"I looked in the rear view mirror and all I saw was 'gators" is a sentence I never imagined my girlfriend (or anyone, for that matter) uttering - but it's 2023 and anything is possible. Waitangi weekend saw my partner and I tenting at Rakahuri (Ashley Gorge). Our modest abode for the mutunga wiki She… Continue reading Inflatable Crocodiles, Dora-the-Exploring and an Angry Gust
Basically since forever ago I have had a strong affinity to New Zealand songstresses. For your listening pleasure, I have collated some absolutely stellar wāhine kaiwaiata kaitito/singer songwriters: many of whom have written music that has spoken deeply to my soul. As well as that, their music has seen me through puberty, teenhood, young adulthood… Continue reading Wāhine for your Music Rotation: Crushing on Kiwi Musicians
I have collated a very eclectic list of podcasts near and far: from lesbians discussing books and their film adaptations, to comediennes getting horny over filmstars, to French language learning for intermediate speakers, to whakaaro Māori, whakataukī and kīwaha, to humorous and insightful intersectional feminism discussions... let's go: 1. Boners of the Heart Comediennes Alice… Continue reading The Covid19 Diaries: Five Quality Podcasts to Quell Lockdown Boredom
This is my first of what I hope will be more bilingual posts to come! Shout out to my te reo Māori lecturer for the prompt of writing a letter for my grandchildren - I'm so down with that kaupapa. Whatever your level of reo, I hope you get something out of it, and I… Continue reading Navigating Pākehā Identity Part Two: Letter to My Grandchildren | Reta ki āku mokopuna
Purity culture within religion is problematic. Reflecting on my time as a Christian, this is one of the fundamental parts of it that still makes me angry, and its ghost still lingers. Today, I consider myself empowered, liberated and sex positive - yet I know I'm still affected by what I was taught by the… Continue reading Confronting Sexual Purity Culture
I'm all Coronavirused out, so I'm fully not going to talk about it - other than to say it has been a weird, chaotic and uncertain last few weeks, has it not? I hope everybody is staying safe, well, and being nice to their flatmates/family/partners during this stressful time. Sparing a thought for all the… Continue reading The Covid19 Diaries: Isolation Staycation?
Long time, no write. I have always been meaning to get around to writing a new blog post... but then I'd get stuck for ideas. I started writing again a few times, but my heart wasn't in it and I didn't want it to feel forced. But my goodness I just have to tell the… Continue reading Stop “Learning” Languages
In the last month, I have been employed (on a casual basis) at two, going on three, different jobs. I know, I'm insane. As if studying full-time wasn't enough already? I'm a serial over committer - help me? In all seriousness though, I have needed to get better at saying no: forty-four hours of work… Continue reading Working Hard, Hardly Working?
Wow. So it's been awhile. Long time no blog, lil' Abs. So, why not hit the ground running again with something personal and freeing, with just a touch of advocacy? Life is weird. I've recently been diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), more specifically, the kind that used to be known as Asperger's. This has… Continue reading Aspergirl Gone Rogue
How does technology make you feel? More often than not, getting off my phone, especially after a long period of time will make me a) gross (zombified, unproductive, vegetative) b) sad - either depressed about the future, angry about something or anxious in someway. I love movies, shows, and the like but binging Netflix, Neon… Continue reading Brain Dumps, Teachering and Too Much Tech
Hey ho, it's another poem! I wrote this one last year during a writer's club lunchtime break, as part of an exercise. We all had to write in the style of a Particular poem by a Particular person, neither of which I remember, besides the fact that we had to choose an imperative verb and… Continue reading Weep (2022 Poem)
I’m a huge fan of many artistic pursuits, as I’m sure is no surprise. During lockdown in 2020, a fun and somewhat odd special interest was born. The best way I can describe it is collage meets found poem meets emotional chaos spilling out from inside my brain. I decided to share a few this… Continue reading My Weird Hobby
While in the changing room post-swim the other day, a poster caught my eye. Christchurch City Council's new campaign, It's Cool Not to Be Cruel centres around reminding people to treat CCC's employees with basic human decency. Abuse towards customer service employees has been on the rise. Part of me was shocked to learn this,… Continue reading Kind Strangers, Angry Strangers
In a Bohemian Humanist first, I’ve opened up the floor to a guest post - an up and coming blogger who I am rather fond of. They wish to remain anonymous, but have been itching to get their work out there. Without further ado, here’s Who I Came I Out To. It was summer break… Continue reading Who I Came Out To (Guest Post)
Just a quick one from me today. I'm well aware of the gravity of my two previous posts. I think this calls for an explorative, gratitude-focused interruption of my doomsdayism journalling. Keeping it simple, I've decided to share an exhaustive list of current things I'm grateful for. Perhaps you could give one a go? While… Continue reading Flexing the Gratitude Muscle: A Tempeh-Loving 90s Baby’s Exposé
Western paradigms, systems and ideologies (*cough* capitalism, neoliberalism) are unequivocally to blame for the predicament unfolding before us every single day. So far, Jason Hickel's Less is More: How Degrowth Will Save the World has laid out emergence of capitalism, and it's pretty dang ugly. In short, there was a gradual shift humanity's relationship to… Continue reading Climate Change: Adapting, Accepting and Actually Having a Life (Part Two)
Genuinely - I never thought I could be this happy. Weird way to start a climate change post, but how goes it? I'm currently reading Less is More: How Degrowth Will Save the World by Jason Hickel, and I'm simultaneously enthralled, numbed and compelled. Compelled to talk about this shit once more, to build upon… Continue reading Climate Change: Adapting, Accepting and Actually Having a Life (Part One)
During our second teacher strike recently, I met with other kaiako and wrote letters to politicians about our desperation, frustration, and why we are advocating for change. Initially, I wondered whether I was overstating things. Upon second glance, I realised the opposite is true - we are absolutely always understating our workload, day to day… Continue reading Open Letter to the Ministry of Education
I've been recovering from a knee injury recently. It turns out that knees don't like it when you go on long, erratic jogs after not running for weeks at a time. Maybe it's my mid-twenties catching up with me? It's nothing serious, just patella tendonitis. Not as concerning as the Latin would have you believe… Continue reading Creaky Knees and Dopamine-Seeking Swims
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