photos 018: drinks.music.friends.

this is Corren.
she'll make you famous.

so, the drinks came free
via drink tickets at Southpaw.

the music from
Hip Hop Karaoke.
lots & lots of renditions
of hip hop classics
done with varying degrees of
clarity & accuracy.
liquor fueled
amateur MCs living
out their "Award Tour"
fantasies for all to see.
awesome.

and the friends
are all my crazy NY peoples.
let's meet a few.

Tara D. aka Lushy McBusty
see if you can spot the
theme in these photos.



fellow lush Derreck J. was
the evening's birthday boy.
i dunno what that look is about...



also featured here is
Robyn J. aka Fabu McPimpster.

DonaldWilliams aka Donwill
he's in Tanya Morgan.
he's a rapper and clearly
very shy & introverted.



that's Von Pea & Mr. Gomez
playing the background.

Hannah B. aka Hurricane Hannah
best thing to come across
the pond since tea & crumpets!


she's getting married next year to
the crazy gentleman featured
here looking like he's about
to bite us all to death. BIG TY!



good times.

photos 017: toya & royan's wedding

i call this photo
"I'S MARRIED NAH!"

this is the first wedding that
i have ever attended.

or photographed.
granted, these are just digital.
the treasures are
- as always -
on film & in development.
soon come.

anywho... okay, i attended my aunt
Netra's wedding when i was nine
but that doesn't really count.

there's a alot that i
didn't know that happens
surrounding the nuptials of
a close friend.
partially because of that
and mostly because of my own
mess...
i made some mistakes, man.
some big. some small.

all avoidable had i put a little
more time & effort into
staying on top of things,
listened when advice and needs
were given,
reciprocated what's always
given to me,
and given reverence where
and when it was due.
but i'm hard headed.
and stubborn.
(damn taurus)
and sometimes don't realize
what i have in front of me.

fortunately, those left most
slighted by my shortcomings
are two of the few people
in my life that
i completely love & adore
who understand me
& who love me
for exactly who i am.
frankly, they love me most
when i AM being exactly who i am.

i love you, Toya.
i'm so glad i was there.
i love you, baby.
i so wish you could have shared
this with me.



the lovely bride, Toya.



the story behind this
photo is so cute.
right before i clicked
the priest was going
on and on and on
all the pomp & circumstance
that most weddings include
right before "you may kiss the bride."
and suddenly Royan blurts out
"I want to kiss her NOW!"
so he did - it was awesome.



this is Angel & Virginia,
my Jamaica roomies.
i've known Virginia
(holla at our off-the-shoulder
Shana originals
- mine was seersucker. PIMP!)
for what seems like forever.
over 9 years now.
i always used to regard her as my
little sister. but now, we're
peers and friends.
which given our history
is beautiful, strange and
serendipitous.
she's a great woman who i am so
lucky to have as my friend.



i supplied the "something new."
these really pretty pearl drop
earrings that went perfect
with her COUTURE (okaaaay?!)
wedding dress.



congratulations to the happy couple.
more photos soon.

photos 013: geechie

one of my favorite girls
had her 9th annual 25th
birthday celebration.

beautiful
dramatic
passionate
unabashedly honest
crazy
[my kind of crazy]
going-to-hell hilarious
loving
kind
understanding

i love her.
all those who share that
sentiment partied in her name.
good times.



she received an acoustic guitar
from this sweet man.
royan - the soon-to-be
hubby of the birthday girl.



fun times were had by all.



more to come...

photos 012: some stuff

photos 011: let's get rich

photos 010: en route

mr. gomez mentioned the jaunt
we took following
the veritable smorgasbord we consumed.

here's my take on the adventure
to the house of femme aggressives.

dressed much warmer than necessary, we headed out...


i remarked at the corniess of matching shoes and suggested we head back...


but the scent fried fowl kept us going.
i knew it was a sign, an omen if you will,
that beckoned us forward...


after jaywalking...


we passed a land that both frightened and intrigued us...


we kept going and eventually arrived at the house of femme aggressives, where a sprightly nymph gave us mint/lemon water...
and i saw the sign we'd been searching for...


we took leave, went underground and hopped on the steel stallion.
i kissed my prince and saw everything through rose colored glasses.
the end!

photos 009: my lil' homie anais

seriously. watch out for this one.
she's taking over the world and
will be happy to tell you all about it.

she's one of my favorite people to hang out with.
we were playing dress-up here and dancing to J*Davey.
and really, who rocks a cowboy hat, Mardi Gras beads and a fan better than her?



she was desperately trying to catch bubbles on her tummy.

photos 008: hey ladies?!

i'm a believer that you can conjure people.
dead and alive. but i'm talkin' alive today.

if you think or talk about someone enough,
it's inevitable that they will contact you or suddenly appear.
at least that's how it happens with me.

when mr. man and i were miles apart and pining,
i'd think of him or talk about him
and my phone would ring and it was his
mellifluous voice on the other end.
it was uncanny how often it happened...
and still does.

anyway, i conjured two of my favorite gals today,
while roaming around Bryant Park w/ gomez.

they rock.

rant 006: i'll KILL her

lovey and i have a running joke.

that we'll kill anyone who steps out of line in regards to one another. stepping out of line can mean:

looking at
smiling at
speaking to
thinking about
emailing
gesturing towards
complimenting
walking near
or any kind of casual contact.

example#1:
me: babe, this cute little boy told me he liked my hair today.
him: i'll kill him.
me: he's ten, dummy.
him: fuck i care if he's ten? i'll kill him.

example #2:
him: honey, i was at the store & this old lady said she liked my tie...
me: oh yea. is she still there? that bitch - i'll kill her.
him: wow. *laughs*
me: oh that shit's funny to you? i'll choke her w/ the tie she likes so fuckin' much.

and so on and so forth. it's cute & a healthy way to coddle our respective celoso(a) streaks.

this however, ain't cute.



poor girl. i believe she'd do it too.
i like it. check out Soko.

photos 007: payback. hannah style.

she dropped my birthday cake! by "ACCIDENT." riiiiiiight.



to be fair, i messed up a birthday cake of hers some years ago. but i'm sayin'... why you gotta bring up ol' stuff?

anyway, this cake was made by George's mom who is a FANTASTIC cake maker. it was a dulce de leche cake w/ pineapple filling - YUM! thank you Mama Gomez!

photos 005: teeny little super guys

the third of my favorite little men (william) is missing. but enjoy jake & aaron while you're here.

jake is the quiet intellectual.
aaron is... well, aaron.
and they're fantastic.

photos 004: the beauty of laughter and tears

Nicky and Casey make up the NYC band HEAVY. We put on a show with them at Canal Room - which they ROCKED. I took these shots backstage as they prepared to get busy.

that was a significant night for me.
the beginning of the end, if you will.

the night started on a sour note because my shoes were killing me.
pretty, but painful.
luckily, TaraBelle had another pair on hand.

after that fiasco, i caught a foot cramp.
cut to me sitting on the Canal Room steps
that lead to the bathroom;
pouting, but still in moderately good spirits.

suddenly while watching the crowd,
among friends, colleagues, acquaintances
i felt so utterly and exhaustingly alone.
it hit me like a smack to the back of the head.
my thoughts turned inward
and i couldn't keep the charade going.
i was surrounded by so much good energy.
wearing a veil of unhappy.

envious (uppercut)
sad (right-cross)
hurt (left-cross)
disappointed (left-cross elbow follow-through)
angry (body slam)
all at once.
i was jumped by my emotions, basically.

ever have tears that seem to come from nowhere?
in retrospect,
they'd been waiting for the
levees to break under the pressure.

and oh, did they gush forth.
all i could think was "pull it together!"
"how unprofessional!"
"what must HEAVY think!?"

the tears wouldn't be denied though.
they'd been pent up against a
"brave and happy" face
for too long.
the release was imminent.

the body can only
ebb and ebb and ebb
for so long.
eventually it must flow.
so they flowed freely
in Canal Room.
they tumbled out one after the other
like marathon runners pushing
past "the wall."
painful, exhausting and unstoppable.

then from the most unexpected place, i found comfort.
Scribe put his arm around my shoulders & let me sob.
uncontrollably.
he didn't say a word.
just held me there.
smeared mascara and trembling.
days later
i thanked him.
told him how much he helped pull me together.
"no worries. you looked like you needed a friend."

i'm forever grateful.

photos 003: respect your elders

photos 002: 3 is the magic number

the theme for the party was fairy princess. she's clearly the fairest of them all.



there was cake and she was very happy to be fussed over
& given the first piece.
can you blame her?

everyone likes to be fussed over now and then.

photos 001: katz

katz deli has the best pastrami sandwiches in the city.
interestingly enough, i think it's also the most expensive pastrami sandwich in the city.


while not a fan of pastrami, he indulged my craving.



i don't recall what prompted this. hopefuly he's smiling or blushing behind those hands.