i may have lied

(about the topic of this post, being "next"--sorry)

but according to the men i've spoken to about this "lying" thing, it isn't a lie if you don't intend for it to be, and i certainly didn't intend on having a day best denoted by expletives--please trust that--but i was close to tears, literally while sitting at my desk fixing several spreadsheets for our year-end appeal

i don't even get insurance from these world-savers, go fig

why was my day so horrendous?

1-because my shoulder keeps (as in continuing as i type) having this sharp recurring pain that feels like something is being ripped through--OUCH!

2-because PMS is so real and it only gets more real as the years go by. irritable is the word of the day

3-because i was  TIRED, read: falling asleep at my desk. huge problem

and 

4-because i realized just how broke i am--very :(

BUT God...

gave me this voice and it does things to me when i can praise Him

so here are the reasons my day wasn't all THAT bad, though it was still a pretty effing not great day

i've had better...

1-because i could still sing, and when it came time for me to do it, i needed it like breath

2-because when i went to purchase the futon cover for my new futon (isn't it a blessing to be able to afford stuff you need even when you're BROKE??!?) it was the easiest transaction of my horrendous day/s ever

3-because the trains were running like butter--such an uncommon thing here in new york city, but also nicely because of the weekday thing. do not, i repeat do NOT visit new york on the weekend if you don't know where you're going or have a well educated tour guide

4-because i was able to get my granola from the health food store--it's my guilty pleasure during this hellish cleanse

5-because sometime soon, i'm gonna lay my head on a pillow on my futon with my new cover and mattress pad and all, and go to sleep

6-because my lifelong friend kamaria called me JUST when i was about to really break down--just to say hi; i believe she felt me and came to my rescue like the angel God made her to be

and

7-just because He's so awesome

word of the day: it's always good to be able to put things into perspective

no matter what you're going through, someone else has it worse--try to be a blessing to someone else when you're down. it may turn both of you around

40 dollars

tonight, 40 dollars got me the chance to see Maxwell hump a microphone stand
it's still worth it 8 years later, though i didn't pay the first time...
after the concert, 3 dollars and seventy cents got me three bags of supposed rice chips (with autolyzed yeast extract--what is that? yeast, no doubt) and a bottle of water i don't want to drink because it's cold
i do better to drink at room temp
this morning after church 4 dollars got me 4 dollars and 38 cents worth of turkey (smoked and sausalito)--don't judge me, it's this candida cleanse i'm on that has my diet all wacked out--, and a small but hearty bag of pistachios, which, by the way, i like eating in public because people like to see the challenge of the breaking open of new grounds, or different types of nuts--go fig
one thing about me, i don't like paying for food
so check this last story before i sign off:
last night, it cost me nothing but my pretty little self to get an amazing bowl of butternut squash soup and two cups of peppermint tea--read: it was FREE.99

word of the day:
be your pretty little self every day--you'd be surprised how far it'll get you

next post will be about the show i did last week with johnny voltik at solomon's porch on november 20
in short it was great--next show is december 16th at public assembly in williamsburg

today

today i'm gonna love me for me
tonight i'm gonna sing til i fall asleep
this week i'm gonna vote for change
next week i'll pray for some rain
and right now
here right now
not tomorrow but right now
i will list all the beautiful blessings that God gave to me
i will lift my voice up to the skies so one day we'll be free
i will laugh at the top of my voice i will sing
i will sing to the height of the world i will dance
i will love i will love i will love i will love me today

Who's behind the "Wassup 2008" Obama ad? Not Budweiser.

Posted by: Burt Helm on October 27

This morning when I blogged about the “Wassup 2008” Obama video, two questions sprung to my mind. First, who paid for this thing? The production values are very high – one person from Budweiser’s ad agency, DDB, estimated it could have cost as much as $750,000 (she also said DDB had nothing to do with the video). Second, how could Budweiser possibly be cool with such a clearly partisan advertisement?

After some digging, I found out. First, it cost way less than $750k. Second, Budweiser had no clue it was happening until after the video hit YouTube on Friday.

The man with the answers? Charles Stone III, the director of the original “Wassup” commercial and the movie Drumline (and the guy who answers the phone in the first frame of the video). He decided to make it about two weeks ago, he told me, with a crew of about 50 volunteers (all professionals working pro bono). They put it together in 9 days.

It was all possible, Stone says, because Budweiser never owned the rights to the idea. He’d originally made it as a short film independent of the brand, and Budweiser had only leased the rights, paying a mere $37,000 for five years of use. Back then, people gave him a hard time about the low price. Now Stone, a diehard Obama supporter, says it’s more than paid off. “That I’m able to use an idea distributed by a huge company, who made a lot of money off it, so that now when I put out what I want to say, it’s recognizable, and it sparks -- that’s worth $1 million to me.”

It came together after emailing with friends about ways they could make a video supporting Obama. Once they’d settled on the concept, he got on the phone with the original cast (all friends of his, who are now actors living in New York, Philadelphia, and LA), and called up his Director of Photography from Drumline, Shane Hurlbut, who brought in his crew. He also signed up Gerard Cantor and Maurice Marible, from commercial production house Believe Media, who co-produced. They shot over two days. The war-torn Iraq setting is actually a preexisting set in Santa Clarita, CA.

After they finished, they uploaded it to YouTube with distribution company 60Frames, set up a website, wassup08.com, and sent links to everyone they knew. As of writing this, it’s been viewed almost 1.8 million times, and picked up across the blogosphere, including on BoingBoing, Daily Kos, and Huffington Post. The final price tag? About $6500 out of his own pocket, Stone says.

http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/brandnewday/archives/2008/10/whos_behind_the.html?campaign_id=rss_daily

This is Whassup...you know

saturday morning

earlier this week, my honesty was compromised
well, better, someone tried to suggest through their questions and actions towards me that it wasn't legit enuf for them
i consider myself pretty reliable
however, that person's deciding to question my integrity, made me decide to drop them and my former commitment to them and their project

oh well?
i know we'll both get over this
it just feels a little weird
but hey, it's saturday morning
i'm supposed to be there now
i'll communicate the drop off...sometime today
probably via text message

let's just say this:
if you don't trust someone, be mindful of the situations you get yourself into with them
yea

never forget