Don't play with it

Since I'm out of my depressive funk... A few weeks back, Sher and I went scouring the streets for food (as we normally do on a Friday evening). We passed by this little restaurant that was selling fried jacks. Now, jacks is a small fish of which you can fry and eat everything. Fishermen normally pull them up daily. However, my mom isn't much of a jacks fan, so if I want it, usually I end up buying it myself.

The mere idea of me resorting to buying jacks sent Sher into peels of laughter. Why? She's lives relatively close to the fishing capital of the island sooo she not only gets jacks free but frequently. *dramatic wistful sigh* Some folks have no idea how lucky they are...

Nice and quaint huh?

Where the delicious jacks are being housed...

Me, very content with my jacks. The owner gave me an extra one free. ^.^

Sher amused at me...

 And in case you're curious as to where this place is... It's opposite the bus terminal in town. And here's my moment of honesty... You can see it looks a bit sketchy from the outside. However, if you're craving jacks, I recommend them. But if you're not fond of smoking or smokers, there is a good possibility of someone smoking inside as they don't seem opposed to it from my last visit.

And then... the bartender told us about some locally done, au natural soaps that are especially good for people with sensitive skin. It's done locally by a lady in Grand Anse who also does facials, and other skin care techniques. The designs on some of the soaps are so intricate that it makes me not want to use it and just put it on my table as a pretty centerpiece. Anyhow, the soaps I saw were done with raw cocoa fat and goat milk. She also does cocoa fat bars for your skin.

The bartender has some for sale at Bar Lodi Mix... so you can pass by if you're interested.



And that's it 'til my next adventure.
Deuces,
xoxo

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

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

Last night I went to the (Grenada) National Youth Awards at the Trade Center to offer support to one of my friends that was collecting an award/certificate that night. Prior to her invitation, I didn't even know there was a Youth Awards much less that it was going to be held last night. I know, I know - that's very sad. It means I need to watch more local news and read more newspaper and get involved in more stuff.

It was lovely. I'll give my little briefing first before I speak about the event entirely. It was a little disorganized for one. It seemed as if half the awardees didn't show up. It begged the question why didn't they make it mandatory to R.S.V.P. to the event then. Or maybe they did and people didn't just bother with it, I know I hardly ever bother R.S.V.P. to functions here(Grenada) because it's not always regarded very strictly, in my opinion... and there were two awardees that had representatives sent to collect on their behalf so really and truly.. I don't know.  Additionally, there was a list being ticked off at the door upon entrance... doesn't the master of ceremony receive a copy as well to work as a heads up as to who's there as of current?

Anyways, as I was initially saying, minor glitches and disorganization aside, it was lovely. At the end of it, it left me feeling very proud of our youth and very inspired by hearing the achievements that are going on right here in Grenada. To me, I think this year's awardees deserve an extra round of applause to be pulling off such feats and taking such risks with time investment, money investment, etc. in the recession economy rather than just playing it safe and curbing creativity because of the uncertainty that surrounds.

There were awards for cultural contributions, economic contributions, etc. I forgot to collect a program... but I'll get a copy from my friend and update this part again. The long short is... there's a lot of big things going on in Grenada right now. Sure the economy is tough and things are hard. Surwe it's difficult to get a job and it seems as if it's far easier to go deal drugs, or smoke weed on the block and lament about things, or just stay home and cry to your friends, or come up with a million brilliant plans but never follow through on any because there's too much financial risk involved.

Fact: It's not impossible, nothing is. And don't worry... I'm a firm believer of impossibility being impossible when it comes to fulfillment of dreams but as with most people... I forgot. As is what happens when you stop surrounding yourself with progress people and allow yourself to get caught with all the bad things happening in the world, in Grenada, in your life. I remember back in the days when Cosmogirl magazine used to have inspiring articles about young people, male and female, teenagers into those in their 20s, who are achieving great feats... Last night was reminiscent of that.

I remember Les Brown once said the problem with people is that they come up with good ideas and then talk themselves out of it... He said remember what the Bible says : "Walk by faith and not by sight." He says it's our job to come up with ideas and then start the movements, whatever you believe in - be it God, the power of the Universe, whatever, would find away to make provisions to make your dreams possible... once you start walking confidently.

Also, another two favourite quotes of mine are "Ships are safe in harbour, but that's not what ships are built for" and "Being realistic is the most commonly traveled road to mediocrity." The first quote is one I try to live by. Occasionally, yes, I do get scared to try new things and push new limits... But then I remind myself of that quote and I dare myself to get it done. And furthermore, the greatest things are achieved by those who dare to dream big and impossible. Without big dreamers we would not have airplanes or ships - who thought metal could fly or float? Or skyscrappers...electricity...telephones...touchscreen cellphones. It's those who dare to dream "unrealistically" and test the boundaries and push them further are those that achieve the impossible...

...and I see we have budding impossibility breakers right here. A friend of mine, Brendon, one of the most driven, ambitious, local guys I know; once told me "Shellon, Grenada is a gold mind... people are just too blind to see it. We can do it with our own people right here... We just need support and guidance as youth to tap into our creativity and make it happen." [Rather than prostitute the island as is typical when you're a third world country trying to go forward] But last night proved just that to me. How right he was/is... I mean, I've always believed and agreed with him. But when you have all that talent and achievements going on in one room it's hard not to be in awe. I heard stories of people who started selling door to door out of a van, or truck, and now have a huge business. Or this young lady who had a passion for dance and started her own company upon graduating high school that teaches (ages 2 - 16 yrs.) and her group does dance performances at various events around the island... Or even one of my friends, Rico, I didn't even realize how deep into music he was until last night. He participates in the Calypso and Soca Monarch (I can't remember which one specifically) and he has won before. He also writes songs for many local artists like Nicoyan Bain, Otis (as in this year's Carnival king) and so forth... And I believe he has also received a Grade 1 Distinction at the Royal Music School in England (again I have to get it clarified officially, but I believe this was what I heard). Additionally, there are lots of different organisations around wanting to help young people achieve their dreams or at least open up a whole new world of possibilities/horizons such as GRENCODA... There's the Lion's Club and the youth arm of the Rotary, Youth Parliament, Youth Ambassadors, etc. There's so much going on...

...Now that I feel inspired. I once more come to the conclusion it all comes down to choice. Some people choose to strive for greatness and get involved in positive ventures to help develop themselves... and others choose not to. Yes I know it's hard to dream a world you haven't been exposed to, and not "blame the system" but the truth is... There's enough Oprah television and internet great achievement stories going to make that excuse a lot less valid today.

Also... before I launch into the photos.. which are few (mostly because of where I was seated)... I must say we have a lot of musical talent. There was this boys group that sang a capella called "Victorious Brothers" - I swear, they sounded and reminded me of BoysIIMen... Then Josh Mathurin performed one of John Legend's songs "Ordinary people" and he did it beautifully... And Nicoyan Bain, she's got such a sweet voice. WHY doesn't the world know these kids?? *ahem* I mean young people. Seriously... I know we're definitely not lacking talent... Aside from them I've got a ton of friends that sing beautifully and rap craftily like... Thamara, Akeem, Chrispin, Beans... :( Why aren't these people on the map?

Josh & Nicoyan

During the ceremony

Nicoyan & the Victorious Brothers

Victorious Brothers

I had an awesome weekend.

I didn't go to the Jhandi but I still got my seven curry. What is seven curry you ask? (Don't worry, I know you're thinking it... I didn't know myself) How my mom explains it, it's simply different dishes in portions. Each dish you call it a curry. For example, stew eggplant, curried katahar, etc... each is a "curry." So if someone comes to visit and asks you, "what curry you cooking?" - simply means - what dish are you making today?

I love Jhandis. I can't understand a single word in the prayer, nor am I Hindu so I don't need to understand it... But I love the whole cultural experience. I get to wear my shalwar... Hopefully someday I'll have my own sari.

And most importantly, with all Indian celebrations, there's always a LOT of food involved. That naturally is my most favourite part. The dishes don't have meat - but it tastes so good you don't need meat. My favourite dishes are anything with katahar in it. Why? Because katahar tastes like chicken. I remember the first time I ate it I asked my mom how come she said they don't cook with meat yet I'm eating chicken. *frown* She thought it was funny...

Anyways... After the prayer they give you this little brown paper bag that has all sorts of yummy goodies in it - generally sweet treats. There's a little bag of fruits such as a slice of apple, a banana, dates, prunes and grapes. Then there's a bit of prasad, rote(I'm not sure how to spell this one), pera, mithai/kumar, etc... And then there's the wide range of Indian dishes such as dhal puri (roti), various curries, stews, etc. as well as desserts. Yum.


What awesomeness did I do instead? I chilled with snooks and watched a couple movies. As usual, the ones I pick turn out extra sucky and much to my annoyance, in contrast, despite my reluctance to watch a pile of action movies, he always picks out the ones that are really good. All I could do at the end was mumble and mutter and grumble to myself.


I picked out  'Burning Bright.' Honestly, it wasn't awful but it wasn't that great either. It was like a 10 minute plot that got dragged out into a full length feature film. In a nutshell it's about this young woman and her autistic brother who get trapped in a house with a tiger during a hurricane. Sounds absurd? Not quite. How the movie explains itself is plausible enough... but it's not involving enough. Straight-to-dvd? Yes. Would I watch it again? Umm.... sadly to say, yes, just because of the suspenseful gasp moments with the tiger (and I cut through half of the movie and apparently we missed some exciting parts according to reviews on IMDB). The tiger was absolutely gorgeous and they used a real one(or three). But... the plot just didn't have enough to carry the whole film.



He picked "Salt" and "Knight and Day." I loved 'Salt.' It was very entertaining... nice plot line and development. A little love story, a little action, and lots of woman power - what's not to like? Tagline question is 'Who is Salt?' In a nutshell she works for the CIA and is accused of being a Russian spy. After reading through some reviews on IMDB some people seem to have gone too indepth with their analysis - going on and on about the Cold War, the impossibility of the movie, blah blah blah. It's just a movie, chill, an entertaining one at that.




 'Knight and Day' was alright. I think I almost fell asleep at some points, but that could be because I was tired as well. It had a similar action/romance trend to 'Salt' but (to me) less involving. However, it was more comedy and had a much lighter atmosphere and considering all the hype from the two action/suspense/thriller movies we watched prior, so that could be the cause of my prejudice. Maybe if I watched it in isolation of the other films and wasn't a tad sleepy then perhaps I would've loved it. I generally love all of Cameron Diaz's movies. Some people are after some powerful battery Tom Cruise's character in the movie helped create. They try to kill him, Cameron gets fenced in all the excitement inadvertently.