challenges ... LOST PHONE ... reminders ... FUTBOL [this is a long ass blog!]

i know it's been a while ... but hey ... i'm looking for a job! [anyone hiring!?!]

i'm in DC for a few weeks working on a few things before i go back to providence ... so holler at me ... and I LOST MY PHONE [again ... i think i need to write another blog about how i always get some hella deep life lesson whenever i loose my phone! ] ... please hit me with your # and stuff! PLEASE! and let me know when i can see some of my long lost DC peoples!!!


speaking of DC ... check out my DC/NC peoples Yahzarah/Purple Saint James new video!!!

it's truly outrageous!

i've been busy ... getting ready for www.ProvidenceSoundSession.com

w/ my dude DON KING "VIP", jess powers and munch w/ the funny face ...




but anyway ...

life is funny ...

well ... sometimes it is ...
at least the perception that others have of your life is often funny ...

this is when in get a little more serious and personal than usual (but still not too specific! ... you know i'm not invested 100% into this internet community. i still like to talk & meet people face to face ... in real life!)

anyway ...

i present myself as a positive, uplifting person ... in the eyes of others i think that people see me as something to aspire to. this isn't a source of pride for me because it's something that i feel i have a responsibility to do. i grew up in a community of people that LIVED the "each one, teach one" philosophy. i will continue to be an example of a man black man that others can look at in a positive light.

but ...

there's more to my life than what people see ... i'm more than the moving snapshots that ones eyes can see ...

for the past year i have dug a hole for myself in a bunch of ways. and right now i'm not sure what's important to me. right now ... the only unquestionable reply to this question is love & community. the other thing thing that makes me happy is music. yes

there are things & people that i love and enjoy sharing my time and energy and being with and doing stuff but ... community is what makes me happy.

but right now times are hard ... and my recent hardships are also due to my passion for community. and part of my instability is due to my love for music and my fear of entering the industry where i've seen too many people loose their love for music because of the politics and stress around working inside the belly of the beast.

it's the oxymoronic me ... that's not me ... but is me. it's what you see, what you get and what you don't see. the internal & external balance that is me.

i'm ready to settle ... not for average, but to settle in the sense that i've been a roaming gypsy for years ... i'm ready to settle down and have a physical place outside of myself that i feel is home.

my menta-physical (mental and physical) state is still not settled.

i w as reminded about my trip to paris b a old friend today. i hadn't really sat down and talked with her since my trip.

as i spoke to her i was reminded about some of the things i learned and about the changes that i had noticed in myself.

so ... just a few notes that i want to share

* take time to enjoy the day. be in the moment. it will help you to be able to learn from your past experiences and to plan for your future.

* be creative. [i think that everyone should write & sing in shower!]

* eat for more than just to nourish your body. enjoy your food. taste your food. eat slowly.


* have a theme song!: you know ... that song that you'd want to hear when you came out of a comma or even better the song that would wake you out of a comma! yea, that song!

* be aware if you are doing things because you are comfortable VS doing things that make you happy. know the difference.

* know that there is value in knowing the things that you don't like ... BUT ... when you are clear and focus on the things that you have passion for/like/love your life will reflect that!

* karma is what we make it ... too many people live in fear of karma. we all have choices and are empowered to create change. use karma to empower, not disable.

* don't dwell in the fear ... use the power of choice to transfer the energy of fear into to the power of change

that's all for now ...


and here's a little creativity ...

UNTITLED

left hand
writes random notes
intentionally etching on my heart
marking married clouds that drip
wet dreams where eye dew like sleep sits
on a wrist where a hand reaches past the crest
the clock chimes ...

it's over
end
begin
start over

time


HAIKU

no matter the speed
catching the light is easy
try catching time ... go


***yea i know i gotta post my poems form poetry month but ... some were on my phone and i hadn't retyped them. i'll post some soon.

... AND ...

***i was reminded by my dude stuckey just how excited i am about the WORLD CUP!!!

futbol/soccer is the sport i LOVE!!!

i played for years and even coached youth one season w/ my pops while i was in high school. [i think we went to the championship and lost on kicks]

the idea that w/o using your hands and with only a ball you can not only have fun & stay fit you can also start a international exploration!

futbol was what made different cultures relevant and real to me. i remember a tournament where we played against teams from haiti, france and canada. it may ahve been the first time i really heard someone speaking another language besides english or spanish. it opened doors to my imagination and to the possibilities of where i could go and what i could do.

WORLD CUP 2010 ...




if you want little cheat sheet on who to look for ... here you go ... here you go ...



SHINE,
weusi

it's cold ...

i don't like being cold ...

i was up until early this morning writing. 9ish i lifted my head and looked out the window. it was snowing! i cringed ... then i quickly tucked my head under my covers and feel asleep for another 2hrs!

it's cold ... real cold ... it was -2 c today!
i say already that i don't like to be cold!

did i tell youthat my bed is in the "sun cove" ... whisch means is surrounded by windows ... which measns in the summer it's beautiful ... and in the winter ... the wall that i sleep next to ... is 7 floors up and COLD as (add you own explitive)!

but i'm in paris ... so i went out! ... i put on a layer of clothes for each floor i was up! and hit the streets

plus, not only will many people never have the chance to make this trip, (i heard less than 50% of US citizens have passports and only 20% off the african-american community have them! now the reasons & history behind that is another blog!)i wanted to get some food (and a baguette!)











and i think that's was really chery lynn "to be real"


YO

who would be interested in doing a 1 week artist exchange in paris ... and then hosting a artist for week later in the summer? gig swap, work together, exhibit, do joint shows, sight see, etc ... let me know who's interested and then watch me do my thing!!!

or if you are open to hosting a artist let me know.

i said i was gonna connect the dots ... watch me ...

brillez,
weusi

2nd friday night in paris ... my confession (read it all & don't be mad at me) ... shut up, please ...

Last week was transition week.

This week ... I am officially in my “do work on self week”
and it's a beautiful day for this! The sun is shining. It's kinda warm.
I'm in my money shirt & fresh suede puma's ... feeling a little like ... the world's shortest giant!

Now ... in the effort to be openly honest there is something I need to say ...
I haven't told everyone that my girlfriend is here ... I part because we're not really interacting. those of you that know me closely know that she's always with me ... most days she's the one I wake up to ... and she guides my day ... but, like I said, we've been disconnected since we've left the states. we're just not communicating.
but it's a lovely day today ... and in paris ... and feeling good ... and i'm doing things that make me feel good ... So ... i'm looking for a new girl ... yep, I said it ... and yes, she knows it. She's with me while I do it! So she nor you can be mad at me or call me disrespectful. if we're not synced it's not gonna happen for but so long! synced w/ someone! i need a new girlfriend!

NOW ... You really wanna know why i'm telling you this?
because this is how my day was ... So ... here's how the story goes ...

there a lot of shady little spots in my neighbor hood w/ cuties in the window. And i'm a man w/ testosterone, that chemical that creates logic inhibitors that make us likes things that have a new sparkle & shine! anyway ... I've passed a few of these spots in my explorations of the city and have even looked into a few windows. i made what seemed to me to be a "special" contact with one in particular. today made abold move. I went in and asked about prices ... while my girlfriend was there with me. She didn't say a word. She knows why i'm here and isn't gonna deny me my freedom to do what makes me happy because that's a big part of this trip for me. and to make a story that is already too long and probably has you cringing and cursing me out ... today, I met a new “temporary girlfriend.” Honesty, she's not as fly as my current girlfriend. She's not as aesthetically pleasing or smart. my old jawnt was dark black but this one has these orange undertones. she's built sturdy and has the tools to get what I need done though! she's goona communicate w/ me too. that'ssomething my girlfriend and i haven't really done in a week! SO YEA ... today ... I found a new cell phone! What? You thought I was talking about a young lady! Come on! If you know me I always refer to my cell phone as my girlfriend. HAHAHA!!!

but for real ... so this is my 2nd friday in paris. Lil cuz and I decide that we're gonna go out and grab some food. Sushi is her choice. We go around the corner to the spot that she usually goes to. I' m like nah ... on top of it being expensive it had a real corny vibe to me. So ... I was like ...lets walk ... lets explore! She was with it and we walked ... and walked ... past numerous mcdonald's ... past the “aged” asian hookers ... pst subway sandwich shop ... and we find ourselves on a street corner ... i look down it to see if there are any signs of restaurants ... I stop and look ... there are people walking on the street ... some are just chilling talking ... other strolling up & down ... but somethings not right ... then it hits me ... there are ladies every few feet and they are the ones chillin' ... the dudes are walking up and down the street trying get a trick ... so I just say ... there's nothing on this block, lets go ... at his point she notices the young girls on the corners and is like ... “ohhh yea! ummm, lets go ... weshouldn't be here!” ... so we walk ... and we walk ... past the comedy club ... past kfc ... pat the movie theater showing "THIS IS IT" ... then we find a cool little sushi spot ... we sit down and she decides that she wants to work on her french by ordering ... in my mind i'm like “ok. And I'll work on mine at the end of the meal.” ... great ... GREAT MEAL (and cheap!!!) ... she's happy ... i'm happy ... good biz ... so it's time for me to ask for the check but she wants to do it .. she gives me something to say in french that is the casual way to say check please ... i ee thewaitress behind meso i turn around ... “madame ... t'si vous si vous plait” ... I said it perfect ... no hesitation and accented w/ flavor ... the waitress looks at me stunned ... I repeat myself ... she looks through me & across the table at my lil cuz ... she's got her face on the table laughing ... she says ... “fini ... fini” (or something like that) ... she looks up at me and with a laughing smile and tells me that I told the waitress “shut your mouth, please” please... DAMN!!! she got me!!! ... I pay the check and walk out ... I try to thank her but the waitress brushes me off ... so yea ... then we walked home ... uneventfully except that i beat my lil cuz in foot race! Hahaha! yea ... 3X her age and i still have that step (but damn ... she is fast!)

and that's how I spent my 2nd friday in paris ... trust me it's gonna get more exciting.

I've come up w/ a few script ideas. you wanna know about em? maybe ... Can someone tell me the legal ramifications & copyright laws about if I can use posting the ideas in public as a ways of documenting that they are my ideas?

Oh and she asked what we were gonna do tomorrow? I guess you'll have to wait to find out ... me too!!!

ShiNE [brillez]

me and t.o.!

today was a little different ...

i spent time being alone and silent ... semi-meditation like ...
it's something i hadn't done in a long time.

it was a challenge for me to still my mind ... in fact i was just silent.
my mind was in a milion and one places .. but hey ... it;s the first time in a long time. i'll get my focus up and really be still in time. it reminded me that it not really ready to get out and engage in the business of my trip. i want take care of me before i start doing business for everyone else, ya dig!?! so on that note ... flashback 6-8 weeks ago ...

i go to see my lil homie ally wey perform at a spot called bossa in dc and i run into my dude "z free". he's kicking it real casual like ... as he usually does. after the show, i'm on my way out the door he ask me what i've got coming up next. i tell him i'm about to dip to paris. there are a few people at the table he's sitting at and one of them, maria, gets kinda excited and tells me about this person she knows in paris. and that when i walked in she noticed that he and i had similar energy and that we should connect. i'm like ... i only know 1 person in paris so cool. i give her a card and ask her to make a e-mail introduction. a few days later i get at e-mail introducing me to this dude and i respond very casually about looking forward to meet him in paris. a few more days go by and i get a email ... something along the lines of ...

is this weusi weusi from u street?
this is tunde tunde from dc ... & ny!
this will be our 3rd city. lets make it happen!

so today ... i went to meet my dude tunde (t.o.). we're like mined brothers from different mothers. we first met in DC on the u street poetry & music scene. then he disappeared. a few years later i ran into him on the streets of ny where he was in law school.

today we started the process of catching up and moving forward. we sat and kicked it in a cafe for a while. some real talk. he's been in and out of paris for years and is here studying law. he also has been a part of the arts and music scene too. he shared some great insight about the subtle nuances of developing community in this culture. we talked about life in paris. and life in general. i'm no dummy. partialy becasue i don't talk about things i don't know. t.o. is no dummy because he can talk about so much with a sense of expertise and research! he's a bright brother. i'm glad to be reacquainted. my man brian "hustle" hamlin says that you are only as good as the 5 people that are closet to you. i take those words to heart and try to surround myself with people brighter than me! that's why all of you are my friends! the other interesting thing about meeting with t.o. was the music in the cafe ... boys to men, chante moore, the supremes, the police, steel pulse and of course ... stevie wonder! anyway ... i'm sure you'll hear more stories about t.o. in the future.

and yes ... i did walk to meet him .. and yes .. i did get lost ... but only because it was this little ass st


i'm starting to get settled here ... maybe another week of nothing and then i'll go into grind mode! i've got some great ideas bubblin' right now! i'll let you know what's up ...

stay focused, create a plan, work that plan, change that plan, stay focused and make it happen ...

and for those of you who wonder what i mean when i say SHiNE [brillez] my homies elen & bassey (twitter @ladiosapoderosa & @basseyworld ) hipped me to this: the god light




do what you do ...

SHiNE [brillez]

FRIDAY NIGHT IN PARIS!!!

friday night in paris ...

yesterday, during theday, i walked around. just to see what i could see. to experience paris as a regular joe. it wasn't a sight seeing adventure. it was me just walking down the street. it was a great experience. the layout of the city is crazy! hella intricate and awkward for me right now. i haven't figured out the logic of it yet. i got lost a few times but found my way thanks to a few landmarks and metro signs! i didn't even ask people how to get back i just did it. i'm glad that i have a decent sense of direction and noticed a few landmarks! i walked down ST DENIS & across the lil bridge & along the little river for a second. it was kinda uneventful. but there was a club the looked kinda interesting.

it was cool to be able to walk around and not talk to anyone. with a creative, attention seeking, 13 year old in the house, there is limited silent time!

it was interesting to me that i fit in too. i feel so out of place here. i don't know what to wear. and i feel like my walk is different and i walk slow and don't have a scarf on [everyone here has these fly scarves]. but i guess this is a great step to start feeling comfortable. i know i can hang now.

i don't need to tell you that the architecture of the city is incredible. the church steeples, arches, cottages & flats are cool! i find myself looking at the intricate doorways and iron work around the city. and people watching. there's a certain freedom in the diversity in the people that is impressive too. now there are still cliques but from the outside looking in things look pretty cool. i imagine that the issues aren't based on race as much as they are on economic standings and "class".

and with all this ... the most impressive things i saw yesterday were ...

A KFC that was full of both black & white people!!!
A pizza hut & another mcdonald's

AND ... i saw a dude rocking a redskins jacket! i wanted to take a picture but ... opted not to ... and he was a french dude ... not a tourist! i know because he was speaking french to the dudes on ST DENIS that were trying to get people to go to certain barber shops for a haircut! ST DENIS is the black hair spot in paris! it's pretty funny the way they tried to recruit ME to go get a cut ... they obviously don't know me!

last night was my first friday night in paris ... but ...
i didn't know it until 8pm, our time! here's what happened ...

i left DC on wed after not having much sleep for almost 48 hrs ... and then i slept on the flight. i got to paris and it really didn't click that it was another day. so in my mind thursday was wed and yesterday was thursday. it didn't click until we were sitting at dinner and lil cuzzo says "so it's friday night what are we going o do!" i looked perplexed. she knew exactly what was going on in my mind.
"DUHHHHH ... yes ... it's friday!"
"DAMN!"

we ended up sitting around listening to music and sharing youtube favorites. this is my new favorite! evidently her name is Charice Pempengco. but wait until after you rad this to watch it ... you'll end up watching it a few times!!!




i'm sure that you would rather see pics of paris than this but you will be impressed and i'm working on the pics ... patience!

this morning we sang "o' say can you see" about 10 times ... and it was like a vegas showtune version f/ her as whitney houston/ceiline dion and me as lou rawls/wayne newton! yes ... it was ... interesting!

and after that ran it's course they introduced me to their saturday dance ritual. it's when they put on music and dance. it was cool! i did a little up rock and was inspired to the point that i almost hit a headspin on a michael jackson tune but opted to save that move for another day! ok, truthfully ... i was in the headstand and felt like i could do it ... i just didn't have the space if i fell... and yes ... i didn't want to kill myself!

anyway ... the shift in time it hasn't clicked yet ...
so last night after we spent our quality time together i went out in the rain and just walked around. this time up ST DENIS. i got lost but found my way back and didnt
take munch in ... i was cool. i needed that time alone to start to figure things out.
i spoke to a friend here and we'll link on mon or tuesday.

day 2 ... this is a good trip...

SHiNE [brillez]

day 1 in paris ... the begining ...

this kinda long ... but it's the start of something new ...

i was awake for almost 48 hrs before i got on the plane so ... i fell asleep before we took off ...
i was w/ my lil cousin and she was seated somewhere else on the plane ... but she's 13 going on 33 and i didn't really worry about her.

i awoke to dinner being served ... pasta & wild mushrooms, cous cous, water, bread pudding, chocolate cake ... and of course on a air france flight ... a baguette, some cheese & wine.
i ate and then went back to sleep ... thanks to "soul fatigue" (my new term for the "itis").

i awoke again for breakfast ... it was a sweet roll, yogurt, water and tea and some other stuff but i don't really remember ... i ate the roll and went back to sleep. yea ... again ... "soul fatigue"

then the plane hit a little dip as we started to descend. i'm awake now ...

i read a few articles in my INC mag on stan lee, ayn rand and 19 blogs that they felt i should bookmark ... good stuff ... but anyway ...

we land ... go through customs ... we get our baggage and after a few minutes find our bearings, then ... we exchange our dollars for euro's ... DAMN ... my feelings were hurt ... my hard earned money was worth NOTHING! [note to self: find a way to make some euro's!!!] we made our way to the train. my baggage got caught in the turnstile and i got to say "merci!" ... i was excited to get to use 1 of the 4 french words i know!!!

we ride the train to gard de nord and walk a few blocks to the house. the neighborhood is kinda tourist heavy ... there's a lot going around here. i'm sure you'll here more in the days/weeks to come.

we get to the house and meet the house mate and she shows me around. the rooftop view is CRAZY!!! i'm having issues w/ my phone and up loading the pics but i'll show you sooner or later.

a cold autumn rain ... good conversation ... napping ... sleeping on and off .. few cups of tea & homemade chocolate cake ... a walk to the grocery store ... a stop at a cafe for coffee ... more convo w/ corrections on my poor french pronunciations ... food ... sleep ...

today ...
i awake to sunshine ... drink tap water ... read (the everyday work of art by eric booth) ... unpack my sneakers & grandpa's jacket ... listen to silence ... journal ... some tunes (these are some of my the artist in the mix ... FE, crossrhodes, issabella banneker, stephen marley, neena freelon, purple st james, k'alyn, mary lou williams, munch, adelle, kev brown, etc) ... now, i'm writing this blog but i'm about to hit the streets for a few hrs ... and do nothing ... no sight seeing today ... i'm really doing nothing!!!

this feels good ... a real cool vibe ...*(thank you all)* ... stay tuned!

so ... later ...

paris day 1 [haiku x3]

here time means nothing.
sun, sound, art and my truth lead.
visions trek blindly.

dark rooftop skylights
play slow motion pity pat
with the sun & clouds

no rush ... day meets night.
the time is now ... then it's gone.
enjoy the moment.

SHiNE [brillez]