water water everywhere, nor any drop to drink

The average American being EATS or Drinks SEVERAL TIMES in 24 hours. 24hrs X 5 is how long these people have gone WITHOUT clean FOOD or WATER.

One Hundred Twenty HOURS!

no food
no water
no shelter
no bed
no bath
no toothbrush
no toothpaste
no deoderant
no combs
no brushes
no clean dry clothing
no shoes
no diapers(child OR adult)
no pads for menstruation
no medicine
no phone
no electricity
no working toilets

pick any ONE of these that you are willing to do without for 24 hrs, let alone 120hrs.

just one.

Now picture your thirsty, hungry, dirty, smelly, homeless existance...

Go without knowing where the members of your family, friends, & neighbors are.

Better yet, replay in your minds, thier drowing in water, death by lack of food, death by lack of water, or by premature birth without hospital resources.

Look at your crying famished baby or young child and see them suffer from hunger.

Look at your ailing elders.

Think about the fact that you don't have transportaion to leave..

Now picture that your suffering is overshadowed by the criminal activity of others.

The entire place is a giant write-off. As far as those people saw, NO ONE WAS HELPING THEM. They didn't have a RADIO or TV to KNOW, remember? So perhaps, wrong as it is, those people who had NOTHING and saw NO HELP were thinking that they & others could survive from those goods. They saw NO Signs of HELP..

There were certainly people who were acting like fools, but judging pictures without context is not intelligent at all. It is VERY easy to see someone of African Decent doing something, and think of them more negatively. This is a fact. And I don't even want to get into the press and thier views of a "looter" v. a "finder. I hate race issues and I hope everything is resolved because clearly, reguardless of race, most people feel for the victims of Katrina.

Those heartless idiots who are targeting innocent people, should be shot. There have been stories of raping of women and children. I hope the rapists are shot as well. Those dupes of the devil are tormenting an ALREADY grief-stricken, delerious, scarred group of people.
This event was a test to see where humanity is, and an opportunity to show humanity.

For goodness sake, pass the test.

A Star was born...

A Star was born...
Originally uploaded by Dynamite.

on this day! ME!

YAY ME!

now then, carry on...

It's Ubuntu

Did you know that,"I am who I am because of who we all are"?
That is the meaning of Ubuntu. We all need each other and what we contribute to our community manifests itself in its members.

I have been using UBUNTU for a great many months and I must say that I am very pleased with it.

What is UBUNTU? It is an operating system(OS) like WIndows. The difference is that you have more control over how everything looks and feels. There is also a BIG bonus, professional grade FREE SOFTWARE! Mind you, it is not perfect, but the reality is that no operating system is. Also, there is a learning curve ( oh no! NOT LEARNING!), but the wonderful thing is that there is a large community that has your back should you run into problems.

There is also KUbuntu(snazzier look) and EDUbuntu(for the classroom and easier use for beginners).

My favorite thing about it is the freedom. Free software for teaching, business, and family. There are 2 free major graphics programs, The Gimp ( like a Photoshop), and Inkscape (like an Adobe Illustrator). If you don't want to stop using your Windows programs, there are other programs that may allow you to utilize those as well. All of this while not weighing down your hard-drive and memory.

If you have a program behaving badly, simply kill it without having to restart your computer. I like this the most!

Anyhoo, I just wanted to share. I am really very happy using Ubuntu Linux. It sounds scary, but it's no sweat.

;)

You GO boy!

lance
Originally uploaded by Dynamite.

Lance Armstrong has won his 7th and final Tour de France. I hope his success will be a reminder for everyone to take care of themselves.

Columbian Orchid

Catteya Tianae Orchids
Originally uploaded by iwasfixin2.

This goes out to My homegirl. She knows who she is. It was so beautiful I had to share it! Someone was in Columbia and took this photo. Keep your head up girl! Columbia in the Hizzouse!

I feel GOOD !!!

I do feel good too. Although there were bombings in London, I feel good that I was blessed to have the mind not to do those types of things. Yes, after this the muslims will be under another microscope.

This is annoying, but what I love is the fact that there are so many non-muslims who are good to me everyday. Some of them don't know if I am muslim or not( yes, sometimes the headscarf does not give it away!). Some do, but I must say that overall, good people are GOOD PEOPLE! I am so blessed that the people I meet are wonderful, and I want everyone else to know that random acts of kindness I recieve inspire me to be a better person and everyone else should allow themselves to do the same.

Just TODAY, a woman did all she could to encourage and help me and my family achieve a goal we wanted to reach. When my car spun out on the highway, a woman pulled over to calm me down and to make sure that I was okay. She told me I was blessed, ensured me that all would be okay, and drove off. This is what I mean...


It is only fair that I let non-muslims know how much thier goodness is appreciated, so Thank You. That's what's up!


Now back to the Gorillaz... is Feel Good Inc. a hot song or what? Adding De La Soul, just made the gumbo taste even better! This is great.

Illustration Friday: Sea

I was working on a butterfly concept when I learned this weeks topic. I just changed the subject into a water fairy(or something)...

So like..yeah!

This was brought to you by the NUMBER 1 (me),

and the LETTER "C"(pronounced "SEA")

In association with GIMP & INKSCAPE productions...

Thanx ;P

Illustration Friday: Remote

He don't stand a chance
He don't stand a chance
He'll need a gun
Cause all he'll do is dance
Cause all he'll do is...
DANCE!

Ha! Gorillaz

Click the title link to see a larger clearer version.

Illustration Friday : lost

Spending your money and feeling "lost" as a result is never fun...Look at him!

Illustration Friday: reflection

Aug 21 2005

While I was on the subject of Ubuntu, I thought I'd share some artwork I did for it. Not as artsy as I would have liked, but it works for this weeks subject: Reflection.It is my wallpaper that you are free to download. Just click the pic.

Illustration Friday : digital

June 7 2005
digital changes everything...

Illustration Friday : envy

May 28 2005

Peace everyone! Often times we want what others have , not knowing that what we have is just as good. Be it for looks, wealth,personality, or position, we all have envied someone.

Most of the time what we have is just as good for us, and what we want isn't all it's cracked up to be!

Illustration Friday : nourishment

May 13 2005

I think the pic speaks for itself. Put a little love in your heart. The world is yours. Why can't we be friends? You get it.

It's IIlustration Friday !

April 29 2005

While I have not come up with an ILLUSTRATION this Friday, I'll help you out. A dude who could orchestrate his own art was born on this day. Who was it?

Oh yes, it's Duke E.'s Birthday ya'll ! He has some of the most BLAZING tracks. Although he won't be comming out with anymore hits, he still rocks, in a Jazzy kinda way. If you didn't know, now you know ! I have much love and apprecitation for his contributions to the American Arts as well as his impact across the globe.

Happy Birthday Duke Ellington !

Be well, do good work, and keep in touch.^{® -} Garrison Keillor ( of the writers almanac)

Illustration Friday : daring

April 25 2005

I don't care what anyone says. Being an American who is a practicing Muslim can be a daring feat at times!

My very simple art was accomplished with Photoshop, Google images(old glory),Macromedia Freehand, and screen capture button( I didn't know how to convert one file into another type of file).

Enjoy!

Get Your Shine ON !

This was so funny I HAD to post it.

Jack wakes up at home with a huge hangover he can't believe. He forces himself to open his eyes, and the first thing he sees is a couple of aspirins next to a glass of water on the side table. And, next to them, a single red rose! Jack sits down and sees his clothing in front of him, all clean and pressed. Jack looks around the room and sees that it is in perfect order, spotlessly clean. So is the rest of the house. He takes the aspirins, cringes when he sees a huge black eye staring back at him in the bathroom mirror, and notices a note on the table: "Honey, breakfast is on the stove, I left early to go shopping--Love you!"

He stumbles to the kitchen and sure enough, there is hot breakfast and the morning newspaper. His son is also at the table, eating. Jack asks, "Son... what happened last night?" "Well, you came home after 3 A.M., drunk and out of your mind. You broke some furniture, puked in the hallway, and got that black eye when you ran into the door."

"So, why is everything in such perfect order, so clean, I have a rose, and breakfast is on the table waiting for me?" His son replies,"Oh, THAT!.. Mom dragged you to the bedroom, and when she tried to take your pants off, you screamed, "Leave me alone, lady, I'm married!"

Broken furniture -- $85.26
Hot Breakfast -- $4.20
Red Rose bud -- $3.00
Two Aspirins -- $.38

Saying the right thing, at the right time -- Priceless.

(taken from JB of Tenn.)

Smart Drink !

What better way to welcome April Fools Day than to crack open a nice cool bottle of the good stuff ! I'm feeling smarter already!

Spring is here

Sometimes in April

The Rawandan Genocide. You might as well say that the amount of people who where killed is congruent to the number of days that passed times (x) 10,000. By day 100, over 1 million people had been killed .

I had tears in my eyes. I felt so bad about that whole situation. Once again my sympathy and passivity were no help. Check out the Sometimes in April site. It has the rundown on what happened and what is happening about it now. Although we have our own problems here in the U.S., things happen for a reason. I have no doubt that there is knowledge to be gained from all terrible situations, as painful as they may be.

It is my hope that more people will not wait to go through a terrible personal ordeal, before they gain compassion for others.

Peace.

The Day The World Changed !!!

What does Ihsan mean?

" Prophet Muhammad (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) replied, "To worship Allah as if you see Him, and if you cannot achieve this state of devotion then you must consider that He is seeing you."

What happened on this day? Well my favorite thing that happened on this day is that my friend named Ihsan was born !Al Hamdu Lilah Wa Shukru Lillah! She is a really good lady, Masha Allah.

Who is she?

Well here's a picture that symbolizes a little bit of who she is:

Cool huh? Thats just a taste.
She was born on the same day as Dr. Suess !
How much cooler can she be?

Sister SAN !
Have a blessed day from your seeesters( and a carazy brother) in the ATL!

Ossie Davis

Ossie Davis IS an ispiration to me.

He was one of those people who you see and smile.
When you heard him narrate, you felt safe. You knew he had been around the block more than a few times, and he was gonna give it to you straight.

As a young person, he made you feel like you mattered.
He was all about supporting the youth.

He was a success as an actor, activist, and husband. The dude was awesome. His voice was enveloping and the love he and Ruby Dee shared was undeniable.

Sympathy goes out to family and friends of the Mayor and Momma Sister

Blinglish?

Blinglish is more of a state of mind... just kidding.

It aint about Bling-Bling. Maybe though, some of those bling seekers will run up on this page and read something non-bling related that would make them go back to the Black Medallions of old !!! One could only hope.

I am Black.
I speak my own type of english.

Hence...Blinglish?

Now I am perfectly capable of speaking "professionally" but it has an "on" and "off" switch which only I operate.

What am I explaing this to you for? If you don't like it get the hell outta my blog.

word.