Diamonds On the Soles of My Shoes

I've been in a pretty blah/anxious/restless sort of mood as of late (much to do with the Bulls losing the series, THANKS guys) and I think writing will help ease my uneasiness. So let me dust off the cobwebs of this blog and get "write" to it, heh.

After spending an incredibly uninviting and uneventful fall semester at UA, I realized my heart just wasn't in it. There was no room to grow (mentally, emotionally, creatively, financially, socially, etc...). I may have been raised in a small town, but I truly am a city girl at heart and I need that hustle and bustle of city life to thrive and spread my wings. I think transferring was probably one of the worst decisions I have ever made, but familial and financial pressures will make you do crazy things, I suppose.

I'm glad I took this semester off. It was a good time for me to reflect and mentally prepare myself for things to come. For the first time I feel like I am finally on the right track to getting my life to where I want it to be. And while I know I won't always have people support or understand my decisions, I know that I just have to trust my instincts and stay focused on my life goals. I feel like I've missed out on so many life-changing opportunities because of silly mistakes I've made. And these mistakes were made mostly because I did not trust my instincts and believe in myself. But I'm learning to just let go and live my life. I'm a do me. No more listening to nay-sayers (aka HATERS) or second-guessing myself. I'm turning over a new leaf, chickies. Here's to new beginnings and a new ME. Love me or hate me, you will respect me. Okay, I'm done with the cliches.

Oh and Summer '09, watch out! It's going to be grand. Here's a list of things to look forward to (in order of awesomeness):

*Making a CHI-TOWN comeback!

*Reuniting with all my Chi lovelies (and seeing Maria graduate!)

*Attending my very first Lollapalooza (finally) and second P4K Fest (maybe).

*FANTASTIC weather and FREE outdoor festivals!!

*Gettin' back on my grind and working towards a media internship by fall or spring semester.

There's more to come, I'm sure. May 14th could not get here soon enough.

Miss Black America

There's this really interesting documentary directed by Rachel Goslins called Bama Girl that's been making its way around the Indie film festival circuit. The film is about Jessica Thomas (pictured above), a student at the University of Alabama and president of the school's chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority. Bama Girl documents her campaign journey to win the title of 2005 UA Homecoming Queen, an honor that's normally awarded to upper-class, white sorority girls, many of whom are members or chosen by members of "The Machine," a kind of superfraternity that's like UA's version of the Yale secret society Skull and Bones. The Machine is made up of roughly 27 fraternities and sororities on campus that pretty much dominate the student government, much like the members of Skull and Bones dominate the corporate and political worlds (I'm looking at you, Bush). There's this article from Esquire Magazine that talks all about the Machine. It's a little outdated (April 1992), but it takes a good look at race issues, "southern traditions" on the UA campus, and the often times corrupt greek system that tends to control college campuses across the nation. The documentary is making its Alabama debut at the Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival in Birmingham on Sunday.

The festival opened tonight with Adventures of Power, which is directed by and stars Ari Gold (not to be confused with Vincent Chase's high strung, fast-talking, egomaniacal agent on Entourage - although I do believe the character was named after him) and Adrian Grenier (who plays Vincent Chase on Entourage) in a Napoleon Dynamite-esque comedy about a dude whose goal in life is to play air drums.


Also check out Ari and Adrian's band, The Honey Brothers. They're like a mix between Ween, Weezer, and Flight of the Conchords. My favorite song of theirs is "Some of Them Are Nice Days."

[Crimson White]