Tiger, Tiger....

So the IFS has come and gone. My heart yearns for just one more guess bag…. Just one more wallet, pair of jeans, eyeshadow, eyeliner, t-shirt, shirt, jersey, jacket, shoe, earring, necklace…..
Ok I’m officially a shopaholic again.
I wonder what Carrey in Sex and the City would think. I’m her little protégé’.

Anyway, I have been in the office quite a bit these past few weeks. Managed to read a few e-books. Learnt a few new words like “conch”. First I read Pillars of the Earth. I am trying to go through Oprah’s book club list. Can you say N-E-R-D? I have recently come to the conclusion that in addition to being a thinkaholic, I have never quite let go of my nerdy tendencies. This became crystal clear when, after finishing the 1220 page “Pillars” in 3 days, I decided to read The Lord of the Flies. Yes my friends, this is, indeed, the set book prescribed for grade 9 students. I needed to see for myself what the hoo-hah was. So 17 pages into the book I realise that I cannot read the book without understanding the metaphors and symbolisms so, to the horror of my fellow colleagues at work, I downloaded the study guide. My metaphoric analysis at that point had been spot on. I had not lost my touch. YES! I am done with the book now. An absolute anti-climax. The metaphors were pitiable to say the least. In my humble opinion, the dude could have written a 1000 word article to rant about the deterioration of society, and get his point across more easily and understandably. Now Mosquito Coast was a book! The chronicles of the megalomaniac. I could have written essays on Allie Fox and his erratic, narcissistic behaviour. I know I know. N-E-R-D!

Anyway, this whole thing got me thinking about what a nerd I was back in the day. I wonder if I’m better off with an improved intellect or should I have read and studied less and gone out more and watched more movies and drank more coffee? Hmmm….
It’s bizarre that I still remember quotes from Hamlet. Whilst speaking to a few colleagues at work I quoted something from Hamlet and they looked at me as if I was an extraterrestrial. Perhaps I am too nerdy for my own good.

So in light of my recent flashbacks (is that an oxymoron?), I have decided to list (as per what is so popular on blogs nowadays), my top 5 quotes from setbooks or poems…. In no particular order…

1) “To thine own self be true. And it must follow as the night, the day, the canst not then be false to any man”- The only smart thing to come out of Polonius’ (I think) mouth in Hamlet

2) “To be, or not to be: that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them? To die: to sleep;
No more”- Famous soliloquy by Hamlet

3) “Tiger, tiger burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye,
Could frame thy fearful symmetry”- Tiger, Tiger by William Blake

4) My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!'
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away".- Ozymandias

5) “It's an absolute sin to accept the decadence of obsolescence. Why do things get worse and worse? They don't have to. They could get better and better. We accept that things fall apart.”- Allie Fox, Mosquito Coast.

LOL I wonder if anyone will actually share my enthusiasm for literature. Feel free to add to this list.

God Bless Nine West....

So I have reverted to my old shameful ways. Up until Monday I was a recovering shopaholic. On Tuesday I had a relapse. It’s a sad, sad state of affairs. I can just picture the look of disgust on Morena’s face. Forgive me for I have sinned. The dirty deed was committed in “Cameroon”. I could not help myself. The stuff was beee-you-tee-ful. But I bought them for Eid, I swear. Will change 3 times during the day. Or 2. I wore one already. And the IFS is coming up. I can’t wait. I have a countdown in my diary. Makes me happy. Should write a poem to express excitement.

I used to shop like a crazy fool
And now I just stop, stare and drool
This growing up thing makes me sad
For we have to budget now. It makes me mad!
But then into Cameroon did I wander one day
“I love everything!” did I say
I remembered the person I used to be
And had to buy everything I did see
So here I am back to my old ways
“I am shocked and saddened” my hubby says
But I feel no regret at this point in time….
IFS is in a week and all will be mine!
The clothes and shoes, I will have them all
Jewellery and makeup better than the mall
Do come soon oh IFS of mine
But until then I will countdown the time……

Inna Lillahi wa inna ilayhi raajioon....

May Allah grant Riaz Jannatul Firdous and grant his family the strength to bear this loss.... Ameen.

The four way stop....

So tonight’s update is a rant. Simple as that. I am terribly disturbed and saddened about something and needed to share it.

Durban drivers. Yes I was once one of them but still felt pretty petrified when I approached a traffic light that was not working. You don’t know when to go or not. If you go you could get swiped by the car coming from the opposite side. If you don’t, the impatient idiot behind you hoots. It’s a no-win situation. Then I moved to JHB. 4 way stops and traffic circles work brilliantly and whilst it may cause more traffic to have one car go at a time, it is civilised, organised and basically, safe. Sure we have road rage and crazy taxi’s at times but when it comes to traffic lights that don’t work, everybody understands each others plight and consideration is the name of the game.

I bring this up now because a relative of mine was in a serious accident last week. He was going to fetch his wife from the airport and a traffic light was not working. Nobody knows what happened or whose fault it was, but he was hit from the front and the back. He is in a coma.

So it got me thinking about why people in Durban refuse to obey the laws of the road? Why is it that when there is a traffic light not working, drivers take it upon themselves to decide how many cars would go across had the traffic light been working? Absurd right? What makes a person think that their life is more important than others? Everyone has the same plight. We all want to get to work/school/campus/gym etc on time. So why not show any consideration for others? I think that it is times like these that should make people realise that patience is a virtue. If only Durban drivers would try the proper 4 way stop rule, I believe that road rage levels would drop and people would get to places much faster than having to wait for the opposite lanes to stop going so you can get a chance. I truly believe that drivers understand how a 4-way stop works but either too selfish or impatient to apply it. It’s appalling that the traffic police have not even intervened to eradicate the problem.

Just for reference I have included a little diagram of how 4 way stops should work. Please forward this to people who you think it would benefit. I think that it could change and save lives. See the picture above for the simple illustration of how it should work. In a 4 way stop situation the following should happen:
1) All cars coming towards the 4 way stop should stop at the line.
2) The first row of cars stopping at the line where the blue arrows are should go across.
3) Then the first row of cars that have stopped at the line where the red arrows are should go across.
4) And so on and so forth….

So it’s that simple. The purpose of this was not to insult, patronise or hurt anyone. I just hope to bring awareness about the seriousness of the situation.

May Allah grant Riaz shifa and grant his family the strength and courage to get through this difficult time. Ameen.

The joys of swine flu....

It’s funny how most people would look for any excuse to be away from work. About 10 minutes ago we were all informed that a manager of ours has been diagnosed with swine flu and has been quarantined. Instead of dread and worry, the atmosphere has become jovial with people planning what they are going to do whilst on “leave”. I am ,however, visualising a week long slumber party at work whilst we are all quarantined. A real movie moment. However, I cannot be the heroine or lead actress because she normally finds love whilst locked away from the rest of the world. I am married. Perhaps I can be the heroine’s best friend. Yes, I can see it now. So people are calling hospitals to find out what to look for and anyone who coughs or has the slightest hint of fever are now being sent home……
*cough* *cough* ;)
Bye guys!

A rose by any other name.....

So a few weeks back my husband and I invited a friend over with his mum and bro for Sunday brunch (Yes we do brunch here in Jozie). They are originally from Zimbabwe so naturally the hubby starts discussing Zim current affairs and tries to get a Zimbabwean’s view on the state of the country and where they see the country in the future. So we chat and debate amongst ourselves until the hubby’s friend says something like “I wonder what happened to pencil”. Pencil? That was their garden boy! This then started a whole other topic of the weird and wonderful names bestowed upon kids by their so-called loving parents. Its quite bizarre and fascinating to note that in many African cultures the parents name their kids after the first thing they think about or see when the baby is born. In Zimbabwe parents are merciless when it comes to giving their kids horribly embarrassing names like our friend’s maid’s boyfriend or someone whose name was television! They called him T.V for short lol lol So I felt it my civic duty to address the topic of giving children names that are simply outrageous. I starting researching names and origins of names etc. What possesses parents do this to their kids? What were they thinking when they filled out their birth certificates? Even educated celebrities have jumped on the proverbial bandwagon and named their kids things like apple and levi! Those poor kids! Anyway, the whole shebang is sad but still Hi-la-rious!!! Here are a few other names I found:
Al Bumin (very egg-straordinary)
Anita Cathider (I need a catheter? LOL)
Boyd Schitt (heehee)
Chris P Cream (I don’t wanna even get into the connotations!)
Ben Dover (Horrible horrible parents! They should be shot!)

But I must admit scarring your kids like that holds some appeal. Perhaps I should name my kids - Ma’as, Yuraaz and Aasia. Heehee

Confessions...

Ok so I tend to think too much. I think I have always been this way. I must admit it has gotten me into lotsa trouble over the years. I have come to realise that the combination of over thinking situations and an overactive imagination is a recipe for disaster in most grown-up situations. Surprisingly, this realisation has done nothing to deter my mind from visualising worst case scenarios in most instances. My husband, in stark contrast to my constant neuroses, is as cool as a cucumber and just laughs at my absurdity. He is the yin to my yang. The kurrie to my kitchrie.

Anyway, so I need an outlet for the strange, somewhat irrational thoughts and questions that my mind begs to be answered. So, here I am. A new blogger. The world of blogging has always fascinated me. I have been wondering what the norm was. Like if something happened in your life would you put a reminder on your phone to blog about it? What if lotsa interesting things happened in one day? Would you save some for another day and blog about it as if it happened that very day? Story storing if I may call it that.
I have been having nightmares about blogging tho. In addition to being a thinkaholic, I am, the horror of all horrors, a peoples pleaser. I constantly seek approval and need people to like me and find me interesting. So my nightmares usually include (in frightening detail) oober dull posts to which nobody except my dear friend morena will comment (out of pity of course). Oh the shame and embarrassment of it all! So I decided to post blogs only when something really fun happens in my life. Im an accountant so expect blog updates say…. Every fourth month or so. J

To the person who inspired this blog (P), thank you J Even though you will probably be the only person reading my blog and we will probably discuss what I have said in depth over the phone seconds after I have posted it (LOL), know that you are truly my hero. From that shy quiet girl who used to finish the crusts of my sandwiches (another one of my many neuroses) to the brilliant (yes brilliant) intellectual woman you have become, I am truly proud to call you friend (sniff… LOL). I feel like Im writing in our scrap book again lol whatever happened to that thing? Hmmm…. Anyway its official Im a blogger! Yay!