Crisp Christmas breeze and family letters
Bright coloured lights and warm fuzzy sweaters
Christmas trees all decorated with bling
These are a few of my favorite things

Secret gift meetings and last minute shopping
Playing Santa and house party hopping
Singing along as the Christmas choir sings
These are a few of my favorite things

Creamy rum sauce and warm baked ham slices
Air filled with cinnamon, nutmeg and spices
Presents and family, holiday mornings
These are a few of my favorite things

When the crime soars
When the road stinks
When I’m feeling sad
I simply remember my favorite things
And then I don’t feel so bad

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY!!

Following a recent fire at the S.O.S. Children’s Village which claimed the life of two children, the appeals went out. A musical evening at Red Bones Cafe last night was pulled together with the proceeds all going to S.O.S.. The event was organized largely by the waiters of Red Bones, many of whom grew up at S.O.S.

Audience members were asked to contribute whatever they could and bring a wrapped gift for a child if possible. The small venue was packed to the hilt with the Christmas spirit. For music lovers, the night presented an collection of artistes that had volunteered their time to perform. We were treated to Della Manley, Kai and members of Rootz underground among others.

The highlight of the show, however, was the children of S.O.S. who had prepared a variety of items - poetry, songs, skits. Despite the destruction of their costumes in the fire, their modernized, Jamaicanized story of the Nativity was one of the great moments, with several of the children hamming it up for the audience.

The spirit of these children was evident in their gleaming smiles and the enthusiasm with which they took to the stage. A moment of silence was held for the two children lost in the fire, and many praises heaped upon the young man who had attempted to save the children from the fire, which happened while he was visiting the Village. This night served as a reminder that there are always those who need our help, not just at Christmas but all year long.

Tuesday night, myself and a few friends took in ‘Best of TNL’ at Village Cafe. We were drawn by the bigger names on the lineup, Airplai and Rootz Underground. Showtime was set for 8:00 p.m. which sounded good but was definitely too good to be true. Having arrived just before 10 p.m. to see no sign of a show, we quietly waited until around 11 p.m. for the first act, the members of which walked thru the door just prior to starting.

Once the show was underway, a flow developed. A patient audience had to sit thru band changes after almost every act but the wait was not too long in most cases. Most of the artistes kept their set to 3 pieces, with the occasional brawta being thrown in. Given that the show was drawing from the year’s TNL line up, an interesting mix of material was presented from Katherine’s acoustic alternative style, to Ganja and Sage with poetry, on to Gas Money with straight out rock. Rootz Underground was well worth the wait. Their easy flowing reggae style had the entire place rocking.

Though I did not stay till the end, the biggest problem I had with the show was the organisation. Some of the artistes billed to perform were no longer on the lineup with no announcement given. And when will Jamaican organisers learn? If they consistently start their shows on time, instead of waiting for a crowd, the audience will learn that they will miss out and change their behaviour accordingly. One of the things that we lack is the ability to set and stick to standards. But the TNL programme was a great addition to the live music scene in Jamaica so I am looking forward to what they have in store for 2007.

The long shadows stretch their fingers.
The sun on my back warms the bench.
The quiet rumble of traffic -
A background to my thoughts

Remembering the last time
We sat here just like this.
Your bright eager smile masking
An endearing nervousness.

You asked for help to reach your dream.
Help you no longer need.
As my actions echo that day,
My mind is drawn out

To you seated on a bench -
Maybe, remembering me.

Ok, I know the year hasn’t ended yet, but the ProBlogger Group Writing Project came up so I figured I’d do my 2006 review now.

January: Spotlight - Stepping forward into new roles
February: Milestones - Checkpoints on the road to success
March: Disruption - Sudden family shakeup
April: Experiment - New experiences in life and love
May: Memories - Thoughts of a time past still linger
June: Circular - Traversing old familiar paths
July: Rhythm - Moving to new beats
August: Nuptials - Familial transitions abound
September: Immersion - Consumed by novelty
October: Developments - Moving forward, getting closer
November: Celebration - Major milestones in life and love
December: Support - Held up by strength of friendship

Final tally:

• Heartbreaks: 0
• Jobs held: 0.5
• New paths tried: 1
• Goodbye letters: 1
• Boyfriends: 1

2006 was a year of changes, a year of trial and error, a year of perspective. I’m definitely kicking off 2007 in a different way. Looking forward to it!

Ok, just in time for Christmas, here’s a nice extravagant way to impress the bling-crazy techie in your life.

The mii stor presents its “White”, “Snow” and “Ice” USB data drives, which mix data and diamonds with silver, gold or platinum cases. The top end is the “Ice” drive (pictured here) which is

• 4GB 
• solid platinum
• encrusted with 350 white diamonds for a total of 5.8 carats
• and hanging from a solid platinum chain

And you get all this for the low, low price of US$40,000!! Talk about your perfect stocking stuffer.

This last week has been a busy one, combined with not having my DSL up and running. Trying to go back to using dial-up was just too painful. Hopefully the hiatus is over and I will be back to my regular schedule now.

• Someone to accept me as I am, with all my faults and failings
• Someone willing to trust and open up their heart to me

My congratulations go out Mrs. Sharon Reid, principal of St. Andrew High School for Girls who just yesterday was awarded the LASCO Principal of the Year award. For those of us who remember Mrs. Reid as a simple history teacher, it is good to see such dedication to both education and our school. Good luck to her in the future!

This morning I am disturbed. My first sight was the Jamaica Gleaner’s headline “15-y-o fondled in class“. Now besides the inaccurate use of “in class” , the story bothered me on several levels.

Apparently, the incident, in which a group of male students were fondling a female student, happened in a classrom in the presence of a male teacher. As with the recent incident involving a group of boys raping a young girl in the presence of a church deacon, this story highlights some of the problems with our society.

Obviously we need to be worried about our young boys who at this young school age have had ideas about sex and women created and guided in this heinous direction. But also more disturbing that they could additionally recognize the lack of authority and even implicit support of the witnessing adults. They show no concern that they might get in trouble for their actions.

Many parents struggle with the idea of sending their children off to pre-school or day care as infants. They worry about what kind of people will be looking after their child, will these people care for them as much as they the parents would, will their children suffer? Eventually, they get used to the idea because the teachers are there to look after the children - they will make sure nothing happens to them. And yes, teachers do have a responsibility, besides teaching students, to look after the children in their care. The teacher in this incident may end up being charged with negligence under the Child Care and Protection Act.

Stories like this one, and others I have heard about sexual activities beginning at the preparatory and primary school level, make me very concerned and even more appreciative of a perhaps overlooked reason for parents to ignore the socialization benefits of sending your children to school and consider instead home-schooling. It’s bad enough that we can’t expect all parents to instill proper values, and that we can’t prevent the media from exposing children to adult (and often immoral) ideas, but the idea that those to whom we entrust our children for their own education might contribute to this level of depravity scares me.

What the teacher is, is more important than what he teaches. 
 - Karl Menninger