i'll just say it. "tiny & toya" wasn't so bad. in fact, i was impressed. i'll take it a step further and say that both tiny and toya are actually good role models in many respects.

the bourgeoisie weeps.

i had not planned to watch the show. if it had not been for constant facebook updates, i may have never even taken a look at it. it isn't that i have a problem with the formerly third most famous person from x-scape.(official fame ranking: 1. latocha; 2. kandi; 4. the other one) it's just that i didn't understand what her story was. i was resistant to the idea that she was relevant because of who she is in love with. as far as toya, i just didn't know who she was.

upon the announcement of tiny and toya's show, the talented tenth went into all out uproar. there wasn't any violence, or anything; just a few snarky blogs and status updates.

i ended up watching a few episodes "on demand" last week. i expected to foolishness. instead, i saw two woman who love their families and do as much as they can to support each other.

it's a little sad that some people couldn't get past some of the accents, bad pop-psychology and t.i's troubles to notice that tiny comes from a loving family; a still intact family with a strong sense of connection.

sure, it made me a cringe just a slight bit when toya got a book agent, but her genuine joy in having found something to call her own was pretty touching. it can't be easy coming from a household with a drug addicted mother. she's trying.

what i find most interesting isn't that people aren't attacking the production quality of the show and there are couple cheesy elements that call for immediate fast-forwarding. instead, people attack the women. what strikes me about that, is that many of the people attacking these girls are service oriented people. people who spend their time with alumni, or greek lettered organizations, working with young girls who are exactly like tiny and toya.

we want diversity. well, this is it. everybody can't be vanessa huxtable.

however, regarding 'frankie and neffe,' i have no rational explanation for how much i enjoy it.

i'll try to keep this brief. school starts tomorrow and i have to get myself together. one of the best things about the school year is that you can really feel a beginning, middle and end of a year's time. there are markers.

i ended up seeing a movie that i didn't intend to see today. due to spending a couple more minutes than i should have on facebook and going to the slowest mcdonald's on the planet, i missed the movie i set out to see.

i saw 'julie & julia' instead.

i was sitting there, enjoying myself, as i always do when meryl is on the screen and out of nowhere God showed up.

last year this time, i was on the tail end of a year long tailspin. i was starting over.

i received a text during the movie, telling me that the trailer for my new webseries was posted. in that moment, i realized that so much had happened since last august.

we shot the first episode of the series, a series i helped create, last august. i couldn't be at the shoot. i was broke. i could barely put gas in my car. correction, i could NOT put gas in my car. so, from a distance, i helped steer the ship, uncertain if i'd be able to finish what i'd started. at that time, i couldn't see a point where i could be involved in the way that i needed to be.

fast forward one year later, i spend two weeks in l.a., hanging out with friends and working on the project. the thought never once crossed my mind about how broke i was the year before. receiving the text today, i remembered.

i think it's because of the markers. it's the end of a year and a day away from starting a new one.

"cool," i thought, "now back to the movie."

moments after receiving the text, amy adams' character goes through a series of events that parallel my life and my dreams. without even really knowing if anyone would be reading, she writes. her blog, fueled by her passion and her willingness to be present changes her life.

i should have known something was going to happen at this screening. when the trailer for the "fame" remake came on, i thought to myself how the original is partly responsible for years of poverty and rejection. i also thought to myself, "i wouldn't have it any other way."

i've lived.

i needed to see this movie today. i had made an agreement with my friend kara that we'd both see it this weekend. but in the spirit of getting in my own way, i decided at the last minute to see 'district 9.' apparently the universe had other plans.

i don't think i've cried like this at a movie, ever. the last fifteen minutes became one long "thank you." i wasn't just thankful for the blessed year. i was thankful for running late and the slow people at mcdonald's. i am also thankful for what's in store.

i cried because i hear God in moments like that. i am overwhelmed by how great that force is when God speaks. these moments teach me how to listen and how to trust my intuition. doing those those things has served me fairly well.

i am also reminded that i am not doing this alone. it's not just me and God. it's me and you. i was reminded about how careless people can be with someone's dreams and i will hopefully be more careful to not be that way. i was reminded about faith.

there isn't any way, in any logical scenario, that i should have been planning on doing something that shoots in l.a.; but that's what i did.

it didn't make sense. i didn't have answers, but i knew that it felt right. it is an incredible feeling to realize that you've taken steps in the dark and arrived exactly where you want to be.

I wrote the this post a year ago on August 25, 2008. Kennedy's death on August 25, 2009, feels like a wink. There's a book I read called When God Winks, that talks about quiet, almost unnoticeable moments, that remind you that God is paying attention. Sen. Kennedy's death is a reminder that this health care reform battle has been waged for a long time. It's time to move forward. I'm not sure that anyone has the "correct" solution, but we have to do something.

R.I.P.

A few nights back on TV, I happened on to Edward Kennedy's 1980 Democratic Convention keynote speech. It is, quite possibly, one of the best speeches I've ever heard. Laying there, watching the room full of people whose clothing and hairstyles made them look like extras from an episode of "Welcome Back Kotter", Ted Kennedy's words felt as contemporary and important as anything said during this year's race. In some ways, that was both good and bad. Ted spoke passionately about health care and the concerns of the common man. He spoke about employment. He applauded his party for its commitment to equal rights. He touched on Republicans attempting to show empathy for those suffering economic distress, but not having the voting records to prove that they really care. He quoted Ronald Reagan who once said, "Unemployment insurance is a prepaid vacation plan for freeloaders." Does that sound eerily similar to Phil Gramm's "mental recession"?

While being struck by Ted's passion and believing in everything he was championing in that 1980 speech, I began to feel some reservations. Much of what Ted was talking about, health care, jobs etc. was to be realized for the future; so that kids would grow up and have these rights and resources. As far as 1980 is concerned, 2008 is the future. Why are we still seeking the same things? All of a sudden Hillary and Obama's pleas for affordable health care seemed dated and less visionary. Where are the equal rights? I suddenly began to wonder if there really is a future. We're not going to evaluate our current politicians twenty years from now to see if they really accomplished what they promised to do. Their time will be over and we'll be on to the next set of promises...for the future. I have a friend who makes a joke whenever there's some sort of overblown social, or political issue, he simply says in a faux frenzied voice, "What about the children?!?" Sure, I want children to grow up to find a world that is still intact, but hey...what about the adults? What about right now?

Getting back to Ted, what I found most impressive was the humility and strength he displayed as he gave this keynote address after conceding to Jimmy Carter. He clearly still felt that he was the strongest candidate. He spoke about his issues important to him, but right upfront, he strongly put aside his individual goals and focused on the needs of the Party and the nation.

"My fellow Democrats and my fellow Americans, I have come here tonight not to argue as a candidate but to affirm a cause. I'm asking you--I am asking you to renew the commitment of the Democratic Party to economic justice. I am asking you to renew our commitment to a fair and lasting prosperity that can put America back to work. This is the cause that brought me into the campaign and that sustained me for nine months across 100,000 miles in 40 different states. We had our losses, but the pain of our defeats is far, far less than the pain of the people that I have met. We have learned that it is important to take issues seriously, but never to take ourselves too seriously."

Kennedy and Carter had a tough and nasty primary campaign that stayed contentious right through the Convention. Though he was losing, Kennedy refused to drop out. I don't believe that Hillary and Barack's fight has been as rough, but as we know, the wounds linger. I hope Hillary can rise to the challenge the way Ted did and I hope that the results are much better for the Democrats than they were in 1980.

it took about four attempts to log in to blogger. that tells you how little i've been on Hampton06. a few things have happened. mostly, i've been concentrating on other efforts; my podcast and my web series. i've also been spending some time working on, what in my head feels like a book and potential one man show. i really want it out of my head and on paper.