Yesterday we went to Philly for the Rising Down listening party.
Where to begin. First of the event itself was nice. Good food, quite a few familiar faces, etc But the real reason we were there was to hear the album
*sigh*
It's a good album. A strong album. The Roots seem to pride themselves of thinking outside the box. Their music, though always undeniably hip hop, is never a compilation of what everyone else is doing. You tend to get what happens when you have a group of extremely talented individuals working together to come up with a finished project: either a masterpiece or crap. This album falls somewhere in the middle. Black Thought is, as usual, on point. There are songs on the new album that i LOVE (see the last track featuring Wale) while the ones that I don't like just irritate the hell out of me. There's no question about whether I'll buy the album. I just don't think it lives up to the "Better than Things Fall Apart" hype.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Monday, March 24, 2008
Truth Hurts
Sometimes you really don't want to know the truth. I mean we LOVE the truth when it's in our favor... but when you find out that maybe you're not as smart as you thought or maybe you're not as important as you thought you were? ouch.
With just nine weeks left before i head back to san fran the butterflies are starting to flutter. I'm becoming more and more busy and yet nothing seems to be getting done. My laptop died at a pretty inopportune time. The SO is too busy to hang out with me. My drinking is just about back to where it was... and the stuff i *need* to do is steadily piling up. Add to that the frustration and bruised ego that goes along with not having a job or any prspects in the fall and well... yeah... this hasn't been a good week/month for me.
But enough of the complaining. I suppose things could be worse. I think i'm gonna start using all this alone time to take more pics...not that i have anywhere to download them to... but whatever. i'm also at looking at picking up another activity or two at school. We'll see.
With just nine weeks left before i head back to san fran the butterflies are starting to flutter. I'm becoming more and more busy and yet nothing seems to be getting done. My laptop died at a pretty inopportune time. The SO is too busy to hang out with me. My drinking is just about back to where it was... and the stuff i *need* to do is steadily piling up. Add to that the frustration and bruised ego that goes along with not having a job or any prspects in the fall and well... yeah... this hasn't been a good week/month for me.
But enough of the complaining. I suppose things could be worse. I think i'm gonna start using all this alone time to take more pics...not that i have anywhere to download them to... but whatever. i'm also at looking at picking up another activity or two at school. We'll see.
Friday, March 21, 2008
I'm getting too old for this shit
*sigh*
Last night definitely didn't live up to its hype. De La Soul performed at a club here in DC and well.. I dunno... I left disappointed. The night started off well-enough (kinda). After work I headed out to U St for a couple of mojitos. The drinks were decent but the bar convos were less than stellar. To my right was a black man explaining to the (white) waitress why black women aren't worth his time. To my left was another black man who looked to be in his 40s. He was talking to his boys about the wonderful mind games he was running on his women and how smooth he was. Needless to say his boys were all high fives and chest bumps.
From there me and a friend travelled to a spot called Vapiano over at 18th and M. It was way more crowded there but i think it's a spot i'll visit again. We left at about 829p and went to get in line for the club.
Doors were supposed to open at 830p... 830 and 930 came and went as i waited outside the club. It was pushing 1015pm when the doors finally opened. I should take this time to point out that 1223 is not a large club. If anything it's more of a lounge and for the most part, the club sucks. 1223 is located on Connecticut Ave, 1223 Connecticut Ave to be precise. That's just below Dupont Circle and like just above downtown. The vibe in that place is just always off. Both times that I've been there (I now refuse to go back) the place has just an air of wackness. Like the idea is to have it be this "upscale" club... which is cool but arrgh I can't put it into words. Needless to say, while standing in line the bouncer walks by doing a shoe check, my boy is told that his black nike boots (a dc staple) are a no-go. I had on these so I had to run to the car and change.
At any rate 1015 i'm in the club and my friend David offers a drink. I accept and wind up with a VERY cranberry, cranberry and vodka. The saving grace for the night was that 9th started spining almost as soon as folks walked in the door. His set was cool. Old school songs that you don't hear too often but that make you feel good. Unfortunately, there were plenty of barely 21 yr olds in there that just didn't get it. I overheard this one kid (who pushed his way in front of me and closer to the stage) say "i don't even think I know any songs by De La Soul... and I really don't know any of this stuff he's playing." At any rate after what feels like forever (it's about 11:45 at this point), De La takes the stage.
Now... I have a love/hate relationship with De La performances. Ever since the first "all the beckys get on the stage" incident, it's always been kinda hit or miss with me. I usually go to support because well.. there one of my fave groups of all times... but I tend to notice a dynamic that always bothers me a bit. Unfortunately that negativity comes from Dave who I feel is most talented of all three members. Dave seems over the whole De La thing... I mean i can understand not wanting to do Me, Myself, and I and a host of other songs that they probably hate by now... but his general demeanor is just... wack. Like throughout most of the performance I felt like we were a bother to him. Maybe we weren't energetic enough? Maybe he was having a bad day? Perhaps, but it's not the first time I've noticed it.
The other beef i have is with the song Rock Kokaine Flow. The song that appears on the album features Dave, Pos, and MF Doom. I have NEVER seen Dave do his verse... and there's always a reason/excuse. The time I saw De La in DC at the 930 Club, Dave appeared to be under the influence of something.. that night he just said "i ain't doin that shit"... in CA a couple years back at the Rock the Bells show, he made a similar comment... last night he said "it wouldn't do that song justice to do it without MF Doom"... word? You performed Buddy without 80% of the lineup... a lineup that contained folks that've done way more than Doom did... you performed COUNTLESS songs that were performed with others... but you can't do *this* one. Don't get me wrong... I like Doom (the real Doom... not the fake one that was doing shows) but c'mon... just say what it really is... RKF has GOT to be a difficult song to do live... the breath control it requires has GOT to be hellish... and well... I just don't think Dave has it in him. Perhaps I'm wrong... I'd like to be wrong... But that's my take.
I finally got home at about 130 last night... tired... and a bit hurt. No one wants to be disappointed by a performance by artists they admire. But that's where i was. Part of me says maybe i need to stop going to shows... But EPMD and ATCQ put on GREAT shows... I dunno maybe it was because 1223 sucks so damned much... Either way the night was decent. Definitely cool for a free show. 1223 won't be getting any more of my money though... as to De La... I'm still up in the air on them.
**ADDITION**
Ok... now I'm pissed... I just found out that Dave *HAS* done his verse in San Fran... arrrghhh Thanks Geo... I hate you... but not really :)
Last night definitely didn't live up to its hype. De La Soul performed at a club here in DC and well.. I dunno... I left disappointed. The night started off well-enough (kinda). After work I headed out to U St for a couple of mojitos. The drinks were decent but the bar convos were less than stellar. To my right was a black man explaining to the (white) waitress why black women aren't worth his time. To my left was another black man who looked to be in his 40s. He was talking to his boys about the wonderful mind games he was running on his women and how smooth he was. Needless to say his boys were all high fives and chest bumps.
From there me and a friend travelled to a spot called Vapiano over at 18th and M. It was way more crowded there but i think it's a spot i'll visit again. We left at about 829p and went to get in line for the club.
Doors were supposed to open at 830p... 830 and 930 came and went as i waited outside the club. It was pushing 1015pm when the doors finally opened. I should take this time to point out that 1223 is not a large club. If anything it's more of a lounge and for the most part, the club sucks. 1223 is located on Connecticut Ave, 1223 Connecticut Ave to be precise. That's just below Dupont Circle and like just above downtown. The vibe in that place is just always off. Both times that I've been there (I now refuse to go back) the place has just an air of wackness. Like the idea is to have it be this "upscale" club... which is cool but arrgh I can't put it into words. Needless to say, while standing in line the bouncer walks by doing a shoe check, my boy is told that his black nike boots (a dc staple) are a no-go. I had on these so I had to run to the car and change.
At any rate 1015 i'm in the club and my friend David offers a drink. I accept and wind up with a VERY cranberry, cranberry and vodka. The saving grace for the night was that 9th started spining almost as soon as folks walked in the door. His set was cool. Old school songs that you don't hear too often but that make you feel good. Unfortunately, there were plenty of barely 21 yr olds in there that just didn't get it. I overheard this one kid (who pushed his way in front of me and closer to the stage) say "i don't even think I know any songs by De La Soul... and I really don't know any of this stuff he's playing." At any rate after what feels like forever (it's about 11:45 at this point), De La takes the stage.
Now... I have a love/hate relationship with De La performances. Ever since the first "all the beckys get on the stage" incident, it's always been kinda hit or miss with me. I usually go to support because well.. there one of my fave groups of all times... but I tend to notice a dynamic that always bothers me a bit. Unfortunately that negativity comes from Dave who I feel is most talented of all three members. Dave seems over the whole De La thing... I mean i can understand not wanting to do Me, Myself, and I and a host of other songs that they probably hate by now... but his general demeanor is just... wack. Like throughout most of the performance I felt like we were a bother to him. Maybe we weren't energetic enough? Maybe he was having a bad day? Perhaps, but it's not the first time I've noticed it.
The other beef i have is with the song Rock Kokaine Flow. The song that appears on the album features Dave, Pos, and MF Doom. I have NEVER seen Dave do his verse... and there's always a reason/excuse. The time I saw De La in DC at the 930 Club, Dave appeared to be under the influence of something.. that night he just said "i ain't doin that shit"... in CA a couple years back at the Rock the Bells show, he made a similar comment... last night he said "it wouldn't do that song justice to do it without MF Doom"... word? You performed Buddy without 80% of the lineup... a lineup that contained folks that've done way more than Doom did... you performed COUNTLESS songs that were performed with others... but you can't do *this* one. Don't get me wrong... I like Doom (the real Doom... not the fake one that was doing shows) but c'mon... just say what it really is... RKF has GOT to be a difficult song to do live... the breath control it requires has GOT to be hellish... and well... I just don't think Dave has it in him. Perhaps I'm wrong... I'd like to be wrong... But that's my take.
I finally got home at about 130 last night... tired... and a bit hurt. No one wants to be disappointed by a performance by artists they admire. But that's where i was. Part of me says maybe i need to stop going to shows... But EPMD and ATCQ put on GREAT shows... I dunno maybe it was because 1223 sucks so damned much... Either way the night was decent. Definitely cool for a free show. 1223 won't be getting any more of my money though... as to De La... I'm still up in the air on them.
**ADDITION**
Ok... now I'm pissed... I just found out that Dave *HAS* done his verse in San Fran... arrrghhh Thanks Geo... I hate you... but not really :)
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
And just like that...
I'm busy again.
There's about a month left in the semester. About 10 weeks until I leave for California. And about a million things that I need to do before then.
Although I'm pretty much done with school, I need to make the most of these last few grades that I get to try to get at least a decent GPA. I bit off a little more than I could chew this semester so I have fallen behind in my schoolwork for the sake of trying to write my comment. The good news, of course, is that the comment is finished. The bad news is that everything else is starting to come at me. I'm also trying to take on more responsibility at work... well at the internship. I am almost positive that my mentor thinks that I'm slow. His assignments usually consist of editing and making grammatical corrections. Now part of that may be him giving me shit he doesn't want to do, but I suspect that he thinks that those are "safe" assignments. Consequently, I've sought out other attorneys and have gotten assignments from them. These research assignments are BEYOND boring, but they're helping me to hone my research skills which is important. I need a self esteem boost in the legal arena and I'm hoping that this will help.
In other news I spoke to my boss about my leave of absence, he tentatively gave the green light. Words cannot begin to express the relief I felt. I cannot imagine anyone else in the world that would let me have another summer to do something like this. I really do love what I do at XM and I'm praying that staying there thru the end of law school will help me to save up some money and possibly lead to a position in the new company (ifthateverhappens). With the economy the way it is, I was DREADING coming back to no job. I tend to be optimistic when it comes to the job market. I have been fortunate enough to have avoided being unintentionally unemployed for any extended period of time... but with all this talk of recessions and whatnot, I was starting to wonder if i was making the right decision. I'm happy for now, but until the paperwork is all completed, I'm only cautiously happy. This also means that i'll need to work my ass off between now and May. Between the raise that I received and the fact that my boss goes above and beyond for me, I need to make sure I do all that I can to keep things running smoothly.
There's about a month left in the semester. About 10 weeks until I leave for California. And about a million things that I need to do before then.
Although I'm pretty much done with school, I need to make the most of these last few grades that I get to try to get at least a decent GPA. I bit off a little more than I could chew this semester so I have fallen behind in my schoolwork for the sake of trying to write my comment. The good news, of course, is that the comment is finished. The bad news is that everything else is starting to come at me. I'm also trying to take on more responsibility at work... well at the internship. I am almost positive that my mentor thinks that I'm slow. His assignments usually consist of editing and making grammatical corrections. Now part of that may be him giving me shit he doesn't want to do, but I suspect that he thinks that those are "safe" assignments. Consequently, I've sought out other attorneys and have gotten assignments from them. These research assignments are BEYOND boring, but they're helping me to hone my research skills which is important. I need a self esteem boost in the legal arena and I'm hoping that this will help.
In other news I spoke to my boss about my leave of absence, he tentatively gave the green light. Words cannot begin to express the relief I felt. I cannot imagine anyone else in the world that would let me have another summer to do something like this. I really do love what I do at XM and I'm praying that staying there thru the end of law school will help me to save up some money and possibly lead to a position in the new company (ifthateverhappens). With the economy the way it is, I was DREADING coming back to no job. I tend to be optimistic when it comes to the job market. I have been fortunate enough to have avoided being unintentionally unemployed for any extended period of time... but with all this talk of recessions and whatnot, I was starting to wonder if i was making the right decision. I'm happy for now, but until the paperwork is all completed, I'm only cautiously happy. This also means that i'll need to work my ass off between now and May. Between the raise that I received and the fact that my boss goes above and beyond for me, I need to make sure I do all that I can to keep things running smoothly.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
The Recap
So... I'm back home :(
And by home i mean DC... not my "real" home.
Once again Eric, Dom, Mariam and Vic went out of their way to make us feel special. We ate at our favorite spots and discovered a couple of new ones. We learned how great watermelon hookah could be and even got to ride a cable car.
I had an amazing time and I think I'm one step closer to making the move permanent.
And now... the photo recap:
Gas is trés expensive.. but i won't have a car this summer so i guess it's ok
BJ signed a couple of endorsement deals
There were tons of beautiful flowers
See?
One more
There were cute doggies too!
Delicious Pizza
Amazing sunsets
Dom swears by the Guinness Float, but we didn't try it
One thing that I love about SF is that it's so colorful... between murals, graffiti and colorful buildings, the city is so vibrant and alive:
There are some things you shouldn't do in San Fran...
Museum of the African Diaspora
We got some culture at MoMA:
Then I decided to get creative:
This sums up me and Dom's friendship:
Me, Dom and ID at the Warriors game
I love my city
See all the pics here:
And by home i mean DC... not my "real" home.
Once again Eric, Dom, Mariam and Vic went out of their way to make us feel special. We ate at our favorite spots and discovered a couple of new ones. We learned how great watermelon hookah could be and even got to ride a cable car.
I had an amazing time and I think I'm one step closer to making the move permanent.
And now... the photo recap:
Gas is trés expensive.. but i won't have a car this summer so i guess it's ok
BJ signed a couple of endorsement deals
There were tons of beautiful flowers
See?
One more
There were cute doggies too!
Delicious Pizza
Amazing sunsets
Dom swears by the Guinness Float, but we didn't try it
One thing that I love about SF is that it's so colorful... between murals, graffiti and colorful buildings, the city is so vibrant and alive:
There are some things you shouldn't do in San Fran...
Museum of the African Diaspora
We got some culture at MoMA:
Then I decided to get creative:
This sums up me and Dom's friendship:
Me, Dom and ID at the Warriors game
I love my city
See all the pics here:
 |
| San Francisco 3/10 - 3/15 |
Friday, March 14, 2008
The Last Day
So... this is it. Today is our last day (this time around) in San Fran. As usual we've had a blast. Eaten at a ton of great places, tried to spend some time in neighborhoods that we weren't familiar with. It's funny because at this point, when I come to San Fran it's not about me trying to see all the touristy stuff (i *will* make it to Alcatraz one day though), it's more about me catching up with friends and just hanging out. This place feels like home and I love that. One thing that I've realized though is that I have no sense of north, south, east, west here. It just struck me as odd... but I make do.
I also saw the apartment that I'll be staying in this summer. Its beautiful! Lots of light, lots of space... just a chill spot. It just seems like everything is coming together. I don't want to spend too much more time typing because I should be out enjoying myself. I just need to remember to come back and do a recap while everything is fresh in my head.
I also saw the apartment that I'll be staying in this summer. Its beautiful! Lots of light, lots of space... just a chill spot. It just seems like everything is coming together. I don't want to spend too much more time typing because I should be out enjoying myself. I just need to remember to come back and do a recap while everything is fresh in my head.
Monday, March 10, 2008
I Did It
And now my reward...
At about 3pm today I turned in my comment which *should* mean that I have met both the requirements for the Journal and my Upper Level Writing requirement... which *should* mean that I have 18 more credits to take before I am official law school graduate... and after this summer and taking the journal credits into consideration for next semester.... i will have 8 credit hours worth of classes... and then the Bar Exam...
But for now, I'm celebrating. Heading to San Fran in about 8hrs. I'm going to eat, drink, and be merry and hopefully come up with a place to live this summer. When I get back I'll be turning all my attention to catching up in my classes, improving my performance at my internship and convincing my boss to grant me one last leave of absence.
In other news, the sting of not being able to drive across country has hopefully been lessened. I think I'm going to help a friend drive across the middle part of the country and wind up in one of my favorite places to give away money. Yay?
I also finally got my bridesmaid dress. Well I ordered it and I think i may have fucked myself royally on this one. I know the dress will need to be altered because it's too long. The dress will be here by 6/2 at the latest... the wedding is 6/7. I may not even be there to pick up the dress... I will not forgive myself if I'm mess this up. So yeah... I suck.
There's also something special that I'm going to try to do in San Francisco. It's been a long time since i've done it and it's something that I think I need to do at this point... but enough of the being cryptic. If I do it, I do it.
At about 3pm today I turned in my comment which *should* mean that I have met both the requirements for the Journal and my Upper Level Writing requirement... which *should* mean that I have 18 more credits to take before I am official law school graduate... and after this summer and taking the journal credits into consideration for next semester.... i will have 8 credit hours worth of classes... and then the Bar Exam...
But for now, I'm celebrating. Heading to San Fran in about 8hrs. I'm going to eat, drink, and be merry and hopefully come up with a place to live this summer. When I get back I'll be turning all my attention to catching up in my classes, improving my performance at my internship and convincing my boss to grant me one last leave of absence.
In other news, the sting of not being able to drive across country has hopefully been lessened. I think I'm going to help a friend drive across the middle part of the country and wind up in one of my favorite places to give away money. Yay?
I also finally got my bridesmaid dress. Well I ordered it and I think i may have fucked myself royally on this one. I know the dress will need to be altered because it's too long. The dress will be here by 6/2 at the latest... the wedding is 6/7. I may not even be there to pick up the dress... I will not forgive myself if I'm mess this up. So yeah... I suck.
There's also something special that I'm going to try to do in San Francisco. It's been a long time since i've done it and it's something that I think I need to do at this point... but enough of the being cryptic. If I do it, I do it.
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Vacation
We leave for San Francisco in 4 days... and I have a TON of shit to do before then. It's going to be a much deserved vacation though. I'm turning in my comment on Sunday then I'm packing and relaxing.
Yay!
Time seems like it's been sped up lately. Everything is shifting... everyone is moving and relocating... and while I'm moving forward too, I can't help but to also feel a little stagnant. I know that I need to do a better job of working on my goals and my future but sometimes I just want to be a little lazy. One thing is for sure, come hell or high water, I'm leaving DC after graduation, if only for a little while, I need to be able to say i've lived somewhere else.
Also, I woke up this morning to a swollen lip... and there's no reason for my puffy ass lip. Didn't eat anything weird, no unusual exposure to the cat... just puffy lip. I'm due at my internship in an hour and 45 mins... i'm hoping its fixed by then because this is actually pretty embarrassing... i need to buy groceries too. So much to do... blah blah blah.
Yay!
Time seems like it's been sped up lately. Everything is shifting... everyone is moving and relocating... and while I'm moving forward too, I can't help but to also feel a little stagnant. I know that I need to do a better job of working on my goals and my future but sometimes I just want to be a little lazy. One thing is for sure, come hell or high water, I'm leaving DC after graduation, if only for a little while, I need to be able to say i've lived somewhere else.
Also, I woke up this morning to a swollen lip... and there's no reason for my puffy ass lip. Didn't eat anything weird, no unusual exposure to the cat... just puffy lip. I'm due at my internship in an hour and 45 mins... i'm hoping its fixed by then because this is actually pretty embarrassing... i need to buy groceries too. So much to do... blah blah blah.
Saturday, March 1, 2008
I'm better
... and BJ's better too.
I don't think I've been that sick in YEARS. I can honestly say the flu picked me up and knocked me on my ass. Either way i'm pretty much better now and that's what's important.
I also got back out to see the godkids today. That made me smile... and then it made my ovaries start jumpin around. I'd really like to have kids soon. I'd also like to travel all over the world without having to worry about what to do with the kids. It's a very interesting place I'm at right now. I mean the truth of the matter is, if I'm going to have kids, I should do it soon... but like... I kinda don't want to. I'm torn. Some days there's nothing I want more than to just live my life for me and be selfish with my time... other times I want a family and all the stuff that goes along with it. **insert sigh here**
In other news... I'm kinda fuckin up this semester. I'm just not interested and that's bad news. I think it's because I'm doing way too much. Luckily this paper is due in a little over a week and then I will get a bit of freedom. For now, however, I must push thru and get this stuff done.
Wish me luck :)
I don't think I've been that sick in YEARS. I can honestly say the flu picked me up and knocked me on my ass. Either way i'm pretty much better now and that's what's important.
I also got back out to see the godkids today. That made me smile... and then it made my ovaries start jumpin around. I'd really like to have kids soon. I'd also like to travel all over the world without having to worry about what to do with the kids. It's a very interesting place I'm at right now. I mean the truth of the matter is, if I'm going to have kids, I should do it soon... but like... I kinda don't want to. I'm torn. Some days there's nothing I want more than to just live my life for me and be selfish with my time... other times I want a family and all the stuff that goes along with it. **insert sigh here**
In other news... I'm kinda fuckin up this semester. I'm just not interested and that's bad news. I think it's because I'm doing way too much. Luckily this paper is due in a little over a week and then I will get a bit of freedom. For now, however, I must push thru and get this stuff done.
Wish me luck :)
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