@tanjamaltija.bsky.social
Is the Female of the Species More Deadly than the Male?
According to The New York Times, women are ruining the workplace. But since fairness is fashionable, let’s talk about how men are perfecting that very art; one coffee cup, aftershave cloud, and midnight email, at a time. The…
If I Were Coffee
If I were coffee,you’d say I was too strong —too bitter,too stark.The kind that tells the trutheven when you’d rather it didn’t. You’d flinch at the aftertaste;that moment when what I saidsinks in…the words you can’t unsay,the truths you can’t unhear. I’d answer in…
The Bookstore
- A penny for them?- What? Oh, erm, sorry. How may I help you?- I’m looking for a book…- Yes?- A book. I mean, can you suggest a book for me?- Well, it depends.- I won’t take up too much of your time, promise. I can see that you’re…
The Tunnel
As soon as I saw the tunnel, I knew that it just had to be mine. I knew why and wherefore I wanted it – I knew I would even sell my tiara to obtain enough funds, if I had to. But f course, I wouldn’t have to. Of course not. My mother had always told me about “the light at the end of…
Whispers
Sobbing through the night Tiny slave girl, working hard Bought for a pittance.// Party till you drop; Drink, drugs, sex are all you have Your life is empty.// A child on crutches, Soldiers bleeding, houses bombed... Images of war.// Photograph album; Children in an orphanage; Who’ll be…
Are you correct, politically?
Friday, 28th January 2011 In December, 1972, Carly Simon spoke of a vain man who walked into a party as if he were walking onto a yacht. Speculation had the man named as Cat Stevens, Warren Beatty, Mick Jagger, or Kris Kristofferson. Last year, Simon said that the…
Fleur u Lee – Il-Vaganzi tas-Sajf
Kienet waslet l-aħħar ġimgħa tal-iskola. Miss Marija bdiet taqla’ l-armarji. Kellha drawwa ħelwa li kull nhar ta’ Ġimgħa, din tagħti ktieb lit-tfal tal-klassi. Kellhom għażla – jew iżommuh, jew iġibuh lura biex jerġa jitqassam. Taċ-Charity Shops u tal-Bażarijiet…
Dinja Għalija: Il-Manifest Tal-Manifk
Frar 23, 2013 09:23 Ħuti Maltin, kif tafu, jien għandni ġejn minn Kolorado. Issa hemmhekk, in-nies huma progressivi u ultra-liberali, mhux bħalna hawn, għadna ta’ wara l-muntanji.Ngħidilkom is-sew, qed inħossni kburi li lili għażluni bħala r-rapreżentant…
River Deep, Mountain High…
We noticed a login to your account @manna_nectar_ambrosia from a new device. Was this you? Well, actually, it was, and it wasn’t. I hate to break it to you, but when you read this, I will have gone back to where I came from. You know the double statue of Nyuserre? You…
If I’ve Told You Once…
Tanja Cilia Don’t do that. Stop that. Enough. Stop. Put that book away or you’ll throw up. How naughty you are. Push back your hair. That’s not nice. Stop fidgeting. Hold your bag properly. Stop playing with your hair. Close your mouth when you chew. Stop picking your nose.…
Fleur u Lee – Jmorrru l-Iskozja
Il-Ħaggis ‘Ara, Tfal...’ qalet Miss Marija, u bħas-soltu, it-tfal tal-Klassi waqqfu widnejhom, għax kienu jafu li ġejja xi aħbar speċjal. ‘Miss Yvonne qaltli li issa li dalwaqt waslu l-vaganzi tal-Għid, qed jitħabbar il-Programm ta’ Skambju Kulturali…
Words Apart…
Saving Private Ryan, Saving the Queen, Paradise, Grace… or even The Last Dance… all this is so mundane… and trite… and, moreover, it is no longer enough. God Himself needed saving; but we need not worry. It has been done by the Trumps. This stupid, provocative and unusual statement…
Christmas Legends
There are many legends associated with Christmas and the festive season… whether they are related to the birth of Jesus Christ or not. The Christmas rose The Magi were on the way to Bethlehem. The little shepherdess Madelon was impressed at their regal bearing and fine clothes.…
Fleur u Lee – Fl-Eġittu!
Miss Marija Cutajar, l-għalliema tal-ħames sena, kienet dejjem tara x’tivvinta biex li-tfal iżżommhom attenti u kuntenti. Meta ġara li fil-vaganzi tal-Għid, hi marret vaganza żgħira fl-Eġittu mal-familja tagħha. U m’għandniex xi ngħidu, rat kif għamel u vvintat xi ħaġa…
Rude Awakening
Tuesday, 15th June 2010 The part of Melita Street, in Valletta, between Republic Street and Strait Street is not the best of streets to negotiate, because of its gradient, on a good day. So with only a narrow passage and an aura of dust in the air, it is even less attractive. I…
What’s in a Name?
Tuesday, 18th May 2010 My name is Tanja and I am 50 years old. But although my name appears on this column, as well as on the column I write for the sister paper to this, I have lost count of the mail that comes addressing me as Tania or Tanya. Or just Tan... in the way people…
Feeling Power-less?
Sunday, 4th April 2010 They say that if it weren’t for the last minute, a lot of things would not get done. I have something to add to that – if it weren’t for power failures, a lot of things would not get done, either. I can write fairly legibly in the dark – as long as I use…
Animal Rights and Wrongs
Friday, 26th February 2010 Matilda is the hen who laid an egg four times the size of a normal one. Together with the weird case of chickens running loose in Regional Road, Marsa, as well as that of Lima, the runaway circus zebra chased by a posse of police cars for forty…
Christmas With Mother Scrooge
Thursday, 11th December 2008 Her name is not really that, of course. In fact, she never really existed – she is just a composite person made up of some people I have met in my life, for whom the words Bah! Humbug! were invented. So when the Christmas sales come…
Not-So Secret Service
Saturday, 18th December 2010 If you want a secret, keep it to yourself. That, to me, is what the Wikileaks hullaballoo is all about. Because when you let the cat out of the bag, it might jump over the garden wall and into the Great Outside. Julian Assange has only rushed in…
Hitting the Wrong Notes
Friday, 31st December 2010 A friend of mine who teaches voice technique abroad sent me a link of the first of a series of videos produced by the Musicians’ Union and the NSPCC, in collaboration with Music Leader, ABRSWM, and Educare. The script does not mince words. It…
In Your Face(Book)!
Friday, 8th October 2010 CNN recently re-discovered something we have all known for ages, and concocted a list of “The 12 most annoying types of Facebookers”. I will, for the moment, refrain from mentioning the people who are one’s friends on facebook but would never give you…
Have a Heart: Click Like!
Friday, 1st October 2010 It’s happened again – you walk into a room and the hubbub subsides. Only – you’re not the teacher, and this is not a class of children who respects you too much to have you ask for silence. These are your sisters-in-law, intent on planning the…
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle?
Penny-pinching. Stingy. Skimping. Miserly. Frugal. Thrifty. Parsimonious. Careful. All these words are nuances of the same attitude; but either set sees things differently. Most of us would agree that some people take “waste not, want not” to the pathetic levels of…
Politics, Policies, and Parties
Tuesday, 10th June 2008 Most teachers of languages have a stock set of essay titles for their classes – some of which are specifically worded so as to discover details of their students’ family life. A title for First Formers of English and Maltese language lessons…
Dreams
I think in haikuand dream in Technicolor;free-flights of fancy! in the path of lifesome dreams are better than truth...for no one hurts you. letters left unsentpromises left unspokendreams left unfulfilled mirror on the wallreflecting hopes, thoughts and dreamsall unrealised my life is a…
Just A Thought…
When we hear of a parent who forgets a child in a car, our first instinct is incredulity. Hands up anyone who has never done something mindless, distracted, or dangerously careless. We were lucky that our lapse didn’t have tragic consequences. I remember once “losing” my daughter…
…as “I have loved you”
In the One, we are one. Dilexi te (“I have loved you”) is the first apostolic exhortation of Pope Leo XIV. The title is drawn from Revelation 3:9. It was signed on 4 October 2025 (Feast of St. Francis of Assisi) and published / presented on 9 October 2025. It follows Dilexit…
Chill Out; It’s Just Water…
Some people froze in amazement when they saw His Holiness Pope Leo XIV bless a 20,000-year-old piece of Greenland glacial ice, brought onstage by artist Olafur Eliasson, at the “Raising Hope for Climate Justice” conference held in Castel Gandolfo, in Rome, on October 1,…
