Let's Do It Again...(Feb 22, 2011)

Peace all...

This is beginning to get serious here, I mean Q actually has 6 blogs in one month? LOL

Sitting here, watching Stand and Deliver and Lean On Me...For inspiration or kicks? You decide..lol




Anyway news from the homefront. I have another interview on BlogTalkRadio with my friend Angel Ayes of the Coach K and Angel Show. The last interview which took place over a year ago was so much fun and my friend Angel who was to be the initial host had something happen to her, and she was unable to attend the show. Coach K filled in for her and it was an exciting show. I was able to hear from some supporters and it was something to behold. I was able to expound on several issues. This time I'm slated to speak about the importance of visual art. I hope to do well.

Things are picking up for me, hoping to get some normalcy real soon, and hoping to get some DSL REEEEEEAL SOOON!

Take Care...Love Ya!

Nonstop...Don't Stop...

Peace all...

Well it's 12:42 pm, and my toes are freezing! Sitting on the floor on a Sunday January Morning watching old Andy Griffith reruns, thinking back to days where old shows like this were not placed on a DVD and/or placed in the back of the cable tv lineup...Quality entertainment, and I still find myself laughing at Otis and Barney...Some people think this reveals my age, although I disagree. Some people just are not into being bombarded with the sexual uninhibited, free floating so called contemporary entertainment. I remember in 2006 I met a young lady at my job who loved 50's music, and had a serious collection of old hits, although she was only 26 at the time...Some people just look for quality.

Anyway, good news on the homefront. After all of that worrying about losing the opportunity to gain employment, I went into the office Friday, took the test, and was able to pass, and so now my start date will be January 31st. That gives me one more week of freedom.

But who has freedom when you are an artist? I mean c'mon! As far as I am concerned I am very far behind on things I wanted to accomplish, and now I only have 7 days to show that my time off from work was not a total waste of time.

I admit I became very distracted and very depressed when things did not take shape like I wanted to last year. I began to look for instant comfort in food and online friends. I lost focus and plenty of times I wanted to chuck it in. Even at this moment I feel I am embattled, and it just gets tiring. Nothing seems to go right. This past fall a fellow artist and Facebook friend from across the seas agreed to do a swap with me. She did a beautiful painting of two Kenyan women and agreed to swap with me for one of my bags. She sent the picture via regular parcel December 9 and it has yet to arrive. We've been trying to find some information on the package, but to no avail. Very depressing for me.




I keep trying to convince myself something better is on the way, but it gets hard. It's hard for me to keep going sometimes for fear that I'm going to start all over again, and it just gets tiring. I can relate to the Roots song "Rising Down" where he says, "Yo I ain't trying to floss, yo I lost my passion, and I ain't trying to climb I done lost my passion" and "My contents Under pressure do not shake!"




I'm not complaining at all, I'm just telling it like it is. Sometimes if you don't share your feelings, your feelings will eat you up, so I put it in forms of poetry, art or blog.

I have done a couple of videos and hope to finish another one for an interview I have with a writer friend of mine, and I have plans to contact the director for the Stewpot, a collection of artists who sell their art, and give some of the proceeds to help the homeless. I hope to get some positive feedback from that.

Sabrun Jamil...

I'll keep you posted...Love y'all...Take Care.

Universal Truth

Peace all, I kinda kept this blog under wraps for a few days and almost decided to shelve it, but things pop up and well, ya know, you blow the dust off the ol' bloggy and copy and paste! Simple as that!

Got more things in store so stay tuned, oh also gotta tell you this story, it's from the so you think you have the power? department...lol

Today after a great frolick through the fields and a brisk walk through the 'hood, I came back home to find the recruiter from my job called, wanting to speak with me. I called back and left a brief message to call me ASAP. A few minutes later the recruiter called stating that she had bad news, referring to the new job position that I was slated to start this Thursday. Due to circumstances beyond their control, the class was completely cancelled. TWO DAYS before I was slated to appear! In the meantime I am going to take another test this Friday, hopefully I will pass the test. But you know the Q by now, right? It's time for ME!

Until next time, enjoy the blog...Peace!

Peace all,

It's 5:29 am and I am up doing a blog? Another one? I just completed a blog a couple of days ago and now I have another one? What is the world coming to? LOL

Anyway, this one is kinda different because it involves a recent occurrance where one of my Facebook friends made a comment that I took exception to. The person made the comment praying for women to have elder women counselers because as she asks "why do we continue to ask men for counsel when they have no idea what is in our hearts?"

I immediately replied that Truth has no gender, and while I believe women should be educated and knowledgeable, it should not reach the point of feminist slant, for that will only cause more problems. I will not go into definitions of feminism in this blog for that is another topic althogether, my main issue here is Truth.






Then the question was asked to the men, "what is it I said that was offensive to the men who replied?" which I immediately countered that I am not offended but I do take exception to the statement made. See people have tendencies to make statements out of emotions without checking for full content. I was raised mostly by my mother, most of my early life teachings were from my mother, not my father, who worked constantly during my childhood years. He taught me some things however became disenchanted with alot of decisions I made before his death, especially my choice of Islam. I have no physical blood brothers at all, and grew up for a major portion of my life playing with my sisters if my male cousins or male friends were not around at the time. Yes, I know what it is like to play with paper dolls at an early age, cutting out pictures from JCPenney and Sears catalogs, cutting up boxes and converting them into houses and cars. I played jacks(bald headed baby) and so forth. Most of my memories of family have to do with women. Grandmothers, aunts, great grandmothers and so forth. So most of my upbringing was around a female environment, and truth be told, many African American men can relate to my story in one way or another. This is one of the reasons I continue to be on lookout for the welfare of my mother and sisters despite my fathers' death. No I don't know everything that goes on in a woman's heart, but shouldn't we all be searching for that same Truth, that Same Reality, or is their a Feminine Truth and Reality somewhere that separates women from men although we claim to be human?


Truth be told I have counseled many women on issues in the past and some have sought out my assistance in matters from Islam to marriage and so forth. So you can imagine how I felt when someone makes such a blanket statement as this.




The more I think of the human being the more frustrated I become. This enigma called human being continues to open itself to many contradictions and inconsistencies. We raise the banner to one fight, and ignore another fight of similar circumstances, yet we call ourselves fighters and seekers for Truth and Justice. Our prejudices ooze from cracks and crevices we either don't see, failed to see, or ignore completely. Our specific rants which may hint to discrimination becomes law and Absolute Truth is mere opinion and propaganda. Yes I do believe in Absolutes, and no I am not a Sith.

Truth has no gender, race, age bracket, social class, or tribal affiliation, for Truth comes from the One Who created all of these things, but try telling that to the human being who makes statements such as "With age comes Wisdom" completely ignoring the crimes and atrocities created by elder statesmen, or "It's a Black thang, you wouldn't understand", ignoring the worldwide oppression of other peoples and in many cases buying into the propaganda created by imperialistic factions. Or the many statements some females use to separate humanness from their male counterparts or males who perpetrate the same offences. Different perspectives does not amount to different Truths, does it? To me, it's either Truth or Falsehood.

Frankly put it doesn't matter to me what kind of counsel I get, I've heard both sides and I've heard counsel from my elders, some of them who still called me boy as is I'm not a grown man. I have also been pretty much cast aside by family member who have encouraged the dissolving of my family, basing their conclusions on slander which they have refused to recognize their wrongdoing and have yet to acknowledge their wrongdoings. Female counselers may I add, who have suggested to these things not based on Truth but conjecture and other sicknesses in their hearts. In the end it's not about a black or white, or male and female, or rich or poor thing, it's Truth and Falsehood, well at least that's the way I look at it. Different perspectives is great, but last I check it's still the same road.

So you can keep your specific desires and requests. Just give me the Truth, it's all from God(Allah) anyway.

Back on my BEAT!

Peace All,

Sometimes you have to play the game injured! And that's exactly what I'm doing now, taking pictures of reconstruction in progress on a bum hip that I hurt, or should I say reaggravated while doing laundry last weekend. This sucka hurts soo much that raising my back while getting outta my bed is excruciating! Yet I got my gameface on, and the camera's in the bag and snap city is now in session! Although I can't quite sit up in a continuous manner to draw anything, I took the opportunity to venture outside and WHOA! SNOW!

News Flash! Snow in Texas! Again! Not as bad as last year when I woke up only to find a large branch resting comfortably on my car! LOL




I took my injured behind outside and walked 'til my heart was content. It's something about snow that makes the whole neighborhood seem so quiet and peaceful. I thought about things and new approaches to my work.


In the evening time I'm relaxing with different teas mixed with Green Tea. Today it was cups of Ginger Twist and Peppermint mixed with Green Tea. I'm sorta going back to my old ways of relaxing with teas, getting into a certain relaxed mood. Plus I'm getting my Kefir on, getting different flavors to keep it interesting. It was a very important part of my regiment in my quest to get back into tip-top shape...




Taking things one day at a time and one step at a time. Getting back into the flow.

Take care all...

RealQuwwa

Peace all,

Here is a short little promo ditty I cooked up just to show a special project of mine that I have coming in the near future, God Willing...More blogs on the way!

Now What? (Interview with myself...I KNOW...LOL)

Peace Y'all,

Thought I'd have a lil fun with this blog, so I put it in interview form. I just love interviewing myself! LOL


Q: WITH THE NEW YEAR UPON US TELL US SOME OF YOUR RESOLUTIONS.
A: I don't make New Year's resolutions

Q: AND WHY NOT MAY I ASK?
A: Well, several reasons, but let's just go with the fact that many of them will be broken shortly after they are made...lol...So why continue?

Q: OK, TELL US OF ANY FUTURE PLANS OR GOALS SET FOR THE YEAR.
A: You won't quit, will you? LOL

Q: YOU DON'T THINK THAT'S SOMEWHAT A REASONABLE QUESTION?
A: Yes, it is, but after what I experienced the later parts of last year, I have become somewhat reluctant to set goals, although I know it's great to plan ahead and put my trust in God(Allah), but I'm human...

Q: SO YOU'RE GUN SHY NOW?
A: You can call it that, but I think I am coming out of the self-created shell I made for myself. Usually when people encounter many trials in their life they have a tendency to try to shield themselves from further hurt. I know I did. They just kept coming one after the other.

Q: LIKE THE LOST OF POSSESSIONS AND SUCH?
A: Definitely, especially my means of transportation, because it symbolized achievements some people actually doubted I could do for myself. Also it came at the time I was trying to do my first exhibition, so that really shook me. To almost quitting the whole thing.

Q: SO DO YOU FEEL ANY DIFFERENT NOW?
A: I know it's all a test and I have some great support from the home front as well as friends from afar, via blogs, BlogTalkRadio, Facebook and so forth. They all encouraged me from the spiritual aspect, and reminded me of what I am supposed to be doing and Who am I doing it for.

Q: SO DID YOU WORK ON ANYTHING AFTER MISSING THE EXHIBITION?
A: In all honesty I didn't do much, mainly because other personal things came into play, as well as looking for employment, which I hope has been solved on a temporary basis.

Q: SO YOU NEVER DISCARDED YOUR ASPIRATIONS OF SELF-SUFFICIENCY?
A: You can't discard your dreams and aspirations over a few setbacks. In reality they are only setbacks if you let them become setbacks. No one is promised ease in this life and Islam teaches trials are not given to flunk, but to make self assessments, purify, teach and gear up for even bigger tasks. I can only pray that is the case with me.

Q: SO CAN YOU GIVE US A LITTLE SCOOCH OF WHAT WE CAN EXPECT OR HOPE TO EXPECT THIS YEAR?
A: Not much has been made concrete yet except for a website.

Q: YOU MEAN TO TELL ME WE ARE FINALLY GOING TO BE GRACED WITH A WEBSITE?
A: God Willing(Insha Allah) No set date yet.

Q: WHAT CAN WE EXPECT FROM THIS WEBSITE?
A: Everything hopefully. From videos to art and other items.

Q: MORE POETRY?
A: Huh? (LOL)

Q: CAN WE EXPECT MORE POETRY?
A: Depends...Most of my poems are spontaneous. I don't normally write down my poems, just like I normally don't sketch out my artwork either.

Q: SORTA FREESTYLE LIKE JAY-Z?
A: Whatever...(LOL)

Q: ANYTHING ELSE IN THE WORKS?
A: I'm working on other Blog Talk Radio interviews in the near future, more details as they come, plus I may be looking into joining a local art group called The Stewpot. The artists there sell their work and some of the proceeds go to feeding the homeless. It's similar to The Lost Ones Exhibit I was slated for last August. But we'll see about that. Again more details as they come. Right now I'm working on a video to put on my YouTube Channel. I guess you can say if I have made any sort of a resolution it is to make myself more visible than previously. It should be coming out soon, God Willing.

IT HAS BEEN A PLEASURE INTERVIEWING ME, WE MUST DO THIS AGAIN SOMETIME...LOL

ANY LAST WORDS?
A: Never give up, life is a test, and Allah has power over all things...Peace.