A Fine Place to Talk Sh!t
If you keep up with the Dookyblog, or at least read the last post then you would know that Chanel has recently moved operations to a new location. Congrats to Junkprints!
This means that we will have more room to raise our miniature elephants. Below is a picture of me and our elephant “Tiny”.
Those who follow on twitter already know but for ya’ll who don’t tweet, It’s official! The Junkprints Head Quarters is relocating to the Brooklyn Navy Yard/Clinton Hill region of Brooklyn. And boy am I excited! 800sft of Junk! We have alot of work to do to get it all up and running. Including putting up a few walls, painting, cleaning, moving etc. But once it’s done…it’s party time 😉 It’s alot more accessible then my Red Hook Location and once we get all settled in customers will be able to pick up orders and we’ll be hosting loads of events and open studios. But for now, we have work to do!
05/10/10 Brief update The wall are almost up so that means tomorrow I get to paint the kitchen, floors and scrub the bathroom that the last tenant used as peeing target practice, but hey I ain’t complaining cuz once it’s all done the jaws will drop and the drool will roll (but not on the newly painted floors)
I have one less tooth than I had last time I did a posting. Don’t worry I didn’t get into a bar fight or anything, just had an impacted wisdom tooth that was grazing a nerve removed. I’m so hard core that I only had local anesthesia and was fully awake for the whole process, strange to watch your own mouth get sewn up. I even took the subway home after. At first I was like ‘well that wasn’t so bad’. So I went home and continued on the never ending space quilt project that I was working on for etsy’s HQ, which by the way has has finally ended. But 4 hours after removal I felt like someone hit my head with a tiny mighty dump truck. I was in soooooo much freakin pain and wished I had no teeth at all. Ya’ll who know me personally, know that I truly enjoy sobriety but in this case, good thing for pain meds. They made me super dizzy and gave me crazy dreams…I was over it the first night, but suffered through it for the next week. I’ve just returned to solid foods, feeling a lot better and am kinda missing my tooth, is that weird?
I recently came across a website called “Rent-A-Negro.com“. When you look at the site it seems completely legit. It even comes with a pricing guide and order form. Yes, it’s exactly what you think it is. A site that “allows” users to buy a black friend if only for a night. It’s always nice to have at least one black friend, so they can answer all the questions you have about black people with risking get beat up over it. Safety first.
The site was created in 2003 by damali ayo, a Washington, D.C. born artist who prefers her name be written in lower case. “Rent-A-Negro.com” uses satire to examine racism in the interactions between white and black people.
Let’s be honest. If this site actually allowed people to literally “rent-a-negro” sales would be through the roof. There are aspects of being “Black in America” that haven’t yet been covered by CNN.
Living in the suburbs for most of my life has put me in situations where I have been the “TBK” or “Token Black Kid”. As the “TBK” I have been the recipient of many questions about black culture and would like to put you up on game drop science school you share some answers with you.
Most of the questions have revolved around hair:
Question 1: Wow, your hair sure grows fast. What did you do?
Answer: Well, [insert name here] I got my hair done last night. So now they are in braids, a weave, etc. Therefore, this is not my real hair.
Question 2: Can I touch your hair?
Answer: No, you may not. I don’t like people touching my hair unless they are my hairdresser and even then I am wary because she tends to get a bit scissor happy.
Question 3: How do they braid your hair like that?
Answer: Essentially, they use fake hair and weave it through my real hair. It’s un-be-weave-able isn’t it?
Question 4: Why do you wrap you hair to sleep?
Answer: Wrapping your hair in silk material to sleep protects the hair from breaking. And, if your hair is relaxed it is especially important to cover it so it won’t look hideous in the morning.
Question 5: What’s the difference between a relaxer and a perm?
Answer: A relaxer chemically straightens the hair. A perm is not something that black people typically get done. If you’ve seen Legally Blonde you would know that perms are geared to make straight hair become curly.
Question 6: Is that all your real hair?
Answer: (If it is) Yes, it’s all mine, thanks for asking. (If it is not) Well, I bought and still have the receipt so yes, it’s all mine, thanks for asking.
There are so many questions I have answered, but there is not enough time to re-state them all here. Maybe I should be charging for this? Until then, feel free to post up any questions you would like me to answer.
“How It Feels to Be Colored Me” is an essay by renowned writer Zora Neale Hurston. Â I have re-read the essay to myself repeatedly for years. In the essay Hurston explores her own sense of identity by recalling the time in her life when she first realized that she was “colored” or somehow different.
Unlike Hurston, I cannot accurately pinpoint the moment in my life when I realized that I was “colored”. For me, it was always my lack of pigmentation that had distinguished me as somehow different from others. There have been numerous occasions in my life where people have assumed that I could not possibly 100% black and that I’m lying about my full Nigerian heritage. My problem was never being colored, it was not being colored enough.
I can remember going to Nigeria when I was thirteen and being catcalled. “Go back home English girl!” “White girl!” I can remember being chased by the other children and dodging the rocks they threw at me. So much for “sticks and stones”. I’ll let you know that the sticks, stones, and words ALL hurt me. In all, that trip affected my sense of identity because I no longer wanted to be associated with a place that disassociated itself from me. Since then I’ve learned to appreciate my Nigerian heritage in theory, but I haven’t been back since. In fact, I can honestly say I’m afraid to go back to at least the village. I can deal with the city.
When I was in Nigeria I wished for darker skin, just so I could blend in. Unfortunately, I had skin that refused to tan. My skin still doesn’t tan, even in the summer.
A few years ago my father’s friend a came to our house for a visit. He brought some skin bleaching lotion bottles with him for a business he was about to start and asked my mom and I to choose a label for its packaging. It was then I learned about how profitable skin lightening and bleaching was in Nigeria.
Looking back I find it hilarious that I spent so much time wishing for darker skin so I could be accepted while others were wishing for lighter skin so they could be accepted. I’ll admit I still have some hostility towards the people who ridiculed me in the past, but at least I now understand the pain behind it and realize that our pain is all the same.
It took me some time to accept myself and the fact that some people may assume that I am “mixed”, “bi-racial” or as they say in Nigeria, “half-cast” because of my skin color. Even though our stories are different, reading “How It Feels to Be Colored Me” has helped heal some of my old wounds and has allowed me to grow as a person knowing that I have more to offer the world than my so-called lack of color.
When I think of the pain in my past I just remind myself of a quote from Hurston’s essay, “Sometimes, I feel discriminated against, but it does not make me angry. It merely astonishes me. How can any deny themselves the pleasure of my company? It’s beyond me.”
My dream house would be a brownstone just like the Cosby’s home. I would want it to be a refurbished home because I love the way that older homes were built, especially since they have a lot of extra beautiful details included.
If I were to actually own When I buy this home below are some things that I think would be neat to have inside:
What would you want in your dream home? Let me know.
I am currently counting down the days (7 days) until my upcoming trip to the United Kingdom. I will be bouncing around Liverpool, Birmingham, and of course London for most of April. The primary reason for the trip is to attend my cousin’s wedding where I will be a bridesmaid, again. I’ve never been to a wedding a just a guest. Somehow I am always roped in to be a part of the wedding party. Not that I mind, but I’ve dealt with my share of bridezillas. And, no I don’t have “27 Dresses”…yet.
Speaking of bridezillas, let me share with you my ultimate bridezilla moment:
My aunt got married a few years ago and enlisted me as a bridesmaid. Not only were we forced to buy expensive Indian Remy weaves, she outfitted us in bubble gum Pepto Bismol pink dresses. I didn’t even get to the hideous part yet. She wanted us to wear matching silver jewelry (earrings, necklace, and bracelet) which would’ve been okay except that I am allergic to silver jewelry. If worn I break out in hives. When I told her this she just about broke down and cried. Then she proclaimed that I would ruin her wedding if I didn’t wear the jewelry. So being the trooper that I am I decided to at least wear the silver bracelet. So, of course I eventually broke out in hives and was itching my arm beyond belief. The wedding planner notices and rushes me to the ladies room where she busts out some Neosporin to put on my arm. That would’ve been okay except for the fact that I am also allergic to Neosporin. Obviously the hives grew worse after that. The end.
I have a fear that this time around I will be walking down the isle in Birmingham looking like a sparkly candy cane because I’ve been outfitted with a red dress, cream- colored wrap and gold accessories. Well, at least they listened to me this time around when I told them about my allergies.
Below are some pictures of hideous bridesmaid outfits. It gives me hope knowing that things could be worse:
I never understood the ugly bridesmaid thing. Why would you want your friends to look bad? It’s either a lot of brides are insecure or they just have bad taste. Maybe a little bit of both.
Your friends are a reflection of you, so make them look as fly as possible.
We’ve all seen him. That guy who rides around town in a $5000 car with about $15,000 worth of extra accessories on it. Maybe he tried to court you at the McDonald’s drive through. Maybe it worked because now he’s your boyfriend and after spending every cent he had that is the only place he can wine and dine you. Yes, the reason he can’t take you to even buy a “Love It” cone at Cold Stone Creamery is because of that “Ice Cream Paint Job” he just had to have. Why? It’s because everyone needs their 1965 Chevy Impala to look like “The Mystery Machine”.
This is an example of what street philosophers call “Doing The Most”. According, to Urban Dictionary “Doing The Most” can be defined as, “trying way too hard to be impressive but only causing self-embarrassment”.
We see examples of “Doing The Most” everyday. The guy who spent his pay check on the newest Jordan’s then turns around and asks you for a quarter. The girl with the long Remy weave who tells you that it’s all her’s because she’s part Cherokee. Riiiiiight. If you bought it, then it’s yours. Enough said. Of course Pocahontas is friends with the girl with the “real” Channel bag. You haven’t heard of Channel? It’s like Chanel, but it fell off of a truck.
Never try too hard to be impressive and please, please, please always live within your means. “Doing The Most” is what caused the recession, in my opinion.
Check out the following items that are “doing the most” :
The Williams/Murakami piece above leads me to the following question: When does art become “Doing the Most”? I like the message behind the piece. I actually think it is pretty funny, but I just flabbergasted that someone paid an undisclosed amount for a bedazzled can of Pepsi.
Then of course there is Lady Gaga. She is definitely a very creative artist, but is what she’s doing really art or is she “doing the most”? What say you?
I recently stumbled across this 1950s case study on smoking online. What caught my attention the most was a view point on smoking that is drastically different from current beliefs on the topic (at least the televised beliefs). Now I’m not going to tell you whether or not you should smoke, that’s not the point. I just thought that the way this case study discusses their case against anti-smoking was unlike anything I’ve ever heard before. In case you are wondering, I personally do not smoke.
Below are some notable quotes from the study:
“For centuries tobacco has brought mankind peace and cheer. Now some scientists say smoking is dangerous. But are their findings conclusive? The answer is No.”
“For more than 400 years, ever since the first paleface was lulled toward a treaty by an Indian peace pipe, tobacco has been decried as a moral and a physical menace.”
“Newspapers, the radio and television have picked up these reports and spread them broadcast. Condensing and oversimplifying them—with the ifs, ands and buts omitted—they have made smoking look, to many, like a dangerous habit indeed.”
“Millions of us have been led to worry whether the innocent-looking white tubes we casually light and puff are not really lethal weapons, slowly poisoning our systems, giving rise to ulcers, heart troubles, circulatory diseases, tuberculosis and even cancer.”
They make it seem so safe don’t they?
This led me to think about the differences between smoking advertisements in the 1950s and advertisements today. Check out some examples below:
I don’t think there were any anti-smoking ads in the 1950s. I certainly couldn’t find any.
Below are some anti-smoking graphics from the noughties (2000s):
Whether you smoke or not you have to admit the graphics are both very creative and well done.
When I searched online for “Smoking Advertisements 2010” I only found anti-smoking advertisements. I know that cigarette companies still advertise, but the anti-smoking movement is more prominent today. My, how things have changed over the years.
I just thought about this. How many of you remember this commercial?
Now this isn’t necessarily a fashion blog. No runway reviews or daily outfit posts will be found on the Dookyblog anytime soon. However, there are times that we like to point out interesting things in the fashion community because we are a part of it even if we don’t take it too seriously. In other words, just because someone tells me that clogs are in fashion doesn’t mean I am going to run to the store to buy them. So just because Chanel is now selling pretty neat looking fake tattoos in their stores doesn’t mean I am going to fly to Paris to buy them. Especially since they run at $75.00 for a box of 50.
If you do the math that is about $1.50 per tattoo which really isn’t too bad, but who buys fake tattoos in bulk? If given the chance would I wear the tattoos? No, but that’s only because wearing fake tattoos or real ones isn’t my style. Would I judge people who bought the Chanel tattoos? No, because I think they are cool if you can pull them off and who am I to tell you how to spend your $75.00?
If someone gave you $75.00 dollars to buy something what would you buy? Would you buy the Chanel tattoos, or treat two of your friends to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory even if you don’t particularly care for cheesecake? I call dibs on the Cheesecake Factory idea.