Why, oh why, does blogging inspiration hit late at night when I am supposed to be getting ready for bed? I mean, come on, tomorrow is Monday. It’s a school night, technically speaking.
To be honest, I really miss my blog. I miss the benefits of blogging, like comments. There is nothing like that thrill when you are notified that someone took the time to not only read the crud you wrote but also commented on it. Admit it, that is what bloggers live for, despite the many protestations of “Oh, I blog for myself.”
Over the passed few days, I’ve been hit by the reality of life – work, which is draining me to the point where I have no time to do the things I love, like blogging. It’s not so much ‘blogging’ but writing. However, I have discovered a wonderful author who has sort of inspired me. Remind me to tell you about her – every blogger should at least read her because she explains so well what we, bloggers, are doing.
So yes, work is draining me. And, to be honest, the work I do work isn’t all that it is cracked up to be. To add insult to the hitting, tomorrow is Monday, the start of another long working week.
While I sat here in the throes of Sunday night morbs, I decided to play around with a new software programme that I should get to grips with but is mostly beyond me. It involves me going through photos on my crummy laptop. These photos are ones I have taken since I have relocated myself to The Big Smoke.
Going through these photos made me realise something. It made me realise how easy it is to lose sight of the ’smaller’ things in life, especially when you live in a city and don’t have the opportunity to walk down a dusty farm road and suddenly notice a brilliant flower. Going through the photos, seeing a special person and myself getting silly with a pink feather boa on his birthday made me laugh, and it struck me how a frozen moment caught in digital format could suddenly make me so happy. It made me realise that life is about those special moments in time, not about the rush and routine to get to work, pay the bills, etc, etc, ad nauseum.
The thing is, cities and work and life just crowds in and pushes those smaller things out. You forget those small, special things when you enter robot mode.
Well, I’m going to try, very hard, to recapture the feeling I had for the smaller things in life, those little bits of beauty that would probably go unnoticed if you didn’t look for them.
So, without further ado, and long overdue, I need to say thank you to the brilliant designer of my blog header and perhaps explain its meaning.
This blog hasn’t gone through many changes in terms of blog headers. The first true blog header was designed primarily by the famous Kyknoord and given as a much appreciated gift. It morphed into the final product with inputs from ShutterJane. The second one was a photo I took that I plonked up there in sheer desperation, I was in need of a change because I had become a different person and I suspected my blog was about to become different too.
Moving to Jo’burg signaled another change in my life and probably in my blog.
You see, being a girl with extreme champagne tastes and beer money, I did the cheapy thing. I pounced on a graphic designer who happened to come in the form of The Highlander. After having seen samples of his work (you should see his car!), I decided I had found my quarry and seductively threw him the pitch.
I wanted something simple: black background with a green outline of the Jo’burg skyline and a kitty (maybe with a box) along that skyline. Simple!
One day, out of the blue, months after I mentioned it to him, I received a stunning blog header in my mailbox.
The basic concept is there, Jo’burg skyline, kitty, black, green… you get the drift. But, it was the little personal touches and the little bits of extra that blew me away.
The ball of yarn, wool as we know it… well, cats love wool. It’s a fact – I know this because I just have to whip out my knitting bag and a cat will appear out of nowhere and try and climb into it and shred the poor unsuspecting ball of sheep fur. And I have started knitting again… or at least I was until work killed me and my inspiration.
And then there are the stars. Well, it’s pretty much impossible to see that many stars in the city but, it sort of reminds me of the farm I guess. And the best part, there is a shooting one amongst them. Perhaps a gentle reminder to keep dreaming, and wishing.
Of course, there is the kitty. That’s me, complete with comfortable haunches.
How did he know what to do in terms of the extra bits and pieces? Well, he knows me better than most and probably not at all.
Did I forget to mention that The Highlander continuously wails “But I can’t draw!” If you look carefully, you will see his signature which I am proud to have up there, mixed in with the green and black.
Thank you, Red!
Perhaps I should warn you but the blog entries from now on are more than likely going to be cheesy as hell but, to hell with that, I’m concentrating on the smaller things in life in an effort to maintain my sanity which is tenuous at the best of times.

