Yet Another Shock

This week has been an emotional roller coaster for me. If Metro's crash on Monday wasn't enough, I, along with the rest of the world, am still in shock over the death of Michael Jackson.

My friend Janell called in tears saying she lost her first love. Those were my sentiments exactly. During the Thriller era, I was an adolescent in love with Michael. Or so I thought. I guess the more appropriate term would be a crush. I had countless posters, buttons, t-shirts, and magazines with his face on them. The picture above was one of my favorites. I will even admit to a now very embarrassing fact that I often slept with the Thriller album. I just knew we were destined to be together. My mother must have thought I was insane. But as with every crush, the fantasy dissipates as you mature and reality sets in, which in this case was facilitated by the weirdness that surrounded his life. And I think the sadness for many girls who were in love with him set in long before his death. We lost the guy we fell in love with long ago as his appearance and life became incomprehensible. But what is indisputable is his amazing talent and unbelievable impact on music and the world in general. Michael Jackson single-handedly changed the course of music history forever. Hell, he integrated MTV. And the Jackson family is undeniably, with all of its flaws, a great example of the American Dream. As I stated in my last post, now is the time to celebrate life and in this case, the life of a great talent. So, while I sort of just want to crawl in bed and cry, I think any of us who loved Michael should use the Washington Post's Guru's guide to find a party and dance the pain away! Rest in peace Michael.

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So Many Emotions

This week's Metro collision has first of all made me unbelievably sad. I feel so bad for the friends, family, and co-workers of the victims. I can't even imagine the horror that the victims experienced and still being faced by those injured. Just being on one of those trains would be traumatic. I don't even want to get on Metro right now because it's all so frightening. For those of us who rely on it everyday to get around, it's hard to believe something like this could happen. Yes I know, accidents do happen. But I'm also angry at what very well may have been preventable. In the almost eight years that I've lived here, there have been way too many "accidents" involving employees and riders being struck. And I still remember the collision in 2004 on the red line. The wreckage was left there for days forcing riders to be reminded of it. Luckily that one did not involve fatalities. I am just angry at the entire Metro system for what seems to be carelessness, poor administration, poor maintenance, and lack of and/or mishandling of funds. Why is it that Metro never has money? Don't the millions of residents and visitors pay enough to ride it? And why is it that Metro did not act on the recommendations of the NTSB to get rid of those old trains? I'm quite sure there are others asking the same questions and I only hope the investigation will lead to a safer system. No matter what, this accident serves as a reminder of how uncertain life is and how important it is to celebrate and cherish life to the fullest.

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Cutest Guy in the World

I took a much needed trip to visit my family for the past few days. It wasn't easy though. I value my independence and have become a creature of habit so it's hard to get me out of my comfort zone. And let's face it, visiting family is not a trip to the Bahamas. But as usual, it was fun. I ate a lot, took naps, and did something I never do: spend time with kids. Out of the three, two are teenagers so they almost don't count. They spend most of their time with their friends and act like they don't want to see any adults because you're "all in their business." Whatever. My nephew on the other hand is four years old. Those are his dirty little sneakers in the picture. I know I'm a biased aunt, but I do believe he's the cutest little guy in the world! And he's really smart. Of course for a kid that age, smart generally translates into "he's a little know it all." He told me several times to get off the computer so that he could watch cartoon movies on Netflix. But aren't four year olds supposed to be a little annoying anyway? And where do they get all that energy? It was exhausting just watching him. I forgot about all of that though when I watched him finally fall asleep at night with his favorite teddy bear. I'm hoping he'll grow up to be one of the good guys.

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Flying High

The trapeze has come to my neighborhood. Just a few blocks away from me in the old Convention Center parking lot, Trapeze School has set up shop. It reminded me of that Sex and the City episode when Carrie tried it and was having a hard time letting go and grabbing the hands of the instructor. I think it became a metaphor for her ability to let go of something in life or being able to trust or something...I forget. All I know is that I'm amazed by anybody who dares to do things like that. I'm a little odd when it comes to fear. I'll walk around by myself after midnight in DC but I won't even get on a roller coaster. So, I'm hoping some fabulous city girl will give it a try and report back. It must be very popular because according to the web site, classes are filling up fast.

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Do Men Fake Foreplay?

If you want to know the answer to that question, you'd better hurry up and get a ticket to the show, Men Fake Foreplay, which is at the Bethesda Theatre only until tomorrow. It's based on a book by the same name. After reading the reviews of this one-man show, I may just see get a ticket and buy the book. When I initially saw the ad in the City Paper I thought it was a funny statement on how men and women often experience sex differently. One of my favorite episodes on Seinfeld was "The Virgin". I loved how Elaine explained to her that after sex men act as if they're leaving the scene of a crime and suddenly become farmers who have to get up at the crack of dawn. While this hasn't always been my experience, I do find it odd how men can so quickly disengage after sex and have a hard time being able to cuddle. So, it wouldn't surprise me if men fake foreplay just to get the sex.
But it sounds like this play is about way more than sex. According to one reviewer: "About midway through Dugan's one-man show, it becomes apparent that the humor is mainly an enjoyable delivery system for an important message. The Emmy Award-winning writer and performer uses a keen sense of the comic to open up the topic of male sexual fantasy and where it collides with male sexual responsibility." Seems like a discussion we all need to have.

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An Evening in Eatonville

Like many of you, I have been eagerly anticipating the opening of Eatonville, the new restaurant at the corner of 14th and T NW, and of the same owners as Busboys and Poets, which is right across the street. The location, as I was told by our friendly southern waiter, has great significance. Any of you familiar with great literature might recognize the tribute to writers Langston Hughes at Busboys and Zora Neale Hurston at Eatonville, her hometown. The two unfortunately parted ways on a bad note and the owner wanted to bring them back together by way of two neighboring DC restaurants. They were both young and employed in our fair city and there is so much to their story that I couldn't possibly go into here. For instance, I had no idea she was the first editor of the Hilltop, the Howard University newspaper. The upstairs lounge is dedicated to this and is called the "Hilltop". How appropriate and charming, I thought. There is so much great history in this city... Anyway, I went there with friends tonight and immediately loved the place. So much attention was given to the decor that every mural, piece of furniture, item on the menu, and seating arrangement has some relevance to the great author, Hurston and her beloved town Eatonville, Florida. I'm a sucker for chandeliers so I was instantly drawn in. And oh yeah, I had the salmon with sweet potato and andouille sausage hash. While not spectacular, it was very good. They also have a very diverse beer list.

I ended up at Marvin and ran into our waiter. We danced all night and talked about fashion, hair, and moisturizers. He is of course gay and now wants to be my BFF. How did I end up a fag hag?!

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