this pizza is perfect for christians... and jews!

first, a photo. click it please... fine print.


this is what i saw on the pizza box at work today. jesus really is everywhere, if you werent sure...

and now a video. the "one world" sentiment is kinda ruined by the men singing and the bad acting.

some pix

more to come on thursday!!!Kesi and Breezy. kesi came by to see me and take some pix. he's such a doll. as you can see by the apron, B was workin hard!

1230am on sunday, and i had finally run out of steam. i openned the door and saw the lil spot of space and knew i could fit there. my supervisor decided that it was photo time, lol.

monday i went to a show called Welcome Home Hip Hop. im sure the video will be up soon if you wanna youtube. mine will be up today, or tomorrow. anyway, this is Life the Great. he;s cool. got a retro sound. thats my friend Work Sam in the back.

this chick had on the most tacky shit!!! im bout to send her pic to Durty Mo, lol. got on 12 different colors. anyway, thats the lead singer from yellow wolf. he was jammin. youtube them, theyre awesome.

in addition to calling that 80's reject onstage, he also stole my shades off my face!!! what? lmao, but you know i got them back. lets not play.

Me and my life

*Cross your fingers that I'm going to St Louis this fall. I neeeed to go. Why?
1 I haven't left this state in over 2 years.
2 I don't really know Kesi's family and I would like to.
3 its a wedding, and I love weddings! Love, a party, and free drinks and cake? I'm there, thanks.
4 I'll have somewhere to wear my dress that's just sitting, waiting to be loved. I don't believe in that white after labor day falderall. That's right I said falderall.
5 maybe I'm old enough to go on a casino boat now!

Kesi and I need a break! And I hear the crack headed girlfriend is out of the picture. The one who, last time I went to STL decided to announce to people I just met that she gave Kesi and I condoms. Yeah, I can do without her.

*So people at my job are really irking me these past couple of days. Remember waay back in like 2006, when I was talking about the guy who decided to ask me if "your man let you out the house in those pants?" Johnny is his name. Well when I went to the gift shop he was like "oh I see they made you change." and I told him nicely to keep my ass out his mouth before I replace it with my foot. Over time I really started to see his chauvinistic ways, as we have gotten into it (politely) about what he feels is a "woman's place." its not at all surprising to me that he's single.

So Wednesday, I'm sitting in the cafeteria on the computer looking at blogs. My friend Lewis and I were laughing at Durty Mo's site, when Johnny comes up and starts looking too. After Lewis leaves, and Johnny heads for the door, he said "I see your man is letting you wear those pants again." oh, really? So I let him have it.

"no man, not my boyfriend, my father, especially not you, has ANY control over what I do with my ass and what I put on it. You have been saying this to me for years and I told you to let it go. Its a tired joke and I never found it funny." oh, and when I get mad, I get loud. And did I mention we were in the caf? So he hits me with "ima leave you alone because I see you're sensitive about it." nigga what? "yeah. I am. I don't know what time you live in but today, a man does not 'let' a woman do anything. So you can 'let' that shit go." and I walked off. I mean he had me boiling. And for the record, I do believe that he's making these comments because he likes what he sees. Which is just plain harassment, because either they look and don't say anything, or they say, "you look nice today Joy. No one has made any adverse comments about the appropriateness of my uniform. I've been wearing them on and off since 05. He's lucky I don't report him.

*Then, yesterday, Green Card decides that she wants attention. She sees me reading the paper (google Lavonia, Ga, AJC, and Hostage, 3 Years to see what I was reading.i It is a very interesting article) and she called my name. Still reading, I say, "yes?" I guess that wasn't enough because she gets right in my face (I was leaning sideways over the counter) and starts banging on the paper saying, "listen to me!" heffa how OLD are you? At this point I look her dead in the face and tell her to stop. She then proceeds to smack the paper some more, smiling playfully the whole time. "answer me!" "Green, if you don't get away from me acting like a violent child..." my face was close enough to the paper that she could have hit me in the nose and it would have been on. All she wanted was to know my middle name. Isn't that the kind of question one could answer without having to devote absolute attention to the asker? "chantelle." "oh. What's wrong with you?" oh I'm sorry I would rather read than apease your crazy-ass cry for attention. She does it all the time and I'm over it. I am pretty sure I would have laid hands on her if she would have accidentally hit me. Not too much though. I need my job and I don't think any of yall have time to make "FREE JOY" shirts.

*so as not to choke a bitch, I left work early. I had already asked to go home because I was feeling "cranky" and it was dead slow. So I send Kesi a text telling him I'm heading to the house. "you walked? Its dark out!" he hates for me to walk in the dark, and so do I, because I am small and defenseless, except my knife and a short stint as a track runner. I explained to him that it was dusk and that I had to get home to put some work into the blanket I'm making. "I'm cranking out the hits." he replies, "you're like the Dr Dre of arts and crafts, lol." what? I guess he meant I'm in demand and dedicated to my work. I'll take it.

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"He's a douche"

So, yall know I love you right? I've been contemplating whether or not to tell this story, simply because its about a very relevant person in today's society. Especially for the black peoples. But I decided to share, and I'll give you a few hints as to who I'm talking about.

*he has the same initials as me.
*his son recently publicly chided him on something he said about one of my favorite men.
*he is a celebrated orator and tends to rhyme in his speeches.
*he does not speak for me.

Got it? Let's go.

So apparently this man, let's call him Folk cuz I can't think of anything clever to call him, was in the hotel to do a speech for the pentecostal group we had in house (woo Jesus save your people, cuz they's a mess) and he decided to stop in the 'bucks. In the store was my girl Mary Lou, this fat chick I don't like, and the girl who I mentioned before whose pinkie toes stick out of her shoes. He walks in, they say good morning and say generally complementary things to this man who is considered a legend among (some) black people. I already told yall he don't speak for me.

So anyway, he says "where's the oj," and keeps it moving. No hi, no thank you, no "keep hope alive!" nothin. Except "where's the orange juice?"

So Mary Lou, who is in no way known for holding her tongue, says, "you can't speak?" I'm sure she wanted to add "reggin" at the end of that, but she was at work, and plus that word has been funeralized and whatnot.

And Folk gets slightly indignant, pauses, and then realizes he was being rude. "I'm sorry, I have a speech today." then he proceeds to give them dap. Mary Lou and fat chick dap him up, side-eyeing but accepting, but Ms pinkie toes (that's so gonna be her nickname!) looks him up and down and proceeds to WALK the FUCK OFF. Just took her partially exposed feet and left Folk hangin. I would give anything to have actually been there at that moment. I would have woken up early to see it.

I never would have pegged her as the type to be so gangsta. I have wished GW would walk into our store just so I could do to him what she did to Folk. Left him with the absolute tight face. When I asked her why she did it, her reply was simple: "he's a douche."

Given his recent actions, I'd have to agree. He's not the man I heard he was in the 80s.
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Standing behind the counter is like being a color commentator at the sport of life. Breezy and I (and others, but definitely us two) lean against the counters and talk about people, who's cute, who we "love," who needs to stop, etc. Often we see someone who warrants a face to face complement. We like to brighten days.

"excuse me, where did you get your jewelry? Its neat." yes, I called this amazon of a woman's jewelry; the woven necklace around her neck and the one matching in style double twisted up her arm; neat. There was no other word to describe it that wouldn't have the possibility of being misinterpreted. Funky? Hot? Wild? All accurate, but no. I was curious, and it was "neat."

"somewhere in Africa." she waved her arm as if to say she was well traveled, with an actual interest in Africa, not one of those women who went just to say they did. She turned a head full of bushy, light brown hair toward her friend who had jumped in to say that another friend had also acquired some African jewelry. "yes but hers were south African. Mine... Somewhere north...."

"are you a writer? You look so familiar." after marveling at her gorgeous hair, wondering while Breezy explained to her that in stores we make Iced Double Shots fresh, if it was "hers," noting her neck and wristwear, then her generous and envious breasts and hips in her white blouse and gauchos (I could not wear so much white at once. First of all, I am a mess. Second, it shows off. She wore it with a confidence that said she was fit and didn't need to prove it), I started to realize I knew this woman.

"yes, I write..."

"what's your name?"

"Terry...."

And that's how I met Terry McMillan. It was almost as cool as the time I met Maya Angelou, except Terry seems more accessible. Everyone calls Ms Angelou, "Ms Angelou." but me and Terry? We go way back to 3:30 old coffee friends.

I tried not to gush too hard. But there was a twinkle. She is everything I aspire to be. An artist. Worldly. Strong. Able to handle adversity in public with grace and honesty. Freakin pretty. Humorous. I got this all in a matter of minutes.

So what did you do today?
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Work craziness

****this was the post I kept trying to send... I think it was the picture I added, which wasn't mine. I got it off google. So if you are confused about anything here, google it.****

*this guy from the valet svc, I guess he thinks he's being clever, but the joke was old when he said it. He asked if he could "get some Joy in his beverage." I told him we're fresh out. Breezy said I should... Maybe I shouldn't say what he said, lest someone take us seriously. I would never do that.

*my coworker asked me if she could look at my butt because the woman she had rung up was so unattractive she needed a distraction. B had been telling me for a few days that she liked me, lol. I mean, what kind of person asks to look at my ass? I guess she wanted to gauge my reaction, which was "my ass cures all." Kesi's was, "am I gonna have to make an appearance?" she also cursed my wedding day. Hmmm....

*our hotel had a grand reopening Thursday night. There was a rumor Maxwell was gonna be there. I was perked all night. Alas, I don't think he was there. But what was? Techno music and gogo dancers. No lie. B stood outside the store and stared up for the longest time at this one chick. Then we saw her at the parking garage down the street, lol. He was feeling a lil of that perk I had earlier. I was willing to lose my job over some Maxwell.

*apparently there's a work field trip to Body Tap this coming week...

*someone I work with looks like Janice the muppet. I won't say who cuz she can access my blog easily.

*this guy who works for the bell stand asked me why I won't show him any love like I do Walter Lee. Apparently I've been hating on him since day 1. I told him that its because I'm sure Walter Lee won't try to attack me when we're alone. I don't think that really made things better for me.

*so, we have to wear these tee shirts on weekends to promote these smoothies we started carrying about 2 weeks ago. No problem there, the shirts are a nice color, they're not busy... But we have no smalls. In a medium, the shirt comes down to mid thigh. I'm swimming in the arms. Now, my friend Mary Lou is about 20 lbs lighter than me, and she looks like she's wearing a night shirt. We also didn't get any xxl, and so B, this "healthy sized" woman who works mornings, and our 2 morning supervisors can't wear them because they're too tight. Oh, did I mention we are OUT OF one of the main ingredients for the drink? So what are we promoting? Bad fashion?

*i got into an argument with the Evil Supervisor Friday. Short version of it is that she's mad that she doesn't have the new manager in her back pocket like she did the old one. So when she called her on her shit, she decided to take it out on me. At which point I, again, went to the manager and told her what's what. Try me if you wanna.

*the reason why I was even over there helping ES is because the chick that was supposed to be working broke her foot on the Marta and had to take a few days off. Shit, ask me again if I'm gonna help her out. Nobody else better get injured over there, that's all I know, lol. And she's trying to give me the silent treatment. I told her I didn't care, and I'm acting like I don't. I'll still say bye when I leave, whether you respond or not.

*i told the woman in the cafeteria that I could not, could not, show her how to crochet. For one, I'm impatient, and she doesn't follow along easily. 2, I kinda make things up as I go along, and I don't want to be telling people wrong stuff when they're trying to follow along in pattern books. 3, I'm not telling you my secrets. Especially when you're cool with the housekeeper who was hating on my last year. So she tried to do a pattern where the colors stopped and started in tic tac toe squares, and she would tie off the ends before starting a new color, so there are strings everywhere. She asked me what she did wrong (the ugly, string everywhere look is just why I started doing it the way I do now), and instead of telling her that I showed her how to string those bad boys through the row so they wouldn't show. Trying to explain to her what she should have done would have been wrong on so many levels, especially since she started selling blankets too. I mean, I have 15 years under my belt. She has... 6 months. I'm so unconcerned.

*if one more person asks me if we sell sodas....

*there's this one chick who is always complaining about her feet hurting. Why are her shoes split at the top and her socked pinkie toes are visible? Maybe you need new shoes, folk.

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Make me wanna holler

So what's been going on in joy-land? Sleep! You guys, this is hard! I get off at 10ish, which is nice, but I still usually have to wait for Kesi or his bros to get off before I can go home. Which puts me in the house at about 1or 2ish some nights. You should have seen how excited I was to get home at 1230 the other night! That like never happens! And I have to go in at 2, so I have to leave the house at 1230PM, which gives me a good ammt of sleep if I don't have anything to do the night before or that morning. Which I usually do... But this week, with my trying to recover from what is now just phlegm and a hoarse voice, I've been going to sleep as soon as I can get out of my uniform. Its not like I have the most difficult job, but being unable to go straight home is draining.
Speaking of my job, its going well. I'm finding it funny/ cathartic/ annoying that people ask me why I swithched over. It all depends on who and how they ask. Some people wanna be complete retards and say "aren't you supposed to be over there? Why would you switch? Wasn't it easier over there?" firstly, no, it wasn't. "over there", there was 3 people on night shift. Over here? 6. There's more of a even distribution of tasks, and people actually wanna work as a team because they LIKE each other, so... And if you ever paid attention to me while I was over there, you would have blatantly seen how unhappy I was. For months. So fuck off. Thanks.

Other than that annoyance, its fun. Its been pretty slow, so we've been kinda getting into interesting convos, like how one of the girls we work with has a made up boyfriend, and how my supervisor locks her keys in her office about once or twice a month. Which is a lot. Especially when anyone else with a key is at home and not coming back til the AM. And how someone I work with (I won't say who, but if you see her you'd know who) has the nickname "huffy" because she has some serious love handles. I was walking behind her one day and just-a-staring at them! And she turned around and I think she thinks I was staring at her butt. Then the other day I was telling a story and someone said, is this another story about "your boyfriend"? So I'm trying to make an effort to use his name. The problem with that is that I don't call him by his first name. I call him Kesi. But people who don't know him wouldn't call him that (he and his dad have the same name so his fam calls him Kesi to differentiate). And you know he's still considering changing his name...

I have 4 days off this week. We're so slow in the hotel! Luckily I have paid time off, so I'll still have 40 hrs, plus the holiday, which I'm working but I don't mind. Even though its pride weekend and I really wanted to go hang out with the beautiful people, lol. I just saw a girl with every rainbow ever on. I'm talking head to toe, and had the nerve to have on some damn black jeans. Its burning hot down here maam! Highs in the 80s and you know you're about to be running around outside.

Moving on... Have you ever been asked a question it was not your place to answer? This happened to me the other night. It wasn't like the person was trying to be rude or nosy, the conversation just led to it. And whereas I know the answer, it wasn't a question I felt like answering. Its hard to explain, and as hard as it is to explain, imagine how hard it was for me to dance around the answer to the question. Lol. I'm a rather honest person, and I would answer anything a person asks about me ("none of your business" is an honest answer) but this wasn't about me. So...

This girl on the train has on these banging big-lens shades. I am so coveting. Coveting like a mug! Lmao.

Breezy and another coworker are both in Miami right now and won't be back til Monday. They booked their trips separately but are gonna meet up and go clubbing while they're down there. I was hating so hard!!! "how you gonna go to Miami a clear MONTH after me? Booo! Go have fun on the beach without me..." I gotta sit at work bored, because not only are they gone, but Walter Lee is on a leave of absence until Monday, so I'm stuck with the chick that lies about her invisible boyfriend! Lol. Getting a tan and ish...

And finally... My supervisor listens primarily to country music. She did not readily recognize Marvin Gaye's "what's goin on" when it came on the store's radio. I just don't know what to do with this.
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Creativity?

So yesterday, I learned that a shot is only 1 ounce. I've been drinking shots for 4 years (before that, I was a lady, I drank wine) and I always thought they were at least 2. I thought shooters were 4... But, seeing the errors in my math, I realize that I wasn't really thinking about it, someone probably told me and I just went with that. But that's not the point of the story. The point is, it was my new supervisor who told me this.

She then explained to me that, "yeah, cuz when you do power hour, you end up drinking like 5 beers in an hour."

"what is power hour?"

"that's when you take a shot of beer every minute for an hour. You've never done that before?"

So I told her, I don't drink beer. Then I was thinking, is that like creative binge drinking?

My supervisor and I get along. She's a cool chick... She's 6 months younger than me. Sorority girl. And I'm starting to see than white sororities are different than black ones, lol. I mean, sorry, a few of my readers are in one, but I just don't get them in general. Its all a bit much. But it seems the one new supervisor (NS) is in reminds me of the kind of girls who end up dating/ marrying douchey frat guys.

But back to the creative bingeing. What is that? Quarters, flip cup, drinking games in general? Why not just drink and talk? I guarantee that if you did that, you'd drink less and have way more fun (or are you aiming for alcoholism?). And maybe have more in common with your drinking buddies than just Greek letters and a love for Jaeger.

And isn't taking a shot a minute kind of really dumb anyway? You're pretty much guaranteeing that you're going to pass out or vomit. And I don't find either of those things necessarily fun. I'm cheap. I consider it a waste of money.

So in conclusion, I hope you guys aren't doing, or havent done, anything this stupid. That excludes the "I never" game, which I consider a "drinking and talking" thing, and also, you wouldn't get drunk if you weren't so scandalous, and you wouldn't be in so much scandal if you didn't get so drunk, lol. I'm good at that game, lol.
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Ask and she shall receive.

*Rashan. Please look back to Feb when I wrote about camping, "Jameil doesn't like camping" or something like that, to read about the guy who's in love with mariah Carey. Suffice it to say that she's the only woman he's ever loved, if you know what I mean. Anyway, he changed his status to reflect his actions today. His profile pic is still Mimi though.

*apparently TI isn't on house arrest... Or something? Bah. Anyway he was giving away $100 an hour as part of a radio promotion/ community service. How do you calculate that though? Is it a whole weekend of service, or just when they tell you to call in? Btw I didn't call in. I had to work.

*I'm finally off! Yay! This was a hard won day off too man. I'm not gonna tell you how my feet hurt, I was on my period, and I had a little meltdown in the bread aisle at the Kroger. I'd just like to thank my baby for putting up with me while simultaneously putting me in my place.

*well, what can I say. I'm 11 days closer to Miami..

*still can't tell you about the work drama. But it got a tad juicier, and some faces got tightened, lol. But its all good for the Joy!

*kesi's mom got me a sundress! And it has yellow in it, so... Also blue, green, purple, and fuschia. Its black backgrounded, yet still summery. And can we point out that this was kinda out of nowhere? She's so nice! I'll take a "speech" anyday if they come with presents.

*the evil manager is still a dirty bitch... And no one will stand up for her

*got me some haagen dazs cookie dough icecream. Its good but it wasn't soft! Like, usually when I buy blue bell, and I first open it, its soft. But not the HD. I had to fight it... But it was still good, and it kinda kept me from eating too much...

*Look! I turned one post into 2! Lol. I'm still delirious from working, but I think I'll be better tomorrow. We're going to chili's! I have not been there in a... Possibly ever, really. I mean my bf/ BIL's/ brother works for their competitor, so why would I? But who wants to go eat what they cook all day? Not Kesi. So we're going to chili's to hang out with our friend dani. We haven't seen her in like 2 years, when she and another friend performed at this showcase. People used to think we were related in high school. I think its cuz we were the same shade of brown. You know how people are. So we expect to hear that tomorrow. Until then, holla!

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random

isnt this a cool lil pic? my brother doodled it after kesi's brother sent him a text msg about seahorse sandwiches (all very strange, i know, and i cant explain it). what kills me is that this lil drawing has so much to it! what also kills me is that he got all the art talent from both our parents. i mean, i cant draw worth a ding damn. i can tag though... i did some grafitti on the same paper. not my best work, so i didnt bother to take a picture of it, lol.

kesi and i went to see "semi pro" last week. Good movie. funny. It wasn't at anchorman level, but I enjoy will ferrel in general, lol. That sex scene had me dying though! I really wanna see Horton hears a who but I don't know if he wants to. Meh.

I'm listening to the first DK album right now. Still bumpin! I'm resisting the urge to just belt it out in the streets right now. I mean, this album, there's maybe only 1 song I don't like and its near the end, so it doesn't stop my flow at all. *oh, oh oh, we show stoppin, show, show stopin!* I can't wait til Tuesday! I'm going to get the album 2nd thing (after my bathingsuit, which my baby is buying for me). Its called "welcome to the dollhouse." has anyone else seen that movie? Its so funny! Ms lady and our brothers must have watched it a thousand times! "wiener dog!!" lmao. Please, if you haven't seen it, watch it. Its gotta be one of the best indie movies I've seen. I ended up with this weird crush on Brendan Sexton because of that movie and one where he played a lil thug who liked this puerto rican girl whose dad was abusive. Hurricane streets! Oh my God that one was even better than WTTD. And he was in empire records. With liv Tyler and Rene zelwiger. Marvel at my encyclopedic knowledge of 90s movies featuring awesome actors, not just "movie stars."

This dude just asked me if I knew anyone who wanted to buy a psp for $50. Boy, if you don't get out my face! That reminds me of this lady Friday, who came in the store and tried to pay with a 50... Turns out it was fake. Turns out, she sold her second tix cuz her team lost, and the random Joe on the street paid with a fake bill. She felt like pure ish. I mean, it didn't even have a watermark. It was a good fake, I will say that. If we didn't have the markers, we probably would have accepted it.

So yeah, tornado. Hit atl. Did you hear? I took pix, and I think as soon as I get a chance I'm gonna do a big photo catch up session (the pic my brother drew was in my drafts). I had to go to the highest floor of my hotel to take pix of the CNN center and the westin, which you can't even get close to. As far as Marta I'm pretty sure they're not letting people off at the CNN ctr station... Its all very crazy. I uttered about it so I'm not gonna repeat myself, but I will say that even during the storm I underestimated what exactly was going on outside my job. But everyone I know is ok. There were a few close calls, including a friend who I'm sure has to move and one whose back windows blew out from the pressure while she was driving home.

Last but not least, guess who I met yesterday? Andrew young!!! He's so sweet! And a joker. I told him I loved seeing him on the colbert report, and he says, "yall didn't know I could sing, did you?" lol I was trying to get deep with him, about the whole strike thing, and how he and mlk negotiated with colbert's dad to end the nurse's strike in SC. And his wife (who is bangin in that Claire huxtable way) said SHE didn't even know that story before he told it on tv. And despite all the bull and drama, this is why I love my job. Who among us can say they met and had a silly convo with the man who has a street not 2 blocks from my job named after him?

stay home from school and watch tv

I'm taking a sick day. Not that I want to... (yo, I just heard an ice cream truck outside. They are pushing hard, lol) I left work early Saturday cuz I felt like someone was leaning on me from all angles. My body aches. I'm pretty sure its the flu... So anyways I did get the chance to watch snl, which I know Jameil saw too, because she mentioned the Rock of Love skit... But this one did it for me.





I don't know, maybe its cuz I am an obamaniac, but I don't see CNN doing this. But its still funny! Obamapologize? Dead.

Then, today, I caught up on dvr. Stace! I can't believe you're not recaping antm! Why? It was so insane across the board! I'm gonna see if I can find a clip of the chick describing how shed trick out her impala if she won.
*found it!!!*



I was sure she'd be from Mississippi with that accent and love for the fly systems, but... Massachusetts? Que? I think that was a typo. Either way, she didn't make it even though she would have been my choice. Then there was the somalian chick who was circumcized and can never have sex with a man. She wants to be an outspoken advocate for others who have had the same things done to them. Wow. I would say, could you imagine, but I'm sure you don't want to and neither do I. And then there's Claire, who is currently drinking her own breast milk. Ok.

Right now there's a Law and Order SVU marathon on. Yes!!! I'll be watching this until the drugs knock me out.

my new favorite song

Kid sister is on point. This song was literally stuck in my head all day Wednesday. I'm not a "classic nails and salon" (the spot over in my old neighborhood where I got my nails done exactly once) type of girl but I take it to heart in the general flyness area, you know?

So I had to cuss someone out today. Its a rare occasion when I have to take it there, but today I did. There's this security guard (I would call him top flight but I look at that as a term of affection) who, until last night would come in on some, "so and so wanted me to bring her a soda." now the chick who he may or may not be picking stuff up for is cool with me and I occasionally give her freebies. But I think he was taking advantage of it. Then there's another security guard who comes and gets parfaits at the end of the night since I'm just going to throw them away anyway. One day the wack security guard was with him, and I guess that since he sees me giving stuff out that that's all I do all day. But no.

So last night I closed the store (I was alone) and I had to pee. So the front door was closed, and usually the back door woulda been but I really had to go. So I come back and guess who is all up in the store, while its closed and my money is in the register? This Negro! Um, excuse me? "yall throwing out anything?" "I already tossed everything. Good night." this is what I said to him after I got scared out of my skin by the big black man standing in the back of the store who wasn't there when I left. I mean I was gone for maybe 2 minutes. The bathroom is right by the store.

So tonight, I'm moving back and forth putting stuff in the fridge room, and as I'm walking out, guess who I see? Now here's the point where I tell you the door had been locked all day because they were painting. So he somehow has a key or something and even if I had locked up last night it wouldn't have made a dif. "can I get some strawberries?" now, its 1115. I been closed. That's another thing that bugs me. Don't interrupt me after we close cuz the hospitality ends at 11 on the dot. "you need to stop coming through here." "where?" "this back door. We been closed and I don't need people coming in here unannounced.and you scared the shit out of me last night and I'm not the free shit lady." "damn. Sorry." I didn't say anything else to him, or should I say yell anything else to him cuz I had the attitudy tone and mean brow going. My supervisor is always going on about someone clocking us upside the head for our carelessness, and this is just why. I don't need uninvited guests while I'm counting my money. And whoa, you have a key? So do you just bust in after everyone's gone and help yourself? Cuz that's not hot.

Seriously guys. Kick up the prayin, lol. Every time someone does something dumb I'm praying for Jesus to be a fence.

same dress

So stace was talking about how she used to jump fresh in high school because the games and events were like the end of the world and you MUST look fly, right? Well I never went to games in hs because I was not that type. By high school the only thing that would get me to a game was if Lauren was cheering. Especially if you had to PAY to get in, please. Anyways... That's not what this post is about. Its about when I DID jump fresh.

Back in the day the magic Johnson theater was the jump off! I kid you not, Lauren and I and our other friend who was also named Lauren used to put on dresses and get fly to go see Scream3 or... What other movies were out in 98? Shoot we'd go to the movies every 2 weeks or so but that's the only movie I remember us seeing.

Anyways, this was 1998, remember that as I delve into this outfit. Imagine a mod style dress, zipper back, above the knee but still school appropriate. Sleeveless, kind of uniform style in the cut of the arms. Large overlapping floral design that kind of looks abstract.


Its lime green.



You heard me!


I had enough lime green in my wardrobe to warrant lime green patent leather sandals.


Yep. I'm not shamed.

So mo and I are at work today, and we're talking about just this: how fresh we used to get for the smallest of events (her event was the skating rink). So I'm describing my fly green dress to her... Why did she have the SAME dress! In Orange! And shoes to match! Lord knows our moms probably got the dresses at the same store, lord have mercy. But we were fresh to death!

And this is why we get along.

We're going out Saturday after work. Watch out East Point!

Talk of death

I was feeling pretty good at work Friday. Considering that I was late and didn't get to talk to HR about my insurance claim that didn't get billed right, feelin pretty good. And then the shoe dropped.

I'm sure by now you've heard about the bus crash. The victims' families and some volunteers were staying at our hotel. It was a mad scramble of "higher-ups" escorting and catering to them, and for once I didn't feel like it was all for show and sucking up.

A guy I knew came by the door to the shop carrying a trolley of items. On his way he stopped. He dropped a shoe- a cleat. My first thought was, "that cleat belongs to a dead kid." but he picked it up, settled it somewhere it wouldn't fall again, and kept going.

That one cleat fucked up my day. Every time I had a moment to think, I thought. 4 guys my age died. Doing something they loved. And I love it too. I remember the last time I played. I was sick from my teeth being pulled and it was the first time I'd felt good in days. I thought about my mom, and how much it'd hurt her to have lost one of us. I thought about my grandma, who lost 3 kids. I imagine myself not being able to survive in that situation. Numb.

In the cafeteria, CNN was on. Talk of course of Anna Nicole and her mom's appeal to keep her daughter in the states so she can "talk to her." I wonder who came up with this? I told Lauren a few weeks ago, and I say it now for posterity, that I do not want to be present for my funeral. I don't anyone to see me dead. I've been to a few funerals, and I was younger, and if given the same option to see my grandma lula's body, I think i would have said no. I have memories of her as a living woman. Her tea, her grits, her leg. Her accent, her crocheting while watching TV. That's how I want to be remembered. Abstract things, not whether or not I looked peaceful.

And as for where I'm buried, I suppose it matters, but not to me. A person can still remember me without having seen my tombstone- I hope. I guess we all need something tangible. But these are my wishes, much like Anna's were to be next to her son.

I hope I don't seem insensitive or morbid. I just don't believe that death is something to avoid. At least not my own. I'd like everyone I love to live forever, because like I said, I don't think I could take it.

Listening to:
Incubus- make yourself
30 seconds to mars- "a beautiful lie"
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Playing hookie

Ok, I wasn't really playing hookie, I was legitimately sick. But I didn't stay home sad in the bed.

Friday night I felt awful. It was my first day of the stupid antibiotics the throat doctor gave me. Naturally Saturday morning my throat swelled right back up. (You won't take my tonsils out, they rebel!) so I called in sick for work. I laid around for a while and then kesi called me. I thought we were going to his house; no! We went to the movies!

His brother keem, our friend Jason and we went to Tinseltown, which apparently is the super teen hangout the magic Johnson was for me when I was 12. First we saw Reno 911, which was a good conversion. You could tell there were things they've always wanted to do on TV but couldn't, and put it in the movie. Funny stuff. The Rock was in it. He's a cute muscly guy. Yes. Of course the film was one ridiculous scene after another, and if you like the show you'll love the movie.

We also saw the number 23. Let me say now, the ending was completely surprising to me. It was a great movie. So good I wanna tell people at work what I did while they dealt with those snotty AKAs.(disclaimer: not all AKAs are snotty. But most of the older ones I dealt with had this "you're young and you're just the help" attitude. One told me she had to train me like a dog. She was real close to a whoppin.) But alas, they'd be perty pissed. It was a really good movie. Keem fell asleep and was really snoring during the movie. He missed like a good half of it. Came in at the end talking about "what happened?" Boo bro. Also, Jim Carey was kinda muscly. And that random assed tattoo was highly accentual.

So after the movie we went and got in the car and we were about to play my robin thicke CD, which I am hella late in buying, and who is on the radio? Michael effin Jackson! And the song was pretty alright. The beat was hot. And J bo from young bloodz was on it. How random, especially since before the lyrics kicked in I was like, this better not be wack. yet I still feel for him like I feel for R. They loves the kids, and not like trick daddy.

The end.

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Quickly

1. Could somebody touch Britney spears for me? I just started reading Perez Hilton two days ago. Looks like I jumped in at the right time. This heffa cut all her hair off! Please somebody hug her.

2. I been using the term heffa a lot. I called a group of cheerleaders heffas the other night. Yes little kids, but when you do a hand stand 3 feet away from a glass panel door... Well at least I didn't call her one to her face.

3. My mp3 player should be here tomorrow! I so excited! I got a Phillips 30GB hard drive player. Whoo! 16000 songs! I also bought 2 plastic covers for my pearl. I can't have it all scratched and ugly like my last phone.

4. We got some new employees at work! One is 2 months pregnant, and having evening sickness- she literally stopped me in the middle of my sentence to go throw up; one used to go to school with kesi; and one is B's ex, and an ex of someone I used to go to school with who took naked pictures of her and asked me to develop them before I knew what they were. Imagine my surprise when I did my quality check. And he was in some too. Oh lord Jesus the memories! I wish for brain bleach.

5. I have to go to a sleep doctor tomorrow. This is really getting old you guys. All I want is for them to take out my tonsils but now I have to be diagnosed with apnea for them to do it. Grr. If only I had gotten this done in high school...
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My funny valentine

So I gave someone a valentine. Funny story.

I went into the starbucks at my job to get the valentine bear I had been eyeing and forgetting to buy. My friend Walter rung me up.

Me: isn't he cute? He's for my valentine.
Walter: oh yeah? How long have you and your boyfriend been together?
Me: 5 years. But this isn't for him. He's not my valentine.
Walter:??? You are trifling.

Kesi and I don't do Valentines. But I do like to get them for others. This one was for Lauren. She loved it. It was a little guy with a vest and tie and a v-day card. She decided he looked highly homosexual since his vest and tie matched and he had on heart cufflinks. Lol. Between her, Will, and my brother, they named him victor valentino. Victor cuz he could change it easily when he cross dresses. That is all.
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Busy week!

I'm currently sitting in my favorite pizza place waiting for a cheese slice. Its my little oasis of peace in what is the busiest day so far in a busy week. Ah... Cheese.

Today I have to the dentist (done), the otolaryngologist (ear nose throat lady), go to work, wash my hair, clean my room, pay my cable bill and get everything ready for Lauren's arrival.

Pardon me if I don't blog again til Monday. I still love you all. And one day I'll figure out autotext and comment.

My mom's trippin about my birthday party. For some reason she feels someone will call the cops or fight so my dad will be there while she stays at a hotel. Lmfao. I will kick a nigga out my house. Its just funny how much she worries. Did I mention a haven't had a party in 18 years? Yes, I was 5.

Our new shops openned at work this week. Insanity. The PM shift only has 2 associates so I'm working 6 days this week. And Saturday might be my only day off. Blah. B works in our new starbucks. I work in the gourmet gift shop. (I just left my purse at the pizza place. Shit!) We have a connecting door and sometimes we stand at it like we're at visiting day in jail. Lol we don't, really. But we so should. They take forever to close and I usually leave an hour after I close waiting for him. But its too cold at night to walk to the trains.

I know I said Blanket Statements would be up by Feb, but its not. It would be, but I'm booked through March with projects from people I work with and I want to be able to start fresh. So, March it is. Its listed on my profile but everything I wanted to put on the page is not there yet. So if you peek it may look different in a few weeks. And can you change a web page domain name? I named it joychantelle2, as this is the original joychantelle, but I wanna change it. Does anyone know how?

If you haven't read about my super sweet 5 anniversary, feel free, its below this post. This rambly post. I got my purse and I'm headed to the doctors.
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Gum tats

Oh you heard me: gum tats. Let me explain...

Today I asked Hartford about her tongue ring. She said she got it and a tattoo when she was 15 and rebelious. So my manager, who is from ghana, said that back home she woulda gotten a spanking, even at 15. This prompted five of us to trade war stories about crazy things we did when we were young. Such as:

*shaving her eyebrows at 15 and really screwing it up.
* wearing makeup to school at 12 and getting caught when my mom came to check me out of school
*getting a tiger tattoo at 14
*sneaking out
*shaving our arms

And the top of the top: my ethiopian friend said that she tattooed her gums. We thought she was joking. Who does that? Then she said in Ethiopia dark gums are sexy, and hers are pink, so when she was 17 she got hers tattooed. She said she couldn't eat or go to school and her gums bled for days. We were shocked. She even showed us her lower gums which were still pink. Clearly she won that contest.

So, barring any strange plastic surgeries, what crazy thing did you do as a youth? Is it permanent? Or is it just a good laugh?
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Show me

I love that John legend song. It perfectly describes my relationship with God. Sometimes I have so many questions.

I had a funny experience the first week of the year. It was during a conference full of college aged Christians. One of them said to me, "I'm a follower of Jesus and I would like to pray for you. Is that ok?" as a fellow follower of course it was. It really brightened my night-it was already midnight and I had to work til 3am. Another offered to pray for my legs so that I wouldn't be in pain after standing 10 hours 4 nights in a row.

How does it come so naturally? I don't have it like that. I grew up in church and as I said before my mom (and several of my aunts) are ministers. I have no shortage of people to go to. But I don't know. I'm in a position where I feel like I need to feel like God is not a friend-of-a-friend.

I have been feeling it lately. Pressure. Work, home, school... People say, have faith, but I can't help but worry. Kesi wrote me this note years ago that I still keep. Every time I find it, I put it somewhere else so I can find it again, just when I need it. "don't worry babe. He never gives you more than you can handle." I know its true. But I can't help feeling heavy.
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