My Favorite Maya Angelou Poem (RIP Queen)

Prolific author & Civil Rights activists Maya Angelou passed today, May 28, 2014. I don’t know anyone who was in school after the 1980 who had not studied her work at some point in their educational life. My first introduction to her works was a poem called “Life Doesn't Frighten Me”.

I truly believe Life didn't scare Maya Angelou, not one bit.

As with most deaths of someone famous and profound, we tend to go to social media to speak on our favorite things about that person. Interestingly enough my favorite poem by Maya Angelou is not “Phenomenal Woman” or “Still I Rise” Oh I know Many folks wonder how to figure me out and that’s why they use words to shoot down to me yet this Incredible Lady Gets Up. *wink* They are still not my favorite. My favorite poem, I first found when I worked in the library in college in the book, “The Collected Poems of Maya Angelou”.

That being an anthology of her works at that time, I looked for the original book it was published in. That book is called “I Shall Not be Moved”.

Maya is posed very sassy on the cover of that book. That is also why I like this poem. It is Sassy, Funny, & Inspiring. So I present to you my favorite Maya Angelou poem:

Seven Women’s Blessed Assurance

One thing about me,

I'm little and low,

find me a man

wherever I go.

They call me string bean

'cause I'm so tall.

Men see me

they ready to fall.

I'm young as morning

and fresh as dew.

Everybody loves me

and so do you.

I'm fat as butter

and sweet as cake.

Men start to tremble

each time I shake

I'm little and lean,

sweet to the bone.

They like to pick me up

and carry me home.

When I passed forty

I dropped pretense,

'cause men like women

who got some sense.

Fifty-five is perfect,

so is fifty-nine,

'cause every man needs

to rest sometime.

RIP Maya Angelou. You will forever be a True Inspiration to us all!!!

What’s your favorite work of Maya Angelou? Let me know in the comment box below.

As Always, Talking to You in Adult Terms

June, June, June!!!

First let me thank you all for the condolences, prayers, & love shown to me in the passing of my beloved friend, FootBall Nerd. With God, I am breathing through it. *BIG* hug

If I had a Favorite month, it would probably be June!!!

June is Big month for me. It's my birthday month!!! I think I just want to have Sunday Brunch or Lunch at Taco Casa (I have an unfulfilled Taco craving) and go see "Think Like a Man Too" (That I feel like should have been called "Act Like a Lady", IMO). I usually share plans with my friend, T.T. so I'll see what she might have planned also. I do know what we won't be doing. We won't get to line dance at happy hour. Our favorite dance spot closed last month. Farewell Beamers!!! Midnightish will be different. Football Nerd usually was first to tell me Happy Birthday. Somehow I know he will give me birthday wishes on that day around "Midnight".  June 4 would've been Football Nerd's 38th birthday. Happy Birthday, Baby!!! I'm going to spend it in quiet reflection and write him a letter with Everything I need to tell him. I wore my pearls to his services. Pearl is the traditional birthstone for the month of June. *wink*

In June we celebrate Father's Day. By now you know I was raised by a single mother but had great father figures in my life. Well, I am going to release a piece that stirs inside of me this time of the year called "Grateful to be a Deadbeat's Daughter". Stay Tuned for that.

Juneteenth is June 19. In Texas, we celebrate the day the slaves were emancipated here. Yes, Texas slaves didn't find out they were free until two years, six months and nineteen days after most of the country. No, in my home we don't bust out the watermelon and cut a jig. We do watch old black movies like Stormy Weather or Green Pastures and eat a "Soul Food" style meal on that day.

June 27th is National HIV/AIDS Testing Day!!! Know your Status!!! Go to find a clinic for free testing. You have No excuse not to know. Also you can read this Blog when someone straight up told me I had No Excuse.

Finally, June is African-American Music Appreciation Month. It was originally started as Black Music Month by President Jimmy Carter, who on June 7, 1979, decreed that June would be the month of black music. Since then, presidents have announced to Americans to celebrate Black Music Month. For each year of his term, President Barack Obama has announced the observance under a new title, African-American Music Appreciation Month. I will be celebrating it Outspoken_Diva Style. I will be Saluting my Favorite Singer & Pianist of All time. If you follow my blog or know me offline. You should know who this is. Also every week, twice a week I will be featuring some of my favorite music. Trust me in true OutSpoken_Diva style, you are in for a treat. So stay tuned and get to know me musically. Because if you really want to know how I feel, look at the music I am listening to. That can tell you a lot about my mood, because if you ask I will say I'm Fine.  (Yeah I stole that quote)

So that's and much more is what you can look forward to in June.

As Always, Talking to You in Adult Terms

On Missing My FootBall Nerd

Right now, I am truly leaning on the Everlasting Arms. I found out God came by to pick a flower. That Flower was one of my Best Friends, My "Football Nerd", RW. My emotions are everywhere. There is No Adjective for this feeling. I just know I don't like it.

You guys have seen his name come up in a few blogs. Actually, he's "the friend" in many of my blogs. I'll highlight one or two later. RW and I met in the Fall of the year 2000 on the popular social media site in the late 1990s and early 2000's called College Club. (Yep, that is the true story). He was getting ready to graduate from college and I was in my first semester of Nursing school. We chatted on the phone for a few weeks. We finally met on Christmas Day while I was home for semester break and he was here visiting relatives at a bowling alley with my other male best friend, LJ, and his now ex-wife in tow (Told you guys in the Catfish blog, I don't play). We hit it off instantly. We had a Romantic Rapport from that time until September 2002. We remained friends which eventually lead us to make each other one of our best friends.

At my College Graduation (circa 2003)
That was actually his own.  My gown was extremely short for the dress I bought to wear and he let me borrow his.

My favorite memory with RW happened at church. Of all the kisses, hugs, confessions, TV shows, YouTube clips, and Books shared, New Year's Eve of 2004 is my best memory. I told y'all in my Church Switch blog the only reason I ever set foot in the church I attend now was because one of my male BFFs wanted to attend  New Year's Eve there. After all, he "just had to go" when he moved to the Metroplex. Football Nerd was that BFF. At the end of that service, Bishop wanted us to gather up the people we came with, grab their hands and pray for each one of them. We came with each other so, we pray for each other. That was the first time I had ever prayed for a non-relative in front of them in my life. The Bible says in Matthew 18:20, "For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them". I don't know about other groups that night but I know, that I know, that I know, that I know (WoW, my Baptist is showing LoL) God was in the midst of RW & me. For what seems like a long time we would pray, cry, look at each other and pray and cry again. That was such a powerful night in my life and the life of our friendship.

I called him a Football Nerd because he loved the game. He played in high school and college. For years, he begged me to join his Fantasy Football League. The season in 2012-13, I finally joined it. RW transformed into "Football Nerd" the day of the draft. That day I finally found something he was "Geeked up" about. I started calling him "Football Nerd" ever since. Oh, by the way, I won that season, too. I don't know who was prouder him or me.

I can go on and on about my memories with RW but it would just mask reality. Oh, there are things, we'll never get o do on this Earth again. That is one part of reality. The other part of Reality tells me that there are things on this Earth I will never get to do with him. I'll never get to read a whole book to him as we planned. He will never get to join my other best friends and me for Sunday brunch as we all hoped. I'll never get to be the stepmother to his son like he wanted. Stepmother to his son will forever be the loving wishful name he Loved to call me. Yeah, I'll admit it, I loved it, too. I always thought that name was funny. The tears are blinding me. My heart hurts. Yet, I know RW, the Football Nerd, is in a better place. I'll see him again in That Place.

Rest in Peace to the Man in whom I held his heart in mine and I know he did the same to my heart, My FootBall Nerd, My Soul Mate found in Friendship. I will forever Love You!!!

As Always, Talking to You in Adult Terms

Let's Talk Grey's Anatomy!!!

OMG Shonda Rhimes is a Genius!!! Just as I had calmed down from saying "Farewell" to Cristina Yang, She slides in a new Cardio God that bring some "William Shakespeare" drama to the show. And she sets us up for "Hospital Showdown Royale". Wait, I am getting ahead of myself.

Let me start with them giving Leah Murphy the boot. I can't smile hard enough. I didn't like her.

She was annoying and caused pretty much her own drama. Who sleeps with everybody and get their feeling caught up in each sexual rapport she has? When I read her character was not coming back I wrote her exit script every week.  When she didn't break up Calzona (Callie & Arizona (who I wish would break up because I Will Never like Arizona) and wrote the infamous complaint that cause new fraternizing policies to be wrote, she had to go. Hope she does well in in a Private Practice of her own because Surgery was not for her.

Cristina Yang left the hospital alive and she made it to her new job alive. Point is Yang is still alive.

 She may not be on Grey's Anatomy anymore but she is still alive.

She said yes to Preston Burke's proposal, to run his hospital that is and over the pond she went.

Who followed to learned more from her? 

Shane Ross did. I wrote his exit script the moment I read he was leaving also. He was invested in the work he did with Yang. It was only likely exit without shock factor in it. So we say Farewell to Cristina Yang and Ross. She left us but not without a showdown brewing. 

Who will get Yang's board seat???

Bailey or Karev

I am torn right now. I have all summer to think it through. Let know me in the comments if you have already chose a side.

Well with Cristina Yang's departure, a new cardiologist, Dr Margaret Pierce comes to the hospital.

She brings a new storyline to the surgical floor. Looks like she might be the Love Child of one Dr. Ellis Grey and Dr. Richard Webber.

And I suspect Mrs Adele Webber (Dr Webber's wife) may have known a little about Margaret Pierce also.

Both of the ladies are dead. And strangely enough from the same disease, Alzheimers. That is Scandal-Qinnteresting. LoL Hopefully, the arrival of her grandchild by Kepner & Jackson,

will distract Webber's current girlfriend, Catherine Jackson from his possible fatherhood devolopment.

No One's reaction to this new Love Child drama will compare to the reaction of the new cardiologist's half sister, Meredith Grey. Meredith Grey is fighting with her husband about moving to our nation's capital. So next season, she will find out about Dr Pierce and who her mother is. 

Side Note I would like to take time to commend Shonda Rhimes for finding two actresses from a Great show that was killed before it's time, "Emily Owens, MD".

 Kelly McCreary (who plays the aforementioned Dr. Margaret Pierce on "Grey's Anatomy") and Aja Naomi King 

(who is currently on "Black Box" but will be regular on Rhimes' newest show "How to Get Away with Murder") came from that show. They are great addition to the Shondaland family. Now can she go get Mamie Gummer, Emily Owens MD, herself

and put her on a show.? I miss that show. CW made me frown when they canceled that show. Oh well CW's loss is ABC's gain.

So guys, we must wait all Summer until the new "ShondaLand Thursday" starts in the Fall. Yes, TV Thursday's has a new name. I'll have to watch Big Bang Theory on ONDemand if they don't move it to back to Mondays (Lord please hear my prayer. In Jesus' name. Amen, Amen, Amen!). So do you have any theories for the new season of "Grey's Anatomy" and "Scandal"? Will you be watching "How to Get Away with Murder", also? Let me know in the comment section.

As Always, Talking to You in Adult Terms

To Be a N-word, an A-word & a G-Word (I Blame Pop Culture)

Okay before we start this installment of "I Blame Pop Culture" let's take a test.

Pick out the Nerdy, Awkward, Geeky person or character

Steve Urkel

Bill Haverchuck
Character from "Freaks and Geeks" 

Aisha Tyler

On Friday Night name the activity or activities would a nerd, awkward person or geeky person would be doing

Cosplay

Line Dancing

Reading

Name the show(s) that the nerdy, awkward, geeky watch

Cosmos

Scandal

Game of Thrones

Okay the answer is All of the Above!!! How did you do?

Like every topic in the world, Nerds, the Awkward and Geeks have been pop culturally define. And like all other topics pop culture has defined, the definition is based on stereotypes, popular attitudes & trends. . You're not a "real" nerd. No, you're not nerdy enough.That seems to okay to say these days.So it is safe to say those that are of this population are annoyed with it.  Well at least this awkward nerdy geek is.

First lets discuss the non-nerds & geeks in hiding (I won't pull a Perez Hilton on you) views on others that identify as being nerd. I thank you for drinking Pop Culture's kool-aid and believing all that it has told you what being nerdy, awkward, and geeky is. I won't call you a "meat-head" but if you only want believe what it has told you well I might have to.

Those glasses don't make a person a nerd or geek. It means that person can't see without them and the don't have the money to buy another pair. A geek is a person that feels they are an expert or enthusiast or a person obsessed with a hobby or intellectual pursuit. Nerds are people who may spend many amounts of time on  non-mainstream activities, which are generally either highly technical or relating to topics of fiction or fantasy. An awkward person is in an emotional state of intense discomfort with oneself very frequently. Thank you Wikipedia, for the general definition help. None of these definitions use the word Only. They can be interested, know about, and enjoy mainstream activities. What only the non-geek can join in the "water cooler" conversation? Just because a guy Cos Plays on Saturday doesn't mean he can't enjoy a ball game on Saturday. Just because she watches Housewives at 7 doesn't mean afterwards she's not watching Cosmos at 8 (I live in Central Standard Time.). Don't let Pop Culture tell you that.So what if doing popular dances is not what your fellow educator knows.So is what their rhythm is off. Are their bills paid? You know the latest ones but did you have to borrow money to pay for lunch today. Spent to much at bar, maybe??? Know a person who identifies as a nerd, geek or awkward as a person not a stereotype. 

Oh nerds, geeks, awkward people, stop signifying. You are next. Stop Nerd Checking each other. What's this not "Not Nerdy Enough" crap, we got going on. Oh Pop Culture poison our "grog" also (yep I said grog). 

I say we. My nerdness has never been questioned directly to me. I'm not a hypocrite because I Am a Hypocrite. I "Nerd Card Checked" someone once. I bought a some $$$ worth of books. and this lady said "Oh you are book nerd like me". My rude self said, "Oh really. You have more books than shoes too". She said "Well No. I". I cut her off by walking away. Yeah, I must have sipped some that day too. I felt horrible later on. She could've been a book nerd and a shoe whore. I didn't know that lady. I know with the rise popularity of Nerd Curiosity and fake cultures of the Geek Chic, we feel as the hip slang says "Some Kind of Way". It still should not make us pigeonhole those in the community. There is not one kind of "Nerdy", "Geeky", or "Awkward" person. You don't know everyone in the community's story. Like the non-nerdy, We have to know them as a people and not by "our self-made standards". Just because they've never played D & D doesn't mean they don't have a kick a-word Marvel comic book and figurine collection. They may not can afford to go to Comic Con International. Yet, they are at their local Con front and center every year since the local Con started. Fantasy Fiction, Textbooks, Romance, Comedy, Memoirs or Historical Diaries are all books. Be happy that person is reading, period. Stop tearing down our own. Mainstream does enough it by itself.

One day this blog post will be obsolete because Nerds, Geeks, & the Awkward will be seen as just people. But until the story stops being Unique it still has to be told correctly. But That's what happens when you are an outlier of the Mainstream Machine called Pop Culture. 

As Always, Talking to You in Adult Terms

Movie Remakes (I Blame Pop Culture)

Hollywood is really trying my patience. Can we get Original movies of Quality, please? If I look up and see another Remake, I’m going to scream. What is the purpose to Re-tell great stories? It’s like Hollywood never heard the statement, “If it Ain’t Broke Don’t Fix It”.

Weird Science is one of my favorite John Hughes movies (Sixteen Candles is my other fave). Now someone wants to remake it. They claim it needs to be edgier. Weird Science was edgy by 1980’s standards. What they meant to say is “We want to make a millennial, Pop Cultured defined version of “Weird Science” because we are too lazy to make an original screenplay about the awkward, geeky, and nerdy”. Yes, I said it. Lazy!!!

Many Writers are Lazy. They have to be. No other explanation for why one would just go obtain the rights of a perfectly good movie and rewrite some of the script. Some don’t even let it be known except in the opening “credits” that the film is a remake. Who know the movie “What a Girl Wants” is a remake of “The Reluctant Debutante” made in 1958. Yep I had to go back and watch the opening of the movie. Where are the writers of original scripts? Oh I know they are making Independent films because many of them can’t get the big dollars to get their new idea on the big screen. 

Big Budget Entertainment Companies are lazy. Why crunch that many numbers of a film that the fans may or may not accept? Here is a perfectly good storyline that has made millions of dollars before. The fans looked that film then they should love this “current generational”, “other cultural based”, or “based off the stage” version of this story.  

Movie fans are lazy. Fans hear about a popular story and no matter how many times it is said it is a remake, the fans will flood the theaters. Do sales of the original story go up as well? Ask Pop Culture for the answer. For example, how many people have seen “Dreamgirls”, the movie then went to see as a musical or bought the music of the 1982 original soundtrack? I won’t wait for the answer. The numbers tell the story quite well. Yes, I saw the musical as a revival years before the movie was released. And yes, I like the musical better.

I’m not a Hypocrite because I am a Hypocrite. Some of my favorite movies (“Polly” (“Pollyanna”) & “Annie” (A Broadway Hit) are remakes. I also saw both in the original forms also and I like them both. And in my defense, they would be on my favorites list had no one remade them. So thanks Pop Culture for ruining my taste in cinema also.

One would think the “Remakes” would've slow down after the debacles or “Fame”, “Footloose”, and “The Bad News Bears”. These remakes and others convoluted the storyline of the originals in horrible ways. And Why??? Just to make it “relevant” to whatever populations it was geared towards. Movie fans are lazy but not dumb. Take a page out of part of Disney’s book, Re-release the Originals. It introduces the story to the populations that are unfamiliar with it. It also will bring the original admirers out to see it for the memories or just for another look see.

But who am I? Just a hypocritical movie goer that just want to see some New & Fresh ideas on the Big Screen and not in the 5 for 20, Straight to Cable DVD or Made for Cable or TV bin in stores.

I will say one thing. I will be protesting the remake of “Weird Science”. John Hughes probably rolled over in his grave when this news broke. The rise of the awareness of Nerd, Geeks, and the Awkward is part of pop culture now. I know there is an innovative screenplay (at least some ideas or backstories) out there that is “Big Screen” worthy. Stop being lazy and go find it. Don’t Touch This Classic Piece called “Weird Science”.

As Always, Talking to You in Adult Terms

Sorry SNL, I'm Not That Useful

So if you have not heard about the SNL Slavery Joke controversy, go Here and Here. I know popular reality was on and you were more interested in that than SNL. (No snark intended) I get it. So go read it and come back.

Okay you're back. So yeah, folks are not happy with Ms. Leslie Jones and SNL. Yeah,  I'm not pleased with the joke, either. I get the joke. I also get how the joke is offensive to Black people. In my opinion, attacking it racially is too easy. The “Oh Lawd, I’ Lonely” tone the joke had was what broke my heart.

Are folks that desperate to be “Booed” up or want a date that Forced Slave Breeding would seem better? Did I miss the "Low Self-Esteem & Frantic for a Date" memo that went out to the single people? I tend to do that sometimes. Somedays, all the single people on my Facebook timeline all complain at once about being lonely, While I’m happy I got a good nights sleep on my side of the bed without fighting for the top sheet all night long, every night.

I know we all want to be wanted and asked out. That’s feels good. Being pushed with someone just to make more people does not feel good. Ms. Jones was so sure she would be able produce what Massa wanted. What if the big black buck & she could not produce Shaq, Kobe, or Sinbad even? Big Black Buck and she would have been beaten or sold. Oh wait she said Drafted. Umm drafting has choices in it's involvement. No slave had options to my knowledge when being sold. So, give me the loneliness any day. Slavery does not sound sexy or romantic at all.

I’m a fan of Leslie Jones’s standup. I know her work and I was very happy when she became a writer on SNL. I just don't like this joke, though. I'm so lonely that I could be content with Massa being my matchmaker. Yeah, I don't agree. I'll wait until somebody sees me as pretty as Lupita and not useful as Leslie

As Always, Talking to You in Adult Terms