Friday funny

Things you can be certain of: death, taxes and nagging



It's the weeeekend, baby!

Thanks goodness. I don't think I could take another day of this week. But this weekend will be filled with good things. We're having friends for supper tonight, tomorrow we're heading to Kitty Haven for volunteer training and then we're going to see my folks so that I can make sure with my own eyes that my mother really is ok. In between I'm hoping to sleep, read and write. And hopefully that works out better than last weekend.

Have a great weekend, everyone.

Weird things I've seen on my way to work

Seeing my office is literally about 3 km from home, you'd think that there wouldn't be much to see on my way to work in the mornings. But you'd be wrong.

• A businessman in his suit, standing next to his shiny BMW and taking photos of the road. I have no clue why. Maybe he has a pothole fetish. If so, he'll be blissfully happy in Johannesburg.



• One of those huge trucks that has ramps on the back and transports a bunch of cars at once, which got stuck in the cul de sac where we live this morning. It was empty of cars, but I have idea why it came down our little dead end. And I have no idea how it will get out again. It's probably still there.



• An incredibly fat man who I see trying to jog down the road every morning, his stomach bouncing against his legs as he runs. I want to cheer him on - I think it's awesome that he's so dedicated. You go, guy!



• The granny power-walking club, all wearing their luminous yellow bibs, who weave along the main road, hips swaying and arms pumping. It's so cute!



• A bunch of guys in orange suits sweeping the exact same spot of the road every day. Either it gets really dirty overnight or they're actually secret agents scoping out the dodgy looking business across the road. These are the stories I make up to amuse myself in the bumper to bumper traffic.

Funnily enough, I never seem to see weird stuff on my way home. I guess all the nutjobs only come out in the mornings ;-)

I will NOT get sick

Woke up this morning with a slight headache, blocked nose and very sore throat. I am choosing to blame this on the cold weather because I can't be getting sick. I just flat out refuse.

In other news, forgive me please if I have been slack at reading and commenting on your blogs lately. There are multiple reasons for this. Firstly, I am seriously lacking in spare time. Secondly, my PC is a nastypants that is having a bad week and is refusing to let me open more than three internet windows / tabs at once. For someone who normally has about nine open at any given time, this is very irritating. Thirdly, I am going through a typical patch of boredom with my own blog, which means that instead of opening Blogger as I get into the office, I'm only getting around to it at midday, which leaves me little time for browsing.

But know that I still love you all. And your briliant blogs. And as soon as my life moves out of this stagnant pool of... ummm... gross stuff... I vill be back. As the governator once said.

Have a good Tuesday (is it only Tuesday?! Feels like it should be Friday). I leave you with on eof my favorite cartoons from Being Five (you may have seen this strip running at the bottom of my blog):

Is it just me...

...Or is the blogoverse very quiet lately?

Thanks for all the supportive comments on yesterday's post, btw. I love all you blogland friends so much! You rock, guys.

It has indeed been an eventful decade (there's lots I didn't put down there), but on the whole the latter part has been good. There have been rough times, but nowhere near half as rough as many people have experienced.

Yes, I had an eating disorder. So what? It's taught me a lot, as has battling with chemical depression and all that jazz. I am now in a place where I can understand those things and other related illnesses in others much better and be more empathetic. And I can appreciate food and my happy moments like I never could before.

I've been fortunate enough not to have abusive people in my life, to have a wonderful husband, family and friends, and to have a roof over my head and clothes on my back. I am now generally healthy and much more secure in my identity, and I sincerely believe that nothing is wasted in the economy of God - everything happens for a reason.

I guess what I'm trying to say is... there's nothing that special about my story and I'm not looking for sympathy. There are people in this world who are far more deserving - those who have been through tragedies that most of us could never begin to imagine.

If what has happened in my life can somehow speak to you, awesome. I've learnt that the more open about my issues I am, the less power they have over me, and I'm happy to talk about my dark times and answer any questions if it will bring light to someone else. In fact, sometimes you may just have to tell me to shut up. Yesterday's post was very selfish - it's part of my "talk it out" therapy. But it's my blog, k? Kidding.

Please understand that I'm not making light of eating disorders or mental illness. They are conditions that are misunderstood and too many sufferers have to deal with the stigma attached to them. And they are more common than you may think. Of the 80-something girls in my grade at high school, I know of 11 of us who were battling an eating disorder. Those are just the ones I know of (most of whom saw the same pathetic specialist shrink that I did).

If people take one thing away from my experiences I want it to be that it is possible to recover. It's amazing just how resilient people are, and I've watched friends from abusive homes flourish, those with serious mental disorders find happiness and balance and even seen how something as devastating as the loss of a sibling has brought perspective and renewed generosity along with the pain.

Shew... that was a much deeper post than I expected it to be. Those damn alter egos... I guess I'll have to end with something silly - the regular Friday funny. So here it is. Yay for C&H!

Of deckchairs and space invaders

Yesterday we watched Danny Deckchair. Apparently it's on Dstv at the moment too. We rented from the local DVD store and I'm so glad we did. I LOVE Australian humour (The Dish and Strictly Ballroom are two great examples), but often other people don't seem to enjoy it as much as I do. Like TSC for example. But then he likes Steven Seagal films. 'Nuff said.


Anyway... this movie was great. One of those feel-good, go-hug-the-world-now kind of flicks. And Rhys Ifans (Spike, the mad Welshman from Notting Hill) was just brilliant as Danny, the man who ties a whole whack of hydrogen balloons to his deckchair and takes off for a bit (literally). It put us both in a great mood. Watch it, people. It's awesome. But I take no responsibility if you don't enjoy it. It just means you have no taste ;-) KIDDING!


Argh... Today I'm wearing magnetic earrings. Well, I was until two minutes ago. Have you ever tried them? The little buggers hurt like hell! The pretty part (mine is a picture of a black strawberry on a sliver disc) goes in front of your ear and has a little magnet stuck to the back of it. The other little magnet part goes behind your ear, where it proceeds to press itself into your earlobe with great force, giving you sore red ears that detract from the pretty earrings and making you look like you just got caught by your old headmistress doing something very naughty. Yup... I look like I'm blushing to my ears. Althoug when I'm REALLY embarrassed, I blush right down to my elbows.


Needless to say, I will not be wearing these again anytime soon.


A classic C&H to brighten your Tuesday:

Supplements

What do you guys think of nutritional supplements? I'd be keen to know. Yesterday I did an interview with a company that makes them for a profile I have to write, and I've never been keen on the things... All those muscle-building shakes and slimming products really gross me out. I reckon they can't be good for you.



But the dude I was interviewing was telling me about the all-natural weight-loss stuff they make that suppresses your appetite because of the juice of some or other cactus (or something else that wouldn't taste very nice if you ate it), and the multivitamins they produce and so on, and I found mysef thinking, 'Ooooh... I should try that.'



Then I remembered he's in marketing. Like me (for example, the profile I need to write), he gets paid to make things sound good. Hmmm... Cactus? Maybe not.

Writer's block & Eskom

All great writers suffer from writer's block at one point or another in their illustrious careers. I am no different (aside from not being a great writer, that is). My mental wheels have temporarily stopped turning, so I am stooping to posting other people's great work on my blog. This is one of my favourite South African cartoons, Madam & Eve. The authors have been one of the few groups of people managing to make money out of the powercuts (along with those selling generators, wood-fire pizza and gas cookers). Enjoy: