My last Friday in Harlem

It is a cold, rainy day. The overcast sky and cool temperature seem to encourage nesting than flitting about to discover new views. I am still tired too.

I have a new respect for people who live in these big cities. I witnessed first hand how complicated the laundry procedure is. It's even worse if you have to climb stairs. That said, I did my manual labour this morning helping Harlem Mama take the laundry upstairs. This work is no joke.

Plus I have been getting a lot of excercise. We walk everywhere. I haven't been on a bus or in a train since I have been here, but I also haven;t left Harlem.

Yesterday I went to the Harlem Museum with my little three year old niece, Melibug. We looked at art and we stood back and I allowed her to tell me what she saw. She is such a little artist herself. She saw suns and moons in things I didnt even dream of. But I quite like her perspective.

I should be going to MoMA (Museum of Modern Art) today. I am really looking forward to that. I really want to visit as many museums as I can in this trip. I think my life, as I know it, will forever be changed.

A plea for motion and wide open spaces

I want to jump on a plane. I just want to see something different. Even a car or a boat. I just want to be moving for longer than 15 minutes without going around in circles.

I know I am going to go soon enough (if you can classify 7 months as such)... just feeling a little claustrophobic and stagnant today. I feel like wide open spaces and lots of motion today.

[after a long break]

I went on a journey in cyberspace... looking at all kinds of things that interest me. It's funny but I seem to be learning more about Jamaica since I left.

I want to visit the National Gallery when I go back home.

I miss dance classes at Edna Manley School of the Visual Arts. I think that as long as I live in Kingston, or have access and time to it, my life will be filled with wonderful artistic classes, whose aim is not to pass any exam but to find self expression.

I believe there is something wrong with the education system. It teaches everybody the same thing over and over. Maybe I should have gone to Art School instead of CARIMAC, but CARIMAC was a hybrid, of sorts. Still not enough creativity there though.

Anyway... I am taking a musical journey on my world beat show tonight. I look forward to that. This time, I will ensure that the live streaming actually works ahead of the show. My bad for thinking that it ought have been so without my prodding...especially since I don't work there and don't even get paid. But it's my show I care about, and my international listeners, who give me so much love and support. Word on the ground is that locals and expatriates are listening and liking. Hmmn... not bad after all.