SoBe White Party

Lo and behold I went to the party and it deserves it's own post. Fun fun fun! Women all over decked out in their intepretations of 'white attire'.

Where to begin??? Party was at Nikki Beach club which I'm told is one of the spots to see and seen. It was an indoor outdoor setting so people were flowing in and out yada yada. The best part was when I walked in and saw Nicole Pina ... ooo honey I almost keeled over in a faint. The woman is FINE! For those who do not know who she is I present a visual sample and her myspace profile. I have mentioned her previously in relation to her role as Tori in The Lovers and Friends Show. K I'll quit talking about her but suffice it to say, I loved seeing her in person several times over the course of the evening

Also in the house was Dee who won Shear Genius, love her hair. At one point in time I was on the dance floor right next to her and had to check myself ... no asking for photo ops when someone is there relaxing.

Hmm what else transpired ... a lot of dancing some imbibing of adult beverages, some tipping of dancers and an incident that involved a swag bag, some ice, some glo-sticks, quite possibly 2 other people and uh we'll leave it at that. Unfortunately for you to understand why we're leaving it at that I need to present exhibit A and B.

The glo-sticks somehow ended up attached to my shirt front. I just took the tat photo a second ago with my phone. Its on my neck and rather hard to hide.

Tat is a temp but it is waterproof so I'm about to start a research project on how to get it off before Monday. If I don't I'll be hard pressed to explain it in the office.

We partied until 4 am and I had to leave for the airport at 8. Needless to say I got up at 8 and thank goodness I had enough common sense to pack my stuff after I got home from the party. I missed my airport bus & had to improv my way there. I must say living on the edge is not all that as I almost had a heart attack a time or two. I literarily ran to the gate. As an aside, the lady sitting across the aisle from me was giving one hell of a presentation on why people should not have tats. And mine was on prominent display. Anyway I write to you from Charlotte, NC as a sign that I did indeed catch my flight.

Half penny post: Thanksgiving travels part deux

11/27

MIA -SoBe

Yup I'm whooping it up in South Beach Miami. Beautiful weather I must say, esp considering that I was freezing my ass off in NY yesterday. I found time to hit up a gayborhood and the Lincoln Mall. I also took a stroll + dunk in the Atlantic for good measure. There is a white party in SoBe tonight for the lesbians and I'm told some 1500 women show up annually for it, so I'm seriously considering going even though I'm tired as hell. I do have a white outfit though I forgot to bring my white pimp shoes... o well win some lose some. They have a toga party tomorrow which I'm sad about missing but hopefully I can catch one in Chicago next summer (no way in hell I'm going to one in winter)

So here's to all sorts of dykery...

Half penny post: Thanksgiving travels.

Okay we are on the road again, or more or less doing the airport hop. I'm going to do the whole trip in one multiple entry post by day / airport code so here goes:

11/27

NYC - New York

Another day another City. Happy Thanksgiving to all. I hope the cranberry sauce is fresh, the mashed potatoes are from scratch, the turkey is juicy and the pies are flaky crusted and cooked to perfection. Also hope you get a moment to think about what you are thanksful for.

My Thanksgiving feast consists of a Subway footlong and a bottle of water ... quite a hearty feast I must say.

Being that I found myself in NYC I decided to check out the Macy's Thanksgiving parade. Not a bad experience. I went North of town along 66th and the crowds were sparser over there so I got to see most of the floats and baloons ... my favorite was Sesame Street. I know I'm a grown woman, but I really enjoyed seeing Grover, Elmo and Big Bird. Incidentally Big Bird isn't that big in real life. Anyway off to watch 'I Can't Think Straight'. Lord knows how long I've wanted to see it.

Update:

Having seen ICTS, I have mixed emotions. For one having watched the youtube clips I'd already seen half the movie. Also I had the play by play down. Throw in a few lesbian / gay cliches eg KD Lang cds and it's kind of a let down. I think as far as Shamin's movies go, 'The World Unseen' rules. Now having said that I did enjoy the movie. It was a nice change of pace to see Lisa Ray being the more assertive party. Of the 2 love scenes (yes I'm going to go there) I think the second one had better chemistry and more believable, just my humble opinion. I wanted to give Thala's sister a good shake everytime she came on screen. There were one or two laugh out loud moments and a few snicker worthy ones. All in all worth a see if you have time though I'd say find The World Unseen first.

11/26

ORD - Chicago O'Hare

Bored as hell, I even had time for a nap. Then had the honor of confusing the hell out of a lady who was sitting across from me in the terminal. That almost made up for the boredom.

PHL - Philadelphia

Not bad, had to wait for eternity for the train but otherwise was good. Since I was in town early enough, I took myself on a late night tough of downtown. Can someone tell me why the city has a giant clothes peg opposite City Hall? Ridiculous I tell you. And how in all holiness is someone to survive if all the stores are closed. Not even the 24 hours CVS was open. I forgot to buy batteries for my camera so I"m relying on my phone until I find an open store.

All in all Philly is a beautiful historical city.

Half penny post: Finals

For the past week I've been battling final projects and finals. We are on the quarter system so we are sprung before Thanksgiving. Great I have 6 weeks off, not so great the stress before Thanksgiving. By the time you get to Turkey day all you want to do is sleep not hang around with the family. One more day and I'll be done and I can't wait.

I have to salute Sheena of the site sheenasays for eating those sea slugs. For a description of taste she says "for the curious: sea slugs are super slippery and slimy. the texture is “bouncy”. uhh, yea. kind of like jelly meets oyster meets octopus. (meets your mouth!)" Again hats off to the woman...

Now it being exam week I needed something to take my mind off the books and I watched the movie Rome & Juliet which is Filipino. I watch a lot of foreign language films in my spare time, mostly Bollywood, but I've never been known to turn down an international film. Yes I specialize in subtitles. Anyway Rome & Juliet took me a minute to get into but once I got invested in the story I couldn't stop watching it. Best way I can summarize it is Imagine Me & You story line with more that you can get behind. Some of the acting is questionable but I still think it is worth a watch if you can read fast and fill in the blanks. See below for a sampler of the movie

Rome and Juliet, is about two lovers, all right, but the main characters in the film are two women. It tells of the romantic journey of Juliet (Andrea del Rosario), a conservative pre-school teacher who hires Rome, a liberated wedding planner, to take charge of the preparations for her upcoming wedding. Thrown together by circumstance, the two women become close and develop a romance that becomes a huge scandal after the groom and their respective families discover their affair.

Angered and humiliated, the groom (played by Rafael Rosell), calls off the wedding. Not long after, Juliet is driven away from home by her own mother, is fired from work and is injured in a vehicular accident that renders her comatose. But in the end, and despite all the trials, Rome and Juliet’s unconventional love for each other remains strong and intense. -- Extracted from http://sheklabee.multiply.com/journal/item/54/ROME_AND_JULIET

Prop 8 rallies

Over the weekend there were rallies all over the country and I go a chance to attend the Chicago rally. Very cold weather I must say. A few photos are below. I have read several blogs on the Chicago rally and one of my top write ups is by eternally_evolving on OurChart. If you have an account hop on over and read it for yourself. I'm not linking to the post directly as I don't have her permission to do so.
Wanda Sykes also came out during the weekend... yay! Congratulations to her and her wife.
These are my favorite clips of her on youtube right now.

The World Unseen

From the ladies who are bringing us I Can't Think Straight, comes the movie The World Unseen. I had the honor of going to the Reeling Film Festival here in Chicago on Saturday to watch it. Lisa Ray and Sheetal Sheth have amazing chemistry and I am counting down to watching I Can't Think Straight. The World Unseen is quite a compelling story, to quote a few:

‘[Lisa] Ray is particularly remarkable as a woman who is truly torn between familiar oppression and a freedom so unthinkable that it frightens her. The film’s happy ending is graceful, absent of grandiosity or too much finality. It offers genuine reassurance, convincingly suggesting that one small individual action, while not a panacea, can be the difference between hope and despair.’ Justout.com

"The World Unseen contains not one but two of this year's steamiest screen kisses."
Cameron Bailey / Film Programmer / Toronto International Film Festival

‘The World Unseen is a touching love story… In her directorial debut, Sarif makes the transition from novel to big screen utterly seamless, depicting romantic love that
transcends its racist, sexist and homophobic surroundings.’ IndieExpress.com

Trailer:


A synopsis of the movie:
Free-spirited Amina has broken all the rules of her own conventional Indian
community, and the new apartheid-led government, by running a café with
Jacob her 'coloured' business partner. When she meets Miriam, a young
traditional wife and mother, their unexpected attraction pushes Miriam to
question the rules that bind her. When Amina helps Miriam's sister-in-law to
hide from the police, a chain of events is set in motion that changes both
women forever.
In a system that divides white from black and women from men, what chance
is there for an unexpected love to survive?
From overcoming oppression to finding personal freedom, from the hardships
of a loveless marriage to the hesitant joy of an unexpected love affair, The
World Unseen transports the viewer to a vibrant, colourful world that is
universal in its themes.

Half Penny post: 100 and counting

100Posts! Thanks to all who stop by often and to those who keep discovering this blog. I honestly never thought I'd be writing my 100th post.

I started this blog as self prescribed therapy. I needed to put my thoughts down somewhere. I also wanted to put down my life experiences because when I was coming out, it was hard to find blogs by other glbt Africans. Granted my experiences are a lil out of the ordinary, but I hope that the gist of the posts will help someone. I am still working things out and do appreciate the feedback that I get from the readers. You have given me comfort and strength and a sense of community.

In response to a question that I was asked a while back but never came around to responding to, my name Ty is derived from my first name (Taie - If you are Southern African you can guess what the full name is).

As a side note (more of a tale really), I had to take my profile down a month or 2 ago because we were required to create a project blog for one of my classes. Along with the personal project blog, we had to contribute to the common class blog as well. Now being the genius that I am, I never thought to create an extra email account so that I could keep the worlds separate. I was merely thinking convinience, I can follow all blogs in one place:). After my first post I realized that my classmates could click on my name and see my other blogs ... not cool. So up until Thanksgiving, my profile will continue to be hidden, after which I will put it back up.

Any questions that you might have for me can be dropped in the comment section.

Love & Peace

The Queer African Ty

Travel Post: DC Again

To start off I'd like to address a question posed by readyornot on whether or not I'd adopt a child if I didn't have a partner. Short answer yes. I have given it some thought and concluded that as long as I have a good support network around me I would go ahead and do it. I would also need to be on the up and up financially as having no backup finances has the potential to not only screw me up, but to also screw up the life of the innocent child.

Well I'm in DC and have been for a hot minute. I should be heading home tomorrow as I have work in the afternoon. I had a day off of class and decided to travel up here to visit my sister and close friend who is in town from Japan. It's been nice seeing him and catching up with my sister. Weather is infinitely better too.

I flew in through Philly and must say that I have fallen in love with their airport. There is so much to see and do. Below are a few images of an exhibit by Lisa Murch. Also note the bell is made using lego pieces only.

history in the making

obama won! i am still in shock. i was in Grant park when the announcement was made. The crowds energy went up tenfold at the time & i do mean it was amped up.
His speech was ... can't even find words right now. had to use my phone for this blog entry while i was still amped.

YES HE DID! OBAMA PRIDE ALL THE WAY!

Half Penny Post: Life, family et al

I must say the warm weather has been a nice change. I've been trying to spend as much time outdoors as possible. Yesterday (Sunday) I decided to walk instead of catching the bus while running errands. I figured walking along the lakeshore would not only be relaxing but also a good round of exercise. The time outdoors cleared away a headache that had been brewing which I am eternally grateful for because I knew that if it hit I'd be out for the count.

Anyway while I was walking along the shore there were parents with their kids playing. I remember a couple that was playing catch with their little boy and teaching him to bat as well. He was a little sweetheart. There were other parents out with kids of all ages either playing games or just walking.

That got me thinking, when I have a kid of my own (I've finally decided that I do want children eventually, but I'm adopting) will I be there for them in the way that they need me to be. I am still working out my issues with my folks and I do sometimes worry that when I do have kids, the issues will come up again when it comes to my parenting. But I figure the kid will be ahead by a mile as their other mother will probably be better adjusted.

I had a discussion with a friend of mine a few days ago about the adoption & raising of kids. I would like to give my child several names and 2 last names. Names will be in English, Zimba & ethnicity of other mother. Kid will also have both last names. I would like to have it that way because I am fully aware that I will not be able to put my partner's name on the adoption certificate if I'm the one adopting.

I would love for the child to learn about their heritages, eg if they are Zimba I would like them to learn both the history and language. It is something that I think is crucial in their understanding of themselves. My grandparents insisted on teaching me about my heritage (I've got the ancestry down a number of generations) and the languages. I was not interested in it at the time but I learnt to get them off my back. Now I'm glad that they insisted that I learn. As all my grandparents have passed on, I will always have that part of them with me. Speaking of grandparents that have passed on, I was saddened to hear that Obama's grandma had passed on. Prayers go out to him and his family.

On a lighter note, Lewis Hamilton won the Formula 1 world championship ... YAY! Now I was suprised to learn that he is dating Nicole Scherzinger of PCD... anyway he beat Massa by a point :). Drinks all around(non alcoholic)!

Today is the dawn of a new era ... Obama Pride all the way.

Ty

Happy Halloween indeed

This is a shallow blog post, my alter ego insisted on writing it.

I would like to take a moment to thank the Lord for a very warm Halloween. Having said that I know that's a one way ticket to hell.

I walked through Boystown earlier this evening and it was entertaining to say the least. I met Marlon and his partner and we walked down Halsted critiquing the costumes (they were on their way to Circuit). Minibar had the best selection of costumes ... I think I saw Paula Deeen complete with a dish towel and spatula. The ladies ... amen. Again thank you for the warm weather. Gotta find a photo of me in my fire chief attire.

:D