Assignments up to my ears!! And music into my ears..

*stumbles in*

FINALLY!!!! Time to blog! Sheesh, haven't been here in ages..
But this is only because of the fact that I have been swimming in an un-ending ocean of assignments and have now only reduced that ocean to a puddle. This makes me VERY happy!

I'm needing some TLC today though. The weekend that I was going to spend with my boyfriend has been cancelled and I will not be seeing him for 4 weeks so bare with me if this post gets slightly soppy.

So, today it was Skillet that was guiding me through all of my work and I listened to a song that I haven't heard in a while which is called Those Nights. Skillet is so awesome because and I don't know why. I think it's that "it factor" that all the painful talent shows talk about. And the lead singer's voice. And the instrumentals. And the words of the songs. A combo of all of these things is really unlikely in most bands etc. and I don't know why. Skillet, however, pulls everything off with such awesomeness, you can't help but LURV them!! Anyway, give this song a listen and then look for some of their other stuff of the Tube that is You 'cause they can make some really great tunes. Even if you think they are emo-gross-cry-baby-prepubescent losers, just try it. PLEEEEASE. If you don't have at least one of their songs stuck in your head afterwards then you may send me hate mail.

I give you...le awesome song!

Not a very epic video, but Skillet doesn't look like they're very active on their VEVO channel.

Oh and for those of you with StumbleUpon, well done!! And for those of you that don't....DO IT!!! DO IT NOW!!! It's a fat time consumer and will assist you in any issues of procrastination that you might be lacking in so beware. But it's such a beauty. You find the most amazing things.

Like this: Men Who Make Houses Explode.

They take wood panels from the house itself and rip them out, saw them up or glue them together and then they nail them back onto the house in these forms. So COOL!!


I think that this one of my favourite, but the next one is the most intense one, I think.

And this vortex looking thing goes straight through to the other side. Sadly 2 of the structures have been knocked down as they were earmarked for development, even before the artists got hold of them.


And there is so much more that you find. StumbleUpon takes you all over the web and back. Just type in your interests, click "Stumble" and away you go.

Weather has been so crappy today, I decided to stay in and do work at the expense of my lectures, but I don't care at this point in time 'casue I pretty much despise the lecturer and I don't like the other subject, partly due to the lecturer as well. Let us not go into that because there is really no need for me to injure my keyboard right now.

OH!! BREAKING NEWS!! BEER IS BETTER FOR YOUR LIVER THAN WHAT COFFEE IS!!
We knew a family and the husband was an alcoholic and I never saw him sober once in my entire life. He had a heart attack in April and passed away sadly, but we only learnt of it yesterday. They had to do an autopsy to verify the cause of death because of the fact that he was an alcoholic. His liver was in perfect condition, albeit a little aged, because he drank beer and beer alone. The family was uber-shocked and the doctors then told them about the fact that beer doesn't damage your liver. I'm assuming it's because there is a LOT of water involved in the process of making beer and because it's made from natural ingredients such as barley and hops. Who knows..

Think I might actually write an article on that for the student newspaper.

Peace kids!! Must work now :)

purple fever, hell week v1.0 and v2.0 and the beginning of the countdown

Well, what was possibly one of the biggest parties of the year is over and I flaked out early due to the evil of crackling.

THIS STUFF IS EVIL!! DO NOT EVER TOUCH IT!! NOT UNLESS YOU WANT TO FEEL LIKE YOU ARE DYING (which i hope none of you ever do)

Soooo, the biggest party I mentioned before?? Tri-varsity. Which is still a bit of an enigma to me because of the following story:

I have been drinking crackling all year. It's terrible but it does the job and its cheap. I've survived, especially when mixed with Sprite. Once I had heartburn for 2 days after a large dose of Uncle Crackles here, but that didn't stop me from deciding to share a bomb (1.5 litre) with my friend mixed with Sprite for pre-drinks the first night of tri-var. We had the little pre-party in my room (matchbox) and then went to a friends res to finish it up and head out. There I finished up my half of the poison and had a few gulps of my boyfriend's vanilla vodka and coke. Then we headed out. Got to Friars and I'm ready for all the party that tri-var can bring my way. And then Uncle Crackles decides to ruin it all and saying something stupid like "I'm coming up!! And I'm bringing the supper you just had with me!!"

So that was me and the boyfriend coming back up to res to get me into bed at.................10 FRIKKEN 30 ON THE FRIDAY NIGHT OF THE BIGGEST MOST CRAZY WEEKEND OF THE YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And of course the next day I was man down until after lunch. Then the photos came out on Facebook and for once I was dreading them because I wasn't in any of them. I had completely failed and was so bummed that I had missed out on all the fun. The photos were so funny but I missed most of it.. The pre-party was great though. So the night ended up with my amazing boyfriend holding my hair back while I made best friends with Mr Shanks. Fail. And I failed his tri-var too although he keeps saying he came for me, not tri-var. Still feel like an ape. Trust my system to wait until tri-var to refuse poor old Uncle Crackles. That relationship has come to a bitter end and never will I ever have a crackling hangover again. Bad.life.choice. They aren't normal!! Recession wines and me are going to be good mates from now on.

me and the handsome man at pre-drinks (this is me sober and
still friends with uncle crackles)

Then the week after tri-var (last week) was Hell Week. With the profs making everything due for that week and the recovery time needed from the weekend, work piled up for everyone from all corners and threatened our very existence!!!......ok it wasn't THAT bad, but it wasn't pretty. It is now over but people are still drowning and my friend was telling me how she saw someone in the library who was only getting the readings she needed for her 10 page essay at 9:30 this morning and the deadline was at 10:00. Jaaaaaaa. Late for her.

I've only just managed to get the purple dye ff my chest which my boyfriend so lovingly dumped there for me :) Haven't seen the charming young man in a week now and I still have 3 weeks to go until I do. This will be the longest time that we haven't seen each other so I'm cringing at the though of that but we will get through it :) duh!

Oh, he wrote on my overalls for me. Little sign that says "Private Property" with his signature and little smiley face that he draws which looks like this: (marvel at my paint skills!!)

This was written on my bum in the middle between the 2 hand prints :P


Was so good to go home this past weekend though. Had a huge braai and ate tons of identifiable meat and potato bake (i make the best) and my mom's salad. No salad will ever beat that. 3 weeks until Jarrod, food, home and rest!! Can't wait :)

Peace :)

Substance..the gooey, icky type..

What matters to you?

How often do you ask yourself that?

How well do you answer that everytime you ask it?

If you're giving a list as long as your arm full of things then you could be really, really blessed and what not, or you're placing value on things that shouldn't be value laden.

Eek!! Why, oh, why, do I always get like this after saying goodbye to my boyfriend at yet another busstop, gate or next to an open door of a car that I am about to get into or walk away from? Wait, stupid question, huh?

Truth is, he matters a #$&%LOAD to me! He does, my family does, my friends do, my education does (which I am clinging onto for dear life at the moment). Memories matter to me because sometimes they are the only things that we have when all is said and done. Laughing matters.. But I think that comes standard with the above mentioned, especially with the crazy, amazing bunch I have been granted.

You know that moment when you realise how lucky you are to

1. be alive,
2. live (yes, they differ because this one is up to you to ensure),
3. have people in your life to be thankful for,
4. be in an amazing place (often self-determined),
5. and to realise that you are not, as you thought, in such a bad way?

Frikken glorious moment, isn't it?? I've lost count of how many times I've had that moment this year and I probably won't stop having it until I find a reason not to, which I hope will never happen (the guy told me he's here to stay, so..?..[hehe]). Everytime I've felt like caving and giving in this year and going home to my mommy and her amazing food and my glorious bed and and and....OK, now I miss home. Crap. Anyway, everytime I've done that, I've reminded myself of how lucky I am to be in a place like this one and have the people in my life that I do and what I can accomplish with what has been made available to me. The opportunities are FRIKKEN ENDLESS!! It's so exciting and if half the people around me here who moan about what's so wrong in their lives would open their eyes, smell the roses and see the silver lining, they would realise that too.

Ok, so I've harped on enough about this, but have been thinking about it for a while. On the Saturday before term started, my boyfriend's sister, Tam, had her wedding which was pretty much the most awesome one I've been too. Was small, really beautiful and Tam. of course, looked like a million bucks.
She loves the wholes '20's style and listens to people like Frank Sinetra and I can't recall who else. Oh, add Bowling for Soup to the mix. Yes, add it. Her dress was so pretty and I think outting up photos will do it a lot more justice.

Tam and her dad walking down the aisle

THE CAKE!!which was transported in
400 pieces from PE to East London

first dance...



Tam and her FRIKKEN CUTE brother :D



Tam and Cameron

Cocktails!!

Happiness is...

That's how we roll :)

Jarrod and his mom

The best for last..*sigh*

So yes, it was a great night! And come on, how handsome is the best man???? Riiiight?? ;)

On a sad note, I realise that I didn't mention that we had to put Monty down on my last day of being at home, literally, hours before I left :(. Was very sad, but we discovered that he had lymphatic cancer and the meds and the strain just got too much for hima dn the night before I left, he just looked like the life had been sucked right out of him and we could tell he was suffering and that it would be better that way. His body had swollen up randomly in places and he wouldn't stop shaking. So we sent him to doggy heaven. My mom has a quote on her Skype page that says "No matter how little money and how few possessions you own, having a dog makes you rich". This is so true. Louis Sabim was a smart man..

Eek, must get going though.. Class tomorrow. And a test!! Blegh..

Peace :)

C'est la vie...

So i had a really good weekend at home. Nadine couldn't come in the end but I enjoyed it none the less. Had my mom with me the whole time and had the best cooking in the world, which made me the happiest person alive!

Got back on Sunday afternoon. Later that night at 11:30, our warden (Sandra) starts knocking on everyone's doors telling us that there is an emergency meeting in the common room. The hall warden (Dr Gambiza) is here and he wants to give us some news. Now you can imagine how peeved we all were at being woken up or having our studying interrupted at 11:30 on a Sunday night. What could be this important, really?? So we get to the common room and everyone is speculating as to why we were there. All the sub-wardens and Sandra had to stand there and listen to us speculate and laugh while they knew what was going on. The Dr arrived and told us he had bad news. I will never forget what he said. "One of us has been killed." He said "Anja" but nobody knew who that was because she never called herself that. When he said her surname we all knew it was the beautiful, sweet, amazing Ajaya (AJ). She stayed two doors down from me and everytime I walk out of my room now all I can see are flowers outside of her door.

She had gone to Port Alfred with her friends and had left as I arrived back from home. I walked in as she walked out and I still said goodbye to her and told her to have a great time and thought how brave she was to wear shorts 'cause it was still kinda cold. On the way back on Sunday night the bakkie they were in rolled because the driver tried to overtake on a road that should not even exist it's so bad. I get scared driving along that road in broad daylight with the most responsible of drivers. It's not a fun ride. And not a road anyone should be overtaking on. She didn't suffer though and although that sounds sick of me, it was one of the things that we were thinking about and were comforted to know that she didn't.

AJ never didn't have a smile on her face and I literally cannot recall seeing her face in a frown, ever. Not once in the short time that I knew her. You could be having the shittest day ever and just talking to her would cheer you up, even marginally, but generally exponentially. She was a ballroom dancer and did drama and had such amazing talent.

She was literally one of those people that could light up a room just by walking into it and smiling at everyone. When we heard the news we went to De Beers (our brother res) to break the news. It's amazing how amazing those guys are. We stood in their foyer talking for hours and we stood in a circle praying for AJ and her family. I remember thinking how lucky heaven was to have been given such a special angel that night.

I still can't believe she's gone, but everytime I walk out of my door I realise she is. Makes me want to tell all my loved ones how much I love them and cherish them and all the people I want to make peace with that I'm sorry or I don't care anymore if they're not sorry. I don't ever want to leave this earth with things unsaid.

This is gonna sound weird, but I've always had this thing, I don't know what to call it. A theory? That the shortest lives are the most brilliant. Everyone who I have known that has passed away far too soon have been amazing people that lived everyday until there was no more left in that day. Someone said to me on Sunday night, "The great die young" and it has some truth to it. It's as if all the greatness that could be achieved in an average lifetime has been squashed up and crammed into 20 years, making it even more great or awesome. If this isn't making any sense then I suppose it doesn't matter because it's making sense in my head.

We are having a candle vigil tonight for AJ at which there will be a book in which we can write a message about her, a memory, a poem, something for her family, anything we want and that book will go back home with her family, that way some part of her Rhodes family can go back with her and her family. And then tomorrow is her memorial service and we are going to release helium balloons into the sky with notes attached to them for AJ.

It's amazing how quickly the people in your res and dining hall become like your family. When I think about it, they literally do become that: your family away from home. I've only been here for half a year and I feel like that already. Wonder what the second years feel like by now.

Needless to say, I haven't been getting too much studying done, but I'm getting there. My first exam is English on Friday afternoon and then I have History on Saturday morning. Great stuff. Can't wait for Saturday afternoon!!! For some reason my hand is REALLY itchy so I'm going to stop typing now, but I shall be back soon.

And just in case anyone thought of forgetting: I love my boyfriend!!!!!!!!!

Home sweet home..

So I'm going home today!! Just for the weekend but I'm super excited nonetheless. I miss home like CRAZY and especially my mom. She's my bestest friend and my mommy all rolled into one. I know people think that you shouldn't be all buddy-buddy with your mom and you shouldn't exactly have your mom as your only friend but my mom is my most important friend for sure!!

Me and my mom on the night of my matric farewell

Anywho, home cooking, yay!! My mom is making beet stew for tonight!! My mouth is watering. Literally. The food we get here is really really below average and I've been sick twice from it. Actually if you count how long i was sick for it's like 5 times. Can not wait to have some real food for a change and not slop. Although some of the meals here are okay and we kinda look forward to them.

More great news, Nadine is coming tonight with her sister and another friend and we (the 4 of us) are sleeping in my room. Going to get interesting. Hehe. Haven't seen that child since like February and I think I might crush her when I see her! Going to be a goooood night :P.. Meh, this blogspot story really needs emoticons!!

Anyway I must go and pack and then pretend like I'm studying really hard!!
Oh, and today you must do the following people: listen to Adele's Somebody like you. Just do it. And then watch Pink's Perfect music video. 'Til the end. The end makes it just that special. I want that. And I think I have that. Or I at least have the promise of having that. Watch it on YouTube and make sure it's the legit version ie. the version uploaded by Pink's VEVO account. Kay? Got it? Good. Go.

Something to look at...

*my blog does a spin and curtsies, showing off its new dress*

You like, yes?

I was browsing arb art sites earlier and Deviant Art always comes up. I have always used this site for art projects and the like and I think it's really cool. You can find everything from crafts to photos to fine art paintings and computer generated art there. Found some cool stuff there, but I'm not going to post all of it tonight. Just one relevant one if you are ever left wondering about the title of my blog:

I think that it is so true. If we can't appreciate the little things, I think we would all be positively insane by now. The world is filled with depressing things and if you don't know how to see the silver lining or the small beauties that are never too far to find, then you are going to be a very sad person.

The small things will become the big things once you realise that they make you happy.

Random pics I've had on my mind lately...

been missing my roxy pups..love this photo of her <3

meeting the most awesome band EVER
and having them sign my tummy.
amazing!one of the small things i will always
cherish.SUCH AN AWESOME BAND!!
Prime Circle baby..

this is what i do when i should be studying. deal.

Make of it what you will. I think it's perfectly beautiful.

"This is love, she thought, isn't it? When you notice someone's absemce and hate that absence more than anything? More, even, than you love his presence?"                                                                              {Jonathan Safran Foer}



Have a slight obsession with hands...so pretty.