Kanye West, Coldest Winter

Kanye West recently released a music video for "Coldest Winter" a track off of 808's & Heartbreak. Visually, I think the video is stunning. Say what you will about Kanye West, he is such a creative and innovative spirit and you can tell that for him music is truly a visual experience. Thematically, the video is a little dark for me and I'm not quite sure what's going on {is the girl being taken to hell??} but I'm just happy to see Kanye being creative again. It seems like he still has something things he wants to work out via his music/art.

Kanye (and Keri Hilson's) Workout Plan

Today I was on the ArcTrainer and was approaching the last five minutes of my workout. I had a pretty painful crick in my neck and I was basically just ready to GET OFF the machine. I was all set to press "stop" until Keri Hilson's "Knock You Down" came on and I was inspired to keep going.

I was pretty much obsessed with this song when I first heard it last spring. The beat is infectious (perfect for the ArcTrainer or elliptical) and I loooove Kanye's verses: "How could a goddess ask someone that's only average for advice? OMG. You listened to that bitch?!"

I just love the song. Its crazy because my Workout Playlist on my iPod seems to know the exact moment when I'm ready to throw in the towel because it seems right when I'm like "F it! 40 minutes is enough" "Knock You Down" starts playing. Its the perfect workout song. Love it!

I know my destination...

So...per usual, I have been in a funk lately. I've been eating reckless. Not working out. And being a downright debbie downer. I hate feeling like this. But you know life. Its attempting to kick my ass---yet again. Usually when I'm attempting to overcome "debbie downer-itis" I turn to music. My go-to music when I'm down is typically Donny Hathaway's Extensions of a Man aka my FAVORITE CD EVER. The late Donny Hathway is an INCREDIBLE vocalist and his voice is coated in melancholy. There's a sadness and a beauty in ALL HIS SONGS and I can always count on Donny to wallow in my self-pity with me.

When I need to put it all into perspective, I have a new go-to album: Kanye West's 808's and Heartbreak. I freaking LOVE this album. Now, Kanye took a lot of shit for 808's. A lot people flat out didn't like it--Kanye (a rapper) was sad. He was singing sad ass songs (badly) over minimal beats [basically just 808s--hence the title]. But what did these critics expect? He lost his mother and his fiancee in a 6 month period. He was sad. He was pissed off. He was heartbroken. And what do we do when we're heartbroken? We examine our lives. And that's what exactly Kanye did. My favorite song on the album. "Streetlights" got me out of bed this morning. It reminded me that yeah, yesterday sucked bad. You cried. A lot. You took your sorry ass to Taco Bell, ate recklessly and curled up on Frank's couch to wallow in your misery. But today's a new day. As Kanye sings: "I know my destination [in life] I'm just not there yet." Time to suck it up kiddo!

Let me know
Do I still got time to grow?
Things ain't always set in stone
That being known let me know
Let me

Seems like street lights glowing
Happen to be just like moments passing in front of me
So I hopped in the cab and
I paid my fares
See I know my destination
But I'm just not there

All the streetlights glowing
Happen to be
Just like moments passing
In front of me
So I hopped in the cab and
I paid my fare
See I know my destination
But I'm just not there

In the streets... In the streets
I'm just not there
In the streets
I'm just not there
Life's just not fair

Its the most wonderful time of the year...

Ok. So I'm a Christmas FANATIC and I typically get into the Holiday spirit extremely early. Its November 3 and I am OFFICIALLY in the Holiday Spirit. I freakin' LOVE LOVE LOVE the Holidays. Now, most people like the holidays but usually for the superficial reasons--the presents, the breaks from school. Not me. I love the Holidays because it does something *magical* to the world around me. Everything just gets better.

It starts with the music. I am currently listening to a Holiday Music Channel I created on Pandora and I have not skipped ONE song. Currently, Nat King Cole's "The Christmas Song" is playing and I'm actually getting SHEmotional [don't judge me]. This is a really stressful time in my life with ~1 month until final exams, but I'm not stressed: I refuse to be. I'm thinking about my family. About egg nog spiked with a little "happiness" :cough: liquor. Thinking about the 24-hour marathon of A Christmas Story on TBS [I'm sorry, its funny when the boy almost shoots his own eye out! haha]. I'm thinking about Donny Hathaway's "This Christmas"--the BEST.CHRISTMAS.SONG.EVER. I included a picture of Mariah Carey's "Merry Christmas" because its probably the best Holiday album of all time [wow, I sounded a little Kanye West there, LOL].

Its a time when I feel the greatest love for my friends and family. I revert back to an almost child-like existence. My sisters and I still wait up all night for Santa [except as adults waiting for Santa really entails drinking cocktails and sneaking midnight samples of the Christmas gumbo]. After Christmas, there's Kwanzaa, which my family celebrates as well. Then there's the New Year, where new goals, new promises, and reflections on the past year come.

The Holiday season is just a wonderful time of year where any and everything seems possible. Forgiveness. Love. Renewed friendships. Renewed faith.

I'm officially in the holiday spirit. I hope you can join me!

I'mma Let You Finish...

So, I found this on Facebook. Someone has made a tumblr all about the Kanye/Taylor Swift scandal. I promised myself I wouldn't fan the fire of the whole thing because while I do think it was really f*cked up what Kanye did, he's apologized TOO many times and Taylor has accepted his apology. As far as I'm concerned its over. However, This tumblr is HEE-LAR-EE-OUS and had to be shared. Check it out here...I posted below 2 of my favorite entries that had me laughing in the middle of the school...