Day 54: Did I become a millionaire

Between You, Me and the Lamp Post

Day 54: Did I become a millionaire

Last Friday I made the bold statement ‘I’m gonna be a millionaire’ and I’ll bet some of you are wondering if I indeed won the lottery.

I must say, I had every reason to be hopeful, there had been signs of good fortune to come and when I received an email from the lottery commission saying ‘You are a winner’ I thought ... this is it.

When I checked my account my hopes and dreams were once again smashed to smithereens. No penthouse condo, no Lamborghini in the garage, no giant diamond on my finger, not able to help those in desperate need.

I had indeed won, but not nearly as much as I had hoped for. I had won $40 and a free ticket. Okay, not enough for Dieter and me to quit our jobs, but enough for four weeks of free play. Better than nothing, right?

Maybe it’s for the best that I didn’t win. Would I survive winning millions of dollars?

Many years ago I bought a family magazine every week. At one time the magazine ran a competition. Inside the magazine was a number followed by two letters, for instance, 277 AB. Week after week I checked the provided sticker but I was never the lucky one.

And then one week it happened. I checked my sticker, 934 TN and the winning number was 934 TM. Holy shit, I screamed like I had seen a monster and started jumping up and down.

Alerted by the noise, my then-husband came running into the living room to see what was doing on. “We won! We won!” I kept repeating. He grabbed the magazine, checked the sticker and ... “Hold on a second,” he said. “You didn’t win. The winning number is 934 TM and your sticker number is 934 TN.” 

Oh, the disappointment of it. 

The thing is though, in that competition the winning amount was 1,000 Rand ($87,25). If I had such a reaction to $87,25 can you imagine what I would be like if I found out I had won millions? I'm liable to give myself a heart attack and drop dead on the spot. 

Still, I'll take the chance and play again next Friday. One day (hopefully soon) I will get it right, right?

Day 41: Book characters

Between You, Me and the Lamp Post

Day 41: Book characters

Aspiring actors are given the advice to avoid typecasting. Only being able to portray one type of character might lead to the audience quickly becoming bored with that actor. 

Aspiring authors would do well to follow the same advice. Writing about the same subject over and over again will make the story predictable. Some very talented authors can get away with it, weaving a completely different story while writing about their favorite subject.

Among others, Jilly Cooper can do this. Whether she writes about Rupert Campbell Black’s antics in 'Riders' or an emotionally abused grandma in 'Jump', somewhere along the line a horse is playing a part, but the stories are very different.

Author X (she shall remain nameless) is not such an author. Even though she is famous and has quite a few million in her bank account, all her books are more or less the same.

Author X’s books summarized:

The main character is filthy rich. He’s not just a millionaire, he’s a billionaire. While it can be nice to read about people with pots of money, it can also become rather annoying. Especially for those whose bank account lacks a couple of zeros.

Supporting characters work themselves into a stupor. Working 18 hours a day is part of the package in clawing their way to the top.

After work, they attend parties (only movers and shakers invited of course) where they drink copious amount of champagne and sniff a few lines of coke. I have no experience with coke-sniffing, but on the few occasions that I looked too deep into a glass, I had such a hangover the next day that I was in no condition to go to work. 

When the supporting characters come home from the party they have steamy sex for hours on end. This really makes me wonder. If they worked an 18-hour day and got wasted at a party, how do they manage to romp around until the wee hours of the morning? When do these people actually sleep?

Still on the subject of sexual escapades … the men are always ready for action and the women have multiple orgasms. I have a little trouble believing that too. I think it’s far more likely that a woman who’s been on her feet since the crack of dawn is far more likely to utter the words “Not tonight honey”.

While the men and women sleep their way around New York, Los Angeles, London, Sidney, and a few other cities, they don’t give a second thought to sexually transmitted diseases. They meet someone who can help them reach their goal and hup, they’re between the sheets. Whatever happened to women making it on their own? Isn’t it a little degrading that they still use sex as a means of advancement?

The men in author X’s stories invariably look like George Clooney. I can only sigh and shake my head at the comparison. I mean really, is there only one attractive man on earth? Personally, I don’t see what the big deal is. I’ve seen Clooney in his early years in the TV series ‘E.R.’ and in movies such as ‘Up in the Air’ and ‘The Descendants’ and I see nothing special. He’s a good actor, but as far as looks are concerned he’s not my cup of tea.

The women in author X’s stories are always chic and glamorous. They wear designer clothing (of course, if you worked 18 hours a day in a power job you could afford designer labels too), their hair is always smooth and sleek no matter what the weather conditions are, and short of mascara and a bit of lip gloss they wear no makeup. They are blessed with natural beauty.

Darn, I wish I was blessed with natural beauty. When there’s moisture in the air my hair turns frizzy no matter what I do. 

As for makeup, I need the full nine yards. If I was to just use a bit of mascara and lip gloss I’d look like death warmed up.

While some people will undoubtedly enjoy a story about millionaires and their entourage, that doesn’t mean that author X has to be the sole provider of those stories. Can’t she write about something else? Can’t she come up with anything else than billionaire men and slutty women?