by sadistically biting the ears off chocolate bunnies, lol! 

Tonight was the Johnny Clegg concert at the Cedar Cultural Center.  I almost bailed on going, damn anxiety issues.  I am sooooo happy I went!  The place was half the size I imagined, so we were pretty much right in front of the stage.  It was absolutely amazing!  It was about 2 hours long.  He performed old songs as well as stuff from the new album.  I was so happy to finally see him in concert again I barely noticed that my legs were cramping (standing room only), my back hurt and it was hot and crowded.  I danced, and even sang quite loudly, I just couldn't help myself.  The concert ended with the song "Dela", audience participation to the max and I was singing right along.  As soon as Johnny Clegg left the stage for the final time I had to make my way to the back of the room where there were some chairs so I could sit down and check my glucose levels.  So we were still there when they announced that Johnny Clegg would be signing autographs!  I bought a T-shirt and they were giving out free photos so I took my photo up and stood in line and I GOT TO MEET JOHNNY CLEGG!  Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would ever get to meet Johnny Clegg - I was shaking so much and I could only get out the words "thank you" with a big smile on my face - but I got to meet him and got his autograph!  Totally made my day. . .year. . .hell, decade!

EDIT:  The video below was from the show last night.  It's not mine, someone uploaded it to YouTube, but judging by the girl in the left corner that he caught on camera this guy must have been behind me and to my right - that's how close we were to the stage.  :)

A. Age: Guess.

B. Bed size: Queen

C. Chore you hate: Dishes.

D. Dogs: Nope, strictly a cat person. 

E. Essential start to your day: A can of Diet Coke.

F. Favorite color: A tie between Orange and Burgundy.

G. Gold or silver: Silver.

H. Height: 5 feet 1 and 3/4 inches.

I. Instruments: Flute for 3 years, dabbled  with keyboards, drums and guitar.

J. Job title: Medical Transcriptionist

K. Kids: Never. 

L. Live: Maplewood, Minnesota.

M. Mom’s name: Dianne.

N. Nicknames: Tika, Holly Golightly

O. Overnight hospital stays: Pneumonia as a toddler, 3 or 4 stays for Diabetic Ketoacidosis.

P. Pet peeve: Willful ignorance.

Q. Quote from a movie: "Let me give you a little inside information about God. God likes to watch. He's a prankster. Think about it. He gives man instincts. He gives you this extraordinary gift, and then what does He do, I swear for His own amusement, his own private, cosmic gag reel, He sets the rules in opposition. It's the goof of all time. Look but don't touch. Touch, but don't taste. Taste, don't swallow. Ahaha. And while you're jumpin' from one foot to the next, what is he doing? He's laughin' His sick, fuckin' ass off! He's a tight-ass! He's a SADIST! He's an absentee landlord! Worship that? NEVER! " - Devil's Advocate.

R. Right or left handed: Ambidextrous.

S. Siblings: One brother.

T. Time you wake up: 7:45 a.m.

U. Underwear: Yes.

V. Vegetables you dislike: Spinach, carrots.

W. What makes you run late: Late?!?  Are you kidding?!?  I'm extremely punctual.

X. X-Rays you’ve had: Chest, foot, teeth, finger, knees.

Y. Yummy food you make: I don't cook..

Z. Zoo - favorite animal: Tigers.

I sooooooo want this chair! When I move in the next few months I am planning on decorating in a retro 70's style, but even if I weren't doing retro 70's I would still want this chair.

So how much is too much to spend on a chair?  :P

Apparently I'm late with this, but I can't sleep so I'm going to do it anyway, lol.  

This is my purse.  It took me forever to find one I really, really like that isn't too big since I don't like big purses, but was still able to hold all the diabetes crap I have to carry with me.  Okay, to be honest it doesn't hold all the diabetes crap I'm supposed to carry with me, but I decided not to carry extra pump supplies since I'm not usually away from home for very long anyway, which is why I also have stopped carrying my hardly ever needed asthma inhaler and so far haven't needed EpiPen - probably not the wisest decision, but oh well.

These are the items in the main compartment of my purse.

Check register, though I don't actually carry my checkbook with me any longer.
Date planner, so I don't forget where I'm supposed to be.
Pocket constitution, yes I'm that serious about constitutional law.
Notebook, must have my lists with me at all times.
Burt Bee's lip balm.
Gold Bond hand lotion.

These items are in the 2 front pockets inside my purse.

Business card/credit card/any other "card" I have holder, lol.
Earphones and MP3 player, must always have music available.
16 GB jump drive.
Cell phone.

These are the items in the larger back inside pocket of my purse.
Glucose monitor, lancing device and test strips.
Oral hygiene kit, for food-free teeth and fresh-smelling breath anywhere.
Pill case, contains ibuprofen and Ativan for headaches and anxiety.
Battery and a quarter to open battery case on my insulin pump.
Small screwdriver to tighten eyeglasses.
Three sugar packets in case I go into insulin shock, though I usually just grab a Mt. Dew or some other sugary drink.

Yes, I have an incredibly boring purse.  Easy post for a tired insomniac though, lol.

Finally something good to post.  Tonight I ordered my tickets to see Johnny Clegg perform at The Cedar in Minneapolis on April 17.  The last (and so far only) time I saw Johnny Clegg in concert was 1997 or 1998 at The Minnesota Zoo.  I had picked up a free copy of City Pages a couple weeks before that concert and that was how I found out about it.  I assumed since the concert was only a couple weeks away it was sold out, but I called anyway and they still had tickets.  I had never been to a concert at the zoo before so I didn't know there weren't any real "seats", it was just large rows of concrete slab.  We got in and found our spot, Johnny Clegg came out and the entire crowd stood up and moved down about 10 rows.  We were right in front after all, in fact at one point I was up against the fence, as close as you could get to the stage.  

I've been a fan of Johnny Clegg since I was 14 years old, the same time I discovered my fascination with South Africa.  The first 2 songs I ever heard by Johnny Clegg were "I Call Your Name" and "Take My Heart Away".  Those 2 songs were on the album "African Shadow Man" by Johnny Clegg's band "Savuka" (Savuka means "We have risen" and/or "We have awakened") and I caught them performing it on a late night talk show and was hooked from that moment on.

After that I searched out everything I could find by Johnny Clegg and managed to get my hands on a few albums from when the band was "Juluka" (Juluka means "Sweat"). The early Juluka music was recorded mostly in Zulu as opposed to English.  Juluka was formed when Johnny Clegg met Sipho Mchunu playing guitar on the streets of South Africa.  They were only teenagers when they met, and Sipho taught Johnny to speak Zulu and perform Zulu stick fighting and dancing.  Juluka was the first racially mixed South African band.  Their first album, "Universal Men", received no air play on the state owned SABC because it was illegal for racially mixed bands to perform in South Africa during the apartheid era.  Juluka broke up  and reformed as Savuka when Sipho Mchunu went back to his father's farm to take care of it as he was the oldest son.  When I saw Johnny Clegg at the zoo Sipho Mchunu had joined him on that tour, so I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to see them play together.

Both bands were very political and outspoken during the apartheid era.  Johnny Clegg is known as "the white Zulu".  In 1992 Dudu Mntowaziwayo Ndlovu (AKA Dudu Zulu) who was Johnny Clegg's dancing partner in Savuka for many years was assassinated, killed by 9 bullets in the back from an AK47.  Johnny Clegg dedicated the song "Osiyezo (The Crossing)" to Dudu Zulu, one of my favorite songs by Savuka.

I'm very excited to have the opportunity to see Johnny Clegg perform again, even though I still need to catch up on purchasing a lot of his albums released after Savuka.  For 8 years nothing was sold in North America and he didn't tour here at all.  I did find a South African site to order Johnny Clegg CDs and DVDs from, and the prices, once converted to rands, were excellent, however, shipping took approximately a month, lol.  I'll be updating my Johnny Clegg collection soon though.  Here are a few more of my favorites, though it's hard for me to pick favorites since I pretty much like everything he does.

Oh yeah, here are 2 of his songs that were featured in films that might actually be recognized by people who have never actually heard of Johnny Clegg.  The movie "Rain Man" featured "Scatterlings Of Africa" and the movie "George Of The Jungle" featured "Dela".  I've seen "Rain Man", but not "George Of The Jungle".

And an actual video I found on YouTube of Johnny Clegg singing his song "Asimbononga", a tribute to Nelson Mandela, and Nelson Mandela comes on stage and speaks.

I am learning to speak Zulu and I started by learning all of the lyrics to Johnny Clegg songs.  All 4 of my cats have Zulu tribal names; Nandi Zodwa - Nandi is short for Ntombazi and was the name of a Zulu queen and means "sweet" and Zodwa means "girl".  Shaka Zulu for the powerful Zulu leader/warrior.  Sihle Zola - Sihle is short for Simosihle and means "beautiful feeling" and Zola means "tranquil".  Kaya Zanele - Kaya means "restful" and Zanele means "we've had enough of girls".  Kaya is my third female cat so I thought Zanele was a fun name, lol.  I also once almost changed my name from Melissa to Mandisa - I thought it would work well since they have the same number of letters, both start with M and end with A, Melissa means "honeybee" and Mandisa means "sweetness".  

Now all I have to do is find someone in my area who knows how to get to The Cedar in Minneapolis and would enjoy a free ticket to see Johnny Clegg perform, as long as they are willing to drive me to the concert, lol.