Site Moved

I have officially moved Chaotic Theory to ChaoticTheory.net, you will find all updates and new media there, thank you to all the loyal followers who have stuck with me the past year while I made way to this official site.

New Highlight Video

For those that don't know Chaotic Theory, isn't just a lifestyle it's also a Brand and so as part of me telling my story I use my talents in music, photography and video to help others tell theirs.

So with this one I have been helping my lil bro get his "portfolio" together to get signed, hopefully one day in the NBA but you gotta start somewhere right. So what better way to expand what Chaotic Theory is other than to introduce my little brother to the world.

So check out the video and don't forget to leave a comment.

Be You, Be Uniq,

~UniqDnA

I'm Back!!

So i've been away from you guys for a little bit. Quick synopsis, in January my church family and I participated in a 21 Day Fast for all the obvious reasons of fasting as well as some of our own personal reasons and also to grow together as a community, it was life changing for me this is the first time since receiving salvation in 2005 that i've attempted and accomplished such a task, i once fasted 7 days but that was about the limit to the amount of days I could or desired to attempt to fast.  It was a challenge but I did it and wouldn't mind doing it again, anyway as part of that fast we were asked to try to abstain from the excessive time on the internet and for me that meant not much blogging or surfing.

And so ending my fast in early February, I was faced with another decision to make, "What do I do now?" Seriously, sometimes people think after doing a big fast that the sky will open up and God will just yell down what to do next, I don't doubt that could happen but there are other times when things just seem for lack of a better word 'Blah' no flashes of lightning, no sky cracking, no loud booming voice, not even a rainbow! It reminds me of Elijah when he ran from Jezebel and God told him go up on the mountain and wait for him to pass and all these amazing acts of nature and power happened and every time Elijah would run out and look for the Lord and every time God wasn't there and then a wind like a whisper came and in that "still small voice" the Lord spoke to Elijah.  So, for a bit I stalled, I couldn't figure out what next and then suddenly the explosion happened I was so busy I didn't know what to do.

And so here I am finally back with tons of new content and ideas for you guys and I can't wait to share, and so you guys will be hearing from me very soon.

Until then,  Stay Uniq, Stay You,
~UniqDnA

The known unknown

"Depression is being sad when everything is going right."- Kevin Breel 

I watched an amazing video the other day, apparently it has been viral for quite a bit of time now, anyway it was a TED talk done by Kevin Breel, much has been written about Kevin already since his rocket to the spotlight after this particular TED talk.  The core of the TED talk which runs about 12 minutes, Kevin explains what it's like to suffer from depression, especially at such a young age, he is 19.  I've watched probably hundreds possibly thousands of TED talks throughout the past few years and have never written or raved about them other then to my small circle of friends or relatives, not to say that none of them weren't enlightening, they were all great in teaching me some new concept or profound idea, or just great at expounding upon some already complex thought I had; so what makes this talk different? Well, as many who know me personally may know I am Bipolar II, I have been probably for most, if not all of my life, however I was officially diagnosed at age 22, before that I spent years of what was diagnosed as severe depression and borderline personality disorder, all pretty technical names to say what Kevin said in the quote above, I was sad when everything was going right.  HOW PROFOUND! I spent years of my life trying to explain to friends, family, girlfriends, and my now wife what being clinically depressed feels like.  It has been even harder for me as mental illness is not so widely accepted in the church, many people look down on you as if you are "crazy, or possessed", it is difficult to live with any mental illness in the world but to carry that same stigma into the church as well, a place where the broken go to be healed and the weak go for strength makes it increasingly difficult to be strong and bold about your struggles.  I won't go on too long about the video, I would rather you all enjoy it for yourself, but I wanted to say how amazing this video has been in not only shining a spotlight on mental illness, but helping so many people to understand what people like us with mental illness lives are like.  I ask that you all watch the video after the break, and help to "Stop the Stigma", of mental illness and help raise awareness.  

Also feel free to leave a comment I would love to start a dialog about mental illness, in the world and in the church, and how to help those who are suffering.

This sounds cliche' but if you are struggling with mental illness, depression or suicide, please don't hesitate to reach out. 

Need help? In the U.S., call 1-800-273-8255 National Suicide Prevention Lifeline

How to get help for Depression and mental illness

New Year's Resoultion

This will be a short post, I came across a list of 10 ideas of new year's resolutions for Photographers on the Popphoto.com website and so i wanted to pass this information on to all of you in hopes that you might try some of these as well.

10 New Year's Resolutions to Improve Your Photography

~UniqDnA

New Slaves

A warning to the sensitive, due to the nature of the song and lyrics there may be explicit or offensive language throughout this post, reader/viewer discretion advised.

I came across a fan made video, for Kanye’s New Slaves and immediately so many thoughts popped into my head, I haven't been much of a Kanye fan as of late, especially with most of his comments and crying to the media lately I've been pretty put off by him overall.  With that being said there were only about 4 songs on the album, "Yeezus" (the title in itself is a blog for another day),  that I actually can say I can tolerate, one being "new slaves".  The concept of the song is redundant if you are a follower of Christian Rappers, such as Lecrae or Trip Lee, but at the same time profound in a world where secular rappers still find pride, power, validation, and joy in material things.  Even if you have heard songs like "heart problem" by Trip Lee, or "Cash or Christ" by 116 Clique, the way Kanye blatantly puts the "new slave" mentality out there seems different, possibly because he is not under the same limitations and constraints or the "rules" for Christian hip-hop, he is free to speak his mind, and he does.  

Kanye lays it all out in the first verse. Particularly, what stood out to me was the line "all you blacks want all the same things".  That line is first prefaced by a brief history pre-civil rights, of the clean water and luxuries reserved for the fairer skin, (read white), followed by what he calls new era racism which is still based on color but now based on two different categories, broke and rich.  While I don't know if there is a certain racism in high end product stores, I have experienced when sales representatives in high end  product stores treat you as if you can't afford anything in the store, I have also been on the other side of the spectrum when these places push you to buy more.  In some ways I can identify with Kanye's ideas of what he calls "broke, rich n*gga racism, although I would better classify the entire thought as classism and I don't think it's generally based in race although some will look at minorities and automatically assume they are lower class, I don’t think with so many minorities rising in economic classes I don’t think this is a universally held perspective, but I could be wrong. Either way, I resonated with those lines as the images of slaves picking cotton and “for colored only” signs and store fronts flashed across the screen, while evaluating my own wants and desires of fashion and the "American Dream" I started to think is it true do all minorities really want the same things, do we all want expensive cars, flashy jewelry, and clothes most of us could never really afford.  

Though that may be true for some I wonder what Kanye is doing to destroy this mentality, after all he was the one selling $150 plain white tees or as he named them hip-hop tees which are clearly marketed for the hip-hop community which is largely supported by minorities.  His sneakers, the Nike AIR Yeezy 1&II all sold for prices that rival Jordan brand, and while Kanye says he doesn’t set the prices the manufactures do.  I like to think he has some say so in the distribution and sale of items with his name stamped on the label.  Let’s not forget his latest rants on the sway in the morning show and Power 105.1 Breakfast club of how he is basically being blacklisted and in his words “put into a box” in the fashion industry.  

So I ask myself how could a man who creates a song like New Slaves turn around and fight to put more people into material enslavement.  That isn’t really a question I can answer since I don’t know Kanye personally, I couldn’t even imagine what goes through his head.  The song however, has given us something to think about, something to talk about, it is an eye opener to the minority community and the U.S. as a whole about the dangers of consumerism, while other countries fight for religious freedom, wars for or against terrorism, poverty, disease, America fights for Jordan Retros and iPads.  

Kanye also touches on that a bit in the second verse of the song saying “the DEA teamed up with the CCA, they try lock n*ggas up they tryna make new slaves” and that brings on a different thought, with the exposure of the PRISM project and all conspiracies surrounding the government moving us smack dab in the middle of George Orwell's "1984", it makes you wonder if we really are becoming New Slaves, not just minorities but all Americans.  America is moving into an age of Consumerism never before seen in history, even the American government itself is falling ill to astronomical debt.  No matter your feelings on Kanye West or his self centered ways of entitlement you have to admit, he could be onto something with this New Slaves idea, and so I ask everyone what do you think are your eyes open to the dangers of consumerism, has Kanye's song made brought you enlightenment, let’s talk about this.  There’s a saying light up the darkness and expose what’s right in front of you.  Despite the bad language and somewhat offensive lyrics, Kanye is doing one thing right, he’s lighting up the darkness, Check out the video after the Jump and leave a comment on your thoughts of the video, or the song, as a whole. 

Lyrics posted for context and understanding.

"New Slaves"

[Verse 1:]

My momma was raised in an era when,

Clean water was only served to the fairer skin

Doing clothes you would have thought I had help

But they wasn't satisfied unless I picked the cotton myself.

You see it's broke nigga racism

That's that "Don't touch anything in the store"

And there's rich nigga racism

That's that "Come here, please buy more"

What you want a Bentley, fur coat and diamond chain?

All you blacks want all the same things

Used to only be niggas now everybody play me

Spending everything on Alexander Wang

New Slaves

[Hook:]

2X

[Verse 2:]

I throw these Maybach keys

I wear my heart on the sleeve

I know that we the new slaves

I see the blood on the leaves

I see the blood on the leaves

I see the blood on the leaves

I know that we the new slaves

I see the blood on the leaves

They throwing hate at me

Want me to stay at ease

Fuck you and your corporation

Y'all niggas can't control me

I know that we the new slaves

I know that we the new slaves

I'm about to wild the fuck out

I'm going Bobby Boucher

I know that pussy ain't free

You niggas pussy, ain't me

Y'all throwing contracts at me

You know that niggas can't read

Throw on some Maybach keys

Fuck it, c'est la vie

I know that we the new slaves

Y'all niggas can't fuck with me

Y'all niggas can't fuck with Ye

Y'all niggas can't fuck with Ye

I'll move my family out the country

So you can't see where I stay

So go and grab the reporters

So I can smash their recorders

See they'll confuse us with some bullshit like the New World Order

Meanwhile the DEA

Teamed up with the CCA

They tryna lock niggas up

They tryna make new slaves

See that's that private owned prison

Get your piece today

They Probably all in the Hamptons

Braggin' 'bout their maid

Fuck you and your Hampton house

I'll fuck your Hampton spouse

Came on her Hampton blouse

And in her Hampton mouth

Y'all 'bout to turn shit up

I'm 'bout to tear shit down

I'm 'bout to air shit out

Now what the fuck they gon' say now?

lyrics provided by atozlyrics.com

A photo a day

"The best camera is the one you have with you" - Chase Jarvis

Chase Jarvis is a pretty awesome pro photographer, don't believe me check out this video.

See what I mean?!?! He does some awesome and amazing stuff all in the name of photography, even if you aren't into photography I recommend subscribing to his YouTube Channel, it's very entertaining.

Now onto business, I picked that quote from Chase Jarvis for a reason, for a long time I've been interested in photography but I always wanted a DSLR, or better stated I always thought I needed one to be a great photographer. It's true DSLRs give you an edge in creating great photos, even the most basic of DSLRs allow you most if not full control of how your photos are composed, white balance, shutter speed, aperture width and so on, however DSLRs aren't always the best to take pictures, after all they are big, sometimes heavy, and cumbersome. All those lenses to carry around plus a tripod, maybe a few flashes or speed lights.  Imagine lugging around all this equipment to your next Thanksgiving dinner with the family, or on a trip to the amusement park, it's pretty laughable just thinking about it. With the rise of Smartphones and subsequently the development of better phone cameras, Mr. Jarvis' statement is becoming more true each day, you can get so much from just even your simplest of smartphones and with a device like the LG G2 or HTC One or in my case the Samsung Galaxy line you are armed with a camera that is on par with the average persons $300 Sony Cybershot or some other point and shoot.  Throw in the ability to add on apps and filters with apps such as, VSCO cam, Instagram, Pixelr, and many more you are shooting at the level of a DSLR with a SMARTPHONE! So, in my quest to become a better photographer I am embarking on the year long photo a day challenge, I plan to post my pictures in a photo blog, with some of the better ones being posted here as well, at the moment I'm torn between two photoblogging sites 365project.org or Flickr, they both have their advantages. Flickr being established for a very long time has longevity and therefore a multitude of users which will be a great help for crowd sourcing ideas and also getting helpful critiques.  365 on the other hand has an awesome way of sorting your pictures into a well built calendar they've also got a nice commenting section and a fair amount of users as well.  Thinking about it I may just use both services and reap the benefits of each while learning from the flaws of both, it can't hurt and the only thing I will be losing is a few extra minutes uploading to both sites.  And so my journey begins I figure what better time than now to start with the new year approaching it's a perfect time.

In keeping with the theme of this post, I will be using every camera that I own whenever possible, however I will try to focus on my DSLR as much as possible since I intend to use this project to make me better at photography.  I also want to use this project to get me taking pictures and just keeping a camera with me at all times, shouldn't be too hard with smartphones on hand these days.

And so armed with these guys, I'm on my way to picture heaven.  Anyone want to join me, leave a comment, it would be fun to do this with others and talk about our experiences along the way.