It’s been 4+ decades since I made landfall on this planet, and I’ve noticed a few things. One of them: in any given decade, the aliens and outcasts of the previous decade become the establishment of the current one – and they fight the new aliens and outcasts as mercilessly, if not more so. It’s […]

Good night: to the sisters and the brothers, to the lonely, to the lovers, to the singers and the writers, to the peacemakers and the fighters: g’d night, g’d night

Past middle-age, not too fast on his feet: it’s the end of a long week, and all he wants to do is get home, have something to eat and a drink. Filled with nothing but anticipation, he’s walking towards his patio door – from my balcony, I spot the problem before he does. I watch him […]

So, I wake up on Tuesday morning and the air is full of smoke. Our small and homely peaks have smouldered since the early hours of Sunday, but over Monday night the flames have risen, spreading along the flanks and summits of the mountain chain that forms the Peninsula’s backbone. Now the fire’s eating its […]

If someone runs into a room and, blocking both ears with his fingers, starts to shout: don’t try to use reason, don’t even talk. There’s every chance that all such a person wants is to see you flinch, to see that you’ve been hurt – that’s the payoff. Let them get their fix, then carry […]

Fashion police, grammar police, diet police (who, instead of hands, should have little BMI calipers), armchair politicians & couch-bound sport coaches, trust-fund defenders-of-the-poor tapping out their rage on top-of-the-line phones over fizzing imported Japanese tea, young thought-leaders who’ve turned off all the lights except for one beam to hunt down whatever they consider to be […]

Yeah, love: that thing that has to morph through excitement, boredom, good and bad times – it only starts as a feeling. Attraction is a crackle: love is a decision, a bond, an obligation, a saving grace, a safe place, a conversation, a comfortable silence and an allegiance. 11/03/2014

That’s all it should take for you to read this. Yes, a second post in as many days – I might just be following through 🙂 So, this was a day spent lying on the soft lawn at Kirstenbosch, watching ever-changing clouds against the blue, drinking and eating whatever lovely thing was passed my way, […]

I’ve neglected you. I’ve neglected myself. Hello. It’s New Year’s Eve 2014, and here I am. There are others, all on the verandah, chatting over their glasses and the food I’ve laid out – but I’d rather be speaking to you. What a wild, wild year 2014 has been. There were times it felt like […]

16 Days of Activism for 2014 has begun. As always, the first things to happen are: politicians snatching some publicity, and someone saying we should be doing this all year round. Of course. It’s well-meant, but there’s every chance that the founders of 16 Days do care all year round. This annual campaign is supposed […]