17 March 2009

"I'm hopelessly hopeful, you're just hopeless enough" -Fall Out Boy

Welcome back to another segment of "Good Music Makes You Homesick for A Place You've Never Been" ~ N. Wells

Hopeless - Dionne Farris from the movie Love Jones


"It's Been A Long Time...We Shouldn't Left You Without A Dope Beat to Step To" - Timbaland


So I guess I took a leave of absence from blogging. The last two weeks of the quarter were mad crazy! However, I think i handled them all pretty well. I think I clowned my finals even though I had them both on the same day back to back. I also found out that a whole case against me got dismissed...like just completely dismissed...which was AMAZING. Other Cool Things To Happen: I listened to The Dream's Love VS. Money and I love it...and can honestly say The Dream is one of my favorite artists...sometimes you have to see what an artists longevity is going to be because you don't want to get your hopes to be let down...but Love vs. Money is hot and getting me extra crunk for SPRRRRIIING. Which I am more than ready for. My Word of the Week will have to sum up the last two weeks a little bit more elegantly but for now this will have to do.

Peace&Much Love,
Jessalaine

04 March 2009

"It's like a house arrest in love..."

Venus is in retrograde for like the next six weeks. (sidenote: I don't get into horoscopes that much but I do get into them...if that makes sense...) Which means that it is a "time for romantic reruns and replays." Reading the article on what it Venus in retrograde mean made me a little salty but it was insightful. Insightful enough that I wanted to share it....

I.D.K....read the article though it's pretty cool. May explain why you've been feeling a certain way lately....It definitely did that with me.

"...I'd never fallen in love, though I'd stepped in it a few times..." - Rita Rudner

Click the quote for the article about Venus in retrograde. Holler.

Peace&MuchLove,
JessalaineJessalaine

"...Makes You Homesick for A Place You've Never Been..." N.Wells

"Good music makes you homesick for a place you've never been." N. Wells

This song is truly one of the songs that personify that quote. This song is so poetic and sweet to me. this song makes me feel all warm and ish on the inside.


I love this song

***Meet Noel Gourdin***"The River"


02 March 2009

"Young cat! If you keep your eyes open enough, Oh, the stuff you will learn! The most wonderful stuff!" - Dr. Seuss

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!!!!!!!!
"Nonsense wakes up the brain cells. And it helps develop a sense of humor, which is awfully important in this day and age. Humor has a tremendous place in this sordid world. It's more than just a matter of laughing. If you can see things out of whack, then you can see how things can be in whack." - Theodor Suess Geisel b.k.a Dr. Seuss

(Check out Google's salute to Mr. Seuss. ^ABOVE^)

Oh, The Places You'll Go!
by Dr. Seuss

Congratulations!
Today is your day.
You're off to Great Places!
You're off and away!

You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself
any direction you choose.
You're on your own. And you know what you know.
And YOU are the guy who'll decide where to go.

You'll look up and down streets. Look 'em over with care.
About some you will say, "I don't choose to go there."
With your head full of brains and your shoes full of feet,
you're too smart to go down any not-so-good street.

And you may not find any
you'll want to go down.
In that case, of course,
you'll head straight out of town.

It's opener there
in the wide open air.

Out there things can happen
and frequently do
to people as brainy
and footsy as you.

And then things start to happen,
don't worry. Don't stew.
Just go right along.
You'll start happening too.

OH!
THE PLACES YOU'LL GO!

You'll be on y our way up!
You'll be seeing great sights!
You'll join the high fliers
who soar to high heights.

You won't lag behind, because you'll have the speed.
You'll pass the whole gang and you'll soon take the lead.
Wherever you fly, you'll be best of the best.
Wherever you go, you will top all the rest.

Except when you don't.
Because, sometimes, you won't.

I'm sorry to say so
but, sadly, it's true
that Bang-ups
and Hang-ups
can happen to you.

You can get all hung up
in a prickle-ly perch.
And your gang will fly on.
You'll be left in a Lurch.

You'll come down from the Lurch
with an unpleasant bump.
And the chances are, then,
that you'll be in a Slump.

And when you're in a Slump,
you're not in for much fun.
Un-slumping yourself
is not easily done.

You will come to a place where the streets are not marked.
Some windows are lighted. But mostly they're darked.
A place you could sprain both your elbow and chin!
Do you dare to stay out? Do you dare to go in?
How much can you lose? How much can you win?

And IF you go in, should you turn left or right...
or right-and-three-quarters? Or, maybe, not quite?
Or go around back and sneak in from behind?
Simple it's not, I'm afraid you will find,
for a mind-maker-upper to make up his mind.

You can get so confused
that you'll start in to race
down long wiggled roads at a break-necking pace
and grind on for miles cross weirdish wild space,
headed, I fear, toward a most useless place.
The Waiting Place...

...for people just waiting.
Waiting for a train to go
or a bus to come, or a plane to go
or the mail to come, or the rain to go
or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow
or the waiting around for a Yes or No
or waiting for their hair to grow.
Everyone is just waiting.

Waiting for the fish to bite
or waiting for the wind to fly a kite
or waiting around for Friday night
or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake
or a pot to boil, or a Better Break
or a string of pearls, or a pair of pants
or a wig with curls, or Another Chance.
Everyone is just waiting.

NO!
That's not for you!

Somehow you'll escape
all that waiting and staying
You'll find the bright places
where Boom Bands are playing.

With banner flip-flapping,
once more you'll ride high!
Ready for anything under the sky.
Ready because you're that kind of a guy!

Oh, the places you'll go! There is fun to be done!
There are points to be scored. There are games to be won.
And the magical things you can do with that ball
will make you the winning-est winner of all.
Fame! You'll be as famous as famous can be,
with the whole wide world watching you win on TV.

Except when they don't
Because, sometimes they won't.

I'm afraid that some times
you'll play lonely games too.
Games you can't win
'cause you'll play against you.

All Alone!
Whether you like it or not,
Alone will be something
you'll be quite a lot.

And when you're alone, there's a very good chance
you'll meet things that scare you right out of your pants.
There are some, down the road between hither and yon,
that can scare you so much you won't want to go on.

But on you will go
though the weather be foul.
On you will go
though your enemies prowl.
On you will go
though the Hakken-Kraks howl.
Onward up many
a frightening creek,
though your arms may get sore
and your sneakers may leak.

On and on you will hike,
And I know you'll hike far
and face up to your problems
whatever they are.

You'll get mixed up, of course,
as you already know.
You'll get mixed up
with many strange birds as you go.
So be sure when you step.
Step with care and great tact
and remember that Life's
a Great Balancing Act.
Just never foget to be dexterous and deft.
And never mix up your right foot with your left.

And will you succeed?
Yes! You will, indeed!
(98 and 3/4 percent guaranteed.)

KID, YOU'LL MOVE MOUNTAINS!

So...
be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Bray
or Mordecai Ali Van Allen O'Shea,
You're off the Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting.
So...get on your way!



01 March 2009

Word of the Week

Adamantine - adjective 1: made of or having the quality of adamant 2: rigidly firm: unyielding 3: resembling the diamond in hardness or luster

This week's word is brought to you by my analytical musings this past week. Have you ever had the feeling that people were just waiting for you to crack, break, and/or fall? And it's not to sound or look paranoid, like you're thinking that everyone is out to get you. The paranoid are mentally weak, so I'm talking to those that are strong mentally, or at least understand the perspective of the mentally strong.

It is so hard, I feel, for people to live in the world today...I only know the battles I face and the things I go through on the daily so I always imagine about what another person may be going through at the same given time. I think it's even harder to be not shaken from the foundation which you stand on comfortably in the world that we live in today. There is always some test or some individual testing you. I feel like I've grown so much from the things I've gone through in this extra short life of mine (22 precious years...) that I've noticed how much does not get to me. And the funniest thing to me is to watch people behave in a manner that they are expecting is going to have some effect on you. It's is pure entertainment and it brings a little joy to my heart when I notice the mess and allow it to not affect me because it shows that I'm truly at a place in my life where no matter how the water is flowing I remain steadfast 'like a tree planted by the rivers of water.' I don't think it was easy to get to that place and I think I have a little bit more to probably experience before I can securely say that that place is a permanent position for myself. There are definitely still things that shake me up, but they just fail to remove me completely from my foundation.

You have to learn how to apply appropriate 'weight' to the situations and people in your life. Because there are somethings and people who just shouldn't be given any sort of opportunity that they can affect your being. If they get that opportunity, you have to believe that they are going to make the most of it because it what feeds their self esteem and self worth. There are people in this world that only feel good because of the "failures" of the people around them and I think that is extremely sad. That's why, like Katt Williams said, "we have to be in tuned with our star player." You have to do whatever it takes to be unbreakable because there will always be someone in your life, most likely wearing the disguise of a 'friend,' waiting for someone to falter in order to feel better about their own life.

I think it's important to possess adamantine qualities because it's important for making your way through this thing called life. By showing that you are 'unbreakable' you help encourage another person to carry themselves in a similar manner. 'Life comes at you fast'....literally. The only way you will make it through when the winds of change are fiercely blowing is to be unyielding. Believe in yourself and your purpose...BELIEVE IN YOURSELF AND YOUR PURPOSE. If you don't believe, you will have a hard time convincing and getting other people to believe. The ocean of life's waves will never cease their motions so the only thing you can do is grow to be strong enough to resist those waves. Some waves that you encounter in life aren't meant to do much but pass through/by you. Some people you meet in life aren't meant to do much but come in for a short period (when compared to the long run) and then leave just as swiftly as they came in. Which is why one needs to be strong and unmovable because those kinds of waves/people could come through and cause you to falter when all they were meant to do is pass through without any interruptions to your life. It's important to notice, recognize, and acknowledge these characters, or jokes as I commonly refer to them. Confrontation isn't always necessary. Don't let them take your shine, because at the end of the day the part they play in your overall purpose is minuscule. Anybody that plays a major role in the overall picture of your life acknowledges and respects the strength you have and do things that only help to grow that strength.

This world will get to you if you let it.

Be strong for yourself and everyone else past, present, and future that needs to see an individual like yourself be strong.

"And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper." Psalms 1:3

Peace&Much Love,
JessalaineJessalaine

It's AMAZING....

Watch This First! For Real, don't even read the post if you don't have the 8 minutes and 20 seconds it takes to go through this whole CLIP!!!!!

It's AMAZING how people still front on Kanye. There are people in this world that like Kanye West's music yet still fix their mouths to talk about they don't like how "cocky" he is. I feel that anybody that likes Kanye's music should like the individual that Kanye West is because I feel that he puts so much of himself out there on every single one of his albums. For real, go back and actually listen to the College Dropout and he basically introduces himself in an almost brutally honest kind of way. He called himself an asshole ("why you think me and Dame cool? we aaasssssholes" - "Get 'em High" ft Talib Kweli & Common) and even wraps about his love for the material things in "All Falls Down." I had a friend once tell me that "people tell you who they really are. we just don't listen." and that is so true. You love Kanye so allow yourself to be okay with someone that is confident enough with themselves that they can put themselves out there confidently. Quit Frontin' or using his confidence as a scapegoat for your own insecurity. I'm so over these Kanye Haters....Respect His Gangster. It's okay to love yourself and feel yourself...just don't believe your own hype.

But I wanted to write a post simply because I watched his episode of Storytellers on VH1 last night, and honestly I thoroughly enjoyed it. The "Amazing" segment was my favorite part, which is why I included in this post. He said he wanted to show us how he had grown through his music and he definitely did that. It was everything I needed to see...I effin' loved it and only wish that I could have been there to experience it live.

You know how damn near every kid has some musical artist that they grew up listening to because of their parents. I can promise and pretty damn near guarantee that for my children will come to know and love Kanye West at the tenderest of ages. Maybe his genius will inspire the genius in them.

THIS IS IMPORTANT: IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE STORYTELLERS EPISODE....IT IS TO YOUR BENEFIT TO WATCH IT AND ALLOW YOURSELF TO BE INSPIRED. It was AMAZING...but I do know how my opinion could seem biased...but if you don't watch it...it's your loss for reals. Click Here to watch the full show...or at least most of the show...hopefully it'll be on sale on iTunes

27 February 2009

"while the DJ sweatin' out all the problems and the troubles of the day" - Andre 3000 (OUTKAST)


Blame It ft. T-Pain - Jamie Foxx

Can't Help It. This is my song for the moment. It's one of those songs that you know gets everyone hyped up and dancing on those good clubbin' nights.

Here's another one to get you right....

Rockin That Thang - The-Dream

Anybody that's every seen Dazed and Confused knows the part where that guy is in the back of the car riding around talking about what he wants to do with the rest of his life after high school and he says "I just wanna DANCE!!!" I love that part and I feel him completely.

Oh and I love dancing by myself, but when there's a guy dancing with me and the DJ is on point, the guy's ON POINT and I'm on point (as usual...lol...at least I try to be and if I'm not...blame it on ah-ah-ah-ah-alcohol) then it's just theee BEST. I love music but music is a hundred times more enjoyable when I'm grooving to it.

Oh well, this was a random blurb. Hope you enjoyed it :)

Peace and <3
Jessalaine

26 February 2009

You'd Be Suprised To Know......

Note: This is another new reoccurring addition to my blog. Enjoy
Peace&MuchLove,
JessalaineJessalaine



--> That I consider Jay-Z an inspirational rapper.

His Unplugged album is the reason I prefer live bands for rap concerts,

Can't Knock The Hustle gets me crunk and ready for LIFE!
Why?
Cuz you Can't Knock the Hustle. Holler.


25 February 2009

Say What????

"I'd rather have a stable head on my shoulders than a so so situation on my arms"
-A.Thomas

Embrace the Martian - Kid Cudi


I suggest everyone get hip. Quickly. You can get his mixtape A Kid Named Cudi by clicking the link. But hey I'll go ahead and embed the ish right now so you can taste it before you love it. :)

Kid Cudi is that ISH! Like for reals. He's super duper cool.

Peace&MuchLove,
Jessalaine
"Is there any loove in this world? Is there any loovee in this wooorrrld?"

(Random but I was trying to post this freestyle he did but it didn't work. It was the whole reason for this post.)

RESEARCH: www.kidcudi.com = his website www.kidcudi.com/news = blog




Just So You Know: Man on the Moon = My favorite The Prayer is a close second, it's beautiful.
But I literally love this whole mixtape. Like I fucks with Kid Cudi. Pardon my language...but I.D.K how else to explain it.

23 February 2009

Musiq Soulchild Covering the Beatles

This is a major sidetrack from doing homework for me. However, I do not care since I have been looking at these statistics that this program spit out for at least an hour attempting to figure out how to interpret them.....anyways.....I was listening to Pandora while staring at the statistics and I heard this beautiful cover of one of my favorite Beatles songs...so beautiful that I think I like it better than the Beatles version..maybe. It was just so pretty and it made me want to go get in my bed and let it rock me to sleeeeeppp. Either way, enjoy.

Peace & Much Love
JessalaineJessalaine



Something - Musiq




22 February 2009

Homesickness brought to me by Good Music

"Good music makes you homesick for a place you've never been." -N. Wells


ANTHONY HAMILTON, "COMIN' FROM WHERE I'M FROM"



Word of The Week

Gratitude - (n) the state of being grateful: THANKFULNESS

This week's word is brought to you by the sheer annoyance draped over what would be a rather cheerful disposition.

One lesson that I have truly learned the hard way as a student here at The Ohio State University is that "Misery Loves Company." I can't think of how many times I've heard or had to be a part of conversations that were full of nothing but complaints. I feel like I actually was willingly an attendee of these pity parties until I realized exactly what was happening. During a conversation with my mama where I was breaking down a lot of the things that were going on around me during my Junior year, she said, "Jessalaine, the worst thing you can do for yourself is surround yourself with people that feel sorry for themselves." I definitely heard what she said but I definitely didn't change the group of people I was hanging around...at least not immediately. I consider myself to be a very caring individual and I want to help out anyone that I can and I feel that I attempt that more often than not. So I don't mind hearing about things that may be getting to people because maybe I can say some words of encouragement that will help them get past whatever is holding them down. However, what can you do when you start sounding like a broken record? I'm getting tired of running around the same territory (issues) in my own life, and I'm finding it hard to keep running around the same territory of those closest to me as well. There is no progress in that and as I mentioned in a previous post, right now I'm only concerned with PROGRESS.

Like I said, I used to be a consenting attendee of these complaining sessions. In some ways I think that I felt more relieved because at least I got to talk about what was weighing me down. But at the end of the night when I laid my head down there were no solutions, only those same problems that I had been speaking about moments earlier floating around my head. There was nothing proactive in these little pity parties that we were so comfortable in throwing for ourselves. I feel that is what held me back so much this past year and a half of my life. So once I realized what was going on....how I was so down about all the negative things flying around...I stopped and realized ALL THE GOOD that surrounded me too. I decided to put my energy into the beauty and the blessings in my life. That way when the negative pushed on me a little and maybe even knocked me down, I had put so much energy into the good & positive that the negative couldn't keep me down long and I could get back up and start working on changing the negative to positives...I could get past whatever was hurting me because I saw all the things around me and in my life that brought a smile to my face and encouraged me to keep it moving because there are more good things down your path.

Everything I'm grateful for, makes me want to cry because I am that GRATEFUL. I'm even grateful for all the great things that have already been preordained as mine but I have not been allowed to see yet. I don't think a 'weight' should be assigned to individuals problems. But I do know that in the last three months alone, I have gone through some stuff I never would imagine that I would have to go through. I got arrested and I'm even facing a trial date now because they want me to plead to an act I know I did not commit. This has been hanging over my head since the weekend before Christmas...literally hanging over my head, but I feel that I have not yet allowed it to break me. I don't even give that situation the energy it wants because I know that GOD has brought me THIS FAR in life, through trials and tribulations and many blessings, and He isn't about to leave me now. Throughout all of this crap coming at me...I'm still so grateful and happy to be alive and happy that I'm making moves to change the situations of those I love the most.

We waste so much of our life being miserable and we are the only ones making ourselves miserable because we have the ultimate power to remove ourselves from these situations that cause us strife. So many less than desirable situations came my way this week alone, but I didn't have to complain to anyone because every day I was reminded of the beauty that surrounded me and the great things that were in my life. I'm so grateful for the things I'm grateful for because they give me an opportunity to reside in a place of joy. I think when you find yourself getting down about a specific situation or situations, you should literally hit your brain's pause button and start counting all the things and reasons you have to be grateful. If you need help, let the number one thing you're grateful for be that you were able to wake up that morning with full use of your body's capabilities...because some people don't get that luxury morning after morning. Let it flow from there.

Let's make a commitment to be more grateful, because things could always be worse. Show some gratitude to the life that you have been given. Because in the blink of any eye that life could be gone. Show gratitude to the people, places, and things that your are thankful for...because they could be gone one day too.

It's cool to talk about the things that are getting to you with your friends because that is one of the things friends are for. You feel relief once you've shared what you're going through with someone that will understand you. However, only solutions and productive advice should be the result of those kinds of conversations. However, if your friends aren't helping you overcome the situations you are bringing to them by being proactive and giving productive advice...then you probably should look into changing the friend or friends you go to with problems.

When people are shown appreciation (gratitude) they feel great about themselves or what they have done. So allow yourself to feel great and show yourself some gratitude.


Let's use our lives more wisely :)

Be Thankful,
Much Love,
Jessalaine



21 February 2009

"Lauryn Hill Said Her Heart was in Zion......." - Kanye West

"...I wish her heart still was in rhymin." - Kanye West

"Word." - ME!

Peace and Much Love,
JessalaineJessalaine

(SIDENOTE: I have a theory that every real female has an "ex-factor" type love at least ONCE in her life. It makes one stronger.)



17 February 2009

"I hope You're more like ANITA BAKER than Robin Givens" - Andre 3000

"Good Music makes your homesick for a place you've never been." N. Wells

I must say that Anita Baker is one of the most powerful singers among the singers that I enjoy. All of her songs remind me of the evenings my mom had to pick me up from high school because of one thing or another that I was involved in. They always played her music during "the quiet storm" portion that the smooth jazz and r&b station played. The memory is like characterized by feeling chilly but warm because of the heat coming from the vents in the car. I think that is a perfect feeling for Anita Baker, because her music truly does make you feel warm on the inside.

Here ya go! Enjoy! REALLY...ENJOY THIS! It's a live performance!

"Free Yourself From Mental Slavery" Bob Marley

Have you ever had one of the moments where you did something and the moment after you were just able to breathe a little better?? I just had one of the moments and it came from me deactivating my Facebook account. I feel like it was just something that honestly helped strengthen all the chains and things binding up my thoughts. I used this metaphor to describe why I wanted to remove some people from my friends list but in the end it helped me justify to myself why there was no time like the present to let go of facebook...here it is: "If a crack addict was trying to stop using crack and free themselves from their addiction, would they throw away all the drugs and disconnect from all their dealers but keep the crack pipe?" Facebook was my 'crack pipe.' It was the tool I used to feed my addiction(s) and now that I have officially thrown away my 'crack pipe' I feel like I can truly move on from everything that I was trying so hard to just keep myself and my thoughts away from.

I just think it's important that we do free ourselves from those things that just seem to engulf us..those things that we feel are, or have determined to be, negative. I am my own worst critic and you wouldn't believe the things I beat myself up over. Instead of just walking away and learning from my mistakes, I just revisit the situations in my mind and beat myself up a little better than the time before. There is no progress in that and at this point in my life I'm interested only in PROGRESS. I'm desperate to move on past undergraduate and get into the world and start putting things into motion that will help me fulfill my overall purpose on this earth. It's good that I self-evaluate but I shouldn't beat myself up. I should self-evaluate for learning purposes only because re-evaluation doesn't get you anywhere closer back to the point in time your evaluating...it doesn't get you any closer to changing what has already occurred.

When your mind is being enslaved it adds a weight that you don't need added to the load you are already carrying. You can have an open mind but if there are chains hanging from your mind, you are bound to get caught up on something. So it just holds you up as you walk along your path. It's unnecessary and once you take the action to free your mind, the effect of that freedom is almost immediate. It's literally like you can just breathe a little bit easier. I find joy knowing that I will be breathing a little bit easier tonight when I lay my head down. My Facebook just became something that I would never intended for it to be, so even though I was able to keep in touch with my close friends because I'm not a big talker on the phone, it still had parts that kept my mind stuck in the prison that I was allowing it to sit in.

I just think it was a step in a good direction. I don't miss it. I wonder if I start to but either way I know that it was definitely a step in the right direction.

Really..."FREE YOURSELF FROM MENTAL SLAVERY, NONE BUT OURSELVES CAN FREE OUR MINDS!" -BOB MARLEY ....He was really onto something...he was onto a lot of things in my opinion and you can learn more than a few truths from the man.

Peace and Much Love,
Jessalaine

15 February 2009

"Good Music Makes You Homesick for a Place You've Never Been" --N. Wells

NOTE: I'm adding new reoccurring features to my blog. Here is one of them. You'll know which reoccur by the reoccurring titles, or variations of the same title.

Peace&Much Love,
Jessalaine

Raphael Saadiq
"Sometimes" from album The Way I See It


Word of The Week

Note: This is another reoccurring part of my blog. It should be posted at some point during the week that the word is for. However, this first one is being posted on the Sunday following the week the word is for. (Hopefully that made sense to you.)

WORD of THE WEEK:
NEGLIGENCE -
(n) 1 a: the quality or state of being negligent b: the failure to exercise the care that a reasonably prudent person would exercise in like circumstances
2: an act or instance of being negligent

"There are no repercussions for their negligent lifestyle." - D.L.

My word for this week is NEGLIGENCE. Basically because I spent a lot of time discussing and observing the negligence that seems to be all over our world these days. I'm by no means intending to judge any of the characters or situations that I may mention in this post because I have experienced many things it seems as a fault of my own negligence. That said I think everyone is negligent or has been negligent more times than we all like to admit. It takes a pretty conscious effort to not be negligent and one definitely has to be "in tune with their star player."
...ALL I KNOW IS... that nothing good ever comes from being negligent. For example, my own negligence landed me in an emergency room in so much pain. And I am the one that will ride out each and every one of my sicknesses so for me to have to go to the emergency room was a low point. The repercussions for my negligence even extended past the point when they released me because I had a serious come down off the drugs they gave me while I was in there as well as a arm that was EXTRA sore from the part of the visit that the nurse tried unsuccessfully to find a vein in my arm for an IV. No one was responsible for my 'ailments' but my own self not taking care of myself. All is well now but it really just sucked. However, I encounter people all the time that have less than desirable effects from their negligent behavior and instead of holding their own negligence responsible they find the need to fault everyone or everything else. I guess that only irritates me because one of my pet peeves is someone's irresponsibility that affects other individuals. And more often than not a person's negligence has some direct and/or indirect effects on a person or people. Sometimes we can see these effects and sometimes we can't, either way it is still so easy to walk away from or keeping walking past our negligent behavior...is it because we just don't care? It just baffles me.

Negligent behavior costs. It costs people money, health, happiness...the list could go on... And to scare those that don't get my point just yet, Sexually Transmitted Diseases are a result of what? Negligent behavior on both sides of the equation.

When you engage in negligent behavior or decisions you should at least be responsible enough to cop to your own negligent behavior and not use a scapegoat or other lame excuse. Negligence is not an excuse for any behavior or choices. However, responsibility could probably cover all negligence. If someone was to take responsibility for their own actions then whether they were being negligent or not doesn't really matter, it could all be chopped up to a person making a bad decision which we all make at one point or another in life.

Here's an example: Supposedly Ray J got one of his "For the Love of Ray J" contestants, Danger, preggers. This is not only bad for Ray J ("better choose the right one, or pick, pick the kiddies up" - international players anthem, UGK & Outkast) but let's think about the child that will have to grow up knowing that he is a product of a reality show. And not just any reality show, but one of the wildest ones ever to come to television. He's going to have to see the show at some point in life. I wonder what that is going to do to the child's psyche. I mean he may fill that he has to be promiscuous like because that is what he clearly came from or he may be really embarrassed and develop all sorts of issues that will have lasting effects on his life and love. And the only repercussion that may come from this negligent decision is either Ray J dropping dollar dollar bills for child support which may not be an issue for him because he's famous and probably can drop that cash without too much resentment.

IDK....I just think that we as a society can be more careful and conscious about the decisions that we make. The effects aren't always immediate and sometimes they are lasting when we chose to do things that aren't among our better options. I had a teacher in high school that dismissed us with the phrase, "Make good decisions." Let's make better decisions people. We could all make an effort to acknowledge and be aware of the possible consequences that specific decisions will bring about. I think it would better society in the long run.

Let's just do better. I mean, why not?



I hope this post made some kind of sense...my brain is all over the place because of my present circumstance (to be the inspiration of some post to come I'm sure....). Either way I hope you enjoyed my first Word of the Week...I'm thinking they'll probably only get better so Stay Tuned :)

Much Love,
J.E

11 February 2009

Say What?????

Note: I'm going to start posting quotes and such to my blog that I really like or find interesting or just want to put on my blog. Saaaaaay WHAAATTTTT???  
Peace&MuchLove,
Jessalaine :)


"I don't know half of you half as well as I should like; and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve."  ~J.R.R. Tolkien
^^I have found a number of people in my social circle that at the end of the day, get on my last nerves.  I still like them it seems but it also seems that I can only handle them in doses.  Overall, it tickles me as well at the end of the day.



"Cease trying to forgive those who wronged you.  Aim to kill the self within, not until then will you find there is nothing that even remembers the injury"
^^This quote somes up a message I received around New Years Eve and it was truly the best advice I had gotten in taking steps in the right direction.  Holding grudges and resentment only affects (or at least disproportionately affects) the holder.  You have to free yourself and breathe again. :)

09 February 2009

"Am I really a tiger??? I don't feel like a tiger...."

I definitely think "It's Pimpin' Pimpin'" is my favorite Katt Williams stand-up. He really hit on some good points, especially about haters and looking out for your **Star Player**

Watch the clip, It's a Free Laugh. So why not?


05 February 2009

Fighters - Lupe Fiasco Ft. Matthew Santos from "The Cool"




I cannot lie, this is how I feel about life sometimes. It's just a great song...but it's from Lupe so what should one expect right?



Peace
Jessalaine

04 February 2009

Solomon's Song

I read the Song of Solomon (a book in The Bible) yesterday and just thought it was beautiful...as beautiful as the spontaneous conversation that put me on to this book in The Bible. The whole book is basically a love song that Solomon wrote to his Beloved. This part that I really like is the Beloved's (Solomon's Number One) discussion of a dream she had, during one of the periods of separation that they experienced. Here it goes in the New International Version:

Song of Solomon 3:1-5

1 All night long on my bed
I looked for the one my heart loves;
I looked for him but did not find him.

2 I will get up now and go about the city,
through its streets and squares;
I will search for the one my heart loves.
So I looked for him but did not find him.

3 The watchmen found me
as they made their rounds in the city.
"Have you seen the one my heart loves?"

4 Scarcely had I passed them
when I found the one my heart loves.
I held him and would not let him go
till I had brought him to my mother's house,
to the room of the one who conceived me.

5 Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you
by the gazelles and by the does of the field:
Do not arouse or awaken love
until it so desires.


For Real, this passage is so AMAZING to me...I think it's beautiful and poetic and speaks on the human Love that you can't really find a story about anywhere else in the Bible. Song of Solomon might be one of my new favorite books in the Bible. I read the Bible to learn, but learn how it can be applied or compared to a situation that I may be experiencing. My Mom always said "There's nothing new under the sun." So I figure, the Bible is probably the best guide to navigate through all the madness.

Enjoy.

Peace&Much Love, of course,
Jessalaine :)

SIDENOTE: Right now, I'm listening to "Let's Get Lifted" by John Legend...and I think it's quite appropriate in relation to this post. and "Show You How" by The Killers followed....ha. Love that song...it's a great song.

"Are you OOOKKKAAAYY Little Maan???"

Probably THEE Funniest Thing I've ever watched on television. I kept this episode of VH1's greatest pranks on my DVR last year FOR THE LONGEST!! And it never fails each time!

Enjoy the laugh :D




Respect HER Gangsttaaaaaaaa!

Estelle - Wait A Minute (Just A Touch)




Notes:
- Her outfit is EXTRA CUTE! Like I want to wear something like that one day! Who's her styyyylist?
- this is a personal theme song.
-Estelle is that CHICK!!!! For real, she definitely helps fill the void that Ms. Lauryn Hill left..you know when she peaced out on us.

02 February 2009

did i ever mention how much i HEART Joss Stone.......

check out her albums. yes...all of the albums, every song. they're all good...sure some are better than most...but they're allllll gooooood.

here's a musical treat...this song motivates me for life (translation: motivates me for most anything)
performance:











CLICK HERE FOR FULL ALBUM VERSION OF SONG ON YOUTUBE

Everyone Has Strength

One message that has been the loudest in my life over the last few months is that EVERYONE IS IN A BATTLE. Some people have a "one battle load" though, I feel most carry a "two or more battle" load. I feel though our own personal battles may seem greater than another person's...in reality they probably weigh the same. Each battle is proportionate to the load that we can bear. God (or your higher being) never puts more on us than we can bear...so any battle that we come to is probably going to be heavy enough to feel...it is going to test our strength. It's going to stretch our strength to it's maximum, but the result is ALWAYS greater strength.

LOOK AT IT THIS WAY:
When you are trying to build muscle, we go to the gym. We lift weights. Lifting weights makes little tears in our muscles and stretches our muscle. Our muscles recover, you know do their whole biological rebuilding thing, and in that healing process the result is a bigger muscle.
((Hopefully that makes sense....I promise I learned this in physiology in high school, and I got a 98% or better in that class both semesters...GOOGLE it if you don't believe me!))


Realizing everyone you encounter is fighting some battle that you may or may not never know about is really beneficial in building relationships with people. It helps make you think twice about any lashing out that you would do because of your personal battle, because it just wouldn't be right, or make any sense, to add a petty issue to the load that someone else may be carrying or to your own personal load. It's also great to find a person that you are comfortable discussing your battles with, in turn making them comfortable to share their battles with you. And before you know it, you are a building a small army to help conquer the battles you are facing or will face.

IN OTHER WORDS:
LOVE THY NEIGHBOR.
---> as hard as that may be sometimes, it's done as easy as it is said. and it always comes back around.


Peace&MuchLove
Jessalaine

27 January 2009

Insure your Destiny

1. Watch your complaining.

2. Watch your connections.

3. Watch your confessions.

WOWSER

"Security and time are the sexiest things that you can give to a woman." -Kanye West


http://bossip.com/76535/exclusive-pt-1-kanye-religion-is-like-branding/#more-76535

Hope Floats, Faith Grows

Life is truly like a Slide Show. (INSERT "T.I ft. John Legend - Slide Show" HERE) Lately I've just started thinking about EVERYTHING I experienced in the past year. Sometimes it just straight up exhausts my mind because in some situations I'm STILL trying to figure out where these experiences have left me. I've been able to recognize some if not all lessons that maybe I was supposed to take out of those experiences. Which is great because it's like I see a tell all snapshot of my 'self' and I'm able to acknowledge what I should change and what I should do the same if there is anything. Because of the lessons I'm grateful beyond words for all the experiences. However, I think it is safe to say that some things from the experiences still HAUNT me. And all I want is to get the conclusion that I need to no longer be haunted.

I will say that I am optimistic that my deliverance will come...that I will get the conclusions I seek and that I will be better off...I'm not scared of what the conclusions may bring, just more anxious to reach those conclusions.

Everyday my faith grows. And because of the way life treats me, its so hard for me understand how people go through everyday without any kind of faith. I couldn't make it without my faith and I try and feed my faith whenever possible...so that it will grow, so that it will be more than enough to get me through whatever situation I may face.

More than ever, I get what they mean by hope floating. I always considered myself a hopeful person...hopelessly hopeful for that matter. In two situations that I carried around on my heart for the longest, I eventually lost the hope...buried the hope even. I just figured each one was beyond repair. It's like I got to the point that I felt that things could never be restored to the way that they were or the way they should be...so why not just 'blow it all up.' I think that would have worked if I didn't care so effin much for the people involved in each situation. So because I never stopped caring for them...it's like when I got back to Columbus...the scene of the crimes...eventually the hope started to creep back up to the surface. So many people, places, and things take me back to the better times I experienced with them and so it's like now more than ever...in my heart I really want the record just to be set straight. I'm not sitting here thinking that the relationships I shared with these folks will be restored...but I do think that they can have the conclusions that they need and these folks can know that I see and understand everything that I did wrong, the things that I did that probably hurt them and how truly sorry I am for that....because hurting them was the last thing that I wanted to do. I always had good intentions...I just made bad decisions and didn't pay enough attention to maybe how my decisions would be perceived and absorbed by them. Like I said, as I sit here and write this I'm not thinking that everything will be restored to the ways that they were...but I do have hope that it will make things better...for me, for them...hopefully.

All of this weighs on my heart on top of the other things that my heart deals with daily. How do I get through it? I honestly just believe CONFIDENTLY that God didn't bring me THIS FAR to leave me...and everything I went through and that I'm going through is only happening because He said so. Everyday my faith grows, everyday I see my hope float.

Peace&MuchLove
Jessalaine

23 January 2009

Jess-E f. BABY :) Please say the baby :)


This is my new BFF, BABY. She is an American Pit Bull Terrier...and I think she is beautiful...and from what I've seen so far...lots of other people think she's cute too. She was ten weeks when I got her, and took this picture. Didn't know what I was going to call her for a minute, then I just kicked it with her and told her, "well I guess it's me and you baby..." then I got the clever idea to just name her Baby. You know like 'Weezy f. Baby' well with me and her its 'Jess E. f. Baby' and I think she likes her name a lot. She's smart and bitchy...but she loves me and knows I'm the "HBIC" and we get along pretty well. She's also a cuddler, which I love...I just wonder how it's going to work out once she gets full size...

I promise to keep the posts where I'm just writing about 'the cute thing that baby did.." to a minimum.

All I know is I love this bia a lot...she gives me super company...and she loooveees me back! BFF!


This is usually the face I wake up to every morning. Beautiful.


Sidenote: Nurture trumps nature. And pit bulls don't have an aggressive nature. They are people pleasers and respond to humans actions/emotions.

so triflin...

i feel really triflin for letting my blog be idle for so long.....for kinda good reason tho...i feel like i've been here, there, nowhere, and everywhere...all in the last month!!! so much has happened and while i could just right one long post on all that ish...it will be a lot more fun if i just let it roll out i guess over the course of this blaaahhg...

n e who....

HAPPY NEW YEAR!! i'm definitely excited for the '09...so far it's been pretty cool.