The Love Collective

I was waken up by someone firing shots in the neighbor hood (on the West side) It had to had been just a few blocks away! About 5 gun shots, then all u could hear was ppl running and screaming like hell! About a minute later, 4 gunshots were fired from a different gun and even more screaming. I didn't hear a single siren. Not even an hour later. Just screams and cries of devastation.

I am now wide awake. And... A bit sensitive, because. well.... Certain things will probably always bother me.

I grew up in Detroit. East Seven mile. The hood. Even though we (my brother, sister and I) grew up in the hood and was told to stay away from the windows (paranoid that we'd get hit by stray bullets during neighborhood brawls) I'm glad my mother and my father didn't raise me to hate, even though it was right there in our environment. They REALLY protected us from the outside world when we were children... They never suggested or subjected us to violence. They wouldn't allow us to understand the ways of the streets and they kept us in a straight line! Never wanted us to believe in the terrifying life or way of any Street corner. They feared and STILL fear of us being a victim to the violence and hate of the streets/world.

I hated how I was raised. 😂 Seriously! I did not like having this long list of things that I could and couldn't do! I thought my parents were mean and didn't want me to have fun at all! 🙅 it was always church, church, church!!! 😂 Couldn't play with the kids in the neighborhood or at school, couldn't wear the cool clothes or listen to the cool music. But as I grew into adulthood.... Well... I think REALLY began to understand their intent. More and more each day, I'm grateful for the love that they displayed, the safety and protection that they offered me and my siblings, and the care that they gave us. That trump's over the bad (and there have been some rough times) that we've endured as a family. one of the best parts about having family that you love and being is that I can do what I want and make my own decisions without feeling bad about it anymore. I'm just glad that we are continually learning how to love each other regardless of personal lifestyles, images and decisions! That turned out better than I expected.

I wrote this blog because I am a lover. I am a creator. A dreamer.

Sometimes I close my eyes and I imagine that the world some day, somehow let love and hard work be the only premise of the story. That everyone worked together to be well, to live well, to teach, to build, to contribute to world hunger, and save the planet and the youth. My day dreams look like shit on a stick after reality kicks in. I feel weighed down after imagining such things then struggling to see the possibility in these things ever happening. Along our journey we are collectively faced with warfare, violence, controlled by the government and the powerful, we face discrimination and hate...I try to imagine a world where people who don't agree on the same things or do things the same way could STILL LIVE and THRIVE IN THE SAME COMMUNITIES AND ENVIRONMENTS TOGETHER SUCCESSFULLY, PEACEFULLY AND JOYFULLY. The fortunate thing about having to go through some things to get some place in life is that it builds character, makes you wiser, less ignorant, stronger, resilient and inspiring. 

I don't believe in the impossible. I believe that one collective can change the way we love, the way we live and the way things are seen and done, for the better. Forever. I am a part of that collective. People that I associate with are a part of that collective. 

Agape

In my heart and soul, I believe that we were created so that we may know, recieve and display love. I want it. Always. I crave love in the deepest capacity's. Love is beautiful. The kind of love without sexual implocations. The kind of selfless love that knows all about sacrifice. The love that is delighted in doing. A kind and benevolent kind of love.

"Loves capacity goes beyond the normal. It moves beyond self. Its capacity pushes through and beyond any struggle."  Anthony Gainey Sr.

We get caught up in this mondane, day-to-day living, struggling or way of existing and sometimes just get lost deep inside the darkness of ourselves, neglecting everyone and everything else. In that, we have neglected a tremendous obligation. Our job is to bring ppl closer to love. Ppl in the world have been misguided about love or have suffered and avoided love because of pain inflicted by others. There are ppl who avoid love or don't act out of love, even to those closest to them because of hate, because of childhood neglect, abuse, and so much more.... There are innocent ppl, who desire to feel love, and fantisize or imagine about what it could be, how it could possibly feel or what it may look like, but do not know much about love at all...... How can they who dont know what love is, display love? How can one save anything worth saving, heal amy inflicted pain or reach out to someone in pain or another to reconcile anything without possessing love or knowing what love is?

-Nobody can love better than the ultimate creator. We were carefully made. The world was intrinsicly crafted with love to keep us alive, so that we may be fruits of love, producing more fruit. Nothing can separate THE LOVE THAT THE CREATOR HAS FOR YOU. NOTHING!!!!

Look all around u. The next time u take ur next breath, sort ur butt on the toilet without pain or much struggle, when u step outside your doorstep and u look into the sky, the next moment that u feel the breeze and u see the trees moving with the wind, take that as a sign of the purest, most natural and greatest love ever known and get to know what THAT love REALLY is.

Selah.

Cracking The Shell of The World

"It sometimes happens
that the woman you meet and fall in love with
is of that strange Transylvanian people
with an affinity for cats.

You take her to a restaurant, say, or a show,
on an ordinary date, being attracted
by the glitter in her slitty eyes and her catlike walk,
and afterwards of course you take her in your arms
and she turns into a black panther
and bites you to death.

Or perhaps you are saved in the nick of time
and she is tormented by the knowledge of her
tendency:
That she daren't hug a man
unless she wants to risk clawing him up."

-Edward Field, 1967 (Curse of The Cat Woman)

I love this poem. This poem gives a cinematic visualization to the reader. Its like being at the movies, except its u reading poetry.

- In fact, what is so cool and inspiring about this poem is that it brought to me the realization of how u can take one particular piece of art in one for, and make into another. This brings me joy because it helps me to see how infinate art is and it opens me up to the mountains and valleys of creativity that at one ppint I've only believed existed, but now I can actually see myself traveling the path.

I wont take up to much time vibing to heavily, publically about all the things i am experiencing, but i will say that being in a place spiritually, and allowing God to make me into who i am destined to be artistically, has allowed me to view things differently. I mean... putting real life into an artistic perspective has changed my artistry for the better! My Artistic Perspective is developing.

I would like to say for the record, that I am an Artist. I know that formally, people only know me as a drummer, and i want to apologize in advance for any frustration that that may cause any artist who calls them selves wanting to be creative with me, but wants me to only do as they say. - I apologize in advance for u feeling that i would only want to displease u for your own lack of discovery.

I want my legacy to be as - that artist, that musician who is a "House Within a House"- an artist creating forms of art that have a certain collective of charicteristics. Something of insight that is dramatized by showing the conflict between what is ordinarily seen, and ordinarily understood, also imcorporating my imagined future- my "secret place" of yearning for the things in my life that are real and not real, existing together. - i want my audiance to visualize this, whatever form of art it becomes manifested of, i wamt the audience to experience all of these things as real life.

Suey!!!

Beverly "Bevlove" Johnson made a point on twitter last night. A point about clearing up the confusion of her name, the spelling of it, etc. And... It pulled me into an element of... branding, if u will???? She brought upon a positive and accepted destraction. What she expressed opened up my mind a little bit and made me want to bring more attention and clarity as to what MY stage name actually means.

Before I get into my stage name and what it means, please allow me to give a very small bit about who I am as a performer!

Peace and blessings to growth! 💪💙

I have been gigging and grooving around Detroit in anticipation for the year 2016! I am very excited! As you all may or may not know, I am an educated and gigging, female drummer in the city of Detroit, MI. Inspired and Influenced by several art mediums and music genres. I started playing drums in August of 2003. It wasn't until I my twenties that I have made a mark as a performer in the Detroit music scene. I have travelled with and play(ed) with some highly acclaimed underground Detroit artists and instrumentalist, such as Bevlove, Mic Write, Sheefy McFly, Cyepie, Tamera Jewel, Ingenious band, The Gabriel Brass band, Willa Rae, just to name some... I am also recognized for being seen jamming as a featured musician for a few national and mainstream artists and musicians, such as the Godfather of funk, George Clinton, bass player and music director, Kern Brantley, Singer-songwriter and instrumentalist, Amp Fiddler, and Contemporary Christian artist, Shana Wilson, to name a few. My most current thing is putting bands together for solo artist in the local music scene. I have become a founder and co-founder of several local bands. Some of which are currently, working and some of which have fallen apart! I am also a drummer/percussionist in bands that I am not a founder of but am a proud member of. I am a bandmate (in most band cases, a person who is investing ongoing time and creativity in the songwriters music, making their own parts and/or helping to shape songs, a person who puts in cash towards fees and rent, a person who helps promote shows, and gets equal pay.)  and a hired gun (a person hired to either make a part or learn a recording, who shows up on time to rehearsals and shows and leaves with cash in their pockets. No strings or responsibilities attached!) and have become a local recording artist and session player in which u can hear my latest session recordings on the "DIME Sessions Vol. 1" album, which was released this year under  1265 Original record label and is now available on iTunes.

Now that u know just a little bit about me, allow me to explain Chop Suey! 😆

From what ive learned from folks in being questioned abt my name, the meaning/where i got it, is bit unprecedented. #Chop #Suey

Both names and the way i use them are slang and both have their own separate meanings.

A lot of ppl think that chop suey came from me loving Chinese and Japanese cuisine. That's probably a good guess! I love sushi, too. Never eat them without using chopsticks!

But that ain't where my name comes from. Lol

Another thing I here is, "Chop Suey, like from A System of A Down, Chop Suey???" 

NOPE!!!! Not that either! Lol

Here... Allow me to break down the name used for my musical stage presence! 

Chops is a word that is used heavily amongst musicians. I first heard theat word in my early playing, when I really started sounding pretty articulate on the drum set. One would say, "Dang ur foot is fast! U got chops!" Or, "I though u were a dude before I saw u, u play with power. Nice chops." Another was, "u got mad chops. I hear u constantly using rudiments throughout your playing." And so forth....

Sooooo....

My definition for Chops is a word that musicians use as a reference to say that a person shows a high level of proficiency on their instrument.

So there is that for Chop! 💄👑

Suey.... Well suey is a cool word, with different meanings and in my name it means ALL of them. Lol literally.

Suey can mean u suck really bad. Suey can b an adjective used to describe a good feeling or a high. Suey can mean ur lame. Suey can mean anything from something being extremely dope, to something that makes no sense at all. In order to understand how sue is being used, u gotta know the vibe of what's being said or done. You've gotta Use basic context to figure it out.

Ah.... There it is. That's pretty much the discography of my name, published by me. 

That's Suey. :)

Discovery Den: THE BIG 'TO DO'

Discovery Den: THE BIG 'TO DO': "To be what we are, and to become what we are capable of becoming, is the only end of life." - Baruch Spinoza Hey guys! Here...

THE BIG 'TO DO'

"To be what we are, and to become what we are capable of becoming, is the only end of life." - Baruch Spinoza

Hey guys! Here are some REALLY good links on having better time management skills! Best wishes in your future success! ;)

https://www.psychologytoday.com/basics/time-management

http://www.studygs.net/timman.htm

http://www.entrepreneur.com/topic/time-management

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/219553

http://www.time-management-guide.com

So this year I was rudely and repeatedly slapped in the face by father time. I found myself making lots of last minute to-do's, conflicting with my everyday bouts of productivity. The feelings of having so much to do in a matter of 24 hours and not getting enough done became overwhelming. I recently started thinking, "Somethings have got to change! I need a systematic approach to managing my time!"

What I've realized about myself, is that I can be a little unorganized in planning my day. My daily planning personality fits into the category of, "produce more/produce better, just KEEP WORKING" How many of you guys are with me on this? I mean, its so bad sometimes! I found myself not making routine plans for some of the very important and necessary things in life, such as making family visits, cleaning and reorganizing my home and work space, cooking, walking the dog, reading, etc., etc. Along with being successful, maintaining a healthy and happy home should be a priority and should fit into everyday plans.

Making a list usually makes me feel stressed out! I've read in a Forbes article, that instead of feeling stressed out by a list of priority, you should try to feel empowered. I thought to myself, "Energy!" Thats what we need to be managing even more than our time! Most of us put in more hours at work, 12-15 hours a day and that takes a tole on us mentally, physically, and emotionally. All that leads to is an increase in distractions, and will make you want to be less engaging with people. Energy is an infinite source, time is not. Systematically, energy can be renewed and expanded regularly through practice behavior. Time cannot. You will get more out of yourself if you put more into yourself and the results of fueling yourself with great energy, is that you will be more motivated and able to work hard and long when necessary. We have energy depleting people around us and we've accepted energy depleting obligations, without recognizing the cost of such things. Its important that we take responsibility in changing them, regardless of the circumstances you may face with these energy sucking people and obligations.

Part of prioritizing and planning has a lot to do with attitude. You gotta be ruthless! People want your time, energy, need your services, and sometimes its just hard to say, "NO!" Especially when there isn't anything that you really don't want to do. This is my problem, especially because I LOVE my work. Realistically speaking, you can only do a limited amount of things well. A mentor of mine, Elise McCoy told me something on the lines of, Whats important isn't always urgent and whats urgent, may not be important, but they all need to be organized plans. I let that sink in. 

Being ruthless is important because it makes you more careful about the things you take on! Once you get your list together, then thats when you prioritize your list. Whatever the most important thing is that you have to do, I would suggest that be done first. Things are just less stressful that way. You get that out the way, everything else is just a breeze. Also, just making a list isn't enough! you must have a schedule! Use a calendar on your smart device, etc. Technology we use makes this very easy for us, so take advantage! Leadership coach Peter Bregman says, "If you want to get something done, decide when and where you're going to do it. Otherwise, take it off your list.

Everything you do should all go onto one calendar. From small priority to large priority. Exercising for 45 minutes, to attending an awards ceremony. Whatever it may be, get in the habit to scheduling it in. Also, physically separate yourself from distractions. Especially if your work requires you to concentrate. I can't do all of my work in the same place because I can be distracted easily. Its easy to get veered off of the path of productivity with social media, emails, phone calls, text messages. You've gotta find a good spot for you to get things done. Away from the office helps. If you do all your work at your same workspace all the time, you're risking the chance of working less efficiently. You may notice yourself having a lot of add on "to-do's". Going into a different room, going outdoors, to the library or coffee shop usually helps me.

I've gotta touch back on energy management. TAKE SMALL BREAKS! Work hard, but take a break, refuel yourself, surf the internet, stretch, for no more than ten minutes at a time.

I usually don't like having much waiting time but I've been told to embrace it as it can be my best help. For instance, if you're visiting a busy restaurant, use that as a thoughtful time to work on things! The change of scenery can spark some creativity, so keep a lil work bag with you! Small downtime is a great thing. Take advantage.

Prince: Art Official Age & Plectrum Elecrum

Oh.... My.... God...

Ok...

Alright...

Hol' up....

  PRINCE HAS TWO NEW RECORDS!!!! YES, that is TWO whole albums, one released date. Art Official Age and Plectrum Electrum were both released early yesterday and I am DYING to hear both records from start to end. I purposely haven't read one single review about the two albums (which i am hoping are going to give me life and have me play several of the songs for years and years, just like his 1984 album, Purple Rain for so many of us and our loved ones.) I have decided to avoid website reviews until  I have officially purchase, and listen to the entire albums, decide how I feel about them, and then read some official and dependable reviews about the record.
  I would strongly encourage all music/Prince lovers to give it a lil taste to your ears and see what it sounds like to you. According to Prince's past success, I am expecting ALOT of tastiness from this album.

  So, If you're a Prince fan and you are just as eager to download his latest and greatest EVERYTHING, I strongly suggest that you do download his music legally. Prince has a no tolerance about abusing the music and work that his name is branded to! This is what I found while doing research, check it out. 

Copyright issues

On September 14, 2007, Prince announced that he was going to sue YouTube and eBay because they "are clearly able [to] filter porn and pedophile material but appear to choose not to filter out the unauthorized music and film content which is core to their business success." Web Sheriff, the international Internet policing company he hired, told Reuters: "The problem is that one can reduce it to zero and then the next day there will be 100 or 500 or whatever. This carries on ad nauseam at Prince's expense."^[151][152]

In October 2007, Stephanie Lenz filed a lawsuit against Universal Music Publishing Group, claiming they were abusing copyright law, after the music publisher had YouTube take down Lenz's home movie in which the Prince song "Let's Go Crazy" played faintly in the background.^[153]

On November 5, 2007, several fan sites of Prince formed "Prince Fans United" to fight back against legal requests they claim Prince made to cease and desist all use of photographs, images, lyrics, album covers and anything linked to Prince's likeness.^[154] While Prince's lawyers claimed that the use of such representations constituted copyright infringement, the Prince Fans United claimed that the legal actions were "attempts to stifle all critical commentary about Prince." A few days later, Prince released a statement denying the fansites' claims, stating "The action taken earlier this week was not to shut down fansites, or control comment in any way. The issue was simply to do with in regards to copyright and trademark of images and only images, and no lawsuits have been filed." The statement from AEG, Prince's promoter, asserted that the only "offending items" on the three fansites were live shots from Prince's 21 nights in London at the O2 Arena earlier in the year.^[155]

On November 8, 2007, Prince Fans United received a song named "PFUnk", providing a kind of "unofficial answer" to their movement. The song, originally debuted on the PFU main site,^[156] was retitled "F.U.N.K." and is available on iTunes.

On November 14, 2007, it was reported that the satirical website b3ta.com had pulled their "image challenge of the week" devoted to Prince after legal threats from the star under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. B3ta co-founder Rob Manuelwrote on the site: "Under threat of legal action from Prince's legal team of 'potential closure of your web site' – We have removed the Prince image challenge and B3ta apologizes unreservedly to AEG / NPG and Prince for any offence caused. We also ask our members to avoid photoshopping Prince and posting them on our boards."^[157]

At the 2008 Coachella Music Festival, Prince performed a cover of Radiohead's "Creep", but immediately after he forced YouTube and other sites to remove footage that fans had taken of the performance, despite Radiohead's demand for it to remain on the website.^[158] Days later, YouTube reinstated the videos, while Radiohead claimed "it's our song, let people hear it." In 2009, Prince put the video of that Coachella performance on his then-official website LotusFlow3r.com.

In 2013, the Electronic Frontier Foundation granted to Prince the inaugural "Raspberry Beret Lifetime Aggrievement Award",^[159] a reference to resentment of parties who allege unfair treatment and misuse of copyright claims by the artist and his lawyers.^[160]

In January 2014, Prince filed a lawsuit titled Prince v. Chodera against 22 online users for direct copyright infringement, unauthorized fixation, and contributory copyright infringement and bootlegging.^[161] Several of the users were fans who had shared links to bootlegged versions of several Prince concerts through social media websites like Facebook.^[162][163]

I Pulled this from Wikipedia.