One Awesome Weekend

It was a high-octane weekend of worship for Gospelfest 2017. For the first time ever I attended the weekend's events - Signia Financial Laughter & Jazz (Friday), Sol's Ultimate Gospel (Saturday) and the Flow One Awesome Day (Sunday). I was no use to myself the next week - a good thing I was on holiday! The experience was certainly awesome.

I'll begin with Sinach first. She was her usual inimitable self as she ministered song after song with the audience singing along word for word of the power, grace and might of our Lord, the Way-maker, Promise Keeper, Miracle Worker. She really is awesome!

  Credit: Gospelfest Barbados

On Saturday, both Jonathan Nelson and Charles Jenkins were featured. Both ministers brought their different styles to the stage. Although lots of local fans love Charles Jenkins' My God Is Awesome, it was Jonathan Nelson's more recent gospel hit, "I Believe" (Island Medley) that rocked Kensington Oval. We could've been ministered to him all night!

However it the weekend began on Friday night, when comedienne, Small Fire brought the laughter while a wonderful young minister, Jonathan Reynolds brought his own unique musical "flava" to the evening. Even the rain did not send the audience home before he did one more for the road. He can play guitar, freestyle and actually sing live!! He was great!

 Credit: Gospelfest Barbados

Here are a couple of his previously unplugged renditions he treated us to: Christ Representers, Pressure and No Gray.

Credit: JonMcReynoldsVevo

Credit: Entertainment One Nashville

Christ Representers is an oldie and goodie, however it was Limp that first made me a fan of this young music Minister, who's taking the Word to a new generation in a new style. 

Credit: JonMcReynoldsVevo

Most Gracious and Glorious Father, I bring before you Jonathan Mcreynolds and his music ministry. Lord God I ask you to strengthen him, sustain him and empower him to continue to take the message you give him to a new generation. Father God, I pray that no weapon formed against him shall prosper and that he will withstand the many temptations that can distract, discourage and disappoint him on his walk. May he ever remain faithful. In the precious name of Jesus, our Saviour and Redeemer, hear this prayer. AMEN.

In Search Of Prince Charming

I recently viewed a documentary on the last 100 days in princess Diana's life. Given the three men with whom she was significantly involved, it prompted me to ponder on the socio-cultural influences on the choice of man a woman falls for.

What's curious is that our generation (we were born in the same decade) so we grow up as teen girls on the same type of paperback romances in which the men are...tall, dark(-haired) and handsome. So no wonder when England's most eligible bachelor pursued her, she ended up married to him. For he was tall, dark-haired and attractive enough (I can't call him handsome). Just look at her blushing at his gallantry.

Our romantic notions were fed by these stories of women who are fair, falling for men who are tanned, have winged eyebrows, chiseled features and usually brooding. Some of these male protagonists were Arab, Mediterranean, rarely light-haired. So her next "love" was found to be Pakistani, Hasnat Khan. Again dark-haired, not pale skinned.

 
Then of course there was the ill-fated summer fling with Dodi al Fayed with its tragic end. What else could a young impressionable girl do then?

Although the new Bachelorette is African-American, most of her suitors are...tall, dark-haired and built like Adonis - like Bryan, the chiropractor  who's of Colombian heritage.
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Even Shondaland's new series, Still Star-Crossed (the story after the death of the Shakespearean play's young lovers), features a fair Juliet and a dark and handsome, Romeo. However, the leading lady and her beau flip the script. This shows times have changed some.

Which leads me to think on the men admired by young girls of today, who're not influenced by paperback novels, but social media and television. What I see here is the influence of the gangsta rapper such as the Hakeem Lyon character played so aptly by Bryshere Y. Gray.

As I look around I see young women stepping out with youngsters wearing their pants almost off their buttocks and the shirt hems don't quite cover the tops of the pants. So thankful I don't have children for the challenge for today's mother therefore is, how to raise girls who'll show wisdom in their choice of mate. Yes, we want our son-in-law to be good-looking, but also responsible and dependable and to dearly love our daughters. For mothers of sons, they want the same attributes in their daughter-in-law.

The fact is that Prince Charming only exists in fairy tales and marriage is very hard work to keep it together. Unfortunately, Princess Diana may not have lived long enough to have the lasting relationship to teach her that lesson. I hope Rachel Lindsay fares better.

Grace Under Pressure

I thought Rachel Lindsay, @TheBachelorette, showed grace under pressure in handling DeMario's deceit. To their credit the men looked shocked, which suggests that they have far more decency in their veins than DeMario has in his entire body. Usually I take the woman's side, but I can imagine why DeMario did what he did.

He's successful. He saw the opportunity to snag an African-American bachelorette, who's stunning, articulate, intelligent, with a good career of her own. He can introduce her to Mom. Lexi?? Well.... (Don't shoot the messenger, I'm old enough to know what mothers like their sons to bring home). 

So, this advice is for Lexi, as I'm also old enough to be a young aunt to the whole lot of 'em. Now I've never watched this reality show or The Bachelor. I'm not into reality TV. Yuck! But I was curious about Rachel's journey as she's the first African-American. However that will apparently be anti-climatic since I think she goes white like all other Bachelorettes. 

But back to Lexi, respect yourself. If the man ain't introducing you to his friends or his family, you're his cuddle buddy as (@BeingMaryJane) puts it - i.e. a good lay. Don't waste your time on that type if you are looking for a lasting relationship no matter the man's race or career. Not surprising DeMario dumped her and Rachel, more power to her, gave him his walking papers. He really was a jerk, no ifs or buts about it.

Still, I can't help wondering if the producers actually knew he wasn't quite single (though in his mind Lexi was not his girlfriend) but sent him in to stir the pot anyway. 

So again props to Lindsay for laying her expectations down to all the men and telling DeMario take a hike. (Even if he comes back to try to get back into her good graces). Now the next chap to go has to be Lucas. So, he's funny and a gal needs a guy with a sense of humour in her life when she has a stressful job but who wants to spend the rest of her life with Peter Pan?

Enough said.

You Go Galz

For this blog, I'm returning to my first loves - fashion and pageantry (sometimes).  I'd love to comment on other socio-political, quasi-economic matters, but I'm to remain mum on those since I'm in the civil service. I think everyone who has an opinion should be free to express it but it is what it is.

Of course, the rules of engagement on social media is to keep it clean so your comments don't come back to haunt you. Still there are many not so enlightened.

So on to trivial stuff ...like fashion and pageantry.

  

Congrats to the new Miss USA, who hails from Washington D.C., Kara McCullogh. I really liked her on the night of the pageant and rooted for her once she made the top 5. She didn't rock in interview like her predecessor, also from D.C., Deshauna Barber, but it was good to hear a strong, smart, stunning and articulate African-American from a non-traditional field like the sciences on stage - a popularity no doubt bouyed by the revelation of a small group of African-American women working for NASA back in the age of southern segregation depicted by the film, Hidden Figures. While they took some liberties with the truth, the depiction did a world of good for boosting the notion that females can succeed in sciences and mathematics. They didn't have to be an elite athlete, an elite's athlete's wife, or on the arm of an entertainer or even be a wannabe star to make it. 

Which leads me to the silly controversy about Kara's responses to her final questions. Having a first degree based on the study of English and linguistics, I realise Americans don't understand language.

She said health care was a privilege for her as a government employee therefore it's important to have jobs to have healthcare. What's wrong with that? I have health insurance because I work. If I didn't and I had to depend on public health care...well let's not go there, I've had some headaches with my elderly dependents and that's all I'll say on that matter. 😠 

Then there's the final Q & A on whether or not she thought she was a feminist. She said, again referring to her work environment that she would transpose feminism for equalism - which she said meant being equal to men in terms of opportunity and referring to great female leaders in the medical sciences and the office, which she has seen firsthand and wants to promote that type of leadership responsibility rather than being considered the man-bettering feminist of the burn-the-bra era of decades ago. Again what was so wrong with that? Frankly I think they picked on her because she wasn't white.

And on that note, let me remember the first Miss D.C. to win the USA crown, Shauntay Hinton, in 2002.

Another much maligned African-American delegate, who was bashed and insulted for having a non-traditional look - short pixie cut and standing at an average 5' 7", unlike Deshauna and Kara whose height at 5' 10" looks more modelesque. Today, Shauntay looks amazing. But then I've heard Oprah declare "black don't crack". Then Trump was in charge and apparently was not a fan at first but declared her the hardest working delegate at that time, having raised more money for the organisation than many of her predecessors. Again, a beautiful, intelligent black woman. 

May the "sistas" continue to rise. You go gals.

A Fresh Start

I'm making a fresh start. 

My last blog, "Buzzing Around" was linked to my MBA course and my uni's email address. Having graduated, that's no longer available. So I had no choice.

The new background is brilliantly coloured ...yeah kinda psychadelic - not subdued. It's not that I have a sunny ebullient personality, I ponder too much for that. Rather, I'm independent, a bit of a maverick perhaps, and as a trained designer I love colour and design and details. Not that I'd wear a shirt in this pattern - too 70s for my personal taste. I actually love the 50s styles - full skirts (that I can't wear given my height and my new girth), peddle-pushers (aka capris), stovepipe pants, the 60s Jackie-O sheath (luckily I can still carry this look off especially if it has princess lines) and even the palazzos of the 90s. That's an eclectic mix. But I like what I  like.

 


So, I've decided to make this blog about what I like and sometimes what I don't. It won't be erudite. I may have a bit of a rant on occasion, but it's a way to express myself in a form that I enjoy...writing. Til next time.