In the Mix with Aaliyah Miller

Today, I had the privilege of meeting Mira Nair, an acclaimed filmmaker, who has directed films such as Amelia, The Namesake, Mississippi Masala, The Perez Family, Monsoon Wedding and many more. The cozy lecture took place in a conference room inside the Haas Library at Western Connecticut State University. I've been thinking about the lecture all week. I had a feeling I was going to take away some great words of wisdom and advice. I did. I was asked to ask the first question to get the dialog with Mira flowing. I had no problem with that. I asked a two-part question, the first part was "How she defined success for herself?" My follow-up to that was, "Did success mean different things for female, writers, directors, and producers in Hollywood. Mira graciously smiled and jumped into her response. She said, "To me, success is privilege of doing what I want to do." As she went into detail I felt a genuine sense of sincerity, her words rang true and came from t...

Hello all, Yes, I'm back from the sunny shores of Aruba. Boy, was it nice to get away. Dawn and I had a really good time (stay tuned for pictures on my facebook page). The downfall of vacation is that it eventually comes to an end and you have to get back to life as you know it. Now that the week is almost over I'm finally feeling like myself. It's a good thing because a sista has a lot of writing to do. In less than five weeks I will have to submit my thesis for graduation from Western Connecticut State University's Professional Writing Program ( http://www.wcsu.edu/writing/mfa/ ). I can't believe the end is almost near. It's sort of nerve racking. I would have like to done writing for my spec script while I was on vacation, but I just didn't. I know I only have myself to blame. I did do some reading and some of it was related to scriptwriting so it wasn't a complete loss. Nothing ever is, at least that is what I like to think. Last night, I had an epip...

Hello all, Bon Bini (hello/welcome). Bon Bini is Papiamento , the predominant language in Aruba spoken by the locals. Papiamento and Dutch are the official languages in Aruba. Papiamento is a language that has been evolving through the centuries and absorbed many words from other languages like Dutch, English, diverse African dialects, and most importantly, from Portuguese and Spanish. Aruba's slogan is "the friendly island," and I can honestly say it is true. The locals make you feel like you're at home. It is very easy to embrace oneself into the culture which is a mix of Dutch, Spanish, Arawak Indian, and African traditions. I find the Spanish and Dutch influence to be the most prominent. Aruba is a desert island, not much grass, but plenty of cactus and palm trees. So far my vacation has been both relaxing and fun. My only shortcoming has been with my writing for Sons of Anarchy (SOA). I plan to do catch up over the last couple of days here. I've done my morni...

I'm finally taking a vacation. At times the day didn't seem like it would ever come, but it is almost here. In four days I will be on a flight to Aruba with my sister Dawn. I've been looking forward to the trip for a year now. Last year, Dawn and my mom went to Aruba. I was a tad bit jealous of them. I really wanted to go but couldn't because I was in the middle of course work for my MFA and in conference prep mode at work. While they were there, Dawn got lucky and one a free-trip for another week at the resort. Dawn took pity on my, since I couldn't join them the first time and invited me to tag a long this time. Thanks sis. I can already feel the 85 plus degree sun on my chocolate skin. In my mind I'm walking on the beautiful beaches in sandals embracing the laid-back culture where the slogan is "No problem." And even though I know the locals have problems (heck we all do), I can appreciate their attitude that they don't let their problems get th...

Life is constantly testing us. It can be our friends, our co-workers, school, work, deadlines, etc. I think most people on the planet experience a feeling of inadequacy and frustration at some time or another. I also think the current financial situation: a dire economy, lay-offs that seem never ending, banks and car companies still looking for bailouts, all the while the stock market continues to fall and our 401(k)s lose value faster than we can snap your fingers. It's a mess...a hot mess. Everything seems out of sync. With so much negativity out in the world it's hard to see the silver lining. I have a couple of friends who are seeing cuts to their benefits and salary. Their managers are telling them they should be happy they are employed. And while that may be true, can it also be said that you should be happy you have an employee who has a strong work ethic and values the contributions they make to your business or organization? Why is it that so many people only see what ...