From the monthly archives:

April 2007

On Elections

28 April 2007

Before I start, let me say three things.
First, I am a civil servant, for better or for worse, for my sins. As a civil servant, I am obliged to serve the government of the day, no matter whose initials they wear.
Second, as a writer, I prefer not to politicize (in terms of superficial party [...]

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Let’s Give ‘em Something to Talk About

22 April 2007

There’s a site called Strange Maps, which fascinates me. The owner is a person after my own heart, but more diligent; he(?) understands that mapping is an exercise not only in making sense out of the world, but in dominating the world. A map, like a book, is not a fact; it is [...]

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Why Poetry Matters – Giovanni’s “We Are Virginia Tech”

19 April 2007

When it’s good, and when it’s right, it speaks to that part of us that is deepest and most fully human. All creative art does, when it’s good and when it’s right. This is why those people who ignore or belittle or sideline or erase creative endeavours — from the education administrators who [...]

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Tourism – a different perspective

16 April 2007

Literature is driving tourism in many places.
This post, from GalleyCat, caught my attention:
Dickens World, a theme park devoted to – you guessed it – the work and life of Charles Dickens, has had its opening delayed to May 25. The BBC reports that the one-month delay of the four-acre attraction in Chatham, Kent had been [...]

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New Theme?

14 April 2007

Well, maybe.
Though I really like Red Zinfandel, there was a bug in it that meant that it kept reverting to the default theme. And because I took people’s advice and renamed the default folder, that meant that it would turn blank every now and then.
I rather like this one, I must say, [...]

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My Favourite New Blog

12 April 2007

outside the lines
My brother’s blog. The first Junkanoo blog I’ve come across. At least for now it’s Junkanoo.
And yeah, I’m biased. So what?
It’s got some great posts already, like this one:
Red, white and blue
I can remember the first times I actually rushed, though. In fact I remember the year before that, when [...]

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R.I.P. Viveca Watkins

10 April 2007

1951-2007
She passed far too suddenly, far too soon.

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English: the language of prosperity, not the language of living in a ghetto

2 April 2007

That title is ironic, by the way. Just so you know.
I also want to link to this article by Sylvia over at Anti-Essentialist Conundrum.
Here’s the bit I particularly like:
we simultaneously promote lockstep conformity to amorphous and contradictory “American” values whose only blatant connection is raw opportunism. We sit and we applaud blatant bigotry [...]

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A view from South Africa

1 April 2007

I want to link to a debate on Ten Taxis, a South African blog, for a couple of reasons. One of them is that, in commemoration of the Abolition Act, two Ministers of Government here — Fred Mitchell of Foreign Affairs and Alfred Sears of Education — organized two days of activities that helped [...]

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