Archive for February 2006

Oh my word I was hoping this was not true:http://darkush.blogspot.com/2006/02/octavia-butler-died-saturday.html
Here’s the story from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer:http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/books/260959_butlerobit26ww.html
Rest in peace, Sistren. RIP
She was at the Black to the Future Science Fiction Festival in Seattle in 2004 and I had a chance to go and didn’t. A friend of mine went and got to meet her and talk [...]

Some of ya’ll may recall I make a quilt for each of my kids every year for the holidays. I broke our digital camera last year and took forever taking old-school pics! but here they are, done with a disposable 35mm camera. Each quilt is twin-sized and has a theme which uses pieces of their [...]

Finally! I don’t know what I was waiting on. It took 3 cans of spray paint and about an hour. Here is the before pic:

and after! Ta Da!
OMG it looks so much better! I also added a big dark green track mat to go on the floor in front of it later. The [...]

There is great power and affirmation in raising black children in a racist culture who are conscious and proud of who they are, who have no desire to be white or look white or ‘act’ white, any of that. And by acting white I don’t mean what you sound like or what kind of music [...]

Belated apologies to my friend Kola for posting her interview with The Post’s Bruce Dunne all kinds of late:
An Interview with Osama Bin Laden’s Former MistressBruce Dunne of The Post Journal interviews Kola Boof about her just released autobiography.
New York/January 18th, 2006
The author of six books published in eight countries, Kola Boof is not only [...]

The frames on my glasses are mostly clear so it’s not a question of vanity. I just don’t like them. I can’t look out of the corner of my eye at stuff; I have to turn my head fully in order to see out of my glasses all the way. I feel like I am [...]

Since my last entry on adding more big plants I have added 10 more big plants in my house. I love it! It totally changed the appearance and ambiance of my home. I just love plants.

See more progress on: add more big plants inside my house

How easy is it to group people into “races” based on appearance? What about using individual traits? Does everybody classify the same way? Try your hand at “sorting” individuals and see if it matches how people think of themselves. Or explore how we might sort people by physical traits.
I only got 2 right. http://www.pbs.org/race/002_SortingPeople/002_00-home.htm

The Kolbe A index/Instinct Test: IQ tests tell you what you can do. Personality tests tell you what you want to do… the Kolbe A index measures what you WILL or WON’T do. This quick and easy 36-question instrument gives you greater understanding of your own natural instincts and allows you to begin the process [...]

This site is dedicated to helping you make conscious decisions in your personal development and courageously follow through on them. This means having the maturity to take 100% responsibility for your health, your career, your finances, your relationships, your emotions, your habits, and your spiritual beliefs. It requires taking a hard look at yourself, consciously [...]

Self-actualization (a term originated by Kurt Goldstein) is the instinctual need of a human to make the most of their unique abilities. Maslow described it as follows:
Self Actualization is the intrinsic growth of what is already in the organism, or more accurately, of what the organism is. (Psychological Review, 1949)
A musician must make music, the [...]

I got this from George’s blog and think it’s too cool. In the first one, you get to pick words you associate with me:Do my Johari Please
In the second one You get to pick negative words you associate with me:Do my Nohari Please

Today is me and Brian’s tenth anniversary. Our very first date was Valentine’s day 1996. I can’t believe it’s been 10 years. What a journey it’s been. I love him so much! Happy Anniversary Sweetie!
Everyone have a great Valentine’s day!

See more progress on: work on my marriage

I’ve been wanting to do this for a while. I am not sure how long this goal will take me, because I haven’t been practicing yoga on a regular basis for some time now. I guess first I should find a good studio and start from there.

See more progress on: get a yoga teaching certification

Ok. I need to get an 800 # for MSPmedia and possibly a new cell phone. I have one of those pre-paid plans where I pay just $35/mo (because my finances are jacked and I refused to put down a $500 deposit that they hijack bad-credit folks for a regular bill plan) and I [...]

Connected up again with Gloria!!! I met her online on the old hipmama boards 5 years or so ago. She’s also a writer and has a little boy. She helped me through such a rough time during my marriage when I almost got divorced, patiently listening to me vent about Brian anytime I called, even [...]

No hunger pangs at all today! But when I was cooking dinner, tofu stir-fry, it smelled sooooooo gooooood. I was almost literally drooling, oh my goodness. Slight headache in the morning which passed in about 20 minutes, and a craving for coffee which passed in a few minutes.
Physically I seem to be losing weight in [...]

Oh my, Day 4 went by so fast. I had a brief headcahe and brief feeling of hunger in the morning, but other than that, no problems.
I am noticing that I can smell the oil in food more. Brian got the kids pizza for dinner last night and the smell ofit was so strong!! It [...]

here it is:Day 3
I am ending out day three tonight, and it was brutal today. I really really really craved coffee today and was very close to breaking. But I had no coffee in my house and by the time I got in the car and up the street to the store, the craving had [...]

Day 2 went ok. I again had hunger during breakfast time, but it passed when I drank the lemon mixture. My energy was better too, I didn’t feel tired during the afternoon. This may be too much info, but I only had one small poop session in the morning. Starting Day 3 I will also [...]

Day 1 went ok. I felt hungry in the morning, which surprised me because I usually have to force myself to eat breakfast. But my body missed that bowl of oatmeal! I sipped on the fasting drink throughout the day, In total I drank about 60 oz of that and 66 oz of water (two [...]

Those of you who sew, what are you working on? What do you have planned for this year?
I do everything by hand so it takes me months to finish a sewing project. My main things to sew are quilts and clothing for myself. I like long skirts and sleeveless, collarless, wraparound shirts in the summer:http://www.mspmedia.net/2005/08/diy-summer-shirt.html
I [...]

I am going on the Master Cleanse tomorrow! Anyone care to join me? I will post updates each day. I have done it before for a few days, this time I plan to do 12-14 days. I am in my 20th year as a vegetarian, last year I went vegan after 19 years as a [...]

So I am thinking of developing my pro-monogamy article into a book. I definitely plan to do a workshop on monogamy at the Mamagathering (of course we will also have one for polyamory! Still looking for 2 workshop co-ordinators for that one; I’ve asked 4 poly mamas who can’t come, any volunteers? know of anyone [...]

More Than Just His Wife – Coretta Scott King
She Helped to Transform America and Expose the FBI’s Role in the Harassment of Civil Rights LeadersCoretta Scott King was More Than Just Dr. King’s Wife
By EARL OFARI HUTCHINSON
“I certainly appreciate your concern, and I would appreciate anything that you can do to help.”
That was the dignified [...]

(Read Part 1 and Part 2 for the whole story)
Now though I did not agree with much of what dark daughta wrote, I liked the way she wrote. She’s a good writer, so even though I didn’t agree with much of what she wrote I wanted to talk to her more. So I wrote her [...]

I’m musing on this because I am working on an article about monogamy. I am in a long-term monogamous heterosexual marriage, our tenth anniversary of being together will be Feb. 14th (legally married 7 years come May 7th). Because of my sexual identity/orientation and marriage I am fully aware that I have a socially-approved and [...]

toddbrian Originally uploaded by trulastar.
This is one of my favorite pics of my husband, Brian, and our little boy Todd. It cracks me up!!

I have moved my gardening category to it’s own blog here:http://www.mspmedia.net/garden.htmlThese are all the posts that are still here for the time being. Please update your links, because once they are all moved I will delete this page.
Learn how to grow food for your family! Pre-order Veggie Mama: In the GardenVeggie Mama: In the Garden [...]

Edited for correction: It wasn’t Jason who threw away 300 CDs; he merely linked to an article by someone who did. My bad! I am sorry Jason. Whew! I though you went and lost your mind, ha ha.
Jason is tripping. Jason, I will always adore you because I first got to 43things from a link [...]