Cover

I love high heels. I wear them almost every day. Three inches, minimum, most of the time. Of the dozens of shoes I own, I might own one pair of sneakers. I don't really wear jeans too much, either. I mainly stick to dresses, skirts, halter tops… I love being dressed up. I love fashion. I love all the big fashion houses and name brands… Prada, Marc Jacobs, Balenciaga, Tory Burch… I also love to… read...

I'm a nerd. I'm sure this comes as no surprise to the people who grew up with me and have the proof in the form of yearbooks which show me as a member of almost every academically-inclined club or activity imaginable. I was in the National Honor Society, on the Literary Magazine staff, in the Computer Club, etc. In fact, if any of them are reading this, I'm sure when they read my nerd-status proclamation, they said, "Duh." I own (and this is possibly an understatement) over a thousand books. I have more books than shoes. I have read every one of them, most of them at least twice, some way more than that. I read everything from suspense novels to science fiction to memoirs to classic literature. I get more excited by a book release by one of my favorite authors than shopping for shoes, any day of the week. In fact, if you see me out shopping or at a party and I'm toting my big red Marc Jacobs purse, it probably has a couple of paperbacks in it, maybe a hardback if I can fit it. Speaking of parties…

I love them. I love hanging out with my friends. I love joking with them, having glasses of wine or mixed drinks with them. I love people. I love seeing them, meeting them, talking to them. I love smiling, laughing, flirting. I love dance music because I love dancing. If the DJ throws on a certain song by Beyonce, I might just jump up and do all her moves. But I also love… opera...

Turandot is my favorite. I love Puccini. Truthfully, I love most musical genres. My stepfather influenced that a lot because he is a musician. He mainly plays percussion instruments, but can pretty much play anything he puts his hands on and his mind to. He stuck with mostly Latin-jazz and fusion and some reggae and Afro-beat, but was also in a rock band for a time. He was an artist-in-residence for several years in multiple school districts. He also made his own instruments. I grew up with gourds and dried animal skins strewn all over our house. I came to love all his favorite artists which included Sade, The Police, Chick Corea, Stanley Clarke, Irakere, Talking Heads, Sly and Robbie, Bob Marley, Queen. My uncle was also an influence. He has been the director of a multi-award winning high school band for over twenty years and also plays numerous instruments. Additionally, he was the leader of an R&B group that played gigs for years and has a recording studio in his house. He and my stepfather both performed in pit bands in theatres, judged band contests, judged solo and ensemble performances and gave private lessons. I tagged along a lot. I sat in the audience at plays ranging from Oklahoma to Phantom to Once on This Island. My mother was a huge influence, too. She loves music mostly from the 60's and 70's… Fifth Dimension, the Mamas and Papas, the Carpenters, anything Motown, Earth Wind and Fire, Newbirth, the Stylistics, the Spinners, Tommy James and the Shondells. All of that stuff…my mom loves it. So I grew up exposed to every bit of it. Plus, I played piano and trumpet as a child, the trumpet a little longer. Everything they listened to… I listened, too. I came to love it. But I also grew up in the 80's and 90's… so my musical taste is possibly even more eclectic than theirs… if on shuffle, my iPod might flip from Everyday Struggle by the Notorious B.I.G to Don't Worry Baby by the Beach Boys…

I write all of this because I keep running into people who can't seem to reconcile the many sides a person may have to them. My friends and I may appear to be socialites, beaming in photos, having a great time on the party scene, but there are also nights when we sit quietly at home watching foreign movies… yes, the ones with subtitles. We might wake up the morning after a party and go to a museum to fawn over pieces of art and sculpture. My friend Kerry may have the face and wardrobe of a supermodel, but she is one of the kindest, most down-to-earth creative persons I have ever met in my life. I may not be a dreadhead or wear broom skirts and flip flops, but I actually know who Peter Tosh is. I have friends who never went to college who are more well-read than some people I know with Master's Degrees. I know people who look like they would appear on a Black Panther poster and they never read the Autobiography of Malcolm X or even saw the movie version! I know people who never step a foot into a church and are more giving, more spiritual and more enlightened than a lot of preachers in pulpits.

The funny thing is that many of the people who make uninformed assumptions are the very people who claim to be anti-establishment or unconventional thinkers to the highest degree, rebels with and without causes. I guess we are all supposed to look our parts… but what is a person who loves to read fiction and non-fiction from classics to political exposes, who listens to opera, hip hop, reggae and jazz, who watches French films and loves Star Wars, dances to pop music, watches CNN and the Cartoon Network, loves shopping at Nordstrom, writes poetry and loves the paintings of Salvador Dali supposed to look like?

One of my all-time favorite songs... thanks to my mother...