White winter wonderland...in Jozi?

Outside our office

A scattering of white

swirling

           dancing

      spinning

a bird crashes into a branch, stunned.

Excitement bubbles

the kettle boils

big 

snow flakes start to fall

                                   flutter

        what fun!

Me dancing in excitement as the snow starts to fall

I has an issue...

Sleep-Time on Louis Botha Avenue

...with people not understanding when to use HAVE and when to use HAS.

So just in case the error can't be spotted...it should read 'Sleep-Time HAS moved across the road'.

After all, it is one shop, one company - even though the mattresses available are in plural.

Btw, they have really good prices on their beds (and there I go personifying a company!). I sleep soundly on a queen sized bed I bought from there two years ago.

Coca-Cola promotes drug use

Ok, not really! But ambiguous labels really can give that impression!

Can't you spell?

Spelling and grammar mistakes make me mad. I suppose it's just as well then that my role as editor is to make sure that our magazines and website showcase flawless copy all the time (well make that 99.9% just to cover my ass for those little typos!)

It absolutely amazes me how companies can place so little importance on this and have no problem having a menu littered with typos (don't you love the chocolate mousse desert option...must be some kind of delicious oasis!)

So here begins a new part of my blog: Can't you spell?
In it I am going to showcase examples of signs, menus, shopfronts, billboards and product labels that indicate a serious lack of spelling or grammar or are just very very ambiguous.

Yes, I am a nerd, but showcasing their embarrassing errors make me feel a little better about the lack of proper spelling and punctuation in this world :)







First up we have this very informative sign that appears in the Maxi's Restaurant in Newcastle, northern KZN.

I'd say any patron who accidentally enters that private place would be forgiven...

Who has failed a generation?

In an article in Business Day today, Cosatu general secretary secretary, Zwelinzima Vavi calls the Limpopo textbook "fiasco" a national "own goal"..."and showed how the working class and the poor suffered when leaders "defocussed" from challenges ordinary people faced daily".
Absolutely. And that would not just be the leaders in the teachers union, SADTU, which should have been first to know that textbooks had not been delivered in Limpopo. But the Department of Education too. Considering education and health are the two biggest items on the national budget, one would think that making sure that the millions spent on textbooks was actually seeing a return on investment. So let's wait to see whose heads will roll for this.
I'm pretty sure Angie won't be staying in her role as Minister of Basic Education.
But let's look to the teachers at these schools now. Did they go through the correct channels in complaining about the lack of resources? Did they try and make a plan, taking the initiative to finding materials themselves? Or has the handout mentality also reached those people expected to teach the leaders of tomorrow?
To be fair, teachers have it tough. Not only do they have to deal with rowdy children, some schools don't have running water, electricity - or even enough desks and pens for children.
And then we get the changed curriculum.
Over 10 years on, the Department of Education  realised that Outcomes Based Education (OBC) doesn't work and it's time to go back to the traditional input-based system that we were thankfully still part of.You think!! Especially considering it has been tried and tested in various other countries - and ultimately considered a failure (Canada and Australia are just two examples).

In a thought leader piece published in 2009 Why OBE has not worked in South Africa, Bert Oliver points out the following:

• "The way that OBE has been implemented in South Africa seems to me to have had the effect of having systematically shifted the focus away from the actual teaching to all the (to my mind largely redundant) administration, archiving, reporting, and all the rest of it, which comprise nothing less than what Foucault called a system of panoptical surveillance".

• "OBE seems to be blindly predicated on the assumption that teachers can teach like machines, in a time and space unaffected by normal, to-be-expected eventualities. But such things do occur in the normal course of events — that is what it means to be (finitely) human."

In Youth sacrificed for OBE (July 2010), Times Live journalists reported that "after 12 years of massive educational failures and the waste of millions of rands, the ANC has dumped Outcomes-Based Education.

And so OBE was replaced with Caps - the National Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement. According to the education department's website, Caps is:

"a single, comprehensive and concise policy document, which will replace the current Subject and Learning Area Statements, Learning Programme Guidelines and Subject Assessment Guidelines for all the subjects listed in the National Curriculum Statement Grades R - 12.  Interestingly, there hasn't been an update on the curriculum newsletter since May 2011..... Right so there's a new curriculum that teachers have to be trained in to be able to teach. Of course, there are problems like Gauteng teachers taking time off their winter holidays to be training on Caps only to find that there were no workbooks when they got there.  - Glitches at curriculum training sites  So where am I going with this? Basically, I wish for the following: 1. Government admit that they were wrong in trying to implement such a silly system 2. Now provide the resources for teachers to (a) be proficient in teaching to then (b) teach the curriculum  3. Go back to the days of old and push money into standalone teaching colleges and begin a drive to promote teaching as a viable and noble profession - both at school and university level 4. Pay teachers enough to allow them to live at a comfortable level and not give up trying because there's just no point 5. De-unionise the profession. Teaching needs to become an essential service thus not allowing strikes - which have long-term and disastrous effects 6. Provide resources for schools....yes, that would include text books please! 7. Everyone - government and citizens of South Africa to declare a state of emergency on education - and actively seek to do something about it. Because if they - and we - don't, what hope is there for the future of our country?

Become a whiz at words

Or is it whizz?

Definitions

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. To make a humming or hissing sound, like that of an arrow or ball flying through the air.
2. To move, rush, or fly with a sibilant humming sound.
3. n. A sound between hissing and humming; a sibilant or whistling hum, such as that made by the rapid flight of an arrow, a bullet, or other missile through the air.

Wiktionary

1. n. alternative spelling of whiz.
2. v. alternative spelling of whiz.

 whiz

Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. v. To make a whirring or hissing sound, as of an object speeding through air.
2. v. To move swiftly with or as if with such a sound; rush: whizzed past on a ten-speed bike; as the days whizzed by.
3. v. To throw or spin rapidly: The pitcher whizzed the ball to first.
4. n. A whirring or hissing sound, as of an object speeding through air.
5. n. A rapid passage or journey.
6. n. Informal One who has remarkable skill: a whiz at all sorts of games.
7. idiom. take a whiz Vulgar Slang To urinate.

So I officially love 

What is Wordnik? (according to Wordnik)

"Wordnik is a new way to discover meaning. This page will give you a quick overview of what you can do, learn, and share with Wordnik."

Wordnik provides definitions, examples, related words and lists and lists of synonyms, homonyms, hypernyms etc.

You can share, discuss, see visuals and add to your list of favourite words and phrases.

In short, every writer's dream resource.

And best of all...it's free!

Emotional eating...

Don't reward yourself with food.....you are not a dog!

A true leader

A good leader inspires men to have confidence in him, a great leader inspires them to have confidence in themselves

                                                - Anonymous

My one

A casual model pose on the streets of Maputo, 2012

“He’s not perfect. You aren’t either, and the two of you will never be perfect. 
But if he can make you laugh at least once, causes you to think twice, and if he admits to being human and making mistakes, hold onto him and give him the most you can. 
He isn’t going to quote poetry, he’s not thinking about you every moment, but he will give you a part of him that he knows you could break. 
Don’t hurt him, don’t change him, and don’t expect for more than he can give. Don’t analyse.

Smile when he makes you happy, yell when he makes you mad, and miss him when he’s not there.  
Love hard when there is love to be had. Because perfect guys don’t exist, but there’s always one guy that is perfect for you.”
- Bob Marley



 Thanks Vanilla Blonde for this very quotable quote from good ol Bob!

We rocked that boat! Part 2

Miller Rock the Boat, the album! Read the poem I wrote about our crazy adventure to nowhere here (literally, because the cruise goes up to Portuguese Island off the coast of Mozam and back to Durbs) 

 

We rocked that boat! Part 1

 So at the end of 2009, four of us went on an epic cruise holiday, the first Miller Rock the Boat. Due to the fact that we are now all scattered around the country doing our 'real life', I figured this was the only way to show the girls my scrapbook album...until our pending reunion when we can relive the memories anyway :)

 Here's the poem that I wrote at the end of the album, which needs to be read after a good look at my scrapbooked album here.

  We rocked that boat

Hawley, Trash, Fluff and Ed

Planned to go on a cruise

So we rented our digs out

And bought 6 bottles of booze

Turns out it was Miller Rock the Boat

-       an awesome fluke indeed

So we all met at Durban Harbour

Bags packed as agreed

And so the boat set sail

-       the drizzle didn’t stop the party

We just drank our Millers,

Met Grant and Anele (that gap sure is tarty!)

Everyone was between 18-35,

The partying was non-stop

Swimming pools

Jacuzzi

And concerts at night

And a swaying night club at the top

Our cabin was quite tiny

Two up

Two down

But no porthole.

Buffet meals were served all day

But cocktails were our goal

We had a friendly Asian waiter,

Who Trash mocked, thinking he couldn’t understand

Turns out he did – how awkward!

He definitely stole our cruise photo from the stand!

We jammed to the Parlotones

-       the biggest groupies you’ve ever seen

Then Ed got bummed at Trash and Fluff

Who got to have photos sitting on his knee

We met some awesome people,

Ed met them even more

We swam in the pool at night

We shouldn’t have let those drinks out of sight

And so the last sun rose in the distance,

We sipped tequila, still awake

It was chaos at breakfast

-       we were nightmares at breakfast

But we’d had all the fun we could take

Hawley, Trash, Fluff and Ed

Went on a cruise together

Great memories

Incriminating photos

And so many laughs

This album is proof we’ll be friends forever

Chicken soup for the soul

Was our aptly named dinner last Wednesday on the eve of National Soup Day, which calls for everyone to share some soup with someone in need.

My housemate, Meg and I, rustled up a delicious and soulful chicken soup for our house of hungry Acropolites.

Ingredients:
- Chicken on the bone (for 10 of us, we used 2 packs of enormous breast and thigh pieces)
- Vegetables - lots of them. We used pumpkin, onions, potatoes and a big pack of pre-chopped soup mix from Pick n Pay
- Stock (we ended up using 4 cubes of chicken stock in total)
- Packet soup (we substituted with 4 cup-a-soups because we didn't preempt the need for something to bind all the ingredients together into deliciousness)

Method:
- Pop all the chicken (bones, skin and all) in a big pot of boiling stock and leave to well, boil
- After about 15 minutes, get the potatoes and pumpkin (and any other hard veggies you have) boiling in another pot
- In another 25 minutes or so (or however long it takes to have a relaxing (individual) bath between step 2 and 3), take the chicken out of the pot. Pull off the skin and the meat should then fall off the bone with a gentle tug from a fork. Shred it as finely as you want or have the patience to endure. - After taking the chicken out, add that mixed bag of soup veggies to start boiling in the juicy chicken water

- Ideally, at this point you have a giant pot in which to mix everything together, adding some more water (this is not a stew after all!!) and letting it simmer.
- Mix up a concentrate of whatever dried soup you have lying around and add in the simmering mix.
- Add spices and salt and pepper to taste (although remember that the stock has added quite a lot of salt already)
- You can then choose to leave as is if you prefer a chunky soup, or blend the 'stodgy' part together.
- Allow everything to soak in the deliciousness for a while longer and then voila, dinner is ready!

 Serving:
- Offer your hungry guests (or male Acropolites) the option of making themselves some toast if they really feel that this soulful soup is not manly enough for them yet!

Post-dinner:
- Make so much extra that you can happily give some away in honour of National Soup Day...and take some to work for lunch!

Obsessed with distraction

Obsessed with Distraction

By Michael Lane, Executive Director, Delve Christian Ministries

 

We need to find God, and he cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature -- trees, flowers, grass -- grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence. We need silence to be able to touch souls. - Mother Theresa

A few months ago, one of my favorite bloggers, Peter Bregman, wrote about his experience with the new iPad from Apple. To summarize, he spent about a week with it and then decided to return it, but not for the reasons you might expect. It was not broken or ineffective. On the contrary, Peter decribed the iPad as being brilliant and he found that it was able, for the the most part, to do everything he wanted. So why did Peter return it? Because it's too good. He found himself reaching for it at all hours. Even worse, he found himself reaching for it at times when he should have been doing something else, such as sleeping or spending time with family.

I can relate. I don't own an iPad, but I do own an iPhone so I know first hand exactly what Peter is talking about. It's the first thing I reach for in the doctor's waiting room or while waiting for others to arrive to a meeting. That's reasonable, I suppose, but lately I've found myself reaching for it in the car at long red lights or when I'm watching television with my wife. That's not reasonable, and it's gotten me into some hot water.

The point Peter was trying to make is that we've lost our respect and desire for quiet, introspective thought. It's so easy to fill our minds with information or tap into entertainment that there is no longer a need to ever be without it - not in the car, not in our bedrooms, not even when we're camping or on vacation. Every moment of the day, regardless of where I am, I can check my email, watch a podcast, update Twitter or read the news. The vast majority of the time, there is not a single email, news story or social networking update that comes even close to affecting my life, but I read them all anyway. At the very moment when I sense that I am not listening to something, reading something or doing something, I instinctively reach out for anything that will occupy my mind and keep me from...well from what? Boredom? Silence? My own thoughts? Not being productive? I'm not sure, but I think it's some combination of these fears.

Up to this point, Peter and I agree completely. It's clear that many of us are addicted to filling our heads with worthless information and mindless entertainment whenever we sense that our minds are not completed engaged. When we do this, something very important is lost. However, Peter and I will diverge here when it comes to exactly what it is that we are really losing. His blog goes on to talk about the value of boredom, and the role that it plays in the creative process. I'm much more concerned with what all this is doing to our prayer time and our relationship with God.

Scheduled prayer time is wonderful and essential, but the most impassioned and meaningful prayer happens spontaneously when we have a quiet moment and an open mind. Two of the most powerful times I've ever spent with God were both unplanned and unexpected. One occurred while I was riding up an escalator in a mostly abandoned Toronto skyscraper, very early in the morning, waiting for my new job to start. The other happened in a dark, quiet room as I held my sleeping newborn daughter. On both occasions, I took advantage of the peace and silence to reflect on God's goodness and fully experience my appreciation for everything he's done. I felt the presence of God, and I was overwhelmed with peace and joy.

These moments both took place before I owned my iPhone, and I am humbled and frightened to realize that neither would have happened otherwise. If I'd had my phone with me on that escalator, I almost certainly would have been listening to a podcast. While I held my daughter, I would have also been reading the news. How many similarly amazing encounters with God have I missed in the 24 months since I have had access to instant distraction on-demand?

I have never deliberately distracted myself with my phone in order to avoid spending time with God, but the effect is the same nonetheless. It is simply not possible to read the news and also carry on a meaningful conversation - not with my wife and not with God. When I have an idle moment and I choose to pick up that phone, I have simultaneously also made the choice to not spend that time with Him.

So, am I getting rid of my iPhone, as Peter did with his iPad? No, I'm not. I respect his choice, but I also understand that this is not the fault of the phone, and especially not the fault of Apple for creating such a compelling device. It's my fault, and getting rid of the phone would be a temporary solution which does nothing to address the underlying concerns. What I need is a ongoing dose of humility which reminds me that the world will not end if I don't check Twitter and Facebook every hour. But most importantly, I simply need to remember that every time I pick up the phone and choose to occupy my mind with empty noise, I am closing it to the Holy Spirit and the conversation He wants to have with me in that moment. I hope that you will do the same - pause and reflect before your pick your distraction tool of choice, and ask if your time would be better spent in quiet conversation with God.

This has really got me think, for the original devotional and more ideas about Christianity, go here

Downton Abbey

 

By now, everyone's heard of the series. But if you haven't watched it, buy the series (1 and 2 are already out). Seriously!

I first heard about it from my Granne. She brought it back from her last visit to England but of course, the Downton Abbey obsession hadn't quite reached South Africa yet! Being from the UK originally, Sky News and BBC are her favourite and pretty much only channels she watches on DSTV, I figured this must just be one of those random Pommie series that will never appeal to me...like East Enders.
But then I decided to give them a try as I like books set in the past. And I couldn't stop.

Title: Downton Abbey
Stars: Maggie Smith, Hugh Bonneville, and Elizabeth McGovern
Genre: Period series (set in England in early 1900's)
Synopsis: The whole story takes place in a grand country house of the Crawleys in North Yorkshire, England. It's an 'Upstairs, Downstairs' tale of the lives of the family (issues about future heirs, marriage, fashion and fortune) and their servants (illicit romance, theft, baking and bargains) and how they are all intertwined. It's not a spoiler to give away the fact that the second series takes place during World War I, affecting every aspect of life at Downton Abbey.

My thoughts: Such a fascinating look into the lives of Edwardian England! The blurred role of servant/master, rich/poor, man/woman play out in each episode, making me question how far we've really come. A classic line from the second series just sums up the ridiculousness of those times: 
"Is there anything worse than losing one's maid?" -  said by Lady Grantham to her mother-in-law, the Dowager Countess of Grantham during WW I.

Review: 8/10
              Even if you're not into period dramas, I would give it a watch - there really is something for 
              everyone! I cannot wait to get my hands on season 3 when it comes out (And conveniently, 
             Granne is in England right now :) :)


For more information: Go to this website or just get yourself down to the DVD store and hire it if you're still  not convinced!

Three Cups of Tea

Don't you just love the name?

It was literally the reason that I picked up the book from the second hand book sale. And if that wasn't enough to sell me on the book, the next line was:  
"One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time"

So starts the book review feature on my book review section of the blog - Book Lover - where I will review books I've loved and ones that haven't been that great (just so you don't waste your time!) And from time to time, I'll take a look at a TV series and audio book too! Any suggestions for books to devour are welcome!


Title: Three Cups of Tea
Author: Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin
Genre: True-life inspirational adventure
Synopsis: This is a truly astonishing real-life tale of mountaineer, Greg Mortenson who, after getting lost on his way down from K2 (one of the scary huge mountains in the Himalayas), stumbles into a remote mountain village. He is touched by their generosity at welcoming a stranger and so he sets out on his unexpected life's work - to build schools in the remote villages of Pakistan and eventually Afghanistan. Bureaucracy, a love story and firm friendships litter the story, as told to David Oliver Relin.

My thoughts: Firstly, there is the absolutely inspiring dream of a man trying to provide the means of education for rural children, and in particular, for the girls who have traditionally been left out of the school system in Islamic Pakistan and surrounds. But more than that, is the fact that education is being used to triumph over terrorism and the Islamic extremism that is spreading in that region. 9/11 happens during the book and it was refreshing to see the horrific event - and its consequences - from the other side. Of course, Greg is an American so even seeing how he was treated differently - and the same by some - in Pakistan and Afghanistan as President Bush declared his War on Terrorism made the story even my real.

My rating: 9/10
                   Buy the book right now to get wowed by humanity and to hopefully,  inspire you to  
                   do something for your own community or get involved in Greg's mission, which
                   continues to this day!

For more information: Go to the book's website here and follow Greg on Twitter (@gregmortenson) here

Art (in)justified

Nando's ad - right on the money, again1

For nearly two weeks now, the controversy over Brett Murray's 'The Spear' has made headline news in South Africa.

You haven't heard?
Basically, one of the art works in Cape Town artist, Brett Murray's exhibition at the Goodman Gallery depicts our president, Jacob Zuma, in a pose made famous by communist leader, Lenin - with his penis sticking out.

My opinion (because everyone has to have one)
Yes, taken in isolation, this is a rather shocking and insulting reflection of our president. It does degrade Zuma's right to dignity - and I feel for his children (all 22) and his family who have to bear the 'shame'.

Taken in context though, the entire exhibition is a political comment on the government - which has moved so far from the virtues of the Freedom Charter on which it was based all those years ago. Murray, once an ANC supporter, feels disillusioned by what he has seen in these 18 years of democracy and chose to use his freedom of expression, as enshrined in our Constitution, to make a statement.

Did he plan to offend? Probably - as every artist wants a reaction from his work whether it be good or bad. Did he expect so much public attention? I definitely don't think so. The gallery and him certainly didn't expect the surge of visitors and media attention once the ANC started its ranting!

ANC's reaction
The ANC could have chosen to laugh it off (leader of the DA, Helen Zille did when a spoof of her naked circulated on Facebook - although whether that was a deliberate political move is another debate - see the story here if you're interested). Instead they chose to get angry - very angry - with ANC leaders, tripartite alliance leaders and organisations associated with them calling for the painting to be defaced (two citizens kindly obliged, one black, one white for their own reasons - smearing it with black and red paint - see their reasons here).

Back to me
I have to pause for the moment and make a disclaimer - the reason I pointed out the colour of the defacers' skins was because this whole saga has become a racial issue when in fact, I believe it should have just been viewed as 'two disgruntled citizens'. I pointed this out to a colleague who said: "Why is a white guy getting involved anyway?" That's the point!! It's not the fact that one was white, one was black...or that the artist is white and Jacob Zuma is black.....it's about the fact that someone created this art work because he feels so disillusioned about our government - and in particular, the president who has been accused - regardless of whether guilty or not - of bribery, corruption, rape, putting compromised allies in high positions so he can manipulate them for his own gain etc etc etc etc.

Back to the ANC
I just hope that the ANC protest march yesterday to the Goodman Gallery (see IOL's video) will be the start of the end of this mad debate whether a painting of a man and a penis is (a) insulting to the entire black African race (b) an offense to every single ANC member and (c) a racist and unforgiveable act of expression...that should lead to the defacing of the art in question (oh wait, that already happened) and the head of the artist as one religious leader called for.
 
ANC secretary general, Gwede Mantashe then called for South Africans to boycott the City Press for keeping the image on their website (besides the fact that it has gone viral anyway)...finally resulting in editor, Ferial Haffajee formally apologising for keeping the image on City Press's website out of 'fear and care' Can she be blamed for buckling to government's pressure, I wonder?

Where to from here?
There's plenty more angry rantings and racial slurs going around on Twitter, blogs and the real media but for now we will wait for Friday, when the Film and Publication Board (FPB) will decide whether to classify Brett Murray's contentious painting ;The Spear' (see here).

This will then spark another debate on freedom of expression in our country. This debate is good, healthy, and what we need in a democracy such as ours. What he don't need is making every issue about race, calling for the beheading of artists and the destruction of creativity.

Because, then we will be going backwards as a democracy, a nation, a free country ... making 'The Spear' a self-professing prophesy where power corrupts absolutely.

Compassion in a time of 'crisis'

While the news is filled with Zuma's penis, real things are happening on the ground.

This is what it means to be a journalist > to instigate change. This may have just revitalised me in the profession and society in general just a little.

Article courtesy of Times Live
article

Landfill families stunned by relief aid

GRAEME HOSKEN | 24 May, 2012 00:17

A child looks out of a window reflecting the landfill site as he prepares to go to school early in the morning

Embracing aid workers, a Gauteng grandmother broke down as she was handed food and blankets for her family of seven.

"God is here. Today I saw God," wept Petunia Khumalo as Gift of the Givers workers wrapped her and hundreds of Randfontein landfill site residents in blankets.
The organisation yesterday brought tens of thousands of rands worth of aid, including blankets and food, to the tiny settlement.
The aid arrived after the community's plight was highlighted by The Times this week in an article on child poverty.
Singing songs of praise, residents were left in awe when workers from the organisation told them to spread the word that food was to be delivered.
"Why are you doing this? Why are you being so nice? What must we give you?" asked a bewildered Paul Mtshali.
Mtshali was left shaking his head in disbelief as his arms were piled high with blankets.
"This is for you. It is yours. Make sure your children are warm and come back for food later," said Gift of the Givers' Emily Thomas.
For Ursula Johnson the donations were too much. Staring in disbelief she said she did not know that there were people who cared.
"I thought my children were going to freeze this winter. It has been so cold and I did not know what I was going to do.
"Our prayers have been answered. We can now live without fear of dying alone," she said.
Allauddin Sayed, of Gift of the Givers, said the organisation would provide warm nutritious meals to the community and would install two 10000-litre drums to provide fresh water for drinking, bathing and washing dishes.
"For the children we will be setting up a special day centre with toys and educational material. We will provide mothers of babies with infant food and nappies, and will bring clothes and shoes for everyone," said Sayed.
"We are going to set up a kitchen which, through food donations from businesses, we will get community leaders to use to cook for and feed the residents."
The organisation will also give residents the resources needed to fend for themselves and will ensure that doctors with a mobile clinic will come to the area.
"These people have been like this for too long and we are encouraging people to help us help them.
"All they need is a little bit of love and kindness, which is what we want to give them," he said.

Guide to SABC TV pronunciation

Proud to be a Joburger

Ready at the start!

Wow what an incredible experience everyone who participated in the Nike Run Jozi 10km last night!

The vibe and sense of unity as one of 10 000 people to run through the streets of the centre of town, was awesome!It might have been a few hundred less, of course, as a shower of rain earlier scared off the less committed Joburgers :)

Passers-by and local residents manned the pavements and hung over their balconies to whistle, shout encouragement and blow their vuvuzelas - a sense of unity I haven't seen on the streets of Jozi since the Soccer World Cup in 2010.

Aptly taking place on Human Rights Day (21 March), we were able to take back our right to freedom of security - to run where we want and feel safe, and our right to feel a sense of community and national pride in our country.

Fantastic!

A big well done to the folks at Nike for organising - and the police men and women who guarded our safety from the start over the Nelson Mandela Bridge (alight with fireworks) right to the finish when we received our big medals.

Of course, my sense of euphoria did die down this morning after seeing the number of service delivery protests that took place yesterday - with people demanding the basics of human rights > running water, housing and basic sanitation.

A sobering situation to think about as I ignore the enormous blister on my toe.