Keeping with Building a Better Blog challenge from Up for it, I’ve followed another step.

I’m going to dip my big toe into the ocean of social networks.

My novice scope of social networking encompasses tweeting and the occasional facebook status update. I’ve seen these little icons on so many pages though. I’ve found a site that has a document with easy-peasy copy-paste wordpress friendly code for me to dissect— but I lost the link in the process – the original author was Sunburntkamel though.

Don’t worry, I won’t over use it; this is more of a journal type blog after all. Posts I feel that are more article-type, as opposed to me going off at a tangent, will get the little icons. I’ll also stick to the top three or four and a local one or two.

I narrowed it down to delicious, stumble upon, digg, twitter, reddit, facebook, muti and laaik it.
Yikes, that makes 8, right? Lets see how it goes. Will add them to the most searched pages so far.

Amazing. Just realized now while cooling my red skin in the tub that I haven’t sms’ed or gone online for 24 hours!

Main contributing factor of course was my one phone dying on me last night – the one with the data bundle and LOADS of free sms’s. And I was in a training workshop from 9 until almost 4; and them the long trek back home for nearly 4 hours.

Guess I also managed this NaBloPoMo post just in time.

So I’m in Cape Town this weekend. Need to attend a workshop for work on Monday. Came down a day earlier to visit with Supachik sans Amelia and Henk.

Summertime in SA means braai. My friend had some friends over, filled the pool and the kids had a blast. I missed Amelia though, she would have enjoyed the party so much!

But the excitement (and the 5 smoked cheese pork sausages) proved to be a bit too much for Bratt. While SC went to buy ice-cream, Bratt got a bit sick. I just put him in an empty tub and wiped him down.

Not much planned for today. Will go with the flow.

And I’ve had a successful “International comment leaving week” day today. Posted my 5 comments, and my theme for yesterday was blogs with a colour in the title- even if it’s a surname.

Happy ICLW!!

I got this in an email. And since this is NaBloPoMo, I get to post a meme cause I need to plan my posts a little ahead this month

This test is for fun! I scored 34.

Dr Phil’s test

Be honest when answering – it might reveal some hidden truths.
So GraB a pen and some paper (or open up Notepad). Once you’ve answered, click MORE to get to the scoring part.
(Dr. Phil scored 55, he did this test on Oprah and she got a 38.) Some folks pay a lot of money to find this stuff out!

Read on, this is very interesting!

Don’t be overly sensitive!

Answers are for who you are now and not who you were in the past.. Have pen or pencil and paper ready.

This is a real test given by the Human Relations Dept. at many of the major corporations today. It helps them get better insight concerning their employees and in their prospective employees. It’s only 10 Simple questions, so grab a pencil and paper, keeping track of your letter answers to each question.

Ready?
Begin.
1.When do you feel your best…

A) in the morning
B) during the afternoon and early evening
C) late at night
2. You usually walk…

A) fairly fast, with long steps
B) fairly fast, with little steps
C) less fast head up, looking the world in the face
D) less fast, head down
E) very slowly
3. When talking to people you…

A) stand with your arms folded
B) have your hands clasped
C) have one or both your hands on your hips
D) touch or push the person to whom you are talking
E) play with your ear, touch your chin, or smooth your hair
4. When relaxing, you sit with..

A) your knees bent with your legs neatly side by side
B) your legs crossed
C) your legs stretched out or straight
D) one leg curled under you

5. When something really amuses you, you react with….

A) big appreciated laugh
B) a laugh, but not a loud one
C) a quiet chuckle
D) a sheepish smile

6… When you go to a party or social gathering you…..

A) make a loud entrance so everyone notices you
B) make a quiet entrance, looking around for someone you know
C) make the quietest entrance, trying to stay unnoticed
7. You’re working very hard, concentrating hard, and you’re interrupted…

A) welcome the break
B) feel extremely irritated
C) vary between these two extremes
8. Which of the following colors do you like most…..

A) Red or orange
B) black
C) yellow or light blue
D) green
E) dark blue or purple
F) white
G) brown or gray

9. When you are in bed at night, in those last few moments before going to sleep you are…..

A) stretched out on your back
B) stretched out face down on your stomach
C) on your side, slightly curled
D) with your head on one arm
E) with your head under the covers

10. You often dream that you are…

A) falling
B) fighting or struggling
C) searching for something or somebody
D) flying or floating
E) you usually have dreamless sleep
F) your dreams are always pleasant

 
POINTS:
1.      (a) 2 (b) 4 (c) 6
2.      (a) 6 (b) 4 (c) 7 (d) 2 (e) 1
3.      (a) 4 (b) 2 (c) 5 (d) 7 (e) 6
4.      (a) 4 (b) 6 (c) 2 (d) 1
5.      (a) 6 (b) 4 (c) 3 (d) 5 (e) 2
6.      (a) 6 (b) 4 (c) 2
7.      (a) 6 (b) 2 (c) 4
8.      (a) 6 (b) 7 (c) 5 (d) 4 (e) 3 (f) 2 (g) 1
9.      (a) 7 (b) 6 (c) 4 (d) 2 (e ) 1
10.    (a) 4 (b) 2 (c) 3 (d) 5 (e) 6 (f) 1

Now add up the total number of points.

OVER 60 POINT: Others see you as someone they should “handle with care”.. You’re seen as vain, self-centered, and who is extremely dominant. Others may admire you, wishing they could be more like you, but don’t always trust you, hesitating to become too deeply involved with you.

51 TO 60 POINTS: Others see you as an exciting, highly volatile, rather impulsive personality, a natural leader, who’s quick to make decisions, though not always the right ones. They see you as bold and adventuresome, someone who will try anything once, so meone who takes cha nces and enjoys an adventure. They enjoy being in your company because of the excitement you radiate.

41 TO 50 POINTS: Others see you as fresh, lively, charming, amusing, practical, and always interesting, someone who’s constantly in the center of attention, but sufficiently well balanced not to let it go to their head. They also see you as kind, considerate, and understanding, someone who’ll always cheer them up and help them out.

31 TO 40 POINTS: Others see you as sensible, cautious, careful & practical. They see you as clever, gifted, or talented, but modest. Not a person who makes friends too quickly or easily, but someone who’s extremely loyal to friends you do make and who expect the same loyalty in return. Those who really get to know you, realize it takes a lot to shake your trust in your friends, but equally that it takes you a long time to get over if that trust is ever broken.

21 TO 30 POINTS: Your friends see you as painstaking and fussy. They see you as very cautious, extremely careful, a slow and steady plodder. It would really surprise them if you ever did something impulsively or on the spur of the moment, expecting you to examine everything carefully from every angle and then, usually decide against it.. They think this reaction is caused partly by your careful nature.

UNDER 21 POINTS: People think you are shy, nervous, and indecisive, someone who needs looking after, who always wantssomeone else to make the decisions and who doesn’t want to get involved with anyone or anything! They see you as aworrier who always sees problems that don’t exist. Some people think you’re boring. Only those who know you well, knowthat you aren’t.

What did you score?

I worked until midnight last night on today’s post. Not necessarily the content, but the coding for other posts etc. Get to work this morning and I forgot to bring my flash drive. *sigh* Can’t believe I forgot it. I managed to remember the DVD I’m lending my friend, and the pumpkin seeds for work snacks, and my hotel voucher for Sunday for the workshop Monday… but not the silly stick.7

I’ll make a plan tonight maybe or later today to fetch it and upload it – darn it. Maybe I should strap it to my phone, that way I’ll NEVER for get it.

And I’m going away this weekend, only back home on Tuesday, so the next 3 days’ posts will be short and sweet – mostly likely 3 ‘my day’ posts.

Tomorrow is the start of IComLeavWe too. Will have to juggle social and intertubes.

Have yourselves a great weekend!

P.s

I also watched (with one eye while typing) the last of Grindhouse and flicked through Death Proof – again. Now I can’t get that song out of my head.  Hold tight, hold tii-iigh, Hold tii-ai—ai-ai-ai-ai-iiii-ght.

And Jungle Julia – It’s MICK not MITCH.

I made Strawberry Jam!

This is the easiest jam to make too – really!

And since it’s strawberry season now in South Africa, why don’t you try too? I used the recipe in Kook en Geniet.

You will need:

Strawberries, washed and stems cleaned off (I used 1 kg)
Sugar in equal weight as the strawberries (i.e. 1 kg)
Sterilised bottles to store jam in.

Place strawberries in a big pot, pour sugar over and let stand overnight. Do not add any water, the sugar will extract the juices from the berries.

Heat slowly and stir until all sugar has dissolved. The jam mustn’t boil before the sugar is dissolved.
Let Boil for about 30 mins then test. Drip a few drops of the jam onto a saucer, let cool for a few seconds (it’s VERY hot); run your finger through the jam (draw a line). If the jam doesn’t cover the line up again, it is ready to be bottled.

Carefully spoon hot jam into bottles. Keep a little bit of syrup separate. If the berries stayed whole enough, ensure they are covered by syrup; use the extra saved syrup to top up the bottles. Seal and store in a cool, dry place. 

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My adventure with the jam was a bit of an ordeal. I got distracted and the pot boiled over. Henk and I spent the rest of our Sunday scrubbing the stove. So my jam came out a bit darker, and not quite as spread able.

Hectic! This whole Rugby Fiasco of Ras Dumisani mutilating our National Anthem in Frans, and to top it all our flag was also displayed upside down.

Easy to remember people, red is up, and here is a link to the lyrics. Might be a good idea to finally memorise it (it’s been 15 years after all) so that we don’t embarrass ourselves at the Soccer World Cup next year. (Yes, I dare bring that up cause it’s important – learn to bake your own bread and get a solar geyser so long – don’t get me started on Eskom’s shenanigans)

And when my non-rugby-watching-nor-understanding friend even commenting  facebook about South Africa’s Idols moment in sport, it reminded me of my pub-rugby-watching days. Tipsy chicks watching rugby at Dross. I don’t even remember who played(probably the Stormers or WP) cause I can’t remember if it was Super 14 or the Currie Cup… don’t think we even knew or cared. And the only thing we knew about the rules were: you score tries, you kick a conversion, scrum a lot, and there are line throw ins when the ball goes outside the boundaries. Henk has tried to explain the finer rules, but it doesn’t matter cause the referee doesn’t apply them anyway.

Maryke and I were not supporting the favourite of the day, and of course the favourite won. For our penalty we were to swim in Jan van Riebeeck Primary school swimming pool, naked, at midnight, the breaststroke. Beer induced bravado will make you bet anything.

That’s when André the Hilarious Hypnotist came to Comedy Warehouse next to Bourbon Street. To heck with the midnight skinny dip, said Maryke and I, for your amusement we will be hypnotised. Always suckers for public humiliation; which I preferred than being caught by a nun swimming starkers (me starkers, not the nun).

Off to Comedy warehouse and onto the stage we marched. Found open seats at different ends of the stage, few volunteers even had to stand – it was so popular.

After the terms and conditions and some hypnotrick mumbo-jumbo, you had to extent your arms in front of you, link your fingers and raise your arms above your head while your eyes follow your hands. I stole a peek at the oke next to me: his eyes had rolled so far back only the whites were showing. I tried to copy him, but my eyes stung.

André proceeded with the brain washing: “Your eyelids are heavy.” My eyelids were heavy. “You are under my command” I am under your command. “ You think you can open your eyes. But you can’t.” I open my eyes. He tells me to get off the stage.

Slightly chuffed at not being easily influenced by the power of suggestion (though I’ve been craving cola for a few days now) I sit down ready to enjoy the show at Maryke’s expense; only to have her reach accross the table and hand me a beer. “How fast can you swim?” she asks.

Villa Maria girls can’t be hypnotised – fact.

I got a bit behind with posting my received postcards from Postcrossing. So we’re playing catch-up today

This one is from Switzerland. Still trying to figure out why their abbreviation is CH.

From China

From Germany

From Finland

From Hungary

From Nederland

And I’ve really run out of backup drafts. I blame my eagerness during the first week when I would double post. But take a look at that calendar! Every single day has an entry. There are no black days before the 15th. All blue. Quite chuffed with myself.
Don’t think I’ve ever blogged so much or so often in my life. And I’m enjoying it thoroughly.

It helped that SA’s got Talent was on; gave me something to write about. Every evening after the show I would write my little blurb, and next day at work I would publish quick quick.

Also figured out how to copy-paste html so as to put pics in my posts. So I’ll edit pics on my home pc, download onto my cell, upload to site from my cell, edit post in word/notepad, paste onto site as a draft and hope for the best. Then when the time comes I hit the publish button. So far I’m mostly only one day ahead of my posts, but for the weekends I make sure I have at least 2 posts as drafts.

Here’s to the last 15 day stretch!

As an extra motivation to keep going strong on my 101 list, and for a bit of diversion when I need it, I attempt the challenges at Up for It. Few of them overlap with my own goals, so it’s double fun. Challenge #10 is to post a 1000 word post – on anything or many things. Guess what motivated this post J . So this post will be a discussion on all the little niggly goals that are long term, or have more than one outcome, or it’s over a period of time, say 3 months etc.

# 15 Drink 2 litres of water every day
 Not as easy as it sounds. But I really do try. Easiest is every time I go to the loo I drink a cup of water. (More water means more trips too) I also limit my coffee to 1 cup in the morning and 1 in the evening. Rest of the time I drink Rooibos tea, which is caffeine free, thus counts as water!

#21.   Take a bubble bath once a month (1/33)
 This is actually really tough for me. Don’t get me wrong, I do wash but I would rather shower. The idea of stewing in your own filth that you are trying to wash off just doesn’t appeal to me. On the other hand, a bubble bath is relaxing. That’s why I put it on my list – cause I need to relax a bit more. Maybe I should practise opening the hot water tap with my big toe while in the tub.

# 22 Paint my toenails every Sunday (5/143)
 I do. Every Sunday (well, it’s Sunday somewhere on the planet at least, even if it’s Monday morning at my house ;o) ) Tried all my colours so far – I seriously need to get more interesting shades. Previously I did pink, clear, turquoise and berry. This week is black. Will check out Clicks this weekend; double points and a cash voucher says I should

# 30 Trade 300 postcards through Postcrossing
I LOVE Postcrossing. I get all warm a fuzzy when sending my cards, and show off my received ones to the ladies at the lab. Best new hobby that everyone should try! I’ve sent 10 so far, or more accurately of the lot I’ve sent, 10 have reached their destinations and been registered. I’ve sent 15 so far, I think.

# 34 Sew 3 items for Amelia (1/3)
 I have managed to sew 1 item. I made her a fabric book. The ones in the shops weren’t so nice, and not quite what I was looking for. So the one I made a different activity on each page: there’s a zipper, shoestring with holes to thread and tie in a bow, buttons, little bells, shapes and textures. At the moment she adores the buttons. Doesn’t matter which page I try to focus her attention on, she will always page to the buttons.

39.    Finish Amelia’s first year book
          * Get a proper memory box
 I should probably have split this goal into 2. I managed to get Amelia a nice girly, but not too girly, memory box at the Crazy store. For about R80 you get a box, a stack of scrap booking paper, stickers, letters, borders, frames, and an album to store your pages. All the accessories are colour coordinated, so you can mix everything. I’m not a hard core scrap booker – that’s the one bug that never bit me. I feel it get so expensive wit hall the tools and fieterjasies you need to get. I like the easy one for dummies; for the novice like me. At crazy store I saw 3 themes: there’s a baby pastel colours one, a black-white-bling one; and the one I got is brown-pink-yellow. The black and white is stylish and all, but didn’t quite fit with Amelia – she is a bright little tomboy girly.

# 58 Learn CSS + html to customise blogs
 I can’t find my CSS for Dummies book – but it’s at my house somewhere. In the meantime, I’ve brushed up on my coding skills, and feel almost confident enough to scratch this off as completed. The only reason why I won’t be able to customise my blogs using CSS is cause I don’t have a CSS edit account at WordPress. Am seriously considering upgrading to one.

# 64 Finish Rise of Legends The Vinci — first campaign
 I can’t find my disc! And when I looked for the game on Kalahari… it wasn’t listed. It’s a classic, and old, but I want to play it- darn it! Will look in the last place I haven’t looked yet – bound to be there right? Right?!

# 68 Collect Sookie Stackhouse series – 9 books in series so far (7/9)
 I swear I didn’t do this intentionally, but the goal says Collect, not read. Tuesday I received my 7-book box set! It literally has a box that the books fit into. Too bad the first book has the True Blood cover, and not the original one. But the content remains the same regardless.
# 91 Donate 100,000 grains of rice on freerice.com (6000/100 000)
 I’ve stolen so many goals from Opi it’s not even funny. That’s where I first came across Freerice.com. The site helps to improve your vocabulary (but they have other categories as well). And for every question you get right, the site donates 10 grains of rice through the United Nations World Food Program.
And coincidently this is also a challenge at Up for It # 9! Opicana’s challenge is to reach 10 000. I’m taking the challenge! Just over 6000 grains for me at the moment. Let’s see if I can get to 10 000 by the end of the month. If I answer 50 questions correct a day, then it should take me about 10 days to reach 10 000. Mind you it took me from 4 October to now to get halfway to 10 000. But I’ll do my best to pick up the pace.
Some of those words are really hard! I tried the French option on Wednesday – didn’t do as bad as I thought. My top level reached was 7. In the English one I once reached 50 – but that was a stroke of luck as it was a medical term, after that it was all downhill back to the 30’s, lol.

 And that’s the recap of in-progress goals I’m working on.

And also completes my Up for It Challenge # 10: 1,000 Word Post !