“Demanding Yes”

Stop letting ‘NO’ be your excuse to procrastinate!

Stop telling Tom, Dick and Harry/all the people who would listen that he/she said ‘NO’! Tom, Dick and Harry and all the people you are telling … did not say, ‘YES’

Stop demanding ‘YES and let ‘NO’ work for you… A Valentine Joseph.

A guest never forgets the host who had treated him kindly. — Homer (Greek poet 750 BC or earlier)

After the event, even a fool is wise. — Homer (Greek poet 750 BC or earlier)

It is equally offensive to speed a guest who would like to stay and to detain one who is anxious to leave. — Homer (Greek poet 750 BC or earlier)

“Heavy Lyrics”

Margie – Tony Ricardo

Stopped into a local bar~ And there was disco lights~ A couple in a corner making love to each other~ The woman was my wife!

I sat down so and I had a drink~ And I watch them kiss again~ As my mind raised on~ My heart came down I gently called her name~ Margie.

Whatcha want?

Who’s watching the baby?

The child belongs to me~ Don’t ask me where is he!

Margie.

Yes!

Who’s watching the baby? Why did you have to tear apart your family?

I was just about to go when I heard her say that she would stay the night~ I had a glass in my hand, you understand that I never want to fight~ I was filled with rage and I struck out blind and she went out after the second~ As the witness said that these are the words that they heard me say, “Margie…

I’m doing time on a murder charge~ A victim of jealousy. See my boy every once in a while and he remembers me~ His grandma says he asks about her almost everyday~ But I just remember the night last June, when they heard me say, Margie…

You know you are in hell, but you still have to smile with the devil. — A Valentine Joseph

Go to heaven for the climate. Hell for the company. ― Mark Twain (1835-1910)

I never did give anybody hell. I just told the truth and they thought it was hell. ― Harry S. Truman (1884-1972)

“Hateful to me as are the gates of hell, Is he who, hiding one thing in his heart, Utters another.” – Homer ("Smyrns of Chios") The Iliad (bk. IX, l. 386)

“Anytime Hell Is In It”

Anytime you are hell-bent on getting that thing… You know it is wrong but jump high, jump low you are determined to get it. You are going to get it. Now you are definitely not going to be happy after you get it.

Anytime hell is in it, it is not good.

The capacity for hope is the most significant fact of life. It provides human beings with a sense of destination and the energy to get started. — Norman Cousins (1915-1990)

Every man who knows how to read has it in his power to magnify himself, to multiply the ways in which he exists, to make his life full, significant and interesting. — Aldous Huxley (1894-1963)

Sometimes one creates a dynamic impression by saying something, and sometimes one creates as significant an impression by remaining silent. — Dalai Lama

“Trayvon Martin Trial”

The last friend Trayvon spoke to was testifying yesterday. Out of all the answers to the questions she was asked, one of them made a noteworthy statement to me.

The question is not phrased word for word, but this is it;

Prosecutor asked, “Why didn’t you contact the police knowing that you were the last person who spoke to Trayvon Martin?

“48 Hours…” Witness said and she continuing answering the question.

But all I heard was 48 Hours and I shouted, “WHAT!”

The Prosecutor interrupted her as he said, “WHAT!”

Witness said, “In the show 48 Hours the police always contacts the last person who spoke to the victim so I expected them to contact me.”

She was correct. If a crime is being investigated the police always contacts the last person/s who spoke to the victim. Why should she contact the police? Why didn’t the police contact her?

“September Morning”

I remember that chilly September morning when my daughter headed out to school. We said a little prayer, thanking God for making us see another day, and for her to have a safe knowledge-filled school year. It seems as though it was just yesterday.

She rang the doorbell half an hour ago. I thanked God for bringing her home safely… for the successful and knowledge-filled school year she had.

Ambition is so powerful a passion in the human breast, that however high we reach we are never satisfied. ― Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882)

Our aversion to lying is commonly a secret ambition to make what we say considerable, and have every word received with a religious respect. ― Francois de La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680)

We continue to recognize the greater ability of some to earn more than others. But we do assert that the ambition of the individual to obtain for him a proper security is an ambition to be preferred to the appetite for great wealth and great power. ― Franklin D. Roosevelt, (1882-1945)

Maḿaguy

Maḿaguying is sinful so if it doesn’t taste good, look good or feel good don’t lie, just shut up!

A Better Day”

Good Morning~ Remember who calms your fears~ Don't forget to say, "I love you."

I hope today is a better day for you than yesterday~

“Sweet Sixteen”

I cannot believe 16 years. My daughter was just a baby, looking at us with bright eyes. At age 2 saying, “No daddy. No pictures.” He would be saying, “Let me just snap one.” She would be looking at him with a serious look and when he snapped the picture she would say, “That’s enough!”

She followed me around when she was little and I don’t know if it’s by habit, today she would always be there. I thank God that we have great conversations. Happy birthday to my daughter.

Focusing your life solely on making a buck shows a certain poverty of ambition. It asks too little of yourself. Because it's only when you hitch your wagon to something larger than yourself that you realize your true potential. — Barack Obama

We need to steer clear of this poverty of ambition, where people want to drive fancy cars and wear nice clothes and live in nice apartments but don't want to work hard to accomplish these things. Everyone should try to realize their full potential. — Barack Obama

Our ambition should be to rule ourselves, the true kingdom for each one of us; and true progress is to know more, and be more, and to do more. — Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)

Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved. — Helen Keller (1880-1968)

Let my enemies devour each other. — Salvador Dali (1904-1989

The thermometer of success is merely the jealousy of the malcontents. — Salvador Dali (1904-1989

“Steamy Humid Sticky Days”

A happy Monday to you. If you are reading this a major faculty is working… Thank GOD for making you and I see another day. It’s 75º F in NY at the moment and climbing into the 90s… Oh God please not into the 100s… Humid and sticky all day and all night for the next 3 days… Then a cold front is going to slip in and the result of the hot and cold… THUNDER STORM!

Intelligence without ambition is a bird without wings. — Salvador Dali (1904-1989)

“Ambition Is The Key To Success”

Do not agree when they say you cannot do that you should do this. I have had my share of unenthusiastic, unconstructive, unhelpful, off-putting, pessimistic, downbeat, harmful, depressing, just down right negative comments from so many people that I am immune…

“A Hard Worker”

Yes your are a hard worker and you feel that you are not being paid your worth. Others are profiting from your labor….

Isaiah. 62:8

The Lord hath sworn by his right hand and by the arm of his strength: Surely I will no more give thy corn to be meat for thy enemies, and the sons of the strange shall not drink thy wine for which thou hast labored.

In The Garden – C. Austin Miles (1868-1946)

I come to the garden alone~ While the dew is still on the roses~ And the voice I hear falling on my ear~ The Son of GOD discloses.

And He walks with me~ And He talks with me~ And He tells me I am His own~ And the joy we share as we tarry there~ None other has ever know.

He speaks and the sound of His voice~ Is so sweet the birds hush their singing~ And the melody that He gave to me~ Within my heart is ringing~

And He walks with me~ And He talks with me~ And He tells me I am His own~ And the joy we share as we tarry there~ None other has ever know.

I’d stay in the garden with Him~ Though the night around me keeps falling~ But He bids me go through the voice of woe~ His voice to me keeps calling~

 “Those Were The Days”

When I was a child there were no Barbershops and Hairdressing Salons.

On Saturday mornings the barber would leave home with a scissors, comb, 1 pack of razor blade, a little brush, a bottle of water, soap, a piece of fabric, a tin of powder and two folding chairs. He would go under the mango tree and open the chairs. One chair for his customer and for his tools. One by one you would see men and boys going under the mango tree to wait their turn. After a hair cut or shape up the ugliest man would be looking handsome and neat…

Women would be heading to the neighborhood hairdresser’s kitchen. She had an ironing-comb, curling iron and a wet towel on the counter. The ironing-comb did not have a temperature gauge —hot, medium, or cool so the wet towel was there to check the temperature. The hairdresser would know if the ironing-comb was the right temperature by the sound it made, when the hot iron touched the towel. Those were the days and they were sweet days…

“A What You May Call It”

‘Once a man twice a child’. I don’t agree with that statement because if I were a child at this point in time; the two green mangoes on my kitchen counter would be washed, put in a bowl, a sharp knife in my hand, salt and pepper in a saucer… That would be the end of those two green mangoes. Suddenly salt makes me sick. Now I have to wait for the mangoes to ripen.

This morning I made a bake on the platten. I stood in the kitchen watching my daughter eat a piece with some extra sharp cheddar cheese in it. I believe that bake came out nice because I can’t have any. I suddenly became allergic to wheat and gluten.

All I could say I probably did not reach the twice a child part or it is certainly not twice a child… It is ‘A WHAT YOU MAY CALL IT’, time in your life.

The healthy man does not torture others - generally it is the tortured who turn into torturers. ― Carl Jung, (1875-1961)

Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves. ― Carl Jung, (1875-1961)

If there is anything that we wish to change in the child, we should first examine it and see whether it is not something that could better be changed in ourselves. ― Carl Jung, (1875-1961)

The pendulum of the mind alternates between sense and nonsense, not between right and wrong. ― Carl Jung, (1875-1961)

The man who promises everything is sure to fulfill nothing, and everyone who promises too much is in danger of using evil means in order to carry out his promises, and is already on the road to perdition. ― Carl Jung, (1875-1961)

Virtue cannot separate itself from reality without becoming a principle of evil. ― Albert Camus  (1913-1960)

Instead of lying to me, quit while you are ahead! Shut up!

The evil that men do live with them. Not after them.

You would be totally surprised where the truth came from!

If you feel like pretending I am the wrong person you are talking too…

“If No Is The Answer”

One day when I was a little child, they had two rotis and they cut each in half. The four of them got a piece. I asked for a piece and they all said no. I looked at them for a moment as they ate with cunning smiles on their faces. Turning and walking away I heard them talking and laughing about the hurt look on my face. Sometime later that day they all started to feel sick from the curry. The bathroom was busy… Days later a friend told them that the roti shop they purchased the rotis from, sells stale food.

If ‘NO’ is the answer, do not feel hurt. Always believe that it is an act of kindness…

The old believe everything, the middle-aged suspect everything, the young know everything. ― Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)

No man is rich enough to buy back his past. ― Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)

It is absurd to divide people into good and bad. People are either charming or tedious. ― Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)

Ordinary riches can be stolen; real riches cannot. In your soul are infinitely precious things that cannot be taken from you. ― Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)

There is only one thing in life worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about. ― Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)

Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth. ― Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)

End Of The Road Medley- Gladys Knight~

I would really love to go back to that time when love was floating in the air.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBG-P5DLWnc

“Trinbago Always On My Mind”

I was just sitting at my window thinking about Kamla and her posse, and then the whistle-blower crossed my mind. Suddenly a kiskadee flew and land on my windowsill. I said, A… A what this kiskadee doing in America?”

He said, “Ah come to bring ah message for you.”

“I hope it’s about the whistle-blower, because I believe he/she is really scared.”

“Dat is what I come to tell you… Jack eh fraid nobody!”

“One Word To Describe Her”

My baby sitter died this morning. We had beautiful moments. Every time I arrived at her home I would be holding my pillow and sucking my finger. There was a little bench in the kitchen and I would sit on it. She would say, “Good morning Alla.”

I would stare at her. What she did not know was that I was saying good morning in my mind.

She would say, “So you are vex with sugar.” I would keep sucking my finger and stare at her and she would continue speaking, “Those who vex with sugar, will drink tasteless tea.” (Trinbagonians know tea for us would be either, Milo, Cocoa, Ovaltine, etc.) I still stared at her then she said, “Those who vex with sugar, will suffer for tea.”

I would say, “I’m not hungry so I don’t want any tea.”

She would say, “Ok we will see.”

Three hours later I would say, “Miss. Crich, can I get some tea please.”

“She would say, “You remember what I told you, “Vex with sugar, your tea would be tasteless. No sugar in your tea.”

“Please put some sugar in it.”

“No.”

My finger would be back in my mouth and my pillow in my hand as I sit on the bench feeling sad. She would smile when she handed me a cup of Milo. I would say thank you then take a sip. A smile would cross my lips as I tasted the sweet Milo. She would smile a little more.

There is only one word to describe her. “KIND!”…

“My Father Was Fearless”

One foggy morning my father was accompanying me to the taxi stand~ As we stepped onto the porch you couldn’t see a thing because of the thick fog~ He told me to let’s go back into the house because he needed to get his poui stick~ I knew he was fearless when he had it with him~ He held my hand and as we walked along~ The only sound you could hear were our footsteps~ Suddenly there was a third set of footsteps~ He stopped and I did too and we heard nothing so we continued and so did the third footsteps~ I could not tell if it was in front of us or behind us~ I was becoming anxious so I whispered, “Daddy, you hearing that?”

“Shhh,” He whispered …held my hand firmly and started hitting the sidewalk with the poui stick~ The third footsteps stopped and the only sound were our steps along with the thud sound of the poui stick…

“Happy Father’s Day”

Happy Father’s Day to all fathers and to all the mothers who are doing double duty —Father/Mother…

“My Father”

Was a surveyor first, but had to change jobs because of the sun… He became an office worker and he planted a fruitful garden… There was always food on our table… Out of the 20 plus years I lived in his home he probably missed a meal with us 10 times… All our meals were taken at the dining table… When my big brother moved out, he had to come home every night for dinner. My father made sure we all went to school… One thing he always said to my brothers… “Learn a trade.” What great foresight he had… Today a blue collar man, always have a job”… My Father passed on, but he left us a great legacy…

“Bush Tea With My Father”

At breakfast and dinner, my siblings and I were guaranteed a nice cup of Milo, Ovaltine, homemade hot chocolate or Cocoa. My father paid close attention to how much we drank because one night, in every week,  we are going to get the same size cup, full of local herb tea —BUSH TEA. These herbs were from his garden. He would say to my mother, “Make this tea for those children.” We all complained, but it did not help. He sat at the dining table to make sure we drank it all… It was either, Bois Canon (Bwah-kah-no), Malomay, lime-bud, Portugal-bud, soursop-bud, even guava-bud tea. I did not like those nights…

“Two Beautiful Moments”

I was sitting on the porch with my father. We were eating toupi tambo. He, as usual, was talking about his life as a boy and I was laughing at the funny things he said. It was just a beautiful bright, sunny, fun filled morning. Suddenly, the area looked a bit shaded as though a thin layer of clouds was covering the sun. I looked up, but all I saw were hundreds of small yellow butterflies. They were all flying in one direction at a quick pace. I love butterflies, so to see so many had me enchanted. My father must have felt the same way because he was smiling… 

“My Father Loved Great Moments”

I miss my father. He loved moments like these… The moon in eclipse. He would wake us up to go outside to see it. He said that it was important to see the universe display.

On the first day of year he would wake us up ten minutes before twelve to go outside. His reason; You must never let the New Year meet you sleeping and inside your home. Go outside and let the air/breeze hit you.

It was a great moment to see the eclipse. It was a sweet moment to stand in the yard under the stars, feel sentimental and hope that it will be a good year…