the random story of how micky ate dicky.

yesterday was horrible. i don’t even know why but everything brought tears to my eyes and in the end i just ended properly crying for no good reason. i decided that i shouldn’t be amongst people so in the question of wine or yoga, wine with pasta and dvds won. though it may not have been the healthiest choice, it seemed to be what i needed as today i woke up with lots of energy and the drive to get things done.

after editing some stories for a travel blog that i would love to contribute for, i went through my pictures to select some to go with the stories. i stumbled upon some old ones that i haven’t shared here, so i thought i’d make a little picture post.

i give you random pictures that have nothing in common but make me happy:

 my wonderful friend marie and i at noordhoek beach. that’s what happens when the photographer tells you to make a scary face and jump. marie just had the most beautiful baby girl and named her anni, which of course i am totally claiming credit for. i cannot wait to meet her.

i was a hipster taking shoe pictures long before instagram. i may start a series. i have another one where my shoe is dangling over a volcano.

this was taken on my first real solo trip to the seychelles. since i like travelling on my own i have the unfortunate tendencies to take selfies, also pre iphone and screen turning options. here i luckily opted to ask someone. i have since realized it is actually nice to have a decent picture of myself in a place that i liked, touristy or not. have i mentioned i used to have baby turtles? micky and dicky were they names and within a week of getting them i already regretted it and wasn’t sad when micky eventually ate dicky and we returned him/her to the pet store (we returned micky only as they didn’t want to take half eaten turtle remains). the only surprise was that micky ate dicky as he/she was half the size of dicky (dick = fat in german). however the little one in the picture i liked lots.

my dad and i on christmas two years ago. we are both total suckers for christmas as you can see. and though he is not getting any younger - his words not mine - he has just booked a flight to come down again. i am beyond excited for family christmas and a trip to zanzibar with him!

drop your hip, annika! but besides this technicality i love this picture. yoga in the desert, pucci scarf in the hair, prada on the nose.

there is a guy who has a picture taken of him doing a split jump in front of famous buildings and sites all over the world. i think i want to do that too from now on, only with standing bow pose as i am much more a standing bow poser than a split jumper in general. first up is the reclining buddha and then angkor wat . till then find me at the yoga studio where i practise dropping my hip…

relax, don't do it.

i’m still getting used to the south african winter. after a few winters of being incredibly cold i learned my lesson and got a good duvet and started to wear proper shoes and a jacket. before i was one of those grumpy, cold people, stomping my flip flop clad foot: but this is africa, why do i need to wear a jacket?! but now i learned and the weather and i are fine.
however the work seasonality is still a strange one for me. like so many other people here, i too work in a seasonal job – production. that means long, work filled days during summer and short days, filing and picking up three phones calls per day in winter. i know i should enjoy less work and while still in summer i do look forward to the winter season. before i usually come up with a list of all the incredible things i want to do with my newfound freedom free time. last year’s winter list included:

give my flat a make-over.
give my wardrobe a make-over.
lose 5kgs and make my abs visible.
learn french.
blog every.single.day. and spellcheck too.
learn to cook new meals that do not include pasta. okay, that would never be on any list of mine.
write the novel. oh yes, i too have that plan, don’t we all?
write real letters to friends and family at home.

guess what is on this year’s list?

an un-pc fashion.

i try to be a pc person, i don’t like to offend on purpose, but sometimes it just doesn’t work.  sometimes i too say things and then i want to put a foot or two in my mouth afterwards.

the fashion industry is definitely not known for being pc either, but unlike me they really don’t care and only when sales numbers are in danger, will they issue a public apology and suck on a louboutin. remember that i was part of this industry? that’s my only excuse i have for this story…

i have written about how my obsession with hole-y tank tops started. and yes, for the sake of the story i will continue to call them tank tops and not vests (south african for tank top), because otherwise the americans will get confused and as the story happened in nyc i think it’s fair to humour them. my obsession however is not exclusively with old, rugged, dirty tanks with holes. no, i love them all and i have in my days paid shocking amounts for perfect versions. people will only shake their head slightly when you tell them you paid a month rent for a pot of la mer or said louboutins, but tell them you spend it on some tank tops and they will use terms like loony for you. in my defence these tank tops have lasted me way longer than a month’s rent and quite a few have made their way to cape town. however lately i have noted that it might be time to replace a few. you know when end up wearing something with more holes than fabric? we are there. 

now you need to understand if you are like me, finding the perfect tank top is by far not an easy task and money is not even an issue here. there is a fine line between perfect looking and perfect looking when worn. a line, if crossed, condemns a tank top unworn in my closet for eternity.

by far the hardest to get right is a wife-beater. you say lbd, i say a white wife-beater is a quintessential item in any girl’s wardrobe.

there. ups. i said it again.

how a peacock squashed my nose.

as per usual i started to make a list of all the things i wanted to do on the long weekend. luckily i almost immediately ditched the list. i have been very good at list making lately, but not so good at ticking things of said lists. nothing makes me feel less productive than just making a list, but nothing that’s on the list. and when your productivity is already low the last thing you really need is to have it rubbed in your face by with the accusing look of an uncompleted to-do list. so i stayed away from the list, but just allowed myself to be genuinely excited for the three days off.

and though exciting might not be the term for some to describe the type of weekend i had, for me it was definitely a good and a busy one. i went mushroom hunting with some friends and turned into a photo snapping, maniac tourist when we saw baboons back at the car park (which was fun at the time, but unimpressive after my friend told me later that she just saw koalas and kangaroos at a graveyard (!) in perth). on sunday i had a lovely father’s day dinner with my south african dad thanks to his daughter thekla who cooked up a storm for her papa and then got further spoiled with my friend making oxtail pies from scratch for us yesterday.

i took a nap every day, which – call me old – was a highlight!

i also spent a few hours each day at the studio, teaching and practising and found myself with very sore arms this morning after surprise! surprise! a few vinyasa classes. if you want to know one yoga related thing about me it is that i only like bikram yoga. as far as all other kinds go, i know different people like different things, but for me i couldn’t care less about them. however with the way local studios are structured i don’t get enough bikram practise, especially when i teach myself, so i decided that i needed to give vinyasa a chance again.

a lot of people say that they feel intimidated by bikram yoga, that everybody who does it is insanely fit and toned already, an a-type personality, etc. this may or may not be true for some, but for me it is not. however it would describe how i feel about vinyasa. plus it adds an element of speed that always reminds me of an aerobics class when i am the person who is always a step behind because i can’t coordinate my arms and legs in a timely manner.

but we all know the little drawing with the circle and the dot, the comfort zone and where the magic happens and since i need some magic right now, i braved a few classes. it wasn’t quite magical, but i did enjoy myself a little, that was, till i attempted peacock pose. with my legs in full lotus, because that’s apparently easier (ja, right!), and my face flat on my mat i had all of a sudden nowhere to go and no idea how to get out of it. if you don’t know what i am talking about - i made a little drawing so you can picture it - how it should look like and how i look like:

obviously i was a bit embarrassed, not so much because i couldn’t do the pose, but because i couldn’t even get out of it slightly graceful and under what i perceived the watchful eye of other students around me, who know me as a teacher. it was only with a sore nose that i somehow wiggled my way out of the pose and then just sat on my mat and laughed.

and so here is what i learned this weekend:

magic is overrated.

if you can’t get up gracefully, opt for just getting up.

laugh at yourself before others do.

turning an experience from i failed at something into i tried something and only squashed my nose a little is something you can call an accomplishement.

reasons to jump out of bed and stab your toe.

 

this morning i woke up, jumped out of bed with excitement and stabbed my toe. why?

it was pouring like crazy outside!

usually this would entice me to stay in bed, but for some reason today it made me want to buy wellingtons and jump in puddles.

i am going to asia in a month and a half!

this is not news, but once in a while it just hits me that it is really going to happen.
 

i remembered the quail that tasted like waffle i ate at dear me last night!

yes, you read correctly – a quail that tasted like waffle. the sad thing is that after eating something that amazing you really don’t want to eat anything else ever again. and definitely not a measly banana for breakfast.

it’s friday and we are having three days off!

enough said. have a great weekend.