I just had a long chat with Mum who just returned from New Zealand. I miss it. I want to go back there so bad. She told me a story about the very tip of the North Island called Cape Reinga. It is so very beautiful. She said that New Zelander’s (The Kiwi’s!) are very creative and they place much of attention & value on the arts and artsy things. That makes me feel awesome.
View PostYesterday was International Women’s Day. “It is a major day of global celebration for the economic, political and social achievements of women.” I had a soak in the hot tub and thought about women who have inspired me to be strong & confident. Women that have helped me define myself by what I have learned from them and their experiences. I am truly blessed to have had some wonderful women around me since a very young age. The most inspiring, strong, unique women of them all is my Mum. She is visiting my awesome family in New Zealand. Lots of love to the family ♥. I think of New Zealand as an untapped resource too, the Maoris hanging out at Rotorua geothermal, the long drive out to Grandad’s Batch.
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This has been floating around Facebook since January. I figured since I’ve been tagged by a ton of friends it is about time I shared 25 random facts about me. The rules go as follows: Once you’ve been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. Blah, blah, blah… Here we go: I was born in Canada to New Zealand parents and have dual citizenship (Canadian/New Zealand). I danced ballet, tap and jazz as a kid and completed in competitions across Ontario as well as Showstopper in NY & Myrtle Beach, SC. I was 5 with fake lashes and red lipstick! I wrote a book and became a published Canadian Author at 14. It was titled Jeans: An Anthology of Poetry and Prose. The Toronto Star wrote and article about me titled “Push Over Keats, Teen Muse Steps Ahead“. I went to Uni in Australia and lived at Bondi Beach. It was the best year because I learned the most about myself and WHO I really am. I hate scary movies. I get queezy and I don’t like to put bad images in my head. I’m crazy enough already! I still have all my Barbies and their vintage outfits. I hope to get them made in my size one day. I have a Green Belt in Tae Know Do and once knocked out a boy (Note: James Roszell) in grade 8 at school. Mum thought I’d get in trouble but I said “Mum, do you think he’s gonna tell anyone?“ I hate the number three. I don’t do anything in threes. I grew up around vintage cars and vintage clothes. My Dad…
View PostLast night I was talking with one of my mates in Palmerston North, New Zealand. A bunch of my wonderful family members live in that small but awesome city commonly referred to as ‘Palmy’. This is James Wynne with a tag he did. So swift!
View PostI sang or listened to our national anthem everyday while growing up. I learned it in both official languages. I still remember it and can sing it the way we used to, like half English half French. My parents grew up singing God Defend New Zealand. They did not grow up in Canada like I did. I have dual citizenship’ but I live here and feel Canadian. New Zealand has two national anthems of equal standing – ‘God Defend New Zealand‘ and ‘God Save The Queen‘.The reason: ‘National songs, ballads and hymns have a tendency to elevate the character of a people and keep alive the fire of patriotism in their breasts’. The Saturday Advertiser and New Zealand Literary Miscellany, 1 July 1876 Did you know that O Canada was first a poem, became national in 1980 and has several versions? Honestly, I think if you go to Canadian school and work in the Canadian economy and and choose to be Canadian, learn the fucking anthem as a kid in school. Some people in New Brunswick don’t think so. In summary of you havent seen the news “principal’s decision, eliminate tradition, singing O Canada, sparked outrage, parents, the country…heated debate…blah blah blah”.
View PostOne of my favorite books as a kid was Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak. I loved this story. I just found out that mum complained at the library one time about how the book was horrible. Max was punished and sent to bed without dinner for bring mischievous. She had never heard such a story in New Zealand! This thought is quite funny, mum took another read of the story and saw it in a different light from then on. The book is regarded as an American classic in children’s lit and is only ten lines long. How inspiring!! My sister got me this great shirt for Chrissy this year. I’m feeling a bit wild today!! OMG UPDATE: the movie comes out october 16, 2009
View PostI was feeling quite cold on Sunday as I was lazing around. A friend suggested something called the Snuggie. Have you heard of it? Snuggie seems like a really weird word to me, look at it, ‘SNUGGIE’. I think this unit is following me around. Later that day I saw it on TV and today I got an email offering me a buy one get one free special. I think it’s silly, however, I’d have to try it to find out just how useful it could be. I’m thinking it may be practical for an outdoor sporting event. Especially if you had a few sewn together so you could keep the whole family warm. Family size snuggie. Feel free to take advantage of this offer that was in my junk mail. I don’t need it. I have heating, blankets and many lovely sweaters from New Zealand that my Nana knit.
View PostThis week the Economist published an interesting article entitled “Sex and the Citizen‘. It showed a detailed breakdown of what countries are the most promiscuous. I found it interesting. They surveyed 14,000 people in 48 countries. Questions ranged from “how many one-night stands have you had?” to” is sex without love acceptable, or sex with casual partners?”. Researchers gathered the answers and determined the results. I found the comments on the article to be quite interesting! It’s a bit funny actually. Finland and New Zealand rank highest and Bangladesh and Taiwan are the lowest. I’m pretty surprised that France, Italy and Australia were not closer to the top of the list! Boooya!
View PostAnzac Day is commemorated by Australia and New Zealand on 25 April every year to honour members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZACs) who fought at Gallipoli in Turkey during World War I. Anzac Day is also celebrated in the Cook Islands, Niue, Samoa and Tonga. This is the verse of the ode that is said during the minutes of silence on Anzac Day: They shall grow not old,As we that are left grow old,Age shall not weary them,Nor the years condemn.At the going down of the sun,And in the morningWe will remember them. Lest we Forget The Sweet Stuff: ANZAC Biscuits are a snack food most commonly made from the primary ingredients of rolled oats, coconut, and maple syrup/golden syrup.
View PostBeing a Kiwi, as great as it is, I enjoyed that VICE featured NZ in their global trend report. However, with all the focus on cities around the world, they managed to put NZ, the COUNTRY, not a city such as Auckland or Wellington, or hell, Palmy either!! Here’s what they said: “It’s slightly disappointing that no one in this majestic land actually looks like Frodo or Xena. Yes, that is all most of us know about New Zealand. Oh, and Flight of the Conchords, which isn’t the funniest thing ever, but it’s a little bit funny once in awhile. Eagle Vs. Shark was pretty good too—like Napoleon Dynamite but with cute accents and kind of sadder. What other good movies were made in New Zealand? Oh yeah, Heavenly Creatures. That’s an old fave. So anyway, instead of mythical creatures and lesbian schoolgirls, what we have here is a bunch of young cool kids being cool in their cool clothes that, we are slowly coming to realize, are the same cool clothes as everywhere else in the world. Globalization blah blah blah. Nevertheless, New Zealanders look like a pretty good time. It’s like new rave never stretched its poisonous tentacles all the way over there or something. NZ girls are good at mix ’n’ match. High-end designer pieces (Yohji Yamamoto Y’s, Zambesi) are carefully thrown together with more “street” items and bits of vintage. (MY FAV!) A simple black-and-white outfit accented with a Chanel purse plus arm tattoos plus pink hair with long bangs plus Docs equals “Let’s do this.” And wait, is that a tattoo of the Little Mermaid on her arm? OK, fine, let’s fucking do this. Everything is black-and-white, and color only occurs in the context of a perfect plaid shirt, which is harder to find than…
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