Tom Brown

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I have 281 stories published in 25 collections on the site.
My stories have been read 470340 times and 19 of my stories have been cherry picked.
443 of my 3,059 comments have been voted Great Feedback with a total of 444 votes

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Tom Brown

Born South-African, I went to a dual medium primary school and Afrikaans high school, NG Church mostly and sunday school Methodist. At school achieved top positions in science and mathematics olympiads, after as well completing two years of engineering studies with very good results but I did not graduate, I had to stop due to mental health problems.

Graduating under WK Bartoszek at Unisa, MSc (1997) and Pretoria University, Niko Sauer PhD (2006), formal interests were to be in abstract analysis and broadly in applied mathematics. All of my qualifications were with honours.

I had permanent teaching positions at Unisa and at Wits, however since not having been academically active, and as such absent from formal academic research for very long now, years. Advanced study and research was in Markov operators and stochastic processes; vector valued Laplace transforms applied to semigroups and families of evolution equations (Empathies).
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Unfortunately I have had a history of medical treatment for psychiatric illness with diagnosis of a bipolar mood disorder.

It was very fortunate in that my condition responded very well to medicine it helps if you cooperate and comply, if not, you don't have much of a chance. Also I am totally abstinent from alcohol and other mood altering substances for great many years, it did not accord with my constitution at all. As a chain smoker I also managed to kick the habit, more than a decade smoke-free now, by the Grace of God.

I have always been able to function completely normal and independently in society my isolation was not because of my own doing it was due to circumstances, and has just been getting stricter I seem to have almost no contact outside, save only for AbcTales. My saving grace.

I am  totally isolated and financially barely getting by. 

Although I am still studying mathematics and applications, more popular accessible kind of work, while interested and looking forward to hopefully be active in research or industry again.

God is in the details of the details. God is in the timing of the timing.
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Apart from studies in the natural sciences I am interested in languages and literature in general as well as religion. In high school I majored in German also, and Biology, in the meanwhile I have taught myself French, well enough to read (with a bit of difficulty).

Lately I have been writing more popular general interest essays and also trying for a bit of balance with mathematics and while keeping things understandable for most people.

Thus not involved at all with any social media, and having time for writing, leisure, watching movies, reading fiction, classics mostly, poetry and  music. I miss my friends, and would really love getting outdoors and in nature more.
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Favourite authors are Jules Verne, HG Wells and Jack London, Shakespeare and poets William Blake and Dylan Thomas. I like adventure, science fiction and fantasy movies my all time greatest are the Narnia stories and the Lord of the Rings.

The meal best enjoyed is a breakfast of bacon eggs on toast fried chips with fresh orange juice, and for supper an ox-tail stew. I like eating out romantic. For recreation nature hikes, camping and fishing, listening to good music and reading, classics mostly, and good movies. I love dogs my best one was a Maltese poodle Freddy.

I love rain and lightning thunderstorms and rainbows. As well as writing and publishing here on AbcTales.
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These are my stories!

Keep your feet on the ground and reach for the Stars!

 

 

My stories

The Nature of Truth

The fundamental questions we must ask are: What , How , Why ? “What?” concerns physical observations and experiments, and records kept, consisting of...

The Black Dog

Jet fuel and petrol are ethanol, that is ethyl alcohol. It is highly combustible and surgical alcohol is generally used for disinfecting killing...

A Christmas Rainbow

There was a rainbow monday afternoon there was a rain shower I went outside and there it was. I was surprised I'd only vaguely hoped. The full...
3 likes
Cherry

Jack Brown

My great grandfather Frank Brown was miraculously of a handful survivors in the battle of Delville Wood, where the South African infantry was wiped...
Cherry

Nkosi Bayete!

As he passed knocked my friend on the head from behind, no time took him down a much bigger guy, Rooikat (lit “Red Cat”) the youngster pumping like a...

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443 of my comments have received 444 Great Feedback votes

1 Vote

I guess it is a balance

Posted on Tue, 23 Apr 2024

I guess it is a balance a matter of respect vs affection. I worked as drive-way shift controller as an equal with the petrol-pump guys, the nearest garage they still call me Tommy,

See you! ! Keep well! Tom

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Posted in Error in Account 4275

1 Vote

Rhiannon, In "summer heat tempers

Posted on Mon, 05 Aug 2024

Rhiannon, In "summer heat tempers get frayed and angers flame" I found it just the opposite, when it is hot people get tired and lazy, want to lie down and sleep, african time! Rain is usually just very calm and refreshing, peaceful joyful.  Well...

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Posted in In the summer heat

1 Vote

Read your story with interest

Posted on Wed, 31 Jul 2024

Read your story with interest Paul. Good story and well written. I've always thought a ghost has no substance therefore cannot do you any harm, just perhaps to harm yourself or others, a kind of like a demon then?

All this is in Ireland of...

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Posted in Tom Crean

1 Vote

Good poem!

Posted on Wed, 24 Jul 2024

Good poem Jenny! "Poignant" again!  All the best! Tom

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Posted in Suspended Between Two Worlds

1 Vote

Liked your story

Posted on Mon, 15 Jul 2024

Liked your story Dougie! Soap bubbles are an example of applications of a branch of mathematics called the “Calculus of Variations” to be used in optimisation problems.

The geometry of such bubbles is not only a spherical shape! I'm not...

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Posted in Soap Bubbles

1 Vote

I can only say

Posted on Mon, 24 Jun 2024

I can only say, Wow! Keep them coming Jenny!

All the best! Tom

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Posted in His Flight

1 Vote

Judge not

Posted on Fri, 28 Jun 2024

Judge not, lest ye be judged. With your measure, you will be measured.

For all of us to keep in mind, Tom

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Posted in Rash (?) Judgements

1 Vote

I didn't know blackbirds

Posted on Mon, 24 Jun 2024

I didn't know blackbirds nest on the ground I don't think we have them here. "He" it's just the English language .. nothing funny. Doesn't necessarily mean it's male! Ships and cars affectionately are "she". And at the end, "Then today, saw all...

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Posted in New Morning Routine

1 Vote

Sorry I don't have

Posted on Sat, 08 Jun 2024

Sorry I don't have anything to say but it's beautiful! Tom

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Posted in More Offa’s Dyke views and Nosey young cattle @ Knighton

1 Vote

Definitely not disappointed

Posted on Sat, 01 Jun 2024

Definitely not disappointed, really an excellent poem Itane!

Immediately made me think of Dylan Thomas, "There was a saviour, rarer than radium. commoner than water, crueller than truth", I think it's about his father, the ending is more...

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Posted in Heavy as earth, light as straw

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