I keep saying it... "I need to work out!"
I get in the mood about twice a month to go to the gym (usually just for Zumba classes). That twice a month equated to about $20/visit because of my gym fees. So I cancelled my membership 2 weeks ago, bought Zumba for the Wii, and downloaded the app Couch to 5 K from http://www.rundouble.com/. I have always had aspirations to run a marathon before I get too old to walk... so I reckon I'll start small and work my way up. I even bought a $130 pair of running shoes at the end of the summer and ran about 30 miles in them.. then my arches started hurting so I quit. So here's to getting off the sofa AGAIN and getting my feet moving.
Wish me luck!
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Do Black people do Halloween?
I've been asked to help plan a Halloween party with a couple of work colleagues. One of my colleagues said, "we [our other colleague] already started planning and invitations because we thought you wouldn't be interested."Yes, you guessed it, they are white. They were both under the assumption that I would not be interested in party planning because of my race. So this got me thinking.
Back when I was a kid Mom dressed my brother and I up in crazy costumes and led us around our mostly white neighborhood to beg for candy. I remember wearing costumes like a princess, the pink panther, a witch, and a baseball player. It was fun running around and dressing up. I looked forward to Halloween every year!! I think I stopped dressing up by 9th grade, although our high school senior class officers dressed up one year as our mascot "Red Devil" to collect can goods for the local food bank. (We collected 2 pick up trucks worth!!) In undergrad, our Homecoming fell on Halloween every year. I went to an HBCU, Norfolk State University, So all we ever did was tailgate and party, and never a costume party. When I got to grad school, my department was largely white. Along with the whiteness came invitations to Halloween parties. I was so excited to attend my first party, but when I asked some of my Black friends I went to church with to come along they all looked at me like I was crazy! Not until my last year did I convince two of my Black friends to come to the party with me...that was four years later! I skipped out on the first two years of costume party/Halloween party invitations because I went back to NSU for homecoming... but the next 3 years I was a willing participant.
My first adult costume was a "Kenyan Villager." I wore garments I had bought from my recent trip to Kenya. I was invited and figured I wouldn't go because I didn't want to be the only Black person. So at the last minute I pulled out my scarves and tied one on my body as a dress and another on my head. My second adult costume was "A Dissertating Graduate Student." I came dressed in a bathrobe with a SIUC t-shirt, Norfolk State basketball shorts, knee high socks with slippers carrying a bottle of 2 Buck Chuck Chardonnay (Charles Shaw) and my Prospectus that I was asking everyone to read over and edit. It was quite hilarious. Everyone really got a kick out of it because I was really serious about folks looking over my draft. My third and final costume dress up event I actually put some effort into. This was the party a couple of my Black friends were attending, so we were striving to out do each other. I came as Cleopatra Jones (the original). I had my HUGE fro then, a fly brown leather coat my great aunt had given me (straight out the 70s), some corduroy beige bell-bottoms and some brown platform pumps. I didn't have a huge gun to tote around so I had my butterfly knife that I kept playing with all night. It was so fun! I talked in jive, happenin lingo all night. Of course my Black guy friend came as Kat Williams (it was 2009). We had a great time and they vowed to attend sociology parties with me in the future (and they did!).
So back to my question. What's up with Black people and Halloween? I had this convo with a friend of mine who grew up in a Black neighborhood with Afrocentric Baptist parents and she said her parents called Halloween a time for "N*gga Knocking." I had to LOL on that one. Her parents did not want her associated with the hoodlums who came around playing practical jokes on families in the complex. She also mentioned the fact Jesus wouldn't like Halloween because it is the devil's night. I talked to another Black girl friend and she said she didn't have a problem with Halloween, she just didn't like to dress up in costume. Personally, that's why I LOVE Halloween. You get to dress up as someone you aren't, you want to be, or you wouldn't dare become. It's just for one night! Although, I still haven't worked up to the point of purchasing items for a costume.
So back to my two colleagues. We all went shopping for decorations and they were amazed at my enthusiasm (this was the first time I had ever been involved in the planning of a Halloween party). So we all bought decorations and necessities for the all work colleague/significant other party. All the while, I was thinking about what I will dress up as and if it was possible to create a Black couple's costume.
So as far as couples costumes for Black folks, all I came up with were:
Michelle and Barack Obama-- My hunny is too dark to play Obama. Sorry boo!
Beyonce and Jay-Z--NO
Ike and Tina--Hecks Naw
Crack Whore and Pimp--Just for sh*ts and giggles.
Doctor and Nurse--My hunny is a doctor, so wouldn't be cool for him to dress as his everyday profession.
Don Cornelius and a Soul Train Dancer--the white folks wouldn't get it
Queen Nefertiti and Pharaoh Akhenaten--Still thinking about that one, but it would take me buying materials.
I even typed in "Halloween costumes for African American couples" into Google. I got a lot of random Halloween info on black (as in the color, not the socially constructed concept of race) costumes. No help there...
So it has come down to a phrase I heard once. "I'm going to keep my wife barefoot, pregnant, and chained to the refrigerator." --Patriarchy at it's worst!
Our costumes for this year will be me as a (not so) typical suburban 50s housewife, barefoot, pregnant, and chained to a refrigerator. Of course I couldn't let this fly without any agency from the female! So I will be a murderous 50s housewife, barefoot, pregnant, and chained to the refrigerator (I may come with a plate of warm cookies!). Why will I be murderous you may ask... because of my "Cheating Husband."
All of the materials will be coming from the house. I have a polka dot dress and an apron (that I will stuff a pillow into). I'm going to flip my Sisterlocks into a 50s hairstyle.I'm going to carry around a fake bloody knife for good measure. My "cheating husband" will be wearing slacks, a white shirt with lipstick prints on the collar, suspenders, a sweater or jacket, and a black fedora. His accessory will be a stab wound to the chest and a nice silver flask.
Sociologically speaking, taking on this white privileged role of the 50s housewife is amusing to me. The real deal is that as a typical Black woman in the 50s I would most likely be working to provide for their family, not standing in the kitchen baking cookies, waiting for the kids to come home. An article on Society Pages by Wade and Sharp (May 2010) discussed Sade and Beyonce's use of this image in their music videos "Baby Father" and "Why Don't You Love Me" respectively. So this is not an unexplored concept. If I were my age in the 50s I would probably be out getting arrested for protesting against racial discrimination. Haha.. there's another idea, but I wouldn't want to scare the white people (Rosa Parks and MLK, Jr.--probably not appropriate for Halloween though).
Ok, that's enough ranting for tonight.
Back when I was a kid Mom dressed my brother and I up in crazy costumes and led us around our mostly white neighborhood to beg for candy. I remember wearing costumes like a princess, the pink panther, a witch, and a baseball player. It was fun running around and dressing up. I looked forward to Halloween every year!! I think I stopped dressing up by 9th grade, although our high school senior class officers dressed up one year as our mascot "Red Devil" to collect can goods for the local food bank. (We collected 2 pick up trucks worth!!) In undergrad, our Homecoming fell on Halloween every year. I went to an HBCU, Norfolk State University, So all we ever did was tailgate and party, and never a costume party. When I got to grad school, my department was largely white. Along with the whiteness came invitations to Halloween parties. I was so excited to attend my first party, but when I asked some of my Black friends I went to church with to come along they all looked at me like I was crazy! Not until my last year did I convince two of my Black friends to come to the party with me...that was four years later! I skipped out on the first two years of costume party/Halloween party invitations because I went back to NSU for homecoming... but the next 3 years I was a willing participant.
My first adult costume was a "Kenyan Villager." I wore garments I had bought from my recent trip to Kenya. I was invited and figured I wouldn't go because I didn't want to be the only Black person. So at the last minute I pulled out my scarves and tied one on my body as a dress and another on my head. My second adult costume was "A Dissertating Graduate Student." I came dressed in a bathrobe with a SIUC t-shirt, Norfolk State basketball shorts, knee high socks with slippers carrying a bottle of 2 Buck Chuck Chardonnay (Charles Shaw) and my Prospectus that I was asking everyone to read over and edit. It was quite hilarious. Everyone really got a kick out of it because I was really serious about folks looking over my draft. My third and final costume dress up event I actually put some effort into. This was the party a couple of my Black friends were attending, so we were striving to out do each other. I came as Cleopatra Jones (the original). I had my HUGE fro then, a fly brown leather coat my great aunt had given me (straight out the 70s), some corduroy beige bell-bottoms and some brown platform pumps. I didn't have a huge gun to tote around so I had my butterfly knife that I kept playing with all night. It was so fun! I talked in jive, happenin lingo all night. Of course my Black guy friend came as Kat Williams (it was 2009). We had a great time and they vowed to attend sociology parties with me in the future (and they did!).
So back to my question. What's up with Black people and Halloween? I had this convo with a friend of mine who grew up in a Black neighborhood with Afrocentric Baptist parents and she said her parents called Halloween a time for "N*gga Knocking." I had to LOL on that one. Her parents did not want her associated with the hoodlums who came around playing practical jokes on families in the complex. She also mentioned the fact Jesus wouldn't like Halloween because it is the devil's night. I talked to another Black girl friend and she said she didn't have a problem with Halloween, she just didn't like to dress up in costume. Personally, that's why I LOVE Halloween. You get to dress up as someone you aren't, you want to be, or you wouldn't dare become. It's just for one night! Although, I still haven't worked up to the point of purchasing items for a costume.
So back to my two colleagues. We all went shopping for decorations and they were amazed at my enthusiasm (this was the first time I had ever been involved in the planning of a Halloween party). So we all bought decorations and necessities for the all work colleague/significant other party. All the while, I was thinking about what I will dress up as and if it was possible to create a Black couple's costume.
So as far as couples costumes for Black folks, all I came up with were:
Michelle and Barack Obama-- My hunny is too dark to play Obama. Sorry boo!
Beyonce and Jay-Z--NO
Ike and Tina--Hecks Naw
Crack Whore and Pimp--Just for sh*ts and giggles.
Doctor and Nurse--My hunny is a doctor, so wouldn't be cool for him to dress as his everyday profession.
Don Cornelius and a Soul Train Dancer--the white folks wouldn't get it
Queen Nefertiti and Pharaoh Akhenaten--Still thinking about that one, but it would take me buying materials.
I even typed in "Halloween costumes for African American couples" into Google. I got a lot of random Halloween info on black (as in the color, not the socially constructed concept of race) costumes. No help there...
So it has come down to a phrase I heard once. "I'm going to keep my wife barefoot, pregnant, and chained to the refrigerator." --Patriarchy at it's worst!
Our costumes for this year will be me as a (not so) typical suburban 50s housewife, barefoot, pregnant, and chained to a refrigerator. Of course I couldn't let this fly without any agency from the female! So I will be a murderous 50s housewife, barefoot, pregnant, and chained to the refrigerator (I may come with a plate of warm cookies!). Why will I be murderous you may ask... because of my "Cheating Husband."
All of the materials will be coming from the house. I have a polka dot dress and an apron (that I will stuff a pillow into). I'm going to flip my Sisterlocks into a 50s hairstyle.I'm going to carry around a fake bloody knife for good measure. My "cheating husband" will be wearing slacks, a white shirt with lipstick prints on the collar, suspenders, a sweater or jacket, and a black fedora. His accessory will be a stab wound to the chest and a nice silver flask.
Sociologically speaking, taking on this white privileged role of the 50s housewife is amusing to me. The real deal is that as a typical Black woman in the 50s I would most likely be working to provide for their family, not standing in the kitchen baking cookies, waiting for the kids to come home. An article on Society Pages by Wade and Sharp (May 2010) discussed Sade and Beyonce's use of this image in their music videos "Baby Father" and "Why Don't You Love Me" respectively. So this is not an unexplored concept. If I were my age in the 50s I would probably be out getting arrested for protesting against racial discrimination. Haha.. there's another idea, but I wouldn't want to scare the white people (Rosa Parks and MLK, Jr.--probably not appropriate for Halloween though).
Ok, that's enough ranting for tonight.
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Operation: Get Right
I tried and tried to get motivated to workout at home... I just can't do it! So I finally broke down and joined The Family Y. I will get a trainer and a nutritionist and figure out what I need to do to "get right" this summer. Maybe I can find a workout buddy that will hold me accountable.
I don't consider myself an unhealthy person...
I don't drink soda. I only eat fried food if I'm home in Virginia. I don't eat pork or beef. I don't eat a lot of freezer/processed foods. I'm moderately active-I play tennis, take the stairs, and ride my bike.
I am willing to admit I have a few weaknesses. My favorite food is carbohydrate! I love bread, pasta, white rice, potatoes, and cereal. I have moved more toward whole grains and brown rice as of late though. I lack motivation to work out on my own.
Why can't I get rid of this belly pooch and thunder thighs that I picked up in graduate school?! I was in great shape when I graduated undergrad. I trained everyday with the tennis team, lifting and running. I played tennis whenever I had a free minute! Then graduate school hit... my priority became reading, writing, and learning. Besides walking or biking the 2 miles to and from campus every day I didn't work out at all. I got back into working out and tennis when I started working on my PhD and the weight began to drop. Then I gained most of it back when I got here. My mother calls it the "old age spread"--my body preparing me for child birth...HA!
So I have decided to officially begin Operation: Get Right. I'm not one of those "I hate my body" females. I'm just not completely comfortable in my skin right now, especially since it has stretched so much lately! I want to be comfortable enough to put on my two piece bathing suit and confident enough to wear it around the beach without a cover up. That means I want at least a 3 pack of abs, the ability to see all four of my quadricepts when I flex, and not have my legs rub together when I walk. That last one is a dream... My father has told me since I was a child, "thunder thighs" ran in the family... well let's see if I can turn back genetics!! haha
Hopefully my new trainer and nutritionist can let me in on the secret to great thighs and abs, or at least help me get back into a size 6! I need to reverse 6 years!! :) I know I can do it! I guess I have to now that I put it on the internet...
That's enough for now... I'll let you know how I'm doing later!
Until next time...
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Quarter Life Crisis...Really?! Yes, Really.
I was talking to a friend earlier and I told him I was experiencing a quarter life crisis. His response was, "A what?"
As a sociologist I recognize this is not some made up phenomenon. There are websites (http://www.quarterlifecrisis.com/), news casts (Quarterlife Crisis Hits Many in Late 20s - ABC News), and books (Quarterlife Crisis: The Unique Challenges of Life in Your Twenties) dedicated to the subject.
My quarter life crisis is stemming from my transition from the academic world into the real world, just as Robbins and Wilner (2001) suggest in their book on the subject (title above). In my transition to the real world I had to move to a new place. A new state in a new city to a new job. I only knew one person when I arrived here. That is where my quarterlife crisis began. I was lacking the social network I was used to in the academic setting. In academia you have a cohort, a group that you flow in stages with. On the job, I was hired along with other new and old phd's, but we did not have an initial bonding time. During this time I had plenty of time to re-evaluate the relationships in my life at present and those I would like to have in the future. I became reacquainted with high school friends during this period and that aided me in my adjustment. I never really considered myself a social butterfly, but I had always been surrounded by those whom I had encountered in my academic career. I have friends from each stage: secondary, undergraduate, and graduate school.
I also had time to think about how well folks in high school were doing compared to me. I know, I know...though shalt not covet.... but there are folks who stopped at their bachelor's that are making twice what I'm making now and are traveling all over the world!! I realized that I chose the wrong major or the wrong passion chose me... I chose sociology as a major in undergrad with the dream of becoming a "profiler." Haha. It took me two years to figure out you couldn't just be a profiler, partly my own fault. Then I realized that I would like the freedom and schedule that comes along with a life in academia. But anywho, when I'm alone, I have plenty of time to think about these things. Maybe too much.
As time went on, I made acquaintances with other colleagues, folks I played tennis with, and the organization I volunteered for and began my travelscapades. Oh how I love traveling... (I'll save that for another day.) I eventually reached a point where I was satisfied at my position in the world... then today hit.
This is my birth month. June 17 I will turn 28 years old. 28!!! By 28 I'm supposed to have traveled to at least 3 other continents and done half of my bucket list (which is actually written out and is being continually added to). I should have a partner and be thinking about having kids in the next 6 years or so.... (still not decided on that part yet). I'm coming to the realization that I have not actualized my goals! Should I just set new goals or continue to the goals already set? Well what the world to do about it?
So my crisis has come back upon me. As this first quarter of my life is coming to a close, I hope to rationalize and remedy this crisis.
That's enough randomness for tonight. Until next time....
As a sociologist I recognize this is not some made up phenomenon. There are websites (http://www.quarterlifecrisis.com/), news casts (Quarterlife Crisis Hits Many in Late 20s - ABC News), and books (Quarterlife Crisis: The Unique Challenges of Life in Your Twenties) dedicated to the subject.
My quarter life crisis is stemming from my transition from the academic world into the real world, just as Robbins and Wilner (2001) suggest in their book on the subject (title above). In my transition to the real world I had to move to a new place. A new state in a new city to a new job. I only knew one person when I arrived here. That is where my quarterlife crisis began. I was lacking the social network I was used to in the academic setting. In academia you have a cohort, a group that you flow in stages with. On the job, I was hired along with other new and old phd's, but we did not have an initial bonding time. During this time I had plenty of time to re-evaluate the relationships in my life at present and those I would like to have in the future. I became reacquainted with high school friends during this period and that aided me in my adjustment. I never really considered myself a social butterfly, but I had always been surrounded by those whom I had encountered in my academic career. I have friends from each stage: secondary, undergraduate, and graduate school.
I also had time to think about how well folks in high school were doing compared to me. I know, I know...though shalt not covet.... but there are folks who stopped at their bachelor's that are making twice what I'm making now and are traveling all over the world!! I realized that I chose the wrong major or the wrong passion chose me... I chose sociology as a major in undergrad with the dream of becoming a "profiler." Haha. It took me two years to figure out you couldn't just be a profiler, partly my own fault. Then I realized that I would like the freedom and schedule that comes along with a life in academia. But anywho, when I'm alone, I have plenty of time to think about these things. Maybe too much.
This is my birth month. June 17 I will turn 28 years old. 28!!! By 28 I'm supposed to have traveled to at least 3 other continents and done half of my bucket list (which is actually written out and is being continually added to). I should have a partner and be thinking about having kids in the next 6 years or so.... (still not decided on that part yet). I'm coming to the realization that I have not actualized my goals! Should I just set new goals or continue to the goals already set? Well what the world to do about it?
So my crisis has come back upon me. As this first quarter of my life is coming to a close, I hope to rationalize and remedy this crisis.
That's enough randomness for tonight. Until next time....
1:35 AM
This is my first blog post. I know, I'm kind of late to hop onto the scene. But anyways... here we go!
I've titled this blog Random Randomness, PhD because that's exactly what this will be! I anticipate mostly non academic randomness about the life and times of me with a dilly daddle of sociology mixed in. I'm excited to get started on my first bit of randomness.
Until next time....
I've titled this blog Random Randomness, PhD because that's exactly what this will be! I anticipate mostly non academic randomness about the life and times of me with a dilly daddle of sociology mixed in. I'm excited to get started on my first bit of randomness.
Until next time....
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