Beautiful Kiwi Vocals

I love the sound of a good Kiwi accent. It reminds me of home. Some how it reminds me of the ocean. It's the cultural talk of a nation of people who share a few small mountainous strips of land somewhere far, far away from the 'rest of the world'. It changes from region to region - which is quite interesting to behold, Te reo Maori seems to have permeated the North Island dialect far more notably than down here in the country South. The West Coast of the South have a definite twang. Scots lingers in the south of the South. But this is some thing new... Apparently we're loosing a few vowels and constanants here and there. Yes indeed, our pronounciation is oozing into something else - how exciting! If it's edgy, well then that makes sense, we are an edgy bunch. We live on the edge of a vast ocean and our ancestors (or possibly we) took a huge leap of faith to a) get here and b) set up home. Here we are, at the 'bottom' of the blue Pacific and our accent is morphing quietly over time, as we grow and change and move with the masses of people who come and go. So we don't sound like Americans? Great! So we don't sound like the English anymore? How on earth could we expect to, given that we live on the opposite side of the planet and many English came here determined to begin a new life, and leave the class system behind? Who we are is people of Aotearoa and I'm proud of how we sound and what our language reflects.

Soooo Much Good News

Happyzine gets built around my parenting, and this week my son's been teething, which means broken nights and days of enforced 'taking it easy' as I feed my body with good food and jump on the 'sleep train' at every opportunity. OK, so that has nothing to do with the title of my blog but just humour me, I've been working hard and I felt the urge to share. So whilst we've been drowsily meandering through the week, the good-news has been appearing everywhere. In fact, this week this week Marty the fantastic Happyzine researcher found so much inspiring news that I have to choose only a small percentage of our 'harvest' and save the rest for future Happyzines. Working on a good news ezine has its advantages, I swear Marty's gotten happier as he's been researching. Sign up now to receive your good news fix from this Monday into the great foreverness.

Kate Winslet - Calling Her Dreams into Action

Did you hear her speech? I heard it three times on Radio NZ. She gushed with joy and used the word 'goddesses'. Now, I've gotta ask: What's the big deal about Kate getting excited (as commented on by some media personalities)? Go Kate! This woman had just achieved a life long dream, she'd been working at it since childhood in a roundabout way, talking into a shampoo bottle in front of a bathroom mirror as she imagined she was receiving an Oscar. Why wouldn't she rave? And why is it that as children our excitement is welcomed and appreciated, yet as adults, public displays of joy and enthusiasm aren't so well received? Guess what? It's OK to be and appear happy. In fact, I declare it a new fad, and very cool. I wonder if the masses will head my trend setting statement...

I could relate to Kate. I've had moments in my life where precious dreams have been realised, I remember the jubilation. I enjoyed being reminded of how it feels. Seeing celebs like Kate expressing their true emotions on the world stage sends out the message that it's OK to show happiness. It gives people permission to be themselves during moments of personal victory. And she wasn't jumping up and down, air punching and shouting 'yeah!' at the people who didn't win an Oscar. She was stumbling over her words, she had a lump in her throat, she was thankful and appreciative and she honoured the talent of all the other actress 'goddesses' - a term I use all the time because it implies the said 'goddess' women are powerful and capable of achieving anything. And we are.

I'm thankful to have heard her speech (accidentally) thrice. I will enjoy this new fad of cool happiness immensely.

Life Balance

I visited my friend Rachael over the weekend and was stunned at the life style she'd created. She works in the corporate sector three or four days per week and when she's not working, well this should give you an idea ... At Rachael's house we dined on home grown salad and a free-range egg omelet with home grown zucchini and hand made feta. There was home-made beetroot relish on offer. We drank the juice of apples and berries from friends. After lunch she gave me the tour of her raised bed garden. It sat on a north facing bank and had once been a blackberry patch, before she cleared it away and built terraced gardens. She sourced old wood and other materials to create the terraces from the tip and her previous home. She designed the garden so that her sprinkler could reach everything with its sweep of water. She grew watermelon, zucchinis, pumpkins, herbs, salad greens, tomatoes, everything and more she might need. She eats out of her garden. Before I left she loaded me up with more feta (she got the milk from her friend's Jersey Cow), preserves and enough salad greens to feed a family of twenty-five. I went home with fresh ideas for our wee plot of land in suburbia, contemplating chickens ...

Made From New Zealand - A Great Way for Kiwi Businesses to Support Each Other

I'm just discovering the Made From New Zealand website. Did any of you see that advert on TV recently where some Kiwis made a huge silver fern on a beach? I was interested in that ad, because I could feel the heart behind the message. And it was them: The Made From New Zealand team. What a discovery. These guys got together with Telecom and had a brainstorm session about how New Zealand business can navigate successfully through the next few years, and not only survive, but thrive. They set up a website inviting members of the business community - small, medium and large - to join up, for free, and so, every week, hundreds do. I'm quite excited to find this site, and this community, because the whole project shouts out HOPE. And 'hope' is one thing we most definitely need to hold onto here in Aotearoa so as to believe in happy future. This website invites blogs, press releases, general news about Kiwi business and far, far more. It reminds me of the power of the media, no, actually the huge responsibility of the media - as a means of quite simply sharing news - to help steer New Zealand towards a future we want. There has to be a forum for dreams and successes and ideas to be shared and this website is one such place.

Wanted: Roving Good News Reporters

That's right. I know you're out there - dotted about all over the country - living your lives, smiling at strangers, thinking kind thoughts about people ...


You know there's good happening out there, in fact you expect it, and life keeps proving it to you. You love to capture these inspiring and heart warming moments via word, or photo, or visual, or audio, or paint, or sketch ... you have your very own unique way of relaying back to the world how fantastic it is. And people appreciate your means of expressing the good in being human, in fact, they enjoy it and ask for more.


You're a strong personality in your own special way, you tend to ignore most of the media because it's not portraying the world you live in. You much prefer to focus on the aspects of life that feel good.


It's OK, Happyzine is here to gather you to its bosom (even though it's an ezine) and share your love with the world. We want to hear about your good news. We want to share it with our readers and inspire more good news. That's right: Roving Good News Reporters of New Zealand and beyond - Your Planet Needs You, Happyzine Needs You!!!


Email us if you'd like to share the good news.

Who are the Optimists of New Zealand?

Every community has them - the dreamers, the idealists, the one's who tend towards the bright side of life. These people find stuff to get excited about. They inspire change via inspiration. They make stuff happen, because they've got so much energy and passion that it seems impossible for them not to make progress. Who are our optimists? Two people who come to mind are: Mike Ward - the devoted Speights Coast to Coast competitor, Jeweler, ex-Green Party MP, ex-Nelson City Councilor; and Kevin Roberts - CEO of Saatchi and Saatchi - I subscribe to his fantastic blogs because he just keeps finding stuff to get excited about, and I find his enthusiasm and outlook on life infectious. Who else??? Let me know if you have any ideas ...