Moon Mami Writes

So two days ago I found out that singer Teena Marie died and my world was just devastated. I think I may be more harshly affected by her passing then when MJ died, mainly because she inspired me so much as an artist. She was a songwriter, an incredible vocalist and was a very strong woman on top of all of that. There are so many things she accomplished that I don't even think people associate with her. She is the recording artist who brought to creation the law that record companies can't bind an artist by contract and not put out any of their music after she sued Motown when she was on their label early in her career. Of course, she is one of the only white women to have longevity as an R & B and soul singer and to be so fully embraced culturally. I think that is significant given how race and class obsessed we are as a culture. Teena Marie snagged me as a fan as early as I can remember. I remember being 6 years-old and grooving to her duets with Rick James and listen...

the MJ glove that comes with the Michael Jackson Experience Wii game A remarkable thing happened. I managed to have an incredible Christmas holiday with my sister, daughter and her dad despite the craziness going on in our world right now. To even begin with the craziness, I would have to start with before Christmas. On Thursday, may great-aunt died. My mother got the news in the  harshest way possible-- via voicemail in a message that said "Kaye, I'm calling to tell you your Auntie is dead." No lie. While the news was shared in such a harsh manner, the details of her death-- finding out she had cancer and no one in the family had shared that with us prior to her passing, was even worse. Finding the meaning in it all has been my challenge ever since. But the Christmas spirit was not to be thwarted on our house. My spouse has the Christmas spirit all up, through and around him. He is Christmas spirit incarnate. While typically laid-back and unassuming, my partn...

This Christmas is probably my hardest financially since I became a Mommy. My pockets are very empty and I haven't bought even one gift yet. May buy some for my daughter next week, but they will be things like clothes (her belly is starting to look like Winnie the Pooh's in her uniforms and weekend clothes as she gets taller and the clothes get smaller) and art supplies for her to draw. She sneaks into my office and nabs my printer paper and I have no idea how to discourage that without sqeulching her love to draw. We've bought easels, given her notebooks and drawing journals, but she always takes my dang printer paper. So, that just might be what winds up in her stocking this year. We'll see. I want, most of all, to take her on a community service activity or something the day of Christmas or day before. I've wanted to do that every year since she turned 3, but something always came up that I did instead. I regret that a lot, because I think it's denied her the ...

So, yesterday, it snowed. I absolutely dislike everything about snow. It's cold. It's get dirty quickly. It can turn to dangerous ice. It covers up stuff. It signifies that Fall is over. And, I love Fall. Snow sucks. Yes, I am poking my lip out like a petulant child as I write this. I tweeted yesterday my disdain for snow and how I don't understand it's purpose and one of my Twitter friends informed my ignorant self that snow helps the earth rejuvenate itself. Well, my thing is why is it necessary, I mean, places like Southern Cali and Florida seem to do alright without that type of rejuvenation. I guess I could move though, really if I hate it that much. I guess I'm just lazy. But snow still sucks. So, schools were released early and since I am the family chauffeur and pick up my spouse from work, I begged him to come home early on Metro so I wouldn't have to drive far to get him. He nicely agreed though I know he was annoyed. He doesn't get my fear o...

My sweetie took me to see FELA the musical in New York on my birthday this past Saturday and I had a ball. The play was simply amazing. As a playwright, my dream, of course, is to have at least one of my plays make it to Broadway in my lifetime, but even if FELA wasn't on Broadway, it would be a play to see. Good lord this play was phenomenal. The actor Kevin Mambo is worthy of a gazillion awards for his portrayal of Fela Kuti. I've watched documentaries and old footage of Fela performing and speaking and Mambo had it down pat. Phenomenal actor. Fela Kuti was such a character that his life amazes me on so many levels. Here you have a polygamist who said at one point that having more than one wife made sense because if you're married, you're going to sleep around, so you might as well just bring all the women in the house! He said that. And, he married 27 women. But, then, he created Afrobeat and was such a strong leader, almost fearless, you can't just think one way...

Me @ 16 So, today is my birthday eve. Yup, tomorrow, December 11 is my birthday and I'll be 37. When I see that number, its slightly surreal to realize that it corresponds with how long I've been on this planet. I've been alive more than thirty years. That sounds like I should be a lot more experienced with this life thing and getting "it"-- whatever that may be-- right a lot better than I feel like I am, but when I start thinking like that, I realize I may be chastising myself a little too much. I mean this country is way older than 30 years and there are so many glaring areas in which it hasn't gotten better, or equitable or truly diverse where it counts, so it brings me back down to earth, realizing that age is really all but a number. But, damn. 37 is a pretty big number. When I was 16, I was so sure that by 21 I was going to be a successful actress, screenwriter, author, singer and business owner that you couldn't have told me otherwise. At that...

2010 will not be missed when it's over. This year, for real, has been incredibly hard on so many levels. While I am so proud of a lot that took place over the year-- my play debuted in the Fringe fest, I had some incredible contract work and opportunities to meet artists in other states-- the tough times have been abundant. What has really been a challenge just in the last four months has been my daughter's start in a public school. While I've written past blog posts talking about instances at her school that have been of concern, nothing compares to last month's situation that stemmed from a parent-teacher meeting we had with the teacher. Needless to say, it wasn't good. At all. The teacher didn't have a gradebook with her, didn't have Khari's portfolio with her to speak from and was literally chatting and shooting the breeze it felt, unable to convey any info of substance about our daughter's progress. A red flag for us also was when we discussed...