Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Why I Love Tyler Perry

It's not because I'm gay. *LOL* What is it about Tyler Perry and gay folks? Quite a few of the guys I've dated over the years has made reference to his plays. It seems you're not truly gay unless you own a set of his DVD's.

It's not because of the horrible House of Payne. Is that painful show still being burned off by TBS? I've sworn off the network in fear of being subjected to the pain. Speaking of Payne. Allen Payne? Allen of Jason's Lyric (damn fine...*LOL*) fame. I know you share the same last name as the series. But why'd you do it? You're fine but not fine enough to make me watch that dreck.



Ok. See the movie poster above. That's the reason I'm loving Tyler Perry. Why Did I Get Married? is on point. I actually just came back from watching the movie. All by my lonesome. Literally. I was the only person in this particular theatre in a predominantely white burb on a Halloween Wednesday night. You know, trying to avoid the trick or treaters.

What can I say about it? It was so good. It was as I said before, on point. I have to say my favorite actress in the movie was Tasha Smith. Girlfriend's character is as ghetto as she wanna be. They definitely gave her the best lines. This movie made me hate Richard Jones's character as well.

Without giving away too much (in case anyone reading hasn't seen it), the premise of the movie involves looking into the lives of four couples as they go through the ups and downs of marriage. They all meet together annually for a couples retreat (almost reminds me of Norris's getaways with his peeps) and that's where the movie begins. Each couple has to face various issues that couples usually have to face. They do so with humor, friendship, and lots of prayer.

The great thing about this movie is also how it shows black men being sensitive to their partners without being emasculated. Ooooh. Imagine my joy upon seeing Lamman Rucker's name on the credits. If you remember, I first got my taste of Lamman when he played Mona's boyfriend on Half & Half. I was feeling my insides getting all warm and tingly when he first appeared on the show, as you may recall. The man even has chemistry with a table. So it was really cool seeing him in the movie. I knew the lady that got paired up with him wouldn't stand a chance resisting his charms.

If I were Oprah, I would say "Go see Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married?" Okay. I'll do one better.

I'll let Oprah tell you herself.





O: "Yes everyone. It is I. I command you all to go see Why Did I Get Married? It is beautiful and moving and I said so. Okaaaaay? Okay!"


There. She said it. My work here's done.

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Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Peeling Onions

Last weekend found me back in my hometown of Detroit. The reason for my visit was to give my old car to my parents. My Dad has been looking on and off for a replacement car but really didn't have much luck. I told him a few months back that if I get my new ride that I would give him my old one.

While in town, I was surprised when my younger sis Trina came by to visit. I was even more surprised that she was alone and not with her guy. The few times I have seen Trina in the past, she always seemed to be glued to the guy.

I have to admit I was really happy to see my parents and Trina having a pleasant conversation. The past has always been a bit tumultuous between them. So the fact that the chatting was civil put a smile on my face.

Before Trina came over, though, I had dinner with my folks. During the course of dinner, my Dad was talking about his finances and the nice lady that was helping him out. He then said he told the lady that he has a nice son available. Sigh. My Mom cracked me up a little when she said that the lady was probably already taken. Yeah the jigga's up with her...*LOL*. So you know that put me in that whole I need to tell my family about me mode.

Fast forward to later in the evening. Trina, Mom, and I are in the dining/living room area talking here and there while watching some show on NBC...maybe Journey Man. I forget. Eventually Trina makes noises that she better get going. Something comes over me and I tell Trina to hold up and I had something to show her in the back.

I pretty much had the same feelings I had before telling Sally last year that I was gay. As Trina and I walked towards the guest room I was staying at, I had that antsy feeling. I wasn't sure how I was going to tell Trina about me but I knew I had to let it out. I knew I had to say something when we reached the room since the only thing I had that I could show her was my old Mary J Blige CD (that I actually bought while in New York). That would've been so lame...*LOL*.

So after a bit of rambling, I confessed to my sister my liking of guys. She almost had the same reaction as Sally. She was happy I told her and stated that she had a feeling for a few years but didn't want to ask. She immediately hugged me. She then told me that I had to live my life the way I saw fit and I wasn't obligated to share my business with everybody.

I told her that I was seeing this guy...*LOL*. Actually I mentioned Rock's name and how we were almost hitting one year together. I then did something I've always wanted to do. I asked her if her guy was any good for you. In the past I always felt since I wasn't giving full disclosure about my situation, that I shouldn't be sweating her. She told me that he was good (you know aside from his baggage...my words...*LOL*) to her. That's all I needed to know. I know when it comes to relationships, shit happens. You can't control completely who you wind up falling for. One person's poison is another person's life source. It's nice to know now we can talk about each other's relationships.

I also shared pictures of Rock and my "nutty professor" BFF Eugene. I cracked up because I told her that Eugene is like the "nutty professor" and based on his picture, she agreed.

Honestly I felt like Trina and I became closer last weekend. Plus it's nice being able to share a small part of me with one member of my family. She told me that she didn't think Mom and Dad would be too upset, though she wondered culturally how they'd handle it, since my folks are from the islands originally. Ironically even though I personally think my Dad would be able to handle it better, I feel like I still would gravitate towards telling my Mom. She did open that door last year plus it crushes me each time my Dad has that false hope. I don't want to crush it. We'll see where things go.

I'm just happy things went well with Trina.

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Friday, October 12, 2007

Punk's Bitch

I caught a repeat of the premiere episode of I Love New York 2. I tell you, VH1 really is milking this franchise for all it's worth. I just can't turn away from this scripted hot mess. I was d definitely curious about this round's batch of men. Just like the last batch, there's a lot of unsavory types. But there's a couple gems in the bunch...at least looks wise. Hemingway here's a group picture of the entire cast courtesy of VH1's website.

I already have a few favorites in this batch. Again...it's just their looks. These guys are the ones that I circled. The guy in blue who was given the nickname Champion by Miss New York's demon Mama was eliminated in Episode 1. Hopefully he was able to escape the clutches of demon Mama since she clearly had her talons set on getting that hunk of a man.

Fortunately three of my favorites are still in the running. Buddha reminds me of Debo from Ice Cube's Friday movie series. He doesn't do much for me face wise but his body is out of sight. From the previews that were shown, I can look forward to swooning over him. Knock Out is a bit cuter, though again I'm loving his perfect teeth and biceps. Yum. But the guy I'm really drooling over this season is Punk. Believe it or not, he actually is a graduate of Harvard Law School and worked at a prestigious law firm before they fired him. He also resides (probably not currently) in the Chicago area. Again his face is give or take. But he by far has the best body out of all the men in this round. There's even a YouTube of him working out at the gym that I'm sure will get more hits as his notoriety on the show increases.

Thursday, October 11, 2007

Early Discord

Rock and I had another disagreement. Every morning before he goes to work he calls me to shoot the breeze. Usually he's leaving the house and making a few morning stops, including getting a daily Tribune and his Starbucks. I'm usually on the computer checking various message boards, paying bills online, or checking email. Occasionally I'll actually be getting ready to go to my job.

We've had this particular disagreement a few times. There are times when he'll say something and I may not hear it fully but instead of saying so, I'll go yeah or okay. Sometimes my brain takes a minute to catch up with what he's saying. I'll start to go huh but then quickly recover and give the response needed. Typically our conversation is a good give and take exchange, despite the multitasking.

Our morning conversation on Tuesday started out the typical way. But there were moments here and there where I couldn't hear him. I was focused on paying bills while he was darting in and out of the quickie mart. I did the 'yeah', 'ok', 'aiight' thing one too many times and he got pissed at me. He basically said that he won't call me in the mornings anymore since I can't give him 100% of my attention. I told him 'fine' and then we hung up.

I could feel my blood pressure rising during and after our exchange. I quickly sent him a text message saying something to the effect that it's okay for him to multi-task while talking but it's not for me. He immediately calls me back and says something that he's better at it and basically can hold a conversation and do whatever else. I told him that I've always multi-tasked in the past and didn't plan on changing. What I should've said was that people always mult-itask regardless of whether they're good at it or not. We went a bit back and forth before he tried to bring things back to civility by saying 'we shouldn't start our days mad at each other and wanted me to say something positive.' All I could muster was 'Have a nice day.'

Needless to say, he didn't call me this past morning. I thought about it but still went about starting my day. Actually I woke up a bit late and was in a rush to get out the door so I didn't have that much time to think about it.

I did call Eugene on my way to the job to ask for his two pennies. Eugene would give them to me even if I didn't ask. (*LOL*) What Eugene seemed to conclude was that Rock telling me he wasn't going to call anymore was his way of controlling the relationship. Everything about Eugene is control...*LOL*.

Eugene's comments made me think about Rock and my recent weekend trip to Madison, WI. I drove my brand new baby up to his place last Friday. Before I get deeper into the issue, the overall weekend was great. Rock even cooked me a nice dinner that he called my "early birthday present".

So Hemingway the plan was to make our way towards Madison around 9AM. We left around that time pretty much. So I'm driving my brand new baby. Off topic again, I'm so loving my keyless push button start and smart key that doesn't require an actual key to enter the vehicle. Okay. Back on topic...*LOL*. Even before I get on the expressway, I made a comment about wishing to have taken another way since the traffic light took forever. Rock made a remark that he would've said something but he didn't want to appear "controlling". Yes control and who has it is quite the hot button. But moments later I'm on the expressway and he's "kindly suggesting" that I be careful and not speed. After stopping for breakfast at Denny's, I decided it would probably be easier if I just let him drive. Control. Control. Control.

Rock made the decision pretty much that he wasn't going to call me in the mornings anymore. Technically though, that doesn't mean that I can't. But he's going to have to accept that I can't always give him 100% of my attention, especially in the morning. Unless he can give me 100% of his (no matter how good he thinks he is at multitasking), he can't expect 100% of mine.

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Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Brand New Baby

I finally went about and did it. I have a new car in my life. For years I've been driving the same Chevrolet model. I purchased the same model after my first one got totaled in 2000. My newer Cavalier has given me well over seven years of service. But since I've been driving the same car for over 11 years, I thought it was time for a change.

Anyone that knows me know that I've been talking about the change for a while now. But other things came up that delayed it. Second mortgage #1, new A/C and furnace, newer refi, slightly sucky credit. All these things stood in my way. But I finally took the plunge late September and purchased my new 2007 ride.

The color Pebble Beach wasn't my first choice, but I liked the way it's overly equipped Super Black cousin handled. Plus thanks to Car Bargains and Fighting Chance websites, I was able to get a pretty decent deal. I say decent because the dealer still managed to get a couple hundred dollars more out of me than I should've allowed. But you know that hindsight, foresight crap. But it was a better deal than I likely would've gotten on my own. I recommend those looking for a new car try the services out. Car bargains actually calls several dealers in the area scouring for the best deal. Fighting Chance gives you the lowdown on the car you want and statistics on how they've sold as well as invoice and retail prices on the standard model and its options. But enough free advertising...*LOL*.

Rock even drove me down to the dealership of my choice on his way to see his folks. So it was great having that extra support. It took almost four hours but I drove out of there with my brand new baby. Any guesses on the model? Here are a few pics.

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Wednesday, October 03, 2007

Whooping AgentOrange

Things are heating up once again on ABC's The View (aka The Shrews). Actually it doesn't seem like a day goes by without not hearing some blurb over what was said on the show. I'm still amazed that this daily trainwreck is still on the air. Then again Rosie's brief tenure on The Shrews raised ratings as folks couldn't wait to see who Rosie laid it into. Rosie and the dumb one (that would be the Survivor twit) even had heated words related to the Iraq war that eventually contributed to Rosie telling The Shrews to fuck off as she rode into the sunset.

Here's footage of that heated exchange.



I don't watch the show regularly but I get my daily fix on the antics of the show from my favorite TV board. Some posters on that board have resorted to calling the twit AgentOrange due to her orange-like skin. Visiting that board and reading the snark is almost as addicting as A4A.

But Hemingway today Whoopi (the new moderator of the Shrews) laid it into the Survivor twit on her generic views on abortion among other topics. Why they don't fire that twit is beyond my comprehension. Who am I kidding? It's all about ratings and the twit nonsensical rantings I'm sure they feel contribute to the ratings. I'm just glad Whoopi laid it on her. I was wondering when the next feud would come.

Here's an article on the exchange (until I can find a link on YouTube....*LOL*).

The jury's still out on the other new kid of the block Sherri Shepherd who some think of as the second coming of Star Jones. She herself has had a rocky start with some of her comments, including one where she thought the earth was flat. Some has argued she hasn't contributed much to the discussions other than corny one-liners. It'll be interesting to see if that changes.

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