On Writers and Writing...

I'm about to make a confession...

I am a ... reader!

Anyone who has seen the walls of floor to ceiling books in my home will testify to the fact that this is hardly a surprising revelation. In fact, it has nearly come between me and men in my life. I simply could never have a lifetime relationship with someone who doesn't love to read. They don't need to be quite as "taken" with it as I am, but they certainly need to understand the compulsion that can send you into a bookshop on pay day only to emerge several hours later a little high on the fumes of "new book" smell, clutching your purchases (only the truly disciplined can come out with only one book) close to your chest as you hurry home (cursing traffic) and settle yourself comfortably on the sofa with a beverage and book. You emerge hours later from a world far more diverse than your own or perhaps just the same, but with Jimmy Choo's, Champagne breakfasts and an endless supply of glitz and glamour.

I don't know where my passion for books began. I suspect it started with well-read bedtime stories lovingly presented to my young and impressionable mind by parents who both loved the escapism and education offered by the written word. There truly is no lesson you cannot learn, or any destination you cannot escape to with a book! Not all passionate readers are writers and not all writers are passionate readers, but I feel sure that you cannot have one without the other in some measure... At least... I can't. For me, they're intertwined too closely to be separated.

Words have magical powers all of their own and to be able to move people with your words, is a gift. From a love of reading, often comes a desire to write, to leave something "more" behind. The desire to be a writer and to move others with your words. Almost from the minute I learnt how to recognise letters, how letters arranged and re-arranged themselves into words and the puzzle of the partnerships between the words, the magic of the written word had me totally enthralled. I wrote many stories - more bad then good, I'm sure - and then I added poetry to my repertoire. I was only 9 or 10 so you can imagine that the subject material wasn't too complex, but I loved the sense of satisfaction in completion, of conveying an emotion or image to the reader - even if it was just my Mom :-)

As time passed, I kept writing, I couldn't help it. It was an addiction of sorts. A rush if you like. I was asked once, "Why do you write?" There is no simple answer. I'm sure for everyone it's different. For me, it's something that I can't avoid, even if I wanted to (which I most certainly don't!)... You see, the words are in my head waiting. They don't know if they're destined to be part of a poem, a short story, a blog or a letter, but they're always there, whispering seductively to my subconscious. I know this because words have almost always been there when I need them... I open my mind and let them flow and there they are. As if I planned them to be 'just so' the whole time.

People write for a multitude of reasons. We write to be read. We write because we have something to say. We write to make money. We write to incite, to inspire, to apologise, to mollify, to educate or to raise awareness. Sometimes, we write simply to escape. We write for a thousand reasons, but mostly - if we're honest - we write to be heard. To leave some small part of ourselves behind.

So... I'm working on the novel. Between 1 500 - 3 000 words in a session! I'm lead by the characters in my imagination, appearing almost fully formed in the swirling words that reside there. Words that swirl and form and then disappear, only to reappear in other sentences, in other paragraphs, breeding more and more words as we go. More than 30 000 words in, I have no idea where this journey will take me. It may take me on a grand adventure or end up simply being something I've accomplished in life. Either way, the answer to the question "why do you write?" is simple for me...

...I write because I'm a writer. It's who I am, not what I do.

Until next time...

In Praise of Cupcakes

Well... it has to be said that cupcakes are easily one of the best party foods ever devised. In fact, I'd be prepared to say that they're one of the best "anytime" foods ever devised! Having now successfully passed over the speed wobble that is the "annual aging" day, I can take some time to share my love of cupcakes with you... my birthday cupcakes in particular!

Having postponed the actual birthday party thanks to an impromptu drought brought on by a burst pipe, I decided NOT to postpone the Lemon & Lime Cupcakes with Margarita Icing! Sound really yummy don't they? I have to say that I can't disagree... mostly 'cos I got to eat them! There are loads of recipes for this kind of cupcake online, but I have to say that I used my "own" recipe to a large degree and because I'm a generous soul... I promise I will share it with you all! I do not claim to have invented any of this, merely combined various recipes that I have used for the past 20 years or more!

I see you all looking for the recipe. Where are the ingredients? How do you do it? Well - you haven't lost the plot... I haven't posted it in this message. I'm going to be baking again in 2 weeks and I will post the recipes WITH PICS after that! I'm sure you can be patient just a little longer :-)

In the meantime... I hope that you all had a fabulous Valentine's Day and that the week ahead is looking great!

Until next time...

Of Crime and Criminals

You know, I'm the first to admit that we have a lot of crime in SA. I'm only to happy to tell you that some cities are worse than others. What makes me mad though is when someone complains about the crime and them admits to committing a crime in the same breath!!!

A conversation took place recently on a social networking platform in which someone bemoaned the bad news that we're bombarded with by a specific television program. All we seem to hear about is corruption and crime and all the other "good" things this country has to offer. Several people agreed and offered the sage advice... don't watch it then. Up until this point it was all good.

Then someone commented that there is so much corruption in this country and that there needs to be some accountability... before blithely going on to state that they had recently had to pay a corrupt police officer a large amount of money as a bribe. They were outraged at the amount he'd asked for and eventually managed to get away with paying him a mere fraction of the requested amount.

I'm going to pause while you take that in.

Of course, if you're a logical, law-abiding citizen, the first question that you're going to ask yourself now is this:

If this person did nothing wrong then why would they be having to pay a bribe in the first place?
What law did they break to allow a corrupt policeman the opening to bribe them?
Why not report the policeman to a higher authority and simply take their punishment for their own crime?

The truth is that they would NOT have been bribed if they had done NOTHING wrong. If they were cornered by a corrupt officer threatening to make something up, they should have reported it. They did not. Instead, they congratulate themselves - publicly for successfully paying less!!!

This is someone who not only broke the law twice, but then bragged about it while trying to sound suitably hard done by and put out. They also enabled another criminal to continue with their own crimes and did nothing to stop it. This means that they are a HUGE part of the problem and NOT the solution in this country.

EVERY law should be obeyed and enforced, no matter how big or small. Jay-walking is against the law and should be punished. I know it may sound ridiculous, but how can you expect to win the war against thieves, thugs, murderers, extortionists and rapists if you allow people to break all the so-called "small" laws?

Until next time...

Mexican Party Time

It's nearly time for that wonderful annual aging event... the birthday! This year, the them is Mexican. Odd, considering I live in South Africa and I absolutely loathe tequila (I'm sorry, it smells vile and tastes like I'd imaging boiled 6 week old socks would taste). Not so odd considering I really enjoy the idea of making your own food with wraps and ingredients. It's also a fantastic opportunity to experiment with something new... Margarita Cupcakes!

I'm not going to bore you with the recipe, purely because I'm using my own cupcake recipe and I'm going to play with the icing... if it works, I'll post it in a post-party blog... with pics! If you're in a hurry to know how to make them yourself, the blogosphere is full of fabulous recipes which inspired me to have a go.

The props for the evening have all been purchased, with the exception of limes, lemons and the food lol. I have a sombrero... flaming red and bought at a craft and packaging shop of all places! Some dried red chillies for decor (same shop), some mexican confetti (from a stationer) and some fabulous chilli print serviettes (craft place again). I also found some marvelous lime green candles and bought some orange ones just for fun!

Now all I need is the food ingredients, the drinks ingredients and the time to put it all together :-) Oh, may even purchase some tea light candles and have some great brown paper bags to dot around the place... Should be fun :-)

Until next time...

Surviving Soccer in SA - World Cup 2010

I'm going to start off by admitting that I don't follow soccer / football. At all. I only recognise David Beckham due to a certain amount of ever exposure in the media :-) However, one thing I am very much aware of is the fact that so many visitors will be travelling to South Africa in support of their favourite team / player. I'm not going to lie and say that it's not a logistical nightmare on some level, but more troubling is the absolute riot of misconceptions that people have about our country.

So? Well, over the next few months - and possibly during the World Cup as well - I'm going to blog about what is going on around here... from my point of view!!

Some general information to begin with....

• Yes, there is crime... No, it's not as bad as it's made out to be!
• There may well be problems with things such as vehicle hire, air travel etc. Prices may be high and it's important to book as early as possible to ensure that you don't hit a snag.
• There aren't always trains to everywhere you might want to go... For example, in Cape Town, the Stadium is some distance from the train station. However, there is a new bus service that will take you from a to b.
• Be sensible about your valuables. It's no different to being at home ... but we'll cover advice in a future blog.

Finally for today... a request. Please respect our wildlife and people and don't leave anything more behind you than a memory.

Until next time....

All A'Twitter

I'm a fan of Twitter. It's hard to explain why as such... it's not as versatile as Facebook or Myspace, but there is something almost voyeuristic about the glimpses we get into the lives of friends, family and ... of course... celebrities. Although it may be interesting to know that your best mate is nursing a hangover from the "party of the decade" or that your Uncle Bob is snoring over his beer in front of the Sunday Rugby game, there is something far more riveting in seeing the latest post from the multitude of celebrities that most of us follow.

The question we have to ask ourselves is "why"? Why do we follow these people that we've never met and are never likely to? Do we think that they look at their list of followers and wonder about us? Possibly... and possibly they do, but I think that the reason we love to follow them is because it allows us to see that they are as human and flawed as we are. That they find the same joy in the simple things that we do. They love their kids, pets, friends and family and they count "sleeps" until big events the same as us. It allows us to see beyond the hype and the 'celebrity' to the person who - when all is said and done - is just doing a job.

I admit that I enjoy the odd dose of tabloid magazines, newspapers, websites and TV shows and find them largely entertaining. Sometimes though, they make me really mad. Who are these journalists, and who are we as members of the public, to judge a celebrity for what they wear, don't wear, who they date, how they cope or how they raise their kids?? Not one single one of us would live up to the standards we set for them if our OWN lives were to be examined as closely and as regularly.

For example, when our own kids wear knee high boots, black clothes and make-up to a Halloween party at a young age, it's seen as "dressing up for fun", not bad parenting and advocating child porn. Our breakups are handled in private and are messy and tearful and usually full of yelling and hate and emotion, but heaven help a celebrity who doesn't manage to do things perfectly. We are soooo fallible, yet we hold others to some ideal that we cannot hope to accomplish given a hundred lifetimes.

I hear people say that celebrities need to be more responsible because they are role models. I hear people say that they have no rights to privacy because they "chose to be famous". I beg to differ. Celebrities didn't choose to be famous... they chose to follow a career in entertainment. This simply means that they were artistically inclined, be it drama, music, art, written word, sport, etc and made a career out of it. This is not the pursuit of fame (although for some, I acknowledge, fame is a big attraction), but rather the pursuit of excellence in a chosen field. That is no more the pursuit of fame than the teacher who strives to do her best or the fireman who wants to become firechief one day. Do we invade the teachers private life on a daily basis? The fireman? Do we report on their shopping habits, speculate on their lovelives or lack there of? No. We don't have the right and we shouldn't assume we have the right just because someone is widely well known.

As for making a celebrity a role model and judging them because of this.... I say STOP! As a parent, it is YOUR job to live a life that shows your children what is expected of you. YOU should be the one that they look to for guidance on how to live a good life and achieve greatness. If they aspire to be a great actress, sports star, author or singer, it should be because they want to achieve the best with the talents they have. It is OUR job as parents to ensure that they understand that the person on the poster, the person in the magazines, is a real person, with flaws. It is OUR job to steer them towards choices that don't involve public nudity, drug or alcohol abuse and it is OUR job to be role models.

If we took every criticism or expectation that we - as a society - level at celebrities and turned them against ourselves, I think we would find that none of us can live up to these standards. After all, we are all only human.

So thank you to Twitter for providing the window through which we can see that we're all just the same. That we share joys and sadness and that at the heart of every "image" is a person just trying to do the best they can.

Until next time...

Jo

'Twas Two Weeks Before Christmas...

... and while I did blog,
Not a creature was stirring... 'cept for the dog.
He sat in the corner, in Grandpa's big chair,
Chewing most thoughtfully, shedding more hair.

He thought of the things that he wanted to say,
He thought of the games he'd love us to play.
He wondered where bones and treats could be stored,
Mostly he wondered why his human looked bored.

She sat at the desk and pushed buttons galore,
Often she banged things, sometimes she swore.
She didn't look happy and the day was so bright,
He wanted her smiling, it was such a good sight.

His tail he did wag as he heaved a great sigh,
Got down from the chair and me he passed by.
He stopped in the kitchen, to sniff at the cat.
The smell made him wonder - Why did I do that?

The food bowl lay empty, the scraps all consumed,
There'll be more tomorrow, he went on and assumed.
The door was propped open, the yard called his name,
But without his human, it just wasn't the same.

So he came back to find me, my arm he did nudge.
I levered myself up and behind him did trudge.
Out into the sunshine we both went that day,
"Come play", his brown eyes did pleadingly say.

I fetched out the ball and gave it a throw,
You know that he fetched it, brought it "just so".
We played all the day, while the PC lay silent,
My internet rage gone, my emotions not violent.

And later, in darkness, the words they did flow,
The length of my blog much better did grow.
The dog lay asleep and occasionally did snore,
While dreams lead to twitching of this or that paw.

So thank you to animals who always are there,
When humans are busy or tugging out hair.
You bring us such joy, it is hard to explain,
Without you my darlings, we'd not be the same.