YIPPY!

Self,

It's time I share that  I am officially a property owner!  I'm excited about all the things to come friends coming to town to visit, my first Christmas & New Year's, being able to entertain family and friends, quiet moments to myself.

I just got keys tonight.  The full move will be October 27, 2014. 

I'll post an update on how that goes.

Sincerely,

Pharoah

Exciting News

Self,

So, I have to share that I went ahead and bit the bullet.  I got pre-approved for a home loan and had my first property viewing yesterday.  It was a condo in Highland Park, which isn't really what I want but I also don't want to be soo close-minded that I may miss out on a gem.

However this wasn't a gem for me.  It had nice features, but I didn't get the feeling that it was home....So I will keep looking.

Wish me luck!

Sincerely,

Pharoah

Q.U.E.E.N. /\^/\^/\

Self,

So I received this text message to youtube a song, by one of my favorite new artist, Janelle Mon­áe.  The Song is called Q.U.E.E.N.   I love the song and video, I will be looking for it on iTune when I get home.





So after having viewed the video 4-5 times I came across these ladies doing a cover of the song...and they are jammin'!

Check them out...





Well what do y'all think?


Sincerely,
Pharoah

PS -  The Booty Don't Lie!

Hot Cakes!

Self,

I literally just got off the phone with a pair of business partners in which the conversation was about me possibly making cakes for their restaurants in the Lancaster/Palmdale area (about an hour north of Los Angeles.)

This is in the very early stages of negotiations, particularly on my part, but atleast to start it sounds like I only have to make 2 cakes every other week...although I think it may actually be every week because I think they are under estimating how quickly they will go through a cake by the slice.

I know I have a lot of other stuff going on, but I am putting it out there that I want this to work...hell even just through the summer or the end of the year to start, then reevaluate.  So posting it here is my way of staking a claim on it in the universe.

Sincerely,
Pharoah

I think I've been Hexed

Self,

I am grateful for the ability to smile and laugh...and the friends that can make you do so!

So Thunderbolt has been running a fever and not been on his best behavior because of it. Due to Thunderbolt's illness I had to rely on other means of transportation to get to work this morning, mainly being my dad giving me a lift to the light railway station....which meant having to get up, get out, and on the platform by 5am. (I usually don't get up til 530, so this camper was not pleased.)

I made it to work and was setting at my dest when I texted my friend, The Black Hobbit (TBH).  When he asked how was I doing I responded "sleepy' because he already knew about my transportation ordeal from our convo from last night. 

This was his response:

Ok, do exactly what I tell you!!!! Since you are sleepy, you should go to your cubicle and say this prayer REALLY LOUD.  "Dear Jesus, thank you for granting me a good day today. You blessed me and gave me the strength not to harm my coworkers, especially the ones who are on the other side of my cubicle.  Thank yu for curing my coworkers stomach problems because if he had farted in the company car one more time, I would have vomitted all over him.  I'm graetful that you gave me this job and even though I'm smarter than most of these ignorant fuckers, you continue to sustain me in their presence. Watch over me while I sleep on my desk during company hours. In Jesus name, Amen."

I was in stiches from laughing because I couldn't laugh loudly.  I called him and told him how crazy he is.

About the same time I was looking at FB seeing the post from people I had missed over the last few days. I read one from a friend who posted that he was Engaged as an April Fool's gag.  I'm reading the comments and I get to the last one on the page from some girl who said he better invite her.  That's when out of the blue my fingers typed;

Yes invite me too...but I'm warn you when the ceremony gets to the part when they ask "if anyone objects to this union" I'm gonna shout " SSSSTTTTTTOOOOPPPPP!" and when every got over their shock and a silence has fallen over the room, I'll either whisper "I've always wanted to do that." or "That's just my baby daddy." LOL

Y'all I think TBH has hexed me to be a fool like him and it kicked in at that moment!  I feel so ashamed!   Beware of short black hobbits that are insane....they have magic.     Sincerely,  Pharoah   PS, I leave tonight to go see BabyBro tonight, I'm a bit excited to see him, it seems like it been forever...I hope he is too!

The Birthday Blues

Self,

This is not how I want to start off the "new year,"  But I heard somewhere that through pain comes growth, so maybe this is just a growing season for me. 

So I literally brought in my birthday alone at the beach in the rain (well it had rained earlier and still drizzled a bit)...feelin down about a the discontiued association of a romantic interest. And although I still think about this individual....even though I know I shouldn't, the sound of the waves did seem to lick my wounds and sooth my heart some.  Maybe I have to make a few more trips to finish the process or even take the longer drive to my favorite beach for a more intense healing session.  The rest of my birthday went well. A new dear friend took me to a special bakery in Manhattan Beach for a slice of cake....that was well appreciated particularly since I am doing a detox clense/diet which requires the elimination of sugar and dairy.  Then later that night I was treated to dinner with my parents and brother.

As part of the birthday celebration friends had arranged for us to go to a cigar lounge in Beverly Hills and then a rum bar.  There wasn't many of us at the lounge but it was good to sit and chill with the fellas with the aroma of a good cigar lingering overhead.  The plan was to meet the ladies at the bar but a couple of the fellas did not dress appropriately to be admitted to the bar so we ended up going to a diner down the street having some food and drinks.  GOOD TIMES!  It was good to be surrounded by laughs, love and joyful faces.

Although the break-up darkened my horizons occasionaly, that wasn't my biggest frustration about my birthday.  I appreciate ALL the birthday wishes I recieved. In fact I am even more grateful for them because of the disappointment of there being two friends I was expecting to get atleast a text from as a bday greeting and didn't.  I totally understand the power of recognition....and it kind sting to not be acknowledge on YOUR day, and I will do my best to make sure I acknowledge others birthdays.  One of the two I still haven't heard from...and haven't in weeks, but we have been hit and miss for a while.  I hope he is well.  The other I got a call from him 3 days after my birthday as I was driving to my bookclub meeting...(I'll always overlook tardiness...and I had figured it was like him to be late with it.)  However the conversation was about him wanting me to find and read some comments on Facebook when I got a chance, so we he can ask my opinion about something related to those comments.  I won't dwell on it nor will I hold a grudge...it's just what it is.

Sincerely,
Pharoah

Christmas

Self,

Well it is the day after Christmas, and i had a good day...although I kind of wish that I took the day off nd stayed home in bed today!

I had a good day yesterday.  Nothing extravagant.  After hanging out with two different groups of friends on Christmas Eve til 2am, I was awakened by my mom to join the family to exchange gifts at 10am.  I got cologne from my brother, an Amazon gift card from his girlfriend.  From my parents, the all time favorite - money, house slippers, lottery scratcher, gas card. From friends I received  a bottle of homemade coquito (sp) which is like a Puerto Rican egg nog, a set of kitchen towels from William-Sonoma, and a new (dating) friend gave me a a short-sleeved button-up shirt.

I hung out with the new friend and some of his peeps for a bit which included a viewing of the "Django" film.

Like I said, Nothing extravagant, but I enjoyed every minute of it!

Sincerely
Pharoah

FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT....

Self,

I know I have been a way for a while...its not because I've lost love for the loyal subjects of the realm...although maybe my subjects have lost love for me...Please say it ain't so!

I have to have and hopefully y'all can give me some insight to this question.  Where and how do people get that competative nature?  I am finding that to some degree I don't really have one.  To some degree I haven't needed one and not having one has still been.....useful.  However I think I'm now at a point where the lack thereof is not serving me....and I have to figure out how to fix that.

I mean to me it come from one of two places...

1 jealousy - in so much as "keeping up with the Jones" and since Timmy is wearing Prada and have a brand new Honda, I have to go get the same.  I can't remember a time where I ever felt that way....ok maybe back in the day with Cross Colors...

2 inferiority/superiority complex - in so much as since Timmy has a new Honda, I have to go get a new Lexus, because I am so much better than he is.  I'm a firm believer that we are different and you do what you do and have what you have while I do what I do and got what I got....Some things may be the same...some won't.

Ultimately competition means allowing oneself to be judged by others.  I guess my lack of a competative spirit comes from not wanting to be judged.  We all know that a person's judgement is 90% subjective and relative to the person doing the judging and have little to nothing to do with the abilities of the person being judged.  I mean is Simon Cowle such a fantastic singer/vocalist himself to say who is and isn't talented???  And yet he sat as a judge for several seasons on that show.  Hell look at just about any type of election from middle school student body president to the presidency of the United States, it ultimately boils down to a popularity contest of who is more likeable...and that simply is determined by those voting/judging.  (I'm happy that it was decided that Obama was more likeable than Romney....but the winner was chosened by us voting citizens who dicided which canidate we'd liked the most to lead the country and carry the responsibilities of doing so.)

I don't know what to do for my own situation.  There's a competition...and I want the prize...but not sure I want to put myself in a position to be deemed unworthy of the prize.   I know there isn't a way to insure the fact the I will win the prize, but I'm open to finding or figuring out any advantages that I can use to help me win.  I'm open to suggestions.

Sincerely,

Pharoah

Chicken & Cake

Self,

So I hosted an intimate potluck and these were my contribution along with homemade Sesame ice cream.

Tequila-Lime Chicken hot off the grill.

The cake....well my Mistress calls it "The Orgasm Cake"....yeah it's that good!

Sincerely,
Pharoah

Where in the World?

Self,

I recently found out that I have for lack of a better word, a gift certificate or voucher for lodging through a my timeshare. Although I need to investigate it a bit more, it looks like it is good at any of the properties available either through my direct timeshare or it's affiliate programs....which is HUGE.  Essentially...the world is in my backyard.  The voucher gives me a 7-day stay for less than $300....which is great cause I would imagine that some of those place go for that much a night.  There ar some "black periods" but that's not that big of a problem.  The bigger problem is where to go sense  I really can't afford to fly just ANYWHERE....I mean I bet airfare to Fiji would be murder!

For the most part, I think I can arrange to take as much as 10-12 days off from work if I wanted it...(the perks of being on the same job for 11 years.)  The problem is I'm not sure where to go....and more specifically where to go alone...cause I don't know of anyone else who can either get the time off to go or afford to fly someplace right now.


I'm open to suggestion, please???


Sincerely,
Pharoah

Two Days in the Park

Self,

This seems to be my year to attend music festivals.  I already mentioned that I went to the Playboy Jazz Festival back in June.  Now I'm sharing the fact that I just spent two days in San Dimas, CA at Bonelli Park for Jazzfest West.  The line up was great that it required attending both days.

Day 1:

Kem (pictured on left below,) Chaka Khan, Kenny G, along with some other opening acts.

Day 2:

Will Downing, Jill Scott (pictured on right below,) and Charlie Wilson, and again some other opening acts.

I really enjoyed myself.....aside from the heat!  OMG it was hot!  At the same time the heat provided plenty of eye candy!  If I was a "tits & ass" man....they were serving it up on a platter...in various shapes, sizes, and skin tones.  For the most part, the fellas in crowd kepts it basic either shorts or pants with a t-shirt. Some guys had tank tops to show off the guns and abs (if they had them) but mostly to combat the heat.  Even the the guys were neccessarily putting it on display, there were quite a few SEXY MUTHAS up in that piece!

There were lots of venders....obvious food being a good portion of them, but also artists, jewelry, hats and other various items.  I think it's safe to say that nobody had a dull moment.  Between preformers there was a DJ that kept the party rolling, and the crowd jumping.  There were several moments of group participation that involved: "The Wobble," "The Cha Cha Slide," "The Cupid Shuffle" (picture of the group of ladies below - can also expereince some of their attire,) and various other "Ooh That's my song" dance moments.

Like I said I had a good time maybe I'll go again next year.   In the mean time, there's talk about going to an R&B Festival in a couple weeks starring: Joe, Donnel Jones, Jon B, Cherelle, Angela Winbush, and a few other names I can't remember at the moment. 

It's Summer...Have a ball y'all, have a ball - I am!

Sincerely,

Pharoah

Playboy Jazz Festival

Self,

The weekend of Father's Day I attended the Playboy Jazz Festival held here in Los Angeles at the Hollywood Bowl.  To my dismay I was late but I was able to still make it in plenty of time to see the "main" performers.

The performers that were the highlights for me were:
Sheila E.
Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings

WE had plenty of food to munch on. The venue openly allows alcohol so we were sipping on Jack Daniel's Honey Whiskey and lemonade.  a variety of Jello-shots were flying about the seats. We laughed and just had a good time.  I tried to figure out how to use Instagram, but I couldn't while I was there with both food and cocktail in my hands. 

I even tried a "funny" brownie for the first time.  It really didn't taste all that good.  I was told I was "on one" later in the evening...but I didn't feel any different,...that's not true I had a headache.  The lack of a buzz makes me wonder if the "effects" are really just in the users' head and because they want it to do something to make them feel a certain way, then it does make them feel that way.

I also now have tickets to attend Jazzfest West in July out in HOT ASS SAN DIMAS, CA....FOR TWO DAYS!  But the list of performers shuold make it worth suffering the heat..... However the guidelines for this venue prohibits damn near everything because they want you to buy everything from their venders.  I have figured out Instagram....I think, so I should have it running for in San Dimas....lol course they may confiscate my phone for running around naked if it gets hot enough.   Kidding!


Sincerely,
Pharoah

I'm off to Las Vegas for a conference I'll be testing this Instagram to see if I can get it working by Jazzfest West.

Pot's Right

Self,

So this past weekend was the birthday weekend for both, the Royal Brother, and Prince Esquire.  Lots of activities to celebrate both occasions. 

Prince Esquire had a list of events that started on Thursday we went to a "underground" Cuban Rum bar.  It was cute the underground part was that they had it set up as if you walked in to and office and the "secretary" greeted you then opened the secret door to let you into the "speak easy" club.  It was a fun night for a Thursday. Prince Esquire also...."held court" at a bar in WeHo where there was a drag show. Although I did make an appearance at this event, I had missed the show and simply had a drink with the group, which included both my girlfriend and my mistress....my wife no longer comes out to party since she has kids with her legal husband.   And then Sunday Esquire again  held court at a champagne brunch buffet.  I think all those who attended had a good time.

The reason I was late to the drag show was due to the event honoring the Royal Brother's birthday.  His girlfriend had planned a suprised poker party for him at her parents home that included BBQ burgers and hot dogs.  They play "Texas Hold'em," for those that are curious. The suprised part was for 2:30pm and my thought was that I could stay a couple hours then join Esquire and the gang for 9pm.  Well...I decided to get into the poker game.  And washed out after about the second hand thanks to the Royal Brother.  I sat there watching and then one of thr Royal Brother's friends who had been doing pretty well most of the game decided she had to leave and let me take over her chips...and I was able to come back and win the prize.

I was surprised to win...but the prize was a nice blessing that arrived....when I needed it.  I collected my prize, helped clean up a bit, then ran to catch Prince Esquire and the gang.  Later when I saw the Royal Brother again at home, I gave him a piece of the prize because well he was the birthday boy and if it wasn't for that I wouldn't have been playing in the first place.

It was then jokingly mentioned by my folks when they heard that I won, that my brother's friend who left me her chips will be expecting her share of the prize. 

Should I share part of the prize with her?


Sincerely,
Pharoah

PS for the record I already know what I am going to do, but as always I am curious to hear what thoughts other may have to share.

And the Dragon ate Cake.

Self,
Happy New Year.....again....lol twice over!

As I've expressed before, I unofficially use my birthday as a means to mark the passing of years.  Mostly remind myself that every age I obtain is a blessing in itself because not everyone gets to see that age.  This year I turned 35.  So Happy Birthday to me and Happy New Year!  I didn't really do much for my actual birthday. I took the day off from work which gave me the chance to sleep-in and spend most of the day lounging on the sofa in front of the television.

Along with all the wonderful birthday wishes that I received through out the day, my brother's girlfriend was thoughtful enough to have baked a cake for me on my birthday.  Overall it was a good day.

So the other Happy New Year is corresponds to Chinese New Year.....The year of the Dragon!  As it turns out I was also born in the year of the Dragon...and I was told that this should be a very eventful year for me.  Which may hold true if things go as I hope, I should buy a house this year, there's a couple discussion of trips on the table - one of which should be international, and who knows what else!

I'm sure it's common knowledge that the Chinese calendar is lunar based and the date of the new year changes due to the cycle of the moon.  Although I am not sure how often it occurs but I'm sure it only happens to a select few...but as best as I can tell...I'll actually celebrate my birthday twice this year!  The year of the Dragon started Jan 23 2012 (before my 35th bday) and will end like Feb 2 2013 (after my 36th bday.)  There has to be some sort of good omen to that, right???  I'll wait and see.

Sincerely,
Pharoah

Oops, I did it Again!

Self,

I must apologize again for having been incognegro as they say!  Life has just been spinning........somewhat out of control and I've just put a "H on my chest and Handle it!"   LOL I know nobody is going to get that reference but it's ok, I think it was mostly for me anyway.

So my last post was about two weeks ago as I was away on business.  Well it wasn't all business, I got to see my BabyBro and that was fun.  He's suppose to also be coming to LA in November at which point I'll introduce him to KB....THEBoyfriend.  

Speaking of THEBoyfriend, as I mentioned his birthday was recent and per his request we went to Santa Catalina Island.  We had fun....but I could have just as easily stayed home...I almost got seasick.

So something else I'm slightly excited about will be happening next month.  Back in February of 2010 I wrote a post about someone's complaining about my handwriting.  In that post I made an off-handed comment about wanting a pen-pal.  Well I actually got one and he will be in the Los Angeles area for a conference and we of course plan to meet!

Well that's the skinny on things I guess.

Holla!

Sincerely,
Pharoah

Labor Day Weekend

Self,

This was a very active holiday weekend for me.....probably one of the busiest Labor Day weekend I've had in a long time.

I kicked off this weekend by seeing Janet Jackson in concert with KB and another friend of mine.  It was fun.  This tour was billed as "The Number Ones: Up Close & Personal" and really....I had forgotten how many chart climbers she has....no everything didn't hit #1, but there were folks slightly dissappointed that they didn't hear ALL of their favorite songs by her.  That said she still have so many #1s that she didn't perform the whole song for some of them.

My friend that went to see Janet with me and KB talked about how great of a show Sade gave when he went to see her, I had heard the same thing from Schehimazade, and Prince Esquire was returning to Cali in time to catch her last show in the USA.  Esquire teased me with the idea that his mom would have an extra ticket for me but that didn't work out.  So I went online and started looking where else she would be, which is how I discovered that the Sept 4 show is here last in the US becasue she's heading to Frankfort or Brussels (yes if I had the money I would have loved to made the trip to either of those places to see her!)  However that was out of the question.  What I did learn was that she would be at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, on Sept 3rd.  Although KB doesn't like Sade, he was willing to go to Vegas with me to see the show. So we drove to Vegas on Saturday then drove back Sunday.

Sunday after making it back to LA, we met up with Schehimazade to see Colombiana....it was pretty good ...there's a couple scenes that are great.....I love a kick-ass girl! some folks will crititize about how "believable" some story elements are...but so what...it's just entertainment! After the movie, we went back to KB's sat in the hot tub at his new apartment for a while and although we were invited to another event that night, we passed out infront of the TV.

Monday KB's best friend and her girlfriend arrived from ATL for another visit, so KB and I met them at her mom's for BBQ and as we were about to leave there I returned a call from Prince Esquire who happen to be hanging out with his girlfriend's sister and brother-in-law that lived relatively close to where we were, so we went and visited with them for a while!

So now I'm at work....wishin I could have stayed in bed so i could still be sleeping and getting some much needed rest.  However as I said despite the fact that some people thing I have my own US Mint in my bedroom, this NEGRO is BROKE and my butt needs to be here at work to start recovery process for some of the expenses.....I'm so broke I could afford to buy some fresh beef jerky from this place on the way back from Vegas.  OMG, I had fun though!

That was my holiday weekend, I'd love to hear about yours!?!?!?!

Sincerely,
Pharoah

AWESOME and Golden!

Self,

Last night was the Jill Scott concert here in LA....it was hot!  SHE WAS AWESOME as usual.  Along with Jill, Anthony Hamilton and Mint Condition performed.  Of course Jill and Anthony did their duet which I love.  Mint Condition also gave the audience a surprise by having Kelly Price come out on stage to do their duet...which KB loves so he was excited when that happened.  Doug E Fresh and DJ Jazzy Jeff entertained the audience between  performers so it was really like a non-stop party!  And we were even given a surprise by them because while Doug E Fresh was on stage before Jill Scott came on stage, MC Lyte came on stage with him and rocked the mic for a bit. 

I think my parents also really enjoyed the show.  I have to say I hardly looked in their direction during the show...particularly when Jill was on stage, but I think they had fun!

Before the show KB told me that Ledisi is suppose to be coming to LA in November.....He is also a big fan of hers, so maybe we'll go to that show as well.

OMG how ironic, while writing this post, I just recieved a text from KB thanking me for "one of the greatest nights yet." 

That's a huge compliment.  LOL maybe I'm doing something right!

Sincerely
Pharaoh 

Just How I Feel.

Self,

So the last couple days I've been hearing this song on the radio. And I must say....it represent how I've been feeling so I thought it would be an appropriate post for Notes.

The version I had been hearing on the radio was by The Pussycat Dolls. (Yes, I know it was originally done by Nina Simone) however the version by PCD is hot. However I can't find a version that I can use to post on here.
SO while looking for something I can use, I found this. I apologize that it's a clip from a one of those singing contest tv shows....and its from the UK but this girl is singing.

My Tuesday Night

Self,

So last night I saw the movie Priest. I wasn't estatic about seeing it...I could have waited til DVD. However I was ready for an evening out...and that'x where I ended up.

I ended up seeing the movie Priest because a friend and I had planned to see live performance from
Vivian Green

And Eric Roberson

I mean we went to dinner and arrived at the convert venue to find it pitch black and empty. On the box office window was a sign that said the show was cancelled. So we went to the nearest movie theatre and bought tickets for show that was playing next that neither of us had already seen....hence Priest.



Sincerely,
Pharoah

Mommy & Me Night

Self,

Last Wednesday (April 13, 2011), my mother and I went to see Alvin Ailey American Dance Company.  She had heard they would be in town and before my grandfather passed we purchased tickets.  I had agreed to go because I figured it would be a little escape from him being in the hospital at that time. Now that he has passed away, it was even more important to give her something enjoyable to take her mind off things.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Ailey classic ballet Revelations.  Of course, this is probably my mom's main reason for wanting to attend the performance, that in connection with the fact this is Judith Jamison's last season as artistic director.  That night I found out that my mom first saw the dance company back when she was in college.  Which now that I think about it says a lot about the the small liberal arts college in the '70s.  But then again that might be something we should expect for the college that is the Alma Mater to the first African-american President of the United States of America.

Seeing how much my mom enjoyed the show....it made me wonder if my mom is a repressed ballerina.  I mean maybe she saw the Ailey company and wanted to dance, but the pressure of being the first of the family to go to college, made her think in more practicul terms.  I mean even now I know that dancers struggle for their craft and art because they love it....not because the pay is great.  My grandfather as wonderful of a man he was...I don't think he would have went for her attending school to major in dance, but for her to graduate as a teacher was....something he would have understood.

I'll have to ask her at some point.

Sincerely,
Pharoah