Bella In the City

Historic Stonewall Inn

It’s important for us as a community to know our history. I’m ashamed that I didn’t know anything about this prior to today, and it has incited a thirst for more knowledge on my part. Today is an important day in LGBTQ history, and I hope you will take the time out to read the following passage that explains the importance of the day:

The Stonewall riots were a series of spontaneous, violent demonstrations against a police raid that took place in the early morning hours of June 28, 1969 at the Stonewall Inn, in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City. They are frequently cited as the first instance in American history when people in the homosexual community fought back against a government-sponsored system that persecuted sexual minorities, and they have become the defining event that marked the start of the gay rights movement in the United States and around the world.

 American gays and lesbians in the 1950s and 1960s faced a legal system more anti-homosexual than those of some Warsaw Pact countries. Early homophile groups in the U.S. sought to prove that gay people could be assimilated into society, and they favored non-confrontational education for homosexuals and heterosexuals alike. The last years of the 1960s, however, were very contentious, as many social movements were active, including the African American Civil Rights Movement, the Counterculture of the 1960s, and antiwar demonstrations. These influences, along with the liberal environment of Greenwich Village, served as catalysts for the Stonewall riots.

Very few establishments welcomed openly gay people in the 1950s and 1960s. Those that did were often bars, although bar owners and managers were rarely gay. The Stonewall Inn, at the time, was reportedly owned by the Mafia. It catered to an assortment of patrons, but it was known to be popular with the most marginalized people in the gay community: transvestites, effeminate young men, hustlers, and homeless youth. Police raids on gay bars were routine in the 1960s, but officers quickly lost control of the situation at the Stonewall Inn, and attracted a crowd that was incited to riot. Tensions between New York City police and gay residents of Greenwich Village erupted into more protests the next evening, and again several nights later. Within weeks, Village residents quickly organized into activist groups to concentrate efforts on establishing places for gays and lesbians to be open about their sexual orientation without fear of being arrested.

 After the Stonewall riots, gays and lesbians in New York City faced gender, class, and generational obstacles to becoming a cohesive community. Within six months, two gay activist organizations were formed in New York, concentrating on confrontational tactics, and three newspapers were established to promote rights for gays and lesbians. Within a few years, gay rights organizations were founded across the U.S. and the world. On June 28, 1970, the first Gay Pride marches took place in Los Angeles and New York commemorating the anniversary of the riots. Similar marches were organized in other cities. Today, Gay Pride events are held annually throughout the world toward the end of June to mark the Stonewall riots.

-courtesy of Wikipedia.com

As a proud lesbian who is making the rounds around the country to celebrate her Pride, I think it’s important for us to realize that Pride isn’t just about parties and traveling. It’s really about us showing respect for those who paved the way for us to be accepted and respected in society (I encourage you to read the entire article - It’s truly eye opening). I realize we have a long way to go, but could you even imagine being arrested just for being gay? I know I couldn’t imagine it. HAPPY PRIDE!!!

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Tags: gay, gay pride, know your history, lgbtq history, pride, stonewall inn, stonewall riots

So, I was invited to another MAC garage sale! This time I was so prepared, and came super early. I was literally in makeup heaven for two hours last night! I went with a couple girls from school, and we all racked up. I ended up with 30 items. Can you believe that? It’s hard for me to imagine the amazing values that I received. In all, the items that I got at the garage sale retailed for some $460+, and I brought them home for much less than $100. Here is a breakdown of all the items that I have added to my collection:

 EYES (Retail prices):

Eyeshadow-Nocturnelle (14.50)

Eyeshadow-Charcoal Brown (14.50)

Eyeshadow-Electric Eel (14.50)

Eyeshadow-Deep Shade (14.50)

Eyeshadow-BlackBerry (14.50)

Mineralize Eyeshadow-Outspoken (19.00)

Paint Pot-Quite Natural (16.50)

Paints-Bamboom (16.50)

Eye Pencil-Black Funk (13.00)

Powerpoint Eye Pencil-Stubborn Brown (14.50)

LiquidLash Liner-Fuchsia-ism (16.50)

LIPS:

Lipglass-Ola Mango! (14.00)

Lipglass-Pink Poodle (14.00)<—This is for Glennisha.. I hope its not too pink for her!

Dazzleglass-Moth to Flame (18.00)

Prolongwear Lustre-Bedazzled (21.00)

Lipstick-Syrup (14.00)

Lipstick-Desire (14.00)

Lipstick-Touch (14.00)

Lipstick-Modesty (14.00)

Lipstick-Retro (14.00)

Lipstick-Fast Play (14.00)

FACE:

Select Coverup NC50 (15.50)

Studio Tech NC50 (29.00)

Matte (18.00)

Powder Blush-Prism (18.00)

Powder Blush-Harmony (18.00)

Mineralize Blush-Dainty (21.00)

Fix + (17.00)

TOOLS:

Foundation Pump (4.00)

Pencil Sharpener (5.00)

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Tags: discounted MAC makeup, garage sale, MAC, MAC sale, makeup

A couple weeks ago, I went to an outdoor flea market with Moody. I don’t think it has a formal name, but we refer to it as the Tacony Flea Market. It’s in New Jersey, just over the Tacony Palmyra bridge, which is just about 20 minutes or so from my house.

Of  course I managed to  find some nail polish there amongst the many many tables of clothes, shoes, rugs and furniture! I wound up with about 4 bottles, and they were a steal at just about $2 each.  This brand (V.I.P.) didn’t give all of the the shades real names, and this one was simply called N30. That didn’t take away from the beauty of the color though! It was a beautiful bright lavender/blue creme shade that reminds me of another shade, Cashmere Cardigan, but a brighter version of it. The pic shows 3 coats with Seche Vite topcoat. I started with just 2 coats and it looked OK, but I think the third coat helped to even out the color a little bit. Enjoy!

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I almost left my cell phone home today. If Moody didn’t hand it to me as I was walking out the door this morning, I surely would have. Alas, she did give me the phone, and there was a text waiting on it from one of my new school homies, Lex. She was having a tattoo party at 6 today, and asked if I could make it. I got off work at 7 so I said why not? I probably can get that NO H8 tatt that I have been talking about. Sweet.

I got off work and drove straight there.

When I got there, there was only like 2 people ahead of me. Though it was a short wait, I had time to look through the photo books. As I saw the many tattoo options, I remembered how much I have always wanted a butterfly tattoo, as well as a tattoo on my foot. I pondered this for a moment, and the rest is pretty much herstory.

My tattoo artist’s name was Gerald,  and he took about 25 minutes to complete the butterfly on my foot. I chose one that wound up being pretty big, and it’s hard to photograph the whole butterfly because of the way it curves over my foot. It had been almost 5 years since my last tattoo, and I must admit I kinda forgot how much it hurts! I didn’t shed a tear, but I really was tempted to…LOL. I did my best to show you guys how it looks. Enjoy the flicks!

Outline, before coloring

Finished, top view

Finished, side view

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Tags: butterfly, foot tattoo, tattoo

I’ve been sitting on some nail polish pics for a minute because of my laptop issues. When I got it back from the shop, I realized that my memory card reader wasn’t working. I’m not the most computer literate person, but I soon realized this was because I had to redownload the drivers for that function. It only took me like 3 weeks to figure that out!

Anywho, I’ll be back to blogging nail polish, etc. now that my picture situation is finally resolved. Today I’m showing another shade from China Glaze’s Summer Days Collection called Watermelon Rind. This is a rich green shade with blue, green, and silver shimmer, that looks great in the sun! Simply amazing. It’s the color I am wearing in the Laptop Drama video.

I’m gonna show multiple pics this time, just because I took so many! I really love this one. Enjoy!

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Tags: drama, laptop

I just have a question for you. Nothing major.

I just wanted to know if your turn signals worked on your car. It looks like a pretty late model Toyota Corolla you squeezed your big & tall manly ass in were driving. I can’t imagine that the signals would be out of service on such a vehicle, but there is always the chance that you are driving the only 2009 Toyota with broken turn signals in America a lemon. 

I mean, granted, I know you just couldn’t start your day without yout Dunkin Donuts coffee and your daily chat with the Dunkin Donuts ladies and your artery clogging donuts but honestly, did you have to risk my life by darting into the driveway on a street where the speed limit is 45? I really wish I rearended your stupid ass and totaled your car could have hurt you.

If it is in fact that your signals don’t work, I apologize. But I honestly don’t give a fuck get them fixed asshole before someone with no insurance rear ends your dumbass hope you get them fixed before you hurt yourself.

Signed,

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Tags: assholes, driving, roadrage, traffic

 So, I went with my cuzzos (London and Nik) to DC for Black Pride weekend. Because of scheduling conflicts and general lack of funding, we weren’t able to stay for the entire weekend. However, since DC is very close to us (about 2.5 hours driving), it wasn’t a big deal that we could only party for one night.

The course of the trip was very hectic. We went from going for two nights, to not going at all, to leaving out late and coming back early in the morning to saying screw it and staying the whole weekend. Finally though, we settled on leaving early Saturday afternoon and coming back early Sunday morning. This worked for everyone’s schedule and budget.

So, we rented a car, booked a hotel room, and were on our way. Of course there’s a story there, so here it is. London suggested that we use Hertz to rent the car. I was cool with that because they just require a $100 deposit to rent a car. However, when we called them, we found out they changed their policy so they now needed a $200 deposit. No bueno. Remember the whole lack of funding issue? So, I went with Alamo because I have rented from them before and they don’t require a deposit at all. They just hold the full amount of your rental on your credit card. I think they were a bit more expensive, maybe like $12, but at least I didn’t have to tie up any of my money.

The hotel situation was interesting to say the least. I was tempted to go with Priceline by suggestion from Glennisha, but once I went to the website I got cold feet. It felt like jumping into a pool with blindfolds on! I was just too scared to do it! The whole non refundable part is what got me. Anyway, London took matters into her own hands and just booked us at the unofficial host hotel from the party flyer (Holiday Inn Express). Nik was skeptical. I was cool with it. When we got there, we were all pleasantly surprised. They gave us a suite, with a sitting area, two flat screens, free wireless internet and free breakfast. It was lovely and well priced.

The drive down was smooth. No traffic, no drama. We got there rather quickly thanks to perfect directions from my bestie Kam and my trusty Sprint Navigation. Once we arrived, we started to get ready to go to the Poetry Slam, which was being held at the official host hotel, the Renaissance M Street Hotel, which is in Downtown DC. Before we started to get dressed, we wanted to eat. Of course this made getting ready take longer, and by the time we got to the Renaissance the Poetry Slam was just about over. Since we were there, we just had a few drinks in the lobby before we went back to our hotel to get ready for the Mya party at DC Star (formerly the Tunnel).

Mya at DC Star - DC Black Pride 2009

So, we soon realized that DC Star was literally walking distance from our hotel! That’s probably why it was on the flyer. Good call London! If we had been too drunk we wouldn’t have even had to drive back which was nice.

I haven’t been to the Tunnel in a very long time, and it looked different than the last time I was there. There was a stage set up in the middle of the dance floor, and as soon as we got there, Mya was brought out on the stage. If we had gotten there 10 minutes later we would have missed her. She literally talked on stage for 5 minutes and that was it for Mya. After her little spiel, they started with their stage performances. I was over it after 10 minutes. They had these femme and AG dancers, who did stripper dances but didn’t get naked..WTF? I was so confused. Girls were tipping them and everything. I guess that’s some DC shit. In Philly, you gets no tip till the clothes come off but that’s another story for another day (LOL). The fake strippers went on for like an hour. Then finally the DJ started playing dance music and the party started.

I actually didn’t drink at all at the party. I’m not sure why. Probably because I had been drinking Grey Goose earlier and I knew I had to drive back down town because I promised Glennisha I would take her and Brittiany back to their hotel after the party. Oh yes, I almost forgot to mention that I met up with some of my Twitter friends at DC Star! There was Glennisha, and Brittiany, and Angel. Hey ya’ll! That was nice. G and Brit were super cool and fun. We all (minus Angel) went back to our hotel to hang out at the pool before we took them back. We stayed out until around 6 in the morning. It was fun, but we were wondering where the afterhours spot was. It all just seemed to die after the party. That was a bit of a letdown, but whatever.

In all, DC Pride was fun, and I’m looking forward to my next city this summer. I want to go to Chicago Pride in July, but that will depend on my cuzzos.. I can’t go by myself! Atlanta in September is a guarantee. I’ll definitely be at that one. Hope to see all my tweeples there

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Tags: black pride 2009, dc black pride, fun, travel, tweeples, twitter