Sally Kearns
Because I have friends in America whom I love and cherish.
Because I have friends in America whom I love and cherish.
Category: Migrations
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How I did yesterday
Yesterday I listed my “just for today” goals.
Here is how it went, in retrospect:Yesterday I almost managed not to stress about “tomorrow”. If banks would stop calling me and reminding me that my credit card payments are over due (of which I am painfully aware)- I might do better today.
Yesterday I was happy – until my Mom’s bad spell at Aquarobics. No-one’s exactly sure what happened – but it looks like another heart attack.
Yesterday I tried to adjust myself to what is. When I realised I was trying to adjust everything to my own desires, I reminded myself to let go – and let God.
Yesterday I strengthened my mind by attempting designs that pushed my skills. I almost tried to read Franz Kafka’s “The Trial” again – but didn’t.
Yesterday I only exercised my soul in one-and-a-half ways:
I did somebody a good turn, but got found out.
I only did one thing I didn’t want to – taking a lady home after Aquarobics.
I did, however, manage not to show anyone that my feelings were hurt.Yesterday I was agreeable. I looked pretty well in a white, weather-appropriate outfit (thankfully we live and work on the coast). I talked low and with a smile, acted courteously and refrained from criticising anything – or anyone. (Scratch that – I did go off about Stormhoek…)
Yesterday I almost had a program. I didn’t write it down – and didn’t follow it exactly, though I did try to save myself from hurry. Indecision still plagues me though. And the indecision is about choices I have to make about my future. (See point one re: not tackling my whole life problem.)
Yesterday I had a quiet half hour all by myself. It was quiet outside, but noisy inside. I need to learn how to relax. During this half hour, I tried to get a better perspective of my life, but ended up going on tangents about the choices I just referred to.
Yesterday I ended up being afraid. Not of enjoying what is beautiful, but of screwing it up. I’m not sure what I’m giving to the world… and it feels like the world is giving me a headache.
It’s lunch time now. Maybe I’ll do better this afternoon?
(This morning has gone to the dogs already.) -
Why whine about wine?
As I lay in bed last night, it dawned on me that it might sound odd that I’m all in a huff about a winery. Why feel so strongly for a product I no longer use?
Well, here’s the deal. Yes, as an alcoholic I no longer drink, amongst other things, wine. Still, Stormhoek isn’t “just a wine”. Above and beyond the warm memories I associate with a bottle of Stormhoek at a dinner party – the people behind the wine feel like family. Many Geek Dinners (linklove to the Garden Route Geek Dinner that got me started) were sponsored by them, many younglings have been inspired by them and – not to put too fine a point on it – we know them! For crying in a bucket – some of us even own vines at Stormhoek!!
As a last thought on this matter, for now, here’s the deal with wine:
The wine is the brand. You can taste it. Wine carries the story of it’s origin within itself. The soil, the wind, the water, the sun – the actual vines… All of these are translated into the aroma and character of the wine itself.You can take the same wine – and slap on any old label you please – it will always be the same wine.
Conversely, if you take the “Brand” and stick it onto any old wine – it will be fake.
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pretenders
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Shame on you.
Reply to “STORMHOEK IS MOVING HOUSE”
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Stormhoek gets NO love from Origin Wines
I am in shock. Forgive me for not saying more… but I just read this on stii‘s blog:
Stormhoek gets NO love from Origin Wines
Apart from getting a really raw deal from Stormhoek’s UK partners, Orbital, they are faced with even more obstacles. Since Orbital has gone under, it was sold to/taken over by Origin Wines. Their previous website (now, unfortunately also owned by Origin) are now used to spread a bunch of lies:
When we started Stormhoek back in 2003, we sat in our office in London and thought, “Why can’t we make great 5 pound South African Sauvignon Blanc? Why not beat the New Zealanders at their own game? Better, Cheaper and Faster!”
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Ultimately we went ahead, brought some tech, contracted out our production, designed a label, marketed and launched Stormhoek. People loved the wine!
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There are some very successful brands in ZA that some nothing more than a label, with everything else being outsourced, but we felt that we needed a place to call home. So, we bought an interest in a little vineyard called Siyabonga, near Wellington. After years of effort, Siyabonga had not been able to sell its wine very successfully, and with Stormhoek’s growing business, it was a perfect place to buy what we could call a home. So it was a good fit for both parties.
Read more here! (For the TRUE Stormhoek story, read here)Luckily one person did notice that and left a comment, which would be interesting to see how long the comment remains there:
What has happened? I think I cannot say it better than Rob Stokes from Quirk:
The assets of the sunken Orbital were recently bought by Origin, and of course with this purchase came all of Stormhoek’s brand equity in what I would guess to be their biggest market.
In essence what they are now doing is cutting Graham and the team at Stormhoek SA (the people who really care about the brand) out of the UK profit loop. Sure their business will (hopefully!) go to another South African farm, but I’ll bet my favourite Google hat that vast majority of the profits will stay in the UK. As a proud South African, that doesn’t sit well with me.
From what I understand is that Stormhoek will continue to make the good stuff here (a.k.a. the real Stormhoek) and export to basically everywhere, accept the UK. In the UK, Origin is going to continue to bottle and sell Stormhoek, but not with real Stormhoek, which means nothing! I think this Jason guy misses the point about Stormhoek. See, Stormhoek is not just a good brand. The real Stormhoek is a massive success story. It is also a fantastic story! You can put the best bloody Bordeaux wine in a Stormhoek bottle, it is not Stormhoek, as the story is lost. However, all of this will be another great chapter with excellent lessons to be learned in the real Stormhoek’s story! As Rob said in a comment over at Quirk:
My point is that I don’t think the two can be fairly separated. The wine is the brand and vice versa.
Another blind turn of events is that this Jason guy told the real Stormhoek guys that they have to seize the use of all those brilliant little cartoons we grew used to by Hugh MacLeod. That is very sad. From the nasty article on the old Stormhoek blog, it seems like they will also retain the services of Hugh, so it seems that is also lost to the real Stormhoek.
Very sad… BUT, is there maybe an opportunity lurking for some aspiring blogger in SA to take over that role?! 
Would be kinda tough to beat the brilliant Hugh at his own game though! There is an upside to all this, of course! Stormhoek will now be more available right here in SA! Since they will not be shipping to the UK anymore, they will distribute much more right here. (At least, thats what I hope!) That sure is good news for all real Stormhoek fans!
So if you feel you’d like to help even more, the best you can do is to talk about all of this on your blogs. The truth will prevail!
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Felicia Anonymous (from David's Very Short Novels)
Tell it to me any way you like but don’t stop talking. Please. I hear what I need to hear. We’ll make a deal. I’ll dunk this misshapen donut into this bad coffee and chew on this cigarette and not get drunk for an hour. And not talk back. I’ll thank my precious life for the sound of your voice; meanwhile, you tell your version of the story we all know all too well. What a lousy chair this is. I’d like to put it and its short leg through a window. But that would be wrong. It wouldn’t show the gratitude I feel. And anyway, rooms like these don’t have windows for the same reason bars don’t have windows. Oh, Felicia. Each day is more exhausting than the day before, then you get up and say your name and what you are and talk. Outside, we do nothing but get in each other’s way, you and me and all the others; here we sit in neat rows and face in the same direction, looking at you to help us in your turn. Hi, Felicia. You tell your stupid story of how you stupidly complicate your stupid problems, too stupid to see you cause them yourself and I swear on my life one more time that coming here is worse than any other problem I have and that I’ll never be back. And then I come back. If the meetings were held upstairs, Felicia, I’d have to go somewhere else, but in the basement at least there are no icons and we take our turns on the cross. I may have turned a corner, Felicia. The stupid things you say are starting to sound like the stupid things I say. Maybe I’m not the smartest drunk in the room.
Copyright © March 02, 2008 David Hodges
Felicia Anonymous « Very Short Novels
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Just for today…
Just for today I will try to live through this day only – and not tackle my whole life problem at once. I can do something for twelve hours that would appall me if I had to keep it up for a lifetime.Just for today I will be happy. This assumes what Abraham Lincoln said, that: “Most folks are as happy as they make up their minds to be”, is true.
Just for today I will adjust myself to what is – and not try to adjust everything to my own desires. I will take my “luck” as it comes – and fit myself to it.
Just for today I will try to strengthen my mind. I will study. I will learn something useful. I will not be a mental loafer. I will read something that requires effort, thought and concentration.
Just for today I will exercise my soul in three ways:
I will do somebody a good turn and not get found out. (If anybody knows of it, it will not count.)
I will do at least two things I don’t want to do – just for exercise.
I will not show anyone that my feelings are hurt. They may be hurt, but today I will not show it.Just for today I will be agreeable. I will look as well as I can, dress becomingly, talk low, act courteously, criticise not one bit, not find fault with anything – and not try to improve or regulate anybody except myself.
Just for today I will have a program. I may not follow it exactly but I will have it. I will save myself from two pests: Hurry and Indecision.
Just for today I will have a quiet half hour all by myself – and relax. During this half hour, I will try to get a better perspective of my life.
Just for today I will be unafraid. Especially I will not be afraid to enjoy what is beautiful – and to believe that as I give to the world, so the world will give to me.
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Kareem proved innocent
1 Year after his conviction – for which the sentence was 1 year’s imprisonment – Kareem has been proved innocent. Makes you wonder…
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One of those days…
It’s a sh!tty brain-day. -
Hugh does it best
It’s no secret that i am a devoted fan (deciple?) of gapingvoid.
Imagine my excitement when I stumbled onto this presentation – using his cartoons!Oh happy day!!
10 Ways to a Killer Blog
From: yizmo, 1 year ago
Presentation of Robert and Maryam Scoble about how to blog well. The Blog Business Summit 2006 is a conference and seminar series focused on business blogging.
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