sagaciously is...

Bakers Dozen c/o KB via ej.
I'm gonna say whew in advance here, because this will be an extra long read. Sorry I've been away, and I apologize in advance for the length and depth of this post. With that being said...

1. theFlights - leg 1 my (roughly) 1 hour flight to Chicago, turned into a 9-hour disaster.


2. PhD Conference:: It went really well, and I'll post the detailed account later. My primary takeaway: we're (people of color) far from ordinary people, and given that - it takes some direction to know which way to go. If nothing else, when we do that for each other, it's an amazing thing.


3. house music in the Hyatt:: I'm a house-addict, so how much did my heart soar when I heard a house track (orig track - NOT the Muzak version) being pumped through the hotel speakers?! Ahhh...I'm ho-ome! aside: can any other addicts give me the name of this song, whose hook goes "oowhoo, uhn-hunh yeah....a yea-yo, yea yo...a yea yo, yea yo..."?


4. theHouse:: I get a 6AM phone call Friday morning - my realtor, working an angle to get me hardwood floors. It doesn't pan out, but how much do I LOVE her for thinking about me before her morning coffee??!!


5. goingHome:: I don't get to see much of Chi-town during the conference, but my cousin Lou hooks me up with my other cousin, BabyGirl, who picks me up and gives me a tour of Chi-town. Now, I've never been to Chicago, but there's something about being up North - it was like being home again. Two-family flats, brothers posted on the block, Liquor (not Package) stores, old Downtown buildings that grow up and not out. It was Literally like going home, cept bigger and with better music. I've got the wanderlust (hm, maybe it's time to move...?) again...


6. myNewOrangeLipstick:: BabyGirl tries to tell me, and I adamantly refuse to believe, that popcorn can be addictive. Popcorn = crack? C'mon, no popcorn is all that. That is, until we stop by Garrett's, and she picks up some hot combination of Macadamia Carmel Crisp and CheeseCorn. Oh my gawd! My intent was to stop eating it when my hands began to get numb, but even as the salt ate through the first 2 layers of the skin on my lips, I couldn't stop. My new lipstick is Garrett's Orange. I'm so ashamed...


7. theRendezvous:: We also pick up drinks, Malnati's pizza, wings, and her friend Diva, and retire to BabyGirl's house, to have a true 'Waiting to Exhale' moment. No burning any men's pictures in effigy, but we realize there are some SORRY brothas walking the earth, and none of us are exempt. We love men, primarily because we understand who they are, and are willing to kick them off their pedestal to really get at them.


8. theChi-town tour:: I convince BabyGirl I don't want to see the "tourist" spots, so we hang out with her people in Oak Park. A lil window-shopping, and I find the most fab pair of Kenny's a woman could own, which I cannot buy. Feel free to buy them, and send them to me, m'kay?


9. Girl, I'll house you:: pick up a few more essentials, and we change, beautify, prep to head to the club - - - and had one too many Gin Gimlets. We all wake up, hours later ...and go to bed. How anti-climactic was that? Igot housed by the itis, and I'm attributing it to that dayum Malnati's pizza, and the new Orange Lipstick.


10. Return of the Itis:: ..breakfast buffet. So much for avoiding the 2nd onset of the itis.


11. theFlights - leg 2:: flow control? da hell? An hour hold on the ground in Chicago, leads to an hour hold in the air over Atlanta, leads to another 5 hour - 1 hour nonstop flight. Yeah, right.


12. Hammy-time:: I haven't taken a vacation without the kids since Hammy was born, and while it was good to get away, I missed his spoiled a$$. And his sloppy kisses.


13. theImpromptuRedesign:: I inadvertently put the cart before the horse, by creating & distributing business cards, without taking the blog off the main page of my site. So, I come home, exhausted, and finish phaseI of the redesign. Wanna see the new site layout, here it be. I've got lots more work to do, but you get the general idea. Any feedback is greatly appreciated.