Comments on Los Angelista's Guide To The Pursuit Of Happiness: Black Celebration...Sort Of

nice blog!Nice information

2007-09-03T13:49:00.000-07:00

nice blog!Nice information

nice blog!

2007-09-02T10:38:00.000-07:00

nice blog!

Thanks to author! I like articles like this, very ...

2007-08-29T02:08:00.000-07:00

Thanks to author! I like articles like this, very interesting.

Great Article! Thank You!

2007-08-28T14:39:00.000-07:00

Great Article! Thank You!

Liz, I totally feel you, girl. Both of my parent...

2007-01-02T20:09:00.000-08:00

Liz, I totally feel you, girl.

Both of my parents are black, but I was lighter than a brown bag and just square enough to get labeled weird and stuck-up at my school. It sucked. There was even a rumor that my dad was white (if they only knew...he's a Que for Godssake!) I guess this was because I played field hockey and was in academic level classes?

For years, I thought my problems in school had to do with racist teachers and students (some did). It wasn't until my twenties that I came to the realization that my biggest problem were the black students who wanted to be "hard" (mind you, we lived in the 'burbs, but still). There was just something about being dissed by your own that hurt more.

Now, nearing mid-thirties, I've realized that more than black or whatever I was labeled, I was just my eccentric self (still am to some degree!). Artsy, nerdy, me. And that's okay, too.

Don't worry about the shallow sisters, there are plenty of us individualists to balance them out.

Great blog! :)

Dr. D, Ph.D., MD or both? ;) My thoughts on thi...

2006-12-28T19:36:00.000-08:00

Dr. D,

Ph.D., MD or both? ;)

My thoughts on this are too lengthy to include as a comment. You've inspired me to write a bit more on this. Je te remercie.

We cannot allow this inept system/society to tell ...

2006-12-28T04:48:00.000-08:00

We cannot allow this inept system/society to tell us how to categorise ourselves. "They" try to control how we think and feel and come up with some strange concepts of identification. Who in there right mind would describe themselves via their choice of music, ethnicity = musical choice, wow thats a weird one, but oh so typical of this system. Furthermore, the terms black and white are totally wrong to use in the way "we" do and serve no purpose other than to seperate.
History is crystal clear about all of this yet the "controllers" try to mis- present it.
Colour, what the f+!k is colour and what difference does it make? Whats ethnicity? Whats indigenous? Whats patriotism! What does black mean? What does white mean?
How can you judge someone based on the colour of their skin? Scientific insanity. Check the books out properly and you will see for yourselves in black and white that the debate is futile and that it is all about the system putting up a smokescreen by trying to divide people for its own purpose.
Oh what a wonderful world!
Who were some of the greatest composers of classical music in the world? What's color got to do with it?
Where did we all come from originally, geographically? Who were the original people here (USA)?
I have got some great books on this mixed race/biracial debate which i will post for reference next time.
Essentially, we are all the same, beautiful, complex, yet simple little creatures, but we all have minds and depending on how we use our minds we see things in the way we want to see them, "state" sponsored or spiritually sponsored. The latter picks the bullshit out from the sense and discards it has trash!
Keep being discerning, keep diseminating, keep illuminating the wrongs and keep practising the art of enlightening normal folk!
Peace and love Dr D.

Chas, See, the 2 out of 3 must at least one reaso...

2006-12-27T00:39:00.000-08:00

Chas,

See, the 2 out of 3 must at least one reason why we're friends. Weird nerds of the world unite! And, let's not forget, you go to Depeche Mode parties with me and don't look completely bored.

In all seriousness though, I do think there are aspects of this that are harder for black men. According to our world, you can't be Chas because you're supposed to be Slim Thug's clone. Or else that annoying ass guy that sings, "Money in da bank, shawty what you drank?"

I can only imagine the conversations some sistahs might have over you, "But girl, he has a job and a degree! So what if you have to go to Coachella. Don't let him go!"

Counselor, Glad you enjoyed your visit over here t...

2006-12-27T00:22:00.000-08:00

Counselor,
Glad you enjoyed your visit over here to my neck of the woods.

You are right, we do all have more similarities than differences, but we definitely love to pounce on those differences, don't we?

In LA, it seems like all the cool kids are the folks that are sitting in Starbucks at 10 am on a Tuesday, drinking a latte and yapping into their cell about whether or not to call the person they hooked up with on Saturday night. The cool kids don't ever have real jobs (like being a counselor) but somehow still manage to pay rent and dress in designer jeans. The folks working at Starbucks till 9pm, well those are probably the kids that were never quite cool enough.

Self diagnosed ADHD? I heard Richard Branson has ADHD. He attributes his success to it. ;)

These posts are why I'm proud to count Liz as a fr...

2006-12-26T22:45:00.000-08:00

These posts are why I'm proud to count Liz as a friend. I wasn't lucky enough to find myself mixed, weird and nerdy growing up but 2 of out 3 ain't bad for making you question yourself as a black male. In some sense I was lucky that I went to a nearly all white private high school, so I still got to be the local measure of blackness if only by default. Too bad this didn't do me much good when I came home my black family, who encouraged my intellectual bent but still obviously found me strange. Its played itself out most recently when trying to find women to spend time with. I see those same beautiful black women you see alone at the Grove, but much like my family they find me and my interests a little strange. They like the upwardly mobile thing, they just aren't sure about the indie rock and love of showtunes.

Liz... You made a comment on my blog and I've bee...

2006-12-26T10:14:00.000-08:00

Liz...

You made a comment on my blog and I've been reading your entries all morning!! This is amazing...especially since I've diagnosed myself as having adult ADHD--I can't believe I haven't been distracted! :)

I'm not certain if this comforts you, but I am an African-American woman--and my first instinct wouldn't be to call you an "oreo". Children are cruel and(unfortunately) they grow up to be cruel adults. Don't carry the shame of being different--you've been blessed enough to have two different heritages.

Although I wasn't a "nerd" per se, I wasn't the cheerleader in school either. My mom and I would have reading contests over the summer and one of my favorite games was scrabble! *picture telling your friends that you couldn't go to the movies because you were in the middle of a game of scrabble with your mother*

Anyway, I'm a REAL counselor!! Wow. Sometimes, I can't even believe it. I am able to do exactly what I wanted to do in life...and all of the "cool" kids are working on Christmas Eve until 9pm. (Was that insensitive?)

We are all different. We just have to accept that difference and use it to our advantage to help people.

p.s. I loved New Edition, Ready for the World, Troop, and everyone else. At night, I used to sneak and listen to Techno..."Catch me I'm falling" was one of my favorites...shhhhh don't tell LOL

Maybe we all have more similarities than differences...

Zorak, You are too generous to say my post inspire...

2006-12-25T09:37:00.000-08:00

Zorak,
You are too generous to say my post inspired yours. Clearly those thoughts have been marinating inside you for awhile. I think it'll all change when we gain a true understanding of how interconnected we are, how we really are one human family.

Noel,
I want to believe things have changed at least somewhat so that your Godchild won't have to experience much of what I did. And things are different in LA than in the midwest. But our society has not changed enough so your awareness and vigilance on his/her behalf is much needed.

Velvet,
Those boxes will be the topic of much scholarly interest in another 100 years. I used to tell people I was going to marry a 1/2 Iranian and 1/2 Mexican man so our kids wouldn't be able to fit into any boxes at all and then I could sue someone over it. For some reason, this also makes me think of my husband's grandma who could pass for white but chose to identify as black. But that's another post for another day.

Starrlight,
Yes, 217...and counting. I have it downloaded to my computer so when I'm sitting in a boring meeting I can peruse the description of Lucy, "The lips were red, nay redder than before, and on the cheeks was a delicate bloom." Love it.

Sundry,
Aww, shucks! I'm blushing! :) Seriously, you are too kind.

Thanks, Liz. Sometimes it just amazes me that I g...

2006-12-24T14:07:00.000-08:00

Thanks, Liz.

Sometimes it just amazes me that I get to read your blog for free.

You've inspired this post - http://zorak163.blog...

2006-12-23T20:54:00.000-08:00

You've inspired this post -

http://zorak163.blogspot.com/2006/12/liz-at-los-angelistas-guide-to-pursuit.html

Thanks!

That was an awesome post. Thanks for visiting my s...

2006-12-23T12:29:00.000-08:00

That was an awesome post. Thanks for visiting my site and I will be back to yours.

PS..I dunno if I am at 217 but I have read Dracula at least twice a year and always for Halloween since I was 10. I love that book. Bram was beyond kinky!

This was a very thought provoking and honest post....

2006-12-23T10:08:00.000-08:00

This was a very thought provoking and honest post. It's a great thing that you're doing something to make a difference.

It makes me wonder about how my own kids are going to go through life being mixed race (I'm white and my husband is Asian). Which "check only one box" are they going to fill out under race?! I wish that it didn't even matter. Now I wonder how they're going to feel about it growing up.

I wish that humans didn't feel such a need to sort and compartmentalize everything, especially other humans. It's always something. I wish that we could evolve past that.

Oh, and by the way, Depeche Mode was awesome. ;)

-velvet

You know, my God child is mixed. I'm glad I'm bei...

2006-12-22T18:04:00.000-08:00

You know, my God child is mixed. I'm glad I'm being educated.

Open and honest posts like these are always my fav...

2006-12-22T14:41:00.000-08:00

Open and honest posts like these are always my favorite. Thank you for sharing. It just proves the point yet again that each of us has something about us that can and will cause others to discriminate against us. With this point in mind you'd think that people would be less willing to keep perpetrating the cycle but most people apparently are not intelligent enough to realize how this all ties together.