Just for fun

THESE ARE A FEW OF MY FAVORITE THINGS

Oh where , oh where did our blogger go? (Part1)

Ever had  one those weeks where the days roll by, flowing into each other with no definite beginning and no definite end?  Where you are so busy with nothing and  yet  you are exhausted from it?  My week was like that I was  a hamster on  a wheel...moving but going nowhere.

It all started with the insomnia.  Perhaps sleeplessinpolokwane is manifesting  literally in my body.  I have not been able to sleep. I  tried all the remedies I know; from the old wives tales to guided meditations. The consequence of course is that I am tired and grumpy during the day meaning I couldn't go about my business with the usual enthusiasm.  I couldn't update the blog because I was being the blog...sleeplessinpolokwane.

Then I hit my car. Twice.  On Tuesday  I reversed into a wall and cracked the bumper.  I got over it pretty quickly and decided to fix it as soon as possible.  On Friday morning I went to the autobody shop where they removed the bumper and told me they'd give me a call once it was complete.  So I went on my merry way and proceeded to scratch the side of my car at the garage at work.  I didn't  get over this one as  quickly.

Between all of these things I had to return my brand new phone to the store because it could do everything but make calls.  I made the mistake of washing my wanna-be-dreadlocks and now  my hair has gone back to being an afro only with  locked ends.I missed the Parkrun and the monthly Flea marketa and book launches  and youth seminars.  I even missed Empire.

However, I had some great moments during this series of unfortunate events. Which I will write about next time provided of course that I get some sleep tonight.

I NEED A SUPERHERO

Dream of an insomniac...

Time: 00:15

I  can't fall asleep 

So  I'll just lie here

I will not count sheep

That never helps

Instead

I'll make a list

Of the things I love.

Hot air balloons

Windmills

Ladybirds

Sunflowers

Volkswagen Beetles

Cartoons

Tea sets

Sunglasses

Guitars

Books

Giraffes

Jazz

Red 

Fleece 

Herbs

Lipstick

Essential oils

Glass

Dresses

Jewelry boxes
Pink

Wooden Chests

Coconut oil

Slippers

Antiques

Films
Words

This blog...

Sleepless in Polokwane

All dressed up and somewhere to go

Looking for something to do this weekend?

Friday Night

Saturday Morning.

Pakrun was launched  in Polokwane last week.  Please visit www.parkrun/polokwane/  to join this golabal sensation.  Park runs  starts at 08:00  every Saturday opposite the park at  the corner of Landros Mare and Potgieter Avenue.  But please visit the website before you go as there may be some admin issues to get through.

Sunday

The Annual Mayoral  Road Cycle  Race is  on Sunday.   I reckon all committed cyclist already know however registration will still be open on the day from 05:30 .  The home base is the Peter Mokaba Rugby Stadium.  The event  promises to be great fun for the whole family. Errr...I used to ride bikes when I was a child but it turns out that riding a bike is not like riding a bike.

The Saturday number line...

08:00
Location: Bendor
 Get out of  bed. Missing the launch of Polokwane parkruns.  You can check them out  at      www.parkrun.co.za

08:30
Location: Flora Park Spar
Enter hair salon . Continuing with attempt to grow dreadlocks. Not very successful. Spotting a morning market. Purchase items: Boerewors rolls. Look out for this  market on the first Saturday of every month.

10:00
Location : Somewhere in town
Stop to buy roses for my bedroom. Very pretty. R40.

12:00
Location: China City Polokwane
Shopping with my aunt.  Very Colourful. Amazing merchandise.  Note to self: must make shopping list  for the next trip.

15:00
Location: Ancherlene Cafe
Buying the best slap chips in Polokwane ( or perhaps the world) . Still with my aunt. Will serve chips with salt and vinegar. She insists on having tea...just for control

18:00
Location: Bendor Polokwane
Dinner at a friend's  family home, I'm serving as a buffer, She is introducing  someone  to her parents. Talking about this here blog.


21:00
Location: Home
Thoughts of hot bath, essential oils, light   music. But actually...zzzzzzz in polokwane

But Friday night,yes I know...

I love Fridays but more than Fridays I love Friday nights.    There are many reasons  for this sentiment; it being the launch of the weekend and all. Then there's the  junk food, the grown up people's drinks, the going to bed without an alarm clock but most importantly for me  there's  Noot vir Noot.

Pinch me twice and smack me silly but man I love this show. Noot  vir Noot is an Afrikaans  music game show which has been running since 1991( when I was nine year old).  The show is hosted in Afrikaans but the contestants are quizzed  on all genres of music. There's  a live band, neon lights and a real life studio audience. Dit is  fantasties.  My peers  usually  give me the crooked eye when I tell  them  about  my soft spot for this show, you know, on account of it being seemingly boring and definitely corny . But, would it have lasted this long if it was not  brilliant?

Now  this last  Friday night  was a particular hit because I attended a little Noot vit Noot  party  at my friend Yolande's house.  Yolande  isn't  into this sort of thing so she  had bought a design magazine to drown in or perhaps to hide from the general corniness of the show.  However;  she  indulged her mom and I  .  Her mom is a fellow enthusiast.  I adore her. .  We both love potatoes and we both love Noot vir Noot.  Yolande and Finie, being gracious hosts prepared a delicious dinner of  potato soup for the starter, beef stew and jasmine rice as  the main, and Finie's  homemade triple layer chocolate cake for desert.  I was in comfort food heaven.

We laughed, we ate, we sang, we  drank,we gossiped , we teased the contestants and we played  the game  note for  note.  Finie was not my weekend special. I plan on having many  Friday nights with her, in  our little  corner of Polokwane, sleepless and enjoying the theatrics of one Mr Johan Stemmet, sans the three dimensional waistcoats of the nineties of course.

NEED I SAY MORE?

Easter lives here.

Polokwane owns Easter.  Its the same every year really.   Over a million people from Sub-Saharan Africa meet at the ZCC headquarters  in Moria for the Easter Pilgrimage. This annual event has several spin offs for Polokwane, the most important  being the  48 hour economic boom.  Local businesses from filling stations, super markets,  take-away outlets and  fruit vendors  service these millions leaving them with empty shelves and  heavy pockets.  Everybody loves to break their profit margin.

And in other news...

My friend Lethabo and I attended  the 'Live it,Jazz it"  concert  last night at the Fusion Boutique Hotel   for an evening of good food and good music.   After matured steaks and mashed potato we  followed the music.  On the line up : 5th Element, Yukio, Tlale Makhene, Blog, Erik Paliani and Judith Sephuma as the headliner.  The musicians were  great and Judith of course was fantastic. 

However, what I'd like to bring your attention to is the the following:

There is a man. His name is Erik Paliani. He plays the guitar .  I had never seen or heard anything quite like this before. Erik Paliani has a love connection with his guitar.  His  performance is a  conversation between  the man and his instrument.  It  is alive,  it is intense and  it is heavy and light at the same time,.  It sends shivers down  your spine then caresses  you back into ease. Mind blowing.  Took my breath away.

So so so sleepless in Polokwane.

Who's the fool?

JUST LIKE MARILYN

It would appear that the fool would be me...or would it?

When  I drove to work this morning  I changed my radio dial to Energy Fm-the pulse of the city. This station is Polokwane's first and only community radio station  and is growing steadily every day. So the breakfast team announced that I would be co-hosting  the show with them. Being oblivious to today's date I called my boss and he  said  I needed to rush to the station as he was waiting for me there  because we were both  going to present with team on AshifaBreakfast.   Clearly, they had  all planned this and had me as their target.

Why me you ask? I work as a communicator for the government and it  is common course to visit radio stations for interviews and such.    I really should have picked it up but  I hadn't had my morning coffee and I come from the "is there life before coffee?" school of thought.

So, as  it were  I went to the station and relived my radio days. And oh  what fun I had. Before I joined the government as a  communicator   I had worked on radio with these very people on a different station.  It was a great blast from the past laced with  fun music, jokes and good information.

Most importantly though , I got to speak about this here blog.  Free Publicity!  I laughed all the way back to my office.

He who laughs last...