Only bad things happen quickly

Unless you’re in a movie called Final Destination, because then bad things come for you really slowly. You then panic and end up dying a very weird death.

For this blog post I’d like to focus on an American traditional holiday called Halloween. It’s today by the way – 31 October. There are many reasons why people believe the tradition of Halloween started. Apparently, in old folklore tradition the Festival of the Dead is linked to the Festival of Samhain. Samhain, which means summer’s end, falls on the most important of the four quarter days in the medieval Irish calendar as people used this time to stock up for the cold winter months ahead. There was a sense that in this time, the supernatural and physical worlds was the closest and magical things could happen at this time. To ward off these spirits, the Irish built huge, symbolically regenerative bonfires and invoked the help of the gods through animal and perhaps even human sacrifice.

Halloween is also thought to have been heavily influenced by the Christian holy days of All Saints' Day (also known as Hallowmas, All Hallows, Hallowtide) and All Souls' Day. Falling on November 1^st (My Birthday by the way) and 2nd respectively, collectively they were a time for honoring the Saints and praying for the recently departed who had yet to reach heaven.

South African have recently embraced this holiday, most probably because it’s been made so popular by American’s. I think South Africans have even more scary things to worry about than fake skeletons though. Maybe give some food instead of sweets away tonight.

It will be that much sweeter.

Some – er (summer) advice

1.       If you’re a girl and you’re worried about your figure for summer - exercise. But do NOT over-think this. Looking at yourself in the mirror all the time instead of enjoying yourself makes you look conceited and therefore unattractive.

2.       Stretch marks and other imperfections – Use some Bio-oil if you really are worried and self-conscious but RELAX, they make you look human. You would be photo shopped if you didn’t have them.

3.       Worried about the fact that you’re pale and need a tan? – DO NOT lay in the sun without protection all day, you will end up looking like the old lady who stole the puppies in 101 Dalmatians. Rather enjoy it when you can, with lots of sun block. You’ll thank me later when everyone else looks like they’ve eaten too many tomatoes and you’ve got a peachy tan.

4.       DO NOT work too much or spend your days thinking about work. This is advice for myself too. Your whole summer would’ve gone by and all you’ll have to show for it is a very chuffed boss, grey skin and a tired face. You also will not have any cool pictures to post on Facebook.

5.       Lastly, the most important thing to do this summer is enjoy yourself – At a braai, in your room, at the beach, a pool party, new years eve, etc….

Be bold and mighty forces will come to your aid

This quotation by author, Basil King is about courage and going through with something even when you’re afraid. It also states that everything will work out in the end if you do this.

Whether it’s a new entrepreneurial venture, taking the leap forward to change your job, studying for your B-Tech or running for president! If you’re bold in all these cases, the quote says that everything will work out for you in the end. Is this statement true or is it just a glimmer of hope to people who don’t have any?

I think sometimes life throws rocks at you even when you’ve been bold, but you just have to try again and again and hope that life will eventually send mighty forces to have mercy on you and give you what you want. This obviously won’t happen with every situation and that’s why I think I have better advice.

When you’ve been bold and mighty forces still haven’t come to your aid, have a red bull and try again. Mighty forces are all good and well but if you don’t help yourself, nobody will.

That’s the cold hard facts once again, coming from little old me. J

GOOD OR BAD WORLD

As we know, the world can be a dark place. We’ve had wars, apartheid and wrongs in the past that would make a grown man cry.

We’re so much better now, aren’t we? Now we live in a place where people walk past a two year old girl lying in the road, badly hurt as she was run over by not one but two bakkies. A place where people torture, rape and eventually after 40 days, kill a 16 year old innocent girl. Where people kidnap and kill small children and bury animals alive. We’re so much better now?

The disgust and shame I feel as a person when I read some of the horrendous stories in the news is nothing compared to what the victims of these crimes feel. The purpose of this blog post is to remind us that there is good and bad in the world and that we should remain cautious.

Please help and try to do good where you can but always remember that the bad is sometimes waiting, lurking in the background waiting to be found by good people.

Remember that it’s a good and bad world we live in.

The last lecture

The past four years of my life have been spent studying at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology and now it will finally draw to a close when I graduate. Mixed feelings come to the surface when I speak about this as I feel that I’ve enjoyed the past four years immensely yet there have been so many battles, academically and non-academically.

From last minute assignments being handed in, numerous nerve-racking presentations (even singing like I was Juanita du Plessis), to tests and thumb-sucked essays. This is the life of a student. Oh man I’ll miss it, I really will… but now it’s time to take on the “real world” by both pinky toes and hope that I can thumb-suck the success out of it! J

The past year has also been one heck of a train ride! PS. Working full time, studying and still trying to have a social life is so not for the faint-hearted. I’m physically, emotionally and mentally exhausted! But it was all worth it. I’ll have my B-Tech degree come next year March!!

So it’s been fun, so much fun but now I think I’m ready for full blown adulthood and a successful career in Public Relations Management. If not, I’ll just move to an island and sip on martini’s till I’m 80!

What makes you smile?

To ten reasons why you should be smiling:

1. Smiling Makes Us Attractive

2. Smiling Changes Our Mood

3. Smiling Is Contagious

4. Smiling Relieves Stress

5. Smiling Boosts Your Immune System

6. Smiling Lowers Your Blood Pressure

7. Smiling Releases Endorphins, Natural Pain Killers and Serotonin

8. Smiling Lifts the Face and Makes You Look Younger

9. Smiling Makes You Seem Successful

10. Smiling Helps You Stay Positive

What makes you smile? Is it driving into town and looking at the beautiful scenery of a rainbow over Table Mountain? Is it the little jokes your friends and family makes? Is it waking up every morning, knowing that you were granted another day? Is it a kiss or a hug or just a Hi from a passer-by?

We know that smiling makes for a happier person but what makes you smile? Who makes you smile? Whatever it is, make sure you do it more often and whoever it is that makes you smile, make sure you appreciate the person or people.

More important than what makes you smile is for you to make others smile. It could be a small gesture like remembering a birthday or telling a joke – It creates a smile that lights up a room.

So do yourself and others a favour today and SMILE!

Watch this space

This phrase usually means that there will very soon be an exciting change in a person’s current situation.  Hopefully for me this means that I’ll throw caution to the wind and get out of a certain situation that I no longer wish to be in.

I’ve never been much of a risk-taker and always think things through before I do or speak. I don’t want this to be the reason that I end up unhappy one day because I played it too safe. Watch this space – I’ll take the risk and won’t look back. Right now I’m in a comfort zone that will basically get me nowhere very slowly and I do so want and need to get somewhere and be someone.

What is your goals? What would you like your situation to be? Ask yourself this and then make it happen. This advice goes to myself as well as anyone that reads this blog.

Make your goals happen – Watch this space J

Talking about marriage - From someone who knows nothing about it

Coming from a home with a mother who never married after her first husband passed, i can only speak about what i've seen through family and friends marriages. Some married for love, which either eventually died in a romantic way or in very few cases these days their love blossomed even more. Some married because they felt they were forced to. Some married because the wedding would be a great little party and some married because that's what their relationship eventually lead to.

Maybe i'm a bit naive, okay a lot... but i believe that when you get married you do so with the intention of staying together forever. I'm still stuck in that Fairytale promise that says you'll live happily ever after and ride into the sunset. I'm not even going to try to be a marriage councillor, because clearly i know nothing about the subject but i do have my strong beliefs.

Some people have to end a marriage because its just that unbearable, but some give in too easily, especially the younger generation. I've spoken to a women just a few years older than me in the prime of her life, and she believes that it doesn't matter if you get married for the wrong reasons, because you could always get a divorce.

Is this what my generation's beliefs are? and where on Earth does it come from? Have we just become so selfish that we don't believe in life-long marriages anymore?

One thing that i can say about the subject that is on target, is that people loved way more a few years ago and just werent as selfish. To quote Black Eyed Peas, "Where is the Love?"

My favourite Cat in the Hat book is…

I’d be lying if I said that I remember all the books from the Cat in the Hat range but I do know a few quotes from the books and the movies.

 This is quoted from “Hot the Grinch stole Christmas” and my favourite story from the Cat in the hat range.

“Maybe Christmas,”
he thought, “doesn’t
come from a store.
Maybe Christmas…
perhaps…means a
little bit more!”

"The Grinch hated Christmas!
The whole Christmas season!
Now, please don't ask why.
No one quite knows the reason."

If you’ve read the book or watched the movie you would see that the Grinch stole Christmas because he was quite angry that nobody loved him. He looked different and everyone always made fun of him. When Christmas came, he had nobody to spend it with and the moral of the story basically is that we should all embrace people that are different and love them. That is after all what every person wants and needs.

Setting the skinny record straight

Just the other day a little argument erupted between myself and another person (you know who you are, I won’t mention names) about skinny girls.

This man, like so many other people had a strong belief that if a girl is just too skinny she must be sick. Now anorexia and bulimia is a whole other issue that we’ll tackle on another day. I want to talk about the judgmental behavior the world has about the average skinny girl, and whether you think this is just a load of bull or you don’t want to waste your time reading this, read it anyway. You might just make your skinny daughter, niece, sister or friend feel better about herself today.

A world wide change has occurred where the world is now starting to embrace girls with a little more meat on them. I say, Amen to that! It’s about time. But what about the skinny girls? Are they all just sick or do some mothers just pass a hereditary skinny jean on to their daughters? Think before you judge people.

A very recent example of this kind of judgment is when I went to visit someone and when I walked in the door this person looked at me, took my arm and said, “Oh, you just disappearing more and more? Why don’t you pick up some weight man.” Now that’s the kind of BS I’m talking about. This person had clearly picked up a few kilo’s which I obviously didn’t mention to the person. So to make the person feel better, they tackled my weight.

Here’s just a little tip. Stay out of other people’s jeans sizes. Whether they’re thin or not so thin, rather look at yourself in the mirror and ask if you love yourself, because surely if you did, other people’s weight wouldn’t bother you.

Thank you J

Why do I have conversations?

Firstly, let’s look at why humans interact and communicate. You might say it’s to get a message across but I’m talking about the deeper meaning. Why do we talk to each other?

Imagine being stuck in a desert. You have water, food, shelter and all your other basic needs yet there is nobody else to share it with. Nobody to talk to or care for. Nobody to share your jokes with or talk about your dreams to. Nobody for miles and miles. Enough to drive you crazy right? Most definitely!

I’m an only child so I might just last longer than the average person who had conversations with their siblings from a very early age, but eventually I’d probably go crazy like the rest of you.  I’d also start talking to a cactus hoping to get some response. It’s natural, it’s something we need, its conversations.

Besides the very boring existence we’d have if everyone ignored each other and nobody had conversations, I’m sure our teeth would rot and lips would stick together.

So if it wasn’t for conversations, we’d be weird creatures with no teeth, who try to speak to objects …and that is why I have conversations.

What do you value most?

In doing an assignment for a certain subject that is part of my Public Relations Management course, i presented a leader called Raymond Ackerman. Ackerman is the man behind the very successful supermarket chain, Pick n Pick.

What was interesting to note in my research of this leader, was that the most important thing to him is family. He values relationships more than money and says that his family is the reason for his success in business. They have supported him and he knows that it was the main thing that has lead him to his great success.

What do you value most? Is it money, your family and friends or do you go through each day not even valuing the breath you take each day?

Think about this and then evaluate what should be most important to you.

My bucket list: 100 things to do before i die

I've compiled a mini-list of things i'd like to do before i die.

1. Fly an airplane
2. Go bungee jumping or sky-diving or both on the same day!
3. Give back to 200 people who are less fortunate and put smiles on their faces
4. Present a TV show (Top Billing come and get me :-)
5. Visit Buckingham Palace and get treated like a princess for a day
6. Give an inspirational speech that gets put onto Youtube and recieve 1 billion hits
7. Spend a whole week on a secluded island with 5 of my favourite people, soaking up the sun
8. Harvest my own grapes to make my own wine that will be called "A piece of Heaven"
9. Visit the most beautiful and historic destinations of the world
10. Win the jackpot and spend it on people, animals and on preserving the environment

So some of my things-to-do are achievable and others not so much.

If i could do just two of the things on my '10 things to do before i die' list, i'd still be happy. The problem is that none of us know when our time to go is, so i'd better get cracking on these wishes.

In closing, please see the quote below and think about the things you'd like to do before you die, but don't ever be afraid of dying.

Some people are so afraid to die
that they never begin to live.

~ Henry Van Dyke ~

Human trafficking - a world wide issue

Type the words, " human trafficking stories" into Google and you'll get pages of real life stories about girls and women who have gone through horrific experiences. The word, human trafficking can be defined as, "the illegal trade of human beings for the purpose of reproductive slavery, commercial sexual exploitation, forced labour, or a modern-day form of slavery."

A blog was created for people to share stories of this nature so that other girls and women could realise the seriousness of the issue and try to protect themselves from these human trafficking predators. Online newspapers are also rife with human trafficking statistics and stories.  An estimated 700000 to 4 million people around the world are being trafficked for labor and sexual exploitation each year.

In South Africa, the situation is not much different. We have stories of our own that would make any woman or girl shudder at the thought. Human trafficking victims are forced to become prostitutes and are often forced to use drugs since the predators know that the drugs will keep these girls as their slaves.

When girls are rescued it can only be seen as a miracle since many of the trafficking rings have been doing this for so long and have connections in all the right places.

To protect yourself from such slavery there are a few tips:

My big fat BIG dream

What do you dream about? A big house and expensive car? The dream job? The perfect husband?

My BIG dream is quite simple. I want to be happy and hopefully leave a legacy. I've been thinking about travelling lately and what i'll do when the superficial world of PR isnt enough for me anymore... I've been thinking about how i can help people and how that is what would make me happy.

My BIG dream is to one day open a haven for orphans and children who are abused and neglected or just need a safe place to be loved. I've realised that the world i live in isn't enough. Its a world where people ignore the fact that there are children who need nurturing and love and just go on with their daily lives. I don't want to be Mother Theresa, but living only for myself could eventually turn me into that girl i don't want to be. The PR lady who pretends to care and gives a fake reassuring smile to staff as she walks by in branded shoes and a bag that costs as much as it would take to feed a small country.

My BIG dream is to be happy and this is what would make me happy. I'm still young and have quite a few years to decide what it is i really need, but i do know that it would be something much greater than money.

That's my BIG fat dream.

Conventional is a good fall back position isn't it?

Conforming or adhering to accepted standards. Ordinary rather than different or original. This is what the term conventional can be defined as.

Conventional is a good fall back position isn't it? Well of course it is. Its comfortable and convenient and heaven knows that's what people love. Not pushing boundaries, not trying new things or not being different. What would the world come to if we all had to act differently, or if we didn't conform to what was perceived as normal?

The world would be okay strangely enough. We were born to be different, we're not meant to conform to the usual or to what is comfortable. Imagine if people had to conform when inventions were being discovered. Rules were broken and this is why we sit at the point we are at today.

We are all meant to ask questions or to explore things and not just accept what we are told. How boring it would be if we had to be conventional. So, go out into the world and explore, be different and maybe even discover new things.

The "gees" of a World Cup

With the Rugby World cup currently taking place in New Zealand and hopeful fans right around the world, what does South Africa have that's just so special that would make us defeat the other teams and win the Cup?

There's a little thing we realised we own when the soccer world cup came to South Africa. That soulful energy in each of our hearts and hope for a better future, that when blasted collectively through an instrument called the vuvuzela equals to GEES! This is what makes us different to all the other hopeful fans.

Amazingly we come together to create an image of one nation even though we know this isn't completely true. We have faults, issues and hurdles that we have to overcome... yet when there's a cup to be won, we are a collective spirit. The leader of this spirit obviously being our ex-President Nelson Mandela.

This blog is just a little reminder to keep that Gees in your heart even after the World Cup has gone. Never lose sight of the goal. Right now that goal is the Rugby World Cup, but tomorrow it may be creating a nation that all otherS can look at and say, "We'd like to be like them." We must show the world what it takes to be the best. We must prove that together we are the best.

Lastly, I'd like to say... Go Bokke! whooooo!!!! 

:-)

What the frack?

According to Investopedia.com, Fracking/ Hydraulic fracturing “refers to the procedure of creating fractures in rocks and rock formations by injecting fluid into cracks to force them further open. The larger fissures allow more oil and gas to flow out of the formation and into the wellbore, from where it can be extracted.”

The purpose of fracking is to gain more natural gases like oil from below the earth’s surface. The process has been known to use large amounts of water and can result in the death/ sickness of plants/ animals and even human beings. I’ve been following the news on Shell’s fracking plans for the Karoo for a while and have noticed that there are two sides to this story.

1.     Shell’s story

Shell promises that the process will not use as much water as people/ the media think. They vow that no animals/ human/ plants or any other breathing creature will be harmed in the process. What they are offering is a richer South Africa with a big risk involved.

2.     The green story

Organisations like the Treasure the Karoo action group and many people who believe in the sustainability and life of our Earth has come forward against Shell saying that they are the big bad man who wants to get rich and doesn’t care if a few animals and people die in the process.

Here’s my opinion as one of the youth of South Africa. Shell cannot promise that nothing will go wrong. Numerous stories have been published and movies have been made about the negative effects of hydraulic fracturing. The green organizations cannot offer our starving youth’s who have nothing a better South Africa. Either way we lose if we leave our future in the incapable hands of these organizations and even the Government.

Let’s decide what we want and work towards a common goal. This is what we should be good at. We are after all the nation that stood together against apartheid. Have we simply forgotten what it means to stand up for something we believe in or don’t we believe in anything anymore?

You cannot chase two rabbits at the same time

A martial arts student approached his teacher with a question. "I'd like to improve my knowledge of the martial arts. In addition to learning from you, I'd like to study with another teacher in order to learn another style. What do you think of this idea?"

"The hunter who chases two rabbits," answered the master, "catches neither one."

What are your thought on this saying? Is it possible to focus and excel at two tasks at the same time? Well i guess this applies to all B-Tech Public Relations students since all of us are working while managing a hectic study schedule. We even have a few mothers in our class! That's chasing about 10 rabbits at the same time and not just doing good at each of these tasks but doing great!

I believe that women have a divine purpose to be able to excel at two or more things at the same time. We call it multi-tasking when in fact its a natural part of our being to be able to do a few tasks and complete it effectively.

The problem with chasing two rabbits is that we become so tired in the end that we eventually miss out on life. What i mean by this is that we become almost too involved. We cannot just sit, relax and enjoy the view. Women constantly want to chase two rabbits, and this is why i'm sooooo happy this B-Tech year has almost come to an end.

I'll chase all the rabbits that come my way, but first i'm going to sit back and relax. Even if its only for a few days!  

NOTHING IS MORE DANGEROUS THAN AN IDEA, WHEN YOU ONLY HAVE ONE IDEA

Remember that old tired expression, “two heads are better than one?” Well two ideas are better than one in any situation. The two ideas could come from two people or just one, but the main idea is that there is more than one option.

Here’s an example: If you get an idea to do something, instead of just acting on that one idea, try two. The second one might be your best bet. If you think you have a great idea, tell someone you trust about it, they might just have an even better idea to add to that.

The point is not to be so close-minded to believe that your one idea is the best. Two or more ideas are better than one.

Please see the two quotes below for some inspiration.

“Do something. If it doesn't work, do something else. No idea is too crazy.” Jim Hightower, The New York Times, March 9, 1986

“If an idea's worth having once, it's worth having twice.” Tom Stoppard

A reminder to all Women

This morning i got one of those e-mails that warn women about being alert and safe at all times.

The story in the e-mail was of a women who had a flat tyre at a shopping mall. A man dressed in a suit offered to help her change her tyre and after helping the women, proceeded to ask for a lift to his car that was on the other side of the mall. This women's instinct told her that something wasn't right. She told the man who had helped her that she'd be right back and went back into the mall to get security. When the security and the woman got back to ger car the man was gone but his briefcase was in her boot. The briefcase had ducktape, knives and rope inside.

This story got me thinking. When we're young, we're so afraid of the boogyman, ghosts, vampires and other mythical creatures. Its only when we're a little bit older that we realise that the boogyman is the nice man with the suit who doesn't look like he could hurt a fly.

These days its so hard to be able to tell who's out to hurt you. Ladies, please be safe.... Just a reminder for Women's Month.

"You strike a woman, you strike a rock"

In South Africa, we commemorate the national march of women on August 9 in 1956 to petition against legislation that required African persons to carry the "pass". This day is known as Women's Day.

We have come a long way since the days of women being only child-bearers and servants of the home. Women are now strong, independent human beings who have just as much, if not more power in the workplace and in the world. This blog post commemorates women right around the world, but especially in South Africa.

From wars and apartheid to the oppression of women right around the world, we now stand proud and although the fight for our rights is not over yet, we've come such a long way. As Beyonce puts it, "We run the world."

Please see some lyrics of the song, "We run the world" by Beyonce below.
"Boy you know you love it
How we're smart enough to make these millions
Strong enough to bare the children
Then get back to business"

Have you figured out the second head fake yet?

"It's not about how to achieve your dreams. It's about how to lead your life. If you lead your life the right way, the karma will take care of itself. The dreams will come to you." Randy Pausch

Randy Pausch, a Professor of Computer Science, Human-Computer Interaction, and Design at and a best-selling author, who achieved worldwide fame for his speech The Last Lecture, after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and having only a few months to live. Randy said that the lecture was for his own children. He would teach them most of life's lessons through that single lecture. I think he taught the world so much more.

Randy passed away on July 25, 2008.

Everyone's idea of what this message means will be different, depending on where you are in your life. Do you already know what you want from life? Where you want to be and who you want to be in your life? If you haven't, its probably better to decide sooner than later since you never really know what fate awaits you.

I think Randy is saying that when you know who you want to be and where you want to be, things will naturally fall into place. He is confident when he says that everything will work out, eventhough he had been diagnosed with cancer at the time. He accepted his fate and knew that there was something better waiting for him.

Each one of us should live like Randy did. Strive for better, but always know that things will always work out. Don't stress the little things. Try to be patient and most importantly dream big.... (just my own little speech)

What to do when there's no ah huh moment..!

Anybody who has ever watched the Oprah Winfrey Show will know what the ah huh moment is. Its that light bulb moment when you realise what you should be doing (your purpose), how you should be living or simply an epiphany about something in life you would normally be wondering about.

Sometimes in life, there are no ah huh moments and we become afraid that the choices we've made might actually not be the greatest idea. This could be leaving a job you had to go for something better, leaving a marriage after 50 years or just changing your whole life because that's what you think you should do.

So, what do you do when there's no ah huh moment? Do you just go with  your gut? Do you guess and take a risk that could potentially change the way your life turns out?

I don't have the answer, although i really wish i did. I think sometimes we have to jump and hope there's a soft landing. If we fall, then i guess we get up, dust ourselves off and start all over again.

How hard is it to follow instructions?

Sometimes you’ll be surprised at just how hard it is to stick to instructions.

 I’m sure many of the ladies reading this blog have experienced the, “I know what I’m doing” syndrome by men. Example: You buy a piece of furniture that has to be assembled and comes with a manual that explains exactly what must be used and where it must be put together. Man with ego says, “I don’t need a manual, I know what I’m doing.” You take a drive to some place you’ve never been before with a map and GPS in hand but the man drives his own way mumbling, “I know where I’m going.” The television set breaks and needs to be fixed. The man in your house says he’ll fix it himself and when smoke starts coming out of the TV and it starts making groaning noises, he still says, “I know what I’m doing.”

This is not a feminist blog, but my goodness…. How hard is

it to follow instructions? I’ve even been in a situation where a sign in the road showed us exactly where we should go but because this man believed he knew where we should go, he followed the opposite path. Needless to say we got lost and drove around in circles for an hour, but he still knew what he was doing or rather where he was going?

The point is that instructions are there for a reason. Use it.

BRANDY TASTING 101

I’m no expert or brandy connoisseur but I have learnt a few things about brandy over the past year. If you don’t particularly like brandy or you’re not much of a drinker, keep reading. You’ll be pleasantly surprised.

If you’re not a drinker, you may taste and spit out. So, first you’ll need a really good brandy and they don’t come cheap. I would suggest Klipdrift Gold or van Ryn’s 15 year old. Please see the tasting guide below.

Step 1: Colour

Tilt the glass away from you (against a white background). Darker colour suggests age, style and wood maturation.

Step 2: Do not swirl

Pour into a sniffer or balloon glass, allowing aroma’s to concentrate. Keep glass stable to avoid losing volatile and precious flavours.

Step 3: Nose

First sniff the top of the glass to acclimatize to the alcohol, then the subtle, top notes, and richer, more complex flavours.

Step 4: Taste

Evaluate the smoothness on the palate. Elegant, older brandies exhibit sweeter flavours, younger brandies tend to be harsher and grassier.

Step 5: Overall

The colour, nose and taste of the brandy allows you to appreciate its age, wood maturation and full complexity of flavours.

South Africa has some of the best brandies in the world. They’ve won numerous awards and keep doing so. Try one.

Andy Warhol said, “In the future everybody will be world famous for fifteen minutes.” You can’t choose you fifteen minutes but why would you be world famous?

Andy Warhol, an American painter, filmmaker, publisher, actor and major figure in the pop art movement mad this statement. He later said, “I'm bored with that line. I never use it anymore. My new line is, "In fifteen minutes everybody will be famous."

What will make you world famous for fifteen minutes or make you famous in fifteen minutes? Do you sing really well or play an instrument. Can you play a sport really well or do you want to be a movie star? Will you be part of a reality TV show or will you be famous for another reason?

I don’t know why I would be famous for fifteen minutes yet but I know that there are endless possibilities. It might not be singing or dancing or making a number one hit song. It might not be saving the world or finding a cure for a disease, but I’m sure that I’ll do something to make people sit up and take note. Now just to see what that thing will be.

What will make you famous for fifteen minutes?

What makes a good person?

We contribute 67 minutes or so to help those less fortunate than ourselves. We give a slice of bread or a R2 to the man who begs on the street or knocks on our door. We go to church or pray for our family, friends and ourselves. We are good people right?

We look down on the man in prison because he has done wrong. We judge our neighbour’s and gossip about them when they aren’t near. We think we are better than the man on the street and wonder what bad things he has done to end up there. We are good people right?

We are human and we make mistakes. We do and say bad things and hurt each other. Are we still good people? I think so. I think that there are no bad people only people who do bad things. Try to make your “bad” less each day by thinking about the bad things you do each day and turning it into a good thing. It may be something simple like spending time with your mother or paying the old lady across the road a visit because she’s lonely.

I tried this today and will hopefully do it again tomorrow, the next day and the day after that.