Dear Ms. Saucy,

First and foremost I would like to say thank you for all of the tireless work that you do in informing the masses about carnival and especially for what you do in terms of the economic growth of Trinidad and Tobago. Many people do not know that many of us writers and bloggers as yourself actually do a great financial service as well as an informative one. It is certainly clear that you love your job, what it is that you do and you are one of the best at doing it.

I can clearly remember when I was starting out in my virgin year and my carnival veteran, who put me under his wing, provided me with a list of blogs and sites that I need to read daily.  I can vividly remember Trinidad Carnival Diary, TriniJungleJuice, and LehWeGo being some of the the sites that I frequented in preparation for carnival.

In an effort to be more like you and other writers on the subjects of carnival, I created a book to help and guide carnival virgins through the process of preparing for carnival because I understood the value of having someone who was seasoned in the process in my life helping me every step of the way.  I remember getting on amazon.com and looking for a book on preparing for carnival and I just could not find one and I thought to myself, "How Can I Make This Easier For Somebody Else?"

I knew how difficult things would have been if I would have never stumbled on to your site or another site. A simple Google search could have led me anywhere and quite frankly, as you know, some advice is better than others and there are some people that need a solution for something right now, not when us writers get around to writing it or posting it.

In my profession (I'm a professional coach) it's what I do. Recently, I was coaching one of my clients by telling them that there is an enormous amount of information on the subject matter which I was providing them on the internet. To which they replied, "I am aware, but why sift through all of that when I can just cut to the chase and come to you." 

My response was, "It's not an either/or decision. It's and 'and' decision. Get what you can get from me 'AND' get what you can get from other resources."

I understand that you recently made a post on your Trinidad Carnival Diary facebook page stating that "Please note that Trinidad Carnival Diary is in no way a part of, or involved in the production of any guides or books offering tips and advice to Carnival Virgins and/or Veterans at a charge. You can find all our past articles on the website for FREE under Masquerader Corner. We will be updating and adding more tips for the Carnival 2015 season."

I think that that's unfortunate because you most certainly have much more information to provide than that which can fit into a "blog post."  I think that your preparation process to play frontline from start to finish would be an outstanding book for a beginner at carnival.  Most carnival virgins don't even know what "frontline" or "backline" mean.  Just the introduction alone in a book could clear that up. I think you are taking your years of experience for granted. There are people who need to hear from you. And YOU writing a book would serve as a huge blessing to many. That's just my humble and professional opinion.

As I digress, your stance is greatly appreciated, however, just because there are more than 1 million sites on Youtube teaching Calculus, does not mean that Calculus books, courses or manuals are not needed. And it is a huge error and stance of arrogance to believe that, in the universe of the internet, that one site alone can satiate the needs of the amount of people on the planet who desire to attend carnival. 

Case in point, I've had SEVERAL people who tell me that your posts about frontline costumes are off-putting to those who do not have the money or cannot afford to attend carnival and play frontline or do the "frontline double" in Trinidad and Jamaica.  I promptly defended you and told those people, "That post and her blog caters to those who can do that. That's not a knock on those who cannot."  There are some people who have the time to sift through all the information on the internet, or there are some that do not and just want to get to the point.  And there are some that will appreciate the time, energy and research that an academic has done to make sure that his information is not only accurate but suffice while also listing other resources that people should reference, MAINLY, Trinidad Carnival Diary.

Quite honestly, we had a meeting about interviewing you for our blog because we believe in a "no competition" environment and you are one of the best at what you do. And you will still get the invite because you are a VALUED member of the carnival community.  

At TriniJungleJuice we desire to not only provide the best in resources in carnival but to exhibit the carnival spirit in our engagements and deportment with our contemporaries, clients, readers and advertisers.  With that being said, it is our desire to write in such a fashion that the dissertations on the subjects in the academic realm increase.  That there will be university classes which will cover the carnival movement as is pertains to the black and african diaspora. And that we will have a small hand in that somewhere and that carnival and those that choose to enter into this lifestyle and movement understand that it is about love and unfettered expression.

In closing, Saucy, I love you.

Rhadi Bullard Ferguson, PhD
THE CARNIVAL DOCTOR
Author - Teacher - Coach
2004 Olympian
4-Time National Judo Champion
Judo & Brazilian Jiujitsu Black Belt
www.DrRhadiFerguson.com

P.S. And the author of the only book endorsed by TriniJungleJuice and MyCarnivalBands "The Ultimate Road Ready Guide" - www.TheUltimateRoadReadyGuide.com