As I Stand In the Presence of Greatness

On my blessed walk to my office at my new job this week, I noticed that I would have to pass a library every day. This particular library was dedicated to one of the most esteemed neurologist and neuroscientist there, Dr Wallace Tourtellotte. I thought to myself, “Who on earth could that be with a name like that and with every doctoral known to man? “Today, on my downtime, instead of Facebooking, I decided to find out. I mean I am an Aquarius. We research EVERYTHING! Nothing gets by us!

What better way to see who this man is than to mosey around in the book repository named for him. Surely, I thought, they would have some type of history on who he was. I thought wrong…sorta. All of the books in this library were under lock and key! What-Sam-Hill-In-The-Valley is going on here? Who locks up library books or any book for that matter? My mind is an umbrella; it only works when opened just like books.  Hmmm……as I scratch my dimpled chin with finely manicured hands. *speaking of which, I’m in need of a manicure* Anywho, I couldn’t help but to stare at the portrait of him on the wall. The portrait had to have been painted long before the invention of stilettos. I wondered how he became to be of such greatness that there is a room that bears his name. I thought, “This picture is old as hell so I know buddy aint on earth anymore. Rest in peace Mr. Man with all of the D’s in his title.” I smiled. I love greatness.

Curiosity got the best of me. I still couldn’t help but to wonder who this man was. I pull up my trusty friend Mr. GOOGLE. His ass knows everything and everybody. I began to type in the search engine T-O-U-R-T-E-L-L-O-T-T-E…enter. As the picture pops up the damn library door opens. Wtf? Who has the code to come in here to damn disturb me? Before I turn completely around to see the trespasser, I hear a voice that says,”Don’t get up. It’s no one of importance.” I agreed to stay seated….as if THIS Diva was gonna stand up anyway. I joked around, “Fine. I shall do as I’m told,” He says, “Great. At least for now that’s good.” He chuckled hard as hell. I decided to turn around to see who is chuckling like Old Saint Nick. My eyes rested upon this very mature gentleman. In my mind he had to be about 110 years old. How the hell is he still moving around? He says, “My, aren’t you just a sight for sore eyes. Hi there you pretty lil thing you.” Now yall know I normally woulda cut a damn fool for anyone calling me a thing but since the word was preceded with ‘pretty’, I decided to let him slide just this once. *smiles* I thanked him. For some reason I felt the sense of greatness surround me so I decided to stand. He told me I didn’t have to go but I insisted. I wanted to go and research my man Dr Tourtellotte in peace. Besides, I would give this poor man a heart-attack if I stayed and flirted with him. “I must get back to work now”, I told him. He didn’t recognize me. I thought it was because his poor lil sight was leaving him because surely everyone knows me. LMAO I introduced myself. He extended his hand to me and as I took it, a magnetic force generated from my hands to my elbow. “Well I’m Wallace Tourlette, So pleased to meet you.” My jaw dropped Honeys! Literally and that’s a lot with these lips of mine.  I looked over at the computer screen with his face on it still. I looked up at the portrait that bore his name and I let out a Diva-ish squeal.“Oh my! Is that you on the wall?” “That old thing? Ah fooey!”, he says, “That’s not even my good side.” I was so astounded! Now yall know my ass is dramatic. My eyes grew extra large and my lips became extra bubbly. “Well I’ll be damned. I was just about to research you.” “No need”, he says, “I am still alive. This is like my second office.” “So you come here to let it all out?” “Yep!” “Well they need to keep your office clean at all times then damnit! How dare they!” I began moving chairs out of his way and immediately became disgruntled at the untidiness of the place. I mean he’s like 100 years old. He can’t be tripping and falling and such. I dusted off his little table and everything. I was so happy cuz yall know my ass won’t even dust my own table, let alone some dude I just met.



Dr. Tourtellotte has dedicated over 60 years of his life to brain research. He has a Ph.D, M.D. and all the other D’s behind his name. Man that is some real dedication to healthcare. He IS a radiologist, neuroscientist, neurologist and author of at least six books! Lawd hammurcy on my lil o’ pretty soul. He’s been doing this since before my mama was born! That means I wasn’t even (yes I’m aware of the double negative) thought about yet! Yeah I know you are prolly thinking, “Ok bish. Why are YOU so excited over something so little?” WRONG! This is NOT little. I love legacies, especially one I get to witness. And the little things inspire me and make me most happiest than the suspected joys of the big things. All that time I thought the old guy had kicked the bucket. His honorable butt is still around kicking buckets. Doesn’t that just beat all?! I am literally beaming. I guess TPTB wanted me to see for myself that to assume is just that---made an ASS outta ME! What a great way to start the weekendJ

Dr. Tourtellotte

//signed//

The Pretty Lil Thing of a Cat’s Meow

YOU don't make ME beautiful!

Ya know, the severity of people's ignorance still amazes me in the year of 2011! But if you know me, then you know that I am allergic to bullshit and foolishness. I try to avoid it at all cost but like attention, ignorance is my personal paparazzi.

Sometime last week while me and 1 of my boos, Jesse, were having a few drinks in WeHo (West Hollywood for the non Cali-literate) when someone of the Caucasian descent inquired about his ethnicity because of the grade of his hair. Really dude? You asked what he was mixed with because his hair was not "kinky like I mostly see"? Some of yall are really growing big balls this year I see. I will say that my boi handled the question with such class and dignity. Now had this question been asked of him about 2 years ago, I may have been raising money for Jesse's bail. My, how my boo have grown.

Now fast foward to today. Idiot savant in class to me: Wow you have such soft looking hair and its so curly. Are both of your parents black?
Now for some reason the hush that came over the room should have been her cue to shut the hell up but she chose to demonstrate this "Was it something I said?" kind of bullshhhhaat! See what happens when ya open ya mouth to say absolutely nothing? It causes me to get in that ass. Tryna play that ditsy role will NOT fly with me bish! It's not cute and the question is NOT that innocent like you are pretending to portray it.

Grace!

Me: Attention all white people, Latino people, Asian people and all the like. Do not ask a black person if he or she is mixed if they have hair like Jesse. Do not ask if Stacey has Asian in her because her eyes are 'Asian-like'. Do not ask us if we are of another ethnicity because our eyes maybe of any color other than dark brown.  MY people's beauty come in all sorts of shades of color, grades of coiffure & hues of eyes. When you see YOUR definition of beauty, don't try and take credit for it! We are beautiful without your blood ya dig! In these days in time, it baffles me how ignorant people choose to be. Yes, I said choose. It's hard for me to believe that in 2011 you still contribute OUR beauty to that of YOUR ancestry. We have green, blue and hazel eyes. WE all don't claim to have Indian or White in our families. Some of our hair is soft and curly and NOT what you CLAIM to be used to. That excuse would have worked in the 40's, MAYBE, but not now. I will NOT sit around and watch you under-mindedly insult my people in public or otha-fucking-wise! You are not responsible for the allurement of my people! Don't merit yourself for our exquisiteness! EVERY race have beautiful people, with or without a mixture. Grace Jones is a beautiful as Lena Horne. Kenya Moore is just as beautiful and Kimora Lee Simmons. Tomiko Fraser-Hines is just as beautiful as Dorothy Dandridge! Stop trying to claim OUR Michael Ealy! He has told you his parents are black so get over it. We don't need your validation to be validated. And just because we may have a surname of something besides Williams, Smith or Thompson, it doesn't mean we are mixed with a Latin Reyes or Morales. We come from countries other than Africa and the US so there are black Gonzales' & Morenos, Burkes & Goodacres so grow the hell up. Quit trying to be a contributoring factor in the beauty of black! It for damn sho' aint cute and I for damn sure know you are NOT that ignorant! What you eat don't make us shit!



Tomiko!



Silence...DONE!

I went easy on that bish this time but with the next victim, I won't be so gotdamn nice!

//signed//

The PROUD TO BE A BLACK CAT'S MEOW!

The Truth Is.....

The truth sometimes make reality harder to live with. The truth is democracy is a beautiful dream but the reality is that most of us don't care about democracy as long as we have stability. The truth is that sometimes we are not where we should be but the reality is we are not where we used to be. How do you perceive reality? Would you rather deal with things the way you see them or deal with things the way they truly are? The truth is, happiness is fully attainable but the reality is, who wants to work so hard to obtain it? The truth is mothers should be nuturing and protective of their children. The reality is all of them are not. Do you look reality in the face and blatantly deny because you can or because you refuse to face it? I don't know, tell me what your reality is and I'll tell you how I perceive it.

//signed//
The Realistic Cat's Meow

No Truer Words...

"If someone wants to be a part of your life, they will at any cost. One shouldn't bother saving a spot for someone who won't make an effort to stay."

Interesting isn't it. But how does one know if one has made a conscientious effort to stay? This brings me back to my heartbreak. He wanted me to stay on HIS terms. It was HIS terms for a very long time. It didn't work for me later. So, now what? Is he to blame for me not setting boundaries? Did we need boundaries? In hindsight, I am guessing so. Hindsight, however, is 20/20.



//signed//
The Blind-sided Cat's Meow

We Are Not In Kansas Cowardly Lion

     You know what I hate? Yeah, I know what you are saying, "Bish you always hate something!" And your point would be? Don't answer that. I could care less at this point.

Anywho, I hate when people, specifically a male, try to gather information about me by asking me questions in a bish ass way! I hate that! A few days shy of moving into my new domicile, I finally run into one of my neighbors. We talked about his line of work and how he goes back and forth to Iraq for months on end as a contractor. Now, I have already heard about this dude from the previous tenant who just happens to be a friend of mine so I knew the drill. He looked at me all intense as if he was trying to read me. Impossible Boo! Anyway, he proceeded to tell me the happenings in the area and without skipping a beat, his ass asks, "So you live there with your man?" Him don't know me too well do he? *in my Tweety Bird voice* LOL I continued on with, "I have friends in Iraq right now. Some have been there for a while, some fairly new there and a few are coming back soon." He then goes on to say how small the apartments are and how women usually live here with their boyfriends. "What does your boyfriend do?" I deviated to the other neighbor standing next to me and complimented her hair.

Fast forward....

"If I only had the nerve"

The neighbor from earlier, we'll just say his name is Bob though his name sounds like URINE, decided he would walk me up the street to the local market to show me where the good deals are. He got a new phone, asked me my opinion of it, told me some of his business and yada yada yada. On our way back to MY QUEENDOM, he goes, "So I guess your man is trusting. He let you go to the store with me." I say, "Funny. I don't recall discussing a male counterpart with you." He says that he asked if I lived there with my man and I said yes. Now I knew which alley this cat was headed so I betta stop him dead in his tracks before he winds up writing a check that his ass can't cash. "Noooo, I distinctly recall ignoring you actually." One thing I hate is when a mofo ask me shit in the ways of the Cowardly Lion asking the Wiz for some gatdern courage! I'm a direct Kitty. My heart don't pump no Kool aid. "Boo sit down. If you wanna know something, it behooves you to ask. Ask directly and with some balls please cuz I'ma turn ya down either way." He apologized as he should. I can't stand that shit! Don't try to be slick with your shit. You can't slick another can of oil Boo, ya just can't. Lord, where do they find these people? I have already got wind that he likes to show up a Diva's door unannounced. I'll just say this. I am NOT that kitty to do that to. You and I can already foreshadow how that can turn out. I'm just sayin'....
//signed//
The Anxious Cat's Meow

Love is NOT Lost

Love is never lost. It changes position every now and then so you would have to work harder to find it. When you do find it, you're more appreciative of it. That's what love is. ~Elvadaseleithia

     Yeah love sometimes trick us with the old switch-a-roo method or go militant & dress in camouflage. It never hides, it is never lost and it is never unsure. Those that have it, can't help but to unleash it. They can't help but to show it no matter how they much they try and tuck their little hearts under a wool sweater or iron box. Those that don't have it can't possibly show it. They may be able to fake it but like the plated gold necklace this woman is wearing in front of me, it will tarnish. The gold will eventually flake off, that metal will turn green, the external will begin to itch and the imposter will ensuingly reveal it's true colors. Oftentimes, we KNOW when love doesn't exist. Our skins starts to itch, that so called "love" begins to flake & we sense that all that is glittering aint gold. But like this lady, we love it anyway. So my question is do we really have no choice in who we love? They say when someone is "the one" we will know it. How many times have you "knew" the person you love was "the one"? How many times have we let "the one" get away because we just knew the one we were persuing was "the one" when they turned out to be "the one we shoulda let go"? I'm sure we all have thought this at least twice. If you say you haven't then you sir or ma'am could be suspected as a distorter of reality. I aint saying you're a liar or nuffin but I'm just saying.
What about the ones who try and pretend there is no love where it truly is? What do we call those people?

Sometimtes love is right in front of us but we don't see it. It has been on the tip of our noses but we failed to smell it. It sings sweet nothings in our ear but we become deaf to the melody. It's been an entree that we failed to eat because the sides were just too irresistable to pass up. Does it make its way back around again or as Langston says, does it make like a dream & dry up like a raisin in the sun? My guess is as good as yours but this one thing I know, Love is never, ever lost but it is US that is.

//signed//
The Ever-Aporetic Cat's Meow

Three Times the Charm

     As many of you know, especially if you follow me, that I am on a quest to rejuvenating my spirituality (if you don't know, read previous post then come back to this one and keep the hell up!). I am Buddhist and yes we believe in the powers of the mind and the universe contrary to Christian belief. We try not to focus on that. Too much focus on deities makes one forget about living, IMHO.

     Yesterday, on my inspirational & meditational visit to Pacific Palisades's Lake Shrine, TPTB (The Powers That Be) decided 2 visit me once again. About 15 minutes in meditation, the leader asked us to use the rest of this time to speak to TPTB from our hearts while focusing on our breathing. I began to speak. "What do YOU need me to do? How do I know it's you speaking and not me answering myself? You sent a sign telling me that you listen to me but you didn't tell me what to do. What do I do?" An assertive voice from inside proposed, "Be still."  "Ok," I say, "is that my voice I hear or is that you? I need you to appear like right now or else I'm gonna think I'm crazy! Do ya hear me?" I left it at that. Meditation ended. Though I was perplexed, I enjoyed meditation. I had not sat with an erect spine, closed eyes and in silence in a very long time. Exiting the Windmill Chapel with my SNUGGIE in tow, deep in thought & highly spirited, I run upon this sign:

What on earth is going on?! LOL Ok Universe! This is the 3rd time this has been 'yelled' to me. Ok Ok already! I looketh to the skies again from wence cometh my....answer.Now I know it wasn't me answering myself. This sign was nowhere to be found during my previous visit to the garden. I was dumbfounded. "You keep telling me to be still but what the heck do you mean? I'm not moving!" Now that I know TPTB is hearing me, maybe I should ask what is meant by "Be still". I'm not moving or at least I don't think I am but you know Heaven. Their terminology is totally different from ours. My 'still' aint their 'still' if you catch my drift. Yeah, I think you do.

//signed//

The Impatiently BEing Still Cat's Meow