Skipping Days with Claudette and Friends

I’ve had a little vacation. Spent 3 lovely days on the coast of south west Trinidad. My family and The Boy and I had an awesome weekend complete with awesome weather.

I discovered that I still know how to play like I have not a care in the world; chased mudskippers up and down that beach until they just moved too far away for us to reach them, skipped stones and took a ton of photos (some of which I may blog later or add to my little photo album down there). I have sunburn; my skin’s tight and shiny and I’m breaking out but I don’t care. I feel good in my bones.

I painted quite a bit too. These are 5 friends of mine – Claudette, Amira, Josephine, Lydia and Laura. They’re the smell of grass, orange blossoms, salt water and the sound of parrots at 6:30 am.

Saying thank you...

Just a little note to say thank you to Nicholas Laughlin who has written about a little art community in Trinidad, of which I happen to be a part. Check it out at Global Voices Online.

Thanks!

A Little Sugar in My Bowl

I have developed a recent obsession with Nina Simone’s music. It’s so pure. A little odd though. But real. The way heartache and joy seem to unite into something bittersweet and necessary in Simone's songs is a dynamic I see and have felt all through my life.

One song in particular fascinated me, from the very title to the words. The name of the song is Four Women. It tells the story, an essentially bitter story, of four different women. I was n't interested really in the historical aspects of the song. What caught me was the fact that this woman was singing a song about women; different kinds. That appealed to me; I’m a girl who draws girls. I saw them in my head as she sang and I felt it necessary to put them on paper in all their richness, sorrow and strength.

I will admit that I laughed, snickered, when the crescendo at the end came and after such deep, soulful music she shouts “MY NAME IS PEACHES!” I was a little bewildered – it didn’t really seem to fit the gravity of the song but then again, her reality would have been one I couldn’t understand and perhaps it all made sense; perhaps the juxtapositioning of harsh realities and almost trivial names is the soul of the song. Maybe I should feel bad for finding that oddly funny. Maybe I should have known from the second verse, when and the way she said “Siffronia”, that something else would come to break the bittersweet spell her voice cast. With all that in mind, I was very pulled in by this song. I’m still giggling though.

This isn't Peaches or Siffronia or Aunt Sarah and she certainly isn't Sweet Thing. She's an indignant one -- she's me in a bind. She's me when I'm down but too proud to let my back bend.

The Whimsy of Normal

It's Over Yet It's Just Begun : Erotic Art Week 2009

The last two weeks of life felt like they moved way too fast. Disarmingly fast. Life's changed. Hindsight is always perfect; it’s easy to see what went wrong and how it could have been fixed. What’s done is done though and it’ll be some time before I can trust a few things-- I'll trust and heed my gut more -- it's usually right about insincerity. As wise old people here say; "all skin teeth is not smile". I know that for a fact.

The calm now doesn't mean I wasn't angry, I was livid. I try not to act when I’m angry though; less regrets that way. Hence my absence for the last couple weeks.

EAW is over. It was a great run. The Boy’s photo booth was the highlight of the event. I’m very proud of him; he worked hard on it and it was a brilliant idea. He hasn’t blogged it yet though but some of the outtakes and an interview with him can be found in the latest issue of the Draconian Switch (18 and over please!) and I’m in there too somewhere. It’s amazing what people with do in a locked room, with a camera and the option of anonymity. Amazing. Trini’s love seeing themselves!

I had intentions of blogging photos I took for the week...these are from the spoken word evening of Erotic Art Week at Corner Bar. There are some in the Draconian Switch.

With Erotic Art Week in mind, I want to say thanks to a few people; Dave Williams, Richard Rawlins, Ashraph, Tracy Hutchings and of course, The Boy, Rodell Warner.

I'm listening to:Gnarls Barkley "Crazy"