MISS RIANN

Riann was here this weekend from Hotlanta, GA and has reiterated a phenomenon I find amusing: that you often appreciate something so much more after you’ve experienced their absence. Babygirl Reyes has been in Atlanta since the end of May and she’s been representin’ her Cali roots since she stepped off that plane, impressing her predominantly Southern-raised colleagues with her infinite knowledge of everything from R & B music trivia to tagalog tidbits; all the while trying to gather research for her study as she thinks of home.

I asked her what she wanted to do Saturday night and she responded with an enthusiastic, ”I don’t care. Anything California!” So I asked her what she wanted to eat for dinner and she answered, “ANYTHING…anything California.” Hahaha! So I picked her up, hung out at Pat and Gwen’s new apartment, then we all headed to Venice for a dinner at a beachside restaurant. We drove down Venice until we hit the beach then parked at the end of the Venice Beach boardwalk. We strolled, all along searching for this infamous eatery, as we watched shops close up, vendors gathering their products, a guy in a leopard-print thong with a fanny-pack hanging on one hip and a small conga drum hanging on the other, and street performers strumming and singing their tunes. On and on we walked, hoping for a sign of this place when Cile yelled, “Oh look, there’s THIRD STREET PROMENADE AND SANTA MONICA PIER!” We must’ve walked over a mile to get to the restaurant, but it was, undoubtedly, all worth it as we enjoyed the drinks, the food, the ocean breeze, the random Euro-hiphop-techno music, the eclectic crowd and each other’s company.

After all that we went back to Pat & Gwen’s apartment to watch BOYZ IN THE HOOD and listen to Riann’s Atlanta stories and Mel and Bev’s suplada tales. Hilarious! Riann gets the Ops! Award of the evening with the following exchange. We were talking about scary movies and Riann is a self-proclaimed antagonist of such films.

Picture the living room a-buzz with a verbal myriad of horror/suspense flicks randomly shooting out of everyone's mouths: THE GRUDGE, AMITYVILLE HORROR, THE DEVIL'S REJECTS, THE OTHERS, SIXTH SENSE, etc.

RIANN: Joe offered to pay me $200 one time and I was like HELL NO! You can’t pay me to watch “Ax.”
…silence…crickets…
JOE: “SAW” stupid!

Oh babygirl, we’ll see you again soon!