Archive for category thoughts
Why don’t I wear heels?
Because I am a man is the wrong answer. I don’t wear heels because
- They are painful and lead long-term damage of my feet
- They are uncomfortable, hard to walk in, clumsy, and slow
- Society does not think men look better in heels
- Society does not think men should subject themselves to a mild form of torture in order to please the opposite sex
Apparently heels make women look prettier. I never really get past “my goodness, isn’t that painful? Why on Earth are you wearing those?” Some women, when I tell them this, say they’ve been wearing heels so long that it’s as easy for them as wearing sandals. I suspect they’re lying. If they’re not, then I wonder at the damage that must have been done to reach that point.
Speeding woes
Posted by johandp in Christianity, thoughts on 05/01/2014
More than a thousand people have died on South African roads since December. The state of road safety in this country is horrendous (SA was recently ranked as the worst of 36 countries in a road safety report). There are many reasons for this, including drinking, corruption, speeding, a general culture that thinks breaking traffic laws is acceptable, and the fact that the country does not even have a road safety plan. I don’t think anyone is free from guilt in this. Let’s consider speeding for a start. Read the rest of this entry »
Racists are killing Zwarte Piet
A not-so-skillful picture I took of a Zwarte Piet in November 2012
The Dutch have many strange traditions. Perhaps one of the strangest is that of Zwarte Piet. Where Santa Claus in many countries has elves, in the Netherlands Sinterklaas[1] has Zwarte Pieten, which is to say Black Peters. Men(and women) put on black face, paint their lips red and thick, and put on garish costumes reminiscent of those black slaves used to wear. The Black Peters are Santa’s helpers. They hand out “pepernoten”, ginger biscuits that the Dutch love, and they perform comedy and acrobatic acts. The Zwarte Piet tradition is one that would have you denounced as racist in South Africa (you may well end up in trouble with the law), but in the Netherlands Zwarte Piet is entrenched and accusations of racism have not (yet) killed this tradition.
Feeling young
Since I was 19, I have never felt not 19…. Nobody feels like an adult. It’s the world’s dirty secret. – Prof. Peter Hoberg, Liberal Arts.
I am still in my twenties, but I am fast approaching 30. I can feel the gulf between myself and 19-year olds, just out of high school, widening. But I don’t feel like an adult. I don’t feel all that different from when I was 19. Read the rest of this entry »
Power-posing and job interviews
For a long time I have been working on being a more assertive person, someone unafraid of going up to people and crossing the social barrier that often seems to stand between us. I am someone with strong opinions, but I only really express those opinions when given the opportunity. The truth is that my openness, my confidence, my ability to seem in control, relaxed and articulate, depend on who I am with and the circumstances in which I happen to be. It takes a lot of mental effort to reverse the effect of my surroundings and I often fail. One particular situation in which this is true, and I am sure I am not the only person with this problem, is with job interviews. Read the rest of this entry »
Good-guy, piracy
This post by a fellow blogger has questioned whether piracy is a bad thing. In a previous post of my own, you may recall, I explained why I now avoid pirating anything and I stick to this as my reasons for doing so are as valid as ever. However, to pretend that piracy has no good effects at all would be silly. That is what I want to highlight today. Read the rest of this entry »
Faithful to science
Posted by johandp in Christianity, thoughts on 08/10/2013
A gripe of many atheists is the strange ability of believers to affirm science in some areas (they believe in the principles that led to combustion engines) but to blindly deny it in others (notably: evolutionary theory). This has to stop. If Christians are ever to convince the thoughtful scientific atheists out there, they will need to start treating science with the respect it deserves. Two things have recently underscored this for me. Read the rest of this entry »
I’m alright: I have a book
“Never trust anyone who has not brought a book with them.”
― Lemony Snicket, Horseradish: Bitter Truths You Can’t Avoid
“Books are a uniquely portable magic.”
― Stephen King, On Writing
I take a book with me just about everywhere I go. I carry it in a backpack that I also take almost everywhere and which makes me look ridiculously nerdy. I am not much bothered with that, however. Read the rest of this entry »
Meditations of Lambchop 