Homegirl Quel (kel) in Austin

Why My Beyoncebowl Sunday Was Perfect

I spent six hours at the park with my son and some friends, shared a steak with my son at a stop on the way home, bathed my son, put him in bed, bathed myself, put myself in bed, woke up and watched Beyonce's halftime show via a Twitter link on my iPhone and went back to sleep. I heard the football game was good, but did not see a second of it snd it was glorious. My hubby hosted a watch party for at risk youth with the chirch on the east side. Some days I complain about his charity work. Not yesterday though. My day was full of four year old cheeks, silence and sleep. It was perfect. 

"Somebody That You Used To Know" by Gotye

I heard this song on the radio the other day. Smote. In music and film, if there is a good dose of lamenting, I am SO in. This song starts out with Gotye remembering when love went from hot to cold. By the time he gets to the chorus he's all emotional like, but you didn't have to cut me off--acting like we were nothing--I'm not even an ex, I'm just somebody you use to know. Then Kimbra comes in basically like, you were an ass and now you're complaining--get over yourself. Then he's all, I know but I'm just sayin', I don't want to get back together, but that was harsh...

"But you didn't have to cut me off
Make out like it never happened and that we were nothing
And I don't even need your love
But you treat me like a stranger and that feels so rough"

I really like the story this song tells.The video is strange, yes, but it so accurately depicts a person who was once the center of their lover's daily life, and is now figuratively blended so far into the background that their not even important anymore. Like that piece of art you save up for, work to buy, hang on the wall and worship every time you walk by it until you don't even notice it anymore. That's the way we treat objects. It's very harsh when a person is treated that way. But we do treat each other like disposable objects sometimes, don't we?

I ran across the Glee performance.

I love that the song here is interpreted as a song between brothers--(random bit of trivia)Gotye, apparently, did not.

Girl, Did You See The Game Season 5 Premiere?

Here's the latest video blog from GirlDidYouSee. My best friend and react to the Season 5 Premiere Episode of The Game. We are huge fans of the show, but the show has changed in so many ways, and none of them are for the better.

Extra Video Clip! We share our thoughts on Brandy's Performance...

Did you see The Game? What did you think about it? 

See all our videos at http://www.girldidyousee.blogspot.com.
Follow us on Twitter @girldidyousee.

Girl, Did You See Reed Between The Lines?!

Reblogged from http://GirlDidYouSee.blogspot.com

BET's newest original comedy, Reed Between The Lines debuted last night and we Skyped about it minutes after the second episode ended. We, like many of the folks in the audience, grew up on The Cosby Show and are huge fans of Girlfriends and Tracee Ellis Ross. We share our reaction to the premiere of this largely entertaining and good quality show. We are both hopeful that the show will only get better with time. Families should DVR the show (it came on kinda late) and watch it together. Great characters and a very special cast.

GirlDidYouSee The T.O. Show? With Kita and Kari?

Here is the latest of our videos! Are you watching The T.O. Show?

Reblogged from girldidyousee.blogspot.com:

Season 3, Episode 2. The one where Kita moves into a condo with T.O. to help him recover after knee surgery. BFF's discuss the chemistry between Terrell Owens and his friend Kita and the lack of chemistry between Terrell and the woman who, for whatever reason, has his heart, Kari.

My Treadmill & Food Network TV: The Perfect Marriage

I watch all my Food Network shows on the treadmill at my gym. There is no calculated reason behind it. Psychologically, maybe it makes me work harder in anticipation of eating awesome-tasting food post-workout? Although that never happens--I usually eat pretty healthily right after a workout. The real reason may be that I simply love Food Network TV. Since I do not usually have take the time to watch TV, or to read my ever-growing stack of unread books and magazines during the day, I get guilt-free daytime TV in when I can. I also watch it on the rare occasion I go to the gym at night. The other night, I met my new Food Network boo. I didn't pay attention to one thing he was cooking, because for me it was all about how he cooked it. But we're talking about daytime FTV watching right? So anyway,  I cook everyday and Food Network is perfect for fresh cooking ideas. I do not follow recipes often, but I do tweak my kitchen repertoire with new twists on our favorites. For example, I learned how to use peanut butter to liven up a spicy chicken stir-fry, and how to make savory oatmeal with green onions and scrambled eggs, and how to cut, peel and seed a cucumber for a super-pretty salad.  So Food Network TV helps make every minute at the gym count...and it makes every homemade calorie consumed after the gym taste awesomer.

Girl, did you see this new Vlog!

So. My best friend, EssBreezy, and I were on the phone one day talking about Julia Roberts' film, Eat Pray Love. I had seen it months ago and she FINALLY saw it and we had a blast sharing our reactions to the film. We both love Julia Roberts, so there was the gushing about that. We both love food (one of us-->EssBreezy<-- more than the other), so there was the gushing about the 'Eat' part of the film in Italy. We share similar, some would say feminist, views and so we went on about our issues with how Julia Roberts' character made some of the decisions she made. We rehashed this film just like we do most shows and films we watch, going from shallow to deep and laughing from the gut along the way. After we got off the phone, I was still laughing. My husband asked me what was so funny when the phone rang again. It was Summer. She was like, "That was fun! I really enjoy our rehash convo's. We should record them." And so Girl, Did You See...? was birthed. 

In our first video, we rehashed the Season 3 Finale of Basketball Wives. The ones that followed were a 3-Part video on our opposing reactions to the film, The Help. See? Shallow...Deep. All the videos mentioned here as well as the ones to come can be found at http://www.girldidyousee.blogspot.com.

Please check us out! And Follow us on Twitter @GirlDidYouSee so you won't miss what we see next time.  We would love to hear your thoughts about what we saw.  Tweet us and let us know you watched it too! 

Here is our first video...

Grey's Anatomy Musical Episode

One word. Awesomesauce. Anybody who watched it and thought it was crap, can suck it. When Callie Torres (played by Sara Ramirez) sang They Story at the end, my world was basically rocked. It literally gave me chills. I totally forgave Grey's for totally ripping off Scrubs The Musical the moment Torres grabbed her frikkin' ankles! I'm downloaing the audio on iTunes. 

Diana Ross on Oprah

I'm writing another blog post right now and watching Oprah on DVR. I tried to post this all on a Facebook status, but it was too long, so I'm posting it over here...

This episode with Diana Ross has had me happy since I pressed play. The footage of her 1983 concert in the rain in Central Park in NYC gave me chills. She's so joyful and beautiful. She is one of my favorite people and starred in one of my favorite films, Mahogany, which I have blogged about several times. Billy D. Williams just walked out on stage and OMG! They both still look amazing! The interview with her kids had me emotional. Tracee talked about how her mom woke them up so sweetly every day. My mom is the same way! I think I have blogged about how she use to walk pass the door and sing our name SO sweetly. She would sing my name...like sing it... like, "Kay-uuuuuuul!"  Right now I wake my son up in sweet ways and let him wake up slowly, because of how awesome it felt for me to wake up feeling loved everyday, and I want him to know that feeling too.  Diana reminds me of my mommy in SO many ways. What a beautiful, happy lady. End mushy love fest. 

If you're like me and this post has you feeling all emo about Mothers Day, window shop for nice Mothers Day Gifts at the perfect place to find perfect gifts...Red Envelope. If that sounded like a commercial, it totally was. Sponsored post with promo codes for HomeGirl readers coming up soon...just in time for Mothers Day. Thanks, Red Envelope! 

Yo Gabba Gabba Live in Austin was awesome!

A little background. I entered a video of my two year old playing drums in the Yo Gabba Gabba Cool Tricks Facebook contest. Then I begged for my Facebook friends to vote for weeks on end. Thanks to their votes, he won! The prize: VIP tickets to the show, tons of organic toddler snacks by Revolution Foods and access to the after party to meet the Gabba Gang. I thought we would get to meet DJ Lance too, but when he didn't show up early on at the after party, we asked the door guys and alas, it was not meant to be. No DJ Lance. But we sat so close to the stage, that every time he came to our side of the stage, he appeared to wave right at us. Although I can't say definitively, my guess is that he did wave right at us because we stuck out like brown...brown...sore thumbs in a sea of white thumbs. Mhm. DJ Lance waving at us was enough for my son to think he had actually met DJ Lance, which works for me.

World Cup Soccer 2010:Why I'm Convinced This Sport Might Be Worth Getting Into

It was a pretty fun morning for my son today. He loves it when all three of us (he, mom, dad) are home together. His dad worked from home until lunch time and totally coincidentally, I'm sure, the first official game of the 2010 World Cup Soccer championship just so happened to be playing on the television. As usual, the boy was drawn to the TV like a magnet once  the sound of sports is in the air. Y'all know the sound: a steady stream of horns, screaming fans with their indeterminable chants and sports announcers screaming above it all. If I never hear that sound ever again, I'd be happy, but It's like a beacon to my son. Whenever my husband tunes in to sports, my son drops whatever he might be holding at the moment, freezes and stares off into space for a moment to make sure his ears aren't deceiving him and the moment he's sure that sports are on, he wastes no time running for his spot right on dad's lap in front of the big flat screen. So that was the scene in our house this morning...along with my husband stealing glances at his work laptop, jumping up every now and then to kick the ball back and forth and into our mini soccer goal with the boy, and all the other requisite sports fan sounds and gestures you sports fans make while watching a game.

When my son got hungry enough, he finally sat down for breakfast. As he was eating, he paused and looked up at me. Then he asked the most unexpected question of me. He asked, "Mama? What's Africa?" Since the World Cup is taking place in South Africa this year, he must have heard the word repeated enough times for it to stick. It was such a loaded question, that all I could come up with at that moment was, "Papa, Africa is a place."  But I wasn't finished. Mentally, I was already planning my follow-up for our conversation time later. I was excited about the question for two reasons that should be obvious enough that I don't even have to say, but just in case you're not with me already on this, here are the reasons: 1. Hello? My black American/West Indian son just asked me about the frickin' land of our ancestors! And 2. My 2 year-old has asked about a place. He doesn't know it's a place yet, but still. What a teaching opportunity! We have talked about his dad's country and he recognizes the flag and all, but those are things we introduced to him. He never asked about them. The fact that he asked about Africa means he's curious about the word. So of course now, I get to introduce globes and maps and books and puzzles, because he's obviously ripe for his first real lesson in geography, right? And what better place to start than Africa? South Africa. And I think we'll start with the flag. 

My son's first lessons in Geography will begin in Africa. Where everything else began. For that reason, I totally dig World Cup Soccer 2010. And I will follow it along with the males who live in this house with me, just to teach Zack the flags of the countries represented in each game. Again, what an awesome teaching opportunity?! See?! I knew sports were good for something.

Just Felt This Flick: Sex And The City 2

Actually, I didn't feel this flick. The costumes and set designs are insanely pretty. Other than that, the film is just a hodgepodge of awkward dialogue and underdeveloped storyline. It's as if the creators had all these awesome (and they are awesome) fashion ensembles and needed an excuse to show them on film.  I went to see it with some girlfriends and was more entertained with our what-the-eff-moments chatter than I was by the actual film.

My rant review (and spoilers) begin now ...

Proof that the Law of Attraction is real.

I asked: (on Facebook to a friend) "I wish there was a boy version of the Gap "talk to the moose" commercial."

The Universe answered:

Just Felt This Flick: New York I Love You

Friday night I went to see New York I Love You. I hadn't heard about the film until I checked our local art house theater to see what was playing. Whenever I have free moments to get out without my son, I like to take in films there. If you are not familiar with my film reviews, I really enjoy films about love and random glimpses into everyday lives, especially ones with multiple stories that are not connected, where characters overlap, you know? Like,one story might be about a couple breaking up over dinner, then the next story would be about their waiter who goes home to an alcoholic wife. The stories are sometimes sad and depressing, but sometimes love is too-- teenage hearts break, spouses cheat, relationships dissolve or carry on in unhappily. Then there are the uplifting ones where relationships start and last forever in spite of seemingly impossible circumstances. I've written about some of my favorite films and HBO shows from writer/director Rodrigo García, Nine Lives, Things You Can Tell Just By Looking At Her, Tell Me You Love Me and In Treatment. These kinds of films are always PACKED with some of the most amazing actors and are like reminders that everybody has a story.

New York I Love You features more than 20 awesome actors including Andy Garcia and Ethan Hawk (yow.za!). This film is reminder that everybody has a love story--whether it's new love, love lost, familial love, everlasting love, unrequited love, forbidden love,or love only hoped for. The one story this film was missing was black love. I know there's some black lovin' goin' on in NYC--just sayin'. Still, it was an awesome theater experience. I highly recommend this film. Watch the trailer:

The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency on HBO

Is anybody else tuning in to HBO's No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency? It's based on books by Alexander McCall Smith, whom I hadn't heard of before the series, but am strongly considering becoming acquainted with. I'm DVRing it and have only watched the first episode so far. I am SO in love. This makes me nervous, because the last HBO series I absolutely fell in love with was canceled after only one awesome season...and not even because of poor ratings, but because the creatives behind Tell Me You Love Me didn't know where to take it next. So disappointing. Hope springs that they'll eventually return though. But, back to the subject...

Since I watched it on DVR, I got to rewind the closing credits for my toddler to watch. African artwork comes to life in an animated recap of the episode set to African music. He loves it! The episode was peppered with cultural displays of traditional singing and dancing. That and the fact that it was filmed on location in Africa was enough to get me hooked. The set just makes me want to be there. Not go there, but be there. After watching the first episode of this newest series, I'm hoping that NOLDA settles in for a nice long stay on HBO.

I'm looking forward to many Sunday nights with my DVR and a cup of tea...bush tea if I can find some.

Surprising (and wonderful) things about cameos and actors in the new series:

Happy Friday! I'm feeling like some Chumbawamba Tubthumping.

Also, SHOUTOUT! to local Austin filmmaker/model/actress extraordinaire, CC Stinson, who will be playing teacher Emily Walker on the season premiere of Friday Nigh Lights tonight on NBC. Go, Girl! My DVR is set!

I had the pleasure of meeting and interviewing her for my other blog last year. She's an award-winning filmmaker and y'all better not sleep on her. Her latest documentary is "Light, Bright,Damn Near White-A Documentary on Colorism". See what she's doing next on her production company's website ccsquared.com.

Random observation about 24 (the television show on FOX)

After a two-night, four-hour premiere, I am officially hooked on this season of 24. Jack Bauer has the craziest days ever!

While watching tonight's episode, the following occurred to me:

So 24 is a whole season of a show that actually only covers events from one 24-hour day, hence "24" . So that means that for months while the show is being recorded, there are no wardrobe changes...unless there's an explosion or a fight or something. I'm sure they must have many duplicates of navy and black suits for the feds and black leather jackets for the cool do-no-gooders, so they don't have to wear the same clothing item per se. Just an observation.

A Dedication: "I Used To Love Him (Now I Don't)"

Aaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrgggh!

I'm screaming because Denny Duquette is STILL on Grey's Anatomy. Oh, how I loved him when he was alive. I'll even admit that I loved Ghost Denny...the first time he came back. I was even a little giddy about seeing him the third time around, but enough is enough. Ghost Denny, you have outstayed your welcome! I don't love you anymore. You should have gone out on a high note when things were good with us. Ghost Denny, DIE already!

This one's for you: I Used To Love Him by Lauryn Hill ft. MJB

Other than that L.O.V.E.D. the season premiere. Chief's been working out! 

Feel Good Friday!

I remember when this Coke commercial came out during the Olympics one year--I loved it. I remember calling my friend (or maybe she called me) and we were both like, "Did you see that commercial..." The woman's name is Sharlene Hector and the song is "I wish I knew how it would feel to be free".  I was looking for the one that made Tyrese famous on Youtube and found this one. I dare you to watch it and not feel happy...or at least feel like spreading peace and love. :)

Lyrics to full song...

I wish I knew how it would feel to be free
I wish I could break all the chains holding me
I wish I could say all the things that I should say
say 'em loud, say 'em clear
for the whole round world to hear.

I wish I could share all the love that's in my heart
remove all the bars that keep us apart
I wish that I could say all the things that I should say
say 'em loud, say 'em clear
for the whole round world to hear.

I wish I could give all I'm longing to give
I wish I could live like I'm longing to live
I wish that I could do all the things that I can do
though I'm way overdue I'd be starting anew.

I wish you could know what it means to be me
Then you'd see and agree
that every man should be free.

Well I wish I could be like a bird in the sky
how sweet it would be if I found I could fly
Oh I'd soar to the sun and look down at the sea
and I'd sing cos I'd know that
I'd know how it feels to be free

Therapy begins tonight!

In Treatment premiers on HBO tonight. 
Every day of the week there's a new episode. 
Monday-Friday at 9:30pm/8:30C on HBO.

Daily half-hour therapy sessions. That's it! This is going to be SO good?

Here's the weekly run-down of the sessions:

• Mondays-Semi-crazy lady who's afraid to move on with her fiance and thinks/claims she's in love with the therapist with whom she's had no romantic interactions.
• Tuesdays-Perfectionist Air Force pilot with a guilty conscience about collateral damage on his latest mission. This is Blair Underwood's character, y'all! He's so handsome and SUCH a great actor. I watched a sneak-peak on HBO OnDemand. I know he's going to be nominated/win an award for this series.
• Wednesdays-Possibly suicidal teenage girl. She's some kind of prodigy who her parents think was in a motorcycle accident on purpose.
• Thursdays-Screwed up married couple--wife is pregnant and wants to abort, husband wants the baby, current husband was wife's lover during her previous marriage.
• Fridays-The Therapist...has a therapist! Love it! His marriage is screwed up and he wants his clients to just grow up and go away. I LOVE it!

Is anybody else planning to watch?

Update: Of course I'll love this series. It's a Rodrigo Garcia production. I didn't realize it until the credits rolled after the first episode. Nobody...no.bo.dy. conveys the most complex emotional experiences of women specifically and of humans in general better than him. You should IMDB him. He's great. So weeks 1 and 2 of the season are on HBO on Demand. I watched all of week 1 already. It's awesome.