For the past ten years or so, I have found it surprising that when I begin to relate to someone and we get along very well on the web, it turns out that they are autistic. Or they’re close to being on the spectrum. We’re logical, don’t joke, speak about serious things, and we are very, very factual. When we post something, it is factually true. We’ve checked the source, and it is reliable. In short, we fact-check everything.

So Why Did I Do All These Stupid Things?

1. At one point, I earned a lot of money as a headhunter. I was very good at the job, basically because I could pick up the tiniest lies and discrepancis in what people said. At one point, I couldn’t figure out why I had seven grand more in my account than I though I should have. So I went to the bank and told them the money wasn’t mine. They absolutely insisted. We argued for an hour. Eventually, they just got tired of me, and they toook the money back. …

The world looks on in awe as the two greatest civilisations of the last century fall to pieces under various and many challenges. Those challenges include Covid-19, climate change, immense inequality, growing disruption and civil unrest, democracy floundering, and more.

The situations in the USA and the UK wouldn’t be that important if it wasn’t for their immense influence and connections to the rest of the world. What happens there will affect all of us. So it is good to know how the current situations in their countries came to be. …

Medium announced the purchase of Glose, a French ebook store a few days ago. According to Ev Williams, the owner of Medium, the site will not be linked to Medium in any way. He does say, though, that there might be benefits to Medium readers. I would assume therefore that, there might be a small discount for purchasing books or something of that nature.

There is definitely space for another online ebook store, but not one that operates the same way as all the others do. Ev Williams invited comments from indie authors, and it was unsurprising that one comment kept coming up. It was about a desire for level playing fields — that authors from traditional publishers not be given advantages that indie authors were not. …

During the past five years, like many others, I have known many friends who have parents or relatives who support the far right. As a South African, currently ‘home’ for the past five years, I have been aghast at the number of Trump supporters and racists in South Africa. Consequently, I have broken ties with these people — many of those ties going back to childhood. And I have watched as friends in the States grapple with their own despair over parents supporting Trump.

Of course, it started long before Trump. I think of a friend I used to hang with when I lived in San Diego. She was so unhappy with immediate relatives supporting conservatism. She didn’t understand it either, “My mother never used to think that way.” …

Call me cynical, if you must, but the number of puff pieces written about writing on Medium (and elsewhere) is sickening. If the only way one can get to be called a writer is by writing pieces that tell other people who want to be writers that:

writing makes one special,
that it requires great sensitivity towards others,
that it is done with blood, sweat, and tears,
that it touches one’s deepest emotions and somehow writers must delve deep to write truly,
that it is a difficult thing to achieve,
that grammar doesn’t matter,
that other writers must support you,
that if you practice your morning pages each day, you will eventually be a writer,
that it’s all about confidence in yourself,
that if you comment on other people’s writing, you will be successful,
and other…

Every writer has days when the words don’t come. I’m not talking about writer’s block — that thingie where for months and years, you just cannot bring yourself to write.

I’m talking about when you get up in the morning, know what you want to write about, or had a vague idea the day before, and, um, nothing. You’re blank.

Years ago, I was working for an SEO company, and I had to submit three or four articles each day. Obviously I was given the topic, and then I had to pull 1200 words from somewhere. It didn’t always come. Work being work, I had to produce. …

They’re sane and safe gun laws. What’s not to like?

In order to own a gun in South Africa, you need a gun licence. In order to get that licence, there is a list of rigorous requirements. Here they are:

• You must be 21 years old. There needs to be a very good reason if you are younger than that.
• You must be South African or have a permanent residence permit.
• You must pass a thorough background check.
• You must be declared mentally stable and fit. No mental illness permitted.
• You cannot have any sort of drug or alcohol addiction.
• If you have a criminal record of any sort, you will never be permitted a gun licence. …