Happy Independence Day Trinidad and Tobago !!!!!

Forty-eight years ago my home, Trinidad and Tobago gained Independence from the United Kingdom. I love my country dearly, there really is no place like home and I'm grateful for all the people that have helped to make it the multicultural paradise that it is. In a few hours I'm going to attend our Independence Day parade and then later tonight we'll all be going out for fireworks. Ahh these are the things that I miss when I'm away from home.

Did I mention that Trinidad is also an excellent place to be a writer? Our tiny island boasts two Nobel prize winning Trinidadian authors, V.S. Naipaul and Derek Walcott within the last two decades. Naipaul won in 2001 and Walcott in 1992. I'm more familiar with Naipaul's work, in fact I'm a huge fan of Naipaul's work. When I returned home earlier this year I re-read a few of his novels to get myself out of my post New York funk. My mom thinks I could be the next Naipaul, hahaha I wish.

Happy Birthday Mummy !!!!

Today's my mum's birthday. The older I get the more I value her and the time that I spend with her. Her sayings that annoyed me as a teenager are now the things that I long to hear and living away from home for so long has reminded how comforting her presence can be. Of course we still fight, we probably always will. She drives me crazy sometimes, I mean last week she corrected the way I was boiling water. Seriously. Water. How can you boil water wrong? These are the things that stir up fantasies of putting her in a retirement home. I tease her about it all the time, but she knows I never will because she's the best, the only, my mum.

Don't Forget

(Photo: UNICEF)

Please don't forget the millions of people displaced by floods in Pakistan. The aid efforts currently underway in Pakistan are in desperate need of funding. Click here to donate through UNICEF.

More Ground Zero Talk

(Photo: ABC News)

Yesterday I posted about the clash over the Ground Zero mosque. Well here's another perspective from Akbar S. Ahmed a former Pakistani ambassador for the UK. My previous post was largely my non-American, non-Muslim understanding of the American Muslim v.s. American non-Muslim position. Ahmed has opened up yet another corner of the debate to non-American Muslims.

I don't think I've mentioned this before, but I was a communication major as an an undergrad and I live for this kind of rich, complicated dialogue with multiple conflicting voices. I live for it because I firmly believe that a multiplicity of voices offers a multiplicity of solutions. Not surprisingly, I think that the best part of this article comes at the end when Ahmed gives his entirely new suggestion for the solution to the problem. He suggests that the property be sold and proceeds be donated to the victims of flooding in Pakistan.

I'll bet the house that this will never happen. This controversy has grown beyond the bricks and mortar of a building and taken on its new meaning and symbolism. This is not a real estate dispute. This a clash of religion and culture. Selling the building would be the equivalent of dispelling these two weighty principles that it has come to symbolize. Definitely not gonna happen, but still good food for thought.

Read the entire article here.

The Ground Zero Mosque

(Photo: Time Magazine)

I just finished reading an NY Mag article on the proposed mosque to be located near the site where the World Trade Center once stood. The owner of the building, Sharif El-Gamal, stated that he did not regret the uproar over the location of the mosque "because there was a conversation that had to be had, and now we’re having it.”

I get it. I get that this is an issue that needs to be aired and I am happy that it's out there in the public dialogue rather than festering under the surface. I just don't understand the logic behind the minds of the people who cannot separate a religion and the peaceful followers of said religion from the criminals who exploit it. It's so upsetting and so disheartening to see that this level of narrow mindedness does not only exist but is rampant. This article from Time Magazine shows just how rampant this pattern of thinking is. The magazine conducted a poll and found that 61% do not want a mosque within close proximity of Ground zero.

Read the full NY Mag article here.

NY Times and 20-Somethings

Here's an article from the NY Times about 20 somethings (me) who left home (me) didn't make it on their own (me) and moved back home (me) and who generally take a lot longer to become an adult in the financially-dependent-home-owning-baby-making sense of the word. It's reassuring that other people are having identical experiences and in large enough numbers to make me a statistic as opposed to a loser or worse a failure. I also feel a little better because this probably would not have been my story if the United States were not in the midst of an economic depression when I graduated from college. Also, in a strange way, I'm grateful for the tough experiences that I've had since graduating. Losing everything has a way of making you realize what's really important. I spent most of my life feeling embarrassed about being smart and being a bookworm. That will never happen again. I'm so much more appreciative of what I have and I'm more sure of my goals and interests than I've ever been. Now I know that when I do go back to school it won't be for want of better options. It will be because I want to pursue a field of study that I'm genuinely interested in. I've taken to referring to the last year as my "lost year" but when I think of how much I've matured in the last twelve months it's clear that it wasn't wasted at all.

Happy World Humanitarian Day!

(Photo: United Nations)

Today is World Humanitarian Day. Round of applause to all the humanitarian aid workers across the world who are working for the good of humanity and a prayer for those who have lost their lives doing so.

In recognition of this day and what it stands for I'd like to shine some blogger light on the humanitarian crisis that currently taking hold of Pakistan.

(Photo: AP)

Particularly heavy rains have lead to devastating floods which have lead to loss of life, economic losses and the displacement of millions. International aid has been slow and without it Pakistan has no chance of recovery. Please click here to donate through UNICEF.

TV Rots Your Brain

In a good way... I hope. Cuz I've been catching up on my TV and I just watched the entire season of Modern Family. So good. The final episode made me cry. It's that good. The writing, casting, everything is perfect.

(Photo: Sidereel)

Above is a still from one of my favorite episodes where Cameron's car gets vandalized after Gloria takes him to the shady part of town where she lived before she married Cameron's boyfriend's father Jay. Ok that was a mouthful, but that's the point. it's a complicated, hilarious modern family!

The Book of Laughter and Forgetting

Photo Courtesy The Unrehearsed Reader

So this is my second try at reading and enjoying Milan Kundera's work. I think he's an amazing brilliant writer but i don't think his stuff is for me. I much prefer the simple, uncomplicated brilliance of Hemingway to Kundera's in your face brilliance. I also can't help but feel that I'm reading different versions of the same book and if that's the case with all of his work I'd prefer to just re-read 'The Unbearable Lightness of Being'.

That said, it was a good read, one of those books that tempt you take to notes because you never want to forget the words that you're reading.

Today's Crossword Puzzle

(Photo: The Great American Diving Co.)

The Bikini Atoll (pictured above) was an answer to a clue in my crossword puzzle today. I had to Google it and I learned something new and entirely disturbing about our world history.

First of all I had no idea what an atoll was. Now I know that an atoll is "a circle of coral reef that surrounds a lagoon and is itself surrounded by open sea." The Bikini Atoll is part of a group of islands located in the Pacific Ocean. America captured the Atoll from the Japanese during World War II, convinced the Bikinians to leave and proceeded to test nuclear weapons on the atoll.
Displaced from their homes and their way of life, the Bikinians drew increasingly near to starvation before they were allowed to return home. Even when the did return home, they found that their atoll was polluted with nuclear waste and worse the Bikinians themselves were made sick by the nuclear blasts. This a really condensed version of the story and you can read more here at the Bikini website. But from what i understand the Nuclear Claims Tribunal awarded the people of Bikini $563,315,500 in compensation in March 2001 but they haven't been paid yet.

So, so sad. All this from a crossword puzzle.

Imagining Argentina

(Photo: Longitude Books)

I recently finished reading Imagining Argentina by Lawrence Thornton. This was a really, really good book. Even though we had a power outage, I couldn't put it down. I read it by candlelight and finished in one night. The novel is set in 1970's Argentina under the military rule of President Videla. It details the kidnapping, rape and torture of tens of thousands of victims that took place during the "Dirty War". The twist comes when Carlos discovers his psychic abilities after his wife is violently kidnapped and held by prisoner by agents of the state.

Apparently it was made into a movie in 2003. I'm going to try to find the movie, I'm quite curious to see how Cecilia, the novel's main heroine, is portrayed by the very British Emma Thompson. Great respect for Emma and her work but I can't see it working very well.

Favorite Movie

(Photo: Howard County Library)

So it seems like this is the week for favorites. I've talked about my favorite new word, my favourite quotes and now I'm going to talk about my favorite movie The Girl in the Cafe.

The Girl in the Cafe is a 2005 HBO TV movie starring the ever charming Bill Nighy and the equally captivating Kelly Macdonald. Nighy's character Lawrence strikes up a friendship with Macdonald's Gina. They hit it off so well that Lawrence, a government economist, decides to take Gina along to the G8 conference in Reykjavik, Iceland. Improbable? Yes. But what follows is a moving tale of love, politics and human compassion that hits all the right notes if you care about government. If you've ever wondered what would happen if the voices of logical but passionate individuals could be heard among the voices of diplomatic to a fault politicians, then you need to see this movie. Great subject matter, superb acting, I love this movie. So much.

Favorite Quote

My personal mantra is "make possible that which seems impossible." It's gotten me through many trials and tribulations, gruelling internships and examinations for which I was ill prepared.

The phrase "all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights" from the universal declaration of rights of man is the drive behind my day to day behavior (such as the way I treat the people I meet, live and work with) and my larger decisions as well (such as the things I choose to study in school, the type of work I'm drawn to etc.)

But my absolute favorite quote, the string of words to which I turn when I'm feeling happy, sad or just "whatever" comes from Kurt Vonnegut and it goes like this:

The arts are not a way to make a living
They are a very human way of making life more bearable
Practicing an art, no matter how well or how badly
Is a way to make your soul grow, for heaven's sake
Sing in the shower
Dance to the radio
Tell stories
Write a poem to a friend, even a lousy poem
Do it as well as you possibly can
You will get an enormous reward
You will have created something

Now THOSE are not just words to get you through the day, those are words you can model an entire life on. Isn't that all we want? To have created something greater than us, that will last beyond the span of our lifetimes. Money, fame, love aren't these really creations of man that are meant to do the one thing that we can't do? They're thought to last forever.

I think that's why I like writing so much, it's my way to satisfy the urge to create. I'm not sure if this is a good blog or not, I hope it is. I'm still proud of it either way. In the words of Mr. Vonnegut, the ability to look back on the way my thoughts and ideas have evolved through this medium will indeed be "an enormous reward."

New Word

I learned a new word today: susurrant. I keep saying it over and over again. Susurrant. Susurrant. Susurrant. Susurrant. I found my new word in a newspaper article but I cannot find my new word in my dicitonary. Bah

Well the internet knows my new word so it doesn't matter. According to the Merriam Webster online dictionary a sussurant sound is a "hum or a whisper: a whispering or rustling sound"

I like it. I'm a really good mumbler, it's one of my bad habits, sometimes I wish I were a whisperer. Whisperers can get away with it under the guise of being ladylike and delicate but mumblers are just brash and awkward or at least that's what my teachers told me throughout my adolescence. Ever notice how the caretakers in Austen and Bronte novels are always either ramblers, mumblers or just plain non-communicators? I think I'm going to spend the rest of the day speaking in susurrant tones like an Austen heroine instead of grumbling like a caretaker as I usually do. I'm also going to see how many times I can use the word susurrant in a conversation without getting something thrown at me. I've already used it about eight times in this post, I'd say that's a good start.