Twelve Elis Stomping
Eleven Giraffes Grazing
Ten Kudus Leaping
Nine Donkeys Braying
Eight Goats-a-Bleating
Seven Hippos Charging
Six Roosters Crowing
FIVE CROCODILES
Four Guinea Fowl
Three Boomslangs
Two Go Aways
and a Peacock in a Palm Tree...
...........................................................................................
Update on ze white elephant gift exchange..
Guess who has two thumbs and is the proud owner of a rather sharp and dangerous six inch hunting blade? And who already cut herself... Mother is SHARP.
Wednesday 25 December 2013
Tuesday 24 December 2013
not now, arctic puffin...
First Christmas
in Namibia.
We PCVs are simulating home with miniature fake pine trees, holiday crafts, extensive holiday playlists, outrageously expensive holiday dinners (for PCVs, that is), and white elephant gift exchanges… and gingerfizz.
Now playing...
12 Days of Christmas - Straight No Chaser | Christmas Cheers
You know the one... Doo do do doo doo do doo...
We PCVs are simulating home with miniature fake pine trees, holiday crafts, extensive holiday playlists, outrageously expensive holiday dinners (for PCVs, that is), and white elephant gift exchanges… and gingerfizz.
Here’s a
puffin. Enjoy..
Now playing...
12 Days of Christmas - Straight No Chaser | Christmas Cheers
You know the one... Doo do do doo doo do doo...
Tuesday 26 November 2013
playing now..
11 songs | 49 minutes; 17 seconds
Paid in Full/Mini Madness – Eric B & Rakim
Mr. Brown: Biddy Bi-Bi Remix Turkmene/Pharao Version – DJ Rupture
Obstacles/Music Monks – DJ Rupture
The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly) – Missy Elliot
Rushing – Moby
At the River – Groove Armada
6 Underground – Sneaker Pimps
Solea – Miles Davis & Gil Evans
On My Way to Nowhere – Spyritual
Wolves – Dead Prez
Get By – Talib Kweli
But what’s usually on repeat in the morning as I ready for school…
4 songs | 16 minutes; 40 seconds
Higher – K-os
Erotic City – George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic
Get By – Talib Kweli
Life is Better – Q-Tip ft. Norah Jones
Paid in Full/Mini Madness – Eric B & Rakim
Mr. Brown: Biddy Bi-Bi Remix Turkmene/Pharao Version – DJ Rupture
Obstacles/Music Monks – DJ Rupture
The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly) – Missy Elliot
Rushing – Moby
At the River – Groove Armada
6 Underground – Sneaker Pimps
Solea – Miles Davis & Gil Evans
On My Way to Nowhere – Spyritual
Wolves – Dead Prez
Get By – Talib Kweli
But what’s usually on repeat in the morning as I ready for school…
4 songs | 16 minutes; 40 seconds
Higher – K-os
Erotic City – George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic
Get By – Talib Kweli
Life is Better – Q-Tip ft. Norah Jones
Sunday 24 November 2013
i'm a sucker...
... for the sky during sunsets.
I live on the west side of the house..
And right as the light starts to fade, I burst out to the back yard..
To see what she's got in store for me that night.
Even better when you are in the hills of Grootfontein; with the expanse of bush below and open sky for days.
Or sitting atop the hills overlooking the Kavango River, and the Angolan border in Rundu..
No, offense, Montana...
You've got some game and all...
But this here – this is 'big sky country'
I live on the west side of the house..
And right as the light starts to fade, I burst out to the back yard..
To see what she's got in store for me that night.
Even better when you are in the hills of Grootfontein; with the expanse of bush below and open sky for days.
Or sitting atop the hills overlooking the Kavango River, and the Angolan border in Rundu..
No, offense, Montana...
You've got some game and all...
But this here – this is 'big sky country'
Saturday 23 November 2013
summer reading list...
(because it is summer in this hemisphere )
books consumed:
Dambisa Moyo
– Dead Aid
Neil Gaiman
– Stardust
D. H.
Lawrence – Lady Chatterley’s Lover
Helen
Fielding – Bridget Jones Diary
Agatha
Christie – The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
David Wong –
John Dies at the End
in progress:
Jack Kerouac
– The Dharma Bums
on deck:
Neil Gaiman
– The Graveyard Book
George
Orwell – Animal Farm
Douglas
Adams – So Long, and Thanks for all the Fish
Richard Dawkins
– The Greatest Show on Earth
Dante – The
Divine Comedy
Phillip K.
Dick – Ubik
Christopher
Hitchens – The Portable Atheist
Douglas
Adams – Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency
Edgar Allen
Poe – Collection of Tales and Poems
William
Goldman – The Princess Bride
Fodor
Dostoevsky – The Idiot
Daniel Defoe
– Moll Flanders
Gustave
Flaubert – Madame Bovary
Niccolo
Machiavelli – The Prince
Friday 22 November 2013
drunk tree [fall hard]
Woke up
around 3:00 AM with the imprint of my house keys on my cheek.
Parched and
famished, stumbled over to the freezer and yanked out my Nalgene and stumbled
back into my cave.
And what do
you know..
A Tupperware
of feta and bacon pizza w/ onion rings at the foot of my bed.
And a bottle
of chili sauce.
Knew that
would come in handy later.
Woke up for
the second time at 6:00 AM, an imprint of my keys on my arm now..
Didn’t
bother to move them off bed.
Then again, slept with my feet atop my computer and my mobile under my spine.
Testing my
limbs, realize am filthy and covered in a few choice bruises.
And in
possession of a pernicious hangover.
Opted to
forgo pain relievers.
I think this
one I deserve.
Evidence of
an evening well spent.
And punishment
for the drunk texts shot off to the south last night.
Monday 11 November 2013
a snake in my boot.
Stayed up
late tonight, and as I went to turn off the light... I see that I've startled something in the garage... and am witness to a small, but significant, snake slither under my
door. My bedroom door.
Locating it behind the jerry cans in my room, I hover at the doorway.
It looks like a mamba. Worse, it's a young one, with less control of venom release during a bite..
But, I'm not sure, so I reach over and grab the identification book on snakes and reptiles.
Hmm. It's definitely venomous. But is the mamba, or the boomslang?
One kills you in an hour or so... One kills you in a day... [1]
I eyed my bed longingly.
Maybe if I tucked in my net really, really well... I could just go back to sleep.
I sat down in on the sofa in the living room, working on my nerve, before waking up the ladies of the house. There are enough poisonous snakes in this country that I needn’t be stupidly heroic and sleep alongside one.
Locating it behind the jerry cans in my room, I hover at the doorway.
It looks like a mamba. Worse, it's a young one, with less control of venom release during a bite..
But, I'm not sure, so I reach over and grab the identification book on snakes and reptiles.
Hmm. It's definitely venomous. But is the mamba, or the boomslang?
One kills you in an hour or so... One kills you in a day... [1]
I eyed my bed longingly.
Maybe if I tucked in my net really, really well... I could just go back to sleep.
I sat down in on the sofa in the living room, working on my nerve, before waking up the ladies of the house. There are enough poisonous snakes in this country that I needn’t be stupidly heroic and sleep alongside one.
I woke up my host sister first. She questioningly yells "Snake?!" after I'm forced to repeat the tale twice (as she's sleepy and confused.) My hawk-eared host mother needs no repetition of the story, as her door burst open, and she repeats "A snake? There's a snake?! Where?!" [2]
I lead them over to my room, but they're a good five metres from the door.
Making me feel a little foolish, as I've been pretty close to the snake, eyeing it from the door, maybe a metre and a half away... I also had walked past it once, to turn off the music on my pc.
Once they realized I was serious. Guys, there really is a snake in my bedroom... The two women jumped into action, in the opposite direction, and spirited seven young boys from a neighboring house, conscripting them into a snake killing posse.
I lead them over to my room, but they're a good five metres from the door.
Making me feel a little foolish, as I've been pretty close to the snake, eyeing it from the door, maybe a metre and a half away... I also had walked past it once, to turn off the music on my pc.
Once they realized I was serious. Guys, there really is a snake in my bedroom... The two women jumped into action, in the opposite direction, and spirited seven young boys from a neighboring house, conscripting them into a snake killing posse.
Armed with
sticks, they shrieked from my doorway - too scared to enter - and jostled the jerry cans from as far as they could manage. The chaos persuaded the snake to slither back into the garage. The boys went running 'round to the other garage door and corner the little reptile and beat its brains out. Screaming the whole time.
All while my
host mother was loudly praying/cursing.
Once dead, they paraded it out of the house, draped over a stick. Teasing my host mother a little and pretending to drop it on the floor. Elevating her yelps to shrieks.
Eleven year old conquering heroes, you would think, by the sight of them; so confident they were after the fact. [3]
Once dead, they paraded it out of the house, draped over a stick. Teasing my host mother a little and pretending to drop it on the floor. Elevating her yelps to shrieks.
Eleven year old conquering heroes, you would think, by the sight of them; so confident they were after the fact. [3]
And now I am
uneasily abed… bracing myself for the next invasion.
This evening’s latest disturbance may be karmic retribution for murdering yet
another giant spider this afternoon. It had a 6+
inch leg span. I just want
to be left in peace some days, creepy crawlies.
[1] Now, considering how timid the snake was, when encountering seven boys with sticks.. And little old me.. I think it was a boomslang, and not a mamba..
[2] No one is fond of snakes less than my host mother, Julia. Last year a python made its way up a drainpipe and into a window two metres off the ground. Julia heard the thud as it fell through the window and turns around to see a giant snake settling onto the floor. She was not a fan..
[3] Rather wish I had taken a photo after the fact.. but at the time... I had other things on my mind..
[Edit: My mom really hates snakes. Two days later, kick panels were installed on all of the exterior doors to narrow the gaps along the door jams.. We're snake proof -- or at least we're slightly more confident about being snake-free.. For now.]
[1] Now, considering how timid the snake was, when encountering seven boys with sticks.. And little old me.. I think it was a boomslang, and not a mamba..
[2] No one is fond of snakes less than my host mother, Julia. Last year a python made its way up a drainpipe and into a window two metres off the ground. Julia heard the thud as it fell through the window and turns around to see a giant snake settling onto the floor. She was not a fan..
[3] Rather wish I had taken a photo after the fact.. but at the time... I had other things on my mind..
[Edit: My mom really hates snakes. Two days later, kick panels were installed on all of the exterior doors to narrow the gaps along the door jams.. We're snake proof -- or at least we're slightly more confident about being snake-free.. For now.]
Thursday 7 November 2013
remember, remember…
And here I was
having a mediocre day…
I read The Book Thief today and sobbed
uncontrollably for a bit..
So that was great, actually.
[I mean
really great. I might read it again tonight.]
But the part
leading up to that… mostly mediocre.
To the
point.
My adopted
state of Illinois became lucky number fifteen and passed marriage equality
legislation in both houses on November 5th.
Now onto Governor Quinn
for his John Hancock.
So I am
drinking celebratory wine [two days later] in a tiny village in Africa.
And am tearing up all over again...
Wish I could've been there with everyone celebrating in Springfield – or Chicago...
I heard there was champagne flowing in the office... About damn time!
So proud of
the amazing work of the ACLU of Illinois, along with the rest of the Illinois Unites
for Marriage Coalition, and of course the legislators who made it happen...
Though my
wine-addled brain is curious to know if any bumpkins were wearing Guy Fawkes
masks during the proceedings… Hmm.. What?
Monday 4 November 2013
the ridiculous.
I’d argue
that the trivial and the absurd are the best things life has going for it right
now.
Of course… one does love the significant, the sentimental, the warm and fuzzies…
But those
don’t happen on an everyday basis.
Not when your new home is eight thousand miles, and across an ocean, from your last one.
More likely
you encounter the frustrating, the confusing, and the downright aggravating.
Thank
goodness for the absurd.
I like to
channel the Ministry of Silly Walks.
Minus the
bowler hat, suit jacket, and striped slacks.
Now that
would look ridiculous.
Am currently
listening to The Reminder (Feist, 2007), downing a bowl of Rice Krispies,
lazily perusing palm reading diagrams (more on that later).
Life isn't
all bad.
Sunday 3 November 2013
total eclipse of the sun.
When the
mooon is in the second ha-ouse.. and Ju-pi-ter aliiiiiigns with… Nevermind. [1]
She misses the concept that it was a total eclipse, and that for a few brief moments one could safely view the eclipse with the naked eye, as the sun was completely covered... Also there were hundreds of thousands of special glasses being sold throughout the city.. But do we buy a couple pairs? Nope.
[3] And now I’m thinking of Seinfeld and late fees at the NY Public Library..
The last
time I had the chance to see a total eclipse of the sun was 11 August 1999.
I was in
Belgium with my mother, who it must be noted can be a bit hysterical at times – and
thinks everyone else in the world is a moron.. She proceeds to flip out and
drag me down into the subway so that I would not be tempted to stare at the
event and thus burn my retinas, etc.…
She misses the concept that it was a total eclipse, and that for a few brief moments one could safely view the eclipse with the naked eye, as the sun was completely covered... Also there were hundreds of thousands of special glasses being sold throughout the city.. But do we buy a couple pairs? Nope.
Did I
mention she’s a bit hysterical? [2]
Fourteen years and
some change later.
A hybrid solar eclipse decides to waltz across Equatorial Africa.
And here I am living on
the Tropic of Capricorn in Africa…[3]
Anyway.. My eyesight
is still intact (or at least any damage done to them wasn’t done so today)…
And
unfortunately, I was too far south on the African continent to see a full solar
eclipse…
I'm not bitter... Maybe a little.
[1] Yes, I am aware that I allude to ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart’ (Bonnie Tyler) and switch gears to ‘Aquarius/Let the Sun Shine In’ (The 5th Dimension). Adapt... Word of the day.
[2] Apologies, Mother, but its the truth. You went a bit cracked on the streets of Brussels that day.[3] And now I’m thinking of Seinfeld and late fees at the NY Public Library..
Tuesday 29 October 2013
le cock block.
Today’s
discovery: MTC automatically disconnects after you
spend an hour on the phone..
A bit presumptuous, I think..
A bit presumptuous, I think..
What gives,
o’dubious mobile provider of mine? I’ve got tango to burn.
An aside. Automatically spelt behaviour with a ‘u’ …
Maybe it won’t
be so hard to teach the King’s English after all.
British English at the very least. Namlish at
best…
charlotte's web, this isn't..
Despite my attempts to be humane with the creepy crawlies with whom I share my room...
I bring sad tidings of the untimely demise of the giant spider formerly residing with me.
The bloody idiot resisted my relocation efforts.
And as a mere mortal, I fear I could not get past her tearing along my walls at such a fevered pace.
It tends to unnerve... and draw one's eye..
Hard to focus and all that nonsense.
The poor soul met her end on the business end of a blue plastic cup.
I expect full retribution from her family at some point...
I bring sad tidings of the untimely demise of the giant spider formerly residing with me.
The bloody idiot resisted my relocation efforts.
And as a mere mortal, I fear I could not get past her tearing along my walls at such a fevered pace.
It tends to unnerve... and draw one's eye..
Hard to focus and all that nonsense.
The poor soul met her end on the business end of a blue plastic cup.
I expect full retribution from her family at some point...
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