Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Life Goals

3 x times per week
Eat raw
Run
Play (write, sing, play guitar, photograph)

Wednesday Playlist

 Here is my Wednesday playlist. You will. Start levitating. and if you dont. then i will give your money back/

Blackbird Blackbird- Hawaii
First Aid Kit - When I grow up - Fever Ray cover
Ellie Goulding - Your Song - Blackmill Dubstep Remix
Broken Bells - October
Arcade Fire - We Used to Wait
Broken Bells - The High Road




Recording Music at the Bakery Studios

I'm currently recording. in a lounge with a big red carpet. i sing my lungs out. it is a good space. it has a guitar and a piano resting by my leg. when i get tired i pick up the guitar and play some blues. i've found the blues and now i can't put it down. it's the only thing that makes sense to me right now. i catch myself dancing to the track. it's a good track.


Delicious Tuesday

My Tuesday begun with a simple work day. I took off at midday to do some Chistmas shopping. i took myself out to lunch with a vegetarian thai wrap and smoothie. I bought clothes, canvases and books for my loved ones. I landed up on my bed somehow, finishing The Wedding Officer, and then having a light snooze. I was woken by a friend calling and then dashed off to 66 Albert rd, Woodstock to buy some presents, for me. I am now the proud owner of 3 Take Care dresses, and a Steffany La Mour Truth ring. i am content. I picked up my beau and we drove over the mountain to Hout Bay where an amazing meal was waiting for us. we sat under the summer solstice sun, and dined on prawn and coriander parcels, cold white wine, and crayfish, mussel and prawn curry. we watched the moon rise over the mountains and took a walk through the forest to a dam filled with white ducks, and lay down on our backs to discuss life. This was a perfect evening, this is the end to a perfect Tuesday. Thank you to Cle for making this happen, and to the friends who shared it with me.

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

My birthday


It was my birthday on Saturday, the 18th of Dec, I decided to have a beach party. We had champagne and orange juice, french breads, candles in brown paper bags and watched the sun set over Llandudno. Some of my friends met some of my other friends thatn ight and started a band. Oh Sister Where Art Thou.

Greyton Rock Festival

Last weekend we went to the Greyton Rock Festival. We camped amongst tipis and listened to the likes of Jack Mantis and the Boulevard Blues Band (my heros) There were some lovely people amongst the tribe. You can view my pics here

The Blue Hippo (http://bluehippo.co.za)  is situated on a beautiful farm of 750 hectares, and surrounded by majestic mountains – and offers unique Native American style Tipi accommodation for groups, families and individuals. It is 4km’s outside of Greyton (1.5 hours from Cape Town. The Tipi Village can accommodate up to 35 people Activities that you could do while here are nature/healing retreats, horse-riding, hiking, mountain-biking, swimming, fishing, massage and healing therapies, meditation.d journeys or sweatlodge ceremonies.


Friday, December 10, 2010

We go up

We go up to the 31st floor. the numbers flash red, we ascend. tight space, feel confined. there is no polite conversation. they let us out. the lights are flashing. everything is white. we enter the room, and are released into chaos. This is Hemisphere. We have arrived. we are on top of the world. on the 31st floor.

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

the other side of midnight

This is an excert from Shutter Sisters...It's the other side of midnight, my favorite hour to explore the city with my camera. Normally, I would venture out on my own, enjoying the solitude and my quality time with Chicago's beautiful dark side. Tonight, however, I have company. My friends DM and Brett, fellow D90 users, are my co-conspirators on this particular night photo adventure. We shoot for a couple hours together in the cold, and I have to say that I enjoy the cameraderie and the freedom to linger here and there. My companions don't rush me or start tapping their feet when they're ready to move on because they too understand that sometimes you absolutely need to take 20 shots of your shoe. By the end of the shoot, we're starving, freezing and tired, but it was totally worth it for me. I feel grateful to have found fellow photographers who are night owls like myself.



Change

This is from Masumi's Blog. i love her wisdom. i wanted to share it with you...
What is it about the big dream that keeps us from realizing it? What makes you put off doing what you really want to do? It all boils down to fear of failure. It’s your life goal, your reason for being, your soul and your spirit. What happens if you mess it up? Painfully, truth is, messing it up is better than doing nothing.
Like many of you, I have always dreamed of moving abroad. I was scared. When the big day came, I was sad. I feared I would never feel at home, manage to relax. And here I am, settled in in just one month. Feels like I’ve been living here for ever.

Wisdoms from moving abroad - Or lullabies for frightened soon-to-be expats

- It’s not as frightening as you think in advance
- You will adapt well to new surroundings
- Adapting takes less time than you imagine
- Living abroad will not take away your desire to travel
- Going out of the house always means you’ll discover something exciting
- Being apart from friends and family can actually make your relationships stronger (you might even stay in touch more often than you did before)
- Distance (from friends, loved ones, habits, familiar places) can be a powerful source of inspiration
- You will discover that there exists vegetables you have never heard of, seen or ever tasted
- You probably won’t miss any food from home in particular
- Unfamiliar streets will lead to exciting discoverings when you get lost
- A smile goes a long way (especially when you can’t understand the language or an accent)
- Moving with just a few suitcases is possible
- You’ll discover that it’s not about the things, the place, the country, the people. It’s about you.
- You will get used to strange local customs
- New experiences and influences weigh up for what you miss from home
- You will grow tremendously as a person
Personal wisdoms:
- I am much more independent than I thought I was
- My english is developing rapidly. I might even get a british accent!
- I don’t mind doing the dishes as much as I thought (I’m used to a dishwasing machine)…
- Living with more than one person means there’s always someone to talk to
Have you overcomed a fear lately? What did you realize? 



Inspiration

Feeling so inspired right now. Wrote a song yesterday, with the time that i had to myself. it's called "could i?"
i would love to perform it with drums, piano, cello and violin. this is not an impossibility, as i'm haning around with super creatives, who play these things for a living.

i watched this inspiring movie on Vimeo. Click here to watch it too. it took me back to childhood. living in Hermanus, on the farm. i remember running around, 8 years old, with tinsel wrapped around my hair. in another world. building tree houses. always. as an only child, you often prefer your own world.
here's a photograph i found for you, by denise bovee


Monday, December 6, 2010

Craft is the new Black

To do: make bunting, to drape over my microphone stand. As well as flowers. and glitter.


Photography Loves

McDermott Management

Home

Sometimes i feel like a traveling gypsy. i'm looking forward to going home and doing nothing. some quiet space to think and write and work on some new material. today i am listening to Elvis Perkins. he captures Monday pretty well. Click here to listen to him too..http://www.myspace.com/elvisperkins

Sunday, December 5, 2010

Obs Festival

This weekend was one of my favourites of 2010. jam packed with fun and friends, Saturday was Obs Fest and I played at the Armchair Theatre stage with Carly on violin. I mainly played my own stuff and threw in some covers for good measure. Some Nina Simone, JJ Cale, Massive Attack, Moby. It was good fun and I didnt stop dancing, laughing, talking , eating drinking until the rain came down and I lost my voice. Sunday was a photo shoot with Cle and Carly, and then went to the Waterfront to watch Carol Thorn, a fantastic electric celloist (strong, beautiful, determined who plays with conviction) We watched the movie Spud which is hugely uplifting, sad, poignant, vulnerable, I loved every moment...

Thursday, November 25, 2010

Once

Once i was told i feel too deeply. They tried to make the feelings go, I didn't play along. Now i wonder at their analyses.. Perhaps they should have determined me in different terms.. Perhaps they should have called me writer. brandisher of firey swords. Would Ernest Hemingway have written? Would Van Gogh have painted?  Now i hide the Gift deep inside, deep down, far away.


I would


I would plait a string of daisies and hang them in you hair.
I would knit a scarf of green, and wrap you up with care.
I would bind you a river of gold, to set sail on a paper boat.
I will be forever loving you, loving you, my dear.

I wrote this for my friend who died in a motorbike accident this year. I miss you.


My pics - Seapoint 7am

















My pics from the sea













Tuesday, November 23, 2010

My pics - Summer

Some of my pics i took last summer. How i love taking photos. The dog is Saxon and I, a Great Dane puppy. One day i too, shall have a Great Dane. He shall follow me around. I shall call him Ben.