New Dimensions

  The long-awaited Rugby World Cup match between the Springboks and Ireland took place last night in France. Before the match various speculators couldn't decide whether Ireland would have a large score against the Boks or what the outcome would be. Ireland was performing so well in their matches that it looked like it was going to be a whitewash of the Springboks squad. However, that was not to be. The Springboks played very well and gave the Irish a run for their money. You could see by the faces of the Irish fans in the grandstands that they were thoroughly enjoying their team's performance. The match started of with both sides being very cautious and they defended very well. However, the score remained low because both teams were strong and defended their territory with all their might. In the second half Ireland made a daring attack and scored a try. South Africa also scored a try but failed to add the two extra points and missed their kicks. The final score was in Ireland...

  When I was a young man, I was searching for a partner that would love me in return. It so happened that I corresponded with a young lady who lived far away in the country. We didn’t have mobile phones then and she never sent me a photograph of herself, so I had no idea of what she looked like. Because I didn’t own a car, I decided to hitch-hike the distance of 960 km (596.516 miles) to her home. That was a crazy idea and a first for me, but love showed no boundaries since I was determined to get to her. Fortunately, the journey went well, and I arrived at her home without any problems. She turned out to be quite pretty and I felt a wonderful connection with her. It looked like we loved one another, and we enjoyed the time together. I helped her with her daily chores on the small farm where she stayed and even milked a goat. We swam in the Orange River and picked ripe tomatoes for supper. In the evenings we prepared all the beds outside round about the house because that is ...

  This painting of mine didn't take long to complete and it was part of a learning exercise I did whilst practising during a Domestika lecture. The exercise was to see how one could add two elements together in a way that creates perspective. The lady is in the foreground and the building in the background. It was suggested that it would be better to have a human figure in the picture which makes the image more natural and appealing to look at. I must say that she has a sort of Mona Lisa expression and I like that. I am not suggesting that my artwork matches up to the Mona Lisa. This painting project was fun to do and I relaxed and added my own style to the painting. I gave the lady rosy cheeks and made some other adjustments of my own. In the end the result is quite okay. This watercolour painting is an addition to my creative collection and a daring one because I successfully added a person to the painting which is new to me. I hope you like it.

  To start an article with the words “the cost of living” is like opening a can of worms because the subject is so large and depends on what your viewpoint is. Having said that, I will have to give some context so that whatever I say will be clearer to the reader. I have been self-employed since 1991, which means that it has been 32 years since I last worked for a company. In the beginning, it was a disaster because I had no experience of how to run my own business. You would have thought being a former department manager that would have given me enough expertise in running a business, but it did not, and I was completely lost not knowing what to do. For 13 years I struggled to make a living going from one idea to the next and many of them failed. Testimony to my determination, I continued doing all sorts of things just to make ends meet. One day, out of shear desperation, I called out to the Lord for help. I said, “Just give me something that will work, please. I am tired o...

  Superpowers are usually regarded as the ability to fly like Superman or scale up buildings like Spiderman or display immense strength like Superwoman or be as indestructible as Ironman. There are many kinds of superpowers as portrayed in Marvel comic books and, as a parent, one usually thinks of your children as special with awesome characteristics. To show my children that I think highly of them I created images of them as superheroes.  Why would I do something like that? Firstly, it's a fun way of showing them off. Secondly, I hope that my creations show them how proud I am of them. Thirdly, they deserve it even if they didn't do anything more to prove anything to me and my wife. By the way, my wife has pretty awesome powers herself. Love, kindness, a bubbling disposition, a strong will, and a heart of gold. She also gave birth to these children who make us very proud. Each son or daughter has special superpowers in his or her own way. The oldest son also has a heart...

When time began the man was alone without a companion, so he was put into a deep sleep and a rib was removed from his chest. It was used to create her. When the man woke up and saw her, he fell head over heals in love with her. She was spectacularly beautiful. Together they formed a bond, and, in the evenings, they fellowshipped with their Creator. They could speak to animals which listened and obeyed them. They had that kind of power and dominion with words, just like the Creator. One day, Havah (Eve) met a serpent who deceived her with crafty words and she and the man disobeyed the Creator. As a consequence, they had to leave their abode called Eden. Years later, the Creator appeared to Abraham and told him he was going to have a son in his old age. His wife, Sarah laughed when she eavesdropped on the conversation. She endured many years of being childless and had become old. Consequently, the boy was called laughter (Isaac). Much later, the Creator’s people were about to enter...

  I once worked for a company called Frasers Ltd in Johannesburg. My director nominated me for an educational trip to the USA. That was back in the 1980’s. I was surprised to have received such an honour because it was company policy to send staff on those tours after long service. I had only been working for Frasers for just over a year. We were a group of people from different companies taking the guided tour and departed from Jan Smuts International Airport in Kempton Park for the long flight across the Atlantic to Madeira where our jet refuelled. From there it was still a quite a distance to La Guardia Airport in New York. Whilst on the flight I wondered what lay in store for me since I had never travelled so far from South Africa. America was huge compared to my small country but in those days our currency exchange rate was almost 1:1. I knew that technologically they were far ahead of my country and that it would be a big adjustment in terms of size as well. The tour op...