SA FIND NO1

I am not going to lie. I have had better nights.

My freshly done weave is too tight, and I have stomach cramps.

The TV sound has suddenly disappeared, right in the middle of one of my favourite programmes.

But...and this is a big one...I have this in the fridge....

Personally, I  have never ever come across this in the UK, but I believe it was available at one time and was later discontinued. I cannot fathom this.

Can't get over it. Biscuit pieces in chocolate. A chocolate cookie in reverse. It's too much. Too much.

Happy Christmas!!!

How are you spending this Christmas?

This Christmas in Cape Town is all about sun, the beach, picnics, reading, good wholesome food and giving thanks. Our invitation for a family type Xmas weekend came with the tagline...bring wine, and low expectations.

This sounded good. (Excluding the wine, as you will remember from an earlier post.) 

In other news, I have the picture taking bug at the moment...

Hout Bay

my model!

Have a Very Very Merry Xmas, all!!!!
xxxx
y

Excuse the randomness...

It is the dead of night, and hot - too hot to sleep. I was stirred from sleep by a hungry mosquito and people partying hard over the road to songs like this



...which is really funny because I was in high school in a small town in the North of England when this song was released into the charts. Tommy's Bar opposite plays this type of thing all of the time.

Growing up in Chorley, Lancashire I did not imagine quite where I would be some ten years later and that some of my friends would be mothers of two and that some would be married, some would be doctors and teachers and lawyers...
but mainly that everyone grows up in one way or the other, because life happens.

I was supposed to be married to my African american poet/musician by now.

Still waiting.

Q. When you wake up in the middle of the night and hear partygoers outside do you wish you were there or turn over, thankful that you're wrapped up in a warm cosy bed and safe in the knowledge that you are missing absolutely nothing?

Me, I fear I'm getting old.

Going to drink some water. Night.

It certainly is

My drinking problem

Lets be clear on this before I begin. I like a good drink or two. Only a few years ago I was able to drink wine, spirits, shots – you name it, and plenty of it - fairly easily and without too much of a problem the day after.

I wish I could give more of a worthy reason for my own teetotalism (not that I’m entirely militant) but the fact is that the aftermath simply proves far too much for me these days. Most people get a headache, feel sick, tired, generally like rubbish all day…of late for me it involves extreme fatigue which spans for around a fortnight, a never ending, crazy appetite for salty junk foods and feeling extremely drained, faint, cold and light headed for a good few days. The suffering becomes completely disproportionate to the level of indulgence.

All this seems like an idea not to drink, does it not? How I wanted to ignore it, but eventually the penny dropped. Perhaps, I thought, someone was telling me something.

But I resisted. Went to my doctor. Attempted to raise my blood pressure, which is low. Blamed it on an iron deficiency. Nothing worked. So, after many more weeks spent on the sofa feeling faint and much grumbling, I stopped drinking.

It certainly has its benefits. I get to feel smug and happy during a night out when I take a look around, knowing that I will be the only one to wake up without a headache, also in the morning when I'm fresh and can begin the day. I’m thinner. My mind feels clearer. I feel more emotionally stable, which helps. I'm in control. (Kind of.)

It had its cons. I miss being tipsy and the joy and devil may care feeling that comes with inebriation. Everyone always wants to meet for drinks to celebrate, commiserate, conversate…everything. People treat you like you have a disease or spend all evening trying to force alcohol on you. People spend all evening asking in horror and amazement why you don't drink. People become odd and suspicious of you. They think you're judging them, or that you're a control freak who doesn’t want to let go, or that you’re boring. All because you don’t want to share a bottle of wine. I still love to go out and dance…although my threshold for hearing the same joke twenty times or dancing to rubbish music is much lower.

Please do me a favour on behalf of people who don’t drink, everywhere. I’m writing this because I care. If you have a friend who doesn’t drink, for whatever reason. Do not spend all night saying ‘just have one.’

Have one for us, and deal with it.

Recent phone camera pics

wish you were here!

Mum

Yesterday marked the passing of a very special lady.

God rest your soul.
Miss you.
Y x

FUTURE RETRO SHOOT

In this months issue of One Small Seed.

Check out out shoot video here...

one small seed tv - Watch [ FASHION | THE FUTURE RETRO SHOOT NOV/10 ]

Y x

Connecting People

Today was different. Shooting a commercial on location in central Cape Town.You probably don’t need to be an industry person to know that filming just about anything for television involves at least the best part of an hour in hair, make up and wardrobe…a million hours waiting around, and then the longest day(s) on set . Today on set we had wrapped in a very very short amount of time. A record amount of time. 

In fact, I am sitting at home wondering if I actually went to work today.

Sometimes one country is just like the other in that you never feel as though you belong, or even as though you will stay for very long. Acquaintances that you make for the day speak at you in English (partly) but with differences in flavour, tone and turn of phrase. It  interesting or cute, attractive, or just strange. 

Anyway, as times goes on, I find that I am forgetting the art of polite chatter. I used to be so good at it! It seems that I am actually becoming less refined.  It is a phase, or down to getting older? 

There seems to be lots to think about, always. More to deal with and more to do. I get tired. Very. Quickly. 

I relax and listen, zoning in and out of conversations a lot lately (where there are more then two people of course – I am never rude, I hope.)  I am quietly relieved when a conversation begins and other people take over. Am aware that my silence come off as shy, disinterested, or vague. 

Perhaps I am neither, and maybe I am all three.

On the beach at sunset.

My agency probably wont use these pics as they are less commercial than the ones of me that they would usually use, but I wanted to share them here anyway. Mariska Van Der Brink (photog), Densisha, Sibu and I decided to do a last min beach shoot late afternoon on the beach. Here are a few of the shots.

They were an amazing team.
It got very cold on that beach though!

Cape Morning

Today I did a shoot on Llandudno beach, lay down, felt the sun on my face and looked out at the sea.
It felt more then good. I was listening to nothing, but hearing everything.