Wow I have been BUSY! let’s see what has happened since I last posted here, well I got married and went on a fabulous honeymoon(I have pictures somehwere!!!) I’ve been knitting a lot… and oh yeah I started a yarn dyeing business Grrrl Shaped Yarns overall life has been good to me.

It’s weird looking back now it seems like so much has been happening i don’t know where to begin or what I should talk about, maybe I’ve gotten a bit rusty as blogger, I feel rusty.

I can’t believe it’s 2010, 10 years since I was in high school come thus June,  8 years since I transitioned come this July, 2.5 years since I moved to New Zealand to live with my husband. I still remember the feeling of being unsure of where I was going, getting lost often, and in general being confused about my surroundings.  Wellington is so big that there are still parts of it I have never seen and parts that confuse me, unlike the relatively small San Francisco I used to live in.  Still doesn’t feel like home, and I still miss San Francisco at times, but things will change. A New year, a new decade, it seems like just last year we were all panicking about Y2K, or in shock over 9-11. It’s amazing looking back at how much I have changed in these past 10 years.

One thing that new years always bring along with them are resolutions, I haven’t made any resolutions so much as a few goals. and in the effort to help me stick to them I guess I shall share them with you.

1. become a bit more fit and healthy(if this helps me lose weight than so be it)

2. Expand my business to the best of my potential

3. Finish at least 12 items this year(after realizing last year I completed one super simple scarf and shawl and that’s it ALL year)

That’s it just a few simple goals, nothing to earth shattering. I like to think I’m doing good I’m eating healthier and participating in the Couch 2 5k challenge even though i am a bit stuck right now… I’m plotting and scheming business plans. I have finished one item already this year that’s my wedding shawl( yes it was 3.5 months late what you wanna make of it?)

In general I think life is good, and although I am busy it’s a good busy I’m enjoying it! I have so many plans for the next year I hope some of them pan out. and with those thoughts I would like at say, I’m thinking of starting an online crafting magazine, if you are at all interested in submitting a project  or article or review please let me know via email Zine AT brooklynnemichelle DOT com

I recently went to a very interesting lunchtime lecture at St Andrew’s on the Terrace called God, Gaia and Us by Lloyd Geering a really interesting New Zealand theologian. The lecture itself was primarily about how taking care of the earth was the most Christian thing you could do. I’m not Christian as many of you may know but I also have no issues with those that are thus why I was at the lecture.

It was really fascinating as  he talked though the history about how as the faiths changed our view and outlook on world changed. I sat back and just listened as Llyod explained about how the ancients polytheism  meant that they saw the earth as part of them. They respected everything part of natures in order not to cause offense to the god that was in charge of that item. They also believed that the gods walked among them, Because of all of these things we were connected to the planet all of it’s cycles and storms. As we slowly moved to monotheism from 200 CE to 1000 CE(which was the begining of a dark ages) our thought processes with from a living earth in which we were connected to, to a inanimate object that was the domain of satan and thus doomed. It was from this period on to the late nineteenth century that we created this idea that the earth didn’t matter, that it wasn’t important and thus no sins could be made against it.

I think what astounded me the most was that Llyod is a 90 year old minister and theologian and was saying Christianity kinda got it all wrong on this level and we need to be more like the Ancient Greeks and Romans. I believe he is on to something there and was very fascinated to hear what he had to say. He wasn’t saying we should all whorship 18 Gods and Goddess, but instead that perhaps God wasn’t to just be whorshipped in a church.

One of the best ways we can do the work of God and obey God is to take care of the earth he built. It is our responsibilty as the so called dominant species to make sure the earth is in good condition and well managed. Making sure to keep the air as clean as possible and that animals are protected when we need them. We cannot sit back and let more and more species become extinct. Just because we are the dominant species does not make us the most important one. There is a possibilty that many “Evangelical Christians” are too self centered to even contemplate. The possibility that if we don’t protect the earth and continue to help it thrive and thus respect the work of God that he very well may feel the need to have us removed for it’s own protection. That seems to be the path that we are headed to that one day the earth may reach a place that it cannot sustain human life and thus we may die off, leaving the world to the “lower species” again.

Hey Y’all It that funny furry time of the year here in New Zealand. It’s the time of the year where men all over the country start to grow furry little nose critters… Yes It’s Movemeber, the month dedicated to growing body hair(specifically moustaches) in the name of charity. The funds raised by Movember 2008 will be split between two of the best health charities in the country. Half will go to the Mental Health Foundation of New Zealand’s Out of the Blue campaign to help men experiencing depression and the other half will go to the Cancer Society of New Zealand who need funding for existing prostate cancer research programs and men’s health programs.

Ryan has decided this year he will grow his first mo for charity! So keep a look out on this blog as I will update with Mo pictures! But in order to get pictures you have to donate, if you don’t donate then what good is him growing a Mo? Go ahead and donate HERE. Thanks for that in reward here is a picture of Ryan thus far!

THIS makes me really glad that I don’t live in Australia, we don’t have huge bird eating spiders in New Zealand which i think is so very awesome…. at least I don’t think we do… I hope we don’t!

This is the kind of day I have been having!

That’s All!