R-ra's Cool, Refreshing Drink.

Jarvis actually put me on to this: Did anyone else catch that verse in the remix of Raheem DeVaugh's song "Customer", where R. Kelly says, "And Baby if you're thirsty/ Got some good, good lemonade..." LOL. No thanks Kells. Right before the court case?

Damned If I Know...

Yesterday at work I text messaged someone who I'm just getting to know. He's one of those type dudes that always knows where the party is, how to get in, who to ask for... So we're going back and forth and I'm telling him that because I work at the spot where you see a lot of the pretentious, "grown and sexy" tackheads (both male and female), I really have to be in the mood to go to Velvet and deal with that same attitude during my off hours. I'd really have to want to get dressed to the nines and get my mind right for that environment to have a great time.

"Grown and Sexy" parties aren't really my forte'; I feel like, I'm not getting grown for this party and taking the "grown" off tomorrow. That's my life now. It's not a face. A lot of my annoyance towards that term I think is that, I go to work and deal with these people that feel like that's them and it's not- they're faking. If you don't have the guap to go out with and be for real, who are you trying to fool? No one tips 10% anymore. 15% isn't a good tip. It's aiight. Verbal tips don't pay the bills, while you're stepping out in hard bottom shoes or flimsy stillettos. What if no dude finds you attractive enough to buy your drinks tonight? What if no one thinks you're a ten? You'll be thirsty all night, or trying to make that Sex on the Beach last a few hours.

So yes, if I'm going out, "Grown and Sexy" is not my first choice. I'm not in high school anymore. I don't need to be in any clique, I'm comfortable doing me. So the guy's like, "What do you like to do? Where would you want to go that you haven't been?" I was effin' stumped. I do find that I like bars and lounges, more than clubs- at age 25. But it seems like even if a bar is halfway decent when first discovered, there's that pesky "Grown and Sexy" blanket thrown on it and all this commotion. I took Jarvis to Peters St. a couple weekends ago and there was a long line that they were holding to get into M Bar. Even Slice had a retarded line. We just left, he felt uncomfortable and there was just this weird vibe of self-importance floating around. I think I just get really bored easily, so I wouldn't mind a place like Velvet, but I need to be on some total different ish next time I go out. Some "chill, come as you are, we don't give a shit" type spot, with fly ass music, and cool people who are trying to do stuff- for real.

Right Now I'm...

Pining for home...

Bustin' my ass with two...

Trying to think of a hustle...

BTW...

If anyone would like to sponsor me...

I need these in my life for the warmer months, in a boys' 6-6.5 please. Thanks! :)

The Heat Was Almost Too Much...

So... Your girl Mary did her thing last night. To death. You hear me? I went in there thinking I was coming to see the "old Mary in concert." You know who I'm talking about. The Mary that couldn't sing live, out of shape, breathing hard. I wouldn't have cared either way, I love Mary Jane! She shocked the hell out of me though. Mary took it back to "What's the 411?." She did "Sweet Thing", the "Real Love" remix (as you've probably heard though: Jay fills in for Big). At one point she did "I'm Going Down" and held the mic out over the crowd. Everybody in the arena was screaming every single word at the top of their lungs. Riffs, cadences and all. The whole song. She sang "No More Drama", which is definitely not one of my favorites, but she made me love it that night. She sang that track like she had a choir robe on. Started crying and everything on stage and I felt a chill run down my spine, thought I was going to start tearing up. I kept it together though. How would that look, rapping along with "Dead Presidents" tear streaked face and all?




Jay did his older ish too. I coulda really lost my mind in there when he came out to "Say Hello to the Bad Guy." He did "I Know", had the crowd repeat, then switched up the beat and brought Jeezy out for his verse on Shawty Lo's "Dey Know". Dope! When I say the crowd went effin' nuts... He did "Jigga What", "Big Pimpin'" (ugh), "Izzo", "Feelin' It", "PSA"(I was praying he'd do that one the day before). Man, that joint is crazy, and he had this video footage of rock bands going nuts and smashing up guitars and what not. The pics vibrated to the beat, the whole scene with me losing my voice, everybody throwing up the diamond: it felt like an army was coming through. Live band for the entire show. Strings and horns and everything. Fly as shit. Ooh wee!



I was like, I've been trying to go to Chicago to visit for the longest time, that tour may just be one of the reasons I finally up and go. I was tight I couldn't bring my camera in there, and the camera in my phone isn't worth a damn. Oh well.



LOL. Oh yeah. The entire time Jay did his set, there was a girl on the outside of my row hollering and screaming about, "Brang Beyonce out! Brang your wife out!" He teased the crowd with a bunch of beats at one point, two of them being "Crazy in Love" and Upgrade U". She damn near fell the fuck out. LOL. "Ohhh, oh my god! He's gon' do it! He's gon' bring her out!" She started crying and shit. Grown woman. Starstruck as hell. Of course, Beyonce did not come out last night. Puff did though, I forgot what joint he played hypeman for, but he was out there. Memphis Bleek was out there too at one point, playing hypeman... He really is straight I guess. Grant Hill was in the audience with his wife Tamia; Tyler Perry, D Woods from Danity Kane, some other local folk. It was chill.

Sweet...

The moment of truth has arrived. Although I'm a fan of both Jay (supremely) and Mary, I've read that they aren't doing too many of the classics which is a bit disappointing. "Can't Knock the Hustle" is an obvious performance, as well as "Real Love." I don't know, it ought to be dope regardless. I'm still type heated that my ticket cost $90 and I'm up in the nosebleed, but at least I'll be in there. I'll post pics tonight if they allow digi cams.

I've been going back and forth about the Kanye concert. I want to go, but the arena that they're having it in is straight suburban. In a neighborhood full of spoiled white kids. I know because when my family moved out of Brooklyn, that's where we moved to: Effin' Gwinnett County. It'll most likely be a fly ass show though (peep the stage set above, courtesy of 'Ye) so if I can cope with the annoyances of well off teenagers with backwards baseball caps and open faced golds, I may still go.

"Just G'head and Strap Me Up Now..."

Okay, maybe this picture is a bit extreme but that quote from the title... I really felt like screaming that shit when I walked in the house today after a ten hour shift at the gig. I worked a double today, made most of my guap during lunch and basically stood around for hours after, "working" dinner. No bread during dinner, and I basically had to beg to be cut from the floor so I could finally jump in the Maxie and kick these new Reeboks off (Classics are usually pretty comfortable. I bought 'em from Walter's for $15 the other day; I needed new kicks for work. The catch is, of course, that they're half a size too small. I pulled the insoles out and tried to rock 'em anyway. Silly me. I need to stretch 'em out.)

Anyways, Jarvis works from the early morning to the late afternoons now, think 3 am to 4pm, and that's when I'm headed to work, so he'll be tired and have to watch Keiko until I get in, around 11 pm. By that time though, most of the time, he'll be there, knocked out and she'll be into something. Before I did her hair this morning, I cut my bangs. She watched me do it, I didn't think about it until I got home, found Jarvis snoring and a pile of hair on my nightstand. Then I looked and saw my clippers on the floor. I didn't see her head right away but when I did, I coulda nutted up right there. I just felt like, as much as we do, as hard as we work, it's always something. I know it's just hair and it'll grow back and three-year-olds do that type of thing all the time but, damn. We just had a series of good days. We just had a run. I just feel like shaving her head. It looks ridiculous.

On Another Note...

So I was on Mr. Garland's blog earlier and saw his post on the trend of blogs that list what People Like: i.e. Stuff White People Like, Stuff Black People Like, Stuff Educated Black People Like. I looked at the three stated above, but today's post on the White People's list was an announcement that Target had just bought their blog stating that as of today the nation’s "second largest retailer" will use the site as a promotional tool:

“We are thrilled at the opportunity,” says Ennis Blentic, Senior VP of Marketing at Target. “It’s a great chance for us to connect with some of our most valued customers [i.e. White folk? Most Valued Customers?] and let them know about our great product line for 2008 and beyond.”

I like Target too you know... [sigh] Will this be enough to make me dislike it? Damn Dollar Days...

Today Was a Good Day...

Started off at the optician running an errand that I'd been putting off for a minute. Initially I was excited about just doing that, such is the life of a family woman, the little shit is appreciated. Anything other than the everyday, going to work, paying bills, pulling your own anecdotes from jerks at the job- anything else is... Euphoria.



Okay, so done at the eye doctor, all is good and paid for. Off to school, thinking positive, like "maybe I can work out a payment plan or something with these people." No such luck but maintaining positive vibes, I decided to take my licks paying for school outta pocket again next semester. Keiko and I stopped off in Little Five for pizza, then I saw that this spot had been renovated and dropped by:

Got a Hellz Bellz shirt and a couple of the Drama/ Re-Up Gang mixtapes. Flyness! I also saw that they had my Everybody High Sodas in stock:

Couldn't cop 'em though. They didn't have my size anymore, because of course they're primarily made for dudes, so there are only a couple pairs of 6.5 or 7s in any retailer that sells 'em. Oh well. Saw a pair of Reebok Pumps in there though, ooh weeee... Hella dope. I used to be bad with sneakers and exclusives in general- like bad. But of course you get older and you get over that shit, my primary thing now is Keiko, so even if I look crazy as hell, she's chill. Got her these today without meaning to buy her anything:



Still, at this point, I kinda feel like regressing a bit. I've never really been that girl to wear a dress and heels on an everyday basis. I always needed to be at least up on the latest ish, especially "streetwear", even if I couldn't afford it. I mean, not specifically being shallow, but I think a part of it was being from Brooklyn and being raised in that kinda atmosphere. I'm 25 now, had Keiko when I was 22, I feel like, I'm not 50, but I damn sure feel like it sometimes. I used to jump and do whatever the hell I wanted to, whenever I wanted to. But I was starting to feel like by getting older, I was expected to lose my style, so I dropped a little bit and by the time I had her, I was expected to drop it completely. Anyways, I came up with this: Ima cop what I want and wear what I want until I don't feel like it anymore. Like I told Joey last week: "Nobody's gonna tell me I'm not 25 because I've got Dunks on, on my off day instead of blouses and shoe boots."