Naba

Today will be the last day I see my friends Jessica and Johann for a long while. They're moving to Alberta (I live in Ontario) to continue both education and career.

This is a smart couple, each having their own special academic interests - which makes for great conversation. They also have their own dynamic which is funny and sweet. Johann is hilarious, a big teaser, a bit sneaky (in a good way) and intelligent. Jessica has great energy, is articulate and always surprises me by her knowledge.

Tonight is their going away party, with a cowboy theme as they set off to Calgary.

Good luck on your journey, guys. I'll miss you!!

Well I am just chuffed.

I've just accepted a position as Contest Girl on CBC's countrywide Saturday morning radio show, GO!. How WONDERFUL. I was told it was a unanimous decision, and I tell you, I could feel the positive energy even during my interview/audition.

It was fun, funny, and a collaborative, creative effort. I also get to showcase my skills as a host personality. It's FABULOUS, and now I get to do it every week.

Thanks CBC!

A 29-year-old girlfriend (who is single and dating) who has been in to the doctor's for a check-up told me the following story.

"I wanted to know about this HPV vaccination business. The doctor really pushed that I get it, so he gives me a prescription and only THEN do I find out it's a $400 procedure. As if I have that kind of money laying around. Then I went to another (female) doctor and she basically shrugged her shoulders and said, 'Sure. You could get it if you wanted to'."

Another friend we were with told her the vaccination hasn't even truly proven to be effective. I thought I'd check that out. HPV is basically a virus that infect mucus membranes. There are different types, some of which are transmitted sexually. Most cases of cervical cancer are caused by HPV.

Enter the vaccine. In the US and Canada there are state- and province-wide calls for vaccination, because, ostensibly, governments want to prevent women from getting cervical cancer.

But according to studies done by doctors Jane Kim and Sue Goldie, which were published in the New England Journal of Medicine, there is no conclusive evidence that being vaccinated for HPV will have long-term beneficial effects - especially if you're older than 21.

Reading the doctors' study might be a bit confusing, but Dr. Charlotte J. Haug, editor-in-chief of The Journal of the Norwegian Medical Association, summarizes it well with the following:

"Despite great expectations and promising results of clinical trials, we still lack sufficient evidence of an effective vaccine against cervical cancer...By the summer of 2007, there were definitely promising results with regard to the effectiveness of the HPV vaccine in the prevention of precancerous lesions...However, serious questions regarding the overall effectiveness of the vaccine in the protection against cervical cancer remained to be answered, and more long-term studies were called for before large-scale vaccination programs could be recommended. Unfortunately, no longer-term results from such studies have been published since then."

So it seems governments may be administering vaccines that are either unnecessary, not worth it or even harmful. In the meantime, women and their daughters are giving governments money in trepidation - for shots of "maybe".

Let it be said: I truly love my best friend in life.

The one I love is the most naturally supportive and understanding man I've had the opportunity to know so personally. I am honoured and glad he is the number one fan of me - and my continued happiness.

I should tell you about my funk pusher. I've known him for about 10 years. From our first meeting, our relationship revolved around music. This is a guy who was always turning me on to good music, new and old, with a serious bent on funk, house and soul.

He never lets me down.

Unfortunately, FP has moved to a Caribbean country to pursue a career in medicine. Yes, FP is a genius too.

But Skype is a wonderful thing, and FP sent me a youtube video that had me looking for torrents like a mad woman.

Osunlade is an is an ordained priest in the African religion of Ifa. He is also an artist producing afrohouse, a genre of music I sometimes forget I love because I own so few albums and I have somehow let "life" prevent me from pursuing music. I'm back now, and here is Osunlade's video Rader Du, featuring Wunmi.





Osunlade is playing at Toika Lounge tomorrow night. Should be a beautiful time.

Wow. Two major entertainers gone in one weekend. I was really surprised by Isaac Hayes' death; there was nothing to precipitate it. He was on his treadmill at home.

Bernie Mac hadn't even been 50 for a whole year yet. He did have some lung problems that caused complications when he was hit with pneumonia. His family was by his side until the last moment and he gestured to his wife that his body was tired.

This reminds me of my own father's death. My father passed away in his 59th year quite suddenly after having a stroke. He took his last breath on Father's Day.

Daddy worked so hard from the moment he came to Canada from Ghana to provide a good life for his three girls. My mother was his beacon of strength and his best friend every day. As far as I'm concerned, he died having done his very best, and succeeded in his goal.

I know what Mac's and Hayes' families are feeling. But just as I did for my mother, I feel sorriest for the women who stood by their sides. No matter how much I might miss my father, I'm sure nothing compares to losing a beloved husband.

Nothing compares to losing your best friend.

This is my vision board. If you've read anything about creating what you want in life, then you'll know there is a point at which you've simply got to let go of your desire so things can happen.

According to the law of attraction, your thoughts and feelings can cause changes in the world that attract positive or negative experiences that correspond to your thoughts and feelings, whether or not you're aware of it.

This concept is hotly debated in my home and considered pseudoscience in the scientific community. Still, it has been written about by many including Michael Losier and Esther and Jerry Hicks. According to the theory, we can sometimes get in our own way. We don't "allow things in". We keep having thoughts involving doubt, which steer desire off its own path.

One way to keep the mind focused is the self-motivating act of creating a vision board. Really just a positive thinking assignment, the vision board involves taking images and words that move you and putting them all in one spot. You then place it somewhere prominent so you can be constantly reminded of your goal, and get all those positive fuzzy feelings that prevent you from sounding like Eeyore.

I like my vision board. I put it on a bright pink poster and grouped words and images in main goal areas including inner beauty, health and travel.

Looking at it really buoys me up. I think that's the point.

Here is Esther Hicks as Abraham, speaking on the Law of Attraction:

Sprained my ankle at soccer today.

I don't think I've ever played soccer.

I play with a social league that plays a different sport every week. This week, someone decided we play on an uneven field with pot holes.

So: newbie player with unbridled energy + grass-covered, crater-filled field = sprained ankle.

Hurts.

There are few people with whom I can feel comfortable discussing spiritual matters. It seems over the years, through my reading and thinking about things, that my spirituality has grown quite far away from others.

This isn't to say I'm the only one who thinks what I think. It's just that there aren't many people I feel I can talk to about these things. I'm one of those people who has many friends on Facebook. People tend to like my high energy personality, my vibrant nature. But I'm not sure many know I believe in spiritual oneness, intuitive abilities, beings outside of earth (including what we call angels), and other dimensions. I'm not sure anyone would want to talk about this stuff with me.

"Here's your vodka and cranberry girl, now what do you think of being able to transport your soul nightly for personal transformation?"

It's really too much to get into with people you most often sit on patios and knock 'em back with. I do try to talk to others about it from time to time, but it's smart not to get too heavy. Most people, like my partner - a very very intelligent person - are much more linear. Without tangible proof, it's really just fanciful wondering.

According to the TaoTe Ching by Lao-tzu, there's no real reason to discuss this stuff anyway. On the nature of the Master, a fully realized person:

Because he believes in himself,
he doesn't try to convince others.
Because he is content with himself,
he doesn't need others' approval.
Because he accepts himself,
the whole world accepts him.
(v.30)

To a large degree, personal transformation is just that. Personal. But I'm not a Master and I'm interested in making discoveries about what *is* through reading and conversation with others. Since discussion necessitates basic agreement on certain topics, many of which some of my friends may not even care about, I risk coming out of the starting gate feeling like I have to convince them on the very truth of these basic concepts.

Which is why I turn to my other friends, with whom I have these basic agreements. That's when the conversation can begin.

But perhaps I'm not giving my FB buddies enough credit. I do like most of them because they're smart people. Why can't I philosophize with them? Would a true friend not at least humour another with her thoughts on how things might be?

My boyfriend suggested an idea for a podcast this morning.

It went something like this: try to get celebrities on the phone to ask questions that get progressively ridiculous. From the first call to a record label or agent to personal assistants to the celebrity him or herself, record the live conversations with people once or five times removed from the celebrity.

Not bad, I thought. I think people would listen.

But I don't know if either of us will do it. I have ideas like these. One's actually still on the back burner and I think it's because of fear. Sure, my initial objections would likely be related to logistics, but I truly think fear has something to do with it.

They may be small, they may ultimately be ridiculous, but I know they're there. What if it sounds terrible? What if it takes up too much time? What if I sound like an idiot?

What if, what if, what if.

Well, I have been thinking about blogging about my life, my job search, my spiritual life, my thoughts. My fear was this: What if my writing is terrible?

Answer: I'll deal with it. This comes from a book I haven't finished reading. Feel The Fear And Do It Anyway. I've had it kicking around for the longest while. My boyfriend and I even have a silly jingle for the title.

So here I am. Fearing my writing is crap, and doing it anyway.

Cheers!