Ian and Judiet

Current Mood: Confused

I was readying a post on SA Rocks about Barak Obama and his speech in South Carolina and the man has a way with words. He is inspiring and its so easy to take what he said and change it to reflect our own country. Here is what he wrote changed to fit our circumstances.

I did not travel around this country over the last year and see a white South Africa or a black South Africa. I saw South Africa.

I saw crumbling schools that are stealing the future of black children and white children alike. I saw shuttered mills and homes for sale that once belonged to South Africans from all walks of life and men and women of every colour and creed who serve together and fight together and bleed together under the same proud flag.

I saw what South Africa is and I believe in what this country can be. That is the country I see. That is the country you see. But now it is up to us to help the entire nation embrace this vision.

Because in the end, we’re not just against the ingrained and destructive habits of our current Government, we’re also struggling with our own doubts, our own fears, our own cynicism.

The change we seek has always required great struggle and great sacrifice. And so this is a battle in our own hearts and minds about what kind of country we want and how hard we’re willing to work for it.

So let me remind you tonight that change will not be easy. Change will take time. There will be setbacks and false starts and sometimes we’ll make mistakes.

But as hard as it may seem, we cannot lose hope, because there are people all across this great nation who are counting on us, who can’t afford another four years without health care, that can’t afford another four years without good schools, who can’t afford another four years of crime, that can’t afford another four years without decent wages because our leaders couldn’t come together and get it done.

Yes, we can. Yes, we can change. Yes, we can.

Yes, we can heal this nation. Yes, we can seize our future. And as we leave this great state with a new wind at our backs and we take this journey across this great country, a country we love, with the message we carry from the plains of the Free State to the hills of Natal, from the Johannesburg jungle to the Cape coast, the same message we had when we were up and when we were down, that out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we will hope.

And where we are met with cynicism and doubt and fear and those who tell us that we can’t, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of the South African people in three simple words — yes, we can.

Do you believe we can overcome the cynicism and fear we have in our country and become a prosperous nation? I’m always first to say to people that they are not allowed to complain about the state of things in our country untill such time as they have tried to do something about it - and i still believe that is largely true. I believe that you shouldnt complain about litter, for example, when you throw your cigarette stub out the window while driving or throw papers out your car window. I believe that if we get the smaller “morals” right, the large ones will take care of themselves. If we teach our kids the value of life and to have compassion for one another; they would not be compelled to murder or harm someone else.

I would love to hear your thoughts on the matter as it can be debated at length for many many days at end - but nothing is going to change until we cause the change. Are you going to help in bringing about change?

Current Mood: Cool

As has already been published I will be joining a new Avusa Media division called the iLab on April 1st as their Lead Developer. This means that I will be leaving Opteq where I have felt very much at home for the last couple of years.

The iLab is Avusa Media’s new commercial applications division where we will be creating on-line, off-line and mobile applications. I will be working with Colin Daniels (Publisher: Times on-line), Justin Hartman (Digital Innovation Manager), Gregor Rohrig (New Media Specialist) and a graphic designer who remains nameless. Its already a formidable team and I am sure that great things await.

This of course means me bidding farewell to my current employer Opteq, which is sad for me for many reasons. So A big thank you is owed to everyone at Opteq who has made my journey an unforgettable one and the knowledge I gained there has laid a great foundation for future developments. To all my friends at Opteq, thanks for the great memories and I am sure that this isn’t goodbye. I wish you guys all the success and happiness in the world.

Stay tuned, exciting times lay ahead!

Current Mood: Happy

When I thought of how a baby’s room gets decorated I thought it would be a simple task of putting in a cot, a changing table and few decorations. Was I mistaken or what. The room has had a complete over hall from Judiets study into what is now a beautiful baby’s room. We had to put up floating shelves, floating boxes, change this, hang this, move this and repack everything - twice. All of which at the time seemed like a massive pain the ass but when it was completed I was, and still am, glad we made the effort. The room looks fit for a princess. Here are a few pictures, more are in the gallery.

Note that the photos look crap because my camera was affirmatively shopped and these where taken on a cellphone camera.