Only Twits Twitter?

I still can’t understand the need to document every second of your life and follow every second of someone else’s. Also the ethics of Twitter should be questioned. I recently read about a journalist who twittered the death of a 3 year old before the memorial service and then twittered the funeral… Where do we draw the line?

I understand its relevance for business, where one could tweet a conference, but otherwise I don’t see the point yet?

Anything you tweet can and will be used against you…

Will the real World Leaders, please stand up?

I am not really into politics, but the recent political upheaval has really got me interested.

Today our New President will be sworn in, as Thabo Mbeki resigned last week.  Kgalema Motlanthe, will probably be the next president, a man many South Africans know very little about.

The utter lack of leadership, not only in South Africa, but worldwide is a huge worry. Maybe it is the beginning of the end of an era, making way for a new form of leadership. Now that the average man on the street has more say and power, perhaps it is time to re-look the way in which countries are governed.

Well, at least South Africa is not as bad as Zimbabwe, with Robert Mogabe being the main instigator. But Political unrest is not reserved for African Countries only.

The Japanese prime minister Yasuo Fukuda, resigned from his post in early September after less than a year in office. Taro Aso has been appointed as country’s new prime minister.

With America basically influencing every countries performance, the importance of a great US leader can not be over emphasised. The damage that George W. Bush inflicted not only on the country’s reputation, but on the economic front, will take years to repair. With 40 days to go until the elections in the USA, time will only tell. Let’s just hope for the best and may the best candidate win.

The UK has such an influence on Commonwealth Countries, such as South Africa, and the recent ‘beating’ the Prime Minister Gordon Brown has received from his critics and the British public, has had an influence. He may be on his way out as well…

Which brings me to the title of this post, ‘Will the real World Leaders, please stand up?’. The world is in despirate need of your services. Moral decay, economic hardships, the threat of nuclear war, rife corruption, public service delivery, and the list can go on and on… These factors can be blamed on the lack of leadership.

Who can you trust these days?

How to create a personal signature – for free

I love this little personal touch, so I thought I would share it with you…

Here is the link to creating your own signature: mylivesignature.

The wizzard is easy to follow and it only takes a couple of minutes.

I heart your blog

Wow, I can’t believe it!

Ginny from Ginny’s Small Studio has nominated me for a blog award and she enjoys reading my blog. I had no idea.

Thanks you so much, I am honoured (and flabbergasted).

In turn I have to nominate 5 blogs that I enjoy reading.

I heart:

The Wren

Being Brazen

Paper Kitty

Zenabu

Two Kitties

and Ginny’s Small Studio

Please nominate 5 blogs that you enjoy reading and send me the link. I love to read about the blogs that you heart.

My email address is: kerry.henning[at]hotmail.com

Happy Monday!

Happy Birthday Madonna

Tomorrow, 16 August 2008, is Madonna’s birthday. The “Queen of Pop” has always been a favourite of mine and I still can’t believe that she has lasted 25 years in the business. She constantly re-invents herself by pushing the boundries and never being complacent, dispite critisism. She does what she wants, how she wants and when she wants. I don’t necessarily want to do what she does, but she inspires me to always push for more…

Frozen (from ‘Ray of Light’ Album), is my favourite Madonna song and sometimes wish she would write more songs like this…

Happy Birthday, Maddy! One day I will have the priviledge of attending on of your Live Concerts…

‘Sex in the City’ Culture

Every week I look forward to reading iafrica’s Kabous Le Roux’s personal finance newsletter. This week it was particularly good, so I thought I would share it with you…

“According to a recent government study, Australia’s ranks of affluent, working single women are amongst the least satisfied in that country. In fact, only very poor Australians — those struggling to find food and shelter — were less satisfied.

If you wonder why those women might be so unhappy, do yourself a non-favour and go watch ‘Sex and the City’ (SATC), a show/movie that is no doubt extremely popular amongst that particular demographic.

I was coerced into watching SATC last weekend and, although I tried to keep an open mind, was shocked to the core by the most vulgar display of materialism I’ve ever seen. The ‘ultimate chick flick’ is less about female liberation than it is about labels, designer dresses and lots and lots of shoes.

In one scene Carrie Bradshaw’s tall, dark and handsome ATM machine gives her a huge, walk-in closet with bright lighting, a lush carpet and more shelves than you can possibly imagine. Carrie’s jaw drops. Mr. Big grins like Cheshire Cat. ‘Oh my God! You did me proud!’

She thinks she’s happy. Sure, her man might be an arrogant, egocentric prick but at least she’s got enough room (for now) for the gazillion pairs of shoes she owns.

Research by ‘Friends Provident’ indicates that the SATC generation — women between 25 and 40 — are more likely to have 30 pairs of shoes than a retirement plan. Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda would be proud don’t you think?

In an American study researchers found not only a correlation between self-esteem and materialism, but also a causal relationship where low self esteem increases materialism and materialism caused low self-esteem.

SATC is bad for women. If you can tell the difference between SATC and real life, you’re fine. But millions of viewers can’t. Those characters are miserable and their habits should not be emulated. There might have been a time when their frank discussion about sex could be appreciated, but now they’re nothing more than walking advertisements that create entirely unrealistic expectations for their fans.

Until next week…

Kabous le Roux
Personal Finance and Property Editor

“…don’t cry, buy a bag and then get over it…what I know is that I’m always happy when I walk out the store…’cause I know that my credit card will help me put out the flames…” — excerpt from ‘Labels or Love’, theme song of Sex and the City by Fergie.”

I personally haven’t seen the movie because I thought the series, while a refreshing take on a sitcom, was not to my liking. I agree with every word Kabous wrote on the subject…

What are your thoughts?

A way with words…

I found this on Freshly Found and had to try it. Wordle is a toy for generating “word clouds” from text that you provide. The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text.

I entered my blog URL and it automatically generated this. Interestingly enough, the word CAN came out the strongest…

Decorex Johannesburg 2008

Decorex JHB starts today at Gallagher Estate in Midrand and is on until Sunday, 3 Aug.

I will be going through tomorrow. I have a press pass, so I will be able to take lots of photos.

This year they have a marvelous SA Handmade Collection. I am especially looking forward to seeing what is on display there. Here is a Press Release…

Kids Party Cakes

The most popular post on my blog is the racing car cake that I did for a friend. It is a little embarrassing as the photos are terrible. But I would like to expand on the subject of Kids Party Cakes.

The best site for ideas for kids cakes is kraftfoods.com.

They have detailed instructions on how to bake themed cakes such as; racing car cake, fire truck cake, Barbie Doll cake, daisy cake and many more.

Kraftfoods.com also has great classic cakes and cupcake recipes and provide adequate information regarding party planning.

• Always use the best butter you can afford, as it will be worth it.

• White butter is best for baking – I use Wooden Spoon Butter

• Royal icing (made with butter and icing sugar) is always a hit on kids cakes

• Use gel food colouring as the colour achieved is far better.

• Invest in good quality icing nozzles, they will last for years and are great for completing various icing techniques (I will soon post some icing techniques and how to fold parchment paper into piping bags)

Craft Room Inspiration

My craft room is in serious need of attention, so I thought I would gather some inspiration and here is a summary of my findings…

• Storage seems to be the most important component, which makes sense. Because if, like me, you dabble in a few crafts, you will want versatile storage that will change with your needs. Lightweight, movable storage will do the trick.
• Give yourself some time to design and organise your space. It won’t happen overnight, so become familiar with your space and how you work in it for a while before making concrete installations, such as shelves and storage furniture.
• Colour inspires creativity. So, pick colours that speak to you and use them in your organisation. I love pastels in interior decor, so they will be my inspiration.
• Customise your space – it is yours after all. You need to be comfortable and organised to easily create. Even if your space is small, use corners and height to install shelves and cupboards.
• A place for everything and everything in its place. Hmmm, this is a difficult one, especially if you are like me and are not good at being tidy. I can’t even remember how many times I have wasted hours looking for something. It not only wastes time it wastes energy as well. Lesson learnt “Cut the Clutter”- I need to be more tidy and organised.
• Ah, Martha Stewart. Love her or hate her, the chick has built an empire. There is a whole section on her website on how to organise crafts, click here, to check it out.

Here are some inspirational photos…

Do you have any great tips for me?