You look like Alicia Keyes

Wow.

Go figure. So i finally left the house last night for something other than a work-related event. I went to a club where I thought a friend of mine would be singing, but she wasn't, instead Rich Medina out of Philly was there and it..was...so...lovely.

Starts out, i navigate to a parking lot and get out of my car just as these two well-dressed guys are getting out. So I ask them where the club is and they say they are going there as well, so we all walk together. Polite chatter, then one of them says, "You must hear this all the time, but you know, you really look like Alicia Keys."

No, actually, I haven't heard that in aeons. The last time I heard that, Alicia Keys had her first album out and it was mostly shorthand for "you look mixed." Perhaps that was the case last night, too, but the difference is HARDLY ANYONE EVER COMPLIMENTS ME ANY LONGER!!! So it was a nice change of pace.

Then, we're in line for the club and there is a severely drunk woman in front of us. That's funny all by itself, drunk people are fools. This one is five-foot-two and about 200 lbs. She's celebrating her birthday and falling out of her top. She manhandles every single guy in line - she's stroking and caressing and giggling and cooing madly. Her friend keeps explaining "it's her birthday, it's her birthday." So, she gets up to the bouncer and she has a go at him too. The line that sent me over the edge was "Oh, that's my daughter's name too!" (pet, pet, caress, fondle).

I'm so busy laughing that I do not notice the guy in front of me pay my entrance. Color me surprised. He disappears by the time I get inside, so I sit down to see what's happening and the music is so live. SO LIVE. For all my SF friends - it was deeply reminiscent of DJ Somuchsoul at the Baobob. yeah. that nice. The place erupted when they played Marques Wyatt and came off the hinges when the air went still, then Crystal Waters' voice reverberated with "She wakes up early in the morning/to put on her makeup/ gotta have her makeup."

With that I even had to stand up and dance a little. Like, half the song. I was already sleepy. But one of the parking lot guys had swung by my table and brought me a water, so I was tired but hydrated. I had a great time!

What was really, really dope was the vibe. Usually in ATL clubs (not that I'm an expert, but from my limited experience) folks are not all that friendly. And the music is not all that hot. If it's a younger crowd, then it's all strip club music. Older crowd and it's all old-school. I may be blasphemin' but those are my observations. So, this was great vibe, beautiful people, fantastic dancing and hotness music. Hotness.

Yaaaaaay! It was the first night in a very, very long time where I wasn't thinking about the j-o-b or the idiots involved in the j-o-b. I was just taking in all the humanity and having a good time. No more idiots! I'm ready to start telling folks what I think of them. The telling-offs will start with "does your mama like you?" I always think that's a great jumping-off point, especially for those who labor under the illusion that their shit does not, in fact, stink.

Bitches.