When bad goes to worse goes to shit

This weekend was supposed to be  a breakaway for Flip and myself. We both had pretty hectic and rough schedules the past few weeks and we were planning to go to Parys, in the Free State to have a rest. Its about an hour's drive from Joburg, so it was ideal for a weekend.

We booked a place at the Smilin Thru Resort, expecting a blissful retreat and a lovely little cottage to stay in. I would never in my life recommend this place. It was the pits. It was absolutely horrible. The environment was nice yes, as our cottage was wedged between the Vaal river and a swimming pool, but this cottage looked like it hadn't seen humans in years. Gross. So I phoned my mom to tell her about how shit this place is. Luckily, I did.

Yesterday morning, I got a very mysterious phone call from my brother, asking to speak to Flip and I immediately thought that something was wrong, something had happened, but Flip wouldn't tell me. I phoned my mom to find out, and she immediately started crying. She had driven over my dog.

This is my baby. Her name is Liefie. I got her in 2000, after another dog of mine was stolen. She is the love of my life, the absolute most loved possession I have ever had. And here I thought she was dead. My world fell apart. I couldn't stop crying. In my state, I understood that they already put her to sleep and I didn't even get the chance of saying goodbye. It tore me apart.

But after non-stop crying for about an hour, even in the shower, I sobered up enough to phone my mom again and ask her what happened exactly. She was still alive! And still at the vet's, although, she was drugged to keep the pain away. We got in our bakkie and cancelled our stay. The somewhat two hour drive took us about an hour and fifteen minutes. I still had the chance to say goodbye.

We went to the vet and I sat with her for a while, trying to get her to drink some water and eat a beeno. The latter she ate with vigour! My mom and I then discussed Liefie's tendency to not pee when she's indoors and we carried her outside so that she can go to the loo. My wonderful dog stood up! She stood up all by herself, even though she had a broken bone and she walked around. She proved that there was still so much fight and so much life left in her that it would just be unfair to put her to sleep.

My parents are both pensioners and are at home most of the time. So my mom decided to amputate the broken leg, as it has been broken in multiple places and an operation will just cost a lot of money and her leg might not even properly heal. My wonder dog is going to have only three legs after tomorrow, but at least she is still alive! However, she is still in danger, as there is a lot of swelling and we aren't quite sure what the full extent of internal damage is, but the doctor says he doesn't think there is any internal damage.

I will accept it when she dies of old age. That's different. To quote my mom: "You and I are still going to chew old bones together."

Romantic movie date

Romantic comedies are any girl's vice. The predictablity, the twelve step equation to eternal love and happy-ever-afters, the boy-meets-girl-falls-in-live-but-fights-against-it-story. However, One Day, with Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess doesn't follow this worn out recipe.

Yes, it is romantic and yes, it has it's funny moment, but it is not a romantic comedy. It is just...perfect.

Even those who steer well clear from this genre of movies will enjoy this masterpiece. It is dark, it tugs at your heart strings, it makes you think about the important things and what really matters in life.

The film follows one day, the 15th of July, which bears significance for the two main characters Dexter & Emma. You meet them as they meet each other and for the next two hours, get glimpses of human life for the next fifteen years of your life. It drags through the difficult times and lights you up in the blithe moments.

Be prepared to take a few tissues with you and be sure to watch it with someone you love dearly. I did.

Coulrophobia. The fear of clowns. It’s something I’ve been harbouring with me for nearly twenty years. I have evidence in form of a photo. Taken at my third birthday party. My parents hired a clown and I cried every time the clown came near me. See, I was scared of clowns long before I even met Pennywise the Clown, better known as It.

And yesterday night, at the circus, they surrounded me. Just to give you an idea of how scared I am of clowns; I was directing my friend to the marquee on the phone and a clown materialized next to me. I froze. I couldn’t speak.

Yes, I know. Why did I go to the circus if I have such an irrational fear of clowns? For one, Flip warned me that there would be clowns and I thought I could handle it and two, I don’t recall to have ever been to a circus, so we decided to go.

What fun it was! Children packed the front rows and screamed from laughter at the antics of the clowns. My friend and I joined in.

I found that clowns aren’t that scary, as long as there is a whole ten meters between us. And I sort of feel sorry for them. According to Wikipedia, the irrational fear of clowns is escalating, which means that clowns are becoming a rare species.

One clown doesn’t make a circus, and so we saw an array of astounding acts (how’s that for assonance?), ranging from animals, including elephants, tiger, poodles and ponies to acrobats and magicians.

I love that it was clean and innocent, engaging fun! Am I cured of my coulrophobia? No. I just read up on the clown doll urban legend again.

PS: we were not allowed to take photos, but I managed to slip a few in, thus the bad quality.

My bucket list: Kings of Leon

Or as my cousin likes to put it: ‘Queens of Lyonne’. He isn’t a fan, but admitted that they should be commended for sounding live like they do in studio, unlike groups such as the Black Eyed Peas. I won’t go into what he calls them. It’s in Afrikaans and it’s rude.

I have been a fan of Kings of Leon since I first heard Charmer, from the Because of the Times album. I absolutely freaked when I first heard the song, I believe it was in 2007. So I can’t go around gloating that I have loved them forever, like many people do. It’s like a competition sometimes. “Oh no, I’m a bigger fan that you are, because I have listened to them since forever, which is like seven years now.” Well, hoorah for you!

However, I do like to distinguish myself from the commercial crowd who only realised that there is such a band as the Kings of Leon when they heard Sex on Fire. They are the ones who kept quiet when the less-than-known songs were played.

I agree with my cousin, they are commendable for sounding amazing live! No doubt, they are absolutely excellent in what they do and are really good looking and good sounding. Sigh, Caleb Followill! Nonetheless, I found the show to be a bit bland. Perhaps it was because I was seated and not with the standing crowd, which my feet are thankful for.

But in the days before the concert, radio stations and interviews created certain expectations, including that Mr Followill is a bit abusive with the crowd and likes to rowdy them up by cursing and so forth. There was none of that.

“But!,” argues some of my friends, “it wasn’t about the stage persona but rather about the music.”

“Yes, I agree,” I argue back,” but then if it was only about the music, I could have stayed home and listen to my iTunes.”

Everyone to their own. I guess I enjoyed it nonetheless. Something I can tick of my bucket list.