"There was this restless in my heart
it's a feeling that I have tried to tame
but it's hard when the wind blows your name
and it's calling me again
calling me again"

Fairground Attraction -
The First of a Million Kisses

the wind blows my name

picture displayed with kind permission
From the Art Gallery of Diana Stanley
please visit this gifted artist

The Spirit of the Wolf

Table Mountain, Cape Town

I lived in Cape Town, South Africa which is at the southern most tip of the African continent - a beautiful coastal city ... very cultural, artistic and intellectual, cosmopolitan even. Over 100 beaches (I recently only learnt this on TV in a documentary) to choose from and about 30km drive into mountainous winelands ... we have the most beautiful wine estates, where one can go for lunches and picnics and sample wines, which are exported. There's a quality of life there, seldom found in large cities, with plenty of things to do.


I am many people I think - or at least can fit into many environments ... corporate as well as peasant ... can dress up or down ... quiet sometimes, where I lie on my lounge floor and listen to music (which I'm passionate about) or go out on the town, and get outrageous, dance on tables (but never fall off) - interaction with other people. when life gets too hectic, I usually kind of withdraw ... take myself out of circulation, so to speak.

I'm a Virgo and was born on 10 September 1961.

Music is my life line and I enjoy all kinds, but the favourites are
blues/contemporary/jazz (Fourplay, Peter White, Eric Clapton, Delbert McClinton
instrumentalYanni, Clannad, Cowboy Junkies, Celine Dion, and classical.
I'm a keen dancer, in fact I love to dance - can't keep me in my seat
if there's good dancing music around.

Love books ... collect them and have a varied interest, including some metaphysical and esoteric stuff, astrology and all the natural healing methods, and candles - collect these as well - any really unusual ones gratefully accepted - (and I'll even pay the postage!)
Don't ever leave me in a book shop, fabric shop (have a passion for fabrics and texture - one room in my home is dedicated to fabric), music or craft shop, you can't get me out of there (who ever said women only shopped for clothes!


So ... what do I enjoy? Hmm ... just generally being outdoors (scuba, skiing [yes we have snow in Africa], mountain and sea air (nothing like watching sunrises with a good bottle of wine) but am lazy by nature, so need a shove to get me going. enjoy most social environments (festive pubs/restaurants with friends), quiet romantic dinners, sitting on my lounge floor and having a picnic,
just love candelight.

I have an outrageous streak and somehow, as the years go by, I tend to try things that I wouldn't have dreamt of doing when I was younger, for instance bunjy jump and would like to try paragliding/sailing and skydiving).

What sort of people am I drawn to? Well, I like earthy, blatantly honest, sensitive people who are generally good communicators (prefer to listen rather than do the talking [well sometimes]), people who share their lives without reservation, are supportive, strong minded and passionate. Integrity, good values, self pride are traits that are very important to me. I have little tolerance for arrogance, dishonesty or conceit.

I enjoy and am very comfortable with my own company, but do enjoy meaningful interaction as well. I can adapt very well to most environments and am not frightened by change.


Where possible, I always sit on the floor, and when I have friends around, they're made to sit on the floor and we use my coffee table for a dinner table. Strange one, me ... must be my upbringing - raised at the Wild Coast [Eastern Cape] - then natural, exploited and wild and we spent many hours, around African cooking pots and riding donkeys with them. A truly privileged time.

Well, work - I worked for a computer networking environment for some 7 years, where I gained the status of 'honourary boy' and nickname of "internet bunny"). Having worked in a management position for some time for a large corporate company, I finally decided to take the plunge and start out on my own, and have gone into the world of web design and internet application consulting.
My company is called CoralSquaw.
I loved my job and the company I worked for, but it certainly was demanding and stressful, but then I think I should probably be bored with anything else ... although from time to time, I did wish to resort to that of "peasant girl status", serving tables for her keep and many days of barefoot walking along the beach. But then again, there are only so many miles one can walk - or me anyway!

Don't you just love a good glass of wine at sunset? I was fortunate enough to live two blocks from the beach, but didn't take full advantage of it (claim protection under 'long working hours') ... I am however, an outdoor person, one of my favourite places being a botanical garden, Kirstenbosch, which is a wonderful peaceful place, for picnics, good wine and a good book on a blanket, or in summer on a sunday evening, live classical or jazz music and one just lies around, again with picnic and good wine and watch the sun go down, accompanied by fine music. A joy truly.
Used to scuba dive a lot, but haven't dived now for almost five years now - Cape Town has the Atlantic waters here ... very very cold [bbbrrrrrrr!!!] ... on a really hot day one just runs and dives in the ocean and runs straight out and anyone that loves the sea, and boarding and surfing, wear wetsuits. but if you go around the mountain , you’d find the Indian Ocean, which is obviously much warmer, but I didn't go there often ... a fair distance to travel. One of these days, I shall start diving again!


My family - yes - I have a blond, blued eyed, son of 11, Robbie (and I'm a brunette with brown eyes - so much for dark gene dominance!) who is a great kid - we're really close and have a lot of fun together. He's even house trained now - I get cups of hot tea or glasses of iced milk, when I'm "stressed". He's really terrific! You can visit him at Robbie's World

Robbie

I married on 5 December 1996 and my husband goes by the name of Wayne! We met whilst I was on holiday in Canada and the US in July 1996, and from the start just about, we knew (or suspected) for sure, that we’d probably end up together. Let’s see … he’s a whole load taller than me, would be spotted anywhere for sure because of sheer stature and charisma, is a "chef extraordinaire", definitely a "people" person, is I think, quite different from the norm, kind of funky actually, probably one of the kindest good natured people I know, has a fetish for socks ("the sockman") and glasses (of which he probably has about 10 pairs and manages to lose them all, all the time) and I just adore him! Only having been married a few months now, must say that I really enjoy the institution! If you’re inclined to be romantic, you can breeze over and check out our wedding page.


Missie



My pride and joy in my previous mad house, were my cats! There was Missie - who, when a kitten, used to snuggle up next to my face or fall asleep on my chest at night. Her favourite place was next to my keyboard. She used to do some crazy things and I often wondered whether she had an identity crisis - between sitting on my shoulder like a parrot while I worked, or hung from my hair like a monkey we had no idea what she’d turn to be. She became the proud mom of four, about two months ago, but I never got to see her babies, since I’d already left for the US.



Sabre & MistyThen there's Sabre - my ruff collie (prettier than lassie) who's totally over the top - extremely sociable and who just loved the cats - they used to all cuddle up to him or sleep between his paws.
Missie went missing for about 10 days and in the process of finding her, I inherited another ginger whom had been abandoned by her owners and whom I adopted - she goes by the name of Cuddles (although she refused to acknowledge this name), and she also had a litter of four, who were just gorgeous and all had wonderful personalities.


Cuddle's Babies - 3 Days Old I used to love just watching them play and get up to their antics - suffice to say that I had no jurisdiction over my bed - the gingers used to determine how much space I should have! Well, I had to leave them behind and I do miss them a whole lot, but unfortunately I will not have the pleasure of cats in my home again, since Wayne is allergic to them. It was really difficult to say goodbye to them and I still miss them a whole lot. Robbie & The Babies






I have some more gorgeous pictures of my cats and kittens, if you'd like to see! Photos of the Boma Animals










My Claim to Fame

A 65m bunji jump off a bridge

Man, was it wonderful
... if I didn't have to climb up a 65m rock face,
I would've done it again and probably again!
And I have the photo to prove it!

The CountDown! Falling, Falling!
View the larger one here! And then you can see where I am!

My Quirks ...

I love to dance, especially on tables
(but the trick is to never fall off)
(uh oh ... too much adult beverage consumption)

Order a glass of milk, with lots of ice at a fancy restaurant
(so I wasn't weaned properly - what must a girl do)
but it does raise eyebrows!
I mean, one is supposed to drink wine, and such!

Hold on ... thinking of more ...


In July 1996, I was fortunate enough to start some travel at the age of thirty something. I visited Canada and the United States. What a wonderful experience it was too, the highlight probably being that I got to meet some of net friends and they were just wonderful people.
I was fortunate enough to visit a number of great cities, starting out in Vancouver, Canada, a wonderful little place on the Canadian border called White Rock, Seattle, Bellingham, San Diego and Environs (just loved San Clemente (and now I live here!) - there is a wonderful pier with great coffee and mud cake; and Laguna Beach - for galleries), Washington DC, Baltimore (yeah, watched a baseball game), Philadelphia and then decided to go back to California (the sun babe) and flew into San Francisco and drove up to Olympia, visiting Portland, Oregon (great buzzy city) on my way.

Coming Soon

Boma Women / Boma Music / Boma Books

Support World Peace


The Boma appreciates
comments and suggestions
(or if something doesn't work)

please email me


Please take a few minutes and

Sign The Boma's Guestbook!


Quick Index

Guestbooks
[Feb-Jun 96] [Jul-Dec 96] [Jan-Jun 97]

Pages
[Intro] [The Boma] [About Me] [Home Pages of Great Folk]
[Boma Wedding] [Boma Animals] [Boma Fame]
[Boma Spirit] [Boma Awards] [Boma Travel]
[SA Sites] [SA Sport]
[Pages with Imagination] [Inspirations]
[Tribute] [Black & White Photos]


Copyright © 1996, 1997 Desiré Howard, CoralSquaw
Last Update June 21, 1997
The Boma
coralsq@prtcl.com