Family Weekend

Hey peeps! No Suggest-A-Song Monday today; still playing catch-up. I was in Detroit/Kalamazoo/Battle Creek, Michigan all weekend for one of my brother's graduation from the School of Aviation at Western Michigan University. My brother has been a licensed pilot in different areas for some time now, and has now graduated. He has known he wanted to be a pilot since he was a wee tyke, so I am very impressed and proud that he has followed his dream all the way through. I remember when we were kids and a plane would go by and he would say, oh that sounds like a *insert engine or plane name here* and he would be fascinated by airports and everything. It feels good to be a black family that can say we have a pilot in the family. At age 22, no less. I have even been up in an airplane with him flying before; back in 2004 when he was only 18. How many of us can say we have literally put our lives in our sibling's hands before? Here are some pictures.

The new terminal at the main airport in Detroit. I like colors, so I couldn't help but to capture the changing scenes.

My brother, the graduate

Going clockwise from left: My father, brother #2, sister, brother #3, brother #1, stepmother, brother #1's girlfriend (kind of cut out the pic), grandmother, me, aunt.

My sister, 3 brothers, and me. Yes, I am the oldest and the shortest. Shut up.

My sister and I.

How was your weekend?

Suggest A Song Monday-Emeraldine

Hey, bloggies! Man, I have been swamped with work and school. I want to share with you what I'm researching for my classes. In one class (Sociology of Law), I am writing a paper on media coverage on women who have been sentenced to death over the last 20 or so years and whether the focus goes more to women who have harmed their children vs. women who were convicted of other crimes. I will compare the coverage of women who harmed their children with the actual proportion of cases like these to see if the media is reinforcing and maintaining the motherhood ideal that society perpetuates (20 pages minimum). In my Quantitative Methods class, I am doing a research proposal on bi/multi-racial students and how they identify racially in different groups (whether a black-and-white student will identify as black, white, or mixed); 35 pages. In my Qualitative Methods class, I have interviewed 10 interracial couples on their experiences. I audio-recorded the interviews, am transcribing each one verbatim, and will write up my analysis in a journal-style paper (30-40 pages). I am overwhelmed but also excited about the research I am doing. Every semester brings me closer to my Masters degree and future. I told you all of this so you won't think I've abandoned you. I wanted to at least do a peace offering of a Suggest-A-Song Monday post, lol.

Welcome back to Suggest A Song Monday. First, I want to give shout-outs to all who participated last week (2 weeks ago?). Responses are forthcoming for those; I haven't forgotten!

Here are the rules: I suggest a song that I love and that I think you would love. You listen to it. Tell me what you think in the comments. Then, you also recommend one song to me and I will listen to it and tell you what I think. You don't have to limit yourself to a particular genre, just any one song that you love.

Today, we have Emeraldine by Corinne Bailey Rae. I love the dreamy, wintry springtime blossoming feel this song has. Very mellow. I have been missing her musical presence; I hope we hear something from her soon. She has understandably been very quiet since her husband died.

Emeraldine - Corinne Bailey Rae

I awake to the drip-drop of icicles/Melting outside my window/Everything was new/I had noticed a bird and seen/Cherry blossom/Was falling like confetti/What is happenin' to me these days?/(Chorus) I...I got intuition/Oh, I...I had my suspicions/I'm in love with you/It feels like springtime//Emeraldine, apple seed, olive green, intense/Colors unfurl like petals in a time-lapse sequence/Feels like something in embryo/My heart melts like 2 inches of snow in April's glow/What's this urgency?/What's this heat I'm feelin'?/Could I say I'm dreamin'?/Do I change my ways?/What is happenin' to me these days?/Chorus//

Let the Right One In

I recommend you see Let the Right One In. It's a Swedish vampire film about love, friendship, fear, and loneliness. It is not a typical vampire movie where the violence and gore take center stage, and that is part of its charm. I love films that are magical aesthetically, and the Swedish setting and cold environment is shown off beautifully. The main characters are children which makes the story that much more haunting. This instantly became a favorite movie of mine. Here is the official website. You can buy, rent, or Netflix it now. Here is the official trailer:

Pink Dolphin

This story is hella old, but my unicorn ancestry would not allow me to ignore this. For all new followers, I am part unicorn. This will become apparent to you throughout random blog posts that I do. ANYhoo...this is an albino dolphin that popped up in Louisiana. At least, that's the scientific description of it. Those of us of unicorn-ary heritage know that magical creatures such as these are plentiful on this good planet of ours; you just have to believe. (That was read in a whispering voice.) No, I am not high.

Peeped at DListed.

Check out my purple squirrel post here.

Suggest A Song Monday-I Belong To You

So, I pretty much said 'eff' blogging again last week. I have 3 separate, original research papers and projects due for school (20 pages for one, 30-35 pages for the others) so I have been trying not to just quit life and be a vagrant, though it is tempting. I have decided to type up stuff when I can and schedule it to post on later dates. Aloha, new followers! What better way to introduce yourselves than in today's post?

Welcome back to Suggest A Song Monday. First, I want to give shout-outs to all who participated last week. I responded to all of you in the comments so check it out if you haven't already. Much love to MrsMaryMack, ChocolateOrchid, Fly Girl, Chanel, La Maravilla, and Mocha for dropping song suggestions!

Here are the rules: I suggest a song that I love and that I think you would love. You listen to it. Tell me what you think in the comments. Then, you also recommend one song to me and I will listen to it and tell you what I think. You don't have to limit yourself to a particular genre, just any one song that you love.

Today we have I Belong To You by Lenny Kravitz. This song is so sexy, dark, sweet, funky, and of course jamming (at least I think so). Some of you may be familiar with this song already. If not, groove. If so, groove. It's hard not to groove to Lenny Kravitz, especially this song. The guitar breaks on here are soooo rockin'. I just want him to have jam sessions in my kitchen whenever I want. Butt booty naked if possible. Anyhoo, I love the lyrics to this song. If my husband dedicated this to me somehow, my panties would throw themselves at him. Ladies and fellas, if you feel this way about someone you should definitely let them know. It's a wonderful feeling.

I Belong To You - Lenny Kravitz

You are the flame in my heart/You light my way in the dark/You are the ultimate star/You lift me up from above/Your unconditional love/Takes me to paradise//(Chorus) I belong to you/And you...you belong to me too/You make my life complete/You make me feel so sweet//You make me feel so divine/Your soul and mine are entwined/Before you, I was blind/But since I opened my eyes/And with you there's no disguise/So I could open up my mind/I always loved you from the start/But I couldn't figure out/That I had to do it everyday/So I put away the fight/Now I'm gonna live my life/Giving you the most in every way/Chorus (repeat til end)/

Busy

Hey there, my precious bloggies. I am overwhelmed with work and school right now (have 3 separate original research papers/projects ranging from 20-35 pages each due in a month), so blogging will resume shortly. I will try and schedule some blogs to post for when I'm too busy. In the meantime, follow me/chat with me on Twitter! I have gotten to know a lot of you through there, and it's a guaranteed good time. Here is my page.