Country of My Skull

The job search

Thu, 27 Nov 2008 04:19:15 -0800

I keep meaning to give an update on my situation here in Cape Town, but every time I sit down to write something things change without really changing.

I think if you’re going to be unemployed, there is no better city to be unemployed in than Cape Town. The weather is great, the beaches are awesome, and I’ve been walking and exploring and surfing and swimming and just hanging out on the beach shooting the breeze. I don’t think I’ve been in such great shape for over a decade. It’s all good stuff.

Silent Night

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 05:57:39 -0800

2 a.m.
on a silent night
she sat
desk bound
and heart sore
writing letters
to her lovers lost

her face half-lit
with the holy glow
of lamp light sadness

a fallen moon
I thought
as she wrote
with the ink-bleeding pen
and the silent sighs
of a tear stained heart

everything
is going to be alright
I said
even as the stars
fell out the sky

(one of my own)

The US elections & other important advice

Mon, 03 Nov 2008 08:06:25 -0800

Tomorrow is the big day.

The world’s biggest reality show contest kicks-off and no matter who wins the US presidential elections, history will be made.

I love America. There is something about the irrepressible optimism that enthuses the American spirit that just does it for me. Sure, I don’t always agree with their foreign policies, or even their domestic ones, but still it’s a great country.

How to find a husband in 40 days

Wed, 29 Oct 2008 07:46:25 -0700

Last night I watched a TV show called How to find a husband in 40 days (or something like that), in which a bossy looking Scottish woman went on a mission to find a life partner tout de suite. One of the show's “experts” mentioned that research suggests you need to meet about 400 people to find one person you can connect with on a romantic level. I have no idea how they did this research, but 400 people seems very high to me and if you consider that you’re not likely to ever meet more people than while you were at high school and university it does highlight the challenges involved in meeting a sufficient number of new people in a culture where work dominates most people’s time.

Once upon a time in a faraway country

Tue, 21 Oct 2008 13:04:38 -0700

I thought I would write a picture story about my time in Austria way back when.

On One Condition

Tue, 14 Oct 2008 11:44:48 -0700

Everytime I think I will finally turn away from the institutional gestures of my past, the barred windows, chain locked doors, the promise breakers of my ragged youth, the urban myths that have become my bedtime stories, the fables which imprison me like Jonah in the fish, yes, everytime I begin to believe in freedom; to leave no thin strings between us, I hear my Father, whom my soul loves with all of its heart and purity, speak to me: On one condition. Say yes. (Lisa Zaran)

All Glory is Fleeting

Wed, 08 Oct 2008 10:58:49 -0700

Legend has it that when the victorious Roman generals returned from their campaigns of war and covered themselves with glory in grand parades on the streets of Rome, they would be followed by a small voice warning them of the fickleness of fame and fortune.

I’m totally mesmerised by the meltdown in financial markets. I know that the banks employ a lot of good people, a lot of smart people. I know that the banks are a great place to work for a few years - you can learn a lot and you get well paid for it. But I want to say something about the kill or be killed culture that prevailed in these places. It wasn’t that long ago when investment banks were recruiting the best graduates with promises of big pay cheques and massive bonuses. Banks attracted people motivated by money. To get a job in an investment bank was an easy road to riches, to have their names on your resume was a passport to success.

Goodnight

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 01:42:41 -0700

I've been a bit of a slacker on the blog front. There is a lot I want to say, particularly about the meltdown in the financial markets. A friend of mine who works for one of the affected banks sent me this note:

"It's been very interesting, but a lot of people hurting: having to move out of their homes, upsticks with children and leave the country (sponsored visas), lose their lifetimes worth of company stock that was going to be their retirement etc. ....."

Valhalla

Tue, 09 Sep 2008 06:08:59 -0700

I’ve been writing a lot of poetry lately. I like nothing better than sitting down at night and writing poems. I find it so relaxing. You’d better believe it. I read an interview by the writer Margaret Atwood where she said that if you want to write a good poem, write lots of them (the theory being some of them will be good). This is going to be my strategy from here on out. I do regret not taking one of the many excellent creative writing courses in London while I was over there. Once I’m a little more settled I’ll try getting myself onto one in Cape Town.

Nailed to the Sky

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 06:35:23 -0700

I was browsing the internet looking for some new poetry and I had to read a lot of dross before I stumbled across this amazing poem written by the writer Robert Warrington.

Nailed to the Sky

If only I had any idea what you did 
on hot blue Saturdays 
If I knew where you were likely to be 
I could create the conditions 
to run in to you by accident 
Not knowing

Another one bites the dust

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 06:20:19 -0700

Welcome to Zimbabwe

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 10:01:07 -0700

I thought I was finally over this topic but the other night I heard our ersatz president Thabo Mbeki refer to Robert Mugabe as “President” Robert Mugabe. I don’t know if I’m missing something but Robert Mugabe is not the president of Zimbabwe under the laws of the SADC, the AU or the UN so how the hell did this happen??

Even by the SADC’s extremely lax standards, the presidential elections in Zimbabwe were ruled not to be free or fair. What makes the situation so hilarious is that even though the SADC ruled the elections to be a sham, the illegitimate Zimbabwean government suffered not a single sanction or punishment within the SADC community, which renders this whole process meaningless. I know I should really stop caring about this, or the fact that our failed president Thabo Mbeki remains the principal life support system for Mugabe’s tyranny, but here is a rather amusing poem I wrote about the situation.

Dear Diary

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 08:30:03 -0700

I’ve been tagged by Brian. I’ve done this blog before way back when I first joined AboutLife so this time I’ll do it a little differently.

I keep a diary. Not a gushing diary but just a short note of what I did that day just to jolt my memory.

So today I ate the tastiest boerewors roll ever.

Below are the entries for the 13th August (or the nearest date with an entry) in ……

2007 – Went to meet Brian at the pub near Oxford street [how cool is that? This was AboutLife Brian who just tagged me on this here blog. The date was actually Thursday the 16th August but I had no entry for the 13th, 14th or 15th so they must have been run of the mill work days]

Boring Blog

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 15:08:02 -0700

I spent last week sorting out what remains of my London life. I’m flying out on Friday night and I must say I’m looking forward to returning to Cape Town. Mentally I’ve moved on from this place and it’s no longer home. I think now that I’ve spent a couple months in Cape Town I thought I would list some things I really like about being back home.

1. I am 10 minutes drive from about half a dozen beaches. I go to the beach almost everyday. You have no idea how much I appreciate this and I get to go surfing. Woohoo.

The Kris Morris appreciation blog

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 02:43:16 -0700

Hi, I’m back in the UK to visit my dentist (again) and to help my sister move to Edinburgh and hopefully catch one or two shows at the Edinburgh festival. Yeah.

The last time I was back in the UK I was able to go to the Kris Morris gig in Soho, which was really cool. I heard Kris live for the first time at the living-room sessions in someone’s house in Ealing. Afterwards, I chatted to him for a while and I can confirm that not only is he a great singer but he’s also very friendly, down-to-earth and laidback. I had a front row seat and was able to film him singing his awesome song Someone Sometimes on my camera. Enjoy!