The Journey in Pursuit Happiness

Hello world!

Happiness: What is it? How does one attain it and hold on to it?

So many questions. Only one answer: Nobody knows.

But I do know this - happiness is all everywhere you are. Wherever you find yourself, in any position. In any situation, you always have a choice: what are you gonna make of this situation? Are you gonna be happy or concentrate on the negative.

Over the past 7 days; I have experienced happiness in it's truest form.


This time last week, I was headed back to Pretoria from having spent the whole day in the presence of people who really bring out the best in me. My best friend Fe, her boyfriend, my girlfriend and I were at Haartebeesport Dam for some Summer gig that had the craziest line-up you can ever imagine. The very best (and worst) musical talent (and lack thereof) South Africa has to offer.

Granted the night ended waaay too early for us for some inexplicable reasons; but instead of dwelling on that. Remembering that day isn't clouded by that tiny bit of detail. Not because we are acting like it never happened. But because if we chose to focus our attention on the negative, it would definately mess up our recollection of that fantastic (this is my first time using this word in any form of speech, so you know it was just too damn good - look) night.


Again a few days later, the Saturday, had a super chilled picnic with my girlfriend then later the whole gang went out again on a night of ass-kickery in the form of ten-pin bowling. I say ass-kickery with a big grin on my face because I was at the very top of my game. Playing like an endorsement deal was on the line. :)

I was (and still am) having the time of my life. And you can't blame me. I had just had a damn good four weeks at work, and was off (and still am) work for another four weeks. What more could I possibly ask for!? Don't answer that.

Today after spending a good two whole days indoors (internetting) , I decided to go into town just to see what I can get myself.

I got myself a copy of Musiq Soulchild's latest album - OnMyRadio. Playing it right now actually.

Anyway. On my way back from town. I decided to take a stroll in the rain while kicking some killa remixes to some songs playing in my head. Including the new Kid Cudi song titled "Pursuit of Happiness" (may not be new, but rather new to me!)

I may not have found complete happiness, but if I continue on this path; the journey won't be too long.

Halaala!

**edit: almost forgot. Got me these Smoking Bud Rasta in-earphones from Skullcandy:

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20 Day Challenge - The end

So the 20-Day mission finally came to an end yesterday.

Was crazy hectic. I know I haven't really been updating you guys on the progress. I meant to, I swear I did. I've been so damn occupied, I couldn't even dedicate a few minutes to blogging about the days as they went by.

To say I have made some progress would be an understatement.

At the begining of this whole thing, I set out to achieve some things that I think I had always either been putting off or just hadn't done. In pursuit of achieving those, I ended up having done some other things I didn't even plan to.

Now for the details...

1. Design better stuff
   Though I did start work on some designs, I just never got around to finishing them. But I didn't wanna design things and rushing them off onto the internet, without being 100% happy with them. That's the graphic side done.
   The web side of things has proven to be quiet a journey. I'm in the process of designing two websites. One for at work and the other is a design for my business. You'll see both early next year.


2. Be more organised
   I though I had managed to get this done; until for some reason, I misplaced my ID. I guess that's what you get for messing up the organised chaos I had already gotten used to. At least I found it again. :)
   But apart from the ID issue, everything else is nicely organised. My business stuff is in order now. Especially my clothing company.


3. Quit Coke
   This was crossed out at the beginning, simply because I was a bit unsure about putting it up on the list. Not because I didn't wanna quit Coke, but because I wanted to see if I could actually do it. The first 10 days were a complete failure. I remember at some point I had two 2litre bottles in my fridge. LOL. I guess that was the final binge before going 100% cold-turkey. Which I did. (YAY!) I can proudly announce that I haven't had a drop of Coke in over two weeks. I'm back to the soft drink I lived off of back in my high school days - Sprite.


4. Love more
   Done. LOL. What you want me to say? I love more now. In every way. Over the past 20 days, I've gotten somehow closer to everything that's close to me. *if that makes any sense*


5. Achieve more
   No idea how I planned on measuring this. So I can't really say if it's done or not. Hmm... let's leave it at maybe. :)


6. Exceed expectations
   This I can safely say I have done and will still continue to. In all aspects of my life. I guess that old 'mantra' under-promise and over-achieve was in full effect over the past four weeks. Though I wasn't constantly exceeding expectations, I did give it my all. *must remember to look up 'mantra'*


7. Eat Better
   Eish... Ya, well... I tried. Actually I think I failed dismally. The reason I'm saying this is because over the past 20 days, I ate far worse than I thought I would. My food consumption (LOL) wasn't very constant. So I can't really say I was eating any better.


8. Eat more
   Uhm... Even though I wasn't eating better, I was definately eating more. Might not have been more often. But I was definately having huge helpings. Does that count? It was more like mini-binges really. :)


9. Experiment with food
   Done. I ordered, ate and cooked some things I wouldn't normally eat/order/cook. Nothing too abnormal. Just some things I had always put off. Which is what this whole challenge was about - getting things done.


10. Spend more wisely
    Something wrong with the English in that one... Anyway. I managed to become very money-wise during these past 20 days. If nothing else, this is definately one thing I can take away from this whole experiment - having spare money in my pocket. Such a nice feeling. :)


11. Save more
    Done! Can you see this smile on my face --> :) ?? [if not, then see #10]


12. Design more
    Done. See #1


13. Be more
    Well... This I've always been. Just pushed the envelope a bit further this time around.


14. Learn more
    Haven't really learnt too much. I mean, nothing more than usual. Nothing extraordinary. I've always been keen on learning new things, so there wasn't really much of anything to achieve here.


15. Live better
    To me, that translates into having less stuff to stress about. And to be honest, I can't even think of one instance (except for the ID thing) where I was actually stressing or worrying about anything. So yeah, living has been much better lately.


16. Stress less
    *I swear when I wronte #15, I wasn't aware the next one was stress-related. Nice.*


17. Be more aware
    I think the me before this challenge was a lot more laid back and I didn't really pay much attention to a lot of things, especially when it came to my business stuff and where money's concerned. But since starting this whole thing, I've been paying a lot of attention to the finer details in my life. And it has really really paid off. I'd recommend this to anyone.


18. Live more
    I've definately been living more. I've been more impulsive. Done some minor things without thinking twice (like I normally would) about them. It's been nice.


19. Do more
    This was on the list, not only for me to do more for myself, but mostly for the next person. I think I've achieved that. Fully.


20. Try something new
    I dunno if I've done anything new lately. I think I've done the same things I've always done, maybe only a little differently than how I normally would. That's all. Nothing much has changed.
    *Maybe I should try something old next. LOL!*


21. Give more
    I overpaid my taxi guy a while ago. Does that count? LOL. I think what I've given more of has been my time more than anything. That's paid off nicely too. :)


22. Take less
    I don't even think I've been a taker all this time. I just think I have been more aware of what I take. Thereby minimising that more than normal. I can't think of a particular instance where I took less than the next person, but I'm pretty confindent in that I've achieved it.


23. Open more
    I've done this. I think my colleagues will be the first to attest to the fact that I've opened up more of my private life over the past few weeks than in the 12 months I've been here.
    Over the past 2 weeks (the past two Fridays), I've hosted parties for them at my place. That's gotta count for something right? :)


24. Blog more
    Done. But not as much as I would have liked to.


25. Take more pictures
    I think I over-achieved on this one. I was the designated photographer at the parties at my place, so I think that pretty much covers everything.


26. Love her even more
    I do/did and she knows it! :)


27. Design bigger and better stuff
    As you can see, I'm pretty obsessed with designing. Making it's third appearance on the list now. :)


28. Watch less TV
    I think this was in an effort to spend more time staring at my computer screen. I can't say there was much of a change there. But considering I managed to design some things, I can say I did this. Though I feel I should've/could've done more. It's cool though...

All in all, the challenge brought about some nice changes in my life. Made my a +1 better person. I'm not where I wanna be, but I now know what it takes to get there and that it is possible to get there.

Peace and love!

:P

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What I wanted

I wanted to design something.

Something that I'd give to my friends and family. For whatever reason. Not as a Christmas present or anything along those lines.

I wanted to design something that would remind them of me every time they looked at it. Something that would last for as long as it can without ever fading into the background.

Something that would bring some inspiration to them each time they saw it. Motivation to face another day.

I hate the fact that I never got around to getting that idea out of my mind and onto a canvas. I hate the fact that I procrastinated because of lack of resources where I currently live. I hate the fact that the year is coming to an end in a few weeks and I still haven't realised my vision of designing something.

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20-Day Challenge: Objectives

A list of things I'l be doing over the next 20 working days (17 actually). I'm on a mission to...

• design better stuff


• be more organised


• quit Coke


• love more


• achieve more


• exceed expectations


• eat better


• eat more (YEAH!!!)


• experiment with food


• spend more wisely


• save more


• design more


• be more


• learn more


• live better


• stress less


• be more aware


• live more


• do more


• try something new


• give more


• take less


• open more


• blog more


• take more pictures


• love her even more


• design bigger and better stuff


• watch less TV (...uhm... no.)

Read on or stay tuned...

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Teh 20-Day challenge: Day 3

Yeah, I know it's a bit off to only start blogging about this after two days have gone by. But blogging is also one of the things I plan to do more of.

So here's the deal.

The plan was to change my way of doing things. Might not be a major overhaul, but even if it's just slight changes here and there as I go along.

Obviously some things I wont put up here, but others I might. For those that I do put up, I hope might inspire you to look at things in your life differently.

I think to start off with. The biggest change has to be with how I handle stuff relating to work. And finding a balance between personal and business.

For some unknown reason, I woke up on a high this past Monday. I was determined to make that day better than the days before it. And so the 20-Day challenge ensued. Yeah I said 'ensued'.

Initially I didn't plan on making changes over a certain period of time, I just thought that it's gonna be just that one day and everything would be back to normal the next day. Needless to say, it didn't go back. The main reason I decided to limit this adventure to 20 days is becuase I was convinced I'd be going on leave from work on the 11th of December, so I wanted to get things done before I go on holiday. *turns out my leave is later than the 11th*

Come Tuesday morning, I was just as hyperactive. Not wanting to lose my momentum, I got to work and immediately started working. Not something I do very often, as I normally start (really) working at around 9am. But yesterday was different.

Amongst the things I wanna upgrade/change/re-arrange/modify is my work ethic when it comes to my tee business. I realised that I wasn't handling things as effectively as I could.

So, today I created a spreadsheet of all the pre-orders and everything else in between. Then sent it off to my better half to work her magic on making charts and stuff, so I can see how the whole biz is doing. What can I say, I'm a creative, so numbers don't really meean much to me. I wanna see pictures and colours and stuff to understand what I'm looking at.

So from now on. Everything will be done Excel-lently. No more writing orders down on pieces of paper. OK, I'll still be doing that, but that's not where they'll stay.

:)

Later!

Pic courtesy of Gettyimages. Please don't sue me, I'm on a mission.

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No idea why...

I have no idea why I've lost interest in sharing my experiences with you on this blog. But seems like I have.

Sad. It's a sad, sad situation!

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Is radio ready?

So on Saturday I went for auditions.

Apparently there was a Top Jock radio talent search thing happening in Mpumalanga for the past couple weeks (I say couple because I think it's actually two). And I only found out about in last Friday while on Facebook.

I woke up nice and early on Saturday with one goal in mind. To see what I can get up to behind a microphone...

They had said the thing would start at 9am sharp. But it started a few minutes after ten.

No worries though, as they were still trying to work on a proper way of giving people they shot in the makeshift booth.
The queue grew shorter and shorter. As people were being given their marching orders and other were celebrating the nods they got. My chance to climb on stage came.

I could feel my heart in my throat. But I couldn't afford that. For me to live through this, my throat was the one thing I needed more than anything.

So I got in the booth. Put the headphones on.

And after correcting the MC a few times, he couldn't pronounce my name properly, Everything went silent as everyone waited to hear what I would deliver.

While waiting in line, all I was doing was going through what I'd say when in the booth. We were given only 30 seconds and you had to say your name, where you're from and your favourite band.

As expected, a lot of people abided to this format, and some started talking about where they attended high school. But I had my gameface on and played along with everyone else who kept saying they didn't know what to say.

While in the meantime I had everything planned out...

I was gonna start the whole thing off by saying what time it was (nobody else did this, before or after me), then say what they radio station was and what song I was gonna play next (even though I didn't actually play a song.
What I tried to do was basically act like I was already hosting a show and the people were only hearing a short snippet.

It went pretty well. I was gonna record it, but then realised that that might distract me.

So I climbed up into the booth, and basically went

Good morning Riverside, my name is Mxolisi Mkhonza on your favourite
station 94.3 MpowerFM (I admit I almost said Metro - and one of the judges heard
me). The time now is 10:55 (although it was actually 10:50 at the time) and
we're about to have the news in a few minutes, but before that though, I wanna
play you one of my favourite bands, 340ml with a song called Hang On To
Yourself. Coz at times like these, all you can do is hang on to yourself.
Let's do this!

(then took the headphones off coz I was done)

I didn't want anyone telling me that time was up or anything to disrupt my flow. So I had to stop myself before I got stopped.

After that I had to hear what the judges had to say. There were three people. The station manager from MpowerFM; next to him some singer guy; and next to her, some lady from Vodacom, the main sponsor.

The station manager person was first to go. He basically said no. I didn't hear what his reasons were and I didn't care.

After him, came the singer guy's turn. He said that I should learn to control my nerves coz they got the better of me, but it was a yes from him.

Last to go was the Vodacom lady, she also said the nerves were an issue, but overall the audition was great and that she could see that I came well prepared... a yes from her too.

Truth is, the only real preparation was the lines I was rehearsing in my head. Apart from that. Everything else has pretty much been a work in progress my whole life.

Imagine, first time behind a mic and I beat people who had cut several demos and sent them through to various radio stations. For me that was all I needed.

I didn't go to these auditions to become the next big thing. I went to prove to myself that I can do it. And I'm glad to say I didn't disapoint myself. I did damn good even if I only got through up to the second round.

Second round was a complete waste of time. The judges didn't have any solid questions or anything. They were just asking people about what they're wearing and questions like "what do you like about South Africa?" (rat bastards).

And then there were other people who got asked questions like "Why do you wanna work for Mpower?" and "What can you tell us about Mpower?".

That made it pretty obvious that the judges had favourites. And were just passing the time with the rest of us.

I got asked a pretty lame question. The station manager guy asked me the significance of the t-shirt I was wearing. (I was wearing my 013 Mpumalanga tee).

I told him about it. And wasted som tim on stage asking them if they had more questions.

To be honest, if I had been picked as one of the five finalists, I would have gracefully declined. I don't see myself working for a radio station I'll never listen to.

I went there for the experience. Just one more thing to tick off my list.

I'm not in they target audience age bracket. They play adult-contemporary music. That's not me.

I'm more urban-contemporary. Not adult.

Adult basically means it's people ranging from 40-grave.

That's not me.

But thanks for the oportunity Mpower. Maybe if some other radio station does a DJ search, I'll apply. Not you. Or maybe you, but in the next 10 years or so.

:)

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Justification...

I don't understand this.

Why is it that when people making racial slurs (e.g. white people) are exposed, the first thing that comes out of their mouths is:

I'm not a racist. Some of my best friends are black!

What the?

Does my walking around barefoot mean I support enviromentalist tree-huggers? No. It's totally unrelated.

Same applies to you having friends (or whatever) from a different race. You having black friends, or any other race for that matter, says nothing about the kind of person you are. What you decide on your own is not dependent on whether you have black friends or not. It's just one of those things that you either are or not.

There's no in-between.

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Waiting on the world to change

I had an epiphanous moment last night. Only last night it occured to me that I spend waaay too much time doing the one thing I hate the most waiting. I procrastinate like tomorrow's guaranteed. Yet we all know it isn't.

And I'm sure I'm not the only one. But what is there to gain in waiting for something to happen when the only thing standing between waiting and getting something done is actually doing it!?

I think as a people, we spend a lot of time waiting for things to happen. We spend a lot of time postponing things for "the right time". Who said right now isn't the right time? Who decides when the right time is?

It's a whole different board game, if you have absolutely no power if waiting is inevitable; like waiting for a delayed flight. You can't just decide you're gonna take a bus instead because you don't wanna waste another second waiting. You don't really have a choice, you have to wait.

But waiting for things that you can change or do something about right now is just plain inexcusable.

A lot of things pass people by because they're standing on the sidelines waiting on the world to change so they can make things happen.

My question is: Why wait? What's standing in your way to becoming a better you or being in a better position than you're in now?

//After motivating myself to stop waiting. I got up, cooked (for the first time in a looong time) washed dishes and cleared out my stuff till around 1am this morning.

What are you waiting for?

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When will you call?

Don't you just hate it when you call someone and their phone is either off or they jusst don't pick up?

I know you do!

I do too. What's more irritating is when someone asks you to call them and they don't bother to pick up after more than three tries.

You think those two scenarios are irritating. I'll do you one better.

You're having a great conversation on the phone with an old friend and they get interrupted on their side, and they tell you:

Let me call you back!

And they don't.

Hours, days, weeks, even months go by and this person doesn't even bother to get back to you.

How's that for ettiquettelessness? Yes, that's a made-up word, sue me!!

Legal paranoia aside, back to the issue at hand...

People not calling you when they say they will.

What's up with that?

Is your life really that busy that in the 24 hours God gives you each day, you can't spend a few minutes on the phone even just to say hi? Even a text message will do.

Granted you may not have access to the phone at all times, but there are other means of communication available to you aren't there? I mean, there's email, IMs, Facebook, Mxit... the list goes on and on.

So why is it so difficult for people to keep their word. When you say you're gonna call someone, please do?

Otherwise don't say anything at all. Just hang up.

Nobody's forcing you to say "I'll call you". No-one!

There's nothing wrong with not saying you'll return somebody's call. Especially if you're not gonna do it. And have a track record to prove it. Just don't do it.

Please.

Don't you just hate it when that happens?

There's a reason why there are never any songs thanking people for calling. Imagine a song called "Thanks for Returning My Call"? It just doesn't exist.

Instead we have smash hits such as "How Come You Don't Call (Alicia Keys)" , "When Will You Call (Bilal)" and the likes.

:p

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Parenting 2.0

My heart skipped a beat when I logged onto Facebook and found I had one friend request. It was my dad.

I didn't know what to do with his request so I left it just where it is. I still don't know what to do with it.

Is this what the world has come to - parenting via a social network?

I'm not being otherwise here. I just prefer to keep people I know in the real world, in the real world.

Nothing too complicated.

Sorry dad.

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The King has fallen

Damn, I was so shocked to hear the death of the World's greatest performer. The man who made wearing pants that don't touch your ankles with white shoes the coolest thing ever.

The guy who I was convinced, after seeing the music video to Do You Remember, was a magician. The part where he turns himself into dust to avoid being captured by Eddie Murphy's men.

The mini-movie Thriller, where he changed from human to zombie to human to zombie again, had me completely convinced that the late Michael Jackson had some magical superpowers.

His walking on tiles and how they glowed, also fooled me into believing that he had some sort of electricity constantly flowing through his body. I mean, how many people do you know who can make concrete glow as they step on it? Exactly!

You can't blame me, I was young and believed everything I wathed him do.

His videos were by far the best thing to watch. Wathing him dance had me believe that I could move just as smooth.

The world's greatest performer!

May his soul rest in peace.

I'm really sad that he died. He's always been one of those people you never think they'd die. He was back on tour for godssakes!

Articles:

• Mail & Guardian article
• His life in pictures
• More pics

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Before I die

I refuse to die before [in no particular order]:

1. Attending the Carnival in Rio de Janiero - Brazil
   
   What more could I possibly ask for? Happy people, music, singing, dancing and not to mention the hot hot hot weather!!!
   
   
2. Chasing cheese down a hill - Gloucester, England
   Might sound stupid to you, especially if you're a girl, but nothing beats anything that provides the rare opportunity to potentially break your neck in pursuit of... ...wait for it... a round of Double Gloucester Cheese down an extremely steep and uneven hill!!! YEAH!!!
   
   
3. Rocking it at the Cape Town Jazz Festival - Cape Town
   Again, a killa combination: music, a good time, some 1000+ people having a good time and some nice outdoorsy weather! Aint nothing better!
   
   
4. Rollercoaster-ing at Ratanga Junction - Cape Town
   
   1 reason: the adrenalin rush!
   
   
5. Bungee jumping off of something - The World
   
   see reason on #4
   
   
6. Chilin' on the ocean in Mozambique
   
   Beach + hot weather + Portuguese food = happiness
   
   
7. Going to the Umhlanga Reed Dance in Swaziland
   
   Two birds with one stone, (1) I'll be in Swaziland and (2) I'll be witnessing another history chapter added to the King Mswati book - him marrying yet another wife. As if 14 isn't enough. pshh!!
   
   
8. The Zulu Reed Dance in KwaZulu Natal
   
   I've always wanted to witness this. :)
   
   
9. Going to one of the Channel-O patries in Swaziland
   
   I hear they're the best parties to go to this side of the Vaal, I wanna be part of the temporary migration come December!
   
   
10. Being part of La Tomatina - Valencia, Spain
    
    The potential risk of getting hit in the eye with a tomato has always appealed to me. The mess of it all. I likes it!!
    
    

**Looks like this is gonna be one of those lists I need to update as I go along.
Hopefully I'll update it, unlike this one...

;)

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Pay attention... this is about you!

So you're probably wondering what brought this on. And well, to be honest, I just decided to write this especially for you! Yes you!

I wasn't gonna write anything, but considering I said I would, I have no choice but to stick to my word. It's what I do.

Question: How come guys who seem really really interested in you just fade away?
Answer: Conquest!

Long story:

There's this friend of mine (ok, she's not really a friend, I just know her) who's having issues with keeping a guy. Not a particular guy, just any guy who comes along.

She thinks something's wrong with her. So she comes and sobs on my shoulder each time the guys leave.

To be totally honest, I don't blame them for leaving.

You're not such a cool person to hang with. I, for one, am irritated shitless by your stupid giggles. You giggle at everything and anything that you see on TV. Even if it's a drama series on TV, you still find a reason to giggle.

Granted this might be confused with having a "bubbly personality". But come on! There's only so much bubbliness a guy can take till they realise that you have nothing more to offer than what you already have.

So you're sitting there reading this and thinking... "but, I've always been like this??". Yes, true as that may be. One thing makes this situation different to how you "have always been".

You hadn't slept with the guy yet!

Harsh, I know. I said it.

Let's get back to the issue at hand here...

Guys will stick with you through everything and anything; and I mean everyfuckingthing... EVERYTHING!!! If you haven't slept with them yet.

We'll overlook the fact that you have a bit of a breath issue, or that your hands are a bit ashy...

We're willing to overlook the fact that your one les is a bit thinner than the other. That doesn't matter, what matters is what's inbetween those legs.

Once that hurdle's jumped over and the guy has had enough of what you had to offer, that's it. Then your flaws start becoming the main focal point. Sticking through any more of this torture is subject to prospective bonking somewhere in the not too distant future...

So there you have it...

**upon getting to the end of this, i realised this is true for a lotta girls out there...

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Starry starry night...

So this guy...

Who works here...


Was asked to do a pretty eaasy job. A job he basically does every day. He's a tattoo artist. His name: Rouslan Toumaniantz a nice innocent looking guy you wouldn't really wanna bump into in a dark alley on any given night.

read more on my tattoo blog...

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A guide to success (GUARANTEED RESULTS)

Ok. Let me preface this by saying that... THIS WORKS!

As usual, this here post is filled with nothing but awesomeness, mixed in with some hardcore facts. Are you ready to change your life forever?? Huh? I can't hear you!!!!?

Right, let's rock...

As you may or may not know, I never finished my tertiary education. So that means I don't actually have a diploma or degree or anything along those lines. So first chapter (quick: grab a pen or print this page...) where was I?

Oh, first chapter: Drop out of school.

You might think this is the easy way out. Coz you might actually hate going to school and learning something at this point in your life. (note: 'school' in this article, refers to any form of tuition you may be recieving right now)

Here's why I'm saying you should quit school:

1. School can never teach you talent.

Yes, there's only one reason... And that's about it. School can guide you on how to harness whatever talent you're born with and actually put it to good use for the benefit of some large corporation. This is all good and well. But lest we forget one thing. You might actually not want to spend 40 years of your life wearing chinos to work for 40 hours a week. You might actually have dreams and aspirations you may wanna explore. Stuff that's not in your Management textbook. Stuff that only the university of life can teach.

You can spend your whole life fixing computers, but once you realise that you wasted a good 3-4 years learning about bits and binary only to wake up one morning, start cutting up some clothes only to become a renowned fashion designer. Then lesson one becomes ever more necessary. This isn't something you need to spend two days thinking about. You need a lotta time.

Maybe you're just one of those people who's had their whole life carefully planned out and cast in stone. Basically your life has always revolved around some sort of norm. i.e. You were born > went to kindergarten (creche) > primary school > middle school > high school > varsity > work > retirement home > death bed > grave heaven or hell > eternity.

Maybe that's just the way you were meant to live. Unfortunately for you, no one in the world can come and tell you that you're supposed to life in a different way to how you're living at the moment. No, not even me. It is your life afterall. So in the end, as you jot down the last words in your will, you'll come to realise you didn't actually live the life you wanted. I bet that's exactly what the guy who coined the phrase "live life to the fullest" realised as he lay on his death bed.

Anyway...

What I'm saying here is that you spend a large part of your life living the life that everybody else is living. This is what could pretty much be compared to a rat race: there's already a tunnel/path set out in fron of you, and before you even know you're halfway through it.

Chapter 2: Study IT (i.e. Information Technology)

Yes, the big bad highway where information meets technology. Funny enough, it seems this is the right path follow if you happen to find yourself somewhere in between the middle of lesson 1 (in school). If you don't actually wanna quit school. Don't fret. Just hang in there or just jump the boat and make the switch to IT.

All the great minds of this world studied IT. Some happen to have studied IT and actually dropped out halfway (that would be me). That right there is pure genius. Surely success is busy nibbling at your heels at this point.

I mean look at the richest dropout in the world - Mr William Henry Gates III. That's Bill Gates to you and me.

This dude, dropped out of school only to later become the richest man in the world at the ripe age of 38.

Now, I'm not saying if you quit school you'll be filthy rich by age 38. I'm just saying... you gotta follow your heart. ...and study IT ;-) LOL.

Another guy who studied IT but didn't get very far - Olebogeng Ledimo the guy behind the House of Olé fashion house.

A great example of talent versus tuition.

For gender equality purposes, I'm gonna throw a woman into the mix (even though the 2:1 ratio doesn't make anything equal) ...aaah, look at that womanly smile! :)

...aaah, look at that womanly smile! :)

Simphiwe Dana - she studied graphic design. But have you actually seen anything she's designed lately? I didn't think so. You wanna know why? Coz she decided to venture further into the creative field and become a musician. Not because she sucked as a graphic designer, but because she didn't see herself NOT doing what her heart really wanted. She didn't see herself on her death bed wishing for a second chance so she can stand in front of thousands of people and sing her heart out. And look where that got her... awards.

Chapter 3: Quit your job

Now, I'm partly a good advocate for this. (insert unapologetic self promotion face here)...

But I don't wanna talk about myself. The focus is on making you successful. Maybe even more successful than I am (again, insert relevant face here).

Do you hate waking up early on a Monday morning and already with it was Friday?

Then that right there is reason enough to leave.

Do you spend 80% of your time scheming on ways to make it big?

Another damn good reason for you to resign with immediate effect!

If you feel you can do ABC better than the next guy, then why not go for it? If you feel you'd much rather be selling donuts, then what are you waiting for?

If you hate taking instructions from your dropout boss. Then leave and become your own I-quit-my-job-for-this boss!! And make your own rules!

If your heart isn't in what you're doing then leave!! It's that simple!

Use the recession as an excuse if you have to...

Chapter 4: Love what you do, do what you love!

If you're sitting there thinking you've got no reason to quit anything. Then good for you. But do you have a degree in Phsycology and are busy typing memos for your dropout boss? That alone is enough to make you reconsider!

On the other hand, if you love typing memos and feel that phsycology degree makes you a better friend to your suicidal best friend, then cool. If you've found your passion doing what you love then, by all means, stick to it!

I'm glad to have lived (and still be living) a life that allows me to have done everything mentioned in this post.

Moral of the story...

Follow your heart! Do what you love doing! Drop out of school! Leave work! Do something with your life!!

Here's a quick list of other inspirational drop outs:

1. Michael Dell-founder of Dell Computers: billionaire - he read chapter 2, and loved it
2. Steve Jobs-co-founder of Apple Computers: billionaire - also inspired by chapter 2
3. Steve Wozniak-co-founder of Apple Computers - him too
4. David Geffen-co-founder of Dreamworks, SKG
5. Larry Ellison-founder of the database company Oracle: billionaire - chapter two manifests itself once again
6. William Hanna-of the cartoon producers Hanna-Barbera - chapter 3 & 4
7. Sheldon Adelson-real estate and casino owner: billionaire
8. Jack Taylor-Enterprise Rent-A-Car: billionaire

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This sucks

I lost the one song I haven't heard in ages...

One of my very many favourite songs... "Here In Your Arms" by hellogoodbye.

Can you believe the only reason I noticed this song was missing was after I was singing along to Van Hunt's "Hello, Goodbye"?? Sad really.

Only afterwards did I realise I hadn't heard the hellogoodbye (it's lowercase on purpose) one in ages...

Shame. Sad sad day for me then...

:'(

Think I should get me this DVD to soothe my aching heart -> OMG HGB DVD ROTFL.

pic from: go211.com

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Lunch break in your car!

I just don't understand this.

So it's lunch time right, and you're feeling a bit hungry coz you may have skipped breakfast for some reason...

That's all good and well.

When the clock strikes 1pm, the only thing on everyone's brain is... foood. Nobody cares if they're supposed to be recieving an important email. Everybody can't wait to throw the world famous rhetorical question: "...can we do this after lunch?".

Which is understandable, I mean we are after all entitled to at least one hour's lunch every day.

Everyone goes their own separate ways; and cliques everywhere get together to strategise on eatery to invade.

But there's always that one guy (yes, it's usually a guy) who's always spinning his car keys around his index finger as he heads towards the parking lot. If it wasn't for the lunch box under his arm, you'd think he was headed somewhere to grab a serious bite. But no!

He's not going anywhere. He's just going to his 'special place' where he's far from any sort of distractions as he munches away merrily at the contents of his favourite lunch box.

I often wonder what makes guys do this...

I've basically concluded that it's probably because the food is just so crappy, you don't wanna be subjected to comments from your colleagues and random onlookers for eating stuff they can't immediately identify.

Either that, of your wife (of whoever prepares the food for you) doesn't know her pots from her pans, so your food is always a surprise when it comes down to the eating part. So you'd rather be suprised in the privacy of your own automobile. LOL!

If it's none of those then you're probably one of those weird people who hum while eating or you make scary sounds that you can't explain.

If not that, then you share your office with people that never go out on lunch so they're forever trying to make irritating small talk about everything that's happening on their computer screen.

You know those people? Who talk no matter what. Even if you have the phone to you ear, they insist on saying something to you. If they see you're clearly busy on the line, they make hand signs. (I hate those people)

Anyway. Whatever your reason is for not eating in public is, I'm sure you have a very reasonable exuse for that. It probably reasonable to you only anyway.

Please don't think we're weird if we stare into your car trying to figure out if it's being stolen or not.

Come to think of it. Your eating in the car is actually a sure-fire way of ensuring that no one cares if there's an unknown person fiddling around under your steering wheel...

Have you thought about that??

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Monster: "I ain't a monster"

I have been trying my best to avoid writing about this because it's almost on every other blog...

But to come out and tell the world how "not a monster" you are... is just...

Anyway...

In case you've been living under a rock for the past few months... here's the deal:

Actor, singer and songwriter Chris Brown, has released a video on the ever popular "Broadcast Yourself" webste YouTube claiming that he's gonna release a new album and ending with the words "I ain't a monster". And his friend Bow Wow adding with... "belie'e [read: believe] that".




Now I'm not saying there's anything wrong with broadcasting yourself and telling your "real fans" that you're not a monster. But let's take a sneak peak at what you've done so far to prove that you're "not a monster" shall we...?

Dear Mr Not-A-Monster, Please don't sue me for this. This is stuff that's been fed to me by the media, seeing as I wasn't there.

Ok, let's continue...

1. You had "an altercation" with your girlfriend.
2. You allegedly beat her up.
2.1. You beat a woman up like she was a grown-ass man.
3. You're trying to open a case against the cops

Now let's break it down...

1. You allegedly had an "altercation" with your girlfriend

Nothing wrong with this. I'm pretty sure many of people out there have had and are possibly gonna continue to have "altercations" with their partners.
I guess it's just one of those things that are included in the relationship package. The down side of them if you will...

I'm using the word "altercation" because that's what the media has labeled it.

I, for one, can safely say I have never had an "altercation" that has led to what you did next...

2. You allegedly beat her up

I have no idea what made you decide to escalate the alleged "altercation" to a full on assault. But you did.

Which led to this:

Now, I'm no expert when it comes to analysing pics or anything like that. But this pretty much looks like how you'd beat up a guy who was trying to take your life.

So...

2.1. You allegedly beat a woman up like she was a grown-ass man

There's absolutely nothing on the face of this planet that she could've possibly done to deserve being beat up like this. Nothing. Whatever the reason may have been at the time. Whatever made you decide to lay your hands on her, is never a reason to beat a woman like that.

I don't care who you are, there's absolutely no reason.

If you feel like you can't handle the situation, do the next logical thing... walk away. Yes, you can be tempted to "knock some sense into her", but don't. It's not necessary. If you can't talk it out, shut-up and walk away.

3. You're trying to open a case against the cops for leaking evidence

Hmm... let's see... how about you DON'T beat women up? Let's start there. How about you start by NOT providing a need for evidence? Won't that work out better for you??

I'm jut saying here. *shoulder shrug*

---

Now that we've got that out of the way...

I don't understand how Rihanna's father can support her daughter's decision to get back together with the Aint-A-Monster in question. What kind of father does that?

If that were my daughter or any of the women in my life I would be sharing court dates with the Monster. I promise, I wouldn't hold back. I don't understand how anyone should be raising their hand to a woman in the first place.

I know there are situations that can raise temperatures so high that you end up doing things out of anger, (trust me) but what this guy did is totally inexcusable.

I hope he goes to jail. I don't hope he gets raped or anything like that (though that's not really up my hoping or not) but I just hope he goes there, and gets beaten up a couple of times. That's all. Even if it's for weeks on end. Just don't kill him, I like his music... :)

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Paah aah!

Yeah, you read right. I said 'paah aah!' Come on you can do it too... 'paah aah'.

I know you're sitting there (I hope you're sitting) wondering what the hell 'paah aah' is.

Well, let me break it down to you.

Paah aah: pronounced - phaah-aah!

In my quest to better understand the unique yet unbelievably simillar race that is Black. Especially the South African version of this complex nation.

Only in South Africa (I say this because I've only lived here) will you find a black person who intentionally chooses to pronounce things differently. Simply because "that's how it's pronounced" - according to them at least.

In case you're still scratching your head and still reading this in hopes to really figure out what the hell paah aah is, then let me give you some hints...

It rhymes with 'power hour' actually, it doesn't rhyme with 'power hour' as much as it is power hour. That's right. Paah aah is the Black South African version of the phrase "power hour".

I know you're wondering why it's spelt that way, well, like I mentioned earlier, that's how your "educated" back person pronounces it. Everybody else is just doing it wrong. They know better. They know how these things were supposed to be pronounced in the first place. And they are here to save us from ourselves.

Power hour is not the only phrase that's pronounced this way. Almost anything that has anything to do with anything can sound like something you've never ever heard before. Even if the black person is repeating what you just said.

You: "Did I just say anything?"

Me: "Yes. Anything."

• 'Italy' can very easily be 'Edly' as it gently rolls of the "educated" tongue.


• Before you know it... "Hour" becomes "Aah". Next thing you know, no-one's saying "I'll be there in an hour" it's now "I'll be there in an aah".

Don't you dare say I never warned you. I'm looking out for your best interests here...

Today's assignment: Ask any black person to spell the word 'embarrassment' to you. Just as a test.

Listen very carefully as he/she (usually a she - no idea why) fixes her lips, clears her throat and then starts off:

E-M-B-A-

(...just as you least expect it. She hits you with the A-bomb...)

-aah-aah-A-S-S-M-E-N-T

WHAAAT!?

In that nasal English accent she's been practising so vehemently after every episode of any given American TV show.

It's not like I can't spell 'embarrassment' that's basically how it'll sound as it blesses your inexperienced ears as the "educated" folk showers you with years of Joint-Matriculation Board English.

All "R's" become "aah's" simply coz it's so uncool to pronounce the letter R as it God intended.

Why? Because that's how it was meant to be pronounced. You're just behind. You haven't caught up with the times yet.

Beware of the dangerously educated black tongue!

edit:
Don't EVER ask the "educated" black person to say "Rick Ross". All you'll hear is "Wick Woss" - You don't want that!

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Closing date motivation

Give any black person anything to do and the first thing they'll ask you is... "when do you want this?".

Regardless of how urgent the thing already is, they'll still ask... "by when?". You can give a black person a time-bomb with 30 seconds left on the timer, and they'll still ask you... "by when should I defuse this?"

You know why?

Black people are motivated by a deadline.

In any way shape of form. As long as it has a due date, a black guy (for political correctness: by guy I mean a black person) wont do it until there's at least an hour before the closing date/time or whatever.

Try this, observe any random black person looking for a job for instance. What's the first thing they look for? You guessed it... THE CLOSING DATE! Never mind if they even qualify for the damn job. All they really wanna know is... "when should I start applying for this job?". Not "by when should I have submitted my application?"

What they want is when the last day is, so they can fill in the form the night before, then run around getting coppies certified, etc. All this while telling anyone who cares to listen "closing date is today, I need to apply!" And they always seem to have some permanent grin on their faces while looking for that ever illusive stapler.

Even competitions are like that. We don't enter shit! Not because we can't or we don't want to. We just wait for the closing date to come so we can go mail that entry form.

Not once have you ever heard a black person say, "oh, that, I've entered already". Never, not once, not ever! NEVAR!!!

Then we complain when we don't win shit.

How many times have you seen a black guy saying "I've never won anything in my life!"? Huh?? All the time? Thought as much.

That one guy who happens to win anything is that dude who happened to be persuaded by some sales person to enter now. Either that, or that over-eager relative entered on their behalf! He was probably gonna wait till the closing date any way.

Is seems the words "Closing Date" translates to something like "Start By" when it comes to black people.

Have you seen how many black people are in queues on the last day of anything? Anything and everything.

• Lottery queues are longest on the day of the draw
• Queues are longest on the last day of tax returns at the revenue service's offices

Basically queues in general are longest on the last day, because of black people. We don't get out of the house unless there's a reason. And that reason better be a closing date, otherwise we aint going nowhere.

We wont settle our debts till we get a FINAL letter of demand from whoever we owe. And unless that letter has a "Payment due by" date, then they might as well come get the money themselves.

Black women won't take maternity leave until that baby's about to pop out. And when they get labout pains at work, they claim "But the doctor said in two weeks!?!" LOL! Ok, I'm gonna stop now.

I'm not saying I'm innocent in all this. But I do try. And I have won a couple of competitions in my time.

Peace!

I love my black people!

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teh Newness [part 2]

Changed my blog once again. The other template was taking too long to load. So I resorted to something more minimalistic.

If you've been here before, you'll also notice some changes on the right panel. There are fewer things now. This is after all, MY BLOG, not a portal to some other random sites.

If you don't like the new changes, I suggest you go find something better to do with your time.

:)

I haven't been posting in a while, sorry about that...

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I was having a good day until...

Today started off ok.

Was working at a killa pace, until I decided to take a tehno-break and go wandering off into cyberspace.

First, I wanted to check where my blogs were standing on Afrigator.co.za when I realised my position had dropped dismally for both my blogs (this one and SkinArt). tehPaperCut (the one you're reading this on) has dropped from #669 a while ago (can't remember when last I checked) to #2107 in South Africa.

To make that even worse, I was welcomed by a big-ass banner ananouncing how I had missed nominations for this year's BlogAwards.

Like I said, today was off to a good start until I realised one thing; I don't blog as much as I used to. But can you blame me? I have around five websites that I have to work on at least on a daily basis. Prioritising has kicked my other personal stuff down to the very bottom of this here list of five.
Add to that designs I do on the side and for work. My 16 hour days are just not long enough. :'(

I'm more torn up by missing the BlogAwards than dropping to #2107. :'(

This clearly shows that I had very little to do at my other jobs if I blogged as much as I did.

This could be seen as a good thing, but I'm a bit undecided on that one...

I gotta get back on top of my game, there's no other way!

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Reality sucks

Breaking news!

Apparently the last two finalists on idols are gonna share the winnings (i.e. the car, the recording contact, etc.). [read more about it here]

But that's not what I wanna talk about. I wanna tackle the whole issue surrounding the state of international reality TV shows syndicated in SA.

I think we're a real disgrace when it comes to these kind of things. I think we're too concerned with not being hated that we're losing credibility by the owners of the TV shows we're meant to be promoting on our side. I mean it's now two TV shows that are genetically a "one winner takes it all" affair, and yet we've managed once again to fuck the system up.

When The Apprentice - my most favourite reality show - was gonna have a local version. I was flipping excited. I was anxious to see what the locally successful people would bring to the table in terms of quality entertainment. Needless to say, I wasn't disappointed by the very first boardroom meeting where Mr Tokyo Sexwale (former politicial cum businessman) had to fire someone... and instead of the generic "you're fired!!!" made famous by The Donald he goes and rapes it with... wait for it... "you're dismissed". Notice how there's no exclamation point? That's because he says it so apologetically, the person beind "dismissed" isn't sure if they're off the show or they have to go stand outside.

Then at the end of the season, where Mr Sexwale has to appoint someone who's gonna join his Mvelaphanda empire (crappy name, I know) he doesn't choose someONE as etched into our TV watching brains. He goes and decides to rearrange the whole thing and hires two apprentices instead (the two seated ladies).

Why you ask?

Because he didn't want the other woman (yes, they're both women) to throw her stiletto at him or something. Basically he decides to rewrite the script for some unknown reason.

Now there's Idols, where they messed up and then make up for it by having two winners. Why?? Why should there be two winners when the guy beat the girl by over 200 000 votes. Makes no sense! How is that validate there being two winners basing it on a tie. I don't know what school the auditors went to, but I'm pretty sure 1.1 million votes is less than 1.3 million. I'm just saying.

Moral of the story... What's the point of even voting when they're gonna give the final two the title?

This is some bullshit.

I wont be surprised if, like The Apprentice, we never get Idols again.

I never watched the damn thing, but my reputation as a South African is at stake here. We should stop being so damn diplomatic about things. If you're a loser, then you're a loser. Tough. You'll get over it.

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Save me from all this porn!

Oh dear God, I need a prayer!


A few minutes ago, I was on a very popular website called Google. On this particular website, there's a link you can click on to search for images. But if you're smart like me, you can just go type in images.google.com into the address bar instead.


So I went to GoogleImages and typed in what I was looking for - which was a picture I could use for a blog post I wanted to write - when I came across this picture:

( direct link )

Now, you might look at this and think... (well, I don't know what you might think) ...but the point is. I think this picture is very inappropriate. I won't even mention the website URL on here. I just think a website with a name like thefoodpornographer.com is something I should be sharing freely on such an open medium. There should be a warning or something that pops up letting you know what you're about to see... Now I can't keep my eyes off it! Crap!!!

It's basically like watching porn, you know you probably shouldn't but you keep watching to see what's next.

Let's get back to the main point here. I was basically so traumatised by the sight of this particular picture (not to mention the website) that I just couldn't concentrate. I think this is exactly what porn does to one. Accidental porn at that. I wasn't looking to find a site that just so tastefully captures one of my favourite subjects. It definately aroused my senses. My mouth watered at the sight of the website's home page... Eish...

I love food with a passion, and coming across something like this has made me realise exactly how little my options were when it comes to food. I basically eat more or less the same food every week. Now, I'm no expert but I'm pretty sure this is unhealthy.

And seeing this site only an hour from lunch didn't help much either. This is the kind of website people wouldn't understand if they caught me scrolling through. Only a foodie will understand my situation.

I like the fact that the lady who runs it updates it so regularly and covers everything. From fast food to home-cooked meals, to pastry dishes. So there's never a "I've been on this page before" moment. Great stuff.

I love it!

Thanks TFP, for the great porn, I'm lovin' it!

Gotta get me some more porn, be right back!!! I'm addicted!!!!

Somebody pray for me!

***edit:

I just had to come back and share these particular pages with you...

• http://www.thefoodpornographer.com/?p=1499
• http://www.thefoodpornographer.com/?p=1571
• http://www.thefoodpornographer.com/?p=1577
• http://www.thefoodpornographer.com/?p=1466

damn!

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I don't understand

Of all the things in this world. The one thing I don't understand the most is religion, or should I say, Christianity.

On my way to work today I somehow thought about this whole religion thing. Basically, why is it that religious people are so convinced that they're on their way to a better place? That they're just passing through this world to get to the next? Why?

I mean, if God (or whoever sent you down here) wanted you to be in Heaven (or abovementioned 'better place') wouldn't he have kept you there? Why would he send you down here, to this world full of temptation and sin, only to decide on your fate later? Whether you're going back into Heaven or you're doomed to eternal damnation... aka Hell.

Is that fair?

Is it fair to send a mere mortal down to a world full of everything good and bad only to see if they can make it? To see if they can jump the hurdles which are bound to be in their way only to judge them based on the decisions their brains (the ones that you gave them) thought to be right at the time??

I'm not questioning religion or Christianity in any way. I'm only questioning the logic behind this belief system.

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A blessed design...

Hey, been a while since I last posted something worth reading here...

And as usual it's simply because I've been spending more time on my designs.

So one of the first 'works' I worked on as soon as I got back from my visit 700KMs away. Without ever opening Photoshop or any other image editing software out there. I worked on this...

[This pic is also here: Behance deviantArt Flickr My website ]

Took me about thirty minutes to work on the initial look. Then around an hour fiddling with the background. Not sure of the colours to use, then settled on a simple black and white (b&w) image. I don't know why. I just have some sort of weird perversion when it comes to b&w pictures and graphics. So I settled on B&W.

I actually cut out one other pic while I was working on this image. But I've decided to finish it at a later stage.

Anyway, hope you didn't miss me too much. Feast your eyes on that in the mean time. (till I finish my other designs...)

Oh, wait, before I go...

The person in the pic is singer Goapele. A South African native living in America.

She's a friend (I don't wanna use the word contact, sounds less personal. lol) of mine on most social networking websites I'm on. I've been a fan since Closer came out while I was still dreaming to be "closer to my dreams". Now I am, and I just wanted to hook something up for her, to show some appreciation.

I first featured a mini-work of her on my first website... //click here / Didn't really do much to the pic except enhance it.

I sent her a message on Twitter asking her what she thought of the design, and without mincing her words, she basically said...

That's all the blessing I needed. And, NO I DIDN'T PHOTOSHOP THAT REPLY!

Thanx Goap!

(yeah, we on nickname basis now. I just gave her that. "Goap! That's what's up!" it rhymes, I know. ©PaperCut 2009-forever!)

Check her out on the following sites:

• Her site
• Follow her on Twitter
• Her fan page on Facebook
• Flickr
• Read about her on Wiki

Peace & love!

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teh newness

This month is full of newness.

1. My new site is up
2. My blog also got a facelift!

So, it is what it is!

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