My First Night In Denver- Party with a Purpose Time

Fresh off the airplane, straight to a party. We arrived in Denver pretty late and missed the Hill Harper book release and grown & sexy, hip hop party featuring, Whodini, Biz Markie, Slick Rick & Doug E. Fresh. Urrgh, I was a bit hurt we didn't make it in time for this party. We did however arrive as the partygoers were exiting the venue, and just in time to watch an impromptu sidewalk fraternity step show. Too much fun and excitement. The post college "steppers" sent the Denver cops, who were on hand "just in case", into a semi-frenzy. The cops had no idea the men, suited and booted would break out into a full on School Daze step show outside of the venue. Hilarious. Great times indeed.

Tiff meets Bun B outside of Hill Harper's book release party in Denver.

Tiff w/ Lorielle, co-owner of the Barack The Vote t-shirt line outside of the Hill Harper's book release party. I got my shirt, girrrll.

Dining with California Assemblyman, Isadore Hall. (LtoR)-Eric Hall, Miko, Isadore Hall, Danna, Lashan, Tiffany & Anton. Isadore represents California's 52nd District, which includes, Compton, Watts, Long Beach, Willowbrook, Paramount & South Los Angeles. Young men on the move in politics. Love to see it!

Day Two of My DNC Trip

I attempted to arrange the photos in the order in which the events occured; no luck. I did give detailed captions though. Enjoy!

Miko, Tiff & Shan downtown Denver posing w/Obama's Time cover.

On my way to watch one of the speeches.

Miko & Tiff taking advantage of Denver's public transportation.

Tiffany w/ the Barack the Vote crew. Brandon, (next to me) co-owns the line w/his sister Lorielle, not pictured. Love them!

Lashan, video/movie director, Brian Barber & Tiffany at the Pepsi Center after Biden's speech, I think.:)

Kickin' it with the Republican elephant. It's all love.

Around the way girls standin' at the bus stop-w/no lollipops. On our way to the festivities.

Acting silly at the DEMOCRACY ice sculpture. This was really cute.

Compton, Cali in the house. These guys are the creators of the Obama peace foam fingers. The vendors "came up", in Denver. Compton was seriously in the house. I went all the way to Denver and met so many people from Compton. Craziness!

Protestors were representing as well.

Almost doesn't count, but it will do for the purpose of this photo.

At the Denver Convention center watching one of the speeches.

I love my friends.

DNC: The Big Day- "That One" Speaks

Lashan, Mark & Tiff.

(read about Mark below and how he "hooked" us up)

Omg, Mark made our day. If it were not for Mark, things could've turned out a bit different for Lashan and myself. The 2nd day of our trip we were told we would have 4 tickets to attend Barack's speech. All good, 4 was exactly what we needed.. Well, the day of the event, our 3rd day in Denver, we learned there was a serious misunderstanding and that tickets would not be available to us. Ohhh gosh, it was too early in the morning and I was operating on 5 minutes of sleep when I learned of the news. Ok, what do we do, who do we call? I was so out of my element, I didn't know how to resolve an admittance problem for a political event. Making a long story short, our travel buddy Danna connected with some Delegates from California and Alabama and secured 3 tickets, and the last one came from a total stranger by the name of Mark. Lashan and I approached Mark, a gentleman who just happened to be walking behind us as we entered the hotel to pick up our 3rd ticket. At this point, I told Shan, "we're gonna just have to ask total strangers". We turned around to Mark........and the rest is part of history. Thanks Mark!!

Michael McDonald performs at Obama's Acceptance speech at the DNC.
Posing w/ one of the many pleasant police officers near Invesco Field . The city of Denver, and its surrounding cities' law enforcement kept things running smoothly. The officers were like none I've witnessed before; just pleasant. They gave out water and passed out these really cute "stay positive" signs. . Protesters were in full -effect. The protest took place outside of Invesco Field.
More protestors outside of Invesco Field in Denver.
Finally, I made it inside of Invesco Field. I still can't believe I'm in this photo. How great!. When one has an idea, mixed with some planning, teamwork, follow through and creativity, win win situations are created. I'm referring to the trip experience I had with my friends. An unbelievable blessing! Everything from each one of us having our very own row on the airplane (a big deal since we were in coach) to arriving safely into the city, upgrading from a compact car to a roomy SUV, w/no extra charge or strings attached, and to lodging at one of the most amazing residences in the Denver area. We were operating off of favor for real. My 2 hours of sleep smile. This is just before the Senator gave his acceptance speech.

At the Obama/will i am after party.

All of the parties were fab, but this one was really nice because it followed Mr. Obama's moving acceptance speech. Attending the DNC's after parties was an experience that tripped my mind out. I was tripped out because there was NO!! drama getting in. There were NO issues. And those oh so famous "girls & guys at the door and velvet rope , with the guest lists", we've all experienced them at many parties, they were very pleasant to interact with. Everyone was so nice. We RSVP'd while we were in L.A., and once we arrived to Denver, we received daily text messages confirming our attendance approval and party details. A super shout out to Kenny Johnson, The Richmond Group and Perennial Strategies for putting together the entertainment activities. I've attended one too many parties with guest list confusion, but the parties during the DNC for sure fall into the "one of the best" category.
Obama girls, Tiff & Danna K, Barackin' the dag on Vote! We were seriously on our way out of the venue by the time this photo was taken. Lack of sleep and trying to party-not a great mix. It was really cool to see the political and entertainment worlds collide.

Sleeping while standing (Tiff & Danna)

And I suppose in this photo I'm flossin' my Barack the Vote t-shirt. I suppose.

Attending the 2008 DNC was an experience I will never forget. I cried everyday for 2 weeks after returning home, and I still cry off and on when I think of my experience. There were so many things going through my mind while there; my life's purpose, how much African Americans have progressed in this country. I thought about my grandparent's, who are all deceased, I wondered how they would feel about the possibility of America electing its first African American president. I thought about the "Audacity of Hope". I flashed back to my visit at Ebenezer Church, what would Dr. King think if he were here? I'm hopeful that the visual of a Barack and Michelle team will inspire us to heal our families and mend hearts.

I'm the offspring of generations who fought, struggled and sacrificed. I really haven't struggled. I've never looked at myself as a "victim", "the man" is not holding me down. I do sometimes wonder if I am doing enough with my life to make generations before me proud. What's my excuse? I can do anything, why am I not taking advantage of opportunities, why am I procrastinating? Why am I sometimes afraid to try and more afraid of the responsibility that comes with success? Why don't I ask for help or allow people to know I could use a helping hand at times? Soooo many things ran through my brain. I was paralyzed in thought, but inspired beyond belief at the same time. I haven't been the same since Denver and I don't think I ever will.

Let the unravelling begin.

I hope you enjoyed the photos.

BFF Birthday Shout Outs- Chaz & Lashan

Two of my BFF's are celebrating their birthday's this week. I singled them out because we share the same zodiac sign. Scorpios Rock! We really do; seriously, we do!

Chaz & Tiff at the Black Oscars Party(Feb. '08)

My BFF for over 10 years.

Lashan & Tiff at the final Lakers game last season.

My BFF for almost 10years. I love my friends.

Happy Birthday Chaz & Lashan

Aretha Franklin Sings Mariah Carey's Touch My Body In Concert

Here's a video of Aretha singing Mariah's, Touch My Body. I'd first heard the audio on Wendy Williams' show and I just had to search for the video footage myself.

Stephen A. Smith- Talks Politics

Tiffany: From the blog of sports analyst, Stephen A. Smith. I admire this man's fearless delivery of truth. The Truth: sometimes hurtful, but if embraced and delivered from an admirable person, can be helpful. I've been an admirer of the Stephen A. Smith movement since his days as a frequent guest on the Best Damned Sports Show, Period, in early 2000. I appreciate black men who embrace their greatness and refuse to dumb themselves down, and Stephen "Screamin" A is a the perfect example. The sincere honesty, and integrity he brings to the sports world, I aspire to do the same in the world of music. Anyway, in his blog post on Stephena.com, he veers far away from sports to politics. Check out his politcal perspective on a Barack Obama presidency:

(copied and pasted from Stephena.com)

The right-wing mocks him as “The Messiah” while Democrats far-and-wide treat him like one. Conservatives question the legitimacy of Barack Obama, claiming a large segment of this nation is ignorant to what this Junior Senator from Illinois really represents. Meanwhile, liberals stand in unison, basking in the glow of his ascension, waiting to benefit from this unfathomable run that’s expected to end with a black man finally becoming the President of the United States of America.

And foolishly, too many African-Americans are joining the parade, treating this likelihood as if it’s a job finished. Instead of a job that’s just getting started.
If African-Americans truly want to assist Obama, helping him get elected is just the beginning. If we fail to educate ourselves about what his job really entails, if we refuse to make the sacrifices necessary to help America prosper – if far too many of us continue to perpetuate ignorance, a flagrant naiveté to what’s really going on, and choose instead to lean on excuses that continue to hinder our growth as individuals and as a community – an Obama Presidency will be in vain. Particularly for the majority of African-Americans who vigorously support him.

It’s time for us to wake up!

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Today's Randomness- In The Locker Room at My Gym

Location: My gym
Backdrop: The Ladies Locker Room

So, I decide to workout early, early this morning. I make my way to the locker room to see how challenged my cuteness was at that hour. Upon entering the locker room, I walk into the middle of a very loud conversation!! The excited loudness was coming from this elderly white lady (think Golden Girls, the oldest lady on the show), very short and feisty with her expressison; real cute.

The lady seemed to be having a discussion with anyone who would listen. Since I'd just walked into the locker room, I didn't really pay much attention, I did however continue to ear hustle. As I tried to shake my sleep, I kept hearing the lady state, "we need a change, we just need a change". She grabs her bag to exit, and with sass, turns around to address the women in the locker room, "if you all do not vote for Barack Obama, I'm kickin' yo ass when I see you again". Whoa, talk about a morning wake up call. After I recovered from my confused laughter, I got the the lady's attention and told her to look at my shirt, it read, "Women for Obama". High fives, high fives. Whew, I was safe from her wrath.

I still didn't confirm my morning cuteness, but that was ok, I could care less what I looked like after that experience- because truly I was smiling, thanks to that lady.

So the moral of the story: Go to your gym's locker room, check on your cuteness, and look for an old lady and pray she makes you smile. Wearing a smile and being able to reference a smiling moment throughout the day is much cooler than being cute.

I hope I see her again before the election. I'll be sure to carry my camera phone in hopes of catching another one of her episodes. Loved her!

Speaking of the elderly, shout out to Cloris Leachman, the 82 year old Dancing with the Stars participant. She was kicked off the show yesterday, thanks to the hateration from judge Kari Ann Inaba. I love the elderly. They rock!