Rewrite me

Someone once said there's no such thing as good writing, only good rewriting. I hope he or she is right...

If this dog's breakfast rewrite of one measly page of my current work in slow progress is anything to go by, I'll be lucky ever to find out. 

Read Me!

Cal's cake.

What he said

http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2014/09/24/heforshe-yes-i-am-a-feminist/

Long live the Left

On Saturday the Right won by a thrashing 48% of the vote (the Left, with Labour and Greens combined, didn't even reach 35%). That means they can govern alone. Their far-right support party, Act, also got in, thanks to their Right-wing cunning.

They won by strategising; by playing on people's prejudices and exploiting popular ignorance about how wealth and well-being are created. By telling the nation we shouldn't resent the rich. There is no life on the Right.

Life resides and thrives, despite the Right, entirely on the Left. Humour, understanding, compassion, caring, creativity, community, artistry and passion: LIFE. Writ large, bold and beautiful.

Long live the Left! Long live life!  

Light relief II: Kumara Kiwi

Light relief I: Cat amongst the pebbles

Soft rain day

                                   

A soft rain falls,
tickling the spiky hair
of the tall teen tree
dancing, waving, giggling --
if rather stiffly;
as if self-consciously.

Cars swoosh the road rain,
a kinder, softer spin
sympathetic to the boy
who sleeps in,
putting off algebra.

And the mother sits
mixed,
wondering how much
to give and take -- and say
of this soft rain day.  

Pistorius: A licence to kill

From The Guardian:

Hadley Freeman:  "We know what it takes for people to believe that a woman has been abused by a famous, powerful man [by any man]: they need to witness the actual abuse... And this is an issue that, of course, goes far beyond celebrity. In South Africa, a woman is killed by her partner every eight hours. In the UK, two die a week. [In New Zealand, one every two weeks, approximately] Perhaps Masipa was right after all. Perhaps this was a “normal relationship.” But that doesn't make it right." 

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/sep/12/oscar-pistorius-reeva-steenkamp-murder-normal-relationship

Roxane Gay: "Pistorius would have us believe that he thought his girlfriend was safely in bed next to him. He would have us believe this mythical black intruder was locked in his bathroom. He would have us believe this mythical black intruder was whom he was killing when he fired through a closed door four times, as if somehow that would be justifiable. Though early this morning I may not understand this world we live in, Oscar Pistorius understands it and what he can get away with, perfectly." 
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/sep/12/oscar-pistorius-verdict-reeva-steenkamp-defence-implausible

I've written a PhD on the subject of domestic homicide and despair at the ignorance and excuse-making of the judge and justice system in SA regarding the nature of domestic abuse situations, of which this is almost a text book case of the female victim's fears of the killer prior to the killing not being believed -- indeed, described by the judge as part of a "normal" "dynamic" relationship -- and yet practically every lie told by the male killer to get himself off a murder charge and life in prison is believed. It is also a standard justice system response from courts in NZ, as in SA, as anywhere else in the Western world, never mind the gender or race of the judge. And if the male killer is famous as well as being male, he effectively has a licence to kill. This response systematically perpetuates domestic violence against women, the most widespread violence and killer of women around the world.   

Now I am 16

                                                         

Now I am 16
a child I have been.

Having grown to see sense
to put childishness in the past tense
(perhaps not altogether).

To walk as well I can
between being boy
and becoming man.

Now I am 16
living the dream.


Happy Birthday Cal!






My youngest turned 16 today. I wrote this wee poem for him on his birthday card that I bought from time out in Mt Eden. I feel somewhat over-thanked by their bag, having only bought a card, good quality though it was, so offer this post by way of a balancing of the thank-you scales. I love the bag and the card and the shop, and have bought many books from them in the past and will do so again, most assuredly, in the near future.

Here's to quality indie book stores and the effective marriage of commerce, creativity and community -- a non-exploitative three-way. And a Happy Birthday to our boy, Cal.  

Szabotage

Last Sunday we woke to find our billboard of Labour's North Shore candidate, Claire Szabo, sabotaged in this dastardly manner, the empty spray can dumped on our verge so we had to dispose of it. Some people are total shits.

Szabo was Young Executive of the Year in 2010 who when working with underprivileged people became outraged when the National government gave her a tax cut that she didn't need while raising taxes and cutting services for the underprivileged, whose suffering she saw increase as a result. So she abandoned her 'handsome' salary to join Labour in trying to oust the National government who quite simply want more for those who have more and less for those who have less, in situations where less is definitely not more. National are total shits too, in short. And Claire is a quiet hero working for a good cause that, thanks to ignorance and greed and too many total shits, is a tough one; North Shore being a safe National seat. Give Claire, Labour, and all those fighting to oust the total shits here, there and everywhere your vote. Please.

Rivers of Tears

What a year it's been for cool celebrities dying dramatically -- as they lived, you might say. James Gandolfini, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Robin Williams and now Joan Rivers. Rivers of tears for them all. The world laughs, and lives a little less without them.