Oh, well. Different strokes.

I find myself reading bass books, or practicing my bass when I have any kind of spare time. Bookwise I'm really getting into "MUSIC THEORY" by David Harp...(who's snoring?)

Seriously though I did buy John Grisham's latest endeavor a few months ago and so far all I've read is the cover and title...er, ah... which I can't even tell you because I don't know where the book is at the moment. Probably buried under the bass books. Sorry! Well, uh, when I find the book I'll share the title with you.

Well, BillyG, at least you're putting your reading time to good use! Won't be long now, we'll be reviewing your first CD!

Most of my reading lately has been business related, technical manuals, etc. And of course the obligatory loose translations into English from Taiwanese or something, while trying to build my computer.....however, as far as Dan Brown goes, I haven't read the Angels.. one, but found the DaVinci code to be a great read. I know the book is bunk, factually all over the place and lots of liberties taken, but hey- it's fiction, people.
To be honest, I just don't have the time to read for the fun of it. Maybe when vacation comes in August, I'll find one to get absorbed into.
Oh yeah- one interesting read (to me anyway) is a book I inherited from my sister in law, when she recently moved. Her husband was a Corvette guy, had a 68 convertible and a 75 with the removable roof panels. He had an old book, simply called Corvette, by Karl Ludvigsen. Covers the car from inception to about 73. Believe it or not, makes for a good read, has lots of behind the scenes looks at what decisions drove the design and marketing changes over the years, and is a very insightful look at the car industry of the 50's thru early 70's. And of our country, I guess- our machines influence us as much as we influence the makers of them.
OK, so yeah- pretty sad, huh.....

Just finished a very interesting book, Naked: Black Women Bare All About Their Skin, Hair, Hips, Lips, and Other Parts, by Akiba Solomon and Ayana Byrd. It's a collection of essays by black women, famous and not so famous, discussing their race, body image, color, etc. A quick but enlightening read. I definitely saw myself in a lot of their stories.

Women that bare it all? That does sound interesting Mary. Curious you saw yourself. If I read it, how would I recognize you? Oh! Wait; Not that I want to see you bare...uh; no, not that I wouldn't want to...er, ahh, ... I mean, no, not to say I would want to see... I mean, It's not that I don't want to ... uh; well no, I don't mean that I want, uh; umm, uh oh. You know what I mean. Don't you? (Any pictures in that book?)

The Innocent Man is the title of the Grisham I bought and haven't cracked the cover yet.

I think I'll get the Solomon & Byrd...for, uh, my mom. Yeah!

Can I ask a candid question? Other than skin and hair, aren't the topics relative to all women, regardless of race? Most women have body image issues (as opposed to men who will remove shirts and drop trow for most any reason regardless of their appearance!) I read some of the reviews of this book, and mostly it's a personal self-esteem issue, which to me, crosses all party lines. And the media helps no one by trying to dictate the "perfect" image.

And Billy...you need to quit while you're ahead. That ditch you're digging yourself into is getting deeper! HAHA!

Hi Bonnie!
I put the shovel away - at least for now anyway. I didn't think your question was directed to anyone in particular, but posed more for discussion. Not being a woman I can't speak to the topics, however for the majority of my life there have been few situations where I think race did not matter. Now I'm headed to Barnes & Noble because you both have me really curious now. I'd really be interested in hearing my wife's input after reading the book. You?

And hey; this man is not dropping trow for anybody for any reason unless the price is right and I get paid first. Ain't nobody catching this masterpiece for free! You don't come by specimens like me everyday you know!

Got it. Nearly 50 miles one way to a B&N that had it. The first one, which is only 35 miles away didn't have it. What a trek, but a great evening for a motorcycle ride! I doubt I'll get the book read tonight; I just got back at 9:00.

LMBO, Billy, you're nuts, dude. Love ya.
As to Bonnie's question, I agree with Billy in not being able to speak to the topics, but being black and living in Mississippi, almost everything in our culture - for better or worse - has a racial element. I will say that any advice given on those subjects can be beneficial to women of all cultures. However, I think the purpose in targeting black women is because mainstream society often forgets all things wholesome and beautiful don't begin and end with historic European standards of straight hair, thin noses, blond hair and narrow hips. Women whose physical characteristics are largely dictated by African ancestry aren't appreciated by the masses as much as their white counterparts are. Widespread admiration of Beyonce Knowles and Halle Barry only goes so far.
Movies, television and even novels have always celebrated the beautiful white women of our world. One side effect of that is that it's not just white men who are fascinated with Jayne Mansfield, Marilyn Monroe, Raquel Welch, Anjelina Jolie, Nicole Kidman, Joyce Cooling (sorry, Billy), etc. Get saturated with enough of that, and eventually black women start to question their worth in this society. Not all do, but on a societal level, it's a very real concern.
*shameless plug alert*
This fall, I'm directing a play called "Playing Juliet / Casting Othello." In the Juliet portion, Georgia is a black actress who feels she was cast as Juliet to make a political statement in a mixed-race production. Throughout, she questions the director's decision to cast her instead of the light-skinned Lorraine (think Jasmine Guy) as Romeo's love interest. And despite being told she's beautiful by the other actors and her boyfriend, Georgia believe she's ugly because she's dark and thick.
It's fiction and it's largely a comedy, but I've known several women who see things as Georgia does. You and I might see her as drop-dead gorgeous because we don't judge by skin color. But that doesn't stop her from thinking she's unattractive. The world has told her for too long that she's too large and too dark-skinned to matter.
I hope this helps.

Yes, we are all women, so a lot of it pertains to women, period. But, the skin, hair, and a few other things are relative to women of color, and these stories are told by them.

And Billy, you crack me up!