So I’ve made the move to Pretoria to start life at Nieu Communities. Instead of clogging this blog with updates, I’ve set up a new one where you can keep track of what I’m doing - if you’d like to! So far so good, by the way. I’ve cooked dinner twice, eaten an awesome cheese and jam vetkoek, realised I have to deal with power failures between 1:30 and 4 every afternoon, got up at 5:40 once, and met some great musicians.

My new blog is called “Beyond the Boerewors Curtain” and you can visit it at http://boereworscurtain.blogspot.com/

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Technorati Tags: Nieu Communities, Pangani

Next week I’m moving to Pretoria for the year, and in 2009 I may well end up in Cape Town. My reasons? Well, I need a change and Joburg life is feeling increasingly stale. Although there’s much I love about web development, I don’t love it enough to be doing it as the thing I spend most of my time on. There are other things I find more exciting (like interactive visual art) and this year will give me some space to develop some of that. This move is also a move towards discipline (hopefully I’ll start having normal waking hours like everybody else!) and intentional community - something I’ve wanted to do for a while now.

I’ll be staying at a bed-and-breakfast called Pangani in Pretoria North. The guys who own it are called NieuCommunities - a community of people who orient their common life around making a difference in the world. They take some insights from the monastic way of doing communal life, which I’ve written more about here. I’ll still be doing some web development work and I’ll still be in Joburg fairly often, so let me know if/when you’d like to do coffee. I hope you come and visit too - stay for the weekend if you’d like!

Having it in Newtown this Saturday (Sept 29th) from either 10-5 or 1-5 (depending on what you want to come to). More of a hang-out and meet people, I guess. And playing games in an urban space. Different? Yes. Fun? It better be! See the Facebook event I created…

What a great song! Brett has done the impossible - releasing a follow-up to his “Squishy Fruit Conspiracy” genius track which took Tweebuffelsmeteenskootmorsdoodgeskietfontein by storm a few years back. As the 24.com download site says, “Crazy-assed wigga who dropped the “Squishy Fruit Conspiracy” returns with this slapstick rap parody of Snow’s “Informer”. Infamous stuffed dolphin No_Bob adds the X-factor.” So go and download the brilliance!

At the risk of being ridiculously cheeky, and then being cheeky anyway, here is my birthday list, in order of preference:

• Moleskine Classic Plain Notebook (Plain, 112 pages - just like the one I currently have). +- R90.
• Apple Mighty Mouse. Waynes World Cresta might have one (not the wireless one, please!). +- R439 (don’t pay more!).
• 
  Subscription to proost.co.uk. +- R862
• Josie Field: Mercury. +- R114.
• Recipe for cookie dough mixture.

Books

Of course, books are great! I searched Kalahari.net, Exclusive Books and Loot, and Loot had all of the cheapest ones:

You can also just send me a voucher via Loot (click “Gifts and wishlists”, then click “Send a voucher”). That way we don’t have 5 people all paying delivery fees on books…

Thrown into the mix for fun:

Cable release for my (?) 35mm film camera
A hockey ball
Subscription to “Nature” magazine. +- R1500 (!!!!)

Can I suggest that Heather is the keeper of this list, and if you want to get anything here, drop her an email to see if it’s taken. Thanks Heath!!! smileyheath [at] gmail [dot] com

[UPDATES]
Added 18 Sept: Commando Krav Maga (Volumes 1-5) (expensive!)

I’m going to Riaan’s wedding on Saturday and am actually really looking forward to it! My date is Kath and we’ve decided to be so cool that people will want to hang around us more. I’m also anticipating hanging out with some Honeyridgers who I’ve been out of contact with for a while (you know who you are!).

“If you woke up breathing, congratulations! You get another chance.”

It’s amazing the things you can learn sitting in a open desktop environment. Like the guy sitting next to me is trying to hide a hickey on the left side his neck and while he’s trying to help a client she notices…and starts laughing. He keeps on claiming he was mugged this last weekend but she’s too clever for that. Eventually he admits it was a girl he met in Alberton and as they drop their voices in case anyone should hear, she tells him that he can remove the hickey by rubbing toothpaste on it. Hooray! Now I have something to add to my list of things to try, but first I have to find a suitable woman…(unless I become a monk first).

I’m glad I’ve learnt something today.

Technorati Tags: hickey

My friend Jo is 7 months pregnant; she lives with her husband of 5 years, Andrew, in Ladybrand where they’ve been since January 2006. It is with some embarrassment Heather and I noticed this weekend was the first time we’d been to see them since they’d moved. Andrew is a Methodist pastor and due to their policy of itinerancy they have not spent longer than a year in any place since they’ve been married. Ladybrand is the longest so far.

Technorati Tags: Claerhout, Excelsior, Ladybrand, Methodist, South Africa

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I’ve been very scarce today. Not answering my phone, haven’t checked email - still have a bunch to reply to from yesterday. Just been working (on a flash version of an overdue site) from home without interruption, as much as that’s possible. Welcome back from Paris/London/Boston, Sarah T! Sarah Mac, your blog isn’t stuffed because of messed up php - it’s the template you’ve chosen. Eugene, see you in a week. Sean C, I’ll get around to the payment stuff as soon as I can. Kath, hope you got my email. I’m away this weekend on refresh, hopefully chilling and playing volleyball and not getting into theological arguments.
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