Tuesday, February 23, 2021

A Tale of Two Photos

Tree branches

 The photo at the top is how things looked here this morning. It was very sunny. However, by the afternoon, it was windy and overcast.

The photo at the bottom was taken yesterday morning. It was a rainy morning. However, by the early afternoon, it had turned beautifully sunny.

These two pictures have reminded me that change is a part of life. It's inevitable. Life is a continually unfolding story.

I hope that you have a good day wherever you are. 

🌿


Monday, February 22, 2021

Last Monday of February

Raindrops on branch

 It's a rainy Monday...actually a bit of rain and then a bit of blue sky...still a beautiful day!

I hope you have a great Monday and week ahead, wherever you are 🙂

Saturday, February 13, 2021

February Weekend


 Wishing everyone a great weekend!

Stay safe and well. 

Please wear a mask.

🙂


Tuesday, February 09, 2021

Remembering Ms Mary Wilson

Mary Wilson


Mary Wilson, the incredible Motown legend and co-founder of The Supremes has passed away at the age of 76. I've always love the music of The Supremes and admired these ladies as the trailblazers that they were, especially for Black women. Their elegance and pure talent was ground-breaking. Mary Wilson was a fabulous singer and an icon. What a life.

Back in 2008, my husband and I had a few special days in London which featured many highlights. One of the highlights was experiencing a fantastic limited-run exhibit at the Victoria & Albert Museum which featured memorabilia from The Supremes. The exhibit had also been shown at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio. 

The Supremes

The exhibit of The Supremes memorabilia was amazing! The evening gowns were incredible! It was an absolute honor to see these history-making pieces up close. Sadly, I wasn't allowed to take pictures of the exhibit, but the sights and sounds are imprinted upon my memory forever. I wrote a long post about that day. Here's an excerpt:

We went to the Victoria & Albert (V&A) mostly to see an exhibition of memorabilia of The Supremes. It was fabulous. The gowns were amazing and timeless. A lot of those dresses that were from the 60s still could look fabulous if worn now. There is something about dresses from the 40s, 50s, and 60s that transcends the particular decade and will always look good. There were programs, photos, and all kinds of artefacts of this fabulous group of ladies. Mary Wilson had held onto a lot of this stuff, so she put it all together and now we have this great exhibit to see. I heard her in an interview here where she said that she didn’t throw anything away from that time. Thank God for her. (smile) The exhibit also had film of her and others talking about Motown and The Supremes. There was also a bit of archival footage of Martin Luther King Jr and things about the Civil Rights Movement as a background to give a feel of the times when Motown and The Supremes were doing their thing. It showed just how massive their achievement was and how it shaped history. They altered the perceptions of many in the rest of the world. The Supremes were elegant and all of the girl groups after them have a great example to follow. The Supremes were at their height before I was born, but I grew up hearing their music like everyone else and I think they were wonderful. The little girl in me just wanted to break into the exhibition cases and try on all of the clothes. (smile) As a former wannabee fashion designer, I was loving the fashions and the music is classic.

- excerpt from blog post "Nelson Mandela and the Rest of Our Story" - 2008

The original post was rather lengthy, but if you'd like to read it, you can find it here

Mary Wilson was instrumental in making the exhibition a reality and I'm so grateful that she shared her great memories with the world. And now as we say goodbye to her, I'm immensely grateful that she shared her great talent with the world!

RIP Ms Mary Wilson 

Revisiting and Renewal

arrows
Image courtesy of Pixabay

 

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been thinking back about how much I used to enjoy writing here at my blog. I still enjoy it when I come here, but I’ve been sporadic over the past couple of years or so and I’ve lost my way a bit on the blogging front. To be fair, my life has been a real rollercoaster over the past year or so, not even counting the pandemic which we’ve all been going through, so I’m realizing that I need to cut myself some slack in regard to how much of a sporadic blogger I’ve become. 

Still, all kinds of questions come to mind like…Does anyone still read “this” blog? – Do people still even read blogs or is it better to have a podcast? – Do I have anything left to say here? etc. There are SO MANY questions that cross my mind. I haven’t been able to come up with any definitive, smart, or clever answers, however, I’ve changed my perspective when thinking about all of the questions that I have. 

Basically, I’ve decided that I should just not worry about the questions and just do what makes me happy. Life was hellish for me personally and for the world in general during 2020 and 2021 is still messing with us all. But I think that the earnest pursuit of what makes me happy, despite all the crap of the world, is a definitive act and I need that to get back on track and to rescue my mental health. It’s like they say, two things can be true at the same time. The world can be crazy “and” I can be aware of that, but alongside that, I can celebrate some good in this life. I can’t let “this or that” take me over so much. I’m going to do my best to have more “and” in my life. 

I’m not a Pollyanna by any stretch of the imagination, but I want to get back to some brighter things here at my blog again. I know that there will be times when I will write about something tougher or sad, but life is about balance and I’ve been out of balance here for a while. I started this blog several years ago to have fun and I did, but then I lost my way. I know that I can’t go back to writing the same things that I wrote back in 2008 because it is a different time now. When I started out back then I was in the early days of my expat experience. However, now in 2021, it’s still a good time to revisit this space that I’ve cherished so much over the years. 

As I mentioned earlier in this post, I don’t have any answers to those questions, but I’m not going to worry. If anyone is still reading this blog, thank you for still visiting me. If I pick up new readers that would be fantastic and I would be so grateful, but if no one reads I’ll just come here as a kind of “I was here world!” exercise. 😊 I don’t know if it’s better to have a podcast nowadays. Maybe it is and perhaps I’ll give that a go someday soon as another creative experiment. As for having anything left to say, well I guess this long post is proof that I can still ramble with the best of them 😉 Sidenote: If you’ve read this far God bless you for humoring me! This post is way too long, but it has been cathartic for me. It has given me the chance to think things through as I have written. I haven’t been this candid here in a long time. 

So here’s to revisiting this space…this blog…and here’s to renewal on a few fronts. I’ll be back to write and ramble more about a little bit of everything way more often. I hope you’ll join me.

Monday, February 08, 2021

Monday Evening Sky


Here's a little peek at what the view was like out the window on this February evening, right before the dark sky showed up for the night. 

I do love a moody winter sky. 

Sidenote: My fern is hanging in there! 

Happy Monday!

Tuesday, February 02, 2021

Black History Month

Happy Black History Month!

I'm a day late since I intended to highlight the occasion yesterday, but I didn't get the chance to do so. 

Better late than never I say 🙂

I try to highlight my culture in one way or another every month. However, I think that it's absolutely important to celebrate this month as Black History Month. We must highlight our ancestors who have paved the way for us and also celebrate those who are making history right now.