it seems that pixar has some demented and yet awesomely creative people working for their empire. josh cooley, hats off to you sir.

started off like this. i knew i wanted tattoos from a very young age, and i gottem! still a work in progress though.

RIP

its too soon, it was too sudden. i lose my breath thinking about it.

baby faces.

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In summer of 08 I was sick as a dog and some how still made it to the museum mile festival. I started my own tradition in o5. I love it because I get to draw big hearts with chalk on the floor for bloooooooooooooocks. all legitimate.

But anyway all of the museums are free for that day and mostly all the exhibits. We lucked out and got to see an exhibit in the MET called ‘Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy’ which included works from Versace, Armani, Docle & Gabbana, and John Galliano.. PLUS a Jeff Koons installation on the roof! Whaaaaaat.

photo by KA

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My grandmother HATED when her grandchildren called her Dela. (Sorry Gram!!) She took her title seriously. Don’t let this picture mislead you. She was a spitfire.

“Wash your flower!!” hahahaha.

Remember when you were a kid and you had that abandoned building/dead end street/alley way you use to hang out at?

vodka+OJ+straw. Always with the tunes. 7-4-96

We had a place called the Acid Factory,  (more…)

Halloween is right around the corner and the stores are packed with fun stuff. This year I didn’t get to make the costume I wanted. Hopefully next year. You want to know? Too bad you’re going to have to wait!! Here is my costume from back in the days….

If you haven’t figured it out yet, I was a hit of E. I took an M&M costume and turned it inside out and my boy airbrushed the e train stamp and on the back it said “you are what you eat”. I LOVED this costume. Went clubbing. people licked my costume. wanted to take me home. I would just wave at people with the gloves. It was a trip. no pun intended. haha.

I love to see how creative people get. When I was a teen my friends and I would go to the parade every year but never make it to the actual streets that the parade ran on but the side streets were definitely the side shows. Two costumes that stuck out to me where vagina faces and some dude made himself into a lava lamp and throw balloons around inside the costume which I thought was great. Not until 06 did I actually get to see the parade. If you haven’t seen the NY Halloween Parade yet, I suggest you do!

I’m not a big fan of slutty costumes. The whole Disney characters but slutty phenomenon that hit is old. Be creative. Don’t get me wrong. Skin is great but lets be tasteful ladies.

What are you going to be for Halloween?

Here we are 8 years later and nothing resolved. We’re still fighting a war that can’t be won and still building the new towers that seem as if they will never be finished. Where is the memorial grounds for all the people we have lost?

The USA and NY came together when we were in straight fear to say fight! fight! fight! But after 8 years with no resolution how come we don’t come together to say change! change! change!

I use to think ignorance was bliss. I lived a long time feeling that way.
But now I live a life of knowledge is power.

Thanks Tim Heyne for sharing the video.

turns out roxanne shante didnt accomplish many of the things she claimed in that daily news story.

an investigative report done by some dude at slate.com came through with these facts:

* According to Warner, neither it nor any of its subsidiary record labels ever had a contract with Shanté, and it was not obligated to pay for her education. Indeed, there’s no evidence that it ever did.
* Shanté—real name Lolita Shanté Gooden—doesn’t have a Ph.D. from Cornell or anywhere else. Indeed, she admitted it in an interview with Slate. And Cornell has no record of Gooden (or “Shanté”) ever attending or receiving a degree.
* According to Marymount Manhattan College records, Shanté enrolled there but dropped out less than four months later without ever earning a degree.
* New York state records indicate that no one named Lolita Gooden or Roxanne Shanté is licensed to practice psychology or any related field.

everybodys got a hustle, but daaaaaamn son. why you had to play me like that?

at one point in my life, i had a name plate that looked almost exactly like this. it was double plated and had diamonds in it. my dad so very fucking desperately wanted me to somewhat fit into the typical ‘girl’ stereotype that he bought me things i had no interest in at the time. i was runnin around playin manhunt with boys who barely spoke english, and climbed trees with their bare feet and hands back in the dominican republic. so not into name plates/earrings/bracelets/rings. but one night i was feelin flossy and wore it out. then i got jumped, robbed and poked in ENY and i lost my shit during the chaos, but bet your ass they didnt come off with mine! i saw them bitches lookin for it and yellin for it because i put up a fight. i thought my mom was gonna kill me when i got home! i love the look of these name plates but will never bring myself to get another one because sex and the city killed its appeal for me. why the fuck would a rich white woman who lives on the island of manhattan, and is into high fashion, walk around with hood jewelry? doesnt make sense.

anyhow, im off topic, this is about a new urban arts project called ‘a love letter for you’ and its goin on in philly. this is my fav piece, go find your own.

Roxanne Shante had a hit back in the days, it was more of a battle record which automatically makes her a winrar in my book. so after she felt disenchanted once she found out what the music business was really like, she dipped. her labels contract had an agreement about payin for her education, but they tried to re neg on it. she found a dean who helped her squeeze their balls enough to make them say uncle and roxanne now has a doctorate. not bad for a teenage mom from the biggest housing project in nyc. i like bitches that are go gettas. read the whole story here.

I had to wake up to this song at least 3 days out of 5 during 8th grade. It was like the DJ knew to play this song at the top of the hour so people could wake up to it.

I remember listening to this album on my walkman riding my bike through the neighborhood. A time where  beepers were just being introduced and there were no cell phones. A time that if you didn’t get in touch with your friends in the morning you had to roam the hood to find where everyone was. Most of the time you would find them in the park or that one friends house where everyone could chill.

Take a walk down memory lane with me…..

Remember back in the day, when you were able to roll an L for under $10? You would get a nick bag w/ some iconic design, a $.50 dutch, quarter drink and a bag of chips and STILL had money left over to go half on another bag.  Every time I pass spots like Cornelia, Woodbine, Himrod, Menahan  it brings me back to my teenage years of having fun and being a careless shithead.

RIP ‘95.