(repost from Letterdash) Train of thought (June 2009) A lovely young friend comes to visit me the other day – over numerous cups of tea we speak of this and that. She tells me that she and her husband will be travelling deep into the Karoo to visit family, and that they’ve chosen to travel […]

She realises that it’s easy to lose one’s grip when you spend so much time alone – To eat standing up, to ignore that pile of unfolded laundry, to just indulge herself. The flipside? It dawns on her in the shower, while shaving and making lovely: This is for no-one, except, maybe, some paramedics.

I’m walking to the station, through a tree’d backstreet that leads past the brewery, and I see traffic backed-up. The Day First, you should know, this is a beautiful autumn afternoon. It’s important because the still, warm day with its softer sunlight is already making me unreasonably happy. So, when I get around the corner, […]

It’s probably time for me to step out of my closet. Sure, I think I’m revealing something astonishing, but most people will say: “That? Pfffft – we all knew THAT. No surprise there.” But I’m going to confess anyway. Yes, I’m a hoper. I know. What a stupid time this is to hang that sign […]

Below is my post from the night of 31 December 2014. April 2015, and it’s starting to happen, but it took something truly terrible to get us moving. Please, let’s not wait for outbreaks of madness and misunderstanding before we stand up. “No resolutions, just a suggestion: how about we protect each other in 2015? […]

People are still lovely. I know, it’s been an awful week so far. I’m watching reruns of That 70’s Show in the lounge – just to escape 2015. Then I go to my bedroom to fetch a jersey, and there’s a massive rain-spider on the wall above my bed! Anyone who knows me will understand […]

There’s a question rolling around on the edges of my mind, and I want to ask it – let it loose into the ether and see what comes back. Q:  Why do people equate freedom with riches? Freedom is about choice, about having choices.  Hence: two free learners – one chooses to apply him/herself and […]

When I propose that South Africa put all offensive statues and historical edifices in a park, why would anyone imagine that I propose such a thing because I defend the long-dead ideas of Cecil John Rhodes? Firstly, I’m not a time-traveller. I don’t spend any part of my day imagining that I live in Victorian […]