Delights: August Edition

I've had a rough-ish month so I'm forcing myself to do another delights list because I need it. I must remember what's good.

Freya, one of the dogs who visits our office, isn't allowed in the kitchen. So when she sits outside the door she always has her long front legs inside the kitchen, but her body etc out of it. I feel like this is some intense dog maths about what in and out mean and I find it so endearing.

I know it's just Spring I but it's still really lovely at the moment as the days lengthen and the temperatures rise and the sky seems just so blue.

On the weekend I made one of my favourite cakes ever. I made it for the first time. I didn't know this cake would be a favourite then. The batter is easy, thick and interesting and the salty frosting goes perfectly with it. Just a real winner. So huge tho. I spent Sunday delivering cake around Pōneke. Thank you, Alison Roman. You have added so much to my life from this cake to the idea for a baked potato based dinner party, to many of your other recipes.

I laughed with a GP in a consult. What the fuck. But yes, ok, more of that please.

I saw Suzy Eddie Izzard do one person Hamlet and sometimes to make it clear that a scene was ending she would turn on her heel and walk off in a new direction. I am thinking of adding this to my conversational repertoire. I spent a lot of time in the show watching the shapes of Suzy and her outfit and her boots. She wore heeled boots that barely made a sound, I assume because she was walking in such a controlled manner on the stage. She wore a sort of peplum jacket that was very arresting. I dunno the whole thing was a little strange but I like strange.

I went to several NZIFF films. A success given I haven't managed this for years. Perhaps as many as ten years. I couldn't go to my final (and most anticipated) two because my body betrayed me but I will see them somehow. (Ok I'm seeing Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma tonight!)

Of the ones I saw Jimpa was my fave even though the Australian accents were AWFUL. The film did this lovely thing where you might meet a character and you'd get a series of vignettes through their life. It repeated this regularly with characters new and familiar. I think it really could have bordered on corny but it just felt like light layers to me. Really enjoyed it.

Sauerkraut is good. I purchased a special Japanese cabbage shredder that we call "The Cabbage Destroyer". Since then my sauerkraut has only gotten better. I just unpacked the latest ferment and we ate it with dinner last night and it was SO GOOD.

The ruru have returned to the valley. I'm not sure if it's just them being all excited by Spring or that they are just quieter in Winter. But they are softly hooting in the evenings again and I love it.

I had a really lovely meal at Forest in Tāmaki Makaurau when I was there for Same Same But Different. Vegetarian, gay, delicious, beautiful. What more could you want? Well I also had great company too with my beloveds Always and Liz and Liz's partner too. A complete delight.

Same Same But Different was also a total delight. Hearing many smart queers talk and spending the day drinking a lot of red bull with my friends and chatting shit. Plus Sam Low's event on Friday night was very good. I got to eat millet porridge with many different mushrooms and chat about love and food. Ideal. Thank you, SSBD crew and Liv Hall in particular.

I received a review in Poetry Aotearoa Yearbook 2026 that was such a good read of my book and my purpose. It is such a lovely feeling reading someone close reading your work and connecting many of the dots you wanted connected. Thank you Shaynah Jackson. I appreciate your love and attention.

Gullyhenge happened. Which is to say the sun has started to return to the house.

My coworker is watching her child play in an important netball tournament through a livestream but each time said child scores a goal or does something good my coworker claps. Very endearing behaviour.

It fucking snowed in Wellington!

Simon has been learning to braid my hair. Most nights before bed he will lovingly brush it out and then turn it into a plait. I recommend.

I had a mid-week lunch with one of my sweethearts and tho we were both having bad days it was nice to see her at a time when I otherwise wouldn't!

Being sober is making me better at ordering groceries. I dunno how but it's the only thing I can attribute it to. I just get the right amount of things.

Tho I have recently become a hermit (I spent two weeks only leaving the house to visit the doctor) it is still very delightful to just be in my house. I feel very lucky to have such a sweet little home.

We've been watching a lot of New Hollywood or other old films and it's really interesting. They have such different qualities compared to modern films. Last night we finished 2001: A Space Odyssey. We've watched many others but the one I enjoyed most was a Robert Redford one where he's very autistic coded Three Days of The Condor. It's from 1975 and as such the gender politics are weird but otherwise, many interesting things to pay attention to.

I picked a spray of jasmine from my neighbour's overgrown fence and for the last few days it has been making our house smell beautiful.