I used to tell people all the time, “I hate LA! I’m never moving back!”  I rejected the idea of this job for months before it really grew on me. Now I know the meaning of a blessing in disguise. Throughout life, unexpected opportunities will pop up and I’m learning to never shut one down if it couldn’t hurt to try.  I make loose plans, but I never stick rigid to them.  I have goals and a general direction of where I’d like to be, then I’m open to whatever comes my way.  Change is the only constant, so stay flex, baby.

One of the reasons why I left my last job is because I wanted to focus more on my creative career.  One of the reasons why I accepted my new job is so that I could focus more on my creative career.  The creative industry is booming in Los Angeles, and I see much potential for my growth out there.   I’m looking forward to expanding on my creative projects, building with a team of people in LA and bettering myself as a person. If it sounds like I’m being vague, I probably am.  I’d rather be about it than talk about, so watch out now.   I’ve been on crazy hiatus these past few months—just chilling with my head in the clouds as I figure shit out.  Now that my feet has finally hit the ground, I’m ready to make moves.

Everything is a means to an end.  Life won’t always be a clear, straight path; there will be some potholes and detours.  The financial security of my new job is enabling for me to live in LA and pursue my creative goals.  Money is a means for me to make many things all-greater-than-money happen—including my parents’ retirement, rebuilding villages in Vietnam and supporting all the causes I want. This upcoming experience is a means for me to ultimately come back home.

Saying goodbye to my friends and family back home definitely suck big time, but this is far from the end.

I am looking forward to it all.  Thank you for reading.

Love,
Sahra

Between vulgar radio lyrics and digital communication, I wonder how much we are losing language.  How much has the mechanics of communication drained the visceral out of words?  As a writer and Literacy Mentor working with high school teens, too often I find that the younger generations dangerously conflate texting/chatting lingo with the art of writing. With YouTube, Vimeo and video blogging monopolizing on attention spans, I wonder how many hours people still dedicate to reading.

My girl robin suhyung park recently dropped her new chapbook, diamonds & pearls.  Over 30 poems for just 10 bones! These are the raw, honest words of a warrior spirit with the softness of a tender heart.  In this crazy world, we are all fighters of our own battlefields.  We confront new challenges, throw up our guards, run the risk of compromise, break trust, build defense and tear down walls.  Sometimes, the greatest battle we grapple with is: love.

diamonds & pearls is a DEFinite on my Readership’s Hit List.  Check the sister out on her blog, and cop a hard copy of her new chapbook!   No homie bias.

And might I add—the cover ink is freeeeesh!!!

I got this back in May. If you want to know what it means, read The Alchemist

I love my job.  Who the hell wouldn’t?  I have the best co-workers in the world.  Many of them have seen me grow within the program since I was 15.  Mentors become colleagues become friends become drinking buddies become dance partners become bodyguards become family become blood become everything all in one.  I am blessed.  Going to work everyday feels like chilling with the homies.  My role consists of designing & running the brand new Literacy Program, building social media efforts, mentoring in video/film production, youth development/empowerment and one-on-one counseling in writing, developing the power of thoughts, effective communication & post-graduate planning/senior transition.  Every day I am surrounded by over a hundred fresh, young, bright, talented minds and everyday I am inspired.

I love my job. I am grateful for it.  But I hate structure.  I hate knowing how much my paycheck will only be in 2 weeks.  I hate knowing where I’ll be sitting in three months.  I hate structure telling me where I’ll be and how much I can only achieve.  I’m not dissing anything or any lifestyle.   To each his/her own.  Everyday I’m learning more about the person I am becoming and I freakin’ hate structure. I feel so confined.  I’m a shepherd dammit. There is definitely immense value in stability and financial security. I don’t take it for granted.  But on a personal tip, I’d rather not know where I’ll be in 3 months or how much I’ll be making in 6 months.  I want to believe that possibilities are boundless so maybe I’ll be a millionaire by March and I’ll be chilling on the moon   Who the hell knows and that’s okay to me.  Anything can happen at any moment and I’m open to it.   I trust that as long as I continue to make choices from a genuine, honest place, each move will lead me to another positive place and so on.  As long as I continue to create, to give and take risks, I trust returns will come—whether in the form of money, opportunities or relationships.

As much as I love my job and all the people I’ve met through it, I’ve made the decision to leave Artists For Humanity at the end of the summer.  Maybe in the future I will return for a longer duration.  But for now, I am young and restless and have much to learn/discover in my personal mission.  I cannot stay in one place for too long.  Shepherds gota go where shepherds go. To avoid complacency, safe comfort and becoming compartmentalized in this plastic wrap society, I gota keep it moving.  In the words of Hov, “ON TO THE NEXT ONE.”

I am truly thankful for all the people in my life who continue to support, motivate and inspire me.

I’ll keep you posted on my future plans.  Change is on the horizon.

Love,
Sahra

P.S. This is partly why I’ve been quiet on the radar lately.  I had to clear it with the boss before I could connect with you all.

P.S.S. I am now taking suggestions for cities to crash/relocate.  A couch and water access preferred.

I realize it’s been over two weeks since my last post.  I apologize for doing such a poor job with the upkeep.  I used to blog it on the daily.  To be honest, I’ve been doing some media detox and feeling the need to retreat within myself.  It’s difficult for me to connect with the outside world right now for a variety of reasons.  I am living in a state of transition.  All good things must come to an end, and all new things have new beginnings.

You can subscribe to my blog on the left to catch random, periodic posts or check back in September 2010.

In the mean time, here’s what’s been on my mind. Sometimes, you just don’t have the words.

Oscar Grant is shot in the back and murdered.  Cop gets off with 2-4 years prison.  It’s like Rodney King all over again.

WATCH:

READ:
Oscar Grant Verdict: Man gets slap on the wrist for murder!

LISTEN:

Download Handcuffs by Native Guns

+++ How the BP Oil spill is hurting the Vietnamese community:

READ:

Shrimpers suffer!

Vietnamese struggle lost in translation

The Roots, how i got over

The Roots rank top 5 in my book of best live performances and overall favorite musical bands.  There’s no other group out there like them.  They were pioneers to fuse that live band jazzy vibe with hip hop lyricism.  They represent so much innovation, integrity and mastery of the craft. I love studying and following the creative evolution of artistic “pioneers”.  It reminds me that just because something hasn’t been done before, doesn’t mean it can’t be done.  It just means someone needs to do it.  It’ll be different (and blazing the unknown path is a scary task), but originality will make it that much more better.

Eminem, Recovery

Sometimes, I still can’t stand Eminem’s voice…but there is no denying that he is one of the illest rappers and lyricists out there.  I respect his stern commitment and dedication to the writing craft.  This is not some stupid drizzy drake shit.  Eminem’s writing is meticulous, refined and well-calculated within every metronomic syllable.  As a writer perpetually trying to refine and better understand my own writing in different creative styles, I can dig it.

DO yourselves a favor and cop these albums!!

(Thank you to Swat and Rob for loading me up)

My homie MikeyG is a magician extraordinaire—he’s got endless tricks popping out of his hat.  He is one of the illest artists/designers/illustrators/programmers/producer/teacher/student on this planet.  He works faster and harder than most people I know, and is on the perpetual pursuit of gaining knowledge and spreading creative joy.  He is fluent in the entire Adobe suite—I know, nasty.  His artistic vision is met with impeccable execution.  I love him because we can talk isometry and shambhala all in the same conversation.  He recently dropped his new site and every pixel is original and produced in-house—the graphics, the animation, the flash, the html, the php, the design, the illustrations, every morsel of this webular experience.  There is no stopping this fool.  Check out his site then step your game up. (His blog has Adobe tips & tutorials.)

(Please be patient with the loading—there is some heavy homesgrown stuff…but it’s all high quality greens, yadidameeeeeen!?  Well worth the wait.)

Boy born without eyes.

More photos on Grim Legacy of Agent Orange

I feel inspired to do a series of orange paintings.  READ ON!!

One would never know from the lack of representation on the news, but there is a large Vietnamese population down south heavily involved in the fishing/shrimping industry.  (We boat people…what’d you expect??!)  Seaside bidness runs in my family—my mom’s side is from a fishing village in South Vietnam, and I got some in-laws in Louisiana!  Vietnamese people know how to fucking hustle, mang…and it’s not always fun—especially not for the ones down south who have been struck by recent bad luck.  First there was the Vietnam War, then there was escaping by boat, then there was rebuilding in America, then there was rebuilding after Katrina, now they must rebuild after the oil spill—all this in one lifetime.  Meanwhile, their stories are never shared on the news, and their struggles go on ignored and unnoticed.  What’s worse is that many Vietnamese people suffering also struggle with language barriers that make it extremely difficult to gain access to the necessary resources, contacts and help.

Below are some videos by some friends and allies of mine that share the Vietnamese American experience within this global disaster.  Amidst all the BP bullshit and politics of who’s doing what to do what to do what, every moment that goes by, more oil gushes out and many people get closer and closer to going bankrupt and hungry.   While trying to stop the oil, we can’t forget that people need immediate help.  Please take a moment to expand your consciousness and open your hearts up by watching.  Spread the message:

READ MORE: Article in the New York Times: Oil Spill Threatens Livelihood of Vietnamese Community

How to cut a pineapple—a demo by yours truly:

I was listening to P. Diddy on the radio the other day, and he was talking about his new acting career.  I haven’t seen much of his acting yet, but these are a few positive things I felt good about after his interview:

1) It is never too late to try something new
Never ever ever TOO late.  The longer you talk about doing something, the “later” it is becoming.  Just do it.

2) It’s okay to try something new even while the whole world is watching
I respect people who can do this.  When you’re new to something or in transition, you’re more vulnerable because the world is quick to criticize you and say you suck!  Even for me, I hate trying anything new while anyone is watching—even amongst my trusted peers and mentors.  It’s always been a problem of mine and I’m learning to be more open.

3) Artists are always evolving.
Change can be a good sign of growth. As artists, and people, we are always evolving.  So it makes sense that our interests, habits and passions change too.  Taking on a different art form just means channeling your creative energy through a different means. I’ve been feeling a lot of this lately—the urge to evolve as an artist.  New things are in store!!

Change is coming, I swear. Watch out now

These are the homies, so it is with great unbiased enthusiasm that I urge y’all to check it out.  Together, these three MC’s, Derek Kan, Theresa Vu and Taiyo Na, are a dynamic force that fuses a soulful, lyrical and eclectic sound of conscious-building, universally-loving music.  Yes, I said it–music.  There’s so much garbage bombarding eardrums these days with saturated Myspaces and co-opted radio stations that many of us have forgotten what music truly feels and sounds like.

Cop the album here: BUY!!
Stream and listen before buying here: HEAR!!

No homie bias.

Big ups to the homie Free for putting me on.  Check out his new art blog, FourArtists.

I treat The Alchemist like my bible.  I just finished reading it for the second time and all my friends are so damn tired of hearing me make Alchemist references with every other point.  “I said, I JUST WANA BE A SHEPHERD! FREE!” This is my most highly recommended book.  In a nutshell, The Alchemist is a story about pursuing your dreams.  When you want something, the entire universe conspires  to help you achieve it, because people’s dreams come from the soul of the universe.  So when you’re happy, the whole world is happy. “All things are one.”

Janet was also talking to me in LA.  She used to always say, “Do what makes you happy.  The rest will come.”  Wednesday night was my performance tribute to Janet Brown and as stated in my previous post, I was crazy nervous.  I performed a series of three pieces: a letter to Janet (new), a poem written 365 days after Janet’s passing, a poem soon after Janet passed in 2009.  In an effort to avoid my self-deprecating tendencies (awful posture, short mic, poor lighting, awkward inflection, etc.), I’ll just say I was humbled by the standing ovation.  If I could connect people with Janet’s spirit even the slightest bit, then I’m happy.  Plus, I heard hella people cried, and I love making people cry. 8^)

Another highlight of my trip was chilling out at the UCLA Annual JazzReggae Festival:

I was a featured artist in the VIP section, GYEA!  I was torn between chilling in the VIP area waiting for the different artists to arrive so I can meet them, or lying out on the grass in front of the stage.  Sorry Nas and Damian, but I just couldn’t resist that California sun I didn’t get to meet them, but at least I got a tan. Holla.

Me and my east coast squeeze, Anjali

My own tent in the VIP section

One of my personal favorites, “Obama Pride”

Nas & Damian Marley performing

I arrived Saturday morning,  settled in at my girl Tiffany’s pad (thanks for letting me crash!!), then got the grubbery on with some delicious lunch she prepared (thanks you Tiffany and Trader Joe’s, y’all make a dope team!!).  After lunch, my first stop was Blick’s art store, where I picked up 8 Montana cans then headed straight to Venice Beach to get my paint on.  We don’t have gorgeous beaches or many legal walls in Boston, so I made sure I hit the Venice Art Walls up while I was here.

Madd windy—look at those leaves fly!!

Don’t be fooled by my outfit, it was cold as shit at Venice Beach!  Sultry summer hasn’t quite hit the coast yet (clearly I missed the memo, damn).  It was windy the whole damn time and the big ass holes in my t-shirt weren’t helping—I had a current running through me.   I painted characters of two of my favorite men (artist/friend/mentor/colleague/bigbro/bodyguard/roaddawg/soothsayer/etc.) SWAT and Problak.  I love these fools so much it’s ridiculous.  These men taught me everything I know about painting and more.  The original sketch had a character of me between them with the middle finger up…but after 4 hours of teeth chattering and blue fingers, I was SO GOOD!  Done and outa there!!  Plus, I was down to my last cap.  Saturday night ended with a bombass sushi dinner and watching Blue Planet and falling asleep to Rupaul’s Drag Race.

Sunday, I hit up my favorite daytime party in Los Angeles: The Do-Over.  Sangria, beer and BBQ!  This is where I had the pleasure of dancing to the grooves of DJ AM before his passing.   I highly recommend it as a spot to check out for anyone in the area.  Sunday night was none other than the LOST SERIES FINALE!!!  I cried so bad.  I won’t throw up any spoilers for people who are still catching up.  I’m not one of those.

Monday night I went to visit Kat Von D’s shop!  I heard she got a waiting list of FOUR YEARS. Cot damn.  That is hella fucking tight.  I’m just thinking about how dope it must be wake up everyday and do exactly what you love…to the point where you got a FOUR YEAR WAITING LIST?!?!  She is the fucking shit!  And an inspiration to me.

As much fun as I’m having here, I have to remind myself that this trip is first and foremost business, vacation is second.  UCLA invited me back to do a tribute to Janet Brown.  The Community Programs Office is the center of student activism and student empowerment on campus—it’s like the rebel headquarters, where I was heavily involved in for all 4 years of UCLA.  The performance is tonight, so I’ve mostly been prepping these past few days.  This will most definitely be the most personal showcase of mine yet—between UCLA homecoming and sharing in honor of my mentor, Janet Brown, I feel a lot of pressure to make it…worthy.  I believe in the power of words, but sometimes words aren’t enough.  How do I convey everything I want to about Janet to people who both know her and have never known her?  This will be far from a “performance”.  I’m not trying to put on a show for anybody.  My most important goal is to connect people in the room with Janet’s spirit.

Wishing everyone a blessed and beautiful day.  More Los Angeles stories coming soon. XO.

These albums make me hella happy to be alive right now.  Buy them today!! I’m madd amped to see Nas & Damian Marley in a little over a week at Jazz Reggae Festival in LA!!  What up West Coast!!

I only watch programmed television on one occasion: Lost. TUESDAYS 9PM EST ON THE DOT I NEED SILENCE IN THE BUILDING!! Everything else, I just record or catch streaming.  Then as soon as I heard Janelle Monae was performing live last night on the David Letterman show, I had to drop everything to watch that too.

Janelle Monae is freakin’ unbelievable.  Her voice.  Her feet.  Her eyes. Her grace. Her music and performance in this video makes me feel a little more…human.  She sets a standard of artistry, innovation and dignity I aspire towards.  YAY MONAE!

Madd elegant and edgy.  Jockin’ her style.

In six days I’m hitting the west coast again!!  YEA. I’m going back to the City of Angels for a few performances and this time, I get to stay for a bangin’ TENS days.  OH BOY.  After living in Los Angeles for four years, I love and appreciate it more every day that I’m not there.  You know how the saying goes, “Don’t know what you got til it’s gone!!”  Cot damn.

In prepping for my trip, I’ve been writing/editing/rehearsing and watching a grip of LA INK!! Buck yea. I think in another lifetime I’d wish I was Kat Von D…or at the very least, I’d be a part of her gnarly ass tattoo family.  I think my favorite character on the show is Khoi Nguyen.  He’s Vietnamese!! WHAT UP!  I’m also a fan of Nate Fierro. He just seems like someone I’d get along with.  Let’s see if I come back from this LA trip with a new tattoo. Holla.

MIA- XXXO

Check out my homegirl, Ms. Fullon, and other educators sharing comments on the book.  Makes me wish I was back in the 12th grade, yadidameeean!!!  I got homies in music videos and homies in ed-promo videos.  All the right friends in all the right places. No homie bias.

Planning to Change The World: A Planbook for Social Justice Teachers 2010-2011 from Social Justice Planbook on Vimeo.