I want to share with you the beautiful wire-work rings hubs got for me from @sundara-jewelry. I love them Natasha!!!
Oh it was for you!!! OMG I had no idea! I’m so happy you like them, I have such a big smile on my face right now. I’m really glad they arrived on time (he was a little worried heh). Happy Valentines!
I was chatting with Chris and he was asking me if 16 was still asleep.
Yep.
I’m very disappointed. They can’t party like we did.
It’s true. Coming home at 8 in the morning was not an obstacle to going out a few hours later to do it all over again.
We used to treat sleep with disdain. Sleep? What is dat!
The stamina required to party several nights in a row while imbibing heavily was just there. I mean as a teenager, what else did you have to do but party during the holidays and carnival? It was our job.
I miss those days. But I have the benefit of having shared it with him and many of our current friends. We had some really good times.
And we would not have slept the whole day after a night out.
We only do that shit now that we old. And even so it feels like defeat.
16 came here this morning around 8 o’clock after a fete. He’s currently splayed out on the couch in the living room. I was waxing nostalgic about the days when I’d go out all night and come back after the sun was up when I realised that sometimes we still do that. We’re not doing too bad for two old farts.
It’s been cool and rainy today. I love it. I’m ready for a nap and debating with myself whether or not I want some oreos.
It seems I’ve sort of gone off sugar. That’s absolutely never happened before. I love sweets. I was wondering why I seemed to be losing weight over the past two months and then I sort of noticed my sugar consumption had dropped. I’m thinking that might be the reason. Either that or I’m sick. Maybe it’s a too-mah.
Our #goldfilled #agate #druzy #bangles are now available @theshop_normandie. For that relaxed #caribbean #boho vibe. #handmade (at The Shop at The Normandie)
R.I.P. Maurice White(December 19, 1941 – February 4, 2016)
Maurice White, the founder of legendary band Earth, Wind & Fire, died in his sleep Thursday morning, at the age of 74…
Maurice died in L.A. after a long battle with Parkinson’s. He was diagnosed in 1992 and his condition deteriorated in recent months. The disease had progressed to the point he was forced to stop touring with the band 1994. -In 2000, the band was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Maurice was individually inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2010. -Although Maurice wasn’t touring, he remained involved in the decisions regarding the band. 12
Every time I go to post with this new avi for a split second I think it’s @womaninterrupted for some reason. I guess she had an avi with her hair to one side at one point but seriously what is the matter with me?
I’m just not going to bother with giving out coupon codes to any of my online stores anymore because nobody seems to use them when they buy shit.
I’ve been putting in a lot of work promoting my Etsy shop. It’s starting to pay off. Yay!
Sometimes I wonder if I’m fucking crazy for choosing to make jewelry for a living (and I use the term for a living loosely because I ain’t even close to making a living right now). It is such a fucking hustle. I’ve never worked this hard in my life. When I was a full-time freelance graphic designer I was really half-assed about my approach to my business (and lazy, I admit it) but I always knew that one or two jobs could get me through the month. This shit? It’s fucking non-stop. If I’m not creating new pieces I’m marketing the fuck out of my brand, I’m supplying my retailers, I’m trying to get traffic to my sites, I’m doing social media… it never stops. It’s exhausting. And stressful. But I love the fuck out of it. I must be crazy.
I always have to be reminded that the reason why the traffic gets so bad around Carnival time is because of the influx of tourists to Trinidad. I never think of us as a tourist destination. In fact I always marvel that people ever find their way here outside of the Carnival season. I am of course, always delighted that someone would choose to visit our shores when they have the whole rest of the world to pick from. I love Trinidad and I’m so very proud of our culture.
Given the recent downturn in oil prices, I saw a post on Facebook suggesting that we export happiness. I think it’s a great marketing strategy if we were to do it because Trinis are among the friendliest, most welcoming, happiest people in the world. I’ve experienced culture shock too many times to know that the rest of the world does not open their doors to visitors the way we do. It’s not even endemic to the Caribbean (hello Barbados anyone? ugh), so I think if we were to start advertising ourselves as a year-round tourist destination, that would be a great place to start.
We also need to legalize weed and export the shit out of it. But that’s another post.
Ey Trinis, New Fire is kindly requesting donations of old t-shirts to be used for the upcoming New Fire Festival carded for March. Drop-offs could be made at Alice Yard, Woodbrook or Propaganda Space, Belmont.
Remember Lazarus, our black goldfish who I thought was dead when I found him floating belly up and googly-eyed in the tank and it turned out he was just sick? He bit it. I told you they always die when I name them.
I’ve been in a bad mood for days now. I don’t know what’s annoying me (everything) but I feel it’s most probably work related. Inside my head feels chaotic and I can’t sort out my emotions. And I just have to deal with them. I really hate being an adult sometimes. How did my parents make it look so fun?
Handed in a perfectly good form that they themselves approved last time I was here, that now they’re telling me has mistakes.
The guy tells me the address for the farm is wrong. I’m like dude that’s what it says on the deed. He goes and consults someone and comes back and tells me to remove the hyphen. Seriously? You make maps? The deed- anyway whatever fine. Changed and initialed.
Waiting for them to give me my paperwork.
Which I’d have had ten minutes ago if they’d have left their own paperwork alone
“Your job — as students who are receiving an education — is to be aware of your privilege. And use this particular privilege called “education” to do your best to achieve great things, all the while advocating for those in the rows behind you.”
Hello from my office, where the printer has decided it doesn’t want to accept my password and print anything I send it. Which is a new problem as it worked just fine Friday when I was here.
I still feel tender, and now I want to stab things and set the world on fire on top of that.
Good talk, Tumblrs.
Also, my earrings are from Sundara and they are perfect and lovely and the thing (besides coffee) making me happy this morning.
There was a woman who saw these earrings and desperately fell in love with them, but she wanted me to change out the light blue stones to clear ones because she said she had no fashion sense and didn’t know how to mix colours. I gave her a card and told her to contact me if she was serious about buying them. She never did. So I never changed them and they found their rightful owner after all. 🙂
Let’s not forget to acknowledge Alexandre Dumas this Black History Month
The writer of two of the most well known stories worldwide, The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo was a black man.
That’s excellence.
Let’s not forget that he was played on screen by a white man. And the fact that he was black is barely ever mentioned or the book he wrote inspired by his experiences.
Other things not to forget about Alexandre Dumas:
chose to take on his slave grandmother’s last name, Dumas, like his father did before him.
grew up too poor for formal education, so was largely self-taught, including becoming a prolific reader, multilingual, well-travelled, and a foodie, resulting in his writing both a combination encyclopedia/cookbook (which just— is fucking outrageous to me) AND the adaptation of The Nutcracker on which Tchaikovsky based his ballet
he also wrote a LOOOOT of nonfiction and fiction about history, politics, and revolution, bc he was pro-monarchy, but a radical cuss, and that got him in a lot of hot water at home and abroad.
even beyond that, he generally put up with a lot of racist bullshit in France, so he went and wrote a novel about colonialism and a BLATANTLY self-insert anti-slavery vigilante hero (which he then cribbed from to write the Count of Monte Cristo, the main character of which, Edmond Dantés, Dumas also based on himself).
(…a novel which also features a LOAD of PoC beyond the Count, and at LEAST one queer character, btw, bc EVERY MOVIE ADAPTATION OF ANYTHING BY DUMAS IS A LIE; seriously, at LEAST one of the four Musketeers is Black, y’all.)
famously, when some fuckshit or other wanted to come at Dumas with some anti-Black foolishness, Dumas replied, “My father was a mulatto, my grandfather was a Negro, and my great-grandfather a monkey. You see, Sir, my family starts where yours ends.”
for the bicentennial of his birthday, Pres. Jacques Cirac was like, “…sorry about the hella racism,” and had Dumas’s ashes reinterred at the Panthéon of Paris, bc if you’re gonna keep the corpses of the cream of the crop all together, Dumas’s more widely read and translated than literally everybody else.
and they are still finding stuff old dude wrote, seriously; like discovering “lost” works as recently as 2002, publishing stuff for the first time as recently as 2005.
ALSO IMPORTANT:
SWAG
I am absolutely ashamed to admit I had NO idea Dumas was black.
daddy general dumas was an immense fierce french warrior who was a 6 foot plus, stunningly gorgeous and charismatic Black gentleman
he invaded egypt
the native egyptians said “is this napoleon? this must be napoleon. we for one welcome our majestic new overlord”
then napoleon showed up
napoleon has all the presence of yesterday’s plain Tesco hummus
the native egyptians were like “… no… no, we’ve thought very hard and we’ll have General Dumas actually”
this did not make napoleon happy
in fact it made him jealous
napoleon felt so emasculated that he launched a campaign of revenge against General Dumas, including taking away his pension, that probably inspired a lot of Alexandre’s rather satisfying scenes in which fathers are nobly avenged and the money-grubbing villains are rubbed in the mud
I saw that they’re bringing Starbucks to Trinidad.
There were two reactions I saw online: People who were elated, and people who condemned yet another American franchise setting up shop on our island.
What about our local coffee producers? Why buy foreign when you can buy local?
Well we have a local franchise. The service is crappy, the coffee sucks and the food is shitty and overpriced. And all other coffee shops that I’ve been to are tiny and lack certain amenities.
I’m not going ga ga over the idea of Starbucks but it’s nice to have the option. I drink my coffee at home for the most part but I don’t mind the occasional coffee shop outing where I can get something I actually want to imbibe.
So for my mom to complete her greencard requirements she has to get a certificate of character from Venezuela, where we lived for nine years.
She went to the consulate here and a month later they got back to her and told her she had to GO THERE TO GET IT. *steups* As if.
So my brother contacted the ambassador in the US, who it turns out knew my Dad, and he said that even if she went there she wouldn’t get it because the place is in such a mess.
He got her ID number from when she lived there but surprise surprise it’s only coming up as being registered to other people.
So we have to send him all her other documents so he can take care of it.
It just left me wondering what the hell are other people who don’t have contacts to do?
I saw that they’re bringing Starbucks to Trinidad.
There were two reactions I saw online: People who were elated, and people who condemned yet another American franchise setting up shop on our island.
What about our local coffee producers? Why buy foreign when you can buy local?
Well we have a local franchise. The service is crappy, the coffee sucks and the food is shitty and overpriced. And all other coffee shops that I’ve been to are tiny and lack certain amenities.
I’m not going ga ga over the idea of Starbucks but it’s nice to have the option. I drink my coffee at home for the most part but I don’t mind the occasional coffee shop outing where I can get something I actually want to imbibe.
Ras Nijinsky in drag as Pavlova in Peter Minshall’s The Dying Swan, King of the Bands Preliminaries, Trinidad & Tobago, 28/01/16.
“After a hiatus of almost a decade, mas man Peter Minshall on Thursday night returned to the Queen’s Park Savannah stage with a design that looked back one hundred years, and fused the Moko Jumbie with the Ballet Russes. ‘The Dying Swan’ – a mas designed and directed by Minshall – floated across the Big Yard, brought to life by former King of Carnival Jha-whan Thomas. With the simple addition of toes and heels, the stilts of the Moko Jumbie became a ballet dancers’ elongated calves, feet en pointe.”
We did UpMarket yesterday. It was practically empty and sales were pretty awful. But I left with more money than I came with so I can’t write off the day.
A few of my customers seemed like they were in a bargaining mood. I kind of get really annoyed when people do that. I mean, the market is filled with people who own small businesses you know? Making stuff with their hands. So it seems kind of cheap when people try to talk you down. That said, I will strike a bargain to complete a sale. I know what my profit margin is so yeah whatever but like, not cool.
Funny thing is you buy more than one item I’ll usually give you a discount anyway.
I have some regular customers that buy from me almost every market. I’ve developed a good relationship with them. It feels really great to have people come and seek you out just to buy your stuff.
I’ve been contacted by a reporter who wants to do a feature on me but so far it has proven really difficult to meet up. I’ve also had a publicist contact me who wants to represent me but it’s taking it’s time to happen too. I’ve had a frustrating month. I’m trying to just be patient but I’m really tired of feeling like the next level isn’t happening.
it’s quite astonishing once you recognize the pattern. settler colonialist societies all seem to be very consistent with each other, they all employ a version of “this land was empty” myths and if you really start thinking about it, you realize that white supremacy has basically been telling you that no one existed outside of europe until a few centuries ago. which is stupid on the face of it. but that’s the picture they paint
its really fucked up, like how colonizers will dehumanize the indigenous victims, theyll also dehumanize the land that they live on
Could we fucking talk about that Minshall though? Because that’s an entire race and gender in (Caribbean) art essay waiting to happen and I dig it.
I fucking loved it. So glad to see him come back to carnival. The man is a treasure
Truly. I’m generally really into when a work is recontexualized in our space
Having a black Caribbean man with dreadlocks portray such a delicate European femininity and at Kings’ competition, too.
The stilts, the stark white against the night. I loved the presentation. A ballet performance to steelpan? Take win.
I keep looking for some kind of official statement about it because I’m extra like that but nothing. I wonder what it placed.
Yeah I haven’t heard anything about it much in the press’s it’s just been viral. God the utter simplicity of it was the true beauty. I was in awe when I saw the video of it. I miss mas like that. I miss Minshall. I feel he is the only masman who really elevated mas to performance art. That king made me want to cry.
Can we take a minute to appreciate the brilliance of #PeterMinshall? Do you mind? #TheDyingSwan King costume (yes, King, in drag) • 📷 @yahudah_solutions_photography
Today I walked past The Limited and was in awe of their window display which consists exclusively of women of color. I’ve never seen that before and I salute their diversity. 💁🏻💁🏽💁🏾 #thelimited #representationmatters #adorable
THE LIMITED IS MY FAVORITE STORE!! I feel proud like one of my bffs just did something great☺️😆
The Gayer-Anderson Cat– Statue of a cat made out of bronze, from the Late Period, about 664–332 BC. The statue is a representation of the cat-goddess Bastet.
I was looking at some Egyptian art the other day, statues of Akhenaten and Nefertiti and I noticed that their ears were not just pierced but they had plugs in them. Their ear lobes were stretched. I thought that was an interesting little detail.
I’m at Chris’s graduation ceremony. Of course it’s starting late but I got here a little late due to an unforeseen wardrobe (strapless bra related) issue. I’m starving and I’m scrolling past pictures of food and I’m ready to eat my phone. Let’s hope this doesn’t go on too long and we can get to the food portion of the evening relatively quickly. No that sounds terrible. I’m here to celebrate a milestone and I really am proud of him (he completed his MBA). It’s the hunger talking. I’m gonna cheer like a madwoman when he gets called. But girl could use a canapé.
A business like ThinkGeek sharing an artist’s content to promote their brand is not the same as an individual sharing a comic with their friends. Businesses have the capital and resources to ask permission to use and even PAY for content, or they can practice unethical behavior and perpetuate the belief that artists don’t need to be paid for their hard work.
I’ve yet to hear an acknowledgment or apology from ThinkGeek.
Update: Here’s their reply, and mine. They apologize for misspelling my name on their facebook page, but they continue to ignore the fact they’re still using artists’ original content to promote the brand. Bullshit.
Businesses will continue to profit from the belief that art is free, while the artists die from exposure if artists and fans don’t speak up.
If you see the work of an artist you follow being used to promote a business, and you’re not sure if the artist granted permission, say something.
If you are a content creator, don’t take this treatment from businesses. Hold them accountable for exploitive practices.
I don’t like posting selfies from my phone. Especially without makeup. I’ve had the experience of later seeing it blown up on the computer screen later and cringing. But I make myself do it to push past the idea that I am always supposed to present myself to the public in a certain way. It feels quite freeing. Kinda like when I did that nude photoshoot with Gary. Naked is naked.
I made some damn good lasagna tonight. I used three different cheeses including the one I made today. I kinda got a kick out of that. I gotta say it was delicious
So my cheesemaking didn’t come out quite as I had hoped. I’m glad I only halved the recipe The problem was the ultra pasteurized milk. The curds didn’t form properly. It’s kind of a mix between ricotta and something a little firmer instead of the queso blanco that I intended. But I still have some pretty nice, pretty tasty cheese. I’m going to use it in my lasagna tonight!
Currently experimenting with making cheese with my @urbancheesecraft kit I got for my birthday. I halved the recipe just for starters. Excited! Trying my hand at queso blanco. #adventuresincheesemaking
I never know who to tag in stuff so I basically type the @ symbol and then a letter, maybe two, to see what comes up. And what happens a lot of times is I see the names of people who I haven’t seen on here in AGES. And of course it gets me wondering what the hell happened to them. So yeah I’m gonna do some digging.
When Patricia was still a girl living in her mother’s Brooklyn home, she had no word for the feeling of righteous anger that filled her chest when she saw how her mother, her sisters and tias were treated — pushed around by their husbands, told there were places they shouldn’t go, expected to do poorly in math and science. Years later she discovered feminism, and that was the word. ‘It explains everything you’ve been feeling,’ Patricia said.
I was tagged by the very cute @perpetualtoska for a stop drop and selfie. I took this earlier this morning when I was working from the bedroom and only just remembered to post it.
What are you wearing now: A white cami and a black jersey skirt that’s currently hiking itself up to my waist
When did you start this blog: Five years ago today! (2011)
What do I post mostly: It’s a mish mash of shit that pisses me off about the world, random thoughts about my life, jewelry related stuff and art.
Amount of followers: Probably around 500 but I’m guessing a lot of them aren’t active judging by the fact that I interact on a regular with only about fifteen people here.
Most active follower:@littlerunnergurl cause well, she runs. A LOT. Wait that’s not what this question means is it?
What made you get a tumblr? I just wanted a place where I could write about what was happening in my life. I had a sense some changes were coming my way (boy did they ever) and I needed somewhere to record and process it.
Do you get a lot of asks? No. I’d like more actually. A lot more. Get on that people!
Why did you get this URL? Well… soul sister is a nickname from one of my friends and that was taken. Then I decided to use sisteren which is a Caribbean thing. I spelt it wrong unknowingly but I like it better like this. It’s written like we would say it here.
Last thing you Googled: men’s chastity belts. I’m not kidding either. Go look it up and feast your eyes
So remember when I said I’d gotten accepted to sell at Handmade by Amazon? Probably not but I was. But the payment thing was a problem because I didn’t have a US bank account. When I was in Orlando I intended to open one but never had the time.
ANYWAYS last night I was hanging out with some friends and ended up in a conversation with this women who showed me how she does it without having a US bank account. So I set it up and now my shit is good to go. Yay!
So I’ve spent the morning listing stuff on Amazon (didn’t I say I was taking the day off?). Each website/marketplace has it’s own way of doing things so it took me some time but I’m figuring it out. I don’t know if this will actually create sales for me but time will tell. It’s just one more avenue to get my stuff out there. Fingers crossed.
I don’t post much anymore, but here I am asking you for a favor. Forgive me❤️
My oh so talented honey Dan/bunnkwio has a picture of his up for contention in the January photo of the month, and our crazy, awesome hockey family has gotten him to 2,600 votes, but I’m hoping we can really knock it out of the park & leave the others in the dust!
I loooove you guys! (Apologies to those who already saw me post this on The Book.)
It’s me again…so apparently, this other group of parents thinks they can out-social media us, & they’re trying to take the first place from us…all in good fun, but ya know…winning is fun too.
Any votes you want to send on for #5, “Amazing Focus”, are wholly appreciated.
I haven’t figured out how to thank you guys yet, but I will! Promise! ❤️
Very easy thing to do for these two lovely people 🙂
I voted like 30 times. You should too.
I don’t even know these people but people that I know and like have reblogged this so I’ve voted many times and I’m hoping some of you will too.
I’ve made this like my personal mission today to vote as many times as I can and every time I see the other contender gaining ground I get even more fired up about it.
When we got married my girlfriend Trina gave us this set of really expensive sheets. They feel so incredibly smooth and luxurious against my skin that I actually look forward to when next I can use them on the bed. Thread count really does make a difference I don’t care what anybody says.
I’m taking tomorrow off work. I’m gonna try out that cheese making kit I got for my birthday. And I’m gonna make lasagna (with store bought cheese). I’m stressed out and fed up. I need a break from my studio. Maybe I’ll make dessert too. Yeah.
For the past few days I’ve been having very vivid dreams. This morning I dreamt about my dad again. Each time I see him he looks younger and healthier. Today he looked like he was about thirty. He looked so slim and handsome. We just talk and catch up. It’s so nice, to see him looking good again and to talk to him again. I feel like he’s been visiting me. He can come every night I would welcome it.
soulsistrin 