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Muppets Parodies on YouTube

Today's Washington Post, Style Section, has an article all about Muppets inspired parodies. For kicks, I looked up some of the very same parodies they mentioned on YouTube. HILARIOUS!

Martin Scorsese Presents Sesame Streets

The Muppet Matrix

The Bear Wit Project

F*ck the Police

C for Cookie (V for Vendetta Spoof)

Posted by Rashid on October 31, 2006 at 10:33 AM | Comments (0)

Thanks to you, I'm a nominee!

Well, I am one of about 12 trillion people nominated for the Clik Magazine Elite 25! I think that's pretty awesome, don't you?

I have no idea how many people nominated me, but a lot of my homies, bros, and friends are telling me that they did. I am so grateful! Hugs, grips, and dap to all of you.

So that means I'm going to Atlanta! The Awards are going to be held at the Fox Theatre, which looks pretty grand. There will be a Red Carpet and everything -- I should hire a publicist to hold my hand and take me away from the paparazzi so I can smile, shrug and say "I gotta gooooo..." just like J-Lo. (LOL that was SO an inside joke that you kinda had to be there for.)

Then there's gonna be a meet and greet, the actual award announcements, a champagne toast, and an afterparty. Not bad for a Thanksgiving weekend affair.

It's sorta quick notice, but I am excited. I'll fly into Atlanta on Friday morning and try to meet up with as many of my friends as possible. I'd also like to visit with some frat brothers while I'm there. Perhaps take a tour of the Atlanta University Center.

So yeah.... if you want to attend this event, just visit clikhonors.com for more info.

Posted by Rashid on October 30, 2006 at 8:26 AM | Comments (2)

Addressing Homophobia: Building Understanding Through Dialogue

I'm going to be visiting the Howard University School of Law today to see an event called Addressing Homophobia: Building Understanding Through Dialogue. While I am not on the panel, I thought it would be good to show up in support of such an event, especially in light of recent events at other HBCUs regarding the topic of homosexuality.

If you're interested in popping by, there will be free food while supplies last, according to the Facebook invitation.

Nathaniel Brown of OutLaw is the host and Tommy Jackson will be the moderator.

It will be today, October 26, at 3:00pm at the Howard University School of Law, Houston Hall, Room 4. HUSL is located at 2900 Van Ness Street in Upper Northwest, DC. You can access it vis the Van Ness-UDC metro station.

From the Facebook invitation:

Please join us for an interesting discussion where members of the student body share their life experience being LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered). This will be an open forum where panelists will answer questions from attendees.

Have you ever wondered if being homosexual is a choice?
Do gay Republicans really exist?
Would you like to get a better understanding of the needs of your LGBT client?

If so this is a event you won't want to miss!

Posted by Rashid on October 26, 2006 at 8:12 AM | Comments (1)

Clik Honors: Elite 25

So I've been making people aware of the opportunity to submit nominations for the Clik Magazine Elite 25. If you're interested in nominating me, you can:

1) Visit clikhonors.com/html/clik_honors.html

2) Click on Nominations on the left hand side of the screen.

3) Go to category #6, Books/Literature.

4) Type my name and anything else you'd like to say about me.

Some of you might want to write about my career in education and youth development, and that's fine -- that's part of me. So is writing my novels and poetry, speaking on various college campuses, working with APO and Alpha Phi Alpha, blogging about the minutia (sp?) that is my life....if you feel like I make a difference in some way, send Clik Magazine a few sentences. And it's done. Just like that.

They will announce the finalists in a few days. I'm not campaigning! Just making y'all aware of the opportunity. It's not too often that black gay folks honor other black gay folks like this!

Posted by Rashid on October 23, 2006 at 8:11 AM | Comments (2)

Walking Away

A few weeks ago, I requested 2.5 days off because I was invited to be the keynote speaker for National Coming Out Week observances at Ohio University. I was set to address the NPHC on the Tuesday night after Columbus Day and the campus as a whole that Wednesday night.

I should have submitted the leave request earlier. However, my job does not have any stated policy on how far in advance one must request leave. So, I figured a week in advance for 2.5 days should be adequate.

My supervisor denied the request. He said we were "short staffed" -- which is insane because the one chick who is getting married and taking two weeks off has NOTHING to do with my 2.5 days. [Note: I was a Site Director for an after school program. The absence of a Site Director in one place does not have anything to do with my school on the other side of the city.]

I asked him to reconsider because speaking at these events was VERY important to me, and I would hate to be forced to choose between the job and the opportunity to speak at OU. He asked me then if I was not given the days off, was I saying that I would resign? I said yes. He agreed to reconsider and said he'd get back to me the next day.

I knew then that if my supervisor had to "think about it" -- whether I was worth the 2.5 days -- then I would be saying goodbye to the job. But all of my friends and family swore that one man couldn't be that stupid. "You'll get the days off," they said. "Nobody is going to be dumb enough to deny the request and then spend weeks trying to find another Site Director."

They didn't know the inanity of my job as well as I did. I knew I'd be leaving.

The next day, he said that the best he could do was let me have ONE DAY off.

ONE DAY, yet I would be speaking for two nights. Not to mention the LGBT office at OU had arranged all of these lunches and dinners with faculty members, directors, and student groups -- treating me like a celebrity! Not because I am "famous" but because they wanted to make sure my time there was well spent.

I asked him a final time "You do realize this is an out-of-state trip, right?" And he said yes, and that I would have to come back a day early or rearrange my schedule to make it work.

"You have to understand," he said (which is ironically one of his favorite phrases) "that we're very busy and short-staffed around here." Etc, etc, blah blah blah, [insert bullshit that doesn't apply to Rashid Darden]

So I told him that I found his offer of one day to be unacceptable and that I was resigning, effective that day.

He stuttered a bit and finally said to me "So we don't even get two week's notice?"

I said "No. But thank you for the opportunity to work here."

So that was that.

It was a great six months. I did a lot to improve my site's reputation at my school. I revived the volunteer corps from Georgetown. I "got those kids straight" as some of the teachers at my site said. I basically kicked ass for six months and my bosses chose to throw it away over 2.5 days of leave -- THAT I HAD TO USE. Not like I asked them for extra, lol.

This change allows me to focus on the final weeks of getting my second novel out and move full speed ahead with doing more things like my lectures at Ohio.

Now, to answer the inevitable quetions:

So what do I do next? Duh, weren't you listening? I WRITE BOOKS, BITCH! I will be spending my time writing and planning more lectures and workshops and creating more opportunities for myself. And of course, substitute teaching! I miss those kids and they miss me.

Luckily, I have a great support system of family and friends who believe in me. They know that I am a damned good author with options. A bright future. Success. A life outside of "work" that my supervisor didn't value or didn't understand.

And let me go ahead and put this out there, at the risk of sounding bitter. Aww hell, y'all know I am a bitter bitch anyway, lol.

I never once believed in my supervisor. I was hired by someone and supervised by her for about a week before her successor was announced. When he was announced, I was kinda like.....ummmmmm okay? But as the weeks and months went on, it became quite clear that he was in over his head. Even if he knew what he was doing, he looked like he didn't. He was a vegetable in crisis situations (ask me about the gas leak at my site), could never answer a question directly (You should ask so-and-so....you should ask such-and-such..... Rashid, to be honest, I really don't know....), and generally didn't do much to inspire us as Site Directors.

So I learned how to adapt without him early on. My site was strong -- yeah, I know my own shortcomings and I can't blame them all on the poor leadership examples I had. But we were strong nonetheless. To get back to the heart of the matter, 2.5 days off, when I had never asked for time off relating to my writing career, was a drop in the bucket. 2.5 days for a strong site that could run on its own if need be.

2.5 days was all it took for me to realize that while I am good at non-profit work, it is not my calling. As I said in my initial interview "Writing is what I was born to do; youth development is what I was led to do."

And now I gotta continue doing what's in my blood.

So that's the story. I hate to be negative with the stuff about my boss, but it wouldn't be an Old Gold Soul blog without the necessary nakedness of my emotions.

And that's all she wrote.

Posted by Rashid on October 20, 2006 at 2:09 PM | Comments (12)

You vote for the topic!

Okay..... do you want to hear about why I quit my job or why I rejoined Adam4Adam?

At noon, I will pick the topic based on how many comments I get.

YOU DECIDE!!!!

Posted by Rashid on at 7:01 AM | Comments (5)

Hot like FIYAH!!!!

So, I am not someone who generally likes spicy foods. I used to, but then I got it in my head that my sometimes-frequent upper respiratory infections weren't exactly helped by hot sauce.

But every now and then, I like a little spice in my life. And not just from the menfolk -- HAHAHAHAHA!!!!

Oh shut up, y'all know that was funny.

So one Friday afternoon I was leaving my old job -- yes, I recently resigned from my job with the after school program -- and I heard the sound of drumming. I worked cat-a-corner to Hine Junior High so I assumed their band was practicing. I decided to walk down the street to check out the band before I went home.

Well, on the way to the school yard, I noticed a row of row houses that had been converted to stores. One was a toy store, one was a frame shop, and one was this hot sauce store.

A hot sauce store? What sort of madness is this? I went inside and realized that this was Uncle Brutha's place!

Uncle Brutha's is the black owned hot sauce....I used to see their van in upper ward 4 in DC.

So of course I bought some of their sauces and some other things like spicy chutney and pocorn and whatnot. But the best part of the store was meeting Uncle Brutha himself (Brennan G. Proctor) and his very beautiful momma! It was so nice to support a black owned business right there on Capitol Hill, in Eastern Market.

And of course, the hot sauce is great. That's not even a question.

So check out their website: www.unclebrutha.com and visit their store at 323 7th Street, SE. It's right by Eastern Market (the place) and less than half a block from the Eastern Market Metro Station on the Blue line.

Check em out!

Posted by Rashid on October 19, 2006 at 5:12 PM | Comments (1)

Blackout!

Hey everybody! If you're in Charlotte, please support my frat brother in his role as Bruce Nugent in BLACKOUT 2006!

Posted by Rashid on October 16, 2006 at 4:22 PM | Comments (0)

the dang site!

I don't know why my site keeps acting up or where the hell my webmaster is!

Posted by Rashid on October 13, 2006 at 10:05 PM | Comments (0)

Oooooohio!

I am in the food court of the Columbus airport, just as exhausted as I want to be, but not even a little bit pissed off that I missed my flight this morning. :-)

I just spent two days with some of the most awesome people on the face of the planet. Those people are members of Shades, Ohio University's gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender organization for students of color.

Yes, you heard right...OU has a group for gay students of color. They, along with other organizations at OU including the LGBT Program Center, brought me out this week to be the keynote speaker for National Coming Out Week. My major appearance was on last night, Wednesday, National Coming Out Day.

I arrived on Tuesday morning and was greeted by Jon, the Graduate Assistant in the LGBT center, and Adrian, a member of Shades and a dancer. The ride from Columbus to Athens was nice and uneventful; however, I wasn't ready for all the dang road kill!!!! There were sooooo many dead animals on the highway -- and the dead skunks really did smell!

I stayed at the Ohio University Inn, which was just off campus. Very, very nice room. The king-sized bed was more than I needed, but I slept like a baby every single time I put head to pillow. I ordered room service and was knocked the eff out for two hours.

Jon took me on a tour of the Ohio University campus and it is a lot nicer than I expected it to be. Sure, I don't know what exactly I expected, but it was smaller and more comfy than I thought it would be. Perhaps I assume everything in Ohio is big because of OSU, lol

I got a few souvenirs for myself and family. Didn't realize Ohio's colors were green and white -- BARF! I mean, it's distinguished, but it's just not...festive, I reckon.

The greek section of the store was kinda lame, but I did see some things I had never seen before. Apparently they make "paddle fabric" now. You can decorate it with self adhesive jewels and ribbon and letters. Personally, I thought it looked tacky and would be better on a pillow than a paddle, but hey, c'est la vie.

I visited the cultural center and I really enjoyed the Director (Linda) and the Associate Director (LeRoy) who also co-advises the NPHC and is a Kappa.

He is also, in all probability, one of the three finest men in Athens. And yes, I met the other two while I was there as well.

We ate at the Blue Gator which was so-so on the ambiance, but GREAT on the food! I had a grilled portobello mushroom sandwich. I only ate part of it because I was already full, and like a dummy I had a roll with dinner, lol. But I was reall good. I sat next to Horace (frat) who is holding down Phi Chapter. We were joined by Linda, LeRoy, Mickey from the LGBT center, Winsome from the cultural center, some sorority women, Dana the Chi O and NPHC co-advisor, and Jaylen, who must have been a GA for the cultural center. We had a grand old time.

So we had my first discussion. I spoke to the NPHC about a variety of topics, but primarily the issues of maintaining self-determination as chapters (standing up for yourselves, remaining active, remaining advocates of all black people) and homosexuality in fraternities/sororities. I moreso answered questions about my own experiences. The Deltas in particular were really attentive, taking notes, and really making good eye contact. My frat was also there, a Sigma, an SGRho, and another Kappa aside from LeRoy. The rest of the audience (20 all together) were members of Shades, other advisors, and guests. The pictures were kinda blurry because I had messed up the settings before I gave Dana the camera.

After that, I went and chilled at the hotel, getting a FULL EIGHT HOURS of sleep!!!!! I haven't had eight hours of sleep in months!!!

Wednesday morning, woke up, ate an apple, worked on me remarks for the evening lecture, and went to lunch with Mickey Hart and the gay faculty and staff group. It was at a chinese buffet. I hadn't eaten at a buffet in a while. The staff and whatnot were very friendly, as were the two students who were co-chairing Out Week.

Then I spent some alone time shopping (didn't get anything other than lotion (lol), an APO shot glass, and an Alpha cross stitch kit -- don't sleep, them joints can run up to 15 bucks! I paid 4.95 on sale!)

Came back to the LGBT office for some quality time with Evan -- what can I say about Evan that wouldn't be cliche? He is beautiful -- a term I never use lightly. He is a hero. He is the founding president of Shades. He is humble and modest. He is someone I am so glad that I know. He and I chatted about a lot of things. I am looking forward to seeing him again!

But then, at 3 or so, I was scheduled for a film interview with a broadcast journalism student. I had no idea what to expect -- but in the door came a tall, light (lighter than me), built, hip-hop/neo soul lookin, square eyeglass wearing HUNK OF MAN with hands the size of YOUR LIFE.

And then his friend/cameraman was hot too!!!! Turns out his friend is the godbrother of Maurice, this cat I went to Georgetown with. It's funny because they were all fair and light-skinned and all from Athens. I was like "Are you fucking kidding me? Do I have to move to Athens now?"

But the interview was great....my interviewer was professional and put me at ease. He asked some great questions, too.

I have totally blanked out on his name though...... I remember being unsure how to pronounce his last name. And when he signed out, he used some sort of acronym, so that messed me all up, too. lol

After that, went back to the 'telly, ironed, and got ready for the speech. I was nervous and trying not to go in Diva mode. When I got back to the Baker (student) center, I was trying to find my inner balance, but it seemed like everyone around me was either staring at me or talking to me, lol.

BUT, the speech happened.....you know, sometimes I just blank out and have no recollection of what I said or how I said it, but I just pray that I don't offend anyone in the process.

There were mad white people there! I mean, okay, I knew I was going to a white school to speak, but there were less minorities than I imagined and more white folks. I think at Georgetown it would have been the opposite -- a lot of black people who were either gay friendly or curious, and a handful of supportive white folks.

But everybody was really receptive to my message, which was essentially admonishing mainstream gay culture to accept the differences and nuances of black gay culture. To not treat "gay pride" as monolithic, but something that is beautiful in its many facets.

After that, I signed books and took pictures with my new friends in Shades. Then Na'im finally found me and we had a drink back at the 'telly and reconnected.

Now, here us is in the airport cuz we missed our flight this morning! I was running a little late because my stomach was acting up -- on top of that, trafffic had the nerve to be congested! But it's fine....life is too short to be wound up about being forced to chill at an airport.

I am really thankful to have been invited to speak to these wonderful, wonderful people. I believe I've made some new friends for life.

Posted by Rashid on October 12, 2006 at 11:13 AM | Comments (5)

the knot inside me grows

the knot inside me grows
the more i know
i like you
but you have a man

who certainly understands why i would
because
well
look at you

you might not see what i do, but
trust
when i say that you are beautiful
i choose words carefully
and unveil them like new treasures

you know me…okay
so far
i want to know you better because
the knot inside my stomach grows the more i know
that i could really really love you
but you’re not leaving him any time soon
and
i
am not
going
to cry
even as poetry man plays

and i split inside myself once
i am half
and each half is half
and each half is half
and i am decimated into a trillion tear sized pieces of myself
because i am not that kind of man

you are his
yet you run your fingers through my hair
the last time someone did that
i was a fetish
and i shaved myself so it wouldn’t happen again
but you reached
and you caressed
and i allowed
and i touched
and i caressed
and i knew i was wrong

but i see you and my heart decides not to talk to my mind about this situation
because my mind has turned into a puddle of pieces of a mind
because i was a wreck last night
and cried and cried and cried
until i wasn’t even myself anymore
i was a dream
a dream that you threw a pillow and a blanket at me and gave me your couch
yet i still didn’t know if your man was at home
so i woke
and crept
and stared at your body while you slept
and i didn’t see him
but i didn’t see me either
i was in the shadows
waiting
fucking longing

and the knot inside my motherfuckin stomach grows the more i motherfuckin know
that i love you
even as poetry man plays
i won’t let you see a single goddamn tear
even though i’d kill to have you near
around
inside
my tears create the rolling tide

Posted by Rashid on October 8, 2006 at 1:33 PM | Comments (1)

Dream

I had a dream about him last night.

He, the man who has been on my mind non-stop for the past two weeks or more.

I was at his place in the dream. The interesting thing about the way our minds work is that since I've never been to his home, my mind had to use a template for what his home might be like. So the gap was filled by making it my old apartment on 16th street.

I was sitting on his couch and he threw down a blanket and pillow for me. I raised my arms out to hug him, but he walked away.

Disappointed, I fell asleep. I work up in the four o'clock hour and used the light of my cell phone to find my way around the dark apartment. My intent was to find my way into his room and just look at him. I also needed to see if his boyfriend was in there with him.

He appeared to be by himself, naked except for the sheet that was barely covering him.

I went to the bathroom with the intention of taking a hot, early morning shower. I wanted to sneak out so I wouldn't have to see me in the morning.

If he was alone, I couldn't understand why we couldn't share his bed.

That's all I really remember of the dream -- I'm pretty sure that was it.

Posted by Rashid on October 7, 2006 at 7:36 AM | Comments (0)

What About Love?

Is that me who's floating away?
Lifted up to the clouds by a kiss,
Never felt nothin' like this.

Is that me I don't recognize?
Love's the one thing I knew all about,
I had it all figured out.

But what about trust?
What about trust?
What about tenderness?
Tenderness?

What about tears when I'm happy?
What about wings when I fall?
I want you to be
A story for me
That I can believe in forever.

And what about
What about
Love?

"What About Love" from The Color Purple -- the Broadway musical.

Posted by Rashid on October 4, 2006 at 6:56 AM | Comments (2)

Brave Soul Collective -- The Message Board

Gay peeps..... I want you to check out this message board, Brave Soul Collective.

It is a positive message board for black gay, bisexual, same gender-loving people. I try to post there every once in a while. But since I can't post every day, I want YOU to go there and enjoy it like I do.

Posted by Rashid on October 1, 2006 at 3:52 PM | Comments (3)

Happy Belated Birthday

I had a great day yesterday. My meeting with the photographer went great, got some food to eat, went shopping in Georgetown. HATED the Adidas store, LOVED the Puma store! And came home and watched digital cable to my heart's content.

I had nothing to complain about. That was September 30, 2006.

On September 30, 1977, Maya Buseman-Williams was born.

I am not one for remembering birthdays...but I got a myspace message from my homie/frat/friend reminding me. Of course, I became sad. This grief, this sadness that never quite leaves you completely is something that he and I will always share.

It's nice to be able to rely on people in moments like that, though. I'm proud to be his friend, and we're both proud for having known Maya.

She left this world on June 28, 2003, and I still can't quite wrap my mind around why she had to leave when she did and the way she did. But she did, and here we are, struggling to learn from the lessons of her life.

I get emails from time to time from people who knew her and whose lives she touched. I wonder if, ten or twenty years from now, her former students in New York will google her name just to see.

And if they happen upon this page, they will know just how much she is loved and missed.

Happy Birthday, girlie.

Posted by Rashid on at 8:33 AM | Comments (1)