Author: Jane Shearer

Of toilets and rubbish (mostly)

France, a land of great scenery, architecture, baking, and terrible toilets. Why does New Zealand think toilets and rubbish bins are essential to support tourism when France is full of tourists and deplete of public toilets?

Built beauty

Why do we think some buildings are particularly beautiful? And why do we think old buildings are beautiful? Especially given how uncomfortable many would be to live in?

Blind Leadership

Banksy’s new statue could be called ‘The Politician’, or could be called ‘Blinded by the cause’. Whatever the name, its an excellent ephemeral public sculpture.

Making Decisions

Life’s a series of decisions, influenced by other people’s decisions. Trump’s desire to sit on both sides of the fence at once have left the world, and us, wondering what to do next.

To Reply or Not to Reply…

Do messages always deserve a reply? Have we entered an age of overwhelm where replies are the exception? They are on the Warmshowers cycle hosting platform.

Safe havens & self-reliance

When oil shortages loom it makes sense to want our country to be more self-reliant. It seems obvious our country should rapidly install solar power and wind turbines at scale. Or does it? What makes sense for a home may not make sense for a country.

Take the wins

Sometimes I find it hard to see our wins through our losses. I obviously need to channel Donald Trump more often – he has already won the Iran war, however long it goes on for.