Friday, July 14, 2006

Ain't it great to be a lady?!


I've just spent some time checking out the new Gucci, Oscar de la Renta, Chanel, Dior and Zac Posen collections on style.com. Do take a look if you're into fashion. The Oscar de le Renta collection is just so feminine and elegant. I love it!
Here's a taste...

Boy!


The chinese really will eat just about everything!
After living in Taiwan for a year, I can honestly testify to the fact...

I blinked! AAARGH!!


... Which means I not only look a little "chunky" in this shot, but totally drunk too!
This is Carla, Tracey, Helen and myself at The July. It was fairly early on, and I was absolutely sober at this point, which is why you can imagine how upset I am at looking totally wasted.
Pfff.
I give up.

Thursday, July 06, 2006

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time *****


Amazon.com says: Mark Haddon's bitterly funny debut novel, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, is a murder mystery of sorts. Fifteen-year-old Christopher John Francis Boone is mathematically gifted and socially hopeless (diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome), raised in a working-class home by parents who can barely cope with their child's quirks. He takes everything that he sees (or is told) at face value, and is unable to sort out the strange behavior of his elders and peers.
Late one night, Christopher comes across his neighbor's poodle, Wellington, impaled on a garden fork. Wellington's owner finds him cradling her dead dog in his arms, and has him arrested. After spending a night in jail, Christopher resolves--against the objection of his father and neighbors--to discover just who has murdered Wellington. He is encouraged by Siobhan, a social worker at his school, to write a book about his investigations, and the result--quirkily illustrated, with each chapter given its own prime number--is The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.
Haddon's novel is a startling performance. This is the sort of book that could turn condescending, or exploitative, or overly sentimental, or grossly tasteless very easily, but Haddon navigates those dangers with a sureness of touch that is extremely rare among first-time novelists. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is original, clever, and genuinely moving: this one is a must-read. --Jack Illingworth, Amazon.ca --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
I say: If there’s one book you read this year, make it this one! I found it strange to get into at first, almost like you’re reading a doctor’s report on someone, but once I understood it, I couldn’t help but lose myself in the story. The Curious Incident shows us how weird it is to be us, “normal”, when you look at our behavior through the eyes of someone who everyone else would consider to be “weird”.

My horse finally won!


Three cheers for number 9, “Eye of the Tiger”, the winning horse in the 2006 Vodacom Durban July! I couldn’t believe it! I never have any luck with gambling, so when I placed my bets on number 9 (because that’s my lucky number and my cat, Beena is part tiger) I never thought I’d see any money from it. In fact, my horse from the year before might still be running the 2005 race as I write this! I put about R30 on him and made R164... YAY!
A great big THANK YOU goes out to my mom for getting us the outstanding tickets to the SABC tent. And thanks, SABC, for getting me totally trashed on Johnnie Walker, stuffing me full of chocolate mousse, and playing the most ROCKING tunes around. I felt no guilt scoffing all that chow and knocking back the Johnnies when all I did was dance, dance, dance! What a great workout.
On the down side, The July was so packed (±50 000 people!) that I couldn’t get to my friends scattered all over the place. I stepped out of the tent at one point to move around and check out the fashion, and couldn’t get back in for almost half an hour! People were pushing and shoving. Argh! I hate crowds.
My dress was a success. No wardrobe malfunctions, thank goodness. And I even managed to get the odd glance from a couple of hotties in the tent – BONUS!
Mom and I were pretty wasted by the time we got home. All in all, a wonderful time at a wonderful event.