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It has been a long time since working for the government looked like an episode of Sir Roger Hall’s “Gliding On”.

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And yet there I was recently, talking about all of that online living, but in a room filled with people who you kind of know but are meeting “properly” now.

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… And so I wanted to do something for my body that was creative and beautiful, and just for the joy of it.

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Once politicians start using a word like “woke” to describe “sushi in school lunches” or “acknowledging gender diversity” or “filling sandbags” you know you’re in the final days of the word’s usefulness.

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What is too rarely talked about is the huge benefit pay equity would provide not just to individual women but to whole communities, with money flowing into households where it would be spent on food, power, petrol and other consumer goods.

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Despite knowing that “anger” is one of Elisabeth Kubler-Ross’s “5 stages of grief”, I am always shocked when it turns up…

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“…If you have a solid background of the thing your ancestors stood for, you can judge your own course better…”

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I do not buy the story that we humans are inherently selfish, competitive and hierarchical. I keep observing that our first and guiding impulse is cooperation and community, where our different skills are equally valued and our preference is for cohesion and harmony.

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If you’ve never had one, think of me as your canary down the colonoscopy mineshaft. And if you have, high fives for resilience and doing the right thing - I hope this makes you feel seen.

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I don’t think anyone’s denying there’s a problem on some of our streets, but me and my government are definitely reading it differently.

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A little shout out this week to all the people whose job is also their creative expression…

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In Te Ao Māori, you are welcome to come grieve at any tangi. Which is why … you will meet whānau from the iwi over the hill at your marae - paying their respects, yes, but also grieving for whoever else they carry in their heart.

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Mum Bod is a “Before” image and society is waiting to see our “After”. Whereas Dad Bod is a destination – no one is expecting him to work that off…

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One of the great things about getting older is you move through some of the nonsense faster – you’ve been around long enough to recognise your old mates Anxiety and Perfectionism when they show up, and recognise the critical voices.

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2025 was the year I discovered the air fryer. I still marvel at its ability to cook salmon better than my oven - worth knowing now salmon is almost affordable in comparison to mince.

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Think of me as Switzerland when it comes to Seasonal Glee – unaligned but with plenty of chocolate.

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It is nuts, isn’t it? This thing we do in Aotearoa of doing everything all at once – attend school breakups and office dos and finish work projects and shut up shop while also shopping for gifts, basting a ham and packing the car for a road trip.

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I have pondered what Te Tiriti signatories – Māori and Pākehā - had in mind.

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This is the time of the year when my favourite skirt won’t do up…

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Cal once told us, “I’ve never left things unsaid. I think it’s so important that everybody knows how you feel about them. I never want any of the people I love to be in any doubt how much they matter to me.”