2017 - 1957 = 60

I was talking to an acquaintance who is "so tired of reading and talking about racism on Facebook."

I told her that I suffered from racial fatigue too, but, unlike her, I can't stop making sure I remain focused on seeing something and saying something when something needs to be said. She went on to say she doubts that I deal with any racism and I let her know that if any Black person is still dealing with racism...then I'm still dealing with it. I might have more microaggressions that just a look or a quick snap could deal with...but it is still there.

See...just because she can identify with me because we have so many things in common, she thinks I'm "not like the other Blacks" who encounter racist crap. She didn't say THAT...but that's essentially what she said. I have no doubt that should something racist ever happen to me, she'd be on the forefront demanding justice, but she might not consider it worth her time to demand the same justice for a poor Black person she doesn't have as much in common with whom she has never met.

I don't have that luxury to not care or not WANT to care.

Just this morning my husband and I were talking about how the conviction and level of hate among some of these people we've seen in pictures is the same level of conviction and hate seen in the pictures from 1957 surrounding the Little Rock Nine.

That was just 60 years ago. Your parents and grandparents are older than 60 years old.  That's not that long ago.

Keep talking.

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Kroehler MCM Piece: I 100% love learning something new!

The amount of damage on this piece is ridiculous.  I tried very, very hard to figure out a way to not paint this but the water damage done to it is going to make that impossible.  So I plan to do a version of this with paint and stain trying to keep as much of the details as possible.

The bottom two drawers have water damage that can only be painted.  The top drawer, however, I decided to replace the veneer for a fresh stain since it wasn't too bad.

I removed the old veneer.

Then I cut new veneer and glued it on.

I cannot wait to finish this piece since I'm going to have some fun with it.  Now that I know how to do this...I think I'm going to take this refinishing hobby to whole new levels!

Kent Coffey Perspecta Ongoing Refinishing Project

The very first time I saw a Kent Coffey Perspecta piece, I was in mid-century modern heaven on Pinterest flipping through pictures.  Of all the different furniture periods and styles, I've come to love these pieces the most.  They aren't just functional pieces of furniture...they are art just as surely as if someone intended to hang them in a museum for us to gather around and admire in awe. Okay...that was flowerly as hell...but I'm totally telling you the truth of how I feel about MCM pieces.  And I've begun hoarding them in my garage and studying books, blogs, YouTube videos, etc. about how to refinish them as close to the original state as possible.  See...these pieces are now over 60 years old, so they have been through a lot.  But, in yet another testament to how amazingly well-made they are...they are heavy and solid still...after 60 plus years. If you find one of these in top condition like in the picture above, you're looking at a price tag of about $1600 or so.  I wasn't trying to pay that much for one, but I kept my eyes open prepared to pay a few hundred for one in need of some work.  

And then, one day it happened that I stumbled across one while doing one of my regular runs to find a new project. 

I flipped that blanket up and stumbled backward.  I dug this out from under stuff and asked for a price.  I honestly didn't care what the price was, however...I was getting it.  And it was going to be mine, mine, mine until I die and my heirs get rid of my stuff. 

By myself, I hoisted that sucker up on the back of my truck and brought it home.  When Robby helped me unload it he asked who helped me load it on the truck and I told him, nobody.  All I had was a dolly and a blanket.  I laid the blanket in the truck halfway and then flipped the piece onto the dolly.  I rolled it to the back of the truck, leaned it against the blanket and pushed it using the blanket to slide easier allowing the dolly to fall and take out my shin.  LOL!  By the time I made it home I was hot, dirty and sore with fresh knicks on my left shin but, after an Aleve, I was happier than a televangelist counting up pledges for the week.

Here is my baby once we got her off the truck:

And here is more of the damage that needs to be dealt with.

So you see...I have my work cut out with this piece since there is no way in hell I'm putting paint on her.  I want her to look just like the picture up top and I am determined to figure it out.  I want to use this in the family room as a television stand so I can look at her every night.  I can't WAIT to be finished.  I'm reading and bookmarking stuff daily and last night I bought some products a master refinisher used in a series of videos I've been watching.  My research is almost complete and I think I'll be ready in a week or so to start working on it.

Wish me luck.  I'll keep yall posted with my progress.  Just be patient with me because I'm going to take my time so I don't mess it up.  I want it to be PERFECT!

I think I'm going to name her after one of my long gone Elders, my great-Aunt Eola.  Aunt Eola was an educator her entire life and carried herself regally at all times.  Even if you popped by her home early in the morning and she was still in her robe with her hair in pin curls.  She was a tiny, Creole woman with glasses and gray hair.  Dainty and yet strong.  I remember she came to our home once and my father hit my mother.  My Aunt Eola swung on him and left all of us in COMPLETE AND TOTAL SHOCK.  She might have been 4ft. 9inches tall and she just JUMPED HIS AZZ. Strong, sturdy and beautiful. 

Yup...Eola it is!  Ms. Eola.  

Randoms of a Creole Princess

"A racist scrotum dipped in Cheeto dust." ~ Patton Oswald

Guess who he was talking about?

I had a laundry emergency today.  Spilled something that stains on our white duvet cover.  Immediately put it in the washer on the Powerwash cycle.  

No dice.

Washed it again.

No dice.

Went to the store and bought the Shout gel with the brush on top and some Oxy stuff.  Put the Oxy stuff in the washer and then soaked the duvet cover in hot water for 30 minutes, drained it and then washed it.

SUCCESS!!!!!!!!!

I felt like I cured a disease or something.

Went to see "Marshall" today.  Good movie.  Totally wish it would be turned into a television series like "Matlock" so we could watch Mr. Thurgood Marshall fight racial injustice.

I broke down and got my gray hair colored.  I like it.  It's a Wella dark brown rinse and I so don't want to wash my hair and have some of it wash away.  *sigh*

The joy I got from these $9.99 earrings I bought at Ross is ridiculous!  LOVE THEM!

I got my oil changed today and showed everyone in the waiting area how to get to the $10 off coupon using their phones.

Why don't more people do this automatically???????

I think I want to get some kinky twists done next.  dearlesley currently has some and I was like...IMMA GET ME SOME!

I feel MUCH better since I returned to the doctor on Monday.  I'm on antibiotics, Allegra DM and some nose spray thing.  I'm so hopped up on foreign matter I see television snow when I turn my head too quickly.

I have a lot of friends who have had sick parents lately and it's beginning to scare me.   

I am one degree separated from a 48-year-old person who dropped dead yesterday.

That shit is sobering.

Speaking of sober...

The wine store I buy wine from locally is going out of business.  Seems Costco told the state that they aren't coming here unless they can sell beer, wine and liquor so they caved to allow grocery stores to sell beer, wine and liquor.  The wine store is near a Walmart so they cut their losses before their losses cut them.

All I want to know is when is Costco coming.

I have to set an alarm on my phone to remember to take my medicine.  

And an alarm for anything else I need to do that is time sensitive.

I have a love/hate relationship with that.

I am addicted to the Mediterranian flavored Terra chips.  YALL!

The place I buy flowers weekly went up on their prices by $2 per package of flowers.

Oh.

I haven't bought flowers there since.  That was too large of a leap for me.  Fifty cents?  Sure.  From $3.00 to $5.00?  No.  Ain't happening.  My $12 worth for the week now costing me $20?  Ain't happening.

Marie Laveau got sick last night around 3:30am and threw up.  If you're a doggie guardian,  you live in fear of the doggie vomit sound while you're sleeping.  Once we'd made sure she was okay, cleaned up and taken her down for water, I couldn't go back to sleep so I started re-reading my book.  

Yes...you read that correctly.  I re-read my own book that I wrote hoping it would put me to sleep quicker since I already know what was going to happen.  An hour later...I was still reading thinking...DAMMIT GOLDEN, SHIT! 

Have you read it yet?  It's pretty good if you haven't:  Compound 

Plenty of people have read it but only 21 have written a review.  *sigh*  I really wish people would write reviews so it could move up the ranks.

What's going on random with you?

Chest Congestion Combo

I've been sick for almost 3 weeks now and Robby has been sick for 2.  It started, for me, with a cold and then turned into a sinus infection.  Robby then caught the cold and now, we don't know what he has.  We are congested, have intermittent headaches and are tired as all get out.  At night we cough constantly unless we take some nighttime meds and, if we do take the meds...we're tired all the next day from the dang meds.  

The nasal drip is THE.WORST.

And the cough seems to be getting worse instead of better even though we are taking real medicine from the real doctor.

I said all that to say...

me.no.feel.good.

Book Club Discussion of "Compound"

I attended a book club discussion of my book, "Compound" today and to say it went well is an understatement indeed.  I was shocked at how deep the conversation became and how many different directions it took in parallel with real life.  It was so interesting to find out how relatable the characters were to so many people and how many of the issues presented in the book were issues they'd heard of before and how they felt it all came together to tell a compelling story. Reading a review is one thing, but sitting with readers is a completely amazing experience.  I laughed and smiled a lot and, at one point, wondered how it was that we all felt the same way about certain things.        

I am totally looking forward to the next one as the ladies helped me come up with even more discussion questions.

If you've read my book, I'd appreciate it if you were to review it on Amazon.  Reviews are extremely important to independent authors. Compound 

If you are in a book club and you'd like to get the discussion questions, please let me know and I'll send them to you.  If you're in an area I can get to easily...I'll even visit during your discussion.  Makes for really interesting dialogue.

Work. Sex. Work. Sex.

Did you hear about the one where Weinstein finished off in a plant?  Dude...A PLANT.  

There was a lot of sick ish in these stories.

I've always had a good relationship with men.  I never really thought about it to figure out why...I just did. I grew up with 3 brothers and I was/am a tomboy so I've never had a problem communicating with them.

I've always had male friends and I mean friends for real and not a situation where someone was waiting on a romantic overture from the other.   Because of this, I've always been aware of "dude" language and, more importantly, "dude" body language.

I've never had a problem with being sexually harassed at work even though I've been tested.  

There was the time when a dude, much higher up the food chain, said he'd never been with a Black woman before but that he'd like to.  I looked him in the eye and said, "Well good luck with that."  We never spoke of it again.  There was the time when a colleague came a little too close to me in a copy room when he had a lot of room to move around.  He had a stupid grin on his face and I said, "Keep playing, here?" as only a Black woman with a crazy daddy could.

Cuz we all know that is a question that's not really a question.  It's more of a warning.

There was the time a client asked me if I wanted to grab a nightcap with him and I pretended I didn't hear him and there was the time the big boss told me to come up to his hotel room, on a work trip, with a stack of files and I gave them to the concierge to deliver them.  Just didn't feel right, you know?  Room, bed, man, woman...I'm good down here.

I've been around guys at work where they said some pretty inappropriate stuff but I never saw it as a big deal since I knew that guys were pigs and well...I can hold my own in a dozens conversation and I also know how to completely and unequivocally shut shit down.

All of this sexual harassment talk in the news has put the conversation on the highest volume possible and we can't do anything but listen and read.  And man...some of the stuff sounds super crazy.  Makes you wonder, did Weinstein start off by trying to sidle up and touch a co-worker in the copy room?  Did he just keep doing small things like that until he was in charge and able to press harder?  Or, did he not come in contact with someone who said to him, "Keep playing, here?" so he thought it was perfectly fine to get bolder and bolder?  Makes you wonder if I should have considered those encounters sexual harassment and reported them. 

Hmmmmmmm...

What if I was 23 and hadn't had a lot of male friends so I was able to peep game and my boss asked me if I wanted a massage?  Would I have let him massage my shoulders? My very powerful boss who could pave the way for me to do anything I wanted to do?  What if I let him and then he was at second base?  What next?  

And how would it feel to believe you had no options other than to deal with whatever dude dealt you?

What do YOU consider sexual harassment and have you ever encountered some version of it and not reported it?  If you shut it down...does it mean it didn't happen?  Are we enabling men's bad behavior and emboldening them by not taking the proper channels to report them?

That Gumbo Life Shop

I hung a headboard on a wall today.  

Why, you ask?

I'm not taking any questions.  Just go with it.  It works.

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Lazy People

I don't like lazy people.  I don't UNDERSTAND lazy people.  Sitting on your azz being useless. Taking up space.  BREATHING in and out.  Witcha lazy azz.

Let's not get this confused with BEING lazy.  See...I can choose to be lazy tomorrow because I know I have been busy getting stuff done.  So I can choose to be a bit lazy.

My house is clean but if something fell over and made a big mess...I'd get up and clean it up.  I wouldn't sit there and look at it.  I wouldn't step over it all day.  I wouldn't leave it there for days on end.

Cuz that's lazy.

Say you're young and single and in a job where there is no advancement potential and you are barely making a living wage.  You're single.  No kids.  At the end of paying your bills you have no money left.  You have nothing but time on your sofa watching television until it's time to go to work the next day.

You're lazy.

If you're not thinking of ways you can increase the money you are bringing in, you're lazy.  If you're not trying to figure out a side hustle...you're lazy.  If you're not signing up for some more schooling to increase your job pool...you're lazy.  

If you are settling for what life hands you...you're lazy.

If your house is nasty...you're lazy.

If the outside of your house looks a mess...you're lazy.

If your car's interior is disgusting...you're lazy.

If you have lightbulbs in your home but you have a lightbulb out in a lamp in a room you frequently use...you're lazy.

If you handle your business and have a comfortable life because you work hard and today you want to put up your feet and do nothing all day?  You're BEING lazy.

Be lazy.

If you're lazy and you know it...clap your hands.

Mahogany Ornate Corner Hutch - Refinished

When I first saw this piece, the legs were busted off it and it was in a corner mad and uncomfortable.  

I love anything with curves and this one had 'em big time.  I drug it home, cleaned it up, repaired it, painted it and now I'm in true love with it.  I left the back of it in the original state so someone can tell it's mahogany and note how old and well-made it is.  

Females

STOP CALLING WOMEN FEMALES!  FOOLS!

Door Hall Tree DIY

This started with a solid wood door I bought for $5.  I put a shelf on it and built a storage box on the bottom.  Then I put a cushioned lid on the top of the storage box, painted it, added some hooks and a mirror.

Now? It's one of my favorite things.  

Black Knees and Elbows...NO!

When I'm refinishing furniture, I kneel and lean a lot.  You have to get in there deep if you're as thorough as I am since I refinish inside and outside for a completely clean slate.

I rounded the corner and saw my knees in a mirror and was like...um...that's not cute and was mad.about.it!

And yall know I have knee pads, right?  Right.

So I went old school on them and started using the loofahs I use on my face on my knees and elbows whenever I shaved my legs and armpits.  

Face Loofahs

I just gently rubbed them and probably within a month...I was back to normal.  There is no reason for your knees and elbows to be black as this is something so easy to fix.  And don't go crazy either or you're going to scratch yourself up and cause even more of a mess.  Just rub gently and it will work.  If you have a really bad problem, use lemons too.  That's what an Elder told me and well...she's normally right and has perfect skin.

I love those face loofahs for weekly exfoliating my face too.  Just put your face wash on and GENTLY rub your face with a wet one.  Make sure you rinse the disc well and let it dry all the way so it doesn't start growing fungus.

Marriage...What's it worth to you?

I hear a lot about unhappily married people.  And what I don't hear, I can read between the lines and make an educated guess about even though I know I'll never know for sure if my guess was correct or not.

A friend posted that meme on Facebook and I'm hoping the woman pictured told him no because there is nothing joyous in her face about this proposal at all.  This is a sign of even more misery to come.  See...being proposed to should bring about some happiness right?  And it looks like she is seriously contemplating some ish he did recently that makes her second guess her love for him and vice versa.

This reminds me of that video by Tyrese with Taraji in it where he did all kinds of miscreant nonsense he is apologizing to her for doing and only when she was packed up to leave him with their SCHOOL AGE child, did he fall to his knee and propose in a last ditch effort to keep her.  Proposing shouldn't be a last ditch effort.  It should be what you've been building towards as a couple.  It should have been clearly stated that both of you are interested in being married one day.  And both of you should have been acting like that's what you were working towards by respecting the relationship and each other.

If dude has ever, at any time, told you that he's not getting married, don't expect him to pop the question and make you officially his partner in life.  Don't think, for an instant that he will change no matter how much yall have been through.  He has already told you where he stands on marriage so if you want to get married...he might not be the one.

Now, of course, we've all heard of the couple where the man was adamant that he wasn't getting married but she gave him an ultimatum and he broke down and did it.  To that I say...um...really?  You're good with having to DEMAND he do what a man should WANT to do?  With the natural progression of being a mature adult?  Of being the man of your household?  

I know you probably imagine a wonderful loving life as a wife and his missing rib but do you really think that a man who doesn't respect the institution of marriage is going to change if you force him to marry you?

The look on old girl's face is saying a whole lot of how she feels in her heart.  She's not happy.  She's been hurt.  She doesn't want to embarrass him and she wishes it were the real, genuine deal she's dreamed about...but she knows she won't have the marriage she wants with this guy.

But she will probably say yes and be in a marriage in name only as the spirit of the union will be lost in his continued behavior.  The kind of man who never grows up and is simply a pubescent child in a man's body with all the nonsense that comes along with that.

Take your time, don't put up with any bullshit because once you do...the bullshit will keep coming since there were no severe repercussions the last time you were presented with the bullshit. 

You'd be much happier on your own living in peace of your own making.  I know lots of women who are happy, well traveled and loving life.  Life is the longest thing you'll do.  Don't let a fool make it miserable.

59

We always share the memes to pray for _________.

We always hold our breath in anticipation of what the murderer looked like.

We always speculate why the murderer did what he did.

We always think it was a terrorist attack until we see what the murderer looked like and, if it wasn't a radical Muslim...we use other descriptors.

We never seem to understand that anyone inflicting terror by mass murder is a terrorist.

We never understand that homegrown terrorism is real.

We always hold private and public vigils.

We always try to stay away from the details not wanting to put a face to the poor people murdered.

We always blame failed security.

We always look for accomplices.

We always commiserate with strangers we encounter throughout the day.

We are always grateful it wasn't our loved one murdered down.

We always hug our loved ones tighter.

We are always astonished at the lack of respect for human life.

We are always shocked at how easy it was.

We always ask the family why.

We always become over saturated with the news reports regarding.

We always worry about the wrong shit.

WE NEVER DO ANYTHING ABOUT GUN CONTROL.

And we probably never will.

Until next time...pray for the victims.  

Until next time...don't let terrorists win.  I know it's hard to do when the terrorists are already within our borders.  When the terrorists are American.

Call it what it is.