Lemon Grass Tea/ F the Box

I HAVEN’T BLOGGED FOR A LONG TIME, TOO BUSY VLOGGING I GUESS.

WHILE MY VLOG DEALS WITH MORE SERIOUS ISSUES THAT I THINK NEED ADDRESSING, MY BLOG, IS MORE PERSONAL, IT IS TIME FOR PERSONAL TIME.

IT IS FUNNY HOW PEOPLE USE THE EYES MORE THAN THE MIND. SOME PEOPLE SEE YOU ON A SCREEN OR IN A MAGAZINE, THEY HEAR YOUR OPINION ON ONE OF THE MANY TOPICS IN LIFE, AND THEY PUT YOU IN A FUCKING BOX AND FEEL THEY KNOW YOU. I MUST CURSE THAT BOX, THAT BOX IS CANCER, THAT BOX IS GARBAGE. THE ONLY WAY TO FIT INTO A BOX IS TO CUT OFF PARTS OF YOUR REAL SHAPE, AND BECOME THE DIMENSIONS OF THE BOX. THE ONLY WAY TO STAY IN THE BOX IS TO NEVER GROW, AND THE ONLY WAY TO GET OUT OF THE BOX IS TO KEEP GROWING, TO LET YOUR BRANCHES STRETCH AS FAR AS THEY WANT TO GO. THIS IS SERIOUS. FUCK, AND I DON’T MEAN INTENSE SEX WITH SOMEONE YOU CARE ABOUT, THAT BOX!!!

TODAY I WOKE UP AN AMAZING WOMAN.

TODAY I TASTED AWESOME IN THE MINERAL SALT WATER OF THE SEA.

AND I HAVE COME HOME TRIUMPHANT

NOW I SIP LEMON GRASS TEA.

TODAY I SAW LIFE IS ABSENT

IN PURE WHITE COUCHES

SWIMMING POOLS AND CAGED BIRDS

AND DEATH IS PRESENT

IN APPEARANCES THAT DO NOT HOLD UP THEMSELVES

SO I HAVE DECIDED NOT TO KEEP UP

WITH DYING

NOT TODAY.

AND I SAW LIFE WAVE TO ME

AND CARESS MY FEET IN CLEAR POOLS OF COOL GOODNESS

AND ADORN MY HEAD WITH HOT KISSES THAT WARMED MY MIND

SUNSHINE

NOW I SHINE

ALIVE

A LIFE

IS NOT DEFINED IN THINGS NOT LIVING

KISS THE LIVING WATER

STARE AT THE LIVING SAND

FALL IN LOVE WITH THE CARESSES

SEE THE BEAUTY IN THE LAND

THEY CAME AND CONQUERED BUT THEY DIDN’T FIND JOY

THEY CAME AND PLUNDERED BUT THEY DIDN’T FIND JOY

THE STOLE AND WONDERED FOR THEY DIDN’T FIND JOY

BUT I FOUND IT IN 40 MINUTES OF SUNSHINE

AND A CUP OF TEA THAT WAS ABSOLUTELY FREE.

LEMONGRASS TEA TASTES LIKE 3 TYPES OF BEAUTIFUL. THEY ALSO CALL IT FEVER GRASS IT IS GOOD FOR MANY THINGS, GOOGLE IT. SEASON SOMETHING WITH IT, ADD A STALK OF IT TO A CURRY. LIFE IS IN THESE HERBS, LIFE IS NEVER GOING TO BE IN A PACKET. NEVER.

TODAY I GREET YOU WITH GRATITUDE FOR LIFE, AND REMIND YOU, THAT IF THERE IS A CURSEWORD YOU THINK IS WORSE THAN THE F WORD, THAT IS WHAT YOU SAY TO THE BOX. WE ARE DIVERSE, AND WE DESERVE FREEDOM. WE HAVE CHOICE AND IT IS OUR RIGHT TO CHOOSE, OF COURSE WE FACE THE CONSEQUENCES OF OUR ACTIONS, OR THE BENEFITS, SO THINK, WITH YOUR SUN KISSED BRAIN, BREATHE IN SOME FRESH AIR, AND BE.

ONE LOVE.

SEX IS NOTHING/ SEX IS EVERYTHING

And like most addictions, your were more powerful before you started it but now that you can't stop it it gives you endless power.

Sex without the right background is nothing but a (cant remember the term right now) Life endangering sport that people do for thrills and sometimes happen to actually die.

To all my committed couples out there who were but now feel broken, take a minute to look for sex inside your relationship rather than outside of it. Respect your differences and value your similarities.

love is the foundation, from it comes family, family is the essence of every human's life and predetermines much about their path.

If you have found love and commitment, cherish it and work on it.

One love... seriously - ONE LOVE.

BEHOLD THIS WOMAN

I will now be known as the artist Rebel Glam.

I am still Selena the Chef.

Rebel Glam is a person - noun
Rebel Glam is a moving movement - verb
Rebel Glam is a way of describing a person who practices the movement - adjective

Check me out http://www.facebook.com/RebelGlamQueen, check out my music tab. For me music is about expression and also to trigger thought and help people who sometimes forget to think :D Reggae is especially good for this but I got some pop elements in the coming album and allot of fusion with hip hop, even a Floetry-like track.

Food - wise I am still Chef Selena. Been playing around with mayonnaise recently - using jams and concentrates to flavor mayo and then enhancing with a bunch of herbs.It completely makes a sandwich taste much more gourmet and can add a theme. Like a preserved lemon mayo for a dolphin sandwich... on some fresh crusty whole wheat bread with a gorgonzola slaw and fresh salad, maybe a few capers in that mayo and some honey??? Awesomeness!!!!!!!!!!

here is a video of a recent piece I did, BEHOLD YOURSELF -  LOVE YOURSELF FAMILY! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7z0HbyyXjV8&feature=youtube_gdata

I WON!

Aww mann....missed u guys.

recently I entered NIFCA and I did not make it to the finals, that is the only way for a poet in Barbados to really get any recognition and though they had little criticism for my piece I still found I was not called to do the finals so I was upset, then I got over it.

I did however win something way more important to me than a medal from those NIFCA judges who don't really have much experience with spoken word, I won the IRON MIC SLAM COMPETITION! Now in order to even attend that slam something terrible had to happen to me, I was to plan a catering job for 5 months only for an idiot to fire me at the last minute after falsely accusing me of being unprofessional but that is a long story and I don't waste time on fools...but I am glad I didn't do that job, gave my husband a rain check for love and left and went to the Iron Mic slam. I had a headache the whole night but was able to wow the crowd with my spontaneous topic: Ban Peter Ram. lol. I think there is a video somewhere so as soon as it is on youtube I will upload it. Anyways, my point is, don't wait for someone to tell you that you are beautiful, know it!!!

If I waited

If I waited for them to tell me I was beautiful

Then I would be cold and dead as winter’s dust.

I had to see myself, my beauty’s potential

I had to celebrate my relevance

I thank God for my common sense

They ignored all the evidence

But I am still

Stunningly me.

And though this fact may annoy the judges

I know that I am beautiful.

Never perfect,

Often corrected

Please - when I apologize

Accept it…

But despite my normality

I am exquisitely

Beautiful.

If I waited to match their definition of talent

Then my poetry would be words lost in time

Never documented

And my stories would have died

Characters formed but breathless

And all of the colours would be humanity without the breath of life

Like Adam in the soil who never opened up his eyes

I pardon this world for creating the demise

Of so many women who failed to realize

But I survive

Vibrantly alive

Talented and gifted

With or without permission.

So forgive me for failing miserably at your definition of humility

I will not berate myself or make another feel that they are better than me

I have come from far away

The waves the wind creates travel the seas

And they are what they are ever more

Even without your small shore

For sure.

If I waited to be appreciated

My cold hands would not feel the tears

And my eulogy would not bring back the years

Or highlight the could be’s  that I currently am

And if I waited to be loved

Lived for glory and recognition

Then I probably would cry at night wishing that I was at least born a man

I value some true opinions

Others are the writing in the sand

Maybe knowing the right people helped some

But I am one who understands

That greatness is possible even in unbelieving lands

If I waited for their acknowledgement

I would live a can’t life

I am can.

So even if they tell me I have failed miserably

I am not bound to their energy

I will rise continuously

For dust and stagnancy are all that are promised to me

If I waited.

See my video for this piece here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1K_TNs7KtJY&feature=related

Now I know this blog is supposed to talk about food too, I just haven't taken much pics of the food I've been making other than my cupcake bouquets but I did make some gorgeous conkies today, ALMOST vegan, just a splash of milk but will leave out the milk next time!  They are lighter than the traditional Barbadian treat but quite lovely.

Artistically speaking I am doing an album and it is going well. Big shout outs to TRIPLE E STUDIOS &FANTOM DUNDEAL for the talent and support that have recently been added to my album. Fantom and I just finished a track and it is for a fact, fire.

What I would like to say finally is this: KNOW THAT YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL AND YOU ARE SOMEBODY DO NOT WAIT, START OUT IMPORTANT! That way nothing hurts too much because you are not waiting for validation from others. TALENTED AND GIFTED WITH OR WITHOUT PERMISSION! LOVE WUNNA!(WUNNA IS BAJAN FOR 'YOU GUYS')

BLACK IDENTITY, BLEACHING ETC.

www.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3Dp4QvsTmt1oM&h=ZAQCc-z5P

FOOD - FOR THOUGHT!

Know yourself. Develop yourself into someone you can truly love.

Nowadays false validation is in style. Persons will big up something truly horrid and laugh at you behind your back. This is why confidence is essential. Whatever you know yourself to be, whoever you are and however you are, is something that should never be swayed by the public. Love yourself from within.

Pepper

(*scotch bonnet is also known as habanero chili)

PEPPER
everyone has a little spice inside
and surely cayenne kicks though her red is mellow
she has a way of making paprika jealous
but a scotch bonnet slut will only attract certain fellows
Still
everyone needs a little spice inside.

i admit it and some wish to hang me from the moon
make a spectacle of me with a silken noose
sex is everywhere, practiced, recorded, rehearsed
so why do you cringe as though i just cursed?
chilies and scotch bonnet seeds
ever rampant in the streets
people judge them but they always have enough to eat
And multitudes called vegetarians secretly miss meat
and crowds of christians play the same charades
but on quiet days
when it rains
they wish they had that pepper whole
floating around their yellow bowl...
Everyone needs a little spice inside.

Selena Dodson, June 16th 2011