So this week has been full of ups and downs. On Monday, I celebrated the 10-year anniversary of my liver transplant, which needless to say, was quite the milestone. Then on Tuesday, Billy the resident crackhead in my building that scared away the pink toes/ worked as the ghetto porter for beer money passed away from terminal cancer (who knew addicts die of cancer?). On Wednesday night, I went to my girl Danyel Smith’s bday party and saw damn near everyone I’ve ever worked with as a journalist. Then Thursday was such an old school crappy work day, I felt like I was back at JANE. And just when I started contemplating a career change/ moving back home with my mom, today is the 4th of July! YEAH BBQS!!!!

I love working for myself. I really do. The whole random napping when I want, picking my own projects, rushing out to a last minute sample sale, lunch dates whenever I feel like it, freedom of being my own boss is not lost on me. How-some-ever, there are some negatives: the non-existent 401K, hustling like your rent money depends on it (cause it really does), lack of consistent socialization (talking to Drama only counts half the time), the living room doubling as my office, etc have definitely kept me up a night or two. But the biggest downside of being self-employed is that it really requires a ton of discipline and self-motivation. And for the record, I have very little to none of either. Which is not a good thing.

So I basically got off of the plane from Miami and jumped on another to Los Angeles. I spent last weekend hanging out with my girl Carla under the guise of attending my very dear friend Roz’s retirement party and attending a work related meeting.

And can we all take a moment and collectively respect Michelle Obama’s gangsta for the bangin’ purple dress with the sexy black patent leather belt touched off with a string of pearls?!? Um, somebody saw the Sex In The City movie… WORK MICHELLE.

This man is the truth. Check out his speech:
http://www.nationalpost.com/news/global-video/index.html?video=1105097
or
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/03/us/politics/03text-obama.html

ATTENTION, ATTENTION!!!

I wrote the Usher cover story. And it is my very first VIBE cover EVER.

So I don’t care how over Ursher and his self created baby mama drama you are, act like you know and pick it up.

I want to hear what you think…

PS, that is so NOT the coverline that I would have given this story.

And my whole body aligned this afternoon by an adorable chiropractor who promises to significantly reduce this throbbing sensation in my right arm in six sessions. Sounds optimistic to me but what the hell do I have to lose? I must say; at this point I’d be willing to barter my first born for a little relief. Like seriously.

So the thrilling news of the day? I finally finished the last chapter in the third installment of my Hotlanta series!!! WOO HOO! Let the editing commence! If all goes well, I might actually be able to put this puppy to bed within the next couple of weeks. On the flip side, I’m actually kind of sad cause it really has been a lot of fun thinking teenage angst versus focusing on my own very adult problems. Like um, the freakin’ astronomical price of gas!

When I say that I’m about to go buy a bike with matching helmet, I’m so serious with it. The Volvo drives like a dream but ain’t nothing but a gas guzzler. And I simply cannot pay $50 to fill 3/4s of a tank. That’s just silly. Not to date myself but I remember when I thought 99 cents a gallon was a lot. Sigh. I’m like the old lady at the bar talking about the good ‘ole days… just sad.

This morning I had my first official book signing/ reading for HOTLANTA. Denene flew up from Atlanta and we spoke to about thrity high school students from two different schools in Brooklyn at the Brooklyn Public Library in Grand Army Plaza (the ones in the picture are from a private school and the rest were from a local public school).

It’s certified, I have the absolutely worst PDA luck in the world. After less than a month, the $300 phone that I finally upgraded to b/c everyone insisted it would make my life less stressful started to act up- the light would go out in the middle of typing an email, the icons freeze, the oh-so-addictive game was on the blink and the ringers didn’t work. Go figure.

Last night I mistakenly left one of the blinds in my bedroom partially open. So this morning I awoke to a beam of sunshine on my face. Under normal circumstances, this might have been slightly annoying. However, since we haven’t seen a warm sunny morning since last week, I was very okay with it.

So just like that, I’m back in NYC. Well, the emergency bi-coastal timeout was fun while it lasted. Time to get back on the grind.
And I want to thank my girl, she showed me every single inch of San Francisco. I took pictures on Crooked Street, saw the Painted Ladies, visited Alcatraz, kicked in on Height Ashbury, frove throught the PResidio, got a massage at a traditional Japanese spa with communal pools, dined at amazing restaurants (we LOVE 1300) and still managed to get a little bit of work done. Now that’s a good HBCU education for ya!
Gotta admit, as much as I loved the city, the weather in San Fran is the devil. One day we were chilling in the 70s and the next it was down to the high 40s. Which ironically, coming from New York isn’t really the probem. The problem is the crazy wind. Dude, I felt NAKED out there. And this is coming from a woman who has spent the majority of her life in the northeast. Humph, I don’t know how those people do it. Oh wait, yes I do. Straight wallrus skin, I tell ya.