polyphony.

return to grace.

thanks for all the good words. i'm almost positive that it was the stomach flu. i just did some reading on it, and damn if i didn't exhibit nearly every symptom, including only dealing with it for for about 3 days.

whatever tho, it's over with, and i'm not mad.

i ended up leaving work early on thursday and not coming in on friday. come to find out that a good portion of the office got sick around the same time i did, and were out on friday as well. oops...

did i do thaaaat?!!


____

so, my christmas/new year's is shaping up to be pretty bland. the homeslice is back home until the 5th of never, and being in save-mode as i am, there's not much i can do in the way of entertaining myself. guess i better buy some records and try to make the most of it.

speaking of which-

i was contacted yesterday afternoon about a beat i did, "Necessary Evils", for purchase. i'm looking at a $250 come up around the end of january. not bad. this has to happen much more often. i'll probably take that money and put it toward a mic. this EP is finna happen, dog.

____

i was researching some of those side grinds i mentioned a few posts ago, over the weekend. i happened upon a site that discussed writing Op-Ed pieces for newspapers.

i think i'ma go for it, yo.

all around the country. L.A. Times, New York Times, Philadelphia Inquirer, Chicago Sun Times, wherever. the page said that they all pay, even said that the Inquirer compensates to the tune of $100 for a published piece. i can do that. i'ma really study up on improving the quality of my writing, though. i've already compiled some pretty good online informational sources on the subject, so i'll be spending my time reading up on those, and getting my practice on. besides, it can't but help to get a few joints in print, as a reference for when i try to get some shit in wax poetics.

_____

i'm slacking @ work, b.
i'll holler later on.

i think i may have the flu.

or a stomach virus, or something. point is, i'm sick.

last night trace & i went to walmart to pick up a gift card for a coworker of mine. i stood out in the cold for about 15 minutes waiting for a bus. once we had boarded and were on our way, i started feeling queasy. by the time we reached the walmart, im feeling like i have to take a voluminous shit. i find the bathroom, and do my business.

(as trashed as the walmart was, the bathrooms were very clean. go figure.)

my stomach feels no better. i grab the gift card, trace grabs some chips, and we get out of there as quickly as possible, because my situation is deteriorating at a steady pace.

luckily the bus comes quickly, and we're on our way back home. i sleep most of the ride back, so im only aware of my sickness when i'm stirred awake. we finally get to our stop, and i had the option of either going back to my place, or chilling at trace's... my toilet's been acting dumb, and it still smells bad there, so i opt to walk with her back to her place.

this is where it gets awful.

on the way there, i'm feeling more and more queasy... she's a good 5 blocks away from my place, and it's positively freezing outside, so it's like the march of death. we finally get there, i take off my coat and head straight to the bathroom.

it was like water, yo. i mean, straight liquid. disgusting. so i'm in there for a good 15 minutes, she's knocking on the door checking on me, and it's just going downhill from here. i finish up (not before clogging her toilet) and lay across the couch, trying to watch Lost.

that's when it hits.

trace is talking to me and i just get up midsentence, and duck into the bathroom. i take the position at the toilet bowl, and yup, i'm hurling my brains out. my back still hurts from the wretching. she's feeling all bad for me and i'm just like "LEAVE ME ALONE." lol. i'm sure she understood.

this would happen once more during the night. i stayed in trace's place, she slept on her couch (GOOD LOOKIN' OUT, HOMIE!!!) it actually wasn't a bad night's rest, i slept pretty good considering my stomach was doing the hokey pokey.

we're having a polyana/secret santa/team luncheon today, and i had been drafted to provide some things for the shindig, plus i had to cover this morning for my coworker, so i climbed out of bed at 7:30 and got ready for work. bundled up the best i could, and waited for the 13 trolley. the trolley takes forever to come (it's freezing outside), so i'm waiting and dancing and praying my stomach takes a chill pill. by the time i board a trolley (3 trolleys come, fully packed, before i can get on) my stomach is threatening me very subtlely. as we progress, i realize that i'm about to puke. we get to the 40th and woodland loop, and i'm literally praying that i don't hurl on this trolley (i'm standing behind a girl with a white coat on.)

the doors finally open, and before i can hit the pavement, i projectile vomit 3 feet ahead of me. i didn't care who saw, at this point i'm ready to go home and die.

i sit down and let my stomach reflect on what it's just done, then i get back on the trolley. i cant really afford to call out, no sick days.

the rest of the trip here was pretty incident free. i got to work and have been unapologetically chilling since.

it's only thursday.

:|

i need another gig.

some dollars to compliment the main flow.

i'd prefer weekends over nights, and easy work over hard, but at this point, i'll take what i can get.

it'd be nice to move some of these beats (again), but until i find real, paying customers, i'll sideline that dream for the reality of the side gig hustle. it's almost gotta be something that i have ostensible talent for, though. i can barely operate at my day job, much less going for a second round elsewhere. i'm ahead of the game at work, so i'll do some craigslisting in between ebay and bathroom breaks.

i'll keep an updated list of leads here.

(((in stereo)))

ayo!

since the season of giving is fastly approaching, and giving is so much more rewarding than receiving (right?)

i thought i'd give all my friends/readers an opportunity to give, and support the cause.

Peep.

(i'll admit, i bit off my boy Bill, but with good reason. i NEED this stuff.)

so yeah. the Treo cases are interchangeable. meaning, one will suffice in place of the other, but i'd like to have both. *smile*

______


you know, i was in the office bathroom, taking a relaxing late afternoon whiz in the urinal, and i had a deep thought about my life. i've actually done ok so far. i'm not nearly where i want to be, in a couple different areas, but let's be real.

i have fucking lofty goals.

to be where i am: i'm 25, black, easy on the eyes(mine, mu'fukiz- iont care what YALL think.) disease free, generally regarded as a good dude, i pay my bills on time, i have a job and a hobby and i keep the two relatively happy simultaneously, i've got a grand in the bank that ISN'T spoken for (a good ass feeling, trust) and i've done things my way, which happens to be the hard (but most satisfying- when it works-)way... that ain't bad.

best of all, i have ambition welled up inside my chest that's getting hard to pipe down. and yeah, i'm not 19 and cornering the game, but i'd rather be mid twenties with a lust for life than 42 with a dead end job that i HAVE to keep.

i'm proud of that. most of the cats in my circle who check this blog are on the same thing. you should be proud of yourselves too. we rock, yo. the body electric.

_____

something died in the floor under my apartment, so my spot officially smells like a morgue that forgot to pay it's electric bill. it's disgusting. (i know, i follow up all that positive nonsense with something utterly depressing, but it needed to be said.)

worse than that, tho- there's VERMIN in the building.

*Phylum: Chordata. Subphylum: Vertebrata. Class: Mammalia. Order: RODENTIA.*.

this...this is an issue. my landlord told me that we would be having regular visits from the exterminators. volunteered this information, even. i've yet to see a mousetrap or a can of bugspray, much less been ordered out of my home for a few hours while spacesuited ghostbuster extras fumigate the premises. hello...I PAY RENT YO.

anyway.

______


grandparents are visiting from south carolina this weekend, and my aunt's having a small get-together at her house, iniviting some of their old friends over for food and whatnot. i've been employed to provide the musical backdrop for the night. (not a DJ, as much as a music compiler.)

i'm kinda excited about this. i'm sure all the old folks will be impressed to find out about my musical knowledge... so i'm looking for stuff from the 40s and 50s. i've procrastinated to this point- hopefully i can get alot done tonight, seeing as how it will most likely included downloading AND burning- and tho i have access to many paths of music procurement, it can still be rather hit or miss. i need 2 cds worth of stuff at least. i'm hoping for four.

(oh, and TRUST that i will be in the house with tupperware containers and aluminum foil in tow. im stocking up, son.)

but yeah. enjoy your weekends, yo.

-23

etc.


the end of another week.

the UNviscous passage of time has gotten more and more unnerving every week. it's really starting to weird me out. i feel like this week just started, and it's already saturday again. and of course, this translates into blink-long weekends. sometimes i feel like i can't keep up. the good thing, though, is that it makes me work faster to compensate.

anyway.

i was thinking about starting a movable type blog on my website. infact, i'm considering pulling out dreamweaver and revamping/"re"launching the site all over again. i have gigabytes of transient webspace sitting there going to waste. besides, this blog is tedious and without real direction.

i'll look into real designers and see who's willing to do the most for the least, and we'll go from there. but for right now, i just want to get that cracking again.

______


j dilla.

some readers may not know who this man is. some folks won't ever. but, the man is central to my musical existence, and he's sick. apparently, very sick. i admit that i'm really worried, regardless of what his publicists and managers say.

he has an impressive discography, no doubt. but more importantly, he's primarily responsible for a sound that changed the face of hip hop for over a decade. further, in a world of oft-bitten production techniqes and stagnant and overpaid producers/beatmakers, he's continually challenged himself and the ears of his listeners. i don't mean to sell dude, the work speaks for itself, but he's on some next stuff consistently, and it's everything as far as influence into how&why i work.

i promise you that i'd go into mourning if this man was to pass. god forbid. it's funny, because he's said nothing particularly inspirational, and i have no reason to believe he's even a nice guy. but...you gotta respect the music, man. damn. the shit is genius.

push up ya lighters, yo.

______

work is cool.

second job sounds like the move right now, though. money's just a bit short for really complementing the studio, and niggas ain't buying beats, so...gotta get that paper some way. i might try for a record store or a music instrument shop, on some part time stuff, for discounts and all. i'll try to get some apps out within the next month or so.

plus, rent's due. and the cable/cable internet. and i just paid on this phone bill. and i don't know what's going on with my electric. i haven't gotten a bill yet. 's weird. i'll work it out though.

anyways. i'll holla.