In One Month.... East meets West

So today marks one month till East Coast meets West Coast. The last time I was in LA, while the company was cool, my stay was just blah. But I am hoping this trip out will show me another side of LA and seeing that my bestfriend is moving there to finish his PhD... I may need to start liking it at least for awhile. So.....

While I know there are a lot of people East of the Mississippi that read the blog... I need my Californians to hit me up and give me some ideas of what to do while out in LA. What parties/clubs should I visit? Any shopping secret places I need to know about?

So far on the list is...

1. Breakfast at The Blvd

2. Dinner at Wolfgang's Cut

3. Lunch at the Ivy

But I need more suggestions, I would really like to leave LA with more pleasant thoughts than what I think of it now....

On Another Tangent: Scooters

ok so I was watching NBC4 this evening and a they did a news story about the rapid rise of scooters being stolen in the District and the rapid rise of sales of these scooters.

I often joked when watching TV and seeing developing countries and the amount of people who would ride scooters there that one day I am going to get one to save on some gas. And now that gas prices are $4.19 a gallon, it may be that time. So while watching the story I jumped online to see how much these things go for. The prices range from about $1800 to $5200 for the Vespa below. So the guy on the news said the scooters get about 45 - 50 mpg. So of course my mind went into overdrive trying to compute what that would mean to me.... the 1.5 gallon tank would mean 75 miles I could drive. 75 miles is about 9 days of driving the 3.7 miles it takes me to get to work. So for about $6 I could get to work for 2 weeks... damn that is cheaper than Metro.

So what do you think? Anybody out there want to contribute to the Scooter Fund???

Young and Gay or Young and Feminine?

So a week ago Monday, Washington Post staff writer Theresa Vargas wrote a very interesting article entitled, Owning His Gay Identity -- at 15 years old. The article covers several stories of kids coming out in middle and high school but particular focuses on a local boy Saro Harvey and his struggles of being openly gay in high school. The article does a good job showing the discrimination and bullying the young man goes through however for me the underlying issue in the article and in life is not Saro being gay, but the prevalence for young homosexuals (or confused kids) thinking being gay is carrying a purse, talking with a lisp, or any other feminine characteristics.

While I usually read the Post everyday, I somehow missed this article and it wasn't brought to my attention until I was reading Rod 2.0 and was surprised when reading the comment section and how everyone was so proud of how courageous this young man was. Which you will get no argument from me. But the piece goes into how Saro's family is concerned that his self expression and choice of wearing girl's clothes may make him a target for violence.

While we are focusing on tolerance for others we should also focus on giving young homosexual men positive depictions of masculine gay men. There are very few on TV and in movies (sorry I don't quite think Omar from the Wire would classify as positive) and in the media in general. While there are several in the community, it is unfortunate that these are the daily images they see or strive to be like.

I think Vargas did a good job on the article but it pains me that I walk away from it upset about what young homosexuals think being gay really is.

There Are Still Good People Out There...

Today started off as downward spiraling day... I mean at 8:45am I was already contemplating going back home and getting back in the bed.

So me and my friend TJ attempted to see the 10pm showing of The Dark Night last night thinking ok Monday night everyone should have seen it by now no need to by advance tickets... wrong. The next showing wasn't until 11something and since I had driven way out to Maryland, I refused to go home without seeing the movie. Needless to say at 2am as I was driving back to the District... I was kicking myself at the thought of my 8am appointment.

When the alarm went off at 7am, I thought I had to be dreaming but a simple roll over to view my alarm clock proved otherwise. So I jumped out of bed thinking of the long day I had ahead (commitments till 10pm tonight) and thought oh well when I get home tonight I will sleep like a baby.

As I was walking to my 8am appointment I reached in my bag to get the directions. When I got to my appointment I saw that my US Passport had fallen out of my bag. As I rushed through the appointment I could only think retrace your steps then stop by the Passport office 2 blocks away to see if some good Samaritan turned it in. Retracing my steps was fruitless, and the rude and unhelpful rentacop security guards at the Passport office were of course not helpful and the worst unknowledgeable.

I got back to my truck to notice a wonderful $25 ticket on my window because apparently the meter maid was at my truck as soon as 9am hit to give me that ticket... I should have just skipped the Passport Office and I would have had at least $25 to put towards the replacement.

As I finally strolled into my office my coworker points out... "Did you know you shirt is ripped?" Yes my one and only Thomas Pink shirt ruined.

As I told her the story of my wonderful morning I logged onto my gmail account to notice an email titled "Your Passport". Some wonderful woman found my passport on the street, googled me and found my blog and other information about me on the net (I realllllly need to google myself)... my faith has been restored and there are still some good people out there.

East meets West

I have never been a huge fan of Los Angeles. Last time I was there, I stayed for five days and saw the Hollywood sign only once due to the smog. The smog also had me washing my face several times a day. After sitting in traffic at 8pm at night the first two days, I wondered why the hell these people weren't at home yet. After visiting Zuma beach and telling my friend there was no way he was getting me in that brown water... I wondered why the hell people lived there.
As if earthquakes, forrest fires, and mud slides weren't enough signs from God.

Well 3 years later I am making my return to LA. With everything going on on the Right coast (hey I didn't make it right just look at a map), I need a vacation and why not spend it with my bestfriend who is relocating to LA to finish his PhD. Sooooo instead of punking out in ATL this Labor Day I will be in the land of stars.

• Nonstop flight from Washington to LA .... check


• Luxury accomodations at the Five Star, Five Diamond Beverly Wilshire Hotel, A Four Seasons property... check


• One best friend to kick it with all weekend... check


• Need for a getaway... double and triple check

August 29-Sept 3 East meets West

~

Back to Normal???

I keep wondering when life will get back to normal... but then I ask what is normal? There will be no more trips to the hospital to sit with FLJ or to bring him clean undergarments or specially requested food since he despised the hospital food.

But that wasn't life as normal... we often sat around and just talked about how things are going to get better and back to normal.

I open the fridge and see some damn soy burgers... a lot of eating habits I agreed to change with him but I gotta have my meat when I want meat. So cleaning out my fridge was part of me trying to get back to some normalcy.

My ace and former roommate in college is in town for the next couple days for the AKA Convention celebrating their 100 years. In an effort to get me out of the house and active this weekend, she dragged me around to Howard, a party or 2, the Kappa Kookout, and to Georgetown to do some shopping. It has been great having her in town.... definitely brings back some old memories.

Even work isn't normal... last week being my first week back began an hectic week of the implementation of a new sales database system which has had more flaws and glitches than I can count... and less answers than questions.

So I think it may take a little more time to get back to normal...

Two weeks ago my consort, my confidant, my advisor, but most of all my friend lost his battle with cancer. The past two weeks I have been in a quiet space trying to understand God's plan and trying to figure out how does life adjust now.



Because of that I haven't had much to write here but of course my girl Jill Scott captured what I am thinking right this moment in her book The Moments, the Minuntes, the Hours, The Poetry of Jill Scott, so I decided to share:

Selfish

give me a minute to love you
an hour to stare in your face
a moment to praise your nose
your hands, your lips, your eyes
don't say later
don't say tomorrow
because the day's too busy
because the day's too hurried
too demanding

give me a week to hold you
a second to play in your lashes
a night to kiss your forehead
Your back, your feet, your fingers
Don't say you're tired
Don't say you're anxious
because the world is calling
because the world is heavy
Ever present

just let me soothe you
let me put you in my mouth and hum sweet tunes
let me calm that ocean

give me a day
give me four and more
to ease and please you
let me take that chip from your shoulder
place it on the nightstand for a while
because you're lonely
and
I am too

- Jill Scott