Could have been me

Crack head for a mama . . .
birth defect of one leg . . .
no money, no money, no money . . .

Ok Im being dramatical (one of my new words thanks to flavor flav). But I think we sometimes forget that all the above and more could have so easily been what we were dealt in life. It wasn't till I was sick myself that I realized people with illnesses or disabilites dont define themselves by their circumstances, but just like everybody else with just a little extra to bear.
But none of that prepared me for the oddest feeling that I encountered last week that I still can't shake.

The Sunday of Homecoming Weekend found me frustrated and tired of the crowds. What I didnt count on was one of my friends calling me crying in pain. Rushing her to the University hospital with her boyfriend only to be told they were short staffed and the wait could be hours . . .in the EMERGENCY ROOM! wow. I had heard the rumors of HUH, but that made it so real. So we roll her to the car and head over to Washington Hospital Center. Looked the same going in. Black folks with serious DC dialects at the counter. Waiting room full of black people.

But a whole other experience. We roll her straight back to where they have emergency room stations and over to the side where those who need immediate care are in hospital gowns on cots waiting to be seen. We roll her over to a nurses station where they start asking her questions immediately. That's when they tell us she can only have one person in there with her. So I get all the info she needs out of her bag and head outside to find our 7 foot dental student friend who rode with us and man was I happy we ran into him b/c we needed a medical voice going through all that.
Outside we just sit over at this little pond they have which I guess is suppose to be soothing as you wait for news on a love one. Sitting there I pray. I call my cousin who I find out is still downstairs at my dorm b/c she didnt lie like I told her to get back in. So then 7-foot dental friend goes to park the car from the emergency zone and I head back in to see if they have checked out my friend to see what's wrong. They let me back to the emergency patient area and now she is in a hospital gown laying on one of those cots. She's not crying but the girl next to her is still crying and balling in up in some serious pain - she was in that same state when we first rolled in.
My friend is still hurting but even in pain is such a diva she's asking how she look and if somebody could get her some chapstick. I start asking questions like does she know anymore about what's causing her pain as her boyfriend says a few years ago when her brother was about our age his apendix burst and the doctor comes out and calls her name. It's her time to be seen.

I was not happy. I mean, I was glad my friend was getting treatment. But I was deeply saddened at our society that it wasnt a first come first. Her insurance card got her rolled right away. If it were me, I know I would have gotten the same treatment as my friend but that didnt give me comfort. As I watched her roll away that girl in the cot next to her, the one who was there when we first came in 15 minutes before was still crying and watched too as my friend went to go seen by the doctor. We locked eyes. I couldnt even hold eye contact and quickly looked at the ground. No telling how long she had been there or how much longer she would be there. The difference a freakin insurance card makes even in your time of need. Wow. Welcome to America.

wow, these people really gonna give me a degree!

You failed me! I was hoping somebody out there could give me the key to senioritis. And yes like a true punk, Im blaming everybody but myself.
I spent the weekend doing "work," which consisted of more sleep, a beauty rejuvenation and checking out my latest batch of magazines

: the new GQ (yes the one with my hubby Dwayne Wade: Please look for the future post "I know Im a hater, but did you have to marry your baby mama?") and the new ESSENCE with Sanaa, which has been the best magazine I have read in months! And Im not even saying that b/c of my wee little column on pg72. I mean it really captured the diverse range of black women and that AIDS package had me wanting to pass out test downstairs. Though, once again Beyonce leaves me scratching my head .. .these House of Dereon boots (I love the Coach ones next to it) on pg. 58 are so gawdy and cheap looking the closes they would ever get to B is on a back-p dancer in the 'Jumpin Jumpin' video (was I the only one who didnt know what Christian Dior was yet and thought they'd mixed up the letters for Destiny's Child?:). So yes. this is how I spent my weekend.
So today I was feeling the heat knowing I had so much work to do. But I already had signed up to meet with my advisor and so glad I did. She's heading on a cruise next week. I mean, I have been following my scheme, but I have downright nervous that Howard was gonna through me a curve ball "What!! you didnt know you were suppose to take Swahili II and three semesters of kickball?" . . .and if you cared to know Im the kickball queen!
But no, it was smooth. She already had my scheme with all the classes and grades I completed and what I had left. I am officially 15 credits away from a degree!!!
I was so excited to see that on paper. But it also reinforced something else - how close my whole world is about to change. Yall know I can be dramatic, but me and my best friend and our other close buddy have been together for 12 years - they followed me to Howard:). She's staying here after May 12th. Im headed to NY. And he is probably following the misses. I cant dwell on that or Ill get sad. So Happy Belated my BFF Celeste . . . Im 15 credits away to a whole new life!

Queen/Graduate-to-be

homecoming, smhomecoming . . .can I get a job?

So homecoming has come and gone . . .and Im glad its done. I mean I had my fun moments and appreciated the weather, but I'm that old lady in polka dots and I have outgrown crazy crowds.
Yesterday was the School of C job fair and our magazine group hosted our panel. It was on it! We had a creative director from USA Today Magazine who took his daughter to a Diddy photo shoot and he treated her like a star, the DC editor of Daily Candy who had the cutest mouse slippers by Marc Jacobs and gave us these cute Daily Candy baby tees and somebody took mine!, a Howard Alum who's sat in the Oval Office and lunched with Angelina and freelancer-extraordanaire Aliya S. King. I met Aliya this summer at a 'Dreamgirls' event, got her info and invited her to the panel.
Everybody was loving her stories, including the three years she spent writing a story on the woman who threw those grits on Al Green only to be found dead in his room a few minutes later and how she was a teacher in her hometown in Jersey when she knew she had to go for her writing dream.
By far the coolest part about her was her honesty about how she stalkerized those she wanted to work for (cough,cough . . . sound familiar?) and put me on blast as the stalker I am :).
But I guess it paid off as she told the crowd when Smokey (yes, from my beloved GIANT) was looking for an assistant and other staff, she thought of me. That made my week!
It's good to know what people think about you (even when its not good) because sometimes people see us completely different then we see ourselves.

Me and my BFF Celeste may not have partied like rockstars for homecoming but we did our all-time fav pastime: people watching!
The outfits and outlandish-ness of homecoming was so worthy of study. But the weirdest part for me was just seeing how groups of friends were so much alike. Back on the yard after the game we hit the ESSENCE tent where somebody told me "Charreah, you are full of it. You'll go far" She gave it as a compliment and I guess Ill take it as one. But I HAVE to get this thesis knocked out so . ..

Smooches,
The B.S. Queen

Communicationes'

So I have been on my magazine group grind. This weekend we hit the Capital Bookfest hard to help out Heart& Soul mag. I broke out my lil H&M wrap sweater and practically froze to death Starbucks in hand. I keep getting shocked how small the world of 'Progressive Blacks' is but tis true.
The highlight of my trek out to Largo, MD was seeing Michelle Singletary make me get back on my financial grind as she really put a lot in perspective.
Fact: I don't need any new clothes.
Fact: I'll be paying rent in 7 months.
She bought a house right out of college. Though I smirked when she said how her kids only have one pair of sneakers, a pair of play shoes and dress shoes, it was saddening how rare she is as she has a nice house, will send her kids to school with no loans. That's so much sexier than some loafers.
After Michelle (syndicated Washington Post finance columnist and new TVOne show host) answered my couple of questions and signed my book of hers I bought, "Thelma from Good Times" hit the stage to talk about her relationship book.
She looked great! though at first I swore she was the chick from Envouge. It was cool to a celebrity so accustomed to their typecast role that she even named her website "thelma from good times." Classic.
Sunday found me with my radio debut on Kool-Aid. Though I was a bit nervous to see how three other people would work on what I thought was "my idea" the show was hot and we flowed well! The show isn't online yet (thanks elle for caring to know:) but it's suppose to be up soon.
And thanks to Shani O and Lauren for your help (and the inspiration to even go out for a show!). We went with your tagline "Know the Flavor." I'll holla. Homecoming is upon us.

The Burning Bush

He's just that HOT!

Reggie Bush leaves me constantly searching for a word so much more than sexy. I don't give a damn if he took money he wasn't suppose to get. I could care less if his parents lived in that house rent free. Go Reggie for bucking a system that looks at our sexiest men alive as simply cash cows and running machines.

This summer Reggie Bush was one of Essence's 'Do Right Men.' You've all seen that topless picture that even the classy ladies of Essence put in like a Word Up poster:) And we all loved them for it!!!!! To celebrate the success of the issue and to acknowledge all the hard work of many staffers (including my lovely asst. editor Naz) they had a big cake celebrating the issue with the cake image being the exact picture from Essence with Reggie with that shirt off!
It was divine! I ate Reggie Bush's thigh! And thought it was the cutest thing when Mikki was getting one of the first pieces and said "I don't want no sneaker" with her hand on her hip as someone tried to cut her a piece with Reggie's foot.


Queen

*Someone please come back in five minutes and close my mouth b/c my jaw is still hanging on the floor from these pictures.

Puff, Puff, Kill

I stole this from somebody else's blog b/c it was just that crazy. Represents the mind of too many people in this world. The sane really are outnumbered

wondering what side I fall on,
Queen

Worldwide . . .

Alicia reading my check it column on pg 92;)

. . .yes that was a SHAMLESS plug.

I have promised myself that I will survive this hectic week and it has started out fab!

I found out they liked my radio show idea and I will be on the air!!!! And you have no excuse not to listen . . . the station is now on the internet, where you are chilling right now.

Every Sunday from 6:00pm - 8:00pm . . . KOOLAID!!!!! Still working on a fly tag line with flavor. Any suggestions?

"Kool Aid . . .where flavor lives"
" Kool Aid . . .the flavor authority"
"Kool Aid. . . the flavor is always fly"
"Kool Aid . . .we define flavor"

and I could go on for hours but gotta head to soccer class.

Kool Aid Kween