Oooh, I think I love you…

The nice thing about life is that sometimes you get little suprises. Today I got a package in the mail from a colleauge/friend I had “done lunch” with weeks ago. I totally thought she had forgotten about me. It was just mentioned in passing…my love for David Cassidy. She happens to be friend of his. For realz! She also happened to executive produce one of my favorite all time CD’s “Old Trick New Dog”. Which I was going to order on I-tunes the week we talked about it. She told me she would send me some signed stuff and I laughed… well ha ha on me… I got a package today with a signed photo and a signed CD… I KNOW! Cray to Crayzee! I am spending the rest of my work day in David Cassidy heaven J

Compelling. Engaging. Exciting. PAIGE IN FULL

Last week I was blessed to be a part of the opening weekend of a very special show. Paige In Full is a dance-theatre piece by Paige Hernandez-Funn. She is one of the most amazing performers you have never heard of…which is a crime against art! She is a dancer and an actress and an all around amazing person. Her show is a self exploration that covers pretty much her life from age eight to the present day. She wraps it up nice and tight in a one hour dance, music and monologue event.

Photo credit: Colin Hovde

I believe everyone has a personal soundtrack. Mine is a combination of eighties pop and contemporary Christian music. Paige’s is pure hip hop. She breathes it. It’s a part of her DNA. She can connect the songs and the culture to her entire being. More importantly, she can explain it to the rest of us. She is beautifully articulate in her storytelling… she is enticing in her mastery of her body and movement. This performance is a delight.



I am not one to blow smoke about performers and performances. I will always tell you what I think. I think if you miss the opportunity to connect with this show, you will really have missed something great.



Paige in Full


What: Inspired by mixtapes, siblings Paige Hernandez and Nick the 1Da combine hip-hop poetry, dance, and live music to tell a story about identity and ethnicity in Baltimore.








When: Thru May 29. Previews, Tues. & Wed., 8 p.m. Regular showings, Thurs., 8 p.m.; Fri., 8 & 10 p.m.; Sat., 3 & 8 p.m.; Sun., 3 p.m.





Where: Flashpoint Mead Theatre Lab, 916 G St. NW, b/t 9th & 10th Sts. (202-315-1305).





Tickets ($20) online at ovationtix.com.

Marty Thomas

Bestill my beating heart.

Here's the funny thing... I should just write down all the names that Beloved ( tm) uses in a conversation because someday I'll want to know who that person is. For example, Beloved (tm) was talking about how I should sing "Love You I Do" from the Dreamgirls movie for Barry and Marty's wedding. He mentioned it because he and this fella named Marty Thomas were flown to Chicago by a couple getting married and he sang the song.

I thought, yeah yeah yeah - maybe I should sing that song. I was so wrapped up in me that I didnt ask " Who is Marty Thomas?" ( I didnt want to look stupid to Beloved since he was like "you know Marty Thomas..." so I cleared my throat and said "oh sure" ).

What I was depriving myself of was one of the best voices and most amazing high tenors I have EVER heard. He rocks my socks. I spent hours You Tubing and Googling this guy a couple of nights ago. There are few people that I can honestly say I want to meet and even fewer people I actually want to sing with. This is one of those people.

Prepare to be amazed, for those who dont know...here's Marty Thomas.

Lost in Your Eyes...

I am sitting at work folding letters, allowing the IPod to send me back in time. A little Depeche Mode, Meet Danny Wilson and Debbie Gibson. ::sigh::

Certain songs take to specfic places in my past. Debbie Gibson's " Lost In Your Eyes" makes me think of a short road trip to Baltimore when I was in college. A few of us hopped in a car and headed to the Inner Harbor for a little fun. We went to the Aquarium and the MD Science Center and shopped in Harborplace and had dinner at Phillips. It was the quintessential "Inner Harbor" day.

On the way back to school, we were all tired and mellow. I had a huge crush on the guy driving - he was everything I never wanted (LOL) - a beer drinking smoker who had a slightly angry vibe about him. No direction and no real passion - PERFECT! LOL. Next to me was the bad boy's best friend...one of the two loves of my life (the other being Beloved in NYC) - the first one. Only, I didn't know it until that moment.

He had fallen asleep an his head dropped onto my shoulder and he looped his arm through mine. I looked at the sleepy young man next to me, sandy haired, awkward, creative and passionate and felt a warm blush wash over me. I looked into the rear view mirror and saw the bad boy looking at us and smiling - he seemed to know something I didn't. I found out later that what he knew was that the sleepy man did indeed "like" me a lot.

While all of this was happening, Debbie was crooning:

I just fell, don't know why
Something real we can't deny...

I wish I could tell you that we dated all though college and parted amiably. But it is far more complicated than that. He is married now and we hear from each other occasionally. The unresolved things between us float out there like radio waves - the same kind of radio waves that created the soundtrack in that car headed to Emmitsburg almost 20 years ago.

::sigh::

Steven Curtis Jesus tickets

When I lived with my dear friend Momo in New York City, I used to play my Steven Curtis Chapman Cd's a lot. She appreciated his musical style, but some of the lyrics were not to her taste. She is Jewish and songs praising Jesus do nothing for her. Anyway, one day she asked me the name of a song of his. She wanted to suggest it to her voice teacher (the teacher was singing at a wedding). She says " What is that song by Steven Curtis Jesus? You know, the one I like." From that day on, he became SCJ.

I mention this only because the presale for the SJC tickets is tomorrow and I am counting my pennies. I love me some middle aged Christian pop singers.

Repositoning song of the day

The Remedy - Ayiesha Woods

A little too much time on your hands
So many things pressing your heart
Now you're caught up in a brain storm
And the winds are tearing you apart

And what matter the most now
Shouldn't matter at all
You forgot who's holding you up
And He won't let you fall
Who's in control of your life
And knows better than you ever will
Who tells you time and again
Hush and be still
It's time to recognize
That your answer in His eyes
Where the river flows

If you'll just Free your mind
And the peace of God will follow
Just give yourself a little time
Don't worry 'bout tomorrow

Don't you know that His joy is your strength
Can you fathom it
Peace beyond your understanding
When you gonna grab a hold of it
Cause you're life's not your own
You can't do it alone
There is a remedy if you will let go and just...

Free your mind
And the peace of God will follow
Just give yourself a little time
Don't worry 'bout tomorrow

Don't you know just thinking about it, Ain't gonna add one hour
Tell me who's in control...

This captures what is on my mind today.

Praise you in this storm - Casting Crowns

I was sure by now
That You would have reached down
And wiped our tears away
Stepped in and saved the day
But once again, I say “Amen”, and it’s still raining

As the thunder rolls
I barely hear Your whisper through the rain“I’m with you”
And as You mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise the God who gives
And takes away
I’ll praise You in this storm

And I will life my hands
For You are who You are
No matter where I am
Every tear I’ve cried
You hold in Your hand
You never left my side
And though my heart is torn
I will praise You in this storm

I remember when
I stumbled in the wind
You heard my cry
You raised me up again
My strength is almost gone
How can I carry on
If I can’t find You

As the thunder rolls
I barely hear You whisper through the rain“I’m with you”
And as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise the God who gives
And takes away

I lift my eyes unto the hills
Where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord
The Maker of Heaven and Earth

Saying goodbye to the most sampled man in Music History

James Brown laid in repose at the Apollo Theatre in New York City today. He will be laid to rest tomorrow in GA. I know it might not seem like something I would blog about, but music is a very important part of my life. The soundtrack to my life does indeed include a couple of Mr. Brown exclaimations.

His influence on modern music cannot go un remarked by me, you hear him in every hot dance beat in every Rap song and every twitch of every boy band ever created. The evolution of Funk , Soul and R&B can be traced direcetly to the work of James Brown.

When the procession... that white horse drawn carriage on 125th street...pulled up to the theatre, the crowd just enfolded him. What an image! His presence and influence was so apparent - vibrant and vivid in that moment.

My Dad was big James Brown fan. He loved the outragousness. He respected the genius of his music. I know that Dicky is in crowd welcoming "The Godfather of Soul" at the gates.

Rest in Peace.