The Birth of "Dleesaa"

The Equation of how the "Dleesaa" persona came to be.

Shalamar Circa 1985

(yes, I know..she looks very alienesque, but i chose the name based on sound not how she looked...just sayin')

Hello my Readers!!! Hope all is well...i have had the same question asked over and over again: "How does a Mexican-Italian girl get a name like Delisa?"

So here I am about to explain how Marialuisa became Dleesaa.

Because my birthname is Marialuisa alot of teachers had a hard time trying to be PC and roll the r's, they decided to call me Maria...Yeah..imagine that! A Mexican-Italian girl with the name Maria...how original.

My freshman/sophmore year i went to a predominently caucasion school...okay okay..white school...where we actually had a surf club...side note..i was on the surf club..i was deteremined to be the next Gidget...just did not know how to hold the damn bored so i gave up...oops..sorry getting off the subject.

Going to that school with a name like Maria..didn't bother me..i was unique next to the Kelly's, Jane's, and Molly's...until sophmore year...when a lot of Asian girls had the name Maria and then people thought i was polynesian.

Junior year..i changed schools and attended a predominently Latin and Asian school...nice..im around my people....where the majority of them were named Maria...so i decided to revamp my self and go by the name my mom use to call me when she was pissed.

My family called my Lisa...short for the Luisa part, but when Mami was pissed at me...you'd hear her yell "Lisita!"

I graduated high school in 1987...yes...1-9-8-7!

A bad breakup and a flip of a coin; sent me to go to the Fashion Insistiute of Design and Merchandise.

While attending there, I majored in Merchadise Marketing. What I wanted more than anything was to own my own boutique.

The key to owning your own store and being successful...is a catchy name. My family of course was like, "Call it Lisita's"....uh if i want to sell childrens' clothes...maybe. However, that wasn't the route i wanted to go.

I wanted to sell fashionable items straight from the runways. I met a lot of potential designers; some that i could even vision being successful and with me by their side selling their line...just needed a name that CAUGHT!

On one particular weekend, I was out at a Summer Jam concert...the lineup was Zapp, Lisa Lisa, Full Force, LA Dream Team and Shalamar.

Though, I was enjoying the concert, I still had the boutique in the back of my mind and then it was time for Shalamar to perform. The MC introduced Howard Hewett, Jeffrey Daniel and then...Delisa Davis.

My eyes lit up when i heard her name because I just found the name of my boutique and my new self....just had to change the spelling.

P I plaued aropund wiothvarious version of spelling it: Delisa, D'Lisa, Dee Lisa...then I found what I was looking for...D' Lee-Saa....it was fun telling people how to spell it....D apostrophe, capital L...e...e..hyphin, capital S...a...a.....yes, it did it phonetically; and it CAUGHT!

People might not have remembered my name, but it sure as hell rang a loud ass bell when they did hear it and THAT'S exactly what I wanted.

Needless to say, I had to stop going to school to help my family and the boutique never made it. Through the years, the apostrophe and hyphin fell off on its travels and has remained...Dleesaa.

Funny how life works....imagine had the coin flipped the other way? ....Fashion Institute of Technology in NY is where i would have been.

I still would have wanted my boutique, but Shalamar rarely performed in NY, so seeing them, probably wouldnt have happened and Dleesaa would not be.

However, Fate wanted me to stay in Cali a lil longer and make sure that I'd be here to type this blog entry!

So, there it is...how I came to be...hope you all enjoyed it.

Always remember to be Inspiring and Be Inspired....Delisa Davis inspired me all those years ago and now look at me...a name that rings a bell that people WILL remember me.