Too Small...

Palm Beach County has the largest land area located in the state of Florida. As of 2007, the county had an estimated population of 1,351,236, making it the third most populous in the state of Florida and the twenty ninth most populous in the United States.

As of 2006, it was the 4th largest school district in Florida and the 11th largest school district in the United States.  Newsweek listed three Palm Beach County high schools in the top 50 schools in the list 1200 Top U.S. Schools - Atlantic Community High School, Suncoast High School and the Alexander Dreyfoos School of the Arts, all public magnet schools.

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So.....why in the hell do I constantly run into people I do not want to see?????????

Nail Lady

My family is Jamaican....I do not speak patois....blame M.Dot and her insistence that I have a proper mastery of the 'Queen's English' I do however have an uncanny ability to decipher/translate/comprehend and reciprocate the appropriate glare, based on what was said.

Anywho I'm in the nail shop and there are several levels of hilarity happening.  The Jamaican part will play a role shortly.....

So...My nail lady's name is Loan (Low-en). She is meticulous.  Your situation will be better than you've ever seen it.  She will find some knee pads, night goggles, and a grappling hook and will attack your feet until you are back to being on the right side of the social spectrum.  She seems like the type that didn't talk much in school, but knew everyone's business because she's a watcher.

This chick is good...but she takes forever.  I mean ooooo do not try to 'run over on your lunch break.' Nope, won't work.  You better clear your whole schedule.  Eat first, etc.

Ok no, I'm not talking hours per se....but it just drags on.  Sooooo.....I'm here getting my eternal pedi and in comes a woman...she clearly typed Jesus' birth certificate(she's that old).  Actually, in comes...would be a misstatement.  A woman is wheeled in by her nurse.  I didn't have to stare at the nurse...or even need her to open her mouth...I knew EXACTLY where she was from....the glorious JA!

So...apparently the older lady is a regular.  She is old....I mean the type of old where you can't really eat around her because she smells old(and it makes my tummy turn) and has older people oldness oozing from her.  Ok I digress! 

The older lady has an appointment to get a pedicure.  She is in the seat right next to me.  I'm trying to blog and not look at her because it just looks like she's going to die any minute. And/Or it looks like a complete liability to wheel her in a chair and get her into a pedi chair.  

So the nurse is moving her into position.   Talking to her softly to her face.  Talking about her in patois behind her back.

Dani loves a good laugh and where humor is concerned there is little room for tact.  So I'm dying...rolling laughing because this woman is steady talking about how much she hates old white people all the while she is giving "the california raisin, dusty looking old woman" the kindest and gentlest care.

The nurse soon realized that I knew exactly what she was saying...did that stop her?  Nope.  Also, she was on the phone using a bluetooth headset.  Neither the old woman nor her husband realized that the nurse was on the phone.  They would occasionally think she was talking to them....was she?  NOPE.

Anywho so Mother time put her foot into the pedi bowl and let out one yelp.  Let me explain to you the caliber of this yelp.  This was the yelp my sister would have whenever my mom used one of her classic lines like, "come here let me beat you."  It was the type of yelp that scared my curls straight.  It was the type of yelp I'd imagine that you'd have when your significant other tells you they want to include 'obey' in your wedding vows.  Possibly the type of yelp you'd have if you realized that the girl you were talking to used to be a man.

That type of yelp.

My heart stopped.  I damned near dropped my computer.  The nail shop went silent.  All you hear from stenographer of the book of Genesis was, "I want to put my right foot in first."

For real?  That's why you yelped?

Sigh....

Anywho, I realized that the nail shop owners have a hilarious habit of telling everyone that walks in that they have a 5 minute wait.  It doesn't matter if there are 20,000 people in the shop...your wait?  5 minutes.

So there were 4 people waiting to get a service done.  This man walks in and asks how long it will take to have someone get to his pedicure...the answer??? You guessed it....5 minutes.

So he sits down....15 minutes later a lady walks in...."How quickly can I see someone abt a manicure..."  Nail Lady says???? Yep 5 minutes.  People sit down and take it.  It's as though, saying 5 minutes, releases a magic elixir that wipes your memory clean.

Oh and if you say that 5 minutes is too long....they will seat you at a pedi chair and put your feet to soak in water.   You are less likely to leave once your feet are already wet and the massage chair has started its run.

Sigh....gotta love the nail adventures.

Broke Down....

I don't even know the back story of this sketch...frankly, I could care less what its abt...all you should know is that I'm the donkey and the finish line is friday.

This week has been so painfully long. I don't even know what made it seem longer than usual. I do however know that I'm tired. I want to walk away from economy news and just unwind. I need to sleep (past my normal wake up time of 4:55am) and I need to just sit still and get my mind together.

Have I done laundry recently? No clue.

Did I eat today? Probably not

I don't know the last time I opened my makeup bag. Hell, when was the last time I opened my gym bag? Accessories bag??? Where is that? I have been wearing the same jewelry since DC.....

Ok that's it!!! I will not go down in flames. This week will not get the better of me....I'm launching operation 'Correct the Situation.' I'm squeezing a pedi and a mani in today (what color are my toes right now????). I have a brow appointment. I will just comb my hair. It's a recession after all...I can't go all out with the pressing and such.

Tonight...I will get cute....I will open the makeup bag....put on some different earrings....and Sweets and I will voyage to Miami to watch J. Legend and Estelle. We will be in gloriously good company with Ana and Drew...

Operation starts.....NOW!

Just stop...pls

Recession talk is just aggravating at this point.  I'm in the news industry by day and I work retail by night.  I'm recessioned out.  Seriously.  I won't even get into the debacle at job 2.  I'll let Sweets fill you in on that one.

***Sidenote***

I may or may not have mentioned to you that we work together.  Let me take a step back.  We work together.  Actually, we met at work and instantly hated each other.  He has A$$holish tendencies and I come off a "smidge" (I'll ask anyone who really knows me to kindly stop smirking) stuck up.  We actually both just like who we like and don't really invest much time in anyone else.

Sigh

Anywho...eventually....he became the work darling of all of my co-workers.  That just put him deeper on my disdain list.   Then we had a conversation and I realized that I might not have him  pegged properly.

Dani: "Are you in school?"

Sweets: "I was...I went to FullSail"

Dani: "Oh....so you're into music?  The production side or the artist side?"

Sweets: "Both actually and I write"

Dani: "Oh ok....so you're into hip-hop then?"

Sweets: "I like it, but I sing....and write R&B"

Dani: "Oh...."

According to sweets...he was just shocked that I descended from my 'high horse' to actually talk to him.  According to me...I was shocked that we had conversation and he turned down his 'cool' long enough to engage me.

Shortly thereafter he asked me to lunch....(he and I both assumed that I would say "no").  I was actually hungry so lunch sounded like a good idea.  We went out, had a great time and have been chugging along ever since.

We still work together, although that depends on how long  job 2 remains open.  

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Back to the regularly scheduled program.

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The recession talk is so frustrating.  The news is filled with layoffs, budget cuts, legislation, etc.  It's enough to cause a panic attack.  Today one of my writers submitted an article about the skyrocketing calls to a mental health crisis line from people who want to commit suicide.

Not having money isn't new to me I suppose.  I'm not that far removed from undergrad, so the Ramen mentality is something I'm familiar with.  I know I expressed earlier that I was frustrated with the timing of the recession.  I really want to try to make some big moves this year.  I'm going to keep praying and believe that those things are attainable.

As well, I'm just putting the news on mute.   It's too much to be slammed with all of this every single day.

Foolishness...

So Sweets has joined the blogger world.  I'm too tired to really touch on the ridiculousness that happened at job 2.  So lets take care of two things at once.  Enjoy :)

Ranting

Brew bore the brunt of this rant...I'm sorry.

I'm now all caught up on the inauguration tv coverage that I missed while I was in DC.  Something has been rubbing me the wrong way about the first inaugural ball--namely Beyonce's participation.

  

When the Heart of the City Tour came to Miami, Jay-Z had an entire segment in the show dedicated to Obama and change.  That was March of 2008.  Well before that, and actually after that point, it was often brought up how Black America was always the last group to support someone from the black community.  It was as though the majority had to be supportive, in order for us to feel as though we could also back a black candidate.  It was also pointed out that the hip-hop(and the rest of the black music--exception Will.I.Am) community had been rather silent about the election and candidates etc.

Jay & Diddy started to get more vocal about Obama in 2007 and kicked it into high-gear in 2008.  50 backed Hillary ***sigh***(not sighing about his choice, but for his 'I do controversy' stance on everything).  (Note--50 Later switched back to Obama).  By the time the primaries came around Feb of 2008 it was clear that Obama had done the impossible, but it wasn't until Hillary conceded in June of 2008 that it made everything official.

Here's my issue.  Beyonce went from singing at Bush's inauguration in 2001, to "I don't discuss politics" in 2006, to being totally mum about her candidate pick in 2007, to sporting a random Obama shirt here and there in 2008, to making the statement that she flew back from Japan the night before the election to watch the event with her family, while donning a red, white, and blue outfit.  Once Obama won, she then stated she'd love to participate in the inauguration, which went from a possibility, to the inaugural concert, to VIP seating on inauguration day, to singing the first song dedicated to the couple at the first ball, which was broadcast on ABC.

For real???

I'm just curious....there have been die-hard supporters from Day 1 like Kerry Washington and Matt Damon that despite any flack they might receive career-wise supported Obama.  I understand the politics that surrounds Hollywood and the music industry, but aren't some things worth standing up for and not toe-ing the line about?  You mean to tell me there wasn't another R&B singer that supported Obama from day 1 that could have shouldered that honor?  Hmm...but I guess there isn't another Beyonce.  She did a wonderful performance (I'll keep my anger about the choice to remake 'At Last' to myself---somethings shouldn't be touched).  She is a superstar--I will concede there...But I'm just....just curious.....No one else came to mind?

You see...my biggest issue about Beyonce isn't a hating thing.  It's a "i don't like to feel like I'm getting played" thing.

She and Jay-Z dated for forever.   She denied it, he denied it--we all knew the truth.  They got married in April of 2008---she denied it.  Gave a standard "I don't talk about my personal life" answer.  She had an album to promote and all of a sudden information about the wedding and her happiness were dropped off like bread crumbs.  She and Papa Knowles are the best in the business at controlling her image and her status.  She is everywhere and then nowhere when it's convenient to her.

She is the only person that I know that can have a lackluster sophomore album and still make it fly off the shelves.  Am I the only one to realize that she's only had three solo albums?  Seems like way more.  Do you remember pre-Beyonce world?  Good Luck.  She is at every single awards show.  Music & movies---I have yet to see a good acting performance(maybe Obsessed?)  Anywho.  I don't like being played.  I feel like she is in the right place and the right time for everything.  Her career is a balancing act in which she toes the line through everything to be a part of everything. 

I'm done.

TV Round Up

Because I work in news, I try to lose myself in as many light tv shows as possible.  It's the only way to calm my mind down.

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Daddy's Girls--oozing corny....oozing! 

Loved Run's House....why didn't the spin off capture the same goodness?

The City--this show is still a bitter pill to swallow...although, did anyone else laugh when Olivia shut down Whitney's attempt to gossip?  (Life Lesson!)

Loved the Hills....why didn't the spin off capture the same goodness?

Jon & Kate Plus 8--the new house is monstrous.  How do you keep track of so many little people in such a large house and with more than an acre of land?

Things I just got caught up on....

The Game--still going strong...that last episode was crazy, BUT is it just me or did it seem like at least one of the writers went on vacation?  Tasha Mack's new haircut....not a fan.  The song that Melanie and Kelly were singing, while making fun of Tasha, was lame.  That entire scene could have been omitted. 

Grey's--Ok.....I have to be in the mood for Grey's...the show is emotionally draining!  There used to be a balance of emotionally trying moments with the funny moments.  Last week's episode did not have that balance(ok McSteamy's 'man-meat' being 'broken' was hilarious).  I was next to tears--partially because I felt Miranda's exhaustion (every episode she cries in, it's a wrap for me---excellent and underrated actress).  I was also tearing when Derrick went to get Christina for Meredith.  There are points in your life when only your best friend will do.  I can appreciate a man that realizes that sometimes the best thing he can do for you is to give you some time to unload with a bestie.

Also.....While I love Denny......I've had to sit through this muddled plot line the entire season just to hear the obvious....that Izzy is 'sick'?  Hell yea she's sick.  She's been having sex, talking to, yelling at an imaginary character.  For an entire season.  Thankfully this inexplicable train wreck of a plot line seems to be coming to an end.  Hearing Denny's voice narrating the episode was an indicator of the end.

Also....I can appreciate how George is slowly being worked out of the show.  You can go an entire episode and not even realize he was in the show.  Nice way to ease someone out of the show Shonda!

Good Morning All :)