Bmore Bashing

I am a Baltimore Native. Yes, I grew up in the county but when I moved out from my parents, I moved to the city. I was educated in Baltimore (by way of Loyola and University of Maryland Law), got my culture from Baltimore and had many a good time there. While I no longer live in Baltimore I find a need to stand up for it. So what's there to stand up to, you ask?

Upon my exodus from Baltimore, I cannot tell you the number of times I will tell someone where I'm from and get everything from a raised eyebrow to a "are you packing?" to a "but you don't seem/sound/look like you are from there".  What does that mean? It's so annoying!

As if my life in Baltimore was just one long episode of The Wire. It doesn't matter if the person I'm speaking to came from a not so spiffy neck of the woods or are not living so comfortably, they still feel in a place to judge. Why the hate towards Baltimore? I've had people recount many a tale about an unfortunate event they have had in Baltimore and summarize the whole town with that event. Usually said event is in a less than savory area or club.

Sure, there is crime but there are also great things about this town.

• It's accessible because its small, which for me is a great thing. I love a manageable city (Florence, Amsterdam).

• It has some really cool areas. Fells Point (cute boutiques, good places to eat and drink), Federal Hill (fun bars), Harbor East (fancy and trendy shopping and eating),Mt. Vernon/Charles Village (hipster), Inner Harbor (touristy but fun for shopping/nightlife), Hampden (quirky).
  

• Its artsy. I know people, especially in the music area, who have left their cities to come to Baltimore because of the art scene. (Check out Mt. Vernon and Charles Village area)

• Movies love us. Sure The Wire, The Corner and Homicide were filmed here. But Wikipedia "films shot in Baltimore" and you will see a host of notables you didn't know were filmed here. Mostly because its a town that has locations that can mimic other cities. Step Up 1 and 2 were filmed here. House of Cards, He's Just Not That Into You, Sleepless in Seattle...
  
  Just to name a few. If this city was so dangerous, I doubt so many stars would risk their lives coming here.

• It's a great place to learn. John Hopkins, University of Maryland Grad Schools, Loyola are all top tier schools and there are many others (Towson, Morgan, Coppin, Notre Dame, University of Baltimore...).

• The people. Sure some folks are "special". But Baltimoreans are a chill, down to earth, non pretentious, fun bunch.

No city is prefect. Not every city can be glamorous. But one thing is certain, judging someone based on where they are from is absolutely ridiculous and you never know what great person you are missing out on by dismissing them because of where they came from.

The Secret to My (Hopeful) Success

So a wiser higher up gave me a list of books to read to help lead me to successful leadership. She told me I had to read the list of 10 books in the order she listed them (not sure why yet). The first being the ever popular The Secret. Of course I'd heard of this concept before but being cynical as usual I thought it was a bunch of crap. Positive thinking and you'll just get what you want? Yeah right. Bad things happen because you allow it? Sounds cold to me.

But as I read the book, I can't help but think, some of this stuff sounds good. And, hey, what can it hurt if I go all in and give it a try?

Halfway into the book I've learned these tips so far:

• Think about what you do want , not what you don't want (ex. I want to lose weight vs. I want to be a size six, the latter is best because it is more exact, the former will just keep you in the loop of wanting to lose weight)
• Think of the things you are grateful for (focus on your health instead of not liking your shape)
• Think as though you already have it and really have the feeling that comes with it
• Ask for what you want and believe it will come (like ordering some shoes on line, you believe they will come, you don't call the store every day to ask them is it coming)
• Say Thank you every day as often as you can, start your day with it
• Create your day don't let your day create you, think in the morning how you want your day to go and if something negative happens, think of it in a different light before going to bed to "reset" your mind for the next day (in other words avoid starting a day with negative energy)
• Visualize what you want ( a vision board helps)

So from time to time, I will post about my journey following the secret. For a "realist" like me, it'll be tough  but I'm ready to give it a try.

Nooo I wasn't ready!

My parents are pretty in touch with pop culture and technology for their generation but I'm still freaked out a little by their ability to do certain things or catch certain references. Mind you I came from a mother who couldn't put a VHS in a VCR. Which filtered down to me (I held on to CDs till The Man tore em from my arms and I still hold special nostalgia for the days I made mix tapes from the songs I caught on the radio). So when I see my parents be "trendy", well it weirds me out.

Exhibit 1- My mom hastags me. It's funny but still a bit odd to get a #sheneedstohaveseveralseats or #aintnobodygottimeforthat hastag from my mom

Exhibit 2- Let me be honest, it was weird in general to even get a text from my mom. I'm just used to her calling. Usually she text things like "I'm home", "I'm going shopping" "I'm going walking" "What you doing?".  Sometimes late at night. Shouldn't she be sleeping? It's 11pm! Sigh the life of a retiree.

Exhibit 3- Getting emoticons or abbriviations from parents. My dad using "LOL", my mom using ":-)"  No wonder the kids are getting off Facebook

Exhibit 4- Which leads me to, my parents are on Facebook. Which is really why kids aren't on it anymore. It used to be the place where the young could act a fool but now with your parents friending you it's not the same. And who isn't going to accept the friend request from your parents. I mean it'd be mean to just ignore it (says the girl who ignored her dad's request for as long a she could)

Exhibit 5- My parents dressing...well. Literally my sister and I have scored on shoes from my mom because she is so stylish and for their to be a 30 year age gap that's saying something. And my dad's a snazzy dresser to and not just "for his age" (Except for the kango hat dad, You are not Samuel L. Jackson and I don't want to hear you talk about some mfing snakes on a plane). When did this happen?

Things you don't want to see your parents do, ever, because it will never be cool on them- twerking, tube tops, rapping to lyrics outside of early 80s, dropping "it" low- it's dangerous, going to a Jay-Z concert- why?, using the term "YOLO", getting a piercing outside of the ear.

That's all I got for now.

How to lose weight without even trying

Seriously, how do you do that? Just as I was beginning to think I was making some headway into weight loss, I go to the doctors only to have her tell me what I already know, I'm overweight. Now by looking at me you may not think so, I'm a size 8 (on a good day a size 6), I jog and lift weights, blah blah blah but my body mass index (bmi) puts me in the overweight category.

I've increased the intensity of my workouts to get better results and see that my arms and legs are more toned than ever but the weight has not come down as much as I would like. The doc is telling me if I lose 10-15 pounds then I'll be at a normal weight (side note, that's normal weight not average weight as most of the U.S. female population averages at around 160ish pounds).

I'm secretly hoping its a thyroid issue which is what my doctor is mildly considering based on some other symptoms I gave her when I saw her. So I'll be getting tested for that. I mean I did gain most of my weight AFTER I took up running.

But the reality probably is that since I crossed over to the dirty thirty my diet has not. My love of all things carb is just not dying down but it needs to because my metabolism has apparently decided to go on strike. So, le sigh, it seems that this workout warrior must now also become a diet diva. I have got to change my eating habits to include less carbs. But it's so hard. I only have time to cook on Sundays and I usually make two dishes and rotate between that and some healthy choice/lien cuisine/smart one type meal. Then I mix in a couple of salads. I need help shaking it up that doesn't involve more of my time in the kitchen.

And when I see a piece of candy or a cookie, I break out in a sweat. My will power is better during the weekday but the weekends? At least I cut down on fast food successfully (I had some Chik-fill-a the other day and it made me feel sick so I think me and grease are pretty much strangers again). And don't get me started on cocktails. I do a two drink maximum when I go out but I like my fruity (aka sugar heavy) drinks. But they gotta go. I was recommended doing white wine or vodka/diet club soda. ZZZ boring but, it seems,  that must be the way I go. Because by spring, this girl plans to have dropped at least 10 pounds and I WILL fully run a 5k. If you have any tips, please share.

Bite Sized: One of those days...

Today was a rough one for me. Woke up too early for no reason and by the time I fell back to sleep the alarm rang. Got to work and today was a rough one, dealt with angry, rude and bothersome situations all day. Got to the gym for a much needed stress reducer only to have my ipod not work. Went to the apple store, low and behold, it started working as soon as I walked in the door. Decide that since I have gone out of my way to go to the mall for the apple store, I might as well look around. Ended up going to a salad shop and ordered a very tasty salad. When I got home, found out that I was given the wrong salad. Tried to eat it, it was gross. Le sigh.

But I know I'm being tested because of my new goal to think positive so all in all, I can say this about my day: I got out of work on time (which is a rarity for me) and had a lunch break (also rare) and hey, my ipod still works, money saved - ching ching!

Bite size addition

Welcome to a new short post which I will do from time to time which I call bite sized (or fun sized) posts).

I really like my apartment. The only thing that would make me pack up screaming and running, besides an infestation (obsessed with that show btw) and ghosts, is a bad neighbor. So  every Saturday morning between 730 and 830 am my neighbor below loves to cook what I can only believe is roasted poo sprinkled with gas with a side of burnt chitlins. This smell then floats it's butt up to me and smacks me in my face awake. It also fills the hallways below.

There is no escape, an open window only helps a little and that sucks to do in the winter.

I have spoken to property management and they spoke to her and it stopped for months, right into me renewing my lease. Now guess who's back? Last week my property manager finally smelled it for herself and was appalled and said she would do something. Cool, meanwhile, I was up early this Saturday to avoid passing out from the stench so was anything done?

How will this (nonviolently) resolve? Suggestions...other than putting a bag of flaming poo on her welcome mat (she might think it's food)?