Review: Water for Elephants

I don't know what took me so long to watch Water for Elephants, aside from perhaps the idea of suffering through a Robert Pattinson movie. Which is odd, because while I wasn't a giant fan of Twilight, I didn't find them as repugnant as many people. In fact, if you look hard on the Interwebs, you will find a photograph of me and Shaina preparing t-shirts for the new movie in Cheongju. I found the movies enjoyable, and I am one of those die-hard HP fans who remembers that Twilight was not Pattinson's first big role (if you can call the role of Cedric Diggory big, which I do).

And yet, it was on a Saturday night when I had nothing much else to do that I decided to finally watch it for the first time. It has been sitting there, gathering dust so to speak, waiting for me to watch for years, and it took a lack of anything better to do for me to decide that it was worth switching on. And, from minutes into the movie, I was utterly hooked.

The trailer, the beginning scenes and the general tone of the movie reminded me a lot of Big Fish, one of my favourite Tim Burtons, and though the story was very different, it didn't disappoint in the slightest. The story is of a young man in the 1930's whose life is changed forever by a tragic accident. One exam short of a vetinary degree and without a cent to his name, he wanders down a set of train tracks and decides to take a chance when he sees a train approaching in the horizon. And so, he finds himself becoming a part of the famous Benzini Bros. circus. It's the story about his time there, and the love that he finds there.

The movie is shot beautifully, giving a real sense of the Big Top and the time. The actors are great with Robert Pattinson and Reese Witherspoon pulling out all stops. And the story, well the story is beautiful and tragic, making me laugh and cry at times, but leaving me with a smile and a lasting memory.

So if you are looking for a good romantic drama, I would highly recommend watching this one. I can't recommend it enough. Just watch it!

Review: The Perks of Being a Wallflower

There are thousands of movies that come out every year, and it is amazing how many of them just seem to slip through the cracks to become forgotten and how many of them end up on the big screen only to be absolutely god-awful.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower is one of those that seems to have slipped through the cracks.

I don't know how it was that I found out about it, but I found it online in a random list, possibly on IMDB, and decided that I had to see it. Mostly because of Emma Watson, because of my dire need to see her in something that wasn't Harry Potter, to see her grown up and acting in something older, something mature, something different.

So, when I was sitting at home on a Monday night with nothing to do, I decided to give it a try. And from the first scene, I was hooked to it. Something about the main character spoke to me - the social awkwardness, the affinity with music and the deep, passionate love of writing that takes over his life and that he uses to tell his story.

Bring to him friends who are even more socially unaccepted than he is, but have found acceptance with each other, and you have the group that I spent time with in high school. Without the drugs, of course, but the basic dynamic is just about right.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a romance, it is a drama, it is a mystery and it is, at times, a comedy. It is something that melds together the music and dress sense of the early 90s to provide a testament to the time period and a beautiful story of love and coming of age.

I would highly recommend the movie to anyone who was born in the 80s and who has a love of the music from the 90s, who grew up in the 90s and anyone who found their first love in high school, unrequited or otherwise. To be perfectly honest though, I would recommend this movie to absolutely anyone because I just adored it.

Seven

Seven years ago today, I was not in a good way.

I was upset over a boy (isn't that just typical?). I was 17 with low self-esteem that had been pushed even lower by rejection. Not even face to face rejection, but pure ignoring and avoidance. I was in need of alcohol and a good friend, and that is exactly what I got.

Lana dtagged me out of my res room, dressed me up in what must have been a nice, but is now completely forgettable outfit, and together we missioned from the top of the hill down to the Old Gaol. The place was packed. Bodies crammed together in the tight space leaving a little room at the front in anticipation of a mosh pit, and I distinctly remember the telltale scent of sweat and smoke that lingered at a lot of the events in my first year. I also remember praying that the heavens wouldn't open up on us, since we were completely out in the open. At the same time, that would probably have helped cool us all down and get rid of the smell.

Lana found us an old mattress that we pushed up against the back wall. From there, we could hear the music and escape the crowds. We were quickly joined by others, most of whom Lana knew, one of whom she didn't.

"Do you mind," he asked gesturing to the space beside me.
I smiled and nodded and turned back to my conversation.
"Puffy." He held his hand out towards me, and I shook it wondering what kind of person I had just come across. Who has a nickname like Puffy anyway?
"Lara," I replied shaking the outstretched hand. The shake lingered a little. It made me smile, and he just grinned back.

To be honest, I can't recall most of what was said that night, and I don't remember much of the music either. I do remember the scent of smoke becoming too much for me to handle, considering that I was trying to stop myself from smoking at the time. I bummed one off the closest smoker to me, which just happened to be Puffy. It got us chatting. Nothing like a cigarette to really start up a conversation.

Before I knew it, we were taking over the mattress. I was young, he was cute and I was out to have fun and forget about a guy. I suppose you could say that it was rebound, but rebound involves having a relationship, which thanks to the rejection was not something that I knew anything about. We spent the night bouncing around, dancing to Breach, heading to Friar's so that I could meet one of the bouncers and coming back to the Gaol to finish back where we started. I found Lana and was about ready to go, and he asked for my number. I gave it to him without a thought, and he must have thought that I had rattled it off a little too quickly.

"You're not giving me a fake number now, are you?"
"Of course not!"
He pulled out his phone and dialed just to double check, and sure enough the phone started ringing.
"Good! Now you have no excuse."

He left it at that, and I thought that was going to be it. One night of fun and nothing more. But when my phone rang the next day, I didn't think twice about answering it.
"I want to see you."

And so it began. From "rebound" to requited, my world began to change for the better. We saw each other almost every day for the first 3 months, what with living less than 5 minutes walk apart and all. Even when he moved further away and the walk became half an hour, we were practically inseparable. And now, 7 years down the line, here we are. Having just as much fun as that first night that we met (or I am at least) and knowing that this is just the beginning.

I love you, Grant. Happy 7 year anniversary.

Life of Pi Review: Part 1: Lonliness

My experience of Life of Pi needs to be written in three parts. This is the first.

I cannot recall a single time before tonight that I have gone to a movie on my own. I can recall lying on the couch and watching movies on my own. I can recall lying in bed and watching movies on my laptop on my own. But never going to the cinema on my own. And for me, it was a bit of a daunting experience.

I came home from work this afternoon, and going to watch a movie was the last thing on my mind. But then Grant announced that he was going to be going to a braai this evening. And it's not that I wasn't invited to the braai, it was more that I was torn in two minds - part of me wanted to get out of the house, while the other part really did not feel like spending the evening making small talk with people that I had little in common with. So, for me, the braai was out. But I still didn't want to stay home, so I decided to go to a movie. I had seen that Life of Pi was showing, and I was pretty keen to see it, so I went through my list of friends remaining in Grahamstown, each of whom had other things planned or just did not feel like a movie night. Which is fair enough. But it left me in a bit of a conundrum. Do I brave the cinema on my own, or do I give up on the idea and spend the night at home.

The idea of going to a movie on my own scared me somewhat. It separates you from all of the couples, the groups of friends, the groups in general. I could picture myself walking up to the counter and booking a seat for one, only to receive blank stares from the cinema goers around me. "One," I could hear them whisper, "Is she mad?" I would walk up to the snack vendor and be sneered at as I ordered a single popcorn, just big enough for one, an individual pack of smarties (because you can't have one without the other) and a solitary cold-drink. I would enter the cinema itself and find myself alone amidst couples making out on either side of me, segregated, separated and alone.

And then I remembered... this is Grahamstown.

I pitched up at the cinema and ordered my ticket. Aside from myself, the man behind the counter, the snack vendor and the ticket taker, there were exactly three other people in the room. Once I had purchased my snacks, which were gladly given as the snack vendor doesn't see much business in this town, I made my way into the cinema, only to find myself completely and utterly alone. No couples lining the aisles. Just me, all on my lonesome. As the previews began, people starting coming in in drips and drabs, but I still had the row to myself and exactly two (platonic) people in front of me. In fact, when they took their seats they were even kind enough to ask if they were getting in my way by sitting in front of me and offered to move. I didn't let them. There being other people in the cinema made it feel more like a real movie instead of a DVD at home.

And there was no more to it. My first lone movie-going experience was completed. The movie commenced, and when it was over I climbed into my car and drove home. Far from the ordeal that I was expecting. And yet, I have a feeling that when I have the option of seeing a movie alone again, I will not take it.

While the experience was far from terrible, movies to me are a social activity. One of the best parts of the movie-going experience is to sit beside a friend or loved one and make idle chitchat while you wait for the previews to start, to discuss what you think of the up and coming movies and to make inside jokes during the movie itself, exchange knowing glances and know that you both saw the sane thing at the same time that makes you giggle a little inside.

Anywho, now that is over... the next part of the review is going to be of the Roxbury/Movie-Cine cinema itself in Grahamstown. Part 3 will cover the movie itself. Be prepared.

Review: Wreck It Ralph

I so rarely go to watch movies in Grahamstown, because the cinema here is so small and only shows 2-3 movies each week. If those movies are not ones that I enjoy, I would rather wait to watch movies that I actually want to see in the comfort of my own home. It doesn't help that Grant hates going to the cinemas either, since it usually means that if I want to watch a movie, it will have to either be with friends or on my own. But every once in a while, Movie Cine will bring in a movie that we are both dying to see, and that happened last week.

Grant and I have been waiting with bated breath to watch Wreck-It Ralph ever since we saw the trailers for the movie mid-way through last year.We are both big fans of animated movies, but this one especially appealed to us, since it was all about video games. The trailers all looked awesome, the sound track was enough to rile us up and we heard really good reviews for it when it came out in the States. So, we just needed to wait for it to come here. Which took FOREVER!! By the time it did actually come to South Africa, Grant was so excited to see it that he even agreed to come and watch it with me at the cinema.

One good thing that can be said about a small cinema is that it's really cheap compared to Ster Kinekor or Nu Metro. The tickets themselves were R15.00 each (because we went on half-price day... normally they are R30.00 each) and popcorn was only R20.00 for a large. Normally you would pay R50.00 just for the ticket, nevermind the popcorn and coke. The seating at Movie Cine is first come first sit, and we managed to find some good seats in the middle of the third row from the back without a problem. I thought that the cinema was going to be pretty dead because the movie had already been showing for a week by the time we found out about it, but there actually ended up being quite a few people there, but not enough for it to be packed and uncomfortable.

The thing that I love the most about seeing movies at a cinema is not the big screen, but actually the trailers. I am one of those weirdos who actually enjoys watching trailers and seeing what's coming out. There was also a pre-movie animated short film for Wreck-It Ralph which was called Paperboy and was really beautiful. There was no speaking throughout the short film, but it was wonderfully animated and I laughed loudly (possibly too loudly) more than once and really enjoyed it.

Once the movie itself started, I found that Wreck-It Ralph was a lot of fun. Being about video games, it brought up a whole lot of references about older games that I found really awesome, and as much as video games may be becoming outdated in favour or computer or xbox games, you didn't really get that sense too much from the movie. Sure, it was referenced to, where it was mentioned that if a game wasn't working properly they would retire it, but the arcade that the movie is based in was always full of kids, and I thought that was great and really hope that it's the case. I really enjoyed going to the arcade when I was a kid (and still do now) and hope that it's something that will stick around for a lot longer!

The animation for the movie was really good and fit very well with the arcade theme. Certain of the games were portrayed in bright, over the top colours, others in darker worlds, some in 8-bit, a lot in more detail. The storyline I also felt was great and, though Grant says that he got the twist earlier than I did, I found the twist to the movie to be a great surprise. What I also liked is that  you didn't need to know all of the game references to get the movie. I didn't know a lot of them, while Grant did, and I actually think that it made it better for me in some ways, while Grant really loved the references themselves.

Grant claims that Wreck-It Ralph is the best animated movie that he can remember seeing, while I say that it is amazing, but not the best out there. I would highly recommend it for anyone who does like animated movies though because it is great fun to watch!!

Gobii vs. Kindle

For my birthday two years back, my wonderful boyfriend got me one of the best gifts I could have asked for or imagined. He got me a Kindle. For a year and a half it was one of my most prized possessions. I would use it on a nightly basis and took it with me on all trips. Being small, compact, light and easy on battery, it was the perfect travel companion. But sadly, around 6 months ago, my Kindle met an unfortunate end.

So, for Christmas, that same wonderful boyfriend bought me a replacement. Only this time, he decided to go for a South African alternative and bought me the Gobii. So, having used the Gobii for a month, I thought that I would do a quick comparison between the two.

Let's start with the look. The two are of comparable size, but the Gobii is a little thicker and has a smaller screen. While the Kindle that I had was an older version with a keyboard, the Gobii only has 7 buttons on it - Menu, Font, Play/Pause, Back, Joystick/Select, Page Forward and Page Back. While this is convenient for keeping the Gobii's look clean and tidy, I did also find the keyboard on the Kindle very handy for search functionality, and it has been something that I've had to get used to.

The screen itself is very different on the Gobii. The wonder of the Kindle and the reason for it's energy efficiency is that it is entirely e-ink. This means that it uses very little power to change pages and uses no power at all while on a page, so the battery can last for months without needing to be charged. The Gobii is not e-ink. It is a normal screen, which can be damaging to your eyes if you stare at it for long enough, the same way as a computer screen would be. I have turned down the brightness of the screen to make it as easy on my eyes as possible, but in some ways I definitely prefer the Kindle screen. On the other hand, the Gobii can also be used for storing photographs and watching videos, which the Kindle could not do, and that is a very handy addition, particularly in terms of storing photographs as it would mean that I could bring it along to photography meetings and be able to have a portable digital portfolio that is a lot more convenient to carry than my laptop. The Gobii also has a colour display, which is more handy than the dull grey of Kindle.

Then you come to the support for each of the readers. The Kindle supported a number of formats including PDF and .mobi. The Gobii supports a smaller range of formats for books. Thankfully, I have got a program called Calibre which allows you to change the format of your books to support any ebook reading device, but it is a bit of a pain having to change the books before being able to put them onto the Gobii. Then you come to the Kalahari vs. Amazon debate. Gobii is supported by Kalahari where Kindle is supported by Amazon. Amazon definitely has a wider range of ebooks available and at a lower price, but they are all in dollars where the Kalahari alternatives are all in Rands. While Amazon has specials on ebooks often making them a lot cheaper, Kalahari offers more South African fiction and more payment options - cash payments, electronic transfers, credit card or any number of loyalty programmes such as eBucks and more.

Overall, I think that I prefer the Kindle because of the long lasting battery and the fact that after a year and a half, I got very used to using it. There were little things about it that I just preferred, like having page buttons on either side of the device where the Gobii only has them on one side, making lying on your right shoulder more uncomfortable in terms of turning pages. On the other hand, the Gobii is a good effort and has a number of features that the Kindle did not include. I am very happy with my Gobii and hope that I will get more used to it the longer I use it.

Review: Boardgames

I am a huge fan of boardgames - from Scrabble and Monopoly to Balderdash and Settlers of Catan. But we do not own very many of the newer boardgames. We have Scrabble and Boggle, Monopoly and Cluedo, 30 Seconds and Taboo. But for the most part, we rely on friends to introduce us to new boardgames and go to their houses to play them. Which is why, when we came across Outer Limits Comic Store in Johannesburg, we decided to change that by buying two new boardgames that we were completely unfamiliar with.

Let me preface this by saying that boardgames are not cheap. The two games that we ended up getting cost us a lot more than we would have liked. If it were up to us, we would buy a boardgame a month, but when they cost between R500.00 and R1000.00 at a time, it is not quite so easy. The two boardgames that we bought cost us a pretty penny, but I feel that they are well worth the money that we spent for the hours of enjoyment that we will get out of them.

The first game that we bought is Pirate's Cove, and the premise behind the game is very simple - become pirate of the year by gaining the most fame in 12 months (or turns). The game itself is absolutely beautiful - the board is a map of 7 islands, the markers are ships in 5 different colours (the maximum number of players), and each person has their own ship card and wheel to allow for upgrading and navigation. The way that the game works is that each person starts off with the same attributes on their ship - a base number for sails, crew, cannons and hulls. These numbers represent the size of your ship and how fast it goes, how strong it is and how much treasure it can hold. At the start of the game, each player can upgrade components of their ship by paying the upgrade fees. This means that you can make you ship very fast, very powerful or very large to hold as much treasure as possible according to your preferences as a player. Each player then chooses a destination on their navigation wheel and all wheels are revealed at the same time. Each location will provide fame points, money, tarot cards or treasure according to the card that is represented at that time.  These rewards are changed each round. Each location will also allow a player to either buy upgrades for a particular part of the ship, bury treasure, repair or buy tarot cards to assist you later in the game. Only one person can be at an island at the same time (with the treasure and repair islands being the exception). This means that if two or more players choose to navigate themselves towards the same island, those players have to fight it out to see who stays and who goes. Winning fights gains you fame, as do some tarot cards, and burying treasure or money. Running away from fights has the potential to lose you fame with your crew. There are also pirates sailing the seas who are already pretty famous and can either make or break the hopes of a young pirate captain.

I found Pirate's Cove to be a lot of fun to play with a small group of friends. There is a maximum of five players, which means that we can invite two people over at a time to join us (if Jono intends to play along), which makes it a nice relaxing game to play when we invite one of our couple friends over for dinner. There is an aspect of luck to the game, since fighting is done by rolling dice, and we have found that some people just don't take well to dice games and have found that there is not enough skill involved. I disagree, since there are a number of ways to gain fame that do not involve fighting, and you can build yourself up to be able to avoid fights rather than build yourself as a strong fighter. But that is just my opinion. Maybe it's because I won the game the first time I played it ;) What is really nice about it is that the game is quick. There is a maximum of 12 turns and the game can never go on longer than that, which means that you will never spend 2 hours playing it, unlike the second game that we bought.

The second game that we decided to go for is one called Arkham Horror. It is a co-operative game where players work together to try and stop a monster from destroying the world. This is done by running around the city of Arkham trying to pick up clues, kill small monsters and close gates to other worlds.Each of the characters has a different backstory and a reason for wanting to save the world, which means that there can be a roleplaying aspect to the game as well. Each turn consists of 5 stages - upkeep, movement, encounter, other world encounter and mythos. Each phase happens to all of the players at once, so everyone does upkeep, everyone moves, everyone encounters during every turn. Encounters involve picking up cards that can either be to your benefit or to your detriment. Mythos phases bring the big world destroyer one step closer to waking up, and the point of the game is to either stop him from waking up altogether or defeat him once he does wake up. The game itself consists of a lot of pieces, and the board is very big (too big to fit on any of the tables that we own, so we always end up playing on the floor. We also have to keep stopping our cat from walking over the board or trying to run away with the pieces as he is wont to do. Just to try and give an idea of what I mean by a lot of little pieces, there are stamina tokens, sanity tokens, slider tokens, monster tokens, clue tokens, gate tokens, explored tokens, closed tokes, first player tokens and those are just the ones coming to mind. Those do not include the small cards for items, the larger cards for encounters and the player and monster cards. So yeah, the board is huge, but you can tell that a lot of thought and effort has been put into the creation of the game, and it goes to show.

One of the nice things about the game is that there can be up to 8 people playing at once, meaning that for us, we can invite a whole bunch of friends over to play. The trouble is that the game is very long to play and the rules are fairly complicated. So far, we have played the game twice and only finished it once. The game is supposed to take between 2 and 4 hours to play, but the time that we finished, it took us over 7 hours in total. We came very close to winning a few times, but each time we came close, a new gate would open and we would have to destroy more monsters and close the gate. The other trouble is that there is also a fair amount of dice rolling involved - when you want to sneak past a monster, when you want to fight a monster, when you pick up encounter cards and when you try to keep some of your cards (blessings, retainers and the like), you have to roll dice according to your stats, and that can be quite painful for those who feel that they are bad at throwing dice. In my mind, there is no such thing as being bad at throwing dice - you win some and you lose some, it's bound to happen - but it can be quite frustrating, which I do understand.

Overall, I am really happy with both games, and I think they add a nice variety to our dinners and social evenings. It means that if friends come over, they have a selection of games to choose from. The games themselves are absolutely beautiful and detailed and very well built, which is why they end up costing so much to produce. I would highly recommend them to anyone who enjoys boardgames and I look forward to playing a lot more of them over the next few months!!

New Year, New Me!

With New Years resolutions flying around like wildfire, I thought that I would take this opportunity to let you know my resolutions for the year ahead.

Over the years I have had the tendency to make and break resolutions without a bat of the eyelid, but I am hoping that this year will be better, and there is one very simple reason for that. I am not going to be specific. I am not going to say that I am going to lose 10kg, or even 5kg, because as soon as I put on a gram I will decide that the resolution has been broken anyway, so might as well go nuts! And so, instead of giving myself specific goals to focus on, I am going to focus my attention on areas in my life that could do with improvement. Which areas would those be in particular?

Family
Health
Photography
Writing

During 2012, I found myself feeling very disconnected from my FAMILY. I have found that it is all too easy to become out of touch with even those who mean the most to you when you are half a country away. Grahamstown in particular is so out of the way that it is not as easy as just hopping on a plane to be with those that you love. This meant that 2012 was a year of huge regrets when it comes to my family. I missed the birth of beautiful Zach, and have yet to meet him. I missed seeing my American cousins when they were visiting and my American aunt on both occasions that she came down. I missed birthdays and anniversaries, happiness and sadness. But my biggest regret of 2012 is that I didn't get to say goodbye to my Biba, my grandfather, who has always meant so much to me. The loss of my mother's parents hit hard while I was in Korea, but the loss of Biba hit harder because I was so close, but still couldn't be with my family when it meant the most. 2013 is going to be different. I am determined to spend more time with my family over the coming year, starting with a trip up to Cape Town as soon as I can manage it (potentially March).

Weight has always been a problem for me. I bounce up and down like you wouldn't believe. I lose weight in a heartbeat and put it back on just as quickly. When I was in Korea, I lost 10kg in the period of just over a month. Upon my return, I put it back on almost as quickly. I don't want my new years resolution to revolve around weight loss or gain. Instead, I want to focus on HEALTH during 2013. In my mind, being healthy is far more important than being thin, and while I don't think that the two go hand-in-hand (being healthy for me has never meant being skinny), I do hope that improving my health will improve my weight. And physical health is not all that I am aiming for here either. I am also hoping to get over the fears that inhibit my mental health - my phobias of spiders and needles - so that I can leave a fuller, more generally healthy life and lifestyle without fear. My phobia of needles significantly affects my health in particular, as I need to go for regular blood tests and the fear is preventing me from keeping my health in check.

2012 was a great year for my PHOTOGRAPHY. I started getting regular clients and I set myself up with a studio. I realised that each month, I was getting at least one paid gig, and I even got a booking for October 2013 a year in advance. My main aim for 2013 is to keep it up and get it better and busier! More clients! I want to be able to get a steady income from my photography, and I want gear gear gear. One of the aims is going to be a 52 week project (one a day for a 365 project ended up being a bit too much for me to handle after all, so hopefully one a week will be manageable) and another will be to start putting away some money each month  to put towards new gear.

In 2011, I completed the mammoth task of finishing NaNoWriMo! It was a great feeling typing the last of the 50 000 words and knowing that I had accomplished what I had set out to do in one short month. 2012 was not a year for WRITING. I slacked on my blogs, and writing took a sidestep to make space for photography and work. This is going to be the year for writing once again. I have an idea for a story, and I really want to make it work. I do, in fact, have about 10 uncompleted ideas lined up and ready for me to work on, but I am both a procrastinator and easily distracted, which does not make for successful writing. I need to focus my time on these projects to make sure that they get done and get that sense of accomplishment back.

So bring on 2013, the year of FOCUS!!

November: Part 2

This is part two of my travels throughout the month of November. Part one can be found here.

The view of the Monument coming back into Grahamstown.

After the weekend away, coming back down to earth and back to little old Grahamstown was a bit of a shock to the system, but we managed it without a hitch, spending Sunday afternoon driving back and Sunday evening celebrating Grant’s birthday with the rest of our friends at the Rat and Parrot. We also had Monday to recuperate, having intended originally to spend an extra day in George before 1time’s closure ruined our plans. But, I will admit, I was grateful for the day spent relaxing at home rather than coming straight from travelling to returning to work. The day off was spent truly relaxing – staying in PJs and watching series, taking advantage of Tommy’s first good day and just generally arbing about.

Back to work on Tuesday for work as normal, but thankfully the rest of the week did not revolve around just work work work and no play. I got to take my camera out again on Wednesday when Kim asked me to come to the paddocks and take photos of her horse, Lightning. I have never been very comfortable around horses, having never done riding or anything along those lines. So I was a little nervous around him, but not enough to make him act up. I was surprised to find how soft and velvety he was and had a lot of fun trying to capture his friendly, excitable side. He is still young and inexperienced and really not used to being told to run, which meant that he got a bit uneasy and nervous, and we ended up having to cut the shoot short to calm him down. I had fun nonetheless and the photos that I got out of it can be found on my photography blog.

The rest of the week passed by in an uneventful fashion and Friday came quickly, which is always a relief. On Friday evening we went and picked Kath up and kidnapped her for a night of movies, popcorn and soju. We watched Brave (I finally got around to it) and made up a drinking game whereby we had to take a shot whenever a character said “Och”. After Brave came Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter which was fairly entertaining, though none of us made it all the way through it and we stopped the movie with half an hour to go. Not because it was bad, but because we were all ready to pass out. Kath and I managed to outlast Grant, which we both thought was impressive, and it was to bed with us where Kath and I stayed up chatting abit before passing out.

I was awoken at 5am by Kath, being the light sleeper that I am, and almost got up the gall to go and capture some scenes during the golden hour (I really do understand why it is called that now), but even being awake, I was too tired to bother leaving the house. Instead, I grabbed my laptop and started doing some photo editing. I was joined by Kath and her kindle before too long, and then it was time to drop Kath at home and start getting ready for the day ahead.

The day ahead on Saturday involved a trip to PE with Vicky. I needed to go and see my dad, who was bringing down some gifts that my Mom had found me overseas. For Vicky, it was a day of trying to find a harness for her kite so that she could take it out for some kite surfing. Unfortunately, we found that PE is a pretty useless place for finding kite surfing equipment, and after spending a few hours searching, we gave up and had lunch before heading to the race track to meet dad whose race was supposed to be at 3pm. Only to find that he wasn’t there. It turns out that he had given me the wrong time, and had gone back to his hotel to fetch supplies. We waited for most of an hour before he finally arrived, and it was a quick hug and leave as I had a session with Debbie planned for 6pm and, with the road still not fixed, the trip back was going to take longer than usual.

We managed to get back home by 5pm, giving me one hour to sort out the studio and get the house into some semblance of order before going to pick up Debbie and Ben. The plan was for Debbie to have a quick photo session and then for them to stay for some dinner and games thereafter. Alas, the session was not as quick as we had expected, but it was a lot more fun. Debbie came fully prepared with three outfits and was in a great mood which meant that she was very open to looking silly while I tried to find the best angles and positions, and while I got used to ordering her around. Puddims decided to join in the fun for a bit and became one of Debbie’s props, perfect considering her affinity for cats, and around an hour and a half later, Grant came in asking why we were taking so long. It turned out that in our absence, Grant had finished making dinner and had converted Ben into a sports-watching, beer-drinking guy. Debbie was thoroughly impressed. After dinner… there was more sport, because Grant is obsessed with both the soccer and the Formula One…. But after THAT there was Baulderdash. Mike and Vicky came over, and it made for a fun game of words, people, acronyms, movies and laws as Balderdash always does. With alcohol flowing and hubbly blowing, the evening turned into quite a lot of fun. Debbie's photographs can be found on my photography blog.

Sunday was almost as action packed as Grant, Jono and I prepared for the farewell braai that we would be hosting for Kath and Mangwe. We bought meat, we made salads, we cleaned the house so that it was spick and span, and we were ready for the hoards to arrive. And then we found out the Mangwe had gone to PE for the day and was likely to only arrive back late in the evening. And then Kim cancelled. And Shaun and Mel were both coming back from PE. And Danika and Tom were in Cape Town. And our hoards of people only ended up being three guests. Suddenly we found ourselves with mounds of potato salad, rolls and bread and hardly anyone to eat it. But that wasn’t going to get us down. We laughed, we chilled and we had a good time despite the small crowd.

And so, my busy few weeks came to an end. It was back to work as usual on Monday, and though even work itself was more exciting with launches and promotions popping up all over the place, it was still a small relief to find that little changes, even when your life seems to be spiralling uncontrollably (in a good way).

So, you can expect to see a ton of photos on my photography blog, and I am going to be trying my best to update my website as soon as possible (I haven’t added much since June), and in the meantime you can watch this space for more details on my exploits through what’s going on in December.

November: Part 1

If someone were to ask me to describe my last few weeks (go ahead… ASK!) the first word that comes to mind would be RIDICULOUS. And I do not mean that in a bad way. It has been ridiculously busy, but also ridiculously fun, exciting and simply breathtaking. So much so, that I do not have the breathe to explain it all in one post.

How about we start from the beginning? The first weekend of November was an incredibly busy one, but in the best way possible. The Saturday was spent taking photos for the Rhodes Chamber Choir (the people who have kept my photography going throughout the year) in my studio. I really enjoy spending time with people in my studio, so it made for a fun afternoon with lots of laughter. The photos were being taken for adverts that will be used to find new choir members next year, and they had a mugshot theme. This meant a lot of fun for the people involved, and a lot of post-production to make the white background seem a little more like a police station. You can check out the results on my photography blog.

Sunday saw more time spent with my camera as Lwando and his girlfriend, Nonkosazana, who was down from East London for the weekend. A new challenge faced me as I have never had a couple session in my studio, and found it a lot more difficult to co-ordinate while trying to stop the shadows from the lighting getting in the way. After half an hour in the studio, and around 40 photographs to work with, it was out into the sunshine as we made our way to the Botanical Gardens. It was the perfect day to walk around, and I took them to the spots that I am used to being the small bamboo jungle, the romantic pond and the river. From being hyper-aware of the camera in the beginning, the two started relaxing more, posing easier and just have fun. Have a look at the photos that came out of the session on my photography blog.

With the weekend out of the way, it was back to work for a slightly shorter week than normal. Grant’s dad and stepmom came down on Wednesday in preparation for our roadtrip on Thursday, and they came bearing many a gift. Having just moved into a new house in Johannesburg, they had a lot of extra bits and bobs that they didn’t need any more and decided to bring down to their incredibly grateful (step-)son and his girlfriend! This included an extra fridge, a gas braai and a tortoise named Tommy, Grant’s childhood pet.

The new house in Johannesburg doesn’t have a big garden (hardly any garden at all, in fact), so it was decided that Tommy would be far happier in our backyard nomming on the fruit as it falls (because we are entirely useless at picking it) and having a Puddims to play with. For the first few days, Tommy was entirely unimpressed with his new situation, hissing and spitting and threatening to chew on any hand that got near him (though for a toothless animal, his beak certainly does pack a punch). But he seems to have come around to it with the help of some tomatoes, apples, strawberries and cuttlefish. He is undergoing an entirely new diet regiment consisting of less veggies and fruit, because apparently tortoises struggle to process sugar, but more hay. Which he seems entirely unimpressed with. But we keep trying regardless!

The view of Robberg Beach in Plett.

The view of Knysna Quays.

Grant and I jetted off on Thursday, leaving Jono to look after the new addition to our family, and made our way to George for a long weekend away, stopping off in Plett for a night on the way to visit family friends and just rest considering that Grant and I only managed to leave Grahamstown close to 6pm. The Plett leg of the trip was very short and not particularly eventful, being only one night, but from there Sharon and I made our way to Knysna for the day on Friday while the boys carried on to George for their first day of golf. Knysna meant shopping and time spent by the seaside, which was greatly appreciated by me, and it was a lovely, relaxing day spent wandering from shop to shop, without buying too much to Grant’s relief.

Sunrise from one of our balconies. To the far right, you can see our lounge and further in our bedroom.

From Knysna, Sharon and I slowly made our way to the hotel in George and, oh my, what a hotel. The Hyatt Regency in George is absolutely stunning, and Grant and I were incredibly, incredibly lucky because Grant’s dad decided that, because it was Grant’s birthday weekend, we would get the bigger suite. Which just happened to be the presidential one!! The hostess seemed just as shocked as I was, but managed to keep her composure for long enough to hand me the key to the room and keep herself from gawking as Sharon and I made our way to the elevator. When I returned with Grant later in the evening though, we caught her whispering to a colleague and pointing in our direction, which we found to be hilarious rather than offensive. We were just as surprised as she was at the luxury we had been provided.

Sun setting over the Hyatt Regency.

The room itself was bigger than our entirely three bedroomed, two bathroomed house. With a lavish lounge, an office area (as part of the lounge), a dining room, a kitchen, two bathrooms, a giant bedroom and three balconies (all with amazing views, of course), we were set to never have to leave the room again. But then, there were others things to coax us out and convince us that we were still in the real world with shopping downstairs, an infinity pool, a spa and the Ernie Els designed Oubaai golf course all being part of the resort. Grant and Rob made full use of the golf course, while Sharon and I perused the shops and the local area, stopping into Heralds Bay for lunch on Saturday and sitting by the pool with the boys for the rest of the afternoon. The breakfast that the hotel provided was also phenomenal and out of this world, but unfortunately I only got to make use of the restaurant for the breakfasts. On Saturday evening I started feeling completely out of it, losing feeling in my arm and feeling disoriented and nauseous. After taking a few pills, I was out like a light and only managed to wake up for a few minutes to grab a bite of the divine grilled chicken that had been ordered from room service as part of the dinner. I got told the next morning how the meals that Grant, Rob and Sharon had ordered (also through room service) came on silver platters. The next morning, we were slow to wake and reluctant to leave, but were out of the hotel and back on the road by midday, stopping briefly to grab a token or two and some lunch on the way back to Grahamstown.

The view on the way back into Grahamstown

And thus ends part one of November thus far. Watch this space for part 2.

Goodbyes

If I had to name only one that I hate about Grahamstown, it would be an easy task. It is that people are always coming and going. Grahamstown is an inbetween town, and I have had more than my fair share of goodbyes. So, what I suppose it boils down to is hating to say goodbyes.

I had to say goodbye to all of my friends back in 2009 when I decided to leave Grahamstown, and was on the leaving end. That was ridiculously rough. I remember nights of celebrating the time that we had together, but more than anything I remember leaving the house on African Street, tears streaming down my face because I had just had to say goodbye to Grant, for what we expected to be the last time, and having to drive the 10 hours to Cape Town unable to listen to my radio because every song that came up reminded me of him.

Then I had to say goodbye to my parents and Cape Town friends as I left for Korea, though that was never intended to be a permanent move, and was not a goodbye for good. Still, the image of my mother waving goodbye to me through the crowds is not an easy one to forget.

Then, after a friend or two leaving during my time in Korea, I had to leave all of the friends that I had made behind, not knowing when I would see any of them again. The weekend before my departure, I shed more tears than I am willing to admit, but every drop was worth the friendships that had been forged. I still get a little teary eyed when I look at the last photo of Amy and I ever to be taken, a polaroid that I keep in my wallet. You can tell from both of our red eyes just how much it hurt to be saying goodbye.

And then, after all of these heartfelt goodbyes, I ended up back in little old Grahamstown where people are constantly coming and going, entering and leaving your life. And most of the time, for most of the people, it leaves no impact. But then, there are the people who make it worthwhile, who make you want to stay around, who can convince you to leave the comfort of your bed even if it is just for one drink, who are willing to stay in bed with you if you can't be convinced, who are happy to do nothing in each others company and who are always there with a kind word, even if you don't think that you need it. And tonight, I have had to say goodbye to one of those people.

So yes, I am more than a little emotional at the moment and a little resentful towards Grahamstown because without it, I wouldn't have had the chance to meet half of the awesome people that I have met in my life, but I would also be without the pain of having to say goodbye to those people while one or both of us forge our own ways in the world.

There are more goodbyes to come over the next few weeks, but I don't think any of them will pull at my heartstrings quite as much as having to say goodbye to Kath. We will always have Kenton!! 

Revisionist History

The theme for today - Go back in time to an event you think could have played out differently for you. Let alternate history have its moment: tell us what could, would or should have happened?

It was my first year, my first street party. I had one sip of my alchipop, one taste of Brutal Fruit after a week of heavy nights, and suddenly felt the world spinning at my feet. 

The music reverberates through my body and I can feel rather than hear every beat of it. People pass me in masses as I sway on the spot, unmoving. Laughter and screams of joy interrupt my thoughts, not letting them complete themselves and leaving me running in circles in my head without so much as blinking. I couldn't blink even if I wanted to, cannot control the weight that it my eyelids. I ignore the alarms going off in my brain, telling me that something is just not right and take another sip of the liquid poison. An unfamiliar hand slides along my waist and pulls me, and I follow unrelenting, unquestioning, leaning into it. And then there is nothing.

I awake, broken in every sense of the word, my throat begging for relief in the form of cool liquid, but nothing is enough to quench the thirst, nothing is enough to bring back the night that has been lost. This room is not my own.

Some Nights

I never know just how I will feel from one night to the next. My mood changes with the temperature, with the day that has passed, the day that is to come, with ever so slight alterations in my surroundings and in the attitudes of those that I spend my time with.


Some nights I lay up cashing in my bad luck
Some nights I call it a draw


What will it be? A night of joy and laughter, soft music and popcorn, or a night of grinding teeth and glaring eyes staring blankly at a computer screen without taking anything in, waiting to snap at the first person to walk in the door. Will it be a night of tap tap tapping on the keyboard, or one of clicking away at the mouse incessantly, trying to get the picture just right, just the way that I imagined it in my mind, just the way that I saw it before it got compressed into 1s and 0s. Will I lie down and sleep, or will I twist and turn, first too hot and then too cold. Will the cat be an annoyance or a welcome distraction and cuddling partner?

Some nights I wish that these lips could be a castle
Some night I wish they'd just fall off

It speaks volumes to me as I ponder how I am going to be feeling tonight, what mood I am going to be in and how it will affect those around me, from my loving boyfriend to my housemate to my pets. Because while the good nights are wonderfully, blissfully good, I know that the bad nights are horrifying and I live in a constant fear that one of these days the bad night will end and I will not know how I got to where I am, alone and bitter.

But I still wake up, I still see your ghost...

The ghost that I see is all too familiar - a ghost of my past. A ghost of a better me, of the person that I wish I could be, especially when compared to the person that I have become. A person with hopes and dreams that cannot be quelched by reality, when I stand here wondering what became of those dreams. I can remember a time when I knew what I wanted in life, when I knew what would make me happy. Today, I look at myself and do not know where to start. Each day goes on relentlessly, and I am left in a zombie-like state, living out day to day without any feeling or meaning and not knowing when it will end.

Oh Lord I'm still not sure what I stand for, oh..
What do I stand for? What do I stand for?

Most nights, I don't know anymore.

Daily Posting

It has been awhile since I last posted, but I am hoping that is about to change. See, after reading my friend Annetjie's blog for awhile, I realised that Annetjie has been getting ideas for blog posts not just from her wonderful mind, but with a little help.

And so, I have discovered a blog that I hope will give me a little inspiration. Or a lot. Depending on how it goes. I at least hope that it will inspire one post a week, starting with a post today. See below/above (not sure where the post will end up in the grand scheme of things) for my interpretation of today's theme.

In addition to using the Daily Post as an inspiration and idea-generator, I also hope to be using Worth1000's ideas a little more often on my blog. I do not often enter the contests, but I do occasionally find the subjects inspiring and, though I might not finish in the time-frame, hopefully it will mean that I can post the ideas that I have here. So this will become more of a space for creative writing, for musings and for introspection, or so I hope. 

I hope that anyone following will either join in or at least appreciate what I have to give!

Big Tick For Twing!

When Fish Tales in Grahamstown closed down without warning, I was not particularly happy. Sure, I had been complaining about the number of places for fish in Grahamstown for awhile, but why did my favourite one have to close down? But the disappointment did not last long. Before long, I realised that the loss of one of my favourite restaurants meant the possibility for a new one to take its place.

I have never really considered myself an expert in Asian cuisine. For a long time I avoided some of the more spicy aspects of it and stuck to the regular cashew chicken at pretty much all of the Chinese, Thai and Fusion restaurants that I visited. Of course, going to Korea kind of pushed me into liking both more Asian cuisine and more spicy foods, and so when I returned to Grahamstown, I found the Asian offerings a little lacking. No Chinese, no Vietnamese, no Mongolian. There was one Thai restaurant, but even my beloved Ruan Thai felt a little lacking (not to mention that I don't get to go there nearly often enough). So, when I saw that the new restaurant had reopened over the weekend, I was very keen to find out what it was that they were offering. I knew that it had been taken over by the owners of Twing, the sushi restaurant downstairs, and I had high hopes of Chinese. And, though I wasn't quite right, I wasn't let down either.

Walking up the red walled and black tiled staircase into Twing Wok was a very different experience to the boring white that had adorned Fish Aways. No glass door awaited at the top, instead you entered a wide expanse of red, black and white, all beautifully decorated and incredibly modern feeling. Elegant black metal chairs adorned tables that were scattered around the floor while a couched smoking? room stood to one side. The windows were open letting in the fresh air and the sounds of Peppergrove centre (something that may not be appealing often, but on a wonderfully cool evening after a warm day, is very welcoming). A selection of square lights and mirrors line one wall looking like a work of art and adding to the modern feel of the place. This was a different class to the regular Grahamstown restaurants.

Picking up a menu, I wasn't sure what I was going to go for. There was, of course, the sushi that could be ordered and freshly prepared downstairs, but I was more interested in some of the new items on the menu. Did I want one of their different sounding salads (words like citrus soy and edamame jumping out at me and making my mouth water)? Did I feel like noodles instead, with choices of egg, rice, udon and pad thai flavoured with Japenese, Chinese or Thai sauces? I knew for sure that I was going to be getting some of the dim sum, but which ones would I choose?

In the end I decided to go with a Wok Platter involving four different kinds of dim sum (shared with my lovely friend, Kath), all of which were divine. In fact, divine feels like too mild a description. Delectable might be more apt. There was spinach and cream cheese, chicken and ginger, and prawn and mushroom (all steamed) as well as some fried prawn ones, and I cannot tell you which of them was the best because I thought they were all amazing. Once the starter was complete, our main meals were quickly placed in front of us (no need to wait, which was lovely) and I started on my Chinese (sweet and sour) chicken with egg noodles. Which, I must say, was pretty darn good. I am not a big fan of noodles and would have preferred rice myself, but the sauce was delicious and the meal most enjoyable. Halfway through, I decided to swap with Kath and got to try her Thai beef with rice noodles, which I found to be very tasty and a little more interesting than the sweet and sour, simply because it was a new combination of flavours for me. It was spicy, it was tangy and it was a little sweet. For me it was perfect, for Kath the sweet and sour was the choice of the night. It goes to show - different strokes for different folks. But overall, I found both meals to be great and, to my surprise, quite light on the wallet at only R40.00 each (for the noodles, not the dim sum as well).

My verdict? I think I have a new favourite restaurant in Grahamstown! I can't wait to go there again and try the rest of their menu. Hopefully next time I will have my camera with me too :)

Geek!

A high school friend of mine posed a question on Facebook earlier this week:

"to all my geek friends, can magneto lift thor's hammer? think about it."

The question made me smile, as did the responses from all involved, and I went ahead and commented that I approved of the question and the answers provided and that they had brightened up my day ever so slightly. Next thing, I was getting a message from this high school friend asking me since when was I a geek.

It was a question that I was quite surprised at as I have always considered myself to be, well... not a full blown geek, but certainly at least slightly geekish. I have always liked computers, have felt more comfortable talking over IM or mIRC than talking in person and a lot of the friends that I have made over the years, even the friends that I made at varsity, were made through chat and forums and just generally online.

Sure, I was never geeky in the super smart way, nor was I very into comics, Star Wars or Star Trek. But does that exclude me from being a geek? What is it that you define as being a geek then? How limited is your perception of what a geek is? 

I know that I identify myself as a geek, and here is why: I may not be into comic books, but I am into superheroes (and particularly superhero movies... I am not good with the backgrounds, but I am very into pretty much every superhero movie that has come out over the last decade or so.) I am into certain computer games - not very many of them, because

a) my computer sucks, and
b) I am not particularly good at them.

But I do have a deep love for World of Warcraft, a feeling that I will very much enjoy Portal when I eventually get around to playing it and a fondness for online games. I have a feeling that I would love dungeons and dragons if I were ever to play it, but for the moment I do enjoy Munchkin on occasion, which is geeky in itself. And, as of this week, I am addicted to Magic the Gathering. So much so, that in a half-comatose state on Sunday evening (I was so far gone and exhausted that I couldn't remember if I had the discussion or if it was a dream when I woke up the next morning) I decided to turn our cat into a Magic card, in such a well-thought-out way that Grant ended up making the card for us. And that is what you see on the right side of this  paragraph. And if playing Magic with the kind of obsessiveness does not make you a geek, well... then... good for  you. But it certainly makes me consider myself to be one.

Oh, and you know what makes a geek more than any of the things above - fondly referring to yourself as a geek. It is something that I am proud of, and it someone were to drive by and throw it at me as an insult, I think that it  would warm my heart more than cause any profound pain. 

Movie Review: One Day

I have been wanting to watch One Day for quite awhile now, since seeing it advertised on DSTV's Box-Office. I love Anne Hathaway and enjoy most of the movies that I have seen her in, and this one was no exception.

Based on a book by David Nicholls (which I am now going to have to find) One Day is the story of two people, Emma (Anne Hathaway) and Dexter (Jim Sturgess). The two meet at university and the movie shows how each of their lives progress, dropping in on them both each year after their initial meeting. Some years they are together, some they are apart, but they are always thinking of each other in some way or another on the day. We watch them grow up, grow together, grow apart and grow wiser. We witness joys, pains and everything in between.

I thought that the storyline of the movie was very good. It was an intriguing concept to pop in each year and see how one night can change two people's leaves for the better and for the worse. I thought that the acting was brilliant on both parts and I thought that it was a wonderful movie overall. It had funny moments, mostly at the hands of Sturgess whose character was a bit of a wild child when compared to Hathaway's straight-arrow. Not that Hathaway's character doesn't face struggles of her own, but she tends to deal with them more serenely than Sturgess deals with his difficulties, which on reflection are a lot more life-altering.

I wouldn't call One Day a comedy though, despite some comedic relief on occasion. It is a romance and it is a drama, but the issues that come up throughout the movie can certainly not be called comedy. If you are looking or a good romance to watch, I would highly recommend this one, and would certainly recommend it above some of the others making the rounds at the moment including The Vow and Like Crazy (I never did review that one... perhaps a task for another time). Overall, I would give it a 5/5 because I honestly can't think of anything that I would criticise.

Review: Adventureland

Hey all

It has been awhile since I last posted, but I have spent a day in bed thanks to pain and sinuses and watched a lot of movies, so you can expect to see a lot of reviews. The first is for a movie called Adventureland starring Jesse Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart.

The story revolves around James (Jesse Eisenberg), who has just graduated from university and finds out, on his graduation day, that his plans for a trip to Europe over the summer and his plans for grad school in New York have fallen through thanks to his dad losing his job. Instead of travelling, he is forced to find a job back home where the skills he has learned from his degrees will not come in any use at all. He manages to find a job at a local carnival and, despite the lacklustre work, he makes some good friends and has some great experiences, one of which being falling in love with Em (Kristen Stewart). Of course, he has no idea what he is getting himself into, as Em is complicated and currently having an affair with a married man (Ryan Reynolds) and so James finds himself stuck in a complicated situation.

I thought that the movie was pretty good. The story line wasn't exactly thrilling and was predictable, but the acting was decent enough. Kristen Stewart surprised me a little as I was expecting something more along the lines of her role in Twilight and thought that she pulled off the character quite well. The character is still a bit of a mopey, depressed, oh woe is me type, kinda like Bella Swan, but I thought that she pulled herself off better in this movie. I haven't seen Jesse Eisenberg in anything else as yet (I am one of the few people who haven't seen The Social Network) but I thought that his acting was pretty decent as well. Ryan Reynolds was very much a sideline character and acted as one - nothing special from him in this unfortunately. I got the sense that the cinematography was very artsy, very indie and the movie reminded me of a mix between the styles of Nick and Norahs Infinite Playlist and Juno, both of which I felt pulled the style off better.

All in all, I would give Adventureland a 3/5 rating. I thought that the movie was decent enough and I do not regret watching it, but it could also have been better. The storyline was a little bit shallow and very predictable and the acting was fairly average. If you have some time on your hands and are looking for a bit of a fun, but not particularly funny, rom com, I would go for this.

Serial Watcher

I remember the days when I was addicted to books. I remember nights spent going to bed with a book and lying awake reading until my alarm started going off to get ready for school. I remember early university days spent skipping classes to read the latest novels. I remember loving reading, and dying to read practically anything and everything that I could. I look back on those days fondly, because they are no more. These days, my life has been taken over by series.

For the most part, it is not even new series that have taken over. It is rewatching series. I have been going through phases of rewatching shows from the beginning to the latest episodes to ensure that I am caught up before a new season starts. This also comes from a bit of reluctance to try new things. I am reluctant to get into a new series because I don't want to get caught up like I have been with so many others. I am reluctant to pick up a book in case I end up reading it for weeks on end trying to push through it even though my heart says no.

So, instead, I rewatch. And what have I been rewatching I hear you ask? So far I have rewatched three full series and am busy with a fourth. The first is Greys Anatomy. I got pulled into it again by my work colleagues at the point when every single person in my office was watching episodes during their lunch breaks and I started remembering how much I enjoyed the show. I even pulled Grant in for a grand total of 4 days or so, but he refused to be hooked despite the drama, and possibly because of it. And the show is full of drama. Meredith is dating McDreamy, but he is married, but his wife cheated on him with McSteamy, so she has been unknowing cheating with him, and then she knowingly cheats with him, but then she doesn't, but then he falls in love with someone else, so she realises she does love him. And if only I was exaggerating here! But, what can I say, I am a sucker for drama. I have reached the last episode of the latest season and am on the edge of my seat waiting for the series to come back next month.

Then, there is Criminal Minds. Another show that I am completely addicted to, and in this case it is less because of the drama of the main characters, mostly because that is sidelined by all other sorts of drama in the cases that they solve. For those who do not know about Criminal Minds, and I am willing to bet that there are quite a few of you since the series is not particularly popular in SA, the series revolves around the Behavioural Analysis Unit (BAU) of the FBI and their hunts for serial killers, kidnappers, murderers and all other kinds of creeps that pop up from time to time. The lives of the main characters do inform the plot a lot of the time, but the main draw (for me at least) is the analysis of the criminals, the profiling as the team likes to call it. This is a great suspense type of series and if murder mysteries are your thing, I think you will love it.

The third series that I have been going through, particularly now that the series is over entirely, is House, MD. Once again, I am less drawn to this medical series because of the drama, though in this case there is plenty of it, but because of the humour and the actual medicine involved. Once again, I like the mystery, of which there is little in Greys (though a lot of suspense, as per the last episode of last season). With Greys, you tend to know what the problem is from the start and it is just a case of whether the patients live or die while the doctors quibble amongst themselves and deal with their own personal issues. With House it tends to be more a case of what the hell is wrong with this patient and what aspect of his personal life will provide him with the clue to crack the case wide open. The humour is less in your face and more cynical, and I love that. I also adore Hugh Laurie.

And then there is the series that I am currently rewatching, How I Met Your Mother (fondly refered to as HIMYM). I consider it to be a modern day Friends, and I was a big Friends fan back in the day. HIMYM is the story of a group of five friends all growing up and looking for love in New York. They are all in their mid-20s at the start of the first season, all just finished or finishing college, all starting to realise that they are grown ups and learning how to act that way. It makes for a show that is easy to relate to. The main premise to the story is one of the main characters, Ted, telling his two children (seen often throughout the series) how he met their mother, though I am 6 seasons in and she has yet to make an appearance (though they have hinted at her in terms of yellow umbrellas and ankle-glimpses and such). It ends up being less about how he met her and more about how his life progressed to the point that he was ready to meet her.

And what will I watch once HIMYM is up to date? Well, there are a number of shows in the running including, but not limited to, Supernatural, The OC (a favourite of mine from high school), Chuck and possibly Desperate Housewives (don't judge me!). So, while I will still try to keep reading in my spare time, you can see that I have a lot of catching up to do and I intend to do it quickly. Wish me luck!

Sheesh-a

I have never considered myself to be a smoker. That is not to say that I have never smoked in my life, but that I have never found myself to be addicted to the habit of smoking.

There was a time when I used smoking as a social tool, mostly in my first year of University. It was a good conversation starter, having a chat over a smoke. It was a good reason to hang out with the girls in res and get to know them as we sat outside the front door, sucking on our cancer sticks and reliving our weekends. Hell, I even met Grant because of smoking. Our first conversation went something along the lines of:

"Lara."
"Puffy."
"Can I bum a smoke?"

And six and a half years on, we are still going strong without the help of cigarettes. Of course, it took awhile for us to get there. Even after I "quit" smoking (ie. quit bumming smokes off girls in res), Grant carried on for a good two years and I was surrounded by second hand smoke. Which makes it even easier for me to say that I was never a smoker, because it was easy for me to "quit". I still had the occasional cigarette, and there are still times when I am tempted to ask a friend for a drag even to this day, but I am able to keep back the temptation without too much effort.

You see, while I have never been a smoker, I have a funny feeling that I could easily become one if I let myself. All it would take it giving in at a point when I am too stressed, when I am practically over the edge. All it would take is one little cigarette, one little drag, to push me. And I am trying very hard to avoid that. So instead of becoming a smoker, instead of taking a drag of a cigarette when I feel that need, I have taken to another stress-reliever. And that is hubbly.

And yes, it does sound like a bit of a contradiction, doesn't it? I don't consider myself a smoker, but I am happy to smoke hubbly. Do I think that it is any better for me? Probably not. Do I think that it is less addictive? Absolutely. You see, while smokers often smoke a number of cigarettes in a day (a pack or more for the serious ones), I smoke perhaps three hubblies in a week. And that would be a very stressful week for me to smoke that much. I can go weeks or months without smoking a hubbly, and feel in no way addicted to it. In fact, I do not think that it is the smoking itself that draws me in. It is the preparation that goes into it.

Smoking a hubbly is not a five minute affair. It is not just a case of lighting up, powering through and throwing away a stump at the end. It is a methodical procedure, from filling the vase to choosing the flavour, from poking holes in the foil to lighting the coal. Even once it is ready and the smoking has begun, it is not the smoking that draws me. It is, once again, the social nature of smoking a hubbly. It is a far more social activity than smoking ever was for me. Instead of rushing through the latest news in the span of a cigarette, you sit around, you chat, you soak in the atmosphere, you take turns, you share. Once it is over, you methodically take it apart, from letting the coal burn out to clearing out the tobacco, rinsing the vase and setting it aside for the next time.

And so, I will say it again. I do not consider myself to be a smoker. A hubbly smoker, perhaps, but I see that to be a different brand of person altogether, and a brand of person that I am happy to associate myself with.