I'm Back

Well, I've really been slacking on my blogger account. I've been feeling really private these days, and most of my blogging has been done on my myspace account. There is something to be said about having a circle of friends and associates to correspond with. While, I was traveliing through Africa, I posted along the way on my myspace. My trip is over, and I'm writing a few articles on the journey. That's the main reason I haven't put my photos or stories online yet.

There is no way I can sume up Southwestern Africa for you. It was the most spectacular trip I've ever been on, and I want to go back next year. It was full of adventure and excitement, of highs and lows. From camping amoung the rolling dunes of the Namib Desert to complete isolation in the Okavango Delta of Botswana. I loved every minute of Africa. I loved the fact that, as a black woman, I got a lot of attention. Men would smile in my face and ask me questions in whatever language they thought I spoke. And everywhere I went, people thought I was South African. Even in Namibia, men would yell at me in Xhosa. And at one shop, the women asked me if I was South African. Then, they told me that everything about me from my hair to my body shape was South African.

I find it funny that wherever I am, people always think I am something else. Even growing up as a kid, people in my home state would always ask me where I was from. It seems I've never belonged anywhere that I am. It is interesting to always be perceived as an outsider. Africa was the only place where people looked at me like they knew me. Liek I was something familiar.

I will blog about the nuts and bolts of my trip after my articles are published.

Africa Photos

Africa is a week away!

I am a woman with an agenda and a raggedy "to do" list. I mean this list is torn, stained, creased. This little piece of crummy paper has helped guide me through the pre-trip breakdown period.

I leave for Africa in a week, y'all. And my brain is complete mush. I have everything from travel toilet paper to anti-malarials to krazy glue to duct tape to a frst-aid kit that would put Macgyver to shame. And i was doing pretty good with this home stretch of packing and tying all the loose ends.

Then, I got home yesterday and turned on my tv to HBO. And do you know that there was this movie on called Duma. A movie filmed in Southern Africa. A movie about a boy returning his pet cheetah to the wild. This was such a divine thing catching this movie. It was so random, and on HBO at that! and it showed me all the landscape i will see when i get there. (I also learned that the only thing that scares lions is fire). There were so many growls and real animal sounds when night fell. I couldn't believe it! i was freaking out a bit. in one week, I'll be there sleeping in the desert beneath the stars. riding on the river in a log canoe. taking pictures of hippos and the like.

i can't wait to write all about my trip. i'll be 30 upon my return. can't hardly believe it.

i'm looking forward to my time away from my surroundings. time to reflect on my life and put things in perspective. i plan on posting tons of photos on this site, so get ready!

Karen's New Book!

My friend Karen has co-authored another book. It is called Creating Change Through Family Philanthropy:The Next Generation. For those of you who don't know Karen or know of her, she is ridiculously cool. She saved me during my horrific years in Boston, and helped me develop into a better writer. Support her by buying the book!! This is her second book for Softskull Press.

Karen used her multi-million dollar inheritance to co-found The Chahara Foundation--run for and by low income women in the Boston area.

She was also featured on 20/20. If you missed it, watch it now!

The first book, Classified: How to Stop Hiding Your Privilege and Use It for Social Change! , was an excellent "guide for people with class privilege who are tired of cover-ups, who are ready to dig through the buried files and figure out how their privilege really works. Complete with comics, exercises and personal stories, Classified gives its readers the tools they need to stop hiding their privilege and instead put it to work for social change."

 

New Year, New Blog

For those of you who've stuck by me through the days of my old blog, many thanks. I know I pulled a fast one by one day, just deleting the remains. But sometimes, you have to destroy everything to rebuild for real. So, here I am with a new blog and a new outlook.

This year has already included tumultuous lows and unbelievable highs. If these past eleven days have been any indicator of the rest of the year, I'm really in for a LOT. My personal life has taken on soap opera form. Suddenly, I'm thrown into a torrid love triangle complete with the slamming of doors and the flinging of expletives. My writing career on the other hand has suddenly come into its own.I won a major annual fiction contest this year. It was announced on the third day of 2007. My story is all over the place. When I think of the readership, it blows my mind that most of the city has access to my work. Plus, I NEVER win anything. Never, never, never. So, I'm starting the year off trying to balance the unbelievably good things with the unbelievably heartbreaking ones.