RIP Shaka

Our tried and true kitty has passed on to the other side. Shaka is riding the glory train; hopefully a little less terrified than earthly Shaka would be in a moving vehicle. This brave kitty escaped during the fires, and found his way home 4 days later, “helped” mom in the garden, warmed our beds (as well as our hearts) and fought off menacing black kitty till the end. We will never forget you Shaka Kitty Zulu Warrior.

It’s not a kitty conducive world out there on the Rivera- with all its windy roads and coyote foes. Damn car came probably came out of nowhere, and we shall all ride more bikes in your honor Shaka. Thank you for loving me and sleeping beside me all those nights I felt so heartbroken. You were my #1 man. We will never forget you!

Theories of Men & Women

(art deco stuff from Wellington Library)

A strange and funny thing happened after my weekly Friday thesis meeting with Phil (my supervisor). This meeting is typically held right before Phil's urban geography course, when my brain is absolutely fried. ANYWAY, today Phil’s class will map out the differences between men and women. Here are some aspects the class censes covered:

Do you live with your friends?

How close do you live to your friends?

How much time to spend talking to your friends?

How much time do you spend playing sport/watching sports?

Do you live with your family?

How close do you live to your family?

Obvious results:

Women:

Spend more time talking with friends, more likely to live with friends and parents then men.

Men:

Less likely to live with friends than women, more likely to watch sports with friends and play sports with friends.

Phil was going on and on about men bonding through actions like playing games, as to avoid talking about personal things, and talking all together. All of it sounded a little too stereotypical. So, perfectly at the end of our meeting we turn around to discover 3 guys setting up a poker game in the postgraduate “lounge,” intent on bonding over beers and poker on a Friday afternoon. We shared a good laugh. I had to probe- why do men avoid talking about their lives? Phil didn’t know.

How to women measure up?

Yes, women tend to talk more. But why? Anne-Marie’s theory of similarities claims that women like to think (/obsess) about themselves and how they can relate others. How are we women the same or different from each other? Men like to think about themselves and how they stack up against others. Sports would be an easy way to measure this. Once a woman finds another woman with similar outlooks and life experiences both women are thrilled, and converse more with this particular woman than so they can uncover more hidden similarities. Outlooks on life change over time because we change, so then we have to keep talking about it with our top similarity women (shared experiences is included in the similarity category). Just a theory.

(Sigh) At times it is so hard to talk to men because they are so incredibly uninteresting. Have men considered their lives or other people’s lives? Can men be peeled away from TV sets, computer screens or status wars? Do men even want to get to know women in the same way women want to get to know men? Not really. Is that bad for women or for men? Who knows?

A quick note on sex, which my studies cover! Sex is a social super glue, it holds couples together when there is nothing to discuss, and it’s the only way monkeys decide/notify who they trust- through intercourse. Perhaps Christian couples use God instead of sex to hold their relationship together. Maybe that’s why all the Christian couples get married expediently, because it’s pretty damn hard to keep a relationship going on trusting God rather than each other (which can only ultimately be denoted with sex). One partner may trust God more than the other, what do you do about trust levels then?

Thoughts?

Economics and Kitties

(clever kiwis)

(this cat, "gray kitty" ALWAYS fights outside my window with its arch rival "orange kitty," stupid cats. Gray kitty WON this battle, until next time)

(to date my favorite Aro kitty- Lola)

(seriously, this cat was just showing off)

A very rough overview of thing that are changing my life:

Currently our economy runs on the psychological foundation of behaviorism. Behaviorists claim that we can never know what someone is feeling, SO we can only measure actions (what has already been done). How does this fit into the idea of economics? Economists are concerned with the question- what did you by? Economists are NOT concerned with why you bought it. If we can ONLY measure a consumers actions, the more transactions the better! More transactions MUST translate as positive growth. For every transaction is meant to satisfy some sort of need. Therefore, the market with most transactions fare the best. This is where free market comes in. Free markets supposedly foster the least amount of waste. Waste in this retrospect refers to costliness, a market very few could enter, buyers with more information about a product than a seller, purchases affecting more than the parties in exchange and little competition. All these things are the opposite of a free market- this is a market of incredible waste because it would be terribly hard to make a buck in such a stifling environment. As a consumer it wouldn’t be very fun to live in a economy that’s geared to screw you over with little protection, massive expenses (due to no competition because businesses CAN charge you heaps), and no chance to try to do things out “your way.” Innovation would cease to exists- killed by external control factors. On the other hand- behaviorism does not take into account social comparisons. This is an important idea; highlight it in your mind that comparison is inevitable. This is another important idea, comparison is destructive. We all do, whether through facebook or church gossip we are constantly comparing ourselves to friends, family members, and famous people (like Alexander the great who conquered the known world at 25- damn him!). We all compare and, and it makes us all feel inferior. Science has proven that people feeling inferior status is bad for societies and bad for an individual’s health! What if economists were more concerned with this?

They are! First a little back ground in externalities. Externalities imply compensation. When a denim factory dumps a wholes bunch of toxic chemicals into a river the factory owner has to pay a tax for damages done to the environment (based on the assumption that money compensates for a dirtied up environment). The externality in this example was toxic chemicals. The compensation is the tax that the factory owner has to pay for making a mess of local rivers.

What if you could measure what people are feeling, then we could dismiss all this behaviorism rubbish. Well, you can with subjective well-being. What if economic policy was based on the thought that there are things out there that are bad for us, and should be counted as a negative externality...like comparison or inequality? It would be nice if everyone who parked their Lexus next to a Honda gave the Honda driver $200 to compensate for the comparison and status issues going through the Honda owners head. Comparison is a negative externality.

Currently their is a massive amount of studies being done on status. We would be dishonest to ourselves if we claim to have never felt inferior at least ONCE in our lives. In my case, countless times a day amongst academics!

Now that we know inferiority is an issue in which our society in rampant with what does that have to do with economics? Think about it. Why do we buy a giant TV? Because we think it will add to our happiness. Besides, your friends bought one and it has such great sound, wow it feels like your right there at the game! Without it your life experience is lacking, and your friends are defiantly gaining. Amazing TVless you are the looser in this transaction. But are you? Only because you think you are. In a free market the more choices the better. Why? Because that leads to more transactions! High Gross National Income, higher Gross Domestic Product. Free market has no moral judgment- its all about maximizing returns so we can buy more stuff (to cover more "needs"). We all know that extra income does not trickle down to the poor, although it would be very convenient to keep subscribing to this theory if one is plotting on becoming financially successful.

SO if our economy was more about creating happiness with the least amount of waste what would it look like? Probably Denmark. More economically equal societies fare better health wise, wealth wise and educationally. Are you surprised?

What will happen to innovation without a completely free market?! Do you really believe that innovation is nothing without inequality? This is a great lie. Radical financial inequality hurts US. Not we, not them, US.

So how do you increase happiness with the least amount of waste? What does modern psychology say? What can we do to build happier societies?

If this made no sense at least you can enjoy all the cute kitties!

(amazing cat that showed up in our house the other day)

(dinner party with Julia's friends)

(marking heaps of papers)

(glorious day doing chores)

(odd shaped muffin)

Written Last Sunday:

Something must be said about student life at Victoria. Graduate and “first years” (freshman) alike are big drinkers, and since the drinking age is 18 in NZ, many students come to school well practiced in the art of binge drinking. Evidence of drinking culture is everywhere. For example, there is bar/eatery in the library exclusively for postgrads, and for the past two Fridays our professors have put some back with us mangy MA thesis students. It is in the library bar/postgraduate room where one can meet foxy PhD candidates and other glorious nerd babes. But mostly one goes for the cheap fries and beer with arguably the best views in town (180 degrees of Wellington). Conversation is usually pretty good.

Victoria’s student flyer/magazine thing titled, “Salient” often makes me blush. It’s very informative and very rude, I wouldn’t let anyone under 18 read it! In NZ people don’t care as much about being politically correct, or cursing, or moving in with your partner, or having kids before your married, or PETA (the organization that Pamela Anderson Lee Supports), or food preparation. According to a commercial that runes every 30 minutes or so, 500 kiwis suffer from food poisoning a day (tough lesson learn here with a lasagna that a fly decided to lay eggs in- what a bonanza, I guess it was just being a good Mom). BUT kiwis are passionate about conservation- Julia was just out and about the other day counting birds for the city.

At the moment I am grading 50 papers, averaging at about 4 pages each on “trouble spots” in South East Asia. I get paid $18 an hour “mark” the papers, and that’s money hard earned. Most bibliographies are an utter disaster.

Now I will mount an invisible soapbox- whenever you bring a guest to a dinner party you introduce them to everyone else, you don’t just drop them off and say, “have fun!” The same practice goes for quotes- you can’t just drop them into a paragraph without introducing them. Quotes, like people do not magically fit into new environments, they need a proper introduction. And what did books ever do to students to be so left out of bibliographies?! If books had feelings they would be hurt, due to the overall rejection of their perceived validity and use.

Stepping down now- off to clean the bathrooms, cook lasagna and go to church to see my friend, Huriana, get baptized.

Flatmate

(spying on Julia from my bedroom window, she brought out the ladder to pick 3 apples at the top of the tree)

To know Julia, my flatmate, and owner of the house I reside in, one must also know Wellington, Fiji, and Raoul Island. Julia Stance was born and raised right here in Wellington! Many moons ago (not quite sure how many moons), Julia graduated from Victoria with a degree in geography. At some point in time she was married to a photographer…sounds like they traveled right round the world together then split up. Since becoming a photographer herself, Julia has been involved with projects all over the South Pacific.

Julia lived in Fiji for 10 years, passing by the staging of the first coups completely unaware, with an iguana in tow (she was delivering it for a friend). During her stay in Fiji Julia worked at the Fiji Museum. Her book, Yalo I Viti, about the artifacts housed inside the Fijian Museum has been in print for over 30 years.

It’s no surprise that Julia is a self-proclaimed island person, which leads me to the introduction of Raoul Island. Raoul Island is 1000 km away from Auckland. It’s the last of the Kermadec Islands, perhaps this means nothing to you, but in terms of New Zealand it’s the most northern territory under the NZ state. For a year Julia lived on this subtropical island picking weeds (turning 60 during her stay!). 5 people a year are chosen to live on Raoul Island, and it is an extremely high honor to be accepted into the program (as it is extremely competitive). I HIGHLY recommend viewing her website:

http://www.jbwphotography.co.nz/gallery.html

Here one can view Raoul island, a rare treasure- an island without rats or cats- an island returning to it’s natural habitat thanks to all the volunteers who are practically hand picked by personal strengths to take care of it. FYI, Julia’s website is under another name Julia- Brooke-White. There is also quite a bit of coverage on contemporary New Zealand craftwork, as well as Pacific Island Festivals. It’s a marvelous blend, please visit the site!

At the moment Julia is typing up some recently discovered 150ish-year-old journals from “first” travelers to the Kermadecs. I love coming home after school and chatting with Julia during dinner. We watch Coro Street together, laugh at the absolutely dismal New Zealand “news” (Ron Burgundy has some serious competition in New Zealand), and share all costs on food. I have immense respect for Julia, who is equal parts interesting and pleasant to be around, a combo that is hard to find.

Homeward Bound

(I made this by myself after a cooking lesson from my friend!)

(the universal issue with dogs- in or out?)

I can't wait to go back to see everyone! Thank you for everything! Back to my cooking, which is improving (view homemade lasagna, cooking lesson from friend). If only I could master the roast.

People and Eels

(Blair had to sit on the calf for its safety)

(we all tried to tackle the calf, who was separated from its mother and found hiding under a cabbage tree)

(look I'm feeding a wild eel!! See it at the bottom of the stick?)

(brother and sister feeding eels)

(Morgan and her dog Tane, Ashley is getting ready to take us down to the Bach)

Back in the hills Blair (the youngest Coats) introduced Guy (Dad), Guy Sr.(Grandpa), Clydell (Grandma), Morgan and I to Burp, his wild pet freshwater eel. The eels are huge, living a good life off of all the dumb dead sheep. Yum, even the eels in New Zealand love lamb. Main form of transport back into the hills- back of truck! We took the 4 wheeler out to cruise the paddocks in search for the missing calf. Farm life, eh!

4,000 Acres View From The Back Of A Truck

(cattle)

(cattle are curious creatures)

(hills for days, layers of mountains)

(sitting in the back of a truck)

(New Zealand)

We took a long ride back into the hills of the Coats Farm, stopping to view freshwater eels, fix broken pipes and take a tour of the sheering shed. I was in awe most of the time- layers of mountains, perfectly placed cabbage trees, cattle stopping to stare, New Zealand. What a strange job sheep and cattle have- to eat then move to eat some more, somewhere else.

There were many a discussion about dead sheep. The Coats used to have quite a few, when they bought the farm. But sheep are difficult, and incredibly stupid. Apparently sheep and dead sheep are synonymous to some farmers. By the way, a farm in New Zealand is the same thing as a ranch in the States. The coats don't grow anything per se, they have beef cattle, a few sheep, heaps of dogs, and wildly horses.

Bach on the Beach

(hillsides backing the beach)

(New Zealand)

(geographical wonders)

(tractors tow boats here, with such a close proximity to farm land)

(nothing like kiwi men and their Land Rovers)

A Bach is second, smaller vacation home. We walked along the beach after a Easter Brunch, after reading the story of Christ's death and resurrection aloud. The rock formations are strange along this beach...odd/unique enough for a chalk load of rocks to whizz by in the back of someone's trailer! Who's parent's wouldn't take advantage of the moment, collecting good looking rocks when everyone is finally back in town for the holidays?

Coats Farm

(deep in a forest, Coats home in view)

(part of the property, forget what this shed is used for...)

(sweet little church, just outside the front lawn)

(tree)

(tight squeeze! the boys- Jake and Tane)

The Coats Family Farm consists of 4ish hours driving time from Wellington, 4,000ish acres of land, cattle, dogs, good people and good food. This Easter was spectacular. Treated as a special guest the Coats gave me a grand tour or their property, Bach and home life. Check out all the things we did!

On a side note the country shuts down during Easter. Although New Zealand isn't particularly religious, they do "celebrate Easter," (by doing nothin. Uni was closed from Good Friday on to Tuesday. I returned to my school work on Thursday, and I will be paying for it over the weekend. Oh well. Time traveling the country is technically geography studies...right? Right.

Notes done on Good Friday:

Good Friday, all of New Zealand shuts down for a four day public "holiday." This strikes me as very odd, New Zealand is not a particularly religious state, why is Easter such a big holiday (the biggest after Christmas)? I had several errands to run on Friday, thinking this was the perfect time to do so since school is closed, wrong. Julia stopped me before I left to early to a lunch date, which was rain-checked because the restaurant was closed. Big bummer, I recived the text five blocks too late and found myself downtown Wellington, dressed up, hungry, and plan-less. When in doubt find a church.

By chance I bumped into a priest who had just finished his service (on my way to the soon-to-be canceled lunch). The Father informed me of a nice drop in drop out service taking place in the Anglican church next to the “Beehive,” New Zealand’s parliament building. Remembering this I wondered into the tail end of another service (in the catholic church next door), leaving still a bit spiritually hungry I meandered next door to the outrageously huge Anglican church, which was outrageously empty, and outrageously ugly. What kiwi’s do on this very stanch religious holiday is beyond me, they certainly don’t go to church.

The service was incredible, with the very reverand Frank Nelson, and reverand Jenny Wilkens leading the discussions on modern hymns.

With parliamentary leaders in the crowd of sober faces the reverand reminds us that if we are Christians we proclaim Jesus is, my way, my truth, my life. Then the reverands gently challenge us, “what is right and wrong, and who decided?” People of power, potentially the most powerful in all of New Zealand were undoubtedly among the crowd (due to the close proximity of the capital buildings). We all try to adjust our thinking, of course God is in power, but do we really believe this?