Date: Friday
April 15th, 2022
Music: Soulive “Tuesday Night’s Squad” CD Next
Mood: Energized & Optimistic
As I sit here on the boardwalk on vacation in Atlantic City, it is amazing. Normally I would be home in East Orange, Essex County simply working from home. That in itself is a form of isolation that I’ve come to enjoy.
Although I am
quite the social & people person; the solace one gets in spending time with
oneself to truly know one’s self is carthodically amazing. However the disconnection
from society & the isolation itself DOES NOT allow one to expand interconnected
thoughts.
Being
outside this morning on a beautiful Friday morning as the sun warms my body
& the crush of people who pass by me is amazing. I see their faces, I watch
the pace of their steps, I hear their conversations (even though I have my
headphones on) I notice their wardrobe as they check me out checking them
out. We have a connected non-verbal exchange in this co-joined journey.
This is what
I love, this is why I love life, & I love people so much. It’s in this
exchange of NRG & passion that we share that our lives exist. We are social
creatures. The pandemic has forced us to LQQK deeply into our own
individual lives to truly see just how much we truly need each other. Not just
to live, but to laugh, love, survive, & thrive. It’s been a long time since
I felt this connected to my fellow human beings in quite a long time. We PO-SI-TIVE-LY
need each other.
We arrived in Atlantic City Monday afternoon to spend
a chillaxin’ week at The Tropicana Resort. Monday – Wednesday it was a sparse,
low-key crowd as everyone was settling in. For many this is a Spring break week
so quite a few have time off. Monday after posting up in the room for a bit we
hit A Damn Good Bar for an early dinner just to breathe again. We were
greeted by a fave waitress Ms. Merta who is all high energy to help you kick
the week off right.
Tuesday we
did lunch at Tony Luk’s just to have some hot subs to hold us down
because we WERE NOT really starving.
Later that night I even hit Pizata for that flatbread styled pizza to be
dinner. Wednesday morning I stepped off the property to hit Dunkin’ Donuts
for breakfast. Lunch was @ Broadway Burger Bar where 1nce again a fave
waitress Ms. Lynn was holding court. She is such a pleasure & could
definitely work in Club AJ as she has her business model down to a
science. We even had a sexxxy new mixxxed drink called Purple
Paradise that was to die for (the included pic). Mmmmmm!!!
Thursday
being extremely lazy it was pizza at 2PM as we were working our way to a comedy
show 8PM later that night. Thursday is the day you could feel that shift in the
building. Monday – Wednesday was kewl as we all seemed to stay within self as we
flexed on like a Level 3. Thursday as more people arrived & The Trop
filled out you could feel the NRG level begin to LIFT UP. As you walked
through the casino, the crowds began to swell, more people were in the casino,
& they filled the seats at damn near all the slot machines. It Was
Bananas As Level 7 Was In Full FX!!!
The day
before on the boardwalk had us all spread out as though we were still practicing Covid-19
protocols, then on Thursday that distance quickly shrunk as more boots were on
the ground than all the other three days combined.
Finally
breaking free of being confined it was literally 95% people were mask
free vs those 5% who were still masked up. Quite frankly we wanted to
break free to escape this endless movie loop we’ve been locked inside of. What
better place to do so in than in Atlantic City, because remember, “What
Happens In Atlantic City Stays In Atlantic City!!!”
I had
promised the comedians in The Quarter atrium that one night we’d attend
the show. We settled on Thursday 8PM to be that night. Only 4 people in the crowd
wore masks & 2 of them took them off 1nce inside to have their drinks. They
had four comedians perform on this night & #1 the show’s opening act from Cuba
was also the MC, the timekeeper, & the man working the lights. I expected him to be the
star of the show but he came in as my #2 on this night.
The #2 on the bill, Gary G, was the star of the night as he was HILARIOUS!!! His jokes, his
mannerisms, his LQQK, & his physical comedy was on point. He had us
in stiches up in that bad boy. Comedian #3 was a big man who had some
serious life challenges but he was the least funniest of the group. He had some
good jokes, but he WAS NOT as good as his
peers.
The 4th
comedian was the headliner, he was the oldest guy in the bunch & had done
work with radio star Howard Stern. He was #3 on my funny meter
but he had some classic moments as he was on his D.L. Hughley use the
crowd to your advantage by singling certain people out. He tagged 2 guys sitting next to each other as being gay (they weren't), he killed a 72 year old woman who was
loud & obnoxious (she was), he slayed the couple in front of me on swallowing (she said she had no shame doing so)…, &
then he got to me. AWWWHHHH ISH..., LQQKOUT!!!
He was like,
“Holy Cow I Love This Dude…, But My God He Is Dark. Thank God You’re Smiling
Or I Would Never See You. Wesley Snipes Would Be Jealous Cause He Ain’t Got Nothing
On You. I Mean Like Got Damn My Man Is So Dark He DOES NOT Even Have A Shadow!!!”
That last one
took me out cause it was funny AF as I thought this would be my opportunity to Will
Smith his azz. But unlike this soft generation we’re raising I can take a joke..., I understand I am at a comedy show sitting in the 2nd row, (smart
enuff not to sit in the front row), but I’m still fair game in that room.
We had a few
drinks, we left a tip for the comics in the tip bucket, & we copped 2 ACJokes.com
tee-shirts to help support their cause. We rolled out the Kiss-Kiss
nightclub & headed to the Market Place for late night sandwiches to
bring back to the room for dinner. That was a great call because we DID NOT want something heavy, so it hit the spot
to allow us a mellow nights Zzzlp.
Now back to
Friday on the boardwalk as I sat there soaking up the sun I was reading Sting’s
book “Broken Music” his memoir. A passage in this book triggered my
writing genes so I pulled my pad out of my forever present bookbag & began to jot down these thoughts so I
could turn them into a journal entry later tonight.
I had been
on the boardwalk for a few hours & Karoline came out to find me. We
decided to hoof down the boardwalk heading towards The Hard Rock Café,
but stopped 1nce we got to Johnny Rockets for 2 chili dogs, a burger
& fries. We had so much stuff we took a ride back on that little push-push
cart thingy so we could enjoy our lunch back in the room quicker than just walking back.
We had a
dinner date for the Italian spot Carmine’s because we know how big those
family style dishes are. We strategically planned it that way so we could bring half
that meal back home for lunch upon our return trip. They DID
NOT disappoint as usu-ALJ!!!
The place
was packed, the casino is bustling, & if you never knew there was a pandemic,
you would think things are back to normal, or that nothing had ever happened.
This was a great chance to sneak away, shed some fears, & just kick back to
chillax & enjoy one’s self. Don’t be afraid to let go & live just a little.
Especially if you’re all vaxxed & boosted up…, just in case. Shhhh!!!
The Brother AJ
