50!! Time to be extraordinary!!

You know that as parents we try our best for our children and hope that we have a positive influence on their lives. And... secretly we hope that we are the more significant parent to our child.

Oh c’mon!! Don’t act all shocked!! There’s nothing wrong with a little healthy competition even among spouses!! This, however, makes me think of a an occasion that I happened to witness which left me with food for thought.

Last year, I was fortunate enough to be in the US for the Christmas holidays and amongst all the festivities I happened to be party to a 50th Birthday celebration.
The birthday “girl” a Jamaican–born prominent local attorney, beautiful and accomplished, elegant and eloquent, gathered her friends and family around to toast her 50 years!!

Besides the fact that all those Jamaican brothers and sisters have some serious moves on them MAN and really know how to party, they went ga-ga over my shoes!!! They absolutely them!!! LOL!! Now that’s enough to make any occasion memorable but no, besides that… what made it memorable was her speech.

Let me give you a brief history here…

Her mother now in her seventies left Jamaica with 3 small children after her divorce. The reason for the divorce is a complete other blog, so lets not get into it now. She settled in the US and struggled to bring up her children on her own without much help from their father. She managed to educate them and brought them up to be secure and confident adults. When her daughter’s marriage failed she helped to take care of her grandson so that her daughter could pursue her career. Remarkable woman I would say…

And now here is the moment, which will be forever imprinted in my mind.
When the time came for her at the height of her celebration to make her acknowledgements, whom does she thank for making her into the woman that she is today? Her father!! Hello! The dude wasn’t even there MAN!! (You do realize that ”MAN” is to be pronounced in a Jamaican accent!)
He could not attend his only daughter’s 50th birthday party due to prior arrangements!!!

It made me think that parenting is one of the most selfless acts that we will ever do and should never expect acknowledgement for it.

Today, I remember my father fondly. I have to say, as I often tell friends who are quick to point out that I can be such a princess, that the only time I was truly a princess is when I was my father’s daughter. He is gone now nearly 10 years and I still miss him terribly. Without him I wouldn’t be who I am today and without him I wouldn’t have what I have…

I will always love him.
My your memory live beyond the ages!

I want to know God's thoughts...the rest are details. - Albert Einstein

Just finished my first ever in the whole world self help book!! (oh besides The Monk who sold his Ferrari, but that was hog-wash)
What was that book that everyone was raving about a couple of years ago??

...THE SECRET...

Hahaha!! I laugh in the face of THE SECRET!! :)

No I'm kidding, what I am trying to say is that I have never been drawn to this kind of literature, because I have never thought that I might be left profoundly moved or aided in any way, but for some reason this book by Deepak Chopra, The 7 spiritual Laws of Success was thrust into my hands on Fri by a new over-zealous friend & I thought... What the hell? Is he not the author of the Kama Sutra?? LOL!! The writing is big enough & the pages not too many, so I read it!!

Before I tell you if it left me with something profound let me tell you how it came about that I had it thrust upon me & made to swear that I will read it!
We were chatting & I mentioned that a mutual friend of ours, an artist, had posted some of her work on FB. She illustrates childrens' books. I mentioned that I admire her ability to use her talent in order to make a living & to receive acknowledgement for it. (You know to see her name in print: Illustrated by....) I continued to say that I do not have a talent, not one that could work for me. And that was when she jumped to her feet & said: " NO! NO! we are all put on this earth for a reason & we all have a purpose!!

Anyway, I am not really into these books but some of the things he says made me ponder a few things.
-Have intentions & desires, there is no need, however, to be rigid in your plan. So next time someone says what is your 5 yr plan? I will say the universe is full of possibilities!! LOL!
-If money was of no concern and you had all the time in the world, what would you do? I am already there... :)
-Tell your children from a young age: "I never, ever want you to worry about making a living. If you're unable to make a living when you grow up, I'll provide for you, so don't worry about that. I don't want you to focus on doing well at school. I don't want you to focus on getting the best marks." They will then focus on their unique talents. And they will succeed.

Interesting...

Priorities...

Once upon time at the drop of a hat, I would gladly rush off to the hairdresser on a weekly basis for that "cannot do without" blow-dry!!
And please, god let it not rain causing it to curl again!!
And please, god should I swim there is no way I would wet my hair!!!

And so... what has happened?
That now I cringe at the thought of sitting there for an hour or longer, listening to the local gossip and even contributing to it!!
Why now is it okay to whip out the GHD hot iron & manage it myself & not care if its not perfect!!

Is it maturity?
Is it that I no longer care that much about my looks?
Or that i do not care what others think?
Am I too lazy?
Too anti-social?

The point, really, is that there is a party tonight. Not even 2 years ago I would drop everything to have my hair done! Seriously!! If your hair is hot you are hot!! Right?!Well today, I have been oooh-ing and uuhm-ing all morning until just now when I decided that it was not that crucial to go have my hair done!!!

And that had me pondering as to how things do change!
And how we all change with time to some extent!
Be it through a change in priorities or conceptions!

It's over...

And so it ends!

The dedication and devotion, the obsessive compulsion to nurture and feed has died a natural death.

The cause you ask? It no longer fell into that space where something so trivial fed the need to escape. And so the affair with all Zynga Games on Facebook has ended!!
Good-bye Farmville!

It was so sweet while it lasted and the praise and admiration that I received because of it will never be repeated :)

But I was obviously no longer stimulated by you, and so the accolades are no longer sufficient!

Until the next addiction...

ad⋅dic⋅tion [uh-dik-shuhn]

Addiction–noun
the state of being enslaved to a habit or practice or to something that is psychologically or physically habit-forming, as narcotics, to such an extent that its cessation causes severe trauma.

And then we have... Farmville!

Grow delicious fruits and vegetables and raise adorable animals on ... Play FarmVille on: click to play on click to play on Facebook ...

Its true!! Really! Truly Addictive!!

There are those that might argue that it is only those who have a too much time on their hands who will succumb to this addiction, but here, I beg to differ!! This phenomena has become a kind of art "farm" of sorts.

It takes management skills of note to forward plan your harvesting so that you don't get back to withered crops, after a weekend away that might result in a major financial loss. Those in sales gunning for sales person of the month can take a note out of these farmers books!! You ain't seen nothing yet, until you see how Facebook friends are harassed endlessly to become neighbours on Farmville just to gain that coveted ribbon that will allow you to EXPAND your farm!! The feeling of joy and absolute pride that you get once your farm has reached plantation size can have you on a high for days!!! Hello!! Wait til you buy your farmhouse! You have never! OMG!! There's a villa to die for TOO!! Where will it end?

A non-Farmviller listening to these farmers talk about crops and animals can be forgiven for looking on agape when they realise that they are actually virtual farmers with farms in cyberspace! But for those who live and breathe these farms they are very real! So don't knock it until you have tried it!

Recently, Farmville celebrated 1 000 000 users, by selling hot-air balloons! There wasn't a farm without one. And some farmers splurged and bought a whole lot giving the impression that there was a hot-air balloon rally on their farm! What a frenzy it cause amongst other farmers?! How does one get to be part of this spectacular event? Was there a certain level to be attained and what was it that they had to achieve to get an invitation? I kid you not!!

And here I must confess: My name is Porky and I am an addict!

And please do not ever tell me, I have a lovely garden! It is a F A R M!! You MORON!

Let me now leave you with a thought to ponder...

"Unmitigated seriousness is always out of place in human affairs. Let not the unwary reader think me flippant for saying so; it was Plato, in his solemn old age, who said it."

GEORGE SANTAYANA

Have a good one!

See ya...

Flowing with things...

I can get quite romantic thinking of Tom Cruise in The Last Samurai. The idea of him taking on this ancient Eastern form of discipline is something that has always appealed to me. With this in mind it was with great excitement that I experienced the SA Judo Champs this weekend!!

Seriously!! Its a discipline you know?!!!

There they were all the teams with their flags & their uniforms... Ay ay!! KZN!! What can I say?!! They looked so spiffy in their black track suits!! And the games began...

Oh hello!! Culture shock of note!!

I'm like..."Is this like, umm... wrestling?" My ignorance ever so apparent!

The over zealous parents making the bulk of the audience, audience is not right; supporters, fans are a story on their own!! They cajole and encourage their children to bring out the bully in them!! With shouts of "Gooi hom!!" I'm thinking... where the flip am I? Doll!

They hang on to each other and pull at each other hoping to topple each other over. It is a vigorous grunting strain...

But look past the pot -bellied dad carrying four boerewors rolls & a coke as he hurries to the mat where his son is engaging in this ancient sport and past the participants who are red-faced & crack exposed, I'm sorry to say boys... and you will see something so graceful that you will think it is a dance. I sat back & witnessed the 3 minute fight between two young men and it was beautiful. It made me think a little self righteously that my original thoughts were not totally delusional and I might romanticise it by making it all about Tom Cruise, even though I am not sure that judo featured much in that movie but yes there is a beauty in movement & flowing with things...

and to leave you with these thoughts that

To me, Judo is like a ballet, except there's no music, no choreography, and the dancers knock each other down.

Jack Handey

Thus the principle of Judo, from the very beginning, is not one of aggression, but of flowing with things.

Carl B. Becker

Yes! It was a fascinating experience for me but in case you think that judo is some kind of passion of mine let me put your mind at rest and leave you with a thought to ponder, my very own, not Handey or Becker but Porky's...

Consider this... at some point we have all consumed a salad with a cucumber in it that a horny housewife recently used as a dildo!! Lol!!

See ya