The Furies

The Furies also known as Erinyes, which literally means the avengers, are three Greco-Roman mythical goddesses. They pursued and punished doers of unavenged crimes. Alecto punished those who committed moral crimes as anger, especially when used against others. She was the goddess of Anger. Megaera was the goddess of jealousy. She punished those who commited crimes as cheating and adultery. Tisiphone was the third sister and the goddess of vengeance. She punished those who have committed the crimes of murder. From these beings we have the words "furious" and "infuriated". According to The Book of Threes, "as their influence spread, the Erinnyes became the personification of the concepts of vindictiveness and retribution, and represented the psychological torments associated with a guilty conscience. Eventually their influence extended to the hearing of complaints of insolence by the young toward the old, punishing disrespect of parents by their children, as well as lack of hospitality to guests by their hosts, a terrific breach of ancient etiquette." They were relentless in their pursuit and their subjects received no mercy.
Pic credit Torriano

My List Of Moans

I really, dislike it when people come over to my desk to ask me something or to chat and then continue to read my emails, check out my Facebook or just stare like an idiot at my screen, reading over my shoulder whatever documents or websites are open. Don’t they get that it’s rude? You are invading my space man! Even if I’m busy with work and it affects you – if I don’t invite you to read or look at my screen, don’t read my shit – back away dude! I might just samurai chop your neck the next time.

In any case, this made me think of other annoying things people do daily that makes me wanna run up to them, point my finger at them and say, "You are so rude MR! SO RUDE! So hence my Top 10 List of Annoyance! See this as a learning curve… Maybe some of you will recognise some things on the list that you do regularly and hopefully it will encourage you to refrain from doing so in future, thus the world will become a better place to live in. So basically, this is my bit to save the world from imploding…

1. Blocking An Exit Or An Entrance. Okay, it doesn’t take a genius to identify an exit or an entrance of a building. I don’t mind kids doing it because hey, they’re kids, but grown ass people blocking an entrance or exit to have a conversation, annoys the living daylights out of me. Especially when there’s only one entrance or exit and when it’s small and when it’s big butted people doing the blocking. I’m a big butted person myself, so I won’t go stand at an exit/entrance point because my brain realises that other people need to come in or go out there. It just doesn’t make sense.

2. Not Saying Please Or Thank You. There’s no excuse man. It doesn’t matter who you are, yes, even if you are rich or important. Basic manners 101. If you are not used to saying please or thank you, you’re just rude and freakin’ uncivilised. Full stop.

3. Ignoramus. Everyone who knows me well, knows that I absolutely hate not getting a reply on my emails or SMSes or any questions I may have asked. I just feel that if I take time out of my busy day to contact you, you can have the decency to reply even if it’s just a one-worded reply. Don’t even get me started on work-related emails. I deal with publicists on a daily basis. Publicist – a communicator - a person who communicates with others. Do you guys even know how many publicists don’t do this? The basic core of their job? They never get back to you and I for one cannot swallow this bullshit. Some other things that fall under here are, ignoring me when I talk to you! You know those people who talk your head off when they’ve got nothing to do, but as soon as you want to return the favour they are too busy to listen to you, so they either ignore you or tell you they’re busy. Omg! Wth! I hate that!

4. Making Fun Of The Weak. I just totally can’t stand it when a group of people gang up against a weaker person. Someone who can’t defend themselves. Really??? The stuff we teach our children… Because you know it goes all the way back to your childhood. “You are better that everyone else.” Bloody worse thing you can teach your kid.

5. Cutting A Queue. Everyone has been in a queue that seems to go on forever. So everyone will probably feel me on this when I say, it irritates me to madness when a person cuts the queue, like it’s the most normal thing on God’s green Earth and pretend like they don’t know what they are doing is wrong. And when you tell them, “Hey you! Get back in the queue!” They look at you like they wanna say “Whaaaat?” That really stinks! You’re not better than anyone else, so get your ass back in line, sneaky. The worst is most times they get it right! They get to cut the line, especially when they see a friend in the front, hey it doesn’t even have to be a friend, they butt in anyway. This is usually the point where I get tears in my eyes, not because of sadness, but because of anger!

6. Bad Service. Ooooh! I live close to a big mall. Many would say it is so convenient but I try to avoid that place like the freakin’ plague. I don’t know why but shop assistants, tellers, even waiters somehow think that if they work in a mall, especially this particular big mall, they can treat customers or clients like they please. Maybe it’s because they are so fed-up with rude customers, so the rest must also suffer. I can’t even count on my fingers the amount of times I have been disgusted by service I received from people working in this mall. The more expensive the store, the ruder the employees. Even shop assistants in Foschini, Edgars and Truworths (normal retail shops) walk with their noses up in the air if you ask them for assistance with make-up or shoe sizes. Even if I walk in that store with my hair in a bun and my ass in some tracksuit pants, I am a customer and you’ll treat me the very same as you would a seemingly rich person – seemingly because you never know if the customer you are helping turns out to be the owner of the store you are working in! People act like all entitled and shit. If you don’t like your job bro, get another one because it doesn’t help taking your bad attitude out on your clients/customers. At least you have a job and that is something you should be freakin’ grateful for in today’s economy. You are not doing me a favour by assisting or serving me. Don’t even get me started on banks – that’s a whole different chapter! You know in a world where everything is so very expensive, the least shops and service providers can do is to ensure that consumers are treated with respect.

7. Reading My Computer Screen Over My Shoulder. As I have mentioned, I do extremely dislike this! Doing this means, you have no respect for me and my privacy! And please don’t act surprise when I am abrupt with you afterwards because dude, you are RRRUUUUDEEE!

8. Blowing Smoke In My Face. Okay, I am not a smoker but I don’t mind if people want to light up in my flat or in my company. The people who do ask me, since I am a non-smoker, I respect. What I dislike is when I am minding my own business at the bus stop and a smoker comes to stand next to me and starts blowing billows of smoke in my face. Or if I come from somewhere, enter a building and I walk through a smoke cloud to get inside the building. Okay, I feel really sorry for smokers since they can’t smoke anywhere anymore but I think rude, inconsidered smokers did this to you guys who are good considered smokers. Because of them, all smokers apparently have become public enemy number 1.

9. Racism. Nuff said.

10. Bragging. We all tend to do it from time to time. I am guilty of it and I imagine when I allow myself to sometimes boast about an achievement, that other people get annoyed. That’s why I don’t do it often, some people are just jealous also, so screw them. However, I know you know what I’m talking about when I say there are a certain breed of people who cannot have a proper conversation with you, without talking about how much they paid for this, how much they paid for that, how much they earn, how awesome they are at everything, what expensive taste they have, what labels they just cannot live without and how everyone should adore them because they are super successful and super talented and super perfect. Look, I try to give credit where credit is due but for the love of everything that is sacred, showing off and bragging whenever you see someone you want to impress is not cool. You’re just gonna alienate people. These people are also almost always super-competitive. Don’t even think about saying something like, “Oh, yeah, we also recently got myself that gadget.” Be prepared to get an answer that sounds like this: “Oh, but mine is the upgraded model.” Whatever you do, do not entertain this person further! Just smile and move away. Far away.

I think I tolerate most of these things on the list above because like most people I don't like making a scene. But it really gets under my skin and I think if we spent more time considering the other person and respecting other people, the world would be a much more enjoyable place to live in. Last of all, I hate moaning, which I am clearly doing now, so I'm just going to stop it and return to being happy and pleasant now that all that's out of my system! Hope you do the same!

I am so over clubbing!

Okay, I’ll admit it – I was never really a club hopper. The urge would pack me once in a while and if I managed to go out clubbing two weekends in a row – it would be too much for me. But lately I have lost all interest. Nowadays dressing up with make-up that totally make me look like a hooker and skirts that are way too tight and too short, while trying to compete with girls half my age just doesn’t do it for me anymore. I don’t know, was that ever fun?

In any case, this of course does not mean that other people in my circles feel the same way and every so often I get invited to tag along on a night out to paint the town red. My ritual usually takes the whole day starting with a looong shower or bath. Getting rid of every poor hair on my body except for the ones on my head. Then I start the tedious chore of washing my long curly hair and putting it in curlers before I blow dry and iron the shit out of it. This is very important! Your mane must be properly groomed in such a manner that the humidity in the club won’t frizz it into a hot, sweaty mess. However this often happens to me and I usually leave the club looking like a clown with my make-up running down my face and my hair transformed into an afro... ... but more on that later!

After all the hard work, I take a nap, to regain my strength and so I can manage to stay awake during the early hours of the next morning when I'll still be in the club. When I wake, my hair is usually all messed up again and this means I have to straighten and blow-dry the shit out of it AGAIN. After this, I start browsing through my cupboards for the perfect outfit. I obviously have an idea of what I wanna wear and what I wanna look like but it doesn’t hurt to have a few outfits ready just in case you change your mind. After I make my choice, I start making up my face. First the foundation, then the eyes and eyebrows, then the cheekbones and lastly the lips. I put on some earrings and maybe a necklace – I don’t really like jewellery – just earrings. I slip on my dress (it’s usually a dress to show off one of my best features – my legs) and my shoes and some perfume on all the right places, check my hair once again (sometimes iron or brush the shit out of it AGAIN!) and then I’m ready to go, go, go!

It takes a lot of hard work and planning to get ready for a night out. And afterwards you look good, you feel good and you smell good – you’re ready to dance up a storm, meet new people, make a fabulous impression and just have fun – or at least that’s what I keep telling myself. Through the pain in my feet, the sweat pouring down my face, taking my make-up with it, sweaty people spilling their drinks on me, drunk people stepping on my toes, strangers grabbing my ass and freezing my buttocks off when we go outside for a breather or if my friends wanna smoke. Tying my hair back somewhere between 01:00 and 03:00 because I look like a witch and turning in a zombie between 03:00 and 04:00, wishing I was in my bed, all warm and cozy and happy. The “best” part is feeling like crap the next day recovering from your late night, the alcohol maybe still in your system trying to get out and punishing your body from the inside and doing nothing you set out to do because your body just doesn’t want to or cannot commit to do anything in it’s crappy state.

Just recently someone asked me to go out with them again. I probably would have considered if it wasn’t for the fact that it was 22:00 at night and they gave me only 10 minutes to get ready. My answer was “oh hell to the no!” Because as you know, I need a whole day to go from classy to assy… Needless to say I stayed at home, left my hair in curls, put my feet up in my favourite slippers, watched a movie under the covers, drank a cup of good, strong tea, and collapsed all happy and shit on my nice big bed. Thanks but no thanks.

It was on Camps Bay beach...

...on a warm, sunny afternoon, while my two best friends splattered each other with icy cold sea water... I was sitting on the beach watching them… … … with you...
I was giggling and chewing a chocolaty sweet and chatting away, the way I talk when I'm happy and bubbly... and then suddenly it was quiet. I couldn't hear the cars driving past. I couldn't hear the ocean waves crashing on the beach. I couldn't hear my friends' laughter. I couldn't hear anything because you were looking at me... and you were coming closer... and I could feel your breath on my face and I could smell your skin and I could see the exact colour of your eyes and then… you kissed me. I felt the pitter-patter flutter of the butterfly wings against the inside of my tummy. I felt my legs turn into jelly. I felt the warmth of your lips and my eyes closed. It was only you and me and nothing else existed. I was drifting away… I was floating in the sky… I was melting… And when you stopped, I opened my eyes and they were teary and blurry. The sea breeze blew softly against my face and you looked at me and smiled... and I smiled back and that was exactly when our story began... Spring 2002.

Dear blog...

Dear blog

I haven't forgotten about you. I still think about you sometimes. I just have been so busy at work and stuff and... I guess I neglected you on purpose because you see dear blog, I was also very busy fighting for the love of my life and I was scared writing about it, would jinx it.

It wasn't a battle I went looking for. I just found myself in the middle of a war one day, while falling in love (all over again) with someone I thought was forever lost to me. And I decided that my happiness is definitely worth fighting for. So I put a helmet on and I picked up all my weapons and I battled until I could call him mine again.

And now, dear blog, I feel like my happily-ever-after has finally begun... Begun - this is only the beginning. And I am so happy. :)

How We Use Our Brains

Interesting read:
http://www.bitrebels.com/lifestyle/how-we-use-our-brains-infographic/

We Live, We Die

Does it all depend on luck in the end? I've been so positive the past few weeks and because of that a lot of doors have opened up. But I also realised that you can loose everything in a heartbeat. An acquaintance of mine died last week. I didn’t know him well but I knew his father well and used to work with his wife. He was best friends with my cousin. I didn’t expect his death to touch me like it did. I mean the one moment, there he was – happily married, stable job, family who loved him, lots of friends, he was popular, well-known. And in a heartbeat he was gone. He was in the hospital for a week, I think – in a coma. He came out of the coma. He was sent home. Everything seemed fine and the next thing I hear, he’s dead.

Things can change so quickly. Blissfully happy the one moment and heartbroken the next. Is there anything we can do to escape this phenomena? How can we prevent this from happening to us? How can I guarantee that this won’t happen to me?

The thing is you can’t. There’s nothing you can do except appreciate and respect life. Live for the moment. Don’t fear the past or the future. LIVE your life. Be grateful. Embrace it. Roll with the punches. This connects us all. We live and we die.

I know life can be hard sometimes. You may feel like you’re living in hell. But we all have moments of happiness (how brief it may be) – savour it and draw strength from it. It balances out in the end – I believe that. In these times of good fortune, I look back and I am thankful for the times it didn’t go so well because I appreciate today so much more. I have gained more wisdom/life-experience because of it. And when hardship hits me again, I’ll be strong enough to look it straight in the eye and get through it.