awesome stuff
Lenny Kravitz Swoon x 2
Jul 1st
Earlier today on my Facebook page I posted this video:
“With my head held handsome” is probably my favorite line in this sketch. Hilarious every single time I watch it — not to mention all the yummy eye candy. Lenny Kravitz especially! In addition to being talented and gorgeous, he’s hilarious in this too. ;) Well, in the comments under the video my friend Jessica told me about a video she had just seen of Lenny Kravitz crashing a choir concert in Louisiana, so I Googled and found it. And it’s probably the coolest thing I’ve seen a celebrity do in a really, really long time.
He made those kids’ day! And you could tell it was completely spontaneous. He was super humble and seemed to be appreciative of them for playing his music. I love to see folks who’ve made it big but are still just normal.
This made my day too.
Motown, Old Roomies and a Star Wars Wedding
May 25th
I just got back from Detroit (well the Detroit area) where I worked at Joey’s Comedy Club in Livonia, MI. Worked with two great guys, the very funny Johnny Beehner out of Milwaukee and Ed Buehner who was based out of the Detroit metro.
I visited the Motown Museum.
It was AWESOME. So much history in such a small space. I can’t believe I was standing in the studio where Stevie and The Temptations and The Four Tops and Marvin Gaye and Smokey and Edwin Starr, etc. recorded so much awesome music. No photos are allowed inside, but that’s OK. I remember it all. There was also a great movie they showed there. Way too many people at the shows this weekend said they’d never been. I couldn’t believe it.
At our Thursday show we met a young lady named Grace (above) who was having her bachelorette party at the club. Her wedding was Saturday and after the show she told me that she and her fiancee were having a Star Wars wedding, where they and their guests would dress in costumes from the movies. I immediately began to picture her in the Princess Leia white robe-y costume — but NOPE! More >
Mr. Maher and Me — a photo essay
Feb 21st
So I just got home from a road trip which covered several events and cities, not the least of which was my visit to Raleigh, NC to open for Bill Maher at the tapings for his latest HBO special. The photo above is me in Raleigh on my way from the hotel to the Progress Energy Center — the venue for the shows. Yaaaaay!
The venue was gorgeous and seated about 2,300.
By far the largest venue I’ve ever performed in, it was imposing while it was empty. You can’t even see the wings to the left and right. When it was full it was one of the best feelings in the world. When I walked out on stage I actually closed my eyes for a few seconds and imagined all the people were there to see me… Some day I hope. The HBO folks were nice enough to make me a recording of one of the shows. They edited it multi-camera as if it were my special too. It looks awesome. Clips to come for sure.
These ladies were the models underneath the burkas in the fashion show at the end of the special.
And this is me with the man.
We chatted maybe once or twice but being the huge fan that I am, it was certainly enough. I know how I can be before just before I get up at a regular show. I can only imagine the adrenaline, excitement, and even nerves that must be stirring when you’re taping a live HBO special. He was very nice. I’ve been going through a really tough time these past few months. And when I got home last nite I rushed to download these photos because I needed to remind myself why I sacrifice to do what I do. It’s almost like each of them is saying, “Hey, EJ don’t be discouraged. Look at all the wonderful opportunities you’ve been blessed with. And look what’s possible if you continue to work hard.”
Exactly what I needed. Have a great week, guys.
Me and my new boyfriend Jake
Feb 19th
I can’t even believe I did this.
This week I’m at the APCA National Programming Conference in ATL where college and university student planning boards and student activities directors come to watch comedians, musicians, magicians, speakers, and (for lack of a better word) novelty acts showcase and then (hopefully) book them to appear at their schools throughout the year.
Well, there was this one booth near my agency’s booth that had all these exotic animals, an armadillo, a little monkey, a really cool bird, and Jake — just to name a few. I’ve always been frightened to death of anything slithery or creepy crawly, but some of the students from one of the schools were playing with it and taking photos and I let them gas me into putting it around my neck. I didn’t want to hold his head but the handler said that if I didn’t hold his head he’d bite me. I knew he was just rying to scare me, but why chance that, right? So I grabbed his neck.
Do snakes even have necks?
My friend Odyssey said right off the bat that I looked uncomfortable like “GET THIS THING THE HELL OFF OF ME” and he’s not wrong. ;) I tried to smile… I sent this to my mom’s cell phone and she actually got angry with me. “Why would you do this? Why would you send it to me? I’m deleting this. You better not send this to your father.
Sheesh, Ma… Chill. Well, my something new for this week has certainly been taken care of.
Get a life — Ice Skating
Jan 6th
So in my effort to obtain a life this year, I resolve to do at least one fun, out of the ordinary (for me) thing each week. I hope today’s outing wasn’t my first and last as I’m really bad with keeping resolutions…
This morning I went ice skating at the National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden Ice Rink. The urge hit me out of nowhere yesterday, which is crazy because I hadn’t been skating in at least 20 years — since my cousin Tanya and I used to skate at the ice rink in Old Bridge, NJ when we were kids. But it sounded like fun so I got up this morning, bundled up and headed downtown. Found a great parking space right in front of the Archives on Constitution and I went on in.
When I went to rent my skates the guy in the booth (the only other Black person at the rink) said, “You better hold on to the railing.” Haha. Damn stereotypes! Just because I’m Black doesn’t mean I can’t ice skate — it means I can’t swim. Duh…
Out on the ice it was kind of a rough at first. I took the skate booth guy’s advice and held on to the railing for my first few go-rounds. But then it started to come back to me… There was a little European girl skating circles around me, but that seemed about right ;) Little by little I moved further into the rink and after about 15 minutes or so I was doing pretty well if I do say so myself!
After about 45-50 mins. I was done so I walked around the sculpture garden for a bit, and then headed into the cafe for coffee and to warm up some. It was a really nice outing! Hopefully more life-getting to come. Please stay tuned and if you wanna come along for my next skating trip, just lemme know!
Bill Maher, HBO, and… me!!!
Dec 10th
Just found out yesterday that I was invited to open for Bill Maher as he tapes his upcoming HBO special in February in Raleigh, NC! I’m suuuuuuper excited! Being the liberal politics junkie that I am, Bill and Real Time are kinda like my crack. My mom thinks they might throw me a curve ball and ask that I renounce Jesus before the performances, but I’m relatively sure that won’t happen.
Just to be clear, I won’t be appearing on HBO, but the fact that they trust me to prep the crowds for one of the network’s biggest stars is super flattering. Not to mention that it’ll be a huge theater full of fans and HBO execs. And hopefully, I’ll get to meet Bill too ;) It’ll be hands-down the biggest show I’ve ever done. Hooray for this!
February 12 & 13
Progress Energy Center
Raleigh, NC
Auntie’s baby at the aeropuerto
Sep 14th
Apparently Auntie’s baby loves airplanes…
I know you want this kid, but you can’t have him. He’s mine.
Well, OK he’s not mine. But also you cannot have him.
Marie Claire Magazine feels my pain
Jun 25th
In keeping with my recent focus on my terrible dating history (I’m in the process of writing a new chunk of material on it) my friend Dana messaged me on Twitter about an online contest Marie Claire Magazine was holding. They’re looking for readers to submit their worst date stories, and then they’re going to select the best [worst] ones and feature them on their website.
She thought it was perfect for me. And I think maybe she was right. I’ve written about my worst date ever on this blog already, back in 2007. If you haven’t read my “The Worst Date Ever. Ever.” posts or if you need a refresher, you can read Pt. I here. And if you haven’t had enough, here is the conclusion. I submitted it to their site yesterday afternoon, and last nite they posted this on their Twitter page:
YAY! They liked it!!! Glad they could see the humor in my pain. Hopefully, I’ll be one of the top entries and my story will be published on their site… Although that would mean I had one of the worst dates ever in the COUNTRY. Is that an honor?
Maybe not, but it’s par for my life. Exhale…
WaPo reads this blog… Way cool! ;)
Jun 24th
So the WaPo Express Blog Log, picked up yesterday’s blog about my (ahem) ‘blunt’ psychic reading. That’s my quote up in the top left corner (that’s me in the spotlight… losing my religion. Literally. My Dad would freak if he knew I visited a psychic. Good thing he doesn’t read my blog)… Did you read it? If not, all you gotta do is scroll down a little bit. Haha… It’s kinda funny if I do say so myself. Thanks to Leon for letting me know about it. Since I don’t commute to anywhere besides my living room I don’t ever really see the Express.
My nephew is a genius
Jun 17th
No really he is.
He’s a few days short of 15 months and he knows his alphabet AND numbers. And not just the song. He can recognize them all on sight, out of order. Don’t believe me? Check out the video for yourself. His mom has finally learned to turn him around in the tub when she tapes so he won’t hate her [as much] when he gets older… And while you can’t see his beautiful little face (click here for more Roman) , his AWESOME is on full display!!!
See, I TOLD you he was amazing… How can you not love this kid? I’m trying to get his parents to gift me his college fund. He’s so smart he’s not gonna need it… And I’ve got “parentheses” around my checking account balance. ;)
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