The Saint Go Marching In…..Finally!

My entire life I had hoped to witness what I witnessed yesterday, Sunday, January 24, 2010. The New Orleans Saints, the team from my families ancestral hometown, the team from the city I love, the team that had been counted out more than I count, at long last are NFC Champions and headed to the Super Bowl. New Orleans (along with Miami) has hosted more Super Bowls than any other city yet our team has never played in one. That is no longer true.

In what can only be called a moment of redemption, Garrett Hartley kicked the game winning field goal in overtime that gave the Saints their victory over the Vikings. Garrett Hartley missed a field ago a few weeks ago and the Saints were handed a loss by the dismal playing Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Hartley was a Saint among Saints when he made a 40 yard field goal. Words cannot express the joy I felt as the ball went between the uprights. Every Saints fan in the nation and in the Super Dome let out a yell.

How fitting that this game was played in the Super Dome that almost five years ago had been battered, beaten and soaking wet by Hurricane Katrina. Last night The Dome was wet again but this time with tears of joy from loyal members of the Who Dat Nation who at long last are going to see their Saints play in a Super Bowl. I only wish my grandparents were alive to see their team play in 2 weeks.

Although they didn’t have a perfect season as we had hoped they still performed spectacularly overall. There is only one word to express my feelings for Drew Brees and the Saints and that word is PHENOMENAL. The team was in it to win it from game 1 and as I sit here in what still feels like a dream I can only imagine what the players feel right now.

The Saints have had more downs than ups over the years but since the first snap of the season I’ve been saying it on Twitter, Facebook and to anyone that would listen, “Win or lose the Saints are my team and they are going to the Super Bowl”. When Dallas handed us our first loss and fair-weather fans jumped off the bandwagon and critics and naysayers questioned if they could recover, I kept the faith. I constantly think back to a sign I saw in front of a church on Carrollton Avenue in November that read

“God is victorious and so are his Saints”. I cried when the Saints won last night and I’ll be crying on February 7, 2010 when they claim their first Super Bowl victory over the Colts.

Is it possible to have Mardi Gras twice in one year? Well, that’s what it’s gonna be like after we defeat the Colts. A second line down the 50 yard line complete with umbrellas and a brass band. I know that my grandparents, Buddy D and all the Saints fans that have passed on were cheering in heaven yesterday and will be cheering on Super Sunday when the Saints go marching in to Dolphin Stadium as NFC champs and go marching out as NFL champs.

Que Dieu bénisse les New Orleans Saints

Disaster in Haiti

On Tuesday, January 12, 2010 the tiny island nation of Haiti was stuck with an earthquake that measured magnitude 7.0 - the most powerful earthquake to hit the country in a hundred years. The quake struck just before 5pm EST. The epicenter was roughly 10 miles south of the capital of Port-au-Prince.


Living in California for most of my life, I’m very familiar with earthquakes, but none of the earthquakes I’ve experienced could compare to the damage and devastation that Tuesdays’ quake caused in Haiti. Within moments CNN was on the air reporting and the Twitterverse was all abuzz. Pictures started rolling in on social networking sites and that made the tragedy all the more real.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words but the pictures coming out of Haiti leave you speechless and all you can do is weep. Bodies are piled in the streets. The living sleeps and eats among the dead. The streets of Haiti are now home to its citizens whose homes lay in ruin. There are still an unknown number of people trapped beneath the rubble some are still alive. Time is running out and more help needs to be sent to get the people out.

The roads need to be cleared. This is a Murphy's Law situation – Anything that can go wrong will go wrong. Haiti is the worst possible place in the world for something like this to happen. The infrastructure was virtually non-existent prior to the quake and what little infrastructure that did exist has been completely obliterated. At this point all we can do is pray that hope arrives to save some of the people that can still be saved and that the necessary supplies are delivered and that more casualties aren't created as a result

Who will care for Haiti’s children, the thousands that were orphaned prior to and the thousands more that are now orphaned because of the earthquake? There are so many people in need of help and the help is not coming soon enough or in the amount necessary to prevent further death. I was watching CNN this morning and Dr.Sanjay Gupta had to perform brain surgery on a young Haitian girl because there were no other neurosurgeons. The basic needs of the earthquake victims are not being met and this is appalling. No person in any country should have to endure what the Haitian people are enduring.
Enough is not being done. Anderson Cooper is rescuing people and Sanjay is performing surgery. Where is all the help? It needs to get there immediately. If you cannot donate any money please pray.

If you would like to help please see below and do whatever you can

Text "HAITI" to 90999 to donate $10.00 to the Red Cross
You can visit http://www.cnn.com/impact for a list of aid organization and relief agencies.

Hair Changes

Aaaaahhhh! I am screaming because I am doing something that I haven't done in about 10 years. I am taking my extensions out and wearing my natural hair for a period of time that is longer than two days. If you know me well, you know that's a huge step for me because I can't stand combing hair! So, I've decided that it's time for more change...beginning with my hair.  I have taken out my beloved extensions.  For how long? I don't know yet.  I'm going to try wearing my natural hair out for a while. We'll see how it holds up especially since I plan on working out starting tomorrow. It'll either be good or very bad. If it holds up it'll be a miracle, if it doesn't hold up well under all the perspiration and activity then I'll probably end up looking like Don King. In fact that's sort of who I resemble right now. I washed, deep conditioned and blow-dried my hair and now I'm waiting for my sister to get here and straighten it for me.

I am not white so I know that this is going to be a daunting task. I don't have wash and wear hair. I've got wash it, wash it again, condition it, condition it again, leave in condition it and dry it and that's just half of it. I'm not complaining. I wouldn't change my hair texture for the world but sometimes it can be unmanageable…really I'm just lazy sometimes. I pray that I can stay up long enough to get it straightened, my neck is killing me and I've got sinus problems. Damn, I should have bought a wig. Not really, but I am rethinking my decision now and I want to give my hair a little break from the extensions for a few weeks.

All this talk lately about "Good" and "Bad" hair got me to thinking about why I wear extensions. The reason is really because of convenience. Unlike some people I love my hair. I love the kinky texture that can stand up to bitter heat and extreme colds. I like that I can straighten it, wear it curly or get it braided and it looks awesome in any style. I know a lot of African Americans prefer to have their hair straight because they figure it's more appropriate and professional but I love my hair and I would wear and afro if I didn't have to pick it out with a comb. Seriously, I started wearing braids in high school and would get it braided every 2 months. My friend Nana used to braid it for me and it was really convenient with school and all my extracurricular activities. In college it was even more convenient because I didn't really know how to take care of my hair. When it wasn't braided in high school my grandmother would comb it for me so I didn't have to learn how to press, curl or anything else. Thankfully when I went to college I met a bunch of cool chicks from Detroit, New York and DC and they all knew how to "do" hair. They taught me tricks that I still used to this day – ask me about a microwave ponytail. Anyhow, enough of the reminiscing I gotta do something with this hair.

 

Let the hair saga begin. My next post will include before and after pictures, maybe.

Happy 2010!!!

This is my first post of the New Year and I'm excited. 2009 was a good year and I expect 2010 to be a great year. First off I ended 09 with a cold and started 2010 off with one. The first half of my NYE was spent at Torrance Memorial Medical Center where one of my besties was giving birth to her fourth child. Piece of cake for her since she's a pro, actually it was a c-section so she just had to lay there. LOL. The latter part of the evening was spent with my family at a small NYE party I threw. We had a great time and rang in the New Year together.
I am continuing my daily "Thought 4 the day" postings on twitter and Facebook which gives daily words of wisdom and thoughts to ponder…you know, things that make you go hmmm. I don't make New Year's resolutions I have resolved to make necessary changes immediately instead of waiting until a new year begins. What's the point of waiting 12 months when you can affect change now? See my point? So I am continuing to lose weight and continuing to work on a few literary pieces.
Each new year brings with it a breath of fresh air, like anything is possible…that usually lasts all of 4 weeks and by February 1^st people are back to their old ways. Which is why I make resolutions all year long and aim not to ever make them at the beginning of the year unless I have no other choice. This is basically it for now. Keep my New Orleans Saints in your prayers. We are hoping they reach the Super Bowl. If that does happen I will be partying most of February, first at the Super Bowl and then the following week at Mardi Gras.


May you all have a blessed, prosperous and fabulous New Year!!!


Arrivederci.