Circumspecte

Hi Everyone! Hope all's well. Okay, so this is just a quick note to alert you guys on two things. First - the TED Talks - which is basically a series of forums where leaders or innovators in various sectors share their work, passion, opinions etc. And second - Ghana's newly launched FIRST online electronic library. TED Talks: Ideas Worth Spreading I've made reference to many TED videos here on Circumspect, but I realized I never actually dedicated a single post to it. Essentially, the TED talks have people from all walks of life and professions - art, science, language, culture, politics, food, health, and what-have you - coming together to share their passion, their life experiences, their ideas for a better world and so on. The talks happen all over the world, so there's been TED London or TED Toronto and so on, and also, sometimes focuses on specific themes like TEDxYouth or TED Women. The GREAT thing about it is everything is available online AND you can downlo

Sometimes all it takes for you to affirm who you are, is to see a glimpse of yourself in someone else. Two weekends ago I had exactly that opportunity when my friend Arame and I spent the afternoon interacting with some writers, poets and painters at the beautiful Goree Island- including Goree Institute cofounder, distinguished writer, painter and South African poet Breyten Breytenbach , renowned Tunisian painter Emna Zghal , acclaimed NYU professor, author of "Joe the Engineer", and poet Chuck Wachtel, Coordinating Editor of the Piroque Institute and Imagine Africa Cultural Fellow Adam Weidwitsch , as well as up and coming Senegalese poet and author of " Les Raisins du Baobab " Ibrahima Amadou Niang. During our time there we discussed a lot of things - the act of writing, the different styles and forms, how to draw inspiration, what it means to be a writer, the question of who forms/tells history, the act of documentation and preservation of art and history, etc. I

To say that the new year rushed in is an understatement. I woke up one morning on Dec. 18 and the next thing I knew, it was 2011. Sure, being engrossed in the Young Women's Knowledge and Leadership Institute (YOWLI) probably had something to do with my lack of awareness of time and space, but I gotta say, we went through 2010 really fast! Anyways, ni ti yum pali, bonne annee, dewenati, afehyia pa, HAPPY NEW YEAR! We're in another decade! We're three days in - almost 4 (11:50pm) - and I already feel extremely optimistic about 2011 :) For one thing, I've declared this year my year of positivity. For another thing, I can't explain it, but I just feel that this year is gonna be a good...no, great...one! And yes, I realize that putting this on the record means I can't come back later and complain when things are...ahem... a little off, but this is what I truly believe and feel from the core of my being. 2010: Careful What You Wish For Alors, a quick recap on 2010