soulsistrin

I was having a conversation with one of the vendors at UpMarket and by the way she was talking to me I realized she thought she was speaking to someone much younger. Then she revealed she was 48. She’s only four years older than me. I think we both thought the age difference was much bigger than it was. I didn’t tell her though. I let her continue talking about “in my days” without telling her that her days were my days too.

My downstairs neighbour is talking on the phone to someone and I can clearly hear both sides of the conversation. Jesus I can’t wait for us to move.

sexypinkon:

Charles Kong Soo
Published:
Sunday, March 5, 2017

Veteran designer and mas-maker Peter Minshall at his Federation Park, home. PHOTO: CHARLES KONG SOO

Veteran designer and mas-maker Peter Minshall was celebrated and honoured on Dimanche Gras (Carnival Sunday) as an icon among other artists. On Carnival Tuesday, his post-nuclear sailor mas, Spiritus Mundi (World Spirit)—meshing together Mary Shelley-like elements of classic robber mas and classic sailor mas was ignominiously deleted from the airwaves during the live coverage of the parade of bands and was replaced with a pre-recorded feed of North American Indian like an Orwellian erasure.

It had a devastating effect on Minshall emotionally.

In stark contrast to the “pretty mas” that preceded his band onstage, his dystopian sailor mas came on in deathly silence accompanied by Exodus Steel Orchestra with grotesque phantom heads and skulls and white banners with gaping mouths and empty sockets in silent screams, trailing suckered tentacles in their wake to resemble a bombed-out post-apocalyptic world.

Minshall said the band was meant to make an anti-nuclear statement to show the folly of nuclear proliferation and how the world had become a more dangerous place in the age of US President Donald Trump.

He said the presentation was inspired by the poem, The Second Coming, by William Butler Yeats (1865- 1939) written in 1919, in the aftermath of the destructive First World War.

Speaking to the Sunday Guardian from his home in Federation Park on Friday, the dapper 75-year-old Minshall in his cravat and black long-sleeved shirt-jac, turned the interview into an immersed, impassioned story telling.

Minshall said, “When I saw it on television that they turned the switch off and brought on fancy Indians in our stead, I was in a state of great grief.

“The little band of artists and artisans, people from UWI, my own crew of old men who had crawled out of their cupboards who hadn’t done mas for ten years, Kathryn Chan became the band leader and her aide de camp was Byron Joseph, Tunji and Sam and many others finished it beautifully.

“They didn’t do it in a finicky way of fashion designers, they did it like it was mas, made it up and structured it like it was a tadjah that it had a religious quality.

“I went down on the ground on my hands and knees like some Greek tragic hero pounding the ground and was weeping saying no and weeping for my country.”

He said once one upon a time people came to see the mas, now everybody, mainly women, were “playing the a…”, everybody was bent over and gyrating.

Minshall said it was not a wine anymore, it was a “pum pum spectacle” and it made Trump’s innocuous remarks about “grabbing p—y” seem child-like in comparison.

He said in the Trinidad Carnival it was all turned backwards to you like some offering animal and it was done with such gracious delight.

Minshall’s chicken wire, cloth and glue depiction was to show retro 1950s mas like how it was used to be made taking people back to that time and also forward.

Minshall said it was to show that mas could be elevated as high art as opera, painting or music. He called on the powers-that-be to make sure to correct this injustice not for him, but for the people of the country with a 20-minute time slot at prime time of the mas band performing on stage.

When NCC (National Carnival Commission) Chairman Kenneth De Silva was contacted yesterday for a comment, he said he was unaware of the situation involving Minshall’s omission.

biochromium:

pr1nceshawn:

Sesame Seeds

Cranberry

Pineapple

Peanut

Cashew

Pistachio

Brussel Sprouts

Cacao

Vanilla

Saffron

Kiwi

Pomegranate

exactly 1 minute ago i had absolutely no idea what the plants sesame seeds and peanuts came from look like and i am shocked and surprised

this was fascinating

kayyfries:

If I ever meet Issa Rae I’m gonna sing Broken Pussy to her 😂😂. Like that was just so genius

There’s this guy who helps out one of the other vendors here. I always catch him staring at me. I’m pretty sure he’s gay though.

I was walking past their table today and caught him eyeing me again. Then he blurted out, “I LOVE your eyes!”

“My eyes?”

“Yesssssss!” And then he gestured dramatically and I grinned, feeling kinda nice about myself.

Apparently the prime minister’s wife comes to UpMarket all the time. How have I ever noticed her before? What is she not buying from me? We need to have a talk she and I.

Huh. The prime minister’s wife is here at UpMarket. Well that’s a first.

There’s a lady that comes to every UpMarket. She likes to use is as an excuse to just get out of the house. Something to do. Which is fine. But I get the feeling she’s lonely. She likes to chat with all the vendors. She once spent an entire ten minutes at my table picking up pieces one by one and asking me questions about them. In the end she didn’t buy anything. She never does. She comes to my table every UpMarket and never buys anything. I know not to expect a sale now so it doesn’t bother me. I just try not to encourage the talking because she doesn’t seem to get that I’m just being polite.

There’s a group of three Indian girls here at UpMarket and they’re all wearing baseball caps. I’m wondering if they’re part of a “team”

Someone sent me some photos of themselves wearing my jewelry today on Instagram. My jewelry has reached BALI y’all!

I’m feeling a little proud of that

I finished my freelancing gig today. I had to go into the studio to make a pair of earrings that someone’s picking up at UpMarket tomorrow and I wanted to hug it. I’ve missed my studio so much! It really is my happy place.

I have a client who wants me to make her bridal jewelry out of enamel. I’m so excited to go in on Monday to start experimenting with some ideas. I just have to get through UpMarket tomorrow. I really do not want to go but I have clients meeting me so I kind of have to. Bleh. At least I get to relax for the rest of the evening.

aceofpages:

Moonlight should have gotten the award for Cinematography. Because. Like. Have you seen it? It was amazing. And the fact that it was filmed in 25 days with 1 camera and a budget of $1.6 million. Tell me that isn’t impressive. 

truth

I met a girl tonight, and from the minute we were introduced we just started blabbing like we were old friends and just clicked. AND, and this is revolutionary, I actually asked for her info to keep in touch with her. I never do that. I meet pretty awesome people more often than most but I usually just let them go their way after our time together is done. But I loved this chick’s vibe. She’s Canadian, half Native, and she was so damn cool. She reminds me of my best friend from high school. I hope I see her again before she goes back home. 

biandnerdy:

biandnerdy:

If you ever feel like you’ve fucked up just remember that Ireland accidentally legalized crystal meth

If you ever feel like you’ve fucked up just remember America knowingly voted in a fascist to lead them

cleaning off my makeup tonight I look at the cotton pad in my hand and marvel at how much makeup I have to put on to look “natural”

Ah yes, it’s that time of day when you get feedback on the ad you’ve been working on for five (FUCKING FIVE) days and everything they say is contradicting every other bit of direction you’ve gotten. 

I am ready to throw myself off a building.

I am so glad I only committed to six days of this.

This is the fucking WORST

aviculor:

gomjabbar:

it’s really funny how many people on here make jokes about anti-vaxxers and flat earthers but they practice astrology at the same time even though it’s literally the same pseudo-scientific bullshit

Looking up your horoscope doesn’t give kids polio.

After watching it, I don’t understand how Manchester By The Sea was nominated for best picture and even less how Casey Affleck won an Oscar for that performance. When I think of Denzel in Fences or Dev Patel in Lion, I’m perplexed. What am I not getting here?

My sojourn into freelance graphics has reminded me once again of all the things that killed my love for this profession (asshole former boss excluded). A lot of my old co-workers are in that place where they’ve also fallen out of love with design. I guess if they had told us all what it would really be like we wouldn’t have believed them anyway. 

Everyone gets into graphic design with stars in their eyes. And that’s not a bad thing. It serves you well for the first decade or so to have hope that you’ll get to do some really cool stuff. Cause you do. But it’s never enough. And the constant grind, the ever looming deadlines, the clients with their incessant changes, the poor communication, the lack of clear directions, the unreasonable and sometimes impossible requests, the cutting every idea off at the knees… it gets to you. And eventually you grow to hate what you thought was a creative job that turned out to be just artistic grunt work. It kills your soul. 

Fifteen years was enough for me. Right now four days has been enough for me. I miss my studio.

I tend to be a bit of an impulsive cook/baker. I’ll see a recipe and get all excited and decide I have to try it right now. And yesterday I got suckered into a new bread recipe that the author promised would be the most simple and delicious loaf ever. Simple it was. It came out of the oven looking exactly like the well lit, beautifully staged artisanal loaf in the picture. Delicious it wasn’t. I’ve never had such tasteless bread in my life. Not even cheese could save it. And that’s saying a lot because I thought if you threw cheese on anything it would instantly make it delicious. I was wrong. It was a beautiful loaf but I might as well have eaten cardboard and eggs this morning. Lesson learnt. I’ll stick with my tried and true recipe from now on. I feel so bamboozled. Damn those food bloggers. Damn them all.

I seem to destroy iphone cases at a rate of one every three months. They just never last. I guess it’s because I like those slim ones that are a little flimsy. I just ordered another one. Last one I bought was in November. Oh well they’re cheap. That might have something to do with it.

cloama:

Amazing how when Black people get to tell their own stories, they don’t have to play maids or slaves. 

Carnival Monday and Chris is doing a long overdue clean up of the apartment. I had a bunch of orders to fill that I couldn’t get to during the week so I’m working on them today. I think we’ll go into town tomorrow and take in the festivities. I missed out on jouvert this year but I didn’t mind so much. 

So one night Chris and I tried to sit down and watch La La Land. Neither of us like musicals but we felt it our duty to at least give it a shot. After ten minutes we gave up. So I guess I’ll just never know what it’s about and I’m perfectly happy with that to be honest.

I want Moonlight to win everything

Too much alcohol in my system. I just woke up to find that Bill Paxton died??? How sad…. so young too. What a bummer.

run-up-the-sail:

pisshets:

If you add two pounds of sugar to literally one ton of concrete it will ruin the concrete and make it unable to set properly which is good to know if you wanna resist something being built, French anarchists used this to resist prison construction in the 80s

I’m just gonna go ahead and reblog this for purely educational purposes.

onlinecounsellingcollege:

1. Your time is the best gift you can give. – In your relationships with others, nothing you can give is more appreciated than your sincere, focused attention. So don’t listen with an agenda or the intent to reply. Hear what is being said with the intent to truly understand.

2. You have the power to make a big difference. – Everyone in life wants to be loved and accepted. Your greatest achievements in life will be the direct result of finding this love and acceptance within yourself, and radiating it out to those around you.

3. What makes us different is what makes us special. – Don’t be too quick to judge others or bully them for being different. And don’t put up with those who call you “a friend” and then judge and bully you. Let go of the need to prove yourself to everyone else, and you’ll free yourself to accomplish what matters most to you.

4. Love is meant to be shared. – So many people save their ‘loving.’ They consciously avoid putting their heart into their relationships, surrendering, opening up, and sharing, because they want to save it all for the right people (best friends, lovers, etc.) But the problem is when the right people come along they don’t realize it, they don’t know how to open up, and they don’t know anything about the act of loving.

5. You have to love yourself too. – The best thing you can do to improve the quality of your relationships is to work on loving and healing yourself.

6. Praise and recognition matters. – Give genuine praise. This is an investment in them that doesn’t cost you a thing, and the returns can be amazing. Be sure to follow this rule: “Praise in public, penalize in private.”

7. Small gestures of kindness go a long way. – It seems like such a small thing, but in our busy lives we often forget that a kind word, a helping hand, or just a smile and a quick “thank you” can create a bright spot in another person’s life.

8. Without honesty there is no friendship. – Honesty is the first chapter in the book of all wisdom. Honesty is the only path forward. It’s always better to tell people the truth up front. So don’t play games with people’s heads and hearts. Telling the truth and making someone cry is better than telling a lie and making someone smile.

9. Loyalty means the world. – True love and real friendship aren’t about being inseparable. These relationships are about two people being true to each other even when they are separated. When it comes to relationships, remaining faithful is never an option, but an obligation.

10. Reaching out and staying in touch is important. – Stay in touch with those who matter to you because they’re worth the extra effort. Remember, you don’t need a certain number of friends, just a number of friends you can be certain of. Paying attention to these people is always a priority.

I was so excited last night when I went to sleep to get to play in the studio today. But pms kicked my ASS today and basically I’ve spent most of the day either sleeping or catching up on New Girl.

When is science gonna find a solution to pms though? Why are we still suffering through this crap every month? If men got pms it would’ve been obsolete by now.

Port of Spain is like a ghost town today. The agency is almost empty too.

They seriously expecting people to be doing work on a Carnival Friday???

Also, I think I’m getting sick.

I spend two days out in public among people and some asshole gives me a virus.

It’s like my Etsy customers somehow knew that a) I was out of studio this week and b) it’s Carnival weekend cause suddenly my shop got flooded with orders. I’m not in any way complaining but the timing would have been a lot better man.

missmilk:

gendertranspositions:

missmilk:

white: hey have you listened to [classic rock band/song]

me: no im latina

Sorry but that’s like asking me, “Have you listened to Juanes or Fetty Wap?” and me responding, “No I’m a white woman”.

Your ethnicity doesn’t preclude you from potentially being exposed to certain music genres.

me: jokes

white: *crying uncontrollably* we are all one music genre….. the human genre

I slept really crappy the past couple of days. It’s catching up with me today I feel really tired. It’s really different when you’re working for yourself and when you’re working for other people man. Good thing tomorrow is Friday. Usually it doesn’t make a difference but this week it sure as hell does. Good thing we have a long weekend.

So yesterday (here at the ad agency) they put me to work on a corporate ad. Corporate stuff is probably the most difficult for me because I just don’t “think” that way. I struggled through it convinced that I was doing a horrible job (I’m a fraud! I have no talent! They’ll finally find me out!). But we just had a little meeting and I got some feedback and I seem to be on the right track.

The thing with just walking into an agency to freelance is that you don’t have any connection with the work you’re doing. You don’t know the client, what they like or don’t like, and in most cases you don’t get to look at previous artwork that’s been produced so you’re just designing blindly. So you alway think what you’re producing is shit, basically.

I have to say I’m really missing my studio. But my studio isn’t paying me $xxxx per day. Basically after this I’ll be able to pay off my credit card. So my studio can wait.