Tiah Beautement's Blog, page 103
March 6, 2013
On fax machines
“There is still something in Japanese culture that demands the warm, personal feelings that you get with a handwritten fax,” said Mr. Sugahara, 43. - Martin Fackler, In Japan, the Fax Machine is Anything but a Relic
March 5, 2013
On The Ward
S.L. Grey, The Ward - 'No, no, dear. The Administration makes all the decisions in the Wards. - - All I can see is the ghost of my reflection. For once it doesn't fill me with disgust. My mask is still comfortably in place. - - My only regret is that I never saw the upside. - - 'Why us? Why pick us specifically? Not... I dunno, some anonymous refugee who won't be missed.' - - Only Colombian [coffee] is good enough for me, and I have to taste the kids' tears in it. -
March 4, 2013
On 'African Writing'
The first thing to say is that almost all African creative writing that gains any level of worldly significance, no matter how ephemeral, is published by a Western publishing company. Even when a writer is first published on the continent, their success is ultimately measured in terms of how effectively their work gets a foot in the Occidental door. This should not be surprising to anyone on a moment’s reflection. The West has been the centre of capital accumulation for the past 400 years or so. Fiction writing is simply another form of capital whose value is formed and transacted...
March 3, 2013
On Moranthology
Caitlin Moran, Moranthology - The great thing about taking lots of drugs, of course, is that it allows you to come at the really important topics from a different, and innovative, angle. - - [Keith] Richards’ mother, Doris, was a classic, working-class matriarch – her last words to Keith, as he played to her on her death bed, were ‘You’re out of tune’ – and as an only child of a poor, bohemian couple, the only things Richards was brought up to respect were the local library, and music. – - ‘You’re always smiling,’ Henry said, humbled by Sanusi’s ostensible...
February 21, 2013
On time
The often heard lament, 'I have so little time,' gives the lie to the delusion that the daily is of little significance. Everyone has exactly the same amount of time, the same twenty-four hours. - Kathleen Norris, Quotidian Mysteries
On smell
There's nothing like the smell of new mown grass, coffee and a brand new book. - Thomas Jefferson
February 20, 2013
On Hear Me Alone
Thando Mgqolozana, Hear Me Alone '- The truth of a hear me alone remains with a person, boy Epher.' - - From a distance, each dog made a long, cold, hollow wailing that altered your mood. It was as though the dogs were messengers of sadness. - - ...if this book is to be good news, really, between its spines it should carry an apology; because men have a lot to apologize to women for. - - Knowledge of the content of a heart required sensibility, and as far as I was concerned, no man I knew was gifted this...
February 14, 2013
On Black Friday
On Friday, February 1, [Anene] Booysen was gang-raped, murdered and mutilated and left for dead at the Asla Magwebu construction site, where she worked, not far from her RDP home. She died in hospital on Saturday, February 2. - News 24, Quiet returns to Anene's town I have never raped anyone or physically assaulted a woman, but I have committed violence against pretty much every woman I’ve been close to. I have fed my anger and allowed it to fill many relationships. I have taken out my own fears and inadequacies on my partners with harsh criticism and judgement, amplifying...
February 12, 2013
On apartheid
How could so many people be so stupid? - Thing 1, age 8: His response after hearing his parents' latest attempt to explain what apartheid was and how it came to be.
February 11, 2013
What the children said
Please see my blog at Books Live for an account of last week's workshop at Milkwood Primary. The children word very hard. I am very proud of them. Click Here to read What the children said.
