Today is a Cloudy Day

I almost forgot that a have a blog. And that it’s good. And that I should keep it up.

Let’s see… and update:
It’s May. My niece turns 1 in two days and I have no idea what to get her! I wanted to be able to shower her with Peruvian treasures, but my shopping was cut wayyy to short while on vacation thanks to someone. No, really it’s all my fault. I shouldn’t listen to other people’s advise on things I clearly know how to do much better than they (i.e. shopping). I digress.
I went to Peru. The Inca remains were stunning! What wasn’t stunning was the travel and accommodations I had to endure while in Peru. Don’t get me wrong, Peru has got some very hospitable accommodations. Plush even. But those places unfortunately were not part of my experience in Peru. Next time I’ll do it right. I went with Moe on a seven day adventure. All I’ll say is that Peru is a magical place and I will most certainly be back.

Other than that, I’ve been working the job and making baby steps with my pet projects – on the side. I’ve also been missing the days when “jobs” were on the side and pet projects were my mainstay. C’est la vie, I suppose. Must the grass ALWAYS appear greener on the other side?

I was hoping my trip to Peru would serve as some sort of spiritual reawakening, as my trip to the Gulf Coast of Florida did this time last year, but no such luck. Instead, I’ve decided to forge my own spiritual awakening by returning to what I found last year – positive thinking.

As you can probably tell by the tone of this post…after all these months of blog silence…I’ve somehow found myself in a bit of a slump. I’m generally the kind of person who likes to stay secluded in my misery until I feel like my old joyful self again. I’m not one of those misery loves company kinds of gals. It’s been a very rough start to the year for me emotionally, and a lot of crap is still unresolved. Such is life, this is just mine. I need a little luxury in my life and my job is effing with my paychecks again. There is nothing I want more than a shopping spree.

In other more positive news, I’m directing my very first music video. Can you believe it!? I can’t. I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to finally direct a music video. When I first went away to college I decided to study film with the intention of creating documentaries and music videos. And now here I am at age 30. I’ve got half a dozen docs under my belt, but where oh where are these music videos?

Look out for music video #1: The Joyous Collapse. Coming soon to a computer screen near you. And ya know what, I should probably do a big-screen release as well. Yeah. Why not celebrate such an accomplishment? By golly, think I will.

To play Mas, or not to play Mas?

Trinidad Carnival is upon us. And yes, ladies and gents…i am going. Finally! I have wanted to go to Trinidad Carnival ever since I went to my very first carnival back in 1994 on Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn. My dear friend Tamara, a Trini, was the first to tell me that Trinidad’s Carnival is THE BEST Carnival in the world. 16 years later, I’ve received nothing but confirmation about this fact. My appetite for baccanal came in 2007 when I made my first visit to Trinidad. I rung in the new year on the streets of Marabella, where Mango fell from the tree in front of the house where I was staying on Jack street. After soaking up the sun in Tobago,and eating nuff doubles, I spent my last night at Fire Fete – one of the early pre-carnival celebrations. And … W-o-W! Hands down THE BEST party I have ever been to in my life. Ever. The spirit of carnival – the pride and honor of unity – and mind you, the party was thrown by the national fire department. The police department has its party, as does EMS. Can you imagine getting down with the NYPD? I most definitely cannot. That was my official introduction to “love for country”.

But more importantly, there are fabulous costumes:

So many options. So much freedom, flyness and sexuality. I’m all the way in. But i need a little help getting my ish together. Most bloggers say I’m way late in my preparations. They must not know how efficient a producer I am.

I found a great site to help me prepare for Trinidad Carnival. It’s a science. It’s a culture. It’s very serious.
AfroBella also has some great resources on how to do Carnival properly – which I have every intention of doing.

I will be showing off.

Stay tuned…

When Airlines Mess Up: Fight Back!

Speak up for yourself, should an airline ever fail to provide you with excellent service. I did recently, by submitting a lost item claim to Delta Airlines after discovering that my checked bag had been broken into, jewelry case opened and gold bracelet missing! I also attached a very heartfelt letter and copies of receipts and baggage claim tickets. I demanded proper compensation, stay tuned for results.

Apparently though, my actions are pretty mild in comparison to Dave Carroll. Check out this video he made after having United Airlines employees throw around his checked guitar, breaking it in the process. 4.5 Million youtube hits and a CNN mention later, United finally came correct. See what you’ve gotta do just to get a little respect these days?