Mad people reading

Poem I wrote after first groundings, also where we get we catch phrase of mad people who like reading.
We were outside Demico back side , near the police outpost. Football match being played Demico bar.

Mad people reading,

by car park side,

sane people walking past -

Going on with their life,

Going home after wuk, school.

Some mad people reading,

Giving away free book.

Malta that aint finish ,

he gun finish it off.

Mad people reading,

Asking who is Rodney?

Today he did dead,

Long time ago,

but now they finding out.

Mad people reading,

Shouts across the road,

Loud to meet Brazil.

Mad people reading -

Come read with we too.

Amaraydha 13/06/2014

You Are Involved

Wake up and sit down reading, forgot the time. When I realized it was getting late, I had to hurry up and print out some Martin Carter stuff for groundings as I had forgotten to do so. The realized I had no box to put it inside. Trying the origami thing but not working. Cut and staple a box up.

Losing track - today was groundings 4? 5 ? Got to check dis blog posts to see, lol. Business done early in town, end up going Gift Land, crowd too much, go in and come out back same time. Everybody shopping, shopping. Looking somewhere to wait, end up at City Mall people watching. Nuff young people doing nothing, is sad, they have no where to go but here , doing nothing.

Busy corner Camp and Robb Street, reach first and try straightening out the box I staple up, see other grounder, Lina, come. Nice shady spot, big food court mall going up ova de road. Chinee store selling ting that does bruk afta two day, in the store that used to be Kissons. Talk about that, Bank on where the Kisson's had burn down. I remember that day, angry people gathering, cinema with my dad, we left when he did step out for something and see the crowd. Park , no bus. Finally getting a 45 that charge nuff money cause he wuk out of zone and people desperate. This all long ago. Now place is big bank, shady with buttercup plant.


I had printed off 'You are involved poem," by Martin Carter. Its just two lines when you put it in one paragraph. There were Very few people willing to stop and look at books or talk. However, there many people passing - is pay day for some, more corner about spending than talking. Few that stop, i ask them if they know who Martin Carter is. I Surprise because not many of people have read anything by Martin Carter, or know who he is. I tell them he is one of Guyana's most famous poets, I tell them keep the poem, think about it, share it. Although All are involved poem short but very few people willing to say what they think it means, or are not sure. I think it reflects how little Guyanese are reading and analysing what they read.

Vidya bring national geographic, mostly men takes those, and the ladies the romance novels. Will need some more, i walked with those because last groundings, many of the guards and nurses had asked for them. We need more books, if you have, please donate to us.

Nice gaff with some work study students who want their picture in the newspaper if we take it out. They say the poem is about life, which is entirely true.

Nuff people does ask, who we working for or with ? If we in some organization or church. I always reply, is just some mad people who like reading.

I leave you with the poem I shared:


You Are Involved

This I have learnt:
today a speck
tomorrow a hero
hero or monster
you are consumed!
Like a jig
Shakes the loom:
like web
is spun the pattern
all are involved!
all are consumed!


(Martin Carter in the Kind Eagle, 1952)


If you have never been visit the

Martin Carter Blog

Book Club

When people here I’m in a book club they often thing of this highly sophisticated setup where we are all sipping wine and expounding on the hidden literary meaning that the pages of the books we read contain.

The truth is, it’s a bunch of people who meet every month and usually talk about everything except the book for most of the two hours. We can’t help it! Books spark very interesting discussions especially the ones with sex inside.

I often tell people, if you want to join come see if you comfortable first! (Even if you havent read the book as yet.) Things can get crazy for people who are not used to it. One person says what they think then everyone chimes in. There isn’t a set order to how we discuss the books.

Forming a book club isn’t hard. Find a bunch of people who like to read. First, plan when you will meet, pick your books and you have a book club.

For us, a member will choose a book. They must have a copy they are willing to lend, that book is then loaned around to the members who read it. Sometimes we might pick a book based on the fact that some of us have copies. I find that books that have a PDF or are online are good because you don’t have to circulate the copy.

You don’t have to be literature graduate or professional critics. Once you love reading, you can have a book club, or join ours! 

Drop everything and Read

While the Ministry of Education is lauding Monday’s drop everything and read exercise, as a teacher I was sorely disappointed in what I saw.

Almost all of the students had to be forced to take out something and read. And very few had reading material; they simply took out their exercise books and revised for the fifteen minutes.

The book distribution in Georgetown was also a nice idea, however, it would have been nice if it could have also been done in rural areas, or at least to send the books to school where those children unable to travel to the pick-up locations could have had access to books as well. I would have loved to get my hands on some new reading material, but that was not possible as I had to go to work on the day. 

I myself was unable to read for the fifteen minutes because I had to be supervising the children so they would behave and try and read instead of playing or fighting.

As an avid reader, I am very sad that very few youths love to read. English literature as a subject appears to them to be something to be endured rather than enjoyed. Often the students that study it either because it’s a “make up” subject , that is, a subject to add to the number they are writing at CXC, or because it is compulsory as in the case of the lower forms.

I know this is not all students hate reading. Hidden among the masses are still the few that love to read. I just wish there could be more of them.

Never again, with Caribbean Airlines.

At the time we booked our flights to the U.S.A , Caribbean Airlines seemed the best bet. We were told we could check in online, but were unable to due to problems with the site. Might I add that we had to be there at 2:30 AM for a 5:30 AM flight? Customs was ok. Most of the time was spend shivering in the waiting lounge.

After take off they served breakfast. However at Trinidad, we were made to come out of the plane , with our hand luggage and go thru customs. All jewellery had to be taken off even our watch, and my hairclip because it was metal. No other airport security has this rule - they just tell you to remove metal stuff like your belt and coins.

Nothing, even a handkerchief could be left in your pocket. All electronics including laptops, kindles, dvd players etc also had to be removed and placed in a seperate bin. No shoes or bags in the tray. Then when you get out of the scan area you got to hurry and move you stuff , to get out of the way. Lesson learned you want to smuggle something make your child keep it., They dont make children take off stuff.

We also got a light snack on the way from T&T to U.S.A. But the long wait between trinidad and U.S.A added to the long travelling time.

The way back was worse. We were told at the desk we did not have to come off the plane. However once we were in Trinidad we were told we had to change planes. We came off had to go all the way downstairs , to the transit desk. Then up back. Through the check points again. We asked to change seats and were told that they couldnt do that. We just moved to the empty seat once we were on the plane as it was practially empty on the way back. We got a snack - a bag of chips and a bag of cookies from Miami but they did not even serve us a snack from Trinidad to Guyana only a beverage. Then again, they never give you anything when your coming into Guyana. Next time i walking with me damm curry to eat and not relying on these people to feed me.

The flying and service itself is not bad. However, having to come out at Trinidad is too much of a hassel to travel with them again unless I have no choice.

Salvaging Saturday!

Ok showed up to the where was supposed to be the Anansi Story Time at the Botanical Gardens, with a friend. After walking around and not finding anyone we went to the zoo ticket office and asked the clerk if he knew about it. Turns out the staff there had no idea about the story time. After we walked around some more I remembered seeing a notice on the gate which did not read – so we went to check it. Turns out the story time was canceled due to inclement weather. Pity – the gardens was very dry surprising for all the rain we had these past couple of days. Many families were enjoying the holiday, playing and relaxing in the park.

Now having nothing to do we took a quick walk around the gardens before heading to the city mall hoping to get some dvd shopping done at Avon. Avon was closing up and a lot of the stores within the mall were closed. (I had passed just an hour earlier to a very bustling and open city mall by the way).

We then decided to head down to Red Cherry on Lamaha Street because it was open and I had never been in either of the red cherries.  Nice walk down the road passing Monument Gardens with preparations going on for the Arrival Day festivities starting at 6.

Arrived at Red Cherry, greeted by some nice oldies, Madonna’s Say Goodbye which was changed because another group of youngsters there complained the music was boring. They put on some nice pop tunes with Pitbull , Jlo and Bruno Mars. It was not too loud but I think the music should have been a little softer. You go to an ice cream parlor to hang out with friends not much so to listen to the music. The music, I might add is a complement to the surroundings not the focal point of it.

Friend and I both ordered Candy Man’s Dream. Mmmm  ice cream sprinkles, raisins , mini MM’s, with their signature red cherry on top.  Ice cream on top was hard but the bottom layer melted fast.

I loved it. They did not take very long to bring our orders, possibly because there were only two other groups there at the time and business was slow being midafternoon and a holiday.

Candy Man's Dream 

Décor inside of Red Cherry had a nice colour scheme. Red and Green went nice together in the stripe pattern.  Unusual rest room or should I say “est room,” entrance with Wild West type swinging doors. Nothing to wipe my hands on after I washed it!

Ended the day by coming home and watching Avengers.

All in all, Saturday Salvaged! 

Cross Dressing in Guyana

It came as a surprise to me that cross dressing is illegal in Guyana. I learnt his after watching a you tube video asking people opinions on cross dressing. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MaXESfHYIYc&feature=share )

The uploader was inspired by the Documentary "My Wardrobe , My Right," which was shown at SASOD's recent flim festival. In addition i read GT Observes thoughts on My Wardrobe My Right. Both of these are worth checking out when you’re finished reading this!

Although, the word cross dresser springs to mind drag queens. Cross Dressing by definition is wearing the clothing that is associated with a gender that is not your own. There are also female cross dresser. Perhaps they can more easily pull this off, as many women adopt male clothing either because its a uniform as in the military , or for ease and comfort.

Many persons also associate cross dressing with homosexuality, or transgender. However cross dressers sometimes cross dress simply because they feel more comfortable in the clothing of the opposite sex. They may not be homosexual at all.

A little more research on Cross Dressing in Guyana, led me to find that men have even been arrested for cross dressing in Guyana in the past. Thankfully SASOD and several transgender men have appealled to the courts to overturn cross dressing laws. In fact: "Guyanese law prohibits men from appearing in public in female attire, and vice versa. The law appears in a section of Guyana’s legal code that also makes homosexuality a crime." (1) If this is truly the case, then many women should charged as well.

Thinking of Cross Dressers, i recall what Kiera Knightley's Character in the Duchess: Georgiana Cavendish, said in relation to her extravagant fashions. Her dress was the only way she could express herself. Fashion is after all expression. And our clothing are an extension of who we are. I can recall several occasions that i've worn clothing that i did not like wearing, and did not feel at all like myself in them. Much less, for cross dressers who are forced to wear the socially acceptable gender associated clothing. Imagine it just for a moment. It is almost as if you are in someone else's body and not your own.

So yes, I feel that cross dressing should be legalized. Persons should dress the way they want to as long as they are not harming others. This extends to dress codes but I will rant about that another time. This may be complicated for those in institutional jobs. Would employers want their male employees wearing a dress to work? This is especially important in government and other formal intuitions. How would you feel if the “Sir,” teaching you, or teaching your child, dresses like “Miss.”

To end my commentary I will quote Lady Gaga’s ‘Born this Way,’ which I ranted about in my last post:

“Don't hide yourself in regret / Just love yourself and you're set.”
and don’t forget “Don't be a drag - just be a queen!”



(1) http://propagandapress.wordpress.com/2010/02/23/transgender-men-sasod-in-guyana-court-to-overturn-cross-dressing-laws/

John Travolta in Hairspray