Marshmallows & Merlot

An enthusiastic member of more than one book club – I love Thursday nights spent with good wine and great girls – I've decided that I just don't read enough. I intend to... as is evident by the pile of 'must reads' that have accumulated on my bedside table over the past few months, I just don't get around to it. Sadly, I often see the film version first (quite by accident sometimes) and then figure 'what's the point?' of reading the book it was based on. Now this, as I'm sure you'll agree, is not a sound argument. Case in point: The newly released 'My sister's keeper' starring Cameron Diaz and Abigail Breslin... I read the book by Jodi Picoult about 5 years ago and have since hoovered up every other novel she's ever written. I LOVED 'My sister's keeper' – as I read, it made me laugh, made me cry, made me stay up way past my bedtime. The film? Not so much... Insert public service announcement here: PLEASE DON'

Following on from yesterday’s post – and on a lighter and much less important note – I decided to google the origins of the highly popular, and internationally-approved monthly regime of torture a.k.a waxing . Why this need to research something so trivial? Well, I went for my wax yesterday afternoon as I am being forced to don a bikini later today and the experience reaffirmed that it is the only thing about summer that I do not like. Braais, flip-flops, maxi dresses, chilled sangria, freezocino’s, poolside chats, fake tan hits and misses, and longer days are all things that I like. no luuuurve, about summer. Waxing? Not so much. I imagine it’s like the smaller, quieter sister of childbirth – unavoidable, very painful at the time and then ‘wooooosh’ as soon as it’s over you forget the trauma and book your next appointment in four weeks time with a smile on your face. I didn’t say it actually made sense... Anyway, the lovely people at Get Waxing  had this to say about it: “Rem

Okay, so here's the story... I'm a good time girl, always enjoyed a good dance to some good tunes, always loved any excuse to celebrate and am partial to a glass of chilled white wine (or two). I'm also one of those super-eager, totally cheesy people who actually likes fancy dress parties. No sarcasm here. I'm being dead serious. Anyways, that being said, I'm a Christian and at this time of the year an event takes place that offers the perfect excuse to have a party and don a funny costume – Halloween. As a 'holiday' (for lack of a better term) it's never quite sat right with me. Just like wearing devil horns at a bachelorette party has never been my cup of tea... I'm far happier with a pair of fairy wings and a plastic tiara that lights up. I think that there are some traditions that have become so traditional that we as a society don't ask questions anymore. We just mark it in our diaries and start googling costume hire places. Just like

Just got this story (author unknown) sent to me by 'Fluffy' – one of my dearest friends whose timing is always just right... Sandra felt as low as the heels of her shoes as she pushed against a November gust and the florist shop door. Her life had been easy, like a spring breeze. Then in the fourth month Of her  second pregnancy, a minor automobile accident stole that from her.  During this Thanksgiving week she would have delivered a son. She grieved over her loss. As if that weren't enough, her husband's company threatened a transfer. Then her sister, whose holiday visit she coveted, called saying she could not come for the holiday. Then Sandra's friend infuriated her by suggesting her grief was a God-given path to maturity that would allow her to empathize with others who suffer. She has no idea what I'm feeling, thought Sandra with a shudder. Thanksgiving? Thankful for what? She wondered. For a careless driver whose truck was hardly scratched when he

Taking a leaf outta Twitter's book and giving you my top 5 pick of other blogs to pay a visit to: Daydream Lily   A Google Blog Of Note, featuring visual inspiration, photography, illustration, design and beautiful homes; The English Muse  Written by Tina who usually works in the middle of the night because she can't sleep ; Daily Art Stop  Something new for every day of the work week; A heart for God  With a post titled 'Why I'm wearing pyjamas to church' what's not to like? Letters of note  A n attempt to gather and sort fascinating letters, postcards, telegrams, faxes, and memos. Scans/photos where possible. Fakes will be sneered at. 

Woo-hoo! And three cheers for Dove! Came across  this  video clip doing the rounds on facebook called 'Evolution' and it led me to take a look at  Dove's Campaign For Real Beauty  website. There are a few more pretty poignant video clips exploring the beauty industry and its often unattainable ideals. Do yourself a favour and check out  Onslaught .

I am feeling like the light, fluffy, sugar-filled cake that showed so much promise during the baking process and then just flopped – ending up flatter than a French-fussiness approved crepe! Yip, just not feeling like myself. I think I've been hoarding so much stuff away like a squirrel lately that my proverbial pouch is filled to capacity and my gag reflex is setting in. Apologies for being quite so graphic, but when you feel like you can't vent within your circle of (supposed) trust, then having a blog is a much needed outlet. Why open your mouth and vent to those closest to you, risking all sorts of undesired reactions, when you can post your self-indulgent rubbish online and share it with strangers? I think that the advent of the blog may have hit the psycho-babble 'come and lie on my couch' sector of society pretty hard. It's like therapy, but it's free, you don't need to make an appointment and your time is never up... it's the perfect 'ke

Date sent: 27 January 2001 Subject: Update: the semi-pommie way! Time in the UK: Fresh off the boat – only 27 days Hello there South Africa-friend-type-person! Well, I know my weekly update is late, but I've been fighting with technology. On Thursday night, I sat down and typed a masterpiece of a mail,a mail that Shakespeare would've bowed before and uttered the words "I am not worthy..." BUT the pc did some funked up thing and shut down, losing all my typed words and flushing the down the proverbial drain, otherwise known as the net... So its time for attempt no.2. Here it goes... Today is actually, shock of shock, a beautiful one, its not raining, not snowing, no wind...and its not 'that' cold, only about 11 degress and the sun is shining, the squirrels are playing in the tress, the ducks are making their way down the Thames river... *sigh*...sounds like a scene from Mary poppins, well, almost...no crazy woman floating around in the sky with her umbr

To Move Out of Your Comfort Zones, You Must Be Willing to Make Mistakes  We get comfortable with things that ought not to feel comfortable. Jesus calls us out of such comfort zones. He calls us to change. You cannot move out of your comfort zones unless you’re willing to make mistakes and move beyond them. A quick review of the Gospels indicates that in Matthew, Peter is mentioned in 24 different verses. In 11 of the 24 verses he is doing the wrong thing, or saying the wrong thing, or in some other way missing the mark. That’s 11 out of 24 references! In Mark it is 11 of 20 verses, in Luke it is seven out of 18 verses, and in John it is 10 out of 19 verses.  Here’s a guy who seems to have about a 50 percent chance of doing the wrong thing in a given situation. Ultimately, he fails at walking on water with Jesus’ help. He is also the man to whom Jesus said, “And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it” (Matt.

Whenever you are fed up with life, start writing: ink is the great cure for all human ills, as I have found out long ago. ~C.S. Lewis

If there is something you fear, face it. Stop running from it. Walk toward it. Understand it. Overcome it. Don’t give in to it. Peter did fine walking on the water as long as he looked at Jesus. And that brings us to the second point:  To Move Out of Your Comfort Zones, You Must Learn to Focus on Jesus.    Peter asked Jesus to let him walk on the water. Jesus replied, “‘Come . . .’ Then Peter got down out of the  boat and walked on the water to Jesus” I see Jesus standing on the water, with Peter focusing on Jesus as he walks toward him. As long as Peter focuses on Jesus, as long as he looks to Jesus for his strength, he walks on the water. “But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, ‘Lord, save me!’” (v. 30). Peter took his eyes off Jesus. He looked at the results of the wind. He started to sink.  To move out of your comfort zones, you must learn to focus on Jesus. When life’s storms surround you, it is easy to focus on the storm, isn’t it? Perhap

As we grow older, we become less willing to try new things. We fear making mistakes. We have fallen down too many times.  We have failed, and we have felt the pain of failing. We have been hurt by our mistakes. We have learned to love our comfort zones!  Jesus said, “Anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it” (Mark 10:15). Receiving the kingdom of God like a little child means having a childlike faith. Receiving the kingdom of God like a little child also means being willing to move out of our comfort zones. Jesus continually challenged people to move out of their comfort zones into new areas of growth. But how do we move out of our comfort zones.     To Move Out of Your Comfort Zones, You Must Face Your Fears  When the disciples saw Jesus walking on the lake, they were terrified. ‘It’s a ghost,’ they said, and cried out in fear” (v. 26). They were crossing the lake. The wind was blowing. They looked up and saw somebody walking on the w

"Good friends are not those who have been around the longest but rather the ones that came and never left your side" (anon.)

Last night at bible study someone quoted the title of a book and the phrase 'If you want to walk on water you've got to get out of the boat' really resonated with me, so I thought it may resonate with others. After a little treasure hunt on Google – what did we ever do without the funnily named search engine? – I found this sermon: (Scripture:  Matt. 14: 22-33; Hebrews 12:1-3)  : In his book Healing of Memories David Seamands tells us that at the end of WWII, the Japanese government was faced with a massive problem.   There were thousands of Japanese soldiers in the mountains and the jungles of the South Pacific islands who would not come out of hiding, surrender their arms, and return to a life of peace. They fully believed surrender would mean either torture or instant death.   Finally, the Japanese Emperor made a speech explaining the situation and pleading with his men to come home. The speech was broadcast by radio and also recorded, and was repeatedly boomed t

An alternative to an actual apple a day... check out Daily Fruit . It's a fresh, juicy blog dedicated almost exclusively to the design of cool patterns.

on some seriously beautiful locally-produced photographs by  Martin Osner  and  Koos van der Lende

Okay, so here's the story... I think I may have just committed myself, nope, scratch that... I have committed myself to running a half marathon on the 3rd of April next year.  Shock! Horror! Yip, I'm having a little trouble believing it myself. If it weren't for the aches and pains (in muscles I didn't even know I had) caused by my first training session a.k.a road run yesterday afternoon, I'd think that it had all been a really bad dream. Alas! This is no elaborate dream sequence, this is real life with real hills and real roads and a very real drill sergeant-type running buddy. I have to give it to her, she has some mad skills and super-powers of persuasion... There we were on Monday rowing away merrily after having done 50 minutes of cardio on a variety of butt bustin' torture racks, just chatting away about the weekend etc. when outta the blue I asked her if she'd like to incorporate a road run into our weekly fitness regime. [insert confession

Date: 6 October 2003 Subject: Winter is here (ick!) Age: 20 years and 7 months Time served: 34 months As I sit here typing winter is tapping at my window, my scarf and coat are sprawled on my bed and we just turned the heating on in the house for the first time in 5 months...*sigh*... with any luck it'll snow right in the middle just to break the ICK-ness factor a little. I reckon that if its going to be cold enough for snow then it better snow, cos if there is one thing I loathe more than Asian tourists at train stations its lazy weather. Okay, rant about the weather over...I will embark on what i intended to do when I sat down in front of this screen.I have taken a little slice out of my day to send you a little run-down of the last few weeks' events and other stuff i feel the need to bore you with (he he he, I'm 6000 miles away and fully entitled to!) My summer break went by so so so fast! 4 months just Whoosh! Gone. I did have an aim for this summer and actua