Recently I was cleaning up my desktop and came across this interview I did for an independent publication from my hometown, QPunx magazine. I’m not sure if it ever ended up being printed? I’m not sure if they’re still going anymore even? I haven’t seen an issue in a long while. Anyhow, I thought I’d share it with you! I even dug out some old photos from my archives to go with it. If you have any questions you’d like to ask me in relation to all that I do feel free to drop me a line: conversationswithbianca [at] gmail [dot] com. I’ve been putting together a series of posts featuring questions people have been emailing me asking. Want to know about zines? What to know about interviewing? Write me. I love connecting with you all.

Tell us a little about yourself on a personal level?

I value my family and friends dearly. I enjoy intelligent thought-provoking, thoughtful conversation. Writing and creating is like breathing to me—if I don’t do it, I will die. Singing makes me happy. Both love and creativity are sacred to me. I wish my artistic technical ability matched my ideas! I tend to always see the positive side of people. I really, really love interviewing people. It helps make sense of my life, the world and my place in it. This year I decided I wanted to live life a little braver and have been facing fears and challenges in my life head-on. My friends make me way cooler! I have the raddest friends on the planet; they’re the smartest, funniest, most loving, super talented people. I draw the greatest inspiration for those closest to me.

And on a professional one?

I am self-taught in all that I do. I come from a very entrepreneurial family—members have owned motorcycle, bicycle & skateboard shops, hair salons, restaurants, car yards etc. My parents inspire me greatly. My dad drove race cars in the 60s and my mum flew tiger-moth aeroplanes! I draw a lot of strength and inspiration from my grandfather Jose also. He was a playwright, actor, speech writer for parliament and fluent (and self-taught) in many languages.

Being a pro-active member of the punk community (making zines, putting on shows, having run a mail order) has taught me a lot. All of my business skills have been learned via my work in the punk world. Making a zine on the scale I did 15th Precinct, I had to fill many roles which also taught me many skills. Interviewing bands and artists over the years has taught me amazing communication and people skills. I feel that those I have interviewed over the course of my fifteen year writing career have been my greatest teachers.

I am constantly researching for my work. My mind is always on and open. I find inspiration in most things. I’m constantly working on my craft. It’s been really hard at times for me to learn and grow my writing in such a public way.

I started making zines around 1994. My first zine was called Social Stupidity, which was followed by my most well-known zine 15th Precinct. All my zines have been inspired by the punk community. I basically started making zines to share my love of all the wonderful local bands I would go see. First and foremost, I will always be the biggest fan!

I have made a handful of one-off zines to cheer up my friends when they’re sad. Recently I have made a couple of zines with a more personal focus Conversations With Bianca and At The Edge Of The World (if people want a copy they can contact me through my blog). I’m in the process of making a zine that uses punk lyrics as positive affirmations for daily life. We all know how pumped the lyrics: rise above / we’re gonna rise above gets us. I have also written for Brisbane street press Rave for fourteen years as well as various other national and international publications in print and online. I have recently formed a zine collective the Paper Cuts Collective with two fellow zinesters. We hope to create networking opportunities for zine lovers and makers and celebrate the awesome-mess of zines in general. Zines are really important, independent press is one of the most powerful tools we have to be heard, to express ourselves and share information and experiences.

What drew you to punk?

I first came to punk rock via way of my big brother Barrie’s record collection. My sister Julie also gave me a Sex Pistols tape. Growing up I idolised my older siblings and thought they were the coolest people ever so naturally I gravitated towards what they were into and it’s what I was around daily. Until my bro gave me the records I was listening to (and still do) Janet Jackson, Salt n Pepa and the like. I also have my brother and sister Juanita to thank for my love of hip hop.

The energy was a big attraction for me as well as the lyrics in both punk rock (and hip hop). I’m a huge fan of lyrics! I really enjoy the work of Matt from The Bronx, Efrem from Death By Stereo, Cinder block from Tilt, Brody from Spinnerette/The Distllers, Jesse from Operation Ivy/Common Rider, Jason from Strung Out, Rob & Vic from 108, Exene from X, Ray Cappo from Shelter and many more. Punk has been a platform for me to explore myself and in which I feel I have a voice. Punk has empowered me to believe that I can do anything that I want to in life.

Tell us the inspiration behind your work and what makes it so worthwhile to you?

As I mentioned before it’s my friends and loved ones closest that inspire both me and my work. Also I think a desire to want to know more and utilising my ability to question why. I’ve heard a lot of punkers say over the years that punk inspired them to question everything—the system, authority etc. I’ve always been the million and one question kid (just ask my family) from the get-go. Maybe that’s a reason I was drawn to punk?

In regards to the Conversations With Punx project it was inspired out of many things. One of those was a deep depression that I had found myself in. I was in a really weird place at the time. I knew there had to be something more than what I was experiencing so I went on a search for something more, something better; my truth. I choose to explore that through what I knew, and that was the punk world.

What makes it worthwhile to me is the fact that it’s helped me so much in my life; it’s helped and inspired those that I have spoken to for it. Imagine sitting across the table from someone you grew up listening to and that had inspired your life telling you that you’ve inspired theirs—it’s unbelievably surreal. The project’s taking on a life and energy all its own. I hope people get something positive out of reading it.

Tell us where this journey (best way to describe it I think) began?

The Conversations With Punx… journey started as a feeling, an urgency that I had to do this. Often I found myself asking questions directly related to me or someone in my life and what we have been going through. I remember talking to Duane Peters about his ten years of drug addiction at the same time a friend of mine was going through similar troubles. I knew my friend really loved Duane and paid a lot of attention to what he has to say so maybe in some way I figured I could help my friend by talking to Duane about his battle with addiction and giving it to my friend to read. Pretty much all my work centres on helping others in some roundabout way.

What was the highlight for you doing the books?

There were so, so many. For real! I am thankful and blessed for the whole journey and where it will continue to take me. The highlight would be the connections made and friendships forged. Hearing all of the stories from everyone was mind blowing. I was really thankful that I got to spend some extended periods of time with some of the interviewees. Also, another highlight was getting to spend a lot of time with my niece, Leasha who I did the layout design with. She’s one of my best friends. All the people that have reached out and connected with me because of the project has also meant so much to me. It may sound a little corny but it’s just a project that keeps on giving and keeps on unfolding. I’m excited to see what happens next.

Is there anyone you wish you could have had in the books not there?

No not really, the people that were meant to be in the book are. There were a few people I approached that declined to have a conversation on the subject. Spirituality is a very personal thing and not everyone wants to talk about their beliefs which I respect. One guy had me pay him for an interview! I’ve spoken to Mike Muir about spirituality and I wish I could have included that but he choose not to be a part of it. As a rule he chooses not to be a part of ‘punk’ related projects/books/docos. There were a few instances too where artists managers were super rude to me, not returning calls as promised, hanging up on me etc. One artist’s manager declined for the artist and then at a later date I interviewed the artist and asked them myself and they hadn’t heard about my request at all (and were pretty pissed they weren’t told). There are a lot of bogus managers and self-important PR people out there… luckily there are many, many more lovely ones too. Thank goodness.

Are there any bands from Queensland you absolutely love (past or present)?

Yes, many! I adore (in no particular order): Blister, Hobo Obituaries (plus Jhonny’s solo stuff is AMAZING and Hobo DJs), the Death Set (originally form the Gold Coast), Pangaea, Dick Nasty, Knaw, Operator Please, Against, Felinedown, Mad Occupants, Reichelt, Mouthguard, the Greys (and Mark Duckworth solo work), Bantha Fodder, A Secret Death, Blowhard. Fur from the Gold Coast is one of my all-time favourite bands. I loved and was affiliated with the Gold Coast punk community for a long while so bands like Vicious and the Freuds will always have a place in my heart. I know I have forgotten a whole lot, sorry guys!

If you could ask the one question what would it be?

What does love mean to you?

Where to from here?

More creativity, more zines, more blogging, more writing, more interviewing, more music, more art, more magic all the time! I’ve got my Hip Hop Insight project underway. I’ve already spoken to twelve people in the hip hop world for that. It’s similar to Conversations With Punx but I’m talking to hip hoppers. Plus I’m working on music projects and several other exciting things that I can’t reveal just yet. I eventually want to become involved in a lot more ‘cause’ related work. My pal Heidi Minx has a really great D-I-Y approach to helping the world with her Built On Respect project–she inspires me greatly. I love surrounding myself with good people doing positive, constructive, creative things. My biggest inspiration is my Jhonny, he is an artist and musician. He has taught me so much about creativity and inspires me to be better and do better every single day. In all my travels I’ve never met another person like him, he is very dear to me. I’d really love to start my own print magazine again…  you never know, anything is possible!

CREATE FOREVER!

In celebration of love, here are some thoughts on the subject from punk rockers I’ve chatted to over the years (mostly) taken from my

Conversations With Punx project.

“Maintaining a healthy self-image and really loving yourself is something that’s really important to me. People let life get to them too much and they get beaten down by it. They become cynical and jaded. It’s really important for me not to become like that. When I look back and say I want to love myself, it’s not because I’m running from my past, it’s because I’m learning to accept who I am with flaws. It is really hard to do sometimes in life if you weren’t raised that way. I wasn’t raised to speak up about anything or express anything that was upsetting. It was a quiet inner life. Feeling that my life is big and that I love it, is a big accomplishment.” Exene Cervenka, X

“Happiness is freedom. To be free in this life is very hard. You get moments of happiness. When you feel a triumph, that’s happiness and when you have the purity that’s around a little child and that mother-child unconditional love, that’s happiness.” Ari Up, The Slits

“Music symbolizes happiness. It’s not happiness inherently. When something moves you it is a simile and it says: this is what joy is like, this is what love is like and all these great things—where you’re moved to the point where you can barely contain yourself and you just want to hug yourself.” Ben Weasel, Screeching Weasel/The Riverdales

“Spirituality and love go hand in hand. It’s the same thing to me. Love is the foundation of all life. If we didn’t have that attraction and feeling, I don’t think there’d be anything.” Craig Fairbaugh, Mercy Killers

“Love god, love people, live in the moment and leave nothing behind.” Dan Jones, Ante Up/God So Loved The World

“Love. That’s something I forever and forever crave for. I am so a junkie for that. Music too. I get a natural high sometimes just hanging out, being around people and people smiling and having fun.” Efrem Schultz, Death By Stereo

“I don’t require my children to prove that they love me. I believe they do and it doesn’t really matter to the rest of the world whether they do or not. I am very motivated to do things that continue to nurture their love for me and I don’t expect anything from them—it is unconditional love. This is one example of something that doesn’t require science. It is faith and it applies to family and friends and interpersonal relationships in general. You could study it and theorize about it scientifically, but I think that is a fruitless pursuit of science because loving relationships come in such a variety that it is almost impossible to measure meaningfully.” Greg Graffin, Bad Religion

“Trust yourself. Whatever you’re doing, whatever you want to do, there comes a time when you have to ask yourself, why am I doing this? When you get to that point you have to do it for yourself, money, ambition and aspirations aside. You have to do it for the love of doing it. It’s where I am right now and I’m going to do my best.” Jason Cruz, Strung Out

“I believe that human love is a whole hell of a lot more important to spiritual development than I gave it credit for while I was living a monk-oriented lifestyle. Without human love, including romantic and erotic love – I notice that a lot of seekers tend to become obsessed with thoughts and words and ideas and become dried up a bit, wrinkled and twisted a bit.” Vic DiCara, 108

“Until you learn to love God you’re not going to be truly able to love other people. The ultimate reality is you learn to love God then you see God inside everybody else’s heart. Once you realise that we’re all coming from the same place you can truly have compassion for other people and try to help them.” Porcell, Shelter/Youth of Today

“It [love] is real important. It’s one of those things kind of like religion in a way: it fuels you when you don’t have it and it fuels you when you do have it. It’s a really cool thing. I’ve always just been built that way. I’ve always enjoyed having that connection with someone. It’s important to me as a person and the type of person that I am. I really enjoy having someone to pour all of my energies and emotion into. It’s awesome to have the respect from someone else and to have the respect in someone else.” Matt Caughthran, The Bronx

“I always wanted to have that feeling back of being a wide eyed kid looking at the trees, the sky or my mother. It sounds simple but it’s not. Part of the whole quest is to find a place within you that is comfortable and acknowledge that everything is connected. Whatever you feel that brings you closer to that place of pure love or consciousness, that’s what it’s about.” Robert Ehrenbrand, Boysetsfire

“I’m not going to get into all the hippie dippy shit but I love the animals and nature. My house – where I’ve moved from – if you walk out the door and turn right you go towards all the bars where all the bands play. Everyone jokes, “Tim always turns left towards the river. When everyone else goes out to go to shows he’s got a twelve pack of beer and is headed to the river.” [Laughs] That’s where I fall asleep.” Tim Barry, Avail

“It [love] is really important. When it’s there you can take it for granted easily but you really, really notice when it’s not there, once you’ve had love and it’s not there. When you’ve experienced something so deep and special and then the thought of it being gone kills you, I think that… it’s easier if you haven’t really felt that for somebody. For me, I have that. I’m married and I’m very happy and I couldn’t imagine not being with her. Before I met her I had no idea.” Mike Herrera, MxPx/Tumbledown

“I’m equally inspired by love and boredom and I’ve been a dramatic person all my life.” Brontez Purnell, The Younger Lovers

“Oh love is everything, it’s the motivating force. To me it means embracing fearlessness. The most important part of it, is knowing that it’s not about really being scared of what you might lose or what you’re almost on the verge of having; it’s this fearless acceptance of this is where I am and I’m really enjoying this moment or I’m not enjoying this moment but I’m here.” Lisa Kekaula, The Bellrays

Dedicated to the best person I’ve ever known:

I hope your day is filled with LOVE!

*Art: Jhonny Russell

I’m so excited! Finally! We’ve reached the halfway point in the Conversations with Punx limited edition zine series. The start of September also marked a whole year since this project was launched out into the world at the very first Paper Cuts Collective event in Brisbane, Australia. Conversations with Punx #6 ‘Faith’ is 80+ pages, with a light blue card cover, hand bound tied with purple raffia! As always the issue is limited edition—to order a copy please contact me at: conversationswithbianca [at] gmail [dot] com. Also, as I’ve mentioned recently I have been nominated for Australian Zine Maker of the Year and Conversations with Punx has been nominated for Best Zine Series of the Year too! I’ll love you forever if you take a moment to vote for me (Bianca Valentino) and CWP here at the Golden Stapler Awards.

 
Ray Cappo (Shelter / Youth of Today…)

This conversation meant a lot to me as Shelter are one of my favourite bands. It took a little while to track Ray down – he has mostly been out of the public spotlight and hasn’t done too many interviews in the past decade while he’s been fairly quiet in terms of music making. I’m going to be totally honest and let y’all know that I paid for this interview. It is the one and only interview in the 17 years of interviewing musicians that I have parted with $ for. I really wanted to speak to Ray as Shelter’s music had such a positive impact on my life and paying for the time spent chatting is the only way it was going to happen. Ray chats about how he got into spirituality and Krishna Consciousness, the struggles in his life, the Krishna-core movement in ’90s hardcore, of working on humility and more.

Ari Up (The Slits…)

I feel so blessed I was able to speak with my favourite punk rock frontwoman before she passed. She was one of the greatest true individuals I have ever known. It was so interesting hearing about the early days of punk rock in England, hip hop in New York and so much more. Ari even spent part of her life living in the rainforest with tribes people. Read an extract from the conversation here at Collapse Board.

Frank Portman (The Mr. T Experience / author: King Dork…)

I had a blast talking to Frank, he was drinking wine as we spoke. I got in contact with him after I spoke with Ben from Screeching Weasel; Ben suggested Frank would make a great interview subject. We spoke on Christianity, Atheism, New Age ‘stuff’, music as therapy and of spirituality and religion in the punk community. Super interesting!

Mike Herrera (MxPx / Tumbledown…)

When I spoke with Mike he was in the middle of building his own recording studio at home. He was so excited and pumped about it. Mike spoke about growing up as a Christian punk rocker, of being scrutinized by punks and religious people, on creativity, love and of spiritual challenges.

Sena Hussain (Secret Trial Five)

My conversation with Sena was interesting to say the least! Sena is in an all-girl Muslim punk band and is also an openly queer Drag King.  Read an extract from this conversation here on Collapse Board.

Rob Fusco (Most Precious Blood / One King Down)

Rob’s a wonderful friend, the conversation with him featured in this issue was done the first time I ever met him when his band Most Precious Blood came to my hometown Brisbane. It’s one of my favourite chats for the project, to find out why you’ll just have to read it! ;)

Tim Barry (Avail)

I found Tim to be an amazing guy, the way he lives, the way he thinks about music and life is all so inspiring! He believes that the key to life is being peaceful.

Create forever!!
Love & light,

I hope you all have been well! Just in time for the holidays, CWP Zine #2/12 [Courage] is now available!! 

Cover art (design, handpainted screen + screenprinted) by Jhonny. 

The featured conversations on punk, spirituality & creativity in Zine Two of the limited edition 12 zine series include:

Larry Livermore (Lookout Records, the Potatomen, the Lookouts)

Henry Rollins (Black Flag, the Rollins Band)

Dan Jones (God So Loved The World, Seraph’s Coal…)

Jason Cruz (Strung Out, Blackheart & the Pistoleros)

Porcell (Shelter, Youth of Today, Judge, Young Republicans, Violent Children)

Heidi Minx (Built On Respect, Punk Rock Domestics, Franky & Minx)

Photography by: Stephen Booth, Nat Thompson, Natalie Lorenz, Kim Wheeler, Eric Vogel & Benjamin Nichols.

Zine Two’s foreword is written by my dear friend Greg Attonito, frontman for the Bouncing Souls. They’re on tour here in Australia right now with the most excellent Hot Water Music. Get along to one of their shows if you have the chance, I promise it’ll be neat! :)

I mailed out all current subscribers’ a copy of CWP Zine Two [Courage] yesterday! As it’s a busy time of year for the worldwide postal service—with the holiday season upon us and the extra gift/card mail and all—please allow for a slight delay.

Apologies, that I am a little behind in getting the zines out. I will be working hard through the holidays though to catch up and start the New Year as up-to-date as possible.

Announcements about Conversations With Punx Zine Three will be made soon. Thank you for all of the love, support & encouragement!!

Be excellent to each other…

It’s almost time to retire CWP Zine One featuring: Ian MacKaye, Don Letts, Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, Johnny Siera, Greg Attonito and Shanti Wintergate. Thank you to everyone who ordered a copy, subscribed, came to the launch or wrote me saying they enjoy reading the site—your correspondence, feedback, encouragement, love & support is appreciated.

I thought I’d share with you some thoughtful correspondence I have received in relation to CWP Zine One:

 I got your zine yesterday and dived into it last night. You know how you stated all of those conversations happened at the right time in your life? Well this has arrived at the right time in my life when I needed such uplifting insight and positive brain food. You will help a lot of people with your words and your interviews and I’m really grateful. ~D.M

I’m similar to you I have at times found myself branching away from punk that meant so much to me growing up. Punk rock Is certainly still a big part of who I am, although amongst our exceedingly desensitized culture I found a large part of my punk fraternity were lacking interest or ability to relate or intrigue with their deeper side, making me all the more determined to go searching mine with other interests and genres. From folk to dub, dance and back again I’ve found some lack of feeling or ways for people to express their beliefs not a thing limited to the rougher genre. Music In its essence I suppose even if only subconsciously allows people to connect with deeper emotions and hopefully provokes thinking for these people like my fav punk lyricists instilled in me long ago. Tis refreshing to read these interviews from such intelligent artists I respect whom share similar views to each other and indeed myself but all have different ways of sharing or expressing how it works for them in their day to day lives. ~R.

Conversations With Punx Zine Two is almost done and will be available for order shortly. The line-up has been finalised. CWP Zine Two features:

Larry Livermore (Lookout Records, the Potatomen, the Lookouts)

Henry Rollins (Black Flag, the Rollins Band)

Dan Jones (God So Loved The World, Seraph’s Coal…)

Jason Cruz (Strung Out, Blackheart & the Pistoleros)

Porcell (Shelter, Youth of Today, Judge, Young Republicans, Violent Children)

Heidi Minx (Built On Respect, Punk Rock Domestics, Franky & Minx)

Ordering options for that particular issue will be available soon here at Conversations With Bianca. All of these conversations are some of my favourite yet! Subscriptions are available now here.

Photo: Dan Jones of God So Loved The World (one of my all-time favourite Australian hardcore punk bands) by Alex Newton.

Cover art by Jhonny Hobo for CWP Zine Two will be posted soon!

Create forever!

PS – If there are any conversations you’d like to see sooner rather than later in a upcoming issue, let me know :)

I’ve only really started using mantras on a regular basis over the past year. My astrologer Vic DiCara (he also plays in hardcore punk band 108*) drew up my astrological chart using Vedic Astrology last year. After interrupting it he decided to prescribe a certain mantra that would help in manifesting my dreams to reality. You’re probably going ‘what the hell is a mantra?’ Let me explain:

Mantra is a practice that involves the repetition of a word or a phrase of words. At first it may feel mechanical but once you get into it you start to (hopefully) embody the quality or essence you are trying to invoke. You should try to be sincere when saying your mantra.

My friend Vic described the usefulness of mantras by telling me, “Practice the mantra with a given intention and need and you will find that need, will be addressed… the power of mantra is to open your mind and free it from habit. So doing the mantra enables you to learn the lessons of the planets as quickly and painlessly as possible, even enjoyably and blissfully in fact.”

Art by Abhi Ryan

I have found that putting both meditation and chanting a mantra (along with yoga) into my daily routine has helped give me a grounding and solid base in which to start my day in.

Mantra are used across many cultures (it’s not just an Eastern exotic thing), faith and philosophies. I have found that they help to give me clarity and boost my energy.
For more on mantras check out: The Power of Mantra, Gently Returning and History & Info on Mantra.

A song from the album Mantra by one of my favourite hardcore punk bands Shelter.

*108 trivia – 108 is a semi-permanent number; malas have 108 beads for use when reciting mantras; according to Ayurveda there are 108 pressure points in the body…

Art by Chainsaw Panda

Om mani padme hum…
With Metta,

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If from reading the title you think this is a post about my lady lumps sorry to disappoint… however If you just groaned at reading ‘happy mid-week’ this post could be for you (ha,ha). It’s the time of the week where we’re half way from last weekend and halfway to our next weekend…

Live for the weekend, every night- Hardskin

I’ve heard many refer to this time of the week as the mid-week hump (or bump): by now some of you will be starting to feel tired (or bored) with your week and wish the working week was over, hence the importance of doing something you love for a living. My ma and pa, always told me that: If you do what you love with your days you’ll never feel you’re working a day in your life. And, when challenges arise you’ll rise to the occasion and rule it! I love my folks they’re so smart!

*Note: In the Urban Dictionary ‘mid-week hump’ is also a term for having sex on a Wednesday apparently. That’s something that could definitely work to cure the mid-week blues! He, he… ;)

Suggestions to help you reach the weekend:

Music. Listen to it! Make it! Share it! Go see it! Dance to it! No matter what my mood there’s always something in my record collection to suit. Music has never failed to cheer me up… perhaps the only constant in my life (but that’s a whole other story for another day).

When I need motivation out comes: Sick Of It All –Built To Last, Blackalicious – Blazing Arrow, Shelter – When 20 Summers Pass, Jay-Z – the Blueprint and Rancid – Indestructible, among oodles of others. What music kicks you in the butt when you need motivation? Please share, I’m always on the lookout for new tunes/artists to check out. One of my best friends in the entire world, Ant once told me that music can give us hope for a better tomorrow. My homie Efrem from Fullerton, Orange County also told me that, “I think writing songs is an attempt to be happy. It’s part of the pursuit of happiness.”

Check out what the planets are doing. After all, we are all connected—humans, animals, trees, the Sun, Moon, planets etc. My friend Vic shares some wonderful information on what the Universe is up to over at his Vedic Astrology site and his Astro-blog. You can check out what planet is ruling today! Vic did a reading for me about a year ago & seriously he was so spot on with so many things. The insight he gave me to where I’m at in my life cycle and where it’s headed helped me to better understand things in my life. I’ll be expanding on this idea more in future posts.

Practice gratitude. In my experience if you’re truly thankful for what you have you’re not worrying about the things you don’t have. It’s all a state of mindset. Did you wake up this morning? Do you have a roof over your head? Is there food in the cupboard? Clean water to drink? Are there people in your life that love you? If you answered ‘yes’ to the aforementioned let me tell ya, you’re a rich, rich person indeed, you have everything you need… all the other stuff is icing on top of the cupcake of your life. Maybe tomorrow morning when you first open your eyes ask yourself ‘what am I thankful for?’ I take the time to give gratitude for my wonderful life in the morning before I do my Morning Pages and/or meditation or at night. Why not every day think of just three things you’re thankful for. It’s not super hard and costs you nothing… give it a try!

A thought to carry into your day: Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn’t learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn’t learn a little, at least we didn’t get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn’t die; so, let us all be thankful. ~Buddha

Do you guys do anything to help beat the mid-week hump? Please share…

A wonderful tune to inspire your day:

*(thanks Tizmond for introducing me to such an awesome band)

Up an early for the hope of a brand new day
See a homie you ain’t seen since back in the day
Fresh haircut fitted wit a fat ass fade
End of work, we chilling on a Saturday
How you felt when you first heard the Daddy Kane
Rakim, KRS hey I had that tape
Cooling out with ol’ girl on a fat ass date
Find a hundred dollar bill wow man that’s great
Get promoted at your job up to management
Plot a long time finally a plan has made it
Time I feel I wanna shout, man it’s real that way
Wanna think of things that make you feel that way
~Blackalicious

Wishing you greatness!

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