The Urbane Urbanite

My Holiday Party Guests Piled Toys for Tots Near The Tree I hosted my 3rd annual holiday party last weekend - and it was a success! The sangria was flowing (until it was all gone); the food was hot (until the food warmer thingy blew out) and the DJ was spinning (until she was ret ta go). My guests had a great time. I couldn't have asked for a better night. But this year I did something different. I teamed up with The Apostles' House whose mission is "to provide comprehensive social services to homeless and at-risk families and individuals in the Newark, [NJ] area in an environment that encourages and enables self-sufficiency." I received a text message from a friend stating that they were in need of toys for homeless children staying there this holiday season. So, in lieu of a bottle, I asked my guests to bring an unwrapped toy to donate to the kiddies at The Apostles' House - and they did not disappoint. I had over 40 partygoers at my crib and ended up w...

I don't offend easily. With close to ten years of rejection under my belt auditioning and working as an actor, I've grown quite the thick skin. But I'm still an artist and very sensitive about my shit! About a month ago, a friend and loyal reader of this blog made a comment about the post: My Upstairs Neighbor's Bed . He went on about how good he thought the post was and how much he enjoyed reading it. And then - like a rusty dagger to my heart - he asked: You made that up, right? Listen. Del don't make up blog posts. EVER! No disrespect to the bloggers out there on that James Frey flow; the ones who concoct misadventures and stretch the truths of their lives to entertain their readers. If that's your thing, fine! But it ain't mine. Everything you read over here on my little slice of the interwebs is 100% true. Period. Besides, I'm a writer. If I wanted to hit you with a piece of fiction, not only would I do it, but I'd say point blank: C...

A couple of months ago, I wrote a post about finding my very first best friend's mugshot on the New Jersey offender search website.  If you missed that post, you can read it here . He's in jail serving four to seven years for multiple counts of drug possession. I decided to write him a letter.   He responded. Twice! My first letter to him was a bit formal.  Remember, I hadn't seen or spoken to him in over 16 years.  I didn't know what kind of person he had become, what state of mind he was in or if he'd even remember me.  I wanted my first (and possibly last) letter to him to come off sincere, yet, respectful. Not only did he know who I was, but he seemed thrilled to have heard from me.  He thanked me a few times for taking the time to reach out to him.  And I was ecstatic to know that being in jail had not broken his spirit. In my reply, I went hard.  I asked him what happened and why he chose to m...

A while back, I let you all into my horrendous walk-in closet. In case you missed it, you can check out the post here . But after months of procrastinating (and not being able to find things), I finally rolled up my sleeves and got my beloved wardrobe room into tip top shape. So. Without further ado, sit back, relax and enjoy The Big Reveal!

A few weeks ago, I asked all of you to "like" The Urbane Urbanite fan page on Facebook, and in return, I would give away an iPod shuffle to one of you. Well, you guys turned out in full force! To date, I've racked up over 100 fans - and still counting. You like me! You really, really like! *Does The Wobble* And as promised, I've got an iPod shuffle here with someone's name on it. If Yolonda looks familiar, that's because she lent her expertise to a popular post here on TUU about finding time to read on a busy schedule.   Read that post here if you missed it. Yolonda will receive the iPod shuffle pictured above as well as a $25 iTunes gift card. Congrats, Yolonda! I would like to thank everyone who supported me by liking the Facebook fan page and everyone who continues to support the blog by subscribing, reading, commenting and sharing my posts.  I truly appreciate it. I'll catch up with y'all at the end of the week with a new post!...

Recently, I enlisted the help of packing expert extraordinaire Doug Dyment to help whip my packing game into shape. The man TIME magazine calls "the go-light guru," shared his knowledge of packing, offered tips on how to travel lightly and challenged me to take a carry-on with me on a 4-day trip to Cabo. I'm back from Cabo. Did I do it?

Last week, I got pulled over in Essex County, New Jersey for talking on my cell phone while driving. Although the phone wasn't to my ear, I understand that hands-free means hands-free. Period. So, technically, I'm guilty. Fine. But to add insult to injury, I was given a summons for carless driving and moments later, caught a cop driving while talking on her cell phone. Should I have really gotten a ticket for careless driving? Why is it unacceptable and considered careless if we drive and talk on our phones without a hands-free device but okay for cops to do it? Shouldn't they practice the laws they enforce? I spoke with a twenty-year veteran of a police department in the same county my offense took place. (He asked to remain anonymous). We'll call him Detective Williams. Williams hasn't worked the streets in over ten years (he currently works in the Internal Affairs Department). He tells me what I should do the next time I get pulled over, gives me the sc...