We have a situation...

The Girl Effect: The Clock is Ticking

Check out this video above. It's an important message and we can all make a difference. The particular organisation I support is about empowering adolescent girls who live in Kibera.

Click here to go to my September 2009 post about the Kibera slum.

Hey peeps

Thought I'd pop in to say quick gidday to anyone who bothers to stop by here and to have a quick lurk around some of my favourite blogs. 

-----------------------------------------------

News in brief: Yours truly turned 45 a couple of weeks ago, took it hard I must confess. Much consumption of strong drink and funny smelling cigarettes was required that day/week (well it's ongoing actually). Speaking of ageing, life is cruel you know, I used to ingest chemicals to blur the lines of reality, now, all I have to do is take off my glasses. 

On the topic of cigarettes (a while back I acknowledge, stay with me people), I passed my 2 year smokefree milestone - yayyy for me!

On a more serious note I nearly lost another sister a  couple of months back but thankfully she survived the ravages of a terrifying affliction called Guillain-Barre Syndrome. Thank the gods that medical treatment is top-knotch (and free) here. 

Currently getting my head around the fact that I will soon no longer have school age offspring; the boy finishes high school in a couple of months then on to university next year - this is good and bad; great that he's miraculously not a drop out (statistically speaking 'they' tell me he should be a dole-bludging crackhead having been raised in the evil environs of south Auckland by a cash strapped single parent), not so great that I'm inching ever more quickly towards decrepitude (please forgive the age related whinyness; the birthday is still raw). 

I did almost manage to get away for a couple of weeks to South Pacific island (Fiji to be specific), the plan was to up the vitamin D quota over the long, dreary, wet NZ winter but finances just wouldn't allow it. Booked it all but had to cancel when a big unexpected bill arrived. I just know there'll be swim up bars and margaritas in heaven ahhhh. Not actually sure why I included that 'non news' in my news update - obviously not a lot of real news to share. Sad. 

That's about it for now folks, oh yeah nearly forgot, big fucking earthquake down country in the early hours of this morning, mucho property damage I hear though thankfully no loss of life. 

Spring has sprung here in the land of the kiwi (and various other flightless birds) and there are smiles to be seen about town again - onwards and upwards. Love Lou. 

PS Sorry about the surfeit of parentheses (an indicator of poor education so I'm told), I just can't fight it. Ohhh that reminds me yet again - I got my diploma (remember the one that I bitched on about for a year?), big double yayyy for me. Not a real flash diploma you understand - but an accomplishment by my standards. 

L

EDIT: PPS Not a good day for tourists in NZ, I hear that a small sightseeing plane has crashed and burned with none of the 9 passengers and crew surviving. 

Aww shucks Kyle

It’s award time again folks and I’m delighted and flattered to accept this award bestowed on me by Kyle from Out Left.

Kyle is a creative type who lives and works in stunning New Hampshire with his partner Stan. He and Stan are passionate about their 19th century home and beautiful gardens of which we occasionally get to see photos. Kyle is also a movie buff and provides great reviews for those of us who need a bit of guidance. 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Apparently I am supposed to share 5 things that I enjoy before passing this award on to more worthy recipients.

Friends: There’s nothing I like more than settling down in comfy chairs for a good catch up with a friend. It’s even better when we can relax over a chilled and fruity Sauvignon Blanc. 

Food: Be it Middle Eastern or Italian or Thai or Greek or Indian – you name it I love it. The more flavoursome the better.

Learning: I undertake some formal learning every year and right now I should be working on a presentation that I’ll deliver on the 17th as part of  my current objective which is a diploma in Public Sector Leadership.  I’m nearly half way through this now after working on it part time for the last 6 months.

Coffee: Love it, can’t live without it.

Books: I’m afraid to say I’m not intelligentsia; for me it’s about a great story that’s not a chore to read. My favourite authors are Margaret Attwood, Sebastian Faulks and Wally Lamb.

And now to the fun part. I’ve made lots of new friends blogging but here are some of my favourite gals. Always great for a laugh are…

• Joanne at Moving Forward Half Speed
• Lori at Family Trees May Contain Nuts
• Kathryn at From the Inside…Out

At the next two sites I do more lurking than commenting due to the intimidation factor, but whether they know it or not I always read and greatly enjoy their wit and intelligence.

• Intelliwench at Post-Raphaelite Sisterhood
• PENolan at Menopausal Stoners

Thanks to you all for brightening my days. I’ll pop a comment on your latest post to let you know about this. Sorry to those of you who don’t want such awards – do with it what you will.

March for Peace

I mentioned in my post of yesterday that I would share what my sis and I got up to on Sunday morning before we visited the art gallery.

Click on the logo above to go to the New Zealand website.

You may have heard about the World March For Peace And Non-Violence which is starting in Wellington, NZ on October 2 and travelling around the globe for 90 days ending in the Andes Mountains in Argentina on January 2, 2010. The march is about raising awareness of how much better life could be if some of the international arms budget went toward improving people’s lives instead of for destruction. It is also about denouncing the dangerous world situation that is leading us frighteningly closer to nuclear war.

In Auckland yesterday morning, a precursor event was planned to help welcome the international contingent of marchers. The event kicked off in QEII square at 10am with a walk around the city’s peace heritage sites to be followed by a rally with music and speeches until mid afternoon. At one stage I was marching beside a famous Aucklander Lucy Lawless – she’s tall and friendly. She’s hot too, even without the Xena costume. 

Though my sister and I weren’t sure what route was planned  around the city, we knew we wanted to be involved but without staying for the whole thing (we care but just not enough to march all day). Thankfully just before lunch time the march was at Albert Park, a block away from the art gallery so we discretely slipped off to indulge in some Rita Angus.

Check out the international website for more information about the March for Peace. Join in if any events are close to you.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I was chatting to an American friend the other night on the phone and I mentioned that New Zealand is an avowedly nuclear free zone. My friend hadn’t known this and was surprised – maybe there are others who weren’t aware of this?

It all started with the dastardly French who were testing their nukes in our backyard in the south Pacific. They conducted 41 atmospheric nuclear tests at Mururoa atoll between 1966 and 1974 before they moved underground for a further 147 tests until the early 90s. In a symbolic act of protest in 1973 the New Zealand government sent two navy frigates, HMNZS Canterbury and Otago, into the test zone area to disrupt the testing. Huge impromptu flotillas of what became known as peace yachts accompanied the frigates. These protests were supported by large contingents of environmental groups such as Greenpeace.

In 1985 in an act of retaliation for all the hassle over the years, French saboteurs entered NZ and blew up the Greenpeace vessel Rainbow Warrior which was berthed at an Auckland wharf. A man sleeping on board was killed.

We were horrified. This act of international terrorism served to galvanise the views of ordinary New Zealanders and resulted in the passing of the New Zealand Nuclear Free Zone, Disarmament, and Arms Control Act of 1987.  All forms of nuclear generation were disallowed and nuclear powered or armed vessels were no longer permitted to enter our 22 kilometre (12 mile) zone.

Over the years it has certainly made for some very uncomfortable conversations with the US as their policy of neither confirming nor denying any vessel is nuclear powered and/or armed means that we disallow them all. It’s a weird situation and it puts us on the outer with our ‘friends’ though a referendum here a few years ago showed that for better or worse the large majority of kiwis want to keep the status quo. A nuclear free zone we remain after 22 years.

Culture and cappuccino

 

 

 

My sister and I are both fans of painter Rita Angus and we decided today to check out the latest exhibition of her work at the Auckland City Art Gallery. 

Rita Angus was a feminist and a pacifist and was one of this country's pioneer modern painters. She was prolific for over 40 years until she died in 1970. I particularly enjoy the oils she painted in her later years - here are four of my favourites.

Central Otago

Boats in the Bay

Fog, Hawkes Bay

View from Tinakori Road

I had been hoping to buy a lithograph of ‘Boats’ to have mounted for my bedroom wall but the $90.00 price tag was unfortunately out of my range. Instead we treated ourselves at the patisserie a few doors down – fabulous creamy cappuccino and delicious lemon tart.

It was a good part of a great day out, I hope your Sunday is as much fun.

**EDIT** I will post about what we got up to this morning, before the gallery, at some stage over the next couple of days.

Remembrance

The first day of spring is bittersweet.

I miss you almost as much now as I did then. It’s unfair that you never got a chance to show us what you could have done with your life and with your love - we reminisce with indulgence but I know you could have made good.

People remember bubba, the phone’s been ringing all day.

Carmel 1971 – 1995

Joy Joy Joy

I’m inspired by the ‘joy lists’ published by edder from I don’t care for your tone and DuPree from chlorine in the gene pool.  I wasn’t tagged but I'm doing it anyway, just because…

Things that bring me joy;

• a roaring wood fire on a cold wet night
• a new hair cut and colour
• gently waking to birdsong on summer holiday
• the butterflies that go with a first date
• a comfy chair in a warm spot and a good book

• my skin tingling in the sun after swimming in the sea
• driving with the top down
• my girlfriends and a jug of icy margarita
• a good movie in a luxury cinema (one with recliners)
• a rollercoaster ride with a child

Mrs Krabappel’s sister

Following Kate’s post of Friday, I have finally figured out how to get my picture out of the ‘Simpsonising’ machine and into a jpeg format.  Actually I didn’t figure it out at all, I sought and received the necessary advice from Kate about how she’d managed it (FYI we used the snipping tool in Vista).

…and here it is for what it’s worth. I like that this exercise was ‘interpretative’ and as a result both Bonnie (aka Santa’s Little Helper) and I look somewhat trimmer than we actually do in real life.  I am definitely not happy with the ugly shoe and clothing choices but I do think my new hair do looks pretty flash.

I think I look like I could be Mrs Krabappel’s younger, less yellow and way hotter sister and that’s why I’m in front of Springfield Elementary School.  When schools out for the day Edna and I are going to talk to the doctor about her jaundice and about her giving up the smokes before they kill her.  I also think she needs a new outfit and some new shoes so she doesn’t have to wear her green slippers everywhere.

Thanks Kate, that was fun.

Sisterhood Award

I was given this Sisterhood Award by the lovely Helen from Helens Journey who I’d like to thank profusely. It’s great to know that you enjoy my ramblings Helen.

I now get the privilege of passing this award on to 5 of my own favourite ‘sista’ bloggers. It’s always a tough decision but here we go…

1. The first award is to the lovely Kate from Becoming Kate whose posts I look forward to every day and with whom I metaphorically travel the road of life’s ups and downs.
2. Domestic Daze generously shares her frustrations and her joys with her readers and she always entertains.
3. Next I’ll share this award with Jenny from Boys Don’t Like Funny Girls. Jenny is funny and brave and her poetry is melodic and thought provoking.
4. Sas from sas’ magical mystery tour is a fellow kiwi currently living in England. She’s hilarious and in her words is “…just a touch cynical, coffee addict, vodka drinker, glass-three-quarters-full, chocolate devotee…”
5. Lastly I’d like to share this award with Doanli from The Emergency Parachute. Doanli is open and honest and takes beautiful photographs.

Thanks again Helen.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here’s what to do

1. Put the logo on your blog or post.
2. Nominate people whose blogs you enjoy.
3. Link to your nominees within your post.
4. Let them know they have received this award by commenting on their blogs.
5. Share the love and link to the person who nominated you for the award.

Boy toy

My dad (bearded codger in the black cap) has a somewhat unusual toy.  He co-owns it with his mate, the other guy in the picture and they have some laughs with this thing.All my life there have been machines like this in our shed and in our lives. For work and for play.  We grew up around them and many of my childhood memories revolve around the dichotomy between my mum wanting pretty (clean) daughters in frilly dresses and fun loving dad wanting my sister and I to hang with him and learn about steam and oil and boilers and pressure and coal and such things. Dad almost always won. Fun times. 

 Who knows what it’s called?

The simple life

Today I wanted to share some good news.

Sometimes we can get mired in the worries of the world and the confusion in our heads and we need to take a deep breath and think about what’s good and kind and gentle in the world.

Smell the roses friends…

Identical twin sisters Beryl Baguley and Matilda Hanlon (nee Wilson)  of Auckland turned 100 yesterday as reported on nzherald.co.nz. These two gorgeous women have a very simple philosophy on life and on longevity.

Mrs Hanlon said "I have always eaten simply, lived simply and have never wanted for much...I have always just used soap and water on my face and no fancy products too,"

Neither of the twins have ever been seriously ill nor have they had to undergo any type of surgery. Their advice on surviving a major recession was also simple.

“Don't get a credit card, I've never had one and I don't think people need them,"  said Mrs Hanlon, who has lived in her three-bedroomed Papatoetoe home since 1947.

"My husband bought some carpet for our home on a time-payment basis many years ago but we found it very hard to pay it off so I swore we would never get anything on credit again."

Both women have outlived their husbands and some of their children.  Neither of them have ever been on a plane nor visited the NZ’s South Island.

---------------------------------------

I think sometimes we can make life so very complicated and I could certainly take a page from their book and no doubt be happier. 

Read the story if you can be bothered – it sure made me feel good. NZ Herald.

Sisters rock!

Don’t forget to cast your vote in my poll

Forever 24

The beautiful young woman woke up filled with anticipation. She’d been waiting for this day to arrive. Now that she had her full motorcycle licence she could jump on her new bike and ride under her own steam to the rally instead of being on the back of his bike. She knew he was rapt too as he much preferred riding his ‘Guzzi without a pillion.

She was still disappointed that her sister had cancelled, it would have been the first time they all went for a decent ride together since she got her full licence. Her sister had been the one who’d taught her to ride and convinced her to get her own bike so it would have been really special to travel together on this first big ride out of town.

She checked off her list. He had the tent and sleeping bags in his panniers, all she needed was her clothing and toiletries. She admired her new leather pants and wished she’d been able to afford the new jacket at the same time. Her old leather would have to do until she could save some more money and collect the jacket too. She’d been sensible – she spent the money on a new helmet instead as her old one was a bit damaged from when she slid off her bike a few weeks ago on a patch of oil on the road. Thank God that had happened before she got her new bike – buying it had almost bankrupted her so the thought of spending money she didn’t have on paint work was not a happy thought.

She rang her sister at work and said goodbye, they were heading off shortly and were planning on being away 3 nights. As they spoke she hooked the phone under her chin so she could French braid her hair. She’d found this was the best way of keeping it out of her face while riding and stopping it from tangling in the wind. Her sister was bummed not to be coming but she just couldn’t get away from work right now.

Her boyfriend turned up while she was still on the phone so she said goodbye and blew her big sister a kiss. He checked how she’d tied on her bag to make sure it was secure and then she locked up the house and they excitedly headed to the gas station to check tyre pressure and gas up before heading south.

The plan was that they’d meet a group of friends in Cambridge which was just over an hour away, and stop there for lunch. The rally was on the Desert Road about 3 hours south of Cambridge so they planned to get there by mid afternoon and set up camp before commencing the weekend’s festivities.

The meet-up occurred as planned in Cambridge and they all munched fries and drank coffee before preparing once again to set off. 

She’d enjoyed the ride that far but was worried that the speed he was setting was too fast for her. They talked about it and they agreed she should stick to a speed that was comfortable for her and he and his mates would go for a blast for the next 150 kilometres and then they’d wait for her in Taupo and they could all travel together the rest of the way.

3 hours later she still hadn’t arrived and he started to worry.

It wasn’t until hours later that they found out. Only 5 minutes out of Cambridge, on the Karapiro Road, a van driver hadn’t seen her coming around the bend by the Mobil service station and had pulled out. By the time a passerby got to her in the paddock next to the road, she was gone.

She’ll be forever 24.

Flying, shopping, flying

Hope everyone’s weekend was great.

I am back in NZ after a flying visit to Victoria to catch up with my girlfriend who’s still freaked about the fire getting so close to her place. She still refuses to unpack her car despite the reasonable amount of rain they’ve had there and the subsequent reduction in the fire risk.

To help her relax, we decided that a spot of shopping was the order of the day so we headed down to Melbourne for some serious retail therapy.

We started with pedicures as it’s just not fair to inflict ugly feet on shoe salespersons and then after a coffee break we headed to Myer for a look and a dream over the Blahniks.

I needed a new pair of black courts with winter on the way and there was one pair I particularly loved (see picture) but at AUS$895 there was no way in hell.  Man they looked gorgeous on my feet though.

Not one to be daunted so easily, I went looking for something similar but at about the necessary 15-20% of the cost…and I found them.

Please excuse my less that professional shoe photography.

These were much more in my price range and I absolutely love them.  The Italian leather is so supple and soft, its a minor miracle and they’re a perfect height heel for me to wear to work – 3 inches which means I can wear them all day without too much foot angst.

My next purchase was a beautiful leather overnight bag as my current one is looking rather scruffy and needed replacing. This photo makes it look quite navy but it’s actually a midnight blue – so dark it almost looks black except when the light hits it. It’s the perfect size for overnight necessities and I feel like Audrey Hepburn when I carry it :-)

That was my shopping budget totally blown but then I saw a handbag that I just couldn’t resist.

The whole ‘alligator skin’ leather is starting to sound somewhat like a fetish (and if I am honest it probably is lately) but I have been looking for a red bag to match some gorgeous red boots I bought a couple of weeks ago.

Anyway here it is!

Photographed along side my overnight bag so you get a feel for the size of them both.

Ahhh life is good!

After dinner and 2 bottles of wine in Lygon Street and a great days shopping, I really felt that BFF was finally relaxing and feeling more in control of her life again.

She’s now rethinking where she’s chosen to live and I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a move out of the bush on the horizon for her. I know I’d feel much happier if she wasn’t living there by next summer though I’ll miss the place.

It’s good to be home – am much poorer after shopping, eating and drinking and flights but I’m glad I went for her sake. Back to work tomorrow to pay for it all.

Heading bush

Quick post from Tullamarine Airport before heading north west to BFF’s place. Bracing myself slightly for what I might see changed since my last visit 3 months ago. I’ll catch up on posts when I get home in a couple of days. This is a flying visit only.

News from down under

School Stabbing

NZ’s first ever stabbing of a teacher at school happened yesterday. See NZ Herald article. The teacher was writing on the whiteboard when a 17 year old student stabbed him in the back a couple of times and then took off.

The teacher is going to be OK and the kid was picked up shortly after by cops.

Very strange behaviour…

 

 Victorian Fires

I see in The Melbourne Age that 1 of the last 4 still burning complex fires has finally been brought under control. The other 3 are close to containment too thank goodness.

My friend has only just returned to her place. The Daylesford fire got within 8km’s of her place and it freaked her out so bad, she had to really psych herself into going back. She won’t be unpacking the car for weeks yet I imagine until the threat is completely gone.

Let’s hope for all Victorian’s sakes, there’s nothing too serious left to contend with for the rest of the fire season.

__________________________________________________________

On a different note entirely…In NZ we’re a couple of weeks into season 5 of Lost right now and I’m through with it. Totally. I hung in there as long as it was humanly possible but I won’t be watching even one more episode. It’s completely done my head in.

It’s over, sad but true.

Chick Fest

Just in case there’s anybody left in the land of blog who hasn’t already seen the movies I watched this evening, this post will take the form of a public service film review by yours truly.

Since my BFF moved home to Melbourne a couple of years ago, the person that I hang with most is a guy. An old school friend actually. Now he’s great and we have lots of fun but a movie night with him is much more likely to be about war or cars or super heroes or guns (or some combination of the above) than it is about ‘relationships/love/romance/feelings’. Don’t get me wrong I enjoy an action movie as much as the next girl and plus I feel bad forcing him to watch a chick flick as he inevitably falls asleep.

So, anyway, he’s off doing something manly this weekend so it seemed the perfect opportunity to remedy the appalling backlog of girlie movies not yet seen by me. Plus, Rory’s staying at a mates place and the weather is foul so I could fully commit to a triple feature chick flick fest without the guilt associated with blobbing on the coach for about 5 straight hours.

The movies are:

• Sex and the City
• Made of Honour
• Forgetting Sarah Marshall

The order in which to indulge in this rom-com romp gave me pause but I knew pretty much straight off I’d leave Carrie and the girls ‘til last. I’d heard from Jennicki that FSM was great but I’m also a bit of a fan of McDreamy (aka Patrick Dempsey) so that was a toss-up. I decided on FSM then Made of Honour and then SATC.

And so to business…

Forgetting Sarah Marshall

• Good level of male full frontal nudity
• A couple of real laugh out loud moments
• Not afraid to take the p*ss out of itself
• 2.5 stars out of 5

Made of Honour

• Lovely cinematography (New York, Scotland)
• Sabotage theme has strong echoes of My Best Friends Wedding. Substitute the basketball court scene for the karaoke bar and the bridal shower scene for the rehearsal dinner and it could be Julia Roberts and Cameron Diaz
• Formulaic/predictable but with strong(ish) performances by Dempsey and Michelle Monaghan
• The psycho blogger was a nice touch
• 3 stars out of 5

Just in case those of you in the US think I am misspelling the word ‘honour’ in the title, it was released here this way.

Sex and the City

• Fabulous wedding gowns (and shoes)(and bags)
• Nostalgia
• The inevitable montage of late 80’s wardrobe and music
• Dramatic bouquet smashing street scene
• Unexpectedly thoughtful
• 4 stars out of 5

…and that dear readers is my two cents worth.