 New Decade Fun!
2010! Hooray! We're shot of that horrible nameless decade that people desperately attempted to name the "oughties", or, even more desperately, the "naughties". Of course, we now have the problem of what to call this lot coming up. "Teens" conjures up far too many images of rebellious misguided youth (whippersnappers!). I think we should take the lead of Terry Pratchett and the Chinese and start using animal names. "Decade of the Blobfish" has a nice ring to it.
Yes, so, it's been some time since I posted anything here, for a number of reasons. Some of them are even good reasons, I'll have you know. First and foremost is that I've been ill with a nasty dose of gastritis and stomach ulcers for the last three or four months. My doctors are at a bit of a loss to explain what's causing this, as I hardly have the most stressful life in the world, don't smoke, generally eat well, etc etc. Anyway, so it goes. Various medications, all with their own slew of delightfully unpleasant side effects, are in the process of being tried, along with the blandest diet known to man. For someone who loves their food and wine this is like being sentenced to the Gulag. With no shoes. In the middle of the Siberian winter. Also, ravening wolves are chasing you and there is a rule that you have to hop on one leg. Sigh.
The holidays were a good opportunity to get some changes of scenery. G and I headed down to Cape Town for my graduation to PhD, for which I was made to wear a robe and hat of quite remarkable silliness (rest assured gentle reader, Gaby got plenty of photos in between uncontrollable bouts of giggling) and sit in the heat of a sweltering summer day for three hours. I sound like I'm grumbling but part of me loves all the antiquated ceremonial folderol that goes with things like graduations; it's a bit like being inducted into a not-so-secret society, complete with special handshakes and codewords and whatnot. And, of course, the foolish outfits.
We had a quick change back in Joeys, swapping beachwear for, um, beachwear, before departing for Durban. On the way down we stopped off at the Cavern in the northern 'berg for a brief stay with the family Robinson, which proved entertaining as usual. The scenery around the Cavern offers some fantastic hikes, though we limited ourselves to the shorter ones due to the verticality of the terrain and the midsummer heat of the days.
Xmas and New Year were spent down in Durban with my folks, the best B&B in town. We get special "discount family rates", of course; a few easy payments of tech support are usually all it takes to settle the bill :). The Durban weather has become notoriously inclement in december/january over the last few years, and didn't disappoint - we had a handful of brutally hot and humid summer days interspersed with plenty of rain which, though it limited the beach time, cooled things off and was actually rather pleasant and relaxing. A lot of doing nothing was tempered with long walks on the beach, good company, and a lot of delicious rich food (or staring wistfully at delicious rich food, in my case). It was a good time.
Photos? I have some, multivarious in nature. They will need sorting, fiddling, beautifying. I will do this, and get back to you soon.
Be good, and do something unexpected today to usher in the Decade of the Blobfish...
-q- | Posted by:
quinn2010/01/06
14:59 |
