Assorted catch-up again

I'm feeling a bit out of it today. The headache has now been with me constantly for more than a month. I've stopped noticing it so much, except when it's particularly bad, which it was this weekend. The muscle relaxants my doc gave me helped diddly squat (ie. not at all) and so yesterday I finally got me some sleeping pills. I took one last night and although it didn't seem to help, I'm now feeling zonked. Delayed reaction?

My mom also told me to try sleeping with a mouthguard, which apparently stops you clenching your teeth in your sleep, which in turn stops stressing your neck muscles that cause the tension headache.

I duly went and purchased one, which TSC finds hilarious because I think mouthguards are the most unattractive thing in the world. It took me an hour and a half to fall asleep with that thing in my mouth. And then I woke up with it hurting me at about 2am, so I took it off. I possibly should have been less of a cheapskate and bought one of the more expensive options that looked a bit softer, but I'll give it another go tonight and see if I get used to the piece of plastic in my face. Ugh.

Other than beign dazed and confused, I'm doing fine. I think. Had a great weekend - we had a bunch of people over for a potjie and red wine tasting on Sat, which went really well. We asked everyone to bring two bottles of the same red wine. We opened the first bottle of each (after I'd wrapped them in masking tape and written just a number on each so people couldn't see the labels) and used those for a blind tasting. We then voted for our favourite number before unveling the wines. The winning wine, which we all thought was a nice aged shiraz, ended up being a cheap but glorious wine that none of us had ever heard of before (Gôiya). The wine TSC and I had picked came second (a blend called Cederburger).

We then ate lunch (TSC's DIVINE lamb potjie - yum!) and afterwards played the crazy-Santa gift-swap game with the second bottle of each wine so that each person went home with a different bottle to the one they'd bought. It was so much fun and we'll definitely do it again.

Mothers' Day was also awesome, despite a touch Grand Prix for my team (Lewis Hamilton's tyre delaminated on the second-last lap). We went to Capeesh with the parentals and it was a lovely time (although my pasta wasn't great the chocolate mousse cake made up for everything). My mom, who has the flu, seemed to ilke her presents, which is good seeing I chose the one from TSC and I and then told my dad and brother what to get her when they each phoned me from the mall on Saturday ;-)

Off for coffee with Damaria now. Chat to y'all tomorrow.

"Still?!"

One of the best lines from Slumdog Millionaire.

But I am referring here to my headache, which started last Monday and has continued without pause. And it's still here. So you'll have to excuse me if I don't continue this post. Have to find some painkillers.

Have a fab weekend, everyone. Try to behave yourselves.

Cinephile: (n) person with a passionate interest in cinema

I am now on day nine of a continuous headache. That can't be normal. Anyway, seeing the head is not working so well, here's a post that doesn't require too much brainpower. More one-line movie reviews!

Below are some movies that I think are worth watching that many people I know haven't seen or even heard of. Because I studied film, I am supposed to like all the "classics" like Pulp Fiction, Blue Velvet, The Godfather and Requiem for a Dream. I don't like any of those films. That doesn't mean I can't appreciate what they stand for, all they achieved and so on. It just means that given the choice between one of those flicks and the ones below, I'd pick the non-classics any day.

Cellular This movie never made it to the big screen in Suoth Africa, despite being a great skop, skiet en donder (Afrikaans for kick, shoot and beat up[rude]) flick that consists mainly of great car chases, hold-ups and kidnapping scenes.

Les Triplettes de Belleville This crazy French animation doesn't use many words so subtitles won't be necessary as you are taken on a mad adventure by a squint granny and her fat dog to rescue her cyclist grandson from gangsters in Belleville (which looks suspiciously like New York City).

Memento (This movie has (rightfully) gained an audience in recent years and is now more widely available, so see it if you get the chnace) A remarkable mind-job of a film that showcases the power of editing and Christopher Nolan's talent as a director (I'm betting it was this film that put him i line to direct the latest Batman movies), Memento stars the impressive Guy Pearce as a man suffering from short-term memory loss who uses notes and tattoos to remind himself of the facts in his quest to find his wife's murderer.

Danny Deckchair This loopy Australian film about a man (the awesome Rhys Ifans) who flies away when he ties too many balloons to his deckchair is a great feel-good movie that will lift your mood and make you giggle.

And here are some slightly better known movies that I would make everyone watch if I could, because they are fabulous:

Gattaca Set in the not-too-distant future, this stylish movie explores the idea of prejudice against "imperfect" people who haven't been genetically engineered with beautiful performances by Ethan Hawke, Jude Law and Uma Thurman.

Twelve Monkeys Mind-bending quirky sci-fi movie starring Bruce Willis (and Brad Pitt at his best playing a total nutjob) that actually addresses time travel properly, unlike most other attempts.

LA Confidential The great cast (Kevin Spacey, Russel Crowe, Guy Pearce, Danny DeVito, Kim Basinger and James Cromwell) made this smart script work and the tale of love, murder and betrayal set in 1950s Los Angeles is a pleasure to watch.

The Usual Suspects With Kevin Spacey, Gabriel Byrne and a truly clever plot, this movie about a gang formed in a police line-up couldn't go wrong.

Snatch The ultimate Guy Ritchie movie (better than Lock, Stock; Rock 'n Rolla or any of his other movies), this film is the perfct mix of action, humour, lunacy and amazing editing skills.

Contact I have a penchant for sci-fi movies that aren't full of aliens and really make you think, like this beautifully made Jodie Foster / Matthew McConaughey flick.

Short Circuit Sweet 1980s movie about a robot that is electrocuted and develops a mind (and personality) of its own... "Number 5 is alive!"

Casablanca (This is a classic and yet many of my friends won't watch it because it's in black and white. Silly!) Dramatic and enduring love tale set in Morocco that has inspired scenes in movies ranging from Star Wars to When Harry Met Sally (Google it if you don't believe me).

Waking Ned Hilarious movie about two old men who convince their entire town to play along with an outrageous plan when a friend dies holding the winning lottery ticket.

The Station Agent Sweet and simple movie following three new and very different friends (one of whom is a dwarf) as they get to know each other and walk the local train tracks.

And, just for kicks, has anyone seen this movie? Because it did my head in and I would love to swap notes:

eXistenZ Bizarre (!!!) movie starring Jude Law and Jennifer Jason Leigh as two gamers who hop from game world to game world followed by a shaggy dog and a gun made out of chicken bones.

Your thoughts?

My head is killing me

No, it's not the voices this time. Just an evil headache.

I worked till late last night to finish a piece I'm doing for a magazine. This publication always gives me insane deadlines. But they pay well. This time, they couldn't find the contact details for the person they wanted me to interview, so I only managed to get hold of him on the day of the original deadline. Eventually we set up an interview (4pm on Monday afternoon). He was 30 minutes late and so I only finished at about 5.30 and had to hang about on the other side of town until traffic subsided slightly. Seeing the piece goes to print on Friday, I had to get it to the interviewee today to give him approval time. That meant that I only had yesterday to write the 2100 words I was commissioned to do.

Normally that wouldn't be a problem. I write fast. But, this article is incredibly technical and I lack the specialised vocabulary to explain certain processes, so it took me ages. I was still impressed with myself for getting it done, I must admit. But, true to form, because my brain was in work mode, I could not fall asleep.

And when I eventually did nod off in the wee small hours of the morning, I had weird dreams about my editor turning into my writing course teacher and then giving me awful feedback and making me rewrite the whole article today. In between there were also some strange dreams about the work I have to review written by other students on the course, and about the megastore that plans to build on our boundary wall.

I don't think I will ever grow out of the habit of dealing with whatever is bothering my psyche through odd dreams.

Today I feel and look like a zombie. Thankfully I don't have any business meetings today. I reckon people would assume I have a serious drug habit because of my red eyes.

Off to go do my reviewing now. Hopefully it doesn't give me more nightmares tonight ;-)

Cupcakes and headaches

Last night we had yet another committee meeting last night about this 20 000 square metre store that wants to open next to us. It ended in political mud-slinging when various members began arguing about whether we should get the local DA or COPE folks involved (two South African political parties). What a headache!

I am the youngest person at these meetings but I am often tempted to stand up on my chair and tell the lot of them to grow up.

Oh well, at least we got stuff planned and accomplished. I can't make the next meeting. What a pity ;-)

When I got home I treated my headache with my usual therapy - baking. Roo had ordered cupcakes from someone, but got dropped at the last minute. I recommended her to cupcake miracle worker Angel, but because it was just so last minute with no notice, Angel couldn't fit her order in. I said I'd do it, so here are the results:

Roo seems to like them.

Feel my pain...

Congrats to Obama. I'm looking forward to seeing where things go from here.

I had my first-ever migraine yesterday. It was crap. I always thought people were exaggerating. Like, how bad can a headache be? Bad, I tell you. Reeeeeeaalllllly bad. I felt like a bee got inside my head and stung me all over my brain, which then swelled to the size of a lifeboat. I couldn't even see straight. Poor TSC was distraught - he hates it when he can't fix my problems ;-)

Thankfully it seems to have subsided and I just have a dull throbbing left over. Looking at the PC screen probably isn't helping.

At least the migraine wasn't the result of something stupid I did. Usually when I'm in pain it's because I've either tripped over something, stuck my hand on something really hot (like the iron when I was a kid. I wanted to see if it was hot. It was) or fallen down a hole / stairs / hill etc...

Sometimes it's just my pride that gets hurt, like the time I was at a larny dance / ball thing with an ex-boyfriend who was trying to convince me that we should still be together, wearing a beautiful long white lacey skirt with a train. You know what happened, right? Someone pulled his chair out onto my train as I was walking onto the dance floor and I fell flat on my ass with my feet in the air. Very dignified. You can bet I was blushing to my elbows. Well, at least the ex gave up the chase!

Then there was the time... I was at boarding school, in my cubicle. We each had a cubicle with a bed, cupboard and desk in it. The entrance was just covered with a flimsy curtain. So when you walked down the passage between the two rows of cubicles, you could often catch a glimpse of someone through the chink in the curtain. On this occasion, I had just taken a shower and was standing wrapped in my luminous green towel, looking for my hairbrush (which is always, ALWAYS escaping me, even today). I had my radio on and a catchy tune came on just as I found the brush and picked it up. So I did what any girl would do and started singing into my "microphone", shaking my ass and throwing some serious dance moves as I lip-synched along.

Little did I realise that there was an audience of about five girls watching me through the gap in my stupid curtain. If my towel had fallen off at that moment, I'm sure I would have been blushing way past my elbows!