An August Moment

When you make a commitment to seize what your heart desires, the universe will always conspire to assist you.

The August Mayfield Diaries

I'm Sorry

The worst thing my dad ever did was spoil me. I'm the runt of the litter so it was easy for him to justify me being treated like a fairy princess. He's ruined me and made me unmanageable and not cut out for the real world.

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...and her boyfriend said "I'd prefer a Scotch on the Rocks dear"

From the look on these faces, you'd need a pint of moon-shine before a snog.

Prohibition in the United States was the period from 1919 to 1933 during which the sale, manufacture, and transportation of alcohol for consumption were banned nationally.

The illegal production and distribution of alcohol or bootlegging was rampant and the Government found it almost impossible to enforce the law. People were smuggling through borders, lakes and rivers and the prohibition saw the birth of the Speakeasy.

By 1925, in New York City, there were anywhere from 30,000 to 100,000 speakeasy clubs where alcohol was consumed "behind closed doors".

In 1933, prohibition came to a cautious end when President Franklin Roosevelt signed an amendment allowing the manufacture and sale of low alcohol beer and light wines.

"Cheers!"

Life doesn't have to be over when you're drawing your Pension

Just take a look at Ernestine Shepherd, Personal Trainer: age 71.

What a fabulous advert for looking after your body and mind as a senior citizen.

Training regime: She drinks 16 ounces of water and eats a light snack that includes a bagel with peanut butter or two hard-boiled eggs before starting her workout.

Status: Married to Collin Shepherd, age 77, for 52 years. They have a son and a grandson.

What her husband says: "She is a very determined person and she is not only in this for herself, she’s interested in helping other people, including myself" he says.

With 10% body fat, Ernestine is 5ft 5ins and about 130 pounds of inspiration to her clients, many of whom she includes in her routine of walking or running, which begins at 4am.

It wasn't until Ernestine turned 56 that she began to exercise with her sister.

They were both spurred on to join a gym after shopping for bathing suits and not liking what they saw in the mirror.

Then one day in 1992, her sister came into the gym complaining of a ringing in her ears. A few days later, she passed away. She had a brain aneurysm that burst in her head. They were really close; they did everything together. When she died, Ernestine said “I didn't want to do anything”, but a close friend of Ernestine said “you know your sister wouldn't want you to do that”.

So there we have it. At least I now know that if I do reach the ripe old age of 71, I have options. I can either wither away and die or I can make every attempt to enjoy life to the full. I’m not sure if I would ever have Ernestine’s drive, but at least I know if health is on my side, I can have a fair try!

Sounds Like a Plan!

I attended a wonderful three-in-one affair on Bank Holiday Monday. It was the celebration of a Wedding, Christening and first birthday party.

I don't know how you feel about it, but a three-in-one's a perfect arrangement for me. I certainly know who I'm asking to plan my wedding and if they out-live me, they might even get the chance to plan my funeral.

Okay... okay, I know the funeral part's a bit morbid - but I'm planning to go out in style!

Is it a bird, is it a plane, no it’s me… I’m Superwoman

Many moons ago, my little boy said to me “mummy, are you really Superwoman”?

This happened because he’d reached the age where he wanted to know the answer to everything and very often, one answer wasn’t good enough so he followed his question up with another question which usually involved the word “why”. Sometimes, Daniel would ask me to do something and I would say I can’t do that right now. He would then say why not. I would reply I’m busy and he would often say but why are you busy and I would reply I’m Superwoman and Superwoman is always busy.

One day, we were sitting in the ante-natal clinic and Daniel was flicking through a comic, he couldn’t read, but enjoyed the pictures and then he saw a picture of Superman. He then turned to me and said in the crowded clinic, in a very loud, clear and concise voice for all the world to hear MUMMY, ARE YOU REALLY SUPERWOMAN? All the women in the clinic looked at me in wide-eyed wonder, with baited breath, waiting for my answer and I looked at little Daniel and said YES, OF COURSE I AM and kissed his forehead… all the while thinking is this child crazy, I can’t take him anywhere with his brazen big mouth! I’d have preferred if he said mummy, I’ve done a bottom burp.

I think we amused a few of the women sitting in the clinic, but my initial embarrassment left me when Daniel sat on my knee proud. Proud that his mummy was Superwoman.

But thinking about who I was and what I stood for, I knew I was Superwoman and I meant it. After all, I was sitting in a clinic with my son who wasn’t yet 2 and what was I waiting for? A pre-natal check-up because I was expecting baby number two. I was still working full time and I had a home to run. I did all the washing, cooking, ironing, cleaning, driving around and child-rearing. I don’t do all that crap anymore but I was loyal to the iron and Mr Sheen back then.

On top of that I still had my own personal ambitions, demons and a long, difficult and bumpy road ahead of me, but I’m a Superwoman and I’m still a Superwoman. We’re no work of fiction!

So I wear my S on my chest with pride and the only reason why I bought my Superwoman t-shirt in the first place was to remind me of the day that I honestly believed it for the very first time when I told my son yes, I am Superwoman.

Blame it...

Barack Obama Spoof based on Jamie Foxx's BLAME IT...



...and the real thing: Jamie Foxx - BLAME IT!

I see Jamie's got some clout - what a star-studded video. Fabulous!!

Twin-Town: An Unusually High Incidence of Twin Births

In the small Indian village of Kodinhi in Kerala, there's approximately 250 sets of twins.

Experts are baffled over the phenomenon that's seen almost six times as many twins born than the global average.

A local doctor Dr Krishnan Sribiju has been studying the medical mystery of Kodinhi for years.

In Dr Sribiju's opinion, whatever's causing this high incidence of twinning should be bottled to provide help for infertile couples.

He goes on to say "without access to detailed biochemical analysis equipment I cannot say for certain what the reason for the twinning is, but I feel that it is something to do with what the villagers eat and drink."

With the majority of twins in Kodinhi being of the identical kind and the fact that a large percentage are under the age of twenty, a lot of the youngsters trick the adults.

Shahana & Shahala:

"We always find the teachers mix us up," said five-year-old Shahala, who attends the local primary school in Kodinhi.

"Sometimes when we are feeling naughty we try to swap classes to confuse people" said sister Shahana.

Shahala & Shahana are the little girls sitting on the steps, bottom left.

A Very Precious Film

The film Precious is about a teenage girl living in Harlem coping with terrible adversities who's struggling to turn her unhappy life around. The film is based on the novel Push by Sapphire who is an American author and performance poet.

Precious stars new-comer Gabourey Sidibe who plays Precious Jones and also includes comedienne/actress Mo'Nique who plays Precious's awful mother, Mariah Carey and Lenny Kravitz.



Actress Gabourey Sidibe in Precious

The film premiered this January at the Sundance Film Festival. It won the Audience Award and The Grand Jury Prize for best drama as well as a Special Jury Prize for supporting actress Mo'Nique.

PRECIOUS



The film will be released in November 2009.

Let us Pray

Dear Lord...

So far today, am I doing alright?

I’ve not gossiped, lost my temper, been greedy, grumpy, nasty, selfish or self-indulgent. I’ve not whined, complained, cursed or eaten any chocolate. I haven’t even charged anything on my credit card!

But I will be getting out of bed in a minute and I think that I will really need your help then.

Amen.

Would you like milk in your tea?

"No, just pass the Courvoisier!"

I saw my mum's friend Gloria at the bus-stop this morning. She said to me it's chilly today isn't it. I said to her I felt OK because I always wear layers. I hate to feel the cold so I always make sure that I compensate by keeping warm with a vest, top, cardigan, jacket and scarf and whatever else it takes to keep warm.

Gloria said to me when she first came to Britain from Ghana, she worked in a tea-shop in London Bridge which had tables and chairs out-side which she had to wait on so she used to feel especially cold first thing in the morning. Gloria said "dear child, do you know what I used to do? I used to pour half a cup of brandy in my tea every morning before stepping outside the house. I would stay warm for the whole morning right up until the early afternoon." Gloria went on to say "people used to laugh and say Gloria's so happy and bubbly".

Little did they know!

Gloria's done herself a disservice though, because she's still happy and bubbly... unless of course she's still knocking back the brandy every morning.

Gina's NOT afraid of the Police!

It's not satisfying without Love!

In the past, I tried to have a relationship with a man who clearly didn't love me; I sure loved him though. Those were the days when I was as green as the grass in my back garden!

I remember loving him for YEARS but for ages couldn't understand why he was mean to me. Not only did he so-not love me, he was a Shepherd for the Devil; one of the most self-centred sons-of-b*tches to ever cross my path. He treated me as if I were an irritant, a bad idea, an after-thought and did everything he possibly could just to make sure that I stayed away from him so that he could look like a REAL bachelor. His need to be a bachelor was stronger than his need to be with me so therefore, he would never be able to love me.

Looking back, I hardly recognise the person who put herself through such an awful ordeal. I clearly didn't value myself and didn't take into account that in order for me to be happy and content in a relationship, I needed to receive love.

My whole world has changed since the bad old days. I love myself so much now that I've not met anyone who loves me more! Maybe some tweeking of the balance needs to be done.

But I now know that we all need love in our lives; either to give it or receive it in order to make our world a happy and cool place to be.

We need to love our profession in order to feel gratitude from it otherwise we hate every waking day that we have to go to work. The happiest people are those who would still do their job for free.

You also have to love your children. If you didn't, you'd abandon them in the woods after about 12 years. If I didn't love my children, I would have left home ages ago. Just packed my bags and left them to it, but I need to look after them because it would break my heart if anything happened to them.

As you can see from my experience, you need to love yourself otherwise you leave yourself open to all sorts of abuse. If you don't love yourself, you can't set boundaries and people will mistreat you.

Life is very special when we love who we are and what we do and those who feature very stongly in our lives.

I'm glad I found love again and had the foresight to start with myself.

The August Mayfield Diaries

VERMILION RED

His name is 'Vermilion Red', why? Because he was just like my new can of Vermilion red paint. A fabulous idea at the time. Both him and the paint. A change of colour to liven up a room and my life. I'd have to add some new art-work, a new rug, maybe a new sofa and some expensive curtains. I'll throw out some of the old bits and pieces that would no longer suit the room. I couldn't wait to add some va-va-voom into my magnolia coloured life.

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Obsessed!

If I met Idris Elba, I’d hyperventilate so much that I’d die of a heart attack. I’ve fancied that man for years and the feeling just gets worse and worse with time. When I see him on TV, no one can talk to me or look at me. If the phone rings, forget it; NO ONE'S HOME. If I heard a knock at the door, the person would have to come back tomorrow or next week!

If I see a photograph of him, no matter where; I cut it out and put it on my Idris cork-board in the office. It helps me to work better. Don’t worry, I’ll soon get over it. I always do in the end.

Or maybe I'm just Obsessed?

An August Thought

A dead atheist is someone who's all dressed up with nowhere to go!

Are you ready for it to last 36 Hours?

Britain's Got Loads of Talent

Two outstanding artists who've been making waves and showing the world that being young and talented is a very good idea!

Dizzee Rascal isn't afraid to step outside the box; he always manages to try something new - run-of-the-mill he's NOT!

Dizzee Rascal - Bonkers



Alesha Dixon happens to be a multi-talented little Star in her own right. She said in an interview with London's Choice FM radio station that she has a desire to be the UK's answer to the gorgeous Tyra Banks. Alesha see's herself being a chat show host some time in the future. I believe she's got the personality to be anything she wants to be.

Alesha Dixon - Let's Get Excited!

Cheeky Monkey!

When I was little, my mum and dad never took me to the zoo. They said if they want you, they'll come and get you!

Jesus, Lord, somebody help me, I'm being bludgeoned to death!

I braid my hair at night so that I can have wavy hair during the day. I secure this mass braiding together with a series of elastic bands.

Last night, in the middle of sleep, one of my elastics snapped, but because I was in deep sleep, the shock of the bang and the slap on my head made me scream and jump out of my sleep. I thought someone had broken into my bedroom in the middle of the night and smacked me upside the head. So there's me screaming. Then the dog started barking. The barking woke the children. There was all this commotion going on simply because of a hair style. The shame of it!

It's the most excitement I've had all week. That and being vigorously frisked by a burly male doorman on Monday night!

The August Mayfield Diaries

OH GOOD LORD! I THINK THERE'S BEEN A MISUNDERSTANDING.

I've been shopping at our local Caribbean market for about 15 years. Occasionally, I see the shop and stall-owner; he's not seen very often because he's got other businesses in the area to oversee. For this reason, when I do actually see him, we never say more than pleasantries like please, thank you, hello and goodbye but he seems friendly enough.

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Pull the other one... it's got customised Marc Jacobs bells on!

A dodgy man with a camera approached me this morning. He asked me if I was a model. As soon as I heard these words, I knew he was up to no good. I’m not one to deflate my own ego; but:

1) I’m 10 inches too short to be a model; and
2) I’m no Jourdan Dunn, even if you ironed my hair, made me up and gave me Lipo

Let's not play games here; I couldn't be a model and that's a fact!

So I called Dodgy Man’s bluff and said yes, I’ve been modelling for Storm and Elite for 10 years. He said oh, in that case, would you be interested in a project I’m working on. I’ve got a few photography students who need to work with professionals. I said ‘and…’. He then said well if you’d like to take part, come along to my studio at this address, which he wrote on a ripped envelope. He also said here’s my number, come any time and maybe we can take some photos and see what happens from there.

Yeah right… I hope there’s some fun-fair rides in this fantasy land of his! Dodgy son of a bitch. In my books, a man who smells of anything other than shower gel and aftershave at eight in the morning is always up to no good!

Marc by Marc Jacobs

I’m a fashion accessory… just like a pair of Jimmy Choo’s

Well if I’m to believe what some guys at work said recently, then yes, this is the case. I’m a damn man-bag.

Why am I like a Gucci bag or a pair of Manolo’s? I’m a black woman and as Alexei at work said, it’s the latest thing to have some black eye-candy on your arm if you’re a trendy young man, whether you’re gay or straight. Apparently, it's all the rage to have what D’Angelo sang about back in the day and it’s some Brown Sugar!

D'Angelo, Live on The Jools Holland Show @ The BBC



I had an interesting conversation with three guys at work on Friday. They’re all in their twenties and come from various places around the world. Alexei is Greek, Femi is Nigerian and Henrik is Norwegian. Now I wasn’t supposed to be a part of this conversation but my ears pricked up when Alexei said that he only dates black women and for the record, it’s stylish to do so. He said he’s always fancied black women anyway, but when he was younger, it didn’t seem quite so acceptable, but now, not only are black women fanciable but it’s cool to date them too. Femi said as a black man, he’s happy to date anything as long as they’re sexy and don’t talk too much. Henrik said that he also agrees with Alexei – he said he loves the idea of having a black girlfriend mostly because they’re so different to what he’s used to!

I had to butt in. I said to them I heard you lot, I’m not deaf. What’s all this fashion item bullsh*t? Do you really think that it’s fine to date black women simply because you think we’re “hip and cool”? Alexei and Henrik said no in unison and Femi said yes, that’s exactly what they’re saying! All three men looked at each other wide-eyed. Henrik and Alexei especially looked at Femi as if he’d stabbed them in the back.

Henrik said but don’t you think that’s a good thing? For so long, black women’s beauty, style and culture have been overlooked simply due to prejudice, ignorance and fear. He said you should be happy that white men are falling over themselves to date you! I said well I’m happy that there’s less prejudice around, but to be regarded as a fashion statement doesn’t make me feel good at all. Then Alexei said you shouldn’t worry about the reason, what you should concentrate on is the fact that it’s happening. At least you can pick and choose because you’re a well sought after commodity.

Commodity!! Jesus, what in the world… ?

Then Femi said look August, for a long time now, white women have had their pick of men, they’re idolised by black men, Asian men and now blond hair and blue eyed women are being bought in Dubai simply because of their looks, so you should at least celebrate this change of tide where for once, black women are now the ones being sought after.

To be honest with you, I didn’t lose or win the argument; I don’t even know if I made a point at all. I guess I was left feeling bewildered, in disbelief and suspicious!

An August Thought

When a woman behaves like a man, why doesn't she behave like a nice man?

The August Mayfield Diaries

I NEED A PERSONAL ASSISTANT

I've been feeling rather overwhelmed recently. I've got too many projects going on and too much to think about and things to do and not enough time. I even schedule my sleep these days. I work shifts so sometimes, I snatch four hours here and two hours there and convince myself that I can stay awake for 24 hours because I'll catch up at some point.

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Are you my mamma?

Next Day Air

Movie Trailer! Go check this out.