this past week has been a major one for me. i’ve had no shortage of gigs and events, shows and adventures to keep me busy. monday was pretty normal, hosting the open mic at bloombars. tuesday was big because it was my first time hosting the beltway poetry slam. my friend dj niteshade held down the wheels of steel and i kept the competition moving. it was a great night at the fridge. then on wednesday i took off work because i had tickets to see the taping of the daily show here in dc.
me and my friend eugene got in line in chinatown at about 10:45am. we were about 40th in line. we didn’t have to be in line until 2:30pm, but we wanted to make sure we got in. and we did! but first we had to endure 5 hours of standing in the rain, across the street from horses (there was some horse show going on at the verizon center, and all the horses and their crap was right next to us). to be fair, the first hour or two involved relatively little rain or standing. we sat and played chess. but the rain came and it came hard. oh, and the guest for the show was none other than the 44th president of these united states, mr. barack obama. it was fun, but i doubt i’d do it again.
as if that wasn’t enough for one week, the very next day, thursday, i got to meet, do a poem and dj the event for saul williams! terpoets, the poetry group i helped create at the university of maryland, college park, brought saul to campus to perform and sign books. it was a big deal for me because his work has been very influential to me. this was my second time meeting him, so i am getting less star struck and treating him more like a human, which is a good thing. here is a pic from the best seat in the house. 
after the show i hung out with some rad college park kids who live in a co-op house. the official after-show party was typical college, except for the fact that saul williams came. i wasn’t expecting that. it was cool. i crashed on the couch instead of taking the metro home. got up the next morning and went straight to work. friday was nothing special, and i didn’t go out because i knew i had a big day saturday.
it seemed like millions of people came to dc saturday for the rally to restore sanity. i live here, but i was definitely there on the mall for it. i only wish i had organized it better, because cell phones did not work anywhere near the mall, so i couldn’t meet up with my peeps. sorry bro and jasmine and les and arti and meredith and my ward 1 hap peeps. it was a great show though. later that night, after the rally, i got to open up the event at busboys and poets featuring amy goodman and van jones. me and my young friend jaytee (i lie not, his name is john tucker, and he is a dope poet from dc, but he is not me, check the pic) each got to rock the mic in front of a full capacity busboys audience. here he is going in. 
to make things even better, a special guest came through and blessed the mic as well: dick gregory! he shook my hand and gave me a hug. it was magical. i felt very good. i doubt any week coming soon will compare to this crazy week. i feel very lucky to be where i am, doing what i do.
JBT 
Had to come on by to check out the new tagline! :o) and YAY I am one of your peeps now!