A year in retrospect

As we age, time seems to speed up – at least that’s what I’m told. But it seems to me that the festive season of 2010 has taken an age to arrive.

It’s been 12 long months filled with triumphs and tribulations.

On the up side I:

1: Celebrated one year in my very own square box. My tiny one-bedroom townhouse has taught me that I’m not cut out for communal living, but more on that subject later.

2: Earned a promotion at work. I’m rather proud to no longer be a junior, and while my new responsibilities can be taxing, I’m really enjoying most parts of my job.

3: Made a few new friends, something I figured would never happen after I left school.

4: Got a nice payout from SARS just in time for a spot of Christmas shopping and other indulgences.

5: Celebrated my baby sister’s 21^st birthday.

6: Celebrated my 30^th birthday without tears or hysteria.

On the down side I:

1: Ended up in the ER after I fell at work and injured my knee. It’s been about 6 months since it happened and I’m pretty much back to normal.

2: Saw an Ophthalmologist for the very first time to be treated for Scleritis. Despite kicking the infection at the end of October, the blasted germs set up shop in my right eye and are refusing to be evicted. A rather unreliable doctor’s receptionist means that I have to wait until January for another follow up consultation.

3: Burned through my medical aid and have had to pay out close to R1000 for eye drops     and doctors visits.

So all things considered, I guess it’s been a pretty good year. I’m still gainfully employed, haven’t committed a major crime (speeding isn’t a major crime!) or gone on killing spree (major or minor) of stupid and annoying people, haven’t missed a bond payment (early days, but I’m setting the ground work for a perfect track record) and I’ve reached the end of the year with mostly upbeat spirits.

Here’s to a challenging and interesting 2011.

Cheers to that.

Party mood

After the public holiday on Thursday, I dragged myself to the office yesterday. At about lunch time I had lost all enthusiasm for the work day, but here’s the thing – I didn’t want to go home. I was in a party mood!

Holy cow, where did that come from?

My party mood has been broken since the late 90s. I send it in for repairs and the technicians send it back periodically for me to test; its usually not fixed properly and goes back to the shop for them to try something new to fix it. Well, my party mood was delivered at lunch time and it was begging to be tested.

I suffered through to 4pm and then convinced a colleague to get a drink. We found a little Indian restaurant slash cocktail bar (my drink of choice) in Sunninghill where I consumed 2 Sex on the Beaches (yummy) and 6 samoosas. When we left I wasn’t ready to call it quits, but I had no one to party with, so decided to party at home. I called my party-loving sister (her party mood regularly checks in for some R&R, but the repair shop has never heard of her) to come round and get drunk at my place. I stopped at the P ‘n P for some orange juice and cream for more Sex on the Beach and an assortment of shooters. At home I poured out Pancakes, Blow jobs and Springboks, which I downed between sips of my latest cocktail and Apple Sours from the bottle.

I did this all by myself as my sister was a no show. By 8pm I was sitting in the dark, watching Scrubs and finishing off my second homemade cocktail. I went to bed, alone, about half an hour later, and woke up this morning at 6 o frikking clock.

So much for exercising my party mood. Thankfully it’s not broken, but I’ve packed it away carefully for the next party.

Welcome

Having a full-time job at a publishing house is great – I get paid every month, and can say that I’m a contributing member of society. The downside is that I don’t often get to write on topics that hold great interest for me; usually I am dictated to or, if I do get to chance to suggest an article for a magazine, I have to think about what others want to read and make the story relate, in some way, to the content of the rest of the magazine. Which means that I have yet to write about how much l loved Buffy the Vampire Slayer, or the best foods for a last meal. That’s the beauty of a blog – I can write what I want, and to hell with anybody else. I’m going to apologise for my self-serving attitude here and hope I never have to bring it up again.

People who know me personally willbe rather shocked that I’m seeking out the spotlight, coz I’m not like that in real life. I like my little corner, and while I’m happy to entertain one or two people at a time in my corner, I don’t like being dragged out onto stage in front of other people to show them how awesome I am. But here’s another great thing about blogs – I’m pretty much anonymous on this platform. All you’re getting of me are my thoughts and feelings (of which I have many and always willing to share), which are carefully planned and edited before presenting them to the world, which is how I’d like everything in my life to go.

I really won’t be offended if you don’t like my blog. Please don’t feel obliged to come back if the content upsets you. You don’t need to tell me you don’t like it, just pretend like you never foun the little ‘If you wish to contact the author, click here’ button. Positive comments are always welcome, though.