Banana Pudding (You Know Why I’m Here)

Sometimes people just want their banana pudding how they’re used to having it. Old Fashioned. Classic. Custard. Wafers. Bananas. That’s it. No Strawberries. No Chocolate Chips. No Other Cookies. No Ginger Snaps. NO GINGER SNAPS lol. Now I’m not a chef in any stretch of the imagination but if there’s 2 things I pride myself in making ..it’s Pancakes and Banana Pudding from scratch. Every Thanksgiving, Family and Friends usually put me on the Banana Pudding duties an I’m glad to take on that because I really enjoy making it an as we all know small wins count. So if everybody loves the Banana Pudding then it just makes the holiday personally a little better lol. But this year I wanted to try something different. I wanted to be Extra. More Showtime Lakers. Less Tim Duncan Spurs. More Greatest Show On Turf Rams. Less Brady-Belichick Patriots. More Splash Brother Warriors with a Kevin Durant on the side. Less 2004 Pistons. More Migos. Less A Tribe Called Quest. That last comparison might be a reach but you get where I’m going right? I was going for the Conversation. The “If people don’t leave raving about it did I really bring the Banana Pudding” conversation. Lol. An it really wasn’t much different about it. The Custard from scratch. Nilla Wafers. Bananas. Aaaannndd Ginger Snaps. Yes. Ginger Snaps. Aaaannndd melted Polish Chocolate. My wife got a gift on Thanksgiving Eve and it was a bag of Polish Chocolate. And for some reason since being on this getting back to my core journey, Everything is all of sudden supposed to be some sign from the Universe. Loooolll 😂😂(seriously laughing right now) My wife said she probably wasn’t gonna eat the Chocolate so BINGO. Cartoon lightbulb over my head. This must be a sign from the Universe. They found a way to send me Chocolate to add to the Banana Pudding Recipe that I already added Ginger Snaps to. It was like I was adding Karl Malone aaaannndd Gary Payton to a Laker Team led by Shaq and Kobe. An naturally I’m thinking. Oh this is gonna be the talk of the night. GUARANTEED. I made it with love. From the soul like always. Took my time. It looked amazing. This definitely is Splash Brother Warriors. Greatest Show On Turf Rams. Showtime Lakers. Bad and Boujee Migos. An if you follow College Basketball. This is Definitely Zion Williamson-RJ Barrett Duke. Sure Shot right? Nope. It wasn’t The Banana Pudding that everybody already loved and expected to get. They got something that I thought they would love. And the funny thing is everybody did say it was good. I thought it was really good too. But you know what’s really good too. An even better when its expected to be good or gets the same results without the Extra. Tim Duncan Spurs. Brady – Belichick Patriots. 2004 Pistons. A Tribe Called Quest. Good Ole Fashioned Homemade Banana Pudding that became a Holiday Staple. Yes change is good sometimes. But sometimes people just want what they want and what they were expecting lol. An for this specific situation I felt the same way. Tradition has to override personal experiments sometimes. I mean it was Thanksgiving and family asked for Banana Pudding. The Banana Pudding they got used to. In the words of Marshawn Lynch. “You know why I’m here”

I Am Ishmeel (continued)

I Am Ishmeel Blakewood

I Am Broadway Blake

I Am The Founder/CEO of Vibes In The City LLC in Newark,NJ. Vibes In The City LLC provides platforms for independent Talent and Creatives. We launched in January 2016 and produced over 150 shows and showcased close to 1000 artists since launching. Vibes In The City is my Passion Project. I would probably be miserable without it lol. Seriously.

I Am a long time Wrestling fan. Long long time. My earliest memory is Wrestlemania 4. That’s when Macho Man won the tournament for the Heavyweight Title. I was a big time Hulk Hogan fan back then so yes a part of my childhood was ripped away when the tapes of him going on a rant of racially provoked language was leaked. I’m not sure if I fully got over that yet but it doesn’t really bother me anymore. Mid 90’s Wrestling is my favorite era. Hollywood Hogan. Stone Cold Steve Austin. Four Horsemen(Arn Anderson is so underrated) Black and White Sting. As I got older I gained more appreciation for Bret Hart. I do believe he is the GOAT. I’m still a fan of Wrestling today but I’m not nearly as invested as I once was.

I Am a Long Time San Francisco 49ers fan (Montana final years before the Steve Young Transition)

I Am A Long Time Ohio State College Football Fan( Eddie George Days)

I Am A HUUUUGE PENNY HARDAWAY FAN which lead me to be a Die-Hard Orlando Magic Fan(Nick Anderson 4 missed Free Throws in the Finals against the Rockets still haunt me. I was a kid what do you expect)

I Am A Long Time Seattle Mariners Fan(The Kid. Ken Griffey Jr. Days. Can’t forget Young A-Rod. Buhner. Edgar. Big Unit.)

I Am So Jersey but for whatever reason as a kid. I didn’t connect with the local pro teams. But I did fall in love with that 2001 Seton Hall Basketball Team that was led by Shaheem Holloway. And Yes I do fell like they would’ve made a stronger push to the Final Four if he didn’t get hurt. Even though Ty Shine held it down. I also Love Jersey Highschool and Youth Sports. If we can find a way to keep the talent home our College Programs will start to get mentioned with Duke, Alabama, UCLA, Miami,Texas etc.

I Am a Big Barry Sanders Fan an I think he’s the best Football Player to EVER PLAY. Just my opinion lol.

I Am A Big Hip Hop Fan. 2Pac was the 1st Rapper I felt a emotional connection with. Biggie, Snoop and Bone Thugs were the 1st Rappers where I realized how important Flow was. But Ma$e was the 1st Rapper where I said that right there is my favorite and that’s who I wanna be. Only as a kid though lol. Not now. I only wanna be the best version of me now.

I am a HUUUUGE fan of local music scenes an its something that I have studied and researched since I decided to be a artist. It’s a really big reason that I started Vibes In The City.

These first few Posts on my blog is me pretty much introducing who I am to people who don’t know me and even the people who do know me but don’t know a lot about me. But I’m looking forward to tell more stories about why my Goal was to aim for Russell Simmons, Quincy Jones and Berry Gordy status instead of Jay-Z and Nas. Of course over time Jay and Nas…especially Jay have become much more than Rappers since then. But Def Jam. Motown and just about EVERYTHING Quincy was doing was my initial aim.

I’m also looking forward to just posting random thoughts and experiences. It might turn into a daily blog. It might not. But I have a story to tell an I have stories to create.

Broadway

I Am Ishmeel

I Am Ishmeel Blakewood

I Am Broadway Blake

I Am A Father. I Am A Son. I Am A Husband. I Am A Brother. I Am A Friend.

I Am A Leader. I Am A Visionary. I Am A Creative.

I Am A Rapper. I Am A Writer.

I Am giving myself Permission to Pursue My Dreams. My Passions. My Purpose. My Goals. My VISION. My WHY.

I Am Accepting Responsibility that If I don’t Pursue those things with Persistence. With Perseverance. With Faith. With A Sense Of Urgency. Then My Time Here Was Wasted.

I Have A Story To Tell. I Have Stories To Create.

I wanted this to be my first post to always give myself a reminder of when I DECIDED to LIVE.

“The Saddest Thing In Life Is Wasted Talent” – A Bronx Tale

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