The Day Before December

December approacheth...

I cannot believe we are closing in on the end of 2012 already. With the last day of November coming to a close, and with bad memories thanks to JC Penney and their crap service, I look towards December with a mixture of hope and intense dread.

December is my birthday month, to start, and who does not like their birthday? Sure, there will be the nosy relatives who will remind me that I am one year older and still unmarried and childless, and that irritates me to no end. Still, it's my birthday so I always aim to make it a happy time, always grateful for making it to another year when so many people have not.

There are all these Christmas events I find myself having to go to - like children's parties (shoot me now) and hob nobbing events, which require dresses and self-restraint at all levels. Thankfully dresses are out of the way this time around but the events are still there and I will try my darndest to avoid half, if not all of them.

Christmas. Ugh. Even in searching for a Google image for December,all the images were of Santa, or some reindeer or an elf or some shit. I am trying to be a good soldier with the Christmas thing. I actually looked at...wait for it...Christmas trees today. I feel like I owe it to my nephew to make Christmas bright and happy, especially as my brother will not be home for Christmas. So I saw this little tree -a few feet high - and considered buying it and some decorations so we could have some fun putting that together and make some memories. I will get the tree next weekend when I go back.

But Christmas can be annoying and it can also be very lonely and it's a big MEH for me. I don't look forward to it. It's one of those holidays that seems to isolate single people, or people without kids. It's just another day for me and until such time as that changes, these day before December posts will be pretty much in this tone and with these sentiments.

Santa can go bite himself!

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Lunching Italian Style at Wild Olive

My Fettucini al pesto con pollo at Wild Olive Italian Bistro

It has been a while. So sorry. I always have the best intentions - a real mind and heart are willing but body is not type thing.

Anyway, one thing I do every day besides work, is eat. Food is just one of those things that you cannot escape unless you're a rock. A new Italian bistro called Wild Olive recently opened  in Chaguanas. I love Italian food, and it was closer to home than going to Port of Spain, so I decided to check it out for lunch on my day off today.

The welcome was warm (really sweet young man, who really should be put to work inside cause he is just too cute and adorable) and I chose to dine inside, but there is a nice patio area for dining if you wish. Inside was small but comfy, and I settled in with a menu cause I was starving.

All in all, it was not bad, though there were a few issues.

- Not sure if there was an embargo on the bread but 2 small slices of bread (not even as big as my clenched fist) in a basket clearly meant for at least 8 slices - just not happening. If it's one thing you normally get a lot of, it's the bread! So as hungry as I was, this bread left me even hungrier as all it did was open my appetite.

- The waitress had come to me seconds after I was seated which was good, but of course I had not even picked up the menu yet so I asked for a couple of minutes. This turned into about 10-15 minutes, after which I had to actually signal the waitress just standing idly by in the corner. I mean, c'mon... I must though refer to cute and adorable guy (the one who welcomed me), who probably noticed my annoyance from outside and came in to check on me. The dude's talents are being wasted standing at the little welcome area!!

- The eternal wait for the drink. I was prepared to wait for the food but how long does a sangria take to make? Judging by the fact that the drink and the food came together, I am guessing they planned it that way. Ummm...no. Bring the drink. Don't make me wait.

- I ordered the fettucini al pesto con pollo, which was tasty but very salty. Very salty.

- Not a very big deal but there was no offer of cheese for my pasta. Okay...it's a big deal. No parmesan? Nah man. lol.

The Trinirinha or as I call it, the Ice-a-rinha.
I had not even sipped this yet eh.

- I have not had a caipirinha since I got back from London, so the trinirinha on the menu had to be tried. It could use a bit more love (and liquid), less ice. If I wanted to pay $45 for ice, I would have asked for ice.

Great start, and I am sure they will get better. I hope they will. The menu has some great options, though maybe some pizzas would add a bit more variety for those who may not necessarily want pasta. The paninis are also a great start. I would visit again, but maybe after they have gone through the teething process.

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Find God's Match For You

Christian love. All kinda love.

So when I see this Christian Mingle ad, I always have a laugh. The people who came up with this marketing campaign are pretty bold, pretty out there. To confidently promote this online dating service for Christians, with the tagline – Find God’s match for you – well, that takes some balls.

It always conjures up this image of God relaxing on the patio, in his robe and warm slippers, with a cappuccino, maybe a croissant or a Danish, maybe a cigar (hey, they started it), with his iPad or Galaxy Tab, going through his list of Christians looking for love and matching Joe with Jill, Brad with Melanie – all before he gets to the real work of blessing people, curing the sick, etc.

I mean – seriously, people. Find God’s match for you? Who came up with this? Who approved this marketing campaign?

I am curious as to the algorithm that matches the ones seeking love on this site. I mean, did an Archbishop somewhere get a memo from God which he then shared with IT developers? What if the love-seeker is not a Christian? Does the person get zapped while trying to sign up?

God's message in your inbox?

I have absolutely no problem with a niche-specific dating site – black singles, gay singles, Caribbean singles, etc. You want what you want, and if you can trim the fat and get to the meat of the matter, right down to brass tax, right down to your target niche, whether it is a black guy, Caribbean girl or Christian single, then great. However, I just found the advertising for this to be a bit ludicrous. Find God’s match for you. I wonder if they got God’s okay to use his name in these ads! It’s almost as stupid as God’s and Jesus’ Facebook and Twitter profiles. Who does these things?

But more importantly, and for all the non-Christian minglers out there - does this mean that Match and e-Harmony are the other guy’s sites? I mean, as if dating was not traumatic enough!

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Ladies - Are you suffering from the "It All Belongs to Me" Dilemma?

So I am under self-imposed exile this weekend - from the universe. It's been a harrowing week and I am also a bit social-life weary so made the conscious decision to just stay at home ALL weekend and not do anything. I have been excelling at this.

So it has been just me, my book, my laptop and my DVD player, the occasional muffin, a tempting Magnum ice cream bar in the freezer, and my pillow,  and it's been awesome.

And I have been listening to some tunes, like this one.





Now, I love this song. These ladies are so talented and so gorgeous and I love when they collaborate. Monica is a star, believe it. Love her voice, her sass.

However, the song has me a bit perplexed. lol.

In the first place, the song is in a nutshell asking the guy - the now ex - to leave all the stuff bought for him during the relationship. The car, the bling, the macbook. I mean...why buy him this in the first place? And there is no mention of what he has bought for the chick. None. Zero. Nil. Not even a pair of underwear!

Which brings me to my next point -

All you do is talk
Never knew you to do nothing else
You ain't good for nothing baby

So WHY are you with this no-profit, no-contribution (emotional, financial or otherwise) man? And on top of that, you STILL buying him the car and the Macbook!! You an ass!

Am I losing it here? Is it just me or is this woman a damn idiot too? I mean, if I were the man I would say, "Baby, I worked for this Macbook. I chain up your head so bad that you still loved me and bought me stuff even though I was a good for nothing!"

Ladies, ladies - don't do this! Just don't do it. This is why being single can sometimes be edifying and liberating and just plain better! lol.

No sympathy from me, ladies. But the song is still beautifully done.

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Naughty, Naughty Friday night

Wine and cheese at The Naughty List
Photo credit: Lime.tt

We headed to The Naughty List last Friday – a wine and cheese after-work event. This was to precede our attendance at the Friday night premiere of the locally produced version of “Les Miserables”. Bad idea.


Well, bad in the sense that both the wine event and the musical were excellent individually. But put together, not the best outcome. Lol.

Besides the excellent girlfriend vibe and company, the selection of wines at The Naughty List was exceptional. One had a choice of one of three wines in the reds, whites and blush wines, so you would have had three glasses of wine, or more if a friend did not want to use all their wine chits.

I confess that wine is my Kryptonite. While not an alcoholic – my consumption of alcohol is limited to the occasional happy hour, or wine with dinner – I do have a high enough tolerance for spirits. I can have quite a few cocktails and be completely a-okay. Wine however, while not debilitating, makes me rather sleepy, particularly red wine. I don’t have to tell you what went on when we got to the theatre. Lol.

What I will say is that in-between winks, the talent of the students starring in this musical was exceptional. I was particularly impressed with the young man cast as Javert, and the young lady cast as Fantine. Unfortunately, the combination of the wine and a long work week got the better of us and we did not stay til the end, but a job well done to the producers and young actors. I am again impressed with the quality of our musical productions in this country. Great talent abounds.

I would also like to say I wish there were more of the recommended cheeses for a more exciting wine and cheese pairing exercise. Not sure if people ran off with trays of the camembert for example, but I would have liked to have had more than 1-2 cheeses for my wine. Maybe that would have helped. Lol. Maybe I am just greedy like that.

We however did end up in Haagen Dazs, in search of more caffeinated beverages, where coffee was ordered, a pick me up having becoming necessary.

Still did not stop us from enjoying champagne the following evening. The grape is a brilliant fruit and should be enjoyed with friends.

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