Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category

“Oh, how I love thee… let me count the ways…”

I know it seems somewhat melodramatic, but it is the truth. My passion for books is really just that, a passion. It is something that has come to be a really big part of my life – it brings me happiness and above all, contentedness. Obviously, books are not the only thing.  I am also passionate about film, art, and the internet. A lot of people would probably give me ‘the eye’ with that statement but that is because most people do not understand everything the internet has to offer or what is possible and what is out there – especially in South Africa.

Our online community is only now beginning to grow and to understand the potential of what Online Marketing and having a user friendly and convenient Website can offer a business. There are so many resources available out there on the world wide web and most of it is open source – which means that in this generation, in the world we live in now,  we can learn anything, do anything and be anything we want to be. There has never been an age of more possibility than right now.

The internet is not a very likely thing to be passionate about and maybe it is difficult to understand, but yes, I am passionate about the internet.

Now you can imagine my elation when I logged on to Twitter last week Friday and discovered that Exclusive Books has a job opportunity that incorporates both of the things that I love, both of the things that get my blood pumping. (I sound like a complete nerd right now… but hey; there is no better time to be completely honest.)

My blog, this blog, has sort of become my way of doing what I love. I read books and watch movies, I research them and then I write a review – not a formal sort of review but the blog kind. It sort of grew into that, as it was not my intention, but I love books and movies and that is what my blog relates to anyone who reads it.

What I am trying to accomplish with this letter is to tell you how much this job was made for me and how suited I would be for the position. I don’t think there is anything that can match passion and interest. Those two things are what build empires and what sparks ideas and success. Although those are not the only things I have to offer.

I have also got experience with product loading and working behind the scenes of a website. I have a basic understanding of HTML and CSS, and I know how to find information that would allow me to solve almost any problem out there.

With all of that, I also have sales and administrative experience. I am currently employed as a Sales and Marketing Assistant.

I hope that this letter has done its purpose in explaining why I would be an excellent addition to Exclusive Books, and even more so, to the Website side of things. I have explored exclus1ves.co.za (on numerous occasions) and I definitely think that there is a lot that I can offer and I hope that through this and through my formal application, I have shown you that.

With Ample Hope and Warm Regards,

Weeball

Yesterday I was lucky enough to get my hands on a pair of tickets to go and watch Jesse Clegg live at The Fringe Theatre in Johannesburg. Now, I will be honest, I have always liked Jesse Clegg (probably because he is Johnny Clegg’s son) but when my brother-in-law gave me the tickets I couldn’t for the life of me remember what songs he sang. I just knew that he sang my kind of music and I am an alternative rock girl after all.

It wasn’t a big deal anyway, I mean who passes up the opportunity to watch a band live, and in such an intimate setting? Yeah, no one is that stupid.

So after a complicated effort with Mr Perfect and his rugby, I decided that my good friend, Ducky, would be the best one to take as my ‘date’. Anyway, so off we went to the theatre and what a surprise.

We were lucky enough to have front row seats and I am not even lying when I say that we were practically on the stage. It was awesome. As soon as we were seated in the nice and toasty theatre, I could already tell that it was definitely my type of thing.

At that point I still had no idea what to expect because Ducky also couldn’t remember any songs off hand, but as soon as the band came out and started playing I realized that I knew a lot more songs than I thought. I mean, I have been singing along to Jesse Clegg songs in traffic for quite a while and I had no clue.

The band was amazing and the performance was incredibly intimate – it almost had the feeling that you were a part of his inner circle, watching his performance for the first time. Although, it sounded nothing like a first time performance.

The guitarist’s solos were fantastic – and really entertaining to watch. The bassist’s beats and her natural rhythm, were strangely inspiring. The drummer was cute and fierce, and also really fun to watch. (Did I mention cute? Though I am not sure whether drummers would appreciate being called cute….). The keyboard player was just too cool. He just sat bobbing, looking completely chilled and filling every stereotype you could come up with. And then of course, there’s Jesse. He was great. His voice is soft, sensual, and rough at all the right places. You can see his musicality through all part os his performance. I mean, even while he is singing and stops actually strumming, his fingers are still playing the different strings.

It really was a great experience and I would definitely suggest that you go get yourself some tickets (if there are any available). He is only on until Sunday (20 June 2010). You can get them from Computicket, here.

If you want to know more about Jesse Clegg, you can visit his official site here.

Oh and here’s a video of “Heartbreak Street” in case, like me, you don’t really know who I am talking about.

Today is one of those down days where it takes an insurmountable amount of effort to stay positive. I think it was brought on by the terrible loss last night, although I have managed to keep the positivity flowing in terms of that – there is still hope after all.

But at the moment I am just feeling down about the way things are in my life – as melodramatic as that sounds. I feel as though there is just no excitement in it. I know that I have to create my own excitement, and I really am a believer in the fact that we create our own lives and that the way we react to situations is what takes us forward or holds us back. But sometimes it is difficult to always apply that to your own life, especially when the negative thoughts and the sadness drag you down.

I have felt like this for a while, but I have been holding on to the good days. The days where everything seems perfect and I feel the gratitude and gratefulness of how things are in my life, I mean, I am lucky after all. I have a lot of things in my life that other people are not as lucky to have. But sometimes, no matter how grateful I may feel, I battle to ignore the feeling of life being ‘unfair’. I battle to look past all the people around me, the ones that are not lucky. I battle to stop wondering what makes me special that I get to have a warm bed and a great family, where they don’t even have that. I battle to look past the almost trivial things too – the things that I would feel embarrassed to mention. I know that the majority of people have a whiny teenager inside of them that sometimes comes out, but that doesn’t mean we need to admit to it or talk about in the public domain

I suppose, my biggest problem is just taking control; Pushing myself to move forward, to realize that there is so much out there, so many options and that I need to reach out and grab at them. There is so much to learn in this world, there is so much to see. I don’t want to miss anything. Then again, that might be my problem in the first place!

There is really only two rules in our book club. One, if you damage any of the books you borrow, then you have to replace them and two, you have to buy at least one new book to add to your booklist every three months. My crazy best friend is not such a crazy book reader, well not like me anyway, and she hadn’t yet bought her book so I suggested that we go any find her something new and interesting.

Have I mentioned that I am a complete book-a-holic?? I’m serious. I cannot walk into a book store without buying something. And it’s not just a normal kind of healthy addiction where I want a certain book so I buy it. No,  no matter what, my mind will just convince itself that I need a new book. I have no worries about crazy clothes shopping sprees with my credit card, but rather, that I really need to avoid all book stores when the end of the month draws near!

I am not even over exaggerating. There is even a key word that gets me every time. If I read a blurb or any reviews of a certain book and it has the word “unputdownable” written anywhere, then I simply cannot resist. It becomes pertinent to my health that I read that book.

So that is what happened with “Lonely Werewolf Girl”. I was helping my friend pick a book and came across the key word that has become my downfall, and then had to purchase it.

I won’t lie, it took me a while to actually start reading it because it wasn’t the kind of book I would usually pick. It was a complete impulse buy.

I am so glad I did, though. Martin Millar is an amazing author who managed to create an interesting and completely new fantasy world. He tells a pretty serious story in a way that is filled with humour in every corner – his writing style alone fills the pages with all kinds of humour, while the dialog is FANTASTIC and filled with sarcasm and irony. Each situation that the main character, Kalix the Werewolf Princess, puts us in has a completely humorous tone.

The story follows Kalix, who has run away from the MacRinnalch castle to escape the sentencing for attacking her father (who happens to be Thane – or King – of the Werewolves). There are a wide and hilarious array of characters that march in, out and all around her life, as she learns that she does not in fact have to be so ‘lonely’.

Each character is so well defined and so filled with twists and turns. This book is brilliantly plotted and I will definitely recommend it to everyone who is looking for something different and can appreciate the dry humour that fills the pages.

“Lonely Werewolf Girl” is truly ‘unputdownable’!

PS. If you want more information on the book or the author, you can visit his site here.

You know, I get that we have to do all these additional things for the World Cup (new stadiums, following FIFA standards, changing roads,etc.) but I really don’t think that security should be one of them. What has changed that makes it suddenly possible for our special forces to actually do their jobs? More money? A better incentive? The knowledge that the entire world will be watching?

I keep reading all these reports about the alleged Human Trafficking case in Kempton Park this morning, where they say that security has been ‘beefed up’ or their has been an ‘increased focus’, ahead of the 2010 Soccer World Cup, and I just can’t understand why the Soccer World Cup should make a difference. Why weren’t we doing this before? What are we doing differently? Are you saying that if it weren’t for the World Cup all those Thai women would not have been rescued? I don’t know about you but I’d like to know what that means exactly, because as far as I am concerned, when it comes to our country’s security and the peoples safety, we should always be at our best!

People die everyday because of completely preventable crimes (such as prostitution, child abuse and human trafficking). We don’t even hear about half of it, but all of a sudden the security for these things are ‘beefed up’! I think somebody needs to explain this to me, because I am just not getting it…

This Lolly Jackson case reminds me so much of a crime fiction novel. I can’t wait until they find the killer and we can actually understand what has happened. I mean, it’s such a strange case – celebrity business man, 15 shots and the killer calls the cops before fleeing the scene in Jackson’s Jeep? Why? What could the motive be? And why was the house locked?

I may sound a bit creepy, but to be honest this doesn’t feel very real and I didn’t know Jackson, so to me it’s just a really interesting story. He was quite the controversial man, with some people saying he was great and others saying he was terrible. I suppose it’s all about who you ask. Maybe he was both and maybe he was neither… right now that feels a bit irrelevant. I just want to know what the hell happened!

We are so used to crime in this country. Most of our headlines consist of people being killed left right and centre – it’s been a while since it’s been an “actual” murder, as such, and not just a robbery or some kind of crazy prejudice. Eugene Terreblanche’s murder was a big one, but that didn’t feel so ‘crime fictiony’.  It was almost expected and all it did was create drama between racial, or should I say cultural, groups. This is different – this is really interesting.

Okay, I need to stop sounding somewhat excited by the drama.

I do feel terrible about the reality of it and my condolences do go out to those who loved him.

Because I am one of the many people who are tired of all the ANC Youth League’s antics, I want to voice my support of the initiative, started by Sipho Hlongwane, called ‘Speak ZA’. ‘Speak ZA’ is a social media protest against the ANC Youth League’s tactics against the media and journalists of our country.

Speak ZA

Bloggers for a free press

Last week, shocking revelations concerning the activities of ANC Youth League Spokesperson Nyiko Floyd Shivambu came to the fore. According to a letter published in various news outlets, a complaint was laid by 19 political journalists with the secretary-general of the ANC, against Shivambu. This complaint letter detailed attempts by Shivambu to leak a dossier to certain journalists, purporting to expose the money-laundering practices of Dumisane Lubisi, a journalist at City Press. The letter also detailed the intimidation that followed when these journalists refused to publish these revelations.

We condemn in the strongest possible terms the reprisals against journalists by Shivambu. His actions constitute a blatant attack on media freedom and a grave infringement on constitutional rights. It is a disturbing step towards dictatorial rule in South Africa.

We call on the ANC and the ANC Youth League to distance themselves from the actions of Shivambu. The media have, time and again, been a vital democratic safeguard by exposing the actions of individuals who have abused their positions of power for personal and political gain.

The press have played a vital role in the liberation struggle, operating under difficult and often dangerous conditions to document some of the most crucial moments in the struggle against apartheid. It is therefore distressing to note that certain people within the ruling party are willing to maliciously target journalists by invading their privacy and threatening their colleagues in a bid to silence them in their legitimate work.

We also note the breathtaking hubris displayed by Shivambu and ANC Youth League President Julius Malema in their response to the letter of complaint. Shivambu and Malema clearly have no respect for the media and the rights afforded to the media by the Constitution of South Africa. Such a response serves only to reinforce the position that the motive for leaking the so-called dossier was not a legitimate concern, but an insolent effort to intimidate and bully a journalist who had exposed embarrassing information about the youth league president.

We urge the ANC as a whole to reaffirm its commitment to media freedom and other constitutional rights we enjoy as a country.

Check out all the details here and lend your support

So Yesterday was interesting. I foolishly thought that it was going to be a fantastic day as the sun was finally rearing its head from behind the murky and very unwelcome, clouds. I drove to work merrily – all 50km’s without a single complaint – and when I finally arrived at work I was feeling ready to face the week ahead.

The day went on and I was feeling productive and content, well, that is until approximately 11h00 when the clouds over powered the sun and once again won the battle that has been going on since early January.

The rain came down in buckets… seriously, it was like a flash flood. I decided not to let it bug me that just as it was getting time for me to go home, it started raining, so I just ignored it cheerily.

At 12h00 (home time), the rain had slowed to a spit and I made my way out of the basement parking. I drove the few 100m’s to the dreaded William Nicol- Montecasino Boulevard intersection and turning left ,I was accosted by a rather deep and unpleasant puddle. I didn’t think much of it, other than the fact that it was an awful reminder of the Sun’s losing battle, until I reached the robot before the N1 highway on-ramp.

I turned into the newly opened construction lane and slowed down to stop (the robot was red, of course) only to have my car stall. Ignoring the sudden rush of blood to my face, I tried to start my car again, and you guessed it, it was dead. There wasn’t even a hint of the usual grinding-key turning sound.

Now, I don’t know if anyone has ever been stuck on William Nicol, but if you have, I am sure you will agree – It is rather scary! I am not the extremely paranoid type but I also don’t really like it when my car becomes the leaning/resting post for the hoards of men selling stuff at the robot. Especially when only the day before I saw those same men getting chased by the cops!

Anyway…  I ended up waiting just over an hour for my designated tow truck to arrive (Thank God for Roadside Assist), only to get home (after a long, awkward, drive) to find that my car is in fact, fine. It was just behaving like a cat and died of fright when it was dragged through the puddle!

I didn’t go to work today, for fear of my car dying again, but I am going to have to face it tomorrow! So let’s hold thumbs that tomorrow the Sun wins!

Well I am officially playing catch-up at the moment! The New Moon premiere last night has left me completely out of the loop this morning. I was not prepared to wake up at 4am to watch it live. I hate having such a huge time difference from the states.

Anyway, so I have another awesome thing that is happening this week… I am getting some tax back It really is one of those weeks. Although, this morning, while getting into my car to drive to work, I slammed my finger in the door (yes it was incredibly stupid) and OWWWW!!

So it got me thinking about something my sister said when she won the Amarula prize and scratched her car. She said it’s about balance and because scratching her car wasn’t as bad as getting into a car acident, she won a smaller prize to make up for it.

Now, this concept scares me slightly. If I win the trip to LA and really have the most awesome week ever, what will be coming next week to balance it out? More finger slamming? A broken bone? Scratching my car?

Seriously, that would be so uncool. I think I will have to just stay positive, push my sisters negative thoughts out and decide that life isn’t really about balance or luck… and once again stick to my belief that it is what you make it

Have a happy Tuesday everyone!!

(Tomorrow is my birthday and there are 3 more sleeps until New Moon!! Whooohoooo!! lol. I’m crazy, I know)

So yesterday Me, Ducky and Mr Perfect went to look at a place and we got a nice feel for what to expect. We we’re all excited and feeling pretty good afterwards, until Mr Perfect got home and found a summons from Virgin Active telling him that he owes them R3000.00 from a contract he canceled  3 years ago. It’s the first time he has heard anything about it.

Needless to say, he was not impressed and is now feeling like he has absolutely no luck. He said that evey time things seem to start going right in one place in his life then something goes wrong else where.

This got me thinking, do you believe in luck? I mean, In the last 9 months I have won 4 prizes (I had never won anything before that) and every one keeps calling me lucky now and saying things like, “You should play the lotto”. I don’t know… I honestly don’t believe in luck. I believe that we create our own luck so now I am trying to figure out what has changed from March until now. (Hmmm…I wonder if I can channel it).

You see, like with Mr. Perfect, while I know it is not easy, I believe he is in control. I believe that if he didn’t worry as much and if he focused on all the good and didn’t stress about money so often, his luck would change – or maybe it would just be his perception of it- either way he wouldn’t feel that he is ‘unlucky’.

I know it isn’t easy to not stress or to not worry when something bothers you but I honestly believe that taking control of our emotions is the key to happiness! I am in no way good at this (as you should see from post rants) but awareness is the first step right??

Anyway… That’s enough deep thinking for a Friday morning, I just thought I’d put the thought out there

Talking about Fridays, here’s today’s funnies,

And finally,

REVENGE IS SWEET!!!

Whoohoo for Friday!!