And Still I Rise

Lately,the drive by phenomenon has seeped into our lives. From time to time you would hear some one was fatally shot and most if not all times the dead person had some drug connection. Saturday,the reality of the drive by shootings disturbed my community and in the wink of an eye a young man was dead and one other person hospitalised. As I looked at the dead man I wanted to be sorry but I couldn't.I thought what a waste of young life but just couldn't bring myself to feel sorrow on a personal level.

Call me unfeeling but am tired of day to day life being disrupted by these so called gangsters. Sometimes,I wonder if am living in a war zone with the frequency with which gun shots disturb the quiet of the night. I don't know how things will get better especially when increasingly young men and women too are lured to the drug culture. I wonder if we even know how to address the problems in a way that will see changes.

Sometimes I feel torn for writing about the unsavoury things that are happening in my island.I don't want to paint a picture of doom and gloom but at the same time I can't pretend it's all sunshine. All I know is am getting increasingly tired of hearing about violent deaths of our young. As it stands now am thinking this war is bigger than us and we cannot win.

My worst fears have been realised with the announcement from LIAT's CEO that airfares will increase when the merger goes into effect. As it stands fares are already exorbitant in my not so humble opinion. Earlier in the month I went to a travel agency with my cousin to book a flight to Trinidad. To my great surprise the fare was EC$650.00 or 239 USD.I enquired about the fare to Barbados and was told it was $450 EC,the St Lucian fare was $470.00. I refused to ask about the fare to Antigua or any other Leeward Island for fear of the price.

In all my time travelling between those islands I've never paid any figure remotely close to the above quoted numbers. I couldn't understand the reason for the hikes but I assumed it was probably due to the Cricket World Cup. Now ,that we are being told prices will rise since the present fare structure is not economically viable am dreading what the new structure will be like.

I don't recall hearing any mention of improved service but as usual higher prices are demanded.I can't help but wonder how profitable this new structure will be given that many of our economies are doing so poorly. Will people be able to afford these prices? Frankly,I wish LIAT flies practically empty. In the meantime the Grenadines as a vacation spot is looking more and more appealing

Friendships whether they are 20 years or a few hours old. In this case the friendship was just a few hours old and blossomed aboard a BWEE aircraft. A simple hello and conversation flowed so much that by the time we got to Barbados one would think they were looking at old time friends.



Happy Love Thursday.

My name is...and am an Internet addict. Don't y'all think there should be twelve step programmes for net addicts like ourselves? Misery loves company so I've taken the liberty of lumping all of us in the same bracket. Once upon a time I would just log in to check mail, visit a few sites and make my exit. In all my internet time would be around 20 mins per day. Then,came the flat rate for unlimited access and bam the Net was a trap that snared an all too willing prey.

Hopelessly addicted all I wanted to do was log on and while away hours upon hours. In some cases it was therapuetic in that it took my mind off things I would rather not deal with. Once am away from the computer in the sense of being on vacations or some other place where there is no access I really don't miss it. However, put me in my environment and I'd be on continuously. It got so bad that whenever the cable service went down I'd be one miserable soul since it meant no TV or Net. I mean how is a person supposed to live without either?

So, I am currently scaling back my Net time.So far am reacquainting myself with an old love viz reading that suffered a lot due to my at times mindless surfing.I've been rediscovering the thrill of settling down with a good book- a joy I'd almost forgotten. Additionally, my studies are in full swing so it means I am forced to spend my time more wisely. Not that I enjoy school work but the alternative to not preparing is too harsh.

Recently, I surprised myself by letting four whole days elapse without logging on once. I think I deserve a clap for that. Like all recovering addicts I expect rough days ahead but am going to win this addiction....I think.

Last Wednesday morning just as I was about to leave my house I realised I couldn't find the pair of shoes I wanted to wear. Seeing that I had worn them the day before I found it strange that they were not in the bedroom. I headed out the room to check the other spots where I normally leave my shoes but no shoes were in sight. How strange,I thought.

I cast back my mind to Tuesday evening when I came home and concluded I must have left the shoes on the verandah only for someone to steal them.By then I was wondering why they didnt take the other pair of slippers that were on the front porch instead. Needless to say I was not too happy at all. Not only was I missing a pair of my favourite shoes but the thought of someone entering the yard was rather disquieting.

Anyway, I decided to make a thorough search when I returned home on Wednesday evening. Still no shoes and by now I have resigned myself that they are indeed gone.So can you imagine my surprise when Sunday night I begin folding some clothes that were lying on the sewing machine only to discover the missing pair of shoes. Now, I still do not know how the shoes came to be lying there but then am the person whose glasses ended up in the refrigerator.

A few of my friends told me to throw them away and I did toy with the idea. But then I love my shoes so I wore them today but the debate amongst friends and family is heating up as to the wisdom of keeping them. Wthout saying it out loud they are hinting that iniquity exists in this world.I guess they fear I may lose a couple toes or something just as drastic. Can't say am bothered though,but what would you have done in the situation?

Those were the signature words of local comedian Lucian "Saluche" Small who passed away last Sunday at his home in Dorsetshire Hill. I deserve a knock on my fingers for not already paying tribute to this man who was anything but small in his talent. Indeed, Saluche who has been regarded as a Vincentian Ambassador of entertainment gave people across the region big laughs with his side-splitting humour at Caribbean Comedy Festivals and was the headliner at shows in Britain, the United States and the Caribbean. He also had the honour of performing at the famous Harlem Apollo Theatre in New York City. He was especially delighted to be crowned Caribbean King of Comedy after coming out tops in a show held some time in the 90's. As he put it it was no mean feat to come out ahead of notable Comedians like Tommy Joseph et al.

He was not just a comedian but the host of the popular Late night radio show called Night Rider. In his inimitable way Saluche offered advice to his listeners on all types of subject matters ranging from love to other everyday problems. So when the news broke it understandably stunned many with some even thinking it was a cruel joke.Unfortunately,this was no joke and Thursday hundreds turned out to say farewell to the man whose brand of humour made life less drab. And as if to remind us how darker our lives are by his passing on Thursday night there was an island wide power outage. I think Saluche might have smiled and said "Yuh have to clap for that"

Doesn't look very appetising does it? However, to the average Vincentian it's a delicacy that you would give an arm or a leg for. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you tri tri(pronounced tree tree). To hear Vincentians tell it there is tri tri lightning as opposed to regular lightning. The appearance of the former is enough to have persons anxiously awaiting the news that a catch has been made.


Last Sunday I went for a drive on the Leeward coast and to my delight there was tri tri being sold on the roadside. The good news was that there was a bounteous catch over the weekend resulting in bargain prices for consumers like myself. I couldn't wait to get home to start preparing it.Basically, you either steam them or fry in the same manner you would saltfish cakes. I opted to make the cakes and were they delicious!



Oh,Happy Love Thursday too. Am enjoying my tri tri lovefest enormously

Living in St Vincent and the Grenadines- a place with no international airport the dependence on Liat and Caribbean Star cannot be understated. Therefore,it was with a sense of wariness that I paid attention to the news that some Caribbean PM's including Dr Gonsalves were holding talks in Antigua to finalize the merger of both airlines.

Air travel in this part of the world gets extremely frustrating at times.The much maligned Liat despite being bailed out time and again by the Caribbean governments remains in the red. Added to this they do not endear themselves to the travelling public with the shoddy service offered at times.

Along came Caribbean Star-this after we saw the backs of Bwia,Air J and another whose name eludes me that was the brain child of Sir James Mitchell. We dared to hope that life would get better with the entrance of Caribbean Star. Surely,there would be lower fares and competition would force Liat to improve its service. And for a while it did get better. Fares went down and Liat was forced to restructure to keep up with the new airline in town.

Unfortunately, Caribbean Star began to lose money on the routes as well. Airfares were practically the same and service got to be as bad if not worse than Liat's. So effectively we were back to where we started only this time we were burdened with not one but two airlines seemingly on their death beds.

I suspect there must have been a strong possibility of both airlines going out of business that prompted the merger talks. As much as Stanford is not trusted in some quarters the Govts must have felt that there was no other alternative in handling the problems of air travel. I don't know what to expect from this merger which is supposed to go into effect from Feb 1 so am cautiously optimistic. Last night I heard PM Gonsalves refer to Stanford's willingness as a "leap of faith" and not one of generosity.

As a traveller I only hope that this new airline is a vast improvement on what obtains at the present. Of course I hope for affordable fares and not the situation that happens in a monopoly. Last but not least a much improved serice is essential. Far too many times one is at the airport awaiting a flight that is long delayed and nothing is said by the authorities. Or one arrives at his/her destination and the bags follow days later. If this proves to be unattainable we may as well stock up on gravol and go back to the the days of inter-island ferry service.

Sharing a laugh. I typed up and sent through a text post this morning only to now realise that it has disappeared into thin air. Lately,Blogger has not been showing me much love at all. So here's a late make up post... Happy Love Thursday!

So far the New Year has been going well-no surprises or anything. Well,that was until today when I learnt that my baby brother will be getting married on March 24th. Why am I surprised? For starters am yet to hear about or even see a pic of the future bride. If I get some pics from my brother 99.9% are always of him and his boys. Whenever I do get a pic that has a female in it he never indicates that it means anything. Actually, he prides himself on being a "playa" so you can imagine how very surprised I am by the news.

I guess am happy-it's not everyday you get to be a sister in law but there are other not so happy spinoffs. Already,am hearing that my brother is beating me to the altar although I wasn't even aware a race was on. So yes the subtle and not so subtle pressure will go up a few notches now. If only little brothers would have the good grace to wait on their elders then life would be so much easier.

On another note I Love New York premiered last night and naturally I was front and centre to take in all the action. Flavor of Love it's not but it's a good filler for us FOL junkies. Additionally, 20 men most of whom are eye candy can't be all that bad from a woman's point of view. The fact that some of them are even more screwed up than the FOL ladies and Chance is a male version of New York makes it funnier in a perverse way. All of a sudden Monday night tv just got really really interesting.

A close male friend of mine happens to be gay. Once upon a time the idea of hanging with a gay man would have been repulsive. However, am a stage where it is not a problem with me because I accept him for what he is and we have had some frank discussions regarding his sexuality. For the most part we act like girlfriends in the sense that we discuss fashion,go shopping and of course discuss men.

Sometimes,it is really amusing when we walk down the street and look at each other if we see a fine looking man. Then we would have a little guessing game about the sexuality of the person concerned. Sometimes,he shocks me by telling me the guy I think is super fine is batting for his team.

Anyway,lately I find myself having to explain to others why am keeping company with him. In their minds am encouraging the lifestyle by not shunning him or worse am going to hell for standing up for him. One my female friends even asked me what am going to tell God for encouraging his sinful ways.

I don't get exactly how am encouraging him though. The thing is there isn't anything I can do to make him not gay and for the most part I stand up for him the way I would for any other friend. Only problem is evidently am hellbound to hear my friends tell it.

The bond that makes a family. Over the season I spent a lot of time interacting with mine and it was quite enjoyable. During one of the family events I took this pic of Chelsea giving her baby brother some sisterly love.




Happy Love Thursday y'all

Am quite happy to see the back of 2006 since for me it will forever be associated with death. Close to home I lost one the best friends a person could ever want. Still miss her lots my friend but my consolation is she is out of her pain. The murder of Glen Jackson,Press Sec to the Prime Minister sent shock waves through this country but it was Stacey Wilson's gruesome end that had a people reeling in horror.

Away from home we bade farewell to Ed Bradley, James Brown, Coretta Scott King,Steve Irwin all giants in their field. And of course the world was treated to the sight of Saddam Hussein going to his death.

Am not making any resolutions for 07. However, I wish that the world could be just a little bit kinder. Happy New Year to everyone and may it be prosperous and filled with most if not all of your desires.