Compass

The words are coming fast and furious as I try and navigate along the straight and narrow,
Mental portraits depicting blank slates, depicting vivid imagery, depicting me… wading through,
It tastes like nothing, all the while it tastes like everything, but I digress…

The dark, the light, the sour, the sweet and the salty mingle with each other to become one and struggle to keep their own identity,
Drowning in the parched fields of reflection while simultaneously looking outward for answers,
Make sense of them, make sense of them, make them work for you, you can control them… but I digress.

Fear-laden daydreams and peaceful nightmares abound with courageous whimpering,
Cautionary whispers and reckless shrieks concurrently inquiring and directing,
The turmoil, both external and internal, commandeer creative and objective thought transforming the latter into present-day gibberish... but should I digress?

Blueprint 3 is coming - Jocking Jay-Z Live

I don't have much to say about this except... WOW!!! This definitely brings my expectations for Jay-Z's upcoming Blueprint 3 album way up. Jay-Z is a master at his craft, who not only seems to be light years ahead of everyone else, he also surpasses his own previous output. Good looking on the beat Kanye! Check out the live video below.

Darkness

Oh enter beautiful darkness ever-present within,
My senses beckon thee,
Twisted yet unperturbed like a long winding road,
My mind’s eye calls out for you to quench its thirst,
Embrace me with icy fingertips and suffocating caresses,
Devoid of illumination, guidance in your expansiveness,
Learn one’s lessons well, taught through missteps,
Oh lighthouse of darkness make me one with thee.

Mapplethorpe - Misunderstood

Robert Mapplethorpe was a photographer who was known for his black and white portraits and controversial images. His dark imagery and sexually charged subject matter resulted in Mapplethorpe being held in high regard among some individuals while seen as a notorious deviant within other circles. Most of what he chose to photograph consisted of flowers, portraits and both female and male nudes. His 1985 horned Italian Devil-inspired self portrait was also used on the cover of a book of poems by Arthur Rimbaud called “A Season in Hell”.

His work appears to be very dark and brooding to me as well, but his photographs also capture a quality about his subjects that can only be truly appreciated in black and white. There is an intimacy and raw quality about his photos that pulls you in and you immediately develop a relationship with the subject. The fact that he chose to shoot his subjects in a stripped-down and seemingly unpretentious way symbolizes to me that he was attempting to photograph their very essence. Unfortunately, the world has to do without further artwork from Robert Mapplethorpe, because of his death in March of 1989 due to complications from AIDS.