Monday, February 4, 2013

The weekends that were

Perhaps the structure isn't working as well as I'd hoped ;). Highlights of the two weekends past include: high tea at the One and Only, just talking nonsense with friends, and gaming.

In other news I'm the temporary assistant manager at the shop - it should make for stressful, but interesting times. I've managed to keep a plant alive for one week, and counting :-) . Have a new kitchen item - birthday vouchers ftw! And tried out one new recipe.

How have you been?

Friday, January 25, 2013

Five for Friday: Book retail

  • You know that "Do you have that book?" joke? It does happen, and all the time. So far the variations I've encountered included: the one with the red cover; by that really popular author; the top seller; the one everyone's talking about and recently, the one all the grade x kids are using for subject x. The problem with those descriptions is that in any genre you'll encounter at least one book that could be it.
  • There are lots of people out there who need to always be right. Nevermind that you've just read/saw/sold or packed it out...if the book doesn't exactly match what that person says it should be, they won't take. Clearly, the fact that you just work in the bookstore doesn't mean a thing.
  • Fortunately those folks are balanced out by people that you're better off for encountering in the store. This person has the same reading tastes as you, perhaps even the same favourite authors, but they will always have a few more up their reading repertoire for you to check out - and if you're lucky you can do the same for them.
  • You're surrounded by books all day long :). Clearly if you love to read it rocks, but then again they don't let you spend your whole day reading :-/. Then again that could be why I've encountered non readers working in bookstores.
  • Did I mention the books? ;)

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Form

I'm fairly certain that one of the best ways for me to get routine blog posts happening is if I have a schedule for certain things, on certain days. Right now the rough idea runs as:
  • Monday - the weekend that was
  • Tuesday - an optional, but it'll be for random ponderings
  • Wednesday - I'll try for every Wednesday, but at least every second week there'll be a book review. Although the reviews might extend beyond traditional novels/literature  to comics and graphic novels. Basically, if I read it and am inclined to write about it; you'll get a review.
  • Thursday - it'll be TEDs. I'm slowly, but surely rediscovering the wealth of knowledge on that site, and am keen to share :).
  • Friday - another optional one, but when it's there it'll be Five for Friday. It allows for more random ponderings :).
I think this might just be the thing that saves you - and me - from anymore of those "It's been awhile posts." Thoughts, ideas, comments? Do you keep to a schedule for your blog as well?

Monday, January 21, 2013

The birthday weekend that was

 
  • Bullet points because I'm lazy 0_o.
  • I had my birthday off, so it was a long weekend...yay :)
  • The day involved much food  - breakfast at Bread, lunch at Tashas and dinner with friends at Vovo tello.
  • Taking it easy  - amongst gaps between food was me finishing reading the Civil War series, some game playing and lots of just strolling.
  • We also watched Les Miserables with friends. It was a great watch, and I did resit the urge to sing-a-long :). An added bonus was random references to the movie occurring throughout the weekend's gaming - think Red the colour of the clay hut; black the boar in my hut. Yes, it probably was one of those you needed to be their moments.
  • The rest of the weekend involved much rolling of dice - including my new shiny blue set :)
  • Also my people, aka Jerall and our friends are awesome. They made things fun and a January birthday all kinds of cool.

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Why, hello there

So it's been awhile, from about just before I started my new job. There's not much to tell really. Christmas was full of great food, new year celebrations were on the chilled side, and in general it sucked working while none of my friends were o_0. There has been a good thing, I finally figured out just what it is I want to do...be a publisher.

Now I just need to figure out the details, and make it happen. Besides that I am going to get a blog routine going. I'm a creature of routine, now I just need to create the new routine. I figure I'll go for change one routine at a time.

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Review: Moranthology by Caitlin Moran



I first encountered Caitlin Moran when her book How to be a Woman came into the bookstore at which I was currently working. I find myself amazed time and time again at that which people are willing to share, and that book was no exception to open sharing. The book started me on a “must read more of what she wrote” and “oooh she’s on Twitter must follow” course. I find Caitlin Moran to be a lot of what the modern feminist should be. I love that she is a feminist who has chosen marriage and children – after all feminism is all about doing what you chose to do, not what other chose as the right course/option for you. Not to forget her wicked sense of humour and general all round niceness.

That niceness and great sense of humour are all equally evident in Moranthology.  If I remember correctly it is the second essay/column in the collection that discusses her plight in trying to find her voice as a writer and what/how she should act and write. She discusses how she started with what she thought would work; emulating the work she enjoyed reading. Only to find that she really isn’t that nasty, snarky person. Sadly, she realised it too late to stop herself from writing something so mean that she now only remembers it with mortification. At which point she then proceeds to apologise profusely to not only the lead singer of the band she reviewed, but also to his mum – see she’s a really nice person.

 Moranthology is a collection of the various columns that Moran has written for The Times, including the Celebrity Watch ones. It is in those Celebrity Watch pieces that her sense of humour really shines, along with her fangirl flag. She pushes for us to campaign for Ghostbusters to be known as the greatest movie of all time, and not Star Wars. Squees when getting to meet the stars, the writers, producers, and go on set – the TARDIS, the TARDIS!! – – the lucky, lucky fish - for not only Dr Who, but also Sherlock.  Her palatable excitement at getting to meet Lady Gaga, Kylie, Paul McCartney, and all the other famous folks she meets, just further highlights that yes, when a normal person meets someone famous it’s like you just can’t stop saying stupid things.

At this point you’re probably going “Yes, yes funny we get that, but is it all just about tv shows and meeting famous people?” It’s not, don’t worry. She has many pieces on the more serious things in life, some are done with humour and others are just so well handled that they without fail strike just the right chords. She openly and matter-of-factly talks about her family and how they used grants, and what they meant for them. How taking away that support would change a lot of lives, and most definitely not for the better. She also talks about  a friend of hers who has some psychological issues, and needs his grant to keep living alone, so that he won’t think that the voices he hears are coming from those he knows. She addresses library closures, why they’re a bad idea and what the library meant to her growing up. One of my favourites of the more serious topics is her discussion on the argument that pregnancy is a gift, and thus you shouldn’t abort. Moran takes the “it’s a gift” analogy and tears it apart for the nonsense that it is. She does tackle the miniskirt and burqas with more humour. I’m paraphrasing, but her take is that it’s the men who have an issue with it, then they should wear it!

Not only is this book a great holiday read, it’s just a great all round read. It’s for the person looking for something light, with just the right dash of heavy in it. I say this because Caitlin Moran has the gift of doing with nonfiction what great fiction does; get you talking and interrogating the views you hold.


This review first appeared here.

Friday, November 30, 2012

Five for Friday: Why I think Chris Brown shouldn't perform in SA

  • There's this. Warning, it's not for sensitive readers.
  • It's 16 days of activism for no violence against women and children. See that, why would we want someone to perform here just days after 16 days ends? We'd be looking away then, one of the things you shouldn't do.
  • We're rewarding him. Not only does he beat up someone he claims to love, pretty much gets away with it, and now people are putting money into his pockets. Yes, I know there are a lot of people not going, who don't buy his music - and that's great, but surely more is in order.
  • It's important to say something, by not we'll never do something. This condoning and rewarding of such horrible, vile behaviour will only lead to more people thinking it's ok - so they'll carry on and not change their ways because there are no consequences.
  • I'm under no illusion that my tiny voice of protest will change something, but if more of us say or do something you'll never know what could happen.
A late addition, but this...this is what I wish everyone got.

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Review: Endings & Beginnings by Redi Tlhabi

This is an unusual memoir of sorts. Yes, we do learn a little more about the person that is Redi Tlhabi, but more it's an exploration of violent people and why they're so. Ok not all violent people, but one person. A person that clearly made a lasting impression on her, and her life.

In Endings & Beginnings she talks about Mabegzo. She meet him when she was eleven, and at first didn't know that he was that guy the one everyone talked. They talked about him, but never in a nice way he was a gangster, rapist and all round bad guy; certainly not a person a well behaved, good girl should befriend. And friends they were, because eleven year old Redi saw the other side to him. She heard his stories, asked him to change his ways - he stopped making girls cry when she asked - and generally had a good relationship with him. A few months after they meeting him, he's dead, a death he said he knew was coming.

The book goes from that initial meeting to their time together - she'd give him her lunch because she didn't eat as much - and her finding out more about him and his story in 2004. Mabegzo's story is heartbreaking, and it just gets worse when you read more about the whys of his tail. His mother's tail is even more so, despite the circumstances of his conception and birth, she loved him and was denied him. All of those threads add together to really show you that yes, a lot of the violence in our country has it's roots in the stories of the people who commit those acts; and that yes, their stories aren't always good or something to be ignored.

All in all this book adds more to anyone's understanding of people. And it provides a partial answer - and maybe even a partial solution - to why we have some many angry and violent people in SA.