothing, and here's why, and instead of encourage you and uplift you, let me remind you of everything you aren't". I mean you make a song called "Looking Ass N**gas" and then you prance around in skimpy outfits groping yourself and try and dictate who looks at you? I'm confused!

Just my thoughts, What do you think?

Here's the song I wish Nicki would've written:

"(Good) Looking ass man/ pants above his waist with a belt ass man/ difference between a father and a daddy ass man /hell yea he got bands/ got a career and a hustle cause he's a working ass man/ not a clubbin ass man/ but he will stay home and have a sip with his lady ass man/ romancing ass man/ flowers everyday of the week just because ass man/ he a stomping ass man/ cause he pledged with his brothas in college ass man/ prioritizing ass man/ 401ks vs Gucci ass man/ travelling ass man/ cause he rather save up than impress his friends popping bottles ass man/ he's a stand up man/ got goals on goals/ go getter ass man/ open doors ass man/ ain't insecure he's a proud ass man...."

...drops Mic

It Happened To Me: The Skinny Lady in Front of Me in Yoga Class

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 30 Jan 2014 20:03:00 -0800

Well Happy New Year HairyKat's!

We've been away but we're back and charged up with some great content, contests, and more in 2014.
Our first post of the year meets you with great disdain.

I recently read an article on XO Jane: "It Happened To Me: There Are No Black People In My Yoga Classes And I'm Suddenly Feeling Uncomfortable With It" written by Jen Caron.

The title would suggest that this woman was an advocate for Black People and our need to learn to Downward Dog (sarcasm) but as I read through the article, it became evident that this wasn't the case. As I became more offended I decided it was time to set some things straight!

I've copied and pasted the article for your viewing pleasure (Then read my response from the perspective of the heavy black woman!)

"January is always a funny month in yoga studios: they are inevitably flooded with last year’s repentant exercise sinners who have sworn to turn over a new leaf, a new year, and a new workout regime. A lot of January patrons are atypical to the studio’s regular crowd and, for the most part, stop attending classes before February rolls around.

A few weeks ago, as I settled into an exceptionally crowded midday class, a young, fairly heavy black woman put her mat down directly behind mine. It appeared she had never set foot in a yoga studio—she was glancing around anxiously, adjusting her clothes, looking wide-eyed and nervous. Within the first few minutes of gentle warm-up stretches, I saw the fear in her eyes snowball, turning into panic and then despair. Before we made it into our first downward dog, she had crouched down on her elbows and knees, head lowered close to the ground, trapped and vulnerable. She stayed there, staring, for the rest of the class.

Because I was directly in front of her, I had no choice but to look straight at her every time my head was upside down (roughly once a minute). I’ve seen people freeze or give up in yoga classes many times, and it’s a sad thing, but as a student there’s nothing you can do about it. At that moment, though, I found it impossible to stop thinking about this woman. Even when I wasn’t positioned to stare directly at her, I knew she was still staring directly at me. Over the course of the next hour, I watched as her despair turned into resentment and then contempt. I felt it all directed toward me and my body.

I was completely unable to focus on my practice, instead feeling hyper-aware of my high-waisted bike shorts, my tastefully tacky sports bra, my well-versedness in these poses that I have been in hundreds of times. My skinny white girl body. Surely this woman was noticing all of these things and judging me for them, stereotyping me, resenting me—or so I imagined.

I thought about how even though yoga comes from thousands of years of south Asian tradition, it’s been shamelessly co-opted by Western culture as a sport for skinny, rich white women. I thought about my beloved donation-based studio that I’ve visited for years, in which classes are very big and often very crowded and no one will try to put a scented eye pillow on your face during savasana. They preach the gospel of yogic egalitarianism, that their style of vinyasa is approachable for people of all ages, experience levels, socioeconomic statuses, genders, and races; that it is non-judgmental and receptive. As such, the studio is populated largely by students, artists, and broke hipsters; there is a much higher ratio of men to women than at many other studios, and you never see the freshly-highlighted, Evian-toting, Upper-West-Side yoga stereotype.

I realized with horror that despite the all-inclusivity preached by the studio, despite the purported blindness to socioeconomic status, despite the sizeable population of regular Asian students, black students were few and far between. And in the large and constantly rotating roster of instructors, I could only ever remember two being black.

I thought about how that must feel: to be a heavyset black woman entering for the first time a system that by all accounts seems unable to accommodate her body. What could I do to help her? If I were her, I thought, I would want as little attention to be drawn to my despair as possible—I would not want anyone to look at me or notice me. And so I tried to very deliberately avoid looking in her direction each time I was in downward dog, but I could feel her hostility just the same. Trying to ignore it only made it worse. I thought about what the instructor could or should have done to help her. Would a simple “Are you okay?” whisper have helped, or would it embarrass her? Should I tell her after class how awful I was at yoga for the first few months of my practicing and encourage her to stick with it, or would that come off as massively condescending? If I asked her to articulate her experience to me so I could just listen, would she be at all interested in telling me about it? Perhaps more importantly, what could the system do to make itself more accessible to a broader range of bodies? Is having more racially diverse instructors enough, or would it require a serious restructuring of studio’s ethos?

I got home from that class and promptly broke down crying. Yoga, a beloved safe space that has helped me through many dark moments in over six years of practice, suddenly felt deeply suspect. Knowing fully well that one hour of perhaps self-importantly believing myself to be the deserving target of a racially charged anger is nothing, is largely my own psychological projection, is a drop in the bucket, is the tip of the iceberg in American race relations, I was shaken by it all the same.

The question is, of course, so much bigger than yoga—it’s a question of enormous systemic failure. But just the same, I want to know—how can we practice yoga in good conscience, when mere mindfulness is not enough? How do we create a space that is accessible not just to everybody, but to every body? And while I recognize that there is an element of spectatorship to my experience in this instance, it is precisely this feeling of not being able to engage, not knowing how to engage, that mitigates the hope for change."

I could only imagine the perspective of the class from the "heavy black woman's" pov. I imagine it was something like this:

Heavy Black Woman:

"Today I attended my first yoga class as I begin my journey to a happier, healthier me. The class was rather full and I began to feel uncomfortable with myself. I've struggled with my weight for a while and I began to feel every insecurity rush inside of my body, Everyone in the class seemed as if they had been doing yoga for a while. I could tell by their eagerness and readiness to begin the class. I was nervous but decided, this is the first day of the rest of my life.

Being overweight for so long, I found the positions difficult but decided to give it my best shot. As I continued to give it my best effort, I must've had a look of terror in my eyes as I found myself in positions my body just wasn't used to. I started to resent myself for not taking control of my health sooner as I felt my muscles tighten and sweat pour from my forehead, but was calmed by the pride I felt that I was doing something to change, finally. I started to lose focus or oxygen because I'm sure I had stopped breathing. My eyes roamed around the class as I wondered if any of the other super sweaters in the class were as bad as me at doing this when they started doing yoga. I was determined to give it my best and to be consistent.

As I regained my focus back on the next position, I noticed the woman on the mat in front of me staring at me. I could tell that she was judging me as her eyes stared and moved across every inch of my voluptuous curves I instantly began to love wholeheartedly, as I saw the bones protrude from her skinny, frail body. She refused to look away as did I. She snarled at me. I could tell she was showing off as she moved into the next poses. She taunted me with her eyes as she would change positions and roll them at me. She giggled as I tried to move along with the class. I wasn't going to let her showboating stop me though. She probably thought I was jealous of her body, but quite the contrary. I didn't want to be skinny, just healthy. You could be as skinny as you liked but if you're character lacked integrity, kindness, compassion, and all that attributes that made up a decent human being, your looks really didn't matter. She made it evident in her giggles that she didn't understand me.

Her staring made me uncomfortable. I wondered if she stared because she felt sorry for me, or because she thought that because I was heavy, I was incapable of keeping up with the class. At the end of the day I had to focus on myself. Besides, I never thought of yoga as a competitive sport.

I regained my composure and finished the class. I did it and I was proud of myself. Though, I probably wouldn't return to this studio. I'm going to look for studios that are less crowded and more welcoming."

-Heavy Black Woman

Here's my issue with Jen's post:

I've only seen that insecure people belittle others to make them feel better about themselves. I believe this post is the inferiority complex at its finest. I've yet to meet a black woman that envied a "skinny white girl body" as Jen phrased it. Again, this isn't about yoga, its about Jen's slave-age way of thinking. That this black woman, she never once stopped to welcome, introduce herself to, or tellabout the class, wanted to be her and wanted her body. That because she was black, and heavy, and in yoga, that she lacked identity or self awareness or self-love. Jen automatically assumed that she was better than this woman. While she insinuated that she was being judged or stereotyped, she was the one issuing the judgments and assumptions. The number of assumptions made about a woman she didn't even know was mind boggling. Let's entertain that viewpoint that perhaps this particular black woman had never done yoga before, her frustrations would be more likely with the tests of her own strengths and abilities, the very reason she attended the class in the first place, perhaps to try a new exercise regime. Not with envy of the figure of the woman in front of her, one of which I'll bet my life savings on, she didn't even notice.

Black, White, or Orange, if you have some pounds to shed, and you're starting a new workout, you're going to feel resentment because you're tired, trying something new, and not yet comfortable with yourself or your workout.

But clearly this post is about more than yoga. I wonder if Ms. Jen couldn't stop thinking about the woman that was BEHIND HER, might I add, because she was Black. Her reaction seemed to be more of a "why are you here and how do black people know about yoga?" , rather than "I wish more black people would come to this class." Jen assumed that her "exclusive" lifestyle was unattainable and reserved for Whites Only. Who knew Jen's yoga studio was the re-enactment of Jim Crow only with a moot point of separation because in reality, I think all the things mentioned in Jen's post was only felt by Jen.

How self-centered and narcissistic to think that anyone envied her body and that because this Black woman was supposedly staring at her (even when Jen couldn't see her) that it was because of her body and not because she wanted to be better at yoga. Perhaps she was trying to master her own positions by watching everyone else in the class. Is that so far fetched or will we forever live in the ages of white people pitying people of color based on the color of their skin alone . Did Jen feel privileged as a white woman because she was exposed to such luxuries as yoga? Clearly black people don't workout, or do yoga, at least in Jen's imagination.

This post is a bit of a comic relief at the expense of Jen's ignorance to her own contributions of everything she seemingly wished was different in regards to race relations. I doubt she went home and cried. Instead she wrote an irresponsible post that is a contradiction in what she states is a systemic failure she wish was changed. The failure is not in the fact that more black people don't do yoga. The failure is that white people (generally speaking) live in such a bubble of believing that black people and people of color in general want to be them. I think its far from the truth. History from entertainment to inventions provide evidence that as people of color create and explore, we then we are robbed of our talents, while White America profits from it.

Jen's post is the systemic failure. Jen's assumptions were so extreme that I'd like to think this is just a one off case and we are moving into a progressive world of respect and compassion for each other as humans at the bare maximum. Its clear that Jen lacks any understanding of black people, or our culture. Its like when non-people of color justify that their not racist because they have 2 black friends. But who's counting?

Tsk. Tsk. Jen, get over yourself.

To conclude my irritation here's some pics of Black People doing Yoga:

New Music Alert: Kes-Audio Justice

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 13 Dec 2013 00:03:00 -0800

We all know I love new music like I love a new weave! Don't judge!

I am currently listening to Audio Justice by Artist Kes. Kes hails from Compton by way of Orange County. The singer/songwriter is so musically creative. To give you a mental picture of Kes's sound just imagine that Prince had a baby with Frank Ocean and Pharrell was the babysitter/music teacher, pure AWESOMENESS right?

I'm in love with The Audio Justice EP which features five tracks of funky soul bass beats infused with 80's punk rock and new age hip-hop.With lyrics like, "don't be throwing stones here in this glass house/cause if it comes crashing down/ it'll kill the both of us! on the track Redemption has me saying MESSAGE when it comes to the heart felt ballad. The EP also features Kes's rendition of Lisa Lisa's "I wonder if I take you home", on the song Horses, which can easily be a boys anthem with lyrics like "Horses make her horny" as the catchy hook.

My favorite track on the EP is Arabian Paradise, the electro-beat song is the perfect fusion of 80's punk rock and today's current hip-hop sound.

I've listened to the Audio Justice EP about 6 times already and all can think is I WANT MORE!

Check out my favorite song from the EP Arabian Paradise and then get your fix by checking out Kes's Audio Justice EP in its entirety on Sound Cloud: https://soundcloud.com/kesingtonkross

Beyonce

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 12 Dec 2013 22:52:00 -0800

HairyKats,

A week after attending Jay-Z's concert at Honda Center, which I have yet to recover from (hands down the best concert I've ever been too, to date), I find the perfect way to start to the weekend with a new Beyoncé album! Yup that's right! Unless you live under a rock you've noticed social media go crazy with the Beyoncé self-titled 5th album released mid-week, no promo, and by the trending topics on the web I'm pretty sure she doesn't need it.

This album is quite different from the others. Its a visual album. Yes! There's a video for every single song and more. I'm sitting here with my Arbor Mist and enjoying the hard work of this woman. She is clearly on another level. Making it clear, that releasing singles and heavily publicizing an album is so last year. She realizes her "Superpower" (insider, that you'll only understand if you have the album!) and knows her fan base well enough that she doesn't need publicity. Its not like she needs the money. She simply love what she does and so do I!

I've drank the Kool-Aid or should I say Honey from the Queen Bey, if I didn't make it clear before Beyoncé is the baddest woman in entertainment.

This album expresses one very simple complex word for me, FREEDOM. She seems free artistically, , grown, unmoved, unbothered, herself, her authentic self, not unnerved by the media, just Beyoncé , hence the self-titled album, complexly, simply, Beyoncé the lover of music, the lover of entertaining, the lover of playing with our emotions by releasing music and not even giving us a head's up LOL.

The sound of this album isn't committed to one specific theme. She's an actress, she's a mother, she's a wife, she's creative, she's Beyoncé, again hence the title. There is a theme of satire with lyrics like "I woke up like this" in the track Flawless. She actually touches on the pressures of being a woman in the opening track Pretty Hurts.

She collaborates with Jay-Z , Drake, Frank Ocean, Chimamanda Ngozi, and Blue Ivy :) a spectrum of different artists, bringing the best of the best collaborations.

I feel like she made this album for herself and we just benefit from it as fans. I can feel her love for music in every single song and every single video. This by far is my favorite Beyoncé album.

That's just my take on the songs. The videos are just as good. She pushes the envelope with sexual innuendos in videos like Yonce, Drunk in Love, and Partition. But of course my favorite video is Blue featuring Blue Ivy. The expression of love between mother and child is so heartwarming and sincere and little baby Blue is just as cute as a button.

I'm inspired, truly inspired by this album, to work hard in life as an accountant, mother, writer, designer, I just want to be the Beyoncé of my own life! lol

My favorite song on the album is No Angel...slow grind bass beat with falsetto. Yup all the makings of a Katrina Approves this as hot shit! She definably reps her H-Town roots in this video!

Standing ovation Bey, you did that!!

Deets: Album available on ITUNES Dec 13th. Everywhere else December 20th! Enjoy!

Black Nativity In Theaters 11/27

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 26 Nov 2013 23:06:00 -0800

I had the privilege of attending a movie screening of Black Nativity a Cinematic Musical based on the original Off-Broadway play written by Langston Hughes. The Movie stars Jacob Latimore, Angela Bassett, Forrest Whitaker, Jennifer Hudson, and Tyrese Gibson.

While I think it was a great movie. I also think it should remain on stage. There's something about timing in a play that can't be translated on film. The transition into the songs made some parts of the movie a bit awkward for lack of a better word. I would prefer that the movie follow the model of a typical film and leave the songs to a soundtrack because the music was absolutely amazing, but incorporated into the film, overshadowed the flow of the storyline. I would've rather seen the expressionism that each song emphasized as opportunities for the characters to ...act....simply put.

Don't get me wrong, I do think the acting was great. I especially enjoyed Jacob Latimore's performance, he definitely has star power! His character was that of the son of a single mother weathering the storm of making ends meet without any means to support these efforts.

What the film did address that I think is something that's not talked about often is the mother son relationship in single parent households. Being a single mother, I saw the dynamic of how the burden of a man's lacking presence in the household is an assumed role for our sons, even if its not vocalized. This film was a reminder for me to allow my son to be a child and that its my responsibility to take care of him and not vice versa. I think its a natural inclination for children to want to take care of their parents as a form of appreciation, but I find that in the mother son relationship this sort of role is taken on prematurely. Our sons are not our husbands or our boyfriends, they are our children and the stress of adulthood should not be transferred to them just because they are the only males in the house.

I also appreciated the strength of the message of the holiday season, keeping Jesus as the center of why we celebrate. I rarely see such faith filled themes in mainstream movies during the holiday season without a film being deemed religious. Its a story of family, broken, and in need of healing.

Overall, it was a great film if you can get past the incorporation of the musical transitions. I know, I get it, its a musical, but I wish that it wasn't, at least on the big screen.

Support Black Nativity in theaters 11/27/13.

Russian Rullet is Here! From Infinity to Beyond!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 4 Nov 2013 21:32:00 -0800

Hello HairyKats,

I'm back with more hot music to review. This week we're featuring Infinity by Inglewood Native Russian Rullet. Infinity is the perfect title for as his longevity as a rap artist is defined by this album. Rullet gives us 14 tracks of pure rap with impeccable precision of lyrical delivery and intense energy that draws you in as a listener.

Songs like Go ft. Dae One and Make My Entrance ft. Conyiac and Smokey Lane take me back to 1992 when I first fell in love with Tha Dogg Pound ( I know I was only 8, don't tell my mama!). Remember when Nate Dogg dominated the hooks of every song on the radio? These songs are reminiscent of that classic sound yet they don't sound dated. Although I must admit, I'm currently talking myself out of crip walking as I write this. (Lol!).

Russian Rullet is a natural storysteller, an element of hip-hop that has become nearly extinct. On tracks like Black Widow, Born on a Plane, and Wall of Names ft. Aunjel Adams; Rullet paints a vivid picture for his listeners through his lyrical delivery and storytelling. Aunjel Adams' vocals on Wall of Names is heartpiercingly beautiful. This song is one of my favorites, I always appreciate songs that are entertaining yet socially conscious and thought provoking.

One of my favorite songs on the album is Already Love You ft. Melanie Burke, another track where Russian Rullet exhibits his gift and art of storytelling. This one tells the story of the birth of his son. First off, I'm a sucker for live instruments and harmonized hooks. The piano loop on this has me absolutely in awe and the lyrics "Already Love You More than Me" is heart wrenching and beautiful especially, to hear the male perspective of entering parenthood, something we don't hear a lot of.

My other favorite track is The Crown the beat hits so hard, (like King Kong is in the trunk to be exact). This track says to me I'm here and I'm not going anywhere. "Welcome to Inglewood" as Rullet says, this is easily a West Coast anthem and radio worthy single.

Be sure to get your copy of Infinity when it drops Tuesday, November 5th on ITUNES.

Check out Russian Rullet Freestyle on The Cousins Radio Show Below.

Steven McQueen's: 12 Years A Slave in Theaters Friday 10/18

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 17 Oct 2013 15:26:00 -0700

Last night I had the privelege to attend a private screening of 12 Years A Slave a Steven McQueen film hosted by John Singleton. The film was amazing. So amazing that I can't stop thinking about it and all the implications it has for me and my life as an African-American woman smack dab in the middle of America raising a African-American male, solo.

The film was simplistically artistic. There were subtle moments that were touching because they were so raw. I don't want to give away the film because I think its an important piece to experience and dialogue about. It was full of expressionism and this subtle angst that was played out beautifully. Its touching, its heavy content , its raw, its poetic, and has a great deal of symbolism, yet simple. Its a simple film. Almost too simple to the point that if you don't get it you miss it. It wasnt over-dramatized, there wasn't this huge build up. I enjoyed the musical score that gave this sort of daunting, horror-like feel .

There was so much content in the film that it almost felt like a modern man in the period of slavery. That was the dialogue that some of the audience members began to engage in. It has these undertones of accepting where we are as a means to survive rather than to live.

The movie is playing on me mentally because I keep trying to figure out where did the paradigm of Black Culture in America shift. We went from slaves, to freedom fighters, to twerkers and trappers?

I began to feel like I lacked the appreciation for my simple freedoms like writing this blog, reading books, speaking up for myself, simple things not even touching on the fact that I am also a college graduate.

There was also some religious undertones where slave masters used select passages of the bible as propaganda as a mental entrapment between the slave's covenant and devotion to God. It reminded me of the new reality show Preachers of LA and other religious events I've attended where the word is shared as a means of personal gain for the messenger and not for the spirtual growth of the listener.

The other issue that touched me was the pain of slaves being separated from their children if the masters didnt find it economically fitting and now days its nothing for women and men to abandon their children for whatever their reasons are.

I could go on and on about what this movie represented for us currently as a culture and for me personally. One thing that John Singleton said was we should be able to celebrate that we're not in that space anymore and that we've overcome that oppression. He is absolutely right. What's mind boggling to me though, is the way for which we celebrate. We often times celebrate ignorance. I feel like if there was more recognition of where we came from beyond the typical stories, and the understanding of mental and physical endurance of slavery, then we would look at who we are today and fix it.

This may be far-fetched and offensive but I feel like we're still slaves mentally. We lack definace in the sense that we ok countless television shows about grown women that can't get along or is the president's mistress, we glorify oversexed pop stars, we lack social responsibility. I am not exempt. We promote the culture by supporting it, by picking and choosing it and pouring our earnings into it, and glorifying it.

What's even more interesting to me is when people tell us to get over it. That's a period that's over and done and we should just move forward. In a sense that's correct we should push forward, however you can never just forget where you've come from. But as a culture it seems like we have forgotten. We look the other way, We degrade each other based on frivilous, tangible, perishable things, it seems that as we have advanced as a culture we have diminished the value of what that culture is.

Steven McQueen did an amazing job by shaking up the specturm to get us as a people to articulate the viability of whe we were, who we're becoming, and who we should be.

One of the audience members provided a metaphor last night where he stated (paraphased) you can chain an elephant to a stake in the ground and he will try to break free and after years of being chained you let the elephant off the chains and he doesn't run away. Its mental. Its the mentality of being chained over time that keeps it there.

How do we break free? How do we stop being that elephant? Most importantly how did we transition from such a pivotal movement of abolishing oppression to Basketball Wives and the Bad Girls Club?

Puzzled and Amazed. Thank you Mr. McQueen.

The Kat's Meow: Interview with DJ LA LA L&ND

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 11 Oct 2013 20:26:00 -0700

The Kat's Meow is the official interview segment of the The HairyKat Chronicles. This week we caught up with the beautiful DJ LA LA L&ND to pick her brain about the life of a female DJ. Check out her insight in the interview below.

HK: “How did you get interested in DJ-ing?”

DJ LaLa L&ND: “Music has always been a part of my life. I was introduced to Scratch DJ Academy when my Uncle started in 2005. When my Uncle passed away in 2006 I kept in touch with the instructors. I did a free class in 2010 and joined in January 2011. A few classes later I got hooked to it and now it’s something that I love. “

HK: “Take us down memory lane and tell us about the first DJ set you ever played”.

DJ LaLa L&ND: “It was for my school, it was the 2^nd class I had taken (M202). We had to do a 6 song set, the goal was to be picked to play for graduation. Only two people were going to be picked out of the entire class. I was so nervous, but I worked so hard on it, I would work on it after working at a hospital. It was an all 90’s music set. I ended up getting picked and got to play at graduation.”

HK: “DJ-ing is seemingly a male dominated industry. What sorts of barriers do you feel exist, if any, for female DJs?”

DJ LaLa L&ND: “I don’t feel like there’s barriers. I feel more like we’re underestimated because there are some women that do it for the look and not for the skill. But once you break it down and show that you have the skills, I feel like you get treated just as equal as male DJ’s. I feel like I get treated just as equal as male DJ’s.”

HK: “What influences your DJ mixes when you’re preparing for a set?”

DJ LaLa L&ND: “It depends on the feel of the crowd. I love to mix New Jack Swing with the new “Ratchet” music, I guess it’s called. It also depends on what’s playing at the time, which depicts what songs can go together.”

HK: “So you don’t pre-record your sets?”

DJ LaLa L&ND: “No, everything is on the spot. The only thing I prepare is the songs I may want to use for a set.”

HK: “What’s your go to song that you know will get listeners hyped up?”

DJ LaLa L&ND: “With new music, it really depends on what’s hot at the moment. My go to music is 90s to early 2000s usually Busta Rhymes- Put your Hands Where My Eyes Can See, Mary J. Blige- Real Love, Michael Jackson-Remember the Time.

HK: “How do you think the role of the DJ has shifted in music culture over the past decade?”

DJ LaLa L&ND: “I don’t feel like people think DJ’s are as important anymore. I feel like people think the venue or the food is more important. Or there’s so many people that call themselves DJ’s that people think anyone can do it. I don’t think it’s taken as seriously anymore. But, we prepare for hours like any other job. We actually put time into our craft. We research music. I don’t feel like DJ’s get as much recognition as they used to.”

HK: “What advice would you give to any up and coming DJ’s?”

DJ LaLa L&ND: “I would say, if you’re going to DJ do it because you love it not based on the possibilities that can come from DJ-ing. It’s hard and it takes passion. Put the time in to make your skill stronger and network, know your music, and keep the love for it alive.”

HK: “This is a funny question, but I have to ask it because I see people do it all the time, Do DJ’s get annoyed when people requests songs?”

DJ LaLa L&ND: “So the whole thing with request is, personally it’s not annoying until someone is being demanding about playing a song they want to hear. When we’re DJ-ing, we’re in the zone. It gets frustrating when they demand a song and they expect to hear it right then and there and it may not be with the vibe of what’s going on. Some DJ’s won’t play the song unless you pay them. Yea, I don’t mind it just depends on the delivery of the request. “

Listen and download DJ LA LA L&ND’s Mixes on Soundcloud at: www.soundcloud.com/DJLalaL

Via email: djlalaland@gmail.com ; Find her on Instagram and Twitter @dj_lalaland and Like her fanpage on Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/pages/DJ-LaLa-LND/109286565851325