They say when you play with skills,
good luck will happen. - Jay-Z (“Guns & Roses”)

Recession be damned. My friends are making big moves and are as busy as they want to be. It feels good to be surrounded by (well-deserved) successful people.

Seems like street lights glowing
Happen to be just like moments passing in front of me
So I hopped in the cab and I paid my fare
See, I know my destination, but I’m just not there
- Kanye West (“Street Lights”)

No matter how wide you stretch your fingers, your hands will always be too small to catch all the pain you want to heal. Believe me, I’ve tried.
- Sarah Kay (from her poem, “B”)

It’s taking quite a bit of willpower to not turn this site into Sarah Kay’s Daily Quotable blog. Watch her on Def Poetry (at age 18).

The system ain’t for us, it’s for rich people.
- Saul Williams (“Telegram”)

I have two quick stories.

first

Roy Brown, a 54-year-old homeless man robbed a bank in Louisiana. The teller handed him three stacks of cash, but he took a single $100 bill, saying he was homeless and hungry. Feeling remorseful, he voluntarily surrendered to the police the next day, saying his mother didn’t raise him that way. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison.

second

Christian Milton of Pennsylvania, an AIG executive was convicted of conspiracy, securities fraud, mail fraud and making false statements to the Securities and Exchange Commission in a $500,000,000+ fraud case. He was sentenced to 4 years in prison and fined $200,000. His lawyers are preparing an appeal.

Fish don’t fry in the kitchen
Beans don’t burn on the grill
Took a whole lotta tryin’
Just to get up that hill
Now we’re up in the big leagues
Gettin’ our turn at bat
As long as we live, it’s you and me baby
There ain’t nothin wrong with that

Well we’re movin on up
To the east side
To a deluxe apartment in the sky
Movin on up
To the east side
We finally got a piece of the pie
-From ‘The Jeffersons’ theme song

I’ve refined the look of this site, once again. The style is very similar to what it was before, but most of the design elements have been retouched or redone. The previous version of been said was produced two years ago (read), on my 13” MacBook. This latest version was done on my Mac Pro, with dual 30” monitors. Moving on up!

I’m afraid, but I act natural. On tours I can’t sleep
Hoping there’s nothing we crash through,
while on board in the back seat
Since I nearly lost my life and my wife in a taxi
The echos of the impact retroactively attack me
-Tonedeff (“Fear”)

Fears are usually kept a secret from the rest of the world. They’re too personal to share and leave you feeling vulnerable. So there’s something intriguing about a song where the artists detail what they’re afraid of.

I’m the mix between Kris Kross and 50,
Rockin’ bulletproof vests backwards cause it’s my own people that’ll stick me
-Session (“U Don’t Want No Problems”)

You know how it is…

Love ain’t for the faint of heart. Start Training, this game is hard
And arduous, You’re gonna play in the dark like when it rains in the park
You’re hardly conscious of the stains and scars, enabling your partly clouded logic
To pay to impart bliss with arrangements of chocolates
Now, You’re working yourself out the same as when you strain with a nautilus
And you’re willing to embrace pain facing sustained negative consequence
If nothing you say when in love is embedded with common sense
Then, do you really regret when you’ve shredded your promises?

Now, I’ve tested the waters, kid. Sipped it; rippled the pond a bit
Visits have been abolished, and this shit’s killing my confidence
Is this filling your conscience when distance is an accomplishment?
If you miss chicks when they’re around, the phrase “Let’s quit” isn’t an option
You best fix whatever’s wrong and just move on and get on with it
Cause, You’ll catch bigger fish in the sea if you manage not to drown in it
It’s sad, but proud or not, most your standards go down a notch
When loneliness drinks at the bar you set too high,

Cause, It isn’t really my time, is it? Shit… I just found the watch
But hearing the bell toll for me twice a day, has me fearing my grandfather clock
And I can’t die without trying. My hands tied in knots
Knowing that I’ll never learn to brave the waves if I stand by the docks
Love is hampered by thought, if you can handle the prospect of
Death – it’s as massive a shock. And To intellects, it’s a fuckin’ smack in the crotch
It’s a cancer that rots your soul, tosses demons off of the road
Just use caution and know, that, love ain’t nothing but a loss of control.
Off then, we go.
-Tonedeff (“Love Ain’t”)

Yes, I just had to quote the entire verse from “Love Ain’t”, which can be found on the CunninLynguists’ 2nd album, southernunderground.

A quick note about the verse from tonedeff, himself: …during a rocky period EARLY on in our relationship, I penned the verse for “Love Ain’t”. In, retrospect, when you really read into the content, you can tell that it’s me talking myself through this early apprehension to let down my guard against love. And it’s a beautiful verse for that reason, cause it’s truthful and real.

This song is in my top 5 because it completely moves me every time I hear it. You can be sure that it’s in constant rotation during those rocky relationship periods.