The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill

ALBUM OF THE DAY:The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill

Yeah, I cheated. SORT OF. While Lauryn Hill's breakout solo album is absolutely not a new album to me, it IS on quite a few "best of hip hop" lists. In fact, this is the list that I'm following for the first month. The 30 Greatest Hip Hop Albums Ever

I've shared this list with my better-hip hop-educated friends. ALL of them had opinions... and strong ones at that. Most of the uproar over this list is concerning the missing contribution of

• The Roots
• Missy Elliott
• replacing the Outkast's Speakerboxxx/The Love Below with their first one, Aquemini
• replacing De La Soul's 3 Feet and Rising with De La Soul is Dead
• my cousin and his fiance' were rather adamant that 50 Cent came off the list!

Then there were just suggestions of artists I'd never even heard of!

And when I say they had STRONG opinions, I sincerely mean it. Goodness gracious my text messages just exploded! My phone actually spasmodically buzzed with their replies and debate that it fell off my arm chair's arm thingie!

They're actually still going at it. I've muted their butts so I can get this written before my glass of Shiraz finishes. As I'm cutting my portion sizes, I'm only allowed one glass per night. I shall most sincerely miss my TWO glasses when testing season gets into full swing. Or, goodness knows, as always happens, at the end of the marking period or progress reports when  the "... but Miss Donni..." becomes the most hated collection of syllables my ears must suffer through.

Today's walk was a march! I took to the beach which means, now my butt is burning. Also that I only got two miles in, but they were SAND and water miles. I actually had to fuss in a Tweet to  Map My Walk to include a calorie count provision for the torture that is sand.

While I was out there, though, I saw the little old lady I strive ... and stride... to be! This tiny lady had her earbuds in for own walk and I happened to catch her at THAT moment when the hook must've hit or something. Eyes closed, she hit a little jig or jam or whatever it is that little White ladies do. It wasn't 'cute', it was 'cool'! She was legit feeling whatever was in her ears. She looked like walking had been part of her lifestyle for years. SHE is my goal.

I took notice that she was slim not skinny. I noted that she was sprightly and did not hobble at all. I also didn't miss me that she didn't fuss with any silly fitness-specific clothing. She just wors some comfy Bahama shorts and comfy cotton top. Similar to what the ladies in the film The Ya-Ya Sisterhood wore on their walk.

This is what I respected most. Trends have always annoyed me. I grew up watching Caroline Ingalls. She was plenty healthy, spry, and slim and Spandex hadn't even been invented yet!  

There's a similar old lady in my yoga class. She's nowhere near as cool, but she is pliant and moves, ... well, not with grace, per se... with ease. Living in Florida, I've literally grown up around The Elderly. It's just something I 'know' about. And there are those elderly who are hunched over canes, shuffle their steps, need help from a younger family member to take that one step up onto the curb even. I can just picture the slew of medicine bottles on their bathroom counters. And I do NOT want to be *that* category of Old Lady.

When I lived in Hong Kong, there was this group of elderly ladies who used to power walk around The Peak's perimeter trail. They all had some cute little sneaker or, really, shoe, that was some form of sparkly. Some were store-bought silver or gold Keds. Others were legit bedazzled. As a result, my friend Lori called them The Disco Ladies!  And oooooh, they were so spry that you could absolutely imagine the guffaws they shared over afternoon sherry. 

My Great-Aunts Vivian and Agnes are/were similar in nature. And goodness gracious, they were involved in EVERYTHING. And not just cranky old-ladies who run a committee barking out commands to everyone. These youngest big-sisters of my Grandpa were the 'hands dirty' type.  

They are my Instagram Goal Models.