Monday 19 December 2011

The 3 Little Pigs

Once upon a time there was a village in the east where people were free and all had their own sense of awesome. The days were long and warm and the nights had that light breeze that makes the heat bearable. Every day was greeted by a generous smile or a wave. The people were happy and content with life. On the hill lived three little pigs who were the popular people of the time, all their house built from a material that best suited their personality. They were best friends and always had wonderful dinner parties or pool parties. A invite required event that everyone wanted to attend, they were best friends with a little wolf, but when little red riding hood made a huge stink out of a wolf eating her granny, all wolfs were banished to the woods to live a life in the dark. Slowly he was forgotten, yet he still watched from the shadows, and lives vicariously through the pigs and village folk. 

Deep in the woods there was a house made from candy, colourful, tasty with an air of mystery. In this masterpiece of creation lived a wolf, a one man wolf pack. He did his own thing, kept himself company with no-one to speak to because of his exile to the forest. In his home hung the pictures of his favourite memories, all his old friends, the good times that made life fun and happy. He so missed those pigs. He sat and pondered his banishment, why was he cast out of the tribe, then it dawned on him, he did nothing wrong. It was the word of a few that made his departure a reality, he was not told to leave, he was made to feel unwanted, so to save himself from a life of regret and self pity, he left, walked down the long path into the forest, the three little pigs never looked back, they continued to sip their cocktails and take in each other’s awesomeness.

One day while watching from a tree, he noticed the pigs throwing a huge party, the whole town was invited, the bears with goldilocks, jack and Jill, snow white, the whole village came to play. The day was bright and sunny, the music was blaring. The wolf sat in this cabin eating a cookie, the music vibrations got louder and louder, felt like the walls were closing in, the wolfs temperature began to climb, then, BANG, his temper exploding into a violent rage, the clouds became dark and filled with rain and thunder, he rushed outside and began running though the woods, breaking trees, trampling plants and flowers until he reached the end of the woods. The rain began to poor, the guest fled to their house, the pigs all went into their houses to avoid the weather. The wolf watched.

The House of sticks stood upright. A nice simple design. The pig inside was the wolfs longest serving friend, one since back in school. One that cared and worried about the wolf. He was the wolfs best friend through thick and thin, the good and bad. Dress up party buddy, tequila drinker, supporter of anything the wolf did. But a pig that always keep his own emotions to himself, never sharing with the wolf. Kept the wolf in the dark through the pigs very own darkest hour. The wolf tried to knock down the door, but it was barricaded. The pig and wolf drifted slowly, yet both knew if the one really needed the other they would always be there, or so the wolf thought, he was wrong. The wolf snuck from the forest to the doorstep and began to huff and puff, he blew that house down, blew the sticks back into the forest, there the pig stood, shocked. His little pigs ran to the house of straw. The wolf let his run. 

Following the pig steps in the mud the wolf walked straight up to the door of the cute pig. This pig emerged from under cover into the wolfs life back in the day, in the rain they chatted and noticed they were similar, they had a bond that was strange. Not one fight to date, they were always happy and always there. Whether it be rocking a dance floor or trying new things, she made the wolfs life happy. The wolf introduced the 3 pigs, he was the root of their friendship. The pig of straw was the kindest, sweetest, truest friend the wolf ever had. Whatever happened to them? Like a ghost, it faded from the day in the live of. Distance creeped in. She was an awesome piggy. In the house the stick and straw pigs gossiped about the wolf and how he is on the hunt. They were greeted with a ring at the door, too late to respond, the wolf huffed and he puffed and blew that straw up into the sky. There the two pigs stood shivering and clutching each other. They ran to the last remaining strong hold, the house of brick.

In this house of brick lived the princess pig. The funny, loud, witty crazy people, who people either loved or hated, She was the wolfs best friend. They knew each other’s secrets, they never judged each other, they did wild things, they helped each other out, and they were always there. Then one day it all just stopped. It’s like if a river gets rocks in it, it stops, yes there are a few leaks of premeditated happiness, but the river had stopped. And the wolf was banished to the outskirts to roam alone without his best friend. While the three little pigs sat pretty. The 3 pigs were now all together, locked in the brick house as they became accustomed to. There they sat in anticipation to the wolfs next move, the spoke quietly amongst themselves, pondered what he would do. Suddenly, there was a knock at the door, and a thud. Then the sound of running footsteps. The Princess of brick peeped through the keyhole and saw a present on the doorstep. She opened the door, grabbed the present and slammed the door. Together they stood and were baffled by the gift, scared to open it. Eventually the stick pig began to unwrap the present, there was a box. They opened the box, they found the wolfs heart. Cut into three section, one with a straw, one with sticks and one with bricks. With a note. ‘A piece of me is in you’. The pigs slumped into their seats, their friend the wolf was gone, all they were left was his broken heart. 

Thursday 15 December 2011

Less Yada Yada, More Wrap Wrap.


The iconic christmas we see in the films of age. The velvet snow that lays peace to all where it lands, the snow men with carrots as a nose and buttons for eyes. People having a giggle making snow angels. The turkey that took the day to prep and roast, the crackers laid to await a good pop and crack. the finest dining set spread out and ready for the food to fill the hungry faces. Those beautiful homemade sweaters with a snow man or a snow flake knitted into the fabric, adorned with the wearers smile. Christmas comes around once a year like a birthday but everyone gets gifts. Did you hear that Rudolf's nose is only red because he is a cocaine addict or that santas beard is fake. The  man with a red fluffy suit and 8 charming reindeer. Is Christmas the festive day we all want, what's all the fuss?


Shops crowded with people all trying to get their hands on that game or that dvd. The last promotional item as they have sold out, queues that transcend the once peaceful magazine walkway. Decorations everywhere. The so call 'Santas helper' that offers alot more than a quick wrap, apparently she was oprah. i offered a donation, she offered her opinions on my gift choices. She told me that, Lady Gaga has demons in her music and most people don't know that. When you are at a club and her jams come on, all we want to do is dance in the dark, she says we are possessed and demons are in us because all her music has subliminal backtracks that make our minds cloudy with bad thoughts. She then told me how she watched paranormal activity and then went to church to ask the priest to pray for her. I'm sorry, but when did shopping and getting my presents wrapped get turned into ' Hi, and next on Dr Phil a possessed kid thanks to the Lady Gaga', this Christmas adventure was shaping up to be an interesting gift bonanza. 


During the wrapping of my awesome gifts i learnt alot about this elfish creature from lord of the rings. She told me her life story, where she was from, what she was studying, to which i acted intrigued and decided to see how much help a santas helper was. I asked if she was the only one manning the station to which i learned. She comes from a promotions company, she hates her outfit and refuses to wear a the hat, so she bought a clip that resembles a santa hat. She then began to tell me she dislikes her fellow santa helper because she is just out of matric and she is annoying, and and and. I thought to myself while watching her wrap. This Santa's helper is obviously seeking alot more than santas help. She would tell me her bra size if i asked her I'm sure of it. She then went further and told me her friend was coming so she was just going to sit on the roof and chill as they not busy, well then who would wrap the gifts. While wrapping my gifts she began to judge my spending ' you bought way to much'. i said yes, Christmas may be commercialized and made for making money, but i love to give gifts to special people in my life. She then told me how her and her family doesn't  give gifts as this holiday is more about the religious part. I thought, ah crap, religious banter, I'm the last one you need to speak to about this. I then began to get a little irritated and urged her to wrap quicker. Less Yada Yada, more Wrap Wrap. 


The people i encountered on my shopping trip were entertaining. The child and parent, child only wanting to be home on the couch or drunk, and the parent who irritable, tired and just wanted this trip to be over. The big spenders, the lookers, the window shoppers, the price hunters, the bundle buyers, the spontaneous mega consumers. Christmas time is an interesting time, where all the walks of life come out to play. I could sit and watch all the people move from store to store, like cattle laced in ribbons and bows walking to become less of the cash cow and more of a milk maid. Then comes the thought of what to buy and for whom, this person likes this, that person likes that, what to get granny, what to get mom and dad, what to get the siblings and what to buy the someone special in your life. i wrote a list, i never used it. I saw something and bought it, i really don't like shopping. Then you decide, i have the presents, then you see something else that will bring a smile to a face, so you buy it, a box, a card, wrapping, bows, ribbons, so much of sparkle. Then you become creative lets put all their presents into one big box, so it confuses them into thinking its one present, so much of fun to confuse the gift receiver. Wrapping presents is like wrapping a body with clothes and undies, when is it to much or going over board. After getting my presents i decided to get them wrapped as I'm to lazy and so badly coordinated i would just let the Santa's helper do it, and as i have just said, they help a lot more that they think. They made writing this blog fun, so thank you strange girl from behind the counter, your much sought after advice, just went global, no no, its a pleasure. 

Tuesday 6 December 2011

Baked Cupcake in a Wooden Oven.

From birth people and their personalities and comfort zones begin to form and play out. In kinder garden you start to experiment with who you are, play in the sand and get muddy and dirty, or climb a tree and look down on the child in the sandpit, or the indoor child busy playing with play dough, making shapes, or baking a cake in the wooden pink cake oven. These are the days of our lives, ones without a care in the world. Paint in the lines, out the lines, one colour, hand paint, nose paint, don’t paint. Learn to speak, learn to count, learn about the little things that help us plenty in the aged state we are in now. Within those early days, we see the ‘cool kids’, the naughty kids, the quiet dweeb kids and the plain out right strange kids. But we are all an original artwork.

 From the beginning we begin to shape into the people of today, with a little less responsibility and a lot to learn. In primary school the true reflections of how people are start to emerge, the smarty pants that always got the awards, and the jock boy who did all the sports that made him cool. The slightly over friendly girl who is always with the boys. These start to create a stigma, one that stays with us throughout our growing school phase. These groupings of people begin to shape the perceptions of the ones outside that group. Why can’t I be cool, why can’t I be smart. The clicks in school start to create the alienations of certain people, the black sheep. These black sheep go through life expecting the worst from people, never wanting to accept that life and people can change. They start to lose interest in the things people are doing, they withdraw from society norms, wanting to go unnoticed and just fade into the background. But they are noticed. Bullied and cut down to the point you believe the verbal abuse that is thrust upon you like a weight falling on your face. The physical abuse that leaves marks on your body as a constant reminder that you are different. The emotional abuse, the most torturing of all as this abuse stays with you for life. You think about those people and what they said and in some cases what they saw in you, is true. But when young and in that bullied environment, you couldn’t be what they said.

 I know from my days in school, I always wanted to be popular, yet was always on the outside. I wanted to become a star in everything I did, but there was always someone better, or someone who didn’t want to take a chance. So I told myself when I was in my last year of primary school, when I go to high school, I become someone knew, unfortunately  the people you hated, landed up in your high school and this already created the knee jerk upchuck reaction. So I just coasted by, playing some sports, never wanted to stand out or draw attention to the pimple faced person I was.  Yet, the bullies pounced like a ton of bricks, making me hate going to school, moving classes because they were in them, faking sickness just to not go to school. They made me want to not be here, so for years I took the verbal, physical and emotional abuse, digging deeper and deeper into a sea of black loneliness and sadness. Keeping it all inside, I never wanted friends to know I was the victim that would make me seem weak and further lower my self esteem. So I merely just existed.

 Varsity came, and was like a whirlwind, all these people, different types, races, personalities, all chucked into a creative black sheep blender and sprayed across the walls. I was home. I could be myself. I started to explore the hidden caves within myself, became more outrageously attention orientated, wanted to show myself off like a dog at a show. It was awesome. Meeting new people, making friends, losing friends, making art, photographing, writing. I was in heaven. These people made me see, taught me, helped me, guided, and creatively stimulated me. I could be myself and not have to deal with the insecurities that once plagued me. It was awesome. That Kyle was a distant memory, but as we all know memories are never forgotten, they are always there, just like the past.

 And now we get to now. I am loving my life. It’s funny how people come into your life at different stages, the awkward best friend in kinder garden, the one who shoved sand in your mouth, or the little dwarf friends  from primary school. The teachers that helped you all the time. The high school friends that never left, the friends who left and came back and became your best friends. The new friends you picked up in varsity that have stayed close and never gone anyway, but will go anywhere to make you happy. The friends you met through friends who have just become better friends than the ones who introduced you. It’s funny and strange how people can fix the little things you were made to hate back in the day when you thought that peoples gossip and false opinions mattered. And now, I am able to open up to people a lot better that before, but that’s because with every day you learn more about your friends, the things you like, the things you don’t, they things that hurt, the things that heal. Every day I wake up with a smile knowing that everything is okay. And if it’s not. It’s not the end if the world. It can and will be fixed. People make people tick for the good and bad. Whether it is someone special making your break out of your shell and trying things you would never do, that is learning in itself. You never believed you could or would, but you did. Because someone make you so comfortable you would literally get shot in the face by a paintball, or sail a white rapid that makes you shudder at the thought of it. The people who even though you don’t see or speak to them as much as you used to, I can see they are having a good life, and that is all that matters. If I can go a day with making someone smile. My mission for the day is completed.

 I have learned a lot, from being the kid who know one wanted to play with, to being the bullied kid with a tough skin and ever present hard beating heart. To the guy who people loved having around for a quick joke. I have become a better person, because of people who helped shape me along the way, and I’m not done evolving. Watch this space.