What I can’t talk about …
There’s a weird aspect to being a journalist of the mostly print/mag variety, in that I don’t feel free to ever write about what I’m working on now because it hasn’t been published yet. By the time I can talk about it, I’ve moved onto other things and am in a completely different head space.
I don’t want to keep going on forever about THE 7.1 EARTHQUAKE that we had here in Canterbury, NZ in Sept but I did get caught up in it from a comms perspective, doing some work for the local district council for about a month. There are some great people there, who put in huge hours to get sewer lines fixed etc. Unfortunately, the damage to homes & businesses is a biggie. You hear some very sad stories, particularly about elderly people whose houses are fit only for demolition & having to go into resthomes while they wait for some action on rebuilding or for some kind of pay out. The rest of the country has moved on, including media, and don’t seem interested in quake stories anymore.
Of course, I’m no longer doing quake-related work but can’t possibly divulge what I’ve been up to recently because none of it is in print yet!
Except, I can say that I had fun interviewing NZ comedian and actor Peter Rowley recently for essence magazine, here in Rangiora. Turns out he’s a small-town country boy from Amberley who still really loves North Canterbury. I think he’d like to come and live here again but all the work’s up in Auckland.
It’s a rainy ol’ Sunday night in this beautiful part of the world.
Just by way of a closing note … I took my youngest daughter to see the Royal NZ Ballet perform ‘The Nutcracker’ on Friday. It was fantastic. Loved the artificial snow and the backdrop of a starry sky. Sir Jon Trimmer performed as ‘Matron’; he’s appeared in seasons of ‘The Nutcracker’ going back to the 1960s - what a legend!
