Urban Thought Collective

Hey ya’ll. I have 3 words for you: I’m in Heaven. For those of you that are my Facebook friends, you probably saw my status update about my night in Hollywood. My experiences in this blog might come as a “duh” to most of you, but coming from the South, everything was new to my eyes.

So, can I brag for just a lil while? Tell me how incredible this is: I attended a concert at the Gibson Amphitheater on Saturday with my homeboy. I was able to see Tracy Morgan, Busta Rhymes, Akon, Common, Three 6 Mafia and a few rock bands. That was my high for the summer. I mean, I’ve seen Akon in concert before, but to see Common was incredible, and let’s not forget Grammy and Oscar winners Three 6. And just when I thought my summer couldn’t any better, I was wrong. I was told that I was going to attend a private party on that following Monday with some big name people. I heard of a few people that would be there, but ya’ll know how it is, those people never show. Nevertheless, I was excited to be going to a party in Hollywood… never done that before.

Monday evening came, and I put on my grown man fit with the shades and hat from the first blog (first time hearing that? Go to blog 1, and catch up, LOL). Anyhow, my homeboy and I strolled up to the door looking F-L-Y-Y. “I’m on the list,” I said to the bouncer, tryna sound all important and stuff. Once they checked off our names, we walked into what turned out to be heaven to me. We were a little early, so I grabbed some Sprite (I don’t drink, but I had to fit in, so that’s the reason for the Sprite, ha) and posted by the door as if I was somebody to be seen!

We walked around the club a few times, and then realized we probably looked lame, so we posted by the VIP section for Young Jeezy, yeah, I said Young Jeezy. He had his bodyguards, so I don’t know how we were able to get that close, but we did. (Maybe they thought I was a celebrity too!). Throughout the night I had the opportunity to meet and see some pretty high profile people. Who? I ain’t telling, you should have been there…

Ok, you know I can’t hold this in. I’ve been texting everyone. I saw a few basketball players, Mannie Fresh, Polow Da Don, the Puerto Rican dude from Coach Carter, Swizz Beats, Wil.I.am, Reggie Bush, Kim Kardashian, Day 26, AJ from 106th and Park, Mario, Playaz Circle, Wyclef, David Banner, Tyrese Gibson, Busta Rhymes, and Usher.

I was shocked. I wanted to smile SOOO bad, but I had to keep that celeb image, you know? I had to act like I belonged there. But all that changed when my ANGEL walked by. Who, you ask? Nope, not tellin.

Ok ok ok, I’ll tell you, stop begging. I met the girl that I’ve been watching on television since 1989, the girl who has her own show on The Disney channel, the girl who has blossomed into a BEAUTIFUL woman, the girl who is worth 400 million. None other than Raven Symone. My Angel, my wife, my love, my life. I prayed so much about meeting her; I was on the plane on the way to Cali saying to myself, “It would be incredible if I could meet Raven.”

This is the same girl I wrote about in my first blog… and now here she is, practically close enough to grab and kiss. I didn’t know what to say, I was speechless. I had to give myself a pep talk saying “C’mon dude, this is your only chance, do it!” So the very next time she walked by, I said “Raven.” I didn’t think she would hear me because the music was so loud, but to my surprise, she turned and looked at me.

“What’s next,” I thought to myself, I didn’t really expect her to stop, and my stomach dropped. I felt like I was on a roller coaster, an emotional roller coaster. I said “How are you doing?” and I extended my hand and we shook. “Good,” she said with a big smile. We made eye contact for only 2 seconds, but it really seemed like 3 hours. My mind went blank, I couldn’t think of anything else to say, nothing at all. After we shook hands, she walked to her VIP booth with her friend. I didn’t want to seem like a stalker, but Lord knows I wanted to follow her so bad. Lord definitely knows.

That was the best night of my life. The girl that I always found myself saying “I would do ANYTHING to get a chance to meet,” I met… and I didn’t have to do anything at all. Why me? I’m not complaining at all, but why do You keep blessing me so much? What have I done to deserve this much love and this many blessings? I don’t know, but for whatever reason, I thank You so much. Words cannot express my gratitude. I heard a song that said “If I had a million tongues, it still wouldn’t be enough to say thank you.” That truly describes how I feel.

Thanks God, you did it again.

Torian Salary is a senior at Troy University in Alabama, studying Broadcast Journalism and Public Relations. He is interning at a black woman owned PR & marketing firm in Los Angeles. His observations on his summer experiences are exclusive to Urban Thought Collective.