Tag: Two Things

Two Things Thursday #9

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1. Bella-Rue & Stacey-Lou with a pair of my glasses. Photo Credit: Tremaine L. Loadholt
2. A Shirley Chisholm quote. Courtesy of Paper Whale.

1. My best friend’s dogs; Bella-Rue (Baby B, on the left) and Stacey-Lou (Lil Miss Busy Body, on the right), and a pair of my glasses. Why did I choose this photo? On Tuesday, March 05, 2024, I had yet another follow-up on my eyes with my ophthalmologist to determine where we stand with keratoconus (a “rare” eye disease that currently affects about 200,000 people each year) and its progression in both eyes.

My right eye is still getting worse and now my left eye has decided to join the party and cave in as well. I have written at length and ad nauseam about my eye disease, and I am sincerely over it at this point.

As I type this, I am still hopeful and prayerful about a positive outcome, but it will not occur without moving forward with Collagen Cross-linking. We decided we would focus on the right eye first and when it has healed, a recheck on the left eye will occur, and if necessary, we will move forward with the procedure for it as well.

I am now in the waiting stages for my ophthalmologist’s office’s surgery scheduler to contact me so we can select a date for the procedure. Once the date is set, I can further assess the logistics of it all: who will take me, who will stay with me for about two days, and how much time I’ll need to take away from work.

It’s a risky business dealing with one’s eyes and invasive and/or surgical procedures, but it is what it will be, and I cannot do much about that now.

2. A Shirley Chisholm Quote. “Shirley Anita Chisholm was an American politician who, in 1968, became the first black woman to be elected to the United States Congress.” –Wikipedia

Not only was she a force to be reckoned with politically, but she fought fiercely for her rights and the rights of others in the United States.

From what I have learned about her, she never bit her tongue. She was forthcoming about any of her political plans and decisive about the goals she implemented for herself. She also ventured down the road of Presidency and became the first Black candidate to be nominated by a major party.

There is a biopic about her and it will release soon. The incredibly talented and gifted Regina King will be in character as Shirley Chisholm, and the movie is set to drop on March 15, 2024, and trust and believe, I will definitely be lending my coins to this fantastic production! The trailer for the SHIRLEY is below:

“Shirley:” Release date, March 15, 2024

Two Things Thursday #7

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Bay Leaves 

BY NIKKI GIOVANNI

I watched Mommy
Cook
Though I cooked
With Grandmother

With Grandmother I learned
To pluck chickens
Peel carrots
Turn chittlins inside out
Scrub pig feet

With Mommy I watched
leftovers for stew
Or vegetable soup
Great northern beans
Mixed collards turnips and mustard greens
Garlic cloves Bay Leaves
Very beautifully green
Stiff so fresh
With just a pinch of salt
Not everything together
All the time but all the time
Keeping everything

I make my own
Frontier soup in a crock pot
I make my own ice cream with a pinch of salt
And everything else
With garlic
But fresh Bay Leaves
Are only for very special
Ox Tails

2. A Mitch Albom quote from Pinterest

1. Bay Leaves, a poignant and vivid poem by the incomparable Nikki Giovanni. Yolande Cornelia “Nikki” Giovanni Jr. is alive and well and is 80 years old. She is an activist, writer, creator, poet, a lover of her people, and wishes to see humanity at its best.

Bay Leaves is a favorite poem of mine by her.

2. Mitch Albom quote. Mitch Albom is one of my favorite authors. I was introduced to his work as a junior in college for my Psychology, Death & Dying class.

We were tasked with reading Tuesdays with Morrie and writing a 5-page paper regarding the effects of the book on us throughout reading it.

I fell in love with this book. I was 20 years old and experienced so many emotions while reading it. I still have an incredible memory of each event documented in the book. However, I’ve read it several times since then, too.

If you haven’t done so, do yourself a favor and give this one a bit of your time.

I own four of Mitch’s books and they all deal with death, grief, dying, and adjusting to life after loss in some way. He is truly a genius in this subject.

Two Things Thursday #6

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1. Tattoo#7, “October Star” for my cousin, Chrissy. Photo Credit: Tremaine L. Loadholt
2. Jernee Timid in Red. Photo Credit: Tremaine L. Loadholt

1. October Star. The first image is my latest tattoo which is a tribute to my cousin Chrissy who passed away on February 18, 2022. What you see before you is “October Star.” Chrissy was born in October and she lit up everyone’s life. I dubbed her our October Star and she will always be that to me/us.

For those of you who do not know, I also compiled several narrative poems, lamentations, and memorial works along with colored photos for her, aptly named, October Star. Information for the book can be found here.

Making this tattoo number 7 for me was a no-brainer. It seems right. It feels right. And I have a feeling Chrissy is smiling and is also pleased with it.

2. Jernee Timid has two new shirts. Since it is getting just a bit warmer, she doesn’t need to wear her sweaters or her hoodie, so I purchased two new T-shirts for her. One is light grey and the other is red.

She is casually donning her red shirt in this photo while commandeering my chair and electric blanket. She likes both shirts and gets aggravated when I take them off at night before she goes to bed. She wants to sleep in them, but I know she’ll get overheated during the middle of the night.

There’s never a dull moment with Jernee, and I have to say, I wouldn’t have it any other way.