Bugaboo


Destiny’s Child summed up my current feelings quite well when they sang, “When I first met you, you were cool, but it was game; you had me fooled.”

I’m fairly new to Kampala, here since July 2006. The dearest friends I made while in Uganda before have either left the country or are in Hoima District, which is about 3 hours away. I’m a pretty friendly person (this point might be arguable), and I enjoy the company of other people. I don’t want to pass up an opportunity to make a new friend. If we hit it off, then we’ll hang out. I can meet you today, and if you invite me to go out on the weekend, I’ll be there. No problem. However, I’m learning that there are some people out there that I’d be better off no knowing. After one fun night at Steak Out or Mateo’s, don’t start sending me text messages telling me we are now best friends. You don’t know me! I don’t know you! Aren’t we past the age of BFFs? We went out; we had fun. We could’ve continued with more fun nights out, but a person’s creepy, possessive actions can take me to the point where I don’t want to see that person again. Since I’ve begun stating the don’t dos for a successful friendship with me, let me make a list:

1) Don’t start sending me text messages after that first evening out telling me we are now best friends.
2) Don’t show up at my door at 7:00am just to say hello when you don’t live in my neighborhood.
3) Don’t continually send me text messages with pointless questions to be answered.
4) Don’t call me at random hours of the night asking to come over.
5) Don’t call me or text me with emergencies that turn out to be false to get me to call you or for you to come over to my place.
6) Don’t come to my house with gifts to prove how great a friend you are.
7) Don’t lie to me about situations in your life to gain my sympathy.
8) Don’t be rude to my other friends when you run into us while out.
9) Don’t show up at my door only seconds after I get home in the evening.
10) Don’t begin conversations with me by asking about people you’ve seen leaving my flat.

Destiny’s Child also sang, “No. No. No.”

This kind of behavior kind of freaks me out and makes me question a person's motives. Some of these actions are on the verge of stalking. I’m not at the point of feeling unsafe. I just feel quite annoyed, bugged, if you will.

You need to chill out with that mess
‘Cause you can’t keep havin’ me stressed.
‘Cause every time my phone rings
It seems to be you
And I’m prayin’ that it is someone else.

You a bugaboo, a bugaboo.

You buggin’ what? You buggin who? You buggin me. And don’t you see it ain’t cool?

Groove is in the

HEART

This is proving to be a very quiet weekend for me. I did the Kololo Run Friday afternoon with some people from school, 10K up and down Kololo Hill. I came home and passed out on the sofa around 8:30. I woke up around 10:30, took a shower and tried to watch an episode of Will & Grace on my laptop, but ended up dozing on the sofa again. I gave up and went to bed.

I was up before 7:00 Saturday morning. It was once again time for my monthly Saturday Bank Hop: going to three different banks downtown before they close at mid-day to take care of my monthly bills. It begins at Stanbic Bank, then I hop over to Standard Chartered Bank, and I finish off by the Parliament building at dfcu Bank(or as Kristen used to call it: da f*ck you bank).

I did begin a great book yesterday: Dr. Tatiana’s Sex Advice to All Creation: The Definitive Guide to the Evolutionary Biology of Sex. Don’t let the name put you off. It is quite an interesting read. The author, Olivia Judson, has taken a very complicated subject and written an excellent non-biologist-friendly book. Dr. Tatiana is a Dr. Ruth-type figure who responds to letters written to her by different creatures of the Earth, such as lions, fruit flies and fish. I’ve found myself laughing out loud at least four times since I began reading, and I’ve not even reached page 100.

I started to read the book at Katch the Sun around 5:30pm, and I did not leave the place until 11:50. (Yes, I was home by midnight. Another early night for me. However, I did stay up for a while after reaching home. I even did a load of clothes.) I wasn’t reading the entire time. After an hour or so, I was joined by my friend, Amelo. We ended up ordering dinner there. I had the roasted goat, muchomo, followed by the chocolate cake (so, so good!)

Sunday? More clothes to wash. Plus, there are floors to mop. I scrubbed to tub yesterday. I wanted to run, but my running partners stood me up... again. Maybe I’ll go for a jog tonight. There is a film festival in the city sponsored by the European Union. They are showing Life if Beautiful at 4:30 this afternoon. I think I’ll go there.

This has been a musical weekend for me. I’ve only had soundtracks playing on my iTunes: Fame, Wicked, Reefer Madness, Aida, Sideshow, and Ragtime. That movie meme I posted Friday really influenced my weekend. Drew Barrymore and musicals (some Broadway, not movie), a pretty good combination. Drew’s even done a few musicals: Babes in Toyland (with Keanu Reeves and a dubbed singing voice), Everyone Says I Love You (Can you believe I’ve never seen it?), Olive, the Other Reindeer (animated, made-for-television), and most recently, Music and Lyrics. I’ll decline to comment on her vocal ability.

My Weekends are not always this exciting. Sometimes I can even find myself in compromising situations.


Groovy!

Who knew an iPod and mini-speakers could be so much fun! !
X-TINA, you so dirrty,girrl!

It’s about

DAMN

TIME!


How does being happy contribute to looking good?
I just think happiness is what makes you pretty. Period. Happy people are beautiful. They become like a mirror and they reflect that happiness. If somebody walks in the room and they're drop-dead gorgeous and sexy, it's really fun to look at. But if someone is giving of their spirit and they make you laugh and feel good, that's a whole other level of beauty.

Any beauty rules for dating?
The only fundamental rule for me is to just be yourself. Let your freak-flag fly, and if someone doesn't get you, move on.

Okaaay!

Tickets!

Tickets!

Right this way!

Name a movie that you have seen more than 10 times. The first movie that I can say that I definitely saw more than 10 times is The Wizard of Oz. I used to come home everyday after school and watch it. This was in 1991, so I was, like, 15. I lost interest when Kim Davis, future homecoming queen, included “collecting Wizard of Oz memorabilia” in her list of hobbies. For some reason, I really didn’t like her much; Oz lost it’s appea. Those fickle teenagers! Other 10 timers include: Little Shop of Horrors and Breakin’.

Name a movie that you've seen multiple times in the theater. It is rare for me to do this. The last one I can remember is Moulin Rouge I loved it so much when it came out, that I wanted all my friends and family to see it
.
Name an actor that would make you more inclined to see a movie. Drew Barrymore.

Name an actor that would make you less likely to see a movie. It’s a tie between John Travolta and Tom Cruise.

Name a movie that you can and do quotes from. Buffy the Vampire Slayer. My sister used to have the entire film memorized.

Name a movie musical that you know all of the lyrics to all of the songs. All the lyrics? Hmm… Little Shop of Horrors, Rent, Reefer Madness. I love movie musicals! I wish I could live in one.

Name a movie that you have been known to sing along with. Rent. Ok, this one was made for television: Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Once More With Feeling. I know it’s annoying, but I cannot help myself.

Name a movie that you would recommend everyone to see. I think Whale Rider is fantastic.

Name a movie that you own. Spice World

Name an actor that launched his/her entertainment career in another medium but who has surprised you with his/her acting chops. Mandy Moore. She surprised me in A Walk to Remember, was fantastic in Saved, and I loved her recently in Because I Said So.

Have you ever seen a movie in a drive-in? If so, what? I remember seeing two films at a drive-in: Clash of the Titans and First Blood. I know I saw others, like some early 80s Clint Eastwood film, but I don’t remember their names.

Ever made out in a movie? Sadly, no. However, it’s on my ‘to do’ list.

Name a movie that you keep meaning to see but just haven’t yet gotten around to it. Psycho.

Ever walked out of a movie? No, but I intentionally fell asleep during American Pie II. I really didn’t want to be there. I went with a friend while on a visit to Miami. I hated it, but couldn’t leave her behind since I was staying at her place.

Name a movie that made you cry in the theater. Crying in movies is easier for me to do than crying at funerals. Strange, huh? Big Fish had me bawling.

What’s the last movie you saw in the theater? Dream Girls. Loved it! Loved Jennifer Hudson!!!

What’s your favorite/preferred genre of movie? I love musicals if they are done well.

What’s the first movie you remember seeing in the theater? It was eitherE.T. or Empire Strikes Back. I think.

What movie do you wish you had never seen? All of the Faces of Death. I made some stupid choices as a teen.

What is the weirdest movie you enjoyed? Donnie Darko. Still not sure if I get it.

What is the scariest movie you've seen? Jaws. I can’t ever be completely comfortable while at the beach. It’s a shame.

What is the funniest movie you've seen? This is the most difficult question for me. The most fun I’ve ever had in a theater while watching a film was at a showing of Drop Dead Gorgeous. I laughed so much I almost peed my pants. I’ve never sat in a theater where an audience laughed and enjoyed itself so much.

But I turned

around…

Amazingly, I'm still on my fitness kick. I've kept up a fairly regular running routine for the past few months. I'm averaging 10K a day, taking one or two days off a week. I miss it when I cannot run. Maybe I am finally getting addicted to something. Today was suppose to be an off, but I've been convinced by my friend, Kat, to go for a short run this afternoon.

After he who will not be named walked off with my previous iPod Shuffle, the music player I loved because I could plug it directly into a USB port, I placed an order for one of the new ones. My friend Kristina brought it to Uganda for me a couple of months ago. It's orange, and engraved on the back is one of my favorite quotes (by the way if from the film Flashdance): If you give up your dream, you die. It's from one of the many melodramatic moments in the movie; nevertheless, it motivates me. Keepin' it real. While I was out for a run the other day, Deborah Cox's amazing hit from 1998, Nobody's Suppose to Be Here(remix) came on. The original song spent fourteen weeks at #1 on the top R&B 100 charts for the USA, as well as eight consecutive weeks at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100. I loved it, and the remix is one of the best dance songs to come out, ever. I love Deb's, "No, no, na, no, nobody's," towards the end of the song. If you do not own a version of this song or, even worse, have never heard it, go to iTunes or somewhere and download it today, you won't regret it. Everytime I hear this song, I see images of warm up for Women's basketball games at FSU. Good times.


I've playfully called 2007 the year for no love for me. Maybe I should also give it the moniker: The year I get my body ready for givin' some good, good lovin'. Physically, I feel so good. It is emotionally that I sometimes feel unhealthy and wonder if I should seek some kind of treatment.

I placed my heart under lock and key
to take some time and take care of me.

Not disappointed

I went to see Dream Girls last week (I orginally wrote, "yesterday", but I've not had internet access in a while.) at the Cineplex (Yes, it just got here.), and I must admit that I’ve jumped on the Jennifer Hudson bandwagon. Wow! What a performance! The girl can sing. Not only that: she can act. I was touched by her portrayal of Effie. She made me laugh; she made me cry; she made me want to jump up and cheer. Then, she made me want to do it all over again. I guess one of the few things Jennifer does not do well is move gracefully. Maybe she was acting, and it was her character, but during the performance sequences, she stomped around and it looked to me like she was about to fall of her heels.

I was only moderately interested in seeing this film based on the 1981 Broadway musical which is inspired by the story of the Supremes and other legends of R&B until the buzz about Hudson’s performance, and then I read that she was an American Idol reject. (God help the outcasts.) I had to see the film after that. Besides, not too many good films make it to Kampala. Not too many films make it to Kampala (period). For the longest time there were only two screens. Now there are four!

I went to the 11:00am show of Dream Girls and had a private screening. For some reason, I thought there was someone else in the theater with me with whom I was sharing the experience. I knew that after the show we’d turn to each other, look into each other’s eyes, give a knowing smile, and we’d just get it. When the lights came on, I was alone in the theater.

I’ll be dreamin’


Why isn’t V in any films lately?
I really used to love her.