Friday, 3 June 2011
Should I be worried?
I'm so OCD that having my play list on shuffle makes me anxious. I've tried but it's better if you know what song will be playing next...better for me anyway.
Wednesday, 23 March 2011
Ah the satisfaction of a trip to the shops!
Anyone who has shopped for a good pair of jeans knows all too well you may find a perfect fit - once every decade or so! Yes, really.
I popped into Woolies* yesterday after work. Much to my surprised pleasure, "Up to 60% off" signs in bold red and white, egged me on from every angle...how could I ignore it? I had to succumb! Into the paltry looking sale racks (only two!) I dived and emerged, victoriously with a few items, one of them being jeans.
Delight melted my knees into jelly in the changing room when I tried them on. No gaping waist? Check. Not overly tight at the hips? Check. A comfortable fit that is not too lose nor tight? Check. Perfect length? Check! Perfect length?! Anyone who knows me in person, knows that I am so vertically challenged, I consider it a valid disability. And the major reason the jeans was not too long for me? Kids clothing, people! I will be gracious enough to allow you a very small chuckle at my expense. But the biggest cherry on the cake? I bagged them for a mere R56!**
*Colloquial (and loving) term for Woolworths, a South African store selling food, clothes and other house hold items, much like the Marks and Spencer shops in the UK.
**That would be roughly 5 Euro, or US$8, or 4.9 Pounds! Price converted at XE.com
I popped into Woolies* yesterday after work. Much to my surprised pleasure, "Up to 60% off" signs in bold red and white, egged me on from every angle...how could I ignore it? I had to succumb! Into the paltry looking sale racks (only two!) I dived and emerged, victoriously with a few items, one of them being jeans.
Delight melted my knees into jelly in the changing room when I tried them on. No gaping waist? Check. Not overly tight at the hips? Check. A comfortable fit that is not too lose nor tight? Check. Perfect length? Check! Perfect length?! Anyone who knows me in person, knows that I am so vertically challenged, I consider it a valid disability. And the major reason the jeans was not too long for me? Kids clothing, people! I will be gracious enough to allow you a very small chuckle at my expense. But the biggest cherry on the cake? I bagged them for a mere R56!**
*Colloquial (and loving) term for Woolworths, a South African store selling food, clothes and other house hold items, much like the Marks and Spencer shops in the UK.
**That would be roughly 5 Euro, or US$8, or 4.9 Pounds! Price converted at XE.com
Monday, 31 January 2011
Tuesday, 11 January 2011
Thursday, 6 January 2011
A chocolate to start the day
The company has recently moved offices. We are now near a Vida e Caffè and they hand out these small Lindt chocolates (as seen above) when you buy a coffee. Scott, a great work colleague, went there this morning to get his caffeine ration for the day. Lo and behold, he walks into the office, straight to where I sat and hands me this little treasure!
I shrieked in happiness, something along the lines: "Oh wow, really? This is for me?! Thanks! You've made my day!" My eyes shone bright with the thoughtfulness behind the gesture.
I love it when people support my choco-holism.
**content sigh**
Monday, 3 January 2011
The year of life paths
Happy MMXI bloggerville! I hope this year is full of blessings for each and every one of you!
I guess it is expected to be pretty introspective at this time of the year, eh? Naturally it got me thinking what sort of a year this could be and I shall dub it the Year of Choosing Life Paths.
My reasoning is quite simple: most of the very important people in my life are making decisions that will impact pretty much the rest of their lives, things like leaving the country permanently and getting fabulous jobs in different countries. Hell, my choices are also going to be long,long, looooonnnnnggggg term too.
Needless to say everyone who are leaving be dearly missed. Many voids will be left which I wonder could ever be filled again. But my friends inspire me with their bravery and courage. Keep soaring dear ones!
Here's to 2011 - the mistakes, joys, laughs, tears, frustrations and everything else!
I guess it is expected to be pretty introspective at this time of the year, eh? Naturally it got me thinking what sort of a year this could be and I shall dub it the Year of Choosing Life Paths.
My reasoning is quite simple: most of the very important people in my life are making decisions that will impact pretty much the rest of their lives, things like leaving the country permanently and getting fabulous jobs in different countries. Hell, my choices are also going to be long,long, looooonnnnnggggg term too.
Needless to say everyone who are leaving be dearly missed. Many voids will be left which I wonder could ever be filled again. But my friends inspire me with their bravery and courage. Keep soaring dear ones!
Here's to 2011 - the mistakes, joys, laughs, tears, frustrations and everything else!
Wednesday, 24 November 2010
A rose by any other name...
Through work, I came across some great/weird/quirky names of towns in South Africa.
There were also a few strange street names in London. I used to always find them immensely amusing:
Can you think of any strange names where you are?
- Alldays: really, I cannot understand this one.
- Estcourt: This can sound rude, if you have a mind that belongs in the gutter.
- Giants Castle: Imagine how cool it will be to say: "Oh I live in Giants Castle. Yes, seriously."
- Carolina: Now I have that tune "Oh Carolina" stuck in my head. **groan**
There were also a few strange street names in London. I used to always find them immensely amusing:
- Knightrider Street: Now this just plain awesome, not to mention retro in this day and age!
- Shoulder of Mutton Alley: again, I do not get this one.
- Hanging Sword Alley: Awesome, retro, quirky and cool!
Can you think of any strange names where you are?
Friday, 29 October 2010
Just weird or epic fail?
M1 told me one of the most bizarre things I have heard in a while:
"Mr X bought for his home an ice cream making machine, can you believe it?! Should I worry? Not a toaster or coffee maker but an ice cream making machine! I got weird friends."
"Now he is all about how delicious they are...still don't get it why..."
"Like you wake up in the morning and say: right, let's get up and get that ice cream machine."
"Mr X bought for his home an ice cream making machine, can you believe it?! Should I worry? Not a toaster or coffee maker but an ice cream making machine! I got weird friends."
"Now he is all about how delicious they are...still don't get it why..."
"Like you wake up in the morning and say: right, let's get up and get that ice cream machine."
First of all:
Is an ice cream making machine a necessity?
Second of all:
Is an ice cream making machine really necessary in a predominantly cold city like London?
I got to admit, it does not make much sense in my mind. But who can resist a treat like ice cream! Anyway, you tell me your thoughts!
Thursday, 21 October 2010
Nerds, don't you just love 'em?
So I got a wonderful response a Honorary Sister-Person via Google Buzz to my three day weekend concept mentioned in my previous post:
"i recently overheard some nerdy ppl talking about measurement units. The discussion started off with comments about the horror of imperial units and the ease of use of SI units.
It moved swiftly, to an a discussion about the day when imperial will be defeated to the awesome SI.
Until an Imperial supporter, a type from the old school- quite literally, put a spanner in the works by suggesting that the calendar would have to be rearranged. "This of coarse is because the number of hours in a day is based on the imperial system. So while SI uses simple tens and multiples thereof, imperial uses inches , feet , and yards etc where there are 3 feet in a yard and 12 inches in a foot etc. There are also 12 months in a year so 12 is the relating factor."
So 12 hours to reach midday wouldnt be internationally recognised under the SI time frame and we'd probably have 10 hours to midday with 100 minutes in each and then 100 seconds. I dont know if this works out but ...perhaps being all uniform we will have 10 months in a year and things will become verry bizzarre.
this leaves room for wonder. Perhaps there will be 10 day weeks...and hopefully , just hopefully
MORE WEEKEND:-) "
"i recently overheard some nerdy ppl talking about measurement units. The discussion started off with comments about the horror of imperial units and the ease of use of SI units.
It moved swiftly, to an a discussion about the day when imperial will be defeated to the awesome SI.
Until an Imperial supporter, a type from the old school- quite literally, put a spanner in the works by suggesting that the calendar would have to be rearranged. "This of coarse is because the number of hours in a day is based on the imperial system. So while SI uses simple tens and multiples thereof, imperial uses inches , feet , and yards etc where there are 3 feet in a yard and 12 inches in a foot etc. There are also 12 months in a year so 12 is the relating factor."
So 12 hours to reach midday wouldnt be internationally recognised under the SI time frame and we'd probably have 10 hours to midday with 100 minutes in each and then 100 seconds. I dont know if this works out but ...perhaps being all uniform we will have 10 months in a year and things will become verry bizzarre.
this leaves room for wonder. Perhaps there will be 10 day weeks...and hopefully , just hopefully
MORE WEEKEND:-) "
Monday, 18 October 2010
Some thoughts
Weekends are for:
- Leisurely sitting down and eating your breakfast.
- Listening to great music while doing so.
- Sitting in your baggy PJs for as long as you like.
- Sipping your coffee instead of gulping it down while it is far too hot to drink and scalding your tongue in the process.
- Jumping back into bed after all of that for some reading time.
These sort of simple things bring me an immense, deep sated joy!
As a standard going forward, I really think weekends should be three, instead of two days. Yes, I will be much more productive in the week if that is the case!
Monday, 11 October 2010
What a freaking treat!
Dayum! Three words: Chocolate. Covered. Strawberries! Another two words: at. work.
Whoa!
Enough to convert the bluest of Mondays to the brightest cerise and orange! Much thanks to Pricsilla for this not-so-guilty indulgence.
Wednesday, 6 October 2010
The flaws of human nature
It is possible that I am one of the last people on the planet to have watched the Stars Wars Sextet but hey, better late than never.
Before I started to watch it, I had to confirm with my two favourite brain boxes on watching Episodes IV, V, VI first and then I, II and III. One said to watch it consecutively, the other said watch it as they were released. Hmm...thanks guys.
So I decided to watch it as they were released. I must say Episodes IV, V, VI were rather simplistic with even simpler dialogue. Bleh...
BUT onto I, II and III! Whoa! Anakin's journey from obscurity to power hungry Sith is captivating. All the while knowing what is going to happen, I will still rooting for him to be good, remain good...very much like watching Romeo and Juliet - you know they're are going to die but you hope and pray that by some twist they won't!
Regardless, I feel a lot of compassion towards Anakin Skywalker for the simple reason that he is so flawed, so subject to his emotions, has much emotional baggage...it made him more human, more accessible. Evil manipulated that to their advantage so they could get the upper hand. But yes, Anakin did chose it himself as well even though he was only trying to protect what he held beloved. He is indeed a tragic hero, and now one of my favourites too.
In any case, seeing the character's demise made me think about how we all approach emotions - it can be so strong and can pull us to do so much - the very high of highs and the lowest of lows. The Jedi Masters, along with many religions in the reality we live in, preach about having that calm centre and disassociating the self from fears and attachments, especially in this physical world. That is something Anakin clearly did not practice. He had emotional baggage from the time he was a child, and I wonder how detrimental it is to people in their normal lives, if they do not deal with their emotional baggage. Are those from dysfunctional homes therefore more prone to snap at some point, if their issues are not resolved, or if they do not make peace with it? Are they at a natural disadvantage with all the chips on their shoulder? Does that mean that people who have led a relatively normal lives from childhood more prone to achieve all that they can, be all they can be? It made me think about being at peace with oneself, truly and fully, lest you go down your own dark path, whatever that may be for you.
Before I started to watch it, I had to confirm with my two favourite brain boxes on watching Episodes IV, V, VI first and then I, II and III. One said to watch it consecutively, the other said watch it as they were released. Hmm...thanks guys.
So I decided to watch it as they were released. I must say Episodes IV, V, VI were rather simplistic with even simpler dialogue. Bleh...
BUT onto I, II and III! Whoa! Anakin's journey from obscurity to power hungry Sith is captivating. All the while knowing what is going to happen, I will still rooting for him to be good, remain good...very much like watching Romeo and Juliet - you know they're are going to die but you hope and pray that by some twist they won't!
Regardless, I feel a lot of compassion towards Anakin Skywalker for the simple reason that he is so flawed, so subject to his emotions, has much emotional baggage...it made him more human, more accessible. Evil manipulated that to their advantage so they could get the upper hand. But yes, Anakin did chose it himself as well even though he was only trying to protect what he held beloved. He is indeed a tragic hero, and now one of my favourites too.
In any case, seeing the character's demise made me think about how we all approach emotions - it can be so strong and can pull us to do so much - the very high of highs and the lowest of lows. The Jedi Masters, along with many religions in the reality we live in, preach about having that calm centre and disassociating the self from fears and attachments, especially in this physical world. That is something Anakin clearly did not practice. He had emotional baggage from the time he was a child, and I wonder how detrimental it is to people in their normal lives, if they do not deal with their emotional baggage. Are those from dysfunctional homes therefore more prone to snap at some point, if their issues are not resolved, or if they do not make peace with it? Are they at a natural disadvantage with all the chips on their shoulder? Does that mean that people who have led a relatively normal lives from childhood more prone to achieve all that they can, be all they can be? It made me think about being at peace with oneself, truly and fully, lest you go down your own dark path, whatever that may be for you.
Thursday, 30 September 2010
Merde! Damn! Hell! And every other profanity around!
There are times in your life when you really wish you could kick yourself. I have been having a few of those days. Reason being is that I am waking up before 5AM! I am not sure what the problem is, but I am not sleeping any earlier than usual so that certainly cannot account for the early rise into consciousness. And the worst part: I cannot fall back into slumber! So yeah, I have become my own worst enemy and even I cannot sort myself out.
**whimpers and pleads to the Gods for help**
**whimpers and pleads to the Gods for help**
Friday, 17 September 2010
Do you believe?
I know it is nowhere near Christmas but this was much-too-darling NOT to share. I got it from here:
http://www.newseum.org/yesvirginia/
Eight-year-old Virginia O'Hanlon wrote a letter to the editor of New York's Sun, and the quick response was printed as an unsigned editorial Sept. 21, 1897. The work of veteran newsman Francis Pharcellus Church has since become history's most reprinted newspaper editorial, appearing in part or whole in dozens of languages in books, movies, and other editorials, and on posters and stamps.
"DEAR EDITOR: I am 8 years old.
"Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus.
"Papa says, 'If you see it in THE SUN it's so.'
"Please tell me the truth; is there a Santa Claus?
"VIRGINIA O'HANLON.
"115 WEST NINETY-FIFTH STREET."
VIRGINIA, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except [what] they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men's or children's, are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.
Yes, VIRGINIA, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as if there were no VIRGINIAS. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.
Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies! You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if they did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that's no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.
You may tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, VIRGINIA, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.
No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives, and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.
http://www.newseum.org/yesvirginia/
Eight-year-old Virginia O'Hanlon wrote a letter to the editor of New York's Sun, and the quick response was printed as an unsigned editorial Sept. 21, 1897. The work of veteran newsman Francis Pharcellus Church has since become history's most reprinted newspaper editorial, appearing in part or whole in dozens of languages in books, movies, and other editorials, and on posters and stamps.
"DEAR EDITOR: I am 8 years old.
"Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus.
"Papa says, 'If you see it in THE SUN it's so.'
"Please tell me the truth; is there a Santa Claus?
"VIRGINIA O'HANLON.
"115 WEST NINETY-FIFTH STREET."
VIRGINIA, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except [what] they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men's or children's, are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.
Yes, VIRGINIA, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as if there were no VIRGINIAS. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.
Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies! You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if they did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that's no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.
You may tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, VIRGINIA, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.
No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives, and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.
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