ArtChaser

Yesterday I was having a lot of trouble on my IG page I couldn't like or comment on posts. Digging deeper I think I've been suspended but no clue why because I only got a weird pop up saying I'm blocked.  I've violated none of the offenses listed when I Googled "Why can't I like or post on IG". The remedy was to dispute it (which might delay my suspension) or not have any activity for 48 hours. My first impulse was to fight it. After all, I haven't done anything wrong and don't like being accused of something I didn't do. Instead, I opted for the 2 day hiatus. Here's what happened: Friday, day 1- I got up as usual and first instinct was to check out my social media,  IG is my go to. I frequent Snapchat and love TikTok (but those combined isn't as much as my time on Instagram)  and found it much easier than I thought, not checking IG every hour, trolling  the feeds and haven't been on facebook in years. Oh, but no, "we...

Last week, Hubz and I spent a few days in New York City to celebrate our combined birthdays, mine being last month in April, the focus was mostly on his, falling only a few days before our trip. I've spent a lot of time in Manhattan over the years, going 4+ times annually. This was prior to the towers falling and only once soon after. Although it only seems like not so long ago, a lot has changed in 17 years, not all bad. For instance, the city is much cleaner and no one smokes anymore. There was a time that it was practically impossible to walk the streets without encountering at least one cloud of second hand smoke.  Gone are the cute little shops where you could find that one thing you'd see no where else, replaced by empty store fronts or corporate stores housing fast fashions available anywhere. In all fairness we didn't go to the Garment District but these boutiques used to be sprinkled all over the city, one of the reason we walked everywhere to dip into one inte...

How to build a non-threatening Black man. Recently a colleague introduced me to a podcast, The Nod , hosted by Brittany Luse and Eric Eddings, which explores the dimensions of the Black experience, a particular episode included a discussion about Rastus, the "mechanical Negro", a black male robot built by Westinghouse Research Laboratories in the 1930s. The guest being interviewed had a picture in which the hosts described as a realistic looking black man wearing overalls and a bandana, typical sharecropper's attire. I was beyond shocked and scoured the internet for more information, there wasn't much.  Westinghouse planned to manufacture and sell 'safe' mechanical Negros, and created Rastus. The official sales description published in the New York Times, stated the robot could rise, sweep, move hands, all at their master's request and has the power of speech.  This likeness of an African American humanoid and the reasoning behind the need of a b...

ArtBong hasn't posted, but for good reason.  Due to somewhat unforeseen circumstances, I haven't been able to spend time blogging as I would have liked, working instead on a project that will bring about big, long overdue changes. These events have set some things in motion that I would have preferred to not to deal with right now, but it's said that life is what happens while making plans and this is definitely one of those. Sometimes we get distracted, complacent, and even a bit lazy,  instead of taking charge of a less than stellar situation, opting instead, to try and make the best of it . But, now things are in motion and I'm so fortunate to have my personal board of directors, positive, supportive people in my corner who are sympathetic listeners, offer constructive insight and advice, and help to keep me focused. They remind me that I always land on my feet and all will turn out as it should. I now feel closer to the result of this hiatus and the objecti...