A DAY IN "THE LIFE OF RILEY"

Anthony and I attended one screening at Tribeca Film Festival (www.tribecafilmfestival.org/). The film was "Where God Left His Shoes" (www.wheregodlefthisshoes.com/) - a moving and poignant story starring John Leguizamo as Frank. He, his wife Angela, and their two children are evicted from their New York City apartment and have to move into a homeless shelter. With many laughs and inevitable tears, this stellar cast impressed us much. But Anthony and I were most proud of his Momentum Leadership teammate (www.momentumeducation.com) Karen, who was a script supervisor on this film. We got to enjoy the movie with her and celebrate her afterwards.

On Monday, I got the opportunity to meet the cast of "RADIO GOLF" (www.radiogolfonbroadway.com/) - including Tonya Pinkins and Harry Lennix. I also go the chance to re-connect with my old friend from Atlanta, Kenny Leon, who mentored me along with his then-wife Carol Mitchell-Leon, my speech/theater teacher at Morehouse (by way of Clark Atlanta University). My dear friend Carl Nelson threw this private set on the eve of RADIO GOLF's opening night and programmed it with some lovely treats. In the 5th Avenue home of Loida Lewis, whose welcomed me in several times before (http://thelifeofriley.squarespace.com/rilys-blog/2007/3/11/success-is-nothing-without-someone-you-love-to-share-it-with.html), we enjoyed floating champagne and h'orderves. Mrs. Lewis, who statistically may be the richest Filipino outside of her home country, is such a warm, generous, and present host (as seen here in this photo from my last visit to her home). Hot off of her successful run of "Miracle in Rwanda" (www.miracleinrwanda.com/), Mrs. Lewis' daughter Leslie Lewis-Sword served as mistress of ceremonies, which included a rousing performance of "Georgia" from pianist Eric Lewis (www.ericlewisgroove.com), who I went to see recently at Zinc. (http://thelifeofriley.squarespace.com/rilys-blog/2007/5/2/happy-birthday-to-yall.html). Additionally, the three artists formerly known as the Three Mo' Tenors (NOW COOK, DIXON, and YOUNG) did an array of classical, Broadway standards, and classic soul with just piano as accompaniment. (www.cookdixonandyoung.com/). In attendance, author Shelly Branch, a Wall Street Journal editor who co-wrote "What Would Jackie Do?: An Inspired Guide to Distinctive Living" (Penguin Group (USA). She along with her co-author Sue Callaway take an irreverent, wity, and wry look at how Jackie Kennedy Onassis would have operated in the 21st Century.  Wall Street Journal's fashion editor Teri Agins was also there and she and I got to catch up. We met many years ago when I invited her to sit on a panel for the National Association of Black Journalists; and Tony-award-winning LaChanze's sister Michelle is - in her own right - making some big moves inside of event planning via her brand MICHELLE'S PLACE (www.michellesplacelive.com): She's a dear friend and I've written about her before. (http://thelifeofriley.squarespace.com/rilys-blog/2007/2/25/my-cup-runneth-over-with-party-invites.html). Our synergy and energy are always intertwined and intertangled since we first met over frozen margaritas at BBQ in 2002. And though we don't talk often, it's always rejuvenating when we do get together. Also, shout out to her friend Blessed, a renowned DJ in the area. He and Michelle drove me to VOYAGE, Anthony's and my favorite West Village restaurant that we discovered together. Anthony's friend Marcos hosts an awesome networking mixer there on Monday nights. His best "Amazing Grace" Manivone met us there as well as Khalid. Along with another of Anthony's Momentum mates Laurencia, we again went to Karaoke (This is getting ridiculous, right? In our defense, we do like the saki! SMILE!). (www.karaoke17.com/) [Meanwhile, check out http://radiogolfonbroadway.com/emails/index.php?e=1508&c=ALC7ASGVFR for tickets, group sales, and other information around special features at "Radio Golf".]

I had to go to Chicago again, but now that "Mahogany" (partially set in Chicago) is out on DVD, I guess I  channeled Diana's alter-ego "Tracy Chambers" and acted as if I were going to "... get my ol' man back!" (though I was leaving my man to achieve this fantasy in my mind). Anyway! While at LaGuardia Airport awaiting my flight, I ran into a Morehouse brother from my era, Bruce Plummer. He's in finance in New York City, but he and I used to hang out in New Jersey in the mid-'90s via my best Morehouse friend Eddie. Seeing him was a good set-up for next week's big reunion, my 15th since graduating "THE HOUSE". (www.morehouse.edu). 

A flight later, I got the chance to reconnect to my Chicago posse in a multitude of ways. As Chicago Carl and I decided on where we would go to dinner one of those nights, we went to pick up Carl's friend Vince from Target. It was there, I decided to go buy the showstopper edition of "DREAMGIRLS" in a format I could actually use. The one the company sent me was HD-DVD and my DVD player is not playing it. And I'm TOO excited to see THE EXTRAS (though my fellow "DREAMGIRLS" fans are already announcing their findings - like TANK is in the choir on James "Thunder" Early and Lorrell's duet (sorta' trio, if you count Keith Robinson's CC who - in the movie - wrote the song and introduces it to them musically. It's "Patience". Anyway! I was exuding anything but PATIENCE as I walked to checkout. All the lines had at least three people in them - all of whom had a slew of things to buy from their baskets. All I had was my DVD. I Chose a line where a woman was unloading the many contents from her basket onto the conveyer belt. I loudly exclaimed "Where can I go and not wait in line?". Not addressing her pointedly, but clearly loud enough to be heard, she says "SINCE YOU ONLY HAVE ONE ITEM, YOU CAN CUT IN FRONT OF ME". Suddenly I turn modest and retract "IT'S OKAY". She insists, noting "I'M FROM THE SOUTH. WE'RE LIKE THAT...". I say "I'M FROM THE SOUTH. SAVANNAH, GEORGIA TO BE EXACT.". She says "YOU'RE NOT FROM SAVANNAH". I say "YES, I AM". She says "LET ME SEE YOUR LICENSE", which is the funny part. I haven't lived in Savannah in many years, but still have my "GEORGIA" driver's license. I show it to her. She then shows me her license which is the same, though she lives in Wilmington Island. She told me she had just driven up from Savannah to Chicago to spend a long weekend with her husband, who has just recently accepted a position in Chicago. She still lives in Savannah and her daughter attends Johnson High School (in the same county and school system as my alma mater Windsor Forest High School). She pointed out she works for Delta Airlines. In all of that intimate exchange, I've managed NOT to remember her name... but was such a small world moment with random acts of kindness and paying it forward written all over it. I'll never forget that moment. 

On to dinner, Carl, Vince, and I ate at Tamarind Thai Restaurant (WWW.TAMARINDSUSHI.COM). We enjoyed tempura, shrimp fried rice, a wonderful shrimp dish with delicious sauce, and - of course - the conversation. Chicago Carl knows the owner Brian, who was a wonderful host for the night. And apparently, Miss Jennifer Hudson likes THAI as she recently dined at the restaurant... and here's the picture to prove it.

Afterwards, Carl and I went to Kit Kat Lounge & Supper Club (www.kitkatchicago.com), where Itika and Eddie met us. A drag queen performed two sets - one as classic Marilyn Monroe; the other as Shakira. She was beautiful, but had nothing on Itika, who is making me so proud these days as she continues to work her magic - so the world can see. In addition to some wonderful pursuits on which she's getting ready to embark (in the TV world), her awesome, model looks are being seen more and more. From the billboards of Ebony Fashion Fair for which she is featured as a model for one of the line's cream products to her friend Tiffany's vintage clothing website (www.thegarmentroom.com), she's doing it.

And so is her friend Tiffany about whom I've written in a previous entry. (http://thelifeofriley.squarespace.com/rilys-blog/2007/1/15/-but-i-need-a-friend.html) Next month, Tiffany is coming to New York City with her trunk show. See details below. Meanwhile, REMEMBER HER NAME. It's ITIKA!!!!

The blues in me began to take hold. And truth be told, I wasn't really thinking about Mother's Day and the fact that I lost my mom 13 years ago. But for some reason, new friends and strangers alike were reminding me of it not because they knew, but because of their understandably presumptious line of questioning: "ARE YOU GOING TO SEE YOUR MOM FOR 'MOTHER'S DAY'?" or it might be "SO WHAT ARE YOU GETTING YOUR MOM FOR 'MOTHER'S DAY"? and - in some cases - it was "I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO GET MY MOM FOR 'MOTHER'S DAY' AND I HAVE TO SPEND TOMORROW WITH HER. WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO?". Like never before, I found myself most sensitive to these questions and comments. After VINCE asked me one of the questions the night prior, I answered. He followed the uncomfortable silence (for me) and my short retort with "WHEN DID SHE DIE?". I said "1994". And there it stood. Of course, I HONOR all mothers and LOVE that those who still have them on this earth can ENJOY THEM and LOVE THEM as they --- and my own ---- deserve to be loved. But in this moment, it's not feeling so great. Now, 12 Mother's Days have come and gone since mom's passing and admittedly, they haven't all been a bed of roses. Still, I had gotten to a place where I was able to "get over" the feelings of sadness and loss around the holiday, and just move through it without 'feeling" it so hard. Well, that has not been the case this go around. 

But guess what? There's light inside of this darkness. My friend Sharvo, who too was not aware of my status as a "motherless child", felt something when I popped by her office yesterday. I went in with smiles and love and hugs, but it didn't fool her. She let me say all I needed to say about the weather, the weekend, and the windy city. Then, she said "WHERE'S MY PATRICK?". I looked at her clueless at first (knowing instinctively that she must have spotted my space, despite my efforts to disguise it). I said "WHAT DO YOU MEAN?". She pushed further "SOMETHING IS WRONG. YOU'RE NOT YOURSELF TODAY.". I wasn't moping or anything, but I thought to myself "SHE'S RIGHT. MY ENERGY IS A BIT ZAPPED AND SPENT.". I confessed "I'M NOT SURE, BUT I THINK THIS HOLIDAY AND ALL OF THE HYPE AROUND IT ARE IMPACTING MORE THAN I THOUGHT THEY WOULD. I LOST MY MOM IN 1994 AND THOUGH IT'S BEEN MANY YEARS, I'M JUST SAD TODAY.". Sharvo immediately related and said "I KNOW WHAT THAT IS. AND THAT'S WHAT I SEE...". Learning she had a feeling of loss around her "mother" (though her mother was not dead) was as sad as my own lost, but comforting in the sense that I wasn't alone in the colossal experience of loss - like no other (especially if you are close to your MOTHER). She then gave me a hug and the moment made me feel a little better and a little less alone. I proceeded to call ANTHONY and share with him the moment - at which time I began to cry uncontrollably over it all - THE SADNESS, THE UNDERSTANDING, THE LONGING, and whatever is left after that. Anthony was chockful of comfort and forwarding ideas around what I could do to HONOR my mom. Ideas like maybe calling my father to find out some things about my mom that I don't know. "What did she look like when you met her?" "How did she tell you she was pregnant with me?" "What was your wedding like?" were questions Anthony offered I could ask to move away from the SADNESS and focus on the mounds of JOY that are still available, if I chose to focus on them. Though I appreciated that (and other) recommendations, it didn't quite shift me immediately. Still, inside of his connection with me, I felt loved and that made me feel good. As I waded through the day, Itika wanted to lift my spirits with a party she was scheduled to attend. She asked that I accompany her. I agreed, but needed to get back to my hotel and find a skull cap from somewhere as the WARM CHICAGO SPRING returned WINDY and COLD on this morning. I went to "FILENE'S BASEMENT" (www.filenesbasement.com) on Michigan Avenue where I got my Aunt Jemima-looking headwrap (from the Men's section) as it was all they had (here in Spring with summer merchandise a priority). I decided that I was finally going to try (SOLO) "DEVON" Seafood Grill (www.devonseafood.com/), which my friend Murphy had tried in Philadelphia and gave glowing reviews. As I propped myself up at the bar to have a drink and some good food, who walks in? SHARVO, the friend who'd spotted the sadness that I thought I was covering up. Accompanied by her friend Chrisna, who just successfully defended her dissertation towards her Ph.D in Educational Psychology, Sharvo approached like a beautiful "earth" angel and greeted me. She asked if I was there alone. And though I don't mind dining alone, there was something vulnerable in her asking and vulnerable in my reply. Standing in the reality that I was there to eat alone, she asked me to join them. Reticent at first because I needed to eat quickly in order to meet Itika for the party, I instead took the challenge of connection and fellowship and joined Sharvo and Chrisna in one of Devon's special alcove's (private dining room). And because we don't believe in coincidendes, both Sharvo and I knew we needed this night together. We laughed and THE FOOD was off the charts. The crab cakes, the salmon, the scallops, the caesar salad, the hazelnut cheesecake were all some of the best cuisine I've ever tasted. And the company was even better. I didn't have my camera with me to chronicle this moment that was perhaps the most special of the week. Like the revolution, this was not televised nor recorded. But trust, the vivid and fond memories of this sharing with Sharvo and Chrisna won't soon be lost on me. And I'm sure we'll recreate it again sometime soon. It truly was just what the doctor ordered...

It looks like I'll be going home tomorrow, which is a good thing. Tonight, Chicago Carl and I may hit the club, The Generator, which I've BLOG'd about before. (http://thelifeofriley.squarespace.com/rilys-blog/2007/1/15/-but-i-need-a-friend.html). Tomorrow, I'll forego Itika's invitation to the Ebony Fashion Fair fashion show which I was looking forward to as I hadn't done one of those in a minute. Another loving invitation from my Alicia and Carla for Sunday dinner at J. Alexander's followed by a late show with Bilal will require a raincheck as - in the words of Mahogany - "... I want to go home...". This, after she stepped into another peak experience as a designer in Rome. I've had some amazing highs on the leg of this trip (and a few lows that have left me a little blue), but while most will be looking at their Mother's tomorrow, I am excited to go home to "... get my old man back..."