Below are two videos my friend who is a manger at a grocery store posted about nearly losing his job attempting to thwart a tide thief It seems to be a common item to steal I can’t imagine why. Also people usually lose their jibs when they do this but he was able to keep his.
Weekend recap
So last weekend I was lucky enough to get picked to join my company for a special armed forces day. We had given over 400 cases of yogurt to veterans at hill Air Force hace in SLC. It was nice to see the impact we make in peoples lives first hand while also helping those who truly believe in acts of service(veterans). It was a small thank you to all the people who have served in the area and I was happy to be a part of it.
Still though I think there are some people in this company who harbor bad vibes towards me. It’s hard to be myself when I feel like im being watched with a scornful eye. I don’t want to stop being myself but it’s hard when being myself is looked at poorly by some others. I want to stay and grow here but I feel like I’m under surveillance sometimes. I can’t be anybody but who I am. I hear a lot about growth mindset here and I do think that I have grown a lot as a person since I began my current role but it is frustrating to see some others get promoted with less time in the same role. It’s likely that they are just better then me when they were in my role, and had better opportunities due to geography. I am hopeful that if I’m patient and keep working hard the opportunity will show up.
Moving on now, I really liked Salt Lake City. Very pretty and clean downtown. Does not have the same problems most big cities have (homelessness, and traffic mainly). But it would probably be a bit boring for me personally to live in. But the outdoors is even better than Denver’s in my opinion, which is really saying something because Colorado has a great outdoors.
How do you feel about cold weather?
I used to hate it. I grew up in sunny warm Florida and lived there most of my life when it was time to branch out and be an adult I moved to Colorado. My first winter here I was miserable. I grew to appreciate it and just this year in late May I went for a hike and actually was excited to see that there was still snow on the ground (and fresh snow falling as we got higher altitude). Not really sure what changed I guess I just learned to appreciate what snow does. The same way I learned to appreciate the rain when I was in Florida.
Is it good? Yes
Today I did something I haven’t done since about 2019.
I walked into a barber shop and got a haircut. 2019 was the pandemic and I needed a haircut but barbershops were closed so I order wahl clippers on Amazon for 49$ and never looked back. They definitely paid off and I even got decent at cutting my own hair. But it was nice to get pampered. They did the shampoo and hot towel treatment and everything. It was nice, and damn she made it look so simple. Even after about 50? haircuts since 2019 I always had struggles getting an even haircut and especially struggled on the back of my head. Holding a handheld mirror at an angle in one hand to reflect off my bathroom mirror with the clippers in the other hand was never easy. I will say this if you are considering giving yourself a haircut, short and simple is best. It gets complicated when you try to style it. When is cut my hair I’d either do a crew cut or buzz cut. Simpler is better.
I don’t understand why I didn’t start going to barbers after the shutdown ended as I’ve given myself some bad haircuts but still think my worst haircut ever was in the hands of a barber. But that could be because it was free and that I not look at myself as critically as I do others.
Anyway it seems that the days of self hair cuts are out, and I think this is a sign of maturity. It also feels nice to be in a place financially (probably for the first time since 2019) to feel okay not only to get a hair cut but to get a hair wash also.
Drake vs Kendrick Lamar rap beef a detailed timeline and analysis.
In case you’ve been living under a rock for the last month, two of the biggest names in rap music have been in a very public feud that has mostly been taking place over song releases. This is a huge cultural moment and I want to talk about it and perhaps educate you on it.
The pair had a collaborated with each other in 2013 for Kendrick Lamar’s hit Poetic Justice. Things seemed to be okay in between the pair despite a cryptic shot Kendrick took at drake in a feature in Big Sean’s control. Drake essentially brushed off the cryptic diss and said that there was no real issues. The beef was cold and the pair had no further collaborations until, seemingly out of nowhere Drake released the song first person shooter on his 2023 album For all the dogs. The particular line in the song that seems to have come from J. Cole the featured artist on first person shooter, when cole says “Love when they argue the hardest MC
Is it K-Dot? Is it Aubrey? Or me? We the big three..” I personally wouldn’t be offended by this as I would not consider being called one of the top three MC’s in the rap game at the present a diss, even if it was coming from J Cole (someone I am personally not a fan of), but Kendrick did.
On March 26 2024 Future and Metro Boomin (two well known drake allies and collboraters realeased a track called “Like that” on the Album “I don’t like you”. In the Like that record Kendrick Responds to J Cole mentioning him as part of the big three by saying “Motha fuck the big three, its just big me” a clear shot at J Cole and an announcement to the world that he sees himself as the best in the game.
On April 5th J Cole responded with the track “7 minute drill” I won’t speak much on this track as Cole apologized and deleted the song from all platforms two days later and has essentially washed his hands from the beef. To be fair to Cole it seemed he thought the beef was on some competitve rap shit and didn’t realize it was personal between Kendrick and Drake.
On April 13th Drake joins the Feud by leaking the song “Pushups” or “drop and give me 50” (officially released on April 19th) In the song Drake takes shots at Kendrick, Future, Metro Boomin, Rick Ross and The Weeknd (all drake colloboraters in the past but have publicly sided with Lamar) which makes me wonder what kind of person Drake is if these people who have made a lot of money with drake will not take his side over someone who they don’t have any collaborations with. In the song Drake takes shots at Lamar by dissing his taylor swift feature, calling him weak and to go lift weights (hence the song title pushups) and the cover art displays a US shoe size of 7, referencing a line in the first verse where Drake clowns Lamar for his shoe size & height “How the fuck you big steppin’ with a size-seven men’s on.”
Three hours after this Rick Ross responds to Drake’s diss on Pushups with his song “Champagne moments” Rozay wastes no time in hurling accusations at Drake, alleging reliance on ghostwriters, his “leak” of pushups, cosmetic surgeries, including a nose reconstruction to appear more Caucasian. The diss paints Drake as an outsider in rap and degradingly refers to him as a “white boy” who climbed the industry’s ranks under the help of mentors including Lil Wayne and himself.
April 19th the same day as the official release of Pushups, Drake strikes with a second diss track called “Taylor Made” in which drake uses AI vocals from Tupac and Snoop Dogg to critize Lamar, the former being a huge influence to Kendrick who also hails from compton and the latter who has praised and collaborated with Lamar in the past was a unique but in my opinon weak way for Drake to convey his dislike for Kendrick, as it sounds like his idols but is not actually coming from his idols so it doesn’t cut the same. In this one he again references Kendricks feature on Taylor Swift’s bad Blood and claims he hasn’t dropped yet to avoid a dispute because Taylor didn’t approve as she is in the midst of an album release her self, implying he has lack of control in his own career. With lines like “But now we gotta wait a fuckin’ week ‘cause Taylor Swift is your new Top, and if you ‘bout to drop, she gotta approve” and “This girl really ‘bout to make you act like you not in a feud; she tailor-made your schedule, you out of the loop.” Taylor Made was on streaming services until April 26th following a dispute from Tupac Shakur’s estate for using his likeness/voice.
On April 20th Kanye West released a like that remix, Kanye and drake had a less contentious but very public feud dating back to 2018, like in many things, Kanye was way ahead of his time.
After weeks of silence Kendrick finally responds with a devestating diss titled “Euphoria” this may be one of the best diss records ever, in the first verse alone Kendrick claims Drakes star is falling, he was never one of “us” an attack to his blackness, a common theme in Drake disses and clearly a sore subject for him. And ends the verse with the line “But don’t tell no lie about me and I won’t tell truths ’bout you.” Saying that we can fuck around but you don’t want the other half of this story, I can’t even tell the truth about you because then it’ll get weird. While also telling him to respond accordingly and with caution. He also says this isn’t a rap battle, I really hate you. “I hate the way that you walk, the way that you talk, I hate the way that you dressI hate the way that you sneak diss, if I catch flight, it’s gon’ be direct” Where in pushups Drake said Kendrick has small feet Kendrick flat out calls Drake corny. Kendrick’s diss cut way deeper, and I doubt Drake will ever be able to stand next to sexy red with out thinking of this line “When I see you stand by Sexyy Red, I believe you see two bad bitches I believe you don’t like women, it’s real competition, you might pop ass with ’em” another great line in this song is “Headshot for the year, you better walk around like Daft Punk” meaning he will need to cover his face in public or wear a helmet, because of the potential to get shot is now a real one, a dark but clever threat. Euphoria also became the most searched word on meriam webster’s website following the release of this song. Kendrick also references a rap battle drake had with Pusha T in which he lost so bad he had to claim his son adonis who he had not publicly accepted or had any attachment to prior to his rap beef with Pusha T. Drake also makes fun of the toronto accent by saying “crodie” in the song but he may also be referring to plushh who is from toronto and got viral for her accent.
May 3rd Kendrick Lamar releases another Diss titled 6:16 in LA. The title is already a subtle jab as Drake has made many timestamped songs that feature a song and location (4pm in calabasas, 5am in toronto and many more) this one isn’t as potent as euphoria but in it he does insinuate that there is a mole in his camp “have you ever thought that OVO was workin’ for me? / Fake bully, I hate bullies, you must be a terrible person” and “Everyone inside your team is whispering that you deserve it.”
On the same day Drake responds to “Euphoria” and “6:16 in LA” with his track “Family Matters” the longest song in the beef at 7 minutes and 36 seconds, I’d also argue this song is the most bumping without the context. I also feel like this is Drakes strongest track in terms of actually dissing Kendrick. Drake also again takes shots at Rick Ross, the Weeknd, Metro Boomin and ASAP Rocky. In the music video Drake takes the actual van from Kendricks second album “Good Kid/maad city” and destroys it. The main themes discussed in this diss track were Kendrick’s domestic abuse of his wife, use of ghostwriters, and infidelity. Drake also mentions Whitney, Kendrick’s wife, having a (allegedly) baby with their body guard Dave Free. Throughout the song, he insisted on using the word “nigga” constantly, a way to show Kendrick that he has no say in the matter, after Lamar had said he can’t use that word in Euphoria.
Just 52 minutes later the third diss track in 24 hours is released, Kendrick Lamar releases his response track titled “meet the grahams” This might be even more brutal of a diss track than euphoria was.
Before diving into the lyrics the album art is brutal, and clearly shows a ozempic and ambien prescription (yikes scoob) to be clear there has been some contraversy around the legitimacy of the photo, but assuming it is real it shows that OVO may actually have a mole and paints a nasty picture of Drake. In the song Kendrick addresses each member of the Graham family. Once again the allegation that drake has a child he is neglecting is made. In verse one Kendrick address Adonis Drake’s son and says he’s sorry Drake is your non-responsive father and that his grandfather should’ve worn a condom, making it so Drake was never born. the line “Don’t cut them corners like your daddy did, fuck what Ozempic did Don’t pay to play with them Brazilians, get a gym membership” is Kendrick continues to play on the rumors of Drake undergoing ab surgery, or even a BBL. In the second verse Kendrick address Sandra and Dennis Graham, Drake’s mother and father. Drakes father who was absent in most of Drakes life and served two prison sentences, during his childhood years. Saying they raised a horrible person. Kendrick also draws comparisions to Drake and Harvey Weinstien which is interesting considering the ambien prescription on the cover art. He also adresses the people drake keeps in his inner circle despite their current legal battles. In verse 3 he address the daughter Drake has abandoned and criticizes the example he is making for this child. In verse 4 Kendrick addresses drake personally, claiming this is an exhibition that he is not taking serious, calls him immature and a drug and sex addict. A brutal diss track that I only really scratched the surface on.
May 4 – The next day Kendrick drops “Not Like Us” what I’d consider a victory lap although the saga doesn’t end here. Another incendiary diss track, in which he made a series of extremely serious allegations against Drake over a DJ Mustard beat. The track alleges (without evidence) that Drake is a pedophile and runs a sex trafficking ring with members of OVO Sound. Saying “Why you trollin’ like a bitch? Ain’t you tired? Tryna strike a chord and it’s probably A minor” Among other disses, notably calling Drake a snitch and culture vulture, Kendrick doubles down on prior allegations made against Drake of sexual deviancy. This time, he outright calls Drake and his associates (Baka and PartyNextDoor, and Drake’s security guard Chubbs) pedophiles, using the term “certified pedophile” as a clever play on Drake’s September 2021 album, Certified Lover Boy. Drake has also been in some trouble for his relationship with Millie Bobby Brown and Bella Harris prior to them being 18. Lamar also accused Drake of being a “colonizer,” who exploits Atlanta artists like Future, 21 Savage and Lil Baby for street cred. The cover art is edited in a way that closely resembles the modern sex offender registry, which pinpoints the residency of a convicted offender, is continuing the thread of allegations made by Kendrick Lamar that Drake is a sexual predator. It insinuates that Drake’s mansion, nicknamed “The Embassy,” is a hub for illegal sexual activity.
May 5th Metro Boomin releases BBL Drizzy on soundcloud. There’s not really any lyrical analysis to be made here but the song is catchy and was no doubt made to diss drake.
The feud may not be over but this is where we stand today. This is a huge rap beef with many tracks made and many disses and attacks. It seems that most people are crowning Kendrick Lamar as victor. But this has been a huge beef in the history of rap and a huge moment in the cultural lexicon. The rap game really needed this and it seems to have caused a bit of a rift in the rap game as a whole as it seems many artists who have been linked with Drake have actually taken Kendricks side. I do wonder what will happen to drake after this if his next album is a flop. I’m excited to see what happens next but in my opinion Kendrick does not need to respond. Euphoria and meet the grahams are two lethal diss tracks and alone are more venomous than anything drake has said in any of his diss tracks. It seems that drake has lost his third rap beef for an overall record of (1-3) and it was really silly to go after Kendrick as he is a really hip hop MC and drake is more of a mainstream rapper. The difference is clear in this beef. It is a good thing for rap no doubt, and I’ve gotten a lot of excitement over this whole thing but I think we may be at the end. Tell me who you think won. I hope you enjoyed my analysis, I really tried my best to cover everything and analyize the lyrics and disses the best I could. I also considered making a source page but decided against it as I did a pretty good job linking songs and articles I used to write this article. I will update this should there be any news in this story.
Weekend recap
Friday: I initially had planned to take this day to catch up on a work project due the 17th that I haven’t even started on but I got a call around 6pm from an old friend to hang out and play pool and I can’t say no. So we went to a local pub and played pool until about 1 am. After which we went to the strip club. This particular night I did get a dance and regretted it immediately. Was fun to play pool with my friend even though he’s much better than me. The record was (5-1) in the six games we played but it was actually down to the 8 ball on two of the games. On thing I have to write here is that for the first time ever it occurred to me that strippers will lie to you. I was talking to a stripper on my lap and she had said that I was so funny even though I was just having a normal conversation and not trying to be funny at all. At this moment it occurred to me she was lying to hopefully get me to buy some private time. It was a stunning epiphany for me but to no one else probably.
Saturday – I got home around 4AM fully knowing I had made plans for tennis at 9:30AM and let me say this when I woke up at around 8:30AM to get ready my head was hurting. I was hungover and considered cancelling but I value my friendships and my commitments to much and decided I would tough it out no matter how bad I was feeling. The day was actually the nicest one of the weekend so I’m really glad I made that decision to go thru with it. Me and my friend played 2 sets and it took about 2 hours. And by the end of it I felt much better. We even went to McDonald’s after. Free double cheeseburger on the app IYKYK. Was home by 1pm. Had another commitment to meet a friend at a Cuban restaurant he worked at. I had a nice meal and Cuban coffee to go. They also had live music and I did a little dancing as well. Really fun day.
Sunday – All I did today was make muffins and do laundry. Did also play rocket league with a friend for a bit. Sadly I didn’t really get any work done on the work project this weekend like I had planned so I’ll have to make the most of this week to hopefully get it done. At the very least I’ll have a nice muffin for breakfast every day this week. A muffin can be very filling. I Did want to link up with an old friend for cinco but neglected to reach out and that’s probably for the best. Do think our friendship has fizzled out and completely died. We hung out a lot when I first moved here and I would have called him my closest friend for a long time but now it seems we’ve drifted very far apart. No hard feelings though these things happen, part of life. Arriba todo hispanohablante, feliz cinco de mayo, y viva Mexico. A country I’ve been to twice and love very much.
Also want to mention something I’m proud of. At the start of the year I had seen this thing on Pinterest on tracking you habits and setting goals for yourself and I’ve been doing that consistently now for the whole year and I’m really happy with how it’s going.
I’ve strategically placed a ruler here to prevent sharing to much personal details but the shapes (x,0, squares, lines etc.) all represent a habit either good or bad that I’m trying to track. I have already made my May grid and am really liking this idea for myself to keep myself accountable and honest. I really also think this would be a great idea for an app for the uber organized high efficiency people of the world.
A great weekend for me no doubt. Got to hang out with friends catch up on some house work and do something active. Only thing I can say that I’m a bit upset with is the lack of work I put into my very important work project with its deadline creeping up. I’ll have to hunker down this week and spend my post work hours attacking this project. Thankfully I have already done some mock-ups and doubt it’ll take much longer than 2 hours of work to finish, so it’s not impossible to complete in even one day post work.
Lastly, I know I said I was not going to be posting weekend updates anymore but the content is easy and they get views. And I haven’t gotten bored of writing them. Do want to get a Kendrick Drake feud analysis posted this week so stay tuned for that, maybe Drake drops a response who knows? Happy May to you all and hope you have made the most of your April. It was a great weekend for me but I’m ready and excited to tackle Monday with the same joy and excitement, this cat does not hate Mondays. Stay blessed.
Weekend recap
So this weekend I did get to have a more chill time. Barely went out at all. Did go for a hike with a friend and it was actually a good time we didn’t go far because it was snowing but it was a good one for-sure. I did watch the movie poor things with Emma stone and wow. Excuse me for the frame I snapped but there’s a fair amount of nudity in the film as a portion of it is set in a whore house. Anyway I liked the movie and it’s fantastical way of viewing the world. Also the character Bella Baxter is an interesting one, not just her origin story but the person she is. I no doubt would fall into the trap Duncan had, that is falling madly in love with Bella. However I don’t think I’d gone as far as he did, interrupting and ruining her marriage to reunite her with her ex husband who is a war general and awful to be with, which she quickly learns.
No spoilers but the movie is solid and about being a freak in a polite society, and conforming or letting the freak flag fly.
Also for my drawing for my work comic I was undecided on weather or not to use the laurel wreath or the classic Greek ribbon for the border of the temple. Truth be told I’m still unsure but will likely do the Greek ribbon even though I feel the laurel wreath will be easier. I may still find away to include it as I think it is symbolic of the Olympics.
Lastly I think I want to stop doing weekend recaps and put more interesting content up here. Maybe poems, and other writing but that will probably slow down my posting schedule. I am constantly seeking more time in the day and also squandering every moment and opportunity I have to do something and instead choose to do nothing. there’s a peace and calm in doing nothing but at the end of your day you look back and realize you completely wasted it and for me at least it’s an upsetting reality. I struggle to get my self in motion so much and want to be better about doing things that will help me improve or find joy.
Nothing planned for next weekend but even if there was plans I’ll try to not post here so much with weekend stuff and bring more exciting and engaging content going forward.
Ciao
We need more positivity like this in the world.
It’s kinda sad that the only time I’ve heard someone tell me this all day today was from a flower pot.
It wasn’t that long ago I got this handwritten message on a mobile order I made at CFA for breakfast. Was absolutely blown away.
Weekend recap
Another busy weekend.
I went out Friday in Boulder despite the snow storm. Didn’t stop me from going out and having a good time. I went out with a work friend and it was a good time. But I don’t think I’ll do it again. I like boulder but the nightlife there is lacking IMO.
Saturday I went to the free 420 concert at civic center park and saw Gucci mane perform. Won’t complain to much about a free show but I was hoping for a bit more Gucci time he only played for 40 minutes.
Sunday I went to closing day in Vail. I was a bit excited about this as I’ve heard about the wildness that goes on on closing day, but never experienced it before. Of course this time a common refrain was “it’s calmer this year compared to years past” I will say the atmosphere today was more fun than a typical ski day in the season but it certainly was not the party I was expecting. And boy were the conditions kinda bad. Despite that I hit an all time high for speed. 42.3 mph 🏎️. I’d been chasing 40+ mph all season. Who would’ve thought that I’d reach it on closing day. A day that was supposed to be more about partying and less about vertical feet. I am proud to have reached this speed goal of mines. And will hopefully be topping it next season.
All in all this was a good weekend and believe it or not a introspective one. I wondered if I judge people to much. At the 420 festival this girl comes up to me and starts chatting me up, I learned she was a recovering heroin addict. This made me want to stop talking to her all together and soon after this revelation we did stop taking but should I have been this way? If I’m too take her at her word she’s making better choices now and I should be supporting that not judging her on her past. Another introspection I had this weekend is if I’m a force of good or evil. This one I won’t get into it too much but I really wondered if I’m the totality of my life a good or bad force on the world. I’d like to say I’m a force for good but it’s tough to know for-sure.
Another weekend in the books I am happy about going to closing day and reaching and even beating my speed goal as I almost didn’t go at all. It’s a bit bitter sweet I won’t be able to enjoy the slopes for a few long months but in the meantime I fully intend to take advantage of the warming up and do some hiking this summer to keep in shape. Im not sure why but I’m loving my denver life lately, something I never said or felt before. But hey that was my weekend not sure what next weekend will look like but I wouldn’t mind a more lowkey chill on as it’s been a long time since I’ve had one of those.
A late weekend recap
Gallery at the end
So I went to Coachella last weekend and wow. We camped with a bunch of new and old friends. I’ll say this I think Coachella is a really nice music festival, I had a great time even with what I’d consider a not great lineup. I was not ready for how pretty the surrounding area was. I was really on my worst on the first day we got there, taking a lot of rest and barely eating. Surprised I woke up feeling the way I did the next day. Friday was fine but we missed Lana del Rey to regroup at camp which sucked. Also missed justice for I forgot who. Saturday was by far my favorite day but again we wasted an hour doing nothing just missing T-Pain. He really should’ve got a bigger stage but man I bet the energy in the crowd was crazy. Sublime and no doubt we’re the highlights of that day. Sunday was a bit of a blur but I did enjoy myself all three days. Before going I had considered Coachella to be a premium music festival after going I can certainly agree with that. Plus I like that they give you the option to camp which I thought was great. We had some great memories and meet some cool people. I really love California I always have such a nice time when I visit and this was no exception. Hopefully I’ll be able to come back next year and do it again.
One thing I really liked is that it seemed all headliners brought out someone who is also a huge name. So many guest cameos
Also here is what would’ve been my ideal lineup, didn’t see everyone but saw a lot.
Exploring Life's Canvas: Juan Socarraz's Musings and Adventures 