Vrystaaaat

Yisssus....crazy times! I did a very impulsive thing this morning and booked a last minute flight to JHB, all in the name of a little town called Welkom. This is where I grew up, a dusty mine dump of a dorpie and I haven't been back there in about 10 years. My mom, sister and I are taking this trip and its one of those experiences that I suppose can never be accurately conveyed, but I am going to try. As I was typing the title of this post, I realised Vrystaat translated means Freestate. FREE STATE. That is exactly what I am, and where I'm going...right now.

The Kitchen

Sweet, dirty, loud Woodstock...one of my fave places in the world. I know The Kitchen is old news, but I only managed to get there today. It's buzzzing with people and vibe and great food and awesome wall hangings that include a yellow budgie. I loooove kitch framed budgies.

Doodles

I had a 'meeting' in my 'office' today. I love saying those dumb words out loud, and then laffing waaa ha ha haaaaaaaaaaa. But seriously, i was stationed at my 'work space' which was at the delicious Crush Cafe (free wifi is a hot item on the menu) and my 'colleague' was a very talented artist and we doodled some important stuff. Like this...

Sunday Blues

hard core inspiration to match this moody, gusty, bluesy day...

Manholes and Sewers

My fascination with manhole covers started in Rome, that obscene city where everything from doorknobs to manhole covers are beautifully adorned making the most ordinary functional item a work of art.

I was flipping through this book to find inspiration for my metal labels, and discovered some interesting useless info: when manhole covers were first made they had to have surface interest, but not just to look pretty. The reason for having the patterns was to provide grip for pedestrians and horses so neither could slip across the smooth surface. A very logical / boring explanation! I still believe that they were front doors commissioned by wealthy cockroaches and mutants to keep out the humans.

Girl in the Machine

I have been agonizing for weeks over this one important phonecall that i had to make. Been postponing it from my original "D" day which was 14 July until today. It's a break up phone call you see, me breaking up with my 9-5 job forever. So I have to explain that when I said 'resigned from my job' in a previous post i was kinda lying, because when I left i accepted another job with the group, nixie's behind my back style.

Not cool I know, but I didn't know what else to do. And now that I've had my sweet taste of freedom and a glimpse of how the world works when I'm not working, I can't go back. EVER. So I had the chat, and instead if telling me to F off, they said "its ok to come for 3 months, see if you like it, maybe you'll love it. Take some time to think about it and call us on Thursday". WTF? That didn't go how it was supposed to. So i wimped out and said "ok, talk to you Thursday".

So this is sort of where I would be going back to:



Not a cool scene from Bladerunner, but an actual office block of a corporate company. Nice and inviting... makes you feel all warm inside. This is where thousands of people spend their days working away the hours, small cogs in a very big retail machines. Goodbye life, hello pension plan and medical aid. Let's see if I have the courage for a proper break up on Thursday...

Jabber Locky's

Been looking for metal label inspiration for my tables...likey these



And I need to choose a name for this baby. But this is the really hard part. I need a name that symbolises creative friskiness, freeeeeeeeeeedom from 9 - 5, quality, sense of humour, authenticity, quirk, flow, designerish, kifness and maligheid. See, its hard.

The two contenders at this stage are stokperd and eastman & co. Who will be queen, and who will be second princess?

July is the new March

Went for a lazy drive around the peninsula yesterday, just to find some sunshine. Heavy mist was tailing us all the way from Rosebank to Kalk Bay and over Ou Kaapseweg. Only managed to ditch it once we reached Noordhoek.

This is the mixed tape we were listening to...the real deal



And this is the unseasonably hot winter sunshine we went in search of



Oh, and i also got 3 table orders. If you're happy and you know it shout hooray, HOORAY.

Toilets for Toylets

Had another day of sublime freedom cruising Woodstock. I'm discovering an amazing world that only unfolds when you're not nine to fiving. Like the sneaky pleasure of spending hours in an antique shop, letting my eyes gorge on a million little treasures.

Monday, 11 July 2011

In Recovery

Have been hating "the job" to such an extent that I did the most ir/responsible thing I've ever done and resigned. This crazy move has been coming for some time, probably two years in the making, but I just haven't been able to do it. I have no new job lined up or so called plan, but The Primitive Radio Gods say "ride the wave and don't ask where it goes" so right now this is plan enough for me.

My day in pictures: