Some more slices of Sunday...

Red tape, Red tape ,Red tape... bleh red tape, you are not my friend!

I'm not sure if I am deserving ( I have had an extremely stressful- self induced, but stressful week)... but I finally have managed to resolve the many issues that have "suddenly cropped up" with regards to Re: solution # 3 (Qualify as yoga teacher). My Mexican visa is being processed as we speak, I have repurchased a ticket that doesn't involve transits in countries that are not particularly inviting and I have ended up with a whole extra week in Mexico, post course. Just watch me make organic lemonade out of life's lemons!

I have also learnt some very important life lessons... never trust the system (even in a first world country). Pessimistic? Maybe... but this is the second time I have requested information from a travel agent and been misinformed, resulting in severe panic attacks, years off my life in stress, near holiday cancellations, tears, cursing, possible divorces (not really), you get the point. Where I developed the inclination to trust the system in the first place boggles me a bit... I come from a third world country (that I love largely)... but, where the system tends to be well, precarious. Needless to say, again I trusted... again... not so smart. Which brings me to life lesson #2.... "GOOD GRIEF TAMMY... you are 30, you are educated, you have some Internet skills.... USE THEM! Why I didn't take the time to check on my misinformation a month ago, I dunno! Lesson #3 enough with the blame... accept responsibility and then make it happen.... I am very good at this it seems. I mean making things happen~ when the pressure is SO on it's almost in. Granted my little bank account is stretched into, well... a yoga pose not yet invented, I intend however, to see this as an investment; a qualification ofcourse, is a very useful tool for making $$$, and enough with the spilt milk.

So on a more positive note, Sunday, ahhhh... Sunday. As much a I would like to have been picnicking, on the beach, in the forest, along side the river, alas we live in the city and it is winter.. so again make lemonade. Tokyo is actually a fabulous place for embracing city life, and so that is what we did. We went to an art exhibition and stumbled across what could have been a gem of a restaurant for lunch (We think we threw them with our well... 'foreignness', they seemed to be befuddled by our presence), and then moseyed through back alleys, second hand stores and vintage shops. These are things we love dearly. It is one of the things I appreciate most about the best husband in the world, old means charm, used means potential... nothing is ever quite as it seems... it makes life wondrous. I love that we are both drawn to vintage and can quite happily be enveloped by other peoples junk for hours. In fact we spent out first Christmas eve together rummaging through a building site dump, collecting things to make/furnish our little home. Anyway... here are the snippets of our Sunday.

Love + Joy = brilliance

The powers that be did not bless me with immeasurable talent in any one particular area (that I have identified as yet), but those, afore mentioned powers most definitely blessed me with enough talented people in my life to make-up for the former ummmm... omission? I am incredibly fortunate to have as friends and family, magical souls who never cease to amaze me (and the rest of the world) with their various capabilities. Unfortunately or fortunately (depending on season and economic climate), they are tucked away in the toe end of Africa.

Thus... (said in a most authoritative voice), "I am now promoting thee, wee blog spot, to....O.S.A.A.F.P. ( Official South African Artistic

Friend Promoter), in the hope that someone might actually be reading you and take note of my talented friends!

First on my list... for many reasons, along with the fact that she has the most fabulous name is Se LOVEJOY . This is she, on the left, in self portrait, made with polymer clay. These awe inspiring figurines are made to order and I have seen various real life characters magically miniaturized into tiny replicas of themselves... with added funk. Se also made these Mini-Me's for The Simon van Gend Band's (go blog go!) previous album cover. I am no art curator and so, I will not delve into Se's artistic history, medium of choice or techniques, you can find that here, I will however say, that I have yet to meet someone who has seen her work and not been temporarily gobsmacked or hankered after something she has created! If you do however, tend toward a more traditionalist art style, Se also sculpts in bronze and paints in oil. On top of all of this, Se also has a fantastic choice in music, an accurate eye for trend, the best dreadlocks and still somehow manages to live a humble existence near the mountains in South Africa.

please check out her website... you deserve the eye candy!