Seven Days of Koko

Obligatory crazy sleeping shot.

So sweet.

We gotta teach this kid some new funny faces.

Thumbs up for Ponies.

Roar!

Serious movie watching face.

Getting her read on. The Kuia and the Spider <3

Wilder Web

Sarah Wilson makes hiking for hours a day between quaint English villages look and sound like something I'd maybe want to do.

YA From a Marginalized Young Adult's Perspective. (via Lani Wendt Young)

"As a young, queer girl of color, I needed—no, NEED to read about sex. Heroines of my race having sex in a way that isn’t hyper-sexualized. Heroines having sex that isn’t just romanticized rape. Heroines having sex with multiple partners over the course of a series, because the first-boyfriend-only-boyfriend model is a dangerous misconstruction of reality."

Rizzo From Grease Is A Butch For The Ages. I love Rizzo, & I love pretty much everything about this piece. (via Aunty Shub) 

"Also, Principal McGee and her assistant Blanche are totally doing it. This isn’t really related to the Rizzo-Frenchy relationship, but it’s important for me to point out that they are totally doing it. Principal McGee went to Smith, and they share an apartment together, and they are totally doing it."

Authors Convinced To Cosplay As Their Favourite Fictional Characters. More adorable than you would expect.

Jenny Lewis's Just One Of The Guys is great, but the music video for it is beyond incredible. Why? Kristen Stewart, that's why. 

"Everything you found objectionable about her in the Twilight films — and you found her objectionable; I have read the internet — was the result of a lion being forced to wear housecat drag. She was made to pursue, not to be pursued; she was made to lean exquisitely against walls and wear men’s trousers and take women by the chin and kiss them fully on the mouth. She takes, she is not taken. She was more Joan Jett in The Runaways than Joan Jett ever was. Heterosexuality cannot contain her; neither can this white suit."

The BBC have collected a nice little sample of Pacific Poetry for you to enjoy. Awesome!

Dominique Christina's The Period Poem is a must watch for everybody who has a daughter ~

via Rosie

Seven Days of Koko

Still asleep and still alive. I don't know how she does it.

 

Blissing out at her Papa's shop on International Independent Record Store Day.

 

Serious movie watching.

 

First eggs & soldiers! They were a hit.

 

Sharing her cake with the pony of the day.

 

Funny face.

 

Is this not the most adorable little punk you have ever seen?

Wider Web

This is a photo of six white men on a panel at the Global Summit of Women. It is also a classic case of not judging a book by its cover. Here's why This Panel of Six White Male CEOs Is Great News for Women.

What We Do In The Shadows looks like the kind of hilarious movie you don't want to miss. Luckily, the film's genius marketing campaign will ensure you won't forget to catch it. Proof that the marketing is getting through: I had a What We Do In The Shadows dream the other night.

The fabulous Michele A'Court on what it's like to be both a comedian and a female.

Aren't You A Little Short To Be A Stormtrooper? The Passing of the Armor to A Bullied Little Girl.

Eep! Custom Engraved Rolling Pins! Amazing.

I have a friend whose baby arrived too soon earlier this year, so this article about Wedding gowns for angel babies is particularly poignant. Such a lovely, special idea.

Cate Owen picks Five of the best one-shot music videos you'll ever see.

I've been to Brisbane once, & I gotta tell ya, I don't think it's the city for me. I'm more of a cold, dark, gothic Wellingtonian than a hot, bright, colourful summer lover. There was one thing that I loved about Brisbane though (other than my wonderful family, who I would travel to Brisbane to visit again in a heartbeat) ~ The Queenslander.

An interview about an interview. More specifically, a brilliant piece on Steve McQueen breaking a ten year silence to give his final interview to a high school student who was brave enough to ask for it.

Heather Armstrong of Dooce has been on a trip to South East Asia with Exodus Road to look into the work they do to help girls and women caught up in sex tourism and sex trafficking. This post of hers had me in tears. I can't even explain how perfect this piece is, so just read it for yourself.

Queer Eye for the Mormon Bishop Guy. What can I say? This is fabulous!

I went to the Matariki Poetry Slam at Te Papa last week. What a night! Here's the deserving winner Ben Stokes performing his second poem of the night. Swagger going swell, brother! ~

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Your Princess Is In Another Castle: Misogyny, Entitlement and Nerds. More hard but good stuff on the Isla Vista killings.  

"But the overall problem is one of a culture where instead of seeing women as, you know, people, protagonists of their own stories just like we are of ours, men are taught that women are things to “earn,” to “win.” That if we try hard enough and persist long enough, we’ll get the girl in the end. Like life is a video game and women, like money and status, are just part of the reward we get for doing well."

A.V. Club discuss their Cultural Dealbreakers.

A fascinating read on managing publicity ~ Angelina Jolie's Perfect Game.
"Taken together, these images, and the stories that accompanied them, were speaking about their relationship, even if the pair themselves weren’t offering comment. And what they were saying was that this wasn’t a story about sex or scandal; rather, it was one of family, humanitarianism, and global citizenship. Within this framework, any publication that chose to focus on sexual intrigue was effectively neglecting the most in need."

I Confronted Donald Trump In Dubai. Molly Crabapple is doing such good, important work. "On stage, Trump praises his Dubai. He is effusive—and sincere. Trump is one sort of Westerner who loves the UAE. They find here a throwback to colonialism's heyday. No matter how much you've shat the bed at home, here your whiteness will get you a job, money, servants from the Global South. Help is so affordable when migrant workers make $200 a month. In police states, there is little crime."

Wilder Women alert! Sarah of Yes and Yes has rounded up some life advice from famous, painfully awesome women. 

"It's funny: I always imagined when I was a kid that adults had some kind of inner toolbox full of shiny tools: the saw of discernment, the hammer of wisdom, the sandpaper of patience. But then when I grew up I found that life handed you these rusty bent old tools - friendships, prayer, conscience, honesty - and said 'do the best you can with these, they will have to do'. And mostly, against all odds, they do." 

Confession time: I've always had a fondness for Heart, cos, Wilder Women! Watch Ann & Nancy Wilson and others perform a cover of Stairway to Heaven that moves Led Zeppelin to tears ~ 

Ryland's Story has been doing the rounds on social media these past few weeks. It is definitely worth watching ~ 

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I love all of these homemade Disney villain costumes, & the people rocking them. Happy!

A fascinating article on trigger warnings for university texts.

The tragedy at Isla Vista was awful. So, so awful that I have been trying to avoid reading about it lest I sink into a deep depression. Avoiding it altogether has proved difficult though. Which is a good thing, because along with all the awfulness, some really smart, sensible things are being said. Dude, It's You is one of those good things. 

"If you just want to get laid and you don’t care how, the problem is you."

The return of Laura Vincent's Crush Cakes, this time on The Toast, is making me very happy. Here's her offering to Beyonce.

What It's Like to Play Every Ethnicity Hollywood Throws Your Way ~ Slate talks to Cliff Curtis.

"I take the responsibility of playing another ethnicity very, very seriously, and I promise myself and those people that I will represent them with as much dignity and integrity as I can muster. I’m not fooling around. I don’t want to make a fool of that cultural heritage. I represent them as I would represent my own."

Just put this on repeat and the rest of your day will be so full of joy ~

Sword fights! Boobies! The Game of Thrones theme, Modern Maori Quartet styles ~

(via Eb)

Gendered Marketing. Shop smart, people! ~ 

(via Naiomi)

Seven Days of Koko

Little drummer girl.

Cricket. Or, as Kowhai says, "Pippit!"

 

Who needs a high chair when you can just sit on the kitchen floor and have Mama feed you dinner there.

 

Posing with her portrait.

Chill out time.

Pretty much the sweetest girl in town.

  

Seriously though, how does this even happen without her waking up?

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Disney Princesses as the women of Game of Thrones. (via Morgue)

More Jem Yoshioka goodness ~ A story of Representation in two acts.

Pretty much my favourite link of recent times ~ The Definitive Ranking Of All 131 Baby-Sitter's Club Cover Outfits. (Also via Morgue) "It’s almost like Kristy ordered everyone to wear clothes three sizes too big (totally something Kristy would do, to be honest) for the entirety of their stints with the club."

Junot Diaz is a writer that has been recommended to me a lot recently. Reading through MFA vs. POC I can see why. "Simply put: I was a person of color in a workshop whose theory of reality did not include my most fundamental experiences as a person of color—that did not in other words include me."

LOL so hard at A Rihanna Meet And Greet Vs. An Avril Lavigne Meet And Greet.

Sick of having Let It Go stuck in your head? How about changing it up a little ~

How Wolves Change Rivers. Ah, nature ~

A List...

...about what my life looks like right now.

Making: More plans than I can keep.
Cooking: Vegetables. I've been getting run down lately, so trying to make an effort to be healthier.
Drinking: People's Coffee Cold Flat White. Good lord, this drink is divine. 
Reading: I've just embarked on Witi Ihimaera's The Parihaka Woman. It's been sitting in my To Read pile for a while now. 
Wanting: Contact lenses, or, more accurately, enough money to justify refilling my prescription.
Looking: At my living room from a new angle. We have just removed our tv and the cabinet it sat on, & replaced it with two armchairs.  
Playing: Building tower out of blocks with Koko. 
Wishing: For a week off. 
Enjoying: Being busy. 
Liking: Having Apa building at my bro's while I'm there with the kids. It's nice to have him around.
Wondering: How people can possibly justify voting for National. 
Loving: Reading & watching things that educate me, and make my mind really work. 
Hoping: To win Lotto.
Marveling: At people who are seemingly tireless in their advocacy.
Needing: A new lung, and/or a fortnight at a health spa. 
Smelling: Pretty bad, actually. I've been doing a lot of sweat inducing dancing. 
Wearing: Lycra, in anticipation of performing with the Real Hot Bitches again.
Following: Enlightening, educational, inspiring, and occasionally infuriating twitter conversations and debates.
Noticing: How good Koko can be at concentrating on tasks like building towers out of blocks.
Knowing: When I'm overdoing it and need to slow down and have an early night.
Thinking: About enrolling in some creative writing courses. 
Feeling: Tired, sick, contented.
Bookmarking: David Bowie documentaries.
Giggling: At Parks and Recreation.

Wilder Web

Teaching A Better Way to Say Sorry. (via Nic)

Love him or hate him, you gotta admit Richard Linklater isn't afraid to try new things when it comes to film making. Check out his latest project, Boyhood.

Warning: You could lose A LOT of time reading through The Guardian's What I'm Really Thinking columns. Fascinating stuff. (via Sarah Wilson)

This is quite possibly the most glorious iPhone case that will ever exist. (via Youthful Spirit)

Disappointed about the lack of women characters joining the cast of Star Wars (& the Muppets)? Here's a project that is trying to make something constructive from the bullshit lack of female representation. (via Morgue)

You know where women are severely over-represented in the arts? As muses. Jem Yoshioka discusses this problem in On Privilege, Mysogyny Behemoths and Real Life.

With a Mum and two sisters who are nurses I relate to this pretty strongly ~ 13 Things That Happen When You Grow Up With A Mom Who's A Nurse. 

"It's Your Own Fault You're Fat!!!" and other really boring things people say because they care deeply about you and your health. 

"When a person is trying to quit smoking, their goal is simply not to smoke a cigarette. When a person is trying to make more thoughtful choices about the foods they eat for the purposes of weight loss, they cannot simply stop eating. I mean, they CAN, but that comes with its own problems."

So 'debonair' George has been 'tamed', while 'tragic' Jen was 'saved'. THIS IS WHY I DO NOT READ GOSSIP MAGS!!! All of the rage! (via Ace Lady Network)

How Frozen Should Have Ended made me giggle ~

Wilder & Tamer

WILDER

~ Parks and Recreation.

~ Related to the above: When an actor's real life partner cameos on their show.

~ Seeing a group of teenagers in cardboard Burger King crowns pushing each other in supermarket trolleys down a suburban street at 10am on a Sunday morning.

~ My sister, because she lent me her awesome scarf and brand new bag to take away on a trip to Auckland.

~ My other sister, because she bought me a second hand copy of S.E. Hinton's Tex. I'm so looking forward to reading it.

~ Compliments from kids.

TAMER

~ The sudden death of Peaches Geldof at 25 is so awful. I always admired how eloquent and outspoken she was. She seemed like an original, and came across as a dedicated mother. It is all too, too sad.

~ The words 'breeder', 'spawn' & 'feral' when used to describe human beings.

~ Ants, cockroaches, & any other bug that invades your home. Yuck! I'm cool with the spiders though, they can stay.

Wilder Web

Oh my! The Muppets Painted As Twin Peaks Characters! Who killed Miss Piggy? 

I LOVE this interview with fashion writer Nicolette Mason. It is so refreshing to hear someone acknowledge their privileges so honestly. Self awareness for the win!

"Being a privileged person has definitely helped me, and I think that it would be really irresponsible of me not to acknowledge that that plays into it. The fact that I look white and I come from an affluent background has been a huge foot in the door." 

Why you should never, ever, ever get a tattoo (but having a baby is fine).

The A-Z of Dancing.

This performance on Ukraine's Got Talent is mesmerising from start to finish.

Things I WOULD Wish Upon My Enemies. (via Dooce)

I haven't read nearly enough of the 20 Books That Are As Great Today As They Were In The 90s.

Why Sansa Stark is the strongest character on Game of Thrones.

Throwing down the gauntlet is a thought-provoking piece on Michael Parekowhai's commission for a public artwork in Brisbane. (via Alice)

Wilder & Tamer

WILDER

~ A day trip to the beach.

~ My friend's 6 year old daughter, who said to me unprompted, "My favourite animals are Lions. I'm a Leo." Love that kid.

~ New friends becoming good friends. Always the best feeling.

~ Wearing all of the rings.

~ City Gallery's exhibition of John Millar's 1981 Springbok Tour protest photos, Tour Scrums. Excellent. A++. So good I'm going to try and get there again before it ends.

~ Happy tears.

~ Impromptu living room dance parties with Koko (& a couple of her toys) to David Bowie's Heroes.

~ Smart & sassy feminist kids. They make me excited about the future.

~ When people find a joke so funny they repeat the punchline twice while laughing.

TAMER

~ Seeing a surf caster snag a Ray on his line. Rays are some of my absolute favourites, so to see a little one struggling was most distressing to me.

~ Sunburn. Awful, horrible, really really bad sunburn. So painful. So stupid.

~ Finding a whitehead on your nose right after you've met cool new people. D'oh!

~ I thought I'd discovered an awesome new podcast, but then I listened to it and the host kept stopping mid sentence, leaving dead air until her guest would have to jump in and try to cover it. It was so awkward and hard to listen to. If you have any recommendations for good podcasts where this doesn't happen, I'd love to hear them.

~ When publications that you respect publish really shitty things. So doubly disappointing.

Wilder Web

One Kate Berry lives in USA, the other lives in Australia. They both take beautiful photos and post one each a day to their tumblr, The Other Kate Berry. Cool! (via Meet Me At Mikes)

How to be a fan of problematic things. (via Kirsten)

I agree 100% with Stephanie of A Large Pink Woman on this. 

"When all you see is thin/conventionally-attractive people, it’s easier to think of yourself as a horrible aberration. When your brain has a whole gallery of fun, assertive people-with-your-body-shape to choose from, it’s so much easier to know that you are normal/awesome/sexy/acceptable just the way you are."

The marvelous Ally Garrett knocks it out of the park with her response to the Kimye Vogue cover. 

"When I reveal in conversation that I love the Kardashians, this admission is usually met with scorn. “Why do you like them?” people squeal, “they’re only famous because of a sex tape!” For me, this is missing the point. Kim and her family didn’t just make the best out of a bad situation; they made billions of freaking dollars out of a bad situation. I’m baffled by anyone who thinks a family can have four well rating television shows, a best-selling book and several clothing, cosmetics and perfume lines without doing any work."

Let me grab your soul away - Kate Bush and gothic is a look at some of the seraphic songstresses influences.

A fascinating look at cultural appropriation vs. cultural exchange ~ Why I can't stand white belly dancers. (via Ro)

It's easy to see why Swedish designer Jonas Dahlberg was selected to create the memorial to Norway's Utoya massacre. His concept is stunning. 

"My concept for the Memorial Sørbråten proposes a wound or a cut within nature itself. It reproduces the physical experience of taking away, reflecting the abrupt and permanent loss of those who died. The cut will be a three-and-a-half-meters-wide excavation. It slices from the top of the headland at the Sørbråten site, to below the water line and extends to each side. This void in the landscape makes it impossible to reach the end of the headland."

Don't Shame Us. Don't Shut Us Up. (How to better support and empower a survivor of sexual abuse.) This is so good, so important, and you should read it for sure. This is also why Lani Wendt Young is one of my heroes.

A Northland teenager rents a DVD because it stars Hugh Jackman and he assumes it'll be an action flick. Turns out that film was Les Miserables, and a love of opera is born. See Campbell Live's beautiful story on this.

If only poor people understood nutrition! This features a food pyramid that completely changes everything. 

"The reality is that people who don’t have enough money (or the utilities and storage) to buy and prepare decent food in decent quantities, cannot (and should not) be arsed to worry about the finer nuances of nutrition. Because getting enough to eat is always our first priority."

I freaking hate that no make-up selfie bullshit that's doing the social media rounds at the moment. On the flip side, I do like these friends who got together to surprise a friend who is living with breast cancer.

I'm hoping to find a new place to live in the near future, and with a possible imminent move approaching, I have simplifying thoughts on my mind. De-clutter Now: 8 Things You Can Live Without is just what I need to read right now. (via Yes and Yes)

Check out the awesome Pasefika LGBTQI Youth float that won Best Float in the Auckland Pride Parade ~

(via Luisa)

Wilder Web

A Haunted House Snaps Photos At The Scariest Moment Of The Tour. I laughed till I cried. (via Gala Darling)

This interview asks Janet Mock what Beyoncé song would best describe Zora Neale Hurston. So, read it!

A Giant Fairy Bread Cake? Genius!

Wow. This F1 pit stop ballet is a case of blink and you'll miss it. (via Dooce)

Whoa. Shit got a bit meta when I read Dooce's Earnest Blogging post. I think she might have read my mind, especially with:

"The first step was realizing that I’ve become disengaged from joyous activities. In fact, I’d go as far as saying that I’ve avoided joyous activities because I could better use that time getting things in order."

I mean, that pretty much describes my twenties, right there. If only I'd actually managed to get a couple of things in order while I was missing out on all those joyous activities.

The Day Someone Threw Me A Rope is a must read for expectant or new mothers, & also anyone who is ever going to come into contact with the parent of an infant. So really, pretty much everyone.

Wilder Women inspiration, ahoy! 10 Creative Women Over 80 You Should Know.

Heart breaking and brilliant. Why love is not all you need is another must read.

"It feels a little cheap and tacky to say it. To say that I was saved, not by the love of my friends or the indefatigable courage of my mother, but by little red pills. In the narrative of mental illness, love and acceptance is supposed to be the saviour. Not for me. Love, categorically, did not save my life. Chemicals did. Because chemicals were what was killing me."

Fit and Funky is a sweet story about listening to your kids & having faith in them.

The Day My Behaviour Became "Too Much" For A Woman. (via Ace Lady Network)

"Women are constantly chastised for being too much of anything: too loud, too boisterous, too sweary, too fat, too thin, too cocky, too good at recognising patriarchy when it stares them right in the eyeballs."

Yeesh! This Oscar Voter Reveals Brutally Honest Ballot. 

"I often choose personal friendship when I am torn between two almost equally good options..."

My imaginary bff Anna Kendrick describes her Oscar Weekend Diary.

10 Creative Rituals You Should Steal.

Kevin Spacey Answers Questions that Female Celebrities Get Asked ~