DANCEHALL QUEEN

When you think of the term "Dancehall Queen" the normal image that comes to mind is typically a Jamaican, black, 20-something year old. I saw this video posted on my friend Monique Hennagan's Facebook page several days ago and it brings a huge smile to my face because this little girl from South Africa is WORKING IT OUT!!! She's 7 years old and she would put many a grown up to shame! (Not me of course, since I am a closet dancing machine, lol, but you know I have to maintain my rep so I don't put all my skills out there:-)

She is pretty impressive!! How would you compare???

FINALLY FACEBOOK!

So I know I'm probably the last person on earth to sign up for a Facebook account, lol, and for that matter by now, maybe most people have already moved on to Twitter, who knows? I am accustomed to be the last to try out everything. It's just the way I am and I'm comfortable with that, but I finally bit the bullet and signed up about 2 weeks ago on the urging of a couple friends:-)

It's been a pretty fast, furious and interesting couple of weeks. I am amazed at how many people I have reconnected with so quickly. People from my college days at Stanford, friends from the Bahamas when I was in high school, lots of track friends, from back in the day and current. I actually didn't even know that I knew that many people!!! I also didn't know how quickly people would find out that I was on there. My blackberry has been buzzing off the hook. I think I need to remove the phone notification setting. Plus, I see so many more friends that I have out there that I'll eventually get around to sending friend requests to but for the time being it's been fun and I've been enjoying the experience.

There's definitely some stuff on there that I haven't quite figured out yet, like how to add more than one profile pic or how to stop people from seeing that you're online and stop them from starting "chats". I don't really get the whole poking thing and I think that some people spend waaay too much time on there. I think I'm up to about 150 or 160 something friends but if any of you, my blog readers are on Facebook and want a new rookie friend:-) then feel free to add me.

Hey, maybe Twitter will be next.....ahhhh, NOT, lol....at least no time soon!


***On another note, David made a successful return to competition after an almost four month layoff due to injury. He won his race in Tallinn on Tuesday night and I was pretty darned excited and happy about it:-) It's funny how you can get nervous about someone else racing. Anyway, there's an even bigger race coming up tomorrow in Zurich, Switzerland. It's the biggest meet of the year on the track circuit and the lineups are always impressive. Coming on the heels of the recent World Championships, all the recently crowned medalists will be there - everyone from Usain Bolt to Kenenisa Bekele to Sanya Richards will be competing... and so will Dave. It's gonna be a great race and I'll surely be watching!!!!

THOSE IN GLASS HOUSES.....

A friend of mine, Doc Patton, who was a part of that US men's 4X100m relay team that ended up getting disqualified writes a blog. He was the guy on the anchor leg who apparently touched the baton before entering the exchange zone therefore resulting in team USA's expulsion from the finals yesterday.

As I was reading his most recent post, following their disqualification, it occurred to me just how easy it is to criticize and chastise and belittle and point the fingers at what athletes should've and could've done in a particular situation. But having been the person who's been pointed at before, as we probably all have been, there is no disappointment or frustration worse than that which we feel ourselves. The armchair quarterbacks are heavy on the "how could he?" and "it's so easy, anyone could've done that" and very light on the empathy.

As he said, athletes are human, and therefore fallible and until one of us comes from a place of perfection then it's best not to point the finger so quickly. Yes, they made a mistake but who among us in our lives, our professions and careers hasn't? It just so happens that as an athlete, your blunders are often made in front of millions of people and who scrutinize and criticize mercilessly. We choose to put ourselves out there and yes we're professional but at the end of day, mistakes will happen and we, because our shoulders are broad and because of our innate ability to assess, regroup and be resilient, we get back up and as he said "we keep it moving"!! God bless u Doc! Those of us who were true fans of yours before, will continue to be. We know how talented you are and know that great things lie in wait for you.....

Click here to read his blog entry..

KONNICHIWA!! (Slightly Edited)

As perhaps you might guess from the title of this post, I am in Japan...Tokyo to be exact. Life is really so full of surprises and twists and turns. Ask me on Monday morning where I would have been on Tuesday and I would've told you in Culver City, CA doing some Health & Wellness work. However, God moves in mysterious ways and so we never know what His plans are.

So, on Monday evening at around 5:30 or so I was hanging out with my brother, when I received an unexpected phone call from the sports modeling agency that I do some off and on work with. I looked at my phone but as I was fully engrossed in a conversation, I chose not to answer, figuring I'd get back to them soon enough. Five minutes later, I get an email from them saying "Contact us ASAP regarding a direct booking opportunity!" So, I excuse myself from my conversation and call them back. Jeff, one of the agents at Sports Unlimited answers and proceeds to tell me that I've been offered a job in Tokyo but I have to leave on Tuesday. My immediate concern is what is it that they are going to want me to do, because if it's sprinting or jumping, then unfortunately I would not have been able to accept the job because of the incapacity of my Achilles.

I tell Jeff to find out the specifics of the job and to let me know. He does and as it turns out, they want me in spite of my limitations. Woohoo!!:-) By the time all the details are worked out, ie. travel, contact and hotel info, payment terms (which are pretty darned good!!), etc. it's around 7:30pm. I had already agreed to have dinner with a friend of mine and I didn't want to break that so I went to dinner and then began the task of packing to leave for my 5 day trip.

Due to my years and years of travel, I am an expert packer and so I get through the process relatively quickly and made it to bed by midnight. I still had to run a few errands in the morning and try to rearrange a few things in my schedule but I made it to my 1:13pm flight very comfortably. I've already met the other two girls who I will be shooting with and we start bright and early in the morning. Actually, it's 2:22am right now but I'm up because thank God, Track and Field is important over here too and they are airing the World Championships live on TV. GO Team Bahamas!!!

The only drawback to being in Japan is that they use a quadband phone service and so US phones don't work over here, so no BBM:-( I might go through withdrawals lol. It's ok though because I think it's good every once in a while to be detached from the constant buzzing and obligation that a phone inherently causes. I have Skype anyway so it's all good:-)

Anyway, that's it for now. I'll be sure to update with pictures etc whenever I get a chance. Until then, stay blessed....

****Due to legal reasons, no pictures will be allowed of the shoot...sorry!

****Also, my room is on the 30th floor of my hotel and about 5 minutes ago, I just felt a PRETTY STRONG earthquake:-((!!!! Not fun at all......

FUN IN THE SUN

This afternoon, I was invited to a pool party by ex-NFL player Marcellus Wiley. He was the host and the party was held at The Custom Hotel, a modern boutique hotel near LAX. I took my girls Peggy, Tasha D, and my roommate Coen with me to enjoy the afternoon of fun.

We got there around 2pm and there weren't that many people yet but knowing "our" people:-), considering the party started at 12, it shouldn't have really been too much of a surprise.



By about 3:30 though, the place was pretty packed with everyone from Paul Pierce from the Celtics, to Toccara (model from America's Next Top Model - she's a lot smaller than I thought she would be), to Jill Marie Jones from Girlfriends to Hosea Chanchez from The Game.



It's funny, cause I am the worst with names (I just had to look those names up). I'll remember a face in a second but ask me to tell you a name and I come up blank. The whole day we were like, isn't that so-and-so, lol, not knowing anyone's name but just knowing we had seen them somewhere in some thing before.

It never ceases to amaze me what some women will wear to these types of events. I know it was a pool party and all but do you HAVE to have all your business on display?? I saw some of the teeniest, tiniest swimsuits out there. Now some of these ladies looked great and in those cases, more power to them. BUT, there were definitely some decisions that let's just say, they should have been revisited, lol. Anyway, I really do have to give it up to women of all shapes and sizes who feel confident enough and comfortable to "let it all hang out" no matter what. That is definitely something to be admired (to a degree;-/).

We left a couple hours ago but the party will be going on till 2am but after 5hrs of fun in the sun, the ladies and myself had had enough. We met some really cool people, ran into some old friends, ate good food and thoroughly enjoyed just people watching.



Someone else invited me out tonight as well, but I'm pooped. Enough is enough. Plus I need to rest up so I can wake up and watch World Championships tomorrow online/on TV. They got underway today and the finals of the men's 100m and the showdown between Usain Bolt, Tyson Gay and Asafa Powell, if he runs to his potential, should be one to remember! I will definitely be watching.

OUTSIDE LOOKING IN.....

I really don't know how to explain it adequately but I find myself right now in such an odd space and place. I've mentioned it before but as the World Championships for Track and Field get closer, in fact it's less than a week away, I find myself feeling wistful, a little bit sad, yet excited - all at the same time. I'm wistful because I can think back to SO many great memories that I've had over the past years and the outstanding experiences, accomplishments and friendships that I've had as a result.

I remember my very first World Championship experience, when I was still a Junior in College. I was young and uninhibited in such a way that you don't even necessarily realize that you should perhaps be intimidated by the level of competition. I had just finished coming 2nd at the Outdoor NCAA Championships that year in Eugene, Oregon and with no competitions in between, I went to Tokyo, Japan two months later with all the excitement in the world and with absolutely no fear. After all I had no expectations to do anything good or bad. I just knew I was fit and that I'd have fun.

I remember seeing Carl Lewis for the first time there. I was headed down the elevators to go to dinner and when the doors opened, there he was standing with Leroy Burrell. I was so star-struck that I didn't even take a step forward to join them on the elevator. I just stood there with my mouth agape, lol, the doors closed again, they went on their way and I was still standing there in disbelief that I had actually seen him! Yeah, I know, pretty lame:-/

Anyway, as far the LJ competition went, I laced up my spikes with the best in the world - Jackie Joyner-Kersee and Heike Dreschler and put my Bahamas uniform on and figured I had nothing to lose. The automatic qualifying mark to the finals that year was 6.65m (21ft 10 ins) and if you jumped that in any of your 3 jumps you would automatically be in top 12 jumpers to move on to the finals the next day. There were over 50 jumpers competing but Brooks told me that it would be NO PROBLEM and that I should just get it out of the way on my first jump. SO.....I did! First jump....6.66m!!!! Easy, lol (not really, considering my PR at the time was 6.62m). After that first round of jumping they took myself, Heike, JJK and all the other auto qualifiers off the field. We didn't need to watch the other 2 rounds because our spots were secure. I remember thinking man this World's stuff is easy.....surely the thoughts of a rookie!

I came back the following day and finished 10th in the finals. I think I only jumped 6.30 something. I wasn't able to duplicate my performance of the night before but what a blast I had!!!! In that meet I saw Mike Powell break the world record and Carl Lewis set the then 100m world record. It's an experience I will NEVER forget.

So as Friday is just around the corner, and I will miss competing in my 10th consecutive World Championships, I sure do wish I was there. I miss competing. I miss my friends. My Achilles is getting better and that's a blessing. Coming back from an injury is no joke let me tell you. The emotional roller coaster ride is a ride indeed. I can't wait however, to watch my teammates compete over there in Berlin. Chandra Sturrup (season's best in the 100m 10.99 at the age of 37!!!!!), Debbie Ferguson (season's best of 10.97 and 22.3), my boy Avard, my girls Joice and Brianna - to all of you, I wish you all the best. I may not be there in person, but I sure am with you in spirit!!! God's speed and blessing. I'll be watching......

HERE COMES THE BRIDE....

I've been smiling all weekend, and this video added to that this morning and so I thought I'd share. It's another take on "Here comes the Bride" I guess you could say:-/ Now I'm not saying I would do it like this, but it sure looked like these people had a lot of fun and at the end of the day, isn't that what your wedding day is supposed to be?? Kudos to them & Happy Sunday to you all! Enjoy....

HE IS........

Every once in a while you meet someone and you end up going on the "ride of your life"! The TRUTH is I'm a pretty lucky girl:-)

LOVE THIS SONG!!!

MINI VACAY

I''ve had a really good weekend, if I do say so myself. Saturday was busy but my evening sure was nice. Shout out to the big O/MCO;-)

Today in LA, after going to church, my roommate Erica and I went to Palos Verdes for the day. Erica's boss Chad has a brother named Ethan Moreau who plays professional ice hockey for the Edmonton Oilers. Actually he's the team captain, "eh"?. (Joke for all the Canadians out there lol)


He and his family are spending the off-season/summer at a resort in Palos Verdes and so he invited Erica and I to come and spend the day. We went there at around 2pm and didn't leave till about 10:30pm. We had such a beautiful day. You would think that being from The Bahamas I would have spent many days laying around poolside or at the beach but today was actually the very first time in my life that I just put on a swimsuit and just laid out on a lounge chair.
I've never been a fan of just sitting in the blazing sun, never seen the point really. Just sweat to death and burn your skin? Why, lol? The weather today was PERFECT though - not too hot, not too humid - just nice and warm and pleasant and I actually enjoyed it.

Erica, myself and Ornella, Ethan's wife sat around eating and having drinks and just having good ol' girl talk. We actually didn't even go in the pool.

Later on when it was getting a little cooler, we moved nearer the fire pit and had some more good conversation with Ethan.

After a quick shower, we all headed for dinner within the resort compound. This place was fantastic, completely self-contained. This was the view from their suite.


We had a lovely meal, with some great people and I swear it almost felt to me like I was away on vacation somewhere. It didn't feel like LA at all to be honest. It's always interesting to me to talk with professional athletes from other sports just to see what their life and sport is really like. It's gonna be great to go to some Oilers/Kings games next season!


After dinner, we bid our goodbyes and drove back down the mountain....to reality:-( "Vacation" over. It sure was a fun day and I'm pretty tired but I had an awesome time, made some good friends and got a chance to see how the other half lives, even if only for one afternoon:-)