GOSSIP FROM THE GIRLFRIEND GATHERINGS

Learning from YOU to empower ME !

A Girlfriend Gathering Day Trip – At Dickens on the Strand 2013

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On December 7th, I was able to mark off another item from my Bucket List.   The item was to attend the annual Dickens on The Strand in downtown Galveston, Texas.Even though it was only 39 degrees, which is cold for us in Southeast Texas, we did a girlfriend day trip to Galveston to check out this event.

For the past 5 years, I have attempted to attend but either work schedule or family schedule prevented it.    This year my calendar was completely open for the date and I called up a few friends to join me.   We were all newbies to this event so we were excited about it.   So, we bundled up and made the nice drive to the end of I-45 South – Galveston Island.

We arrived and joined the other attendees in boutique shop hopping, tented booth perusing, people watching and gathering for displays of animal feats like a man with a falcon.  After walking around several of the blocks of the festival area we soon arrived at a spot to watch Queen Victoria’s parade while drinking hot chocolate.    After the parade, we were at a lost to find more to do as the average attendee.

This leads to my summation of my attendance to this event.   I know that I would have been more enthralled had I splurged and booked a hotel room at The Tremont House Hotel, dressed up for the period in a pirate woman’s outfit from Boss Wench (https://www.facebook.com/pages/Boss-Wench/361704803919844), made a reservations to have tea with Queen Victoria /dinner with Dickens and finish it off with a sunset sail on a tall ship.  But, since I did not participate at that level, my experience at Dickens on The Strand was not all that it could have been.   My friends felt the same way.

Here are a few photos from the event:

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FRIENDLY REMINDER – Upcoming Author Interview – Stacy Overman Morrison

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Just a friendly reminder about the upcoming interview with Stacy Overman  Morrison,   (http://www.stacyomorrison.com ), author of the book “Comfort of Fences”.

Even though I know everyone is busy during this holiday season, I have received a few questions so I know some of you have already started reading the book.

If you haven’t started, please consider reading Stacy’s book.    You can find it here:

Amazon:    http://www.amazon.com/Stacy-Overman-Morrison/e/B00FYW7OUS

Smashwords:  http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/368064

Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/comfort-of-fences-stacy-overman-morrison/1117244427?ean=9781939927569

Once you have read the book, please submit your questions to me by January 3, 2014 at: info@writerelainegray.com so that I can submit to Stacy.  She will post her answers on the blog.

Also, don’t forget that Stacy will give a prize to the person who submits the most interesting question so be sure to include your name and contact information on your submission.

Remembering Nelson Mandela

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Sometimes there are those persons who are born to raise the bar for humankind.   Such is the legacy of Nelson Mandela who departed from our realm this past week.    His life journey from lawyer, to freedom fighter, to prisoner, to president of his country is a testament to the spirit of the man and that spirit will stand through the ages.    His name and story will survive the centuries to come.

I first learned of Nelson Mandela in the early 1970’s as a young teenager.    When I started school in the early segregated 1960’s, I was taught by very well-educated African-American teachers whose mission was to advance the race through education.   Therefore, I was taught to be an avid reader and to be aware of world events.   In the early 1970’s, I joined a “culturally aware” youth organization.   We studied the equality struggles of other countries in comparison to the equality struggles in the U.S., especially the Civil Rights Movement that was most recent in our country.   Of course, during our studies, we studied apartheid in South Africa and the imprisonment of Nelson Mandela.

During the years afterwards, I followed what was happening in South Africa with dismay.   Finally, I rejoiced with everyone else when Nelson Mandela was freed and the last remnant of apartheid was abolished– amazed that it happened in my lifetime.    I was ecstatic with the rest of the world when Nelson Mandela became President Nelson Mandela of South Africa.    I felt the circle of righteousness had now come full circle for South Africa.

For me, the circle closed when one day in the late 1990’s I was driving home from the office and I heard on the radio that the Fifth Ward Multi-Service Center was raising money for a group of youth to travel to South Africa on a “cultural awareness” trip.  They would join other youth groups there and they all would attend an event in attendance by President Nelson Mandela.    I rushed home and grabbed my checkbook to donate.   I was so inspired by the knowledge that a group of youth from my city – so much like I was in the 1970’s – would have the opportunity to learn about a culture first-hand that I could only study from a distance in the 1970’s.   After I wrote the check, I grabbed a sheet of notebook paper and jotted down all of my feelings in a note to accompany the check.      A week, or so, after mailing the check, I received a call from the Director of the Fifth Ward Multi-Service Center.  He thanked me for my donation and told me that the note I sent was so inspirational that he wanted my permission to read it to the youth and their parents at their departure assembly.  I gave my permission. I don’t recall everything I wrote but I do recall this one thought – “If you wonder if God still works miracles, just look at the life journey of Nelson Mandela.”  I remember how exhilarated I felt writing the note and if any of that feeling transferred to it, then I know it was worthy to be shared.

I still believe that statement I wrote that day.   Nelson Mandela’s life journey was one of God’s miracles and this is why his name and spirit will live through the ages to come.

“12 Years A Slave” – A Girlfriend Gathering Movie / Book Review

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12 Years a Slave

On October 28th, my girlfriends and I attended the opening of the movie “12 Years a Slave” in Houston at the historic River Oaks Theatre.    This was the only theatre in Houston showing the movie on the second limited opening across the nation.    As the “unofficial” coordinator of our girlfriend gatherings, I was really excited about getting my great friends together to attend.    We are a multi-cultural group of single, divorced and widowed women who strive to reach across stereotypical boundaries to truly know and understand one another.   Whenever we are together I think of that old Marvin Gaye song “What’s Going On?” and the verse “Talk to me, so you can see, what’s going on.”

Our group had attended the movie “The Butler” a couple of months ago and saw the preview for “12 Years a Slave” at that time.   It created a buzz among us especially when we discovered that only one of us had ever heard of Solomon Northup and she is Anglo-American!   She learned about him in school in upstate New York whereas those of us who grew up in the South had never heard of him.   This is another testament to the sad state of our country’s educational system and the travesty it teaches named American History.   It is my hope that one day the historic journeys and contributions of all of America’s citizens will be included in the history books but until then I guess we will discover it in bits and pieces.   These were my thoughts as we waited for the start of the movie on that day.  Since October 28th, I have seen the movie twice more and read the book that Solomon Northup published in 1853.   I waited to read his book before blogging about the movie.

The movie was brutally honest.   It accurately depicted the grave injustice and inhumanity that was done to Solomon Northup, as a free citizen, and to the enslaved African-Americans he encountered on his journey.    In my opinion, director Steve McQueen was very deliberate in bringing this disturbing subject to life for those of us who can never imagine the impact of slavery on a human being.    The superb performances of Chiwetel Ejiofor (Solomon), Lupita Nyong’o (Patsy), and Michael Fassbender (Epps) evoked such a range of emotions in me that my heart actually raced.  There were many moments during the movie where my thoughts could not process what was happening on the screen.   I was compelled to view it multiple times until my soul was satisfied.   I am grateful to the director, producers, and actors for bringing this troubling and painful story to the forefront.

The reading of Solomon Northup’s book took me to an even deeper place.   Reading his own words written in 1853 about what happened to him and his thoughts about it brought me to a level of sad discontentment.   Every word he wrote was a contradiction to all that I had been taught as a student in my history classes.   I wanted justice for him so badly and wondered what can be done for him in this present time.   The only act I think that can be consolation for me is to encourage others to see the movie and read his book.   Also, I want for others to encourage their friends and family to spread the word, too.

I think that every American should see the movie and read the book because Solomon Northup’s journey as an American citizen is worthy to be known by all.   Slavery in America is a subject that many of us do not want to acknowledge, discuss, and review.   Some descendants of former slave owners and former slaves want to continue to ignore this past because it is uncomfortable for them.   However, the historical fact is that America was founded on the economic benefit of slavery and America had the largest slavery system in the history of the world.   These facts are a part of our dark past and our laws have evolved beyond that past.    But, if we continue to exclude the truth about slavery and the impact on American citizens from the history classes in our educational system, how can we truly determine that we have evolved beyond our dark past?   What does it say to the memory of those who suffered through it and fought against it?    These are the questions that our American society, in the present time, must answer.

QUESTIONS:

Have you seen the movie?   If so, please share your thoughts/experience.

If you haven’t seen the movie, do you plan to see it?     Why?

Would you consider reading the book?

How do you feel about the history that is taught in American public schools?

NaBloPoMo #17 – The Last Thing I Was Convinced to Buy Was………

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NaBloPoMo November 2013Women Having Coffee

Earlier this month I blogged about my excursion to the annual Houston Ballet Guild Nutcracker Market at the Reliant Center.   Even though I am a native Houstonian, I had never attended the market.   I invited my good friend and writing colleague from Austin to accompany me.     Our plan was to spend the day browsing through all of the national and international vendor booths.

The booths that were jewelry related I skipped because I wanted to focus on Christmas-related items and other unique items.    I was tempted by the holiday decorations especially the turkey platters and candelabras but I was able to skirt by those items.    The food items were very tempting especially the food at the Cherry Republic booth (http://www.cherryrepublic.com).    There were many items made with cherries from such as:

  • Mustard
  • vinaigrette dressing
  • Nut mix
  • Salsa
  • Syrup
  • Coffee
  • Granola
  • Peanut butter
  • Wine

I tasted the salsa and it was fabulous!   However, there were so many people around the booth that I decided to grab a catalog and order some items later.

Finally, we reached a booth that got my full attention.   It was the Stafford Enterprises booth.   They were selling the Casada Massage Device (http://www.casada.com) which is portable and can be placed in any chair for use.   My friend and I decided to test it.   I sat down in the chair and was instantly captivated by the heated relaxing massaging motion on my back and neck.   The salesperson came over and explained everything to us along with the pricing (several hundred dollars).   She informed us that the device can also be used in your car seat as it has an adapter to be powered by the cigarette lighter in the car.    Since I had only come to the market to browse, I decided to give it some more thought.

My friend and I walked around as we discussed the massage device…   She actually has a wonderful full massage chair in her home office and commented that she liked the Casada device more than her home massage chair.   I thought about her chair since I had used it while visiting with her and agreed the portable device was a tad superior.   Also, I thought about how I sit all day in my dual-career life and a back massage at the end of each day would be great.

So, we returned to the booth and I purchased my massage device.   My friend purchased one as a gift for her brother.  The salesperson gave us a discounted price and gave us a giveaway of either a hand massager or a massage pillow.   I chose the pillow so that I can place my feet on it while I am enjoying the back massage.    Overall, I am pleased with my purchase and really appreciated the perks given to us by the salesperson.   I was surprised to find such a device at a Christmas craft market.