Browsing tag: blogging

I’m feeling too lazy to compile a montly eats post. One highlight: Wildfire! The Churrasco is a meaty all-you-can-eat option, with food brought to your tables on the regular. The roast lamb nearly made me cry, it was so tender and tasty. The spiced pork absolutely burst with flavour, and again, the roast veggies zinged all the way through with every bite.

Also: anyone have a favourite Italian restaurant in Auckland?

This week’s links

The older I get the more I realise this is true: there is plenty of money out there – it’s just about figuring out how to get people to give it to you.

When doing what you love doesn’t pay – what next?

Holiday vs real life economics

How to unintentionally ruin your life

On racial and gender identity

Life advice from the president of Y Combinator. Here are my five faves:

I’m feeling a bit ranty today, guys. Bear with me.

• Methinks we could build a hell of a lot of houses on a single golf course. (There are 3 within 5 minutes’ drive of my house, though I think we’re in a bit of a hotspot.) Why do we need multiple golf courses in the city? Move them further out!

 

• WTF is up with the cost of building houses here? Yes, land is blood-curdlingly expensive, and the main component of house prices … BUT you can buy freehold houses for dirt cheap in, say, parts of America, and they cost a fraction of what a house alone here costs (at least a couple hundred grand). In short: house + land in some parts of the world < a house without land here.

 

•  So, there’s going to be a study done on housing that includes a trial of minimum rental standards to gauge the effect on children’s health. FFS people, do we really need to test something like this?! I despair.

This week’s links

Our darkest financial fears

The plight of the blue collar male (in rich countries)

No big surprise: working at the Huffington Post is hell

Leaving radio, embracing podcasting

A few reasons to ignore Google

 

Mad Max is the best action movie EVER. (I haven’t seen the originals and now I definitely don’t want to.) #thatisall

This week’s links

The state of patriotism in NZ. So true.

Privilege, illustrated

A super insightful into the different types of work stress

How to transition into a new job like a boss

Would you choose your education/career path all over again?

How to stop worrying and embrace the future

It’s so dang hard to just be happy/enjoy the moment

Happy weekends!

Guys,  in the past couple of weeks I did two things I’ve never done before.

I wrote to a councillor regarding the city transport plan, and I sent in feedback about the transport plan to Auckland Transport.

It was scary. But it feels good.

It’s interesting how some of my peers are getting noticeably more political – the city’s growing and changing and for the first time I think a lot of us feel that politics actually affects us and our lives.

This week’s links

I cried a couple of times this week: once while watching I Am Big Bird (recommended) and while reading this Esquire piece by a husband recounting the last few months of his wife’s life before she died from cancer

I was so fascinated by this advice column on settling in relationships (mostly, the crazy insightful comments, moreso than the actual column)

Finally, a mainstream piece about the reality of renting in Auckland. EVERY. SINGLE. WORD. OF. THIS.

This so perfectly sums up all my feelings about the new Avengers film

Here are 5 essential tips for freelancers – Tonya knows what she’s talking about

Lord knows I need help with this – keeping romance alive when your life is in chaos

And the top reason we’re unsubscribing from your blog (duh)

Currently on my mind:

Why is dental care not subsidised (beyond age 18 that is) while pregnancy costs are? Dental care is something everyone needs. Having children is not. (No, I don’t have kids, and yes, I would like to one day.)

The internet can be a pretty damn ugly place sometimes. More than one person I follow has quit Twitter in recent times. Another made the mistake of hashtagging a tweet with GamerGate, and you can imagine what followed (I made the exact same mistake a few weeks earlier). I’m always aware when I publish something painfully honest that there’s likely going to be the odd thoughtless comment, but it still hurts when they come.

Nothing is permanent, really, is it? From cookware to clothing, everything wears out eventually.

This week’s links

That deep, deep craving for certainty

On not raising bilingual kids (I wasn’t and mine won’t be either)

Everyone needs hacks to keep their marriage sane

Doing money as a compulsive worrier

How our childhood perspectives on money continue to shape us

Getting the inside scoop on a new company

For those of us not in favour of mailing lists

You don’t have to be excited to stay committed

I deemed April the month of self care. Sometimes you gotta be selfish.

I feel like I’ve emerged from a dark cave. Like I’ve been sleepwalking through life (which in a way I have) and I’m finally truly present again. It’s a grand feeling.

I’ve been really touched by how willing you guys have been to share your own troubles, stories, struggles, experiences with me. I feel like the world would be a better place if everyone was more open with each other. Some days I hate the internet – a consequence of spending every working hour on it – but every so often, I’m reminded of its awesome power for good.

Who gets to be an artist, really?

Why Aucklanders won’t leave Auckland

The diminishing economics of blogging

Reflecting on season 1 of Fresh Off The Boat 

Resolving to find contentment and happiness right now 

Tune into the universe and listen to life’s whispers 

There’s been quite a few posts debunking the glamorous myth of travel writing/blogging; here’s a carefully considered one I totally recommend 

And finally, my bud Sarah has put out an awesome e-book, Five Figure Writer, for freelancers. Not exaggerating. If I was in the biz, this is definitely a resource I’d pay for.

 

 

• Sooo … Interstellar, eh? What a mindf***.

 

• The ‘auto’ setting on our new washing machine (where it senses the amount and type of clothing and selects water level/wash function to match) is called ‘Fuzzy’. This amuses me to no end.

 

• I was entertained all the way to work the other day listening to two ladies converse behind me on the bus. One was quite shocked when the other did not leap to reassure her that of course she would be a bridesmaid!

What’s new with you?

This week’s links

Making more money IS everything it’s cracked up to be

Dealing with the downsides of open offices

You only see on Facebook what I choose to show you

Your internet habits create your reality

What to do when life sends you back to the drawing board

Passing time while you wait to ‘make it’

How to rock working remotely

The things we DON’T want in a house

Women shouldn’t have to be afraid to walk alone

I am deliriously happy.

I didn’t realise just quite how miserable our living situation was. Thank the stars we’re out.

I’m so grateful for friends, who, when I think back, have made all our house moves manageable.

I’m sleeping better than I have in months. I’m due for a medical appointment soon, and I’m willing to bet money that my blood pressure will be back to normal levels. I feel like I can breathe again.

Life is good, for now.

This week’s links

I must give this a go! How to write a better blog bio in five minutes 

Living out of a suitcase – glamorously 

The importance of slowing down

When good enough is good enough

The beauty of being young: you still have time to get there

Here’s a fun one. How much do you wind up paying in traffic fines a year?

I would say we average a couple a year or so. Parking in Auckland is not as tight as it is in other bigger cities, so parking tickets aren’t usually our bugbear. (And by ‘our’ I mean ‘his’ since I don’t actually drive.) Instead, it’s generally cutting into bus lanes too soon when turning, or going over the speed limit. And since we have a history of owning sad old cars (the only kind we could afford) there have been a couple of fines for being between warrants of fitness.

I feel like it’s just one of these inevitables of life if you own a car, one that barely registers on the scale of ‘worth talking about’. That said … a couple of people on Facebook recently posted about getting tickets. One for having no warrant of fitness and being parked on the road as their house has no off street parking – OH HOW I SYMPATHISE – and the other one, well, I don’t recall, except for the fact she thought it was BS. Don’t we all, though?

 This week’s links

I am loving this Slate series, Best Laid Plans, featuring real people and their varied/unpredictable career paths

What it’s like when other people assume you’re white

When married partners have the same career goals

On money and control in a marriage

What’s your tripod of stability?

Thoughts on class and money (with a great comment thread)

On passive income vs crafting your work

Time to quit: pretending I’ll ever learn to cook

Lessons from a decade of work

The importance of rest

February = one big fat fail.

Good riddance to you!

May March be healthier, wealthier and awesomer.

This week’s links

The dilettante’s approach to a career

An awesome guide to starting an Etsy business 

How to find out about work-life balance when interviewing

Smart observations on jealousy (timely for me)

How much do you really hate the thing you hate?

 Happy weekends!