Almost There!!

I go away this coming Wednesday and I’m not even excited…yet! I’ve been going through some stress at work for the last few weeks and I’m totally burnt out! Last week it got to the point where I’d be in tears and almost every day last week when I was on my way to work, I’d be shaking. Things have calmed down considerably but not totally and now it’s just busy because we’ll be closed.

Tomorrow will be my last day of work until next Tuesday and it can’t come soon enough. It will be crazy then too because my other boss is just coming off 2 weeks holidays so she will be incredibly busy. Tuesday is also one of my longest work days of the week. I start at 7:30 and usually don’t finish until after 6 in the evening. I think I’m only going to settle down when I’m on my way home from work tomorrow.

As for my trip, everything’s pretty much set. I’ve done almost all of my preparations. All that’s left is to pack. I also had the task of making CDs for the road and I’ve already made about 5. I’m thinking I have about 2 more to do which takes hardly any time at all! Even though the main event is the private party held by John Legend and meeting all the ladies that I’ve grown close to through the Legend Network, I’m more looking forward to just being off and being able to relax and have some fun. Tracey and I plan to be back some time on Saturday. The day after I come back, I’m going to a concert with Amanda and that’s why I decided to take the Monday off too.

P.S. Darien just posted new music on his myspace page which is now playing on my blog...it's called So Into You featuring Big Pooh!! Enjoy!!

Untitled (written 07/04/07)

Four years I was in love
Things were great, things were good and towards the end, things were mediocre
When we parted ways, you wanted to be friends and now I wonder why
Most times when I hear from you, you need something
A question you need answered or a favor that needs to be asked
I know I’ve been taken for granted but I still can’t ignore the love I have for you
I’ve disregarded my hurt feelings numerous times in order to be there for you
To help you through some heartache and perhaps I was wrong to do that
Today you just brushed me aside like I was someone who meant nothing
As if I was some random person instead of a person you were once in love with
I’m mad because you still have the ability to hurt me like no one else can
That’s why my tears are falling
What did “we” mean to you? Should I not hold “us” in the high regard that I do?
I can honestly say that I’ve never gotten over you and maybe I never will
There is a part of me that held on to you
Thinking that if I can’t have you in love at least I can have you in friendship
But today you made me feel like I don’t even have that so, what do I have?
Nothing, nothing but hurt feelings, tears, wasted time and an empty feeling inside
Some say it’s best to live your life to the fullest so that you have no regrets
As I think back about that, I have a few regrets mostly all trivial...so they don’t count
Now I can say I have one regret…my regret is you

I Scream, You Scream...We All Scream For Ice Cream!

The Ice Cream Summerfest is the BEST concert I’ve ever been to and I was there with 2 of my favorite people…Linh and Tracey.

Thank goodness the weather co-operated and cooled down considerably. The seats we got were pretty close to the stage and the chairs were actually comfortable. The opening act was an R&B group from Toronto called Untitled. They were actually pretty good. They were young but they were cute. One of the dudes took his shirt off and got the ladies going! I swear, it’s soo wrong for a guy that young to have a body that nice!! LOL!! There was another cutie in the group that I liked but again, very young! He stood close to us at one pointed and Tracey offered to take a picture of him. It’s funny I think he pretended not to know Trace was taking a picture of him because as you can see in the pic that although he wasn’t looking at the camera, he looked like he posed (he's the one to the left) ! I don’t care…he’s still a cute kid! LOL!

First up from the main acts was Donell Jones. I was really looking forward to seeing him because there were so many songs I love by him but he was the only one that really disappointed me. It sounded like something was up with his voice…like he didn’t warm up properly but he was ok.

Carl Thomas came next and he was much better. His voice was rich and he was great. I actually didn't taken any pics but here's a vid...I'll post a link so you can see ALL the videos I took that day later!

Next was K-Ci & Jojo. I was a little weary about them. Not that I don’t like them cuz I do…it’s just there’s 1 song in particular that holds a very strong memory for me. I enjoyed their performance. K-Ci was particularly entertaining with his crazy, scrawny ass! He took off his shirt and trust me…we wanted that man to put it back on. All My Life comes on and I immediately sat down. I had my shades on which was good cuz I had major tears in my eyes. It was the first time I heard the song in its entirety in a long time and it was hard but Trace and Linh kept bugging me and made me laugh a bit which helped.

Jagged Edge was next and only 3 of 4 members made it. Apparently, one of the guys couldn’t get across the border…the kicker was the dude that didn’t make it, Kyle was my favorite of the group! They did well though because Kyle wasn’t one of the main singers. We enjoyed their performance. I didn't take much vids or pics of them because they hardly came to my side of the stage! Here is the ONE vid I took...

Only 2 acts were left which were the main acts that people were the most excited to see. SWV (Sisters With Voices) is my favorite girl group of all time. They announced that this would be there final performance together and they did not disappoint.

Last but not least was New Edition and they were by far, the best act of the concert! Everyone was disappointed that Ralph didn’t make it because he was sick but they held their own without him. I left Trace and Linh to go right up to the stage so I can take pictures and video with a really great view! Seeing them renewed my love for Johnny Gill.

He was amazing then and he’s still amazing now. It seemed he was on my side of the stage a lot which made me even happier. Any time any of the guys came on my side, they just see me holding my camera up.

The highlight of the night was when Johnny was on my side of the stage and I was calling his name. He smiled and waved at me then he called Mike over, “Mike, c’mere for a minute….look there!” Johnny put his arm around Mike and pointed to me. They posed for me and I took the picture. I yelled thank you to them and Johnny winked at me. I was extremely excited and the picture turned out great!

It was about 11 when the show ended and the 3 of us were starving. After getting some food and quickly going to Tracey’s to change, we went to the after party which was a lot of fun. At the end of the night though, my legs and feet were killing me and by the time we were walking to my car, I had a really hard time walking and was in tears. I got home around 4 which means we were out for 12 hours! The pain and the extreme leg cramps that I experienced at about 7am were worth it. I actually was surprised that I didn’t wake anyone when I was going through the cramps because I was balling my eyes out while crawling on the floor, trying to move! This pic is just before the extreme pain REALLY set in:

This was about a week ago and as I write this, I’m still smiling about it. That day is something I will never forget!

Soul Renewal (Originally written June 27/07 - Transferred from work PC)

As you can easily tell from my last entry, I had not been up to par…mentally and physical. There was about a week where I was almost at wits end regarding a few things and in addition to that, I had about 4 migraines in 7 days. I’m feeling better now…things have calmed down and I’m looking forward to a bunch of things.

One of the things that had calmed me down was on June 21, my friend, Tracey and I went to see Eric Roberson (aka Erro) perform. He’s a neo-soul singer from Philly that I’ve been fond of for a while. There’s something about music especially live music that uplifts my spirits and renews my soul. The show was held at this nice spot called Lula Lounge. The crowd was nice and so was the vibe. The fact that Trace and I managed to get a table right in front of the stage made everything even better. Tracey had never been to a live show before and I could see she really enjoyed herself. Erro did not disappoint and I have video to prove it. A number of times, he’d actually smile and pose for my camera. I'll post 2 vids here. Two of my faves and he looked at my cam both songs...Change For Me and Pretty Girl. Don't forget to pause the mp3 player to your right!

We managed to be one of the first people to meet Eric after the show. What a sweet guy! He was very charming and humorous. We took pics with him before saying good bye. I got home something around 2:30 in the morning and I was really dragging my ass at work the next day but it was surely worth it!!

Special thanks goes out to Sean Sax who I briefly met years ago and became re-acquainted with through Facebook. He was a huge part of bringing Erro to Toronto so I want to thank him for doing that and also for being a really cool cat! I look forward to seeing a few more shows that you put on and hopefully, just hopefully, we can get Darien up to the T Dot for a show too!

Like I mentioned before I have a bunch of things that I’m looking forward to. First, Linh, Tracey and I are going to see the Ice Cream Summerfest which is a huge concert featuring New Edition, SWV, Jagged Edge, Donell Jones, Carl Thomas and K-Ci & Jojo. The show is guaranteed to bring me some major flashbacks while they perform songs that I have attached to certain memories. This is also Tracey’s first major concert…as I mentioned previously, the Eric Roberson show was the first live show. I managed to make arrangements with Linh to grab an extra ticket for her last minute and I think she’s more excited than Linh and I put together! And trust me, Linh and I are pretty excited! LoL! At the end of July, Tracey and I are hoping/planning to go to Philly for the Kings & Queens Bash on the 26th. I am a member of John Legend’s official fan club called John’s Legend Network (JLN). The bash is an exclusive party for JLN members. It features an intimate party and performance by John himself. People are coming from all over to be at this party. Members are allowed to get another ticket to bring a guest so Trace and I will be driving down. We plan to stay a few days there to hang out as well. Then on the Sunday after I get back from Philly, I’m taking Amanda to see Little Brother and The Roots. I haven’t gotten confirmation whether or not Darien will be there but I’m going to the show regardless.

Right now, things are good other than the heat and humidity is pretty unbearable to me; especially when the air conditioning isn’t working properly at work. The last few days I’ve been suffering from heat exhaustion and I’m getting pounding headaches as well! Ugh! Oh well…I keep pressing on …