All that jazz...

.... (interesting... lol ... fashion, sometimes makes me laugh out loud and shake my head profusely)

[2 asians w/ high tops ...LOL. This pic is awesome!]

Still working on this vision board. ...lol.. hopefully I'll have it done before the 1st of feb.I should be doing work right now, but I've been finding a lot of gems for the past few hours. Mostly all Jazz... which is fine, because I've been on that tip for the last little while. I'm rediscovering old favourites, notably "My Baby Just Cares for Me" - by Nina Simone. The other day I went to HMV, in hopes of finding some juice to fuel my ipod, and I was sooo close to purchase a Coltrane discography, then I remembered the amount that was sitting on my bank account, and I walked away with a sad pout, sincerely wishing my financial situation was different than it was. .... *kicks can, with hands in pocket*

Nina Simone - My Baby Just Cares for Me by samprofeta

When I pay attention to how much time I spend just looking for songs, and sharing it with people, I keep thinking I should find a job where that's all I do, I think I would be VERY happy doing that. ... uughh...

Jose James
VICADIN by josejamesworldwide

I found another video from the Influencers series. A few posts ago, I posted their first short film "Influencer" series, which till this day, I keep replaying over and over again, almost memorizing what is being said. Here is an interview with a dude named Steve Stoute, the CEO of Translation [a brand management firm that arranges strategic partnerships between pop culture icons (JayZ, Gwen Stefani, Lebron, Justin Timberlake...) & Fortunne 500 companies]. Interesting enough in my management class, we were talking about branding and everything he's saying, we discussed. Anyway, watch it and be inspired!

INFLUENCERS in-depth Series / STEVE STOUTE from R+I creative on Vimeo.

[Sidebar: morning stretches, thinking, writing and quick workouts are awesome!! I highly recommend it!]

There's something beautiful about the way a poet sketches words to tell their stories, especially when you see part of your own story unfolding in the way they spell and speak each word. I recently had the opportunity to check out a spoken word concert: "When Sisters Speak". Though I knew my share of friends/acquaintances that were either there or on their way, I sat solo, and I was glad.

Boombox Series // Jessie J from Arcade44.tv on Vimeo.

During the intercession I managed to scribble a few things on my blackberry:

" I'm all smiles right now. These women are aweworthy, they deserve an applause. Everything about their. Words, everything about them was sincere, real. How can I .... (To the guy who's cigarette stench left me and all my clothes stain with garbage: why??!?) ...

I dunno, I have a lot of things going through my head right now... I'm feeling like I owe it to myself to write more and to bring my life and my story into more of my writing. I want to limit my use of abstract poetic concepts, and bring me as simple and as unaltered as possible fearlessly into white lines, and tattoo it between the lines of my notepad. I may or may not ever gather the strength to breath life into it, but maybe writing it will help me understand it more. Maybe I've been stopping myself from addressing my story because up until now, I never admitted or seen the value and or validity in sharing it for some reason."
15/jan/2011

There were pieces about everything, a few of which I have heard before, but somehow it felt like I never did. I hung to every last word that was spoken, in hopes of lying in the truth they sought to speak. I heard it... and I took it all in. After many hugs, laughter, and discussions, and listening, I went home late and took it all in... Feeling thankful, to have been in the presence of so many beautiful people. I needed that night, I honestly can't remember the last time I wrote anything... I needed this. It's strange how I could find myself in their words though they were not mine but theirs to hold. Maybe they sent it as a gift to themselves to heal, or to the audience to entertain, and give us our money's worth (lol ... afterall it was 35$, and for a student like myself, it's QUITE a price, especially after going grocery shopping!!). Whatever the reason may be, I was glad to be there and truly take it in.

Adele - Set fire to the rain by TheProphetBlog

A friend of mine said that the crowd wasn't very rowdy or have too too much energy. I'm not sure how these things work, but whenever I'm taking a spoken word piece in, I usually stay quiet, and my reaction comes a bit delayed. In the moment I tend to take it in, and absorb as much of it as possible lol... *shrug* not sure why. On rare occasions you hear me snap my fingers... But I'm always all smiles.

Strange Fruit

Keep Calm and Make it work

[Haitian Girl posing with her prosthetic leg, 1 yr after the earthquake]

... Attention, all Haitians, non-Haitians, people who are in solidarity with Haiti. If you have felt overwhelmed, sad, depressed because of this struggle you call life, or the struggle you witness people around you or on your TV screen experience, If you have felt lost in the world, helpless, guilty for being so blessed, undeserving ... I say keep calm and make it work. Today, I'm feeling better than yesterday. I was depressed, all I could see was negativity, nothing positive. But today I wouldn't have it. I even made my way to winners and got a yoga mat, and as soon as I got home I started to stretch breath and just think. I was even going to bake something, then I got too comfortable in my room and decided not to. ....... I'm ok now.



Sometimes I think it can be overwhelming to care about the 'less fortunate'... I put it in quotation, because oftentimes people who 'we' think is 'less fortunate' don't consider themselves 'less fortunate' AT ALL, so why call them that? ... but I digress. After running into a tumblr ad of Tim Gun with the quote "keep calm and make it work" I decided to name this post the same. Sometimes my head tries to pick at all these things that's going on around me all the will by assessing myself and how I fit in this mess... and I go crazy a little bit. So ... New motto guys: Keep Calm and make it work.

Jose James

Jose James by user2405655

Ran into this video after downloading the song the other day. ... I've playing it on repeat



Here's a short film that I just enjoyed... about a designer and his process/story ...

Sometimes I wonder if there is a point to being in some classes. I was in class today, and I didn't realize that the class was going to be SUPER concentrated on theory about freedom, and equality. Everything that seemed to be talked about was so abstract, that it almost didn't make sense at all. ...almost. If it wasn't for the discussion that followed afterwards, I would've probably walked out of the class and dropped it. ......smh



Today was a bit depressing, and odd, because it marked the 1 yr mark of Haiti's earthquake. Articles, videos, newspaper reports of how bad everything is. How little progress is being made, and how the Cholera epidemic is worsening. I just felt straight up helpless. I wanted to wear my mini-Haitian flag as a sign of solidarity but I couldn't find it. I wanted to go to an event/fundraiser for it, but I had a night class so I couldn't. Not to mention that winter has officially kicked in full gear now! :(

Somewhere in the middle of me trying not to think about it to much and lighten my mood, I managed to watch the Bachelor. smh ...lol (no judging, at least it's not jersey shore)

Then it reminded me of the "dating world".... smh... and how a show like the bachelor is so dumb but it's good TV. It reminded me of other things, but I'll keep it as that.

....

This is exactly how I felt after completing my music project.

Guess who just got some groceries in her fridge. YES. Yours truly, and so I'm a little less cranky than I was on my last post lol. Life is a little better, I'm getting better, and I'm glad.

I want to write more... but lately I've been feeling pretty uninspired.

Is it possible to not be good at meeting people, and 'socializing like everyone else. I just found a quote somewhere by John Lennon who said that "time wasted doing something you enjoy was not wasted". What does that even mean? something about it seems a little abstract if you ask me lol. ...the I'm just busy on my grizzly, grinding..


Mine - Story of a Sacred Mountain
Uploaded by shootingpeople. - Full seasons and entire episodes online.

weird start of the year

So the first few days since new years have been a bit strange. I pulled an all-nighter on the first day back to school. smh. Everything's been a little weird. I started off on this optimistic high about everything, then I got a little down, and down until I started to fall into this self-perpetuating "I'm lost, what am I doing with my life after this, what's next? I'm broke, I'm in debt, I'm so foolish, my work isn't enough, I could've done better," mentally rant/ quiet inner-struggle thing. I'm trying to figure everything out, and desperately looking for ways to do whatever I want to do in the safest (financial) way possible but at the same time I recognize the value of disregarding that and doing "what your heart is telling you, you should" ... *rolls eyes*.

Sometimes I stop and think about it, and I think being a "dreamer" and "following your heart" thing is BS lol. ...straight up.

The Strange Fruit Project/ Maintain (Liquid Soul Remix) by Lunansia

Strangely enough I've managed to be on top of a lot of other things like fixing my resume and starting to send it places ect.. so maybe all of this chaos is just in my head.

I've also noticed that a few of the files I have on here keep disappearing (songs/videos), so I'm working on ways to fix that issue, if it can be fixed at all. But bref... *shrug*

04. You Got Me - Joonie by darehab

Oprah Presents: Jay-z's story [Master Class]

On this blog, and in my life, I always try to emphasize the importance of stories, and story-telling. Which is why I love hip hop, and poetry and conversations with people in general. I just ran into this video on one of my favourite blogs. I love this story, I find it inspiring. I think it's a great way to start of 2011. (thank you Oprah! lol)


1/3
Uploaded by 3030fm. - Explore more family videos.


2/3
Uploaded by 3030fm. - Family events, birthdays and parenting videos.


3/3
Uploaded by 3030fm. - Discover videos of people, family and friends.

Fearless is my word for 2011. It is the word that I will embody, and I will walk in Faith and make this happen. I want to find my 'truth' whatever 'it' is. I don't know what my 'thing' is yet, and I hope that I will find it soon, I can feel it.