Haven't posted in about a month (many of you know why!), so I thought I'd post an OSF today. I chose Diana Ross's "Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's Hand)" as the song that inspires me in part because it does inspire me, and in part because I don't think I've ever posted a Diana Ross song before. Enjoy!
I gotta pay homage to two artists we lost too soon. Both had hits during my freshman year of high school. The first is Aaliyah's "If Your Girl Only Knew," and the second is Tupac's "I Ain't Mad At Cha." Both singles came out at the beginning of my freshman year. I devote this space to remember them both.
Oh, this one is my favorite category! Each week at our church we have a segment called, "Praisercise," where we exercise to praise songs for roughly three to five minutes during morning worship. I lead these exercises weekly and usually do a few grapevines to warm up, and then some boxing and plyometrics for a minute or so to take it up a notch. We're trying to promote more health and wellness projects and initiatives at our church, and those of you who know me, know I'm all about that!
So, I picked a song that we've used during praisercise. It's Kirk Franklin's "Look at Me Now." Enjoy!
Oh Dear. This is a tough one. It's hard not to pick a classic (like "I'm Every Woman" or "Tell Me Something Good") because everyone will probably have one of those. So, I picked a classic and one people may be less familiar with.
The first is "Everlasting Love"
The second is "Precious is Your Name" (performed with Richard Smallwood's "Vision).
Given the nature of this past week's events associated with the racial profiling of preeminent Black scholars, in addition to my own experiences with racism, I've decided to post James Brown's "Say It Loud, I'm Black and I'm Proud"! That's my theme song for the week. Enjoy!
Based on some of the mean spirited comments I've been seeing on facebook and twitter, I decided to post "Man in the Mirror." Cut out all the child molester and plastic surgery jokes! Michael was never convicted of any crime. And, remember, Michael is somebody's father, son, brother, uncle, and friend, so give his family some respect! Before anyone judges, (s)he needs to look at themselves in the mirror and let he who is without sin cast the first stone!
At first I thought about The Jacksons, but thought that would be too obvious. Then I thought about the Clark Sisters, and saw that Regina's Family Season chose them. So, what about the Hawkins Family? They are by far the most underrated gospel group out there! Enjoy!
This week is devoted to songs that people wouldn't believe we listened to. Once I post these songs I wonder how much fun Mr. C. will make of me, so Mr. C, you betta not laugh! LOL! OK, here goes...
Spice Girls: "Wannabe" - I was a freshman in high school and really liked the tune. So what!?
This may seem a bit narcissistic, but I'm dedicating this week's song to myself because darn it, I deserve it! LOL! I'm giving myself a huge pat on the back for the progress I've made on the dissertation (with 5 out of six drafted chapters). I met with my dissertation director last Monday and he said although I was on the right track, I couldn't have a bunch of 70 page chapters. I was trying to discuss theory, praxis, and methodology under different aspects of my diss., when I needed to discuss theory in one chapter, praxis in another and methodology in another before presenting my empirical findings (which I'll talk about later, not feeling that right now!) So, I had to chunk my sections/topics and organize them into chapters that made sense. Because I put in tons of hours of work on doing this this past week, I'm taking Friday off to bake a cake for the weekend and have some "me" time. That's why I'm dedicating Beyonce's "Me, Myself, and I" to me!
Oh I love this topic. It reminds me of the summer holidays when my dad puts a playlist on his computer while we barbeque. It'll be interesting to see what he picks this week, but I gotta go with a few favorites of my own bbq music:
I gotta go with Eddie Murphy's "Party all the Time." Sorry, Seriously, how did he even get a record deal?(Sorry Rick James; RIP. But this is foolishness!)
Mr. C and I were talking a couple days ago about how the cartoons of today are quite different from the ones of our childhoods. It seems that today's cartoons seem too real and lack the fantasy aspects necessary for being a child. So, for this week's OSF theme, I chose a few cartoon theme songs. I wanted to focus on cartoon songs because I think it's important--at least for a moment--to forget about all the problems, worries, and stresses of life's demands. Sometimes, we just gotta have fun and laugh!
Before I introduce this song/theme, let me preface this post: I really didn't listen to any music that Mamma didn't approve of (maybe stuff the dad didn't approve of, but certainly not Mamma! LOL!), so I posted a song that, had I snuck and listened to it while Mamma was gone, and had she found out, my ___ would be grass! LOL!
Anyone remember 2 Live Crew's "Shake A Lil' Somethin'"? I definitely wouldn't have been allowed to listen to this one, or even watch the video! Look at all dat booty shakin'! Me and Mr. C. were just talking a couple of days ago about how when we were kids there used to be what we called kids' rap with kids' issues (like Kris Kross' "I Missed the Bus," Another Bad Creation's "At the Playground," Fresh Prince's "Parents Just Don't Understand," etc.) Whatever happened to kids' rap? Anyhow, I digress. Here's the cut:
Obviously I'm not a boy, but if I were a boy and if I were a hip hop artist, I'd have a trusty female sidekick in my song, and we'd both be rulin' the world. Like the saying goes, behind every good man is a strong women. So, I picked "If I Ruled the World" by Nas featuring Lauren Hill. Enjoy!
The theme this week is ... well read the title! Basically, what songs do you listen to when you've worked all day, the house is a mess, you need to cook but really don't feel like it, and you just wanna relax? Even though I wasn't old enough to work when this song came out (1993), I really think it's a good anthem to play when you dog tired! LOL! I chose "Just Kickin It" by Xcape. Enjoy!
This space will serve as my teaching and research blog. My tentative dissertation topic will be a Teacher-Research study on two TIER I (First-Year Writing) courses at Michigan State University. This blog will consist of reflections about the course and research conducted from Fall 2008 - Spring 2009. Students from my WRA 125: Writing the Ethnic and Racial Experience course will also blog about course readings and class discussions.
I'm a PhD student in Rhetoric and Writing at Michigan State University. My research focuses on African American literate, rhetorical, and linguistic practices, Afrafeminist rhetorics, and Writing Program Administration. I'm in the middle of taking my second qualifying exam and will be blogging about that process and the dissertation process. This blog will help me get through my PhD (I hope!)
Posts
