blackgirl on mars: notes on a life in copenhagen (or how my alienation brings me closer to people).

could the guinea fowl be the best protection against lime disease? The last couple of times I visited the States, I was fortunate enough to visit Willow, New York. Willow is a small town not too far from Woodstock, New York.  It's a gorgeous Upstate town, with rivers and mountain views and no shortage of wildlife. Bears apparently, are not uncommon here. Lime disease seems to also be quite common in these parts as well. It seems that every other person I bumped into would eventually break down and tell you either a story of their lime infection, or someone close to them, in their family.  Lime disease doesn't sound fun - and if you live anywhere near the woods and deers, chances are there are deer ticks, and if you have deer ticks, well - if you get bit by an infected lice then you can get lime disease. Does that mean that being out in nature is absolutely out of the question? Well, interestingly enough the person I was visiting has some guinea hens.  These birds a...

me and toshi, early- mid 2000s. williamsburgh, brooklyn I don't know why I go so fast. My mind seems to dart around from thought to thought, action to action. If I am not too careful, life manages to flash by with my barely noticing the everyday miracles, acts of kindness. Where do I start? I can say it all started with the woman who hired me at Copenhagen International School so many years ago. And I could tell you about the eye-opening experiences and the lovely international staff I encountered there. There was the sassy Suzanne, originally from Ireland, Lesley from Scotland and Audrey from Scotland. Together we formed the administrative staff.  These women, as were so many others who worked at that school, phenomenal everyday people.  I could tell you about the time before this where I biked around Hellerup with 4 year-old Kai in the bike seat, going from grand big house to grand big house, tutoring 5th grade German girls or Junior High girls from China. Or I can ...

valentina from brooklyn, harlem 2014 After teaching I decided to work at home for a year translating, proofing and editing. I managed to get enough work to get by - and the projects ranged from anything from television scripts to  academic books on Ancient Sumerian Goddesses and such. I'm not kidding. I enjoy the work - but in order to secure a steady income you have to really put yourself out there. The last few years have seen a more socially quiet me - and it is something that I feel I must honor in order to maintain my balance. So I trust. One of the dreams I've always had since moving to Denmark was finding a way to connect what I did in New York with the talent here. When I lived in New York, I worked with Marie Brown, a literary agent who works with such luminaries such as Faith Ringgold and the great Dorothy Dandridge biographer, Donald Bogle. I garnered a wealth of stories being under the tutelage of Marie - and most of all I learned a lot about the business of...

egypt rising (barcelona, 2012) st.hans gade  A couple of weeks ago went it felt like things couldn't get any worse, I received a pretty lovely invitation. My friend Ida - whom I've known since my days in New York - has her own graphic design company now.  Her partner Mia, who is familiar with my work via Ida, invited me to submit 12 pieces of prose/poetry for a class she would be conducting at the Scandinavian School of Design. Mia once saw my Bandit Queen Press project and instantly got it.  The invitation lifted my spirits and definitely helped in keeping things perspective. A couple of weeks later (last Tuesday), I went by her office to see how the students decided to lay out each of the individual texts.  I loved every one of them! And most importantly of all, it kept my writing alive for me in during a pretty challenging time. Every artist can appreciate that! Thank you Mia & all the students who worked on the work of Lesley-Ann Brown ak...

Blackgirl on Mars meets Bronx Obama in Copenhagen One of the things that I love about life, is that sometimes when you take a chance- interesting things happen. Okay, every time you take a chance, interesting things happen - but sometimes the interesting can be a little too interesting, uncomfortable, like finding yourself sitting in the middle of a shoot-out in a basement party in Brooklyn (that's another story). It is not that kind of interesting I'm talking about. I'm talking about the type of interesting that opens up portals of positivity, personal power, hope and inspiration. As human beings, we have the potential to truly touch each other in these ways. You know that feeling - a warm smile from a stranger, a helpful hand reaching for the dropped bag.  Someone running after you with an item you may have dropped a block down the street. The point is, you never know what unlimited potential there is  that awaits you if you don't go out there. I hopped on ...

geeky knitters club inaugural session One of the activities that I certainly enjoy most is knitting. If my life was unfettered to this system and allowed to beat its natural course, it would sound like this: Knit, read, write, knit, read write, knit read, write with a little bit of talking and eating here and there. I learned to knit when I was pregnant and instantly fell in love with every aspect of it: from the needles to the various yarns, the colors, textures, the patterns, the free-style potential. The calm it offers my oftentimes much too hectic mind.  I love untangling skeins of yarn, and have spent many hours in silent meditation, even using pins and needles to unravel the finest of yarn. Yes, the love runs that deep. I know that two of my foremothers earned their living through lace-making and oftentimes I find myself contemplating their lives: one in Trinidad, with a life of horse carts on a cocoa plantation, and the other in Canada- far away from home, only to su...

buddha in the poconos I talked to Buddha 3am the other morning. It's a long story about who Buddha really is, but I call him Buddha because I've learned a lot about Buddha through him. Buddha, like me, left his job about a year ago - we both were teachers. We talked about how much we missed the kids. See, we used to work at this great little school in Copenhagen (it's still great, and it's still there) that's chock full of the quirkiest and most interesting kids I've ever met. In that school, you'll meet a little girl who refuses to be taunted off the football field and students who are adept at 3 or even 4 languages. You'll meet children with backgrounds as diverse as the spectrum of humanity and despite the building's modest facade, you'll feel as though you are in the midst of a spiritual castle spun by the inhabitants of this space. You'll truly come to understand the power of unity, curiosity and empathy. Buddha and I talked abo...

rose quartz at my sister's One day in an attempt to keep my energy balanced, I placed a chunk of rose quartz in my bag.  It was about the size of half of a brick, and as I picked my bag up, I had to laugh and shake my head at how much it weighed. Certainly there was another way I could symbolically support myself. I write symbolically because whether or not the rose quartz has the following properties, for me having something that physically embodies the traits I am attracting helps me in this process. Rose quartz is a mothering crystal, especially towards oneself. It's supposedly a calming and reassuring crystal, especially in times of trauma. But, in a leap of faith, I took the rose quartz out and left it home. I knew that I could remind myself of the balance required to get me through the day, feeling that walking around with a glorified rock in my bag was a bit too much. Sometime later that day I was in the teacher's conference room.  One of my colleagues ale...