Archive for the 'Family Portrait' Category

July 15, 2008 | Family Portrait, In the News, Life in General, Movie Queue, Must-See DVD, The 4-1-1 on Me, Weekend Wrap-Up

Saturday morning, I helped my parents out at an event for which they volunteered. The 2008 Backpack Giveaway Event was sponsored by ChildHelp, AZ Rod and Classic Car Club (of which my Dad is a member), M&I Bank and the City of Phoenix Parks and Rec Dept and gave away free backpacks to children of low-income families. They had free food, free water, local music entertainment and a mini-classic car show (my Dad is still looking to sell his ‘33 Ford if there are any SERIOUS takers out there). Several boxes of stuffed animals were donated by Kohl’s and me, my Mom and two other ladies helped pass them out. We were out there for 4 hrs and even though we were under the cover of tents, it was still hotter than Satan’s breath. I went straight home and took a shower.

Saturday night, the hubby and I attended a surprise birthday party for my brother-in-law. He had no idea about the party…until they pulled up to the house and saw all the cars. Duh! My sister said park whereever, but what she should’ve said was park around the corner. Or park in front of other houses. It was funny, truth be told. Eat and run. Typical black folk, y’know? Stay just long enough to exchange a few words (and hugs) with the birthday boy, eat (didn’t even wait for dessert!) and leave. LOL. Maybe it was the fact that my sister didn’t give an actual time they were bringing him home. She told people to come anytime after 3. Some people had probably gotten there right at 3 or 330 (like my BF) and they didn’t bring him around until 5 or 6-something! I shouldn’t have been surprised. My sister never was good at the time thing.

Must-See DVD pick:EASTERN PROMISES with Viggo Mortensen and Naomi Watts. We watched this Saturday night. If you have not seen this movie, rent it or watch it now playing on the movie channel (don’t remember which one). If you don’t like violent movies, then it’s not for you, but Viggo is fabulous in this movie. And he does a great Russian accent.

Sunday, the hubby and I had breakfast at our favorite place (the one we go to looks nothing like this, and is always crowded, but worth the wait) then went to see Hellboy II: The Golden Army. We liked it. It was directed by Guillermo Del Toro and the creatures he created in the Troll World were amazing. If you’ve ever seen Pan’s Labryinth, and then you see this movie, you’ll know what I mean. Oh, and that Prince Nuada dude? Very. Cool. Moves. Movies I’m looking forward to seeing:

THE MUMMY: TOMB OF THE DRAGON EMPEROR (have you noticed that Brendan Fraser’s hairdo never seems to change in these movies? )

THE DARK KNIGHT - I’ve heard Oscar nomination buzz for Heath’s role and apparently, around the time of his death, director Christopher Nolan wrote a eulogy to him in Newsweek. Did anyone catch that?)

MAMMA MIA - Love me some ABBA

SISTERHOOD OF THE TRAVELING PANTS 2 - seeing the first one made me add Greece to my Places to Travel list.

DEATH RACE - I have a serious love jones for Jason Statham. Sorry babe.

BABYLON A.D. - Oh, how I’ve missed seeing Vin Diesel in an action flick.

THE SPIRIT - If you liked Sin City, then you’ll like this movie, too, because it’s from the same guy, Frank Miller. And it’s the sequel to Sin City.

QUANTUM OF SOLACE -I’m still reserving judgement about Daniel Craig as the new James Bond, but this one looks to be as good as the previous one. I still have no idea what it’s about, but I know it picks up from where Casino Royale left off.

HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL 3 - yes, dammit, I’m a fan. Shut the hell up.

TWILIGHT - Stephenie Meyer is a hometown favorite–and she’s very nice in person, too. I haven’t read her series, but I’m interested in seeing this one.

So, what about you? How was your weekend? What movies are you looking forward to seeing this year?

Technorati Tags: 2008 Backpack Giveaway Event, ChildHelp, AZ Rod and Classic Car Club, M&I Bank, City of Phoenix Parks and Rec Dept, Kohl’s, EASTERN PROMISES, Viggo Mortensen, Naomi Watts, Hellboy II: The Golden Army, Guillermo Del Toro, Pan’s Labryinth, Prince Nuada, THE MUMMY: TOMB OF THE DRAGON EMPEROR, Brendan Fraser, THE DARK KNIGHT, Christopher Nolan, Newsweek, MAMMA MIA, ABBA, SISTERHOOD OF THE TRAVELING PANTS 2, Greece, DEATH RACE, Jason Statham, BABYLON A.D, Vin Diesel, THE SPIRIT, Sin City, Frank Miller, QUANTUM OF SOLACE, Daniel Craig, Casino Royale , HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL 3, TWILIGHT, Stephenie Meyer

June 10, 2008 | Family Portrait, Life in General

Today is my nephew’s birthday. He turns 15. He’s going to get a cheesy lounge birthday song, too. LOL. This me and E at his 8th grade graduation on the 28th:

Getting a normal smile out of him is like pulling teeth, but I love him to death. He was in chorus and they sang a couple of songs at the graduation. Much to my surprise, he had a little duet and before I could even wrap my mind around the fact that he was singing, he was done before I got a chance to take a picture. He didn’t even tell us he was singing!!

I didn’t cry at his graduation like I did his sister’s, but my sister and I will be pulling out the tissues once again when he graduates from h.s. in 4 years. Guaranteed. My sister did a great job raising him, too.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, E-BOY!

June 10, 2008 | Book One, Book Stuff, DA Series, Draven Atreides, Family Portrait, Life in General, Miss Snitch Mondays, Movie Queue, Revision Hell, The 4-1-1 on Me, Weekend Wrap-Up

My weekend was a little busy, but laid back. On Friday nite, the hubby and I went to 10 o’clock show at The Improv (a comedy club) to check out Craig Robinson. For those of you that have no idea who I’m talking about, he was the niteclub doorman in the movie Knocked Up and apparently was in 6 episodes of The Office. I never watched that show, but I heard it was funny. The thing is…he wasn’t. Funny, that is. It was like he used up all his material–if he had any to begin with–during his 8 o’clock show. Part of his act was playing the keyboard, which he did quite well. Then he played this “dating game” thing with a male member of the audience, bringing three single females up on stage. It was quite lame and I would’ve been highly disappointed if I’d paid to see him. But I didn’t. I’d won, like, 6 free tickets to this venue thru a raffle (thanks Mom and Dad). There are restrictions galore attached to these tickets, but we got lucky with this one–or unlucky, as the case may be. How sad is it that the guy who opened up for him was better than the main act? Sad, but true.

July 3-6, Michael Winslow (the dude from those Police Academy movies that makes those sound effects with his mouth) is coming and we’ve made plans with some other couples to check it out. I know I won’t be able to use my free tickets for this, but seeing this guy in action would be worth a paid ticket. I think seeing Michael would make up for Craig’s crappy performance.

Saturday night, me, the hubby, my sister, her husband, a co-worker and her husband and baby had dinner at King’s Fish House to celebrate my birthday. And then just four of us went to see Don’t Mess With The Zohan. I’ve never really been a big fan of Adam Sandler and I was once again reminded why after seeing this movie. It’s stupid funny, like Hot Shots! or those Loaded Weapon movies. Some parts were roll-your-eyes funny, some were cover-your-eyes-and-groan funny, and some were just downright funny. And he was in great shape, too. I think he had to be though because in some of those shots he was shirtless. And nude. But I think I like him in more comedy-drama roles like The Wedding Singer or Spanglish.

Sunday, I spent the majority of my time at my parents house. We’re planning our family reunion and had to nix the first venue due to outraegeous food prices: $60/pp for breakfast and $100/pp for dinner!! If your response is “Holy shit“, that was ours, too. We spent our time narrowing down our other options before finally choosing Grace Inn. Now we can concentrate on everything else.

Revision Hell Update: I don’t know why I keep calling it Revision Hell. I’m done with the writing part, as you know, but I’m still typing it up. You’ll be happy to know that I’m almost done. Just a couple more chapters. Hope you all are enjoying Chapter One so far. If you love it, and want to get a copy hot off the press next year, be sure to sign up for the Pre-Order Notification List at the end of each post.

All in all, it was a great birthday week/weekend. The hubby got me a $25 GC to Barnes and Noble, a $15 Starbucks GC, and slice of Cream Cheese Pie from Marie Callender’s. Isn’t he just faboo? I love their pie! And I got a $25 AMC GC from the parental unit. Normally, they give me money and I was hoping to get that this time. But I can use it this weekend when the hubby and I go see The Incredible Hulk.

So, how was your weekend?

Technorati Tags: The Improv, Craig Robinson, Knocked Up, The Office, Michael Winslow, Police Academy, King’s Fish House, Don’t Mess With The Zohan, Adam Sandler, Hot Shots, Loaded Weapon , The Wedding Singer, Spanglish., Grace Inn, Barnes and Noble, Starbucks, Cream Cheese Pie, Marie Callender’s, The Incredible Hulk

June 6, 2008 | DA Series, Family Portrait, Life in General

CLICK ON ALL PICTURES FOR ENLARGED VIEW

So you know that yesterday was my birthday, but it was also my niece’s graduation. It was an emotional but happy time.

Two months after I graduated from high school…

This is MY h.s. graduation, June 1, 1989: me, my sister, my Mom.

my niece, TK, was born. We hoped and prayed her eyes would stay blue, but they ended up becoming a light green (she gets it from her father’s side):

She’s not mixed, nor is her father white. As you can see, my mother (she’s half Indian) is light skinned and TK’s father–and his side of the family, which she favors–are light skinned as well.

I didn’t hold her a lot when she was a baby. I was afraid I would drop her. But as she grew up, I enjoyed playing with her, babysitting her, watching her grow and knowing she was going to be beautiful.

Her artistic talent showed up at an early age, evident in the way she liked to draw and color. I took credit for that, of course. LOL. She’s a reader, too, as are all the women in my family. Voraciously so.

As TK got older and started high school, I got to see more of her personality develop: smart, witty, funny, creative, opinionated, strong sense of self. And did I mention pretty?

Pretty beautiful, if you ask me. But don’t, because I’m biased.

She discovered drama, has grown to love it, wants to pursue a career. And who are we to stand in her way. We’re her family, her cheering section, her greatest supporters. We, who attended all her performances from kindergarten to now. We think she’ll do just great.

As all 48 students stood on the stage at the Orpheum Theater (Metropolitan Arts Institute is a small charter school), and we in the audience stood and clapped, and whooped and hollered, I turned to my sister and said “You did a great job.”

And then we pulled out tissues and started to cry. LOL.

TK is the inspiration behind the DA series. She is Draven in almost every characteristic and personality trait. It seems fitting that her life started the year I graduated from high school and now she’s doing the same on an important day for me. I am so proud of her I could bust a gut.

I think the greatest birthday present I’ve ever received–in my entire life–was watching her graduate.

For TK, may your dreams be big and your life fantabulous.

Technorati Tags: Orpheum Theater, Metropolitan Arts Institute

June 5, 2008 | Family Portrait, Life in General, The 4-1-1 on Me

I’m turning 21 again today. No really. Really. I’m serious. I worked a half day and will spend the remaining quiet time I have until the hubby gets home typing up revisions. My niece is graduating from high school tonight, so there will be no celebratory dinner this evening. I decided to hold off until Saturday night. You’ll hear all about it come next week during the Weekend Wrap-Up.

Birthday wishes appreciated.

Bithday gifts welcome (I would never turn down a Barnes and Noble GC). I’m just sayin’.