A Year Ago

A year ago…

…I was getting into the Christmas spirit, in my own way, blogging about songs and the commercial season and how I love the fact that my genes are those of the love-to-bake variety.

Now…

…I think the only reason I ‘appreciate’ the season to be jolly is because I’ll be getting a week off from work since our company is closing. Nothing like a job (and no more long university holidays) to put things into ‘perspective’. But that doesn’t change my view on the commercial nature of it all.

A year ago…

…my younger sister was annoying me due to her habits: re-watching films like HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL and PRIDE AND PREJUDICE; blaring her music; having an attitude – all those kinds of things.

Now…

…I may not be at home anymore, and for most of the year she isn’t either, yet her attitude seems to have become worse (short tempered, mean, at times self-centred and only focused on the me). She might be rude to me at times and lose her cool, but she’s still my little sister, and I love her. I just don’t want to get into a fight with her.

A year ago…

…I was worried about going to the gynaecologist and hearing what he/ she had to say. I was expecting the worst. How could I not, when at that point I had suffered from 7 years of daily headaches?

Now…

…my head is still a ‘mess’. The headaches are still pretty bad, a lot of the time borderline migraines, and now it’s time for the next step: tests at the neurologist’s office. How fun.

A year ago…

…I had my eyes tested and got new lenses. I had to wear my glasses more frequently, but it was still all right.

Now…

…though one usually has to go for an eye test every second year, I am strongly contemplating going again. I have to wear my glasses for most of the day. I don’t know if the lenses are strong enough anymore, and when I wear them for a substantial time, my headache worsens. Plus I’m greatly inclined to get contact lenses, as well. After all, I can’t look like a nerd on my wedding day, can I?

A year ago…

…(or a little bit less than a year) I decided to have my hair cut. After much shock and unhappiness at my very short hair, I simply had to accept it.

Now…

…I’m still not happy that it was cut shorter than I had asked and paid for. Still, I think it’s okay, since it gives my hair a chance to grow out again and be healthy.

A year ago…

…I had finished my second degree (Cum Laude), attended the ceremony, and found myself unemployed.

Now…

…despite failed attempts and sitting at home for eight months, I am happy with where I find myself (though uncertainty has a way of creeping in sometimes). I have been at Oxford University Press for four and a half months. The internship is going well, they are impressed with my work, and it seems like I shall be missed come mid-January. Ironically, I find myself in the same position I was last year: having to look for a job… and not having any luck.

A year ago…

…I moved in with my Significant Other and his brother. We were hoping that I would have a job by January, which is partially the reason why I moved in: so I could drive to work with the two brothers and save my father the trouble.

Now…

…we are still staying there. My Significant Other’s brother moved out in March. We got a cat at the end of January. My Significant Other does drive me to work… and yet, ironically, since mid-April, he has been working from home.

A year ago…

…I was reading Stephen King’s latest offering, UNDER THE DOME.

Now…

…I have already purchased and completed my reading of the now-latest King book (FULL DARK, NO STARS). Guess I’ll just have to wait for the next one *sigh*

During the course of a year…

…we had the best of times and the worst of times. Relationships blossomed and broke apart. Families lost loved ones. New acquaintances were made. We’ve had to take the good with the bad. Working out budgets. Planning and attending weddings. Laughing and crying. Getting angry at the b*stards who broke into my parental home and being extremely excited about the new Harry Potter film and Stephen King book. It was a year probably much like any other year, but through everything, it was a good year, and we have much to be happy about and thankful for. May your year ahead, dear readers, be a good year – and even if, sometimes (or many times), it feels pretty awful… there will always be something to make you smile again 🙂

[Okay, enough of the sentimental happy crappy – someone hand me a murder mystery to read…]

Book Review: ‘Sorry I Ruined Your Orgy’

You’ve probably wondered what it would feel like to get into someone else’s head, right?

And if you ever had to get lost in another person’s thoughts, I’d wager that you’d never find your way out of those of Bradley Sands…

…because with every twist and turn, this author delves further into the bizarre.

I recently had the opportunity of reading Master Sands’ latest offering of all things mind-blowing and unsettling and perplexing and absolutely bizarro: SORRY I RUINED YOUR ORGY. ‘Strange’ is a word that doesn’t quite cover it, and if things that seem disjointed or unrelated aren’t your cup of tea, then I wouldn’t recommend this book. I’m sure it’ll make your logical mind bleed while screaming a silent ‘no no no’ in the deepest recesses of human rationality.

That said, I quite enjoyed it – even if a lot of things didn’t make sense to me.

[There’s only a scarce chance that I’d put down a book without finishing it, anyway.]

From time travelling giraffes, lunch with Hitler, the mountain attempting to climb the man and Hallmark cards gone terribly awry, this short story collection spews up imagery and prose (with long descriptive story titles) in both long and short bursts – like a spastic volcano or faulty (and jaunty, I might add) kitchen tap.

Readers of Afrikaans literature might be able to draw a comparison with some of the works of Breyten Breytenbach, though his writings seem to make far more sense than what truly bizarre fiction has to offer. I suppose it is this correlation that ‘stopped’ me from rejecting Sands’ work and sending the PDF to the unknown depths of the Deleted Items receptacle.

My ‘favourite’ story, only one page long, has to be “The Ghost Parade” – the man’s cat ‘saves’ him and becomes a multi-millionaire, so if you know me (and I hope that you as readers do by now), there’s no question why this tale of the surreal and warped should stand out above the rest for me.

Though I do not feel myself to be much of a critic and thus find myself unable to truly rate fiction – writers know how this feels, since the fear of your own work being rejected always seems to come into play here – but I will say that lovers of bizarre literature will be clapping their hands in apparent glee once they get their hands on SORRY I RUINED YOUR ORGY.

Sometimes a man in a bear costume isn’t just a man in a bear costume…

Scattered Brainings XI

* I think Friday was pick-on-me-and-my-cat day at our apartment complex. First I greet someone who commences to give me a nasty, unfriendly and eyes-blazing-into-my-skull-look before turning around and finishing his cigarette. Then another neighbour blames my cat for making so much noise and keeping him awake, when in fact I keep my cat indoors at night because the one cat terrorizes all the other cats.

* The kiddies at our complex have been eerily quiet for the last few weeks. Not entirely quiet, but sometimes you almost don’t even know that they’re there… except for the one crazy little girl who tells you to go away and drive her little bike into the steps repeatedly and won’t get out of the way of approaching vehicles.

* I love listening to our next door neighbour play the piano – it’s lovely. Reminds me of home. Now that it’s the festive season, she (I presume it is the woman) is practicing Christmas carols. That’s probably the closest I’ll get to hearing it before the 25^th, since my Significant Other isn’t partial to it (Christmas music, I mean).

* Speaking of which, while my Significant Other was playing games on Saturday, I was able to listen to some Kenny & Dolly as he wasn’t really paying attention to what was playing in the other room… or to me, in fact.

* Note to self: when my Significant Other asks me if he can play one more game on a Saturday, don’t make plans for snuggling on the couch and watching a movie or perhaps having some wine – because a game is never quick. He asked me if he could play one more game at five-thirty/ six-o’clock. At quarter of eleven, I decided to get into bed. I have no idea what time he decided to come to bed and sleep.

* I have been neglecting my LOLcats and seriously need to catch up with the cute! Nothing to brighten you day like LOLcats in your inbox 🙂

* This year, I won’t just be having two Christmases, but three! We’ll be spending the 24^th with my parentals and the 25^th with my soon-to-be second set of parentals, as per usual. In addition, our group of friends is going to have a small get-together to fa-la-la-la-la and deck the halls with a bit of good cheer and nyummy food on the 18^th.

* Why does that blasted black-and-white cat have to pick on my cat so much? Sure, he ‘picks fights’ with all the cats in our complex (and there are a lot, though policy states there are only allowed to be three in the whole complex), yet he seems to derive the most pleasure from chasing and harassing my cat. I had to get out of the car this morning to chase him away and close our open apartment window so he wouldn’t jump in and have Smudgy whimpering in a corner… if cats can be said to whimper, that is. ‘Cowering’ is probably a better word here.

* It would be nice if someone would be me a flat iron so I can add a bit of a wave/ curl to my hair on a regular basis – my hair and make-up trial proved that this suits me (*cough* hint-hint *cough*)

* Why are there so many really nice specials on when we cannot afford to buy anything for the apartment due to having to save for the wedding?

* Home: a place where people are glad that you pop in for a visit, no matter how long you stay… and even when you bring along a batch of laundry to wash.

* Home is also a place where I feel compelled to do the washing up (dishes, cutlery, etc.) even after I’ve told my father that I won’t do it. I also go do the ironing every second week.

* I try to stay away from places that sell cheesecake, yet if it cannot be helped, my headaches intervene, saving me from myself and keeping me from ordering some anyway.

* If you had to ask me why they split the last Harry Potter book into two movies, I’d have to say it’s in order for them to capitalize big time – if you can make a hell of a profit, then why not? After watching the first instalment, it felt like I could have sat there for another hour or two. Now the waiting begins again.

* My working day usual starts off with raisins and almonds. At least I’m getting in some iron!

* Whole wheat pasta tastes the same as ‘regular’ pasta, though it does help along digestion.

Uhm, no kitteh, he was borned, but that's kewl... Ooh, a shiniez!

* Ooh, almost forgot this one: Stages of waking up my Significant Other – sweet and loving, understanding, neutral, slightly irritated, frustrated, resigned. Only takes about 25 minutes.