Merry Christ's Birth

Have a happy & holy Christmas an' 2008!

Kinsey: Another Overdue Review

Un-sexy. Decidedly un-sexy. (Not very informative.)

JT an' Timba had to "bring sexy back" after this movie made sexy pack up an' leave home vex-vex. Liam & O'Donnell R so much better than what was required of them. Linney killed sexy wid that silly (Spidey's) Aunt May expression that she pasted on thru-out de movie.

Ah know DVDs are dirt-cheap these days, but if yu spend even a penny on this, U'll B cross, angry, an' miserable that yu didn't just fling 'way that penny an' waste it in a nice sensible way.

Christmas Spirit

Christmas Holy-days are on their way, as de readin' teddy bear in this pic hints -- he should be readin' of Christ's birth, instead o' "Night before Christmas" -- but that's okay.

I've put up mi Christmas tree (haven't fully decked it yet tho), an' I've started preparin' mi bakin' ingredients (soakin' raisins, etc.) -- as a result I'm feelin' de Christmas spirit. Ah found some sugar (brown) on sale nearby an' mixed fruit-- no sorrel yet tho. Anyway, hopefully Christmas is pullin' yu into it's cool, warm embrace. I'm definitely returnin' its embrace.

Overdue Review

Ah finally watched Brokeback Mountain -- very attentively. It's well-made: exceptional acting, smooth cinematography, fluent controversy in de story -- it's a lot more than de 'butt' of 'happy' jokes; it's influential.

1. Heath is BRAVE. Jake is BRAVE. (Too much to write about their talent.)
2. Hathaway's no longer typecast.
3. Michelle (Alma) is a young Meryl -- talented, effortless.
4. They've all forever changed de homo kinda image, impactin' pop culture.

What does de movie seek to achieve (motive, objective, agenda)? Am not certain. It's a heavyweight though.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgivin' holidays are here again. They're a nice likkle nudge to remind us to thank God for his mercies unto us. After seein' de way a J'can political 'supporter' injured a J'can TV reporter (in his eye, no less, callin' de reporter a "Labourite"), am acknowledgin' that mi country still has a far way to go, but am still thankful for God's grace to us -- to all de world, as a serious comedian put it: "God bless the world." May this holiday find you happy thru bein' thankful to God. God bless Jamaica, de Caribbean. God bless Africa. God bless America (North & South) -- "God bless the world." Thank you, God, for all your blessings to us, an' above all, thank God for Jesus!

Lord, let me not assess de 'fairness' of de world by lookin' for greater sorrow in others than in myself -- rather, let me see 'fairness' in peace and love. Let me observe evil and hate as unfair, an' bein' moved by God's holy spirit, let me always oppose those.

Poem-pourri

Whose woods these are, I think I know:
Jabberwock
Lived in a pretty how town,
Up so floating many bells down
The still lake of Semmerwater
Under the still skies.

With no surprise to any happy flower
A dainty foot donkey that I ride
beheads it, in accidental power.
The blonde Assassin passes on
Up in de hills, where the streams are cool
An mullet and janga swim in de pool,
So rested he, by the Tumtum tree.

My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near,
I wish you were here, dear
I wish you were here
I wish you sat on the sofa and I sat near
On the chair
The handkerchief could be yours, mine the tear
Quoth the raven, Nevermore.

If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run
Maybe it sags like a heavy load
Or does it explode?
Upon a midnight dreary, woods are lovely dark and deep
But I have promises to keep
And miles to go before I sleep.

Can't Be Ungrateful to God

We can't be ungrateful to God, coulda never ever be ungrateful to God.

A pet peeve of mine has always been de annoyin' questions of friends & relatives who constantly asked my husband an' me about our family plannin'. Sounds intrusive? That's what it was when they'd ask, "So what yu waitin' for? When yu goin' to have another baby?"

We sometimes had to snap at people or otherwise be a bit harsh to get them to stop de inquisition. They didn't understand. Then we'd prob'ly feel crummy for havin' shut down folk who meant no harm.

Anyway, God is good, great, and in His generous divinity, a few months ago, He answered de many late-night prayers of my husband an' me. Thanks be to God for our baby.

(It's been a lengthy recovery that included many changes for us, including relocation, an' ah wasn't keen on postin' endless complaints, so ah kept quiet on de topic. However, this experience -- this gift -- is too precious to go undocumented. Especially considerin' our recent escapades of suitin' him up like Santa, an' like a Teletubby. It's been joyous, so ah sharin'.)

Anyway, back to baby. I'm always tellin' him how delicious he is, an' mi top 3 reasons for not gobblin' him up:
3. His dad & his brother would B sad.
2. Ah luv him 2 much.
1. Ah got no hot sauce:)

God is good.

Another Year wid mi Fierce Brosnan

At first glance, mi cousin said, "Don't him remind yu a 'Remintan' Steele?"

I said, "Hmm, not really. Pierce more mawga." (Like mi know Pierce!)

Donkey years later, U're still Fierce, mi bootleg Pierce. (De name's Bond, Jamrock Bond)

Hi, darlin' dear, sweetie pie, pineapple (song)

Here's lookin' forward to 15 more, if God allows.

Environment & U

Leon just blogged about global warming, so bein' friendly to de environment, here's mi 2 cents:
We all luv de yummy food that some restaurants sell, but avoid de styrofoam if yu can. It contains dioxins (which are known carcinogens). Consider it, "Wouldja like dioxins wit dat?" De environment can't break down styrofoam into earth-friendly fossil, so it's not doin' Mother Earth any favours either. Dioxins especially seep into fatty food, so if you buy soup or porridge or gravy-laden meals in styrofoam, U just got a free order of dioxins -- does it go well with your oxtail and rice & peas? Not really ... not at all.

"Secrets" of Life

In listenin' to de gospel station, ah heard de followin' simple yet profound statement: "Your Dearest Wish Is the Flip-side of Your Worst Fear." (That entire series is aimed at helpin' us to fulfill life's purpose, to glorify God.)

Examples:
If your dearest wish is wealth, your worst fear is poverty. Life lesson: temperance
If your worst fear is rejection, your dearest wish is acceptance. Life lesson: self-acceptance.
If your worst fear is starvation, yu too greedy:)

Seventies -- The End

I saw Pete for the first time when I was introduced to Auntie Leigh. He was a confused 19 year old surreptitiously trying to engage a (basic-school-level) 3-year-old child in continuous conversation. All I recall of that was that I liked his bright-red track top so much that he let me try it on and wear it, sleeves drooping way beyond my arms. (Unlike Fawn, who proclaimed to every earthly molecule the injustice of losing her fabulous high school popularity, and having to get her GCE and JSC passes through evening classes because of pregnancy by Pete; he kept his woes to himself. She felt her family had rejected her in favour of her own child. No one knew Pete's perceptions of his family's reaction.)

I next encountered Pete when I went to Auntie Leigh's a year or two later to meet and spend time with my father. I heard music, and peering into Auntie Leigh's dimly-lit family room, I saw Pete sitting at the piano. "Hullo," he said. I went over to him, and he patted the bench for me to sit beside him. I presumed he was waiting for his own dad. He was his quiet self, not clumsily constructing conversation with a kindergartener. His helper stood by the door, keenly watching us for a moment, then she shrugged and left. He closed the door. "Tell me a song to play," he said. And soon he was pounding out Stevie Wonder's then current album at my request, while I danced around the room. He stood and danced while he played, rocking and bopping his head. We both bellowed songs, me mutilating the lyrics confidently. Auntie Leigh arrived and called a jarring halt to our fun. She asked what the noise was in aid of, she asked if I'd gotten anything to eat, she said she was telling him for the hundredth time to cut his hair. Then he pushed her out and locked the door. He took a rubber band from a desk drawer, and pulled his hair back into an afro-puff "ponytail."
Behind the mess of hair, his forehead was a map of scars.
"That's why yu won't cut yu hair?" I asked.
"No," he said matter-of-factly, "Ah just don't want mi hair to hurt or bleed."
"Oh," I answered, and tried to process that. My grammy had cut my hair the summer before, because it was thick and time-consuming for her to wash it and detangle it. But my hair hadn't hurt or bled. It had all just looked dead on the floor, cut off from its life source. I thought maybe that's what he meant by hurt. "I kinda understand," I said.
Then we went to the window and looked at daylight through a telescope. I told him I liked looking through things, and he lit up. "Ah have something for yu!" he gushed, "I'm so forgetful."
"Is a Viewmaster?!" I guessed.
"No, this." And he handed me a knapsack with a little bright-red tracksuit. "Put it on," he said. "I'm goin' to put on mine that you liked." I was thrilled.
His helper followed him back into the room after he'd changed. He shooed her away, and as soon as her footsteps faded into the kitchen, he hoisted me through the window. In matching tracksuits we ran 'round the corner, down Stanton Terrace, and were soon tearing across Lady Musgrave road to screeching tyres and screaming horns.
"We look like twins," he said, looking at our identical attire. "People must be wondering if we're twins." I smiled at that. "Yup," I agreed; I didn't mind having a twin who could dance like Michael jackson, and he could.
His dad's car rounded us up, and took us back to Auntie Leigh, who announced that he was endangering me, and that she was sending me home for my own safety. He argued; he beat his head against the grill until his forehead bled. His father yanked him away from the verandah and dragged him inside, while neighbours gawked. Auntie Leigh's relative was a doctor who lived a few houses away. Discreetly, he tended Pete, and whispered about Pete's needing to return to England, and oh, what embarrassment, with those gossips outside feigning concern then calling Pete "Mad-eeks" behind his back.
I told Auntie Leigh I couldn't leave yet, that I had to meet my father, that I had to spend even a little time with my father.
"Then who yu think yu spend de whole day wid?" she asked in her flat Chiney voice.
!!

Seventies

She started with his cousin.

He and his cousin shared a birthday, so logically they shared a sweet sixteen party. Unlike him, the cousin wasn't touted to have a future-million-dollar brilliance. The cousins looked astonishingly alike. However, where his cousin sported his looks like an effortlessly suave suit, Pete was awkward wearing his looks like super-starchy clothes. But. Pete's Chiney mother was proud of her protege who'd always been an undeniably gifted child. His father, a stern black man, was conspicuously quiet on the topic of his bright son.

Fifteen-year-old Fawn flirted her best PamGrier-esque hairdo to the birthday party, and gave herself the gift of Pete, throwing the cousin back into the sea -- she really wasn't fond of small-fry prospects.

Pete was Fawn's new "settle." Problem was, unlike the cousin, Pete could be counted on to do things. Things like wearing a Manley-type bush jacket and flood-water-high gaberdine pants with buckle shoes outshone only by his greased-flat hair, to a Plus-X bash where everyone else wore bell-bottoms, trendy platform shoes, and fluffy afro. Still, she took his Sunday-best disco gear in stride; after all, in any number of years, when he was more cashy than all the crowd, who'd get the last laugh? Besides, she was trying to rekindle the cousin's interest on the side.

Pete's family was unaware of what was happening. Only the helper heard the goings-on in the heretofore virginal Pete's room whenever his parents were out. And the helper knew better than to be the bearer of bad news to her employers. She did however tell Fawn of Pete's illness that had started when his closest brother drowned a few years before. Pete was fine as long as he took his meds, she said, but Fawn shouldn't toy with his emotions. "Him can't tek it," the helper told her, "Him can't tek it." The cousin confirmed the helper's assertion.

Fawn was abased.

But worse, Fawn was pregnant.

Women -- Especially over 30

Planning on having a baby? Especially, if it's your first:
1. Create a birth plan (e.g., If U don't want students participating in your delivery, say so!)
2. Grill your doctor like a cheese sandwich to see which MD is most likely to stick to de plan.
3. Avoid their usual moneymaking tricks: e.g., they request extended foetal monitoring -- try to send you to a delivery room early -- request last-minute ultrasounds: all of that "just because."
4. They make way more $ from caesarean surgery (affectionately called c-sections, like Condoleeza's now affectionately called 'Condi' -- don't de media know how to sell stuff!) Vaginal delivery means less $ money to them. More money is often their prime objective.
5. Epidurals (especially catheter as opposed to injection) can immobilize and disorient you at a time when you NEED to be alert, and make it difficult to push -- then what? Caesarean section!
6. Do you want to feel old, depressed, violated, and generally unhealthy? If yes, disregard my warning. If no, beware, beware, beware, beware.
Surgery & anaesthesia are no walk in the park. This is serious.

Hail to Everybody

Hail to all of you bloggers. Hope you're all doing fine, as I am at this point. Thank God.

So many changes -- blogger married to google now!

Hope you all havin' a ball. Piggy luvs ya!

Election?

J'can media seem to be hintin' that election might happen early this year -- possibly before Cricket. Hmm, could it be, could it be, could it be so? Commissioner said it's likely to be quite violent -- don't doubt him -- police he oversees statin' figures of about 40 murders so far. Bruce (opposition) seems kinda silent right now, Portia's side (gov't) currently somewhat loud, so there might be some substance to de speculation, but could it be, could it be, could it be so?