Oct 18

THE GOD THING

by B.L. in Other 0 comments
I’ve been thinking a lot about God lately. I’m not sure exactly why, but I’ve been doing it. For example, two weeks ago, I went out to move my car from one side of the street to the other side. In New York City, we have something called Alternate Side of the Street Parking. Particularly in Manhattan, good legal parking spots are worth a car’s weight in gold. Even bad illegal spots are worth something until the traffic agents or the police discover them. Depending on the side of the street, the day of the week, and time of day, a car has to be moved or the owner risks a ticket, a tow, or both. I saw two older Black women in long-sleeved dresses that almost touched their ankles crossing the street as I double-parked. I immediately thought of old-school church sisters. The only thing the two sisters were missing were their Sunday-go-to-meeting church hats. They did carry copies of their religious booklets, face-out against their chests as if the papers could shield them against the sinning world they were entering. I watched the two women for a long while. They both took bench seats in the park across […]
Oct 11

Should you stick with the lucky devil you know

by B.L. in Other 0 comments
Years ago, when my father was still alive, I remember my mother complaining about his activities. She’d discovered he was buying international lottery tickets and sweepstakes tickets. She kept finding stubs from money orders where he’d purchased sweepstakes or lottery tickets. My parents lived across the street from a shopping mall, so while my father no longer drove, it wasn’t impossible for him to walk across the street and find a place to buy money orders. At the time, my mother was venting about wasting money on a foolish expense. “Nobody ever wins these,” she ranted. “How much money was he wasting?” she fussed. “He could use that money for something else. He could put it in the bank and let it draw interest. Or just give it to me and I’ll find a use for it,” my mother promised. As daughters sometimes do, I listened without too much comment. My mother needed to vent. And I let her. While she was complaining, I was busy congratulating myself on my goodness. Although I hung out with folks who did, I never played numbers. I didn’t place bets on the horses or sports teams. I never bought lottery tickets or went […]
Sep 20

WHY I WROTE: THE GUARDIAN & HER CAPTAIN, Agatha & Bonnie

by B.L. in Other 0 comments
Suppose for all your life, you thought your parents were your birth parents. Like the good daughter you were, when they took sick, you never put them in a hospice or a nursing home. Instead you took care of them in the only home you knew. Months after they died, you promised yourself you sort through their things clothes and papers one of these days. You hated thinking about the last days of your parents lives. You finally decided to sort through your parents things. You start with the paperwork in the small safe your parent left behind. To your amazement you discover, you aren’t who you thought you were. You were adopted. You find other paperwork that implies the parents you thought were your blood parents were paid to take care of you since you were a year-old baby. The house you lived in was part of the payment to raise you. You find birth two certificates. One certificate has your current name the only name you’ve known. It claims there was one birth at the hospital. The other birth certificate has all kinds of redactions the hospital’s name, your mother’s name, the number of births all are redacted. […]
Sep 13

SO THIS IS REDEPLOYMENT

by B.L. in Other 0 comments
I wrote this 2009. I think it still applies today with so many folks losing or have lost their jobs. Much has happened since my last post, so it’s difficult to know where to begin. but I’ll certainly try. Laura, a sweet woman, a dear friend, and coworker, got caught up in the city’s layoff cycle. If the mayor has his way, she’ll be gone, just another terminated provisional (a worker who isn’t civil service) victim biting the city’s budgetary dust and soon to be standing in the unemployment line. Her story is like so many provisionals working in city government. Laura relied on a mentor to get her a job with the city. Through various connections and or political patronage, she got a city job. She moved up the career ladder, never giving a second thought to taking civil service exams that might keep her job in a financial crisis. “Why take a test?” she’d say to anyone who would listen. “Civil Service tests are expensive,” she’d add. After all, she’d only be working the job for a short period until she found something better. Two or three months on the job turned into a year and then a […]
Sep 06

WHO AM I?

by B.L. in Other 0 comments
I’m a weaver of dreams. I’m a writer. I’m a published author. I’m a blogger. I’m a senior citizen. I’m a former city real estate manager. I’m a curriculum developer. I’m a Sloan Award winner. I’m a middle-class woman who was under-employed. I’m a teacher without a classroom. I’m a Black lesbian working in a world of white straights. I’m a history buff. I’m an observer of human nature. I’m the daughter of a college professor and a medical doctor. I’m the sister of a college professor. I’m the sister of a copywriter for the Akron Beacon Journal classified ads. I’m the sister of a church elder/deacon in New Mexico. I’m a mother of an adult child. I’m a School of Visual Arts Alumni. I’m a College of New Rochelle Alumni. I’m a Baruch Alumni. I’m also a member of AARP, Triangle Publishers, Harlem Alliance, The Studio Museum of Harlem, and the NYPL’s Schomburg Research Center. I’m a DC37 Union member. I’m also a member of The National Writers Union (NWU). I’m an Amazon reviewer and forum member. I have an author’s page on Amazon, Author’s Den, and Smashwords. I’m on Twitter, Linked-in, Facebook, and Goodreads. The above list of […]
Aug 23

WHY I WROTE: THE GUARDIAN & HER CAPTAIN

by B.L. in Other 0 comments
WHY I WROTE: THE GUARDIAN & HER CAPTAIN, Agatha & Bonnie, a story of hate and love (Jimson Murders Volume1). Suppose for all your life, you thought your parents were your birth parents. Like the good daughter you were, when they took sick, you never put them in a hospice or a nursing home. Instead you took care of them in the only home you knew. Months after they died, you promised yourself you sort through their things clothes and papers one of these days. You hated thinking about the last days of your parents lives. You finally decided to sort through your parents things. You start with the paperwork in the small safe your parent left behind. To your amazement you discover, you aren’t who you thought you were. You were adopted. You find other paperwork that implies the parents you thought were your blood parents were paid to take care of you since you were a year-old baby. The house you lived in was part of the payment to raise you. You find birth two certificates. One certificate has your current name the only name you’ve known. It claims there was one birth at the hospital. The other […]
Aug 16

SHOPLIFTING WHILE BLACK?

by B.L. in Other 0 comments
I watched the Starbuck’s video of the police arresting the two young Black men charged and found guilty of being Black while hanging out in a place that allows it. The video had me thinking about my own experiences. I’m a baby boomer. I’m Black. I’m probably twice as old as the young men in the Starbuck video. I’ve probably had twice as many similar experiences as those young men have. I loved to sew. Years ago, I used to make all my own clothes and my son’s clothes until he was a pre-teenager. I sold the clothes I made, including jumpsuits, business suits, and handbags on consignment in small shops and street fairs. I also made quilts, slipcovers, and upholstered my existing furniture. On a regular basis I bought fabric and trimmings, which included zippers, snaps hooks & eyes, Velcro, fusible hemming material, buttons threads, and iron-on or sew-in interfacings. I’d usually go to my favorite neighborhood fabric stores or go to Delancey Street or West 38th and 39th between 7th and 8th Avenue in the Fashion District. I’d heard of a new store in the Fashion District that specialized in trimmings, handmade lace, piping, iron-on embroidery, decorative patches, […]
Aug 09

DISPOSABLE EMPLOYEES

by B.L. in Other 0 comments
DISPOSABLE EMPLOYEES Wednesday, April 29, 2009 It was Wednesday April 29, 2009. I was listening to an old song by Don Henley as I drove along the FDR heading home from work. The main song chorus goes something like this: Kick ‘em when they’re up. Kick ‘em when they’re down. Kick ‘em all around. And I thought, Hey, Don, you took the words right out of my mouth. That’s exactly how I feel every time I go to work now. When did I become a disposable employee? When did I become somebody you could blow your nose on and then cast away like a used tissue? A worker that you could squeeze and squeeze like that last drop in a packet of ketchup until there was no energy or spirit left—just an empty shell to dump in a corner trash can until it retired. When I first started working for the queen bee, the work was a challenge. I love being challenged and so I loved coming to work. Why was it challenging? I was a writer who wasn’t confident in her skill set yet. Oh, I knew that I could write. My master’s degree from an excellent 4-year college […]
Aug 01

THE GUARDIAN & HER CAPTAIN, Agatha & Bonnie, a story of hate and love

by B.L. in Other 0 comments
In The Guardian & Her Captain…, Dr. Sophie Jimson delivers a young woman’s baby in the rear of a taxi. Shortly after, the doctor is murdered by a phantom man that witnesses can’t describe. The Phantom, with the newborn in his arms, escapes, but an off-duty policewoman, Lieutenant Agatha Crist, grabs the baby from him. The baby is returned to the mother and the policewoman is hailed as a hero for rescuing the child. Agatha soon finds out that Dr. Jimson happens to be her fraternal twin. They were supposed to meet for the first time to end their lifelong estrangement. Agatha is distraught and insists on being part of the murder investigation team, despite her captain’s objections. As the investigation proceeds, it becomes clear the lieutenant needs as much protection as the new mother. The lieutenant’s supervisor, Captain Bonnie Smyth, steps into the case to protect both women. As the two women bump heads, sparks fly. Will they fall in love or continue the hatred they’ve been exposed to for generations? The Guardian & Her Captain: Agatha & Bonnie, a story of hate and love, (Jimson Murders Volume1), is available for pre-order 7/16/20 on Kindle and Smashwords. The release […]
Jun 22

WHY I WROTE: IF YOU THINK YOU’RE LONELY NOW, Val & Tyla’s story of love and devotion.

by B.L. in Other 0 comments
I always thought when a person broke her back, she’d be paralyzed from the neck down for the rest of her life. She’d be like Christopher Reeves, the man who played Superman, confined to a wheelchair for the rest of his life. She’d need help sitting up, talking, eating bathing and using bathroom facilities. Her life would no longer be hers. She’d need to make room for the helpers. As for personal privacy, forget it. She’d better get used to not having any, not with the host of things she could no longer for herself. In doing research for this book, I learned permanent paralysis from a broken back is not necessarily so. It depends on which parts of the spine are damaged and how badly the damage is. The closest I’ve ever been to being confined to a bed, was when I had a gastric bypass. At the time, my doctor and I determined, I need to lose weight before diabetes, high blood pressure and gout overtook my body. I had no idea how much pain the surgery would cause. I couldn’t stand up straight. I stayed in bed for days because of the pain I felt every time […]
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