Reflections of an Artist: You Betta Sing Boy!

Throwbaaaack; I was in my car the other day, jammin to this song . Somebody needs to be singin this to me right about now...

Here are a few more songs I feel someone should serenad me with lol.......

Creative Juices: The New Doo!

Her hair is too cute!

I'm the type of person who gets bored from having the same look over and over again, so I'm always trying to find creative ways to change it up a bit and the best way I know how is with my hair. While looking through Essence magazine as I often do for inspiration for just about anything I was hyped to see these picture of Fatima Siad from America's Next Top Model. I loved her hair so much I just had to duplicate it; okay maybe not duplicate. I gave it my own little spin since I was not willing to cut my natural hair just to have this look for a week or two so I decide to braid mine up and sew in a few deep wave extensions to achieve this look.

Check me out...

Reflections of and Artist: Choose or Be Chosen? That is the Question.

The other day while hanging with a few friends, one of my guy friends said to me "you stay tryna holla at dudes" and for a minute I had to stop and think. At first I thought to myself, really? Cause I don't want to be seen as a "manizer" or anything like that, or come across as fast because I'm definitely not, but after giving it much thought I realized that there's absolutely nothing wrong with approaching a guy that I find attractive. Believe me I wasn't always this way. It took me a while before I even got comfortable gazing into a strange man's eyes for a long time without looking away but as you get older you learn how to be a little more flirtatious and give off that come-hither look.
Think about it; you and your friend are planning a girl's night. You get your hair done, shave your legs, paint your toes, dress up in your flyest outfit, put your make-up on, and you're smelling all good and scrumptious; You've got on your best everything (ladies y'all know what I'm talking about; when you put on you good panties and bras which nobody is even going to see) but you do it just because you want to look good from head to toe, and good God you're looking fierce. You do all this because it makes you feel glamorous and vivacious but being a single woman with time to kill, you also do it to possibly attract the eye of a handsome fellow. I know that was a corny way of putting it but hey. Ladies am I right or am I wrong?
After giving it much thought I said to myself, why the heck should I have to stand around waiting on a man to approach me because he likes what he sees. Why can't I approach a man because I like what I see? If we as women stand around waiting for these men to make the first move we'll be waiting forever, and it seems like most of the time the ones who do make a move are the ones you say to yourself "please do not come over here boo" . Ladies we work to hard to look this good all to be "chosen" So I ask the question what would you prefer, to Choose or be Chosen?

Reflections of an Artist: He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not!

I use to hear women say "Men change like the weather" and I never fully understood or experienced it until now. One day you've got a "Nigga" all up in your face and the next he's actin new. Excuse my language but I do believe niggaism does still exist, and not only in males but others as well. I believe there are three types of males you have your men, your niggas, and your boys but that's a whole nother blog. I know a lot of you are thinking maybe that's why cause you was dealing wit a nigga, but honestly I didn't know the Nigga was a nigga til he started trippin. Now back to my story, why do men do the things that they do? One day they're feelin you extra hard, calling you 24/7, texting you little sweet messages, wanting to sit on the phone with you all night having absolutely nothing to say to the point where you both fall asleep, and you wake up to the sound of snoring realizing hours later that neither of you hung the phone up, and when you say "you still there I'm bout to hang up" he's like "no don't hang up I'm not sleeping". True story ladies and I'm not even exaggerating.

You go out on you first date together, nothing fancy just a little meet and greet type spot. Yall are vibing and getting a feel for each other, you like him, he's cool but your not sure that you like him in a boyfriend type of way. It's only your first date with him and you feel butterflies that you never felt for a man, especially not that soon, but you ignore them cause you know that there's a possibility that he could be just like the rest of em. He drops you off home but you don't get out the car just yet, you stay in the car wit em for a few more hours cause yall are feelin each other that much. You play it cool but you can't resist as he gazes into your eyes and caresses your hands but you say to yourself "this dude is feelin me a little too much" just to remind yourself of your "pimp status" and to keep yourself from being vulnerable. You don't even get your foot in the door (exaggerating) and he calls you, and you know you're hype that he did but you remain cool, cause again you know what they're are capable of. You answer the phone as if you're not even fazed and the first thing that comes out of his mouth is "so what's up wit me and you?" In your head your like rewind this is all kind of sudden don't you think, but you have to admit it's making you blush. You figuratively smack yourself in order to bring your self back to pimp status and reply "what do you mean?" knowing damn well what he means and he blatantly says "I mean what's up? are we dating?" This time pimp status sets in on its own and your thinking, damn this dude is feelin me hard and it's only the first date. You go ahead a wipe the dirt off your shoulders (not really) cause you really feeling like a pimp now and you composedly say " I don't know I gotta see, you know how yall are, but you cool, we'll see". He laughs it off sayin "how we are?"

Weeks go by, yall are still vibing.You're feelin like he's your #1 and he feels the same and you know this because he gets jealous when your phone rings and your hesitant to answer, or when you mention another guy around him he sucks his teeth. You talk for hours on end about nothing. He says things to make you think that he's really feeling you hard now, like how he wants you to meet his friends. You like him but you don't wanna start a relationship with him cause hes got some extra baggage if you know what I mean. You try to pray him out of your life cause you don't agree with his lifestyle, but you really really like him more than you ever liked a guy and it almost I repeat almost feels like you love him. You get a rush when you're with him and your body responds to him like its never responded for any other man before, but you put these feelings aside cause you just can't do it, you can't fall for him. You keep you "guard" up as he slides past it with much success. You use to be a tough cookie to crack, but he's got you, you do things for him you would never do for a man cause remember this is Recie we're talking about here. Next thing you know the niggaitis set in and it was over no calls no responses. I guess that's why they say "men change up like the weather". Even to this day I have no idea why his "weather" changed and it wasn't just with him this kind of thing happened with a number of guys I talked to and I never understood it. What the hell? It's like some mystery women will never fully understand or understand at all for that matter. Guess I'll just go on being a "pimp" and doing me, cause men change up like the weather.

Obama Yall!

AMAZING!

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Reflections of and Artist: President Barack Obama

Yes We Can, and Yes We Did...to be continued.

Mood: speechless

Creative Ambition: I Gotta Have It!

The Nikon D60 (Drool). (In my brattiest voice ever) I want this camera soooo bad. I just gotta have it. It cost a grip though...Donations anyone?

Creative Ambition: Aspiring Photographer

Self-Portraits

Get Creative With It: Funky Not So Fresh Bag!

Check out this bag I customized for my best friends 25th black and white birthday party. I found it at the thrift store for only $3.00. It was originally a pale white color but after years of wear and tear from whoever the original owner was it became very faded and washed out. I wanted something kind of funky, reminiscent of Betsey Johnson's pieces. I was wearing a black dress with gold shoes and other gold accessories and needed something to match. I purchased some vanilla and gold fabric spray paint (which cost more than the bag itself) to jazzy it up a bit. I would have given the step by step instructions for you all as I did here on a previous post but I didn't have the time since I created this piece only hours before the party. The "R" is for Recie which is my nickname. Tell me what you think.

Reflections of an Artist: Scarred for Life, Yikes!

I got a tattoo.

Pretty, Pretty Paisleys

Okay, so yesterday I got a tattoo after hours of changing my mind back and forth, I finally went on and did it, and boy was it painful. I knew that I wanted something different that was a reflection of me and not some lame tattoo that I would regret later. I still can't believe I did it but I'm glad I did. I came up with the design myself!

Mood: Flabbergasted

When the madness began...

the pain, the horror...

more pain...

finishing touches (that's my lower back by the way lol). So what do you think?

Reflection of an Artist: The Definition of Love...

I was at work the other day sitting at my desk when I heard one of the youth from the organization ask a question, "What is the definition of love?" It was weird because for some reason or another I was so moved by that question, and I started to ponder, what is the definition of love?

I believe that love has an infinite number of definitions and everyone I'm sure has their own ideas about it, but here's the dictionaries definitions of Love:

LOVE:–noun
1.a profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person.
2.a feeling of warm personal attachment or deep affection, as for a parent, child, or friend.

I believe that love is so very powerful and it's something you feel deep down inside of you. You feel like your on this high and it's hard for you to swallow because you know that love has hit you hard and it's a responsibility that your not ready to take on. It's almost like a child in a sense. You have to nurture it and be very carefull with it. It's something that matures as it grows, you won't always agree with it but it's something you kind of deal with. Love is a very difficult thing, so difficult that it's hard to truly define it. What's your definition of love?

Mood: Romantic

Eutopia Moments:Do You!

Although there are some people who are absolutely content with the lives they live their are others who would perfer to live it another way. But let's face it, we all have the desire to find true love and settle down with that special person and "live happily ever after". For some of us this desire can be very strong and can become even stronger as we find ourselves at certain points and circumstances in our lives. Maybe it's at a wedding when you find yourself wishing it were you walking down the isle or at a baby shower as the happy mother to be opens up all of her little presents fit for a little baby. You begin to comtemplate how your life would be if you could too share in this joy of becoming a wife or a mother, or a husband and a father or what ever it is that you desire to be.

Some people become so driven by this desire that they rush into certain "situations" to fill this void, which wounds up becoming "more than they've bargined for" if you will. We settle for whatever saying things like "it's better than nothing" or "im getting older not younger" and we rush our lives away because we feel we have something to prove thinking things will get better with time. This ultimately set us up for failure and before we know it we're digging a bigger and bigger hole for oursleves because we thought that these were the things that would make us happy.

I'm here to say as a young women dealing with some of the same "issues" forget about all that whopla and DO YOU. Think about all the time you have for "you" that you wouldn't otherwise get having to deal with kids or a spouse. Think about this moment in which you find yourself right now putting aside all the "what ifs" and live in the now. Treat yourself to an invigorating spa treatment, plan a vacation, do all the things you couldn't possibly have done had you not been young, sexy and single no matter what age you are. Don't dwell on the things you don't have and make sure to put you as your top piority. Take the time out for you and all of your hearts desires will fall into place. It's only natural for one to feel this way. That's what make us decendents of Adam who too longed for the companionship of another being. All that's fine and dandy but for now just DO YOU!

Mood: Euphoric

"We tend to forget that happiness doesn't come as a result of getting something we don't have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have.”

~Frederick Keonig

Reflections of an Artist:Text Messaging (Sigh)

Is anyone else annoyed with text messaging? Maybe it's just me but this texting thing can become way too stressful at times. Don't get me wrong I love to text (sometimes), especially when its your only means of escape from work or a boring staff meeting, or maybe you don't care to talk, yet you crave the social interaction of a friend or loved one. And I'm sure we can all agree that texting has gotten us through some crazy situations LOL, (ladies yall know what I talking about). But when did texting replace a good old fashion phone conversation. Everything seems like it's done via text and I mean everything including "text sex" yes people "text sex". I mean there's nothing wrong with that, I may or may not have partaken in a little text sex myself here and there but the problem I'm having with texting is how it can be so misconstrued.

Have you ever gotten a text from someone perhaps a potential mate/crush or someone you haven't spoken to in a while and really could not decipher or decode what the mood or tone was behind the text. You really want to call the person but your not sure if you should for fear that maybe mistaking for a nuisance. So you text back and forth making sure to keep sweet and simple and the whole time your have no idea what his or she is really thinking. Here's an example:

Step:1 Read the following text in a friendly manner from both parties.

You: Hey wassup?

Them: Hey!

You: haven't spoken to u in a while:)

Them: yeah!

You: what r u doin?

Them: Chillen, u?

You: nothin much, chillen!

5 minute pause

You: whats nu?

Them:Nothing much...whats nu wit u?

You: Nothing much...we should hang out sometime!

Them: yeah.

Step 2: Now read the same text only this time read "Thems" part in a not so friendly manner!

See what I mean? Maybe people should incorporate a mood section at the end of their text like I do my blog entries. Just kidding but thats not a bad idea now is it?

I've come to the realization that people who only use texting as a means for fraternizing are completely lame and uncomfortable with themselves. I had this guy tell me "I just prefer to text it's much easier, instead of calling and saying what's up you can text it". I spoke to him a total of ONE time, ever other technological interaction was via text message. I guess you can kind of figure out what happened with him. Fellas... from a woman to a man, here's a bit of advise, if you genuinely like a girl and want to get to know her better, pick up the phone and call her. There's no reason why after 9 o' clock when your no longer using your day time minutes and you now have free night minutes that you should be texting instead of talking, that's just wack. And another thing if you are going to text please let a sista know what's up. how your feeling; Am I bothering you? Are you busy? Adding a little (LOL) laugh out loud or smiley face (you know the colon symbol followed by the right parenthesis) at the end of your statement would suffice :). That just lets us know that you are happy to "hear" for us. I'm not saying I'm perfect or anything, lord know I can be a crude texter without the person even noticing. The whole time I'm responding I'm rolling my eyes as if to say " If this dude don't stop texting me" and sometime my (LOL) laugh out loud's weren't meant as a flirtatious giggle but meant rather in a LOL "this loser" type of way. Anyway these are just some of the thoughts that go through my mind...the mind of an artist.

Mood:Abstracted

Reflections of an Artist: Round like a C

As you can probably tell from my photo I happen to be a voluptuous black women with a little extra baggage in the back, okay maybe more like a lot of luggage in the back. I love my body and the way that I am. Don't get me wrong I'm not perfect and there are several things I would love to change about myself physically and mentally, but all in all I'm happy with the skin I'm in. It wasn't always this way. As a child I got a lot of rap about my butt from my siblings and also my classmates. My sisters would call it a shelf because of how far it stuck out from the rest of my body and taunt me by saying " Can I sit this on your shelf?" and other smart remarks about my backside. As a child I went to predominately white school and all I heard day in and day out was "Your butt is so big" or "Why is your butt so big?" of course being an African-American my retort was "Cause I'm black". I remember being some what proud of my curves even then. I felt like my butt was a symbolization or representation of my blackness (because back then whites and everyone else didn't have butts).

As I grew older puberty set in along with all of the hormonal changes females go through and I got sick of being referred to as "the girl with the big butt" in High School. No one knew me by my name. I was aways referred to either as twin and when someone said which twin they replied "The one with the big butt". My name is Charece I wanted to scream. I have a name. I felt like no one took me seriously. I even went out with a guy who seemed to only like me for my butt. I vowed that when I got older I would get a but reduction to put an end to the ridicule and negative attention. I was sick of being the girl with the big butt. I was sick of being groped and grind on in the lunch lines. I dreaded walking pass a group of guys because I could feel them looking at my behind followed by remarks like "Sheesh" or" Damn". I was gonna put an end to this thing once and for all.

Later on in college I subscribed to this magazine since I love clothing and wonderful photography. One day while reading the magazine I came across a Nike ad with a poem called "My Butt" . This poem made me feel so powerful. It reminded me of the times when I was a kids and I'd lash back at my classmates and others who dare to say anything about my "hump". It made me feel proud to be a black women with curves. Proud to have all this booty, junk in the trunk, donkey, cake, whatever you wanna call it. I love my Big Ole Butt :)~

Mood: Pulchritudinous

To read this poem click on image to make larger.

"My Butt is big and thats just fine and those who might scorn it are invited to kiss it"~ Nike

Reflections of an Artist: I'm Back!

Wooow I haven't done this in almost a year. But as you can probably imagine I've been very busy and yes, still going through it. Where do I began??? I "draw" a blank...It is what it is guess! So many thoughts are racing through my head right now I can't even decided what to talk about first. Not that much has changed for me other than the fact that I've gotten a new job. I'm still single and not that thrilled with that(more stories to come about that in later post)but what can I say? Wow and I had so much to tell you guys too. Sorry I'll be sure to have something for you guys Monday. I'm just glad I finally got the chance to write something on here after all this time.Stay tuned!

Mood:Perplexed