Day 60 - purple discs

Well, having said yesterday that I don't really wear pink a lot, here we find some more pink. Although actually I maintain that these are more purple than pink and therefore completely Kim-kosher.

Another diamond formation, this pair, though in a 1-2-2-2-1 arrangement since the elements are a bit bigger. I wear these quite a lot: they make a lovely sound when I move my head. It's like I'm a cat with a bell on its collar.

Today's pair also marks the two-month point of this challenge. Doesn't feel like it though. I still take an age to pick my earrings each morning because there are so many to choose from. Still couldn't tell you if the collection will last the whole year but it certainly is showing no signs of running out any time soon. And by the time it does start flagging it'll probably be October and then there'll be a huge influx of new pairs for my birthday from all my myriad fans. Right?

Day 59 - pink brooches

These are a very un-me pair of earrings indeed. I hardly ever wear pink at all so there's not a lot I can really wear them with. Needless to say I couldn't for the life of me tell you where they came from either. And the style is so un-me too: they really do look like an old lady's brooch or something. Very odd.

Although I do always joke that I'm an old lady in training. I like nothing more than to spend a Sunday afternoon on my couch with my cat, a cup of tea, the Times cryptic crossword and BBC Radio 4.

Day 58 - black lacy

This is an often-seen arrangement for dangly earrings: a simple shape repeated in a diamond pattern of 1-2-3-2-1. I have any number of earrings in all sizes and colours that follow it (some have already been showcased, like the black butterflies and blue doilies).

Day 57 - silver curvy balls

I'm not going to be able to be even a little bit coherent about these because I just got back from seeing Avengers: Age of Ultron. 

Even better, we watched it at a Ster-Kinekor Prestige theatre. I am never going to a regular movie theatre ever again. Prestige is just the way to do it. The only thing that could have made it better was a boy bringing me wine. You know what, he doesn't even necessarily have to look like Chris Hemsworth. I am quite willing to be flexible on this matter ... Chris Evans is fine.

Day 56 - orange beads

These were a birthday present from one of my sister's varsity friends - thanks Georgi! I really like these and they're also nice and light so when Cape Town gets aggressive, I don't get bruised.

I remember my earring enabler making a comment when I first got them along the lines of "on anyone else these would be impressive earrings, but on you they're almost demure". I think that's a pretty good summary of my approach to earrings in general.

Day 55 - steely curves

This is another pair I bought for myself when I was supposed to be buying earrings for someone else. Because that's how I roll. I like the shape of these. It's different and interesting. And actually, now I come to think of it, they sort of remind me of Barbamama.

Aaaw, Barbapapa's Voyage is an iconic book from my childhood. One of those memories that is as vivid today as when I was a kid reading it. Apparently, it's a collector's item too - $70 for the paperback on Amazon ... and $999 for the hardback! I better tell my mother to safeguard our copy ...

Day 54 - purple bead hoops

This is becoming a theme now: I wear these often, really like them, I don't know where I got them or when, blah blah blah.

So instead of trying to come up with something entertaining about these I will relate something entertaining that I learned today. When my colleague tried to search for "ausgame guide" on the company social network today (we use some games that were developed in Australia, hence the name), the perspicacious search engine inquired whether she had in fact meant to search for "sausage guide", 

Since I was pretty much on the verge of hysteria at that point, it being a Friday afternoon after all, this amused me far more than it should and led me to Google that very phrase. In a flash of forethought I used my phone for this rather than my work computer, suspecting that Google might return something NSFW.

In fact, the returned hits were surprisingly legit and indeed the first result was a Sausage Glossary (which we were shocked to discover completely omitted any reference to boerewors). A little exploration of that site revealed my fun new feel-good fact for the day: there is in existence in the world (OK, America, but still) the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council. I kid you not. And that's not even the best part. The president of that council, one Janet Riley, has the honour to be dubbed the Queen of Wien.

Sometimes when the world is full of horrible things and horrible people and you think you don't really want to live on this planet any more, just take a step back and remember that, yes, there is crapness, but there is also stuff that is just pure gold. Or maybe I just have the sense of humour of a 12-year-old boy.

Day 53 - purple leopard hearts

These make me think of my earring enabler for some reason. I think he either got them for me or was with me when I bought them for myself. Either is entirely possible - that's why he's called my earring enabler.

I'm not a particularly sparkly or hearty kind of person. (By which I mean that my taste in decoration doesn't tend to include bling or heart shapes, not that I'm not a dazzlingly interesting person who lives life to the full, because of course I am.) But I like these for two reasons: purple and leopard.

Purple is a staple colour for me. So much so that one day at work a colleague stopped by my desk, took in my purple earrings, purple shirt, purple tights, purple phone cover, purple handbag and purple velvet cape (yes, I have a cape, deal with it) and commented "Wat's meddie pers?"

And leopards are just cool.

Day 52 - blue flowers

I am beginning to suspect some of these earrings just spontaneously appeared in my collection without intervention from me or my apparently multitudinous earrings gifters, because once again I find myself absolutely unable to recall a single detail about how these came into my possession. I know I wear them pretty often, even though they're a little on the little side (a phrase I seem to have used far too often recently. I better wear a properly large pair of earrings tomorrow to make up for it.). Add a simple pair of hoops and they're good to go.

To make a tenuous connection, these have flowers on them so they work as Earth Day earrings. Because, according to Google, who tells me everything I know of any consequence that doesn't come to me via Stephen Fry or Facebook, that is what today is. Also according to Google (and clearly I can't refute this for reasons I have made clear), I am a giant squid:

I think Google just called me fat ...

Day 51 - crystal chandeliers

Yet another gift pair. Again, from Penguin and Daddy Bear. In fact these were part of the same gift as my Eragon earrings from early in the blog.

OK, no, they're not really crystal. But, come on, "plastic chandeliers" really doesn't have the same ring to it.

Did you see what I did there?

Day 50 - twirly stars

These were a present from my grandmother I seem to recall. Oh dear, it seems we're back to me never buying my own earrings. Anyway, these have a nice and different shape so, though they are a little on the small side, I like them a lot.

They remind me somehow of Patrick Star from SpongeBob SquarePants (which, as we've established many times by now, is one of my favourite shows in the world):

Day 49 - black leaves

I bought these (hey! Turns out I do sometimes buy my own earrings!) when I was supposed to be buying earrings to put in my sister's Christmas stocking the year before last. I distinctly remember buying myself two pairs (no wait, it was three. I haven't blogged about the other two yet), but I can't now recall what earrings I got for her. I hope I did get her some. I'm sure I did. Positive. Well, reasonably certain. Call it 80%.

Day 48 - Graham Beck tortoises

My sister made these (the tortoises anyway; I made them into earrings) out of the tops of champagne bottles from our favourite bubbly, Graham Beck Brut. We're also quite fond of their vintage Rosé.

To be fair, we're quite fond of bubbly in general. As evidenced by our annual attendance at the Magic of Bubbles MCC and champagne festival in Franschhoek ever since we accidentally stumbled into it four years ago.

Day 47 - trippy glitter lattices

I got these from one of those cute little shops you see in every mall: the ones that seem to sell just about everything and you can't quite figure out what their focus is supposed to be. Without fail they have a little earring stand at the till. (By "little earring stand" I mean the stand is usually little, not that the stand is full of little earrings. Were that the case I would almost certainly overlook them with disdain.) Because of this, whatever I've gone in there to buy or peer at in bewilderment, it's just about guaranteed I will come out with a pair of earrings.

I like these because when the top lattice layer moves above the lower glitter layer it is quite a trippy effect. I was slightly mesmerised when I found them. In fact, since I'm currently rereading Terry Pratchett's Sourcery (among others), thinking about this effect now vaguely puts me in mind of the effect the Archchancellor's Hat has on people around it and so I blame the fact that I bought these entirely on the earrings themselves. I was bewitched and therefore cannot be held accountable.

Day 46 - pink thread

A rather small pair but a bright one. I notice all the red thread has now disappeared from the one. Oops. My earrings do get battered around quite a bit so a few of them are in less than museum quality condition. Hence the earring repair station which was so niftily enhanced last weekend, as I mentioned yesterday. Now I guess I better add thread to my toolbox.  Not a bad idea at all.

This now unbalanced pair has been featured on the stage of the Masque Theatre: worn by one Jennifer Moss playing the husband-stealing tramp Elaine in Calendar Girls, which I mentioned a few days ago.

Day 45 - blue bead blankies

This is a simple concept and one that I've seen used quite a lot: a square of beads hung from a hook. That's it. But the result is very pleasing somehow. 

I have only the one pair in this arrangement for all that it's so prevalent, and I haven't worn it for ages because I lost the hook off one and I couldn't find a shop that sold them - my regular craft shop at Cavendish disappeared for some reason. Now, however, I've found a lovely new one at Long Beach Mall and finally got around to buying myself a little desk vice so the earring repair and craft area of my study is properly and fully functional. I repaired about five pairs of earrings last weekend and I foresee another Noordhoek trip this coming weekend to prepare for a nice bout of creativity. 

They won't all be for me, I swear!

Day 44 - wooden spears

Wood is a good material for earrings: it's light and, as is obvious from this pair, it comes in pleasingly fascinating colours and patterns. These ones also clack together nicely, making them a fitting member of Kim's collection.

I can't remember where I got these (which, as we've satisfactorily established by now, I think, does not make them unique), but something makes me want to say it was a street vendor or one of those random stalls that pop up in malls every now and then. Since I get a fair number of earrings from such stalls, let's go with that.

Day 43 - froggies

These were a very recent gift from a friend who thinks he's funny: I have a morbid phobia of frogs. Luckily these don't look like real frogs and are just adorably cute so they don't cause too much consternation for me when I wear them. They are my "Midsummer Night's Dream" earrings because the friend who gave them to me is directing me as Flute the bellows-mender in that very play at the Masque Theatre in Muizenberg in June. It's going to be super awesome!

Day 42 - profile earrings

And the day's arrived: these are the earrings I'm wearing in my profile picture. Booyah. I love these earrings. They are massive, tinkly and garner lots of attention. (I'm fairly certain I bought them in Chinatown.) It's going to be a bit of a drag that I now can't wear them again until the challenge is over. Poot.

Day 41 - Indian half moons

Pretty sure this is another Woolies pair. I felt I had to wear them today after I saw The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel last night. There were some b-e-a-Utiful earrings in that. I want them all! The film was lovely too. Every bit as good as the first one (and in some places even better I thought). The cast is just heavenly (how could it not be with Maggie and Judi?) and the writing is both hilarious and touching.

Day 40 - sunflowers

This is another pair I made myself. I searched high and low for ages for sunflower earrings but I had no luck in my usual haunts: the fun jewellery shops and Chinatown. In desperation I even tried the expensive jewellery shops who I usually don't bother with because they only stock small sparkly things which are so not for me. And of course I had no better luck there. 

So I thought I'd make my own and started searching for things I could turn into earrings: I tried craft shops, toy shops, art shops, hardware shops, silly gift shops, even flower shops. Nada. Until finally I stumbled into a Crazy store one day and found a pair of children's sunglasses. Which I promptly broke apart, drilled holes into and voila! Earrings.

They had to be sunflowers, because I needed something to go with my t-shirt from Calendar Girls, which my dramatic society (CDS) did in 2012. That was my first foray into Cape Town community theatre and I loved it! I had only been in Cape Town for under a year and didn't really know anyone so I thought community theatre was a good way to meet people. I was right: these are my people.

(It has occurred to me that due to the nature of this challenge, I now can't wear my Calendar Girls t-shirt again until the challenge is over because to wear it without these earrings would be akin to sacrilege. Hmmmm.)

Day 39 - bluish ... um, somethings

These are a pair of vague ideas. I have a vague idea that these are made of some kind of plastic since it's definitely not glass and I'm pretty sure it isn't stone. Whatever, I really like the colour. And the shape. I also have a vague idea that these were a gift from someone (as I've said before, do I ever buy my own earrings?). But no idea at all of who from.

Day 38 - double lines

I'm slightly uninspired by both of these pairs by themselves but together they make a decent pair of earrings. They're sparkly and tinkle together nicely when worn as a foursome.

I'm pretty sure the smaller pair was part of a set from Woolies but I have no idea where the longer pair is from. I think I may have stolen them from my sister at some point.

Day 37 - blue triplet

I bought these as part of a set of three identical pairs of earrings. (Well, not exactly identical, since each had a different colour detail, but you know what I mean.) This is the blue version. The black and purple versions will of course be showcased in due course as they are both still in the collection and, amazingly, in tact. Although, as I type that, I realise I haven't seen the purple set in a while ... they must be around somewhere though.

This is an oft-abused triplet as evidenced by the slightly tarnished look of the blue bits. They don’t get much airtime (neither do any of the triplets any more) since they are just a little too small and unassuming to be considered true Kim earrings but when paired with some large hoops, as they were today, they are perfectly serviceable.

Day 36 - multi-rings

I like these a lot, but I don't really have anything interesting to say about them. So instead I'll talk about some other loops: terrible songs that I keep getting stuck in my head. Because sharing is caring. Since there are five loops in the earrings, five songs seems reasonable.

First up: "Say Geronimo" by Sheppard. It's a silly song and I don't in the slightest understand either the lyrics or the music video, but it's stupidly catchy and gets stuck in my head a LOT.

Next one is one I had managed not to hear before but that my caring, lovely sister introduced me to this weekend and which promptly got stuck in my head even though I knew not a single full line: "Heartbeat Song" by Kelly Clarkson.

The next one is by an artist I like but, in true Murphy's Law style, it's a song I particularly don't like: "Just Give Me a Reason" by Pink. Why is it always the songs I don't know the lyrics to?

The fourth song I blame on my aunt: "Timber" by Pitbull. She likes it (I'm not certain she's seen the video ...) because it makes her think of her son (my littlest cousin, who is over 2 m tall) but I don't like it because its stupid catchy stupid words get stuck in my stupid head. Stupid song.

And finally, because I'm not completely evil, a truly good song that also often gets stuck in my head: "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant" by Billy Joel.

Day 35 - watches

These, like my blue circles, were a present from my little (though not littlest) cousin. I am a die-hard Whovian and I introduced her and the rest of her family to Doctor Who a few years ago, so she says these were an obvious choice for me. I agree.

I haven't yet decided what the significance is of the time on the watches ... 644? 1844? 16 minutes to 7? None of these rings a bell but perhaps I shall pay more attention in future. (Although 6 + 4 + 4 = 14 and 1 + 4 = 5, which is my lucky number so ... yeah, I don't know where I'm going with that one.)

Day 34 - Ginger Mary triple discs

At last, the famous drag queen-admired earrings mentioned on Day 5. Ginger Mary here refers to the clothing range that Truworths carries and not, as a friend recently guessed, to a red-headed version of a Bible character of the virginal persuasion.

These look rather impressive but they're actually very light so it's not a violently bruising experience to wear them in Cape Town on a day like today when a "fresh breeze" on the Beaufort scale (seriously, I looked it up) is gallivanting about town.

Day 33 - wavy triangles

These are a relatively new addition. I got them last month from a little shop in the Howard Centre, which is near where I work. I had gone in to buy a present for my friend's birthday and, in fairness, I did buy her a present: a necklace with a pendant like these earrings. But I happened to notice the matching earrings as I was paying and because they're so different and pretty (exactly the reason I bought the necklace as well), I decided that the present-buying trip could be doubly successful.

Day 32 - silver berries

Another pair I've owned for absolute ever so I can't remember where I got them or even when. I wear them fairly regularly though. They're rather demure as Kim earrings go but make a pleasing tinkling sound and aren't heavy enough to try to kill me.

Day 31 - guitars

I don't go to Canal Walk a lot because it's huge and it scares me. And I always forget where I park so I lose my car and end up wandering around looking lost for ages. But the craft shop there is kind of cool. There's lots of fun things I can turn into earrings. Case in point: today's pair. They started out as fridge magnets.

I totally love these; they look so good with my Metallica t-shirt. Plus they get tons of compliments from everyone, whether they are people I know or random people who come up to me in shopping centres (despite my wearing iPod earphones in a transparent attempt to avoid conversations with people I don't know).