-The Basic Essentials: ~Writing & Reading Poetry ~Web Design, Graphic Design ~Painting, Drawing, Sketching ~Playing Acoustic Guitar ~Singing ~Song Writing ~Reading, Learning, Growing, Freedom ~Laughing, Joking, Dancing ~Star Gazing, Gardening, Cooking~Praying, Meditating, Pilates ~Wearing my sunglasses at night! ~Singing in the car even when alone ~Playing Non-pop music extremely loud ~Good Conversation ~Playing & spending quality time with my pets. ~Lakes, Rivers, Oceans, Swimming~Ice Skating, Rollerblading ~Fire, Incense, Candles, Sage ~Meteors, Revelations, Illusionist ~Weather, Global Warming ~Talking to seniors ~Children ~Antiques, Handwriting ~Defying Stereotypes ~Standing Up ~Dustin' off shady folks when they impose on my peace! ~Real Talk with action to prove it ~Doing hair ~Mythology, Egyptians~Psychology, Sociology, Philosophy ~Race Relations, Politics, Business, Finance ~The gift of discernment ~Balancing Chakras ~Empathy & Energy ~Making Jewelry, Hand Made Dolls, Throw Pillows, Head Wraps, Skirts & more. ~Fashion, Unique styles, Sewing, Crocheting, Scrapbooking, purchasing books & journals, unique paper, buying & playing old vinyl records including 45's ~Old games like Atari, & the first Nintendo
Interesting, Funny, Creative, Intelligent, Ambitious, Unique, Kind, Open Minded, Honest, Spiritual, Free, Good Hygiene!-Poets, Writers, Artist, Photographers, Musicians who would like to network, share, collab.-People interested in hiring me to design their website, banners, cd covers, book covers, logos, backgrounds, etc. (I do it all!)-People who would like me to create their unique "CandyAcidReign" portrait.-People interested in purchasing my visual work or would like to feature my poetry or art in their publications.-People who love the arts & truly enjoy my work & my vision.Deeper:-Wise humble souls, genuine empathetic intellectuals who have mastered or strive to master the balance of the world and the spirit, who will not sacrifice their morality for any ill tangibles but would gladly be sacrificial for a truly good cause.-People who understand that it takes a good follower to be a good leader, and that in order to truly hear the spirit you must be capable of silencing your mind. Well rounded individuals, with a strong sense of self and an appreciation for others. Capable of understanding not only their perception or opinions but that of which they do not agree with...because you do not have to agree or accept just to understand.-People beyond this selfish monetary world, who are capable of giving and receiving true love, not for self gratification but just because pure Love is the epitome of Life, and should not be denied or trivialized, when body parts sag, and skin folds under the weight of time, when your fair weather friends leave you in the rain, when the party is over, Only pure Love will survive.-Those who give all glory to the almighty/the greater good/the omnipresent (regardless of your detailed beliefs or religious affiliations), with the understanding that perfection is not obtainable in our small flawed world of humanity, but knowledge still must be sought in order for you to come to the conclusion...that you know nothing but can feel everything, final refuge will only be found with God (by any other name).Check List
Art Blog | Pics & Art | My Videos
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Side Note: "My work comes from a very pure place. I don't do it because I'm good, I do it because I love it, and if I'm any 'good', it's because I'm doing it, and doing it with love." -Ladessa
Fine Art: Paintings
Work in Progress (painting as we speak!) Untitled
16"x20" oil painting on stretched canvas
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Tell me what you think... so far.
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Work in Progress: 20"x16" oil painting on stretched canvas.
Title: "A Fool 4 Blue"
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Work in Progress: 16"x20" oil painting on stretched canvas.
Title: "The Boy Inside The Man"
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Work in Progress: 20"x16" oil painting on stretched canvas.
Title: "Before She Was Loved"
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Fine Graphic Art
My Latest Creation: Titled - Mary, Mother of Nature
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My Recent Creation: Titled - Bwana vya Imara (Man of Power -in swahili)
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My Recent Creation: Titled - Mojo
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My Recent Creation: Titled - Obstruction
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My Recent Creation: Titled - Coco Bongos
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My Recent Creation: Titled - Polarity
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Spokenword Video
Ladessa's Comment Box
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Gems & Jewels
Oh where do I begin? I don't want to leave anything or anyone out, but that is nearly impossible considering I love music, ALL KINDS of music, as long as it can speak to my soul, or my body, my emotions or my mind. I am a sucker for a great melodic sound with unique lyrics. I tend to gravitate to slow songs the most. I of course love R&B, Soul, Neo- Soul, Blues, Funk, some Hip Hop or pop (old & new). I like Indie bands, Folk Rock, Alternative, some metal, some punk, & Electronica, Nu-Jazz, & some house. I still enjoy 90's rock, and I love the classics! I love reggae, some gospel, and some jazz as well. My weakness has to be folk rock/alternative or oldschool soul...I'm basically in love with those sounds. I do play the acoustic guitar and sing songwrite and it's hard to label because it has a bit of everything but my sound is closer to a bluesy-folk rock with soul...or kind of (neo-soul-ish) with a twist.Here is a list of some people I have enjoyed past & present (in no particular order):Prince, Me'shell NdegeOcello, Gladys Knight, Damien Rice, Denise Williams, Randy Crawford, Bjork, Jimi Hendrix, Gorillaz, Counting Crows, Live, Mos Def, Amel Larrieux, Van Hunt, Cinematic Orchestra, Greenday, Fiona Apple, Yolanda Adams, Floetry, Ne-Yo, Donny Hathaway, Kem, Nas, Jay Z, Incubus, Coldplay, Modest Mouse, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Radiohead, Portishead, Sarah McLachLan, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Kanye West, Lyfe, John Mayer, Dashboard Confessional, No Doubt (Gwen), Kenny Lattimore, Maxwell, Shanice, The Roots, Aerosmith, Leela James, E-40, Lil Wayne, My Chemical Romance, Marvin Gaye, Sam Cooke, Earth Wind and Fire, Stevie Wonder, Lauryn Hill, Res, Fantasia, D'Angelo, Nina Simone, Regina Belle, Miles Davis, Roberta Flack, Kelly Price, Whitney Houston (before drugs), Monica, Lenny Kravitz, Train, Korn, Amos Lee, Ben Harper, Corinne Bailey Rae, Augustana, Snow Patrol, Marques Houston, Amy Winehouse, Citizen Cope, Jack Johnson, James Morrison, Oasis, Tori Amos, Muddy Waters, Bonni Raitt, R.E.M, Melissa Etheridge, Joss Stone, Joi, Raphael Saadiq, Angie Stone, Jill Scott, Sade, Erykah Badu, Talib Kweli, The Brand New Heavies, Common, Bob Marley, The Isley Brothers, John Legend, Alicia Keys, Usher, Jason Mraz, U2, Matchbox Twenty, Dave Matthews Band, 3 Doors Down, Nirvana, Nine Inch Nails, Limp Bizkit, P.O.D, System of a Down, Blink 182, N.E.R.D, Omarion, Christina Aguilara, Norah Jones, The Jackson 5 (Michael Jackson), India Arie, Gerald Levert, R. Kelly, BB King, Tupac, Biggie, Saul Williams (The Poet), Seal, Macy Gray, The Tony Rich Project, Toni Braxton, Mariah Carey, Hope, Kelly Clarkson, Mary J. Blige, Juelz Santana, T.I, Erick Sermon, TLC, Trey Songs, Alanis Morissette, Smokey Robinson, John Coltrane, Digable Planets, A Tribe Called Quest, Brandy, Tank, Jaheim, Case, Damien Marley, Ella Fitzgerald, Barry White, Aretha Franklin, Curtis Mayfield, Sublime, Santana, Eric Clapton, Dionne Farris, Commodores, The O'jays, Lloyd, Al Green, Freddie Jackson, The Beatles, Janis Joplin, Billie Holiday, Ray Charles, De La Soul, Wu Tang, Run DMC, Bahamadia, Public Enemy, Pink Floyd, EPMD, Jurassic 5, Staind, Hoobastank, Howie Day, Goodie Mob, Patti Labelle, Mahalia Jackson, Lionel Richie, Genuwine, Cee-Lo/Goodie Mobb/Gnarls Barkley, The Whispers, The Four Tops, The Fugees, The Temptations, Dwele, Ziggy Marley, Weezer, Beck, Tweet, Dilated Peoples, Musiq, Gang Starr, Krs-one, Jon B., Isaac Hayes, Ludacris, SWV, Tony! Toni! Tone!, Janet Jackson, Maroon 5, Faith Evans, James Brown, Brian McKnight, Eric B & Rakim, MC Lyte!, Bilal, Cody Chesnutt, Vivian Green, 311, The White Stripes, Bill Withers, Quincy Jones, Heather Headley, Sting, Anthony Hamilton, Anita Baker, Babyface (Mint Condition), Minnie Ripperton, Brand Nubian, Sheryl Crow, Louis Armstrong, Teddy Pendergrass, Luther Vandross, Doug E. Fresh, Missy Elliott, Slick Rick, Little Brother, Javier, Rachelle Ferrell, Xscape, L.L Cool J, Boyz II Men, Shai, Bon Jovi, Guns N' Roses, Outkast, Busta Rhymes, Jazzyfatnastees, Goapele, Rolling Stones, Pink, Destiny's Child/Beyonce, Avril Lavigne, The Pharcyde, Bobby Womack, The Doors, Little Richard, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Sheila E., Les Nubians, Methodman & Redman, Rick James, Cameo (She's "Strange"-My theme song!), George Clinton, Roger & Zapp, Tina Marie...and so many more... (maybe I'll add more as they come to mind, but I think you get the idea of the range!)
~SLAM ~Rize ~Love Jones ~Claudine ~Sparkle ~The Color Purple ~Let's Do It Again ~Do The Right Thing ~Imitation Of Life ~Lean on Me ~New Jack City ~Baby Boy ~Player's Club ~He Got Game ~Harlem Nights ~Coming to America ~Set It Off ~Cooley High ~Juice ~Antwone Fisher ~Poetic Justice ~Ray ~Queen ~ROOTS ~The Klumps ~Beloved ~The 5 Heartbeats ~School Daze ~Menace II Society ~Tupac Resurrection ~Jason's Lyric ~Boomerang ~Boyz In Da Hood ~Friday ~Lady Sings The Blues ~Malcolm X ~The Brothers ~American Gangster ~House Party 1 & 3 ~Class Act (yep, I said it!) ~The Best Man ~All dem Tyler Perry -Madea plays & movies ~Waiting to Exhale ~Bad Boys 1 and 2 ~Training Day ~Room 1408 ~Lord of The Rings, all 3 ~The Matrix, all 3 ~Kill Bill 1&2 ~Fight Club ~Vanilla Sky ~Interview With a Vampire ~Girl Interrupted ~Sling Blade ~Proof ~Something's Gotta Give ~Scarface ~Face Off ~Butterfly Effect ~Independence Day ~Armageddon ~Enemy Of The State ~Ghost ~Dirty Dancing (the original) ~Zeitgeist ~Farenhiet 911 ~Bowling For Columbine ~Collateral (All things Tom Cruise) Top Gun etc. ~Saw ~One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest ~The Hills Have Eyes ~Chainsaw Masacre (original & remake) ~Silence Of The Lambs ~Breakfast At Tiffany's ~50 First Dates ~Anger Management ~Mr Deeds ~Punch Drunk Love ~The Wedding Singer ~Happy Gillmore etc. ~Zoolander ~Liar, Liar ~Dumb & Dumber (Almost Everything Jim Carey!) ~Pretty Woman ~Scream 1 & 2 ~Meet The Parents ~Blade ~Batman (All of them) ~Philadelphia ~Forrest Gump ~A Beatiful Mind ~Death Becomes Her ~Beetlejuice ~Star Wars ~The Breakfast Club (and most 80's teen flicks) ~Stand By Me ~Rush Hour 1 & 2 ~Devils Advocate ~and so much more...but you get the idea...
I don't watch much TV but when I get a chance to watch I like: most reality TV, Amazing Race, Flavor of Love/I Love New York (for amusement), Chappelle Show, South Park, Girlfriends, Seinfield (re-runs), In Living Color (re-runs), Martin (re-runs), Jaime Fox Show (re-runs), Sex In The City (re-runs), Friends (re-runs), (BBC) News, Discovery Channel, History Channel, Sci-fi Channel, Independent Film Channel (IFC), Animal Planet, Cartoon Network or Disney Channel (for nostalgia), American Idol, X-file (re-runs), The Parkers, Eve, Survivor, Big Brother, Jay Leno, Conan O'brien, America's Next Top Model, Mad Tv, Access Hollywood, Inside Edition, Dateline, The Amazing Race, Nip Tuck, Extreme Makeover & the (home edition), The Apprentice, Soul Food (the series), Sleeper Cell, Barbershop (the series), and some others I can't think of right now...take note of all the re-runs! I like VH1 and I love the selection of music videos they show. I watch a lot of paid channels like Showtime & HBO. Once in a while I watch junk channels like MTV & BET just so I can remain in the know & not become too disconnected from our youth & the times!
For the most part I like Books that challenge, inform, dazzle the mind, keep you suspended, or simply are well wriiten works of literature. I enjoy Poetry Books, Photgraphy & Artistic Collections, Self Help, Spiritual, Philisophical, Bibles, Mystery & Sci-fi like Dean Koontz/Stephen King/Richard Laymon, fictions like "Beloved" by Toni Morrison, books that tackle tough or controversial social topics, Historical accounts & autobiographies etc.I'm very studious, on a pro-bono level. I tend to research many things in my spare time simply for the sake of awareness; because of this, It's hard to list all of my reference books & sites, so I decided to simply list a few basic books that I found interesting.Here are a few favs:~'The Book of Enoch' R.H. Charles & Laurence version. ~'The Davinci Code' & 'Demons & Angels' by: Dan Brown. ~'Race Matters' & 'Restoring Hope' by: Cornel West. ~'The Prophet' by: Kahlil Gibran ~'Losing The Race -Self-Sabotage in Black America' by: John McWhorter ~'Wild Seed' by: Octavia E. Butler ;) ~'Cotton Candy On A Rainy Day' & 'My House' by: Nikki Giovanni ~'Selected Poems' by: Langston Hughes ~'The Complete Collection' & 'I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings' by: Maya Angelou ~'Said The Shotgun to The Head' by: Saul Williams ~'The Black Poets' by: Dudley Randall ~'Some Soul to Keep' by: J. California Cooper ~'Personal Power Through Awareness' by: Sanaya Roman ~'Uncle Tom's Children' & 'Native Son' & 'Black Boy' by: Richard Wright ~'Three Negro Classics' -('Up From Slavery' by: Booker T. Washington. 'The Souls of Black Folk' by: William E. B. Dubois. 'The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man' by: James Weldon Johnson)Currently Reading:~'Genevieve' by: Eric Jerome Dickey ~'Loving Donovan' by: Bernice L. McFadden ~'Counting Raindrops Through a Stained Glass Window' by Cherlyn Michaels
...God & everything and everyone under. I'm also thankful for the opposition, for without it I wouldn't have found the strength that I now embody. In my opinion most heroes go unrecognized. I'm thankful for the people who pick up the trash or work the fields when others feel that it's demeaning. I'm thankful for the people who volunteer in their community, teach, adopt children, raise foster kids, take a doggy bag when they leave a restaurant and hand it to someone homeless instead of throwing out a perfectly good meal. I'm grateful for the people who send out smiles to strangers everyday of their life. The people like myself who greet every new introduction with a sincere hug. Heroes are those who give a damn when it seems that no one else really cares. They tell you that life is hard but worth the fight. They challenge the world around them, ask the questions others have been programmed not to ask. They dedicate their life to the little things like raising children, being single parents, feeding others before they fed themselves. Heroes do God's work and would do so even without the pay off. Heroes spread the word with the desire of growth and not destruction. There are heroes everywhere. The people who read my poetry and told me that it impacted their life. The members and administration of my forum community who contribute without pay. The people who just understood even though they couldn't relate. The people who sat & listened to me play & sing without ever making a sound or trying to chime in. The child outside who fell in love with a stray cat and secretly feeds him every day. That man at the grocery store who told me to keep my head up without the intention of asking for my phone number. The lady down the street who is raising 6 of her grand kids. That stranger who stood up for me because they refused to stand idle and watch a wrong. The woman who reached out to me like a sister. The man who reached out to me like a brother. The person who gave me compliments without envy. The person who accepted my compliments while staying humble and gracious. The soldier that fought or died for a cause he didn't necessarily believe in. The "cock blocker" at the club who pretended to be my man to get that monkey off my back! The woman who invited Hurricane Katrina victims to live in her home and she didn't know them at all. The man or woman who volunteered to help victims of a natural disaster. The people who send money to charity even though they are living check to check. That couple who stopped to help someone who's car had broken down on the side of the road, while everyone else just drove right by. The person who would date a burn victim for reasons other than pity. The person who sung that song for the whole world to hear, because they knew that there was someone who needed to hear that it was going to be okay. The person who wrote that book to feed the mind of the person who was hungry for knowledge. The poet or artist who gave me a chance to see the world in a whole new way. The pets that bring joy to someone's life, aid the sick, elderly, or disabled, and or fill the void of loneliness. The person who fought and stood by what they believed in regardless of the antagonism & resentment they received. The ghetto prophet who highlighted the ugly truth in a way that the world could not ignore. The ex-prostitute, disease survivor, gangster, drug addict who now does seminars or charity to aid in the prevention of someone else going down that same dangerous road. The list just goes on and on. I'm a hero, you're a hero, we might all be a hero to someone somewhere at some point in time. -Ladessa Sullivan