Don't worry be happy...

I feel like sharing this beautiful song with you. It is "Don't worry be happy" by Bobby McFerrin. The simplicity of this song is what makes it so beautiful. The message is right in the title...just be happy and don't worry... There are the lyrics:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-diB65scQU

Here is a little song I wrote
You might want to sing it note for note
Don't worry be happy
In every life we have some trouble
When you worry you make it double
Don't worry, be happy......

Ain't got no place to lay your head
Somebody came and took your bed
Don't worry, be happy
The land lord say your rent is late
He may have to litigate
Don't worry, be happy
Lood at me I am happy
Don't worry, be happy
Here I give you my phone number
When you worry call me
I make you happy
Don't worry, be happy
Ain't got no cash, ain't got no style
Ain't got not girl to make you smile
But don't worry be happy
Cause when you worry
Your face will frown
And that will bring everybody down
So don't worry, be happy (now).....

There is this little song I wrote
I hope you learn it note for note
Like good little children
Don't worry, be happy
Listen to what I say
In your life expect some trouble
But when you worry
You make it double
Don't worry, be happy......
Don't worry don't do it, be happy
Put a smile on your face
Don't bring everybody down like this
Don't worry, it will soon past
Whatever it is
Don't worry, be happy


source: http://www.lyricsondemand.com/onehitwonders/dontworrybehappylyrics.html
You Tube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-diB65scQU

What motivates me?

Motivation can be defined as the force that drives our behavior. It permits us to accomplish things that we did not think we could. It gives us strength. Through my life; I have had different types of motivation either on a spiritual; personal , professional or academic level.

http://oneminutemusiclesson.com/2012/03/28/finding-your-inner-motivation-to-grow-as-a-musician/

First I would like to state that the first thing that motivates me is the reason why I am on this earth. God gave me the opportunity to live. He must have a reason. I must find out why I was created in the first place. This is my main driving force in my life. I am motivated as I want to know what I can add  to this world that has not already been added.

What is more,on an academic and professional level I want to make my parents (especially) and  my whole family proud. Coming from a foreign country; this wish is even stronger. My parents are sending money for me to live and be at ease in order to study and have diplomas. It is important for me to succeed. Failure is not an option and will never be. It does not only concern my studies in South Africa but everything my parents have done since I was born.

Besides, what motivates me is the accomplishment of my dreams. There are some things that I would like to accomplish in my life. It is a powerful driving force to want to live it. It is because I want to live it that I am applying myself and making sacrifices. I want to see what it feels like to accomplish my dreams.

http://www.8womendream.com/48-best-affirmations-for-success-to-achieve-your-dreams/

This is (in a nutshell) what motivates me. I think we should always keep our motivation in mind in order not to give up along the way.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/seeminglee/2067314800/

You deserve better...

Girls are strange creatures I think... I must know I am one of them... Girls always say that they want a man who respects, cares and loves them. They want someone that will do right by them. No lies; no cheating! In theory, it is true; we all (in some way) dream that we will meet the right man that will make us feel special. But in reality we do the contrary. We go for the guys who could not care less; who lie all the time and who don’t respect us. It is sad that we do that despite the fac that the know that we deserve better. But there is this “thing” that forces you to stay and you don’t even know what it is. You know you need to let go but you don’t even know how to.

http://halloftheblackdragon.com/reel/6266/winners-dont-care-about-what-women-want.html

What doesn’t make things easier for girls is the facts that men  (in general) lie and cheat. It is more or less in their genes. However, I am aware that there are some great guys out there and some lucky girls who are with them.

http://sheryarimtiaz.blogspot.com/

I think the key to this puzzle is to know your value and realize that you deserve better. Don’t lower your values because of someone that is not even good for you. I read somewhere that if the person you are with does not make you a better person than you are with the wrong person. Something to meditate on…

http://ilovelifequotes.com/?p=2034

The 10 most unexpected consequences of being online

The net has provided us with the opportunity to explore, to discover to research information either on a personal or professional level. Despite the fact that being online has numerous advantages; there are unexpected consequences that we must take into account. We can consider the following ten:

http://joe-ks.com/credits.htm

1. No quality time with your friends. Spending all your time will definitively have an impact on your social life...
2. When you are trying to complete your work; there is always something that pops up and that you absolutely "must see" (for example You Tube link your friend sent or a Facebook notification).
3. People forget that Facebook and Twitter are private and post too much personal information...
4. An employee might lose its job because of a statement he made regarding his boss or his company  on a social media site. Complaining about your boss is definitely a good idea...
5. People can have bad surprises regarding online dating (people lying on their profiles)
6. After sitting for hours in front of a computer; you might feel like a robot. Your body hurts and you start feeling like a "vegetable"\
7. Children social skills are under developed because they don't socialize with friends
8. Children don't have good hand to eye coordination because they don't do sports and spend all their time online.
9. Because you did not delete the website history on your computer; people can find out what you are up to.
10. On the net; you can create your online persona. It can be positive however you might put too much of yourself in your online version that you actual person...

http://svetapiatakova.blogspot.com/2012/04/surviving-fame-little-narrative-of.html

Source: http://madeleinemitchell.blogspot.com/2010/10/10-most-unexpected-consequences-of.html

Richard Bona

This post will concentrate on one of my favorite artists:  Richard Bona.

http://www.larryfavriot.com/gal-coul.html

He was born in the Cameroonian village of Minta. When the infant Bona came down with malaria, his family discovered that only the sound of the balafon could soothe him. When he recovered, his grandfather, the village griot, showed him how to build his own instrument. He played for hours every day, and by the age of five he was performing regularly. He could play many instruments such as flute, hand percussion or drums. When Bona was 11 his family moved to the big city of Douala, and Bona fell in love with the sound of the guitar. He built himself a 12-string, using bicycle brake cable for strings. Soon he was playing in local bikutsi and makossa bands.
A  French jazz club opened at a local hotel. The patron of the establishment sought out the talented kid he'd heard about and asked him to put together a band. Bona knew nothing about jazz at the time, but he needed to perform. Fortunately, the club owner had over 500 records. Bona spent his days listening and his nights trying out what he had learned. One of the first things he heard was the 1976 album Jaco Pastorius, and it changed his life forever.

http://cseppek.hu/rendezveny/909richard-bona-lemezbemutato-koncert

A decade later Bona would be hired to fill the legendary bass player's shoes in Joe Zawinul's band. Throughout the 1990s Richard Bona's musicianship and virtuosity became urban legend in Paris and New York. Bona played with Afropop stars Manu Dibango and Salif Keita. He toured and recorded with Pat Metheny, Joe Zawinul, Didier Lockwood, Harry Belafonte, Quincy Jones, Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, Steve Gadd, Michael Brecker, Randy Brecker, Chaka Khan, Jacques Higelin, Shankar Mahadevan, Tito Puente, Chucho Valdès, Mike Stern, Larry Coryell, David Sanborn, Kenny Garrett, Joe Sample, Harry Connick Jr., Raul Midon, Billy Cobham, Queen Latifah, Branford Marsalis, Bobby McFerrin, Chick Corea, and Sadao Watanabe.

http://www.bonamusic.com/#/2012/03/richard-bona-on-the-road/

 Richard Bona released seven albums -- Scenes From My Life (Columbia, 1999), Kaze Ga Kureta Melody (Sony, 2000), Reverence (Columbia Europe, 2001), Munia: The Tale (Verve 2003), Kiki (Decca, 2006), Bona Makes You Sweat (Decca, 2010), and The Ten Shades of Blues (Decca, 2010) - establishing himself as a singer-songwriter with a singular voice. His Afro-Caribbean project Toto Bona Lokua (w/Gerald Toto and Kanza Lokua, Sunnyside, 2005) and his Afro-Cuban project Mandekan Cubano weave together disparate roots, alchemizing ancient traditions into surprising new forms.

http://www.jazzmusicarchives.com/richard-bona--munia-the-tale.aspx

Source  http://www.myspace.com/richardbona

The elephant in the room (poem)

The concept of elephant in the room highlights the fact that there is a problem that everyone is aware of but nobody talks about. It is highlighted in the following poem:

 THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM 

http://showyourhope.com/2012/02/19/the-elephant-in-the-room/

Everyone is talking about it.

The room is getting crowded.
Everyone is talking about it.

Friends enough, things galore, but little space.
How did we end up in this cramped state?
The room is getting more crowded.
Everyone is talking about it.

Wells are drying up, fossil fuels depleted.
Will we be able to live as we used to,
to afford the heating in winter,
to pay for petrol and power,
to keep the machines and gadgets running?
To run those of all of us all at once?
The room is getting overcrowded.
Everyone is talking about it.

Pollution hits the waters and soils.
It has turned the fresh ozone of morning
into a mourning over climate change.
Forests, the lungs of lands, are being felled,
fields transferred from food to transport.
What are we blithely to breathe: the carbon?
What are we eager to eat: the fuel?
What are we destined to drink: the sewage?
Species are in danger of dying out,
plants and animals vanish from the Earth,
plagues and enemies take their place.
But the lavish spenders go on shopping
and driving and flying and producing
heaps of dirt and garbage in all corners.
The room is getting more overcrowded.
Everyone is talking about it.

Rats and rabbits are multiplying.
Mice and pigeons are multiplying.
Human beings too are multiplying,
adding and adding and adding
their sapient genes to the common lot.
Some of them have indeed no offspring.
Others raise only one child:
"It's a girl. Congratulations!"
Some of them raise a second child
and maintain their equilibrium:
"It's a boy. Congratulations!"
Other women have a third child
and other men have a third child.
It's a borderline case, three together:
there may be a couple with one instead.
Some human females take four children
and some human males take four children.
It's two bodies out of balance,
where no childless couple relates to them.
Other females take five children
and other males take five children.
Could all those in the room do likewise?
Where are their sibs with only one child?
Some females take six or more children
and some males take six or more children.
Could all those in the room do likewise?
Where are their sibs without progeny?
Two, ten, a hundred, a thousand,
a million, ten million, a billion.
It's a growing crowd. Ten billion soon!
There is an elephant in the room.
No-one is talking about it.

Vincent van Mechelen

 poem: http://in.home.xs4all.nl/Tong/ThL/Poems/Elephant.HTM

Keep hope alive

Hope is one of the most beautiful things that exist in this world. It is the thing that keeps us going. We often hear the sentence “keep hope alive”. It just means that without hope; we can’t do much. It is hope that drives our behavior. For example somebody who is truly sick and want to get better. His hope of getting better will lead him to carry on taking medicines or doing whatever it takes in order feel better.

http://wolfhirschhorn.org/2011/11/general-information/hope/

 Hope has a power that I can define as magic. It tells you that the things that you want; that your goals are possible. It gives you this inner force that you though you never had in order to accomplish things. We  all face with situations in our lives where we hope and even on a daily basis. It often happens when we face uncertainty. The thing that we must not do is lose hope as it could have negative consequences in our lives.

http://acelebrationofwomen.org/?p=42793

Every day is a good day...

Every day is a good day
Because God wakes me up

Every day is a good day
Because my family is okay

Every day is a good day
Because I have a place to go home to

Every day is a good day
Because I can walk

Every day is a good day
Because I can talk

Every day is a goo day
Because I have a bed I can sleep in

Every day is a good day
Because I have people to talk to

Every day is a good day
Because I have something to eat

Every day is a good day
Because I have reasons to laugh and be happy

Every day is a good day because I can be me.

We should stop taking everything for granted and realize that we have the chance that other people might never have.

Picture: http://www.redbubble.com/people/yolan/works/6623169-every-day-is-a-good-day?p=sticker

Our greatest strengths are our greater weaknesses

When you read this sentence it is a bit confusing at first. How can our strengths be our weaknesses as well... But when you try to really understand it; you get the meaning it conveys. Our strengths are our assets; our qulaities; things that permit us to face the problems that we encounter through our lives. It is a good thing.
However, our strenghts can be our weaknesses in a sense that it might "open doors" for people or things to hurt us if we dont use them correctly.

http://legaljob.com/2012/04/deal-with-your-weakness-upfront/

Let's take the example of someone who has a good heart. He is always caring; wants to help everyone and he forgives easily. After a while; people will notice it. They might take him for granted or walk over him; thinking that he will always say yes and do whatever he is asked to.

It is important to use our strengths wisely. It can be our best friends or our worst enemies...

Chicken in milk...

I love cooking... I love discovering new dishes and try... There is a special dish that I discovered not so long ago. It is from Jamie Oliver (I love him!!!). It is called chicken in milk. Here is how to do it:
Ingredients:
• 1 x 1.5kg organic chicken
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 115g or ½ a pack of butter
• olive oil
• 1/2 cinnamon stick
• 1 good handful of fresh sage, leaves picked
• zest of 2 lemons
• 10 cloves of garlic, skin left on
• 565ml milk

Recipe:

Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F/gas 5, and find a snug-fitting pot for the chicken. Season it generously all over, and fry it in the butter and a little olive oil, turning the chicken to get an even colour all over, until golden. Remove from the heat, put the chicken on a plate, and throw away the oil and butter left in the pot. This will leave you with tasty sticky goodness at the bottom of the pan which will give you a lovely caramel flavour later on.

Put your chicken back in the pot with the rest of the ingredients, and cook in the preheated oven for 1½ hours. Baste with the cooking juice when you remember. The lemon zest will sort of split the milk, making a sauce which is absolutely fantastic.

To serve, pull the meat off the bones and divide it onto your plates. Spoon over plenty of juice and the little curds. Serve with wilted spinach or greens and some mashed potato.

I hope you will enjoy it!!!!
Recipe and picture: http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/chicken-recipes/chicken-in-milk

Try a cliche...

What is a cliché? It can be defined as an expression or idea that is characterized by its overuse. We generally know it is a cliché when we can tell the sentence or how the situation will end. Examples of clichés (sentences) are “What goes around comes around” or “the writing on the wall.

http://leozetteroode.wordpress.com/tag/oldest-cliche/

 Clichés become overused through the fact that there are used by everybody and even broadcasted through the media. Clichés are represented in the media through different outlets: movies, series, and magazines. They become stereotypes.
We often see on TV clichés of men or women. Men (the player; the divorced men or the nerd) or women (the housewives, the 40 year old single women or independent business women.
We apply what we see on TV; we try clichés on a daily basis (for example men who are player) .TV “sets a norm” that we want to comply with. It is important in life to set our standards ; be ourselves and not just follow the crowd.

Source definition of a cliche: http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-cliche.htm