Happy Valentines Day

quick, from-the-car shot

I thought that seeing it is the "day of love" I would just list some of my favourite things (there are MANY but I am choosing some that I can mostly, but not exclusively, access from my desk)... If I was Oprah I would give you the give-able favourite things, but I am not... so, just enjoy the pictures :) 

Obviously, I love Cape Town and love UCT, not only is it one of the most beautiful campuses in the world (no, really, there was a vote) but it is where so many of my friends and people I admire are and, where I can have tea at 10:30.

Check out how beautiful it is by clicking here. 

For some of the reasons I love Cape Town, click here . (Incidentally, there are some in that list that aren't part of the reason I love Cape Town, but you'll get an idea of how awesome it is - especially in February! I love February!) 

Then, for keep me sane (?) and inspiring myself with lofty literary thoughts I stalk these two websites: 

PHD Comics (for reminding me that I am not alone in my frustrations/joys/geekiness, there is a valentine's day comic today click here) and Brain Pickings (that's for the lofty literary thoughts and because there are so many clever people out there and I love seeing how they think. Check out this one on LOVE) 

There are sooo many distractions out there, and I really don't need to introduce more to my world so I try avoid watching TV or getting sucked into new series. I do allow myself to love the brilliant How I Met Your Mother (because it deals with most things life throws at you in a funny way - which is just what I need) and Big Bang Theory (which is fair enough really, because they make me feel like a normal person in comparison to their uber-geekiness). If you talk about other shows I may stare at you blankly... I apologise (unless you are talking about Friends...I love Friends).

I also love reading, pretty much anything but of course I have my favourites (Douglas, Terry, Deanna, Bryce and definitely Jasper Fforde). There is unlikely to ever be a time that I will actually succeed in not being completely addicted to reading although I have tried to deny myself from time to time in order to increase PhD-productivity (it never lasts...). I find Good Reads helps me keep track of the books I have read and how I felt about them at the time but I love Book Drum which is the book equivalent of special features on a DVD (my very talented sister has a number of reviews on the site, and we worked together on The Eyre Affair).



To counteract sitting hunched over my PC or curled up with a book I do pilates, and, surprisingly for someone as anti exercise as I am, I truly do love it. I think it has a lot to do with the really lovely instructors, the beautiful garden outside the studio, the small classes and the visible improvements I have seen in the proximity of my toes to my fingers (Honest +Kerri, +Chris). Or, maybe it is because we get wine after class on Fridays!!! (Pretty excited that I have pilates today!)

Always keen for an excuse to enjoy
the beauty of Cape Town

I love the Couch Surfing project, because it is just awesome to think that there are so many cool people out there that will do things for  complete strangers with no monetary gain. I love that people just want to meet people from different cultures and show off their home (or adopted) towns. I also happen to love meeting people from all over the world and showing off the beautiful Cape Town. I love the fact that couch surfing can result in having adventures you would never have otherwise had - even in your own town (including getting to jump the queue to visit the Italian naval frigate docked at the Waterfront to visit my couch surfing friend in uniform).

Italian frigate - travelling around the world doing good -
exactly what war ships should be doing. 

This is also stolen off the internet. It is
KISS by Roy Lichtenstein. 

I don't love shopping (particularly grocery shopping which always seems like a waste of money; petrol is even worse!) If I were to choose websites where I enjoy browsing (because frankly that's mostly what I can afford to do) I love all the AWESOME kitchen gadgets on Yuppie Chef (they also have brilliant customer service, frequent competitions and are just a really funky business) and browsing Jack Vettriano's prints on the Heart break publishing site or looking for cool pop art pictures like those by Roy Lichtenstein. There are things I do love buying, for instance wine and chocolate, but I haven't resorted to doing that online.



I have also successfully completed my alcohol-free month so am very excited to be able to drink wine again - I do love wine! But I am mostly sticking to my chocolate only on the weekends rule - yay me! 

Then, there are things that I think are really neat and just want to tell you about, like a thing for scheduling dates that suit multiple people - RAD! And I have mentioned Work Rave in a previous blog. I definitely DO NOT want to tell you about Pottermore because it is a time thief... do NOT look at it, ever, resist! (But, if you do, I am in Hufflepuff and supposedly they aren't as useless as you think they are...)




Even if you are single, Life is Beautiful, there is so much to celebrate and are so many small things that I love: just-brushed teeth, the macro function on my camera, my camera, the smell of my pencil when I write, the sound my keyboard makes when I type quickly, the feeling of champagne bubbles on my tongue, pink (or minus-green) and, definitely, YOU for reading my blog!!!!

Happy Valentines Day!!!! 

I also LOVE this... but it made me cry... in a good way (not good for my mascara). Maybe since it is a week of love, we could all do some random act of kindness... If you want, tell me about it in the comments...