Tomorrow I’ll be off from school due to the current public servants’ strike going on across South Africa. Whilst my school isn’t affected by the strike, security has been threatened by the enraged strikers who could, at any time, picket outside our gates. Not the best image to project to the city of a prominent school in the province, having those pesky strikers toi-toying outside.

But what has really struck me with this recent strike (because, you see, South Africa is vunerable to strikes, and even has a so-called “strike season”), is the manner in which union members are protesting.

Now whilst the act of striking is condoned in our Constitution, it is only accepted as a peaceful manner of protest. Not the brutal, uncivilised way in which citizens of this nation are acting because our government can’t come to a simple conclusion.

You see, these people who are protesting in a way so embarrassing it makes me wonder what the world must be thinking of us mere months after the World Cup, are the very same people who, during the rest of the year, are meant to educate the future of this country – teach them how to improve the nation and step forward as a united people. Yet here they are, running into schools, vandalising and threatening non-striking teachers and students with violent acts if they don’t follow in their lead and down tools.

And I ask you, is this democratic in any way?

It’s barbaric. Simply put: Disgraceful.

South Africa already has an education system that has let-down a large portion of the population. And now a strike that hits like a knife into the very sector aimed at moving us forward is crippling the entire nation. Without proper education, a nation is nothing. And yet, every year, there has to be a situation with this particular sector and the government. Can’t the guys who we supposedly voted into power realise that, instead of spending exorbitantly at hotels in Cape Town for unreasonably long stays, channel that portion of tax payer’s money into actually doing what it’s meant to do: fund public services like education and health care?

By striking so frequently, and whenever there is a minor dispute, we are showing the next generation of South Africans that yes, whenever you can’t settle an agreement with your boss, just down tools and start picketing – and oh yes, don’t forget to resort to threats, no matter how violent they may be, to get everyone involved in your cause, even if they aren’t interested in joining you.

Is this the way to educate a nation?

No.

Whatever happened to civil, professional debate between the concerned parties, and civil, professional agreements that honour the needs of both sides being reached? The first step to educating a nation is to set the example for those who will be next in line to follow. And unfortunately, at this rate, we’re far-off from doing so.

I’m currently reading J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. I actually bought the box set of the famous definitive trilogy and The Hobbit about eight years ago, but was far too young to make strong headway into such elaborate prose.

I’ve finally got round to pursuing The Fellowship of the Ring, and am captivated and amazed by what one man could achieve through such a simple yet abstract medium. Like a praise on the back cover of my edition of the novel says,

The English-speaking world is divided into those who have read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings and those who are going to read them. (– Sunday Times)

That a novel of this nature – a fantasy/sci-fi one at that – has become such a defining point in the broad-culture of the English-speaking world really struck a chord with me. But looking deeper into what I’ve previously read and loved in the genre, and comparing it in the larger perspective of what Tolkien has created, I’m beginning to see just how important the trilogy has become.

As I make may way though the tomes of fantastic text, I will certainly be posting my thoughts on the blog. Stay tuned.

I learnt a very important lesson this past week, primarily through my extensive karate course that the karate organization I belong to ran, and also through the stresses and challenges that a typical week at my high school offers.

Many times in life we’re always seeking to push the limit, and continuously put ourselves in the spotlight particularly because it’s to look good. We’re caught up in the rat race of modern civilization, our minds a swirling mess due to the influences modern media possesses.

Now you might think this last statement strange, considering that I am such a proponent of the Internet and Web 2.0. But sometimes we need to understand something about ourselves that I think is so drastically overlooked 90% of the time.

It’s a simply thing called your limit.

An abstract concept, yes, but it has solid groundings in who you are as a person, and how you perceive yourself to be. A strong ego in some of us can really influence this, and so too can small things like over-confidence. And so the important lesson I learnt this week was that we must understand ourselves on a deeper level, to the extent that we can establish our limit.

By knowing your limit, you know when and how to react to a situation. For example, I chose not to participate in a major upcoming competition due to the fact that I haven’t been training properly for it. This was due to the fact that I have indeed been very busy with other work lately, and haven’t managed to channel the right amount of time. Perhaps this also alludes to the management of a proper schedule that we must ensure be kept, but the main thing is that you know your limit.

It can also be transcended into writing, and technology. Companies need to know to what extent they can push the design and architecture of a product before they need to move on. Case in point: Microsoft. Windows Mobile is an ageing operating system – something that can clearly not compete with the upstarts from Apple, Google and BlackBerry. So, the Redmond giant decided to revamp it into Windows Phone 7 OS (confusing name, but a drastic improvement over its predecessor). They understood its limit.

And so when next you too get a fragment of time in this cacophony of chaos that we all live in, perhaps take the time to understand to what extent you can push yourself before you realise that you should step down. It can uphold your dignity and show the calibre of person that you are.

It has been months. And a lot has happened. But finally, I am really happy to write that I have now returned to the sanctuary that is Life in Pixels — one of the few constants that I can look forward to in my otherwise way-too-busy life.

First off, the Euro Tour. So I went on a cultural and history tour of quite a few cities in Europe back in the beginning of June. And it was amazing! I will write more about this in later posts, as I am currently involved in a few exciting (albeit extremely hectic) things.

Which brings me to my next aspect: you may have noticed that Life in Pixels was under a bit of change over the past few weeks. I’ve been campaigning for a leadership opportunity at school, something I’ve been looking forward to before I even set foot in Crawford College, and I decided that, to add a new angle on the campaigning I should take mine online. So I did a minor overhaul of the site to suit the requirements of my campaign, and I do hope the results are positive. Today was the voting, and after this there isn’t much that can be done in terms of getting votes; I sincerely hope, however, that I do get elected. I’ve got a cauldron of ideas (that metaphor never gets old, does it? ;)) that I’m really excited to implement.

So, moving on. School is crazy as usual, and this term has some exciting projects in store. Prime amongst those is my Grade 11 movie project, which is going really well. I can’t say much about this as yet (a mutual agreement between my friend Bryan and I), but we’re well into the story  (in fact, the screenplay is almost finished — just got the last scene or two to write now).

Then there’s my writing. Regular readers will know how much I love this. Yet there doesn’t seem to be much time for it anymore! I haven’t worked on my manuscript in quite some time, and I can’t wait to get a chance to work on it again. But in the mean time, I’ve decided to do something interesting. Now usually, I write my short stories on computer, with very little planning done on paper. But this time round, for my next short story, I’ve decided to put my Moleskine notebook to good use. I’m writing the entire thing on paper, and will then type it in digital format. I do intend to publish it on the blog once it’s done. It’s just a little experiment I’ve decided to undertake to take the monotony out of what my life is like right now.

I’m really glad to finally get back to the blog, and as usual, I do hope to post as often as possible.

I spend quite a lot of time writing about social media, and giving my two cents’ worth on what the latest technologies from Silicon Valley mean for the rest of us, that its quite refreshing to watch a video like the one below, which sums-up quite nicely what the whole social revolution is all about. Enjoy!