Sweet sweet bacchanal

Carnival came and it was fun cyaan dun :-D. Started off with the usual suspects attending all the Mas Camp Friday night Fetes save one, then the Joker's Wild J'ouvert into road march, then the actual Carnival Road Parade.

In terms of ranking the Friday night fetes worked out overall as the best experience, with Road March second and J'ouvert taking bronze. Every week a group of us would fete at Mas Camp until after 2am and having a whale of a time. Occasionally we'd be joined by two or three other lymerz and just have even more fun, at times going to Island Grill for an early breakfast (or truth be told just to continue the lyme, on one occasion we even hung around looking at a car as the excuse to lyme :-D )

Road March was great pure and simple. Met up with my friends who were playing mas in the morning, then lymed with some other people roun the corner, then went back on the road and jumped for most of the route :-D Yes indeed Mummy Mel came prepared with her bag of goodies (chicken sandwiches galore and tropicana fruit drinks). Afterwards I met up with more friends on the road then planned an ice cream lyme (which went seriously over my estimated cut off time). Will do my best to play mas properly next year.

Joker's Jouvert fell down on a couple of counts but was still overall enjoyable

• Machel Montano whom I specifically went to see had performed almost exactly the same set at one of the Mas Camp fetes only a few weeks previously. But of course how often do I get to see Machel perform :-D My condolences to the poor foolish woman who thought she was prepared to dance with him on stage.
• I didn't have a Screaming Orgasm. This was a blend of various rum creams with condensed milk served with crushed ice that I had last year. The bar this year only had some rum cream liquore or Wray and Nephew rum cream, so my hopes were dashed. I'm a Sangster's and Bailey's girl.
• Silly kids started a silly fight

I definitely enjoyed myself this Carnival season , looking forward to an even better one next year.

Lymerz.com

I am officially a chronic lymer. Since last week I've been to the beach (twice :D, three if you count beach jouvert) , hosted lymes by my yard, lyming after a non-practice until 11:30, going to a parking lot/club woooo... The fun just doesn't stop. This week and the next promise to be more of the same with my favourite soca artiste performing at Joker's Wild Jouvert (di real big man, nuff said) and another beach lyme the following week.

I'm happy , can ya tell? :-D

Giving Praise

I hated getting up early in the mornings to go to morning devotions at school. In the way of all rote learning however those hymns have stuck with me more than the more complex tunes I've since learned.This short one goes back to my first prep school (I switched prep schools when I was in grade 5).

Thank you, for giving me this morning
Thank you, for giving me today
Thank you , for every new day dawning
I'll be thanking you (Ohohoh :-) )

Thank you, for all the birds and flowers
Thank you, for all the hills and trees
Thank you, for simply being with me
Lord above thank you.

Unfortunately I don't know the author of this piece. It was from a book of Caribbean School Hymns that I believe is used in many schools. A cute little orange book with some flowers on the cover.

The simplicity and beauty of hymns like these not only highlight the skills of our Caribbean writers, but illustrate the importance of the care that must be taken with institutionalized religious education. There is much more to say on this matter but I will put that in a separate post, suffice to say I am pro religious education in schools and group devotions.

Hidden Treasure

In my forays into poetry I've realized two things. First that I've always thought good poetry difficult to write and hence have stayed close to prose. Secondly, now that I've started writing I have this intense dislike of the pieces I've written. Almost as soon as I've posted I want to delete what I've written. Makes me laugh a bit though. If this act of creation or expression leaves such a bad aftertaste, I pray for any children I might have :D


Breathless laugh
Tingling skin
Sweet sweet kiss
Crazy madness
Again and again
No….no…n
Again….yes

Wait come back here
Impish heavenly delight
Laughter and kisses

Friendly touches increase in temperature,
Duration,
Pressure,
Rhythm
moving, like the same dance with the right beat
too sweet

Groaning
Vision not sensitive enough to chart feeling
Mercy! Is this me? YES

Sweet Lord how do you do this
so disgustingly easily,

Match me, reach me, tempt me
hidden treasure mine to unearth
Touch me, reach me, tempt me,
know me,
Hidden treasure half uncovered
Another day to discover
where friendship leads


M. Woodham

Inorganic

I remember how it started.
I haven't forgotten you.
at least i think so

Are you ok?
Yeah I'm cool.
wonder what you'll do

There's nothing you can change.
I can't give you hope.
you look really sad

When did we die?
Is there someone else?
how are you going to cope

I'll always have your back.
Will always care.
they say you never forget your first.

Rediscovering

It's nice to rediscover things about yourself that you hadn't remembered or had attributed to being side effects of other things. I'm rediscovering that I have restless feet. I like to move around and experiment with new ideas and things. I may run off sunlight :D but I have a definite affinity for crisp clear moonlit nights, preferably out in the open.

Being alone and quiet and hearing the world pass you by. Being alone and quiet and observing the beauty of nature, now that's even better.

Seeing the expressions on someone's face when they've found something that's nice and surprising.

Knowing you've still got "it" Whatever that's supposed to be :D

(8) Blame it on the Music (8)

I've been carrying on a torrid love affair ever since I was eleven. It's only gotten deeper since I've grown older. People often wonder why I stare off in space , and my friends say I'm obssessed but I don't care. My lover is more sensitive than a dream, tempestuous as a lightning storm , as simple as a child. With qualities like these why do you act surprised that we spend hours each day together? And stop faasing in my damn private life, it's not any of your business that I come home late almost every night.

You say it's unhealthy for a young girl like me to be so caught up but you're so wrong. I'm not promiscuous, I'm safe. You say you've seen my lover with other persons before, men and women?! To hell with them! They don't matter, never have never will. I am all that counts.

Just me. Me and my music.

Fun!

Feeling very cuddly and excited today. Going to Mas camp and then to Ring road March this evening. A good time will be had by all :-D

Tabanca

What to do , what to say? There are no words to erase the pain , no balms to soothe the spirit except time. We have plenty of that. As my aunt says "Go round, come round". If it was meant to be it will.

Have questions about my ability to retain focus and stay committed. Heh. According to Paul some of us are called to remain in one state. I don't plan on that happening though.


Let the fun and games begin.

Apathy

Apathy: the lack of emotion, motivation, or enthusiasm. Apathy is a psychological term for a state of indifference — where an individual is unresponsive or "indifferent" to aspects of emotional, social, or physical life. (www.wikipedia.org) .

I have it on good authority that apathy is more dangerous to a relationship than any STD (read KIDS) or interference from third party. Beware indeed.

Gone too soon

I miss you mummy. Love Meli.

Fitting in

At a friend's church another friend of mine commented that the way I dressed fit his sterotype of peopole who do not typically go to church. I was incidentally wearing a red sleeveless blouse and a full black skirt with black heels. Now considering that I saw other ladies dressed in similar fashion and I have worn the same outfit to my own church, I know this opinion is irrelevant :-p . It got me thinking however about the appropriate garments that should be worn on a first visit if one wants to fit in with the rest of the congregation.

Standard outfit for guys is a suit in sober colour with long sleeve shirt. Ladies, modest outfit with sleeves with minimum jewellery /makeup and avoid flambouyant colours /hairstyles.

For those who might be under more discerning eyes take note of the folllowing:

• A Bible is a definite MUST. Further the type and condition of the Bible are key indicators to your spiritual life. Examples, King James is standard Conservative, try to have some relevant passages highlighted. A Student Bible is good too, shows that you try to apply Biblical wisdom to daily life, or even better a red letter Bible to show you have a bit of money too and invest it in the right things. Make sure the Bible has that broken in look, but still presentable. Can't have anyone thinking that you've been using it to support that right back leg of the coffee table.
• Bring paper money for the collection and don't make change from the collection plate.
• When the praise and worship starts (or any section of singing actually) raise your hand and close your eyes then sway to the music. If you're really trying to create the impression that you and the big guy are good friends then don't sway, and say the words instead of singing.

There are other things that can be done but for a first visit this is pretty good. Now go out and fit in :D

UWI -Your place to find food

My beautiful campus is a very self contained spot. Two banks, Health Centre as well as Hospital, Hotel, Gym, Supermarket, Hair Salon, Post Office, and NUFF NUFF Food place. It's just as well that the gym is there since most of the places are fast food joints. The latest one is Juici Patties, which was preceeded by a Chinese Restaurant and KFC. I hear rumours that Burger King will also grace us with their presence.

Initially I wondered why on earth these places would want to come here. Didn't they realize that this was a campus with students, ie bruk pocket folk in debt too, and the staff members already were spoiled for choice with no less than 11 (eleven) food emporiums(not including the snack & juice vendors or the commissaries). Further more the campus is smack between two busy commercial areas, Papine and Liguanea, with a plethora of choice just from them alone.

Luckily I am not the CEO for these companies as I clearly have not the sense to realize how deprived these campus persons felt. To date while I have occasionally been the only customer entering KFC I have never remained the only one inside, the Chinese food place had me waiting when I checked it out, and let's not mention the lines outside of the restaurant in the case of Juici Patties.

For me the regular routine hasn't changed, I still go by Seacole commisary to get my patties and cinnamon crackers. So much for choice :D

Job wanted

I have begun actively seeking new employment. I sent in my first job application this week, which is funny considering that I've been working every summer since my first year at UWI and have been in my current position for two years, but such is life in JA. I really should have started looking for a new job from over the holidays but procrastinated waay too long. Hopefully something good will arise that won't have me moving outside of Kingston or missing out on Festival in August. Pray for me folks.

On being a mother

I went with a co-worker of mine this morning as she carried her young daughter to the day care centre. We got out of the car alright, she(the baby) looked like she wanted to cry or it could have been that her mother had taken her finger out of her mouth. In any case we went into the day care and some of her (the baby's) friends were calling to her to come and play. Everything goes smoothly until we turn to leave. Who comes strolling out with us but baby. Then the bawling starts when the grill closes. What a heart wrenching sound. It must be hard to overcome the first day of separation . It wasn't my child and I still felt bad walking away. My coworker says normally she would just run off and go play.

I assume one gets used to it. You'd have to. But Lord. Makes you consider the benefits of homeschooling.

Celebrate a year in the life of friends

Just watched Rent last night. Been dying to see the musical and still am,. The movie really tried to capture the feel of the show and did an admirable job. Had me crying a bit in the middle, but I did the same from just listening to the musical score which I've had for the last 3 years. Thanks to my companion for the evening who didn't mind me singing along during the movie :-). Umm, this movie I should mention deals with AIDS and relationships, some of which are non heterosexual. Not recommended for the typical Jamaican male :-)

Sleeper

Stayed awake to watch you sleep.
Soft breaths,
Angel in vision of repose still

Demon of thoughts.
Return my peace.
The naive simplicity
Of Innocence,

Underappreciated quality
Of youth. There was none
More willing

Than I (I thought). No
Hesitation to call
Back the slide to misery.

The misery of company.

Does she ache as I
Do at your side? I
Hope.

I. Word and letter in one.
Paired with you (I
Thought).

Other pairings out of
Thought, and mind
And stolen time.

Sleep comes now
Curled at your back.
My breath warms

The distance between
Us. (You and I again)
Softly, softly
I sleep.


M. Woodham. 2006.

Cooking with cinnamon

Yippeee :) I had cinnamon and nutmeg pancakes with honey for breakfast this morning. I am a cinnamon junkie. It's such a cool spice. A hint of it will enhance the flavour of other foods or spices, a touch has a sweetish taste and a lot tastes like hot pepper.

Query

Just a question today. Why are there so many more attractive females than males?

When I say I'm a Christian

This is the poem that I had mentioned on my friend's blog.

I AM A CHRISTIAN By Maya Angelou>>When I say... "I am a Christian" I'm not shouting "I'm clean livin.">I'm whispering "I was lost," Now I'm found and forgiven.>>When I say..."I am a Christian" I don't speak of this with pride. I'm>confessing that I stumble and need CHRIST to be my guide.>>When I say... "I am a Christian" I'm not trying to be strong. I'm>professing that I'm weak and need HIS strength to carry on.>>When I say... "I am a Christian" I'm not bragging of success. I'm>admitting I have failed and need God to clean my mess.>>When I say... "I am a Christian" I'm not claiming to be perfect, My>flaws are far too visible but, God believes I am worth it.>>When I say... "I am a Christian" I still feel the sting of pain, I>have my share of heartaches, So I call upon His name.>>When I say... "I am a Christian" I'm not holier than thou, I was a>simple sinner who received God's good grace, somehow.>>Author ~Maya Angelou~