Last month, the newly elected Parliament of Myanmar chose Htin Kyaw as the country’s first non-military President since 1962. It was another step towards democracy, and a happy one, but Myanmar’s path to recovery is likely to be long and windy. The military still controls much of the government and has veto power over constitutional changes. They could […]
‘Ten minutes’ as in that’s how long these bliss balls will last before you’ve scoffed the whole batch. Oh, and also they take about that long to make. Very occasionally I write up a recipe on this blog, mostly because I’m feeling so flipping proud of myself for having developed something. I don’t loooooove […]
Parenting is flipping hard work, yes? You’re responsible for, as my friend Jess says, tiny sociopaths. They’re cute, sure, but they have little in the way of empathy, self-control, or social graces. You get no sick leave. You’re operating on so little sleep that serious reading now means clicking ‘see more’ on Facebook. Communities like […]
The Otago Daily Times, the only independently-owned major daily newspaper in New Zealand, had this feature teased on the front page this weekend: The paper is joining with a heritage society to get everyone to vote for Dunedin’s ‘most notable resident’. But you have to vote from a list of 17 nominees that have been […]
How can something as (potentially) shallow as Christmas gift shopping be a great way to make a difference in the world? Easy 🙂 If we aspire to living a life where our actions reflect our values, then how we spend our time and money on Christmas gifts can make a real impact on people beyond […]
My green cleaning journey so far Me and my husband: It worked! I made dishwashing powder! Cool. No – I need a high five for this. I’m AMAZING! Yeah, well done. I’m not getting enough enthusiasm here. I think it’s amazing that you make dinner. Food that we can put in our mouths. That’s amazing. This […]
This is part of an occasional series mining the mundane to find the sacred. For a list of the posts in the series, head here. If I never had to do housework again, that really would be fine by me. But I like our dishes and clothes to be clean; a tidy house is restful […]
Nicholas said to me in 2005, using his sharply-tuned crap-o-meter, that saying ‘I don’t have time for that’ is, consciously or otherwise, code for ‘I don’t want to do it.’ I’ve been hyperaware of the phrase ever since. I think I’d just told him I didn’t have time for getting back into yoga. Oops. Clearly, […]