How many models still have a vibrant career more than 20 years after first strutting down the runway? Very few, I imagine. Having graced the covers of more than 600 magazines, Cindy Crawford has been blessed like no other. In The September issue of Tatler, she looks as sexy and radiantly beautiful as when she first burst onto the fashion scene; possibly even more so. What I’ve always liked and appreciated about her is that yes, she’s gorgeous, but she’s also articulate, smart and an enterprising businesswoman, from designing a home accessories line for JCPenney to promoting her burgeoning beauty line, Meaningful Beauty. Oh, and if those endeavors don’t keep her busy enough, she’s also a wife and mother of two.

 All Photos by Ruven Afanador

   

While some say that August Wilson was the leading African-American playwright of our time, there’s also the school of thought that he was the best American playwright PERIOD! Jitney, is but one of 10 plays, which chronicles, decade-by-decade, the experiences of Blacks in America; 1900-1990. Jitney takes us inside a gypsy cab company in Pittsburgh, PA in the fall of 1977, and like any job there’s plenty of drama that unfolds over the course of a work day; various contretemps between co-workers and lovers ensue. This Pasadena Playhouse production of Jitney, directed by Ron OJ Parsons, ends on Sunday, July 15th, which also marks the end of the 2011-2012 season and believe me when I tell you that the quality of this production stands up to any of Wilson’s plays that I’ve seen at larger venues. 

PASADENA PLAYHOUSE
39 South El Molino Avenue
Pasadena, CA 91101
626.356.7529

I know that I was just one of many young men who had a crush on Nia Long when she appeared in Boyz N The Hood back in 1991. "Brandi" was the film's "good girl"; a beautiful young lady that you'd want as your girlfriend, as well as, someone that you could take home to your mother. She had morals in an environment that seemed to be lacking in them.

I ran into her a few years later at Noteworthy Stationery in the Beverly Center, shortly before Valentine's Day. I chickened out on possibly meeting Whitney Houston (read about it here), and I didn't want to make the same mistake twice; No more missed opportunities or Missed Connections for me, I thought. I stealthfully sidled up to her as she rifled through the vast selection of romantic greeting cards.  

"See anything interesting," I asked. 

"Not really." came the sweet, but succinct reply.

I tried again. "Looking for a card for that special someone?" I crossed my fingers, all the while hoping that the reply would come back, "no."

"Yeah, this guy I'm seeing." she answered, with too big a grin on her face.

DAMN, DAMN, DAMN! Abort Mission. A few more pleasantries and there I was, left looking at cards that I couldn't have cared less about at that moment. Oh well, nothing ventured, nothing gained, right? I guess "Brandi" was a good girl, after all; dating only one man at a time.

DAMN, DAMN, DAMN!

Here she is, radiant as ever with her two sons, on the August cover of  Essence.