Touch Me...

What was the last wedding you went to? Were you in the wedding?

This pic of me was taken at a wedding Memorial Day weekend at Cap Jaluca in Anguilla, BWI. My first traditional Indian wedding. Three days of food and dancing. I miss my Mendhi art that graced my hands for two weeks to follow. 

I think I'd like to find me an East Indian man who dates Black women, just so I too can have an Indian wedding.  LOL.

Of course, I forgot my camera and then forgot there was a camera on my phone.. so now I must rely on the good will of other picture takers to send me photos of the wedding. I've never been good about documenting my own life, much less that of others.  :-)

I am extremely conflicted in my thoughts on the illegal immigrant issues. Certainly I have sympathies towards immigrants, being of an immigrant family that came through Ellis Island.  Yet, I do think there are so many different issues to contend with and interwoven ideals of not only politics but of ecosystems at large.  15 years ago, I probably had all the liberal viewpoints seen today, but I have on some accounts become quite conservative and isolationist on some things. I would rather that we invest in other countries to create self sustaining economies than to continue to issue in mass numbers of illegal immigrants.  This is much more doable in our current global economy that we have now than 50 or even 20 years ago.

Damn them, Damn them... I got used to reading the NY Times on-line for free. Now they want me to pay to be able to read the Editorials... those bastards.

But since the NY Times Co. paid for lots of overseas travel, violin and piano lessons and a college education with no student loans, I guess I will suck it up and sign up for Times Select. They're killing me though... wasn't the whole point of the internet supposed to be so I could get information free. The editorials are the best part. Bob Herbert and Maureen Dowd are my peeps.

BTW, the Damien Marley "Welcome to Jamrock" CD is so on... Cop it. No doubt.

Alright... I must head to my other office now. I haven't been there since the car accident. I guess I should show my face.

So I was commissioned to write a love poem for an acquaintance who plans to propose to his girlfriend over Christmas holidays ... It's just so damn sappy. Good thing I was already feeling PINK. Lawd knows... love poems ain't my specialty.


They always say
“Men plan and God laughs”
He must have been in a comedic mood
When he introduced me to you because
There’s no way that I could’ve found
Someone as special as You
Without Divine Intervention

Rockefeller trails never held
As much as the day I found
A king’s ransom on the path
And since that day I’ve been
Planting a garden of
Trust, Sharing, Openness and Love
I watched flowers of Sincerity
Bloom in your eyes
Fruits of Truth
Fall from your lips
So that Happiness could
Root in my heart

So I’m willing to pull weeds
Of fear, mistrust and doubt
I’ll fertilize us with
Patience, Understanding, and Forgiveness
Because sometimes…
We won’t grow as fast as we like
And sometimes…
You’ll have to teach me like your 2nd graders
And sometimes…
They’ll be days we’ll each
Need to say we’re sorry
Because we’re only human but…

The Galaxy can’t contain
The joy I found in you and the Cosmo
So I want to connect
Your three stars with my two and have
Constellations more stellar than
The Universe can begin to produce

I want to wake to the sunshine of your face
Even if rain clouds are in our forecast
And even if foggy mornings
Hinder us from seeing the road
Because the sun shines
Even when the clouds are blocking it
And rain water is necessary to help us grow
The road doesn’t stop existing
Simply because we can’t see it

So today I want us to discover
Vision like Christopher Columbus
Sail past the Horizon
To find a circle that can’t be broken
Take our chances surfing waterfalls
And plunge into Forever.

taken from jobsaccomplice

A	Altruistic
D	Dashing
I	Irresistible
N	Naughty
A	Astounding

Name / Username:

Name Acronym Generator
From Go-Quiz.com

Taken from mahoganybrowne

You fit in with: Spiritualism Your ideals are mostly spiritual, but in an individualistic way. While spirituality is very important in your life, organized religion itself may not be for you. It is best for you to seek these things on your own terms. 40% spiritual. 40% reason-oriented.

Take this quiz at QuizGalaxy.com

Interesting... I am a "spiritual" person much more so than a "religious" person but I do consider myself a devout Christian. Me and Jesus be chillin on the reg. Don't make me get all gospel up in here... Can't nobody do me like Jesus. I was already getting my Sunday worship on with Shirley earlier today. I am very much driven by logic though, it's the Philosopher in me.

taken from mahoganybrowne

You scored as Spike. You are the strait up you knew what I was type what did you expect. There maybey some surprise personality quirks you have. You try to control your emotions and sometimes fight so hard to deny them but when you do give into them you go all the way for what you want. </td> Spike 67% Akasha 67% Armand 58% Blade 58% Lestat 50% Marius 50% Louis 50% Dracula 42% Deacon Frost 17% Angel 0% Whose your Vampire personality? (images) created with QuizFarm.com

Today is beautiful. The weather is sweet. I am alive and well. I live a blessed life.

These are the things I am taking note of today after getting into a minro fender bender yesterday, going from one client to another in Brooklyn and chillin at a spa party where barely anyone indulged in buying the hostesses natural products or my massage services. Neither myself or the other driver were injured. I am okay with all of this on this beautifal day. I have 3 clients today that will make up for the loss of projected income from the spa party, maintaining a positive financial week at Adina's Touch, which will of course have to pick up the tab of this accident since I was on company time. I have absolutely convinced myself that the company and I are two different entities. I amuse myself. Like it ain't still my money that I'm gonna cough up for this. LOL.

Thanks to jivepoetic for being silly with me on AIM last night and calming my frazzled nerves a little so that I was able to go to sleep after reporting my accident to GEICO and being reminded of my $1000 deductible. I forgot in all the calamity, that while I was in BK I was to have picked up tix from him for his next show.

The car is still drivable with only the hood of the car being slightly crumpled in. Apparently my Element's crumple zones work very well. The grill of my car somehow is totally fine. I joked with Jive how it's not even an interesting accident story. He told me I would have to make something up. The initial GEICO claim agent was very nice, chilling over in San Diego, taking my call. 9 years I've had GEICO, no accidents, no tickets, and here I ruined my perfect record. Oh well. C'est la vie.

Unable to sleep on Friday night I watched 3 episodes of Run's House on MTV in the middle of the night. Not quite sure what I think of it but it did inspire me to hire a rubbish removal service for all the stuff from the 3rd floor that I have been moving into the garage trying to figure out what to do with. I have been trying to give away furniture to family and friends but they are so slow to come and get the stuff. They've got a week, then the rubbish people can take it all. Those of you in the NY area, if you need something for FREE: I have a sleeper sofa, a recliner, night stands, 2 desks, chairs, 1 full size futon matress (I think the frame is broken) and 1 futon bunk bed: twin bed above full size futon (great condition, excellent for those of you with kids.)

Ah, well I must continue on with my day and head into the city for my first client of today.

May you all be blessed and remember your blessings over your trials.

copaseticsoul, you will appreciate that I don't only spend a lot of money in IKEA, I spend ridiculous amounts in Staples. I received my business rewards check from Staples for last quarter. It's 3% back of whatever you spent. My check was $156.00. That means that all my supplies I need to buy for holiday mailings today at Staples is "Free" but essentially costs me over $5000 dollars last quarter. What the hell was I buying in Staples? LOL.

Well off to clients and Staples. Til later...

(Taken from jobsaccomplice)

Cocky Mind 78% mind-love and 59% body-love!

H-h-h-ot BRAINS alert! You have above average love for your own intelligence. Are you in fact brilliant? I don't know, but you exhibit a self-confidence that surely suggests so. Some people may find your intellect overly aggressive, even cocky. Those people are mostly your opposite: humble. In terms of physical looks, you demonstrate an average view of yourself. There's not much to say about that, because you're neither ashamed nor super-confident. FACT: You probably masturbate but think of other people while doing it. The smiley face in the below graph indicates where you lie, in a 2-D measure of self-love. I'm continually adjusting the cutoffs. What this means: a "normal" says you really are around the average, and a "cocky" says you really are cockier than most other people. Based on some real-world testing, I have some final advice: don't date someone if your squares are not sharing an edge or corner. friendships more than 2 squares away probably aren't healthy.

My test tracked 2 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 83% on mind You scored higher than 69% on body

Link: The How Much Do You Love Yourself Test written by chicken_pot_pie on Ok Cupid, home of the 32-Type Dating Test

Woo Hoo. New York's nasty rainy weather and winds left my block without power from 3pm til 10:10pm Saturday. I never would have expected to be without power for 7 hours leaving me without the ability to clean my house. Ummm ummm ummm. You know that was such a terrible thing. LOL. Of course, it does mean that I have to do all that I was to do yesterday today. But yesterday turned into a relaxation day, curled up with my books. Mother told me to bring the dogs over and spend the night at her house so they could watch TV. That really meant mom wanted us to come over so she could watch the dogs watch animal planet on the big screen tv and amuse herself laughing at their antics. At 8pm when I still didn't have power my friend suggested that I take my mother up on her offer but by then I had long been cozied into my new leather IKEA chaise in the alcove with lots of candles, the new pile of books that arrived from amazon.com earlier that day and my maglight. A few instances all those candles had me going into She's Gotta Have It flashbacks.

Since I had been having Kahlil Gibran writings wafting through my mind this past week I had decided to re-read The Prophet. So while it was still light out, I closed out the last few chapters and chose my next book. I figured since I had just finished a great enlightenment piece i would move on to trash. LOL. Cracked open Confessions of a Video Vixen. My major reason for buying this book was to see where Karrine Stefffans was actually writing from. Didn't expect to find out anything about anyone that I didn't already know but was curious to see where she was emotionally and mentally at the point of writing this book. So she writes it as a "cautionary tale" and it's actually not a bad read but I do wish she had spent some more time in self relfection since her "conversion" into a woman who believes she is on the road to high self esteem after years of abusive relationships and self abuse.

I'm sure it comes as no surprise but there are no real "jewels" in this book. If I was a 15-year old girl wishing to get into the industry or the game, this book would not deter me. Cocky, star struck teenage girls who think they know everything will only look at this book and say, "She got caught up. I ain't like that." I remember going to a summer party last year out on the island where they were filming some hip-hop video by the pool and tennis courts. The house where it was being filmed was a gift to some young woman and her no job-having fiance, from her rich parents. I was relaying my weekend events to a friend of mine who used to work for Flavor Unit. As I was telling him where I was, he knew exactly who I was talking about and told me she had always hooked up with these loser men. She had her gilrs there to be in the video. My boy, Will, and I were sitting by the pool when one of the women walked by in her bikini with a tatoo right above the crack of her ass that read: "God's Gift". I'm guessing she still doesn't understand that her cute lil ass isn't God's Gift and she probably never meant for that to be the message, but shoot, if I'm a woman thinking that... what must every unenlightened "nigga" that she's about to shake her ass in front of thinks it means. This book wouldn't help her or any of the other women there, who really believed they should take off their tops and get in the pool because the MC said to, as he threw women he called "stuck up bitches" into the pool for not complying. Somehow God must have been on HIS side cause he looked my way more than once, maintaining a good distance and thought better of it each time, always diverting his smartass comments to some other woman in my vicinity.

So I read through the entire book last night. Throughout the whole book, right on up through her revelation she repeatedly uses the word "LOVE". "I loved these men, but they never loved me." Dependent on them, yes. Intoxicated by their "power and prestige", yes. Hurt by them, yes. Abused by them, yes. But loved them, NO. You can't love anybody, when you don't love yourself. It's unfortunate that Damon Dash and Andre Harrell pushed her to write this book before it's time. I won't disagree with them that her story is one that should be told but it was too early into her "conversion". It's 2005 and the last encounter she had was with Usher in 2004. Reflection on 26 years of abusive parents, men and self inflicted harm doesn't really allow you to become clairvoyant overnight or for that matter in 1 year. I'm happy for Karrine that she's not abusing and allowing herself to be abused anymore, but she should've waited until she is more emotionally and spiritually mature. This book offers no real cautionary measures for the girls who really need it now. There ain't no great insight into women that we don't already know. In the introduction Karrine states that her low self esteem is the reason for all the things that got her into the messes she was in and that she knew it sounded so cliche. So I expected her to not be "so cliche" for the rest of the book. Unfortunately, she and her story were.

Okay sometimes I forget the Dalai Lama's saying on goodness... to be more humble than the poorest beggar. Normally I really do try to live that way... but I'm so GOOOOOOD.

On Sunday afternoon I decided to treat myself to a massage at a local spa because I knew I'd be doing chair massage this week to promote the opening of the new office location. So Saturday when I went in to schedule the appt they ask if I want a guy or a girl. I say I don't care. They give me the brother. Now I already have about 6 of their former customers because I really am as manyattitudes says, "Westchester's Premiere Massage Therapist". Can't touch this... dunnnananuhnuhnuh. LOL It's called Adina's Touch for a reason... so when your therapists are lacking my natural and skilled abilities, your former clients become MINE. Hehehehe.

But I digress... so I get a massage on Sunday with dude. Ask him how long he's been doing this... since 1997. I hate fluff work. I tell him what I need: rhomboids are tight, my forearms need to be flushed out and sartorius in the right leg is acting up like crazy. I can't sit in the "tailor" position without pain. And I want him to use the oil that I brought. He does some real random back work, a decent job but not great on my forearms and a pretty decent job on sartorius because as he got to the leg I reminded him and put the leg in the position he'd need to really work on it. It finally comes out that I'm a massage therpaist. So now dude wants to come see me for a session. So I leave my card in with his tip as I leave. He calls and schedules for last night after the window installation. Mom calls in the afternoon to see what I'll be doing. I tell her some massage therapist is coming to see me so he can know how it's really done. She laughs and says alright, later. He comes and gets a 35-min session which he tailors to his back. I go in... do my thing.. say thank you, get up slowly. He's floored, barely moving but gets himself together. He tells me I'm fabulous... I think to myself but am humble enough not to say, I know. hehehe.

So I get a call just now from dude... can we schedule an appt for him to get some pointers from me... hehehe. I'm just so GOOOOOOOD. I can give you all the pointers in the world dude... you can't be me, but I'll try and make you the best you you can be.

Ugggh. They have me stuck in the house AGAIN today. So I realize I normally don't update LJ like I have been these days, because I'm normally not here sitting at a desk. LOL. So for all ya'll who said it was crime that i didn't update LJ regularly... I'm making up for it now. LOL.

So the window guys were just about done yesterday when I realized that there were 2 windows on the staircase going to the 3rd floor that didn't get new windows. So I had to figure out if I ordered the windows and they didn't come, did I pay for the windows, did I even discuss those windows with the sales guy. Well,I did actually pay for these two windows but when Danny came to do the final measurements for the windows I forgot to have them measured, so they never got ordered we discovered this morning. So they'll order them, we'll get them in and all will be well with the world. Just another day I'll have to be home not working, but it's my fault so I'll suck it up. See Danny who's in charge of installation is also a client. We probably got to chit chatting and I totally forgot about those obscure 2 windows. And tey really are... I have never opened these windows since I moved in. They are so high up I can't even reach them. LOL. (No short jokes, THANK YOU)

Today it's the contractor, who was supposed to have come by yersterday, since I knew I would be stuck inthe house all day with the window guys. He's coming at 11:30am. Then the ad rep for a local circular wants to bring my ad proof by for me to sign off on at 2pm. What a waste of a day. I guess I will hop on my healthwalker and watcch some TV in between. Might as well get a little fit while I wait.

( Read more... )

They have been putting in windows all day... I am tired of sitting in the house. It is beautiful out...

<td align="center">Your hidden talent is writing



Your hidden talent is writing. You have a unique way of viewing the world and are able to express your thoughts eloquently on the page. Some people might think that you are weird, but you are just the next Pulitzer prize winner.
Take this quiz at QuizGalaxy.com</td>

So they are putting the last of my NEW windows in my OLD house... of course in order to do this they must take the old windows out. There are big openings that a HUGE, LOUD BUZZING fly has decided he should enter my house through.

I feel like a cartoon character running around with my RAID for flying insect can, spraying everything but the fly... so I've taken a break. Once the windows are in and the doors are locked... it will be just us. Me and the fly...

I'm biding my time. I'm plotting my plan. It's on tonight.

"I'm gonna get you sucka. Dirty Mother..."

So copaseticsoul says "business partner...dont know. if one fails, where will that put the other? tricky situation!"

I responded that the person is not measured by the failure or by how many times they fail, but the person's ability to fail forward to success. That is a Mary Kay Ash-ism... "Successful people fail forward to success."

Being that I've been an entrepreneur for the past 11 years, I've learned to be very discerning about with whom I partner to do business. Business partners are picked on character, determination and evidence of follow through. Chosen on their skill of conflict resolution, their ability to meet a challenge with a smile, their fortiude to travel around the obstacle, over the obstacle or just sledgehammer that sucker into tiny pieces that you can just kick to the curb.

Would I choose a business partner who is making a profit but never has any money to reinvest into the business? Would I choose a partner who's work ethic is less than mine? Would I choose a partner who allows failure to DEFINE him? NO! NEVER!

Relationships are partnerships. Opposites only attract in magnetic fields. In the long haul, people normally gravitate toward people who are similar to them. So why would I choose a life partner who takes but never puts anything back into the relationship, who isn't willing to stay up through the night to meet a deadline or go searching for new ways to build the relationship? Why would I enter into a relationship with someone who's FIRST thoughts are, if it doesn't work out, we can always get a divorce or in business, we can always file for bankruptcy? That is a person who failure DEFINES. They agree to failure before even attempting to win. I never start a business thinking of how it won't work out, nor have I entered into a relationship with such notions. I'm a firm believer that you speak things into existence.
( Read more... )

http://www.nytimes.com/pages/theater/theaterspecial/index.html

The dogs woke me at 3:30 or 4:00am. I let them out, gave them some water, tried to figure out what in the hell Sasha wanted from me at 4 in the morning. They went back to sleep as I logged into LJ to do silly quizzes. I went back to sleep. I overslept. It's my day off. Normally it would be okay to oversleep, well not okay... there are only so many hours in the day to do "nothing" and nothing can sometimes take up a lot of time. I was supposed to have left the house for Brooklyn as rush hour traffic died down.

7:43am- Mom calls and ask what time should she come for her massage. I say 2:30 thinking I'll be back from Brooklyn by then. Hang up the phone, go back to sleep.
9:15am- Sasha insists that I have overslept. I open one eye and say, "We were just up a few hours ago. WHAT!!!!!!!!!!" She moves over to the bed, bumps it twice with her body and begins to look under the covers for my feet. This is what she KNOWS will get me up... I laugh, HA. It's been chilly at night. I've added an extra throw on the bed. She finds my toes are still covered as her nose pushes the first layer of covers off. She can't lick my feet to get me moving. She goes for the alternative... this might get her in trouble... she's learned new tricks. She'll just pretend that she's going to jump halfway up on the bed. I say fine... I'm up.
9:26am- Dogs go out into the backyard. Dishes clang with the sound of kibble. This is not enough to draw them back. I get the olive oil and spoon. They come running, panting at the back door. I continue in my chores. Fill the water bowls. Let them back in.
Boxed cereal has no "life force" so I add some slices of apple, put all the vitamins and supplements into my mouth at once. Images of mental patients and little paper cups visit me. Two large gulps of OJ and they are all washed down. Cereal waits for me. One load of dark clothes must go in before I sit down to eat. I believe in multitasking if you are good at it. Take a mental note: TNT has changed its daytime line up. 9am is too early to watch NYPD Blue.
9:50am- I was supposed to be leaving the house in 10 minutes. I mull around the kitchen, wash the dishes, examine the plant I potted a few days ago and start my ascent to shower.
10:48am - I am not sure how it got to be 11am. I have just started to run the water for a shower.
11:20am- I am perplexed. I've changed shirts 5 times. I don't have a date. Not going anywhere special. Lingering effects of feeling pink? i wonder. Enough. Brown tank top and blue jeans. Call mom.
11:27am- Grams has kept me on the phone an additional 5 minutes longer than needed but she's Grams. She asked what I've been doing this morning. I'm candid... I say "Bullshitting". She says, "We used to call that lagging around." I say, "That's what I said Grams... Bullshittin'. She laughs. I finally get my mother on the phone. I want her to come at 1pm now, so I can go to Brooklyn after and make it back before the evening rush hour begins.
11:45am- I have no idea how the day has gotten away from me. I haven't read my NY Times online yet. Kahlil Gibran awakens in my thoughts...

There are no hours to kill, only hours to live.

I've been called a conspiracy theorist on more than SEVERAL occasions. LOL. But, I always say, just because I'm a conspiracy theorist and just because I'm paranoid, doesn't make my theories any less true. Ya know! So I'm watching the rapid entaglement of large corporations and petty criminals in the ongoing new fangled crime of identity theft. The New York Times article today says some 1 in 700 identity theft criminals might actually get caught. Now, how is it you can send me a ticket for speeding on the Jersey Turnpike thru my EZ Pass but you can't seem to control data leaks out of Citigroup and can't track folks buying up shit, I mean big shit, like apartment buildings and what not in somebody else's name? See, something smells rotten in Denmark. Create the fear in people that their assets are not safe on paper or in somebody's database so you can then recommend THAT CHIP. You know the chip that's going to be inserted in your hand with all your information on a barcode they scan under the little infrared light...
The same type of chip they keep trying to get me to install in my dogs, they'll be telling you to install in your children in case they are lost or kidnapped. "Ms Mardenborough... (I keep telling them that's my mother, my name's Adina) you really should have the microchip installed in Sasha and Quest." I told my vet... "If someone is crazy or fool enough to try and steal not one but TWO 150lb Rottweilers... I say more power to them." And I tell these here big ol' horses every time they leave the backyard without permission... "I'm only circling this block once. I call your name and you don't come running... you better hope I'm home when you find yourself standing on the porch looking at a locked door later." They haven't learned to open the doors to let themselves in yet.

But I digress... the point being... if they really wanted to stop identity theft they COULD and they WOULD. But see that don't add into the equation for the mark of the beast. Ain't no war on identity theft like there wasn't any war on drugs. The only real war going on is the one between folks educating themselves and those trying to keep us uneducated. The dumbing down of America... there's a war going on right now, for our children... GOP paying for educational propaganda in Bush's No Child Left Untested program. Thousands dying in this government's Army of One. Yeah, them mofo's were sure there were weapons of mass destruction over there... them fools sold them to Saddam and now they can't account for them... and whatever happened to his trial anyway? Is Osama still chillin' at the Waldorf?

See, the mathematics is all wrong. Maybe 2+2 doesn't always equal 4; but millions of kids times zero education still equals the masses having nothing. Identity theft my ass... stop stealing my tax dollars to build more prisons and pay my children's teachers DAMMIT. Come on Margaret... spell it out for them... L I E S.

I am excited. I signed the lease and paid my first month's rent for my 2nd office space today. I found out I was really paying November rent... I get the first month free so next rent isn't due til December. Woohoo! Everything around me seems to be shaping up nicely. I'm mentally revved about my business again. I made mention to a friend this past weekend that I had gotten too comfotable in the business. Forgot how to be "hungry". It's almost impossible to be a thriving entrepreneur if you lose your "hunger". So I've implemented some outrageous to meet new goals for myself and the business. This way I will be "striving to thrive" for a good minute...

"You will remain the same until the pain of remaining the same is greater than the pain of change."

Now if I could just find a fabulous new tenant for my 3rd floor, everything will be lovely. I'm looking forward to just having the new tenant and myself in the house. Since my cousin will be moving out shortly, the new tenant will have the 3rd floor all to themselves and I'll have the 2nd floor all to myself again.

Plus, I'm in the midst of redoing my bedroom suite. Just bought two great looking matching ceiling fans for the main bedroom area and the alcove area. I have to call the contractor tomorrow and solidify when they are coming to start stripping my moldings and commence to painting me a new scape. Went to IKEA and got the lovely leather chaise that I spotted in CA while doing an apartment redesign there this summer. Who woulda thunk that IKEA would have a gorgeous oversized leather chaise? And that it would blend so well with the leather I have waiting for me to build a headboard for my bed. This will be the first time I've painted my bedroom since I bought the house. It has been a cobalt blue since I moved in. And it was fine when I moved in and for a few years to follow but I am so over BLUE.

New office space, new living space, new emotional space. Lovely, just lovely.