Absolutely hilarious!!!
And so when you're done watching this first episode, watch the others via the Awkward Black Girl Internet site.
Issa Rae who create this show is beyond brilliant so hopefully she will soon get a network deal. In the style of Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiam and Arrested Development, this show deserves to be on air during prime time.
This morning on my way to work, bumped into my next door neighbour who put their house up for sale this past July. After your normal pleasantries, I inquired about the number of viewings and more importantly if any offers had been received. She indicated that an offer was recently made for £5K less than the asking price but they were now holding out for £10K more than the listed price.
My chin almost hit the ground as either sale price under current market conditions would be brilliant and so immediately wondered if they are being greedy. Of course, I'm not going to judge too harshly as I really want them to get the £10K more - as this would be £35K more than I paid for my house (similiar size and standard) three years ago. So hopefully a buyer will come along and pay what they are trying to achieve as this will put me in a really good position when I eventually come to sell.
When will that be? Not any time soon really as destiny dictates that I be in my current location for a wee bit longer. That said, things are really looking up for property prices in my area. I suppose this is aided by the new developments and restaurants opening up. Soon there will be a Buddha Belly and Chimichanga all within walking distance. Oh yeah!
Another amazing find via Spotify. Well first through Black Jaguar's Facebook page. But having listening to her discography via Spotify, she - Queen Ifrica is a new favourite.
As long as my Great Aunt Dorothy -- my Nenen -- is alive, there will always be the call to return to Montserrat. Her voice and commanding presence at her home in Mongo Hill, St Johns will always represent home sweet home. Thus, I'd walk through fire to get to her and can't wait to get back sooner rather than later.
By the way, when I was there last December, a friend took me to see the exclusion zone -- much of it devasted by the volcano some 16 years ago! You can see pictures of this area in my Facebook Montserrat: Nature album.
Hands down, Robbie Williams' ANGELS is one of the BEST SONGS EVER!!! It makes me think of my mother and I can't help but have it on constant replay. She is my angel and I know won't forsake me!
Below are the lyrics to this amazing song:
I sit and wait
does an angel contemplate my fate
and do they know
the places where we go
when we´re grey and old
´cos I´ve been told
that salvation lets their wings unfold
so when I'm lying in my bed
thoughts running through my head
and I feel that love is dead
I'm loving angels instead
and through it all she offers me protection
a lot of love and affection
whether I'm right or wrong
and down the waterfall
wherever it may take me
I know that life wont break me
when I come to call she wont forsake me
I'm loving angels instead
when I'm feeling weak
and my pain walks down a one way street
I look above
and I know ill always be blessed with love
and as the feeling grows
she breathes flesh to my bones
and when love is dead
I'm loving angels instead
and through it all she offers me protection
a lot of love and affection
whether I'm right or wrong
and down the waterfall
wherever it may take me
I know that life wont break me
when I come to call she wont forsake me
I'm loving angels instead
Racquetball Guy introduced me to Kirk Franklin's song: I Smile. It's such a wonderful reminder that despite our current adversities -- no matter what they may be -- we have much to be thankful for and so shouldn't stop smiling!
I've been checking out many of the companies that will have applications integrated into Facebook's timeline profile. One that has captivated me so far is: Spotify.
Why? Well while I like music, I don't really follow a lot of bands or listen to a lot of music. And so as this service which will provide free access to more than 15million tracks, thinking that I'll be able to discover and enjoy a lot more music without first having to pay for it.
Also, the beauty of this application/service as that by being integrated with Facebook, I'll be able to discover music through my friends. Thinking that will be quite powerful as it will most likely help me find music that I would not have discovered on my own.
So well done Spotify and here's hoping that they can work things out so the artists who'se music we'll all be enjoying more benefit as much. And to do my part, I will most likely sign up for a premium account!
I've been cooped up all weekend as I came down with some sort of cold/flu and thought it best to rest with a view to recovering. Most unfortunate, as it has turned out to be a great weekend weather wise.
Anyway, now that I've installed the new Facebook profile timeline, using downtime to re-familiarise myself with everything I've written on Facebook since joining in 2006. I've also spent a great deal of time looking through my photographs. Below is one of my favourites taken while on a hike to view the Seven Sisters.
If you're not familiar, the Seven Sisters are a series of chalk cliffs by the English Channel. They form part of the South Downs in East Sussex and are just beautiful. On this particular day back in May when we visited, it was very windy but still very picturesque.
You can view more of my pictures from this hike via my Facebook Eastbourne, Seven Sisters Chalk Cliffs & Brighton album.
Earlier this summer I saw a movie that still haunts my dreams. Titled Black Venus (Venus Noire) it tells the real-life story of a black woman born circa 1770 who was turned into a sideshow attraction known as 'The Hottentot Venus'.
Born Sarah 'Saartjie' Baartman in South Africa, she was taken to Europe during the early 19th century and was exploited and exhibited as a part-human, part-animal attraction for both entertainment and educational purposes. And when her "act" lost appeal, she was tossed out on the streets like garbage and eventually turned to prostitution. She subsequently died of pneumonia and various venereal diseases.
As you can see from the movie trailer, it was all very much a sad spectacle. She was routinely ogled, dehumanised and degraded all in the name of profit. And when the end came, she couldn't rest peacefully. A plaster mould of of her body, along with her brains and genitals were cut out and put on display at a Paris museum. Only in 1994 were they returned. This all makes me want to go back in time and bring retribution on those that did this to her and so many others.
No one then and no one now should have to suffer and endure like she did. Granted she was defiant in many ways, her life was filled with such heartbreaking sadness and the visuals of her suffering will unfortunately continue to haunt me for some time.
In my latest business venture, I'm involved with the travel sector (more on that later). Anyway, one sub sector that I deal with relates to activity and adventure holidays. Thus, not only do I come across a lot of interesting destinations, but all sorts of quirky activities that I think would be fun to try.
Interestingly, this one: land diving is not one of them. Below is a video of this crazy and oh yeah, dangerous activity! A precursor to bungee jumping, it started as a ritual performed by the men of the southern part of Pentecost Island, Vanuatu. Now tourists are travelling to watch and some even want to take part. Madness!
Basherter and I have resumed our friendship. It all began with a phone call a few weeks ago. This was perhaps more for me as most of our communication had been via Skype chat and I wanted to make sure that nothing said was lost in translation. I needed to connect the words with the voice and I wanted him to do likewise.
Since that initial conversation, we have continued to talk but not with the same kind of frequency or intensity as before. And I'm actually ok with that. In many ways, this whole situation has helped me to mature and realise that I can be JUST FRIENDS with A MAN even if we happen to share an intense bond.
Having said that, I should confess thought that having RacquetballGuy in my life has made it all the more easier. Particularly as in less than a month he will be here in London visiting for a glorious 10 days. I so hope that they are indeed splendid and help us to finally take things to the next level as if they are not, it will truly spell the end of our friendship.
The reality is that there is too much history and emotion and there is no halfway point. It's all or nothing. RacquetballGuy hates when I say this, but that is the reality. I don't think I'll ever see him as just a friend. Thus, if we can't take it to the next level, we both need to completely walk away once and for all.
That said, I'm really optimistic. Of course, I leave it up to destiny as ultimately it will decide our faith in this matter. So stay tuned.
I've enabled my Facebook timeline profile by following the instructions provided by Mashable Social Media. This is well in advance of the offical release so below is a sneak peak. Only those who have enabled their own profile will be able to view on Facebook. Yeah me!
By the way, I am pictured above with my ninetysomething year old great aunt Dorothy who is without a doubt my favourite person alive today. In moments of doubt I think of her and everything is possible again. She is a source of strength, my rock, my Nenen!
In all the years of blogging, I don't think I've posted any pictures of BestGuyFriend and me. Well at least not that I can remember. Below is one of us taken during his short stay in London.
How amazing that our friendship that started at the University of Michigan some 22+years ago remains strong and will surely last a lifetime!
Since I started blogging again, I haven't really shared any of my posts via Facebook as I wanted to make sure I was seriously committed to blogging again. And so now that I've blogged almost everyday for the last 54 days, thinking I should go ahead and start sharing. Particularly as Facebook is launching a new look called Timeline which will essentially allow you to more easily create a visual scrapbook of your life.
So in conjunction with this blog, thinking it will be quite powerful in helping to further document my personal history. Of course, most of the content will still remain on this site because its mine -- all mine! As who knows, someday I might want to quick that bitch! In the meantime, I need to ride the wave with a view to increasing my readership. There are now 800 million people on Facebook and based on my Google Analytics, I could do with a few more people loving and stalking adoring me from afar!
The British government has launched a marketing campaign to generate further buzz and interest as a lead up to the London Olympics. Specifically, they hope the campaign will boost trade and tourism revenue by £1bn and attract 4 million extra visitors next year.
Now considering the awful images spread across the globe last month with the riots, this investment is money well spent. Sure London and the rest of the country has its share of challenges, but there are also some amazing things happening here across the public, business, entertainment and academic sectors, etc. Thus its about time that the country started tooting its horn!
You can view more of the campaign posters at the Visit Britian Internet site!
BestGuyFriend and his lovely wife are using a credit card with no fees to pay for almost everything during their European trip. Heck, during their visit in London, they didn't exchange any US Dollars for British Pounds. As not only do you get charged when you exchange but if you are unfortunately left with money before you depart and decide to change back to original currency, you get charged again. Thus, you are losing out twice. So can't say I really blame them -- particularly as the British Pound is but one of five currencies they will encounter during the trip.
Interestingly, the Consumer Focus group published a report today indicating that millions of UK holidaymakers are being ripped off when trying to buy foreign currency or use their credit card. For example, converting £500 to euros can vary from around £10 to more than £30 depending on where you switch the money. That is some hit and all adds up to some serious money.
In fact, the Consumer Focus estimates that charges to customers for exchanging money are around £1 billion per year. That's nearly 4% of the £27 billion UK travellers spend while holidaying abroad. Thus, they have complained to the Office of Fair Trading (OFT). Now I'm not optimistic that the OFT will be able to do much on this issue as it doesn't just affect British tourists, but everyone worldwide who travels.
And as with other areas of banking, there is a lot of shady dealings and opportunistic profiteering happening here. There are simply too many hidden fees and complex charging structures and so the average consumer is continually losing out!
So yet another reason why we need to see global banking reform.
Companies like Facebook are the new sexy but let's not forget companies like IBM who make much of our computing today possible!
As we walked through the National Gallery and British Museum yesterday, BestGuyFriend was listening to Rick Steves Audio Europe. It's an app for iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch and Android phones that offers "self-guided tours for dozens of Europe's top museums, sights and historic walks -- plus 200 tracks of travel tips and cultural insights from his radio show -- all for FREE!"
Rick, a best-selling travel author and host of public television's Rick Steves' Europe and public radio's Travel with Rick Steves also has a YouTube channel with great videos for popular destinations. Below are videos for the National Gallery and British Museum!
National Gallery
British Museum
BestGuyFriend and his lovely wife are on a world wind European tour and they stopped off in London for 36 hours. This provided an opportunity for us to catch up face to face for the first time in nearly five years. Way too long, but the reality is I've been off traveling elsewhere and haven't been back to the States. He likewise, hadn't ventured to these shores.
Anyway, we had a lovely time after first meeting up at the iconic London Eye. We walked from there over Westminister Bridge passing the House of Commons, Big Ben and then towards Trafalgar Square before heading into the National Gallery.
This was followed by drinks at a Pub and then a visit to the British Museum. Now I had been to the British Museum a few years back to visit The First Emperor: China's Terracotta Army exhibit, but time didn't permit to visit the regular gallery.
So when I walked through earlier today was pleasantly surprised and amazed by all the wonderful artefacts and now understand why some consider the place controversial. It is chocker full of first rate artefacts much of them pillaged during the heyday of British colonial rule. And as a result, items here are probably better than what you'd find at national museums in Egypt, Greece, Syria, etc. were much of the artefacts come from.
Thus, if you live in London or passing through, the British Museum should top or near top of list of places to visit. It's amazing and it's free except for special exhibits. That said, below is one of my favourite artefacts in the museum. It's a vase that depicts the Greek sobriety test.
You can view more wonderful artefacts in my Facebook Around London: British Museum album.
I can't stop looking at my forty & fabulous photographs. Does that make me vain? I hope not!
I keep looking at them as I'm definitely seeing myself in a new light. People have always told me I was pretty/attractive and now I'm finally seeing it. It's taken me forty years, but better late than never.
Anyway, below is another favorite. Most who have viewed the album think it's the money shot. One (male) friend called it spendificacious! Not a real word -- but him writing it, made me smile.
One of my good childhood friends and Montserrat Soca Artist, Black Jaguar recently released two new singles: Drowning On A Rising Sun and Take Control. My favorite of the two is Take Control. You can listen to it here:
Both singles as well as songs from his highly acclaimed first album Paw of Jag can be purchased online via iTunes. Enjoy!
Earlier this week the Independent Commission on Banking Reform released its final report. In it are reforms that the bankers are claiming would cost the industry over £7billion a year.
Interestingly, most of the recommendations wouldn't be implemented until 2019. Why so long is beyond baffling considering the sector is an octopus and continues to have the potential to bring the economy to its knees.
Delaying the reform is also particularly worrying when you consider that they are unable to put in place policies and procedures to stop reckless activity. Case in point, we hear today of another rouge trader: Kweku Adobol who stands accused of £1.3 billion in fraud at Swiss banking giant UBS.
And so I suppose who really needs reform when moral hazard is in force at the banks. Basically, because they know that they are near 100% protected by the lender of last resort (i.e. government/taxpayers), they continue to take riskier investments than they would in the absence of this protection.
Just scandalous!
After walking over 100 miles during the 21 day Fitness Challenge and then a further 12+ miles during the PunchBowl Hike, decided to take a few days off.
Then this morning (around 7am), on my first day back out walking, I saw the most amazing sight. Specifically, a full moon with blazing full sun off in the distance.
I thought it was most unusual but apparently its a completely normal occurrence. Apparently two things contribute to seeing a full moon during daylight:
"first, it is bright enough that its light penetrates the scattered blue light of the sky. If you're looking at exactly the right spot with a telescope, you can also see the planets Mercury, Venus, and Jupiter in daylight, plus a few of the brightest stars (though few casual observers can actually pull this off). Secondly, the moon must be high enough in the sky to be visible."
Very interesting and so would recommend reading more of Geoff Gaherty's blog post on why we see the moon in daylight.
Since I turned forty some 13 months ago, I planned to do a photo shoot as years from now I want to be able to look on my current fabulousness (lol!). Thus, I've been looking around for a photographer/photo studio. I wanted to find one that took beautiful photographs of celebrities and real world people.
I also wanted to find one that was reasonably priced and wasn't going to charge an arm and a leg to get the copyright and all photographs from the session on a disk. As luck would have it, I came across such a studio a few months ago via Groupon deal -- specifically, Studio 1B Photography.
And earlier today, I went for my 2 hour session. Of course, not before having my makeup done by Helen, a talented Fashion Fair makeup professional at Debenhams in Bromley. Below is a couple of the pictures taken by the wonderful photographer Matt. Just fabulous don't you think?
You can view more, in my Facebook Forty & Fabulous album!
I am in a reflective mood today and one of Robert Frost's poems comes to mind. Specifically: The Road Not Taken.
It goes:
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Michigan beat Notre Dame 35-31 in what can only be described as a thriller that will be replayed time and time again on ESPN Classics! So well done to my Wolverines. It would have been great to be there in the Big House, but watching from London in the middle of the night via laptop brought much joy!
GO BLUE!
More and more, I just love, love, love the great outdoors. And today, I went on another great hike from: Milford to Haslemere, Surrey. All total, walked about 13 miles in search of Devil's Punchbowl a large hollow of dry sandy heath to the west of Hindhead in southern England.
"Legend has it that the devil spent his time tormenting the god Thor by pelting him with enormous handfuls of earth, leaving the great bowl that visitors can see today. In reality the large depression was created by erosion as water percolated down and hit an impervious layer of clay. A large number of small springs sprung up across the area as the water pressure built up."
Additional photos from this very picturesque hike can be viewed in my Facebook Devil's Punchbowl: Milford to Haslemere album!
104.89 miles walked and 11,497 calories burned. So WELL DONE ME for successfully completing the Fitness Challenge which involved walking for on average an hour every day for the last 21 days! You can check out even more amazing stats via my RunKeeper account!
THIS IS MICHIGAN! Now all pretenders need to just step back!
British Comedian David Williams of Little Britain fame is currently swimming the full length of the River Thames as part of the Big Splash Challenge for Sport Relief.
Now I myself have walked from Ashton Keynes to Trewsbury Mead in search of the original source of the River Thames. It's about a mile north of the village of Kemble in southern Gloucestershire, near the town of Cirencester in the Cotswolds.
Upon arrival (a lovely day this past July), there was not a drop of water in sight. Just a commemorative monument! Below is a picture of me at the unofficial source which is about half a mile before Trewsbury Mead.
After standing in this field looking over my shoulder to make sure none of the cows off in the distance came charging, we crossed a major road and more fields before getting to Trewsbury Mead.
You can review more photos of my trip via my Facebook Hike: South Cotswolds via The Source Of The Thames album.
Life in Bromley, London and the UK at large after the riots of a month ago is getting back to normal -- and interesting facts are coming out about the riots.
For example, the riots will cost £133m in policing and compensation for businesses hit by the violence. Also, 75% of the people who were charged for the theft, looting and general destruction had a previous criminal record. Thus, as originally thought, this was about opportunistic theft - shear criminality.
So I hope that the justice system continues to come down hard on those involved. As regardless of the underlining social issues, behaving in this sort of way should not and cannot be tolerated or excused.
Not now, not ever!
Thomas Rogers a Stanford University Law Professor has published a controversially titled book: Is Marriage for White People?: How the African American Marriage Decline Affects Everyone.
He argues that due to the "fracturing of black intimacy" in America, African Americans have become less likely to have long term, stable and intimate relationships. He lays out some interesting but not surprising statistics. Specifically, the majority of black men are unmarried and so are 2 out of every 3 black women. Furthermore, college educated black women are twice as likely to be unmarried as college educated white women by age 40.
That last statistic hits close to home. I'm a 41 year old college educated, professional and upwardly mobile black woman who have never been married. I also don't have any children. This has been a conscious choice as I grew up in a single family household and decided that I wanted to defer having babies until I was married.
Perhaps I've been a fool! Time is running out and so maybe I should become more feminist in my thinking. I mean, do I really need a man to have raise a child? Maybe! Maybe not! But considering how hard my mother had it, I'd really rather not go through it alone.
Either way, unless I start to look outside of my race (like my BestGuyFriend has been telling me to do for years!), I may end up like so many other successful black women -- alone and without offspring. Particularly as successful black men (the type that I'd be most likely interested in) have way too much choice. Thus, they often delay marriage or worse yet, marry outside their race.
Now, I'm not one of those that gets' hung up on race and thinks that "brothers" who date or marry white women have sold out! I do believe that wherever one finds love, they should embrace it! I just wish there were educated, successful/upwardly mobile black men (the marrying kind) who were interesting in marrying black women.
I know so many successful black women like me who are without partners. Perhaps that's why I haven't totally given up on RacquetBallGuy. He's not perfect but he ticks a lot of the boxes and he's really making an effort to make things right. So can't really fault that. Of course, only time will tell.
The week long food challenge got off to a rocky start because I failed to realise before the grocery store closed that I didn't actually have any healthy food to cook. So I have no choice but to defer the start of the week long food challenge until tomorrow.
In the meantime, I've been reading and recording a few poems using Audioboo. I came across this simple way to record audio using my iPhone and then uploading for the world to listen to while at London Blogger Meetup a few weeks ago. There I met Blogger Radio Kate who works for Audioboo.
Based on our conversation and also reviews I subsequently read, thought I'd give this free audio service a try. And so far, I'm uploaded 8 boos. Below are two of my favourites.
The first is a reading of the poem: Gorgeous Pudding written by Ann T. Greene.
The second is a reading of the poem: From Teach Me by Michelle Renee Pichon.
Both of these I discovered while reading Erotique Noire/Black Erotica a collection of erotica poems and stories including works by Alice Walker, Ntozake Shange, and many more! This is a book I've had in my library for quite a few years and which I pull out when I want to impress a new love interest!
Anyway, thinking my reading of these poems while not brilliant is decent enough. So enjoy and check out my readings of other poems (not all have erotic overtones!).
Since I started the fitness challenge over two weeks ago, I've walked over 70 miles and will most likely walk over 100 miles by the time the challenge concludes. So quite pleased with myself for pushing through even on days where my heart and oh yeah my knees simply wasn't in it!
But whereas the exercise is going well, the diet is complete rubbish. This past week I had chips (french fries) for dinner three nights in a row. Now I didn't particularly enjoy the chips but yet, I didn't have enough willpower to resist the temptation to go back on the second and third night.
Why? Well I worked late those evenings and I just didn't feel like cooking. Also, I wanted some comfort food. A poor excuse, but that was my reality and so frustrated as I haven't lost any weight. Thankfully, I haven't really gained any either. But I know I need to do better. I need to learn to eat things in moderation because while there isn't anything wrong with having chips for dinner, having it three nights in a row is simply not a winning strategy.
So starting tomorrow, I'm going to try for a week to only eat things I've cooked. This challenge within a challenge should make things very interesting and begin to bring a bit of discipline to my diet.
I take a lot of pictures while out on my daily walks. It keeps things interesting. Below is one of the pictures taken this morning of a leaf defying gravity that totally stopped me in my tracks. I have no idea what was holding the leaf up and so now I wish I had taken video of the leaf hovering.
I'm really hard on myself, too hard at times that I don't fully appreciate or acknowledge all that I've accomplished and instead at times waste an enormous amount of energy obsessing about my failings.
Slowly I'm starting to change as since going self-employed a few years ago, I've come to realise that failing with a project, partnership, venture, etc. is all part of the journey.
And so while I need to spend some time reflecting and learning the lessons from the failure, once I've done that, by refocusing energy and effort it typically brings greater clarity and success.
Thus, if you've never failed at anything, you've never really lived. That why even today, I continue to take risks -- calculated risks to move my personal and professional life forward.
