Two days ago, I was ready to give up on my baby.
The Season of Change
It’s been about a week. But I have been super busy! There’s a lot to catch up on so let me get right into it.
CJ and I are over. We have been for quite awhile now. There were many reasons that I chose not to speak on it. Namely that there was still some ending baggage on my end that needed to be taken care of before I felt comfortable writing about it here. Out of respect for what we had, I won’t get into the details. I will just say that we’d been on paths leading away from each other for months and our end was not an abrupt or devastating one. It felt more like the next logical step for both of us. There are no hard feelings between us. No regrets. Our time together was wonderful and I’m blessed that those memories won’t be tainted by the drama of a bad ending. It was simply time to move on.
It feels good to be able to practice what I preached months ago. I recall saying that even if we didn’t work out, I wouldn’t view it as a failure. Every relationship isn’t meant to be your last, as much as a learning experience. Being able to accept that shows me how much I’ve grown. As far as what the future holds for my dating life? Stay tuned….
Polished Cleveland is officially a go! After a year of testing material, we officially launched the site on Friday. The relaunch kept me tied up for the last week and a half, which is another reason why I haven’t been able to post here as much as I’d like. We had our launch party last Thursday (pics available at polishedcleveland.com/gallery.) and it was definitely one of the higher points of my life. As many of you know, I spent a year dreaming of the official launch so living the moment was monumental for me. I want to give a special shout out to the the ladies of Dollhouse for hosting our launch party. Y’all know I’m down for displays of female empowerment so having a group of fellow femme fatales host our launch party was perfect.
Michael. My goodness. I’m heartbroken. When I heard the news I was in the salon, getting my hair done for the launch party. When they announced that he’d been taken to the hospital for cardiac arrest, a part of me knew that it wouldn’t end well. When Michael passed, initially I felt a sense of relief for him. He had been so troubled and all I could think was “Thank God. This man will finally know peace.” Thursday and Friday found me so wrapped up in the magazine that I didn’t have time to completely process the news. It wasn’t until Sunday morning, when I began to watch all of the videos and footage that it completely hit me. I haven’t been able to stop watching yet. And once again, I’m disturbed by the consequences of creative genius. Why is it so rare for people with great artistic talent to have peace of mind?
With my life set to move through another season of change and advancement, I can’t help but hear the words of one of my favorite MJ songs in my head. I do not know what exactly my future holds, but I do know that I’m off to the right start. Because I’m starting off my looking within…
Respect My Conglomerate!
Ok so I KNOW I haven’t been keeping up over here lately. Shame on me. Tsk tsk and all that other guilty stuff.
For one, the Internet has been out at the crib and you all know how I feel about blogging from work, so I’ve been restricted to Internet activity via BB only. And while I’ll do a lot of things on my wonderphone, blogging ain’t one of them. As I writer, I cannot co-sign blogging with my thumbs. I’m modernized and all, but that is just a bit much.
I’ve been laid back and contemplating lately. My process is so slow because while my mind moves a mile a minute, I don’t make any moves until my heart has co-signed. (Yes, I listened when BIG said, Stay far from timid, only make moves when your hearts in it and live the phrase “Sky’s the Limit!”) On the outside looking in, I’m slacking but what’s actually occurring is my decision-making process. It’s a lil slower than most, but just consider it me playing possum. I only look dead until you think you’ve caught up to me and realize I’m still a few steps ahead. Ya know?
You all know how I like to tell you my moves after I make them. So here’s the deal. I’ve got the official launch of Polished Cleveland Magazine in the works. We should be going live June 26th, with our launch party on June 25th. We picked up a summer intern and I’m getting ready to push to increase my writing staff. As well as send some of my writers on more challenging assignments. Polished Cleveland will become the voice of Cleveland’s Young Urban Professional. Believe that.
Next move: I’m officially back in the Hip-Hop blogging game. I’ve teamed up with my original Blog Homey Dee to put together Hip-Hop Connoisseurs. Right now, it’s a blog over on blogspot. Within the next few days, you’ll be able to hit Hiphopconnoisseurs.com and be directed to it. It’s pretty basic over there right now, but we’re working on making it a little more friendly on the eyes. The writing is dope regardless, so still stop through to see some thought-provoking hip-hop talk.
And of course, there’s this piece of blog real estate, which will continue to track my life and feature my thoughts on life and the world around me. So count ‘em up. That’s three sites that have the potential to be the hotness. All I had to do was listen to my heart and it led me down the road of Internet Mini-Mogul. All I ask is one thing: Respect my conglomerate!
Peeking In
I used to use the blogs to paint my pain, but nowadays man, I can’t complain…
*Waves* Hey y’all!!
I’ve been beating up on myself for the last few weeks about not being as consistent here as you’re used to. I’m giving myself a break though. Sometimes life in the real world gets just that hectic so my time has been limited.
So what’s been up with me? Well, for starters I recently became the personal assistant to my lovely mentor, author Toyi Ward! Mostly, I just assist her with the PR for her new book Par for the Curse (it’s awesome, check it out on Amazon.com). I get to head out to NJ in a few weeks for the launch party, attend the Book Expo in NY in late May and plan a promotional event for her book in Cleveland this summer. My excitement level is on 1,000,000 right now.
Working on getting Polished together for the summer. Even though we’ve been publishing editions, we haven’t officially launched yet. We’re gearing up for an official launch this summer, which includes a new site design (thank God!), picking up some interns and finally updating the site more frequently. Right now, we’re brainstorming ways to finance the launch. What we have this summer that we didn’t have before is more personal relationships with some good people, so we’ve got a lot more resources at our disposal.
Laying a little lower on the social scene lately. For one, I reviewed my spending over the last few months and was horrified at the amount of money I spent on clubs/bars/restaurants/fast food. And real talk, I think I’ve been photographed in every cute outfit I own! May need to re-up on the nightlife wardrobe before I hit the streets hard again.
Working on getting my money right with some assistance from CJ. He’s helping me inject some discipline into my financial routine. I have a hard time taking advice from anyone about anything, but I realized that if I always do what I’ve always done, I’ll stay broke and in debt. I should have some good additional income between my P.A. job and a consistent freelance gig that I picked up. I want to make sure that I manage my new funds wisely. If CJ knows how to do anything, it’s keep money so I figure I should at least try to play it his way for awhile.
Got another temp assignment too. Started out as a two week filing assignment but it’s been extended to include some data entry. It’s odd how soothing filing papers can be when I’ve got my mp3 player to keep me moving. If temping stays this consistent, I may just stick with it until the economy starts to look up and these hiring freezes end. The permanent job hunting game is crazy right now and I’d rather not waste time applying to positions that 1,000 other people are working for. It’s much easier to let other folks find work for me for a little while.
My boo is in the Playoffs!! That’s right, all you haters who said that D. Wade and the Heat were a wrap after last year? Four words: I. TOLD. YOU. SO. If they get by Atlanta, I’ll be shocked. But the fact that Wade put the team on his back and got them there almost single-handedly? Gotta luv it. The hometeam is set to make a pretty good run (dare I say bring home a title?), which means that Cleveland is about to rock until June. Can’t hate that at all.
What else? Oh, got some great concerts coming up next week. Wale (my new fav MC) is going to be in town on Friday, so I’m geeked about that. Trying to get to a Drake concert at Bowling Green State University on Saturday. My girls would call it a “Hip-Hop Winning Weekend.” Hopefully, I’ll be able to make it happen.
All and all, life is good.
