i love this photo

i got this photo from this blog i read called "Anti-Racist Parent."
The author wrote about how this picture demonstrates the importance of having a man of color or biracial man as President of the United States.

The little boy asked Barack Obama if he could touch his hair because he wanted to know "if it felt the same as his."



God Bless America

a new addition to the family

i am very excited to announce that azad and sam got a new kitten
her name is bella and she is ADORABLE
az is generally very allergic to cats but apparently bella is magical and does not make him sneeze

here are some pics of her:





i am looking forward to meeting her!

h.o.t.n.e.s.s.

This is the chuck bass i love:





where the hell yall been?
oh, right it's my turn to write.
i promise to get on that this weekend.

happy friday.

a few new additions

so i have two new babies and one new puppy to announce.

1. i posted earlier about nifa and maya's new babygirl. they have named her zuri (zoo-ri). it means beautiful in swahili. look at how lovely she is:



2. my friends tony and laura also had a baby a few weeks ago. i have posted in the past about their first son diego. here is a picture of their sweet baby jesse:



3. the last baby has a tail. it's molly, the dog. my friend angie got her a few weeks ago. jes and i met her today and she is adorable. here is her picture:



i am thrilled to welcome each one into my life!

great weekend

yall

i had a great weekend with lots of friends and lots of sunshine. I am totally tuckered out but my goal is to write this blog post, then do my bills, and THEN i can go sleep.

so glennda and nancy arrived on friday afternoon and we all went and got taqueria del sol for lunch. after that we headed to piedmont park and walked around and looked at the cute puppies at the dog park. after that we got a drink at midway and sat outside and watched the world go by.

glennda and i were exhausted after that so we took a little nappy on the couch (separate couches folks) while jes and nancy checked email and made dinner. i was woken up by a knock at the door. jes opened it and it was this guy who said he was renting a room from our next door neighbor and could he use our wireless internet if he paid us. for the next hour he tried to make it work and even brought over his own fancy mac router. in the end, it didn't work and he left feeling defeated. it was sort of random and weird and we all made jokes about how he could be stealing our identities (which, actually is totally possible).

anywho after we finished eating our black bean burgers, onion rings and/or chik patties it started to rain pretty bad. and then the hail came and it sort of felt like it was the end of the world, but after about thirty minutes it passed and we were ok, but it was bad enough to convince us to stay inside b/c the rain kept going and we didn't want to schlep out that bad weather.

then we saw the cop car pull into the driveway of our across the street neighbors. and then more cops came. and then for the next hour we watched these cops go up and down our street, down our driveway, and through our backyard. finally i went outside and asked if we needed to be concerned. the cop explained a house was broken into a few blocks over and the burglar went on run through our neighborhood. i described the neighbor who asked to use our wireless and luckily it did not fit the description of the burglar. soon after, we hit the hay b/c stakeouts are exhausting.

on saturday morning we walked to thumbs up and got some delicious breakfast. then we walked back, got the car, and headed to atlantic station to shop. after that we got some lunch at fellini's and then we had to drop nancy off at the airport. :(
then it was back home, shower, and off to the bowling alley where we saw our softball friends. they played all these old school jams that made me feel like i was 13. after that we headed to this bar bellissima. it was ok. we had a lot of fun taking pictures and acting silly and then once they started showing videos i pretty much checked out and started watching. we came home and crashed around midnight.

this morning we ate breakfast here and took glennda to the airport pretty early. :(
then we came home and putzed around a bit and then headed to this bar in inman park where we *thought* our friend was deejaying. it was sunny and warm so we rode our bikes. it was a good ride and i know i will be really sore tomorrow. ohio friends julie an liv met us there and we chatted and then headed to marta, took the train and then walked back to our house. we all sat around in our living and caught up on our lives. it was such a nice time. around dinner time we drove them back to marta so that they could train back to their friends griff and chad's house in east point.

now jes is watching rock of love and i guess i am too. i am so very tired.
i love long sunny weekends of friends and such. i hope there are plenty this summer!

welcome baby girl!

Behold Nifa and Maya's baby girl. She was born yesterday. The only specifics I know is that Maya was hella overdue and she and Nifa posted a video of them trying to "dance" the baby out. Clearly it worked.

I think she is perfect.



Congratulations to the happy family!

our new house part deux

right now bill maher is talking to this guy who plays jesus at this theme park in florida. totally bonkers.

ok jes wants her computer back so let me hurry it up. here are some before and afters of the living room:







is it extra bad we are watching this the week of passover and easter?

ok here is the dining room and kitchen:







ok so i have a few more pics to share with you. the first is of horace and orangina. orangina is a cat statue that leah painted. horace thought it was a real cat and he went bonkers and swatted at it. it's pretty cute:



and here is a picture of our first dinner guest. it's our realtor (and friend) gerry and he is showing us the tree he got us. we call it gerry the cherry kwanzaa tree. it started blooming this past weekend. love it:



gerry came over and we had pasta with vodka sauce, a nice spinach salad, and then guinness chocolate cake (jes made it). it was so good!

also, a few weeks ago sarah and kim celebrated the legal adoption of their boys. here is a picture of them on their special day and then a picture of us at the celebration afterwards:






ok lastly, here is a picture of jes and me happy in our new house:



ok now bill is talking to gay muslim activists. he is still making me nervous.
happy monday yall.

so about our new house FINALLY

yall,

it's been a month since we closed on this house, and let me tell you this:

1. i love it
2. it's a lot of work
3. we have done a lot
4. we have a lot more to do

so every weekend i say to myself "self this is the weekend you are going to blog about the new house" and then i painted something or collapsed on the couch or whatever. but here i am now, watching religulous, which is sort of hilarious so far.

so my hope is that i can do this before and after thing. it may take a few posts. and in reality, we are more in the middle than "after" but just humor me for now. let's get started.

here is our room "before":



and here is our room "after":





let me just interrupt myself and say that this movie is making me VERY NERVOUS. Bill Maher is so inappropriate, but hella funny. It might give me the hives.

Ok moving on. Here are some photos of the middle room which is the office. It comes in three stages: before, middle, and after. Here we go:









the middle room is the room that has made the most change. i mean we tore down the walls and then put some back up. glennda and nancy are coming this weekend so things are going to be pretty in order, so i will put up more pics after the weekend.

ok moving on to the "guest room" which is now known as "the pink room." check it out:





after thursday, we will have a bed in there so i will take pictures of it all done up. i think rather than overwhelm you with before and afters of the whole house i will stop there and then do another post about the rest of the house. let me tell you this though, last night we had katie and leah over for drinks and picture hanging. leah frames photos for a living and is an artist so she can just eyeball shit and hang it up. she is like a wizard! so we broke out the crown and ginger and got some pictures hung. i really did nothing but sit on the couch with katie and watch a show about women who didn't know they were pregnant and then had their babies in the toilet at work. totally bonkers. i unpacked our shoe box and found my high heels that i bought for julie and liv's wedding. i put them on with my jammies and paraded around the house. leah and katie almost fell over laughing. jes did this faux pin up pic of me:



ok let me get this up and then get to work on another post about the FRONT of the house. i am wondering, was this worth the wait?

i mean seriously...can you handle it?

i give you becker:



and his twin brother nolan:



sarah and kim make some cute ass babies people.
can i get an amen?

one more thing

it is snowing like a blizzard here in atlanta!
WTF?
i thought i left this weather behind when i left the midwest.
the kids in our neighborhood are going APESHIT, as is jes.
i, on the other hand, have on pjs, smartwools, my bears sweatshirt and my woolcap.
when oh when is spring going to start?
i hate it.

just a quickie

it's been a busy and challenging week and i don't to go into it just yet, but i do want to post a few pics.

first up is mary and dusty's dog blue. he got surgery on friday and made it through with flying colors and an elizabethean collar. how cute is he?



second is my other girlfriend, pink, waiting for me in her car. i'm coming pink, be there in a sec:



and to those of you who know me from ohio state, i wanted to brag and let you know i had a glass of wine with nancy campbell last night. you're jealous. she was in town for a conference and we met for a nice drink and some conversation. you are so jelly.

lastly, my neck and shoulders are jacked up right now and i think its because i slept funky but it hurts to hold my head up or look down. no me gusta.

happy sunday!

sunday morning

Hi All

And Happy Sunday morning.

I don't have all that much to report really. Jes and I spent all day looking at stuff for houses. We looked at couches and stoves and frigs and washer and dryers. We also continued to worry over what shade grey to paint the living room and what color green would look good in the kitchen. do we own a home? no, not yet. but keep your fingers crossed. All I know is that I could NEVER be a personal shopper for a living. It wears me out and makes me real cranky real quick.

We also have watched a few movies lately. We watched "Nick and Norah's playlist" or whatever it is called. I love the guy that plays Nick, but that has been true since Juno. It's pretty funny. A little slow in places, but worth a rental. We also watched "Secret Life of Bees" a definite must watch if not only b/c Queen Latifah AND Alicia Keyes are in it, and other people. And then we watched "Death at a Funeral" a sort of funny british comedy. Jes wasn't feeling it. Parts of it were funny, but if you miss it, its not the end of the world.

Today I have some work to do and then I hope to go to the Think Pink women's basketball game to show my support. I think Jes is going for a bike ride with Angie B. this morning. She went with Angie T. last weekend. She only rides bikes with people named Angie. Just kidding.

Anywho my sister sent me some lovely pictures of her family. Or maybe I stole them off Facebook. Either way, here are a few.

Let us begin with Zach and a cupcake for his first birthday:



ooh i want to eat that belly.

Next is the boys (ben and zach) together. cuties:



and finally the whole family. how lovely.



ok that is that. I need to give larry purrbox his pills and get jes's hiney out of bed.

welcome etta

i am thrilled to present the newest baby in my life: etta pearl





and here is one of her with her moms christie (holding her) and becky. what a lovely family:

almost one year old vs. cupcake

you tell me who won:



happy almost birthday baby boy zach
love, auntie donna who lives so far away
:(

our friday

good morning dear readers,

I hope this blog finds you happy and well rested.
it is sunny here in the ATL and word on the street is that its supposed to be in the 60's. this is a much needed break from the ridiculous cold we have been dealing with. i am ready for spring already.

so this is going to be a sponsored blog entry, brought you by mary and dusty's two babies.

First up, Blue the wonder dog. Don't you just want to snuggle him?



Blue is joined by his sister Davis. Also a little sweet muffin:



Ok, now that we have the sponsors out of the way, let me tell you about our night last night. Jes and I got spontaneous yesterday and she picked me up from work and we headed to Atlantic Station, which is this mega mall sort of town within a city. There are condos and lofts there and seriously you could never leave there and be ok. Because it was Friday night, it was filled with MANY irritating people, but we were on a mission so that didn't matter.

We went to see the two exhibits there. One is called "Dialogues in the Dark" and the other is "Bodies." Y'all, you should check these out. I am pretty sure both are in other cities, so google it if you can. Thank god, Billy Joel just started to play a jaunty tune to accompany my blogging. Heaven forbid I type in silence. Anywho we went to Dialogues in the Dark first. My student told me about it the other day and I was like "oh I have got to take Jes to that" so I did. Basically Dialogues in the Dark simulates what it is like to be blind. Yall it was bananas. Me, Jes, and eight people from Alabama (for real, that is not an "Alabama joke") were all ushered into a darkly lit room with canes in our hands. They say a little ditty, then the lights go off and it is pitch black. You can not see your hand in front of your face. It's the weirdest thing ever. So in comes Margaret, our guide. She takes us through a "park," a "grocery store" (where we feel the produce and bags of rice), on a "boat ride," through a "city" (this was the only place I had a moment of panic b/c I got stuck b/w some construction--i think-- and a car maybe)and then finally to a "cafe" where she sat us down and told us about how she lost her sight. She was hilarious and boisterous and totally understanding when I stepped on her foot and ran into her a million times. She kept saying "come to the sound of my voice" really loud b/c all the Alabamians were talking and yelling a lot. If you have the time and the money, seriously check it out. It was a great exercise in using your other senses AND being reminded of what a privilege it is to see. Seriously.

After that we went to an adjacent exhibit called "Bodies." This is where they basically take the skin off of people and let you see all their muscles and organs and shit. It was really intense as well. We were both pretty worn out from the Dialogues in the Dark so we didn't read every single thing in bodies, but it was still really visually engaging. I especially liked the stuff on the digestive system and fetal development. Oh and the comparison of healthy lungs to lungs of a smoker. There is a place you can deposit your pack of cigarettes if you feel so moved. I would suggest you do one, then maybe go get lunch and then come back for the other, or do them on two separate days. Its a lot to take in, but I am so glad we checked them both out. Once a science geek, always a science geek.

Anywho, after that we went to dinner and then came home, I watched the rest of "Sober House" and then fell asleep on the couch. It's a good thing I went to bed so early b/c Larry meowed the entire night. Seriously I was up (though Jes got up and fed them much more than I did) it felt like every hour. This was a great way to break up the anxiety dreams I was having all night. FUN TIMES.

Ok Jes is going for a bike ride with Angie T. today and I am going to my office to get some students recs and a review article done and to begin on the second set of revisions of my dissertation manuscript. I also hope to work out.

Happy Saturday yall!

higgins vist

So far this has been a stellar weekend, and I feel like it is only going to get better.
On Friday night after work, Jes and I met up with Higgins and had drinks and dinner at U Joint. Jes caught Higgins up on all the trashy television we watch: Rock of Love, Double Shot at Love, and the L Word. I am certain she must think less of us, but that's ok, we love the trash.

Saturday morning we got up and go to doing some errands. It was sunny and warm (in the 50's) and I was immediately in a good mood. I also got to go to TWO of my favorite places: target and the post office. Who can complain? We met up with Sarah, Kim, the boys, and Kir and Higgs for lunch at Mellow Mushroom. It felt so good to just have some of the gang together AND not only were we celebrating Higgs visit, we were also celebrating Nolan and Becker's first social outing (i.e. lunch with us). Look at them, they are overwhelmed with glee. First Becker:




and here is Nolan, also estatic:




We all had delicious sammies, except Higgins who had a delicious spinach salad with tofu of course. As an appetizer, we got these garlic cheese pretzel things. The gang loved them. On our way out, I tried to capture a few pictures of everyone on a lovely Saturday afternoon. Here are a few pics:






Can you tell what is different? It's like one of those "Goofus and Galant" things from the "Highlights" magazines we used to read as kids.

Anywho after lunch, Higgs and Kir came back to our house (we carpooled) and we all chatted for a minute in the parking lot where it was warm and sunny. Then they went on their way to Zesto for ice cream and then on to a walk I think. Higgs departed today (oh bother) but I think we convinced her to try and return in the summer with her hubby Bobby. Here we are before they leave:




After that Jes and I ran a few more errands and then met up with Emma and John for a hot minute at Joe's coffee house in East Atlanta. Emma asked Jes and me to be in this feature of GO! Magazine where they talk about lesbo couples who have been together for a long time. They needed a picture of us, so Jes asked Emma to do an impromptu photo shoot. Overall, it was pretty painful b/c I have double chins and hate how I look in most pictures, but it was fun nonetheless. Here is the winning shot:



when we got home we wrote a little ditty to go in the mag and sent it off. then we made dinner (it was not that good) and watched "vicky christina barcelona" also not great even though there were all kinds of beautiful people in it.

today we are going to superbowl it up with softball folks and then off to sarah and kim's for more superbowl and the hell word (read: L word). Keep your fingers crossed that Jenny actually dies today and Max finds a razor and shaves his ridiculous beard.

Oh, here are two pics that John and Emma think could be our album cover should Jes and I ever start a band:





Happy Sunday and Go Steelers!