June 4, 2002

The new site is on line. In a few days you will be able to hear music samples of "Contemporary Girl" and you will also be able to purchase it on line before it hits record stores. You will also be able to hear an excerpt of a song titled "The Love Of My Life" on the music page. I wrote it a while back and God willing, it's slated to be the 3rd single off the album. I love that song. It was one of the best recording sessions I've ever had. It's definitely one of my favorite songs, so I decided to put an early preview of it on line before the album is released. 

I've been doing a lot of recording for myself and others as well, so it's like juggling several projects at once, but I'm not complaining. Things are going really well thank God.

I was watching one of my favorite preachers on TV named TD Jakes. He was answering a question about relationships. A question was sent in about how to know the right person for you. He said he had been around his wife for years, knew who she was, but never met her. Then one day he realized she was the one. He advised people to pray when they meet someone who they feel is the right person for them. He so wisely said, you can see today, but God can see tomorrow. You need to be sure the person is right for you.

He has a serious point. So many people rush into things and regret it later. This is what I'm trying to avoid. Guys ask me out a lot, but I can tell who isn't going to be right for me. 

In this industry though, people are always suspicious of each other and men feel they have to spend a lot of money on a woman. I wasn't raised that way. Yeah it's nice if someone gives you a gift, but if you date someone it should be because you really like them. They shouldn't have to give you money or give you gifts all the time. 

I don't want a guy taking care of me financially. I can't even stand the thought of it. Even if I was married to someone rich, I'd feel weird spending his money. I'm not talking about a woman who is a housewife and raising her family. That is commendable and wonderful. I mean women who are married to rich men, don't care for children much and spend a lot of time buying expensive stuff with his money. I'd feel guilty spending someone's money like that.  

It's funny, when you just start off there are men in the industry that will think you would want them for their money or what they can do for your career (which I find really insulting) then when you start your career you start thinking that way about them. I'm saying this in general, I'm not referring to anyone in particular.

This man was trying to ask me out. He showed me a wad of cash and said he just got paid and wants me to help him spend it and I was a bit taken back. I told him no that's okay and he seemed a bit surprised and a bit insulted. It made me think though. Why would anyone feel they have to do that. He's not the only one. Men do that all the time, but some women are like that. 

I don't care about money, that doesn't matter to me. I told my mom I would date a guy working in a fast food place if I really liked him and she laughed and responded "he better be the manager." She isn't money oriented either, but if she doesn't like something, I'm going to hear about it. My parents have never been good at not telling me exactly how they feel about something that they aren't happy about. They would even have Aisha pre-talks to go over their strategy, then gang up on me with whatever topic concerning me that they wanted to discuss. God bless them, they are wonderful for caring.   

My dad and I don't talk about relationships though. My dad still thinks I'm 5 years old and really, I'm still very innocent. Recently, he told me that I'm still his little baby,  then ironically in a nasally voice, I started whining in protest like one "I'm not a baby." 

I do a lot of normal things that people in my situation don't do. Sometimes it's  misconstrued, but I don't care. God says in the Bible that we are not to be proud. 

Congratulations to my dad. The Prime Minister of Jamaica P.J. Patterson made an appearance on his radio show.

June 6, 2002

It's 2:56 am and I'm about to record. Making a few last minute revisions to the song, then I begin. I sent out some promo packs last Friday and this Monday. I had to do quite a bit of research to put them together. I think it was easier recording the song (kidding). Then mailing them wasn't that much easier either. I've never spent that much time in the post office at once. I left there feeling exhausted. You know, I see why some post office workers go postal when they are in the post office for prolonged periods of time, still it's not a good thing. The post office should give frequent flier miles cause I've been mailing a lot of packages and it's adding up. After paying those international mailing fees, I should be able to get discounts to fly to some of those places I sent those promo packages to. Still, they had the best rates, so I can't diss them.   

I'm really enjoying the World Cup. I've watched most of the games. Sorry I missed the match between Germany and Saudi Arabia though. I saw the highlight reel on the news. It's funny, growing up in Miami for years I would watch Spanish channels to pick up soccer matches because they were the only ones that carried the games on a regular basis. I don't speak Spanish fluently, so I missed a lot of the commentating. I'd watch and listen for the Spanish announcer to say "GOOOAAALLLL." Now there are more channels that carry soccer so I'm able to watch the games in English, but I still miss that point where the Spanish announcer says "GOOOAAAALLL." Today, I watched a game on a Spanish channel...and yes the Spanish announcer said GOOOOAAALLL. Ah Miami!

I have so many things to do Monday to Saturday that some days I don't know where to begin, but by God's grace, some how the work all gets done. I got into his habit of trying to do a certain amount of work per day which exceeded 12 hours on most days and I was timing myself everyday and doing way too much. I had to stop that and remember I'm not a machine. They say the human body needs 8 hours of rest per day. I do not always get 8 hours of sleep, sometimes I get 5 or 6 hours and I'm not one of those people that drinks coffee to stay awake in the morning. 

I can't stand the taste of coffee. I just don't drink it. I don't take pills to go to sleep or stay awake either. I rarely take pills for headaches either. So when I don't get enough sleep, I feel it. It's like being nauseated and disoriented. I read once that sleep deprivation was a method of torture armies used and here I'm depriving myself of much needed sleep to work. I also watched an interview where a physician said going without sleep for two days is the equivalent of getting drunk. I've done that. No I've never been drunk, I don't drink, but I have gone without sleep for two days and it's not a pleasant feeling.

When the body says it's tired, you better listen and rest. On the Sabbath I usually take a nap in the afternoon for about 3 or 4 hours. I was so tired, I slept for about 7 or 8 hours and woke up in the night. I was surprised that I slept that much at one time. All that sleep I missed caught up with me, but I felt like if I slept for too many hours, it was being lazy, but I really wasn't think about the 2 and 3 hours of sleep I missed on different nights of the week. Still, on the Sabbath we are supposed to do just that, rest. So many people have bad sleep patterns that they need to break. They body needs proper rest. Don't deprive yourself of sleep. 

June 8, 2002

It's been a great week. I spent most of today in the studio recording, starting in the afternoon until before the Sabbath starts at midnight. It was a great recording session. I also worked on drum and synth parts as well. I usually work on more than one part of the song in each session anyway. I also worked on different songs. I have a habit of recording lead vocals and not recording the background vocals in the same session. When I'm through singing the lead, I'm usually emotionally spent and not in the mood to sing the background vocals as well. I also don't like working on the same aspect of a song for too long in one session. That's apart of it as well. I will sing another song's lead vocals, but the backgrounds for some reason I won't until another session.  

This afternoon, I watched the game between England and Argentina. England won! They are two teams with very skillful players. I was very happy for England that they won. Becks was so happy and considering the history there, I can see why. Both teams played very well. Congratulations to my family and friends in England, I mean Engerland! 

June 18, 2002

It's 2:40 am and I'm about to start a recording session. I've been doing MIDI work for the past few hours. Programming can really be fun and challenging. It's time to record though.

I sent out mailers to certain DJs. Then comes the videos. Contemporary Girl has an original and remix video. This week people keep asking me how I feel about releasing the song. While it feels like an accomplishment, I don't feel much different than I did before. My focus now is getting everything together to successfully promote the project. Right now it's in the beginning stages.    

I have a lot of decisions to make. I've been praying about them. Thankfully, the sermon on Sunday was about making choices and it really ministered to me. Ironically, I didn't fully realize just how important some of these decisions would be until Monday. 

There is such a thing as God's will. He has a plan for everyone's life, but too often people stray from that plan. It's a Biblical principle and anything outside of that is not going to be the best for us. Some decisions have short term effects, but other decisions effect us for the rest of our lives. When faced with the prospect of this, I'm very careful about the choices I make.     

You should not take every opportunity that comes your way. Not out of being difficult, but a lot of choices can seem right at first but aren't. The people who sailed on the Titanic thought it was the opportunity of a lifetime. It was a luxury ship reserved for the affluent. Now today, the word Titanic symbolizes something disastrous. It seemed like a great opportunity, but wasn't.

I remember how the other day a friend of mine who is also a musician met a well known producer/CEO. My friend didn't fully know my plans for my CD. He just knew I was working on it and that it was almost completed. So being the kind friend he is, he got the producers numbers and email address to give to me. He called me with the producer's info, but I never called or emailed the producer. I didn't even take the info from him. My friend is really sweet for thinking of me though. I really appreciate it, but it wasn't the right choice for me. Some people would have jumped at the opportunity, but in the long run, it would have been the wrong choice for me.

June 25, 2002

Busy week. My things to do list just gets longer and longer even though I keep marking things off that have been completed by God's grace. 

I was up last night and this morning recording vocals for two songs and finalizing the music for them. The session went well. I really enjoy my recording sessions. It's great listening to playback, mixing and editing. I went to bed about 10 am this morning. When you are working, it's difficult to say ok it's getting late. I've found when the music is going really well and you're getting a lot of ideas, it's best to keep working until you feel the idea is recorded or sketched out properly. I fell asleep this morning with the song still going in my head. I'm surprised I didn't dream about it. Sometimes I dream lyrics, melodies and parts of songs and I write them down when I wake up. 

Sometimes I talk about how destructive the music and film industries can be. So many people go into the business and develop addictions and other bad habits. I avoid the clubs and that lifestyle. People assume that all musicians love that stuff, but I don't. 

June 29, 2002

Things are going great. I've been added to several sites and a subscription radio service. There's a lot of work to be done, but I'm enjoying it and that's important to me. It's not good when you don't enjoy the work anymore because of external factors and some people experience that. They allow pressure, deadlines and other worries to rob them of that joy. 

Last night was a reminder for me of how much I really enjoy the work. I was going through my songs (not just the ones from the album) rearranging elements in some of them (yes that is my idea of fun) and I had such a good time. I've got a lot to thank God for. 

I've been programming in the studio today. I've been working on a ballad from the album, making the final adjustments. I've done a few mixes and sub-mixes to isolate certain aspects of it so see exactly what I'm working with. Thank God, it sounds good. The song is one of my favorites on the album.    

I'm going to record more vocals for another song on the album in a little while. I've recorded most of the vocals for this other song already, but I have a few more lines to complete. I've completed a lot of the album already and I'm totally enjoying it. It's great watching a project take shape. 

I love to read books at night before I go to bed. I've just read two really good books that I want to talk about in the sound off section soon.

Well, England's out of the World Cup and so is America. I can't bare to watch the England/Brazil match. I haven't seen the game yet and I don't want to, it's too sad. Still they played a good game. I think America and England did very well. This has been my favorite World Cup. Soccer is the most popular sport in the world and it's being recognized more in America too.