The next decade....what's in store?
Musings of a yamfooted traveller still trying to shake off those last 20 pounds as she treks across the Caribbean
Our first outright loss in the Carib Beer Series. That in itself might cause some people to say 'well done', but you always have to look at the loss under a microscope.
The Tamar Lambert supporters will say it's because they changed him from captaining. I don't know how it works on the cricket field, but I know that when I was assistant to anybody and I saw them going wrong, I would always tell them my thoughts, in a nice way of course so they didn't feel I was criticizing them.
I say that to say that if Tamar saw Wavell making a fielding change or bowling change and he felt that wasn't the correct thing to do, wouldn't he go to Wavell and voice his opinion? Wavell doesn't strike me as the dictatorial type.
The second thing is the batsmen. For my money, I would have carried Danza Hyatt. Not because Brenton Parchment made a century in the match against Guyana he should have been chosen when Chris Gayle had to pull out. Danza had more half centuries than Brenton. What would you rather? One score of 100 or two scores of 50? I'd take the latter. In the away games Brenton hasn't lasted long in any of his innings.
Then there is the issue of Xavier Marshall. Many, including myself, felt he should have stayed in the region instead of sitting on the sidelines in Australia with the West Indies. Since returning, he has scored I think it's one half century. Not anything significant for a fellow who is accustomed to really dominating. Had he stayed, he would have played himself in by now, and it is not difficult to assume that he would be in the top 5 of runs scorers.
We didn't get enough of a first innings lead. I was thinking today that the WICB should give bonus points, plenty bonus points, to the team who leads their opponent on first innings by at least 100 runs. This 30-odd lead is not sufficient. It is a psychological advantage if you can lead your opponent by more than 100 runs.
The bowling seemed to be very ordinary. Are the guys tired? The fast bowlers have been rotated. Nikita Miller the left arm orthodox spinner has not. He normally takes 5 or so wickets at least in a match. This match he took 2.
But well played to Trinidad and Tobago. After what happened to them in the first match against Jamaica (playing three men short when Shazam Babwah's father died and he had to return home, Sherwin Ganga got hit on the cheek and retired hurt, and Imran Jan had back spasms and couldn't bat in the second innings). Congrats to Lendl Simmons as well. It's nice to see the youngsters applying themselves.
If you were in the UK, the translation for that title would be "drunk as hell", but it's the Jamaican version I mean.
Read a letter to the editor in the Gleaner today. A man talking about the 60 years old retirement age limit making good teachers leave the classroom. Lemme see if I can find it and link it.....
See it here. Him sound bitter, nuh true?
But there is another thought that comes to mind from reading this letter....
Why does he still need to work at age 60? Is it because he wants to, or NEEDS to? In the case of the latter, that's a lesson for me.
I have been very bad at saving and planning for retirement, partially because I don't think I am going to live very long, despite what that age expectancy test said the other day (in the 90's).
So when I see old people begging on the street, I tend to give them money, thinking to myself that that could well be me at that age. I gave an old man some money today to buy soup. I asked him what happened to his children. He said he only had one daughter and she run away long time. Said is the mother cause problems between them, and is a long story. Anyway he thanked me profusely and I hope is really soup he bought with it.
I tuned in for part of the show. There were some 'brothers' amongst the winners. (Watch Oprah tomorrow to see her gushing over them....that's for you Kami!)
Morgan Freeman for Actor in a Supporting Role and Jamie Foxx for Actor in a Leading Role.
Hilary Swank got Best Actress (same as Actress in a Leading Role) for Million Dollar Baby.
I must say that before the nominations came out, I hadn't heard of half of these movies!
Anyway, good for them. Hollywood has been accused of marginalizing negro actors. Sidney Poiter (a Caribbean son I might add) was the only negro man to win Best Actor, until Denzil did it a few years ago. Then the lovely Halle Berry was the first negro woman.
What does that say? It could actually say that not enough black people are taking up acting. But I guess for those in the industry, they will say that the negro people aren't recognized.
By the way, Beyonce sang most of the nominated songs. She have voice though! But my opera student friend Mr Endicon/BobAndy would be able to give her some tips about breathing. And I could give her some tips about French pronunciation. She sang a song in french and all I could recognize was 'de la nuit', which means 'of the night'.
Best Picture went to Million Dollar Baby, which means they got at least 3 wins (that I know of). Aviator got a few too. I think Cate Blanchett got Best Supporting Actress.
I find that Chris Rock was quite subdued, like he was on his toes about not offending anybody.
Before I go on, I have to say who Lendl Simmons is. He's a young cricketer from Trinidad & Tobago. He represented the West Indies at the youth world cup last year in Bangladesh where we were beaten finalists.
Anyway, after Trinidad played us here in Jamaica in Round 5, he asked me to use my computer to copy something on to a CD for him. No he didn't have a blank CD. I said I would arrange it, don't worry.
Dropped it off for him the day they were leaving. He had some money in his hands and asked how much he had for me. I said "don't worry about it, I didn't have to buy a blank CD because we had one at home. What you must do for me though, is score at least one century during this tournament". Yes, he said. I said "Make sure yuh know".
So today he obliged, not with one, but with two. He scored an even 200 ironically in their match against us now going on in Tobago (which we are going to have to try hard not to lose).
When he makes it into the West Indies team in another 4 years or so, I'll remind him about it.
Spotted him watching the show onstage. Went up to him and said "you're going to write about this aren't you", then launched into how long we had to wait etc.
Then I turned away, and turned back to him to say his was the only column in the Sunday Observer that I read. He says "oh, yes? why is that?" I told him that he breaks it up into several little subjects, and maybe I have one of them Attention Deficit diseases but I can't read too much long text, so when I see Desmond Allen's interviews I skip over them.
Today, in his column , he has a short piece entitled "In Jamaica, it's who know (of) you" (scroll down and you will see it) where he described an accident with two men on a motor bike, how the bike men argued with him that it was his fault, how when they realized it was him they said.....well actually, just read it for yourself.
We reached there at about 2:15pm. We left at nearly 4:30. Most of that time was spent in a line. The food line....
We arrived to find throngs of people streaming in and out of Club India on Lady Musgrave Road, opposite the Flea Market. The first step in the process was to join the ticket line. There we waited for a bit, because they had only one person taking money and dishing out tickets.
Then we hear the bad news......
"The curry mutton will be ready in two hours, the chicken in one hour" !!!!!!!!!!!! Ok, we really want this food lemme tell ya, so while all the other people were coming back for refunds "I'm sorry, I can't wait two hours....", that was NEVER on our minds.
Proceeded to the food station. There were ladies,.... 'injun', chinese, negro....rolling out the dough, flipping rotis, rolling out the dough, flipping rotis. Plain roti, dahl roti, aloo roti (potato-filled roti). We asked if we could get. She pointed to the food station next door. No problem.
In the sweltering heat, the line moved a centimetre per half hour. This was exacerbated by the people who decided they weren't to wait, and had skipped. We watched several pans with curry chicken come and finish, and we still hadn't moved much. Eventually we were there.
It took a lot of haggling and shouting at the ladies serving, but eventually we took home...
12 roti skins (1 with dahl, the rest plain)
7 portions of curry chicken (we didn't think it was adequate, but for J$100 each....why complain)
4 portions curry potato
2 portions aloo choka (potato with saltfish and a whole heapa seasonings)
The taste was great....just not enough. In true Yamfoot Family Fashion, we told the organizers how they might improve it for next time. Hope they listen, and as I told one gentleman, don't wait another year to have one!
That's what not being able to sleep does for you. Read from the bottom up remember.
They say you shouldn't criticize because you aren't perfect, but I give myself licence.
I am tired of reading the Trinidadian newspapers and seeing the spelling of one of the Trinidad players - Mr Ramdin. I have seen three spellings of it...
1. Denesh
2. Dinesh
3. Denish
No lie.
Since he is Trinidadian, and the newspaper is Trinidadian, can't the journalists just check with him one day and not just write what they feel?
Same thing with Samuel Badree, or is it Badrie? And is it Reyad or Rayad Emrit?
Come on fellows, don't guess. Just ask. I did that when Trinidad played here a few weeks ago, with Kyron Lynch (thought it was Keiron) and Emrit (It is Rayad, according to the Manager). Of course the best person to ask is the player's birth certificate! Well that's not a person, but you know what I mean.
Oh and lest it be said that I was being biased, I must add that there is a similar problem with the Jamaica Cricket Association's website. They have spelt Mr Findlay's name as Shaun instead of Shawn (I know it's wrong because I asked the young man myself) and Mr Robinson's name as Juwayne instead of Jowayne.
Check your bloody spelling!
(Of course, now everybody will be going through my articles with a fine tooth comb from now on! But if you see a mistak, please tell me.) *wink*
As I sat in the movie theatre tonight, this statement came to my mind....
The entertainment industry is ruining our world.
I think it's true. The younger generation, who causing much of the problems, have grown up in the era of Cable television, "bling-bling", BET and all the things that influences their mind.
But, you might argue, do the Rwandans have access to Cable television as much as we do this side of the world? (I'm assuming no) Don't they have unrest too?
They should only have Discovery, National Geographic, Classic Arts Showcase, Wisdom, and those kinds of channels. Bannish the Cartoon Networks, Nickolodeons and Disneys which are negatively influencing our children. Of course, you could just not subscribe to cable.
(In my house, that's house it would have been if I had had kids. In fact, when I first went to live in Grenada, I got all the channels. Then I reduced them because I only watched the networks and local television, and besides, I wasn't home much.)
Have you looked at some of those movies they make? Take I, Robot for example. Now how di hell are some robots supposed to come and take over the world? They want to give people ideas, just like they do in those bang-bang you're dead type movies. All that bloodshed. All that conflict.
However, are the movies, in most cases, merely mirroring life? Which comes first....the chicken or the egg?
I propose a total lockdown of the entertainment industry in the USA. It's not like that in the UK. Much more mild.
Went to see Hitch, the movie starring Will Smith, tonight. Hilarious. Drop down funny. It's a must see.
I just can't help thinking about him as the Fresh Prince from Bel Air, especially when he does this dance in the movie that was typical of Will in the Banks household in Beverly Hills.
But a very feel good movie. Unlike some others.
That's what Princess Anne's schedule looks like. I got tired just reading it.
The PR surrounding the visit was very low key. Does this mean that Jamaicans are not so much into the monarchy anymore? Was it a directive from the government to keep it low? From the monarchy?
**semi-serious post** I think
I've often wondered this on those nights, like tonight, when I have to get up to take a pill in the middle of the night. Tonight it's for back pain, so I've just taken a Voltaren. But the prescription says to take after a meal.
So is whole bread, peanut butter, and milk with a little horlicks a meal? I hope so.
I really have to check out this pain though. Must remember to make the appointment on Monday. Taking medicine makes you fat, unless you can take it on an empty stomach.
This time in Northside Plaza, where Mee Mee restaurant used to be. Just heard on the news that yesterday a 59 year old man was shot as he came out of the bank. The bank is where Mee Mee used to be. I heard that they had apparently trailed the man. One was at the entrance to the plaza and the other was by the bank. 'Bang....bang' and another life has been snuffed out.
This was the same plaza where Captain Horace Burrell's son Taj got gunned down in front of Pizza Hut. Taj apparently got involved with a woman and her former boyfriend didn't like it one bit.
So the killings continue.....over 200 so far for the year.
Oh, Northside Plaza is about 3/4 mile from Sovereign, scene of the hijacking the other day.
I stole the HTML thingy for one of them similies (or is it smileys) from Dr D's site. So lemme see if it works....
This time on the campus of the university of the west indies. First it was the rape of a student on one of the newer halls, the one near the bowl (AZ Preston), now the hold up of a guy on Irvine Hall.
You know that I used to frequent there when I was a student? As the article says, any stray animal or person can get into there. In my time them never have no gate. Now them have gate what don't wuk.
Anyway, I like how the writer included the fact that Mr Buchanan was escorting the female student to her room after a night of studying.......
But this is clearly not trivial stuff. What am I doing in Jamaica for so long man? I need to fly di coop. For it does feel like I in a prison.
Last week, I traded in my natural afro tresses (ok, that doesn't accurately describe my hair since it wasn't long) for texturized hair. So it more manageable and won't bend the comb teeth when I comb it. Just hope it won't dry out. First impressions are good.
** another trivial post **
Compared to other blogs, I blog about 'light' stuff. None of the politics/social commentary/serious bizniz that others blog about. Does that make me 'light' and 'fluffy'?
Well here is more light and fluffy stuff....
I started to lick mah chops when the thought of roti galore filled my mind after reading this in today's Gleaner. Actually I read it first in the Observer last Sunday so the date was firmly placed in my head. This article today just serves as a reminder.
My sister likes 'injun' food too, so she me and my mother are going. Come to think of it, my brother likes 'injun' food too so he'll probably come. And not to forget my niece, who is a 'mini-me'.
So light and fluffy rotis will be the order of the day on Sunday. Now how am I going to work out that and the gym class at 11am? If I go after, the curry might sell off init. Maybe no. Maybe everybody will be at church until late afternoon.
There you have it.....more trivial stuff from Yamfoot. Well with a name like that, you couldn't expect anything else I'm sure.
Here's a picture of me eating 'injun' food at a Hindu wedding in Trinidad that I attended with Princess P in 2003. If you go to the archives for I think it was October 2003 you will read about it.
There is a song for every situation isn't there? If you listen to the lyrics of songs, you can relate it to a personal situation I'm sure. Hopefully not Macka Diamond's song though....
Baby, yuh mean yuh really done arready....steam fish in yuh back done arready?
One that I can think of which is quite apt is by Diana King. Before she was a star, she used to sing every Sunday at the Pegasus Poolside Barbeque. Hear di lyrics.....
Why oh why oh why you tell me lies,
Yuh mussi tink seh mi wouldnt realize
I have two of her albums (I think she only has two). Sometimes I carry them to the gym to accompany my workout.
So listen real carefully to the lyrics of songs and see if it sounds like you.
I go here all the time....it could be me.
Thankfully this turned out ok, in terms of no loss of life.
Just heard that a doctor who is married to a former netball colleague of my mother, dropped down and died of a heart attack in his office today.
Seems it is the season for it. Well I guess people die everyday. It's just that I mightn't know all of them.
It's one year since my paternal grandmother passed away in Lucea after a short illness.
I hope since that time they have upgraded the facilities at the Noel Holmes hospital....but somehow I think not.
One year sure goes by rather quickly.
Continue to rest in peace Grandma.
Still feel a little wobbly. Tightness on the top of the head remains. Leg still hurting, but the breathing is back to normal and no palpitations today. I eventually fell asleep around 4:30am.
I've decided to take the day off today from the gym. Cho man....and I was planning to go to Socasize at Mas Camp tonight yuh nuh.
I wonder if it was the tea? I took to bed, a cup of Ginger Mint and Lemon tea. Sometimes dem herb nuh 'gree wid me yuh nuh. We shall see what tonight holds.
Well, my dears, I decided to take a break from work today (as if!!!) to clean out the drawer with papers and stuff.
Nuff things to dash weh....bank statements (do y'all keep yours?), credit card statements etc etc.
I took out a wad of things and something fell on the floor. I paid it no mind. Later I bent over to pick it up, and lo and behold, there were some Uncle Sams looking up at me! The count counted....one hundred, two hundred, three hundred.....over US$500 in that plastic money bag. Whopee, I'm rich (*not*).
But anyway, it was nice to find some dosh stashed away. Me must be like dem people weh hide dem money under di mattress. Only in a drawer. Look at that eeeeh?
So get to those cupboards and drawers that you've been meaning to clean out forever. You never know what you could find.
I'm up at this ridiculous hour, trying to decide which of those three I have. Why is it that 'bad feelings' usually tek yuh when everybody else is sleeping?
What are my symptoms? Well today at the gym, I had palpitations. But that's nothing strange. That's a regular once-a-month thing. (And then there is the question whether it's a palpitation or 'cardiac gallop'. I once went to a doctor and he asked me to describe the rhythm of my heart when it skipped the beat. Boy, was that difficult).
Later in the day I was feeling fine. Went into bed at about midnight, read a bit, then turned in. Snuggled up under the cover, then had one of those moments where you feel like having just jumped out of an airplane at 30,000 feet.....the kind of moment that makes you jump up in the bed and say "gosh" or "Jesus" as I have done in the past. (Tonight it was "gosh").
Then I felt like my body was suddenly unfolding, moving to a jelly-like state (no, it was not the cellulite!). Next came two visits to Le Twa-lay in quick succession, then shakes inside my body. Tightness in the top of the head is also present, and a pain in the back behind the heart.
Now all of these symptoms could be any one of those three init? Only a doctor can tell.
So, here's what I did.....
Got out my UWI Casuality card (Got it in September last year when I went to check out the chest pain....the ECG turned up negative), put it on the table, sat on the bed, took some inhaling breaths, then came to the internet docta to explain my symptoms. I was really heading into the parents' room to wake them up to ask them to take me to the hospital. But ah say lemme hold on a bit.
You read articles about PE however, and see that some patients pop off within 60 minutes. Of course, coupled with seeing symptoms in the article that mirror your own, your heart starts to beat that much faster, and you don't know if that's a symptom, or a symptom of seeing the symptom!
Anyway, I have my feet up while typing....oh, forgot to mention tingly legs....to see if that will help.
The sleeping family are oblivious to what's happening to me. After all, some have to work tomorrow. Oh, whenever I feel like this, I swallow an aspirin. So I have just had an 81mg one with a glass of milk.
Ok, enough of this. I'm sure it's nothing. Let me go and read something more pleasant....like cricket (but not about West Indies cricket). I'll letch know how the night turned out (if I am able!)
According to this quiz, my life expectancy is 93.4 years. Take the quiz and see what the figure gives you, based on the responses you give.
Note I say based on the responses you give, because the output is only as accurate as the accuracy of the input. I think I've been truthful. To the one about how many times I exercise, I put in 6 days a week, which is accurate. When they explain the responses, this is what they wrote for the response to that question....
"Holy Cow! You are being fantastic about your exercise"
(I thought that was priceless).
In response to if I have kids, they say that the study of the people who lived to be 100, showed that those who had their first child over the age of 40, lived longer than those who had them before. Is it that kids keep you younger? So that's licence for me to have my first at 44 init?
PS. Of course the quiz does not take into account life in Jamaica, and that tomorrow somebody may think I disrespected them and make this quiz null and void.
I was reading the Gleaner's 'Top of the Class' publication last Wednesday, featuring students who have excelled in school, whether in CXC exams, A Levels, Grade 9 etc.
Many of the students, if not the majority of high school students, were from Campion College. There were a few from Immaculate, from St Hugh's (my alma mater) from Wolmer's, from some rural schools, but NONE, not one, from St George's College!
Dr D and Mad Bull, what you have to say about that?????
(Ir)Regardless of all the accusations swirling around this dude, he has a gift for writing and singing music. Was just listening to his semi-gospel album. Seems like everything he touches sounds like silk. Am about to listen to some songs on Chocholate Factory. In between it's Alicia Keys (what a girl can sing, and not just sing but PERFORM, gosh she's talented) and Usher (what a dude can dance and smile....'im cute eeeeh? - short though).
*I've heard people say 'irregardless' to mean 'regardless'*
I wrote in a post called More Inspiration, that the reggae aerobics instructor had left, but alas, I was wrong. So I did his class today. I've gotten rusty in my bammer girl type moves, you know, the type I would need to do at my Birthday Bash a la Macka Diamond.
signed
Yamfoot
(bammer girl in disguise)
(ah hope mi lecturers doan read dis blog!)
Anyway, I think I was short changed big time by my UWI 'education'. Imagine, I could sleep through many-a-class, don't do no extra reading at library and still come out with upper second class honours. And I wasn't no brilliant student. I thought the 2nd and 3rd years were very high-school ish in terms of their depth. And the first year....I left that year having passed (just!) Accounting WITHOUT KNOWING WHAT A DEBIT AND CREDIT WAS, T-ACCOUNTS, OR HOW TO DO A PROFIT AND LOSS ACCOUNT!!
If that is not evidence of a poor education system, I don't know what is. The resources were inadequate (in Nassau where I did Hotel Management), forcing lecturers to use notes (out dated and old). It also wasn't practical enough in it's application I felt. They were teaching us to become managers in hotels, but I didn't feel confident enough to manage anybody when I left, and was happy when my first job offered me a job as a Management Trainee instead of the Asst F&B Manager I had applied for!
I just think UWI was, and still is, way behind its time. Imagine, in this day and age when all kinds of university is popping up, UWI does not offer a course which trains people how to teach adults. They only do education courses that teach you how to teach primary and secondary education.
I felt so strongly about the Accounts thing, that I used that as the subject of a short essay in my teaching course (and got a distinction for it). If you want to read that, see below. The language is not very verbose, so easy reading... and it's only 3 pages
If you've been reading this weblog dilligently since around June this year, you would have known that I decided to tell Virginia Tech "thanks but no thanks" for their PhD acceptance. I didn't feel they were going to be meeting my needs. It was for a PhD in Hopsitality Management.
I am happy that I decided not to go. I would have wasted money I know.
So recently I started the search again for the right programme, and by golly I think I've found it. It's in Human Resource Development or Workforce Education and Development or Human Resource Education. Any of those names. Same kind of course.
I've narrowed it down to.....
University of Minnesota - Rochester
Louisiana State University
Ohio State University
University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign
Penn State University
So I have to look at which has the most attractive courses for its coursework, who will give funding (very difficult for International students), where has the least snow (Minnesota wouldn't qualify! but they have nice courses), whose faculty has research interests that match mine (well since I haven't decided on mine yet.....).
That's another four years of school folks. I'll be 44 when I finish (I wouldn't enroll before Fall 2006 or Fall 2007) and can then look about getting pregnant as per my post on the subject.......NOT!!!).
So that seems to be the plan right about now. Between now and then though, I gotta earn some dough (legally) and take the dreaded GRE exam and do well on it so they will be forced to give me funding! More studying ...... cheups. I thought after the GMAT (go to January 2003 archives to read about that struggle!) that would have been it. Sure, if I had gone to a business school, but I'm now choosing to do differently.
Anyway, I feel better now knowing that I've found something I would really really be interested in doing.
and
I am an Oprah fan. Unashamedly. When was living in Grenada, I taped that every day (along with Days of our Lives and the local news). She introduced us to Dr Phil, to Cheryl Richardson, and now to Bob Greene, her personal trainer.
Last Monday, she had him on, explaining how he made her lose weight. Well he didn't make her...he just facilitated. As Oprah says, it's a decision you have to make, and she made the decision...
...not to eat after 7:30pm, to exercise regularly, and to not say "I just love Potato Chips" while munching down a whole bag.
So yes, I've made a few decisions. One is to exercise regularly, and I do extremely well with that. Just have to work on the portion control. As Miss P affirms, I eat the right things....just too much.
Now on the show on Monday, Oprah talked about the one exercise that has changed her body. I just knew what she was coming with.....
P-I-L-A-T-E-S!
Yes, Yes, Yes. I agree 100%.
The other day I was drying off in the bath. I turned towards the mirror and had to do a double take. Is that some sort of ab definition I'm seeing? Yup. (My appreciation for well defined abs heightened after seeing a cricketer from Nevis, with his shirt off. Man the man is well muscled. Oooh la la.)
So Pilates is what has done that, I'm telling you. You gotta try it. I am trying to convert everybody I know. The exercises forces you to focus inwards.
"Lengthen those legs Michelle, point the toes, stretch out, squeeze those glutes, long in the back, sit up on those sitting bones, keep the belly to spine Michelle"
That's what I hear in class. The first time I took a Pilates class, I didn't like it. I have neck problems and they acted up after that class, so I concentrated on Yoga. But then I decided.....there's that word 'decided'.....that I need to do ab work, to get me straightened up, better posture. Since I don't like the regular ab exercises, I decided to do this. Now I do Pilates at least 3 times per week.
Today in class, there was a new student. Slim girl. You should see her bawling out. Said she hadn't been to the gym in ages.
So do Pilates if you haven't tried it before. Oprah recommends it, and anything Oprah recommends, gotta be good.
I'm listening to Donnie McClurkin's CD entitled Live in London. As I started to play it, I was transported back to 292 Queens Road, Beeston, Nottingham, NG2 9JA, where I spent from September 2002 to May 2003. I used to play this CD many nights before I went to bed.
Ok....so you've never heard of Donnie McClurkin? He's a gospel artiste. The album was recommended to me by a friend, who listened to it when because it soothes (it does). She goes to church every Sunday; I do not, but we still appreciate the album equally I believe.
Cheryl Richardson, who wrote the book "Take time to enjoy your life" (saw her on Oprah), says that when you're feeling down, you should play music that you associate with the happy times in your life.
I wasn't sad during those times (except for winter), but I'm actually copying some CD's unto my library on the computer, that's why I'm playing this one.
If you can listen to Track 4 on the CD, "Who would've thought I'd know you this way"....just lovely. I'm singing out loud and the kids are telling me to shush.
So, I guess my question to you is what songs do you associate with what happy time? Or equally what sad time?
"this is it, this time I know it's the real thing, I can't explain what I'm feeling, I want you all, all in a daze, stunned and amazed, by your ____ ways"...that song just came into my head. I associate that with Brenda Brown, an ace netball player. We used to hang out on the netball courts as kids, because my mother played for Jamaica for many many years. Brenda was athleticism personified. Used to fly through the air to intercept balls.
Ok, enough rambling from me. Lemme go replay Track 4 while you think of something.
This was an early morning dream this morning. I have told you all that I dream very vividly.
Dreamt that I was downtown Kingston, in an empty building with a policeman. He was on duty, looking out, gun in hand. Next, he gives me one! A pistol. He had an automatic weapon. There ended up being no action, so we both left. I was not a police woman. Maybe I was doing a story! Anyway, have not a clue why I was there.
We were walking on the street now, some lane near Church Street, King Street, somewhere round there. A lady and a man were walking along side us on the other side and she recognized him as a cop. He told me to split, which I did.
But mi was lost! I saw a school, which I thought was St Aloyisus (dat spell wrong), which is next door to where I went to primary school (St George's) on Duke Street. Somebody said I could walk through the back gate and get to where I was going (which I had not a clue!).
Had to walk through a throng of people. I had the pistol in my back pocket (I had on jeans and a long shirt) and kept checking to make sure it was still there. When I reached the police headquarters (downtown), I realized that somebody had picked it. The policeman who had by then reached back, was NOT pleased. I went back outside to see if I could figure out at which point it had been picked. No luck. I go back to where the police officer was and by now he was in a meeting with some other officials, discussing the matter of the missing gun.
They were asking him why he gave a civilian a gun. He had no answer. I had no answer either. Heck, it was a dream. I don't need to find no answer.
(But isn't it strange the dreams that we have?)
Not me, but actually, after rummaging through some papers from when I was living in Grenada, it could very well have....
At a training session with my team one day in October 2000, each person had to fill out a 'Getting to Know You' form. I kept the one I filled out for myself. I'll share some of the questions and my responses.
Q. If you had your life to live over, and knew then what you know now, what is one thing you would do differently?
A. Done different subjects in 'O' Levels eg Food & Nutrition and Accounts.
Q. Finish the sentences:
The things/ situations I wish did not exist in the world are.....
A. Famine, abuse, hatred, war and quarelling
One surprising/interesting thingk you may not ever have known about me is.
A. I played a mad out-patient in a musical at age 19. Costume was a
cardboard box, neon orange plastic top and neon green plastic pants!
I would love to meet.....
A. Oprah and Tiger Woods because they are so good at what they do.
I spend my spare time....
A. Exercising, eating, reading, watching sports, listening to music
Q. Goals in life and time frame to achieve them
A. 1. To be well respected/known in the hospitality industry in the region
2. To gain a Masters degree in Hospitality Education or Organizational
Behaviour by 2003
3. To have a child (adoption not ruled out) by 2004.
???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
WHAT WAS I THINKING????? I didn't even have any sperm prospects in mind then!
So, since I haven't achieved that goal, at age 44 (that will be in 2010), I might just decide I want a child, and end up writing to a doc like this lady to say 'HELP'.
By the way, trying for 14 years, and trying often I would imagine, must be fun.
The Jamaica Observer has a Dear Dr section on a Monday in the All Woman magazine. This isn't medical though. It's to Dr Royes, who I guess is a psychologist or something like that....a head dacta!
In today's edition, she answers the question of a man who has been going out with his girlfriend for four years, and now they've decided to get married....
.....BUT......
He has had dreams about his former girlfriend who's in 'farin', and wonders if this is a sign. of course it is, silly.
Dr Royes gives him some sensible advise I think.
Read it here and tell me what you think.
By the way, is dem kinda marriages mi see break up nuff times, where you go out with si-maddy fi suh long, and den two twos it mash up.
I NEED A VALENTINE!!!!!!
This, as I was listening to the radio (MegaJamz 98.3) while washing up the dishes. Them was playing some boss music. Lou Rawls (Lady Love ..... that's what my Valentine would have been singing to me tomorrow!), Teddy P etc etc. Music of that era. Music that make you feel so good, even though you feel so rotten inside (as I was feeling at the point.....not because of a lack of valentine mind you).
Music is one of the best things about life. It can lift your mood or put you in one. Who needs d r u g s when you've got music?
WHO NEEDS A VALENTINE WHEN YOU'VE GOT MUSIC????
That's a Levi jeans style.
It's also the number of posts I've made with this one. That's from August 2003 to February 2005. One year and six months.
I'm listening to cricket. Jamaica is playing the Leeward Islands in St Maarten. Leewards has just declared their innings at 510 for 9. This is the sixth game and for the first five, Tamar Lambert was the captain. Under his captaincy they won all five.
Now Wavell Hinds, the West Indian player, has come back and has taken over the captaincy and they are facing this huge total. When you look at Jamaica's batting line up, we are very capable of pulling off that total.
But the question is surely being asked that if Tamar was still captain, would Leewards have got so many runs? I can't answer that. I understand that the ground is a batsman's paradise and is small, so many sixes and fours. We shall wait and see what our batsmen do.
Over in St Vincent, the Barbados team, after making I think it was 310, have bowled out the Windward Islands team for fifty something. Before this, Barbados couldn't win anything. Sherwin Campbell was the captain. The real captain Courtney Browne has come back, and immediately making his mark it would seem.
So is it the captaincy of a team that makes the difference in how the team performs? Donald Trump seems to think so. For the last several episodes of The Apprentice, he has fired the project manager of the team who has lead the projects, even if one of the team members had messed up.
Anyway, it's too soon to condemn Wavell. He lead his club team to the championship last year and was beaten finalist in the one day competition, so he has some sort of track record of leading. Let's give him time to see what he can come up with.
(Not in the Braeton 7 murder trial for the policemen....they were acquitted)
I'm still assessing the effectiveness of the Kashi cereal to move me. At J$346 per box, (US$1 = J$61 approx) it has to work really well. Maybe I should try another supermarket to see if they have another one apart from the Good Friends one I bought. That's only 12g of fibre per serving.
You remember my panic attack episode on the new highway right? Well I had to travel on that road again on Tuesday afternoon. But this time, I was not driving. Was in a left hand drive vehicle, in which I don't like being a front seat passenger because then I am on the right hand side and not in control of the vehicle cause the other person is driving.
Well I closed my eyes at points, but still had some breathing episodes. I have always noticed that when I am tired it's worse and I had (foolishly) stayed up to watch cricket Monday night (we lost).
On Saturday, I had to drive on it again, this time with a different driver. The speed limit (and then some!) was maintained on the highway (110km) but I felt ok.
Maybe it was because I was concentrating so hard on not emptying my bladder on the car seat! But anyway, I survived. The mind is a helluva thing. Self talk helps. (And talking helps too....it acts as a distraction)
I took these at Alpart in St Elizabeth.
Lovely weather all four days.
Click here and it's the first album. You can scroll through and look at others if you want. They are all cricket except one which is of Hurricane.
Every now and again, you see advertised the 'birthday bash' of a dancehall artiste.
The last one was of Macka Diamond, the artiste formerly known as Lady Mackerel. Macka sings "baby, you really done arready? the steam fish in your back done arready?" (If you dont understand that, well ask Mad Bull or one of those Jamaican men to explain what steam fish - and Mackenson Stout and all them things - supposed to do for you in the bedroom!).
I watched Entertainment Report tonight which had a report on Macka's Birthday Bash. Maaaaan, them outfits. More dressed than I could ever hope to be ever in life. Some classic outfits and some outrageous ones. But Macka looked quite sophisticated and her false hair was looking well coiffed too. She had a good make up job done as well.
I don't think I'll ever make it to one of them birthday bashes, but if ever I do, I will know the standard of dress that I would need to attain!
I need to live in the country. The city called Kingston is not the life for me. It's so much more peaceful here, so much more civilized. I pine for my Jamaica.
When I was younger, I either read or was told that if you're cold you should have something cold and if you're hot you should have something hot. So whenever I see somebody having hot tea because they are cold, I explain this theory.
The theory is actually that if you're freezing and you drink something hot, it will only raise your body temperature and make the differential between that temperature and the outside temperature wider and so you'll feel even colder.
I'm in Mandeville on the south coast of Jamaica. It's west of Kingston. West of Kingston is St Catherine, west of St Catherine is Clarendon and west of Clarendon is Manchester where Mandeville is the capital. Mandeville on a normal basis is cold (relatively speaking of course!).
Well, we've been feeling the effects of a cold front all over the island. Naturally, in Mandeville it is even colder. So last night I had some ice cream while I was freezing my butt off while watching TV. I didn't realize any difference, so then I went and had a cup of hot tea afterwards! A chance to test my theory but the results were inconclusive. I guess I have to repeat the experiment.