Yes it’s corny, everything about Lionel Richie is….you can blame Joe from Dallas for having the damned Lionel Richie Video Collection on DVD….but this sums up exactly how I feel about this situation….

I’ve been alone with you
Inside my mind
And in my dreams I’ve kissed your lips
A thousand times
I sometimes see you
Passing outside my door
Hello!
Is it me you’re looking for?
I can see it in your eyes
I can see it in your smile
You’re all I’ve ever wanted
And my arms are open wide
Because you know just what to say
And you know just what to do
And I want to tell you so much
I love you

Hello!
Is it me you’re looking for?
Because I wonder where you are
And I wonder what you do
Are you somewhere feeling lonely?
Or is someone loving you?
Tell me how to win your heart
For I haven’t got a clue
But let start by saying I love you

I’ll always feel this way too….and even though you’ll never read this I had to get it off of my heart…..

I didn’t do everything I wanted to do while I was in Atlanta, allow me to say that off top.

So where did I leave off….I guess Wednesday is a good place to pick up.

On Wednesday I had to meet up with Rashard for the tuxedo fitting and all that jazz. He came and scooped me up and we first went to his house for a second. I saw his mom and talked to her and showed Rashard and Eric my website and some Strongbad stuff.

We went to his apartment and Tomieka was there so I got to see her for a second. She left and then the tuxedo lady came and I tried on my tux. As I expected, the arms on my jacket were too short. I have weird arms when it comes to suit jackets. I always have to get the sleeves let out.

At any rate, nothing significant happened other than me and Rashard’s brother Eric (the best man) walking to Mickey D’s and talking a bit. Eric’s a good guy, wise beyond his years. Oh and I saw my boy Whitehead, who I hadn’t seen in a pretty long time.

Thursday was a day of rest for me. I studied a bit and that was all.

Friday was a LONG day. It started early in the morning as Nina and I went to pick up my dad for breakfast. As always it was good to see him and talk to him. He was in good spirits and all. We went to Waffle King and I had an omelette.

After we dropped dad back off I tried to go to the AUC to see my mentor but Morehouse security was tripping about parking so we just turned right back around. I headed back home and then Rashard and Tomieka came through with a big Escalade that they had rented for the occassion.

We ran a few errands. He had to get some invitations out and such. We went to his house again and I talked to his dad for awhile, then Rashard cut my hair. After he cut his own hair we headed out and eventually made it to the church for the rehersal.

Ya’ll I have problems walking. Like for real, something as simple as escorting a bridesmaid down the aisle, turning and shaking Rashard’s hand, and then getting in place shouldn’t have been so difficult. I was rushing it to be honest. I hate slow walks down the aisle.

At any rate, after the rehersal we had dinner at Rashard’s place. I got a chance to catch up with my friend Nature who was one of the bridesmaids and Whitehead. I also played a couple of Rashard’s cousins in Madden (I beat Theirry and Shaun, but Drew had returned a TD for an interception then it was time to leave). Nile met us at the house and then we headed out.

We went to Rashard’s house before heading out on the town. We had fun.

We got in late, but I woke up early enough on Saturday. I rode with Nature to the wedding (we made a couple of unsuccessful stops first to try and get some things for her digital camera). We had to do some setting up beforehand.

The wedding started a little late, but once it got going, the service itself went by fairly quickily……but then we had to take pictures.

Man, the photographer tried to take over the show. Dude was crazy as hell and he almost said the wrong thing to the wrong people. He seriously had some personality issues. But after a little agony we eventually made our way to the reception.

The Bridal Party was introduced and what not and then we sat at the long table in the back. We got served food which was pretty cool. I talked with the bridesmaids, and then I caught up with some people I hadn’t seen in a while.

In particular I was happy to see an old friend Kevin. Back in the day the crew used to be Kevin and Rashard and then me and Nile. We were seperate, but occassionally we’d all kick it together. I’ve known Kevin as long as I’ve known Rashard, but in high school Kevin kind of left the scene. He seemed like he was doing pretty well for himself though, I was glad to have seen him, even if we didn’t get to talk long.

I had my girl Lyndsey taking pictures for me. She did a really good job, and at some point when I’m less tired I will post them in a gallery. I wish I had gotten a picture of her, because she was looking really nice. I was also surprised to see our friend Kim. Lyndsey had told me that she wasn’t going to be able to make it into town, but I look up at the reception and there she is!

I also got a chance to talk to Nacosta, Toni, Tiffany, Davon, and Santresa from high school. And of course Nile and Maurice showed up as well. I cracked a few jokes at their expense when they tried to weasel out of catching the garter (we all successfully avoided it twice).

After everyone left I helped to straighten things back to the way it was when we arrived and then I headed home, exhausted.

I got a bit of rest and then I cleaned up the TV room because Nina and I had invited some people over to watch the fight.

A few of Nina’s friends showed up as well as Nile, Mike, Nard, Reggie, Lyndsey, and Kim. My cousin, his girl, and one of their friends also came by. We enjoyed the fight. Then I made a foolish bet with Nile in Madden (I basically gave away $20 that I didn’t have). I was actually winning for most of the first half. Then he had a big lead, but I came back and was driving to win, but I got sacked as time ran out. I surprised him, as he usually skunks me (beats me by 21 points for those who don’t know Madden lingo). As we headed out to IHOP, Nile dropped a beer bottle which shattered on the floor and delayed us for a second.

Lyndsey, Kim, Mike, Nard, and I all headed to the IHOP at Greenbriar. We had fun talking and what not. I rode home with Lyndsey and Kim and went straight to sleep after mopping up the remainder of Nile’s beer.

Sunday I basically watched football. I wanted to head out and see some people (like the Diva among others) but my allergies weren’t allowing it.

I didn’t sleep last night at all and Rashidah ended up picking me up at about 6 in the morning. We got to Nashville at about 10 and I’ve been napping on and off between visits from a few people.

Pictures will be posted when I can! I’m tired. I probably won’t make it through Monday Night Football.

Well I’m about halfway into my ATL trip. I’m typing this from my mother’s laptop. It’s slow, but it will do. It’s from her school so I can’t download AOL Instant Messenger on it (and I hate using AIM Express).

So yeah, the goings ons. Got in Friday night and went straight to the BP (and I don’t mean the gas station). It was good seeing Drew, he seemed happy. We didn’t stay too long. We came back to the crib and my moms was still up. We got settled in and got some sleep.

When I woke up on Saturday morning Mom fixed breakfast. Cheese eggs, sausage, bacon, and toast were on the menu. After awhile we headed downtown for the wedding. We stopped at Mick’s at Underground and smashed a few beers beforehand, then headed to the Fulton County Atrium. The wedding was really nice, the best part is it was SHORT. The bar has been set for shortness at about 20 minutes, and if I ever get married I hope to have mine as short, if not shorter. They had the soloist singing as people walked in (killing two birds with one stone). There were no long drawn out speeches. It was just great!

Of course that meant that the bar would be open fairly soon. I was drinking Crown with a splash of Sprite. I also ended up taking some shots with Drew, his brother, and a few other guests. I even ran into this chick who graduated from Westlake the year before me (looking really nice might I add). Of course I was in drunken bad behavior mode also, but I still managed to make some nice small talk with a couple few young ladies.

After the wedding we headed to a friend’s house to watch the Hopkins-De La Hoya match. One of the principal parties involved missed the fight because he was passed out. We ended up staying there for the night as passed out buddy wasn’t going ANYWHERE for a while.

Sunday I watched the games and my cousin Bryan stopped by with an Elway jersey for me and that’s about it.

Monday I got some studying in and then got up with my boy Joe from Dallas to watch the Monday Night game. The homies Kasi and Caishe rolled through sometime in the first half. Then Smitty and his roommate Akil (sp?) fell through. The game was entertaining, but the reminiscing on old times was even better.

I won 3 of my 4 fantasy football games which is a good thing (the one I lost, I’m 0-2 in…blah).

Today wasn’t notable except for the fact that I FINALLY beat Metroid Prime (almost two years later).

On my to-do list for the rest of the week: 1) Arrange a meeting with a certain Diva, 2) Get a haircut for Rashard’s wedding, 3) Plan the BP with Rashard’s brother Eric…..and a few other things that will remain confidential (mwuhahahaha)…..

I’ll report back later on!

I got to babysit my godson PJ tonight….

He’s a great little kid man for real. He’s about to be a year old on October 1st (yeah Eulus your birthday). When he got here he was asleep. He woke up about 45 minutes later to a big yawn and was rubbing his eyes.

He looked around in his little baby-seat like, “Where the hell am I?”

I waved at him and I could see that he recognized that crazy guy who comes over and beats his dad in Madden and just sorta looked away like, “what have I gotten myself into?”

I took him out of the seat and pulled one of his toys out. Kids nowadays have some amazing toys!!! This joint was like a little “basketball goal” with three hoops, that’s the best way to describe it. It came with three balls and they sit on the “rim” and when you push them through it plays a little tune. He was loving that, but more than that, he liked smashing the balls together.

I gave him a PS2 controller to play with (since my playstation is a piece of shit and no longer works). He kept putting it into his mouth. Wassup with kids doing that? Anyway, I took that as a clue that he wanted his apple juice. Man homie is a PIMP the way he holds his juice.

I took a bunch of pictures as I played with him and we watched poker. He didn’t cry or even fuss. The only time he came close was when I went to go get my phone charger in another room. He’s a good little guy, can’t wait til we get to kick it again.

Great words from Clayton Bigsby. That’s what’s going on this week at Soulcity! It’s not for the faint of heart though.

The first weekend of real NFL action was everything I thought it’d be and more! The Falcons need to learn to close out their games, but other than that I am content.

I’ll be in Atlanta this weekend for about a week, just giving people their proper warning.

I don’t have much to say right now, but I wanted to update with SOMETHING.

Football season is upon us. The Georgia Bulldogs won a close one yesterday (hopefully there won’t be more like that one).

The Falcons play this afternoon. Hopefully they can do something that they have had a hard time doing in franchise history thus far, beat the San Francisco 49ers in Frisco. This is their best chance, as the Niners SUCK on paper.

Anyway I made some predictions last night and I want to put them out there.

NFC Playoff Teams: Philly, Washington (wildcard), Minnesota, Carolina, Atlanta (wild card), and Seattle

AFC Playoff Teams: New England, NY Jets (wildcard), Baltimore, Tennessee (ugh!), Indianapolis (wildcard), and Kansas City

As for eventual champions, the NFL is always so wide open that’s a dangerous prediction to make at the beginning of the season, but I really don’t see any reason the Patriots can’t repeat. They are stronger than last year in every area except run defense. Out of the NFC, I just can’t pick Seattle and Philly finds a way to lose the NFC Championship. I think Minnesota can sneak out of there as the eventual champs and lose to New England.

In other shit, I went to a party last night and had a little fun. I did almost have to fight some asshole who came at me completely sideways. I confronted him about it and if I had seen him around later he might have caught an empty glass to the side of the head. But overall I had fun. I saw people I wanted to see. I need to shout out Ericka and Ebon for looking out on my favorite drink (scotch and tonic). I’m going to try and catch a quick hour of sleep before the games start (eff the pregames!).

I’ve been wrestling with whether I wanted to write about this or not. I hate dealing with death. I never do well with it. Even as I type this my breath is labored and I’m fighting back tears.

I saw so much death around me awhile back that you’d think I was desensitized to it by now, but it’s actually had the opposite effect on me. I know that death is inevitable. I know that we will all die, but I can’t help but question it’s timing.

Such is the case with the passing of Misty Carter.

Back when I was a junior at Morehouse I got involved with the class council. One of the things I got involved in was the selection of Miss Junior Class. I’ll never forget her when she walked through the door. She was a beautiful girl, but more than that she had a smile that brightened the room.

We were in an old dreary room that was seldom used by the Chemistry Department (and has since been renovated completely) and I remember it being like someone had turned the lights up.

If my memory serves me correctly I actually interviewed her, and I really liked her optimism.

I remember after our initial meeting I’d see her around and she was one of those people who would speak and was just generally nice. That’s the impression I was always left with when we interacted. She added to the positives of your day.

We graduated and went on with our lives after school, I was glad to have met her. We didn’t know each other all that well, but I counted her as one of the truly good people I met while at Morehouse.

Well as fate would have it, my little sister Nina came home from work one day and asked me if I knew a girl named Misty Carter. I told her yeah I did, she was really nice, what about her? She told me that they were co-workers at her job.

Nina and Misty became pretty good friends. They hung out when they got off from work and got to know each other pretty well. I came to town for the 4th of July one summer and Misty had gotten tickets to this thing Evander Holyfield was holding at his house and I went along. It seemed to me that Misty was like an older sister to Nina in alot of ways.

The last time I saw Misty was at Nina’s graduation party. She came through smiling as always. We talked for a second. I told her I was really glad that my sister knew someone like her and thanked her for being such a good friend to Nina. I think I hugged her and I took her picture along with Nina’s friend Mia.

Misty and Mia (click to enlargen)

This Sunday as we were leaving P.J.’s baby dedication ceremony, Jeralyn recieved the news of her death and passed it along to me. I was heartbroken and shocked. I called my sister with the intention of trying to comfort her, but it turns out she hadn’t heard yet.

Sometimes life just isn’t fair. Misty was too young, it wasn’t her time! My heart goes out to her family and her friends. I know that she was a special person to a great number of people. She will be missed. If you feel so compelled, leave a small note in the guestbook to her family.

I never thought it would happen. Like everyone else it seems, I’ve been writing more in my livejournal than here. That has to stop, seeing as though I’m paying for this space.

So what have I been up to? Nothing really besides studying still for this exam. I’m going to address my exam situation ONE time here and one time only because I’m tired of answering it for nosey people.

I haven’t sat for step yet, partially because I’m in fear of it, and partially because of some miscommunication between the school and myself as to how it would be paid for. I have some amount less than $10 in my account at this point so it damn sho wasn’t going to be me. When it’s paid, I’ll pick a date and take it. So that’s that.

In other news, I’ve been playing Madden with some friends, and it seems I have become pretty decent (at least against one of them). I never thought I’d see the day.

Let’s see, what else? Oh yeah, I watched the game tonight between the Colts and Pats. It is fitting that now that I have Vanderjagt on one of my three fantasy teams that he’d miss a kick! It looks like this will be a long season Fantasy Football wise. If the Falcons make the playoffs it will be worthwhile!

I’ll try to update with something meaningful tomorrow, I promise. In the meanwhile check out the pictures from this past weekend (click photos at the top).

Much kicking it occured this weekend.

Friday - Sept. 3rd
I got a MUCH needed haircut. Kept part of the beard. Ya’ll don’t care about none of that I know. Anyway I called the homie Geoff to see what kicking it was being done. We drank a little here at the crib (got some alcohol in my eye?!?!?). Went to another undisclosed location, drank some more. Went and picked up D. Story from the airport, drank some more. Went to the little happy hour spot. I made up with an old friend who I’d been on the outs with. Ate from the buffet. Drank some more courtesy of the homie Fry. Went to the China-man Buffet across the street. Went and got some beer. Came back and drank more. Went to sleep.

Saturday - Sept. 4th
Woke up and got a call that the tailgate that was planned for that day was cancelled and instead the keg was gonna be in my apartment (which is barely habitable). I put up a minor, Cameron Frye like fuss, before succumbing to peer pressure. Made some spaghetti. Wrestled with the keg, first getting it upstairs, then getting the tap to act right. Drank too much Killian’s Red. Won a game of Madden. Went nuts trying to get it through niggas heads that my toilet was broken. Watched Season One of Chappelle. Went to the John Merritt Classic. Saw some dimes. Watched TSU destroy Alabama A&M 35-7. Came home and went to sleep.

Sunday - Sept. 5th
Woke up and laid around the apartment for awhile. Went upstairs and helped Heather make some of the famous Killa Party Punch. Took a shower and waited to go to P.J.’s Baby Dedication. Went to Church and acted a heathen, making inappropriate jokes (for example they had this fancy baptismal which had some condensation in the window making it look like a hot tub, plus the water was moving…upon closer inspection it was more like a wave pool than a hot tub though, oh and they baptised about 36 people….it was like a drive-thru….fast food Christianity!….they even had a FULL news broadcast for the church with a commercial for the pastor in the middle!!!!….let me stop before I get some angry phone calls….I never said I wasn’t a heathen though).
*sigh, where was I*
Yeah, went to eat after the dedication at Friday’s. The waiter took 2 hours. Got some HORRIBLE news over the phone about a friend of one of my sister’s. Went to Geoff’s to change for the party. Took a shot of High Wine, then tried to take another but sprayed it out of my mouth and nose (I’m glad there were no camera’s around….sorry Drea and Tasha). Saw my godsister Rashidah for the first time since she moved up here. Headed to the other side of Nashville for the party. Took hella pictures. Made another batch of the Killa (which had niggas going NUTS!!…the second batch was gone in less than 10 minutes…no lie). Party got broken up by the police. Moved the party to Amanda’s. I talked shit for awhile and *gasp* smoked some weed. Went to Waffle House with the imfamous Leon (Heather’s Brother from the St. Louis Trip), Heather, and Vince. Ate a Texas Cheesesteak and Hashbrowns Double Covered. Came home and fell out.

Labor Day - Geoff, Heather, and Toney’s birthday
Drifted out of sleep. Wrestled with trying to upload the pictures from last night before I gave up. Opened a new entry of Water Under the Bridge. The present……

Look out for the pictures later on today (whenever OJ wakes up).

Man….those were the days (4 months ago)….

If I didn’t have anything else to talk about, I KNEW I had the good old dependable Friday Five to do. And then like Keyser Soze, they just up and disappeared! Well they left a note saying that they were done, but still the Friday Five is no more!

So I say to myself, “Self, if they don’t wanna do it no more, you will!”

So the first of Killa’s Friday Four (just in case they got a copyright or something!)….if anyone still reads this pass it along amongst yourselves!….and any passerby that still reads this junk, feel free to answer them….

1) What was the last movie(s) you saw in a theater?

2) What’s one movie that you don’t think too many people have seen that you think they should?

3) What’s a movie that you would pay people NOT to see?

4) If you could only watch one movie for the rest of your life what movie would it be?