Unplugging

I’m switching off the internet and going downstairs to my office – where my modem conveniently does not work – to write. Just thought you should know that. While I am away, please entertain yourselves with two minutes of madness from the Conchord boys. The line, “Friends laugh together ha ha ha, friends make graphs [...]

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The Joy of Being Older

I have been spending time with a friend who has an adorable nine-month-old baby. I love this baby for her cleverness and charm, and the sweetness of watching her discover the world. Being with them has brought home to me how my childrens’ baby time is over, and, while I loved it, how grateful I [...]

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15 Books in 15 Minutes

Emily tagged me to do this on Facebook, but I can’t have two places in my life for memes, so, having seen Natalia do it on her blog today, I’m doing it here – the Facebook 15 Books in 15 Minutes Meme. Instructions: Don’t take too long to think about it. List 15 books you’ve [...]

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Zen and the Art of Switching Off Your Phone

Yesterday in my yoga class, someone took a call on their mobile phone. Not a “I’m at yoga; will call you back” call either, but a prolonged two-way conversation that involved a lot of listening, some suggesting and proferring of ideas that we all got to hear, since the yoga studio is small. My yoga [...]

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Good News about AIDS

The BBC reports that HIV/AIDS in South Africa has “leveled off” in the age group two years and older. There are signs that the rate of infection in children and teens is falling. A study by Dr Olive Shishana, former Director General of the Health Department and who now heads up the SA Human Sciences [...]

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Where Am I?

I keep opening Bloglines and feeling disappointed that my post isn’t live yet. Then I realise that it’s because I haven’t posted. On the way back from Berlin, driving through steady rain while my family slept or gently bickered with each other, a brand-new narrator with a voice all of her own, popped into my [...]

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Cretan Photo Essay

I’m making a brief layover here en route to Berlin, just to share some images of Crete. My brother got married here on a balmy Cretan evening: The monastery at Aptera The flower-girls wore wreaths of jasmine and carried: Baskets of rice and lavender The groom and his dudes wore black tie and: Chucks Your [...]

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