On Friday, our school class (2001) had our 5-year reunion. Honestly, I didn't understand why anyone would want to arrange a reunion after just 5 years, but I still went (partly as a matter of principle, and partly as an excuse to party). It was quite an informal thing, and a lot of fun! I was amazed to see so many people which I hadn't seen or even thought for the first time in half a decade. It's good to see that I'm not the only one that needs to shed a couple of pounds, and it's even better to see that a lot of people have changed for the better... There are always these guys at school where you can't help but think "Do you not realise what you are doing to yourselves???? WAKE UP!!!" and it's nice to see that some of them actually started figuring things out for themselves. Anyway, enough sentimentalism... We all ended up in De Akker (for those not native to Stellenbosch or South Africa, De Akker is the 2nd oldest pub in the country...) after several rounds of human bowling (you're the ball, and any other objects that can be lined up, be they inanimate or not, are the pins) and way too much brandy. After leisurely, erm, strolling out of De Akker (at roughly 4AM), I had to be at work at the farm by half past eight... Needless to say, I didn't exactly arrive on time, but thankfully it was a slow day and nothing had happened up until then.
Right, so I guess it's finally time to explain the title of the post...
For those of you who are not familiar with the work of French existentialist philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre (and I won't blame you if you aren't), and more specifically his play 'No Exit,' the concept of Sartrean Hell is pretty simple to explain: Hell, seen in the simplest of ways, is other people. More specifically, it is being thrown in a situation which would normally be seen as quite pleasurable, if not for something wrong (be it a state of mind or body, or even a piece of annoying furniture), and having no way to escape from it. How does this relate to my saturday? Well, read on...
The more astute among you might have figured out that doing anything while hungover is not exactly the most fun or the best idea in the world. Being forced to work in a place literally filled to the brim with alcoholic beverages, while having to deal with customers (mostly swedish and german tourists who can't understand english) who refuse to leave (even after you've helped them) even though you technically closed 45 minutes ago, all of the while feeling like there's an elephant trampling on your medulla oblongata, is not exactly what I would call Nirvana...
Right, OK, most of you might have figured out that the above would happen, but you'd never guess how the story ends... Yesterday evening was also my ex-girlfriend's birthday party. A formal event. On a wine farm. Now, I get along very well with this particular ex-girlfriend (we broke it off quite cleanly while still maintaing friendly contact), but the thought of dressing up in a penguin suit only to be marched around at yet another wine farm with some of her friends giving me hateful glances, and while having to endure her other friends constant talk of web designing was anything but alluring. Strangely enough for myself, I spent most of the evening in a corner drinking orange juice (I couldn't torture myself a 3rd night in a row), eating cocktail sausages and talking to her sister. Oh well, go figure...
Drove through this morning to the folks' place for the traditional massive sunday lunch (the extended family had been invited again, this time my dad's side...), a couple of glasses of very good wine (both my uncle and cousin are winemakers, and I felt suitably recuperated), and the traditional weekly rant/debate (this time about stock options, weirdly enough). Always fun... Oh well, now I'm off to go study yet again...
Oh, in other news, apparently a Finnish Heavy Metal band named Lordi, who like dressing up in ridiculous monster suits, recently won the Eurovision song contest with the highest score in the tournament's history... Take that, ABBA!!! Here's a photo of them.
Music Lyric of the day: "The saints are crippled / On this sinners’ night / Lost are the lambs with no guiding light / The walls come down like thunder / The rocks about to roll / It’s the Arockalypse / Now bare your soul!" (From Lordi's Eurovision winning song 'Hard Rock Hallelujah... Weird.)
Arb 80's trivia of the day: Only three artists in music history have had seven or more Billboard Top 10 singles to feature on one studio album, namely Bruce Springsteen (Born in the USA, 1984), Michael Jackson (Thriller, 1982) and Janet Jackson (Rhythm Nation, 1989)... And people say they had bad taste in everything back then! :-P
Suggestion of the day: If you don't know yet, find out what your name means in other languages... Don't make the mistake Tom Cruise made!
Quote of the day: "If Jesus had been killed twenty years ago, Catholic school children would be wearing little electric chairs around their necks instead of crosses." (Lenny Bruce) - Think about that for a moment...
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