Pfangirl Through the Looking Glass

Well, Honours is over. Yesterday I did my presentation, and although I was the only person who talked without a PowerPoint Presentation, I did ultimately end up feeling pretty confident about my project as a whole. A number of people had clearly rushed their assignments- they were making grand statements about South African society and consumption based on surveys of a grand total of 10 people. What a representative sampling of South African society. Anyway, now I wait until towards the end of December for my marks. As for my plans for the future, I’m not rushing into the job market just yet. I’m certainly updating my CV, but I have assorted little projects, both for money and passion, to occupy me for December and into the New Year. Oh, and everyone go out and buy the December edition of South Africa’s PC Format. In it you will find a new gaming mag called GEAR. And in it you will find a column written by moi. Of course, I have yet to see what it looks like. I’ve been promised a free ...

After a few weekends of nun-like confinement, I actually had a busy weekend. Starting on Thursday night, Paul and I were invited to the Christmas Party of the logistics company Paul does tech support for. We went to The Barnyard for Those Were the Days- The 60’s tribute musical. Actually, let me rephrase that. We were picked up at Paul’s place and bussed by hired couriers to Gateway, picking up staff members along the way. Staff members, may I add, who jumped into the car with a cooler box of booze and started dishing out drinks. At the Barnyard we were treated to a free show, free food, free drinks, as well as R50 Pavilion gift vouchers each. After my EvilCorp experiences of 2004, it was weird to be in the presence of a company where people actually are treated well and enjoy working there. Nothing much happened on Friday evening. I sat at home sketching the next Girlz N Games (with dialogue I am still agonizing over), eating popcorn and watching Pearl Harbour, for the second time. Al...

Like I posted the other day, my copy of Christopher Hart's Drawing Cutting Edge Comics arrived the other day (I adore online shopping). It really is a very handy reference book, and best of all it it's in the contemporary comic-book style. So many of the How To Draw Comics books I've seen tend to be outdated in terms of style- very 1970s to early 1980s, where all the women have that Bridget Bardot look. Anyway, I've been doing a few sketches, and here's my heroine (resurrected and in a trendy new outfit since I came up with her back in 1993), in pencil, and digitally coloured. Thanks to Shirlz for solving the Photoshop setting mystery that threatened to put me off colouring in the image.

This survey thingie is doing the rounds at the moment, so here is my response, after some long thinking sessions: 7 Things to do before I die Write and have a novel published Learn a martial art, ideally one with a weapon Lots of international travel (espec. getting to see Greece, Italy, Egypt and Romania) Sky dive or bridge jump Get my Masters eventually Get married (and hopefully stay married) Learn a lifesaving skill (maybe save a life) 7 Things I cannot do Sing Not be competitive Be a fast RTS player Not be generally anxious Not shoot down / be doubtful about opportunities opened up to me Not worry about my health Feel comfortable on a bicycle 7 Things that attract me to the opposite sex Intelligence Sense of humour Smile Arms and hands Chest and shoulders Healthy ambition Tender touch 7 Things I say most often I suppose Hmm What’s that? I don’t know What?! Shit Oh, for God’s sake 7 Celebrity Crushes Hugh Jackman Brad Pitt Ryan Reynolds Chris Evans Michelle Pfeiffer Angelina Jolie ...

Alrighty, I'm about to print my 35 page forum-focused Media essay. Thank God it's over. Now to have it bound and drop it off at university tomorrow. And then spend the rest of the week marking English First Year exams, preparing for my presentation next week Tuesday or Wednesday and sorting out myself for Ashley's party on Saturday- time to raid the costume room at my mother's school again. Anyway, Kalahari.net delivered my ordered goodies today. I am now the owner of my own copy of Frank Miller's Return of the Dark Knight (think Sin City but with Batman as the lead), as well as Christopher Hart's Drawing Cutting Edge Comics . I've always wanted a proper How to Draw Comics book, and this one is amazing- I think Toti Gareth would really like it. It's mostly a book where you you sit, study and copy the templates provided, but there are very thorough looks at anatomy, body proportions and perspective. Plus, there are plenty of examples by excellent artists...

Today (Sunday) was perfect beach weather: clear skies, not too humid and breezless. Naturally I spent the whole day sitting indoors working on my big Media assignment. However, I did finish the 35-page monster today- I have no idea how long it was supposed to be, but they’re academics. It’s their job to read. After I edit the essay tomorrow, it will be over. That is, except for the presentation next week. And except for marking 34 First Year English exam essays. I’m looking forward to the second half of the week. Paul will have handed his Honour Project in by then so he should have returned, at least partially, to his happy joker self. He’s a hermit grump when he has stressful academic work to do. We’re going to the Barnyard Theatre on Thursday evening for the Mainport Africa Christmas function. Paul does tech support for the company and naturally I am doing the girlfriend leech thing and tagging along. I really find it amusing that the company is so good to its employees. Not only is ...

I’m one step closer to freedom. Today was my last English exam for, potentially, a damn long while. At the moment I’m still recovering from the mental exhaustion- writing 2 essays non-stop for 4 hours totally throws you. The physical sensation is something like a head cold layered over severe eye strain. This said, writing English exams at a Post-grad level is somewhat different to Undergrad. For one thing, our exams are open-book, they are conducted in the English Department instead of one of those overwhelming, impersonal hall venues, you can walk around if you want and the lecturers even come to serve you tea. As for the 2 essay I had to write, I don’t think my first one, on Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart and Mariama Ba’s So Long a Letter was particularly good. I got caught up in the Achebe part of the question when I should have tackled it briefly, and didn’t plan the Ba section properly so I tended to waffle. I only had an hour and a half for the other essay on Frankenstein, bu...

I’ve been studying all week, making summaries in preparation for my English exam on Tuesday. And man, is it boring. I don’t feel at all inspired for writing on Tuesday, and I just want it over with. My mind has already skipped ahead to 28 November when exams will be over and assignments in. There are all sorts of activities I want to do, ranging from video to DVD conversions for Christmas to all sorts of website work, for fun and money. Just to have a study break and get out the house, I went with my mother on Wednesday to the Kloof Library to choose some children’s books to read to her Grade 1 class Paul’s sick with bad flu now. No doubt that translates to a boring weekend, where I’ll be just continuing with my summaries, and hopefully working a bit on my forum project. I still think my immune system is a bit compromised. My dry cough is gone now, with the tightness in my chest, but my throat is still sore at times. And on Tuesday I woke up with my left eye nicely inflamed. Two days o...

The big news of the weekend was Team Pug’s Friday night victory at the Kloof SPCA General Knowledge Quiz. Team Pug, of course, consisted of myself, Paul, Shirley, G, Mark, his sister Diane and Natasha, who found out about the charity fundraiser and spread the news about it. It really was an entertaining evening, and a lot more mentally gratifying than an evening of clubbing. Everyone got to contribute something to the team’s efforts. Shirley, Mark, Diane and Natasha worked hard all evening on the movie title anagrams section. Anyone who is bored may want to try the following out: Tong up Dross oscar Hire dad Rat dialog Lawyers lean rhythm End global yell Shoot genie Speculate shuts us Saltshaker tired roof Treats well Throb gussets Wrangled deep ninth Soppy pin arm Thighs nine Konga crawler cook Lapel scabs Psycho liver bell Clubber that’s fake Deathbed stinky moan Beds my ant G and I did our bit in terms of identifying film posters, and name that tune (with both G and Mark, for Burn r...

I had a very restless, feverish night's sleep on Wednesday and work up in the morning with a sore throat, a tight wheezy chest, nausea and aching guts. I don't know what it is: the change in the weather, the stress of the past few days, a little bit of food poisoning or even just stomach flu. Regardless, I feel physically pretty crap at the moment. I've really hoping it's just going to be one of those 2 day things. I don't want to be sick over the weekend, and I just recovered from a headcold the week before last. In other news, there have been some good things going on (lest you think this blog is just one endless soap opera wallowing in Depression). I finihsed tutoring on Monday (Hooray). I still have to mark their exams, but my major work with them is done. They also filled out course evaluations in the last tut class, and I only had one negative response- namely that I'm boring and the class doesn't participate (how I am responsible for that, I really do...

At 3:35am on Wednesday morning we were woken by the sound of barking dogs and a revving souped-up engine. My father rushed outside to find a gang of car thieves attempting to steal his old Jetta, which for the past year and a half has been parked outside the garage. In a panic my mother and I called the police. As we were phoning my father came back inside to say that the thieves had sped off in their little white / yellow car, leaving the Jetta at the bottom of the road. Its battery was dead (ironically it was supposed to go in today for a new one), and the thieves hadn’t been able to start it. Within 10 minutes the police had arrived to check things out, and patrol the area. But by that stage it was all over. I’m still a bit trembly over the whole incident. I just hope that this second incident in 3 months (my car radio was stolen a little while ago) will clue my parents up about home security. The Jetta needs to be sold. It can’t sit on the driveway tempting any thieves who go past....

This last weekend was a mix of great fun and boredom. Pretty much the whole of last week I had sat at home and not seen anyone, so I was looking forward to socializing and getting out and about. On Friday evening, it seemed like I just swapped the routine’s setting for Paul’s house. I was pretty bummed when we received a call, after 9pm that Gareth was meeting up with G and Shirley at the Pavilion ‘for something’. The fact that they were already having / finishing up with dinner, and about to decide on an activity (which included maybe just going home) meant we didn’t have much time to get there. So Paul and I just ended up lying on the couch watching Ace Ventura: pet Detective and a bit of Dumb and Dumber. On Saturday, after a slow start, Paul and I headed to the Pavilion to do a little shopping. The place was packed with end-of-the-month shoppers and it took a while for us to find parking. The main reason for heading to the Pav was for Paul to buy some new hiking strops, and because ...

I worked at the annual Christmas House in Pinetown on Tuesday evening. Apart from last year I’ve been involved for the last 5 or so years, working at one of the tills. Essentially the name Christmas House pretty much sums up what it is- a whole house is decorated, and crammed, with Christmas related crafts that are all for sale- there are tree decorations, table settings, dolls, teddy bears, cushions, wall hangings, gift bags, candles, tree skirts, fridge magnets, cards, sweets, nativity scenes, novelty gifts etc. There’s tons of stuff, all reasonable priced (Although, the big spenders took some of the most beautiful merchandise home with them on the opening evening). Basically, the sooner you go, the better the selection. And it changes every year. Anyway, it’s fascinating to watch the consumer greed take over, with people spending hundreds to over a thousand rands on Christmas decorations. Many people are there buying for their business or B’n’B, but there are also people splashing o...

Paul’s cousin was away this weekend so a large chunk of the weekend was spent at his place, literally across the road from bar Billy the Bums. We weren’t there much on Friday night however, as we joined the gang at Sibaya Casino for the big Comedy Festival running there. It really was an awesome evening, with a combination of around 8 local and international comedians entertaining us for 2 and a half hours. Angelo the Greek-Canadian MC, and LA resident Pierre were probably my favourites. My least favourite was an Australian comic who was scarily misogynistic- I fully understand that male comedians will use relationships and women as material, and I have no problem with that. I really have no problem with laughing at myself. However, there seemed to be a lot of spite behind his words that pushed the misogyny beyond acceptably funny. On Saturday, Paul was out of the house by 6:30am to travel up to Nottingham Road to do a quote for a prospective client. I was awake too, given the fact tha...

I feel the need to clarify some things in my last post, seeing the strong criticism I received. A) I was writing when I was feeling particularly down and brooding. A day later I have a cold, a burnt mouth and incredibly stiff legs (damn lunges). But despite that, a blog is to vent your personal thoughts and feelings. B)I maintain that I can’t work a fulltime job for a company for R5000 again. I’ve already done it (and at a Godawful dictatorial company as I’m sure Ash and Shirlz will agree). For one thing, it’s a question of quality of life- an 8 to 5 full time job for that amount isn’t worth it. It’s a waste. For another thing, it’s fine and all that if you’re living at home, but when you’re at that age when you want to move out; have some independence; have a real career underway, the money is woefully inadequate of you don’t have a second income coming in, from a partner or room mate. A one-room rented place (apartment or granny flat) ranges from R800 to R2000, depending on the loca...

‘What’s the difference between a BA and a pizza?’ ‘A pizza can feed a family of 4.’ There are several jokes like this. And I’m bringing them up because I had a pretty crap Monday and most of it centres around my future. To start off I basically had to face an inquisition when I approached the Financial Aid / Bursaries office to draw 2 scholarships out of student account and put the money in my bank account. I have to ask permission of the office to do this. Now the big issue is that I received these 2 new scholarships halfway through this year, presumably as a result of my first semester marks. I already had 2 scholarships before this. Now Mr Bursar loads up my details on his PC and hums and ha’s, ‘I’m concerned that we’re giving you so much money’ and ‘Are your marks really that good?’ It sickens me that I have to justify why I should receive the money (which will go towards paying off a hefty chunk of my car to my parents) when I have worked my ass off to deserve it. Scholarships are...

Most of this weekend, I’ve smelt like smoke, thanks to the 2 braais we had. Friday evening was braai-less. Paul and I, along with my sister, her boyfriend, and my father went to see The Burning Bush, the play at my mother’s school. We go to the Benjamin Pine school play every year, and this year my mother was co-producer. Anyway, you’ve got to love school musicals that have happy, catchy little choruses like ‘Kill kill kill kill, kill all the Hebrews’. On Saturday we went to Paul’s place and spent the day working on our Honours projects. I finally organised my Forum Users survey questions and put them online. I really hope that people take the time to actually complete it. And I’m bracing myself for the little shits who either refuse to take it seriously, completing the survey with utter garbage, or try to appear all ‘cool’ and ‘heavy’ and produce utterly false responses. I also finished reading Snow Falling on Cedars again on Saturday morning. In just over 24 hours I had re-skimmed th...

You know, it’s interesting thinking about relationships and the difference age makes to them. I ended up at a 15 year old’s blog the other day and I was confronted with all kinds of ‘Oh woe is me’ whining about broken hearts, and half-baked Love poetry with a capital L. I like to think that Shakespeare wiped out Romeo & Juliet for that same reason- they annoyed the crap out of him. The much older Antony and Cleopatra, with their cross-dressing and sexual games, who also end up killing themselves in error, are a far more interesting couple. And then there’s watching Gareth with Denbeigh. That relationship just seems so much more relaxed, and comfortable, free from hormonal teenage angst. As a sidenote, Gareth in a relationship reminds me of my bachelor uncle who got married last year. There’s that exact same kind of personality change from a brooder to a light-hearted, smiley, physically affectionate (dare I say cuddly even) guy. That’s a compliment BTW. It all makes me extremely g...