I thought I'd take a short break from my usual mind-blowing, deep, intellectual, philosophical posts (lol) And post some random things about myself.. But Firstly some rude, inappropriate jokes:

(oh, and apologies to my sensitive readers.. I could not edit the cartoons.. so if you are sensitive, please move right to the useless information. But I had to post this, it is hilarious).

It seems fitting to joke about the political situation in my country as well as the pig flu pandemic in the world!

1. Jacob Zuma and the political ideas in South Africa



2. The Swine Flu pandemic in the world.. haha

Ok.. So moving along...

On Facebook a while back there was this "25 random things about me" that people were posting, I thought it was really cool and because I have constant verbal (and written) diarrhea... I wanted to post more than 25, but since that was bad etiquette, until the whole world started doing it, I decided to write 25 more on here.

Sorry for those who are already bored.. I told you this is the DELISE (Princess of the Universe) Blog :) deal with it!!!

1. I was a chess champion at school

2. I met Charlize Theron so randomly it was freaky!! (I wasn't even stalking Celebs at the time)

3. I used to be very skinny AND I used to be very fat!

4. I had a boy-cut short hair and long hair down to my bum and I had almost all my hair fall out at one point.

5. I failed Maths in school a multitude of times lol

6. I can understand and speak a little bit of Arabic - because most of my friends growing up were Muslim.

7. I really am a romantic at heart.. (Oh shut up!)

8. I love animals, I love the environment and have started "going green".. I hope I can make a difference.

9. I watch about 3 movies a week and I HAVE to watch it in the opening week.. a week later is too late! grrrr

10. I have accomplished all of the childhood dreams which I had. I need some new ones! Right now, I am just pausing on the pursuits and having some regular old fun!

11.Raced a BMW M3 on the road in my little Golf 1and beat it before breakfast.

12. Don't anger the beast.. I can get very mad, very quickly.. it ain't pretty :)

13. I am a chocoholic - need I say More?

14. I have 49 cousins and we all hang out whenever there is a family event!

16. I can become really passionate and fanatical about things that I believe in.

17. Did the World Class driving experience twice.. ahhh super cars..

18. Am planning to see the Formula 1 races in every city where they are held, my dream is to do it all in one year - but realistically, If I can manage one or two locations a year - that would be the bomb!

19. I used to work at Sun City Resort, but at times I didn't stay overnight at the resort, I would drive to and from there daily - 2 hours each way in my white Jetta - it sucked but the drive down became my think-tank. I would leave at 4am and watch the sun come up while waiting for the goats to cross the highway.. oh yes.. and then I had to wear a company t-shirt and jeans and go collect time-sheets in the boiling heat of the summer sun while watching the tourists tan by the pool.. It was fun though. Alot of perks in that job.

20. My family is a mixture of German, Italian, half and half (not sure what) & Indian.. hmmm maybe THAT's what went wrong with me! hahaha.

21. I watched Josh Groban live in concert and it was the best one I'd been to.

22. I spent my 21st Birthday at a drag strip.. Surprised?

23. I was engaged at the age of 19 - my father nearly fainted at the announcement :)

25. I was thrown out of a restuarant in Italy for having my credit card declined.. I then got to my hotel and my bags were waiting for me at the door.. The restuarant called the hotel! I had no immediate way of fixing the problem. Slept in the Train station in Pescara.. went to Rome the next day and got money from the South African embassy and continued one of the best trips of my life! (I was only 18 at the time hahahaha)

Was that useless info or WHAT! (Amy - No Comment!!)

SOME VERY RANDOM PICTURES.....

Denver Skyline (Bad pic from my Blackberry!)

AHHH the cutsey whootsey little Panda Bear in San Diego Zooo :)

Yip _ I was not kneeling.. I was standing!

Looking like a thug??!!?? LOL

The Chicago sunset
So this is what I do at every F1 Race I attend.. Stalk the drivers, snap their pics, get autographs... :)

Ahh my little nephew - he was so small. He is 4 years old now. He has the funniest laugh.. giggle giggle. Such a great personality he has.

This was in Charlotte, North Carolina, where I lived for 9 months... Starved for entertainment, we went to watch School bus racing and people watching!

This place is beautiful - it is in Ashville NC - The Bilmore Estate - Yes, it's an actual house.

The side streets of Venice, by the realto bridge. 30th Birthday celebration.

One of my favourite summer past times... :)

My best friend and her dear hubby - sigh... miss you guys.

The race car in South Africa.. sigh... miss you race car... :)

Life has a mind of its' own.....

This weekend was a very nice, quiet one. In preparation for the two trips I have planned coming up, I decided to do a lot of nothing. Work has been rather stressful, still involved with budgets and such.. of which, I now think I should get paid the salary of a finance person! :)

The finance people who control said budgets (due to economic reasons) disagree :)

In any case.... not a very exciting weekend, I just took walks, read some books, watched some movies and just got my relaxing on. I did a small modeling stint for a cosmetic house who wanted to showcase their eye shadows. Why did they ask me? Because I previously bought a boat load of eye shadows from them. Why did I purchase all those? Because they told me I have pretty eyes.. what is a girl to do? “People will believe anything you tell them, as long as it’s a compliment” (And sell you everything you will buy once you buy into their compliment!!) uh em.. (**clears throat**).

So, I have been thinking, as I always do when I am bombarded by time and a labyrinth of empty mental spaces...

I used to be somewhat afraid of what life would ask of me...what vision of myself or the world it would offer that may demand a sacrifice of my carefully cultivated way of seeing.

Now, in my old age... (;) my anxiety has turned more into curiosity.. I have learnt that life will do what it will do.. the difference is in our individuality we need to push our desires, dreams and purpose here on this earth through that mind (of life)... because if we don't... it will decide our fate for us.

At the advent (or arrival really) of Twitter.. I started thinking that this world has gone mad. Yes, ofcourse I joined! I am an exhibitionist afterall - yet a somewhat elusive one.. People think because I blog, Facebook, yahoo, Skype, MSN and post all my adventures and pictures on the www for the world to see., they think they know me.. that when I speak of my joys and pains, my adventures and mishaps - that, that is all of me.. But it is such a small, tiny part that I openly share.

Why? because maybe my life can inspire or help .....and if none of those.. then just entertain or provide sleep to an insominiac! Either way - what is the point of living your life as if it is a big secret to be kept?? When you die will you be happy having the following obituary written by your wife and child (since they are the only ones who ever knew you!:)

Obits page:
This is a tribute to whatshiname.. well, actually, his name is xxx, but that is all we really know of him because he never did (or said) anything amazing. He loved his wife and kids, we think.. because he worked and he went home… err then he died.

Oh, don’t get me wrong.. There is nothing wrong with a certain amount of anonymity – I am not saying display your life in a blog or on facebook if that is not your "thing" or your "style".. I am just saying, don’t dis those who do… maybe knowing that someone else hurts, that someone else reaches their dreams, that someone else goes through things and gets somewhere in life, fails and falls.. can inspire your challenges in life and vice versa. Maybe it is a good idea to share a little of who you are... just in case it can make a difference.

Ok, I got off course with the www thing..

Back to life having a mind of its own.

As time passes and I look back to a mammoth of varied experiences, I see that all my usual cautions about how far and how fast I open my heart to life started to evaporate along the way. A short list of some of the things I wanted to do with my life is:

1. Business Lawyer: Why? It sounded fancy and my teacher told me that “saving the world” is not a career, so I had to chose one with an actual title.. (aka something realistic)
2. Dancer.. We have been through that one! (the fat and chubby non-coordinate!)
3. Save the worlder.. Since "worlder" is not a name for a person who does this job.. I will leave that one up to someone who can come up with a better one!

See , this is the funny thing about me.. And hey – I didn’t create myself, so I am not to blame for the freakish things that envelope my soul! It is all I have ever desired to do.

It creates a lot of fear when you have such an immense desire with no idea where to begin, but I would not trade one moment of the fear for the assurance of a predictable and safe outcome.. I once thought I knew the outcome.. save the world.. be happy – right?

Wrong!!.. some people do not want to be “saved” and some people have a very different view of "salvation" than what you might have in mind for them. I watched “The Soloist” on the weekend.. If you saw it or read the book.. you realize that this word is dying a slow death to interpretation. People are crying and as hard as the tears fall it is not for them to be saved as much as it is for them to be temporarily relieved, sometimes that is how hard people push away and resist from the help and don’t necessarily want to push toward it, because once you are "saved" you now have a responsibility to make it last. I would love to help people do this...

So that is all that I ever had in my heart to do.. What am I doing in IT, then??… erm.. That is a whole other blog for the said insomniacs… :)

In my surfeit of constant wondering (and analysis) of life, I have decided there are two major parts to pay close attention to:

What life throws at you
What you throw at life

And whichever one of those two components overtake the other – that is what your life will comprise of. And make no mistake the first one will happen regardless.. the second one is entirely up to you!

Life has a mind of its own and a strong will - it will come at you - whether you like it, accept it or try to resist and ignore it...

Life has a mind of it' own.....

This weekend was a very nice, quiet one. In preapration of the two trips I have planned coming up. Work has been rather stressful, still involved with budgets and such.. of which, I now think I should get paid the salary of a finance person! :)

So , I wrote a sonnet...

I read the beautiful sonnet that has surpassed the ages, from Elizabeth Barret Browning, written in 1850 something.... One of the most beautiful, expressive sonnets of all time.. Then I decided to write one of my own, with the same title.. and got rightly carried away!! Ha ha so, now it is more of a SAGA that never ends than a sonnet!

How do I love thee?

I love thee with the truth

Of heartache and of tears

Between the grace and all the bitter years

I love thee with all the measure of the rays

From the sun’s unfaded grace

I love thee with the hearts’ pure complexities

In every secret corner of souls desire

Deeply and purely, with rivers of emotion

To the edge of heaven and the core of earth

With freedom and in bondage’s girth

I love thee with every failing breath

Filled to the core of pride’s death

With hunger and thirst and emptiness

I love thee with brokenness and dissatisfaction

With bended knee and satiated heart

I love thee with waiting and wanting

And the laughter of the morning

With the expectation of days’ dawning

In quiet needs, by day… by night

I love thee in every facet and corner of human longing

To every need and every craves’ belonging

Out of every reach of mankind’s depths

Idealistically, realistically, romantically, passionately

I love thee with the senses underneath my feet

I love thee with power and glory’s feat

With my dreams reflection in your eyes

With resolution of all the fruitless searches

I love thee like all the songs in churches

With raw instincts & the very breath of heaven

To every mountain top and steeple

In every language ever learnt on the tongue of every people

I love thee with the loudest shout of inner voices

Like a river, like a flood, like a hurricane

With the deepest depths and highest heights

From the brightest sun to the darkest nights

I love thee truly

I love thee gracefully

I love thee steadfastly

I love thee fiercely

I love thee completely

And even death’s end shall cause me

To love thee even more dearly.

FUN IN THE SUN

So, I was gatvol of the snow in Denver - I decided to skip town to Phoenix for the weekend. It started off a little rocky because I waited for 8 hours at Denver Airport only to have my flight cancelled! They then put me on a new flight (the last one out of the airport, once the airport re-opened) and I had to take the train all the way back to Baggage Claim, run up to check-in, stand in line to get re-checked - the gate was closing in 45 minutes..

I got to the front of the line and the lady, looking through her thick glasses says: " I am sorry folks, we are no longer doing any re-bookings at this time"... I was like NOOOOOOOO. I Started to put on my Golden Globe performance of tears... and then she grabbed my tickets and bag (charged me ANOTHER $15 dollars for my bag!) and then threw my bag on the belt and handed me, with much irritation, a boarding pass. I ran, in heels, laptop bag in hand, Fendi bag over my shoulder.. ran to security - as I approached security.. they announced that they were closing.. I was like how is this possible when there are still flights going! duh! They looked at me like I was a terrorist, huffing and puffing, red in the face, sweating... and eventually let me through. I did all the necessary undressing for security and presto! (one might as well just go naked when travelling – save yourself the hassle!) The only thing that stood between me and the gate was the train to my gate.

Waiting... waiting.. I had 10 minutes to go... come on TRAIN! gees! at last. From the train, OFCOURSE I had to be at the LAST gate! Running on the travelator like a fugative.. jeans slipping down, laptop and bag flying everywhere. I made it! Ahhhhh.. Flight delayed for an hour! Have you EVER???!!!??

I FINALLY arrived in Phoenix at midnight because we had to wait on the runway for like 30 minutes for de-icing to take place. From that point my weekend was a blast! I went go karting, walking along the canal in the hot sun, in all my sun dresses and shorts, drinking wine, eating great food (uh hem.. don’t ask.. but the answer is yes I have!! LOTS).

Not to mention an Awesome Chinese Grand Prix to watch!

The craziest thing happened: I met a friend of mine whom I had not seen in 20 years!!!! OMG it was awesome to see her. We went for dinner and caught up. I am going back to watch her dance production. She lives in Belgium... how crazy to reconnect after 20 years in a random City in the USA????

OH and I lost my drivers license.. bummer – luckily I carry more than one form of ID – or else I would have had to call my boss and tell him the sad news.. I was stuck in Phoenix.. indefinitely hahahhaa

So then Monday morning, back on a flight - back to work bleg. But it was a great weekend.

A Sonnet that I love.. (I think it is funny and Oh SO true):

O me! what eyes hath love put in my head,

Which have no correspondence with true sight,

Or if they have, where is my judgment fled,

That censures falsely what they see aright?

If that be fair whereon my false eyes dote,

What means the world to say it is not so?

If it be not, then love doth well denote,

Love's eye is not so true as all men's: no,
How can it? O how can love's eye be true,

That is so vexed with watching and with tears?

No marvel then though I mistake my view,

The sun it self sees not, till heaven clears.

O cunning love, with tears thou keep'st me blind,

Lest eyes well-seeing thy foul faults should find.

Some pics of rooms in my apartment. It was awkward to take them because of the angles that were awkward...

I collect:
· Lingerie
· Watches
· Ray Bans
· Samurai swords (ok I only have one at the moment)

I hoard:
(I used to say it was for sentimentality, but I think I just have Squirrel-syndrome):

· Stones that I found at the coliseum in Italy
· Wrapping paper from Japan
· Newspaper from Hong Kong
· A love letter written in Italian that I found in Pescara (Italy) after we got thrown out of our hotel and spent the night in the train station (lol)

I would love to meet:
Michael Schumacher
Christian Bale

I would love to experience:
Being in the Pits at the Monaco Grand Prix
Eating chocolate ice cream on a yacht in a white bikini off the coast of Delphi – Greece

I would like to drive:
A Bugatti Veyron
A F1 race car (only RED though! )

Animals I love:

Polar Bears (ahh)
Pandas (double ahh)

I love:
Old Churches
Roti and mince curry
Firing guns
Martial arts
Dancing - Especially Latin
Karaoke
Gothic culture

The Princess and the Pauper
Once upon a time there was a happy little princess even though she was stuck in the ghetto; she knew she was destined for greatness. She spent her days a nights dreaming about faraway places and beauty all around her.
One day she met the handsome prince on a horse.. well 500horses to be exact and noisy as all hell, loud music, hair flying everywhere.. Like a dream come true.

The Princess started to travel to magical places, ate the food of kings and slept in the abode of royalty, savoring the beauty of the mountains, the serenity of the oceans, taking in the architecture painted by artists, poets and religious servants in days gone by, seeing the mesmerizing Parisian lights, the Arabian desert..

As if awakened suddenly from a dream.. she now cleans her own house, cooks her own food and does her own shopping, with money she has to actually work for!
LOL
Ok that was just me bemoaning the fact that after living the life of Royalty I have to work these days! Hahaha.

I spent this weekend relaxing. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a long weekend like it would have been in South Africa, but I cleaned my apartment from top to bottom, even the Turtle got the scrub. And for the most part had some good food, a chocolate bunny and watched A LOT of TV!

Putting my life back into perspective.

The last 2 / 3 weeks have been a bit of a roller coaster of emotions. A lot of changes, disappointments, and a few moments of happiness, too. I feel as if I have gone through a cleansing of sorts. Walked away from friendships, walked away from secrets. Suffered some betrayal and some failure of my own.

So now that the storm, so to speak, has calmed, I feel as if I need to put my life back into perspective.

I always strived to live my life with beauty and truth. Does that mean I am always truthful with people and even with myself? No. But it pulls me toward the very essence of who I am.

My very good friend whom I have known almost my whole life – we met when I was 5 and just starting school –told me that my blog seems sad.. that, I seem sad. It must be my writing skills!! I know it started out sad. It was a journey of much reflection a lot of hurt and disappointment accompanied me to America.. But today I stand on the absolute pinnacle of contentment.

Seeing beauty is not about narrowing our vision, designating only some of its manifestations as worthy. But it is about embracing new concepts with new eyes and with a holistic truth. Suspending judgment. No one on the earth is perfect, so why do we constantly get disappointed when people make mistakes?

I want to live in absolute truth – pretty or hard – My soul’s longing calls me to it. And when the truth revealed is not pretty – my deep hunger for the truth is still satiated.

So, I am looking forward to my future – there are times when I hate Colorado and want to leave and times when I love it, I never want to wake up anywhere else.
LA still keeps calling my name, since the age of 15.. But maybe the time just isn’t quite right. I am not sure.

I have decided that without faith, hope and love – what is life then? Clinical. I never want to be a cynic or a defeatist. My previous blog created a frenzied drama and people questioning: “Princess Delise, No longer believes in love and romance”.. (I added the Princess part for dramatic effect).. Like a news headline. Well, I do. I just don’t believe in clichés – Hollywood has ruined my concept of romance and skewed the world, set us all up for disappointment. But that is a whole other story!!

Anyway, I choose Faith. I choose Hope. I choose Love.

And Yes, I am HAPPY. We all have our moments. And I certainly am no exception!

I am planning a couple of trips and I am looking forward to experiencing some newness, some exciting activities and some dam sunshine! I am SO over winter already.

Looking for site / house plans.. look no further....

YOUR PLANS CC is a company that does the drafting of house plans (big and small) for individuals according to their needs and specifications as well as the supply of building materials for various projects.

http://www.yourplans.blogspot.com/


Contact Antonie and Ingrid - Contact details on their site!!

Assassinating the Piano Man...

Last night, I lay in bed just about to doze off. I have my bose earphones in my ears, the room dark and warm. My silken, red bed covers enveloping my very relaxed body. With a content smile, I close my eyes and put an end to my day as the tune begins.

Humming to its familiarity, waiting for my mind to drift off into dreamland with the contagious tune playing... All of a sudden, I am wide awake. My contentment coming to a screeching holt - WAIT A MINUTE!!!!

Right - Let me begin again.. I know that Amy will say that I am a "romance-scrooge".. but really, I DO believe in romance and passion. I believe in the gut-wrenching, heart-throbbing, breath extracting, pain in the chest, smile on the face for no apparent reason, melting heart, wobbly knees, stars in the eyes kinda love.. I do..

But, I also live my life with consciousness.. sometimes, it is a curse, because nothing escapes me - especially cliches.

So, here I am listening the very beautiful and dubbed possibly one of the most romantic songs out there and think WHAT??? Are you KIDDINGGG????

here is why:

THE ANALYSIS:

Don't go changing,

to try and please me

You never let me down before

So this is a good start. The guy is saying: "Baby, don't fake it just for me, I am attacted to you because of YOU, so I like that you want to do things for me, but don't change what I fell in love with because you think it might impress me, because you have never let me down.. GREAT!

Solid, powerful start to a romantic song.

Don't imagine you're too familiar

And I don't see you anymore

Nice touch - after a while (some) men stop seeing their women, stop adoring and admiring.. so, bonus for him, he still sees her and she is not too familiar for him to still admire, adore and be an attraction for him.

I wouldn't leave you in times of trouble

We never could have come this far

I took the good times, I'll take the bad times

I'll take you just the way you are

And to me this is where the romance of the song ends.. the paragraph above is not bad at all - "good times, bad times I'll take it baby - me - you together". Fab! A man you can rely on to never leave -but, then it starts to go downhill from here..

Don't go trying some new fashion

Don't change the color of your hair

You always have my unspoken passion

Although I might not seem to care

Ok - Instead of just adding my 2 cents here (me - the romance-killer) - I will just interpret what he is actually saying: "Don't try anything new - firstly, it costs money and secondly I like the way you are.. no drastic changes (ok. I'll give him that piece - don't go bleaching your silken brown hair or getting an afro because you think it's the new style - esp when it may just shock the poor man).

But what the hell is "unspoken passion" - you lazy man!! if you are passionate, SHOW it - speak it, scream it, display it - we are not mind readers!!! gees. I do not know that anything passionate can be unspoken, if it is, I question whether it is passion at all. Regardless of what personality type you are - passion is not hidden...

...And I might not "seem to care".... HEY LADY - if he doesn't seem to care - he probably doesn't!!

I don't want clever conversation

I never want to work that hard

I just want someone that I can talk to

I want you just the way you are.

Oh - it gets worse.. he is not only lazy to display passion and wants you to live off the unspoken love he has for you and doesn't seem to care, but he is too lazy, busy, indifferent or otherwise pre-occupied to have conversation with you about more than his toe jam. So, please don't go getting all smart and don't improve your intelligence or knowledge about anything, that is just too bloody exhausting.

Then he insults you by saying: "I want you just the way you are.." I.E - No CLEVER conversation! lovely.

I need to know that you will always be

The same old someone that I knew

The insults continue... the same OLD someone that I knew. I know some will argue that he means the person he met and fell in love with is enough and it is romantic that he will love you just as you are - no pretense, no contest.. but I beg to differ..

I NEED to know that you will always be... - AKA: Please don't improve, evolve or grow as a person.. please stay like THIS so that I don't have to get to know you all over again.. it's tiring. Life is hard enough without having to put any extra effort into love.. love needs to be easy.. stay sweet, dont change in appearance, dont talk all clever - then we are all good - everyone's happy (puke)

What will it take till you believe in me
The way that I believe in you.

Bla bla bla - believe in what? My old fashioned clothes and hairstyle, inefficient communication skills (which BTW you LOVE)

I said I love you and that's forever

And this I promise from the heart

I could not love you any better

Really? I somehow think that every person can love their partner BETTER than "unspoken passion, don't talk all fancy, don't go changing your looks, don't make me work hard, just stick through good and bad times and above all STAY as you are. period." And then I will love you the way you are - FOREVER. Sounds appealing!

I love you just the way you are.

Bang!! Bang!! whatever Billy Joel this is such a display of mediocrity disguised as romance in a beautiful melody. I do NOT concur

Hey, Maybe this song was co-written by Steve Harvey. ;-)