I wonder


jeudi, le 24 décembre 2009

Last night I sat outside under the palm where L’homme used to sit for hours. I wondered where he was, I wondered what he was thinking, I wondered what he used to think all those hours he spent sitting under the palm.

I burst into tears because, in spite of everything, I missed L’homme, because I was sad for My Witty Friend, I was sad for The Jeweller - her mother passed away the day we held a memorial service for My Witty Friend’s husband. The Jeweller didn’t make it back in time to see her mother one last time. She passed away while they were at the airport.

Then I reminded myself that there is no point in being sad over L’homme. He never really cared, he lacked compassion, he lacked understanding and more than anything, he lacked the ability to commit to our relationship through thick and thin. When not even the alcohol could compensate for all the lacking, he turned nasty, mean and malicious.

I sighed, I wiped my tears, I looked up at the stars, I sent comforting, supportive whishes to My Witty Friend and The Jeweller, I went inside, I put on some happy music and started to make my house pretty for Christmas Eve dinner.


(The story in the photograph: The Princess,to my absolute delight, loved the beach. I wonder what she was thinking as she stared out over the largest body of water she had ever seen.)

I’m back


lundi, le 21 décembre 2009

I spent much more time with My Witty Friend than I originally thought I would. I thought I’d go down for a week or two. Alas, seven weeks later, The Princess and I made our way back home again.

I didn’t blog because I didn’t want to. I told blog stories in my head every day. I didn’t blog because I didn’t really have the time and because I was confronted with experiences and emotions that I needed to internalise, to sift through and to make my own before I could share them.

And then, when I was on my way home, L’homme, with his usual inimitable timing, upset my entire little apple cart. I am truly aghast at this man’s total lack of compassion, of caring, his boundless stupidity. With one phone call he eradicated all the kindness and tenderness and forgiveness I had honed towards him. And he replaced it with anger.

I can’t unreservedly say that I am pleased to be back in the city where I live, but I am pleased to slowly but surely find my rhythm again.

Having booked a trip to my beloved Paris helps me to deal with my anger towards L’homme and is a good incentive to get the rhythm going.

(Some music musings: Driving down to My Witty Friend, I couldn’t get my iPod to work. Thankfully I had grabbed all of about three CD’s as I flew out the door. I spent hours listening to the obligatory ’Sympathique' and to Dylan’s Together Through Life. Many a day when The Princess and I walked along the beautiful mountain paths, the opening lines of one of my favourite ditzy songs on this CD, found their way into my head:

I get the blues for you baby when I look up at the sun
I get the blues for you baby when I look up at the sun
Come back here, we can have some real fun

Well it’s early in the evening and everything is still
Well it’s early in the evening and everything is still
One more time, I’m walking up on heartbreak hill
~Bob Dylan : Shake shake mama


(The story in the photograph: The Princess is dumbfounded that grass can grow so tall in just over seven weeks. She’s wondering whether she possibly shrunk!)

Beautiful Cards


lundi, le 19 octobre 2009

(The story in the photograph: My Witty Friend’s incredibly talented 17 year old daughter made me the most beautiful card.)

Taking a break


jeudi, le 15 octobre 2009

It was a wet, rainy day. The sun came through late afternoon. My Witty Friend, The Princess and I grabbed the opportunity for a walk in the mountains. It was the most heavenly thing I had done in a long time.

(The story in the photograph: The Princess was as elated on her walk today as she was when she was just a little pup.)

Happy Trip


mercredi, le 14 octobre 2009

OK I admit, this post is purely for NaBloWriMo browny points. It was a 13½ hour drive, it was exhausting, I’m exhausted BUT the best thing I could have done!

New Shoes


mardi, le 13 octobre 2009

It’s just one of those things. New shoes always remind me of Leo in Twin Peaks. That’s just the way things are.

Today my car got two new front shoes for our trip tomorrow. This time she has French shoes. I have a good feeling about that.

The Princess has her bags packed. She’s in bed already. She promised that she’ll drive the long, boring parts of our journey!

Best I go and join The Princess in bed. Tomorrow is going to be a very, very long day.

(The story in the photograph: The last time The Princess went on a road trip, I burst both the front tires on my car. On a Sunday, with nowhere to buy new tires. Needless to say, when the second tire burst and with the spare already replacing the first burst tire, we had to be towed to our final destination on a flatbed truck.)

In a nutshell



lundi, le 12 octobre 2009

… that is more or less the kind of day I had!

(The story in the photograph: The picture tells it all.)

Trip planning



dimanche, le 11 octobre 2009

My Witty Friend’s husband is really not doing well. She’s asked me to come and spend some time with her. For moral support, to help with the household chores, to do taxi runs for the kids and to have someone to sip a glass of wine with in the evenings.

The Princess’ hearing abilities never cease to amuse me. When she’s asked to bring her ball in the park, she’s as deaf as a door post. But mention ‘The Princess’ and a trip to anywhere in one sentence, and her ears perk up immediately. Her immediate concern is whether this means that she is being saddled with the arduous task of cat-sitting or whether it means that she can kiss her furry friends goodbye and go on an adventure. She established very quickly today that she’s going on a trip to where she’s never been before.

My Witty friend lives in the town where I went to varsity. It’s about a two hour flight from the city I live in, driving there takes about twelve hours, if not more. Flying down means I need to find a house- and Princess-sitter, which is easier said than done, especially at short notice and especially if I don’t know for how long. Driving down means the Princess gets to go on the longest road trip she’s ever been and My Bountiful Friend will do daily cat-calls to make sure that food and water bowls are filled to the brim.

I miss L’homme every single day of my life, but more so on days when I have to plan for unexpected trips and there’s a home and animals to take care of. If he had been the man of his word he wanted me to believe he was, I could’ve caught the first flight out and spent as much time with My Witty Friend as she needed. Secure in the knowledge that my home was being lived in, that The Princess was being cared for as she is accustomed to.

Alas, L’homme turned out to be as fake as he didn’t want anybody to believe he was. So now I have to make difficult decisions and sacrifices on my own. This time round the flying-driving decision was not an easy one. I’m still not sure that the driving decision is the best one, but it’s the best decision I could make today.

Tomorrow is going to be a hectic day with work in the way, the obligatory long distance car checks and a myriad of arrangements to get in place. Oh and some sleep somewhere along the way would come in handy! On Wednesday The Princess and I hit the long, long road.

(The story in the photograph: When I took The Princess out earlier this evening, I was just overwhelmed by the delightful Jasmine fragrance that filled the air.)

A Breather


samedi, le 10 octobre 2009

It was pure bliss to wake up this morning to the sound of birds happily chatting away in the trees. For most of this week the shrill screeching of electronic devises has woken me to tell me it is time to get out of my feathered nest and get my nose to the grind stone.

This morning I could stretch out, turn around, cuddle behind The Princess’ back and wonder what the birds were discussing. The Princess gave a big, lazy yawn and thought they were probably discussing where the juiciest worms were to be found. I reckoned they were discussing flight paths of the day.

I had a long, pampering bath and was sipping some soothing tea when My Bountiful Friend called. I hadn’t seen her in about three weeks either. This whole work thing really has this strange ability to get in the way of life!

The Fairy was having playmates over and My Bountiful Friend was dying for some adult conversation. I was simply dying for conversation. We chatted like great friends do who haven’t seen each other in a while. We were both talking at the same time. At any given point we each had at least four stories going. I don’t think we successfully managed to finish one of them. We did get around to discussing matters of life, of death, of the heart.

My Bountiful Friend made us the most wonderful Oeuf Cocotte for lunch. With a tummy tingling with delight and heart full of soul food, I headed back late afternoon for The Princess’ walk.

This evening I have been keeping one eye on the Internet and one eye on the TV. I’m tracking The Athlete’s performance in the Ironman World Championships. I have huge admiration for her single-minded determination and discipline. Not only does she have a very demanding corporate job, but she still finds the time participate in very demanding endurance sporting events and often wins her category. Truly inspirational stuff! Her swimming time has been on par with two years ago, but she’s burning up the track with her bicycle!! Way to go, my super human friend!!

Watching The Presidents Cup without L’homme is not quite the same. But it’s just one of many ‘without L’homme’ things that I’m getting used to. Watching it on my own is at least better than not watching it at all!

To all NaBloWriMo participants: One third of the way done! Two thirds to go!

(The story in the photograph: The Story Teller is delighted that it’s weekend. That means she gets to curl up on her favourite bed and explain to humans how work should be approached!)

Comforting Casseroles


vendredi, le 08 octobre 2009

My current favourite casserole: lamb and yoghourt! I made it for The Artist’s birthday some time ago and it was such a hit, that I thought it would be a great dinner for The Lawyer and family.

The Lawyer’s wife came out of hospital yesterday, but the young Scotsman still needs to grow and gain some weight. I saw photographs of him tonight. I didn’t think it was possible that a baby could be so tiny! But he came off the ventilator today and is doing just fine.

I decided it was necessary to take some time out of my hectic schedule and play in the kitchen. The problem with me and cooking is that I never stick to a recipe. I believe recipes are meant to be the inspiration and from there you make a dish your own. Today I decided to make the casserole more of a meal in one and added some rice noodles.

I love the richness of the lamb and the slight sourness of the yoghourt. For freshness, I added liberal amounts of chopped mint and dill. It made a wonderful supper with a crisp, leafy salad.

(The story in the photograph: The lamb and yoghourt casserole and I made it home just in time to post this before the day is over.)

Attention Withdrawal


jeudi, le 08 octobre 2009

Even The Princess is suffering from attention withdrawal. She can’t work out why her daily walk has suddenly turned into a short jog through the park. There’s no more lingering at the dam where she loves to swim, there’s no more indulging her hide and seek games in the water flowers.

I keep telling her that she is still very special, that I still love her very much, but it’s this avalanche of work. These numbers and graphs and all things boring that need to be turned into words. I keep telling her it will pass, hopefully soon.

She can’t work out why she now spends so much time in the big bed on her own. Maybe with a cat or two to share her space. But there’s no more me for much longer than an hour or two at the oddest hours.

The tragedy when work gobbles up life! But this too shall pass, hopefully soon.

(The story in the photograph: The Princess playing her private ball games in the water flowers.)

A Dull Girl


mercredi, le 07 octobre 2009

All work and no play makes Rispa a dull girl. Late to bed and early to rise, does not make her wise! I find myself buried under an avalanche of work. Which is not necessarily all in all a bad thing – far less time for gut-wrenching agonising.

This post is really just not to fall behind on daily NaBloWriMo posts.

(The story in the photograph: Some pretty flowers to brighten a hard working day!)

Polka dot bear


mardi, le 06 octobre 2009

Last night The Lawyer’s wife gave birth to a very little boy. This young Scotsman is bound to grow into an explorer of note. Two months before his scheduled date of arrival, he decided it’s time to leave the comfort of the womb and step into the big wide world!

I saw The Lawyer tonight. He reports that mom and son are both doing fine.

(The story in the photograph: Fortunately I saw this adorable little polka dot bear a week or so ago and could not resist buying it. Did I maybe suspect that the young Scotsman was going to be an early riser like his father?)

Anniversaries that I hate


lundi, le 05 octobre 2009

It is that time of month when the bitter anniversary comes around again. A week or so ago I thought it would be a good idea to invite my nearest and dearest friends for supper tonight. Those who have been so relentlessly generous in their support, their understanding and in the lending of their ears. Those who have been feeding me plates piled high with nourishing soul food. I thought I’d treat them to my French favourites, as a tiny gesture of heartfelt appreciation: Oeuf Cocotte and Magret de Canard.

But as today dragged nearer, I realised that I’m nowhere near strong enough to cook up a storm in my kitchen when the only storm I’m aware of is the storm raging in my heart and my mind. I’d be far more inclined to, in true ’Like water for chocolate’ fashion, shed tears in my delicious, well-balanced bitter sweet berry sauce. With an unattainable love in mind, I’d risk transferring my love, my feelings and my memories into my favourite dishes. I may end up with a dinner table of guests deeply melancholic or, heavens forbid, my culinary delights may inspire someone to leave my house naked with a revolutionary soldier. Not that I had a revolutionary soldier in mind to invite, but you never know what lurks in the hearts and minds of those I know well.

At least I get to visit The Shrink today. She asks me how I’ve been. I tell her stupid. I tell her I dropped a book off for L’homme at his place of work last week. I tell her I gave him access to some of the things I have been writing since he left. I tell her that the book was intended to explain my writings, to provide some insight on where I was coming from and where I am hopefully heading towards. I tell her that my writings about L’homme are not embellished, it’s the brutal honest truth of my life, my heart, my mind without him.

I tell her I always prided myself in never saying things about L’homme behind his back that I wasn’t prepared to tell him to his face. I tell her that I have lately been feeling that I am now discussing him with others and I am not telling him about it. I tell her that morally or ethically it has been tugging at my conscience. I tell her I had no choice, I had to give him the book and tell him what I was writing, to appease the voices in my heart and in my soul.

I tell her this sparked some e-mail exchanges between L’homme and I. He would fetch the book and he has always wanted me to write and now I am doing it and, as he expected, doing it very well. A blanket folds warmly around my heart.

I remind him that I have always written in the times without him. I have years of experience of gut-wrenching writing. He tells me he has read some more and finds it squirm worthy, but he won’t hold it against me. A blanket folds warmly around my heart.

Later he lets me know that he has read even more of what I have written. He thinks I write beautifully and that he is increasingly not looking good in what I have to say. He tells me I don’t come across as being bitter and bitchy. A blanket folds warmly around my heart.

I want to reply to him that I have never been bitter and bitchy where he is concerned. I have been wanting and needy, Nora and Timid Trudy, hurt and angry. I have been searching in every corner of his mind, in his eyes, in his touch, in the words from his mouth for intimate love I have found it not. I don’t reply.

I tell The Shrink that even later I get another message from L’homme. He says that my writing is not about him, it’s about me. And that it is addictive reading. I tell her that I burst out laughing. I tell her that only a true, blue-blooded masochistic narcissist could derive so much pleasure from reading something so squirm worthy! A blanket folds warmly around my heart.

That is why I love L’homme so very, very much. Oh my love, you have an uncanny ability to, with very few words, make me laugh at something I perceive so serious, so painful. With few words and a healthy dose of laughter, you can make me feel that everything will fine, it will be light, it will be bright.

The Shrink asks me how I’m doing with my list of things that are better/worse for me since L’homme has left. I tell her that I actually did re-visit my list the other day. I tell her I had nothing to add, my list still looks like this:

On a cold summer day I walk back home. At least my heart is wrapped warmly in the blankets L’homme gave me. It pumps my blood somewhat more easily through my veins, to my mind. I think back on the past four months. I think I may have shed some of my anger, but not my sadness, my love, my longing.

I wonder whether L’homme celebrates the anniversary with wine, women and song. I wonder whether he realises it is an anniversary at all. I wonder whether any of the uncomplicated sex he has found has already turned complicated, has followed the path from liking too much to wanting and needing. To making sacrifices, to buying gifts, to spending money, to taking trips. None on L’homme’s expense.

If this were true, would I be jealous? I think not. I will be hurt because of the ease with which L’homme can eradicate thirteen years. But for her I will mainly feel pity. It will just be a matter of time before she, too, gets hurt.

(The story in the photograph: In celebration of My Mother’s 90th birthday last year, I whisked her, L’homme and myself off on a journey on ‘The Most Luxurious Train in the World’. They make the beds beautifully in the evenings with soft blankets to cuddle under warmly while sipping sparkling wine and watching the moonlit countryside go by. A truly unforgettable experience.)

Secondly battling with words


dimanche, le 04 octobre 2009

Now in my room

Oh my Love
I found You again
I went out
for a pack of cigarettes
and there You were
I bowed to everyone
and they rejoiced with me
I lost myself
in the eyes of a dog
who loved You
The heat lifted me up
The traffic bounced me
naked into bed
with a book about You
and a bottle of cold water
~Leonard Cohen


Recently I started battling a bit with the word ’love’. Not quite the same way as the long, ongoing battle I have had with the words ’honour’ and ’respect’. It has been a more subtle battle.

When I tell L’homme that I love him, I know what I am saying and I understand the meaning of the word. I know, I understand the meaning of loving The Princess and all her many furry friends. I love good food, I love beautiful art, I love burying my nose in a good read, I love listening to music that touches my soul, I love Paris and I love France. In each of these instances I know what love means. I know what it feels like, what it tastes like, what it smells like.

But often on these pages I have lamented that, from L’homme, all I asked was love. All I wanted was for him to love me. As I would say this, a thought would scurry across my mind quickly, wondering what exactly I meant by that but not finding the time to linger or ponder. I wasn’t certain beyond reasonable doubt how this love would feel, would taste, would smell. I had this niggling sense that it sounded somewhat corny.

So I started battling with the love I so desperately wanted from L’homme. Recently it struck me that the love I was looking for would feel, would taste, would smell intimate. The more I mulled it over, the more I became certain that I wanted L’homme to love me intimately. Not only in the sexual sense of the word, but also in the familiar sense, the private, personal sense, the thorough sense, the close sense, the essential, intrinsic sense, in the sense found only in very close, very special relationships.

In that special way in which your eyes would momentarily lock across a crowded room and tell a fleeting heartfelt tale of love, of commitment, of involvement, of presence. In which a touch would convey the warmth of love, of commitment, of involvement, of presence. In which body language would bubble over excitedly with stories of love, of commitment, of involvement, of presence. In which a hug would enfold the intensity of love, of commitment, of involvement, of presence. What I wanted, was for L’homme to be intimate with me, in every sense of the word, also in the sexual sense of the word.

But L’homme could not do this. L’homme fears intimacy as much as he fears love, fears commitment, fears involvement, fears being present. Above all, he fears fear itself. To make it easier, he pours another glass of wine, lights another cigarette, searches for another girl on the porn site that promises uncomplicated sex.

L’homme would kiss me with his eyes searching past mine for what was happening behind me, he would mostly make love to me in a way that he couldn’t see my face, he would talk to me with his body turned away. I would feel saddened, I would feel hurt. I now understand why. His absent presence was not intimate.

Driving with The Princess for her walk today, I hear a local artist’s rendition of Pink Martini’s fabulous song ’Sympathique’. I bought the CD at a concert held on Mother’s Day. L’homme stood in the queue with me to have it autographed.

Long ago I knew the smell of love,
a million roses didn’t smell as sweet.
Now a single flower in my way makes me sick.

I don’t want to work,
I don’t want to lunch
I only want to forget and so I smoke.
~Pink Martini : Sympathique


I simply adore this ditsy little tune. Whenever it played in the shop, L’homme would merrily sing along and translate it for me. Occasionally he would take me in his arms and dance with me. I now understand those were occasional intimate moments, as intimate as L’homme was capable of being. From now on, when I say all I wanted was for L’homme to love me, I will mean that all I wanted from him was intimacy.

(L’homme and I are both Leonard Cohen fans. The inscription in front of the book reminds me that I bought it for us as holiday reading just before our trip abroad in 2007. In the beginning of last year, The Poet was between accommodations. He stayed with us for a few weeks. My and The Poet’s friendship got off to a rocky start many years ago, but over time we have settled our differences. Today I enjoy The Poet’s company. Here The Poet is reading the book. The Princess is comfortably snuggled up next to him, reading stories of her own through his glasses.)

Firstly battling with words



samedi, le 03 octobre 2009

I’ve looked at love from both sides now
From give and take, and still somehow
It’s love’s illusions I recall
I really don’t know love at all
~Joni Mitchell : Both sides now


There are some words I inherently battle with. The first time I can recall hearing the words ’honour’ and ’respect’ was as a tiny little girl, sitting not quietly in church next to My Mother. The stern, strict and very learned minister spoke with sweeping gestures, the long arms of his black priest’s robe sweeping across the pulpit. He’d urge the congregation to follow the Ten Commandments. He’d urge me, specifically, to ’Honour thy father and thy mother that thy days may be long.’ I’d crane my neck to glance admiringly at my father sitting amongst the elders, I’d look up lovingly at My Mother sitting next to me. Their eyes fixed on the minister. I’d think how much I loved them and that my days were already long, especially on Sundays. Just sitting through the sermon was longer than an eternity could then be, especially at the age of seven or five.

The minister would warn how fire and brimstone, the agents of divine wrath, would be visited upon those who do not obey. I played with the pretty silver buckle on my new pink shoes. I accidentally bumped my psalm book. It noisily fell to the floor. I slid off the hard wooden pew to pick it up. Suddenly, unexpectedly, the fire and brimstone of My Mother’s hand firmly gripped my upper arm. She yanked me back onto the bench next to her and hissed that I should sit still. That I’m such a naughty child. That I am so unruly.

I instinctively knew my day had just gotten longer. Playing with the pretty silver buckle on my new pink shoes I’d thought that I honoured and respected. Suddenly, after honouring and respecting, comes fire and brimstone. After sitting through many similar Sunday sermons, I eventually formed an understanding of the words ’honour’ and ’respect’ and both had, indelibly imbedded in them, a healthy helping of fire and brimstone, a good dose of fear.

To this day I look at people strangely when they say that all they want is a little respect. I have no desire to be respected. For, should someone respect me, they would, by inference, also fear me. I really do not want to be feared. I would more like to be considered and once considered, judged on the merits of who I am. For, I am sometimes good, sometimes bad, sometimes kind, sometimes cruel, sometimes happy, sometimes sad but I am always me.

As of late, I have been battling a bit with the word ’love’. About that I will tell you tomorrow.

(Storm clouds gathering on a late summer afternoon.)

Nomenclature


vendredi, le 02 octobre 2009

Brave is still hobbling along on crutches. It seems like an eternity has passsed since he was knocked off his bicycle and it seems like another eternity is going to pass before he will be back on his own two feet. Literally.

Brave has sent Lovemore to help me out in the meantime. He is tall, thin, neatly dressed and laughs easily. Not quite as heartily and infectiously as Brave, but still. I like people who laugh easily, they generally deal with sorrow better.

I wonder what his parents were thinking when they gave him his name. Did they think they would need to love him more than others? Or did they think that he would love more than others? Or did they think he would simply love more people and things to do justice to his name? Did they instinctively know the importance of love?

Lovemore tells me he won’t be able to work for me next week. Nor the next two weeks for that matter. He is going to his homeland to visit his family. Selfishly I immediately think of my garden. It’s is again facing neglect with no-one to Edward Scissorhands the bushes into shape. Then I realise the sacrifices Lovemore has to make to spend the largest part of the year away from his family, his loved ones, to earn a meager living in a foreign land.

I give Lovemore his wage. I give him a little extra and tell him to have a safe journey. Tell him to take care of himself. A broad smile spreads across his face. He hugs me spontaneously. I think how easy it is to make a little difference to somebody else’s life.

(Life coaches and the like often pose the question: ‘If time and money were not the issue, what would you like to do?’ Right now I’d like to be in the city I like best, with a metro ticket in my purse, the cobble-stoned pavements beneath my feet and a street café close by.)

Losing my life line


jeudi, le 01 octobre 2009

What a party! In celebration of her 50th birthday, The Jeweller pulled out all the stops. The garden was bathed in flaming torchlight, beautiful bunches of St Joseph Lilies were everywhere to be seen. Smartly dressed waiters walked around with trays of flutes filled with the driest of French Champagne. Then the snacks where handed round. An endless stream of the tiniest, bight-size delicacies.

My Witty Friend was the instigator of the party. She lives in a town about a two hour flight away, but her husband’s illness prevented her from making the trip. He’s not doing well at all. In fact, I think the end of his suffering is near. The Jeweller tells me that she has strict instruction from My Witty Friend. In her absence, I should have her quota of wine for the evening as well.

I seek out some old varsity friends. The wine flows, the snacks are devoured and the years that lie between us, are talked away until it feels like we are again sitting around a table in the quaint, leafy town where we attended varsity. Except back then the wine was much cheaper and the snacks were primarily crisps and peanuts. Only on very special occasions we may have had some dips to go with the crisps. But the chatter and the laughter is still the same. Thinking of My Witty Friend, I take another glass of red wine from the tray.

This morning I pressed the snooze button on my alarm clock many more times than I could afford. Waking up after an evening of drinking for two was not going to be easy. Clearing my head was not going to be possible.

I drag myself to my laptop and stare at the screen through the steam coming from the tea cup in my hands. No mail is downloading. This is too good to be true, the hangover gods must be on my side. But then I realise no mail is going out either. Then I discover that I have no connection to cyber space.

I make a frantic phone call to my service provider. All is in order. I make a frantic phone call to my ADSL supplier. Nothing is in order. There have been road works to some major throughway not far from where I live and the cables have been damaged. Sorry. No telling when they will be repaired. I stutter a few buts, try to explain about deadlines that I need to meet. I get told to check every half hour or so. I can tell my appeals are falling on deaf ears. Without bothering to explain about my pounding head, I put the phone down. I stare at my screen in disbelief.

I open a report I need to write. I battle to find the words through the red wine haze in my head. I have some more tea. I make something to eat. I stare at the screen. I start typing, but use the backspace key a lot. Eventually I make some progress.

Driving to the office late this afternoon with the finished report saved on a memory stick, I realise just how dependent I have become on the line that connects me to the outside world. Not only to earn my daily bread, but also for recreation.

Walking The Princess helps to clear my head. But I’m delighted when we bump into her best friend. All the ball throwing and ball picking up with a fuzzy head was becoming tedious.

I linger longer than usual with The Princess while she has her supper. I feed the fish and water some plants. Back at my desk I check my line to the outside world again. A solid green light appears on my router, mails start tumbling into my inbox, the remains of my hangover drift out the door. Delighted I pour myself a glass of wine and start bashing away at my keyboard.

(Our barge broke down on our trip through the South of France last year, a few hundred meters from a restaurant with really fantastic food. The wine, however, more resembled the cheaper variety we used to drink in our varsity days.)

Fedora Man


mercredi, le 30 septembre 2009

Man seeks to escape himself in myth, and does so by any means at his disposal. Drugs, alcohol, or lies. Unable to withdraw into himself, he disguises himself. Lies and inaccuracy give him a few moments of comfort.
~Jean Cocteau


I wanted to post something else this morning, but then this quote came up on my blog through the link I have to a site that provides daily quotes. It should not come as a huge surprise that it, as most things do, reminded me ever so much of L’homme! Again, in a Meatloaf way, I have to give to L’homme: ’Two out of three ain’t bad’. Well, that is if you don’t count cigarettes and porn as drugs - alcohol has already been accounted for. Oh my love, even through the pain, you can sometimes really make me laugh!

One of L’homme’s more endearing disguises was the Fedora. He’d wear one, come rain or shine, indoors and out, day and night. Some Fedoras he bought for himself, some I found, some he received as gifts. One of the last Fedoras I found for him, together with a beautiful white Blanc du Nil shirt, made from lovely, cool Egyptian cotton, was in Carcassonne on our trip to France last year. That day I also bought gargoyles that I have since, very ineffectively, had installed as part of a water feature in my courtyard. If I knew then what I know now? Which wouldn’t I have opted for? The gargoyles or the shirt and Fedora?

Funny thing, hindsight. But I know I wouldn’t have done anything differently. I wouldn’t have known how, then. I wouldn’t have known that I had to it differently.

I haven’t seen L’homme in his signature Fedora for quite some time. I was, however, pleased to see that his Blanc du nil shirt was still part of his wardrobe. Has he not been able to afford a new Fedora now that he is a bit cash strapped after the broads hacked his band? Or has he already got the new ’feet to stand on’ running around madly to find a new Fedora for him? One that fits just right? Who knows? The reality is that I shouldn’t care, even though I do. Funny that, always with a hat on!

Enough of L’homme, his Fedora, his escapism, his disguises. I have a deadline of my own to hunt down. In fact, this deadline went whooshing past so long ago, that I can’t even remember the sound it made.

(The way I mostly remember L’homme from our road trip through France last year. Always with his back to me, always walking away from me and I was always digitally trying to place him in my relentless chase after ‘Les plus beaux villages de France’. Always with the Fedora, often with the Blanc du nil shirt, but already creating the distance he eventually formalised. If the truth be told, I hated it when L’homme figuratively walked away from me, but physically loved watching him walk away. He has an awkward gait that I find irresistibly sexy.)

Forever Young


mardi, le 29 septembre 2009

I can unequivocally say that Forever Young is one of my most favourite Bob Dylan songs. When I heard it this morning, it brought a smile to my face and memories came tumbling out from years I had long forgotten.

Somehow I thought back to my childhood and remembered picking petals off daisies and wondering whether he loved or whether he loved me not. I didn’t realise then that this little game originated in France. I guess I should have known. I should also have known that the original version would have that inimitable French ’C’est la vie’ feeling about it.

Il m’aime un peu
Il m’aime beaucoup
Il m’aime passionnément
Il m’aime à la folie
Il m’aime pas du tout

He loves me a little
He loves me a lot
He loves me passionately
He loves me madly
He loves me not at all


I think of L’homme. I love him a lot, but he loved me not at all. C’est la vie.

For today I will follow Dylan’s words and build a ladder to the stars and climb on every rung, I will be courageous, stand upright and be strong, I will believe that when the winds of changes shift, my heart will again be joyful.

My hands were always busy, but L’hommes feet were always swift. C’est la vie.

(I knew I had taken many photographs of the many exquisite flower seller displays when L’homme and I were in Amsterdam two years ago and started flipping through my archives. I knew I had photographs of Gerbera, the daisy I used in my childhood to ponder love. This photograph was taken two years ago, to the day. How serendipitous is that? Thanks to Bonjour, Happiness for the inspiration.)

Confusing Words


lundi, le 28 septembre 2009

Conventional has never really appealed to me. Particularly not the full catastrophe of conventional with the picket fence, the luxury family sedan in the drive-way, the husband with a successful career in finance and a wardrobe full of various colours of pin-striped suits and matching comfortable, slip-on shoes. The routine of bed at ten, breakfast at seven, fish on Fridays, roast chicken on Sundays and sex under the covers with the lights out, probably on Tuesdays.

To my mind conventional means rigid, inflexible, routined, disciplined, predictable and mostly, boring. I just cannot be most of these things, it just is not me.

I grew up in a household that would probably best be described as off-conventional as opposed to unconventional. There were few rules and lots of freedom. For this I will be eternally grateful.

What attracted me to L’homme was that nothing about him was conventional. He could easily be persuaded to do things spontaneously, impulsively. When we were together, we mostly lived an unconventional life. I was happy to be the financial provider, the home maker, the gracious hostess, the holiday planner. When we lived apart we lived our unconventional lives separately, yet very close together.

I never expected an unconventional life to be easy. At least not for those who live it. I am fine with that, for I have sacrificed a lot and suffered for long and there are many levels on which I will never give in to the expected norm. None of this being easy, but being essential to the person I am.

But as the years dragged on, I realised that L’homme held up an image of being unconventional to cover up his dysfunctionality. His easy come, easy go lifestyle was not based on a fundamental understanding of himself, an essential comfort in his own skin. For many years he has been using copious amounts of booze to pretend who he is and who he is not and somehow the real L’homme fell through the cracks.

I was not hallucinating when I was led to believe that L’homme wanted to be with me, wanted to spend the rest of his life with me, and when he said these things, he knew me well. A possible part of L’homme’s dysfunction is his inability to discriminate between the person and what the person offers.

L’homme was happy with everything I offered. The money, the comfortable home, the extravagant holidays, the lavish meals, the wardrobe, the indulgence of him. I now realise that when he said he wanted to be with me, he probably meant he wanted to be with what I offered. This should hold true, because when the offerings became slim, I was no longer Rispa to him, but Nora and Timid Trudy. Funny that, as I am still me.

On the last night L’homme spoke to me before he left, in a belligerent drunken state he accused me of being insane. In fact, he hissed it at me through clenched teeth. I now very strongly suspect that the insanity he bestowed upon me then and since, is merely a projection of his own madness. Certifiable madness runs in his family. Is it in his genes too?

Oh my love, I feel so very, very sorry for you!

But at least you taught me that there is a marked difference between unconventional and dysfunctional. In my usual functional way, I will embrace an unconventional life. This may be the biggest risk I take, but this is what I have to do. I truly wish for you to step off other’s feet and to find your own.

(This is typical of how I confuse things and go against convention. The most popular Arum Lilies are the white, yellow or pink ones, gorgeously shaped like a funnel, wrapping around a yellow spadix. My favourite Arum Lilies are the black ones, with a purple spadix. Beautifully functional as flowers, yet very unconventional. When I saw these at the florist this morning, there was no way I could resist them, even though I nearly mortgaged My Mother just to have a few stems.)

The Wake of The Princess


dimanche, le 27 septembre 2009

A lazy, lazy Sunday. Catching up with some friends over the phone, watching a spot of cricket, and taking The Princess for her walk.

And as always on a Sunday, some contemplation. I read a poem by Pablo Neruda the other day that reminded me so much of L’homme. I read it again today. It fills me with melancholy.

Clenched Soul
~Pablo Neruda

We have lost even this twilight.
No one saw us this evening hand in hand
while the blue night dropped on the world.

I have seen from my window
the fiesta of sunset in the distant mountain tops.

Sometimes a piece of sun
burned like a coin in my hand.

I remembered you with my soul clenched
in that sadness of mine that you know.

Where were you then?
Who else was there?
Saying what?
Why will the whole of love come on me suddenly
when I am sad and feel you are far away?

The book fell that always closed at twilight
and my blue sweater rolled like a hurt dog at my feet.

Always, always you recede through the evenings
toward the twilight erasing statues.


I walk around my house listlessly for a while. I snuggle next to The Princess on our couch to watch the end of the cricket match. My team looses and this does nothing to improve my melancholy mood. I make some lists for a busy work week to come. I decided to turn in early.

(With the sun setting behind her, The Princess retrieves her ball from the water with proud encouragement from me on the side. I sometimes think some of our fellow walkers must think that I am stark raving mad, not that they would be very wrong, but I do like to encourage The Princess enthusiastically when she retrieves her ball. In L’homme’s words and tone of voice she is always promised a biscuit.)

Market Day


samedi, le 26 septembre 2009

I can hardly believe another month has flown by! It is again last Saturday of the month Village Market Day. My Bountiful Friend is away on what I seriously suspect is a DW (Dirty Weekend) with an ex-lover, but for now she is remaining tight-lipped. So this month I make the trip on my own.

My Mother has already secured the best table in a shady spot under the trees when I arrive. She’s happily chatting to friends and as I walk up to greet her, I think what a truly remarkable woman she is.

She is 91 years old. She still drives her own car, in fact she bought a new car about five months ago, just because the A-class Mercedes is now available with a glass panel in the roof. She has always had a thing about a sunroof in a car and this was the closest she was going to get in the model she loves. She lives in a retirement village in a dusty industrial town about an hour’s drive from the city in which I live. Her house is beautifully decorated in modern, bright furniture and she’s always making changes and adding fresh new touches. She is mentally alive and alert. She lives life to the fullest and enjoys every minute of it. I envy her energy, her determination, her zest for life.

She jokingly scolds me for loosing too much weight and tells me she has a surprise for me to stop the weight loss. I wonder whether she has kidnapped L’homme and is holding him hostage in her car. We both know the reason for my weight loss and my weight has always been a touchy subject, especially with L’homme.

I’ve often been somewhat overweight and have battled most of my life to be thinner than I am. But I have the kind of body that adds a couple of grams around the waist by simply thinking of meals to prepare. A trip past the deli-counter is a sure gain of a few more grams. When I look at a menu, I’ve already added more weight before my order is placed in front of me.

My mother is an excellent cook, genes she made sure were transferred to me. I love good food, I love eating well. I hate the consequences. But since L’homme left, eating has been difficult. The upside is, I’m much thinner than I was when he was around.

My Mother and I take a walk past the food stalls. I pick a plate of gnocchi with a delicious Napolitana sauce. I wolf it down and tell her my apetite is back. But I suspect she knows it’s not true. We sip our ridiculously large glasses of red wine and exchange stories of a week gone by.

My mother buys me a beautiful apron to encourage me back into my kitchen. I buy burgandy roses and lovely pickles for a foodie friend’s upcoming birthday.

When we leave, My Mother fetches me a desktop convection oven from her car. She assures me it is a must have in a kitchen for one. I hug her tightly, thank her profusly and think how much I love her, how special she is.

It is nice to come home to The Princess who is elated to see me.

(I always wanted a garden that was just purple, white and green, but I think the time has come to add splashes of colour. Today I bought a burgundy rose bush, I can’t wait for it to flower and flourish in my garden.)

Marie Antoinette – Fictional Account



vendredi, le 25 septembre 2009

Marie Antoinette was taken from her home in Austria to be married to a man in France who seemingly had no desire for her. To ease the lack of affection from her husband, to deal with his impotence, she went on lavish shopping sprees, investing in beautiful dresses, shoes to match and wigs that caused heads to turn wherever she went.

But she also instituted positive changes in the court, she did away with segregated dining spaces, heavy make-up and opted for a more simple feminine look. She had little influence over her husband, the by now King, and he didn’t discuss matters of importance with her. He shut her out. To still her agitated mind, she kept herself busy, she read avidly and tried to learn a foreign language, with little success.

She was, however, instrumental in the appointment of a popular Minister of Finance, but when the bread prices soared, the Minister was sacked. The rioting Parisians took to the streets and stormed the Bastille. Most of the royalists fled France, but Marie Antoinette stayed behind to support her husband. Despite her life being in danger. Despite his impotence, despite his shutting her out.

France declared war on Austria and Marie Antoinette was officially seen as the enemy of all of France. When the monarchy was officially ended, the King was separated from his family, tried by the Revolutionary Tribunal and executed.

Marie Antoinette’s health began failing. She was taken to the Conciergerie and resolutely declined all plots for her escape. She chose to face the consequences of her choices.

Given no time to prepare, her trial was mostly a farce and in a Kafkaesque kind of a way. Someone had been telling lies about Marie Antoinette and, one morning, she was executed. The liars were the libelles.The most ridiculous accusation was that she sexually abused her son. She emotionally turned to the women in the courtroom, but despite the support of the market women who once bayed for her entrails, the outcome of her trial had already been decided.

Wearing a simple white dress she was taken to the Place de la Révolution. She accidentally stood on the executioner’s foot as she was led to the guillotine. Pardon me Sir, I meant not to do it were the last words she spoke before being beheaded.

My fascination with Marie Antoinette? I often jokingly say I was Marie Antoinette in a previous life. The reason why I am so angry and disgruntled in this life, is because I was beheaded on the basis of lies.

I moved from a city I loved to be with a man whose pretense of Frenchness did not go unnoticed. Despite his impotence and shutting me out, I stuck with my king. I spent excessively. I tried to bring about change, but all to no avail. When the money ran out and the party was over and the creditors were banging on the door, my king led himself away. Wearing a simple black dress, I was led to slaughter.

But I remember well the happy days. If I do not return to them in this lifetime, then maybe another.

(The towers of the Conciergerie and beautiful, simplistic Parisian lampposts. The ornately decorated lampposts on what is today Place de la Concorde with the ever present Tour de Eiffel.)

A Day of Rest.


jeudi, le 24 septembre 2009

Today is a public holiday. I have to admit that I’m not entirely sure why, but I’ll take the day off nonetheless!

The ICC Cricket Champions Trophy is being hosted in my country. So all I have to do today is to watch my team play, take The Princess for her romp in the park and go to The Artist’s birthday bash. I can so manage all that. Oh and then I just need to finish off the lamb casserole which will be the main feature on the menu. No problem.

I love my latest bed rest read and am couch camping with The Princess when I get a text message from The Poker Man. He wants to know what I’m doing. I tell him I have one eye on the cricket and one eye on the stove and every now and again I read my book. He asks if he can come and watch the cricket with me. I shriek and jump for joy. Since L’homme has left I’ve been left to watch cricket on my own.

I hit the pause button and rush out to the shops. It’s a day for a braai, a day to catch some sport, a day to test another boundary.

When The Poker Man arrives the summer smell of a braai fire hangs in the air, the salads are done and the potatoes have taken the place of the lamb casserole in the oven. I’m amazed at how much stronger it makes me feel to be inspired by food again. To cut things, to chop things, to adjust flavours and to taste until it is just right.

L’homme was always in charge of the braai. It was one thing I never interfered with, never intervened. Now I have to manage the braai for the first time in many, many years myself. I’m uncertain about everything. About how hot the coals should be, how long the lamb must be on the grill for, how often they must be turned. My Sweet Jewboy distracts me with advice, with witty comments, with his quirky sense of humour.

Before I can miss L’homme too much, we sit down to lunch. L’homme could do succulent lamb chops on the Weber, but these are great. I lie, they’re better than great. They are fantastic. With a hint of lemon, a hint of rosemary, a hint of thyme, cooked to rosy pink perfection. I’m immensely proud of myself. I’ve hit the ball way over the boundary, I’ve acquired another new skill. And my team wins the cricket game.

The Princess and I go for a very quick walk in the park and after her supper, we pile into the car with the lamb casserole and other party treats. She’s delighted to see her best friend and I overhear The Princess bragging about the braai. I wink and smile at her. She looks gorgeous in her designer collar I bought for her in Paris, as usual to L’homme’s annoyance.

Friends start arriving, the wine flows and the conversation interesting and entertaining. Compliments from the lunch table spill over to the dinner table. The yoghourt lamb casserole is excellent. I was hoping there would be some leftovers for The Poker Man, but not a morsel is left.

The dinner ends early. I pick a DVD from The Artist’s library. The Princess and I settle back on our favourite couch and watch a movie. A perfect end to a near perfect day. Tonight I can again whisper ’faire bons rêves’ to L’homme as I crawl between the covers with a smile and I can sleep with the fairies.

(The Princess with her gorgeous collar all the way from Paris.)

My home is my own


mercredi, le 23 septembre 2009

When it became impossible for me to support L’homme and me on my salary in the city I loved, I was fortuitously offered a transfer to the capital city along with a substantially increased salary. As in the biblical tale, L’homme in those days told everybody where I go, he will go, where I lodge, he will lodge. In the city I loved, L’homme was poor and had little prospects. He happily followed me to this city where we now live.

When we arrived in the city ten years ago, the house hunt began. I very soon realised that L’homme had little interest in finding us a home. The show day Sunday list had to be kept short with a break for lunch or a stop at a bar. He became increasingly irritable with my inability to find a house that felt like home to me. We eventually saw the house I now live in. L’homme loved it and convinced me it’s the house I should pay for.

I remember well the day the transfer went through. I sat on the steps in the kitchen and gave in to severe buyer’s remorse. I cried bitterly. I told L’homme I’d made a terrible mistake. I bought a house in the wrong area, it was too close to poorer suburbs, suburbs that were just going to get poorer with time, it was not in a suburb that cried ‘location, location, location’. I told him the value of the property was not going remain linked to inflation. I told him that with poverty creeping nearer, there was going to be an increase in crime. Halfway through my heartfelt sorrow, L’homme had already left for the nearest bar.

Whilst the house was just up the street from where I worked, it was also a short walk for L’homme to a once quaint street lined with bars and restaurants. I juggled my new position and creating a home. L’homme juggled the drinks and new found friends. Soon the walk from the bars to the house became too tedious for L’homme and he moved out to be even nearer to the bars.

I never really liked the house that much. I found it difficult to create resonance with my soul. I started making a few changes, commissioning some artwork and mainly battling with L’hommes absence, his presence, his absence, his presence. Every time he moved out, I liked the house less, every time he moved in, I tried to create a home. But there was always the lure of the bars. In the meantime my house starting falling prey to the gratuitous crime this city is so well known for. With ever new security breach, security would be improved, but it never appeared to be enough.

By now I was juggling a day job, a business of my own, fighting off criminals and trying to make sense of L’homme’s moving out and moving in. The crime became so bad over the Christmas periods that we started referring to the season of cheer as the season of fear.

Then suddenly L’homme announced that he was moving back in. Permanently. He’d made up his mind. I was the woman for him. He needed to look after me. He wanted to grow old with me. He didn’t want a life with anybody else. He was back for good and was not leaving again.

I went back to making my house a home. After another series of violent attacks, I completely overhauled the security of the house, essentially making it impenetrable. I started repainting the outside of the house to ward off evil and to reflect my somber fight against crime. I made sure to include bright splashes of colour to celebrate the happiness in my heart of L’homme in my bed and to let the criminals know that they can’t get me down and they won’t drive me out. Not with L’homme watching over me.

When we came back from France last year, Brave and I started painstakingly re-painting the inside of the house. It is no coincidence that one of my colours of choice was French Green and this was to be used in every room.

L’homme didn’t help much with the painting. Not because he cannot hold a paint brush. It’s just that any such domestic activity reeks of suburbia to him. He finds domestic activity stifling. Oppressing. He did help to re-hang paintings and re-shuffle artwork. To his credit he did help me with some mosaic tiling in the TV room. But all my nesting, all my home making, added to his irritation and frustration. Before the last paintings found a new place on the wall, L’homme’s irritation and frustration bubbled over, he threw blame my way, he ducked from responsibility and he left.

Tonight I’m turning the music up loud, I’m sipping a glass of wine, I’m cooking a wonderful lamb casserole and I’m dancing in the kitchen while The Princess’ soft brown eyes are growing larger. She hasn’t seen this much kitchen joy and activity in months!

I’m taking my house back for me. I’m creating a home for me. For now.

(How apt is it that one of my favourite sculptures in my courtyard is a Kokopelli and the scary part is that I had this sculpture commissioned!! Did I suspect then what I so know now? It was commissioned in the days when L’homme was not living with me. I fell in love with Kokopelli and other New Mexican art on a trip there a few years ago, in a life before L’homme. The Kokopelli is a trickster god, someone who plays tricks or otherwise disobeys normal rules and conventional behaviour, and is sometimes referred to as Casanova of the Cliff Dwellers. He is always depicted as hunchbacked and always playing some sort of flute and often takes part in rituals relating to marriage. L’homme was my Kokopelli, the trickster god, the Casanova, taking part in rituals of marriage, but always slouched under the weight of the bottle, definitely not the weight of the deceitful mind – that responsibility he shifted to others.)

Walking through the fire


mardi, le 22 septembre 2009

I’m looking for a book. A very specific book. A book I need to draw inspiration from to draw. I still toying with the idea that I need to make at least more than one etching. But standing between me and etching is this small problem of drawing. But if I can breathe without L’homme, I can teach myself to draw an adequate stick man.

In my search I come across a Charles Bukowski book I bought for L’homme in New York. I seldom bought only for me or only for us. I often bought for L’homme. I doubt whether he ever read it. It doesn’t have the characteristic breaks in the spine of a book read by L’homme. Nor does it have his obligatory red wine stained signature. ’What matters most is how well you walk through the fire’

I page through the book. I too like Hank’s poetry, maybe not as much as L’homme, who from experience can relate better. I like it in an amusing kind of a way. I come across the poem ’the icecream people’ with the opening line:
the lady has me temporarily off the bottle
and now the pecker stands up
better


I realise L’homme may be able to relate well to many of Hank’s experiences. L’homme would not be able to relate to his honesty though, for L’homme has no honesty to call his own.

As with Hank, L’homme, our sex life was never precarious because of my stomach, it was precarious because there was always a bottle on your pecker. Face it. Admit it. And take another bit of blame away from me and add it to the pile in the bottom of your wardrobe.

I think about the fire L’homme lit around me. I wonder how well I am walking through the fire. On some days I walk through the fire L’homme lit around me bravely, on some days weakly, but in a Chruchillian way, I mainly keep walking.
If you are going through hell, keep going
~Winston Churchill


I wonder how well L’homme is walking through the fire. But I realise that he was the arsonist. He walks away from the fire he lit, comfortably on someone else’s feet.

(In the park where The Princess and I go for her daily walk, they did some controlled burning some time ago. I’m amazed at how quickly and how green the new reeds are coming through. Maybe the reeds needed the dead weight lifted in order to grow again. Maybe I need to lift the dead weight.)

Hopping Mad, So Very Sad


lundi, le 21 septembre 2009

It’s rush, rush to The Physio, rush, rush to The Shrink. It’s stumbling in, it’s falling down, it’s breaking down. It’s sob, sob. It’s mad, mad.

I hate giving one step forward and taking ten paces back. I had too much L’homme contact last week. I’m mad at myself for ever falling for his charms, his lies, his deceit. And if it was only once, I could probably have moved on, but it was over and over again. I’m sad for myself for being cheated, betrayed, intentionally lied to. I hate myself for allowing my heart to do the thinking, for moving from comedy to tragedy in one swift, tiny error of judgement. Worst of all, I’m down right angry about the arrogance, the malice and callousness with which L’homme orchestrated all of this.

I tell The Shrink that he’s looking for himself, that he needs to find his own feet. I wonder whether he misses me while he’s looking for himself out there. In the past that may have been true. L’homme was always the one that followed me around. He moved to be with me. He moved to be near me. Looking for feet to stand on.

Then the pattern started of moving out, moving back in, moving out, moving back in. Over and over again. Every time I let him go. Every time I took him back.

’ I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where. I love you straightforwardly, without complexities or pride; so I love you because I know no other way.’
~Pablo Neruda


But as time wore on, his charm made way for his callous unconcern for my feelings, his lack of capacity to have empathy for my situation which became our situation. He became persistently irresponsible towards our relationship, with my love. He was the one that established the relationship in a hot tub with drunken sex and laid down the law. But as time wore on, the ease with which he established the relationship made way for his inability, his incapacity and his unwillingness to maintain it.

When I finally ran out of money, his frustration with the strains this put on his self-indulgent lifestyle boiled over. Without a shred of guilt, without a shred of remorse, he callously stepped off my feet and maliciously ended our relationship. And straight to the bar and the booze and to rationalising how none of this was his fault at all. Shifting all the blame on me. He took the clothes I bought him and left a large heap of blame behind. Dressed like a rake, he went off in search of his next target. One with money, one with feet he can stand on.

What infuriates and saddens me today is his total and utter lack of honesty. Towards me, towards himself. His declarations of love were lies. His intentions of establishing a relationship were false. He would choose to call them momentary truths, but I am with Friedrich Engels on this one: ‘An ounce of action is worth a ton of theory”. L’homme loves to theorise, rationalise, philosophise, to think that he thinks. In fact that’s what he was doing on the night that he, with his distinct flair for irresponsibility, decided to snub me and the special dinner I had cooked and I retreated into silence.

If he presented himself as a cad, I would have been spared the hurt and pain. But he presented himself as an honourable man, basically an honest person. Like a love-struck fool, I fell for it. That tiny error of judgement. The Clever One would laugh at me with all her might. We always warned each other against people who said they were basically honest. We rated it as possible as pigs that could fly. But for L’homme I was prepared to make an exception. That tiny error of judgement.

What makes me truly angry is the blame L’homme is trying to shift on me to absolve himself. I never stopped loving, I never stopped caring, I only ran out of money. What makes me sad is how he shifted from being charming, witty, intelligent, warm and caring to being cold, calculated, arrogant, callous and malicious.

L’homme continues to lure women into his life, into his bed with the same pack of charm, lies and deceit and when someone likes him too much, he arrogantly steps back, accuses her of being insane. The vicious circle of his desire to establish relationships and when he realises that he needs to do some maintenance on what he has established, he cold-heartedly shifts the blame and slinks off to rationalise how none of this was his fault.

It is with sadness that I realise my role in this. In the years L’homme was with me, I provided him with the space, the time, the places and the means to apply more and more layers of veneer to a personality he so badly wanted to hide. He would loose a job, I would provide, he would be ill, I would nurse him back to health, he would loose a job, I would employ him, he would have nothing to wear, I would dress him, he would need a break, I would whisk him off on an exotic holiday, he would have nowhere to stay, I would let him move in. All I asked was love. Every time L’homme would add another layer of veneer until thirteen years later he must’ve felt invincible, unimpeachable. And then the arrogance, callousness and malice boiled over.

Of L’homme, with his PhD in con-artistry, one of the nicer things that could be said is that he married well.

The last thing I’d like to give L’homme is the blame he shifted onto me. He can take that blame and put it in his wardrobe. Every morning he opens his wardrobe, he can be confronted by memories of me and memories of how he is to blame for the hurt and pain he left in his wake. I’d like to give L’homme responsibility.

(To find some calmness, I bury my nose in a book and shut L’homme and the world out.)

Blah, Blah, Blah


dimanche, le 20 septembre 2009

Not in a chatty, happy way. Not in an inspired, chipper way. Not in a desperate, depressed way. Just in a blah way. A kind of deflated, flat way. A Sunday bluesy way.

I potter around with a bit of this and a bit of that, but nothing settles. I pick up a bed rest read and decide it’s time for my coccyx to lie down. My mind potters around with words here and words there, but nothing settles.

I remember a conversation with L’homme not too long ago on the beach-front couch. He told me that he is reminded of me every morning when he opens his wardrobe. Funny that. All he has is his clothes. All his clothes I bought for him. What reminds me of him is his absence. The void he left behind. In my house, in my heart, in my life. I turn over and go to sleep.

I awoke and at times birds fled and migrated that had been sleeping in your soul.
~Pablo Neruda


I realise that it’s been a month since I posted The Inspiration. I’m secretly pleased that I’ve managed to take a daily journey in photos and words. Even if I sometimes upload a few journeys at a time, the journeys are taken daily and are uploaded as time permits. I inwardly cringe at the extent to which I am baring my soul in a public forum. But I remind myself that it is OK, because I want to be brave and strong and true. Cowardice, weakness and lies have never worked for me. I am now grappling with the full extent of L’homme’s cowardice, weakness and lies not only to me, but also to himself.

I cannot decide on a photo to go with today’s post. I curl up on the couch next to The Princess and absently flick through Pink Floyd’s ’channels of shit on the TV to choose from, choose from…’. Ah!!! Mamma Mia – The movie is showing in enough time for me to grab a glass of wine, empty my bladder and get a handful of snacks.

I danced to ABBA music at garage parties in my youth, liking their music much, much more than I ever admitted to. I have extremely fond memories of the evening My Bountiful Friend and I went to see the stage production with my Famous Friend. He had us rolling in the aisle with his interpretation of auditioning for a role in the Far East stage production. I wonder if L’homme can remember a morning when we saw the sun rise on his beach-front couch, screaming with laughter at the Global Investor, doing a Mamma Mia shuffle on the pavement? Be that all as it may, a bit of nostalgia was just what I needed on this Blah, Blah, Blah day.

Pure, pure, wonderful escapism!! But by the time Meryl Streep sang The winner takes it all, I simply howled. But then I also knew there was only one photo I could possibly add to today’s post.

(Walking down Broadway with L’homme exactly about two years ago, I must’ve known I would ultimately find a reason to use this photo. Or is this proof that I am even today more of a closet ABBA fan than I am prepared to admit?)

Time for thinking, time for feeling, time for etching.


samedi, le 19 Septembre 2009

The wings of time
faintly whisper magic spells
softly promise healing
meekly mention change

The hands of time
tick past the trickery
of an aching heart
willing on the mind

The certainty of time
sprinkles fairy dust
on the gaping wound
lighting a path for reason

Time for feeling
time for thinking
time for tragedy
time for comedy
~Rispa Frances


I dropped in at The Artist’s house today with some delicious home industry treats. She has an upcoming exhibition and needs to stock up on her etchings.

She delicately draws her images on the etching plate, dips it in acid, carefully applies the ink and then… the anticipation as the plate rolls under the press. The delight at another beautiful work of art!

I’m in awe. She convinces me it’s easy. I confess that I cannot draw a stick man. But before I know it she thrusts a tiny etch plate in my hand and tells me to draw anything I see in the room. I nervously look around and my eyes keep going back to an antique clock. So it happened that I made my very first, very own etch!

It’s doubtful that I’d ever coquettishly be able to use the old romantic cliché ’want to come up and see my etchings?’ with reference to etchings by my hand. It may be more likely that I will be referred to, as was the girl in The Thin Man, ’She just wanted to show me some French etchings’. I have many etchings albeit that none of them are French!

Today I was really inspired, I just love creative processes and cringe at my own inabilities, but who cares?

I loaded The Artist’s hound in the car, came home to pick up The Princess and the three of us had a great time in the park.

As always, I so badly wanted to share this silly little piece of my creation with L’homme. I shared it with The Princess instead. Somewhere in all this insanity there must be sanity, but right now my heart hurts too much for my head to think.

(My first etching.)

Dining out


vendredi, le 18 septembre 2009

It was My Husband’s idea that we go out for dinner tonight to celebrate the end of an era and the start of my life without the shop.

My Husband is not a husband in the biblical sense. He is an incredibly good friend and has been for many years. We have a mutual friend who lives Down Under. My Husband and I once conjured up this trick to play on our mutual friend, who is not aware how close our friendship had grown, and to let her know that we have tied the knot. We even arranged a wedding ceremony at the shop. L’homme was meant to be the priest, I cannot recall who was meant to be the pageboy, but neither of them showed up. I suitably arrived half an hour late and from that day my dear, darling good friend became My Husband. If he did not bat for the other team, he would indeed have been fantastic marriage material!!

The Painter had just come back from his first international exhibition in New York, The Artist arrived with paint on her hands, frantically finishing work for a local exhibition in a few weeks’ time and The Actress was delayed by a shoot that overran.

We’re having dinner at my favourite local. The food is good, the prices reasonable. The wine is flowing. The chatter is light, amusing and entertaining. We swap travel stories and life insights.

I walk back from the bathroom and see L’homme sitting on the balcony. My heart skips a beat. One of the things that influenced my decision to sell the shop was that I no longer wanted to be on a street where L’homme was every night. I no longer wanted to face painful reminders of him every day. If he is now going to decide to move around the corner and run me out of my favourite local, I will really be furious.

I sit down at the table. A somber, black cloud hanging over my pleasant evening. I regret phoning him last night. I regret ever falling for his charm. I regret having been made a fool of for so very, very long. But more than that, I regret still missing him so very, very deeply. Again, tortures from a distance with his new found cruelty and malice.

My Husband hugs me and holds me tight. He plants a kiss on my forehead. I take a huge sip of wine. I take control. I pretend. I laugh. I talk. I arrive home in tears.

(L’homme and I never visited any for New York’s famous museums. L’homme was always in search of a bar, I was always in search of a shop. We did make it to the entrance of the Museum of Modern Art, but it was almost closing time. I did manage to buy some things at the museum shop though, of course to L’homme’s great irritation.)