There is a particular kind of silence that happens in international rooms. It is not the silence of agreement, and it is not the silence of deep thought. It is the silence of people who are still trying to catch the sentence that has already disappeared. Someone is speaking quickly, confidently, fluently, perhaps even with…
Sometimes a sentence stays with you for years without you really understanding why. You hear it often enough that it becomes familiar, almost invisible. It settles somewhere in the background of your life, like a photograph hanging on a wall that you pass every day without noticing. Yet for some reason it refuses to disappear…
We went live for Issue 52 of Peeling Potatoes in what appeared to be a freezing cold South Africa, which meant, naturally, that the first serious academic matter of the day was not Relationship Balance, Digital Balance, or any other official calendar-approved balance, but tights. Fruitloop appeared dressed in black, and The Mayor immediately wanted…
The Rooms, Roads and Relationships That Keep Us Human One of the pleasures of putting together The Pineapple is that we never quite know what the finished issue will become. We start with a theme. This month it was Balance. Then the articles begin to arrive. A table conversation here. A member story there. A…
Balance has taken us in many directions this month. We have talked about work and rest, friendships and routines, health and energy, social batteries and silent forests, puzzles, cocktails, coffee, family, challenge, and the curious discovery that life rarely stays balanced for very long. This coming week is the final full week of our Balance…
Before we knew it, the conversation had already begun. We arrived at the table carrying more than coffee cups and calendars. Rosii arrived carrying a spinning room. She described those strange moments when standing up from bed felt like stepping onto a merry-go-round she never agreed to ride. Even lying down could make the room…
It was close to thirty degrees, and I was sitting outside with the good weather around me. There was a little music in the background because my daughter had a friend over, and honestly, it felt right. She had finished her last written exam that day, four hours of economics and law, after four hours…
Some days begin with coffee and a clear plan. Other days begin with stress. When Fruitloop asked me how I was doing, my answer came quickly: stressed. Work had been particularly challenging. The number of orders wasn’t the problem. It was everything else. Customer questions, complaints, declarations of conformity, customs paperwork, and all the little…
When Fruitloop asked me how my weekend was, I didn’t even know where to start because it was so cool. Saturday night, I worked with my friends at a cocktail bar during a party. The deal was amazing: after we worked, we could have free drinks and free food. Of course, that made everything even…
When The Mayor asked me about buying an RV or a caravan, I had to smile a little, because for me this is not only a practical question. It is also a question about what kind of holiday a person really wants. I have been travelling with a caravan around Europe for about twenty years…
