These Cool Poems – “IWD Edition”

Happy (almost belated) International Women’s Day! I may be late in this (Wednesdays are usually my Mondays in terms of work week, and let’s just say I had a helluva busy “Monday”), but celebrating strong, fearless, and creative women is not limited to one day in my book. In honor of this special day, two poems from two of my idols!

and…

Poems courtesy of PoetryFoundation.org 
ETA: since copying and pasting the poems above word-by-word from the linked site didn’t display properly for me, I chose to use images of the poems instead.

Born To Be Bad

bad girl candle & book

The amazing Mae West once said “good girls go to heaven, bad girls go everywhere.” Guess I’m going everywhere this time around with the new candle I have lit and the book I’ll be reading to go with it. The book was a thrift store find; a book with “Bad Girls” in the title that actually features actual bad women (of the Wild West, in this case) is an automatic buy for me. (I also got it to counter all the hackneyed bad boy crap I’ve been seeing from entertainment lately.) While the author makes it known that their stories are based on both fact and folklore, it’s still all intriguing. I just started the book, and I gotta say that Ma Stefflebeck is one bad mutha.

As for the candle, I’m glad it packs a very good throw because I’m enjoying its blend of floral/musky notes. Like a true bad girl, it’s desire and danger in one inviting package. Thanks to a Black Friday sale last year, that candle is one of many candles I own from Bad Ass Candles, a woman-owned company from Texas. If you like your candles paraffin-free, clean-burning, and smelling good in your hood and also want to support a small, woman-owned business for this Women’s History Month and beyond, Bad Ass Candles is where it’s at!

The Day-Trip: Santa Cruz

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I was supposed to post this yesterday. Then my place got some snow–something I haven’t seen up close in yearsand I got fascinated, to say the least

Another weekend has begun for many, and while I have to wait till Sunday night for my weekend to start, I can always look back at how I spent last weekend. If you’ve been following me on my Twitter or Instagram, you’d know I spent President’s Day weekend in the stunning seaside city that is Santa Cruz. I shared a few pics there, but I got plenty more here after the jump. 

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No, Really–Who Is The Playgirl?

http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-image-retro-portrait-sexy-woman-image8900381

Happy holiday weekend, everyone! Last December, I posed the question “who is the Playgirl?” Here’s a bit of an answer (that should’ve been given sooner here but life and work got in the way).

She is not your mother’s or father’s version of a playgirl. She’s still a sensualist who enjoys the finer things and lovers in life, but that doesn’t mean she demands uninterrupted decadence in her life. She has no problem going sans fards, drinking cheap wine, and resting her libido (after taking it to the limit with one or two bedmates the night before). If anything, it’s about living her life her way, doing whatever and whoever she pleases. With the latter, after sizing up her potential bedmate, she likes to make the first move–an act that sometimes surprises her men that are used to a more submissive partner. This Playgirl is no docile doormat to her lovers whatsoever. And her assertiveness extends outside the bedroom. She side-eyes gender expectations and sneers at double standards. She knows you think of her as a slut, whore, bad girl, rebel, or even a bitch, so tell her something she’s doesn’t know. She’s sophisticated and gritty, but never unpolished. She pushes luxury cars and motorcycles and wears leather jackets from Allsaints with old cheap jeans and boots from Goodwill. (With clothes and lovers, if it looks and feels good to her, it’s hers.) She works–at her dream job, naturally, and happens to be successful with it; the Playgirl is a woman of substance, talent, and creativity with more influence than an Influencer. She is a beauty that’s all-natural, exotic, youthful, healthy, and inviting–never bland, plastic, and frigid. She is magnetic, hypnotic, but don’t get too close to her, for she doesn’t seek commitment or romance. Don’t worry–the Playgirl respects your boundaries, as long as you respect hers. She prefers to have the last word. And she’ll be coming soon.

Photo courtesy of Evgenia Nechaeva at Dreamstime.com 

Saturday Night

How am I spending this Saturday evening? Not getting ready to hit the clubs or check out the latest major flick at the movie theater–if it was the mid-2000s, yes to both. Rather, I’m chillaxing to some 80s Madonna (I just watched Who’s That Girl and she was fab in it) while I sip Yogi’s Bedtime tea (the teabag quote is a new one to me) and my apartment fills with the heady tobacco-vanilla aroma from the candle I currently have lit. That candle, which I’ve lit for the past five nights, is superb in throw, by the way. Since it’s also Black History Month, if you’re looking for one way to do some good during BHM, go support the black-owned The 125 Collection and buy their candles! I know I’ll be making another order!