The Music Industry Exposed

I'm Proud Of You

I truly believe that the word " I am proud of you" is very underrated. It is a word that many of us truly need to hear from time to time. 

Usually when you tell someone that you have been trying so hard and finally achieved an accomplishment they will tell you something sarcastically  like " you wan't a cookie"???

We know how our friends are and sometimes they can be real stupid but there is 2 individuals and sometimes even 1 person and that is our parents to tell us how proud of us they really are.

I remember getting into an argument with my parents a couple years ago when I was attending college. There was a point in my life when I felt I needed a break from school and all they kept asking me was "when was I planning to register for school again and that it was really important for me to do so in order to be successful in life". I'm the kind of person to really hold things in and not express myself when I was mad but this time, the anger inside me just blew off and along with a lot of cuss words and in simpler words I asked these following questions…

• Why did you not tell me that you were proud of me when I would work full time and attend school full time?
• Why were you not proud of me that I stayed in all if not 98% of the weekends to finish up on h.w and would stay up endless nights doing so even on the weekdays?
• Why were you not proud of me that I was actually in college but once I'm not, you guys were all on my face about me attending again?

I didn't really gave them a chance to say anything and went straight to my room and laid  on my bed and started thinking about how wrong of me was to go off at them like that when they went through so much to get into this country so they could provide a better life for me. Not only that but both actually became citizens of this country. And never once did I tell them I was proud of them… 

In the end, it was my job and responsibility to go to school and try to make something out of myself. Sometimes we crave that "I am proud of you" but sometimes those words are meaningless if you are not proud of yourself. Truth is, people have their own problems and struggles and many of us don't receive that appreciation or praise we want when we accomplish something. 

But as parent's or future parents we need to realize what most of us went through as in being in gang infested communities to tell our children the following…

• I'm proud of you for not joining a gang.
• I'm proud of you for not coming home stupid drunk or high from parties.. ( well, sometimes we may have but most of our parents were sleeping,lol )
• I'm proud of you for graduating from high school and more importantly college.

As I said, people shouldn't rely on being told that they are something to be proud of …. but why risk it ? I would rather thank my future son for directly coming home from school and for him to know I am proud of him for doing so, because it would mean more if I told him that rather than in the contrary for him to immediately go after school and hang around with gangs and for them to tell my son that they are proud of him for killing a rival gang member.

John 3:16 - The Story of Love

Just wanted to share this story/video with you all. I enjoyed it and I hope you do too.

Double Standards

I'm starting to get annoyed with females that say.."How come it's o.k that a man could sleep around with a whole bunch of females and he is celebrated for it, but if a woman sleeps with a whole bunch of men, she is considered a whore.

Think about it, it's how society perceive women and men to be.
To a females advantage, an image of a real woman is to be PURE, have morals, have self respect, and so on.
Society perceives men to be horny, macho, man whores, and so on.

Why would a woman have the audacity to complain that it is not fair that men could get away with things such as sleeping around.

Are women not happy that society makes them be the better half of a relationship, the backbone of a marriage, the glue that holds a family together… let alone that society looks at women as more moralistic than men???

Do they really have the nerve to say that it is not fair that men could sleep around but when in a group of females, they will gossip that "Brenda" is a whore because she sucked off the whole crew and let a group of 5 men run a train on her?

It is really stupid and it is not fair to say that a woman cannot commit an act but then judge a woman for doing that act.

There's a saying that says, "behind a great man, is a greater woman"…

So females should be proud to be women, and men should be proud to be men, because as much as society makes me to be less moralistic, I am proud that I am not as bad as society makes me to be and therefore, it makes me feel like a true man because I go beyond the standards of a man according to society.

SHUT UP !!!

The devil is good at observing you but does not have the power to read minds. So why say out loud what your weaknesses are, it being women or men or even money. He will use the exact same weaknesses you say you have out of your own mouth to bring you down and try to keep you down.

Haters also do not have the power to read minds.. but once you say out loud what your goals are, they will hate on you and make up the stupidest lies and rumors to make sure that you don't accomplish those goals..

So sometimes it's better to SHUT UP!!!

Not everybody needs to know your goals, everybody has goals but not everybody has accomplishments. Let your accomplishments speak for you because accomplishments are done because of actions and goals are just words..and actions speak louder than words.

Not every is trustworthy, but be grateful for those who are.

Complaining about little things...

We have all done it, complain when something bad happens to us… "WHY ME!!!!! ???"
Blah Blah Blah.. nobody likes a whiner , lol, just kidding...
Have you ever thought to yourself? Is this happening for a reason? And most likely, it is happening for a reason.

I've never been a person to complain about stuff especially after one crazy moment. Let's just say I was supposed to go to a place where I wasn't supposed to be going and doing stuff I wasn't supposed to be going. Deep inside I had a bad feeling, so I backed down. Later on I get a call from my friends and they told me something really bad happened and they are glad I didn't go because they barely escaped out of a bad situation. I immediately realized.."JUST BECAUSE IT DIDN'T HAPPEN, IT DOESN'T MEAN IT COULD'VE NOT HAPPENED"

When ever I give advice to my friends, that question comes up and I ask them, "If it didn't happen to you, would you be complaining right now?" The answers are usually, "of course not"…So I ask them afterwards, "if it didn't happen, would you be appreciating the fact that it didn't happen??? The answer vary with that,lol

In a world with many ways to die, we are literally living each single day by the grace of the BIG GUY upstairs. I've had many near death experiences and I KNOW I could've been dead a long time ago. But God knows I thank him most of the mornings for granting and blessing me with another day of life, I could do it everyday, but sometimes I wake up late, but even if that happens..for now on, I'll thank HIM first.

2012.. Here I come!!!!

     2011 was a pretty decent year for me. It wasn't the best but it sure wasn't the worse.
2011 was a great year to me because I spent a lot of time with my family and built respect back with my brothers and show them a good example of being of age to go drink and party but choose not to because I had important responsibilities in the morning.

     Other than that, I tried NOT to do the same things that I did in 2010. I did so much this year that I never thought I would ever do…BUT I DID IT =)
It is such a great feeling to know that I'm not falling into dealing life as a conformist, but rather wanting to break that and go above and beyond of what I thought I possibly could do. I also reconciled with God this year and that was the best thing I could've done.

     Therefore, in 2012, I will try my best to do way more photoshoots, travel to places I've never been before to capture great shots. Make the most money I can possibly make so I can pay for school in the summer and fall semester and most importantly, grow spiritually and get baptized by the summer.

     Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year !!!

-Osvaldo Alvarado

Everything-Lifehouse

This is a really touching and inspirational skit.. kinda brings you to tears.

Fighting Back

I am really getting tired of seeing pictures of Jesus portrayed in pornographic pictures lately on FB. It gets me really mad especially because nothing I say will make these pictures go away, so why not fight back and put up inspirational pics of Jesus =) anybody is more than welcome to join me if you guys want. In a way it's like fighting back ;)

Suicide

Having somebody close to you being killed (homicide) really hurts. Most cases, nobody knows when they are going to die but in some few cases, people plan their own deaths and take action upon them to kill themselves and this is called suicide.

People usually commit suicide when they feel that life is not worth living anymore. 

This feeling of ending the life of your own can be caused by many things including

• any kind of abuse including sexual, drugs, alcohol, etc…
• stress and/or overwhelming depression 
• bullies at school or at work or even on the streets
• no self love

They believe that they can't take it no more therefore they decide to end their suffering but little do they know because their minds are being clouded by evil is that an immense suffering is awaiting them if they do decide to end their lives.

Here comes the TRUTH !!!! 

Suicide is a one way ticket to HELL !!! and the main reason is because Satan is a murderer and a father of lies as it says in John 8:44

Here's what people may think before they commit suicide, "I don't want to live anymore, my life is not worth all this suffering".

Then they commit the act of suicide and because of that are committing the act of not honoring the SIXTH COMMANDMENT "Thou shall not KILL". Once you kill yourself, you cannot ask for God's forgiveness because it is already too late. You are also rejecting the fact that Jesus died for you so you shall be saved.

Imagine how long you have lived up to this point of your life, whether you are a reader that is in your teens, 20's, 30's, 40's, 50's or even 60's.

In comparison, the time we spend here on Earth is nothing but a quick blink of an eye to the infinite lifetime of where we are going to spend out eternal life.

Seriously imagine being engulfed in flames for a few seconds… now minutes…now days, 1 year, 5 years, 10 years, 100 years, 1,000 years, 100,000 years…

When I say eternal life, that means infinite lifetime, there is no limit of how long you are going to burn, that is forever for billions and trillions of years and even after those billions of years, there is no ending after that.

Luckily for you and for the person who is thinking about committing suicide. Jesus died for our sins and through accepting Him as our personal savior we can spend eternity in heaven.

Here's what Jesus said about the devil in John 10:10.."The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full" 

If you know anybody that is going through hard times, pray for them and tell them to pray to God because just as God said in Matthew 11:28… "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened , and I will give you rest"

Why give up on yourself when you have God that never gave up on you before even after all your mistakes, so if you know somebody that is going through hard times and is thinking about suicide, talk to them tell them life is worth living and direct them to a pastor so they can pray for him and her.

Special thanks to J.R =)

" & when I count my blessings, I count you twice" =)

" & when I count my blessings, I count you twice" =)
Days weather like todays makes it easier for one to become more gloomy, but then I started counting my blessings and I feel much better. Staying positive is the way to be and listening to great christian music helps as well and praying to God for guidance is a biggie. Stay blessed y'all !!!

My New Way Of Living

As many of my close friends and family know, I am trying to go back to church. It's been an ongoing battle between the flesh and the spirit. The wants of the body are hard, but are they really?
What good does alcohol, sex, and drugs can really offer someone other than a high that lasts for a few hours. What comes from sin? Better yet, ask yourself real quick and think about it for a couple of minutes of what has been the outcome and consequences because of sins that you committed in the past.

While the wants of the spirit is craving for me to pray and and have a communication and close relationship with God and also by reading the Bible.

The spend we time here is a mere speck in the long timeline of where we are going to spend eternity. My new sister in Christ sent me the following video for which I thank for putting a lot into perspective for me…

I'm not perfect and nobody is. There will be times where I will mess up, no doubt about that.
I just ask kindly if you can keep me in your prayers for strength and guidance.

Pics That Tell A Story

If it's one thing I love, it is for me to capture a moment that literally tells a story.
For example:

The picture above was taken in one of the last few warm days of September of this year (2011)

it is pretty obvious what the guy in the picture I took was trying to do, because I was doing the same thing he was doing earlier was to capture the reflection of the buildings on Michigan Avenue on the bean. After a few shots I moved my camera to the right and I thought to myself, why am I capturing a refection of beauty when the real beauty is in front of me, and no, I was not talking about myself because guys are handsome, not beautiful ;) I was talking about the beauty of the skyline that was in pure awesomeness in front of me instead of being reflected and its true beauty by a reflective mirror that is covered in handprints and is not as clean as it should be. 

In other words, when I captured this moment I called it, "Guy that is too busy concentrated on a refection of beauty while I see the real beauty in front of me" =)

The pic above was taken by me in the same night. I really love how there is so much going on in one moment. I was lucky enough to capture this moment when the flash went off on another persons camera. Not only that but there is a couple in the background sharing the nice weather and being in each others arms..and other people taking pics. But as I see it, I saw the bigger picture =)

This last picture above is a love/hate kind of pic. Obviously I love it more than I hate it but the only part I dislike is the motion blur displayed because the individual wouldn't stay still…

butin a way, that is why I love it because they were not posing for me, they were just photographers as I trying to explore new ways to shoot at night.

In order to best view these pics, please click on each one.

When You Point At Someone, You Have 3 Fingers Pointing Back

Its true, point with your hand and look at it =D

Regardless of the irony that is being shown in front of your eyes, apply it to your life.

I've been judged so many times that I could care less what anybody says about me. I'm not perfect and I know the person judging me isn't either, so that is why I don't let it bother me.

I know I may say really really stupid stuff sometimes, but that is because I usually don't think before I say something,lol ( but I'm trying to get into the habit of thinking before I say something)

Regardless of what I put out there online or what comes out of my mouth.. does not mean that is who I am. Most people don't know anything of how I am at home and how I am a big component to my family's well being.

As long as I know that I do my best to take care of my family, I can care less about what people think of me.

People are quick to judge and enjoy talking about negativity.

People don't see that I could be selling drugs but I don't, but I do be on my grind with these photography shoots.

Most people are not gonna say.." Oh, I'm proud of you Obie for doing something productive".

But they will talk behind your back if you do something destructive.

So to those people, all the judging they do is never going to change who I am, only God will.

Haters

We all have them one point in our life's or another. Best thing to do is to learn to embrace their negative and turn it into positive. For example, if you are a girl and you know you are looking fresh to an event and you feel and look sexy but as how girls are real catty to begin with, they will stare at you up and down and side to side trying to look for a flaw in you to talk about. They know the dress looks marvelous and that is a fact but haters will always talk and say stuff like, "who does she think she is to wear that?", "she is too skinny/fat for that outfit" and so on.

The way to turn that negative feedback into a positive is to remember that you are wearing that outfit because you like it, and it makes u look sexy, therefore making you feel sexy. The fact that you caught someone's attention whether it was negative or positive is letting you know that you stood out from the rest.  All females are not nice, but if you do receive a compliment, embrace it ... if you receive the opposite or worse of all, a girl whispering to another girl while looking at you then you should realize they have nothing better to do than to be criticizing you just to make themselves try to feel better about themselves. We are all the same under God's eyes, her feces smell as bad as yours so why let yourself think for them to think they are better than you.

One thing that gets the most criticism which includes bad criticism is "ART". I'm not talking about just painting but artistically involving things such as Music, Painting, Poetry and in my case Photography.
When it comes to art, you put your work out there. If you are a singer, you are gonna project your beautiful voice out loud for everyone to hear. If you are a painter, you are going to paint a heartfelt painting and post it in a gallery for people to be mesmerized by your creation. My job as taking photographs, is to capture moments and that is what photography is  all about . Some bring back memories, some make you think, some make you smile but what photography mostly does is make you "FEEL". If you see a baby picture of your grown up child, it is going to make you feel joy and remember how it felt to carry him or her in your arms and when you look at him or her all grown up, it will remind you that they will always be that baby that once always relied on you for everything.

It is important to know the difference between criticism and constructive criticism. A person that is critiquing your work constructively is analyzing on how you can improve or become a better artist. They will say negative but also say positive feedback. Haters just focus on the negative.

So that being said, let the haters hate ;)

Life Is Like A Garden

This past weekend I had a great time at the Botanic Gardens of Chicago with a good friend. Not many people know this but I really really love gardens. I'm not the type of person that knows every single name of species of flowers and stuff but I love gardens for other reasons, the things they represent to me.

For me, a garden represent your life. You may start off with a naked field or just grass, but then you decide you want to do something with this patch of field. You start clawing into the grass with a special gardening tool to bring up the soil ,and with time this patch of field is ready to be planted.
A person can relate to this when they want to make a fresh start or make something out of their life. The preparation it takes to start into what you want to do with the rest of your life.

Next a gardener starts planting the flowers or vegetables or whatever they decide to do with this garden. They water their garden everyday because it is a necessary step and crucial component into having a garden. Even if the field remains naked for a couple of days, it is important to feed the garden with water and with the nutrients the soil needs.
That reminds me of a student that goes to class everyday. It is important that they do their homework because that is how they develop their brain to grow and sponge up the knowledge that is being given to them, just like how a garden needs water.
The fact that you may not see visually that the flower is growing from on top of the surface, under the ground, the roots are growing and the flower is getting ready to pop out of the soil and into this world we live in.

Finally, you see a tiny little green stem growing all around your garden and you feel so proud because you worked so hard to see this little miracle grow into existence.
This, for me represents when a student graduates. To some people they may see it as the full grown set of garden but for me, it just represent the meaning of the growing up and maturing a person has to grow through, just like a plant.

As you life starts to grow, so does you garden. it is you job to take care of you job to maintain the garden to be in tip top shape. A very important thing is to take out the weeds that can mess up your garden and make it kind of ugly. I see the weeds as negative people in your life, you have to remove them out of your life because it is your life and your garden. The more you let the weeds roam free in your garden, the less attractive your garden and life will seem.

Maintaining a garden can take up the rest of your life, just like maintaining your own life. In a garden and your life, if you care about it, you have to protect it. There's a lot of danger out there and people may tell you to put this into your garden/life but do your research first and know what you decide to put in or take out because people can tell you one thing, but you don't know their intentions…

And remember….."you reap what you sow"

Be A Leader, Not A Follower

I've had a lot of great teachers in my life, but as many have taught us about academics, one taught me about LIFE as well.

The best thing this teacher taught me was "NOT TO BE A FOLLOWER".
He taught us the values of being a leader, and I applied that to my life as an older brother because siblings tend to look up to the oldest. Therefore I stayed away from gangs as much as I could, because my little brothers and sisters are my responsibilities as well, so I would not be able to live my life knowing that if something would've happened to them as a result of me being in a gang.

I've never have been the type to be clubbing or going to bars every weekend. I'm not trying to bash anybody that does that but I would be considered a follower if I did that, knowing deep in my heart that I don't like those type of things, but yet I would go just because a lot of people my age are into those type of things…

I don't follow, but I do think of the people I follow as mentor's.
I went to an online dictionary website and it said the following..

men·tor

  [men-tawr, -ter] 

noun

1.

a wise and trusted counselor or teacher.

2.

an influential senior sponsor or supporter.

How are those not good qualities of a leader right??? So if you think you are a follower, make sure the person is leading you into the right path.

In the end, I want to thank my former teacher Mr.Stone for teaching me not to be a follower and whom I dedicate this blog entry to.

Real Music

Please watch Video First 

Years of listening to so called "music", I kind of feeling that artists sing about the same thing..money,cars and clothes and sometimes even hoes,lol
There are a few artists I actually listen to because now a days its all mostly about having a good beat and a good hook…
The days all we mostly hear is punch lines so I think of them artists as jokes for exmaple LiL Wayne and Drake.
Rarely do we see lyrical geniuses like Nas, Vico C, Common and so on…but I ran across this artist that is up in coming in which I fully support because his music delivers messages and that's what I'm all about.

The music industry know we like listening to garbage music so that is what they give us, but some of us do actually LOVE music and are not content with the artists, so I think if we stop supporting dumb artists like LiL Wayne they will actually give real music artists a chance to be heard because in the end, all the music industry wants to do is make money.

If you guys know of any other good artists like "Childish Gambino" feel free to comment so more individuals know of these individuals that are in love with music rather than artists that are in love with the money and use music to get it.

                                                           Childish Gambino

Giving Credit To Those Who Deserve It

If there is one thing I really hate, is when a girl is going out with a dude that gangbangs and/or is not doing anything with his life to try to make it better but yet are giving credit for trying.

A dog  does not receive a treat for trying to complete a task..only to when the dog actually completes the trick…
So why give credit for a guy who is THINKING about to gangbanging or selling drugs and who's trying to go back to school.

There's a difference between actually saying you're going to do something and actually doing it.

These kind of individuals chose (action) to join a gang, they chose (action) to sell drugs.
I know times are hard but I know people who have 2 jobs, they may hate their jobs but they still manage to have 2 and you're telling me you can't find one???

If you have a man/woman whose going to school or  works and takes care of his/her family..appreciate them to the fullest because as girls, you guys love a challenge and try to make a bad boy into a goodboy. People have to remember, not all challenges are rewarding..but they do make you learn things.
You may be looking for a challenge but you have a blessing of a good person in front of you, and yes, blessings do sometimes comes your way easy and unexpected.

Marriage

So I've been talking to my friend a lot lately about marriage.
What makes people want to get married was a huge question for me.
I thought about it very deeply and I thought why not take it to the next level and get married.
I started seeing no point in being in a relationship for a long time and treating each other like if you guys were married.

Then again, marriage is a huge commitment that is taken between 2 individuals who are deeply in love and know what they want and I guess that is what I long for in the future.
Somebody I can trust with all my heart and they could do so as well. Somebody I can grown old with and cherish her every day. Of course there are going to be ups and downs, nothing is perfect..but that is the reason of getting married, almost getting rid of the option leaving each other and working it out together.

I am highly against domestic violence and if I were to get married I know I would invest in a punching bag rather than hitting my wife,lol
But it also applies to females as well, just because it is not right for a man to hit  a woman, women should not provoke and and dare the man to hit her.

Other than that, in order to get married I have to remember that I have to be able to support my family. I want to get my education first and get a great job. If God wants to bless me with the trustworthy beautiful wife then I'm up to it but I can see why he hasn't done it yet, because as much as I would want to, I don't think I'm ready yet.

In the meantime I'm going to enjoy this single life and get myself educated one way or another and prepare for my future.