Long day...

A moment of silence for those affected by the Boston Marathon bombings. Seriously world... I don't understand why there are people out there that would do that. I can understand having issues with stuff and protesting and trying to get your say. I can understand strong emotions and feelings. I can't understand hurting other people for an as-yet-unexplained reason. 

TriniLikeSalt, who I met at my very first tweetup and who also took my photo for his Thousand Faces project, lives in Boston. He and his family are fine but I'm now stalking his tumblr and twitter feeds to make sure all is well in his world... or as well as it could be. I know people who have family in Boston. I've almost made it to Boston but just couldn't get the time. 

My heart hurts for you Massachusetts. Sending positive vibes your way.  

I know there's a lot of stuff that happens in different parts of the world but... it always impacts more when you have a personal connection. Sending positive vibes to our world.

Today we had the shaving ceremony for my mom. In Trinidad and Tobago it takes place on the 10th day after the funeral... I'm assuming it would be the same elsewhere. Males go to a source of flowing water (river/sea) and do rituals (offerings and shaving and etc.). Females stay at the house of mourning and cook the favourite foods of the deceased - which in itself is a bit of ritual. I did not sleep well and woke up with a headache. Rituals and such start *early* - people were at my house by 6 a.m. I'm glad we're doing all the rituals though... the mother wanted her final rites to be done according to Hinduism and I think it's only right that we do them to the best of our ability.  

I am missing her presence... especially, I suppose, as I'm not feeling so fabulous. Tomorrow I go back out to work - took extended sick leave to be able to stay home this long. I am concerned about my brother as both my dad and I will be out of the house. I think thus far we've been handling her passing well but we've also been on the go... always had something to do since she's passed. Now everything is slowing down and we're all going to have to adjust. 

I've always known that I have no problems facing my own death... it is the death of my family members that will shake me. It is indeed a test to put all that I know into practice.     

peace,

Ren

Went to my first Tweetup...

"The qualities that make Twitter seem inane and half-baked are what makes it so powerful." ~Jonathan Zittrain

I've been on Twitter since February 2009 but I've only really been on Twitter since last year... I'm not sure when. I'm not sure how I got back into using it either - found out some months ago that Shoeaholic (a.k.a. @racheltnt) had an account and suddenly we were both very active on the Twitter scene. I've written a bit about my thoughts on Twitter before... and Shoeaholic has as well.

I guess I should say that we went to our first tweetup last night. It was fairly awesome... much more fun and much less awkward than I thought it would be. I'd seen the tweets about it during the week - TriniLikeSalt (a Trini living in Boston) is here on vacation and persons decided that a tweetup was in order (to reconnect? lime? ole-talk? all of the above?). I'd been badgered about it by Marc (networking and connecting with fellow Trinis is a good thing he says). Paula told me she was attending and that she was travelling to get there (travelling! in the rainy-gloom that was this Sunday in Trinidad and Tobago! oy!). I told Shoeaholic we'd go but was really sleeping away the rainy afternoon till she showed up at my house and I had to scramble to put on clothes and make myself presentable. 

We went to our first tweetup. Got there half an hour later than we said we would (still early if you're going by Trini-time). Got our photos taken by TriniLikeSalt as part of his photography project - A Thousand Faces (was secretly excited - I think the project is awesome... that he's managed to reach that far? even more awesome... could I do that? Um...idk). Met new people - do they count as new if you've never met in person but have chatted online a gabillion times? Hmm... met people for the first time in person and also met new people that I've never spoken to/tweeted before. It was surprisingly easy to slip into conversations... a continuation of Twitter conversations - just in person and with much more raucous laughter. Good to know that people you think are pretty cool online are even more cool in person. 

There's also the factor that no people can lime like Trini people. We're fairly awesome. I recommend to the world at large that you find a Trini to lime with :)

Am fairly pleased with how this being-on-Twitter thing has been working out. Give it a try if you're up for it... or think you are... there are endless connections to be made, information to be sourced and definitely a lot of fun to be had. Yay Twitter! 

peace,

Ren