A Weekend with St. Simon

So this past weekend, on a whim and stemming from pure desperation to run away, Pixie, Swift and I hopped into the car (loaded with enough snacks and crap to feed a small country) and headed off to St. Simon’s Island. It is a little scrap of heaven on the very tip of Georgia; just a little south of Savannah.

Yes. You read correctly…there is something else to do in Georgia besides party in Atlanta or learn slave history in Savannah. There is actually…dun dun duuuunnnn….a sweet little beach town to visit! Who woulda thunk it, right? (Clearly, I am marred by years of ingrained Florida girl prejudice against the “real” South)

Now, before you get all ready for some awesome beach bum tales and bikini pics (not that I would ever post those pics before completing a full round of P90X) let me just spoil the thrill by letting you know that it was never above 62° F the entire weekend. Whose idea was it to go to a beach in February?! Oh right…mine! Not exactly what you put on a postcard for the folks back home.

However, hangover from hell notwithstanding, we managed to have a really good time….insert horseback ride along the beach here:

Swift all ready to giddy-up.

The heavenly beach that we rode on...there should have been a sunset and pirate involved...but alas...no such luck.

Swift, Pixie, and me! Love them both to pieces!!!

We went to an awesome little dive bar by the water and got smashed with the locals…see: previously mentioned hangover from hell. We also got to have some amazing food on the way out (Fair warning: Avoid any and all shitty hotel food offerings. It is a little bit more tasteless than your average continental buffet and it comes with a gag inducing bill for over $50 for three people…no bueno!!)

All in all, there wasn’t really that much to do but when you have spent an inordinate amount of time inland it’s just nice to smell the ocean again. Not to mention that anytime us gals get together, it’s going to be something to talk about!  I’m more than willing to retry this cute little getaway as the weather turns more playa friendly.

Still counting down to sitting in the Andaluz sun!!! Did I mention that my poor locks may be scattered all over the floor in the near future if I don’t hear about my placement soon. Yes, yes. They gave us a timeline. I know what to expect…but screw that! (I’m channeling a bad JG Wentworth commercial right now on the inside-- a la “It’s my placement and I want it now!!!”—did anyone actually catch that reference?!)

Hopefully there will be news to share in that department soon. Now to prepare for the deathtrap that I signed up for known as…the Spartan Race…aaaahhhhhhhhh!!!! (I really have to step away from the pipe occasionally so I can stop making these sorts of decisions…* le sigh*)

 *Note: I am not drug user—I just talk to myself, lack sleep, hallucinate occasionally, and regularly engage in poor decision making*

Hasta Pronto!!!

XOXO

SN ShoutOut: Congrats to my lovely best-friend KJ on getting her dream job in the Big Apple!!! Mazal tov, my love!!!! So very proud of you!!!

and this is for colored girls...or any girls...and some guys too...

So I recognize that many of you have no clue why I have the sub-headline that I do…”for colored girls who’ve considered travel when the US wasn’t enuf…” Well, let me let you in on the pun…it seems only polite…I mean…you came all this way!

Well, besides being a teacher and a writer, I also like to fancy myself an actress (you know, the kind that goes on countless auditions and gets really geeked when I get the smallest of parts at any theatre that will take me, usually for free, all while paying back thousands of dollars to Sallie Mae for this lovely degree that proclaims me—to myself—a serious actress with an intense focus on her craft). I have been in several productions in my life, but there were a few that stuck with me in a way that no others could. One of those productions was “FOR COLORED GIRLS WHO HAVE CONSIDERED SUICIDE/ WHEN THE RAINBOW WAS ENUF” by Ntozake Shange. This was the first play that I performed in college, fall semester, 2002. (Lady in Purple)

That's me on the far left corner, passionately staring at the floor lol

It was LIFE altering. If you can imagine an awesome therapy session in which you get to lay down all of your hurt feelings while performing words that don’t expose all of your personal secrets, then you can imagine this play. It was amazing! As a cast, we laughed together, and cried together, and danced together. This was some real live hippy shit! But I was enthralled throughout the entire process.

I went on to be in the weddings, birthing rooms, and child birthday parties of these cast members. This show brought us together in a way that no production of “Annie” ever could. It was a little bit like epic.

So, when it came time to think about fleeing half way around the world to start a life from scratch after years of investment in this one, my mind instantly went back to that play.

Ntozake Shange was responsible for creating a
new theatrical format-- the choreopoem

I want so badly for this experience to be that on a larger scale. To my fellow auxiliares: this should change our lives! This should make us confront a myriad of feelings both good and bad! This should build a bond between some of us because no one else will know what this feels like!

So with that being said, and going back to those of you who have never had the pleasure of seeing “for colored girls…” here is the opening monologue of the show… (I highly recommend putting this on to your “To Be Watched” list…male or female, black or white…the themes are really universal and quite powerful)

Lady in Brown

dark phrases of womanhood

of never havin been a girl

half-notes scattered

Without rhythm/ no tune

distraught laughter fallin

over a black girl’s shoulder

it’s funny/ it’s hysterical

the melody-less-ness of her dance

don’t tell nobody don’t tell a soul

she’s dancing on beer cans & shingles

this must be the spook house

another song with no singers

lyrics/no voices

& interrupted solos

unseen performances

are we ghouls?

children of horror?

the joke?

don’t tell nobody don’t tell a soul

are we animals? have we gone crazy?

i can’t hear anythin

but maddening screams

& the soft strains of death

& you promised me

you promised me….

somebody/ anybody

sing a black girl’s song

bring her out to know herself

to know you

but sing her rythms

carin/struggle/ hard times

sing her song of life

she’s been dead so long

closed in silence so long

she doesn’t know the sound

of her own voice

her infinite beauty

she’s half-notes scattered

without rhythm/ no tune

sing her sighs

sing the song of her possibilities

sing a righteous gospel

let her be born

let her be born

& handled  warmly

& this is for colored girls who have considered suicide

but moved to the ends of their own rainbows

Hope you liked it!

Hasta pronto!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BRANDI!!!!!!!

So today is my big sister's birthday!!! This may not be very relevant to this blog or anything, but it's hella relavant to me!! So there! She's the big 3-0 now and everyone knows that 30 is the new 16.

The birthday girl!!! Ain't she gorgeous!!!

This also means that I have an awesome excuse to head on down to Miami and party it up with la familia...


My cousin also had her baby last month, so hopefully I get to gush over her baby cuteness! 


(I just got back from a weekend trip to Mississippi to visit my friend's family, and I'm still a little pooped. I'm sure that once I catch my breath it will be time to board the plane to MIA...whew!)


Random insert: I will be performing soon in the Vagina Monologues...should be interesting...will update on that soon.




Hasta Pronto!