Good Old Girl Drinking Whiskey and Rye…

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In anticipation of the “Storm of the Century,” I went to Total Wine, a liquor store (warehouse, really) near my home I’d heard a lot about, but never visited. Because drinking alone under the covers isn’t sad if there’s a blizzard outside. Shut up, no it’s not.

The store was amazing! Every kind of wine, beer and liquor you could ask for at great prices! The whiskey and Bourbon aisle was like heaven. It’s officially my new happy place. I bought a bottle of the Elijah Craig small batch I tasted on the Evan Williams distillery tour I went on in Louisville earlier this month and a bottle of Builleit. I didn’t even get to really enjoy either before I realized the storm was a bust. Does the streets being clear mean drinking alone is sad again? Awesome, then I’ll get back to it. Below is the “Me In Your City” video I shot in Louisville. Bourbon and Bourbon distillery tours are my favorite. Check out the video when you have the chance!

Just Wrong

OK, so I finally caught the movie “Just Wright” from the beginning. And I’m pissed. Not just because the plot kinda stunk and there was no chemistry between the two main characters… but because it’s set in my home state (New Jersey) and in the scene where Common and Queen Latifah meet, they’re at a gas station pumping gas. In New Jersey.

Whoever wrote, directed, fact-checked and.or produced this film gets an “F” for effort. Seriously, the movie is set in one of only two states in the union where it’s illegal to pump your own gas, and the main characters meet while doing just that? As a Jersey girl, Latifah should know better.

Shame on you, Dana.

As I was watching it I went straight to Facebook and Twitter to vent my frustrations:

I was happy that a lot of my fellow New Jerseyans were disturbed by this as well. But I wasn’t satisfied. I know I was a little late to the game (the movie came out almost a year ago), but I needed to know if this inconsistency had been exposed and discussed on the Internet previously. So I Googled “just wright gas station jersey” which brought up a Wiki Page. I then scrolled down to the “Plot Errors” section and found this.

Mmmmm… Sweet validation. Yum.

There’s nothing that can be done about it now. But for all the big movie directors and producers who read this blog: If you decide to base your film in New Jersey and you need an activity around which characters meet and interact, stay away from gas pumping. Dinner at a diner or a White Castle will work just as well.

You can thank me later.

You’re welcome.

Get a life — Ice Skating

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So in my effort to obtain a life this year, I resolve to do at least one fun, out of the ordinary (for me) thing each week. I hope today’s outing wasn’t my first and last as I’m really bad with keeping resolutions…

This morning I went ice skating at the National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden Ice Rink. The urge hit me out of nowhere yesterday, which is crazy because I hadn’t been skating in at least 20 years — since my cousin Tanya and I used to skate at the ice rink in Old Bridge, NJ when we were kids. But it sounded like fun so I got up this morning, bundled up and headed downtown. Found a great parking space right in front of the Archives on Constitution and I went on in.

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When I went to rent my skates the guy in the booth (the only other Black person at the rink) said, “You better hold on to the railing.” Haha. Damn stereotypes! Just because I’m Black doesn’t mean I can’t ice skate — it means I can’t swim. Duh…

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Out on the ice it was kind of a rough at first. I took the skate booth guy’s advice and held on to the railing for my first few go-rounds. But then it started to come back to me… There was a little European girl skating circles around me, but that seemed about right ;) Little by little I moved further into the rink and after about 15 minutes or so I was doing pretty well if I do say so myself!

After about 45-50 mins. I was done so I walked around the sculpture garden for a bit, and then headed into the cafe for coffee and to warm up some. It was a really nice outing! Hopefully more life-getting to come. Please stay tuned and if you wanna come along for my next skating trip, just lemme know!

His other car really is a hearse

I saw this scene when I pulled off the Jersey Pike to nap at a rest area last nite…

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There’s something about a hearse that has be to towed that’s a little ironic. And a little sad. But also, damn funny! In a perfect world (or at least my perfect world) this pick-up would have had one of those “My other car is a hearse” bumper stickers or license plate frames:

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Alas, it did not… But imagining that it did kept me up and laughing for at least the next 40 minutes. Tee hee ;)

The ultimate reward a.k.a. my Daddy loves his yard

My dad recently won the “Yard of the Month“ award from the city of Hampton, VA. They gave him a sign he gets to keep all month and everything. Plus as a monthly winner, he’s now in the running for Yard of the Year!

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My dad has won numerous Man of the Year awards, garnered accolades on his job, and for his community service, but anyone that knows my dad knows that YOTM is pretty much the best compliment anyone could give him. Because he is a bit obsessed with his yard. He loves flowers so much my mom and I would swear he was gonna dig up the grass to make room for more. We used to joke that he would spend his very last dime on flowers and seeds and landscape beautification.

Admittedly, in the grand scheme of vices that’s not a bad one to have. But still…

He has chronic problems with his back so there were years when we lived in Jersey when he couldn’t mow the lawn himself so he’d hire kids in the neighborhood or his friends’ children to do it for him. But he always had a very specific pattern he wanted the grass cut in — alternating diagonals so you could see the color differentiation in the rows — and you BET NOT mess it up!!! My dad was in sales so when he was in town he worked from a home office that overlooked the front yard. And bad back and all I have — on numerous occasions — seen him bound down two flights of stairs to confront postal workers who cut across the lawn to deliver the mail.

They only ever did it once. Hahaha.

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Homecomings and my head on a white man’s body

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This weekend I traveled to New Brunswick, NJ to work at the Stress Factory Comedy Club. I was SUPER excited to finally get the chance to work this room since it’s literally 10 minutes from the house I grew up in. It’s a great club and they bring in top-notch talent. Not bad, New Brunswick… not bad at all…

My parents retired some years ago and moved south so I don’t have the opportunity/reason to visit very often. Downtown NB has grown so much since the last time I was home — 5 or 6  years ago. And I was looking forward to going to some of my favorite local spots (shout to the fine folks at Nicola’s, Filippo’s Famous, Old Bay and Delta’s — how I missed you so…) and catching up with old friends and fam  — most of whom have never seen me perform live. So many folks came out to support — way too many for me to post all the photos. But here are a few just for fun’s sake ;)

Me with D'Ana

Me with D'Ana

Me with Mr. and Mrs. Plummer

Me with Mr. and Mrs. Plummer

Les and J -- my two BFF's

Les and J -- my two BFF's

The staff at the club like to make collages using photos of the comics’ faces on all kinds of different backgrounds. Saturday nite when we walked into the green room there was my face on the headliner’s body. Too funny We both signed it and now we’re a part of the album! ;)

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We had some really great shows, so I’m hoping I’ll have the opportunity to go back and work there again. I had some fun with a couple bachelor/bachelorette parties at the Saturday late show. So if the tape didn’t cut off by then I’ll post it later on… Two days home and then off to Wisconsin!

Yay? ;)

Attn: All my homies in Jersey!!!

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I’ll be making my triumphant return home to New Brunswick this weekend July 16-18 to perform at the Stress Factory Comedy Club! I’m so looking forward to it — I’ve been dying to get work at this club for years and I’m looking forward to catching up with some folks I haven’t seen in forever. My parents retired and moved away about 6 years ago so I rarely get to go home. So getting paid to do it makes it even that much more fun!

Ticket info: https://rsv.stressfactoryreservations.com/tix/default.aspx?selsh=071609

Hope some of you can make it out!