What's up with Alise?

Remember how it felt the day after the last day of school marking the beginning of your summer vacation? Remember how it feels the first day of "real" Spring? Remember how it felt refund check day in college? Do ya? Well I do! As you may already know, I got laid off. Yet, I am not mad. I was sad for approximately 3 hours. My SO bought me a six pack and my BFF Curly took me to the bar and we tried every type of shot we could imagine. (awwwww yeah!). Then the next day I received my Unemployment determination, and it wasn't too shabby. So I can still work my part time job with a few extra hours and be A-OK... I am going to go back to school this summer, but for the next few months I can write, RELAX, RELATE, RELEASE with no financial worries.

*Skip to 9:15 of the video for some nostalgia laughs*

Wanna know what I did today? Well I 'll tell you since you asked! I rose, ate a real breakfast, walked to the shop (Ideas! Coffeehouse) that is about a mile/mile and a half from my house, sat in the coffeehouse with pen and notebook and a novel, and wrote for about 2 hours, and read for about an hour. After that I went to my part time job hopped up on caffeine. (Y'all know how I love me some coffee!). Only bad thing is that I hate my part time job, but it is PART TIME, so that is a moot point really.

Y'all, I am happy. I feel free. I feel inspired. I feel naturally Alise.

Love y'all!

Oh, The Places Alise Will Go!

Oh, the Places You’ll Go!, by Dr. Seuss

Congratulations!
Today is your day.
You’re off to Great Places!
You’re off and away!
You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes
You can steer yourself any direction you choose.
You’re on your own. And you know what you know...........
(Click to see the poem in its entirety)

Okay, somebody* told me that i should put my dreams, wants, desires, etc. into the universe, so today I will take a semi-break from complaining and being ornery and put out some positive vibes and sh*t..... (Sorry, I can't help it) Miss Tiha, aka T-Money and I had a convo yesterday about where we wanted to go. I'm not talking about goal wise or the abstract, but actually what cities or regions we want to go to. I do know one thing is for sure: As long as I am unhappy with my longitude & latitude I will continue to be stunted. I live in Durham, NC. I grew up here, went to school here, spent my adult life here, it is definitely time to try something else. No better time than the present. Something drastic, interesting, life altering. Just. Something. Else. So here is a short list of places I am looking at. Actually before I give you the proposed list that let me tell you a very important thing that I am looking for in a destination: it must have a vibrant art scene... poetry, visual arts, theatre, etc.... (I also love nature, so that is always a plus) Also, I don't really want to do the south**. So these are some ideas I am tossing around, please give feedback if you are familiar with any of these places and know some pros/cons, or maybe some suggestions. Also, are there any of you looking for some new life scenery?

• Chicago
• Seattle
• New York City
• San Diego
• Mars***

* I'm not sure who "somebody" is but I think it is someone related to"they"
**reasons why to be visited in a future blog
*** Hey, I think I could relate to Martians especially if McCain wins, if Lupe Fiasco can ride to work on a Pegasus, then I can live on Mars.....okay I am shutting up now.

****Thanks Elliot for the indirect roaming inspiration :)

Congratulations, I suppose.....

"Congratulations", Vesta Wlliams

This post and video goes out out to two people who made it out of the cubicle , I am jealous, but still happy for them. The first is a manager at my job (a pretty good manager who got the life sucked out of him and ended up being a shitty manager) who found his dream job and peaced us out with a 1 week notice, he is my hero, pour out a little tap water for him.... the other is my favoritest (yes, i am tired of telling y'all this is a word in my world,a delusional world, but a world nonetheless) wandering poet in the world, who really said fuck it and went and embarked on a journey to fulfill his dreams, and who can really be mad at that? So to them I say "Congratulations, I wish it could have been me" (....but will be soon, sooner than you guys think.... did you think Operation Shawshank was on hold? Au contraire mon frere.... stay tuned)

*Please read and respond to yesterday's post, I really thought it was the shit but no one responded... *pout*, (sometimes I have delusions of grandeur, but you need those dangit)

Cube inspiration upgrade.

Howdy Cubers and Cubernistas! Well after a pretty sucky day at work, and a sucky/sad day in real life yesterday, I decided I will kick off Thursday with inspiration and coolness. Because yesterday I was really on a Cypress Hill (...bc I Could Just Kill a Man) type of kick towards then end of the day. So, in the interest of not getting 25 to life, I figured I need something to lift my spirits. Then I thought of something I read in the Gettogetha blog a little while ago about making inspiration boards. Click the link, they are pretty cool. I think this is a great idea, and it will accomplish a few things:

• Decorate the Cube cell and keep me out of a real cell.


• Project! (I love projects as long as it's not of the housing variety)


• Constant reminder of what I am trying to accomplish...


• Since I am a visual alien/person/learner it will hit me harder than just saying my dreams out loud.

Here are a few pictures and things i may add to my board:

*Marc Marcel, one of the most hustling, getting it poet/spoken word artists out there, I really look up to this cat.*

*I want to at some point teach English*

*I want to hit mad stages, word!*

*I already am! (Had to plug myself a little bit)*


*I want to write lots of books. edit lots of books, read lots of books, be in books, you get the picture....* :)


*I told y'all before this is my dream office*

Y'all get the picture? I am going to make an acual board over the weekend and take pictures for you guys to see. So family, (that's how I think of our readers)what would go on your inspiration board?

*Profound IM Alert*

*We interrupt this day to bring you a profound IM alert, please do not panic.*

T 2U: my manager wont manage his people
Alise: you have an inept shepherd
Alise: how u gonna be scared of sheep?
T 2U: he's a sheep in shepherd clothings
Alise: but check it out:
Alise: that means the sheep are managing the wolves who are in business casual sheep's clothing
Alise: aint that some shit
T 2U: that sounds like my reality
Alise: word is bond.
T 2U: so i guess its time for the wolves to stop laying low
Alise: Revolution time!
(and speaking of revolution check this out: Project:Roam)

*Let's get this revolution popping! Operation Shawshank in full effect! *

Operation Shawshank: Phase 1.0

*My dream office... hey I'm shooting high, don't judge me, inspire me dammit!*

Well I have finally gotten past the stage where I'm telling myself "I don't believe you, you need more people" (shouts to Jay-Z), first off, I have more people, I have been readng some great blogs lately and talking to some folks who have really inspired me or reaffirmed my goals. I finally feel like I am not the only cubester/indentured servant that wants something different, something more, and freedom papers (I'll take the ones with the dead president's on them please and thank you....) Please don't tell my massa supervisor I am all inspired and hopeful, I am sure they'll find a way to dash all of that, you see what happened when they found out I could read and write.... I jest. So basically Phase 1.0 of Operation Shawhank is Mission Positive Propaganda -(Mission P-squared, fancy huh?). This includes finding as many oppurtunities to gain positive, inspirational, and motivational energy. Gotta stay up so Agent Complacency and Commander Status Quo cannot infiltrate our lives once again (and those are some mean spiteful bastards). So my other Cubicle Crusaders and escapees ,especially, what are some great blogs, books, songs, events, or anything that you can suggest to help us out with Mission P-Squared? (My life depends on it.... and that's real talk)

The Why and Where.......

If it only were that easy. (Guess I should get the ruby red slippers out of layaway at CitiTrends and try some Dorothy type tactics, *shrug*...) Before I lay out the plan for Operation Shawshank to escape the cubicle life, I guess we need to talk about why and where we want to go. Don't want to trade one Hell for another, nah mean??!! As Agent #0220 (Tiha) reported last week, it is getting thick up in the cube, the lunatics truly have taken over the asylum, and in Agent Java-lin's (me) cell cube they have started tearing down the padding on the wall and throwing at each other, it is real in the field.... So for our safety's sake we have got to get out and quickly. But on the real all jokes aside we are creatively stunted. The Cubicle Crusaders are artists at heart (and hand) who have doubted and second-guessed our abilities for years, which is part of how we got caught up in the corporate Hell of middle management and desk jobs, something went wrong along the way, but we can turn it around, we are still fairly young and still passionate and have a strong support of each other (gotta hold on to friends that encourage you, they are the first rung in the ladder to climb out of the deep hole of ...... ummm of anything, dangit...):

Alise: yeah, I really need to stop trying to compare myself to *Marc Marcel and shit
Alise: I always compare myself to folks that are apples to my oranges
T 2U: that's why we need each other
T 2U: people we trust to keep it real
T 2U: because you cant be marc marcel, only he can, and u gotta be naturally alise
T 2U: different from the rest
T 2U: but still the best
Alise: awww shucks
Alise: yeah i get so caught up in hero* worship sometimes that I forget to be my own hero
Alise: *heroes in the artistic sense
T 2U: "tortured by her greatness, but grateful to have something that makes her special. and if the result is miscomprehension, then she'll take her's on the side next to her genius. because the only applause she really needs comes from within"
T 2U: by me , lol
T 2U: need to listen to myself
Alise: yup, you really should

*Marc Marcel: one of the Cubicle Crusaders 'favoritest' poets ever...

So once we get over these humps of doubt then we can get to the Mecca (not ATL, sigh...) for creative people and that is: Self Management i.e. entrepreneurship, see chart below:

*Destination. Self Management or Bust a Negro upside the head!