Summer Thoughts

I just finished eating Chinese food and drinking a glass of Lipton's peach flavored tea. I did this while sitting on my balcony, watching the sky turn dark blue... 


On the way back from the Chinese carry-out I noticed lightening bugs. When I was a kid I loved those little creatures! As I walked through the maze that the lightening bugs had created for me, I thought, "They are beautiful." I wish that I could have had a friend there to help me catch some. Maybe we could have watched them in a mason jar only to let them go right before their lights started to flicker out... 


I can't get Beyonce's "Party" featuring Andre 3000 out of my head. It's so 90's and funky. Every time I hear it, I imagine a skate party or riding on the highway with the windows down and the breeze blowing through my 'fro...


Looking out from my balcony I can see several trees. I've wondered on occasion what it would be like to sit atop one and just observe. Maybe lay back and stare up at the sky... 


The second verse of Beyonce's "Rather Die Young" reminds me of the most intense part of Laura Esquivel's classic novel "Like Water For Chocolate". Beyonce sings, 

You know I've been in love before 

You're the first one I ever seen 

That burns like gasoline 

So light a match,

 turn off the lights I'm holding on to you 

'cause this might be a last night, oh

In "Like Water For Chocolate" the main character, Tita, has finally gotten to be with the love of her life, Pedro, on their own terms. There is no controlling mother to torment her. Her sister, who ended up marrying Pedro, has finally died. When Pedro and Tita get together it's magic! After their love making pushes Pedro to literally see the light at the end of the tunnel, Tita finds small candles and eats them in hopes of reaching the light that Pedro has found. When Tita sees that light, Pedro is waiting for her. Together their light causes a great fire! It's as if one were the gasoline and the other was the match. 

(I know that was corny but you have to read the book and listen to the entire song! For real!) 

Just some summer thoughts... 

The Window Sex Project

Hello All!


As you may or may not know, my sister Sydnie L. Mosley is a dancer living in Harlem, New York. She is presently working on a fabulous, inspiring project entitled The Window Sex Project! What is it!? I'll let her tell you below!

"Dear Friends,

I have launched an ambitious community arts project here in Harlem called The Window Sex Project. In short, I have created this project for women in Harlem to come together and respond to street harassment by using our bodies - the object of harassment, and our voices - what is often silenced, as tools to fight back and ebb away at a culture that allows us to be reduced to the sum of our parts the minute we walk out the door every day.

While the planning and registration for the community workshops is well underway with monetary and in-kind donations from Barnard College's Dance Department and Center for Research on Women, the YMCA, The Body Shop in Harlem, RINY Media, Hollaback! NYC, The Citizens Committee of NYC, INSPIRIT Dance Co. and more to come, I need to raise funds from individuals for the actual performance which I would like to take place in October or November of this year.

The Window Sex Project is a community based initiative, so I am reaching out to you, my community for your support. I need you to help me raise $6000 in the next 76 days. Ambitious I know, but more than possible! If you have the means to do so, please donate whatever you can. (It would be super cool if you could donate at least $50.)

I am using the crowd funding site RocketHub. Here's the link: http://www.rockethub.com/projects/1736-the-window-sex-project

It's just like KickStarter but cooler, especially because its headquarters are in Harlem. :) (I'm so committed to my local community.) Basically it operates on a TRADE not AID philosophy, that is, you buy into the project and receive cool rewards based on how much you donate. It's completely safe for your online transactions and it will give me the opportunity to produce this meaningful dance work."

I do hope that you donate to her dreams!

If you have any further questions about The Window Sex project please contact Sydnie at sydnie.mosley@gmail.com! She would love to hear from you!!

Your Daddy Loves You

One day my Daddy turned on a song that has stuck with me through the years. He sang along with the husky voice that blared through the speakers over the light keyboard strokes with a soothing flute.

Now sweet lil ol' brown eyed girl, hey, now
Now that you're sleepin'
I've got a confession to make
Of secrets that I've been keepin'
Me and your mama had some problems,
A whole lotta things on our minds
But lately, girl, we've been thinkin' that we were wastin' time
Nearly all the time, and

Your daddy loves you
Your daddy loves his girl
Your daddy loves you
Your daddy loves his girl, hey now

Now sweet lil ol' chocolate girl
Now that you're sleepin' I feel braver
I've got a confession to make
I'll sneak it in while you're dreamin'
Me and your mama had some troubles
There's been a whole lotta things on our minds
But lately when we look at you, we know that we've been wastin' time
Damn near all the time, and

Your daddy loves you
Your daddy loves his girl, hey, now
Said your daddy loves you
Said your daddy loves his girl, hey, now
Your daddy loves you, and your mama, too
Your daddy loves his girl
Loves his girl
Loves his girl


When I took the time to sit and listen to the lyrics of this song, it was as if Scott-Heron had me in mind when he wrote it. It was as if he knew that's what I wanted to hear. I've always known that my Daddy loves me. But when I heard this song and listened to him singing it, I realized that I had a song to hum along with my knowing. Thank you Gil Scott-Heron for giving me a song to hum. A song to believe. 


R.I.P. Gil-Scott Heron

The Golden Time of Day

Summer for me has always been special. For so many years it was not just the long break from school, but a time when the family got together to do fun things. While we kids ran up and down the street, Cousin E.J. would be on the grill hookin' up some ribs. Aunt Sally would come in the house with Cousin Larry, carrying big aluminum pans full of chicken, baked beans, cucumber salad and her famous fruit pie (I have to admit I have yet to try it this pie, but everyone enjoys it. Maybe I'll do that this summer.). Then there were the times when Grandma would let me go out in the backyard to play with the neighbors and give me a plastic cup full of ice to munch on. Or when Mommy would sit out on the front steps and watch me ride my bike with no hands. At my Daddy's house there was always a BBQ going. He'd mix up his homemade BBQ sauce and slather it on the chicken and ribs that he'd seasoned perfectly.

I remember each summer, as the evening went along, there was a breeze. That was my favorite part of each day. As I've gotten older, that breeze still encompasses me every late Spring and every Summer. It's as if God is floating through the air allowing His Spirit to cool the Earth. While at Hampton I would take a walk to the waterfront and sit watching the water ripple beneath the boats and listen to the birds chirp. I would let the breeze blow through my hair while I thought of how blessed I was to be there.

Those summer moments when you can take the time to sit quietly. Those summer moments when you can watch the sun go down. Those summer moments when you can simply be.

Those moments for me are golden.  The Golden Time of Day.

Rasheena and I at Buckroe Beach May 2008