It is said that after years and years of marriage, the communication between partners could almost be completely non-verbal. She looks over at him and he just gets up and does the circus dance he knows she's dying to see. Or he looks over at her and she gets up and gets a butter knife to file his toenails because she knows how much he loves it.
So Al and I have been married for just over 6 months and well, we can't claim to be at that stage yet. Primarily because he just doesn't enjoy dancing and likes to cut his own toenails but also because, well, those things need to be earned. We are at the "babe..." followed by "Yes, I'll make coffee now" stage. It's a great stage to be at. You never have to actually say "Are you making coffee?" or "Will you make coffee, please?" It saves time and energy and vocal chords.
Sunday, July 8, 2012
Sunday, July 1, 2012
A bedtime story
Onceuponatime there was a Small Man who lived in a shack. He didn't have much money because he couldn't get a decent job because he'd dropped out of school and had never finished.
One day the Small Man went to a pub and met a woman there who was completely different to anyone he'd ever met before. She acted like a man, looked a bit like a man and had the same interests as men do. The Small Man was so lonely because people generally didn't like him that he decided to put a collar around the woman and take her home as a pet.
The Small Man taught his pet woman how to make coffee and do simple tricks. But he was still sad because he couldn't find a job and so he started eating everything he could find in the hopes that it would make him feel better about himself. He ate the soap and the mattress and the bread in the cupboard and the yoghurt in the fridge. Heck, he even ate the fridge door. It didn't make him feel any better though, all it did was make him fat. So now he was sad, unemployed, lonely and fat. He spoke to his pet woman but she was far more interested in juggling oranges and just listened now and then when the man looked upset and screamed at her to make coffee.
But wait! The Small Man did have a friend! He just didn't treat the friend that way. To the Small Man, he had nothing in common with this friend, they just went places together now and then. So one day, the Small Man and his pet woman invited themselves around to the friends house. The friend said "Hey Small Man, I know you don't have a job. I know of a job for you where they won't even care whether you have finished school or not. All you need to do is tolerate that they are drug addicts." The Small Man was excited. It paid more money than he'd ever earned before and that was really the most important thing in the Small Mans life.
When the Small Man started his new job, the boss was very nasty to him and called him fat and told everyone that the Small Man was on drugs. The Small Mans friend heard about it and told the Small Mans boss that the Small Man was not on drugs at all. The friend got into trouble for this but it didn't matter because the friend had integrity and had a sense of loyalty to the Small Man and knew that the Small Man was not on drugs at all. The Small Man wanted to leave and said "Friend! You must leave too!" but the friend said "I wish I could but I can't just leave Small Man, I won't be able to buy food if I leave." This made the Small Man very angry because he didn't care about anyone but himself but he kept quiet and didn't leave.
The Small Man started telling the friend every day how his pet woman didn't want to marry him but how he'd sort of found a way around it by forcing her to have a commitment ceremony, like a fake wedding. This meant that they would not really be married at all but would get lots of presents. The Small Man said it was better because he would lose too much money if he married his pet woman anyway. The friend could see quite clearly why the pet woman didn't want to marry the Small Man but it was up to the Small Man to find out why so the friend just kept quiet.
The Small Man also told the friend many, many things about how awful his life was when growing up and the friend realised that this Small Man was looking for pity and not to rise above the bad things and change the circumstances and make a success of his life. When the Small Man did not receive enough pity, he started to get angry and nasty to the friend. The Small Man tried to bully the friend and force the friend to do whatever he wanted and the more the friend stood up to him, the nastier the Small Man became.
One day the Small Man's boss said to the Small Man "Small Man, I don't like your friend anymore. I will pay you to kill your friend." and so the Small Man said "Ok" and killed the friend with a big knife in the back.
The Small Man went home and lied to his pet woman and told her that he'd had to kill the friend out of self-defence. The pet woman, blowing on her toenails, looked up with her bruised and battered face and said "La la la la, potato chips are nice" because she'd sustained a head injury after her last beating for making bad coffee and it was all that she could say.
Perhaps the Small Man was on drugs afterall.
The end.
Pudding
So I swapped these duckies mentioned further down there for a gorgeous husky pup and named her Pudding. She has had a couple of trips to the vet due to a very irratible stomach but that aside, she is full of life and has so much character.
Pudding was an instant hit with the other two doggies and the three cause all sorts of mischief together and take up a lot of space on the bed which prompted me to buy Pudding her own bed and to teach her to sleep on this bed next to ours so that we could turn over and such and not lie in bed unable to move in case we knocked someone off the bed. So far, it's working wonderfully and it even leaves space for a cat to join us, if they so desire.
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Quest for a duck
This morning I stumbled upon the need for a duck. I already had the use of 4, thanks to Mel, but I needed one more.
At this point I cannot divulge why I needed the ducks as it would result in me getting into trouble. I have found the duck and will be getting into trouble anyway but sometimes, you need to make these small sacrifices for the greater good.
I am not keeping the ducks but they will be going to a very happy home where they will be kept as pets and never get eaten. So in essence, it's a helpful thing I'm doing; I'm helping Mel rehome her ducks, I'm helping a lady start her mini-farm and I'm helping myself by gaining something out of it. I will post on Monday to let you know what I got. I may be homeless and on the streets as punishment but I'm sure it'll only be for a week or two ;)
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Newnarb, Sbag, Nala and Yaj and a random something else.
The first part of this won't make sense except to that person who did a search for "PYC1502" and came across my blog: Don't read too much into it. And don't speak to too many other students about it because all the analysis will confuse you. It's more straightforward than you think. Just know your work REALLY well and then apply the analysis to your scenario and you'll do well. Good luck!PYC1502, I mean, not my blog. My blog should generally not be analysed, it's just rubbish mostly and if you analyse it, you will be very confused. I have notes if you need: 34984496@mylife.unisa.ac.za (once again, on PYC1502)
O.k, now onward: These people were part of a discussion of how other people see you and how close it is to how you see yourself. This after I read a post about myself written by a friend and it was quite surprising as to how whacked I seemed to someone else! Funny though. So to those people, here are my thoughts on you:
Newnarb
Newnarb can be described in two ways. One is more relevant to years ago and one more relevant to now with flickers of the first one cropping up now and then.
Newnarb has always been a bit on the introverted side. Not unhealthily so though, just not the person who goes screaming and streaking at parties. She used to have moments of doing very strange things like drinking shampoo and adding carbonation to coffee. That was in her wilder days.
Newnarb is very hard on herself because that's how she's been taught to be towards herself because almost everyone else she knows is too. Be it in her work life, her home life or her other relationships, she's expected to give a lot. The thing is, she's just so good at it. She'd do well to take a breather though.
She has two and a half halflings who she devotes much of her time and attention to and it leaves her feeling exhausted at times but she keeps going and is there for those who need her. A very good mom. She loves easily and is empathetic and has a good sense of humour. She's the sort of friend you can ball your eyes out to or sit and laugh at absolutely nothing.
Sbag
Sbag is quite a character. He's one of those people who also pushes himself a lot more than he should. He pushes himself to have so much balance in his life that it almost causes unbalance, which is sort of funny. He's the guy you have to book 2 months in advance lest he be off on a garden snail hunt or some other such interesting adventure. He has a terrific sense of humour but can be very serious when needed. If you have amusing ideas of what should happen to nasty people, he's the person you'd share it with. He sort of adds fuel to the fire but all in jest. A very deep and genuinely good person who goes between embracing his humanity fully and rejecting it fully. I've never cried in front of him really, once on the phone, but not someone you can display too much intense emotion to without making him rather uncomfortable.
Nala
Nala likes to pretend that he's so tough and serious and has no feelings but he's one of the sweetest and softest people I've ever met. I will probably be killed now so I'll stop there xxx
Yaj
Yaj is an unusal sort of fellow. Yaj has not completely unique ideas but ideas that a lot of general society would not understand or agree with. This has lead to many an argument but it's always interesting and there's no ill-intent meant from either side. In fact, the fact that I can argue with Yaj is one of the things I like most about him. He has a spine, a viewpoint and he'll listen to mine and will state his and we'll argue but we're always friends and don't try and imposethe beliefs on each other. O.k, perhaps I do a little but I'm trying not to. Yaj needs cooking lessons. Yaj has a great sense of humour and general love of life and informal knowledge and people. He's extremely introverted and constantly on the lookout for new ways to help him to get out of his shell more.
O.k, now onward: These people were part of a discussion of how other people see you and how close it is to how you see yourself. This after I read a post about myself written by a friend and it was quite surprising as to how whacked I seemed to someone else! Funny though. So to those people, here are my thoughts on you:
Newnarb
Newnarb can be described in two ways. One is more relevant to years ago and one more relevant to now with flickers of the first one cropping up now and then.
Newnarb has always been a bit on the introverted side. Not unhealthily so though, just not the person who goes screaming and streaking at parties. She used to have moments of doing very strange things like drinking shampoo and adding carbonation to coffee. That was in her wilder days.
Newnarb is very hard on herself because that's how she's been taught to be towards herself because almost everyone else she knows is too. Be it in her work life, her home life or her other relationships, she's expected to give a lot. The thing is, she's just so good at it. She'd do well to take a breather though.
She has two and a half halflings who she devotes much of her time and attention to and it leaves her feeling exhausted at times but she keeps going and is there for those who need her. A very good mom. She loves easily and is empathetic and has a good sense of humour. She's the sort of friend you can ball your eyes out to or sit and laugh at absolutely nothing.
Sbag
Sbag is quite a character. He's one of those people who also pushes himself a lot more than he should. He pushes himself to have so much balance in his life that it almost causes unbalance, which is sort of funny. He's the guy you have to book 2 months in advance lest he be off on a garden snail hunt or some other such interesting adventure. He has a terrific sense of humour but can be very serious when needed. If you have amusing ideas of what should happen to nasty people, he's the person you'd share it with. He sort of adds fuel to the fire but all in jest. A very deep and genuinely good person who goes between embracing his humanity fully and rejecting it fully. I've never cried in front of him really, once on the phone, but not someone you can display too much intense emotion to without making him rather uncomfortable.
Nala
Nala likes to pretend that he's so tough and serious and has no feelings but he's one of the sweetest and softest people I've ever met. I will probably be killed now so I'll stop there xxx
Yaj
Yaj is an unusal sort of fellow. Yaj has not completely unique ideas but ideas that a lot of general society would not understand or agree with. This has lead to many an argument but it's always interesting and there's no ill-intent meant from either side. In fact, the fact that I can argue with Yaj is one of the things I like most about him. He has a spine, a viewpoint and he'll listen to mine and will state his and we'll argue but we're always friends and don't try and imposethe beliefs on each other. O.k, perhaps I do a little but I'm trying not to. Yaj needs cooking lessons. Yaj has a great sense of humour and general love of life and informal knowledge and people. He's extremely introverted and constantly on the lookout for new ways to help him to get out of his shell more.
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Wedding details - The reception
The reception felt a little surreal. We'd opted for our own table as to be able to eat in peace and not have people bother us with little things while we were trying to take it all in.
There were a few glitches such as us losing microphone sound and the DJ playing nothing on our playlist and starting our dance music too soon but that aside, it went well and we had fun and we didn't fall over in our dance so we were happy.
It was a success overall and despite the fact that even to this day, not one of those family members have bothered to explain or even contact us for that matter, we were very happy.
The entire experience of planning and the actual day would not have been possible without Tamarah, who did the ceremony and was my "Calm down, you'll be ok" person, Melissa who did the invites and kicked my bum into gear in a big way with the planning, Diana who tagged along to everything so that I didn't go alone and bought me the most beautiful veil, Branwen and Nicola who came into everything late but kept everything together for the reception and the day in general, Leandri for her kind words and concern for my sanity in the last few weeks, Trudy who organised our hair and makeup and my nails and toenails and the flowers; My mom, Elaine, who did our overlays and had contagious excitement, Hendri and Tamarah who saved us from having no cake and from doing the sprinkler in our dance, Leslie, my sister, for phoning me a few weeks before to clear up the confusion and making the effort to come as the day would've been empty without her even if the entire family had pitched. Lastly to Adam, Chantall, Hendri, Morne and Nadia for flying up from Cape Town to share our day with us and filling our home with fun and laughter and a relaxed atmosphere before the big day.
There were a few glitches such as us losing microphone sound and the DJ playing nothing on our playlist and starting our dance music too soon but that aside, it went well and we had fun and we didn't fall over in our dance so we were happy.
It was a success overall and despite the fact that even to this day, not one of those family members have bothered to explain or even contact us for that matter, we were very happy.
The entire experience of planning and the actual day would not have been possible without Tamarah, who did the ceremony and was my "Calm down, you'll be ok" person, Melissa who did the invites and kicked my bum into gear in a big way with the planning, Diana who tagged along to everything so that I didn't go alone and bought me the most beautiful veil, Branwen and Nicola who came into everything late but kept everything together for the reception and the day in general, Leandri for her kind words and concern for my sanity in the last few weeks, Trudy who organised our hair and makeup and my nails and toenails and the flowers; My mom, Elaine, who did our overlays and had contagious excitement, Hendri and Tamarah who saved us from having no cake and from doing the sprinkler in our dance, Leslie, my sister, for phoning me a few weeks before to clear up the confusion and making the effort to come as the day would've been empty without her even if the entire family had pitched. Lastly to Adam, Chantall, Hendri, Morne and Nadia for flying up from Cape Town to share our day with us and filling our home with fun and laughter and a relaxed atmosphere before the big day.
Wedding Details - The actual wedding ceremony
As we stood there with the music playing, we had a quick discussion and shuffle of who was walking in first and handed out everybodies flowers - a single red rose.
As I started walking down the aisle with my mom, I noticed the first big issue; My entire family, barring my sister and my mom, had just not bothered to pitch. I'd had one of my cousins tell me that she couldn't make it but the rest had said that they were coming. I whispered to my mom "Where is everyone?" but I was soon feeling much better as I approached Al and he helped me over the mini-moat by the podium.
The ceremony was conducted by my M.O.H, Tamarah as we had been legally married at Home Affairs two days before. It was short and lovely and involved some guest participation too.
Alan winged his vows and they went something like this:
"They say that you should bend the tree while it's still young. The problem is, you're older than me. I suppose then that I'll have to honour you, like an honourable person. I'll have to cherish you, as long as you bring me cherries. I'll hold you at 2am when Kevin (his boss) says that I can go home. I love you with all my heart and promise to do so all my life."
It was my turn next. With trembling hands, I took the paper I'd written my vows on and said:
"I'll love you 'till the sun comes up,
and you hold out your hand for your coffee cup.
I'll love you when you're sick in bed,
or have stubbed your toe or hurt your head.
I'll love you and will always think you're so hot,
and I'll keep all others, in my blind spot.
I'll love you regardless of if we have money,
and I'll laugh at your jokes even if they're not funny.
I'll love you when you're 103,
despite your liking Dragon Ball Zee.
I'll love you more and more everyday,
way beyond when our hair has turned grey.
What I'm saying is that it's you I love most,
I'll love you 'till I die and turn into a ghost."
After that we walked past our guests as they threw rose petals on us and we had our photos taken with the bridal party while the guests went to have starters.
The photographer was really nice in that he took pictures of whatever or whomever we wanted and he let us give ideas as to what we'd like in terms of poses, etc.
In one photo, I had the bridesmaids all gather around Alan and put their hands on him. It turned out to be such a fun picture. It was nice to break the monotony that you sometimes get in wedding pics.
As I started walking down the aisle with my mom, I noticed the first big issue; My entire family, barring my sister and my mom, had just not bothered to pitch. I'd had one of my cousins tell me that she couldn't make it but the rest had said that they were coming. I whispered to my mom "Where is everyone?" but I was soon feeling much better as I approached Al and he helped me over the mini-moat by the podium.
The ceremony was conducted by my M.O.H, Tamarah as we had been legally married at Home Affairs two days before. It was short and lovely and involved some guest participation too.
Alan winged his vows and they went something like this:
"They say that you should bend the tree while it's still young. The problem is, you're older than me. I suppose then that I'll have to honour you, like an honourable person. I'll have to cherish you, as long as you bring me cherries. I'll hold you at 2am when Kevin (his boss) says that I can go home. I love you with all my heart and promise to do so all my life."
It was my turn next. With trembling hands, I took the paper I'd written my vows on and said:
"I'll love you 'till the sun comes up,
and you hold out your hand for your coffee cup.
I'll love you when you're sick in bed,
or have stubbed your toe or hurt your head.
I'll love you and will always think you're so hot,
and I'll keep all others, in my blind spot.
I'll love you regardless of if we have money,
and I'll laugh at your jokes even if they're not funny.
I'll love you when you're 103,
despite your liking Dragon Ball Zee.
I'll love you more and more everyday,
way beyond when our hair has turned grey.
What I'm saying is that it's you I love most,
I'll love you 'till I die and turn into a ghost."
After that we walked past our guests as they threw rose petals on us and we had our photos taken with the bridal party while the guests went to have starters.
The photographer was really nice in that he took pictures of whatever or whomever we wanted and he let us give ideas as to what we'd like in terms of poses, etc.
In one photo, I had the bridesmaids all gather around Alan and put their hands on him. It turned out to be such a fun picture. It was nice to break the monotony that you sometimes get in wedding pics.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)