At one time I aspired to be like Marie Stopes. Who is she, you might ask. If you are a coal geologist you will know, but most of you probably are not coal geologists. I was a coal geologist in an earlier life; today it is fairly embarassing to explain to people that your PhDContinue reading “A diverse life”
Category Archives: Uncategorized
How about thia?
I constantly find I am behind the times; I ascribe this to times moving rapidly. Recently I noticed Chris’s sister’s email signature included her preferred personal pronoun (which was ‘she’). When I mentioned this, Ximena said she had done it for about a year (I guess I wasn’t reading her emails very carefully) and otherContinue reading “How about thia?”
Customary practice
This week there was a kerfuffle in the New Zealand Parliament over a tie, or the lack of one. The Maori Party co-leader, Rawiri Waititi refused to wear a tie. He argued he was wearing Maori business attire with a hei tiki around his neck. Trevor Mallard, Speaker of the House and enforcer of theContinue reading “Customary practice”
Triumphs of science
COVID-19 vaccines are, without a doubt, a triumph of humans’ achievement in scientific and technological endeavour. That we have developed, manufactured and started rolling out relatively well tested vaccines in around one year since COVID-19 was identified, and less than one year since it was first sequenced, is truly amazing. If humans could apply suchContinue reading “Triumphs of science”
Patterns & Conspiracy Theorists
Back in June I found my brain inventing conspiracy theories all by itself. Interestingly, back in June 2020, New Zealand was contemplating that a trans-Tasman travel bubble might open up in the last quarter of 2020, while the ski fields were hoping it might come sometime sooner. The National Party was demanding a timeline inContinue reading “Patterns & Conspiracy Theorists”
Ferrets and dichotomies
What do you see in this picture? Is your reaction immediately positive, negative or neither? Do you see a bunch of cute little furry animals, or a bunch of born killers? Do you see something different if you think versus if you just react? Ferrets are bad, right? We don’t like ferrets because they wilfullyContinue reading “Ferrets and dichotomies”
Hope & reality
In the New Year I suddenly realised how long it is likely to be until we see Sarah again, given that she currently lives in the UK. This shouldn’t have come as a startling revelation, but her Christmas card expressing the hope that we might meet up somewhere in the world in 2021 brought itContinue reading “Hope & reality”
The crevasses open
When you are mountaineering or ski touring on a glacier, you need to be prepared for the inevitable crevasses. Crevasses form as the result of differential rates of movement in the ice – such as when the glacier goes over an edge and falls down a steep section of the valley. When you look downContinue reading “The crevasses open”
Hijabs and hair
Its summer time and summer is for swimming (amongst a few other things). We were at Lake Wanaka the other day and many people were lying and playing on the edge of the lake, including two young women who were paddle boarding in hijabs. They looked like they were having a great time, wobbling aroundContinue reading “Hijabs and hair”
A meaning of ‘whanāu’
We got to do my favourite thing on Christmas day – ride our bicycles. We rode our bicycles from home over the Crown Range to Wanaka to have lunch with some of our extended whānau. Our ‘whānau’ is quite extensive, that’s the way we like it. There are many people who come and stay withContinue reading “A meaning of ‘whanāu’”