Tom Brown

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I have 282 stories published in 25 collections on the site.
My stories have been read 479916 times and 19 of my stories have been cherry picked.
447 of my 3,078 comments have been voted Great Feedback with a total of 448 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

Illusions of Truth

This girl worked at reception night duty, phoned her often late at night in the early hours, many times from Joburg to visit her at the hospital, '...

Complicated Man

It is not the complicated thing that confuses simple man, it is the simple thing that confuses complicated man, As questions, “Why?” Or for that...

Consistency in Lists of Numbers

A measure of probability distribution for consistency in large lists of numbers is explained. If there are discrepancies it would be a sign of...

What's up dude?

When Ted got back from the factory he found his wife on the sofa in a very nervous state, “What’s for dinner love? “Ted. I’ve got news.” “Hell that...

Uncle Justice

Little Tommy Tucker Sings for his supper! Cigarettes cost a fortune these days! Five million a loose draw! What I miss most since losing my job is...

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447 of my comments have received 448 Great Feedback votes

1 Vote

A good horror story

Posted on Tue, 02 Sep 2025

Excellent! A good light-hearted horror story, (or mental breakdown?) And like some bosses or school teachers,

" was also lost for words, but in a good way!" would take a miracle.

All the best! Tom Brown

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Posted in Room 6

1 Vote

poor-man

Posted on Mon, 01 Sep 2025

The bible says a poor-man sleeps well, it's in the book of proverbs. And a sleeping man stays poor.

Guilty on both.

Cheers! Tom

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Posted in Beating up my pillows again

1 Vote

All life ultimately depends

Posted on Wed, 27 Aug 2025

All life ultimately depends on sunlight, accept at that great depth, it is other things used for energy, and based on hydrogen sulphide if i'm not mistaken? You should know, Rhiannon?

The bathyscape has to be strong to withstand such...

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Posted in From the Chinese Bathyscaphe, Striver

1 Vote

astral travel

Posted on Tue, 26 Aug 2025

"your be safe and we can fly among the stars and be free you and me,

Wonderful! Beautiful poetry Maggie! Tom

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Posted in Take my hand

1 Vote

H2O

Posted on Tue, 19 Aug 2025

Good poem Rhiannon "as welcome showers" but who is to say one molecule is more important than another?

Did they say 75% of the human body consists of water?

Keep well! Tom

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Posted in That all-important molecule!

1 Vote

Chalk and cheese

Posted on Fri, 15 Aug 2025

Chalk and cheese, six or half-a-dozen? Experimenting!? Some people say procrastination is really just laziness Luigi? I don't think so the real reason is often perfectionism, it goes a bit deeper. A serious handicap in any case.

Good luck...

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Posted in My Best Mate and I

1 Vote

lovely words, beautiful images

Posted on Thu, 14 Aug 2025

Jenny! What beautiful language! Such as "vast oceans of sky" ; "crystal rainbows of delight".

Inspired for sure! Tom

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Posted in Fragments Of Life

1 Vote

breathtaking

Posted on Wed, 13 Aug 2025

Lovely, breathtaking, I wish I could see them for myself! We have them in the southern hemisphere too, called "Southern Lights" then? or "Southern Aurora"?

You would have to be a lot more south, and if you are very lucky too, I hear...

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Posted in Borealis

1 Vote

collecting postcards

Posted on Tue, 12 Aug 2025

collecting postcards

Rhiannon when I was in school I collected postcards my mother helped me find penpals overseas to write and swop and that. The one man was in Russia he was in a bit of danger actually, remember it was in the time of the...

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Posted in Discovered old postcards

1 Vote

a lot worse

Posted on Mon, 28 Jul 2025

You get a lot worse than that believe me.

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Posted in The Watchers In The Walls

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