Ok, so looking back on the past while (since I last posted) it is clear that life has been a bit much of late, and things need to chill out.
First. My mom ended up in hospital with hypertension and atrial fibrillation. Naturally, I and my sibling freaked out a fair amount until we were told that it's not necessarily the biggest deal - your heart beating out of sync is apparently a manageable condition. So that happened. We are all attempting to be healthier humans and I'll keep you posted on how that is going.
What happened after that? Oh yeah, a couple weeks ago, I ended up in the hospital too. Our family is getting well-acquainted with these places now. You see, when we do things we generally have a motto of go hard or go home. This was no different. My ailment, we had thought to be allergies (pretty chilled right, take some antihistamines and you're fine) were not allergies this time. When my chest got crazy tight unlike ever before and I woke up with the worst headache I've ever had, we figured that getting a doctor's opinion may be a good idea. And the next thing we knew, I was in a hospital bed getting tests done.
In this process, there had been a few misconceptions on my part. I was somewhat convinced that I had Meningitis or something like that but turns out I had a crazy drug-resistant infection. This was not part of my plan. I was also under the impression that I would be there overnight/two days max, but with this too, I was mistaken. Five days later I was discharged and so, I had to find something to fill my days with because hospitals have pretty limited entertainment options. I think I caught up on 4 years of sleep deprivation, so I guess that's a perk. Hospitals are also phenomenal places of undignified dignity.
I had a few good peeps visit me to alleviate some of my boredom. Thanks Stiney for the flowers, and props to Handke for sneaking in the cheesecake! You made my day. I think our conversations may have been a bit too loud/too energetic...hospital noise standards = hushed tones. Oops. Sorry not sorry.
That was kind of void when you have a 90-year-old roommate with dementia. All I'll say is that he had some interesting conversations.
After getting out of the hospital, I had to take it a little bit slower (granted, this is 'Chaeli slow') just because antibiotics (three different types to try and kill this bug I had somehow acquired) tends to take their toll.
Then we get to last weekend, where I (without being on antibiotics) participated with Devon Coetzee in the 2016 Gun Run, and it was AWESOME! Got my PB - 2:10 - and it's always an epic event and I love how inclusive it is. Two wrists up for the organisers :) I did sleep for the majority of the day thereafter - I think I've rekindled my love affair with sleep quite sufficiently now.
In the last week, I finished my Honours degree in Social Policy & Management and it was crazy in the end, but I'm super excited about! I now need to keep myself occupied until next year when I get in at the deep end that is a Masters...I'll be helping out at The Chaeli Campaign though so there is plenty for me to do.
I'm hopeful that things will calm down to a manic pace, and that hospital visits do not become a norm for us. Only time will tell...
Kbye.
x
Sunday, October 23, 2016
Monday, September 5, 2016
Training Dragons and Imperial Duck.
Good evening, everybody! All things considered, I have had quite a chilled week. Although, I think 'chilled' is a relative term. It's also been a week of reflection with it being a year since we made history when we reached the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro.
What's been happening?
MY BORNDAY! I don't know about you, but I'm feeling 22...
Birthday celebrations are always great, and as I've mentioned before, I like to extend these celebrations beyond the usual 24-hour vibe. So, to keep up this tradition, I had a celebratory/reunion dinner with a few of the cast members from The Chaeli Campaign's productions and we went to Chef Pon's Asian Kitchen - go there, try the Imperial Duck. That's all.
When my birthday actually arrived, I woke up pretty early - as one does - and went with my mom to co-present at BNI (as one doesn't generally do on a birthday). Thereafter, my sister took me out for breakfast at Open Door. There were so many little people there, I actually couldn't contain myself. Toddlers are just the best version of a person - so much curiosity, with no inhibition. To end off my official birthday, we had the traditional Banana Jam dinner and it was wonderful. It's probably one of my favourite places in the world. The problem I've had with my birthday though, since getting to university, is that it generally falls in the midterm vacation, which means many of my friendles have gone home and can subsequently not celebrate with me on my actual birthday. This also gives us another reason to get together and have a good time. So, that works for me. I love that I'm able to surround myself with phenomenal human beings, who make me question things, appreciate things, and just have a great time on this life journey.
For my birthday, my sister got me a book called 'Thoughts & Reflections', it asks a question a day, and has space for 3 years worth of answers. I think this is awesome, because it is easy enough that it's totally doable and not time-consuming. I'm committed to this book - just like my blog - and keeping on with filling it in every day. We're seven days in and still on-track, so things are looking promising.
The most exciting thing (don't judge me) for the week before my birthday was that my Dragon arrived :)
I guess that needs some explanation, right. I ordered 'Dragon Naturally Speaking' which is voice recognition software, two weeks ago, and it has arrived! This may seem silly, but I can't explain how rad it is to be able to speak to your computer, with a speech issue, and have it not only understand what you're saying but also listen to you and do what you say. So legit. But in order for this to happen, it has to be trained. So, I've been training my Dragon for the last while and it's seemingly working quite well, and saving so much time.
Now, there's time for a quick university update. Last week, I once again, vastly underestimated the amount of time it takes to finish an Honours assignment. I'm having some serious procrastination struggles, you guys, but I'm working on it, at some point. I realised at 7pm, when I wasn't even halfway through it, that Friday night was going to be a long one, had a minor meltdown, and then continued walking the line between denial and hopeful success. I then contemplated at 4:43am whether it was worth my while to even make the mission to go to sleep or to just bite the bullet and simply stay awake. I got hysterical with laughter at basically nothing, and with that I realised that maybe the former would be a better life decision. Eventually, I only got like 35 minutes sleep (at the most) before waking up to do some last-minute edits. Please can we now acknowledge that me pulling an all-nighter on a FRIDAY means that this assignment was made due on a Saturday. Yeah, welcome to Postgrad studies, where work weeks are not a thing and other normal social understandings don't apply.
When I got to campus to submit my assignment and do my presentation (I was determined to be awake for my presentation), I got into the lift to go to Level 4, the doors closed, and the lift went nowhere. So, at that point, I was ready to admit that it wasn't going to be my day. I messaged my friend Lara that I was in the lift, but stuck. After a bit of a miscommunication it was determined that I actually required assistance to get out. After that everything was relatively chilled. But due to extreme exhaustion and not remembering what day it was, I (along with my mom) went - after my university commitments were sorted - off to Stellenbosch University to present leadership workshops that were actually scheduled for yesterday, that being Sunday (not Saturday). My mom was less than impressed, to say the least. There is a silver lining to this story however, because after realising that we were functioning on the wrong day we found a really cute cafe, and bought a lot of cheesecake because it looked amazing. And it was!
So, my advice for the week is that when you find yourself in a trying situation, go in search of CHEESECAKE and all will work out. Because you know, life is just better with cheesecake.
That's it for now.
Kbye.
x
What's been happening?
MY BORNDAY! I don't know about you, but I'm feeling 22...
Birthday celebrations are always great, and as I've mentioned before, I like to extend these celebrations beyond the usual 24-hour vibe. So, to keep up this tradition, I had a celebratory/reunion dinner with a few of the cast members from The Chaeli Campaign's productions and we went to Chef Pon's Asian Kitchen - go there, try the Imperial Duck. That's all.
When my birthday actually arrived, I woke up pretty early - as one does - and went with my mom to co-present at BNI (as one doesn't generally do on a birthday). Thereafter, my sister took me out for breakfast at Open Door. There were so many little people there, I actually couldn't contain myself. Toddlers are just the best version of a person - so much curiosity, with no inhibition. To end off my official birthday, we had the traditional Banana Jam dinner and it was wonderful. It's probably one of my favourite places in the world. The problem I've had with my birthday though, since getting to university, is that it generally falls in the midterm vacation, which means many of my friendles have gone home and can subsequently not celebrate with me on my actual birthday. This also gives us another reason to get together and have a good time. So, that works for me. I love that I'm able to surround myself with phenomenal human beings, who make me question things, appreciate things, and just have a great time on this life journey.
For my birthday, my sister got me a book called 'Thoughts & Reflections', it asks a question a day, and has space for 3 years worth of answers. I think this is awesome, because it is easy enough that it's totally doable and not time-consuming. I'm committed to this book - just like my blog - and keeping on with filling it in every day. We're seven days in and still on-track, so things are looking promising.
The most exciting thing (don't judge me) for the week before my birthday was that my Dragon arrived :)
I guess that needs some explanation, right. I ordered 'Dragon Naturally Speaking' which is voice recognition software, two weeks ago, and it has arrived! This may seem silly, but I can't explain how rad it is to be able to speak to your computer, with a speech issue, and have it not only understand what you're saying but also listen to you and do what you say. So legit. But in order for this to happen, it has to be trained. So, I've been training my Dragon for the last while and it's seemingly working quite well, and saving so much time.
Now, there's time for a quick university update. Last week, I once again, vastly underestimated the amount of time it takes to finish an Honours assignment. I'm having some serious procrastination struggles, you guys, but I'm working on it, at some point. I realised at 7pm, when I wasn't even halfway through it, that Friday night was going to be a long one, had a minor meltdown, and then continued walking the line between denial and hopeful success. I then contemplated at 4:43am whether it was worth my while to even make the mission to go to sleep or to just bite the bullet and simply stay awake. I got hysterical with laughter at basically nothing, and with that I realised that maybe the former would be a better life decision. Eventually, I only got like 35 minutes sleep (at the most) before waking up to do some last-minute edits. Please can we now acknowledge that me pulling an all-nighter on a FRIDAY means that this assignment was made due on a Saturday. Yeah, welcome to Postgrad studies, where work weeks are not a thing and other normal social understandings don't apply.
When I got to campus to submit my assignment and do my presentation (I was determined to be awake for my presentation), I got into the lift to go to Level 4, the doors closed, and the lift went nowhere. So, at that point, I was ready to admit that it wasn't going to be my day. I messaged my friend Lara that I was in the lift, but stuck. After a bit of a miscommunication it was determined that I actually required assistance to get out. After that everything was relatively chilled. But due to extreme exhaustion and not remembering what day it was, I (along with my mom) went - after my university commitments were sorted - off to Stellenbosch University to present leadership workshops that were actually scheduled for yesterday, that being Sunday (not Saturday). My mom was less than impressed, to say the least. There is a silver lining to this story however, because after realising that we were functioning on the wrong day we found a really cute cafe, and bought a lot of cheesecake because it looked amazing. And it was!
So, my advice for the week is that when you find yourself in a trying situation, go in search of CHEESECAKE and all will work out. Because you know, life is just better with cheesecake.
That's it for now.
Kbye.
x
Tuesday, August 23, 2016
Enter Silas Ramsbottom
IT'S ALMOST MY BIRTHDAY!!
Ok, I've only recently had a chance to realise that my birthday is on Tuesday, so I'm excited about it. I've never really understood why people don't like celebrating their birthdays. I mean, it's the day the world was gifted with your existence and that's totally something worth celebrating. Every time.
Now that I've got over that realisation, I can share some stories.
The unbelievably talented Daniel Mpilo Richards, has been a part of the Chaeli Campaign family for a while now because he's been a part of a few of our professional productions - most recently 'No Functional Language'. This is actually all just back story because the real reason I'm talking about him is because he has a new show that's on currently, 'PAY BACK THE CURRY', and errybody should go see this show. He's the only one in it, it's a one-man show, it's everything. *enter that guy from Despicable Me, Silas Ramsbottom* Hilarious. It's still on until 27 August sooo go do that! K, plug done.
Daniel and I, and some other pretty cool people are planning something LEGIT, but that's all you're getting for now because greatness takes time to develop. Keep your peepers peeled for that one.
Friday, I spoke at Due South because they were key supporters for the Comrades Marathon and Kilimanjaro. So I was asked to share some of the stories from those experiences. It was awesome to be able to do that and to have a company that wholeheartedly backs what we do is something really special. I also met some pretty cool people there who are keen to get involved in some future adventure plans. Yay!
Saturday was awesome because we had a surprise Kitchen Tea for Tarryn (co-founder of The Chaeli Campaign, as she's getting married in September! Exciting times...
I think now is a good time to chat about the whole "Kbye" declaration in my last post. Last year, along with a group of incredible people and activists in their own rights, started a society at UCT called IkeyAbility where we raise awareness for disability issues on our campus and hold the university accountable for the commitments it makes to differently-abled students. Throughout this process I've had the privilege of meeting and working with some epic humans, (Jess, Yuvini & Robyn) who happen to be Deaf (with a Capital "D", this is important), as well as some pretty legit able-bodied peeps.
I've learned so much over the past year about Deaf culture and how life as a Deaf person has its own challenges that are not properly understood because they're rarely seen/visible. I've also learned that it doesn't take all that much effort to sort out these challenges, all that is needed is some logic and the willingness to find a solution. Let's talk about communication for a bit, because we all know how important it is, but when people don't speak the same language as you it can be problematic. This is an ongoing problem for people who are Deaf, but there has been an increase in people wanting to learn Sign Language and have pursued it. I too, have been learning the language.
Granted, it's a smidgen difficult for me to actually do most of the signs, because of my hands being quite uncooperative, but I can still learn to understand what is being said, and we can work out the rest. So, I've been working with Yuvini & Robyn to somewhat adapt certain signs to make them Chaeli-friendly and it seems to be working out quite well, most of the time.
Robyn is one of the most unbelievable people I have the privilege of knowing. She is possibly the sassiest person I know and stands up for her rights but also advocates for the rights of other people, and constantly shatters people's concept of what Deaf people are able to achieve. There are so many things I've learned from her and it's always with a sense of humour.
Whenever you speak to Robyn - and she agrees with you, or disagrees, or doesn't care - and you expect an in-depth response, all you get is "K". Don't worry though, it's always said with mostly love. So that's wonderful. And whenever Robyn is done with a conversation, you get "Kbye" and she walks away dramatically.
Tomorrow, IkeyAbility has its first AGM where we will elect a new committee and continue raising awareness and supporting students with disabilities in the year to come. I'll blog about it when things happen.
So, without further ado, Kbye.
Ok, I've only recently had a chance to realise that my birthday is on Tuesday, so I'm excited about it. I've never really understood why people don't like celebrating their birthdays. I mean, it's the day the world was gifted with your existence and that's totally something worth celebrating. Every time.
Now that I've got over that realisation, I can share some stories.
The unbelievably talented Daniel Mpilo Richards, has been a part of the Chaeli Campaign family for a while now because he's been a part of a few of our professional productions - most recently 'No Functional Language'. This is actually all just back story because the real reason I'm talking about him is because he has a new show that's on currently, 'PAY BACK THE CURRY', and errybody should go see this show. He's the only one in it, it's a one-man show, it's everything. *enter that guy from Despicable Me, Silas Ramsbottom* Hilarious. It's still on until 27 August sooo go do that! K, plug done.
Daniel and I, and some other pretty cool people are planning something LEGIT, but that's all you're getting for now because greatness takes time to develop. Keep your peepers peeled for that one.
Friday, I spoke at Due South because they were key supporters for the Comrades Marathon and Kilimanjaro. So I was asked to share some of the stories from those experiences. It was awesome to be able to do that and to have a company that wholeheartedly backs what we do is something really special. I also met some pretty cool people there who are keen to get involved in some future adventure plans. Yay!
Saturday was awesome because we had a surprise Kitchen Tea for Tarryn (co-founder of The Chaeli Campaign, as she's getting married in September! Exciting times...
I think now is a good time to chat about the whole "Kbye" declaration in my last post. Last year, along with a group of incredible people and activists in their own rights, started a society at UCT called IkeyAbility where we raise awareness for disability issues on our campus and hold the university accountable for the commitments it makes to differently-abled students. Throughout this process I've had the privilege of meeting and working with some epic humans, (Jess, Yuvini & Robyn) who happen to be Deaf (with a Capital "D", this is important), as well as some pretty legit able-bodied peeps.
I've learned so much over the past year about Deaf culture and how life as a Deaf person has its own challenges that are not properly understood because they're rarely seen/visible. I've also learned that it doesn't take all that much effort to sort out these challenges, all that is needed is some logic and the willingness to find a solution. Let's talk about communication for a bit, because we all know how important it is, but when people don't speak the same language as you it can be problematic. This is an ongoing problem for people who are Deaf, but there has been an increase in people wanting to learn Sign Language and have pursued it. I too, have been learning the language.
Granted, it's a smidgen difficult for me to actually do most of the signs, because of my hands being quite uncooperative, but I can still learn to understand what is being said, and we can work out the rest. So, I've been working with Yuvini & Robyn to somewhat adapt certain signs to make them Chaeli-friendly and it seems to be working out quite well, most of the time.
Robyn is one of the most unbelievable people I have the privilege of knowing. She is possibly the sassiest person I know and stands up for her rights but also advocates for the rights of other people, and constantly shatters people's concept of what Deaf people are able to achieve. There are so many things I've learned from her and it's always with a sense of humour.
Whenever you speak to Robyn - and she agrees with you, or disagrees, or doesn't care - and you expect an in-depth response, all you get is "K". Don't worry though, it's always said with mostly love. So that's wonderful. And whenever Robyn is done with a conversation, you get "Kbye" and she walks away dramatically.
Tomorrow, IkeyAbility has its first AGM where we will elect a new committee and continue raising awareness and supporting students with disabilities in the year to come. I'll blog about it when things happen.
So, without further ado, Kbye.
Monday, August 15, 2016
I'm back and ready to blog!
Ok, I just signed in to this account for the first time in... *bows head in shame* I know, it's been over a year since I last posted. I apologise.
Since we last spoke, I climbed Kilimanjaro, graduated with a Bachelor of Social Science majoring in Politics and Social Development (I dropped the 3rd major at some point in that journey...but I'm cool with it), I started my Honours in Social Policy & Management, and I 'ran' The Comrades Marathon. I think those are all the big things. Just doing this update makes me realise that my life is slightly insane.
I wouldn't have it any other way.
If you're wondering what gave me the urge to write this post, I can't tell you. I just feel like this is a great place to process life's happenings, and maybe share some insights I've gained and hopefully sometimes get some insight from you guys.
So, generally I would only post when I've had an epic event happen. I have decided that life is just as much about recording and taking notice of the small - some may say mundane - things as it is about the big moments. Often, those small moments and happenings are where we learn the most about life and ourselves. Here goes with the normal everyday life update...
Today, after going to bed at 3:something, and about 5 hours of sleep, I woke up to get back to the grind that is writing my Honours thesis. This is the beauty of having a first draft, you guys. It's ok to not get things right the first time and I'm expecting many adjustments and fixing to be done in this process. I'm looking forward to the guidance of our most-legit supervisor, Andre.
I worked on it for a good few hours yesterday and I quickly realised that I dramatically underestimated the amount of work I still had to do, and overestimated how much I had already done *self-righteous pose retracted as soon as the document is opened*
I did not move from my desk in my room from 08:00 (ish) until 3:45, when I left for uni to hand in my thesis. I had coffee, so that was a perk. This is where my friends get grumps with me because I apparently have a high turn-out rate when it comes to working under pressure. The problem with this mode is that motivation levels are relatively low until there is no more time to procrastinate, and then things get real for a second (or a few), and you have to get it together and get it done! I'm generally successful with this strategy, and the people around me are aware that this is how I work - so, that's cool. I'm trying to minimise the procrastination though, so I'll keep you posted.
Notice how writing my blog could possibly be viewed as procrastination too, but I'm claiming it as productive time.
With that declaration, I'm checking out for now. I'm recommitting to this blog and my plan is to post once a week, even if nothing particularly interesting is going on.
Kbye. (more on this later :P)
xx
Since we last spoke, I climbed Kilimanjaro, graduated with a Bachelor of Social Science majoring in Politics and Social Development (I dropped the 3rd major at some point in that journey...but I'm cool with it), I started my Honours in Social Policy & Management, and I 'ran' The Comrades Marathon. I think those are all the big things. Just doing this update makes me realise that my life is slightly insane.
I wouldn't have it any other way.
If you're wondering what gave me the urge to write this post, I can't tell you. I just feel like this is a great place to process life's happenings, and maybe share some insights I've gained and hopefully sometimes get some insight from you guys.
So, generally I would only post when I've had an epic event happen. I have decided that life is just as much about recording and taking notice of the small - some may say mundane - things as it is about the big moments. Often, those small moments and happenings are where we learn the most about life and ourselves. Here goes with the normal everyday life update...
Today, after going to bed at 3:something, and about 5 hours of sleep, I woke up to get back to the grind that is writing my Honours thesis. This is the beauty of having a first draft, you guys. It's ok to not get things right the first time and I'm expecting many adjustments and fixing to be done in this process. I'm looking forward to the guidance of our most-legit supervisor, Andre.
I worked on it for a good few hours yesterday and I quickly realised that I dramatically underestimated the amount of work I still had to do, and overestimated how much I had already done *self-righteous pose retracted as soon as the document is opened*
I did not move from my desk in my room from 08:00 (ish) until 3:45, when I left for uni to hand in my thesis. I had coffee, so that was a perk. This is where my friends get grumps with me because I apparently have a high turn-out rate when it comes to working under pressure. The problem with this mode is that motivation levels are relatively low until there is no more time to procrastinate, and then things get real for a second (or a few), and you have to get it together and get it done! I'm generally successful with this strategy, and the people around me are aware that this is how I work - so, that's cool. I'm trying to minimise the procrastination though, so I'll keep you posted.
Notice how writing my blog could possibly be viewed as procrastination too, but I'm claiming it as productive time.
With that declaration, I'm checking out for now. I'm recommitting to this blog and my plan is to post once a week, even if nothing particularly interesting is going on.
Kbye. (more on this later :P)
xx
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