Time Management

Sorry for the long hiatus, maintaining a regular blog presence is harder than it looks. In March I was working 4pm to 1am and also attending school during the day.  The 40 hours a week of work and 18 credit hours of school definitely make it hard to make time to post regularly which leads me into the subject of time management.  As a psychology major and a student it has always been very important to me to try and prioritize tasks, and to not procrastinate. However procrastination is somehow my best friend and worst enemy at the same time, only because the habit of getting it done is way better than having the habit of being incomplete or not doing it at all.

Tips for time management:

1. Keep a planner/organizer/calendar: with due dates, dead lines, and appointments

2. Make time for leisure and being lazy: also get sufficient sleep

3. Make sure you actually use your planner/organizer/calendar

4. Do assignments the day they are assigned, or the day after, instead of right before they are due.

5. Keep open communication with teachers and supervisors/managers in regards to assignments.

Hair, Skin, and Nails

I’ve been using this supplement for about 8 months now, and I must say I love them.  My nails and hair grow faster, and my skin has been clearer with a more even skin tone and glow.  Right now a lot of supplement brands are pushing the hair growing pills and are also over pricing a month, however this product calls form 3 softgels a day so that would last roughly three months, for only about 13. 50.  You can also reduce and take about 3 every other day or take 1 to 2 capsules a day.  This multivitamin is for every day and includes vitamin C and B12 great for your immune system and energy…

Self Portrait

My senior year of high school was 2009, that year I took AP Art Studio.  I challenged myself because although I like to draw and paint it wasn’t something that was easy for me like some of my classmates who’s work was phenomenal.  I think out of everything that I created my favorite thing to paint and draw was me.  I felt successful with every self portrait I drew or painted.  I think it was satisfying to reproduce different versions of myself knowing that I simply could not mess up me.

#FlashbackFriday #RhythmandBlues R&B is not DEAD

Hello my loves, today I am going to launch my #FlashbackFriday #RhythmandBlues segment.  R&B of the 90s and early 200os I have to say is my favorite, I love the genre with all my heart, and attribute the emotion being that I am to the to this form of expression.  Lately I feel the presence of true R&B falling off, and if I have to stand alone in the fight I won’t let it happen.

In partnership with the 14sec videos available on my Instagram which is @Noami.Dot.Juice (follow your girl, if you’re not already) I will be blogging on the song selected for each Friday.  The videos include me singing, and soon others will be featured belting some of their favorite R&B song clips, those who I know have vocals, and maybe some who don’t, for giggles.

So far I have posted two videos.  The clip posted on January 30, 2015, is “I’ll Die” by Floetry… OMGosh, hand to heart, this song evokes so much emotion, even to someone who cannot relate to the lyrics.  Floetry had their own approach to R&B mixing spoken word, rapping, and singing all together on their tracks, which is the essence of this song and makes it a truly unforgettable audio experience.  In addition to that the story told of a romantic relationship reaching, or exceeding its expiration date.  The simple line “Its fair to say, that we tried, you know I want to stay, if I do I’ll die” that’s a powerful statement.  Staying in something that is stagnant, and suffocating is just unhealthy, that’s physical or mental.  If your relationship reflects the points made in the song… you know you must get out. That’s just a taste, give it a listen, the experience, and sound of this song is like no other.

The clip I posted on February 6th, is of one of my favorite artist Brian Mcknight.  I grew up listening to this man, my mother had every single one of his albums, she was in love with him, and because of that I know a vast amount of his music.  I love that he was and is a true artist, he plays instruments, has the vocal ability, and writes his own lyrics.  If I were ever an artist this is who I would want to learn from, this is who’s level of artistry I would like to achieve, but that is a tale for anther day.  The song I sung was “The Only One for Me” this song is a true declaration of love, he sings “I need you so, I can’t let go, I’m gonna be all that I can be. I want you still I always will cause you’re the only one for me” the last statement in the song.  Experiences bring knowledge in the song Mcknight explores a situation of two people who may have been together in the past, or at least been “around” one another for a valuable amount of time, and at this point in the relationship he is making it a definite that he now knows where he belongs, and that she is the only one for him.  I always slay this song in karaoke, its the story of my life, it’ll be on my wedding CD, and yes I am going to burn a track list of 20 songs to give to all my guest as a dedication to my future husband.  And let’s not forget to mention the famous “la la” harmonizing featured in the song. (teary emoji here)…

Go check my clips on Instagram and give these songs in their entirety a listen

Verbatim_Lee

Our hair

Up above is my latest hair style:The Undercut, I am constantly changing my hair.  About three years ago I started my natural hair journey, after one relaxer, 2 big chops, and countless weaves, I ask myself, what is natural hair?  I’ve never really struggled with accepting my hair, I got my first relaxer in the sixth grade, and I was accustomed to maintaining it and straightening my hair regularly.  I experimented with growing it out, cutting it off and repeating.  The natural hair movement began to grow and I was like OOOOO snap I’m going to cut all my hair off and go natural, I did the “big chop”, and started my natural hair journey.  My protective style of choice became weaves, to “protect” my natural hair as I grew it out, indecisiveness would cause me to relax my hair, and do the big chop yet again, bleach my ends and cut them off again, trying to get a grip on what type of processing should be allowed on my natural hair.

As I experiment with my now natural hair, I notice that most natural styles demand an endless amount of hair product, and setting that alter your hair’s “natural texture”, or curl pattern.  I ask myself if dying hair, or flat ironing hair alters natural hair?

The way I see the whole black girl/woman hair debate is as the India Arie’s song state “I am not my hair”, and as a community we should liberate one another no matter what your hair choices may be.  In today’s popular culture black hair has a lot of negative connotations associated with it, the words used to describe the texture of our hair, and also with black women who wear hair extensions as oppose to women of all other races that do the same.  Or the disbelief that we can grow long hair, or thick hair which baffles me.  I don’t know which insults me more when I wear a weave and someone ask me if its real or when I wear my fro and someone ask me if its a weave…

I’ve had my own personal journey with my hair and experimenting and have decided if I wanted to get a relaxer tomorrow I would,  to me it goes both ways a lot of women that choose not to relax their hair either wear a weave, or twist, braid, or knot their hair to create a certain curl pattern.

Hair is one of the most temporary, changeable attributes to one’s physical appearence and the fact that we prioritize hair so much as black woman, should have us questioning our self love, and our self hate all at the same time…but as long as you look fly what does it matter?  That’s just my opinion… look good, feel good, do good.

What are your thoughts?

here are some images that sparked my blog, I”ll be honest I did chuckle at these memes, however they also sparked a bit of concern with me and the spectacle placed on our hair…

Going places

Working for an airline has its perks.  This is a photo I snapped on my flight back from a visit to my birthplace Brooklyn, New York in August.  I love to travel and I love flying, as soon as I fasten my seatbelt I’m off to the best sleep of my life. Where have you traveled to lately?

Just Getting My Feet Wet

Literally, just getting my feet wet, I am very new to the blogging world and would like to share my experiences while expressing my love for creative writing.  I would like to share some of my own personal poetry, and opinions.  I would also like to share sources I find beneficial and topics I find interesting.  That sounds extremely vague, I know but just bare with me I as I dive into this.