Naba

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: