I’ve been popping in here just as you have been. I have been looking at my last post, now 13 days old, wondering when I’ll post an update with the juicy details of my world. I’ve just been a little too busy daydreaming, taking action, reading, watching, creating and deciding.
That’s it.
Cousin Justin gets into character as Isaac. Photo: Adrienne C. Wilson
Justin (the voice behind Isaac) and myself (Narrator and Producer) in the recording room. Photo: Patrick Green
This afternoon I took a trip over to Burbank to visit the Elephant Symphony Studios to record the audio book portion of my children’s project. In house with me was my wonderful sound engineer and uncle, Patrick Green. My cousin Justin assisted in being the voice of Isaac Bah and the talented Michael Glover dove right into the role of Grandpa Bah. Yours truly decided to narrate the book. Why not? Now, I hopes ya’ll will like it. I gave it my best country twang.
Kidding.
I DO.
I really do. It’s like any other place on the planet in the sense that it is what you make it. Some people say it is too fake, too Hollywood, too weird, too liberal, too whatever… I say it is too cool for school. Simple. Number one reason being my darling, most phenomenal peeps I know I can gel with at any time. Second reason being the insane amount of activity to do at any given time. I’m sorry to do this so list like, but it is the only way for me to focus in on what I did over the last few days and to share some links I think may be important for yourself - the vicarious soul reading.
Wednesday: I played it like I said I would. I successfully gained my Ethiopian visa in my passport for my trip! (Yeehaw!) The process took only a hour and a half which I spent chatting with one of my GV team members, Julian and my close friend Angel. After getting the goods placed in my passport I took off with Angel to run some errands in Santa Monica and eventually made it over to West Hollywood where I would be staying (and presently am staying) for a good duration of this adventure. Prentice was only around for a short moment before dipping out and so I made myself at home, took a nap and grabbed some food from Whole Foods. I finished off the night by watching the season finale of So You Think You Can Dance and used two phones to get my vote in for Joshua. (I found out the next day that he had won the competition!!!)
Thursday: Angel and I met up again to support her friend’s film titled Truth Hall which only had one showing with a Q&A at the Beverly Center during the American Black Film Festival. We arrived late which was not to big of a deal as Angel had seen the film and it wasn’t exactly the type of film I would rush to see anyway. None the less someone out there is doing there thing and in festivals so big up to Angel’s people for getting out their dreams. Afterwards we linked up with Ivory, another one of Angel’s friends and had a straight chill session. I don’t think I ever chilled so hard in my life. Many of you are probably going to think the following is not really a considered chilling, but for myself it was major R&R.
So first we ate at Norms (a chain diner with food that is not horrible and not gourmet). I dove in for the breakfast in the afternoon as did Angel and Ivory went for the daily special which had all you can eat ribs that I somehow managed to finagle onto my plate. (I’m such a piggy.) From Norms we headed over to The Grove. This turned out to be a really awesome move on our part. On Thursdays during the month of August at The Grove there is a Girl’s Night event where several of the stores offer discounts, wine samplings, mini facials and so on… We hung hard hitting most of the stores that were participating on this particular Thursday evening. Ivory immediately became my new best friend (MNBF) on this evening by tossing over the Anthropologie gift card he had been given, but had no use for and like a California wildfire it blazed in my palms until I had managed to kill the flames at the register. I walked away with a nice new perfume. Thanks Ivory!
T rolled in and picked me up and we grabbed Muna at the airport. The night basically wound down from there.
Friday: Muna and I grabbed our morning goods from Eat Well in West Hollywood where Prentice graced us with his presence. Then we headed down to Melrose for a little shopping. We were hoping to find some cheap sneaks for Muna to rock in Runyon, but we managed to get distracted by other stores. We both picked up cute little dresses. (P.S. I’m NOT supposed to be shopping - see Big Adventure planned.) I will be wearing my cute little teal dress this weekend to my cousin’s wedding reception. Do look for it in pictures. From Melrose we hit up jazz at LACMA where the Ernie Watts Quartet played. We hung around inside the museum as well for a bit while waiting for Quar and his friend to show and then outside again upon their arrival. After jazz, Teal came and swept Muna and myself away to the valley for a little karaoke among friends.
Let me make a short note about Teal Moss: He is awesome! Don’t let anyone fool you into thinking differently. I’m glad he extended the invitation to us although I think he did so in part to avoid singing like the rest of us. On the flip side Mr. Moss did snap some photos and made them into the coolest wallet-sized memorabilia. Check out Photo Hard Card if you ever have the chance. At karaoke I sang an assortment of tunes (probably way too many) which ranged from Tori Amos’ Sparks to Luther Ingram’s I Don’t Want To Be Right. I believe I may have sung myself to sleep that night to some old lullaby. Chances are I probably snored instead. Poor Muna… Oh, and she didn’t sing either. Growl!
Saturday: The Getty Center was a must-do on this day. Why? Because as sad as it sounds I had never been the entire time I lived in L.A. I know I am way lame and Muna, who is excused from the lame party, had never been in her previous trips to the city. Right now they are featuring an exhibit of Bernini’s work which was just stellar! Sculpting the way that man did is just something out of this world. The detail of catching people in the moment of sculpting movement. If you have the chance go see it for yourself. Muna agrees. I went to the gardens after Bernini and Muna kept to some of the other exhibits. I don’t see myself spending time planting in a garden, but I do appreciate a nicely placed together bed of roses and so forth.
Later we went dancing at Little Temple. If you take a peek at the pics in the presentation above you’ll see that I am a hot sweaty mess and that means I had a grand time dancing. Muna even delighted us with her rendition of Doo-Doo Brown. Ha! (Didn’t think I would tell it to the world, hmmm Muna?)
Sunday: Crazy as it may be Muna had also never been to Venice beach on her previous visits and that makes me wonder where on earth did I take her before? Anyways we went for a long way down Venice Beach soaking up all the good California sun two brown girls could ask for and soaking up all the good wildness that lives on that beach. Muna purchased a lovely sarong and I got sucker punched into buying two head wraps, but come on! Head wraps are always goodness. We also caught sight of the Arlington West Iraq War Memorial on Santa Monica Beach north of the pier. It was quite a surprise to run into the memorial in the same place where children are bouncing around on pier near the ferris wheel and where tourists are wandering about the sands trying to get the kind of vacation tan that makes all their co-workers envious. Sometimes the world needs a jolt back into reality even if it is right smack-dab in the middle of the beach and possibly the reality you were trying to escape. Remember folks - there is never any running away in life.
Once we got back into WeHo we rested for a short bit before heading out with Dawn and meeting Prentice and Angel for a evening film in the cemetery. The featured presentation was a movie called Phantasm and I must say it was pretty darn cheesy for a horror film. I still have questions about what I watched out there surrounded by the gigantic Hollywood tombstones. At least Muna got the experience and she can no longer look at me like I’m the crazy one. There were some 3,000 people out there with us.
Monday: Muna left L.A. to head back to FLA and I relaxed all day before partaking in a quaint dinner with Angel at Delancey’s in Hollywood. I had high hopes of checking out Melanie at the Monday Night Tease at 3 Clubs after dinner, but we were running behind and I was starting to feel queasy. After dinner Angel dropped me off at the house and I crashed.
Tuesday / Today: Another day of R&R for the most part. Did some work on my computer, dined at Urth Caffe on Melrose and popped into Coco de Mer where Angel and I purchased the same book to read for kicks. I won’t spoil the fun of telling you which book we picked, but it’s nothing too kinky. If you are of an adult age, this too is something I would suggest taking an itty-bitty peep at in L.A. There are only three locations in the world: two in the U.K. and one in L.A.
Aren’t we the lucky ones?
I do hope you enjoyed the slideshow above. It’s been a long time since I’ve done one of those. I debated on the sparkles for a while, but then I just decided to go with it…
Goodnight.
Adrienne as photographed by Muna. A red flower as photographed by Adrienne. Location: The Getty Center
Good times in California so far. More photos and a full report to follow soon. Just taking a short breather.
Waiting to break loose… Photo: The Mothership
I normally don’t do this out of the fear of stalkers and such, but now that I am a certified ninja master, I’m not worried too much. Here are my plans for California friends and fam. I still have a lot of spare time I’d just L-O-V-E to fill it with your great company. Let me know if you’re free or join in where it states open/group invite. I’m staying in West Hollywood most of my trip.
WED 8.6.08 ethiopian consulate, time with angel, hannah, and watching the first installment of the So You Think You Can Dance finale and getting nestled in…
THR 8.7.08 morning walk in runyon and most of the day is free. muna flies in at night and second and last installment of So You Think You Can Dance finale
FRI 8.8.08 morning walk in runyon, jazz at LACMA, karaoke at the brass monkey (open invitation)
SAT 8.9.08 morning walk in runyon, the getty museum, little temple for dancing (open invitation)
SUN 8.10.08 santa monica / venice beach and hollywood forever cemetery movie screening (open invitation)
MON 8.11.08 muna flies back to florida. day is open. CALL ME.
TUE 8.12.08 open. CALL ME.
WED 8.13.08 open. CALL ME.
THR 8.14.08 not available.
FRI 8.15.08 not available.
SAT 8.16.08 not available.
SUN 8.17.08 not available.
MON 8.18.08 open afternoon and evening.
TUE 8.19.08 fly back to tampa.
There it is for now.
From the Obama Flickr pool: Look I’m famous… Hi Mom! Hi Dad! Quiet hecklers!
So I don’t know what explanation to provide for the temporary blog downtime experienced over the last week. I’m just thankful I’m back in business. As for the current happenings…
I have been donating some of my spare time (there is plenty at the moment) to doing some data entry at the Obama HQ here in Tampa’s Ybor City area. Today I actually had the opportunity to attend the town hall meeting in St. Petersburg as a volunteer and spectator. The meeting finally gave me a first hand experience of how these events run and how what happens at them can blown out into something bigger to make national coverage. Like the hecklers who were sitting behind me. They were quite a disruption to Barack’s speech on the economy and annoyance to me personally, but I think things were handled rather well during the meeting.
My suggestion to anyone who gets the chance to hear either candidate speak live: Run and do it! In life and specifically my entire lifetime first hand experiences have always had the greatest impact, both positive and negative. Be sure to be judge of things yourself. Be informed and get it from the horses’ mouth. That not only includes the words coming out of either candidate’s mouth, but the atmosphere in which they surface and then read the papers, watch CNN and make a decision for yourself. Tired of my preaching? Me too.
Aside from my campaign volunteer efforts I have been pressing on with preparing for trips and travels of all sorts. California and I will meet in less than a week now. There is much excitement about this adventure. I’m also trying to see how I can get to South Carolina for my Dad’s 50th B-day in September. More to come on that later. And then there is the planning for Ethiopia and so forth.
Mmm… what else? I’ve been doing well with my farsi studies once more. I’m using the Rosetta Stone and my texts here at the house along with a lot of 670am online. I’ve also been keeping up with my workouts and making them more routine. Oh, and I’ve been going to church more and hanging out with my friends more… Isn’t it amazing the things you can do when you’re not on the road?
Yeah.
Well that’s all for now.
Peace and have a great weekend.
“DEATH ISN’T THE GREATEST LOSS IN LIFE. THE GREATEST LOSS IS WHAT DIES INSIDE US WHILE WE LIVE.” - NORMAN COUSINS
I really try to avoid doing this - posting tons of videos in my blog space… Right now it is necessary though. Not so that you know what I was watching on this particular day, but so I can remember what I was watching on this day when the future arrives. Besides good music and video should be shared. Keeping it to myself would be selfish and if you are reading I would actually like for you to travel with me. All of the videos here relate to something important going on so buckle up, adjust your seat backs, lift your tray tables up and enjoy the ride.
Without a doubt I am California Dreamin’ all the way. Friends and family my dates in Los Angeles are August 6-19. Let’s make time to sing karaoke at the Brass Monkey (it never gets old), watch a movie at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, dance at the Venice Beach drum circle (Sahar, Chienchi, and Quar I wish you were in L.A. to dance with me), and check out Melanie and her sexy burlesque shows! My mumsy will also be in town for my cousin Angela’s wedding reception. She recently married in Puerto Rico. Friends with cameras - lets take pictures. I need new shots. Please! Oh and Friday afternoon Jazz at LACMA and any other goodies happening between those dates are welcome!
Now video number two is a very nice photo presentation of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. I think I’ve mentioned my upcoming trip to Ethiopia - no? Well I am going part in leisure and part in humanitarian aid. I could have easily found videos of famine and poverty to push my case about the need to help Ethiopia by building homes with Habitat, but I like contrasts and I think everyone has seen more of those images than they have of some of the beautiful ones in the video. Anyways, I have created a blog for my Habitat trip details in Ethiopia. Please do check it out.
Importante! If you are in Los Angeles and you are really feeling the cause and wish to support or learn more about Ethiopian culture I strongly suggest you swing by Rosalinds in Little Ethiopia on Sunday, July 20 from 1-6 PM. Hannah Tadesse, a first generation Ethiopian-American who will be joining me in Ethiopia, will be doing some cultural dancing and it should be a very exciting event. It will be hosted by Angel Bontigao and Hannah. You can find all the details on the flier found here.
Okay, last video comes from Bjork. This is from the Royal Opera House and it is another one of my favorites. The lyrics are simple and her voice is amazing. Look no further, look no further… It’s in our hands… It always was…
Go get it and peace all! Hope you enjoyed my video selection this time around.
Mom and me in Tarpon Springs, FL. Photo: Adrienne C. Wilson
Since the drive up the road to Mississippi for the family reunion my mom has become hell-bent on getting out on the weekends. This weekend she took me to a destination right here in Florida and only 30 minutes away from our place. The historic Tarpon Springs Sponge Docks are located in Pinellas county and house many delicious Greek restaurants and other attractions.
My mother and I started the day off by grabbing a bite to eat. We took the parking attendants’ suggestion and headed over to Santorini Greek Grill. He said it was one of his favorite picks because it sat right on the water and above all the food was scrumptious. As we made our way to our seat by the water we could tell that the food would not only be tasty, but filling. No matter the type of dish all plates seemed to be spilling over with food. For our first-time experience we had a zucchini appetizer and dolmades. For the main course I had a Mediterranean octopus dish with Greek style green beans and potato. My mother decided on the Greek salad. Everything was really good from the service, food and atmosphere. Next time I’ll go lighter on the appetizers and wait for the main course so that I am able to finish it all.
Our yummy plates from Santorini. Photos: Adrienne C. Wilson
Once we finished eating it was time to walk it off. There is an enormous amount of recreation, culture and shopping to soak in at the docks depending on your interest. With most shops selling a variety of multi-purpose sponges you’ll more than likely be tempted to pick one up to use for your face, car or even as a pot for a plant. Pick up and sponge and let your imagination soar. I didn’t buy a sponge on this particular day, but my mom and I each treated ourselves to some of the handmade soap found at Getaguru. Still - soap seems so incomplete without a sponge from Tarpon Springs. An excuse to visit again in the future? Maybe…
Sponge Capitol of the world!!! Photo: Adrienne C. Wilson
The monument honors the spongers who dove into the deep waters for sponges in the Tarpon Springs area. Many were from Greece as they had much experience in the biz of sponge diving. Then there is a bit of tourist posing on my part. Photos: Adrienne C. Wilson & The Mothership
Sponges for purchase! Photo: Adrienne C. Wilson
Things to see at the Sponge docks… Photos: Adrienne C. Wilson
To be more specific about the activity my mum and I filled our time at the docks with let’s just say someone had a sweet tooth and it wasn’t me. We headed in to get fudge and later found a shop that sold all kinds of trinkets and munchies like pineapple licorice. We strolled pass the many shops in the Sponge Exchange and simply enjoyed exploring a site close to home right here in Florida. Did it feel like Greece? Just a pinch, but I’ll have to visit the country first and report back on that one. In the meantime I surely make more trips to Tarpon Springs for my Greek food fix and on the next go I’ll even be sure to buy a sponge and take a boat ride.
If your vision is good enough and you can read the tiny words on the marker in this shot then please do so! Such fascinating history on this industry. Photo: Adrienne C. Wilson
All this and much, much more at the Historic Tarpon Springs Sponge Docks. What are you waiting for? Photos: Adrienne C. Wilson
The trip plan.
While I’ve tried tirelessly to create amazing little adventures in between now and the next great adventure, I have cooled it down. That means no Caribana in Toronto (Sorry Herschel) and no other international trips. NONE. Of course random things do come up here and there so don’t be surprised if you check back in and I’ve checked out to Jamaica. I wish.
Let me be mindful of the true topic of this particular post. THE NEXT BIG ADVENTURE. I’m currently in the planning stages which for me basically means attractions, food, and how I want to spend my days and nights in these foreign lands. Tickets have already been purchased for all major legs of the journey and accommodation will be a combination of hotels and couchsurfing. Here’s what I’ve got going on thus far…
Ethiopia (September 23 - October 16)
Why I am going: Ethiopia has been a dream destination ages. Don’t know where the desire came from, but it has stuck. Could it be the bone of Lucy? Cradle of civilization? Authentic Ethiopian food calling my name? Probably all of the above. As I’ve mentioned already on the blog I am going with Habitat for Humanity International for a two week Global Village build.
In country plans: The plan is to spend the first week in Addis Ababa getting accustomed to the city. I’d like to go dancing at least two night while I’m there as I hear Addis is surprisingly a bit of a big party city. Additionally, I will be arriving just in time to experience what Lonely Planet says is a MUST-see if traveling at the end of September: MESKEL. A quick trip to Dessie and hopes to visit some orphanages in Addis as well.
Week 2 and 3 in Ethiopia will be dedicated entirely to the Global Village mission with HFH and we will spend more of our time in Debre Markos. Additionally we will see Gondar, Bahir Dar and Lake Tana to name a few sights.
London (October 16 - October 21)
Why I am going: It’s London. I’ve avoided traveling there for years due to my fancy of the third-world. This time I’m using it as a stopping place for most of the comforts found here at home before heading off to the next new destination.
In country plans: My friend Ian who will be coming from Ethiopia with me into London for a few days will probably have a better idea of what to do. My game plan for now is to do London on a shoestring. All the free goodies one can possibly see and one good splurge (Probably on food - restaurants anyone?) I really want to go dancing. Two or three nights or a good workout on the dance floor will do just fine. I’m hoping to find some afro-funk, world, carib, soul, jazz, etc. I’m open to whatever so long as there is room to dance. Since I’m not a beer drinker or much of a drinker period - I’ll happily pass on pub crawling.
So museums, the Wellcome Collection, Salvador Dali, the neighborhoods, the Thames… You get the picture and if you don’t I’ll have a better idea once I get there.
Dubai (October 22-October 29)
Why I am going: Always heard so much about Dubai. Would love to see the luxurious side of the Emirates and practice a little Farsi with every Persian there as much as possible. LOL. Seriously! For all that’s worth I can probably just go to Westwood in L.A.
In country plans: Ride an abra across the Creek, visit Al Ain’s Camel Farm & Palace, The World Islands & The Palm Jumeirah, have lunch at the Burj Al Arab and dune bashing.
Oman (October 30-November)
Why I am going: Once upon a time I read an article about cruising on a dhow in Musandam to the Kumzars and have dreamed about it ever since then. Go figure… My favorite nursery rhyme has always been “Row, Row, Row, Your Boat.”
In country plans: Stroll the Corniche, chill out in Muscat, Muttrah Soug, take a sunset camel ride in the town of Buraimi, visit the Nizwa Souq on Friday, take a trip to Jebel Akhdar and try to pick up as much Arabic as humanly possible.
That’s everything in a nutshell. I am happily taking suggestions for MUST-do’s in any of these countries. My days in Ethiopia already look pretty packed and I more than anything I could use a tip or two on where to go in London. So if you are reading and know something… HOLLA!
