happy birthday, mj <3

happy monday, everyone. most of you know this past saturday would've been michael jackson's 51st birthday. I was disappointed to miss out on the celebration spike lee threw in prospect park but I needed a quiet weekend this time around. I've been wanting to share this video I took @ Harlem Day a couple of weeks ago and thought this was the perfect time to post it~this little girl caught our attention as we reached the st. nick's end of the fair and I had to capture some of her performance.

your musical legacy will live on for gererations to come, mj.

♥

overload: ATL Housewives

whoa, whoa, whoa. back it on up. I have seriously subscribed to so many wonderful blogs that I spend most of my slow workday perusing for all kinds of info and it's making my head hurt how many things I feel compelled to share!!! from the thought-provoking to the trashy to the lovely to the laughable I seriously can't get enough. I've got about 45 pages open now (ok, like, 5, forreal. but even that typically halts everything on this darling computer which it somehow isn't at the moment ::knocks on wood::) and I'm dying to post it all! I'll start with the junk for now (who can't go for a little mindlessness every now and then, esp. on a FRIIIIIIDAYYYY!) and share a couple more meaningful articles once I come down from the caffeine-induced-ADD. and, I haven't forgotten- more artists to come, y'all!!

jezebel is quickly becoming one of my fave online girl mags for its amazing coverage of pretty much the entire spectrum referred to above. I must admit, I'm a 'real housewives'-er and ATL is by far my fave cast to keep up with (the only cast I can't stomach is Jersey. sorry, ladies.) I've never been one to delve into these women's lives outside of the shows, but with these mags in my feed now I can't help it! from the leak that Kandi has called off the engagement, to Lisa (my fave- she's mixed like me and appears to have the most sense of them all. what's not to love? d:) is fighting for custody of her up-til-now-invisible kids (of ex-hubby Keith Sweat of all people), to crazy Kim's delusional twittering I seriously can't get enough.

meanwhile, celeb gossip is far from all they do, and some of their articles are really deserving of posts of their own. so, until then...

wait, what was I saying again???

(found here)

have you heard?

(via kiddunot.com)

::I know it's been a minute but I'm workin' on some thangs. not to mention, inspiration comes when you least expect it! (ps-- olatuja rocked it last night. imjustsayin.)::

artist #3: brian hatton

this just in, folx! (i know. finally.) I know it's been longer than any of us anticipated but I have all of 13 (semi-)faithful followers right now so I figured a few small interim posts while I scoured the blogosphere for purty things and started my hunt for ways to gussy up my blog wouldn't hurt anyone. hehe

so, yes. meet brian hatton, everyone! a fantastic photog who I also met in the walls of MSM. I can't really remember when we first 'met' considering we don't know each other well at all. I do, however, vividly remember catching him mid-photoshoot at what may as well have been a zillion miles away from the school in DUMBO (<--I love Seinfeld's joke printed in the wiki description, btw.) and that was when I realized that the cellist I vaguely knew (yes, he is mutitalented, indeed. and mixed, too! whataya know d:) was also a photog! it wasn't until much later that I would see the fruits of his treks to bk and everywhere else his clients bade him to shoot, but it was certainly worth the wait! and now I am oh-so-pleasantly surprised everytime his beautiful photos (many of them of summer weddings, lately) pop up on my fb feed (: I'm gonna attempt to narrow down a few faves for you here, but don't be shy! check out his site and his blog (which is linked in my sidebar now) when you get a chance! and by all means, hit him up if you're in the ny area!

a beautiful bride

a stylin groom (not hers^^, tho!)

cutie pie

caught red-handed!

a glamourous exit

and he does more than just weddings! (like that performance photo at the start of this entry, for instance...)

♥

in the spirit of generosity (of all kinds)

i've come across 2 great ways to give today, one in the form of positive energy and one in the form of good old fashioned dollas.

the first is falafel for the soul...

...a super sweet blog started by lesley of the blog 315 thomas. lesley has started leaving thoughtful notes like these around town to put a smile on strangers' faces.

(thanx to barb @ knack for sharing (:)

the second generous idea today comes from how to love a local business (I wish I was savvy enough to get the button right here but the link will have to do for now. I've at least put the button in my sidebar!)

I found this site via pink olive's facebook fan page. it lets you nominate your favorite local businesses to win one of 30 $1,000 grants being awarded, which is a wonderful way to help keep your favorite local shops thriving. I voted for pink olive and our pup's little daycamp, the salty paw. who will you vote for?

(blogger has been acting a fool today, so perhaps this note from falafel should say 'have a lovely eve' instead /:)

much ♥

~L

surf's up

must.stop.blog.surfing. I can't help myself! but I guess the inspiration has to some from somewhere, right?! and I'm going to stop apologizing for disrupting the flow of the artist feature posts. they will come when they come (I promise!) but I do want them to be organic. I have also reached out a to a few folx I'm waiting patiently to feature but need more info to maximize their exposure. I'm trying to get people up first who have upcoming goings-on so I can increase online visibility for them!

In the meantime, I wanted to share one of my favorite posts found while blog-hopping this morning. totally follows my idealistic ranting here.

In An ABSOLUT World, There Are No Labels

Thanks, SistersTalk (:

♥~L

favorite things

we interrupt this regularly scheduled programming to bring you another fave things installation. there are just too many beautiful things (of all kinds) floating around not to share. so here are some faves of the moment:

these astounding musical necklaces

(this one being my personal fave at the moment- site found via oh, hello friend.)

this sweet idea that I plan to take advantage of with this

(found via bright new things)



these glorious engagement photos

which led me to these

which were phtographed by this guy. (I can't grab pics off his page but check him out!!!! headshots, anyone?! (;)

all to be summed up with a preview of the next artist to come, whose latest wedding photos have me ready to hire him pre-engagement!!! talk about an inspiration!

(aren't these dresses amazing?!? I'm only leaving out the photo credit for a little suspense factor, you'll just have stay tuned! no cheating MSMers!!!)

more to come...

♥

artist #2: peter tunney

***new discovery alert!!!***

meet Peter Tunney...

!!!!!

...I'd never heard of him 'til early yesterday evening, either-! I decided on a whim to take a different route home from work, and thank goodness I did! because in the middle of a completely corporate block off of Fifth Ave I stumbled on this incredible gallery! (@ 666 Fifth Ave., to be exact. Kinda creepy, I know.)

these words couldn't have rung truer as I ventured inside to peruse the work in this competely unexpected gem of a space. you can learn more about Tunney by clicking on his mane anywhere in this entry. according to the gallery attendant, Tunney lives in Long Island and works out of a studio in TriBeCa. he is a collector of old books and newspapers which he collages into the pieces you see here, which are only a small part of his work found on his site.

gratitude is definitely the feeling I had after discovering these meaningful pieces. I'll leave you with the message of these last two:

♥

artist #1: olatuja

good morning!

::side note: wow. I drafted this post on the 7th and have been mulling over it for these past few days in addition to having lots of activity going on this past weekend! having not even gotten into this series it's already giving me such a great respect for journalists. deciding the angle to take on a given topic and presenting the information in a way that's relevant and interesting to readers is no small feat! I mean just because I like these artists doesn't mean that you have to, or will, but the aim is to get you to at least check them out, right?! giving you just the right blend of info and mystery (; man, toss in the quick editing and deadlines and I think I'd absolutely melt under all the pressure! that being said, this series will be a great learning experience for me. so onto the first artist.....

meet Michael Olatuja and his wife, Alicia.

Alicia and I met and instantly formed a bond during orientation week at Manhattan School of Music (I was dancing by myself in a corner somewhere and she decided to call me out, ha!) not long after we met we both became involved with the school's Pan-African Student Union (PASU) where we were both introduced to Michael Olatuja and his absolutely infectious music. While Alicia and I were studying classical voice (with the same teacher, at that!), Michael was fine-tuning his already proficient skills on the bass in the jazz department. During our first PASU performance we had a chance to perform one of Michael's original tunes as an ensemble and from there I was completely hooked! (and apparently, so was his future wife (;) Now Alicia wasn't to be slept on, either, and had come to school armed with a killer classical and pop voice along with her self-produced pop demo in hand. Years later, their musical talents have now come together in an absoutely divine(ly inspired) union. And they are both such beautiful souls, to boot.

Well I certainly don't speak for the Olatujas' star-quality alone as they have recently been picked up by ObliqSound, alongside the likes of Gretchen Parlato and Somi Kakoma (who's album was co-written and co-produced by Michael, too! Thanks, Alicia!) Michael's initially self-released, self-titled album has been remastered and (re)released as Speak under Obliq and is available on the label's website above (which I have up in the background now for my listening pleasure- they represent some amazing musicians!) along with the major online music retailers (like iTunes) I know they would jump for joy if you checked it out!

(see, they already have, in eager anticipation! (;)

I have watched Alicia and Michael both grow immensely over the years and will be checking out the new additions to the album that has already long been in heavy rotation on my iPod. I'm so excited that Alicia's vocals have been added to the new version! Her vocals were absolutely a necessary update (:

So once you fall in love with the Olatujas as I have, you NYCers have a chance to check them out live at their album release concert coming up on Wed, August 26th at Joe's Pub on Lafayette. Be there!!!

(and maybe you'll catch a listen to yours truly, too, on bvs *shameless self promo*)

♥ love, love

stay tuned

I've decided to dedicate the next few posts to some of my fave artists, of all kinds. In part because they are a huge part of what keeps me uplifted and forward-moving, and also as a kind of homage to Peggy CC (mentioned a few posts back). She continues to be such a beacon of light for underrepresented artists and I'm going to try to pay-it-forward in my own way by giving some beautiful folx some (more) positive publicity, in hopes that you may dig them as much as I do!

In many cases these are artists I know personally and can attest to their shining personalities just as much as I can to their far-reaching talents. So keep your eyes and ears peeled lovelies!

♥ ~L

(cool headphones, huh?)

beach dreamin

I've been on a natural high these days. I have little to complain about after a period of being quite down in the dumps, bemoaning my lack of steady work and motivation. Emotional slumps can be so hard for me to crawl out of but once I'm out I embrace contentment with all I've got. Living in a great city with (generally) great summer weather and so much to do definitely doesn't hurt, but I still can't help but long to relax by some kind of non-toxic water (i.e. not the rivers on either side of our lovely island) sometime before the summer fades to fall. I thought I'd post a couple pretty pictures to help me keep my eyes on the prize: I have to chill on all the fab vintage finds if I'm ever gonna make it to the beach!!!

If I can wean myself off of etsy for long enough I may find myself here for a weekend come September or October...

(photos of 9 Beaches Bermuda Resort found here)

And even farther off is our trip of dreams to Malaysia and hopefully to Bali (June 2010 really can't come fast enough. I'm seriously about to put a countdown on here.)

Lounging by the bluest water under the endless sky...

(photo found here)

Basking in the golden sun sets...

(I've searched and searched for a borderless photo but nothing matches the hues captured here)

Soaking in the vibrant culture...

(photo found here)

In the meantime, the "inferior East Coast beaches" (thanks, baby. haha) will have to do as I attempt to plan a visit to spend some time with friends in DE next weekend. As it stands right now, any beach will do!

♥