"Notorious" The Movie

To all the Biggie Fans...

Notorious will be in theaters 1/16/09. My friend Tiffany told when it was still in production that she's an extra in this, as well as the former member of 3lw is portraying lil' kim, and angela bassett is playing voletta wallace. So this only means that the crew and I will be taking up a whole row so we can check out this film.

My Ode to Hair (3 years in the making, but it's finally complete)

I am my follicles’ keeper. I like to call it the dreadlocked door to my new growth psyche. It’s attached to me continuously like the press and curled strands of grass on brunette soil. Like the spiky jet-black words on this thinning elderly white sheet. My scalp’s thread count is infinite. But just like a sensitive blanky belonging to an infant or duvet covers to an elitist, my follicles look down upon being bathed, dried, and lotioned up in anything generic.

My raggedy door opens up and gladly welcomes in the trusting hands. They come armed with weapons of mass arson. Gasoline tanks of tasteful tea tree shampoo set my abandoned scalp ablaze putting an end to unattended rotten carrot oil, stale shea butter, and unappetizing frosted flakes. But the fire rages on as those tiny but hulk strong hands whether it being mine, mommy’s, or a stylist’s allows it to spread by way of a methodic front and back rotation. If lathering, scrubbing, and rinsing, was a composition with repeat as its chorus, then this ballad would be entitled, “SSH” in ME Flat, because total silence is necessary to enjoy it in its entirety. I always know when the song is on its last verse when small hoses or 7-11 big gulp cups of 80-degree high and 50- degree low water put these flames out resulting in screams. But my scalp’s screams come with ease and a smile when whispering that 2-letter word “AH”. Finally fully tamed and put out, I hear the individual locks and scalp squeak like Alvin, Simon, and Theodore letting those hands know that was job well done. We are happily hygienic.

My follicles’ offspring are elongated and substantial like the Bible, but just not as sanctified. However, this dude named Sampson wishes to refute that. I always envisioned Jesus and my genes deliberating for 9 months straight negotiating on the fate of it, never reaching a compromise. But somehow on the 13^th day of the 1^st month, God simply said, “And let there be hair”, allowing me, the recipient, to mold something that could bring a tear to his unknown eye. And ever since that day, my hair has been through genesis and exodus more times than most, but that’s just the beauty of expansion and transition.

Video De La Dia

Shouts to Elysse and her 55 yr old behind for showing me this...

The One Obama Shirt I'll Purchase

I KNOW I KNOW... I made a rant about the Obama t-shirts but I have been in love with this 1 for a couple months now.

No catchy corny phrase, just straight to the point with it, and I dig that.

Shouts to Hoodman for creating the design and Digital Gravel for selling it


PS- I'll be glad when they restock on xs's

Excuse My Ignorance

What's going on bloggers and viewers...

As some you probably noticed I took a sabbatical from Inner City Truths but I am back finally.

However...

I FORGOT TO MENTION HOW DURING MY LEAVE I WENT TO NICARAGUA !!!

Most sincerest apologies for not posting this sooner but I have taken the time out to share with everyone my life changing experience out the the country

FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME (NOT ONLY OUT OF THE USA BUT ON A PLANE!!!)

Here's a list of what I did during my 12 day stay in Nicaragua:

- adapted to using only cold water from buckets and showers (not that bad)
- planted coco plants in the mountains of Campo Uno (rural section)
- built letrines
- painted a mural for an adult school with the people I went with as well as those who attended the school
- tore up some sugarcane!
- learned about the revolution during the 70s and 80s and how it impacted EVERYONE to this day
- fell in love with Eskimo ice cream (Ice cream sucks here now!)
- discovered the KFC of Nicaragua (Tip Top is the best!)
- Swam in an old volcano (I really cannot swim so rather I enjoyed the warm water)
- got eaten alive by every insect known to man
- fell in love with gallopinto (Nicaraguan Rice and Beans)
- was referred to as "morena" the entire trip
- realized that Rojito are disgusting (red soda... literally not strawberry, cherry, or fruit punch... RED)
- danced my ASS off !!!
- never spoke so much Spanish in my life
- made so many new friends (mostly the young boys and guys surprisingly lol)
- learned that the most English they knew was the lyrics to the "titanic" theme song
- did not miss cable, internet, hot water, or cell phones one bit
- never had so much plantains, rice, beans, fanta, tang, and mango/guava anything in all my life
- saw the most beautiful murals EVER
- went to three cities: Managua, Siuna, and Estelli
- slept on HARD bunk beds with nets in a room with about 15 people and loved it
- stayed with a sweetheart named Modesta who knew NO ENGLISH but we made it work

- KNOW FOR A FACT THAT I MUST GO AGAIN!!!

PS- please check out the rest of my pics here

-PeAcE

Downloadable Textbooks?! Say it's So!

CourseSmart, an online publishing company owned by five publishers may just be the Limewire and I-tunes of college textbooks. I say this because this online site provides online textbooks for college students to read, download, and print in numerous portions. Not to discredit institutions where professors provide copies of texts and excerpts (i.e E-Reserves at my school). However, this company is taking E-Reserves to the next long overdue level.



Every college student, parent, and those who are just aware of staggering prices knows damn well that the prices of textbooks are astronomical. It is ridiculous that many of us have to pay over $100 for 1 textbook, USED! CourseSmart has been around only for 1 year, however over 1200 institutions have had students who purchased or took advantage of this site. With over 4,000 books available which is 1/3 of the entire market of textbooks, Coursesmart plans to expand to 50%.
There is light at the end of the pitch black tunnel for making textbooks affordable for everyone. Let's just hope that this site can benefit all college students in the near future. With the economy on life support, who can really dish out $100 for a book that will most likely be utilized for a couple of weeks, then left in the custody of dust?

Click here to read the article

PS- I love Noam Cohen's analogy of textbooks publishers to drug makers... Delicious Food 4 Thought

-PeAcE

Real Talk with R.J.

I present to you bloggers a glimpse into my anxieties about transition. It has been on my mind for awhile that it needed to be expressed on here. No fillers. No coating of the sugar. I put Mel O. and Eye.D aside so that everyone can get to know R.J.

I praise the Lord for enabling me to reach my 4th and last year as an undergrad. I definitely am ecstatic about graduating and approaching the new chapter of my life. However, as I take a sneak peak on what's probably to come in my life, I immediately put the book down and contemplate whether or not I want to pick it back up again. Am I fully equipped to fight on the battlefield called the real world alongside my comrades, competitors, and opponents? Do I really have a lucid idea on what I want to do with my life? Will I succeed? Not only succeed, but will I be content with my decisions? These are just some of the thoughts that are on overdrive, but I realize that I need to turn this overheated engine off and relax for awhile until it cools down. Graduation-commencement-bidding adeiu to undergraduate school waits patiently to walk up and through my life, however I just cannot let some stranger in without getting to know them first. And this particular stranger I can't help to but skeptical of.



-PeAcE