Could It Be?

One of my goals for the new year (along with my fellow blogger Thoughts on Paper) is to volunteer at a presidential candidate's local office. If nothing else to learn a little more of the political process. Initially I said it wouldn't matter the candidate as long as the experience was fulfilling. Over time that too has changed. In watching the news last night and this morning I see presidential hopeful Barack Obama's performance in Iowa and it made me wonder; Could he become president? His showing last night was impressive and for me surprising. While I would like to see him become president, I keep thinking his lack of experience will hinder his progress. Despite that, I wish him well and want to see him succeed. I guess if I plan to volunteer in his offices I need to work on my support. Good Luck in New Hampshire, Mr. Obama. Photo courtesy of Reuters 

Happy New Year!!!

Ok so I know I'm a little late but I couldn't possibly start with anything else. As mentioned in the previous post, I am in Trinidad for a LONG holiday.  The weather is hot !!! In the past few weeks, I have shopped with my sisters, attended an Aunt's 75th birthday party and celebrated both Christmas and New Year's. It has been a memorable one to say the least.  One of the main reasons for my coming during this holiday period was to spend time with my sisters. Living in different countries makes a yearly gathering difficult. Needless to say I was the ONLY one touched by this sentimental thought. 

They went on their way daily and didn't give my being there so much as a thought. I thought i would show you the ungrateful parties so you would know them when you see them. This photo is from New Year's Day.  It was taken with my new Nikon D40X. I am falling in love with this camera. The company's slogan is EVERY one can take great photos.  They were right.  The photo was a little dark when it was taken. Once I transferred it into the program, I just brightened it up a little and whola! Beeyootifull. In reality though I need to spend a some time with the video to trouble shoot some of the problems other problems I am having.  Some of the photographs have come out a little blurry. Not sure why especially since they look great on the camera. If anyone has any thoughts or ideas as to why this is happening, please comment.

 On another note, I normally write out my goals and dreams for the year but for some reason I didn't do it this year.  I obviously have a few in mind and would like to put pen to paper as soon as possible. To me putting it on paper makes it seem valid. Got any ideas? Until next time. All the best to you and yours 

Greetings from Trinidad and Tobago

Greetings from the beautiful Trinidad and Tobago !


This time last night I was stressing over my trip here. First it was whether or not I had everything I needed clothes, shoes that kinda thing. Next it was checking off the requests of everyone who knew I was coming.
“Bring meh dis nah?” or I know yuh rushing to leave but when yuh comin bring some ______ nah?” To top it all off, I had slept a mere two (yes I said TWO) hours. There was a period of about two hours where I SERIOUSLY was considering NOT coming. But then as if out of the V-8 commercial someone appeared and clunked my forehead as if to say, “Yuh mad or what? Is Trinidad yuh going!”

I began to suck up all the worries and continued with the errands I had planned for the night. Fast forward a little and well let’s just say all that is water under the bridge now cuz guess what?????? I am here!!!! I was so excited on the flight because it was then it begin to sink it. Actually the closer I got the better I felt. When the pilot released the landing gear, I felt a little flutter in my heart. It was kind of funny actually because for some reason I began to think of all the times I had been to Trinidad and a little ritual I had always been privy to.
To be honest, I am not sure when this ‘tradition’ began or if you can call it a tradition per se but IT happens EVERYTIME a plane lands in T&T. It goes like this …. when the plane actually lands, passengers (usually locals, foreign-born children of locals like me and those who have been to the island long enough to know the ritualistic behavior of Trinidadians) clap and start tuh cheer. It is almost like saying, “Thank you God for getting us here safe!” I know for a fact this is an island thing because I have traveled internationally to other places and have never experienced this. Anyway back to the story….There was a bit of a delay in the clapping and cheering and I thought, “Ok. Maybe people don’t do this type of thing anymore.” Well, either they were reading my mind or they were just being a LITTLE slow because as soon as the thought left my mind, guess what???? they DID IT! Don’t ask me why but it felt good. I had to bus a lil smile. Fast forward again and I am now at my Dad’s and just had a little dinner. I am sitting here trying to digest all of the things he has said to me about what I am going to be doing over the next couple days. Truthfully, all I REALLY heard was the fact, in between him giving me orders, is that they DON’T have Internet at the house. So that being said I can only post when I get to an Internet Café. I cant wait! That’s all for now

Onyx Magazine closing

I live in the Houston area and enjoy the snippets of the middle/upper middle class upwardly mobile. It's nice to occasionally see how the other half lives. Needless to say, when I saw this in the Houston Chronicle I was saddened. I had the opportunity to meet Onyx publisher, Ms. Burton-Allen about a year ago. She talked about starting the magazine, the day to day of magazine publishing and most importantly the joy starting a magazine of this caliber in the City of Houston. The article states she plans to pursue her "media relations and crisis-management consulting business." Seeing this article made me think of black publishing on a whole. Is it still necessary to have this niche in the world? She mentioned in the Houston Chronicle article that Onyx only "scratched the surface" adding "hopefully someone will pick up the torch." Could mainstream publications pick up that torch and cover this side of the black middle class? As a journalism major I know magazine publishing on a whole is a difficult business. The topic of the closure of some well-known black publications was discussed some time ago on Richard Princes's Journal-isms site Check out what publishers of now defunct magazines had to say on the topic. What are your thoughts on the subject

She’s Coming Clean

Play on words…I know I know I am really wrong for that( I really am quite empathetic to this situation) BUT according to Fox Sports online, it seems Marion Jones is in court today to fess up about her steroid use and the fact that she lied to an investigative committee. The story was first reported by one of my favorite newspapers, the Washington Post. Jones will reportedly admit that she used a type of steroid called ‘clear’ for two years starting in 1999. She says she thought what she was taking was flaxseed oil and didn’t realize it was dope UNTIL she stopped training with Trevor Graham. The kicker part was that she attempted to sue the distributor of the drug…go figure ……..Anyway she has been under speculation for quite some time and as part of this plea could lose all, yes ALL of her medals from the 2000 Olympics and other world championships. Several months back MSNBC reported that she was broke.
Call me an optimist, (I like her) but I believe that she didn’t intentionally take the drugs and then panicked....Not everyone would've responded to the situation in that manner but she did. People cannot say what they would or wouldnt do in a similar situation because most of us wouldnt make it to that level in any sport field to have to find out. Now I wonder what she will end up doing. Is she going to be able to rebuild her life? Earlier this year she married Barbadian sprinter Obadele Thompson. Hopefully he will help her through this. While she may have deceived all her fans, the only person she really hurt is herself. Everyone deserves a second chance.

A Sad Ending...

Ok.... so it took me a day or so to wrap my brain around the sad ending to the Nailah Franklin case. I like so many others wanted her to be found alive and well but deep down I think we all knew something was terribly wrong when the car and personal items were found. In an article on ABC News.com Ms. Franklin was identified two days ago through dental records as her body was badly decomposed. The family has asked through a statement thanked all those who helped in the search for Nailah and kept her case in the media. They also asked that they be kept in your thoughts and prayers as they move forward and prepare to celebrate her life. I will do just that ......

Documentary Announcement

I'd like to believe that I have readers EVERYWHERE ( I know I know its probably all in MY mind) so with that in mind I thought I'd write about this movie review I saw in the New York Times today. The name of the documentary is Banished and it was directed by Marco Williams A well-respected filmmaker, he holds an undergraduate degree from Ha'vard as well as two graduate degrees from UCLA. He currently teaches at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. Back to the movie.. Banished was released in 2006 and was first seen by various groups through outreach events. For those of you from or around the Texas area you may remember he directed along with Whitney Dow the Two Towns of Jasper. The story was part of the Point of View series on PBS and aired in 2003. Since the release of Banished he has been making the rounds at various film festivals and hitting the media circuit to discuss his latest project. The site is not up to date, so I'll keep checking for its premiere in the Houston area. If anyone in the New York area has seen this documentary or plans to see it, stop by my blog and tell me how it is. Enjoy Lady Writer