smile!

I've stuck up a few photos of our Sydney travels (Surry Hills and a capoeira roda in Newtown) on Facebook if you want to check them out. We're currently in Melbourne for new years adventuring... photos will be sure to follow.
More importantly, tomorrow i'm off to the MCG for the final day of the test match against Australia... where SA will (hopefully) make history and win the series! Who would have thought this possible after our dismal batting on day two? Forgive me if i have a smug grin on my face for the rest of the week!

the longest day

On Sunday I'm playing in the Longest Day Beach Ultimate Tournament on Sydney's North Narabeen beach, with some friends from Canberra. Billed as Australia's top beach tourney, I'm looking forward to it - especially the boxes of fruit that they bring in for refreshments! Beach, sun, ultimate, fruit, ocean, summer... aah.. what more could one want?
Seeing how much we enjoyed Sydney last time, Julie and I are going to make a weekend of it. We found some budget accommodation at the Quaker House in Surry Hills, so are leaving tonight. Tomorrow we will squeeze in a capoeira class with Mestre Roxinho, window shopping on the colourful Oxford street, dinner in Surry Hills and maybe some more big city excitement.
Today is also the last day of work before the Christmas break, so this is a great way to celebrate the end of the year. Woohoo!

pearls of wisdom from c&h

Calvin and Hobbes is one of my favourite cartoon strips. For me, it ranks right up there alongside the Far Side, Madam and Eve, and Zapiro. I think Calvin has a fabulous imagination, and ridicules 'adult' norms very well. Get your daily dose here.

Here are some priceless quotes for today:

Talking with you is sort of the conversational equivalent of an out-of-body experience.
~ susie to calvin

People who get nostalgic about childhood were obviously never children.
~ calvin

Looking out for Joy

In a completely different vein to the last two posts, here's installment 2 of the Advent reflections on Joy for this week. (You can follow the whole series here.)

Oh, and i'm feeling a bit more joyful and inspired than last time. Last night i did a bit of creative writing, some quick charcoal sketches, and started to read The Little Prince again - all of which seemed to clear some of the clouds up.

Advent Reflection 2 - Looking out for Joy

Two reflective pieces to mull over as we wait with anticipation for the Joy of the world to come:

Unpredictable Joy

In the Gospel of John, Jesus sums up pretty much everything by saying, “These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full” (John 15:11). He said it at the supper that he knew was the last one he’d have a mouth to eat.
Happiness turns up more or less where you’d expect it to – a good marriage, a rewarding job, a pleasant vacation. Joy, on the other hand, is as notoriously unpredictable as the one who bequeaths it.
~ Frederick Buechner, Wishful Thinking

The Guest House

This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they're a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house empty
of its furniture, still,
treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out for some new delight.
The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing, and invite them in.
Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent as a guide from beyond.
~ Rumi, The Guest House

When did Joy unexpectedly knock on your door this Advent season? Was she alone, or accompanied by some friends? (Say, perhaps sadness, or peace?) And, how did you treat these unexpected guests?

sock and awe

Play it!


My top score is 13.

size 10 shoe for Mr Bush

I know this isn't good for world peace and all, but i had to laugh at this clip of shoes being thrown at George Bush in Iraq yesterday:

Shoes thrown at Bush on Iraq trip

Notice how well he seemed to dodge them, as well as the 4 security men that pour out of the door behind him as soon as it happened. (a bit too late, i might add)

Image from the BBC

(un-joyful) advent thoughts about joy

I’ve been feeling rather uninspired and uninspiring lately. Something you may have picked up by the quality and number of posts. Quite a bad spot to be in, when you add in missing home, nostalgia about studying in the states, trying to find meaning in a new country, and some really big conversations about meaning, identity and spirituality. There seem to be some lights and the end of some of the tunnels, and I’ll let you in on them when I know what they are!

There’s also cool news about jobs for next year, furniture at home, and some pictures of our second Sydney adventure. When/if I get to them. Oh, and my garden now has some green tomatoes, capsicums and strawberries. No signs yet of any melons, and the rocket has aphids. There are pictures of them too (the garden, not the aphids), that I’ve been meaning to put up, but like I said, haven’t had a substantial amount of motivation or inspiration to get it done.

Deadlines and external pressure help in that regard. So I do have one piece of creativity that I can show for the last while - a reflection on Joy for Advent. I was asked to write 3 pieces for this week for a church. Quite an interesting task, since Joy is not up there with the many emotions running around in me head.

But I tried. Here’s the first piece… a bit cerebral and cynical, with some big words thrown in to show off, but true to where I am. Something to read if you are looking for an un-joyful Advent reflection on joy. (Hey, you never know what arb things people are looking for these days) ;)


Advent Reflection 1 - ‘Defining’ Joy

I’m not usually a supporter of ‘dialectic definitions’. Actually, I don’t really know if there is such a thing as a ‘dialectic definition’, but let’s pretend there is. What I mean, is that I don’t usually buy sayings such as, ‘you can only know peace if you have seen war’, or ‘only real sinners understand grace’ etc. The implication is that an emotion or state can only really be known once you have experienced its opposite or absence. For me, this type of reasoning seems too negative and dualistic.

However, this advent, my ‘rule’ seems to have met its exception in Joy.

I’ve been trying to ‘describe’ joy, and found that it is rather hard. The fabric or texture of joy is rather elusive. You either know what joy is, or you don’t. It’s not a propositional truth - something you can explain - but rather an experiential or relational truth – something you must experience. Hence my struggle in trying to reflect on Joy using words.

The only way I can come close to grasping the real texture of joy, is to place it alongside two other strong and complimentary emotions (themselves also rather hard to explain). So, let us begin our reflection on Joy this week by holding it alongside Sadness and Peace.

Although you would think Sadness is the opposite of Joy, it isn’t really. In a strange way, in times of despair the only thing that allows us to truly mourn, and still come out the other side, is that sliver of joy that seems to be hiding patiently, graciously, just below the surface of our lives. In my life, my saddest moments have often been a precursor to a renewed understanding of true joy and life.

When I rise up, let me rise up joyful, like a bird

When I fall, let me fall without regret, like a leaf.

~Wendell Berry, Let Me Rise

For his anger is but for a moment, his favour is for a lifetime.
Weeping may linger for the night, but joy comes with the morning.

~ David (?), Psalm 30

And then there is Peace. Peace is far more restful, controlled, and safe than exuberant, wild-partying Joy, but yet, there’s a common texture to the two:

Joy is Peace at play,

And Peace is Joy at rest

~ Anne Lamott, Travelling Mercies

Joy. It’s not the opposite of sadness, nor equal to peace, but it’s somewhere in there. It is an other-worldy state that can’t be drowned by sadness, nor quietened by peace.
Perhaps, like any real emotion associated with the mystery of advent, it is actually just grace by another name.

the positivity of kakness*

This is beautiful!

I know you are not supposed to judge a book by it’s cover, but if there is one book I’ll buy based on the title alone, it is this one:
Is It Just Me Or Is Everything Kak?
The Whinger's Guide to South Africa - from AA to JZ

The co-author, Tim Richman, has just released a sequel, Is It Just Me Or Is Everything Still Kak? More than that though, he’s written an interesting post for SA Good News, on finding a way through the polar opposites of blind optimism and distrustful pessimism. If you are a South African concerned and/or hopeful about the country’s future, I’d suggest you read the short article. Here are some good extracts:

Grumpy, angry, annoyed, aggravated, disappointed, dismayed, irritated, irate, incensed, infuriated, indignant, outraged, ticked off, hacked off, pissed off - guilty as charged. When I'm stuck in traffic, standing in queues, dealing with my bank, listening to hold music, listening to Julius Malema, then I'm all of these things and more. (Who isn't? And what medication are they on?) But I'm also a generally positive guy who loves South Africa and celebrates the fact that he can call it home…

"If you scratch a cynic you find a disappointed idealist."

Cynicism has its localised appeal, there's no denying it. It can be humorous and even insightful, and when dealing with certain elements of life - advertising, estate agents, Telkom - a cynical approach is possibly the only way to stay sane. But people who live their lives as daily distrustful pessimists, always predicting the worst, are ultimately insufferable. Not to mention boring.

"Utopia" does not exist…(The word, invented by Thomas More in 1516, comes from Greek and literally means "not a place".)

So you can call me a realistic skeptic. Or a skeptical realist. Take your pick. It boils down to this: while I hope for the best, I also plan for the worst - which means I genuinely believe that our country has every chance of a bright future ahead but I'm not overly disappointed when the rand drops through the floor or Malema says something particularly stupid or the Scorpions are finally disbanded.

One thing's for sure: there isn't much humour at those outer ends of the scale, and at times like these you're going to struggle to survive if you can't see the lighter side of things.

You can find more info on the books from the publishers TwoDogs who print ‘South African books worth reading.’ They also have quite an interesting selection of books, including another catchy title: Why I’ll Never Live in Aus Again.

[*for the non-Saffers reading this, 'kak' is an afrikaans word used widely by english speaking South Africans. It's literal afrikaans meaning is 'sh*t', but when used by english people it approximates to a milder expletive, similar to 'crap', but with more emotion. (Isn't it funny how other languages feel free to use words that, in the original language, wouldn't be acceptable?)]