Fashion Freakishness

Heights by great men reached and kept were not obtained by sudden flight but they while their companions slept, were toiling upward in the night.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

This blog is mostly for my virtual fashion conscious friends who may be wondering what the quote is about. It incidentally is the opening line I used for my personal statement on UCAS but by the end of the paragraph you will figure out its other relevance.

Some of you fashionistas probably got a hold of the much sought after Versace for H and M pieces by now but many others were not so lucky. The line opened on Thursday last and some people were caught out when within hours the shelves were bare. And of course the online store crashed several times throughout the day. I sat at home clued to the laptop to see what I could eventually grab for myself. Versace quality and design at high street prices would make even my granny drool. A friend of mine was in the queue at Knightsbridge since 6 on the day and there were many who camped out near the store for the night. That’s a bit too extreme for my taste, and I don’t particularly like the feeling of having to find a McDonalds shop to use the toilet or brush my teeth. It’s simply not in good taste but anyway, these are the people who got a hold of the much sought after pieces. Shortly after, ‘fleabay’ was flooded with the same pictures of the items, and if you had 2000 quid to spare then maybe it would work for you. That’s why, the people who make the most effort normally will achieve, hence the opening statement. For once I felt guilty about staying in my warm bed when my fellow fashionistas were on the go.  Valuable lesson number 83 790.

I’m not shallow and I’ve got more personality than a broom but just look at the stuff I copped and you will fall in love too ... cant wait for them to be delivered!

In other news, the neighbour’s cat has decided to take residence in my house. He came in promptly behind me as I opened the door and stepped right in with no intentions of coming out. He snubbed me when I reopened the door and sat staring at me. Oh well, so maybe hes hungry, since I have no cat food, I decided to warm some milk for him. He sniffed at that too so I am a bit annoyed and unsure what other services I can offer. I am not quite fond of the neighbours thinking I stole their cat, but for some reason I can’t find the heart to put him out. I will have to anyway, theres no cat food, and with the glorious weather outside, no chance of me going out to get any either. I love love love animals, but the cats not mine so I cant offer him a home.

I’ve been spending time with the books and  journal articles so I guess the cat was a welcome distraction for a short time, sometimes everything is better than reading another academic paper.. .

I’ve submitted the literature review and methodology for a initial review by the dissertation supervisor but there are times when I think I could have done better and this time is one of them. It’s just a pass or fail piece of work but the literature review is very crucial to the chosen topic. It was a task, but thank God it’s not the final work. My tutors are very supportive and I think everyone will do well. I keep looking at this picture for inspiration as, taken at the Olympic area in Stratford, I want make my tutors proud (I’m the girl in the red shoes ***wink***wink***)

There’s a lot more to be done in the academic arena but I am also having car problems. The brakes were changed and there’s this never ending clanking sound. I’ve been turning up my radio so I don’t here it when I drive even when all the pedestrians duck because they think they are going to be run over. So classy ... So much of my reading time was taken up trying to get a diagnosis and then obviously a fix. Cars are quite costly to keep, especially when they are over 8 years old. But its been so good to me, taking me all over the joint in luxury and comfort. I do take the bus but its not my favourite mode of transport as for now will have to bear all associated costs of keeping my ride. I liked the car when I saw it in a bit of neglect, but my entrepreneurial spirit took over and I decided to fix it and sell it on. So far, the front end is brand new and the scratches and bumps sprayed professionally. Its great having a cousin who’s a mechanic J

Artists of the World, Leaders of the Underground

The inspiration for this blog comes from some of my idols in philosophy, music and ideology. Don’t let the big words fool you; I merely just want to speak on some of the people I look to because of their train of thought; whether in writing, song or protest. I still don’t get the ads about O2’s mind and I do believe there is a fine line between being creative, to some things being just plain dumb...

Kicking off with Bob Dylan, I know I have ranted about music before but after listening to my favourite 80’s and 90’s music, there were so many people out there with positive messages, so many people who inspired me to be me and love who I am. Dylan may be a somewhat idiosyncratic choice, we all know of his drug habit etc, but what stood out to me more than anything was his ability to touch something inside me. So did Jimi Hendrix.

‘I’m happy, I’m feeling glad, I got sunshine in a bag, I’m useless but not for long, the future is coming on’  ....... a line from my next musical love, the Gorillaz. Apart their cartoon music videos I do believe their talent is much underrated.

In a next life I think I would return as:

1. A professional violinist – That instrument moves me to tears
2. A rock star – minus the drugs and alcohol (I would get to meet Slash in person J, the Rihanna song by the same name turns me into an animal)
3. A pilot or stunt driver – I love being a fierce female!!!

As you can see my first 2 passions are music related and I do believe at some point, even if it’s through mid life crisis I may try my hand at one of them because I can find no better healer, lover, friend or teacher than music.

It is quite surprising that black people are stereotyped as mostly rap heads and it was quite funny when giving my friend a lift home the other day, he remarked, your music doesn’t seem very gangster does it? I laughed at this naivety, I guess The Strangers or the Pet Shop boys wouldn’t be the music of choice for most of us black folks but that’s the beauty of music, it’s colourless and pure.

Another one of my heroes is in the form of a Mr. Thompson S. Hunter, have you ever heard the term ‘gonzo’ before? Well, it is a form of journalism which embraces the real art of writing, even if it offends some of the more conservative aka ‘boring’ people of the world. The gonzo art form insists that one calls or says it as is without the sugar coating, nothing about Thompson’s body of work was subliminal and everything came at you at once. As a staunch disbeliever in hypocrisy, the world would be a much better place if people said what they really felt about things. Diplomacy is sometimes as bad as lying, in my book anyway. But society dictates the norm that we should follow; codes of conducts and all of the rest of it. I don’t want to get too far into the sociological aspects of things, but gonzo for me is like a way of life, I just get it off my chest most times. Like Artic Monkeys said, don’t believe the hype... live on gonzo.

To my other hero and leader of the underground to whom this blog is a tribute, Brian Haw, the anti war protester who died recently from cancer, may your soul now rest in peace. This man was more than a celebrity for visiting camera slinging Japanese, but he represented a symbol of freedom and love and wanted nothing than to see Britain’s involvement in the war over. He was not a bum, he was married with children and was well known to return his place in Central London hours after being arrested. I can bet the police in that vicinity are smiling because they have more time on their hands to watch telly or drink tea, because this time Brian won’t be returning. He too was my hero. 

 

PS Marco Simoncelli will be missed by MotorGP fans like me world over, wish I could bring you back Marco.

 

Today, stand for something you believe in. Stand up for you.

With love,

Momo

(The opinions expressed here are the views of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the University of Greenwich - Ed.)

The Third Year Journey

Let’s begin by saying how horrified I am of my impending 10 000 word dissertation which is at the moment drowning out any excitement of me reaching the final year in my degree. I am entrusted, as are my other course mates, the task of contributing academic knowledge to the field of Tourism. Many people think it’s about selling plane tickets and booking holidays to Malaysia; it’s not all glitz, glamour and jetlag but work and research. What are the motivations of tourists, ethics involved and the many many issues of sustainability and economic leakages to communities and countries? Funny thing is I do know a lot in theory and practice, but forming my own research topic is burning out my brain cells! Its almost like doing Maths ....
Like that girl on the tv ad for the show about a school in Essex, she’s like ‘whats pi?’, ‘where did it come from?’ with the most shocked depressed look on her face. I can indeed agree, what the hell is pi? The first thing that comes to my mind is that round edible object, because anything else just doesn’t make sense. I know I suck at maths, but who cares, I don’t. I will write my heart out in an essay or report but don’t ask me do trigonometry or find circumferences, I find it highly irrelevant to my life.

I celebrated my birthday in September and decided at last minute that I wanted to go raving. You know you had a good time when you wake up and the night before was a gigantic grey blur. I got feedback from my friends that I was dancing so much, a ring formed around me. They were actually covering their eyes and faces in contempt hahaaaa !!!!!!!!!!. I was then made to take a vow that I would never ever ever dance on the floor again. I said it, but something tells me that’s not exactly a promise.

Birthday night!

The summer was a bit uneventful otherwise, there was the odd rave and drunken night out but I was mostly working.

During clearing as the receptionist, I was quite pleased to be at the forefront of the Enquiry Unit extension where I guided many many people on their proverbial roads to university. It was such a refreshing start to my own academic year to see the young fresh eager faces of the newbies and I do wish them all the best. I saw a lot of mummies and daddies on the grounds trying to get a feel of the place for their sons and daughters. I imagine it’s a proud moment for so many who have managed to survive the race for that elusive uni place.

Oh, I’m still missing Jamaica but the blazing sunny weather we’ve experienced over the past week or so has been lovely. All that was missing was the white sandy beaches, but conversely, something tells me the winter will be as harsh as it was last year. While a lot of us were happy to get a free tan and be able to drop the top on our little rides, the weather is quite extreme. I mean, 27 degrees in October? You lot better get ready for the winter then!

So to all the young’un’s who made it into uni and for us older folks already feeling the brunt of 3rd year studies. There is a fantastic uni 'dance' as I would call it in my native tongue, and it’s not to be missed. Get your tickets here: http://www.suug.co.uk/freshers2011/ball/. I know Im going, then it will be books, articles and journals keeping me company for the next 8 months.

With love

Momo x

Rascals In Our Town - RIOTS

So I hope all the new trainers squeeze toes, the plasma falls off the wall and the food stolen from Tesco’s caused major gastro-intestinal problems because the savages who have ravaged this country will indeed deserve it. I mean, what’s the point and why do innocent people have to be subject to the flea brains of society for this long. I loathe the happenings of the past few days and hope every looter gets caught and spends time away from civilised humans.

Some will say this is what they have to do to get the higher powers to listen, but I beg to differ. The opportunistic gangster behaviour displayed indicates levels of frustration yes; but for most, the joy of ‘taking’ stuff, enjoying ‘free’ drinks, furniture and what have you, depict the sad mindset of our youth. What puzzles me the most is the simple maths involved, smashing and destroying property and streets will only cost the stakeholders and government more to fix. In a hostile economic climate, money is indeed a scarce commodity and funds funnelled into fixing, cleaning up and police presence could have gone into something else more worthwhile. If only these idiots employed simple common sense to their acts and realise this is not the way forward.

I was in my safe little haven in Avery Hill; thank God I moved from Woolwich recently and enjoyed peaceful nights when some other people fled their homes in terror. I am Jamaican and I am no stranger to violence, I wasn’t worried about having to defend myself or having people try to rob me because I am fierce! On the other hand I was quite worried about the price our disaffected youth will have to pay when the police gets a hold of them. There are some pretty good CCTV shots out there with faces so clear you could see six o clock beards and pimples, so many will be in jail pretty soon.

Hope everyone had a fantastic time smashing and dashing .....

Moving on, had good feedback on the photos of the last blog and gramps was said to be ‘cute’. Someone has a crush lol, ok so I’m joking, but my heart still tears apart when I think about my old folks. My best buddy in the Enquiry Unit, Dan, has proved to be somewhat of a baking buff and while I cook fabulous food normally, ask me to bake and I turn to mush. So I struck up the courage after watching a million Come Dine With Me's on Channel 4 and decided on doing a Pavlova. Of course it went horribly wrong and I only found out today, I needed some sort of tartar cream or cornflour to add body to the egg whites. I managed to taste the disastrous outcome of my baking and was disgusted at the egginess of it. That's whats put me off baking so much, everything has to be o so precise and I'm not the best at things that sound this technical. I don’t normally eat eggs because they come out of the wrong part of the chicken so that feeling of dread helped me throw out my dish. I have a proper version of the recipe now and armed with it I would be happy to give it another shot to prove to myself I'm not that worthless.

And finally, Greenwichman has found its way into the heart of Team 3 in light of all the happenings, it stimulated Remco to be a super hero who would protect Greenwich and the uni from looters. Dan has created the avatar and we had a laughing fit imagining Remco in biker pants and wellies for a costume.... Have a look at the avatar!

With love

Momo

My Baby has given birth!!

Recently back from my New York- Jamaica rendezvous I’m filled with a new zest to face the job of helping my young and not so young friends into university via the big ‘Clearing’. I got well needed rest while away on my vacation and spent exclusive time with Miss. Eulah and Gramps (grandparents) and my brother Greg and I loved every minute of it.

While in London on a break from studies, I felt the urge to see my grandparents and long lost brother as I never know when they will proverbially ‘go’, tomorrow is never promised today afterall. I’ve lost so many friends along the way and would hate to not be able to remind them I love them in what may be their last days. It may sound funny but I think I love my paternal grandparents more than my actual ones. They would give their lives to make sure I am ok.

My grandmother stood on the veranda and cried so bad when I left for the airport. She has hypertension and diabetes, is frail and I didn’t want to admit it, but I don’t know if I may see her alive again. What’s worse is she said this during her crying as well  She manages her illnesses with medication, and she needs to be careful about the food she eats but she’s neglected the non salt, low fat, low carb diet recommended because of her love for food. She agrees that if she is going to die, she will anyway, I guess at 83 you can afford to give up. I think I got that stubborn streak by the way...

My grandfather isn’t that frail but he has Alzheimer’s and asks me what the time or day of the week is almost every 10 minutes, but I love him to bits. He also has problems recognising faces and struggles to remember who I am despite knowing my name. It makes you think once a man, twice a child....

You know you are at you granny’s when you see all the floral around lol, Gramps trying to see me

I went to New York to see my brother for a few days, but coming from London to another big city didn’t really do it for me, apart from reuniting with my him there isn’t much to write home about. While there for my 3 days I yearned to go back to the Boston beach and jerk pork, chicken, fish and breadfruit in Port Antonio.

I planned the whole thing in really good time because one rainy day, my Shih Tzu poodle cross, Youkie, gave birth to 4 beautiful babies. The days before her delivery she looked really sad and miserable and we figured she must have been having cramps of some sort. They were born safe and looked healthy, with eyes shut as usual but there was something that bothered us. The pups had white feet but didn’t look very poodle-ish at all. Their coats looked so bland and despite their short noses, I wasn’t sure if their tails should have been so long either. So the question abounded, did Youkie have an affair with one of our non pedigree’s? This isn’t exactly a sin, but we had a few friends who were expecting full breds so we were of course worried.

Youkie looking half dead with her babies

I left Jamaica with many questions of birth and death as you can imagine and had done a lot of thinking on my nine and a half hour flight back to London on Virgin, kudos to my bitter sweet trip and my half bred babies.

Enjoy the rest of my pics!

                                                     Fishing boat                                                Colourful roadside store

                                           Red Stripe cup made from bamboo                             Party Poster

View from the front of house, love the green!

                                                         Wild baby goat                                                         Crab

With love,

Momo

Hectic Long Weekend!

I spent a sensational weekend away and this blog is an epitaph to my second year of university which officially ends on June 25^th. The stresses and deadlines of my grueling course are now over for a while and a well deserved break from it all is what the doctor ordered. In some ways I am immensely relieved but secretly I wish I had more to do, I mean how many hours can I spend on gaming or blowing up my credit card on makeup? I went to Thorpe Park last week and had my guts relocated but after that I decided I would go up to the country side to see my family in Bradford. That coach trip was a ride and a half and my bum hurt so bad after the 5 hours (I know whos not doing that again!).

Family picture

I’ve met cousins I have never seen or heard of before, and even though Bradford was new to me, it’s easily the most comfortable and peaceful place I have been in the UK. After getting over the sing song accent, I really started loving the quaint village that most of family lived in. Most houses had car ports and gardens and do not resemble the match boxes of London we pay a fortune to live in. It’s evident that the peaceful scenery, with its rolling hills provides a quality of life that many of us could appreciate as you get the vibe that things are simple, like they should be.

Asia is my cute little cousin who has tainted me with memories of her winning me over and over at dominoes. I mean how useless am I at numbers? It is generally known among friends and family that I hate Math but a 7 year old basically slapping me silly at matching numbers is a bit more than my ego can take. But she is a smart one, and once we finished that we moved to drawing and was asked to draw a horse which turned out to look more like a dog (Asia again laughed her head off).

Me and Asia.

But the highlight of my Bradford trip was seeing the smiles on my families face and the wonderful Sunday dinner spread that was prepared for me! I threw the diet plan out the window and ate as much rice and peas and chicken etc as my tummy could hold and I could barely move after.

Rice and peas.

My cousin in law loved that my boyfriend and I devoured the food and definitely put me over the top with ice cream and fruit after…. Whewwww!!!

Ayo and ME!!!

After Bradford, there was a short plane ride from Manchester airport to Edinburgh where I am now holed up in the George hotel. I do love to travel and I hope to see more of the UK and Europe, but for the moment I’ve moved to the sights of Scotland that serve as another sweet escape from the rat racing I'm used to. After doing the initial checks to ensure my toilet is spotless and my bed linen is perfect, I’ve accepted my hotel as one of the finest I’ve been in. That toilet inspection routine though, is something I can’t help, I have this immense fear of ‘invisible germs’ and may need therapy to deal with it, this is a 4 star hotel after all.

Edinburgh castle

So far it’s been really nice and with a full stomach of Scottish breakfast I will set out to see a bit more of this city. It’s not as warm as I would like so the summer dress won’t come out, but I’m hoping I won’t have to do the whole scarf and glove thing. There are several things to see like the Edinburgh castle, Museum of Childhood and John Knox’s House and with a loaded camera and few pointers from a guide I picked up in Manchester it should be a pretty fantastic day.

All in all I should be refreshed when I get back to the Enquiry Unit where I will fulfill my duties of ‘guiding’ the young ones to uni. I’ve loved every minute away and hope to be back soon. I catch my flight into City airport later today and will be making plans to seesome more places as soon as time permits. I hope all Greenwich university 2011 students reading this have a great time getting prepared for their big university adventure as they embark on this beautiful period of life. To those who have not received a place just yet, early clearing is right around the corner, continue to check our main website. I look forward to hearing from you!

Till then, I wish you all the best!!!!!!!

With love,

Momo

The Wind of Change

You may not have been feeling it, but I can; and I'm not talking about any bloating or similar digestive problems either. Lots have been changing for me and I suppose the same for my fellow uni mates and those of you reading this blog who will join us in September. Aaah, now you know what I mean! It’s May and it’s the month of exams for us here at Greenwich Uni and it’s all about long nights and early mornings REVISING! I like to think of it as’re visioning' because the focus is so important on retaining and refocusing all the information in the last terms into sensible mental files. I have been pathetic at trying to keep everything all in, and I literally have a self saving note system called my 'Duty List'. As tacky as it sounds it helps, and I may be using it to organize housework because it’s been so effective. The physical winds have also changed dramatically and summer is forcing its way into the British atmosphere. Last month has been the hottest on record and in my eyes the summer will be a scorcher! Break out the daisy dukes and flowery nail polish.

I would be amiss not to acknowledge the hip-hip-hoorays of all those who are celebrating the death of Osama. Being highly critical of anything I hear in the news, isn’t he dead for like the 4th time now? And if he was indeed captured why was he buried at sea? Yeah yeah yeah, it is said no one wanted his body buried on their soil, but what harm could a dead body do? Personally, throwing someone in the sea for sharks is one of the highest indignities. I am not Muslim or affiliated with any terrorist group of course, I'm only a student with opinions. All the views are my own, please accept them as such, but killing anyone at point blank range is murder. And I am against murder in all its forms. Why not capture and arrest him for the rest of his life, then again many would argue he is not worthy of being alive or being able to eat and breathe as the rest of us.... but who empowered mere humans to make the decisions about who lives and who dies?

Based on what has been documented, this man is a cruel soul, unapologetically so but I do not believe in murder. I wait for the back lash in disagreement to my arguments, but I still stand by them.

On a happier note, the royal wedding we all have been waiting for has come and gone but replicas of Kate’s dress are already on sale for those of us who want to feel like princesses when the big day comes. It was a classy affair but I think the dress was a little old fashioned for my liking, I would have liked more frilled and a more modern look. Maybe its because I used to see my granny wear so much lace, dunno. My idea of a great wedding though, would be to arrive on a white horse on a pristine beach in the Bahamas with a seaside ceremony full of pink roses!!! It would be much cheaper than the royal wedding and less extravagant of course, but jumping into the sea in a gorgeous wedding dress while my mother watches in horror would make me smile :) I'm such a bad-ass!

The diet is coming on fine, but I keep gorging myself with low fat yogurt. I get so hungry reading and these cute pots just make me think of eating all the time. At least I'm managing to take in enough 'good' germs to last for the next year, but I’m sure these little calories still add up. I also am a nature loving geek and on my breaks there is nothing like Sir David Attenborough on Eden, I am particularly obsessed with corals and reefs. Another of my dreams would be to see Australia’s great barrier but the thought of that flight breaks my resolve and I find solace in the telly for now. Most of my dreams as you can tell involve water, but so does my nightmare, I just wish this tsunami dream I’ve been having for months would go away :(

I also aim to mix my revision with a bit of practical stuff as I hope to take part in some wellness tourism - I booked myself a spa day!!! I am going to the Marriott to get among other things a mud bath and a facial and I am so excited. It’s always great to be looked after and the champagne will be flowing that day and I can’t wait to hit the sauna. I have put money aside for many moons to afford this, but it’s my reward for a hard years work with an average of 68 on all my coursework. I think I deserve it, don’t you?

All is all, things are going very well for me and I wish you all the best with any wind of change coming your way, it can be a beautiful experience so go with it!


With love

Momo