Yes, Jamaica’s Pothole of the Year 2024 Awards are here, and competition is fierce! – Petchary’s Blog

What would be your Pothole of the Year? I would be happy to hear some of your nominations. My husband has started naming some of our most familiar ones: “That is Winston… Here comes Damion…”

I am sharing a friend’s hilarious blog post here – a humorous take on the drama surrounding the sudden and alarming growth in potholes in both rural and urban Jamaica. In the hills and on smaller roads, landslides and “breakaways” (i.e. a partial collapse of a road) are happening almost daily. Rural folks are suffering more than anyone. In the town, we constantly complain about the appearance of these potholes, which began since “The Rains” began, back in September or so. They have grown large, wider, and deeper, ever since.

Jamaicans are bitter about it, and angry. Car mechanics are probably quite happy, being overwhelmed with work – as are gardeners, as the rampant jungle that is our yard testifies. Plus, in Kingston it is still raining every day. The National Works Agency (NWA), a government agency, is complaining that it can’t fix the roads in the rain.

My friend mentions several atrocities in the downtown area, but perhaps he has not seen the horrors of uptown. Every evening I hear cars crashing into several potholes that adorn our stretch of the road, and wince as I think of their suspension, and their tyres, and their front ends (not sure what a front end is, but it is mentioned a lot). As I said, there are plenty of hot contenders for the Pothole of the Year award this year.

The fury of uptowners on radio talk shows has stirred our Prime Minister to action. And he has, perhaps, over-reacted, by declaring the state of our roads a National Emergency. Oh, my! He also signed some contracts with China Harbour Engineering Company for the long-awaited SPARK road repair programme, which will be delivered in “packages.” SPARK stands for Shared Prosperity through Accelerated Improvement to our Road Network. Yes, our trusty public servants worked hard on that acronym!

Well, general elections are due by September, 2025. So, action must be seen to be taken, before the people rise up!

Thanks so much for this witty take on the matter, Conliffe!

A terrible pothole on our street. Actually, the road is cracking up. 

Source: Yes, Jamaica’s Pothole of the Year 2024 Awards are here, and competition is fierce! – Petchary’s Blog

Recipe: CA Cucumber/Avocado Soup by Khashayar + Poem by Anushka – Happiness Between Tails by da-AL

Has anyone ever asked you about yourself while their eyes glint that they’ve pre-judged anything you might answer? This Thanksgiving, a carnivore friend inquired whether I get bored eating mostly vegetarian, just the occasional fish. First I scrabbled, then politely changed the subject with a segue into my love of writing (click on this link for info about my books).

Had I not checked myself, I would have waxed endlessly upon the delicious flavors, aromas, flavors, textures, and colors of the foods I enjoy. All that’s too small a step to resist from a ‘by the way’ of how easily I’ve recently also eliminated starch and sugar, given the utter nirvana of being untethered from decades of frequent brain fog, headaches, fatigue, aching joints, and other general crapola that dragged me down in terms of mind, body, and spirit.

No worries, dear reader, you too are spared from my soapbox. This is just a lead-in to Khashayar’s latest ultra tasty and healthy recipe…

California Cucumber Avocado Soup by Khashayar Parsi

California Cucumber Avocado Soup by Khashayar Parsi

Step 1

  • 1 large onion, chopped 
  • 6 cloves garlic 
  • 1 rounded Tablespoon minced ginger 
  • 1 level Tablespoon cumin seeds 

Sauté all the above in 1/4 cup olive oil.

Step 2

  • 1/3 cup red lentils 
  • 4 cups coconut milk, unsweetened 
  • 4 cups almond milk, unsweetened 

Stir in above and bring to boil. Cook for 15 minutes, until lentils are tender.

Step 3

Set aside and add:

  • 2 medium avocados, chopped 
  • 1/2 large English cucumber, chopped
  • Salt and pepper to taste (suggestion is 2 level Tablespoons salt and 2 level teaspoons of black pepper. Add half of the amount first to taste whether you want to add more.)
  • 1/2 a fresh lime
  • Zest of one whole lime 
  • 2 cups chopped mixed salad greens (kale, mustard, spinach)

Emulsify. Adjust salt and pepper.

Step 4

Add:

  • 4 large mushrooms, sliced 

Bring to boil. Cook 5 minutes.

Step 5

  • Mince other half of cucumber.
  • Serve with cucumber as garnish.
  • For a non-vegan option, you can garnish it with yogurt or cream.

Yum! Enjoy!

  • Additional drooling observation from da-AL: you can never go wrong with a drizzle of the finest, most peppery and back-of-the-throat stinging olive oil.

Close up of oil drizzed into California Cucumber Avocado Soup by Khashayar Parsi.

Today’s guest blog post is by blogger/psychology student Anushka Argawal. Based out of India, she explains, “I write poems when I feel emotionally overwhelmed and sometimes just for fun like when I am experiencing some different sensory information that is different”…

A Poem by Anushka Argawal

A false feeling of wellness is settled inside of her, 

She is lying, lying to herself for the wellness of others,

She is doing everything she can to believe in herself,

She is trying, trying so hard that it’s not working,

She is breathing, breathing so much that her heart stops beating,

She is fighting, fighting so much that only blood is left,

She is feeling guilty, so guilty that She stops everything else,

She is now still, so still that everyone forgets her.

What food makes you feel amazingly great?

Source: Recipe: CA Cucumber/Avocado Soup by Khashayar + Poem by Anushka – Happiness Between Tails by da-AL

One Line Is All I GOT! – Belladonna’s Flashlight

When you fail, it’s a sign of your courage to take risks. 

Remember, you are the one in control, and you have the power to turn your failures into stepping stones for success!

Your past failures are behind you, and your future is a blank canvas waiting for your masterpiece. Keep your head up, stay focused, and remember, your future is in your capable hands.

You could have chosen any blog to read, but you chose mine, and I’m honored!

Source: One Line Is All I GOT! – Belladonna’s Flashlight

Earth Began Absorbing More Sunlight in 2023, Climate Researchers Find – Slashdot

…The most concerning potential explanation, however, is that there may be a feedback relationship between rising temperatures and low-level clouds. Meaning that, as the Earth warms, the clouds become sparse, enhancing the warming further. That would be bad news for our future climate, because it suggests that the lower range of warming estimates would have to be adjusted upward to account for it…

Source: Earth Began Absorbing More Sunlight in 2023, Climate Researchers Find – Slashdot

HOW DO MEMORIES DIE? | Lê Vĩnh Tài [475] – Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm

Photography by Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm

How does memory die?
Does memory die?
Memory dies?

Drifts away lightly and softly, down your cheeks, onto your pillow. Each drop is a memory. Each time the palm of your hand happens upon it, the memory turns sour, becomes bitter and it would hurt.

Day in day out the memories, they drop in, they crawl into your pillow. You have no choice but to leave your mark behind on the pillow after they fade away with your memories, you’re lost, and they’re forgotten.

THE MAXIM OF MEMORY

Are her experiences, playing jump rope on someone’s heart. She laughs: It’s a musical movement? Like the beating of the heart? Does she want him to be moved or she just wants to make him sick? Or is it how she makes you disappear? Or maybe it is the maxim of poetry? Or perhaps she thinks he wants her to be the wind just for him?

She applies the maxim to make your poetry feel more relatable, these maxims are your habits of overthinking and your need to conform. Because the poem is truly just a thought, a feeling stripped bare by you, to then be dressed up with your vernacular, the way you put on the fake woollen cardigan she gave you, when she came back from her trip to Korea.

Because after she utters the five syllables, she would proceed to add an extra seven syllables. She laughs: Is this a haiku?

AN OLD PERSON’S HAIKU

The older I get the more I’m surprised by my youthfulness.

Don’t hide your emotions. When you scream, the pain is more bearable than when you bite your tongue. Love, the further, you are, away, the more, closer, you are, to me.

She would remind me time and again, if you really want the haiku, you should learn to stop talking, there’s no point in adding useless comas everywhere.

Source: HOW DO MEMORIES DIE? | Lê Vĩnh Tài [475] – Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm