The Hill - I hadn't run the hill in awhile. I ran it tonight and I honestly didn't realise that I'd missed it so much. My baby is going to be an adrenaline baby it seems, although I'm not sure that's a good thing. Now many people might say that I have no business running the hill nowadays given my 'delicate condition', but my Dad did say I could do everything I used to do, but in moderation. So I didn't even run the hill at the 85% I usually do, I ran it at 80%.
I missed the rush though, missed it.
The build up heading down to the easy drift right turn by the Texaco station at the foot of Jacks Hill, and then the climb (they've even fixed some of the potholes!). Then the double corner that starts with a 3rd gear right and then a switchback widening 2nd gear left marking the beginning of the no-streetlights-straight-touge part of the hill.
(I think I could do this in my sleep now.)
The first left that's a fake 90degree turn, then the full left 90degree turn that I missed my first night on the hill. Then the soft right, then the dip that you have to take sideways to shield your front bumper and muffler... then the turns into and out of the lookout point (I actually slowed down and looked out across Kingston tonight). Up ahead, the 'road narrows' sign which means that there's only a foot-high dividing wall up ahead and a 60degree or so right turn that immediately switches back into a sweeping left (not too much drift action else you'll point the nose at that foot-high divider), straight, over rise into slight left, then slight right (or else it's someone's yard and driveway).
Then flat because the gradient changes and it's downhill time. I have my braking points set, on the first left hairpin it's an almond tree and a stonepost at someone's driveway. Third, then second... check for headlights and drift. Flat, slight left, straight, slight left (they haven't fixed the road here) and then it's down into the really 'hairy'pin... somehow tonight I finally managed to grasp what Basil meant when he explained why you trundle brake in a RWD car... beautiful, spin the back tyres, but I didn't have the balls to slide her all the way around... maybe next year...
NYE
New Year's Eve at midnight will find me in my bed - Either that, or watching episodes of Avatar: The Last Airbender. Compared to last year this NYE is horrible, at least I had been with J some of this Chritmas day, but tonight, we couldn't be further apart. My biggest wish right now is that 2006 brings new beginnings filled with trust, hope, forgiveness, patience, understanding, love, friendship and true commitment. That's all I ask Lord, please.
I hope everyone has a Happy New Year.
I hope everyone has a Happy New Year.
True words...
"u surround yourself with people who will validate how u feel about urself"
One of my friends and I had a good conversation about that comment, we're still having in it fact, but I had to take time out to blog this. My reply to that statement was:
"that's why ppl keep ending up in the same kinds of relationships because they don't realise they're just finding people to treat them the way they unconsciously feel they deserve"
Interestingly enough, if this is how you are, the tricky part isn't acknowledging this behaviour in yourself, we both agreed that the hardest part would be figuring out how to change. Once you've built up a pattern of this kind of behaviour, your significant other or close friends will probably think that you've lost your mind and that there must be some outside force or person influencing you becaue 'change' will be so out of character.
Sometimes people decide to hold everything inside, rather than deal with it all, but then there's alsways the risk of the 'pressure cooker' effect. So much is held inside for so long that the person starts letting off pressure in sharp, violent bursts at random or at the drop of a hat. Now if there are people around saying, "Well all you need to do is express yourself better," that might not help, because what I've found is that unless you're expressing the view that people want to hear, then you could be an orator worthy of Toastmasters International, it won't make one whit of a difference.
I think that one of the key things though is to stick to that desire to change. It's never easy, and other people will always be resistant to the change because let's face it, the person probably let the significant other/friends get really comfortable with the old situation.
Life... definitely not a box of chocolates. But to be honest, there is some sweet candy thrown in with all the sours.
One of my friends and I had a good conversation about that comment, we're still having in it fact, but I had to take time out to blog this. My reply to that statement was:
"that's why ppl keep ending up in the same kinds of relationships because they don't realise they're just finding people to treat them the way they unconsciously feel they deserve"
Interestingly enough, if this is how you are, the tricky part isn't acknowledging this behaviour in yourself, we both agreed that the hardest part would be figuring out how to change. Once you've built up a pattern of this kind of behaviour, your significant other or close friends will probably think that you've lost your mind and that there must be some outside force or person influencing you becaue 'change' will be so out of character.
Sometimes people decide to hold everything inside, rather than deal with it all, but then there's alsways the risk of the 'pressure cooker' effect. So much is held inside for so long that the person starts letting off pressure in sharp, violent bursts at random or at the drop of a hat. Now if there are people around saying, "Well all you need to do is express yourself better," that might not help, because what I've found is that unless you're expressing the view that people want to hear, then you could be an orator worthy of Toastmasters International, it won't make one whit of a difference.
I think that one of the key things though is to stick to that desire to change. It's never easy, and other people will always be resistant to the change because let's face it, the person probably let the significant other/friends get really comfortable with the old situation.
Life... definitely not a box of chocolates. But to be honest, there is some sweet candy thrown in with all the sours.
- Mood: strange - tired/scared, but with a sense of understanding/peace
- Music: music from the club at the plaza up the road (yes, it's that loud)
Back on the rock
- Mood: miserable
- Music: some oldies tune at the Red Hills Road street dance
So I'm back in Jamaica and miserable. I never envisioned in all my years spending Christmas day hopping from plane to plane, hauling carry-on luggage and wondering whether or not my stomach would hold down greasy airport Chinese food. Anyway, it goes with the job I suppose. I left work at around 8:00 pm, and although there is some stuff I want to do before I go to bed, I just can't seem to bring myself to get started. Maybe I should eat first... somehow I don't see myself getting to bed by 10:30 pm. Grr.
Wanting more...
I'm here in Louisiana at our house and I don't want to leave. But my flight is Sunday morning at around 7:00 am and it seems like I have no choice. Between work and the drama of rebooking a ticket... this is depressing. No moping for me tomorrow though. I have two last minute presents to buy and this PC to reformat and reinstall. Got a new case installed today (I actually only needed to replace the power supply but since the case was only US$10 more than the stand alone power supply, and the case includes said power supply - I said what the hell.) My friend Dee and her husband came over and helped, thank God. Nothing confuses me more than hooking up the power and reset buttons and LED lights to a mother board. The damn thing even drew blood, I suppose that's always a good way to bond with your electronics.
Aeon Flux
Haven't seen the movie but J and I were watching the MTV series on DVD. Pretty interesting. J was definitely right when he said, "It's the Matrix before there was a Matrix." Not sure if anyone would remember the scene from the first (and best) film in the Matrix series where a big of some sort was extracted from Neo's navel? Well, there's an episode on the first Aeon Flux series DVD where she has to retrieve this guy's programmed conscience (can't quite remember the name they used). Anyway, this 'conscience' came in the form of a rather large spindly metal thing that inserted itself into you via - you guessed it! - your navel. So we know who's been watching not only some Jet Li kickers (let's face it, that's where most if not all the king fu movies in the Matrix came from) but also Aeon Flux. I was hoping J and I could go and see that movie as well as Memoirs of a Geisha but he works from Thursday right back until Sunday... life.
Aeon Flux
Haven't seen the movie but J and I were watching the MTV series on DVD. Pretty interesting. J was definitely right when he said, "It's the Matrix before there was a Matrix." Not sure if anyone would remember the scene from the first (and best) film in the Matrix series where a big of some sort was extracted from Neo's navel? Well, there's an episode on the first Aeon Flux series DVD where she has to retrieve this guy's programmed conscience (can't quite remember the name they used). Anyway, this 'conscience' came in the form of a rather large spindly metal thing that inserted itself into you via - you guessed it! - your navel. So we know who's been watching not only some Jet Li kickers (let's face it, that's where most if not all the king fu movies in the Matrix came from) but also Aeon Flux. I was hoping J and I could go and see that movie as well as Memoirs of a Geisha but he works from Thursday right back until Sunday... life.
- Mood: extremely tired
- Music: the hum of the new PC fan
Literary Treats and Treasures
I was just reading someone else's blog where I made a post about the new film out The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe when I remembered about Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials triology. If you look on amazon.co.uk you'll see that all the reviews for the books are magnificient. They're sold as children's books (I got the first one from my 16-year-old cousin in England) but they really are for everyone. If you're looking for something more in depth, more mature, more tantalising than Harry Potter (and I love HP don't get me wrong), you've got to get this series...
Read the Amazon.co.uk reviews of the book, they're very informative and good. And I definitely agree with one reviewer, if these books are going to become movies, Peter Jackson should direct them.
Anyway, time to get back to work. Wait, I think a snack is in order first... then back to work :-)
Read the Amazon.co.uk reviews of the book, they're very informative and good. And I definitely agree with one reviewer, if these books are going to become movies, Peter Jackson should direct them.
Anyway, time to get back to work. Wait, I think a snack is in order first... then back to work :-)
When the sense of safety shatters
I just finished reading through a moving three-page investigative report done by NY Times writers about the nature/causes of many of the deaths that took place as a result of Hurricane Katrina. It's "as a result" because according to the article,
"of more than 260 Louisianans who died during Hurricane Katrina or its aftermath found that almost all survived the height of the storm but died in the chaos and flooding that followed"
The NY Times conducted interviews which added a soul to the death toll figures that have been circulating since the New Orleans tragedy happened earlier this year. Images like
"Prosper Louis Flint, blind, diabetic and dehydrated, was one of at least 19 people who died in the hot sun on Interstate 10, according to the state health department, waiting for help to come... Todd Lopez, 42, pushed his girlfriend's family into an attic before the water overtook him"
... aren't going to leave me any time soon. I've been to New Orleans, J', my Aunt, cousin and I were there just last year, just at this time of year, this - one year ago - was our first time in Nawlins. Okay, I don't know what it's like to lose someone because of a hurricane, but I definitely know what it's like to lose someone you love because of the power of water's destructiveness.
"It's ironic that you can survive a storm," but still die, said Velda Smith, who lost her sister-in-law and three teenage nieces to the floodwaters. On the day they drowned, she said, "everything was fine. The sun was shining."
That last statement rang so true when I read it that my head started to pound.
Still, what happened in New Orleans and across the American Gulf is on such a large scale it's mind-boggling. I haven't even begun to wrap my brain around what happened during the Asian tsunami, and the only thing that has helped that was watching Weather Channel and Discovery Channel documentaries and exposés.
There are a couple things that I can wrap my brain around though:
1. The NY Times is right. Ethel Freeman "slumped in her wheelchair under a plaid blanket outside the convention center" has already become a sad poster image of the horror.
2. While the natural phenomena of hurricanes and tsunamis can be explained, it will be months and years before we find out what really happened in New Orleans - if we ever do learn the truth.
3. As someone I know on a web forum posted recently, "In this life were not promised 2 morrow so take de bitter with the sweet and maintain."
Louisiana's Deadly Storm Took Strong as Well as the Helpless (The New York Times)
"of more than 260 Louisianans who died during Hurricane Katrina or its aftermath found that almost all survived the height of the storm but died in the chaos and flooding that followed"
The NY Times conducted interviews which added a soul to the death toll figures that have been circulating since the New Orleans tragedy happened earlier this year. Images like
"Prosper Louis Flint, blind, diabetic and dehydrated, was one of at least 19 people who died in the hot sun on Interstate 10, according to the state health department, waiting for help to come... Todd Lopez, 42, pushed his girlfriend's family into an attic before the water overtook him"
... aren't going to leave me any time soon. I've been to New Orleans, J', my Aunt, cousin and I were there just last year, just at this time of year, this - one year ago - was our first time in Nawlins. Okay, I don't know what it's like to lose someone because of a hurricane, but I definitely know what it's like to lose someone you love because of the power of water's destructiveness.
"It's ironic that you can survive a storm," but still die, said Velda Smith, who lost her sister-in-law and three teenage nieces to the floodwaters. On the day they drowned, she said, "everything was fine. The sun was shining."
That last statement rang so true when I read it that my head started to pound.
Still, what happened in New Orleans and across the American Gulf is on such a large scale it's mind-boggling. I haven't even begun to wrap my brain around what happened during the Asian tsunami, and the only thing that has helped that was watching Weather Channel and Discovery Channel documentaries and exposés.
There are a couple things that I can wrap my brain around though:
1. The NY Times is right. Ethel Freeman "slumped in her wheelchair under a plaid blanket outside the convention center" has already become a sad poster image of the horror.
2. While the natural phenomena of hurricanes and tsunamis can be explained, it will be months and years before we find out what really happened in New Orleans - if we ever do learn the truth.
3. As someone I know on a web forum posted recently, "In this life were not promised 2 morrow so take de bitter with the sweet and maintain."
Louisiana's Deadly Storm Took Strong as Well as the Helpless (The New York Times)
Of all the things to happen...
... Victoria's Secret's signiature cotton panty special has increased from 5 for US$19 to US$25. This is just too much, first the bread rolls at Lee's Family Food Fair, then the chocolate Bobbys and small lunch at work, and now this. Alright, I throw in the towel. I mean it's not like panties have any resale value, what, have they increased the cotton thread count? One cotton panty for US$5 is pretty much what this comes down to. I think I'm going to have to start taking a closer look at what Hanes has to offer.
- Mood: disgruntled
- Music: savouring the silence (someone pulled the plug on the carolling xmas tree)
[enter title here]
Tired. Need sleep. Must work. Sore (riding horses does that). Wondering if I'll catch the flu (tubing down cold rivers does that). Need to write story. Have to wake up early tomorrow. Hehehe and I'm on here blogging LOL Lemme go and start this story...
- Mood: laughing at myself
- Music: a street sound on Red Hills Road playing some Garnett Silk
Traffic Tales VI
So today I'm driving home, heading up Half Way Tree Road right before the stoplight at HWT Road and Chelsea when I was forced to make some evasive manouvers to miss a bus and another car. I ended up in the right lane with Max (my 240sx) unscathed, without a single horn being blown or curse being shouted. Alright, so I'm in the right lane, and a white skettle zips from behind me into the left lane and speeds off when the light turns green. I'm approaching the next stop light where you turn down unto Cargill Avenue when I realise that the skettle has slowed down, and I'm like, crap. Max is LHD and my window's down, anyway, by the time all this has processed (I'm dog tired) I'm in line with the skettle and I look over and see a youngish-look man on his phone who looks over at me with a stunned expression and says, "My girl, a you a drive dem way deh?!" I couldn't help but grin, then the skettle drives off and I realise it's a cabby. Now coming from a cab driver, how do you take that statement? ROFL Just another day on the Jamaican roads...
- Mood: excited, looking forward to my 'adventure' assignment tomorrow :)
- Music: someone's Christmas tree lights in an endless carol singing loop
3 big reasons couples fight about money
http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/CollegeandFamily/Loveandmoney/
P134920.asp?GT1=7533
3 rules for a fair fight over money
http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/CollegeandFamily/Loveandmoney/
P94728.asp?GT1=7533
Be popular at work: 4 steps
http://msn.careerbuilder.com/custom/msn/careeradvice/viewarticle.aspx?
articleid=649&SiteId=cbmsnhp4649&sc_extcmp=JS_649_home1&cb
RecursionCnt=1&cbsid=a33117f8dbb4466a8d14197b0e070607-187867832-sc-1
Being a bitch...
This is something I've received before in my Inbox, and I'm sure lots of women out there have seen this many times too and I think it's really interesting. Sometimes I feel the same way the woman (assuming it was a woman) who came up with this must have felt. Of course a lot of women do go overboard and become insufferable, but it's as if we've been taught that girls are supposed to be docile, so standing up for yourself in anything but an appologetic manner means you're a, well, a bitch.
When I stand up for
myself and my beliefs,
they call me a BITCH.
When I stand up for
those I love,
they call me a BITCH.
When I speak my mind,
think my own thoughts
or do things my own way,
they call me a BITCH.
Being a BITCH
means I won't
compromise what's
in my heart.
It means I live my life
MY way.
It means I won't allow
anyone to step on me.
When I refuse to
tolerate injustice and
speak against it,
I am defined as a BITCH.
The same thing happens
when I take time for
myself instead of being
everyone's maid, or when
I act a little selfish.
It means I have the
courage and strength
to allow myself to be
who I truly am.
I won't become anyone
else's idea of what
they think I "should"be.
I am outspoken,
opinionated and determined.
I want what I want and
there is absolutely nothing
wrong with that!
So try to stomp on me,
try to douse my inner flame,
try to squash every ounce of
Beauty I hold within me.
You won't succeed.
And if that makes me
a BITCH, so be it.
I embrace the title and
I am proud to bear it.
When I stand up for
myself and my beliefs,
they call me a BITCH.
When I stand up for
those I love,
they call me a BITCH.
When I speak my mind,
think my own thoughts
or do things my own way,
they call me a BITCH.
Being a BITCH
means I won't
compromise what's
in my heart.
It means I live my life
MY way.
It means I won't allow
anyone to step on me.
When I refuse to
tolerate injustice and
speak against it,
I am defined as a BITCH.
The same thing happens
when I take time for
myself instead of being
everyone's maid, or when
I act a little selfish.
It means I have the
courage and strength
to allow myself to be
who I truly am.
I won't become anyone
else's idea of what
they think I "should"be.
I am outspoken,
opinionated and determined.
I want what I want and
there is absolutely nothing
wrong with that!
So try to stomp on me,
try to douse my inner flame,
try to squash every ounce of
Beauty I hold within me.
You won't succeed.
And if that makes me
a BITCH, so be it.
I embrace the title and
I am proud to bear it.
Tuesdays...
The only thing saving this Tuesday is that in the back of my mind I've started my countdown to next Tuesday when I'll leave to go and spend Christmas with J. I'm not thinking about the fact that I'll have to fly back Christmas morning to be here for work on Boxing Day. Nope, not going to think about that just yet. I'm also telling myself that it's only two days until my next adventure story assignment. Last time I walked the Cunha Cunha Pass, an old maroon trail, which runs from Portland to St Thomas. This time around it's going to involve horses and rafting... the first (and last actually) horse I rode was an old thoroughbred at Hellshire that had seen better days. So I'm looking forward to this assignment with joy and a good dose of trepidation.
Other than that I'm at my cubicle with a headache (need food), the floor is is really quiet, I think it's because the A/C isn't on yet, but man our Christmas tree is all I really need. It has to be at least 10 feet high and it's gorgeously done up (Every Blooming Thing) in shades of gold and broze. I've always liked the name EBT, it's a great play on words. Words... they've taken on a new meaning for me ever since I started reading my new 'work' book, which someone seems to have borrowed from my desk, but anway, it's a book on headline writings called Heads You Win. It goes through the art of headline writing and even if my headlines haven't immediately gotten better, I can see how the way I approach them and come up with them has already changed.
Anyway, enough babbling, time to run to the canteen for a sandwhich and a drink, and then get back to work.
Walk in the Maroons' footsteps - http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/lifestyle/
html/20051015t160000-0500_90431_obs_
walk_in_the_maroons__footsteps_.asp
Other than that I'm at my cubicle with a headache (need food), the floor is is really quiet, I think it's because the A/C isn't on yet, but man our Christmas tree is all I really need. It has to be at least 10 feet high and it's gorgeously done up (Every Blooming Thing) in shades of gold and broze. I've always liked the name EBT, it's a great play on words. Words... they've taken on a new meaning for me ever since I started reading my new 'work' book, which someone seems to have borrowed from my desk, but anway, it's a book on headline writings called Heads You Win. It goes through the art of headline writing and even if my headlines haven't immediately gotten better, I can see how the way I approach them and come up with them has already changed.
Anyway, enough babbling, time to run to the canteen for a sandwhich and a drink, and then get back to work.
- Mood:tired, I wanted to destroy the alarm this morning (but it's also my phone *sigh*)
Walk in the Maroons' footsteps - http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/lifestyle/
html/20051015t160000-0500_90431_obs_
walk_in_the_maroons__footsteps_.asp
Questions answered...
Madbull and ScratchieThe girl on the right (well here on the left) is Juju. Helda, Juju and I (along with Ama who was in Spain on study abroad at the time of this pic) made up the core of the Dance Committee at UCU. Helda had lived across the hall from me first year, but somehow it wasn't until second year that we all got close. Ama, Helda and I debuted the new Dance Co to Missy Elliot's Work It at our school's talent night shindig, and then we roped in Juju for Sean Paul's Get Busy :-) Juju and I roomed together one summer (Helda was in the apartment on the ground floor) and that brought us alot closer together. That summer Helda and I even headed off to Alicante, Spain to visit Ama. Fashion-wise Juju will always be the more daring of the four. Apparently I'm right there behind Juju, according to Helda, but I'd have to have Juju's curves and long hair to pull off some of the outfits *grin* We've even done a dance to an MC Hammer medley where we were outfitted in tights, multicoloured flourescent socks and crazy wigs... I miss them so much... man, college... those were the days.
Japrincezzshae
I don't think I'm brave at all. I'm just a very stubborn person with a bad temper.
- Mood: undefinable
- Music: me and J discussing the Sunday paper
Between victims and aggressors
It's a thin line between being a victim and an aggressor in a situation. I'm not quite sure if 'aggressor' is the exact word that I mean, but it's the best one I can think up right now. Last night at around 10-ish, J and I went to Island Grill in Twin Gates Plaza to get some food before heading back to the house. I remember shaking my head that the security guard outside was so engrossed in his cell phone conversation that he barely saw us go in, but we were hungry and steeling ourself for a long wait in line. We came out the fast food joint and headed to the car. When I got to my side, a man walked up and asked me for $1 to be honest, in Jamaica, someone begging you for money isn't a novelty, thinking back though, what strikes me is that he only asked for a dollar. Even the smallest street kid never asks for less than $20, but hindsight is 50/50.When I realised that he wasn't going to move, I hightailed it into the passenger seat, set on shutting the door quickly. One hard yank should've done it, but no dice, and I looked back and saw that he had his foot planted in front the door. So I gave it another hard yank, then looked up at him. At that point he half pulled what J later told me was a home-made one-pop gun and said, "Lady hear me, gimme yu phone and yu money."
Okay, this is how I know that I'm an aggressor, or maybe just have serious anger issues, or maybe I'm just stubborn. I looked at him and simple said, "What?" And not a soft plaintive 'what', a highly bitchy, disdain-filled, outraged 'what'. And then I have the door an even harder yank. I'm not 100% sure this shocked him, but he didn't say another word. By this time though J, who hadn't gotten in on his side after seeing the guy approach me, rounded my side of the car and came up on the guy, asking "Yow, is wha a gwaan here so?" in a very loud voice. None of us had realised that there was a man waiting for someone in the van parked on J's side, but at J's shout, he sat up and started asking the same thing. At this point the guy with the one-pop pocketed it and went towards his bicycle, and J came and got into the car and started checking if I'm alright. Honestly, I think I'm blood-thirsty as well. The first thing I said to J was, "I wish we had a car with a grill on the front. I'd make you run him down." I respect J so much though, you can tell he's in the military, he was so calm in the situation that he was able to take control of it. Left to my own devices I would've probably attacked the guy myself (if he hadn't moved from the door when J shouted I'd dropped my handbag on the edge of my seat and was preparing to punch him in his side), and that would probably have made things worse.
Every Jamaican Christmas?
I hope that this isn't a new Christmas season starting. I couldn't help but remember that the last time I spent Christmas in Jamaica, someone had tried to hold us up at gun-point and take away her car. The Nissan wagon had pulled up as we were waiting at someone's gate and the occupants had asked directions. We'd said we didn't live in the area.
Next thing we knew, the wagon had turned around and one guy jumped out with a gun, while the wagon sped off. Then I did fight. We both fought. Moms had thought the thief was asking for her bag and when he advanced on her she fisted him in his neck and flung the keys on the driveway of the person we were visiting. He got the keys, but as he got in the car to start it the alarm had gone off making starting the car impossible. I'd realised my bag was on the passenger side floor, and I had to get it. My Dutch verblijfsvergunning (residence permit) was inside, and I sure as hell wasn't going to be stuck in Jamaica (the NL consulate had closed by this) on account of some two-bit gunman who barely looked older than me. So I opened the door and grabbed the bag, he caught the handle and we started to struggle. Moms was trying to drag me away, but I stood there pulling for all I was worth, directing one string of bad words at him in the process (Moms, God bless her may she RIP, stopped at one point and says, "Child, what have I told you about cursing badwords like that?! No cursing!" - only my mom :-)
Like last night, in that instance with Moms, I think the would-be thief was startled that his marks didn't do the victim thing and scream, give in and toss their belongings. Moms told me then that this was why she was working so hard to make sure that I could leave. It's so sad that I turned to J and said virtually the same thing, that this was why I can't wait for my papers to come through so that I can leave.
Merry Christmas indeed.
- Mood: disgruntled, but thankful that I'm still here for another day
- Music: some neighbour doing home repairs with a hammer/drill
In case you missed it
- Mood: okay
- Music: somebody's house alarm going off in the complex
Personal sites suddenly very public in aftermath of Pennsylvania killing
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6448213/did/10272868/
I actually read through all three pages. Sometimes some very interesting articles crop up on MSN. I just took a look at the blog of the guy who wrote it and he's definitely opinionated. On an aside note (that's somehow related in my mind) I've been thinking of taking down a lot of the websites/pages I have scattered across the net. Back in my super-geek days I had a finger on everything: angelfire, geocities, IRC sites, virtualtourist, webalarm... now that I'm getting older I guess I want to slowly erase, well no narrow down, my presence (sp) on the web. Not quite sure how to go about it though, but I'm sure I'll figure something out.
Not like last ChristmasThis year is shaping up to be nothing like last Christmas. Last year at this time I was making regular raids on Walgreens, finding trimmings for our very first Christmas tree. I couldn't even remember the last time I'd trimmed a tree, that had probably been the year before I left for college. My Mom and I would make a lot of late night runs up to Discount Pharmacy or down to Tropical Pharmacy to get ornaments. So needless to say I made a very big deal about the season, and J' - God bless him - he took it all in stride. Nothing was sweeter than finding the perfect tree topper, an amazing black angel garbed in lush red robes trimmed in white with gold wings and accents... gorgeous! I had so many candy canes that after Christmas Day I took to dropping off batches at the base gate for the guards. My aunt and cousin from the UK came over, keeping alive a tradition we'd started back in 2001 of always seeing each other for Christmas. That looks like it's going to broken this year. Yep, definitely not like last Christmas at all.
Infectious, gripping, soul-stirring... music!
- Mood: expectant, J gets in @ 3:20 pm :)
- Music: Black Eyed Peas - My Humps
Now, My Humps isn't the song in question here, it's Eric Prydz - Call On Me, a song that I've been going crazy over for months and months but only found out the name on Monday. (That's Eric Prydz in the photo, decent looking chap, I think.) Let me tell you, this is definitely one of those trance numbers that gets in your head and makes your insides feel all light and floaty, which is nice, it's not drug-induced so it's perfectly legal :) I really do love trance music, and I'm learning to be unappologetic about it. Since I'm black, I've been accused of giving into 'white people music' but I don't think so.
I love my dancehall, and rap/hip-hop music like anybody else, my dancehall song of the moment is Busy Signal's Step Out, the hesitant flow he has on the track is really amazing and of course that rhythm is just made to dance. Nothing does it for me like a killer bass line, which is why - and most people don't realise this - I adore 'dirty South booty music'. I remember during a kalooki get-together here on Friday night everyone turned and looked at me in shock when I started singing along with Smitty, Diamonds On My Neck. I like that kind of music. It's good dancing music...If someone asked, the one thing I miss about college was being able to go out and dance, not with anyone either, just to hold my corner, and rock to the bass. Call On Me makes me wish for that. I mean look at the shot from the video? It just screams, music, hormones and body movement (I downloaded it by the way). It makes me want to be in a club, quite close to the speakers (I was never one of those who could actually lean up on them), just dancing, pushing my hands up to the sky, head thrown back, letting the melody take me. That's why I love trance so much, the very thing that separates it from techno and house (in my mind leastways). You've got the beat, but it's the melody that makes it. It starts out simple, and then its added to and added to until there's a big crescendo, and then it tapers off. That does amazing things to your adrenaline, and well, depending on how well the song is done, your emotions and the melody almost become seamless. Then there's hard trance, perfect for studying and bad moods, argh, let me stop. If you're not into trance you probably wouldn't understand.
The sad thing about Jamaica is that everyone's so caught up in the hype and the posing that I'd feel uncomfortable just cutting loose and jamming at a session. One of the sessions I've been to where everyone was posting up the wall but having a good time was Father Pow's Independence Bash one summer. Amazing, even in a ratty old t-shirt and jeans, while everyone else was dressed to the nines in sequins and leather, the music took me away and I had the best time ever. In Holland, I'll never forget going to Hemkade 911 Urban meets Dancehall in Zaandam, where Helda (left) and I took over the front of the VIP stage, signalling the plane, giving them a run, and carrying the crowd through the whole onslaught of Jamaican dance moves for the night. Those were the days. I don't think I have the stamina to party that hard anymore, or the budget quite frankly LOL Maybe when J and I live in the same country again... for now though, it's all about Shoutcast stations, the laptop and hopefully a radio with a working CD player for the car...
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