Blimey, it is the end

It felt as if Harry Potter had become a good friend. I mean even though he had to battle absolute evil, there were so many people that identified with him on different levels. And even if it is not the greatest literature ever written, it certainly was the best selling.

Last night my eyes glazed over the last sentence of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Finished. Gone. Kaput! Now Harry Potter, the friend, will never be read. It is bittersweet.

"Au re-voir 'Arry," as Fleur might say.

Recent acquisitions

Secretly gleeful, I opened up birthday present after birthday present. Let me be the first to admit, I love presents...so much so that I will not elope so I can get wedding gifts!

So, after the big 2 and 5 here is the mandatory list of what material gains I have made:

• A chocolate fondue set
• A Cross pen - it looks like a bullet and it is made from chrome.
• Lots of jewellery: beaded necklaces, a bracelet, red ear rings and even sterling silver ones !
• Clothes (but of course...)
• A wee cute organiser for next year (talk about planning ahead!)
• A Fone Sox (FYI: it's pink and its got hearts on it to match my pink phone. It looks like a baby's sock)
• Chocolates (naturally)
• A CD - Michael Buble: Call me irresponsible
• A perfume set with a matching hand bag
• More pens and key rings.
• An old fashioned case with angels on it.
• A decadent late night snack of strawberries, ice cream, whipped cream and chocolate!

So a BEEEG THANK YOU to all of you, for the wishes, the time, coping with my brooding and for being you.

Now we can all look forward to next year. Evil laugh

1982 was a year that...

...the first CD made its public appearance in Hannover, Germany.
...the Golden City Press (now just City Press) hit South African news stands.
... a computer scientist, Scott Fahlman, from Carnegie Mellon University suggested the use of smileys (or emoticons) to express emotions in emails. :-) Good on you Scott!
...Micheal Jackson released his second solo album, Thriller.
...the first issue of USA Today was published.
...where movies such as ET; Annie, Poltergeist and Gandhi graced movie screens.
...popular shows like Magnum PI, Dynasty and Knight Rider changed fashion trends .
...and well, after some hours of labour, me mum gave birth to yours truly...two months and some days premature.
It's my party and I can cry if I want to.
A not so happy birthday to me...don't argue, aging is always quite depressive.
Let me rather have some dark, depressing chocolate.

Just a quickie

I have been marinating in misery. Well, part of me anyway. You see, it is a mere 8 days away. Just 8 days before I become a quarter century...and that sounds old. And maybe that means I have to become more adult like. But I still want to fight it. So yeah, a quarter century approaches.....arghhhh!

The mother of it all

Grey is the colour of my Cape Town trip

Dammit! How is this for luck: I trek to Cape Town after a whole 19 years and what do I see? Well, not much. For one thing, there is Table Mountain and I was gleefully going to take pictures and brag that I finally seen it again. However, she seemed rather shy and preferred to cover herself up in clouds and rain. Yes, that is what she decided to wear even after not seeing her for almost 20 bloody years.

Oh and the other attractions you may ask? Like the V&A Waterfront that was a mere escalator away from me. Well, let me tell you that because the wind seemed so angry I thought it would be safer to stay in the hotel room. She may have blown me away and I could feel her rocking the stopped car underneath. If the car had been lighter, I shudder to think what could have happened. She was out for revenge I tellya! She also had this cold cold bite, that I felt in my bone marrow. Brrr...

Weather in Mpumalanga also had her moods - going through PMS I reckon. But I did manage to fit in canoeing, a bird trail and being thrown into a freezing cold pool. S.O, his family and I went. Let me admit, I was a tad nervous, not like I have been on holiday with the entire family before. But it was fun and S.O has the potential to be a traveller after all. Now we just have to pack our bags and hit the road (or sky) again.

The sun was behaving quite strangely as well. I am not sure what was happening, but the sun was a shade of orange that I have never seen before. The end of the world perhaps? In addition, when I pulled out my camera to take a photo, a line appeared through the sun. Thinking there may have been something wrong with me camera, I checked with the other one. And lo and behold, there was the line through the sun again. Quickly, I began to snap away. Alas, the line did not appear in the photo itself. But at least I got pictures of the weird orange sun and the cheese yellow moon.

An orange sun?

A very yellow moon

Pictures by Priya

In with the old...II

Seven years is a long time not to see someone...even if you were merely acquaintances. But when you were good friends, then it is simply awful.

Imagine my surprise last night when a high school chum strolled into my house as if no time had passed. Sure, we've seen each other sporadically but this made my jaw drop to the floor and I hope I did not look like a total idiot.

We always said we will meet up, deep down knowing it will never happen...but this did happen. And I was happy to be wrong this time.

We managed to time line the past seven years over coffee, whisky, a martini and cosmopolitan...in a space of three hours. It felt too short, too quick, a mere flutter of a butterfly's wing.

So Rishen (a.k.a Juggies, Jugs) thank you for popping in. Here's to our friendship never hitting the pause button again. May we always laugh at old memories and make even better ones hereon after.

Save the cheerleader. Save the world.

On Newsday:

NBC's surprise-hit fantasy drama "Heroes" was named program of the year last night at the 23rd Television Critics Association Awards in Beverly Hills. NBC also took two other major trophies: best new program for its ratings-challenged drama "Friday Night Lights" and best comedy for "The Office." HBO was a repeat winner in drama for its last season of "The Sopranos," which additionally earned the 220-member group's Heritage Award for enduring impact on media and culture.

Individual achievement honors reached beyond the usual suspects.

Michael C. Hall's title portrayal in Showtime's quirky new serial-killer saga "Dexter" took TCA's drama category, while the critics' comedy nod went to Alec Baldwin's breakout work as a loopy TV executive in NBC's "30 Rock."

Discovery Channel's breathtaking high-definition nature panorama "Planet Earth" took two category awards, in news/information and movies/miniseries/specials. ABC Family's teen-led fantasy drama "Kyle XY" won for children's programming.

The TCA's prestigious award for career achievement went to Mary Tyler Moore in a ceremony at the Beverly Hilton hotel ballroom, familiar site of the Golden Globes. Her long-ago "Dick Van Dyke Show" cohorts Dick Van Dyke and Carl Reiner are among the award's previous recipients.

*ends*

And after a Heroes marathon this past weekend, I am enthralled by it and want a second marathon. This show leaves me astounded, it really does.

Oh and I am loving Peter Petrelli (played by Milo Ventimiglia). He is quite the dish - a yummy one. Hmmmm...

Older people always know...

They're old and look somewhat frail. Well, some of them do. But the world leaders that comprise a group called the Global Elders are on a do-good mission. If you have not heard, South African former president Nelson Mandela launched Global Elders this week. It is made up of 12 'wise men and women' who will address global issues.

Some of the 12 are: Mr Mandela and his wife, Graca Machel, Archbishop Desmond Tutu; Jimmy Carter, the former American president; Mary Robinson, the former Irish president; Kofi Annan, the former secretary general of the United Nations; and Muhammad Yunus, the Nobel laureate economist and founder of the Green Bank in Bangladesh; Li Zhaoxing, the former foreign minister of China, has also been invited to join, along with Ela Bhatt, the Indian activist and founder of a women's association. Gro Harlen Bruntland, former prime minister of Norway and director of the World Health Organisation, may also become a member and Burmese opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, who is now the prisoner of the military junta despite her victory in a democratic election in 1990. The initiative was the brainchild of Sir Richard Branson and the musician Peter Gabriel.

But on the TV show Charmed, there is also an all knowing groups called The Elders. According to Wikipedia the Elders are a fictional group of people who oversee good magic. They wear long white robes and are very wise. They monitor earthly events from heaven, are often seen meditating and strive for overall good in the world.

Nevertheless, the question begs: did Sir Richard Branson and Peter Gabriel get inspired by the Elders of Charmed? I certainly suspect it.

I really do hope the world will become a better place after the Global Elders get to work.

Here's wishing them more than luck but a guaranteed victory.

To the Elders! (both magical and human...)

SIX, six, 6, Six, sIX, VI

Six years ago today, S.O and I started on a sojourn of note. Neither of us would have dreamt it would still be continuing today.

It's been everything, all encompassing, and the best school in life: joy, tears, anger, smiles, the fights, making up. lessons learnt (and still learning) and stolen precious moments.

Here's to the greatest journey of our lives...may it be eternal.

Thank you, S.O.

In his words

Priya: We'll be going to the UB40 concert straight after work.
The Father Person: Okay.
Moment of silence.
The Father Person: So, you will be seeing that guy who always wears glasses?
Priya: Who? Wha?
The Father Person: That one...the one who is an activist, that political one.
Priya: *thinks* Oh no, that's Bono from U2.
The Father Person: So who are you going to see?
Priya: UB40
Moment of silence
The Father Person: So, there is a U20 and a U30 then...see the comic strip in the paper *roars laughter*

Its a Hebra

It's a horse. It is a zebra. No, it is a Hebra. Maybe even a Zorse. Who knows?

But whatever she is, she is an eye catcher, that's for sure.

This is what happens after a holiday romance when a German horse called Eclipse and an Italian zebra called Ulysses decide to romp in the hay.

The product? A hybrid called Eclyse. Now, she is an attraction at a safari park in Schloss Holte Stukenbrock, near the German border with Holland.

Perhaps now the Germans will stop taking their horses to Italian ranches for holiday, no?

White wonderland

Look at the snow on top of the leaves...looks like jewels for the picking

The snow on our front lawn....and a few of the neighbour's yards too.

Pictures by Priya

It SNOWED!

Little white angels gently caressing the air before falling to the ground...it is a pity that I missed it actually falling but I think I covered up when I ran out of the house in my PJs to take photos. A few neighbours may now think that I belong in an asylum...but what the hell? It was worth it. I even managed to make a mini snowball but there was no one to throw it at...DAMN!

Forgive my excitement, but I feel like a lil wee kiddie on Christmas morning...with the snow! Alright, here in Johannesburg we hardly ever get a chance to have this experience and it thrilled me to my bones.

Oh, and thanks to those who tried to wake me up last night to watch the snow as it fell. However, my phone was on silent so I stayed in dreamland instead of running out to play.

Lyrics to Live by...II

Three songs I am really loving at the moment(both the lyrics and the videos):

Linkin Park - What I've done




Nickelback - If everyone cared



John Mayer - Waiting on the world to change

This new header means...

...that I know a certain genius someone, who is also brilliant when it comes to photoshop. Damn that girl has many talents!

And that certain someone has become my friend, a confidante and my sister.

We have experienced a world of adventures since we wrote profiles on each other in Journalism 101...who have have ever thought back then that I would be blogging about her today?!

So to you, dearest Susu, a heartfelt thanks...for the header, the laughs, the bitching sessions and the cake!

You are one of the best skanks I know.