Say what! Been tagged again?

Azucar Moreno- Shelley Halima 

Well, it appears that I've been tagged again but I must say that this exercise is a little bit hard for me as my thoughts change on a daily basis as to what I want in life, etc etc depending on my mood... I can sometimes wake up on the left side of the bed and feel slightly confused and then other times I'll wake up and know exactly what I want... Today I was tagged by yet another wonderful friend and fabulous author of the above book....Shelley Halima.

Seven things I plan to do before I die...

1) Become a bestselling author with my next book. I've got tons of positive energy and ideas behind it, an incredible lady on the cover, and a very very powerful story inside.. Watch it blow up!

2)Pin down this young character named Timothy and finish writing his story.

3)Love someone for who they are and not for who I wish they could be.

4)Put all my ideas and plans together to finish my entire home remodel and make it a celebration of me, my life, my memories, my family at least until or unless someone else steps into the picture and makes mine become ours...

5)Travel more and discover new heaven on earth places to share, talk about, and be inspired by...

6)Grow TALLER (Ha Ha...struggling to think up more stuff here..)

7)Find more ways to show the world that love is aight! It doesn't take away from your coolness or deflate anything you've built up over the years. Love is aight on all levels from friendship to the ultimate...

Things I Can Do...

1)Work
2)Give
3)Play
4)Inspire
5)Create
6)Develop
7)Appreciate

Things I Can't Do...

1 thru 7) Focus any length of time on thinking about what I can't do... Instead, I seek to turn up the notch on numbers 1 and 6 of my can do list in an effort to work hard at developing whatever is necessary to overcome any stumbling blocks aka "can't do" things...

Things I Say Most..

1)Blessed
2)Beautiful
3)Bonehead
4)Gee whiz...
5)Oh nooooo
6)Sincere
7)Warm

Thanks Shelley Halima....*smile* That was fun....

Tagged to do a top ten!

My Invisible Husband- Shelia M. Goss 

I was tagged by a fabulous lady who authored the above great book. She tagged me to say "get your groove on and list your top ten head banging toe tappers!" Ha ha ha.... Well, she didn't say it like that but I am supposed to list my favorite music at the present time... Do I have any? Yeah, I guess I do... Top ten for me in no particular order is as follows...

Throwback Muzic by Kurupt(great song for cruising up and down The Shaw)

300 Bars and Runnin- The Game(I love the energy, production and lyrics of this song.)

Goldigger- Kanye West(great creative lyrics. Cant wait to see what he does with his entire new CD.)

Sittin Sidewayz - Paul Wall(Love Paul Wall's vocals and the whole Houston sound going on right now.. Very funky)

Like You- Bow Wow and Ciara(cool song..I'm even impressed by Ciara's singing in this one...)

Ghetto Life- Rick James(classic song.. great urgent feel to it..funky too!)

How Could I Let You Getaway- The Spinners(reminds me of a few people no longer living...)

Dear Summer- Jay Z(Love hearing Jay Z's voice on a new track)

Welcome To Jamrock- Damian Marley (probably my true number one fave right now)

Pain- Ohio Players (heard this song coming from a young brotha's lowriding Cadillac on Crenshaw Blvd. I rushed home and pulled out my CD 'cause this track is funky!! Somebody like Dr. Dre, DJ Quik or someone from the south like the Houston fellas or Outkast needs to update this song... It could be a serious banger!)

So, there you have it my current favorites getting rotation in my life right now. That's my personal soundtrack which is due to change as the good stuff keep coming and old memories remind me of songs I should dust off and listen to again.... Looking forward to Kanye West's new CD. I'm sure that one is gonna stay in my CD changer for a longtime as will Damian Marley's CD. Thanks Shelia for tagging me.. This was fun... :-)

A Father Moment

VRII 

Over the weekend I had one of those moments where when you least expect it you suddenly smell a familiar scent. I was in the bathroom and ummm...nah, don't start teasing a brotha! Ha! I was trimming the mustache and everythang when I could suddenly smell my father's scent and then I was hit with all sorts of memories and reminiscing... When he passed away it was a bad time.. I had to go through some serious trials and tribulations dealing with folks outside the family who felt like I should get nothing that belonged to my father. It was a trip but I had the protection of my mother who did all she could to help me salvage what was rightfully mine... That whole episode could fill a book or two...

Anyway, after the scent hit me and stuck around for about two minutes, I looked for some photos that I had in my bedroom... I never really checked out these photos too much before. I would only glance at them on occasion after my father passed about seven years ago. I looked this time and noticed so many amazing things. My father did some serious traveling.. We have that in common with respect to loving the highway and taking it to the south and beyond. Thing is, my father traveled abroad too. He went all over the world and in these hundreds of pictures that I have of his you can see some real cool images. I blended a few in the picture above as a tribute to what he'd seen. I miss his eyes, his smile, his laughter, his voice "whatcha know good kid!" He'd always say to me. I miss the days of riding in his Cadillac Seville with the wire chrome wheels that everybody used to go crazy over. He was flossing in his own sort of non-chalant way, just like I do today... Ha! I guess I got that from him except on occasion I turn it up a notch with a little more bling! *smile* Right now I just wish to return his greeting and say "whatcha know good Dad!" Thanks for the visit... Love alwayz.. VARIII

Back in the day, staring at my future...Taking a look at now and thinkin bout where I been...  

Four Brothers on a Saturday Night

Four Brothers 

Tonight I went to go checkout the Four Brother's movie and it was very good!! I loved the chemistry between all four of these fellas.. It was a breath of fresh air to see this up on the screen. The action was real cool too and just the emotions that you could feel was right on point. I loved it.. And, it was nice to hear some of that old Motown music in the background too. I enjoyed that...

The movie was a nice escape for a couple hours and then I returned to the realness of reality as I drove to the store 'cause I was out of BBQ sauce! Ha ha... I lasted two weeks without it; shaking my head everytime I noticed I had none in my cabinet. That is so un-like me! I'm good now... Shoot, I was even blessed with an ego inspired moment when an SUV full of ladies pulled up beside me, screamed, waved, honked the horn and told me I was fine! Damn, that was nice! I continued on my way because my main focus was getting myself to the store and coming home to get some sleep... Got work in the morning and looking forward to next week because for some reason, I'm feeling like it's gonna be real good to me... The week that is...*smile*

Residue of Saturday Night..

Ant.....................nay! 

Saturday night was the bomb as I surprised somebody really special with something real cool... Her reaction was worth about twenty million dollars.. Nah, actually it was priceless... I hope it adds even more to the richness of her spirit and beautiful laughter.

Later on I went to visit with a friend of mine by the name of Patrick. He's pretty cool.. Living the good life with a new baby and wife... He's at that point where he wants to get out and enjoy a little taste of nightlife but nothing too wild... He's lucky he has a good friend like yours truly because I respect the blessing of having that one special person all to yourself, especially if its in matrimony. That being said, I dont mind taking him to a place or two to have a blast but I'd never allow him to do something he'd regret or get punched out for by his wife...

It was cool talking with Patrick for a couple hours... I told him about my moment in the spotlight of being spoiled by a dream and a fantasy at the same time...*wink* And then we had a conversation which ran through various subjects from realestate to family and the topic that began and ended the conversation; women. Seems like that beautiful topic always comes up. Patrick said I had what women claim they want and/or are attracted to. A good real job and something on the side which I'm passionate about. That was a cool compliment he gave me. I thought about it, and I smiled. Then I told him sarcastically "well, women say a lot of things...But turning words into action? Well..... ummm...." He smiled so wide his eyes closed and then we laughed about it... A good semi-serious conversation with a good friend was a great way to end the night. I went home after that and dived into a new story that I'm working on. I'm in need of some southern inspiration for this one. Some backwoods, old historic trees, spirits of past lives, and that good ol country smell... Gotta journey away from LA to do that. This was a good weekend...

Havin fun jazzin up the cover!

Coming next year but I'm gonna be reppin this baby real hard! Get ready for a story that's gonna emotionally take you everywhere! You wont be able to sleep with this on your mind..... *smile* 


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Creative thoughtful soul....

creative soul 

Allow me to borrow from a cover design used for a Michael Jordan Book called Driven From Within. It's a great book and very inspirational/motivational... But now, I'm using it as I reflect upon my creative soul, which soars at the current moment. I'm excited and inspired by a lot things, a lot of reasons to smile and especially many more moments to reflect upon... Life is beautiful when it hooks you up in that manner...

Right now, I'm center stage on a certain high I feel as I contemplate the release of this anthology that I'm blessed to be involved in(Love Is Never Painless) and also my own novel that I worked on for a year, researched, developed, and even lived to a certain degree... I could even take you to the apartment that my main character Leesha lived in and walk you through the streets she hungout on with her bestfriend Scottie "Blaze" Franklin. The neighborhood most folks refer to as "The Jungle." The book I've mentioned a few times before called My Life Is All I Have. I'm beyond excited already about it because of this incredible cover I received from Keith Saunders of Marion Designs. The cover is off the hook and is a great compliment to the story which will have you wishing for it to become a movie, no doubt!! Personally, I think F. Gary Gray needs to checkout this story because it could be what he's been looking for since Set It Off had folks talking to this very day! I wont reveal the cover just yet because we're still playing with the ideas of it but my last suggestion is to simply feature the young woman on the cover who is beyond beautiful and represents so much to me... The real cool thing is that I'm proud to call this truly blessed and beautiful woman a friend... She's amazing to me and I can't thank her enough for coming through with the pictures without hesitation like whoa! That's the kind of *ish* that impresses me when folks do what they say they gonna do... It's a gift sometimes lost in today's world...

But anyway, so much drives me today because there's some things I wanna see, feel, and experience... Shoot, even drama is cool because life ain't always wine, roses and the perfect make-you-wanna-dance beat! Yet still, I refuse to deal with the nonsense... Gotta keep moving.. I'm designing not only stories and rooms inside my house but I'm designing dreams and making sure love doesn't get lost in the midst of wanting to shout like a madman. Sometimes it's hard to define everything I want. Stuff cost money and time needs managing.. When I want it to move, it creeps along and when I want it to stand still, it goes out like a blaze of glory. I dont complain.... Time is a good thing because you can learn from it.. Minutes ago these words weren't here... An hour ago I was eating some of the most delicious popcorn chicken dipped in honey mustard sauce... I dont know what I learned from that except that I look forward to having more but not right now... Three years ago I was getting my heart broke... A month later after one of my best vacation trips ever; one great thing happened after the other for me. Time has blessed me with sisterfriends that make me smile pretty much every day despite the fact that their physical distance might be far or just not here at the moment. Sister and brotherly love travels fast by leaps and bounds... I'm grateful... Romantic love hasn't existed for me these past three years but that's been by design and by choice... Flirtation on the other hand has driven me to the brink of positive insanity... There's been close calls and even disappointments but nothing to fret over because again, each experience is a blessing.. I still can remember that Aaliyah look-a-like at the Beverly Center in LA over a year ago... Unsuspecting I was of her presence until I looked up and there she was... She said hello and froze me in my tracks.... Whew! I've had more moments like that and I breathe them in like aromatherapy... I've had the same kind of inspiration when I saw that young lady who will be featured on my cover. Gorgeous... But the thing is, she blows me away with the shine of her spirit when she talks. She's a breath of fresh air. She's about as addicting as the best full body massage you can find but you aint just being physically touched, you're intellectually soothed.... That's way cooool..

Life is good and I try to keep a handle on things that disappoint... I dont stay down too long; I just move on... I find other things to keep me focused and new highs to keep me soaring in the best kind of way... I used to fear that I'd never be able to live up to the love that I once gave. I quickly learned that even in friendship, I've surpassed all that I did before because those on the receiving end got an understanding of appreciation. And when its time for me, love will be a piece of cake... I'm about to go have some ice cream in a minute... Time allows me that luxury.... Peace y'all.... I thank time for this moment and yet I'm on to the next.