Friday Fangs - 21.10.2011

It’s Friday! And, for the first time in weeks, I’m feeling super bouncy. So, even though this post is a couple of days late, here’s this week’s list of awesome!!

* Angie and Alex’s wedding, in all it’s glory and splendor, takes the first spot on the list of things that have made me happy this week. It was just… sublime. The ceremony was gorgeous – and hysterical. The drive to the reception was thoroughly entertaining. The reception was one of the best jols I’ve had in absolutely ages. There was (forced) stripping, (surprise) puking, (astounding) dancing, (crazy) conversation and (drunken) pouring-and-scraping. It made for one of the most awesome weddings I’ve ever been to!



Via Southern Cross Productions



* Throwing a pair of jeans on over my pjs and bolting out of the house in a frenzy with La on Sunday, just to leap into the car and go in search of the Ice Cream Van. We were lethargic, and we decided that the most awesome thing that could happen would be for the Ice Cream Van to come past. But she said she hadn’t heard it around for ages, so we resigned ourselves to no ice cream. And then…. We heard it….. The Ice Cream Van. We leapt up and ran outside to listen for him, but he must have stopped somewhere and we co0uldnt’ hear him… we waited a bit, but figured that if we left it much longer, he would be gone, so we ran back inside, threw on jeans, grabbed wallets and legged it! Alas, after cruising around Germiston for about twenty minutes or so, we realized we’d lost him. So we went to KFC and got ice cream there instead.

* Our incredible, spectacular Joburg sunsets. It may be the pollution, but there’s nothing quite like it in the world!

(Photos taken by Mister Boo from the Gautrain Station in Rhodesfield)

* On a more serious note: 10 Things You Should Know Before You Kill Yourself. Mental Illness and Suicide are things that MUST NOT be ignored. Suicide and its effects reach further and deeper than anyone could imagine, and I really do think that reading something like this if you’re contemplating making such a shattering decision in the depths of despair and loneliness is a good idea. There are always – ALWAYS – people who want to help, and there is always – FUCKING ALWAYS – another way. Even when there’s not, there’s got to be!

* The Jacaranda trees are in bloom!!!! That means: rainy season, slippy roads, slippier pavements, dirt, mud, purple mush and glorious, glorious purple-bedecked streets throughout the city! I always feel tetchy at this time of year, but as soon as I see the Jacarandas blooming, I feel like it’s okay to breathe again. Finally! I thought they were never going to burst!

* Being asked to write project summaries for a design company’s portfolio! Eeeeeep!!! (A draft of which I shall have on Monday – I know you’re reading this J )

* My new jeans. I can’t WAIT to debut them! They’re just…. splendid! 

* The new tunic I got this week – at half price! It’s going to look SPECTACULAR with said new jeans! Eeeeep!  

* Freedom! This week I’ve been happier than a bird with a French fry, and I wish it could last forever! It won’t be long now before we can make it happen, long term, though!

* New Miss Boo Originals designs! Can’t wait to get them rolled out – keep a look out; it won’t be long!

* The delicious risotto I made last night for dinner!!! NOMNOMNOMNONMNOMNOM!

Little things that made me smile this week:

* “Many of the colours” * Mister Boo’s first Gautrain trip * Overcast mornings. It’s no secret that I love the rain, so the grey clouds that have everyone else whining have totally made my day * Bohemian Rhapsody. By William Shatner. * Cream Soda – aka, the Green Ambulance – curing my weekend exhaustion and latent babelaas on Monday. Yay for that! * Super lazy Sundays, consisting of rolling out of bed at 9H30, coffee, junk food and DVDs. Awesome! *

So, Boo-lettes, what's made you ecstatic this week?

X

NOTE: All photos, unless otherwise stated, are sourced via Pinterest

Friday Fangs - 23.09.2011

I know, I know! *shameface* It’s not Wednesday, so this isn’t Wednesday Wonders. It’s not Thursday, so it’s not TiLT either. But it’s Friday. So you’re getting it all in the shape of Friday Fangs! Ha!!

It’s been a bit of a weird week, and before I put pen to paper and started writing down what I have to be grateful for this week, I wasn’t convinced that there was very much. But once I started writing, I realized that it wasn’t so bad after all! What a nice surprise! So, here is the (longer than anticipated) list of things that made me happy this week:

* Eve, of Madam & Eve fame, is Playmaid of the Year. I think this is supremely awesome! Check out the cover:

Ha!

* The Silly Walk. Dinee and I have a stretch on our walking route that demands that we do the Silly Walk. It’s an epic power wiggle, downhill, and produces screeches of laughter from the guys playing soccer in the park. Every. Time. Love it!

* My awesome, spectacular friends, for tolerating my out-of-breath freak outs and talking me through them, at any time of the day or night. You guys rock, and I honestly don’t know what I would do without you. Thank you!

* Miss Boo Originals sales! Woot-to-the-Ski!!

* This picture



Via Pinterest



* Being super-prepared for the next market (which is on Sunday, if you didn’t see). I’m freaking out that I seem to have things under control, because I never have anything under control, and now I’m panicking that I’ve forgotten something crucial. But, with the help of my lists, I’ve ensured that everything is truly, honestly, under control. Eeeep!

*Can I get a ‘Touch Wood’ just to be safe, people?

* Planning my outfit for a Mad Hatter’s Tea Party birthday party tomorrow. It’s gonna be so much of fun! Plus, I’m looking forward to catching up with some friends I haven’t seen in a while. Yippee!!!

* The bright, lush green that’s sprawling throughout Jozi at the moment. Yay Spring!!!

* Vanilla sponge, cream and fresh strawberry cake. NOM! Thanks Cath!

* Singing & playing the tambourine at Angie’s Pamper Party. She had no idea what we had planned for her, so when we started singing, it was awesome! And shortly after that, this happened:



As Marina put it, everyone pissed from their eyes. It was awesome!!

(I will post a couple of pics in the next couple of days for you to see just how much awesomeness was floating around on Saturday. There was a lot).

* The ruby slippers from the Wizard of Oz are on sale (!!!!!) Go here if you want them and have $2m - $3m to spare.

* Walking my suburb flat on Sunday for no reason other than that it was a beautiful day not to be wasted lying in bed until lunch time. It was glorious!

* My newly levitating Buddha

* My Blackberry isn’t working

* A new story idea. I’m SO excited to get started on it!!

* Realising that I’m not the world’s most obsessed Nick Cave fan-girl. I forgot that yesterday was Nick Cave’s birthday. Mmmphff. Ridiculously, I feel like a failure at being a fan-girl now. O_o (Hangs head in shame)

* Unleashing my inner nerd and having a proper laugh about random nerdy stuff with functional nerds. (Think Leonard, not Sheldon or Raj. Or even Howard.)

* The Springboks. I love them. Our boys are playing like legends, and I just….. love them.

* Miss Boo Originals. Just the whole concept has got me SO freaking excited right now, and all the ideas and creations and concepts and upcoming opportunities! Winning!

* My glue gun. It’s little and using it has given me calluses, but  I just love it.

* The countdown to turquoise hair. Only two weeks now!!!

Little things which made me smile this week:

* Glee. I’m such a Gleek * Getting dirty * Being organized * Lists * The new Lady Antebellum album * The Gautrain. It’s awesome. That is all *

So, my little Boo-ettes, what's made you smile this week??

X

Fuck Yes!!!

That is all.

Friday Fangs

Friiiiiiiiiii-Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay! Yay! I didn’t think I would survive this week, but here we are! Alive and kicking! Yay!
It’s been a very trying week, with a LOT of challenges. But looking back, there’s been a lot that I’ve loved too:

·         I found this video on Yes and Yes earlier this week, and it made me grin, despite the crappy day I was having. VERY cool! Also: I want that hat! (Klismaus soon, okay?)

·         I have had a very successful few days of shopping, for a change. I bought some very cool new maxi dresses (all plain) which I can jazz up accordingly. I have rocked them all week, and loved it! I also bought a spunkly little striped skirt which I can’t wait to debut, because it makes me feel like a million bucks! Yay! Rocking my new dresses rocks.

·         My very good friend Amy is coming to visit me next week! She gets to us on Sunday! She’s up in JHB marking matric papers, so lots of hard work too, but it’s gonna be amazing to catch up with her! I haven’t seen her since my dad passed away last year, so there’s a lot to catch up on! Also, we might be going for tattoos while she’s here! Squee!

·         Woolies Twist of Lemon flavoured water (0 kj energy!) (Zippy lemony punch!) (Sheer awesome!!!!)

·         Yesterday, I got a 5am phone call from one of my bosses. I know you’re thinking “Hang on, why is that on the things I LOVE list??” Well, I quite like being awake early (if you’ve known me longer than two years, this will shock the hell out of you!) and it also meant I could get my ass out of bed and go and exercise. That made yesterday pretty damn awesome. I’ve been too exhausted to get out of bed early lately – I hate December – and that was the Universe’s way of getting me to do it. Subterfuge. Yay!

·         We FINALLY got around to tidying the spare room!

·         Reading this post made me beam! I bought some of those things! It’s awesome to spend money, knowing it’s going to going towards something as awesome as this! Yayayayay!!!!!

·         I bought a new top at Jay Jays on Wednesday. It has the face of one of my heroes on it:




Excuse me while I kiss the sky

 

·         I spent much of last night doing some crazy arting and tattoo designing. I have plans, and they’re massive! *rubs hands mischievously*

·         Sleeping soundly for the first time in weeks. The value of this is infinite. I didn’t even know that there had been a storm last night. I just slept and slept and slept.

·         Zombieland. We finally got round to watching this when it was on Movie Magic the other night. I now have a new favourite movie to spout quotes from. I have a new motto too: “What would Tallahassee do?” Ha! It was so cool that Mister Boo and I have been practicing our zombie lurching all over the place. I think I may have caused a back spasm, it’s that bad. Hehehe

·         Grinderman - Chain of Flowers / Vortex

·         Homage to my Hips:

these hips are big hips
they need space to
move around in.
they don’t fit into little
petty places. these hips
are free hips.
they don’t like to be held back.
these hips have never been enslaved,
they go where they want to go
they do what they want to do.
these hips are mighty hips.
these hips are magic hips.
i have known them
to put a spell on a man and
spin him like a top! 

 -- Lucille Clifton (via: www.ilovefat.tumblr.com)

******************************************************************************
Little things I've loved this week:

* Planning new ventures and adventures * Planning new ventures and adventures * Ssuccessful shopping * 7 more sleeps until holidays! * Sparkly magenta nail polish that cost R10.00 * Mybulen * Putting together inspiration for Simba’s year end function costume * Anticipating FINALLY getting to CCHQ tomorrow *

What's rocked your world this week?

x

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 15^th December, as the 16^th is a public holiday, but since most of our suppliers and clients will be closing on the 10^th, 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.

*source

·         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!

* source

·         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 23^rd. 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

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

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

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

Friday Fangs (*Special Hallowe'en Edition*)

Don’t you find, with the weekend looming, it’s easier to be thankful on a Friday than any other day of the week? OK, Sunday might be a good day to reflect and be filled with gratitude, but sometimes the only gratitude you can muster on a Sunday is that you’re not still hung-over or throwing up or that you managed to get more than 4 hours of sleep. (Is this just me?!)

Anyway, I’ve decided that, in the vein of Things I Love Thursdays (TiLT) over at www.galadarling.com , I’ll (try and remember to) post a gratitude list on a Friday. And, in the spirit of Hallowe’en, I've christened it: Friday Fangs. (Plus, I like my vampires. No, not the sparkly, Barbie and Ken kind, the real kind, like Lestat and the rest of Anne Rice's delicious deviants.)

So, what was there to be grateful for this week? Hmmm…. * taps pencil on desk, gazing out of window *

Ah, yes!

* Last weekend, we went to Montecasino for Mister Boo’s birthday, with his sister and brother-in-law. We had a delicious dinner at Raj (wowa-weewa, SO good!) before rambling around and spending too much money on Hallowe’en props.

* I spotted the shoes I will be buying, and telling everyone they are for my bestie’s wedding next year, although, her and my co-bridesmaid are short-arses, so I actually have no intention of wearing them at the wedding. I just need a decent enough excuse to buy them, and her wedding is a pretty good one. Hehe And then I’ll have to pull the “Oh-Noes!” face when it suddenly dawns on me that I will be at least a foot taller than them in said heels. Yes, I’m a schemer when it comes to shoes.

* We spent a good hour in the Magic Company arcade, forcing ourselves not to wrestle the game controls away from 4-year-olds, in order to maximize on ticket production. It’s always a challenge and Mister Boo battles with it a lot more than I do, strangely. All the same, we got some cool prizes – two different colour hair sprays and a key ring. B-I-L also won me a stuffed giraffe in the claw machine. Yippee!

* We actually won on the ‘grown-up’ machines! WooooHoooo! I won just under a grand, and Mister Boo came out with over R2,500, which is a blessing, since he’s still not working yet.

* Giving Mister Boo his birthday present (U2 tickets) on Tuesday. He’s been on my case since he found out they were coming to SA, and I somehow managed to keep my trap shut and not spill the beans about how awesome his present was and how much he would love it. He did a little dance when he realized what his gift was. It was really cool!


* FINALLY receiving my latest book from Kalahari.net! They seem to have changed couriers, and it took the new guys A FRIKKING WEEK to find me! I was getting very irate and frustrated, and was composing a stinking e-mail when my book finally arrived. But you know what? It was worth the wait. No prizes for guessing that it's the other Nick Cave book, And the Ass saw the Angel. Wow, it's...um... intense. Normally, no matter how trying the sunject matter and style of writing is (Lord of the Rings not included, I gave up on that one after suffering convulsions brought on by sheer exhaustion.) (I jest. Still, it was pretty trying.) Um... where was I? Oh yea. I normally stick with a book through to the end in as few sittings as I can, and devour it, intense or not. And then I go back and re-read it at my leisure, picking up on details I missed the first time around. But this? I just can't, it's too intense! I've actually had to put it aside for a few days and just breathe. I think it's also because I've had so much going on, but man-oh-man, it's very intense! It makes for awesomeness, just not of the sheer variety. It's very... opaque awesomeness.

* Catching my throat infection before it got too comfortable, and too serious. Yay for nipping it in the bud! Having a throat infection sucks, one way or another, but at least I haven’t been quarantined with a gullet resembling that of a bullfrog.

* Prepping for our Hallowe’en party! It’s gonna be SO much fun! I’m really, REALLY excited, but not as much as Mister Boo, apparently, because he’s just spending a few wads of cash here and there on random Hallowe’en stuff (like a floating skull/ghost/spooky-chain-rattling-figure – AWESOME), and plotting and planning where everything’s gonna go. It’s gonna be a killer party. (See what I did there? Haha) I’ll post photos of all the bits and pieces we’ve made and bough and done to bring it all together. I have high hopes of a fucking good time being had.

* Going to get my hair done tomorrow!

Ok, so technically the last two should really only make it onto next week’s list, but the anticipation is so intense, and I’m just so bouncy about them, that they’ll make a guest appearance this week too.

I leave you with this, via Snippet and Ink, which Dinee sent me. It pretty much sums up the mood behind my costume, and how I would have themed our party if I’d woken up a bit sooner and got my ass into gear with planning. At least I can plot really well for next year! Haha

Have a fan(g)tastic Hallowe'en weekend, and don't be good. Just take pictures!

Love and Raven's wings,