Chookooloonks

resolve

Tree growing out of a rock, Las Cuevas beach

When you are inspired by some great purpose, some extraordinary project, all your thoughts break their bonds; your mind transcends limitations, your consciousness expands in every direction, and you find yourself in a new, great and wonderful world. Dormant forces, faculties and talents become alive, and you discover yourself to be a greater person by far than you ever dreamed yourself to be.

- Patanjali

I don't know how it is for you guys, but when I unexpectedly have a great idea, when I suddenly know what it is I'm meant to be doing no matter what the circumstance, it feels like a small epiphany. It's like every part of me says, "Yes, Karen. Now you've got it. This is it -- you know what to do." On a tiny scale, I feel this way whenever I look into the viewfinder of my camera and abuptly discover the perfect shot. I felt this way the moment I thought that perhaps I should try to make my living as a writer. And most recently, I felt this way when the idea of Indigo Leaf Magazine hit me like a bolt of lightning out of the blue.

I didn't always trust this feeling -- I used to analyse and over-analyse whether following this instinct was the intelligent decision, and then try to logically talk myself into going the other direction. If eventually my head prevailed over my heart, invariably I would regret the course of action. I've beome much better at listening to what my soul tells me to do.

So, here we are, at the end of a year -- the time when we traditionally make New Year's resolutions. While normally I would take this time to make the usual list ("lose some weight," "be more patient"), this year, I think I'm going to really take my time and think about what it is I want to accomplish, and wait for that quiet moment of epiphany to tell me when I've hit on the right goal. Whatever that goal may turn out to be, I suspect it will be somehow related to creativity; this past year taught me that there's an artist in me who has been silent for too long. I'm determined that 2006 will be the year that I learn to let her speak -- loudly and vociferously, if necessary.

And because I truly, wholeheartedly believe that there is actually an artist in all of us, I'd like to challenge you to do the same thing: rather than make the same trite promises to yourself this year like you do every year, this time, I challenge you to go deeper: what would happen if you followed your dreams? What would happen, if instead of pointing out all the reasons why what you wish for yourself can't happen, you instead truly believed it could? What if you tried that one thing you always wished you could try, but feared that you'd fail/people would laugh/it wasn't what people expected you to do? Think about all these things. Think about what you'd like to be proud of by this time next year. And when you feel your heart and your soul give a small leap of approval, then you know you've found what you're supposed to do for 2006.

And for inspiration, here are some inspiring things:

These words,

this commercial/short film (who knew advertising could be beautiful?),

the story behind this short film, and

the photography of this person.

On that note, Happy New Year. May 2006 bring you all your inspired to do.

best of 2005, and a break until 2006

Marcus and Alex at Las Cuevas

Monday and Tuesday are holidays here in Trinidad, and Marcus has 3 days of vacation that he has to use before the end of the year, so it turns out, unexpectedly, Marcus is off for this week. For this reason, I thought that for the remainder of the year I'd give Chookooloonks a break as well, so the three of us can play.

However, because I love you all so much, and would never want to leave you without anything to occupy your time, I present to you the Best of 2005 -- my favourite photographs over the past year. Many of them were previously published here on Chookooloonks, but some weren't, so go ahead and give them a gander. A warning: there are over 60 photos in the gallery, so you might want to grab yourself a cup of coffee, and settle in (or, if you're looking at this at work, you may have to spread your illicit web-surfing time over the course of the week, to minimize your chances of getting caught).

Click here to enter the gallery.

Enjoy. And because for some odd reason Typepad doesn't allow you to leave comments in their photo galleries, I'd love if you'd wander back here and let me know what you think. Hopefully you'll find your favourite pictures are included in the gallery as well.

In the meantime, Happy New Year to all of you, wherever in the world you may be celebrating.

See you in 2006!

of beginnings and boxing days

Poinsettia on the veranda/gallery/loggi'al fresco

Let me begin by saying that I should be throttled for the amount of food I shovelled into my body yesterday. Seriously, if I had a job being paid by the forkful, yesterday I would've made enough money for Marcus and I to retire and live in relative luxury and obscene comfort for the rest of our days. Well, comfort, that is, except for the distended stomach and the attendant digestive problems. But then, that's probably a bit more information than you care to hear.

So, Christmas was an unmitigated success here in the Chookooloonks household. We were eventually able to pry Alex off her bike (by bribing her with promises of more presents to open at Granny the Great's house), and ended up spending yesterday full of the requisite familial comraderie. And then today, because we live in Trinidad, we get to do it all over again. I have NO idea how I'm going to be able to eat more food. There should be a law: Boxing Day should be for skinny people. Or better yet, starving people. Because if I keep this kind of eating up, my ass is going to develop its own gravitational pull.

But I digress.

So one of the cool things Marcus got me for Christmas is this wicked mouse shaped like a pen, allowing me to edit photographs with an accuracy heretofore unbeknownst to me (hah! I still have my propensity for lawyerly overspeak!). Once we got it hooked up to the laptop, I tried it out by cutting the flower you see in the banner above out of a photograph filled with other flowers and greenery, and once I did that, I decided to modify the site a bit. I'm not convinced that I like it, but, as they say, it is what it is. Don't be surprised if you see further changes.

And speaking of changes, is it just me, or does anyone else feel the urge to take down the Christmas tree by, oh, say, 7:30 p.m. December 25th? I know this may sound terribly Scroogesque, but I've always been a person enamoured with beginnings, but endings? Not so much. I blame it on my parents. Because of my father's job (in the oil industry, natch), our family moved constantly; I suppose, as a coping mechanism, I taught myself to embrace the change and look at the chaos as a way to wipe the slate clean, and start anew. This "talent," if you could call it that, ended up spilling over into other aspects of my life, with the unfortunate result that come Christmastime, once the presents are unwrapped and the clutter is cleaned up, I'm ready for the new year, baby. Thanks 2005, it's been great -- don't let the door hit you on the way out. Bring on 2006. It's a whole new world.

Anyhoo...

...enough of this. I have to go make a macaroni pie for my mother's Boxing Day feast, and then ostensibly gorge a bit more. Because, apparently, I like a challenge.

christmas spoils

Alex and her new bike, Christmas 2005

This photo was taken about 20 minutes ago. Now I've got to figure out how to pry her off this thing to get her dressed for a Christmas breakfast at Granny the Great's. It will take superhuman strength.

And, I'm going to apologize now: if you thought I posted a lot of pictures of her with the wings, I suspect it will be nothing compared to how many I'll end up posting of her with the Pink Panther here. I'm just sayin'.

Anyway, Merry Christmas everybody. Here's hoping that your day is as full of joy as Alex's is right now.

(Oh -- and Happy Birthday, Unka Dan!)

Updated to add this little Quicktime video, showing Alex at the moment she saw her BIIIcycle. This movie is brought to you via Marcus' Canon ZR85 digital camcorder, my iTunes software, and Queen. It's about 3 minutes long, so give it a minute to download, more if you have a slower connection.

Download BIIIIcycle

Enjoy.

merry christmas to all, and to all a good night

Our home, Christmas 2005

Wishing you the very best of the holiday, from our home to yours.

sandy christmas

Alex, wishing you Merry Christmas from Las Cuevas!

Item that has nothing to do with the above picture:

As I type this at 1:06 p.m., Alex is lying in her bed, and I'm trying to get her to take a nap. (I've been trying for the last 1-1/2 hours, incidentally.) She babbling to herself, examining her Lion. All of a sudden, she noticed something on Lion (I have no idea what), and for the first time, she exclaimed:

"Oh my GOODNESS!"

This kid slays me.

lone boat, and our beach umbrella

Marcus, Alex and our umbrella

Turning my back to the fishermen, this is the view up the beach. You can see our little beach umbrella toward the middle of the photograph to the left, and Alex and Marcus paddling in the waves to the right.

Just offshore, there was a lone fisherman's boat floating in the distance. I have no idea if the fisherman was on land, or fast asleep in the bottom of the boat.

Lone boat

fishermen, not fishers of men

Fisherman, Las Cuevas Village

At one end of Las Cuevas beach is the village of Las Cuevas. When we got there Sunday morning, the fishermen were preparing their nets for their upcoming trip out to sea that evening.

They were kind enough to let me take a couple of pictures.

Yet more fishermen.

las cuevas

Peninsula at Las Cuevas beach

Remember the picure I posted yesterday? Well, if I turned my back to Alex, this is what it looked like in front of me.

Incidentally, I’ve been tagged. Generally, I don’t like meme’s, but since I’m totally digging Sheyna Galyan’s site (not to mention her name – seriously, how cool is that name?), I figured doing this is the least I can do. Besides, perhaps this will give you some ideas for some stocking stuffers:

7 things yet to do with my life:

1. Play in Panorama – one of my “life goals,” since I was about 12 years old. My steel pan teacher is actually encouraging me to do this for Panorama 2006, but it means nightly 3-hour practices with the steel band 5 days a week for the next 10 or so weeks. I’m SERIOUSLY thinking about it.

2. Visit Japan. I’ve traveled all over the world, but have only been to Asia once, and it was only for about 4 days. I’d like to go back, but this time, visit Tokyo.

3. Visit Australia. See #2 above.

4. Become successful at my own business venture, rather than working for a corporation. Who knows – Indigo Leaf may be the start of something big!

5. Drive an 18-wheeler. I have no idea why. But I want to do it, even if it’s just in a parking lot.

6. Publish a novel.

7. Learn to surf.

7 things I can’t do:

1. Surf.

2. Lie to Alex or Marcus.

3. Draw anything with any semblance of artistic talent. Marcus, God bless him, has tried to teach me. It just isn’t going to happen.

4. Hate anyone on the basis of their skin colour, race, nationality or religious beliefs. It’s just not in me.

5. Ski. Bum knees. But I can lodge REALLY well.

6. Put up with racists, bigots, or willfullly stupid people.

7. Squaredance. But then again, I won’t do it, either.

7 things I admire about my spouse:

1. His eyes.

2. His ability to be himself, no matter what the circumstance. What you see with Marcus is what you get. He’s exactly the same person with me as he his with his family, my family, our friends … whomever.

3. His parenting skills.

4. His innate warmth.

5. His athleticism. Seriously, I break a sweat running to the bathroom, and he’s contemplating triathlons.

6. His generally easy-going nature. Thank God only one of us is as impatient as I am.

7. His mathematically analytical mind. I mean, my math skills are pretty good – I have an engineering degree – but Marcus is freakin’ GENIUS. He studied mathematics in university, so that’s part of it, but seriously, dude’s like McGyver. He can build a computer out of a watering can, a paper clip and a stick of chewing gum.

7 things I say most often:

1. “Groovy.”

2. “Maaaaarcuss!!”

3. “Rum.” Sad, but true.

4. “In any event …”

5. “I’m just sayin.’”

6. “No, no, no, no, no!” Usually to Alex.

7. “Woooow.” Again, usually to Alex, in response to block towers, scribbles, seating her stuffed animals in a certain way …

7 books I love:

1. To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee. I cry at the part where Atticus Finch is leaving the courtroom EVERY DAMNED TIME.

2. Living Buddha, Living Christ, by Thich Nhat Hanh

3. The Narnia Series, C.S. Lewis. I haven’t read (or re-read) them since I was a child, but I’m about to start them again.

4. Notes from a Small Island, Bill Bryson. This guy SLAYS me. And if you’d like to get a true picture of England, this is the book that’ll do it.

5. e., Matt Beaumont. Hardly literature: it’s a novel written through e-mail. Hysterical. If you’ve ever worked in an office, you’ll totally get it.

6. Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Truman Capote. A very short read, and much better than the movie.

7. Miguel Street, V.S. Naipaul. Written by Trinidadian (and Nobel Laureate) V.S. Naipaul, this gives a wonderful view of 50’s Trinidad – and not much has changed.

7 movies I’d watch over and over again:

1. Amélie

2. The Shawshank Redemption

3. The Big Chill

4. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

5. The Adventures of Pricilla, Queen of the Desert

6. When Harry Met Sally

7. Love, Actually

7 songs I can’t get enough of:

1. Girl From Ipanema, but particularly off of the Red Hot & Rio album, not because it's better than the Joao Gilberto version (because nothing is), but because proceeds from this album go toward AIDS research. (By the way, I love any bossa nova song -- Brazilian music rocks)

2. Fever -- particularly the version by Joe Sample and Lalah Hathaway.

3. The remix of “Faith” by Limp Bizkit

4. Work It, Missy Elliott

5. I’m a Believer, as redone by Smashmouth. This is actually Marcus' and my song -- Shrek was one of the first movies we saw together.

I realise that #5 shows our limitless capacity for complete dorkitude.

6. Just about any song off of No Doubt’s RockSteady album

7. Any song off of the Amélie soundtrack.

7 people I want to join in, too: Yeah, I can’t do that to you. But if you’d like to do it, feel free to give this a whirl.

Oh, and one more thing: The Best of Blog Awards are now accepting nominations. Drop by and nominate your favourites (especially since I'll probably use the list for potential Indigo Leaf contributors!)

christmas in the caribbean

Alex, proudly showing Marcus a rock she found, Las Cuevas Beach

Yesterday morning, Alex and Marcus let me sleep in a bit. When Alex finally couldn't take it anymore, she came running into my bedroom:

"MOMMY!!!!"

I looked at the clock. Seven-thirty a.m.

"Hi, Alex."

"Goo-mawnin!" she called out, cheerily.

I looked at her, and smiled. It was hard to stay mad. "Good morning," I said.

She walked right up to me. "Beach?"

It had been months since we'd taken her to the beach.

I called out to Marcus: "Did you tell Alex we were going to the beach?"

He called back, "No. Did she say she wanted to go?"

"Yup."

"Well, it's early enough. Shall we?"

I looked at Alex, who was still waiting for my answer. "Okay, Allie. Let's go to the beach."

She grinned, and ran off to look for her hat.

Turns out that going to the beach yesterday was exactly the shot in the arm that I needed. Until then, I hadn't really felt much in the holiday spirit. I don't know why. But when we arrived at Las Cuevas beach, it finally hit me:

It's Christmastime.

See, I grew up on the beach -- Mayaro Beach, on the southeasternmost point of the island -- and for me, Christmas has always meant sunshine and blue water. And yesterday, Las Cuevas Beach, about 15 minutes away from the more popular Maracas beach, didn't disappoint. The weather (for once) was gorgeous -- hardly a cloud in the sky, and the temperature was perfect: hot, but not stifling. When we arrived, there was hardly anyone on the beach. Someone was playing parang music, the traditional Christmas music of Trinidad, and the beautiful Latin beat filled the air. And as if that wasn't enough, we could smell the distinct scent of incense (and yes, it was incense, not pot -- I'm Trini, I know the difference). It was beautiful, and peaceful, and yes, Christmas-y.

I know this must seem strange to those of you who live in colder climates, where Christmas means snow-covered sceneries and roaring fires. And while I can certainly appreciate the beauty of a classically European (or North American) Christmas scene, the beach yesterday felt traditional for me. It felt like home.

So, for the rest of this week, I thought I'd share with you scenes of our beach day yesterday, to try to give you a sense of what Christmas feels like for us this year. When you look at these pictures, I hope you can imagine the sense of nostalgia that I feel when I look at them. At the very least, however, for those of you who live in more wintry climes (and are cursing the fact that you have to scrape your windshield again), hopefully these images will make you feel a bit warmer inside.

Enjoy.