We buried my neighbour today. On Sunday morning he hanged himself in the stairwell of our apartment building. He had a wife, children, grandchildren, many friends and was loved, respected and admired by his colleagues. Recently he became depressed, but refused to get help. He was always friendly when I saw him. We chatted just two days before he killed himself. Continue reading “On Giving Up”
Author: KokkieH
KokkieH Reviews Rise of the Guardians
I saw Rise of the Guardians today and it’s hands-down the best film I’ve seen so far this year (hopefully to be quickly dethroned when I see The Hobbit in two weeks’ time). Between a highly neurotic and excitable Tooth Fairy, the Sand Man with bull whip skills that put Indy to shame, a burly, tattooed Santa Claus with a sleigh pulled by murderous reindeer and wielding twin cutlasses, and a bad-ass, six foot eight Easter Bunny with twin boomerangs and Easter egg grenades, it’s really tough to say what I like most about this film. Continue reading “KokkieH Reviews Rise of the Guardians“
On Doubt
Doubt’s a terrible thing, isn’t it? You have a decision to make. You think about it long and hard. You might even pray. You calculate the cost, seek wise counsel and finally you’re ready to take the plunge. You set things in motion. You pass the point of no return. And then one small, insignificant, possibly completely unrelated thing happens and you’re thinking, what’s the point? Why do I bother? Won’t it just be better to pack up my things and go somewhere else? And suddenly you’re not sure. You wonder whether you had made the right choice. You start second-guessing yourself. Continue reading “On Doubt”
The Watering Hole Liberation
Elephant topped the rise to see all the other animals gathered around the watering hole. It seemed like there was some kind of commotion at the water’s edge, but elephants have dreadful eyesight, so he could not quite make out what was going on. There certainly was a lot of noise – the wild dogs were yelping, the hyenas were giggling, the wildebeest were grunting, the buffaloes were snorting, the cheetahs were growling and every other animal was making whatever sound they made. Elephant had to trumpet at the top of his voice to make himself heard over this ruckus. ‘Hello, hello, hello. What’s all this? What’s all this?’ he said when they settled down.
The animals at the water’s edge drew back, allowing Elephant to see the Prickly Pear Boys, the savannah’s most notorious troop of baboons, lounging in the shallows.
On Abusing Words
A couple of weeks ago I had myself a nice little rant here about people saying sorry without thinking what the word means. Today I once again realised how easily people can just throw around words without caring what they’re really saying.
I came into my office today to find two identical faxes from the same person lying on my desk. Both carried a cover page saying, in very big letters, “URGENT FACSIMILE”. Naturally, I picked them up before I had even put down my briefcase because here was something urgent that needed to be dealt with immediately. Guess what it was? No, really, guess? Continue reading “On Abusing Words”
if all else fails...use a hammer 