by vivrant thang on all about me

 

You may not have a car at all
But remember brothers and sisters
You can still stand tall
Just be thankful for what you’ve got
Diamond in the back, sunroof top
Diggin the scene
With a gangsta lean, wooh-ooh-ooh

The lovely spring weather in the DC area has me playing my personal summer soundtrack a little early. Since I got back in town,  William Devaughn’s “Be Thankful” and Roy Ayers’ “Everybody Loves The Sunshine” has been on repeat on the Ipod.

Figures the weekend weather would be better here than at Derby. I wouldn’t say I balled out of control, but had a good time at the parties I did attend – admittedly it was largely due to the open bar!  I visited Churchill Downs before race day and took a few pictures. Watched the races at a cookout, but for me, it was overshadowed by the poor horse that had to be euthanized right there on the track. It was hard to watch Big Brown’s people celebrating when a horse was over there being killed. I don’t fly the PETA flag or anything and I’m not even remotely an animal lover. However, all that carrying on just didn’t seem right.

In any event, I feel so thankful to have been able to get away exactly when I needed to – in this economy. I’ve had so many things on my mind lately – the direction of my career and my side hustle, moving ahead with my five-year plan, whether the therapy is helping, letting go of the past, relationships / marriage / sex. Might sound crazy but I just don’t like having all of that on my brain at once. Not trying to think that hard. It’s exhausting. So for a few days, I just needed to put my freakum dress on and let go.

The same night I returned, I headed out to see Bilal in concert. When I first heard he was coming to town on the day I was getting back, I went into panic mode wondering if I would make it back in time. Wouldn’t have mattered though. Nothing but death would keep me from it. It was a hell of a show, as if there was any doubt it would be. I’ll share the videos later when I get my technical difficulties cleared up.

Actually, the best part of the evening was meeting one of my readers! We were standing there discussing the shows we’ve been to and the music blogs we read and out of the clear blue he asked whether I had a blog called  Songs in the Key of Life? I was SO geeked, ya’ll! I was sure he had found me via Soul Bounce but he actually stumbled on one of my concert reviews/videos.  He even suggested that Bilal get the side-eye of the week week week for some of his antics!  (If you’re reading, please contact me via the comments or offline). The whole experience really made my day. I am so thankful for this platform to share my passion and connect with good folks who know and appreciate real music.

After the show, Bilal was out taking pictures. Last time I saw him and got a photo op, I somehow lost the picture. You would think I would have raced over and been first in line. However, I was extremely tired and my head was spinning over some things that had gone on at the show (Readers, if you love me, you’ll never let me get involved with another male Bilal stan ever again – in this life or the next).  So I left with one of my friends and the other stayed behind with a dude she had come with. I checked in with her a couple of hours later to find out that her and dude had been robbed at gunpoint on the same street I had been parked on. Thankfully, nobody was hurt and he didn’t get away with much.  However, if the thief was brazen enough to rob a man walking with a female, what would he have done to two females walking alone? Then if I had stayed, I would have likely been walking with them and who knows what might have happened…especially if he had tried to take my camera with my Bilal video! I been through too much with these damn videos to go down without a fight.

All jokes aside, that incident definitely made me take stock of some things. There are some areas of my life that definitely need improvement and I am working towards it. I’m two weeks from celebrating another year of life while so many people are senselessly dying every day. This sista is going to be thankful for what she got.

I hope you all are too.