A quick update to share a couple of links that I happened upon today.
So first up, most of you know that I am fairly passionate about challenging the negative perceptions about Jozi. I take great pleasure in discovering hidden treasures in the city and if I wasn't such an ardent Bulls fan I would probably have completely re-branded myself as a 100% Jozi-ite. Alas, people still know that I'm from Pretoria. Anyway, I digress. Some of you might recall that I was punting a Facebook group called Secret Johannesburg some time back. I liked the initial idea of providing a space where people were able to post details of their own discoveries in Jozi. Problem is that, apart from my own FB vacation that is still in force, the group also appeared to lose a little bit of steam and I noted with some alarm how people started posting details about such random oddities as the local vet who reportedly has a "wonderful way with the animals"?! No kidding. Good to know.
One other thing to note is that Jozi is not one of those places that easily or initially lays out it's best to the would-be explorer. Excuse my crudeness here but I find the "ladies" metaphor instructive here: Jozi is not a cheap date. In fact, she looks downright disinterested to the point of making you wonder whether she even cares that you're around at all. However, if you're persistent, tenacious and willing to navigate spaces that may often be outside of your comfort zone you will find things that, more often than not, are beyond your imagination. She's just so much deeper than you could even begin to fathom and I feel like one could continue to discover new things about her forever. I like that. And the fact that she also wears her scars in a show of strength and resilience that is truly heart-warming. Contrast that with Cape Town that to me is more like the pretty girl who has you believing that you've seriously "scored" until you try have a serious conversation with her. It is then that the vacuous truth has you cursing and questioning your own level of substance. Harsh I guess, but that's how I feel.
So the point of all of this is that I discovered a new Jozi blog called Like Father, Like Son and I think it does a good job of unearthing some of these treasures, at least from a food and drink perspective. Here are two links to whet the appetite:
First, 5 Jo'burg Gems and then have a look at Where to get beer in Jozi. I definitely have a revised to-do list after checking out some of the suggestions from this blog. Good.
Onto more serious things then. I sometimes find myself checking in on some of the Thoughtleader opinion pieces. Quite often these opinions act as an extra cycle of rehashing mainstream news headlines, but that can be useful and often times I find perspectives, delivered from a very personal point of view, that add a little more complexity to stories that are often mind-numbing in their over simplification of the facts - as if someone has already decided what we can and can't handle emotionally. So I came across a reader blog entry entitled I apologise for apartheid that I thought was an interesting and heartfelt attempt by an Afrikaner to comment on the fallout from FW De Klerk's comments on CNN regarding apartheid and his thinly-veiled defense of the homelands system. It probably sums up a lot of what I feel too and I liked the mention of Antjie Krog who I also think has done a lot to unpack the complexity and brutality of our past from an Afrikaner's perspective.
And now, for some light-hearted frivolity.I was emailed a fairly amusing video clip by OSHO (for those who don't know, he's a philosopher/spiritual guide of sorts - click here for more on his wiki page). The content may be somewhat familiar but the delivery is what makes it special. Check out video called Strange Consequences. Nietzsche must be spinning in his grave.
Lastly, I was reminded of one of my favourite poems yesterday. The poem is entitled If by Rudyard Kipling. Check it out here.
"If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting;
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don't give way to hating;
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;"
Brilliant.
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