I am a Fire Walker

On 22 October 2009, I did the most amazing thing. This changed my outlook on myself; I know that I can accomplish anything I can put my mind to.

I am a Fire walker; I walked on 900 ° C coals!

This was a very intense session. You spend about 3 hours with a Fire walker instructor and your fellow fire walkers.
During the preparation time, there is a lot of reflexion time. You have time to visualise, reflex back on your life and you also decide for who and what you are walking on Fire for.

The power of your mind plays a big role in this. Did you know you can do anything you put your mind to?

I have the coals we walked on as a reminder that I am a Fire Walker.
This experience is one of the Best experiences of my life.

I did not only walk on fire once, but twice, I wanted to show myself that I can do it, I am a Fire Walker!

Phemba – Swaziland close to my heart

The Phemba mission station in Swaziland is 45 minutes away from Manzini one of the capital cities. The mission station is in a very rural area on a sugar cane farm.

Our church has been involved in the Mission station since 1999. Every year during the June/July holidays we go to Swaziland for 10 days. Each year we have a building project and we are involved in the schools by giving the children art classes, puppet show, playing netball and soccer and the teachers are also involved in Needlework. We are also involved in the Church services.

In 2001 I went to Phemba for the first time, this is where I met my husband, and he was also part of our Church Team that went to the mission statement. I truly believe that God brought us together, it is so special.

The building projects we did in 2001 – 2010 were: Providing electricity to the School, building ablution facilities, providing the station with running water, took of the existing straw roof of the Church and the Evangelist house and replaced it with an metal roof, Fixed the dam and connected the water pump to ensure that the water can be stored in the dam, fenced a piece of land for the crops, supplied the local people of the village with groceries.

The people of Phemba are very poor, but every year they teach us how to be thankful for what you have and that God will provide. It is amazing how the village of people remember you, you might not see them for two years, but they remember your name and tell you how thankful they are for what you have done.

I have been to Phemba for 7 years and every time I learn from the people of Phemba to appreciate the small things in life, to be thankful for what you have and to love unconditionally.

Why do cars fascinate men so much?

There are two things that you cannot separate: Men and cars.

There are a lot of men that do not know much about the works of the car engine, but they do know the size of the engine, the amount of torque, the gadgets inside the car, the petrol/diesel consumption etc.

I don't know why cars fascinate men so much. Maybe it is because cars can be controlled, beautiful to look at, something you can show off with.

Each man has his favourites make. My husband's favourite car is an Ashton Martin DB9.

In September 2010, I took my husband to the Uncorked Wine Festival in Franschoek for our Wedding Anniversary. I took him there, because we love Wine tasting but also because I knew that the Wine Farm Vrede and Lust was exhibited the New Ashton Martin.

My husband was overwhelmed with joy when he saw the Ashton Martin. One of our friends worked in London and he got the Ashton Martin wings pin. So now my husband wears it on his jacket. This is a status symbol if you have the Ashton Martin wings.

So which car fascinates your man?

Watch this Space ...

In August this year, my husband and I moved into our new house. It is a very spacious house that includes a dining room and a braai room. This is perfect for me that love entertaining people.

The house is 37 years old and it was our mission from the start to do a bit of changes inside and outside the house.

In the first two weeks, we took out 2 trees and put up fencing, a motorised pedestrian gate and a motorised car gate, An electric garage door. In the next week my husband took out the other 3 trees and we took away all the branches etc with a trailer to the damp.

We changed the whole garden and also made a garden path. This we did all by ourselves. My husband made wooden shelves for the wine tasting glasses in the Braai room.

We changed all the cupboard handles.

There is still a lot to do, we would like to modernise the x 2 bathrooms, put up new lights in the dining room and outside.

The people who sold the house to us, came to the house last week and the man asked his wife don't you want to buy this house. They cannot believe the changes we've done in a short amount of time.

What do they always say Watch this space ... there is more to come.

My mission for the Cat in the Hat ....

Being an Afrikaans girl, I have not read any Cat in the Hat books. I have heard about them and know that they are very popular with English Children.

I also know there is a movie and that Dr Seuss the writer is an American.

I will make it my mission to read at least one book before the End of December 2010 and also watch the Movie.

I am sure I would like the book and the movie, because I do like children's books and Movies. I feel that it is made easy to understand not only for children, but also for adults. One can identify with the stories and books and not need a dictionary next to you, to look up words that you don't understand.

So very soon the Cat in the Hat will become part of my life and I would be able to tick it off as one of the books I read.

World Famous in fifteen minutes is possible

In 1968 Andy Warthol, had an expression that "In the future everybody will be world famous for fifteen minutes. Andy Warthol was one of the leading figures in the visual art movement know as pop art. Andy's Prediction came true; everybody can be world famous for fifteen minutes.

If you think about it, the television provides opportunities for you to become world famous, the Internet; You Tube, Twitter, Facebook etc.

You are already world famous and you might not even know it.

Idols is an example; the auditions are viewed by thousands of people, so if you auditioned you are famous. This might not be a good thing, because you might not be able to sing and now everybody knows it.

YouTube is another way for you to become world famous. Your friends loaded a video on YouTube and millions of people will view the video.

So it is easy to become World Famous, the questions is just are you building on your reputation or destroying it.

I would not particularly want to become world famous. I enjoy working behind the scenes.

I think in South Africa we have a perfect example to live by if you really want to become World Famous. Our very own Former President Nelson Mandela.

Strive to become World Famous so that you can help make a difference in other peoples' lives.

Neil Diamond

I am so excited about the Neil Diamond show in Cape Town Stadium on 11 April 2011.

Neil Diamond is my parents ultimate favourite singer. He was like the Parlotones, Heuwels fantasties and Prime circle is now for a lot of us. Except he was not a band but a Solo singer.

The announcement was made on KFM 94.5 that Neil Diamond was coming to Cape Town in April 2011 on the Wednesday and ticket sales were going to open by the Saturday. I was so excited and immediately decided that I will buy tickets for my parents.

After the announcement KFM played "Sweet Caroline". I sang in the car and I was in a very good mood when I got to work.

So, the ticket sales opened at 09:00 on that Saturday and I bought two ticket at 09:30.

I told my parents about the tickets, my mother couldn't believe it, she asked me three times if I was sure that it is Neil Diamond coming to Cape Town.

I think I am more excited than my parents, but I am really glad I bought them tickets and this made me realise how good it feels to do something good for somebody else.

On the Saturday 48,000 tickets were sold in Cape Town and Johannesburg and yesterday they said that the Neil Diamond show is sold out 90%. So if you are thinking of buying tickets, you should do it immediately.

The Difference between In Love and Love

I think the problem with the society of today, is they do not know the difference between being inlove and love.

In my opinion people get married to soon and this is why there are so many divorces and broken homes.

I have a philosophy and I have seen this happen. If you are in a relationship you are inlove with the other person for two years. We all know how it is, if you are inlove, you think the other person is the most perfect person you have ever met, the other person can't do anything wrong. Then after two years you really get to know the person and see the person for who he/or she really is. Sometimes you don't like the person you now know.

So my advice, you first need to really get to know the person, before you become very serious and decide to spent the rest of your lives together.

It really is great to be inlove, I am sure everyone remembers their first time they've been in love.

But I can also tell you, that it is great to be in love but also truly love your husband who you promised to love the rest of your life, the day you got married.

It is great to love and be loved for who and what you are.

The Great Karoo and the Little Karoo and my connection

The Great Karoo and the Little Karoo is in two different Provinces, but they both very close to my heart.

My mother grew up in Calvinia and my grandmother had a farm a 100km away from the Town, Calvinia. I spent most of my winter school holidays on the Farm. The most amazing things for a child on a Farm are the open fields and the freedom to go anywhere. On hot days we swam in the farm dam. My brothers and I walked up the mountain and played House-house in the cave.

Opposite the farm house was our favourite play park; my grandfathers old cars, tractors and farm implements. We climbed on the tractors and into the cars and entertained ourselves for hours.

We also assisted my uncle with the marking and weighing of the sheep. We really had the time of our lives.

In the Karoo you will also be able to see the Milky Way the clearest you’ll ever experiences. I remember one evening we sat on the Farm stoep and counted 11 satellites and 6 shooting stars within an hour.

My husband’s father grew up on a farm just outside Laingsburg in the Little Karoo. So he has many childhood experiences on the Farm. The Little Karoo is also very hot in summer and very cold in winter just like the Great Karoo.
We also experience the most amazing days and evenings on the Laingsburg Farm.

If one wants to get away from City life and all the noise, the farm is the best place to go. I have also slept outside in the Little Karoo and watched the stars and found piece of mind.

The Farm in the Great Karoo has been sold and we don’t visit the farm very often, but the Little Karoo in Laingsburg we visit quite often and spend Christmas on the Farm every two years.

The Karoo is the place where I am able to think, to relax, and to just be me and a place where I can walk, pray and think in my own time.

Everyone needs time out and a place where you can experience life in its natural form.

Our favourite hobby - WINE TASTING

We absolutely love going on Wine Tastings. We are very priviledge to live in the Western Cape. There are a lot of Wine farms and estate across the Western Cape.

We have a big variety to choose from. The Red varieties are: Cinsaut, Pinotage, Caberet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Shiraz, Malbec, Pinot Noir and Merlot. The white varieties are Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Chenin Blanc, Colombar, Muscat d' Alexandrie, Weisser Riesling, Gewurtztraminer and Cape Riesling.

You would need to go on a wine tasting and taste the different wines to decide which one you like. My husband and I like red wine. We have been to over 40 wine farms in the Western Cape. How do I know this? We collect the tasting glasses from the wine estates. We bought the wine glasses and it is exhibited in our Braai room. The tasting glass is like a photo, we will always remember we visited that specific farm.

My husband also proposed on a Wine Farm in Paarl, so we have special moments that we share at Wine farms.

Wine is also a good food source and also relaxes, which is need in this stressful times we live in.

I did a wine course that included the history of wine and a practical exam. My brother is a wine maker and my husband and I are wine lovers, so we will always have enough wine.

A friend of our visited our house for the first time and we have a wine rack that is always full of wine bottles. The friend walked past the wine rack and said, so I see you will never go thirsty.

An accident happens so fast ...

In August this year, my husband and I decided, it is time to get a friend for our Jack Russel, Noga. We decided we wanted to get a Labrador. I wanted a white Labrador and he wanted a Black one.

We searched Gumtree to find Labradors for sale. I saw a photo of a black Labrador and I changed my mind I wanted a black Labrador.
We found the price that suited us. It was people in Rawsonville that sold the Labrador puppies. We were on our way to Laingsburg and told the lady if there are still puppies left on that Sunday on our way home we will take one.
On Sunday we drove back and we went to Rawsonville and we chose a female and called her EVA.

Noga the Jack Russel wasn’t impressed with her new friend; she was the only child and received all the attention. Now there was another dog, why? The second day Noga realised this is a cool friend. They try out wrestling moves and I am sure they would be able to act on WWE.
EVA the Labrador is twice Noga the Jack Russel’s size, but the Jack Russel is very strong and puts the Labrador on her place.

On 26 October 2010 it was my mothers Birthday and my brothers were also at my mom’s place. Eva was very excited to see my Brother. Nor I, nor my husband was in the same room as Eva and my brother, the next minute we just heard Eva crying and making a noise. Noga, off course also needed to make a noise.
We ran into the room and asked what happened? My brother explained that Eva jumped over his legs and tripped and fell. Eva couldn’t walk and it really hurt.

My husband and I took Eva to the 24 hour emergency unit at the Animal hospital. The vet couldn’t see anything, gave her an injection and said we needed to be back the following morning at 08:00 for X-rays.

So yesterday morning at 08:00 we booked Eva in for X-rays. The doctor phoned before 11:00 and told me Eva broke her shin bone and it was a spiral break.
Luckily she doesn’t need an operation at this stage. Her whole leg is bandaged and we need to take her to the Vet every week to redress the bandage for four weeks. They will take an X-ray by the 3rd week to see if the leg is healed. We truly hope it will healed and not need an operation. This will not be good, in terms of our budget and also in terms of Noga’s sanity. Noga cannot understand why Eva can’t play with her.

The doctor asked us to do something impossible. Keep the dog still; this is very difficult for a puppy.

An accident happens so fast and no one can believe that Eva broke her leg, this usually doesn’t happen to puppies.

This experience prepares us for children one day and teaches us patience and perseverance.

The Last lecture

There are things that people don’t like to do, or avoid for as long as they can. I hate goodbyes, bidding something farewell.

One has a set time to make an impact in people lives. If you are a lecturer at University you only have a certain amounts of lectures at your disposal. As a lecture one of your objectives are to learn and teach students. This is actually a very scary thought, because you are responsible to teach somebody something they don’t know about. You are responsible to educate children and parents in an apprioriate manner.

These are just a few points I picked up while listening and learning from the Speakers/Lectures

- Be bold and get to know the student
- Communicate with your followers through Twitter.
- Be prepared if you are going to present a presentation or in lecturers.

We had our last media studies lecture beginng of October 2010, I couldn’t believe that I was done with this subject.

In life we never know when our last lecture will end, but we can prepare yourself by trying to make a difference in the person’s life.

My bucket list...

This is a difficult topic, because one does not want to think about death. I think it is best that we don’t know what is going to happen in the future or when we are going to die.
If we knew it would be chaos, panic and depression that will follow.

However one has a “bucket list” of what you would like to do still in life.

I have achieved some of the things on my bucket list already.
1. I wanted to finish school and study – DONE
2. I wanted to buy my own car – DONE
3. I wanted to buy property – DONE (I bought my first property a one bedroom flat in
January 2007)
4. I wanted to get married – DONE
5. I wanted to buy a house – Done (August 2010)
6. I wanted a Jack Russel – Done
7. I wanted a Labrador – DONE
8. I wanted to ride and touch an elephant – DONE
9. I wanted to go and visit Namibia – DONE
10. I wanted to go and visit Swaziland and do missionary work – DONE
11. I wanted to publish articles in Newspapers – DONE
12. I Wanted to do something extreme – DONE (I am a Firewalker and abseiled)
13. I would like to travel Africa (Still do be done)
14. I wanted to go to England and Scotland for an international holiday – DONE
15. I wanted to Quad Bike in the Namib Desert – DONE
16. I would like to have Children (Still to be done)
17. I would like to take my husband to Storms River and let him experience “Tree Top
Canopies” I have done it but not him.
18. I would like to make a life changing experience for somebody (Still to be done)
19. Visit the Drakensberge and spent a few nights there.

I am sure there are a lot more and enough to work on, but there is also this one thing that I would like to do before I die, and that is to have enough love for everybody.
How on earth will I get that right, well I am only one person and their are billions of people on earth, but if I love my loved ones dearly and show and tell that to them everyday, they will again do the same and it will have a ripple effect.

Don’t wait to long until you start to fulfil your dreams, live everyday to its fullest, as if there is no tomorrow.

Our greatest strengths are our greatest weaknesses

Our greatest strengths are our greatest weaknesses. I agree with this statement 100%. Why? Our Strengths can drag us down. An example could be: You could be a very good listener and always be willing to listen to people in need, or be there and always be available if somebody wants to talk.

The downside or weakness to this strength can be because you always make time to listen to other people; you neglect your husband/wife, children and family because you never have time to spend with the people closest to you. The other down side is that you never make time to listen and think by yourself. The latter is very important to give you perspective in life, have a quality of life and it is very important to spent time with the people you love.

It might be a good idea to do a SWOT Analysis for your own life. Make time to think what is your Strengths and what are your Weaknesses, what is the Opportunities and what is the Threats that might cause you not to make a success of your opportunities.

Make time to think about the important things in your life and don’t just think about it, put it into action!

Have you figured out the second head fake?

According to Wikipedia there are two kinds of Head Fakes.
The one is a Sports term used when a player moves their head to fake a change in direction. We use to call it a Dodge. You would fool your opposition player.

The second head fake is in the market place specifically trading a head fake is when it appears in the market that the market would be moving in one directions but it actually ends up moving the other way. E.g. the stocks might look like it is going up but then the price falls and then everything goes down.

I have not figured out my head fake, I have learn during the years that life happens while we were making other plans. Yes sometimes you plan something and with slight changes the plan mostly comes together and ends up the way you thought of it. But I have experienced that most of the times, things in your personal life does not go according to your plan.

If I can share a personal example: My husband and I wanted to sell our One bedroom flat and we decided we were not going to go through an estate agent but will be selling it ourselves. So we had a few people interested in our Advert on Gumtree. The Estate Agent knew we wanted to sell and she asked if they cannot also be the sole proprietor and market. We then agreed and thought ok this will probably go quick.

So in November 2009 a friend of us, Jack Russel got puppies and we said we wanted one, thinking that our flat will sell in a months time and then we will have a house. See were were not allowed to have dogs in the Security complex. So we sneaked in the puppy every evening and sneaked out every morning. But one night the puppy fell of the bed and the sneaking in and out was something in the past. We then moved in with my parents, thinking again it won't take long to sell the flat.

Eventually after 7 months we sold the flat and in August 2010 we moved into our new house.

So you see things don't always work out the way you want it to work out. You think you have control over your own head fake, but you don't.

I rather leave the planning up to God, this also helps with my stress levels and worries, because I know it is not in my hands and my control.

A skill set called Leadership

I believe that some people are born leaders. A lot of times, people don't believe in themselves or the teacher, couch, boss have not seen the person's ability to be a leader.

In our youth at church we try our best to do activities to identify leaders. One of my friends developed an activity that he uses at schools to help identify the teachers the leaders in a group.

I have been a leader many times in my life and believe that a leader takes people with on the road to success. You cannot do things alone and when you allow people to walk with you, you also develop their leadership skills. A leader should not be a boss that tells people what and how to do it, a leader should tell people what needs to be done and allow the team to do it. A leader should be someone that one would like to follow and learn from, not somebody that you "hate".

I would like to share a few quotes on leaders and leadership.

“Don't walk in front of me; I may not follow. Don't walk behind me; I may not lead. Just walk beside me and be my friend.”
Albert Camus quotes (French Novelist, Essayist and Playwright, 1957 Nobel Prize for Literature, 1913-1960)

"The best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and self-restraint to keep from meddling with them while they do it."
Theodore Roosevelt

"The leadership instinct you are born with is the backbone. You develop the funny bone and the wishbone that go with it."
Elaine Agather

"Don't tell people how to do things, tell them what to do and let them surprise you with their results."
George S. Patton

"Leaders must be close enough to relate to others, but far enough ahead to motivate them."
~John Maxwell

It is really a priviledge to lead people, try and be a leader that even though your "term" has ended the positive influence you left on the people you lead will stay forever.

Feelings follow behaviour

We as people are emotional beings. We react on the way people make us feel. Think about it. When a person is friendly towards you, you are most of the time also friendly toward that person. When a person treats you unfair, you will not trust or respect that person, you will tell everybody about the way the person treated you.



If a man or a woman flirts with you, you flirt back if you think he/or she is handsome.



Feelings aren't always a good judgement. There are times when a married man, develops feelings for another woman and then they have an affair. This then most of the time leads to a divorce if the wife/husband finds out about the affair.



We as adults know what is right or wrong and should judge and take responsibility for our behaviour. Feelings could have a huge negative impact on somebody else's. We can control our feelings and not behave in certain ways.

Let the feelings that can make you feel good and impact positive on people's lives take control!

No all who wander are lost

The writer of Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien said: "Not all who wander are lost." I think what he meant is, if you wander in the woods or in shopping mall, nature reserve or where it may be, you are not necessary lost. You wander because you would like time to think, or maybe see if you can take another turn on the road and see if you can still reach your destination if you don't want the same way you always do.

There are a lot of people who don't want to do the same things over and over, they like change and then they are not sure where they would like to be, so they wander around and decide on what to do next.

Sometimes it is good to wander around, by wandering you get time to think, time to rest and maybe also even find peace.

You don't need to always be on a mission, I personally are always busy and on a mission to get something done or be somewhere on time. I don't make time to rest, sit and do nothing.

I think I am going to make time to wander around and find myself again, make time for the things I love.

It is better to practice a little than talk a lot

I don't know if you have come across people in your life that talk a lot, but do nothing. These people tell you what to do and how to do it, but they have never done it.

I am sure a lot of times people have appointed people in a position because they were excellent in the interview and answered all the questions correctly but when they have the job and need to get the job done, they don't deliver.

One cannot always pick this up about a person immediately and most of the time you realise this to late.

I have come across this many times especially in the work place. Some time people will see that this person talks a lot and don't deliver. You will not only loose your job at some stage, but you will also have a bad reputation and nobody would want to work with you.

So, don't talk to much as if you know everything rather practice to do something good and know how to do it.

People will have respect for you and you won't be caught out but a person that know more than you about a specific subject and make you feel stupid.

It is better to practice a little than talk a lot.

Conventional is a good fallback position isn't it?

The world we live in have a lot of changes, everything changes, why would they want to change this?

These are all questions that people ask on a daily basis, this is mostly asked by older people, but there are also a lot of young people that asks these questions.

A Greek philosopher Heraclitus said in 500BC, " The only constant is chang." If he could say this in 500BC when there wasn't television, the internet, communication through social media he either was a forward thinker or changes occured in 500 BC already.

Isaac Asimov said: " It is change continuing change, inevitable change, that is the dominant factor in society today. No sensible decision can be made any longer without taking into account not only the world as it is, but the world as it will be."

A lot of people resist change because they are use to how things are done now and how they are use to doing things.

For instance a lot of companies bosses are not familiar with social media and also isn't interested in learning about it, or paying somebody to do it, so they still do conventional marketing, advertising and Public Relations. The conventional might not be as cost effective and efficient but they resist change and would rather do it they way they know it.

I belief one should embrace change and see the positive althoug I also belief that change is not communicated correctly and this is one of the reasons people resist change, because they do not know all the facts or reasons why change is necessary.

This is why Managers should be taught to do change management in a sufficient way.

Why I have conversations?

I believe a conversation with somebody is the key to their heart and life. I don't know what it is and why but I have a gift where people open up to me and tells me their life stories. They tell me their biggest secrets.

I don't like to have needless conversations, you know just for the sake of conversation. I like to have conversations with people to assist them, make them feel better about themselves, to be the person that will listen if you would like to talk. Sometimes people just need to get something off their chest, something that has been bothering them for a very long time.

Many people have the habbit of right after they said hallo, they ask you how you are, they don't ask how are you, because they really want to know, it is just to have a conversation. How do I know this, next time when people say hallo and ask how are you, concentrate to see if you answer how you really are, do they listen and take note, or are they not paying attention.

I will not just say something to start a conversation if I don't want to, I will talk to you if I really care and would like to find out, how are you on a personal level, is there something I can do for you?

This is why I have conversations.

Every Day is a Good Day

This statement could be true or false; depending on the way you interpret or experience it.
If I look at it from a personal point of view, every day is not a good day for me. There are times when people make me angry or when they tell you things that you don’t want to hear.
There are also a lot of people that are going through very bad experiences or times, like: getting divorced, the passing of a loved one, being involved in a car accident and you are so badly injured that your whole life changes because of your injury.
Then there are other days that are great, you receive good news, you get married, you have reason to celebrate, because you heard you have been promoted or you get confirmation that you are pregnant, you bought a new car etc.
This evening somebody’s Facebook status was: “Every day might not be good, but everyday has something good in it.” I tend to agree with this status, the day might not be a good day for you, but maybe it was for somebody else.
When God created the earth he ended every day by looking at what he created and said: “This is GOOD.”
I believe that God is the creator of good things and YES there are days when you are so frustrated and hurt that you feel you want to cry and go and sit in the corner, until the day is over.

But always remember this day has something good in it and maybe I feel bad, but this good be the BEST day in somebody else’s life.

The Elephant in the Room

I have always been a fan of African Elephants. There is something about them, they are huge animals but walk very graciously.

The book "Fiela's Child" also made a big impact on me, when I was still young. Elephants was one of the main feautures in the book. They called the Elephants "BIG FOOT". The elephants lived in the Knysna Forest.

In 2003 my parents, my brothers and I went to Namibia for a holiday. One of the attractions we visited was the Mvango wildlife park on the boarder of Namibia and Botswana. We drove through the whole park looking for Elephants. We didn't see them, but one our way out, we drove into a troop of 50+ elephants. I was in awe, one of the most amazing moments of my life. I was in love with elephants.

I have an elephants ring, elephants made of wood, soft toy elephants and elephant ornaments. The elephants are in my room and in the TV room.

My husband also took me to the Knysna Elephant Park on our Honeymoon. I didn't only feed the elephants and touched them, I road on a Elephant. This was another great moment in my life.

So the Elephants is not only in a room, but in my room and part of my memories.

Frank Zappa: "Rock journalism is people who can't write interviewing people who can't talk for people who can't read"

I first wondered who is Frank Zappa and did some research. According to Wikipedia, Frank Zappa was born on 21 December 1940, Baltimore in Maryland.

Frank Zappa was a composer, film director, electric guitarist and record producer. People found it difficult to categorise his music in a specific genre. He wrote rock, jazz, orchesteral and electronic.

So, Frank Zappy was a rock star, he didn't believe in education, he was a true believer of Freedom of Speech etc.

The quote "Rock journalism is people who can't write interviewing people who can't talk for people who can't read" is actually a true reflection, honest opinion of a Rock star that understands that a Rock star is not really interested in anything else than making Rock Music.

Have you ever heard an interview between a journalist and a Rock star? The questions that a journalist asks a Rock Star is really not of any interest to people (the "groupies") who listens to Rock music, they don't care, all they want to do is listen to the music. 'The Rock star doesn't really care about the questions, so they are not answering anything that is being asked.

Basically the only words that the Rock Star uses during the interview is "Hell yeh, Rock on".

So basically it is really a case of teaching a beautician the inner working of her car's engine, It is just not applicable.

Wedding cake in-the-middle-of-the-road

The Wedding cake tradition dates back to the Roman Empire period. The groom broke a loaf of bread over the bride's head as a simple of his dominance in the marriage. Another tradition was to sleep with a piece of wedding cake under your pillow. It was believe that you would dream of your future spouse. The tradition was also that the wedding cake would be white to symbolise purity.

The cutting of the wedding cake is also a tradition, the bride and groom would cut the wedding cake together at the ceremony and this is their first task as husband and wife together and symbolises their togetherness.

There are a lot of these traditions that are not followed today still.

At my wedding my husband didn't break a loaf of bread over my head. I do belief like the Bible says that the husband is the head of the house, but not the head to dominate, but the head to be the leader of the family.

At my wedding the cake wasn't white, just because I don't like the white icing, it was a choclate mousse cake with strawberries. I wanted everyone to enjoy the cake. My husband and I did cut the cake together and we did feed each other a piece of cake. I felt that this was a moment where we did something together and this symbolised that we will always look after each other.

However I feel don't just do something because it is "tradition". A tradition that you don't even know why it became a tradition. Do something because it has special meaning to you and your husband.

If you don't want to do something at your wedding that people are not use to, it doesn't matter.

Do it because it is your choice, I always say you have to do everything on your wedding day that you want to, the way you want to. If you ever think back about your wedding day, you should be able I wouldn't want to change anything, it was exactly they way I wanted it.

So, don't let a wedding cake tradition stand in the middle of the road and be an obstruction. Enjoy every moment of planning, enjoy every moment you spent with your husband to be, enjoy the most perfect wedding day and enjoy your marriage, the way that God intended it to be.

I will be a success when ......

Success probably is something a little different to everybody but to me it is exactly the words of Bessie Stanley: “He has achieved success who has lived well, laughed often and loved much; who has gained the respect of intelligent men and the love of little children; who has filled his niche and accomplished his task; who has left the world better than he found it, whether by an improved poppy, a perfect poem, or a rescued soul; who has never lacked appreciation of earth's beauty or failed to express it; who has always looked for the best in others and given them the best he had; whose life was an inspiration; whose memory a benediction.”
When I was younger and in Matric, it was important for me to receive an overall “A” average at the end of my School career. I worked very hard, put in all the effort that was needed to succeed. When I received my results I didn’t get an overall “A” but missed it because of a decision make by government regulation and I had an overall “B”. Boy, was I disappointed, angry and hurt. This took me a long time to accept. When I finally accepted it, I realised by not achieving this, this won’t stop me of making a success of my life.
So I defined success the following: Success is to touch somebody’s heart, make them feel worthy and creating happiness. This is why I’ve done missionary work in Swaziland for the past 7 years. We touch people’s heart and oh do they touch ours. It is as simple as having art classes after school and using glitter. The Glitter “verskaf” hours of “genot”, and to see the happiness in their eyes is “onbeskryflik”
If I can make somebody laugh, I am happy and feel like I have succeeded.
Love is a very important part of my life, because without love, they’re will be no friendships, marriages, children, goodwill, passion, worship etc. I am married to a wonderful husband who loves me unconditionally and I am devoted to him. The day I got married I felt like I have succeeded, because one of my dreams came true.
I have a good job and receive appraisal for the good work I put in, but for me it is much more important to touch people’s lives / hearts at my work place. One spent more hours at work than being at home with your family. Why don’t make a point of doing something valuable in terms of goodwill, support to your colleagues, and love and care for them? One never knows the difference you can make in peoples’ lives.
To succeed in something you also need to fail. There is a quote that says “Failure is an experience not learnt from.”
I feel like I have succeeded because there are people’s lives that I have touched, I am married to someone that loves me unconditionally and I love him, I have made a difference to people’s lives, I respect people and they respect me, and I have friends and family that loves and expect nothing in return.
Albert Einstein said: “The ideals which have lighted me on my way and time after time given me new courage to face life cheerfully, have been Truth, Goodness, and Beauty. . . . The ordinary objects of human endeavour -- property, outward success, luxury -- have always seemed to me contemptible”

So success to me, is not how many cars you drive, how big your house is or how much money you have in your bank account. Success is how many lives did you touch in a positive way and where did you make a difference, did you love unconditionally, did you use the opportunities that came your way. Your success is also not an evaluation by yourselves but by others.
I will be successful when? I am working towards being successful everyday and every day I achieve something one step at a time.

You cannot chase two rabbits at the same time

This topic made me think of Elmer Fudd, the stattering rabbit hunter that made it his mission to Hunt Bugs Bunny.

Each time when Elmer Fudd tried to chase Bugs Bunny, Bugs Bunny will stand next to him with a carrot in his hand and say: "What's up Duck?"

Elmer Fudd was so determined and focused to hunt Bugs Bunny that he didn't even realise if Bugs Bunny stood next to him, or dressed up in the most obvious disguise.

So Elmer Fudd wasn't even successful to chase one rabbit at a time, so how would he manage to chase two.

I am like Elmer Fudd sometimes, I have to many things to do at the same time, so I loose focus and cannot give 100% of my time, money and energy to most things I do.

Yes, some people will same, you have to mange your time better, but I don't always agree with that advice.

When one have many things to juggle, all you can do is to find the best balance or make a choice to only focus on one thing.

My problem with only focussing on one thing, is I am a person who would like to give as much as I can of my time, money and energy to other people, to try and make a positive difference in their life.

I think I would rather chase two rabbits at the same time than none.

My Big Fat BIG Dream

I have accomplished my big fat big dream in 2010 when my husband and I went on our first international adventure.

The dream that I dreamt for so long was starting to become a reality. In 2007 I had to put my dream on hold. Why you might think? I said YES to a marriage proposal, so all my savings for my first international adventure had to be used for bedroom furniture and a wedding ceremony. This wasn’t a bad exchange I think, and my husband could join me now in this international adventure.

I first had to convince my husband why he should join me to visit England and Scotland. The only thing I could say to convince him was, he could have the opportunity to find his heritage and routes.

So finally on 22 July 2010 we boarded the Airbus A340 from Cape Town – Johannesburg- Doha – London. The airplane took off at 19:00 and this was the beginning of a long flight, but we had a lot of things to keep us busy with. We experienced a lot of Turbulence while flying over Africa. Our stopover was at Doha, the hottest place I’ve ever been; at 05:30 in the morning it was 36 degrees Celsius.

One of the highlights on the aeroplane was also the food and the amount of times we ate, and for my husband free beer was the ultimate.

At Heathrow airport we met my friend, we have been friends for the past 20 years, this was when it became a reality that I am in London, and I was overwhelmed with excitement. This was going to be an amazing 17 days, I am ready, bring it on.

During the next few days, we did a lot of sightseeing. We took a boat cruise on the Thames River, had our First pub lunch, visited Windsor Castle, and had a famous cup of Starbucks coffee. We walked through the whole of London, with Sandals (not recommendable). This is where we visited the St Paul’s Cathedral, this amazing architectural building survived the Blitzkrig of London during World War II, the Big Ben, West Minister’s Abby, Shakespeare’s Globe, the Millennium Bridge, London Eye, Trafalgar Square, Picadilly Circus and Sports Direct (a three story building filled with Sport Gear where we stopped to buy tekkies after I decided the Sandals wasn’t such a good idea.).

On the Monday, my friend took us to Primark, the most amazing clothing shop. One of my silly dreams was to walk out of a shop with three big shopping bags. My dream came true, after I let my husband wait for 2 hours, I came out with three shopping bags full of clothes. After the Primark excursion we took the Underground train to the Royal Air Force Museum.

We camped for 3 days in the beautiful valley of Lake district.
On the Tuesday we started our Road Trip on our way to Scotland. We visited one of the 7 wonders of the world, The Stonehenge, I stood in awe, looking at the rocks which nobody knows for sure, who and why they were placed there, but yet it is an amazing mysterious place to visit. We visited a small quaint Town, Burton on the Water, the Baths and the town where William Shakespeare lived, Stratford-on-Avon.

The first place in Scotland we visited was Ayr, the town where the Mitchells originate. We finally arrived at our campsite. We took the bus to Edinburgh every day and walked the Royal mile, and bought lots of gifts for the family and friends at home. We did a day trip with Haggi Tours, to the Scotland Highlands and also searched for the Lochness monster.
We heard a lot of history about Scotland, the wars in Scotland, fighting between the Highland clans, the real Brave heart story about Robert the Bruce and the true story about William Wallace. We visited the William Wallace monument, and we also visited the Edinburg and Sterling Castles, two castles that served both as royal residences and army base camps. We also saw the Crown Jewels of Scotland and the birthplace of Queen Mary of Scots and King Henry VIII. Scotland is a country with a rich history and although it is part of England, it still has its own identity, accent, bank and pride.

We also had the privilege to be part of the Fringe Festival in Scotland and watched a comedy show. Although a Scottish woman in the shop couldn’t believe it and tried to convince us that it is going to rain tonight, we braaied every evening.

When we arrived back in England, we visited the Tower of London, what an amazing palace, jail, home to the crown jewels it is, and the most amazing history. We also watched the musical that has been on stage for 25 years, Les Miserables, the last evening in London.

We did everything and more than we ever thought in 17 days and this was our first experience overseas, but certainly not the last.

The saying goes: “If you can dream it, you can do it.” Nelson Mandela also said: “ The future belongs to those, who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”

10 Most unexpected consequences of being online

The word online, for those who did not know means if you are on the internet, this can be on facebook, twitter, flickr,Linked In, sending e-mails etc.
The world has changed drastically in terms of technology in the last decade and one cannot think what you will do without the internet now a days.
Like any other things in life there are always consequences for your actions, you don’t necessary think about.
Some of the consequences of being online are:
1. You do not spend quality time with your friends anymore by talking to them on a telephone or visit them, because you chat on Facebook or Twitter. You might chat more often but because of the character limit your conversations are not necessarily be impactful or supportive that is it suppose to be.
2. A lot of young children cannot spell correctly because they have adopted an online language / spelling.
3. Many people forget that Facebook / Twitter is not necessarily private and the whole world (people that follows you or on your friends list) knows things you did not necessarily won’t to share with them.
4. You can lose your job, because of a statement you made about your boss or company.
5. You can think that you’ve met your dream man/woman online, but when you meet the person face to face you vow you are never going to date online ever again.
6. The internet server weren’t maintained or the system at work is offline; so you cannot work or serve clients. Outcome = everybody is angry and it is not your fault but nobody understands.
7. People become unproductive because instead of doing their work and meeting deadlines they browse the internet, chat on facebook or tweet the whole day.
8. Children’s social skills are under-developed because they don’t socialise with friends, they are happy just to sit in front of the computer play games on the internet.
9. Children don’t have good hand-eye co-ordination because they don’t do sports; they browse the internet for new games, downloading of music / movies.
10. You don’t delete the Website history on your computer and you girlfriend/boyfriend, husband, wife, mother or father finds out about what you are up to.

A list of my top 200 achievements.

This is not an easy topic to write about. Firstly I don’t like to write and boast about my achievements and secondly I don’t think I have had 200 achievements. But hey let’s give this a GO, they say that you need to learn marketing skills to market yourself.
The below achievements are in no particular order.
1. I passed Sub A to Standard 9.
2. I passed Grade 12 in 2001.
3. I was Head Girl of JG Meiring High School in 2001.
4. In Grade 7 I was part of the Student Council in Primary School
5. I passed UNISA music (theory and piano) exams up until Grade 3 in Primary School.
6. I did Eisteddfod in Primary and High School.
7. In Grade 12 I received the Louwtjie Rothman Trophy the most prestigious award in JG Meiring High School.
8. In Grade 8 & 9 I was chosen for the Co-ed athletics team –Inter schools between 4 high schools.
9. I have been a youth leader in church since the age of 16.
10. During my internship at a Travel company I wrote an article that was published on an international website.
11. I bought my first car when I was 21 years old
12. I received my Advance Certificate in Journalism
13. I received the best journalist student during my studies in 2002
14. I received my diploma in Public Relations Management in 2004
15. I published an article in Die Burger on Wind Engineering on the CTICC
16. I was part of the PR 2 students that was chosen to form part of the newspaper team Krit at the KKNK Oudthsoorn in 2003
17. In 2004, 2006 & 2007 I got promoted at work.
18. I received a performance bonus for two consecutive years at work.
19. I am a Fire walker. I walked on 900 Degrees Celsius coals in 2009.
20. I abseiled twice in my life.
21. I am the proud owner of a 1 year old Jack Russel and a 12 week old Labrador, I think it is an achievement to bring up these two dogs.
22. I am a Cultural site guide for the Western Cape.
23. I completed the Tree top canopies tour in the Tsitsikamma Forest. (The longest stretch from one tree to another was 70 metres and the highest 40 metres.)
24. I worked 13 hour shifts for three weeks in a photoshop in Canal Walk during December/January 2000-2001.
25. I grew up with two younger brothers and am the only daughter. (So I have determination and nerves of steel.)
26. I passed my learners license the second time.
27. I passed my driver’s license the first time.
28. I went on my first international trip to Scotland and England in 2009.
29. I got married to a great man in 2007. (You would think why is this an achievement well, after 3 years I am still happily married.)
30. My husband and I sold our flat in 2010 after 8 months.
31. My husband and I bought a one bedroom flat in 2007.
32. My husband and I bought a house in 2010
33 – 200 I will aspire to achieve.

I personally think part of any achievement comes a certain amount of responsibility, not only to yourself but also to other people.

One should always give praise to those who helped you to achieve things in your life.

How hard is it to follow instructions?

Lets first start by who will give instructions? Your mother, father, teacher, lecturer and boss to name a few.

Why would they give you instructions? Your mother and father would give you instructions, because they can and it is also I think in terms of teaching you responsibility, diligence and skill.

Your teacher and lecturer’s reason for giving you instructions could be the same reason as your parents and also because it is part of the curriculum to complete assignments and they have certain requirements and deadlines in terms of the Universities syllabus.

Why would your boss give you instructions? Well because he/ she is your boss and they in turn receive instructions from their boss. So you have no choice you have to do it.

How hard is it to follow those instructions? I don’t necessary think it is hard to follow instructions, but sometimes it depends on who gave you the instructions that is the hard part.

A factor is also how is the instructions carried over, because the way somebody speaks to you, depends on how quick, comprehensive and with what attitude you are going to follow the instructions.

A lot of the times people have a negative connotation regarding the word instruction. Instruction can be explained as a directive received from a higher authority (superior), teaching, coaching etc.

So next time you need to follow instructions think of what lesson you can learn while performing the instruction not only from the person, but also the situation.

It shouldn’t be hard to follow instructions when the right attitude and communication exist.

What motivates me?

I would ask you do you have a driving force, purpose, incentive that motivates you to do what you do? Or do you just do things before you don't have a choice?

When you do something that you like, you do not need initial motivation. You would like to do it just because you love it.

But a lot of the times you need motivation to do something, for instance getting out of bed to go to work in the Winter, or going to Gym after a long day etc.

I do not need much motivation to do something, but I need to drive myself a lot. I cannot for instance not work under pressure. If I need to do something in one day or an hour I peform very good, but don't give me a lot of time to do it. So ... what do you think is my motivation? Working under pressure YES! It sounds crazy I know.

Yes off course it is also the loved ones in my life, my collegeaus that motivates me but it is to a large extend myself and the amount of pressure to do my Utmost best.

At the moment I am very motivated to live Life to the fullest because I am leaving for Ireland and Scotland and when I come back to Cape Town, I move into a our NEW HOUSE.

So for the month of July and August the PRESSURE IS ON!!!

Try out a clichè

A cliche that my grandmother always use to say was: " Many hands make light work". This for me is not a stereotype that is already use to much and lost it true many. This is a cliche that is true.

If I think of an everyday job like washing the dishes, the more people that assist with this task, the quicker it is complete.

When more people help it is more bearable, enjoyable and easier. It is when you have to do something along that you don't like that you become miserable.

Some friends of mine and I had a discussion last night about marriage or living together with your boyfriend. All of us believe that one should share responsibilities in the house, you as the women cannot be expected to do everything along. You are one person, you cannot make the food, wash the dishes, clean the house, feed the dog and expect to be happy if you do everything along.

From the beginning you have to sit together and agree what you will be responsible for and what your husband or boyfriend will be responsible for.

If you help each other with the daily task, you will be done much quicker and be able to spend quality time together. This quality time that can make our break a relationship.

So my advice, be clever and teach each other that the cliche; many hands make light work is the truth.

It is poor to lie to yourself

Who all remembers Pinnochio? If you do, you will remember that Pinnochio was a lier, and everybody knew it because his nose grew longer everytime he lied.

Although Pinnochio is just a story and your nose won't really grow longer if you lie, the story taught us a good

lesson; If you lie you will be caught out and not be able to be what you really want to be.

I thought a bit about the consequences of lieing to yourself. Some examples and consequences are:

1. You take away opportunities to learn from experencies. For example if you play a game and you cheat, you take away an opportunity to learn because you don't know how to do it right.

2. You fool yourself and make everything worse. An example; you tell everyone and yourself you are ok when you lost a loved one, but you don't deal with the situation and take longer to mourn and heal.

3. You tamper with your own future and success, because you tell yourself you cannot do something and you believe yourself, but you are lieing to yourself, or you did something wrong at work, but only you know about it and you tell yourself it didn't happen. I have learnt that the truth will always come out and then it might have bad consequences because you didn't tell the truth.

I honestly think it is poor to lie to yourself because you know yourself best and would like to trust yourself and not disappoint yourself, so at least tell yourself the truth and telling other people the truth will follow.

Set yourself free, and live the life you really want to life.

The Best WORLD CUP EVER!

Everybody had mixed feelings about the World Cup in South Africa. Some people said that South Africa will disappoint, and other were so excited that they said South Africa will show the World the best we can offer.

I was very excited about the World Cup and believed that South Africa could pull this off. The Tourism Authorities say that it is to early to say what the real impact of the World Cup is.

The Provincial Tourism Department did a survey at the Cape Town International Airport to get a sense of what Tourist's experience was during the World Cup.

The survey pointed out that the Tourists that took part in the survey, gave Cape Town an overall 9.06 out of 10 for Safety. Even the Tourist that was robbed in Long Street said that he would give Cape Town a 9 out of 10 for Safety.

My husband and I watched the Italy vs Paraguay match at the Cape Town Stadion. Wow, what an experience. We sat in the rain and got very wet, but I wouldn't exchange it for anything in the world. The Stadion is beautiful, I couldn't stop looking. The Fan mile experience was GREAT! We were walking on the fan mile at 23:00 and enjoying every minute of it.

A German couple said that this was the Best WORLD CUP EVER! What an amazing thing to say.

South Africa you made us Proud!

Laughter, Caring and Loving Unconditionally

Laugher: I Love to laugh and truly believe it brightens up your mood, your day and they say that it is also good exercise.

Sound of one hand clapping

Have you ever felt not worry at a stage in your life?

The best day of my life was my wedding day. Not only because this is probably something that most little girls dream of from a very young age but because I was marrying the man I love and waited for that day for 6 years.

Everything was perfect, just the way I wanted, the way I planned it for 9 months. I wanted to say if something ask me in 20 years time what would you have changed on your wedding day, my answer would be NOTHING. My wedding day was exactly as I wanted it.

A major thing for me was the fuss that everybody made of me. I am a very humble person and don't like it when people make a big fuss.

So this takes me to the title of the sound of one hand clapping. After we took our wedding photos, my husband and I walked into the hall as Mr and Mrs Mitchell. The MC also introduced us as such and when we walked in everybody stood up and one person started clapping and a few seconds after the person started clapping all over 117 guests started clapping hands for us.

I felt not worthy, everybody stood up for us, as if it was the King and Queen that arrived. I will never forget how I felt that day.

One person clapping started a domino effect and everybody else started to clap. What an amazing effect, one starts and everybody follows.

What if everything in life can be like that, one person does something and everybody else follows. Try this after a show, speech etc be the first person clapping and people will follow, it means the world for the person standing on stage, presenter etc.

The sound of one hand clapping is contagious.

A man's best friend

I have always been a dog lover. Since I was a toddler, my parents had Maltese poodles. Our poodles would stay in the house, sleep on the beds, etc. My husband also grew up with dogs, but their dogs always slept outside and was only allowed in the kitchen.

So my husband and I was always dog lovers, but I was use to having dogs in the the house and our would allow our dog to sleep in the same bed as me. My husband said he would never allow that; dogs should sleep outside.

I told him that I think his view would change if he has his own dog, he said NEVER! So in November 2009, our friend's Jack Russel got 4 puppies. We decided to take one of the puppies. And so everything changed ...

Her name is Noga, she is now 7 months old and guess where she sleeps? Yip on the bed, some evenings under the blanket and then during the course of the morning she moves up until she lies next to my husband on the pillow.

My husband loves Noga to bits and she is like a daughter in our house. She is a Jack Russel and obviously have a lot of energy and keeps us running around and forces us to exercise.

Noga is the reason for a lot of laughter in our house and she is a good stress reliever. The cliche a dogs is a man's best friend, I think is true.

How do you step from the top of a 100-foot pole?

Since I was small I was amazed by those acrobats in the circus that walked from the one side of the rope to the other side. I am not sure how high the rope was from the group, but it was high enough. I always wanted to close my eyes when they took the first step from the pole onto the rope, afraid he/she was going to fall. My eyes would be focused on the acrobat from the start to the end, and was I relieved when he/she made it.

My experience stepping onto a platform that was 40m from the ground was in 2004 when I did the Tree top canopy touring in Tsitsikamma/Storms river. There were seven trees that you had to slide from one tree to the next. After you got to the tree on the other side you had to step from the platform onto a different platform. The anxiety, excitement that went through my body that day was unbelievable and I can't explain it. I was sceard but it was also so exciting and challenging. The longest distance between two trees was 70 m and you had to slide from one tree to another. My feet, legs and stomach had butterflies and at times I felt like turning around and going back, but I couldn't. I couldn't turn around the only way out was to continue, so I continued and to date this was one of the best experiences in my life.

So how do you step from the top of a 100-foot pole? You close your eyes and open them quickly, step forward and never look back. After doing it, you would feel so proud about yourself.

We are what we do

Life is about fun they say? What do you do for fun? I love walking on the beach with my husband and dog. This is only when time permits. Does this make me a nature lover, animal lover, married women? All of the above is probably true. None of these things are bad or out of the ordinary. If I said that I loved doing drugs, drink myself drunk every evening and hate dogs, will that make me a bad person, a person with issues? I would think so because that won't be quality of life. Would you like to be known as a caring person or a person who doesn't care about anybody but him/herself. When people speak about you what would you like them to say? I would like to think that in somebody's life I made a difference, it doesn't matter how big or small. When you die one day what would you like to be written on your tomb stone or said on your funeral. Think about this when you do something from no-one.

We are afraid of the wrong things

What are you afraid of? In Afrikaans there is a song called the Brave mouse. The mouse sings that is he is a brave mouse, we should watch him walk through the house and there is nothing that he is afraid of. As the song continues things happen like the cat comes in, he walks pass a mouse trap, a lady tries to hit him with a broom and suddenly he is afraid of all these things. These things are all things that a mouse is afraid. I think we are also like that, we pretend we are not afraid of things but in reality we are afraid of being home alone, being a victim of crime, afraid that someone will get hold of your bank account and draw all your money, that your parents, brothers/sisters or husband will die before you, these are to name but a few. Are these the right things to be afraid of or should we not be afraid at all? I think that it is natural to be afraid, we are human and prone to be sensitive, afraid and let our emotions take over. However I think we should worry less in life and rather do the cliche saying and "Seize the day". There are to many things to be thankful for, to sit in a corner and be afraid or worry to much.

What is the colour of the wind in Cape Town?

Does the wind have a colour, or does the wind take on the colour around him?

I think in Cape Town we have a lot of experience in the wind. After all our wind has a name, the Cape Doctor. Why? because the South Easter blows all the pollution and dirt away. When you walk in Cape Town on a windy day, you could say the wind is brown, because it grabs all the sand, dust etc. On a rainy day in Cape Town you could think the wind is grey, because people’s mood are grey and the clouds cover the blue sky, so you just see grey. On a beautiful summers day in Cape Town the wind is orange. The Sun is shining a beautiful shades of orange and yellow.. On this day the wind takes on the colour of the sun and blows against the slopes of Table Mountain.

Do you know the story of Van Hinks and the Devil that sits and smokes on Table Mountain. One day van Hinks and the Devil started an argument. They argued about who can create the biggest cloud of smoke. The competition between them is still continuing, and that is why when the wind blows and you see a blanket of clouds blowing over the top of Table Mountain, it is the Devil and van Hinks smoking and trying to blow the biggest cloud of smoke. On these days the Wind is white.

The wind can take on any colour, almost like a cameleon, but what is the real colour of the wind, is it necessary to know?

If I were the boss

I know that you don't have to be a certain age to become a boss. However I think this plays a role. I believe age gives you a bit more authority and respect. This is true especially if you have older people reporting for you.

However I think that a boss should earn respect and not only think they can treat people inferior because they have the title.

A boss should have good leadership quality, people should want to follow the boss. I am not saying that the boss should be Mr/Ms "Nice" Guy but treat collegeaus as people. A boss should be somebody one can talk to, be able to give you advice and also understand when you have personal issues to attend to.

However a boss should be a strong leader and be able to give direction. A boss should take charge, take responsibility when things go wrong or right.

I do not think that it is easy to be the boss. I think it is challenging but also very rewarding when people look up to you.

There is a saying: " A good reputation is much more worth than the value of money"

If I were the boss, I would like to be remembered for the person I was the positive influence I left on peoples lives.

Phenomenon: Fish falling from the sky

Fish falling from the sky? You got to be joking? This is what my reaction was when I first heard of this. This is a strange phenomenom but this happended over 600 times in this century.

Why does this happen? Scientists discovered that this happen when strong whirlwinds and tornados blows over the sea or rivers. The winds then raises small animals like fish or frogs. These animals can then be carried for miles and then dropped just like that. This is when it will rain fish. This is also called the "fafrotskies" phenomenom. In this past this phenomenom happened in the following countries: Singapore, Rhode Island, India, Australia.

Nedbank currently has an Television advert about this Phenomenon. I think it is brilliant says in the Advert: "So it's certainly unexpected but it's not impossible. Just as in life, where we're often faced with unforeseen circumstances. And that's what brings us to Nedbank Capital – we expect the unexpected, and we're equipped to make the most of it.".

I think this is a brilliant advertisement campaign.

So next time when it rains watch out for flying fish, maybe we should change the idiom it is raining cats and dogs to it is raining fish and frogs!

Two people came out of a building and ....

The month of February 2010 wasn't very eventful. Each day was the same as the previous, wake-up at 06:00; shower, get dressed and eat and rush to work. The same routine took place on Monday, 22 February but something felt different. You know that feeling that you get, that you just know something is going to happen.

The day at work passed fairly quickly and it was time to go home. Driving home struggling to get through the City Centre a car almost drove into another car. People ran across the Street while the traffic light was Green and a lady fell down in the middle of the Main Street. There were people helping her up and nobody got injured. Other than these two events nothing much happened.

The drive home was ok and arrival was earlier than usual. When arrived at home the dog needed to be fetched and the plan was to climb in the car and drive home and have a relaxed evening with a real Afrikaans braai.

This is what everybody thought including the two people in the building.

The next moment a "BANG" sound was heard and two people ran out of the building within seconds. The "BANG sound was one car reversing into another car. One of the two people sitting in the building's car. So the two people became part of a story, a story that they necessary didn't want to be part of.

The tow bar of the front car went in underneath the back car and lifted the car. The car was jacked and the tow bar could be lifted of the car. Needless to say there is damage to the car. An Accident report number was given at the Police station and tomorrow the insurance company would get involved and hopefully pay for the damage.

This is an example of a story that the two people that sat in the building didn't know they were going to be involved in. Although they necessary didn't want to be part of the story, because of the "slep" they are going to have to be part of, they have a story to tell.

Things in life happens for a reason I believe but without things happening nobody will have stories to tell or stories to listen to. So next time when you sit in a building maybe think about the story you would like to walk into and be part of. This will maybe let the time go faster if you sit and wait. Share and tell your stories!

What does a Designer and Public Relations Practitioner have in common?

Thinking about Designer PR

A Graphic Designer and a Public Relations Practitioner have a few things in common. In short the Graphic Designer conceptualise and designs the corporate identity and corporate image for the company. A PAaioner ensure that the corporate identity and corporate image for the company is communicated correctly, creates and ensure that a positive image and identity remains out there. So in other words the PR department and Design department should understand each other and work very closely together. Communication in a company is key so why don't initiate a PR campaign in your company and ask the Design department to get involve. The design department will definitely assist in visualising the campaign and the Public Relations Practioner will ensure communication through out the company. A Designer and a Public Relations Practitioner definetely a recipe for Excellence. A mix of Design and PR to ensure Designer PR.

Is Polygamy a Feminist issue?

Yes, I believe it is. What is Polygamy? Polygamy is a form of marrigage where the person has more than one spouse at the same time. What is Feminism? Feminist can be seen as a movement where women fought for gender equality, women rights, have a voice, Receive equal opportunities in terms of jobs etc. When a man is married to more than one wive, does he treat all the wives the same, does he love them the same, respect them the same, give them equal opportunities? In many African countries the first wive have a lot more priviledges than others, she has the biggest home, travels every where the husband goes, have more say than the others, the first wives have to give consent that the husband can marry another wife in some cases etc. Feminism fought for the right for a women to divorce her husband, use contraceptives, have the same social and political status than men etc. Does Polygamy allow for that? In these marriages all the children belongs to everybody, are raised by everybody etc. Do you think Polygamy is a feminist issue?

What will your answer be?

What would your answer be if a Tourist comes up to you in Long Street and ask you is this place safe? I think it is something to think about. Today, 04 February 2010 I walked in Long Street at about 14:30 and a oldish man came up to me and asked me: "Is this place safe at night, I just go here." Obviously he was a Tourist. He catched me by surprise. My answer was yes, in this area especially Long Street. This is the Street that has a night live and their are security all the time. He asked me: "What area in Cape Town is not safe, that area?"; he pointed towards Greenmarket Square side. I said yes, you will be safe it you stay in the bigger Streets. He thanked me and walked away. Did I answer correctly, I thought afterwards. I am a very patriotic person and positive and I am crazy about South Africa. Yes, we have our crime problems, but which country in the World hasn't. Today on KFM they spoke to Jeremy Clarkson from Top Gear and they asked him what does he think about South Africa and does he feel safe. He said that a lot was said in the newspapers and on radio in London about how unsafe South Africa was before he came. He however said, he was in Cape Town last week and he is now in Johannesburg and he has never felt so safe in his life. If Tourist can say this about our beautiful country, I think we also need to think about how much we have here. What would you answer if I Tourist comes up to ask you is it safe here at night? Would you be a Patriot and promote your country?