Hulk smash! Hulk CRASH!

Yesterday was quite a weird day for me…
It was busy and all seemed to be happening on some surreal level. I didn’t let it bug me though, thinking that my follow up appointment with my hairstylist might bring my senses back to The Real, - having one of the girls wash, dry and style my hair might make me feel human again, right? Or so I thought. It turned out to be an equally unrewarding, empty experience. My hair looks GREAT – don’t get me wrong – but I just wasn’t “in the moment” somehow…
The last straw came when I got home expecting to find a receipt and some change for a bill that I’d asked my father to pay, safely chucked on my bed. Instead I find that he’s given the people the ENTIRE amount (no change!) and they’ve made the receipt out incorrectly! (I requested that they do it a certain way for my tax return.) Argh! You’ve got to understand that my arrangement with the people came after several lengthy phone calls and visits, so when they STILL didn’t get it right, I felt like I had every reason to be pissed! I don’t think I’ve ever felt so “alone” than at that moment. The feeling that, if I didn’t do it myself, I actually couldn’t rely on anyone to just “take care of it” for me. I had asked for a little support on something really simple and my support system had failed. In fact the support system felt nonexistent. In no time at all, I graduated from silent indifference in the car, to screaming blind bloody rage, - fury so intense that, let’s just say it’s a good thing I don’t have a gun. I could have quite easily off-ed him!
It was clearly time for what I like to call a “breaky-breaky, fucky-fucky”, which is basically where you ravage your way through the house/office (actually any space will do!) like Godzilla or The Hulk, pulverizing everything in your path… (For added effect you can also growl/yell “Hulk smash! Hulk CRASH!” as you drop kick things out of your way!) So I did a few Jean-Claude Van Damme flying kicks to some shit in my room and skulked off to the lounge to breathe (deeply!) and try to calm the throbbing vein in my cranium.
Some good advice from someone who knows: Don’t try to practice your favourite hobby when your mad. You’ll just end up like that guy in the toothbrush commercial who builds a squiff cupboard (with drawers that don’t fit), smashes it to pieces and then brushes his teeth too hard. Know the one? Well… all the murderous rage in my shoulders went straight down my arms, through my fingertips and along my crochet needle and wool, to make stitches so tight and tense that at one stage I thought I had knotted the needle in permanently! (@£$%£$%!!!!!)
But then a funny thing happened: The Guy called quite unexpectedly to find out how my hair appointment had gone. When I told him that I needed to go back for yet another follow up appointment next week, he proceeded to have the sexiest little jealousy fit ever! He barked something about how he’s convinced that my (very straight) hairstylist is actually just getting me back there so he can run his fingers through my hair (crap, - trust me!) and that he’s coming with me next week so that he can bust a cap in the salon. (I had visions of him having a breaky-breaky fucky-fucky in this uber cool, serene, grey salon while Tibetan monk meditation music twinkled gently in the background. Hilarious!) There was also a very crude “pube” remark that I’m too much of a lady to ever repeat, - but damn! It made me laugh. He made me laugh. And the heavens opened up, and the angels started singing, and the sun shone through the clouds and the vein stopped throbbing etc.
What is this strange power that men have over women?
I’m an independent woman dammit! I am in control of my own feelings right?
Wrong.
The Guy turned a totally kak day around with a simple little phone call. Powerful stuff, if I say so myself. A few days ago he joked that I should start saving up for his Christmas gift, - a turbo thingy for his car worth thousands. (He’s such a dreamer! Pfft!) But I think I should just get him a cape and mask. “SuperGuy” has a nice ring to it, I think.
The little midnight calls that followed later only sweetened the deal even more…

Apologies to the Toyota Auris people…

I spelt your name incorrectly…
No WONDER I couldn’t find you on the net. Doh!
Check it out peops:
http://www.auriscity.co.za/
Naas… Very naas.

It's the S-N-O-O-P D-O double G!

We're rocking some vintage Snoop in the office today! Doggystyle, 1993, - only the best... I could try to to make up some words to wax lyrical about how awesome Snoop is, but I think I'll just leave it to him:

It's the bow to the wow,
creepin and crawlin,
Yiggy yes y'allin,
Snoop Doggy Dogg in the motherfuckin house like everyday,
Droppin shit with my nigga Mr Dr. Dre.
Like I said, niggaz can't FUCK with this,
And niggaz can't FUCK with that
shit that I drop cuz ya know it don't stop.
Mr. One Eight Seven on a motherfuckin cop.
Tic toc never the glock just some nuts and a cock.
Robbin motherfuckers then I kill dem blood claats.
Then I step through the fog and I creep through the smog,
Cuz I'm Snoop Doggy (who?) Doggy (what?) Doggy [Dogg]

That's some poetic shizzle, right there, y'all!
To which I can only respond with a melodic:

Doggy, Doggy, Doggy, can't you see?
Somehow your words just hypnotize me.
And I just love your jazzy ways.
Doggy Dogg, your love is here to stay!

Taken from my favourite track on the album... Sigh.

Cars are kiff.

Wow! What a weekend!
It was strangely full of cars, cars, CARS!
The Guy is a bit of a drag racing fanatic and races a bit himself (swoon!) and was basically booked all weekend on a drag race event thing that he was involved in.
But he wasn’t the only one going car mad… One of my best girls, LorLor, totally managed to hook us up with VIP tickets to the launch of the new Toyota Aurus at some swank spot on the waterfront. Nice.



We weren’t even sure if it was going to be cool or not, and were quite comfortable to just pull on a pair of jeans and a sexy top, see if we make it to midnight and take it from there… Little did we know the event was going to be so awesome! I knew things were taking a turn when I ditched the jeans in favour of a killer LBD that I’d forgotten about at the back of my wardrobe. I dunno… I suddenly felt like getting a little dressed up. So I did. And I’m glad I did, ‘cos the Aurus people really went all out! Wow… There were cool rollerblading, lumi-clad waitress chicks, keeping everyone well juiced on shooters and yummy chow. The dj was freakin’ brilliant and the other entertainment rocked too. There were these platforms all over the place where, every few songs, some dancers would put on a mini performance to whatever. Of course by 1am we were so hammered we thought it might be a good idea to get on the platform ourselves. (Ack!) Let’s just say, one minute there were steps going up and the next minute there were no steps… Wipe out! Fortunately Noodle and I landed on our feet, but needless to say we trashed that idea very quickly and chose to stay away from the platform from then on (LOL!).



Not the most flattering angle for me, but anyway...
Whoever said that tequila is The Devil, clearly has not met the tequila/whisky/jagermeister combo. Groan. Our dancing got progressively more manic as the night wore on and by the time The Guy decided to surprise me at the event (±1am) I was totally sweaty and squiff. (Ah crap!) He was elated at having won his race (my hero!) but far too tired to come in and see my friends. So I got The Shits that he wouldn’t meet them and then he got The Shits and I had The Shits, and we drove home in a huff. (Pout.)
I don’t know if excessive boozing can lead to tourettes syndrome, but all I know is that I kept bumping into things all of Sunday and letting loose with a stream of obscenities that would make a sailor blush. It hurt, you guys… It really really hurt. Hangover induced tourettes is no fun. I’m not going recommend it. Anyway, it’s my fault for not knowing my limits.
Sunday was very bleak and depressing for a number of reasons (all sorts of altercations and deliberations) but at least it ended nicely with The Guy making me laugh. He has such a sexy, infectious laugh, he soon had me in stitches.
And now it’s Monday and back to work. The weekend euphoria has worn off and I’m trying to ignore the feeling in the pit of my tummy, - the feeling that something is wrong… The feeling that something really bad is about to happen (to me). What does it all mean, I wonder…

Happy (on) Women's Day!

What better way to spend Women’s Day than as an absolute princess, pampered and preened to precious perfection… But, now I’m getting ahead of myself! The pampering and preening was more like the icing on a somewhat decadent, indulgent, heavenly cake of a time that I’ve been having lately.
Let’s see… Where should I begin?
First there was this really big pitch presentation that we’ve been preparing for here at work. To say that it went well would be a bit of an understatement! We just did so well and the client was really happy, so I guess the new business will be ours. Driving back to the office along the beach, with the sun on our faces and the waves crashing on the shore and our little hearts so full of pride, I thought I might cry. But I didn’t because the guys would’ve given me kak about it! Although at some stage I think they might have also been tempted to cry but blamed it on some sea sand in their eyes instead!
Then there are all the latest developments with The Guy… Perhaps now an update on The Guy is in order… Goodness knows what the rest of the world will think about us being together seeing as I am a good few years older than him, but my word, we don’t seem to care! We’re hitting it off like the proverbial “house on fire”. Well… Nothing’s literally in flames, but it sure feels hot! (*giggle*) Since meeting face-to-face last week and getting to know each other via an intricate web of technological innovation (ie. phone, sms and the internet), we decided to take our well-choreographed techno-samba to the next level and actually have a meal together like real people do in the real world. Civilized, grown-up, real people. That’s us, - or at least, who we aspire to be. So off we went to dinner on Wednesday night to the Cape Fish Market (Gateway), and here are a few dating tips I’ve gleaned from the evening…
What to do and what not to do on a first dinner date with a guy:
1. Don’t order sushi. (Biting a piece of sushi in half is bad luck, but the sight of you stuffing an entire salmon nagiri in your gob in one go – as is the custom! – is something that he should only see later in the relationship when both of you have degenerated into a bunch of couch potatoes who don’t care what they look like. My sushi chef probably thought he was doing me a favour with the giant pieces, but I really just wanted to kill him. Shot for nothing, A-Hole! I’m pretty sure that at one stage I might have caught The Guy’s raised eyebrow. Ack!)
2. Don’t order a whisky if your man is drinking a cola tonic. (No matter now sober you know you are, you’re going to feel hammered just knowing that he’s not drinking at all.)
3. Try not to get served by midgets. With braces. Who can’t stop talking in their squeaky little voices. (This WILL irritate you, especially when he’s being nice to the midget, and inadvertently encouraging her to talk more. And more. And MORE!)
4. Don’t be afraid to make an entrance! (Swishing in, in a sexy little number is worth the look on his face when he sees you. And the lump in his throat when he tries to greet you. Also remember to feign innocence when he demands that you throw a jacket over your shoulders because he doesn’t want other guys checking you out. A simple “But darling… This old thing?” following by some furious eyelash fluttering and open-mouthed disbelief will do just nicely, thank you! Make guy jealous? Check!)
5. Try not to look like a love-struck fool as you gaze into his eyes, listening to his riveting story about fixing his car.
6. Make sure you have a full tank of petrol for the long ride home. (You might find yourself taking the long route just so you can spend more time together. Shweet.)
… A great time was had by all! We’ve since been meeting and techno-samb-ing whenever we get the chance. There has been a minor glitch or two, like him not warning me that his aunt might show up unexpectedly to meet me while we’re out (HOLY MOTHER OF GOD!), but other than that, it’s going well.
And last but certainly not least on my agenda, Women’s Day! After months and months of saving and agonizing over whether or not to do a permanent bio-ionic type straightening on my naturally soft-curly hair, I finally decided to go through with it. There really was only one choice for me when it came to salons, so earlier in the week I called Babylon (Cowie Road, Durban) to book some time with Jono, the owner, resident DJ and all-round king of beautiful hair. I could never have expected Jono to offer to open the salon especially for lil’ ol’ me on a public holiday (Women’s Day) and to treat me to his absolute undivided attention and care! But that’s exactly what he did! What a gent!?! Four hours in the seat could have been agonizing, but it was just brilliant! I stepped out feeling like a princess, and I’ll be back on Tuesday for the follow-up appointment and a treatment. Thanks, Jono! You’re a star.



You can see my shiny hair in these happy, smiley pics…

I think this sums it up quite nicely...

A weekend of interesting get-togethers…

Last week was tough, you guys! Really really tough… Meetings, deadlines, demanding clients. The works. By Thursday evening, I’d reached rock bottom. Got home from work, went to church for a little spiritual “healing” and got home ready to drown my sorrows in a couple of bottles of wine. (I was so stressed, I would’ve sucked back a bottle of cutex remover if there was no booze in the house! Help!) So when Friday morning (the start of the weekend, yay!) finally rolled around I could barely contain my excitement. “Hay no corrida” blasted its way through my stereo as I made my way to Rhubarb (the recording studio that we use for all our voiceover recordings) to record my voice for a presentation that we were putting together for a client. I’ve done loads of voiceovers in the past, so I wasn’t too stressed about it. In fact, rather the contrary: It felt good being back in a studio doing something other than the day to day grind at my mac. Then it was back to the office to put the finishing touches on the presentation, to deliver it to the client by 4pm. By 5pm I was home and basking in weekend bliss, also due in part to the fact that there’s a new guy around who’d been calling me all day. Nice. We had an awesome hour-long chat on the phone, full of goofy jokes and getting-to-know-you flirting. Friday evening was chilled. Saturday was busy, - our cleaning lady has gone AWOL, so my mom and I threw on our aprons and spent the day cleaning. Yawn. Then Saturday night I was off to Primi to meet my best mate Lor-Lor for dinner. (Cool website, Primi!) Two cosmopolitans later we were laughing our heads off, talking about the usual: men and sex. (I think that the bartender poured those drinks with real love! Boy, were they strong! Maybe it’s ‘cos we waited so long for them – something about them losing their cosmo glasses, WHAT?!? – that I think he thought he’d get us sloshed so we wouldn’t complain to the manager!) I had the ravioli and Lor-Lor had the salmon pasta. I think it might have been a little too much for that late at night, ‘cos by the time I’d eaten my last piece, I felt like a beached whale. A tipsy beached whale. Groan. So I can’t say that I felt too sexy meeting The Guy for some QT. But I’m glad I did. We’re having a really nice time getting to know each other. (More on this as things develop. Wink!) Sunday was family time, - lunch with my gran. Breyani, yum! And before I knew it, it was Monday. Again.
Things don’t feel too bad today though…
I’m looking forward to a productive week at my desk; being back at the gym after having the flu for so, SO long; having more laughs with The Guy and eating healthy. (I really want to look good in the killer dress that I bought for my dad’s 60th birthday party in 4 week’s time, so it feels wonderful being back on track with the healthy living after 3 week’s of the flu and comfort eating.)
Life feels weirdly normal for a change. Weird.

Carmen, The Amateur Photographer.

I thought I’d take advantage of the beautiful weather with weekend to stroll around the yard and take some pics of the flowers in our garden, - the ones that have refused to let Winter get the better of them!





Purdy, hey?
And then I discovered red wine and starting to play with the silly photo editing functions on the phone. Here’s a before and after of my wine glass.





Kinda interesting, I think…

Minor altercations aside, it was a great cuppa coffee!

Vida E Caffè is loud, buzzing, friendly, beautiful… all of the above, on a Saturday morning. Just the place for a great cup of coffee and some weekend inspiration.



I’m not sure it’s the place to be if you’re looking to catch up with the gossip with your girls in hushed, conspiratorial tones, - the music is LOUD! (I think the guys at the table next to us now know more than any guy ever should about bio-ionic hair straightening!) And whatever you do, don’t try and take a pic of the chow for your blog. You will be promptly dealt with by the burly counter staff. Also, if you’re looking to avoid the advertising mugs you stare at everyday at work, don’t go to Vida E. (It seems to have taken over from Home as the latest Durban design/advertising haunt.) If you’re wheat intolerant, just stay at home.
Otherwise I’d definitely go back… I wonder what the girls are up to next Saturday.

Meet Son.

Not MY son, but a guy named Son, - the cousin of an ex-boyfriend. When I met him, Son couldn’t have been older than 10 and I think it’s safe to say that in the ±7-8 years that I was in the relationship, Son and I pretty much grew up together. I’ll never forget when my ex’s 21 year old brother was killed in a car crash. I pulled up to the house for the funeral, greeted by scores of grieving family, cars parked everywhere, the smell of incense and the sight of Son waiting in the driveway for me. I barely got out of the car and he threw his arms around me and from that moment wouldn't leave my side.
Son’s all grown up now. He left his mom and sisters at the age of 19 to take on a job with a Spur franchise in Tanzania and has been there ever since. He now calls Tanzania “home” and a Danish girl his partner, and is as happy as could be.
When he smsed to say that he was in SA for the first time in 2 years and wanted to see me, I had my mind’s eye on that teenager in the driveway and my other 2 eyes on my hectic schedule at work. But I’m so glad that we made the time to have coffee. I’m so proud of the person he’s become!
I’ll admit, it was a bitter sweet coffee… seeing someone who was such a big part of the life I thought I was going to live… The life that society told me I should live from as far back as I can remember. As we said goodbye and promised to stay in touch, I was happy that we had parked on opposite ends of the mall. I don’t think I could’ve camouflaged the lump in my throat any longer. I wasn’t sad that things didn’t work out with the guy, - I’m glad that door has closed! He wasn’t the one for me. But I think seeing Son reminded me of a person that I once was, - someone I barely recognise. It scared me to think of how much I’ve changed and how narrowly I escaped a life that would have frustrated and destroyed me, had I matured the way I have now. I think of the sacrifices and compromises I was willing to make and I can’t believe how much of myself I was willing to kill in order to live the life everyone thought I should have. The life that I convinced myself I wanted too. Son tells me that he looks at me and at my ex, and it’s like something is missing… like we’ve each lost a leg or an arm. We were together for so long, and so very much “together” that it’s like we’re missing a limb when he looks at each of us. (It’s true. We were always touching when we were in the same room. It wasn’t a conscious thing. It just always seemed to be the case.)
I can’t tell you if it was a long or short walk to the car. I don’t remember it at all. My mind was too busy with the what-was and what-ifs of the life I turned away…

Meeting someone new can be quite scary...

I mean... You're never quite sure if they might turn out to be the next Ed Gein, with a giant axe hidden in the trunk of their car. (I watch way too much tv. CSI and the Crime Channel are KILLING my love life!)
Then again, you just have to be brave and a little daring and take that leap of faith, 'cos you never know who you might meet. You may just be pleasantly surprised. Maybe the person we fear isn't the stranger, but the "axe murderer" inside each of us... Axe murderers come in all shapes and sizes and they don't just kill other people, they also kill dreams and fantasies... hopes and expectations... Does the fear of killed hopes and expectations (of your own hopes and expectations being killed by nobody but you) hold us back from meeting someone new.
I dunno.
Just throwing it out there...

Friday night piss-ups are the best!

... Especially when you're a Durban girl! Beach and booze... Yeah!
(Some background info: The advertising agency that I'm with is called publicaddress: and every so often we let our hair down and have what's called a "PAPU" - Public - Address - Piss - Up, pronounced "pup-oo".)
Last Friday we all decided it was time for a papu so we closed shop and headed for any spot in Umhlanga that did jager-bombs and had a great view of the beach. Sadly for Jane and I (the only 2 girls in the group) the boys thought that the place this time would be the lifesaver's club right on the beach... And yes! The view of the ocean was awesome...



... But when you turned around to face the bar again, this is what greeted you.



No.
Not gonna happen. Don't get me wrong. I like "quaint and quirky". Quaint and quirky are cool, but Melville Quaint & Quirky. Not Durban Quaint & Quirky as this often includes plastic chairs and tables. Again I say, no.
So a couple of whiskys later we packed them off to another spot just up the road that didn't smell of surfers and pee, ordered a few snack baskets and more booze... And before we knew it Mark (Jane's boyfriend) was rolling around on the ground doing who-knows-what...



... And I was slurring some junk to Wayne's very sober, very pregnant wife. (Blind!) I'm a demon when the booze kicks in. It's all or nothing for me! Go large or go home, - that's what I say. (I like to blame my bad behaviour on an alter-ego I call "Carmel" my evil twin, but really it's all Carmen, all the time! It's bad!)
Shot publicaddress: for the awesome papu. I don't even want to see what the bill looks like!
I'll be OD-ing on liver tablets for the next few weeks...

Hooray for book club!

This month, Katey's choice for our book club venue was ZEST in Hillcrest. What a cool restaurant! Let's just say that any place that sells Pongracz by the glass is just GREAT by me! So I started with a couple of those and moved onto white wine. By the time my starter got there (chicken liver / cognac paté with red onion marmalade and brioche) I was well warmed up! I then moved onto my main, a prawn linguine that was so rich and creamy it would've kept me fueled for DAYS! I couldn't bring myself to order something for dessert so I merely took a small bite out of everyone else's! YUM!
By then end of the evening we were loud and raucous and taking pics of each other's boobs. (I won't be posting those!)
This month I'll be reading "11 minutes" by Paulo Coelho and Porno by the oke who wrote Trainspotting (I forget the name!)...

It was a pink weekend for me, guys...

My cousin, Neil Gabriel, tied the knot this weekend with the love of his life Nalisha Bisnath, and guess who was asked to emcee the very posh reception at the Durban ICC... Well none other than yours truly, of course!
As you can see, no expense was spared to drape the ICC in lashing after lashing of pink frosting with the odd hit of silver.



I shudder to think what the whole thing set them back... Gulp!
I've been fighting the flu since Jhb, and I think my body knew that it had to hold on just until the formalities were over... 'cos boy! After that last "Thank you and goodnight!" I lost my voice completely and by the time I got home I couldn't breathe and my tonsils felt like 2 soccerball-sized rolls of barbed wire in my throat. I also managed to lose R100 between the parking meter and the car (SOB!)...
Sorry for not getting a pic of the bride and groom! They didn't sit still long enough for me to get a good pic of them. They were on the run all weekend, and I was SO preoccupied with my emcee duties that I clean forgot! But here are my cousins' kids, Kelcey and Tatum, who kept me in stitches all night!




(Here you see Tatum unfolding a giant table napkin, smoothing it out on the dancefloor and taking a snooze on it, while the speeches droned on! Precious...) They both also joined me up at the mic at one stage... Too cute!
Please people... If you love me, don't ask me to mc your wedding? The pressure was just far too much!

Can you guess what I got little Ella for her third birthday?

A barbie?
Maybe a book or two?
How about a tea set?

Nope!
None of the above!

Here it is... The ultimate birthday present for a 3 year old ANGEL!!



A little dress-up set and a cute cartoon dvd!

Happy Anniversary, Mom and Dad!

Thirty four years together!
I don't know how you did it... I sure you both deserve a bunch of medals!
xox

Partying for a worthy cause

If you’ve been living with your head under a rock for a while, you probably would have missed the 07-07-07 LIVE EARTH concerts.
“Live Earth is a 24-hour, 7-continent concert series taking place on 7/7/07 that will bring together more than 100 music artists and 2 billion people to trigger a global movement to solve the climate crisis.”
New York… London… Rio de Janeiro… Shanghai… Tokyo… Sydney… Hamburg and… JOHANNESBURG!!
There was no way in hell my girls and I were going to miss this one! (Thanks Noodle, for keeping us informed and hooking us up with Golden Circle tickets! xox) So, Maria, Gail, Trysten and I took some time out from work and hit the road to Jhb at 6am.

(Noodle flew because she’d booked an airticket ages in advance, before we even knew we were all going.) It was dry and cold and – apart from the 4 coffee stops and 45 minute accident traffic jam – pretty uneventful.

We made our way to the beautiful B&B arranged by Gail (FREE OF CHARGE!) through her awesome Aunty Margaret, unpacked and set off to the airport to fetch Noodle. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Noodle’s plane gets delayed by about 3 hours! And by the time we looked for parking for 30minutes at the airport, had a couple of glasses of wine and stood at Arrivals for what felt like AGES we really didn’t know whether to laugh or cry when Noodle eventually made it through the sliding doors. We then got so tired and freaked out that we missed a couple of KEY turns from the GPS and ended up in the dodgiest part of Jhb. The GPS further freaked us out by flashing red and repeatedly shrieking “HIGH ATTACK ZONE! HIGH ATTACK ZONE!!”, so we promptly drove the wrong way up a one way street! By this stage I was pretending to be staring out my window, taking in the sights, but I was really just hoping that nobody could see the tears about to pour our of my eyes! After postponing our dinner four times, driving to 2 different “Main Street”s (thanks for nothing GPS!) and dropping Trysten off at Aunty Margaret (aka The Babysitter) we got back to the B&B, showered, dressed and were off to Soulsa (Melville) for dinner with Luke Michal of Eat This fame! (Name dropping!) I don’t think it was the mediocre steak that did it…

It must have been the 7 tequilas and ±3 glasses of wine, but the rest of it was a blur. I know we went to a club called Fuel. That much I remember… But I don’t remember taking a dog in with us; I definitely don’t remember singing Happy Birthday for the dj or owner… (Someone tells me there was even a cake and candles!) I remember a dirty martini or two and then we were back the B&B.

The girls and I sat around talking for what felt like half an hour, but I’m told it was really SEVEN THIRTY the next morning when we eventually collapsed into bed. GROAN.
At about 11-ish we dragged ourselves off to breakfast at some cool place in Melville not far from the B&B, (Black Coffee in think?) and pretty much had our omelettes on “auto-pilot”. From there it was off to Sandton City to pick up our Golden Circle tickets and some Haagen Das. We would have done more, but by this stage we were hanging so badly that we really just wanted to get back to bed to snooze for a couple of hours before the concert… Remember the concert? Our main reason for going to Jhb? Well! The last thing we needed was to stand in a crowd from 6pm to 12midnight with loud music and drunk, sweaty people! But dammit! We did it! And boy am I glad we did!

The African acts were brilliant. Angélique Kidjo and Baaba Maal had us rocking out inspite of ourselves! Zola had me almost breakdancing at one stage! I’ve seen UB40 twice before, and Joss Stone is lame, so I can’t say that I thought too much of those acts! We also deliberately missed DannyK (Hey Shordy?! Shut your face…), shame. I can’t say that I felt too comfortable after that chicken prego roll. It was a battle of sheer determination and pure brute strength keeping it down, but I did it! Along with the help of a Fanta grape. Mmmmmmmh.
Jhb is cold. COLD! COLD! COLD!
Understand this: I’m a Durban girl. Anything under 20ºC is cold for me! Jhb decided to fluctuate between 2ºC and 16ºC… God help us. Needless to say we’ve all come back with the flu.
Sunday was great for just bumming around the artsy-fartsy shops, restaurants and bakeries in Melville.

We lunched at a posh japanese place in Melrose Arch (dim sum = YUM!) and catching Ocean’s 13 after dropping Noodle off at the airport. By Monday 9am, we were ready to get our flu-ey asses back to Durban. Steers burgers, cola and Dido kept us company as we made our way back, gradually defrosting as the temperature gauge slowly made its way upwards. We knew we were back when we started peeling off layers of clothing and could feel our fingers and toes again…
What a crazy, awesome weekend!
I’m still trying to heal myself… I’ve been dosed out on flu medication all week which is why I haven’t been able to get this story into cyberspace yet.
We’re already planning our next girl’s trip, by the way. I’m just going to make sure that it happens some place warmer! Some place where there’s also no tequila…

Boy!

Is Kate Moss fat, or what?!
She really should go on diet...

This has got to be the cutest thing I have ever seen!

Just take a look at these cupcakes with "knitted" marzipan decorations!
I found them quite by chance on Vegan Yum Yum.
In her very next post, she teaches you how to make them... ADORABLE! And even more adorable seeing as I'm going through a "woolly" phase with my crochet... I love it!

Here's that guy from Perfume.

Okay... His name is Ben Whishaw. He was born in 1980 and is British. He's been a bit of an acting prodigy since he was little, so it's no big surprise to people in the industry that he completely outshone Dustin Hoffman and Alan Rickman in the movie. They tried their very best to make him look ugly, but YIKES! I think I might be in love! I actually think that I might have a thing for strange looking men. The moodier, the better it seems.
Before Ben there was Joaquin Phoenix, so that should tell you!
And remember that time I was in love with Anthony Bourdain? Weird.

Hey! I've been a busy girl...

Hey bloggers! A thousand apologies for not keeping in touch. I've been busy doing loads of stuff... But that's no excuse! I've been in quite a weird emotional place lately. I put the crochet aside for a while. I stopped reading. I ran out of things to say on my blog, even though I was doing loads of stuff. I even stopped sending my cell-to-blog pics on my other blog "My life in pictures".
What's wrong, who knows?
Anyway!
I'm trying to get back on track, so let me start by giving you the low-down on some of my latest escapades.
First, I simply had to see Perfume, the movie.

If you remember I read and reviewed the book for book club just lately and LOVED it. So when I heard that the movie was out, I made sure I checked it out. Well! Two hours and fifteen minutes, makes for one sore bum, but wow! The movie was awesome! I felt that they managed to stay quite true to the book. I didn't really know how they were going to fit all of that cool literary stuff into a little movie, but they did. (I guess that's why it was that long!) But the best part for me was the lead guy, Ben Whishaw... Good heavens! The protagonist in the book is often referred to as "The Tick", so how they possibly cast this dream boat is beyond me! Sure... He looked a little creepy at times, and yes he was very VERY grimy and dirty, but DAMN! I'll be posting some pics of him... so watch this space!
The very next day I was off to the Arno Carstens concert at the Botanic Gardens. Arno was a bit of a let down, but the company was great and the drinks were flowing, so altogether it was a really awesome afternoon! We were even blessed with great weather on an otherwise wet weekend. Just check out the blue sky above this big fat tree...

A few days later, I was off to book club with the girls. Damn good as always! This time we had dinner at The Ulundi, an Indian restaurant at The Royal Hotel. The food was outstanding... Butternut and feta samoosas, biltong blue cheese and onion marmalade samoosas!! Wow! I took just 2 books this month and DAMMIT I plan on reading them. In fact, I've already started! These aren't my books, but you get the idea... Lots of pages, a cover, etc etc etc...

And THEN I went to my friend, Janet's baby shower this weekend. What a jorl! She was totally surprised by it all and really didn't see it coming! Everyone was so generous with the gifts and food as you can see...

The baby's dad, Wayne, is determined to turn this kid into a rock star like himself, whether it's a boy or a girl. So I bought the baby a baby grow that has the AC|DC logo on it, but it says AB|CD... HILARIOUS! (Damn! How could I forget to take a picture of it! I'll have to get one when baby's actually wearing it. S/he's due in 6 week's time. I'll keep you posted!)

Waiting for the groom...

In the Muslim culture, when a couple is getting married, the groom and other men attending the wedding meet at the mosque to legalise and bless the wedding, while the women wait with the bride at the reception for the men to arrive. In other words, the beautiful bride, in her stunning wedding dress and veil waits for her groom to arrive, and by the time her gets there, they are already married.
Sabrina does this thing were she sits at the kitchen window every morning, looking out over the garden. The curtain falls over her head and shoulders, making her look like she's wearing a veil...
On mornings like these, my mom always whispers to us as she walks past, "Just look at the pretty Muslim bride waiting for her groom...I hope he doesn't let her down!"

ALL-YOU-CAN-EAT SUSHI FOR R99?! I'm in!

Now I KNOW that Tony Bourdaine said you should NEVER have the half-price sushi... But when I saw John Dory's Fish and Grill's latest offer I just had to give it a try:
All you can eat sushi & BOTTOMLESS glass of wine for R99!
Too good to be true, right?
Stale, old fish, hey?
Salmon conveniently "out-of-stock", hmmmm?
NOT A CHANCE!
Last night I had one of the BEST sushi dinners of my life, and it wasn't just the almost free wine and brilliant company! The sushi was phenomenal. The Gateway John Dory's was packed out, - a good sign! I must have had 3 glasses of wine and that was enough. (Sushi is HARDLY filling, so it's easy to get sloshed on a few glasses of plonky wine! Hey... I'm not complaining!) And the salmon was like butter... Divine!
If you're a sushi lover (like me!) then give it a try. It's well, WELL worth it!
Great job, John Dory's!

Check it out! I'm a red-hot INSTANT blogger...

What an exciting weekend this has been, playing with my new cell phone... The instant blogging is fantastic. The first time you select the "blog" function when "sending" a pic, Sony Ericsson creates a new blog for you and smses you the log in details so that you can manage your mobile blog just like you would any other. When logging in the first time, you have the option of keeping the new blog, or sending future blogged pics to any existing blog, if you already have one...
I've chosen to keep the new blog, and here it is! I'm going to keep it as a photo-diary blog, - just a pic a day to document whatever is going on in my life...
I'm still getting the hang of the camera, so I've taken about a million fuzzy pics, but being able to plug the phone into my mac with the USB thingy first thing this morning and copy all my pics across in seconds has completely revolutionised my life!
... Wait a minute... Could it be?... Could I be turning into a techno-junkie!?!!?!

I wonder where I can get a pocket protector...

A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian ***

Amazon.com says:

For years, Nadezhda and Vera, two Ukrainian sisters, raised in England by their refugee parents, have had as little as possible to do with each other - and they have their reasons. But now they find they'd better learn how to get along, because since their mother's death their aging father has been sliding into his second childhood, and an alarming new woman has just entered his life. Valentina, a bosomy young synthetic blonde from the Ukraine, seems to think their father is much richer than he is, and she is keen that he leave this world with as little money to his name as possible. If Nadazhda and Vera don't stop her, no one will. But separating their addled and annoyingly lecherous dad from his new love will prove to be no easy feat - Valentina is a ruthless pro and the two sisters swiftly realize that they are mere amateurs when it comes to ruthlessness. As Hurricane Valentina turns the family house upside down, old secrets come falling out, including the most deeply buried one of them all, from the War, the one that explains much about why Nadazhda and Vera are so different. In the meantime, oblivious to it all, their father carries on with the great work of his dotage, a grand history of the tractor.
From the Back Cover
'Outstanding' Daily Mail
'Extremely funny' The Times
'Nothing short of amazing' Daily Express

I say:
I'm one of those people who HATES to see other people being taken advantage of / being hurt by other ruthless people... So this one was quite hard for me to read. I guess that shows how well it's written, - if you "feel" the characters so deeply that you want to SMACK the baddie really hard in the face! This book made me angry and sad, and I didn't get a lot of the "hilarious" stuff that they mention on the cover. I was too busy worrying that the father was going to be okay. I think that I personally am too close to my own mother. If she were to pass away and some gold digger had to try to come in and steal her home, everything that she built and loved so dearly, I really don't know what I would do... I didn't "enjoy" this book simply because the writer is so damned good. It's a simple story. The language is plain. There is no clever b/sh1t going on. Just good storytelling and loads of family drama. A very good read... if you can stand it!