Fitness / Media / Race / Women — Comments
18
Aug 10

Black Women Run, Too

I recently received the Sept/Oct 2010 Women’s Running magazine and there’s a strong chance I may cancel the subscription. The magazine itself has some almost-useful-to-me information, but each time it comes in the mail, I’m reminded that the magazine is really not geared to me as a black female.

Women's Running magazine

Just a glance at recent covers can tell you that. In the two years this magazine has been coming to my house, I don’t ever remember a woman of color on the front of the magazine. Inside the magazine, not one of the articles features a woman of color. Three ads contain a woman of color: One Latina near the beginning of the magazine, then on page 76 (this issue is 80 pages) in the lower left corner and again on the back of the magazine. The only time you see females of color accompanying an article is when they are children. Of course! It’s so uplifting to see young black and brown girls interested in fitness. *eyeroll*

Of course, this is nothing new. Women of color are be used to the dearth of useful information in magazines geared to (white) women. Self, Shape, Women’s Fitness, Prevention, and Fitness Magazine have never pretended to cater to me. That’s why I will never subscribe or read these magazines. But when I saw “Women’s Running” (previously Her Running), I had wrongly assumed that meant all women. If anything, this is extremely clear in the beauty sections, which mainly focus on products geared to those with fair skin and non-kinky hair. In other words, I’m not going to hold my breath expecting an article on which hair care products are best for black women who swim. Which is okay. I don’t need Women’s Running to change to fit me.

I think what astounds me most, is that when you consider the make up of the US Woman’s Track & Field team, it is mostly black women. I do not recall seeing them interviewed in this magazine. However, I do see many interviews from past white Olympians, including those who have never won a medal. When I go running in my neighborhood the young Latinas and older Asian women put rest to the belief that only white women run. When I join a race and see so many black women of various ages, I refuse to believe the image these magazines give me. There is a reason that I follow @blackgirlsrun on Twitter.

Sadly, there’s not many options for me out there. Heart & Soul magazine has a very, very limited fitness section. I used to subscribe to this magazine for years, but figured it was time to let go when I only wanted to read one article from it. Instead, I’ll continue what I’ve been doing; sending out tweets and blog posts asking black female athletes for tips. Word of mouth is strong among black women. We have that going for us.

Hopefully, I’ll learn of a useful-to-me magazine.

Gardening / Nature / Southern California — Comments
31
Jul 10

So you want to grow your own food (Part 2)

Your soil is prepped and you have a rough sketch of your water needs, as mentioned in Part 1, but now it’s time for the best part: picking your plants.

Choosing Your Plants

Find Your Zone

I love growing vegetables, even the ones I won’t particularly eat. I often grow extra produce so that I can trade with neighbors or use in my compost pile. Most people start off with tomatoes. Tomatoes are easy to grow and aren’t too tempermental. Best of all, they only need minimum watering. If you live in Southern California, you can actually grow some tomatoes year round if you let them go to seed. Ideally though, they need warm weather to get sweet and ripe.

Depending on your growing zone, you may be able to grow many different kinds of plants. For example, I’m in Sunset Zones 19, 20, 21. I would love to grow apples or pears for eating, but it will be a toss up as to if I’d get fruit at all. Sunset Zone 22 can grow edible pomes.

You’ll notice that I listed 3 zones above. That’s because my tiny backyard ans 3 different microclimates. In fact, even the temperature will vary 3 -5 degrees depending on location. Some areas are in full sun year round. Others get only 3 – 5 hours of sun during the summer months and are in shade the rest of the year. I highly suggest checking out Sunset’s Western Garden book for Southern California gardeners.

Continue reading →

Gardening / Nature — Comments
31
Jul 10

So you want to grow your own food (Part 1)

Recently, I’ve been asked about how to grow food at home. This is something I get rather excited about, not only because I love gardening, but I love seeing people talk about how they use the food they grow in their meals. Let’s face it, this economy has us all re-evaluating out food choices. When you go to a large grocers and see sad produce at exorbitant prices, it gives you pause.

I hope to be able to get you started on growing your own food, but this is especially geared toward people who live in the city. I grew up in the suburbs. We also had herbs growing in pots and grew a few vegetables, but most of our plants were indoors. When I moved to Hollywood in ‘98, we lived in a courtyard apartment. The courtyard was very shaded and cool. Had I wanted to grow lettuce year round, I could have. Behind our apartment was a 6′ strip of concrete that was sunny year round. Trial and error taught me what I could grow and where. All of my produce and herbs were grown in pots and buckets. In 2006, we moved to El Sereno. I took my back yard from looking barren to a complete jungle in just a couple of years. (Side note: Those pots you see in the second photo are the same ones I used to grow veggies in, back in Hollywood.)

Continue reading →

People / Personal — Comments
20
Jul 10

Trust

Trust in friendships is a fickle thing. For some people, it’s easy to trust others. For people like myself, there’s a brick wall that needs to be torn down before trust can be established. In my case, that can take years. I may not develop a lot of friendships, but those I do have are very dear. I know that I can tell these people things without finding out later they’ve blabbed it to others. They also know that I’m fiercely loyal when it comes to such things, so they’ve nothing to worry about.

But the hardest part is always that first step, especially in an online environment where things you can type can be sent to just about anyone. I freely admit that I don’t put all of myself out there. People get to see a lighter, more frivolous person. My friends, especially my close friends laugh, “No wonder everyone thinks you’re nice.” I have to explain to them why that wall is a little thicker, a little higher for people online.

A few days ago, my husband asked me if I had seen something someone posted. I told him, “Oh, I hid all of her stuff and removed her from following me.” He asked why, since she seemed so harmless to him. I then told him about all the times things were said to her in private messages, only to have her turn around and tell the other person or someone else you just happen to know. Do you know how awkward it is to have a friend from one social site tell you a story their friend told them and it’s the exact same thing from a different social site that was told to be kept underwraps? This is exactly why I’m a bit weary of DMs, IMs and Skype. The topic often turns to gossip, which I want no part of, even in face-to-face settings. This is why most of my IMs or DMs are with guys. They don’t gossip as often as the women who IM or DM me.

We all have friends that we can trust to a certain degree. The one friend you can trust to always make everything about herself. The one friend you can trust to have a shoulder to cry on. The one friend you can trust to always find some way to get into trouble. The one friend you can trust to know just what to say, but more importantly when to say it.

And even though that first step into a deeper friendship can be scary. Keeping that trust in someone can be hard. I know. That’s why I let friendships go. I’ve stopped trusting them and the wall was rebuilt. But it’s really great when you get there.

Fitness / Los Angeles / idiocy — Comments
27
Jun 10

Activities That Take Less Time Than Registering for Swim Classes at Richard Alatorre Pool

There’s incompetence and then there’s mind blowing WTFness that makes you worry that the people in charge are capable driving, breeding and/or voting. Today’s experience registering for swim classes definitely fall into the latter. With only 36 families in front of us, what should have taken, at the most 10 minutes, took a little under 3 hours. Two hours and 51 minutes, to be exact.

How is such buffoonery possible? Well, first off, they would not pass out registration papers to us while we were standing on line. Considering some people were registering 3+ children, logic would dictate that making the registration forms available would have been the most efficient way to handle this. When I spoke to the woman handing out the forms, she said that she’s only handing out 10 at time so that she won’t get confused.

*blink*

Her exact words were, “Well, whether you have them now or get them later, you still have to stand in line.” I said, “I get that, I just thought I’d spend my time effectively. I thought this would be…efficient.” She just looked at me.

As we got closer to the front, I overheard her talking to other parents. That’s when I learned that the line wasn’t just for swim classes, but also for people signing up for team sports or the Jr. Lifeguard program. Once again, logic dictates that separating us into 3 separate lines would be the best course of action. Especially since, I also learned that after you filled out the registration papers, you’d have to go stand on one of these lines anyway.

What it came down to was that I got to spend 2 hours in the sun, standing on line to get a piece of paper that I could complete. Once that was done, I was given the opportunity to stand on yet another line, to give that paper to someone else.

I can think of several ways this registration could have gone so much faster. Making the registration forms available online, would be awesome. Even better, would be to allow for online registration in the first place. The multiple line suggestion above would have worked wonders, too.

Then I started thinking about other things I could have done that wouldn’t have taken nearly as long:

Getting a new license at the DMV. Hell, doing anything at the DMV.
Standing on line for a ride at Disneyland.
Getting a DBA.
Filing for unemployment benefits.
Going through airport security. Internationally.
Finding parking in West Hollywood during Pride.
Getting an outside table at Doughboys.
Listening to a speech by Bill Clinton.
Getting inside the Federal Building.
Visiting an IRS office.
Driving to San Diego, Palm Springs or Santa Barbara.
A dinner cruise in Long Beach.
Watching TWO soccer matches.

I could go on, but what it boils down to is that whoever was the mastermind of today’s events should be fired. Immediately. Or at the very least, someone with half a brain should be in charge of registration from here on out.

Technology — Comments
04
Jun 10

Blah, blah EVO 4G, blah…ooh pictures!

In case you missed my World Wide Web orgasm, I got an EVO 4G. Go me. Yay. Anyway…this isn’t a post on my thoughts of the phone because if you’re following me on FriendFeed or Twitter, you’ve already read them and just want me to shut it already.

This post is about my (our) evolution of gadgets starting 2002. The years 1999 – 2002 are not represented because we can’t find the phones. This is a photographic comparison of what we had to this EVO 4G.

A plethora of hardware

The iPaq and G1 are my husband’s property. We both had PPC-6700s. I think we carried those from ‘04 – ‘08. The piece of shit Instinct is what I just replaced with the EVO 4G. It’s a big jump size-wise.

Some side-by-side comparison:

Something old, something new

I really liked the iPaq. It had such promise. We knew it was just a matter of time before we found something that reach what we needed. That something was the PPC-6700. The only thing that was bad about that phone, was the tiny screen size and the thickness of it.

Big brother, little brother

All together now…AWWWWWWWW. HTC seems to release a new phone every three weeks. At the end of June, when the EVO is obsolete, all he’ll have to do is look at my husband’s G1 and be inspired. It’s lasted almost 2 WHOLE years. Almost.

Time for an upgrade

It’s clear from the scratches all over the screen, that it was time to let teh Samsung Instinct go. Not that I was broken up over it, since I’ve been wanting to get rid of this phone since December 2008. Even in the middle of March, I was ready to leave Sprint forever and go by a Nexus One. In just the few hours of messing around with the EVO 4G, I’m amazed at my feelings of ecstasy, “I have a real phone again!” I was so ready to go back to the PPC, just so I could do enjoy web-browsing on my phone again. As much as I’ve bitched about the Instinct, I’ve praised it too. There are a lot of features the Instinct had that on other phones, you’d have to download an app or jailbreak the phone to get. But it’s gone now. Sayonara!

Uncategorized — Comments
02
Jun 10

UPDATED: Is it that hard to pay attention?

I received another email from this person again, update below.

******

I often get press releases and invites to events for things that are outside my frame of reference or interests. Somehow, there are people out there that think that my blog is the perfect place for me to write about cleaning supplies for pets I don’t have or I care about meeting singles in Texas, never mind that I’m married and in LA. People just don’t pay attention.

Today, I checked my email and found a press release from a guy who clearly Does Not Pay Attention.

Good Afternoon Anika!

First of all, nice to make your acquaintance!

Secondly, I wanted to invite you to our client’s VIP Media Exclusive Party. I think this would be perfect for “Faboo Mama”. [SNIP] We are especially interested in the new “Mommy Blogger” demographic, which is why we thought of you!

(Emphasis mine)

First off, it was for an event for some cosmetic thing. Who in their right mind would consider me for such an event? Secondly, anyone who knows me is aware that I don’t give a flipping flapjack about celebrities. But it’s that last line in the email is where he stepped in it. Why? A quick look at any page on my site, has the same part in the sidebar:

Now, what does the last line say? Yep.

You may be willing to offer up a myriad of excuses for the guy, but considering I spent almost 15 years sending out press releases and invites like this, I cut him no slack. I made sure my lists were relevant and up-to-date. I managed not to send the Science Editor of a paper in Houston things about an accounting even in Washington. If I knew that a writer wasn’t interested in New Jack Swing groups, I didn’t send him/her a press release. It’s that simple. It’s called doing your job.

******

UPDATE: The follow-up email received is especially laughable considering the above:

Anika! How are you!

I trust you received my invitation on Tuesday — I think it is perfect for you and your readership at FabooMama! We are exploring the ‘mommy blogger’ sphere of influence, and your site just keeps popping up. So please won’t you join Los Angeles blogging elite for a night of champagne, hors d’oeuvres, and freebies all night long!

Geez. Kinda laying on the GimmeGimme. Not that kinda girl.

Travel — Comments
01
Jun 10

A Different View of the Bay Area

We took advantage of the 4-day weekend and Adrian’s upcoming birthday (tomorrow!) to go visit friends in the Bay Area. This time around we didn’t do what we usually do, which is spend too much time and money in The City. Instead, we poked around Oakland and even wound up spending a day in Antioch.

I think that was a good choice, as it gave me a better perspective on general Bay Area-ness. Here are some things I gleaned from this trip:

It’s not always cold and foggy up there.
People in Oakland had a Midwest sort of nice about them. Everyone kept saying “Hello” to us. For a moment there, we felt like celebrities.
Oakland is confusing to drive. Wackadoodle lights and stop signs.
I kinda want to spend a summer just taking in all the events at Jack London Square.
Lake Merritt is impressive. It’s like a flatter Griffith Park. So much to do and see.
Downtown Oakland is beautiful. I could spend a day or two just shooting the architecture.
Driving through parts of San Francisco on our way out, I realized that one could get the impression that San Franciscans are all fitness freaks. I know watching them made me want to go run or bike.
Antioch is hotter than Hades. My friends likened it to Santa Clarita or parts of the IE. Yep. Exactly.
The only place in Oakland you can legally smoke besides your house is pretty much in the middle of the street.
The males in Oakland are very fashion-conscious. Even the security guards were looking fly in their uniforms.
I also declare Oakland Home of the Sexiest Black Men. Brothas in LA need to step up their game. For serious.
I don’t understand how it’s so relatively clean up there, when there are practically no trashcans on the street. Meanwhile, we have trashcans at the ends of almost every block here and it’s filthy.

I’m sure there’s more, but this is just the stuff that stuck with me.

Media / Music — Comments
30
Apr 10

Things I learned about SiriusXM Radio

We had a Ford Focus for 4 days and it came with SiriusXM Radio. It was an interesting time, but I’m still not sure that service is worth $10 – $20 a month. Here’s a handful of things I’ve discovered about the service and myself:

There really is no need for a Grateful Dead station or a Bruce Springsteen station for that matter.
Chris Matthews sounds even more insane when you’re listening to him and not watching him.
Soul Town is possibly the best radio station ever created.
The comedy stations are truly not funny.
There are too many commericials, considering you’re paying for the service.
Classical music while driving is dangerous for me.
The Jazz station would be better if it was KJZZ.
Countdown with Keith Olbermann is not made for radio.
Nina Blackwood and Swedish Egil are still alive.
80s Music > 90s Music.
I am so over Pearl Jam, U2 and R.E.M.
Traffic in Phoenix, Detroit and Las Vegas sounds worse than LA traffic.
The Coffee House station increased my roadrage.
The reggae station, The Joint, is nowhere near as bad as I thought it would be, but they do need to kick back on the Marley.
The Latin stations are infinitely better than what’s played on broadcast.

That’s about it…for my listening choices. I thought it pretty neat there was a station that played Showtunes, but the ones I listened to I own already. I wonder though, what others get out of the service.

Uncategorized — Comments
27
Apr 10

MINI DEATHWATCH: $2200 for a 4th transmission

The MINI was towed yesterday and the mechanic said it wasn’t the clutch, it was the transmission. Again. This will make it the 4th transmission in the 8 years we’ve had the car. Luckily, the first one was replaced under warranty. I believe the 2nd, we only paid half the price and the dealership covered the other half because it had been less than a year.

There comes a time when it’s not just worth it and I think we’ve come to it. The transmission issues, at least for manual cars (2002 – 2006), are known problems that BMW/MINI USA will not recognize. It’s something about metal bits rubbing off and winding up inside.

Unfortunately, it’s no longer 2002. Being carless is not an option. We have two small children now and don’t live in Hollywood any more. Cracking down on finding a car for our family. I am very sad over this. I like driving the MINI. I had no problem with the idea of getting a larger automobile, knowing that we still had the MINI to drive. I just assumed the larger car would be parked most of the time.

Time to be flexible. Everything else seems so big though! My driving habits will have to change. Driving a big car for a few days is one thing, but getting one to drive “forever” is different. We’ll figure out something.

FABOO MAMAInside the mind of an opinionated mama…