Tag Archives: slide

music

Playlist Fun…

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I am a playlist obsessor. I have this weird compulsion with themes when it comes to music.   If I do not make themed playlists I will end up listening to the same few songs over and over.    A fun thing about my iTunes is all the random, colorful names I have for various playlists.  I am convinced I was dropped on the head repeatedly as a child.  I am absolutely sure of it.   Here are some of  interesting playlist names in my iTunes:

itunes playlist snapshot

a glimpse into the world of my itunes...

  • “What the hell are they saying?” – This is a playlist of all foreign music.  It contains artists such as Fela Kuti, Les Nubians, and Selena.  I have no idea what they are talking about, but the music goes hella hard!
  • “Mary J. Blige Songs I Actually Like” – self explanatory, after the “Mary” album things got sketchy.  Just saying.
i love north carolina NC

I have a penchant for North Carolina.

  • “Phonte and ‘Nem” – This is my glorious playlist with every Little Brother, Foreign Exchange, Hall of Justus, Phonte, Zo!, 9th Wonder song ever made.  I am so North Carolina.
carlton on fresh prince dancing animated gif

The "Annoyingly Cheerful" playlist dance.

  • “Annoyingly Cheerful” – Every chipper, high energy, and cheeseball song in my music library is featured on theis playlist.  It incudes such tunes as:
    •  “Make it Happen” – Mariah Carey 
    • “Dream on Dreamer” – Brand New Heavies
    • “Best Friend” – Brandy
    • “Alright” – Ledisi
    • “Tightrope” – Janelle Monae
fancy as fuck

that's me!


  • “Ignorant Sh*t” is the best playlist of them all!  This contains such class act songs as:
    • “MuhFucka” – Redman
    • “How About Some Hardcore” – M.O.P.
    •  “Brooklyn Zoo” – Ol’ Dirty Bastard
    • “Dog Sh*t” – Wu Tang Clan
    • “Throw Ya Guns” – Onyx

 Impressed aren’t ya?  You should be.

I also am a playist masochist.  When I get sad do I throw on the “Annoyingly Cheerful” or “Ignorant Sh*t” list?  Of course not. I throw on the “Let’s Get Sad!” playlist.

evil walmart smiley

C'mon y'all... Let's get SAD!!!!

Sometimes when you are going through something you need time to wallow in your sorrows and get a good cry. Well, thse selections from that playlist get the job done every time. Enjoy, well maybe don’t enjoy, get sad. Or something. I digress.  This highly uplifting list contains :

  • “Good Mourning” – india.arie
  • “Heartless” – Kanye West
  • “When Will You Call” – Bilal
  • “Song Cry” – Jay-Z
  • “Living All Alone” – Phyllis Hyman
That’s just to name a few.  What would you add to the inspiring “Lets Get Sad!” playlist?  Do you have any interestingly titled or themed playlist(s)?
laughs, silly chats

The Naturalista Monolith…

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natural hair twitter hashtag

tee hee...

Le sigh.  Yes, I am frustrated and French.  Les sighs.  Now I am plurally  frustrated.  Why?  Funny you should ask.  I am agitated with the assumptions and stereotypes surrounding people with natural hair.   I have been a relaxer-free semi-diva for most of the past decade.  It is hilarious some of the broad generalizations they make about this broad here.  (<— see what I did there?) This is what I have to say about these assumptions:

Alise side eye

My naps say have several seats.

 

Actually, it doesn’t agitate me for real; in fact it is rather entertaining.   Don’t let the Natural Hair Mafia see this though, I ain’t tryna get shot up or anything.  Just saying.  Me and my fabulous friend CaShawn, aka The PBG of Dirty Pretty Thangs  had a few alleged things to say about it.

The PBG:  I never was a fan of Toni Morrison’s work

The PBG: <–horrible Black woman

me: me neither!!! so confusing

The PBG: People act like she’s the Mecca. I’m think she’s the “meh”

me:   but girl what we gon’ tell the Afro Mafia, we gots to like Toni

The PBG: Girl, I don’t know. They may have us excommunicated. Or worse.



Toni Morrison

Hey Toni, hey. You are probably are a good person and fun to kick it with and I love your hair, but I don't understand the things you write. Don't tell nobody tho.

 

Yes, it is a requirement that the natural haired set read AND enjoy Toni Morrison.  If you don’t you might as well get an S-Curl of Duke Texturizer Kit.  It is in the handbook.

 me: We ‘posedta like Dwele

The PBG: We can’t like UGK, fried chicken…

And worship Badu. We do, but that’s immaterial.

Do you burn incense? I think we’re supposed to.

me: Dangit, I need to increase my frequency

 

Did you know us naturals have to pray to an altar made of cowrie shells with Erykah Badu albums laid upon it thrice a day.  PBG has to repent for her love of UGK and I have to make amends for enjoying Jahiem and Tank sex carols.

The PBG: Yeah. I forget sometimes. Naturalistas are gonna disown me.

me: We gotta stop with the weaves and braid extensions

That is punishable by jail time

The PBG: As Black girls that don’t relax our hair, that is a definite no-no.

I am also wanted for aiding and abetting her weave. Shame on us.

me: But I have to stop eating this delicious pork

The PBG: Bacon will make your hair straight!!!

me: I might don’t make it.

The PBG: You got white friends? You bet not tell nobody but God.

fried bacon

I ain't giving up my bacon for NOBODY! Fight me.

me:  Do I have to throw away my Freakum dresses?

The PBG: You can turn it into a turban. I think that’s acceptable. Be sure to check the Natural Black Girl’s Handbook.

me: I’mma get the DVD from the natural sorority’s website for 29.95

Don’t want to be out in deez streets slipping

I’ll clear out a space on my shelf after I throw away my hood movies

The PBG: The natural hair drop squad will come for you. Force you to eat vegan and listen to Jill Scott cd’s.

me: Well they look at Jill in contempt now, she got a perm, she was excommunicated

The PBG: Who’s the new it girl or are they still holding up India.Arie as the Patron Saint of Nappy?

You know she did that song we’re supposed to love.

me: “I am Not My Hosh*t” ?

The PBG: That’s it.

me: POW!

The PBG: Or was that Trina?

me: collabo

The PBG: Definitely.

African head Wrap

This wrap used to be a top of the line Freakum dress. Word to Beyonce.

The PBG: I think we’re supposed to tag all of tweets #naturalhair

“I’m on my way to work now. #naturalhair”

me: Took a dump, lit an incense #doe #naturalhair

The PBG: My feet hurt. #naturalhair

me: Eating free range fried chicken wings and organic Mumbo sauce #naturalhair

The PBG: We need to get on the right track or risk being ostracized by the other kinky haired chicks.

me: Cuz we have  to not conform by conforming…. wait, what?

The PBG: Huh? What? I am a non-conformist!

So I have to do what the other relaxer-less girls do.

twitter bird with afro

He ends all his tweets with #naturalhair, as to not conform. -_-

So what natural hair misconceptions and assumptions have you heard or been privy to from folks?

haiku, Poetry

Haiku randomness…

8 Comments

 

haiku symbol

HAIKU!

I am feeling haiku-ish today, so I will post a few, no particular theme or anything .   Please feel  free to add your own haiku in the comments.  By “feel free” I mean DO IT!  No pressure.

 

peace quote

word.

my inner turmoil

manifests itself through words

pen’s a peace maker

book hug haiku

hug a book. Some of y'all need to hug about 3 or 4. Just sayin'. -_-

on cold lonely nights

i hug my journal tightly

and cuddle with words.

 

early bird gets the worm

he smart #dinnamug...

cliches often lie

early birds don’t get the worm

the smart bird gets it

 

So hop to it and write a little something!  Literally, a little something, haiku are short!

love, Poetry

love revolution… (poem)

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I often hear people speak of revolution, but I always feel that is a such a broad word that often gets misconstrued, especially by poets. I think it means different things to different people and I think if we started defining what this even means then real change can occur. Check out my poem…

revolution spelled backwards

true story...

love revolution…

Some say that I am a love poet
I’m definitely not an over-analytical poet
Certainly not a political poet
Not a fight the power poet
Not talk you to death for an hour poet
But don’t you dare say I’m not a revolutionary poet
I don’t make conspiracy theories
Or talk about the government
But to me revolution
Is just evolution with an R
And I am steadily changing… growing… fighting

But if by revolutionary you mean talking in circles
….and circumventing responsibility,
then by all means you are the spokesperson……
I ain’t buying the fight the power act…..
love, life, and loss…..
that’s what causes a creative commotion in my cranium
when pain permeates my person and pummels and pounds my peace
it is the real revolutions, revelations, and resolutions
that relieve my worries, weary, and woes …
but hey that’s just me

 

Take a listen to a different version of this poem:

[iframe width=”400″ height=”100″ src=”http://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/v=2/track=972486660/size=venti/bgcol=FFFFFF/linkcol=4285BB”]

And you may think my logic is backwards, but revolution spelled backwards is n-o-i-t-u-LOVE-r, so love is inside of it, so I will write about it.

EVERYTHING!, featured, laughs, music

Billy Ocean and other randomness…

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Billy Ocean, etc…

[repost]

So yesterday I started my Twitter day off with this:


[blackbirdpie url=”http://twitter.com/NaturallyAlise/status/35750857911836672″]


All morning I had the song “Love Zone” in my head.  Also in my head I sang it like Billy Ocean, every riff, every ad lib, it was a thing of beauty.  Angels sang, thunder rolled, and people saved on their car insurance.  By the way my skull is headquarters for obscurity, foolishness, and general lickerish, paphian thoughts. (Yes, you will learn these words of the day if I have to shove them down your throat,*clears throat*)  What was I saying?  Oh, so this tweet led to a bunch of fabulous follow up tweets by my lovely Twitter goons:

[blackbirdpie url=”http://twitter.com/and1grad/status/35751684651094016″]

Oh no, but it didn’t stop there:

[blackbirdpie url=”http://twitter.com/Orig_Glamazon/status/35751804645937152″]

I hope you didn’t think it was over!

[blackbirdpie url=”http://twitter.com/steenfox/status/35752062474125312″]

Think we stopped here?  Oh, surely you jest.

[blackbirdpie url=”http://twitter.com/NaturallyAlise/status/35752394893565952″]



Just in case you aren’t familiar with the catalog of the fantabulous 80’s singer Billy Ocean, here is the song we were crooning:




The only thing better than a Twitter sing-along is a BILLY OCEAN Twitter sing-along. So I am sure you are wondering why the heck did I have Billy Ocean songs in my head? Do you REALLY have to have a reason? However, I did actually have a reason. I was reminiscing on my childhood, and thinking of all the albums my mama used to play on Saturday mornings, aka “Clean Up Day,” aka “Your child is your slave Day“, aka “Why I gotta get up so early, can’t we clean in the afternoon Day.” Wait, what was I talking about? Oh yeah, my mama had 5 albums, yes albums, that she played without fail:

tear-down-these-walls billy ocean

this album plus the "Love Zone" album got mad spins!


Sade_Promise_album_cover

My mama played so much Sade that I went through a period where I could not stand to hear a Sade song.


bobby brown album cover dont be cruel

I think this is one of the best pop albums ever made, seriously, every song went hard!


Clark Sisters - You brought the sunshine .1981

Then you know she had to throw a little Jesus up in the mix, I'm just sayin'...



and the Pièce de résistance….

Al B. Sure In Effect Mode

This was one of my mama's favorite albums when I was growing up. She was all about the light-skinned eyebrow sensation... smh


So yes, anytime I hear a song from any of these artists I get a  warm and fuzzy feeling about my childhood.  It also makes me sad that the next generation’s memories will be about Wacka Flocka, Nicki Minaj, and a host of other unsavory characters.  Sucks for them.

What musical memories do have from your parents or grandparents?  Please share.