Do you Zumba??

 

Have you guys heard of this new workout video which incorporates dance steps from Latin and Caribbean countries into the workout? I first saw Zumba advertised for the XBOX Kinect and I thought it was pretty interesting...I mean anyway to spice up your daily workout would be nice, don't you agree? Well just recently a friend of mines purchased the workout DVD and has been holding "sessions" in her basement.

At first it seemed too easy, not enough movement, and definitely not as much sweat as I was anticipating. Plus I didn't really feel a burn and being a person who thrives off of instant gratification, I was left wanting more. But as my granny would say "Who tell me say dat?!". The next day I woke up sore in places that I've never felt sore before, walking around at work with a crazy limp. I loved it!!! I knew at that point I've found something to supplement my workouts on a Sunday afternoon when I was too lazy to hit the gym.

After that first workout, the "sessions" got progressively harder and now I dare not think that I would be leaving that workout without sweating and aching. We've been meeting for about a month now and though I haven't lost weight (which I'm firmly blaming on the weights at the gym) I like the way I look and feel after a workout.

So have any of you tried Zumba as yet? Do any of you plan on giving it a try? Let me know if you are a fan or if it just doesn't hit that spot for you.


Until next time,
MM

I'm Back!!!



Geez, how many times to I have to disappear and return to realize this is where I belong.  The stray always returns to the milk...is that a saying or did that just pop into my head?? It seems so familiar. Oh well, either way I'm back!! I'll be posting in this blog and my spanking new blog Events Enthusiast. (http://www.eventsenthusiast.blogspot.com/)

As usual this blog will be my private spot for checking things off that wonder inside my head.  While my other blog is solely dedicated to all types of events and my love for planning them.  I am kicking off my event planning business this wedding season and I thought it'd be cool to simultaneously blog about my passion. I'd be able to store all my ideas while sharing them with you.

BTW, if any of you are planning your wedding or are planning any other special event in your life in NYC, Caraballo Events is offering their services for free for the first three months of the planning season (May-July)!!!!!

For more information contact Chyvone at chyvone@gmail.com.  She'll be looking forward to hearing from you.

So check back here and there (Events Enthusiats). Hope you all enjoy!


Until next time,
MM

Back In The Days...

...I would not have wasted any time going outside to play around in the snow. My sis was my wing man and after piling on all the old clothes my mother could find to keep us "safe" and "toasty" we would run out the back door and commence to playing the fool. Snow angels would be all over the yard (mines were always better if I do say so myself). My older brother use to force us to do flips off the back stairs into the pile of snow. Being that I was a freak about safety, I use to feel like I was about to die every time. I always visualize myself landing wrong and breaking my neck. Nonetheless I would flip because with everyone around it was soooooooo exciting. My sis and I would attempt to build the best snowman, but of course we did a botch job and only got the bottom circle to stand for a couple of minutes before it broke apart. With the snow all around us, sometimes with the snow still falling, it felt magical. It felt like we were part of another world for the time being.

Now my brothers are all gun ho about the snow. They were up late last night watching it fall (what losers!!!). And they woke up early this morning (by themselves mind you) and piled on their old clothes to go be the first to jump in the snow. I'm still getting over my sickness so I was advised to not go outside, but it sucks being in the house by myself. I want to go dunk someone's head in the snow, or jump on my little brother back and get a ride around the back yard like the queen that I am. (Side note: My little brother is taller than me, which sucks when I'm trying to get all up in his face but works out well at times like these.) As im writing this post my youngest brother is banging on the door for someone to let him in. He has obviously had enough of the snow and the cold. He is whining about his hands and feet falling off from frost bite. What does a 10 year old know about that?!? He is too funny right now. So, I suppose I should go help him out of his wet clothes. But he has to wait until I finish talking about him on this post. LOL, IM COMING TRAVISSSSSSSSS GEEZ, HOLD YOUR HORSES!

Until next time,(He is gonna hit me for taking so long)

MM

Aftermath of Hurricane Katrina: When the Rain Stopped Falling

The city of New Orleans without a doubt had it's back up against the wall when it came down to the fight against Hurricane Katrina. In 2005, Katrina hit land on August 29th and brought total destruction in tow. Being that New Orleans is a city situated several feet below sea level, had a very old, and weak draining system and was practically surrounded by multiple bodies of water, the flooding that quickly ensued was inevitable. The damage to the city was bound to happen with such a forceful NATURAL disaster on it's way. The shock that is associated with Hurricane Katrina and New Orleans wasn't the hurricane itself but rather the aftermath and clean up or lack thereof when the rain stopped falling. In the words of Dan Rather in the foreword to City Adrift: New Orleans Before and After Katrina, the aftermath " challenged directly some of our country's most cherished notions about itself: about our readiness and ingenuity in the face of trouble, about the quality of our leaders, and about the equality of our society".

"Everything that happened in Katrina was preventable, and everything that happened was predictable" stated George Haddow, former FEMA deputy chief of staff. These are my sentiments exactly. The lack of preparation for this disaster is what put the aftermath in a class all its own. The absence of emergency preparedness did the honors of tipping over the clean-up, into uncharted waters, which could have been an easier repair. In 2004 a disaster drill dubbed Hurricane Pam took place for the city to prepare for such a disaster. The lessons were not heeded. Warnings from the NHC were overlooked by the government and FEMA and FEMA's infrastructure was crumbling and led to terrible correspondence after the hurricane. There was too many people who could have helped that didn't. They were in perfect positions to put their hand out and offer assistance but that was not the case. All the leaders on all the levels of the government failed the city of New Orleans. Too much time was wasted on trying to figure out who was at fault than trying to fix the situation as quickly as possible. FEMA dropped the ball drastically when it came to aide after the disaster. Individuals did not get their relief trailers until eight months after the landfall of Katrina. The "wait and see" position that FEMA decided to take was beyond disappointing. You can't just let the people take care of themselves. It is not a plan of action but one of disregard. "The damaging aftermath can be substantially reduced by better planning, hard work, and most of all, a mind open to the nature of risk" was brought out by Marc Gerstein in Flirting with Disaster: Why Accidents Are Rarely Accidental.

"You can throw all the money in the world at preparedness, but you still have to be ready to go the minute the balloon goes up". Everyone involved could have done a better job at making sure the relief after Hurricane Katrina came quickly and efficiently. Instead persons waited around for days on end for aide to come their way and help them out of a terrible, disheartening situation. The sad thing is that many people knew what was likely to happen. Leo Bosner who was responsible for "national situation reports" commented that the city could wind up being submerged under several feet of water, and that it was a situation that worried him immensely. When they realized that a major evacuation wasn't in the works, they were stunned at the inaction of the government. When buses were sent out two days later for evacuations they were stalled due to "bureaucratic bullshit". All the deficiencies that came up during the drill of 2004 resurfaced their ugly heads during Katrina- they were never addressed. The conclusion of a U.S. Senate committee that investigated Katrina and its aftermath was that "Before the storm, government planning was incomplete and preparation was often ineffective, inadequate, or both. Afterward, government responses were often tentative, bureaucratic, or inert. These failures resulted in unnecessary suffering" as noted in City Adrift: New Orleans Before and After Katrina.

Many things went wrong concerning Hurricane Katrina, before, during and after. Blame was in a surplus and there was plenty to go around and plenty shoulders for it to fall on. Respectively everyone involved played a part in making this natural disaster a human disaster. But maybe if the preparation for the disaster was effective and panned out the way it was suppose to then many other points when the ball was dropped afterwards, could have been prevented.

The Dual Identity of New Orleans: Unique yet Trite

"I realized that New Orleans might be exotic in some respects but that in others it was exactly like everyplace else." These words were spoken by A.J. Liebling in New Orleans: The Making of an Urban Landscape as he dwelt on and came to terms with the reality of New Orleans situation and status as an American city.

New Orleans, though very unique in certain aspects, has been dragged down over time to come to resemble every other American city. Founded in the 1700's by the French, New Orleans quickly became inhabited by many persons from many diverse cultures. This melting pot of a city was truly a sight to see. Like every other southern American city at this time, New Orleans had slaves. The unique thing about this was that, it was the only city where slaves actually earned money and could save in order to buy their freedom from their masters. Though inequalities did exist, it was not strong enough to hold down the blacks to a point where progress could not be reached. Eventually, they set up a town called Fauborg Treme, which was a predominantly black community. Many black owned businesses and other ventures sprang up and succeeded in this town. They boasted a black-run newspaper, which was written in both Creole French and English. Also, Treme was the breeding grounds for the plot that led to Plessy v. Ferguson. Many great things happened it Treme, but as usual, all good things come to an end.

With the phenomenon of White Flight, New Orleans quickly lost it's footing on the pedestal. No longer were neighborhoods, schools, playgrounds, etc. integrated. Those who had the means to move and escape to the newly developed suburbs were taking advantage of the situation. Construction hit New Orleans hard as it tore apart their cities in order to build highways out into the suburbs. When re-construction of homes went up around the highways, they were built to aide segregation. One side of the highway held black housing facilities and the other side held those for whites. The peaceful, integration that existed in New Orleans would be no more, down even to present time. According to Peirce F. Lewis in New Orleans: The Making of an Urban Landscape he notes that "In New Orleans, as elsewhere, blacks are relatively poor and ill housed, and their neighborhoods are poorly attended by municipal services. Educational levels are low, crime rates high. Meanwhile, whites flee and the proportion of blacks continues to increase, as do the isolation and alienation of a population that sees itself abandoned and abused...typical of city after city across the United States". Also according to Hartman and Squires in "The Social Construction of Disaster: New Orleans as the Paradigmatic American City", New Orleans became "characterized by extreme levels of poverty and racial segregation". And this did not just occur over night it was a "cumulative result of a long history of institutional arrangements and structures that have produced current realities". One of those realities is the way that time has allowed New Orleans to slip away from its exclusive position into commonplace area.

Geographically, New Orleans is very unique. It is situated right on the banks of the Mississippi River (which actually created the city by river deposits and is known as the Crescent City) and started off as a port city for trade. The highest parts of the city are right on the banks of the river and the further you get from the way into the "back of town" the ground actually sinks a couple of feet below sea level. Douglass Brinkley makes mention of this in his book, The Great Deluge: Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans, and the Mississippi Gulf Coast, and connects it to a present day malady for the city. Because the lower levels are the area which were prone to flooding the most, there was where the settlement of the poor blacks were. Like every other metropolitan city in American, the poorer, under-developed neighborhoods are inhabited by the "poor black underclass". Geographically, there are ways that New Orleans steps out of that unique category and places itself in the realm of the other cities in America.

As if that wasn't enough Hurricane Katina came and made bad situations worse. The vulnerable people of New Orleans, with the weight of the world on their backs, were doomed against the disaster of Katrina. The fact that the city was built by water and in effect surrounded by water was definitely a factor from the city's history that lent a hand in making a bad situation worse. The politics that also go on with racial segregation and such also could have foreshadowed what was going to happen in Katrina concerning the poor black underclass. According to Hartman and Squires in " The Social Construction of Disaster: New Orleans as the Paradigmatic American City", "social capital - a resource most unevenly distributed by class and race" played a big role in the time of Katrina. Though New Orleans will, with time, recover from the face damage done by the disastrous hurricane, the internal damage that took place years ago doesn't seem to be on the up and up. Optimism in that area is very small. The beads are just going to lay where they fall.

The Audacity of Stupid People

Ok, so as I have said before my sister and her goofy beau are getting married in six months, May 22, 2010. They got engaged in December of last year and everyone was excited for them. When people heard the news they were all promising to my sister that they would not miss the wedding for the world, come hell or high water they were planning on being there. My sister wanted an outside spring wedding and so she was going to follow in in my parents' footsteps and have the reception in the backyard. My father promised her a grand tent with all the trimmings and everything seemed to be going great, on time and on track.

That is until my cousin in Florida came up with the great idea of having the wedding on one of his properties in West Palm Beach. Now my father jumped on the idea within seconds and not long after the happy couple was so in love with the idea they did not want to think of any other options. they were sold on have a mini destination wedding in Florida, a state neither of them had been too. So over the summer we all went down to WPB and helped to put everything in place, from the cake to the catering to the tent and extra trimmings. We were all excited about the progress we were making with the wedding, needless to say the couple were excited about the approaching wedding date.

When we came back from the vacation, we went to a little family barbeque and you would not believe the audacity of these stupid people. They jumped on my sister and her beau about moving the wedding to another state. They made them feel that it was beyond inconsiderate to do such a thing because a lot of people were tight on money and such. Plus they brought up the fact that many in the family don't ride airplanes and they should have taken that into consideration. So things blew over but recently they had a little gathering at my aunt's house and were over there bashing us for having the wedding in Florida. Are you kidding me with this nonsense right now? What the hell makes you think that you can dictate when and where someone should have THEIR wedding, their being the operative word. They are totally out of line for even thinking that crap out loud. But isn't family suppose to support you and be there for you when you need them most? Isn't your wedding one such time?

My sister said that those who really love her and want to be there will find their butts in WPB on May 22, 2010. Those who do not make it (for stupid reasons) she says that she will cut them off. Now this will be hard for her but trust, my sister is cold at times and it would be very easy for her to hold tight to this threat. I feel sorry for my family because they have opened up a can of worms they wish they never dug up. They cant win this fight because they all have the means to make the weekend trip. I won't lie, if they dont come to my sister's wedding, I think I would be inclined to remove them from my personal guest list---and yes I already have my guest list for my wedding :-)---and if ties are broken then so be it. Hopefully they check themselves EARLY and find themselves at that wedding in six months.


Until next time, (I'll be listening to my mom and sis talk about these ppl like you wouldn't believe...It's funny)



MM

It had me thinking...

I was on someone else's blog and her post had me thinking about the nonsense that went down between me and this chick in one of my classes last semester.

***Let me introduce by saying that group presentations should not be made mandatory, even in college. People are still immature and irresponsible, whether freshman or senior.***

So we are in class and my professor announces that we will be doing group presentations. Now I did not really care about this because some of my friends were in the class with me and we already were thinking of topics to present. But the next announcement he made was that our group members would be chosen by him and posted on Blackboard that night, no switching. What! How unfair...and it just had to be my luck to get stuck with an air head, a no show, and an over zealous lunatic.

Fast-forwarding to after the terrible, DISCOMBOBULATED (sound that out!) presentation, my professor says that he sees he will not be grading us as a group but rather individually, and says to the class that my A could not be dragged down by the air head's C-. So this chick thinks it is OK to start bad mouthing me...in my hearing rage...chick you must have been smoking something. Don't let the hair and the nails fool you trick, we can get it popping. Now I'm more of a lover than a fighter but sometimes these people just tick you off to the point of no return. I have been know to fly off the handle at the most inappropriate moments but I can't help it sometimes. Truly, I can't. You can take the girl out the yard (ghetto) but you can't take the yard (ghetto) out of her. I can attest to that statement.

She turns to her friends and start talking about how I did not deserve that grade I got, I was trying to show everybody up, I got the easiest portion (mind you she took first pick), and that she would give me piece of her mind after class. Now the TRINI in me flew out the flicking seat and was towering over her, daring her to say one more thing, to back up the foolishness she was chattering about, and give me one more reason to teach her a lesson. ***I am usually shy and quiet so for her to get me this mad must have been SOMETHING***Through the accent, she looked sooooooo scared which prompted me to continue on my rant of her ignorance and dumbness. I knew she could not fully understand what I was say but I had this Bajan chick cracking up in the back of the class. My professor had to walk over to me, carefully, and tell me that he was gonna knock down my grade if I kept it up.

Now because my grade was in jeopardy I shut up with the quickness and sit my butt right down in my seat. But after that day, she dare not cross my path, sit anywhere next to me or even look in my direction. HAHA!


Until next time, (I'll be reminding everyone, Don't let the hair and the nails fool you!)



MM

Random Happenings!!!

So one of my girlies got engaged this past Sunday. I'm so excited for the couple, I'm besides myself. Like seriously, they on their grown and sexy status, it is just too much. You just know it's true love and it's wonderful. And the RING!!!, OMFG! it is like a crater...its ridiculous. Not saying that the size matters more than anything else but it for damn sure makes an impression. I was jumping up and down like a mad woman, I was so happy for them. I can't wait for the wedding because I know it's gonna be off the hook. Like plaaa-dooowww...so eager for their big day!

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So I'm on the train coming to school and this guy is sitting opposite me. I'm reading my book so I don't notice that he is staring at me like thats just the thing you should be doing. When the train makes a sudden stop I look up and DAMNNNNN mister, ok you seen me , now look away. But oh no, instead of looking away he starts with this sly smile and gives me the "what's up" nod. I'm thinking to myself like uh uhhhh, it aint even gonna happen. You ain't getting my name, number, or age, whether it be fake or not. When most of the passengers get off the train, he gets up and comes to sit next to me but I try not to show like I notice and I continue reading my book. Like, are you serious right now with this? He says hi and wants to know where I'm on my way to. Now because I don't want to be rude for fear that he is a crazy nutcase, I say hello but that is all. (Once I was walking to the train station and this cute girl was walking in front of me. Now I was looking at how she was pairing her cute boots and her cut offs and wondering, actually hoping tha she did not go to school like that. Then this guy tries hollering at her and she keeps it moving without acknowledging him. BIG MISTAKE! The guy decides to throw a glass bottle at the chick's head and plaaaa-dooooowww. OH NO! From then on I always make sure I am cordial because I don't wanna get knocked upside my head with a glass bottle. But I digress) When I say hi to the guy on the train he gets up and starting talking smack..."These cute girls nowadays think they the s**t, they don't wanna have no conversation and they don't treat you like a grown man"...Like my dude what the hell do I owe you. I'm not your momma so I do not need to be talking to you. I got up out my seat, told him off, and hoped off the train with the QUICKNESS before I got snatched up. LOL. It was too funny. After the fact.

Until next time, (I'll be looking out for that dummy)

MM

Press Ons

When I was in high school I was the chick with the nails. My sis and I would get them done religiously, using our allowance to keep up with the times. It was fun, I'm not gonna lie. I got compliments on the colors and styles all the time, it was my thing. It got so bad that I would brag my bf to the nail salon. He hated me when I made him get high off of acetone.

But then when I became a senior and got a part time job, my mother made me pay for my own fill ins and then "magically" I realized how much I did not need the nails. It was not worth the $20 bucks I could have been spending on something else my mother was making me pay for myself. And so from then on I haven't put nails on, I've been trying my hardest to take care of my own nails and dress them up when I could.

Recently my friend got a set of Revlon Press On nails that she wanted me to review for her. The nails were super cute and I was excited to put them on. They weren't outrageous on the color nor the lenght, just right, just like I use to get them.

Aren't they just adorable?

Only thing is...I hated them. I got so accustom to my own nails these things were a terror. It was getting in the way of everything, I mean EVERYTHING...seriously. I nearly poked my eyes out twice, I scrachted myself a thousand times and I hurt my bf numerous of times, poor boy, he suffers when I suffer. I don't think that I will ever put nails on again, unless i'm forced to do it against my will (as I will be for my sister's wedding...she doesn't care what dress we wear but she is certain she wants us all to get our nails done...makes no sense) All natural is the way i wanna go from now on. A little polish will do just fine.


Until next time, (I'll be caring for my wounds)


MM

Peeves

OMG! I swear people irk my nerves beyond imagination. I learned a long time ago that you can not please everyone. Also you can not be friends with everyone, being cool and being friends is two totally different levels (in my book anyways). Well when I was younger I always wanted to fit in with everyone, and to this day I try and make it a point to show everyone that I have no reservations about getting to know anyone, no matter how different they may be from me. But there is a line that gets crossed when people alter themselves and their personalities to fit in with a group of people. That phony fake nonsense gets me upset beyond belief.

I always use to battle with this until I realized I was not benefiting from pretending to be someone and something that I wasn't. From then on when I saw others doing the same thing it would just irk me because I know that it isn't worth it and you would just end up losing out in the ending because you change yourself to fit others that you forget who you really are. It's just a world of chaos.

Something else that pisses me off till I wanna scream is jealousy. It is my belief that jealousy is a nasty disease and a lot of people I come in contact with seem to be really really sick. I mean, everyone has their strengths and weakness, there is no reason to be jealous of someone else. If someone has more money or more "things" than you, there is no reason to be jealous because you don't know what that person did or does to get those things. Now I'll be honest when I see someone looking nice, or when I see one of my friends getting a lot of things that I would love to get I'm always like DAMN yo, what about me?!? But instead of getting jealous, I try and do things to fix myself up and remind myself that my time will come eventually. Perfection takes time, didn't you know, LOL.

When I see people getting jealous of me for some odd reason or another, I quickly try and nip it in the bud. There is no reason whatsoever to ever be jealous of me. I am a firm believer in the fact that each person has their very own thing to offer the world and being jealous of someone else means that you are not taking advantage of your own special something. Just a thought.

I'm done with my ranting, LOL.


Until next time, (I'll be shaking my head)



MM