2009 sucks. Recession, wars, losing the cricket. How to feel good again? Spring-cleaning and helping others. I have a lot of stuff, stuff I don’t really need or use. I’m sure most of us do. Luckily for us there are people who do want our stuff, people who will use it and love it.

Bathandwa Children’s Home recently moved into new three new units and now the kids have more space and proper ‘houses’ to live and play in. If you haven’t heard of Bathandwa, it’s an amazing place of safety that cares for orphaned and disabled children in Khayelitsha.

The problem with a new home is it can look rather bare. Kitchens need crockery, lounges need furniture, bedrooms need beds. The kids especially need storage items so they have somewhere to put their precious toys, storybooks and clothes.

Here’s a brief wishlist of stuff you might have:

• Boxes for toy storage
• Bookshelves
• Side tables
• Clothing rails
• Freestanding cupboards
• Wall units
• Drawers
• Chairs or couches
• Bunk beds
• Pots & pans
• Plates & Utensils
• Glasses

Bigger items (if you’re in the security or landscaping business):

• Trellidoors
• External walls & paving
• Grass for the courtyard

So if you have stuff to give or want to help, contact:

Tammy Gardner - 082 920 5822 tgardner@tppsa.co.za
Sonja Krause - 084 919 5617 sonjanowotny@gmail.com

And here are some more pictures (taken by Tammy Gardner) of the people your stuff will be helping.

1. Love is more important than a car, a job, a house or even a MacBook.
2. I'm right about people 99% of the time. The other 1% just cause pain.
3. I'm neurotic about the little things, calm about the big things.
4. I love advertising, but I don't consider it my calling.
5. As long as my job involves writing and imagining, I'm happy.
6. Be kind and give people a second chance, even if they don't deserve it.
7. Nothing is unforgivable if you love someone enough.
8. Tolerance is the only way human beings will survive.
9. Harm none, do what you will.
10. Karma. What you put out into the world eventually comes back to you.
11. Animals can be trained, humans can't.
12. Stalkers come in all shapes, sizes and levels of insanity.
13. Organised religion is the antithesis of spirituality.
14. I'd rather be a sensuous woman than a gamine girl.
15. I quite like gamine girls.
16. If everyone understood how jaw-droppingly spectacular evolution is, they wouldn't believe stories about zombies.
17. I'm over-protective of the people I love.
18. You can't protect the people you love.
19. It's good to dance until dawn sometimes.
20. Great books are like friendships. Great films are like one-night-stands.
21. When life gets too much, go surfing.
22. Few things feel better than laughing hysterically with your best friend.
23. Politics is beautiful in theory, ugly in practice.
24. School teaches you to memorise. University teaches you to think.
25. You don't know what's really important until someone you love dies.
26. I have bizarrely eclectic taste in music, from Johnny Cash to Fatboy Slim.
27. I sneeze when I go into the sun. It's called the Photic Sneeeze Reflex.
28. It's good to be curious about everything, even if it gets you into trouble.

Sevasti, that’s SEH-VAS-TEE

So I took a giant leap forward into the cyber-wilderness and have moved to Wordpress. And although The Copydeck will continue to exist on 24.com, I’ve changed over to my given name of Amanda Sevasti.

Since I get asked about it a lot, here’s the etymology: Sevasti means “respected” or “revered” (okay, you can stop laughing now) and is the name of a Greek saint, Sevastianis. Every day of the year is named after a saint in the Greek Orthodox church (and you thought the Catholics were something).

Sevasti was my great-grandmother’s name. Her and my great-grandfather, Nikolaides, moved to what was then Rhodesia in the 1930s. They were from a very tiny Ionian island off the west coast of Greece called Ithaki (Ithaca).

Seriously, imagine getting on a boat to southern Africa with nothing but a few hundred drachma in your pocket, not being able to speak a word of English and not having a clue what to expect.

No wonder the name means “respect”.

• Zuma has said he will not seek a second term. Sure, he could be lying, but he is 67 years old. That means he’ll be 72 when the next election rolls around. Some R&R might be in order by then, especially with all those wives.

• He is not an ‘intellectual’. JZ is a charismatic populist. On the other hand, Sussex University alumni Thabo Mbeki was seeking a third term, which would have required a change in the constitution. Guess which African leader studied at Oxford and was once regarded as an ‘intellectual’? Our infamous neighbour, Bob.

• The people love him and he wants to be liked. Zulu goat herder rises above all to become president? It’s a Gavin Hood movie in the making. All that goodwill translates into a lot of patience from those who support him. He also wants to please everyone. Not good for getting things done, but not exactly a Mugabe-style approach either is it?

• Drinking red wine and discussing politics with someone who understands the difference between the PR and FPTP system.

• Buying a new Sony Bravia television – colour like no other.

• Autumn trees ablaze with Titian oranges and reds – true colour like no other.

• Voting for the third time in my life.

• Being proud to live in a democracy.

• My husband trying to intimidate me at the polls for carrying an ANC flag.

• My parents MMSing me a picture of the high heel, lace-up brogues they bought me.

• One of my best friends saying he’s proud of me.

• My husband buying a little red Mini – the first car he’s been able to choose (instead of whatever was cheapest).

• Purple ink-dotted thumbs.

• The grumpy cows at the cheese festival. Moo.