Some of My Favorite Things...

So I am finally back in the District after being away for two weeks catching up on all the shows I DVRed while away. And of course Oprah has inspired another blog entry. I am sitting here on the couch watching Oprah's Favorite Things eating ice cream and brownies... and it has inspired me to give you a list of my favorite things that I have experienced in 2005...

• Edy's Slow Churned French Vanilla Ice Cream (preferably served with Duncan Hines Double Chocalate Chunk Brownies)
• Montreal, Quebec ... a beautiful city with so much culture and activities.
• Mercedes Benz CLS500... once again Benz brings you sophisticated elegance on wheels.
• The Da Vinci Code ... Dan Brown put his foot in this book... from the first chapter to the end he had my attention.
• John Varvatos a soft but masculine scent.
• The Phoenician Spa ... until you have a hot stone massage by the serenity mother-of-pearl tiled pool with cascading waterfalls overlooking Camelback Mountain you haven't lived!!
• A Brown Sugar Martini... never been a fan of spiced rum but a few of these had me on my ass this week
• The iTrip... now I never have to listen to DC radio again... 1200 songs at my fingertips.
• True Religion Jeans Joey Patchwork Style ... finally designer jeans that fit right and come with a zipper!!
• Monday's Open Mic night at Busboys and Poets... a new coffee house in the famous U Street area of DC.
• The Treo telephone... call me a workaholic but having my Palm pilot and cell phone with my calendar, Outlook contacts, and email all in one has been a life changing experience. With the new 700 version coming out in the new year... I will be hooked for one more year.
• Vonage finally unlimited calling, any area code i want... all for under $25 a month.
• Comcast DVR finally an easy way to record and watch television.
• Commander in Chief.... the best new show on television. Tuesdays on ABC at 9pm EST.

Color Purple and New Years!

Last week Oprah described it as a full circle experience. This week I describe it as how I will spend my New Year's Eve. I just purchased tickets to the 7:00pm December 31st performance (center Orchestra of course)of The Color Purple.

It is truly a full circle for Alice Walker. From seeing her story become a 1983 Pulitzer Prize winning novel to a 1985 Oscar snubbed film and now to a Broadway musical. Let's just hope the Tony people get it right this go round. When Oprah read Walker's The Color Purple 23 years ago, her life, she said on her show last week, was changed. When a film version of the novel was announced a few years later, Oprah stated she prayed every night just to be a part of the experience. At that time Oprah was a pretty much unknown local news personality... that Quincy Jones saw star quality in. And now after a $1million investment and lending her name to the marquee the show is on Broadway. Following last week's appearance on the show , ticket sales for Broadway's musical The Color Purple reached more than $1 million in single tickets and nearly the same in group sales, according to Variety.

As the musical's press release states... Spanning over 40 years, The Color Purple is an inspiring family saga that tells the unforgettable story of a woman, who, through love, finds the strength to triumph over adversity and discover her unique voice in the world. I have read the book and seen the movie at least a hundred times. I have seen it tought in women studies and african american literature classes during undergrad and have heard many of the lines quoted and misquoted at least a million times.

Rest assure I will have a blog entry on the day after to recount my experience. And I hope that every fan gets the opportunity to experience this as well. So do you plan on seeing the show? And what are your plans for New Years?

In case you missed it...

Auburn 28

Alabama 18

The fourth consecutive Iron Bowl victory for the Auburn Tigers!!

War Eagle

What a week... o what a week. I am in the midst of traveling but wanted to drop a quick line.

It is 230pm and I have officially ended the largest convention and set of events I do each year. This week was filled with dinners, receptions, mini conferences and the one large conference for about 1000. Everything went well and the powers that be have congratulated me on yet another successful event.

Now that all the participants are gone, I can finally enjoy the Omni Orlando Resort. I am in hotels quite often (at least 15 different hotels this year alone) but this one definitely stands out. The panasian restaurant and the upscale sports bar are definitely not your typical hotel dining outlets. And the spa has proven to be quite a relaxing heaven.

I will lounge here for the rest of the weekend then I will be off to St. Kitts for a week with my paternal family. While they do not celebrate Thanksgiving there, my family will have a memorial service and family dinner for my cousin we lost due to Katrina.

Hope all of your Thanksgivings will be as sunny and beachfront as mine!!

Are You Living in The Truth?

"The biggest surprise on the soulful journey to authenticity, whether as a philosophy or a spiritual path, is that the path is a spiral. We go up, but we go in circles. Each time around, the view gets a little bit wider."
— Sarah Ban Breathnach

What a week, what a week. Two things that happened this week got me to thinking... Am I living in my truth? The first was a conversation with a college friend of mine. He called me on Monday to let me know that he was getting married to some girl he had dated in high school. I only had one question for Lance... "Are you happy?" His reply was this is what he needed to do to be happy in the future. I told him I can accept that and that I will look for the invite in the mail.

Now I met Lance several years ago when I went to the fraternity informational session. Very attractive brother with a degree in Engineering and had been working making crazy dollars at Boeing before being laid off last year. He eventually had to move home to take care of ailing parents and hasn't quite made it back to where he once was. Lance was also (at that time) one of the first bi-curious brother I had ever met.

The second incident came while watching Oprah this week. Her guests were Terry McMillan and her now ex husband Jonathan Plummer. After hearing this story for months, Oprah secured the first interview with them together (I am sure buying the movie options for Terry's latest book didn't hurt). While at first I felt some sympathy for Terry... listening to the story together brought me to the realization that Ms. McMillan is full of shit.

I won't recount the entire show because I am sure you have seen or heard about it by now. However, first she tells the story of how he came out to her, and then begins to recount on how she held him all night as they cried. And then put him up in a hotel. Later in the show both Terry and Jonathan say they've found closure after recently spending some quality time together. Quality time spending the evening together including taking a bath together. While I do not condone anyone hiding their true sexuality from their mate, Terry's anger and rath that she has expressed over the past few months just seems to be a cry for media attention for her new book.

I was left wondering after both of these incidents... are these people being real with themselves? Are they truly living in the truth?

I had to think myself... am I living in my own truth? At first I was like oh hell yes, of course I am. I always keep it real. For some reason this question has not escaped my thoughts... and the more I think the more I realize... I may be living in MY truth, but MY truth is not always the truth.

There are feelings that I hide.... people I avoid... situations I smile through, as I shoot daggers in my mind. There are things that I do that I am not happy about and shouldn't do. There are people in my life that shouldn't be just because I don't want to be alone.

Guess I have some work to do. Are you living in the truth or your truth?