this is (another reason) why we boycott BP … did they know?
love in a conspiracy
Posted in love with tags british petroleum, choices, conspiracy, contemplative, corporate espionage, cover-up, environment, health, honesty, humanity, life, louisiana gulf oil spill, love, oil, oil spill, truth on June 29, 2010 by loveinotherplaces
love in the home team
Posted in love with tags africa, colonialism, culture, faith, futbol, ghana, love, soccer, world cup on June 28, 2010 by loveinotherplaces
this is all i have to say today! congrats to GHANA for the big win on saturday! i pray we go all the way ……….. c’mon BLACK STARS!
love in the pit
Posted in love with tags africa, anger, apartheid, choices, colonialism, contemplative, culture, faith, forgiveness, freedom fighting, God, goodness, humanity, inspiration, invictus, invictus the movie, invictus the poem, life, love, nelson mandela, poetry, political prisoner, prison, racism, rugby, south africa, spirituality, stillness, white people, william henley on June 25, 2010 by loveinotherplacesok, really quickly, before i jump into what this post is really about … who searches for this blog under the phrase ‘turkey bacon’? i love it! with wordpress.com you can look at who searches for your blog and what search engines they use etc. … and turkey bacon often comes up! along with my other personal favorites: ‘girl who isn’t married yet’ and ’michelle obama’s dimple.’ these things bring me great joy, laughter, and love. thanks to my blog readers and
their creative searches!!!
now, today’s hot topic is really the movie, invictus. i know, i know, i threw it out with the bathwater several months ago but … i actually saw it and i have some new thoughts to share. it wasn’t like an ingenius, brilliant movie but it did touch my (admittedly super-sensitive) heart. i will not even go into how i attempted to explain apartheid to my 10-year old. the movie really made me pause and deeply contemplate how i would handle being imprisoned for 30 plus years. that’s major, homey. whether you want to dwell on it or not.
i really fell in love with the poem the movie is titled after. … i believe that this poem is about free will granted to us by God … and the ish i am always going off at the mouth about — choosing to be happy through intensely painful external circumstances. i use this poem to inspire myself when my brain wants to drift toward negative or depressing thoughts. i can’t claim to have as unconquerable a soul as nelson mandela or the author, william henley, but this poem encourages me to strive for one. who knows what the future will hold? maybe i will be imprisoned one day for fighting for freedom. and for those of you just trying to get through today … read this …
Invictus
Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll.
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.
William Ernest Henley
love in the paradigms that built the house your brain lives in
Posted in love with tags africa, basketball, belief system, black women, christianity, culture, God, henri matisse, islam, love, manute bol, painting, paradigms, slim thug, spirituality, xenophobia on June 24, 2010 by loveinotherplacesa) the famous painter, henri matisse, once said that he doesn’t paint the table … he paint
s how the table makes him feel. this is my exact approach to painting and writing.
b) i also believe the u.s. empire is coming to a close … the euro will continue to beat the dollar and we will no longer intervene in international affairs as the ’policeman’ for the world; and i am relieved by this notion … maybe we can clean up our shores instead of worrying about everyone else’s.
c) i reject slim thug’s assertions as to what black women need to do to get a successful black man … i really don’t want slim thug anyway. or anyone like him. but i will gladly and caringly fold the drawers and socks of the man i love. i will iron his shirt even when we are both in a rush. i will wake up early to take care of him just as i do for my daughter. but, i wouldn’t lift my left pinky toe for a slim thug. and i do like ‘em slim ….
d) i am of the mind that every human who lives and breathes makes some impact on the earth. manute bol passed recently and i didn’t even know … and i want to take a moment to honor his life.
e) i operate this blog based on the notion that the sharing of information will empower people to make more informed choices. for those in america who were paranoid about obama, you can lay those fears to rest. feel free to like him now that you are secure that many muslims do not. does anyone else find this poll to be kind of wierd?
i love when no one remembers me
Posted in love with tags bible study, contemplative, faith, God, love, spirituality, the holy bible on June 23, 2010 by loveinotherplacesNo One Remembered! YOU… does it matter?
mustard seed
God is real and he is always eavesdropping on my heart. another bible passage that used to confound me is this one:
for john came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘he has a demon.’ the Son of Man came eating and drinking and they say, ‘look, a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ but wisdom is justified by her children. matthew 11: 18-19
it took me a few days to understand the first two sentences … which i eventually gathered to mean: non-believers will always find some fault in divine claims. but what really stumped me was the part about ’wisdom is justified by her children.’
and then God brought this daily bread into my life: No One Remembered!
now i see. children are fruit i.e. products, legacies, our wake which we leave behind. wisdom is only revealed in the future when we see who was right, who was wrong, who was lying, and who was telling the truth. so, whether or not you believe me now … the truth stands and will be revealed in what is to come.
i love how a picture speaks for itself
Posted in love with tags business, choices, comedy, hip hop, life, love, narcissism, p. diddy, puff daddy, puffy, rap, sean combs, self-love, self-promotion on June 23, 2010 by loveinotherplaces
i love “The Korean Sauna Experience: Friendship, Friendship (via Scenic Route Snapshots)”
Posted in love with tags love, self-love, war, life, goodness, humanity, choices, time, stillness, spirituality, health, korean sauna, bath house, sweat, detoxification, cleansing, sauna, heat on June 22, 2010 by loveinotherplacesi wrote this blog already and then i mentioned the sauna again here. but i’m not out here jocking for the credit. i really want you to find a korean sauna (or some other similar bath house experience) near you and go sweat, chill, detox, relax and rejuvenate. i think if every single human being did this once a month the world would be a better place. the war in iraq would end, terrorism would collapse, the GOP would crumble …
love your colonizer
Posted in love with tags africa, colonialism, contemplative, culture, futbol, imperialism, love, soccer, sporting events, sports, white people, world cup on June 22, 2010 by loveinotherplacessooo … is it just me and a handful of my friends who find irony in the world cup matches? it’s only recently that african nations have started to compete. and sometimes we find ourselves in the midst of matches between a previous colonizer and a post-colony. many of the names of the african nations came from the colonizers. need i say cote d’ivoire? and now this blogger below writes of a european curse … revenge or karma?
is the world cup a metaphor for world domination? GOL!
via At The Rails
i love chateauneuf du pape
Posted in love with tags bible study, faith, God, Jesus Christ, life, love, reflectiveness, spirituality, the holy bible, wine, wineskins on June 21, 2010 by loveinotherplacesa biblical passage that has always stumped me is this:
‘nor do they put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. but they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.’ matthew, 9:17
i never understood the part about ‘both are preserved.’ i thought for the longest time that the quote referred to both the new wine and the new wineskins. upon further reflection and much re-reading, i realize that ‘both’ refers to the old wineskins and the new wineskins. and i immediately took that as a metaphor for the old and the new testament. Jesus wanted to preserve the old and the new ways … and he and his teachings were, of course, the new wine.
i guess, my question now is what do we do with an old, preserved wineskin that can no longer hold new wine? what use does it have? what can we still learn from the old craftsmanship of old wineskins? why would it be important to Jesus to preserve the old?
well, let’s take antique or vintage objects that we keep. we keep them as relics to remember how we constructed things in the past. (and they look cool). God never changes but he is a dynamic God. he is always trying to release new wine and encouraging us to shed old wineskins. by keeping wineskins of the past we can remember that God has brought us and taught us through the ages … is that it? one day we might know but, i’m content to just have a slightly clearer understanding.
i love quick, cheap & tasteful
Posted in Uncategorized with tags balsamic vinegar, choices, contemplative, cooking, family, food, goodness, life, love, pasta, pecans, recipes on June 18, 2010 by loveinotherplacesmy approach to cooking {when the kids aren’t home, the weather makes 
plastic wilt, and your saving for a tropical vacation} is to go fast, go light, or go to bed on ice chips. i created a new dish since these principles were guiding me. i already had some homemade balsamic vinaigrette (3 parts balsamic vinegar, two parts olive oil, two cloves of garlic, sea salt, pepper). i also had some leftover spaghetti. i was tired of the usual marinara and parmesan combo. so i thought why not? i drizzled the vinaigrette on the pasta and mixed them up. i added some grated parmesan (no frills $1.99 brand). i microwaved it for a minute (you can probably serve this dish cold as well). i put more parm on it and i tossed some roasted-glazed-candied pecans on top (also in my cupboard cuz i use it on salads.) magically delicious! it was tangy from balsamic but rich from the parm. it was salty and sharp with garlic but softened and sweetened by the pecans. in the end it reminded me of a balsamic pesto.
and this is coming from a woman who used to hate cooking and only recently fell in love with ways to make exciting meals at home. i wish i had come across a blog post like this when i was 23 … cuz i had a baby on my hip and i was at a loss as to what to cook and how to cook it …….. and we were broke so i really shouldn’t have ordered all that take-out.
optional additions and/or substitutions:
1. sub pine nuts for pecans (more expensivo)
2. serve with cold or hot, grilled or broiled steak or chicken or shrimp
3. add turkey bacon (why not)
