Category Archives: Family & Friends

Bloggie, Ear Holes (music), Eye Holes (books/film), Family & Friends, Life. Love. Laughs., People, Photos, Semester @ Sea, Travel, U.S.

California Love: Friends Near & Far

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ryan ericka and sherri, originally uploaded by funchilde.

I’m back from California. It was just what the doctor ordered in terms of feeling more energized, focused and refreshed. I went out for work of course but had 10 days between the two events I needed to attend, I hit San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley, Santa Barbara, Ventura, San Jose and finished up in Palo Alto…and of course, there was that one day in Napa that shall never be mentioned again. You know your day can only get better when you wake up to the phrase “Yall still here?” (Thanks Blaine and Tawana!).

The work part was pretty great. We laughed, laughed, worked until we were so tired we were delirious and laughed some more. My favorite saying at the end of each day was “First round is on ME!” This is for my NY client and I love my colleagues more each time we meet, there are those I miss, but our mix of personalities and workstyles keeps everything moving fast and with alot of fun. You can’t beat that.

I was lucky enough to have gracious hosts and decadent hotels, but of the two I enjoyed the time I spent couch surfing the most. I stayed with Sherri (above right) for 5 days and got to see her beautiful home complete with orange, apricot, plum, and lemon trees (and something I’m forgetting–ooh, pears).

It was nice to feel domestic and pick lemons right off the heavy branches and make lemonade. No trips to Trader Joes/Harris Teeter/Von’s necessary. Likewise, mojitos with fresh mint from her garden were the perfect welcome. I enjoyed helping out with the fruit picking and clean up, loved cooking breakfast on the grill, we strolled through the Ventura Weekend Market and checked out the San Buenaventura Mission, read (Golf for Women Magazine), napped, read (Back Roads), listened to old school Erykah Badu and Jill Scott, and read some more. Oh, and watched a phenomenal movie (Half Nelson w/ Ryan Gosling).

We’re both foodies, so it was nice to indulge and be indulged-I grilled steaks and asparagus, portabella mushrooms and chicken-apple sausage. She made a crustless quiche, salsa from scratch and an amazing breaded Tilapia. Wine was a staple, a necessity. The weather in SoCal is so amazing that I worked outside on the back deck every day.

We had a BBQ that included Ryan and Ericka (above w/ Sherri) two of our Semester at Sea students who are absolutely adorable, gracious and wise beyond their years. I also got to hang with one of Sherri’s best friends and met this guy (one of my favorite OG’s of Hip Hop-note the capitalization).

I also got word that I’ll be going back to a project with one of my favorite clients, this time for a 9 month (oh lawd) stint. So this trip represents the slow closure of my immediate sexy travels, but I’m excited to be in one place for a while and work on my fitness and health goals, get to know some people better, and plan the next big phase/trip/thing. So, back to New Hampshire I go….!

I’m already researching Mexico, Thailand and an overland Europe to Africa Trip. And I am always game for another jaunt on the Green Tortoise. Whatever it is, I hope to keep making friends around the world because there’s nothing better than re-living your journeys with people who were with you.

More than anything I missed my nephew, and I can’t believe I’m admitting this…felt a touch of baby fever, not that I want to actually birth one, but the thought of nurturing and loving a little person crept up on me. But it might just have been gas from the asparagus. And while I’m happy to be home on the east coast, I can’t say that I missed either the humidity or the mosquitos.

So what’ve yall been up to?

Bloggie, Culture, Family & Friends, People

Napa to L.A.: Bloggers Meet Up

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Dia & Adrienne Bloggers Meet up, originally uploaded by funchilde.

Lala land is certainly interesting. I think people here take themselves a bit too seriously, but they are all about individual style which I like. Anything goes. And I mean anything.

I have enjoyed hanging out w/ Stella at her fabulous place in Studio City. I can now say I have a friend “in entertainment.” I know she will take Hollywood by storm. It was hard packing her up on the east coast a few weeks ago for the move out here, but she so obviously belongs here that my joy at her good fortune eclipses all that.

I must confess that I have been working hard (really!) and relaxing hard too. Stella’s corporate pad boasts a pool and hot tub in the courtyard which are great “carrots” for getting some work done. Stella is settling in nicely and has indulged me by vacating her kitchen so that I can cook to my heart’s content. She hasn’t even been in the kitchen since I got here so I’m pretty sure I’ll be welcomed back.

I also finally crossed paths with a blogosphere friend and colleague! Adrienne who also blogs for Gadling and her own personal site, is just as charming, charismatic and down to earth in person as she is in cyberspace. A talented writer and journalist indded. We met up for some sushi and drinks and talked late into the evening about all things travel.

I’m off to Santa Barbara/Ventura for a few days. Let me know if there’s anything I should see/do. This is definitely one of the best summers ever. I hope yours is too!

Bloggie, Ear Holes (music), Eye Holes (books/film), Family & Friends, Life. Love. Laughs., Photos, Pie Hole (Food)

Metaphors, Similes, Analogies & Comparisons

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Photo: Somewhere In the Indian Ocean. One of the most beautiful sunsets I’ve ever seen in my life, we had 3 nights in a row like this and Venus (the planet, not the tennis player) was very bright in the sky. The weather was warm and breezy…perfect.

Life As A House

Upon returning to the US 6 weeks ago, I attended my brother’s wedding reception then promptly slept for two weeks. I ate as many vegetables as possible and declined to turn my cell phone on. Since then I’ve slowly climbed out of my shell, and looked around only to delight in the fact that it is summer. And still early summer at that. Cookouts have been had, toes have been dipped, 18 holes of golf here and there, 9 holes there, tennis and hiking (okay, ONE hike).

I also really, really needed a break from everything. I am not good a slowing down, and when I do I usually stop altogether and I had to really allow myself to just sit for a good while and regroup. I have been going full out since last September, and though everything I’m doing seems (and generally is) fun, rewarding and productive, it is also exhausting sustaining that pace. So I’ve also spent a fair bit of time reading: Backpack, Woman: An Intimate Geography, Chocolate, Eleven Minutes, Fever Pitch, The Curios Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, and so on. I love when I get on reading kicks, one of my favorite ways to fall asleep. I’ve also put in a fair bit of movie viewing time since so much came out while we were gone, films: Blood Diamond, The Departed, Fantastic Four: Silver Surfer, Failure to Launch, etc.

In between that I’m trying to fix up one of the rentals that was just vacated and it struck me how similar the process of fixing up a house and tending to your life can be. I had to do an assessment, figure out what the priorities were, purchase the materials and get to work, slowly but surely, realizing it won’t all get done in a day. And so it is with me. I’m working on my physical health in much the same manner. Going to the gym, eating niblets of things that grow from the earth, avoiding things that end in -ookies, -ake, and -ied. I’ve lost a whopping 4lbs in 4 weeks, I’m convinced its my MIND. My summer goals are:

Workout: Health = #1 Priority

Work: Have Fun Everyday while delivering GREAT service

Learn to Juggle: I’m t-h-i-s close…

Buy a motorcycle. I got my license last summer, and again this depends on how long I’ll be in the USA.

Travel Plans: Depending on how one of the proposals I have in turns out, I may be in the country for a while. If it doesn’t pan out, I’ll probably head back to Latin America in October. If it does, it would be totally fun to work with this group for a stretch, then I’ll probably head to Latin America then Thailand in late Spring 2008. God willin’ and the creek don’t rise, as we say in the south.

Working 9 to 5

Well, not really, but I’m LOVING it. small and medium clients are rolling, proposals out to two others, and some possible international opportunities on the table. I keep thinking..”oh, after I do X I’ll settle down and get a real job…” but I have realized a) I HAVE a real job, and I love it and b) I don’t have to settle down if I don’t want to. Indeed my worst fear is that I’ll fall madly in love and desire to abandon my vagabond ways. I’ll be out in California for most of July. Part work, Part Play. I’m hoping for some quality time with my colleagues, some Napa Valley nectar, some exercise and to hang out with some Semester @ Sea folks. I’ve already hit DC, New York, Chicago and Indiannapolis since I’ve been back (for work), so I guess I’m back in the saddle.

Friday Night Lights

I learned a couple of years ago that I don’t do Friday night dates well, especially first dates or “big” dates. I mean if you have a good friday that means you’ve hit the gym, gone to work, run errands (dry cleaner’s, liquor store-what?), maybe pampered yourself a bit (mani/pedi?) and then to go on a date at 7 or 8 pm? Not me, I am too used to being in the bed by 10:30pm. By the time you add up dinner and a movie its damn near midnight! And goodness forbid if there’s some potential for hanky panky…I’m TIRED. No wonder I’m single, call me on Saturday.

I also had a Friday night recently where I dropped in on not one, not two, but THREE different events, and they couldn’t have been more different. A neighborhood block party, a margarita dinner and a bachelorette party with a Pole Dancing instructor. Yeah, you read that right. I thought it was cute but being more of a “beer and darts” kind of girl, I watched for a little while then escaped to return to the block party. whew. that was close.

Like Water for Chocolate

One of the things I missed about life on a ship is access to a kitchen. Since I’ve been back I’ve been on a culinary run. My family loves my Rasta Pasta and I’ve even got them digging whole wheat pasta! My nephew and I have been living it up and have added a Monkey Cake (complete w/ a banana) and homemade donuts for Father’s Day to his growing list of culinary masterpieces. My favorites so far have been the fish tacos and the lamb gyros, both of which were new attempts for me.

My Mom made a Crab Crusted Steak one night, and my dad pulled all the stops out on a Crab Boil so, the fact that I’ve lost 4lbs is starting to sound like a pretty amazing feat no?

Tell me how you are doing and what your summer goals are in the comments or leave a link to your blog. Cause I’m nosey like that.

Family & Friends, Life. Love. Laughs., Semester @ Sea, Travel

#1: We, The People

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You saw this one coming right?

So, #1 by an easy distance are the people, relationships, friendships, epiphanies, observations and new understandings that naturally occured in living with almost 900 people for almost 4 months.

This is the Spring 2007 voyage photo that we took last month in the port of Kobe. I often said (and still believe) that I had the best job on the ship. As Registrar/Assistant Academic Dean, I was able to forge deep relationships with the students as both friend and mentor, I was blessed to support a phenomenal faculty, I was on the 6 person executive team. Some portions of my job were so task heavy that I needed the help of our Lifelong Learners (retired voyagers) and their volunteer efforts literally made my job manageable. Finally, I enjoyed the energy and spirit of the children (9 months-16 years old) that were on the voyage without having to actually be responsible for them. I enjoyed the spouses and partners of our staff and faculty and loved what they contributed to our community. From teaching aerobics classes, to being my right hand on our 4 major exam days-smart, engaged, valuable.

We all worked harder than I thought that we would. I had imagined some afternoons reading a good book on the back deck. Never happened. Resting in my cabin in the afternoons to break up the long days. Rarely happened. And sleeping in on occassion. Happened exactly one time.

That being said, I’d do it again in a heartbeat. I was challenged and pushed, but I was also affirmed and valued. I enjoyed my professional role as well as my community roles. I was an advisor to the People of Color and LGBTA groups, I had two extended “families” of 6 students each, with whom I tried to have dinner or game night or snacks every couple of weeks to check in on them, monitor their general health and hear all about the wonderful adventures they were having.

I was appointed the chair of the Fairy Godmother Fund, our shipboard community effort to raise money for students who didn’t have much financial access to the side trips and experiences. This was right up my alley. I ran the shipboard TV film loop, programming 4 channels for each night we were at sea, and I was tasked with organizing the Community College series which was a series of seminars on board each night we were at sea – topics ranged from “So You Want to climb Kilimanjaro?” to “Making Special Effects Cakes”, again..right up my alley. And those are just the tip of the iceberg (and fortunately we didn’t see any of those). And how many people can say they celebrated their birthday in the middle of the Indian Ocean?

Of course any experience tends to become more pleasant in the memory as time passes, but I’ll never forget how hard we worked to get everyone around the world safe and on time, I’ll never forget how hard we laughed every.single.day, I’ll never forget how my heart broke as I walked away from the ship in San Diego for the last time, my stuff in tow, my life altered in ways I still can’t articulate.

But most of all I hope I never forget that it really is all about doing the best you can, with what you’ve got. every day. And if you’re lucky, you’ll both change and be changed by the greatest resource we have, each other.

Last but not least, all of you who have followed the blog (30-200 hits a day) and especially those who took time to comment…It truly wouldn’t have been the same without you. Thanks for your support, laughs, thoughtful additions and for some of yall…pure foolishness. I wish everything for you, that I wish for myself, and harbor no doubt that we can all live a life less ordinary.

Namaste,

Dia aka Funchilde

Family & Friends, Life. Love. Laughs., People, Photos, Semester @ Sea

Family Expansion: Nicole & Curt

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My baby brother got married today in Jamaica. I thought I’d be fine missing the wedding, with their blessing even, but all day I’ve worn my tears close to the surface. I wish I was there, with my parents, my nephew and of course the newlyweds. To dance, sing, and drink with my family sounds delicious even though I’m in my own kind of paradise here in Nassau, Bahamas (with…dancing, singing and drinking no less!).

A small gift from the gods though…I got to escort Archbishop Desmond Tutu to a meeting! So cool! He’s the cutest thing ever isn’t he? More news later.

Mad love to my brother and sister-in-law. I love you both.

Family & Friends, Gear, Pre-trip planning

Pre-Trip Planning: Down to the wire

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[1] I don’t really recommend waiting until the night before you leave for Florida to upload the entirety of your music collection into iTunes, order major appliances for your rental property, or back up the entire hard-drive of your laptop to an external storage device.

[2] I bought all new underwear and socks. That balances it all out right?

[3] My Mom is going to kill me when she realizes I have used every.last.one. of her ziploc bags, even the skanky ones. But they are just perfect for holding bottles of soap, listerine, powercords, battery packs, etc. I think I went a little overboard with the ziplocage.

[4] I have been rather self absorbed for the last few months and there are many friends and family members that I will not get the chance to see before I take off. Please know that I love you dearly and think of you often. I wish you could all come with me, but then there’d be no reason to blog right?

T-minus: 3 days and counting to Semester at Sea.

Don’t forget to check us out over at Gadling in the meantime for more geeky travel goodness.

Family & Friends, Life. Love. Laughs., U.S.

Hanover, NH: The Family You Choose

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Family Style @ Tuck, originally uploaded by funchilde.

The thing about being a nomad is that the siren call of the road will always trump the possibilities of laying down roots…until it doesn’t anymore. I’m still a sucker for the thrill of travel and so I am continually bidding someone, somewhere “see you later.”

I realized this weekend that I have a set of keys to my parent’s house (a given), but I have keys to three other houses that do not belong to people I am related to. I have standing invitations to let myself into their homes whenever I need to (and I have).  I can show up to any of these places with no notice, broke, broke-down, and bedraggled and I’d be accepted with open arms.

To be loved and trusted with the keys to someone’s most intimate space is the ultimate honor in my book, trumped only by being trusted with someone’s offspring. And so I bid my fond farewells to my New Hampshire, New York and Virginia client’s, my closest friends and of course my family, which isn’t so hard to do when you know you’re always welcome back.

T-minus: 7 days and counting to Semester at Sea.

Check me out over at Gadling.

First stop: Ft. Lauderdale, Fl to Nassau, Bahamas.

Family & Friends, Funchilde - isms

Atlanta, GA: 73 Stories*

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*73 stories up = the view from the Sun Dial restaurant at the Atlanta Westin.

The weekend in numbers:

Voicemails still unchecked: 23
Text messages received over 4 days: 52
Bar Tab at the Sun Dial for 5: $307
VIP Invites to Black Enterprise Magazine Party: 1
How many people I got into the BE Party: 5

The weekend in quotes:
—-
F: Where are we going again?
LBoogie: The Leopard Lounge…
F: No good can come of this.
—-
S: We ended up at a place called the Twisted Taco
F: This has been the best worst weekend ever
—-
Cabbie #1: That’s not a man (pointing out a male transvestite prostitute)
Funchilde: I wonder how much that costs…
Stella: Well, prostitutes are the best known bargainers and negotiators in the world
Funchilde: Really? How do you know that?
Stella: I watch HBO
—–
Funchilde: Is that a tv/dvd player in the front seat of the cab?
Stella: yes, and he’s showing nigerian evangelical christian music videos
*stella proceeds to sing along
—–
Cabbie #2: I went to the best school in the world…
Cabbie #2: Prairie View, Class of ’79
—-
Stella: Do I look like a flight attendant in this suit?
Funchilde: Every time I look at you I want to check the stock price for American Airlines
—–
Funchilde looks puzzled as Stella puts on GINORMOUS bracelet
Stella: What? This is FASHION!
Funchilde: Wonder Woman called, she wants her bracelet back.

—-

Siddiq: I just need to make…like…$180,000

Eye Holes (books/film), Family & Friends, Life. Love. Laughs., People, Photos, Pie Hole (Food)

Seafood! Wine! Danger! Romance!

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[1] That handsome fellow is one of my best friends, S. I dragged him away from his high powered, high paying gig to my last cooking class of the summer (Light & Easy Summer Seafood). I think he had a good time judging by the smile on his face. What do you think? Chef Joe owns Sabot Culinary and he always has plenty of wine for us to “cleanse our palettes”, the knives are extra sharp and there’s always the chance of an industrial-sized grease fire! We made grilled red snapper, grilled steak fish, grilled jumbo shrimp, anchovie crostini, grilled veggies and a vodka crab martini (you scoop the crab meat onto these little crackers). Yum. Okay, so I lied about the romance.

[2] I’m on the move yall. I finished my big summer project at my alma mater, UVA (Go Hoos!) and packed up my gear after crashing with K & D (thanks yall!) and lounging in their supercool (literally and climatically) pad, eating up all their Rice Krispies and threatening to blog about whatever if they didn’t do my bidding. They proceeded to get me hooked on Grey’s Anatomy, Trefoil girl scout cookies and D’s cooking & wine (Italian Pasta? Yes Please! Best.Egg Sandwich.Ever.? Yes Please!)

[3] I’m in Philly for one of my NY based clients for a 3 day conference. I lurve this client because I really like all of my colleagues (plus they have beer in the NY office fridge…). After this I’m headed to New England for a really cool gig that I landed a couple of weeks ago. This is a 4-6 month project which means I will not be headed back out on the road for extended vagabonding until February (post baby brother’s wedding), but it will put a band-aid on the ailing bank account after a summer of revelry (and by revelry I mean: cooking classes, beer drinking, cooking classes, motorcycle courses, beer drinking, Broadway Show, Martini drinking, 3 trips to Atlanta, 1 pretty cool date, Lawn Golf with the Nephew, Labor Day with the ‘hood, 1 trip to NYC).

[4]  I’ve been working on lots of personal projects and trying to manage and land clients so I haven’t had a lot of pure “down” time. Despite the fact that I’m a homeless, jobless, vagabond I’ve stayed pretty busy this summer. A few things that I did make time for that I highly recommend:

(a) Sarah Jones on Broadway: Bridge & Tunnel. Stunning Social Commentary. Genius Character Actor. Best. T-shirt. Ever. I got to spend time with one of my best friends from College S and her husband. They took me to a great brazilian restaurant in midtown where you literally had to walk through the kitchen to get to the restroom. So close to the chef that you could (no lie) lean over and tell him you think that steak is medium-well already. The food was off the hook as we say in the urban vernacular.

(b) The Georgia Aquarium: Quite simply the most spectacular aquarium. I recommend experiencing it through the eyes of twin 4 year-olds. They also let you touch sting rays, baby sharks, starfish and other mysterious dwellers of the deep. I NEVER thought I’d find an aquarium I liked better than Baltimore or even Boston. But there’s clearly no contest.

(c) Cafe Intermezzo: Atlanta.Ambiance. This is where Stacey and I ALWAYS go when I’m in town. The last time I visited we got all uppity and decided to try The Tea Room and ended up in a farcical comedy of ridiculous proportions wherein all I can say is that if you are going to name your establishment the Tea Room, it might be wise to actually have um, TEA?! And the charming, but clearly unstable waitress – her credibility with the wild-eyed recommendations? not so much. Cafe Intermezzo, we will never foresake you again.

(d) Books: Hypocrite in a Pouffy White Dress, What Every American Should Know About the Rest of the World. Both written by smart, funny women. The first a memoir of sorts, the second a journalist’s contribution to educating us clueless Americans about such baffling international issues such as: the reason behind the East Coast/West Coast Rap-esque battle between Israel and Palestine (my analogy, not hers), Why we give Egypt $2.2B/year to buy arms from the US, etc. but trust me, she’s funny. Don’t be skared/skairt/scared.

(e) Film: Little Miss Sunshine. Hands down the best film of the summer. Funny in a Tina Fey meets David Sedaris/Augusten Burroughs tragicomedy kind of way. You WILL laugh, You WILL cry. So just go ahead and fork over the $2,237 or whatever it costs to see a movie in your neck of the woods.

(f) Family. I enjoyed my parents and nephew so much this summer. I tried to spoil them all rotten. I hope I succeeded. I still have some loved ones I want to bear hug and spend some time (Hey Momma D! Sharon D! Anil, etc.) with but I guess this was a good start.

Family & Friends, Life. Love. Laughs.

Gladys Knight and the 3 Wise Men

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K: you know like Jesus and…uh
K: uh, Jesus and the, uh guys, the 3 dudes
K: The Pips!
Me: Jesus and the Pips?
Me: Somewhere Gladys Knight is wondering who those three old white guys are that keep following her around….