So, apparently I started this section of my website in 2016. I thought that year was a shitshow. Boy, was I naïve. Who knew that the year Brexit and Trump votes happened wouldn’t be some of the worst things I’d see in my time on planet earth.
This year (2020) started off pretty crazily. My dad was diagnosed with cancer before Christmas so I took a last minute trip back to Canada to be with my whanau for Christmas. So, my year started with a flight back from Canada. The 17.5 hour flight back from Chicago was a physical endurance challenge I’m not sure I’d ever want to try again. But it was cool to know I could almost get home on one flight.
Mid Jan saw me back in Auckland to see Lizzo in concert. Damn, that woman is AMAZING and worth every penny. She brought much joy to my heart.
February brought a trip to Taupo to celebrate a friend’s birthday and hang out with friends. Popped back up to Auckland to speak at Difinity about data ethics (a variant on the talks I gave in 2019 at Codemania, CHCon, and Kawaiicon).
March saw another trip up to Auckland to hang out with another badass woman recording artist - Tami Neilson. She’s one boss lady and we spent the afternoon learning how to do her signature Beehive hairdo. It also brought a giraffe encounter at the Wellington Zoo (highly recommend) . Another amazing highlight from what was shaping up to be an awesome year.
And then the world pumped the breaks. COVID changed everything. It’s been a real struggle to get excited about doing things again. So many things feel really hard. Yes, in NZ we are extremely lucky that our decision makers went hard, closed the borders, sent us home so that we could get things under control. Whether you agree with this or not, it’s not relevant to me so please don’t email me or comment with your reckons. I’m not interested in engaging.
The outcome is that the whole world is different and things aren’t going to get “better” any time soon.
Which brings me to the purpose of this little piece of work. I value learning. I think being a well rounded human (I mean from a capability perspective, not a physical one) requires you to explore the world around you. Whether that means reading about things you don’t know or trying new things is entirely up to you and what you can accomplish in the context of your life. For me, I’ve always explored things. I did a Zombie apocalypse prep class which taught me how to make a long bow from a PVC pipe and a heat gun. That was fun. I took a couple of classes in stage fighting with long swords. Also a good time. I should see if I can pick that up again, actually. Last year, I took a beginners jewelry making class too. Made myself a couple of rings and understand the process. I’ve done leadlighting, I know how to knit.
In 2020/21 I want to commit to exploring more of my creative side and focusing more on what makes me happy (and maybe leave my bedroom/office more). I did a harness making class at the Shoe School here in Wellington and definitely want to do more of their classes. And so, this post (and section of my site) is about making a visible commitment to changing some things and to create more outlets in my life.
So, what do I intend to pursue? Not entirely sure yet but here’s the list of things so far:
Learn to use my camera again. I bought a camera about 5 years ago, used it for a while on mostly auto and then put it aside. I want to learn how to use it by the time I go on Christmas holiday and use it to document my life better than just my iphone. To this end, I’m spending time with my good pal Jed Soane who is walking me through how to use it so that I can start to build my skills. We started this week!
Shoe School - sneaker class. I wear sneakers - they are part of my uniform. I’d love to make a pair of one of a kind sneaks for special occasions (note that to me a special occasion is every day I wake up so I should get some good use out of them).
Pottery classes - I want to do a beginner class and see if it’s something I’d enjoy on a regular basis. I’m already thinking about how I can make this work and think that next year I’ll take Monday or Wednesday morning classes using some extra leave from work to pursue it.
Glass blowing - At NZ Glassworks, you can take glass a glassblowing workshop. I’m so keen to give it a go.
Only a few things to start, but I’m sure as I start looking for more creative pursuits, I’ll be able to fill a lot of time and expand my creativity. I’ll post things about my progress here as I go along. Thanks for following along.