Labels

I decided to jot down a few thoughts on what I call "LABELS." I was born in England, I am black, my parents are from the Carribean island of Antigua, and I am a Canadian citizen, having lived in Canada for well over 30 years. In today's "politically correct" society, I would be labelled as "African Canadian British Carribean." Personally, I wonder why we can't just can't be Cathy or Sarah or Frank or even Achmed for that matter. Why, because you are of a different ethnic heritage do you automatically get stuck with a label. How many times have you heard a black American being "labelled" as African American? Obviously, they are black which one would assume means that way back in history one of their ancestors originated in Africa. What "label" do you use on a person who was born and raised in say Austraila. Their ancestors and others before them all were born in Austrailia and did not immigrate from any other country. They would be known as Austrailian, am I right?
The point I am trying to make is that yes I am black and yes my parents are from the Carribean and yes I was born in England and I am proud of my complete heritage. Being Canadian, however, I want to be seen as Canadian FIRST AND FOREMOST. This in no way means that I am abandoning my ancestry. I love this country and frankly I can't see myself living anywhere else. The day I received my Canadian citizenship, had to be the proudest moment of my life and if I may be so bold, anyone who has become a citizen of another country would feel the same way. I say do away with the "labels" altogether. We don't need them to know that we are proud of who we are or our heritage.

Owning Your Own Home

I am finally taking the plunge and (hopefully) joining the masses of home owners. My significant other and I put in a bid on a local house for sale. Barring a major catastrophe (say, during the home inspection scheduled for next week, there are thousands of dollars in repairs needed), looks like the deal may be a go. Entering into this new phase of our lives is both exciting and scary. We are trying not to let the stresses of expense get to us. I imagine every person who buys a home for the first time wonders about whether or not they can afford it. I've never had to pay for gas or oil or utilities in my life. The first few months will be difficult I am sure, but, I know that we will persevere. If anyone out there has tips on how to decorate a home, utility expenses, or just plain words of wisdom or advice, it would be greatly appreciated. Wish us luck, fellow bloggers. I'll keep you posted as to how things are going in the weeks and months ahead.

Reality Bites

I know. Weird name for a title, right? Well, at least I can score myself one for originality. Anyhoo......seeing as how I haven't posted in a few months, I thought I'd let loose on the things I like to do. One of those things is being a reality TV whore...(eeeek). I know, I know, I have definite views on reality telivision and yet somehow got myself suckered into the masses who watch (or videotape or TIVO them each and every week). The only two that really interest me are American Idol and America's Next Top Model. Gotta get my fix each and every week. It amazes me how these people rise up out of obscurity to become America's (and possibly even North America's, as I watch from my televison in small town Ontario, Canada) darlings. On Idol, my top pick has to be Paris Bennett. She is a little bundle of dynamite. I also enjoy seeing Kelly Pickler. You know you've got it made when your picture ends up in someone's blog (which I discovered a couple of days ago). Every time I see her, I just have to smile. She reminds me of Ellie Mae Clampett from The Beverley Hillbies fame making it into bigtown USA. Being unpretentious, real and knowing where she came from is going to carry her a long way in the competitiion.
On the guys side, I adore Kevin. He is just so cute and cuddly and makes geeks everywhere look sexy. I hope America keeps him around for a while. Elliot Yamin (I think that's his name, looks kind of Jewish) should go very far. He has an amazing singing voice though I don't know if he has the look they want for an Idol winner.
America's Next Top Model is so cool because of course Tyra Banks just inspires me so much. She encourages all of the girls to be true to themselves and I really admire that. If I was 20 years younger, I'd be jumping right in with the rest of them (Hardy Har Har). However, being Canadian, I don't think I'm eligible. Oh Well, there's always Canada's Next Top Model. YES, we did it again. Anything American's do, we (think) we can do better. Only time will tell of course. Anyway, that's all for now fellow bloggers. Until next time, be true to yourselves and ...yaddda, yadda, yadda.

Adoptions

My thoughts on adopting - I live in Canada and I have heard that it is very difficult to adopt a child in this country. It appears that there are more and more international adoptions going through. One wonders what is happening to the children waiting for homes right here in Canada. You would think that the Canadian government would make it easier to get a child here. Not that I am against international adoptions. There are millions (yes even billions) of children world wide that need good, stable homes. I just think that more Canadian kids would be able to have permanent, loving homes if the powers that be made the process easier and more accessible to those people looking to expand their families.

Welcome World

Hello out there. I'm new to this so excuse my inexperience. I thought I would join the masses and see what blogging is all about. Thoughts on People, Places and Events can cover just about everything so, I welcome any feedback anyone may have. I guess I'll have to start and see what comes up.

Well, I'll start by saying that man's depravity to man has no bounds. Just when I think I've seen and heard everything, reality comes along to give me another "kick in the pants." I'm a very sensitive soul so when I hear about any type of inhumanity, I just have to wonder, what makes a person do some of the things that they do? A lot of things happen in life that just make me (and many others I am sure) start to question life's meaning and exactly what our purpose here is.

Before I go any further, I am not a bible thumping religious fanatic. I know for myself, I've always tried to live my life the best way that I can. I've done a lot of things I am not proud of but all in all I consider myself to be a good person at heart. It's just that sometimes, things happen and I just have to wonder where eventually "WE" are going to be in the next 20 to 30 years. I like to think that this place we call earth will still be inhabitable. Sci-Fi movies showing the earth becoming this vast and desolate wasteland terrify me. I believe that we have to do all we can to keep that from coming to fruition.

Whew....well, there are some of my thoughts anyway. I have lots more that I will try to impart periodically. As I mentioned earlier, any feedback about anything at all would be most welcome. I love talking to and meeting new people. With the daily happenings on news reports from around the world, there can be no end to conversational topics.

I now await patiently for comments, ideas, rebuttals....anything. Thanks to the world wide web for giving me a chance to "bare my soul" as it were.