Vocal Expressions

Last night was a Girls Nite Out (GNO). We decided on having dinner at P.F. Chang's and then go to see the movie, Crazy, Stupid, Love with Steve Carell. Although it was a comedy, there were some lessons to be learned about love. Like how it can make you go crazy (acting jealous in a relationship), stupid (falling for the wrong guy or gal after a partner has broken the trust in the relationship), love (knowing that you have one true soul mate out there). Other lessons worth learning is that kids more often than not take their cues from their parents about how they interpret love (showing and receiving it). The characters were great and I especially liked the son who was a hopeless romantic, pining away at a love (his babysitter) who wasn't into him but he felt that if he was persistent enough, he would eventually win her heart. Then there are his parents played by Julianne Moore and Steve Carell: high school sweethearts, married young, grew apart, the mother cheated, the father ...

During the weeks leading up the Harlem Book Fair event in New York, I was running around getting things together: vendor license, skirting marterials, more business cards, post cards, etc. I wanted to make sure that nothing was left undone. So I was very excited as I double checked my bags and headed for NYC. It was a long ride and my mom and I didn't get to NYC until after midnight. Tired and exhausted, we hailed a cab to Harlem where we would stay the next few days with a family friend. That night I set the alarm and of course, it didn't go off in the morning. But we managed to get up in time to get to the check in location (Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. and 7th Ave) so I could get my author badge. We then hauled everything to my table and chair location at G21. By 10am, I had my table set up with my books, and other displays - ready to go. At first, the temperature was not too bad but as the day went on, I was guzzling several bottles of water just to quench my thirst and wiping ...

This weekend flew by so quickly like any other weekend since I've been preparing for the Harlem Book Fair on Saturday, July 23, 2011. I managed to get my Certificate of Authority to collect NY taxes and applied for my Temporary Vendor license sell my book, Gotta Let It Go. All the while, I made time to attend a planning meeting for the mentoring program and getting some writing done. On Sunday, I had to get my exercise in, grabbed breakfast in the cafe, browsed the Internet, read some submissions from other writers and still managed to fit in a hair appointment. Now I'm all relaxed and geared up for the week. It'll be a busy one!!

When I saw the previews for this movie, I was really excited and looked forward to seeing Matt Damon in what I thought was going to be a thriller. It had the feel of the Matrix, and Fringe - a movie and a TV show which I thoroughly enjoy. But, I was really disappointed when I finally got the DVD only to find out that it was a love story involving a "love" the main character played by Matt Damon shouldn't have. All in all it wasn't bad but I felt I was tricked into thinking that it was something more. Oh, well onto the next adventure!

I started off celebrating my July 4th weekend by hanging out with friends on Saturday at the Half Note Lounge in Bowie, MD. This is one of my favorite spots where there is live entertainment that will keep you on the dance floor for hours. The next day I decided to sleep in and missed my kickboxing class but I deserved staying in bed on a Sunday. Today, the official day for celebrating the independence holiday, a lot of folks are out enjoying a good barbeque with family. As for me, I worked out at the gym earlier in the morning, will probably have a light meal for dinner and spend the rest of the day writing. Some of my friends would say "how exciting." But I need to use the time that I have without any interruption to stay on target to finish my second novel. So, Happy July 4th everyone and celebrate it anyway you like!