About Me

Living in the Caribbean is probably like living anywhere else, with the same ups and downs. But it does have its own vibe and flavour and gives me a unique perspective on most things. I'm often sarcastic, mostly funny, always looking for a new adventure. I have not boxed myself into any one category of life. I love a lot of things and dislike a lot more. I write about them all.
Showing posts with label valentine's day. Show all posts
Showing posts with label valentine's day. Show all posts

Of Love and Lent

No Men Allowed - 40 Day Rule!
So I have failed already at my 2013 commitment to be a better blogger. I will admit to you fine people that 2013 has not been a happy, shiny time so far. I did not have a stellar end to 2012 and 2013 started with that yucky after taste which for some reason, I have yet to properly rinse out. But I won't be trolling through that bog here in the blog. Instead...

Let's talk about two "significant" observances. Firstly, Valentine's Day. Though it has come and gone (thankfully), I feel I must state my annoyance with this day and how it tends to isolate single people. As if planning a vacation as a single person is not bad enough, with their lack of specials for single travellers, thus forcing one to pay for that useless double occupancy special offer, the annual promotion of love, and sweet nothingness can also be a real ball buster.

Then there's Lent. As you should know, Lent is that period observed by many Christian denominations as a time for prayer and fasting, leading up to Good Friday. A lot of the die-hards fast from meat, and/or all animal products. Others give up vices such as alcohol - I tend to give up alcohol though I seem to have fallen off the Lenten wagon, and again, this is part of my lack of focus so far for the year. Other vices listed by friends include


  • Chocolate - how is this ever a vice?? 
  • The internet - good luck with that Facebook stalkers 
  • Mobile/smartphones - a direct follow on from the above. Good luck Whatsappers and Instagrammers
  • Cussing - road ragers will be fun to watch with this one


And then one bright girlfriend decided that the only way to really purge her soul was to give up men for the 40-day fasting period. Men.


  • Men - definitely in the "vice" category; maddening and often toxic; at the same time, can be almost (almost) as good as chocolate (but always a bridesmaid, never a bride)


Her fast will cover abstinence from male admirers, dates, including group dates, flirting, Facebook stalking.

What do you think? Do you think she will be saved??

Nothing to Do

Nothing to do? Not really. But sounds good.
I have nothing to do.

This is not true. I have loads to do. Craploads to do. But when you don't have the crush of a deadline around your neck, it is easier to deal with life. I have to really really really start focusing on my dissertation. I have my supervisor and a general idea of the topic(s) but time to get specific. Yesterday's lecture was the first time since being here that I had a bit of a worrisome feeling about an assignment. This dissertation is going to be killer.

But I can watch tv this morning...in my socks, without feeling guilty about the assignment on my bed. I can blog without feeling guilty about doing so. I can laze in the bath, maybe listen to some music. I will still read academic journals and go crazy with stickies on Adobe Reader (best feature ever, Adobe!!!) but there is no pressure (yet). I just have to ensure that I don't become too complacent to the point where time passes and there is in fact pressure.

I may take the train to Oxford Street this week and just walk aimlessly through London - cause that is what we do. Students. With a wee bit of time. And have a coffee or lunch date on Saturday - cause that is what we do. But going to read today.

I'm starving. Going to get some breakfast but I don't have any coffee in the house. Dilemma. No...major crisis. But...not going to change out of my silk pyjamas either to run to the store. Dilemma.

THIS is when not having some poor sod on speed dial to get you stuff is a real headache. Stuff like warm pastries and coffee for lazy Tuesday breakfast while I watch Giuliana & Bill!!!

But at least I got these yesterday. :-)

Purty purty flowers...

I was one of those silly people on the train yesterday afternoon. And that was very amusing to me, but very sweet and smile-inducing.

Love is Bigger than a Box of Chocolates

It's been another tedious weekend. I finished my assignment at 9.30am or so. I was cooking this morning at 2am. Showering and then cleaning my room at 5am. It's crazy. I am now settled in bed with True Grit as part of my Sunday decompression and a glass of wine.

I guess everyone is excited for Valentine's Day tomorrow but it's just another day for retailers to dig out people eye (Trini spk). I am sure I will be bombarded by roses and chocolates on the trains tomorrow afternoon, which is fine. It's just the PDAs I can do without out.

But I am a really solid believer that if you're going to spend money to prove you love someone, which in itself is really ridiculous, do it so it helps someone else. Join (RED) has some really fantastic brand partners, and awesome red products which will be perfect for your honey, and help in the fight against HIV/AIDS as well.



Visit http://www.joinred.com/ and support love, AND the fight against HIV/AIDS
These were my top picks for Valentine's Day

I love that these are products people may actually want to be seen in - by established brands. It's often hard for causes to gain traction when the novelty items are cheap and irrelevant to daily life. That may sound awful but I prefer to donate my time or just the funds to a cause, rather than have an entire drawer filled with cheap knick knacks I will never use.  My dad falls for it every time - he has loads of seashell ornaments and homemade cards at home. Cute and sentimental but clutter. Take the money, keep the gift.

But what is hotter than a red Amex card (well, besides a black Amex card), or a red Netbook or that hot ruby faced Emporio Armani watch? Knowing that your money is going towards something worthwhile.

As usual, noone pays me to plug these things - they should - but in this case, it's a freebie. I am loving those Emporio Armani sunglasses like woah.

Love to everyone. Not at full capacity today.

I am a Hot, Doggy Mess

 
Richard Gere and the little Akita pup, in Hachi
I always put the tv on when having a meal. I usually put it on on BBC or a channel I know I would not get glued to, so when I am done eating I can get back to work. But it was still on one of the movie channels after I watched the end of Valentine's Day this morning (go figure) and Hachi - A Dog's Tale was on. Anyone who knows me knows I absolutely love dogs. And there has not been a dog movie yet that has not made me cry. So I said to myself after sitting with my sandwich and my apple pie - bad idea, bad idea, bad idea, bad idea, bad idea.

But it was too late. I always already glued to it. And I was hooked. And like every other dog movie, I bawled. It is really something else - the genre that never fails to make me cry. I sat there crying over my apple pie - no, bawling. Thank God I was home alone. The movie was so sad. Oh my gosh. If you have not seen it yet, do! Really incredible and based on a true story. Hachi also reminded me of my own dog who we lost some time ago. It's just bloody sad all round, dammit. I am now a flaming hot mess, and need to probably go read the news or about Lindsay Lohan to make me all cynical and bitter again so I can get on with it.

Why can't people be like dogs? When women say men are dogs, it is such an insult to the dog, because they are loving and loyal creatures.

I really miss having a dog.

Going to compose myself and get back to work. I may be back but really had to share.

Working It Out

Ah yes. Another day. It was sunny the past couple days but lucky me, I woke up and headed to class amidst grey and rain. So a friend asked me if I had been getting any exercise since being here since as most of my early entries on this blog were all about fitness and gym adventures and my daily efforts at the sweat shop to stall frumpiness and keep my awesome ass in shape. Well, while I do not have a gym membership here, this was my answer to her.

My day, when I have a 9am class, goes something like this:

  • 5.15 - wake up...hustle a 'fresh. (take a quick shower)
  • 6.30 - leave the house to catch the 6.34 bus. It is a 7-8 min walk. lol. It becomes a near sprint.
  • 6.36 - see the 6.34 bus driving by...I cuss the driver even though it is my fault
  • 6.37 - run my ass like Usain to catch the bus behind it...thank him kindly for waiting
  • 6.45:57 - run like ass from the bus stop to the train station to catch the 6.47 train...breathless. I usually miss this train by the way, so my running is usually for nothing, so I have lately, just stopped running
  • 6.56 - run like ass up the stairs and up the ramp and down the stairs again, to catch my second train
  • 7.09 - speed walk up the ramp then speed walk maybe another 1500m , then run like ass either down the escalator or the stairs, and then run like ass the last 200m to catch the last train for the morning
  • 7.34 - get to my university town...go to Tesco for water or whatever
  • 7.36 - see the bus turning the corner...run like ass to catch it or risk standing in the cold for a next 15 mins
  • 7.something - walk to class

Exercise. What's that? lol. It may not be as effective as my 2 hour workouts at the gym but they keep the  hips from spreading to massive proportions and that ramp walk at Waterloo really works the glutes. lol.


God..this is nasty! Stop!
In other travel news and in keeping with my V-Day trend until Monday, I am all for love and people being in love and wanting to show their partner they love them and all, but do all that at home. I was unfortunate enough to have to sit behind a most nauseating Middle Eastern couple who kissed all the way to our final destination. Maybe they were not Muslim, but if they were, they were showing the world they could PDA with the rest of us. It was full blown lovin'. Not just little love bites, but amateur smacking - *smack smack spit smack*. It was really disgusting. What was worse was the fact that the train was full and I had nowhere else to go, so I sat there and suffered in silence. I mean, I always believe that when people behave in this manner in public it has to be one of a few things

1. As Trinis would say, they "never-see-come-see" or "never-expect" which basically means, it's like they never had a man or a woman and never expected to have one, so when they get one, the world has to know. Buddy, the chick ain't all that...keep that on the down-low.

2. It's not YOUR man or woman. It's someone's wife or husband you be smackin' on. I remember taking a taxi as a 16 yr old and in my school uniform and a couple in the backseat with me could not be bothered that a young, impressionable person, in her school uniform no less was next to them - they kissed it up the entire way. My innocence - tarnished forever especially as I later found out the woman was married...not to Casanova in the car but to another poor sucker.

3. You live with your mama and have nowhere else to take your woman to snog it up. Well, hotels can work too. Not the train. Please.

PDAs are not cool. They can be, if done tastefully, and you may even get an "awwwww" from me, but not when it's a slobbering, greedy, desperate mess. Spare us. Spare me. Please.

Kinky? Nerdy? Crazy? What's YOUR Love Niche?

I'm hoping that the sneezing and sniffles which have been plaguing me since yesterday are the result of some sort of allergy. I would hate to think that it was the cold or flu again. Not again.

So I have decided to do some fun stuff around one of the most ridiculous days in the year - Valentine's Day. And I happened to run across an iVillage slideshow about love niche sites - sites that cater for whatever your fetish may be when it comes to love.

  • So you may be looking for a sugar daddy, then this site is for you.
  • Some women love the sound of a man with an accent, specifically, the British accent. Look no further, just go here to meet the British bloke of your dreams.
  • Or you may be a cancer survivor whose victory over the disease scares some men off. There is an actual site for cancer survivors and the men/women who will love them no matter what. 
  • Lately, though my personal "preference" if you may, is the sugar daddy type (lol), I seem to be unconsciously channelling my inner cougar. However, I will not be visiting this site. 
  • Maybe you're a single mother, whose kids are a major turn off for prospective suitors. Then, visit this site, where men don't care that you come with "baggage" in the form of cute cherubs.

Photo: Pittsburgh Post Gazette
But the piece de resistance, even after seeing sites for women who want a man in uniform, or a love matches for tree huggers, the winner of them all was the site - Meet An Inmate. I kid you not. Meet An Inmate. Meet a frickin' inmate!!!!

Across America or the world for that matter, there are men and women lonely enough to register a profile to meet a convicted felon. Who does this? I mean, sure...everyone needs love, but really?  The profiles on this site are great. One guy's profile photo is from when he was clearly in his 20s but his listed age is 65 - hmmm...does not sound like he's in there for grand larceny! Life sentence perhaps? Watch Law and Order much? Oh, but wait...he's eligible for parole soon. Lucky you.

But I won't even lie to you - I know someone who met a man who was in prison and planned on marrying him so she could stay in the U.S lol. This world we live in - so damn amusing. So if you're hard up and really on the brink on Monday, find your love niche! lol. You never know who may be out there in a retirement home, high school or a holding cell, waiting...for you.

Check out the complete slideshow here because there were lots more.

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