If you know someone who always has to have the last word, you are watching a performance of control, not confidence. Needing to close every conversation, correct every detail and win every exchange says less about how right they are and more about how unsafe it feels for them to leave anything unresolved. What it looks like when someone must have the last word You know the pattern. You say something simple and they correct your wording. You share an experience and they explai

There is a strange thing that happens when we talk about “community” now. We say the word, but what we often mean is “people who make me feel good about myself”. We want community that understands us, reflects us, validates us, supports us, reads our long messages, likes our posts, shows up when we are low, disappears when we are tired, and never asks too much in return. In other words, we want community that behaves like a very patient therapist with better snacks. But real

Read this before continuing! This article is me, exploring the concept of the end of the world, in general. It is not a criticism of whatever your beliefs are. I am a Roman Catholic. I am a Christian. This is not personal, please don’t try to make it so. Generally, I can be quite patient. I’ve learnt to be more patient as I’ve grown older. I would not be as patient if I followed the predictions of people in the 1st Century who said that the Second Coming would be happening ‘a

Person 1: “Do you smoke?” Person 2: “Yes” Person 1: “Do you know that if you stopped smoking you could buy a Ferrari with the money saved?” Person 2: “Do you smoke?” Person 1: “No” Person 2: “Do you own a Ferrari?” I can’t understand why a pack of razor blades costs nearly R200 (ZAR) in some instances. How are they made? And regardless, aren’t they mass-produced? I’ve heard that it is really difficult to make razor blades – there’s a lot of precision work required. Apparently

Is entrepreneurship fashionable? I cannot help but notice all the magazine articles, blog posts and highlighting of entrepreneurship, and wonder if this is a symptom of age, or the next work evolution, or something else far more philosophical in response to the human psyche. Jason Saltzman, CEO of Alley, said; “In this day and age, being an entrepreneur is truly glamorized. Stories of huge wins resonate through the different startup communities like wild fire. Successful entr

At my lowest in 2016 I believed that God himself was punishing me for 40-plus years of ill doings, flawed character and anything else suppressed by my over-active conscience that had been in denial. For most of the year I thought I had entered a deep pit mine with a one way ticket in hand. The euphoria of the Christmas holiday season quickly faded as I walked through the front door back to my reality. By the time the Easter holiday arrived I had convinced myself that I would

I am grateful that I have enough. I was cleaning out my bathroom cupboard this weekend and in the process discovered I had 5 bottles of varying shades of red nail varnish. I don’t wear red nail varnish. In the mix was also several brands of top coat and too many to mention nail and cuticle treatments – which I never use. As I stepped out of the bathroom, the “card box” that I’ve been meaning to sort out for about a year now caught my eye. There must be over one hundred differ

I have been slightly scarce for a while (understatement). I make no apologies for this. It turns out that my privacy has been violated with the sole intention to gain access to every detail of my activities with malicious intent. Let’s get real here; I am not famous, nor wealthy, nor heir to something more desirable than a plastic sock. Hell – I’m not even officially young and up-and-coming by statistical measures. How is it possible that a person’s far-less-than-Wisteria-Lan

Horror movies have been criticised for their graphic violence and are often dismissed as low budget, B-rated and sensationalist flicks. Nobody seems to care that some highly respected directors and major studios have particulated in the genre. The genre itself is misunderstood and subject to atracks not dissimilar to those found between the blood-stained curtains on the celluloid. For some, horror films are little better than pornography, focused purely on evoking a reaction

“I Was Accused of Drug Smuggling …”.

This is not an article about autism but autism is my point of departure because I have always been intrigued by the genius of mind of autistic persons and how they have been portrayed in cinema and books. Their ability to identify patterns in numbers specifically, otherwise hidden from civilian eyes, is, for me, a fascinating glimpse into how the human brain functions and what it is capable of achieving. Where numbers are the basis, patterns are the key. Logical problem solvi

By my calculations (which are always questionable…), considering that I generally finish a novel or book within 48 hours, in my 40 years of life I should have been able to have read nearly 3,500 titles in my time. Well, that hasn’t happened… My favourite authors are Stephen King, Dean Koontz, John Irving, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, John Saul, Mitch Albom and Salman Rushdie. I should most probably add Bentley Little, Richard Laymon and Terry Pratchett to that line up too. “Favourite”

And, so, I am now offiically in my 40′s. That’s a lot of living under the belt. The very first CD “we” (my hubby) bought was The Simpsons Sing The Blues… I am not ashamed. I still have an awesome collection of Vinyls with really good music on them. I will never forget the exact moment when I first heard Rock Me Amadeus by Falco or literally danced like no one was watching to Cyndi Lauper’s Girls Just Wanna Have Fun. School was bearable because of the rebellious tracks like We

A quick Did-You-Know? The tradition of the New Year’s Resolutions goes all the way back to 153 B.C. Janus, a mythical king of early Rome was placed at the head of the calendar. With two faces, Janus could look back on past events and forward to the future. Janus became the ancient symbol for resolutions and many Romans looked for forgiveness from their enemies and also exchanged gifts before the beginning of each year. Anyone who has ever made and broken a New Year’s Resoluti

The New Year has not always begun on January 1, and it doesn’t begin on that date everywhere today. It begins on that date only for cultures that use a 365-day solar calendar. January 1 became the beginning of the New Year in 46 B.C., when Julius Caesar developed a calendar that would more accurately reflect the seasons than previous calendars had. The Romans named the first month of the year after Janus, the god of beginnings and the guardian of doors and entrances. He was a

Auld Lang Syne The song, “Auld Lang Syne,” is sung at the stroke of midnight in almost every English-speaking country in the world to bring in the New Year. In spite of the popularity of ‘Auld Lang Syne’, it has aptly been described as the song that nobody knows. Even in Scotland, hardly a gathering sings it correctly, without some members of the party butchering the words. Written by Robert Burns in 1741, it was first published in 1796 after Burns’ death. “Auld Lang Syne” li

As a parent, I’ve recently been provided with information and travel tips to make travelling simpler (if that is at all possible) with young children. The first lot of info received was at an AA (Automobile Association) breakfast in November and the next was from Pampers in early December. (I am a member of the AA and have only used Pamper for both my kids) I didn’t plan to blog about this as I deemed the info to be “common sense” then there was the recent news report of a 6-

Let’s kick this post off with a dash of Penelope Cruz shall we? I’m not exactly the target audience for the beautiful Ms Cruz but I will be the first to admit that I love the way the multi-syllabic-NESPRESSO sounds when she says it. First there was the “Breakfast Gang”, namely; myself, @CliveSimpkins, @AkiAnastasiou, @BarrieBramley and @Angelo2711. As time progressed, and Twitter evolved, the “Coffee Club” emerged around the Nespresso culture. Every morning I am greeted on my

I recently wrote about my thoughts on caring for the elderly in What Should We Do With Old People? Every life situation is different. Every family is unique. Every individual has an opinion. Tradition and culture aside, there is also the personal preference (by the aged person and their children & family) and the realities of what is involved in supporting the elderly in terms of time, money and resources. I got a different perspective to my question from one of my long time

This is my story. I am grateful that I remembered to be Grateful :-) It has been a wonderful month.