TobySouth Africa—Cape Town included—is a complicated place. It is complex, fraught with tension and not particularly safe. It is fascinating, for this half-anthropologist, half-writer (and […]
Latest Blogs
My 9 Favorite South African Words & Phrases (so far)
This guy knows what I’m talking about. Just a short one for today, as I want to spend the remainder of my day off out […]
Minibus Freedom: On Risk and Reward
Stand-Up Paddleboarding (well, kneel-up paddleboarding) in Smitswinkel Bay. “Better the devil you know than the devil you don’t…” The sun beats down on my left […]
Post-Apartheid South Africa and “Post-Racism” America
A totally irrelevant picture of Clifton Beach at sundown—Camps Bay, sundown. Yes, there is an analogy to be made here. Excuse me friends, I’m going […]
High Security
The view from my patio, Hout Bay, Cape Town. Hout Bay, Cape Town, South Africa “You need to watch that the gate closes to make […]
Helsinki Snapshots
Monday, 11 January 2016 It is 2:30 pm, and the sky already seems to be getting dark as I make my way to the Helsinki […]
The Bittersweet Beauty of Goodbye
If I sift through the shadowy pathways of my memory, I will touch a hundred moments of parting and a thousand words of farewell in […]
The Men Who Saw (A Poem of Sorts)
Happy New Year! This is not the typical style of work I share here, but I’ve been sitting on this whimsical little poem for quite […]
Next Up, Cape Town: Meeting the Voice of Intuition
Chapman’s Peak, near one of my possible next homes. The flights are booked. Philadelphia —> NYC —> Amsterdam —> Helsinki. Short pause. Helsinki —> London […]
Will the Real Santa Claus Please Stand Up?
“Joulupukki” by Lauri Rantala from Espoo, Finland – Santaclaus at Helsinki Cathedral. Consider this my holiday blog post. I could talk about Hanukkah (the holiday […]