Relations...

HELLO GUMDROPS! Normally, I would never use a social media site as a platform to discuss relationships even on my own blog. Merely a preference but I ordinarily don't like to discuss these matters en masse. BUT for today I will make an exception to the rule. No rule is ever truly absolute, right? Nonetheless, I felt the need to address this issue because it seems to be a constant theme amongst those that surround me. So here goes nothing. First and foremost, relationships are work. Any relationship requires some degree of work and dedication, whether it’s a relationship between or among family, friends, and coworkers or with you and your significant other. No relationship is perfect; there will be a collective number of "good" and "bad" times. But it’s up to the individuals within that relationship to stick it through even when hardships arise (they will). It’s up to those people within that relationship to decide whether or not the other is worth...I guess you can say for the lack of a better word, the hassle. Let's get a bit more specific. A lot of people tend to discuss the relationship with their spouse with a broad spectrum of people. The problem with that is everyone has their own individual bias so by opening the doors to discussion, you are inviting bias opinions. Now, I'm not saying you can't vent out and ask friends for advice when needed, but do understand that their opinions aren't necessarily objective. And at the end of the day there are only two people (typically) in this kind of relationship. Although it is nice to get an outsiders opinion because, they can help put things into perspective for you. See things that you fail to realize because of emotional components. However, do note that no one is going to understand your partner the way you do. I find that in a lot of relationships people lack communication. From personal experiences I find that guys (the ones that I've encountered) find it hard to express themselves (verbally). More often than not they need to be coerced into saying what they truly feel. I guess that's part of the male ego? Not wanting to look emotional or vulnerable? I don't know. You decide. It’s my biggest pet peeve. To me if WE are together, why would you care to seem vulnerable? To me it shouldn't matter. I wouldn't look at it as a sign of weakness yet a merit of strength. It takes courage to be who you are and be honest about how you feel. I couldn't help but respect it. For pride and love is like hot oil and water. It doesn't mix. At times we are all forced to let our guards down. Just for a bit more clarification I do not expect guys to necessarily cry on a whim or nitpick. But on the flip side I wouldn't want to be with a guy that was super macho. There must be a balance. Every relationship is different; create your own "rules" as to what the median is. It doesn't have to reflect one of another relationship. Now, I have no expertise when it comes to relationships. I am no relationship guru. Even though I do feel like I've had relations or encounters with a series of different males. Each different yet, all seem to share some form of common ground. I'm sure guys feel the same about females or whichever your sexual preference is. Hmm I hope it doesn’t seem as if I’m trying to group guys into some macro category. I’m not too big on labels. We all have our own stories and no two are the same so sorry if I’m being a bit too general. I’m just saying…. Anyhow, papers to write and books to read. Enjoy! XoXXoXXo

Life's A Trip

If you’re not going to help me to elevate and progress in life, what purpose do you serve? I am tired of parasitic relationships where one merely leeches off of you and you get nothing in return. I need symbiotic relations where we learn and grow from each other. And I don’t mean as far as helping a friend in need because we all lean on someone at some point or another. That’s perfectly natural and I encourage it. I find that even in the teaching you too learn. However, we must all learn to stand tall on our own two feet. We will never know how strong we truly are until we are forced to be, because only then we have no choice. I learn from everyone whether it is directly or indirectly. I learn from the experiences of others and of course my own. I even learn from people I don’t particularly care for. There are lessons to be learned in everything in life. We just have to take a step back and try our hardest to keep everything in perspective. I admit that during a time of crisis it is hard to do so. But later on, not immediately you will see why certain obstacles were placed in front of you. Having these understandings will help you to push forward. Life is funny, she will often give you the test first and the lesson afterwards. This is how she keeps us on our toes. It sucks at times because we feel blindsided and unprepared. But such is life, study hard and keep up with the new material. She is known for giving pop quizzes as well. Though it’s not all bad, she gives the best rewards so it makes it all worth it! Enjoy beauties, XoXXoXXo

Wait Here While I..."Watch The Throne"

I’m strongly anticipating the album release of, “Watch The Throne” which is a collaboration album with Kanye West and Jay-Z. Anyone who knows me or has been following this blog knows how much I admire Mr. West. I am so going to his concert. This is a must. It will be an early birthday present to myself. Anyway, I found a synopsis of the album from the perspective of  one of my favorite blogs, Concreteloop.com. Here is what they had to say:

TRACK BY TRACK NOTES/ OVERALL VIBE OF ‘WATCH THE THRONE’

Here are some of the notes and vibes I got from the songs. It was really dark in there so I wasn’t able to take that many notes, but this still gives you an idea of how dope the tracks were (to me at least).

1. “No Church in the Wild” (featuring Frank Ocean)
4/5 – Frank Ocean comes in on the song asking “What’s a king to a god? What’s a god to a king? What’s a god to a nonbeliever?” Kanye & Jay gives us 808s & Heartbreaks vibes on the track and it is actually a good starting point.

2. “Lift Off” (featuring Beyoncé)
4/5 – It was originally announced that Bruno Mars was going to be on the track, but I didn’t hear him. Only Beyonce was heard belting out “We gonna take it to the moon/ We gonna take it to the stars/ How many people you know take it this far?” Pretty dope track.

3. “Niggas in Paris”  
5/5!!!!!! Best beat on the album. Everyone was getting out of their seats and jamming. It gave me a down south vibe. They were straight stunting on the song and both Kanye & Jay killed their verses. I wanted them to replay it.

4. “Otis” (featuring Otis Redding)
3/5 Since this song is already out, you can listen here. However, while this was playing I noticed that Beyonce & Jay-Z were really feeling it. They were smiling all over the place.

5. “Gotta Have It”
5/5 – This Nepturnes produced beat was also another crazy one. Kanye plays on the internet culture because I heard a couple of LOLs mentions on the track. Jay-Z goes in on the high price of being famous.

6. “New Day”  
5/5 This song samples Nina Simone’s “Feelin’ Good.” You can hear her voice “Birds flyin’ high, you know how I feel” and Kanye and Jay-Z get personal. Both speak to about or to their unborn children and it was actually thought provoking. Kanye even puts in a jab to Amber Rose saying, “Strip club, I learned the hard way that wasn’t where to find love.”

7. “That’s My Bitch”  
4/5 The guy next to me said this song leaked because he heard it before but it was new to me. The visual effects during this time were planets exploding and then it eventually turned into the moon. Pretty dope. Didn’t write any lyric notes down.

8. “Welcome to the Jungle”
4/5 Swizz Beatz is very evident on this song. Guitars and a Jay-Z mention of Axel Rose (i’m guessing that was smart because of the song title). Definite banger though.

9. “Who’s Gon Stop Me”  
3/5 All I remember is Kanye saying something about the Holocaust in the chorus and even though it was dark inside the planetarium, everyone started writing hard on their paper. I was like ut oh, this is gonna turn into something if he isn’t careful. The song was aiight, but I think people are going to make a big heap about his ‘Holocaust’ mentioning.

10. “Murder to Excellence”  
4/5 Another deep song on the album. Kanye speaks about the murder count in Chicago comparing it to the deaths of soldiers in Iraq. Jay-Z sheds light on the black on black crime / murder in an inspirational way.

11. “Made in America” (featuring Frank Ocean)
5/5 Frank Ocean’s chorus on this song was pretty dope. He sang “Sweet brother Martin, sweet queen Coretta, sweet brother Malcolm, sweet queen Betty… sweet brother Joseph, sweet Mary, sweet baby Jesus. Made in America.” Kanye payed homage to his mother, and Jay-Z pledged allegiance to his grandma. Another inspirational song on both Jay and Kanye’s end. All I can remember is the Frank Ocean chorus right now. It’s stuck in my head.

12. “Why I Love You” (featuring Mr Hudson)
3/5 This song kind of reminded me of off the “Graduation’ album. Kanye were just speaking his growth in the industry making beats and songs for people. He also compared him using his beats as ‘getting high off his own supply’. Jay-Z speaks being successful and his ups and downs with loyalty. Solid effort but not the best on the album.

OVERALL, IT’S A MUST BUY. MAKE SURE YOU SUPPORT ON AUGUST 8TH. ( PRE-ORDER HERE ).

Overall, the album was entertaining, educational, inspirational and the beats went hard. You can tell the older the two get, the more reflective they are becoming as evident in many of the songs on the upcoming release. Not to mention, they even had little dope interludes in between each song (reminiscent of Frank Ocean’s infamous mixtape) and the hip-hop heads will dig some of the mixing and samples as well. I’m excited to hear it in full again.

Ugh! They were actually invited to an exclusive listening session. Lucky them! But the reviews seem worth the buy. I’d like to judge for myself but it’s cool to have a little insight. 

Did I ever mention that I'm a fan of Solange Knowles? Well, I am. Solange was there along side a few other celebs such as her sister Beyonce, Kelly Rowland, Jada Pinkett Smith, etc. BTW, Diana Ross came to my job yesterday and I was super excited. I literally had a legend in my presence and what a beauty! Too cool! Enjoy lovers…XoXXoXXo

True Confessions...

Okay my gumdrops I have a confession. I have a guilty pleasure. Well I have many but I’ll share this one with you today. Indulge me. I absolutely love Pretty Little Liars! I watch it every Tuesday at 8p.m. Eastern Time on ABC Family. If I know I'm not going to be home I record it. And if I forget to do that I watch it on the Internet. Yes, it’s that serious. This is its second season in running and I'm hooked. I just adore it. I literally prepare my snack 10 minutes before show time so I don't miss a beat. I do not like to be interrupted. If I know I have to babysit my nephew I make sure he's asleep or has something to occupy and distract him during the duration of the show.

“Everytime you smile I feel trembles in my heart.” No it’s truly not that serious. I’m just listening to, “Sittin’ Up In My Room” by Brandy lol. But I must say I do enjoy watching him on screen. I think he’s super cute! 

Bad boy hotness!

Aren’t they such a great looking cast? I think so. It has something for everyone, cute guys for girls to watch and pretty girls for the males to enjoy. Or whichever you prefer. Although I highly doubt guys would be into this show, seems more of a girly kind of thing. Anyhow, so I finally got to hang with my darling Sarah the other night. We decided to have a dinner and the employees of the restaurant were literally waiting for us to leave. We were so busy chatting away that we didn’t notice that we were the only ones left. We SHUT IT DOWN lol. 

Isn’t she the prettiest?! She’s an aspiring actress. This young lady is going places and I’m so excited for her. I can sit and converse with her all day. She’s so very laid back and humble, excellent qualities to possess. I love when people exude awesomeness. And she is one. Enjoy my beauties…XoXXoXXo