In celebration of my 4th Wedding Anniversary, these words were mentioned by Bruce during our Lunch meeting. He said “Somebody once said… what was the reason for a successful marriage and they said two words: Yes, dear.” And I had to agree. To avoid conflict, fights, disagreements and maybe committing a crime or murder, just…
Why Living in Johannesburg Suddenly Feels Like I Moved to London This weekend, the weather around the world behaved like it was auditioning for a global drama series. Johannesburg, Paris, and London all showed off their personalities — and honestly, I’m not sure who won the award for Most Confusing Forecast. Johannesburg: The Summer That…
Fridays, live. Two chairs. One clock. And a running joke about who’s keeping score. Janita calls it an obligation; Frank calls it trust. Between those two words is the whole temperament of Peeling Potatoes — mischievous, generous, and brave enough to put tenderness on the table. This episode is billed as a “generational war,” but…
At exactly 18:00 Fruitloop Time, the constitutional order of Brida was—quite casually—overthrown. A message arrived from Acting Mayor Fruitloop, calmly informing the actual Mayor that he was now officially relieved of duty. No ceremony, no debate, no vote — just a smooth administrative coup wrapped in laughing emojis and delivered with the confidence of someone…
When historians finally write the story of Brida’s autumn of 2025, they’ll face an impossible question:Was it a coup?Was it a comedy?Or was it just another week in the world’s most delightfully chaotic community? While the Mayor packs for his first holiday in a decade, the Brida Council reels from two simultaneous crises: a peaceful…
Between Bell Rings and Big Dreams The recording light blinks on during a two-week school holiday. Outside, summer is practicing its lines; inside, a teenager warms to the mic — careful at first, then candid, then brave. She speaks of grades and shoes and scouts, of dancing that makes your lungs sting in the best…
Dear enthusiastic readers, Man, do I have a story for you. The Mayor aka Frank and Fruitloop aka Janita, that would be me, have decided to create an advent calendar for Brida members to do small tasks, all Christmassy. We decided to play around with AI, The Mayor used ChatGPT and I used Gemini. The…
It was lunchtime for one of us, night for another, dawn for a third. The screen sliced the world into four gentle windows: Janita in South Africa hosting, Frank (“the Mayor”) in a quiet French village, Rosii in the noise and brightness of São Paulo, and Monica in Adelaide, where the day had already given…
There’s a particular electricity to conversations that begin with a laugh and end with a long, reflective sigh—the kind you’d overhear at a sunlit table where coffee cools and the world briefly makes sense. This week’s Peeling Potatoes lands exactly there: a final episode in a month-long exploration of “life,” recorded across continents by Frank…
Professor Bruce Lloyd invites ChatGPT and DeepSeek to read, reflect, and respond. Here’s a summary and critique of “Atlantic Corridor | Life: Borders, Beliefs, and the Beautiful Ordinary” (by Mayor, 30 October 2025): (ChatGPT) Summary The essay captures a reflective, cross-continental conversation between three participants—Ismar (Brazil), Ritesh (India), and the Mayor (France)—who meet virtually to discuss how geography,…
