.Chandler didn’t understand, and at this point, as he put the key in the lock, he was pretty sure he didn’t want to. He shifted his bag of groceries out of one arm and into the other as he nudged open his apartment door. The place was quiet, unassuming at best, but that didn’t mean that Chandler didn’t know any better. Muttering under his breath about the invalidity of squatter’s rights, he mentally ticked off the numbers, dropping to a knee when he hit ‘one.’

True to his suspicions, there was a whoosh of air that came a little too close for comfort. It was followed by a thud into the wood of his front door, then a curse –a tiny curse of ‘kono yarou’ (which Chandler had learned after hearing it enough that it meant ‘You bastard’) – letting him know it was okay to stand.

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There is a certain energy that creators create. It’s pure synthesis. It works just like any other equation you’ve ever seen. Take one part (idea), add to one part (motivation), one part (talent) and one part (drive) and you have yourself the greatest formula known to creationism. The end result? A complete project.

Many of the ToySldrs readers are probably familiar with the quasi-relationship blog (although the creator will fight you for calling it that) slash common sense advice column, “When Keeping It Real Goes Right”.

Filled with the sort of homegrown “relatablity” that you don’t often see on blogs of this nature, the straight forwardness of Garfield’s advice usually strikes a cord (usually will strum a whole song if you read long enough) among the young urban readers who frequent his site. Blunt words mixed with smart advice that adds a fresh sharpness to the Gaussian blur washout of subjects that might have long grown stale on other sites.

This same “relatablity” is very evident in Garfield’s latest venture “The Soundtrack of My Life.” I was privy to rough draft version of his book, and saw the potential in the approach he took. Storytelling, however common, is always the greatest way to get word from person to person and the spin of telling your story through song is a surefire way to grab your audience’s attention. With “The Soundtrack of My Life”, this is done using Garfield’s greatest love, hip-hop, and after reading my attention was grabbed.

This work details the life of Garfield through several milestones in his life, First Loves, Friends and Family, School and more. Each chapter starts out with lyrics from a song (because like they say, there is a song for every situation) and the story is layered with lyrics throughout. I imagine a cipher of sorts. A cipher-sandwich. (Don’t ask, we’re talking about MY imagination here).

Here, while flipping through the very nicely designed artwork and well thought out words, we are able to relate; a pull and push sort of emotional culling that allows us to experience situations that we’ve all been through ourselves, through a set of new eyes. A unique spin and a fresh perspective. Me likey, a lot.

The e-book, written by Garfield Hylton and designed by Uprodigy Designs will be available soon. For all interviews, book reviews, questions, comments, concerns, please contact me at RealGoesRight@Gmail.Com or via Twitter at @RealGoesRight. To stay updated with my writing and see what else I’m working on, visit my site “When ‘Keeping It Real Goes’ Right” at www.RealGoesRight.Com

P.S: As a fellow IC’er, I think I found this highly amusing (by that I mean I laughed my ass off) when I saw this as part of the Thanks To:

To the IC. You guys are directly responsible for my vast music knowledge. Additionally, you do a great job of consistently humbling me via the internet. If this book gets slammed by everybody who reads it, I know you guys will be there to kick me while I’m down before you lift me up again.

I once asked, why watch something, read something, be apart of something, anything, if you aren’t planning to become emotionally attached to it. Why would you want to experience something that doesn’t draw you in or captivate you completely? You’re wasting your time if you are there just for the experience of saying you were there.

On that note, me personally, I live in a world of complete surrender when it comes to the things I experience. Whether it be a book I’ve read and a chapter has caused me to throw it across the room and scream at it, or a movie that I watch over and over and over again (Hello, Inception) to make sure I catch ever single thing that I was supposed to catch, to a manga where when a character dies, I have a personal crisis. This isn’t the first and this isn’t the last.

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