Sue Wootton
Billed as a “one day extravaganza of poetry”, New Zealand’s National Poetry Day happens annually on the fourth Friday of August. Every year it seems to get a little stronger, a little more extravagant, with poetry-related events happening in communities all over the country – and beyond. This year, for example, Edinburgh, Berlin and Spain were also involved in celebrating the art of poetry Aotearoa-style.
One way or another, thousands of people from all walks of life were exposed to a dose of the poetry bug last Friday. I hope it’s contagious. I hope it spreads.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is everywhere. Google maps. Amazon recommendations. Netflix’s top picks for you. Siri, Apple’s virtual assistant. Uber arrival time recommendations. However you feel about AI, most of us rely on it these days for something, whether it is picking our movies, helping us find where we want to go, or communicating with our smartphones via voice commands. But would you get therapy from a robot?
As a child and younger teenager I had never taken much interest in my body. I remember my first period because I told my mother about it. Her response was very matter-of-fact. Sanitary pads, she said, were a waste of time. Only fussy, immature girls who couldn’t cope with tampons used them. There was no reason for me to try them because I could go straight to the adult solution: tampons. However, tampons were a gross waste of money and there was no need to buy them. Instead, she took me to the bathroom, ripped off 8 sheets of toilet paper, and placed one sheet on top of the other to make a pad. Next she rolled the wad of paper into a tube, and then folded it in half. This is all you need, she said passing me the roll-your-own tampon. And that was pretty much it. Over the years I perfected her version by making the fold first, then rolling — it was much neater.