marquita's cobbler: Christmas in New York

I spent ten days in the Big Apple, arriving on Christmas Eve and leaving January 2nd. While there, I got the chance to see family I hadn't seen in years, including my father, grandmother, an aunt and some cousins.

The beginning of the trip found me in Ossining which is in upstate New York and where the penitentiary (is that spelled right? Whatever, the jail) Sing-Sing is located. In fact, my father's church overlooks Sing-Sing. I'm sure there's some irony or a metaphor or something of the like in that, but I have some semblance of a cold/flu combination so I'm too out of it to figure out what it is. Mi padre and his new wife don't seem technologically advanced enough to send me the pics we took so you can forget that, but I had a great time there nonetheless. New wife cooked Christmas dinner for about 12 folks and every dish was as equally delicious as the last. Christmas night, we went to Times Square to see 42nd street which was surprisingly booked solid. Good show, not enough melanin in the cast for me, but what are you gonna do?

Sunday evening, I headed over to Long Island for a couple of hours to see some family and got my aunt's recipe for peach cobbler. It's on now! You can expect to get that cobbler at any function at my house. That cobbler is the inspiration behind what this blog is called. It's an inside reference, really, but it works.

Sunday night I headed over to Brooklyn to visit Hanifah Walidah. (Excuse me while I get all mushy). Hanifah is one of the most genuine, caring, and truly inspired people I know. She has set the bar for what a true friend is and I love her for that. She is a gem (and talented, too!). We went to a couple of house parties, the best one being at Guernica for a party called Ubiquita (house music all night long!). We also went to the Brooklyn Museum, hung out on Flatbush Avenue...oh! wait. So, get this: I get this email while I'm in Brooklyn from a woman who read my op-ed on Femmenoir.net. She reads my op-ed and tells me that I look extremely familiar to her but she can't figure out why, she says she either knows me from NY, New Orleans or the most far-fetched and unlikely of places...Sumter, SC. Well...I'm from Sumter, SC. I emailed her back and Hanifah and I had lunch with her the next day.

I've never seen this woman before in my life.

We don't know how we know each other, we didn't go to the same high school, but we did graduate the same year. The only thing we could think of is that we went to the same middle school. She went to Alice Drive as did I...for like a month and a half, anyway. Anyway, it was just an odd occurrence that she happened to email me from Brooklyn while I was in Brooklyn and that she lives just minutes away from where I was visiting. Hanifah and I actually bumped into her and her girlfriend the next day on our way to the subway.

Like I said earlier, I also got a chance to see my grandmother. She treated me and Hanifah to dinner at Cookers in Fort Green. Soul food restaurant with macaroni and cheese to die for!

Me with my house music-loving diva of a grandmother

I also saw Tim'm West while I was in New York. He, Hanifah and Mrk Drkfthr are working on a compilation CD together that you're going to hear me talk about...A LOT! (No, really, a lot.) The compilation is called The Blue State and it's the first manifestion of Soultrotta.com which is a "sweet mix of music and politics". All three of these folks are talented as all get out. I'm embarrassed to admit that I've already listened to Mrk Drkfthr's Elixifx CD like 8 thousand times since I've been home. ("Can I get a handful of that hair? Can I get a cupful of those lips? Yeah!"). It goes without saying how talented Hanifah is and if you're not familiar with Tim'm and the DeepDickollective, well, you're just sleepin'. Which reminds me, Hanifah and I checked Tim'm out in the Lower East Side at a spot called Blue Stockings where he did his reading from his newest book.

Tim'm and friends at Ubiquita

Let's see, what else? New Year's Eve was exceptional. There was a dinner party at the house where I once again made my cobbler, we had a New Year's ritual and then headed out to a house party hosted by photographer T'ai Freedom Ford. Good food, good vibes, good times.

Me, Hanifah and Tai Freedom Ford

Do you like Hanifah's scarf? I made it. No, really, look:

New Year's Day, we caught a FANTASTIC jam session in a brownstone in Bed-Stuy. I'll have more of those pics soon. There, we met up with Hanifah's pal, house music diva Deepa Soul who is also featured on The Blue State compilation CD (I told you you'd be hearing a lot about that CD from me). Also in attendence were the outrageously talented James sisters who make up The Onliest. These chicks sing, play the guitar, the keyboards and the drums. Both of them. I heard Tiffany sing more than Ganessa and that girl's voice is just...whew! That's not hype, that girl can sing her tail off!