The Week of Firsts

As someone born under the zodiac sign of Cancer, I am not a super adventurous person.  I'm also finding that as I get older, I'm less willing to take risks and this is holding me back from a lot of things.  There was a time back in the day when I thought nothing of packing all of my stuff and moving across country (sending my boxes there for free using a hijacked shipping account from a record label, but I digress...). Because the tedium of my life is really starting to f**k with me, I find myself longing for those days. Now, I'm not packing up and moving across country (really tempting, though), but I am making do with small changes.

For the first time ever, I made the perfect pot of brown rice. I found the recipe here at Saveur.com and I tell you it worked great.  The secret is to treat the rice like it is pasta.  You boil it in large amounts of water, strain it, return it to the pot and just let it steam for 10 minutes.  There was no clumping (Deanna) and every grain was separate and perfect.

This morning, for the first time, I used an Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV) rinse on my locs.  I'm not sure why I've never done this before.  The vinegar acts like an astringent and clears out all of the product buildup and flaking from your hair. I've been having some problems with dry scalp and itching, so I tried it out.  You'll have to check with me later for the results, because my hair is still wet and up in a towel as I type this! :)

So, its only Wednesday (I think. Working in retail messes up your sense of days.), and I've tried two new, albeit small, things and will hopefully fit in some more before the week is over.

Oh, last week I tried something new, too.  I turned 45 years old for the very first time! And now I plan on aging backwards....

30. Platinum

by Aliya S. King

Aliya S. King knows what she's talking about.  For years she has written for such magazines as Vibe, Essence, and US Weekly.  She co-wrote Faith Evans' memoir Keep the Faith and the upcoming Frank Lucas book Original Gangster.  She has been around hip-hop and celebrities and she probably knows some secrets.

Platinum is her first novel and she has drawn upon all her experience to bring us a juicy debut all about the world of hip-hop.   Alex Maxwell is a freelance journalist who is ghostwriting a memoir by video vixen Cleopatra Wright.  Cleopatra's book promises to tell all about her exploits with some of the biggest names in hip-hop and she's naming those names.  At the same time, a magazine that Alex freelance's for assigns her a story to cover a day in the life of the wives of successful hip-hop artists.  Meanwhile, she is planning her wedding to an up and coming rapper - a relationship that no one knows about.  How does she make sure that all these worlds don't collide?

When you hear the term "beach read", seldom are books by African-American authors mentioned.  But I can tell you that this is the perfect book to take with you to the beach or pool or your own backyard this summer. You will also try to guess if these characters are based on real people and who are they!   An awesome, page-turner that takes you inside the lives behind the celebrity.