No suggested Valentine’s Day playlist this year unfortunately.  But that one still works – trust me!

My intention was to join in Cupid’s Hunt but I decided to leave that to the professional lovecasters. I’m glad I did because the early entries would put my meager efforts to shame. Stay tuned though because as I said last year, it’s all about spreading love the other 364 days a year for me. I have this idea that’s been brewing so there may be a mix in me yet!

I’m especially excited about this Valentine’s Day because I’m going to be spending it with my first love : music.

Earlier that day, I have an appointment for a relaxing hour-long facial, which I promised myself I would get once a quarter. It’s all about self-care for me this year. I was going to have a massage as well but just discovered that I get discounts through my job so will have to schedule that later. I’ll likely have a leisurely lunch down in that area, maybe pick up an outfit, and then return home, all vivrant and ready to roll to my first show of the evening.

Lalah Hathaway, Rahsaan Patterson and Noel Gourdin are going to be performing for one show here in DC at Constitution Hall.

I don’t talk enough about Rahsaan and Lalah in this space, particularly Rahsaan. Talk about underrated. The things this man does with his voice, particularly in live performances, never ceases to amaze me. I look forward to hearing Lalah perform songs from one of the greats of ’08, Self Portrait.

Both artists have an arsenal of songs that will get lovers in the right mood for a post-show “nightcap.” Here are two songs I’m expecting to hear.

Watch this bonus clip of this song from another performance where Ra-Re Valverde and Trina Broussard were backing him. Talk about making beautiful music together. I would love to see an entire album featuring these three. And I won’t even mention throwing Ledisi in the mix! <<<—-You should click there.

She claims this cover, which is not an easy thing to do!

Although I will highly enjoy that show, you know the highlight of my evening will be spending time with my man Bilal. I have been anxiously awaiting this day for a while now.

If it hadn’t been so cold out, I would have walked up and down the street with that poster in my hand. It’s that serious.

I know we are going to get a supersexy version of “Soul Sista.” I hope this song is last because I will surely be ready to go and practice making some Lil Vivs after this one!

Damn, it’s going to be a good night. I hope yours is even better.

Happy Lovers Day, my dear readers. You should be loving something!

As I’m writing this, it’s been about 48 hrs since the end of an error. And the beginning of an era of change. I’m realistic and don’t expect the man to walk on water. But I know we have nowhere to go but up from here!

To say the energy is DC was at an all-time high is a understatement. There is absolutely no other place you could have paid me to be in the entire world.  I was supposed to have two different people come stay with me but I ended up with no guests. And to be quite honest, as bad as it may sound, I am glad things worked out that way. I was able to move when I wanted to move and the entire weekend went remarkably well for me, despite worrying myself gray about logistics in the weeks preceding.

Call me crazy but I was not pressed to attend any of the official events or balls. That’s just not the way I chose to spend the weekend. I  requested tickets through my job to several events, particularly the swearing in ceremony. I rarely talk about the 9-5 on here but just know that I work for an organization that has been extremely influential in this whole election cycle. So much so that Obama and Biden have both visited our building to meet with our big wigs and will likely return. However, the pickup times for the tickets were very inconvenient for me and honestly, I would likely have ended up keeping them as souvenirs. It was probably best that I let them go to someone who was going to make use of them.

Instead, I chose to attend a few off the radar parties and concerts where I knew I would be in the company of progressive and culturally minded folks that wanted to move their bodies in celebration of Obama and real music.

Friday night, I attended the Chocolate City Cultural Alliance Inauguration Party where Soul Controllers (featuring my favorite DJ Stylus) and Daz-I-Kue of Bugz in the Attic, a collective of UK-based DJs and producers who make the broken beat music that I so love were spinning.

I’m very ashamed to admit that I’m just getting up on them.  And that’s why I’m glad I was there! My heart was too because that was the first event at which I got more cardio in than I probably have in the last few months.

Listen to a clip from his set. I say listen because none of these parties were video-friendly but that wasn’t going to stop me!

The next night I set out on the historic U Street to see what I could see and take in some more of that electric feeling. The vendors had everything from blinged-out Obama shirts to Obama waters to Obama “Jordans.”  Anything to stimulate to economy – I guess. You can see random pictures I took throughout the weekend here.

Through a series of events, I ended up having the best evening with nOva of Soul Bounce and DJ Stylus at a spot called Almaz where NYC-based DJ Ian Friday was on the wheels.

Trust me, it was as good to him as it was to us.

When we were  with him outside afterwards, I promised to be a stan for life.  I think this might be the year I start really building my collection of music from DJs and producers such as Bugz in the Attic and DJ Ian Friday. This is good music folks.

Sunday evening I actually skipped the concert on the Lincoln Memorial (if you can believe it – although I heard it was great! Stevie? Nuff said) and went into Georgetown. I wanted to feed other cultural love -of art- and see the ManifestHope exhibit of Obama inspired pieces. My heart was full as soon as I walked into the gallery. It was truly something to behold and I captured just about every piece of art in there via photo and on video. You can take a look at the pictures here. You can view the video from the exhibit here: pt 1 | pt 2 | pt 3 | pt 4

Along with the visual art, the music also played an important part in this exhibit. I had to go up and give DJ Troublemaker out of LA major props for his selections, particular after a HOT mix of Santogold’s “You’ll Find A Way.” He gave me one of his CDs and I will be checking for him as well.

Later that evening, I attended the Eric Roberson concert where The Revelations featuring Tre Williams opened. I’ll report more on that with a review next week. Meantime, for your comic relief, I’ll share the video of Erro confiscating my camera and recording himself performing “Softest Lips.” It is truly a comedic tour de force. Such raw emotion.

Monday evening was the event before the main event: the Wonder-Full Party. All Stevie, all night long. Can it get any better? As far as I’m concerned, he could have been the only one performing the entire weekend at every event. But they didn’t ask me.

This event sold out leaving many people out in the bitter cold unfortunately. I would have considered it the FAIL of a lifetime if I wouldn’t have been able to report about this party here. I can’t describe the feeling of exhilaration as Obama chants broke out over Stevie’s music. People dancing with joy and abandon. I wish all of you could have experienced it.

Wonder-Full wrapped up around 2:30 am and then Rich Medina took the wheels pitting James Brown versus Fela until about 5am.

I stumbled up the street to Busboys and Poets where I remained until about 1pm when all of the ceremonies were over. I was exhausted, but never closed my eyes. I didn’t want to miss a thing.  Silly me even recorded his whole speech and various entrances onto the dais. I wanted my own copy.

I shared a table with some cool folks I’ll probably never see again but we’ll always remember that we shared that historic day together.

Now there was one FAIL I’m kicking myself over.

This is St. John’s Church where the Obamas attended service Inauguration morning. See that white building on the left of the picture….DIRECTLY next door to the church. THAT’S MY JOB AND THE BUILDING WAS OPEN! I COULD HAVE BEEN THERE. ARGHHHHH! Sorry, was screaming at myself. I don’t know how I missed that one.

In any event, it was a great weekend for me but I am glad it’s over so we can get down to business. While we were here living it up, people are still contemplating suicide as they face foreclosures. Millions are still unemployed. We’re still a country at war.

But now I can rest a little easier because we have the right man for the job.

Let’s get busy.

Note: As always, there is a bit more video on my You Tube channel. I’ll be adding more over the coming days. So be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss a beat!

Only on this blog ya’ll (and on my diet, but that’s another post).

Nobody has put a ring on it so that’s the only cheating going on over here!

If you’ll remember in my Top Five Inspirational Songs of 2008 post, I alluded to the fact that I had a column that would be debuting soon. After the last debaucle, I decided not to mention it again until it was actually up.

B-Side Love Affair (also the name of a track on Sy Smith’s album Conflict) debuted just before the New Year. The first post was introductory – introducing Vivrant Thang and my passion for B-Side artists and their music.

My second column, posted today and highlighted on the front page, is called ”Pave A New Road with Obama and Eric Roberson.”  I started off 2008 by seeing Erro in concert and he will also be my first official show of 2009. So what better artist to kick off the column with?

I’m really excited about this opportunity because they have a massive audience over there and a very active community who aren’t shy about commenting! So I feel great about the fact that these B-Side artists I spotlight will get a bit more recognition. 

If you’re so inclined, check me out over there and peruse Urban Thought Collective in its entirety. There’s an array of columns over there on various topics such as fashion, finance, technology, dating, and fitness. I’ll likely link up here when I post.

I’ll be writing over there every Wednesday. Now don’t worry. Just because I’m cheating, I have no intention of abandoning or divorcing this space. Actually, I am moving full speed ahead with some of the changes I’ve mentioned before to enhance your experience, my dear readers. So stay tuned!

I finally have my laptop back! It had to be wiped clean so I’m starting from scratch. Bear with me for a bit more and I’ll be back in full swing. Meantime, feel free to let me know what kinds of things you would like to see more of here.

Album reviews? Artist spotlights? Personal writing? Do you want to hear what I’m listening to more often? Do you miss Side Eye of the Week?

I have everyone has been enjoying the last days of 2008. I’ve been off from the 9-5 since December 22nd and have used the time somewhat wisely. I’ve spent the time reflecting on the year that has passed and preparing for what’s to come in 2009.

Overall, 2008 was a good year for me. Life is certainly better than it was in 2007. I did lose a couple of longterm frienships this year. But I don’t believe that everyone is meant to ride with you until the end of the road. I wholeheartedly subscribe to that whole reason, season , lifetime school of thought. While I have a far much easier time letting go that most people, I do take time to clearly identify the reasons that a particular person was in my life and why it’s time to let them float on.

I celebrated one year of blogging here back in September. Truthfully, I neve expected to make it to a year, which is the reason I started out on a free platform. I am amazed at the direction that this blog has taken and so very grateful for you, my dear readers, that come here to see what I have to say. Your comments both on and offline have really kept me going.  And it makes me want to go further.

Looking back at my 2007 blogging goals, I think I have tackled some of the most important ones.

• Commit to a regular writing schedule
  Certainly more regular than I was when I started this blog. I actually get antsy if I haven’t written anything in a few days.
• Continue strengthening my writing skills
  I think they’ve gotten better. I still got so far to go. For the most part though, I think ya’ll understand the words that are coming outta my mouth
• Interact more with other bloggers in my niche
  My name is Vivrant Thang and I am a Twitter and Facebook addict. I do pledge to do more with Facebook and Linked In in 2009 though.
• Attend Blogging While Brownand Blogher conferences
  Attended neither one. I blame that on my new job. I have my eye on a couple of conferences next year though. I also have my eye on new furniture and two vacations in 2009 as well. About that sugar daddy….
• Move blog to it’s own domain with more of a “vivrant” design
  I’m glad that I didn’t proceed with this because I’m just now settling on a strategy for the direction I want to take this thing. It would have been a disaster to move ahead with a dot com without a plan. This will be done fist quarter of 2009.
• Participate in more blog campaigns about important issues in the Black community
  I didn’t do anything this year outside of a few political posts and rants. I did capture my entire voting experience though, which is important to me.
• Increase my readership and comments
  Done and done! I am thrilled with the developments and look forward to more in 2009.

There are some good things on the horizon for me in 2009. I’m in the process of starting a small business with a partner. I also have a column that should be debuting soon. I’ll announce it when it’s actually live. That last experience showed me to keep my trap shut until things come to fruition! I’m also working on a couple of other things that should increase readership here and on my You Tube channel.

You know with all good things must come a soundtrack. So I’ll finish out my best of  lists with my top five  inspirational songs of 2008. I hope that they move you into action the way in the same ways they have helped me.

Happy New Year my dear readers!

Jazmine Sullivan, “Fear” (read post about my fear)

Hil St Soul, “Life”

Reel People, “Anything You Want”

 John Legend, “If You’re Out There”

You got to
earn my affection
put your back into it
before we get this show on the road
don’t make me
lose all my self respect
I ain’t desperate yet so
come on now stop actin’ out and act like you know

Last week I listened in on CreoleinDC’s online talk show Word On The Curb, The Independent Woman edition. The discussion really got deep as they talked about to negotiate dating as an woman who is used to doing for self and how that plays out with men who ultimately need to be needed.

Long after I logged off, the conversation stayed on my mind. Recently a male friend who I’ve known for several years described me as having a tough exterior but underneath it all, I’m “aight.” Okay, whatever that means! I do have a tough exterior for several reasons but it’s not hard to melt it away with some ack right. When I’m treated right, I respond in kind. It comes natural to me.

I’ve been taking care of self since I was 17. I left home for college and haven’t moved back in with my Momma for even a single day. Not that she would have me I’ve never been lucky or unlucky enough (depending on how you look at it) to always have a man around to take care of things for me. I’ve always had to do for self and done it quite well. I live a pretty fortunate life over here compared to some. Mama Viv raised a woman well equipped to handle her business.

I go into automatic pilot when it’s time to take care of things. I navigated the entire homebuying process – on my own. I moved myself twice (once interstate)- again, on my own. I take care of everything related to my household  and everyday living- once again, on my own. I don’t have a Daddy, Mommy, family, or even friends to call in the area if I have an immediate need. That’s just how it is. It’s not that I’m so independent that I never felt I could depend on anyone. That’s just my life. So in some ways, I suppose being an “independent” woman for just about half my life has made me a bit of a “hard rock” who appears not to need anybody.

However, underneath that tough exterior, when I do meet a man that is worthy of my time and company, I am more than willing to step back and let him act like a man. In many ways, I expect it.  If we’re seeing each other regularly and you’re spending time with me at my home, call me crazy but I should never be carrying the groceries in from the car or taking the trash out.  If I need something (and we’re not talking about money for the light bill here), I should be able to depend on you. It’s not that I can’t do all these things. I don’t want to do all these things.

The fact is, I need you. And I’m not ashamed to admit it.

Now some would argue that a man shouldn’t be expected to do any of those things if you’re just dating. What does Amel say?

before we get this show on the road?

How will I know that I want to get the show on the road if you’re not showing me what I can expect down that road? If a dude is acting like a boy while we’re dating, I’m smart enough to know he’s not going to magically morph into a man once I got papers on him.

you set a pretty table and serve me raw meat
ask me to your show but don’t save me a seat

So on that glorious day when I do find a serious candidate for the hard but rewarding  job of becoming Mr. Vivrant Thang and we are in “negotiations” about what our expectations are, I will make it clear that there are certain things I’ll “expect” him to take care of if he wants to live happily ever after with me (and he should do the same). Nothing unreasonable.

Bottom line, if he’s a man and he sees how well I respect and treat myself, then it should be natural for him to respond in kind and treat me like a woman…his woman.

However, as I’ve learned, there are times when you have to open up your mouth and ask for what you want.

Some small examples of things that Viv already knows she’ll be putting on the table.

I don’t want to have to worry about my car. I’ll be riding his big-headed kids around. Therefore, it’s his responsibility to make sure it’s clean and running right.

I really don’t want to know what’s going on outside the house with the exception of the gardening. I’ll help out (depending on what it is) but I  just don’t want to be primarily responsible for fixing or maintaining anything.

This are just minor examples, nothing I think is unreasonable or out of pocket. Trust me, once a man has put his back into it and truly earned my undying affection, he will move heaven and earth to keep it.

It’s like that. And that’s the way it is.

 Not familiar with this song? Check out a live performance by Amel Larrieux.