Melanie's Spiel on Texting & Dating

by Melanie 'Ellis
My Texting Rant Part II (Facebook)

Fresh Out The Ground: JENA 6 MYCHAL BELL SHOOTS HIMSELF

MONROE, La. -- A teen convicted in the "Jena Six" beating case shot himself in the chest and was taken to the hospital Monday, days after his arrest on a shoplifting charge, police said.

Mychal Bell's wound isn't life threatening, said Monroe Police Sgt. Cassandra Wooten. The 18-year-old used a .22-caliber firearm in the shooting around 7:40 p.m., she said.

Wooten believes Bell was upset over media coverage of the arrest last week.

"I think he was upset over the incident ... and didn't want to be in the news again," she said.

Bell was arrested one month after he completed a sentence for his role in the beating of a fellow classmate, Justin Barker, at Jena High School in 2006. He was sentenced to 18 months for his part in the crime and also served a sentence for three previous unnamed crimes.


The Jena 6, which attracted sympathy and garnered petition signers and monetary donations, have endured a series of public embarrassments.

Earlier this year, Bryant Purvis was arrested following an altercation with a fellow student he believed had vandalized his car. In October, he and another Jena defendant, Carwin Jones, posed “like rap stars” at the BET Hip Hop Awards. Robert Bailey Jr. posted pictures of himself on MySpace with a wad of $100 bills stuffed in his mouth, igniting interest in the accounting of the donated legal funds.

Ill Communication

In the RemixCiara, hip-hop’s rising star, shows off MaxMara's ebullient new look

Cici made her debut in the Jan. 09 issue of Elle!! She's signed to Wilhelmina.

Beyonce vs. Ciara (Diva)

Ciara and her un-alter ego Supa C remixed Beyonce’s “Diva” for her upcoming Fantasy Ride mixtape. The first single from it is set to drop January 5th.
And below is B’s version:

Obama and Family Life Exposed. Why????

Can we give them some privacy. Damn paparazzi

US President Elect Barack Obama was spotted at a local mall in Hawaii with daughters Sasha and Malia.

The Bush!

Bush’s New Neighborhood Barred Blacks until 2000.

December 8, 2008 by jonesonpolitics

whitesonly

From HuffingtonPost:



As was reported this week, George Bush has bought a new house in a wealthy part of Dallas, called Preston Hollow, to live in after he leaves office. Preston Hollow homeowners are used to having well-known neighbors; the area is already home to Dallas Mavericks’ owner Marc Cuban and former presidential candidate Ross Perot.And while many of the Bushes’ new neighbors seem perfectly happy and excited to welcome the former first couple, a few of them, reportsthe Wall Street Journal, have some significant reservations:

The impending presence of a former President is ratcheting up security fears. “I am afraid with all the negative press the president has been getting, the whole neighborhood is going to be a target,” said a woman, who wouldn’t give her name. She carried her King Charles spaniel Friday past the Bushes’ new abode.

But Raw Story reports that the area had some issues long before Bush made it his new home.

Until 2000, the neighborhood association’s covenant said only white people were allowed to live there, though an exception was made for servants. The document, enacted in 1956, reads:

“Said property shall be used and occupied by white persons only except these covenants shall not prevent occupancy by domestic servants of different race or nationality in the employ of a tenant.”

Mexican/US Border Drug Wars.....

Jimmy Fallon Blog

don't try this @ home

Neon Soul (count bass- D)

Directed By Distrakt: Count Bass D - Neon Soul from Distrakt on Vimeo.

Primo talking about making “Nas Is Like”

hit&run

Kaos on Komcast

Senor Kaos just got his own show on Comcast cable in Atlanta. Peep the promo:

Señor Kaos The Stand On Demand Commericial from Señor Kaos on Vimeo.

Shakey’s Record Fair in NYC Tues TONITE!!!

For those of you still attached to vinyl, Shakey’s Record Fair is going down again, and this time it’s back at APT NYC (on 13th St. BTW 9th ave and Washington) this Tuesday from 8pm to 3am.

Why to start a startup in a bad economy (GAME)

Why to start a new startup in a bad economywww.kevinrose.com

Malcolm Gladwell

Shaun White X Target

BPA?

Bisphenol A, also called BPA, is used in plastic linings of food and soda cans to prevent corrosion. It is also used in hard clear polycarbonate plastics such as for baby bottles and water bottles. Bisphenol A is a chemical produced in large quantities and used to produce hard plastics and epoxy resins. Epoxy resin is used to line metal food cans and bottle tops. Bisphenol A can leach out of the plastic into the food or beverage. More than 90 percent of Americans have Bisphenol A in their bodies from consuming items stored in containers made with BPA. The FDA has insisted that the chemical compound is safe at low doses. Scientific have concluded that the FDA's safety assessment was flawed. The independent panel concluded that the FDA should have have considered a wider range of studies beyond the two industry-funded ones that found the product safe. The FDA is expected to respond to the recommendation by February.
The national Toxicology Program has express concerns for the effects Bisphenol A has on the brain, behavior and prostate glands in fetuses, infants and children because their body do not flush chemicals. Based on animal research questions have been raised about the chemical effects on the reproductive system in newborns and fetuses. Studies involving animals have shown behavioral changes suggesting gender-bending effects.
In October Canada became the first country to add Bisphenol A to its list of toxic substances and will no longer sell baby bottles or formula containing BPA.

SOLUTION: Never microwave plastic
Limit you consumption of bottled H2O
Buy fresh or frozen produce
Feed your infants, children with BPA free plastic or glassware

A plastic bottle takes up to 500 years to decompose in a landfill-BPA what a chemical

Gotham Tribute

(read)

BP brother Woodfox, FREE!

(read)

d.i.y. : Cable-Hiding Charging Station

How To Make A CHARGER BOX Very Easy - No More Cable Mess! - video powered by Metacafe

unbranded mickey D's

Get Involved!!!

tinto

Ludacris as Curator of His Own Hip-Hop Museum

Ludacris, in concert on Tuesday at the Highline Ballroom, welcomed guests representing hip-hop heritage.
By JON CARAMANICA
NYTimes
Published: November 26, 2008


In a video on the YouTube channel of Ludacris’s label, Disturbing tha Peace, he watches as DJ Premier, the primary architect of 1990s East Coast rap formalism, picks out a line from an old Ludacris song, “Stand Up,” and cues up his turntable. Casually the D.J. begins cutting the vocals immaculately into smaller and smaller bits while Ludacris reclines in a chair, pleased with the view.

So distant is the moment when artful D.J.ing was an essential part of hip-hop culture that watching DJ Premier is a little like regarding an exhibit at a folk-art museum — a hip-hop Colonial Williamsburg.

Consider Ludacris an enthusiastic re-enactor, then, and also the rare Southern rapper who considers working with DJ Premier — or time traveling, as it were — a feather in his cap. Accordingly, the smile on his face Tuesday night as he brought Premier onstage at the Highline Ballroom was wide and irrepressibly sincere. Premier produced “MVP,” a no-frills track from Ludacris’s sixth album, “Theater of the Mind” (D.T.P./Def Jam), for which this show was a release party.

Despite accidents of birth (Illinois) and geographic relocation, Ludacris is firmly a New York nostalgist trapped in the body of an Atlanta motormouth. An almost impossibly precise rapper who often mistakes enthusiasm for charm, he would have been exceedingly comfortable in New York’s underground scene of the mid- to late 1990s, where battle-rap champions were the stars and tricky polysyllabic rhyme schemes mattered more than Q scores.

Not that Ludacris is immune to the pulls of celebrity. His film career has grown with roles in “Crash,” “RocknRolla” and “Max Payne.” He cut off his signature dreadlocks in favor of a more clean-cut look. He often goes by his real name, Chris Bridges. And his new album also carries an air of pretentiousness: guests aren’t featured, they’re “co-starring”; songs aren’t produced, they’re “scored.”

This slight reserve spilled over to the early part of Ludacris’s performance, when normally springy songs like “Southern Hospitality” and “Ho” fell flat. Even after delivering his dazzling remix verses from Shawty Lo’s “Dey Know” and DJ Khaled’s “I’m So Hood,” Ludacris had barely broken a sweat. Maybe he was willing to waste only so much energy on rap.

But then came “I Do It for Hip Hop,” a self-consciously lo-fi celebration of precapitalist creativity that on Ludacris’s new album, features his fellow millionaires Jay-Z and Nas.

“I don’t do it for the money/I do it from the heart,” Ludacris rapped. “The van Gogh flow/Luda do it ’cause it’s art.”

Then, quite unexpectedly, all those faux-naïf rhymes came true. A cavalcade of guests emerged to take the stage for a few moments each, a showcase of New York hip-hop history with a devoted fan as curator. It turned this show on its ear.

L L Cool J’s “Rock the Bells” was invigorating, and Jadakiss’s “We Gon Make It” sounded like rolling thunder. When Jim Jones and Juelz Santana emerged to perform “Pop Champagne,” the flamboyant hip-hop anthem of the moment, Ludacris felt comfortable enough to put art back aside for a second: “I made the Forbes list, yeah, I know you seen it/Eight figures so if I say it, you know I mean it.”

None of these guests currently sell more records than Ludacris, but it was clear that it was they who were doing him a favor, not the other way around. With all his fame, his millions of albums sold and his Southern pride, all Ludacris really wanted was one night in the New York trenches.

Kanye West, Flaunting Pain Instead of Flash

Kanye West’s new album, “808s & Heartbreak,” addresses recent events from his life, to a sound leaner and looser than that of his previous records.


By JON CARAMANICA
Published: November 24, 2008
“Do you really have the stamina,” Kanye West wonders to himself on “Pinocchio Story (Freestyle Live From Singapore),” the bizarre rap-star-in-need-of-a-Geppetto hidden track from his fourth album, “808s & Heartbreak,” “for everybody that sees you crying/And says, ‘You oughta laugh! You oughta laugh!’ ?”

Oughtn’t he, though? Mr. West is mouthy, impertinent, flamboyant, bellicose, provocative, greedy and needy. But he is also funny, something, given his profound sense of entitlement, he very rarely gets credit for.

On previous albums he’s hilariously taken himself to task for his foibles of style and narcissism. He rarely aims his daggers at others; there’s plenty in the mirror to clown on. On “Breathe In, Breathe Out,” from his 2004 debut album, “The College Dropout,” he distilled the essential struggle that has defined his career into one sharp joke: “Always said if I rapped, I’d say something significant/But now I’m rapping about money, ho’s and rims again.”

On “808s & Heartbreak,” which was released by Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam on Monday, Mr. West is done letting himself off the hook.

The product of a tumultuous year in his personal life, it operates solely on the level of catharsis — no commentary, no self-consciousness, no concern for anything but feeling. On “Pinocchio Story” he continues his lament:

There is no Gucci I can buy

There is no Louis Vuitton to put on

There is no YSL that they could sell

To get my heart out of this hell

And my mind out of this jail

On any of Mr. West’s earlier albums, he would have quickly undermined this sentiment — of course a shopping spree would cheer him up — but here, bluntness is the goal. And so, as he’s dismantling his storytelling structures, he’s also making his productions skeletal, and largely trading bombastic rapping for vulnerable singing.

“808s & Heartbreak” sounds like none of his other albums, nor any rap album of note — “minimal but functional” is how he has described it to MTV. At best, it is a rough sketch for a great album, with ideas he would have typically rendered with complexity, here distilled to a few words, a few synthesizer notes, a lean drumbeat. At worst, it’s clumsy and underfed, a reminder that all of that ornamentation served a purpose. After all, what is Kanye West without scale?

Mr. West would have been forgiven for taking a break after releasing “Graduation,” his third album, last year. His mother, Donda West, died last November following complications from plastic surgery. In April Mr. West split from his fiancée, Alexis Phifer. By any measure, these are seismic changes, yet he persisted with recording.

Some of the results suggest his old, oversize sound. On both “Love Lockdown” and “Coldest Winter,” thunderous drums cut through an electro haze, and “Bad News” features one of the most efficient bass lines Mr. West has ever constructed. “Amazing,” a visceral collaboration with Young Jeezy, sounds as if it were recorded inside a whirring old grandfather clock, a collection of precisely moving parts neatly interlocking — classic Kanye.

Mr. West has cited the electro-pop pioneer Gary Numan and T J Swan, who sang exuberant, nasal hooks on many a 1980s Queens rap track, as vocal reference points for this album, though in truth hearing Mr. West try to sing these songs is far weirder.

Still, it is not quite sui generis. Early New Edition comes to mind. And in places, especially on the breezy, slick “Paranoid,” this music is redolent of the chilly, slightly irregular R&B the producers the Neptunes were making four or five years ago, for Kelis, Omarion and others. Their synth-driven electro had blasts of funk momentum. But Mr. West uses electro (the title’s “808” refers to the Roland TR-808 drum machine) for its sparseness, so that he might emote unchallenged.

Flaunting pain requires a sort of arrogance, too, so it’s little surprise that Mr. West takes to it so naturally. Every song on the album is rife with anguish, and his lyrics, about the shards of broken relationships, though often tediously written, can carry a fresh sting.

Click here for full story

'Buy Nothing Day' protests planned

Early-bird shoppers might find a few other zombies in their midst this Black Friday—protesters dressed as zombies, that is.

"Buy Nothing Day" activists plan to don the ghoulish get-ups as they parade past shops along Chicago's Magnificent Mile. The zombies reportedly will gather just after 7 a.m. to greet shoppers hoping to get a jump on the holiday discounts.

Organizers say their aim is simple: to promote a day of non-spending in the face of the traditional holiday shopping splurge.

"It has a very dark edge to it this year," said Kalle Lasn, who co-founded Adbusters Media Foundation, the Canada-based "anti-consumerist" outfit that coordinates "Buy Nothing Day." Protests occurred in 68 countries last year.

The zombie stunt isn't unique to Chicago. The ploy emerged five years ago, its shock value making it a popular form of protest.

"Young people just like to have fun," Lasn said. "It's a good way to get shoppers to say 'What the hell is going on?' And for them perhaps to start questioning what they are doing there."

With or without zombies, retail experts predict holiday sales will fall this year for the first time on record—perhaps by as much as 5 percent—as consumers focus on what they need more than what they want.

Such economic realities could inspire more people to abstain from the mass consumerism. But newbies beware: Achieving a purchase-free day can be surprisingly tough.

"Suppressing the impulse to buy is like giving up smoking. It's an addiction," Lasn said. "A lot of people break down around midafternoon and buy a Mars bar or a coffee. It's a very personal thing."

THE ISSUE: AIDS

TEENS ARE DOING IT- BUT NOT DOING IT WELL OF THE 5,000 YOUNG AMERICANS DIAGNOSED WITH HIV THIS YEAR, 70 PERCENT WILL BE BLACK

When 16-year-old Maché chase came across a new study noting that one-fourth of all teenage girls, and nearly half of all black girls, have a sexually transmitted disease, she barely took notice. “It wasn’t a shocker to me,” says Chase. “A lot of [teens] out here are having sex, and you can tell a lot of people don’t protect themselves. At my school, we have a lot of girls in the lower grades pregnant.”


Chase lives in Washington, D.C., ground zero in the war against HIV—experts say that one in 20 residents of the city is infected, more than in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. And more than 80 percent of D.C.’s HIV patients are black. But while Chase may be at risk, she’s also more knowledgeable about the facts of life than many adults. And the facts are not good: According to the latest data, the rate of new HIV infections is nearly 50 percent higher than previously believed.


Twelve years after powerful new drug therapies led the media to write about “the end of AIDS,” America has seen a resurgence of new infections, and 70 percent of the estimated 5,000 young people diagnosed with HIV this year will be black teenagers. After school, instead of hanging out in the neighborhood, Chase comes to a small basement office in Southeast Washington with a sign on the front that advertises free HIV testing. This is the home of Metro Teen AIDS (MTA), a community health organization founded in 1988, as the AIDS epidemic began ravaging the country.

Click here for complete story

Carmen

Hottentot Venus

Spam Murked By Facebook

Popular social network wins $873 million lawsuit


Everyone hates spam. But no one has ever beat the annoying pop-ups and unsolicited materials– that range from penis enlargement, to weight loss- like Facebook, who has recently been awarded a record $873 million by the US District Court in San Jose.

According to eNews 2.0, Facebook filed suit against Adam Guerbuez of Montreal and his company Atlantis Blue Capital this past August under the Controlling Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act.

Facebook alleged that between March and April, Atlantis Blue sent millions of annoying unsolicited messages to Facebook users.

Though Guerbuez is hardly expected to be able to fork over the millions he now owes the social network, Max Kelly, Facebook’s director of security, believes they’ve already been rewarded.

"It's unlikely that Guerbuez and Atlantis Blue Capital could ever honour the judgment rendered against them (though we will certainly collect everything we can)," Kelly wrote on his blog. "But we are confident that this award represents a powerful deterrent to anyone and everyone who would seek to abuse Facebook and its users."

John Forte: Out the Slammer By Christmas

Thanks to President Bush, rapper and producer John Forte will be out the pen by Christmas.

In 2000, Forte was sentenced to 14-years in prison after he was found with 31 pounds of liquid cocaine at the New Jersey International Airport. Two female couriers set him up. He has served seven years, and faces five additional years of supervised probation. According to the Washington Post, Forte has been chosen as one of 16 people to receive clemency from Bush.

One person who lobbied for Forte’s early release is singer Carly Simon, who along with her son (a former prep school pal of Forte), held the Grammy-winning artist down since his arrest. Simon reportedly sent messages to Senators Ted Kennedy and Orrin Hatch on his behalf.

When Forte was first arrested, Simon put up $250,000 towards his $650,000 bail.

Besides being a solo artist and producer for The Fugees, Forte has worked with everyone from Tricky to Herbie Hancock. His friends range from Mark Ronson, to regulars at Martha’s Vineyard, where Forte was known to charm women, guzzle Guinness, and dress sharp.

In a 2002 interview with Rolling Stone, Forte said that the company he kept caught up with him.

"I allowed elements to be near me -- not drugs but people," he said. "That's what caught me up. I was too accessible. I was too here, I was too there. The price the government wants me to pay for that is fourteen years."

Forte will be released Dec. 22.

Felix

R.I.P. MC BREED (r.i.p. Pac lives)

Thank You Atiyana and Amari

As we know Thanksgiving us just a few days away. I just wanted to take this time to offer thanks to some important people in my life; my daughters Atiyana and Amari. It’s funny how our children are always thanking us for the things we provide them but as parents, we rarely ever thank them for the things they do for us. I mean of course they don’t pay bills (yet) and they may not be able to provide us with food and shelter but they do offer us things that are often over looked.

Their mom and I split when we were young and they don’t live close to me. Anyone who knows me also knows that this breaks my heart every second of everyday. Although we don’t see each other as often as I would like, the relationship I have with my daughters is very special. Even though we are miles apart they always say “Dad, we understand, and we love you so much”. Once I was low on cash and they offered to send me $100 out of their piggy banks to help me get to NY. Just the thought almost made a grown man cry. After that, I said to myself if my daughters can offer me their hard saved cash to get me there, I can use the last bit of dough I have to get there even if I would be broke when I got back. When I arrived God blessed my in ways that were nothing short of miracles. Real talk. (And I didn’t take their money … LOL )

So I thank my daughters for showing me that all we need in life is faith. I thank Amari, who at 11 years old said “Dad, if you want to do something bad enough you’ll do IT, or maybe you didn’t really want to”. I thank my daughter Atiyana, who at 12 years old told me that “She will always love me no matter what she hears about me”. I thank them both for teaching me what sacrifice is all about and what it really means to love someone enough to die for.

I thank them for teaching me to never give up because I wouldn't just be giving up on me … I’d be giving up on them as well. I thank them for keeping me from cussing these people at work out almost everyday. Because I look at their picture at my desk and tell myself that no one can do or say anything that will take food out of my kid’s mouth. I thank them for helping me to be more selective with the women I date. I know now to look for the type of women I want my daughters to be one day.

And lastly I thank them for loving me when at times I feel no one else does. Unconditional love is what they’ve given me from the moment they opened their eyes in the delivery room. I will continue to live my life, if not for any other reason but to make sure theirs is better.

Thank you Attie and Mo Mo! Daddy will always love you … kisses and hugs!

run for ur lives!

Wu-The Story of The Wu-Tang

The Wu-Tang Clan is a New York City–based hip-hop musical group. Wu-Tang Clan consists of nine American rappers: RZA, GZA, Raekwon, U-God, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, Method Man, Masta Killa, and the late Ol' Dirty Bastard. Among its members are multi-platinum selling solo artists, multi-platinum record producers, Grammy winners, TV and film stars, screenwriters, product spokespersons, business owners and, most recently, major motion picture composers.

One of the most critically and commercially successful hip hop groups of all time, Wu-Tang Clan rose to fame with their uncompromising brand of hardcore rap music. Since their debut, they have introduced or launched the careers of numerous other artists and groups, and already in 1994 there were credited to be over 300 Wu-Tang Clan affiliates, known as the Wu-Tang Killa Bees, consisting of rappers, producers, and record label CEOs.

"PAiD in FuLL" ($unday movie feature)

Reggie Watts is Out of Control

This is a pretty interesting guy. I guess the closest comparison would be to 1980's performer Bobby McFerrin (Don't Worry Be Happy) and that guy from the Police Academy. Not at all mainstream in any sense of the word but Reggie Watts has found and niche and an audience to support his unique brand of music and social commentary. Check out this clip and comment. CLICK TO WATCH

Right, True.

extreme capitali$m

Punks jump up to get Beatdown (& pockets ran)

Days of Wrath

KRS One Freestyle-Breakdown

5 Ways you can save the enviroment

Reuse H2O bottles

It’s not practical to think of a world without bottled H2O, but being more conscious of your usage will reduce the energy it takes to bottle and ship (it’s enough to power 190,000 homes). Buy gallon size H2O. Refill a bottle to drink at home and at work. Refilling plastic bottles will not hurt as long as they are clean.

Recycle your old electronics

Dumping cell phones, PDAs and computers in landfills is dangerous because they contain toxic substances like lead, mercury, and cadmium. Find a recycling service in your community by Googling “electronics recycling”.

Eat locally

Most supermarkets import food from all over the world. Getting perishables from small organic farms within 100 miles of your house means that it travels shorter distance (lower fuel emissions), no pesticides pollute the area, and the food is generally fresher and better tasting. Check you local farmers market for seasonal produce, days and hour of operation.

Carry your own shopping bag

Plastic bags are cheap, rip easily, are nearly impossible to recycle and take over 1000 years to decompose. Take your own stylish bag with a long strap. It will hold up longer and is easier to carry.

Switch out you lightbulbs

Fluorescent light bulbs justify their cost by lasting 10 times longer than a regular bulbs and uses 66 percent less energy which gives off a softer light. These bulbs are now available at all stores.

Ponder the Void

still dating? (try the Door Test)

Mayer Hawthorne & the County

48 Laws of Power

Barack & Curtis: Manhood, Power & Respect

samurai sh#t (Anwar X Meth)

hagakure (Rosario X Denzel)

rememberin' Mac Dre

WU Movie (patiently waiting)

Wu-Tang Movie Trailer

Full Moon tonight

Full Moon
11.13.08
6:18am
EST at 1:18am
New Moon
11.27.08
4:56pm
EST 11:56 am

The Full Moon increases positive ionic ratios which accounts for the strange and aggressive behavior. The Full Moon occurs approximately every 27.3 days. When the Sun and The Moon are on the opposite side of the Earth, which is directly connected to low barometric pressure in which, positive ions increase 3 times the amount of negative ions. The earth has a negative charge; therefore negative ions are expelled from the Earth. Positive ions, or the lack of negative ions cause serotonin hyperfunction syndrome or “irritation syndrome”. Positive ions are directly related to Human mood disorder or depression which is treated with drugs that blocks serotonin hyperfunction, which have chemical side effects. Immerse yourself in negative ions.

How: Himalayan Crystal Salt

Himalayan Crystal Salt has a similar PH balance of H2O. Himalayan Crystal has a fine crystal structure which minute amounts of H2O are dispersed when heated amplifying H2O potency and absorbing pathogens which have a positive ionic base, then destroying them. In turn decreasing positive ions giving you a feeling of well being!

Where: Fini’me Green

Enjoy the Full Moon tonight!


December
Full Moon
12.12.08
4:38 pm
EST- 11:38 am
New Moon
12.27.08
12:23 pm
EST- 7:23 am

Letters To My Soul Mate

Ok … this is ya boy Noiz checking again (I love blogging on Shade Tree as you can tell … lol). Well to day I’m going to talk about fear. Yes fear. You know … a frightening thought, or other entity that causes uneasy feelings. Notice the key words; thought and feelings. To put it simply, fear is all in our minds.

Recently a close friend told me that “Most people are afraid of what they don't know or understand” and of course I arrogantly replied “Not me”. To be totally honest, I truly believe that there wasn’t much left on this earth for me to be afraid of. Oh- was I ever wrong! I was afraid to let God choose my love for me. I had this idea of who this person would be before I allowed God to send her to me. I was still trying to control my fate so that I wouldn’t get hurt again like I have been in the past.S

omeone once said that dwelling on the past leads to sorrow and dwelling on the future is the cause of fear. This is the very reason we should all live in the MOMENT. What we are doing this very moment in time is the only reality we know. Whether it’s cooking breakfast for the fam or sitting in front of your computer with a cool class of OJ. Or relaxing and stretching out on the couch because the kids are gone to school. This is the moment we live in; the NOW. When we really sit back and absorb the vastness of now, we start to appreciate every breathe we take, every word we say, every thought we have in our mind and at this point is when worry is thrown to the wind. We also start to think LIFE IS TO SHORT TO PASS UP A ONCE IN A LIFETIME OPPORTUNITY OF LOVE. If we really sit and think about it, we realize that, hey – we may never have this moment again.

Many who have read my work and hopefully will read my book My Life: An Open Book –Love and Truth (shameless plug), know that I try to relay a message of self acceptance, forgiveness, unconditional love and the value of speaking truth at all cost. Well, little did I know; practicing what you speak is a WHOLE lot easier than just writing words.

I had searched for love for so long that I had forgotten what is was that I was looking for. Everyday it was something different. I’d pray “God bring me someone intelligent”, he’d send me and intelligent female, only to find out she was also narcissistic and disrespectful. So then I’d pray “God send me someone who is respectful and humble”, and right on time he sent me someone who was humble as apple pie and just as right as rain on a hot summer day. Ahhh … but, she also had self esteem so low I couldn’t go to the store without her calling every five minutes to see where I was. This continued this way for a few months. Until I realized that I was basing my wants on fear. Fear that if I wasn’t specific, then God wouldn’t send me what I wanted. Not knowing that God sends us who we need and not who we want.

Needless to say, I gave up for a while. I spent a lot of time alone and started writing about love. Then I started writing about the love that I wanted in my life. I started a series of letters called “A Letter to My Soul Mate” and there are four volumes.See I created in mind, the woman I wanted to spend the rest of my life with.

It wasn’t about how she looked or what type of career she had or even what her past was like. I just knew that if I started to ask God for someone who made me FEEL l the way I felt when I wrote these letters … then I would know … “That’s her, my Soul Mate”. So, I left caution to the wind and started writing these letters as if we had already met. There’s more to this story than I could ever fit in a blog – but maybe my book will tell the rest (shameless plug #2)

When we start to ask God to bless our hearts with love then he will send us the specifics not the other way around. Let go of fear and claim love … don’t find it … claim it!

It’s yours!

A Letter to My Soul Mate – Vol. 1

I had a dream about you last night. You may not believe me but it’s true. Let me see. It was around two o’clock Saturday night and I saw two moons in a star riddled sky. The clouds were pillow like with violet linings. I saw beauty shining quietly over mountainous silhouettes. I’ll bet I was dreaming of the set of our future love story. It could only be called “Destiny”. A glorious take on how Chance met Fate in a galaxy called Love.

Looking above, I dreamed of us as constellations, adjacent by the same star. Have you ever seen a dove fly under moonlight or white petals dancing on ocean waves? In my dream, the night was as bright as the day and the hills and valleys were always behind us.

Awed, dazed and smiling; I just wanted to be blinded by beauty once more. Sore from running to your heart; I stared into your eyes and fell asleep again. Feeling my soul leave my skin is an experience called “Out of Body”. It was actually like I slipped into a deeper … reality. You’re probably laughing because you dreamed of me too.

This is a letter to my soul mate and today I rip it in two. There is a piece for me and a piece for you. Now, this is what we’ll do. I’ll rent a balloon across the land and toss your half to you. So if you find the other piece … the woman I dreamed of … was you.

A Letter to My Soul Mate – Vol. 2

I was gazing at the stars last night and had delightful dreams of you. I have no idea of who you are but I hope that we’ll meet soon. I have a feeling you read my work, but you’re hesitant to speak. It’s probably because you think I say these things to every woman I meet. But truth be told, I rarely date and I barely send replies to all the messages I get; I guess I’m kind of shy.

Or maybe it’s the opposite, I’m older and now I’m wise. So trust me, If you contact me; today we’ll start our life.

This is a letter to my soul mate and today I rip it in two. There is a piece for me and a piece for you. Now, this is what we’ll do. I’ll rent a balloon across the land and toss your half to you. So if you find the other piece … the woman I dreamed of … was you.

A Letter to My Soul Mate – Vol. 3: Computer Love

You’ve read my poems but you’d never let me know it. See, Myspace has a feature that keeps your pic from showing. You’re saying, “I know him …” your mind races. “Just another player, swooning the ladies with grace and words”. You’ve read at least one third of my work, but still can’t work up the nerve to say “Hi”.Well on the flip side, I know you too. You use the excuse of being too cute as a decoy for accepting the truth. Our souls are connected … I know it. We haven’t even met and yet I’ve walked into your life through writing.

I’m reciting the stories of our future and you’re in front of your computer like, “His pic is attractive, but his mind is cuter.I wrote two poems specifically for you … A Letter to My Soul Mate, volumes one and two. This is volume 3, but hopefully you’ll open the door. At last we’ll meet and I won’t need volume 4.

This is a letter to my soul mate and today I rip it in two. There is a piece for me and a piece for you. Now, this is what we’ll do. I’ll rent a balloon across the land and toss your half to you. So if you find the other piece … the woman I dreamed of … was you.

Boyz II Men singer Responds to Beyonce’s Boy

Wow…this one is something to chew on. The first R&B battle in a minute. Not really a beef though. Just a few choice words from Boyz II Men singer Shawn Stockman on Beyonce’s “If I Were A Boy.” Take a listen and share your thoughts.

We miss you Dirt McGirt!

Know Your Worth

I wrote this poem for those who are willing to do anything for money. Some go as far as to sell their souls and give up who they are inside to gain the the material things of the world. Everyone who reads this poem and the words I'm writing at this very moment PLEASE UNDERSTAND. If my riches don't come from God ... to be more specific ... Jesus ... I'd rather live poor on this earth. Because I believe that Jesus died for me to be rich in heaven.

His teachings were that of unconditional love and unconditional faith. Faith is what defines me. There is no ritual on this earth that can achieve what prayer and meditation can. There is no job on this earth that can pay me enough to denounce the name of Jesus. There is no love on this earth that can seperate me from the love of Christ.

I have issues ... yes. But money ain't one. I get every morning and thank God that he made me who I am. I thank him for the two beautiful girls that he blessed me with. I thank him for a mother and father that were destined to have me as a son. I thank him for the friends in my life ... true friends. Although they may be few in number they have blessed me with the riches that no earthly coin can compare to.

So, some may say "By ANY means neccessary" I say "By the ONLY means neccessary" .... Jesus!

He has a place for you and me ... will I see you there?


Would a million be enough?
Or trillion cut diamonds maybe …
Or maybe a Mercedes Maybach
Going Mach 3 on
3 lane highways

Oh No
I say … not even
No cruise on elegant steamships
Nor all the gold in Egypt
Could amount to
My worth

You can own all the
Oil in Texas
Then buy the
Presidents Election …
Win the lottery
In 5 successions …

And still …
You wouldn’t be close

You can live as the
Modern Jetsons
Have billionaire connections
Have a Rolex for every second

And still …
It’s just not enough

How ‘bout the strength
As that of Sampson’s
Or the heart of Olympic Champions
Or a chance to just be young again …

My friend …
It still wouldn’t add up

Not all the chips in Vegas
Not all the finest faces
Nor all the cutest babies …

Could even touch my worth

Not all the tea in China
Or all the power of Midas
My worth is simply priceless
No earthly coin can price it

So what? … you ask
If I had a tag
What would my number be?
When God creates a number
THAT BIG …
The world will no longer be

Matthew 6:21
Matthew 6:33
Philippians 1:21
Philippians 4:13

Shadetree Exclusive:Annie Leibovitz Photographer

Annie Leibovitz was born on October 2, 1949, in Waterbury, Connecticut. While studying painting at the San Francisco Art Institute, she took night classes in photography, and in 1970, she began doing work for Rolling Stone magazine. She became Rolling Stone’s chief photographer in 1973. By the time she left the magazine, 10 years later, she had shot 142 covers. In 1983, she joined the staff at Vanity Fair, and in 1998, she also began working for Vogue. In addition to her magazine editorial work, Leibovitz has created influential advertising campaigns for American Express and the Gap and has contributed frequently to the Got Milk? campaign. She has worked with many arts organizations, including American Ballet Theatre, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, and the Mark Morris Dance Group, and with Mikhail Baryshnikov. Her books include Annie Leibovitz: Photographs (1983), Photographs: Annie Leibovitz 1970–1990 (1991), Olympic Portraits (1996), Women (1999), American Music (2003), A Photographer’s Life: 1990–2005 (2006), and Annie Leibovitz at Work (2008). Exhibitions of her images have appeared at museums and galleries all over the world, including the National Portrait Gallery and the Corcoran Gallery, in Washington, D.C.; the International Center of Photography, in New York; the Brooklyn Museum; the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam; the Centre National de la Photographie, in Paris; and the National Portrait Gallery in London. Leibovitz has been designated a Living Legend by the Library of Congress and is the recipient of many other honors, including the Barnard College Medal of Distinction and the Infinity Award in Applied Photography from the International Center of Photography. She was decorated a Commandeur in the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government. She lives in New York with her three children, Sarah, Susan, and Samuelle.

Tribute To Motown by Annie Leibovitz

Style Wars

Run 'em!

Deadly Products

Manufactures continually use ingredients that cause known and unknown harm to our Planet. This means you, me, our children, our animals and our environment suffer on a daily bases from the use of hair and body products. Reading ingredients, becoming aware of everything that you throw in the trash, everything that you pour down the drain will make a great difference to you and our environment.
Look up some of you favorite products @ cosmeticsdatabase.com

Are You Really Ready for Love?

Ahhh … love. That wonderful unexplainable feeling inside you that makes you do the craziest things. You know I once told someone that I would climb the highest mountain in the world for them … just because I thought I was in love. Now keep in mind I was like 15. A brother is 32 now and mountain climbing just ain’t me. LOL.

Wow … it’s amazing the physical lengths we are willing to go through in the name of love. Fella’s, y’all also know the financial lengths we will go through to prove our love (don’t act like you haven’t been there …lol.

But what is love? This may be the most rhetorical question of the ages thus far, but really? What is love? I thought I understood what love was when I was younger. But I have recently fallen in love and I am destined to understand what constitues love. I always thought that love was sharing, caring, laughing, having a good time and just plain ol’ peachy. I thought love was getting the kids ready for work and helping my significant other pay bills on time. You know … I even thought that love was also hinged upon how good the bedroom performance was (although that one still weighs heavily on my mind:-). Hey I’m not perfect.)

But then I spent a lot of time alone and I started to ask myself … have I ever really been in love. I mean, I’ve had the house with the dog and a big yard. My girl stayed laced in the finest things. We had friends and family over all the time and we talked about problems. But still … the “Love” faded.What I’ve come to realize lately is that love really is synonymous with truth. Those who have read my poetry know that this is a consistent theme in my work. It’s because I truly believe this. So, when I digressed on past relationships there was always one major element that didn’t exist. Truth. I never let them see the REAL me.

All this time, I was happy being the person that they wanted me to be. It also seemed as if they played along and put on the mask of the person they thought I wanted them to be. Both of us afraid of letting each other see our true selves. Oh, it’s perfect when someone is always saying the right things and back rubs feel just right and the bills are paid on time. But when the proverbial "honey moon" is over … where does the love go?

In the time I spent alone I realized that most people associate love to things. Meaning they feel loved when the stars are visible in the sky or the moon is shining just right on the ocean waves as they cruise through the Caribbean. Christmas time and Thanksgiving are excellent times to display love with all the nostalgic feelings surrounding them. That diamond ring your fiancé bought with one third of his paycheck … yeah you feel the love right now don’t you … lol.

Well this is my take on love. Love is this the dirty socks left in the corner of the room because your boyfriend is too lazy to make his way to the hamper? Or all that damn hair your girl leaves in the sink and the tub and in the brush and on the floor around the toilet. Love, is knowing that your spouse has an attitude problem but you know they’ll get over it. It’s waiting in the mall for hours just to find one matching shirt or always having to remember things for someone who forgets things all the time. It’s being so mad that if you could light someone of fire with your mind … you would. But you don’t because you couldn’t picture yourself living another day without that person.

Someone once said that we LIKE people BECAUSE, but we LOVE them ALTHOUGH. Meaning that although our mates drive us up the wall … there is some innate feeling inside of us that is so strong (perhaps from the first moment we met them) that tells us that everything is going to be fine. I also learned that to truly love someone, we must help them become the best versions of themselves and that they should be willing to return the favor.

Yes, love is laughter and weddings and first dates and flowers and new watches (I love watches for anyone paying attention … lol). It is wedding anniversaries and birthday parties. It’s even the feeling we get when we look into their eye right before you lay them down. But it’s also arguments and long talks, being ignored because they just can’t take anymore of your mouth. It’s telling them the truth even if it hurts.Love is give and take.

Love is that feeling I got when I saw her ... it felt effortless and natural. Love is how I feel about MYSELF now.

Get Sick | Feel better

HOWTO: Make Ginger Tea from Kevin Rose on Vimeo.

the Oooh Child

The Influence of Rap Culture: The Hip-Hop Era

In the mid 1970’s the South Bronx in New York gave birth to a form of expression that has sparked a cultural revolution; enter the Hip-Hop era. Teens and adults alike have embraced the Hip-Hop culture like none other in recent American history. Hip-Hop is composed of four basic elements: graffiti, break dancing, scratching or disc jockeying and the most popular and notarized element, rap. Unfortunately, the most notarized element, rap, has also been the unwarranted target of individuals who use this art form to perpetuate their own prejudices. Rap artists have now been accused of creating a negative influence that promotes violence, drug use and crime among urban youth. Although those issues are often the subject of many recent songs, rappers did not create those problems. Social, economic and political disenfranchisements are issues that critics must address if they wish to ‘clean up’ rap. What these critics of rap fail to realize is that the artist are simply the product of the venue they have been exposed to their whole lives and this is evident through the stories they tell.
Over the course of history music has been influenced by all aspects of culture. In fact, many historians believe that music predates written language. Prehistoric music was influenced by the sounds of nature; birds singing, wind whistling, waves crashing and perhaps the sound of the leaves rustling on a cool summer night. The composers of such music utilized their milieu as a canvas to paint musical renditions of life as they knew it. Much can be said about music today.
Although, since prehistoric times the evolution of human civilization has developed technological advances in communication such the telephone, internet, television, and satellite radio; music is still looked upon as a reliable form of expressive communication. The formula for creating music is still, to some extent, primitive. The artist uses an array of sounds that compliment the experience the artist wishes to impart with his/her audience.
So, if it has been proven that music, regardless of genre, is primarily influence by the experience of the composer or artist, it would be only logical to assume that rap artists are no exception to the rule.
Since the times of slavery in America, the communication among blacks has often been viewed as a threat to those who wished to suppress the progression of the oppressed. It seems that over one hundred years later history is not without repetition. Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia states, “Rapping in hip hop music can be traced back in many ways to its African roots. Centuries before the United States existed, the griots (folk poets) of West Africa were rhythmically delivering stories over drums and sparse instrumentation.” They go on to say, “Blues music, rooted in the work songs and spirituals of slavery and influenced greatly by West African musical traditions, was first played by blacks (and some whites) in the Mississippi Delta region of the United States around the time of the Emancipation Proclamation … and others have argued that the blues were being rapped as early as the 1920s."
People will always find something wrong with the music that they cannot relate to. Rock and roll and Elvis Presley are no strangers being criticized by individuals who where out of touch with their genre. “Parents hated it, Clergy condemned it, and Teenagers craved it. Despite the criticism, Rock 'n' roll during the 1950s drastically changed popular music and became an influential element in teenage culture across the nation …” This is how Leonie Pompa (2005) described the early perception and later impact of Rock and Roll. The attitudes and feeling that teens felt during this time period differed greatly from what their parents where used to. The artist during the 1950’s could relate their own experiences with the audience. Any time an art form can connect to the heart or soul of the fan, it no longer becomes art; it becomes a means of release or a way to cope with everyday life. What Rock and Roll did in the 1950’s was show empathy through music as Rap music does today.
Even such musical and dance art forms such as the Waltz still had opposition. Lori Heikkila (1996-2007) the author of an article about The Waltz explains “The waltz was also criticized on moral grounds by those opposed to its closer hold and rapid turning movements. Religious leaders almost unanimously regarded it as vulgar and sinful. Continental court circles held out obstinately against the waltz. In England, (a land of strict morals), the waltz was accepted even more slowly.” It is evident that religious and political leaders have opposed many art forms that derived from the less privileged. The Waltz was originally created by peasants, but has now become a dance of the elite. People fear what they don’t understand and that is why tolerance is important.
Western societies have always adapted to forms of music that were at first condemned. William L. Benzon (1997) the author of Making Music History: Africa Meets Europe in the United States of Blues, tries to tie in how root form of music created by African Americans has been embraced non-blacks only after the culture of the music was understood.
The author goes on to say “European-American racism has used African America as a screen on which to project repressed emotion, particularly sex and aggression. One aspect of this projection is that whites are attracted to black music as a means of expressing aspects of themselves they cannot adequately express through music from European roots. Thus 20th century expressive culture in the United States has been dominated by an evolving socio-cultural system in which blacks create musical forms and whites imitate them. It happened first with jazz, and then with rock and roll …The emergence of rap, from African America, and minimalism, from European America, indicates that this system is at a point where it is ready to leave Western expressive culture behind as history moves to the next millennium.”
Can bad or tasteless lyrics be confined to one musical genre? Sex sells no matter what musical genre you refer to and most often the indulgence of drugs can be linked to almost every genre (depending on what the listener considers a drug). Garth Brooks has had a few pretty provocative songs in his day. Does this mean that if inner city youth hear his music they will want to “have friends in low places where the whiskey drowns and the beer chases their blues away.” Or if trailer park youth in Alabama heard that song they'd want you to “give [them] an hour and they'd be high as the ivory tower.” I feel that given their situation and social setting they are exposed to it is more than likely they taught Garth a thing or two. "A little less talk if you please a lot more loving is what I need. Lets get outta here and start interacting," from Toby Keith's song "A Little Less Talk and More Action" I don't think Toby Keith is talking about networking over the internet here. Many of those who oppose rap would say that rap advertises to the listeners that sex and drugs will make them cool or popular. Or that perfecting your skill in bed will make you more popular with the opposite sex and that this leads to many problems that are found in the inner-city. Is this the case for Toby too? I could quote literally a million songs other than rap that use provocative content to sell records yet, rap is still looked upon as the cause of violence, drugs and crime to many people. Rock and Roll, one of the earliest music forms to use drugs and sex as selling points was once looked at the same as rap. Yet every year at the company picnic or Christmas party.... There it is. Is it safe to say that music has no influence what so ever on people and that if people were going to do something there are far more contributing factors than who they listen too on the radio?
Many lobbyist claim that rap music is responsible for violent and drug related crimes in urban communities. They fail to realize that the rap or hip-hop community is only a product of its environment. To end the negativity in rap, we must first tackle the issues that dwell within the urban setting.
To clean up the negativity in any music one must first clean up the artist environment. Conditions of the American ghettos before rap are evident in urban crime rates before rap, the influence of drugs on crime before rap and the history of disenfranchisement toward African American males before rap. Disenfranchisement is the cause for crime, drugs, teen pregnancy and other social issues; in any race. I believe that race and social class are used to keep the masses from realizing that we're all in the same boat irregardless of the latter.
According to Teenpregnancy.org, "When asked about the reasons why teenage girls have babies, 78 percent of white and 70 percent of African-American teenagers reported that lack of communication between a girl and her parents is often a reason teenage girls have babies.1 " That's only an 8% variance. They go on to say that, "The birth rate for black teens aged 15 to 19 fell 48 percent between 1991 and 2006. Hispanic teen birth rates declined 22 percent between 1991 and 2005." So if the “trampy” lyrics of the hip-hop genre are deemed to be responsible for negativity, how does one explain this decline? Teenpregnancy.org says, "Teen pregnancy is closely linked to poverty and single parenthood." Poverty is in fact a very serious cause of teen pregnancy anywhere, any race. They go on to say, "Out-of-wedlock childbearing (as opposed to divorce) is currently the driving force behind the growth in the number of single parents, and half of first out-of-wedlock births are to teens. Therefore, reducing teen pregnancy and child-bearing is an obvious place to anchor serious efforts to reduce poverty in future generations." They make no relation to these claims and race or the music they listen to. However, in almost every situation poverty is an issue. Ceci Connolly wrote an article in Washingtonpost.com (2005), As Teen Pregnancy Dropped so Did Poverty. Although the author is saying that to reduce poverty you must first reduce teen pregnancy (almost the opposite of what Teenpregnancy.org says) we can see that they are closely related. Again, music is not a factor but poverty is.
I feel that rap does not negatively affect the black communities because the communities we are referring to are already doomed due to the issues I previously named. I feel that the true propaganda resides with the political and other “supremist” groups who "doop" all races into thinking that one race is less venerable to the ills of society than others. Tim Wise, Anti-Racist activist states, "According to racial separatist Jared Taylor of American Renaissance a relatively highbrow white supremacist organization, black crime rates are so disproportionate relative to those of whites that it is perfectly acceptable for police to profile African Americans in the hopes of uncovering criminal activity. His groups report The Color of Crime which has been touted by mainstream conservatives like Walter Williams purports to demonstrate just how dangerous blacks are, what with murder, robbery, and assault rates that are considerably higher than the rates for whites. That these higher crime rates are the result of economic conditions disproportionately faced by people of color Taylor does not dispute in the report. But he insists that the reasons for the disparities hardly matter. All that need be known is that one group is statistically more dangerous than the other and avoiding those persons or stopping them for searches is not evidence of racism, but rather the result of rational calculations by citizens and police. Although in simple numerical terms, whites commit three times more violent crimes each year than blacks, and whites are five to six times more likely to be attacked by another white person than by a black person, to Taylor, this is irrelevant. As he has explained about these white criminals: “They may be boobs, but they’re our boobs.” This type of behavioral justification affects us all. Inequality hurts everyone and there are factors that contribute to the issues in urban communities but rap or any other music form just doesn't. The fact is that such claims are purely subjective in nature. The facts are that social issues in our country and others (such as the UK) contribute the most. This goes back to my original statement; rap artist are a direct reflection of the venue they've been exposed to their whole lives. It's like the age old question "What came first, the chicken or the egg?" In this case, the environment rappers have been exposed to is the proverbial egg, laid by disenfranchisement, that has hatched a generation of music that is reflective of its surroundings. We need to tackle the issues that cause such turmoil and stop pointing the finger at the wrong source.
Being a child of the inner city and a major connoisseur of the art form, I can definitely say that crime and drugs have been around far before rap was even thought of. Personally knowing that rap artists are direct products of the environment they’ve been expose to through economic, social and political disenfranchisement will weigh heavily on my decision to be dedicated to fixing these issues. Knowing that many people who hate rap and cannot quote one verse or name one current artist are using rap as a vice to perpetuate their own prejudices will be a challenge. Also, knowing that if it wasn’t for these artists telling the stories of what inner city youth are and have been exposed to the world may still be turning a deaf ear to the situation.