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Ketchums Wish List Summer/Fall '08: Motivation

July 24, 2008 | Tags: Blackberry, technology, gadgets, iPod, Dre, Bose, DOOM, ?uest

So as you all know or may not know, along with my MichiganHipHop.com, Global Grind, HipHopDX, Famous Firm and other part-time hustles, I'm looking for a full-time gig. Everyone says that finding a job is a job itself, and even though I've been showing up to work, I've called in sick a couple of times. And watching a friend of mine work hard at starting up her own business reminds me that no matter how dope I am, I've got work to do.

Fortunately, I've always been a hopeless consumer. Aside from hearing great music and a having a quality woman at the crib, nothing has ever made me feel better than a shiny new product - whether it's a fancy gadget or some gear to add to the wardrobe. Below, I'm posting five things that I want to cop before the end of the year. Whenever I'm not on top of my job, all I'll have to do is revisit this blog to give myself some concrete motivation.

1. Blackberry Bold

You know those new AT&T commercials, where a person is portraying their voicemail and talking about how they missed a really important call? Yeah, I've had two of those real life situations: one prevented me from going to the Glow In The Dark tour, and the other made me get some money late. So T-Mobile is a wrap. And what better time to switch to AT&T than to cop the newest Blackberry, the Blackberry Bold? 3G/quad-band network + GPS & Wi-Fi + new and improved browser + the email/UI I've grown to love = perfection. My homie tells me it doesn't come out till January or something? Fuck. We'll see, though.

2. iPod Touch

So I've decided that I want an iPod Touch as opposed to an iPod Classic - the fly factor and the Wi-Fi were too much for just an iPod with more room. Besides, I'm at my laptop every night anyway, so I can afford to keep most of my music on an external hard drive; I don't need 160GB on a music player. I'll probably just get the cheapest joint, so I can just get my music, my audiobooks and a movie or two and I'll be fine. P.S.: Is there any reason that they chose to have Macy Gray's picture on all these iPod ads? Who the hell listened to her in the first place, much less at all? Seriously.

3. Beats by Dr. Dre Headphones or Bose On-The-Ear Headphones

As fly as my Skull Candy Rasta headphones are, I've had a pair of Bose before, and there's really no substitute. And as a critic, I've really got to hear all of the intricacies in the music I listen to (snickers). These Dr. Dre headphones have really been hyped up, and I've seen mixed reviews: Sickamore said they were crazy, but another one of my homies said they're not worth that much. If I don't get those then its back to the Bose, because their quality is undeniable.

4. MF DOOM Dunks

Yes, MF DOOM is overrated as hell. Yes, these shoes are sorta old now. But that colorway is Kev Garnett-versatile, the designs on the inside and outside sole are crazy, and my partner-in-crime is giving me a deal on 'em. I plan on copping these sooner than later.

5. (h)Air Questo's

Yeah, they're way too gaudy. No, I don't have anything to match them with. But I've got love for ?uest: he embodies hip-hop more than anybody else in the industry, and I'd cop these for the support and exclusivity alone. And if I can get something to actually match these? [Pusha T] Iugh! [/Pusha T]

--
So, back to work. Today's GotDone List is so disappointing that I won't even post it, and tomorrow's ToDo List is pretty vicious, so I've gotta start working toward these joints.

-Ketch

The views and opinions expressed in this blog are those of the writer and not necessarily those of HipHopDX.com or Cheri Media Group.

A Day Without My Blackberry

June 05, 2008 | Tags: Blackberry

Post-graduation life without a full-time job ain't no crystal stair, and T-Mobile ethered my cell yesterday morning. Granted, this was solved that evening by my professor/mentor @ MSU express mailing me an amazingly generous check to burn him some CDs. But for the first time in nearly four years, I was without my trusty Blackberry. Well, I guess I wasn't technically without it, because I could still receive calls and texts on it. But I couldn't make any outgoing actions - calls, texts, e-mails, etc. And anybody that knows me knows that Ms. 8800 has been the woman of my life for a while now.This happened late last night/early this morning, so I was expecting for it to be an especially tumultuous (if not depressing) day.

But I've realized that I can do a lot without a Blackberry. Matter of fact, this day - June 4, 2008 - turned out to be my most productive day since I graduated a month ago. Fittingly, Wednesday's Daily Word from Rev. Run was the following quote: "Good morning. If you are bored with life, if you don't get up every morning with a burning desire to do things- you don't have enough goals." -Lou Holtz ...Knowing that my bread wasn't where I wanted it to be and that I couldn't utilize my Blackberry motivated me to do as much as possible today, and that's what I did:

1. For the second day in a row, I actually cooked breakfast - scrambled eggs, turkey bacon, toast, OJ - instead of pouring a bowl of cereal and calling it a day. And this time, the food actually turned out good. That may sound like a fundamental breakfast to you, but coming from someone who never cooks at all, this is a good look.

2. I got cover letters, resumes and clips out to two new places. I've been constantly eying one of them for the past week, and I just found the other one that morning. The cover letters were particularly difficult to perfect, because I tend to ramble on in those instead of getting to the point. But I think I nailed them on the head, pause. I feel that I've got great chances at landing both of these, so we'll see where they go.

3. I finally touched base with one place that I had gotten at. They didn't snatch me up, but at least I got in contact with them and I found out what happened, so I can check them out and move on.

4. I interviewed Dwele for MichiganHipHop.com. A bit of a slow start, but I think I got some great material from him for the piece. We get legends, B.

5. I touched base with Kevin Powell (the first black person on MTV's The Real World, activist, nominee for Congress, and most relevant to me, journalist extraordinaire/founding staffer of VIBE magazine), whom I had met at MSU's Black Commencement. I e-mailed him this afternoon, and literally three minutes later, he had already forwarded me to his homie who's connected at a very prominent company looking for young writers. E-mailed his connect, we'll see where that goes.

What's even crazier is that I know that I could've done more if I would've really locked down. Today, I'm going to cook breakfast again, go for a walk right afterwards, then go to the library to knock some things out - articles, some interviews, and probably some Famous Firm bios. T-Mobile doesn't get any reception there, but it's all good: that's familiar territory, now. Hell, I might even change my plan, or pick a weekly or monthly day that I don't fuck with the Blackberry period. It was cool to not be on the constant lookout for that blinking red light, and I've already shown myself that I can be productive without it.

But don't get it twisted, it's still BB for life.

Good luck , Sickamore; I can see you doing fine at the beginning, but you'll be singing the hook of "Allure" sooner than later.

P.S.: N.E.R.D.'s new album, Seeing Sounds = wow. "Sooner Or Later" is the sonic achievement of the year so far.

P.S.S.: Check Necole Bitchie's latest blog, where she breaks down her life story and how she broke into blogging. Incredible.