When You Walk With Purpose You Collide With...poetry? 1/2

Ah sweet serendipity….can't you and I be lovers? For I surely love you, you make my heart dance and twirl! ‘Why so metaphoric?” It happens when I feel particularly inspired :) Given the events of Friday the 11^th of March I surely did so feel.well.

I’m such a contemplative one, always musing on this or that.

My travel dream is to go to Italy. Not to be confused with my occupational dream which is to teach English in S. Korea for 6 months to a year some day...which is a dream that kind of cheats and will find a way to plop itself squarely under any category I can come up with (I really love South Korea) Yes, my dreams ARE categorized, cause I’m orderly like that, but I digress…

Going to Italy is on my bucket list. Just imagine a marvel-er like myself in a place like that of fine food, fine architecture and fine scenery, not to MENTION cobble stone, I LOVE cobble stone! You’d never hear the END of it!

On this Friday in particular I went to Italia! (saying it that way makes me happy happy joy joy) Well okay not ALL of me just my taste buds and they didn’t stay long... but it was enough to renew my appreciation for the fine fine country and made me want even more to bring my entire body there instead of just my food tasters...

Well after the events of the Friday  (I discovered a jazz and poetry night but lets not get ahead of ourselves, separate post on that) before, you know your girl wasn’t going to miss this! I was poised and ready. 

Sure I felt like crap and everything was daunting me: my bag was too heavy for an evening out, the work day had been too long, just got back from the doctors' where I had a four hour wait for a LITERAL MINUTE'S’ worth of attendance (I can forgive it easy the Dr. in question is wonderful, super understanding, super nice and told me that I’m 'all better' so I can live with a four hour wait to hear that) I lacked sleep and on top of that I was late yada yada. Cry me a river…BUT I was out there! Poetry at the ready, lookin' artistic in my long black flowy skirt and with matching gifted gloves. I walked with PURPOSE baby, I could DO this, I was going to OWN THIS!

Wait….where…did this ballet studio COME from? What do you mean no jazz and poetry night tonight!!? I kid you, not. I arrive to find ballerinas finishing up their evening practice and alerting me that it’s ‘not happening tonight’……………..blink blink blink.

Not going to lie, I only recently discovered that ballet classes were even available here in Grenada via the local news doing a story on it and even then it was not this instructor standing before me who'd been showcased.

So I bombarded her with a question or ten (not like I had any place special to BE *mumble grumble*) and she told me that there were at least three major Grenadian ballet schools. She clarified the difference in levels of classes they offer, difference between what she called ‘modern’ and ‘ballet’  both of which are being offered and told me how much it costs, which of course I don’t remember now. All I remember is that it was rather interesting, the entire turn of events.

Regardless, after my super duper concise education on what they offered and looking around at their seemingly recently white washed studio with its ballerina bars for training and black music notes painted on to their walls in beautiful contrast.

I stepped outside and noticed my surroundings for the first time that night.

I somehow had stepped into a small nook in Italy and had not noticed...? I was now facing small, too seater square wooden tables, they had that cosy warn look to them. Their aqua-ish green paint chipped in multiple places. REAL vines were hung from posts here and there. There was a thick lit burgundy candle placed atop a thin, long candle holder just at the top of the few steps I’d just climbed to get to said platform.

In my short time on the inside, the day light had receded and the moonlight had settled in comfortable above head. There was no covered roof so when you sat, you sat at a restaurant under the stars. And I DID sit, gazing up at the overcast sky as the sky and moon played peek-a-boo with each other.

My companion for the night was late, as is usual for her. I suddenly didn’t mind being with myself on that night however. The moon and I are very good old friends you see, we can speak with just gazes.

The tables were very few. If only six of them with two two seater coaches to my right up against the wall of the building . Straight ahead and beyond the little aqua tables was the bar, with three high chair seats. The bar was the only part of the set up actually unmovable and a part of the building. From where I sat I could see that behind the bar was not drinks but a fridge from where they pulled wine, just beyond that was the kitchen were they prepared the dishes you ordered. EVERYTHING was within sight.

I got the impression that the Italian chef was annoyed with me, just sitting there not buying anything but I stuck it out as I waited. I watched him explain what was on the menu for the night, how he would not cook a chicken if he did not buy one that morning, the same goes for any fish, so that no flavour is lost, about how that is how it is done in Italy and how you NEVER mix cheese with fish. Some people would be bothered over the fact that the chicken they are eating was alive yesterday, fortunately for my tummy I am not one of those people.

I met so many people I haven’t seen in a while, like a wonderfully cheerful and positive friend of mine…. Moreen St Clare, she is a Grenville member of the Writers Association of Grenada. On that night she was accompanied by her daughter, niece and the other person with her was her…sister…in law? I didn’t ask. After those joyful hellos and good byes I met Mayres a French member of the Writers Association of Grenada. She came bearing her German lady friend and Spain originate friend with her. They invited me to sit with them.

Surprised and just a tad shy (it happens) I complied and I don’t regret a moment of it! Within second of sitting down I learned that they were ALL artists. Spain Lady, a diver and seascapes painter. German Lady, an earring maker among other things like: qualified herbalist, candle maker, stained glass painter.

We had good fun of the clean and dirty kind; (lets just say the intellectual discussion was of all colours of the rainbow :) but we all have artistic license so dont worry that's legal.

Our order came, and for 30 bucks we had stuffed potato, a tomato also stuffed with something cheese and delicious, do you know how much I HATE tomatoes? Not THIS tomato! It was HEAVENLY. Mahi Mahi, in a delicious light lemon garlic sauce, fried cassava. Just pure heaven on a plate ok?!

I couldn’t speak, all that came out was a series of ‘mMMm’s and ‘aaah’s and ‘omg! So good!’

You know when you watch those shows where people get dressed up in couture evening wear and buy something that only fills a quarter of their plate and you think ‘Psssh girl I’m GROWN, needs me some gown people food!’ No? The hungry voice in your head doesn't sound like that? Huh…...thought that was normal.... but they’re enjoying every tiny bite when you watch them, each even more than the one before it…and you say to yourself ‘Pssh cause it cost so damn much for so little they want it to last as long as they can make it and fool their mind into THINKING they full…’

NO! This was not such a case!!

It was so good I didn’t want it to end! I wanted every last morsel to melt on my tongue slooooow. I also had a cup of ginger beer to go with it. Everything was more than amazing!

The conversation and the food were delicious and fed mouth and mind simultaneously. By the time Eli showed I had eaten every last crumb and was not ashamed.

I convinced her to try it and wouldn’t you know she had the exact same reaction! Good to the last bite! But Eli is a food lover and has what i like to call a 'plush pallet' so I expected as much haha.

My tummy sang my praises for the rest of the night and way into the first part of the next day. I don’t know how he did it but the unique mix of herbs and spices, both of which my dear Spice Isle is well know to be plentiful in :), were as mind blowing as the moonlight that night.

I can only explain it with one word: skill! Or maybe two, the next being: experience! Or three, the next being: magic! But I’m leaning strongly towards the first two!

After more wonderfully stimulating conversation, I said good bye with hugs and double cheek kisses as I’m not sure when next I will meet these wonderful women. :(

Eli and i took a few fun snaps to remember to evening in Little (Grenadian) Italy by:

****

Then high tailed it across the street to the ART EXHIBITION. A friend I’d met on my way to the ‘poetry and jazz night’ Mayres, and both her friend told me they had pieces on display and considering how this night had started and how awesome it was shaping out?! I was going to ride that wave till it caved! 

There was no way I was going to miss this!

Blog Action Day 2010 :: Saving Our Liquid Lover

photo from google images

"Water, water every where but not a drop to drink....."

"Water can save a dying man or it can kill him..."

These have always been two of my favourite quotes, or rather two I've    always been most mindful of. As i sit here now, in my chair at my computer, having only minutes ago returned from the kitchen where i decided i wasn't hungry enough to eat supper yet so i would just 'fill my belly' with water (and so did) As i sit hear reflecting on those quotes i cant help but feel touched...doesn't that sound silly?

It's true though, would you believe me if i told you that water is very close to my heart? Like a very close friend or even like a family member would sound more accurate. We have a beautiful relationship water and i and when ever we are parted, even for a little while i miss it...and i feel...when we reunite i feel...like it misses me too.

Because my whole body longs for it so much it creates it, perfidiously i sweat it....

I can not drink sweat

And while i literally bleed it from pores all over my body? My throat trembles for it, my tongue longs and aches for it, i am so sorrowful and so lonely without it i can barely speak for lack of it and my body creates more placebos: saliva, and if i give my body the chance? even tears!

I will not drink sweat or saliva or tears.

I continue to want it and almost go crazy with my lust for it, it's like it's calling me, whispering in my ear on the wind, longing for me too, begging me to find it and reunite it with my body...

Water, water every where but not a drop to drink.....

because of this feeling i try to make sure that I'm never far from it, so i carry a large bottle of it in my bag everyday, it does not matter if it is from a spring, cold, or hot or warm because our love..i like to think our 'co-dependence' is stronger than that.

the only criteria i ask of it is that it be clean, the only thing it asks of me everyday is that i protect it.

Protect it from the worlds negligence, because it's self esteem is not strong you see and it has a quick temper, all it wants to do is love but it has taken harsh blows from humanity and has dealt some too. There has been some bad blood but we want it to be water under the bridge. Problem is, water never forgets, the good news is water forgives easily, the bad news is water hits in hatred hard....but caresses in love tenderly...

Water asks for my protection however i can give it, simple ways like closing stray taps so that it's liquid love does not go down the drain. Water ask that i not neglect it by passing those cries for attention, those signs that scream 'love me! remember me! appreciate me!' with thoughts like 'not my problem' and 'it wasn't me' because water can feel those intentions...isn't that a scarier thought than closing a tap?

And that is when the neglect sinks deep. That is when the rage grows and expands slowly.

In the world there is nothing more submissive and weak than water. Yet for attacking that which is hard and strong nothing can surpass it.

 Lao Tzu

And what when we feel the wrath of our liquid lover scorned...?

Alone in the aftermath, crumbled and creating it ourselves from longing we reach, search heaven and earth;the sky for rain the ground for wells, for water. Tipping it to our mouths it quenches us without question, loves us all the way inside, fills up 80 percent of our body, reminds us that it's always been there and always wants to be there...with us...in us...around us...

Water can save a dying man or it can kill him...

I live on a Caribbean island, i am literally surrounded by water at every directional point, i see it glistening everyday, i feel it's heat all over my body, cleaning me and dirtying me everyday. Missing me and filling me up everyday and sometimes, when i make my way down to the beautiful oceans' edge so that we can unite in a grand state? i feel it's cold caress in all of my senses at once...

What have i overlooked during our love affair however?

# A Human Right: In July, to address the water crisis, the United Nations declared access to clean water and sanitation a human right over. But we are far from implementing solutions to secure basic access to safe drinking water.

# 40 Billion Hours: African women walk over 40 billion hours each year carrying cisterns weighing up to 18 kilograms to gather water, which is usually still not safe to drink.

# 38,000 Children a Week: Every week, nearly 38,000 children under the age of 5 die from unsafe drinking water and unhygienic living conditions.

# Wars Over Water: Many scholars attribute the conflict in Darfur at least in part to lack of access to water. A report commissioned by the UN found that in the 21st century, water scarcity will become one of the leading causes of conflict in Africa.

# Cell Phones vs. Toilets: Today, 2.5 billion people lack access to toilets, but many more have access to a cell phone.

# Food Footprint: It takes 24 litres of water to produce one hamburger. That means it would take over 19.9 billion liters of water to make just one hamburger for every person in Europe.

# Technology Footprint: The shiny new iPhone in your pocket requires half a liter of water to charge. That may not seem like much, but with over 80 million active iPhones in the world, that’s 40 million litres to charge those alone.

# Fashion Footprint: That cotton t-shirt you’re wearing right now took 1,514 litres of water to produce, and your jeans required an extra 6,813 litres

But don't take my word for it! Please! Check it out yourself, visit: blog action day 2010 for all the facts and figures! Photo above taken from google images no copyright infringement intended

This post written for Blog Action Day 2010

Blog Action Day 2009 :: The Power is Yours

So I was doing a little reading slash researching and I thought I'd make a note of the interesting things I'd found. People often suggest that the message is clearer the closer it comes to home, so lets test that theory shall we? I've been visiting this site

To see what the ACTUAL repercussions of climate change could be, not the 'big bad scary' ones we hear in the news like "OMGZ ALASKA IS GOOOOOOOOONEz!!' but the little things that add up to the big things, the little things that could potentially reach out and run their chilled finger tips cross your check while your eyes are closed


This is what I noted (fyi: what I loved is that each 'fact' had a source linked to it so do check the site out!'

Say Goodbye:

Say Goodbye to French Wines
Wacky temperatures and rain cycles brought on by global warming are threatening something very important: Wine. Scientists believe global warming will “shift viticultural regions toward the poles, cooler coastal zones and higher elevations.” What that means in regular language: Get ready to say bye-bye to French Bordeaux and hello to British champagne. [LA Times]

Say Goodbye to Baseball
The future of the ash tree—from which all baseball bats are made—is in danger of disappearing, thanks to a combination of killer beetles and global warming. [NY Times]

Say Goodbye to Christmas Trees
The Pine Bark Beetle, which feeds on and kills pine trees, used to be held in control by cold winter temperatures. Now the species is thriving and killing off entire forests in British Columbia, unchecked. [Seattle Post Intelligencer]

Say Goodbye to That Snorkeling Vacation
The elkhorn coral which used to line the floor of the Caribbean are nearly gone, “victims of pollution, warmer water and acidification from the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide seeping into oceans.” [Denver Post]

Say Goodbye to Cool Cultural Landmarks
The World Monuments Fund recently added “global warming” as a threat in their list of the top 100 threatened cultural landmarks. “On Herschel Island, Canada, melting permafrost threatens ancient Inuit sites and a historic whaling town. In Chinguetti, Mauritania, the desert is encroaching on an ancient mosque. In Antarctica, a hut once used by British explorer Captain Robert Falcon Scott has survived almost a century of freezing conditions but is now in danger of being engulfed by increasingly heavy snows.” [AP]

Say Goodbye to Mixed Nuts
Guess you’ll have to start eating pretzels at the bar instead: Scientists from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory predict hotter temps will cause a 20 percent drop in California’s almond and walnut crops over the next 40 years. [Science Daily]

Say Goodbye to French Fries
Scientists from the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research say warmer temperatures are killing off wild relatives of potato and peanut plants, “threatening a valuable source of genes necessary to help these food crops fight pests and drought.” [AP]

Say Hello:

Say Hello to More Mosquitoes
Get ready for more mosquitoes. Mosquitoes like to live in drains and sewer puddles. During long dry spells (brought on by higher temperatures) these nasty, stagnant pools become a vital source of water for thirsty birds ... which provide a tasty feast for the resident mosquitoes. At the same time, these dry spells “reduce the populations of dragonflies, lacewings, and frogs that eat the mosquitoes.” [Washington Post]

Say Hello to Poison Ivy
You’re gonna need an ocean of calamine lotion. Increased CO2 levels cause poison ivy and other weeds to grow “taller, lusher, and more resilient.” [LA Times]

More Stray Kitties
Global warming has extended the cat-breeding season beyond spring, which is the usual time for a kitten boom. The kittens are often homeless and end up in animal shelters. And remember, “The trouble with a kitten is that/ Eventually it becomes a cat.” [NBC-10: Philadelphia] [Ogden Nash]

and the not so small?

Farewell to Cute Koala Bears
Australia’s Climate Action Network reports that higher temperatures are killing off eucalyptus trees while higher levels of CO2 in the atmosphere are decreasing the nutritional value of the eucalyptus leaves Koala bears eat. They warn that the cute furry creatures could become extinct in the next few decades. [Science]

The Oceans are Turning to Acid
It sounds like a really bad sci-fi movie, but it’s true: The oceans are turning to acid! Oceans absorb CO2 which, when mixed with seawater, turns to a weak carbonic acid. Calcium from eroded rocks creates a “natural buffer” against the acid, and most marine life is “finely tuned” to the current balance. As we produce more and more CO2, we throw the whole balance out of whack and the oceans turn to acid. [CS Monitor]

Mediterranean Sea? Try the Dead Sea.
Italian experts say thanks to faster evaporation and rising temperatures, the Mediterranean Sea is quickly turning into “a salty and stagnant sea.” The hot, salty water “could doom many of the sea's plant and animal species and ravage the fishing industry.” [AP]

Volcanoes Blow Their Tops
British scientists warn of another possible side effect of climate change: A surge of dangerous volcanic eruptions. [ABC News Australia]

More Hurricanes
Over the past century, the number of hurricanes that strike each year has more than doubled. Scientists blame global warming and the rising temperature of the surface of the seas. [USA Today]

Burning Poo
As “shifting rainfall patterns” brought on by global warming “have made northern Senegal drier and hotter,” entire species of trees (like the Dimb Tree) are dying out, making it harder for natives to find firewood. As a result, more people are having to burn cow dung for cooking fires. [MSNBC]

People Are Dying
150,000: Number of people the World Health Organization estimates are killed by climate-change-related issues every year. [Washington Post]

More Heart Attacks
Doctors warn global warming will bring more cardiovascular problems, like heart attacks. “‘The hardening of the heart's arteries is like rust developing on a car,’ said Dr. Gordon Tomaselli, chief of cardiology at Johns Hopkins University. ‘Rust develops much more quickly at warm temperatures and so does atherosclerosis.’” [MSNBC]

More Mold and Ragweed = More Allergies, Asthma
A Harvard Study in 2004 showed higher concentrations of CO2 in the atmosphere is good news to allergens like mold and ragweed (they love the stuff). And that means higher rates of asthma attacks, especially in kids. [Globe and Mail]

A Resurgence In Deadly Disease
“The World Health Organization has identified more than 30 new or resurgent diseases in the last three decades, the sort of explosion some experts say has not happened since the Industrial Revolution brought masses of people together in cities.” Why? Global warming “is fueling the spread of epidemics in areas unprepared for the diseases” when “mosquitoes, ticks, mice and other carriers are surviving warmer winters and expanding their range, bringing health threats with them.” Ick. [Washington Post]

Spread of Dengue Fever
Scientists predict warmer temperatures will allow mosquitoes carrying Dengue Fever to travel outside the tropics. Since people in cooler climes lack immunity from previous exposure, that means transmission would be extensive. You get a severe fever, you start spontaneously bleeding, you can die. There is no vaccine. [Science Daily]

IISS: “A Global Catastrophe” For International Security
A recent study done by the International Institute for Strategic Studies has likened the international security effects of global warming to those caused by nuclear war. [On Deadline]

U.N.: As Dangerous As War
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said this year that global warming poses as much of a threat to the world as war. [BBC]

Center for Naval Analyses: National Security Threat
In April, a report completed by the Center for Naval Analyses predicted that global warming would cause “large-scale migrations, increased border tensions, the spread of disease and conflicts over food and water.” [Seattle Post-Intelligencer]

Starvation
A study by IISS found that reduced water supplies and hotter temperatures mean “65 countries were likely to lose over 15 percent of their agricultural output by 2100.” [Yahoo]

Famine
“Developing countries, many with average temperatures that are already near or above crop tolerance levels, are predicted to suffer an average 10 to 25 percent decline in agricultural productivity by the 2080s.” [Economic Times]

Droughts
Global warming will cause longer, more devastating droughts, thus exacerbating the fight over the world’s water. [Washington Post]

The Poor Are Most at Risk
Although they produce low amounts of greenhouse gases, experts say under-developed countries—such as those in sub-Saharan Africa—have “the most to lose under dire predictions of wrenching change in weather patterns.” [Washington Post]

Your Checkbook
A report done last year by the British government showed global warming could cause a Global Great Depression, costing the world up to 20 percent of its annual Global Domestic Product. [Washington Post]

The World’s Checkbook
A study by the Global Development and Environment Institute at Tufts University found that ignoring global warming would end up costing $20 trillion by 2100. [Tufts]


Freaky right? Imagine, I tried to stay away from the really big stuff. So now what? Well all i can think of is this old show i used to watch "Captain Planet" does anyone remember it? i sure do! so many lessons on how we can help this planet, the mentality we need to keep going...shall i link to one of the episodes?



That's my tiny contribution...

Yeah i know it's nothing grand but i honestly believe every little bit of 'nothing grands' from around the world such as not taking plastic bags when you by something like just one bottle of water from the store (you're going to drink the water and throw away the bottle already right? why do you need to throw away the plastic too?), car pooling, buying in bulk and as is NEEDED rather than to satisfy empty wants...(even i'm guilty of that one...) conserve water by tightening a leaky tap when your eyes happen to glance on one ANYWHERE rather than resigning in your mind that 'someone else will come along, i don't want to get my hands dirty or it wasn't me' plant a tree (even if its JUST on earth day) give live flowers rather than 'freshly picked' ones, conserve energy by unplugging appliances when not in use (again guilt: damn cellphone charger!), taking off lights, recycling (crafts anyone?) jabb that empty chocolate paper in your purse till you meat a bin (you will i promise you'll meet one.

Likewise on he big scales like: helping to stop pollute or oceans or protecting wildlife...

because as Captain Planet and the Planeteers said: we've only got one earth and THE POWER IS YOURS!!

man those 'planet alerts at the end of each episode i wish i could get my hands on them now :( so important these things are and imagine, this show was in the 1990s.....we didn't learn....we're just as badly of as we warned we'd be...:(

If you don't want to watch that entire episode so here's a fun tid bit, the Captain Planet ending song!

*sings along and dances* man did i love this show...

This post was brought to you courtesy of Blog Action Day