by vivrant thang on my favorite things

When the dog bites, when the bee stings
When I’m feeling sad
I just simply remember my favorite things
and then I don’t feel so bad.

Although I’m far from sad on this last day of a week-long vacation before I start my new job tomorrow (‘scuse me while I drop down and get my eagle on), I thought I would share some of the things that have been making me smile these days.

Love B. Scott

I was ridiculously late to this party, but I’m glad I’ve arrived.

From the first time I watched one of B. Scott’s wildly popular YouTube videos, I was hooked. When I’m having a bad day or any kind of dark thoughts, I watch B. Scott, laugh like a damn fool, and feel so much better.

There’s just something about B. Scott. Could be his beauty…inside and out. Maybe it’s his dance moves. Or perhaps it’s that infectious laugh. Whatever it may be, I’ve loving it.

If you’re not yet a love muffin, seriously, you need to get into it.

In Treatment – HBO series

Every time I try to get away from HBO, they pull me back in!

My plan was to quit them for a while after the last episode of The Wire until Curb Your Enthusiasm, Big Love, or Tell Me You Love Me returned. However, this new half-hour series has me hooked!
It’s about a psychotherapist and his weekly sessions with four very complicated patients. These sessions and his own problems drive him to therapy himself with his old mentor, with whom he also shares an interesting history.

Blair Underwood stars on this show as one of the patients. He’s good.

I watched the first episode when it aired and then life got in the way and I missed the rest. I spent almost a whole day of my vacation catching up. I couldn’t turn away. Could be because it gives me insight into what my own therapist may be thinking while listening to me babble.

More on that later.

Recognize: Hip Hop and Contemporary Portraiture

I checked out this exhibit at the National Portrait Gallery on Valentine’s Day. Since I love art and black and white photography, especially by Black artists, this was a must-do on a day that was all about me.

Aside: I would love for Mr. Vivrant Thang and I to be serious art collectors and have a small gallery in our home.

But I digress.

It’s an exhibit that showcases portraits of the 2005 Hip Hop Honors nominees as well as black and white photographs of various artists such as Jean Grae, Mos Def, Chuck D, Pharcyde, and a stunningly artistic picture of Erykah Badu.

I snuck a few illegal pictures in (flash off) of the portraits. Better ones on the website.

Excellent prelude to the National Museum of American History’s “”Hip-Hop Won’t Stop: The Beat, the Rhymes, the Life.” Now this will be an event that folks should come from far and wide for.

With this exhibit, I was especially intrigued by the mixed media installation piece, which is a response to Nikki Giovanni’s poem, “It’s Not a Just Situation: Though We Just Can’t Keep Crying About It.” It was an intricate work that lent itself to lots of interpreration and discussion. I personally spent about fifteen minutes standing there trying to take it all in.

A great companion book for this exhibit, particularly with the inclusion of the portrait of Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, is Felicia Pride’s new book, The Message: 100 Life Lessons from Hip Hop’s Greatest Songs. Want to remember why you first fell in love with hip-hop, cop it!

Check out Felicia’s recent article in The Baltimore Sun about why this book is so relevant.