Music Monday 80 :: Rocky Dawuni "Walls Tumblin Down"

Music Monday 80 :: Rocky Dawuni "Walls Tumblin Down"

Sometimes I feel like I'm late for the party. Somehow the landscape of entertain is expanding at an exponential pace. Well, I know how: this damn Interweb is how. It's a necessary evil ...

So I'm just now discovering Rocky Dawuni and his latest project that was released last year. Good thing for me is that I found it and good music is good music no matter how long it took for you to discover it.

Time for you to enjoy some of this good, inspirational music. Oh, and Rocky Dawani's on Twitter too!

Reverb10 :: Defining Moment

I've decided to be a part of Reverb10. It's a 31-day blogging challenge where you reply to the daily writing prompts that are designed to get you to reflect on this past year as well as provide some insight for the upcoming year. I'm going to give myself 5-7 minutes for each post.

Day 29 :: December 29, 2010 :: Defining Moment

• Describe a defining moment or series of events that has affected your life this year. (Author: Kathryn Fitzmaurice)

This is not an easy prompt. Actually this question has taken way more than my allocated 5-7 minutes and I'm still coming up short, but I'll give it a go (and I'll try to make it brief).

Last Fall, I decided to stand up for something that I believed in. I teach at a university and there was a situation that was a 'teachable moment'. I wanted to seize the opportunity, but doing that meant that I had to act fast. I was told to slow down and that there could be some repercussions for doing things willy nilly. Ha. I wasn't insulted, but obviously folks don't know me at all because I've NEVER been known to do anything willy nilly.

Some of the students who attended the 'controversial' panel discussion (Oct., 2010)

The point is that I intentionally went against the grain and basically stood on an island to put together a panel discussion for our journalism majors. It created a good amount of tension in my department - there was only one other full time faculty member who publicly supported me. But in the end over 60 students showed up for the panel (even after the initial room that it was scheduled to be in was cancelled and we had to book another room at the last minute that was extremely hard to find). The students did not know the back story, but they were grateful for an opportunity to discuss the 'controversial' topic.

Now that everything has died down, I've been appointed to take care of the scheduling and the planning of an official campus-wide series on the topic ... and to think, just weeks ago folks made it seem as if I was putting my job on the line.

It just goes to show that you have to 'stand up for what you believe in'.

Reverb10 :: Achieve (part 2)

I've decided to be a part of Reverb10. It's a 31-day blogging challenge where you reply to the daily writing prompts that are designed to get you to reflect on this past year as well as provide some insight for the upcoming year. I'm going to give myself 5-7 minutes for each post.

Day 28 :: December 28, 2010 :: Achieve

• What's the thing you most want to achieve next year? How do you image you'll feel when you get it? Free? Happy? Complete? Blissful? Write that feeling down. Then, brainstorm 10 things you can do, or 10 new thoughts you can think, in order to experience that feeling today. (Author: Tara Sophia Mohr)

I did a post on Reverb10 :: Achieve already. But as I began to think about it, I left something out. Since I'm living and working in Cairo, many people ask if I know Arabic. The answer is shiwayya' that means 'a little' in Arabic. I do have a private tutor and we meet twice a week for a total of three hours.

So that's the additional thing that I want to achieve this year - to improve my Arabic.

I was a bit proud of myself when I recently returned to Cairo and how fast I jumped back into responding in Arabic and understanding Egyptians (who speak rather fast).

One of my first Arabic lessons (Oct., 2009)

Getting more time w/my tutor is not really an option for me at this time. However, I will make a concerted effort to review my Arabic material as well as to meet w/some of my Egyptian friends and practice speaking Arabic.

Music Monday 79 :: 10 Songs Honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Music Monday 79 :: 10 Songs Honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

No need for me to come up with my own list when Billboard is on it. Enjoy your day on, not off!

10 Songs Honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. | Billboard.com

Using Paperli

I've been playing around with Paperli for a few weeks. I was trying to create a custom paper, but it's been cumbersome trying to find the right mix of information (you have to use Twitter search results, but Paperli does not provide the format for submitting the search material). So I had to settle on creating a paper using my Journalism list on Twitter.

So far it looks okay ... I'll pay attention to it and tweak it as needed.

The Journalism Daily:

http://t.co/pOLTW9

Music Monday 78 :: Corrine Bailey Rae "Put Your Records On"

Music Monday 78 :: Corrine Bailey Rae "Put Your Records On" (2006)

There's so much positivity and energy to this song. It feels fun and Rae's voice is so cool and smooth. Happy Monday!

Reverb10 :: Achieve

I've decided to be a part of Reverb10. It's a 31-day blogging challenge where you reply to the daily writing prompts that are designed to get you to reflect on this past year as well as provide some insight for the upcoming year. I'm going to give myself 5-7 minutes for each post.

Day 28 :: December 28, 2010 :: Achieve

• What's the thing you most want to achieve next year? How do you image you'll feel when you get it? Free? Happy? Complete? Blissful? Write that feeling down. Then, brainstorm 10 things you can do, or 10 new thoughts you can think, in order to experience that feeling today. (Author: Tara Sophia Mohr)

I want to continue to read books for leisure. I'm amazed at how many people I know who haven't read a book (front to back) in years. Who does that? Well, apparently my friends. The good news is that I'm in a reading group. And although I live and work away from my group, I still keep up w/the readings and I submit my comments in advance. I also ask for a recap from the group and I call at least one of the members for other missing deets from the recap.

Books on the Literary Sistas reading list for 2011 (Jan., 2011)

We mostly read fiction, which I love. We've only read books by African-American authors. Love that too. Our reading list for this year seems amazing. So excited about it:

• Let the Lion Eat Straw by Ellease Southerland (Paperback) 171 pp

• Powder Necklace: A Novel by Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond (Paperback) 304 pp

• Glorious by Bernice L. McFadden (Paperback) 240 pp

• Wench: A Novel by Dolen Perkins-valdez (Hardcover) 304 pp

• 32 Candles: A Novel by Ernessa T. Carter (Hardcover) 352 pp

• The Secret Lives of Baba Segi's Wives: A Novel by Lola Shoneyin (Hardcover) 288 pp

I have most of the books on this year's reading list for my group and I've already begun to read one of the books. So, I'm off to a good start.

I'm saying I want to do this like the fact that my friends have fallen off will rub off on me. Not gonna happen. I will, however, mix in some other books along w/the my reading groups selections. Matter of fact, I've been reading "Who Stole the News?: Why We Can't Keep Up With What Happens in the World and What We Can Do About It". Just want to read a bit of non-fiction too.

My Good Reads list is current as is my Shelfari on Facebook. Now, I'll just have to see if I can continue to post the book review that usually goes along w/my completed readings because ... I did fall off in that regard last year.

Reverb10 :: Ordinary Joy

I've decided to be a part of Reverb10. It's a 31-day blogging challenge where you reply to the daily writing prompts that are designed to get you to reflect on this past year as well as provide some insight for the upcoming year. I'm going to give myself 5-7 minutes for each post.

Day 27 :: December 27, 2010 :: Ordinary Joy

• Our most profound joy is often experience during ordinary moments. What was one of your most joyful ordinary moments this year? (Author: Brene' Brown)

I remember going to visit a friend this summer in D.C. and I stayed at his house. We did some piddling around town and what not and that was cool. But I remember getting back to his house and just staying up and talking about all sorts of things: music, movies, life ... and all of a sudden it's 1 a.m. on a school night. Good people, good times, ordinary joy.

Reverb10 :: Soul Food

I've decided to be a part of Reverb10. It's a 31-day blogging challenge where you reply to the daily writing prompts that are designed to get you to reflect on this past year as well as provide some insight for the upcoming year. I'm going to give myself 5-7 minutes for each post.

Day 26 :: December 26, 2010 :: Soul Food

• What did you eat this year that you will never forget? What went into your mouth & touched your soul? (Author: Elise Marie Collins)

The first thing that I can think of is the food in Italy. Delicious, but you already knew that. However, what I found most interesting is the simplicity of much of the food. When we'd inquire about how some foods were prepared, the response was often: salt, pepper, lemon, garlic or some variation of that.

The breakfast bounty at the Agriturismo Marciano Bed & Breakfast. (Nov., 2010)

What I'll need to do is figure out how to combat the food disparity in Cairo. There are many food options there, but often the food at restaurants is just marginal. When it comes to preparing food at home, it's a matter or finding good veggies and fruit and fish and chicken ... however, I am planning on growing some herbs (inside) in the next month or so.

Music Monday 77 :: How to Write a Hit

Music Monday 77 :: How to Write a Hit (from NPR)

I heard this story on NPR a few weeks ago. I was intrigued by the woman featured in the story. We rarely hear about women behind the scenes in music. I think that you'll like this one. It's about 8 minutes long.