Abstract: There really is a powerful 'emotion' that comes from the stomach...
Regular readers of this column will know that I have been afflicted with a most colourful malady - I tend to become infected with words and phrases. I doubt if there's a cure for it, and the last time I visited my doctor he literally threw the book at me - it was a rather large copy of the Oxford English Dictionary. Leaving his office, with said book bouncing off the back of my head, I heard him shout, "Come back to me when you have something more worrying than a dose of visceral morality!"
This 'visceral morality' thing had been bugging me for a while. Whereas some words and phrases are like burrs and hook themselves to my conscience during my daily stroll through life; others are like lint, coalescing near
When ‘gut feel’ goes big
The easiest thing in the world…to get so horribly wrong
Abstract: What's the one thing that everyone can easily do, that can cause irreversible damage?...
If I were to ask you what is the easiest thing in the world to do, in one way the answer is limitless, in another it must surely be only one thing; and it's one thing that can cause almost irreversible damage.
Given the indomitable character of the human spirit, there's very little that we cannot do, and some people find certain things easier to do than others; so the easiest thing that anyone can do by implementation is indeed limitless. But if you were to think about what is the easiest thing that everyone can do by abstention, the answer is straightforward: screw up your kids.
I was reminded of this recently by two totally random, yet related events.
The first was the news that a former colleague of mine
When you can bet he’s going to cheat on you
Abstract: Mother nature has provided some clues to your partner's possible infidelity...
For women concerned with the fidelity of their partner, history has provided them with little in the way of counsel. They have had to rely largely on religious texts and cultural prerogatives; which, given their historical foundation, have been largely skewed towards the preferences of men. But now women have a new tool in the fight against infidelity. It's called an 'ear bud'.
If one were to find a phrase that accurately encapsulates our current technological zeitgeist, it would be 'there's an app for that'. Our modern lifestyle relies so much on connectivity and instant gratification that we are becoming increasingly reliant on the interfaces on our phones and computers that give us direct access to fulfilment.
If we're looking for the latest news, we simply hit a button. If we want to
Take these broken wings and learn to fly
Abstract: A Beatles song banned...and its lasting legacy...
It saddens me to admit that I can count on one hand the memories I have of my father; but every year, with the arrival of Human Rights Day, I smile and think of him. That may sound a little bizarre, but stay with me as I tell you a story.
My parents were divorced when I was young, and my father was absent during those early, formative years when I really needed a strong figure to guide me. Today, if I close my eyes and try to remember him, a handful of blurred, fleeting images appear of a man teaching me to tie my shoes and to play chess, a science textbook left on my bed for a birthday gift, and a tearful goodbye the day before my brother, mother and I left England for
Why women suck at sport
Abstract: There's a hidden reason why women don't seem interested in sport...
I remember the first time my wife beat me in a sport. We had recently got engaged and were playing squash, and she totally pulverised me. Some years later whilst enjoying our honeymoon in the 'berg she beat me at bowls. Later that same evening I challenged her to a game of pool. What happened? Suffice to say it's a game I no longer have the confidence to play.
In fact, if I remember correctly I have a reason for no longer challenging her at putt-putt either. In my defence though, my wife is a former provincial hockey player and I have the hand-eye coordination of a rabid squirrel.
But then my wife is not normal, because women normally shun the idea of playing sport, and it's quite possibly for a reason unknown
Why ‘love’ no longer has any meaning
Abstract: 'Love' no longer has any meaning, and women are, to a degree, to blame...
According to popular culture, you should have been reading this two weeks ago; but if you had, it wouldn't have had any value. In fact, it would have been like what any wife thinks of her husband's opinion in an argument: without foundation.
Poets, writers, and singers have, for thousands of years, made an impact expressing the emotions, trials and fortunes of love. However, I think it's fair to argue, the main focus has always been on what we could call 'young love' - the raw, deeply electrified passion that sparks between two people exploring each other for the first time. This period peaks when one or the other uses the previously unspoken four- letter 'L' word: 'love'.
This word is then used to identify the nature of the relationship