getting out and taking a chance...

last night, the air was thick and heavy with possibilities. it felt like anything could happen and i wanted to be off my block when it did. it started with a trip to barnes & nobles and then a stroll across atlantic ave. on court street. i had never been on court st. on that side of the avenue, over there by trader joe's. before that trader joe's opened, it always seemed like there was an invisible wall or some kind of spell that made you not even interested enough to look down that way. i don't know what made us look over there last night but we did. maybe it was how the lights were twinkling. i do recall how movie set clean the block looked. anyway, it took forever to cross atlantic but when we did, it was if the veil had been lifted. there was a steady flow of traffic in and out of trader joe's but it thinned out as we went down the block. after wading through all of the hemp totebags and scooters, we encountered the standard fare - trendy boutiques and restaurants, world of bennetton crews, baby strollers and hyperactive mini dogs. ahh, park slope. nothing new but it was a welcomed break from our block. weeksville, that historical slice of brooklyn on the border of bed-stuy and crown heights that no-one seems to know or remember anymore, is rough. in fact, we walked by 2 curb barbecues, the beginnings of a drunken serenade, and two soused old men scheming on how they were gonna get their next king cobra (that's malt liquor, y'all) on our way to the train station. anyway, we just missed a wine tasting at the brooklyn wine exchange but we picked up a garnacha bielsa (red for him) and a quattro mani toh-kai (white for me). how bourgie of us, lol.

court street was nice but we turned down bergen to get to smith street. after walking down several blocks and checking out several menus, we decided on this cute asian restaurant on the corner with outdoor seating. chance asian bistro on smith and butler is now officially my new favorite restaurant. my boyfriend buddha had a prix fixe dinner with wasabi lobster tempura as an appetizer, filet mignon for the entree and coconut mille crepes for dessert with a sangria. i also had a prix fixe dinner but i had the jalapeno calamari, crispy tropical chicken in a warm pickled ginger sauce and the yamamomo (japanese plum) creme brulee with a nigori sake berry martini. we also each had an extra appetizer. i had the spicy thai mussels and he had the steamed chicken shu mai dim sum and the deep-fried shrimp wontons. sounds like a lot of food, right? it wasn't. the portions were just right. the food was well-seasoned. the flavors were distinct and not muddled. i could identify the ginger, scallions, coconut milk and the red curry paste in the broth for my mussels. that broth was so good that we both spooned some over our jasmine rice. everything was delicious. everything! i had no complaints. at. all. the food was orgasmic and the restaurant itself was modern and sexy. we had already started planning our next visit before we had even finished our appetizers. sigh.

the night continued with us watching our DVRd sunday line-up. FOX aired one of the most uncomfortable hour long family guy specials ever. i still love them but last night's episode was just crazily inappropriate. talk about pregnant pauses and awkward laughs. i guess it prepared us for the season premiere of the boondocks. that shit right there...man, listen. i'll have to dedicate a separate post for that later. i'm still processing everything i saw and heard. i will say, like i said on twitter (follow me @ashaknows), that someone needs to write their thesis on uncle ruckus in "post-racial" america and entitle it "a splish-splash of irish". ha! anyway, the night ended with a lightening show and a relatively quick steady rain. i thought the rain would break the humidity but the air was just as charged when i woke up this morning. hmmm, i wonder what else this week will bring. i don't know but i'm willing to take a chance and find out.

what do you get when you cross a basketball mom and a pitbull?

"well, one's a real tough bitch and the other got michael vick in trouble!" - black sarah palin

ok, i'm kinda done with this whole race for the presidency but you can never get enough palin jokes. here's today's funny one.



thanks blackplanet.

ode to obama...

i love this!



"hosanna, obama, proud father, dark angel, black knight..."

quirks make the world go round (at least in my head)

after running into janelle (one of my fam from hampton) on our alumni site, i went through the new process - friend requests on myspace & facebook, posting that first wall-to-wall comment and checking out and then subscribing to her blog (refuge of a butterfly). as suspected, reading her backposts shamed me for not writing more regularly, but that's a story for another time.

a few days ago, i received my ROAB subscription and was promptly TAGGED!



the rules are:

Link back to the person who tagged you
Mention the rules on your blog
Tell about 6 unspectacular quirks of yours
Tag 6 following bloggers by linking to them
Leave a comment on each of the tagged bloggers blogs letting them know they've been tagged



so, here it goes.
here are some of my quirks. if you know me well, you know that i have no problems sharing quirks but i will have difficulty limiting myself, lol.

My 6 Quirks

1. I only write in black, medium point pen. I cannot do blue of any point or black fine (my handwriting looks spidery to me. ugh) and I only use red when I'm editing my unit's work. I know that they hate my red pen because on more than one occasion, it's gone missing. hmmm.


2. i share a quirk with janelle. i too pack my groceries into a tight rectangle on the conveyor belt at the grocery store BUT i group the groceries the way I'd pack them. for instance, all boxes first, cans next, bottles follow, bags next, then vegetables, dairy and finally meats. AND i prefer to pack my own groceries. i distribute multiples of items to balance the bags.


3. i never take the first or last bite of anyone's food. i don't know. i just feel that you should get to taste your food before i do and you shold enjoy your last. it's a respect thing for me and by no means do i mean to imply that i think i'm about to be poisoned, lol.


4. when i buy cds and movies (yes, i still buy them occasionally and i guess that could be considered a quirk nowadays), i prefer to open them when i watch them. my bf just rips all of them open as soon as we get home, leaving pieces of tape and sales stickers on and that drives me crazy! i open them neatly and take my time to peel the security tape off, kinda like how i unwrap gifts. i know that i try to find pretty paper and use that satin scotch tape (it's the BEST!) so my gifts always come out looking professional. i would hate to see my present ripped open all savage-like so i open mine as gently as i would want my gifts to be opened.


5. i do not like for someone else to read my magazines or books before i do. when i get my monthly subscription to essence (or the now-defunct honey & suede), i like to luxuriate. i get cozy on my couch with a drink and i peruse the pages leisurely. my son knows that this is mommy time and usually gets into whichever new comic book he has earned. i also can't stand when the mailperson bends up my magazine and tries to stuff it into the mail slot instead of opening the mailbox. i've been known to go out and buy another copy from the newstand.


6. and i do not eat watermelon. ever since i was little, it just felt wrong to me and when i was older and finally realized what those old loony tunes cartoons meant, it just confirmed what i felt. i can't do watermelon. no watermelon slices or chunks in august, no watermelon jolly ranchers when i was in junior h.s., and no watermelon martinis now that i'm grown.

now that i've shared some of my personal crazy, i want to hear yours. spill it!

pH, aja, insiah, ali, kenji, and finally janelle - you're it!

yes, i know that this is silly considering all that's going on in the world but we can still make time to smile.

i heart...

the daily show and the colbert report. i truly appreciate their sarcasm and wit, not to mention their intelligence. here's one of my favorite correspondents on the daily show, larry wilmore. since you're reading this, i can assume that i don't need to give disclaimers....do i?







but wait, it gets better. comedy central is getting blacker again (we still miss you, chappelle!).



chocolate news starring david alan grier premieres wednesday, october 15 at 10:30pm. you remember him from in living color (men on film, ceephus from ceephus & reecy) and boomerang? i tried to find a clip of him as maya angelou advertising froot loops, "those frooty loops of fruit", and butterfinger but all i could find was this guy in his head wrap (yes, it is a towel, lol).

final thought...i know we all know that this was satire but i hope some people don't actually believe this. obama for president!