Porridge in the air Comedian and mental health advocate Mike King describes depression as feeling like walking through mud. That was the inspiration behind the first Gumboot Up NZ day on April 5. The idea was for people to walk a day in the shoes of someone with depression, while raising awareness and funds for youth mental health support. For…
RIP big fridge A few months back something truly sad happened. After 13 years of loyal service, the mega boat fridge Paddy built – the one that made it all the way round the South Pacific, helping out cruisers with less functioning fridges and housing the 50kg Tuna of Terror – cooled its last cold thing. Since we were no…
When I look back on it, my mental health blogs seem to jump from ‘bugger I’m bonkers again’ to ‘yay I’m better!’ with nothing much in-between. That’s because in-between isn’t much fun, and writing when you are in-between is not an easy thing to do. But it’s probably the most important time to write, because in-between is the time that…
Note: This is one of those blogs that travels all over the shop, from New Zealand to Samoa and back – so I have broken it up into bite-sized chunks so you can easily stop reading when you get sick of the sound of my e-voice. You’re welcome. Also content warning: This post deals with mental health issues including anxiety…
A while ago I learned it is never wise to put a date you are going to do something in print. If you miss that date for whatever reason its just staring at you and you spend more time beating yourself up about it than getting on with things. When it comes to work or writing for other people, I…
You belong among the wildflowers You belong in a boat out at sea Sail away, kill off the hours You belong somewhere you feel free – Wildflowers, Tom Petty Once I met a bloke who lived on a boat named after a Tom Petty song. His name was Paddy and hers was Wildflower and they must have made an impression…
This year’s mental health awareness week’s theme is Nature is key – which would be great if nature wasn’t being so bastard cold at the moment * (*When I started writing this blog Wellington was behaving awfully weather-wise. It has since bucked its ideas up but I can’t be naffed changing my intro or cover pic. Nice one Wellington – keep…
I’m super excited to see that 1000 lovely people have subscribed to this blog (especially since I have been a bit rubbish at regularly updating it of late) and a big wave hello to the new followers on the Starboard Facebook page! This is an awesome surprise and a good wake up for me to share more with you all….
Nearly 16 years ago I got into an argument with my flatmate (housemate or roommate for non-Kiwi readers) about whether or not we should get a cat. “Don’t be ridiculous!,” I said (in a rare moment of sensibleness). “We are going to go our separate ways in a year. Who is going to take the cat? Who is going to…
This is one of those blogs where I publicly announce I am going to do a thing so it forces me to do the thing. The thing I’m referring to is another book, which I am in the process of writing (and now I have told all of you so I can’t back out). I think it will just be…