Department of Labor – Musical Chairs

It’s fun, that is, if you decided to spend the day with someone you can relate to, conversation-wise.

It reminds me of my childhood sunday school when, after all the grownups went home after church, you would go into your small classroom in various parts of the church hall, and the teacher would stand there, smiling at you (TRYING to tell us something with that gesture) informing the class that it’s musical chairs time……

….I mean, it’s almost the same…

As children, the teacher would place a few chairs back to back, always more children than there are chairs, and on and on… So you got the chairs and you’re playing and the songs are cute and all the children are laughing, all within the limits that game consists of.

Now you get the department of labor offices, you walk in with this bout of expectancy, not that you might expect anything great, just, it’s your first time and you expect…anything you want!!

And nothing -_-

This vile green streak of paint plastered on the upper most part of the wall and a black, red and yellow pattern painted to make it seem more homey?? I don’t get it… You have plain printed paper notices pasted to the walls, very unimpressive…. And we wondered, what the hell has abortion got in relation to UIF application??

Moving on…

You have your classmates ready (heads bobbing up and down, shaking left to right, all with the same sullen expressions) and you go sit next to them on this ugly chairs. Let the games begin…..

Sometimes you skip a few chairs, with the idea of playing something childish like E.T – Playbox, which I actually have on my phone, while switching chairs in this grueling wait to be served!! It’s silent chaos everywhere, and then just plain chaos… Then, when you think the fun has finally ended, you have this new procedure you have to follow before you can go up a level (like a bloody playstation game – alas, the musical chairs did not end as yet, this teacher is gonna let us play our life away)

And the grand finale, someone next to you with a newborn on her lap and pulls out this enormous blob of a breast, spilling it onto the baby’s face, smothering the infant, and me almost going into palpitations of shock all the while my companion laughs at the whole ordeal…

Musical chairs is ruined for me, thank you, department of labor…..

I’ll never speak of you again…!!

Morning Shadows

…it’s a convoluted series of eidolons that starts with the edges of the windows, silently paints across our walls and hides underneath and next to objects within easy reach, lying dormant in wait of . . . what, exactly??

Shadows have been an archaic entity that only comes out during the night, of course, entities that only prevails when there is no light, of any kind, to diminish their nocturnal reign! Shadows are inherent cowards and flees whenever danger approaches, cowering within the farthest reaches of a room, their presence constant and never ending, like an abundant flowing mass of oil poured into a retractable mold. That is, until the sun appears just above the rim of the horizon…

Now, as in all things literate one has come to know in all the comparisons there are between humans and all that is inanimate to what is alive to what is infinitely more substantial, and although shadows are not based on solidity, in its own power, it contains that solid quality that makes it stronger than anything else in the world. Some of those qualities, if you look very closely, even adds up to those we find in most people…

Ruler of all that is night, it flows and expands, it envelopes and carries within those who only hunt within its shelter, away from prying eyes… It’s a leader and a brother, it’s everything except that there is no alluring quality to bring those of the light towards its bosom, as ugly and straight forward as it is…

Shadows are also harmless. As I said before, their cowardice explains their cowering whenever light approaches, but in its heart it always tries to fight back, always hovers where the last ray ends, always present, always there, never quite vanquished…

And then you open your eyes… 😉

Hello PTA!!

First of all, I would like to thank a special lady for helping me, guiding me, no, being there whilst I set this thing up!!

All the while asking how on I could even TRY to do this sort of thing on a phone! The answer, easy, blackberry!! Like a magical lantern showing you the way to all that is good… 😉

Moreover, if you understand if I say ‘limited means’!!

However, returning to my title, PTA..

Yes, a magical land consistent of tranquil valleys and golden fields, wastelands and rocky mountains, glistening lakes and naked people, that is if you live inside your head, like me.. 😀

Serious, though, the hustle and the bustle, the one directional horrors, cars and lights and tall buildings, it all comes down to one thing (being a ‘plattelander’ like me) – a HOLIDAY!!

Yes, yes, exchanging silence and deprivation for energy and abundance – without the fear of ever leaving your comfort zone behind – except when walking in the confines of an all people you can see shopping mall (I wear the experience thereof, and let me tell you, SO 5min ago!!)

My greatest fear – actually number four on my list of phobias – is getting lost in such an expansive place without the knowledge of getting out! I mean, imagine if you will yourself a tourist cruising the streets of New York, New York, checking out the sights and numerous sites with this goofy smile plastered across your face, when this stranger raps on your door, asking for a lift to some unintelligible destination, begging you to take him to his wife giving birth to their first child, yelling at you to drive faster while you’re desperately clinging to the hope that you’re driving in the correct lane, crying of relief when he orders you to stop, and….

BAM!!!!

He ups and leaves you with this sense of the uncanny, wondering whether you will ever see sunny South-Africa alive again! He leaves you there, stranded with an overflowing tank of gas, contemplating whether to just shut down or TRY to find your way back..

That is if you’re too stubborn to ask for directions, or more logical, too scared to even look at anyone bearing the resemblance of your worst nightmare… Or your childhood neighbor, uncle Abie!

In conclusion, whether exaggerating or not, being within that throbbing embrace of a city, new adventures might loom as high as its buildings, new experiences that might just change your life! Forget the fears, confront them, and you’ll see that glens and mountains I was talking about!!

In another conclusion, knowing that the difference between cities and the flat lands had already been discovered, had already been theorized and forgotten, this is MY opportunity to explore those theories at my own leisurely pace. Who knows, maybe a lifetime of fields and cows and small towns covered in feathers every time a car runs over a chicken might just be the contradiction of the century!!

😉