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Freestyle
fuck
fuck
fuck the aliases
what you think this is
i been writing the ill shit since carter was in office
and i was
kick
kick
kickin' on my mom's belly button
from the wrong side
talkin bout
"sho' is dark in here"
and breathing fluid
now i spit venom
not giving a good got damn
bout how many "poets"
think they can outshine
the ill Ra
sun god plus
locks
looking like a yellow fallen star
fake
fake
fake poets trying to scr-scr-scr-scratch they way
out of a legal pad
thinking red ink on
yellow paper
is revolutionary
thinking writing about sex
sets
them apart from any other tom
dick
harry
malik
jamal
larenz.......
ne
gro
please
i've been lockin' since soul food was just a movie
and Oz only showed one dick every three weeks
not every three minutes
before def poets came to HBO
when Saul Williams was first gettin hot
yeah....that's the kind of mileage my locks got
i am waiting for the challenge, so step to me
you'll gets mad love from me
if love means
chew
ing
you
up
and shittin you
just to make your lines a little more funky
i am STILL the next generation of soul
dig that
live it
love it
out
Posted by Rashid on September 29, 2004 at 7:53 PM | Comments (1)
The Real World: Immediate Thoughts
DAMN!
I am totally feeling where Karamo is coming from in tonight's episode. What happened to him never happened to me exactly, but I can empathize with your white "boys" not empathizing with you when the chips are down. Moreover, they get extremely frustrated with you because they CAN'T understand your anger and frustration. To them, you've turned everything INTO race. To you, you ARE your race and your race is YOU.
*le sigh*
It's funny how the girls in the group instantly sympathized with Karamo, but MJ and Landon were clueless.
And then Landon said the N word earlier. YES, I know, he said it because he was telling a story and it was integral to the story. But still....he shouldn't have said it. At least Karamo didn't knock his block off when he said it. He let it ride until later.
Man.....I want to meet Karamo. Not because he's hot (which he is, don't get me wrong)....he seems like somebody I would vibe with as a friend.
I think he'd also vibe well with another queer friend of mine. Actually, come to think about it, he'd vibe with *A* even more, cuz *A* is a bit of a clubber. I am more of a stay-at-homer.
*le sigh*
I like Karamo. I don't think he's perfect. I don't idolize him. It just feels damn good to have someone on TV that is similar to me. How many times will I say this? Probably a lot more.
I wonder if our paths will cross some day. Wouldn't that be trippy?
Do you weep, Karamo? Do you weep?
LOL aight now...good night!
Posted by Rashid on September 28, 2004 at 10:28 PM | Comments (0)
A Vote for Mr. Ex
Politically, at Least, Effi Barry Is Back With D.C.'s Former Mayor and Her Former Husband
By Ann Gerhart
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, September 27, 2004; Page C01
The image of Effi Barry that people remember is from the front row of D.C. federal court in 1990. The prosecutors play the 83-minute sting videotape. On it, the mayor of the capital of the United States, her husband, is smoking crack in a hotel room, fondling an ex-model named Rasheeda Moore and begging her to have sex with him. The first lady of Washington sits impassively in the front row, regal and refined, calmly hooking a rug.
Poor, poor Effi. Who was behind that mask?
She stood by her man, got through his trial, got out of her marriage and got out of town. When Bill Clinton got caught in his sexcapade, Mrs. Barry No. 3 was the expert witness on "Oprah," testifying about public humiliation. Politics, she said, was anti-family. It certainly had ruined hers.
But here she is on election night earlier this month at Marion Barry for Council headquarters, big oven mitts over her lovely hands, a cross dangling from her neck, serving chicken wings to volunteers before the man gives his victory speech. The prince of D.C. politics -- or the clown prince, depending on how you see him -- with his elegant onetime consort nearby. Not at his side, though, until Marion demands it. And she consents, moving to stand with him and their son, Christopher.
She's back in the picture, literally and figuratively.
Hmmmm.
She knows the question: Sister, have you lost your mind? She picks up her glass of chardonnay and holds it to her ear, as if it were a telephone receiver. "Girl, did you see -- ?" she says, mimicking the gossip about herself, and she permits herself a ladylike little laugh.
She has agreed to an interview and picked the restaurant, Cafe Mozu, in the luxurious Mandarin Oriental Hotel. Effi likes its serenity and quietude. She is early for lunch and waiting in the lounge, one long arm draped along the banquette, the Potomac glistening through the window behind her.
Nearly six feet tall and slender, she looks perfect. She always has. Sometimes, appearances are all that one has.
She wears a simple navy two-piece dress, with a boat neckline that shows off her pretty collarbones, and a slender gold chain caresses one ankle under her hose. Her lips are coral. Her cheekbones, at 60, are chiseled. She speaks slowly, carefully composing long paragraphs of description and explanation, which are at turns poetic and platitudinous and hazy.
She supported her ex-husband's bid for office for his sake, she says, and the sake of their son.
For Marion, "his history and his legacy should be that he always fought for other people," says Effi. "It pains me that people think he's a gargoyle, a troll under the bridge." Without politics, which she defines as public service, Marion Barry, 68, diabetic, hypertensive, recovering alcoholic, isn't fully alive. "It's in his blood," she says. "Working hard for other people -- it's fuel for him."
For Christopher, who is 24, "I want my son to know and love his father, warts and all. " And for herself? "The right thing for me is to support my son's father," she says, almost as if it were penance, though she wasn't the one who committed the sin. "It's what my Christian ethic calls on me to do."
Of course she has heard the word on the street, she says. One stream of speculation has her hurting for money and hopeful of finding work once Barry, without any significant Republican opposition, rolls back into that sweet part-time job that pays $92,500 a year, representing the disenfranchised east-of-the-river residents of Ward 8. The other stream has her positioning Christopher to essentially inherit the gig from his daddy, whose various ailments caused many of his old friends to withhold their support of Barry's bid. Many of them, and even campaign workers, don't think he'll make it through his four-year term.
None of the gossip is true, Effi Barry insists.
She can support herself, she says. "I have a home, thank you very much," she says, a townhouse in Hampton, Va., she bought in 1994 for $79,000, according to real estate records. Her mother lives there now, while Effi lives alone in a rented apartment in the District (she is vague about where). "I have two cars, thank you very much. Well, the bank has them. I'm not a needy person. I'm not down and desperate. I don't need Marion Barry," she says, or anything his cronies could offer. She is doing some work for Children's Hospital, and, she said, "weighing other prospects." The job she had as an executive assistant when she returned a year ago from Hampton didn't work out. "The boss and I had philosophical differences," she says. As in much of what Effi Barry says about herself, the details remain vague enough to be unverifiable. She does want Christopher, a student at the University of the District of Columbia, "to work alongside his father, doing something good," and that is as specific as she will be during more than three hours of lunchtime conversation. "My son is my heart. His father is his father. I was particularly affected by never knowing my father, I guess. Even today, I'm incomplete."
Effi Slaughter was born in Toledo. Her mother, Polly Lee Harris, was 16 and black. Her father was Italian.
"There were miscegenation rules back then," says Effi, "that didn't permit them to be together, and so," she adds, waving her long fingers through the air, dropping her voice to a whisper, "suicide." Her father committed suicide? She nods, soberly. "So that whole half of me is not there." She was 30 before she asked her mother about him. Her mother married a man who managed parking lots, which did provide some stability until their divorce, when Effi was 16.
Effi was smart, and she was striking, and she went off to Hampton University, where she got a degree in home economics. She moved to New York to join her childhood sweetheart, Stanley Cowell, an accomplished jazz pianist who now lives in Upper Marlboro. They married, and Effi worked as a flight attendant, a credit reporter and a junior high-school teacher. She got a master's degree in public health from City College, she has said. When the marriage ended, she moved to Washington for a job with the city.
She met Marion Barry in 1976, at a Bicentennial celebration in Southwest Park. "I was looking in my purse for something, and suddenly he was there. "Is there anything in your purse for me?" she recalls him saying. Barry was an activist, the former head of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, a former school board member running for reelection to the D.C. Council. She was apolitical and had no idea who he was. But he was "very vibrant, very charismatic, that Southern charm," Effi says. (He was also still very married, to Mary Treadwell, who years later was convicted twice for stealing public funds.) Effi gave Marion her number, and he called the next day.
In 1978, after Barry had announced his bid for mayor, they got married. Newspaper photos from that period show a happy and handsome couple -- the Barrys at inaugural parades, Effi in one of her sophisticated hats and furs; on official visits to Africa; greeting heads of state from other nations.
"It was a wonderful education being exposed to all these different cultures," she says. "I had a life where I might be at the White House in the morning and serving soup to the homeless in the afternoon; there was that diversity of experience. I so much admired Anwar Sadat, and that was a highlight, entertaining his wife in my house, in my house! As a result of Marion, all this was possible."
If being the first lady of Washington brought opportunity, it also brought scrutiny. She drew criticism for taking a birthday gift of $1,150 in clothing from a lobbyist who met repeatedly with the mayor. The couple got a discounted home loan from a bank on whose board she sat, and after that became public, the bank rescinded the preferred rate and she quit the board. She took a job with a public relations firm with a city contract, and then quit, amid questions of conflict of interest. When she arranged for Christopher to have his eighth birthday party at an amusement park with friends, she brought along an entourage that included three members of the mayor's security detail, a plainclothes cop, a government photographer and one of Effi's city aides.
In the photos, as the mayoral years march on, the expression on the face of Mrs. Marion Barry changes. The early unguarded joy and authentic excitement vanish. They are replaced by the inscrutable smile born of necessity and worn by the sorority of betrayed political wives -- Lee Hart, Hillary Rodham Clinton and, most recently, New Jersey first lady Dina McGreevey.
On camera, Mayor and Mrs. Barry stayed hand in hand. Off camera, they were living separate lives. In the course of their 12 years together, she once said, the couple had only a half-dozen "family-style dinners." She acknowledged that she knew all about her husband's infidelities -- and accepted them.
Of Marion's friend Karen Johnson, who pleaded guilty to drug conspiracy charges in 1984, Effi said in a television interview that she chose to take at face value her husband's explanation that his relationship with Johnson was "non-intimate" and added: "There are very few men in this town who can say they have not been involved in some way or the other with another woman during the period of their married life, be it platonic, romantic, sexual or whatever. What I blame him for is indiscretion."
And she warned him: "I told him all along, 'You're going to be set up with a woman,' " she said after his 1990 arrest at the Vista Hotel with Moore. When she got the call late that night, she knew what had happened. "Who was she?" was her first question.
During her husband's trial on drug and perjury charges, the ever-controlled Effi Barry sat most days beside a woman named Cora Masters. "I guess Cora and I, then, were the closest of friends," Effi says now. Cora went on to become Mrs. Marion Barry No. 4, and the new first lady of Washington; Barry was elected to a fourth term as mayor after his release from jail. The couple are now separated; Cora Masters Barry declined to be interviewed for this article. Asked if she ever speaks to Cora, Effi pauses, arches an eyebrow, and smiles. "Whatever would I say?"
The woman who says she was a blunt talker as a sex educator of college students is far less direct when she now assesses how her ex-husband treated her, often reaching for the affirmative language of self-help tracts.
Marion Barry, says Effi, "became distracted with other activities" and "made some poor decisions about his personal conduct." She regrets that "we shared the experience at different levels." She says, "I didn't know Marion as a user of drugs," just alcohol.
Asked what she would do over in their life, if she could, she leans onto the table and rests her chin in her hand. "I think," she says, "if I were able to wave a magic wand -- and if I had been able to keep all of the negative people and the temptations away from him, it would be a different world, and a different city."
Here is the story she tells to describe her bond with her son.
"When we welcomed the pope" -- John Paul II -- "in 1979, the helicopter descends. It lands on the Mall. The door opens. He has a flowing white robe, this aura, his was the brilliance of a thousand stars. And I started shaking. Damn! I said, that's the Pope! I gave him the key to the city. He touched my hand. He said, 'God bless you and your family.' And I said to myself, 'Wow, Marion and I are blessed for life.' "
But she felt nauseated all that week, and when she went to the doctor, he told her she was pregnant. She was shocked. "We were specifically not trying," she said. "So I say he is my blessed child. He thrives on faith. All the negativity he has endured to [be able to] extract some sort of strength, and hopefully he will be empowered to achieve his greatness."
Christopher was 9 when his father was arrested Jan. 18, 1990, and television crews descended on their home. The day of the arraignment, a friend carried him out of the house with a coat over his head, to shield him from publicity. When Effi left her marriage later that year, she took her son with her to Hampton, but, she says, he found it "too country." An urban child, he wanted to be back in Washington, she says, so he went to live with Barry and his new wife. Effi taught health and sex education at her alma mater, Hampton University. When Christopher was a senior at Wilson High School, she returned to Washington for a year. "It was significant for me to be there," is all she says. "I don't know whether it was significant for him or not."
Now, at 24, after a stint at Hampton, he is studying business and finance at UDC, his mother says -- "this week" at least. She hopes he will graduate soon. "They never finish in four years anymore," she says.
Asked if she worries that Christopher might be influenced by some of the unsavory characters who have gravitated toward Marion Barry over the years, she narrows her eyes. Then she laughs. "He is like his mother," she says, much more skeptical of people's motives than her ex-husband. Her message to Christopher is "No, your father is not perfect. Yes, he has made mistakes. But he is to be honored, now that you are a young man. You have a legacy, of which you can be proud."
To her, the council race is bound up in securing this legacy and her personal peace with a man who always will define her. A year ago, when Barry told her he was thinking about running for office, "I said, 'For what?' " Effi told a reporter last month. "He said, 'You ride around this city and ride around Ward 8 and you come back and tell me why.' "
At lunch, she expands: "When I went around with him, everyone had a story to tell him. He represents hope -- no matter what the situation has been, he's been able to resurrect himself."
And for herself, her spirituality has "taught me to forgive. If I carry around with me the hurt and the pain, then I'm stuck. If I'm harboring heartache, I can't grow." They won't get back together, she predicts.
"My relationship with him now is totally different from a wife who felt used and neglected, from that bewildered person who felt she was free-falling into a black hole, to a person who says, I'm still here. I'm a survivor," says Effi Barry, and she splays her hands in front of her, then brings them together, carefully matching flame-red fingertip to flame-red fingertip.
Still, here she is, back in the Barry orbit.
She nods slightly and smiles. Is there a hint of surrender in that smile, or is it apology? She knows him so well, well enough to know that "in the 30 years I've known him, he hasn't changed."
And yet?
"And I like Marion," she continues. "There's a certain quality that just kind of grows on you."
Staff writer Yolanda Woodlee contributed to this report.
Posted by Rashid on September 27, 2004 at 6:13 PM | Comments (0)
whew.....
I am categorizing this entry as "Anything" because I've got too much swimming in my head in all different categories.
First of all, big shout out to everyone who has been leaving comments -- much appreciated! It's nice to know that people read this thing, even though it's currently sort of plain.
The Wire was good tonight, as it always is. I swear to you, my Frat was in this episode. I sent an email to see if it was him -- it looked JUST like him if it wasn't. Anyway, we'll see.
Detective Kima Greggs aka Sonja Sohn is simply beautiful on that show. Love her.
The Book......it wouldn't be cool to say exactly what is going on with it. BUT, I will say that I am moving in a different direction from where I thought I was going. Look for things to start getting really.....guerilla-ish. I've got to do what I've got to do to make this happen, and ladies and gentlemen....it won't be traditional. Prepare to be....well, prepare to be guerillized. lol
Comcast is on some BS. I just switched from Verizon DSL. If I wasn't so far from the DSL central office, I would much rather be on verizon. But Comcast works for now.
Mental Note: Consider the name "Amaro" for a son of mine in the future.
I am really excited for Homecoming in two weeks. I need to tell my Principal I need that friday off.
I need to head to bed, even though I am supposed to review some work on my site tonight....my designer is ghost tonight. I wonder where she went.
Anyway....tired now. Have a good week!
Posted by Rashid on September 26, 2004 at 10:49 PM | Comments (0)
More About my Future Ex-Fiance' Karamo
THE EMERGING NEW FACE OF BLACK GAY AMERICA: MTV's Real World Philadelphia
by Jasmyne Cannick
This year Noah's Arc broke ground as the first black gay series. Showtime introduced three black gay men on the political reality show American Candidate . ABC's The Benefactor , features a black gay man as well. MTV is following suit with a black gay man on this season's Real World .
Last Tuesday night, over one million jaws dropped across America in unison as MTV's Real Word Philadelphia cast found out which of their new roommates were gay. No one probably ever suspected that the clean cut and handsome Black boy from Los Angeles by way of Houston would be dropping the bombshell that he wasn't one of the assumed "straight" members of the household. Ah, but the plot thickens! Not only is he gay, but he's not the finger-snapping overly effeminate gay man that America has grown comfortable with. No, Karamo , at first glance, appears to be your average urban, hip-hop loving, straight brotha, and for the most part that's accurate if you replace straight with gay.
The youngest of four, the 23 year old, Florida A&M Business Administration graduate is perfectly comfortable with his sexuality and hopes his "coming out" experience will put a new face on Black gay men.
In a recent interview he explained, "My sexuality doesn't define who I am. I am a Black man first and foremost."
That may be so, but how has Black America reacted to this new face on gay America?
"While I was in College Park, Atlanta, I had these real hardcore looking brothas come up to me on the street and give me props for coming out," explained to Karamo. "I've received support from people age 18 to 70 since coming out on the show. It's amazing because I thought people were going to attack me or something like that, but no, it's been all positive."
Since wrapping the show, Karamo is back in Los Angeles and has hit the ground running.
An avid activist, Karamo is now focusing his energies and time on issues that affect the Black gay community.
"I plan on volunteering with Black gay advocacy organizations like the National Black Justice Coalition ," said Karamo. "The fight against AIDS is also important to me and I want to assist with getting the message out that we [Black gay men] are still dying from this disease."
The son of Jamaican parents, Karamo is disgusted with homophobic reggae artists like Beenie Man.
"Artists like Beenie Man promote hatred and murder," explained Karamo. "Reggae is beautiful music but not when it's being used promote the murder of gays."
Karamo recently attended a special screening of Noah's Arc in Hollywood, the first all Black gay series.
"I hope that with all of these fresh new and positive images of Black gays emerging that America especially Black America will realize that we're [gays] an important part of the community," commented Karamo. "We have lives, jobs and families like everyone else. Anything that I can do to help get that message out there I will."
You can check out Karamo every Tuesday night on MTV at 10 p.m. For more information on the show, please visit www.mtv.com .
©2004 Jasmyne Cannick jasmyne@jasmynecannick.com
This message may be copied and/or forwarded. If published, please send a hard copy to PO Box 432249 Los Angeles, CA 90043
Posted by Rashid on September 23, 2004 at 5:03 PM | Comments (3)
County Fair
I am up too early, and I hope can get back to sleep.
I had a dream that I was at some sort of county fair with my mom, her friend L., some baby, one of my first graders, and a sixth grade teacher.
It was in Florida.
The whole thing was so vivid, it was nizarre.
The very last part of the dream, I was trying to lead L, my mom, and the baby across this deserted fountain to the other side of the fair, but I ended up getting lost and wandering into the everglades....
I wonder what numbers this means I should play....
Posted by Rashid on at 4:43 AM | Comments (0)
Random 12
These are ten random songs that play when I hit the "shuffle" button on my media player:
The Bounce (Instrumental), Jay-Z
Girlfriend, Pebbles
Young Hearts Run Free, Candi Staton
A Different World Theme, Phoebe Snow
You Keep Me Hangin' On, The Supremes
Rainy Dayz, Mary J. Blige ft Ja Rule
Girl I'm Gonna Miss You, Milli Vanilli
Everybody Have Fun Tonight, Wang Chung
Oops! The Real Slim Shady Did It Again, Eminem vs Britney Spears
Turn Off The Lights (Remix), Nelly Furtado ft Timbaland
Mercy Mercy Me, Marvin Gaye
They Don't Care About Hip-Hop, Michael Jackson vs Dead Prez
Posted by Rashid on September 20, 2004 at 10:20 PM | Comments (0)
I'm On a Roll
Well, it's Monday morning and I am like ugggghhhh.....but life isn't too bad. I felt like I was catching a cold, but I don't feel so bad so far. Allegra works.
I am pretty convinced that I was not meant to have a real job....but I have to get one to live. I would much rather be writing and cultivating new ideas. You know?
I really should stop BSing and hop in the shower, but I feel so lazy this morning....I left my classroom in a shambles on Friday because I was sooooo tired and not feeling the greatest. Which means I really ought to get to work early to make sure I am ready to start my day....
But here I am blogging....oh well.....
I think I am going to start turning my comments on. They won't always be on, though. As my site gets more popularity, I think I want it to be read only. I know, it's kinda presuming that I will be world famous and that haters will come out of the woodwork....lol....but it happened on my old diary when I was a nobody. So, we'll see.
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You know what I just realized? How in the HELL does R. Kelly still get to be famous??? He (allegedly) had sex with an underage girl! He's a predator! That sucks!
Posted by Rashid on at 7:04 AM | Comments (1)
The Wire/The Emmys
Well, The Wire, season three, premiered tonight, and it was good. Not like GOOOOOOD because that's now how the show rolls. But it was an excellent opening "chapter" so to speak. You really can't judge The Wire until the whole thing concludes.
**********
So, I tuned into the Emmys quite randomly, in time to see the montage of dead stars. THEN I saw James Spader when the Emmy for Best Actor in a Drama Series for The Practice! WOW!
And Meryl Streep just won something.....you know, I really like her. She comes off like a snob because of the seriousness of her roles, but once I saw her in some comedies, I really took another look at her and started really paying attention to her. She's a damn fine actress.
Halle Berry? Not so much.
Posted by Rashid on September 19, 2004 at 10:37 PM
These Things Make Me Happy
Photography
Watching Carrie with someone who's never seen it.
Funyuns
Mash-ups
Enrique Cruz
David Bowie and Iman.
Labyrinth
Studying black fraternalism and sororalism.
The Real World
J.C. Hayward
Big Brother
Probate Shows
CVS Brand Peach slice candy
Old School gospel music
Writing
School Daze
Rainy and overcast days
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Posted by Rashid on at 4:09 PM
Fatherhood
What if I became a father?
That's crazy, right?
But I am teaching children who are the age my own children might be -- had I fathered a kid my senior year in high school, as so many 18-year-olds have done.
I really want sons. I've written about that before, but I REALLY want sons. I think maybe part of me wants to be the father that my own father refused to be.
I also find myself exhibiting paternal traits in the classroom -- I am stern, yet I am fair and compassionate. I never refuse a hug, but I am also quick to suggest that a kid "mans up."
I know the difference between a whine and a cry, don't worry.
If I have natural-born sons, I want them to have Arabic names, like me. I want to pass along that tradition, since a lot about their childhood will be nontraditional. I mean hell, they're gonna have a gay father for crying out loud.
I wouldn't name my kid Rashid, Jr., though. Okay, maybe I would name the kid Rashid, but he'd definitely have a different middle name. And perhaps a hyphenated last name to reflect his two fathers. It works for straight couples I know...
But I think about how many kids there are in the world who are waiting to be adopted, especially young black boys.....I feel responsible for them, too, especially after having been in the classroom and dealing with students who may be wards of the state or in the adoption system.
Is it selfish to want to have a kid who looks like you?
I think ultimately, I want at least one son to be of my own blood.....I don't know why it matters, but it does. I feel like maybe I've wasted my genetic material if I don't produce at least one offspring of my own.
Thoughts?
Posted by Rashid on September 18, 2004 at 5:27 PM | Comments (2)
The Top Ten Hotties
So on an irregular basis, I like to post my top ten hotties list. I've been doing this ever since I was on d.iaryl.and. These guys aren't the ONLY kinds of guys I will date...to be honest, personality goes a long way with me, so you definitely don't need to be perfect.
We always start this list with the hottie in training: Kwame Jackson from The Apprentice. Karamo from The Real World: Philadelphia. Actually they are more like honorable mentions until I see more of them.
So, without further ado, bring on the hotties:
#10 - Boris Kodjoe
Boris, why did you have to get engaged this year? Unfortunately, he lost mad hottie points, because well.....you can't be all unabashedly heterosexual on my hottie list! You have to be quietly hetero, not all engaged to your costars....anyway, look at him. It's Boris Kodjoe, how could he not be on my list?
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#9 - James Blake
He plays tennis. He, too, lost hot points this season because he cut his hair. I am not certain if he had dreadlocks or if they were just natty twists, but either way, it gave him mad sex appeal. He's still on the list though, because he's hot, and perhaps he will rise in his standings after the Olympic hottie season has officially ended.
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#8 - Dominic West
Unfortunately, he's the only white guy on my list. But fortunately, he's still hot. Dominic West appears as Detective McNulty on HBO's The Wire. His character is attractive because he is smart but flawed, talented but a little arrogant, and gives a human face to cops. Plus, hsi partner's a lesbian, so he gets cool points.
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#7 - Quddus
I've been feelin' Quddus ever since he first came to MTV, whenever that was. He's clearly biracial....in a way, reminds me of my former roommate. I like the fact that he isn't overly hip-hop or pop, but kind relates well to all people and all genres. Plus, he's hot. The slender, starving artist kind of hot.
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#6 - Kendis Gibson
Sooooo....how about I live for Headline News on the weekends so I can see this man? When I first saw him doing the news I was like "DAMN TED TURNER WE GOT IT LIKE THAT NOW?????" The man is not just hot....he's FINE. I hope somebody snags him quick, male, female, whatever. In journalism, he's got no place to go but up! He's hot, but I also admire him.
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#5 - Meteus Inocencio
He runs track for Brazil. What more is there to say?
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#4 - Dain Blanton
United States Olympic beach volleyball type person....somehow I watched the entire Summer Olympics and slept on Dain Blanton. HOT! He also reminds me of a frat brother of mine, who is handsome in his own right. Anyway...who knew beach volleyball dudes had it quite like that?
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#3 - Rhasaan Orange
He plays TEK or Thomas Edward Kramer on Days of Our Lives and in addition to being a freakin' hottie, he can act pretty well. If you tune into Days any time soon, please ignore the fact that the writing is horrible. My other problem with his character is that they forever have him wearing the ill party shirts with leather jackets. But....anyway, he reminds me of Quddus but a little thicker, at least when it comes to build.
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#2 - Lenny Kravitz
Dammit Lenny! (Picture with David Bowie) I was with you when you pressed you hair, but when you chopped it all off, you had a pea head! You used to be number one, and maybe when you get your fro back, you can take your rightful place....but until then....
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#1 - Maurice Greene!
Although I think this picture is from the Sydney Olympics in 2000, Maurice Greene is THE MAN. No, he isn't the "Greatest of All Time" as his tatoo says, but I am feeeeeeelin him hard. He is the only arrogant celebrity that I would ever put up with. The man is a great athlete....and....I might add....
HE'S HOT!!!!!!!!
Posted by Rashid on September 17, 2004 at 7:38 PM | Comments (4)
My New Ex-Fiance'
I have talked my head off about Karamo from The Real World: Philadelphia so I will keep this entry short and sweet.
By now, you all know that MTV has casted two gay men on the same season of The Real World. One happens to be the little boy who used to play "Hector" on Ghostwriter, all grown up. That was printed in a press release well before the pilot.
Well, Karamo came out in the first half-hour of the premier. My friend called me practically screaming "OH MY GOD ARE YOU WATCHING THE REAL WORLD???" And I wasn't, because I was watching The Amazing Race. But I said I would watch it the next day, since my friend said it was the biggest twist ever on the show.
So I watched Karamo come out, and I liked to just get the Holy Ghost. You don't understand -- this was a MOMENT for me. As a long-time fan of the show, I finally was able to see someone who "looked" like me. No, me and Karamo don't look alike (though he is a finnnnnnnnnnne specimen!) but he and I do seem to share the same outlook on black masculinity and sexuality.
Yes, America, all gay men are different.
Yes, America, there are some men you would NEVER suspect are gay.
It's a beautiful thing. Kick ass, Karamo! I will be keeping up with this season and praying for him all the while. It ain't easy....but it can be done.
PEACE
Posted by Rashid on September 14, 2004 at 7:30 PM
Done!
Novel #2 is OVAH!!!!!
And once again, I had my emotional moment at the end. Like Kathleen Turner in Romancing the Stone:
Sobbing: "The (tap tap tap)....end (tap tap tap)"
Yes, it is always just like that for me. I loooooove my characters so much. I have had these chracters in me since 1999, and I only got them warmed up in Novel #1. In THIS novel, they are really coming into their own.
I am so glad I finished, man. I was eating, breathing, and sleeping this novel. Once upon a time, I might have fancied myself as similar to my main character, but we are really two different people.
I am not sure if I mentioned this before, but I HATE HATE HATE when people ask me if I've written an autobiography. UGH! Does anyone ask Toni Morrison that junk?
Anyway....I am getting really anxious to get my career rolling. I am now at a point where certain things aren't in my control, therefore causing me to put other things on hold. I am being patient and understanding, but I can't help but be concerned. This is my career.
On a website for my friend Amerie she was talking about how she had to adapt from artist to businesswoman when she started making it big. And having known her in undergrad, I can see how that would be a challenge for her, yet fun at the same time. Looking back on myself at that time, I don't think I would have thought of myself as thinking the challenge would be fun, but it is. I like the fact that my career is in my hands. I am a talented writer, but I can't ONLY be a talented writer....I have got to be a brilliant promoter, publicist, all that....and right now, since I am not "famous" I have to be all those things for myself, or I will fail as an author.
****
One of my high school friends called me last week. I love that man SO MUCH!!!! He is like a long lost brother who you really do admire and respect, but your lives are so different that they don't actually "mesh" so all you truly have is great conversations. Anyway, I think I want to explore the option of writing a book about his life. He has seen and done A LOT and I think telling his story could be a new take on the "Street Fiction" genre. Or, it could be more of an anthropological type of book....I so loved anthro in college. I'll see.
****
That's all for now folks! Enjoy your week!
Posted by Rashid on September 12, 2004 at 7:03 PM
Like, two and a fourth more chapters....
I am listening to this song called "Tale Your Mama Out" by the Scissor Sisters. It's really tight. Too bad I haven't listened to the lyrics yet. It could be talking about killing blacks and homosexuals.
Anyway.....I haven't exactly been writing my butt off lately, due to honestly being worn out from one of the chapters I wrote last month and then school starting not too long after that. However, I have indeed been writing, and now I am almost finished with chapter 18 of novel #2.
Isn't that crazy? I've always been able to write fairly quickly (meaning, writing a major piece over the summer was never a major feat for me) but it's still kinda odd that I remain so on-schedule when it comes to writing, but the rest of my deadlines are in a shambles, ha ha ha. But seriously....
I have really enjoyed writing Novel #2. I like my characters. My main character from Novel #1 really grew and matured by #2, and I introduce a complex character, too. I am just really eager to get these works out there to the public -- I think I am a good writer, and each of my works is better than the next.
I sat down and figured out that I have about five novels in me with the existing characters. Primarily, these books will be about my original protagonist, but there will be some other standard characters. I wish I could speak about them more specifically, but you'll just have to wait!
My friends who have been reading my work (the women) all jokingly tell me what they wish would happen to the female character in my novel. Truth be told, although she is an extremely strong and vital character, my female lead is mostly a sidekick. Hey, I am no Terry McMillan -- I can't do justice to a story about black women. But I can definitely honor black women by putting a really strong one in my novel.
I don't want to go the E. Lynn Harris route. I believe his first two novels were vehicles for social change, but his later novels began to cater to black female audiences. I could no longer pick up his books and feel that they were for me anymore.
And that's fine, E. Lynn is making his money, I'm not mad at him. But I hope that my first five books will be the vehicles for change that pick up where E. Lynn left off. They reach a slightly younger audience, a smart audience, an audience that is familiar with and/or intrigued by Greek life; a female audience, but also a male audience. I am speaking to my gay, black brothers, but I am also speaking for them. I want people to read my novels and walk away thinking "I had never considered that before...."
So, we'll see.....I REALLY hope that I can share some good news in here in the next few weeks. Like, some REALLLLLLY good news.
But I shouldn't say more, don't wanna jinx it.
PEACE!
Posted by Rashid on September 5, 2004 at 2:29 PM
Hawai'i, VMA's, and more....
This new show on NBC called Hawaii is pretty good! I really only started watching it because I didn't feel like changing the station, but I am glad I didn't. I really like when networks really support their shows by giving them big budgets.
Which is why I feel The Practice ultimately was cancelled...apparently ABC was going to cancel it if they didn't cut the budget. So they cut it with salaries, getting rid of Bobby, Lindsay, Rebecca, Helen, and Lucy. The final year it was interesting seeing Eugene and Ellenor as lead characters.....but James Spader was just too....much. I liked him, but I didn't like the fact that it was mostly about him.
Anyway...the Video Music Awards were some straight garbage. Period.
Yo! I just saw that all charges against Kobe Bean Bryant got dropped. LOL. His middle name is Bean. What a maroon. Anyway, I am instinctually happy that another black man isn't in jail...however....I don't know whether or not he raped her. And I guess I never will.
Why does Ashely Judge look like Mariska Hargitay in her movie Tiwsted?
That's all for now! (In terms of entertainment)
Posted by Rashid on September 1, 2004 at 8:36 PM
First Day of School: Done!
Wooooooo hoooooo!
Day one of first grade was really cool. I got to work kind of early as I usually do, but I didn't really have anything to do other than say hi to the other teachers and jam to Golden Boys by Res a few times. My agenda was already on the board and the name tags were already written.
I have 15 students but I can't remember the male:female ratio. We have one girl who transferred from Serra Leone who I think will be a challenge. Not behavior wise, but I think she doesn't really understand spoken English as well as she should to really excel in the first grade. I will do my best (of course) but I really could use a workshop or two on how to deal with English Lanuage Learners. (That's the new term.)
I found out hot teacher has a boyfriend, booooo. Well, the other teacher is still hot, too. *sigh* But then again, the majority of the young teachers at my school are hot.
Or I could just be a dirty little whore.
Anyway.....it was just a great day, I was actually smiling at the end.
I really want kids. For real. Not NOW, but soon. Like, I can see myself being ready for kids at 30.
(If my career takes off -- I am not trying to raise my kids as poor as I am currently, lol.)
Posted by Rashid on at 8:22 PM