An excerpt from...

EVERYTHING IS ILLUMINATED

"She eats well enough and is healthy, insofar as she's never sick, but her body looks like that of a chronically sick girl, a girl squeezed in some biological vise, or a starving girl, a skin-and-bones girl, a girl who is not entirely free. Her hair is thick and black, her lips are thin and bright and white. How else could it be?
Much to Yankel's dismay, Brod insisted on cutting that thick black hair herself.
It's not ladylike, he said. You look like a little boy when it's so short.
Don't be a fool, she told him.
But doesn't it bother you?
Of course it bothers me when you're a fool.
Your hair, he said.
I think it's very pretty.
Can it be pretty if no one thinks it's pretty?
I think it's pretty.
If you're the only one?
That's pretty prett.
And what about the boys? Don't you want them to think you're pretty?
I wouldn't want a boy to think I was pretty unless he was the kind of boy who thought I was pretty."

So sometimes I read. And what?
Turn a page, learn a little something.


K. x

Looking back and looking forward to...

MOS DEF



I'm geekin' out at the possibility of being within the direct vicinity of this man when he finally graces our shores early 2011. Easiest way to start the new year on a serious motherfuckin' high.

Mighty Mos will be touring his album The Ecstatic, which I played on repeat for a minute after it dropped, and revisiting some tracks today reminded me of how ecstatic his music actually does make me feel. And how he makes me laugh. And how I want to carry his babies.



So, naturally, I decided to jump on Youtube to see what goodness I could find and I stumbled across this joy series of acapella verses he did for Current whilst cruisin the streets of Tokyo.

All cuts of The Ecstatic...
...including Auditorium, one of my faves





...and I defy you not to grin throughout the Casa Bey vid.



Such a beast. And I look forward to welcoming him to our home with open arms. Literally.

K.x

What's GOOD?

I dunno whether you've been following Kanye's G.O.O.D Fridays series, but I'm sure most of you woulda heard a few cuts from it. So I thought I'd share a couple of my personal faves...namely because they feature some of my absolute must-haves in Lupe Fiasco and Mos Def. Check em out.

Don't Stop - CRS

Carrera, raised in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle era.
Lupe, marry me.

Don't Look Down ft Lupe Fiasco, Mos Def & Big Sean

Oh, and the Runaway movie? Kinda makes me wanna be a phoenix when I grow up. And despite all his questionable antics, I am still a fan awaiting the highly anticipated My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. Not long now, but in the meantime, let's have a toast to the douchebags.

K. x

Pssst...

...you probably need to know about this.

KC WONDER
Conscious Apparel and Accessories

Take a sneaky peek at the slick production on their upcoming website here. Admittedly, I would usually hit the Skip Intro button but this has to be on of THE dopest intro vids I've seen to date. If first impressions really do last, then I'm expecting some serious heat to come out of the KC Wonder camp.

I have a feeling we won't have to wait too long before the website and first range are unveiled but in the meantime, be sure to stay up with all things Wonder via Facebook.

Watch this space. It's gonna be big.

K. x

Introducing...

the new man in my life, Jack.



He's beautiful and an (almost) perfect fit for me. I brought him home last week. My parents seem to like him.


I think I could really love him and together, we're gonna go places.

K.x

I'm a vault baby, locked down...

Things took a turn for the worst yesterday. So I took myself out into the sunshine today to try and re-assess my priorities and remind myself of the fabulousness of my person. Too often we rely on others to reflect love back to us when the truest appreciation can only come from oneself.

I usually don't indulge this type of emoness, instead choosing to bury it in a shallow grave and battle on with a chip on my shoulder. Apparently that hasn't worked in the past so I am allowing myself a couple of days to mourn, cry and vent. After which I am hoping to wipe my hands (and life) clean of this shameful episode.

So unless you have a key,
sledgehammer,
super-hacker-ninja-transformation-powers,
and a bunch of bananas...

You ain't never getting in.

And you can thank the asshole that came before you for that.

So here's to the new season. The forecast is for sunshine and good times. Cheers.

K. x

As I slam one door shut, I can kick another one open

So I had an epiphany of sorts shortly after leaving two of my favourite rings in the bathroom of my local watering hole on Saturday night.

You should never love anything too much; so that when you lose it, it won't hurt so bad.

I felt a similar pang when I let some bitch walk away with my fave frames at yet another bar.

Moral of the story: keep all accessories on your person at all times.



And stop opening your heart to idiots.

K. x
aka Cold Hard Bitch in-training.