I found myself stuck googling Blunt Cards for a while today, a complete digress from researching the latest social media trends on financial services. I had such a giggle.
These cards are really, really blunt…and most of the time just plain bitchy, but I must say that if we are honest with ourselves, we have probably been in a situation where we have thought something along the lines of one of these revoltingly brutal cards (admit it).
Which one’s your favourite?
Saturday marked the long awaited post AfrikaBurn celebration in the form of Afterglow. In short, a massive party where you leave the world behind and become part of a community dedicated to ‘wicked tunes, celebration, wild abandon, creativity, participation, radical self expression and whole lot of love’ for a night.
Sounds very hippie. It kind of is. And completely crazy. Every person was dressed up in a costume of sorts – pixies, fairies, hippies, suits and a good few tutus, to name a few, and for that one night, nobody had a care in the world.
The best part of it all was the focus on charity. All proceeds from the tickets went to art grants and participation for the Highveld collective, as well as Burners without Borders. Every person also brought blankets and clothes for those that need them this winter.
The party was organised and run by volunteers. No fighting. No idiots going crazy with drugs and alcohol and causing havoc. It was just really lovely.
It is so refreshing to see people come together without hidden agendas and actually do something good for society, not just themselves.
If you haven’t checked out AfrikaBurn, or not heard of it before, go have a look. It’s a festival of this kind in the Tankwa Karoo where they create a temporary city of art, theme camps, costume, music and performance. The gallery on their site is just breathtaking – the pictures alone have tempted me and I can see how any person with some creativity in their blood would make the journey to AfrikaBurn.
I, however, need way more convincing to rough it for a few days in the desert of craziness!
Give me your thoughts…
It’s not very often that I get an opportunity to experience top-end luxury products and I was privileged enough to be exposed to (and taste) the Van Ryn’s golden Au.Ra at a launch last week in the penthouse apartment of the Michelangelo Hotel (breathtaking).
This brandy holds quite a little story…
Named after gold (Au) and the Egyptian sun god (Ra), Au.Ra has been handcrafted with patience, skill, and dedication with respect to a brandy that has taken a lifetime to create (yes, a lifetime – this brandy is older than me).
What really struck me about this brandy, is the amount of love, care and respect that has gone into its’ making. The handblown crystal glass decanter was created by acclaimed glass artist, David Reade, the handmade oak wooden box by James Mudge and the silver neckpiece by Bridget Zietkewicz. Each piece was individually hand-crafted and Marlene Bester is the brandy distiller behind the 30 year-old pot still brandy. Each designer has crafted a piece of themselves into their designs for this brandy.
Only 107 bottles have been made and you need to apply to purchase one on their site.
What I took away from that evening, was not only a newfound appreciation of brandy, but also a reminder of the rewards that come from time, love and care. The Van Ryn’s marketing material on the Au.Ra tries to convince us that this is perfection. Although I think it may be very close, I’m more inclined to think that the outcome of time, love and care is respect.
It was a fantastic reminder of how much work and how difficult it is to gain true respect. Let’s not forget that in our lives…
My poor blog is about to be my own personal therapy centre. I apologise in advance.
I recently spoke to a therapist who lectured me about the fact that I don’t lean on friends and family when I need support. I promptly asked her why I should do that because I’m really the only one who is ever actually there for me, so why should I set myself up to be disappointed?
It is not logical to me.
People always say, ‘I’m here for you.’
Bollocks.
When I actually take the plunge and decide, okay, maybe I should lean on someone else a bit for support ( as I am told to do) I realise that the wall that is ‘there for me’ is an illusion.
What’s the damn point?
No, Miss Therapist, I disagree with you.
Don’t be fooled, folks, it’s each (wo)man for herself in this world.
As part of learning to love myself, and because I believe that self-pampering is one of life’s necessities, I’m going to bring your attention to a business that has my attention at the moment: Body Thrills
I found Body Thrills along the way in my social media meanders and that being my passion and my work, they attracted my attention immediately. Having done all their marketing on social media alone (from what I can tell) and having done it really well (which is unusual in South Africa at the moment), I feel that it is my prerogative to give them a little punt on my blog. That and the fact that this blog post is an entry into a competition to win a nice big voucher for my pampering desires 🙂
Go check them out at www.bodythrills.co.za and have a look at their Winter Wonders specials
P.S. They have chocolate pudding bubble bath…have you ever? I will take it upon myself to try it out and let you know on a scale of one to orgasm how good it is. Watch this space.
Having recently taken up horse riding, I’ve found that these animals like to teach us mere humans some lessons about ourselves along the way. Today I learnt how to just go with it.
Let me tell you the story:
Today’s horse riding lesson was about learning to trot. Once you have gotten the horse to move from a walk into a trot, you have to ‘post’, which is basically standing up and sitting down in the saddle to the rhythm of the horse’s trot. Sounds easy enough, but remember that you are sitting on a powerful moving animal, so keeping yourself in (and out of) the saddle requires some technique, some serious balance and core strength (while supposedly steering the horse in the right direction without pulling on the reigns).
Right, so once I get going with this whole new movement, Bella, my breathtakingly beautiful horse, decides that she likes where this is going and breaks out into a full canter. Now this was something new. Her body immediately moves in a completely different way (obviously while I am in the standing position in the saddle) and she puts foot on her internal accelerator, completely catching me off guard.
In that split second that my brain had to process what was going on, I had two choices:
A. Fumble around trying to figure out how to handle this and in the process likely fall on my head, or B. Sit tightly in the saddle, hold on and just go with it
I chose option B.
I just went with it. I just felt the rhythm of her movement and literally just went with the flow.
I did not fall on my head.
Do you see where I am going with this?
Sometimes we are faced with situations where we have no idea what to do. Life does not throw us only the problems that we know how to deal with.
Sometimes we are going to have to just hold on tight and go with it. Or we will likely fall on our heads.
