No Nonsense

When Will Americans Walk Like An Egyptian?

I have always disliked the saying "walk like an Egyptian," because it has no basis in reality but when someone asked the question " when will Americans walk like an Egyptian on Facebook, I wanted to know what they meant by it. Unfortunately, I did not know this person but, my question to the author of this statement is what are you advocating, do you want Americans to take to the streets? For what reason, what is the issue that would drive the masses into the streets? I really don't know why the so called Egyptian people are in the streets, but I hear that they are finally tired of Mubarak running things but what does that have to do with the American people. We are already in most of the countries on the planet so I guess some think that we should go ahead and jump into this mess also.

February 11, 2011: This post was started when this so called revolution began and now the media says that it is over and they, the people have successfully ousted Mubarak. I really don't know who really ousted this man but I have a suspicion that it was not the people but the power behind the curtain, the ones that really are responsible for toppling governments. I have never really been interested in politics and/or politicians because when you come down to it they are all pushing hidden agendas that don't have much to do with helping the people that vote for them so, excuse me if I choose not to "walk like an egyptian," but to walk like the individualist that I am, and that means that, I am walking past all of the bullshit that the media is peddling.

Photography

Trying to be a photographer is really kicking my butt as I am called on to put myself out there to try and capture images for other people. I know I have bitched and complained about this in the past but for me, it is difficult to take the photo and then have others judge its worth. I said it before and I will say it again, I am not a professional so when I am in these situations, a little of the joy, no, a lot of the joy is taken away from me and replaced with anxiety, but through it all, I get a little satisfaction when I capture something wonderful. I am planning on taking some classes so I can learn how to better use my camera. I know that I love going out into my world and just trying to capture the magic and it is usually a spontaneous happening, I see something wonderful and I snap, that is how I love to do it. I also seem to take photos of nature, rocks, bridges, places and things, not many people, people are much more complex and it requires more skill on my part. I am truly out of my comfort zone and I know growth will be the end result.

Finding Magic

I spend my days in search of and finding magic. I can take the tiniest thing and turn it into something wondrous, I love that about me. Armed with my camera, I try to capture my world and post it for all who are interested.

Feelings of Failure

I was given a chance to do something new, exciting and nerve racking and that was to come as an "honored" guest photographer for a dance benefit and in my eyes, I failed the task. The minute I walked into the badly lit theatre, I knew I was in trouble. I took a few test shots from different locations and I was unable to get anything of significance. I am a dancer so, I love watching dance but this was absolutely the worst time I have ever had watching a dance performance and by the time the show ended, I had aged 20 years. I am laughing now but that night, I felt so defeated. Don't get me wrong, I loved the dances but with every click a feeling of despair hang over my head, some how I knew I wasn't living up to my expectations. I wanted to blame it on the recently purchased camera but no, I think it was just my skill level, and my son who is a photographer and has done many photo shoots tried to make me feel better by telling me that this was a great thing and that it would help me to grow, but, I was inconsolable until I found an email that explained to the company director that the lighting would be a problem but I would come and try to capture something. In the end, the dancers were very appreciative of the photos and I thanked them and tried to move forward. You see, I am out of practice when it comes to failure and that is because I am not taking any chances, which is not a good thing. In order to stay in the game called life, I need to continue to put myself out there to learn new things, move out of my comfort zone, be daring, embrace new challenges and learn from my not so successful ventures. By doing this, I will always be a winner.

Trying to Capture My Flow on Film

These days, when I leave home, I always have my camera with me. Most of the time I have my little digital in my purse and my 35mm film camera around my neck. I have enjoyed taking photos since I was sixteen but lately if I leave my 35mm, I feel like an appendage is missing, it has become part of me, an extension of me, a third eye hanging from my body. This strong attachment has occurred over the last two years or, ever since I joined facebook. I wanted to show people who I am so I started taking my cameras everywhere to try and capture what I think is a magical life, on film and digital. In trying to capture my life, my flow, I have really grown to love this medium of expression. I am always looking for pictures that explain the magical world that I live in. Recently I spent time sitting on a beach that was composed of sea glass, and I wanted let people on my page see what I saw although nothing beats seeing it with your naked eye. In the beginning I used my camera and video to show the magical space I call home and then I moved out and about to show my bay area playground and how it is possible to have fun doing the simple things in life. I am really starting to fancy myself as a photographer and people have suggested that I take some classes, I thought about it and decided against it. I am not interested in being trained to see the world through some teacher's eyes. I want the compositions to be my own and not that of the teacher. People say that you should learn the rules and techniques and then you can stray from them and do your own thing but for me that doesn't make sense, I am having fun doing what I am doing and being graded or critiqued in a classroom will probably not bring me much joy. So, I will continue to try and capture my world and my joy on film on my own.

The New Dreadlock Generation

The new dreadlock generation are doing a little bit too much in the way of trying to dictate what our locs should look like and how we should care for them. They show blatant disregard for those who have come before them. Back in the day they referred to us as dirty and nasty and it turns out that they still do the same thing in the year 2010. They exhibit photos of rastas and place them under a category entitled "neglect," and they call it nasty because of the way it looks and many post comments, like, "nasty, lol, I'm glad that is not on my head," and they call it dirty because they don't like the way it looks. I know that this goes both ways because an older brotha just told me that he calls this new loc generation, "pasta rastas," because they are plastic, they lack culture, and because of their tiny uniformed spaghetti one size and all the same length hair." So, they are also being judged but as, a backlash because they are putting themselves up as judge and jury when it comes to this ancient powerful hair. Since this hair has been taken over by the masses, they have diluted some of the powerful energy that can be manifested through wearing locs. They are an antennae to the spirit world and there used to be a definite initiation period. As they grew with little interference other then, sun, water and love, it reached a stage when you knew it needed to simmer and you donned your crown that you learned to crochet, and then, like a caterpillar creating and entering its cocoon, you emerged a butterfly. That was the magic of growing locs. I no longer feel that magic with this new dreadlock generation, it is just a hairstyle and when they post blogs concerning their hair journeys, they get caught up in which products to use because, for many of the new locked masses, this was not considered a relevant style until they could take it into the shop and until that had products to plaster on them. It had to become profitable for the masses to jump on the bandwagon. So where is the magic, where has it gone?The mainstream masses have taken over this ancient powerful hair and that means that it has come down from the mountain tops and been dragged into the mainstream where it diluted and mixed with all manners of stuff and its meaning and magic has been wiped away for the masses but, there are still those on the mountain tops that are connecting to the cosmos through there powerful locked antennae!