Homecoming Weekend 2007

Yehman, di Ersk Venerable is back on the Blog; hope I was missed.
Since last blog, I went to NY and hung out with my "Brother from another Mother", the Inimitable Icarus. That was about a week or so ago. Twas kool to see my bredren and dally round the NY landscape. I also previewed a prototype shirt for the Clothing Line my friends and I are working on; RMA on the rise, stay tuned! So overall, NY trip was a good weekend escape, good exposure, good fun.

Now to Homecoming: What can I say, HU homecoming is always a time of excitement, hype and energy and I made sure to get my piece of the action. Starting on Oct. 18th, I went to the Fashion Show, which was pretty entertaining (plus it gave me a "Designer scouting models" kinda vibe), then went to a few bars in the Dupont area (no Fish ting!!) before settling into a spot called Ozio. Ozio was the climax of the night; saw quite a few fellow alums and the music was decent. Most importantly, I stayed true to my non-drinking and managed to meet couple new girls. Always good; di Ersk must needs to socialize wid di ladies. Nuff Said.

Then came Friday - Yardfest. Got on campus round about 3:30 in the afternoon and headed up to the usual Caribbean spot, "The Tree", where I socialized with old friends and new alike. Yardfest was honestly kinda soft in terms of the energy and performances, but the social aspect was fulfilling enough. Again, met some new folks for my social clientele; Ersk was maximizing this wknd! Friday night, I decided not to go the CSA event featuring Machel Mantano and Renaissance because I wanted to do something different. I aimed for a "Black Card Event" billed as an African-Caribbean party that would be held at a spot close to where I live. So I figure, with my HU All-Access Black Card, it'll be free and it would be convenient as well. Problem. I went there at about midnight, parked, went in and saw minimal females and more than a handful of males. I promptly left; so much for the Black Card event. Luckily, the Basement Knockers, a Trini-led Social Organization that has sprung up at HU in the last couple years, were having an event not far from the Afro-Caribbean spot. So I got on my phone, contacted a friend I knew was going and asked him about the vibe. He replied that they were plenty of girls and it seemed hype. Shifted gears, literally, and sped up to that party. I had to come out of pocket and ting, ended up drinking 3 beers (Dammit, I faltered!) but it wasn't bad at all. Managed to have a good time and break a good dancing sweat.

Saturday. Spent the morning and afternoon resting, doing laundry, cooking and organizing for the night's highlight: Stone Love. For those who don't know, Stone Love is the pre-eminent sound system of Jamaica, truly foundation. They come to DC annually as part of Homecoming, but definitely catering to the Jamaican, and by extension Caribbean Massive that want to hear our own music for our own segment of homecoming. After killing time in the 9-10-11 o' clock hours - checking out another 'bogus' Black Card event, really a non-event that led to me destroying and discarding my card; going to Adams Morgan for a hot minute; picking up a young lady and chauffering her to her friend's house (pretty young ting ;); picking up my HU bredren and shuttling him and his cousins off to Platinum Club - I finally arrived at Club Envy/DC Tunnel, the venue for Stone Love. After finding a safe enough parking spot, I went into the line where I spent entirely too long because of an overzealous bouncer - the man damn near cavity-searched everybody; thorough is not the word, more like excessive and a lil suspect. I had to protest a bit when his pat down was getting too close for comfort. ANYWAY, finally got in and was surprised to see that half the spot was sectioned off for a Go-Go event (I hate Go Go) and the lavish space I was expecting Stone Love to resonate through was little more than a room. Granted, there was space enough for a good size crowd to rock to, but I would have preferred if we got the entire venue. Add to the fact that I was a bit "early" - hardly more than 15 people were there - and I was a bit concerned. Ended up parrin off with some bredrins and havin a Guinness to while the time away. But, I needn't have worried; before long I spotted an old flame/sistren who I hadn't seen in a year (guaranteed dance partner) and the crowd began to swell to acceptable proportions. The Music? Area Code dun it!!! Stone Love dun it!!! The session was good, not stellar, but definitely a good time, complete with a little dance-hall slackness caught on tape - Video light will not be denied! Verdict: Stone Love brought the wknd festivities to a satisfactory close.

SundAY - Rest, Reflection and an evening outing off-the-beaten-track. A decent day's night.
Homecoming 2007: 7 out of 10. Wasn't stellar, wasn't fukked up. I made it work for me.
and now....back to work, sigh. Come on Friday, don't hitch!

Allergies and Reactions....and maybe I need to see an E.N.T.

Today is not a good day for me when it comes to allergies: eyes are a bit itchy and painful (though that could be sinus pressure), insides of nose feels hot and my general olfactory areas are uncomfortable. I need prescription Zirtec without the prescription; druggies get at me ;)
Seriously though, I need to schedule a visit to an E.N.T. office; my roomie works in one, so I should capitalize a.s.a.p. And for all the non-med terminology people, E.N.T. = Ears, Nose, Throat. Sometimes I feel like my E.N.T. area is to me as the heel is to Achilles. Well, unlike Achi, I'm alive, so I'm gonna see about taking care of this problem.

Allergies aside, I've had a reaction; not in the medical sense, but rather, mentally. Right before blogging, I was checking my yahoo mail. You know how when you go to Yahoo's homepage, there's usually an article showcased conveniently near the top of the page? Well, there was one on what Men found attractive in Women, phrased as a Top Ten or something such. Anyway, I read it and found I agreed with most, if not all of the results.

From the top of my head these things were included: Standing Tall; Wearing our (men's) old dress shirts with little more than panties underneath/wearing a super thin t-shirt with a pair of boxers; wearing a baseball cap; nice scent; crying notwithstanding, an ability to tough-it-out; ability to get down and dirty (as in routine manual labor, NOT "low down and dirty"); tech smarts (particularly proficiency with software) and...I think that's all I can remember. Suffice to say, these are all valid attractions....wel software is iffy BUT it speaks to a woman's smarts so I guess it stays. If I had to pick one of these things as my number 1 though, which would be pretty hard, I'd go with the sex appeal of dress shirt - panties/thin t-shirt - boxers thing; y'know, off the top of the 'other head.' ;)
Well ladies, I guess at the end of the day, sex appeal speaks to my most basic instinct; at least until I get to know you.
This was My Reaction

.........

I'm at work and bored and tired. Can't wait to "buss" big so I can leave this life behind. Its been a long timed since I blogged, but basic synopsis: been hittin gym regularly, sleeping irregularly, BUT this wknd coming should be a WIN where the ladies r concerned ;)
I'm out.
Shortest blog ever.