Thursday, March 31, 2005

Hi, we're not in right now....

Dominique decided to upgrade our cellphone's voicemail yesterday and it's really quite hilarious. Since most anyone who reads probably won't be calling that particular number you can still have a listen here.While you're at it have a listen to the runner up.

Wednesday, March 30, 2005

The Art of Happiness

"IF YOU MUST GO TO HELL, AT LEAST DON'T LET SOMEBODY ELSE STUMBLE OVER YOU INTO HELL, TOO!" But this isn't possible, because if you're going to hell you're bound to drag others with you—because everybody has influence! "No man liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself." Your life is bound to affect others! "No man is an island!" Everybody's influencing somebody—even when you seem to be all alone! Sometimes just a word or a glance or a smile can make a big difference—how you look or sound or seem!" - Dumps

I had almost forgotten how selfish 'selfpity' really is! Misery loves company! Let's make everybody else a little bit miserable, too, so we can all enjoy it! That's been me lately. I caught myself forgetting what I came here for and let the difficulties become a little too personal. I knew what I was giving up to stay here, but I determined that the rewards of sticking it out here, seeing this through to the end would way outway the small sacrifice of personal freedom and independance. And duh! Of course that's still true but I've let myself forget this most important detail. Lately I've almost been holding a grudge against.... jeez I don't know actually, I guess maybe against the little angel on my shoulder who convinced me in the first place to do this. It's been very subconscious, though just a few minutes ago I realised how much I've been complaining to the point of making it seem as if I had been pulled into being here against my will kicking and screaming or something! When you start losing sight of the big picture and you're just living in the moment, your perspective is apt to scew. I need to make a conscious effort to remain focused and just plain happy for as long as I am here, otherwise it's all too easy to become overwhelmed and give up. I'll have to start making my own "haka", just adapt this little dance , probably omit "This the hairy man" from the lyrics, undecided on that one and voila! Stay fit and enthused all in one shot! This really has been an awesome year, all the progress that's been made in this situation, I've gotten to meet some really great people who I am proud to call my friends and family, visited new places even - and there's more to come. I have so much to be happy about, really, so I'm just gonna try to project that a little more.

pretentious flick, what gives?

I saw an eeeeeevil movie last night entitled September Tapes which was pure ridiculousness in the worst hollywoodish way possible! Yet another unflattering picture of American arrogance and lust for violence.
It's not real, (should probably be spreading the word incase some morons start thinking it IS) even less realISTIC and an underwhelming execution of an interesting concept. If you are looking for serious drama, don't waste your time. This is light hearted entertainment, even comic... but yes, I'd say in light of all that was happenin at the time of creating this movie - pretentious!

Why, go to all this effort to make... a fake documentary? You kinda figure, hey, you’re over there, you want to show us what it’s like, why not just turn on the camera and ask the locals some questions? But no, Johnson and his pals wanted instead to go halfway around the world in order to churn out what is - and it pains me to think they though this would sound good - “The Blair Witch Hunts For Bin Laden.”


Where did all my favourite bloggers vacation off to?


Wednesday, March 23, 2005

JEEEEEEEEEZ

When does the shit stop hitting the fan? I really don't mean to complain but for flips' sake - I'm getting tired. My energy is low, aswell as my unconditional love supply. No one can fix this fiasco except the people who created it themselves, least of all ME. You know when you have a long list of rants waiting to be expressed, but for some reason they've become intertwined and inexpressible? Yeeaah, kinda happening. Sorry dear blog! I have forsaken you in failing to utilize you as I should - sigh.

I'm off for a sabbatical of sorts

I'll be around soon, just gonna be hanging out in the back of my mind somewhere - waiting.





Monday, March 21, 2005

MAYBE tomorrow we'll be back for more frolic and fun

I'm going through a bit of a low tonight, not sure why as I did have an okay day. I guess I'm a little depressed about a number of issues that I am currently going through, but I don't feel quite ready to express them. I wish the complexities would go away and everything could be more simple, lately nothing is easy.

I'll have tales on the morrow I am sure. Have one or two that, when in better spirits, I could probably describe in overgenerous humor and meanwhile keep myself delightfully amused.


Friday, March 18, 2005

The Essence of Emma

"This photo is the Essence of Emma", says Manny today, "Her truest self!"


Today I am sick!:( Froze my butt off last night and today I pay the price. But it was worth it as I did end up profiting from the holiday spirit and cheer. Wow, I think I am a bit of a hypocrite! I talk how against commercialism and materialism I am and then every holiday I'll armour myself in some cute outfit with the intent of enticing and luring gullible victims to fork out the dough with the aids of brightly coloured, impressively impressive latex creations. If you can't beat 'em join 'em? ehhehh. It's a means to an end, a means to an end. At least I am not slaving away gazillions of hours a week over a desk or cash register and do still have time during the week to participate in the activities that I truly believe in.

my head hurts and I really, really want to cuddle up with someone and go to sleep. not fair. on a happy note just a few more hours and the children will be given their tranquilizer shots, so the head torture will hopefully cease (just kidding OKAY!)

i'm off for some sleepy time tea, something good to read and my cozy blanket - it's so exciting!!! I can hardly wait!!!

lots of love and smooches

2am

St Patrick's Day eve.

We're All Phony


Oooookay, there was a time not too long ago when we "were Zimbabwean" and we did celebrate Guy Fawkes even though at that time as a country we were no longer considered British. It was an excuse to party and light fireworks. However, as an EX colony of Mother England that we were, we still retained the most beautiful of flowing accents (if I do say so myself) which I would say qualified us to celebrate in the most authentic and genuin sense of the word. (Ok you got me... I just wanted to see how much underaged drinking I could get away with!) There were so many silly people in green tonight trying to impress with their put on accents coupled with intense bad breath. Funnily, the moment I opened my mouth (I was kind, really I was) they then looked at me stupefied, mouth agape and asked me if I was Irish. I would smile, pat them on the shoulder, roll my eyes and chug down another beer all at once!

Note to self:
*limit blog posting prior to 1 am
*work on cyncism
*go eat because you are starving

PS No I'm kidding. It was more on the cute/hillarious side to watch these poor, poor souls in their "we're Irish today" outfits trying their darndest to swoon and flirt but most importantly balance!! All in all I think it was a one-green-beer-too-many night for the lot of us.

Wednesday, March 16, 2005

Never underestimate the power of carefully worded nonsense

I am learning to find the simple joys to be enjoyed during the long-winded discussions that are held on a daily/bi-daily basis. I think the progress being made is tremendous, I mean look at the proof below!



doodles from mars Posted by Hello

Now I will giggle like a silly little girl at the thought of amusing someone with my "wit and cleverness".

AND mooooooving on. So here is the conclusion as it stands (is this it? yes... riiiiight) Well, in honour of wishing and hoping that "this is it" I will continue my post and put into practice that 'feeling, faith and fact' story. We'll just look at the facts. Fact #1. THESE PEOPLE ARE DYSFUNCTIONAL!! (I love throwing that word around and I feel like I deserve to be arrogant) The stress levels here are unacceptably high and I subjecting ourselves to such pain in the name of 'saving money' (which isn't even happening, aarrgghh) is plain unhealthly Fact #2 As home owner Andrew has grown increasingly paranoid with the near death experiences we're experiencing (apparently the last scene three weeks ago, which was the WORST so far, was an actual 'attempt'. This is what she says and she did choose a more severe manner to self harm than usual - so maybe it's true) Anyway, it might sound selfish and callous, but as a homeowner Andrew would not easily be able to find a buyer if she did actually follow through. But ya know? I highly doubt she will! Though who am I?

Fact #3. As is evident by Fact #1 & 2 It is looking like Manny and Lea will move and get their own little place. Lea is a lot better actually and is coming off the meds slowly as they haven't worked for her - 'cept now she IS dependant and coming off is a slow process. Manny too is making considerable progress in his role as dad and is taking care of the kids a little bit better. So right now it's find a place for them to live, daycare for the kids, better jobs and that should be that for them. (though I do think some of us will be on stand by should things act up again) Mom and Eman still plan to go to the Dominican Republic, but they always take forever to get where they are going and that means they'll be around here in Denver for at least 3 to 6 months, if not more. Fact #4 I had to put my foot down and tell them I couldn't move in with them to be the fulltime nany and house cleaner and general person with no life! And they kinda looked at me like... "fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine, we can manage without you, and now that we know you are planning on leaving anyway - it's better this way" Dammit, is that a bad thing?? Those kids DO still have parents. Soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo if this is indeed the plan and nothing changes, EMMA IS FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE. Ok, this sucks. I feel like I typed that up a little too gleefully and cheerfully, now I feel guilty. I need a good slap! But the reality is this. It's really hard to admit when you are too weak or just not as strong as you thought. I see it as a case of the spirit being willing but the flesh being weak, it's hard admit that. When I arrived here I sorta swooped in thinking I would be some modern day messiah and change the world! I threw my heart and soul into helping, taking off pressure, taking responsibility, helping pay off debts etc etc. And I thought I was doing the right thing. Ok, yes I know I WAS - but I think I threw in a little more than my little heart could handle. It's not like I am throwing up my hands and saying "I give up" BUT I am getting antsier by the day and it's starting to feel right for me to go as everything IS returning to normal and their need for "Emma the Bandaid" is coming to an end. Right now, I feel a little depressed and like I was cheated out of being able to feel that satisfaction that you are supposed to get from helping others. I just don't feel like I really did all that much apart from being a bandaid and maybe a little too much of a martyr than necessary. Maybe i am just greedy for praise and approval? I think I just wanted someone to give me a big hug and say thank you! What you did made a difference! Family can be harsh! But oh well, extra stars in my crown at least - woooowoooo

Crap, now I've made myself sad and I'm tired.

buenas noches

It;s the crunchy peanut!!


little Altea and moi Posted by Hello

Monday, March 14, 2005

Bewaaaaaaaare, the grooooooooove!

Listening to that pretty song Vas did - "Can't Breathe" - just pretty. He's really not too bad - when he gets it right he gets it pretty right, but eeeeeeee, god help us when he gets it wrong ....

Aargh! I've lost my groove! Ooh it's my fault, my fault. I love the thought of being on vacation and just doing nothing for a good chunk of time... and of course being on it and in the moment it's a breath of fresh air, proof of God's exsistence in allowing some solace and peace in a world so mad and frenzied :) - but then I hate it at the same time. These past few months I've worked hard to stabilize myself amidst everything that's going on, you know, get into a routine and have all my modes of self discipline kept in check etc. Now that my vacation time is over I find myself struggling once again - sigh. But I'm determined! I shall get my groove back and be all the groovier for it!

Hmmmm speaking of grooviness. While in Sacramento (visiting Mike and Kristina and my new baby niece, Altea - oh I have to post pics! remind me please!) We actually went roller skating (yes skating not blading!) at a roller skating rink and I did get to actually FEEL groovy! They played good ol' 80's hits and we even spotted a few oldtimers getting jiggy with it. It was great fun! The last time I used skates like that was when I was a die-hard-skater-queen at the age of 5 (Mike back me up!) I was such a tomboy as a kid that I wasn't afraid to scrape my knees raw as I attempted never attempted before stunts on my 3 sizes too large sister's skates. (that might have not made sense, ahem - NO my sister wasn't three sizes too large!!) Before long I owned my OWN set of eight wheels - in fabulous florescent yellow and blue - from that moment on I was the queen and I was awesome! The 90's hit, skates went out and roller blades were all the rage! My obsession peaked and I tore through 3 pairs of inliners, and maybe 6 sets of wheels and bearings in just a few years, forget shoes or walking anywhere! Fresh green grass?? give me smooth concrete!!! Well, end of the story, believe it or not the day came that I sorta grew out of my tomboyish daredevilishness and my acceptance of bruised and bloody knees so I'm not very awesome anymore, oh well! It tugs at my heart, but I have decided to trade in my skates, that have traveled with me to three continents, for an electric fondue pot and espresso machine! Ole'!

Anyway, I am working on getting my groove back... I'm just lazy and hate the challenge. Blah. It's been done before so it can be done again.

PS. I haven't forgotten to mention what we discussed in our "meeting", it's just that as usual no conclusion was made. in just a few minutes we are about to go for part deux so I better go lend my ears and doodles. sweet dreams.

Sunday, March 13, 2005

I need a serious dose of wit and cleverness. Or maybe just a thesaurus! But it would need to be a Mega-Super-Automatic-Thesaurus that manages to create something that makes sense with no help from me. I know, I am a perpetual complainer but when every day is basically a carbon copy of the day before I could easily just ctrl-c ctrl-v my daily posts into the Mega-Super-Auto-Thesaurus and presto! Same thing different colour!

Last night we almost had one of our infamous 'events' involving 911, cops, fire engines and ambulances - triggered by EMAN (that's my step dad) He's too much! He's so thoughtless and blissfully unaware that this is a 'special' situation where, at times, if YOU are part of the problem you should try walking around on eggshells just a tad. But no, he can be like a bull in a china shop speaking his mind, his opinions, defending himself and the things he does. I swear, the density that this man posesses AMAZES me. No I am not being irrational or over exaggerating at all - he really really doesn't get it. Ok I realize I could bitch about this for sometime and normally they recommend "for every bad thought you have about someone think of five.... ok THREE good things about the person" ... ... ... ... ... Phew, ok lets move on! Lena thinks we just need to move the parents ON as they aren't helping - so that might be the next plan? We'll ship Eman and the kids off to their "field" and my mom can stay back and raise funds. Oh I have to run, we are ACTUALLY going to go sit down and discuss this matter - hopefully this will be it? Keep your fingers crossed!

Saturday, March 12, 2005

There's always a light at the end of every tunnel. I just hope it's not a train.


We have a FULL house! Yikes, I say! Andrew is up from Houston on "false pretenses" of "registering his car" when really he drove the however many hundreds of miles out here to see his beloved, my gorgeous sister Lena (and honestly I think he had hopes of winning her back) She didn't lead him on by any means, but I guess when you really love someone you don't give up hope too easily. Poor guy! He's on a bummer and she's trying to move on.

I was telling Kristina tonight that my head remains in the clouds in the sense of there being a thick *cumulonimbus
of uncertainty about my future hovering low and heavy. This is an unfamiliar sensation as up until now I almost always had someone to depend on no matter where I went - mom, Lena, Mig - evryone is moving on and really once this over I'm pretty much on my own. I only get around to this blog late at night, when tiredness and fatigue have stolen my train of though - you deserve to know more details, I appologise and shall expound on the morrow.

good night

Thursday, March 10, 2005

Prelude

Can she keep this up???

That's a good question posted on my bro's blog. I'm the one who get's all excited about something, with hopes and aspirations of great things. I am the dreamer who doesn't realise how much work goes into making my dream real, till reality kicks in and the need to apply myself is understood usually then the novelty begins to quickly fade and the inspiration follows suit. But, it's something I recognise as weakness and intend to change!!

I have no idea if anyone who I haven't already told will ever stumble across this poor excuse for ramblings, but really I care little! This is my avenue to express to MYSELF first and foremost what's going on in my little world, to bitch about too if I must, and to allow those who care to know about it too and follow me in a new journey my life seems to be taking. I now take it on as yet another challenge to myself to prove that I can rise above my weak nature and create good habits of discipline.

Ok now to get on with this blog and say what I really should be saying! Good luck to me!

Wednesday, March 09, 2005

Woooooohoooooo

welcome, welcome one and all to my first and most humble blog. I HAVE A BLOG! I HAVE A BLOG! *skips around the room* I like-a-to-say, holy crap! I am now up there (or down there) with the elite (or losers) of the world of cyber. Yaaaay.

I am exceptionally tired tonight, which is possibly where my enthusiasm to create this came from.

Adieu