Dinner Party

Here's the thing, I speak and write the Queens English fluently, I have a few degrees on hand, tend to dress respectably (on occasion), take interest in the fine arts, history and it's because of these things, people often mistake me for cultured. (I know right.......pfft.)  

In all honesty, my calling is closer to that of wajang, bacchanalist even, clearly not fit for high society. I'm the guy on stage in a fete, doing things we'd rather not speak of, the cacahole shouting "WOI" when a Benjai comes on. 

So imagine my discomfort when asked to attend a formal dinner party. The invite said "swanky, candle-lit affair," no liquor of any kind.....wine only, dress code: dinner-wear, pants/slacks, button downs and loafers. Menu items to include light hor d'oeuvres, exotic cheeses (gouda, etc), fruit plates, gourmet chips with salmon-flavoured cream cheese, oven-roasted herbed salmon with spanish rice, hand-made jalapeno sliders on artisan bread with chipotle mayo.......what, no pelau? 

Sure we had fun, sort of in the way senna could be "fun." But in all honestly, I really started enjoying myself when someone slipped the Grey Goose from a pants leg then threw on some Private Ryan. 

I've come to realize that I have no place in polite, civilized society, but I clearly don't fit into the hood crowd either. Go figure. I think I'll stick to the "grown and sexy" vibe going forward though, it's business casual meets dress to impress, polite company meets youthful exuberance, but most importantly, people not afraid to get a little sweaty. 

Peace

 

Miami Carnival

So Miami Carnival was a week ago........I didn't go.

Moving on

I ended up instead in a little place just south of the GA border called Tallahassee, FL. Tallahassee is a special place for me as I tend to gravitate towards the town whenever I am going through personal problems. I really should move there now that I think about it.

As you often hear people say, it's not the destination that's important, but the journey you undertake to get there.

Each time I make this drive, I take a non-typical route that takes me through the back-country of southwest Georgia rather than the well-traveled route south on the I-75. My route has the added benefit of  killing any hope for a cell phone signal for nearly two hours straight. This is the part I enjoy the most; two hours to just sit and ponder my own existence, my choices in life, where I'm going, where I've come from, etc etc.

Of course I think there's the added thrill of that sense of danger, where if I blow a tyre or roll the car in a ditch (God forbid), I'm screwed.

For it to be the capital of the State of Florida, Tallahassee is a completely dead city. Nothing fun ever seems to happen in that place, ever. If it weren't for FAMU and FSU's campuses, I'm not sure the city would even have a purpose. But this trip was different, the little airport down there hosted an airshow, which so happened to be my son's first. Judging from who his father is, it's not likely to be his last airshow either.

I think the little rascal enjoyed himself but the significance of the event was lost on him once he spotted the kids play area.

Sigh

After that he couldn't give two shits about those damn planes. What's that? Men jumping out of planes? Meh.........bounce house? AWESOME!!!

Heart Walk 2012

I think I ticked quite a few people off this weekend.

You see, I am not a morning person, at all. I've been invited to and subsequently missed many events because of that, so the fact that I was out the house at 5:30, on a Saturday morning no less, had more than a few people, somewhat less pleased with me. I apologize for all your collective, many long years of frustration. 

.......but that's a no, I still won't be game for getting up on Saturday/Sunday mornings, don't even try it. :)

View looking east along 17th Street from the
Millennium Gateway Arch

So where were we?

Oh right, Heart Walk 2012.....got up, did it, had a damn good time and managed to get a decent workout in. A win win win situation if you ask me and I think I'll definitely be doing it again next year. 

Maybe I ought to give this early morning thing another look because seriously, the sunrise with Atlanta's skyline as a backdrop literally made my jaw drop....though alternatively I could probably get the same effect at sunset thus negating the whole early morning nonsense....Hmm. 

I'll need to check on the attendance figures but the event had a really good turn out. I wouldn't be surprised to hear figures like 20,000 or 30,000 or more in attendance.

17th Street tun up!!

For a person like myself, the party jumbie, the habitual wajang and otherwise career misfit, it felt good to know that I was finally putting my energies towards something useful. 

I'd been oblivious to the plight of CHD sufferers till I met someone that had it. I feel guilty in that I hadn't been putting the same level of effort into others around me that suffer everyday with other afflictions, like MS for instance. But don't worry, I'll fix that, better late than never...........now that I've gotten a taste for it, I think I'll definitely be getting on board next year for the causes of both MS and CHD. 

Don't worry, church people, allyuh next, I'll be on board soon.

Laters

Fond Memories

One of my fondest memories of growing up was of the time after I'd gotten my drivers license. As I'm sure many of you can attest, a son with a drivers license equals a mother who no longer needs to drive anywhere......ever.

I became the errand boy, the chauffeur, the delivery service (she did catering on the side); people would probably pay good money for this sort of driving experience at 16. But the one enduring memory I have of this time, was my Sunday routine. Like many trinibagonian families, we had a market day. I think my grandmother's was Monday or Tuesday but ours was always Sunday.

Every Sunday morning after church, she'd give me the list, most often hand written in pencil on a torn, wrinkly piece of copybook paper.....you know, the usual market stuff:

2 hand ah green fig
3 pound ah tomato
some (yeah she wrote "some") cucumber
2 bunch a shadow beni
a bag ah carrot, some sweet pepper
pumkin
a watermelon (taste it an make sure it sweet)
stop by de rastaman an get some senna (Jesus......)
5 pound ah Carite (make sure it fresh)
two big bunch ah callaloo bush

The market run was just a cover though, well for me anyway. Market days began for me, what became a lifelong addiction to doubles. See I'm from Maracas......St. Joseph, not Maracas Bay. Which means market was Tunapuna Market. If you're paying attention, you know what lies between St. Joseph and Tunapuna.

Curepe Junction

Oh gawd yes, every Sunday morning, without fail, two doubles, everything, slight pepper (ahem....TwoWithSlight) and a coconut water.....water nut, ice cold, no jelly. It's a pity the pudding lady didn't come out on Sundays or I'd be talking about my black pudding tradition as well, but alas.

Lawrenceville 

I'm telling you this because I have within the past few weeks located a hitherto unknown (to me anyways) group of Trinidadians living in Lawrenceville, GA who serve hot fresh doubles, aloo pie, bake and shark, saltfish, pone, tunnocks, etc every Sunday morning. I can't begin to tell you how good it feels to again be waking up on Sundays, running 3 exits up to get barra hot out the oil, fresh channa, hot bake an shark and I'm sorry but I can't remember the last time I had an aloo pie that good.

All they're missing now is saheena and pholourie. Now obviously I'm not going to broadcast the people's address but if you're interested, give me a buzz, I'll send you the address; hot fresh doubles, every Sunday 11 to 2. The lime is real nice too as there are chairs and tables laid out for folks to sit back and relax, red solo (glass bottle) in hand.

Link up!

Bye Bye Summer........you will be missed :(

It's a shame but it's been ten years and I still haven't gotten used to the concept of seasons. Well okay fine, yes I'm used to the changing of the seasons, I just don't like it.

Being a trini, clearly Summer is my thing. But you see, the thing is, it goes far deeper than just familiarity. Yes I like warm weather because that's what I grew up with; the word "cold" only makes sense for me when placed in from of words like "beer." My problem with cold weather stems from the fact that it signals the end  of water-based activities (at least in Georgia) from Labour Day in September, through Memorial Day in May.

Eight months
Eight months of no pools, no waterparks, no more trips to the lake, no beach access and you can pretty much forget Tybee Island, barbecue season is now over........seriously, what is a stranded islander to do? Well you make the best of it, is what you do. Florida keeps it real, you know damn well Miami's beaches stay open year round, but it's just a crying shame that for 8 months of the year, your nearest open beach is either a plane ride or a 10 hour drive away.

But it's not all bad I suppose; I do look forward to the Fall for one reason in particular, the Fall colours. If you haven't already, take the time in mid-October to drive up to the mountains somewhere, when it looks like the mountains are absolutely ablaze in gold, orange, yellows and bright reds as the trees prepare for Winter.

Shit to do
If you live in Georgia, I'd suggest driving up to Ashville in North Carolina, take a ride on the Blue Ridge Scenic Highway. Needing something closer to home, October is a great month to hit Helen in the north Georgia Mountains for Octoberfest or drive through the rolling hills in North Georgia's Wine Country out past Dahlonega. I hear the riverboat tour out in Chattanooga, Tennessee is another great one for seeing the Fall colours.

It's not an ideal compromise for a river lime jumbie like myself but there's no use in complaining, Winter is coming and it's coming hard, I'll just have to deal with it.

Time to make a difference

If you've been following me a long time, there are two things you probably thought you'd never see on this blog, photos or imagery of any kind, and a message about something serious. I'll address both deficiencies here today.

I want you all to meet someone special. This is Shevoni Charles, or simply Chevy. Chevy was born with a congenital heard defect (CHD), an abnormality of the heart that restricts blood flow through this most essential organ. And though you almost couldn't tell it by looking at her, Chevy has been through quite a bit in the year she's been on Earth.

Free spirited and precocious, she makes it hard to believe that she has endured so much. Chevy however, is one of the lucky ones. She still has a long road ahead of her but the fact that she's here today is still nothing short of a miracle. So many children born with CHD, don't quite make it, this is truly a horrible and debilitating condition.

Her mom does a much better job at conveying these struggles and also serves as an excellent resource for finding out more about CHD and also for finding ways to help:

Love Lessons of the Half Hearted
 http://www.lovehalfhearted.com/

That being said, I've decided that maybe it's time I start doing something to make a difference. I've started contributing to the American Heart Association and further to that, I'm going to go out and show my support during Heart Walk 2012. I'd like to ask for your support as well; we as Caribbean people have shown that we can do what it takes to make things successful, we as a community showed our strength when it came to supporting Anya Ayoung-Chee on Project Runway, we showed impressive camaraderie in support of our varied Caribbean nations during the Olympics.

I'd like to ask for just a portion of that support; let it be known that our people can make a difference for worthwhile causes as well. We make a great showing in support of MS research, it's high time we do something for CHD as well.

I will be going out to walk and show my support on September 22nd at Atlantic Station for Heart Walk 2012. I'd love to have a few of you out there with me in support of Chevy. Also, as part of Team Bravehearts, I've set up a donation page, you can find information on how to contribute, info on the walk, as well as any info you need on efforts to combat CHD.

American Heart Association - Heart Walk 2012
http://www.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=1010525&lis=1&supid=364614546

Please do what you can to help put a stop to this disease.

DTJ

Big tings a gwan

Perhaps through some hitherto unforeseen cosmic alignment, the party Gods have decreed this coming weekend, a liming weekend. Trinis being what we are, typically lime every weekend but the upcoming schedule is especially ridiculous.

The debauchery begins on Friday night with the AUA meet and greet at Pizza Bar in Mabelton. I understand there's a lady's night at Mingles on Friday as well but I can't overdo it, my niglet expects to see his sperm donor sometime that night.....i.e. I will not be going to Mingles that night.

Okay, let's see now, Saturday....oh right, Stamina's birthday is coming up apparently so the usual Thrive thing on Saturday nights is now a Wear White party in Stamina's honour. The coup de gras comes after with Red Lotus' "Til drunk do us part" at the Roti Shop which is (you guessed it) FREE BEERS ALL NIGHT!!!

And you know what? That's not the end of it either. Tommy Joesph and Errol Fabien are doing a comedy show on Sunday night which I expect will be well worth your time. I saw Errol and Nikki Crosby when they had their show a couple years ago so trust me, allyuh need to go.

Here are the links for the various events, so I don't want to hear any complaints this time. Last time had some folks talking bout how I was partying too hard and not telling anybody in advance.......consider yourselves advised.


AUA Happy Hour - http://www.meetup.com/ATLurbanadventures/events/74648922/

Embrace Satudays - http://www.weembracesaturdays.com/

Till Drunk Do Us Part - http://tilldrunk.eventbrite.com/

Laughter - The Best Medicine - https://www.facebook.com/events/124082064403675/
(couldn't find an event page for this other than the facebook page)