It’s been ten years since the beloved Princess of Wales was killed in a car crash. There are something’s in life we never forget. I remember exactly where I was when I found about the Twin Towers in New York. I remember Jeremy walking into my room saying Diana was dead on the Sunday morning. I remember walking into the lounge and seeing my mother glued to the images on screen of the crash sadly.

Everybody loved the princess. Well almost everybody. The jury’s still out on Charles, Camilla and the rest of the Royals outside of Harry and William of course.

Thanks to working in a bookstore, I’ve seen personally how many South Africans admire and loved the Princess. And rightfully so. She was an amazing woman who rose up beyond the circumstances constricting and killing her to bring hope to thousands of people across the world. Diana even in death seems to reach out to people across the globe. There just seemed to be something about her that screamed I’m a living breathing person just like you. There was nothing stiff about her.

Her brother Charles Spencer had it right when he referred to Diana as “The People’s Princess … who needed no Royal title to wield her particular brand of magic.”
Personally I think she was a beautiful woman who gave all that she had to offer. I also think it’s wonderful that William got his looks from his mother

still

I feel like I’m sitting at the edge of an abyss waiting to fall. The next few days are going to be tricky and wonderful all at the same time. There’s the beautiful smell of spring in the air and every where everything seems to be coming to life. Just like the years I think our lives go in seasons, maybe not in the correct sequences but seasons all the same. I personally feel that I’ve been in autumn for the last year. And it feels like spring in on its way for me and after spring comes summer are summer is always fun and wonderful.

 

I’m taking a step of faith here. To everyone who knows me I ask you to please pray for the situation I’m in right now. You don’t need to know the specifics. Just pray that everything will come together as it is meant to. If it means I stay back in autumn well then I still know there’s a plan and purpose for my life and my time is still coming.

 

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

 

Thanks to everyone who has shown their support. Hopefully soon I’ll have wonderful news for you all. And before you ask,

NO I’M NOT TRYING TO HAVE A BABY.

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People everywhere are in a dead panic.

entirely accidental

Just when it seems that there is nothing noteworthy for me to say due to the whirlwind that is currently dominating my time, I arrive at a very strange place.

 

Those of you who have known me for a long time are aware of my distaste for the colour PINK. This is of course in part due to my mothers attempts to ensure that I lived in girl world. Everything I had was pink, my bedding, the walls in my room, my clothes. It felt like there was pink everywhere.

For the longest time I ran screaming in the other direction whenever faced with the colour but then I grew up I guess and realised that wearing pink sometimes does have it's advantages. So i began to re-introduce the colour into my wardrobe.

 

Today entirely by accident I find myself at the gym dressed entirely in pink. Right down to my pink playboy knickers.

 

Maybe I should remove the pink again.

It’s been a long time since my last post. There is a lot going on at present. Each story is in a different stage and none have come to any sort of definite conclusion. This is why I have not been posting. It seems that there are sparks here, there and everywhere but the stories are not complete and I suppose I can’t bring myself to placing them here in the public eye for fear I might jeopardise something or the other.

 

This is just a note so you know that I’m still here and the lack of posting has more to do with the current whirlwind that I’m in rather than lack of events to talk about.  

 

After all it is me. There’s always something to talk about.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

he's what?

Is Wentworth Miller gay?

 

The press seems to think so despite the fact that Wentworth himself has denied it publicly a few times. The truth is that hundred of hopeful females around the world don’t want him to be gay. They also didn’t want Will Young to be gay. After all if he was there’s goes that chance of scoring with him somehow.

 

Apparently the agents for Thomas Dekker who plays Zach in the hit TV show Hero’s was pulled off the show for playing a gay character. There seems to be a big fascination with Hollywood and being gay. You either are and they love you or you’re not and they try force you into being one.

 

If Wentworth is gay does it really change the fact that he is really actually in fact extremely good looking? I don’t think it will change his star appeal. He’ll last till the next big thing.

You’re only a star until the next hot guy.

 

Hmm Channing Tatum. Soon he’ll be gay too.

 

And bloody hell can we take a moment and remember he’s an actor. He should be able to act straight or gay.

drat and then double drat

I’m pretty certain it’s a little too early for me to be at work but here I am anyway. Sometimes we make sacrifices without realising what the consequences are. Like today for example; I sacrificed an hour of sleep without realising that I would be sitting in my office way to early in the morning with no decent coffee or food and work to do. Because generally that it what one does at the office – work.

 

Drat and then double drat.

I just had to share

Associated Magazines' Women on Wheels supplement recently announced the winners of the inaugural motoring awards to celebrate the best cars built for women, as decided by women. Category winners were Toyota Yaris (Best Car for Women under R100 000); Honda Jazz (Best Car for Women between R100 000 and R200 000); Volvo C30 (Best Executive Model); Volvo XC70 (Best Mum's Taxi); BMW X3 (Best SUV/MPV); Porsche Cayenne V6 (Best 4x4); and Chevrolet Spark (Nedbank Best Value for Money Car of the Year).

source

for Jackie ... a post.

It’s been a long weekend and I am in desperate need of a quiet place and a good book. My office is cold … again and the job search goes on as these things usually do.

The interview on Friday went not in the way I’d hoped which just goes to show: recognise your sources for what they are and always remember to place things in context. It’s very important.

 

Most of Thursday was taken up by Tim’s surprise breakfast bash, getting my car washed and preparing for Friday’s interview. Friday was interview in the morning and then I spent the rest of the day watching the most brilliant TV show in recent times. HEROS’s.

 

I’ll refrain from discussing my views and feeling on the final episode other than to say I can’t wait for the next season to be available.

To me this is bloody Buffy all over again.

 

Saturday and Sunday were mostly taken up by volunteer training for the T20 cricket world cup to be held in South Africa in September this year. Training is a boring but necessary evil. Thankfully it was interspersed by a lovely stay over at Reservoir Hills.  It has been a long time since I stayed over. I spent most of Saturday night watching One Tree Hill and do think I may have watched one of the best episodes of the series judging by the episodes before and after. Now I’m in a state. I need to know what happens to Peyton. My theory is that Brook will save the day, they’ll be friends again and all will be well with the Hill until of course the next dramatic disaster.

 

And then there was Sunday. The morning was taken up be the necessary evil. Thankfully we got to leave earlier than planed. Much of the training that was done was on customer service which was ironic seeing as how in Sunday evening I was treated to the most shocking display of customer service I have ever experienced in my life. Sunday evening was a brilliant example of really really bad customer service.

On the eve of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, South Africa is in a bit of a tailspin. The FWC is the biggest event in the world; bigger than the Olympics even. Soccer is the most popular sport in the world and we are going to be hosting the biggest event relating to it. We’re wondering if our infrastructure can survive this kind of global event. Is Eskom going to get themselves into gear? Will Telkom allow us to connect to the Internet at the same speeds as in other countries? Will there be a decent public transport system?

All these questions are more are being asked but we are forgetting one other very crucial thing.

Will the customer care in this country be up to scratch?

 

From my experience last night with the manager of Ster-Kinekor Gateway, Sunesh, I’m beginning to wonder if we’ll get our act together in time. It does not matter what a customer says or does you never, ever talk back to a customer, tell them that they are rude, say that you don’t want to speak to them and then turn your back on them and walk away WHILE THEY ARE SPEAKING TO YOU.

You also never approach the customer with your body language screaming that you don’t actually care what they have to say and are annoyed that they expect you to deal with something. It only succeeds in making them angrier.

And yes I got very very angry.

Retail is a difficult place to be but at the end of the day the customer is supposed to be the happy person. A happy customer is a customer that keeps coming back. It’s true that an unhappy customer will come back as well but that’s a lack of options more than anything else. Gateway is the most convenient for me so I go there. Visitors to our beautiful country in 2010 will have the rest of the world to choose from. They don’t have to come back here. Perhaps it’s time to also start focusing on customer relations as well. It is just as important as infrastructure. Do we want to gain a reputation as a country with shoddy customer care?

 

So now it is up to us to ensure that this problem is dealt with. So the next time you experience bad customer service say something. It’s not about getting free movies (which I didn’t btw) or your money back. It’s about ensuring that people who visit our country don’t have to add this to the list of things that desperately need work.

 

Also if you have the time, stop by and say Hi to Sunesh, hopefully he’ll be more helpful to you than he was with me.

 

 

GOOD INTENTIONS

Sometimes good intentions are self serving.

 

I experienced a case of self serving good intentions this weekend that left me rather annoyed. A very nice individual (G) decided to come and speak to me about my relationship with a person (X) connected to me. With obviously good intentions, G told me that I should make attempts to repair the relationship with X; He sprouted scripture and idioms concerning unconditional love and everything that I had heard before from a million other people. I do understand where G is coming from and I do applaud him for his efforts of the X’s behalf. But G has not idea of X has done and so all his efforts were in vain.

 

As far as X is concerned I am the epitome of polite and courteous behaviour and I do believe that no more can or should be asked of me. I understand the concepts of forgiveness and acceptance and whole heartedly embrace them as well. After all if I cannot forgive and accept, how can I expect to be forgiven and accepted?

 

But there is a line that I will not cross. Not out of defiance and rudeness but rather to protect myself and my rather fragile sensibilities where X is concerned. I will be the first to admit that I loose myself in a myriad of negative emotions far too easily. And so to protect myself and those that I do not care to burden with my unrelenting anguish, I keep my distance from X. It is an arrangement that suits everybody concerned.

 

Good intentions can be self serving. G’s good intentions served only his need to feel that he was imparting some good advice to someone who obviously needed it. I accepted what he said in a gracious manner and moved on. I do not feel guilty concerning my behaviour toward X nor do I feel that there need’s to be any adjustment in the relationship.

 

This whole incident taught me a very good lesson though; sometimes we speak without fully understanding a situation.

 

Our good intentions might not be good at all.

a new leaf

I had a life changing experience last night. One that made me run home and exercise. Last night I watched a single person eat in a single sitting the amount of food I eat across an entire day. This experience has made me change my prospective on food and the way I eat and without doubt my diet. Then I listened to the same individual catalogue the sweet food they had eaten the night before. While hearing about it I felt all the blood rushing to my head. How one person can eat all that in one sitting is beyond me.

 

My life is has been irrevocably changed.

I need to take this opportunity to thank MRS Hoover for helping me realise that I actually want to live a full productive life. So this is turning over a new leaf or whatever.

 

 

In the spirit of this change I am attempting to find the simple things in my life that I am grateful for. One thing that I am grateful for is exercise. I do believe that there a very few things that are better than steeping under a wonderfully hot shower after exercising and just letting the blissfully hot water run over you. And then the sleep that you have that night is also pretty great I think.

 

After my life changing experience last night I think I’m gonna have many more great showers after exercise.

update

In my last post I neglected to mention that I’m not on anti-biotics anymore. None of you could even begin to fathom what a please this is for my. Last night was my last night of horrible sleeping. It was horrible because I kept waking up to eat something to get the awful taste out my mouth. It’s not entirely gone yet. There’s still a bit of a lingering but I kick that in the shins by downing a mouthful of coke.

 

bad spaller

“Hi everyone. My name is Jo-Anne and I spell badly.”

“Hi Jo-Anne.”

 

 

There really should be a support group for people who love the English language and spend hours making sure that sentences are grammatically correct and then spell like really bad. It’s like Zoolander who can’t turn left. I suppose it’s because I so readily rely on the wonderful Microsoft spell to bail me out every time so I don’t bother with spelling. It really is appalling.

 

It’s Wednesday. Half way through the week which is great. I’m starving at 10:21 in the morning cos I didn’t have breakfast and I’m braving the gym again tonight. One of the best things about gym is the brilliant hot shower that you can have afterwards.

 

My beloved’s birthday is fast approaching and I’m not sure what to get him. Any ideas? Pass them on.

 

I’m still drowning in relative sorrow over HP. I feel like it’s going to be that way for a long time. I do understand that they are not real people and all that blah blah blah. But it was a part of my life for really long time. I still remember checking out Prisoner of Azkaban from the library. I couldn’t afford to buy the books and the first two were out. I took Azkaban cos I needed to know all about Harry. I can recall the days of sitting at the computer reading order of the phoenix cos my mom would have chucked out the real thing. That was very adventurous, holding my hand on the alt and tab buttons just in case she came into the room at any moment. Surreptitious behaviour was my friend. There are still two movies to look forward to and I will do so.

 

There are rumblings that JK may do another book. I for one hope not. We laboured and waited and read and panicked over seven books because we were told that’s all there were. To be hit with news of an eight I think will be a bit of a betrayal. If I had known I would not have gone through all the nail biting drama to begin with.

 

 

 

 

Finally an honourable mention to Ayanda for her lovely comments.

 

 

 

Adventure

The word adventure no longer holds the same sense that it used to. Adventure used to mean treks into the tomb of the Tutankhamen or meandering across the great African Wilds, the Australian Outback or the maybe the American Wild West. Whatever adventure meant back then, it most certainly did involve the use of tents and cooking on an open fire and all kinds of things that us city slickers would never be able to do like washing at the nearest watering hole or (GOD FORBID) not taking a bath all together.

 

Adventure has a new meaning now. One that is more suitable to our urban lifestyles and our credit cards and everything else.

 

 

I’ve just has an adventure.

 

I dropped water all over myself and there began the crazy journey to get dry clothes. It’s all fun and games really till someone loses and eye.

 

 

In other news I am finally coming to terms with the events that occurred in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. It’s been a two days at least since I finished the book and I’m coming to terms with it slowly. I think perhaps it was the drug induced state that kept me from feeling what I am now. I’m on fewer drugs now and it’s all starting to sink a bit too quickly.

 

It really is the end of an era. It’s like Buffy all over again.               

 

 

J.K. Rowling has made history with Harry Potter. She’s a brilliant writer. The manner in which she weaved everything together in this book is just amazing and mind blowing. She’s also shown herself to be an adult writer with this book. I for will not have any problems if she abandons writing for kids and writes for adults exclusively. Deathly Hallows is a dark but brilliant book.  

 

Fundamental Differences

There are fundamental differences between races and when you are involved in an interracial relationship you get to learn what they are.

 

This is what I have learned.

 

When you are sick, if you are Indian you get treated to some brilliant chicken curry with white rice and maybe some russom (sorry about the spelling, I have no idea how to spell it) if you’re lucky enough.

 

If you’re white, you get chicken noodle soup.

 

If you’re an Indian girl married to a white guy who has no idea how to make curry, you get Nando’s HOT.

 

 

 

Brilliant Monday

So I did it. I went to gym yesterday and was really disheartened by how little I managed to do. But I suppose it’s the first step that matters and all I have to do now is keep stepping. The La Lucia gym looks really good. They got all new equipment which was fun to use. I looked a bit idiotic just standing there staring at the screens but I got the hang of it and all went well afterwards.  I felt great. I felt energised and ready to take on the world.

It also seems like the Gym Muses decided to reward my efforts because when I got home I found two really nice surprises. The first was a bit of a shock really. It always is when you know you’re put something somewhere and then it isn’t there. But it was a lovely surprise and makes me life so much easier. The load on my shoulders has lightened considerably.  

The second surprise met a need that I could feel was growing. It had taken root and a tiny little bud was about to spring forth.

We are all aware of the age old debate. NIKE or ADIDAS? (For others this includes Reebok and/or Puma), well for me it was the Adidas vs. Nike. Then it’s the white or black debate. After much deliberation on Sunday I settled on white Nikes. But there was that little niggle that said I could also do with a pair of black cross trainers. You know  ... just is case. Imagine my surprise when I got home to find a pair of black Adidas. It’s great. I love it. My fashion sensibilities have been placated. White and Black trainers. Shoes that will suit whatever mood I’m in.

So I no longer have any excuses to skip out on gym. I’m taking the plunge and moving forward. My goal this week is to go to gym every day. Not really to ouch myself to the point of exhaustion but rather juts just actually get going.

 

 

It's official...

… the world has gone Harry Potter crazy. Just about everything is abuzz with news and thrills from the latest book and the movie. I must admit I’m also waiting with baited breath for the last book. I need to know once and for all what happens. Then I can continue with my life and not have to think about it ever again … well until the sixth movie that is.

 

The weekend was busy and nice. Friday got of to a good start. Got to leave work early and headed home and slept for a bit while waiting for my beloved to finish work. After picking him we headed to the video store for a DVD and then pizza. We then went home for a nice relaxing night on the couch. Then came Saturday and Saturday was awash with activity.

One of the more memorable things about Saturday was getting to see the ultrasound of my nephew. Technology is amazing. I got to see his heat beat and his tiny little feet. But to be honest, those ultrasound things make unborn babies look like little aliens, so not so cute when you put it like that. But in the end it was a really nice content moment. I’m pretty sure he’ll look all normal when he eventually pops out. I’ve never seen one of those ultra sound things before, so it was pretty cool to see my nephew that way before he was born.

After seeing my unborn nephew I headed home to get some sleep before getting dressed and heading of to Joe Cool’s. Let’s not even talk about the journey that ended with us winding up at Joe Cool’s. Just thinking about it tires me out. The last time I went there, it was this really awful dive and kept wondering what the hell I was doing there. This time I could appreciate the location and all it entailed. I had a great time.

I do know one thing though and I keep coming back to this all the time, I didn’t feel entirely comfortable there. At least not the way I feel comfortable at Burn or at Casablanca. It’s very difficult to explain and I always get apprehensive about even trying to explain it. I never really feel as I am really communicating what I’m actually feeling. Also I’m weary of explaining it because it does sometimes sounds like it comes down to a race thing and it’s really actually not.  I guess it has a lot to do with the type of people frequenting the different joints. They really are polar opposites.  I personally have always felt more accepted by the patrons of Burn and feel like I have more in common with them than the people at Joe Cools or at Casablanca. Being at Joe Cool’s I felt like I misread the invite and got my outfit wrong for the fashion parade. Again I think it comes down to perception and how we feel. Irrespective though, I had a great time. Good Friends can make the worst experiences seem better.

 

Sunday was nice and a little relaxing or it would have been if I had not been tired but functional. I went of to visit family, had some brilliant mutton breyani, got a great gift and had a nice chat. Went home and headed of to Gateway where I spent R700 on a pair of shoes. I realised that I should just do it (yeah I got a cute pair of Nike’s) after driving all the way to Reservoir Hills and forgetting to take my shoes. The gym has been calling to me and so to answer the call, I bit the bullet and bought the shoes. I will be the first to admit that I spend a lot of money on shoes. But do you have any idea how many different pairs of shoes could be bought with R700? So I despair in that regard but think my new Nike’s are pretty cool.

 

Today I am off to the gym after work. I need to get back on track with a lot of things if I want this year to be a lot more fruitful than the last one.  So the training begins now. I’ve also decided to take the next month off. I’m on hiatus at least until the next big party calls to me. This was not a decision made lightly nor was it an easy one to make but it was made for a number of very good reasons; the biggest one being the ever-mounting pile of ironing that needs to get done and the other things that I have been neglecting in favour of the very busy social life I’ve led for the last few months. Of course, the rule does not apply to invites by certain unnamed persons. (If are lucky enough to make the list, snaps for you) or to tentative plans already made.

 

I’m using this one month to try and make sure that I get back into the stage of my life where gym attendance was very mandatory or the week didn’t quite feel right. This is my biggest focus for the next month.

 

 

Wish me God Speed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

hunting wabbits

OKAY

 

So I’m back out there and I must admit … not enjoying it so much, the sending out of CV’s, the constant waiting for the phone to ring, the endless interviews. It all becomes too much at times really. The thing about jobs is that for most of them you need experience. Most times you don’t have that. It’s an interesting gamble. You need experience to get a job and you need a job to get experience. I suppose not many companies are willing to put in the grunt work so that you can then just fly off to a better pay check.

 

Well that’s life I suppose.

 

I do really hope that I am blessed with a new job really really soon. Something more suited to me.

I’m really tired and when you are tired it affects your perception (there’s that word again) of every little thing under the sun and yes it is under the sun because in theory you should be asleep during the hours of the dark.

 

Tired = bad mood.

perceptions ...

are an interesting thing. All through out history we learn that it was the perceptions of strong individuals that changed the way life happened for a few or for many. For example in England a long long time ago, a man on the street could be shipped off to uninhabited Australia for stealing some bread to feed his five starving children. The punishment clearly did not suit the crime but the perception of the strong was that the poor had no business taking anything that did not belong to them

 

In other words, I see things one way and you see them another. I have been coming face to face with that notion in my recent dealing with people which brings me back to a question I have asked in previous posts.

 

Who is right?

 

I’m tired and thinking of too much and going off on tangents.  I just need some sleep and little less complication.

 

In other news

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was as brilliant as I hoped. A few minor dis-appointments but that the way the cookie crumbles I suppose.