MUSIC || more on MJ

When I was little, I was in love with Michael Jackson and I loved James Brown. My favorite things to watch when I was bored were The Muppet Movie, The Wizard of Oz and Moonwalker. Moonwalker made us feel so good. I was always in awe of the dancing in "Smooth Criminal". I had fun dancing to "Speed Demon". I was afraid of "Thriller" as a kid, and now I love the song and now Halloween is complete without it.

There was something about his dancing, his voice and his eyes (which never changed no matter how many surgeries he had) that held me.

I'm still feeling sad about his death. I've been watching videos and listening to all the songs they've been playing on the radio, plus the music I've just been listening to. I'm trying to pick out my favorite songs, but the list gets so long when I try to pick just one. MJ was amazing. He was real music. He was real entertainment.

I know that there are many people who loved him more than I did. I have family members almost devastated. And I know his family is having a rough time as it's hard to lose someone. I am glad he left his music behind and his wonderful videos.

There are also some hilarious stories about me, my sisters, and Michael Jackson. I'll have those memories too.

LIFE || so many feelings. . .

So this week two major parts of my childhood passed away:
Ed McMahon and Michael Jackson.

They both are part of my early music memories: I watched Star Search all the time and loved the talent there and then Michael Jackson was one of my favorites. I cried, for the first time, at the death of a celebrity. I watched Moonwalker all the time as a kid. I do not think I will forget this day.

I was hoping that one day I'd get another album or get to see a concert or something. . .

I'm not trying to overlook the death of Farrah Fawcett. She fought a hard battle and meant so much to many people.

In the end, I'm praying for their families. I hope they will all be comforted. Losing a loved one is never easy.

LIFE || around the world

Found this interesting essay/article about death, brown people, and what is happening in Iran. I don't know how I feel about it exactly, but it was very interesting to read:

Here's the link:
http://www.racialicious.com/2009/06/23/must-brown-people-be-martyred-for-americans-to-be-motivated/

Taken from a facebook friend's post.

LIFE || lesson learned.

There's only so much you can do with text-messaging, chat, even e-mail.
Sometimes you just have to talk face-to-face. (Or in my case, on the phone.)

UPDATE || it's been a long time.

I feel like I've been missing for a while.
I have a few topics brewing in my head. Hopefully I'll be able to sit down soon and share these ideas with you.

Thanks for your patience,
a.renae.

FASHION || fat girls got style? well, duh!

So I forgot about this, but it's a cool little blurb about the Fatshionistas. I don't have much more to say about it, but that it's good that style is not just for thin women. And, believe me, being stylish as a fat girl is reeeeeaaaallly hard, given the limited retail options. Go 'head my fly, fat, fashionable sisters! Go 'head!

So here it is, from Jezebel: http://jezebel.com/5259671/stylish-doesnt-mean-skinny-meet-the-fatshionistas

LIFE || talkin' 'bout good and bad hair. . .

I've been trying to get this or something like it out for days:

I've given into the myth that straightening my hair makes it more "manageable". Reality: When I wore my hair natural, it took about as much time or less to make it cute as it does with this relaxer. I've been guilty of wanting my hair bone straight, and have endured the burn of the relaxer to get it so. (It's funny now, because I'd prefer my straightened hair, now, to have some 'kink' in it) And ultimately, the time when I had the most "gorgeous hair" was the time I did not use chemicals on it.

I wouldn't call myself a slave to my hair. I don't judge other people (or their worth, or their blackness) by how kinky or straight thier hair is. I've worn my hair naturally and loved it, and worn it relaxed and loved it. But the point of all of this is that I watched Tyra a few days ago and was so saddened by the self-hate black women still have. If it's not about skintones, it's about hair texture.

When women will refuse to date men of thier own heritage in fear of having a child with "bad hair", there's still a problem. When a little girl wants to wear only the straight "Hannah Montana" wig, instead of her cute little kinky ponytails and barretts, my little heart aches. There was a mother who permed (relaxed) her little girl's hair at three years old and another mother who avoided introducing her daughter with a natural haircut out of embarrassement that her hair was no longer straight.

What is up? I mean I know what is up. In America, beauty is anything that is close to whiteness: light skin, straight hair, svelte figure, slight features. I know that. It has been this way forever: good hair, bad hair, black women being afraid of the sun (and not for health reasons), brown paper bag tests.

It sucks that beauty comes in so many different packages, but we're too busy being blinded by the wavy texture of someone's hair, than to look at the real beauty that lies in the dark face staring us in the mirror.

It's so sad that this thing is REAL. That girls are still being brought up to find themselves ugly because their hair kinks up when wet instead of curls or waves; That they are dark chocolate instead of caramel. Most, if not all people want to feel attractive; little girls, big girls, grown girls want to feel pretty. It's so hard when everyone is telling you you're not.

This is so just the tip of the iceberg of my rambling thoughts. Please share any of yours. . . Need inspiration: The classic good hair/bad hair, light-skinned/dark-skinned battle from Spike Lee's classic joint: School Daze.





In the words of Dap: We need to "WAKE UP!"