You Think You Know Someone

I used to think I knew Tupac Shakur ... and honestly I didn't like what I saw. I detested what I saw! okay, detest is a really strong word. But the over-the-top courtroom bravado; volatile antics; a general "don't care" attitude and overall disdain for all things socially acceptable - all of it just drove me ccccrazy!

It wasn't until he was gone that I came to realize that maybe I didn't know him at all - as if he'd lived right next door or something. I stumbled upon his lesser known words and learned that maybe, in another universe, Tupac Shakur could have been me.

That mini tutorial helped sound down the age old lesson - book, not cover, is where the story is told. We all live this life trying to get into to or out of a mold. When you're quick to judge a person, if you should be so bold; just remember sometimes what you see if when his - or your - heart's turned cold.


When Ur Heart Turns Cold - by Tupac Shakur

When your heart turns cold
it causes your soul 2 freeze
It spreads throughout your spirit
like a ruthless feeling disease
The walls that once were down
now stand firm and tall
Safe from hate/love, pain/joy
until u feel nothing at all
When ure heart turns cold
a baby's cry means nothing
A dead corpse is trivial
Mothers neglecting children is daily
Loneliness becomes your routine friend
Death seems like tranquility
Sleeping is never pleasant
if u even sleep at all
u forgot ideals and turn off the reason
2 make sure the product gets sold
You don't understand how I behave
Just wait till your heart turns Cold!
courtesy of seadeeper.com

Quite a pair

Feeling a little virtual shopping this morning ... today's thought: pairs ...

like these super cute earrings I stumbled upon on Shopbop ... no girl is ever too mature, too professional, too anything for a couple of cute bows ... that's my story and I'm sticking to it ...

or these cufflinks from my fav cufflink stop, cuffart.com -- I.D. any two favorite stops on earth ... I'm talking within 20 meters ... and they'll stamp the longitude and latitude vintage style

not much gets cuter than little baby shoes ... check out this pair by Bobux. These are made by New Zealand moms in their homes ...

I lost one of my weight-lifting gloves ... want to find a cute yet sensible ;) pair to replace them. I wonder if I can lift with these knock-outs ... cause I'm not going to wear them for anything else ... really cute though ... you have to go to Guess to see them up close ..

Speaking of Guess and pairs ... I learned something new today ... Guys name their shoes just like we do!!:


The Brent...



The Benson...

The Baracuda...



The Jerry...

   that's funny to me :)

A few days back I just did NOT want to get out of bed. I don't know if it was the way I'd successfully contorted myself into some simbilence of comfort or the fact that I'd reached the perfect in-cover/out-of-cover termperature ratio. Whatever it was, it pressed me forward in my incoherent ponder of ways to stage an early morning sit-in. I was not to be moved! Did I not deserve a good morning's sleep?! Had humanity no mercy?! I rarely reach rapid eye movement! Does that not count for somethinng!?! I demand a Mental Health Day!  Heeeeelp!!!... Mommy!

Alas my valiant fight was for naught. Work-ethic proved the victor. I arose from my protest only to find the sky blanketed as far as my eyes could see. It's no wonder I wanted to stay in bed.

The definition of love and love lost

Love is not a fallacy, a false positive, an illusion of security.
Love is the blood sweat and tears of life.
The common denominator of our existence - the x-factor – that certain je ne sais quoi that moves, motivates and mesmerizes.
Memories from our mothers to our men.
You see, love doesn’t ever fail. If anything, we fail love.

We fail it in our callousness. We fail it in our nonchalance.
We fail it with our prejudice. You know, the legitimate daughter of our ignorance.
With our "you said", "you meant", "you lied" – our time - not spent.
We fail it with our "that time when I was used and abused and misused – by someone else. Someone else! …
"You know, that thing you weren’t there for but don’t worry you’re gonna pay for?"
We strip love of its dignity. We interrogate it. We beat it! and kick it! and leave it to die in a ditch and then like a schizophrenic drunk with delusion – we wonder: "where did it go?, why did it leave??, when will it be back???". – no 

no, love never fails.

If anything ... we fail love.

Glitter in the Air

sometimes, i suppose, life is a series of moments strung together on golden threads 

of smiles, sighs, aspirations and memories of days gone by ...

Mmm mmm good

Okay so I must be thirty-something for sure becuase my idea of a Friday night is working out then coming home to mix up random alcoholic beveragees while cooking dinner for the bestie and being excited about watching Double Jeopardy later.  Those old movie carosels in the "middle-of-the-aisle-close-to-the-frozen-food" section are surely for me. I buy more movies there than anywhere else but I promise you that's not saying much. I'm also the last living member of Blockbuster.  Yes, you're thinking right. I actually park the car, get out and walk into a store to rent a movie. Crazy talk, right? I get that. But you must admit there are worse things in life. [Pan back to the carosel] ... Any who, I'm at least a modern 30-something because I've also found time to surf the net [people still say "surf the net", right?] while cooking ... Publix provided the salmon and crab pinwheels - AND THE COOKING INSTRUCTIONS! - YAH!!! I'm a sucker for the cooking instructions with purchase.  I whipped up some red mashed potatoes [boiled salted potatoes + pepper+ butter + a few dollops o' daisy = yumm] ... and I my fav collard greens recipe from G Garvin. DVR this cooking cutie on TV One  Monday through Thursday at 11:30am:

Collard Greens with Smoked Turkey Bacon

Episode 3 : Its healthy soul: pan seared turkey chops, collard greens, sweet potato and apple casserole. G. shows us how to cut the fat without sacrificing the flavor.

 

Ingredients

2 pounds collard greens
2 cups chicken stock
½ cup white wine
1 cup water
1 large onion sliced
4-6 chopped cloves garlic
3 small chopped shallots
½ pound smoked turkey bacon chopped*
¼ cup olive oil
salt
pepper

 

Procedure

1. Heat large pan and add olive oil.
2. Sauté turkey bacon, onions, garlic and shallots in pan. Stir Occasionally.
3. Separate and rinse collard green leaves under water.
4. Roll 2-3 leaves together. Slice into thin strips.
5. Add collard greens to sautéed ingredients in pan.
6. Pour in white wine, chicken stock and water.
7. Cover pan and let cook for 30 minutes on medium heat.
8. Stir every few minutes to distribute the smoked meat taste evenly.
9. Taste to confirm the tenderness you prefer.
10. Add salt and pepper to taste. 

*OKAY OKAY - you pulled it out of me!! I use regular ole Oscar Myer yummy bacon ... I'm probably lazier that I imagine when I say "I dont ever seeee turkey bacon!" Ha! I don't ever look!

No matter your idea of fun - have a great weekend!!