August 1, 2003

Good morning. It's 7:05 AM. I'm here doing paperwork and listening to music. I recorded three songs yesterday and one the day before. I've been working too many hours in the last couple weeks - about 15 hours per day, but thank God, I'm not tired and I get my rest at night. I really don't have much time until the album's release so I have to - and there are certain things I'm not gonna let other people handle, so I have to do them myself. 

I've been trying to pick a release date, where I can have everything completed, pressed up and available for sale. I'll post it on here when I'm sure, as I keep having to ask each company rep how much time they will require to complete each job. Different companies have different time schedules and I have to sync all of them with mine. 

To clear up something from the July 29th diary entry, as some of you were confused as to whom I was referring to - the person I wrote that I would like to hire for that video, but won't ask for the reasons I mentioned, lives in Florida.

August 5, 2003

Hi guys, hope you're having a good week. It's 10:29 PM and I've been working all day. I got a lot done, which is good. 

I wrote an article on the sound off page, to read it click here. Have a good night.

August 9, 2003

Good evening. I'm here in the studio writing and recording music. It's been a nice day, the weather has been good. It's also been a very productive week. My schedule's been normal in that I sleep at night and working in the day, which I prefer.

I focused more on paperwork this week such as advertising arrangements for my album, the soundtracks and films. I also worked on the enhanced components of the CDs, which I made on the computer by God's grace. I really enjoy internet design and working on the interactive components of web sites, CDs and DVDs. The new web site will be a bit different from what you're used to.

Check the sound off page for another article click here and have a good night. 

August 13, 2003

Hi guys, I'm having a good morning/afternoon. I've got a lot to be thankful to God for. I've been working as usual and enjoying it. Yesterday I recorded another song. Today I'm gonna edit it and I have a full recording schedule today as well. I've also been preparing documents for an attorney. I saw a few tennis matches last week and this week and watched a bit of soccer as well (Chelsea vs. Amsterdam). The weather has been wonderful. I'm really enjoying it. 

Song of the week: Warren Barfield's "My heart goes out to you." It's a nice song that I hear often on Spirit FM. His album featuring that song was released last week (ok, yea, I'm a little late with that). To go over to his site click here. 

I've put a new notice on the top of the main pages on this web site to serve as a warning and deterrent to industry people, due to the problems I've had with musicians and journalists (if you can call them that) plagiarizing this web site. It's not directed to the web site's regular visitors, aspiring musicians or athletes. It's directed to entertainment industry people and professional web companies (professional web developers) who have plagiarized this web site. As a result, I've had to take time out of my work sooner than I would have liked to put together evidence for an attorney regarding this matter. 

The web site has gotten hundreds of thousands of hits and I'm thankful for that. However, I don't appreciate certain industry people poaching off it. Due to searches to match content to other sites and the number of people who visit the site (and contact me), I'm bound to find out about the cases of plagiarism. Yet occasionally there is some unscrupulous industry person that winds up on the site and wrongfully thinks it's some obscure web site that they can poach from without getting caught. 

August 16, 2003

Well, it's been a good day. I spent most of the day recording. I recorded vocals and keyboard parts. I also did some work on the web sites for the films and the new one for the label.

I've got a joke for you (regrettably, this one's at my expense). Yesterday, I spoke to my little sister on the phone. Well, we just started talking and she brought up a guy I told her about that I like (I haven't met him), then she mentioned daddy wants to speak to me. Now, I thought she meant after I spoke to her, not right that instant. 

Well, it turns out she'd handed the phone to him right after she said that and I continued yapping away about the guy not realizing my dad was now on the phone. The next thing I heard was my dad's voice and I didn't particularly want him to know what I was saying to my sister about the guy (you know, girl talk - nothing inappropriate, but it was still embarrassing). Then, realizing he'd heard something I didn't want him to, my dad quickly said he was gonna give my sister the phone back. 

Yes, that did qualify for a very awkward moment for us both, as he didn't know what to say and I basically wanted to dig a hole in the ground. My dad still thinks I'm five years old, he even told me as much the other day and no dad wants to hear his daughter going on about a guy like that. Well, I've warned my little sister that when I see her next, first I'm going to hug her…then kick her butt for that little miscommunication. She really didn't do that deliberately, but you know she's been laughing at me about it and making jokes to him about it as well.

August 20, 2003

Good afternoon. I'm here doing paperwork. My sister and I were trying to find the right person for one of my videos again. We were looking through agency portfolios. I really didn't think any of the people I saw were right for that video, even though they were affordable. My sister then suggested I hire a certain well-known actor. That's when I started laughing and said okay that would totally mess up the budget. I mean, what part of indie label do you not understand (haha). I could buy another house or hire that actor…buy another house or hire that actor… buy another house or hire that actor…hmmm. 

However, I do have someone in mind for the video now and I think I will hire that person. The song is one of my favorites and I want the video for it to be right and that includes the casting. I'm also working on casting for one of the films I've been working on. Last week I started going over bios/resumes. I'm not gonna use a casting agency for the first two films. I'm very specific with my work, as I've written the scripts and know exactly what I'm looking for.  

I want to say thank you to Steve in Oxon for sending me some music by new artists from the UK. - Aisha waiting for Steve to brag about the warm weather they are having in England this week like he hid a few weeks ago- ...oh wait, that's right, according to the weather service it's 5 °F / 1 °C in Oxon right now (Oxfordshire, England)...remember to bundle up -cruel laughter-. 

-Aisha looks over at the temperature reading on her computer-...well would you look at that, it's 77 °F / 25 °C in Miami right now - a whole 20 degrees warmer. No, I'm not cruel, really.

Hopefully none of my English relatives will read that joke. I'm just kidding, you know I adore England and thanks again Steve. Have a good night guys.

August 26, 2003

Hi guys. I've been really busy. I spent most of Saturday recording. I finished up all the vocal parts that needed to be recorded for Disciples Dirge and another song from my album that I haven't listed on the web site yet. Both songs are from my debut album. I also recorded three other songs for other projects I'm working on.

My little sister's been spending a few days with me (and no I haven't kicked her butt for the telephone miscommunication that occurred a few days ago). We've been having fun. We went shopping a few times, I took her to a concert and over to South Beach (I don't go to clubs, just the stores and over to the beach). 

Speaking of that, a man approached us while we were in a store and asked me where he's seen me before and was trying to ask me out, but he was too forward. I figured he'd recognized me from the site. What I didn't like was how aggressive he was, he kept reaching out trying to grab my arm and because I was there with my sister it concerned me a bit. Normally I'm not like that, but he was too aggressive and I was concerned because my little sister was there as well.

My little sister got the stuff she wanted, but she didn't want to go back without getting a gift for my dad and to quote her "uh, do you know how much he paid for my plane ticket."  Ok, yea I think we should get him a gift haha (kidding, we get him stuff all the time). We bought my dad a nice book that I figured he'd like. He's like me, likes to read non-fiction books. My little sister saw a book titled "Soccer for Dummies" and I told her "you can't get him that book, he played soccer professionally (not to mention he'd balk at that title, even though it is from a series of books…well, he'd balk at the dummies part). He was a soccer coach as well. 

Speaking of that, while we were in the bookstore, right across from the sports books we were looking at, I saw a book that was written by Duane Blake, the son of an imprisoned drug dealer. A few months ago my dad told me he is mentioned in that book, which surprised me. I wasn't surprised that he was mentioned in a book, as he has been mentioned in books before, but I was surprised that he was mentioned in a book about a drug dealer.

Then he told me what was written about him in the book was good. The author basically wrote that my dad was his dad's soccer coach when he was younger, is a good person, was kind to his dad when he was younger and encouraged his dad to stay out of trouble (which regrettably he did not, because after that he gave up soccer and years later became a drug dealer).

I also took my little sister to a concert she asked me to carry her to and it was more irony once again. She went over to another area in an attempt to meet her favorite singer. I told her to stay where I was, as she'd most likely meet him there. Well, she went over to the other side of the area from where we were, but when he came out, he came right by where I was standing, which was on the other side of where my little sister was looking for him. I looked at him and thought this is too ironic, here it is my little sister wants to meet you and is looking for you and you are standing right here in front of me.  

Well, she didn't get to meet him or shake his hand like she wanted to, but she saw him when he passed by the area she was standing in - but she couldn't get by him in time. So, I've basically been teasing her about it once again. But it gets worse. My friend's daughter who I've mentioned before because she met a few of my sister's favorite singers when my little sister was not there (which also annoyed my little sister) was standing next to me and got to meet my little sister's favorite singer again. The last time my little sister got around her favorite singer who I just wrote about, she froze, but my friend's daughter went and shook his hand, so my little sister is not too amused by what happened again.

My friend's daughter also met another well-known singer shortly after who was nice and gave her a hug - which really annoyed my little sister because she wasn't there, but wanted to meet him as well (Aisha pretending not to laugh). So my friend's daughter has been teasing my little sister about all of this as well. We teased her about it most of the way home and my little sister winced and pouted like a two year old. 

August 27, 2003

I did mostly paperwork yesterday. Today I'm going to work on the album's packaging/layout and do more recording. 

It was nice spending time with my little sister. Last night I was watching the news and her favorite singer was featured on a local segment of the broadcast. It turns out there was another opportunity for her to meet him and his band, as they did a signing at a store in Broward county, which is just outside of Miami. Ok, my little sister must not find out about this. After what happened, I don't think she would be happy to know that she missed that.