Monday the 31st of October, 2011

is the day I remember 1996.  Religious "experts" were counting down to 2000.  Scientific experts were also counting down, alerting all and sundry that a binary crush was in the offing.  During this period there was so much "biblical evidence" of the world coming to an end.  There were "facts", comparisons, television programmes, magazines, gospel revivals etc and you know what, 2000 came... and went.  No binary crush, no big anticipated changes, no end of the world.  One day you are in 1999 and next day is the 1st of January, 2000 - a new decade. Today,  11 years 10 months into the new decade, look who is still around?  

So, whats with this habit of doing exactly the same thing, stuck in the same place, same beliefs, same fears, same restlessness for so many years? A bit like Moses and the wilderness (forty odd years was it?)  Other people did so much during the same period.  It does not necessarily boil down to accomplishments.....  even lack of them - anything tangible, or traceable or listable, or visible Today, instead of the machinations of breathing, eating, sitting and standing, did I make a memory, or create a stamp on life?  If not mine, anyone else's?

Twins' Day Out

The 2009 documentary about a day in the life of President Obama made palatable viewing late yesterday evening, coming as it did as the last item on a day spent with friends, laughing, driving around,  eating and doing what women do when they spend a day with their children - catching up and scandalising.  I spent the day, together with the twins, in the first world, where chilldren go to good private schools, where mums, driving decent cars, pick up children from school on time.  A world  where cake sale stalls and cake sales give parents a chance to chat then thereafter, we went to one of these mothers' homes - a sprawling double storey affair in a leafy surburb. The worst was watching the twins, the way they just blended in, no self concsciousness, no lack of confidence, no inferiority complex, nothing.  Its like they were right in their natural habitat.  Now the twins have a sleep-over invitation, and a few more to some birthday parties.   The strangest thing is I did not plan this day.  I did not make any arrangement with anyone prior to what happened.  How it started, I discovered in the morning, just before I started off for work that my mother fired the maid.  My mother is old and cannot manage the twins. I got upset and brought the kids to work.  Then,  one of my past life friends walked in and that was that.

The documentary about the Obamas was moving.  It showed a man totally in love with a dream, a dream that has been realised but also, at a cost.  The families who had not stayed together for six months or more, the sacrifices on the campaign trail,  the victory and the human toll.  What was especially touching was the realisation by Mr. Obama himself of what it had taken to get him into the White House and the momentousness of the responsibilities and promises that lay before him, plus the insatiable curiosity about him as the man of colour.  I do not think that Mr. Obama will be a greater or lesser president than what he is meant to be, but I thank him for totally changing the way the world looks at people in my, this fourthworld.

Most people lie ...

I found Charles's name on an on line dating agency page and he swears he has nothing to do with it.  His name is correct, his surname too, his birth day except his gender.  Instead of male, it lists him as female but his country of residence is also correct.  So I sent him an email with the link to 'his page' and .... 

The question I am asking is did I want to believe him or not or do I care whether or not he lies to me or  what difference is it going to make?  After all, I'm not being very nice to this charming and absolutely adorable human being.  Charles has this totally brilliant mind which just blows you away.  He taught me a lot of things, some good, some not so good.  The best lesson was the ability to get out of oneself and look at situations dispassionately.  I used to think him cruel and machine like but now that I am able to do the same, I realise that this lesson has its merits.  Where most people break down, you simply go on auto pilot and deal with whatever you have to at a more opportune time.  Then there is the lesson to value one's time and life. This, I learnt from him the hard way.  The merits far outweigh the demerits but for people in my world, this fourthworld, managing one's time and life makes you come across as mean, cold, calculating and unfeeling.  On the plus plus side however, it teaches you discipline, tenacity and order. 

Charles is a totally incurable romantic.  He is passionate and tender.  Has the sweetest lips on earth and this soft voice, you would think if he speaks too much he will run out of air.  Then there is his smile and the way he wets his lips with his lips before he kisses.  Did I mention how impeccably dressed he always is, buying a blue suit on our second date because blue happened to be my favourite colour way back when? So this on line dating thing could have been attention seeking on his part and it appears to have been meant to force me to act.  Charles meant well, he genuinely cares for me and I cannot believe what I did to him. This man is my Bruno Mars - Grenade. I know it, he knows it but a worm  got in the way.  It ate  all the woodwork and before I knew it, I was questioning  Charles' sincerity, his love, his motives, everything.  So finally, Charles said it.  He said he felt he has lost me.  Its true that he has lost me but somewhere at the back of my mind, I was thinking that given time, there was going to be a chance to salvage something.  Matters of the heart are never easy.  I think that of all the things that have happened, this is the most stupid and saddest.  I will miss Charles but part of me feels glad that he was the one to bring this up.  I do not have the right to keep him hoping.  Even the spirit of chasing after him has been totally extinguished.  So, what I am asking myself is did I or did I not love Charles?

Blue, Red and white

This is the fourth time I have tried to get myself out of the blues today.  Not your oh its a slow day blues, no, something deep and frightful, something that playing darts, or reading jokes online, or eating did not resolve. Have one more card left, dancing.  Yes, I dance in the office even when I am working, provided there is no-one else in the room, or only when its people I am comfortable with and do you know, this seems to be doing the trick. Started off with Alice Deejay "No More Lies."  Food.  Dance. Sit. Type. DJ Manoz.  "Alfredo". Dance. Type. Smile. Feel the mood swinging.  Bleksam "How Low".  Now I am in a really fantastic mood.   Have to cut this out.  Sweat. Got to go clean up.   Bleksam, DJ Cleo Crazy Boy Collaboration 2008. "How Low".  "Mamma shake your body now."  Wind and slow down.  Il Volo 'O Sole Mio".  I strongly advise people not to try this particular combination because of  the unlikeliness of the combination and  the craziness of the person who finds this combination workable - that is yours truly.

So when you chase away the blues, are you supposed to feel white or red?    I feel good, in fact, I feel wonderful and whats more important, I have managed to salvage a day which would otherwise have gone to a mopping waste!  

Bullet, blank blank blank

Bullet, bullet blank blank.  I cannot get over the photos of strongman Gadhafi lying helpless in a pool of blood.  What comes to mind is that nothing is really what it seems.  I remember the video of Yasser Arafat asking the outside world for help when he was trapped.  I am sorry to say my reaction was not very flattering.  Instead of the strong and fearful leader, what I saw was a pathetically afraid old man.   Some say Gadhafi was brave, others differ but for me, I wonder when, when when, in this my fourthworld, will leaders  learn a basic rule that you are put there by people and it is to them, those ordinary dirty or rugged individuals who take time out of their lives to put an mark on a ballot box that you owe the debt of having put you into that office.  People in my world are  used and abused for the most powerful tool they have, believing the same lies come every election (or is it poll erection).  Many promises and few deliveries.  Stomach politics, as some aptly named it,  is tough.  Is it not time that we look beyond the dirty and mucky political water to examine who really has our best interests at heart ... or are they all the same?  So much good that Gadhafi did, so much infamy that he did too, so much so that it totally eradicated the good.  Ah, I remember commenting when Gadhafi's son came on TV soon after the invasion early this year.  The impression that came to mind was one of obtuteness, arrogance and ingrained superiority over all other human beings.  After that interview, the word idiot came to mind ..... constantly.   

Audacity - Bonus post

Someone asked me today if everything I write on the blog is true. People, is it right to ask a woman whether or not she speaks the truth?  What happened to chivalry? Of course, what I write on the blog is .... what I write on the blog.  Fine, its good to know that some people out there actually read what I write.  Facebook started because Zuckerberg was a sucker-bad conversationalist, so he made himself popular by posting stuff on a wall. Yes.  Posting, stuff on the wall.  Not a loiter-box, I meant a letter-box like most of us were doing at that time, but on the wall and look where that got him - into millions of people and dollars. Me, I categorically state somewhere on the blog that most postings are my take, but someone has to ask me, is what you write on the blog true?

What is truth?  Is it not a matter of perspective?  I would have understood if the questioner asked if I have written about any other people's lives except those lives which relate to my own (and just in case you get ideas and ask that question, the answer is  people, dont push me into a corner, I used to get agitated, ha ha ha!)  I will answer one question, Charles exists, Esther used to.  Thats two questions already and yes, I am in a frivolous mood.  After burying a couple of people who want to live, you realise that anger is a waste of time, most of the time.  Its useless and wasted energy which, if channeled properly, produces fantastic work.

And what is wrong with the Titles?  The reason why the fourthworld has such pathetically few blogs is because writing is difficult, spelling is awful and making sentences that make sense, day in and out is mostly for the loonies called journalists, or writers, or poets. 

And a technical hitch saw ...

eight days of no blog posting. What I was supposed to do after pre-scheduling the blogs I wrote to automatically appear daily during my absence was  pre-publish, a process I forgot to follow when my dearly departed relative came earlier than had been initially advised and everything else had to be abandoned.  Her funeral was held as scheduled and everything considered, I think she had a grander funeral than actual life.   I mean, she flew for the first and only time in her life after she died and her funeral was the first event where she took centre stage with so many people paying her tribute.  Esther's funeral procession had three buses and more than twenty cars, which all lined up and caused a reasonable stir in this otherwise materially challenged neighbourhood.  There was lots for the locals to talk about after the funeral.  

Lets face it, in this my world, most things are done for show.  Who is watching, who attended, what they brought, what they were driving, what they were wearing etc.  Was the dearly departed in  a casket or a coffin? How much  food was served, how was it served and how often? Did any people of note attend?  I leave you to picture the two prominent political parties swaying for ownership of the funeral, four churches assuming the right to the last rites, and various other interested parties.  All this for someone who did not go to church herself or belong to any political party, but because of the relatives left behind, such was the demand for ownership of the funeral.  In the end, three pastors from three different churches helped each other to do the graveside sermon and the representatives from the two political parties slugged at each other quietly as their voices were drowned by the beer drinking and drum beating group which claimed Esther to be one of its own. A really colourful funeral!

Immediately thereafter, I took off for Mutare.  Mutare was my typical spur of the moment decision and I'm glad  I went, especially without the twins because I needed the rest.   Mutare knows how to enchant!  It is an attractive city but not a heart throb.  A city with much allure but no pull, beauty but no magic.  You can heal in Mutare but you do not forget.  So I embraced the mountains and kissed the forests and breathed the scent of the pines and dined with the stars.  I told the moon my secrets and it shared its own forlon loneliness with me and  together we laughed and made friends.  That was magic.  I promised the moon that we would do that again soon and so we will!    

Today

"Fear is a motivator but a demotivator too. If you surround yourself with people who are unsure of themselves you become that also. It is easy to blame than to take responsibility. Most situations are threats or opportunity and when you open your mind to explore, its amazing what possibilities present themselves. Between a rock and a hard place is a place just like any other. The only thing missing is comfort. Today is one of the best days of your life. You have the power to make it so. Start with a smile then do something that makes you feel good and the rest will fall into place."

Sometime today I will bury a relative.  I am not sure of the exact time because this post, I am pre-scheduling.  Amazing, the number of things one can do and they come out just as planned.  The secret being in the planning. Now in my world, there is more of faith and silly beliefs that you reap where you did not sow. Most people would rather blame fate than take the bull by the horn and do what has to be done.  

I laugh at my son because he is in this 'love' zone where so much of his energy is spent wondering what the lady of his desire and dreams is thinking of. Half the time I am expected to explain what a response means or to help out with what to say next etc. The mood swings are also getting more and more exhausting but you have to endure that, after all, the young man is in love.

Which makes the huge difference between the young men in my world and those in the first world.  While in the first world, you have to try and make your way in life and there are manly ways of doing certain things which one is taught and expected to abide by for life, in my world, there is this tendency among some of the young men to spend the best years of their lives dreaming.  Not dreams of accomplishing much with their lives or becoming something worthwhile but rather, of how many hearts they will break, how many women, young and old they can bed, etcetera.      

Esther's life is over and done with.  My prayer, instead of the prayer for the dead, will be that God grants me enough wisdom to make my time useful, my life worthwhile and a blessing for others so that I care more, respect more, and love more and become a more responsive human being.   Thank you and Goodbye Esther. 

Thank You

For a message as simple as it was beautiful.  I savoured every word, enjoyed the sweetly thought out action to please and not irritate and the thoughtful timing.  You really  are sensitive and beautiful, but you already know that. It made up for the previous evening when I could not for the life of me sleep.  I had exhausted my body exercising, taken a warm bath just before bed and added an extra blanket, just to make sure sleep came but you know what, I was awake the entire blessed night.  Much as I blocked what I had to, I knew the cause of my trouble and yes, it can be very irritating when one has no control over what one feels.  So you can imagine the beautiful  surprise the message was and more importantly, how much it was appreciated.  It was very brave of you to write it.  

I wonder how many people in life get messages specifically targeted at them but for one reason or another, fail to realise that its them that the message is meant for or to appreciate the gesture behind the message. That would have been me too at some point but not any more.  You live, you learn. You enjoy and celebrate your pleasure just as you endure the pain. Ce la vie.

This message is for one human being only on this entire planet, thank God!  I love you. Take care.

What will be....

will be.  I have just gone through a period of testing a lot of beliefs, mine and other people's and its enlightening.  I had been going around telling people that I was feeling "drained" and exhausted and in fact, I had started telling people that they were draining me, only to realise that there was a perfectly logical and factual explanation for what was happening to me.

1.  Diet - If you skimp on meals and eat the wrong type of food, you do tend to feel drained because low energy food does not do much for work which demands much of your brain and or concentration - that is a fact.

2.  Sleep - You do need to make sure that you get sufficient sleep.

3.  Exercise - For people my age, especially women in my world, there is a tendency to skip this.  I was pleasantly surprised when I took up a few minutes of aerobics that not only did my concentration actually increase, so did my awareness of my general surroundings and the people around me.  I am feeling healthier and have this positive attitude in life when everything that could or can go wrong has done so.  Instead of going through a depressing and negative period, I am happy, focused and productive.

4.  Beliefs -  Most of the beliefs I have gleaned from other people and have put to the test ... I found they do not work.  I think the self-limiting beliefs thing - its true up to a point.  I say so because I just met the woman who contributed to the acrimonious divorce I had a decade ago face to face for the first time today and guess who introduced me?  My son.  She was more uncomfortable than I was and I laughed because she told me all these years she had dreaded meeting me only to find I hold no grudges and I actually wish her well, even after all the trouble and pain she caused me and my son.

5. Money - When the first aeroplane was invented, there were people who said it would not fly.  When Bill Gates was working on Microsoft and had problems, Dell told him his company was not worth US$20 million and he offered him US$5 million  instead, only to see Bill Gates become the richest man in the world.  The point here is when you are at your lowest ebb, believe in what you are doing and hang in there and hold on no matter what people say.  You will make it.

6.  Happiness - Is still free and abundant in this world.  Even when you are in a period of embracing death and dealing with it, you can still smile and find lots to thank God for.

7.  Friends - True ones, continue to constantly surprise you.

8.  Work-mates - You spend so much of your life with other people who become family.  I had the priviledge of working with a lot of different and uniquely gifted people this past year, whose hopes were dashed but who I hope have moved on to make something worthwhile of their lives and to the whole group, I am eternally grateful for your work and your contribution.

9.  Family - Such fragile bonds.  I am at a period where I have had to re-evaluate all the family relationships one by one and its a painful but necessary process one may have to do if one really wants to mature.  You celebrate some relationships, regret some, want to terminate others but .... family is family.  Ask the Godfather.

10.  Work - One of the greatest delights of my life.  Unlike most people, I thank God for what I do.  It keeps me sane.  It wakes me up in the morning and keeps me up late at night and I am totally and absolutely passionate about what I do.

11.  Religion - I was talking with a colleague at work and explaing to them that I do not want to seek God because I have problems, but rather have a relationship with God which is not based on my wants, needs, fear of family, fear of failure or fear of being singled out as a non-believer.  My world has suffered because of what some of these religious extremists believe, without facts.  Some now say it is a crime to have an open mind.  Others pray to prophets and not God and yet others still have these double lives its pathetic.  I could go on about why people in my world go to church but that will have to be for another day.

So, all I have to do is concentrate for the next couple of months, endure only two people's delightful company daily and what will be, will be. People, I just love life and I thank God every day for mine and for everyone else's.

Great Expectations

This is a serious debate that is raging about the twins.  One appears to be academically inclined while the other looks good for atheletics.  If the decision was mine alone, I would send one to a school where they produce great academicians and the other to a school where they produce great sportsmen.  In my world,  most countries have not  bothered to change the school curriculum for the past decade.  Same text books, same teaching schools, same approach to education even when it is blatantly clear that its letting most of the populace down.  Education in itself is not bad, but my argument is that it has to have some relevance as to what significance what is being taught will play in one's life as one progresses through days of this, our journey into awareness which others call life.  How relevant is Pythogoras' Theorem in this day and age and what help will it give me to know the bones of the skeleton if I have no desire to become a doctor?  I know that I risk the ire of some parents in voicing this concern about the irrelevance of most school carricula in this, my 4thworld but surely and honestly, someone somewhere sees what I see.  Drogba, a footballer, earns more than most, if not all  people with doctorates.  

So, do I consciously and knowingly subject my children to years of useless data accumulation which,  at some time assured them of a blue collar job at the end of all that torture but does not have a guarantee of that anymore?  If I do not take that route, should I second them to a professional so that they learn a trade early and beat unemployment or, do I just leave them alone and see?  So far they have learnt the Queen's language without attending creche, they can count to 100 and they write from one to 21 (albeit from right to left) and they know a number of the letters of the alphabet, not by rote, but really know them .  In fact, they are far more literate than kids their own age who have spent the last two years in creche.  So, where do I go to find schools which will provide solutions that work for life for my children in this, my 4thworld today?  Do I dare expect different and or better from my children knowing that the education system I may have to subject them to (by force of circumstance) offers little or nothing in terms of equipping them realistically for the world that will await them at the end of this  ..... this education experiment?  

      

Gypsies

I have stayed in 22 different places in the years I have lived and my son, who is 19 has stayed in 16 of those.  I think the tragedy is that all those places are in one  town.  It would have been lovely to have included 10 countries or maybe 16 cities - so people, you understand that once I have made my money (which I will), I am going to travel, and travel, and travel, and share all my travel stories with everyone in my world.

Does not mean that I have not done a bit of travelling.  I have.  First few years company sponsored then a little on my own money.  Why is it that people in my world do not PLAN?  We have funerals every other day.  We struggle to bury the dead and immediately after the funeral, do we go and get a funeral policy - no.  Same with hospital.  No medical Aid.  Same with investments, - live from hand to mouth.  Same with property - tenant all your life.  Same with cars - keep the taxi trade in business, generation after generation.  Same with religion - my parents went to this Church so there I must go also.  Clothes.  Education.  Careers.

The confusion in my world about this shifting and fast paced technological era is real.  People literally feel overwhelmed by the changes and most ... just do not bother.  The ones in the fore-front, those who should be grasping this change and embracing it and passing it on to the next generation only heard of Facebook - they do not want to hear, know or learn about the vast advantages and possibilities internet opens and changes in one's daily lives.

Gypsies for life?  I refuse.  One of these fine God given beautiful days the gypsy will settle, in a huge roomy house with lots of things that my family and everyone  I care for likes.  The purpose of life is to live it and enjoy it and at the end of it all, retire gracefully to enjoy all the memories you are making today.  I know in my world being a Gypsy is, for most people, not a choice but a given.  I think accepting and adapting makes everything tolerable, but not what YOU must be.  There is a choice, and most times, you make that choice... then blame everyone else for your bad decision(s).

Baby's Room After Baby Shower

I totally agree that this is a Baby Room for a baby after a baby shower where people appear to care for the person they were throwing the shower for.  And in this case I can safely confirm that the people care, because, well, they are part of my own family from the first world - Australia. 

I have a cousin in Australia married to an Australian, a sister in America who married an American, family members in the United Kingdom, Kenya and a whole lot  in South Africa, some married there.  The grandchildren born of my parents, if all were to be assembled in one room, speak all manner of languages.  The material wealth of families is so disparate it makes family group meetings extremely uncomfortable, what with one end being the haves and the other end being the have nots and worse still, the beliefs, principles, morals, way of life etc.  Solution - most people just dont come home any more, and they phone even less.  Its not that they do not want to, but bridging the material, education and mentality divide has become so exhausting both sides would rather not bother.  And so it would have continued but .......... along came Facebook. Now everyone can keep up with everyone else without bothering to post on each other's wall or show that you are in any way connected.  Facebook has brought people closer to each other's notice but it has not yet told them to talk to each other, even when phone numbers, email addresses etc are there for the world to see.  Why  Because someone has to make the first move.  Someone has to care enough to reach out and say hello.

Dont look at me, I dont do such things.  I dont phone, I dont write.  I just blog.  What was that?  Cant you see how busy I am?   ......And life passes by.


 

Habits

Wake. Stretch. Rise. Walk. Bathe. Dress.Go where you go. Do your thing.  Eat. Chat. Smile. Frown. Sit. Stand. Read. Write. Dig. Pull. Hoist. Cut. Drill. Talk. Wire. Roll. Drag. Whinge. Whine. Fawn. Tally. Analyse. Direct. Dictate. Use. Abuse. Cook. Hook. Look.

You wake up on a  Friday and someone does not do this anymore.  You cannot get to them or talk to them,  or see or complain about any of their irritating habits.

In memory of Esther.  1981 - 2011.  30 short years.  In my world, she lived long.   With ignorance on one hand and the countless diseases one can be prey to - from cancer,  to acquired immunity deficiency sysndrome, we do have quite a variety from which one can move on.  The paradox is the way she prepared me for what was coming "one just has to learn to deal with grief and move on".  Verbatim.

This is one of the few times when I will quote a prayer which thanks God for someone's time on earth for the simple reason that while most peole desire much and accomplish much, Esther only wanted one thing in her life - to be loved and she did more than her fair share of loving other people and genuinely caring for them. Unfortunate thing was most people only saw her bad side, and few saw the good.

This post is dedicated to all the Esthers in my world.

Where Sameness Means Something

"So, your child does not attend the local school?  Which school does he/she go to?" 

(Name supplied).  "I see."

They dont see.  Mentally, now screening to see if they know that school, where it is located and how much that person is forking out for their child's education.  Next, trying to figure out if its a pride thing and if it is, whether or not something can be done about it.  Next clothes, next furniture, next food.  Plenty house calls and guess what..... most of these houses are built the same and have exactly the same stuff inside, only different colours and arrangements and design.  A person can spend their entire life pining for a four plate stove.  They have a functional two plate which they do not even use a quarter of the time but they want a four plate stove because so and so has it.  Next, outfits, walking sticks, hats, jeans, hoods.

This, my fourthworld is like that and to tell the truth, I feel like a fish out of water because sameness is not for me.  I am different.  So sometimes I suffer for that but ..... 

 

Steve Jobs 1955 - 2011

Steve was among the greatest of American innovators - brave enough to think differently, bold enough to believe he could change the world, and talented enough to do it.- President Obama

He not only gave me a lot of personal advice and encouragement, he showed all of us how innovation can change lives." - Jerry Yang, Yahoo! co-founder

For those of us lucky enough to get to work with him, it's been an insanely great honor. - Bill Gates, Microsoft co-founder

Steve, thank you for being a mentor and a friend. Thanks for showing that what you build can change the world. I will miss you. - Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook founder

Steve was such an 'original,' with a thoroughly creative, imaginative mind that defined an era. Despite all he accomplished, it feels like he was just getting started. - Bob Iger, Walt Disney CEO

The difference between the first world and my world is that you acknowledge justly what a man has done in his time and when he passes on, whether he was a friend or enemy, business partner or competitor.  And you salute the passing of a man as great as Steve Jobs was, because he was a great man.  His work changed the lives of millions across the world.

Aunt Joy

Once I have her permission, I will disclose the identity of aunty Joy.  We sat for an hour yesterday and spoke.  She was diagonised as HIV Positive in 2000.  Her husband died in 2006 and she started taking medication in 2008.  She is a born again christian now and not only that, she actually lives what she believes.  No more dates with married men, no more going to church and living a parallel life but just her and her genuine love for the Bible and God.

Of course this would not be remarkable were it for the fact that this is a woman who should, by her own account be dead.  She went from a size 38 to size 32.  Her skin changed to blotches of black and brown and she lost friends, relatives and some family.  Worst blow was losing her job when she collapsed at work. 

If you see her now, you smile.  She talks openly about her experiences and what has been happening to her life and if she gives consent, not only will I provide photographs of her now, but I will ask if she will tell her story in her own words.

I cannot keep promising and not deliver.  To me, aunt Joy is not only a remarkable but fantastic woman.  I am priviledged to know her.  

Dog with a Bone

If a particular dog has a bone that you want, you have to ask that dog for that bone, and do it in such a way that you get the bone and not the dog.  Before you ask, you have to forget that its a dog who has the bone because if you treat a dog like a dog, then you wont get that bone.  You need skills, yes, patience for starters and sometimes, learning what makes the dog happy.  You also need to constantly keep your mind focussed on what you need that bone for and why it is important to you.  Dogs were created for a purpose and there is a reason why they are man's best friend.  Good dogs know that if their master gives them a bone, sharing is not the thing they expect the dog to do, but rather, to guard the bone jelously and enjoy it themselves.  By the same token, the master expects the dog to protect him when need arises, so there is an exchange of usefulness for both dog and master.

If you want to get a bone from a dog, you have to think whether or not the effort will be worth it and what can happen if you do not get that particular bone.  Half the time, life gives us all the bones we desire.  Its just that, we decide maybe the bones are not as necessary as they seemed when we initially set out to get them.  Or that there will always be other bones.

Sleep

Outside in the sun.  Big beautiful Boulder.  Nice warm sun.  Lots of birds and fantastic fresh air.  Sleep.  Rooftop.  Clear blue skies.  Circling birds and breathtaking sunsets.  Crisp clean air.  Sleep.  Open expanse of land.  Large tracts of  grass.  Wild Flowers.  Scented Air.  Sleep.  Bedroom.  Clean Sheets and Pillows.  Comfortable Bedding. Toss Turn.  Toss Turn.  Turn Toss. 

Georgie

Hope is a dream.  I was sure I had it nailed to a tee.  Nonsense.  The vibes were right.  Neptune facing correct side.  Mars and Venus aligned.  Great vibes.  No salt.  No additives.  It was a great Georgie style.

Morning - Roman Catholic Church, forgive me Father for I have sinned.
Lunch Time - double cross two men.
Evening - My name is such and such, I am the spirit of the great so and so and want beer and offerings of pure white chickens, without a dot to be brought here for sacrifice.  Now I demand dancing, drums and beats for the rest of this evening.  Music.
Morning - I have to go for morning Mass, forgive me Father for I have sinned.

I asked her why - she said that was the result of Christianity and tradition. Loads of Georgies in this, my fourth world.  

After Twenty Nine

"After twenty nine," the twins say "Comes twenty ten".  They say it calmly.  With lots of confidence.  The way most of us think we know something.  Or someone.

Twenty ten, with all its football hype came and went.  I think there was more to the actual build up to the event than the event itself, what with the excuses for the now 'defunct' vuvuzela.  Remember that nooiiiiiiiiiiise maker?  Yes scream and shout all you want but I for one am HAPPY that I do not have to listen to that sound anymore.  Sure, I could not say it at the time because who wants to be the one to say nasties when everyone else 'seems' to be having a good time.  Like when your drunk friend insists on doing the driving and you all keep quiet because you don't want to upset them?  Or when your teenage son is downright rude but you are afraid to tell them to mind their ways because you think their anger is uncontrollable and they might just do something all of you will regret?

I think being a parent  is special.  You hold a very important responsibility to nurture and nourish good habits.  After all, you are your children's hero and heroine for a very long time and what you do each and every given day shapes (to a large extent) what our own children become.  So next time you are in a bad hood, don't blame the hood, blame the parents.  Its people who procreate and produce beings who then make other people's lives miserable because some parent did not do what they were supposed to do.   My kids are far from perfect but you know what, I try very hard, each and every day to make them better human beings.  Some times they emulate, other times, I teach, other times still - they teach ME, yes, my children teach wonderful lessons of selflessness and love with the countless hugs and kisses which I take for granted but without which my life would be a barren life.

There is a twenty ten after twenty nine.