True DC Adventures

My housing situation in DC has deteriorated and I'm on the apartment hunt. This past weekend ones roomates' friends (Roomie #1) came to town. I haven't interacted that much with them in the past but I'll give my observations/judgements really quickly. They are loudest people I have ever met. They blow the stereotypes of black people being the loudest people that roam the earth. The are the loudest white girls I ever met. They are all also very dramatic so the mission of the weekend was to get out of the house and stay out!'

Friday Night

I come home and greet my other roomate (Roomie #2) and we quickly agreed that we needed to vacate the premises. We both seperately contemplated all day how it be most horrible if we had to endure a night with the loud triplets. We decided to get dressed as quickly as possible and get out before they came. However we moved a little slow. I was too busy contemplating wearing these fashion fish nets I bought last fall. They dressed up my work outfit just enough that I didn't have to change clothes. We finally escaped without too much interaction and headed down to the U-Street section of North West DC. I had never really hung out there as I was in the Adams Morgan all the time and I feel too old for that area. So we stopped for drinks at Utopia. This place had cool vibe and it was a place I felt comfortable. However I would have like to interact with people more. We were sitting close the door and really close to the band which made it hard for us to interact. We had a really good piece of Turtle Cheese Cake. It was a smooth style cheese cake topped with nuts and caramel which gave it a great texture. I would definately go back to Utopia to chill out.

From there we moved onto Bur Nun. Bar Nun was a very intersting place. It has two levels and two completely different crowds. Downstairs is the commercial hip-hop crowd. We were looking for some place to chill so we headed upstairs. It was filled with nice cushy couches and fluffly pillows. The only downside is that they had incense everywhere. I just don't like incense. I grew up around it but I have never liked the smell. We chilled and these two brothers came and asked if they could grab a seat. The two brothers from NY brought a new meaning to sweatsuits. They made them look really good. They had driven down to come to a birthday party/house warming. It was refreshing to just chill and chat instead of running from being groped. As the night went on I noticed that my skirt was rising up my leg and the thigh part of my net stocking had pretty big holes in them. Nothing wrong with showing a little wholesome leg. We head downstairs towards the end of the night. The guys wanted some girls they could get some play from. For some reason they didn't see Roomie #2 and I that way (they didn't even try?).

We headed onto the dancefloor and immediately I was asked to dance by two drunk guys. I know that it was 2:30 but really I was just trying to find something other to do than stand around. One dude actually gave me "the hand" when I wouldn't let him drag me off to a corner for a personal bump 'n' grind sesion. Yeah I said "the hand." When was the last time someone did that to you. So we left and headed to the pizza shop down the street. We got our pizza and grabbed a seat. Then a bunch of guys came in to get pizza also. One guy asked if the pizza was good. Before I could answer he said "Well at least I know which one of you is hungrier," pointing out the fact that I was almost finished while Roomie #2 handed cross the midpoint. He finally sat down next to us and we started chatting. He then proceeded to touch my fro. To my surprise I felt more violated by that than when my ass is grabbed. He quickly apologized as he could sense that i might attempt to bust a cap in his ass :) We sat there and we saw a cab pull up outside.There were three guys in the cab and they sat out there arguing for at least 15 mins. We see them get out of the cab so we dash out the door to grab it. As we were walking by the guys who had just gotten out of the cab, one of they commented "she's fine and she's fine too!" So they kind of hemmed us up before we could actually get into the cab. So they engaged Roomie #2 more than me. As we were finally making our escape one of the boys from the pizza place was also trying to holla at Roomie #2. So she respectfully acknowledges him and he tells her he was talking to me. So I turn around and he says "What I'm not good enough for you to take my number?" I was blown away because I didn't know what he was talking about. Then I realized that he was drunk. It always takes me 2 extra seconds to realize I can't try and have rational conversations with drunk people. I always argue with them while wondering why they aren't logical.

Finally we are able to get into the cab but somehow the three guys got back in the cab with us. So they were inquiring on where WE were going. Our response "was not with you". So the cab driver speeds off before we can get them out of the cab. When then realize they don't all know each other because they are exchanging names and phone numbers. The entire time we are trying to assesss 1) how they know or don't know each other 2) why are they in the cab with us? weren't they getting out in front of the pizza shop? We have the cab drop us off near our house but not close enough so they could see where we lived. We walked about a block and a half and we surmised they may have gotten kicked out of the cab and decided to follow us. Lucky for us we were way ahead of them and we were quickly going to round a corner where they could not see where we going. That was slightly dangerous.....being followed home. However it was all good in the end.

As we walked we also got a call that Roomie #1 was locked out. This is what we wanted to avoid. We didn't want to interact with her and her friends. We get there let them in to find out that one friend is puking and the other one brought some guy home from the club. She offered to take a shower with him. What the hell? If he accepted I would have stabbed the bi-polar anorexic friend and the guy while the were screwing in our shower. This is one of the reasons I'm glad Roomie #2 and I are moving together. We have already learned to share with each other and I don't want to learn how to play nice with anymore people.

Finally two observations that confirm why I made good choice to leave Boston:


"What does Boston have?"
"Not much. No black radio. No black clubs. No black political power base. No drive-thru fast food." - excerpt from Paul Beatty's "White Boy Shuffle"

The Friendly Take Over

SISRAHTAC

She was used to bearing her soul to the world

That was her catharsis

Instead she decided to let the words stay inside

because she tends to overshare

This time around


Her catharsis came from keeping quiet


Her comfort came from letting her thoughs roam from ear to ear


listening to one another


competing for the spotlight


wanting to be the lead in the play

when the stage was set

the cast appeared


ghost, souls, drama, and pain


however this was only a rehersal


no crowd in sight

the show didn't go on


the show didn't go on


the must not go on

Road Travellin'

The month of February is proving to be a great month. So I have visited Philly and New York. Philadelphia is a dirty ass city but there is a scence that is brewing (well it's kind of cliched by now) musically like no other. A lot of the music that I like these are from people born and raised in Philly. While I was there I had a celebrity sighting. This person is not from the aforementioned musical revival. While chowing down of a cheesesteak at Ishkabibbles in walk a flashy dressed man. I immediately recognized him as Carl Thomas (CT), a singer on Bad Boy records. I though to myself that this is kind of cool but I wasn't going out of my way to acknowledge him more than I would acknowledge and regular person on the street. We continue to eat while watching the CNN coverage of the shuttle explosion. After a while CT whips out two color cell phones in full floss mode. So I am thinking wow he really wants to be noticed. We continue to eat and then he starts humming. Obviously he wanted to be noticed. I had no problem speaking to him but he wanted on this long show so then I couldn't. He was wearing a waist length fur coat, an oversized kangol-esque hat, and a pair of sunglasses. What is wrong with this you ask? It was raining! Fur coat and sunglasses on a rainy, foggy day in Philly.

This weekend I went to New York to see the Chappelle Show, starring Dave Chappelle from Half-Baked and You've Got Mail. I think he is a brilliant comedian. I have not seen the show because DC does not offer Comedy Central. The footage we saw was great. The skits weren't that much of social commentary as I have heard about some of the other episodes but it was hilarious. I have a feeling that his skit Blackzilla will never air. He has sex with a volcano and pissed (litterally) on the Japanese.

While riding through New York I realized that many things seemed familiar because of all the references I hear in rap songs. For instance:

Flatbush Ave Brooklyn: referenced in every Mos Def Song
Junior's Bakery: I saw Jay-Z go there in one of MTV's diary
Westside Highway: referenced in Nore's "Nothing"
106 and Park: The BET top 10 live countdown
Ft. Greene Brooklyn: The Neo-Boho capital (or so they say)

It was quite interesting over there. I would love to spend more time in that city. It is so large and there is so much to see and do. I think I would be slightly overwhelmed but I would rather try and fail than to not try at all. Next I am going to Boston and the last weekend of the month someone may come to visit me

Super Bowl Sunday

That is one of the good songs from Ozomatli's first Album. I am currently sitting around contemplating whether I should rock a fro tomorrow or not. I am not a fan of picking my hair out so I kinda look umkempt but at the same time I think I look sweet. It would be a new milestone for me. I have been wearing twist for quite sometime and I felt like I really needed to let my hair be free for today. The problem is I don't feel like putting them back in. When I did them the first couple of times I didn't have as much hair as I do know now. It's about 3inches or so depending on where you look. I also experimented with straightening today with a ceramic iron. I must say that if I decide to straighten all of my hair one day I will use one of those they are miraculous.

On friday we went bar hopping in Georgetown and they got me drunk again. I have no idea how many drinks I had. The first place we went to had a piano bar. So everyone was singing along to songs that I had never heard or didn't know the words. I was deffintely out of place. Eventually a rather large black man appears and thinks that he has to impress Simon from American Idol. He was just over doing it. Everyone was rather light hearted and having fun but he was serious and kind of messed up the mood. I will give him his props on his singing ablility and passion but he was just in the wrong venue. He was extra loud and was as big as Heavy D so he could belt very loud. He was beast (pun intended).

Next month is operation slim down. Slim down spending, debt , and me. Wish me lot's o' luck, prayers, and the like. I am going to need it.

It's 70 right now in LA! I want to go home! Oh no I don't.

Bubble Burster

I constantly walk around and burst people's bubbles. I didn't realize this until today. So this is what I am going to work on for me right now. For my birthday my dad gave me a tape. Now he is always trying to get me to listen to a political show or an inspirational speaker (read: pyramid scheme advertiser) so I was really reluctant. I asked him what was on the tape. He told me just to listen to it. I informed him that I need a reason to listen to it. He tells me it was a tape of me when I was younger. He had such a bright beam in his eyes as he sat there remembering the little girl I used to be. I replied, "Oh I heard this before. It has me talking to you and [my uncle] in my grandmother's kitchen." His faced dropped and I didn't think anything of it. Today Mr. Tortilla calls me to let me know that he is now renting a premium car for when he comes to DC on Friday. I replied, "Why did you do that? It will be huge and there will be no place for us to park." Why could I not just let him revel in the fact that we are going to have a nice car? He likes nice cars and I know this. Immediately my bubble started to fizzle as I realized that I am sometimes an asshole without realizing it. I need to fix this now because you can't survive a long distance relationship with an asshole. Otherwise I will find him playing with someone else’s ass hole.