| National Treasures 2
29 November 07
Come on dear readers:
I have five front runners for national treasures: (see blog archive November)
Madiba
Archbishop Desmond
Pieter-Dirk Uys
Zapiro
and Ina Paarman.
I NEED YOUR SUGGESTIONS.
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| I Hate Telkom
28 November 07
"Please be patient. All our operators are currently busy." I have sat on the phone for hours and hours since Sunday, listening to a stupid woman telling me to be patient. 'You're call will be answered in approximately ten minutes" she says, so you wait, and 45 minutes later, after... |
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| Lazarus at the rich man
28 November 07
Today a miracle.
The phone rang.
It was Telkom.
"Did you get the problem with the modem sorted?"
I begged, I whimpered, I cajoled, I grovelled,
"Please, please send a technician..."
And they said they would.
So while I'm still cross with them, I am also pathetically grateful, like Lazarus at the rich man's gate,... |
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| Brains Beer
24 November 07
So there I was minding my own business, when the rugby came on. Wales versus the Springboks. I was amazed to see the first Welsh bloke was called Brains. Then the second and the third. Slowly it dawned in my fuddled skull that the sponsors were called Brains. THe... |
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| Why it is important to watch Television
23 November 07
Here is the first page of today's story. It's for 13 year olds, and its about a girl caught in a clothes shop when the lights go out.
I'm putting it here to demonstrate to all those of you who don't watch TV just how important it is to lie on... |
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| National Treasures
22 November 07
So who are our National Treasures?
What makes a national treasure?
It can't just be talent, they have to do something more than be fabulous at their chosen profession. (that's Percy out, in spite of his arse which is definitely a national treasure)
It can't be cuteness or something that fits a current... |
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| Laughing
21 November 07
I'm reading a fascinating book called 'The Definitive Book of Body Language," by Alan and Barbara Pease. And there I have discovered that the ability to make people laugh is seen as a dominant trait.
That's why men like to compete with each other to tell the funniest joke, or... |
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| Remorseless
17 November 07
Deliver us from evil continues to haunt me. What gets to me most is the character of Oliver O'Grady, charming, suave, warm, childlike in his wide eyed 'innocence.' He can't - or won't - make the connection between what he did and the suffering he caused.
I was a little... |
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| Deliver us from evil
14 November 07
There were only four of us in the movie theatre on Monday morning watching this film. Two people in the very front row, a man one row down from me, and many seats in, and me.
I cried so hard I got embarrassed, thinking I was making the row of... |
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| Subconscious journeying
12 November 07
Sometimes it seems like I pursue my life , here on the surface, and my subconscious is on its own journey underneath, without me knowing. Just sometimes, like a whale swimming under the sea, it breaks above the surface and and thrashes about, beating its tail, doing handstands and blowing... |
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| Wrongly Directed Rant
10 November 07
My husband, who is a publisher and sits through editorial meetings has corrected me.
"Do not blame the editor for changing Margaret Mahy's stories," he says. "They are almost always sensitive, intelligent people who understand the intricacies and beauties of texts."
(He doesn't actually talk like that, but it sounded good... |
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| The Man whose mother was a Pirate
09 November 07
I am reading 'Margaret Mahy, a writer's life,' by Tessa Duder.
Its a great book, written by another New Zealand children's writer, who knows what questions to ask, and where to find the answers.
The question I want to ask her was,'Why did they shorten and update the text of... |
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| Tilly Steyn
07 November 07
Today I woke up and knew I needed to take time away from work to let the dust and debris sink through the sieve of my subconscious, so I could examine what was left.
I went to the National Gallery. As usual I found one work that captivated me, and took... |
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| Sore Loser
05 November 07
God, I hate losing. I thought our play was the best, but we didn't win. I could put it down to a whole list of things, some rational, some raving, some inspired by my inner two year old...
But ultimately all competitions are judged on subjective criteria. The judges were... |
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| Pansa 48 hour festival
04 November 07
On Friday, at the last minute, I joined in the Pansa play writing festival. I was paired up with scriptwriter and actor, Adrian Galley, and we had 24 hours to write a fifteen minute play around the theme of Memory.
We were given a whistle and a newspaper, which we... |
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| Children with disabilities
01 November 07
Barbara Erasmus is selling copies of her highly acclaimed novel 'Kaleidoscope' for R50 each. Published in 2004, it received rave reviews across the country. This is how my friend Jen Crocker, then books editor of the Cape Times reviewed Kaleidoscope.
"I was, quite simply, blown away by the magical quality... |
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