a poem: "heartbreak hangover"

No, I'm not fine,
I am not okay.
There's nothing you can do or say.
But thanks for asking anyway.

They don't make pills for this kind of pain.
My heart can't stay dry from this kind of rain.
Only time heals a heartbreak hangover.
And my heart won't truly get over
knowing it won't be the same.

Unless you were her
and came back to stay,
there's not much else you can do today.
But thank you for trying anyway.

fripodding and heavy rotating: top 15 of 2008

This post is all about last year. When I tell you it took me forever to write this, I mean it took about three weeks... including right up until Saturday, which means I technically missed Friday. Hey, I've been busy not-working so cut me some slack. Heh...

I kept revising this list because I only wanted albums that were released in the past two years, and not so new that I wouldn't have enough time to legitimize it's Heavy Rotations status. Then I decide, bump my own rules! I'll do it how I wanna do. So I changed the list to be the top 10(+) albums I listened to during 2008. I did draw some lines: the album has to fairly recent, say January 2007 until about mid December 2008. This means I had to exclude OutKast (as a group), Lauryn Hill, Mos Def and probably a few others I can't think of right now because I had to make up and rewrite so many freakin' lists. I made a few rare occasions: let's call them "double albums" where I combine both their recent album, and one a bit older. I include it because a lot of the time, iSaac may be set on "Artist" and will play all the songs by that artist. Sometimes, said artist may only have two albums OR I only have/like two. Okay?

Again, what I look for in an album is LISTENABILITY--being able to listen to the majority of the album with little or no skipping. I think it's also fair to say, that any artist I list here is on the "trust" list. This means, if they released an album tomorrow, I could buy it and find at least half or a third of the album enjoyable. And if you're like me, albums tend to grow on you after time and you might end up liking more or all of it. With the exception of the #1 on this list, whom I have yet to sit down and listen from track 1 to the end, but we'll get to that later. On with the list!

15. Justice - Cross
I ran into this album for a couple reasons--a friend of mine posted a video, DVNO and it eventually led me to D.A.N.C.E. Before long, I just took a chance and ordered the album. With these guys being fans of both Michael Jackson and Daft Punk, could I really go wrong? The album has been a fixture for my office work life, not only for me, but my mom too. And it's interesting to pick out Justice's songs from TV commercials. It's a great album to get the energies moving, and a great album to drive too... which is probably why it's used for commercials. This is an album that's meant to be played beginning to end, it fades into the next track. It's bittersweet when sometimes all you really wanna hear is DVNO and you are used to the song playing before it. Meshes so nicely.


14. Alicia Keys - As I Am
I won never really a huge Keys fan, but I loved her talent and I was always a bit attracted to her. And then, she stopped the corn rows and started showing some skin! But this is about her music and this album in particular. What turned me on to it was reading an article (I forget where) about the making of this album, and how personal it was, and is, to her. Once I read about that and got to hear it for myself, I could truly feel the passion she felt in many of the songs. I'm sure everyone got tired of No One real quick, unless you didn't listen to the radio like me. But I'm sure after a year or so, you can remember why it was such a hit. This is one of those songs you felt the passion. But it was also the beat. Other passionate songs I really felt: Lesson Learned, Tell You Something, Superwoman and although not as passionate I Need You and Where Do We Go From Here which are just fun songs I really like.


13. Maroon 5 - It Won't Be Soon Before Long
This was going to be a "double album" including Songs About Jane, but I had to be honest with myself... After the newer album, I didn't listen to Jane as much. Oh, I still did listen to it and I think it's proven to be a Heavy Rotator. But let's just say starting this year, they have been getting equal time so far. What I liked about Before Long was that it felt different, but yet the same. If that makes any sense. Every so often, I just crave something new and unique-sounding, and fortunately, I stumbled upon this album just in time. Unfortunately, I get a bit upset when certain songs feel a bit too short. A Little Of Your Time for example. I mean, maybe that's the point, for it to be a short song, and only taking a little of your time to hear it. I did like the entire album and I don't want to go through picking each one. But Infatuation stuck with me the most. It might not be on all the albums, but it was on mine and I'm infatuated with it.


11. Panic(!) at the Disco - Pretty. Odd./A Fever You Can't Sweat Out
So this would be the first double album pick. As you can see, I skipped a number. This is an example of having both albums of the same artists and just letting them run into each other on the playlist, getting used to it and liking it. I know I listened to Fever a lot more that Pretty. Odd. but when it comes to last year? I think I wore them out pretty equally. I love their style. I like Urie's voice. And I love the lyrics. And yes, I'm even a fan of the titles on the first album. In case you didn't know, they came from movie/book quotes from Closer, Fight Club, and I think Choke... just to name a few. I don't know, use Wikipedia. Anyway, since I'm naming both albums, I don't think I can pick any particular track I really like. The singles, those are givens. It's probably why they are the singles. And I'll be honest with you, I don't know any of the songs on the first album by their titles, HOWEVER, I do have an understanding as to what each title means knowing where they got the title from. But since Pretty. Odd. is the newer album, I'll pick two non-singles: Folkin' Around and She Had The World. Both are great songs with beautiful lyrics that inspired poetry of my own. Both album are unique all their own too. I guess you either love it or just don't care.


10. Raphael Saadiq - The Way I See It


I'm going to cheat here. I already wrote about this album a few months ago on another friPod post. But check it out again!


9. John Legend - Evolver


Yep, the same goes for this guy too. I'm not being lazy. I just don't want to be redundant. Is that a crime?


8. Common - Finding Forever
Wow, my man Common has been doing big things. I don't know how many movies he's done (I do, I'm just making a point) and his music has grown to new heights and even Grammy status levels! Now I'll say this now, I haven't heard his newest effort. Honestly, I haven't heard a lot about it other than it not being his best work, possibly due to his verses not being as socially conscious... but who knows? I'm all for artists trying out new styles, new music. This album, however, was a great follow up to Be. I would've made it a double album, but for me, that album didn't quite pass the listenability test. Don't get me wrong, it's a hot album. Both of them are. But I tend to find myself skipping to the songs I like better. Unlike Finding Forever, I'm just enjoying the current track, itching for the next one. Each song brought me somewhere different. But I think one of the tracks I liked the most was Southside with Kanye West. I love when rappers trade verses like they do in this song. And even in the chorus, it's good to have a friend to sing with because one person takes "south" and the other takes "side" until the next verse start. You have to hear it to understand. Anyway, besides the wordplay, one thing I love about Common and this album, is the storytelling. And honest storytelling at that. Too many titles to choose from, but how about Drivin' Me Wild? No really, drive me wild. I jest.


7. Joss Stone - Introducing...
To me, she needs no introduction. Excuse me a moment whilst I drool. I apologize, I just enjoy a great looking woman with a great voice. Truth be told, I fell in love with her voice first. But let's move on to the album. I sprung for the deluxe version and got a DVD with a music video and other nifty things. I do listen to the entire album, but I'm usually stuck on a couple songs like Baby, Baby, Baby because I think I'm in love with the drums on that track (along with her voice). Put Your Hands Me is also a treasure. And so is Arms Of My Baby. You know what? I think it's all because of the drums and just the funky-ness of the music. I admire the singer-songwriters, like Joss, and the producer Raphael Saadiq. She does make an appearance on his album, just like he's all over this one. Lauryn Hill is here too, sharing a love affair with Music. Common is on this too with probably my other favorite track called Tell Me What We're Gonna Do Now.


5. Daft Punk - Alive 2007/Discovery

Another double album here. I think to fully appreciate Alive 2007, you need to hear all their albums. From Homework to Human After All. The live album mixes all their songs beautifully together. And I saw some YouTube videos about this. It looked fun. Very effing fun. I wanted to be there. Now I will say this about the live album, spring for the deluxe edition or whatever version has the encore. It's worth it. But again, to fully enjoy an album like that, you need to go back to the roots. My favorite Daft Punk album is probably Discovery. I say probably because I don't actually own the other two... yet. But what I liked on Discovery are tracks like Face to Face and Digital Love. And I have no problem admitting, the reason I got into Daft Punk is because of Kanye West's Stronger. And the original is just as good as well. Now if you dig Discovery, then I suggest you look into the movie version of the album. As I mentioned early, these guys influenced Justice, so this is why these two albums also can be played from beginning to end. They do have moments to breathe, that's always nice.


3. Fall Out Boy - Infinity on High/Folie à Deux

Yep, another double album. I kept hearing about this band Fall Out Boy for a while but never got around to taking a listen. Then I caught a remixed track from Mr. West for the song This Ain't A Scene, It's An Arms Race and grew interested. I told my friend Dearest about it and she gave me a few songs to which I ended up buying Infinity on High and liking it so much more. This time yet again, there are too many songs for me to name that I really really like. And again, the titles I looked up on Wikipedia to get a better understanding. And some of the lyrics are still confusing to me... but they are still beautiful to my ear. And the sound of the music? Awesome. They've come a long way. I included their newest album which was the second to last album I bought last year. I love it just as much if not a wee bit more. Again, too many songs too name. This is a very good thing because it's exactly what I want when I but an album. I don't want to skip any songs if I can help it. If anything, I'll skip a song just to get to another on the playlist faster, then go back and listen to the ones I've skipped! I'm odd. But these two albums are great.

2. The Roots - Game Theory

This almost made it as a double album. But golly... which album would I choose? To narrow the list, it'd be a fight between The Tipping Point and Rising Down which was the last album I bought last year. It didn't make the list because I didn't start listening to it until a couple days before the year is out. But hey! It's a great contender for this year. Anyway, Game Theory isn't full of happy songs by no means. Then again, when I think of The Roots, "happy" isn't a word that comes up anyway. "Lyrical" and "genius" are more likely. This album, where do I start? They say it's one of the darker albums (with Rising Down being the darkest), and dark means that it's deep with social commentary and how bad the world is. I'm not really giving it justice, but then again, that's one of the points... the justice system not working correctly. But Black Thought's words are... wow. And ?uestlove's beats and production? Outstanding. A song that keeps popping up that I love is called Here I Come. Oh, let me also throw in that their albums are also built in such a way, that it's meant to be listened to beginning to end. I mean all their album track numbers continue from the previous album. I won't get into that right now though. But the first three songs are awesome, False Media, Game Theory, and Don't Feel Right. I'll also admit, listening to this album for too long might cause dread that something bad is going to happen, but it also wakes you up that not everything is as good as it looks. Again, great album with little to no skipping.


1. Kanye West - Graduation


Remember the big competition when this album was released the same day as 50 Cent? Oh, that was good stuff. I'm not a big fan of him, so why bother talking about it. This album was awesome. I almost want to call this a masterpiece. Almost, because I'm sure he's hard at work cooking up more fabulous music. I can already hear the questions now, what about Heartbreak and 808s? Remember earlier I said I liked artists trying new things? I'm not so fond of this new style. BUT, I will listen to the album at some point. But we aren't talking about that album right now anyway. What I liked about this album was that it felt like he had graduated. I know from what to where, but it just sounded advanced in a way than his previous works. I mean each of his albums did have it's own personality to it. I would've included a double album for him, but I really liked and listened to this album a lot. At work, in my car, at the gym, and just everywhere. It's not secret, especially not here, one of my favorite songs is Champion. With that same energy, I'd like to also recommend The Glory. I do have a bone to pick with Mr. West. The song Homecoming I've heard before on a mix tape, but with a different melody and guest singer--John Legend! I love that version so much more... but, I understand you like to work with others. And I'm still pissed I never made it to any of those crazy insane concerts. I heard they were awesome. Don't rub it in.

So that's my list. Next week, my top 10 albums of all time. I'm still changing my mind about it as we speak. For the sake of saving space and time, I will refer back to this list or a previous one should any album appear that has already appeared. Deal?

happy birthday mr. soul

I couldn't let the clock hit midnight without giving it up to the one and only Sam Cooke. So I will post a tweet I wrote earlier tonight.

I almost forgot today is Sam Cooke's birthday. He'd be 78 today, and he
would've seen that change certainly came and took office 2 days ago.

I don't remember how I remembered or what made me think of it, but at least I remembered.

And it's been an interesting day that I might talk about on another day. I rather not go into great detail about it, but instead I can rewrite it as a little fictional piece inspired by a true story. It would consist of being distracted all day, an overflowing toilet with "products that weren't friends of mine" and dealing with something I won't go into detail with, but will hyperlink with two words: tonsil stones. If you know what those are, then you already know. If not, click at your own risk.

Now I must work on some other blog related things. Yay for me!

place your bets

It's that time of year again. No, not to exchange that last unwanted Christmas gift or to start looking for possible Valentine mates or to pick the color to repaint your house/room (although not bad ideas), it's Oscar season! For the past few years, I sit--sometimes crouch--patiently waiting for the biggest movie awards show. Sure, the Globes are nice, but it's not the Oscars. It's practically the only award show that I'll stay home for although I've been known to leave a couple times, or miss out on an hour due to birthday parties or visiting chums at The Mart that I worked with on third shift. Other times I attended Oscar parties (at Purchase) or had friends at my house who kept me busy.

I'm not aware of any such distractions--I mean occurrences this time around. All that's missing is my Entertainment Weekly which has an impressive track record of predicting who is going to win. I can't recall too many wrong answers, but I'm sure there were a couple. But I've been following along for the past few years as well as adding my own "I hope they win" picks. I'll probably do a more in depth post later about who my picks are, as well as who will probably win. Then after the show I'll post a recap as to who actually won. I didn't do it for the Globes since I usually don't watch the Globes (but I watched a little this year). Anyway, if you haven't seen the nominees for all the categories, here they are on IMDb.

Can we talk about snubs for a moment? Just in case you aren't hip to the award-show lingo, a snub is basically being passed over and completely left out. People have assumptions or high expectations that they'd get nominated for certain films or roles and then find out they don't... ouch. EW.com does ask the question, and I'm inclined to agree with some of the choices that should've at least been nominated, even if I haven't seen all of the movies. And trust me, I haven't... which makes my "I hope they win" picks a little difficult.

I don't gamble, but it is a fun game to play guessing who gets the gold. As my subject line suggests, place your bets.

so it begins...

We've waited for this moment for a long time, and it's become something of a sweet anticipation. I know I've been waiting for close to a year for this to happen waiting for the day, down to the hour, and now its here. History in the making. I know people who were there since the beginning, and people who are on the way. And now, the time has come. Change will happen. Today... the new IHOP is open!

Oh yeah, and today, Barack Obama will stop using the "President-Elect" and will be officially sworn in as "President of the United States of America." Like many of my family members, specifically the older/elderly ones, I didn't think I'd see this day. Actually, I didn't think I'd see it so soon. And I think it's like summer vacation, where it doesn't really hit me until a few days later, "Hey, I'm on vacation!" So from election day to even later today, it'll just hit me again, "Hey, a black dude named Obama is my president!" I'd like to note, I'm going to miss the Bushisms.

I wasn't planning on being in DC whatsoever, regardless if I thought I could make it there or not. I'm a CNN junkie. Plus it's winter and there's a wave of disgustingly bitter coldness. So excuse me whilest I stay indoors. But it's amazing to see the footage of the millions people all over the Capitol city. It gives me flashbacks of the footage I saw when MLK marched in Washington about 50 years ago for this very reason. It's like history comes full circle. It's been an amazing weekend for America. And it can't be coincidence that yesterday was King Day.

So, I'm speaking for myself here, but it's great to be alive and American (and Black) today, because I'm witnessing history and going to IHOP sometime later.

fripodding and heavy roation: the top 5 five

Last friDay, in the first of my Heavy Rotation series, I shared my top ten favorite albums that came out before I was born. Prince seemed to be a favorite, and it almost didn't make it on the list being so close to T-Day. Anyway, I will show you 5 top album in 5 selected categories. Since this will be a list of 25 albums, I won't comment as to why I think the albums are on top, and I will also hold back from sharing album cover art. If you want specifics as to why I listed what I listed, you know where the comment button is.

I rate these based on their listenability - listening to an entire, or most of the album without much skipping. These are albums I bought or acquired, whereas I may not listen to every track. My rule is I have to like at least 3 songs to buy the whole thing. Well, back before iTunes and file sharing existed. I still buy a disc every once in a while. Also bear with me, it's not easy rating these in my own liking. I keep switching who's at #1 depending on my mood at the time. And I sadly had to take some albums out because they didn't rate well with the listenability meter. Shucks. Nevertheless, if you don't have any of these albums, I highly recommend you invest!

TOP 5 GOSPEL ALBUMS
I must be honest, I leave out a lot of gospel music on my playlist and even here with the friPods. And it is indeed a music genre I enjoy, and sing practically every Sunday, or every other Friday, and occasionally on Thursday...

5. BBJay - Universal Concussion
4. Detrick Haddon - Chainbreaker
3. Helen Baylor - The Live Experience
2. Detrick Haddon - Crossroads
1. Kirk Franklin - The Rebirth of Kirk Franklin

TOP 5 LIVE ALBUMS
I was actually working on making a LIVE playlist taking all the live songs I had, and well... ya know... one playlist. But I realized I have a decent collection of live albums. There are certain elements you just don't get with studio albums. Crowd screaming for one thing. And then it makes you wish you were there when you hear them react to something as if the performer did something or maybe it's a surprise guest! Finally, this massive party is also a compilation of some of your favorite songs, sometimes extend or mixed into a medley with something else. Just pure awesomeness all around and your ticket is about $15 for the CD.

5. Curtis Mayfield - Live 1971
4. John Legend - Live From Philadelphia
3. Kirk Franklin - The Rebirth of Kirk Franklin
2. Daft Punk - Alive 2007
1. Sam Cooke - Live from the Harlem Club Square

TOP 5 SOULFUL LADY ALBUMS
I could just knock off the soulful part so I could include Sara Barellis. I also had to draw a line and take out Lauryn Hill who'd no doubt stick out at #1. And Alicia Keys I left out for the simple fact that I wanted some newcomers to get a little bit of shine. So here are some of my favorite leading ladies... and if any of these beautiful singers are reading, please give me a call so we can hang out some time.

5. Corrine Bailey Rae - Corrine Bailey Rae
4. Chrisette Michele - I Am
3. Solange Knowles - Sol-Angel & The Hadley St. Dreams
2. Leela James - A Change Is Gonna Come
1. Joss Stone - Introducing...

TOP 5 90's ALBUMS
LET ME MAKE THIS CLEAR: this is a list of albums I owned then. And I'm also basing this list on how often I listened to them back then. I'm fudging #5 by including 2, only because I really didn't own the album but borrowed it several times.

5. P. Diddy & the Bad Boy Family - No Way Out/Will Smith - Big Willy Style
4. Santana - Supernatural
3. Wyclef Jean - The Carnival
2. Lauryn Hill - The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
1. K-Ci & JoJo - Love Always

TOP 5 SOUNDTRACKS
Let's face it, some movies wouldn't be what they are today if it wasn't for an awesome soundtrack backing it up. Or in some cases, it's what drives it. I also cheated on this list for the #1 slot putting 2 albums together... but it's not really cheating. The majority of both albums were composed by the same person. I would've included a 3rd album with the other 2, but I don't own it yet. I'd also like to note that Idlewild from Outkast would be on this list, except that technically, they consider the album as just that, an album, not a soundtrack to the movie. Yes, songs from the movie are included on it, but you'll also find a chunk of the songs from Speakerboxxx/The Love Below. Anyway, check out the movies that these soundtracks belong too as well as their awesome musical ventures.

5. Dreamgirls (Deluxe edition)
4. Superbad
3. Black Snake Moan
2. Purple Rain
1. Ocean's Eleven/Ocean's Thirteen

Yes, yes y'all!

secret office secrets to successful office success

So my higher-ups told me I'm doing really well, and I'm in for a bit of a raise due to some impressive yearly reviews. I figured, why not share a few of my secrets of success. (That sorta goes out to Friar whom I've told I will only give out my secrets for a fee, or in a book... or something.) But these are my secrets at how to do an office job like mine and be successful. They don't work for everyone, and at the same time, some of these secrets contradict or conflict with others. So if any of these can apply to your job, go for it. But there's no money back guarantee, since it's free, so if you get fired, I can't help you whatsoever.

*When there is a quota per day/week, or some kind of tracking of work per time ratio involved.

- Eat a great but non-filling but delicious breakfast. (Doesn't have to be healthy, you just don't want to feel sleepy when you're done.)

- Work like you owe somebody money.

- Caffeine pills sometimes work better than coffee. But take it before noon unless you work really late.

- Slack off early until you get bored of slacking, this motivates someone to work harder later to make up for any lost time.*

- Work like there's a chance you might be fired tomorrow.

- Pee often or not at all.

- Do as much work as you can Monday thru Wednesday, so Thursday (or Friday if you work the 5 day week) you can window shop on the online shops.*

- Lollipops.

- Set slack off times (aka "break time") every hour or so... whenever really.

- Work at home.

- Make hotel reservations for a weekend getaway a month from now, make sure mini golf is involved, work hard towards this date.

- Make sure you have access to at least 1,000 songs that you like.

- Set a reward in place to help motivate you until quittin' time, i.e. order pizza @ 6.

- If you have no more drive in your stride, call it quits as long as it's not Thursday (or Friday if you are a loser).*

- Do your stretches and spin in your chair... it helps to get blood flowing and feeling like you are doing something physical.

- Recline whenever possible. It's like stretching.

- When the computer is on, you are getting paid. And just because you're at your desk, doesn't mean you have to be actually working.

- Time yourself and know how long the average time is for you to do your tasks, then plan a crunch time where you work double time non-stop, immediately followed with a break, or calling it quits.*

- Start a blog.