Flashback Thursday: Trinidad

My first visit to Trinidad and Tobago, was 6 months or so after our first kid. Here we're posing in front of an overlook on the way down to Maracas beach.

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Today is Black Thursday, where there is a call to wear Black in solidarity for the 6 black teenagers facing criminal penalties for racially motivated mallay in the sleepy Louisiana town of Jena. Though the incident behind the case occurred last October and the black boys were jailed since November, the case is only recently getting scant and vague coverage on CNN and other international news outlets.

The online and black blogger community has been spearheading a grassroots effort to get nationwide and international coverage. Many people are just now jumping on the bandwagon and speaking out against it (even in non-political fora, like my baby blog), but it's better late than never to spread the news, and encourage the dialog which in of itself is a catalyst for change, not just in this case, but in the broader criminal justice system in the states.

As a "work-from-home" mom, the only persons who will see my symbol of solidarity are the folks I bump into on the way to drop off and pick up the boys today, oh and the folks in Caleb's piano class. sooooooo Other than participating in various online fora adding my 2 cents to the ongoing dialogue, I offer this Prayer for Children, including the assault victim, because there was a violent beating victim. I also pray for the young people who had to see the noose hung under the tree mocking them for dare congregate under a tree reserved for white students at the school. I pray also for those who hung the noose, their parents who taught them that type of hatred, the entire town and the US justice system in general. We all need divine intervention. God Save us all.

Flashback Thursday: Oh those Groupie days!

Okay, this flashback is dedicated to Lisa C, who's husband D. Charles is a spitting image of Chris Rock.

HERE'S THE CORRESPONDING STORY:
Back when I was a carefree spirit who wouldn't think twice about sneaking into private VIP receptions, I did just that with my girl Shanon here after a Chris Rock concert in Baltimore.

After the show, we asked a guard if there was a meet and greet after the show and the guard said, "NO. No public event tonight."

Aha! I thought. That meant there must be a private one somewhere.

We scoured the back rooms, and every nook and cranny of that concert hall searching for the meet and greet room while the honest attendees flowed out and to their cars. Just then, we see a group of giddy young people messing with a camera and make a bee line downstairs. I tell my friend, "Aha, we now know where Chris is! hahahaha!"

We spotted the guard again on our way down, but then pretended to be looking for the bathroom. Slick. Slick. He said nothing to us. We saw the teenagers knock on a door, a female guard opened. They told her something and then disappeared inside.

I told my friend, as soon as those doors open again, I'm going in and if you're not behind me, you'll miss out! Sure enough after the doors open, she and I made a beeline for the doors. I told the female guard at the door that Melanie (made up) told us we could get a photo with Mr. Rock. She shrugged, told us to wait inside by the door while she checked our story. I saw her walk to the other side of the room and check with a head security across the room. She pointed in our direction. The head security guard looked over at us bewildered, he shrugged and shook his head no.

TOO LATE. By that time, we had already tapped one of Chris' brothers or assistants to take our picture! I remember rambling something about being a fan of his since he used to perform on Showtime at the Apollo in the early 1990s and blah blah blah. All the while, he kept looking behind us nervously AT HIS WIFE who prolly was giving him the EVIL EYE!! ha!

I guess we were harmless enough. I don't think I have the cohonnes to pull off stuff like that anymore.

Weekend treck to the Fair!

Saturday, we headed out to OUR COUNTY FAIR...We didn't get on any rides b/c Mischiefmaker#1 is not really into them and we didn't even bother, but we had loads of fun on the other attractions, ate lots of Fair food (funnel cake, crab dawgs, Lemon fizz) and stayed for a few hours. The weather was great!
Mischiefmaker#2 riding a pony for the first time (that's me keeping him on)! What a brave boy...Mischiefmaker#1 wasn't going anywhere near the pony.
Mischiefmaker#1 and TriniD went for two very bumpy rounds on a MONSTER TRUCK!!! Mischiefmaker#1 and 2's favorite. Mischiefmaker#2 and I cheered on!

Mischiefmaker#1 and TriniD climbing out of the monster truck. TriniD and Mischiefmaker#2 competed in a remote control Nascar race with mini box cars. They are the 5th contestants from the left and WON 2nd place twice and third place once. They even got A GOODIE BAG from the Washington affiliate of the Broadcast network The CW b/c at least during one race the boys raced the CW sponsored boxcar.
Look at the concentration on those boys' faces!
Getting their trophy. Mischiefmaker#1 loves his prize. They competed in the grande finale, but came in 4th after leading the race for 4 laps.
Mischiefmaker#2 cheered on Daddy and Mischiefmaker#1. "go dawee! Go!"
Then we checked out the pig races. Our cheering section, the red section, won every round! woo hoo!
Then the ducks had their turn to race.
...and in a scene out of the classic movie "Babe"....
There was a prize sheep and ewe contest...
then...the Funniest moment of the day...half way through one set of sheep judging, the announcer stopped and announced, "There's a goat running around the back barn, Can the owner please claim it?" TriniD and I looked at each other in bewilderment. Huh? We'd heard announcements for leaving a car headlight on, but never this... Just then we noticed people looking around checking their animals ...and then there were people in the audience going, "what did its ears look like?" "Clarify a goat or sheep?" "What color is the goat?" And they were serious!! If I ever was confused whether I lived in a country rural state, Saturday was a great reminder. Classic stuff!
The guilty party claim their rampant GOAT! Too FUNNY!
Mischiefmaker#1 stayed clear away from the animals, but not Mischiefmaker#2. This was the best part of the fair for Mischiefmaker#2. Strolling through the barns and checking out the cows, horses, pigs and other barnyard animals.
Yes, mom's milk is the best!

yes, that is me "voguing" in front of the cows! LOL!

my boys

yeah, so DG may kill me for posting his mug on here! hahahaha! i just love love this photo of them from last Christmas