Another month

As usual, time has gone by and I haven’t kept up with my commitment to writing on this blog. Again, I am hoping this will change this month. Ahhhh…that wonderful thing called hope! You see, the problem is procrastination. It gets you by the throat and holds you down. The only way forward it to break free.

Anyway, to the more interesting stuff. What has been happening?

August, I must say, passed in a flash.

I didn’t travel as I had hoped and planned to Mexico but I did do quite a bit of writing. I was ever so desperate to finish the book I am currently writing but the ending has proven elusive simply because I have to make sure the construction and flow feels right.

August was also the month I was supposed to cover the South African film at the Locarno film festival (4 – 14^th) but in the end, the distance and the date were challenges too great to overcome on a whim. It is such a pity as it would have been fantastic to now be waxing lyrical about the virtues of an “African” film at such a prestigious European festival where the film must be selected before it can even be shown. It would perhaps even have given me a chance to rub shoulders with famous celebrities. Acckkk, no! I would rather have made contact with the film makers themselves, the Directors, (executive) producers and such. They are the brains behind the film. Hoorah for the filmmakers!

What else did I do in August? Well, I saw a few films and some were atrociously bad while others were either passé or very gimmicky.

Don’t see “The Hangover”. It is highly overrated and so far-fetched you would have to do a lot of suspending of reality for that storyline.

“The Proposal” was well…interesting. It was a script that had obviously been written by women, for women.

“The Soloist” was potentially the worst of the bunch. This should not be blamed on the acting which was quite stellar but the weird directing is extremely questionable. Those weird overlong light strobes…seriously, was that really necessary? And for so long? I think I am really just ticked off because it was a surprise night at the open air cinema and it was truly a horrid surprise.

I can’t remember the other films I have seen this month. It is possibly my brain’s way of protecting me against recalling the trauma of time and dreams wasted.

September should prove to be a very interesting month for various reasons but it is October I am really looking forward to. Ahhh! The start of the infamous University course! Will I be able to do it? Will I have the courage to follow my dreams down the unknown path? To be continued...

Back to the present - September. Yes, so this month, I shall be visiting the circus (first time ever...err does Cirque du Soleil count? If yes, then not my first time).

I shall also be visiting some rather special art exhibition in Geneva. This is the Musee Rath exhibition. An open call was made for artists in Geneva. Secondly, there is the African exhibition organised by a Cameroonian photographer at the Centre de l’Esperance.

So far, I have met up with some of the alumni members of the university I am supposed to be attending in the super near future. They were really cool and gave some great tips. Big up to Ingrid, she is quite an inspirational individual.

By the by, I noted that Petina Gappah has been short-listed for more than one prestigious book award for her book, An Elegy for the Easterly. Guardian and another award. I hope that she gets it. Good luck!

The Caine Prize has disappeared off the internet. I have to assume this is merely a glitch and not a permanent thing like the Macmillan African writing Prize. I will be investigating that in the near future.

I promise to come back soon with more information about the art and writing events I have mentioned above.

Until then, I am wishing you very happy reading…and writing.