This year, was a better year than last, but it was not without its disappointments. I saw many of improvement in the folks around me, sadly, I also saw some folks see their family life hit the bottom of the barrel. That is one of the things that worry me the most, when one of the marriage mates decide to walk out on the other. Marriage is not easy, it was not meant to be, but giving it a fighting chance is better than getting another person only to start the whole cycle going again, especially when the problems does not include: extra-marital affairs, domestic abuse (physical, emotional, verbal, etc), and the like.
What do I know? I know that you marry because you love someone so much that you want them in your life, not because they are rich, or good looking, or any of that fluff. Some folks do not really know what love is, and unless you know what it is, stay away from the wedding fantasy.
In 2012 I have a new line up of interviews and art and house designs. I did not go to the cinema much this year, this is sad, and 3D is really irritating. I did go to see Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol. My verdict: 10 full stars!!! Brad Bird was the director, and you should know by now, I am a huge fan of his movies and animations!
Finally, keep safe and think about your decisions... carefully!
I would like to thank all the folks who dropped by regularly on CafféLatté magazine to check it out and read some of the articles posted. It was a tough year and we made it, almost. There were highs and there were lows. Thank you for not committing suicide or any type of crime.
Most folks this year, do not realize that money does not buy class nor an extra life, so if you cheated and stole money, that was real desperate and foolish. However, if you worked hard and saw the fruits of your labour, well done. When I told my mom I did not achieve much of my dreams this year, she said, "Money will always be there, but not always your family, family is important." I thought ok, but I really missed her and my sisters. I pray everyday that no one and nothing gets between us. I have seen families break up and destroyed of petty things like money. Don't let it be you.
Mom still considers herself a single parent, although we are all grown. Last year when she came to our home, she said, "Look how we are blessed, for the first time I could come home and not have to travel everywhere, I have my girls to drive me around." Another time she told me, "I am so proud of all my girls, you all grew up to be lovely young women, if I should go, it will be with a smile on my face." I felt sad, because, lets face it, she is getting old. She had me at 24 years, two years later another girl and a year later the last girl. She had a hard life, however, she has the most amazing group of people supporting her. Whenever my sister goes to the USA, there is always someone coming with a gift for her, "I bought this for your mom, make sure and give it to her."
Growing up in Movant with three girls is not easy, but she did it, and she does not regret anything. One day I asked her, "Mommy, did you ever think we would grow up and you could relax like this?" She thought for a moment and replied, "Yes, but it was difficult, however, I enjoyed being a mother. I remember we had to go to meeting and you were 5 and Tam was 3 and Mel was 2, and we had to walk down the hill and I would be holding Mel, and you had to hold Tam's hand and we had to cross the road to get a taxi to go to meeting. Sometimes, Tam did not want to hold your hand and Mel used to be so mischievous, but it worked out for the best, look at you all now."
I miss my mama. Don't worry she is still alive and well, I miss her presence.
Anyway, I have this poster for you fantastic folks you can print it. It does not mean anything, just download it. Here is a larger version to fit your desktop. Enjoy!
Many folks will be buying stuff this month and giving gifts. Would it be cool to recycle some of the items in your home? Sorry about the lack of photos, my camera died at the last moment. And disregard the date, it shows its ineptitude when it feels like.
For the gift above, I used the frame of a used grocery box. You can do this too!
Here are the materials I bought:
2 pieces of Wrapping Paper = $3 TTD each
Perhaps you can be a better judge of the type of wrapping paper than I, the silver there was beautiful on the rack, but it buckled so much, even after I tried to glue it neat. (maddening)
Here is what I had:
Copious amount of colourful construction paper
Glue
Masking tape
Double sided clear tape
Scissors
Ruler/ T-square
X-acto blade
Agile Fingers for bending
Here are some of the tools for making this project:
First you measure and cut the box according to the gift. I used a fairly small box for some picture frames I was sending:
And this is the the base of the cut box will look like:
Cut your construction paper to suit and leave about three inches to fold. Remember to measure and cut the base according to the box size:
Put all the suff together like this, see the unification of the colours? Unfortunately, I forgot to add on the two brown sides, but you can do that:
Do the steps for the top as well, with the same box, but seal the top and slit the edges so that it slides down effortlessly on the base.
Cover the pieces with the wrapping paper, tucking behind the standing corner flaps.
And there you have it:
What are those flowers on the top? have a closer look:
I simply folded some left over paper and then stuck them on the box. If there is another occasion and I am sending a gift, I will do this process again. What I like about these flowers is that it is flat enough, so you can stack lots of boxes, one on top the other, and it will still be neat.
Do you get creative block? I am a sticker for creative block. I find it weird that I am the most creative when I am thinking about many things and I am trying to organize myself, does this mean I am bi-polar? I hope not. Folks in the Caribbean do not treat you with understanding if you are mentally ill, it comes with an insensitivity chip and they can be quite brutal.
I used to be like that when I was younger, but when I experienced meeting someone who was mentally ill, I was surprised and even a little scared. Eventually, I found that those I met were some of the most smartest persons I have ever spoken to. It just so happens that they have a little spark in their brain wiring that needs adjusting with medication or in extreme cases, shock therapy. From personal experience, I found that they were willing to answer any of my questions, and discuss their 'illness'. All they ask is that you show them a little respect and understanding.
Lesson: One of the first steps to combatting fear, is to take small steps towards it with your intuition in check.
Now don't get me wrong, I am aware of some violent mentally ill folks, and you can tell almost immediately. Its like this: Will you jump into the sea if you spot a shark, so that you can show that you are not afraid of it? I won't. Trust your gut feeling, sometimes. For an effectively gut feeling, you have to train it, work on it, mold it. Eventually, it gets better.
Saturday, I did some chores, and I started a new home design. For this one, I did a new dining table set. Have a look, and Good Night!
This list is in no particular order. Lately, advertisements have taken a new high and some are just as entertaining, if not better than the primetime series. Superbowl ads are usually the must see, and some of them are really good. Some companies, like Orkin (Pest control), are really hilarious and have been consistently great lately, in this case, the one that really impresses will be shown here. Or just one will be randomly picked from the lot. Others may not be as impressive, but they are there for sentimentality. So lets get it on!
Orkin
Pest Control
Imagine you return from a great vacation with your family, only to return home and find two huge grimy rats in your room playing expert Guitar Hero. Grimy aside, those strings were the bomb! I liked how they are grimy, right down to the nasty claws and the gosh-be-gosh sickly yellow teeth and the sewer-looking matted fur. This is definitely one of my favorites.
Zazoo
Condoms
That child needed a Caribbean mother. Had it been me acting like this kid, my mom would first freeze, give the looks of all evil, drop her bag and give me the best whopping in the entire world, heck, the entire of world history in all the world! Genghis Khan would not even top that. And it would happen right there in that supermarket.
How many times have you witnessed a scene like this? Very good ad. If you can't stand the embarrassment rubber up! I prefer sex after marriage. Keep it simple.
PEPSI
Soda ad featuring Michael Jackson and his brothers
I was almost moved to tears for this ad, because I have almost forgotten how much Michael Jackson has influenced the world of music in the 80's. Some folks say alot of rude things about him, even now that he has passed away. However, I believe he was damaged emotionally, and that was the result of all his inner thoughts displaying itself on his lifestyle. Say what you want, you can never stop listening to his music.
This is a great ad, see young Alfonso Ribiero dancing like MJ only to meet the real MJ on the street, and then there is an impromptu street dance. Cool!
Volkswagen
Das Auto
The Force
This one is too cute to pass up and expertly acted in. Star Wars is definitely more than a cult classic and George Lucas must have thought that either, he would make alot of money, or he would make a Classic that would never die, or its possible he was just experimenting. Mr.Lucas, did you ever think that Star Wars would become one of the Best Fictional Movie franchise in the World? Sadly, I cant say that I was happy about the last three Star Wars movies. Something was missing from them.
The little Darth Vader tyke is played by absolutely adorable 6 year old Max Page. I hope to see more of him in the near future.
Twix
Candy Bar
This could happen. I think he burnt his finger on the iron. Which is awkward. It is funny though.
Not everyone can produce a great ad, but these here have some creative juices and were well thought of. About the Volkswagen ad, many ad agencies can have a Star Wars themed tv ad, but how do you put the Star Wars in the background and use the moment to sell your product. It was very well done, and the best for the year!
I love Google Sketchup! As soon as I finish a personal project I start another one. Sometimes, I implement what I dreamed of the night before, other times I just experiment just to see if something will look awkward or uniquely gorgeous. I have about 10 - 13 such projects this year, last year in 2010 I designed about 22 houses. The year before, in 2009, I did a few strange ones. Personally, I think I have gotten better in terms of layout and structure. The only thing is that I put a little too much windows.
In Trinidad, windows are quite expensive, so you may see a new large house with a vast wall and very small windows. When you go inside, you will see a ceiling fan and outside that small window you will see an air conditioning unit. Once I lived in a home with A/C in my bedroom. The house had large windows, and lots of space and light allowance. I only used the A/C on one condition, you see at nights, there were some crazy looking insects and grasshoppers, and we had alot of trees in the yard. In addition, at the time there was a vast dense forest hill just up the road. And I am not a fan of insects of any kind. So it was better to sleep with the windows tightly shut and the A/C blasting. All you had to do was snuggle up with a thick blanket, which I had, or two sheets, doubled and you rolled up in them like a gyro wrap. Oh I can just see it now, it was a very comfortable home.
Actually, I am trying to avoid a thought in my head, and I feel time is of essence and I feel odd. Social wise, I sometimes feel inadequate about some people. Its not that I am afraid of them I just feel that I am a gnat and they are a big Tarantula, and that they may just judge me, unfairly. Sometimes, I am the African Beetle and I look at the bougie-like people as houseflies, something to be swatted. Its like I am supposed to impress them, and I don't want to, I just want to be that big ol' African Beetle and say whatever I like and how I feel. But, it irks me when they just sarcastically roll their dried yellowed eyes at me.
Oh well! Just another day to play the time away.
I call this house The Napoleon. It is small in size and big in space:
3 Bedrooms
Bathroom
Living Room
Kitchen
Sizable yard space
Outdoor washer/dryer annex
I did not do much today. I felt my asthma coming on and I did not want to pass out from the lack of breathing. Well, two things happened: I took some pics and I am on Google plus under Lisa Marie. I don't understand much about it, and I feel strange, but I thought I would try it anyway!
Some more pics for your viewing enjoyment. Don't look at it if you are dreaming of Lucy in the sky with Diamonds.
Today I made some rounds in town and decided to test an old 6 mega pixel Nikon D70s camera at the same time. I actually went to get some info which did not go so well, so the camera was a great comfort. It is surprising how creativity comes at a peak when we are at our lowest. Lesson learned: When you feel low, don't eat, create and see your soul rise!
So polish your eyes on these Bronzed Masterpieces of Port of Spain!
Whenever you look at historical clips, you see the clips in shaky, noise filled, scratchy black and white. Look! There is Hitler screaming in all his evil black and white glory. Ok, there is Mussolini's body hanging upside down in black & white, and this I am glad for. WW2 photographs broadcasted atrocities of war in its purest forms, and most of it was in black and white or greyscale format.
Earlier this year and late last year, I stumbled onto a number of photographs around the time of WW2 in colour. I was sort of stunned actually, because when I thought of my great great grandparents, I always saw them in black & white. In fact, I saw everything as black and white, even the trees, bees and breeze. Even then I thought of the muted colour scheme: beige, hunter green, baby blue, black, brown and white. The only person who seemed to have any kind of colour at those times was the newly crowned Queen Elizabeth II in 1952, even her dad, King George can be seen only in black & white.
This is where LIFE publications come in. LIFE has been documenting almost all of WW2's history as well as the Queens Coronation, and many of life back then. It would be cool if they had pics of Old Trinidad and Tobago in their coffers, we were also affected by WW2, and we still have some visual history to see. Even if all we have are car parks and dislocated, crumbling quarry stones. Where was I? Oh yes, so if it was not for certain things in this world, like the invention of photography, or, the painstaking work of adding colour to photos, so that we can watch movies like The Ten Commandments in Technicolor, we would have no idea, how exciting things were in the early days.
I still have a bit of fever in my bones, so my doctor gave me three additional days of rest, what he does not know is that sleeping is quite painful and I have not experienced that much rest, I may have to go back and get some antibiotics soon.
Here is link I wanted to show you, it has all the pics of colour in the 1940's, take a look, some things may surprise you: LIFE 1940.
