Dear #MyGoogleZA...[A love letter]

Hey you, I’d say it’s been a while but I checked with you about this letter before I wrote it. I don’t remember when, where and how we met but it feels like you’ve been with me my whole life. From my days as a tertiary student trying to figure out different political ideologies and learning to sift through facts and fiction…you are consistent but not all your info is honest.

This is what I love about you. You’ve connected me with people, places and subjects I doubt I would have met had you not been created. I still remember how when I applied for my honours degree at Wits, it was with your help that I could get all the information I needed. And that one time you saved me from dating a married man and how could I forget how your maps got me to interviews on time.

As you grow, I’ve grown. Thanks to you, I have gone from being a journalist to a digital content strategist – how cool is that. Every day I find myself asking you “how to…” so many things. My current obsession are the motivational videos on YouTube that kick-start my day and the great fitness beasts that encourage me to keep moving.

Oh, Google….without you I would be incomplete. I check with you everything from how to decorate my house, put together a budget, put together a research paper for my Masters…basically you have your hooks on me.

Thank you for always having my back – even though you’ve pissed my doctor off a couple of times.

Yours in curiosity,

Tokiso

Comments

The Curious Case of Pinky Pinky: The Toilet Tokoloshe

There was once a Tokoloshe, her name was Pinky Pinky – she lived in the girls’ school toilets, sang a song that introduced her and told you about her parents. She’d then end the song by demanding you give her something. Thanks to Pinky Pinky, her choice of location and her singing – I've yet to feel completely comfortable using public toilets. I first heard about Pinky Pinky when I was in Sub A (now known as Grade 1). She terrorized girls my age, demanding money or (as I recently heard) stole their panties. I think she’d also want whatever pink item you had on you. If you couldn't give in to Pinky Pinky’s demands – you were in big trouble. I don’t remember the details of what she’d do to you but what I knew is that it would be painful. Pinky Pinky was so dangerous she even made it into a national newspaper – although they used a blurry picture. There were different stories told about how she looked – none mentioned a beautiful creature. Her looks were things horror mo...

Book Review: London, Cape Town, Joburg

What a miserable ending to a really soul capturing novel! London, Cape Town, Joburg by ZukiswaWanner had me hooked from day one but I must say, I was never really ready for that ending – plot twist of note. To be fair, the story starts with two parents mourning their only son who had committed suicide. From the onset you know that something really bad must have happened for a thirteen-year-old to kill himself but before the author lets us in on the reason, she takes us through one of the best, heart-warming, authentic love stories I have read in a while. Martin O’Malley and Germaine Spencer, are two imperfect people who come together and build what seems like a perfect nest. They understand each other, defend each other, fight, make up, have loads of sex and most importantly love and respect one another. I loved every moment of their love story. From the insecurities, jealous moments, moving from city to city and how they grew into such cool, yet strict parents. Wanner t...

Play Review: Asinamali!

*Black Humour : “ humour that deals with unpleasant aspects of life in a bitter or ironic way” Thanks to the Market Theatre for the Pic Oh what a show! Set in a South African prison during Apartheid; five prisoners tell us how they ended up behind bars. One man stutters, another believes that he was falsely accused, another was back-stabbed by a cousin, another idolized a con man and another had an affair with his employer's wife. While watching the multi-awards winning South African classic play, Asinamali, I experienced a bitter/sweet moment. The sweet was all the laughing I was doing; the bitter was the fact that Apartheid was a dehumanising cruel system. Thanks to the Market Theatre for the Pic Written by the legendary Mbongeni Ngema , Asinamali was inspired by the 1983 rent strike in Lamontville Township, KwaZulu-Natal. Led by activist Msizi Dube the people of Lamontville wanted the government to know “we do not have money” ( Asinamali ) when rent was increas...

TokisoM Writes

Search This Blog