Monday, October 31, 2011
Taking stock of life
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Sisters are doin' it for themselves
Last night, Hamilton hosted it's inaugural Women's Forum. The panel included our Mayor Julie Hardaker, Dr Sue Dymock (I've known her since I was about ten), Sarah Seel, an Engineer (cool, huh?), Raewyn Hamilton, a business woman based in Auckland...and little old me! Kaye Gregory was our vivacious and witty MC.
Tickets to the event had sold out within a blink of an eye, and before I'd even known they'd gone on sale.
As panelists, we'd been given the questions about a week ago, so we weren't flying by the seat of our pants. Of the seven questions, there were only 3 that I was able to prepare for because I wasn't under 30, wasn't over 50 and don't have kids (two questions were related to parenting).
Here are the 3 questions that I did tackle (and roughly the responses I gave):
a. What have I gained the most from my relationship with my grandmother?
Given that I had the coolest grandmother that ever walked this earth, this one was easy as. To me, Grandma gave me a real sense of self, an understanding of why it is that I love music, fresh flowers, watercolours, historical novels, Sherlock Holmes, silly television adverts, cats...its all built into my DNA. Grandma celebrated my uniqueness, and loved my quirkiness...she never once baulked at any of the strange things I did or said or wanted, she purely loved me for being me. Her passing was one of the most traumatic moments of my life. I still miss her every single day. The last thing I ever said to her, just a week before she died in 2003 was "I love you Grandma". Best. Final. Words. Ever.
Following the death of my Grandfather several months ago, we cleared out his house. Amongst the things, I found a little book I'd given Grandma for her birthday in 1992. I'd actually gone through and underlined some of the phrases in pencil that were peculiar to our relationship. These included:
I finished that section with one of my all time favourite phrases..."Be who you are and say what you want because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter, don't mind" Dr Seuss.
b. If you had the ability to turn back time to improve one aspect of your life, when would it be to and why?
Hindsight: wonderful and torturous all at once. My overall response that I wish I'd listened more often to my gut feeling...and gone with what I'd thought was right instead of pandering to others beliefs and desires or being railroaded by the bolshy people in my life (I didn't say that bit, but I was blimin thinking it!).
But I can put my finger on an EXACT moment in time. When I was 22, a local radio station that my employer had a lot to do with was looking for someone to work the graveyard shift. I'd done some voiceover work for them, and was good friends with a lot of the team at the station. They asked me if I wanted to take on the shift (yes, the hours would have fitted with the job I had at the time and training was no problem), but I declined the offer. Everyone said things like "they're not gonna pay you enough" or "those hours suck" or "I'll never see you" or "do you really want to work in radio, its boring", et cetera. And idiot me didn't go with my gut feeling. Idiot me went with what everyone else said. I have been kicking myself ever since.
I would have LOVED a career in radio or on tv...something media/journalism oriented. Now I just have to make do with flirting with tv and radio hosts and their sidekicks on twitter...you know who you are ;-)
c. How do I foster healthy communication in a day when technology has altered the way we communicate?
Ok...so the audience was 100% women! Yeah, I was really surprised at that. I thought a few husbands or fathers or brothers would pop along, but no...it was a chicks only event. But it was cool!
The youngest there was 17-ish, the oldest about 80-ish, and the bulk of the audience would have been in the 50-70 age bracket. I wouldn't go as far as to say that they came from all walks of life, but certainly there was a wide cross-section of nationalities represented.
Thankfully, several months ago, I'd had a one on one Skype power session with @thornybleeder (shameless plug), and a lot of what we'd covered was in respect of communication in this day and age, and in particular women and social media.
Accordingly, I was armed with all sorts of stats (women aged 55+ are the fast growing demographic on the internet) and knowledge in order to answer it. My main response (from a business point of view) was that as women, we need to embrace technology as a method of communication, that modern business is all about talking with people, not at people. I explained that old school advertising was dead (yellow pages, billboards, newspaper, etc) because companies were no longer getting the return on investment that they did using those methods say, even 5 years ago.
Then Kaye asked me to explain twitter. I tried to be succinct. I just have so much to say about it. I was practically jumping out of my chair talking about it! However, omg, get this. A friend of mine, Tania was there in the audience, and following my brief enthusiastic description, she signed up to twitter as I continued to speak.
Fast-forward to the dessert break --> I tweeted that Tania had signed up, and within a few minutes she had 13 followers although she still hadn't even tweeted. Good work team! You guys rock.
Anyway, back to the event. It finished with some questions from the floor including "What is your most annoying habit?" and "What poster was on your wall when you were a teenager". FYI: Jon Bon Jovi, of course, the man I have been in love with flat-tack for 27 years, without ever waivering in my devotion to him.
Every so often Kaye would throw in a light-hearted question to put us on the spot, and all in all, the event was hilarious, convivial and a tonne of fun.
The evening finished with a brief speech by Julie, then it was home, into my PJs and onto twitter and instagram.
I had two highlights from the event: my passion for public speaking was rekindled (gimme more someone!), and funnily enough my second highlight was the natter that the panelists, Kaye and I had in the green room prior to the event starting. We could hear the audience arriving and talking and laughing, but for an hour or so we just talked about our backgrounds, being stuck in the lift with movie stars, you know...that general chit chat you get. Fantastic.
A special thanks to Bronnie for inviting me to be a part of such an auspicious panel. It truly was one of the best nights I've had out this year.
Tickets to the event had sold out within a blink of an eye, and before I'd even known they'd gone on sale.
As panelists, we'd been given the questions about a week ago, so we weren't flying by the seat of our pants. Of the seven questions, there were only 3 that I was able to prepare for because I wasn't under 30, wasn't over 50 and don't have kids (two questions were related to parenting).
Here are the 3 questions that I did tackle (and roughly the responses I gave):
a. What have I gained the most from my relationship with my grandmother?
Given that I had the coolest grandmother that ever walked this earth, this one was easy as. To me, Grandma gave me a real sense of self, an understanding of why it is that I love music, fresh flowers, watercolours, historical novels, Sherlock Holmes, silly television adverts, cats...its all built into my DNA. Grandma celebrated my uniqueness, and loved my quirkiness...she never once baulked at any of the strange things I did or said or wanted, she purely loved me for being me. Her passing was one of the most traumatic moments of my life. I still miss her every single day. The last thing I ever said to her, just a week before she died in 2003 was "I love you Grandma". Best. Final. Words. Ever.
Following the death of my Grandfather several months ago, we cleared out his house. Amongst the things, I found a little book I'd given Grandma for her birthday in 1992. I'd actually gone through and underlined some of the phrases in pencil that were peculiar to our relationship. These included:
"Good grandmothers let you tell them the entire plot of the film
they too watched last night on television.
With suitable amazement".
"Grandmas sometimes race you to the next lamppost...
but then they sit on a wall,
and go a funny shade of yellow".
I finished that section with one of my all time favourite phrases..."Be who you are and say what you want because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter, don't mind" Dr Seuss.
b. If you had the ability to turn back time to improve one aspect of your life, when would it be to and why?
Hindsight: wonderful and torturous all at once. My overall response that I wish I'd listened more often to my gut feeling...and gone with what I'd thought was right instead of pandering to others beliefs and desires or being railroaded by the bolshy people in my life (I didn't say that bit, but I was blimin thinking it!).
But I can put my finger on an EXACT moment in time. When I was 22, a local radio station that my employer had a lot to do with was looking for someone to work the graveyard shift. I'd done some voiceover work for them, and was good friends with a lot of the team at the station. They asked me if I wanted to take on the shift (yes, the hours would have fitted with the job I had at the time and training was no problem), but I declined the offer. Everyone said things like "they're not gonna pay you enough" or "those hours suck" or "I'll never see you" or "do you really want to work in radio, its boring", et cetera. And idiot me didn't go with my gut feeling. Idiot me went with what everyone else said. I have been kicking myself ever since.
I would have LOVED a career in radio or on tv...something media/journalism oriented. Now I just have to make do with flirting with tv and radio hosts and their sidekicks on twitter...you know who you are ;-)
c. How do I foster healthy communication in a day when technology has altered the way we communicate?
Ok...so the audience was 100% women! Yeah, I was really surprised at that. I thought a few husbands or fathers or brothers would pop along, but no...it was a chicks only event. But it was cool!
The youngest there was 17-ish, the oldest about 80-ish, and the bulk of the audience would have been in the 50-70 age bracket. I wouldn't go as far as to say that they came from all walks of life, but certainly there was a wide cross-section of nationalities represented.
Thankfully, several months ago, I'd had a one on one Skype power session with @thornybleeder (shameless plug), and a lot of what we'd covered was in respect of communication in this day and age, and in particular women and social media.
Accordingly, I was armed with all sorts of stats (women aged 55+ are the fast growing demographic on the internet) and knowledge in order to answer it. My main response (from a business point of view) was that as women, we need to embrace technology as a method of communication, that modern business is all about talking with people, not at people. I explained that old school advertising was dead (yellow pages, billboards, newspaper, etc) because companies were no longer getting the return on investment that they did using those methods say, even 5 years ago.
Then Kaye asked me to explain twitter. I tried to be succinct. I just have so much to say about it. I was practically jumping out of my chair talking about it! However, omg, get this. A friend of mine, Tania was there in the audience, and following my brief enthusiastic description, she signed up to twitter as I continued to speak.
Fast-forward to the dessert break --> I tweeted that Tania had signed up, and within a few minutes she had 13 followers although she still hadn't even tweeted. Good work team! You guys rock.
Anyway, back to the event. It finished with some questions from the floor including "What is your most annoying habit?" and "What poster was on your wall when you were a teenager". FYI: Jon Bon Jovi, of course, the man I have been in love with flat-tack for 27 years, without ever waivering in my devotion to him.
Every so often Kaye would throw in a light-hearted question to put us on the spot, and all in all, the event was hilarious, convivial and a tonne of fun.
The evening finished with a brief speech by Julie, then it was home, into my PJs and onto twitter and instagram.
I had two highlights from the event: my passion for public speaking was rekindled (gimme more someone!), and funnily enough my second highlight was the natter that the panelists, Kaye and I had in the green room prior to the event starting. We could hear the audience arriving and talking and laughing, but for an hour or so we just talked about our backgrounds, being stuck in the lift with movie stars, you know...that general chit chat you get. Fantastic.
A special thanks to Bronnie for inviting me to be a part of such an auspicious panel. It truly was one of the best nights I've had out this year.
Friday, October 14, 2011
A curious thought
No blog today folks, just a really cool quote that I found:
"It is a curious thought, but it is only when you see people looking ridiculous that you realise just how much you love them"
Agatha Christie
And awww, I found the purrfect picture to go with the quote. How many other cats cross their paws at the ankle when in polite company? Yup, thought so...just my often ridiculous cat. And, I can't begin to tell you how much I love him ;-)
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Pain explained
***NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART, ICKY MEDICAL STUFF INCLUDED***
You know those severe cramps you get after eating something dodgy? Well add that feeling to someone continually stabbing stiletto heels into the lower part of your stomach. Got that? Then add Edward Scissorhands sitting inside your stomach waving his hands around. Then add searing pain that travels down the front of your thighs to your toes. Add sweat. Add inability to speak. Add inability to cry. Then make that combination of feelings last for 6 to 24+ hours.
And, that is what Endometriosis pain feels like to me. I've been hospitalised numerous times for pain management, and usually only find relief after being put onto a self-administering morphine pump. I've had eight operations to remove it, and am now so riddled with scar tissue and nerve damage that there is nothing more they can do from an operative point of view.
Not even removing a good portion of my innards will remove the disease, its too extensive.
My most recent operation has been hailed as the "deepest Endometriosis excision ever performed". Photographs and video footage have since been shown worldwide at medical conventions. The Doctor who performed the operation has published his findings in countless medical journals. Some of the endo he removed was more than 20 years old.
But, if it had been in there for 20 years, why hadn't it been removed in one of the earlier operations, I hear you ask? Because they didn't have the technology or skills to do it back then.
I've seen the photos. The really old Endo looks like slimy black tar. The newer stuff ranges from light pink to blood red. I've got a great photo from halfway through one of the ops about 6 years ago. On one side is the hideous endo in all its endo-ish glory, and on the other side, you can clearly see the organs that its been removed from.
I'm now under the care of a Pain Specialist because its inoperable, and they need to figure out a plan so that I can manage the pain myself until I head off to heaven.
Last night I had an excruciating episode, so bad that I considered going to A&E for the second time in a fortnight. Just as I was at my wits end, I got in touch with the Pain Dude and via his suggestions (then me upping the dosage a bit) we eventually managed to make the pain bearable enough that I could remain at home.
Today, I feel exhausted, and as though I did 5,000 sit-ups yesterday. The aching never goes away, but I'm used to it now. Its the excruciating episodes like last night that wear me down, physically and emotionally.
I can't figure out how to finish this blog. I just sincerely hope that none of the women in your lives ever have to suffer through it as I do.
You know those severe cramps you get after eating something dodgy? Well add that feeling to someone continually stabbing stiletto heels into the lower part of your stomach. Got that? Then add Edward Scissorhands sitting inside your stomach waving his hands around. Then add searing pain that travels down the front of your thighs to your toes. Add sweat. Add inability to speak. Add inability to cry. Then make that combination of feelings last for 6 to 24+ hours.
And, that is what Endometriosis pain feels like to me. I've been hospitalised numerous times for pain management, and usually only find relief after being put onto a self-administering morphine pump. I've had eight operations to remove it, and am now so riddled with scar tissue and nerve damage that there is nothing more they can do from an operative point of view.
Not even removing a good portion of my innards will remove the disease, its too extensive.
My most recent operation has been hailed as the "deepest Endometriosis excision ever performed". Photographs and video footage have since been shown worldwide at medical conventions. The Doctor who performed the operation has published his findings in countless medical journals. Some of the endo he removed was more than 20 years old.
But, if it had been in there for 20 years, why hadn't it been removed in one of the earlier operations, I hear you ask? Because they didn't have the technology or skills to do it back then.
I've seen the photos. The really old Endo looks like slimy black tar. The newer stuff ranges from light pink to blood red. I've got a great photo from halfway through one of the ops about 6 years ago. On one side is the hideous endo in all its endo-ish glory, and on the other side, you can clearly see the organs that its been removed from.
I'm now under the care of a Pain Specialist because its inoperable, and they need to figure out a plan so that I can manage the pain myself until I head off to heaven.
Last night I had an excruciating episode, so bad that I considered going to A&E for the second time in a fortnight. Just as I was at my wits end, I got in touch with the Pain Dude and via his suggestions (then me upping the dosage a bit) we eventually managed to make the pain bearable enough that I could remain at home.
Today, I feel exhausted, and as though I did 5,000 sit-ups yesterday. The aching never goes away, but I'm used to it now. Its the excruciating episodes like last night that wear me down, physically and emotionally.
I can't figure out how to finish this blog. I just sincerely hope that none of the women in your lives ever have to suffer through it as I do.
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Instagram 101
Following on from my worldwide phenomenal smash hit successful blog "Twitter 101" published 18 July 2011, I now present you with its cousin (once removed) Instagram 101.
Step 1. Buy an iPhone (I don't believe that the Blackberry/Android versions of Instagram have been released yet - please correct me if I'm wrong);
Step 2. Download the Instagram app (and guess what, it's free!);
Step 3. Take a photo using Instagram, then apply one of the filters, possibly do some funky in focus/out of focus stuff with your image;
Step 4. Add a caption (or not). You can even geotag the picture so people know roughly where you were when you took it. Its entirely up to you.
Step 5. Download it to facebook, twitter or flickr.
ANYONE can be a whizz bang photographer with Instagram. Anyone. Even me. Here are some of mine:
If you'd known me as long as I've known me, you'd know that my photography in the past has sucked. Really, really sucked.
I only took ONE good photograph in the whole of the 80's. Ok, so I was a kid, but still. A whole decade and only one decent pic to show for it? That is sad.
By the way, another cool thing about Instagram is that you can follow your friends who are using the app too. Once you're following you can "like" and comment on their pix.
I know that if I can't sleep Kate from the UK or Team Vancouver (too many to name) or Eston of Kenya will have uploaded something interesting to look at on Instagram. Buildings, traffic, seasons, planes, pets, kids, food...the list is endless.
Oh, one more thing. Instagram has already taught me to find beauty in the most mundane things. Even letterboxes. Here's one I took last week.
How pretty is that? It even looks like a real photographer might have taken it, not someone who only took one decent photo in the whole of the 1980s.
Step 1. Buy an iPhone (I don't believe that the Blackberry/Android versions of Instagram have been released yet - please correct me if I'm wrong);
Step 2. Download the Instagram app (and guess what, it's free!);
Step 3. Take a photo using Instagram, then apply one of the filters, possibly do some funky in focus/out of focus stuff with your image;
Step 4. Add a caption (or not). You can even geotag the picture so people know roughly where you were when you took it. Its entirely up to you.
Step 5. Download it to facebook, twitter or flickr.
ANYONE can be a whizz bang photographer with Instagram. Anyone. Even me. Here are some of mine:
If you'd known me as long as I've known me, you'd know that my photography in the past has sucked. Really, really sucked.
I only took ONE good photograph in the whole of the 80's. Ok, so I was a kid, but still. A whole decade and only one decent pic to show for it? That is sad.
By the way, another cool thing about Instagram is that you can follow your friends who are using the app too. Once you're following you can "like" and comment on their pix.
I know that if I can't sleep Kate from the UK or Team Vancouver (too many to name) or Eston of Kenya will have uploaded something interesting to look at on Instagram. Buildings, traffic, seasons, planes, pets, kids, food...the list is endless.
Oh, one more thing. Instagram has already taught me to find beauty in the most mundane things. Even letterboxes. Here's one I took last week.
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