The Epic Summer of 2012

(This is Dashill Smith. He's a well-known trumpet player in Atlanta. He played with Roy Ayers the night before. Anyway, he fell asleep next to us at the park and I decided to take this pic of him to show how sweet this summer will be for me.)

Last Sunday night, I was kind of bored and restless so I hit up a girlfriend of mine named Malenda that I'd met a while ago from another friend. She and I had become Facebook friends and we'd even talked on the phone a few times. I wanted to do Starbucks so I hit her and she agreed to roll. We got there kind of late and stayed even later. As the night wore on, I decided that we should drive through the city. From there I decided to stop in at Apache, a little spot in the city that has hosted some of today's hottest artists. Jill Scott was there in her early days, along with India. Aarie, and Malcolm Jamaal Warner. One of my favorite shows there was a very under promoted show that featured Eric Roberson and Raheem Devaughn. I met both guys that night and it was awesome to be in the room with only 20 other people while such fantastic talent on the stage. Anyway, the spot also host acts from local top artists and I remember seeing Sky there several times before along with a bunch of other friends.

When I rolled up with Malenda, I was surprised to see a few of my old homies out front. I saw Malachi (better known for his song "Hustlin' Boy"), my friend Kimani, who used to host their poetry nights, and a poet named Abyss. I started to feel like I was at home. I walked on inside and saw a couple more old friends. I started to really miss that place. I hadn't been there in nearly 3 years. Truthfully, I think I'd just missed that point in my life.

Kimani then started talking about rolling through a spot called Sound Table, so Malenda and I hit there next. Inside I saw a few more people I knew.

It was around that point that I decided that as I deal with my separation from Pookie, I need to reemerge myself into my old social life. I want to go out and have a ball. I want  surround myself with beautiful and talented people again. I want to have more incredible stories to tell.

This weekend is already showing how awesome my summer will be. I spent Saturday night with a fantastic man that I sometimes make the acquaintance of, followed by me bailing a good friend out of jail. Sunday night was me hanging at the Jazz Fest with friends. I also managed to make a new friend who I think will be an outstanding addition to my collection of besties. She has a son my child's age and we've made some of the same dating mistakes. She's mad cool and I'm planning to get her and some of my other chicks together soon for food and fun at Daisy's.

So yeah, this summer will be banging. It's not going to be a summer of chasing down men. It's going to be a summer of enjoying being single and getting to know and love myself all over again. Lucky me.