Meanwhile… #24 – A Brisk Catch-Up

Header 18 Hello there, friends and fans! It’s June 21, 2026– and here are some things that happened in the meantime!

This Is The Current State Of Things:

Perhaps, quite surprisingly, nobody has nuked anyone else… yet. Humanity has lived down to my exact expectations all year long, and the asteroid Apophis has started to enter the news headlines again – as far as I’m concerned, as the light at the end of the tunnel. Humans are known for their over-confidence far more than they are for their accuracy, so… anyway, we’ll see what will happen. Fortunately I should have my Ph.D. by then, so… either way, all good.

General News:I’ve been working in earnest on my PhD thesis, and the first few chapters are done. In the meantime, I’ve visited Cape Town for two workshops – in April and June – and my supervising Professor has decided that my doctoral thesis will take the form of a “Ph.D by publication” instead of just doing a thesis. This means that my work will end up being published as at least five articles in various journals – or as a book – and in my case, both! Exciting stuff right? Well it is as far as I’m concerned! The first article is co-authored with my supervisor and will be appearing in a local journal. The second is a related paper that I need to present at a conference in India in November, that will appear in an international journal! Think about it – here I am, a 53 year old underachiever who has pretty much just got matric (and a few industry-related qualifications, mainly in IT) – who received recognition for prior learning (RPL) up to Master’s level) – practically a nobody – presenting and co-writing papers with and to professors in my field! Who am I again??? Talk about exciting, humbling stuff!

Anyway, so …India …in November! I’ve never even been out of the country! I just spent most of Saturday morning (yesterday, as I write this) in a Home Affairs office to get my passport renewed – successfully at least! Yes, I’m looking forward to it! Yes, I’m totally blown away by all of this! Suddenly I’ve gone from people ignoring what I had to say for most of my 53 years, to “your work is too important to hide in a thesis very few will get to read”! Honestly, I’m a little overwhelmed. At least by now I’m mature enough to not let any of that go to my head. I already know who I am, and I don’t constantly need to remind others. I’m truly grateful and appreciative of every step forward this academic journey gives me. I have no idea yet what the rest of the year holds – aside from the “India in November” trip, but I’ll be sure to keep you updated periodically. ‘Scuse me – I’m a little busy for the time being .

Current Writing Projects: With my time now fully occupied with research and assignments from varsity, I’m sorry to say: NONE. I’ll have no time available for writing fiction for the immediate future! At least not until sometime after I’ve handed in my PhD thesis sometime towards the end of 2026! (It still doesn’t sound real to me, but yes, it really is happening!) So yes, I decided to give it a rest until I’m done with that whole PhD project. In the meantime, if you like, you can catch up on books you may have missed (there are over 40 of them – with many also available as audiobooks!) or keep up by bookmarking What’s Brewing?

There we are, all caught up for now!