...a little bit closer...

2011 in retrospect : I guess it's how you frame it in a context.

2011-12-31T21:12:00.000-04:00

These are just a few of my 2011 memories.

( If you don't see a photo of you, it's because I ran out of space,

or just don't have a photo of us/you. )

So... this year much happened, much didn't happen. * I started gymming with Shads - started all hot and sweaty, rewarded ourselves with KFC and called it a day. * Candice and I convinced ourselves there was some booty growth - regardless how minimal. * Reaquainted with lots of old dear friends, in that 'soul food' way. * Met some awesome new ones, beautiful souls. Discovered some toxic spirits as well. * Made it to too many parties, including Sandblast and regrettably, Unity Ball. * Got myself involved in way too much drama and other unmentionables. * Saw Becky, Nata's lil sister, literally grow from a little girl to a teenager in like a flash of a minute - how do they grow so fast? Hell, I saw Nata and Shad's grow up pretty fast this year too. * I saw people enter my life. I saw people leave my life. * Did way too much crazy stuff with Sherry, partner in crime. * I cut my hair. * Attended lots of girly tea parties. * Got the wheels turning with my paintings. * Finally, got back on stage and started performing poetry again. * Networked like crazy, met some amazing contacts. * Snorkeled in the Carenage. * Took part in filming of a clip. Started another Eve of Eve (New Years). * Explored the forest like I live there... * I switched degrees (to a double), then I switched back. * Found some sort of momentum with my blog posts - I know, I know, not good enough... but I'm getting there. *

***

Funnily enough, the general consensus I've been gathering is that 2011 has been a year from hell for many and has inspired some great changes. Perhaps, that's the real 'ending' that shall happen in 2012. The death of some things from one's life after the suffering of extremities of 2011. A year of Enlightenment per se. Regardless of all that's being said, as cliched as my next words are, next year really and truly does feel like it's going to be a good year. A "mine-for-the-taking" year. I encourage everyone who stumbles across this post to make it your year too - really.

As Jamal said on his FB 2011 closing note, "2011 has not been one of my best years...way too many people left me with just memories and holes in the heart this year..."

But with that said, regardless of how disappointing a year it's been, there were many good things that happened. I've had some very happy times this year as well, many good surprises.

I've had health, good friends, family, and surprisingly good fortune with business. I had many tests, all of which made me stronger. Surprisingly good grades. Also, many experiences, especially those under my field of study, that were truly priceless and rewarding.

I guess it's all how you frame it in a context, as with the 'glass half-full/half-empty' analogy.

"...but I can't delay anymore...the time for mourning has passed, whether we feel we can adjust to it or not...and 2012 really isn't a year to feel sorry for oneself but rather to get it. And all the other things and such and what-not.

Basically what I'm trying to say with all my disjointed attempts is this: While 2011 more or less sucked for me, it had its bright moments. Remember that hope is the proverbial fuel of our starship to the future and while it does good to remember the past, it does not bode well to dwell on it and allow it to cast a shadow on the present, thus affecting your future. This was the harshest lesson I had to learn this year and one I had to learn very quickly to keep what I wanted...

The Hope that tomorrow will be better, the Wisdom to remember that having hope alone may not be enough and hard work WILL have to be put in towards that better tomorrow and also the Knowledge that you won't always be alone.Raise a glass to the future, because if I'm not mistaken, it belongs to you and I. Cheers."
-Jamal

Cheers to the good memories and good friends that made 2011 tolerable, and in odd ways, memorable.

Kisses!
Shelli

Il dolce far niente

2011-12-27T14:18:00.004-04:00

(The sweetness of doing nothing)

- 2011 in closing -

Learning to 'Eat, Pray, Love' in a year

...my way...

I've made so many promises to myself to update recently but as usual, life happened.

A dear friend of mine, Sher, once gave me a journal a few years back with these Bible quotes on every other page. The words were thoughtful but I had not a clue as to what I would do with it. It was one of those gifts that you appreciate and on a deep level want for yourself but would never actually go and buy it as... there's other things you want more.

Ironically, when I was finally able to decide on what to do with it, I turned it into a goals journal. I try to write in it at least three times a year - to state my intended goals, reflect on progress, reflect on overall achievement at the end. What's my trend? Surprisingly, I actually do cover all of my goals, even if not in its entirety. Funnily enough, I also tend to not really cover anything until November-December. *wink* It's in keeping with my "I work best under pressure" theory.

This year was my most ambitious year I'd say - and with great risk comes great failures. The funny part of this story is that I swore it would be a drama free, successful year - instead it was the complete opposite, which I had not prepared for. Lesson to be learned? It's good to have a plan, but it's better to be practical where you can be with worse comes to worse situations.

I remember earlier up as I approached my 23rd birthday, annoyed at aging and not feeling like I've accomplished very much by that age, I pestered everyone about their experiences about their 23rd. The consensus was that it was a period of growth, learning and understanding of self. I thought to myself "ahhh psshhhh, whatever... let's see how this is gonna go."

"Ruin is a gift. Ruin is the road to transformation."

-Elizabeth Gilbert

As the year teeters to a close I must grudgingly admit, it has been a spiritual year of sorts. I once read somewhere that your 20s are about self-discovery, defining who you are, experimenting and so forth. My 20s thus far have been utterly disorienting in the manner of which one jumps through a rabbit hole unintentionally and just prays for the best.

What I've learned - finally - was that maybe I've been too idealistic in my approach to life. I still believe the world needs a little more naivety as people as too aware of all that's bad... But I think because of that awareness, it necessitates some sort of grounding within oneself within the real world. This is how it is - it could change, be yourself, but this is the world we live in currently.

I think it took me a while to reconcile that not all who listen are listening because they care, not all who seem to care, truly do and not everyone who seems trusting should be trusted.

I found myself disappointed, unhappy, somewhat bitter, and struggling to orient myself most of the time. At the very least, it's been truly experimental, riddled with bad mistakes and decisions, and some even bold ones. Who am I kidding? I'm being euphemistic. In many ways, it's been hell but there are a few people that helped make it heaven. Thanks for riding that wave with me, you know who you are. One must always be prepared for riotous and endless waves of transformation, and gracious for those who stick around for the ride.

“Never forget that once upon a time, in an unguarded moment,

you recognized yourself as a friend.”

― Elizabeth Gilbert

Most of my goals for this year were practical, financial, self-improvement goals. By time mid-year, I pretty much gave up hope on accomplishing anything as everything just seemed to be going wrong the harder I tried and then something magical happened.

I stopped trying. I think somewhere around here I was just too exhausted and decided to just ride out the year and try anew 2012.

What happened? Life slowed down for the first time in years. I was finally able to see. As corny as this may sound, I was able to take my own advice that I had been giving to other people through out. I learned to fix what I can, leave what I can't, forgive myself and move on. It's hard to do it, if you still have the fight in you. I think it's only when you've reached your moment of pis aller (last resort) does some sort of light start to shine.

Every single piece of advice I've ever given, or had been given to me, suddenly made sense. (...well not every piece, you know what I mean.) Not in the "Yeah... yeah... yeah..." way but in the way of an epiphany, almost as if things would never be the same.

In turn what happened? I was able to reflect on situations that happened through a different light. Earlier in the year a friend told me, "Third person is a motherf*cker." While I grasped the concept, only now I finally got some true semblance of understanding. When you're able to remove yourself from a situation, only then can you truly start to see just what it is or could be and come up with a sensible resolution. Until that moment, it's just sheer emotion, irrational acts and lots of prayers and hoping for the best.

A truly strong person does not need the approval

of others any more than a lion needs the approval

of sheep.

After the mid-point, things got better. Those goals I wanted to achieve? Guess who got a few of her art pieces sold.

I also reluctantly found myself in bittersweet situations as I realized that I've been holding on to a lot of people and things for sentimental reasons - their chapter has since closed in my life. It's time to let go. Letting go has been a lot easier with those who're supposed to be on their way out... much, much easier than I thought.

I was also able to see some people in different lights. There are those dear friends and family that I love, always will, and I truly believe will always be a part of my life. If it's meant to be, it will be. I've learnt being a part of my life doesn't mean separation anxiety once you disappear. True friendships are not about those who are with you every day doing randomness, it's about those who are there when the chips are down and ready to help you back up. I have a few gems.

“You need to learn how to select your thoughts just

the same way you select your clothes every day.

This is a power you can cultivate. If you want to

control things in your life so bad, work on the mind.

That’s the only thing you should be trying to control.”

-Elizabeth Gilbert

Toni Morrison once said, "If you wanna fly, you got to give up the sh*t that weighs you down." With that said, I've learned to say 'no.' Since I'm no longer stretching myself thinly, badgering myself about doing things I don't really want to do, joining projects, adding new hobbies, etc... I get to do more things that make me happy and, by default, others. They say when you walk with purpose, you collide with destiny. I wrote a whole post about this a few months back. Once your attitude to life changes, the things you attract changes. When you open yourself to the mere possibility of possibilities, they start to reveal themselves because finally you're ready for them.

With that said, despite the softer, happier, more content note this year is closing on, there have been a few deaths of people I knew, or knew by virtue of association, close calls of others I know and those now discovering the possibility of the end. It struck home the fragility of life and how important it is to live for today. There's no young or old when death decides to come. It's important that those who you care about, know that you care and most importantly... that you care about yourself.

When you're gone... it's kind of like that story of the horse with the limp leg fetching a bag of grain on its back. No one knew where it came from, but they could've told you where it went from the trail of grain and dragged hoof marks. What sort of trail are you leaving behind? What's your story? And... it's never too late to change that story.

Les Brown said that people often wonder about what sort of funerals they would have, who would come, who truly cares, etc. But, no one ever thinks about all the hopes and dreams that would surround your casket dead with you... lamenting that you were the only person they felt capable of achieving these brilliant dreams and now, they're going to die with you. The graveyard is the richest place on Earth - it's filled the best ideas and inventions that never came to pass.

People focus too much on why things can't be done, rather than what can be done. Remember the road to mediocrity is paved by the hands of practical people. None of the great inventions past, and great inventions to come, were deemed practical nor possible but it just requires the belief that it could be done... and the attempt of doing it. And as the saying goes... there are the people who make history, and the people who endure it.

"I tried to teach [them] how to be kings,

And all they ever wanted to be were soldiers..."

-Jay-Z

On that note, as another friend told me a few weeks ago, "turn your bruises into wisdom." Let each day be a testimony of your daily effort to self-improvement, another effort towards achieving your own personal greatness, and another day of bestowing some sort of positivity/happiness into the world. I mean, there will be bad days though, some days are meant to be counted, other days are meant to be weighed. And remember that ruin is the road to transformation - only after you've broken down the bad, weaker parts can you build a stronger structure.

Happy New Year everybody!

*kiss kiss*

New hair for the New Year (again)

And today was a day just like any other...

2011-12-11T21:48:00.001-04:00

... or not. It could also be the day I graduated to the world of being a business woman.

We shall have no better conditions in the future if

we are satisfied with all those which we have at present.

-Thomas Edison

***

Recently, as mentioned previously, I've been trying to take my artwork more seriously and break into the art market. Naturally, it's not the easiest feat to accomplish, but I'm trying nuntheless. A ship is safe in harbour, but that is not what ships were built for.

With that said, I'm currently taking part in the "Jewels" exhibition at the Grenada Arts Council in town, located opposite the museum. I'm trying to commit to displaying my work on Friday's at Dodgy Docks, True Blue Bay Resort.

And today I took part in the True Blue Bay Resort annual Christmas bazaar.

Here are some quick early shots I took of my set-up with my phone camera.

And these following shots I borrowed from Dodgy Dock's album. (Click the hyperlink to see photos of the other bazaar stalls)

Photo creds: True Blue Resort

Oh! I do commissions as well. So if you're interested in a piece or a commission, or would like to see more, you're on my blog reading this post you already have a means of contacting me.

I respond to emails very quickly so... dpwithit@gmail.com

C'est tout.
Ciao,
Shelli out.

It was supposed to be so easy...

2011-12-06T19:39:00.001-04:00

...I had to do a fast hill climb, but a faster decline

But I flew a bit quick, arms like a lunatic

Had to stop for a few ticks, I started feeling sick..

-'It was supposed to be so easy' The Streets

Long photo post ahead...

So due to lack of time and laziness, what should today be one post, shall be two posts combined - the trip prior and today's.

I don't think I could ever say it enough... As much as I sometimes momentarily display apprehension and reluctance to go on these trips, they have all been truly epic experiences filled with epic memories that you can tell epic stories from. I've been blessed with the repeated opportunity to see Grand Etang through real eyes rather than the touristy eyes.

I get to walk through, breathe clean air and smell the forest. I don't know all the different types of plants/trees there to identify them (as yet) but there's the woody scents with a tinge of mint and the floral scents of the wild heliconias and so forth.

I'm too tired to watermark all the photos so... if you borrow a shot, please credit.

***

The first batch of photos were from scoping the lands in Cloziér and Morne Lounge.

Both trails were along the agricultural belts.

Some of the team - myself, Daneille, Ezra & Jody

Morne Lounge

Ez and Daneille

Dennis

Myself (don't ask, I don't know what happened with my expression either) & Kester (Forest Ranger/Monkey expert)

We're going in... Clozier

Jody, looking for the spot to start with the GPS

Daneille and Myself

Nutmeg!

Daneille

Jody & Mr. Jeremiah

Riding at the back of the pick up!

Some older shots I was supposed to post as well from 1910 ft trail...

Drinking water from a stream deep in the forest...

Drinking from the stream

LIME, signal clear even deep in the jungle...

Muddy boots!

***

Today...

The irony about today's trip is that we ended up at the Seven Sisters Falls at the end of the journey... and just last night I was telling some of my mum's friends that I had never been there before. Her friends aren't Grenadian, just got here the other day, and have been there already.

I'm not quite sure how to describe this trip. Normally, Ez would be exhausted pretty early in the game if there's many mountains to climb but she didn't. I can't quite say I felt particularly "I give up" tired at any one point. However, it did seem, to me, longer than our usual trips. But that is probably because we didn't have a defined, pre-planned route to take.

Anyways, it was a fun adventure, as per usual.

OH! And after allllllll the trekking, we saw monkeys when we came out of the forest.

Dr. P, Linda and Mr. Nimrod. All the happy faces as we just begin...

Dr. Pilcher, Linda, Jody & Ez

What was that?! Did you hear it too?

Mr. Nimrod on his way down

Heliconia

Mr. Nimrod climbing down the side

One of the (unintentional) fruits of our labour... stumbling upon the beautiful Seven Sisters Falls.
These are the first two of the seven.

Ezra, Jody, Kester (our Forestry rep/Monkey expert), Mr. Nimrod

Myself

Check back soon, tentatively, there might be more pics from today's trip.

Deuces.

Little pieces of heaven...

2011-12-02T00:28:00.001-04:00

Ok this is going to be a quick post that's back linked for more information. I'm sure everyone is already fully aware that if you want delicious pastries - salty or sweet, or cappuccinos, or coffee, or smoothies... The place to go is Sweet Traditions at Bruce St. Mall in the town of St. George's. I don't need to advertise that. Their goodies speak for themselves and spread the word.

Now... here's something you didn't know. I try my best to find and post stuff that's unique and that more people should know about locally. I, personally, haven't been to this place as yet but I trust my friend, Sher's, judgement. She's normally my partner in crime on the haunts for unique places/events.

Let's say you want a nice, classy, chill place to relax and just sip a cup of tea and ponder life... A health spa of sorts? Such a place is also at Bruce St. Mall, but upstairs.

You're interest is piqued now? Want more pics and information? Scoot over to Sher's blog and peek. She wrote a lovely post on this place, that's how I found out.

Click anywhere on this sentence to go directly there. She has specific details on the location and what you can expect to find there.

Looking for love... and now that I've found you

2011-12-02T00:10:00.001-04:00

Exams are finally done!

Local musical interlude?

Old..... Dokkman "Lookin 4 luv"

New.... "Dreamer" Akeem
A few music posts back I spoke about my friend Akeem. He finally released his first official video. Peek see...!

Ciaoz!

This one moment of vanity...

2011-11-23T16:49:00.001-04:00

To those waiting on the latest Grand Etang post....... you shall have to wait a bit more. All the pics are on my mum's laptop and she has it. Plus, last week of school = most assignments, quizzes, exams, etc.

I'm currently working on my Invertebrate Zoology lab, but I'm getting a head ache. Thus, I've decided to take a quick break to post something.

Mussels! Under a dissecting microscope that is... (taken with my cellphone camera)

Since I'm drawing blanks for a topic beyond the internal structure of mussels... Whilst sitting in the hallway, the late afternoon sun casted an interesting light and I found myself taking pictures - - - of my hands.

If you've been following my blog regularly, you would've seen that I've only taken to painting my nails as of recent. That and cutting/styling my hair that is.

I've already lost momentum with the hair bit, too high maintenance. I'm just waiting for it to grow back so my typical "librarian bun" can happen with ease once more.

As for my nails, I used to find millions of excuses as to why not paint them. Previously, I used to use pastels and charcoals more actively as a favourite medium. As consequence, I used to keep my nails a bit shorter and well, my fingers were constantly covered with pigment stains.

This year, I've taken to using paints more. So instead of fingers, the rest of my body and clothes gets stained from my wildness. I know, I know, fail.

Sooo... seeing I've fallen in love with my hands and have become narcisstic with it and for my personal amusement - I'm going to post my collection of hand photos thus far. You can stop reading now if you like...

And today

posted from Bloggeroid

The end has come many times, and will continue to come...

2011-11-22T08:42:00.001-04:00

Once more - computerless. Expect no major photoposts any time soon since I'm posting from my phone...

***

I managed to get a spot to display some of my art work at True Blue Bay resort from 7-10 pm on Fridays.

Here are a few samples...

Carenage at night (original)

(Print)

(Print)

(Original)

(Print)

And lastly... my newest (and among the oldest because I started this years ago...) finished piece

sooo... that's all for now. Check back soon... you never know the luck of a lousy cat.

Ciao

posted from Bloggeroid

Randoms...

2011-11-16T19:35:00.001-04:00

I'm super busy once more and I don't have time to do a proper update.

However, I did brunch with a friend today and I was showing her some prints of the pieces in my budding portfolio. She inquired about prices and then we got into a heated discussion as to why it's not within the price range of 5-10$ U.S.

I guess this is what most people fail to realize... Art supplies are expensive - at least the preferential good artist quality not student quality supplies. And piecing them all together aside from the financial aspect takes time - How much is an hour of your life worth?

For example, cakes are expensive to order. Granted when you're making a cake you don't necessarily use the whole bag of sugar, all the butter, all the flour, all the milk, etc. But it's not to say you can always walk in the store and conveniently find everything in perfect quantities. There's the flat cost of materials and then there's the cost of the time involved in making and designing the cake.

With my pieces, it's on the relatively low price range since I'm new at it. However, I do have to factor in the cost of the canvas, paints, mounting board, etc. in the pricing...

Here's a quote I found in an Art Forum:

This reminds me of the story about Christian Dior. He made a hat for a lady and charged her £500 for it. She said,"Thats ridiculous for a bit of silk and a feather."

He took the feather and the length of silk off the hat, gave it to the lady and said;
"The silk and the feather are free, it is £500 for me putting them together."

End of story.

Like mountains around Jerusalem...

2011-11-08T11:50:00.001-04:00

Ok, I promise to ease up on the nature posts. This is going to be the last one until something epic happens again.

This is the closest we got to any monkey thus far on the trips.

Myself
Photo creds: Dennis

Daneille & the monkey

We went once more on the monkey pop. estimate project. This time, we went to cut a fresh 1km transect in the forest. To those like myself who grew up like a town girl, trekking through the wilderness is an adventure for me... hence the frequency of outdoor posts these days as each trip is like stepping into a wonder world.

With that said, I must say that I'm really enjoying the degree I'm pursuing. Were I not doing it, I would never have had such opportunities to see the other parts of Grand Etang - as opposed to merely the tourist view. Truth be told, I keep saying I want to go camping, and hiking, and so forth. The reality is, as with many people, it never happens. The right time never comes, the right people never arrive and life goes on.

My courses don't permit me the luxury of toying with the idea from the comforts of my bed on a Friday morning. Rather, it mandates that I have to go out there into the field, get down and dirty, and think like a biologist.

Wayne & Daneille

Dennis

Wayne & Daneille

So this trip was the second time I went off-trail in the forest but the first time I ever went this deep within it. We started cutting our trail from the road according to our GPS coordinates (random sampling selected location).

Wayne trying to find our GPS location

I was the first to fall, but mind you everyone fell. It was ridiculously slippery from the mud and the slope was relatively steep. We, the group, found ourselves having to hoist ourselves up, try to grab onto tree trunks and clutch onto vines to proceed. Of course the forest rangers did all of the above with ease... Not even a proper mile in, most of us were half-jokingly lamenting about wanting to go back home and re-pondering whether we should've just used the tourist trails to conduct the studies. This was at the point when there was a muddy mini-cliff face about 6-8 ft. tall that while it didn't scream broken limbs surely said inevitable slip & slide downhill... and while one does factor in you would get dirty in the forest, I don't think any of us really intended to get dirty at all - to slide downhill meant to get muddy. Wayne slid down, completely unintentional but it looked deliberate. Krisma and I did a jump and clutch onto trees thing... I believe the others did a tentative walk down and around...

Forest ranger cutting the trail. Ez pondering if to proceed.

And so it began... Wayne in front, followed by Daneille and Ezra.

See how steep? This is close to where I first fell.

Ez trying to figure out an easy way to make it work.

We got sliced by razor grass. This was my first experience ever with it. Daneille made the warning announcement but I didn't know what it was nor what it looked like... We walked through a canopy of razor grass, I quickly found out. It got stuck to my clothes... After my first fall, I switched my shoes from water boots to all terrain sandals. Dennis was helping me remove the razor grass. Apparently, unbeknownst to me and Dennis, some was under my pants around my ankles... He held the grass firmly to pull it off and when it did, it sliced my ankles.

Wayne - first cut

The razor grass...

Our path through the razor grass

There were certain parts in the forest that was absolutely gorgeous. It almost made me want to go camping... almost because it would mean that I would have to re-do my entire slide & slide/razor grass journey all over again - with baggage.

Krisma & Daneille measuring - note this time, Daneille's the one wearing a raincoat in dry weather.

Ez... taking a mini break
Photo creds: Dennis

Daneille, Jody & Wayne
Photo creds: Dennis

We did the transect using a 50 meter tape - one group at the front walking with the tape, another at the back holding the tape. We repeated this for the entire... kilometer.

Daneille holding the tape.

Sinking mud... Wayne & me

Braving the environment...

So in the end, out of excitement, Jody, myself and Daneille ran off in excitement after completing the 1 km. We left those behind and took off trying to catch up with others ahead... We didn't. It was the stuff horror movies were made of. Three girls in a forest, by themselves, lost. We found ourselves trying to look for fresh foot prints, ignoring weird forest noises... At one point, we ran out of water and filled our bottles from a fresh stream...

Ok, so that is all half- true. We were a little worried but we weren't entirely lost. We stayed on the shoreline trail, aka, stayed close to the lake under the premise that we must reach the other side eventually. Then we heard voices, saw the jetty and the rest is history.

Dennis and myself watching our muddy shoes whilst sitting on the jetty.

We were over there yonder...

Aye Caramba... Dennis & I exhausted.

The end.

"When you walk with purpose, you collide with destiny..."

2011-11-02T10:51:00.000-04:00

-Bertrice Berry

...and of course, in order to make that collision, you must first

muster up the confidence to take that first step.

***

It's funny how things happen. I've always been an artist at heart. I excelled in all the artsy subjects in school. However, I've always been on the fence about taking it seriously. I have a few paintings here and there. I've done the occasional gift, one or two commissions, nothing serious... but recently I have found myself trying to take my hobby seriously and develop a proper portfolio and such. I even did a quick portfolio blog page over the weekend.

Prior to this, I have always met discouraging people who don't believe it would make a lucrative career and so forth because of the time investment, markets, etc. involved. However, funnily enough, since I've started making a few tentative steps forward I've been meeting the most amazing artists who've made successful careers out of what they do - for fun. It's been a series of GMH (Gives Me Hope) moments to help keep my inspiration going to finish my current portfolio goal.

So last night, I was with one of my new friends, Caesar, who is a local graphic designer. Trust me when I say you must've already seen his work somewhere. He does illustrations, websites, flyers, business cards (and greeting cards), advertisements, logos, book covers, animations and the list goes on and on...

Don't believe me when I say you must've seen his work somewhere? The following are a few samples that I borrowed from his Facebook page.

.................................

***

So what does all this have to do with me? As an artist, instead of selling all my originals, I've decided to do a few prints of those I'm reluctant to part with. So... I stepped over to Caesar's office to see what could be done. He showed me some hard copy samples of his work. I saw first hand, behind-the-scenes how the designs get created (I'm horrible at using software to manipulate a picture, I'm better at just using my hands), what other tools are used and how to use them, and the differences and difficulties in deciding on which mediums to use. I never knew that there was so much deliberation involved in deciding what kind of paper to use, much less which type of printer would do the job best.

***

Firstly, I didn't realize the blur in some of the shots until I uploaded it on my mum's laptop.

I took a few quick shots with my phone.

Business cards are roughly $150 E.C. to design and $0.50 E.C. to print single sided. $1 to print double sided. Design prices can vary from, but the printing price has to be followed because of running costs.

A match-box business card

It clips in....

It opens out... it's the business card that sells your product while reminding people who you are.

His personalized cards are about $ 7. I saw a few personalized birthday cards and mother's day cards. I didn't post those up because a few were collages of pictures of the intended recipients.

Christmas "Thank You" cards for clients

Experimental prints... which printer? which paper? which effects?

Trimming with the guillotine

A rough quickie example... the finished product.

The most important part...

....

My prints!!!

I have to re-confirm the pricing. However, it varies upon size... An 8*11 inch print would cost about $5 E.C. and the price remains the same regardless of which printer or type of paper he uses... or even which effect you're going for - matte or gloss.

***

I didn't do many prints as it was just a test run. Much thanks to Caesar for taking time out of very

busy schedule to help me out. I'm extremely pleased with what I have thus far.

OH! And in case you're maco-vision didn't pick up his contact information in the pictures... and you're interested in contacting him. (His name below is hyperlinked to his Facebook page for easy clicking)

Caesar Gangadeen

Cell #: (473) 420 1110

C'est tout.
Shelli out

Up inna di bush we goooin...

2011-11-01T14:18:00.000-04:00

(Carenage clean-up post has been updated with more photos)

Mona Monkey Project

Day: 1

This post is going to be mostly a photo post as there's not much to say thus far.

One of my courses requires my classmates and myself to undergo an environmental research project. My group has decided to do a study in collaboration with the Ministry of Forestry. Our study is to find out whether using vocalizations are an effective method to getting population estimates of the local Mona monkey population.

Thus far, we've just been familiarizing ourselves with the terrain, figuring out the GPS devices, where to lay transects, etc.

Our location was off a trail near 1910 in Grand Etang. It took us about 20 minutes to get the GPS devices to co-operate with us. 15 minutes to descend the trail because it was slippery and we realized we might not have the proper gear for the trip. And... about 3 hours of fun trail-walking after reconciling that the mud, razor grass and mosquitoes were our friends. Well... not so much the bush mosquitoes but the trip itself was fun.

I'm lazy to water mark my photos...

Riding at the back of the truck

Krisma and Jody fiddling with the GPS

Ez and me... look at my hair *sigh*

How the trail began...

Kester (in Green) one of our Forestry experts

The descent

Krisma and Jody trailing behind...

We're going in!

Me!

Jody and... the guiding stick.

Daneille and the view finder... we heard a monkey!

Sigh... mud

Ez climbing over a fallen tree... Krisma in her protective rain gear

We reach!

Jody trying to map our location

Jody, our diligent GPS 'figure-outter'

Daneille

Forest Rep.and Ez coming down

Photo creds: Daneille

C'est tout.

Is we own!

2011-10-23T17:29:00.003-04:00

We successfully did the Carenage clean-up yesterday. We had 5 snorkelers and 6 scuba divers.

Honestly, it was a bit tricky getting volunteers for the project because many of the people we approached seemed to be so wary of the Carenage water. I don't know about other members, but when I approached people they were with me for the refreshments and free gear and then I mention it's on the Carenage - a complete 180 happens. The reality is, we could see the garbage so we're more conscious about the possibility of the water being highly polluted. However, the water circulates twice a day and thus flushes the garbage out. It's dirty, yes, but proven and tested within the marginal safety region of a few other popular places on the island of which you'd be surprised.

Think about it, where does the Cross Harbour swim competitions start from? If it were that diseased and polluted, would we really risk people's health that way?

I'm excited about this post so I can't wait on everyone's photos to go up and to get the data cards. You're just going to have to pass back and check this post in a few days to see the extra added stuff.

From basic observation, there is a lot of garbage in the water. The items we encountered mostly were bottles, found along the shallow parts near the sidewalk. In Dragon Bay, we had found many plastic bottles. This time it was mostly glass bottles - Carib & Heineken beer bottles, rum & vodka bottles & malt. Not surprisingly, the majority that we found (my team) were located where the Rhum Runner is docked. (We didn't go past that point)

The oddest items that I saw were vehicle tires. I have no idea how nor why they were there and they were all of varying sizes. We didn't even try to bring them up this time. It was a struggle to get the ONE tire from Dragon Bay as it was absurdly heavy... and we're female. As my mother would say, "Easy lesson, good for dunce."

Another group of snorkelers found a baby stroller.

Check back soon for the actual data of our discoveries and more pictures of the whole crew. My phone camera apparently didn't take all the photos I initially thought it did. *sigh*

***

Wayne (Eco member), sorting through the snorkel gear

Ez & I (Eco members) waiting for the event to start

Me in my suit, getting ready to go in

Jody (Eco member) getting ready to go in - sorting through fins.

My accident prone self got scratched by God knows what...

Let the discoveries start to pile up...

Christabelle & Makeda (Eco members) in the background. Dr. Pilcher's husband & friend's daughter in the foreground. They're observing the garbage.

Dr. Pilcher (faculty adviser of the group & our Wildlife & Conservation expert), Leyana (Eco member), Liberty (volunteer) & Danielle (Eco member) sorting through the garbage.

Ezra

Caleb & Sean (volunteers)

That's all for now...!

Check back soon for updates!

***

Extra pics! Photo creds to Wayne.

Lania & Lexi

...But most of y'all don't get the picture unless the flash is on

2011-10-21T00:02:00.006-04:00

My last update for the night.

As you may or may not know, the Ocean Conservancy is currently having their annual International Coastal Clean-Up event. The event comprises of 150 countries, between the months of September and October, hosting clean-ups with the hopes of raising awareness about maintaining a healthy, clean environment - both on land and sea.

A few posts back I wrote about the Dragon Bay underwater beach clean up.

Recently, Friday 14th Oct., our SGU group ECO hosted a campus clean up. The rationale behind it is that more often than not, trash on land gets washed into the sea eventually via drains, rivers, rain, etc. Therefore, we're trying to do our part to ease the amount of garbage that makes it into the marine environment.

Fact: It takes each of these X amount of years to decompose...

Cigarette butts 1-5 years
Six-pack soda/beer can plastic holders 400 years
Wool socks 1-5 years
Plastic containers 450 years
Plastic coated paper 3 months
Plastic bags 10-20 years
Leather 50-60 years
Nylon 600 years
Aluminium cans 80 years
Glass bottles 1000 years

So... assuming you're an SGU (St. George's University) student and you're familiar with the campus. We started at Taylor Hall/KBT, went along the field, passed the marine station, behind the library, down to black sand beach and back. In other words, we attempted to cover most of the campus. The clean up lasted about an hour. The following is a sample of our findings.

Plastic Bags 106

Plastic Bottles 169

Glass Bottles 86

Beverage Cans 56

Bottle caps/Lids 155

Clothing /Shoes 27

Eating Utensils 75

Food Wrappers/Containers 299

Cigarettes/filters 1193

Tobacco Packaging 32

Note how many cigarette butts we found? Most of the cigarettes were found in front of Taylor Hall, and the dorms near the court. Greater irony, since the clean up... the drains in front of Taylor are filled with butts as well as in front of Taylor itself. There's a bin just for cigarettes, yet the students seem to miss it completely and it just lands on the ground.

Christopher retrieving garbage from the cactus.

Some volunteers & ECO members:
Stephon(Volunteer), Jody & Nerissa, Christopher(Volunteer)

Me, don't laugh. -.-

Our island paradise.

Bed time!

Night

Oh! We're having one final underwater clean-up Saturday coming (22nd Oct.). It shall be an underwater clean-up in the Carenage. We have our divers and snorkelers already... However, volunteers to clean around the Carenage itself, or the shoreline, are welcome. Public support? More than welcome as well. We have garbage bags.

Ciao

I feel like... the world mine. Just bow down. the world mine.

2011-10-20T20:15:00.001-04:00

Beware, long post ahead.

I'm so tired. My days are long, my nights are exhausting. I feel like I almost have no social life anymore. All I do is sleep, go to school, study, paint. I recently re-joined Facebook again, but I don't even have time to play with the new look too much, much less be perturbed about all the annoying game requests FB friends insist on sending.

***

Here comes another paper cut,

...But in the end, the devil always gets what he deserves

In light of an inspired postmortem of decisions I've made throughout recent years, situations I ended up in & stories I've heard from others of their experiences...

I've been thinking... Granted a hell does exist, I'm inclined to think there's a special place reserved for those who intentionally take advantage of the innocent and a special place reserved for chronic liars. It baffles me that some people have made it so far on the basis of sheer successful trickery and manipulation. The success rate is almost tempting to switch gears morally just to survive in these current economic times.

I had a recent encounter with an odd-end job that seemed valid enough. However, if I had taken just a few more minutes to do a proper background check rather than go on the basis of assumed trust because I met the person through someone dear to me, things would've played out differently. Fortunately, it wasn't too grand of an investment beyond time. The irony is, that in the end of it all, almost everyone that I know seems to have a story or know of a story of someone with a similar encounter. Stories, annoyingly enough late, are coming through the cracks like ants. Amazing huh? I can be Panglossian about it and say the story had to happen the way it did because it placed the spotlight in a few seemingly innocent places.

...but I'm a bit perturbed by the whole event because my time has, as of recent with all that's on my plate, become very expensive... and well, frankly, no one likes realizing they were deceived. It makes you question yourself and your judge of character. True it could happen to anyone... but right now, I don't feel that way.

Life lesson? Beware of strangers. Background checks are very important in business. Also, get it in writing.

I mean, the reality I guess is that's life. Additionally, I've found myself in situations I had hoped to never have to re-encounter again recently. However, all it has done is made me more suspect of people. More aware of the flaws of being human, because the truth is, people can be easily manipulated regardless, granted they are given the right bribes. Hell, there are books written on this. Recently, a dear friend of mine encouraged me to read two books - "The 48 laws of Power" and "Art of Seduction" by Robert Greene. It was incredibly disturbing. What's interesting is that we all use manipulation in small ways to get what we want in life. However, what was disturbing was the systematic yet plausible layout of book with a clear rationale. In one of them, I can't remember which one... one of the online reviews had someone who practiced the mindset of the book to test it, to get someone to prove they could do it, and well... didn't know how to live normal afterwards because their whole existence was fabricated to suit their intentions... The art of manipulation requires you to constantly maintain and create masks to present to the world.

Point form excerpt below...

Law 1 Never Outshine the Master

Always make those above you feel comfortably superior. In your desire to please or impress them, do not go too far in displaying your talents or you might accomplish the opposite – inspire fear and insecurity. Make your masters appear more brilliant than they are and you will attain the heights of power.

Law 2 Never put too Much Trust in Friends, Learn how to use Enemies

Be wary of friends-they will betray you more quickly, for they are easily aroused to envy. They also become spoiled and tyrannical. But hire a former enemy and he will be more loyal than a friend, because he has more to prove. In fact, you have more to fear from friends than from enemies. If you have no enemies, find a way to make them.

Law 3 Conceal your Intentions

Keep people off-balance and in the dark by never revealing the purpose behind your actions. If they have no clue what you are up to, they cannot prepare a defense. Guide them far enough down the wrong path, envelope them in enough smoke, and by the time they realize your intentions, it will be too late.

Law 12 Use Selective Honesty and Generosity to Disarm your Victim

One sincere and honest move will cover over dozens of dishonest ones. Open-hearted gestures of honesty and generosity bring down the guard of even the most suspicious people. Once your selective honesty opens a hole in their armor, you can deceive and manipulate them at will. A timely gift – a Trojan horse – will serve the same purpose.

Law 27 Play on People’s Need to Believe to Create a Cultlike Following

People have an overwhelming desire to believe in something. Become the focal point of such desire by offering them a cause, a new faith to follow. Keep your words vague but full of promise; emphasize enthusiasm over rationality and clear thinking. Give your new disciples rituals to perform, ask them to make sacrifices on your behalf. In the absence of organized religion and grand causes, your new belief system will bring you untold power.

The book itself is more detailed. It speaks a subconscious truth, an conscious curse. The two books together can do two things, inspire you to learn the art of manipulation or make you more wary of peoples actions. I'm way too lazy to actively, deliberately employ these tactics... I can't even keep a study routine beyond 2 days much less set about reprogramming my entire mind to entrap one person. Furthermore, I'm one of those rainbow, tree-hugger, optimistic, potentially naive 'still believe there's good in the world' people that follow that 'never compromise your integrity for fortune, fame or power' and the religious good actions will be repaid eventually. It may take a while to reap the benefits compared to quick schemes, but in my mind, it makes more practical sense. Plus, it requires less effort.

I mean, I've been in situations in college where students cheated throughout on their in-class essay exams, got straight As. Whereas I had to work had to bring my C up to an A grade, and maintain it. I could've cheated but how would that benefit me? I would've graduated not having truly learned anything and had a grade that did not necessarily represent knowledge attained. Then when CAPE came around, those same people struggled to scrape a B, if so much, and I got the grade I worked for, and had been working for. See? Now I can write near-perfect essays in University. Small scale example of temporary benefits with a long term effort.

***

It brings me back to a theory on karma that Sher and I have been musing on... That is, everything that goes around, comes around. Therefore you should mind what you do. However, if you do bad, expect bad to happen back. But if you do bad to innocent, good people, expect the repercussions to be much, much higher than I don't know... stealing lunch from a serial killer? With that said, no one walks through life without committing a few sins and stepping on a few toes, but know that no deed - good or bad - goes unpaid. Also, those who need the satisfaction of witnessing, generally do. So try to make sure the show you're setting up the stage for is a relatively good one.

As we would say here in Grenada, 'I ain't go hype no scene...' But everything comes full circle. If you've convinced yourself you've gotten away with a crime - trust me, you haven't.

"Moonlight run 'til daylight ketch 'im."

***

Moving along... in my last post I mentioned an art portfolio that I'm developing. I'm working on a tentative series that hopefully should be in stores near you before the year is up. My plan was to have at least 10 pieces done over the last couple weeks. The result? I got 10 pieces priced collectively, factoring in pieces I've done already. New deadline re-established.

Some of the mounting board I collected already

I've successfully gotten some people to sponsor mounting board sheets. A big thank you to all those who have donated or plan to donate. *Sends showers of hugs and kisses*Those interested in getting me a sheet, I'm offering a tentative future small complimentary piece done upon request granted I have the time and materials. My friends already know I'm pretty generous with my artwork anyways, so worry not.

A sneak preview of some of my pieces thus far...

State of affair of my room.
I recently started back working with pastels & charcoals.

Heliconia (2010)
Soft Pastels

Trinidad Bouganvellia (or so I was told it was called) (2006)
Acrylics

Girl who is too sad to give a... (2011)
Acrylics

Carenage (2011)
Oil & Soft Pastels

***

That's all I'm willing to share currently.

When I've mounted everything, I'll post the finish.

Deuces.

Hands down, I'm too proud for love

2011-10-20T19:15:00.000-04:00

I've been stressed out so much recently. My schedule is out of whack. My eating habits are off. I'm on a busy hustle most of the time, trying to get my art portfolio up and ready. Plus, there's school. Long story short, a lot has been happening. I don't want to say I'm overwhelmed, but I can really use a break.

On one of super-exhausted, dreary days, a gf of mine dragged me out my house reluctantly under the guise of brunch to meet her in town and get my energy up a bit. We did the brunch thing, and then I went with her to the hairdresser. I normally don't get my hair done in Grenada unless it's by Shads, a friend of mine, who has gifted fingers with my hair type.

So, upon enquiry as to where my friend was going to take me, she said 'Horizon Plaza.' I didn't even know there was a place called Horizon Plaza in town. For those of you who don't already know it, or don't know your way around town like myself, it's on St. John's Street. Where is St. John's St.? It's that street that buses turn into when they're going up the hill to Convent or that street opposite the bus terminal on the corner of Beer Gardens (3 for 10). If you don't know which is Beer Gardens, it's the bar with all the mirrors in it.

End of digression. As you proceed up St. John's St., there's a tall cream building that says 'Horizon Plaza' on the very top. Enter, first floor, Judy's Beauty Salon.

Now, I must say I did not regret going. My friend Nata went to get her hair washed and curled. You know how this story tends to go... You go out with your friend, you have to wait with them somewhere, you end up being intrigued by something while you wait. This story is no different. If you've been following my blog you might've noticed my hair and I have had a strange, recent love affair. One in which it seems I'm most restless and dissatisfied and seemingly on a curiosity quest to try something new. I found myself asking the hair dresser about colouring my hair, pricing, etc... and I was so pleased by her responses that I ended up getting my hair done myself.

At the end of the photos, I'll tell you how much we ended up paying.

Renata post-hair wash

Me, pre-wash, having a vain moment. Notice, my hair is finally growing back.

Disa, the hair dresser, putting the curlers in Nata's hair.

Yes I know my mouth is open... blame Nata. It's only pic I have washing my hair that I like.

This was the part I loved - the service. Disa explained step by step what she was doing and why. She used the Vitale Shampoo & Conditioner. She also deep treated my hair. I learned that my hair is actually healthy. Also, got some advice on hair products that would work more effectively to moisturize my hair without making it greasy, or get dirty fast.

Getting it blow-dried.

Hot curling iron.

Flat ironing.

Completely flat-ironed.

I cut bangs.

All done.

G.P.O.Y. (Gratuitous Picture of Yourself)

Inside.

***

Guess how much we paid?

This is what we both did

Shampoo-ed & condition
Deep conditioned/treated
Blow-dried/(Nata went under the dryer)
Nata curled/I flat ironed
I cut a bang

It all costed...... (each)

$ 25 E.C.

Mind you, my hair is long. Generally, the hair dressers I've encountered charge according to length. Disa, our hair dresser, says that she sincerely loves doing hair so she doesn't believe in over pricing. While I was there too, I used like 4 towels. She doesn't like to see wet towels so she kept changing them throughout. And as I mentioned before, she answered my numerous questions. I was very pleased with the service received. I've been gushing for days about it. 4 days later, my hair still smells like strawberries, and still manageable and most importantly, still straight.

I prefer my hair with big waves, rather than bone straight. If I comb it out, it gets back bone straight... But if I finger comb it, it looks like this. This is my "movie star hair" look.

Also, notice how tired I look? I took the pic tonight... after I got home.

She does everything but jeri curl, and her prices are reasonable.

Wanna make an appointment?
I encourage you to try her just once and see for yourself.

Call Disa at (473) 415 4392

C'est tout.
Shelli

How to make Mac & Cheese (seriously)

2011-10-11T18:28:00.000-04:00

Ok, so this post is more for personal amusement than anything else. I grew up on having almost everything homemade... so the recipes I learned (and don't really remember) are all home recipes. Recently, my mom came back from the States and did something unprecedented - Normally she isn't an advocate for such but... she brought back a few packets of mac & cheese for me. For purposes of easy traveling, she removed the contents from their original boxes and ziplocked them.

It was the first time I had mac & cheese - from a box.

Now this put yours truly in a quandary. How do I make this? There's no box with a recipe on it... I've never had it before... I don't know how it's supposed to look at the end.

I do, however, know how the oh-so-good macaroni & cheese pie looks and tastes... *rubs tummy nostalgically*

So, here is a photo documentation of my trials and tribulations with making mac & cheese - from a box(or ziplock bag).

***

The macaroni and cheese packet.

First step: Observe the specimen

This step is pretty simple. It's typical pasta that just cooks faster. I mean, theoretically speaking, since it is supposed to be a "quick easy to make" meal.

Step 2: Boil water

Step 3: (not necessary) Pour out cheese packet into a bowl

Let me explain why this happened. I noticed some ants near my goods. I was suspect. I opened it to see if they were trying to attack my cheese and whether they succeeded. *perturbed expression* Luckily, they didn't.

Step 4: Add pasta to hot water & stir occasionally.

Step 5: Drain water

Step 6: Add cheese

Step 7: Stir

Step 8: Serve and eat.

***

So I may have deceived a little. This is the third and last packet. The first one I had to acquire the taste, which made me feel nauseous... but then as is typical with me, regardless of whether I like something or not, I start to crave it. Now I'm all out of mac & cheese. Le sigh.

Shelli out.

(depressed)

Cuz all I see is fireworks... taking off like fireworks...

2011-10-08T19:15:00.000-04:00

"My 15 minutes started an hour ago...

...this life is something I would die for."

-Drake

Wow, I'm laptop-less for a few months and Blogger does like 5 revolutions on me with the user interface. Blog template might change a couple times, pretty soon, too. Consider it your heads up before you think you've come to the wrong address.

Apologies all around for the lack of recent posts, I've been super busy recently. I've got my hands on a lot of different projects - school-wise and with my personal life. Yes I know I've spent quite a lot of time on my blog occasionally lamenting about not doing enough, wanting a job, etc. It's amazing how things start to fall in place once you start making some movements. All it takes is one step with some positive energy, and you start to draw more ideas and opportunities towards yourself. While I'm uncertain as to how successful I'm going to be in all these new endeavours, I'm pretty excited and at the very least - I'd have experience, which is something more than I have right now.

It's a beautiful thing, taking steps forward and watching the platform form below your feet with each fumbling, uncertain step.

This will be a long photo post to appease any curious minds... Or who knows, half-way through I might decide to split it for efficient labeling purposes. Anyways, do enjoy.

Oh!! And if you wanna know what I'm up to I'm pretty active of twitter these days (given the circumstances and relying primarily on my cellie). --- > http://twitter.com/eliknowsit

***

"...I'm living in the 21st Century

doing something mean to it..."

-Kanye West

***

As mentioned previously, I'm currently doing my bachelors in Biology, specializing in Wildlife & Conservation and Marine (that's two tracks). The Wildlife & Conservation track is relatively new and we have a relatively small cozy developing student body. Those under that track, primarily, a few semesters back we decided to form an environmental conservation and awareness group named ECO.

Last semester, if you're a local reading this, we were involved with the Marine Anti-Litter Campaign. We targeted schools - primary and secondary - with presentations, hosted beach clean-ups, had a few radio and TV talk shows. I actually had a nice elaborate post to do on this with pictures. Let this be a lesson on procrastination folks, my laptop is down and so are the pics. *sigh*

The good news, we're doing big things this semester too. We're handling the Ocean Conservancy's annual International Coastal Clean-up Campaign in Grenada. You should be hearing us on the radio and TV again pretty soon.

Thus far, we had one underwater clean-up at Dragon Bay, located in the marine protected area between Flamingo Bay and Molinere. It was the first time I went there. I unintelligently didn't cover most of my upper body and had the delightful experience of swimming through give or take a million jellyfish? Ok, I'm exaggerating, but you get the point. Fortunately, they were all big enough for me to see pulse by but small enough to sting like an ant bite.

**Random knowledge**
Dragon Bay got it's name because the bay "looks like a dragon." If you look at it with a creative mindset, you can see the head, the hump and the tail formed along the bay.

It was about an hour-two hour outing, September 30th. We had a team scuba divers and snorkelers (4 divers, 3 snorkelers) and our purpose was to retrieve as much garbage as possible within the allotted time.

I'm not a diver, so I was on the snorkling team. That was the closest I've ever been to our reefs, it was an amazing experience. The funny thing is that we spent most of the time over the reefs looking for garbage - and found nothing. Then we got closer to the beach and I swear it looked as if someone burnt a compost heap at the bottom of the sea. There were plastic bottles, cans, clothing, shoes, etc. in the midst of sediments/mud. We even found a car tire. Why would you dump a tire on a beach? Furthermore, why would you dump any of those things in the sea?

Out of sight, out of mind is not the right mindset to have. At the very least of the problem, all of those things are unsightly, especially since we're marketing ourselves as a picturesque location. Not because it's a random hidden beach behind God's back means it's a free-for-all dumping grounds. It's disgusting, not a good look folks. If you won't throw the garbage on the floor in your house and dance around it, don't do it in the environment either. The island is our home and there are facilities available to take care of disposables. Stop acting like your parents didn't teach you cleanliness in your upbringing.

I hate to see people walking the streets and throwing their cans, wrappers, bottles, etc right as they're walking when a bin is just a mere few feet away. You know what that says about you aside from being lazy? I'm digressing...

On the grander scheme of things, it's bad for the environment. Most of those things are not biodegradable. Plastics, for example, never really break down completely - the particles just get smaller. Then the marine life consumes it - then we consume the fish.

Anyways, all garbage ends up in the sea eventually - think about it. So please be mindful.

As I mentioned before, we didn't spend a long time at the clean-up so the collected garbage is not an accurate representation of the amount of garbage that was on that beach. However, it is an odd revelation of the items that people chose to litter rather than just dispose properly.

There were tampons, dolls/toys, plastic bags, bottles, cans, shoes, plastic bottles, clothes, snack wrappers and the list goes on.

And a picture of the team.

Photo: Dive Grenada
Quoted from Dive Grenada "Majority of the garbage were tin cans and beverages, proving that everything on land DOES end up in the ocean! So be careful to dispose your garbage and make sure it ends up in a bin!"

The project was a collaborative effort with Dive Grenada, located by the Flamboyant Hotel in Grand Anse. I got this photo off their Facebook page.

***

End of first post.

Phoeey...

*Next post*
Ok... or maybe not.
Shelli out.

Cellphone Chronicles: A walk under the tunnel

2011-09-13T19:33:00.001-04:00

This is a test post. My laptop charger is still down (in case I mentioned that previously) so I'm still functionally laptop-less. I do, however, finally have an sd card for my phone so I can take and save photos.

This pic was taken by Sher, under the Sendall Tunnel. I added the bloglink with Picsay app.

C'est tout.
Au revoire.

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Let's try something new...

2011-09-12T10:04:00.000-04:00

posted from Bloggeroid

Cellphone Chronicles: Hollaback young'n - ohh ohh!

2011-09-01T11:15:00.001-04:00

I'm in class. The charger for my laptop is out of commission. My mini sd cards also went missing en route to Grenada. Le sigh.

A friend of mine said that maybe it's all a sign and it happened for the best. However, while I generally buy into that philosophy like its my manta... you know, get all panglossian on the universe. Today is not the day which I want to hear that.

*sigh* At least I can update off my phone. Picture-less updates but updates nuntheless. Smartphones, saving the world - one technological disaster aversion at a time.

In case you didn't know, great things are happening for Grenada. One of our very own, a very humble 18 year old, Kirani James, is now a World Champ. athlete. He got the gold in his race, knocked out the previous champ. Google it. *cheers*

Additionally, I'm working on my first mural. Hopefully I'll post some soon.

Class is about to start. Better update soon.

Ciaoz.

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Cellphone Chronicles: Don't take me home... until the sun comes up.

2011-08-23T01:01:00.002-04:00

So it's been a while - fret not. This is a brief apology/quick update for the lack of updates.

I've been busy. It has been an eventful summer. I have a bunch of photos to post in an uber long post to compensate for my absence. School has resumed, so I'm back on the grind.

Much has changed however. Funnily enough, I realized this summer, that summer always seems to have a poignant penchant for being the poetic mark of grand endings and beginnings. With that being said, another sun-soaked season fades away but nuntheless leaving the bittersweet residual taste of experience.

Lessons learned? In a world that pushes the trend to always do something for something. Sometimes its that volunteer effort which expects nothing that has the greater return in moments least expected and most desired. Never knock volunteer work... the Bible does say something about giving and getting double than when you simple take & take right? (I know... that's rich coming from me - Bible quoting that is. Believe it or not, I actually went to church this summer too. I'm re-giving this spirituality/Christian thing another go..)

Next, tequila brings out honesty in the least edited way possible. Therefore, strive to keep it 100 with those you care about truly and stop denying your true feelings. Putting up a front renders one with nothing at the end. If you're hurt, say so. If you're happy, say so. What is bottled up eventually hits the brim and there's no guarantee how ceremoniously the liquid goodness - or badness - would bubble over. If we all knew how to communicate properly... or at least strived to communicate effectively a lot of problems wouldn't get a chance to...well... blossom and mature into problems.

Trust your instincts and don't ignore the signs. I realize that answers all tend to lie before our eyes. However it's all a question of what are you willing to see. A dear friend of mine told me a quote that stuck but took a while to sit - "3rd person is a motherfu..." (still trying to maintain no swearing on my page) It took a while for me to grasp but all it simply means is the same thing all those other cliched perception quotes say like "You can't see the picture while standing in the frame." There's beauty in the breakdown, some pain in reality. However the ability to feel pain means you're capable of emotion and well... pain stimulates growth - we all true learning is traumatic, no one learns from being comfortable. To tie this in relevance before it appears that I've gone off on a tangent, to place oneself in 3rd person is to be objective. People outside of the situation usually tend to see clearer because their emotions aren't necessarily attached to complicate an opinion with unecessary adjectives. Most times the signs are all there but we don't see it because we're too caught up in the wild oblivion of the moment.

With that being said... what I learned most this summer is the value of just sitting for a moment and being still within oneself. Inner peace, I'm inclined to argue is the first step to happiness. If you can find peace within oneself, it matters not what kind of storm is happening on the outside. Also, as with a compass, know your North - it never changes... regardless where life throws you, once you know your North, you're never too lost.

Lastly I learnt that sometimes you just have to save yourself. Not everyone you meet in sorrow wants to be saved. Some people are truly happy within their unhappiness. Their sad story is merely bait to hook you.

Which in turn reminds me of two things that were told to me by two dear friends tonight on separate occasions - one thing defining the other.

Firstly, people never want anything good. I've been told I type colloquial and my dialect radar has been wavering this summer but in case it was grammatically incorrect... it merely means that people don't appreciate good things when they get them. Oft people discard something worthy of validating their happiness to welcome a perpetual source of misery.

Secondly, the other friend explained that the devil doesn't have to come after the bad, only the good. He can't read your mind but he can hear your words. Articulate something good that you want, and watch as it becomes more difficult to attain. Additionally, the spoken word gives energy to mere thoughts. Be mindful of what energy you're fueling so that you won't be surprised at what you attract.

So... I've posted this update from my phone... I'll peek-see how it looks on a pc in the morn.

Night folks,
Shelli out.
Kisses.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.7.4

...And I told y'all a change was gonna come

2011-06-23T11:19:00.001-04:00

"In a society that tells us long hair on women is beautiful and feminine,

I think it takes a little something extra to kick conventions in the groin

and chop it; it’s kinda like giving the middle finger to years’ worth of

media cliches about how women’s hair is ‘supposed’ to look."

- Amanda Chatel

***

I did a collage. Funnily enough I realize I don't really have any specific photos of my hair being long. I guess, it's just one of those things people take for granted and trust will always be there. One of those things that we fail to take note of, appreciate, and capture special moments of. Nuntheless, that being said, I'll always be a curly long haired girl. I trust that my locks shall grow back. But all for now, those who know me well, know that I've been dying to try something new a while now. Whilst one might argue, my hair isn't that short at the moment, as truthful as that may be, it is probably the shortest I've notably had it. Plus, I have a bit an inch or two more of rounding off to do.

Before.

After...

...Until then, it's been real.

2011-06-03T17:51:00.001-04:00

I've been painting again... I'm actually pretty tired and exhausted so this shall just be a photo update post.

***

One of my tanks had a stain... So I came up with the brilliant idea to paint over it.

The midway progress... At this point I discovered I had some glitter paint as well.

The finished look.

C'est tout.

No other man, no other girl can enter into our world... Not as long as you groove me baby...

2011-05-24T01:50:00.006-04:00

***

"How do you know if you've found the one?"

A friend asked me that question last night and I couldn't answer it directly. Each off-the-top-of-my-head response I could come up with was too indirect, too inconsequential, and not a fully direct answer. But at the very least, for me, it was honest. How do I know? I don't. And everyone who swears they know, I don't know if they really know because well... to be frank, things fall apart sometimes, more so, the very same things we swear by.

What I can say is this...

I grew up with the Disney movies where I learned about the inner goodness of humanity, passion and the boy meets girl (or vice versa), disaster occurs, problem gets resolved and they concur the odds and they ride off into the sunset living happily ever after.

Much has changed since Disney. What I've learned is that in reality relationships are more complex. One could try to simplify things in black and white, when you're looking for an out, but it's never quite that simple.

First off, life is dynamic, people are dynamic. Thus, one cannot expect relationships to not be dynamic as well. I told my friend, in one of my many attempts at answering his question, that relationships have an ebb and flow lifestyle. No two people are the same: there's going to be fall outs, fights, quiet moments, slight loss of interest, people get comfortable and then passion all over again and love, always. If there isn't, as far as I'm concerned, someone is pretending in the relationship or trying too hard. People aren't perfect enough for things to flow perfectly all the time.

That being said, the problems that arise sometimes tend to be "complicated." When I was younger I had a perception of absolutes. Everything was either/or for me. You're either doing this, or I'm not sticking in the relationship. You either saying this, or I'm not staying. You either look/behave a certain way when you start to think about thinking about talking to me or I won't pay you any mind. But since then, my perception has altered. I've realized in reality no one is perfect, sometimes they miss the first flight, sometimes they stumble in the second rounds, sometimes you just find them on an off day and sometimes stuff just happens.

That is not to say it's ok or right, it's to say it can be complicated at times. The weight of your belief in how much you want the relationship and its perceived worth determines how far up the scale you're willing to permit the range of "absolutely-not-happening-to-me <---------------> it's-complicated." Really and truly, it's only complicated when you care. Face it, many of the times forgiveness is bestowed, its mostly because we don't really want to let go of the person, not so much so that we're ok with the act and truly believe we can forget it.

Every relationship has its problems, regardless of how perfect it looks from the outside. So remember, never compare or judge your relationship on what you see because truth is, you don't know. All of my friends who are in relationships or have been in one, have had/do have very interesting stories. I've heard stories of ("technical")cheating, lies, heartbreak, attitude/behavioural issues, and the list goes on. There's situations during my absolute period that I swore by years ago, and ended up in much later only to find myself going "it's complicated" and not actually cutting my losses and running like I used to... likewise with my friends.

As we mature and enter what we perceive to be mature relationships, what we look for and want in a partner tends to shift. It's no longer the high school whims of "he must be cute," "he must be tall," "he must be older," and so forth. It's not surprising to end up with someone completely different from your initial outline of absolutes. The factors that complicate matters translates into ---> how much time has been invested, how much emotional attachment there is, how much financial investment there is, whether you have children together/or there's a pregnancy, parental involvement, etc. I've had friends that reconsidered leaving their relationships because of pregnancies, and they're pretty happy now. I've had friends who had to deal with cheating boyfriends but had time and financial investments... they worked through their issues and some are still going strong, others got married and sealed the deal.

Sometimes, when you've been with someone and you've got accustomed to them, you know what you're working with. Sometimes, someone new could be refreshing and a progressive step forward to better happiness and it makes the most plausible sense to let go and just move on. Other times, someone new could feel like work or be like 'buying cat in bag.'

I guess... what I'm getting at is...

How do you know who the one? I believe the one could be anyone... and if the soul mate theory is true, then I'm also inclined to believe we have multiple potential soul mates walking around us.

What does this all mean? I think on some level 'the one' is whomever you decide it to be, and 'the one' that works, is the person that reciprocates your feelings and you're on the same page with, in accordance to your personal core values and within the limits of your ability to compromise.

Thus, I see it as a choice. Everyone has options, regardless of whether their self-esteem permits them to acknowledge that reality or not. Whomever you're with, is a choice you make. Whomever you choose to be with for the rest of your life, or tie your heart to, again is a choice. I know they say you can't pick who you fall in love with, however, you can choose to stay.

And remember...

"Live without pretending,

Love without depending,

Listen without defending.

Speak without offending,

Give without ending,

Build without rending."

-Nina Roberta Baker (*borrowed* by Drake)

And most importantly, whatever decisions you make... consider the consequences it shall be yours to live with. Not your best friend, not your parents, not your dog - but yours. Also, as hard as it may seem, trust that what's for you, is for you (again, once you've made it clear to the person your stance).

***

"You've been a sweet taste in my mouth...

So c'mon and groove me baby"

-"Groove me" King Floyd

Deuces,

Shelli out.

Words that don’t exist in the english language:

2011-05-24T01:18:00.001-04:00

(I found this on tumblr)

L’esprit d’escalier: (French) The feeling you get after leaving a conversation, when you think of all the things you should have said. Translated it means “the spirit of the staircase.”

Waldeinsamkeit: (German) The feeling of being alone in the woods.

Meraki: (Greek) Doing something with soul, creativity, or love.

Forelsket: (Norwegian) The euphoria you experience when you are first falling in love.

Gigil: (Filipino) The urge to pinch or squeeze something that is unbearably cute.

Pochemuchka: (Russian) A person who asks a lot of questions.

Pena ajena: (Mexican Spanish) The embarrassment you feel watching someone else’s humiliation.

Cualacino: (Italian) The mark left on a table by a cold glass.

Ilunga: (Tshiluba, Congo) A person who is ready to forgive any abuse for the first time, to tolerate it a second time, but never a third time.

*Schadenfreude (German): is pleasure derived from others misfortunes.

*Mudita (Buddhist): is pleasure derived from someone's good fortunes.

"I love you also means I love you more than anyone loves you, or has loved you, or will love you, and also, I love you in a way that no one loves you, or has loved you, or will love you, and also, I love you in a way that I love no one else, and never have loved anyone else, and never will love anyone else."

2011-05-24T01:08:00.000-04:00

-Jonathan Safran Foer

Kurt Vonnegut explains drama

2011-05-23T01:19:00.000-04:00

I found this on Tumblr as well and thought it was interesting enough to share...

***

I was at a Kurt Vonnegat talk in New York a few years ago. Talking about writing, life, and everything.

He explained why people have such a need for drama in their life.

He said, “People have been hearing fantastic stories since time began. The problem is, they think life is supposed to be like the stories. Let's look at a few examples.”

He drew an empty grid on the board, like this:

Time moves from left to right. Happiness from bottom to top.

He said, “Let's look at a very common story arc. The story of Cinderella.”

It starts with her awful life with evil stepsisters, scrubbing the fireplace. Then she get an invitation to the ball! Things look up. Then the fairy godmother makes her a dress and a coach. Even better! Then she goes to the ball, and dances with the prince! This is great! But then it's midnight. She has to go. Oh no. Sadness. Back to her humdrum life scrubbing the fireplace. But it's not as bad as before, because she's had this encouraging experience. Then, the prince finds her, and the happiness factor is off the chart! Happily ever after.

“People LOVE that story! This story arc has been written a thousand times in a thousand tales. And because of it, people think their lives are supposed to be like this.”

He wiped the board clean and said, “Now let's look at another popular story arc: the disaster.”

It's an ordinary day in an ordinary town. But something horrible happens! A child falls down a well! The whole town gathers to save her. Old grudges surface, but are belittled in the light of this tragedy. Rifts are bonded as people work together. The child is saved, and all is well. But notice it's a little better than it was before, now that this incident has brought them all closer together.

“People LOVE that story! This story arc has been written a thousand times in a thousand tales. And because of it, people think their lives are supposed to be like this.”

But the problem is, life is really like this...

Our lives drifts along with normal things happening. Some ups, some downs, but nothing to go down in history about. Nothing so fantastic or terrible that it'll be told for a thousand years.

“But because we grew up surrounded by big dramatic story arcs in books and movies, we think our lives are supposed to be filled with huge ups and downs! So people pretend there is drama where there is none.”

That's why people invent fights. That's why we're drawn to sports. That's why we act like everything that happens to us is such a big deal.

We're trying to make our life into a fairy tale.

Now my respect, I demand it.

2011-05-10T22:26:00.013-04:00

"...And I know that if I end this I'll no longer have nothing left..."

- '25 to life' Eminem

***

The hardest part about ultimatums is... the follow through.

I've found my poetic voice once more. Perhaps by pure force... I went to the Poetry and Jazz night upstairs the museum with Sher. Funnily enough, Danielle was there with her students (I haven't seen her in ages). The main poets for the night didn't make it, so they called upon the audience to present pieces. Danielle, as with everyone in the clique from college, is an amazing poet/artist. Sooo... after Sher and Sham's performance, and the crowd was turned upon... We all turned on Danielle and pressured her to go spit something off the top of her head. Of course you know whose voice was the loudest. Thus, as she came off the stage, after doing a lovely impromptu piece, I started scribbling because I knew the next person to be pressured would be me.

It wasn't that bad. I haven't performed since MIGfest (Made in Grenada festival) years ago.

So what does all of this have to do with ultimatums? I'm thinking of them in terms of simplifying life with either or decisions. My drama teacher once told me when faced with a situation and you're stuck with indecisiveness, flip a coin and follow through regardless. Later on, I stumbled upon somewhere online that in actuality the beauty of flipping a coin, is that, in the moment the coin is in the air doing its multiple flips - you already know what you're hoping it to be.

But hope, never suffices. Should it even land on the desired face, it does not mean that anything would truly come to pass the way you'd intend, with the progression of time. Thus, it brings you back to square one - "the follow through regardless."

I remember recently a friend and I were having a discussion about the whole "what's yours is yours/what's meant to be will be" philosophy...and ultimately what we rationalized was that we're in control of our own fate. You can't change how where other people stand, effect their emotions accordingly, and so forth. Rather, you do have control over being explicitly clear where you stand so that others can know how to act accordingly. So that at the very least, you've done your very most.

I think 2009-2011 has served/is serving to show me the lessons of following through. At the heart of everything, it's never really about the things seemingly at the surface. It's never as emotional as people credit it to be. Love isn't the cure all solution to the world's problems. Nor does it never suffice long enough to carry the weight of anything.

What really carries the weight? Commitment. How committed are you to your decision?

You want to move out - so you did - and it's tougher than you expected... How committed are you, to seeing it through?

You're having relationship stress and there's someone else that makes the world look easier, but you've packed in years already, how committed are you to riding the wave when the water gets rough?

You're having a tough time managing your classes, but you picked them nuntheless and the option of dropping a course or two introduces itself, how committed are you to dig deep within yourself and make that grade?

How committed are you to pursuing your dreams? Making them your life's reality? For every aforementioned situation is ideally, a dream. How committed are you?

I guess... respect and commitment go hand in hand as well. How much respect do you have for yourself? The people around you? Etc.

So therefore, what I'm trying to say is, make a decision and commit to it. Then deal with the consequences, make another decision and commit to it. Deal with those consequences. And so forth. Hindsight is 50/50 but once you're making active decisions, you're actively moving. It's easier to give commentary about your journey when you're actually on one, rather than staying within the safety of unsatisfying certainty and never venturing out, trying something new.

Life, it's that simple. We complicate it.

Shelli out.

And about that best local vid...

2011-05-03T09:39:00.005-04:00

And then I logged onto FB and saw this.

Josh Berkeley...(guy referenced from previous post with LABD) He was the winner of Grenada's Best Talent 2010.

C'mon, we have talent..... check the vid.

Mo' Brooklyn, Mo' Harlem, Mo' Southside

2011-05-02T21:01:00.004-04:00

"Victory is sweetest when you know defeat"

-Klick, G. Coucil

***

'If you ain't with a real ...

then who're you really with?"

-'Really tho'' Fabolous

***

Grenada's got talent.

I knew of this before. Lots of my friends are doing the whole music thing these days. Akeem's producing some nice r n' b stuff. Coglan, Shaq and those other guys doing some good stuff too in Ynv. I've always been following Cleavy with his singing and rapping... and Jerry. Jerry is just special. He's creative to say the least with an epic sense of humour. I think his channel is mostly amusing yet entertaining soca from him and his friends.

And then there's G. Council. Well they're in their own league. They've been producing good stuff for well... as long as I've known of their existence.

This is their channel. Ynv ---> http://soundcloud.com/ynventertainmentgrenada/ (downloads)
http://www.youtube.com/user/ynventertainment

Akeem's channel ---> http://www.youtube.com/user/Akeem473#p/u

Cleavon's channel ---> http://www.youtube.com/user/cleavon5654

Jerry's channel ---> http://www.youtube.com/user/mussbejerry

G. Council ---> http://www.youtube.com/user/GeneralCouncil
L.A.B.D. ---> http://www.youtube.com/user/itsLABDhoe

***
So... what is it that I really wanted to write about?

Ynv's been around since 10/10/10. The founder is Shaq, a friend of mine. They're a label/promotions group. Even though they've been around a lil' while now... I only recently sat down, clicked and truly listened out one of their music videos on Facebook. Next thing I know, I'm asking Shaq for a copy of the song... He sends me to a page that has all the downloads and before you know it, I'm on their stream going through their stuff. The songs continue running automatically - as one ends, the next starts. And there am I seemingly helplessly downloading the tracks one after the other.

Some time this week or next week, I shall have a vidblog interview up with some more info... Meanwhile... check out their stuff!!! I believe they even have some mixtapes out too. What I like most about them is that right now they just seem to be constantly dropping (good) songs and actually updating their FB page.

Go like their page ---> http://www.facebook.com/Ynvizzle

This is the track that piqued my interest...

***
Also...

So I stumbled across these kids recently. I say kids because anyone under the age of 18, to me, is a child as far as I'm concerned. I know I'm only in my early 20s but oh well... I'm (more) grown... hahaha

I saw their video before I saw Klick's. Klick is from G. Council and as I mentioned before, I already have high expectations of them and expect them to produce good, quality material.

But yea...

The group is called 'L.A.B.D.' which stands for "Little Adults, Big Dreams.' I know of a few of the members but I'm acquainted with one in particular, like a cute little brother. The group consists of four members - Jonny, Anton, Nikko and Ian. Another guy, Josh, sings with them as well from time to time. If you check out their youtube channel, you'd hear him on "I can't wait." They formed circa December.

How did I discover them? I was there minding my own business, idly perusing Facebook out of boredom and I saw a video in my stream that was posted on a friend's wall. Of course, I'm bored and have nothing else better to do, so I click.

As the video starts, I start wondering if I've seen this before because I swear it reminded me of Curren$y's "Breakfast" video. It wasn't as polished, but it bore enough resemblance and the flow was decent too. I then realized it wasn't Curren$y and it was people I actually knew. *insert confused face* Then as it progressed further I saw my friend and I was like.. whoa...

And honestly, in my opinion, it was the best local video I had seen in a while. It wasn't guys running around with their pants on the ground, it wasn't guys smoking excessively, it was some guys just having fun and doing their thing. Ok, there was a smoke scene. *frown* BUT I've reconciled that's what today's generation considers to be "cool." (Thanks to Khalifa, whom I still love nuntheless) I mean, it wasn't perfectly polished. But still...

I thought the "No pampers" vid was cleaner. However, I posted both below. I mean, look at the sequencing in clips at 0:33-0:34 and 1:47 in "Too Chill." They film and piece the videos on their own. Did I mention these are kids? Perhaps it's just that I'm lazy that I feel I'm incapable... but I thought it was a pretty impressive effort.

***

Klick's video...

***

This concludes my lengthy music post...

Deuces

Next time you fall in love, I beg you to take it slow for... only fools rush in, where angels fear to go.

2011-04-30T23:12:00.001-04:00

"Go if you want, you know I won't stop you

You know I love you, do what you have to

If ever you should go away, don't take my heart

And leave me hopelessly...

I may not become insane

It takes a lot to be strong after all of this pain"

- Buju Banton

Man I hate that song, I keep thinkin' they talkin' bout me when it's on...

2011-04-30T17:10:00.001-04:00

"Here's the shortlist of things I wouldn't do to myself = you "

***

Time to bounce? It's about that time of year when NY starts to look very, very appealing. I love Grenada, I really do. But I think my inner child suffers from wanderlust. After a certain period of time, my spirit starts to beg for something different, for a little while. I guess being too settled for too long makes me depressed. For me, its akin to something liquid just sitting there on the counter to the point where the mixture starts to visibly settle into layers. A vacation - shaken, not stirred.

***

Ever had a moment whereby a smell took you back to place and time? My mom always talks about this, how scents have strong memory attachments but I never such an experience until recently. When it happened, it caught me off-guard. However, since the experience, I've developed a heightened sense of awareness as to when it happens.

The first time it happened was on my leatherback turtle field trip. I was sitting next to a friend of mine, Freddy, and well... we're on a bus. I was close enough to smell him and in that moment I felt a wave of nostalgia connected directly to my favourite uncle on my mom's side, her baby brother. The scent was of Snuggle softener combined with the faint scent of cigarettes. My uncle was/is a heavy smoker but he never smoked around me. However, I adored him as a kid so I tried my best to be around him as much as possible so I'd always catch him a lil' after he finished smoking, when the smell still lingers in the air but not as strong. How does this relate to Freddy? He's Guyanese and has a strong Guyanese accent and a smoker and his clothes smells like the softener. So the smell coupled with his voice just reminds me so much of my uncle. (I'm Guyanese) I then found myself doing memory association.

Consequently, this would explain why despite my dislike of cigarettes, especially being smoked around me, I still like the faded scent on clothes. Another person, someone I used to know and be around a lot, was a smoker and sometimes you could smell it on his fingers and his tees, and I would like it. Of course I never told him that because I wanted him to quit, you know, it's bad for your health, etc. as I petition to all my smoker friends, but I'd love the smell. It used to feel be oddly comforting, now I know why.

Anyways, have any scents that takes you back in time?

***

Leatherback Turtle field trip

Here commences my uber short, uber late post about the turtles.

We went on a field trip to Levera beach at the north of the island sometime earlier last month, March. It was early in the season and there was the great possibility of us not seeing any turtles at all... However, we were most fortunate to see 3 very early in the evening. Thus, we didn't end up staying until 2-3 am as intended but rather around midnight.

When we arrived, we saw one heading back into the water. We saw one go through the whole process of coming up, digging the nest, laying and returning. The third one was coming up onto the beach as we were heading back to the bus.

It was surprisingly chilly up there. I had walked with thin jacket and a thick hoodie. I ended up having to use both. We were supposed to be quiet so as to not distract the turtles and divided into small groups. Our class is pretty big and honestly... I'm uncertain as to truly how quiet we were and ultimately we ended up moving like a cloud across the beach, rather than single file or mere pairs.

When going on such trips it is not advised to walk with any white lights. If you must, use a red light because (apparently) the turtles can't see red light. This is because the turtles head towards the darkness to lay... and the babies head toward the light when they break out of their shells. The ocean is lighter than the land at night. Flashlights and such may prove to be more disorienting than necessary and result in a turn around by the turtles.

Fun facts about them?
* They could grow to about 2 meters long. They are the largest turtle and amongst the world's largest reptiles.
*Have been around circa 100 million years.
*They can dive about 4,200 feet (deeper than any other turtle) and that's because of how their blood circulates, layer of fat and changes in their swimming.
*They have the widest global distribution of turtles and travel the longest journeys 3,700 miles each way.
*Hatchlings' sex are determined by the temperature. 29.5 degrees celcius produces a gender mix, hotter means more females and cooler means more males.

Why is it important for us here in Grenada? These turtles? Well... Grenada is one of the major nest sites in the world. That means, these sea creatures that traverse the world and come back to nest on the beaches on which they were born... and our beaches, are one of the main sites that they must come back to. And, economically, the value as a tourist attraction multiplies in profits exponentially as the turtles would continue to come back to nest annually and well, people would pay good money to see. However, when you kill them, the survival rate of the babies are very low and the age of reproductive maturity is very high... Thus that means, you're killing them much faster than they can reproduce to a sexually productive population. The species, as most turtles, are already critically endangered and toeing the line of extinction. It's selfish to slaughter them... To sell one turtle isn't even profitable enough to make it a livelihood. Furthermore, what about your children? (Trinidad's leatherback turtle website)

And even on the grander scale, each animal is important to the ecosystem. You can't just remove one and shrug and think to yourself "Oh well, it's just one animal." Each one plays a role. In the most simplest generalization, no leatherbacks would equate a dramatic increase in jellyfish - that's their favourite diet. And no, we don't want an increase of jellyfish. Point I'm trying to make is... ultimately, the ecosystem is like a spider's web and removing species is like tugging at the strands and praying for the best.

I know its easy to not be cognizant because changes seem to be so gradual that the effects seem to be distant and of little consequence. However, as with all epic natural disasters we seem to be encountering as a result of global warming and such, that keeps catching us unprepared with our draws(underwear) down, the distant future is yesterday, today and tomorrow. It's important that we remember that every yesterday was a tomorrow and as the bible said...'Too late, too late - will be the cry.'

Don't mind how tired we look... it was very late and we had fallen asleep
periodically on the ride up...(and back down) That's Freddy.

Wayne & Ejazz

Wayne

Dean. I absolutely loved this look. Our prof. told us to come prepared for the night on the beach.
However, he came extra prepared. I thought this to be most amusing and adorable at the same time.

One of the three turtles we saw that night, digging the nest.

Starting to lay. That's someone's hand in the lower left part of the picture. The Ocean Spirits group were counting the eggs as they came out.

The Ocean Spirits team

C'est tout.

***

"Strive not with a man without cause, if he hath done ye no harm, let bygones be bygones..."

- 'Close one yesterday' Buju Banton

And I'm out.

Over and out: And that was the day I promised that I would never sing of love, if it does not exist.

2011-04-26T17:38:00.005-04:00

Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham

कभी ख़ुशी कभी ग़म

"Sometimes happiness, Sometimes sadness"

***
"I was praying last night and I found myself asking God for happiness.

I had to retract that request and pray for contentment

instead, happiness is a fool's dream"

-Hevan Leigh

***

"Love?? Love you say! Why... Why would you wish such horrors upon me?!?!"

-Hevan Leigh

I'm so tired of being tired.

It's been a long, tumultuous couple weeks packed with drama and deadlines. This is probably the first official break I've had to post coherently in a while. One of my fears I guess was not knowing how to express myself as I usually do without overwhelming my writing with emotion. However, I decided to just suck it up and type. Whatever flows over, flows over. It's just been one of those past couple weeks. So... consider this my fair warning. Any posts from now and for the next couple weeks run the risk of being highly inexplicably emotive and candid.

I was pondering making this a life lessons post but I decided against it because I couldn't elaborate sufficiently on any one particular lesson. Instead, it's more like a series of revelations I had about myself.

Firstly, I learned that although I consider myself to be an incredibly impatient person: I always want things now for now. I found myself exercising patience that I never knew I had. Patience and understanding. Of course, patience and understanding rarely ever work out in your favour in the long run...

...Lesson number two, you can know it all and understand it all but it doesn't necessarily change a damn thing. In fact, all that understanding could just lead to bitterness, or further confusion once denial sets in, or the onslaught of questions in efforts to understand better. People don't always have answers. Thus, it can lead to the creation of a very frustrating situation.

...That could release your inner child. I don't mean the happy inner child. I mean the relentless inner child. The one that recognizes his/her naivety and demands to be released from the ignorance that surrounds him/her. I think everyone has that experience at least once in their lives. They feel that they just need to know. What is it that they need to know isn't always quite certain. I think it's more a heightened awareness that something's different and a need to figure out what it is.

...But then, thats where truth comes in. The truth is that everyone lies. Facts never change... But truth is the delivery of fact, and that delivery is oft subject to alteration. Thus, in reality, you may never know all that you've convinced yourself that you need to know.

Therefore, all of that to say, sometimes distance is what we really need, and not closure.

***

There are things that I wish I could change. Situations I would love to replay and do differently. Steps I would love to retrace. People I would have preferred to have never met. Places I wish I had never been.

However, such is life. Each one of these experiences, mind you despite wishes aren't quite regrets, have shaped me into who I am. And while I may not understand everything now... it'll all make sense soon enough. It always does in time.

Besides, everything is always ok in the end... And if it's not ok, then it's not the end.

***

...Why does she live in a world so cold?

...took advantage of the nice, naive and beautiful...

We're all dealt our lumps of coal...

What you do with it can turn beautiful

Well there's a life outside of this madness

And there's a face behind every scar

But there's a love overflowing with gladness

Get out of that place that's restraining your love.

-'Nice, naive & beautiful' Plumb

I'm out.

To trust, or not to trust.. that is the question.

2011-04-05T18:51:00.000-04:00

So... I was perusing youtube on my favourite channel 'HotdamnIrock' and stumbled across a vid entitled 'Baby give me one more chance.'

Before I launch into this post I must say... this guy is hilarious!! If you haven't seen his stuff as yet, I encourage you to do so. Everything he posts about is very real and sentient. He touches on almost every topic from gang life to relationships in the most funny composition. Each video is a story and generally are about his personal life or experiences his friends have had that he knows of.

The following is an excerpt from the aforementioned video. The overall message is dealing with the question of whether or not you should take a cheater back. However, the part I selected deals with the connection between trust and loyalty. I've addressed cheating before on a previous po st. I think my stance was not much of a stance... it was more along the lines of I don't approve but if I don't ever find out...? Peek it if you like, it's hyperlinked above.

Anyways, hope you like the excerpt.

"The most important thing in a relationship is trust... and if you don't have trust, then you don't have a relationship. Trust is almost automatic when you first meet somebody...it's like, you don't have a reason not to trust this person but you just met them so you don't trust them 100%. Somewhere in the middle, trust is just automatically assumed. But once somebody does something to break that trust it's hard to get that back. Matter of fact, it's almost impossible to ever get back lost trust. Because once you break trust, you question loyalty... And if you can't be loyal to person then...... how can I be with you? How can we establish a relationship if I can't trust the ish that you say out your mouth? You understand what I'm saying?

But when it comes to the subject of cheating... there's a very simple solution to this problem. Just DON'T [bleep] cheat in the first place. What I don't understand is how can people claim that they love somebody, care about a person but then you go and cheat. The moment that you cheat on your boyfriend, girlfriend, wife or whatever you have --- where did all those feelings and all those emotions go when you initiated contact with this other person? What the hell did you do with all that love and ish? "

'Baby give me one more chance'

Maurice Kain Carter

The video if you want to see it...

Hush darling... for after the storm there will be a calm...

2011-04-02T17:55:00.003-04:00

"Being sad with the right people is better than being happy with the wrong ones."

-anonymous

***

I've been musing over relationship issues the past couple days. Seems like I know a bunch of people, guys and girls, who are all in similar situations. I could be wrong but this is my hypothesis as to how this whole thing works.

Initially you have the honeymoon phase that everyone knows about - everyone is happy, doing all the couple-like things. Then there's the 'normal couple' phase where you're not quite honeymooning anymore but you're still somewhat riding that crescendo. After this point one of two things seems to happen. Firstly, the pair could normal off into an ebb and flow balanced relationship with occasional bickers and such. Or, secondly, someone starts to take someone for granted.

And here is where the issue steps in...

I'm inclined to think the first person to be taken for granted is the guy. The girl gets accustomed to the honeymoon treatment and stops seeing it as special and valued. The guy would then try to withdraw and get 'himself back' and the girl will sense the shift, panic and try to get back the attention that was once taken for granted. Eventually, the girl gets tired of trying as the guy will most likely build more resolve with her effort. Once she actually tires herself and stops trying, a shift occurs. The reverse starts to happen.

I guess at this point it determines whether the relationship will sink or swim. From what I've observed, both parties at this point knows what it feels like to be on both sides of the scale - he/she who in taken advantaged of and he/she who takes advantage. It feels the same for either party at this point. However, one thing is particularly different.

The party who is feeling taken advantaged of last seems to harbour a little bit of extra bitterness.

So this then begs the question, can the relationship be saved? From all my interactions with my friends, both male and female, in this situation it seems to be the same sort of responses. There's a bit of flattery that the other party did come around and start to change. But there's also the memory of all the pain that ensued prior to the change. Each action is encounters the question framed something like "Oh? But when I wanted attention you couldn't be bothered.. so I must give that up now because you're ready?" It's always the "But when I wanted ... And now you..." structure.

With this sort of attitude, is any sort of resolve possible? I guess in some weird way the situation is most ideal to fix things. At this point, everyone involved sees everything. Perhaps, not in the most objective manner, but everyone sees nuntheless.

I guess if the relationship is to ever work again, get back to that middle road and proceed into the 'balanced normal couple path' both people have to have at least one exact same sentence on any given present and future page of their books. Each page could be scribbled with their new hobbies and dreams collected from this back and forth time apart but the lines "I want this relationship to work. [and] I want you with me on this journey." must be scribbled somewhere - even if it's in the margin.

If those sentences aren't synchronized wishes of both parties then... I guess it would be time to let it go. What are you fighting for? To hold onto a title that both or one of you no longer want? If you love someone... and you want to be with them... You don't try to torture them into eternity.

If the lesson has been learned, lick your wounds and move on - be it apart or together - but move on.

***

'So here you go again you say

You want your freedom

Well who am I to keep you down?

It's only right that you should play the way that you feel it

But listen carefully to the sound... of your loneliness

As a heartbeat drives you mad in the stillness of remembering

...of what you had... and what you lost"

-"Dreams" Stevie Nicks

Shelli out.

Go on and take it --- take it all with you.

2011-03-30T20:32:00.002-04:00

"It burns and it hurts and I sit and I take the burn and I take the hurt. I don’t do it because I like it, because I don’t. I sit and I take the pain and I ignore the pain and I forget the pain because I want to learn some form of control. I believe that pain and suffering are different things. Pain is the feeling. Suffering is the effect that pain inflicts. If one can endure pain, one can live without suffering. If one can learn to withstand pain, one can withstand anything. If one can learn to control pain, one can learn to control oneself. I have lived a life without control. I have spent twenty-three years destroying myself and everything and everyone around me and I don’t want to live that way anymore. I take the pain so that I will never suffer. I take the pain to experience control. I sit and I burn and I take it." - My friend Leonard, James Frey

***

I've had many an inspired post this week, yet I've failed to post anything. I think I'm all out of words and a bit tired at the moment so... It's not that I can't find anything postworthy, but rather I'm a bit distracted at the moment to put it into words.

I have a few papers to work on... So... Hopefully a real update by next week.

***

"Time to photoshop my life. Touch up the edges, adjust the tones. Blur out the background, focus on me and crop people out."

-Stevieb Thetruth

***

Deuce.

Women Make Art

2011-03-24T00:50:00.003-04:00

Finally... An official post.

A photo of Tracy and Stacey that I borrowed off this website.

The Art exhibition, which I mentioned a few posts back, is being hosted by two artists - Tracey Chan, a Trinidadian artist currently residing in Grenada, and Stacey Byer, a local artist.

The exhibition is titled 'Woma' in honor of World Women's Day... and don't be mistaken, it's not a revival of a feminist movement but rather an opportunity where 'we celebrate our women - our achievements and our progression for the last century.'

Stellar idea? I think so... and not because I'm a woman but because it's providing yet another forum of creative expression. Stacey and Tracy aren't the sole artists who's works are exhibited. Rather, there is a lovely mixture of pieces from local female artists, those established and those who aren't, with pieces ranging from different mediums - be it paints to even calabash or bananas. (Yes, I said bananas as in real bananas... even I was surprised)

Would it be an annual something? Who knows. The space is being leased to the Grenada Arts Council for the year. The overall intention is to see if some interest can be generated in art locally and... I don't know... add more flavour to our culture and release the chains of some of our minds as it regards to free thinking. Why not paint this? Why not do something creative with that? Who's to say what can't be done?

I spoke to the head of the Art Council and she was saying that there will be exhibitions hosted throughout the year. Each month hasn't been planned out but I believe there's already 2 scheduled, coming up in April and May respectively.

Regardless, if you haven't been to Woma '11 as yet, I encourage you to check it out. It closes off officially tomorrow 25th March.

Their blog page: http://womenmakeart.blogspot.com/

Their facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/womenmakeart

The following photos are random samples of what you will see upon visiting. Some of the pieces have already been purchased, a few are still up for grabs.

Again, for those who missed my first post on the exhibition... It's located opposite the museum, on the same side and lower down from MNIB. You should see the above "Grenada Arts Council sign"

Lilo Nido
Kinah Networking
Textile Sculpture

Junetta Noel
Message in a boli
Collage on calabash

Amanda Hage
Untitled
Acrylic on paper

Andrea McLeod
The seeing unseen
Chalk pastel

This piece (above) was my favourite. It's sold already, as indicated by the red dot. *sad face* I made mention of it in my prior post. The background is filled with lines about 'seeing but not being seen.' I interpret it to be in the 'women must be seen and not heard' context. Nuntheless, I loved it.

Suelin Low Chew Tung (That's her in image...and she's the head of the Arts council)
Ladies in red
Acrylic & oil pastel

Now the following picture was most interesting to me. Sher and I were walking around, snapping pictures, trying to gather up information to do up our posts and then we heard male voices... It wasn't the male voices that were most surprising though but the context of the conversation. I swear it went something along the lines of "...and she made good use of the canvas..." and "...you could see the brush strokes in the work, I like da piece.." Umm... Really? This is wonderful. I know there are male artists... But I didn't quite realize there were young men coming in and appreciating art and able to take apart and criticize the art on a deeper level beyond "I think this looks pretty." I believe it was an art teacher and a few of his male students. So what did Shelli do? I proceeded to follow them with my macco camera.

Regardless, I don't believe they were attending under duress... And more guys, who didn't appear to be students did come in and peek.

My macco shot. And yes, I did make them aware of my intentions after.

Maryse Faure-Taylor
Where It All Started & Women's Curves

Ursula Williams

I didn't get a chance to scribble down the title of this piece. My inner (lazy) genius thought it would've been clever to snap photos of the labels as well rather than do the intelligent thing and write it down... The shots came out blurred. However, I do know this was made with the stem of the banana tree. Creative isn't it? And yes, it's a necklace.

That concludes my exhibition post.
Go check it out in person.
C'est tout.
Double kisses
Shelli

"Some people are the longest dead ends that you will ever travel on"

2011-03-23T23:51:00.000-04:00

-Aundrea, farewell maiden

"I'm out there grindin' like a pair of old brakes...

2011-03-20T14:12:00.000-04:00

...so be easy or it'll be a long day"

-'Be easy' Wiz Khalifa

You know how the story goes... I went to the art exhibition again and got some proper photos and information. Additionally, some videos and such of jazz night. I'm trying to edit all of my photos first.

The posts shall hopefully be up later on today...

So when the times get hard... and in the nights you're all alone....

2011-03-18T01:33:00.001-04:00

I'm not addicted - I'm committed.

Khalifa live right now... http://www.killerslaserspapers.com/

YAY!
*wistful sigh*
...now I shall resume watching the stream.

‎"Not every battle is worth the fight. There are times when admitting defeat is like winning... because sometimes the only thing victory means otherwise is that you've lost everything and won a title."

2011-03-17T02:51:00.003-04:00

-Myself

Give a little, but don't give it all....

2011-03-15T19:22:00.007-04:00

OH! P.S. My friend Sher did a beautiful post on this(the photo shoot), describing St. George's and the route to get there in a very picturesque way.. So if you're local and feel like having a quiet reminder about where we live check it out... and if you're tourist, check her blog out as she paints a beautiful picture with her words.

And for you conservationists...how many of you actually regarded that tree in Willis with great reverence. I never did much follow up on it. I know, I know, I'm a horrible local. However, I heard the residents of the area were complaining about it being an eye sore and then it collapsed. Why is it everything ancient, old, vintage, traditional, historic is an eye sore and needs to be done away with but traditional values which we're clinging onto as a nation that don't work anymore we don't want to let go of?

Jamaica had their silk cotton tree that was one of their tourist attraction (Tom Cringle's Cotton Tree I believe). Guyana had their silk cotton tree that could not be cut down to build a road so they had to build around the tree in Perseverance on the East Coast. As Caribbean territories there's so much folklore surrounding everything that's ancient and old. I remember my mom used to tell me stories about Guyana and that the reason why the trees are so hard to cut down is because the Dutch plantation owners would bury their overseers or someone alive with their money and treasures to protect it. As a result, the spirits linger around the tree. I love telling the story about the tree in Guyana because I like that kind of stupidness/folklore. I like no better fun. She, my mom, even went on to say that long after every time someone would try to cut down the tree, that was in the middle of the road, they would die in the process or soon after and the one time they got a cut in, the tree bled blood. Hence, they built around the tree. Heck, I would build around it too. The original tree fell and a seedling grew back in its place...Mom also said the folklore with silk cotton trees is that you walk by them at night because of all the spirits lingering...

Sher was telling me the folklore is similar here. She knows the local tale as don't walk past at noon nor midnight or else 'booboo gon grab you.' She outlines the tale pretty well... and even if you've never seen the tree I do encourage you to check out her post because it's so well written you can feel looming presence of the tree and the heat of the midday sun as she describes walking past it.

The depressing story is... the tree is no longer there. Funny story is, she said locally, because of all the folklore it's hard to find someone willing to cut down a silk cotton tree. The irony is, they cut it. Not all the way down because "the tree supports the road." I don't know... they weren't thinking that all the time? They could've trimmed it or something. What if the tree dies now and collapses? Then self its real problems in camp.

And aside from that. It was a landmark.

...And when we did [the passing bus], almost like slow motion, i say almost because it was never slow enough, i took it all in, how thick the trunk was, how wrinkled and just how deep set those wrinkled WERE. I marveled at how high it stood, how far back it leaned like a tired but accomplished grandmother in her easy chair, sitting on her stoop, watching the neighborhood children walk past, their hands tightly clasped in their parents hands...remembering effortlessly when their parents were kids and their grandparents were parents....

...I breathed in the air that surrounded it and wondered, like I’d always wondered. What was the air like in this spot 200 years ago? Who stood at the base of this tree 200 years ago? Was it a slave hating it for what it stood for? Or one appreciating it for it’s merciful shade and lack of judgment? Who stood here 100 years ago? Was it a young couple courting? Was it a teacher and his or her students trying to escape the heat of the classroom? Who stood here 50 years ago? Who was she? Who was he? What did they think of this tree? Or more importantly…what did the tree think of them? Did it smile down at them? Resent them? What had it seen? So so much it must have seen!
Sher's Blog... Click here to see the rest of the post
'Booboo gon hold you under the Silk Cotton Tree'

I concur. Imagine how many stood before the same tree admiring it throughout history? The same tree we can't cut down fast enough.

C'est tout.
Enjoy.

I throw my hands up in the air sometimes, saying 'AYO, Gotta let go.." I wanna celebrate and live my life, saying 'AYO, baby, let's go...!'

2011-03-15T18:40:00.008-04:00

...And therein commences... or ends my career in acting...

Saturday I somehow managed to get sick from the night prior - don't ask me how. I sincerely thought I lost my voice from all the karaoke. I reluctantly dragged myself to town minutes to 3, convincing myself that the art exhibition would be opened late because it was only running for a short time frame to maximize visitations - but I was wrong and they closed at 2. That's understandable I guess, it's Grenada. I should've listened to dad when he was trying to herald my sniffling, sneezing, possibly slightly feverish backside out of the house.

After I arrived, late, Sher managed to persuade me to come check out Dwight's photoshoot at Modern Photostudios for his 'Mute' clip. MUTE is an idea of his that he's been molding a while now which stands for 'Must Unfold The inEvitable.' The inevitable, in my interpretation, relates to your ultimate destiny - your true potential, tapping into every creative bone in your body to achieve your dreams to their fullest. For the time being, he's developing his Youtube channel and doing short clips to develop his ideas until he writes the full script of a film short.

During the shoot...

Dwight is the official camera man. Photo of him centering the camera on Cemal.

Dwight explaining to us how it works...

Me filming Dwight's clip.

Dwight

Fooling around afterwards.... Cemal

Sher

...and that's a wrap folks!
Cut!

The finished product....

***

I was telling Sher... It's really amazing how these things work. I spent the last couple weeks musing to myself about what a disaster this semester is turning out to be. There's so many things I want to get on stream and make happen... Nothing is going according to plan... Distractions are popping up... And then BAM! You stop trying to find a way to make stuff work, and start focusing on what you want to happen and opportunities start popping up.

'When you walk with purpose, you collide with destiny.'

-Dr. Bertrice Berry

As Les Brown says, 'Walk by faith and not by sight... stop asking how it will happen - that's God's problem. You need to focus on your dreams and what you want to become a reality.' Next thing you know, I'm going to all these small events that are epic enough to give me some inspiration...Bring about some fresh ideas, revamp old ones... and as the story goes, when you walk with purpose, you collide with destiny... in that you start to find other people, like Dwight, traveling similar roads to pursuing their dreams - not necessarily the same dream, but a dream nuntheless - with a passion to fulfill it someday soon... And that kind of positive passionate energy is contagious. Even if you're uncertain as to what you want to do with your life, yourself, your job, whatever at that particular moment - it's hard not to feel compelled to do something positive too. It's almost as if all of a sudden motivation appears out of nowhere and plans suddenly start making themselves in your head... and the answers to all your 'how will this ever work?' questions to convert the plan into reality become revealed.

The only problem, I guess, is maintaining that 'wow' after the novelty and excitement wears off. My advice, keep on striving long after the spirit of inspiration has long departed. Somehow I believe, that little rays of sunshine shall shine their light when you least expect it, on the brink of giving up. Remember the darkest hour of the night only means that dawn is about to break.

So... to those pursuing their dreams, no matter how silly or seemingly futile. Much respect to you. Your efforts shall be rewarded.

Deuces,

Shelli out.

Double kisses.

xoxo

If we could party all night and throw all our problems away... life would be easy

2011-03-15T18:37:00.005-04:00

...Lest I forget Friday evening was an adventure as well.

As is customary, I overslept and deliberated on leaving the house until I actually ended up leaving late. However, that was ok because Sher was running a tad late herself. The irony of ironies is that we were going to the Bistro again for an evening of jazz and poetry and instead... before I could even get to town Sher called to tell me that not only was there no jazz but it was transformed so dramatically into a dance studio that it was as if the hardwood floor was picked up and rolled to a corner... and then I got another call saying it's now an Italian restaurant and she's ordered for us.

The menu... The chef only cooks Mahi Mahi when he gets it fresh the same day.

I must say that while it was disappointing to know the event was cancelled. Additionally, it was annoying that it seemed such a casual 'by the way we're cancelled today' notice... However, I never knew there was an Italian restaurant/cafe in town. Mind you, it's been there all the time and I just never noticed. I had my mind set on KFC so I basically sample ordered stuffed tomatoes and stuffed potatoes. It was delicious. I normally don't like tomatoes but it was pretty good. It had a mixture of cheeses in it... yummy goodness. The potatoes were stuffed with minced meat.

***

Afterwards, we went to check out the Art Exhibition directly opposite (the museum/restaurant). It's running now until the 25th of March. I suggest you check it out.

The theme is 'Woman' so all of the pieces are centered around an interpretation of the word. First of all, I don't even know what was in that particular space before (I hardly walk through town like that) but it's a lovely location for an little art gallery as the rooms just flow one into the other into a circular fashion. All that was missing was wine and cheese, but then again we arrived a few minutes before it was about to close. I have to pass back again and when I do I shall put up more photos from it.

It was very inspiring. There were some very simple pieces with powerful messages. I remember one in particular that struck me was a simple pastel/charcoal portrait done on black paper of a muslim woman. The background comprised of text, written in what I assume to be white pastel pencil, of different phrases along the lines of "I must be seen but not heard [as a woman]." Another piece I found interesting was a collection done with 4 varnished and painted calabash halves - one for the head, two for the naked breasts and another for the exposed large tummy. I interpreted it as a pregnant woman.

The following are some quick snaps I got before we left... I shall go back and get some proper photos and hopefully a proper write up.

Some pieces by Francis Frances... she passed away recently. :(

Maryse Faure-Taylor - Where It All Started
Maryse Faure-Taylor - Women's Curves

Stacey Byer - Forged

Judith Jarvis - Sifting the Sand "What we will be when we grow up?"

Believe it or not, this painting is almost as wide as a small wall - prolly about 4-5 ft. wide or more. I only got a quick glimpse and it was a quick blurred shot I took and tried to do some edits... But it's amazing in person. At least from my quick glimpse. I did a double take because it looks almost like a photograph...

So... this is all until I get my formal shots of the Exhibition. Do check it out if you get a chance.

***

Deuces.
Shelli out.
xoxo

I forgot what it was like...

2011-03-15T02:33:00.001-04:00

... to be sick.

Stupes.

It's been so long since I've been sick that I don't even know how to cooperate with sickness properly. Do I laze in bed all day? Do I ignore it and push ahead? I'm reluctantly taking meds because I absolutely can't afford to be sick for the remaining of this semester... grr...

***

What did I do this weekend?

Last week was midterms and I only had one midterm, the Monday, so I was home the rest of the week. I went to school a day to work on a group project, attended my old school sports and then... Friday I went to the beach amongst other things.

The most hilarious thing happened. I love kayaking on Grand Anse. So... I did what I always do --- go kayaking with a friend. We got as far as the jetty down by the Coconut restaurant, lengthwise along the beach, but we were a decent distance away from the shore. Mind you, I only recently got over my fear of the ocean. The water was kinda rough and the sky was overcast so you couldn't see clearly to the bottom... But that was fine because I'm now fearless of the water remember? I couldn't be bothered if my kayak toppled over or not.

So we're there kayaking away, feeling at one with the ocean and all that jazz. See me well passing my hand through the water and all, commenting on how oddly warm it feels. So my friend tells me that its typical for the water to be warm on days when the weather was like that.

Then, because of my recent courses I'm more cognizant about birds when I see them, and I point out a seagull on a boat. I've never gotten a chance to see one that close, just perched for my perusal or perhaps I never cared that much before... Nuntheless, I was fascinated.

However, what happened consequently was the complete opposite. To my "Oh look! Over there!" my friend responded "Oh, you saw the fin too?!"

Umm... I saw what? So I ask, 'Fin? As in shark fin???'

To which he gleefully responds, 'Yes! There it is again! Don't you see it? It's right by the boat... Let's go closer...!'

Let's do what???? I was too busy looking at the bird on the boat to see any fin. Stupes. And there went off my friend paddling away to get closer. I'm thinking he's crazy. If it is a shark. Why are you going towards it? I ask him... He says he wants to touch it and he's never seen one in person.

You have got to be kidding me. We're pretty far from shore - probably about 30-40 ft. away -- far enough to see bodies but not recognize faces. I can't see the bottom where we were, it's dark blue. And you're paddling frantically towards what you believe is a shark?

Shellon does what she thinks is the safest thing. Abandon the crazy person and head back to shore. The irony is that all the time I was paddling I didn't realize how huge the swells of water were. Then again I wasn't paddling against the waves as I now was. My adrenaline is pumping, I'm trying to stay calm and all I'm thinking is 'Don't turn over... Don't turn over... Stay calm... Don't turn over... Don't think about the possibility of the shark being right under you coming to bump you from below...' Every single shark movie I've ever seen, including 'Open water' is coming to mind... I'm trying to paddle strong single strokes so that if it is a shark, my actions don't appear excitable to it. I make it in close enough to shore to be about 10 ft away or less from a man that's standing waist deep in water... and pondering if to continue going in even though it means I'll have to drag the kayak back down to the far end of the beach...

My friend now realizes I'm no longer with him and calls out to me informing me that whatever it was it's gone now, and not to worry because if it was a shark it would be a great white or tiger shark and those like warm waters. This is to reassure me how? First of all, based on my research, tiger sharks are typically found in the Caribbean and are champion for being found in surprisingly shallow water and are known for being aggressive. Great whites bite because they mistake you for prey, Tiger sharks bite you because they want to. Furthermore, isn't 'trying to touch the shark' considered a provoked attack?

Well... he was able to convince me it was gone eventually and persuade me into thinking that perhaps it was the manta ray that resides on Grand Anse because when they turn you see the fin above surface. But he himself said that if it was, he should've at least been able to see the shadow.

Honestly, I didn't see anything. Perhaps there was nothing at all and it was just a mistaken wave. Furthermore, I haven't heard of anyone getting bitten by sharks in Grenada... and all of my research via Google doesn't have any attacks or fatalities listed as occurring within the Caribbean.

Nuntheless, that was enough sea adventure for one day for me. We paddled back down the beach, and of course, I stayed relatively close to the shore.

I know, I know. I wrote about having mercy on the sharks just a couple days ago. However, it's a completely different story when you're in the situation. Yes I still say, 'Save the sharks' but I shall petition and picket from the beach - thank you very much.

***

End of story.

Shelli out.

Be quiet, I see stupid people.

2011-03-15T01:28:00.004-04:00

So I've been sick the past couple days and I've been deliberating on my posts. In fact I have a few half-typed posts that I shall officialize in due time.

Now onto greater matters...

I've heard time and time again people of both genders, but more so male, state that 'every time they get into a relationship suddenly the world of women become aware of their existence and attempt to pursue a relationship.' This has never been the case with me. I've never met a guy and thought to myself 'HEYYY... you have a girlfriend? Ok, I'm going to try harder to get with you.' *big bright perky smile*

No. Just no. This is not the Olympics. We're not trying harder to break any records. Why the hell would I want to pursue someone who has already found someone else? Like seriously? Who does that? 'I have a girl' does not equate 'let me try harder.'

So my interest in this topic has been piqued by an observation I made amongst acquaintances and for the sake of ease of explanation I'll try and create the hypothetical story as simple as possible.

Imagine you're a girl and you have a boyfriend. At the present moment, you're going through relationship problems and get close to an old male friend who's also in a relationship. As time progresses, the both of you become closer however in a platonic sense. The guy then starts to push for something romantic, to which you decline for obvious reasons. And for those who don't deal with the obvious, that is --- he has a gf, and even if he didn't you have your bf that you love, and even if that wasn't the case nobody wants to get with someone that's willing to cheat with them anyways. Right?

Fast forward a few months later... The guy confesses that he was lying about having a gf the entire time and the said girl 'failed his test.' I know you're curious as to what exactly was this test. So was I... so you could imagine the onslaught of curious questions I had in mind to wrap my mind around how exactly one rationalizes this 'test,' i.e., what sort of motives are involved? How does one get oneself into such a situation? How can it be avoided?

Apparently, as the story unfolds, the guy wanted to see whether she was interested in him. If she 'passed the test' her response to his 'Umm... actually, I don't have a gf...' was supposed to go like,'Really? Well... that's even better! ...'cuz even if you did have your girl I love you so much that I was willing to take what I can get and wait for you meanwhile...'

Pardon me? You're joking right? You can't possibly be serious?

There's so many things wrong with that equation. I was literally stuttering when I heard this story. It's so ridiculous it's difficult to take serious. People say this kind of stuff? And by people I mean 'Grown Folks.' I can't even begin to describe the level of dotishness that is.

First of all, you meet someone and they're in a relationship. In my world, if I'm single, you're automatically in the brother/friend zone. You could be Tyson Beckford for all I care... it won't make a difference. I wouldn't think 'Oh, let me try harder..!' What kind of sick, low self-esteem person does that? Perhaps 'sick' is not the right word... To be succinct, what kind of person aspires to be a home wrecker?

Which leads to my next point... My consequent question would be 'Why would you want to be with someone willing to cheat on the person they claim to love... and additionally, be ok with you cheating on the person you're with?' Whatever happened to the 'If they cheat with you, then they'll cheat on you' rule? Who's to say this person won't fall for the next friend in line should you end up in a relationship and end up in some rough waters for a while...? Furthermore, what kind of girl would put herself in said situation? Why would she consent to this?

I can't imagine me and my guy in that situation... and he gets a new girl and I say 'Babe, I know you have a new girl and ting... but I just want you to know I love you and always will... and I'm willing to wait for you...'

Umm.. No. Just no. It just won't happen. That's just setting yourself up for abuse. That's setting yourself up for being a quotable to his friend's when he's talking about all the girls that he no longer wants that are still begging to be with him, have his kids, etc. Bragging rights I believe? I'm tired of hearing guys refer amused to the long list of ex-es that they have that are 'begging to get pregnant for them' and 'regret cheating/breaking up.'

I mean... I'm still baffled... confounded... by the whole story. It's so absurd, it's hilarious.

Meh... what do I know? My logic has failed me to understand this situation. Fortunately, it's not for me to understand henceforth. Best wishes to the parties involved. Thank God it's not my problem.

Folks, there's too many fishes in the sea to be fighting over fish that's been caught. Leave that for the people who like dramatic stories.

Anyways, let me resume typing my summary for class...
Shelli out.

I live for the nights I can't remember... with the people I won't forget

2011-03-12T19:53:00.000-04:00

'A couple 100 dollars on these Ed Hardy frames,

believe me...

My future is so bright I need these..."

-'Superstar' Wiz Khalifa

***

You know it was a good night when the next morning you're tired and your voice is gone from the night before...

Real post later.

Midnight depression...

2011-03-10T01:04:00.000-04:00

I don't have much to post on tonight per se. I went to the sulphur springs in Bylands (sp?) yesterday and I shall post about that later I guess. I'm too lazy to type up a proper post about it nor upload pics.

I realized tonight, once more, that I have a slight allergy to dogs. My neighbour has a gorgeous rott/german shepherd mix. It's still a puppy, but it's a huge dog. Every time I see him now I gasp and momentarily get scared as my visits are so sporadic and far apart that I worry that rottweilers have short memory. (I'm afraid of big dogs) And then... he gives me the puppy eyes and jumps on me playfully. Too adorable!!

And then he licks me and my hand starts to itch... and I remember my mild dog allergy. *sigh*

***

So this post is entitled 'Midnight depression' and that's because of what I'm about to type about. A few weeks back I first heard about shark finning, but... I never followed up enough to find a video on it. So here was I... minding my own business, perusing tumblr and what do I stumble upon?

Do pardon the language. I try to keep it pg on my blog where I can... but yea. So I watched the vid and it's pretty depressing. In some parts of the world *cough* China shark fin is a delicacy. The only part of the shark they use, however, is the fin. Initially it was a delicacy reserved for just the upper class but consumption now includes the middle class. Funnily enough, finning is named as the primary contributing factor in the global decline of many shark species. (according to wikipedia that is) and sharks now represent the greatest percentage of threatened marine species on the IUCN Red List of threatened species (according to Oceana).

I know sharks aren't cute koala bears or sexy fierce tigers. They're over-sized fish marketed as fearful killers of the sea right? That's what the media and news tell us. Reality: Sharks kill an average of 10 people a year. And they don't go out looking for humans. I'm sure I've heard humans don't seem to taste very nice to them, we just get accidental bites for looking like something they normally eat at the wrong time and place. Ironically, we as humans kill about 100 million sharks a year... and it's going up because of this demand for the delicacy.

I got into a ridiculous argument tonight with a friend over this. He said, "But Shelli. It's just a fish. If we kill all the sharks then we have more fish in the sea!! It's those sharks that eating all the damn fish...!"

No... no... no... It's us humans with our take, take, take mentality. Mother nature always balances off. I can't think of any animal that kills wantonly. You can't just eliminate a top predator just like that either. Why would you? Think of all the repercussions.

When top predators like sharks disappear from their environments, ecosystems fall out of whack. Sharks help maintain the genetic health of the fish populations they feed on by eating the weak, sick and injured. They also keep their prey populations in balance. Off the North American West Coast, for example, as shark numbers have declined, the giant Humboldt squid has proliferated, moving from its traditional territory on the southern coast of the Americas as far north as Alaska. The squid, which can grow up to 6 ft. (1.8 m) long, have attacked divers in southern California, and commercial fishermen in Washington have reported them stealing salmon off their hooks. On the East Coast of the U.S., where large predatory sharks have also been overfished, cownose ray populations have exploded, taking a bite — literally — out of the bay scallop fishery. - Time Magazine

Furthermore,

Sharks populations can't withstand commercial fishing the way more fecund marine species can. Unlike other fish harvested from the wild, sharks grow slowly. They don't reach sexual maturity until later in life — the female great white, for example, at 12 to 14 years — and when they do, they have comparatively few offspring at a time, unlike, say, big tunas, which release millions of eggs when they spawn. (Not that overfishing has left big tunas in much better shape than sharks, but that's another story.) As a result, the sharks that are netted are either adolescents that have not had a chance to reproduce or are among the few adults capable of adding new pups to the mix — and never will. "The shark stock on the Great Barrier Reef was hit hard when fishing started in earnest here 30 years ago, and it hasn't recovered at all," says Fitzpatrick [a marine biologist]. - Time Magazine

Here's a CNN article about this issue as well... Click here.

The video is below. Watch it and tell me if you don't feel just a tad bit upset. Not to say they took the shark back to be sold in the market self..

"‎...22 and goin' through a midlife crisis...I'm not saying I'm the nicest, I just live life like it..."

2011-03-06T16:03:00.003-04:00

- Jamal G.

Either pay the light bill, or light up them candles...

2011-03-06T11:42:00.006-04:00

"I be frustrated with the way this ish's been aging

And I'm about to take a break and get away on a vacation

Like, maybe Malaysia to escape through meditation

I'll just eat, pray and wait for my day of revelation..."

- 'Fat raps' Asher Roth

***

"Sometimes in relationships there comes a point where you get serious...

And you cross the line..."

-Lisa Thomas

...And then you cross back.

Cookies for breakfast on a Sunday morning. That's what happens when you're pressed for time with an impending exam and lingering guilt from not studying as much the night prior. Therefore, this shall be a short post.

This weekend has turned into poetry weekend for me. I've been trying to resurrect 'girls night' this year. So far we've pulled off a few movie nights where we did things I didn't even do as a kid at slumber party such as watch movies and paint our nails in wacky colours. So for all of you who've seen me in person recently and been looking at my nails curiously wondering what the hell is going on......... girls night + laziness to remove nail polish has been going on... well for the most part that is, I've gotten comfortable with the crazy colours since.

This Friday I hung out with Sher. As is customary with me, I arrived in town about 15-20 minutes late after deliberating on what to wear for 2 hours. Needless to say, she left my backside and gave me directions as to how to reach the location. Hmph, in all fairness, she could've done like Carly and snooks and tell me they've arrived/left the house --- when in reality they haven't and they're factoring in my twist and turning time so we actually in the end arrive at the same time.

We went to this poetry/jazz chill spot that I never knew existed. I think it's called Le Bistro and my assumption is purely based on a memory of Sher snapping a photo of the dangling outside sign. Guilty consciences about late arrivals always beg for a quiet, discrete entrance with very little observation to details beyond getting to a seat. Now I'm almost certain you already have an idea where it is. I believe I've heard the music before on evenings walking past the building on my way to Josef's, I just could never figure out how to get upstairs and wasn't too bothered to get off-route to find out.

So I shall give directions from the tunnel because it's the flattest route. After passing the tunnel, approach the museum building. Take a left going up the hill. You will see a huge gate with a cannon in the yard. The gate is also roughly opposite of MNIB...and voilà you have arrived. Enter the gate, proceed up the stairs, it's the door on the left.

Apparently, this goes on every Friday evening from about 6-8 pm. I was in love. I made it in time to just hear the last poet... as she was finishing. *sigh* But it was still amazing. Then there was some live jazz music. A girl I know vaguely from Facebook and seeing her face around, Lisa Thomas, sang two covers - an a capella 'Cross the line' by John Legend and a classic 'Summertime' by Ella Fitzgerald. She has an amazing voice. Then we had a put-on-the-spot performance by Sean, a guy here on the island as part of the Peace Corps, who sang two songs (while playing his guitar) - an American classic 'Sweet Caroline' and an boy band classic 'I want it that way' by the Backstreet Boys. Dr. Keans-Douglas was there performing on his harmonica... Mr. Belfon on the saxophone... So...There was a saxophonist, guitarist, etc. (I don't know all my instruments, so consider 'etc.' my cop out) It was lovely.

So... I couldn't help myself. I called dad and let him hear all the good stuff over the phone. He was musing that it sounded just like being at Bourbon Street in New Orleans all over again... It was just that good.

On the downside, the setting is ok. It has those nice yellow lights that give the room that cozy comforting feeling. In the room itself, there are seats where you can sit or space for you to linger around the sides to stand - whichever your preference. There was a table outside with some drinks for sale, should you desire something to wet your throat. It would've been nice if there were some snacks outside - I think there was some but it finished... I could imagine some cake and pastries at this sort of gathering... or even sandwiches... yum. Or perhaps that's my lack of a proper breakfast talking to me.

Nuntheless, that's where we come in. You don't have to pay to come inside. The event is free, open to anyone who appreciates this sort of stuff and just looking for a nice, chill hang out. You may offer a donation in the basket on your way out. Proceeds go towards improving and maintaining the event. Friday coming they're going to have a violinist, electric guitarist and a bunch of other different performers.

Sher's going to be performing one of her pieces, she's deliberating on which to do. I might do one... It's been ages since I've done this. I can't even remember when last I've been to a W.A.G. meeting much less.

Wanna spit sum'n? Wanna play sum'n? It's an open mic.

~~P.S. Sorry, I forgot my camera this time so no pics.~~

******************

I got these quick snaps from Sher.

Mr. Belfon

Dr. Keans-Douglas & Mr. Belfon

***

"It's been a long day coming, and long will it last

When it's the last day leaving, I'm helping it pass

By loving you more."

-'Isobel' Dido

I'll leave you with a poem to peek-see...

Janette - 'I will wait for you'

Now I shall resume studying.

Deuce.

There comes a point when you just have to stop fighting with the currents and go with the flow.

2011-03-04T14:49:00.006-04:00

Life Lesson # 15 : Acceptance & trust.

Accept that bad things happen.

Trust that it will all work out.

You die fighting the ripcurrent, not riding the current out. At least that's what the experts tell you as a method to survive a ripcurrent. The current is too strong to swim against or across without getting tired and/or drown, but you can ride it out and then get the chance to swim to safety.

As with life, we have ripcurrents that are dressed up as varying factors that you don't have control over - be it the weather, traffic, people, your job/boss, teacher, school etc. But you can control how you react to each given situation. There's always the choice to get upset, sad, angry, depressed, cynical, annoyed, etc. However, just as easily, there is always the choice to be happy.

Imagine going to an early morning appointment and along the route you end up getting caught in traffic. Now, the average person's first instinct is to get upset and fuel that emotion. Bad move, because now your mood is ruined. Most likely, when you reach your destination, you're going to carry that bad mood with you. So all of your interactions of that day, have a set tone from that one moment of being stuck in traffic. You're probably going to enter the appointment with an attitude and interact with everyone else the rest of the day the same way. Furthermore, you're probably now going to look for things to validate the world conspiracy against you. Imagine if you didn't allow the hype to happen. Instead, you realized your favourite song was playing on the radio and sang along perhaps. The traffic issue would most likely be forgotten by the time you leave your appointment because it's lost emotional energy beyond an "I'm sorry I'm late." You no longer feel compelled to complain to everyone you meet about the horrible traffic and how badly your day is going. You arrive at the appointment with a better attitude and more receptive to positive things happening for the rest of the day. Ergo, the power of choice.

Back on topic...

At the end of the day, everything happens in the best way possible. You can make all the right moves. You can ask all the right questions... But in the end, nothing happens until the time it's supposed to happen. What's for you is for you. The people who were heading to the WTC the morning of 9/11, be it to drop off a job application, going to work, etc.; and were running late for whatever reasons probably felt annoyed and angry at that time. However, I'm sure they must've felt like they missed a bullet when the towers went down and they were still alive. Furthermore, if you didn't have a few cursed missed opportunities, you wouldn't have learnt a few lessons. Sure you were bitter at the time, but you understood after. Not immediately after, perhaps a few days, a few months, a few years even... but you understood. It all made sense.

You never really know, until you know, you know?

Always trust that whatever happens, happens for the best. This moment, all your life experiences, everything that has ever happened has led you to the moment you're in right now. Your future will be based on these previous and present moments collectively. It won't make sense now... but it shall. And when the right opportunity door presents itself, trust that prior moments throughout life will have prepared you to have the right keys to open it... (And even then so, I don't believe any opportunity can truly be missed...As my dad always says "What miss you, hasn't passed you")

Until then, choose to be happy, or at least aspire to maintain a positive attitude... and keep the faith.

“I am not the happiest person. In fact, in the battle between joy

and misery, I’d say that the latter often seems to prevail. I don’t

like this, and every day I refuse, for the eighty millionth time, to

put up with another minute of it. But the world does what it does,

and I often find it disagreeable. After all these years, I’m kind of

resigned to that. But I do have one thing on my side: I have

enormous faith. And hope. I am not speaking of the kind you

find in church or in the afterlife or in heaven or in the Saint James

Bible or in the Hare Krishna’s that we all encounter changing flights

in the airports of the world, I am speaking of a simple faith that

says that one way or another, no matter how many times I stumble

and stub my big toe, somehow life is going to work itself out.”

- Elizabeth Wurtzel

Fall down seven times, stand up eight.
Shelli out.