Hblog

Frightening

I went gingerly to Wynberg to try and look for fabrics for the headboard in my bedroom that I've been wanting to cover. I'm not much of an interior decorator but I like to sew and I'm not completely brain dead when it comes to colour, so I thought I would investigate. Wynberg in Johannesburg, for those of you who don't know, is an "industrial" area close to Sandton where the interior decorators go to buy fabrics direct. They also allow the great unwashed to visit, but I have a feeling that they do so under duress.

First stop: St leger and viney. When no one helped me as I wandered aimlessly about the room, trying to catch someone's attention, I approached a woman with big hair, a faded black striped pant and a floral top. I asked whether they had swatches. She barely looked at me as she waved her hand and said that someone on the floor could help me. She didn't "do" swatches. Harold did. I should go and find him.

I was flabbergasted. When she didn't indicate who this person Harold was, I asked desperately: I don't know who Harold is! I think there was a hint of distress in my voice because people stared. Anyway, I got my stupid sample and got out of that stupid place as quickly as my legs could carry me!

In order to obtain a larger sample of fabric-shop-people (I wanted to be proved wrong!) I traipsed through a few other sacred spots with similar effects. When someone at Home Fabrics actually asked me whether they could help me, I nearly leapt into their arms!

So: duck egg blue? Or dusty pink?

Wedding bells

My friend Megan is one of the first to be married under the new same-sex marriage directive in California. People were lining up in the rain on Sunday to be married. This is a wonder-full move.

Human rights blogging

Saddam's Cyber Palace and Where is Read? are both excellent blogs about Iraq. The latter is written by Salam Pax who lives in Iraq and has been writing since late 2002.

This in the preface to the book: 'In the build-up to the invasion, thousands of people visited Salam's website every day, hooked on his uninhibited and grimly compelling account of the slide into war - and the last days of a long dictatorship.'

Could we do this in Zimbabwe? I want to try. Will be running a half day seminar in Harare next year for interested human rights activists and the poor journos who lost jobs when independent media were banned in the country. The Blogger crew have kindly offered to host us :)

I only wonder whether it would work in Zimbabwe when there is so little international attention there. At least the Baghdad Blogger was able to ride on the crest of the massive traditional media wave that was gathering around Iraq. We'll have to apply to other bloggers' sense of justice and get them to publicize and spread the word far and wide.