Change of address

Am planning on deleting this blog fairly soon, but first need to figure out how to put on a redirect.

If you happen to land up here, click on Trinklebean's travels for all my archives as well as new posts. Hope to see you there!

Family conversation XI

Pim: Would you like to drive my car?
Kim: Actually, I´d prefer to drive Mim´s.
Pim: Mine is an automatic, so you wouldn´t have to bother about gears.
Kim: But that would require a shift in mindset.

Family conversation X

T: Did you speak to Pim about going to see Chris Chameleon on Monday?
Mim: Ja, but he didn´t seem that keen.
T: I´m sure it´s not that he´s not keen; he´s feeling too stressed and busy at the moment.
Mim: Ja, you´ll just have to go with one of your friends.
T: None of my friends will want to go to the Barnyard Theatre. It´s so not cool. That´s why I enjoy hanging out with you. It´s like if you have kids and you can take them to see Kung Fu Panda.
Mim: Thanks very much!
T: It´s not a bad thing. I like to think of you guys as my older housemates, rather than the parental unit.
Mim: That certainly explains a lot...

Family conversation IX

Mim talking on the phone to sundry family members (I´ve heard this conversation more than once) about her trip overseas.

Mim: No, I didn´t really like Amsterdam; I wouldn´t go back there. It was so flat. It had no vibe - people were just wandering along the streets, doing nothing.

Somehow I think she might have been missing out on something - perhaps the very reason some people want to go to Amsterdam.

Family conversation VIII

Sitting in the lounge, watching The Queen; the scene where Helen Mirren is determinedly driving through the Scottish highlands or wherever, in pursuit of that elusive stag.

T: I suppose, if the queen can drive, so can I.
Mim: Yes, but she doesn´t have to drive in public.

The sweetest dreams

Am tired but buzzing after a hectic evening at work. Had to dash off some admin mails when I got home. And over-organise stuff for tomorrow. But, after receiving the following message from my dear friend Sebastian in Germany, I feel the right kind of tired... dreamy tired.

So sleep tight and dream about whatever you wish. But flowers, butterflies and a nice forest with cloudy red-blue heaven is the best, and suddenly a soulfly passes by just in front of your eyes, and suddenly you are asleeep... Have nice dreams... some surrealistic ones.

Family conversation VII

My gran is so achingly cool, it´s hard to keep up with her. After a 10 minute discussion on her latest plans to purchase a webcam, we starting chatting about her favourite South African band.

Gran: Freshlyground have really made a name for themselves; I hear them all the time on the radio.
T: Mmmm...
Gran: Ever since they had that hit with Scooby-Doo, they´ve been doing well.
T (stifles a giggle): Mmmm...

But perhaps the joke´s on me, and it´s the younger family member who is hard of hearing. Whatever - I hope I still listen to contemporary South Arican music when I´m eighty!

Bangers and mash

For the best new blog on the block, and a sneak peek into the sexual shenanigans of suburban South Africa, check out Bangers and Mash. Compellingly nasty reading!

I don´t want Harry´s sleep to be further disturbed, but I do hope the Saucemeister gets it up again soon. He really is the man - performing not only for the pleasure of the Screamer, but several interweb voyeurs as well!

Three questions that keep me up at night

1. Why do I always start sneezing whenever I pluck my eyebrows?

2. Why is SAA still serving Vito Palazzolo mineral water?

3. Why does Graeme Smith so often put the other team in to bat? It only makes it worse on the rare occasion that it´s the correct decision, as this lets him justify all the other times when it´s so obviously the wrong one.

Whosoever can answer any of these burning questions shall be the recipient of my eternal gratitude!

Friendly Conversation III

At ATOM...

Dick-the-barman: "What are you doing here?"
T: "I´m down from Jozi for the weekend."
Dick-the-barman: "Oh, I thought you were out on a day pass from Valkenburg."
T: "Actually, the last time I was in a psychiatric institution was in Switzerland."
Dick-the-barman: "It´s hard to know how to respond to that."

Dick-the-barman virtually speechless - a rare occasion, which banished all vestiges of depression from my psyche ;)

Family conversation VI

If you have a five-litre jug and a three-litre jug, how do you get four litres? Or, if you take one set of parents and a 20-something who's returned to the nest, how do you get a book out of it?

T: "It's very fashionable to write books about one's parents these days. Everybody is doing it."
Pim: "I know, you told me the other day."
T: "I just thought I'd mention it again."
Pim: "If you wrote one about us, no one would read it; it would be boring."
T: "No, it wouldn't; it would be hilarious."
Pim: "I suppose you could put a different jug problem in italics at the beginning of each chapter."
Mim: "Don't encourage her!"

Friendly conversation II

GX: "So, you're a fan of James?"
T: "James the band?"
GX: "No, James my friend."
T: "Dude, I was being facetious!" ;)

(Other people's) family conversation V

Mel: "You're so tiny."
J: "Mom, don't be rude."
G: "At least you're the same height as me!"
T: "How old are you?"
G: "Nine. How old are you?"
T: "Um, 28."

Good thing I don't have a complex about my height...

Family conversation IV

T: "So we can go and book my learner´s tomorrow?"
Mim: "No, I told you we´re going in the opposite direction."
T: "Surely it´s not that far? The longer we wait to do it the longer I´ll be at your mercy."
Mim: "No, the longer I´ll be at your mercy."
T: "I guess we´ll both be at each other´s mercy... Or throats."

Half-year´s resolutions

There´s only two of them. But they´re biggies.

1. Get my driver´s license.
Primary motivation: When I have a car I can play my music in it.
Additional considerations: Have realised it might actually be easier to obtain license than constantly have to manipulate/beg my friends for lifts. And I will be independent and feel like I´m 18 again.

2. Get a job.
Primary motivation: I will have a business card to give to people at parties. How is one supposed to have a social life worthy of a young professional without this essential accessory?
Additional consideration: I will stop feeling that I am turning into the Hugh Grant character in About a boy.

Friendly conversation I

JK (on hearing that I may apply for a job at a lad mag): "The pen has power... so does lipstick."

Am still trying to work out the implications of this one, so all interpretations welcome!

Family conversation III

Mim: "Pim will have to go to the movies (to see Nuclear Comeback at Encounters) by himself then."
T: "Why don´t you go with him?"
Mim: "No, I don´t want to."
T: "I would go, if I weren´t busy."
Mim: "I know you would."
T: "Don´t you care about the environment?"
Mim: "Pim can look after the earth; I will look after the computers."

"Darkest Africa"

My friend Bean has just written a wonderful post about Western perceptions of Africa.

I thought of it this morning when I woke up and there was an unscheduled power cut. But you know, I don´t live in a mud house or a tin shack, and I´m lucky enough to have power most of the time. I don´t like what power cuts are doing to our economy. And I am unable to function without my morning cup of tea. But really, there´s not much to complain about compared to Nigeria.

Mim and I were just about to head off to Hyde Park* to get our caffeine fix, when Ceremony started blasting out from the sound system (bizarre, as it wasn´t playing when the power went off). My spirits immediately lifted and I tripped off to the kitchen to switch on the kettle.

* All the shops here proudly display "we trade during power outages" signs in their windows.

Family conversation II

Mim to me: "You can cook whatever you like for supper - it doesn't have to be pasta."
Nim: "I don't want fish in Jojoba oil wrapped in barbed wire, or whatever."

For the record, I stuck with the pasta, fearful of incurring the young master's wrath.

Subeditor at large

When Eszter and I were in Poschiavo last year, which I will get round to blogging about sometime, I spotted the following board outside a restaurant. I can´t vouch for the Italian and German spelling, although the English is now correct, thanks to my pedantry. I did receive some stares from a little old Italian lady out on a morning stroll though.

I thought back to that incident when I came across this fabulous blog the other day. Does the concept of a Typo Hunt Across America sound crazy to you? Personally, I only wish my red pen and I could´ve gone along for the ride!

Btw, some of you may choose to question the spelling of "subeditor" in the title of my post. That´s a tricky one. I go with Collins, which, incidentally, doesn´t even list an alternative spelling. But I suspect that other dictionaries list it as "sub-editor", since that spelling seems to be prevalent, even among subs themselves. The real problem arises when applying for jobs: I don´t want prospective employers thinking I don´t know how to spell my job title. Generally I go for whichever version has been used in the job ad. I suppose I could always call myself a "copy editor", but I don´t approve of Americanisms...