Art & Leisure

Redefining myself: In the midst of my pain,In the midst of my fears,I cry out, Lord help me to redefine myself.

Some of us are blessed with good neighbours. Those of you who keep fit by climbing the rocky, pot-holed, eroding-around-the-edges and threatening-to-collapse road known as Mountain Spring, Kingston 6, might be surprised to learn that up to 12 years ago Daniel Theophilous Palmer, Esquire, lived just before the mouth of the spring.

Banks are usually quiet. Even the most boisterous person suddenly becomes decent when he or she steps into a bank. Yet, there are those who, from time to time, forget they are in a 'hallowed' place. The persons who speak through their cellular earpieces readily come to mind.

The Department of Literatures in English, University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona, will pay tribute to Dr Victor Chang on Tuesday, October 26 at 6 p.m. at the Philip Sherlock Centre for the Creative Arts on the occasion of his retirement from the UWI. Dr Chang retires as senior lecturer after having taught in the department for 32 years.

Peruvian Mario Vargas Llosa won the 2010 Nobel Prize in literature last Thursday as the academy honoured one of the Spanish-speaking world's most acclaimed authors and an outspoken political activist who once ran for president in his tumultuous homeland.

As a primary school teacher working in a tough inner-city community, Janice Spencer-Francis knows a thing or two about facing challenges. She's the literacy co-ordinator at Trench Town Primary in St Andrew, and deals every week with all sorts of obstacles. But last week was particularly difficult for the fourth-grade teacher.

In a small seaside bar, Maas Jabez sat on a high stool sipping white rum. Cindy, the new barmaid, reclined in a green plastic armchair near the entrance facing the main road. It was Sunday evening, and oldies music played in the background.

For 37 years, Pamella Henry has been living on luck, in a house built on the banks of the Rio Cobre in Thompson Pen, St Catherine.

Cuddly puppies I adore, but as they get older, I stay far. I really am not into dogs.

In mid-October, the Jamaica Association of Dramatic Artists (JADA) will put on two acts of kindness - literally - at the Theatre Place on Haining Road in New Kingston.

They start at the beginning, as they always do. Hands linked, shoes in hand, feet bare against the warmth of the asphalt.

I am dress, I am dress in my gold, green and black pondering lyrics