Letter from my Mother

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When I was eighteen
My mother wrote a letter
Telling me how we don’t always
Say the things we want to say
But how everyday I made her feel
So very proud to be called my mother

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/proud/

Walking Away

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I wish I loved you
And that we could build
Our lives together
But the love I felt
Has vanished in the wind
Carried away as though it
Weighed nothing at all, having
No value, I want to mould
My heart to be in tune with
Yours, my mind says go
I will be with you, but
My heart yells no-
I wish you peace, I wish you the
Life you could never have, I wish
You the love you would never feel
If I was by your side

Wind up his back

Reaching Meadow Lane is authored by a friend of mine in Johannesburg. Amazing the situations others go through without saying a word about it at the time. Fascinating reading, and I had no idea of her experiences when we were in close contact. (Apart from being too caught up in my own experiences at the time).

Life Since You's avatarLife Since You

imageHow it was ever possible? No matter which cinema in the whole of South Africa; no matter which movie was booked, the Mad Man would choose and book the only broken chair! How is that ever conceivable? Yet, as a honorable husband, he would deem it necessary that we swap chairs because you have to make your wife sit on a broken chair during the duration of a movie. To this day, I recall only one occasion in which the chair was genuinely broken. Just as we would move multiple times in a restaurant while having coffee, we too, would move multiple times in a cinema to find the best position on a functioning chair. Adding this complexity, the Mad Man would insist that the wind, coming from somewhere, would be traveling up his back and making him cold. Why is it then that I could never feel this wind?…

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Learning Java Through Poetry

After reading so many informative posts this morning (strokes, Sudoku, knitting, computer animation, shorthand, and many more), I thought I’d write my own. I’ll start with a poem:

Roses are red
Violets are blue
Java is awesome
And so are you!

I learnt Java through Kathy Sierra’s Head First Java:

The reason why I loved it so much was because of the poetry scattered throughout:

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And another one:

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Of course, I never realized this at the time. They were mere snippets of the book that really resonated with me (Wow, look at all this poetry, it is so cool, awesomeness). I would write all my own verses to match the ones I’d read.

So here’s a quick tutorial on a first Java program.

The following steps are how to get started with coding.

Install Java on any computer. And then follow the steps:

1. Create and save MyFirstApp.java (included below). For beginner purposes this can be done in a notepad and not an IDE. In fact, we never had the luxury of IDEs when I studied “so long ago”. In the days before Google.

2. Compile to create a class file (MyFirstApp.class) (google it if you need details)
javac MyFirstApp.java

3. Run the app from the console

And here is how a sample .java file looks like:

public class MyFirstApp {

public static void main(String[] args) {
System.out.println(“I Rule!”);
System.out.println(“The World”);
}
}

It’s been suggested I never go into teaching, so I’ll write poetry instead:

Roses are red
Violets are blue
I love coding
How about you?

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/daily-prompt-2/

My Career

At my graduation May 1996, a month after I lost my mother.

At my graduation May 1996, a month after I lost my mother.

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/daily-prompt-2/

I studied a Bachelor of Science degree with a specialization in Computer Science and Applied Math. I loved the Applied Math and could have continued with financial math and quantitative management after my initial degree. But decided not to do so.

A few years later I unearthed a document at home. I had been granted a bursary to study my honors degree in computer science (all expenses paid with spending money), but decided at the time not to accept. I had been offered a graduate position at IBM and decided to work instead.

My roles have all been in software development. The first few years I specialized in IVR (interactive voice response) technology and speech recognition. Also integration services around these applications. With the advent of mobile apps the speech and IVR applications are becoming less relevant. I started writing in C and then progressed to Java.

And now I write in poetry!

Venom

Smoky Air

Your words wrap around my heart
As your promises haunt my mind
Your deceit hangs like smoky air
Polluting my life with poisonous lies

Depth of Sorrow

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The taking of the native child

My child is mine
Fruit from my womb
Ripped from his home
My son is gone

I will not live
I can not laugh
Give back my child
Stolen from me

The white man came
The white man took
Stealing my child
My love from me

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_photo_challenge/depth/

No, Thanks

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I like the earth
I like it just fine
Please don’t fly me
To the moon so high

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/no-thanks/

Cee’s Black & White Challenge: Tables and Chairs

Somewhere to sit

Somewhere to sit

School Bench

School Bench

School is out

School is out

South African "Riempie" Chair

South African “Riempie” Chair

Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge: Table and Chairs, seating of any kind

Apple in my Bag

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I broke the law of another land
A fresh apple was in my bag
Apple was green, it belonged to me
And no customs had been signed

I had no cash, I could not pay
The fine that was handed to me
I promised to pay, they said okay
Allowed me on my way

Time to leave, I paid the fine
But not within the week
The plane was there, I caught a glimpse
But my passport had been blocked

Do not allow, she must not leave
We will not let her go
I had to wait, I could not pass
Fresh apple had tied me down

Seconds passed and minutes too
My heart near skipped it’s beat
I had to sit, I had to wait
Until told that I could leave

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/breaking-the-law/