Sleepless in Polokwane Observer

Sleepless in Polokwane Observer

I am p-p-p-paralyzed with happiness.   Sleeplessinpolokwane has made  to the Polokwane Observer.  Yolande Dah-ling! You are the sunshine of my life.  This is the original version of  the article.  Enjoy!

A sleepless blogger in the city

>> She hit the “enter” button on the keyboard for the first time towards the end of March

>> Being able to write, is like the oxygen she breathes

Yolande Nel

Mashadi Mathosa is sleepless in Polokwane. And has a blog title to the same effect.

Her scribbles on sleeplessinpolokwane.blogspot.com are normally done at night, when the city is literally asleep. Then she makes a cup of tea and positions herself in front of a device she specifically acquired for the purpose of putting pen to paper or, in modern day terms, posting to the web.

She explains that she has been a true insomniac since the age of 16, a condition she doesn’t necessarily regard as anything bad. Mathosa brushes it off as her maybe not requiring as much sleep as others. Therefore the chosen title for her blog is a major highlight, as she finds it very befitting. The insomnia theme regularly emerges in her posts, “because counting sheep doesn’t help”.

She hit the “enter” button on the keyboard for the first time towards the end of March this year, after a longstanding yearning to give rise to her passion for creative writing. Being connected to a facebook page, her blog is ever growing in popularity, Mathosa happily points out.

Aptly starting with “But What Do You Do There” about activities in the place she calls home, she refutes the notion that Polokwane has nothing to offer. She describes her hometown as politely vibrant and “not exhausting”. The buzz is a low “zzzz”, she reckons. Still she regards the residents of the city connected to the world and whatever is not available can be found online. Forever participating in a variety of things to do, from the local chapter of national awareness drives to yoga and belly dancing all happening within less than 17 minutes away from where she stays, Mathosa is living proof of the vibey Polokwane she sketches in her writing.

She keeps her pieces reasonably short, simple, quirky and non-repetitive. In a fuss-free way she shares her insight into a host of everyday occurrences with her followers. Load shedding is given a go, also getting her index finger slammed in the car door and sharing trade secrets about where to get the best “slap chips” in town.

Mathosa’s blog is not intended to find the answer to world peace or attempting to reverse the fluctuating petrol price, but was created with the fun factor in mind; to her own benefit and that of her readers. She says she decided upon it for reasons of having done a lot of serious writing in the news industry all her life and wanting to give an honesty to her creative voice. “I’m like Riaan Cruywagen,” she quips, with reference to her erstwhile role in the media. She regards herself more of a creative writer than a factual storyteller. In wanting to use the word “I” in her writing, she considers the blog as a mirror of her life. She grew up reading “chick lit” and always liked the conversational style she applies to her own writing. “If you know me, you hear my voice (when reading the blog).”

An avid reader who intends shunning her television during the winter spell ahead in exchange for books, and on top of that being a perfectionist, she surprisingly finds writing for her blog very liberating. There is no stress about getting it perfect, but simply having fun, she remarks. She is quick to point out that she long realised she knew she could write, but struggled to find the kind of writing she would like to do. And now even bigger things await, like posting for South African Bloggers once a month.

“Creativity is about self-expression”. Being able to write, is like the oxygen she breathes, she concedes in conclusion.

If Mashadi Mathosa continues in this fashion, she might inspire more residents of this buzzing capital to want to be sleepless too.

A single girl's guide to loadshedding

When a country experiences a rough patch such as war or famine the government comes up with  contingency plans for the survival of its citizens. They ration out resources such as food and citizens themselves learn that they have to make some compromises so that they can all make it through the day. Things that were regarded as standard become  luxuries.  Initially the  people rant and rave, they moan and groan until it becomes the norm . Though they may not like it they learn to live with it until it is sorted out. This is the case with electricity in South Africa right now.  Our grid cannot meet the demand for electricity so as  a result electricity is rationed through a process called load shedding.

I weep.

All right so there are too many of us  with too many households and we can all have electricity but not all at the same time.  The load shedding story makes headlines every day because we are all trying to be on top of it. Load shedding  has become an icebreaker much like the weather used to be.  It has brought on a new dynamic to how we spend our time especially if it happens in the evening.  What do you  in the dark ?  I figure people who live in pairs or  groups will find ways to entertain each other but what about the singletons? Especially the girls; what are we to do in the dark?

Again, I weep.

Having been caught off guard a number of times and living through  hours of no food, no drinks, no warmth , complete silence and darkness I realised that if  I am to make it I will need a  fool proof plan. So here it goes:

Know when darkness will strike

Don't ever, allow load shedding to catch you off guard. Ever. You must get the load shedding schedule. If  you are going  get screwed you better know when it's going to happen.  Ask your friends, ask your enemies, visit the Eskom website, check your municipality , find out who your neighbours are and ask them . Just make sure you know when its going to be lights out.

Battery power

Make sure that all your battery operated apparatus are fully charged, especially the torch  as this will help you to locate the other things. Your phone ,  Wi-fi  router,laptop and tablet should be fully charged as they will provide not only entertainment and a connection to the outside world but also a beam to pierce through the dark.  

Sparking flames

Candles are probably the nicest thing about load shedding.  Have as many or as little as you like and don't forget matches and lighters.  We love candles because they give us  both light and a great opportunity to have a candlelit dinner by our bad selves. 

Workout your supper time

Look its either you prepare a cold meal like a salad or sandwich or you need to make sure that your supper is warm when you want to eat it.    If load shedding starts at six, but you eat at seven, and it ends at eight. I suggest you find a  good pasta salad recipe or one those granny dishes that keep things warm for a while.  You can now have a delicious supper while you listen to music from your fully charged laptop by candlelight by your bad self.

I've had dinner,now what?

So suppose you are thrown in the dark between eight and ten.   This is a great time for that home-spa bath.  All those oils and salts that you buy and never use can come in handy now.  Run your bath and surround it with an army of candles.  Soak and soak until you turn into a prune.  Relax and let your mind wonder.If you want to take it up a notch you can listen to your music or a guided meditation.  I love the latter.  Stay in there as long as you like and realise what a gift this is.

If  like me, you have a fireplace ...make a fire, pop a bottle of wine, listen to Billie Holiday and Nina Simone   but forget about the blues.

Surf the net, skype, play candy crush , retweed, follow, share, post, chat if you are so inclined. Or better yet, read  an  ebook or your favourite blog ( ahem). 

Go to bed early

What?  Go the bed before ten? Yes, the early to bed story is not a myth.  Maximise on the length of the winter night and get your beauty sleep.  It will be wise of course to prepare your hot water bottles, well in advance as the alternative is too sad to bare.  You've had supper, taken a bath, sat by the fire with a glass of wine, listened to good music, read a book and now you really should be ready of bed.  Unless of course like me, you  suffer from insomnia then you may just be happy being sleepless in Polokwane or your own town and write a blog post or two. Let the dark  be your inspiration.

Or you could do that

40 kilos on my pointing finger

It is after eleven on a Sunday night. Ordinarily I would be in bed after grooming myself for the week. Nails clipped and polished, hair in neat square blocks, lunch packed for Monday, clothes laid out...you know the works.  However, I spent my entire  Sunday working on a paper that I pledged to do seven days before the deadline.  Not only did I have limited academic resources but I also only had nine fingers to work with.  See last week after I surrendered my car to the panel beater and after he reversed into causing a third crash in 14 days my mother was gracious enough to loan me hers for the week cause dare I be sleepless and car-less.  I love my parents , who are able to this day to put my needs ahead of theirs.

Now, my mother's car is a debonair Volvo S40 . On Wedensday last week , as I went home to change for my yoga class I slammed the car door on my left index finger. Great balls of fire, I went hot and cold at the same time. What pain. Its like a hundred bolts of thunder landing on your head at the same time.  I saw my sanity flashing before my tear stricken eyes.

As a  person who always looks for meaning in things I tried for hours to figure out why my index finger had to be crushed by a Swedish made automobile with doors  weighing  half my weight... they are very heavy. I couldn't find the answer as I spent most of that evening with my hand in ice in an attempt to deal with the pain.  That didn't work it just made me cold.

On Saturday as  I drove to Haenertsburg  to fetch my custom made meditation chair (this time driving my fathers awesome Ford Ranger)  I finally got the answer to my  injured finger conundrum.  The universe said to me "Shadi you have your finger in too many pies, you need to cut down." I'm quite sure, as the universe is not cruel, that she had tried to tell me in other ways and as an -I can do it all type of person- I did not listen.  So here I am with a blue finger and a dead nail.

The universe speaks to us in many ways, first she sends a whisper, then a slight nudge and then perhaps a  shove in  the back and when you don't listen...she sends a  heavy door crushing on your  finger. Ouch...now I hear you.

You can do it all but not all at the same time

After work , before dinner.

Its Friday night  I am tired and feeling a little down so I've decided to indulge in a mood  lifter that has stood the test of time.  Generation after generation this little piece of magic has captured the imagination of children and grownups alike. I can’t help but smile.  I am watching Mary Poppins. Perfectly perfect  in every way. 

I love all things Disney and when you put Julie Andrews in the picture well...supercalifragilisticexpialidocious,

Lets get back to why I am so tired,  See, I have day job which is a little haphazard so there's no energy saving there.  Then I take on things like writing papers for journals and weekday dinner parties and I also have 'after school activities'.  I clearly have issues with idle time.  This is my schedule:

Pilates : On Monday I take Pilates from my good friends and physiotherapists  Matt and Liz.  They run classes  from Monday to Thursday  and you can contact them on 015 297 2911.

Yoga:  Theresa takes me for yoga on Tuesdays the effects of which I feel for the rest of the week. She is available on 083 558 5572.

Yoga:  Then I go to Shakeera for a different type of Yoga on Wednesdays . We breathe and breathe and breathe some more. She is in Nirvana and is available on 083 566 9496.

Belly Dancing: Yes in Polokwane, I shimmy my Thursdays away with Alta who is on  0848500420.

I used to take guitar on Friday  but my tutor left me to join a band. The show must go on I guess.

Thus I do get exhausted and I too could use a Mary Poppins type figure in my life. I could use a little magic.

Contemplating

Oh where , oh where did our blogger go ? (Part 2)

Some years ago I read Maya Angelou's  'The heart of a woman'  and  many years later Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's 'Half of a yellow of sun'.  Though the books are very different I  have the same fantasy about a particular subtext. Both books give descriptive accounts of parties held by dynamic African  intellectuals, attached to institutions of higher learning,  some spotting  afros, some spotting  stone washed jeans and dashikis, some accompanied by strong opinions, some seeking to establish life long relationships and   all participating in the play befitting such a scene .  I always imagined myself at one of these parties , wearing a calabash print maxi dress with  thick braids swaying on  my back , a satchel full of books and virgin  ideas.  I didn't have the dress nor the braids and my bag was full of uncharged electronics but...I got the party.

My friend Reneilwe hosted one such party at her house which is on the premises of  The University of Limpopo in Turfloop. Which of course was the perfect location for my fantasy.  She had a friend visiting from Uganda and had invited us for a polite dinner on a weekday evening.  The guest fiber consisted of a writer, a geologists, two scientists,a civil servant, a sanitation guru, a film specialist, an energy expert, a lawyer or two and one very happy blogger. 

Graciously, our new friend from Uganda laboured  in the kitchen creating a marvel of a three course dinner complete with paired wine. It has to be a good meal when honey,pear and coconut are going into the savoury dishes.  In between the eating  and drinking and general merry making I watched my fantasy unfold .    We debated, we danced, we dug up old songs, we spilled drinks , we made speeches, we found answers to questions nobody asks and made proposals to change the world. I lived my fantasy. 

This post is dedicated to Reneilwe Malatji and Ron Sessanga.

and living my fantasies