an ode to warsaw

poland. we love you. for this is where KINDER JOY eggs are created and packaged with such loving care! i have a problem! i am addicted to them! the toy! the chocolatey goodness! the asthetically pleasing orange and white packaging! i am creating a collection of little creatures on my book shelf and if you are one of those people who bring shaks and me presents into the store - no more freshly ground cds! no more half drunk bottles of juice! no more fake roses! the way into our hearts is more simple and costs R7 a pop .... hint hint

OH MY HAT did anyone else hear that we (south africa) is not getting any more carbon (or whatever) delivered until february and that this means that we might run out of CREME SODA! over the christmas period! what an abomination! makro here i come. who drives a car with a huuuuge boot? i need to stock up. (its also stuff like coke lite and fanta ... but CREME SODA??? come on!)

3 of my 4 dogs went to the doggy parlour. they did a TERRIBLE job! the scotties look like little black pigs. seriously. i was like 'aaaaaahhhh what AAAAARE you????" when they came scuttling towards me the other day. and poor sabrina (the newfoundland). i dont know if they thought she was an overgrown poodle or something but they shaved her except for her head and she looks absolutely ridiculous! she's so embarrassed she sits in the bushes with her head inbetween her paws.

who out there has ideas for new years??!?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHAKTI! and some musings about life (turn back now!)... oh and maybe some family history thrown in for good measure

birthdays...
...
the passing of another year!

do you all have that feeling that i have right now? that 'whew this year is almost over i can now catch up on all my sleep whilst eating mince pies by the glow of flickering fairy lights?' but also think 'oh my hat where the heck has all the time gone? have i done anything this year? before you know it i will be booked into an old age home and eating soup for supper at 3 in the afternoon'

i know in the states and maybe the uk (?) the university terms and stuff only have their year end during their july summer period. here, this is our long summer holiday. so it truly feels like the end of the year. its like the calendar year is done! university is done! and once you get into postgrad, its like 'hmmmmm i am still studying and there are people out there [people I KNOW!] who are going out there and getting real jobs and doing things that matter and i will be sitting in class and complaining about writing a thesis and returning library books a week late.' so excuse me for the complaining tone... i am using it to cover up the fact that i'm a little scared. you people feeling me? and i came across some quote about how fear is a beautiful thing because it lets you achieve things by overcoming what you're afraid of. HOGWASH i say! TWADDLE! let all things be handed to us on a silver platter by a pretty british butlers called jeeves! ;)

yes, i hear you. i hear you in the back of the room standing on your chair yelling 'sarah you're speaking such NONSENSE you twit! you love the hard nuances of life, they make you the tough nut you are' yes, back of the room person (my inner conscience maybe?) i hear you. and i have to agree... life would be awfully boring if it were easy.although a few less grey hairs would be nice. tough nuts.

yes. its that time of year. where the musings are ripe. and you look back fondly on your youth ;)

my uncle steve has been embarking on finding out about our family history :
some titbits :

2 members of my family (at different times) were exiled from ireland after being labelled traitors

the one and only knight we have in our family was the gov-general of natal

there was some dude who fought for american independence called john cadwallader and now the Daughters of the American Revolution (whoever they may be) are offering me membership because of my 'historical right'

the newspaper my family created in natal (to pimp ourselves) still exists! its called the natal witness. i, somehow, have this feeling of indignation that i do not own it. so 'historical right' is only privvy to patriotism? bah humbugs. www.witness.co.za

our castle in scotland burnt down in a tragic fire sometime ages ago. (if it existed i would also feel indignation that i was not living in it right now)

* indignation.... feeling of the moment...*

good luck to you all! for examinations (those of you still writing), luck for those living in foreign countries and making it work, those of you feeling like foreigners in your own country, luck to those of you who will soon be catching little animals (ie mole rats) in desert excursions. but, luck to all of us about to embark on the end of year family christmas period. we'll all need it! ;)

When I Am In A Place I Feel Uncomfortable In I Like To Pretend I Am Someone Important And Have A Secret Identity

I’ve come to realise that I am a secret agent. Like in The Incredibles , only I’m not completely sure what my mission is yet. I’m waiting for someone to hand me a brief and a cool weapons kit with a secret ray gun and a compass. So until that moment comes, I have decided that I need to start training in preparation. So, in the last two days, I have watched three political thrillers (one not so much a thriller as a sleep aid) and am busy watching Air Force One. I never knew I liked Harrison Ford. He’s actually quite cool.

I love angry Russian rebels. They are all broody and heavy eye-lidded. You just couldn’t have an angry rebel movie with the angry rebels played by any other nationality. The Russian accent is a genetic rebel miracle. Yuri, pass me the vodka before I kill the filthy political prisoners. Kazakhstan and the Bolsheviks unite! The French rebels would just sound like pansies - all la di da and flowery poetry… they could play rebels, but the Broadway musical version of them. Germans? No one would understand what the hell they were saying. Plus they’d eat too many apple strudels and forget what they were saying. Hitler and the Nazi’s showed that Germany can actually be quite organised and scary with their handshakes and salutes and widescale discrimination and stuff , but you can’t have organised rebel groups because then how will Harrison Ford and Samuel L Jackson ever defeat them with America and the world in jeopardy? No no that just won’t do. Besides – and this has to be the number one reason – Russians have the coolest eye brows. You can tell a Russian from a mile away. That would really help in rebel identification.

(sarcasm aside i really like the germans... misunderstood bunch villanised in the movies)