The Emerald City...

What can I say? Flew into Seattle on Wednesday morning, and although it took a little time ( a few hours), I have definitely fallen in love with this city. The music, the art, the culture, the people, architecture...foliage. So much to appreciate. Considering I've been on the run lately, Seattle has forced me to slow down...take it easy...enjoy life. I'm sure that I won't be able to cover everything that I'd like to, but I'm doing my best to update you on travels, business, and some cool stuff to do if you should happen to find yourself traveling here.

One thing that I really appreciate is the fact that corporations have not completely taken over. Of course there are those big businesses here that can't be avoided, but all in all, this is the place to be if you want to start a creative venture of your own. So many great people...so many great shops. I find myself waking up early daily, eager to go and explore something new.

I do love me some Capitol Hill. Although it's going through its transformation, it has yet to become as gentrified as areas such as Belltown. Went to the bar where Kurt Cobain was last seen alive, and the energy was a bit eerie. Not eerie in a bad way, but more along the lines that you could feel his energy in the room. I know some of you may think it's a little crazy, but for those of you that know and believe, you understand where I'm coming from.

I've found myself wandering through alleys taking pictures, talking to a lot of the homeless (they usually have some good stories to tell, if you're willing to look beyond the surface). I feel as though everyday I'm learning something new, not just about this city...about myself. The people have been so warm and welcoming. It hasn't been a problem to meet new people...from all walks of life. I'm a firm believer that you have to experience both sides of the scope in order to really appreciate where you are at any given moment. The contrasts...the affluence and the poverty...black and white (and all races, colors, creeds in between)...love and war...love and hate...east and west...men and women...concrete jungles and vast open land...the rat race and easy living...you know where I'm going.

I cannot be more grateful to have the opportunity to travel, network and create...build bridges...converse on a level that most aren't even interested in discussing...the selflessness...Seattle, I love you...

Not idling away...

When it's so close you can taste it...when it's so destined, you just wait for the time to come. When you dream high and fly low. When they ask you the questions..and you already know the answer. When you can look beyond all of the hardships, negativity, and other people's hopes of our failure...when they say their congratulations through clenched teeth...it's all good. We're used to it by now. And, so, we go anyway. Thanks y'all...

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

wherever we may end up...is exactly where we need to be....

There are dreams. There are bullets. Whatever the case, it's imperative to make any necessary moves in order to ensure that dreams will not be given up on. I now feel that I know the reason behind why we came back to Philly.  Of course, there are family and friends that are great to spend time with...but since we don't really see anyone as much as we like, with the exception of Rarebreed, I had to delve a little deeper as to the real reason that we are right here, right now.  Seems like the answers are coming to me through my dreams...ironically enough.

So, Dug and I have been talking, figuring out exactly what  moves we needed to make in order to continue on our path. Always in the back of our minds was "the merge...". I know I may seem a bit evasive now, but to protect the privacy of the other person possibly involved, I won't mention names out of respect for him. Anyway, it's all about being aware and ready when opportunity knocks...and even if it's not knocking, you have to make an opportunity for yourself...that way out of no way.

With all of that being said, a merge has always been on our minds. The hard part was asking this person if they would be willing to leave the life that they know in order to start over. Difficult to do since you don't ever want to make it seem as though you're trying to dictate. Didn't want to put anyone on the spot and make them uncomfortable...the friendship means way too much to us to have it tarnished...so, we just listened.

Last night is when I decided that I could no longer keep my mouth shut. It was on my heart...and then the dream came. So vivid...all of us there, successful...happy...calm. So, this morning I woke up and made the call. I know that he's ready...when I asked, he responded with no hesitancy...and now the dream unfolds...putting our heads down, getting it in order...and making moves...we'll have one another's backs....no fear, just faith...and a revised business plan. Stay tuned....

No need for a mower...the grass never gets a chance to grow under our feet...

I know, I know, I know..it's been too long...again. No, nothing and no one is forgotten...periods of transitions are strange for me. Quite honestly, I haven't been feeling the idea of blogging while in the midst of change. I have about 20 blogs saved on here, although for some reason, I never had it in me to finish them. So, instead of babbling about a whole lot of nothing, I decided to wait until I was inspired to do this again...without forcing it. So much to catch up on, I don't even know where to start. I'm going to do my best to update as much as possible, but it has been a minute, so excuse me if I forget a few points.

The "move" back to Philly was bittersweet. Many positives, some negatives...but, you know, we make the best of the situation. At the end of the day, it's about the greater good of us and "Dreams and Bullets". So, with that being said, we made the trek back to Philly to get what we needed to get in order. Did I mention that both of us are still working in New York? That's an adventure in itself, but after living in New York for 4 years, it's difficult to completely remove oneself from the city. Anyway, we came back with a goal...and a deadline. With that being said, the ultimate mission is to make sure that we are conducting, preparing and nurturing our business into what it has the potential to be. Yes, at times you feel like you're getting nowhere, but hey, we always keep our eye on the bigger picture...which is what gives us the motivation and tenacity to keep it moving...wherever we go.

So, we decided to take a trip out west...to San Francisco. I'm definite that there will be a few more of those "trips" within the next couple of months...quite frankly, it's about having a base of our own, a place to call home...a city in which we can see ourselves become successful. Not monetarily...if you're good at what you do, the dough will follow...successful meaning, living life to the fullest, making decisions without worrying about what could go wrong...being inspired. So, yeah, San Fran definitely gave us a little boost, a surge of energy...

A lot of people have been asking us about the business...the website. No worries, we're not going anywhere. As said before, it's about doing things right, as opposed to jumping the gun and shooting ourselves in the foot. All is moving forward, although not as swift as we would've hoped for. For those of you that REALLY know us, you know that we're not going anywhere. Well, we'll be going "somewhere", but the business is coming along with us.

Big shout outs to everyone in San Francisco who made time to see us and talk business/pleasure...Sarah Nuernberger, John Polansky and Takia Mitchell for your hospitality, Mighty 119, Hotel Tomo, that "Dead Head" who made sure that we were all good for our entire trip, The Hundreds, Upper Playground...Madlib, Revmatic and Shortkut...damn good show...it's all about connecting...yeah, connecting...East meets West. Talk soon, good people.

Peace.Love.

Rebuilding

What's good, good people?

Just wanted to update everyone to let you know what's going on in the land of difference. It's been crazy since our launch party in August, and I think I can speak for both of us that it feels like we never stop moving. Philly, New York, Baltimore...back to Philly, back to New York...I don't even really keep track much anymore. A lot of you may have already taken a look at the site, so we just want to inform you that we're going to be taking it down for about a month, so that we can build it back up. Thank you for the feedback that we have received. Our mission is to ensure that we have a site that is efficient, user-friendly and fun, sleek...all that good stuff. So with the site being up for about two months, it has given us the opportunity to really take a look at what we can do a little differently. Please be patient with us. We will be updating through the blog, as well as our Facebook fan page, so please, if you haven't joined our "fan club" yet, please do. We want to keep everyone in the loop with what's going on. Sometimes you have to take it down to rebuild, and that's exactly what we're doing in this instance. We're not going anywhere...except back to work. We'll definitely be updating you as much as possible to let you know the deal. You will still be able to purchase tees if you wanted to rock the OGNK now. We're only a message away. Hoping that life is treating everyone well...and we'll see you soon.

Peace.

Back in business

I know it's been a minute...a really long minute since I've posted anything on here, but, we're finally back in action. I'd like to say that we took a little "break" from blogging to focus on some other projects that we have going on, which I'll be sure to update you on soon. With a launch party for OGNK, moving back to Philly temporarily, launching the site, and just life in general, there's oh, so much that needs to be said....so, today, thank you rain, for keeping me indoors to finally keep everyone up to date with what's going on. We've got a lot of catching up to do....

Peace.Love.

Your truth isn't necessarily mine...

I just find it very difficult; difficult to believe their so called "truths". I find it too hard to keep my mouth shut about this situation, because I'm so tired of seeing this shit happen. No one saying anything because they're too afraid of what is going to happen to them. The look of guilt that I saw on the faces of the NYPD as I took pictures of the gathering of the funeral for Omar Edwards. First and foremost, this man was a husband, a father, a son, a brother, a brotha...putting his life on the line. I wonder what made him want to be a cop. Seems to me that the NYPD is on the prowl, recruiting just like the military. Promising those that grew up in the ghetto a better life. Most of the new cops that I see on the street look like babies. Probably because they are. What irritates me most is the complete lack of care, concern, or sensitivity to this situation. Close the case on this one and keep another dirty secret. The skeletons in the NYPD's closet. Now, I'm not going to make assumptions, because I was not there. However, I am not going to be intimidated to state my feelings. Regardless of what really happened, this is a tragedy. Even if they do decide to do an investigation, his family is never going to get over this. Ever...even as the pain slowly starts to dissipate. I find myself asking a lot of questions, since there are so many holes in this story. No, I'm not jumping to conclusions, just speaking through different eyes. Reading in between the lines. Trying to absorb as much information as possible, so that my conclusion is not biased. This is my truth. How I see it. Regardless of whether or not you're offended, I can only continue to be who I am, and refuse to just accept what everyone else tells me is the case.

So, Mayor Bloomberg promoted Edwards to detective after his death? A lot of good that's going to do now. Okay, it's something, so don't just think that because I say that, I'm negative, or in most cases, people like to call me "an angry Black woman". Quite frankly, I don't think that Edwards was even on the NYPD's radar for becoming a detective when he was alive, so why is it that only after he was killed by one of his "brothers" that the promotion was made. Was that supposed to make his wife feel better? Just because you label him a hero, does that make up for his children who will never know their father? Is that supposed to be some condolence for the mother and father that had to bury their son? Is that promotion supposed to be some kind of "motivation" for other cops...if I get shot, maybe then I can get a promotion. How about a thorough investigation? How about a public apology for being so negligent? I have a feeling that his wife won't be seeing any of that "promotion" money to help feed her children. I have a hard time believing that anyone from the police squad is going to even go and visit her once the heat is off the situation.

So many people saying that we need to give the other officers the benefit of the doubt. Okay, whateva...most importantly, two out of the three cops there were under investigation. Officer Andrew Dunton (who killed Edwards), has received 4 civilian complaints in 4 1/2 years. Sergeant John Anzelino just completed a monitoring program for cops who have had too many complaints against them. This was his second time in the program. Anzelino has incurred more than 13 civilian complaints since joining the police force in 1996. An NYPD supervisor has described Anzelino's record "as more than a red flag", considering only 10% of the force receives a complaint in a 12-month period. So, obviously, once I read that, I knew that it was even more shady than I had originally thought. From some other witnesses account of the situation, Edwards didn't even have his gun drawn. He had Goita in handcuffs on the ground, with his gun on his waist. Since he was arresting someone, when the cops told him to turn around, how was he supposed to do that? And then the question that still remains....how is it that the fatal shot that killed Edwards was in the back? If he was facing all three cops before Dunton shot, why was the entrance wound of the bullet in the back? How are we now hearing that there were only three shots fired, instead of the six that were actually shot? Correction, news. Three shots hit Edwards, though six were fired.

Now, whether or not there is going to be an investigation, debate, cover-up...whatever, we cannot deny that there are a lot of holes in this particular story. Just like with Sean Bell last year. It's time to wake up. This could have been avoided, but now I know exactly why I don't trust the cops. Even the so-called good ones. I see the other side of the police living in Bed-Stuy. Harassing people...profiling...walking around like their balls are big. And they can continue to stop me, ask me what I'm doing...whatever they see fit. I know my rights...