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these are a few of my favorite things…

3 Mar

You may have figured out by now that Music and Photography are my passions.  One of my favorite sites/photographers that infuse my passions is photobytone.com.  Tone’s work is the closest I’ve seen to what direction I’d ideally like to go with my craft.  He’s able to bring photography, music, and the random minutia that inspires him, together in an intriguing way.  Much of his work also involves visually appealing intimate video interviews with musicians.

His recent posting, 431, is with The Kid Daytona.  I’ve known Daytona for a couple years, but hadn’t seen him for a hot minute. Ironically enough, I saw him last week at Santos and asked him what was going on in his flourishing career. I’ve been slipping on my Hip-Hop game, because apparently he’s the next big thing.  Other than knowing that he’s a genuinely nice guy, with an amazing memory, the last thing I really knew about his music was his Justin Timberlake, Sexy Back remix and his fun single Fly Shit.

I got a chance to check out his new stuff, and I must say all the buzz is warranted!  I’m hyper-critical of Hip-Hop these days, and he’s nice (and I’m not saying this because I know him).  He has a vibe that just might be necessary for the music game right now, and the canter of his flow is refreshing.   There’s a small excerpt from his song Lately in that Tone video.

Look out for The Kid Daytona!

For more about Tone click here.

For more about Daytona click here.

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i can’t stand it when…via trya.com

23 Feb

My relationship article, “I Can’t Stand It When…” for Tyra.com:


It has been said that there is ‘a thin line between love and hate’. While you may love your partner, chances are there are a few things that do that you can’t stand. I talked to couples to get their gripes on some of the small things that can be a major pain! Here are the top ten complaints:

1. Refusing to put the new roll of toilet paper on the holder…”It take 30 seconds!”

2. Eating the food from your teeth picked out by a toothpick… ”Ewww!”

3. Being extremely competitive while playing games (to the point of cheating!)…”It’s not that serious!”

4. Talking through America’s Next Top Model…”Come on it’s my favorite show!”

5. Thinking you are always right…”No, supercalifragilisticexpialidocious is not the longest word in the English language!”

6. Doing private things in front of company or out in public; burping, farting, scratching privates…”No one wants to see that!”

7. Texting or making phone calls while taking a number #2…”why are you thinking of me or anyone else during that time?”

8. Giving styling advice…”I can dress myself, I’ve been doing it since I was 5!”

9. Taking too long to get dressed…”We’re just going to the movies, not a premiere!”

10. Having massive amounts of beauty products and buying more to add to the collection…”How many does one person need, and you don’t even use them!”

They might say they can’t stand it, but yet they still go back for more… isn’t love is a funny little thing?

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something to marvel about…

25 Jan

This morning I had the very fortunate opportunity to watch the first 2 episodes of the new animated series Black Panther.  I say fortunate, because 3 hours later all content was pulled from the internet! booooooo! And since the cartoon only airs in Australia on ABC3, I have to wait until the next leak to watch episode 3.

Black Panther is a collaboration between Marvel Comics and BET. Many know that i boycott BET and their predominately ignorant content, but I’m making an exception for Black Panther!  It’s refreshing to see a black super hero, African scenery, and tribal Africans who are educated and technologically advanced in a cartoon.  In addition, Black Panther is easy to follow and engaging, we get to learn a super hero’s story from the beginning and there are familiar faces like Captain America, Storm, Wolverine, and Jaggernaut to name a few.

The series debuted on January 16th, and with a star-studded roster, including Jill Scott as the voice of the legendary X-men Storm, Dijimon Hounsou as Black Panther, Stan Lee as General Wallace, Kerry Washington as Princess Shuri, JB Blanc as The Black Knight & Batroc, Carl Lumbly as Uncle S’Yan, and Alfre Woodard as Dondi Reese, this better be coming stateside soon!!!

Since the episodes are gone, below is the trailer, but it gives the series NOOOOOO justice at all.

the pursuit of happiness…

24 Jan

Anyone that knows me, knows that I’m big into psychology and self-help…go ahead and judge.  And from a very young age, I’ve always had this weird overwhelming desire to find happiness.  I’ve grown to realize it’s not something to be found, but more about your mindset.  I’m not always the most positive person, so the whole euphoria thing is challenging, but I’m consciously and continually rewiring my thought process.

Oddly over the last week, I was reflecting on how much of a pessimist I can be and how cynical I am, and how I need to be more open. Then I watched Conan O’Brien’s last show, and he mentioned at the end of his monologue, particularly to young people, to not be cynical and how cynicism is his least favorite character trait, and being that way gets you no where; it struck a cord. It’s so true, if you are open, not judgmental, and can think positively about life and the people in it, not everything will be as you envisioned, but good things will come to you. Plus ‘lucky’ people rarely are cynics.

Anyway, below is something I clipped from Self Magazine in January of ’09, and it’s been on my vision board ever since.  Maybe it’ll bring a little happiness in your life, I like to do #1 every night (you can judge me again).  I also posted the clip from Conan I was referring to.

It’s a new day, be happy! =)

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i love vodka…

22 Jan

I do love Vodka, not really Absolut though….i’m more of a Grey Goose, Kettle One, 32 Below, Finlandia or Svedka kind of girl.  Regardless Absolut gets cool points in my book for their Spike Jonze collaboration.

Absolut teamed up with Spike Jonze, and gave him total creative control to make a short film. The imaginative result was I’m Here, which debuted yesterday (1/21) at the Sundance Film Festival.

I’ve posted the trailer, I really enjoyed it…it struck a cord with me. The soundtrack includes original music by Sam Spiegel and original songs by L.A.-based art musician Aska Matsumiya and other emerging musicians.

What do you dream about?

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biting into the frozen orange…

20 Jan

I spent the first half of this month visiting my family in Florida.  I’m from a small place, that very few people have heard of, called Port Charlotte.  There’s very little to do, and even less when you live on the very edge of Charlotte County in the boonies and it’s 30 degrees.  My Florida visits usually have a 5 day maximum, but I was feeling homesick and decided to break my tradition and indulge in the love you get from your family when you see them once a year.

The 1st place I go if I land after 11am is Jalapeno’s is North Ft. Myers.  I LOVE their enchiladas, I have yet to find a place in NYC that have even comparable enchiladas. If you ever go to SW Florida, check them out.

The other thing i HAVE to get while I’m home are the Salmon Cookie Rolls at Asuka Japenese Steakhouse, they’re so good!!  I couldn’t even wait to take the picture, I had to have one. I haven’t found these in NYC either, but I know they must be there.  If anyone can steer me to that place, then I’m moving in.

These two things are always a must on my visits, then if I get a chance I get a chicken sandwich from Chick-Fil-A.  I haven’t had one of their sandwiches in a while, i did this time, and sadly it wasn’t as amazing as I remember.  The only place I didn’t get to go to was Sonic, I was kind of bummed about that.

Relaxing in the house, meant rummaging through our large pantry, and might I say my mom has stepped her game up.  I think I might have cleared out that whole thing.  Two things stuck out in my head that are going to be added to my NYC small cabinets. I like maltballs, but mint creme malt balls, are apparently the next level! They’re addicting!! Many people don’t like malt balls, and a lot don’t like mint, much less together, but ummm yea…these are good.


The other treat that took me by surprise, is Pepper and Onion Relish with creme cheese on crackers…that ‘ish is like crack! (I’m guessing) ….it’s so surprisingly tasty. It’s the right amount of tang, spice, and sweet blended together.  Both items are made but Harry and David, so if anyone wants to send me one of their famous gift baskets, you know what to put in it.

I didn’t get to do much picture-taking while I was home, but I did go out to our backyard and captured a few flicks that I liked.  Here are 2 (plus the one that started the blog), you can catch the rest on Tumblr.

i have a theory…

10 Jan

I have a theory… I think we’re going to start seeing an abnormal amount of young people, particularly 30 something females, dropping down dead from heart attacks.  There’s not a direct correlations, with the recent passing of Brittany Murphy (age 32) and Casey Johnson (age 30), but their sudden deaths made me think of it.

Over the past 15 years we’ve seen an increase of people using diet pills to lose weight.  A large number of these ‘effective’ diet pills, contain ephedrine/ephedra.  Although most don’t admit to it, a large portion of the successful ‘celebrity diets,’ are attributed to ephedra–based supplements such as Superdrine, Metabothin, Ripped Power and Yellow Devils.

People may lose weight, but when they take these drugs their heart rate, blood pressure, and body heat are all increased.  On top of that, these crazy people still exercise! They’re making their heart work harder than it needs to.  I feel (and I’m not a medical expert, but I’ve been surrounded by them my entire life) that with continual use you are weakening your heart.  By 30 something your heart is like that of a 60 or 70-year-old, or it’s just plan ‘ol tired, so it stops and you drop dead.

It has become so common now, that while walking down the halls of my university, I overheard two teens (mind u they weren’t fat) discussing loosing weight.  One girl suggested coke, but the other girl responded that she had done that before, and didn’t feel like going that route.  She said that instead she was just going to take Superdrine or something to that effect.  This kind of talk has become so commonplace, it’s so sad.

New products containing orange bitter, like MetaboSpeed, have been added to the market in wake of many deaths from ephedra, they are supposedly ‘healthier,’ but essentially do the same thing.  I could be wrong, but taking diet pills seem like the lazy (and hazardous!) option.  It’s a burden and takes extra effort, but I’m a big advocate of upping the greens, fluids, exercise, and getting your mind right.

…oh and a grown ass woman who is a size 00 is just not sexy!

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