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Showing posts from 2008

Holiday Redux I

Sometimes, things I write cannot be duplicated. But that doesn’t meant they can’t be repeated. Here’s a Santa Letter post from years’ past, revised to fit the current day. Think of it as a second edition. Enjoy. Nina My kids sent letters to Santa . Yes, I said letters, as in more than one. This is something we started at any early age. Since I am The catalog queen, I give them catalogs and let them go at it. We generally do this in several iterations. On the first pass, then go through and check or circle the things that they want. Of course the seven year old circles everything, and then I give them the crushing news. They can only pick five things, and there is no guarantee that they will get all or any of those five things. You see, Santa has to make some decisions to make sure there is enough to go around, and which items Santa chooses of course depends on if she thinks they will be any fun for her or not, and whether or not SHE has had enough coffee today. The youngest crie

The True Meaning of Christmas

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I used to live in Phoenix. Granted, it was awhile ago, but after my visit this past weekend, its clear that the Phoenix/Scottsdale I used to know is no more. I was in and out, a very quick trip, to attend a meeting. I stayed near Fashion Valley Mall, and goodness, has that changed. Back when I lived there, there were plans for a waterfront project. No one paid much attention then, because first of all, there is no "waterfront" in Scottsdale, and second of all, it seemed so far in the future. Not any more. Don't get me wrong, there is still no waterfront, but the project is there. Fashion Valley has sprawled all over. I would bet it goes for miles, and there are new hotels and condos in an area that was largely empty before. The water front part is amusing, though. The developers have built along an irrigation canal, hence the "water". Its not so wide and packed gravel runs along both sides. If I tried hard enough, I might be able to throw a stone across
Working quietly in my hotel room while everyone is asleep.
I left the wine specialist at the gourmet market talk me into a meritage. Ack! It burns! It Burns! Might as well be champipple. Kerosene. MD2020.
Relaxing, finally. Just for a minute. Finally finished watching "Mongol."
Dear Santa, I got an e-mail from Black expressions book club this morning, asking if I was breaking up with them. I am a member, but I hadn’t ordered anything for a long time. In fact, I don’t even open the mail from them when I get it. When I get the e-mail from them, I click through to see which books are at the top, decline my monthly selections, and then I promptly go and download what’s interesting to me for my Sony e-book reader. For most books, that is the way I prefer to read them. True, there are some that I want to get a copy of, books that I think will be of historical importance. I purchased a hard copy of the new Toni Morrison book. I’ll read it eventually. I have to be in a Tony Morrison mood .I have become a technological reader. I appreciate the sleekness of the SONY E-book Reader, although ease-of-use is not the best. Two years ago, it was fine. But that was before the Amazon Kindle was everywhere. I had to put the Kindle at the top of my Kaboodle list, even th
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Gym Observations

Since I’ve moved to California, I had to get used to working out in a gym as opposed in my home. Two things have come of that. I’ve had to buy better gym clothes, and of course, I’ve watched people. I’ve spent a few weeks taking in all the different types I see. A few weeks ago, I decided to hire a trainer. As opposed to making a blind wish in January for New Year’s resolution I wanted to get started now. A funny thing happened when I started with a trainer. I’ve been going to the gym for weeks, and barely anyone would ever talk to me. If I made eye contact by accident, they would quickly look away. It was almost as if they had some secret fraternity to which I didn’t belong. After a session with the trainer, I noticed that people’s eyes were friendlier. You know what I mean, the way Tyra Banks says “people were starting to smile at me with their eyes.” If we made eye contact, eyes linger now before they look away. It’s not as if I was thinner and suddenly better to look at or an
Photos from Beiing and Sydney are viewable on my Facebook Page.
Trying to figure out what this mystery food is. I think I'll pass.
Waiting in the airport. Some women tried to claim my Macbook at security. She better ask somebody.

Funny!

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Chocolate Stock and Absentee Ballots

I was so excited when I received my absentee ballot. I was worried that I wouldn’t get it in time, I’ll be out of the country on election Day, or at least on my way back home. Do I feel more urgency about this election than those before it? Certainly. The economy is terrible, and this election is in a historic one, no matter what your politics are. I turned the multiple parts of my ballot over and over in my hands, making sure I understood the instructions. I called my two kids over to me, and made them watch me fill it out. I made them watch me insert it, first in one envelope, and then the other, and then made them watch me sign the outside across the flap. As far as they know, the election is something that interrupts the Disney Channel. The oldest is more aware, even her friends are talking about Obama. I’s not quite clear to her yet, she just wonders how is it all going to affect her? I give it to her in bits and pieces, on a level she can understand. I don’t expect her t

Why does my kid need Uggs?

When your kids wear uniforms to school, its sometimes very easy to forget that they do need other clothes and shoes on the weekend. Mine do his funny thing, too. One day, their clothes fit just fine, and then they grow overnight. Jeans that fit perfectly well the night before look like pedal pushers the next morning, or their favorite shoes won’t fit anymore unless you cut of a toe, and kids get pretty testy if you do that (go figure).         It happened to me this Saturday morning. SoCal was mysteriously cold(e.g. below 60), anything warm would not fit, and it would have just looked like child abuse if I went outside in my shooties and German sweater and my kid was following behind me in shorts and cheapie flip flops. (We aren’t going to mention other kid who wears shorts everyday anyway. I’m talking about the kid to whom I can still dictate choice of clothing).         I took one look at her outfit and decided that the first stop would be the shoe department. They gladly hoppe

What are friends for?

So, you get a call, a request, an email from a friend. When you need money, what do you do? Do you repeatedly depend on friends to solve your cash flow problems if you have them? Or do you find other ways to meet your fiscal needs. This is a dilemma. I'm not talking about the type of crisis where you need some money to pay the rent, buy the groceries, feed the kids, but the type of crisis where its just not clear. And if you find yourself there, do you find yourself there over and over again? Let’s say, I have a legal problem. I need a lawyer. How do I get the money together to pay the lawyer’s retainer. And let’s say I've been here before. You know what I would do? I’d save it. Maybe ten bucks a week if that was all I had and just wait until I knew could pay. It might take a long time, but that’s what I would do. Is this where you are? But now, let’s say I couldn’t save it. Then what? Would you try to sell something? Anything? Drum up some business if you are a f

When in France...Or the coach disease

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I think I may have caught a cold for the first time in many, many years.  The last time I had one, I think was 8 years ago.  I know how it happened too.  I flew coach. I went to Europe last week to do some consulting.  I was supposed to leave on Saturday, but before day, about 5AM my time on Friday, I get this call.  Ike was coming and the team was flying through Dallas, Could I possible leave early? Like in a few hours? Now, I love Paris, so it didn't take too much persuasion to have me packed and at the gate in three hours. Normally I get upgraded on these trips, and I knew my Saturday flights had been upgraded, but seems like everyone had the same idea.  The flights were full of folks trying to outrun the hurricane. I held my breath until the very last minute, but lo and behold, I was seated in the back of the plane. On both flights. I met my colleagues in Dallas, and we must have looked real pitiful because the flight attendant gave us free wine after we whined about eating wit
Good News.  The Marrying Up DVD is now available at another outlet.  You can find it at www.cushcity.com!  
Do you tweet? I wake up every morning and I check my-Twitter. I need to keep up with my fellow Twitizens. It's addictive. I can't help it. Since I joined, I update about 3 or 4 times a day. Yesterday, there was a tweet from one of my mutual followers, remarking that they couldn't believe that Christina Applegate had opted for a double mastectomy. They said that maybe her actions were a bit extreme. My response was something like "Your boobies, or your life?" Maybe my response was a little harsh, but I applaud Christina's bravery, for opting to make the choice that will keep her level of worry the lowest, and then for going public with it. her actions will help educate a whole lot of people. I think I would make the same choice. Perhaps Christina and I both share some history. Both of our mother's battled breast cancer. Mine lost before she was forty. I have had at least two scares myself, and each time while I awaited the results of the biopsy, I t
Enjoying the support of the community of writers.
Help me. Student readings are becoming torture.
On FDU Campus searching for coffee. I'm in spartan purgatory

DVD is finally here!

Hello Reader (and other) Friends! I hope our summer is going well and not as hectic as mine has been. Nina Foxx's Marrying Up is finally Here! I have been getting many emails asking when Marrying Up: The Stage Play would be available on DVD. Well, it's here now. For a limited time, you can get your DVD of the inspirational and funny stage play based on my book, Marrying UP! If you saw the play, you know what the surprise is and I know you'll want to order your copy today! If you didn't, I promise you, you will not be dissappointed! Marrying Up stars Tony Terry, Gary "Li'l G" Jenkins, Comic View's Keisha Hunt and a host of other mega talents. The all original music is by John Forbes (formerly of the Killer Bees). I learned a lot from this project, and think its a pretty darn good directing and producing debut and I know you will, too. ORDER NOW! at www.ninafoxx.com or www.amazon.com. Synopsis You can’t judge a man by the size of his wallet! Pari
I'm trying really hard to get into San Diego, but a big part of the frustration of moving is not knowing where stuff is. If you know me, you know I'm a huge fan of GPS. I suffer from topographical aphasia, otherwise known as a severe lack of a sense of direction, but gps just can't tell you important details, like if a business has MOVED! Twice last week I went out, armed my trusty GPS and ended up heaven knows where. The business had moved. Kaput. Gone. And I wasn't looking for little tiny things either. Target has fallen off the map. The other thing GPS can't tell you is what a business is like-- whether when you make an appointment for nine, it really means nine. I made one such appointment last week, at 9AM. My daughter wanted her hair braided, so I got up in the middle of the night to follow my GPS into somewhere in Southern california. I found Sophie's Hair Braiding on the internet and Yelp and it had been reviewed positively in th
I've fallen out of the matrix. Dropped off the grid. Broke my cell phone. I can't answer it when you call, but I can wait until you are done and turn it off, turn it back on and call you back. I can't text. That hurts most. I can't surf the net in public when you bore me. Or find myself when I'm lost in a strange city. I can't send an email or a text while talking and driving. Can't listen to music. I don't exist. Last week, I was at the Alpha Kappa Alpha National Convention when I decided to play iphone ball. Its like basketball except you bounce your iphone instead of some other spherical rubber thing. I've played this before and it works well. The iphone bounces pretty good, except its not too good for dunking. Anyway, mine hit the concrete and bounced like normal. I didn't think anything of it. Until i wanted to make a call, and the little thing at the bottom that says "slide to unlock" wouldn't. I kept slidi

Trojan Ant Bait

I thought that perhaps California's nature would be gentler than Texas was. Not so sure. The first night in my house, I went to get groceries in the village. I didn't want to wake up to an empty cupboard. I went to sleep and all was well. In the morning, surprise! the ants were having a jamboree in my kitchen. The were dancing salsa on my sink and break-dancing in the pantry. A funny thing happens to me when I see swarms of bugs--my skin crawls like they are all over me. I swatted at the imaginary ones on my skin while I danced to the beat of the ant party and grabbed the kitchen faucet sprayer, trying to wash the little buggers away. I washed and wailed and tried to tracks down some raid. Back in SA, I was on a first name basis with my exterminator, so I pulled out the yellow pages and gave one a call. No "Assassin Pest Control" or "Mountain Monster Killer". Just kindler, gentler names like "Let The Bugs Rule, Inc" or "Ask
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How to smuggle a cat across country I know I'm crazy, but I felt like I was being called to drive to San Diego from San Antonio, instead of flying. I wanted to put my car on the road and take any last minute things. One problem, what to do with my cat? I prepared him for the trip by training him to walk on a leash with a harness. Well, almost. I put the harness on him, and attached a leash and let him run around like that for a few days. First, he laid down flat and wouldn't move at all while the thing was attached. Then he houdinied it and escaped. Probably buried the thing in the Texas outback. I started again and bought a better, escape proof one. After about the fourth day, I tried to actually lead Kitty with the thing. He promptly walked on only his front paws and dragged his hind parts behind him, all the time sporting a kitty smirk. Finally, time to go. I scooped up the unsuspecting Tik-Tak (backwards Kit-Kat), and attempted to stuff him inside. He spread

The "F" in Fantastik

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Last weekend, the Femme Fantastik met in Seattle for the wind up of our two year tour. It took me a week to recover. No, seriously, we had a great reception everywhere we went. At Ft Lewis, we were the happy recipients of tote bags by Burberry as Thank you gifts. The military knows how to do it up, for sure. At Borders in Tacoma, we found a whole new audience. For whatever reason, Lori seemed to really attract a much older, male, caucasian demographic this go 'round. One of them shared his special talent with us. He could write that we were beautiful and intelligent upside down and backwards. How does one figure out that they can do that? We had to think long and hard about the invitation to dancing we received. In the long run, we turned it down. He didn't really want US to go, just her. Oh well. The book club that evening was fantastic, too. They were patient while we joked with each other and told some of each others secrets. All of these were great, none of th

Fwd: New Pics - ghetto prom 2

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Pitiful Proms

Every year, I get pictures of "ghetto Proms" in my inbox. This last round has left me wondering, "Are these pictures for real?" Every other dress, make that nine out of the ten, had open middles or skin showing holes down the side, some with cheap material stretched so thin over the offending flesh, they look ready to burst any minute. These girls looked like sausages ready to burst the casing. Does everyone at these high school suffer from a severe case of bad taste? Often, in addition to being half dresses, the dresses are really mini dresses with a train tacked onto the butt to make a part of the dress floor length. How many black women can afford to have ANYTHING tacked onto their rear ends? I know a lot of you saw the video of the young woman who was denied entrance to her prom in Houston last week, because her dress violated school policy. She caused a scene and the police were called, all over a dress that she'll surely (hopefully) be embarrassed t
I haven't blogged in awhile because I had nothing to say, nothing I was excited about, but today that changed. I arrived home from an out of town trip to find a package on my doorstep, one that I'd been waiting for awhile, three weeks to be exact. Three weeks ago, my favorite jeans developed a hole. Now that they've added lycra to things, jeans will run on you like pantyhose, and my did, in a place I couldn't cover up. I was devastated. These weren't old navy sale jeans, but 200 dollar/pair jobs, ones that I'd had for two years. I'd tried on no less than thirty pairs to find them. I'm sure most of you ladies can relate, especially if you are curvy. Good jeans are hard to find, and these were not only good, but comfortable and broken in, the kind you always grabbed first, that make you look hot on the worst of days. I took a picture of the hole and sent it it my sister. She's my fashion consultant, my go-to girl. I wanted to know

revenge of the machines

I have been on blog silence while I recover from a little bump on my head. Don't worry, I'm okay. It's just that for the past few weeks, machinery has been out to get me. I know that sounds crazy, but I'm not paranoid. You'll see once you hear my story. I have literally been living in a Stephen King novel. It all started a few weeks ago, on a rainy morning. We had the usual early-morning rush. My kids couldn't find their stuff, and they told me they'd left something in the trunk of their father's car. I went to this car, brand to remain nameless, opened the trunk, and peered inside. This trunk is is very heavy, and it has a hydraulic assist on it. It's the kind that opens automatically with the remote. I stuck my head inside. It was almost as if someone tapped me on the back and try to push me inside, only I didn't fall. Then the trunk came down on its own and tried to bite me, swallow me up. That's right it closed on my head. Now this trun

The Boutique is Now Open

The Girl (IN) Ipanema

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Ipanema. Copacabana. Rio De Janeiro. Yeah. Does this conjure up images of white sand beaches, near nekkid women and men? Paradise? How about dengue fever? I arrived in Rio with the travel book pictures etched in my head. I just knew I was going to see, tall, tan, young, fabulous looking people strolling down the beach. Well, sort of. I'd packed several swim suits, to make sure that I would choose the most appropriate one. I discovered that the Brazilians (the cariocas) do not suffer from the same body hangups as we Americans. They were no more beautiful than anything you might see on an American beach, but Lawd, they were certainly more nekkid. I saw (or didn't see) miles of cloth that had disappeared into the hinterlands between many a butt cheek and grandpas in speedos. When in Rio..... Not really. I did pack my best tiny suit. Sort of like your skinny jeans. The suit a good friend of me had once asked me to cover up because she had a pre-adolescent

Me & The Cast and some Crew of Marrying up/Reflections

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IMG_0273.JPG So, now that opening weekend is over, folks keep asking me if I was happy with what I got. My answer is an unequivocal, yes. Actually, I had no idea what to expect. I just tried to do each step to the best of my ability and hoped it would add up to good. And what exactly was each step? A whole lot. Writing the dern thing was only the beginning. Being the Executive Producer meant that every little detail rolled up to me. I mean everything, beginning with raising the cash to making the show happen. Travel details-someone had to make sure that each member of the cast and crew go to where they were supposed to be, reasonably happy, safely and on time. Set building had to happen on time and be functioning. There had to be a tech rehearsal for the people who would operate the set and rehearsals for the cast. Building had to be secured along with security. Wardrobe had to be available. I'll tell you what, there were a lot of costume changes. I&#

Marrying UP!

So, I just go up from a twelve hour power nap. Executive production is sleep deprivation at its finest. The play opened and had a great weekend with an almost sold out show on Saturday. I learned a lot from this process. First, People really like a woman with a gun. I had no idea that Dina (AKA NINA) would be such a hit, even though she was obviously supremely evil. I REALLY dug the mean woman with a gun and hot shoes myself. Of course the character was a shoe diva! Second, I learned that your employees will eat your profits if left alone. That's right. I have video of my staff happily eating M & M's at the concession stand. I know who you are and you will be fined accordingly. Third, I learned that there is no modesty in theater. I had a cameo, but since the role was so small, I didn't have a mike. I had to share one with Li'L G since were were never on stage at the same time. Logistically, it seemed like no problem to do a ten second mike change. For the

The Making of Marrying UP

On The Set

I went downtown three times today. Between visiting radio stations, pulling tickets from the box office and checking on the set, whew. I must have driven 100 miles or more. But it was all worth it, because at 5:21 PM this afternoon, I heard my name in lights, yessireeebob. The radio commercial for the play went live and I couldn't help but do the happy dance. My daughter heard it,too and she came running to my room. I am a rockstar in her eyes once again. I went and looked at the beginning of the set building yesterday. We got past the sketches, but I gotta tell you, I held my breath the whole time. It still looks like sticks and straw to me. Or metal and wood, but Mark Sullivan from the SA Film District has a vision. Here's a clip.

MARRYING UP!

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I know you have been waiting patiently, so here it is.  I've been secretly getting it all together and here's the info.: The play is cast and set to go.  Marrying up will have its Texas debut on Feb 2 and 3, in San Antonio at the Jo Long Theater.  There will be two shows on those dates, at 3 and 8pm. So, who's in it? Here's the press release:   For Immediate Release Contact: Lisa Horton 210.787.8637     From the pages to the stage…Bestselling Book by San Antonio Author now a Stage Play Nina Foxx's Marrying Up   (San Antonio, TX) –   In the search for a husband, what's a woman to do? Make sure she marries up! At least that's the motto of Paris Montague and her meddling mother. Paris has got it all – beauty, brains and a fine man on her arm. There's just one problem – he's not the "caliber" of man she was looking for. Tyson is content being Paris' sexy secret lover. He's a struggling brother chasing a dream and if Paris can just hang