It feels easier to be a woman today. Suddenly, our reality seems and hopefully will be lighter, brighter – with so many more opportunities on offer. And women like Kamal Harris and Jill Biden will inspire us for years to come. Watching Kamala Harris’s speech this morning, I felt empowered and proud. And I know that I am by far not the only one.
“Character MATTERS. Telling the truth MATTERS. Being a good person MATTERS,” he said.
Yes, all of these things matter.
As someone who has experienced the helplessness and crushing despair of going up against men in powerful positions who lack integrity, lie, steal and do only damage, and of being told that my truth meant nothing, that I did not matter, to see the end of one of them on the world stage feels like a private victory. There was so much at stake, and this time decency prevailed. Thank goddess!
“Today is a good day,” Van Jones said. It is indeed.
Be kind. Wear a mask. Support local.
“Physical distancing remains one of the key strategies to curb this pandemic.”
President & Vice-President Elect of the United States of America, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris
A day of HOPE. People with heart, soul – empathy! – will replace an empty, egotistic void. A global sigh of relief.
Also a day of everyday miracles: all three of my Furry Friends shared the bed with me this morning.
And this evening, my love and I hosted our first lockdown dinner for friends.
No, it was not a battalion a friends – we just had PLENTY to celebrate … And my love brought a few of his really special bottles for us to share.
I go to bed tipsy, content and at peace with the world. The Tangerine Troll is no more.
Thank you to every single person who voted to make this happen (and all the others: I can only hope that once the gaslighting spell breaks, you will find calm and forgive yourself – psychopaths are toxic people; sometimes it takes a while to understand what they are capable of, how much devastation they can leave behind …).
But: the truth will set us free … And Joe and this incredible woman will continue to inspire us for years to come!
Finally!
Be kind. Wear a mask. Support local.
“Physical distancing remains one of the key strategies to curb this pandemic.”
I am writing with Mozart on my lap – it must be the rain that keeps him indoors, wanting cuddles and attention. Or he knows about my nightmares. Malignant narcissism on full display is quite triggering, so I sometimes wake up screaming. The tangerine tantrums continue. And all we need is a balmy, boring blue to set in. We need rest.
I spent the day editing and researching literary archives. The only interruption was a trip to the printers to pick up the first copies of Death and the After Parties by Joanne Hichens. I delivered them to the Book Lounge for Joanne to sign – thank you to everyone who pre-ordered a copy of the book! We always knew it would look stunning, but the real thing is even better than we’d imagined. I cannot thank Monique enough for all her patience and care in designing the book. It is a beauty! And the content … Please read it. You will no regret it. A brave and beautiful book.
What better way to end the working week than with a dinner with my love at The Hoghouse?
We ate and drank well, as always! And I will be having chocolate-chip cookies with my coffee tomorrow morning. No matter what the night brings! Insomnia and nightmares can be magicked away with chocolate-chip cookies as good as those from The Hoghouse!
I contacted Krystian when I started writing to show him Mozart – he was with Mozart’s sister, Myszka. Feline and human siblings meeting on Skype :)
Mozart is still on my lap. I hope I can get him to stay home tonight and sleep on my bed …
Good night.
Be kind. Wear a mask. Support local.
“Physical distancing remains one of the key strategies to curb this pandemic.”
Two more books to come in November. Karavan Press will be ten titles strong by the end of the year. The Karavan Press snow leopards from Julia are continuing with the stories …
It was a day of work: reading, editing, pool and bathroom cleaning. Highlight of the day: dinner with my love. Now, I am ready for bed and hope to wake up to the news of a gentle blue wave coming in and calming the land across the waters. And the rest of the world. We all (apart from those who still wanted another four years of Tangerine Kak) deserve some peace and decency.
I have been indulging in some literary time travel in the last few days. South African literary history is so full of treasure! No wonder I fell in love with the stories, then the land, and then its people. How incredibly lucky am I to be part of this story now, to call it home, to celebrate its past, present and future …
Good night.
Be kind. Wear a mask. Support local.
“Physical distancing remains one of the key strategies to curb this pandemic.”
My dear friend Erika once told me that you should not judge people by the way they make you feel when you are with them, but by the way they make you feel once they are no longer in your company. When I joined the Zoom board meeting I was supposed to last night, I was exhausted and just wanted to get to bed. But an hour later, the people participating in the virtual encounter, with all their care and enthusiasm for the project we are all involved in, made me feel energised and inspired. And this although Salieri decided – right in the beginning of the meeting – to use the litter tray in the guest bathroom next door (highly unusual for her, she usually goes only when it is raining – otherwise she does her business outside in the garden). Five minutes into the meeting, the smells that were coming from the bathroom were so strong, I really struggled to focus. But I did not know how to explain to the others what had happened … Needless to say, the house had to be aired before I went to bed.
Shit.
US election night.
Pistachio ice-cream and red wine in the night. Hearty breakfast in the morning. Even if Biden wins, which is gradually beginning to look like a tiny possibility, the fact that it is still not a done deal means that millions of people voted for a psychopath to rule over them for another four years – it is impossible not to despair.
Psychopaths are not always easy to recognise, but once you have had one ruin your life, you will be able to smell them from afar, even if Covid deprives you of your sense of smell. Their stink of destruction is unmistakable. And yet, they manage to do what they do because of their excellent powers of manipulation and gaslighting, and both are on display at the White House in ways that are deeply, deeply distressing. And it is hard not to take it personally. Not when so much is at stake.
Salieri was not much help with my work today (I suppose someone had to catch up on the lost sleep last night …), but I managed to get through a mountain of it before it was time to light a fire and braai a simple dinner for my love. A soothing fire and a glass of red wine: balm for the soul on a day like today.
And now: I am going to watch some TV, checking up on the results every now and then. I haven’t given up hope for a Biden/Harris win, but I have given up on the millions of Americans who have fallen for the psychopath’s lies and manipulations. It’s bad enough when it happen to you on a small scale, but it is disastrous on a scale like this.
Be kind. Wear a mask. Support local.
“Physical distancing remains one of the key strategies to curb this pandemic.”
I woke up to the news of the terror attacks in Austria. I have dear friends living in Vienna. I cried looking at the news reports. These moments are always tragic, but of course it feels more threatening when it happens so close to one’s home, one’s heart.
Glinka was full of feline love this morning. She felt my distress, I am sure. And somehow the events of the rest of the day were balm for the soul. I visited the Book Lounge and picked up my copy of The Reacher Guy by Heather Martin (can’t wait!). On my way home, I picked up a bunch of gorgeous flowers. A friend came to visit to help with a project we are working on and we had a few hours of productive cooperation. I had to see my GP today and she was just wonderful. Afterwards, I treated myself to a late takeaway lunch from HARU. And then a delivery arrived – a thank you for some work I did for a dear friend and did not want to be paid for. A delicious surprise! Bubbly and red – someone knows me well :) Last, but not least, I saw that my hibiscus is flowering again. It always makes me smile. A lot of work has been done.
Yet work is not finished for the day – a Zoom board meeting awaits – but I am exhausted already. I doubt I will have much sleep tonight, although I can’t imagine the US elections delivering any concrete news before the early hours of our morning, but let’s see. I remember the last election night and morning and the horrors that brought into our lives across the globe. May the Tangerine Troll be voted out of all our memories.
Be kind. Wear a mask. Support local.
“Physical distancing remains one of the key strategies to curb this pandemic.”
A day at sea: it started with a walk along the sea with my love, it continued with a book cover that includes elements of the sea in its design, and ended in Muizenberg and Kalk Bay with two Karavan Press authors, discussing our respective projects. I returned home with a great sense of accomplishment.
In the early afternoon, Salieri and I worked together at the computer. She is again here, on top of all the papers, performing her evening cleaning ritual after all the hard work while I type. Glinka also decided to join us, but she is on top of the bookshelf next to my desk.
I managed to get proper cat food on my way home this evening, but had no energy left for proper human food and cooking. So …
Viennas from Peregrine. They remind me of the Viennas one could get in Poland and Austria during my childhood (and they do come from a German butcher in Grabouw).
And now it is time for bed. It has been another looooong day. One foot in front of the other, Karina. Deep breaths!
(Tomorrow is … a day of hope for sanity and empathy, or … another four years of tangerine psychopathy – may the gods and goddesses of all good things save us, she casts a spell and prays for a miracle!)
Be kind. Wear a mask. Support local.
“Physical distancing remains one of the key strategies to curb this pandemic.”
We had a leisurely Sunday lunch with my love’s family at their holiday home. It felt so good to get together and catch up properly over delicious food and good wine. The last time was in the time ‘before’.
Sunday papers included an article by Melissa A. Volker. She wrote about the daughter-father relationship in relation to surfing and how it has transformed over the years from men wanting to exclude women and girls from the joy of surfing to becoming more and more inclusive and supportive, with many father specifically teaching their daughters to surf. A lovely, empowering read. Melissa always breaks down gender stereotypes in her novels, and her Shadow Flicker (proudly published by Karavan Press) features a very touching daughter-father surfing relationship.
One of the collection’s first readers, Christy Weyer of Liberty Books in Grabouw, has been praising Lester’s Let It Fall Where It Will on social media today. It is moving for me to see someone respond so wholeheartedly with joy to this special book.
Christy with her copy of Lester’s book.
The day ended with a Sunday sunset walk along the coast. It is impossible not to feel rejuvenated after a day like this, fading out with the sound of the sea soothing one’s soul.
Be kind. Wear a mask. Support local.
“Physical distancing remains one of the key strategies to curb this pandemic.”
Karina Magdalena 