i just came across this inaugral video blog post by solange knowles, and i just had to post it to evolution of a man.
one of the things that i sort of pride myself on as an individual as well as a personal blogger is my candor and spontenaiety. i’m always myself- awkward, random and all, and i really don’t care what others may think (well, most of the time, lol). anyway, solange just seems like a very free-spirited person. in her music videos, interviews, and now her video blog, she always comes off as the black girl next door that you could kiki with (did i really just use that word?), but at the same time have some very deep, life-changing conversations with as well. i connect with that, and that’s why i love her!
i’m just really glad to see solange get some shine. i’m really feeling her sound right now, and on top of that she’s giving me a different, “new” type of celebrity- one that’s themselves on camera as they are in life. and that’s just very refreshing to see.
sol-angel’s cd hits stores sometime next month. woot!
one of the things that i learned in the workforce was that you should always work as if you’ve already gotten the promotion you want. well since i’m not in an office job situation anymore, i’ve parlayed that sentiment into the projects that i’m taking on- completely diving into my book, and company preparing for the future ahead of me.
everything has been going well so far, but recently i’ve slow down a bit. i’ve become somewhat unfocused. i do most of my work from my apartment, and the other day, while looking around, i just felt very cluttered. there’s just a lot of shit everywhere. sure it’s all put in it’s place, but after being here for 5 years, i’ve accumulated a lot of stuff. on my computer i have a picture of the type of modern/spacious apartment i would like to move into sometime in the next year. it’s not that i don’t like my current apartment- i love it- but i feel like i’ve out grown it; and i want something different. i began to think about what stuff i would move into this new space, and before i knew it i was up on my feet, tearing through my closets and cabinets.
i realized that as i wasn’t living as though i already had my new apartment, how can i expect to be ready for one? i had a conversation with a friend a while back about storing off-season clothes. i’ve always been one to have all my clothes in one closet all year long. when i told her about this, she looked at me like i was crazy. “how could you not separate your winter clothes from your summer clothes. as i started to go through my closet, that convo entered into my head and i immediately hit up the container store for some clothes bins. after about an hour or so of going through my closets- picking out clothes that i no longer wear nor want- i was amazed at how much more space there was, and how easier getting dressed would be from now on.
the great thing about it was that it felt really, really good to do. like, i actually had fun going through the clothes, trying on the old stuff and laughing (or crying) at how some things didn’t fit anymore. for example, i now have a pair of my very own “skinny jeans.” you know… those jeans that you could fit in in your twenties, and hope to pull out sometime in your 30’s or 40s to strut once again. yup, after thinking that i was going to be skinny forever, my ass decided to gain weight. and now, i’ve got some skinny jeans, lol.
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in addition to my bedroom, i ravaged through my kitchen cabinets as well. i found spices, sugars, sauces, boxes, and other ish from as far back as 2004 hiding in the deep in the back. there was just tons of stuff that would probably kill me if i dared to eat it- just nasty! i felt pretty bad at how horrible i’ve been at keeping up my kitchen cabinet space.
now, the cabinets are clean and organized. i know exactly where everything is, and there is nothing in them that i have to question about before eating.
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doing all of this clearing and cleaning has left me feeling very revitalized. i’m excited again about my living space and feel, in a way, like i’m already in my new apartment. it’s so interesting what a little fung shuei can do.
earlier this week, i set my dvr to record mtv’s new reality show, “from g’s to gents.” i was interested in the show not only for it’s entertainment purposes, but also to watch black men grow on television as opposed to digging themselves into a deeper hole.
anyway, i caught the taped episode today, and was quite surprise at the maginude of warmth surrounding my little hot pocket when fonzworth bentley came on the tv screen!
now, we all remember fonzworth from his diddy umbrella antics a few years ago. i always knew he was there, but never really paid any attention to him. i guess he was just right outside my celebrity peripheral vision. but this new show definitely put him on my radar.
not only is fonzworth all gentlemanly and talented, but he’s also really, really hot! i never noticed it before. and the way he talks just damn near sends my hormones in a frenzy. you ever met someone or who just melted you with the way he or she talks? like something in their voice along with the way their mouth moves just makes you swoon. adam brody has it. oh, and steve from “sex and the city” has it too. it’s hot!
mtv definitely hit the nail on the head when casting fonzworth as the host of “from gs to gents.” when the buffoonery of the casts starts to be too much to take; i know that those special little moments of fonzworth bentley interviews will make me feel a-okay!
good job, jesus!!
oh, and i also want to give a notable mention to:
e6
no idea why he gave himself this name, but i’m glad mtv had the smarts to cast him!
oh, the things i would let that boy do to me… damn!
trying desperately to find a screencap, but if you happened to catch the wendy williams tv show this morning, then you might have seen someone familiar in the audience.
as you know, i’m a huge wendy williams fan. her radio show has been a part of my afternoon’s for as long as i’ve lived in new york, and now her talk show has entered into my apartment as well.
when i heard that they were offering tickets to this 6-week peak of the show, i immediately hit the internet. i got 2 tickets, but ended up going alone as the people i asked to go were otherwise occupied at the last minute. it ended up working quite well, as i was by myself, when i entered the studio, there happened to be a single seat right in the first row. the production assistant sat me right in it. i was STOKED!! even moreso because when i sat down, they put wendy’s teleprompter right in front of my feet. so every time you see her looking to the left (and down a bit) she’s looking at me. well the teleprompter, but you get my point, lol.
can i just say, wendy gets a pretty bad rap for her looks sometimes. many have said that she looks like a man, but i didn’t see it. yah, she’s tall with the big hair and everything, but when i saw her up close, nothing in my head said, “that’s a man.” we all in the studio danced, clapped (a lot) and laughed. the two girls sitting next to me made the experience that much more fun. we joked with each other before the show, and had a fabulous time during. there was just so much great energy in there you couldn’t help but have a good time.
props to wendy williams and the crew- keep up the good work! the show was very fun and entertaining. and i got to be on tv (kinda), lol.
can i just say that it feels really good to be black right about now! this could possibly be because i just got back from the essence music fest, and had a good ole heaping of my people during the week; but i just sense that there is something very strong going around in the vain of black people- specifically black men- stepping up to the plate and showing the world what we’re made of. and doing so like never before.
someone recently paraphrased to me a chapter of the bible which said (in reference to black people) something to the effect of “you will experience 40 years of being misunderstood, disadvantaged, etc., and then we will begin to flourish” (for lack of a better phrase). now, whether this is true and actually in the bible or not, i do not know. what i do know is that we [read: black people], just celebrated the 40th anniversary of dr. martin luther king jr.’s death in april, 2008; and can possibly also celebrate a presidential seat in the white house in november, 2008- the same year! that “40 year” bible promise ain’t looking too shabby.
aside from all the religious and potential presidential talk, we’re seeing all over the country a “cry out” if you will for the advancement of our race. and many have pointed to black men to start the transition. although efforts now may seem too subtle or inadequate, we gotta start somewhere. as an example, both usher and jay. z have discussed how many songs on their album, if not the whole of them, are dedicated and in reference to that transition that we make from being a boy to becoming a man. and other media outlets are starting to jump on the train- take jamie foxx’s new mtv reality show, “from g’s to gents.” we’re being schooled all over the place!
there’s a lesson to be learned in all of this. and i believe that lesson is for black men to sit down and grow the fuck up!
what makes me so ecstatic about all of this is that for starters, i’m throwing my hat into the pool of people looking to take this growth challenge head on. i have a book coming out soon speaking to what it takes and what it’s like to transition into manhood, and i can’t wait to see what the response will be. i’ve been wanting to say this for a while, but have been scared to- it’s a pretty big feat to accomplish. but it’s what i want, so i have to declare it:
i want to be a media mogul!
there, i said it. and it felt good! i want to help give a better name to black men- specifically black gay men- with projects and accomplishments that wreak of intellectual property as opposed to ones based simply on beauty. in addition to myself, i know several other black men who are making rather large pushes to assert our talents as a community. take the makers of the newly launched, blaxonomy, for example. social networking will never be the same. watch and see what happens with that. and there are many others who are beginning to introduce to the world their potential for greatness as well. i almost feel like i’m in a posse, an albeit evolved one, of writers, musicians, programmers, etc. similar to the artists of harlem renaissance. it’s very exciting to be a part of something like that. i’ve never been more motivated to get things done.
my friends and i, as well as many other posse’s and individuals around the country are all trying to take ourselves and our talents to new, and more widely distributed and accepted levels. there’s a group of young black americans buzzing around who have a lot on their mind, and many great ideas of not only progressing the race, but the country as a whole. our time to be heard is upon us, and personally, it feels amazing to be at the forefront!
i think we’re doing pretty well so far. and again, it’s only the beginning!
i’ve been a jazmine fan for years! my friend jared introduced me to her music a while ago, and i’ve been hooked ever since. her voice is absolutely amazing, and her sound is just what the music industry needs right now- something different.
a mix of jazz, r&b, gospel, and damn near everything else, jazmine sullivan’s music is destined to strike a positive chord with everyone. i know there have been many who’ve followed her career for way longer than i, but i’m definitely going to be on #1 fan (from way back) status at my local virgin megastore when her album drops.
i feel bad for this girl, i really do. imagine asking someone a simple question, and then being reduced to tears from the answer…in front of an audience.
watch what this man does to this poor woman. her question was: “how much do you love your country?”
damn. just, damn!
now, i don’t necessarily agree with all of the things these guys have to say- i usually ignore them when i pass them by on the street; but his wordy diatribe and explosive “yeah, i said it!” delivery in this particular conversation earns general mahayaman the “i’m just sayin’” award for july, 2008!
i’m sorry, baby girl. go home and have some tea. you’ll feel better in the morning.
i can’t even begin to tell you how great a time i had in new orleans this weekend! i haven’t had this relaxing and entertaining a vacation in a really long time.
i arrived in the big easy on friday evening and went straight to the superdome for the first night of music. I took in j. holiday, rihanna and chris brown!
knowing a lot of their music, i really got into the show; but i must admit, if there was any a moment when i realized that i’m an adult- it was during friday night’s concert. there was just something about that entire night and it’s performances that just screamed teenager or young adult. maybe it was all the screaming that was going on, i dunno. i just felt slightly out of place if that makes any sense. i still love their music and will always be a fan, but i’m now just really aware of my generation.
saturday and sunday were spent, for me, perusing the streets of new orleans. my mom wanted to go to all of the seminars being held in the convention center, but this was my first time in new orleans and i was NOT about to spend it sitting down inside somewhere, lol. i hit the streets during the daytime.
i can’t tell you how good those things were. i had a good 20 of those things during the 5 or so days i was there. and i bought a box of the mix so that i could make them at home. what!
in addition to stuffing myself with beignets all week, i did my little forest gump thing, and walked just about everywhere in the french quarter. i must have clocked a good 20 miles or more with all the walking i did. hell, i do that much walking around nyc… why not take it right over to new orleans? lol
…and with the whole drinking in the streets being legal thing, i was quite light on my feet! i ran into some pretty interesting things.
those drinks were so damn tasty! but the oysters? not so much!
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the friday and satruday night performances were absolutely amazing! from the main stage to the superlounges- jill scott, musiq, solange, ledisi, keyshia cole, mary j. blige and more. i pretty much just kicked off my shoes and jumped right in to all of the performances.
we were on the floor for saturday’s musiq and jill scott performances, which prevented me from getting any good video, but i did switch it up a bit and caught some awesome superlounge performances by solange, ledesi and estelle:
sunday night was the best, though. keyshia cole may have warmed it up, but my girl, mary brought the house down!
mary j. blige had everyone on their feet partying the whole time! it was definitely a cool moment.
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in the days after the festival, my mom and i stayed behind to do a little touring of our own. one of our adventures included a ride through the 9th ward and other katrina devastated areas:
you know, there’s one thing seeing all of this on television, but it’s really something different and crazy seeing the disaster area (almost a full 3 years later) in person. i can’t even imagine what the residents of new orleans are going through. after a while, i couldn’t even take anymore pictures…i just felt very sad.
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so yeah, i had a fabulous time in new orleans. it was my first time attending the essence music festival, but it definitely won’t be my last. especially, since beyonce is slated to headline one of the evenings! best believe i’ll be there. lord willing, somewhere backstage, lol.
in honor of this 4th of july weekend, i will be traveling for the very first time to new orleans for the:
i’m so friggin’ excited! my mom randomly emailed me and said she had tickets, and so i decided to make a go of it, and head on down to meet her. it’s destined to be an incredibly fun weekend. i absolutely love music, and am drooling over all of the artists i’m going to see: Jill Scott, J. Holiday, Kanye West, Rhianna, and Mary J. Blige to name a few…
on top of all of that, i’ll finally get to see new orleans! i’ve always wanted to go, ans so I’ll be staying an extra day or so to take in all the sites. i can’t wait to stroll through the french quarter and try the beignets at cafe du monde!
will on July 29th, 2008
