Lifestyle

Death is serious business. It means the ending of a life of a person who once had dreams and aspirations that may or may not have been reached, but after the event of death, all is nullified and those dreams are terminated, if not bestowed upon the next generation for their longevity. It was so […]

My wife and I no longer talk to each other in the morning. We’re just too busy wandering around the house with our mouths full of oil. We’re members, you see, of that little-known global community, the Society of Oil Pullers. Laugh away, but oil pulling is catching on fast — and you didn’t even […]

It’s my fourth day in Borneo and I’ve eaten such an odd assortment of things in such a weird range of flavours that my taste buds are thoroughly bewildered. A couple of days in the jungle regions near Sandakan have exposed them to tastes such as bitter gourd, pineapple-and-chilli salad, sago in coconut milk and […]

And by you I mean “I”, of course. 1. You carry around a notebook and scribble down anything interesting/funny/strange that people say, as well as weird signs, strange sights and anything else pilferable from real life. 2. You type them up in a nice clean Word document. 3. You spend some time trying to figure […]

Years ago Jon Qwelane used to write a column in the Sunday Star called “Just Jon”, and as the lowly features sub I had the weekly task of cleaning up his copy. It never needed any. Qwelane always crafted his columns with great precision and style. So when he called one of Talk Radio 702’s […]

Submitted by Muhammad Karim I have been bombarded of late with a series of emails and conversations around Afro-optimism versus Afropessimism, with the ultimate aim being to answer this question: What exactly is going on with this country and where exactly is it going? I think it is appropriate to look at all the arguments […]

I have spent the past four years immersed in the alternative-health sector, becoming increasingly aware of the interconnectedness between food, environment and health. Over the next few months I want to explore some of these connections and invite a broader conversation. I don’t claim to be an expert. I’m just another web surfer vacuuming up […]

This week the Sowetan ran a poll to try to assess its readers’ views on the best way to ensure safety at schools — turns out that corporal punishment came romping in as the “weapon of choice”. Sucks to all of you who gave me an earful for daring to raise it on Thought Leader. […]

I am tired. Flippin’ tired — of all those folks who spend their days complaining, bitching, moaning, whining and whingeing about how bad it is in South Africa. A week or so ago, I had breakfast with a friend and her buddies. One of them — a platinum blonde with well-manicured French nails and a […]

My partner and I have been studiously avoiding a piece of paper sitting on the kitchen counter. It’s been days since it arrived, and it sits there, demanding our attention. We both don’t want to deal with it, but somehow its presence muscles in on our conversations. So we discuss it half-heartedly; then, like all […]