I’m pretty excited to be saying that my adventures in London will be on LoveTwenty. Which is fabulous in my humble opinion. All aside... I’ll be starting to write about my pre-summer abroad adventures and mishaps here after exams.
I'm even more excited to say it's less than two months until I touch ground in London and get to drink coffee in a tea lovers paradise! =)
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Monday, January 30, 2012
Music loves me so why don’t my shoes?
There comes a time in all our lives (male and female, young and old) where we must acknowledge the age differences that bond us together in one giant global catastrophe. We have the 50’s babies strolling, The 60’s babies are busy doing the Twist, while the 70’s babies are out of this world, the 80’s babies are getting their ‘groove thang on’ while the 90’s babies have to embrace bad popular music followed by brief periods of musical enlightenment. As for the millennium generation… I apologize for the short comings of the “Booty Dew”.
Shortcomings and amazingly cool dances aside I must point out the one thing that bonds us all together: The incredibly horrible feeling you get after dancing in a pair of uncomfortable but amazingly gorgeous shoes. Like the weather, foot pain is the one topic we can all relate too! We will all one day own a pair of orthotic shoes and gush about how comfortable they are! I mean, why not? For the past 30 years the 30’s babies have been jamming their feet into uncomfortable shoes so they look good! They deserve the right to hide their walking devices in a pair of shoes that are just as unattractive as they are comfortable.
When you get ready to go to the club, you have to have an outfit. This includes a pair of shoes. And while I think shoes are amazing I also have a bone to pick with them. How am I supposed to “get down with my bad self” if my feet feel like giant swollen marshmallows? I look lovely while standing, sitting, leaning and generally not walking. However, when actual movement such as dancing comes into play my feet fail me. I’m scared of tripping, what if I get to into the music and I fall, or worst what if I twist an ankle?!!
So, I set on a mission to solve this problem. Boy oh boy did I solve it! I have come to the conclusion that as a generation we must embrace orthotics as the go to club wear. I tested my theory. I gathered a pair of my aunt’s orthotic shoes, head phones and my MP3 player. I then closed and locked my bedroom door and began to dance. At first I felt ridiculous! Who grooves out in the middle of their bedroom but then…I had a moment of sheer blissful joy. My feet were not hurting; I could feel my ankles and guess what? Not once did I frantically try to support myself on my bookcase. To be fair… I put on a pair of heels and tried to dance… now when I say dance I mean stumble! And that is when my idea hit me: Orthotic shoes should dominate the club scene.
Orthotic shoes offer: Peace of mind
Comfort
Full support
A better posture
The ability to bust out with all those amazing dance moves
And long term benefits into your own age
While heels in the club scene offer:Long term pain
Fear
And the inability to dance
So why oh why wouldn’t orthotic shoes be an acceptable pair of shoes to wear to the club? I tell you why! Denial.
Shortcomings and amazingly cool dances aside I must point out the one thing that bonds us all together: The incredibly horrible feeling you get after dancing in a pair of uncomfortable but amazingly gorgeous shoes. Like the weather, foot pain is the one topic we can all relate too! We will all one day own a pair of orthotic shoes and gush about how comfortable they are! I mean, why not? For the past 30 years the 30’s babies have been jamming their feet into uncomfortable shoes so they look good! They deserve the right to hide their walking devices in a pair of shoes that are just as unattractive as they are comfortable.
When you get ready to go to the club, you have to have an outfit. This includes a pair of shoes. And while I think shoes are amazing I also have a bone to pick with them. How am I supposed to “get down with my bad self” if my feet feel like giant swollen marshmallows? I look lovely while standing, sitting, leaning and generally not walking. However, when actual movement such as dancing comes into play my feet fail me. I’m scared of tripping, what if I get to into the music and I fall, or worst what if I twist an ankle?!!
So, I set on a mission to solve this problem. Boy oh boy did I solve it! I have come to the conclusion that as a generation we must embrace orthotics as the go to club wear. I tested my theory. I gathered a pair of my aunt’s orthotic shoes, head phones and my MP3 player. I then closed and locked my bedroom door and began to dance. At first I felt ridiculous! Who grooves out in the middle of their bedroom but then…I had a moment of sheer blissful joy. My feet were not hurting; I could feel my ankles and guess what? Not once did I frantically try to support myself on my bookcase. To be fair… I put on a pair of heels and tried to dance… now when I say dance I mean stumble! And that is when my idea hit me: Orthotic shoes should dominate the club scene.
Orthotic shoes offer: Peace of mind
Comfort
Full support
A better posture
The ability to bust out with all those amazing dance moves
And long term benefits into your own age
While heels in the club scene offer:Long term pain
Fear
And the inability to dance
So why oh why wouldn’t orthotic shoes be an acceptable pair of shoes to wear to the club? I tell you why! Denial.
Friday, December 30, 2011
Long Distance Relationships
Lately, I’ve been thinking about a few things: my future, my job, what I’m going to have for lunch, and long distance relationships. I support them. I wouldn’t discourage anyone from getting into them and I wouldn’t shy away from one if I found someone I liked and they were in another country. Why? Because even though I can be a shrill nag, I believe love knows no bounds, boarders, or even visa.
I’ve always been one to love to date and get attention from boys, but when it came down to it, I’d run from the idea of a relationship. For the most part, I was not ready and I just wanted the attention - but now after a few years, I’ve realized love is a major priority in my life. I’ve been thinking long and hard to evaluate if I can offer anyone what I think a relationship takes: communication, time, effort, love, understanding, and above all, commitment. Then I got to thinking about what type of relationship demands this from the get go and I came up with a long distance relationship. I know from personal experience that today face-to-face relationships are hard to develop. I know that many of us are not willing to put in the time or effort for whatever reason; many friends complain that their face-to-face relationships are suffering because of Facebook, Twitter, text, BBM, and Ping. That all this “contact” is leaving them with an information overload - things about being sent but nothing is being said. So how is that couples in long distant relationships of any sort keep it going?
From what I see, LD’s force the couple to truly consider what they are walking into. There is no three day rule, three month grace period, or game playing. Each party must know what they want and state it then and there because otherwise it’s time to hit the road and move on. Rather than living in the world of possibilities they are pushed into the world of now and beyond. They have to consider if what they are jumping into is going to be what they want in a year rather than just “explore” for fun. Also, they have to communicate. When you can’t touch your partner, you talk. You engage with one another one a different level. Which means not only do you communicate through various mediums you also develop a better understanding of the ways your partner communicates. A smiley isn’t just a smiley anymore!
LD’s take planning, goals and commitment to the goals agreed upon by the couple. A weekend trip takes time, ending the long distance of the relationship takes sacrifice and a genuine commitment to each other. Not only do the time, money, and effort of the flying, driving, or sailing back and forth prove to be tiresome, but it also speaks volumes of the individuals involved. It says “God, I love ya!”
If you need a few stats to bring this all home for you while doing a simple Google search I found a few mind-blowing stats on long distance relationships. A shocking 7 million couples are in long distance relationships, 2.3 million are married couples, and the average expected time apart is 14 months. During that 14 months, the couple will visit each other about 1.4 times a month and talk to each other on the phone for about 30 minutes a day with an average of one phone call every 2-3 days. Of that 7 million, anywhere between 25-40% are college students or twenty-somethings. There is a bright side though: 75% of engaged couples have, at one point or another, been long distance and of that 75%, 25% of them are currently still long distance, which means there is an end to the long journey.
In all, I believe that long distance relationships have a really good chance of working out if the people involved are willing to put in the effort.
In any case: That’s a lot of facts. And it’s a lot of effort.
I’ve always been one to love to date and get attention from boys, but when it came down to it, I’d run from the idea of a relationship. For the most part, I was not ready and I just wanted the attention - but now after a few years, I’ve realized love is a major priority in my life. I’ve been thinking long and hard to evaluate if I can offer anyone what I think a relationship takes: communication, time, effort, love, understanding, and above all, commitment. Then I got to thinking about what type of relationship demands this from the get go and I came up with a long distance relationship. I know from personal experience that today face-to-face relationships are hard to develop. I know that many of us are not willing to put in the time or effort for whatever reason; many friends complain that their face-to-face relationships are suffering because of Facebook, Twitter, text, BBM, and Ping. That all this “contact” is leaving them with an information overload - things about being sent but nothing is being said. So how is that couples in long distant relationships of any sort keep it going?
From what I see, LD’s force the couple to truly consider what they are walking into. There is no three day rule, three month grace period, or game playing. Each party must know what they want and state it then and there because otherwise it’s time to hit the road and move on. Rather than living in the world of possibilities they are pushed into the world of now and beyond. They have to consider if what they are jumping into is going to be what they want in a year rather than just “explore” for fun. Also, they have to communicate. When you can’t touch your partner, you talk. You engage with one another one a different level. Which means not only do you communicate through various mediums you also develop a better understanding of the ways your partner communicates. A smiley isn’t just a smiley anymore!
LD’s take planning, goals and commitment to the goals agreed upon by the couple. A weekend trip takes time, ending the long distance of the relationship takes sacrifice and a genuine commitment to each other. Not only do the time, money, and effort of the flying, driving, or sailing back and forth prove to be tiresome, but it also speaks volumes of the individuals involved. It says “God, I love ya!”
If you need a few stats to bring this all home for you while doing a simple Google search I found a few mind-blowing stats on long distance relationships. A shocking 7 million couples are in long distance relationships, 2.3 million are married couples, and the average expected time apart is 14 months. During that 14 months, the couple will visit each other about 1.4 times a month and talk to each other on the phone for about 30 minutes a day with an average of one phone call every 2-3 days. Of that 7 million, anywhere between 25-40% are college students or twenty-somethings. There is a bright side though: 75% of engaged couples have, at one point or another, been long distance and of that 75%, 25% of them are currently still long distance, which means there is an end to the long journey.
In all, I believe that long distance relationships have a really good chance of working out if the people involved are willing to put in the effort.
In any case: That’s a lot of facts. And it’s a lot of effort.
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Welcome to Thrasher City
My cousins often enjoy watching hockey. I don’t. They often spend hours talking about teams. I don’t. They make bets, high fives and rag on each other when their winning team looses. I don’t. For as long as I can remember I have not liked, watched, cared or even wanted to talk about hockey. “Why?” you ask. Just because. For as long as I can remember, hockey has meant nothing to me. I would watch it with my mom here and there but not cause I was a fan. I wanted to spend time with my mom. As an admitted hockey hater you may think I have negative feelings for The Jets. You could even make the assumption that I didn’t care. While this all may be true. I can honestly say that the NHL returning to Winnipeg is good. Maybe not for me but for Winnipeg.
Fifteen years ago the NHL took the Jets. Not only was this act devastating to fans. It ruined businesses and a sense of pride. Fifteen years ago NHL commissioner Gary Bettman became a clichéd and over used term. He’s seen as the reason for the Jets leaving he’s been villianized. Now that the team is back it’s executive director Don Fehrs responsibility. Which he did. Which he has done. And which he will continue to protect and promote. In association with executive director Don Fehr both of these men have their work cut out for them. Seriously. Both are responsible for making sure there are buyers, investors and collective bargaining agreements. Both have a lot of face time to put in. Let’s hope both men are up to the challenge.
“So, why is it a good thing the NHL is back?” “Why are you bombarding me with facts?” you may ask. Well, it’s a good thing because it’s a good thing. The Thrashers are back. Plain and simple. They’ve left Atlanta, a city, with very little pride for Hockey and are back in hockey lovers’ territory. Fifteen years is a very long time. In 2011 the Jets are a stable team. Winnipeg has a new stadium and a committed ownership group. Even more important the dollar is strong. It should stay strong. Fans and fanatics alike will buy tickets. The MTS Centre will boom with cheers and admiration.
City life will be good. City life with be great. City life will be busy at least during the season. While many may argue that the MTS centre is not big enough to sustain the franchise financially. That 15,000 screaming fans is not enough. That the Manitoba population of 1.5 Million according to Stats Can is not enough. Many critics also argue that the team failed in Atlanta, and that the population of Atlanta proves the team will not do well here. I disagree; I was the team can and will do well under the conditions it faces.
I argue that passion is enough. That the honeymoon period will not subside and many “fans” will turn into fanatics. While some say the NHL plans to return the team to Quebec and put another in Ontario.
Winnipeg can provide a happy ending for this team. Winnipeg is the place to be. Winnipeg has a population of 1.2 million people. While I can appreciate that there are people out there who don’t like hockey. I can also state strongly that out of the 1.2 million there around about 750,000 fans. That’s a majority. That’s 750,000 people fighting over 15,000 seats. Winnipeg has never turned down a challenge and I highly doubt we will now!
Winnipeg has needed a team to feel loyal too. The Blue Bombers last won the Grey Cup in 1990. The Goldeyes are baseball. Winnipeggers can and will support their local team. If we observe the history of the Bluebombers or even a near by hockey team such as the Maple Leafs in Toronto. No matter how bad they do, no matter how off their game is the fans will crack pavement if someone talks smack about the team. Winnipeggers will defend their team to the end! We need a team that represents the city and Canada. Hockey, there isn’t a sport better. Winnipegers are loyal, strong and reliable fans. During the last 2010 game at the Blue Bombers stadium over 10,000 people showed up. They were greeted by heavy snow, wind and hail. The Blue Bombers stadium isn’t even covered. If Winnipegers are willing to sit outside and freeze I’m sure the MTS centre will be a piece of cake. The fact is: Winnipeggers will – support the team as if it were their family. That is what Winnipeg is about. Supporting things even when there is no logical reason as to why. We support blindly.
You may be asking “How can an admitted hockey hater support the NHL?” “How can she of all people see why the return of The Jets is a good thing?” and I say all is well that ends well. The team is fairly decent. The fans are more than ready. Our city core needs reviving. The team provides Winnipeg with revival.
Fifteen years ago the NHL took the Jets. Not only was this act devastating to fans. It ruined businesses and a sense of pride. Fifteen years ago NHL commissioner Gary Bettman became a clichéd and over used term. He’s seen as the reason for the Jets leaving he’s been villianized. Now that the team is back it’s executive director Don Fehrs responsibility. Which he did. Which he has done. And which he will continue to protect and promote. In association with executive director Don Fehr both of these men have their work cut out for them. Seriously. Both are responsible for making sure there are buyers, investors and collective bargaining agreements. Both have a lot of face time to put in. Let’s hope both men are up to the challenge.
“So, why is it a good thing the NHL is back?” “Why are you bombarding me with facts?” you may ask. Well, it’s a good thing because it’s a good thing. The Thrashers are back. Plain and simple. They’ve left Atlanta, a city, with very little pride for Hockey and are back in hockey lovers’ territory. Fifteen years is a very long time. In 2011 the Jets are a stable team. Winnipeg has a new stadium and a committed ownership group. Even more important the dollar is strong. It should stay strong. Fans and fanatics alike will buy tickets. The MTS Centre will boom with cheers and admiration.
City life will be good. City life with be great. City life will be busy at least during the season. While many may argue that the MTS centre is not big enough to sustain the franchise financially. That 15,000 screaming fans is not enough. That the Manitoba population of 1.5 Million according to Stats Can is not enough. Many critics also argue that the team failed in Atlanta, and that the population of Atlanta proves the team will not do well here. I disagree; I was the team can and will do well under the conditions it faces.
I argue that passion is enough. That the honeymoon period will not subside and many “fans” will turn into fanatics. While some say the NHL plans to return the team to Quebec and put another in Ontario.
Winnipeg can provide a happy ending for this team. Winnipeg is the place to be. Winnipeg has a population of 1.2 million people. While I can appreciate that there are people out there who don’t like hockey. I can also state strongly that out of the 1.2 million there around about 750,000 fans. That’s a majority. That’s 750,000 people fighting over 15,000 seats. Winnipeg has never turned down a challenge and I highly doubt we will now!
Winnipeg has needed a team to feel loyal too. The Blue Bombers last won the Grey Cup in 1990. The Goldeyes are baseball. Winnipeggers can and will support their local team. If we observe the history of the Bluebombers or even a near by hockey team such as the Maple Leafs in Toronto. No matter how bad they do, no matter how off their game is the fans will crack pavement if someone talks smack about the team. Winnipeggers will defend their team to the end! We need a team that represents the city and Canada. Hockey, there isn’t a sport better. Winnipegers are loyal, strong and reliable fans. During the last 2010 game at the Blue Bombers stadium over 10,000 people showed up. They were greeted by heavy snow, wind and hail. The Blue Bombers stadium isn’t even covered. If Winnipegers are willing to sit outside and freeze I’m sure the MTS centre will be a piece of cake. The fact is: Winnipeggers will – support the team as if it were their family. That is what Winnipeg is about. Supporting things even when there is no logical reason as to why. We support blindly.
You may be asking “How can an admitted hockey hater support the NHL?” “How can she of all people see why the return of The Jets is a good thing?” and I say all is well that ends well. The team is fairly decent. The fans are more than ready. Our city core needs reviving. The team provides Winnipeg with revival.
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Dreaming Of an Expat Life
I’ve always wondered if there were women out there who wanted to travel as much as I did. Let me tell you – There have been nights where I’ve laid awake wanting to be anywhere in the world but where I was. And not because I wasn’t happy; no, no, dear but because I felt there was so much more to experience, to do, to taste, to love and to be a part of. That’s really the rhyme of it all.
So as of September 1st 2011 I set myself a goal which was to prepare for the first of a summer long journey (five months) in the UK and then the start of my Graduate career the following year. Now I know many of you have packed up and simply just saw where that took you but I need a bit more time, a bit more planning and visa to make this all happen. As for the blog – I’ll be featuring my pre departure rants, raves, thoughts etc… and my experience while I’m over there.
I know my friends are concerned “Will you have health care?” “What will you do for money?” “How long will you be gone?” etc… but my main concern… the concern that keeps me up at night, the one thing that could cause a sista to stay inside and never see the light of day ever:
WILL THERE BE SOMEONE TO DO MY WEAVE.
So as of September 1st 2011 I set myself a goal which was to prepare for the first of a summer long journey (five months) in the UK and then the start of my Graduate career the following year. Now I know many of you have packed up and simply just saw where that took you but I need a bit more time, a bit more planning and visa to make this all happen. As for the blog – I’ll be featuring my pre departure rants, raves, thoughts etc… and my experience while I’m over there.
I know my friends are concerned “Will you have health care?” “What will you do for money?” “How long will you be gone?” etc… but my main concern… the concern that keeps me up at night, the one thing that could cause a sista to stay inside and never see the light of day ever:
WILL THERE BE SOMEONE TO DO MY WEAVE.
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