Shutdowns, Breakdowns and Meltdowns (Part 2)

peace all, I was contemplating whether or not to continue this blog over the weekend, however things happen that sorta leave you in a state of getting it out there sooner than later. Faced with constant letdowns(which probably should be included in my blog title), it looks like another letdown is coming up soon, as events and exhibits keep coming thru with opportunities to exhibit my work, yet due to a lack of funds to pay for entry fees, looks like I'll be out of these exhibits, which seemed to be promising to say the least. The theme of one such event was Thinking INSIDE the box, rather than outside the box, which defined the theme as anything that contains, holds, or traps and so on...What an excellent opportunity to showcase my work, especially my ongoing Lifestyles of the Ignored Series, or so I thought...Looks like I'm not going to meet the deadline for that exhibit nor the TVAA Exhibit in November, which the theme is collage, something I'm really getting into, plus I has a piece entitled Blood, Sweat and Mostly Tears that I wanted to present there, seeing that it's a big hit over in my area, focusing on events surrounding the community, where the poor(like me) are faced with ever-fading job opportunities to take care of themselves in a decent fashion, yet finding the most ridiculous advertisments in the so-called Employment guides calling for people with mental illnesses and domestic issues to offer themselves up for research, and being compensated(or so they say) for their participation. Oh well...

So here I sit in front of my computer, listening to some beats I made and checking the employment ads again to see who can I send my resume to, so they can call and feign interest in my services, until the next discrepancy shows up on my resume, like the lack of employment in the last 3 years...Uhh ruh, if nobody hires you, what do you do?

Which leads me to another subject I wanted to touch on, this crap about the government shutting down over issues like Obamacare, or I'm sorry, Affordable Health Care....People are up in arms about this, but I gotta question...If you have no money, or not enough to cover your basic necessities like food, clothing and shelter, how does supposed affordable health care help you? You gotta take your hat off to these corporations who continually find a way to trick people, and we continue to suck it all up. Now I'm being hit with mailers from this insurance group and that insurance group, as if I can AFFORD affordable health care...oh boy...us poor folks knew what this shutdown was about to begin with, along with the supposed clinics and doctors shutting down their operations...Poor people and especially people of color have always been a pain in the side for most of the medical industry...seems to them like our color of our skin and/or social status is a clear indication of our supposed inferiority....y'all remember that book entitled "The Bell Curve"? Saw a billboard last week stating TEXAS LAW REQUIRES college students to take a meningitis vaccine...It never ends does it? The Lifestyles of the Ignored continues... until next time..... www.qartworks.com

...All I want is some innernets!

Peace all,

Let's get right to it, OK? First things first. The interview with Angel Ayes has been moved to March 7th, which gives me more time to work on my presentation, which seemed to be sorely lacking, thanks to the wonderful world of the World Wide Web.

The story goes like this...Being able to square up with some of my debts gave me the ability to seek retrieving my DSL internet back, only problem was I had switched numbers and phone companies, and you know how the monopolies go, right? I mean they swear up and down that they are no longer a monopoly, but the little companies who are only there due to deregulation from the government are still unable to be fully effective for their customers, especially when all they offer is dialup! OH BOY!

One provider says they have service for my current number, then calls back and says we are unable to validate the number, since it belongs to BLAH BLAH and BLAH, so after I sqaure up with the phone company and get a switch date, these people tell me it will take 3-5 days to validate, then another 3-5 to activate, oh these are business days too!...I searched different wireless providers figuring I would take a walk on the wild side so to speak, but that was harder than dealing with DSL...

Moving right along, I had to square up with my old provider, then re establish my account, then VOILA, RIGHT? WRONG! I spent time after time trying to contact different DSL providers, whom none could not give me any straight answer on regaining some access. The previous DSL provider, who was pretty decent if I say so myself could not validate my number, although it was the same number as before, then they told me they would have to send a new modem due to the possibility of the one I have now may not be compatible...Uh huh...

I was able to speak with my friend recently, who assured me it would be no problemo on the date change, so now it is March 7th...Hope you tune in, never know what could happen....More to come! (IA)

Take care...

...Dreaming of a White Super Bowl

Peace all! Hope you had a very Merry Super Bowl! I wish you all nothing but the best this holiday season! LOL

This holiday season was somewhat even more special, being that the festivities took place in Dallas, Tx, my hometown! That meant the city had to be decorated from head to toe in the latest holiday decorations!








A lot of money was thrown into making the visitors get that good ol' Southern Hospitality...Where they got it I don't know, I can't even get a receipt from my local library showing the return date on items I've checked out due to cutbacks in the city!



Even building that were not completed construction-wise took part in the festivities!





Then we had a nice little winter storm which almost made it a White Super Bowl...I can hear Bing Crosby singing now...I'm Dream-ing of a Whiiiiiite Super...oops wrong lyrics.

The winter storm caught everyone by surprise, even the electric company, who issued a winter emergency on Wednesday, asking mainly residents to shut down their electricity for a few hours! Wouldn't have been much of a problem, but I seriously doubt Downtown Dallas with all of its top dollar paying visitors were affected by this strategic move...

Unlike most winter holidays this holiday does not have a food drive, but people are driven to a food frenzy by all of the advertisements to party up and stock up...Friday evening was torture just trying to get some basic necessities for being bombarded with the chips-and-dippers and the beer guzzlers and wine suckers all scurrying about, in addition to the rough traffic from all of the snow and ice. I just wanted to get enough food to last through the next week...LOL

When it was all over the the buzz was filled with complaints about people not getting their seats, the failure of the transit system among other things, giving Jerry Jones reason to issue a public apology. Poor thing, he's had to apologize a lot this season, especially for the sadistic pay of a team he'd hope would be the home team in this year's Super Bowl. In the end, he'll make out big, just like the NFL, just like every bar in grill in town who overpublicized the event, and just like all of those corporations who wasted up to 3 million a pop for a 30 second slot just to show an ecstasy induced rapper advertising a car, an old cut-up face woman advertising a web hosting shop with a name that reeks of pornography, the never ending potato chip commercialism, among the other jokes that make up this feast called the Super Bowl, event in the first place.

The only ones who don't benefit are the citizens of the host city, who watch these corporate monsters claim local pride, only to move the stadiums to out of the area to the suburbs in the next 20 years, only after they've booted residents out and bought up the area to build stadiums with corporate kiss-ass suites.

In closing I think back to last years' Super Bowl between New Orleans and Indianapolis. One was sure that the Katrina tragedy would be a storyline used to show how the city of New Orleans "overcame" adversity, but in the end Katrina was hardly mentioned, if it ever was mentioned at all. No memorial for the victims, no mentioning of the many residents still living in FEMA trailers being threatened to leave the trailers. Just "WHO DAT?"

Do these teams really represent the cities?



Happy Holidays Y'all...

...Quandry (Black Haunting)

Peace all,

Sometimes being a clutterbug(such as me!!!) has it's downers. Take today for instance. After feeling good about labelling my next project Black Haunting, some of the ideas I have for the project spurred into another direction, and ANOTHER project came about, one I'm thinking of entitling What Was It All For Anyway? I think both of these will really be interesting in scope and range, as well as content, and I'm sure it will be one that not too many people would want to talk about initially. But that's me right? Always into something, always causing trouble...Tee hee hee!!!

I am in my best mood right now after recovering from what looked like a down point in my life. Missing the exhibit, The Lost Ones, one that Joanna worked so hard in getting to happen, and one that I wanted to participate so badly made me take a hard look into wondering if I should continue on. But even more sad were the incidents that took place which resulted in my abscence. I usually don't place my personal feelings and incidents online, however I feel this one needed to be stated in order for me to move on with my life.

Two weeks before the exhibit my car was repossessed for late payments. I had been searching for ways to pay for the car as well as looking for a job after leaving my last job, (an issue which some people are still trying to second guess to this day) but was unable to come up with any solution. I went through several ordeals to get this car, and to find out it was taken away really hurt me. I had left some personal belongings and some clothes in the car at the time it was repossessed. In order to retrieve those items I had to borrow my mother's car, drive 60 miles out of Dallas and back to retrieve my belongings.

I tried to look for employment opportunities to keep the car and my personal finances in good standing, but nothing happened. I searched and prayed for relief and kept toiling about. Finally I asked some relatives(who are very able mind you) to front me a loan until I can get back on my feet in order to redeem the car and to help with some basic needs. At first I was told that the check would be in the mail and I would get it the next day. I cried and thanked God(Allah) thinking this would save my car, and help with some basic needs until I can get back on my feet.

A couple of hours later I received a call from their son pretending to ask questions about what happened at my previous jobs, why I left those jobs or was fired, and what the future hold for me(which only God can answer that). He says we was trying to help me find some work or some leads, as if he was sincere. I honestly told him what happened and my aspirations for doing my own thing as well. The very next day I received a package with some old dates and a printout of a narration from Prophet Muhammad(S) about how the person's sustenance was written in the womb of the mother 120 days after conception and NO CHECK. This statement is true, but the circumstances behind why this happened are fishy. The rest of the story is too hard to tell, and too hard to think about.

In any case I lost my car, among other things, and now I am somewhat starting from scratch, but I have not lost my zeal and my drive in any way. Actually many of the current events are the catalyst for my newest projects. And these trials that I go through make me stronger for handling bigger problems that may come my way in the future.




Keep moving forward...