The Blog-A-Day Project

The Active Giver (Part 5)

2012-02-11T23:58:00.000+13:00

Just under two weeks ago, I sent 4 charities an email to ask about whether I can donate to them via payroll giving. Just under one week ago, I asked the 3 charities I hadn't heard from the same question via Facebook. I'm still waiting to hear from one of them. I really want to give them the full two weeks, so I'll post my per-charity rundown on Tuesday, but I thought it might be worth talking about why, out of over 3500 charities, they made it this far.

Firstly, every single one of them works towards a cause I think is worthy. The environment is important to me. Despite all our work in space, we only have one planet. I already support more humanitarian causes, and I wanted to support an environmental one too, because that's what I'm interested in. There are many worthy charities out there - many of whom were not on my list to begin with. Their appearance as part of the final 5 is not a reflection on all the other worthy charities who don't appear on it.

Secondly, they all had the ability to communicate to me on the web. Some did it better than others, but these charities have all allowed me to find out who they are, what they do, and how I can donate to them. I realise an enormous number of charities are run by volunteers - who may not believe the web is worth bothering with - but at the same time, I'm probably one of a growing number of donors who search out this information on the internet. While many may not (and, I cannot stress this enough, probably shouldn't) go to the lengths I have gone to, I dare say many will find a charity because they are interested in a cause, and Googled it.

It's worth noting that of 217 charities, only one provided information on payroll giving on their website. This experience has taught me there are many, many reasons for this. For two of the four charities, I was the first person who had asked. There is evidence to say that there have been difficulties launching the scheme (it has a rather poor takeup rate by the looks of things). Some of the people I have interacted with as a result of this project have hinted that there might difficulty of doing the paperwork and setting up the systems associated with payroll giving on the charity's behalf. I've pondered this before, and I still think it is a daft situation if true. Ultimately, the scheme is the thing which is allowing me to afford to support a third charity in the first place.

Finally, they are committed to communicating via social media. They have Facebook and/or Twitter accounts, and they keep them updated. Their methods differ, but they all have a presence to communicate with me on these platforms. By messaging them on Facebook, I've been able to look at how well they use it as a communication channel. .

Ultimately, there are lots of factors I've used to choose my final list, and many of them are dictated by who I am, and what I value. I began this journey with a goal to find a charity, but what I'm really looking for is a charity that suits me, and my preferences.

I hope in the process, I've created something thought provoking for charities, their advocates and the policy makers. I have absolutely gone the long way around with this project, but three of the five finalists are charities who were not even on my radar before I began - that alone is worth it.

Lovely

2012-02-07T21:26:00.001+13:00

If there is one thing I really, really want in life, it's my own self-sustainable property.

I'd like to raise chickens, sheep and goats, operate a large garden, and an orchid filled with at least one tree of every fruit that I can possibly grow. Pretty much every plant I have planned in my head (and trust me, there's a lot of them), is useful - either for it's physical (bamboo), edible (fruit and veges), or medicinal (flowers and herbs) properties. All, except one.

I absolutely must have Wisteria.

Source: s-p-r-i-n-g.tumblr.com via Kat on Pinterest

It has no other use but to look pretty. We had this at our house growing up, and when it flowered it was so, so beautiful.

I was reminded of my love for Wisteria by Pinterest. I'm quite enjoying making scrapbooks for my fabulous future property there at the moment. If you're interested, you can follow me.

Lantern Festival

2012-02-06T22:28:00.000+13:00

One thing I love about living in Auckland is the Lantern Festival. Held every year at Albert Park, as part of Chinese New Year celebrations, it's a really great night. The festival provides a carnival atmosphere, with awesome lights, live music and cart after cart of delicious Asian food.

I finally sampled the coconut milk (drunk right out of the coconut), and it was delicious. Also delicious were the dumplings and spring rolls. Yum.

Delicious, delicious dumplings

This year is the Year of the Dragon, meaning we got to briefly see the dragon dance which was a real highlight, almost as much as the poorly formed version of Bette Miller's The Rose which boomed among the lights from the karaoke tent.

I love this event. Not just because of the food and the lights, but for what it does to the Auckland community. Last night the park was packed (due, I suspect, to the fireworks and long weekend) and everywhere you looked you saw people of all ethnicities coming for a cultural event which isn't traditionally 'Kiwi'. I like that we can come together and enjoy our inherited cultures as well.

Anyway, here are some more photos (because how can you not take a million photos when you're surrounded by lots of pretty lights?)

One of the food stalls. It emitted real smoke!

Pretty lights at dusk

Laneway 2.1

2012-02-04T23:23:00.000+13:00

I went to Laneway last Monday, and actually had a really good time. Several of the issues we'd experienced at the 2010 venue were gone, but at the same time, I'm still not convinced that parking lots make ideal concert venues.

Anyway, here are some photos of what I did, and how it was.

I arrived at 5, in time to catch The Pajama Club.

The venue was pretty awesome. The Parkway Stage was a pretty cool place to hang out.

There were still lots of lines. Here's the line to buy the 'money' with which you can buy beer.

Line to buy the actual beer.

Line to buy wieners.

Security was a bit lax. Here is a tourist playing peek-a-boo.

SUBTRKT Live

Feist soldiered on despite technical issues

I was right at the front for Gotye, who rocked.

Lana del Ray

2012-02-03T14:51:00.001+13:00

There's been a lot of talk about Lana del Ray recently. Her face is EVERYWHERE and she's hard to just pass by with those lips and her styling and everything. Today three or four people were talking about her on Twitter. Some I agreed with, some I didn't, but I ended up deciding to listen to the entirety of her new album, Born to Die, on YouTube.

Here are my thoughts on Lana del Ray - yes, she's manufactured, we know this and it's not a secret at all. We know that her lips are fake and she's had a pop career fall flat before. But a lot of far more successful (and some even good) artists are like that. Lady Gaga is a persona, so was Ziggy Stardust. Most of the boy and girl bands of the 90's were found in newspaper ads. We've made entire TV shows about manufacturing superstars. This should not be what we are concentrating on.

The fact is, what we should consider is her music, and her persona, since that is what we're being sold. The fact that she has been manufactured shouldn't matter.

I found her album really difficult to listen to. There were a few better songs - they range from "I can tolerate this" to "boring, boring, boring" to "please let me rip out my ears". One song in particular might actually be worse than Rebecca Black's Friday.

Much like that song, National Anthem is so, so bad that it's almost good. When I listened to it, I watched a video with the lyrics, so they stood out, but the one that made me stop, rewind and ask if I just heard that correctly was "money is the reason we exist, everybody knows it, it's a fact, kiss kiss". Maybe she was trying to be ironic and go deep, but ultimately the whole thing leaves her sounding like a shallow, clueless rich girl.

One of the more tolerable songs is Blue Jeans - which sounds a little like an indy classic gone slightly wrong. I did kinda like Video Games originally, but the constant switch of her voice between deep and rich to soft and sweet as sugar (best illustrated if you watch a video of her singing it live on Jools Holland) has ultimately moved it to the latter category.

In the end, I think if she REALLY wants to be famous, it would be a lot kinder to everyone if she just got it over with and made a sex tape, because this album is, at best, not worth the time.and at worst, horrific.

Laneway V2.0

2012-01-30T15:06:00.000+13:00

The last time I went to Laneway, I called it 'Lineways'. Last time I wasn't entirely impressed. The acts were awesome, the festival experience was not.

But this year there is a new location, and the acts are intriguing, so I am headed down soon to go to Laneway 2012.

I hope it's cool. But, being honest, I'm not overly excited right now - I am clearing memory-cards and checking battery levels, as well as putting together all the usual festival faff I tend to take, getting ready to wander down but I'm not excited about it.

Hopefully I'm really blown away, and the location and everything is amazing, but if not, I'll take some photos, see some bands, and wander back home again. Maybe I'm just bummed about a festival season without the Big Day Out. I'm planning to report back in the next couple of days. Wish me luck!

The Active Giver (Part 4)

2012-01-28T11:31:00.001+13:00

Carrying on from my last post, here are charities 11-20. Having gone back to work, this is taking a bit longer now, but I assure you, I'm still working on this.

Koanga Institute. Saving seeds and heritage plants. Membership-only options. Membership entitles free seeds and plant propagation. No social.
World Wildlife Fund (WWF). Campaigning and working for change in all areas of conservation, including marine, forests, species and climate change. No information on payroll giving, but there are plenty of donation options. They can be found on Facebook and Twitter.
TerraNature. Part of an international organisation which protects native habitats and wildlife. Difficult to join and donate (you need to print a webpage, fill out a form and post it. The internet does forms guys, and if this is your preferred method, a PDF is a better way to print a form). No information on regular giving at all. No social.
NZ Native Forest Restoration Trust. Acquires land and restores native forests to protect habitats and improve waterways. No social or information on payroll giving, but they do provide all the information you need to donate via payroll giving.
Shakespeare Open Sanctuary Society (SOSSI). Involved in restoration, monitoring and pest control in the Shakespeare regional park. Membership and volunteer opportunities available. No information on payroll giving. Have Facebook.
Connected Media Charitable Trust. Promotes sustainability through media. Donations are only sought as one-offs through the website, and do not provide information for ongoing donations or payroll giving. There are no social media sites, which seems a little ironic considering what they do (they have an extensive film catalogue, but no YouTube account for trailers, for example).
Bushland Trust. Creating filtration zones around the Sweetwater lakes of Northland. Involved in planting and clean up projects. Seem to rely entirely on corporate and central/local government support. No information on donations at all, no social media channels.
Kea Conservation in New Zealand. Assisting in the conservation of the New Zealand Kea in it's natural environment. This is the only charity to provide information on payroll giving. They are on Facebook, but the link is hidden at the bottom of the homepage.
350 Aotearoa. Working to reduce the amount of carbon in the atmosphere to a 'safe' level (defined as 350 parts per million by providing information, education, inspiration and practical tools. They use social media (you can find them on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube), and provide information on both one-off and ongoing donations, but once again, payroll giving is overlooked.
Environment and Conservation Organisation (ECO) of Aotearoa New Zealand. Umbrella organisation for over 60 national and international environment and conservation charities. They can be found on both Facebook and Twitter. They have a range of donation methods including automatic payment, but no payroll giving.

As I've been revisiting their websites, I've been extending the information I've got on each charity. I have now narrowed the list down to 5 charities which I would support via payroll giving. The next step is to contact the 4 charities who haven't said they support payroll giving and ask if they do. Needless to say, this is a step I could skip if the information was provided on the website.

It's also worth noting that every charity that has made it to this shortlist has social media channels. I'd like to see where my money is going. I want to be educated, and the best way to get that information to me is by putting it into my timeline and Twitter feed.

In Part 5, I'll relay the responses of the top 5 and hopefully end up telling you who I'll actually be supporting!

Dresden Dolls at the Auckland Library

2012-01-27T18:58:00.000+13:00

I've never been to a gig in a library before, but I can see why they don't happen all that often if today's Ninja Gig at the Auckland Public Library is any indication. They're awesome, but they certainly disturb the quiet.

I'd say the audience was sitting at around 300. The content was a mix of things from both The Dresden Dolls and Amanda Palmer's solo catalogs.

Like the last AFP gig I attended, Amanda didn't begin with a setlist, instead asking what the audience wanted to hear.

One of many highlights was singing Map of Tasmania. Every time Amanda said "oh my God", the audience responded with "fuck it!". Think about that for a second. 300 people saying "fuck it", in unison, in a public library. Even if everyone says it quietly, it still comes out loud! By the end of the song we were significantly more confident as well, given that no librarians had come in to shush us (in fact I saw a few saying it themselves).

We got to hear the original version of New Zealand (minus the new verses about Christchurch), Ukelele Anthem, and Creep, among others, and the crowd at one point managed to get Amanda "sitting down crowd surfing" (which, it turns out, goes directly against the laws of physics).

It was the perfect amount of nerdy and naughty. Fantastic!

The Dresden Dolls are playing with support from Princess Chelsea tonight (27 January 2011) at The Powerstation, Auckland. Tickets are available on the door for $55.

Books, Art and Music

2012-01-25T20:58:00.000+13:00

I've been rather quiet lately. I've got a few blogs I'm working on, but the daily blogging seems to have dried up a little bit. I am on Tumblr though. You can follow me there. I'm keeping it separate to this blog because I tend to use them for different reasons, but there's usually something from me each day.

Just wanted to say that if you live in Auckland, and can get to the CBD at 2pm this Friday, you should totally come to the Dresden Dolls ninja gig at Auckland City Libraries. I'm definitely going. Amanda Palmer still holds my #1 spot for 'best opening to a concert', and who doesn't love things like ninja gigs? At a library?

In other news, inspired by BookShelfPorn, I reorganised my bookshelf. I can't work out where to put Harry Potter though.

2002 Big Day Out Scrapbook

2012-01-19T20:17:00.000+13:00

SOPA, Piracy and Good Business Sense

2012-01-18T20:05:00.000+13:00

So half the internet (and by that, I primarily mean Wikipedia) is going offline as a protest against SOPA. For the record, this has made researching this blog really, really difficult.

This topic is actually so big, and I have so much to say, that I don't know how to organise my thoughts, so apologies if this isn't very articulate.

First of all, SOPA is a really, really, really bad idea. It will kill this wonderful thing we know as The Internet. It will kill innovation. It will kill creativity. It will kill progress. Think of the Arab Spring. If there were no Twitter, and no Facebook, countries such as Egypt and Libya would still be under the rule of dictatorships. SOPA would kill both of those mediums.

Sure, we would still survive without the internet. We might get a little bit smarter, and a lose a few kilos, but we would also lose much of what is brilliant about living in the 21st century.

Communities I have become involved in on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter would wither and die when faced with the restrictions they are facing under the acts currently being debated in the United States. This isn't like New Zealand's piracy bill, it is much bigger, and has global ramifications.

Do I believe piracy is a problem? Yes and no. I believe that content creators deserve credit and income where it is due. But I also believe that the problem does not lie with the general public. I believe the problem lies in the large corporates who are still clinging to old definitions and business models.

The internet (and, in particular, high speed broadband) has fundamentally changed the way we consume media. We can 'try before we buy' and we can pirate. We can watch US TV the day it is screened, we can download movies, we can watch music videos and comedy sketches on YouTube. We can share and spread the word. We can laugh, cry and be outraged together even though we are thousands of miles apart.

President Obama recently issued a challenge to the internet community:

"Washington needs to hear your best ideas about how to clamp down on rogue Web sites and other criminals who make money off the creative efforts of American artists and rights holders. We should all be committed to working with all interested constituencies to develop new legal tools to protect global intellectual property rights without jeopardizing the openness of the Internet. Our hope is that you will bring enthusiasm and know-how to this important challenge."

A great response to this challenge can be found here.

The fact is, Mr. Obama, is that every tool you need is already at your fingertips. Rather than challenging the internet community to come up with ideas, why don't you challenge the corporates to harness this ready and willing audience and give us an affordable and easy way to get what we want? America is founded on the principals of the free market, and yet right now it is completely ignoring a ready and willing one.

We know that the internet can turn people such as Susan Boyle and Justin Beiber into multinational, top grossing stars overnight. We know that the internet is a faster and cheaper distribution medium than traditional music, book and entertainment stores. The internet is global. Business models need to be global too.

When FOX releases Glee on Hulu, it needs to be available globally. The studios need to realise that the spoilers are available immediately - even when you are not looking for them. Today I was hit with a massive one while just looking at my Facebook feed. You want to know why we pirate? Because the information is there, and because the borders of our country still matter to the business process, even when the Internet has completely blurred them.

There are many case studies of content being made available at a low price and making an absolute killing. Here's one, here's another. When you remove the red tape - the promotion channels, the physical printing, distribution, stocking and retail process - you can afford for the price to be low. If the content is good, word will get out, because that is precisely what the internet is designed to do. If you remove the high prices, people will pay. If things cost less, we can buy more. If we buy more, we support more artists. $5 an album might not sound like much, but when you think about half a million people (which, in the context of a global distribution method is a small percentage of people) paying $5, and at least $4 of that going directly into the artist's pocket, it sounds to me like it might be more than they get now.

On the flip side, to buy a top-10 album on iTunes costs around $18. That's very near the same amount I would pay for a physical disc at my local music store. Why? There is still room for a physical product to live in our digital world, but it's highly likely we will reserve these spots for our very favourite things. In this age - where we are worried about food miles and resource availability, why are we still encouraging physical goods where a digital medium is appropriate? Why is it that the only way I can buy a digital copy of, say, Harry Potter, is to buy the DVD and the BluRay as well? Why on Earth do I need three copies, when a single digital copy would suffice?

Further, there are many, many cases of the internet creating new fans. Take John Green. He's a young adult fiction author and a vlogger. He has a whole community of fans who have sent his career into the stratosphere. He works hard, but there aren't many fans who would even consider pirating his material, or making it available to piracy. Why? Because he understands his mediums, and his fans. He respects us, he works hard to entertain us - whether that be in a video blog or in a book - and we reward him with income from his YouTube channels and by buying hundreds of thousands of copies of his books.

Smart people have the ability to make a lot of money via the internet and it's endless possibilities for media distribution. It seems wholly unfair to both them, and their legions of loyal fans, to pull the plug on everything we have created in the last 20 years.

The average age of a senator at the beginning of the current Congress (the people making these laws) was 62.2 years of age. While I hate to sound ageist, would you trust your grandparents to regulate the internet? While some of us know people in that age bracket who have taken to the internet like ducks to water, I'm sure we all know many, many more who just don't get it. It's reprehensible that a bunch of people who don't understand this beast, can't use it, and don't care to learn, can legislate against it and cut out it's very heart.

In summary, regulation is not the answer to this problem - or at least, it's not the answer right now. The answer is to change the business model. To look at the internet for what it fundamentally is - a global web of connectiveness. Stop enforcing regional boundaries and begin thinking bigger. Create to your heart's content and encourage people to share your creation. Charge the global community a fair and reasonable price, but most of all, just make this stuff available. When you have done all that, look to see if there is still a problem, and then make legislation that makes sense.

Because, quite simply, the reason I pirate is because there is no other reasonable, timely, and affordable legal alternative.

RIP BDO

2012-01-17T19:07:00.002+13:00

So, this year is the last ever Big Day Out.

Despite all my moaning, I managed to get three tickets this year (I won two), and I had every intention of going - even though I still believe the line up is quite weak and the ticket price ridiculous.

And I'm really glad I'm going.

To Campbell Smith, Ken West and Vivian Lees, I want to say thank you. Thanks for giving me the best day of the year each January. Thanks for giving me some of my favourite musical moments. Thanks for enabling me to see a huge number of my favourite bands, and thanks for helping me to discover tonnes of acts I would never have found without the Big Day Out.

I know I moan about it, but as much as I call the organisers on what I think is not good, I also make a point of defending them as well. Despite everything, the Big Day Out has been my favourite day of each year for 9 years.

I see lots of bitter comments on social media sites. Some are still mumbling about the lineup. I got over that a while ago. Ultimately, it is what it is, and there has never been a year I have gone to where everyone loved the lineup. Never. And even if the Big Day Out went on for the next 100 years, there never would be.

The Big Day Out is what you make it. If you believe there are no bands you want to see, there won't be. Chances are, there is at least one band you'd kinda like to see each and every year, and that's always been enough for me, because each and every year I have discovered new artists and made memories regardless.

I've eaten the best burger I've ever had, I've had my entire conceptualisation of music flipped on it's head in 40 minutes by someone I'd never heard of, I've seen pretty much every major act I wanted to see, I've been pissed on, I've lost my hearing, I've freaked out in mosh pits, I've been in several publications and I've always, ALWAYS had an amazing time.

I know people who have rushed stages, lost their pants and seen Wes Borland fart (not the same person, and not in the same year). It is what you make it. The Big Day Out is a day for fun.

So the line up is kinda weak this year, and the tickets are expensive. It is what it is, and despite all the problems, I'm planning to have a fantastic time at the last Auckland Big Day Out.

2001 Big Day Out Memories

2012-01-16T11:47:00.000+13:00

Constructivism

2012-01-10T23:41:00.002+13:00

The other day I drove out to Thames to see my mother.

I quite like driving long-distance, and because people were beginning to head back to work the roads were quite clear, but I did catch a few drivers being morons, and I found myself doing a few stupid things now and again too.

As I drove, I kept to the 2-second rule. This is primarily because of the car accident I had last year where I went up the bum of another car - I can still see that in my mind and I (obviously) don't want it to happen again, so I keep my distance.

Then I thought about where that little piece of information came from - TV.

I learn a lot via the television, and millions of dollars are spent every year telling me that I should be in control of my vehicle, that I shouldn't drive drunk and that I should tell my mates not to drive drunk.

I get all that. I don't drive drunk, and I'm pretty scathing if I find out my mates have done it.

But what I think is lacking in our television ads is an element of education. Rather than make a silly 'mantrol' ad where all we're told is we should change our driving styles to meet the conditions in order to stay in 'mantrol', why don't we offer practical tips to drivers? Why don't we make defensive driving something we educate our population about via the mainstream media?

I know for me, if I saw an ad with a tip which I found easy enough to incorporate into my driving, I would probably use it. I want to know how to drive safer, and I want others on the road to know how to drive safer as well.

Is this just me? We all love the Ghost Chips ad. Many of us can quote it word-for-word. Ads and television have an impact on the way we think. Surely there is a way to use that to it's best advantage. With the very high road toll over the last holiday period, I think it's pretty safe to say that we are not in 'mantrol', and that it is not just the men who need some tips on their driving.

Tidy Kiwi

2012-01-09T00:06:00.000+13:00

For the last year I have been looking out my window at a whole bunch of rubbish.

We live on a really busy road in town. It's close to many pubs and fast food restaurants, and it would seem that the greater Auckland area chooses to leave the trash generated at these establishments outside my house.

After spending a few days on Twitter moaning about it through the holidays, I eventually took the plunge, gathered a Big Black Sack and a recycle bin, and I headed out there to clean the shit up.

I spent an hour out there picking up paper, wrappers, glass bottles, plastic bottles, miscellaneous decomposing plastic doodads, various car parts and the occasional piece of furniture. During that hour I ended up sweating like a pig, and all that work resulted in three days worth of sore muscles.

I walked back with the black sack 3/4's full, the recycle bin completely full, and a three-legged chair which I'd been looking at for the better part of 18 months from my bedroom window. All up, I found 3 1/2 hubcaps - almost an entire car's worth on one corner.

Several people on Twitter encouraged me to get in touch with, or dump it at, the council, but I've got a slightly different take on the problem.

You see, I don't think it's the council's problem to pick up our trash. I think it is our responsibility as members of a society not to drop it in the first place. It actually wouldn't kill anyone to hold on to any of this stuff until reaching a rubbish or recycling bin, it is laziness.

On the way back from Coromandel a couple of days later, we were stopped in the usual return-to-Auckland traffic, and at the painfully slow pace, the amount of rubbish - most of which is recyclable - which is just sitting on the side of the road is absolutely incredible. There are bottles and cans gathered all along the sides of our roads, they gather in big piles and just sit there. It's disgusting, and it makes me ashamed of my country.

I'm going to try and make this a regular thing. I'm just one girl, and I can't cover a lot of ground, but if I can keep a few streets around my house clean, that's a start. I'd love to see others pick up the mantel (or, rather, a Big Black Sack), head into a public place and see what turns up. We can't just keep expecting others to pick up after us. We're big kids, let's take some pride in our surroundings.

Grow Your Own

2012-01-08T00:24:00.000+13:00

I am finding, in my garden, the most economical plants I am growing are my herbs.

I recently did an Oregano harvest. The comparison between the store-bought Oregano and the stuff I picked, washed, dried and processed myself is startling.

First, there's the colour:

Store-bought on the left, home-grown on the right

But what I can only explain to you is the aroma. The store bought Oregano smelled like... well, store bought Oregano. The home grown stuff had a strong smell, and was almost eucalyptusey. It tastes a million times better too.

My mother explained it to me when she said that actually, most of the stuff you buy in the supermarket is about 2 years old by the time it gets there - and Lord knows how long it will stay in your cupboard before you use it. As with most things, when it comes to herbs, fresh is best.

Given our wet Summer, the garden is going a bit bonkers and in this lot I harvested about $6 worth of it, if you use dried-herb supermarket prices. It's much, much more valuable if you're thinking about the live herbs you can get in the produce section - about 30 times more valuable. I'm likely to have at least one more harvest this season. This single harvest has effectively paid for the seedlings, the soil, and the fertiliser. My oregano is profitable.

Actually, what I'm discovering is that most of the herbs are, and they taste better than the store bought ones as well. While the profitability of my vegetables is marginal, to say the least, the herbs are worth the effort.

They also have additional medicinal uses, they smell nice, they last a long time, and they're not generally attacked by bugs. If I were to give any advice to an aspiring gardener it would be to start with herbs.

Not that all of them are easy. My parsley continually bolts to seed and I can't get coriander to grow, but oregano, thyme, mints, and rosemary have been really easy, and they're quite delicious as well.

It doesn't really take that long to pick, wash and hang them. In the hot water cupboard it takes about a week to dry, and the final processing - stripping them from the branches and crushing them in the mortar and pestle doesn't really take that long either. It's definitely worth the effort. As with most vegetables, herbs grow more in the Summer than in the Winter. If you don't harvest and dry them, you'll find yourself running out, or killing your plant over the colder months if you haven't taken the time to dry and store the excess over the Summer.

Harvesting, processing and storing are important parts of any gardeners' skill set. There's no point growing it if it's all just going to go to waste.

The Active Giver (Part 3)

2012-01-07T00:32:00.000+13:00

So now I have 20 charities on my list. I'm narrowing them down.

I'm now spending a bit more time on their websites. I'm ranking their social media presence (do they have Facebook, Twitter, or Tumblr?) and the options I have in ways I can give.

I can only give so much in terms of money, but I am looking to see if I can volunteer. If they publicise upcoming events online, and invite people to actively take part (e.g. to clean up the beach, or to plant trees), then it might be that I give them a few hours each month, rather than cash.

I'm also looking at the information they provide about how to give online. Some only seem to allow memberships, others encourage direct credit. I'm particularly looking for charities that give me information on how to give to them via Payroll Giving. I'm finding many charities are really happy to take the cash, but very few are offering information around the Payroll Giving scheme. Maybe it's a total pain to process the side of the charity, and so they are not encouraging people to give. If that's the case, then that should be sorted out, because as a giver, Payroll Giving encourages me to give.

Anyway. Below are the summaries for one half of the charities I have left on my list. From over 3000 options, these are my final twenty. In no particular order...

Save Our Bees. Campaign and educate around the issues surrounding bee loss. They encourage people to keep bees, and show you how to set up a hive. You can find them on Facebook here.
Nga Uruora - Kapiti Project. Reforesting the Kapiti area. If they use social, I can't find it on their website. They also encourage memberships and volunteering. I live in Auckland so volunteering isn't an option for me.
Sustainable Coastlines. Helping clean up beaches. Very easy to sign up for their newsletter where you can be kept up to date on volunteer opportunities. Also very easy to find is their Twitter and Facebook accounts, both of which promote volunteer opportunities all over the country.
Forest and Bird. "Advocating and acting to get better protection for our environment". On both Twitter and Facebook. There is lots of encouragement to be a volunteer, but the different volunteer opportunities seem to be project-based. I can't find information on, say, tree-planting days in Auckland. They are however, a very definite favourite, despite not providing information on payroll giving.
Kaharoa Kokako Trust. Eliminating pests and reestablishing the Kokako to the Kaharoa area. I grew up near Kaharoa, and I think Kokako are lovely. Listen:

No social, and they don't provide information on payroll giving, but they do tell you how much they would like to fundraise.
The Reforest Trust. Buying land, foresting it with introduced species and using a combination of the carbon credits the forest generates, and forestry to fund more forests. They aim to allow native forests to regenerate under the introduced species. No social, or information on payroll giving, but they have an internet-payment system which allows you to offset your carbon, which I think it pretty awesome.
Centennial Park Bush Society. Wildlife restoration project based in Campbell's Bay on the North Shore. Volunteer hours are during work for me (they indicate they do weekend volunteer work as well, but it's not on their events calender). No social, but plenty of information about how to donate.
Tawharanui Open Sanctuary Society Inc (TOSSI). Involved in restoration, monitoring and pest control in the Tawharanui regional park. Membership and volunteer opportunities available. No information on payroll giving, no social.
Te Araroa Trust. Create and maintain the walks on the Te Araroa Pathway, which spans from Cape Rienga to Bluff. They have a Google Group and a Facebook Group. Information on donation is pointed strongly at one-off donation, and they do not currently support direct credit.
Motutapu Restoration Trust. Cleaning up Mototapu Island. No social, no information around payroll giving. They do seek regular donations, but tend to push volunteering

The second half of the final 20 will be published at a later date. I am getting closer to the final recipient, and this exercise has definitely opened my eyes to many different ways I can contribute. I wouldn't go through all this effort again, but I hope my chronicle of my experience might reach a charity or two, so they can see what they might look like to someone who wants to give money.

The process is very much based on the things I find important, but I strongly believe an effective online presence is important to encourage a new generation of givers. Not only so we can actually find charities and see what they do, but so that we can engage in their activities. We don't want our inbox or mailbox crowded (most people I know seem to think that sending physical newsletters is a huge waste of money), but we might very well RSVP to an invitation to clean up our local beach on Facebook, and you can't invite us if you're not on the platform.

The Active Giver (Part 2)

2012-01-02T14:05:00.000+13:00

I've now finished going through all 216 charity websites.

Several things became apparent as I was looking through the websites. Firstly, in regards to what I was actually looking for.

For the most part I was looking for a group who builds ecosystems. While saving individual species is a noble goal, I firmly believe that many of our problems, including seasonal drought, the state of our waterways and endangered species, can actually be negated, if not reversed, by simply planting some native trees and eradicating the introduced and often noxious weeds. While a few charities who do other things were shortlisted, 44 charities were eliminated from the list because I just wasn't interested in supporting their cause.

I found that the charities I was most interested in were doing work which was based either nationally, or in a region I am familiar with. That means that regional charities in Northland and Auckland had the highest chance, while those in Rotorua and Wellington were considered. 35 charities were eliminated because they worked exclusively in regions I'm not familiar with.

Another thing that was apparent was how many charities on the charities register are not actually charities. In fact, 38 organisations on the list were not actually charities!

In total, there were 23 charities with broken links. For me, if you are not on the internet, you don't exist. Further, if you have a terrible website, or use comic sans, I was moving on. 12 charities had websites so bad I ruled them out based on that. This one in particular is a lesson on how you don't do internets.

The thing that surprised me was how many charities don't actually tell you how to donate on their website. 15 charities were not actively seeking donations - this basically means that they made it really hard to work out how to give them money. A further 13 were only seeking memberships, without the option to donate an amount of my choosing.

Overall, I have been left with 20 charities now on the shortlist. With a further 3 I am considering volunteering with. I'll go into the specifics with these in Part 3.

Where for Art Thou Summer?

2012-01-01T22:40:00.002+13:00

Summer's been an almost complete non-starter this year. Mid December saw a solid week of rain. Following this, we had a couple of nice days... before the rain came back.

The last week has been lots of cloud and lots of rain. It's good for the garden and the farmers, but it's not all that fun for a person on holiday.

So now I would like the rain to go away, and I would like to spend the last week of my holiday outside. I don't think I've got a very good chance, but some sun during the days I am not stuck in an office would be highly appreciated.

2011: A blog in review

2011-12-31T18:22:00.000+13:00

2011 was the year I decided to get back on the horse and go back to blogging on an (almost) daily basis. I'm trying to actually blog about things this time around, rather than just blogging about blogging... which as it turns out, is not all that interesting.

Anyway, 2011 is the year of...

131 Blog Posts

One project restarted

One car accident

Three holidays

Swimming in Wellington

Feeding a Cow at Takau Bay

Harry Potter Exhibition in Sydney

Sydney from Taronga Zoo

Many, many concerts

Best concert (though, worst photography) goes to Portishead

Worst concert goes to Meatloaf

Photo of the Year

Paradise in Waitakare

SHARK!

2011-12-30T14:23:00.001+13:00

I bought Anna one of those flying shark things for Christmas. To set it up, we had to drive to Waitakare to fill it with helium. Then I spent about half an hour fiddling with sticky patches, batteries and motors to get the darn thing to work.

Like most Christmas toys, I think we got 10 minutes of playtime with it before it broke.

However, having a great big balloon shark on our roof has led to us having great fun with helium voices. After some initial Googling to find out if it was actually OK to do (answer: yes, but don't do it too much and never, ever suck it out of a tank), we've spent the last few days with creepy high voices.

It takes a while to get used to. Firstly, you can't breath in air after the helium, so you have to suck, speak THEN breathe. It's harder than it sounds. Particularly with singing, which is when helium voices are at their best.

Two of the funniest songs we've found are the Spongebob Squarepants theme, and You Are My Sunshine, but pretty much everything is better when sung with a lung full of helium.

The shark is slowly deflating, but as I type is still on the roof, so I recon we've got at least another day of silly voices to go.

Pie! Pie! Pie!

2011-12-29T22:08:00.001+13:00

On Twitter today, @not_friends asked about buying her first car. A big subject, but one which several of us joined in on with many of us recommending the trusty Toyota.

This conversation morphed into a Twitter-based prop up of the poultry, pastry and porcine industries, as we all ended up talking about (and later, making) bacon and egg pies.

It's been a little bit of a rivalry between Anna and I for a couple of years as to who makes the best bacon and egg pie. Hers is very traditional - bacon, egg, pastry. Mine is a little closer to a pastry-wrapped frittata, including herbs, cheese and potato. Hers is a traditional closed pie, while mine is open. They are both delicious, but she thinks hers is better, and I think mine is. Thus, whenever bacon and egg pie is on the menu in this house, we make two versions.

Today, however, saw many versions. First, Scott went off to Tricia's Pies and bought one (cheater).

Later on, mine came out of the oven...

Closely followed by Anna's.

Then Jess's

And now we are planning an honest to goodness bakeoff, where, more than just looking at all this food porn, we'll actually eat, taste and be judged. This is not the first conversation I have had about bacon and egg pie on Twitter, and it probably won't be the last.

Who knew pie was such a divisive subject?

The Active Giver (Part 1)

2011-12-28T10:23:00.000+13:00

As I mentioned in my last post, I'm currently looking for another charity to support.

I recognise that I am not your average giver, in that I am actively seeking and researching charities. I know that I want to give to an environmental charity. I had a fair idea of who the major players are (Greenpeace, Forest and Bird, WWF) but New Zealand has over 25,000 charities at the moment. I wanted to see what else was out there. I really wanted to make an informed decision, which has meant I've had to do some research.

So how does one narrow 25,000 charities down to just one?

I began by using the advance search feature on the Charities Commission website to find any charity whose sector included 'Environment / Conservation'. This produced a list of 3855 charities.

Then I went through the very long process of knocking that list down. My first step was to eliminate every charity which did not have a website listed on the charities register. The internet is my research tool - any charity which wants a chance at my money needs one. If you don't, there are many more on the list that do.

Doing this removed 2595 charities from the list, leaving me with 1260 charities left to choose from. Lesson here? 2 in 3 registered charities don't have a website.

I further reduced the list according to my personal values. For instance, I searched and removed any charity which exists to support religious groups. This isn't because I have anything against religious groups (I currently donate to Auckland City Mission, who are founded on Christian principles), but I have 1260 charities to get down to just one. Given I wanted to support environmental charities, my reasoning is they would have to be based on science - ruling out the religious aspect.

This bought me down to 910 charities. A little more culling, such as ruling out Iwi bought me down to 781 charities.

At this point, I had gone as far as my Excel skills could take me, and I needed to begin to go through line by line. I noticed here that there are a lot of organisations which are listed as a 'charity', when perhaps we need a separate category for 'Not for Profit'. I think there might be some way to do this using the advanced search feature, but if there is, I didn't use it.

So I removed all the clubs (nudist, flower, tramping) in the list, the Rugby Museum, all the businesses which for some reason have charitable status, and all the charities which I knew I wouldn't support ('Save Tamaki Drive' anybody?), and I was left with 216 charities.

Then, I cross-checked with the IRD Donee list. Ultimately, the 'winning' charity had to be on there in order to qualify for payroll giving. I was hoping to shave off a few more, but alas, every single one of them was listed.

From here, I plan to visit each and every one of those 216 websites. Or at least try. I already know some of the links are broken. I'm not going to Google them or go any further. I'm engaged, but it's going to take me days to go through this list. A broken link is just whittling down the list for me.

This post is one of what will probably be several. I think it's ridiculous that it's not easy to find useful information on charities in one place, and over and over I have found myself thinking that THIS is why people don't give. I don't respond at all to being harangued on the street. In fact, it's actually more likely to stop me giving all together. I respond to a good, informative website, which is easy to find, search and use.

So now, I am going to go back to narrowing down my options and finding a new charity to support. I'll report back with more findings later.

Adventures in Pants Shopping

2011-12-27T16:03:00.000+13:00

One thing I know a lot of (especially curvy) girls seem to hate is 'pants shopping'. Infact, often just clothes shopping in general.

I know this because I'm one of them. I dispise pants and shoe shopping.

I'm not saying I hate ALL shopping. I love bookshops, and trinket shops, and the garden center - but I really, really hate shopping for pants.

I've got a weirdly shaped body - it makes it hard to find clothes that even fit, let alone look nice on me. While I've got an idea of what tops look better (cowl or square-cut necklines and empire waists.. preferably a combination of the two) - finding a good pair of pants takes a very long time sometimes.

Yesterday, I went pants shopping. On Boxing Day. I don't know what I was thinking, but I was down to my gym pants and a pair of PJs in the trouser department, so I kind of had to.

I walked down, because I'm trying to get more exercise. Because I walked, I wore my gym pants (despite everything, I will not be seen in a mall in my pajamas), and a t shirt, and... running shoes. The running shoes were my second mistake (the first being to let my total number of pants dwindle down so far I would be forced to go outside of my house on Boxing Day). I could have walked down in some comfy slip ons (because I knew I was going to be trying on the whole store) but instead I wore bulky shoes with laces that would need to be tied and untied every. single. time.

I began by going to Postie Plus, because I figured they were the best combination of no-crowds and lower price - plus I'd had several recommendations to give them a go. I walked in, found every pair of pants in the shop in my size and retired to the changing rooms. The first pair fit, but looked wrong. The second pair gave me epic muffin-top. Some pairs I couldn't get over my legs, some wouldn't do up at the waist. Many gave me the dreaded camel toe.

8 pairs of pants later, I had tried on everything, listened to half of the Michael Bublé Christmas album, and still, nothing had worked. I put on my clothes - hating on my sneakers (and my stupid body) as I went - and left the changing room.

On my way to the door I noticed a rack of jeans - and one pair which was a size bigger. I figured 'why not?' and, hoping that this was to be the end of my shopping trip, went back to the changing room. I actually tried to change without taking off my shoes this time, but that just turned into a comical mess, so I took off the shoes, pulled the jeans up, did them up at the waist successfully and looked in the mirror... to discover I was wearing the world's most hideous pair of 'Mom Jeans'.

So off they came, and out I went to Pagani. I have always liked Pagani because they carry clothes I can wear. Again, I grabbed every pair of pants in the store in my size and went to the changing rooms. The first pair actually fit - in fact they were actually a bit big - so I sent the sales lady away to find me the next size down, which were too small. Bloody things had a complicated fly, were expensive and didn't look right anyway, so I decided against them. The other two pairs were a repeat of Postie Plus all over again.

Finally I swallowed my fear and went to The Warehouse. This was the last place I wanted to be on Boxing Day, but here I was. Once again, every pair of pants in my size was found (something which is much harder in the Warehouse because nothing is on the right hanger) and carted to stand in line for the four poorly constructed changing rooms.

Then I waited. And waited. And waited. All the while feeling more and more depressed.

But eventually I got in, a giant pile of pants accompanying me. I tried on 9 pairs of pants, and then I gave in and tried on the Rachel Hunter Jeans.

The amazing, spectacular Rachel Hunter Jeans.

I hate myself for saying this, but a clothing line at The Warehouse has the best, most amazing jeans in the world.

They flatten, they conform, they hide all the bits that are wrong and emphasise all the bits that are right.

And, bless them, they were 40% off.

The Bucket List

2011-12-26T17:08:00.000+13:00

2011 has been a pretty good year for my '101 Wishes'.

I've begun donating to charity regularly - I currently donate $600 a year each to the Auckland City Mission and Oxfam - and I will be looking to add a more 'environmental' charity in 2012.

I got to see Portishead a couple of months ago - a concert which I can easily say was the best I have ever been to.

I wore a designer dress (actually I've worn a few). Anna has a fairly extensive collection of Robyn Matthieson, which I am not above stealing once and a while.

And I visited Sydney for 4 awesome days.

As is usual practice, I have revised my list for 2012. There have been a few small changes because as we all know, what you want when you're 21 (which is how old I was when I wrote this list originally) is not necessarily what you want when you're 29. Boxing Day is the only day I'm allowed to make changes, and I can't change anything I've already crossed off.

Items in blue were achieved in 2011. Items in red were achieved in 2012.

Art / Art History

Have a painting on public display
See the Mona Lisa
~~Own a really nice piece of art by someone other than me~~
See a piece of art by each of the Teenage Mutant Turtles’ namesakes (Mona Lisa OK for Leonardo, Sistine Chapel OK for Michelangelo)

Charity/Politics

~~Donate to charity regularly~~
~~Volunteer~~
~~Donate blood~~ (regularly)
Join the Green Party

Concerts / Music

See Radiohead live
See Kings of Leon live
~~See Green Day live~~
~~See Foo Fighters live~~
~~See Portishead live~~

Education

Learn Maori
Learn to dive
~~Learn to drive~~ (and get my full drivers license)
~~Get a degree~~
Get my Masters
Get my PhD

Experiences

~~Order room service~~
Empty a mini bar
Fly first class
Go to Glastonbury
Tour the Whitehouse
Go to Easter Island
Build a snowman
Experience a white Christmas
Go to Disneyland
Wear a diamond necklace
~~Pat an elephant~~
~~Drink French Champagne~~
Go to the Olympic Games
~~Take part in a protest~~
Go to the Harry Potter theme park in Orlando, Florida
~~Wear a designer dress~~
Spend a year in another country
~~Witness a historic event~~
~~Move out of Rocklands~~
~~Go out dancing all night~~

Friends and Family

Meet and marry my soul mate
~~Visit my grandparents~~
~~Find Steven More~~
~~Make friends with someone I don't like~~
~~Be able to recognise a liar~~

Health

Quit Smoking
~~Join a gym~~
Get down to size 14
Fix my teeth

Material

~~Buy a bookcase~~
Buy a house
~~Buy a new computer~~
Be debt-free
Be 'comfortable' money-wise
Own a yellow drum set
Own my own land
Be mostly self-sufficient

Music – See Concerts

Random

Write a short novel
Go drinking with a celebrity
See all the movies on the IMDB Top 250
Bake and decorate a tiered cake
~~Remember to buy fireworks before 5 November~~
Get a tattoo
Sew a shirt
Join a tramping club

Russia – See Travel – Russia

Travel - Asia

Explore China
Go to the Geisha Districts in Japan
See the Terracotta Army
See Tiananmen Square

Travel – Australia

Go diving at the Great Barrier Reef
See Adelaide
~~Go shopping in Sydney for a day~~
See Perth

Travel – Europe

Explore London
See Stonehenge
Go up the Eiffel Tower
Visit Amsterdam

Travel – Italy

Explore Italy
See the Sistine Chapel
See the Leaning Tower of Pisa

Travel – New York

See a Broadway musical
Go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Welcome in a New Year at Times Square
Have a picnic in Central Park

Travel – New Zealand

See the South Island
~~Go snorkelling at Leigh Marine Reserve~~
Do the Tongariro Crossing
Go to Milford Sound
~~Take the Auckland-Wellington train~~
Walk the entire length of the Te Araroa track (although perhaps not in one go!)
Take the Greymouth-Christchurch train

Travel – Other

Drink tequila in Mexico
Holiday on a Pacific Island
Gamble in Vegas
Walk down Hollywood Boulevard
See the Amazon
Look at Russia from Alaska
Go to Emily Dickinson's birthplace

Travel – Russia / Russia

Read War and Peace
Read Anna Karenina
See Lenin's Mausoleum
Drink vodka in Russia