Lacyte• Show poetry

I've been away from AP for a while (more than 2 years) but I'm back now. Much of what I said about myself still stands true, with a few changes here and there. I'll just put these in double brackets where applicable for now.

I wanted a nickname that would be me,
but not give away too much.
No initials or numbers or silly sweet things -
something with a 'different' touch.

No name for me describing myself,
nor proclaiming the state of my mind.
Shouldn't tell where I come from,
what year I was born, or whether I'm nasty or kind.

I researched and hunted a whole day long,
got exhausted and Google grew weary.
Names of goddesses, planets and stars,
but nothing that screamed "This is me!"

I finally resorted to asking friend Page
to help me come up with a nick,
He's helpful and clever and knows me well,
I was sure he'd do the trick.

Apart from being a writer and poet,
Page is a passionate programmer guy.
A while before he coded a name generator -
and only he would know why.

He gave me a list as long as my arm,
said "There you go, choose one!"
The weirdest names you ever have seen,
some really twisted my tongue.

I scanned through them all and shook my head,
there was nothing I really did like;
But the next lot brought joy, I found my name,
I would now be known as Lacyte.

It has no specific or logical meaning.
It's just a jumble of letters, you see.
But that's what makes it special and different -
that's exactly what makes it me.

I am an adult, divorced woman from Pretoria((relocated to Carletonville)), Gauteng Province of beautiful South Africa. I have dark brown hair by nature - this changes often, mostly to some shade of red ((keeping it black nowadays)). My eyes are blue - or so I'm told. I'm reasonably tall and when I visit clothing stores, I tend to frequent the sections "For the Bigger Woman". I am driven by hope, laughter, tears, nicotine and caffeine.

I was called a recycled teenager a while ago ((that would be a long time ago now)) (I suspect it was actually meant as an insult, but I can't be too sure of that) and my kids tend to agree. I strongly subscribe to the words of the song: 18 'Till I Die, sung by the man with the sexiest voice on this planet, Bryan Adams ((he's still the BEST)).

My kids are my pride and joy: Merrigan, my son of 21 ((now 24 and married to any mother's dream daughter-in-law)), and W1ldCh1ld, my daughter of 18 ((almost 21 and engaged to a wonderful man who worships the ground she walks on)). You can find both of them right here on AP as well ((I'll have to check up on that sometime)). And I cannot do this page without mentioning another: Page - my best friend, confidant, part-time muse, critic, cheerleader, personal pc technician and Linux tutor, seldom adversary, soon-to-be co-author and sometimes drinking buddy. (And of course he is also to be found lurking here on AP from time to time - now with a new nickname: Perilin.)

I've always been a compulsive reader - those little leaflets in the medicine containers: even they are regular reading matter. If there were ads on toilet paper, I'd read them too. And it seems that I am fast becoming a compulsive writer too ((Unfortunately I haven't been doing much writing lately. Hopefully this is about to change)). That must be the reason that I find myself semi-permanently carrying around a pen and notebook whenever I move more than a few steps away from my purple pc. (Scout's honour: It really is purple!)((The puple pc finally died and has been laid peacefully to rest)). I have been writing short stories - actually more like essays - and what I like to call poetry, although many would rather call them the ramblings of a madwoman, for about a year now. I write about anything and everything, whatever comes to mind. The short stories I post are mostly fantasy/fiction - although there have been one or two pieces that are very true and personal. My poetry is mostly personal - what I am feeling at the time of writing them. I have a great (and sometimes weird) sense of humor and tend to see the funny side of even the most serious situations. I believe that if we can laugh, even, or especially, at ourselves, we have won half the battle called life. Sometimes a good laugh is the only exercise I get in a whole day. I am strongly influenced, and subsequently so is my writing, by music. Often music is my Ivory Tower - where I go to escape reality.

Some of my favourites

Music: Medwyn Goodall; Cusco; Bryan Adams; Blackmore's Night; Vangelis; Savage Garden; Bruce Springsteen; Phil Collins - to name but a few.

Authors: Almost anyone - although I am very partial to Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Robin Cook and Danielle Steel

Books: Insomnia - Stephen King; Good Omens - Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman; By The Light of The Moon - Dean Koontz (probably because I can identify with having a pet-potplant called Fred)

Movies: I've only recently been educated in the art of movie watching. But if a movie can scare me all the way to the hair colouring products at the supermarket in order to cover the new gray hairs, then it has to be a favourite. Currently I'd have to mention Wes Craven's They as a definite winner, as well as all movies based on the works of Stephen King. ((Lady in the Water))

Colours: Purple (go figure) and Red

Some things I'd like to do before I grow up:
(in no particular order)

* Learn a foreign language
* Become a Silver (or better yet, Gold) AP member
* See the whole of South Africa and then the rest of the world - especially Scotland and Ireland
* Take a trip in a helicopter and/or hot-air balloon
* Cry less easily ((this is likely to never happen))
* Learn to play a musical instrument
* Go to a honest to goodness Rave
* Become financially independant, pay my dues and be able to say "No" without feeling guilty ((nearly there!))
* Spend a year at a weather station in Antarctica
* Get my 26 year old car fixed (This has been achieved - with thanks to the good friend who helped)((It's my 30 year old car now, and just about ready to fall apart, but still kind of getting me around.))
* Get a degree in psychology
* Have a 24/7 Internet connection
* Overcome my fear of heights by bungy jumping and/or sky-diving or parachuting
* Stop talking to myself ((Stopped trying - discovered I like the intelligent conversations))
* Go on a boat trip around the world - a yacht would be fine too, as long as it has a decent crew that will defer to my every wish and command
* Get a new pc (purple of course)(Got the new pc, now I need the purple spray paint.)((And another new pc, still not purple though ))
* Have a studio where I can do decoupage and other crafts when I'm not writing
* Find a dentist who doesn't terrify me
* Attend a Bryan Adams and a Blackmore's Night concert
* Go on an extended wild-life TV shoot somewhere in Africa
* Understand a teenager (especially mine) ((No need for this anymore. Now they try to understad me))
* Find jobs for all unemployed South Africans who really want to work ((Hhmmm))

Two things I need to do before I can do all the things I'd like to do before I grow up:

* Win the National Lottery
* Get decent Life Insurance