This Aint Oprah's Book Club, Part II

I finished reading "Memoirs of a Geisha" yesterday. I loved this book. I thought it was a fun and interesting read. I truly enjoyed getting the behind the scenes view of life as a Geisha; or as some would call it...a high class prostitute (I disagree with that terminology). I may however, be a bit biased. I have been fascinated with geishas for sometime now. I think my fascination is partially because geishas have been a part of Japanese society/culture for eons and have remained popular (albeit, not nearly as possible as say the early 20th century) even during modern times. I am also in total awe of the fabulous kimono's that they wear and the way they carry themselves so gracefully.

The author spent the first 1/4 of the book developing the key characters. This part of the book was the slowest to me. However, once I got past the first 1/4 it sped up, and I could not put the book down (After the first 1/4 I finished the book in less than 2 days). This book had a bit of everything...love, heartache, humor, backstabbing, etc...

So now I am looking for another book for the book club. Something light and fun. I was thinking about reading "A Million Little Pieces", the book recommended by Oprah. However, I heard that the book is about a middle age man with several addictions, and is laced with language that is vulgar and crass. Now ordinarily I would not be opposed to such a book. This is evidenced by the fact that I read "Running With Scissors" a couple months ago, and intend to read "A Million Little Pieces" someday in the near future. I have a lot going on in my life right now, so I need a "safe" retreat. If you have any suggestions please drop me a comment

On a scale of 1-5 (w/ 5 being the best), I give "Memoirs of a Geisha" a 4.5...It's a MUST read.

Good Food

I have always been a picky eater. That statement does not mean that I don't
enjoy trying new foods. In fact, I love trying different cuisines. However, I have
never been one to like condiments (ketchup, mustard, mayo, butter, etc...),
dark meat of the chicken, oily foods, and a few other things. When I was
younger though my pickiness extended to foods that were also heavy in gravy.
Sadly, that included traditional Jamaican dishes like, Curry Goat, Ox Tail, and
Stew Peas. A funny thing happened however once I moved away from home, to
attend college, and the ease of getting those dishes was taken away. What
happened was that I always wanted them. I suppose the statement is
true..."absence makes the heart grow fonder". Now my favorite (favourite) dish
is Curry Goat. So much so that whenever I go to a Jamaican restaurant I find it
hard to order anything else. To me, there is nothing better than a piping hot
plate of curry goat (with just the right amount of scotch bonnet pepper), rice
and peas, fried plantain, and an ice cold "Jamaican bottle Pepsi" (Kola
Champagne if that isn't available). God I just got hungry.


Curried Goat Recipe

Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 45 minutes
Serves/Yields: 6-8

Ingredients
5 1/2 lbs. (2 kg) goat meat (mutton)
1 Tbsp. vegetable oil/olive oil/butter
1 tsp. black pepper
2 tsps. salt
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
3 stalks escallion, chopped
1/2 tsp. thyme leaves
2 Tbsps. curry powder
1 whole scotch bonnet pepper
1/4 tsp. cumin (if you want)
6 cups boiling water

Method
Chop garlic, onion and escallion and set aside.
Cut goat meat in bite size pieces.
Season the meat with black pepper, salt, curry powder and the chopped seasonings.
In a dutch pot on an open fire add oil or butter, and allow to heat. Add the cumin and the chopped garlic and allow to burn.
Add the seasoned goat meat, stir then cover and leave to simmer for about fifteen minutes.
Add the boiling water, pepper and stir well, cover and leave to simmer until goat meat is cooked (nice and tender).

My Personals

My Birthdate

With a birthday on the 15th of any month, you are apt to have really strong attachments to home, family and domestic scene. The 1 and 5 equaling 6, provide the sort of energy that makes you an excellent parent or teacher. You are very responsible and capable. This is an attractive and an attracting influence. You like harmony in your environment and strive to maintain it. You tend to learn by observation rather than study and research. You may like to cook, but you probably don't follow recipes. This number shows artistic leanings and would certainly support an talents that may be otherwise in your makeup. You're a very generous and giving person, but perhaps a bit stubborn in ways.

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

My Ideal Relationship is Serious Dating

You're not ready to go walking down the aisle.But you may be ready in a couple of years.You prefer to date one on one, with a commitment.And while chemistry is important, so is compatibility.

What's" Your Ideal Relationship?

I'm a Passionate Kisser

For you, kissing is about all about following your urges If someone's hot, you'll go in for the kiss - end of story You can keep any relationship hot with your steamy kisses A total spark plug - your kisses are bound to get you in trouble

What Kind of Kisser Are You?

The Keys to My Heart

You are attracted to those who are unbridled, untrammeled, and free. In love, you feel the most alive when things are straight-forward, and you're told that you're loved. You'd like your lover to think you are optimistic and happy. You would be forced to break up with someone who was emotional, moody, and difficult to please. Your ideal relationship is open. Both of you can talk about everything... no secrets. Your risk of cheating is zero. You care about society and morality. You would never break a commitment. You think of marriage as something precious. You'll treasure marriage and treat it as sacred. In this moment, you think of love as something you thirst for. You'll do anything for love, but you won't fall for it easily.

What Are The Keys To Your Heart?

It Never Rains in Southern California

"Seems it never rains in southern California,

Seems I've often heard that kind of talk before,

It never rains in California,

But girl don't they warn ya,

It pours, man it pours."

Wow those lyrics are sooooo true. Since I have been in Southern California it has rarely rained. But boy, when it does, it is something serious. The bad weather began yesterday, with an overcast day. It rained on and off throughout the day, but nothing too serious. However, by midnight last night, it was STORMING. There was hard and pounding rain, serious wind, booming thunder, and frightening lightning that brightened the entire sky.

All my life I have been uncomfortable with lightning. I was the kid that, during a lightning storm, didn't sit by the windows, wore shoes with rubber soles, turned off all electrical instruments, sat in a wooden chair with my feet off the ground, didn't talk on the phone, and counted the seconds between hearing the thunder and seeing the lightning to determine how far the lightning is. However, when I got my braces, my discomfort with lightning strengthen. Here I was, a young girl, already scared of lightning, now with my own personal super conductor, lying dormant in my mouth, just waiting for the perfect opportunity to become charged.

When I was about 12, the perfect opportunity almost arose for my personal super conductor to start working, escalating my discomfort with lightning into a true fear. At the time, I was living in Florida, the lightning capital of the world. In Florida, lightning storms are sooooo bad that they can happen on sunny days with no clouds in the sky (Ok, so maybe that is a slight exaggeration). That day I was sitting in the family room, and a lightning bolt came straight through the family room window and out the window in the kitchen. Since then I have been petrified of lightning.

Since I have been in Southern California there have been 2 lightning storms. The first one kept me up all night because I was continuously being frightened out of my sleep by both the sound of the thunder and the brightness of the lightning. Throughout most of that storm, the lightning was continuously striking less than a mile away from the house. Needless to say, last night's storm was no different. However, last night's was worse because I was by myself. Therefore, had I been struck by lightning, no one would hear my screams or even realize that something was wrong.

So what to do, what to do. How will I get over this fear? Who knows? If anyone has any suggestions, I am all ears.

Pissed Off in Cali!!!!

Today I am pissed. I was on the highway and the cars in front of me began to slow down. Naturally, I slow down as well. However, the person behind me felt that he was too good to slow down and rear-ends me on the hwy. I manage not to hit the car in front of me and to not swerve too badly. The person who hit me however, spins out of control and almost causes another few accidents. Luckily, he/she did not. He/she then pauses, looks like he/she is pulling over to the shoulder. But no.....he/she hops the embankment and jumps onto the off-ramp of the hwy and jets off. Leaving me where....by myself on the side of the road, now left to pay for the damage that this asshole caused to my car. Needless to say, I am pissed.

However, what really pissed me off was not the accident itself, but the fact that this person was not the least bit concerned with whether I was OK. I mean the accident could have been extremely bad. That to me is true selfishness. I would have felt better had the person seen if I was OK, then hopped in his/her car and sped off. But nope. Thankfully I am OK, just some stiffness in my back and my neck. Just needed to vent.

Anyways KARMA is the true BITCH, so he/she will get his/hers.

Nobody's Friend

My name is Gossip.
I have no respect for justice.
I maim without killing.
I break hearts and ruin lives.
I am cunning and malicious and gather strength with age.
The more I am quoted, the more I am believed.
My Victims are helpless.
They cannot protect themselves against me because I have no name and no face.
To track me down is impossible.
The harder you try, the more elusive I become.
I am nobody's friend.
Once I tarnish a reputation, it is never the same.
I topple governments and wreck marriages.
I ruin careers and cause sleepless nights, heart-aches and indigestion.
I make innocent people cry in their pillows.
Even my name hisses...I am called Gossip.
I make headlines and headaches.
Before you repeat my story, ask yourself: Is it true? Is it harmless? Is it necessary? If it isn't, don't repeat it.

Death and Destruction

From what I have seen over the past few months, it appears to me that Mother Earth is trying to purge herself of her parasite...Human Beings.

For the past several months it has been one disaster after another. Since the Tsunami on Boxing Day 2004, hundreds of thousands of people have lost their lives to natural disasters. If it is not the ocean, stirring, churning and swallowing up entire bands of people, it is the wind and rain, blowing and decimating numerous towns and cities; obliterating what people once called their homes and families. And now with this latest disaster, the 7.6 earthquake in Pakistan and India, which as of October 8, 2005, had claimed over 18,000 lives, I can comfortably say that Mother Earth is tired of us.

What more does she have to do to signal to us that we are destroying her? I am currently in Southern California and the smog is so bad that the sky has a permanent yellow/brown haze. To me that is just not right. Now if you believe in a higher being, I am certain that he/she/it, did not intend for Mother Earth to be in such a despicable state.

We should all be saddened and ashamed of what we have let our home become.

The Answer

The answer to the "Wanna Play" post is....dan da da da.....THEY ALL HAVE THE SAME NAME...NANDI.

Home is Calling

I wonder whether anyone else is currently going through this same thing....I want to go home so bad, even if it is just for a weekend. However, I am sooooooo broke, so it is not even in the cards for me right now. That however, does not stop me from going on Air Jamaica's website and checking out the fares. I check the specials almost everyday. As of today I could get a ticket from Miami to Norman Manley for $178 (pre tax and return to US by Nov 12). Problems with that are: 1) I am not in Miami, but Southern Cali and 2) I REALLY want to go home for X-mas. The tickets from Cali to Kingston for X-mas are like $800 US; but that does not discourage me from looking. Although, unless the special says FREE, I still can't afford it. The decision making life of an adult.

YOW DIS YE ADULT TING FI DI BIRD DEM...IT NAH GO MEK IT.