85 Degrees?!? Shut up...!

OK, so the "shut up" part doesn't look so great all printed out, but...

I just want to celebrate the first proper sunny Monday of Spring!

And I want to say how happy, awed and proud we are that the
courageous Viginia Tech students are making their way back
to campus.

May we continue to keep them in our thoughts and prayers.

Have a great day.

Blessings,
DivaCardista
www.blessedstarcards.com
clik da link for the
Mother's Day Sale
this week!

Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (so hold on)

Ok. Quick howdy do to you! Now for some quick old/new stuff right off the dome:

• Not only is it not raining -- I mean, I get the whole "May Flowers" connection, but c'mon! -- it is SUNNY on this here mornin! Whooeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
• If you ever get the chance, make your way to see La DIVA, "the original DreamGirl", our Ms. Sheryl Lee Ralph's opus Sometimes I Cry. Oh my goodness. You will not regret it. It will make you rethink your position on all things political and deeply personal when it comes to AIDS. And, yes, you will laugh and cry. If you think you love the Diva Artiste that Ms. Sheryl is, wait till you sit and spend some time with the ACTIVIST she has allowed herself to become. Radiant, charming, and catalytic.
  
  And get the t-shirt. She designed it herself. Now THAT'S a Diva.
  
  Let's see... what else...
• For my sisters on the journey with DivaCardista [brothers too, if you really want to "get" us fabulous Diva gems] please read Showing Mary by the inimitable, witty, for real, down-by-law Bible Scholar, educator, sister girlfriend Renita J. Weems. She, too, is a radiant revelation not to be missed.
• And my taxes --thank you Mr. Govemint Man for the "Biblical Rain" extension!--are DONE. Thank you Lord!!
• OK. Now I gots ta see my "That's So Raven".
  but before i go...

For all the sad and lonely, deep and misunderstood folk reading this:

• pleaseplease live like a Millionaire and phone a friend when you feel like you can't take it anymore. Skip the gunshop and
• find yourself a good church home,
• find yourself a compassionate counsellor,
• find somebody to listen to you and give you blessed, uplifting counsel.
• Pray! That's why God is t/here, just to hear and help us. [And He's open 24hrs...]
• Read a good book and share what you read with somebody. Un/fortunately the days of instant friendship pretty much gets phased out after the first few days of Kindergarten. And then each & every one of us therefore are charged with the mission of finding and making friends.
• Go to the library and read up on how people make friends.
• [No, everyone else is not conceited, stuck up, stupid, fake, a liar, or a skanky backstabber. It just seems that way sometimes. And if we are, well...pray for us and then give us a wide berth until we grow into our better selves.]
• Making a few good genuine friends is not impossible, though it is hard sometimes. So en route to finding flawed but actually good people [which is most of the planet] do
• learn to love your wondeful self while you are on the friendship journey.
• Develop your skills which help people and bless the planet, whether that's in sports, business, the arts, or something brand new. But please...at the very least,
• promise yourself that today [& tomorrow] you will live if only to honor you and
• hold on...
  
  Oh...you know the rest.
  
  And you know why.
  
  I just pray that we all can do our best to
  
  stay peaceful and evergreen.
  
  Blessings,
  DivaCardista
  www.blessedstarcards.com
  Make Ma Happy on 5/13
  Order your Mother's Day Cards
  while supplies last...
  auiiite?

Roscoe Lee Browne?!?

Awww, man!

We are sad to know that this Thespian Most Royal has gone from our sphere.

Didn't you just love him as The Voice in "Babe"?

Especially as a classically trained performing artiste in this gloomy era of

Eat That Bug, M@#%$#&^*#@*!

entertainment, your DivaCardista loved to be able to look to him
every so often to bring that certain grace and dignity to performance,
be it comedy, dramedy, tragedy or whatever-dy.

Aww, man.

Right about now in this era of violence, confusion, embarrasment & shame,
war for no reason, "truth" played back as "treason", and random greasy
nakedness that reveals nothing, we could use a few more like him.

Brother Roscoe, we miss you already.

Blessings,
DivaCardista
www.blessedstarcards.com

just so you know...

While your DivaCardista controls many things...

the interesting folk just above who claim that

they can help you access wealth, love, riches, fame, glory & a sparkling credit report if you just breathe through your authentic self and beleeeeeeeeev and buy their four step program of superdedupernatural healing for just $99.95...

um...

just so you know...

that ain't me, y'all.
and
by the by

ain't no secret
to what
Jesus can do...

free of charge.
ok???
ok.

live in peace y'all.

Blessings,
DivaCardista
www.blessedstarcards.com

PS: except for the worship song lyrics link. that's looks pretty cool! check that one out!!

Viva la Saved Sisterhood!

Just came back from a wonderfully clarifying, energizing, catylizing and empowering women's conference with my church sisters and all of our good girlfriends from across the country and around the world. Mmm mmm mmm! Just so great to get away and worship Jesus & study His word and challenge ourselves anew to manifest His great goodness all over this here terrestrial ball.

In fact, one of the super duper highlights/manifestations of the weekend journey [as in the best antidote for all talk and no action making for empty worship and a meaningless spiritual walk every so often punctuated/interrupted by ersatz "holy" calisthenics, holla if you feel me] was when your DivaCardista joined with her sisters in the gorgeous ballroom of the Philadelphia Marriott to raise over 60 thousand dollars for the deliverance of our sisters caught up in the absolute horror and shame that is Darfur.

60K+! Now how meaningful & truly awesome is that?

Blessedly, the Co-Pastor of my church is a long time friend and colleague of the Co-Pastor of Bethel AME Church in Boston (as well as a pediatrician at the South End Community Health Center). Her name is Rev. Gloria E. White-Hammond, M.D. The organization we were blessed to join our faith and financial resources with is hers and it is called

My Sister's Keeper

http://www.mskeeper.org/site/

Check them out and make a donation. It will do your heart & soul good.

Enjoy this April day and may your Holy Week be blessed.

Blessings,
DivaCardista
www.blessedstarcards.com
ps:
need a lovely lil Easter card?
buy 1 and get 1 free, girlfriend!
just stop by the site by 4/4/07,
and mention code lilDIVA4easter.

Bowlegged Lu...[pus]?

"Please God, I've got enough character today...." --Oprah (one rough morning)

OK. So this week has been much to do about my immune system. And lots of blood spun. And well paid medicos going hmmm...

You know, like when Grandpa Simpson has the other old guy's beard caught in the pencil sharpener? Or when Lisa gets gum stuck in her hair?

It's been like that, kinda.

Or like doing a tap solo to "Put on a Happy Face", while some mean kid/stage manager is throwing pebbles/marbles at your feet.

We go for...*sigh*...more testing on Tuesday.

But, thank God for God & our sweet friends & the Internet. (Mostly God.)

Oh, snap. Are they sure? Oh...they think this is what you got...hmmm... clik clik clik Well,you know we will be
praying for you, right? clik clik clik Oh, hey...
this site says Seal had that when he was a kid, and now he's singing his song loud and strong. Therefore, so will you.

&

Just like that time Oprah went bald from that bad perm and now
she got more hair than Mr. Andre know what to do with.
You are going to make it, you hear me?

and

God has not brought you this far to leave you. We will walk this walk, together,
ok? Don't you worry now...

"Don't cry, keep singing." —Bob Marley

Let's see what else...

Went straight fr Les Docteurs to my HairDo-ist, whom your DivaCardista did not tell as we do not need to carry on/to carry ourself as if we don't have an enormously blessed life and muchmuchmuch to be thankful for. (Thank you Jesus for LIFE!!)

As I waited [four hours?!?] to be washed/conditioned/greased/blown/singed/pressed/clipped/spritzed/curled/n/wrapped (you know, with those big giant colorful hair pins sold only in AfricanAmerica), I made myself busy reading all 78 new ways to wear patent leather, macramae & sunbeam yellow this season, not to mention the manymany ways to wear bronzer and/or drive my man wild. (Them fashion folk need to s t o p!)

Then I came home in the rainy darkness of the night and bought myself some sunbeam yellow daffodils.

Life is good.

Happy Spring, y'all.

Blessings,
DivaCardista
blessedstarcards.com

Don't Call it a Comeback

Dearest Ones, I have been blogging in my head now for about three months. And all of those "astral entries" were witty, refreshing and astoundingly prescient, not to mention on point. But for those of you who cannot beam into my head and dig the display on my soul's flatscreen, you will just have to trust me. You would have laughed until you cried while learning just a little more about this thing we call life.

Ah, me...

One of the high water moments for me last year was when I was charged to pre-pay for my mother's funeral, which included selecting and purchasing my mother's coffin and paying for the band who will play after the service. (Mind you: mother was then and, thankfully, is now yet alive. Marinate on that.) My high water mark thus far for 2007 was attending the breathtakingly lovely wedding of my best friend with whom I had gone to elementary school and junior high.

She is still a size 7. (You go, girl.) Now, I know, empowered Divas who are living golden and too blessed to be stressed yada yada yada should not be buying into the perpetual message that mere weight loss or weight maintenance is something we should be waving like a doggone flag...but on my planet it is kinda groovy being able to even hang with someone who has been the same size since seventh grade.

Let's see...what else? Oh, yes: it is positively Nordic up here in the City of AllThingsFabulous. 12 degrees this morning. Lord have mercy. Stayed in bed just about all day, watching Curious George and expanding my oevure. Just sketching and drawing all the livelong day. Readying myself for Spring, doncha know.

Had to go to Le Docteur yestiddy and, you know, when they sign you in they ask "occupation", we find that a bit frustrating, because DivaCardista is a multifaceted artiste, after all, and what occupies her is life itself. But if you say something like

"we are a student and champion of man and womankind. Babies, too. We weep when
there is war, we dance when there is peace and we are occupied with making all
these things poetic and harmonius--or not-- through the miracle media of ink,
graphite, white linen, water colour, Holy Writ and the occasional Negro
Spiritual. We pray, we sketch, we meditate, we sing, we replenish, we moan, we
bear down, we bring forth. We occupy ourselves with creation so that others may
be edified."

you will be put out and the piece of paper upon which your online health insurance data has been downloaded will be shredded without ceremony or afterthought. So, instead, when the lady asked "occupation", I said

"artis",

figuring that my adding the "-te" might pushing the envelope a tad.

Bopped on over to Brussels for my bday -- yay!-- to see my grrrl Corinne Bailey Rae in Feb. Aside from the super short time we were there, it was great being somewhere else, even if it was just for a moment.

She is a powerhouse, in her lil easter dress. I so appreciated going to a concert that didn't make me feel like I needed to pray all the way there and all the way home just because of all the potty mouth and potty songwriting. Don't let the press and curl fool you: this chick can blow! She can sing her heart out all the while encouraging yours. Girfriend not only put her records on, she had the nerve to sing her some Jimi Hendrix! Just wonderful.

And if you've never traveled this way, I'd recommend it. It's kind of fun, being in a whole other place where you've never been while jamming to the grooves of new artists that you love or would like to know better.

And there is nothing like live music!

Only thing: I wouldn't recommend good Christian folk to go to the land of beer and chocolate during Lent. You'll only break your heart. (Got places over there, make Willy Wonka's factory look like a crackhouse.)

Well, of course, there's more, but that's all for now.

Stay Peaceful.

Happy Women's History Month!!

Blessings,
DivaCardista
blessedstarcards.com