All About Ms. World's World

New Addiction

an This is my new addiction! McD's premium coffee is relatively cheap (compared with Starbucks & Dunkin Donuts) and is pretty good. My BFF Wenona had raved about McD's new coffee but I never tried it until I recently moved to the suburb's of east coast city X. I've been drinking it since last Friday and I'm hooked. I had briefly given up Starbucks' vanilla lattes for Dunkin Donuts coffee but McD's is closer to my home. I have a feeling this will be a short-term addiction because I think I could lose 15 pounds a year just swearing off coffee. Of course, I would stop drinking McD's coffee any day if I could score some high-quality chai. Where is the chai-wallah when you need them?

The summer of the memoir

      

 

I'm supposed to be writing a book but sometimes I can be found reading.

Here are some good reads I've enjoyed so far this summer.

Accidental Diva         by Tia Williams.
This is an African-American chick-lit book. I picked it up because I wanted to prove to myself that badly written books get published all the time. But I picked up the wrong book because it was well-written for the genre. It was also a very enjoyable read.

Project Girl  by Janet McDonald
I've been picking up lots of memoirs because of my own writing project. I have a special interest in memoirs written by African-American women. This book was richer and more moving than I expected. I thought it would be a story about a girl getting out of the ghetto because she was intelligent. It is so much more than that. The plot had more ups and downs than I anticipated. I loved it!

The works of Marjane Satrapi
Marjane Satrapi is an Iranian born graphic novelist now living in France. She has published at least 3 books in the U.S. about her experiences in Iran. I have a great interest in Iran (I tried to go there last year doing my BLACK GIRLS RULE WORLD TOUR but couldn't get a tourist visa. I also desperately wanted to go to Beirut, Lebanon too.) Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood is about her life in Iran during the Iranian Revolution.   Persepolis: The Story of the Return is about a period of her life spent in Austria where her parents sent her to get educated and enjoy life in a free society. It isn't a very happy tale and Satrapi ends up returning to Iran.  I liked these two books the best. I also read Embroideries which was interesting but not as powerful as the Persepolis series.

Fun Home: A Family Tragicomedy by Alison Bechdel
This has complex and very original graphic novel has to be one of the best reads of the summer. Bechdel is a well-regarded creator of the comic strip Dykes to Watch Out For. This graphic novel is about her childhood and her relationship with her decorative arts-loving father. It was so good that I re-read it.

Naked: Black Women Bare All about Their Skin, Hair, Lips, and Other Parts edited by Ayana Byrd and Akiba Solomon
I actually purchased this book! (The rest of the books were checked out of the local library.) This book is a great collection of personal essays by a diverse group of African-American women. I highly recommend it.

 Cafe Trinity by Wendy Lo
This is a book of beautifully written poetry book with Japanese drawings by a new talent on the American poetry scene. You can't find this book in a bookstore or library so if your interested, please click on the title and pick it up.

 

There are more books that I read but I'll stop here. I'm in the midst of reading Frank McCourt's Angela's Ashes (I'm stunned by how poor his family was!), Mary Karr's The Liars' Club , and Alexandra Fuller's Don't Lets Go to The Dogs Tonight. I think you can tell that I'm studying the memoir. 

Thip-sexy & Lambert Get Hitched in LAOS!

    

   

Earlier this month, I traveled to Laos for the nuptials of  Diva Thip-sexy to her boyfriend for several years, Lambert-san. Ms. Thip decided to honor her heritage and her elders by having a traditional Laotian  wedding in her family's hometown of Savannakhet in southern Laos.

Ms. World and several adventurous former and current JETs; fellow Divas Adrianna, the newly minted Ecuadorean Spice Zazza, JEN-TE, Spicy Boy Andy, The Hoss, Will, the Notorious Random C.H.I.N., Steve & Sandy, and Yuji-sama showed up to join the festivities.

I felt truly priviledged and blessed to be present on Thip & Lambert's special day which was rich in Laotian traditions, family, and love. I didn't understand the religious ceremony because of language barriers but I know I was in the presence of true love which is a gift.

Once the religious ceremony was over, the wedding reception began. Let's just say that LAOTIANS know how to partay! They love their smooth tasting Beer Lao (so does the HOSS, Spicy Boy & the Notorious Random C.H.I.N.) and delicious food. Basically, I was drunk by noon! Then I had to appease the Buddhist gods by dancing with old Laotian men who were PIMP daddies (that is a compliment).

The official wedding reception ended by 4pm and I got some much needed rest. However, I had to be ready at 7pm for the after-party at the mansion. At the mansion, I downed more premium liquor and finally got my Laotian dance groove going. I also consumed a green pepper which turned my mouth into a blazing hellhole. However, I didn't eat the crickets or drink the homemade baby lamb alcohol (check out the photos on FLICKR).

I had an amazing time at Thip & Lambert's wedding. However, I left Savannakhet the next day because my liver couldn't take any more premium liquor! I drank more at this wedding than I had in the last year! If you want to see the partying, please check out my new FLICKR account.

DIVA THIP-SEXY! - THANKS for inviting me to celebrate your big day! My fellow JETs- THANK YOU FOR THE FUN! DIVA Adrianna- THANKS for being superorganized!

My Champagne Soiree

   
 
   

Don`t be jealous! It was an all girl thang. Don`t be pissed! It was for leaver`s only too. Just take delight in browsing my photos of a fun night!

I have a confession to make. I like champagne or sparkling wine as proper wine lovers call it! In fact, I can`t think of anything better besides the indoor sport starting with S and ending with X or laughing with my crazy and loveable family or even with my crazier friends, than sipping on some Moet & Chandon and nibbling on good imported cheeses. My upcoming departure from Japan is a huge moment in my life. I feel like these last 2 years of living and playing in Japan have been a very intense experience. And I felt a great need to celebrate surviving it all in my own Ms. WORLD way. So, I had a champagne soiree because everyone can use a little champagne in their lives (unless their recovering alcoholics). My party got started late but once it got started it was loads of fun! I LOVE CHAMPAGNE!

An Evening with Cousin Jo

    

My Cousin Irish Jo invited me to her palace of shamrocks last Sunday for a pizza & movie night. This is my crazy Irish, Black, & North Korean cousin which means I arrived to find no pizza & no movie. Thank Goddess I had Sexxy Jimmy baked us one of his Sunshine 88- famous white chocolate coffee cakes. We dug into his yummy cake while waiting to scare the Japanese pizza deliveryman with our foreignness.

I think Cousin Irish Jo is one of my favorite people because she knows how to serve things up!

Black people don`t

Another saying I hate is, `Black people don`t eat sushi.` BULLSHIT! Black people eat sushi but they may not eat sashimi! 

Guess Who Came To Lunch?

 

"Time is moving on," as the Blackbyrds crone in my ears via IPOD. I have a little over two months left in Japan. My weekends are filling up with appointments, events, and meals that lead up to my last day in Toyama City. Since I have a little gift of foresight, I invited my friends Y. and K. to my apartment for a lunch party. I wanted to show them some Ms. World hospitality as a little token of my affection towards them. The Miami Diva is also friends with Y. and K. so I invited her to join our merry fray.

Y. and K. have been great friends and hosts to me during my time in Toyama. I really wanted to impress them, so I cleaned my apartment so well that the Toyama Princess (the baby) could eat off the floor or tatami mats. I cooked my yummy spaghetti and secret ingredient meat sauce (The secret is to season your pre-cooked meat with garlic paste, cloves, ginger, cardamon, and nutmeg.). The Miami Diva who is an awesome cook brought a lovely salad and amazing array of cakes for dessert.

It took awhile for the Toyama Princess to settle into her new surroundings, then a wonderful time was had by all.

15 Things You May or May Not Know About Me

This list was influenced by Mr. Lyons.

1. I`m over 30 years old and I love it!

2. I have over 15 nicknames and alias, including Princess, The Word Girl, and West End Girl.

3. I own various albums by Bananarama.

4. I like to order vanilla lattes that are ``hot as hell`` from Starbucks & Seattle`s Best in various countries.

5. I make friends easily.

6. I don`t think I really understand heterosexual males.

7. I`m a little over trying to understand heterosexual males.

8. I`m very opinionated which sometimes is viewed for being bossy.

9. I know I`ve been very blessed in my life but I`m still a little bitter about some things such as the slavery of my ancestors, the bullshit game the U.S. has runs on African-Americans, and the fact that way too many people underestimated my brilliance.

10. I`m a weird mix of Christian piety and mad horniness.

11. I`ve been ``in love`` once.

12. I know if I wanted to lose my excess weight that I could do it but I'm clinging to the protection it gives me.

13. I like being a big girl because I think I can kick ass (if I need to) and it is very important to me that I can kick ass.   

14. I believe I'm a member of the first generation (born in the post-Civil Rights era) of African-Americans who actually had a somewhat fair shot at the American dream.

15. Sometimes I toy with the idea of joining the Peace Corps.   

Triple Bliss

It has finally come to pass! The triple bliss holidays better known as Golden week to the Japanese are here! Tuesday, May 3rd is Constitution Day. Wednesday, May 4th is National holiday. Thursday, May 5th is Children's Day.

I'm very delighted to have the next three days off for leisure and merriment. Alas, I am a procrastinator who has learned that procrastinating doesn't pay. Therefore I'll spend part of my holiday preparing for my late July departure and doing in-depth travel research. I don't know if you have realized it but I have been slagging off many important details in my life in order to oversleep on the weekends, jog/run, talk about anything (including the Dalai Lama, Sexxy Jimmy's coffee cake and my need for the latest issue of Essence), blog or call my Cousin Jo up for lunch, dinner, and coffee. If I was as responsible as I claim to be, I would have been sitting down and figuring out how I'm actually going to get to Hong Kong and Vietnam since I can't walk there from Toyama-ken. I am happy to report that I think I may have found the answer to my little airflight dilemma. I also may be on the verge of getting some traveler's emergency medical evacuation insurance. On a more glamorous tip, there is always my ongoing Indian visa situation and vaccination search party. I'll stop boring you with my current obsessions.

I had a marvelous 3-day weekend with Cousin Jo, Diva Thip-sexy, Chinatown Spice, & Sexy Phil. It was so much fun that I really hated to going to bed on Sunday night. However, I am utterly devoted to taking care of business until Wednesday when I hit Namerikawa to hang with my girls.

A Kiss of Reality On Ms. World's BLACK GIRLS RULE Tour!

 

I finally kissed reality on Thursday. I've realized that I may not have enough money to travel to the Middle East and Africa. This realization brought a little sting of pain into my heart. My great consolation is that I have enough funds to travel around Southeast Asia and India for at least 6 months. And I have enough time to savor my experiences in those diverse countries. However, Africa, oh, Africa is another matter!

I believe my feet need to touch African soil. I think visiting an African country is a very important experience for African-Americans. I can't let my Africa itinerary die without a fight! Right now, I have all the time in the world to travel to places that my soul craves to see and I want to take advantage of it. I know I'll always be a traveler. However, I'm not sure if in the future I'll have time to linger and soak up the energy of a country and its people for a months at a time. Therefore it is imperative for me to find a way to get to Africa. I believe I may be able to travel from India to an African nation in 2006 using my "cushion fund." This means that I may return to the U.S.A. with no money. (My poor family! ;)

So, I've decided it is best to focus on planning my travels throughout Southeast Asia and India at this point in time. This will be the first leg of Ms. World's BLACK GIRLS RULE! Tour. The second leg will commence after I've conquered India with my own special Brown Sugar charm.

Friday, April 29th is Green Day in Japan. It is a national holiday, so I'm off from school. I had an impromptu lunch with Cousin Jo, Chinatown Spice, and Sexxy Phil at a delicious new Indian restaurant in Toyama City. The butter chicken curry was to die for!