The Bald Prima Donna

I am starting to lose my hair... this is a sure sign that I need to go home very soon.

Other signs of this include:
1. irrational grouchiness
2. empty corridors in res
3. i keep checking my plane ticket/transport reference number every 5 minutes
4. i have no novels that have nothing to do with my academic subjects in my room and this is turning my brain into a mixture of su doku and tv mush
5. i keep thinking I can smell hotdogs (this is relevant to nothing in particular except insanity)
6. exams have fried my brain and i am no longer able to hold an intelligible conversation... everything i say seems to consist of 'ja' or 'no' or a nervous giggle
7. depressing dining hall population statistics
8. frequent blog checks of blogs that haven't been updated in weeks
9. everything i write these days seems to have reduced itself into a list
10. my rooibos tea is finished... all i have is caffine... maybe that's what's putting me on edge
11. my milk is finished

6:34 PM - Amendment
ok, i was in a kinda grumpy mood when i first published this post and have since been reminded of some pretty cool things about being an exam straggler in res

1. you get to spend oodles of time in the dining hall just chilling with great people... especially spiritual fam like tonight :)
2. you get to play your music really really loud and no-one comes to complain
3. i can take time to pack up my room
4. i actually got to watch something on tv today... and i had free choice of what to watch
5. there's a definite and pretty cool spirit of comraderie that all the remaining examinees have... even with people you barely speak to the rest of the semester
6. lots of my great friends are still here and i get to see some of them evey day
7. you can eat 4 pieces of toast in a sitting and no-one judges you
8. more exam treats since eveyone is gone
9. God's love is with me 24-7/365

The Man in my Life

Today is Father's Day... what a great opportunity to honour this wonderful man who i am very grateful for and whom i love SO much... this is my dad and just some of the things i love and appreciate about him are; that he's a survivor, his sense of humour, lemon meruinge pie, My Fair Lady, his love for people, his abililty to enjoy childlike delights, honesty, the sisters I have because of him, his addiction to shopping for specials (in the world of Dennis, if something is on special you must buy at LEAST five items of that thing) and his wonderful and infectious laugh.

Ok, this can't get too soppy... so i'll leave it at this:

Dennis Ogilvie Berry... i love you and I'm hugely privileged to be your daughter!

"...parents are the pride of their children" Prov 17:6 (b)

In the Unexpected Places...

I wrote my South African Literature paper today (yesterday now) and despite my strong dislike for lots of the stuff produced by Douglas Livingstone as well as a great deal of scepticism regarding some of his misguided opinions about creation, there is one really great section in one of his poems that I really identify with and appreciate:

it's from the poem Crystallogenesis

"Life I know as
a boundless search for
things greater than
life to add to life."

cool hey :)

The Day of Youthfulness

I've been thinking a bit about the fact that it's Youth Day tomorrow and I keep having flashbacks of a school visit to the Hector Pieterson Museum in Soweto. One of the things that struck me the most about everything we saw was that all the children and young people in the pictures and stuff had given up their childhood to fight for a cause bigger than themselves. This is also kind of true for Christianity in that we give up ourselves for a cause far greater and worthier than ourselves... but beacuse of the GREATNESS of God and the way He made us, we can be these awesomely radical people living for God AND still have the space to be complete children! Talk about having your cake (with blue icing, silver balls and hundres and thousands) and eating it (without ANY cutlery or serviettes) hehe. So then... in light of the privilegedness (is that even a word?) of our situation, my challenge to you tomorrow is to do as many childish things as you possibly can... here are my suggestions:

• buy an icecream and eat it while sitting on the pavement
• have an afternoon nap
• hug recklessly
• climb a tree
• eat suckers
• colour something in (in something other than blue/black pen)
• tell someone your dad is Superman (not far wrong... He's actually much cooler)
• tell someone the pink fluffy joke (if you don't know the pink fluffy joke first go and buy your icecream then come and meet me on the pavement for a reckless hug and prepare yourself for GREAT corniness)
• eat fun cereal
• drink juice that is of a distinctly unatural shade of either red/green
• watch a cartoon movie
• avoid the bath
• drink milk and eat cookies
• entertain thoughts about the fascinating nature of ants
• stick your tounge out at someone

also... tomorrow is the Comrades... run Forest run!

Dancing in the Moonlight

It was a dark, stormy night... ok it wasn't actually... It was a cool midwinter evening and there was this funny twitching ninja-man who sent a rather random message to this other funny fish-girl who came to disturb another D-girl and Berry-girl to go in search of the moon. "To go in search of the moon?" you ask. Well it is at present a lovely phase of night-time when there is a full moon in our part of the world and, according to the twitching ninja-man, the moon was a particularly spectacular shade of RED this evening as it was rising in the sky.

Since a walk to the Drostdy lawns did not yield a sighting of any such red round thing in the sky (except for a few mistaken orangy lamps) the three brave adventurers: the daring D, the fearless Fishy and the brave Berry ventured out into the vast wilderness of the Bot gardens where, at the very top of the hill they were privileged to spend precious moments amongst the bats admiring the delightful artistry of their daddy, the King, who turned His red moon into a glowing golden yellow orb for the delight of his daughters :)

Who could ask for a better Monday evening than having a chance to dance in my soul under the moonlight of God :)

Jamming it up together...

One of the first things I remember about the beautiful Carla Brownrigg is her telling me that this picture reminds her of how God loves us and how it's a great pic to represent our relationship with him

so taking the idea from that... this is what worship felt like tonight

God is great beyond words :)

Interesting Forms of Procrastination

1. blogging
2. changing the colour of your blog (*cough*sturgeons*cough*)
3. trying to resurrect a wilting flower under the light of a desk-lamp
4. staring blankly at a computer screen whilst eating hot chocolate powder
5. spending an entire afternoon with very special friends eating pecan-nut pie and wafting in and out of stores such as PEP, the Second Hand shop and Mae's Fashions trying on ridiculous outfits and making shopkeepers tremble with our hysterical fits of laughter evey five minutes
6. downloading a new Internet explorer... for no apparent good reason
7. reading books that have nothing to do with subjects to be studied
8. su doku

feel free to add to these... i'm sure that by the 23rd a wierd and wonderfully impressive list will have developed :D