If I ever want to laugh my ass off when talking to my momma, al I have to o is ask her about her childhood hood & figs.

I called her last week after I picked up a few figs last week & asked if she wanted some & she just went off. It was hilarious.

She was like you know I don’t fuck with no figs. I hate them bitches!!!! I am not making this up. You see, my momma & I are almost one in the same when it comes to cussing & talking all kinds of shit. I love her for that.

When we talk, its nothing but laughs unless when we are talking about my sister & how she owes me all kinds of money. That bitch! OK, wait, let me calm down.

Anyway, so in my home, only Sweet Boo Boo & I enjoy figs & we set these off with the quickness. They were great!

My weekend road trip to NYC was much better than I had hoped or expected. We had very few concrete plans & yet everything came together perfectly!!!

I was able to enjoy happy hour at one of my favorite watering holes in the village with a friend, had tons of delicious meals, did a little people watching at Coney Island while getting broke paying for kids rides, randomly met 2 social media contacts in person, I got to dance at the Brooklyn Loves Michael Jackson party in Prospect Park, set off an awesome photo shot in Brooklyn & I picked up macarons from MacarOn Café. PERFECT, PERFECT PERFECT!

The trip had several highlights but I think was the Brooklyn Loves Michael Jackson party, which was hosted & organized by Spike Lee. It was nothing less than epic!

Over the course of 6 hours, attendees were treated to MJ impersonators, surprise guests like Snoop Dogg & kick ass dancers. What a great way to spend a day in Prospect Park!

Then I had a GREAT photo shoot (images coming soon) around Brooklyn with an awesome Virgo. I’ll spill the beans in a later post but I will say that your boy put in some work!

Next up:

- Fashion week is 9 days away & I’m like whoa! My mind says that I’m ready but it doesn’t feel like it.

- Classes start next week also & I have not registered. I think I will take two classes but one class sounds so much better. I need to hurry up & finish! Blah!

- Today is the last day to vote in the Black Weblog Awards. Please vote for Tafari’s Mindspill for best photo blog! Help me make this happen! >>> http://tinyurl.com/292zw38 AND YOU CAN VOTE MORE THAN ONCE!

Be sure to also check out & vote for some of my favorites peeps & reads!

• Afrobella
• Black and Married with Kids
• Friday Favecast
• The Gentlemen’s Standard
• Kiss My Black Ads
• Mostbeautifullist
• SoulBounce
• What Would Thembi Do?
• Womanist Musings

- In 19 short days, I officially enter my late 30s.

Looking forward to my lovers road trip get-a-way this weekend to celebrate my 11th wedding anniversary along with BFB & The Good Dr. Long, who will be celebrating their 2nd wedding anniversary.

During the trip, we are doing nothing specific so I’m hoping for tons of random goodness.

I know one thing, Suite Suzy & I are looking forward for adult time together! Kids are a challenge in the summer time & its certainly time for a break from these crumb snatchers.

While in NYC, I plan on photographing elements the city in 36 frames with my Mamiya/Sekor 500DTL camera. My theme is somewhat determined but I will see how it flows once I get on the ground running. Stay tuned!

On another photography note: I have a scheduled photo shoot with a NYC actress, which should be pretty cool. From our initial conversation, I know that she will be quite fun to work with. Get money!

I know I said I was gonna be on a lovers road trip get-a-way but a brotha has to make some cash!

Photo history:
Taken with my old iPhone 3Gs on top of Rockefeller Center, processed in Adobe Lightroom.

My sweet little Boo Boo just had her 5th birthday & she’s so very excited about being a big girl.

Suite Suzy prepared a week of indulgent birthday activities for Boo Boo & I for one am happy that they are over.

Next up for Boo Boo is kindergarten in the fall & she’s already plotting her back pack choices.

Kids!

A few more outtakes.

Happy Father’s day to the men out there holding it down for your children while providing an example of what being a man is all about.

As we all know, any man can father a child but it takes a real man to help that child grown & learn with love, patience, understanding & an all seeing eye.

By the way, this is my dad & I getting our sawg on while sitting on the hood of his beloved baby blue Chevy Camero.

My sweet Boo Boo had her 1^st gymnastics meet today & it was totally cute seeing her do her little exercises.
She likes to practice all the time in our living room, which drives me totally nuts.

Now that summer is here, she will have to do all of that jumping & flipping outside.

She’s totally cute & I love her but all that indoor play drives me nuts…

Suite Suzy’s (my baby momma of 12 years) favorite color is blue & she loves Dutch irises so Mother’s Day flowers were easy.

I guess I have to admit that I did not know her favorite flower until the other day when I kicked off my Mother’s Day contest. How bad am I?

Or maybe I just forgot because I designed the Dutch iris & stargazer lily (my favorite flower) floral arrangements that were at our wedding reception. That was so long ago though. 0_o

In similar but unrelated news; earlier I posted this on FB for shits & giggles: “Happy mothers day to those who couldn’t get an abortion because it was too late.”

I knew my friends would attack me & I was ready because that’s just how I do. I have to tell you that I got some of the best responses ever like:

“And happy Mother’s day to all the mommas who’ve ever been mad and yelled at their kids, “I WISH I could’ve aborted you!”"

“Hey, theres no “too late” if you’ve got the money!”

“u’s a fool! LOL but thank u anyways”

I love how my friends get my twisted sense of humor & overall lack of social tact.

I planted violas in one of my gardens last year & the bloomed throughout the summer.  To my surprise, this lonely yellow fellow greeted me today while I was weeding.

What a nice bright surprise.

Coincidentally, it’s my grandmother’s birthday; we called her Mommie.  Everyone called her Mommie. Her kids, grand kids & people in the neighborhood all called her Mommie.

No one dared to call here Essie Mae!!!

Mommie was a very mysterious woman.  She never told me why she moved to Detroit from Birmingham, AL way back when, she never revealed her age, she NEVER talked about my grandfather who was rumored to be a Detroit pimp back in Black Bottom.

What I did know about Mommie was the love she had for me, her high regard continued education, the enjoyment she received from selling World Book Encyclopedias & her influential unique artistic abilities.

Mommie once told me that being cultured was a necessity for a successful Negro (she actually said Nigga but I thought I would clean it up a bit).

Recently, someone asked me who my muse was, I said my muse is my Mommie. She’s been gone for many years but her influence is ever present!

I sure miss Mommie!

When I see gladiolus flowers I always think of my momma because they are her favorite.

I also love photographing gladiolus flowers because they are rich in color, diverse in patterns & other external complexities that can only be seen when viewed closely and careful.

My momma is as beautifully complex as the gladiolus flower that she loves so much.

Her love knows no limit, her personality is as colorful as a field of wild gladiolus & that is what I love about her.

She is full of life & experiences that are inspirational when viewed closely though conversation or by looking at her hands.

She’s my momma!

OK, enough of the corny stuff!

So, I’m announcing my 1st blog giveaway for Mother’s Day.

The prize is a 6×9 matted print of the image above titled “Edge of Reality” ($65.00 value).

If you’re still trying to make it out the photo, it’s a gladiolus petal.

To Enter:

• You must live in the United States
• Leave a brief comment (no essays, please!) by 11:59 p.m. EST on Wednesday, May 5, 2010 telling me your momma’s favorite flower and or the last time you gave your mom flowers.
• Make sure comment has a name and your email in the appropriate fields when commenting.
• Anonymous entries will be disqualified.
• If the winner is contacted in time, the prized will be shipped Thursday, May 6, 2010 for a Saturday delivery (fingers crossed)

The winner will be selected randomly so let’s get this party started!

BTW, if you love gladiolus flowers as much as my momma & I, you will enjoy this presentation.

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Update:

My Mother’s Day contest has ended & the winner is……………….. Liz Dwyer aKa Los Angelista.

Thanks to all who entered, I really enjoyed your stories!

The last couple of weeks have been really crazy for me with the school semester coming to a fast end.

I’ve been bombarded with class projects, presentations, and studying for finals.  It’s all been a bit much when you factor in the rest of my constantly moving life; family, plantation job & my side gig.

Luckily, next Wednesday is the last day of classes & the following day I will be on vacation in DC where I will decompress & chill with friends.

Helping me get through this last stressful week is my supportive wife, my crazy kids & my Chaka Khan playlist!

I’ve been listening to non-stop Chaka & it has been totally helping focus. I had no idea that she had the effect on me until last Sunday.

“I Know You, I Live You” is giving me new life! In fact, it will be my theme song for my mini vacation next week. Every vacation needs a good theme song!

Guess who was recently interviewed by the Kiss My Black Ads blog. Me mofo!

Check it out here!

In other good news:

- One of my head shot clients just informed me that she got called for an HBO show audition! I love making people look great!

- I’m doing my first shoot in my studio space this weekend.

In my best Ashanti voice. “Oww baby!”

“…I came from what they call a broken home but if they ever really called it a house, they would have known how wrong they were.

We were working on our lives and our homes dealing with what we had not what we didn’t have.

My Life has been guided by women, but because of them, I am a man.

God bless you momma.” ~ 2010 Gil Scott-Heron