Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Mad (at) Men


What has happened to all the men?! Like, what happened? I mean, I know a lot of guys, but not a lot of men. Old school, real MEN. Like this: 

Robert Redford; Paul Newman

or 
Steve McQueen

or pretty much anyone featured on this site. Rough, tough, smoking, spitting, swearing, drinking, fighting, MEN. They seem to be a dying breed. Their spawn are not the same, and it’s a loss to the world, I tell ya. Sure, they are not without fault – Lord knows they are difficult men to know, but they are the ones with passion and drive. I’m over this whole “metrosexual male” thing. Really.

I heard a theory recently that suggested that the biggest disservice women did themselves was feminism. My instant reaction is to roar “No!” and stomp my boots. But when I sat and really thought about it, I can see how that could make sense, but in a way that I don’t think was considered when it was suggested to me.
The original theory was that we women thought we were so clever by demanding independence and equal opportunity and power and freedom, as much as any man could expect, without having to fight for it. And despite the fact that we finally got all that, and more, we still want to be pampered and provided for like the housewives of the past. The theory suggested that now we want it all, and are dissatisfied when we can’t have it. Which we can’t.
My interpretation, however, was a little different. I agree that since we did start getting the things we demanded, and since the opportunities our mothers and grandmothers fought for are now easily available to us at the drop of a hat, we do expect our men to still treat us the way they did back then. BUT, I think that it’s male psychology that’s shifted more than ours. We still seem to have this built-in expectation that our men are supposed to take care of us and provide for us. Men, however, seem to have found it much easier to let go of such expectations. In fact, they’ve dropped that idea like a hot potato! They want nothing more to do with providing for us. They have all too happily relinquished any such responsibility. In short, the men are ready for a complete role reversal, and we haven’t caught up with them. And we are supposed to be the progressive ones? Ha!

I’m the first to admit that I expect a lot of men. I demand that they be rough and tough and chivalrous and chauvinistic and caring and attentive and selfish and demanding, all at the same time, while smelling like Camel cigarettes, even though they don’t smoke. Note to self: You can't always get what you want. But honestly, if I had to choose one type of man for all eternity? I think I would take the old school man.

Classic Cool
At least they pushed us enough, gave us enough motivation or incentive or inspiration to fight for ourselves, to dream bigger and bolder, and demand the chance to reach our dreams. If we had never had the rough and tough sons-of-cowboys, what kind of women would we be today? How different would society be? If our fathers and grandfathers had been metrosexuals, what kind of women would we be?

* This whole vent was prompted by another rather frustrating incident at work. There seem to be a lot of metrosexuals where I work, and they always prompt me to wonder about the future of the world.
The events are things like this:
·         Two girls changing a tyre. Battling like mad to loosen the bolts. Guy from the office standing sipping his skinny latte or whatever, offering advice. Not offering assistance, no, just advice. And then walking off to giggle with similar metro-moron about how the girls can’t even change a tyre.
·         One girl trying to wrap a package that weighs, easily, about 70kgs. It’s a package of several fiberglass panels, so not a very stable structure. 3 guys walk past and, again, offer advice. And then, when girl asks them if they could help, they huff and puff and grudgingly offer 5 minutes worth of help, and disappear.
·         Coming down with a serious and severe case of the mutters when asked to cover reception for half an hour while receptionist and administration staff (i.e.: all the girls in the office) are in training. “Can’t you get a temp?” For half a fucking hour.

I watched Children of Men again recently, and have decided that it’s not that people couldn’t breed, it’s because the women finally wizened up and chose not to, because the men were all sissies. Ha! (I may have been drunk at the time, though, so it’s not necessarily a valid point).

Okay, my rant is over. I have sufficiently reduced my rage enough to safely go back to work and not rip someone’s arm off, stick it up their ass, and use them as a ventriloquist dummy.


Am I pissing you off-fa-fa?


X

Monday, November 29, 2010

More News From Nowhere 29.11.2010

Oh look! It’s a Monday! It’s not as dreadful a Monday as last week, though, so that’s a plus. Also, once today is over, there is only one more working Monday to get through! Figuring that out seems to have softened the blow this morning when my alarm went off.

So, on to the round up:

·         Friday was, as usual, quiet. I managed to leave work at a decent hour for a Friday and ended up at Fourways Mall. Loathe! Anyway, I managed to find a couple of reasonable dresses and a top at Mr. Price, and I think I might just wear one of them to our year end function next week… It just might work. (More on that later, though).
·         We were invited to both Billy the Bums (Sweet Lord, NO thank you!) and CCHQ (which I’ve never seen, and really, really want to). But Mister Boo wasn’t keen to do anything, so we just chillaxed at home. I made a note book for Maja Boo and I modified a waistcoat with ribbon, to make it a little more fun (and for the anticipated Piratey-ness of Saturday), and I crafted a little before going to bed. NOT very exciting, yet again. I was a bit pouty and sulky about him not wanting to go out, but hey, I’ll live, I suppose. Hehe
·         Saturday was a bit all over the place. I had to come in to the office for a couple of hours to sort out mangled flight bookings and car bookings, and then sat reading And the Ass Saw the Angel to Mister Boo. He is now totally freaked out by my choice of book, and wants to take it away from me in case it gives me any bad ideas. It’s a pretty intense book, and very descriptive, which is a bit scary when it comes to various methods of murder and such. (It sounds a lot worse than it is, in a way…) While I was working, Maja Boo and Gramps went off to have coffee with a zealot friend of Gramps’, who irritates the crap out of me. That may have been why I was less than totally depressed when I had to come to the office instead of joining them.
Once we finally left the office, we headed to Bryanston for dreaded grocery shopping, and to grab a bite to eat. Mister Boo nearly drove me up the wall – he was SO grumpy and grumbly, which made it a wholly unpleasant experience. Being at home all day, every day has really dented his social skills – it’s going to be a lot of hard work restoring those! Ack! Naturally, I had to cheer myself up, so I bought shoes. Not just any shoes, though! I FINALLY found a pair of black wedges, and they’re gorgeous! Even better than what I had in mind, and a whole lot less money than I was originally planning on spending! Yay!!! I literally did a little dance of joy when I found them. Right there. In the store. In front of all these conservative old ladies. Yup.
I present:


·         I bought a Christmas tree at the robots on Saturday too. (If you’re reading this and not from SA, robots here are these:
Will control the world one day. Especially when they don't work.
Wait, hang on...




     not these:
Not quite SkyNet...


And we have vendors at almost every single big intersection in Joburg, selling anything from knock-off fragrances and handbags to Christmas trees and license disc holders.) It’s such a cool little wire-work Christmas tree! No mess, no fuss, and easy to pack away after the ‘festive’ season. It looks awesome with our little jewel-toned baubles, and will look even better when we put lights on it. I also co-ordinated my wrapping paper to the colours of the baubles and the tree. Yes, I did. *winces in embarrassment* It’s a really cute tree though! Look:
O Kwismas Twee, O Kwismas Twee!
·         Saturday night was pretty much awesome. My previous post is the down-low on the bands we saw at Cool Runnings in Victory Park – needless to say, I’m still gushing about them and their awesomeness! This is what I wore:
 
I need to teach my fiance to take better pictures of my outfits!
 
      I was hoping that the Pirate theme would still be enforced, hence the corset-esque ribboned waistcoat. I also had a little stash of plastic eye patches, clip on hoop earrings and plastic medallions in my bag, just in case. Alas… We’ll just have to plan a pirate party now, so I can bust them out!
·         Yesterday was wasted on sleep again. I hate sleeping during the day (and during the night –Thanks Insomnia!), but I was feeling really weird all day. I wasn’t hung over, per say. I just felt utterly exhausted, and slept and slept and slept, which I think is totally self indulgent and gross. But I did it anyway. Ha! The problem is, it didn’t make me feel any better, and I just got annoyed with my damn body for being so lethargic and tired when I had so much to do! So now I have to go home and rush around, trying to tidy the spare room in time for all guests who are arriving this weekend, and still trying to squeeze in some guitar practice too. Ack! I think I’m going to put brakes on the guitar lessons until the start of next year, because the next few weeks are total chaos and mayhem, and I can’t put in the amount of effort that I would be satisfied with, and won’t make enough progress to justify taking up someone else’s time when I know I haven’t done enough. *sad trombone* I’m bummed, because I really want to get into a routine with it, but I just don’t think that’s going to happen this year. At least it will give me time to get the song I am learning down to a fine art! I can play it all the way to the coast! (and drive my family to the brink hehehe)

Well, that pretty much rounds everything up. I’m hoping to get through everything on my to-do list today, and only have to deal with the little off-the-cuff issues for the next week or so. (Which totally means there are going to be dramas galore, but somehow, I’ll get through it haha)

X

Sunday, November 28, 2010

SA Music Awesomeness

I was going to hold off until tomorrow’s More News from Nowhere to tell you about last night, but it was just too awesome to keep to myself. Mister Boo, Simba, Mr. T and I headed out to Cool Runnings in Victory Park last night to catch a few bands.

Simba is a really big fan of Ramblin' Bones, who were second on the bill. Jay, who is also with ska band Fuzigish, has his own rockabilly thing going on in Ramblin' Bones, and it’s fantastic. Simba played the album for me a couple of weeks back, and I love it! So there was no doubt we would be there like a hairy bear last night. BUT… we weren’t prepared for the super-awesomeness that ensued!

We were there quite early, but a lot of the good tables were already gone, so I pouted because I was disappointed. It wasn’t a serious issue though, nor was it a serious pout. It worked though - the manager organised us a special table right in front, with possibly the best view in the house! Score! Thanks for that, pretty lady! J We’d just started our ice cold Black Label draughts (highly recommended!) when the first band came got up on stage. Major Dark on guitar and Sergeant Lovely on vocals make up Dark and Lovely, and they are FUCKING AWESOME! By the end of the first song, I’d decided I wanted their album! The music is beautiful, and the lyrics are powerful and relevant and have more than just a little substance. I was blown away, and covered in goosebumps more than once. Totally inspired for my guitar learning now, too!
After the set, we made some enquiries about albums and merch, and found out that it was their first gig as Dark and Lovely! I was blown away. So, if you ever see Dark and Lovely on an event poster, do yourself a favour and check them out. They’re full of soul and passion and a wicked sense of humour thrown in there too. The best way I can describe them is two beautiful ladies sitting at the bar, smiling wryly through the cigarette smoke, and winking at you.


Then, the amazing Ramblin' Bones. They were one man down, and still rocked Cool Runnings like I’ve never seen! They were so much fun; I was doing my little ‘dancing-in-my-chair’ thing the whole gig. Rockabilly awesomeness! Jay Bones - Jebidiah beard or not - is still one of the coolest people in SA music, hands down. We were lucky that we were sitting where we were, because not only did we have the best view, but it made interaction with the bands easy and fun, and at one stage, Simba asked for ‘The Old Man of the Ocean’, which Jay played just for him. And it became the funkiest, piratey-est song I’ve ever heard. It was incredible! On a side note, there was word that there was a theme to last night’s gig - Piratey-ness - and we went prepared to whip out the pirate at any moment, even though I thought we were the only ones. Until Jay turned the normally mellow Old Man of the Ocean into a pirate song. Yar-yar-YAR!

Finally, Newtown. WOW. I was actually speechless for a while there last night. Hard to believe, I know, but it’s true! The two ladies from Dark and Lovely are also in Newtown - Amy (aka Major Dark) on bass, and Pebbles (Sergeant Lovely) on vocals - along with a FUNKY AS HELL sax, guitar, trumpet, drums…. So much of cool! ;) They are a kind of funk-jazz-soul-sheer-fucking-awesome vibe. By the second song, I had dragged Simba onto the dance floor, and we were jumping and jamming around like lunatics. We bounced, we twirled, we shook, we swayed…we nearly passed out from over-exertion…and then we bounced some more! I was turned on to a new sound last night, a new vibe, and I don’t think there’s any going back! We made sure we got our hands on their album, and it’s indescribably good. I’m listening to it as I write this, and I’ve just woken Mister Boo, because I’m sitting shaking my ass while I write. (Yes, I’m writing from my bed this morning. You’ll get over it. J )

I literally didn’t stop grinning the entire night; it was that awesome. I highly recommend all three acts. I’m going to keep my eyes peeled for an album from Dark and Lovely - I have no doubt they’re going to go places. And remember - you heard it here first! ;p

I’m going to resume normal Sunday programming now - with a funky kick.

Links:

NEWTOWN (FB page is linked in the post)
http://www.sovent.co.za/newtown.htm
http://moralfibre.co.za/blog/tag/newtown-band/

RAMBLIN' BONES AND HIS BLOODY AGENT(S) (FB page is linked in the post)
http://ramblingbones.com/
http://ramblinbonesblog.blogspot.com/


x

Friday, November 26, 2010

Friday Fangs

Well… today has been… challenging… to say the least. BUT, despite that, there’s always something to be glad about, and to smile about on a Friday. If nothing else, it’s the fact that we’re on the precipice of the weekend! Lucky for me though, I have a few more things than just the weekend to smile about. Here they are:

·         We found out this week at work that we’re getting a couple of extra days leave, and they won’t come out of our annual leave. We were originally going to close up on the 15th December, as the 16th is a public holiday, but since most of our suppliers and clients will be closing on the 10th, there will be pretty much nothing for us to do in the extra few days. So they bosses decided to give us a few extra days! Yippee!!!!
·         That means it’s only 14 sleeps until we go on leave, and 20 until we leave for our holiday at the sea!!!! I cannot fucking wait! I’m going to lie on the beach and on my bed and read and soak up the sound of the sea, and soak up the salty air, and just breathe.


·         Using a fountain pen again. After school, I got out of the habit of using one, because people are generally too dumb to understand how a fountain pen is like a signature, and if you use someone else’s, you basically destroy it. But I’ve started using one for my journal again, and I love it!


·         Maxwell’s Silver Hammer by The Beatles (!)
·         Guitar lessons! The Universe has been testing my dedication to my guitar lessons, and I’ve been throwing attitude right back, thankyouverymuch. After missing my lesson last week, we rescheduled for this Tuesday, the 23rd. Great! She confirmed that I would be there on Tuesday night, and I replied “Come hell or high water!” Yea…

     I was all ready, mom and I made plans, we went over to the restaurant in my office park and had dinner. All good, right? Yea, until the heavens opened! And Lordy, did they open! I was sure that there was no water left up there after the way it rained and hailed (3 times) on Tuesday night. And then we had to leg it back to my office so I could phone the guitar teacher and say I was going to be late. This involved huddling under a little umbrella, being followed by a manager using a tray as an umbrella and wading through ICE COLD water that was flowing knee-deep in the parking lot. I felt like an extra in Titanic! I kept looking for a blue, frozen Jack bobbing along with icicles on his lips!


  And when I called my guitar teacher, she said that we should just call it off, because her whole house was flooding, and their baby son was just about bobbing away in his cot. I should really be more careful about the phrases I use!
On the upside, we rescheduled for last night, and we actually managed to get it right! I had a lesson, and it went really well, and I’m super amped for the next lesson, which will be on Tuesday. I can now play (very slowly and kind of disjointed, but still) the whole verse and chorus of About a Girl! BEEEG SMILE! I am so excited to go and practice this weekend, so I make some progress on it, and hopefully I can play it by my December holidays! That would be super awesome.
·         Yesterday I was feeling a little weird, and I Googled my symptoms, and lo-and-behold, I have Stage 1 Adultitis! I knew there was something wrong with me, I just didn’t realize it was so serious! I’m so glad I caught it in time; now I can begin my treatment, and hopefully shake this wretched malady soon!
·         Sarah Wilson’s post about the Benefit of *not* being happy. I am an intensely emotional person (hello, Cancerian!) and I try and own my moods, good or bad. When they’re bad, they’re rough and stormy and dreadful, but when they’re good, they’re infectious and beautiful and fun. And when a bad one does strike, I try and just ride it out, rather than pretend it’s not there at all, because then I just get irritable with everything and everyone, and snap at everything and everyone, and that’s no fun at all. So to read something about not only having the bad days, but actually owning them… well, that cheered me up significantly! How’s that for paradox?
·         Pre-New Years Evolution planning. I don’t make resolutions, because they are just designed to make you do things because you feel guilty about not doing them by Feb, rather than doing things because they make you feel good. So I have come up with a new take on it: New Years Evolution. Rather than try to change myself and totally erase the things I need to alter, I am going to evolve… take those growth points (not faults) and actually grow from them. Utilize the lessons they were designed to teach me and evolve that aspect of myself with them.
·         Nirvana. Not only because I’m learning to play it on the guitar, but because Kurt Cobain was a musical genius, and wrote the exact songs that work on me when I’m in a mood like today. #grumpyasfuck
·         Party anticipation. We’re going to a Rambling Bones gig tomorrow night, and I’m super amped! It’s gonna be great – the gig is pirate themed, and if you dress up, you get free entry. Also, Jay Bones has apparently promised to do the whole gig in Pirate Speak, given the theme. Yar!
·         Dirtying up my brand new, sparkling white shell-toe sneakers. I hate perfectly clean shell-toes. They must be scruffy and dirty and grungy and full of holes and fucked. So my mission this week has been destroying them, so they look better. (In case you were wondering, I’m WEIRD).

What have you been loving this week? And what are you looking forward to for the weekend? Gigs? Picnics? Concerts? Going underground? Let me know!

X

Monday, November 22, 2010

Never Tear Us Apart // INXS -- Polyvore Set

Never Tear Us Apart // INXS
Never Tear Us Apart // INXS by ShellyNu featuring bohemian jewelry
13 years ago, a musical genius, Michael Hutchence, was taken from the world too soon. The world is not the same without his incredible spirit in it, but at least we can look forward to amazing music on the other side. We miss you, Michael!

More News from Nowhere

Aaaaaaaand it’s Monday again!
Excuse me for not jumping for joy…






Moving on…


• Friday was, as always, pretty quiet. Just chilled out, and I think I was in bed quite early, because I had to be up early for the Doc on Saturday. I hate going to the doc when I’m tired, because I’m always a grumpy cow when I haven’t had enough sleep. (Today is case in point). Grrr…

• Saturday was quite quiet too. Ended up sleeping VERY late, so had to rush around to get to the doc on time. Had my consult – all good, yay! – and then headed off to Park Meadows to collect meds. Also did a teeny-tiny little bit of shopping while we were there, so I now own cheap white shell toes (which I need to scuff up soon, so they don’t look so new!) and some new silver bangles to add to my growing collection. I’ve always been very Janis-Joplin because I pile as many bangles as I can on at any one time, otherwise I feel naked. Anyway, after that, we came straight home and I got back into my jammies and parked on the bed with my laptop and a stack of DVDs. I watched The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford ( it’s still a loooooong-ass movie the second time around.) BUT:




(It's over two hours in, if you're gonna look for it and don't feel like sitting through the whole dramatic shpeel), Lolita (it’s still not the book), and Across the Universe. Which, again, got me feeling more melancholy than I think it was intended for the audience to feel. Still, I love it, and have got the Beatles stuck in my head, which is NEVER a bad thing. It also lead to a long bout of introspection and writing, and some pretty stark and scary revelations. Quarter-life crisis, anyone? Haha
Then found Hellboy II on M-Net movies, and that was it, I was plonked on the couch, engrossed. I LOVED the first one, and keep missing the repeats of the second one, so I wasn’t going to miss it. And the verdict: I loved it. Not as exciting as the first, but still awesome. The Angel of Death was amazing…




I need an excuse to put together a costume like that!!!!
And then, just after Hellboy, we found The Royal Tenenbaums. Squeeeee! I love it. I am a BIG Wes Anderson fan, so there was no doubt I was going to watch that. Mister Boo loved it too, which surprised me. After that finished, we “old folks” were off to bed, and I sat and wrote until the ungodly hour of 3am. The movie finished before midnight. So, I can kiss my regular sleeping patterns goodbye for a few days, unless I make up for it tonight (which is looking like a great idea right now – grumpyasfuckmuch?!)

• And then yesterday… yesterday, I sat on my ass and did sweet nothing ALL DAY. It was great. I watched movies, I read, I listened to music all day, and I played Jewel Quest. But aside from that? Nothing. I loved it.


I am chastising myself for not practicing my guitar this weekend, because I really wanted to, but I just didn’t have the energy to think too hard about anything. So tonight, I will practice like the crazy lady I am, and hopefully be ready for my lesson tomorrow.


Well, being as miff as I am, I don’t really have much else to say, unless you’re looking for fun ways to swear at people…. No? Okay then. We’ll catch up soon, yes?


X

Friday, November 19, 2010

Jane Austen's Fight Club (Video)

Friday Fangs 19.Nov.2010

Joburg is having a lovely wet week. It may be my fault… I took my electric blanket off our bed on Sunday, when I rearranged our room, and I also packed away all my proper winter clothing. And, typically, that seems to have triggered a nice cold front to cruise into our city. I’m not complaining, I LOVE the cooler wet weather. But everyone else? Not so much. I haven’t told them it’s my fault yet – I’d rather not be lynched. Hehehe All the same, it’s cheered me up better than a sunny afternoon picnic ever could! I’m feeling all inspired again – yay! I’m hoping that the rain will wash away all the mogginess that seems to have set in the last few weeks, and leave me feeling fresh and crisp and clean and clear for the last stretch of the year – only a few weeks now!

So, on to the things that I’ve been loving this week:
- The rain! Yippee!!! Clearly I’m a water sign (Cancerian – go figure), because I just can’t get enough of the wet weather.
- Feeling inspired. It hasn’t happened in a while, and I’m really enjoying the little tingle and buzz that goes with the cogs whirring in my head and somewhere in my spirit. It’s always more fun this way. I have a whole whack of new projects in my cluttered mind… Now, to organize them and get them going. Oh dear…
- Catching up on sleep. I’ve bee thoroughly exhausted since last week, and Monday and Tuesday (aka: days dragged in by the stinking hell hounds) didn’t do my ANY good. But by Wednesday, I adopted more of an “I-COULDN’T-GIVE-A-CRAP” attitude to the shit-storm flying around me, and I just let it go. And – lo and behold – I could sleep! Ama-zing! Waking up feeling a little closer to living than dead has been fun the past two days. Yay for that!
- Books! I am more than an avid reader, and I’m going through a very thick and heavy ready phase at the moment. Currently, I’m lugging around Nick Cave’s “And The Ass Saw The Angel”, which is … intense. I’m kind of battling to get through it, but it’s also because I’ve been so ADD the last few weeks, with the parties and carrying on that we’ve been doing. But this weekend, we have NO PLANS, other than the doc tomorrow, so I intend to hunker down and READ. I’m also hoping to get my hands on a copy of Lolita. I’ve gone through this longing for the book before, and bought the movie in the hopes that it would quench that thirst. But nope. I have to have the book. End. Of. Story. So hopefully I will stumble across a bargain copy in my travels tomorrow. But in the meantime, I have a haul of books to get through, and two more on their way to me! I have to get through a John Lennon biography, a Tim Burton biography, Jim Morrison’s ‘The Lords and New Creatures’, Tennessee Williams’ “The Glass Menagerie”, a Hunter S Thompson biography and Cormac McCarthy’s “No Country For Old Men”. AND, I’ve just ordered another two biographies: Bad Seed (NO prizes for guessing who that’s about!), and Life: By Keith Richards. SO MUCH OF EXCITE! I can’t wait to get stuck into the Keith Richards one! I’ve read a couple of excerpts, and an interview with him for the book in the Sunday Times, and I literally squealed the whole time I read it. So I can guarantee that once those arrive, Mister Boo will be miserable and have to kiss any kind of conversation goodbye. And Maja Boo will whine at me for being anti-social because I’ll be holed up in my room with Keef and Nick. *swoon*
- Down-time. We’ve had such a hectic few weeks, and this weekend, with nothing on, I am just looking forward to relaxing! It’s such a weird thing to look forward to doing nothing, but I am already planning just how I’m going to do it. When I get home, I’m gonna pour myself into my jammies and cosy up on my bed with my laptop, and watch movies. And then, tomorrow, the reading will commence. Unghf! (That’s ‘excite’ in my home-planet’s language).
- Being almost done with our Christmas shopping, and with NO STRESS. We’ve decided to make it awesome and inspirational and easy this year, and went ahead and bough 10 copies of Sarah Von’s “A Year in Yes 2011 Calendars”. I’m SO stoked! I was going to do our own calendars this year, but again, the end of the year has snuck up on me, and I’ve run out of steam. A couple of years ago, I had this brilliant idea to do big jars filled with 365 wishes, as well as all sorts of little goodies and surprises. It was awesome. A stroke of genius. (ifidosaysomyself) But I will confess, I wasn’t as organized as I’d like to have been, and it turned out to be a total mission! I sat up until 11pm on Christmas Eve cutting out quotes and whinging like Scrooge McDuck. BUT, on the upside, the pay off was infinite! People went nutters over the idea, and I know that a couple of people have incorporated the quote jars into drinking games and party tricks. Hehe
I had great plans for personalized calendars in much the same vein, but with the chaos that ensued again this year, I couldn’t face it. And then I came across A Year in Yes Calendars, and yes, I squealed, and got on the horn to Mister Boo faster than I could think “holycraphowawesome!”. And that was that. Yippee! I will now have more time to spend on a lilo in the pool, with a book in one hand and a cocktail in the other. (This is, in fact, how I intend to spend at least part of my holiday this year).

The little things that have made me smile this week:

 Nick Cave (always) * dreaming of guitar chords that sound like a song I could write one day * Jim Morrison (always) * hotties on TV in the only two shows I do watch * being told that on a scale of 1 – 10 of insanity, I am probably a 7 or 8, when Johnny Depp and Hunter S Thompson would be about a 5 or 6, and Nick Cave an 8 or 9 (Thanks, Simba!) * Katjes Yoghurt Gums (always) * Planning mayhem for when one of my best friends, Amy, is going to be staying with us in December. This includes tattoos! * Barney Simon on TUKSFm (Who knew he was still going?!) * Kurt Cobain (always); and Nirvana for always lifting a dank mood * Plotting more mayhem for the Doors 20th birthday party * Plotting random insanity for the Rambling Bones Pirate Gig next weekend * Grinderman interviews (hysterical at the very least; I would kill to interview these guys, not only for the Nick Cave factor) * Feeling like a kick-ass grunge queen in my outfit today

(Details:
Dress: Little Chinese shop on Blairgowrie Plaza;
Skirt (worn hiked up under dress, to add length and interest): Hayley Joy;
Lace top (under dress, to keep boobages from falling out): Jay Jays;
Jersey: Hang Ten;
Tights: Woolies;
Boots: Foschini - swapped the laces for silver ribbon;
Silver necklace: From my gran;
Crow's foot necklace: Gift from art gallery years ago;
Earrings: Mr Price;
Bracelets: Gift from my sister in Wales)

What made you grin this week? And what are you planning for the weekend? Chaos, mayhem, disorder? Or something a little more tame?

x

Monday, November 15, 2010

More News from Nowhere 15.11.2010

I’m starting to resent the speed with which this year is passing me by. I loathe this time of year. Everyone’s grumpy, everyone’s complaining, we’re all snapping at each other, there’s always too much to do and too little time, and all anyone can think about is the holidays. Which, incidentally, start in exactly a month for me. NotthatI’mcountingsleepsoranything.

So, on to news:

·         Friday’s babysitting turned out to be more challenging than I anticipated. Jadey, the elder sister (13) was a breeze, as usual. She reminds me so much of myself at that age –enthusiastic about left-of-center subjects and an avid reader. And the younger sister, Jillian (7) has energy levels I dream of, and don’t-freaking-have. I was already pretty tired when we got home, and before I was even out of the car, the last of my energy was slowly ebbing away. She’s not precocious or naughty or anything like that; she’s just….. really-REALLY-bouncy. As we walked into the house, we were greeted by banners and posters hanging over the dining room table, which declared November 12th “Girlfriends’ Day”. Cool. J That made Sunday "Boyfriends' Day", which I decided meant that I could have all my 'boyfriends' around (in my imagination, anyway), and Mister Boo would have to smile and nod. It was a nice theory, right?After dinner, Jilly went through my entire wardrobe and put on a fashion show of note. Girlfriend’s got the moves! Haha Mister Boo showed her an ancient DOS golf game he downloaded, which kept her enthralled while he was saving music for me. Then we drew a bit (I’m working on my next tattoo design), and suddenly it was bedtime. So we got her wound down, read her a story about Auggy the Froggie and his earache, and not long after, she was lights out. I think I was just too tired to enjoy it properly. It wasn’t bad, I just didn’t as much fun as I’d hoped to.
·         Saturday consisted of sniggering to myself quietly as Jilly woke Mister Boo up at 5:30, by dangling his little alarm clock right in front of his eye and tapping it until he woke up. Hehehe Then I had to scramble to get ready for the hairdresser, for re-blue-ing of my hair. That took up a good chunk of the day, and I didn’t get to see the girls much on Saturday, which I was kind of disappointed about. But it was okay all the same, because we had a really good catch up with Nix, who does my hair, and who I’ve known for 12 years (!!!!!), and her family. Her dad showed me the most awesome clip when I told him I’m doing guitar lessons – it kinda blew my mind a bit. J
·         Saturday night was awesome. Simba’s family murder-mystery dinner was, naturally, a howling success, and we all had a great time. I, Katheryn Eater-Jones, was not the murderer, to my relief! I was, however, supposed to be a stalker-ish lady, but I didn’t have the energy for that on Saturday night, so I played up the frustrated-with-the-picky-eaters chef instead. Hehe It was really good fun. I am hoping to post some photos tomorrow, because I clean forgot to download my photos from my camera yesterday. Under all these crazy colours, there’s definitely some blonde!
·         Yesterday I managed to tackle sorting out my bedroom! I’m so relieved! We have to rooms, joined by an inter leading cupboard door which you have to walk through, and they’re both quite small and easy to clutter. So I pulled out all the crap, sorted it as best I could, and re-organised. Pushed and pulled furniture, moved our bed into a better position (according to Feng Shui), and cleaned. Cleaned, cleaned, cleaned. And cleaned some more. Crikey! It’s such a satisfying feeling to get to grips with stuff like that, and really get it sorted out. I sat on my bed for a while last night, listening to Grinderman and Grinderman 2 (and canning myself laughing at the lyrics – “My baby calls me the Loch Ness Monster – Two great big humps and then I’m gone”) and playing Faerie Solitaire and just enjoying the new feel of the room. J  
·         I actually sat down and watched the 8pm movie last night! I don’t usually do TV, other than Brothers and Sisters and CSI:NY on a Thursday, so to drag myself out of my room and watch the movie had my family’s jaws on the floor there for a moment. I did my nails while I was watching, because I’m far too ADD and fidgety to just sit still and watch something. (I bought this colour on Saturday, and quite like it. It works with my new 90’s-esque look and feel, and goes along with my new *gasp* - I never thought I would do this, but – white peep toe clogs. I know. *hangs head in embarrassment* BUT, they are on trend, affordable, and damn comfortable! SO… I’m just gonna go with it. I can always blame fashion madness, or lack of sleep or something when I look back. Haha)
     Moving on… The movie was Knowing, starring Nicolas Cage. I was a bit skeptical about it at first, and there were a few predictable or random-don’t-make-sense elements, but all in all, I actually quite enjoyed it. AND, strangely enough for a big box-office flick, it actually led me to do some introspection. Okay, granted, it’s a topic that’s been bubbling under in my psyche for a few weeks now, what with it being a running theme in the Bad Seeds lyrics, but the movie last night had me looking at it again… It was the subject of my faith. Or rather, current lack thereof. So, there’s something I can stew on for the next few weeks and try and figure out. As if my mind doesn’t work enough overtime! Clearly I don't sweat the petty stuff, huh?

So… it being Monday, there is a lot of madness to deal with this morning. I better get to it before I get an inquisition (Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition! hehehe) about all the check-lists I suddenly have to complete every effing day. Work… that’s another story for another day! Monday is probably not the best day to tackle work issues in a post, right?

So, happy Monday, enjoy and all that!

X

Friday, November 12, 2010

Friday Fangs

Okay, this is just getting scary now. How can it possibly be Friday again?! I feel like I’m only just getting going for the week, for crying out loud, and now I have to readjust to the weekend! Crikey…

Well, at least it’s been a good week. So, onto Friday Fangs, then:

·         Only 33 more sleeps till I go on leave, and on HOLIDAY!!!! For the first time in years, we’re actually leaving Joburg in December, and going to the sea! BUT, we’re not going where everyone goes, we’re going further south than that, to a quiet little town on the south coast, and it’s gonna be FANTASTIC! I am like a kid with an advent calendar at the moment.
·         (MOAR) Party anticipation! Haha I should really stop whining that we never do anything fun, because we clearly do! Simba’s having another murder mystery dinner tomorrow, with his family, and we’ve been invited again. You know your friendship is a good, long-lasting one when you crack the nod for both! This time, I get to play a chef, Catherine Eater-Jones, in the Box Office Hit murder mystery. Mister Boo has the role of John Revolta, a greasy camera man. I’m excited! If last weekend was anything to go by, it’s gonna be good fun again. And maybe Simba will manage to stay awake long enough to enjoy the party hehehe
·         Babysitting! Yea, I know, who woulda thought, right?! But I am kinda looking forward to it. We’re looking after Mister Boo’s two nieces tonight. I’m hoping they bring Shrek 2 (I asked him to ask them to) because I really wanna sneakily check out the Tom Waits and Nick Cave cameos in it. *sneaky sneaky* Yes, I seem to have that much of a problem.
·         Hair! I had blue put in my hair again for Hallowe'en, but it washes out really quickly, because it’s a different brand to the pink and purple. But as it washes out, it looks really cool, it goes from a nice royal blue to a teal, then a pastel blue, and a light pastel aqua colour, and finally, bleach white. I’m sitting in between the light aqua and bleach white at the moment, so my appointment tomorrow is perfectly timed. Yay!
·         I’m thinking about rearranging our bedroom this weekend (although I don’t know when)! It’s so stuffy and cramped and leans itself to clutter VERY easily at the moment, and it’s time for a change! Mister Boo will probably tremble at the thought – he hates the idea of change – but it’s time. I’m feeling very claustrophobic in there at the moment, to the point where I have considered sneaking off and sleeping on the couch! And that just won’t do! So it’s time for a change!

It’s a bit of a short list this week, because there have been a lot of stressful things going on at work, which have made my Miss Boo-Hoo. Also, I am a few days short of my appetite suppressants, and I only see my doc next weekend, so I thought I’d just take one of the old ones a couple of days ago, and I now understand why my family is so vehemently against those ones! They make me President Grumpy-As-Fuck!! They have told me before how miserable the old pills seemed to make me, but I thought they were exaggerating, until this week. I was aware of how quickly my mood changed from my usual bouncy, albeit incredibly weird, self, to this morbid, morose, miserable troll. Yuck. So those are all going down the loo this weekend too! They’re dreadful! The new ones, on the other hand, are amazing. I have energy, I am excited, I can focus clearer, I don’t spend all my life sleeping, I feel creative, and I eat less and crave healthier foods, meaning I eat less! Much better!

What have you got planned for the weekend? Whatever it is, I hope it's groovy!

X

Monday, November 8, 2010

More News From Nowhere - 8.Nov.2010

Phew! What a day! What a weekend!!


Friday night was spent holed up on the couch, dosed up on flu meds and listening to music while I played Jewel Quest 2 (I have a bit of a problem here – I CAN’T STOP! And it’s not all that exciting…) while watching the Dog Whisperer (also known as one of Maja Boo’s numerous ‘boyfriends’ – she has a lot in TV-land) before I finally gave in and just slept and slept and slept and … you get the idea. Flu meds’ll knock you!


Spent most of Saturday morning snoozing, and when I finally surfaced after 10h00, I was still the first one awake. Peculiar….But once we had all risen from the dead, we made the fatal mistake of going to Makro. H-O-L-Y C-R-A-P. Never again. *shudders* The ONLY thing that made it just bearable was having a lot of Nirvana on my iPod, and remembering to take my iPod with. Otherwise I would probably have ended up doing what Mister Boo did, only… on purpose. He managed to almost overturn a food sample cart, and he wasn’t even aiming to do it. He felt kind of bad about it, but because he gets so tense when we’re grocery shopping, he sort of scowled at the guy when he apologized. So if you were almost mowed down by a crazy looking guy at Makro on Saturday, I’m really sorry. Peace and love?!


Went through to Simba early on Saturday evening, to help him set up for his Murder Mystery Dinner. I took a whole bag of props with – feather boas, stars, masks, sparkly ribbons and things… and went a little crazy. Luckily (for Simba) I forgot to take glitter, otherwise I think he might still be covered in it.
I love Murder Mystery Dinners. They are a fantastic way to get people to really interact, and have lots of fun on a smaller scale. The accents that people come up with are fascinating, and the outfits?! Never short of fabulous. It’s so cool when people really get into dressing up and embracing the theme.
We met some new people too, and they’re also crazy, so we’ve decided to keep them! Haha We’re slowly building an army of nutters who will someday take over the world, and enforce international pink hair days and such when we’re in power. Muahahahahahahaha!
*cough cough* I will post photos when I have the time to sit and add them in and caption them appropriately.


Yesterday I woke up wondering why my head was so sore. Hmmm… it could have been the whack I gave it on the door frame on Saturday night, or it could have been all the vodka consumed in the spirit (hehe) of partying. I think it was a combination, though. So after a really good greasy brekkie, I lurched back to my bed, and stayed there. ALL. DAY. Not sleeping, mind you, just there. I had my laptop open, I listened to Nick Cave (all.day), I read some twisted literature, I played some Fairie Solitaire, I wrote some warped short stories… all in all, a pretty good day. And it’s just as well I took it easy yesterday, because so far, today has been CHAOS. I mean it, I feel all dizzy from the madness that has ensued here today. I have a task list to get through today, that resembles the one I had to complete for the whole of last week. SHIT!


So, on that crazy and rushed note, I’ll be off. Wish me luck with the Task-List-From-Hell!


X

Friday, November 5, 2010

Vincent - Tim Burton (Video)

Something that's kept me entertained for six minutes on a (soon-to-be-stormy) Friday afternoon.
Yay Tim Burton!!!


x

Miss Boo

27 Club

While searching for random and bizarre stuff to send to Simba on his 27th birthday, I cam across these. I may have gasped so loudly that people in the office called to see if I was okay, or needed a doctor. I LOVE them! I want them all. I can't decide which one I love best.
The glow in the dark one:

The full colour one:
OR

The psychedelic one:

*source

Friday Fangs

Holy crap! It’s Friday again! What just happened? This week has dragged its ass, but suddenly, it’s Friday. Don’t you hate when that happens?
So, since it’s been such a chaotic week, there are quite a few things to be grateful for.

·         Hallowe’en Party! It was SO much fun! I really had a fabulous time, even though my modified raven wings came off within half an hour. After I broke a camping chair with them. Hehe It was good though. The props were fantastic, the décor turned out great, and the whole evening turned out well. Even though it was a quiet one, we still had a great party, and only dragged our asses to bed after 2. Awesomeness!  









The welcoming committee




Unnamed Guest


Turning our dogs into zombies (I love Sparky's face - he looks petrified of Mr. T, the Zombie)


Dismembered hand that freaked the shit out of everyone all night


Garden of shrunken (apple) heads - creepy, non?


Specimen Jars
- 2 x (baby cabbage) brains, 1x (cauliflower) tumorous organ, 1x (potato) heart


·         Having no plans for Sunday, except R&R. It was great. I slept late-ish, then we cleaned up, and I spent pretty much the rest of the day on the couch with my laptop and we sat listening to the Hallowe’en party mix (Hint: A LOT of Nick Cave) and vegged out completely.

·         My first guitar lesson! Okay… HOLY EFFING CRAP. I knew I would love it, but I never knew it would be this fucking cool. I haven’t been this excited about anything for a hell of a long time. And I spent at least a third of the lesson just squeezing in excitement and sheer disbelief that after 15 minutes, I was already playing part of a Nirvana song. FUCKING NIRVANA! Hehe I am absolutely in love with being able to finally do something other than pose with my guitar, and the pain in my fingers (which is epic and pretty insane sometimes) is just the most fabulous pain in history, on par with getting tattooed. (I like pain. Can you tell?) My family are already going insane, hearing the same few chords drifting out of my room over and over and over, but even they admit that it’s starting to sound more like a song, and less like just a bunch of chords. Yay!

·         Time Management Course. You know, when we were told that the company was sending us to this Time Management Seminar, I think a lot of us took a bit of umbrage to the idea that we weren’t managing our time properly and some people took it more personally than others. But, to be really honest, I did learn some things there, and they have helped, and I am feeling a little more motivated. There are still things that bug the crap out of me about work, but hey… I think, no matter what your job is, even if it’s rock star or music god or creative genius, there are days that get you down, and things that get on your nerves. But all in all, the motivation is a little more present than usual. Long may it last, right?

·         More party anticipation. You know, for someone who complains that I have no life, and never go out, I do spend a good chunk of my time anticipating and prepping for parties. Hmmm… *ponders* Well, it’s Simba’s birthday today, so we’re partying this weekend. This year is his risk year, so we have to party hard, and party often, because, at 27, you never know what could happen. So he’s having a Murder Mystery Dinner tomorrow to celebrate, and the theme is Mardi Gras. My character is Mama Carriba, a fortune teller who wears lots of beads, long flowy skirts, matching head-scarves, striking make up and nail polish, and always carries her Tarot cards with her. So… pretty much ME. I thought he was going to challenge me, but hey. There’s always next year. Haha

·         Other things that made me smile this week:
Grinning every time I think “I’m going to the sea in December!”; Nick Cave (always); the blue in my hair fading already, and heading toward my favourite shade of teal; Kurt Cobain (always); staining my pillows to look like a rainbow while I sleep; Jim Morrison (always); waking up earlier than usual and still feeling good; feeling quietly good about things, even if people think I’m blue (which I’m not. Only my hair is. And it gets cut every six weeks, so that’s that sorted.); dreaming about my dad, who’s been gone over a year and a half – I usually wake up feeling like we’ve just sat and had a good chat, and it’s always when I need him most; hearing my guitar teacher tell my mom (when he thought I wasn’t listening) that I have a natural talent for guitar, and I’ll pick it up quickly, because it’s something I love; using Hallowe'en as an excuse to buy black candles without freaking my mom out entirely
the new Grinderman video!

How about you, Boo-lets? Are you grinning this fine Friday, or just gritting your teeth in a grimace until 5pm, when the weekend finally kicks off?

x