Tag Archives: All About Me

And Now A Break From Our Regularly Scheduled Programming….

09 Friday Nov 2007

Posted by in Feeding The Music Jones

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I’ve been tagged. Lady Butta over at It’s Like Butta Baby wants me to share seven completely random facts about myself. I thought about doing this over at the Myspace, but I figure eh, ya’ll need to get to know Vivrant Thang a little better.

There are rules I’m supposed to post and follow. But I’m a rebel.

1. I stalk soul singer, Bilal up and down the East Coast. I’ve been to see him in Philly, NYC, and here in DC three times this year. Tonight in DC makes four and Philly next month will be five. Yea, I’m obsessive like that.

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2. I started kindergarten just months after I turned 4. I was class president too! So I’ve always been a year younger than my classmates. Entered high school at 13. College at age 17. 800 miles from home ya’ll. I always been grown 🙂

3. I used to want to be a journalist. When I was just 17, I interned for two summers at The Newark Star-Ledger as a feature reporter. I went out on assignments with a photographer and came back to the office to write my story. I was the real thing. Still have the clips in my portfolio.

4. I used to be 150lbs heavier.

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Yes, I had that surgery a little over 2 years ago. It saved my life. As you can see, I don’t have the Star Jones bobble head look. Obviously, I’m not skinny. Didn’t do it to be skinny. It saved my life. I weighed more than Shaq.

In many ways, life has changed for me. However, in many ways, it’s stayed the same.

I can’t believe I posted that. But hey, you never know who might see this and who it might help. I may write a book about my experiences someday since my online journal about it has been such a big hit. So might as well get comfortable with it.

5. I have a strange…phobia if you will. I can’t stand to see men with those huge, disgusting bumps or lumps on the back of their heads. I think ya’ll know what I’m talking about. Not the normal small ones he may get on occasion from the razor. I’m talking about the big nasty ones that go all along the back of the head and no hair will grow there. Seriously, it doesn’t just disgust me. I actually feel nauseous and have to move away. My skin starts crawling. If that was to ever happen to the man I end up with, he would have to rock a skully 24/7 to get up in my mix.

I want somebody to walk up behind me
And kiss me on my neck
and breathe on my neck
E Badu (Kiss Me on My Neck)

No can do!

6. I am subscribed to over 100 blogs on topics including music, politics, lifestyle, sports, literature, finance, nonprofit, technology, and women’s issues. I’m just random like that. The ones on my blogroll are just a sample. I only get to read a few of them a day, if that. But I can’t bring myself to unsubscribe!

7. I collect coffee table books on a variety of topics. I currently have about 40 of them on various subjects – black art, photography, music, wine, nudes, interior design, and sex.

Guess which ones are my favorites.

Take Time

29 Monday Oct 2007

Posted by in Feeding The Music Jones

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Sometime the days get so long
Though sometime it seems, everything is wrong
Endless hours, you’re working so hard
In your fancy suit, exchanging business cards
So much pressure, need to run and hide
Get tired of the days, passing you by, ooh,
You wanna find a place to escape
It’s your life you gotta do whatever it takes

Nothing but the truth.

This past weekend, I did escape. I didn’t go as far as I would have liked. Ideally, if I had my way, I would have been laying on a beach in the Caribbean. Instead, I made a quick hotel reservation, jumped in my car and headed to the City of Brotherly Love. I’ll talk more about how much I love Philly in later posts I’m sure. It has such a rich soul music scene, with much better venues than we have here in the DC area. I’ve been up there quite a few times this year for different concerts and cultural events. Like Atlanta and Chicago, it’s just one of the cities where something about being there just feels good.

What was unusual about this trip for me is that I didn’t have any firm plans in mind. When I travel, I ordinarily have a specific reason for going or at least an itinerary planned, although it may be a loose one. This time I didn’t exactly know what I was going to do and that was alright. I did know that my primary goal was just to relax and think in a new space. DC was closing in on me. I needed some fresh air.

It was an enlightening weekend in many ways. I ate some great food (shout out to Ms. Tootsie’s Soul Food Cafe and Lounge and Sonny’s Steaks); had enlightening conversation about male/female relations with 31-year-old Philly native, Darnell; strolled around Olde City; listened to an anti-war speeches at a rally; attended a Young Friends Society fundraiser at the African American Museum of Philadelphia, hosted by the highly edu-taining, Just Greg, and was introduced to the experience that is the Urban Shamans.

I unexpectedly met a couple of people that gave me food for thought. I talked with people that are passionate and inspired about whatever it is that they do. One person in particular was Mr. Richard Watson, an accomplished artist and activist in his early 60s, who hipped me to the ArtJaz Gallery. It’s on my list for the next time I escape to Philly.

I can’t say I’ve returned totally refreshed, but I certainly did get that breath of fresh air I needed. Just taking off alone to a relatively unfamiliar city is not for everyone, but it worked for me.

One treat that awaited me upon my return was seeing Van Hunt in concert at the Black Cat. I hope to share that experience (and videos) with you in the next post.

Take time to get away
Free your mind
And fly away

Closer

15 Monday Oct 2007

Posted by in Feeding The Music Jones

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Feels so close it’s like i can just reach
I can feel my dreams
I’m moving closer to my dreams
I’m moving higher and higher

I’ve always had a vivid imagination. When I was younger, I would write stories with characters doing things that were way beyond the what my 11 or 12 year old mind should be able to conceive. Now mind you, I was an 80s kid. You know back in the day when kids were actually kids. Anywho, even back then, I was always able to conceive of what my future might look like. It always felt like something so far away, but it was real….down to the most minute details.

I guess I’ve always taken this gift of imagination for granted. Until recently, I’ve never realized that it’s a gift to be able to paint a vivid portrait of how I see my future. A friend and I formed a goal setting group some months ago and are in the process of writing our five year plans. Part of the exercise was to write a vision statement, a detailed description of how we saw our lives on a particular day five years from now.

I dashed this off in less than 10 minutes, although I can’t say I spend a lot of time thinking about it now or in the past for that matter. It’s just something I know. I know what I want my ideal work day to look like, the extracurricular activities I want to fill up my free time, what my relationship status will be like….it’s all about the vision. If you can envision it, you can create it and make it happen.

Everyone doesn’t have the ability to create that vision in their minds or they think that what they envision is so unrealistic that they won’t let themselves see it. Well why not? I envision myself only working three days out of the week….and when I say working, I don’t mean punching anybody’s clock. I imagine my husband and I picking up and going on long vacations whenever we damn well please. Who’s to say that can’t happen? I’m only limited by my imagination and what I am able to dream.

Golden

05 Wednesday Sep 2007

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I’m taking my own freedom / Putting it in my song
Singing loud and strong / Grooving all day long

When did you first fall in love with music?

I still remember my first pink boom box and how I would let my tape rock ’til my tape popped. Salt and Pepa talking about “Push it real good!” Big Daddy Kane aka “Smooth Operator” used to get raw through my speakers. And of course I had the requisite LL Cool J poster on my wall from Word Up magazine, imagining I was the Around the Way girl he needed. He wouldn’t be talking about needing love if only he met me. Yes, indeed, I wanted to go and talk to Devante; wrote 4-page letters with Aaliyah; felt Sisqo’s pain as if I had found someone sleeping in my bed.

I didn’t think it could get no better. Until I first heard D’Angelo crooning something about that brown sugar baby. I sure did get high up off his love and didn’t know how to behave! It was as if Mary was my girl talking me through the pain of unrequited love ’cause surely we both were going down if “he” wasn’t around. Who remembers forgetting to wonder just what Erykah had under that head wrap as she mesmerized you with “On and On?” Just like I’ll never forget where I was when I heard that Luther was gone, I vividly recall the day an old high school friend told me to run, not walk and pick up this hot new album that would bless me the moment I pressed play. Skeptical, I asked, “Who is Jill Scott?”

Music has and always will play a huge part in my life. It soothes, stimulates, lifts, focuses, inspires, prepares, drives me…and a million other things that I hope to share in this space. I have been marinating on my presence in the blogosphere for months now. I read a variety of blogs ranging from personal, humor, political, social, celebrity, sports, nonprofit, technology, books…generally everything that interests me. What did I have to add to the conversation? I knew it would be a personal blog, but what would be the slant. I kept coming back to the advice: write about what you love.

So here we are.

I’m not sure where we’ll go from here. I just know that I have a lot to say and it all will be framed by music, one of my greatest loves.

Are you ready? Let’s Rock.