Behind the Video - Addictive

 I'm sure that most of you have never heard of this song by a beautiful black woman called Truth Hurts.  I had never heard of her until I saw this video on MTV one day. The song was released in 2002 as the lead single from her debut album entitled Truthfully Speaking. She's singing about her gangster boyfriend and how good their connection/sex life is and how she understands when she has to wait for him to show up due to the nature of his "work" (you know, drug dealing and what not) but it's worth it. Here are a few of the lyrics, and I get no money for this, I own no rights, but it lets you know what you need to:

"He breaks me down, he builds me up, He fills my cup, I like it rough. We fuss, we brawl, we rise, we fall. He comes in late, but it's ok. He do, I do, he knows the rules. He takes care of home, though he's not alone. I'm on his knee, he keeps me clean; and gives me things, he makes me scream."

I really liked the song, even though I'm naive and don't understand all of that kind of talk, haha. But it was the video itself that had me absolutely riveted. The song has a nice R&B / hip hop rhythm with some middle Eastern tones, so it already wasn't  your typical dance song. The video opens with her laying in a bed, and then quickly moves to lovely women with henna tattoos, belly-dancing.

Let's stop here for a minute. If you know me at all, you know that the minute I saw this I had to immediately get up and try to belly-dance. And I'm sure we all know what happened: or if you don't just ask Brie. I'm sure she's still laughing. But I digress...

So it turns out that the ladies aren't dancing in her bedroom, but in what turns out to be a club. A club with a bedroom for her and her man, apparently. So she's singing and belly-dancing with her friends, and then the camera pans to this man coming down a set of stairs but you don't see his face yet. And then I hear Brie gasp. "Mom, it's dad!"

I'm sure I broke the sound barrier getting to the TV where the camera zoomed in on this good looking black gentleman who started rapping: 

"Thinking of a master plan, you know anything you need baby ask your man. You was there from a  half a gram, now it's kilos to c-notes and high fashion brands. We ball like we own the world, your only concern is you my only girl. And when we're speaking in tongues, breathin' hard when I'm squeezin' your lungs; keep it strong, but I gotta hit the streets with I'm done..."

It was my was-band Raymond! And he was a famous rapper now? My head immediately started spinning with the thoughts of how fast I was going to get my 20 years' worth of child support! The dollar signs were lighting up in my eyes...

But then I took a closer look. Oh crap: it wasn't the was-band at all: it was Rakim, who is an actual rapper! So it must be true that everyone has a twin because I honestly thought it was my ex. Ugh!

"It's (effed) up but you never complain, you just pray I don't get killed when I hit the hood. Just another hundred mill and I'm a quit for good. Just me and you high off sex I'm twisted: you OG'd and you OD addicted." 

Well he sounded and looked like Raymond. Only clean and healthy and rich. Brie said, "Wow, I really thought that was dad. He looks just like him!"

"Yeah but sadly it isn't your father so no back child support, as usual!" I thought to myself that if Rakim was single, maybe our paths would cross someday. And I wouldn't even compare him to the was-band! 

Anyhoo, I haven't met Rakim yet. I still really like the video because Rakim is easy on the eyes and the dancing is mesmerizing, even though I quickly learned that belly-dancing isn't my forte. But it was fun to entertain Brie while I tried! And just for the record: she was no expert either! 😄

Sweet Dreams Are Made of This

 I had a dream last night that really resonated with me yet was bittersweet. It might have been a “visit”, but regardless I wanted to share it with you while it’s still fresh.

In this dream my good friend Tom Finch came to visit me at Marie’s house. I was so glad to see him! Judging by his hair, it should have been the 70’s, but based on circumstances I know the timeframe was between late 2004 and Fall of 2015. We spent time catching up, and then he took a seat at the piano.

Tom, even in high school, was a very accomplished pianist. In the dream I sat on the piano bench next to him and he said, “Let’s play a duet.” “Oh no,” I demurred, “you know I only took lessons for a couple of years.” “Coward!” he teased. “Then let’s get a book out and play.” At this point, Marie, Clancy, Robin and a couple of relatives were sitting in the living room watching us.

Tom and I looked in the piano bench where the music books were kept: but there weren’t any. I rummaged around on top of the piano but was only able to find a music book entitled “The Star-Spangled Banner” which was full of patriotic songs. We took a pass on that. Another couple of books were old and tattered so they were no good to us. I finally said to him, “Play something from memory.” “Like what?”  I didn’t even have to think about it. “Play ‘Morning Has Broken’.”

Clancy had his radio going so I told him to turn it off while Tom played; and he did.

When we were in high school, one day Tom really did stop by to visit. He met Marie, who loved the piano, and he sat down and played ‘Morning Has Broken’ for her. As a teen girl I was already a little in love with him, but that sealed the deal for me. But alas: we were never more than good friends…

Getting back to the dream: as he played Marie was watching and smiling, the other relatives were enjoying the performance and Robin was smiling. Then I realized that Tom was playing my old piano, which Marie and Robin had traded in years ago for Robin’s new piano. My father wasn’t there as he had died in 2004. And if there were no piano books anywhere: Robin was gone too because she always had the piano bench stuffed with music books, the top of the piano held books and there were always 2 or 3 on the music stand. She passed away in 2015 yet she showed up smiling in my dream.

So there you have it. I woke up with that bittersweet feeling in my heart because of the people I miss, but it’s always good to “see” Robin! When I saw Tom at a reunion a few years ago, I asked him if he still played. Sadly, he has arthritis and doesn’t play anymore. What a shame because he was concert-good. But at least he can still play in my dreams, and I’m grateful for that.

Thanks Burtie!

 I have a co-worker that I have nicknamed Burtie. I only call her that in emails, and no one else calls her that. But it seemed like a fitting nickname to me, so I'm going with it!

Anyhoo, the other day Burtie and I were chatting for a few minutes about our mothers, and how saintly they thought they were. "One time when I was maybe five," I began, "my parents took us to the store with them. When we got back to the car, I showed Marie a package of life savers." "Where did you get that?" she asked me. "From the store," Of course this did not sit well with her at all since it wasn't paid for. "That is stealing," she admonished, "and we don't do that." "I'm sorry," I said, feeling terrible. "That's okay," Marie said. "Just don't do it again. Give those to me." I did, and she proceeded to eat them in front of us kids. "Let that be a lesson to you," she concluded. Um...what was the lesson? Wait until your parent isn't around and then eat your stolen goods?

Burtie laughed. "That's a good one! But I bet I can top that;" She then told her story:

"When I was around three or four, my saintly mother took us to the store with her. She expected all of her children to be pious and saintly like she was but we were kids. So we went through the store and she got the items we needed and then went back to the car. Unbeknownst to us, my brother had taken some candy from the store and was eating it like there was no tomorrow. But my mother noticed and said, "What are you doing?" When my brother didn't say anything she made us all get out of the car and she marched us back into the store. She explained to the manager what had happened and he said, "Oh it's okay, it's kids being kids." "Oh?" my mother said. "When he comes back here in 15 years and steals from you, are you still going to say that?" The manager was nonplussed at that. "I want  you to punish him so he never steals again." The manager said, "What do you want me to do?" And my mother said in a low, menacing voice, "I want you to call the police."

"Well you wouldn't think something like that would happen, but by now the manager was afraid of my mother, and rightfully so! So believe it or not: the police were called in to scare my brother straight. And at the end of it all the store actually posted my brother's picture on the wall and it said, "If you see this person keep an eye on him. He's a thief."

I was aghast. "Are you kidding me??"

"Nope! My mother meant business! And it scared me so much: I've never to this day EVER stolen anything. We went into that Barber's Market almost every day and there was my little brother's picture. It was so embarrassing!"

I laughed and laughed. "That is awesome! Your mother is a gangster!"

"Yes she is!"

I just loved that story. Thanks Burtie for letting me tell it!