This is a question I asked myself as my laptop froze while on a certain social media site and a particularly risqué photo filled my screen. As I fear judgment I must state that I had not purposefully clicked this link. The link title had been … misleading. I had been promised something far more […]
Lifestyle
Posted inGeneral, Lifestyle
The church has more money than God
In a world where many are continuing to tighten their belts and complain of the “financial pinch” there are some entities that seem to remain on the gravy train. Among the usual culprits one entity stands tall, a constant that no one questions or suspects. The church. It’s easy to speak of how big business […]
Posted inLifestyle, News/Politics
Has the legalisation of cannabis finally become a reality?
The festive season has indeed been a happy one for supporters of the legalisation of cannabis. Uruguay has become the first state to make the production, distribution and consumption of cannabis entirely legal. In the US, home to the “war on drugs”, the states of Colorado and Washington State have followed suit, putting in place […]
Posted inGeneral, Lifestyle
Digging through hair and dysfunction
Since crèche started, bath time has been a nightmare. Every evening while I struggle through my daughter’s coarse hair with feeble attempts to get the sand and tiny stones out and off of her scalp I imagine what being a sandstone miner might be like. It was a long time coming, but after three days […]
Posted inEquality, Lifestyle
Patriarchy bad for men too
“Who’s your daddy?” This is the infamous slogan of commercialised intimacy. A masculine Mandingo demands an answer, while his submissive remnant of a woman is supposed to respond with “Yes, you are my daddy!” Eric Zorn deconstructed the phrase in a piece in the Chicago Tribune. He described it as “a boastful claim of dominance […]
Posted inEquality, General, Lifestyle, News/Politics
Yes, but do we live human dignity?
Much has been said, is still being said and will continue to be said about the reconstitution of the South African legal, political and, perhaps most importantly, ethical order on the basis of the ideal of human dignity. This reconstitution of course took place and form by way of the adoption of the post-apartheid Constitutions […]
Posted inLifestyle
A Christmas of eat, pray, love (for beginners)
Here is my wish for women everywhere this Christmas. That by all means, they should have a lot of eat, a lot of pray and a lot of love. Because wow, they are mad. They are mad about a lot of things and I take nothing away from that. Social injustices, gender discrimination, patriarchy, being […]
Posted inLifestyle
Turning 50…and full of bubbles
It amazes me how we give meaning with structures that have no intrinsic meaning. Take the idea of reflecting on the significant events of a millennium or poignantly reflecting on your life around the time of a “fiftieth” birthday. One thousand or fifty … mere multiples of ten. Why not have similar reflections on 857 […]
Posted inLifestyle, News/Politics
Our four promises to Madiba
By Suntosh R Pillay Trying to sleep on the night we heard the news was impossible. The anxiety, the uncertainty, the awkward mix of feelings, the sense of needing to let go, but wanting just one more day, one more week, one more year. It is overwhelmingly difficult and extraordinarily emotional to write about a […]
Posted inLifestyle, News/Politics
Coconut-ism and death of African culture
About a week ago I read an uncomfortable piece about the unwillingness of black people to share their cultures. The author insinuates that black South Africans remain willingly enclaved in a cocoon of apartheid pain. My objections were immediate and loud. This post is an afterthought and a result of some reflection. Culture in South […]
Posted inGeneral, Lifestyle
Are you allergic to debt?
To be allergic to debt is an inconvenient and annoying affliction. It’s worse than being lactose intolerant or breaking out in hives when you accidentally ingest a strawberry. I do have a credit card, and a cellphone contract, but other than that, I don’t borrow money. I’ve just developed a credit education campaign for a […]
Posted inGeneral, Lifestyle
A small story of kindness
“My name’s Martin,” he said as we crossed Bree Street. It was around 9.20pm on Thursday night, and dark. In La Parada, the beautiful people were busy eating tapas and enjoying wine. I was neither beautiful nor successful; I had lost my parking ticket and I was a mess. A lost ticket costs R90 at […]