The dreaded promo pics

So in a few days I'm going to shoot my new promo pics.

The new single is being released in August and the truth is that my look has changed and the sound has gotten bigger and better so using those old promo pics wont do.

Plus some people have told me that the old pictures we re too plain and hey made me look old. Geez who wants to look old? LOL. So now I have an opportunity to do it all over again. By the way the photographer who took the previous pics is a complete darling. I would def work with her again :)

Pressure!! I'm not exactly ANTM and I never know what to do when people are taking pictures of me. I'm such a dork I just start laughing.

PS - I cant wait to get back into studio :)

PSS- I'm thinking of getting a really GREAT SA producer to rework 2 of my demo tracks. Will let you know once I've had a chat with him :)

PSSS- Why cant I take lovely pics like the one below LMBAO? It looks amazing!

I FEEL CHEATED!!!!

I was watching TV and some show was playing Soul for Real (who are making a come back by the way) and Marcee and I got talking about how cheated we felt. When we were young we thought THEY WERE IT!! And now my niece thinks Chris brown is the ish.

WHY OH WHY did they not make them like that back in my day? WE FEEL SO CHEATED!! Marc reckons it's all the hormones in the food... And in case you think I'm exaggerating, pls view the evidence below.


WHAT WE HAD:










WHAT YOUNG PEOPLE TODAY HAVE:








Now this C Breezy guy makes me wanna although he could be a little immature for me (see what I did there? LOL). But it's his lady friend below that makes me think I don't stand a chance.




But if I did (stand a chance with that young man)... At least I know that he will be able to handle all this LMBAO!!!





I feel so CHEATED right now... SMH FOREVER!!!

Quality time

I don't get to hang out with my friends a lot because most of them are in Jozi, but some of them are in Cape Town. Last week I visited my girl Zoe and when I looked back at the pictures I realised how much I love pulling funny faces when everyone else looks normal.


Zoe wearing my super styling sunnies :)


My girls


Trying my best not to act the fool

I can't help it...

New Years resolutions

I have decided that I will not succumb to the madness of New Years resolutions come 1 January 2009. There are far too many people feeling stupidly hopeful just because it’s a new year and they all commit to things that they forget about before January is up.

So I have decided to do things my way. I have decided to work on ‘New years resolutions’ for August 2008 – December 2009. Yes I know that this is longer than 1 year, but this is how I’m doing things- MY WAY! So below are my New Years resolutions LOL!

Music:

1. Get airplay on at least 2 national radio stations, I don’t need them to playlist all 5 tracks, but wouldn’t that be lovely… *evil laugh*
2. Raise enough funds through gigs & downloads (hint to all the people that love and support me) of the EP, to record a high quality full length album
3. Before I do the above I would like to get a band of very diverse musicians that I ‘click’ with, the search starts soon.
4. Do a couple of gigs with Tidal Waves, Jacsharp, HHP & 7th Son.
5. Make the cover of YourLMG… Mike I know you reading this! Could we please make it in colour? LMAO!

GREEN (the EP) by BLACK PORCELAIN coming IN 2 WEEKS!!!



Writing:

1. Self publish my book before Feb 2009.
2. Sign a deal with an independent distributor.
3. Sell more that 5000 copies in SA (you may think that this is a low self esteem number… Don’t worry, so do I, but look at the next point).
4. Get an agent and sign a deal with a US publisher, so my book is sold in a totally different market… Aaah the ambition of young people, you gotta love it.
5. Start doing some freelance work for magazines locally. I miss writing and it's fun just to write an article as opposed to a whole book, sometimes.

Day Job:

1. Increase listenership on my ‘graveyard’ show
2. GET A PRODUCER… I really wanna do BIGGER things, but I simply can’t because I have my finger in 2 many pies ha ha ha ha.
3. Move to another time slot, because I won’t be able to do midnight – 3am for too long, as much as I love my new show.

Home:

1. We are moving into a new place and we won’t have TV for 2 months, because we are starting from scratch! Living in a new place has really spoilt us. So by December 2009, I want to have a TV and FULL furniture. So I feel at home in my little place.
2. HAVE A DINNER PARTY with all my peoples in Cape Town and have some of my Jozi people over… I promise I will ladies (and gents) please just be patient.
3. Have a black upright piano in my place; the place is not big enough for a baby grand (PLUS I CANNOT AFFORD ONE!!!!!)

Body

1. I have never owned a bikini and I have seen Serena Williams in a bikini and she looks amazing, so I’m inspired by a sister who is not bone thin.
2. I am going to loose about 5 kg’s and buy me a sexy bikini… Not sure if I ill post pictures.
3. A while ago I had an eyebrow wax (which I will never do again, threading is the way to go) so I think I will dare to have a bikini wax ONCE in my life. If the results are great , I might give up shaving FOREVER (most unlikely, because I HATE pain).
4. Have my beloved Green Drink (courtesy of Dr Oz) every morning… It’s actually not that bad, at least not the way that I make it.
   

Serena Williams REPRESENTING!!!

OTHER:

1. INCREASE MY INCOME! I’m not doing badly, but I read a quote that said "There is no point at which having arrived we can remain." By a some smart anonymous person.
2. Save at least 10% of my income every month.
3. I am a late bloomer when it comes to hip hop, so I missed some really great acts when they made their way to SA (many years ago). One of these acts was Talib Kweli. I sent him a message on MySpace BEGGING him to show SA some love. He then replied (not sure if it was him or his people, but I still appreciated it) ,speedily might I add, saying he had been here 3 times already. He even enquired WHERE I WAS when all this was happening LOL! So since I was a mere seedling, my mission is to get promoters to get TALIB, MOS, COMMON & THE ROOTS down here for all of us SA to enjoy (get your mind out of the gutter THIS INSTANT!). If they refuse, I might have to do it myself.
4. Make an effort to see at least 5 live performances a month, if Mike has it his way he might have us going out 3 times a week

I HAVE to get Talib to come back to SA, feel free to support me :)



Mike (from YourLMG), Marcia and I at DecoDANCE LOL!

The week that was

I have been very bad at this posting game, but please allow me to explain why:

1. The wife and I are moving out of our tiny flat and there is a LOT OF CRAP that we need to get rid of. It's funny how we hang on to meaningless shit to fill the spaces in our homes. I feel like a mini hoarder. We want our new home not to be filled with useless stuff.

2. I took my braids out... WHAT A JOB! It'll take me a while before I get braids again. My hair was all knotted and gross. LOL!


3. I CUT MY HAIR!!!! Oh my goodness, what an experience. Me cutting my hair is my moms WORST nightmare. She has this idea of me being a 'perfect girl': with long neat hair, great figure who stays home with her parents until she gets married LMAO. Sorry ma you GOT ME LOL!! I initially thought I would be sad but I actually feel good. I will post a pic of my new hair as soon as I can.


4. Watched Wanted last night... I know, I know it's late, but I don't get out much. It was cool, really cool. James McAvoy even managed to look hot a few times. It was another one of those movies that made my inner little boy smile broadly and say 'LET'S DO THAT AGAIN'!
I particularly enjoyed the end when 'Wesley' says "This is me taking back control of my life. What the fuck have you done lately?"


5. FINISHED all my work on GREEN (the EP) and I'm ready to write more stuff. I listened to it and it was pretty cool. I feel like I've grown musically already. I'm almost ready to release my 'warm up project'. GREEN by BLACK PORCELAIN COMING SOON!



6. I laughed hard at bad album covers over at ATCN. Below are just a few that had Marcee and I REALLY enjoyed!

They aren't bad, but they are pretty awkward!

See more here

Another day another photo shoot

Okay, so the other day I said that I was at a photo shoot. Well it was purely for work purposes LOL! I had to look decent for the day job, apparently people actually want to know what the person behind the mic looks like.


So we all ACTUALLY had to shower and look decent. I wanted to share one or two of the shots from the shoot, so you can see how decent I look at least twice a year LOL!


Yes, I'm a photographers worst nightmare. I pull funny faces all the time... I'm so goofy LOL!




And apparently my pretty dress makes my tiny booty look NON EXISTENT!! Dammit! LOL!

Feeling a little fragile

Woke up this morning feeling a little fragile (physically and emotionally). So I put together a playlist to perk me up:

1. Corrine Bailey Rae- Call me when you get this
2. Kanye West - Everything I am
3. Common - The people
4. Nina Simone - Baltimore
5. John Mayer - Clarity
6. Lupe Fiasco - Go baby
7. N.E.R.D - Don;t worry about it
8. Alicia Keys - Superwoman
9. Common - It's your world
10. Coldplay - Fix you
11. Talib Kweli - Oh my stars
12. Aerosmith - Jaded
13. Dinah Washington - Mad about the boy
14. Oleta Adams - New York state od mind
15. Marvin Gaye - What's going on

I think I may have been a little unkind to my body, so I'm gonna TRY and take it easy today. I'm just chasing so many deadlines. Which wouldn't be a problem if I could just shake being an over-achiever. I'm not sure why there are still traces of this terrible illness in me. Sometimes when i think I've beat it, I find myself woking on a new song, while finishing off a chapter of my book, constructing and email and contemplating answering my phone (which would have been ringing non-stop for half an hour).

I woke up 36 minutes ago and I'm already thingking about what needs to be done and how much time I have. I think I might need to meditate after I have my oats. I'm terribly anxious this morning and the music is not working as well as it usually does when I'm feeling like this. a part of me knows that some of these deadlines are ridiculous and that I might need to give myself a bit of an extension, but the other part is fighting me. DAMMIT!!!

At the beginning of the year Alan Knott-Craig, the MD of iBurst wrote an email to his staff. You can have a look at it here. The words below struck a chord with me:

"The nice stuff makes me feel good, and the challenges remind me why we can beat the competition. Most importantly I'm looking forward to having fun and making memories."

This months has been filled with more deadlines, than stopping and enjoying life. Maybe that's why I'm feeling so fragile. I'm off to meditate for half an hour and hopefully I will feel a little better.

Shoot sneak peek

On Thursday I had a photo shoot with the lovely Renee, it was fun and a little terrifying. I was terrified because I had never really done a photo shoot and the focus was on ME!! Oh goodness, there was no hiding from the lens, no sucking in of the stomach (ha ha ha ha) or asking for shots of my best side only (which I don't have by the way). I was a little nervous at first, but Renee, Marcee and Dana (make up artist) helped me relax.

I always roll my eyes when i hear models talk about tiring it is to 'pose' all day, but now I have a new found respect for those skinny model types. I was exhausted when we were done, absolutely TIRED!! So imagine my surprise when Renee sent me a few shots to 'whet my appetite' LOL!! I actually look kinda good.

And to prove how good I look, I have included one of the shots she sent me. The rest you will have to see when I OFFICIALLY release 'Green' the EP. It's finally happening.

P.S I am still working hard on the music, will have 2 to go by the end of this week. Who knew a 5 track EP would take so long?

You know you're a girl when...

you hear the following quote while having a chilled night out:

"She was using fanny wax on her lip and she wonders what went wrong..."

I have pretty funny friends, but that is by far the funniest thing I've heard in a long time. We were looking so classy in our 'grown up' coats and sipping on exotic cocktails at cute place in Long Street (I had never heard of the place before and now I've forgotten the name).

You've got to love being a woman!!! The story of the fanny wax and the lip is not half as funny as that quote, so I wont bother telling you about it. I love these eloquent and gorgeous creatures who call themselves my friends. LMAO!

The week that was

I haven't done this in a while, but here goes:

1. Met up with producer C.B and we now officially have 4 concept tracks and I'm working my ample behind to get it all sounding GREAT! The Teacup song now has lyrics- I like them and so does producer guy.



2. Marcee and I had the most AMAZING weekend. On Friday she went and got her 'hur did' and now she look SUPER-fantabulous. Had drinks with a friend at Balduccis at the V&A Waterfront. Marcee had the BESTEST lamb burger there. She couldn't stop raving about it. I had a Salmon and Asparagus salad (I did say I was gonna try new things), it wasn't too bad. We went shopping at *Canal Walk on Saturday and Marcee went CRAZEEE: New sneakers/takkies, new boots (They are KILLER), sunglasses, yoga mat and socks. Got home really late and then I made Lamb stew- yummy!



3. The reason for yoga mats, takkies/sneakers (and socks) is because we've started a very fun exercise routine: TaeBo (we've had the DVD for about a year and never really used it), skipping, power walks on the promenade and GOOD HEALTHY food. Wish us luck! We've been doing it for a week now. YAY!!!



4. Watched 'In her shoes' and 'Before the devil knows you're dead' and enjoyed them both, surprisingly. I saw Ethan Hawke in a new light.



5. Today I listened to Stephen Marley's 'Mind Control'. It still sounds as good as it did when I first bought it 4 months ago. I should put it back in my car :)



6. I found a photographer who is willing to do the photos for my sleeve, let's hope I look SMOKIN' LOL!!!

That's all I can think of, but it's been a pretty good week and I'm feeling good.

*I drove to Canal Walk for the first time this weekend and I'm A VERY NERVOUS driver, but I didn't freak out at all. I didn't even know how to get back to CT from there and we left AFTER the sun had gone down. I am so PROUD of myself.

EDITED TO ADD:

How can I forget that I had tea with my buddy Bridget. It was fun to get out during the week. She inspired me to keep my writing my 'labour of love' (first novel). I LOVE having creative people in my life. It makes me feel sane.

Something old, something new

Can you guess what is different about me?

I've been talking about doing something different and on Monday I made the decision to do something. Don't talk about it be about it right? It feels great to do something NEW. Marcee is so bad at taking pics, she always makes me laugh. How am I supposed to get my vogue on if she is making me laugh?

Hint: I had to sit from 09:30 this morning till 16:15, so that I could get it done.

My sense of humour fails me

So what does it mean to have a sense of humour? I asked myself this as I watched this clip of Snoop Dogg being (I say this with a little hesitation) funny. I'd like to think of myself as a person with a sense of humour. In order to understand what humour truly is I looked up it's meaning on one of these online dictionaries (HALELUYER). I looked at a few definitions and finally settled on this one . Please watch the clip below and then I will continue...



What did you notice right away, besides the colourful language? Uhmmm... How about how when he spoke about the women he 'attacked their sexuality'? When he spoke about the guys he spoke about their personalities or the way they looked. I was waiting for him to say something like that woman with dark glasses 'looking like a ghetto-fabulous fly' or something. But 'some hoe'?? No, I had not anticipated that.

At first I was alarmed by what he was saying and I thought 'this is not funny anymore'. As I was about to stop the clip, I thought 'hang on, these women are laughing'. These females were laughing at what the man was saying, so SURELY it had to be OKAY? Not only were they laughing at themselves, but the other women in the audience were laughing too.

So who was I supposed to be mad at? Snoop Dogg for choosing to attack women's sexuality (and in such a vulgar manner)? I mean how do I compare being called 'Ice Age' to being called a whore? How do I even start to compare the two? OR was I supposed to be mad at the women who were laughing and in turn sending a message to men and young girls that 'it's okay to be spoken to like that'?

In this months 'True Love' (ha ha ha ha) Lebo Mashile writes about something similar and she points out that Beyonce's mother was the person who 'clothed' her for most of her career and that Kelly Khumalo's first manager was a woman. I guess the point that I'm trying to make here is that it's not just men that are 'dehumanising' and 'over-sexualising' women. We, women, also play a part in this and we need to look at what we are allowing to be done to us. If one of those women had gotten up and walked off stage (which would have no doubt been seen as 'uncool' or 'overREACTting') or even NOT LAUGHED, it would have sent a message that saying things like that is UNACCEPTABLE'.

For as long as we keep laughing at these 'funny jokes' or accepting that nudity means success, men will keep thinking it's okay to throw money at our 'money makers' and then turn around and throw insults at the very money makers that brought them into the world.

Okay so now you're thinking that I'm being too sensitive and that it was all meant in jest. but I believe it was Shakespeare (not sure which play, it could have been king Lear) who said something along the lines of 'jesters do oft prove prophets'... Some there is some truth in the 'jesting' of Snoop Dogg in that clip. Look past the 'humour' and you'll see what the state of affairs really is and the truth of our society.

Nuff said...

P.S I am fully aware of the fact that the post below about the B&$#% on the scooter may be contradictory, but I am learning each day to be a better woman (AND taking responsibility for the part that I play in the state of affairs)... That's why I am sharing my journey with you :)

Soap and the cooter....

I just spent the better half of this evening talking about Va-jay-jays, periods, men and 'booty calls'. This is to be expected when you put a couple of women in a room, with snacks and alcohol. I love talking to women, it makes me feel sane. Sometimes when I'm by myself I tend to think that I'm a little weird/different. But when I am with other women, I find that I am NOT so different after all.

I heard today for the first time that soap id bad for your cooter/Va-jay-jay. There is apparently something called Vaginal soap. Yo.... You live and you learn my people.

Is it true that soap is bad for your Va-jay-jay? Cause then mine must be VERY sick, cause I makes sure that I get enough soap EVERY DAY!!! Somebody tell me the truth or what you've heard.

Quick update:
First thing is first, I totally disown the part of me that has neglected this blog. I have been SUPER busy lately. Now that I'm producing during the week and hosting the Saturday show things have been a little more than hectic, but I'm happy! Happy that I have a job that pays and makes me me happy SOME times ha ha ha.

I have decided to atop drinking for a month, was cool till today. I had one glass of wine and a Hunters dry... I say not too bad for a woman who used to have 2 glasses of wine or whiskey every night. I am proud of myself!!

Nuff said...

Perky boobs?!! What a joke!

Okay so Marcee and I were talking about our breasts (as all women do) and I asked her if she even remembered having perky breasts? Her answer was the same as mine: NO!!!

You see the reason I was asking is because I went through a bit of a 'breast hate' thing not so long ago (a month ago). I had been seeing a lot of women on TV with lots of 'boobage' like me, but theirs were perky (very unlike mine). This lead me to believe that my breasts were somehow 'ugly'... Yes, I now know that it was stupid to even think that, but I was young. There were too many images of big perky boobs and not enough of the big south facing ones and I began to feel like I was in the minority.

But I started thinking about it seriously... Why would they STAY perky? No, stay with me please... Quite often women tend to 'lose their minds' when it comes to our bodies. Ofcourse it makes sense that my 'girls' are not perky!! I 'developed' breasts earlier than most of my peers and they grew at an alarming rate as well. So when all the other girls were noticing that their 'pips' were becoming apples, I already had apples. It's insulting for me to expect my girls to look as young as the other girls and lets not forget that some of the other girls have had some help (surgically enhanced). Let's not forget that gravity also had a hand in all this.

I spent such a long time 'beating myself up' and thinking that I was ugly because I wasn't like everyone else (on TV). Now I'm just happy that my boobage fills my tops so beautifully and that it's all natural (lots of people go 'under the knife' to be able fill my cup size). Now, I know Marcee is going to read this and say that I'm exaggerating, so please let the record show that my girls are not flat and droopy (like a deflated balloon) they are full and slightly droopy (like a balloon with water in it)... Okay, so I'm doing a very good job at describing 'the other'. WHO CARES??

I love the way my breasts look. In fact they haven't been looking so sad these days. Amazing what a little bit of self esteem can do. After taking back my Va-jay-jay, I'm ready to take back my breasts.

Do you sometimes have unrealistic expectations of how your body should look?

I'd like to hear what men have to say as well. Do men really expect women to have perky breasts, no hair on their bodies and no stretch marks?

Toothace HORROR!!

So you know how I was complaining about that toothache last night? Ja. Well, it turns out that it wasn't any ol' toothache. It is infact an abscess... YUCK YUCK YUCK!! If you want a gross definition of what an abscess is, go here. Pus?! GASP... SHOCK... FAINT! Okay back to my tooth story.

A month (or so) ago I had a filling done, by a stand in dentist. Not sure where my sweet, gentle and smart dentist was. After the filling was done, my tooth was unnecessarily sensitive, anything could set it off: cold water, hot water, food etc. I went to go see the dentists and he said that it was minor and recommended that I rub Mentadent S on it and all would be good. I did and all was not good. Now here I sit with pain that I cannot describe and an appointment for a root canal for Tuesday the 19th. WHYYYYYYYYY?!

Why me? I have a dental jinx. Anything that could possibly go wrong when it comes to my teeth, always does. Why me? Why? As if that is not enough, I am now on Antibiotics and CANNOT have ONE DROP of alcohol. Conspiracy theory anyone? Root canal is going to cost me many limbs (I am no longer on medical aid because I'm a freelancer) and that means that I'm going to fork out many many Ronds! That means no more John Legend for me. I had to choose between healthy gums and teeth and an amazing musical experience. I'm afraid I HAD to pick the latter, because I HATE pain.

Later days

Taking back my Va-jay-jay

Yes this is a post about my vagina, so if you are not interested please stop reading NOW... You have been warned!

Okay so today I had to do something that involved having to take a mirror and looking at my Va-jay-jay. Don't be perverted, it was purely medical. It was then when I realised that I had no idea what it looked like. I know what my arms look like, I have a fair idea of what my face looks like but my Va-jay-jay... No!!!

This had me very worried. Am I the only woman who has no idea what her 'Cooter' (Tertia's word) looks like? I mean it's different with women, our 'sensitive bits' don't hang about like a penis. We all grow up knowing what a penis looks like, but never really knowing what a vagina looks like. Is it any wonder that men have no idea what to do with it? And how can we expect them to know what to do with it, when we are scared/ashamed of looking at our own Va-jay-jays?

So today I am taking back my Va-jay-jay. Taking it back from all those people who tell little girls that only 'forward' girls are curious about their vagina's. From all the men who use it as something bad (calling us bitches, sluts and hoes), from the Gynae (oh I know they mean well) but we all think that the Gynae has a right to look at it and you don't... I'm taking it back and I WILL be in charge of it fro now on.

Taking it back is not as easy as it sounds you know. At first glance it looks.... uhmm... SCARY!! Whoa Ms Porcelain!! Not bad scary, just intimidating-kind-of scary. There are so many parts of it and each part has it's own function and personality. That is a lot of work! So, once I'm in touch with all those different parts and I'm happy with what I know about myself. I can introduce a worthy man to my Va-jay-jay.

I'm going to once again ask you all (ladies) to join me. Go ahead... Touch yourself!! And the rest of you (gentlemen) encourage your lady to touch herself and for goodness sakes tell her how much you appreciate that beautiful Va-jay-jay.

Nuff said...

There is a poodle on my head..

No not really. I just decided to show you what my 'new' hair looks like LOL. The security guard at work noticed that my hair was shorter and that I had put blonde streaks in it. He even said it looked GOOD. So I was wrong when I thought that nobody had noticed. Not bad right?

P.S sorry about the peeking 'boobage' ha ha ha ha. I'm sexy even when I'm not trying to be ha ha ha ha.

Top too tight?

So, there I was getting ready for work this morning: was very late, so I quickly put on my favourite button up top, jeans and favourite girly shoes and off I went.

Before I get to work I stop at a shop and get the Cape Times (I use for it for information for one of the features on the radio show). There was no parking outside the shop, some truck driver decided it was a good place to unload stuff (how inconsiderate), so I had to park 5 metres away from the shops entrance!! While walking to the shops entrance I noticed that the third button of my shirt had come undone, or maybe I never really did it up properly, so I fixed it and went about my merry way.

At work half way through the show I noticed that the button came undone again and I fixed it. This happened three more times before I went home. What usually happens is that I get home a little after midday (because I work from home), take off work clothes, put on shorts and get to work on my laptop. I was standing in front of the mirror while I was undressing... '

WTF is going on?' was my first thought when I saw my reflection. OMG I'm looking a little round!!! I'm not exxagreating here. My jeans were squeezing my love handles and i noticed that I wasn't even wearing a belt (usually if I don't wear a belt I have to pull my jeans up every 5 minutes). Woe is me, what am I going to do?

So that's what happens when you stop exercising!! My little diva-2-B body is heading straight back to gym, skipping and Billy Blanks (Tae-Bo) AND I'm taking that alcoholic best friend of mine with me too. OH HELL NO am I gonna allow the work of art that is my body to be ruined by a couple of cup cakes, chips etc etc. I am not going down without a fight. It's not like I don't have genetics on my side: All the women in my family have been blessed with huge asses, large breasts and large everything else. I only managed to miss the ass gene, just my luck. Apparently big asses are in right now.

Friends, family, co-workers and strangers. I am asking you never to forget this moment and next time you see me with a cup cake in my hand (that is likely to be tomorrow afternoon) ask me if my top is feeling a little tight...

*sigh* Okay it's late and I shouldn't be drinking whiskey and talking about my expanding body (suddenly feel like I've said this before, I wonder why?)