Browngirl Speaks

i was checking to see what the big "O" would be discussing today on her show and it’s about "freegans".  what the heck is a freegan you ask?  of course, i had to investigate before the show starts for myself.  the term is the marriage of free and vegan.  their most notable charactersitc–urban foraging or waste reclamation…ummm, dumpster diving.  now, their principles, i can get down with but their means to an end…not all for me.  mainly the waste reclamation, i mean, can y’all see me hoist over in a dumspter looking for edible food or a half-FULL bottle of shampoo some wasteful consumer tossed to try the latest and greatest in unnatural hair products? 

However, i appreciate the intentions.  it’s just like those who join the armed services.  i disagree with purposely enlisting to fight these often pointless wars but someone has to do it.  not that the "war" on consumerism and capitalism is ever pointless, but it’s not meant for everyone to fight in the same capacity.  the freegan capacity being one.  i am definitely looking into supporting their efforts though.  the sight i visited– freegan.info gave a few good tips on how to live and contribute to this lifestyle.  i’m sure there are other more voluminous sites than this one but it was the first i checked and was pretty abbreviated and to the point.

i rarely toss something i haven’t squeezed every drop of substance from, but if i do, i’ll definitely think twice or donate to one of their "free markets".

Rent it, get the soundtrack because both are so very awesome.  It’s a modern take on the musical.  Please do not let "musical" frighten you.  It’s so simple and lovely and INDIE (which equals totally bad ass).

Oh yeah, and who just won an Academy Award for best original song? Go check out "Falling Slowly".

Now, I know my son’s just about to embark on kindergarten, but finding the right direction to go in is making my head spin. I’m still not sure of his learning style. I do know that, like most children, lots of repetition helps. It’s not always necessary since he’s a human spongs, again, as most kids are at this age. My main concern with him is math skills. His language arts skills are on par, but I’m just not sure how to approach math. I’ve been leaning towards the unit studies approach as it seems the most appropriate for primary learning and a child as hyperactive as mine. It will allow him to focus on one general theme while incorporating a number of “subjects” and maintaining his attention because of the various activities.

An activity I’m really excited about is the lapbook. Again, something else that seems very age appropriate although they are used for any subject or topic in every grade level. But with kindergarten still being the time to lay the foundational learning, it’s great for reinforcement on broad subject matter. For instance, a lapbook on dinosaurs would be great for a 5 year old, I think. Down the road, we’d get into lapbooks on specific dinosaurs or groups of dinosaurs. But theses lapbooks, are usually made with file folders and are an actvitiy within themselves–a craft project of sorts. You can find relevant pictures and use any small articles or voacbulary words or whatever and glue them into the folder and voila!

at joanne borgella’s first audition for american idol, i thought: she sure looks familiar; i believe she won that monique’s fat chance competition.  well, i was right.  it’s weird to see contestants, let alone winners, from one competition on another.  it seems like there should be some rule against that.  not hatin’ on her even though i don’t think she was the best choice for the top 24.  i know a few other girls who sang far better than miss borgella, but que sera sera…

i’m selling my stuff– look up butterfly307 on ebay.  thank you for your support.  good night.

for the fans of sue monk kidd’s the secret life of bees, we’ve waited with baited breath for just the cast reveal.  there have been a number of message board discussions and conversations between me and a friend since the book was released regarding who should play who.  i won’t get into a whole synopsis of the book here–just go read if you haven’t already.  ok, real quick: young white girl runs away from her abusive father along with her Black nanny/ mother figure who she breaks out of jail in 1960’s south carolina.  they eventually wind up at the home of the three boatwright sisters who are beekeepers and knew said white girl’s mother once upon a time.  there!  now little miss dakota has never been my favorite to play the role of lily owen, but my friend seems to think she’s perfect.  i have discovered i am not alone in not wanting fanning to portray the 15 yr. old since she looks 8 and will be falling in love with a black teenager.  right–cannot see the chemostry being present, at all. 

now, the rest of the cast that has been finally posted on imdb is even more a shocker.  the boatwright sisters are around there late fifties early sixties in the novel mind you.  who’s cast?  queen latifah and sophie okenedo (think hotel rwanda).  now me and my friend were on the same casting of the sisters and the nanny who’s being portrayed by jennifer hudson.  seriously?  we imagined folks like phylicia rashad and alfre woodard as the boatwrights and loretta divine as rosaleen (the nanny). 

so, needless to say i’m no longer as excited as i was for this movie to be made.  i mean, they have made the entire cast like thirty years younger than in the novel.  this hugely impacts the story.  so we shall see…

Due out February 26

check out her latest interview w/ clutch magazine…

first, i’ll start with myself.  i let my frustration and situation throw me off the wagon this week.  since i had to go to my parents while we were sans electricity (which is now back on, btw), i just ate what they ate.  not that they eat unhealthy, but it was not conducive to my organic/ all natural lifestyle i’ve adopted. 

now that that’s outta the way…

who i really want to put on blast is a classmate, of course i won’t name names but this made my head throb.  in response to another student’s discussion board response, a classmate writes, i quote: In the words of the three musketeers, "All is for one, and one is for all".  and yes, he put it in quotations.

i mean really!  really?  it’s undergrad with working adults, many of which are civil servants or in armed services.  and that was just the tip of the iceberg in the need for a freakin’ grammar check feature apparently…

i thought surely we’d blow away tuesday night.  but, we didn’t.  the browngirl, the lil’ brown boy and the mr. are still here.  and so’s our house (just with a lot of windblown debris in the yard)– whew!!!  as many of you may have seen on the freakin’ national news, memphis metropolitan was pervertedly touched by about 30 tornadoes.  the one that destoyed a huge portion of a local mall was ohhhh, maybe a half mile from my house, if that much.  talk about a twister having a specific path!  i prayed, willed, chanted, hell maryed, law of DIStractioned and everything else that tornado away from me and mine.  and to see what this thing did about an hour or so away @ union univ. is mind blowing.  i’m not even upset my electricity is out or that it may be three weeks before it’s back on.  i’m so thankful we were spared from loss of life and property.  thanx to all those who checked my blog, emailed, texted and called to make sure we weren’t carried off to oz…

YAY! new Girlfriends tonight, finally…