Saturday morning, after having a few too many at the local bar Friday evening and wanting to escape the wrath of the vacuum cleaner the cleaning lady was intent on unleashing on me, I went to the local coffee café, Frangipanis, for breakfast.
It's simple, local pleasures like having a lazy breakfast, noticing the trees crowding the small gardens of the Victorian homes, watching the world go by and people doing their every day things, that are most enjoyable.
After breakfast, I needed to go to the local, family-run grocery to store get some bread and milk but was distracted by one of the many local antiques stores which had on display what I thought was the perfect bookcase. It was a display cabinet, not the elusive perfect bookcase, but upon further browsing I found a lovely retro drinks table. It was overpriced but I had to have it and managed to get a R150 discount.
Once home, I did my new, favourite thing and sat down on my lounger on the balcony with a cider, watching the going-ons of the harbour and baking in the sun.
After a nap it was time to venture further afield. It was time to leave the comfort of local and I met up with a friend and his friends from Johannesburg in Long Street. After mediocre Mexican food and cocktails I was not really in the mood for dancing but didn't want to go home. I pub/club hopped with the group but was soon overwhelmed by the crowds and smoke. After midnight I allowed my transformation into a pumpkin and headed home.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
De Kelders photos
Telling a friend about the prawn and salmon sashimi* I had last night reminded me of a photo I insisted on taking while weekending in De Kelders:
Western Cape's D9?
Why do some people think that dead animal heads make for good decor? Ernest is the wildebeest and Hans is on the right. He was named Hans because his antlers made him look german. I forget the name of the one in the middle.
How could someone kill Pumbaa?
Danger Point lighthouse
Dead bird I named the beach after
Some of De Kelders (caves) the town is named after
Sea sponge with coral
Shell carpet
*His response was "Fokken prawns"
Western Cape's D9?The rest of the photos:
Why do some people think that dead animal heads make for good decor? Ernest is the wildebeest and Hans is on the right. He was named Hans because his antlers made him look german. I forget the name of the one in the middle.
How could someone kill Pumbaa?
Danger Point lighthouse
Dead bird I named the beach after
Some of De Kelders (caves) the town is named after
Sea sponge with coral
Shell carpet*His response was "Fokken prawns"
Monday, October 5, 2009
The quiet weekend that wasn't
I had made the decision that the only way to remedy my tiredness of late was the spend the entire weekend in my bed. It was to be a quiet weekend. It didn't help that I woke up bored on Saturday. And after much yes no-ing I finally settled on no. And sent a text to WikidKnickers: I'm not going to make. Go on without me. Save yourselves. Tell my wife I love her. WikidKnickers replied: *sulks*. It was the most effective *sulk* ever. So I threw on some cloths, painted my face and set off for Fiddle East.
Fiddle East is a Balkan themed party. A smaller and more regular version of Balkanology. You can hear "a fusion of Gypsy, Serbian, Macedonian, Bulgarian and Romanian melodies". It's held at one of Cape Town's hidden gems and one of my favourite venues, The Albert Hall in my 'hood, Woodstock. While I've never made it to a Balkanology, this was my third time at a Fiddle East party. It was the best one so far. The problems of a too packed venue and a waiting time of thirty minutes at the bar were solved by opening the backyard of Albert Hall and setting up an extra bar. Vintage lamps were strung up, persian carpets hung and an abundance of cushions strewn. The energy from the DJs were infectious. And I danced my hiney off. Until my feet were begging me: No more!
Ghostly Gypsy couple
BabyAcid & WikidKnickers
The Juggler
Me and an awesome new friend
Sunday I had the same problem. I woke up bored and wanted to get out and do something. I decided that it'd be shopping. So I called up my favourite shopping partner, my mum. She was having lunch with her brother but she'd be able to go shopping after lunch. My plan was to buy some of the supplies for Rocking the Daisies, to window shop and to buy other small things. This plan was effectively ruined when I walked into the second shop and found my lounge chair had been "Priced to go" knocking R700 off the price. I had to get it. As well as a more portable lounger that I could take with to RtD. The lounger took up most of the space in the car and I fore went the rest of the shopping trip in favour lugging the rather large, rather heavy lounger home before taking my mother back and visiting family to borrow some supplies for camping (an airbed and an electronic pump).
All together a very happy weekend. I like getting what I want. I like getting it on sale even better.
Fiddle East is a Balkan themed party. A smaller and more regular version of Balkanology. You can hear "a fusion of Gypsy, Serbian, Macedonian, Bulgarian and Romanian melodies". It's held at one of Cape Town's hidden gems and one of my favourite venues, The Albert Hall in my 'hood, Woodstock. While I've never made it to a Balkanology, this was my third time at a Fiddle East party. It was the best one so far. The problems of a too packed venue and a waiting time of thirty minutes at the bar were solved by opening the backyard of Albert Hall and setting up an extra bar. Vintage lamps were strung up, persian carpets hung and an abundance of cushions strewn. The energy from the DJs were infectious. And I danced my hiney off. Until my feet were begging me: No more!
Ghostly Gypsy couple
BabyAcid & WikidKnickers
The Juggler
Me and an awesome new friendSunday I had the same problem. I woke up bored and wanted to get out and do something. I decided that it'd be shopping. So I called up my favourite shopping partner, my mum. She was having lunch with her brother but she'd be able to go shopping after lunch. My plan was to buy some of the supplies for Rocking the Daisies, to window shop and to buy other small things. This plan was effectively ruined when I walked into the second shop and found my lounge chair had been "Priced to go" knocking R700 off the price. I had to get it. As well as a more portable lounger that I could take with to RtD. The lounger took up most of the space in the car and I fore went the rest of the shopping trip in favour lugging the rather large, rather heavy lounger home before taking my mother back and visiting family to borrow some supplies for camping (an airbed and an electronic pump).
All together a very happy weekend. I like getting what I want. I like getting it on sale even better.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
I like 3s, 4s, 5s, 6s, 7s and 10s
Someone asked me to define crazy when I said that I attract crazy people. Being lazy I figured that I'd just copy the Dictionary.com definition. It's actually pretty comprehensive.
crazy
[krey-zee], -zi⋅er, -zi⋅est, noun, plural -zies.
–adjective
crazy
[krey-zee], -zi⋅er, -zi⋅est, noun, plural -zies.
zi
–adjective
| 1. | mentally deranged; demented; insane. |
| 2. | senseless; impractical; totally unsound: a crazy scheme. |
| 3. | Informal. intensely enthusiastic; passionately excited: crazy about baseball. |
| 4. | Informal. very enamored or infatuated (usually fol. by about): He was crazy about her. |
| 5. | Informal. intensely anxious or eager; impatient: I'm crazy to try those new skis. |
| 6. | Informal. unusual; bizarre; singular: She always wears a crazy hat. |
| 7. | Slang. wonderful; excellent; perfect: That's crazy, man, crazy. |
| 8. | likely to break or fall to pieces. |
| 9. | weak, infirm, or sickly. |
| 10. | having an unusual, unexpected, or random quality, behavior, result, pattern, etc.: a crazy reel that spins in either direction. |
I could deal with 1s but only if their mental illness is under control somehow and if they have a bit of 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, or 10 in them. I'm complete unwilling to deal with 2s in any way, shape or form. I could be supportive of 8s and 9s but find them taxing. 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, or 10 is just perfectly descriptive of some of the qualities I like in my crazies.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
The weekend (and Monday) that was
The weekend started on Thursday but Thursday was spent removing cat hair from all surfaces, baking, and being firmly attached to my bed. The plan was to go to Betty's Bay for the rest of the weekend but my urge to do something else and go somewhere different took over and we found ourselves in De Kelders. We was myself, Trix and boyfriend and a couchsurfer from Germany. Trix found us a comfy, albeit horrendously decorated, low cost apartment. It was the Whale Festival and accommodation was not easy to be found. And not cheap either.
De Kelders is now my new favourite seaside town. We didn't get to explore the caves since they were closed but did get to hang out at the beach. I decided to brave the chilly waters even though I was more afraid of dead bird cooties than the cold. The water was decidedly pleasant and soon the dead bird was forgotten as I floated, staring up at the blue, cloud spotted sky. The beach later became known as Dead Bird's Beach but the I think the real name is actually Stanford's Bay. Whatever. I like Dead Bird's Beach better.
Later, after a few glasses of wine, there was the salad dressing drinking incident and other hilarities. We went to bed first ensuring that all animal skin carpets were out of sight and I woke up far too late the next morning but luckily no one had finished the delicious peanut butter cheesecake I had made. After finding the caves closed and the weather turning foul we decided to head off to Hermanus. We'd spotted a few whales before heading off and saw even more in Hermanus. There were even more whales frolicking in the ocean in Hermanus. I say frolicking but they were probably having sex.
After the long drive home I once again firmly attached myself to my bed until late Sunday afternoon, missing lunch with my mother but making it in time for afternoon tea. Supper was with an old friend from university that I haven't seen in far too long.
Monday proved to be utterly miserable. It's difficult to adjust to work after a 4 day weekend. My couchsurfer had to stay an extra night and wanted to take me to the movies to make up for it. We had sushi at Sevruga and I found it difficult to move after insisting on eating the last 3 pieces of sushi.
We watched Public Enemies and I can highly recommend this movie for reasons other than perving over Johnny Depp and Christian Bale. It's a top notch crime movie. It has a stellar cast but I wasn't mad about the female lead and would much rather have had some of the actresses playing cameos to have played the lead. Some of the scenes are far too long. And the movie was shot in HD. While some scenes are beautifully shot, others -incidently the ones that could have been cut, looked like they were scenes from some horrible cheap, crime reenactment show. It's hard not to fall in love with John Dillinger and some of his lines in the movie are entirely quotable.
De Kelders is now my new favourite seaside town. We didn't get to explore the caves since they were closed but did get to hang out at the beach. I decided to brave the chilly waters even though I was more afraid of dead bird cooties than the cold. The water was decidedly pleasant and soon the dead bird was forgotten as I floated, staring up at the blue, cloud spotted sky. The beach later became known as Dead Bird's Beach but the I think the real name is actually Stanford's Bay. Whatever. I like Dead Bird's Beach better.
Later, after a few glasses of wine, there was the salad dressing drinking incident and other hilarities. We went to bed first ensuring that all animal skin carpets were out of sight and I woke up far too late the next morning but luckily no one had finished the delicious peanut butter cheesecake I had made. After finding the caves closed and the weather turning foul we decided to head off to Hermanus. We'd spotted a few whales before heading off and saw even more in Hermanus. There were even more whales frolicking in the ocean in Hermanus. I say frolicking but they were probably having sex.
After the long drive home I once again firmly attached myself to my bed until late Sunday afternoon, missing lunch with my mother but making it in time for afternoon tea. Supper was with an old friend from university that I haven't seen in far too long.
Monday proved to be utterly miserable. It's difficult to adjust to work after a 4 day weekend. My couchsurfer had to stay an extra night and wanted to take me to the movies to make up for it. We had sushi at Sevruga and I found it difficult to move after insisting on eating the last 3 pieces of sushi.
We watched Public Enemies and I can highly recommend this movie for reasons other than perving over Johnny Depp and Christian Bale. It's a top notch crime movie. It has a stellar cast but I wasn't mad about the female lead and would much rather have had some of the actresses playing cameos to have played the lead. Some of the scenes are far too long. And the movie was shot in HD. While some scenes are beautifully shot, others -incidently the ones that could have been cut, looked like they were scenes from some horrible cheap, crime reenactment show. It's hard not to fall in love with John Dillinger and some of his lines in the movie are entirely quotable.
What do you want?
Everything. Right now.
We're having too good a time today. We ain't thinking about tomorrow.
Everything. Right now.
We're having too good a time today. We ain't thinking about tomorrow.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Things falling into place
You know when nothing goes right. When you make decisions and change things and you think, hey this is all for the better, and then it turns out not to be. And it's just worse. And you think how can things still be bad? How is it that I had this idea and it was suppose to be perfect and it's very far from perfect?
It'll be three years ago in a few months that I made a decision. A resolution. I'm not big on new year's resolutions but this time I made one. It was one of those typical one. I was going to get a new job. I made this decision when it became apparent that I was not going to be promoted into a senior position anytime soon. And that no position I wanted or was qualified for at my current place of work was going to become available soon. I was impatient. And bored. My job was fine but not particularly challenging after a while.
It took me 5 and a half months to get a new job. I was ecstatic. And that's where it all started.
Things never go the way you want them to. I had a new job and a fancy new title. I would finally be earning enough money to afford my own place, and to pay for my car and student loan. My work was sending me to Slovenia within a month and a half of joining the company. But I didn't get my passport in time because government workers decided to go on strike that month. So I sat alone in the office, looking for flats, while the rest of the new employees were off having a ball on the Mediterranean coast.
Flat hunting was not fun. None of the places were what I expected. And the ones that I wanted were out of my price range. I finally settled. I had to. My mother was now going to stay with me after I finally convinced her that she's better off divorcing my father.
So we moved into a flat complex with three hundred flats. We didn't have a lot of furniture and what we had was mostly borrowed. We were broke. The neighbours were inconsiderate. The flat was too close to the train tracks. And we couldn't get rid of the cockroaches. My rats died one after the other, from old age. Then one of my dogs died too. I couldn't get along with my mother. I had a major car accident with a car rented for work. My passenger and colleague crack bones in her back, shoulder and pelvis. I had a few bruises but I was shattered. I went to Barcelona later that year. I was promoted despite the accident and had to attend a meeting as part of my new responsibilities. I was glad since the promotion meant that I wouldn't have to drive that much anymore. While I was in Barcelona the geyser back home burst and my mother was slightly electrocuted. She didn't tell me about the electrocution until I got back but I'd already put plans in place to move. I had had enough. My mother went to stay with a brother and I found a great, new place in a neighbourhood I always wanted to live in.
The neighbours were even more inconsiderate here. I was still broke. The walls might as well have been nonexistent. I could hear my neighbours watching TV, washing the dishes, flushing the toilet. I didn't need to set my alarm clock in the morning since I was woken at four every morning my the beeping trucks outside. The bedroom and bathroom got no light at all and everything got mouldy. At least there were no cockroaches. Yet. One of the pipes for the pool on the roof burst and started leaking into my flat. The paint went black with mould. The cat I had decided to give a home was proving impossible. He'd run away and it would take me hours to catch him again. He would meow at the top of his lungs to be let out and destroyed the blinds trying to escape through a window. I hated the new job I'd gotten. I was bored and my social life was unsatisfying.
I moved again at the beginning of the new year. And that's when it ended. And something else started. I again started a new job but with the same company. The one I wanted when I had started with the company two years back but thought that I would need at least five years experience to get it. Despite crashing a few cars and hating my job I guess I still did really well and people noticed. I guess that moment when the carpet repairers left the door of my new place open and Noname sat outside, just looking, not running away, was when I first knew that this was it. When I was told that I got the job I knew then that the neurotic mess I was for an entire month was just a waste of energy. Because things had already started falling into place.
And maybe things started happening before moving to my current place, without me realising what it was at the time. My mom's divorce went well and she was able to support herself and pay off her debt with the money she got from her share of the house. Our relationship improved. I wasn't as broke anymore and started doing new, different things and meeting more people.
And things aren't perfect now. And it never will be. But it's as perfect as it can be. And I'm thinking if the pride I'm feeling right now is justified. Why should I feel proud if it's just a hodge-podge of things falling apart and then falling into place? Did I really do anything to be where I am now? I did, I guess. Even if it was only weathering the storm. I kept trying even though I was just so incredibly tired.
And I still don't know if it's worth it. If it's worth going through all that shit, for so long, then having some moments of happiness before things start falling apart again. Is it inevitable that things will start falling apart again? Is it something you cause? Is there anything you can do besides just weathering the storm?
These are metaphysical, existential questions for another day. My optimism right now is not allowing me to consider such questions for more than a trifling second.
I will just be. And things will be handled when they happen.
It'll be three years ago in a few months that I made a decision. A resolution. I'm not big on new year's resolutions but this time I made one. It was one of those typical one. I was going to get a new job. I made this decision when it became apparent that I was not going to be promoted into a senior position anytime soon. And that no position I wanted or was qualified for at my current place of work was going to become available soon. I was impatient. And bored. My job was fine but not particularly challenging after a while.
It took me 5 and a half months to get a new job. I was ecstatic. And that's where it all started.
Things never go the way you want them to. I had a new job and a fancy new title. I would finally be earning enough money to afford my own place, and to pay for my car and student loan. My work was sending me to Slovenia within a month and a half of joining the company. But I didn't get my passport in time because government workers decided to go on strike that month. So I sat alone in the office, looking for flats, while the rest of the new employees were off having a ball on the Mediterranean coast.
Flat hunting was not fun. None of the places were what I expected. And the ones that I wanted were out of my price range. I finally settled. I had to. My mother was now going to stay with me after I finally convinced her that she's better off divorcing my father.
So we moved into a flat complex with three hundred flats. We didn't have a lot of furniture and what we had was mostly borrowed. We were broke. The neighbours were inconsiderate. The flat was too close to the train tracks. And we couldn't get rid of the cockroaches. My rats died one after the other, from old age. Then one of my dogs died too. I couldn't get along with my mother. I had a major car accident with a car rented for work. My passenger and colleague crack bones in her back, shoulder and pelvis. I had a few bruises but I was shattered. I went to Barcelona later that year. I was promoted despite the accident and had to attend a meeting as part of my new responsibilities. I was glad since the promotion meant that I wouldn't have to drive that much anymore. While I was in Barcelona the geyser back home burst and my mother was slightly electrocuted. She didn't tell me about the electrocution until I got back but I'd already put plans in place to move. I had had enough. My mother went to stay with a brother and I found a great, new place in a neighbourhood I always wanted to live in.
The neighbours were even more inconsiderate here. I was still broke. The walls might as well have been nonexistent. I could hear my neighbours watching TV, washing the dishes, flushing the toilet. I didn't need to set my alarm clock in the morning since I was woken at four every morning my the beeping trucks outside. The bedroom and bathroom got no light at all and everything got mouldy. At least there were no cockroaches. Yet. One of the pipes for the pool on the roof burst and started leaking into my flat. The paint went black with mould. The cat I had decided to give a home was proving impossible. He'd run away and it would take me hours to catch him again. He would meow at the top of his lungs to be let out and destroyed the blinds trying to escape through a window. I hated the new job I'd gotten. I was bored and my social life was unsatisfying.
I moved again at the beginning of the new year. And that's when it ended. And something else started. I again started a new job but with the same company. The one I wanted when I had started with the company two years back but thought that I would need at least five years experience to get it. Despite crashing a few cars and hating my job I guess I still did really well and people noticed. I guess that moment when the carpet repairers left the door of my new place open and Noname sat outside, just looking, not running away, was when I first knew that this was it. When I was told that I got the job I knew then that the neurotic mess I was for an entire month was just a waste of energy. Because things had already started falling into place.
And maybe things started happening before moving to my current place, without me realising what it was at the time. My mom's divorce went well and she was able to support herself and pay off her debt with the money she got from her share of the house. Our relationship improved. I wasn't as broke anymore and started doing new, different things and meeting more people.
And things aren't perfect now. And it never will be. But it's as perfect as it can be. And I'm thinking if the pride I'm feeling right now is justified. Why should I feel proud if it's just a hodge-podge of things falling apart and then falling into place? Did I really do anything to be where I am now? I did, I guess. Even if it was only weathering the storm. I kept trying even though I was just so incredibly tired.
And I still don't know if it's worth it. If it's worth going through all that shit, for so long, then having some moments of happiness before things start falling apart again. Is it inevitable that things will start falling apart again? Is it something you cause? Is there anything you can do besides just weathering the storm?
These are metaphysical, existential questions for another day. My optimism right now is not allowing me to consider such questions for more than a trifling second.
I will just be. And things will be handled when they happen.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
The weekend that was
Friday was a write off. I knew that from the second I stepped in my door, headed straight for bedroom and face planted on my bed. I stayed in bed, eventually moving my face and body into a more comfortable position. After reluctantly getting out of bed to attend to some business my body wasn't willing to go back to sleep. So I watched a movie, surfed the internet, and chatted to a friend who'd spent her evening much more productively at a club getting naked. Eventually I slept again.
After much uhm-ing and ah-ing about what exactly to do on Saturday after accomplishing 80 percent of my chores (removing layers of cat hair from carpets and tiles, laundry, etc.), I headed off to Stellenbosch with Trix and her boyfriend, Adam. To the last remaining indoor skate park. Adam is the skater, not Trix. En route, enjoying the warmth of the sun on my skin and winelands scenery, many a joke was made about 10 year old skaters. Upon arrival at the skate park I discovered the exactitude of our jokes. I did, however, spot three men, excluding Adam, who were capable of growing facial hair.
Adam, having already donned most of his protective gear at home, was attempting to secure his helmet to his head when I noticed that Adam was the only one sporting protective gear. Despite the sign stating that helmets are compulsory. Not even the 10 year olds were wearing so much as an elbow guard. After a few well placed sniggers, Trix and I set off for lunch.
Adam ready to take on the concrete of the skate park*
Adam the street skater mastering a ramp
It might just have been that I was starving but the pizzas were very good. After lunch we stopped at a Spar to pick some things for tea, hertzoggies and milk tart, true South African treats. We returned to the skate park to pick a somewhat bruised and battered Adam. We made another stop at a Spar closer to home to acquire ingredients for the burgers Adam were to make as soon as he'd showered all skate park sweat off him. At the Spar I spotted this:
I have no words.
Supper was the most delicious home made burgers I've ever had and I will forgive Adam his skateboarding habit just for this. I decided that we needed to watch Teeth.
It was terrible, but better than I expected. And it was HILARIOUS! I had an asthma attack from laughing so much. All the trouble getting the dvd to play (broken player and finicky Wii) was so worth it.
Overcoming the laziness from eating too much, I moseyed on home. I overslept on Sunday, missing yoga. The rest of the day was spent playing with Google SketchUp. SketchUp is a phenomenal program. So far I've made a kickass chair, following a tutorial, and a bookcase. I'm not sure if I have the skills, determination and creativity to design anything like the pieces on display in the warehouse but I'm enjoying playing and it'll serve me well to hand a carpenter a clear, simple design of the bookcase I want.
* Pictures are bad quality because Adam couldn't stand still long enough for my to adjust the camera settings.
After much uhm-ing and ah-ing about what exactly to do on Saturday after accomplishing 80 percent of my chores (removing layers of cat hair from carpets and tiles, laundry, etc.), I headed off to Stellenbosch with Trix and her boyfriend, Adam. To the last remaining indoor skate park. Adam is the skater, not Trix. En route, enjoying the warmth of the sun on my skin and winelands scenery, many a joke was made about 10 year old skaters. Upon arrival at the skate park I discovered the exactitude of our jokes. I did, however, spot three men, excluding Adam, who were capable of growing facial hair.
Adam, having already donned most of his protective gear at home, was attempting to secure his helmet to his head when I noticed that Adam was the only one sporting protective gear. Despite the sign stating that helmets are compulsory. Not even the 10 year olds were wearing so much as an elbow guard. After a few well placed sniggers, Trix and I set off for lunch.
Adam ready to take on the concrete of the skate park*
Adam the street skater mastering a rampIt might just have been that I was starving but the pizzas were very good. After lunch we stopped at a Spar to pick some things for tea, hertzoggies and milk tart, true South African treats. We returned to the skate park to pick a somewhat bruised and battered Adam. We made another stop at a Spar closer to home to acquire ingredients for the burgers Adam were to make as soon as he'd showered all skate park sweat off him. At the Spar I spotted this:
I have no words.
Supper was the most delicious home made burgers I've ever had and I will forgive Adam his skateboarding habit just for this. I decided that we needed to watch Teeth.
It was terrible, but better than I expected. And it was HILARIOUS! I had an asthma attack from laughing so much. All the trouble getting the dvd to play (broken player and finicky Wii) was so worth it.
Overcoming the laziness from eating too much, I moseyed on home. I overslept on Sunday, missing yoga. The rest of the day was spent playing with Google SketchUp. SketchUp is a phenomenal program. So far I've made a kickass chair, following a tutorial, and a bookcase. I'm not sure if I have the skills, determination and creativity to design anything like the pieces on display in the warehouse but I'm enjoying playing and it'll serve me well to hand a carpenter a clear, simple design of the bookcase I want.
* Pictures are bad quality because Adam couldn't stand still long enough for my to adjust the camera settings.
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