Short Story: Popping Candy

Having created his own version of popping candy, he had gone to the local shopping centre to shre them with the wanton children of materialistic parents.

A Little Bit of Hospitality

Have you lived in the same town for years? Do you recognize the people that live in your block? Do you know any of your neighbours?

We live in a small town (reminiscent of John Mellencamp) and run the local computer and games shop. This means we meet lots of people through natural attrition of computers.

Dexter – In Comparison

For years both my wife and I have enjoyed the television series Dexter. The idea of a do-gooder serial killer has always fascinated me. Inasmuch, when we watched the first series I was able to predict much of what happened in that first season after about two episodes. Marieke was amazed.

The End (For Now)

I have been lucky enough over the last week (and with the help of my wife putting up with me) to get enough time to finally finish the novel that I have been working on for about 18 months. I started writing it when I was in a bad place, both physically and mentally, and completed it in a much better place.

It was meant to be a relatively small novel of just over that mark of 40,000 words. By the time I had finished the first draft, it was 50,000. And now with the finishing off of the second draft it has reached some 85,000 words. I hope, with some editing, that it may come down to the 80,000 word mark by the end of a read-through.

The Strength of Children

Recently, there was a young boy we know from our town that was in a very serious accident involving a lawn mower. The end result is that he lost most of his foot and spent almost a month in hospital for multiple surgeries.

Today his mother dropped in. Both my wife and I had been waiting to see her to just wish them all well. The first thing I noticed was how tired she was, but also how well she seemed to be. It has been a difficult time for that family but, as with all things, there is an end to the tragedy.

Take What You Need

Here is a post from the wonderful AMS Daily blog. Simple yet wonderfully poignant.

Take What You Need

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My Day of Breathing

Instead of words, I am going to include some photos from my day of breathing. Warning: there is the possibility of hairy legs.

That is all. I hope you enjoyed your day of breathing.

The Day of Breathing

In this mucked up, muddled up world where we are always running from here to there in the pursuit of whatever it is that we are after, we forget to do one thing. We think that all this running around will get us to that place that we are so deperating seeking, but I doubt whether it really does.

I used to be this way. Chasing after money trying to increase my material status upon the world; trying to show people how much better my life is by the amount of stuff I’ve got. Trying to show parents and so-called friends that my stuff is better than their stuff; that my kids are smarter than their kids. But then I learnt a real lesson about life.

Sustaining Happiness

Whilst we all proclaim we are happy, I find it difficult to sustain happiness. It appears that every emotion needs to be used in moderation, and as much as I want to be happy all the time it appears that I struggle to do it.

My life is good now. In fact very good now. We own our little shop that does okay, we have lots of regular visitors that like our shop and we have a great base to start from when we think about expanding. That is in comparison to just a few years ago where I felt trapped, lonely and alone.

An Ode to Finding Love (In The Form of My Wife)

I can’t soar
like an eagle
but I’m sure
that I can be good
to you