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Unexpected Stuff From Strangers’ Mouths: Complicit Racism On a Visit Home
There must be something about my face. People want to talk to it. My sister’s been told she has resting bitch face, and I seem to project a benign resting Labrador face. My face and I are quite fond of minding our own business (quite unlike the aforementioned sister, who once joined a passing police…
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Touched By a Racist (or: Norway, come ON!)
My friend was eyeballs-deep in his phone when his surgeon arrived to check on his progress after his tonsil-removal surgery. The location was a small, private facility in West Oslo, surrounded upmarket department stores and chain coffee shops, while the office itself seemed a little worse-for-wear inside. Oslo seems reluctant to give up its rain…
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Reflections on the death of one with whom I fought so much
What happens when a person with whom you fight regularly dies suddenly? Can you erase the hurt feelings and the sleepless nights? Does it all go away? It does not. Where do you put those feelings while you feel suddenly saddened by the loss of a person who you were perpetually angry with? A while ago,…
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Open Season on Commentary on Your Baby
What’s the weirdest thing anybody’s ever tried to tell you about your baby? That is, what kind of unsolicited advice have you received that’s made you say, “Huh. Thank you for telling me this. Now I know to hide behind the nearest bush when I see you coming.” I am 5 days into parenthood. But…
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Quick Update (and *poof!* explosion)
Updates on the madness in Harfield Village (for those interested): 1. Most of us who were pleading for the eradication of racial profiling & for less viciousness among community members were booted from the Harfield Village Association page on Facebook, after there was an enormous outcry against all the sneaky racism finding its way to…
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This is interesting
On Wednesday night, while I celebrated the return of a friend to Cape Town from the wondrous and exciting world that I presume Joburg to be, I received my first alert on my “phone” (or rather, alleged phone. It’s a Blackberry with the battery life of about 20 minutes & the functionality of a digital…
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Harfield, I’m out.
Hypothetical scenario. You have a dilemma. You live in a neighbourhood which you sort of enjoy (mostly because of the high ratio of bars to residents). It’s built on lies and bad history (aren’t they all?) and you want to make a change. Change the legacy, make a bit of a dent in the future you…
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This Is My New Home
When the woman walked into the cafe, she seemed to bring with her an Autumn calm, a burgundy-coloured cosiness that made me almost look behind her to see if a trail of petals & leaves followed as she sat down at my table. We were there to talk business. She wore a flowing skirt, a…
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