Paper Goodness
I’m doing a thing about the Basics of Bullet Journaling. If you’re local, come see!
Movies & the Feels
We went to see A Wrinkle In Time this weekend. “We” as in me and my black girl friends that are all 30+. Addy opted out. I’ll make her watch it when she’s 10. I’m going back to see it before I go back to see Black Panther. 1. So I can sob in peace and on my own accord and 2. Because even though I’m 35 it’s amazing to see a black girl go on an adventure and worry about her glasses getting smashed and having to tame her hair after it gets wet. and finally 3. because Pine is the highest on the Chris Rank (TM).
I’m not reading the book.
Books vs Movies
I’m not reading any critiques on A Wrinkle In Time. I need to sit with it in my own way probably forever. I bought the book with the lofty goals of reading it before I went to see the movie. But I’m glad I didn’t. While I am of the school of books are always better than the movie, there are some books I refuse to touch because I love the movie so much. In Her Shoes and Shopgirl. Technically Shopgirl is a novella that I’ve purchased twice from the clearance section at Half Price books because it was $1. And Steve Martin wrote the book and the movie. But I won’t touch it. And I’ve read every other book Jennifer Weiner has written but Toni Collette and Cameron Diaz and Shirley McClaine are perfection.
Fight Club, while very different from the movie is NOT my favorite Chuck Palahunik book. (It’s Lullaby) but I had no problems reading the book. Go figure. The heart wants what it wants.
Black Women
Let me tell you. It’s exhausting being a black woman. Every aspect of it. And I’ve been seeing lots of empowering things and we went to a March for Black Women and I’m reading This Will Be My Undoing: Living at the Intersection of Black, Female, and Feminist in (White) America. PEAK WOKE. And everything is eye opening and hyper aware. And everything is amplifying voice. And everything is pro good vibes and best self and self care and I am me and you are you. But I hate when people say good vibes only. And I enjoy pleasant white comedies. I mean, did you read my movie examples above. And white women self care and WOC self care are wholly and inherently different. And I take from it what I can and then I have to go home and raise a little black girl. So we try to be progressive and accepting of each other.
And then I have to get Addy ready for bed at night. Depending on if it’s a hair washing night or not I will just leave her hair twisted and send her to bed. But if the ends need some upkeep, I’ll put it in bantu knots to stop the frizz. Well, she hates them. Even if its just to put on a bonnet to go to bed. Last week she told me she wasn’t looking in the mirror while I do it because she hates it that much. “It’s embarrassing.” Me: “But Nakia had her hair like this in Black Panther!” Addy gives zero cares. So I put the scarf on quickly and sent her to bed and by the time I was out of the bed in the morning, Addy had already undone the knots so I could put up her pony tail. But I also remember being ten and going through the painstaking task of being 10 and having to spritz my bangs to perfect stiffness.
Exhausting. From such a young age.
Baby Bre just needs glasses and you are basically still the same (easy to say when your hair isn’t visible, though. I mean your haircut is so you).
I forgot to ask about the March for Black Women! Tell me about it in the next email.I did not know you felt this strongly about In Her Shoes. I have neither seen nor read.
And interesting about A Wrinkle in Time. I feel like I follow a lot of pop culture people and have seen some chatter that maybe it is not the best movie, but I feel that it speaks to my echo chamber that the greatness of this movie lies in it featuring a young black girl, so that’s cool, and that is most of the commentary I have seen. I don’t know if they ever made any movies about half Latina girls who look white but feel like they don’t fit on either side, but I could have used that as a kid, so I get why it’s important now – who cares if it isn’t the same as the book?
And this whole self-care thing, not gonna lie, was ready to write it off as a thing bloggers say. Didn’t realize there were differing implications…