francinah

last post for tonight :)

yesterday i ventured into zandspruit with marisa from paradigm shift to photograph francinah, one of the organisation's entrepreneurs. francinah makes baby onesies, and they are beautiful. she lives in a small house in the township, that was recently ravaged by a fire. the wall that was damaged has just been rebuilt. i stood in her small kitchen, completely humbled. flip, how can i even complain about any problems i may have in life? we also met her neighbour, isabelle, who made us feel so welcome :)

francinah is a light, and was so gracious to let me photograph her. she admired my "teething beads" so to show my gratitude i gave them to her. she looked pretty stylin' ;)

hope these pics tell more of a story. please, please remember her in your prayers x

photographing judith

i have recently been "commissioned" {i guess that's the word?} to take photographs for a non-profit microfinance organisation. i am incredibly inspired by the work they are doing in south africa {and beyond our borders} and feel a huge amount of pressure to adequately represent the calibre of this work. i am really passionate about microfinance -- the reason i traveled to the states in 2011, and have been eager to get involved here in joburg. so you can imagine how excited i was when they asked me to photograph entrepreneurs and, in some cases, write their stories.

i ventured into newtown on thursday morning and met judith. she's a mother and a business woman who runs a sewing company on the third floor above a print house. at that time she was making netball kits for a primary school, work uniforms and roll-up banner bags for the printhouse. she has employed seven people who are fascinating to watch. i've done some rudimentary sewing in my life {buttons and sewing straight lines of infinity scarves} and am amazed at the dexterity of these women -- and men. as a gesture of goodwill, i gave judith one of my scarves, despite feeling like a total novice. she's wearing it in the pics :)

the brief was very specific: capture the process judith follows making a handbag which is to be sold in the usa, take photographs of her business place and some portrait shots. these will be presented at a conference in washington, DC.

i loved being able to see the benefits of microfinance firsthand. how it empowers people, creates jobs and adds value. i chatted with "innocent", one of the seamsters. he told me about his family and the many places he's worked prior to judith's company. his work is impeccable.

here are some of the pics. so honoured to have this opportunity.

if it's not all right then it's not the end

last night i attended a preview of the film "the best exotic marigold hotel", hosted by barry ronge. it was a great film -- a stellar brit cast headed up by the always-dignified judi dench, a great screenplay and it's set in india. really now, is there any excuse to not see it?

there were a few things that resonated with me. i loved the humanity of the characters. the fine balance between humour and poignancy. most of all, i loved the message that it's never too late for redemption, second chances. 

sonny, played by slumdog millionaire's dev patel, who is the unquenchable optimist, has a great quote in the film: everything will be all right in the end... if it's not all right then it's not the end. 

forgotten stuff

i don't know what it is, but i am obsessed with old things. maybe it's part of realising we're mortal and life is finite {i'm not even 30 yet, but i think about this stuff a lot, jars of clay etc.}. i wonder what people 100 years from now will think about our photographs, clothing and 'high tech' gadgets like iphones and gps.

so you can understand why i love the hospice shop on louis botha in joburg. you have to sift through a lot of junk, but you can find real gems. like i found an old wooden piece scrabble set from 1948 for 20 bucks. 20 bucks!! it belonged to a boy named jonathan {at one time} who wrote his name in blue ink on the box in a juvenile writing. and, today, i came across some incredible old pictures, some from over 100 years ago. some people may find it macabre, but i think it's a bit magical. who were these people? did these "thrown away" possessions mean something? were they very sentimental? i'll never know. but i imagine the walls of the homes these pictures were hung on. if perhaps the man in a portrait was killed in WWI, or maybe survived a p.o.w camp. 

there are secret stories here.

so here are my amazing finds...a set of small bird ornaments {R5 for both}, two portraits from 1916 from a studio called 'the arcade', an old negative taken from someone's beach holiday {keen to get it developed}, and three small photos -- two from san sebastian and the third taken of a harbour in 1903.

unemployment benefits

flip. ok. it has been a while since i posted. i think i've been on a hiatus from blogging macdotcoza {more like a hiatus hernia i.e. having severe indigestion from consuming too much life experience and thus feeling incapacitated} but that's another blog post altogether.

so, some of you may know that i gave up my life of corporate ambition, promotion and over the top performance bonuses to pursue a noble quest. sort of. i returned from said noble quest about 2 months ago and have been intent on not returning to my old job {albeit an awesome comfort zone i am super tempted to get back into, but won't}. hence i am unemployed.

it's amazing how creative you can be with your time. honestly. here are some of the benefits to being unemployed. or self-employed...

one. i can go to gym at the least busy time of day. without queuing for a treadmill or bumping into people i know. i always look freaking terrible at gym so am not fond of chatting mid-elliptical revolution.

two. i can watch all the shows on dstv on demand/catch up. i am totally up to date on shows i didn't even know existed.

three. i can meet people for lunch and spend quality time with people who mean a lot to me. i realise how i used to fill my life with people who i lived to please, and whose company i didn't ever really enjoy.

four. i can watch an entire season of F.R.I.E.N.D.S in one day. it is beyond rad. no ad breaks, just bathroom breaks :)

five. i can invest time mentoring someone. our domestic worker's daughter made it into an awesome learnership programme with one of the major banks. i get to help her with computer skills, take her to cool places like salvation cafe where she had her first cappuccino and chat to her about the corporate world. and of course, we also did some shopping for a new work wardrobe. it's very cool. and humbling.

six. i can take as many photos as i like. in perfect, natural daylight. my laptop cannot handle it. i have run out of space on my mac.

seven. i realise how little i need to get by. sheesh, i can waste money. but when it's finite, you become more resourceful, more economical and more creative with how to manage your cash. eat at home, go out for dessert. make a sarmie, don't stop at mcds. make someone's gift, don't default to a gift card. re-use, don't buy more. assess what you want vs. what you need.

in the real world, i probably have 3 weeks left before i run out of savings. but i'm not worried. i know everything will work out awesomely. this is another season. and i get "daily bread", just enough every day to get by. i love how GOD provides to cover what we need.

and, of course, the dstv catch up is a cool bonus.

x

cheese in a can: austin edition

oh my hat! it has been far too long since i added austin to my "cheese in a can" list of observations and experiences. it's a long list, hope you find it an interesting read -- you may have to take a break half way. can you believe i have been in the live music capital of the world for three months? what a ride. i love this city. full of art, music, culture and yes, weirdness. the city's motto is "keep austin weird". and people really, really do.

enjoy :)

giant guitars on the baggage carousel. welcome to austin!
quality time with my mad awesome cousin.
true blood at jo's on sunday nights.
willie nelson blvd.
free itunes downloads from starbucks. i heart freebies.
new music -- cold war kids, motopony, airborne toxic event, boxer rebellion.
taking the bus.
crazies in the bus :(
keep austin weird {word!}

lake travis.
40+ degree heat everyday.
long hot days at the pool.
volunteering.
colleagues who are now dear friends.
info sessions with prospective clients.
butterflies and accelerated heart beats {you may or may not be in on the secret}
press releases.
rain! {for 5 mins}
don't mess with texas.
greyhound. meh.
half a kings of leon gig. so, would that be 500mb?
dallas cowboys stadium. wow.
amazing generosity from strangers who are now friends.
partying on sixth street.
$5 pitchers of alcohol.
international students from paris, copenhagen, turkey, mexico and sydney.
amazing boutiques on 2nd street.

fredericksburg.
blisters :(
sunny, the amazing nigerian cab driver and my new homey.
kabomba -- awesome band who jammed at stubbs.
henry and the invisibles. also at stubbs, a one man band. cool name :)
networking. networking. networking.
whole foods. closest thing to woolworths. ahhh happiness.
starbucks and frapps in the morning. makes up for waking up at 5:30am.
waterloo records -- amazing music store since 1982.
the international food aisle at h.e.b is awesome -- marie biscuits and cadburys.

 such awesome fellowship and soul-refreshing worship and teaching at grace covenant church. it really feels like home, far away from home.
green.
organic.
old classic movies.
hopdoddy {organic} burgers with asal.
packages from home. mama sunshine you bring light into my life.
annie's cafe and free groupons.
art cinemas.
outlet malls -- 60-70% off designer brands. eeeep!
tax free weekend -- yes please!
the coolest skype call to a certain barndance with a front row view :)
austin city limits fest 3 day pass! i have amazing parents.
bon iver tickets!
loving that all the rad bands come to austin, don't have to go anywhere for cool music
drive thru starbucks. drive thru atms. drive thru post office. drive thru laundromat. drive thru pharmacy. sheesh. 

san antonio and the alamo. kind of haunting, really.
"pumped up kicks" -- my song of the summer.
watching world cup rugby at fados.
wishing more than anything to be at the johnston's wedding :(

jadey sending photos of everyone at the reception and making me feel a part of it :)
flags at half mast for 9/11 ten year anniversary
humbled by generous friends. speechlessness.
bon iver!!!!! ahhh, so much of amazingness.
so much birthday love -- too blessed for words.
flowers delivered to the door, all the way from maritzburg. thank you nancy and dean barber :)
birthday dinner at sandra bullock's restaurant. pity she wasn't there ;) but the company was still a-class!
austin city limits: three days of music, flu and oh maybe a billion people.

meeting a professional festival photographer -- and getting to use his super cool lens :) {it was the size of my arm and weighed a ton but so much fun to play around with}
coldplay! eeeeep!
stevie wonder. meh.
fleet foxes. eeeeep!
gillian welch. meh.
cold war kids. eeeep!
so homesick :( and fluish. pity party deluxe.
seeing 6 weeks of planning and team work come together for the 20x20 event. so much fun and so proud my girls narda and asal. go team austin!
publishing clients stories and seeing their gratitude, one client was moved to tears when he read what i wrote. wow. what an honour.
pecan street festival and buying amazing artwork from the artist himself.
more world cup rugby.
editing pics for photo comps. hold thumbs!
bonding with the p'nut {pronounced puh-noot} the audacious {it's a black cat for those who may not be acquainted with his winning personality and loving charm. he sometimes sleeps on my bed}
so grateful for good things happening in the lives of those i love. much to rejoice. 

x

cheese in a can {the new york edition}

ok so here it is people of the blogging / facebook world...my update on new york city :) what a whirlwind of a business/pleasure trip. it was more of an LSD trip {not that i would even know what that's like but i can imagine it would be electrifying sensory overload and no sleep}...

extreme aiport security at branson airport {strange for an international airport the size of my living room back home and such intensity for a domestic flight}.

snoring obnoxious new yorker passenger.

funny missourian guy who laughed with me at the obnoxious snoring new yorker.

hello atlanta. good to re-connect {lame pun}

flying over the hudson and seeing lady liberty and central park from the airplane window.

hello la guardia.

awesome service from ray the mexican at shuttle services

a shuttle ride to the hotel

weird pakistani shuttle bus driver.

total disorientation. the place is HUGE!

minor secret freak out in the shuttle bus.

the new yorker hotel {just like google earth said it would be}

the view of the chrysler from my room on the 29th floor.

seeing people doing tango lessons in the dance studio below from my room on the 29th floor.

realising i am totally on. my. own. bring me a brown paper bag.

deciding on an early night and just walking to mcd's opposite the hotel {getting into bed 4 hours later}

$1 for a slice of pepperoni pizza. awesome! 

souvenir store and another pakistani who asked about my accent and then chatted to me about cricket.

times square.

mtv.

broadway.

the lights. wow. the lights are brighter than daylight.

starbucks in times square.

the people.

the accents.

the energy.

awesome police officers everywhere. heard that there are 40,000 of them in the city?

seeing john leguizamo.

stopping in at a deli at 11:30pm for fresh fruit and parfait.

realising everything is going to be awesome.

spiderman. elmo. posing for photos.

falling asleep to the sounds of the city that never sleeps {and feeling a guilt for being a fader at 2am}

running the last 2 blocks to grayline to meet with ruth and start the tour.

sergei the tour guide from former yugoslavia

manhattan in one day.

trump towers. nyc ballet. central park. harlem. apollo theatre. greenwich village. soho.

i heart ny shirts {cannot leave nyc without one}

pasta at azurro grotto in little italy.

rad conversations with a couple from british columbia and two friends from california.

really irritating tourist from michigan that hooked onto ruth and asked really dumb questions about africa "do you have one president that rules over all of africa? no? so it's a whole bunch of countries and governments?" and "the situation in libya is really bad for you guys, eh?"psh.

wall street. financial district.

statue of liberty. brooklyn bridge. manhattan bridge. gah it's awesome!

ground zero and sergei's stories of 9/11.

coffee and cheesecake at metro cafe.

top of the rock observatory in record time -- that's what a migraine will do.

black cars parked outside nbc studios. i imagined it was bradley cooper inside, prior to his appearance on snl that night.

 slow wander in the drizzle back to the hotel and totally passing out.

awake in time to watch snl. weird thinking it was being filmed a few blocks away.

the perfect sunday in new york wandering through the avenues.

introductions to elliot erwitt.

MoMA. too many awe-filled moments. had tears in my eyes standing in front of "flag" and "starry night". all the greats i had studied in school were there.

a south african exhibition {holding back the urge to scream out "i am from here! i am south african!}

pressata @ europa cafe

finally hearing defying gravity live. it was "wicked" :)

hailing a cab.

pre-conference meet up at a rad underground bar.

william the social performance measurement graduate telling me all about stats and validity ratios or something like that. *whoosh* over my head.

happy victory dancing in the elevator.

the best angus beef burger at tick tock diner.

walking the streets of nyc at 8am. people walking to work, walking their dogs, jogging, breakfasting at cafes, starbucksing en route to the office.

welcome to microfinance usa 2011!!!

the most awesome american roxanna sears. so grateful you chose our table at breakfast.

laughing at sign language conversations in times square and central park proposals and climbing kilimanjaro {her stories, not mine}.

cocktails and finger food at 230 5th avenue.

the rooftop and random super kitsch king kong decor and limited access due to a set up for a rolling stones concert. boom!

serendipitous encounters.

starbucks and stumbling across the empire state building. for reals.

day 2 of microfinance usa 2011.

networking networking networking.

more serendipitous encounters.

buying trendy buddy holly glasses i will probably never wear.

almond restaurant conference meet up.

interesting convos. interesting people.

meeting the director of fundraising for accion who is dating an afrikaans guy from stellenbosch. crazy!

pulling an all nighter to catch a 3am shuttle and 6am flight.

exploring all 4 levels of forever 21 and the m&m store.

bumping into jim parsons, ellen barkin, luke macfarlane and lee pace. boom!

fresh strawberry pancakes at 2am.

texting with lori :)

saying farewell to a city i fell in love with.

the city still very much alive at 3:30am. not surprised :)

a morgue-like la guardia airport.

feeling pretty awake but having no recollection of take off or in flight service/snacks...only touch down.

hello atlanta. good to re-connect {argh another lame pun!}

back in springfield, MO.

realisation i will never be the same.

bliss.

memories.

maturation.

bucket list big "tick".

making a promise to return for another bite of the big apple.

x

cheese in a can pt 3.

so i really don't know how many more of these i can write before it gets boring, but here's another update of cheese in a can…{by the way, cheese dispensed from a can is also known as aerosol cheese. what the heck, right?}

having my closet go from average to awesome in one night.
sun!!!
sun tan!!!
well, sun burn.
repeatedly accidentally dialing sa numbers because i'm getting used to the new iphone.
damn you autocorrect!
nail bar with asian ladies {i needed a translator, seriously}
fashion show in springfield. what an experience.
a 90 year old cowboy giving everyone the finger-gun. what an experience.
more guacamole and endemames from flo.
"electric cowboy": where 12 year olds line dance in flip flops and hot pants and have bachelorette parties.
karaoke bar. complete with over the top slightly disturbing boksburg-esque rendition of "proud mary". ummm….
exciting news from special friends at home.
reading miller's "through painted deserts" and feeling amazed at the parallels.
panero bread chicken soup which made flu less awful.
awesome convo with the lovely patersons. i miss them too much.
bar one chocolate. sigh.
14 hours of sleep -- flu is finally starting to go away.
skype with the awesome courtney browning.
planning summer holidays.
atlanta fest ticket booked!
so amped about the fact that i am going to finally see david crowder* band and switchfoot live.
pinching myself. repeatedly.
sweaty palms.
invitation to dinner at the home of the chairman of the rainbow network, a non-profit that is involved with poverty alleviation, building houses and {get this} microfinance in nicaragua.
feeling an excitement i cannot describe, chatting to someone who understands issues in africa and is part of the solution, not the problem and who is more in love with south africa than i am. and that was just on the phone. stoked for dinner next week :)
pinching myself. repeatedly.
burger buns that are STILL fresh. seriously??? it's been 3 weeks, people!!
may the fourth be with you {ahhhh it's too cheesy!}
devouring the lonely planet guide to NYC.
trying to understand the subway schedule on the website.
feeling inspired by awesome, talented and creative designer friends from home. megan bisset you are amazing.
opera singers from manhattan and russian taxi drivers from brooklyn.
tears on skype.
feeling so grateful for amazing, supportive parents who make me laugh and cry at the same time and who have always encouraged me to live my dream.
getting a ticket to see "wicked" on broadway. wow.
picking out a cocktail dress for drinks on a rooftop on 5th avenue.
pinching myself. repeatedly.
deciding to totally take the bull by the horns.
making connections with representatives at accion.
my first cinco de mayo celebration -- fun times :)
enjoying people enjoying my accent.
"it's appalling!" {pronounced ap-paaawwl-ing}
tired. too tired. what's wrong with me? seriously, who sleeps this much?
booking tickets.
booking hotels.
expedia autocorrecting to exotica. wow, that was an awkward moment on whatsapp.
damn you autocorrect!
singing "start spreading the news..." to myself. in my head.
eeek.
inspiring skype convos with the incredible roan cruickshank that make any day wonderful.
aaron. 'nuff said.
impromptu wine tasting.
sneaky mother's day planning.
bass pro. so much taxidermy and camo i almost threw up. i truly despise hunting.
camo bedding. camo lounge suites. camo teddy bears. camo lingerie. *vomit*
"that alligator's not real!"
trophy winning pulled pork at whole hog. it was pretty tasty. it's like pork from a spit braai.
krispy kreme doughnuts. just for warren wakefield.
swinging on swings in the park at twilight.

that's the story till now.
x

miller and me

donald miller rocks my world. in fact he sometimes turns it upside down. it's not often you encounter such a great writer, with such great stories. he writes in such a way that you feel like you're having a conversation with him, over coffee, just listening to him for hours. never getting bored. and he speaks with a profound honesty and simplicity. i'm just finishing off a million miles in a thousand years (read it. now. seriously) and i wrote down some quotes that really stabbed at my heart.

"fear is a manipulative emotion that can trick us into living a boring life." pg. 108

"there is a force resisting the beautiful things in the world, and too many of us are giving in.
The world needs for us to have courage.
The world needs for us to write something better." pg. 118

he inspires me to want to live a better story with my life.
watch this space.
things are going to be changing in a big way.
very soon.
an inciting incident.
a character arc.
positive and negative turns.

i'm stoked.