What happens in Vegas...

So where have I been this weekend?? Oh nowhere major...just partying with Jamie Foxx and Lil' John at Tao night club...Tao where??? LAS VEGAS!! lol! I've actually been to Vegas before, but this time around was even better! My older sister is getting married in a few weeks, so we went down to Vegas with a few friends, 8 girls in total to party it up before the big day. We only had the weekend, so we had to pack in the fun!!

Day 1: Arrive in Vegas at 4:30 pm.
I didn't check in any luggage, so I wouldn't have to wait for it or risk it getting lost and have to wear the same dress for 3 days. My sister and friend did, so had to wait anyway lol. We hop on a shuttle bus from the airport to Treasure Island (TI) were we stayed. Shuttle bus driver was a nut case and kept yammering to himself the whole ride. He also decided to drop everyone off at their hotels first, and took the longest route possible. In 40+ degree Celsius weather, I was less than impressed. Not a good start. Well we didn't get to our hotel till about 6:30 pm, when in reality it should have taken 10-15 minutes! ugh! We quickly get ready and walk down the strip to Todai, an all you can eat seafood place. It was NOT a short walk and the sun was blazzzzzing hot! Food was so so. Day 1 was not looking very awesome. But it quickly got better. We picked up some giant margaritas on our walk back, which really helped with the heat. We ran into a random dude on the street who gave us passes for a night club called...guess...POETRY! I decided it was just meant to be. So later than night, we get dolled up and head to poetry. Turned out to be an ALL R&B and Hip hop place, with poetry on the walls! The place was packed with black people! Music was really good and we had a great great time.

Day 2: Vip n Vegas
We wake up semi-early to try to beat the sun, and maybe have a more comfortable walk down the strip...no such luck. But we braved it anyway, went shopping at a couple of malls, and did some general gallivanting. My sister Kemi had set up a package with VipnVegas, which turn out to be awesome! good look Kemi! So we get picked up at 10pm from our hotel in a big yellow hummer limo, music already bumpin! So after a few (hundred) pictures, we hop in and basically started the party right in the limo. We were back there just acting a fool, the limo driver eventually joined in and was dancing up front. funny funny. We do an hour tour of the strip and he drops us off at the Jet night club. We met up with a second guy with VipnVegas who got us into the club for free99 and no line up! The club was sooooo goood!!! 3 different rooms, all playing really good music! One room was particularly hype, so we stayed there a little while. My sister had a checklist of task to complete as bride to be, which involved dancing on tables, and things of that sort. She only managed 3 or 4, but she definitely had a blast. So after sweating up a storm at jet, we leave. 4 of us decide to head over to Tao night club since we had gotten some vip passes earlier in the day. We walk in and it's pretty dead downstairs, upstairs...just live! Then we hear this male voice say, " My first name is Jamie, my middle name is motherf**ing and my last name is Foxx, so you can call me Jamie motherf**ing foxx!!" AAHH! so he was there with Lil John! We stayed a while... danced, and then when I could barely walk any longer, we decided it was time to call it a night. I walked barefoot back to the hotel!

Day 3: Up at 9:00 am...didn't I just go to bed??
We head down to the pool and hung out for a while, it wasn't too hot yet, so it was still nice. Got a bit of a bathing suit tan, which I need to get rid of before the wedding! The rest of the morning, was packing and cleaning up. My flight out was at 2:00pm. Now lets talk about that...I need to dedicate a whole section to West Jet!


West Jet!
So..when I booked my return flight, I'm pretty sure there was only one connection in Vancouver BC, but nnooo... West jet decided that I wanted to go to Kelowna BC as well! Thanks for that..The flight was terrible! Sooo rocky! I usually love flying, always get a window seat. I had my eyes closed in prayer for most of this terrible terrible flight. I was not impressed! I finally arrive back home, only for them to decide that my luggage needs to be on the same carousel as 3 other flights!! I just wanted to go HOME! Anyway, I eventually made it home, and went straight to bed. Back at work at 8am this morning, I feel like I haven't slept in days...well I kinda haven't..

It was really really good times though! I'll be posting another new poem soonish.

New poem

Okay I haven't put up any new poems in a while. Here's one of the newer ones, it's actually one of the poems I did for Jali. It was inspired by a conversation about misunderstandings between black men and women. I really like this one because I literally wrote and "finished" it overnight. I had a deadline to meet and I just really focused in and made it happen, and I'm really proud of that. As usual I don't really have a title for it, but one of the guys suggested "King" so here it is :)

King

We wait on our love letters
in heavy silence
bottle up frustrations
to drink in daily doses
stash pieces of you
in pocket spaces
try to claim you whole

We are your women
molded from rib bone
Flesh of your flesh
Tasted forbidden fruit
Find ourselves
exposed and aware
naked but unashamed
bold, black, beautiful

So we no longer apologize
For tough skin
quick tongue
high expectations
We, born for greatness
Can accept no less
So we demand of you
What you were created for

Make right
distorted images
and see us
willing and open
not angry or bitter
tired and ready
aching to be seen
past head swinging
And eye rolling
vulnerable and needing
You
to strip past
hard shell and layers
hold us on high pedestals
call us by name

And we feel you still
even in your absence
like phantom limbs
wax and wane
like ying yang philosophy
inevitable
like karmic settlement
twin souls reunited

Free at last!

So I got my sisterlocks this weekend. 38 hours! It was definitely a journey! See when you sit in a chair for 38 hours, you have lots of time to contemplate life, I really could've plotted total world domination in that time lol! But it got me thinking about the standards of beauty that we as black people hold ourselves to. Two completely different females, who might hate each others guts can at least agree on one thing...The Black Woman's Hair Struggle. We've all been there. Relaxer, texturizer, braids, weaves, grease, oil, hot comb, flat iron, chisel, wrench!! But really though thinking about how much I've put on/done to my hair in my lifetime is quite shocking. At what point did I decide that my natural hair was not good enough? not sure, I actually have no memory of having natural hair, I must've gotten relaxer slapped on my head at a very early age. I can't really blame my mom though, with 4 daughters to care for...she probably felt like relaxer was the only way out. But all my life I've been fighting to convince my hair to do just the opposite of what it naturally wants to do, so about 3 years ago I decided to give up the fight. Went downstairs into the basement and just snipped my hair all the way down to the 1" of new growth that I had. The look on my mom's face when I came back upstairs cannot be described. She didn't say much, likely because she thought I was crazy and didn't want to provoke me. Getting sisterlocks was like someone saying..okay, enough now. So 38 hours of liberation lock after lock was nothing compared to the years that I've been a prisoner to my hair! It was long, but well worth it, at the end of the last lock the consultant and I actually hugged! You get really close to a person when they've been in your head for 38 hours. So here's to being set free and being able to devote time to the more important people or things in my life!

In poetry world...I signed up for the Edmonton Poetry Festival in September, I'm looking forward to hearing from them. I also finally sent in a membership form for the Stroll of Poets Society

Time to get busy...

Sooo I had a meeting this weekend to talk about putting this album together, and my goodness...I need to get to work! I've quickly realized that I have no plan. I really need to define, very quickly what I want this album to say, and how. What I really want is for it to flow, I want it to tell a story from beginning to end. Everything just has to go! So I'm getting down to work...I've been writing a lot lately...I really love this sudden burst of inspiration, when the ideas are flowing faster than I can type or write. I don't get this feeling often, so I'm really trying to ride the wave and take advantage of it. I wrote 2 pieces last night, that really just came out of nowhere. Maybe its all the talk about this album, and being around all this creative energy...whatever it is, I like it! More later.

Updates!

So some updates on what I've been up to. After seeing the video for the "I am" piece that I did at Legacies back in February, one of the guys from Politic Live asked me to record the poem for their upcoming project entitled "Jali". I jumped at the chance! So I went into the studio to record, I didn't really know what to expect, but they were very welcoming. I had to do a few takes, because I'm thinking to myself...this is something that will stick around for a long time. I wanted it to be perfect. After doing the piece, Oozeela an artist on the Music for Mavericks label, started playing around with some music to accompany the piece. He is a brilliant musician! I am so in love with what he did with it! I just couldn't believe that it was real. Flash back to 2007, me at my first open mic. Now 2008 me in a studio recording? Unbelievable. So I'm sitting and chatting with the guys, and we get into a discussion about misconceptions, black men and black women, the workplace...you name it. Long story short, I ended up writing and recording 2 more poems. One about misconceptions between black men and black women, and the other about being a black female in the workplace. All 3 pieces went really well, and will be interludes on the album...I'm just super excited for the finished product, and to hear what people think of it. I also got to do a photo shoot for pictures of me (yes me!) that'll be included in the album package.

Oh but there's more! One of the guys suggested that I put together a spoken word album. Say what?? Me? huh? Well after I picked myself up off the floor, I thought..no..I can't possibly. What if no one likes it? What if I don't like it? What if it's terrible? The usual fears. Well... then I came to my senses. This is such a huge chance that I've been given, and to not take it would be ridiculous. So I'm going to do it!!! I'll be meeting with him this weekend to discuss grant applications, so that I can get the ball rolling on this. I am just beside myself with shear excitement. I cannot believe it!

aah!!

I got 12 sample sisterlocks today!!!! July 18th...the final lockdown! I'm beyond excited!!

The journey begins

Night of fire was great! I really need better ways to get over my nervousness though. The show was at the Winspear Centre in Edmonton, which is a pretty large and intimidating venue. Definitely the biggest place I've performed so far, which would explain why I was so nervous. I changed outfits about 5 times, and then finally settled on what I had arrived in lol. I was in a state of internal chaos up until I went out on stage, as per normal. I got really calm while I was actually up there, and then as soon as the last words leave my mouth it's chaos again and the need to get of the stage as quickly as possible. The show was great though, and I'm proud to have been a part of it.

So tomorrow is a pretty big day for me. Not too long ago, I made a decision to get sisterlocks. I've wanted to lock up my hair for quite a while, but never really knew about sisterlocks or considered them as an option. Well after much research and contemplating, I've decided to take the plunge. I get my first set of test locks tomorrow, which I'll keep in for a few weeks before I get a full head done. I am so excited! Like any other black female out there, I have been battling my hair for what feels like a lifetime. Natural to relaxed, long to short, color to no color. Braids, weaves, ponytails, wigs, twists...all of it! I've been there, and I'm just so ready to set myself free from this hair! And to the girl who helped me make this decision, thank you! And I'll be here to welcome you into the fold when you get yours :)

Other than that...nothing new to discuss, I've got a few things kind of in the works that I'll write on later.

Be beautiful without permission - Bassey Ikpi