HAPPY MJ DAY!

CLICK ON THIS VIDEO HERE TO HELP A GOOD GIRL OUT!



Dr Who Dat? Beat Journey also dropped this week.
Cop it like it's hot...cause it is though!

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PASS THE SWEET POTATO PIE...PLEASE

As eye begin to slate the performance dates for Count to exploit Act Your Waist Size, it becomes clear from our response from promoters that people EVERYWHERE want to catch a glimpse of the beat magician.

Do eye look like a booking agent? Depends on who you ask...Eric? Gabe? Karin? Booking messages are wired to come straight to me from the site, so it seems the answer would have to be yes...however slight. Alls eye know is this is the last go round without a full-time booking agent to carry me through.

Thanks to all of the die-hards, we have more potential bookings coming at us than we can fulfill. Some have been hassling their local venues for us since Dwight Spitz. A few even since Pre-Life. One-nighters here & there over the years have pleased quite a number of heads. But this go round, expect the real thing - a tour. Who knows, maybe shine will catch me on a couple of stages. Gotta' pay those "Pot/Liquor" dues!

No pot or liquor right now, but rice soup with fresh tofu & vegetables has been on my mind. The women down at the International Market know my order by phone & by face:

ME: "May I please have your Rice Soup with fresh tofu & fresh vegetables?"
OLDER FEMALE VOICE: "No Onion & no garlic, right?"
ME: "Yes, Ma'am.
OLDER FEMALE VOICE: "Cilantro, honey"
ME: "That's just fine."
OLDER FEMALE VOICE: "You on your way?"
ME: "Walking out the door."
OLDER FEMALE VOICE: "Good, honey."

So once arriving in line to pay, my thirst led me to the All Natural, Not Sweetened bottle of Green Tea presented in the drink cooler before me. All ghetto go would have had me open that drink right then, paying for the empty bottle once the cashier got to me. But instead, eye chilled:

NICE OLDER LADY AT REGISTER: "You don't want to get that. It has caffeine."
ME: "Are you sure? It says "All Natural."
OLDER LADY AT REGISTER: "I think this is not for pregnant woman. I think you should put this back. Get some juice or something."

In my all natural obedience to my elders posture, eye broke line, walked back to the cooler & replaced the drink. Miss lady was straight putting me in my place. To find another woman spirit that's cares just because, with no personal interests almost brought tears. Shoot...she might know something eye don't. It can't hurt to listen. 'Cept eye drove all the way back home so parched that swallowing wasn't even an option. Plus, the devil on my left deltoid reminded me on the ride that those ladies were getting to be a little too nosy & comfortable for my natural liking.

Just as with my 4th pregnancy, my appetite has started to open up slightly in this second trimester. Food, mostly viewed as a disgusting enemy just last week, has won it's way into at least my peripheal. After a second look at a catfish sandwich, eye tried it & actually held it down. Sweet victory! Now, it's all about sweet potato pie. Really, Granny's (R.I.P) can only truly satisfy this craving. Anybody know who makes a good one in Nashville? Even if it's your Mama, tell her we'll come pick it up.

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SICK TO DEATH

This pregnancy has me beat down & curled up in a ball like an unborn baby today. Some moments have been so trecherous that being unborn seems like an easy way out of this dilemma. Figuratively speaking of course, a set of wings would serve me best right now. That's in the event that eye could muster enough strength to actually flap & fly.

My husband & children have been incredibly supportive. Really, their love carries me through such times. What a blessing? Some folks have to go it alone. Huh bruh?

Uh oh...upset stomach in effect...gotta run!

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Not much sunshine today, but three sons & a moon child more than fill the cracks.

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BUSINESS WISE

This week began with a slew of few very successful meetings, starting bright & early Monday morning. Thankfully, the weekend has arrived to potentially save me from the challenges that have been born out of the past two days. This antemeridian has proved itself even more perplexing & frustrating. Eye look forward to the afternoon.

To hell with this music business.
All eye ever wanted to do was write.

The children are blasting "I Need You To Survive" (Hezekiah Walker & The Love Fellowship Choir) in Kana's new system. That song reaches my depth. So simple. So real. It makes all of the adversity that surrounds me feel like a bed of cotton balls.

I pray for you,
You pray for me.
I love you.
I need you to survive.

I won't harm you,
With words from my mouth.
I love you.
I need you to survive.

Speak this as your self-affirmation today. Share this sentiment with someone that matters.
Your support in this walk allows me to live. "You are important to me. I need you to survive!"

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THINK ABOUT IT

"Hot Sex" really turned me out when the Boomerang soundtrack came out my senior year in high school. Honestly, for the time, that whole collection was on point. Toni Braxton popped on the scene with a fresh female voice. Boys II Men took it over the top with "End of the Road". That joint was so big that Motown had to go back & add it to the second pressing of Motown Philly. Huh bruh? P.M. Dawn even did it big with "I'd Die Without You". Talk about crossover appeal.

But what bugs me is that in all of Tribe's career, there's not another song that even kinda sounds similar. Not one comes to mind. Hummmmh. Wonder who made that track????? Of course it's credited to the crew as most of their tracks have been, but the real heads know the real deal, or we could appropriately say, the realla dilla behind much of that story. Huh bruh?

"Good mornin'!



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We're having a party. An ALL girls party. Remember the sleepover eye mentioned earlier in the week. The young ladies stayed up until about 4 a.m. Guess who stayed up with them? We're headed to breakfast now.

...& the festivities continue...

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TRIBE.

Not the ones that Europeans say live in Africa. Not the powerful force living under the Farrell roof. Not THE tribe at all. But, A. A group of Queens Kings once bound by Native Tongues. A Tribe Called Quest .

"Bonita Applebum" rocked my socks off when it first came pumping through my walkman radio headphones. Eye recall so clearly the moment. Parked in Chemistry class, listening to this creation, ironically sitting across from a girl named Bonita. Geez! It was 1990. But in '91, the deal was sealed.

The Low End Theory blasted off in a way that would forever change the sound of rap music in my headspace. Content-wise. Rhythmically. Creatively.

In walks a young cat known by the moniker Jay Dee...

The rest...you know what it is...his story.

Sending a born day shout out to "Kangol from U.T.F.O." (a group who got my mind all twisted in the early 80's). Untouchable!

BORN AGAIN

Age nine was the only birthday party that eye ever had. One of the best years of my life actually. My mother threw a fresh house party with all of my bestest friends in attendance. Debarge was part of the mood music. A full-figured Smurfette graced the top of the monster cake. We had a real party ya'll. My babysitter's son had a major crush on me & he gifted me a Jean Nate' set with Body Splash & Powder. Eye felt so mature at nine.


Hopefully, we are providing Kana with an equally memorable experience. She asked only to go to church, the library & to dine out at Red Lobster. That's not much. Who can beat that really? Many of her friends request iPods, motor vehicles, cell phones & video game consoles. Not Kana. She's very different from her peers. We're proud to admit that, too. She's my shero!

But of course, we strive to go above & beyond, so there's a little more to it. We started her off with a magazine subscription, then a spin toothbrush (which she hinted at prior). We're going to kick it into high gear when she holds in her hand the collectable Michael Jackson 1984 Thriller doll that my husband worked so had to win on eBay. Then...on Friday, she's having an all girls Carribbean style sleepover. Tye-dye. Shelled necklaces. Plantain. The whole nine. LOL!

Speaking from the non-judgemental standpoint that Count addressed on his journal, Michael Jackson has always gotten love from me, so eye support her indulgence. Allegations aside, eye have to remind myself that really all eye know is that what eye hear. Ya heard? All eye can really say is that his music has moved her since she was two. Consistently. Infectiously. Eye also know that most of what he releases has a positive theme. That's all a parent can really expect for an artist their child chooses to admire. Be sure to note that it's in the right context. She knows the difference in the music and the man, thought they do infuse at times. She knows this first had from her own pop. Of all the high profile people that eye access in the industry, none that eye know run in MJ's camp. No, not one. So as far as we know on that other mess, innocent until proven guilty. Plus, we're not planning on sending her or the boys over to spend the month anytime soon. Dig?

We will get up in the morning (breath willing) & do this all over again for Magnificent. At two, he'll suffice with simply a little Elmo in his life. So that's who we champion as our character of the year. Elmo. That's a brother, you know? See for self...


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FULL TILT

The much needed thunderstorm taking place outside of my office window makes for incredible writing whitenoise. Considering myself the outdoorsy type, grumbling and rumbling from the clouds feels as comforting to my psyche as a full body massage to Mimi Rogers.

As a young girl, eye was intimidated by the storm. My grandmother would always tell us that God was working and that we must be reverent and submissive. We would turn off the television, ignore the phone, and sit down quietly with a book, often the Bible. Looking back, it was probably the "Power of God" that made me fear the crackling of nature. Interpreted without wisdom, the good book rivals the legend of the Bell Witch in terms of "scary-spooky".

Something To Cop: Abridged From the Book, Something To Cope will be hitting the digital scene pretty soon. Artwork design by our bottom boy [def: "from the very bottom of the map shawdy da dirty souf"]. He threw down! (We love you Unka H!)

This will preceed the book. Consider this something to cope, in the meantime.

Thanks so much for the positivity you have been sending my way.


Cover drawing by visual artist, Gibson Johnson III.


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MOCK MOON

Mothering.
Educating.
Serving.

Managing.
Phoning.
Meeting.

Documenting.
Writing.
Blogging.

Emailing.
Texting.
Spacing.

Channeling.
Sending.
Receiving.

Existing.
Surviving.
Breathing.

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