When we were about done eating a bald forgettable-looking man in a suit came up. He was talkative and energetic. He introduced himself, I thought, as the man who threw this event. He also introduced the woman as his wife. She didn’t seem totally into him or maybe the event or something. Anyway he starts talking in his pitch voice using buzz words and when he came to something about money he did some sleight of hand and made a coin appear. A little prestidigitation while maybe not “cool” is sometimes a little funny. So we were thinking “oh cute he’s got a little hobby to use as an icebreaker or something.” Well he keeps going make the going jump from hand to hand, appearing in his pocket, and once having his wife reluctantly blow on it. Now we think, “ok maybe he is a little too into this magic thing, when is he going to start telling us about the food?” So my uncle tries to find the best way to ask, basically, “is this some kind of hobby or what?” To which the man replies by pulling out a business card in sleight of hand fashion on which is written: Joe so-and-so (his name was apparently forgettable), Corporate Magician.

Wow. Where to start with this? How many companies say, “hey morale is down but we have some extra money. Bonuses would be good but a corporate magician? That would be great!”? Is there so much magic work in Portland Maine that he can specialize in “corporate magic”? He admitted that he still had to do kids birthday parties and things, but wanted to specialize in corporate stuff. Lucky for us his wife pointed out some kids and he soon went off to dazzle then with crappy coin tricks. Which brings us back to the woman. We tried to ask her mire questions, like “does he ever saw you in half?” To which she said, no she wasn’t part of the show. It was hard to get a read on her and if she enjoyed, was amused by, or hated her husbands career choice. I have the feeling it was the later but I am seriously not totally sure, she just kind of begrudgingly accepted it.

To finish I will sum what I believe is very probably this couple’s situation. The man loves magic. Watching it, learning it, performing it, everything. So he decides to follow his dream and takes some classes, becoming good enough to perform. Now girls are not really into regular Joe guys who are big into magic. Making a coin pop out of a girls ear is exactly the quickest way into her pants. So when the guy struck out for hundredth time he went and got on the good old interwebs and ordered himself up a Russian mail order bride. Who was thrilled to leave mother Russia but must have been pretty surprised to find her new beau surprise her with flowers out of his sleeves. Though maybe she wasn’t, I like to think the bride-by-mail company gives them some warning of the type of people they are being sent to. Anyway the poor thing now has to follow around this magic-crazy goofball, pretend that she doesn’t find him ridiculous, and suppress the urge to grab her greencard and bolt. Finally perhaps the saddest part is the image of mister magician trying to validate himself and his career by trying to make the leap from disrespected birthday clown doing card tricks to renowned corporate magician, helping companies find a cheap way to mildly entertain it’s employees some afternoon

Fun fact: The NFC has won 13 straight Superbowl coin tosses.

2. At the end of the long queue for registration, a single person enters your class list into an online registration system.

3. You need to get professors’ signatures to get into almost every class.

4. These professors are never at their offices.

5. You are limited to 250 MB of bandwidth every month on the UCT network.

6. If you don’t use all 250 MB, it doesn’t rollover to the next month.

And most importantly, 7. My boyfish isn’t here.

This list is a lot longer but I didn’t want to be super negative today… Soon I’ll make a list of good things about UCT, I’m still working on compiling a list that isn’t the beach, the mountain, and braais

Walking to work this morning was weird. I saw a guy with a samurai sword, sneezed for about 8 minutes straight, then was asked where there was a bar at 8:30 in the morning. Any bar. I wanted to be like, “really?” Then the intertubes were down at work.

“The Cape Clawless Otter

Otters were once abundant in the streams of Table Mountain. Although they are now rarely seen, droppings containing crushed crab shell and fish scales are evidence of their presence in the Garden.

Otters hunt for crabs, frogs, insects, terrapins, and fish. They use their nimble fingers to search under rocks and in crevices for food. They swim and dive well, and use their strong tails to propel themselves through the water.

The Cape clawless otter is usually found in the vicinity of water (near lakes, rivers, and estuaries), but may wander widely in search of new feeding grounds. They are active early in the morning and at dusk, taking shelter during the heat of the day.

Family: Mustelidae (polecat and badger family)

Scientific name: Aonyx capensis”

You can read all the details of my last two days over at abockman.wordpress.com, but I’ll summarize here. Basically, I have a huge issue with township tours. I don’t think it’s okay for us Americans to go waltzing through people’s homes like they’re a museum. First of all, the owners are sitting right outside looking pretty upset about all of us trampling their houses. Then you go outside and ask to take pictures with their children? Are you kidding me? This isn’t a zoo.

The only part of yesterday that I liked was visiting Robben Island, though I still had some mixed emotions. Our tour guide said he was honored to tell his story, but I have heard that that’s not always the case. The tour guide for the other group said that when he got out, they offered him the job, and he said he would never want to go back to that place. But it turns out, it’s nearly impossible to find a well-paying job in this country, and he ended up having no other choice. He’s constantly reminded of the awful time her spent there. He has to work next to the wardens who mistreated him. Everything is very bizarre in this country, I don’t quite understand.

Hanging out with Maryon last night was awesome. Bella’s is definitely a cool place, all the regulars know each other and are very funny. It’s a huge group of musicians who play all over Cape Town. My boy would have loved Steve’s band, they were really great. I love classic rock so I was totally in heaven. Also their singer, Lenore, is fantastic- what a voice. I can’t wait to take Alex there when he comes to visit! I love you very much boyfish! The list of things I can’t wait to show you is getting impossibly long…

Villainous Victorian Velociraptor Velocipede!

So I looked it up. I ordered 2 webcams on November 22, 2010. In a timely fashion I was sent 2 small camera bags. (While these still have camera in the name, they are no where close to what I wanted) So after a week trying to get through to customer service I finally was told that the order was fixed and my 2 new webcams were on the way. Lovely. For some reason a signature was required and so after three tries UPS said they would hold it at their store. So when I went to the ups store. When I got there it had been sent out for a 4th try. Sweet. So eventually my aunt was able to pick it up and opened it to find a single webcam. Fan-freaking-tastic. Luckily that one was here in time for Christmas and my girl to take to South Africa. And so I was back on the customer service line and to be able to send that 2nd webcam I had to be charged for it and hopeful later it would be dropped. That part actually worked. Wow. So for some inexplicable reason the sent it to my parents home. Surprise! My mom got it and so she forward it to my apartment. Two weeks later and no sign of the package, must of got lost right? January 21, 2010, a day shy of 2 months of ordering, I got a final delivery attempt slip in my mailbox. So I went to post office with baited breath and what do you know, package! Finally! I have a webcam! Hopefully I can talk to my girl with it soon! Gosh I love her! (also check the shirt!)

And most importantly I talked to a girl who teaches autistic preschoolers and works for a organization called Woodford Family Services. Plus, in coincidence news, she is from Allentown and knows peoples from New Tripoli. Ridiculous right? So yeah more connections for the summer (Also check out: Respite in Maine info)

My girl is best and I love her!

In other news, I watched The Taking of Pelham 123 with the parents. Good movie, kinda emotional at times… Also watching football. Go Saints and Chargers? Not much more going on here. Except I am going to get ready to go home soon.

I love my girl!