Plaza Belle del Artes, El D.F. : Blast from the Past

“Be patient towards all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves like locked rooms and like books that are written in a very foreign tongue. Do not seek the answers, which cannot be given to you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now.”
-Rilke

The Love (travel) Boat

    

600 students
100 days
50 staff
13 ports
10 countries
1 Archbishop
1 large boat

I’m so excited, humbled and busy that I don’t even know how to process the news. I was selected to join the Semester at Sea staff and we set sail January 29, 2007 for 100 days around the world. I’m going to miss my baby brother and future sister-in-law’s wedding, but I’ll just send them a really nice gift. Plus, she just got back from covering a story in South Africa, so I don’t feel so bad.

This year has been magical, both in the memories I’ve created and the misstakes I’ve made, and new ones are literally on the horizon. I wish I could take all of you with me, but I’m sure yall can’t get off work, and you won’t fit in my bag (and I’m notoriously cranky if I have to share a room). I have already had offers from people offering to be my: husband, wife, domestic partner, sherpa and “cabin boy.”  

So, what shall I pack? I’m thinking: 15 pairs of underwear, my camera and some breath mints. That’s as far as I’ve gotten. Take a peek at the itinerary and tell us which places you’d be most excited about.

Bell-bottom Crossing

   

Photo by febpanda.

If anyone is wondering what my hair looks like these days, this sign is a fairly accurate representation. Actually, this chick’s whole vibe is a pretty good likeness of me in general. I put the FUN in FUNK yall! This sign is posted outside the Royal Palace in Bangkok, I’m not sure why bell bottoms are necessary, but I can’t wait to get to Bangkok to wear some. As a matter of fact, I am going to stand in front of this sign dressed just like this woman.

I still can’t divulge the Big News, because I haven’t communicated with all of my clients yet. BUT I can tell you that the countdown to my next vagabond adventure is 14 weeks away. Time to get the shots, update the passport/visas and dust off the camera. As usual, I have about 6 months of “to do’s” that I have to complete in 3.5 months so send me some good vibes yall. The only thing more fun than planning and prepping is actually going, so I’m feeling that pre-travel high. It doesn’t help that I’m going through travel anthologies at an alarming pace. I just finished The Risks of Sunbathing Topless and Best American Travel Writing 2006. If you have any other suggestions to feed the habit, holla in the comments!

Butta.Fly

 

“‘How does one become a butterfly?’ she asked pensively. ‘You must want to fly so much that you are willing to give up being a caterpillar.'”
– Trina Paulus

(via Monick)

Killington, VT: See You At The Top

  

I generally really enjoy each and every day, and the last 7 months my work has felt not much different from my play. BUT, I can finally admit out loud that though I lurve to travel…I hate traveling for work. I can’t get into a routine, can’t sign up for a class or get involved in anything spiritual/volunteer/civic. I enjoyed Atlanta last week and I’m off to Wyoming this week for a NOLS board meeting. Trips to Cincinnati, New York and Miami sit on the horizon and all I can do is sigh. The grass is always greener, no?

I am now working on 3.5 clients and really enjoying all of them for the same reason…the people. Friday I kept saying to myself “I can’t believe I get paid to do this…” I got to hear Audrey Kania speak and later that evening got to hang out at a “wine pairing dinner” led by W.R. Tisch, with Diane Darling as the Keynote speaker. That my friends is not a bad day in my book.

I’m in New England and it is cold already. Beautiful, but cold. They predict the first snows in mere weeks, not months. Saturday I got to hang out with the craziest professor I’ve ever met and a bunch of her friends and we went down to North Hampton, Mass to a craft fair (hey, I’ll try anything once) and I got to meet Emerson Matabele! I lurve his work, his vision and his presence, I rarely meet people that make me feel like I need to step up my game, but he did, the professor did, a soon to be professor did, this big client gig…definitely requires stepping up. I’m struggling and yearning to get to the next level, but I feel like I don’t have many mentors or champions, many people that can help me break through. I’m constantly pushing others, friends, family members, colleagues and I don’t have many people that are pushing me…ambition is a party of one.

Today was beautiful, likely one of the last “let’s go outside and play” days for this crazy.black.chick. We went up to Killington and took the gondola up to the top and got some amazing shots of the view. The place was swarming with mountain bikers, rock (wall) climbers, hikers, and the like. I realized that I was somewhat excited about maybe taking a snowboarding lesson or getting back on some skis, that maybe a snowmobile class would be fun and that I had enough dri-wick shirts to make it bearable. A smile crept from my cheeks to my eyes because I realized I’ll always want to GO farther. DO more. BE better. You can take the child out of the fun, but you can’t take the FUN out of the CHILDE. Wyoming awaits.

Holla! 

Atlanta, GA: 73 Stories*

 

*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

Procrastinastic

HUGE news coming Yall. HUGE I tell you. Later though. I’m busy recovering from acting like I was 23 years old instead of 33 in Atlanta this weekend. Let’s just say that FUNCHILDE is going international baby! Add this link to your favorites…you’re gonna be hooked.

Don’t hate the player…hate the game!

PS: A very Happy Birthday to Momma D aka Ms. Darleen! 

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