Wherever Love Takes Me: A Four Part Account of My Road Trip to Philadelphia

Event Date: Saturday, April 9, 2011

From the Mega Bus to the China Bus

The day started out a bit dramatically. I jumped out of bed at 5:10am. I should have already been on my way to the city as my bus was scheduled to depart to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at 6:30am. I live an hour and half away from the pick up site so even if you’re not great at math it’s obvious that time was not on my side. I called my friend who was supposed to be accompanying me on this trip. My only words were “I obviously didn’t wake up on time”. The plan was for me to wake up at four and meet at her house which was a shorter train ride to the city. She was still close enough to get there on time. I realized my only option was to trick a Brooklyn cab driver into taking me into Manhattan. I left my apartment in shambles and ran out of the door.

The cab driver was a contradiction to the say the least but quite entertaining. He played music from a religious station on his radio while he cursed at the top of his lungs about how much of a crazy driver he was (insert other expletives). Nevertheless, $55.00 later, he got me in the vicinity of my bus with six minutes left before it was scheduled to depart. I walked for three minutes in the wrong direction (as usual) and thanks to my marathon training last year I ran back in the right direction to the bus location.

It was a huge relief, when I saw the long line of people waiting. After standing there for a few seconds I asked if the bus was late. It turned out I was on the line for Boston. My bus was already loaded. At this point my friend was no where in sight but assured me she was a block away. I ran up to the bus as the driver was about the close the door. The bus attendant told me to get on. I tried to explain that my friend was a block away. She responded by yelling that they wait for no one. With that the bus driver closed the door sped off. When the dust cleared my friend was running across the street. We were informed that the next bus was an hour later, which would throw our entire day out of whack. Thanks to my iPhone, and the cab driver we accosted in Dunkin Donuts we were able to grab a bus in China town with the China Bus Company. An extra $20.00 later for some new tickets and we were finally on our way.

 

Bubbles & Bubbly

Event Date: April 4, 2011

I've seen in it a million times in movies. Ladies have long days and decide to relax in a luxurious bubble bath. They have strawberries in one hand and champagne in the other while soft music plays in the background. I tried this one time before sans the food, beverage, and music but I didn't really enjoy it. I was cohabiting at the time and I had a house guest that summer. Since I knew that there was life on the other side of the door I couldn't really relax. All I could think about was everything I had to do.

This time was different. I spent the entire day cleaning my apartment, and I had plans that night that were canceled without notice so my body was a bit tense. So on a whim I grabbed my candles and the left over bubble bath I had purchased for Valentines Day, then I headed for the bathroom. I didn't have strawberries so I filled a bowl with sliced peaches and then popped open a bottle of champagne.

Monet and Mojitos

Event Date: Saturday, April 6, 2011

So I didn't see an actual Monet painting or have a mojito, but I did have a pre event glass of white wine at Cafe Shane and  I lingered in some of the  Brooklyn Museum's exhibits after participating in the festivities at their monthly First Saturdays event hosted by Target. Once a month, the museum offers free performances, movies, curator talks, and hands on art experiences, along with free admission to view the exhibits after 4pm. The night culminates with a dance party in their

Beaux-Arts Court

.

This was my first time participating in the Target First Saturdays event. Unfortunately, this was the first time I stepped into the Brooklyn Museum as an adult. I remember visiting the museum for a school trip and feeling I had the first time I was surrounded by the art. My peers were mostly bored or saw the vast open spaces in some areas of the museum as a playground, but I was captivated. All of those feelings came rushing back as I walked though the museum's revolving door for this event. We were greeted by the sounds of a folk and jazz sounding band playing the lobby. There were hundreds of people waiting on line to get tickets the events the museum had on their program.

My friend was very excited to see Kenny Muhammad, an acclaimed beat boxer perform with Cocoro Strings. The event flyer described it as a "percussive twist on classical music". In word one I described it a phenomenal. Mr. Muhammad was able to mix a genre that is birthed from hip hop with classical selections by musicians such as Vivaldi as well perform eclectic interpretations of rock, jazz, and pop music. The performance was profound and energetic. During his solo performance we were all dancing in our seats as he used his mouth to make beats that were reminiscent of the popular hip hop sounds of the 90's as well as today. His tribute to the Dirty South had the audience which was comprised of all races and ages doing dance moves similar to ones made popular by rapper Ludacris. When he began his collaboration with the Cocoro Strings which was a group made up of three violinists and one cellist it became magical.

When the classical music intertwined with beats coming out his mouth it was like being on a roller coaster. The climax of the strings combined with the build up of his beats took the audience through an experience which felt like a story unfolding in front of our eyes. There was sadness and longing, as well as excitement and triumph. I felt every beat and note as if he was singing to me. In fact, being who I am I found a way to relate almost every composition to a feeling I have experienced in my past relationships.

The event I was looking forward to the most was the Hands-On Art class. We were able to use charcoal to sketch portraits of live models as they emulated some poses that can be found in illustrations by artist Norman Rockwell. I absolutely love to draw. I started to teach myself at a very young age. I'm not art gallery good or even flea market ready but I'm  a decent artist. I was excited to get instruction from an actual art teacher for free. When the class started it was a little a different than I expected. The instructor gave us several sheets of paper and a box of charcoal and guided us through 30 second drawing sessions to eventually eight minute sessions where we drew different poses that the model was demonstrating. What I learned is that it takes me way longer than eight minutes to make a piece of art that I'm proud of, but I could push myself to be more precise with time limits. You can see my "creations" below.

 






Hands on Art class. 5 minute drawing on the left and 8 minute drawing on the right. They are both equally horrible.

 Lastly, there was the dance party. I have heard stories about how this section of the museum is transformed into a club like atmosphere. There was a bar and club colored lighting but I only made it through the first 30 minutes which still had more of a family friendly vibe with kids doing B-Boy moves in the middle of dance floor. On my way out I saw the club going crowd role in and I felt like I was missing out. But I was exhausted and simply satisfied with all of the things I got to experience earlier in the day. Next time I'll be shaking my butt with the rest of them.



Brunch & Break Up Talk

 Event Date:Friday April 1, 2011

 I took a mini staycation* to take a break from my day job and to perform a much needed  self reset. I wanted to take time to work more on the things I love such as my writing but also to explore the place I grew up but never got a chance to see before I left for college (NYC).

It was a nasty rainy and cold day but I was determined to start my staycation off right. I woke up, got all dolled up, grabbed my crappy umbrella purchased from my neighborhood  corner store bought, and ventured out to meet up with my close friend Chris at Peaches restaurant located in the Bedford Stuyvesant area of Brooklyn NY.

The day of course didn't start without its hiccups. I locked myself out of my apartment and then took the bus in the wrong direction to the restaurant. I got cursed out by the bus driver for not knowing where I was going. Then I was Molested with the eyes of an attractive fellow traveler. Finally, I tripped over a passenger in a wheelchair when my leg got caught in one of his wheels on my way off the bus. The attractive traveler laughed at me but I primped my curls held my head high and continued on the journey to meet my friend. I heard that Bed -Stuy had gone through some changes but I was pleasantly surprised. The restaurant was beautiful.