When is a good thing too much?
Posted by: Drake on: April 1, 2008
- In: Family| Friends
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It is a generally held belief these days that the odd glass or two of wine per week is good for your health. Too much though and at best you have a nasty hang over, at worst you need to rock up to your local AA meeting. Thing is, how do you manage that with people?
Friends that call too much or never at all. That cousin that always seems to be “passing through” and wants to crash at your place vs the much adored parent/sister/brother who never visits but you’re dying to host. And our favorite, subject of many an Agony Aunt letter, the boyfriend who gives too much or too little.
You don’t want to seem ungrateful when you’re being showered with attention but the there is that point… I had a girlfriend who was SUPER NICE. At first it was great. She was always thinking of nice things to do for me, showed up with flowers to dinner or lunch invitations, hand made my birthday cards. Awww sweet. Thing is, I’m kinda like that but not so much and after a while I started to fear having to match her generosity. Also, hello, doesn’t she have other Nouns to dote on?
Having people like this in my life exhausts me. But then I should be so lucky.
He cooks and cleans
Posted by: Drake on: March 9, 2008
At 40 pending, I’ve dated enough not so nice blokes (almost married one) to finally be able to separate the small minded from the big hearted. Last summer I threw my feathered and rosetted cap back into the dating ring and found it quite the three ring circus. For one reason or another I found myself living out episode after episode of Sex and The City meets Friends with nightmarish episodes of Ally McBeal thrown in just to make me THAT MUCH CRAZIER. Remember the dancing baby? Oi!
Christmas came and went as did memberships on Match.com, My Single Friend and Guardian Soulmates. I did meet a few interesting gentlemen (one in particular I hope to have as a life-long friend) but nothing fit just… so. Z-Girl says it’s all about timing but I like the way Samantha from SATC puts it, “Men are like cabs. They drive around dating women and picking them up, but their light isn’t on. When they want to get married, they turn their light on. And the next woman they pick up, they marry.” Oh so very true. Just be sure to avoid the crazy cabs. Fine ass girl like myself ain’t gonna marry any ol’ fool.
So I got bored of the sites I was using—same men over and over again, or the irritation of fancying someone and thinking they fancy you too but they’re on the damn site all the time. Well irritating man. Anyway… after about a two week break I decided to try Dating Direct after seeing a very funny TV ad for the site. I won’t go into the details (dull to anyone except me really) but here we are almost a month on and I’m in a cab with LIGHTS ON.
He cooks Coq au Vin. He cleans. If you want to know more, you’ll have to ask 
Letter to Hilary Clinton
Posted by: Drake on: February 26, 2008
Dear Mrs. Clinton. I have always been a fan and supporter. However, recent events regarding the alleged release of a photo of Barack Obama in a turban by your campaign has left me with serious doubts as to whether or not you are fit for the roll of President of a diverse country like the United States. You might want to pay another visit to the Statue of Liberty the next time you think about dirty campaign tactics like this. Shame on you.
Sent to her today via her website.
http://www.hilaryclinton.com
Hello luvver!
Posted by: Drake on: February 16, 2008
They are mine. I wear them with jeans. I wear them with a dress. I wear them with a skirt. I wear them with nothing at all.
I love wearing them. Hear me roar!
My horoscope is so spot on today
Posted by: Drake on: February 13, 2008
“You may think that time is running out, so you could get overly forceful in your search for happiness. But the greatest satisfaction may come from delving into the intensity of the uncomfortable places within your mind. Your tendency may be to avoid the darkness, yet this is where the treasures are hiding. Facing the unknown can catalyze the transformation of fear into love.”
Wisdom can sometimes be found in pop culture.
Plain English please!
Posted by: Drake on: February 13, 2008
I hate acronyms! ASAP, FYI, AYR, WIP, BAU, WAG, GNS, EMEA, BSU, MFS…. have mercy! And every new business, or new person trying to make a mark in an old business, feels the need to be oh so clever and add some ridiculous new one to the bloody list. When did we become too lazy to speak in complete sentences? Is it so exhausting to say “work in progress”? If that’s the case I suggest you either take some vitamins, get some exercise or find a good therapist.
I am now an Acronym Free Zone.
Don’t forget to say grace
Posted by: Drake on: January 28, 2008
I’ve been giving a lot of thought to the act and power of prayer. “Hail Mary full of grace…” “Bless me Father for I have sinned…” “Now I lay me down to sleep…” “Our Father who art in the penthouse…” That last one courtesy of Ani Difranco. Prayers are our deepest thought made real through the power of the spoken word. Our field of dreams. Build it and they will come—a new job, good news from an oncologist, conflict resolution over the bad state of a shared fence, the quiet moment when s/he says those words…
We pray for so many things but I often wonder how many prayers are issued in moments of fear or desperation? Do we pray when we’re happy? Pray in moments of gratitude? Do we ever thank Great Mother or Father for taking such good care of us, even when that care may deliver itself in the form of disappointment?
When I chant, more often than not, I forget to say thank you. In chanting Daimoku, there are prayers of thanks but those aren’t MY prayers of thanks. Tonight, I will change that and I will express and make real my gratitude for:
My family, friends, my health, my mind body & spirit, my femininity, my job, my financial stability, my very lovely home, my ability to feel every emotion under the sun so I am able to appreciate them in others, the wisdom others have shared with me, all the not so random acts of kindness that have been shown to me, my dearest Brenda, the always fab and fantastic Mrs. Sue Burbia, my mother’s life and death (as sometimes it is only through observing a life lived an ended that an understanding of those closest to you can be gained), my parent’s love for each other, their love for my brothers and me, new loves and old, love kept close and love long gone that was never mine to begin with, cashmere (c’mon!), good ol’ ICHS and the sisters I’ve reconnected with because of it, and finally… the freedom I have to express myself without worry.
It’s a start.
Peace.
Bad service in technology disguise
Posted by: Drake on: January 26, 2008
HSBC, you suck! Ok now that I’ve got that off my chest…
Back in the good ol’ days (Jamaica) I worked at a bank. It was a great job. Easy peasy. I sat behind this massive Unysis machine and posted cheques. Posting here means the process of running a cheque through a device that reads the three sets of OCR numbers that you see at the bottom of your cheque. They are usually the bank’s unique identifier, your account number, and the cheque number. All this data gets uploaded into a central system that batch processes over the next 24-48 hours and money magically moves from one bank/account to the next. It’s called posting as it replicates what used to happen back in the days of the trusty horse, carriage and steam ship delivery system.
So this was ummm, about 20 years ago. In Jamaica. A place some people like to call “Third World”.
Fast forward to January 2008 and HSBC has the BALLS!!!!!! to tell me that my cheque, because it’s issued from a “foreign” bank, might take up to eight weeks to clear. Yup, that’s right… EIGHT WEEKS! No I’m not living in the Solomon Islands. I live in London. Work in Canary Wharf, fast becoming the international financial centre. This from a bank who claims to be global in its operations. Forward thinking. Using the latest modern technology has to offer. Breathe girl… in, out, that’s it… before you pass out.
The thing that really got me going? I had to deal with this “customer service” moron who kept making up stories about why it takes that long. I told him I worked in a bank but he just blabbed on about “banking systems and protocol”. Go on buddy, dig that grave a little deeper with every word.
My solution? Not sure, but if you have any suggestions let me know. In every aspect of my life, I would prefer to be free to move about the planet.
Hold up! Rewind…
Posted by: Drake on: January 23, 2008
Let’s revisit this whole Tom Cruise mess. And his peeps can holla’ back all they want cuz freedom of this press is alive and well, yes?
Ok. I’m a firm believer in freedom. Freedom of speech, expression, the right to practice your religion of choice, the right to peacefully demonstrate, privacy, etc. For all these things I’m grateful. I only have one request… if you’re gonna put someone out there to represent your organisation or opinion, please make sure they’re not on drugs. Ok, amend that. Make sure they do not appear to be in some kind of altered state.
Here’s the thing. If people think what you’re selling is a lil’ loopy to begin with, you’re not gonna be lining up converts if you have someone on the wonky side of sensible doing your selling. A better choice would be someone like John Travolta. He seems like a nice, intelligent, even-keeled man. He’s got the wife and kids, can shake his money maker and fly a 747. Even more important, he is able to avoid abusing talk show furniture when he gets excited.
Mr. L. Ron Hubbard’s people can mail me a cheque for that snippet of very worthy marketing advice.
