Where is Cate's blog?

Someone asked me where my blog had gone.

 

Silly Cate, didn't send out a memo to those of you subscribed via RSS or similar: I've defected to WordPress!

You can check out my (beautiful) new website / blog over at http://cateowen.co.nz/

Please change your bookmarks, move your subscription, and take a peek at what I've been working on.

 

As always, your feedback is very welcome.

Cate x

 

The Postsecret and the swamp

Reading the weekly Postsecret offerings is a bit of a ritual in my world. As I think about each one - sometimes in passing, sometimes at legnth - I often see reflections of myself.

One this week was particularly touching:

As I read it, I felt really sad.

For a period of my life, I lived in the swamp, and can identify with the overwhelming feeling that the swamp was my destiny, that the hard drudgery is what life is... That to escape from such a place would require a miracle not offered to those in the swampy depths.

I imagine many people have felt the same way.

If you're in that place - where the path out of the swamp feels too hard - don't give up. Don't give up. Don't give up.

Life is not all roses and sunshine and good times like we think or expect it to be. Life is hard work, it can be rough as guts, and it can hurt. But there's a very important thing you need to know: The swamp - the place you were born into or now find yourself - is not a reflection on how precious and important you are.

Because you are so very precious, and do not deserve to live your life hidden away in a dark place, covered in mud, cold and shivering.

Even though the pain of taking the path out may be greater than the pain of living in a swamp, the end payoff is so worth it.

Think of it this way: You get a nasty infection in your elbow, which causes it to seize up. You're not having any joy moving the joint, and you can't carry much weight on it, but it's functional. It doesn't really matter that you can't do everything, does it?

But then a doctor takes a look at your elbow and suggests that cleaning out the infection will fully heal you. You agree to the treatment, and the doctor starts work.

It hurts. It fucking hurts.

You have a choice. You can persevere, or you can give up. You can fight through, or you can succumb.

Hand on heart, from someone who has walked the path out of the swamp - out of multiple swamps - it's worth the fight. Don't ever let the pain of healing rob you of your future.

Because oh, what a future you can have.

This was a Postsecret that reminded me of how far I've come, and hopefully, it'll inspire those who read this and need to hear it - you are precious, and it will get better.

Tagged Encouragement

The Best Kiwi Tweets of March

Big thoughts and ponderations

TroyRF We've bought a new washer and dryer. Now torn between options on what to do with the old ones: a) Trademe, or b) Viking funeral
Tarquin_Death I have no idea how the person who wrote the Protex jingle manages to look their family in the eye
antsgardiner I have been wondering @WestpacNZ, are you related to Tupac?
gnat Another day of Wellington's eternal summer. "Don't think of it as rain, think of it as Character falling horizontally from the sky."

Meanwhile in the (sur)real world

amiewee Accidentally put on so much foundation this morning that I don't look real. I look like I've gone overboard on surface blur in photoshop.
ReporterRachel At court, there's a lawyer playing angry birds on his iPad. He's not very good at it. 
BRONNINATOR just played rock-paper-scissors with my boss to see who has to clean the microwave. he lost. "fuck it, I'll just buy a new one!"
nessliddell Went 2 loo 2 pee. Peed, sound of drill. Stopped peeing, no drill. Started again, sound of drill. #Facepalm Building being done downstairs.
DomHarvey There was a flashmob at Pak N Save last night. Heaps of people lined up at the same time to buy their groceries. It was very subtle.
thomasbeagle Screw your statistical analysis, it's now clear to me that the Pacific Plate is about to lift off and return to its home planet.
josiecampbell I'm 97% sure that it really is Friday today. But I've been wrong before.
tarasutherland i would kneecap my mother for a hashbrown right about now 
TangThang Ohhhh HELL NO!!! My neighbor did not just invest in some bagpipes!
muffinmum Mixing it up tonight and doing something I don't usually do - serving peas and sweetcorn mixed.
nzmovieguy Having some brilliantly wanky moments as I clear out contacts from my phone.
WayneLikesPie One of the Miss Tui contestants emailed work asking to be on TV. Women should know better than to give me access to their email addresses.
RachelRayner Finally bought a 'This Is What A Feminist Looks Like' shirt. It's a size too small, but at least it shows off my figure nicely. Wait, what?
kiwi_chatter It was difficult wearing red and black today for Christchurch. Normally I like my bra and panties to match.
ashbriar i look a panadol last night before i went to sleep and i just sneezed and it landed in my hands.. #wherehasitbeeeeen? (I know she's not a Kiwi but she's from the Western Island and this Tweet is too good to pass up!)

Nudity and naughtiness

TradeMe_Jay Had coffee. Saw random naked chick outside work wearing one shoe and holding a plant. #art
annagconnell Oh God. Ran downstairs to get makeup with towel on. Towel fell off, neighbour on balcony, saw the lot. I am dying.
nzdeany just dropped off trousers for alteration, next to Thai massage place..."you likey some lunch delight?" eerrmm no thanks just my hems done
johubris I think I need some sort of side income. If only I lived in a city with an active Craig's List, I'm sure I could find some freak to cater to

Remembering it's not all a joke

DJDuncWilson Each morning I wake & read the BBC News app. Recently, I find my fingers trembling as I discover what horrors have unfolded while I slept.
MoataTamaira Got house to live in. Got flushing toilet. Got Internet. Got @Ponquip. #lifeisgood
pixelbrid Have gotten to know my neighbours quite well in last 2 weeks. What crumbles buildings can make communities stronger. #eqnz

Tagged Best Tweets

Updated: Erm, what's the rock tweetup?

UPDATE: Vera and I looked at each other mournfully* and decided to postpone this event till next week - it gives us a chance to find a back-up location should the weather still be custard this time next week. Stay tuned! And stinkbros.

*this may not have happened

 

You may have heard me, Vera and Sarah talking about a little bit of rock-related urban creativity. Or as Rosie Carnahan-Darby likes to call it "public art / half arsed vandalism".

You may have not heard a thing, and that's fine. There's no judgement here.

So what are we up to?

Inspired by this amazing blog, we're going to be copy-cats cos it's a really good idea, and there's no improving on perfection.

So next Sunday, at 11am, we're meeting in that park in Ponsonby where the buildings are saying a big hello to the ground. (I'm reliably told it's called Western Park). We're going to spraypaint the rocks bright colours, then have a big picnic, then paint the faces on. Then we will be carefully placing the rocks into the urban landscape around central Auckland (Ponsonby and CBD) and getting photographic evidence to go on a blog later.

Want to come along? Sign up.

What you need to bring:

  • You.
  • Your spawn if you've spawned.
  • Picnic food or swift hands so you can steal from others.
  • Clean rocks.
  • A digital photgraphic device.

We will bring the spraypaint, the newspaper, the paint and the brushes, but if you can supply any of these things, please let me know.

There's some rules:

  • The better the rock location, the better.
  • Don't be illegal.
  • Don't be a dick with the rocks.
  • Don't tell anyone about fight club.
  • If Sarah doesn't get a rock onto the set of Breakfast like she said, you can give her long, sad looks.
  • Supply some of your images to me at some point.

No, there's no wet-weather plan so check Twitter in the morning to see if it's been cancelled. No refunds.

Can't wait to see you guys there! It's going to be choice!

Best Kiwi tweets of February: An #eqnz special

There's something wonderful about the Kiwi spirit. We're opinionated, bulshy, and have awesome senses of humour.

And given the terrible events of the last week, that sense of humour has done us proud.

February's Tweets of the Month fall into two categories: The usual awesome funnies, and those After The Quake.

Here's to you, New Zealand, you funny, amazing people.

The Usual Awesome Funnies

milkshakebot Assumed I saw some hipsters outside of Hamilton today. Turns out they were Mormons.
juhasaarinen There. I've seen vampire sparkling. Feel dirty now.
annagconnell Does anyone have sensitive teeth? Is it as debilitating as the Sensordyne ads make out?
melanielynskey Justin Bieber is so inspiring! Never say never! If you're 12 & you're not famous yet, don't give up! It's gonna happen!
Tarquin_Death Writing romantic poetry. It's nice that "sharted" and "broken-hearted" rhyme. #valentines
Hilary_Barry I'd really prefer not to be poked on Facebook.
NZPDelta Stopped a male walking down the street after dark- checks revealed he had been wanted on warrant for months. He asked me why I stopped him.I said anyone walking around in this rain is either crazy or up too no good".He replied "I ain't crazy". 
wandaharland I'm wearing my new gym shorts in bed. Fitness by osmosis.  
jessepeach i'm off to do voxpops in downtown Wellington. My producer: "don't put a suit on. You want people to know you're tv3"
johubris Oh Facebook, we've talked about this before. Just because I've slept with someone, doesn't mean I want to be their friend.
annelisevickery Wow I wish I got as excited about PMS as those lady's on the libra ads
BRONNINATOR bad decisions make fantastic stories.
Vegrandis Been on hold with IRD for 15 mins, saw a blank button on the telephone, curious, pressed it, and it ended the call
AliIkram Women of the world rejoice Sonny Bill now a Muslim and now can marry four wives.
beerlytweeting Looking up spinach on wikipedia. May be the lowest point of my journalist career.
brettroberts Has anybody ever checked if all the pilot whales which get stranded are male ? It could be a 'won't ask for directions' thing.

Post Quake

nasstkVEVO I'd like to personally thank the U.S for sending 960 Portaloos to Christchurch. When things turn to shit, we know we can count on you
Tarquin_Death The bottle of 'earthquake vodka' is getting low. Almost time to open the earthquake rum! Not sure the earthquake is a good influence on me.
securitygalnz No power/water = no bathroom cleaning, washing, ironing, vacuuming, car cleaning or mowing lawns = silver lining to #eqnz
Kiwi05 Only in NZ would the mayor describe the broken sewage system as "seriously munted"
harvestbird The dogs assembled around me and the bush toilet at dawn, as if to say, we knew you'd join us out here one day.
richirvine Everyone, make sure you hug + kiss your partners and kids tonight. Not your flatmates though, that leads to dark places.
brianedwardsmed Just heard - from total stranger on Twitter - that my daughter and family are ok. He went round to her house for me . Kindness in bad times.
JohnJCampbell Dear Christchurch, and all who love that city, what can any of us say, except we're carrying you in our hearts.
NZTopModelColin As always, be considerate of someone more vulnerable than yourself. Strength is multiplied when the burden is shared.
LitaNZ We are all family, no matter where we come from and our backgrounds. WE WILL get through this. WE WILL stand as a nation again!
nathanknz These shakes just keep coming. Every time I feel one I can't help but think what it must be like for those amongst the rubble.

kingnivin Christchurch might be hurt, but they're definitely not low, genius
 

 benkepes Hope. Pure and simple

 

 

Your stories

This person (a complete stranger to me) responded to a tweet of mine. I was trying to locate the mother of a friend in the UK. She actually went round to his mum's house and then tweeted me that she was fine. You can imagine the relief of her son after waiting over 24 hours and hearing nothing. Just awesome. - Marg

Tagged Best Tweets

Tweets of the month: Something different

In light of the terrible suffering that is happening in our country, I wasn't sure if Kiwi Tweets of the Month should go ahead. A little bit of tweetsourcing told me it should - but with a twist.

So we're having two lots of TOTM this month:

  • the usual humorous kind that you know and love; and
  • the kind that moves you because of its poignancy; its love; its "kia kaha"ness

But I need your help. I stopped keeping track of the tweets when the earthquake hit, so have only a few of the first kind, and none of the second. I need your nominations.

Nominating is easy. You just @cateowen with the URL of the tweet. You can even nominate yourself, there's no judgement here.

Don't know how to find the link? It's simple. Go to the tweet you want to nominate and click the date. You should get a one-pager of the tweet. Copy the URL in a message to me.

If you'd like to do this privately, DM me or send me an email cate.owen (at) gmail.com

Looking forward to hearing from you! x

Christchurch earthquake: When the unthinkable happened

I've resisted writing this post, despite needing to.

Writing is how I get things out. It's one of the ways I cope.

But words just seem so futile at a time like this. The entire dictionary - even every word ever uttered - can't describe what's going on right now.

A nation sits in shock. This isn't our burden, surely? This isn't our event? This is what happens in some foreign land, some distant place, to people who aren't us.

But no, this is our place. This is our event. This is our land.

As a mother hen gathers her chicks in close, so New Zealand gathers its people together. We stand shoulder-to-shoulder with those who have lost everything. We protect those who are weakened. We guard those we have lost.

Nightfall is coming. The rescuers will continue to search, and we will continue to hope. 'Recovery' is a word still far too raw to be uttered. Until we have our people back, we will hold fast.

We will get through this.

Together.

Kia kaha.