This is my dear friend Lenie, who celebrated her 55th birthday last week. Isn't she stunning? She is one of the many many many Aquarians I know and she is by far the nicest of the bunch. I truly hope I manage to look as great as she does when I turn 40 never mind 55!! She'll kill me for splurbing her age, so should you meet her please keep it a secret. Bless her and many many happy returns dear Lenie. This pic was taken at our recent sales conference, where the theme was country and western. To my U2 friends, I think we look like the Dalton sisters!

Sometimes I think the world has gone mad. Recently, over tea with some of my girlfriends, all of whom are married, with 2.5 children, own beautiful and splendid homes and living what I would consider comfortable lives, I was completely floored at their revelations of how they are battling to cope. Every single one of them is on, or has been, on some form of anti depressant and some even spoke of how a glass or three of wine was what they needed to get them through the night! I am speechless and my heart goes out to them. I wish there was something I could do for them. I've made a conscious choice to not do the marriage and baby thing, I believe God has other plans for my life, and often when I spend time with my friends, I leave wondering if I have made the right choice. Well this time I left feeling hugely relieved and grateful, for my life, with my worries and my problems. I felt like I was inside an episode of Oprah.

"Swallow it down (what a jagged little pill)
It feels so good (swimming in your stomach)
Wait until the dust settles
You live you learn
You love you learn
You cry you learn
You lose you learn
You bleed you learn
You scream you learn "

Thanks Alanis................

I keep dreaming and hoping that U2 will end their tour in South Africa. Their last major major world tour called Popmart ended on human rights day 21 March 1998 in Johannesburg. They had taken this show to just about every corner of our planet before ending it on our doorstep. I watched my video of this show this weekend. The South African audience is so different, there were no clever signs in the audience, the audience is quite reserved - there's very little bouncing going on. I think we were, at the time, dumbstruck, and had never quite seen something like this before. I remember my friend Aldie saying as we were leaving the stadium that she was clueless as to what she had just seen was about. Also Bono does carry on a bit about the new South Africa and if my memory serves me correctly us "whities" were not really into it yet - we were very scared of this new South Africa thing. It occurred to me while watching it, that Bono at the time was the exact same age as I am now. He looked good, very good, performing in front of a crowd of 60 000 new South Africans. So I keep dreaming that they will possibly finish their current Vertigo show here in South Africa. They are going to be in South America, Australia and Japan for the first quarter of this year, and I think it would be fitting if they closed off the tour here in Johannesburg on 27 April - Freedom Day. That would be fabulous and very Bono and U2. Heck a girl can dream. Help the cause my friends and go to www.wewantu2.co.za and sign the petition.

This weekend we had electricians in the house connecting our security and gate lights. My mom was soo excited. When all was done, the electrician, Frikkie, in his best SA accent said to my mom, "I suppose you want to frow the sun wiv stones so you can test your lights" It was very funny, I nearly collapsed. He had my mom spot on, if she could have switched off the sun for a few minutes she would have. Instead, she spent most of the afternoon anxiously waiting for the sun to set so that she could watch the lights switch on (they are on a day night switch) and then this morning she was up with the sparrows to watch them switch off. Bless her!

1. 
   Make Poverty History
   
   I’m South African, I’ve grown up in an apartheid South Africa. At the time I wasn’t even aware of it being wrong. I was a teenager, pre-occupied with teenage things, I never realized that I was living in a time when people were severely oppressed and had little or no freedom. It didn’t hassle me, nobody told me. Then I grew up and became aware and I began to question. I studied, started my working career, Nelson Mandela was released, I became aware of a group called the ANC and the fear that gripped the white people of my country, including me. I remember people rushing to the shops and stocking up on candles, baked beans and water, while waiting for civil war to errupt. It didn’t, and when I look back now I wonder “what were we thinking?”
   
   In 1986 I discovered U2. The album Rattle and Hum. I must have driven my friend Willie demented because I made him play it over and over and over again in his car on the way back from a weekend trip to the Free State. There is a song on it called Silver and Gold. Written by Bono as social commentary about the injustice of apartheid. Of course, at the time, U2 and many other artists were campaigning against the injustice of apartheid, holding the now famous Free Nelson Mandela concerts, which we only heard about in frightened whispers here. It is this album and this band that made me think about my “politics” and eventually help form my “politics”. I realized Apartheid is wrong, inequality is wrong, racism is wrong, intolerance is wrong and I voted accordingly. Now I’m not going to deny that I don’t have a racist or intolerant bone in my body. Oh no, when you have been raised with those values it is very difficult to shake them. And sometimes I do let rip with a racist remark, because I’m lazy. But I do know that it is wrong and I’m a work in progress. I admire people who have no prejudice at all, I sometimes wonder if it is possible?
   
   What makes us human? Choice. We have the ability to choose between right and wrong, victim or survivor. And with our ability to choose comes responsibility. We are responsible for our choices. And as humans we go to war over this. War happens when my choices don’t agree with your choices. What was Apartheid? One group of people taking the freedom of choice away from another group. And sometimes this carries on for so long that the oppressed forget how to make choices and victim mentality sets in. Whenever I chat to friends about the injustices of this world, the suffering and so on and I tell them I believe it happens because we allow it to, it is our choice, heated debate sets in. People take it so personally because with our choices comes the responsibility, the accountblity, the suggestion that we could actually prevent it. Often our choices are unconscious, or come from being uninformed and because, actually, we just didn’t know any better at the time.
   
   So this brings me to the next thing that I know is wrong. And that is poverty. Not the kind of poverty where we see beggars at the robots, with signs telling us they are unemployed and have kids to feed, when you can see they are wearing almost good as new Nikes. Nope, the kind of poverty Bono calls “stupid poverty” where the person does not know when or where his next meal is coming from and as a result he literally cannot think straight. Used to be that I didn’t give a hoot about the suffering of people, I would donate all my charity to animal causes. And yet, I have been given so much. I have a great career, nice clothes, nice car and a comfortable life, yet I drive to work and I still see "stupid poverty" all around me.
   
   On MTV I heard about the make poverty history campaign, and I see it’s spearheaded by my man Bono and his band, and Sir Bob Geldof and just about every celebrity in the world. I go to the website to find out more. http://www.makepovertyhistory.org/ Go there if you want to learn more. And I’ve learned that poverty is not about charity, it’s about justice. So I still give all my charity to animal causes, but my actions go to MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY. Bono has speculated that our generation will be remembered for three things – the internet, the war on terror, and our attitude to the poor: whether we end extreme “stupid” poverty once and for all. "History"' he has said, “will be our judge, but what’s written is up to us. Who we are, who we’ve been, what we want to be remembered for. We can’t say our generation didn’t know how to do it. We can’t say our generation couldn’t afford to do it. And we can’t say our generation didn’t have reason to do it.”
   
   I can’t turn a blind eye. This is staring me in the face. Am I going to look poverty in the eye everyday and do nothing about it? I think not!
   
   The MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY campaign, as I have come to understand, is a group of about 400 different organizations banding together on this issue. They want to end world wide poverty by 2015,by implementing(amongst others):
   Trade Justice
   Drop the Debt
   More and better aid
   
   I wear the white band, I’m reading up about it, I receive internet news letters and I talk to my friends about it. I know it’s not an “African” campaign and that this is South Africa, and that this campaign is happening largely in Europe and the USA. Well, actually I am European, I’m only living here because the good people of South Africa allow me to. So I reckon I should have the good grace to try and make this great place an even better place while I’m allowed to stay here.
   
   And, when I chat to folks about Making Poverty History. There are three things that always come up:
   Aids, “they” are all dying like flies, and we have a president who has lost the plot and says that poverty causes Aids. Guess what? It does. I believe the presses remarks were taken completely out of context. I don’t however, agree with the way the gov has been handling the Aids issue in SA.
   Corruption – par for the course in Africa – there’s nothing we can do. And as long as there is corruption - Africa will be poor. – True.
   Why do “they” breed like flies when “they”are so poor?
   
   I found a very interesting little booklet called MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY by Geraldine Bedell. It’s about 60 pages long and it’s great food for thought.
   For example on page 50 she says about Aids:
   Poverty Kills. The developing countries have 95% of the Aids cases worldwide. And if anyone asks why, if these people are already so poor, they don’t help themselves by practicing safe sex, - well (they are, in fact, so poor they can’t afford to do so – have you shopped for condoms lately, seen what they cost?)
   So poverty and aids create a downward spiral:
   POVERTY
   (causes)
   The need to earn money forces people into dangerous sexual behaviour
   (then)
   Aids leaves children without parents, schools without teaches, and companies and governments without skilled workers.
   (then)
   Education suffers – and the unskilled and illiterate are more vulnerable to HIV infection (especially women)
   (then)
   The economy suffers – and there is less money to invest in healthcare and development
   (then)
   People are so desperate that treating HIV infection seems less urgent than eating
   (then)
   There’s more migration, especially to urban centres where there’s a market for commercial sex
   (and)
   People who are HIV positive see no point in investing in the future
   (then)
   Social structures break down
   (result) (result)
   Increasing opportunities Economic breakdown
   to trade sex
   
   And so people become poorer and sicker. And the frightening thing is, unlike the plagues of history where the frail young and old were mostly affected, HIV affects most adults in their prime, especially women and as a result about 12million kids in Africa have lost their parents. Imagine that?! Our total population in SA is 44million, that’s the equivalent of about 27% of our country without a parent. For those of you who couldn't give a toss about Aids, replace the word "Aids" with crime and I hope you will understand why we have such high levels of crime in SA.
   
   Then every one talks of corruption and if we give these people money it never gets to them and as long as this prevails Africa doesn’t stand a hope in hell!!!. Here is what Geraldine Bedell says on page 55:
   
   There is no doubt that there has been, and still is, corruption in poor countries. Unfortunately, poverty and bad government create and sustain each other. (Yes, it’s another vicious circle) This means that turning our backs on the people of badly run poor countries will only make matters worse.
   To get good government, people need space to think about something other than their next meal. They need sufficient education to read books and newspapers; they need access to television, telephones and the internet so that they can spread ideas, organize opposition, campaign and create democracy.
   They need proper civil service to keep politicians in line, to establish rules and monitor them. They need to earn enough to pay taxes, to provide computers and staff and all the other tools of a modern state.
   The levels of corruption we have seen in very poor countries couldn’t happen here because our democratic state would root them out: angry people would protest, vote, insist on legal action. But you can’t get democracy and law without basic levels of well-being and prosperity. And without democracy and law it’s difficult for people to better themselves.
   There is a long history of corruption in Western countries too. We are also not exactly innocent when it comes to exploiting poor nations. And the developed world has been known to shut its eyes to bribery. This isn’t something in “national character” power corrupts if it isn’t constantly kept in check. So the route to better government doesn’t lie in making life even tougher for poor people, punishing those who are already at a disadvantage. The route to better government lies in helping people to find, create and seize the tools they need to control their own destinies. Not giving aid because there have been examples of corruption would be like closing down all companies because Enron cheated.
   
   And here, we stare and shake our heads in disbelief at Zimbabwe. And we freak out when our pres wants to help them and give them aid! mmmm food for thought.
   
   And finally here is what Geraldine Bell says, on page 58, about poor people having so many children.
   When children die in large numbers, parents tend to have more of them to provide security for the family in later years. As a result, and contrary to popular belief, places with high child mortality rates also have high population growth. It’s actually because people are poor that they have more children.
   The better off that families become, the more educated the mothers and children, the fewer children they tend to have the more they invest in them. On the question of high population, the opposite of what people think is true.
   In any event, “population explosion” is a red herring because in most cases poor people go hungry because they can’t afford to buy the food in the markets, not because the markets are empty. On top of this, many of the resources that could feed the populations of the developing world are shipped out to the rich world, including millions of tons of food (soya from South America to feed North American cattle, for example).
   
   It’s a big thing this. And I think it’s pie in the sky to expect all poverty to be eradicated by 2015. But at least we can try and WE ARE THE FIRST GENERATION THAT CAN END POVERTY! This is my generation’s defining moment. If we all stand together and do something, even if it is only learning about it, we can make a difference. For me, I'm going to find an Aids education programme I can volunteer at and keep learning. Heck I reckon someone’s got to do it! So my friends, what will you do...........?
   
   Some websites to go to:
   www.makepovertyhistory.org
   www.milleniumcampaign.org
   
   Books:
   The End of Poverty – Jeffrey Sachs
   MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY – Geraldine Bedell

I have discovered Green Day. Coldplay is out, Green Day is in. Sorry Coldplay, sorry Chris Martin, I can no longer listen to your whiney voice or the piano. American Idiot by Green Day has been on my wishlist forever, and although it has been around since the end of 2004, I finally managed to buy it a few days ago. (Am on cd rations, cause I'm saving for an ipod) And wow, what a great buy. There isn't a track on the album I dislike. It's punk rock. In fact it's a punk rock opera. There is a story or theme throughout the album but I have yet to really get it. It is protest, anti establishment, as punk is, and as the title suggests it's a protest against the USA and aspects of its culture (establishment) which I don't understand because I'm not part of it, I don't live it. So, unusually for me, I'm not blown away or into this album because of the lyrics or the message - it's the whole package. The music is great, the beat is great. Music to drive to. Music to listen to when you are angry and you feel the need to scream. I don't really get the name of the band either - "Green Day". It apparantly has something to do with smoking pot.

Okay..................why am I not surprised?

Their website is great with lots of links to other fansites and causes and products they believe in. www.greenday.com They have been around forever, since 1990 and have released loads of albums and done many tours. Once again, I have to wonder where the hell I was in the 90's? I missed out on so many great bands. I would love to listen to their earlier albums but it will have to wait, as I amass my ipod fund. But for now I sure do like this album.

It's raining, it's pouring........... It's the third day of 2006, and this is the view from my car window on the way to work. We finally have the rain we have been waiting for, that one week of soaking drizzling rain. This is baby making weather, this is the kind of weather that you stay at home for, get under the duvet, read a great book and drink hot chocolate - even though it is the middle of summer. But hi ho hi ho it's off to work I go....

Speaking of great books, I'm reading "Spud" by John van de Ruit. It is fabulous, and very funny. It's about a 13 year old boy's first year in a private school boarding school, written in a diary/journal style. The blurb tells you that this book will make you roll around the carpet laughing hysterically. Well, it does. Perhaps not roll around the carpet, but I sure snort with laughter on every page. Definitely not to be read while sitting in your favourite coffee shop, unless, of course, you don't mind being stared at. I think it would make a wonderful movie.

The buzzword at the office is detox. Everyone is trying out some kind of detox diet, fast or whatever. Even I am tempted, but with weather like this, it's the comfort food I crave.
Tried out a new Chinese restaurant last night - the food was awful, great atmosphere, awful food.

As predicted the new year's weekend was largely uneventful. Relaxed, read, slept, ate, watched telly - the Vienna philharmonic New Years' Concert - spectacular! It is one of my dreams to attend a live performance of that concert, apparently you have to book years in advance. Shall research. Went to see The Chronicles of Narnia, loved it.

That's all for today, happy new year everyone.