Tune into the lighter side
May 24, 2012 – 6:18 pm | One Comment

By Dr Sarb Johal
Lots of things happen in our lives that we take pretty seriously. And sometimes, that is totally appropriate. But taking every little setback to heart can seriously deplete your energy.
A problem-solving state …

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Article Archive for June 2010

Six In the City
June 30, 2010 – 10:49 pm | One Comment
Six In the City

If you live in the ‘wops’ you’re lucky as you can keep as many chooks as you wish. Don’t despair the rest of use who live cheek by jowl in urbania, can still keep some …

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365 Days of Fun and Chillaxation – Blog#76 – Operation Food-Roster Post-Birth – One Perk of Having Two Weeks Worth of Friends
June 30, 2010 – 10:42 pm | One Comment
365 Days of Fun and Chillaxation – Blog#76 – Operation Food-Roster Post-Birth – One Perk of Having Two Weeks Worth of Friends

There’s a new baby in the hood and my whole community are rippling with excitement about it.  Mostly, I found out about this on Facebook.  Which is quite funny.  We actually do talk to each other …

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365 Days of Fun and Chillaxation – Blog#75 – Eye Love You: An Experiment in Human Playfulness and Kindness
June 29, 2010 – 10:47 pm | 5 Comments
365 Days of Fun and Chillaxation – Blog#75 – Eye Love You: An Experiment in Human Playfulness and Kindness

Today someone, who would prefer to remain anomomous, emailed me a link to a project he’s been working on called ‘Eye Love You’.  You have got to check this out.  The purpose of the Eye …

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Love the Bees – Beekeeping Thoughts Over the Winter Months
June 29, 2010 – 4:50 pm | One Comment
Love the Bees – Beekeeping Thoughts Over the Winter Months

For the hobbyist beekeeper, the winter months tend to be a time to reflect, read and maybe come up with a brilliant idea or two! I am not very good on the `ideas` front, but …

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Little Things Make a Huge Difference … by Yvonne McLaren
June 28, 2010 – 6:22 pm | No Comment
Little Things Make a Huge Difference … by Yvonne McLaren

Homelessness and generally people in need are always one of those things where we all want to do something. Most people in New Zealand are basically pretty decent people. When disaster strikes, kiwis roll up …

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365 Days of Fun and Chillaxation – Blog#74 – Grant Knowles of Tribull Drums
June 28, 2010 – 6:16 pm | No Comment
365 Days of Fun and Chillaxation – Blog#74 – Grant Knowles of Tribull Drums

Today I had the pleasure of being interviewed for Fresh FM by the Golden Bay-famous Grant Knowles.  Grant is a local drum maker – he founded Tribull Drums – where he makes, repairs, and teaches people …

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365 Days of Fun and Chillaxation – Blog#73 – Zazen Meditation: Useful
June 27, 2010 – 9:08 pm | 3 Comments
365 Days of Fun and Chillaxation – Blog#73 – Zazen Meditation: Useful

Today (Sunday) the sun beamed it’s warmth into the lives of the good citisens of Golden Bay. It found us, even if had to filter slyly through well-shut curtains, or creep beneath closed doors.  And mesmerized, we stepped …

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365 Days of Fun and Chillaxation – Blog#72 – The Manly Bouquet:A Little Gem
June 26, 2010 – 11:04 pm | One Comment
365 Days of Fun and Chillaxation – Blog#72 – The Manly Bouquet:A Little Gem

Have you ever been at odds about what to get that guy who has everything for his birthday? Perhaps you’re running a little low on time or money, yet you really want to offer some …

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Chickens are the “New Black” in the ‘Burbs
June 26, 2010 – 11:05 am | 4 Comments
Chickens are the “New Black” in the ‘Burbs

Why Chickens?
Chickens are the new black in Green Urban Living. Once you have read the  following I’m sure you will be racing out to get your own feathery flock!
Tasty, Rich, Nutritious Eggs
As Kiwis we love …

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365 Days of Fun and Chillaxation – Blog#71 – The Ongoing Gollywood Experience
June 25, 2010 – 10:02 pm | No Comment
365 Days of Fun and Chillaxation – Blog#71 – The Ongoing Gollywood Experience

Gollywood – what do you think? It’s the Golden Bay version of Bollywood (just in case you didn’t figure that out).  So here we are, mid-winter, in a small rural community, in New Zealand, learning …

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Hastings and New Plymouth to Receive $7 million Boost for Cycling and Walking
June 25, 2010 – 12:07 pm | No Comment
Hastings and New Plymouth to Receive $7 million Boost for Cycling and Walking

Media release from Cycling Advocates’ Network, www.can.org.nz
Friday 25 June 2010
Hastings and New Plymouth will benefit from a $7 million Model Communities project aimed at getting more people cycling and walking.
Cycling groups welcomed the news.
“Everyone wins …

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Get Present in Under Five Seconds!
June 25, 2010 – 12:00 pm | No Comment
Get Present in Under Five Seconds!

Thats what The Joyologist says can happen when you use the art of improv to get present!!
 
When you are present you are not stressed and you are in a place of peace and acceptance of …

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Great Fathers – A Free, Special DVD Just for New Dads
June 24, 2010 – 4:18 pm | One Comment
Great Fathers – A Free, Special DVD Just for New Dads

How about this story.  A guy – lets call him Dave –  is reading some material by a NZ pediatrician and a US economist, and is so stunned by the material he resolved to tell …

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365 Days of Fun and Chillaxation – Blog#70 – Introducing the Green Urban Living kiwi website
June 24, 2010 – 3:38 pm | No Comment
365 Days of Fun and Chillaxation – Blog#70 – Introducing the Green Urban Living kiwi website

Don’t you love finding people who dream exciting green dreams and make them happen? Today I ‘met’ Janet Luke.  This is how she introduced herself to me via email:
“I am a Landscape Architect, Environmental Planner, Permaculturalist and …

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365 Days of Fun and Chillaxation – Blog#69 – Yipee! And all the National Parks Lived Happily Ever After…
June 23, 2010 – 10:38 pm | One Comment
365 Days of Fun and Chillaxation – Blog#69 – Yipee! And all the National Parks Lived Happily Ever After…

I see that the NZ Green Party have been running a campaignto ‘save our treasured places’, namely our national parks.  My son’s named after the Kahurangi National Park.  I love that park.  It looms green and …

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Dream2Reality and Emily Harris: yMedia Challenge 2010
June 23, 2010 – 9:19 pm | No Comment
Dream2Reality and Emily Harris: yMedia Challenge 2010

I have no graphic design talent and the idea of me creating my own website is laughable. My skills deficiency means that since embarking on my rooftop gardens project and founding Urban Pantry I’ve been …

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Reverse-in Parking Safer for Drivers, Passengers, Pedestrians and Cyclists
June 22, 2010 – 8:28 pm | No Comment
Reverse-in Parking Safer for Drivers, Passengers, Pedestrians and Cyclists

Cycling Advocates’ Network (CAN) says reverse-in parking is better for people in cars and pedestrians as well as cyclists.
CAN spokesperson, Anne FitzSimon, applauds New Zealand Transport Agency support for reverse-in parking.
“Reverse-in parking improves the driver’s …

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365 Days of Fun and Chillaxation – Blog#68 – Sweet Relief
June 22, 2010 – 8:22 pm | 3 Comments
365 Days of Fun and Chillaxation – Blog#68 – Sweet Relief

I’m sitting outside in the sunshine, leaning against a museum, and I can’t move.  Because I’ve stopped.  Finally.  To rest.  Here in the warmth.  And my body feels as if it’s falling, slowly, like molasses, so accustomed it is to moving, …

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Inspiring the Next Generation of Women in Science – Thinking Beyond the Lab Coat
June 22, 2010 – 7:16 pm | No Comment
Inspiring the Next Generation of Women in Science – Thinking Beyond the Lab Coat

‘On the edge – inspirational women in science’ breakfast event in Dunedin
As part of the 2010 New Zealand International Science Festival
Wondering where a career in science could take you?  A breakfast event to inspire the …

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365 Days of Fun and Chillaxation – Blog#67 – Heading into the Heart of Winter Solstice
June 21, 2010 – 7:34 pm | No Comment
365 Days of Fun and Chillaxation – Blog#67 – Heading into the Heart of Winter Solstice

Oh oh!  How exciting!  In this very moment, as the darkness settles in here in Aotearoa we are heading into the longest night of the year.  Winter Solstice is upon us aka ‘mid-winter’.    Some call …

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365 Days of Fun and Chillaxation – Blog#66 – Mid-Winter HANDS Market
June 20, 2010 – 5:15 pm | One Comment
365 Days of Fun and Chillaxation – Blog#66 – Mid-Winter HANDS Market

Today here in Golden Bay the Mid-Winter HANDS Market pulsed for hours in the Takaka Primary school hall.  It was a rainy, moody kind of day, hence the back-up rainy day school-hall option.  Once you made …

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365 Days of Fun and Chillaxation – Blog#65 – Finding Our Gods and the Next Steps for Happyzine
June 19, 2010 – 4:08 pm | No Comment
365 Days of Fun and Chillaxation – Blog#65 – Finding Our Gods and the Next Steps for Happyzine

I came across this great quote in the book ‘Eat, Pray, Love’ by Elizabeth Gilbert last night.  The author borrowed it from Sean, her Yogic Irish dairy farmer friend, while she was in India, finding …

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Peace Celebrations – A Part of the WW1 Story
June 18, 2010 – 7:29 pm | No Comment
Peace Celebrations – A Part of the WW1 Story

Ministry for Culture and Heritage
Media release
A neglected part of New Zealand’s First World War story, the elaborate peace celebrations held in July 1919, is now being told on Ministry for Culture and Heritage website www.nzhistory.net.nz.
‘In …

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365 Days of Fun and Chillaxation – Blog#64 – Hearty, Soul Nourishing Pumpkin and Coriander Soup (with loads of garlic!)
June 18, 2010 – 6:20 pm | 4 Comments
365 Days of Fun and Chillaxation – Blog#64 – Hearty, Soul Nourishing Pumpkin and Coriander Soup (with loads of garlic!)

Here in Aotearoa/New Zealand we’re in the middle of Matariki, which also coincides with winter-solstice.  It’s the ‘dead of winter’.  It’s the time to nestle inside with the heat pumping and a good bowl of …

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Being a Father: What’s It All About?
June 18, 2010 – 12:57 pm | One Comment
Being a Father: What’s It All About?

Officially, I am now a father, and perhaps I’m becoming an older, more experienced father.  I do have 16 months of daily training.  Nothing actually prepares or gives you the experience you need, until you …

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Happiness is a Choice: Part 2 – The Joy of Being
June 18, 2010 – 12:31 am | No Comment
Happiness is a Choice: Part 2 – The Joy of Being

I wonder how many of you who read my last article on happiness have started your own enquiry and become more aware of what makes you feel happy and how happiness leaks away? …

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Unique Art Auction to Raise Money for Mental Health Foundation
June 17, 2010 – 11:04 pm | No Comment
Unique Art Auction to Raise Money for Mental Health Foundation

For the third year in a row artists from the New Zealand Art Guild are joining forces to raise money and awareness for the Mental Health Foundation through a unique charity art project and auction.
On …

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365 Days of Fun and Chillaxation – Blog#63 – Inhabit.com’s Sustainable Design Spring Greening Winner: Sarah Turner
June 17, 2010 – 5:32 pm | One Comment
365 Days of Fun and Chillaxation – Blog#63 – Inhabit.com’s Sustainable Design Spring Greening Winner: Sarah Turner

Yay!  The winner of Inhabit.com’s recent Spring Greening Competition designer Sarah Turner has agreed to feature in my e-book.  Here are some questions and answers (that I think may have already been published on inhabit.com) with Sarah, who …

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How YOU can retire in twelve months!
June 17, 2010 – 9:03 am | No Comment
How YOU can retire in twelve months!

I have some exciting news!
I am very pleased to announce that from August I will take up to 12 people through the journey of creating your very own online business.
In this training program you …

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365 Days of Fun and Chillaxation – Blog#62 – Determination, Patience and a Lap-Top
June 16, 2010 – 5:20 pm | No Comment
365 Days of Fun and Chillaxation – Blog#62 – Determination, Patience and a Lap-Top

I’m looking forward to the day when going on-line and working on Happyzine shall once again be a walk in the park because I own a healthy computer.  At present I encounter an array of …

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Do Something for “Those to Be Homed” in Auckland by Yvonne McLaren
June 15, 2010 – 5:00 pm | No Comment
Do Something for “Those to Be Homed” in Auckland by Yvonne McLaren

This is Yvonne McLaren’s first ever blog for Happyzine.  Yvonne works with various ‘to be homed’ groups around Auckland and has good news to share …
This blog is about homelessness, but not as we know …

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Chinese Community Takes Over Kai to Pie this Saturday
June 15, 2010 – 2:00 pm | No Comment
Chinese Community Takes Over Kai to Pie this Saturday

Auckland is a unique culinary crock-pot, encompassing a dazzling array of foods from the dining tables of the 181 ethnic groups that call New Zealand’s largest city home. The World on Your Plate series at …

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365 Days of Fun and Chillaxation – Blog#61 – Organic Aotearoa
June 15, 2010 – 1:25 pm | One Comment
365 Days of Fun and Chillaxation – Blog#61 – Organic Aotearoa

I was recently reminded of my opinion that I think New Zealand should become 100 % organic.  I remembered when I was looking around on http://intersect.ning.com/ and I came accross a comment, well, more a question that …

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Laughter Yoga – Event – Takaka
June 15, 2010 – 10:00 am | One Comment
Laughter Yoga – Event – Takaka

LAUGH your way to Health & Happiness
Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha He Hee Heeeee
Laughter Club Takaka
WINTER 2010
TUESDAYS 5:10 – 5:50PM – Community Centre
FRIDAYS 9:00 …

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YourMondayMotivator – Glenn Edley
June 14, 2010 – 7:40 pm | No Comment
YourMondayMotivator – Glenn Edley

I wish I could do this or I wish I could do that are not the most powerful of statements you can make to get what you want.
Wishing for sun on a dreary Winters day …

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365 Days of Fun and Chillaxation – Blog#60 – The Key Word is ‘Green’
June 14, 2010 – 7:30 pm | 2 Comments
365 Days of Fun and Chillaxation – Blog#60 – The Key Word is ‘Green’

(While I grow my son and raise my good news website [geeky joke])
Well hello magnificent reader.  She/he who positively quakes with untapped potential (no matter how much you’re already using).  She/he with a whole world …

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Restructuring, Redundancy and Serious Fun
June 14, 2010 – 12:26 am | One Comment
Restructuring, Redundancy and Serious Fun

What on earth has redundancy got to do with pyjamas? And more importantly, how can the notion help your business operate? Well, let me explain.
With the advent of the industrial revolution came radical change …

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365 Days of Fun and Chillaxation – Blog#59 – The Kiwi Online Community they Call ‘Intersect’
June 13, 2010 – 7:23 pm | No Comment
365 Days of Fun and Chillaxation – Blog#59 – The Kiwi Online Community they Call ‘Intersect’

(While I raise my son and grow my good news website).
Intersect.  This is another website that I really enjoy (yesterday I raved about inhabitat.com) and have been spending some time on over the past few …

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The Fatherhood Series: “Theron and Isla return to Happyzine”
June 13, 2010 – 10:30 am | One Comment
The Fatherhood Series: “Theron and Isla return to Happyzine”

Moving into Toddler-Hood -  from a manly man’s perspective …

Our daughter, Isla, is now just over fifteen months old.  She’s gone from a slow moving newborn that liked to sleep often, to a fast …

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365 Days of Fun and Chillaxation – Blog#58 – The Buckminster Fuller Institute
June 12, 2010 – 9:18 pm | No Comment
365 Days of Fun and Chillaxation – Blog#58 – The Buckminster Fuller Institute

www.inhabitat.com is my favourite website.  Full stop.  I can’t check out their weekly newsletter without feeling 100% pure hope.  They’ve just announced the winners of the Buckminster Fuller Institute 2010 Challenge (who wins US$100,000. I …

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