Girl From Mars

For Carole

November 28, 2025 / Bel / 0 Comments

On 30 April 2025, I said goodbye to my mom on a video call. Around 15 minutes later, she passed away.

It’s strange thing to lose someone who you don’t see regularly because they live in another country, and even stranger when you haven’t been able to properly speak to them in over six months – towards the end of her life, Alzheimer’s had robbed my mom of her ability to really engage on phone calls, and text messages were certainly out of the question. Grieving is a complicated process, no matter who you lose and what your relationship was with them (and my mom and I by no means had a perfect relationship…maybe that makes it more complicated…but she was still my mom). Processing that grief from a distance makes for an even more surreal experience – in some ways she was lost to me before she was gone, but the reality of her death still comes in waves at some of the most unexpected moments. Today would have been her 73rd birthday, and so I thought I would share the eulogy I gave at her funeral to mark the occasion in some small way.

Thriving in hard mode

March 23, 2024 / Bel / 2 Comments

There are some bands that you’ve loved for so long, they become more than just a soundtrack to your life. They’re woven into the fabric of all its moments, big and small.

A beautiful evolution

September 20, 2021 / Bel / 2 Comments

You’d have to be living under a rock to have missed the fact that stalwarts of the local music scene, the Springbok Nude Girls, released their long-awaited latest album, Partypocalypse, earlier this month. It’s quite something for a band to still be releasing music after 27 years – and when that music is still able to capture the hearts of their from-the-beginning fans, that’s even more impressive.

For a band like the Springbok Nude Girls, who arguably became the sound of a generation of South Africans, the weight of expectation must be almost unbearable. How do you live up to that kind of reputation? Even as a fan, it’s a little nervy.

LockedDown – Day 365: A time for reflection

March 26, 2021 / Bel / 0 Comments

At midnight tonight, South Africa will have been in lockdown for exactly a year. And what a year it’s been. In the last 365 days, I think it’s safe to say we have seen both the best and worst in people. We have lost an inordinate amount, but we have gained some things too.

World Cup champions – one year on

November 2, 2020 / Bel / 0 Comments

When South Africa won the Rugby World Cup last year, I probably should have written something about what it meant to me. But the thing is, I just wasn’t ready yet. It was too much. I was too overwhelmed, too full of joy, and I didn’t really know how to put it into words. And then I got really sick two days after the final (turns out weeks and weeks of nausea was not in fact RWC-induced nerves, but actually a serious bacterial stomach infection that finally saw me collapsing in the car park at work and having to spend the day in hospital…go figure). So, it just didn’t happen.

Finding beauty in dark spaces

October 2, 2020 / Bel / 0 Comments

On Wednesday night, I was one of the fortunate few who attended the premiere of BLVD HVNNY’s new music video, Nocturnes, and first live performance. The intimate event took place at The Bioscope, recently relocated to 44 Stanley, and it was the perfect setting for what turned out to be a truly magical evening.

LockedDown – Day 61: The little things

May 26, 2020 / Bel / 0 Comments

It’s been a while, I know. I mean, there’s not really that much to say…it’s pretty much the same old routine every day at this point. But yesterday I decided to take a random day’s leave, just because I’m essentially on the brink of burnout, so I figured a long weekend might do me some good.

LockedDown – Day 24: Gratitude

April 19, 2020 / Bel / 0 Comments

Last week, I wrote about my lockdown essential items, and promised to write about the – often less tangible – things I am grateful for. When you consider that if lockdown had ended when it was originally supposed to, it would have been over for a few days already, I can imagine that there are some people really struggling out there, and as cheesy as it sounds, reflecting on the things you have to be grateful for can help.

LockedDown – Day 15: Essentials

April 10, 2020 / Bel / 0 Comments

Last night, the president announced that the national lockdown would be extended for another two weeks. To be honest, I was expecting an extension to be announced at some point this week and I actually expected it to be for more than two weeks. I know there are some who are heaping criticism on Ramaphosa right now, because lockdown is most harsh on those who have the least and live in the worst conditions, but I think the reality we have to face is that those are the same people who would suffer the most if this virus really took hold in South Africa. I stay home for the people who don’t have access to decent sanitation and proper healthcare. He has the weight of a nation on his shoulders right now, and personally, I think our president has been doing a sterling job thus far.

LockedDown – Day Ten: Lost momentum

April 5, 2020 / Bel / 0 Comments

Yesterday was the first time I’ve really felt quite sad about not being able to go out. Friends and I were supposed to be going to the stadium to watch the Sharks play the Lions, but obviously that couldn’t happen. I watched an old game on TV instead, but still, it’s not quite the same.

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