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I guess it's slight cliche to use a "Rent" reference as my title to this post, but seeing as it's almost been a year in my life since my last post ( give or take 3 1/2 weeks shy of it) I've deemed it necessary.

Let's see... In the past year...

• Obama's approval rating has dropped tremendously because, for some reason MOST of America fell to the American Media "Spin Factor" and forgot that it took 8 years to get into a mess and now all of a sudden expect him to fix EVERYTHING in less than 2 year like he can just throw out a Harry Potter spell and fix everything. (Expelliarmus!)

• We saw the Revenge of the Sith happen in Congress and the Republicans took control again only for both sides to now sit on their hands for the next 2 years and blame the other side for why a bunch of rich assholes who run our lives can't fix any of the problems that THEY created.

• The country became super soft and extra sensitive and every pundit from the left at the right started getting fired or suspended for personal opinions or personal contributions, because apparently it's a crime to be the crazy uncle in the family who says some off color shit.

• Terror threats made a comeback in the form of printer bombs being sent to Temples in Chi-town
  

• John Stewart became the person in America who made the most sense

and...

• George W. Bush did an Oprah interview and came off as "Almost" human.

... but enough about politics. what about in pop culture.


The pop world is spinning on a strange axis and landed in "none of this shit make sense-ville"

A year ago...

• The world hated Chris Brown, but now everyone is throwing up "Deuces"

• People cheer for Michael Vick?!

• Kanye West made the greatest comeback of all time just by starting a Twitter account. Then he performed "Runaway" making it cool to be called a douchebag and Taylor Swift performed "Innocent" at the VMA's and all of a sudden everyone finally realized Taylor Swift can't sing and have been bashing her since September. While nothing but high praise of Kanye from just about... idk... EVERYONE! ( ...except Matt Lauer)
  

• O.J. is still rotting in jail...

• Wesley Snipes is going to jail
  

But not only the most hated black men in America have been having a big year other things have been going on too.

• Bandy got voted off Dancing with the Stars before Bristol which tells me that Sarah Palin might be our next president.

• The Situation makes an estimated 10 mil a year

• Conan has a show again that isn't doing amazing numbers in the ratings

• Maury Povich is the king of daytime television

• Willow Smith has a hit song at 9 years old and does a better Rhianna impression that Rhianna herself

The world went nuts!

It's been an interesting year though. If you surf the web, read a newspaper, or watch tv it hasn't been boring at all.

We are less than a week away from Thanksgiving and from there we go full speed ahead into the holidays into the new year. This is the time where all of the crazies come out and the year is at it's most interesting.

I joke around, because that's the kind of person I am. I find the world funny and find most things amusing that others would not, but the past year for me personally has been a rough one.

I COULD WRITE 100 BLOG ENTRIES ON MY YEAR and it still wouldn't give you half of the crazy shit that's happened in my world.

For a short recap, I missed getting shot in a drive-by by less than 60 seconds. The next day I found out a friend passed away in a car accident. Put my heart out there, found myself on the other side of betrayal. Met some of the most amazing people in this city. Later I found myself in massive debt, unemployed struggling to make ends meet 3000 miles away from home. When I found my way back to employment and everything seemed to be getting better I found out my aunt lost her battle with cancer. On the way to her funeral I had guns pulled on me and my cousins by random thugs... and there is so much more to fill in the blanks.

Through everything this year I find myself on the other end happy. Enjoying live, and surprisingly optimistic about future possibilities.

I guess that was my welcome back to my blog. LOL! I never know exactly what I am going to write about before I start writing, but I think this entry gives a little insight into what I like to talk about. I want to spend the next year actually writing in this blog. sharing my thoughts, my ideas, my opinions, other peoples opinions, my personal triumphs and my personal struggles, love, religion, music, politics, film, etc. I don't know... Maybe even my Spider-man addiction? We'll see where this goes, but for sure you'll be hearing from me. Or who knows... maybe I'll be hearing from myself. Maybe nobody reads this but me. I guess we shall see. ;-)

-DW

Success is what YOU make it!

Having two days off from work in a row from work is amazing!!! I am sitting at home though surfing through my DVR catching up on all of the things I have no time to watch. Right now I am watching Oprah and an episode she did on with a 7 year old who has schizophrenia. Kind of INTENSE!

Other things on my list are sending out my Christmas cards, buying a new planner for 2010, and cleaning my room.

Ohhhh it's the little things that put a smile on my face these days. ;-)

One of the other things I just got finished doing was watching my friend Dawn Melissa Green's YouTube series called VideoPal. It's a great concept of 4 women who living across the country from each other (2 in NYC, 2 in LA) keeping in touch and updating each other on their day to day lives through web cam. The series primarily follows D Elis, a transient east coast girl in search of a new life, and love in LA. With an awesome supporting cast, fun story lines, and all kinds of side story video's in between episodes this Series will be a huge, HUGE hit!

CHECK IT OUT!!!

The word of the day seems to be: Success.

I was having a conversation with a friend today about success and their desire to attain it, and I found it to be an interesting conversation to have. As a struggling artist myself living in Los Angeles, I work as an Assistant Manager at a movie theater to pay my bills. I moved to the city from Fort Lauderdale, FL to pursue a career in acting, and understand what it's like to question if you are doing the right thing, or anything at all for that matter. I totally get feeling like you haven't reached the level of success that you want. Also I get watching all of the people around you doing big things while you are struggling to pay your bills and feeling down because you wish you could be where they are.

My response to my friend on the subject was to stop comparing herself and the measurement of her success with others, and that she would have her success. I told her, "You can't lose sight of what you want, and don't expect it to come overnight or when you want it to. As long as you work hard, and never give up it will come in it's own time."

One of the things that remains a constant reminder for me currently is my high school friend Jason Derulo. He has a number one hit on the charts right now called "Whatcha Say", which was the top selling song on ITunes, and getting ridiculous radio play. I go to karaoke every Wednesday night, and I'll hear it playing there. It's crazy. we performed in shows together @ Dillard High, and then years later I see him here in LA, he tells me he got signed to a label and he had a song coming out. Little did I know... It's was gonna be HUGE!!!

(Shout out to Olivia's Restaurant in Burbank. 245 E. Olive St. We do this... EVERY WEDNESDAY!!! 830pm-2am)

Human response would be,"SHIT! Why can't that be me? Why can't I be doing that?"

I absolutely asked myself that for a second. Right around the time I went home to visit Florida, and his song had reached #1 on the request line for Y-100, but past that I realized quickly that his success has nothing to do with mine. I just have to continue to work hard and do me. I am extremely happy for Jason. (In fact you should go buy his album. It's in stores today!)

All of this reminded me of Dawn, and her hard work with building her VideoPal series. No man (or woman) has ever reached success without hard work. It won't just come to you sitting on your couch watching TV. You have to go out there and take what you want. Make your way into the world.

I met Mia Vardarlos of "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" and talked to her about her entry into the industry. She told me that she knew no casting director was ever gonna hire her, so she decided to make her own work. She wrote, directed, and stared in MBFGW, and look at the success she has had since.

So to all of you dreamers out there willing to put in the work to "make it", get off your ass, stop complaining, grab life by the balls, and make it happen!

Remember: Success is what YOU make it!

-D. Wright


"Whatever you vividly imagine, ardently desire, sincerely believe, and enthusiastically act upon... must inevitably come to pass!" - Paul J. Meyer

... and the Grammy goes to...

NOT Kanye West!

I love when articles prove my point about issues. Especially when it pertains to, "America's Most Hated", Mr. Kanye West.

____________________

Source: Lyndsey Parker of That Really Week blog.

"... The other big surprise snub of the 52nd Grammys was Kanye West's shutout in all of the major categories. While he did receive seven nominations, they were all in the Rap category, while his previous three albums (The College Dropout, Late Registration, and Graduation) had all been up for Album Of The Year. His latest, 808s & Heartbreak, despite being a huge hit that garnered much critical praise (and certainly had a weepy comeback story behind it, since much of it was inspired by Kanye's mother's death), did not get an Album Of The Year nod. Additionally, its biggest track, "Heartless" (which was even popularly covered by both Kris Allen and the Fray), received no nominations at all.

There are many industry theories surrounding this snub as well, but of course the biggest one is that his bum rushing of Taylor Swift's acceptance speech at this year's MTV Video Music Awards generated a massive amount of ill will among Grammy voters. Now the bright side for Taylor is, when she inevitably accepts some of her possible eight Grammys at next month's ceremony, she won't have to worry about Kanye interrupting her. There's a good chance he won't even be there."
___________________

Sooooooo.... LET"S TALK!

Before the comments come back talking about how what Kanye did was horrible, and disrespectful I would just like to say I AGREE WITH YOU! Did Kanye look like a major douche at the VMA's? ABSO-FUCKING-LUTELY, but the actual act was there a point?

Did Beyonce have the greatest video of all time? Probably not, but did she have the best video of the year? According to the the same telecast she did. According to billboard and Soundscan charts, ITunes downloads, and radio airplay she DEFINITELY did. I mean everybody got in on the Single Ladies act. Even TV shows like SNL and GLEE.

I mean you win Video of the year as a woman, but don't win best female video?

Somehow this makes sense to everybody else, but me.

... but, I digress. This is not the point I am trying to argue, because that incident is old news. What I do want to appeal to are the people out there who get mad whenever a band, "sells out". The people who love underground music. The people who consider themselves artists in some way shape or form. The people who listen to music because of the talent and aren't willing to accept every single artist that comes out with excellent lip-syncing technique or the mastery of auto-tune.

The breakdown of nominations clearly shows that these Award shows are no longer based on music, and the talent, but more of a popularity contest. For Heartless to do all that it did this year, and for 808's and Heartbreak to sell like it did, and produce hit after hit to be overlooked is an injustice to artists everywhere. Kanye West's character flaws have nothing to do with his music. The music should speak for itself.

Maybe I'm crazy, or maybe I'm asking to much, but I would love to see someone prove me wrong.

Can you?

-D. Wright

"Popularity is not an indication of quality" -Vanna Bonta

Welcome to THE truth (Artistically speaking)

Ladies and gentlemen,

... 8 months later, and this day has finally come. Welcome to the Artful Truth.

My name is D. Wright. For those who know me personally, you know that I am very opinionated and never afraid to voice each and every one of my opinions. You may not always agree with me, but everything I say has a thought process behind it. For those getting to know me you will find out exactly how true those words are.

I will say many things in my posts to come. Some will inspire you. Some will piss you off. Some you will love. Some you will hate. No matter how you feel you WILL feel something.

What you see is what you get.
Love it or hate it.
Take it or leave it.
I am who I am and that will never change.

It's time to get real!

Welcome to my world. Welcome to my truth.

Welcome to THE truth (Artistically speaking)

-D. Wright

"Truth is incontrovertible, malice may attack it and ignorance may deride it, but, in the end, there it is." -Sir Winston Churchill