URL Change?? Need Your Help

If there are any real frequent visitors to this blog (I hope there are a few at least :P) I'd like your opinion again. By again, I'm referring to the time I consulted you guys about the change in template.

This time I'm contemplating changing the URL of my blog. I'd given it it's current URL when I'd been new to the whole blogging thing and had no idea what I was going to do with this blog. I guess I'm still in that spot :P as you've probably noticed by the lack of a consistent theme to any of my posts. But I at least now have a name that I think I'm keeping and the URL might be more appropriate as www.cafe-denim.blogspot.com or maybe without the hyphen... I don't know. Just give me some feedback. Tell me which of these you like...

www.cafedenimblogspot.com

www.cafe-denim.blogspot.com

or it could be something with my name (LeVi - for those of you who don't know) or jeans (lol) as it's always brought up about my name.

I'm just a bit concerned about changing it and I like having a Trinidadian reference in the URL.

Lemme' Know!!

You Don't Need Another 6 Inches

So Mom's been saying this for eons but of course I hadn't listened until Dad backed her up. But now I know - that I don't need a Foot-Long Sub at Subway!! For maybe 2 years now I've been eating foot-longs at Subway. The bigger you get the more you need to eat right? (And I'm tall for a 14 year old.) Wrong!

Dad went into the whole explanation and comparing the way Americans serve food and the way that the French do. Honestly guys, look at a serving size at Burger King or Wendy's and then go to a French Cafe and order a meal. You'd probably think you're being cheated for your money but trust me, the seemingly tiny amount of food that you get is quite enough and they're doing you a favour.

I've heard a story from some relative's who were in the US for a while. They said that they saw some girls (from Europe I believe or somewhere in Eurasia) who were taking a picture with a large coke. They'd never seen any drink that big! And I've seen some of you guys down one of those by yourselves. Here, our family of four will buy a large drink, share about half of it and throw the rest away.

So Dad encouraged me to try a 6" Sub and see how I felt and honestly, I was content after that. I din't miss the other 6" of bread and meat and everything else that's going to be stored as fat anyway...

So to everyone out there... have a regular sized meal, no you won't "like fries with that" and just have a bottle of water and forget the large or even medium Pepsi!

My Kids :P

Okay I'm officially going to need 6 kids... or maybe just 3 and then each of them can learn two...
Two whats? Instruments of course!!
Kid 1: Cello and Violin
Kid 2: Piano and Guitar (Classically trained but able to play contemporarily as well)
Kid 3: Bass Giutar and Drums (the ultimate contemporary child!!)

But if that's not possible they at least have to learn the cello and violin. Those two are just the most amazing sounding things on earth. Especially when paired to play something like Handel-Halvorsen Passacaglia!!!

I'm stuck with piano really and a bit of drums... I've always wanted to learn the violin though but now I think I'd chose the cello over that. It just has that haunting,mysterious, Victorian sound about it that makes you melt...
Anyways here's a little video showcasing the awesomeness of the two instruments.

Does God Hate Haiti?

Recently in school my friend joked,"Why does God hate Haiti?" A fairly good question though, given the circumstances. Honestly, I was looking at the Hope For Haiti concert last night on TV (was quite good actually, made me feel all that world unity stuff) and one Reverend of some church in the US called and was speaking to Steven Spielberg. She said that it was an uneasy time in church and it was difficult to explain to the kids, why God would cause such a disaster. I wondered how exactly they explained that one...

But previously, after my friend had asked the question, I'd gone to Dad, as I usually do with any religious question. Note that we are Christians but have a very open view of who God is.
Dad's theory (and I quite like it) is that God created the earth... and earthquakes happen on earth... He basically said that the view that God is some guy sitting in the sky wondering,"What should I do tomorrow?" is quite the misconception of his nature. Sure, the earthquake happened, but that doesn't mean that God made it happen. I sorta got the gist of what he was trying to say and that's my interpretation.
But I can't deny that the atheists are gonna have a feast with this one :P
(No offence to any of my readers if they're atheists... but cummon' guys, it's a stupid decision - I'm not saying to be a Christian - but just find a religion people!)

Forbidden Fruit

After listening to my grandfather and parents speak a few minutes ago, I began to wonder why all the 'best' fruits seem to disappear. They were talking about how long it's been since they've seen this type of fig (not the sweet, seed filled type but something resembling a purple banana) and granddad said that it is supposed to be one of the most delicious types of fig and is found virtually nowhere anymore... Now why the hell is that?! How does it make any sense that the best fruits are always the rarest. And this isn't the first time I've heard it - there's hog-plums and special cherries and weird named fruits with soft, hairy exocarps. 

If a fruit is delicious, wouldn't you try to plant it  everywhere or keep a tree in you yard or something? 

That's when I began thinking... what if these fruits only became known as the best after they'd become rare, if everything was purely psychological. After not tasting them for tens of years, the brain, in memory, seems to just pick out the good qualities of said fruits and it exaggerates them. It's the concept of the forbidden fruit, literally. 

This was all just something I was thinking about. I don't know what its like in other places but here in T&T people seem to always want what they can't have, even if it's not a good as they think...

Mr. Mahraj

Imagine the man above without the turban, revealing a shiny bald head. And there is the picture of Mr. Mahraj. Who is he?

A friend of my father. He claims to be 90 years old (Dad is completely convinced, but Mom has her doubts) but who can tell without a birth certificate, right? The reason we're a bit dubious is because this man moves about like he's 45... and sometimes younger. The man goes trekking through the forest all the time (I've been with him) and we've seen him sprint up stairs that even my mother would take her time on. It's really quite a sight.
Now that's quite alright with me. But Dad calls this man his 'guru' and it's supposed to be a joke but sometimes we're not all that sure. Mr. Mahraj is always going on about meditation and the subconscious mind and the kind of suff you'd know about if you've seen The Secret, except it's more like The Secret Extreme.

But Dad's inviting Mr. Mahraj to teach us Hindi. Now don't get me wrong, it's good to learn about your heritage and all that but honestly, I couldn't care less about learning Hindi at this point in my life. It's a useful language in the business community, which I don't intend to become part of, and as a Trinidadian/ Citizen of The UK I don't see how Hindi becomes useful to me in the near future.

Another peeve of mine with this whole thing is that Dad seems so intrigued by Mr. Mahraj's youthfulness (obviously not from his looks as shown above but you know...) and it's a bit annoying, frankly, when Dad goes on about these different ways to stay fit and healthy. My point is, when you get old, you get old. Simple as that. Do enough in your young life so that you feel content when you're older. Of course that doesn't mean you have to completely neglect yourself but I'd rather get old than do extreme yoga and nasal drinking (yes... I said nasal drinking) every morning and kneeling down after meals because it's 'the right way to digest food'.

I guess that the whole point of this post was to say - "Get over it Dad!!"
;)

Je Te Louerai

"Hakuna wakaita sa Jesu!"... World Fellowship Sunday is approaching in the Mennonite church, to which I belong. Now let's get one thing straight, we are not Old Order Mennonites. We are not unusually conservative or technophobic. We're basically another bunch of protestants :)
Anyways we're having a joint service on that Sunday. That's when all the Mennonite congregations in Trinidad and Tobago (which are only a few) gather at one of the churches and this year it's at our Diego Martin church, the first one to be built here actually. Guess who's on the worship team for that service!
You see, the whole World Fellowship Sunday is all about mixing all the cultures in the Mennonite Church around the world so we try to sing different songs from all over the place! This year we've got 'Hakuna Wakaita' and 'Je Louerai l'Eternel' (though we'll sing that one in English... boring...) and Dad even found us a Hindi Christian song! So that one's in there. I'll most probably be playing the piano, keyboard, drums or singing, despite my pathetic lack of vocal skills - but hey... I can carry a melody so I guess that's good enough.  I'm looking forward to that. It's the first time the Trinidadian church has participated in this event so hopefully we'll do it justice.

In the search for 'Je Louerai l'Eternel' on Youtube I came across this other great French Christian song and I really like it. Just thought I'd share it with you guys!

Yours Aren't This Bad... Trust Me

Hey guys. I'm fuming right now. Raging really. Why?
My sister.

Honestly, I think ours is the worst kind of sibling rivalry. It's just her obstinate, dominant nature and her unwillingness to listen to me. The situation tonight -

I'm in the living room trying to use the internet on my laptop because Granddad had to borrow our modem from upstairs. She's playing guitar because the living room doubles as a music room. Simple facts -
1. She can take the guitar from the room
2. I can't take the laptop from the internet
So if the guitar was bothering me, do you think that it's wrong of me to point out those differences and ask her to leave? And don't even suggest for a second that it was way I asked her because I consciously kept my tone casual in the futile attempt to avoid an argument. Of course she mutters some bloody reply about me "not having some work to do?" or something of the sort. I tripped off. I happen to be doing a lot of that lately. So it soon turned into a full blown argument and Mom was no help in the resolution as for some reason she lacks the ability to punish - Is it that hard to take away half of her allowance or guitar or something? Anyway, Mom does her usual part of rebuking her harshly and when my sister refuses to come upstairs as asked, Mom gives up.

Things cleared up afterward too many details really but I'm still pretty pissed.
She's always doing things like that:
Putting down a piece of garbage and running away so that I [with my spotless conscience ;) ] am forced to pick it up.
Purposely doing something to annoy me even when it requires some serious effort on her part.
She won't even give me a hug on special occasions or a kiss on the cheek no matter how much I try to be the sweet older brother.

I don't know what to do anymore, really...

Why'd They Give Her Bieber?

Thursday was my sister's birthday so we had a bunch of her friends over yesterday just to hang out and whatever. I've got to say though, my sis has got a great bunch of friends and you know what? Good for her!
I mean, on Thursday, one of her friends took a cake that their mom had made for her and the class threw a little surprise party for her. And two girls whose birthdays were both on Wednesday, had no such luck... though they still got some cake from my sisters 'party'. When I met them here on Saturday, they seemed pretty cool, for 12-13 year old's, that is. So I guess I'm glad that she's got a solid group of friends and apparently she's sorta' popular... in the funny, cool girl way. The only problem I have with her friends is....
that one of them gave her the Justin Bieber CD.

Okay, I don't like him but I'm not a hater, I just think that a 15 year old guy shouldn't have a recording contract at that age. I mean, his voice is not gonna' stay that way forever and you can't guarantee that it'll change for the better... Look at Britney Spears. Plus, he's only popular because there are a bunch of shallow girls out there who think he's  "sooo cute!". His music really isn't that great.

This was just a quick double post :)

School Again...

Time once again, to return to that dreadful place of knowledge and learning, where only the company of other suffering souls can subdue the pain.
Nah... I'm just kidding :D
School's not that bad I guess. There are friends and the few odd fun teachers to look forward to having and the end of work-fasting can be nice at times... Okay only something that I would say. I know...
As usual we're probably not going to get our report books back until next week or the week after, but a few teachers gave us our grades anyway...

- Physics - 81% - Top in the form!!(According to Mr. Castillo - I hope he's not going to make me look like an idiot when someone tells me that they got 82% or something.) And yes I'm boasting okay... I think I deserve it. Plus I'm way to reserved in school to make a fuss there so here's the place to do it!!
- Biology - 86% - (I think. My memory's not so good... :P) Top in the class
- French - 79% - Top in the class too :)
- English Lit. - 86% - Top in the class :D
Don't know the rest yet...

Okay, this is not a self-centered type of post... Well it is really but aren't they all? Plus I'm sure I'm not making anyone feel bad - you guys don't even go to my school... for all you know its a low standard run down piece of rubbish. But it's not... so now you know better.
This is just to let you guys know that this blog is not written by a complete idiot who spends his nights wasting time writing on a blog. I get my work done :)

I'm probably going to look  back later and realise what a horrible, pompous jerk I seem like and I'll wish I'd never posted this. But I'm sort of floating from those marks right now so I'll wait until I come down before feeling the shame...

Yay! Beyonc... Huh?!

Beyonce's performing on my B'day (hehe - who got that joke?) in February and I am was so excited!!!

Why is that 'am' scratched out? Well on the first day of sales, all the bloody tickets were sold out! I know... What the HELL??!!

Another thing that's been bugging me is that with all this talk of the times being hard and cutting back, people still have no problem spending $1600 TTD (about $260 USD) on a 'VVIP' ticket... Now who's ever heard of VVIP?? It's not even a backstage pass, just some piece of paper that says I'm more important that you and you get to be separated from the rest of the crowd, who are dancing and mixing, because you're a freaking snob. A**holes... - pardon my French, even if it is censored.

I can wrap my mind around the $450 TTD (about $75 USD... I should let you guys do the math - I hope you can divide by 6) general admission tickets being sold out, but are people such squanderers that they're willing to pay $1600 to feel more special than everybody else? And trust me when I say that no one in Trinidad and Tobago is a Very Very Important Person... there aren't even any Very Important Persons!!

I don't know. Maybe I'm just upset because I didn't get a ticket. But I have a right to be don't I? It's my birthday... :(

Granddad! Journal?

My Grandfather is snoozing away in my sisters room.
Today, he arrived from England and as usual, my sister gladly gave up her room for him. Granddad is always coming down to little old T&T. It's all these places he's got rented out with uncooperative tenants and such things which fail to capture my interest. But it is nice having him around the house. His presence is just comforting when Mom's out or Dad's working late, even when he's tucked away in my sister's tiny four-walled thing that we allow to be called a bedroom.
With Granddad come gifts from Grandma of course. A bottle of La Nuit De L'Homme by Yves Saint Laurent (smells good!) and this awesome little journal with which I have taken a photo. (Webcams  make blogging so much easier :D)

Thanks Grandma!! (And I apologize for my goofy smile and curly hair which might completely freak her out because curliness was generally nonexistent the last time she saw me)
I love the Journal (yes... I will refer to it capitalized) and its awesome Black Moroccan design. I can't wait to start writing in it but I'm refraining because this one will be different to all the others that have come before.... All the others... were ruined on the first page :(.  Usually it was because I didn't like how my handwriting had looked or the pen or what I'd written. And this one is the most beautiful one I've had yet. So yes, this one will be The One.
But first I must learn how to journal. Because really, I've not the slightest clue! Maybe I'll write in it like a diary or maybe write poems and stories. Maybe I'll do both. Who knows!? This could be the beginning of a book your kid's will read someday... okay maybe a little over the top there...
Anyways, I'd really like to thank Grandma for being such a door opener for me, just with this simple gift.
Awww... isn't that sweet... :D

Okay Guys I Need Your Help

This is just a quickie post guys and I need your help! Tell me if you think this new template is better or the old one (you know...the dice floating around in greenness?) - also is there a follow button anymore? Comment!!

New Year Resolutions?

Let's see... what do I resolve to do differently in the new year? Absolutely Nothing!!
I don't know why people seem to think that they have to set goals for the new year?? Does a arbitrary concept of measuring time really mean that much to us? I'll just decide to things on my own time...
But still I may as well list some things that I've resolved to do before and aren't quite completed yet:
1. Read a lot more. But that's on its way. These days I can't seem to put down the books and I have a pile on my desk that I need to work through - mainly form Christmas. I just have to work on maintaining that pile. If for one second, the pile ceases to exist, then I will probably have a relapse of my lazy, non-reading ways.
2. Learn mouth to mouth resuscitation. I need to learn this for my practical CSEC PE examination in swimming. Scary huh? I think so...
3. Dramatically improve my piano playing.
4. Learn to play the guitar.

Erm.... that's all for now folks... what about you guys?

The Host

The Host is finished, at 2 o'clock on New Years morning. I loved it. For once finishing a book wasn't that bad because I know that Stephanie Meyer intends to release two sequels to The Host, although the wait may kill me.

For those who think Stephanie Meyer books like the Twilight Saga are for girls (and I have no idea where that rubbish originated from) I'll have you know that it was a group of guys that first attacked me with them, insisting that I read them. Besides, can any well written, best-selling book be truly classified for one sex? That's just ridiculous.
So The Host did have a bit of a mushy love story involved though it didn't overwhelm the book the way it did in Twilight. It tells the story of a soul, a wormlike alien parasite whose race has taken over the world, who finds herself in a resistant adult host. The host's name is Melanie Stryder and she will not be erased. Melanie fills Wanderer's head with images of her love Jared and little brother Jamie (Wanderer is the soul by the way). Due to her human emotions, Wanderer falls in love with Jared and Jamie from these memories. She sets out to find them in the desert where supposedly there is a human resistance in hiding and Melanie and Wanderer befriend each other. On the brink of death, thirsty and starving, they are found by the humans and taken to their underground fortress in a cave system. At first they are kept as prisoners but soon they are integrated into the society and make a few close friends. The story is centered around Wanda's experiences living in the human society and her 'betrayal' of the souls' way of life as well as colonization mission.
It was amazing - Read It!! Can't wait for the other two.
So I'm starting The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman today. And to add to the previous list of books that I have to read, my Dad's friend gave me Blink by Malcom Gladwell. I've read Gladwell's Outliers and was intrigued by the ideas there so I'm excited to read this one.