Highlights of the Decade

WTH!!!! Not only is New Year's upon us but the end of the decade is here. WOW!!! I guess I hadn't quite realized that. The last turn of the decade found me on the sofa at my Granny's house fearing Y2K instead of out somewhere partying like it was 1999! LOL! Let's see back then I had just completed my first few months as assistant sports information director at Purdue. I didn't know for sure what I wanted to do with my life but I didn't think Indiana was the place I'd spend my life (maybe being stuck in the snow one too many times confirmed that). Over the last 10 years I've grown a ton, experienced a lot, racked up a lot of debt and had a ball. So today I want to take a look back at the decade. Here are the things that stand out the most for me as I think back ...

A look back at 2000-2009

2000 - I moved to Indiana in August of 1999 to work at Purdue and only knew my roommate who was my line sister from college (who just so happened to have gotten accepted to grad school there). In 2000, I stepped out of my comfort zone and attempted to make friends. It was a great decision. My strongest connection was to one of my best friends Karla. She's awesome - since she was in grad school as well as my roommate, through the two of them I began to connect with their friends (Josey and Lorna soon followed and the four of us became The Hot Girls - literally got a shot named after us! LOL!). Then there's Kendra (remember her She Makes Me Wanna?). Hanging w/K and her crew (her now hubby Pleas, BFFs Brandon, Tricey and Kristen) made me feel like I was experiencing undergrad all over again. Then I had awesome co-workers. So the highlight of '00 was really connecting with the folk in my new community.More...

2001 - September 11. The biggest change I saw in myself as a result was no longer being comfortable. It created an urgency inside of me. It also made me really REALLY want to be in love. When I'd hear the calls from the plane it made me feel so lonely. If I had been in that position,who would I have called?

2002 - Still unsettled from 9-11 I figured I'd make a move. I applied to law schools and was accepted to Thurgood Marshall in Houston. I really wanted to go to IU but I was wait listed. While waiting I moved to Chicago and stayed with my cousin. One night I went out with my "boo" who worked in a suburb near by. We drank too much and for some reason I let him drive. We ended up crashed into a light pole. That sobered me up and I happily went to school in Houston.

2003 - I was convinced my future was in entertainment so I vowed to be as active as I could wherever I lived en route to L.A. (I'd always wanted to live in 'Cali so my goal was to be as prepped as I possibly could be.) I got an intern at Music World Entertainment, home of Ms. Beyonce Knowles! It was a great experience but the fact I got "fired" because I said I knew someone that used to work there let me know this business will go on with or w/o you! That experience spurred me to learn as much as I could about the inside biz of Hollywood. I read every book written on the subject and devised a plan. I developed CHUTZPAH!

2004 - 10 years following my high school graduation and I can't remember the highlight of that year ...

2005 -
I moved to L.A.! I was living my dream. After crashing at Mistie's for a month or so, I got my first place in Koreatown (not quite my dream but it was perfect!). I LIVED in L.A. I bartended until September when my friend Brandi introduced me to Vincent Cirrincione ... and the rest is history! I was traveling like crazy in '05- fav spot Miami. I got to go to the VMAs there in Aug of that year. My flight was the last one let into the city b/c of Hurricane Katrina. My friends and I KICKED it and made jokes that we partied through a hurricane. But on Monday when I woke up back in L.A. it was horrific to see the devastation. CRAZY!

2006 -
The big 3.0.!
In celebration a host of my friends and I went back to Miami! I was surrounded by laughs and love! Later in December my friend Kendra took me and Brandon to London to see Jay-Z!!! CRAZY! (I think it was the highlight of the decade for me!)

2007 - I got my first movie credit!!! YAY! I started working for my former boss David at Brillstein during July of 2007. He was producing FIRST SUNDAY and my first day of work was the first day of shooting. I assisted him throughout filming but didn't think about credits, I was just doing my job. Well the next January I invited my little cousin Ashley as my plus one. At the end when everyone is sitting there during the credits my name popped up on the screen as assistant to the producer!!

2008 - My 22 year old cousin lost her 3 1/2 month battle with cancer. This made me really evaluate what was going on in my life. I was not happy and moving closer to my Granny was the objective. However, when I lost my job that Oct., I was not sure New Orleans was the place for me. Luckily I came anyway.

2009 - My first year in da N.O. (ya heard me!). So many memories but I guess the highlight was working my first physical production job

What are some of your personal highlights of the decade?

Avatar 3D

I saw Avatar on Sunday and it was so awesome I must must must blog about it. This one has many spoilers so if you haven't seen it, don't click more!!!

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This movie is AMAZING! I've heard some say the story was basic and predictable and at some points it is - you know the guy and girl are going to end up together you just don't know how. While I find the story to be well written - I mean its a James Cameron love story of course it is (remember Titanic!) - the visuals make it come alive. (The 3D is highly necessary for this one!) I felt like I was out of space. It also contained so many subliminal messages - well let me say I got some cool messages from it!
The first and biggest message was that when our national resources get low, we will go to other places and wage war to get what we need. In this film, the bounds of Earth weren't enough to stop us. MESSAGE! Going to fight a war on someone else's territory doesn't always work! But going to someone else's territory and really learning/understanding their culture and assimilating to it does.
Group prayer can really change things. In the movie the people of Pandora lived life by going with the flow of life. When things got really REALLY bad the whole village sat down and began to meditate in a sacred place. Hmmm, what would happen if everyone in America sat down with one common thought and began to meditate on it? (NOTE: This kind of happens now except we tend to focus on things like recession, war, lack...)
When you are really REALLY in love, you SEE the person for who they really heart at the core of their being. When Neytiri finally saw Sam as the mere human he was it didn't matter - she still saw HIM. The real us lies at our core and when it love (mutual, reciprocated love) that reality clearly shines through.
Awww that's it for now although I could go on. I loved that movie!

My Thoughts on Infidelity

Deep breath.

Ok, I can do this. I am officially making a statement about infidelity.

This one is tough as I don't know that many people will agree with me. (People usually get where I'm coming from but this is topic I can't quite get people to see my way.)

In light of all that is going on in the world, does it really matter that the husband of a woman I don't know really affect my life? Does it affect yours?

I'm sooooo so so soooo tired of the media covering the Tiger Woods situation. I obviously know who the man is and I applaud his professional accomplishments, but at the end of the day he is simply a man married to a woman and I don't know either one of them. I don't know his true character, his likes/dislikes or what he needs in a relationship. I never heard of her except the fact they were married. So who am I to judge what they decide to do at home or in the streets?

This situation has brought up many issues for me. I have always believed that marital issues should be resolved by the two people in the marriage. I would hope that people would be more compassionate to others. We've all screwed up before but when it comes to infidelity, people say the most "holier than though" things ever! This lady on CNN said the other night that Tiger should lose every endorsement and never be allowed to make money playing golf again. Really? In "real" life, I've heard women tell other women that they'd be stupid to stay with their husband who cheated. Craziest thing ever to me! Why would I (someone without a man)tell a woman with a man to leave especially if it was an issue they are working to resolve?!?!

I've never been married and have not been in a serious relationship for some time. But I've been cheated on and lied to by people I loved. Those experiences have molded me and shaped me into the person I am today. It hurt like hell at the time but I obviously made it through and am here today. When its all said and done, if a man left me, that meant he wasn't for me and with time, I moved on (and am currently not concerned with ANY of my ex-loves). I simply wish that in matters of infidelity people would allow the two people who are married and in the relationship to move on.

Are You Not Entertained?!?!?!

I promised myself that on this weekend I would save money by staying in, cleaning my place and getting some rest by laying up watching TV. There was some great things on my regular cable and I got to catch "Gladiator". I've seen this movie a gazillion times but something about when Maximus says, "Are you not entertained? Are you not entertained? Is this not why you are here?," always gets me going (I guess it got JayZ crunk too but I digress)! And since I'm working on cultivating an attitude of gratitude, I decided to share some of the many ways I've been being entertained lately!

SPORTS: Ummm, I live in New Orleans and the Saints are undefeated! Even when I lived in Indiana, the Colts were great but not 10 games undefeated!

MOVIES: Holiday movie times are my favorite. I'll never forget during the first year of law school I couldn't go home during the holiday b/c I was trying to make as much money as I could during the break (you're not allowed to work when class is in session during the first year. I spent my entire Christmas Day movie hopping. I've gotten to see some cool movies lately. First, I went to the New Orleans International Film Fest one Friday and caught this cool thriller TRAPPED IN KATRINA.

It was not the usual take on the Katrina tragedy nor what I anticipated to see from local independent filmmakers. I was beyond impressed and the cinematography was awesome. I'd been on the edge of my seat since October to see PRECIOUS. FINALLY it came to New Orleans. My new friend got closer to being my new boo when he got me tickets for the midnight show on the night it came out. It was so riveting. Monique was AMAZING! This movie is a must see and was well worth the wait. Finally on Thanksgiving night, I took my sister, niece and cousin (watch out for him on that Saints EA Sports commercial) to see New Moon. We had a blast although we'd all read the books so were well aware of what would happen.

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MUSIC: It goes w/o saying how I feel about Lil'Wayne since I blog about him so much. I got the NO CEILINGS mixtape and LOVE it! He used some beats of songs I don't really like and now I love 'em. My favs are probably "Let's Do It" and "Poke Her Face". I just got Lupe Fiasco's new mixtape too. (Although a virus that I just paid DELL $120 to rid me of is making me scared to download it!)

BOOKS: I'm a huge fan of Esther and Jerry Hicks after reading "Ask and It Shall Be Given." They are great authors/teachers and I'm a big fan. I got THE ASTONISHING POWER OF EMOTIONS for only $4! at Borders and I'm definitely enjoying it!

PLAYS: I got to see BADUIZMS at the Fringe Fest and it really inspired me to work on my own project for stage (details to come). BADUIZMS was a cute play inspired by the lyrics of Erykah Badu. I went with a couple of my friends and we had a blast (only in NO can you get hammered at a play!).

I HAVE been truly entertained these last few weeks. And to answer Maximus' question, this is exactly what I came for! Have you gotten into anything cool recently?

Don't Forget the F

Because I'm aspiring to do my own documentary, I'm very excited to watch docs these days - ANY docs I can get my hands on. Well this one makes me very VERY excited! Its about WEEZY!!!! (I'd only be more happy to see a rapper documentary IF it were Kanye!)

Enjoy

The Attitude of Gratitude

"At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person.
Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us."

Thanksgiving time: turkey, family, football - good times! This year I've decided to build my attitude of gratitude! I'm ready to celebrate the people in my life! During the 29 days between Thanksgiving and Christmas Day, I'm going to be contacting 29 people that I'm grateful for. Some of them know (like my mentor/old boss VC-I tell him all the time; or like my girl Erin - we end every call w/acknowledgements of how grateful we are to be in each other's lives). Some people may not know - like this lady in my building who is always so kind. I'm going to contact folk and let them know just how grateful I am for their presence in my life. I'm also looking forward to upping my meditation practice. 15 minutes a day just contemplate all the things I have to be grateful for. I'm going to pull out my gratitude journal too! YES! I'm ready for this time!

How can you be more grateful? Any plans to show gratitude?

Oooohhhhweeee

Yall know I love me some Ms. Beyonce!!! I am a growing fan of Lady Gaga. So w/o further ado - my new fav video! BEYONCE AND LADY GAGA VIDEO PHONE!