Planet Blacksol

I’m not the one to sit still. I used to be this type of person. When I first started my career I was unsure as to what I was getting into. I honestly just saw it as a job. I had no experience with sales and after having some success I became stagnant. My accounts began to decline and I had no back up plan. I hadn’t spoken thoroughly to my manager about a different position, I did no networking, and outside of an Advertising certificate I hadn’t built any skills to build my resume. I was fortunate enough to find a role I wanted. I shadowed a few folks, did a couple of interviews, and bam the position was mine. This position was different though. I wasn’t going to wait to build upon my career. Early on I spoke to my manager and I seized opportunities to develop my career. I’m currently going on 5 years with my organization and I can honestly say that I am constantly learning new skills and engaging in activities that I believe will advance me in the future. 

A couple of months ago I took a trip to Dubuque, Iowa. My girlfriend and I landed there to drive to Galena, IL for a romantic weekend getaway. We recently had planned to go to a cabin but by time we started planning everything was sold out so we settled. When we got to Dubuque we immediately realized that Uber and Lyft did not exist. We didn’t freak out, we called a local cab company that charged more than I ever paid for an Uber but we didn’t mind. We were among beautiful nature and nice people. We checked into our whirlpool suite with a fireplace. We were welcomed to strawberries, cookies, and champagne. After visiting Wal-Mart for essentials (read whiskey) we decided to explore the town. We went to a karaoke bar and had so much fun singing a few songs and socializing with the locals. The next day we had an amazing breakfast complimentary of the hotel. We then went a winery downtown Galena before going to an amazing dinner also complimentary of the hotel. The next day we checked and went to a pumpkin patch before catching our flight. 

Dear, Black Internet

So this year for Halloween I decided I was inspired by my girlfriend. Although I couldn’t spend it with her one thing I could do was match her outfit. We decided to dress up as ninjas. Before going out and buying my costume I decided to research several places. I came across this great package that included an open bar and appetizers. I ran out to get my costumed, pre-gamed, and returned home to get dress. 

I recently attended a concert at The Chop Shop. For anyone that knows me they know I’m an avid concert goer. Mainly of local acts. This particular night I saw a group by the name of Church Booty. The group consist of 8 band members (A guitarist, a bassist, 2 people on keyboard, a saxophone player, a drummer, someone on trumpet, and a lead singer). There wasn’t much of a crowd but the performance was surprisingly good. 

I’m a huge avid of promoting local talent. I do understand that in the music industry there’s so much clutter that it’s hard to breakthrough. In this day and age anyone is capable of making music. I get it. Why deviate from what you already love? The thing is there is so much music available that are ears have not had the pleasure to listen to. If you just listen to the radio and listen to nothing more then you are doing yourself a great disservice. Step outside of your comfort zone and go to a random show one day. The next time you buy tickets to see an artist you love come early to see the opening act you don’t know because it’s a possibility they may blow you mind. 

I consider myself somewhat of a foodie. Of course with the way my metabolism works I can’t go out to eat all of the time and most of my meals consists of grilled chicken and veggies, but at least once a week I like to venture out into the foodie paradise of Chicago for my fix. On this particular Sunday I decided to visit Nana in the Bridgeport neighborhood. Nana services New American fare and touts themselves as being local, sustainable, and organic. With such items as empanadas and baked chilaquiles it was clear to see the Latin influence at Nana. I sat at the bar and decided on the Huevos Rancheros. The food was amazing. I literally scraped my plate clean. The chorizo had a kick to it. The poblano cream sauce was delicious. The guacamole was fresh. 

I’ve recently began listening to this podcast titled Historically Black. One of the episodes I listed to was called “Black Love Stories”. One of my brothers recommended and I figured I would take a listen on the commute to work. On that 30 minute train/bus ride I had an awakening. I’m in a relationship currently with an amazing, beautiful, loving woman and love has been on my mind and at the age of 28 with that comes the thought of marriage. Marriage didn’t work for my parents. They’ve been separated or divorced half of my life and while they were married I don’t have the fondest memories or recall this romanticize love a lot of us dream about. The same goes for the rest of my family. There’s a lot more single adults then long happy marriages from my point of view. My girlfriend’s parents have been together for over 30 years. When I heard this that gave me hope that two people can make it. When I heard this podcast I had no doubt that it was possible. Black love doesn’t get the respect it deserves. We hear about so many broken homes and single parent households. We here about high divorces rates across all races. We don’t talk about Black love enough and recognize its beauty. 

I was in Rosemont for the Kanye West show and was looking up different restaurants to visit. I have a great love for tiki spots. Can you beat thoughtfully crafted cocktails with a punch in fancy cups. When I saw Hala Kahiki wasn’t far from my hotel I decided me and my girlfriend had to go. 

Recently a Mariano’s was opened in Bronzeville. If you follow me on Facebook then you saw my excitement. I must admit that I have an unnatural love for Mariano’s. I love the layout, I love the selection, I love hot/cold food bar, I love that you can drink wine while you shop. To have a store like this on the Southside of Chicago is amazing. 

Areas like the Southside and Westside of Chicago often suffer from being food deserts. These are communities that don’t have a reasonable accessibility to proper groceries. They have to either order food from local restaurants and do their grocery shopping at grocery stores that don’t have the same products as a grocery store. This is part of trend of large grocery chains moving into more less privileged communities. Earlier this year a Whole Foods was built in Englewood. i love to see things like this happening. I do understand the concern of gentrification. I understand that gentrification can lead to displacement and unaffordable housing. But it’s lovely to have a store like Mariano’s in a black community. Sure we have a Jewels but it’s not as good. 

Two years ago I took my first flight. It was a trip to Puerto Rico. I was hoping I had a girlfriend at the time and I could take her but I ended up taking my mom. It was a great experience. We tried local food and we did excursions and it was an awesome Christmas gift to the woman that raised me. Since then my thirst for traveling has grown. Last year I only traveled once. I went to Tampa Bay for my then girlfriend’s birthday. This year one of my goals was to travel as much as possible. This year I have booked 12 round trips. 11 for leisure and 1 for work. 

I kicked off February with a trip to Vegas for Michael Jackson impressions, expensive drinks, and the strip. Next was a business meeting to discuss migrating to our organization. Norfolk, Virginia was a nice weekend getaway filled with relaxation and seafood. After that I headed to Philly for an amazing music festival before I caught an early morning flight back. I canceled a Dallas trip in the meantime. I then took off to Miami Beach and enjoyed the food tours and the night life. My next trip was to Indianapolis to visit my girlfriend. My first time in Indy was awesome. I ended the summer with two back to back trips to New Orleans and Houston. New Orleans had amazing food and large drinks. My brother and I went on an interesting music tour and got to really explore the city. The following weekend I went back to Houston for the first time in over 10 years. Houston is my hometown and it was great to see my family and to explore a side of Houston I wasn’t able to as a child. I have 3 more trips this year. Dubuque, Iowa, Orlando, FL, and the Dominican Republic. 

I’m a big fan of sushi. Next to loaded cheese fries and sour gummy worms it’s my go to comfort. The only thing I like more than sushi is BYOB sushi. I recently stopped by Kai Sushi in the South Loop. It’s one of my favorite sushi places in town. 

My girlfriend, my brother, and a friend went on a cool Sunday afternoon. It was a little after lunch and mostly empty. We grabbed a table and waitress greeted us with menus. we pulled out the Captain Morgan shots and pre-made margaritas we bought from the Jewel around the corner and sipped cocktails as we made are decisions. We got a West Town Roll, Unagi Roll, a Volcano Roll, and a Sunset Roll. We continued to sip our cocktails as we waited for the food the arrived. 10 minutes the rolls were delivered to our tables. I grabbed my chopsticks and dived in. This may have been the fact that I hadn’t had sushi in months or the alcohol but everything was amazing. It was so good that my girlfriend and I gave in to buying another roll. 

A couple of weekends I go I attended my first Kanye West show. The Chicago shows were his first show since his wife was robbed at gun point. I’m a huge Kanye West fan. All the way from his producing days to The College Dropout to Graduation to Yeezus to the Kanye that we know today. Due to cost I skipped out on all of Kanye’s shows up until this point.  After seeing Beyonce give an amazing performance live earlier this year I figured spending extra money to see an artist could work in my favor.  The United Center pre-sale was sold out so I opted for the Rosemont show at the All State Arena and bought tickets for me and my girlfriend.

The night of the concert came and we were filled with excitement in our hotel room, playing Kanye West loudly, and singing along. We caught an Uber to the venue and waited in line. After about 15 minutes we were in. We were running late so we rushed to find out seats hoping we didn’t miss Kanye’s entrance. We got to our seats just in time. Kanye erupted on stage. He was on a floating set that he was chained too. Kanye West performed his most recent album, Life of Pablo, along with several other hits. He danced across the stage for an hour and a half solo taking some time to thank the audience.

Anyone that truly knows me will tell you how big of a Chance the Rapper fan I am. Ever since he released his first mixtape 10 Day, recordedduring his 10 day suspension from high school, I've been a fanatic, religiously listening to his music and attending his concerts. But thisshow different. This was the first Southside music festival. This was an event poised to break the U.S Cellular Field attendance record. Thisis an event in which Chance bought tickets back from scalpers to offer to his fans. Chance wasn't the only one on the bill. This festival included John Legend, Lil Wayne, 2 Chainz, and Alicia Keys as well.

I walked into the stadium post a surprise from Kanye West. The crowd was excited and it was still early. I settled into my seat and patiently waited for Chance the Rapper to take the stage. I saw amazing sets from John Legend, Alicia Keys, and a joint session from Lil Wayne and 2 Chainz. By this time night had fell. After a brief break in performances the crowd erupted as Chance hit the stage. He went through his entire new album and even played past hits. The energy in the stadium was amazing. Chance gave praise to the audience and to the city and encouraged everyone to not lose sight of the message his music. It was such an emotional and spiritual moment that I found myself in tears halfway through his performance. Chicago is a city that gets a bad rep. It’s a city that deals with so many issues so to see someone who loves this city so much and who does what he can for this city put together something that brought so many different people from Chicago together is a beautiful thing. I couldn’t help but cry tears of joy.