**a new blog address**

Hello peoples...followers...other worldly folk...wherever you are...if you're keen to keep track of my internal GPS in the following weeks...go here http://kabtalk.posterous.com/

It's my new bloggie home...way cooler I think!

See you there :)

KaB

My letter to the Editor in this morning's Cape Times...

Viva Gibbs!

Over and out

KaB

Monsters and credit cards!

At what stage do you draw the line when faced with one of your worst nightmares…I mean, it’s so bad the world is going to end?!?

Adventure shopping is by all means probably one of the most exciting forms of shopping for an inexperienced, eager little backpacker like myself  BUT when faced with one of my life’s treacherous discoveries , the ‘adventurous’ side of me crawled into a little black hole and wished to be sucked into outer space!

*Enter: 10X hand-sized tarantulas…1m away from my paralyzed body and there was NO hole in sight!

What the f-word where they thinking?!? Why, why would Cape Union Mart serve a platter of reality check when I’m dreaming of matching backpacks and hiking shoes with cute little first aid kits and plastic waterproofing bags?!? I mean, here I’m thinking ‘oh goodie, my 10X lip glossies will fit into that little bag in that pack while my Swiss Army Knife will go nicely in that one over there’ when BHAM…10X tarantulas lay in wait for my unsuspecting phobia.

I know you’re probably sitting there wondering…’how is this chick going to cope in South America on a continent riddled with creepy crawlies?!?’ but this is a question I’ll answer midair across the Atlantic Ocean…not while at the ready to swipe credit cards.

Unfortunately, the salesman took the brunt of my fear and was bombarded with ‘what the f-word do you have these here for, are you out of your…why…what…when…but I was here the other day…*can’t breathe, struggling to think blah blah blah’…you get the picture.

Bless his checkered shirt he handled it like the jungle man that he is and directed me in the opposite direction of the 8-eyed evil monsters of doom. Smart move…he had me eating out of his hands what with the sleeping bags, rad backpacks and funky outdoorsy things that I need! Perhaps a stupid move on my part, a few thousands of ronds later, I was yet again the happy little adventurous shopaholic I once was…having lived on the ‘wild side’ for just those few moments, I now realise that I have a rather large problem ahead of me.

Wonder if the jungle man would fit into my backpack…he could be a useful ‘tool’ in hair-raising situations!

Am still baffled that Cape Union Mart would do that to customers…scare them into oblivion and have their little worker bees pounce on money-spending, phobia-ridden freaks. They have quite obviously stepped up the sales game…*sneaky little puff adders!

And so the pre journey continues...tickets are being booked this weekend, gear is being bought and celebrations will be had! I am drenched in excitement...I cannot begin to describe it!

Over and out y'all!

KaB

As every Monday goes...

Why yes, I have! Along with feeling horribly vomitty and disgusting I have paid a visit to the Toilet Monster and planted a big phat hug round his cold, lonely self!

And now I want to go home and hug my own personal toilet..far more hygienic thanks!

I feel like crap...I have no words!

G'bye!

KaB

Living la vida loca

So, after many a day and night of squeezing the proverbial lid shut on my super duper news, I feel the need to burst through the doors of excitement and scream at the top of my lungs…

Voy a América del Sur, bebé!

FYI: Google says that that means ‘I’m going to South America, baby!’

*Surprise

*Cue: castanets (I know that's Spanish as in Spain but they speak Spanish in South America so anyway), Mexican party hats, tango dancing and Rio Carnivals. Can you hear the music?!?

I can just about see myself walking through the streets of Buenos Aires in search of a tango dancing lesson complete with a Diego Somebody – my imagination says he looks like Luc a la Brothers and Sisters thrown in with a bit of Antonia Banderas’ sex appeal…mmm, yummy…and I’m never coming home!

It all started one day when a friend of mine mentioned her travels and the adventurous voice inside of me screamed ‘GO…GO…GO’! And with a little bit of research and emails going back and forth re: where the hell are we going to sleep and what brand of shoe should I buy…I have finally leaped into the adventurous unknown and am swopping my career-girl stilettos for 1X pair of hiking tekkies…temporarily of course!

The parental unit look back at me with raised eyebrows every time I mention it, I mirror their disapproval with ‘why the hell not?!?’

I’m 26 years old…completely unattached and with no responsibilities in the world (except for my kitty cat, car bills, phone bills, medical aid bills and and and)…why the heck should I sit in an office day in and day out dreading the likes of awful traffic EVERY morning? Before I know it, I’ll be eaten alive by Bridget Jones’ Alsatians and life will have whizzed by at the speed of ‘nobody can even remember’! The dad is worried about safety, bar this and he’s excited about the prospects – wonder if he knows my prospecting stems to luscious lips, thick curly dark hair, deep chocolatey brown eyes and a libido that even Dirk Diggler would be jealous of...now that would be livin' la vida loca, right?!? The mom on the other hand, would have kept me locked tight in her womb had she been given the chance! She hates to see her offspring wonder the world without a clue in sight.

But then again, I’m their daughter and if they were normal I wouldn’t be making such a risqué leap. I mean, my folks are rockers for goodness sake…they even dabbled in hippiedom for a while…these people led the risk revolution back in the heyday of Springs (Gauteng)! Me, going to South America is a walk in the park in comparison!

So right now, I’m planning the smallest of details…right down to:

What size backpack (and make) to use. Did you know that you get 50L, 65L and 80L packs. Apparently the 80L can take up to 80kgs –my question to the salesman was ‘what the hell would anyone want to carry that amount of weight on their back for?!?’ I think he thought I was a moron…what with my pretty little summery dress, make up, perfectly in place hairdo and cutsie little fashionable sandals!

Brands of tekkies – Apparently your backpack size and weight effects the sole/ rubber of the shoe so you have to take this all into consideration before you even buy the damn things! And here I was thinking about colour matching and looking all girly what with the purple/ safari green backpack and pink themed hiking boots…now I have to think about practicalities…ohemgee! I’ve already broken a sweat just thinking about it again!

Next are shots…I need to have shots for Yellow Fever, Hep B, Rabies (because I’m going to be working on animal projects in the Amazon potentiall…yay me!) and possibly for one or two other weird jungle type diseases. So when do I mention that I hate needles?!?’

There is just so much to do it’s far too exciting for words…and every time I have to do them I take a step in the direction of South America. We start in Cusco, Peru on the Inca Trail, for now at least! And of course more wonderful tales and imaginary escapades will be shared before and during my jungle-ridden, party-driven, wine-infested adventures! I intend to write, write, write about everything!

More to follow!

Have a wonderful weekend y’all…think big, do big and be great!

Oh, and one more thing…go PROVINCE! Come on boys!!!

Over & out


KaB

Some lendin' and some lovin'...

Doin' a bit more lendin' today...I love me my daily dose of 'Being Brazen'...and after replying to her blog post, thought I'd let y'all know as well!

Why not, eh?!?

1. Today I feel...slightly drunk! Quick jug-o-margarita at Fat Cactus for lunch has sent me tipsy and wanting to either go straight to bed or right back to the Cactus for rounds 2, 3 and 10!

2. Last night I...watched 'My sister's keeper' again...and cried, again!

3. What's the best thing that happened this week? I was told that my company would give me an extended leave of absence so that I may go backpacking through South America for 3 months from Dec onwards...totally shocked and surprised, extremely happy as well cos I like my life and don't want to see it change while away!

4. Right now I would really like...to write, write and write some more! I want to write for a living, publish children's books, fun, fearless, female columns and just know that I'm super happy doing what I love most! Come to think of it, I'd also like to be kerfooflin with a super hot gentleman stranger Argentinian tango-dancing polo-playing sex machine...mmm...soon, perhaps?!?

5. Describe yourself in one word, quote or lyric: "Nobody puts Baby in the corner!" - Patrick Swayze a la Dirty Dancing...I don't shut up, don't listen to people and certainly do not like being the one in the corner! Bring on the shexy time dancing with studs like Johnny Castle! *am already singing along to...'Had the time of my life!' accompanied by smoothe moves and wiggling hips!

6. Do you dress up for halloween? Gawd no...not my thing although I do like to celebrate...so will be celebrating halloween :)

*goodie...that was fun! Now, if only I could wash this down with a bit of margarita mix, the day would be way more fun!
 
Rock the funbus y'all and have a margie while doing so :)
 
Over & out
 
KaB

Food for thought

My name is Keighley and I eat meat *cue shameful, guilt-ridden anonymous greetings. Welcome to my version of ‘meat-eaters rehab’. Where I have been involved in group discussions, visits to the snack counter and countless glasses of white wine to wash the topic of conversation down, I still remain carnivorous and constantly fight an internal battle of ethics, choice, hypocrisy and tantalizing taste buds.

Typically South African, I was born and bred on the staple diet of Saturday afternoon braais served with an entrée of rugby matches and yummy treats like biltong and boerewors rolls. Growing up I was more interested in riding my pink BMX, playing Marco Polo in the pool and dressing my Barbie dolls to never  question the food my folks put on the table (it was usually healthy, they never encouraged fast foods and so it’s never been a favourite of mine…thank goodness). Enter a very close friend, a very interesting book and a more informed conscience, and I now face the proverbial mountain of ethical eating.

I’ve heard people say that a book has changed their lives and for the most part, have generally thought that they must be easily swayed by a few pages but as fate would have it, I find myself saying the exact same thing nowadays. Jonathan Safran Foer’s  ‘Eating Animals’ is pretty much the story of why he does and doesn’t eat meat combined with years of research and pages of opinions from all sorts of interesting people both involved in and outside of the food industry. After reading the book and through some independent research, I am shocked that the lid has been kept on a ‘heated’ industry that continues to steer the inhumane treatment of animals, and remains one of the most lucrative forms of business in today’s day and age. To be honest, I still eat meat BUT I am far more conscious of what I’m eating, where it comes from and how often I eat it. I no longer eat chicken and have not for months, barely touch pork and only rarely eat beef and lamb. I am slowly turning a blind eye to meat, do not eat it in restaurants (at all) and continue to test my habits through days of eating only vegetables and fruits, which surprisingly always remain yummy and scrumptious.

For me, the change has come in the form of the treatment of animals. To say that I am an animal lover is an understatement, and after reading ‘Eating Animals’ I have never been more exposed to the true meaning of eating meat than I was during the time of reading this book. I was, and still am, mortified. What gives you and me the right to eat animals? Most fall back on, and genuinely believe that because our ancestors were hunter gatherers, it is in our genes and is intrinsic to our survival. This excuse is not acceptable. Our ancestors did not live in a world where the mass production of our food stems from the backbone of genetically modifying the DNA of cows, chickens, pigs and sheep to cater for increased stocks on supermarket shelves. No, our ancestors battled it out with animals and put their lives on the line so that they could feed their family and tribe. I hardly doubt the roast chicken posed threatening in the middle of the Woolworths aisle when picked from hundreds of exactly packaged birds. And the reasoning of ‘well, we’re at the top of the food chain’ certainly holds no ground because we’ve manipulated an industry into playing God and in producing more and more and more ad infinitum, so in essence we are not at the top of our game! For me, it was a question of truly understanding my, now questionable, eating habits and the uninformed choices I have made throughout my life.  

There are a few more factors that have helped me along my ‘rehabitual’ path such as the hormones pumped into animals, the ways that they are slaughtered to the fake labeling found on so much of our packaging – there really is no watchdog for organic and free range meats…just a little FYI! Thankfully, I feel enlightened and finally understand why more and more people are slowly turning towards the veggie way of life. I’ll be the first to comment that I’m a hypocrite because I continue to eat meat but it’s a fight I have with myself every time my taste buds reawaken at the sight of a medium-rare fillet or the smell of Sunday morning’s breakfast sizzling away a la bacon buttie. But the more and more I take a bite out of reality, the more I’m faced with swallowing the cold, hard facts that what I’m doing is inadvertently supporting a way of life that supersedes the well-being of animals and to do such a thing is tantamount to supporting an industry that so often leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

I highly recommend reading ‘Eating Animals’ and conducting a little of your own independent research, if not to stop eating meat, at least having come to that decision knowing full well how animals are treated, the process by which your meal makes its way onto your plate and in the billion dollar industry that we find ourselves unwillingly supporting.

If you're interested in reading about vegetarianism or just the general ins and outs of a healthy lifestyle...where to shop for organic products and the who's who in the zoo of opinions, latest news and interesting articles, visit http://veggie.kmoonitee.net/. It's a fantastic site with a new approach to healthier way of life...I highly suggest taking a peek and giving your thoughts on a number of the various issues. I hope to contribute more to this site, especially as I am trying to approach my eating habits from a different perspective.

Over and out y'all!

KaB