Last night, when the rain returned and the light from the robots leaked into the slick dark streets, the dog took a turn for the worse. She was vomiting, her abdomen was distended; she balanced on trembling legs, her hind limbs extended like awkward props. “This dog needs medical attention,” my mother said. I phoned […]
Sarah Britten
During the day Sarah Britten is a communication strategist; by night she writes books and blog entries. And sometimes paints. With lipstick. It helps to have insomnia.
Posted inLifestyle
Languishing in the Valley of the Howzit Dolls
Having vowed recently never to write about he-who-shall-not-be-named and reflected on the kind of thing I do for a living (ie advertising), I thought it was high time, again, for the sort of post that takes blatant advantage of the fact that I have an audience on whom I can inflict gloriously masochistic inventories of […]
Posted inMedia, News/Politics
Was that volcano the best ad campaign ever?
So I’m miffed that I didn’t get to speak at the London Book Fair thanks to that bloody volcano, known in South Africa as Ekkisvokkengatvol. But there’s a silver lining to this particular ash cloud, at least for a cold, windblown piece of rock in the middle of nowhere. In fact, I’m wondering if this […]
Posted inLifestyle
Caution: This will make your eyes water
This weekend I ended up in the emergency room thanks to a contact lens. The simplest way to explain why is to declare upfront that I am an export grade idiot. Simply put, contact lenses and I are not a good combination. Over the years, I’ve had some eye-watering experiences with these slippery little pieces […]
Posted inMedia, News/Politics
#dontouchmeonmystudio and other things I’ve learned from Twitter
Apart from Don’t touch me on my studio (which I hadn’t seen live because I seldom watch TV) I’ve learned quite a lot from Twitter. Here are 12 of the things I’ve learned from my year and a bit on South Africa’s trendiest social networking site. 1. Twitter has made it much easier for memes […]
Posted inNews/Politics
This is the last time I write about Julius
If I ever feel tempted to write about Julius Malema — aka Droolius, the Jelly Tsotsi, JuJu, Kiddie Amin etc — please remind me of this post. Remind me that I took a vow never to write about him again, because writing about him would make me complicit in fueling his continued rise to a […]
Posted inMedia
Never run out of petrol in Libode
We’re in Libode and it doesn’t look good. There isn’t enough in the tank to get us to Mthatha, which is worrying because we’ve been driving up and down pretty much every muddy, rutted track that passes for a road here and there’s no sign of a petrol station. There’s an Absa, a Pep, even […]
Posted inGeneral
So I witnessed an accident
So I witnessed an accident. There I was on a Friday afternoon, waiting behind a flashy black ML — as you do — indicating to turn right from Bryanston Drive into Wilton Avenue, thinking about how, when I got home, the first thing I would do is phone the doctor’s rooms to find out if […]
Posted inBusiness, Media
Is Toyota headed down the toilet?
Once upon a time I loved Toyota. Though I’ve flirted with other brands — Fiat (something I still can’t explain) and BMW (now driven by the ex) — I’ve always regarded Toyota as the most rational choice when it came to choosing wheels. Solid, reliable. A little more exciting than it used to be, but […]
Posted inLifestyle
Why is Randburg so depressing?
I don’t know about you, but I find Randburg profoundly depressing. I am not entirely sure why, though I suspect that the reasons are rooted in my childhood. Here’s a thing about Joburg geography. If, like me, you grew up in Sandton (and, even worse, Bryanston, with its intellectually flaccid, waspish assumptions about its own […]
Posted inMedia
So…have you ever made a twitstop?
Do you know how to survive a shelf storm? Have you given into trust lapse? Customer service expert Pete Blackshaw has compiled some essential vocabulary for a world where life is lived 140 characters at a time. Some of these are more relevant to the US than they are to South Africa — but for […]
Posted inMedia
How do they cope without ‘takkies’ and ‘kak’?
“The Guardian reported that J & Mrs Z ‘had matching white trainers’,” observed Gus Silber, reflecting on the Jacob Zuma marriage saga, “which confused me until I realised they meant shoes”. Happening across this comment on Twitter, I realised that there are people in the world who do not have access to a word like […]