Democracy in Action

In the dark Wintery pre-dawn (6:30 am!) I arrived at my voting station to find that there were already people there sitting patiently waiting for the doors to open at 7 am. I was there to observe the election process and was surprised by the eager faces waiting for their chance to vote. It wasn't my first time acting as a party agent at the voting station, so I knew that the only queue that was likely to stretch out the door that day was going to be the one made by the 7 am eager beavers.

Once I got over the pre-dawn grumpiness I was really excited to see many familiar faces from my neighbourhood coming to make their mark. There was a nice atmosphere in the (short and fast moving) queue. It was also nice to see so many people walking/running to the station and bringing their dogs and children. I loved listening to parents explaining the voting process to their children and the kids being excited to be there too. Obviously I was also really happy to pet the dogs coming to the voting station too. 

There was a little eruption of youthful hot tempers at one stage of the day, but the IEC handled it really well and that party's representatives melted away looking a little sheepish about their outburst. The other party representatives there were really nice and friendly and everyone was there to just see that things went well. 

I was continuously impressed by the professionalism and friendly demeanor of the IEC representatives. It is a very long day for them and most of them managed to remain cheerful and grump-free right up until they left after 1 am. They were also very careful to make sure they did everything by the rule book, 100% correctly. I have enormous respect for the woman in charge of our station and the man in charge of the ward and for the hard work put in by all the IEC officials on Wednesday. 

SPCA made my favourite election
posters and the ones with no lies.

So, you will have gathered that I am a big fan of the democratic process. I think it is important and necessary part of our beautiful country. The downside I noticed was just how much paper and plastic there was (I cringed when one party arrived with helium balloons only for them to blow away within an hour). Elections, as important and exciting as they are, have an environmental impact that people seem a little reluctant to talk about. And I couldn't help thinking if the IEC went to the trouble of printing all those ballot papers, the people (ALL of the them) could have gone out and voted. News24 listed some of the numbers involved in the election - for example: 73 900 000 - Ballot papers printed for the 2016 election. Have a look at the rest of the numbers, they are a little mind boggling. Do ballot papers get recycled? Do party posters or "Vote here" boards get recycled? I hope that it will not be long until we can start having "free and fair" electronic elections. 

In the meantime, I am proud of my small role in Wednesday's elections. A couple of weeks ago I was listening to the radio in my car and they played "A World in Union" and I found myself tearing up and feeling sad about how far from being in union the world is (Trump, Brexit, ISIS etc. - see the first bit of my previous blog for a recap if you can stand it) and how that 1995 feeling of hope has been lost or dampened in South Africa. Today, I was in the car and when they played "A World in Union" I didn't feel sad at all because I think South Africa made a stand against corruption and stagnation on Wednesday and our democracy matured a little beyond the single party state that it has been - even the Rand is performing well! 

P.S. I hadn't heard of many of the parties on the voting roll, but if anyone knows anything about "The Greens" I am intrigued. Google search isn't helping which suggests they need to "up" their game. 

Mandela Day and beyond

At least there's wine

Every couple of weeks I have opened this up to write a new post... It has, after all, been months since my last post and, weirdly, that makes me feel guilty. Yet, each time I do, I am defeated the weight of the current affairs topics. What could I say on Fees Must Fall or Turkey, Syria, Paris, Nice, Brussels or Trump, Brexit, Malema, and Zupta? Not least of all given that the premise of my blog is fairly frivolous and came about because I wanted to whine about my own troubles - not face the large troubles of the world (unless they relate to the environment).

Putting the bits of the kennel together 

I was quite excited leading up to yesterday's Mandela Day. I love the concept of having a day that reminds people to give a little back. Also, it is Winter, so I am in active pursuit of excitement. I did my 67 minutes (+... I mean it is never really 67 minutes) at a dog shelter "building" a kennel. It was great, there was sunshine (and icy wind) and lots of people all choosing wood and hammering and measuring and sawing (although thank goodness they only let the skilled people do that - I already managed to get a blood blister, I am not sure what I would have achieved with a saw). 

Here's why it is a good idea to pick up litter
(I know YOU wouldn't DROP litter in the first place but
still worth picking it up)

Then, yesterday, my Facebook feed was full of organisations that I follow posting pictures of litter pick ups, community food drives and animal shelter fund raising. It was great. It made me feel a little better about the world and the people in it. Sure, maybe it is just one day that gets people thinking about what they can do but maybe they will enjoy it so much that they will do it more often. Humans can be pretty rad! 

Look at those eyes, just imploring you to be a better person

Unfortunately, last night someone smashed by headlight which somewhat dulled my warm fuzzy, "humans are rad" feeling but I am determined not to let it go completely. Today I am going to go  try donate blood at the mobile station in Claremont (it is really easy to find out when these things happen - which puts to bed one of my excuses for not doing this before. Follow this link if you live in the Western Cape, I am sure it is as easy in other provinces). I have never donated blood before, which is something else I have always felt guilty about. Then a friend of mine mentioned how much blood is needed for cancer patients which is something I haven't thought about before. Obviously it is used in many equally deserving circumstances, but cancer has made me mad this year (David Bowie, Alan Rickman and closer to home), and this is one little thing I can do to help, so it is totally worth getting over any eekkk needle feelings. 

How are you going to keep the feeling behind the 67 minutes alive? 

P.S. I did donate blood and it wasn't at all stressful. The staff were super friendly and encouraging and even though they gave me extra time to stay sitting afterwards, I didn't feel at all like I was woozy. I definitely recommend doing it - oh and I got a free bag and pen as a first time donor!

Meanwhile, the headlight has cost me over R400, so whoever did that... you are not a rad person.

Yo-Yo

I am not the type of person that can pull off "yoh-yoh" so I am talking about dieting, unfortunately. I really don't like this as a topic, I don't like talking about my weight or what I eat (and not only because the only answer I ever think of is "sweetcorn"). I have always pictured the people that tell people they are "on diet" as high-maintenance skinny chics that eat salad and act like they understand the horrible feeling of not fitting into clothes any more. Maybe that is unfair, but I do strive to be low maintenance (if you disagree, I did say "strive"). It also seems so ridiculous, in a world where people are starving and begging for food, that other people are on diet - that particularly makes me feel icky inside. 

Unfortunately dieting is actually part of my life and so is a strong tendency to chubbiness (and a love of chocolate and wine). For as long as I can remember I have regularly complained that it is so annoying that I eat so little (and not just sweetcorn, guys) and still can't keep weight off. I reached my heaviest weight during my PhD, it snuck up on my without me realising. I know that sounds a little unbelievable but I wasn't really paying attention to my body at the time (and that is my tenuous link for writing about this here).

I was quite ashamed that I had to go on diet. I didn't really want to tell anyone. When I started, I told only a handful of people, I am not sure why. I was also scared it wouldn't work. I guess I felt like I had failed some kind of test. Unfortunately, I also knew I couldn't do it by myself. I signed up for one of those programs where the guilt of having someone else see my progress on the scale was sufficient motivation for me to behave.  And it worked, well to a point, but it did work. 

The only trouble is, I approached it begrudgingly. I didn't like having to think about what I was eating all the time. I didn't like having to worry about what I looked like all the time. It felt so shallow. And it was expensive (I find that a frustrating problem in the world, that eating healthily is more expensive than not). I didn't quite reach goal, but I was happy enough and went back to not thinking about it (much, of course I thought about it, I just didn't do anything about it). That was ~6 years ago.

And you know what, I maintained that weight give or take a bit for most of that time. And then, like a master villain, it crept up on me when I wasn't looking, again. 

So, that was a REALLY long build up to what I wanted to say. I know it is trendy to "bant/paleo" these days, but I really don't like that idea, not least because of the environmental impact of eating all that meat. I joined WeighLess (and their vegetarian plan), with some habitual resentment. It is early days, but it has made me realise that eating very little is not the way to go. Cutting out carbs, fats or fruit is also not the way to go. I don't need to approach food with resentment.

I have a soft spot for cheese too,
so far only cottage cheese on diet.

The WeighLess meal plan includes so much food that I find it a little overwhelming, but it feels healthy (obviously portions are controlled but it is much more food than I am used to). There are proper servings of fruit and veg, protein and carbs. I have avoided bread (it's rye or seed loaf but that's tastier anyway) for so long and realise now that maybe it wasn't necessary. And you know what, they add food as you reach different milestones, so I will even be allowed wine once I get to the second step! The only trouble I can see at the moment is, eating all that healthy balanced food is  still pretty expensive. 

As much as I hate the whole dieting thing, I think it is really important for people to not approach food with distrust so that's why I wanted to talk about it. I also think it shouldn't really be something I am ashamed of. And sometimes it is OK to admit that you need a hand with something. Food isn't the enemy, and neither is wine... 

STOP! Smell the roses

Life is hectic and stressful and the world is starting to feel a little like Voldemort is gaining power. There are droughts and floods and mass dies offs and increasing racism and right wing tendencies even in countries we thought we could count on to be rational and nice (Sweden, I am so disappointed).









And yet, there is also so much beauty and happiness and good in the world. I think we all need to make a proper effort to appreciate that. And I don't mean snapping a quick picture with your camera phone but really properly focusing on all the good things. I know it might sound frivolous or new age-y but, so what? We get bombarded by bad news all the time let's just take a moment to actively look for goodness and happiness.






I am not sure if it is the change in the season, but at the moment every sunset and sunrise seems to be more breathtaking than the last. If you can't find anything else to be happy about, take a moment to appreciate that.

More and more it seems that being a workaholic is something to be proud of, but really, so is being a good friend, an interesting person and someone that appreciates beauty and Pinotage. The Awkward Yeti is awesome, follow your heart! See LINK and LINK and oh, LINK.

It would have been better if I actually had a picture of roses but, funnily enough, I don't really like roses.