Random Pics~ My Oakland"

Here are a few shots of the 'TOWN'..

              Oakland Sky

                 

                                                                                                                                                                                                  Across from Fruitvale Station

                                                                                          

  It had been a while since I was a passenger in the car crossing the Bay Bridge

Twitter is NOT The Devil"

I've heard it said... 'twitter is the devil', but with all things in life; twitter can be whatever you put into it. If you act out of evilness, then it can be all bad. If you have goodness in your heart and use it for 'good' it can be a wonderful tool.
Case in point, someone I went to HS school with who, by the power of twitter and 'positive' tweeting was able to meet OPRAH!! He was a huge Oprah fan and would tweet to her on the regular. One tweet led to more tweets, then a follow back. Once you get the follow back, anything is possible. I'm not sure how long this went on, but one day by chance he was in Chicago. (He travels like crazy) anyway; he's tweeting like normal...and he just so happens to mention that he is in her town. Next thing you know.. this dude is doing 'backflips' on his time line. 'O' sent him a DM (direct message) and he didn't know HOW to act. She had given tickets to the taping of her show PLUS back stage access. Can you say? 'IN LIKE FLYNN'!?! This guy has managed to meet and be an active part of Oprah's show. He is 'Standing in His Light' as he would say.
He was already 'somebody' but now?.. I'm just lucky he still remember us 'little people'. LOL  I hope he is still my 'friend' after this impromtu blog, but.. this is what it is.. a 'random blog'.

*this topic was sparked by a random chat room convo.. hey Mo!!

"Can We Stop Promoting Skittles, Arizona Ice Tea and Hoodies?"

When are we gonna stop putting money in the pockets of people don't' look like us... to 'honor' the memory of someone who does?  As soon as the media got wind of the Trayvon Martin case all you heard about was.. 'he was just walking to the store for some 'Skittles and an Ice Tea'... Arizona in fact'.  And just because he had a 'hoodie', GZ thought he looked 'suspicious'.?? NO he looked suspicious because he was an unknown black boy obviously LOST in the rain, trying to get home.

And now, here we are a year later STILL talking about Skittles and Arizona's Ice Tea!!  I wonder how much their stock prices went up, after this tragedy? And we are STILL making them rich. You want to show your 'support' and stand 'united' with Trayvon and his family, do that. I get that. But, please use your brains and stop going with your 'emotions'. Think. Every time someone buys these items; remember that it's not the family who is profiting.

I'm not gonna even mention the increase in Hooded Sweatshirt sales.  TRAGIC!

"This Is My Oakland"

Here is today's installment of 'This Is My Oakland'. We took a road trip down memory lane. Hit up Lake Merritt and some other spots. Hope you enjoy!

           *Downtown Oakland

Me and my girls hit up Lukas a few months back... Good music+good dancers= great times.








                                                                       *Lake Merritt

Can't measure the time I spent in this this part of Oakland, but It's been awhile since I've been to the Lake and just 'kicked it'.

*OHS Football Field

I experience so many good times on that field. I loved being a cheerleader. GO WILDCATS!!

Meanwhile, Sometime Next Month

I guess I'll throw MY cents into the ring, just to get some things off my chest. The current 'distraction' of the week is the Martin/Zimmerman Trial. And I feel it is just that.. some sort of distraction for us to focus on while other things are going on behind the scenes.  But what I want to know is; how long are we gonna be 'outraged'? How long will we have these 'discussions', like the big fat elephant in the room JUST showed up when Zimmerman decided to play cop.  Come ON people, why is it that we only want to become 'militant' when it's convenient. But things are constantly shown to us on the daily, we have no discussion for that? Why is it NOW we are hearing.. 'what am I supposed to tell my son?' What you should have been telling him since the day is was born.. 'You Black in America and you have to watch your back'. Plain and simple.  There was NOTHING Trayvon could have did differently to avoid being shot, once Zimmerman made it up in his mind that 'they always get away'. His fate was sealed at that moment. And that is the unfortunately reality we live in. 
Once I had a co-worker laugh, when I said that there was parts of HER city that I would prefer not to drive through.. especially by myself. If it looks too rural; I get nervous. I know I can be a comedian at times, but folks laugh even when I'm being serious. The more I tried to explain myself, the more she laughed. I told her, 'naw, you not bout to find my body hanging from one of these Almond trees!!' I was not JOKING! Come to find our later.. oh yeah.. the Grand Wizard of the KKK lived out in that area. o_O  Oh, and I had another friend who didn't understand why I was 'leery' of going around 'gated communities'. If I'm not 'invited'.. I don't go driving around 'all willy nilly; looking like I don't belong. Shoot, them folks will have the police out there faster than you can blink. Nope, I don't fool around. 

Just like we are all up in arms TODAY.. remember that next week and even next MONTH when the next baby comes up dead.  Folks are gonna go back to their lives, back to thinking we're living MLK's dream. Yeah.. we dreaming alright.
Keep thinking you 'free' in America.

"Random Pics~This Is My Oakland

I passed by the BART station yesterday.. I couldn't get a good picture, it's kinda hard to do that while driving.  Folks drive so crazy in Oakland that I can't even snap my pictures and drive.  *rolls eyes, but anyway.. I did snap this one ..

 

Not sure what it's gonna be, probably more parking.  

Hope you like today's installment of random Oakland pictures. Oh and yeah, they are still shooting off fireworks, so here are some pics of the JULY 4th!! Not July 12th!. I have NO idea why they are still doing it, but my nerves.. oh never mind.

              

                                               

'The Movie~Fruitvale Station'

~Today is the limited release of the film "Fruitvale Station". These are my random thoughts. 

Being from Oakland, it's gonna be a trip to see a major film focused on the city I grew up in, but even more so now, since I live in the general area of the Fruitvale Bart Station.  This is the BART station closest to my house, this is MY BART, when I use it. It is gonna be crazy seeing 'my hood' on the big screen!!
When this incident occurred 4 years ago I didn't actually live in Oakland, I had been away for over 20 years. But, as fate would have it, I moved back to Oakland.. and had kinda come full circle in that I ended living in the same area I did when I had my first apartment. 

Near Fruitvale Bart~one night last week

 

Though I lived out of the city, the impact of the death of Oscar Grant was felt all over California. Once again we were reminded of Rodney King, but on a larger scale. We just could NOT believe that cop shot that young man while he was unarmed (in front of so many witnesses!!) Come to find out he was related to one of my cousins. Oakland is big and a small world at the same time. While the out come of the film is sad,  I'm really interested in seeing how they bring the characters and the city to life. Good or bad, I 'hella' love Oakland and I am PROUD to be from such an amazing place.

Who Was Your First?"

Who remembers their first?  I do. I must have been about 13 years old. Hahaha I know what you're thinking, but I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about the first ALBUM you ever remember owning. Mine was Teena Marie~It Must Be Magic. I think a neighbor bought it for me because they got tired of my borrowing theirs. LOL ! I was a teen, what can I say?! Plus it was Teena Marie!! I guess she was my 'Beyonce' at the time. I LOVED Teena Marie and that album was everything for me.
 

 Circa 1981

 I played that album over and over again. That was back in the day when you couldn't WAIT to get to the sleeve part of the album to see if the words were included. YES!! OMG! It was over then. I know folks must have been mad at me, but I had to play it multiple times in order to learn all the words right? And let me tell you.. Teena was DEEP baby! I had no idea what half the things she was singing about, but she SANG to me!! She had to be one of THE first female singers to use RAP in her songs. The title cut of course was the Jam!! and I could NOT sit still when 'Square Biz' came on, and ya KNOW "Portuguese Love" had me 'all in my feelings'. But once you get to the more meaningful songs like; 'Where's California' and 'Yes Indeed' (ending still gives me chills) and revolutionary songs like 'Revolution'; I didn't know which way to go. Hell, Teena probably spark this 'rebellious' nature of mine. She used words that were still foreign to me, and talked about Authors and Singers that I had yet to discover.  She made you think, while she played and sang her ass off. I will still listen to this album (okay CD form now) from beginning to end and let that angelic voice sing to me about all the right AND wrong things in this world.  All these years later and it still rings true.  Yeah, Teena had that 'magic touch'.

I love Burgers!

Just saw a picture posted on Facebook and it reminded me of my LOVE for Burgers, and how 'real' it is. Let me tell you about the birth of my last child.  Okay, I know you are thinking, what does that have to do with Burgers.  But, by now you should know I'm random, but I'll show you how it ties together.
So, here I was 9mos pregnant. DUE!! as they say. Tired, ready to pop... all of the above. I woke the morning 'after' Labor day Sept 1994 with a headache. No, I did NOT go into labor on Labor day, like someone was trying to jinx me into doing, but I digress. I was told by my dr to come in to be checked, just a precaution. Went in, got check out.. everything was fine.. Too fine. the Dr say's 'oh well, you could have it today, or tomorrow.. even next week'.. O_O Those are the last things a healthy BEYOND pregnant woman wants to hear. Just get this thing out already!!. So I go on to my good friends house.. and just hang out... now.. little did SHE know.. I had went into labor. I myself wasn't really sure, you think I would be after 2 previous times, but the dr had given me little hope. 
Me and my friend watched videos, drove around and air for her tires...AND I got a Burger!! By this time I knew I was in labor, and KNEW from all the other times that they won't let me eat. I was like bump that. I would take a bite in between contractions.. when a contraction would hit, I would put the burger down and breathe. By the time I was done with that Burger, I was just bout ready to deliver!! We went to the hospital and I had her in 45 mins! BURGER POWER!!

I THOUGHT I Was A Good Communicator

For some reason lately, I've be having trouble explaining myself. With all the ways we have to communicate, I am becoming more and more frustrated with the lack of understanding I am convaying to people. Since it keeps happening repeatedly, it MUST be me. It just has to be. Maybe I'm an over talker.. could it be that I use too many words and the person I'm talking to only hears. ..'whoomp whoomp whoomp' like an old Charlie Brown cartoon.
One basic form of communication in 'non'-verbal. Soo much can be said, by saying nothing. I've tried this method as well, and depending on the person much of it isn't picked up on. I'm not sure how to rectify this problem, but I know that I have to manage my OWN feelings regarding it. No matter how hard you try, some people will be forever in the dark.  

Random Pics "This Is My Oakland" #3

Two random days of driving has provided me the chance to take some cool photos.. Here is today's installment of 'My Oakland'.  Hope you like them!

Caldecott Tunnel

 

Can you see the 'castle' on the hill.. From the freeway this used to look like Disneyland to me when I was a kid.

*Mormon Temple~from my block

*Mormon Temple~close up

My Hair Story-Why It's Such a Big Deal~ Part III

Okay, I guess it's that time again, here is another installment of 'My Hair Story'... ~I'm thinking of getting brains now!! SMH

So, for those that may not be familiar, I have shared past and sometimes painful hair stories but I will bring you up to date on this years hair journey. I was growing locs for the past 5 years or so, however THIS year I decided to cut them all off!!

*This is the last picture of 2012.

Since relocating to the bay area, I started gradually trimming the ends. But, little by little, I came to realize that I had to do the 'BIG CHOP' and just cut them all the way off.  No more swinging locs. No more little Nubian knots after washing, and no more pony tails!!
No more tiresome washing. No more hour-long sessions of twisting and applying of shea butter. Oh how I was gonna miss all of THAT! LOL
 The driving factor of course was the negative energy that I felt I had to rid myself of. Since many people do not understand the strong force the hair can process , they can not fathom someone WILLINGLY cutting ALL of their hair off. We have got to have some drastic explanation as to WHY OH WHYYY GURL would you cut all your beautiful hair!!

       *My birthday this year

Now mind you, there are some others who still hadn't quiet come to grips with the whole 'Natural Hair' thing to begin with and was like, 'oh good, now you can get a perm!'... *rolls eyes* No, wait.. the last thing that was 'suggested to me was.. 'why don't you get a wig until your hair grows back?'  P_P
Anyone who KNOWS ME knows, I'm not wearing no damn wig!! Man! people never stop surprising me with foolish statements, but I digress.

So having said all of that.. it's no WONDER that I'm now contemplating getting braids. I've had negative thoughts about my hair 'planted' into my psyche and I tell you it JUST came to me as I am writing this. While I am not impressed with the speed in which my hair is growing back, I just have to be patient and let it figure out what it's trying to do this time around.  Boy, glad I talked with out with you all. I think I'll wait a little longer to have my scalp pulled beyond mercy. Thanks for listening.
~Peace and Hair grease~

Keep That Bull To Yourself

If you gonna talk about me, be about me. I don't wanna hear my business repeated back to me in a negative way. What some people call 'venting' is actually 'gossiping'. How you  gonna 'vent' about something that has no adverse effect on you?  Live YOUR life and stop worrying about others.
No matter what you do or how hard you try, you will NEVER stop people from talking about you. I get that, but when you speak on something, don't spin the story to fit your situation or project your own feelings into it. 
I received a unexpected blessing yesterday, and it was because some had to told someone else about my current situation.  Nothing that I shared was repeated 'back' to me, this person just wanted to reach out and let me know that I am appreciated and loved. This I don't mind. But I HATE when my business is repeated back to me and with added information that is usually incorrect. Don't talk about what's going on with me to the next person, with malice and don't expect me to be upset about it. I just wish folks would stay in a positive place, and work to improve their own life and goals. I in no way claim to be perfect and I KNOW what my issues are. I know what I can and can not tolerate and others should really learn to be respect that. 

Random Pics "This Is My Oakland" #2

Grrrr!!! One of the beauties of living in California is it's traffic and especially in the Bay Area. Compound the fact that BART (our mass transit system), is on STRIKE!! and of all days; I had to play taxi!!  I'm NEVER on the road at those times.. at least not anymore. Thank goodness I was going against traffic as they say, so it could have been much worse.

 *Not quite Oakland, but you get the picture*

 

Anyway, here is today's dose of pics... traffic included. I missed most of the mix today... (those that know.. KNOW!)
Here's hoping BART and it's employees can come to a agreement soon!! I can't be included in this for too long. I GOT BAD NERVES!!

 *View from my bedroom window*

On the up side.. I woke in time to see this partial sunrise. 'Breathe and smile'.