To the Black girls who don’t let their hair get in the way of their lives.

First of all CONGRATULATIONS to Gabby Douglas.  You are AMAZING! Do not and I repeat DO NOT let anyone distract you or steal your joy with this useless prattle. Especially about hair!!

In my opinion hair should not be that big of a deal. I understand that we ethnic people have a big task when it comes to managing our hair but I really wish we didn’t let it consume us. Hair is supposed to be fun, something we change when we feel like, have fun with it. It shouldn’t be something that hinders us and it especially should not be the focal point of this amazing girl’s life. She’s an athlete, she sweats and I’m pretty damn proud of her for not letting her hair get in the way of her dreams. It seems silly to a lot of people but there are a lot of black people who have shied away from sports and activities at the gym because of something as trivial as hair. I can’t possibly for the life of me get into the black hair argument because its roots are too deep for one blog post to unravel the politics here. However, it is not too much to ask that we stand behind one of our own without tearing her down.

Personally there is nothing wrong with her hair. I am really wondering what all the fuss is about. I don’t see anybody harassing the Olympic swimmers about their frizzy after pool hair so why are we making this and issue… And lest we forget, for Christ sake she’s a child. Has the advent of bullying behind our screen made us so immoral that we’ve forgotten our courtesies?  Bullying is never right, but it is extra distasteful when the Internet, full of adults, take to social networking sites to negatively critique a child. Please…just…stop. The notion that her hair is not kept is archaic and stupid. As a woman I’m annoyed that people still look upon us as objects to be kept in line, and as a black woman I’m furious that the way our God given hair reacts to moisture is seen as unkempt.  There are a million positives that we should take away from Gabby’s story

… Her gold medal for one!

… Her sacrifice. How many of us realize that this little girl moved away from her family in order to pursue her Olympic dreams? How many of us adults can do the same? How many of us can be so disciplined for our craft? She found something she loved and she went after it.We should be telling our little girls that this is what hard work and dedication brings. Yet we are focused on her hair???

Are we that afraid of letting the world see our naps.???

Dear Gabby your story is an inspiration to me and to millions of people around the world. You said in an interview that when other people see you, you want them to say if Gabby can do it, I can do it too. I am no gymnast but the stories of people like you fighting for your dreams everyday makes it much easier for me to continue fighting for mine.

 Dear critics, back away from your screen and go pursue your dreams or something.

And to the black girls who don’t let their hair get in the way of their lives. Keep your beautifully kinky head up :)

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Life as a Game of Thrones groupie

I am just going to put it out there for the hundredth time. Incase you didn’t get the point yet. I am Nadja Thomas and I am a Game of thrones groupie. Probably the biggest game of thrones groupie there is but then there are those of you who have entire blogs dedicated to these books who would beg to differ. The point is I graduated from Team Harry Potter and I’ve grown some pubic hairs and a pair with these new books. I’m sure a lot of you don’t get my obsession and this post is EXACTLY for you because I don’t know how to say it, if you’re a book enthusiast and you’ve never read or you don’t appreciate A game of Thrones you just may be an idiot…

I mean there are seriously no other books that I’ve read that rival these books. I know of none. I’ve heard Tolkien’s work in Lord of the Rings is a  masterpiece but let’s be honest here I don’t see how twenty something pages of talking trees could be fascinating. But I never read Tolkien so you never know, it’s quite possible that I’ll be writing a blog as the newest member of team Tolkien in the near future, but I could scarcely sit through any of those movies much less for the books.

But in all seriousness George RR Martin (or GRRM as we fans who swear we know him like to call him )  has done something beautiful here . He’s married a plethora of brilliantly written characters to a rich storyline. I swear at times I can’t take it. It is so well done that at times I think he’s fronting for a team of writers. How could one man create something so beautiful?

For me as an aspiring novelist he has seriously challenged me to be the best writer that I can. For instance, I’ve been wondering what’s more important for years. Do the characters make the story or is it the story line? Do you prefer a story in which your characters are so intriguing that you won’t care if the story revolves around them taking a dump or would you prefer less memorable characters entangled in a thick steamy edge-of-your-seat plot? GRRM answers that question for me. He proves that it is more than possible to have both without any one being less important. In his Game of thrones series the plot is as developed as his characters and that Ma dear is no easy feat.

My amateurish novel writing knowledge and experiences were heightened once I was exposed to GRRM’s work. I mean he EASILY has over 200 characters in these books and they all seem real, you can even tell that he paid attention to detail with even the minor characters. Everything fits. No action is uncharacteristic of any character yet no action is predictable and most of all he has created an entire world, no not a half world where we have no idea what happens to the families that aren’t directly in the line of fire. He sort of shows us how interconnected life is, How one event is the catalyst for another in life and no matter how hard we try we can’t stand alone in this world.

So if you’re clueless about how the world works, if you’re a future novelist and want a taste of what real characters feel like please pick up the Game of Thrones series. I’m only on book two and I am so moved. I think I’ll make it my mission to try to get the whole world to read these books haha!

P.s. George R R Martin (or GRRM as I like to call you)

You da man!

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It Fit

"So let us all be aware of how we entertain angels unaware.
For angels do move through men, whether here or from there."- Morgan Heritage

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Life on my hands: Up-side-down/Right-side-up

This weekend I did a handstand. It wasn’t pretty and it took over a million attempts, not to mention I was aided by the salt water that I was swimming in, but the point is my hands touched the bottom and I stood inverted even if it were just for a second…. And well, I liked it. There is something about being upside down and still standing that makes for a moment of enlightenment, well for me at least. Like my handstand experience a lot of things in my life have been turned upside down. It is a scary feeling, but unlike my handstand I didn’t have the power to go back to my usual point of reference. I was forced to feel around in the dark and make my situation comfortable when all around me was different.  Once you start to feel around in that moment of confusion you’ll realize in retrospect maybe we get too comfortable with our lives being right side up. The real challenge comes when we have no idea where to start living, because life as you knew it is forever gone. But maybe life isn’t supposed to ever get too comfortable and maybe it’s supposed to shake us up so we can look at it from different vantage points. Maybe the real test is what we make of life no matter our disposition …… so maybe, just maybe, life on my hands can  be beautiful.

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Creative Envy

 Yes, sometimes I feel like I hate my passion. I don’t even know if that makes any sense. But I do. Today I saw these gorgeous photographs and then some gorgeous sketches from an artist’s collection and after being blown away I started feeling a tad bit jealous, well more like very jealous.

You see the thing with writing (I’m talking about my novel writing here) is that you never really get to show off your masterpiece. You know how photographers get to show their stellar portraits and artists get to show off their pieces, fashion designers their clothes?

Well, it’s different for the writer, well for me at least.

Everyday I put down words  and the only person I share them with is myself .  A sample page from a book is just not impressive if we don’t have access to the rest of the story. I don’t expect anybody to be moved by a single paragraph.

 There are days that I work on this book and I’d step back and marvel at some pretty dope dialogue but you know I can’t just put it up and go this is some pretty good stuff check it out. Or I can’t say tell me how you like this sentence I just constructed. It just doesn’t work that way when you’re trying to write a book. I’m secretly jealous of other artists, I mean, while I can’t pick up a page from my book and display independently they can pick a piece out of their unfinished collection and give the world a peek. Their pieces can often times stand on their own and leave the rest of us in awe.

But while I was sulking I also came across a passage that said something like this, “the search for immediate gratification is like a craving for sugar or nicotine” so I better heed the warning. I think any creative person just really wants to share what they do and have people love it, but that desire in itself is pretty dangerous.

My frustration with my writing isn’t all for shallow reasons though. I’ve realized I cannot separate my experiences from my writing; they somehow seep in there. I mean how do I expect a lover or ex lover to not cringe when they read some of the stuff I write. I’m actually laughing out Loud right now as I reminisce on some of my personal experiences that I’ve used as scenes in my book.  In any case I think writing is one of the freest mediums that allows for total self-expression. I’d be cheating if I left some of my personal experiences out. Actually scratch that, I don’t think it’s humanly possible that a writer not put some of himself or herself in there but it sure leaves you feeling naked.

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Life and Art

Lately I’ve been totally engrossed in the series “A game of thrones”. Not only are there wicked titles like ( A song of fire and ice !!! *shudders * ) but the series is honestly one of the best things I’ve seen on television in a while. I was totally absorbed; sometimes I had to stop watching. It was almost too real for me. At times I found myself needing to take a break from what seemed to be real life. Until I realized that I was actually taking a break from the fantasy.  

I am also reading the books as I had heard so many great things about them. I mean there are forums of people begging for the author to finish the series (just incase he dies).  The response to both the series and the books is astounding as this is fantasy. The thing most adults feel that they are too mature for and in this case the type of fantasy that is too adult for kids. (that may be debatable). I applaud George R R Martin for creating characters so real and complex that they sometimes make you forget that they aren’t in our realm. I loved and hated how he made no one clear cut good or bad. Sometimes I think fiction gets it better than real life.  Fiction does a great job of showing us that good people can do bad things and that bad people sometimes do good things. That we possess both qualities and situations bring out the best or worst in us. (For the most part).

What I like even more about this series is that he has constructed a whole world of people that feel like people I know or have come across in real life. We all know an Arya or Daenerys (plus they have killer names).  So it makes it even easier to relate to the story.

A Game of thrones, whether deliberate or not is about the empowerment of characters who in real life are often times oppressed. Women be it through family position, or sexual acts dominate even though they live in a world that is inherently all about men. Then there is the midget Tyrion who scarily seems taller and taller the more you come to know his story.

Overall it’s an effing brilliant set of characters submerged in a world that mirrors real life  (well except the magic I guess). Everybody should check it out. After all you’d only be missing out on the best piece on television in the last what 10 years? (Spoken like a true fanatic, no shame)

…And I love how this post was supposed to be about Life and art using A game of thrones as an example and ended up being a Game of thrones fan tribute. Mehhhhh we can always get back to the life and art business another day.

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The Fish bowl Effect

So I was reading this article where they were talking about a much-debated topic.  That topic being, Facebook and employers. The article stated, and though I think this is a little hard to believe, but it stated that some employers are even asking for your facebook passwords. Now I’m a little outraged. Yes I get it that what we put on the internet is a direct reflection of our judgment etc but think about this for a while.

If the generations before the internet boom think  back to their childhoods and the silly things that they did with their friends, some wise stuff, some not so wise stuff, they’d realize this current generation is not so different. The only big difference however is that society has evolved. There was no way to capture half of the things that the older generations did in the past but now technology allows us to record every waking moment.  The current generation (what I like to call the Internet generation) are like fish in a glass bowl. Constantly being looked at. I hear people say well the solution is easy, stay away from fb and twitter and cameras etc but what we have to realize that this is all part of life today as we now it. Avoiding such things in this day and age is unnatural. It’s like sending smoke signals when email has been invented. We are encouraging people to hide, and  all parents out there who’ve raised teens  know that being open is 99 percent of the time the best route to follow.

 My point here is that technology has just made it easier for us to communicate. People haven’t really changed that much,  we made questionable decisions back then and we make questionable decisions now, it’s just that we can record it now. Before the technology boom there was no fish bowl. People were allowed to grow, learn, mature. Make their own questionable mistakes, reflect and move on. By prying so much we now deny people the right to be human. We retard personal growth of the individual. People can always pretend to be who you want them to be on Facebook , linkden, twitter and the list goes on. Let’s stop encouraging hypocrisy and think about  this for a moment. We are not allowing people to be themselves. In essence what we are doing is punishing a generation that did not ask for the world to be revolutionized in this way for the effects of new inventions. We all need our personal space. The funny thing is that in this day and age personal spaces have become public venues and that is more the fault of inventors and not society at large.

 How would you like to grow up in a glass house? 

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What are you guys up to ?

I haven’t written anything of substance because quite frankly I don’t think I’ve had anything profound to say lately. Maybe I’ve been too nervous hoping and praying that they’ve clouded my thoughts. I can’t offer advice on the world or any analysis because … well because I have no concrete proof that any of my  theories make sense or work…. But I missed posting. Putting my words out there and sitting on my bed wondering which continent is going to tune in next (bizarre I know) but when I see people from different countries check my blog I get all tingly inside. Have you guys ever played that game where you pick somebody out at random? (usually in an airport or somewhere where you have to wait for a while). Anyway you pick them out and you start guessing their story. Well yeah I do that with my viewers. I wonder about their gender, what food they may like, fashion sense , surroundings, points of view. What funny stories they have to tell… yeah I do that, and each country allows me to think up newer even better stories. Basically I wanted to say what’s up because even when I’m not posting I wonder what you guys are doing.

XOXO

Nadja

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Vision Board Madness

I have decided to make a vision board in order to stay on track with my 2012 resolutions. Hey it's worth a shot! Plus I need a visual reminder every now and then.  I tired to do this the old school way by just sticking pictures together but I opted for an online version in the end. So I hopped on over to oprah.com and created my vision board.

So my goals are:

FINISH WRITING MY BOOK!!!
- Get into school
-Read more
-Write more
-Get fit
-Stay healthy
- Get better at doing my makeup
-Get better at my photography
-Master photo manipulation
- Be happy!!!!!
- Be a little more outspoken, because I have stuff to say :)

Give the vision board a shot, or if you already have one tell me how it has been working for you.

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People don't stay down forever

Sometimes I think the world would be much better if we realize that life is about simple truths. Sure the great philosophers are on to something too… but we could get by if we understood some basic things. Like this one…. “People don’t stay down forever”  

My week has been up and down, for every great moment there has been an equally bad one but they say those are the things that you endure while you’re trying to become somebody. I think my journey would be that much easier if people would recognize that I will not always be the underdog. Don’t get me wrong I don’t plan on punishing anybody for making my journey hard. I’m just wondering why is it that we can’t be pleasant and respectful to the underdog. Are we too close-minded to realize that this world is small, we are all connected in someway and the person you spit on today may be the one who has to rescue you tomorrow?  (I randomly remembered the movie crash here)

A family friend once told me that her mother always believed in considering the rights of children. This is a bit strange for Caribbean society as most people under the age of 18 in the Caribbean (or at least those I knew) were expected  to do exactly what they were told, no questions asked (questioning authority was considered rude). Children grow up, they become leaders and their memories don’t magically fade with age.

 … People don’t stay down forever

And sometimes I feel too drained to fight with the universe but I trust that it will be fair enough to at least let me reap the seeds that I’ve sown.

- Sitting in the underdog’s throne

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