Bad Luck BBQ

So I told myself I would blog about my latest adventure, good ol' fashioned barbeque. So I decided that since the weather has been wonderful lately, then I should do something outdoors, something american, something not too labor intensive, something new. Now, i'm starting to learn to cook but grilling is a new arena for me. I excitedly hurried to the nearest Family Dollar to buy my wares. I bought the traditional tools, charcoal, lighter fluid, a spray bottle, and aluminum foil. I had everything planned out, i'd boil the chicken first in a special brine, and then i'd grill some pre-tenderized steak, then make some mac n' cheese and those new "grillin beans". Before I stray too far, the I must tell you that my grill isn't some huge to do, it is a very modest, small, and janky grill I bought from Wal-mart for a frugal $19 and the time it was a pretty big deal. It had been on my cousin's back porch for must about all fall and winter, so I expected a bit of wear and tear but this thing once shiny red was now a dull, faded pink and the charcoal that was still in the pit was stuck. Now I don't mind domestic work but I'm not a get down and dirty kinda gal, so I look for the closest set of gloves. The gloves were actually the yellow dishwashing gloves, a little ghetto I know. I dumped the ash but only half fell, so I had to dig the remains out the bottom with my glove protected hands. I'm trying my hardest to make this a short story but that's not how this is working out so please bear with me. One thing I forgot was a grill brush, and I wasn't cleaning this grill in my house. So I decided to take the lazy way out and line the top rack with aluminum foil, um wrong answer and i'll tell you why in a few. Next I light the coals, it is very likely that I over-did the lighter fluid thing. It is likely that I did something wrong with the fire, I could tell that something wouldn't be done in the middle (thank goodness I boled the chicken first)So finally, I placed the meat on the grill and closed the lid. I waited a few minutes and realized that I didn't poke holes in the foil so then I did. Well did I mention that I went shopping at Family Dollar, and while they do have name brands, I opted for the generic .69 kind, it was of the cheap persuasion so what was supposed to be small poke holes, turned into savagely huge tear marks. So if you're keeping up, the coals aren't hot, the holes are too big in the foil and my meat isn't really cooking so I decided to re-light the fire. Now the trick was to do it without any fatalities. Hmmm, this would prove harder than it sounds. I'll spare you the details but needless to say I made it. After a few sprays, by brand new spray bottle died. Frustrated, I took the meat off the grill, and made a back up dinner, skyline chili spaghetti. So in short, I won't be grilling again any time soon it sucks, maybe I just suck. It's over, i'm done, I'm officially a bake boil or fry kind of girl. Please, don't laugh at the pics. btw, the meat turned out really flavorful but my grandma said her chicken wasn't done and that eating blood of an animal works against her body so she couldn't partake. Hmm, my piece seemed fine but that sorry excuse for a steak was pretty bad, it was pretenderized but managed to be tough, ford tough. Uh, if you barbeque, can I come over? I ain't got it!

Urban

I've got a lot of favorite artists. Thomas Green, Kadir Nelson, Paul Goodnight, but now adding to that collection of non abstract contemprary artists is David M. Lenz, this is from his "Urban" series. It takes an extrodinary talent to be able to paint such works of art. At first glance, this looks like a photograph, well at second and third glance too...Check him out, www.davidmlenz.com

The End is Near

For the fellas...

How about a these cufflinks...At first glance, boring...then you notice these aren't just any cufflinks, they're actually USB's, now that's combining fashion with function.

In the future...

I hope we're not concerned with who has the flyest Gas Mask. Designer Diddo Velema produced some high fashion gas masks. It's almost laughable, kinda like when I saw designer SARS masks in China, bafoonery I say...I'm gon' get me a designer water tank in the last days...One day you might walk into the hospital and see the nurses walking around in Prada scrubs with Karl Lagerfield goggles and Jimmy Choo croc's. Perhaps i'm taking it a bit far but I never thought i'd see the day when I saw a car with a Gucci logo'd interior, one with a Louis Vuitton logo on the door and all this crazy stuff that people do to help themselves look like idiots. What did Kweli say? "...Like slaves on a ship talkin' bout' who got the flyest chains". On my way to work I stumbled across the Russ Parr show and they were talking about African Americans, and the question of the day was "Are you afraid to look poor?" The went on to read the statistics on consumer spending of African Americans and it says that we spend far more on Cars, Clothes, Electronics and Jewelry than education, investments, books, and savings. It's sad but true. I hate to make this a black issue, but I have to pull from my only point of reference. People were on air denying it, while others chose to keep it real, but most people I know buy Coach purses even if it's fake, the same with sunglasses, if it says D&G people will buy it because it's all about perception. we want to look like we have something. I work in a welfare office where the recipients often look better than me. And Even though I think it's sad, I can admit that I have a spending problem, last year I pulled off the lot in a new SUV, but can barely afford to keep it on half a tank, I mean the thing only gets 17 MPG and it takes close to $100 to fill it up with the most recent spike in gas prices. I say all this to say, we've got to do better.

Small Space BIG Style

this is amazing, now in addition to being a foodie, i'm a teckie, and whatever you call someone who's into art and design, an artie maybe? I wish I had loftier goals, but hey...this is a sofa that transforms into bunk beds...When I get a degree, and move, and buy a new place, it's gonna be modern. I think this is so cool.
You can check out the article at www.notcot.org

Come on Solange...

I couldn't resist...
Are you feeling this look?

This is for you Jahzie...

So according to my best friend Lauryn Hill is the undisputed queen of all queens, so it's fun to bring funny thing to her attention like this... It's a re-make of Ex factor, with Syleena Johnson and RayJ which almost sounds as good as the original, that is...until RayJ starts rapping...Eat your heart out L-Boogie, what do you think?
Follow the link to Soulbounce, I don't know how to upload the player onto this page, as you can from the last post i'm not too great at this...
Copy this url into your browser:
http://www.soulbounce.com/soul/2008/04/syleena-johnson-does-lauryn-hill-again.php

Just in case you have any problems getting there it's on www.soulbounce.com

Gives me Chills...

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This song takes me back to my "deep" days...This song makes me want something more...It makes me anxious, it makes me wanna go to a place where I can be in love, and can be me perfectly, a place where I have thing to do like go to musuems, paint, have dinner parties with friends, have a home studio, travel often, drive to NY to hang out, go to live concerts, write books, sip on double shots expresso while writing a poem on my macbook at a trendy Starbucks or Borders. This song makes me wanna live big and I don't know what does it for me, it could be Jill's voice, or the lovey dovey words...I don't know but since i'm not in the place that I wanna be right now, i'll just settle for watching this video with my eyes closed smiling imagining myself there snapping at the end of her performance...riding the night wind, taking photographs after the show, happy...

Super Sweet 16

As promised, these are the pics from the twin's big day, their 16th birthday. They had great fun with friends and fam. It was a day full of BBQ, tennis, bubbles, kids, dancing, and laughter. Hannah Montana the super mogul is the flippin Bill Gates of the Tween market I tell ya, she dominates the field. The twins had a HM dog tag, purse, cake and bracelets. When they go to sleep, the will sleep in their HM gowns and in the morning they will watch their HM "Make a Wish" DVD...crazy right? Well i've got things to do, until next time...

Happy Birthday Spring...Can't stand lame dudes...

So i'm back at home on the internet...I'm pretty excited about that, so I decided to make a post. It's not about anything drastically important or life altering. Just a reg'lar old post about things like today being the twins' birthday, the great spring weather, the fact that I should be going to church today...The twins turn sixteen, i'm getting old...They will be graduating High School soon, for their birthday I bought a outdoor game set, I think they'll like it. It's a beautiful day, mom's BBQ'ng. Yesterday was nice but today will be better, the sun's already shining. I'm happiest on days when the sun appears to brighten my days. I have so much to be thankful for, which is why I should be at church, I had a long night last night, went to O'Charley's, the pool hall, midnight bowling, and to the waffle house. I didn't come strolling in the house until about 4:00am and then decided to edit some pictures online for awhile before my sweet escape to sleep. Well anyway, i'll post pics of the twins' birthday later on...Oh and one more thing, my cousin's friend (with benefits) tried to set me up on a blind date with his cousin and I think it was the most strange hour that happened in awhile to me, I wanted to be somewhere else, or wish i could've somehow erased the fact that he was sitting next to me. The cousin's friend tells the guy to meet us at the Waffle House, my first impression was of him roughhousing one of his cousins, not in a play play kinda way either. Then he barely spoke, so things just went downhill from there, no formal introduction or anything. So when I sat down, he made some ridiculuous comment about me acting like I did't want to sit next to him, so he sat across from me. I was fine with that but I wasn't acting any particular way at the time. Even if I wasn't feeling the guy I would have still tried to be good company, come on'...So I say something or another to let him know he could join me in the booth, he obliges but reluctantly. His body language was horrible, he acted 15 but looked 4o, had no conversation, and spent most of the time asking me about my coffee. I understood that there was no chemistry, no attraction physical or otherwise early on, like when he got out of his banged up Surburban, but I didn't act like a 7th grader, after awhile, I gave up and started talking to my cousin, we acted as if each other weren't there. The date quickly turned int a casual outing with me and my cousin talking exclusively to each other and them doing the same. The only thing that irked me was that we couldn't have had conversation for each other even if there was no physical attraction, it almost seemed as if he really wanted me to know he wasn't feeling me. This guy didn't have a job, wore some dusty Fila's, had yellow teeth, wasn't attractive in the slightest, had black smokers lips, must have been 40 and is still going to the club, had naked pics of various women on his pic phone, had no intellect, is a dime bag pusher, and is socially defunct. Now tell me why I shouldn't have sat in the car the whole time refusing to participate in this bafoonery? Geez! i've got to move from this town...

A little salty this morn...

It has come. June will be the 10 year mark. Ten years since I walked across a hot, humid, and overpacked gymnasium full of onlookers and supporters to accept my High School Diploma. Our orators were full of hope and advice, by the time I left, I was convinced the world was mine. Perhaps it was, but now...hmm...I have a new perspective, a tad more realistic if you will...I didn't really think much about what I would be doing, but I definitely anticipated having a degree by now, having a husband and established in my career. I'm indecisive, why did I think that? The inability to be single minded may be perhaps my huberis. I don't know, all this is a bit overwhelming for a Tuesday morning, I should probably be working. Yeah, that's what I think i'll do because I need to reframe and perhaps i'll feel better about this whole thing.