Thank God it's.....

I have come to HATE weekends! As soon as you've begun enjoying them, it's Sunday night and in a few short hours, it's back to work! My Sunday Blues are unparalleled: hours spent filled with depression and coming up with ways to get out of work the next day! Every week is a monotonous tune: 5 days of torture for 2 days of....i don't even know what to call it. Weekends are never filled with peace and quiet because chances are, you've been too tired or busy to see family and friends during the week, or you've been postponing errands and chores til the weekend, so either way you're busy for those 2 days as well. When in the hell are we supposed to rest, recuperate and revive our weary souls? Sleep is such a beautiful thing, and yet sadly, so elusive. *sigh*

That said, I do believe Friday is the best day of the week. Yes, there is work, but it is the start of the weekend, and that takes a little of the pressure off. I guess it's also because the 2 days are still coming, and yet you can guilt-free good times.

Anyhoo... HAPPY FRIDAY/WEEKEND!

Hope it's a good one.

Ex oh ex oh

The opposite of Apartheid...

Today in my LifeLine counselling lecture, we were being taught about HIV. Although not an expert in any way, I felt quite knowledgeable with regards to this subject. As I sat there, however, I felt like I'd been caught in Middle-Eastern crossfire: constantly bombarded and beaten by facts and statistics, each one more horrific and more painful than the last. And I left with serious amounts of shrapnel embedded in my flesh.

- Approximately 35% of women attending antenatal clinics in KZN are infected with HIV.

- Although the government will prescribe ARVs from a CD4 count of 200 and below, the average CD4 count when patients begin treatment is 95.

- The percentage of global infection of HIV occurring in Sub-Saharan Africa is 80%.

- In 1992 the amount of new infections per day was less than 50. In 2009, it was approximately 1500.

The subject of HIV/AIDS overwhelms me. When I heard and read this, I really cannot see how we, as South Africans, as Africans, as human beings, are going to fix this problem. How or where do we even begin to tackle this?

AIDS might have started as a White, homosexual disease, but I think many people see it as a black disease now. How it is seen, however, is not my immediate concern. I cannot begin to fathom how we're going to educate men, especially the more rural or traditional ones. When you are told "You don't eat a banana with its peel!" how do you convince THAT man to use a condom? I feel that a lot of the HIV/AIDS education is directed at women in the hopes of empowering them...but what's the point of empowering a woman at a clinic if she's a powerless, second-rate citizen at home?

And sadly enough, it is not only good education that makes the difference. I know many private school girls and boys who firmly believe AIDS will never be something they're infected with or affected by! A clear example of how formal education can have nothing to do with real life ignorance.

One thing I do know is that HIV/AIDS does not discriminate. It does not care about your age, race, gender, financial situation. It is the opposite of Apartheid, but, dare I say it, far worse!

HELLO TUESDAY, you evil whore!

I'm beginning to hate Tuesdays even more than Mondays and that, dear children, is saying something!

Poor day, it's not it's fault, you know. It's just because Tuesday is my Weigh-in day and it fills me with such anxiety that by Monday night I have ulcer upon ulcer! I wonder, do ulcers help with weightloss? Hmmm, something to research... but I digress.

Anyhoo, so I had my weekly weigh-in this morning and I only lost 1kg. I know it's noting to turn my nose at, but I guess after last week's two and a half kilogram epic victory, I was hoping this week's result would be along similar lines. Alas!

I guess 1 kilo is a kilo in the right direction!

A LUTA still CONTINUAs
:)

Ex oh ex oh

POWA's new ad

WOW! Definitely worth the time it takes to buffer.

DANGER! GEVAAR! INGOZI!

Good grief, I'm D.R.E.A.D.I.N.G my weigh-in tomorrow morning! I thought I was being pretty well behaved, but I made the cardinal mistake of weighing myself at home and it wasn't a pleasant sight!

Pray for me!
Come 8:00am tomorrow, it's on like Pokemon!!!

The price of failure: ZAR

Last night, we (a group of friends and I) went to the relatively new club at the (Gautrain) Radisson: ZAR. Let me just say that not all the ZAR in the world could have have made this night enjoyable. Generally, a less-than-appealing venue can still be turned into a great night out by the company you keep, but not even my amazing friends could rescue THIS evening!

Gosh...where to begin?

Firstly, I loathe the look of the club. The decorator, for God alone knows what reason, decided that purple and grey/silver was a good colour scheme to work with. Seriously? SERIOUSLY?!?!?! There are random elements of beauty - the view, for example, but that cannot be attributed to the club - but there is nothing remotely cohesive or beautiful about the decor or layout.

Secondly, in keeping with said colour scheme, the waiters and waitresses also wear purple. Can I just say that purple is NOT everyone's colour. I'm also all for non-discrimination in terms of the waitresses sizes, but then, for the love of God, be mindful of their varying sizes when dressing them! A larger girl does not look attractive in a short, (say it with me now) purple dress. I don't even want to talk about the purple satin shirts the waiters have to wear. It's fashion slavery! Give them free!

Thirdly, and probably most importantly: the ZAR it costs to frequent ZAR! Gob-smacked is an understatement. My poor (not financially) friends did what they always do and asked the waitress for a bottle of whiskey and a bottle of lime. The answer they received was LEGEN......wait for it, and I hope you're not lactose intolerant because the second half of that word is DAIRY! A bottle of ordinary whiskey (not single malt, 9-druple distilled, 1845 year old, kiss of the Saaz hop whiskey, or however good whiskey is measured) is 960 ZAR! A glass of wine: 100 ZAR! Et le piece de resistance: a bottle of lime...{drum roll}....is 300 SOUTH AFRICAN RAND!!!!!!!!

Now I ask you, with tears in my vision-impaired eyes, does a badly decorated, badly-dressed-staff, terrible-music-playing, unnecessarily expensive club sound like a fun night out, or a night without fun?

ex oh ex oh

Weightloss to date...

So I actually only started eating properly last Tuesday. I stopped drinking the day the World Cup ended, but the eating thing took a smidge longer :) As of this Tuesday, (a week later) I have lost 2.5kg, which is probably just water weight, but i did also lose 8 cm which cannot (I hope) be attributed to water or the lack thereof.

I won't lie, it's been friggin' difficult, eating barely any carbs, (and even then it's only crackers) lotsa veggies and protein and drinking water until I feel like that Sprite ad where they randomly turn into into water...but I guess, in the end it'll all be worth it. My birthday is 9 weeks away, so I should be able to lose a further 9kg by then, but everyday is an internal WAR!

The thing that depresses and demotivates me is the thought that healthy eating is going to have to be my life's story! I'll never be able to eat whatever I want, whenever I want to. I'll always have to watch what I eat and keep myself in check and if ever I go overboard, get back onto this rigorous plan. I guess it just boils down to me never feeling like I can be normal and careless. Weight will always and forever be a factor of my life.

On the other hand, what is the alternative? Being unhappy with my weight but being able to eat anything I want?

Such is the conundrum of my life.

Jo'burg's new Kingpin

With the renaissance of the Johannesburg CBD slowly taking shape, a new bar/lounge has opened in De Korte street, Braamfontein. Elegant, unique, beautifully decorated and with a breathtaking view to boot, RANDLORDS is set to become an icon of Jo’burg day and nightlife. Situated at the top of the South Point Towers, it is the highest point in Braamfontein. Can you help but want to check it out: 41 De Korte street, call 0719747578, and visit www.randlords.co.za

Ex oh ex oh








Some photos care of http://littlemissconceptions.tumblr.com/

It's all in the details...

What would clothes be without the tiny but very important details like buttons? The Pie Palooza Button Boutique has revolutionised buttons by taking them off their support structures and giving them equal rights by turning them into independent accessories, like rings and earrings. A fabulous concept from a fabulous Saffer, Jessica Faye Bourke! Check out the blog: http://piepaloozasbuttonboutique.blogspot.com/ or stop by their sale this Saturday: 44 Lower Wrensch rd, Observatory, Cape Town.