Sunday, November 7, 2010

Unicorn has a new home!

Dear friends and lovers,
The time has come. I have finally registered my own domain! So, instead of reading about my exciting adventures here, please head over to www.lizekay.co.za. It's pretty, and a whole lot more work is going to be put into it to keep you always informed and entertained.
Enjoy!
xo xo
LK

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

And So It Begins...

I am 22 years old. Though I am still studying, I also have a fulltime job, as well as a freelance job. I also have other grown-up things, like a gym membership, eye cream and a savings plan. Oh, and I own a house. But this whole adulthood thing can be pretty daunting at times! Things happen that make you realise that school is nothing more than a distant memory of when we were skinnier and played team sports.
One of these things has just happened. The first girl from the St Anne's class of 2006 has gotten engaged! Don't get me wrong, she's beyond lovely and from what I hear he's the perfect guy. It's just... scary. Because from now on every week will hold new engagement announcements and invites to kitchen teas and baby showers. On that note, there are already TWO class of 2006 babies that have been... had. [I was going to say spawned, but it seems a bit harsh.]
So, I guess that leaves just one thing to do:
Hello, rest of my life. Please treat me well. Ta.
Future Wedding Unicorn.
PS. If you're planning on having your 'special day' soon, check out this amazing competition on Kim Gray's blog here. She was the very worthy winner of the 2010 SA Blog Awards Best Fashion Blog.

The Social Network

Last night we [me, The Ministress of Snark and Irish] checked out a ‘special’ screening of The Social Network at Ster Kinekor in Sandton City, thanks to Seth over at 2oceansvibe. After having already taken America by storm, the film only releases next Friday in South Africa. But is well worth seeing, even if you think there are too many spoiler alerts out there. Not to ruin it for you, but there’s this guy, right? And he invents Facebook

Jesse Eisenberg is a class actor who pulls the role of Facebook-founder Mark Zuckerberg very well. Zuckerberg is portrayed as a socially inept whizz kid who borders on sociopathic when it comes to ambition and anyone or anything that might just stand in his way.

The movie has no single, mammoth climax. But despite this it remains interesting throughout and you’ll learn a lot you never knew about Facebook and how it got to where it is today. It is funny at times without trying too hard, and dramatic in small details and mumbled lines. The Social Network shows the dark side of many things: of money, of power, of ambition and of the revolution of digital social media. Ideas get stolen, people get screwed over, friends become enemies and pub nights are replaced by supermodels and multi-million dollar lawsuits. It’s thrilling, and I did not walk out hating Zuckerberg. Rather, I walked out inspired by the drive some people have, and also, in a sense, slightly frightened by it. Money and power are dangerous little monsters, it appears. And as we all move into a sphere where we live in-, on- and through this thing we call the internet, do remember: you may be living the digital revolution, but sometimes the hangover you get from it is a very real one.

Shot, Seth, You're cool.

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Play the #TwitterThesis Game With Me!

Hello, friends
As some of you know, I am currently in the throes of writing my thesis. It's about social media, specifically Twitter and I have chosen to do it about Twitter, through Twitter and to publish some of it on Twitter, in order to demonstrate the function and power of this social medium thingy [don't worry, I don't say 'thingy' in my thesis.] It is pretty interesting, covering topics from computer-mediated community formation, so Twitter and the law, Twitter and politics, new media vs old media and much more.
For this purpose I have started a hashtag: #TwitterThesis. So now anyone who wants to participate can use this hashtag. [By the way, if you don't have a clue what I'm talking about because you don't "get" Twitter, get off my blog, or get on Twitter. Okay I'm kidding about the first part. You can carry on reading, but it really will not mean much to you.]
So, on Saturday I have to present my #TwitterThesis to a room full of suits who are old and oozing academicalness [yet another term not used in my #TwitterThesis]. Now, they expect us to do a Powerpoint presentation, or use the overhead projector, or print handouts, anything along those lines. But rather than participate in these archaic time- and/or paper-wasting methods, I am doing something different.
In front of me I will have my laptop, connected to the Internet. I will have my Twitter page open and in the few minutes before I start talking I will be doing updates for all to see. Stuff like, for example:
  • Okay, about to present my #TwitterThesis. Wish me luck!
  • Remember to play the #TwitterThesis game in the next few minutes as I present it to 'The Board'.
  • Also, guys, please no weird sex references and such when using #TwitterThesis, please. This is serious. [@BarryTuck I'm looking at you.]
  • Ready to give some thoughts on #TwitterThesis? Aaaaand go! All updates will show up on the screen for 'The Board' to see.
And as I present the #TwitterThesis, I will hit refresh every now and then on the #TwitterThesis hashtag search page. See, this will demonstrate the function of the hashtag, shed some light on the processes I have used in order to do this #TwitterThesis through Twitter, and it will demonstrate the power of Twitter, overall proving the point of the #TwitterThesis.
So, if you are on Twitter and you do follow me [if you don't, please do], please play along. The presentation will only be about 15 minutes long, but for those 15 minutes I need you to please bombard me with opinions on Twitter as a new, digital, social medium with the power to do many many things.
Will you play along, please?

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Mont Blanc John Lennon Event

On Tuesday I went to the launch of the Mont Blanc range that celebrated John Lennon's life, as he would have turned 70 last Saturday. The first thing I can say is I want one of those pens! Maybe not the one going for about R200 000, but definitely one of them.
The event was held at the Sandton Sun, which is a dazzling venue! Did you know that they have one of the only three 'genuine' [read: amazingly awesome] concierges in South Africa? The other one, of course, being Official Concierge of Lizeland. We were on the San Deck, which comes highly recommended for fancy events, a romantic dinner or just drinks with friends.
Now, unfortunately we did not get gift bags with John Lennon pens in them [although that would SO have been the case in Lizeland], but we did have a comprehensive 'tour' of all of the pens. Very impressive stuff, I must say! Details such as Tanzanites and Sapphires for his iconic glasses, to a self portrait of him engraved on the pen, peace signs and important dates. It's a stunning range, and well worth the money if you love pens and/or John Lennon.
Arno Carstens played a few songs, including his own rendition of Imagine, which was beautifully done. Carstens has been in the UK for a few years now, and despite landing exciting gigs such as playing for Yoko Ono's fundraiser, he says that South Africa will always be his number one. Of course.
I was a bit surprised by people walking out during the band's performance, but I could understand everyone leaving straight afterwards. Much as it was a great venue and a wonderful commemoration, it was not the most exciting event i have ever attended. Jeremy Mansfield's excited claim that 'the party only starts now' was clearly false. By the time the clock struck nine most people had already left. But overall the event was well planned and the choice of venue was excellent.
PS. If any of you happen to run into my parents between now and Christmas, kindly mention to them that their wonderful daughter would just LOVE one of these [the pens, not the hotel.]

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

More Crazed Fans

Follow yesterday's post about the war on Justin Beaver haters, I simply had to share this with you. It is amazing. This time it's a Britney Spears fan who's angry about everyone being mean to her.
The best part? I think that's a GUY! [Can't be sure, though. It's all very confusing.]
Thanks, Rick Bosch, for sharing.

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Beware The Bieb Army

I just had to share this with y'all. This kid [he's 14, by the way, and is still wearing braces] has declared war on all Justin Bieber haters. He sounds pretty serious. So, if you are a Justin Bieber haydurr or 'metal-loving f*ckhead' [hey, don't look at me, HE said it], careful. Tiny Bieb's army might kill you in your sleep.
Please watch the video below and enjoy rolling on the floor laughing your arse off [that's ROTFLMAO] with me.

Life's Just a Bowl of Cherries

've been pretty busy, what with this whole Thesis thing hanging over my head. That, and working a fulltime job, and having to write a play, and do another research assignment and give another presentation [all for Honours], all within the next month. It's hectic. Plus I've just discovered Scrubs and that is also taking up much of my time. So I haven't had much time for blogging, and this post is not particularly exciting. Sorry.
Last weekend we went bowling. I think I went bowling once when I was about 15, but I can't even remember it so it doesn't really count. It was for Betty 'La Piep''s birthday [that nickname is a whole blogpost on its own]. And it was fun. We made up nicknames for all of us [I was, of course, Unicorn]. I did not suck and we had a great time cheering one another on. Someone baked cupcakes, which immediately puts this day on the 'Best Day Ever in Lizeland' list. I even put together a pretty sweet bowling outfit, if I say so myself.
So, go bowling with your friends, and spend an afternoon laughing, and wishing everything were neon! Wouldn't that be cool?
I

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Domestic Disaster

When I was about 10 years old, my childhood BFF and I almost burnt our kitchen down. From there, it didn't get much better. Between being at boarding school [where opportunities to cook/bake were limited and I very nearly failed Homed Economics] and not having the kind of family that gets together to even eat a meal, let alone cook it together, the domestic gene was never really developed in me. But every now and then I get this urge to prove once again how useless I am in the kitchen, and last week I decided to try make tomato and basil bread.
Tomato and basil are two of my favourite things, so when I found this recipe on Jamie Who's amazing blog on Aficianado, I had to try it. And I did. It seemed pretty simple.
You will need:
  • 15 cherry tomatoes, halved
  • 120g flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 3 free range eggs
  • Half a cup milk
  • 125g basil pesto
  • 165g parmesan, grated
I got all of my ingredients from Woolworths, including a delicious organic basil pesto. I used about half the amount of parmesan and added a fistful of mozzarella, but that's just me. And so I began.
Step 1: Set oven to 140 degrees Celsius. Season the halved tomatoes with salt and pepper, drizzle with olive oil and roast for two hours. Simple enough, no?
Ready to go!
Yummy yummy!
Oh. Merde! I am no culinary expert, but I am 99% sure that this is NOT what they are supposed to look like.
So, there you have it. I cannot even roast tomatoes successfully. I spent the rest of that night munching chocolate-covered crunchies [obviously NOT made by me], feeling like a spectacular failure.
But then I decided to try one more time [probably only because I had bought a mountain of rosa tomatoes and would otherwise have nothing to do with them].
Looking good [note: tomatoes are not teeny tiny coals].
We have made it to the oven. This, however, is usually where it all goes wrong. [Prays furiously to the gods of food-making].
But no. It did not go wrong. In fact, besides for the fact that the bread was quite flat [I convinced myself, however, that this was die to the wrong size of bread pan], it was perfect. I put a bit of mozzarella on top and popped it back in the over for another 5 minutes, and voila!
Perfect. Yes, by my standards, this is perfect. And yes, I danced around my kitchen for a good ten minutes, BBM'ing pictures of my success to all of my friends.
So, my advice to you is don't give up. Keep trying, and stay positive, and you might be pleasantly surprised by success. That said, do stop trying at the point where you might hurt yourself, or burn down the kitchen. Rather try a new hobby then. Also, do read Jamie Who's blog, try one of his amazing recipes and note how awesome the Aficianado team looks on the latest NoMU poster here, with make-up and hair done by the lovely Lady Kaye [not me. The other one].

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

, , , , , Chameleon

Guys... I am confused. And I need opinions.

When it comes to hair, I am a serial colourist/cutter/changer, whatever I can possibly do [well, have done] to my hair. While during high school my hair was always an average length with an average number of highlights [for a private school girl, anyway], I have been through many phases in the last 3-4 years:

Dark, long. Excuse the schmodel photographs, my house burnt down last year which meant I lost a LOT of my photographs, including most of the ones of me.
Dark, short. Also my phase when I smoked a LOT. [This phase is now over.]
Then this happened:
And we went for this vibe [which I loved but will likely not do again]:
Then we did short, BLONDE. Like, it does not get much blonder than this:
And right now, it looks like this:
And I am loving the long hair because it is just so much fun to play with!
I mean, I think even Taylor Momsen would be proud of my Jenny Humphrey imitation:
But now, I'm considering going dark again. [The hair is staying long, though. I loves the short hair, but I won't be going back to that for a while.] I mean, blonde is fun for summer and all, but I did also like the brunette... But I'm confused! Some say my features stand out more with the blonde, some say that same about the brunette. Some say I look washed out blonde, some say I look scary brunette. [I also did get told I look like Megan Fox when brunette which I do not see at all, but I'll totes take that compliment!] And if I go brunette now it will NOT be easy to bleach it back again. But brunette is a LOT less maintenance. And, and, and... I just don't know. So, I need advice. Blonde Unicorn, or Brunette Unicorn? Do blondes have more fun? Are brunettes more fun? I just don't know what to do... What is your opinion?
-sigh-
Life is hard.