This is my room. This is your room. It is not our room. We have all been here before. This is my chapel. It is your treehouse, your orangery, your workshop. This is where we want to go; a place that calls us closer; a space that says we are home. This is where we know everyone, where people are few – where our demons and angels surround us, where we exist not by choice. The walls are the colours in our mind. The floor carries us around the space. There are no windows because

In an attempt to break my Netflix series binge addiction I have been trying to find solace in the comfort of a good read. I was at the mall a week ago and there was only one book that could possibly get me to smell the biblichor in a heartbeat. That book is Arundathi Roy’s new gem “The Ministry of Utmost Happiness“. Given that her first novel “The God of Small Things” came out 20 years ago when I was still a fledgling dreaming of a life that was yet unknown; I can confidently

Person 1: “Do you smoke?” Person 2: “Yes” Person 1: “Do you know that if you stopped smoking you could buy a Ferrari with the money saved?” Person 2: “Do you smoke?” Person 1: “No” Person 2: “Do you own a Ferrari?” I can’t understand why a pack of razor blades costs nearly R200 (ZAR) in some instances. How are they made? And regardless, aren’t they mass-produced? I’ve heard that it is really difficult to make razor blades – there’s a lot of precision work required. Apparently

At my lowest in 2016 I believed that God himself was punishing me for 40-plus years of ill doings, flawed character and anything else suppressed by my over-active conscience that had been in denial. For most of the year I thought I had entered a deep pit mine with a one way ticket in hand. The euphoria of the Christmas holiday season quickly faded as I walked through the front door back to my reality. By the time the Easter holiday arrived I had convinced myself that I would

I am grateful that I have enough. I was cleaning out my bathroom cupboard this weekend and in the process discovered I had 5 bottles of varying shades of red nail varnish. I don’t wear red nail varnish. In the mix was also several brands of top coat and too many to mention nail and cuticle treatments – which I never use. As I stepped out of the bathroom, the “card box” that I’ve been meaning to sort out for about a year now caught my eye. There must be over one hundred differ

Originally posted on Twitter Blanket Drive #TBD2015: Cape Town Host @merentia Fire & Ice Cape Town @FireAndIceCT Charly’s Bakery @CharlysBakery @iCaptainCupcake Voice of the Cape studios @VOCfm @Zahrah_ Love Pilates studio @LovePilatesCT Kronendal Music Academy of Hout Bay @Robyn_Smith @wren_tweetz Anywhere in the Peninsula – @PicUpSA Johannesburg Host @serenacg Fire & Ice Melrose Arch Pretoria Host Stephanie @tresorsstudio Fire & Ice Menlyn Park Durban Host @fredfelton Drop

I have been slightly scarce for a while (understatement). I make no apologies for this. It turns out that my privacy has been violated with the sole intention to gain access to every detail of my activities with malicious intent. Let’s get real here; I am not famous, nor wealthy, nor heir to something more desirable than a plastic sock. Hell – I’m not even officially young and up-and-coming by statistical measures. How is it possible that a person’s far-less-than-Wisteria-Lan

Horror movies have been criticised for their graphic violence and are often dismissed as low budget, B-rated and sensationalist flicks. Nobody seems to care that some highly respected directors and major studios have particulated in the genre. The genre itself is misunderstood and subject to atracks not dissimilar to those found between the blood-stained curtains on the celluloid. For some, horror films are little better than pornography, focused purely on evoking a reaction

“I Was Accused of Drug Smuggling …”.

Reblogged from TED Blog: Marianna Torgovnick attended the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival in North Carolina and shared her Top 9 on TED. Stories We Tell, Manhunt, American Promise and A Will For The Woods are my preferred documentaries to look out for in 2013. Stories We Tell is a 2012 documentary film by Sarah Polley that chronicles the story of her family, including the revelation that the filmmaker was the product of an extramarital affair. The film looks at the relat

This is not an article about autism but autism is my point of departure because I have always been intrigued by the genius of mind of autistic persons and how they have been portrayed in cinema and books. Their ability to identify patterns in numbers specifically, otherwise hidden from civilian eyes, is, for me, a fascinating glimpse into how the human brain functions and what it is capable of achieving. Where numbers are the basis, patterns are the key. Logical problem solvi

By my calculations (which are always questionable…), considering that I generally finish a novel or book within 48 hours, in my 40 years of life I should have been able to have read nearly 3,500 titles in my time. Well, that hasn’t happened… My favourite authors are Stephen King, Dean Koontz, John Irving, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, John Saul, Mitch Albom and Salman Rushdie. I should most probably add Bentley Little, Richard Laymon and Terry Pratchett to that line up too. “Favourite”

And, so, I am now offiically in my 40′s. That’s a lot of living under the belt. The very first CD “we” (my hubby) bought was The Simpsons Sing The Blues… I am not ashamed. I still have an awesome collection of Vinyls with really good music on them. I will never forget the exact moment when I first heard Rock Me Amadeus by Falco or literally danced like no one was watching to Cyndi Lauper’s Girls Just Wanna Have Fun. School was bearable because of the rebellious tracks like We

A quick Did-You-Know? The tradition of the New Year’s Resolutions goes all the way back to 153 B.C. Janus, a mythical king of early Rome was placed at the head of the calendar. With two faces, Janus could look back on past events and forward to the future. Janus became the ancient symbol for resolutions and many Romans looked for forgiveness from their enemies and also exchanged gifts before the beginning of each year. Anyone who has ever made and broken a New Year’s Resoluti

The New Year has not always begun on January 1, and it doesn’t begin on that date everywhere today. It begins on that date only for cultures that use a 365-day solar calendar. January 1 became the beginning of the New Year in 46 B.C., when Julius Caesar developed a calendar that would more accurately reflect the seasons than previous calendars had. The Romans named the first month of the year after Janus, the god of beginnings and the guardian of doors and entrances. He was a

Auld Lang Syne The song, “Auld Lang Syne,” is sung at the stroke of midnight in almost every English-speaking country in the world to bring in the New Year. In spite of the popularity of ‘Auld Lang Syne’, it has aptly been described as the song that nobody knows. Even in Scotland, hardly a gathering sings it correctly, without some members of the party butchering the words. Written by Robert Burns in 1741, it was first published in 1796 after Burns’ death. “Auld Lang Syne” li

This is a biggie! I can’t wait! The main pic is from the Advent Calendar I made this year.

Good weather permitting! It’s beach time baby! Actually, even if it’s not good weather we’ll most probably still head to the beach and walk on the rocks or build sand castles or something. There is no Lose situation when you’re at the coast really… The main pic is from the Advent Calendar I made this year.

Today we’ll take 5 minutes out of our day to make a call to someone who cannot be with us to celebrate the holidays. I have a pretty good idea who each of the kids will be calling The main pic is from the Advent Calendar I made this year.

It should be a good time to get each of the kids to write a prayer now that they’ve cleaned, crafted, reflected and donated their way through the holidays. All I know at this point is that their prayers will start with “Dear God” and end with “Amen”. How they choose to fill in the blanks is up to them. The main pic is from the Advent Calendar I made this year.