What If Jimi Hendrix Had Lived Longer?

There seems to be an age as a young adult that we begin to believe that maybe, just perhaps (although with reasonable doubt), we are not invincible.  Unfortunately, this realization is usually accompanied with the death of someone dear.  This past weekend a high school student at ISD died in a moto accident. Over the past couple of days, I have witnessed many young students dealing with this for the first time.  It is never easy.  It is even harder when you recognize that the full potential of someone was never realized.  Communities big and small are shaken by these tragedies, and no matter how sad one is, the truth we try to ignore is always looming- this is not something new and it will happen again.

Did I intend to write a somber blog post this evening? No. It has been over two weeks since I last posted anything, and this post is more to do with realizing how beautiful, yet fleeting, life can be.  I do not believe that anything is predetermined.  I may remark that the odds are in your favor, but Lady Luck is nothing more than symbol alluded to by countless authors (and myself!).  In recent years I have just always been struck by a truth, well, I suppose it is a personal truth.  I do not like saying I will do something "later," unless it is a chore, then I do not mind.  When something is on my mind I do not like to ignore it, I would much prefer to acknowledge the thought bouncing around in my head. We have all read the books, seen the movies, and skimmed the news articles about countless people who were always working towards a better and brighter future. I ask you this, what good is your future if your present is dismal? Personally, I think that my present life is a beautiful thing! Although getting out of bed can be a drag some mornings, with a little bit of help from my good friends James Brown, Thurston Harris, and Creedence Clearwater Revival, that initial laziness is soon swept away by a steaming bowl of oatmeal and a fresh banana!

I guess that I just try to live everyday to the fullest, I mean, why wouldn't I?!  But just think about it.  For instance, how many times have you passed by something on your daily commute and never stopped to check it out? Well, why not see what it is all about tomorrow? It could close, maybe you will change your route, or perhaps you will lose the opportunity to check out the funky place, catch my drift? Or perhaps you did not try a new restaurant because it was a little pricey, maybe in a couple of months? Well, I would venture a guess that a "couple of months" will turn into a "couple of years," no? Why not splurge just once in awhile and stop day dreaming?

We certainly need a fair balance of living for the present and being aware of the future. I would not argue for just one or the other, but I do think that it is a shame when we overlook one for the other...

I certainly hope that this blog post was not too much of a downer, it is merely a summary of my musings the past two days. And you may be wondering about the title? Well, imagine if Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain, Aaliyah, Tupac, and (dare I say it?!) Amy Winehouse had all lived longer? What did music lose by their untimely deaths? What about all of the people we knew and have lost at too young of an age, what did the world lose by their untimely deaths?

I, for one, am just going to keep living each day like it is the most beautiful day yet.  Hopefully someone will feel the sunshine exuding from me and pass it on to someone else :)

So Maybe I Am The ScarylikeXenaWarriorPrincess Type Feminist...

I was perusing my former posts to update the inevitable grammar and spelling mistakes when my eyes roamed to my section entitled "The News I Care About." In a very short post I think that I should just list out what the headlines for my favorite blog sites are the day after Valentine's Day...

Jezebel: "Florists Deliver A Total Shitshow Instead of Pretty Bouquets (Flowers)"

Africa Is A Country: "Music Break Sababu"

Blag Hag: "Well Double Fuck :("

Reproductive Health: "The Vagina Ideologues & the 'World's Holiest Sausage Fest'"

The Crunk Feminist Collective: "Happy Galentine's Day!: A Little Love (In Whatever Form) Is All We Need"

Okay, so I left off Hullabaloo and Pitchfork (a new-found joy!) because they did not make me laugh, although they were equally as interesting.  I think I may now know why the world thinks that I am a scary feminist-type, HA! I do make myself laugh...

This is just too perfect.

PS. 100% kidding about the title of this blog post, I really hope that I never appear to be scary like Xena :(

Where Does the Food Go?

Yes, the title to this post is a play on words. I like Tegan & Sara. In all seriousness I have been reading so much about food recently, and I cannot keep from having nightmare about where my beef is coming from.  I like to think that in Senegal I am safe from processed food.  What a delusion!

I may have posted about the heebee jeebees my garlic from China gives me. I also get a little suspicious when I see miniscule bits of bone in my cats food, but I try not to think twice about it (the canning facility is in Dakar).  Perhaps I stare at my food before eating it (in particular meat) because I was a vegetarian for quite some time.  I think I just read too much. Too many books, news articles, blogs, and food recalls weigh on my mind for me to not consider what is going into my body.  In college I tried to not be too preoccupied with these thoughts as Sodexho controlled the campus food industry, I had no escaping the American mass-produced food cycle. 

Stick it to 'em, Cookie Monster!

Well, college was only allowing me to see the tip of iceberg...

I would be lying if I claimed my criticism and troubled feelings over the food industry were new.  I used to go to the Green Peace website in high school for fun.  I have seen Supersize Me, a documentary that put me to sleep with its more than obvious conclusion.  In fact, I would suggest just planting your own garden and tending it all summer as opposed to wasting precious moments watching someone become obese while munching on McDonald's for one month.  What is the underlying trouble for me with all of my reading? I love bacon, egg and cheese sandwiches from Dunkin Donuts! Voilà, my shameful "secret."  It is surely not a secret for anyone who knew me between the years of 2009-2011. Now, for my own conscious and personal health I hope that come June 2012, my return to good ol' U.S. of A., I will be able to say "RIP bacon, egg, and cheese on a manager's special bagel." So why is this delicious sandwich weighing on me? The bacon...where does it come from?  The egg...how tiny of a cage was that poor chicken kept in? The cheese...is it even real? I am not going to attack the bagel because bagels are just not good for anyone, or at least not how Americans eat them today, they are, however, SO GOOD.  Did you know your average bagel is equivalent to four BIG pieces of bread.  That is three more than your package of bread bought at your local grocery store suggests.

Yes you are, and I am not comfortable with your omnipresence.

When I was home in December I had a shocking discovery that I did not realize upon my last return from Senegal.  Bananas in the US suck. So do mangoes (I knew this already) and Corresol (spelling?) just does not even exist in the US.  I sat down to munch on a banana at my brothers one morning and I thought I was eating sand.  Hm...so I guess shipping fruit for thousands of miles does effect the taste, who knew? In my head I am writing this with a very sarcastic tone, I expect that the WWW (not to be confused with the WWF) will not let my tone come across.  The more I consider it, I realize buying local is pure common sense.  Not only are you cutting down on the actual transportation of an item, but unless you really do your research, what conditions were your ground beef and "fresh" spinach raised/grown under?  In my opinion, the further it has to travel, the more gray area.  Unless you buy fast food and live just a few miles away from a slaughterhouse where poor quality meat is raised under obscene conditions, in which case you are just extremely unfortunate and I would suggest moving.

I honestly cannot comprehend how our government backhandedly supports this industry, which is dependent on corn...I mean, I like corn, but not when a cow I later eat spent its pitiful life eating corn-nastiness mush, I'm just saying...I am someone who will spend the time picking a miniscule living beetle out of my rice before cooking because I think it is gross, I am guessing you probably would too. If I am going to go out of my way to kill one beetle the size of my smallest freckle, I will certainly consider what types of chemicals are entering my body.  And I will no long be half-assed about it.  There may be some exceptions while I am in Senegal, but I live by the "what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger" theory when I am on this side of the ocean.  There may be some funkiness in my cat's food, but unlike Americans, Senegalese have not forgotten that what goes into your meat will also go into you. I trust the meat here, unless it is the imported stuff, I do not want that.

*Sigh* I will miss you bacon, egg, and cheese. I know that we spent many a good all-nighters together in college, but the time has come that I move on. From now on I will be replacing you with this guy, he is much cuter than you, but surely not tastier...

PS. Do not expect any booty calls, I respect you more than that.

Tomorrow is the start of another week. In preparation for the car horns that will wake me up around 7 AM, I leave you with Wasis Diop :)

Sipping on Espresso and Contemplating a VERY Important Question...

You may be curious, what is this very important question nagging at the back of my mind...Well here it is, why do restaurants in Senegal insist on calling espresso "expresso?"  This very serious spelling error makes me feel like I am working at the cellar pub on the HWS campus.  Every Smithie that ever ordered an iced latte seemed to add an extra shot of "expresso," *sigh*.  An iced latte is a silly enough drink, including such a terrible mispronunciation to your order just adds insult to injury. I know, I am being such a whiner, but get it right!

Isn't this just great?! I guess some of my Aunts were involved in the Suffrage Movement nearly 100 years ago, maybe they drew this?! Kidding, kidding...

As I am spending my day baffled by the pronunciation of a caffeinated drink, the average Senegalese is spending theirs discussing the upcoming elections.  Senegal has (minimally) made International news in the past few weeks.  A Google search of "Senegal Elections" returned less than one hundred English articles three weeks ago, now you would get over 1000 hits, however.  This is all because Abdoulaye Wade, the country's (nearly) 86 year-old president wants to run for another 7-year term.  Sorry buddy, you have already served two, and YOU instituted the law prohibiting any president to serve more than two terms.  He claims that his age makes him wise, I say you are a completely disconnected, rich, blundering idiot.  The night it was announced that his bid was accepted Dakar erupted.  Now, I am sure much of this was not reported by US media because a Muslim country with controlled, and relatively peaceful protests is just unthinkable, right?

There are no bombings, deaths have been minimal (although very significant for this peaceful country), and the youth is organizing because they are fed up.  My parents heard nothing  about the protests watching US news, and I was baffled.  Even the French have been closely following this! Although, as I said, a peaceful uprising of a Muslim community could never be shown on major US networks.  The articles I skimmed by ABC, CNN, etc. online all claimed that protests were banned during the weekend that the candidates were confirmed.  Yes, they were banned, but by the time you published your article, that mandate had been reversed more than 48 HOURS AGO.  Idiots.

Despite all of this, I am a bit nervous, simply because elections in the US are so different.  I went to eat dinner the other weekend, but the road I need to go down was blocked by burning tires, needless to say I ate somewhere else.  I also have seen more soldiers carrying AK-47s than I ever wish to see again in my life.  Guns just terrify me. I do not care what country I am in, if I see a gun I get all squirmy.  These soldiers are strategically placed to prevent violent uprisings, and fortunately they have not had to do too much.

Life goes on as normal in Dakar, and as an outsider it is interesting to see how things are evolving here.  The real test will come when the election results are released.

The weather has been lovely here, and my two sweaters I brought have been getting a lot of use the past month or so.  I do miss the cold, snowy months of winter, but for one year I suppose it is okay, especially when the cold weather is minimal. I would be very unhappy if I were home and it was 50˚ in February, that is just not acceptable.

Well, I am counting down until the end the second trimester as my arrival in the US will seem imminent at that point.  First thing I will be eating? Any and everything that is baked in an oven!  Also, I will surely take up my habit of berry picking once I arrive in the Finger Lakes :D

Time to go home and face the beast...Rafiki!

Hopefully this SGK fiasco spread light on the BS of "pink" products...

I need to reread Pink Ribbons, Inc.