The End is Naenae

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The Speaker and the sprinklers

As they said back in the day, I've had a gutsful. They make death threats, spit and shout, brandish the imagery of white supremacists.  They harass school kids in masks.  They block the streets, sabotaging businesses already hurting.  They make public servants feel unsafe - those same ones who&

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Thought for the day, 4 February 2022

Me, after my younger son’s first day of year 11: 'How did it go? How are you feeling about NCEA?' Boy: 'OK'. Me: 'You'd ask me if you needed help, wouldn't you?' Boy: 'No'. Me: 'Probably

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Does my imposter syndrome look big in this?

Kia ora, e hoa mā Whether you’re new to The End is Naenae, or you’ve been hanging out with me for a while, I’d like to welcome you and thank you. When you’re a writer, being read is great. Being read by people who are thoughtful,

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Decolonisation and the forty-something white lady

The beginning: summer, a pint of beer, and the gift of a book Just before the Christmas break, I was given a book, and a few days ago - in the holiday sun, and over a very decent Croucher beer - I pulled it out. It’s a BWB Text, Imagining decolonisation.

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Thought for the day, 25 January 2022

There was an item tonight on the news, about death threats against the PM. Jeez. Not liking people, the PM or otherwise, is a spectrum. Disagreeing civilly in a democratic society? We might not see eye to eye, but I recognise you're part of a healthy and peaceful

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Spotted in Sanson

My holiday now feels complete.

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Too happy in Taihape

This is day one of our adventure to Rotorua, the first family holiday we’ve had in years. We broke the driving up over two days, which turned out be a good idea, because that's how long it takes when I'm navigating. But hey, without my

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Thought for the day, 12 January 2022

This time, I think I've lost the plot. There's some sort of process going on to figure out whether Boris held a party at 10 Downing Street, breaking the COVID rules of the time. This isn't something that needs a process to clarify - just

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Happy new year from Atawhai!

Kia ora friends It's Atawhai here.  You might know me from classic moments like being a dick with my mum's lemon tree (featured).  You haven’t heard from me for a while because I'm chronically lazy. This summer, I've been spending some

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In confidence, a letter

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Haere rā, Keri Hulme

Always loved the story of Keri Hulme.   She was the most badass of the underdogs, icon to any writer - or anyone at all - who wasn't believed in, not even by themselves.   I loved that The Bone People was picked up by a tiny feminist publisher, after twelve years

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Thought for the day, 27 December 2021

The news just reminded me of something good that happened this year: complaints about te reo are no longer accepted by the BSA. Because they're BS, eh?

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Better late than never

I've been doing a lot of complaining about 2021. It's kind of funny, because last year I gave complaining everything I had, and I really thought I had nothing left to give. Turns out 2020 was just a training ground. I was only warming up. In

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A Christmas miracle with a bad photo

Meet this guy. He’s kind of chubby, vibrantly orange, and has a constant puzzled look on his face. I don’t even know his name - but he’s one half of the best Christmas present ever. If you follow The End is Naenae, you’ll know we lost Kо̄

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Separation

Aotearoa has lost our first child to COVID. We do not know about this little one, except for the sparse demographics of the media: that he was a boy, aged under ten, and Māori. We do know, although the news didn't tell us, that when a child dies

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All you have to do is ask

I once got suckered by a fake website.  The content made me angry - probably the exact intent of the website's creator - so I posted about it on Facebook.  Someone then pointed out to me, gently and tactfully, that the website wasn't real.  Once I'd

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Tāmaki Makaurau, you're a bloody legend

Tomorrow's the day. I can't think of an ethically trickier decision than the ones our leaders have just made. I can't imagine what it is to weigh up the community that's scared for its kaumatua against the kids failing school, against the

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I just want you to ask, what kind of people would do this?

When I first started writing about this stuff, I was warned.  That sounds histrionic; cloak and dagger, even.  But I took it seriously.  The warnings came from people with first hand experience.   Sure enough, I soon understood why.  One person had made a pro-trans comment under one of my

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If you're at a loose end this Monday evening

We were watching telly on the couch.  E, then a young teenager, told me he was non-binary.   There wasn't much to be said except 'I love you', or much to be done except hug.  And then we kept watching the telly, my arm around him.

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Locker room talk

It's a universal law.  Whenever some bloke says something crass, gross or sexist, another will rush to downplay it as 'locker room talk'.  In the past, it's been Trump.  Yesterday it was Barry Soper.   It's kind of weird, invoking locker rooms.  The

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In the sordid tango that is Collins vs Bridges, this is the misstep I can't forgive

Here's what's bothering me. Simon Bridges did something inappropriate at a function five years ago.  There were consequences. I don't know what Bridges said, and I'm not defending him.  I don't know if it was bad enough to deserve being

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Thought for the day, 22 November 2021

I hope that people who won't get vaxxed for the survival of humanity will do it for a haircut. To be fair, these are close-run things for me too.

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Everyone's welcome*

*unless you're a dick, obviously

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Anna, get your guns

I'm a gym-goer.  Rippling biceps, firm buttocks, rock hard abs.  I don't have them.  But I'm still a gym-goer.  I found exercise later in life.  There was little to lead me there earlier.  I'd had a stunning inability for sport

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Let them eat sociology

I've got news for you, and it's all bad. We are victims of social engineering by an authoritarian government.  Smug bureaucrats spout words like 'fascism' and 'alt right' and 'kindness' until they have no meaning.  And fake progressives have no