[Kenna's Scrapbook] Brown, Sugar, and Spice!

[Kenna Frostfawn]

Brown, Sugar, and Spice! Hi everyone! My name is Kenna, but you can call me Keke for short because it's less of a moutful. Anyways, I'm pretty new to Mizahar on a whole but had managed to find my way here. I've always been one to love writing things having to do with poetry, stories, etc. Normally I'd go onto online forums and writing sites but they were all getting to unoriginal for me. Every day I'm seeing the same thing about mainstream (i.e. Werewolfs, Vampires, Mates, etc.) things and poor grammar as well. So then I set off on my little ship and searched up the best forum sites, and now I'm here. The reason I called this scrapbook, "Brown, Sugar, and Spice" is because it relates back to my roots and where I come from. Originally I was born in the Caribbean, growing up with a diverse amount of people who spoke many different languages. You can never say that we have one specific race because we're mixed with so many things. For instance, if you look at myself.. You can't distinguish what race I am because there are so many attributes to it. My country, despite it's many faults is the best place for me because it's home and I can never get enough of it. Now most of you may know the saying from Power Puff Girls... But this actual title originated from a Caribbean author who wrote a book about St. Lucia. I've read the book about a million times and really it portrays the Caribbean so well during that time. Most people don't really know about the other countries in the Caribbean except for Jamaica, US Virgin Islands, etc... Where I live, we're really small compared to say the US. Even on the map we're like a tiny dot but that tiny dot has so much going on that barely anyone can see. What I love about my country is that we have a lot of holidays, even if it's the most pointless things, it's still a holiday right? And, Carnival. Carnival is a tradition that has been with us for ages and it's always the best time of year when the Soca Music comes out and everyone is in the streets. One of my favorite traditions is Jourvert, you basically get up at 2 am and head to the band you signed up for. Then you dance in the middle of the road with a bunch of powder going everywhere and paint being splattered all over you. It's really the best experience you can ever have! Anyways, that was my little spurt of the night about what the Caribbean is like.. Stay tuned for more history! I hope to enlighten you Oh and, HAPPY NEW YEAR <3

[Kenna Frostfawn]

Panorama Now you maybe wondering what panorama is... Now let me break it down for you. Basically, it's an instrument known as a steel pan originating from Trinidad & Tobago. Originally they were steel drums, and that's what most people know them as out of the Caribbean. They were created by the slaves as a form of creating music, and that's when Calypso and Soca started to come into play. Because they could not talk, they sang instead and this is how they delivered their messages. In about a week and a half from now I'll be participating in a competition called Panorama. It's basically a bunch of bands such as Desperados, Silver Stars, West Stars (My Group ), etc. Come together in different categories and play music together, this is my first time playing with an actual band. So, I'm really excited! You have different types of pans such as: Tenor, Double Tenor, Double Second, Chello, Guitar, Triple Chello, Tenor Bass, Six Bass, and Eight Bass. The tenor will play the melody and they have the highest pitch of the entire band, plus they lead the band itself. Next is the double tenor and double seconds, they are meant for balancing out the tenor's and creating harmonies. Next are the chello's, guitars, triple chello's, tennor bass, etc: They intially are the background music, they make all of this come to life and as a whole it's BEAUTIFUL! People come down from America and all over to witness this competition, it's literally that good. But what most people don't or do know is that much preparation goes into practicing and getting it right. I've been practicing with my band since last year January and now it's getting close to the end of it all. Now it's, non-stop practice everyday going until 12 am and new changes, etc. Really it's a lot to handle but in the end, the experience is worth it.