Take the world in a love embrace, fire all of your guns at once, and explode into space (Steppenwolf)

April 21 1984 L-R Margo, Chris, Clay

Wie geht's?

While discussing Diana Wichtel in the previous post, I mentioned Margo Buchanan-Oliver and how she deserves a post.

Margo was an exceptional person, and a huge influence on me as a person. Exceptional, as in extraordinary, unequalled.

When I look around our house I see reminders of her (and her partner Clay)  and indications of her influence on our aesthetics are everywhere; including pictures, vases, books, furniture. Even our lack of clutter aesthetic. My memories are chock a block with Margo moments.

I can trace many things back to Margo. I owe her a lot and I can never repay her.

Margo took her own life five years ago, on the 25th of April 2018.

I met her at a crucial, impressionable, time.

In 1979, my friends at Auckland University, who included buddies from school and the rec centre crew, all left at the end of their degrees, and while I stayed in touch as best I could, they were no longer day to day contacts as I started my Masters' degree in English.

So, in 1980, my friendship group expanded. I can't quite remember how I found Margo or how she found me. We must have crossed paths in a lecture or a tutorial. Maybe it was mutual friend Chris Loud who introduced us? 

I was doing my first year of my MA and my choice of courses was quite schizophrenic, being split between interests in 15th century drama, Chaucer, Shakespeare and 20th century poetry, drama and novels.

I do know that I quickly became close friends with her and her partner Clay Bodvin. 

Margo is, was, a fiercely brilliant, perceptive, intellectually curious, imposing genius, but she also had a huge heart. She cared deeply about her family and her friends. She was all class. 

She adopted me and I was extremely happy to be considered worthy of her time. She also cut through bullshit like nobody I've ever seen before or since.

Anyway, they were living in Blockhouse Bay and I was still at home in Mt Roskill South, so it wasn't a big deal to get in the mini and head over and hang out for discussions, meals, record sessions (I was also a huge fan of both rock music and medieval music - another bonding point).

After finishing our MAs I headed to New Plymouth and met Jacky (love at first sight on my part), while Margo continued with her PhD studies. 

We remained in touch from then on throughout the eighties: Margo was  MC at our wedding, Clay was my best man; they are Godparents to Keegan. From the nineties onwards it was a case of intermittent contact as either they or we moved around NZ and the world for various reasons.

Throughout all the years, her letters or cards would reach us wherever we were (she always began them with 'Wie geht's?' How are you?), or else we would make a point of visiting them at Huia Road or the university, where she was a leading light in the business faculty.

Yes, I miss her, as I really really miss all those who have passed from my life, but the continual reminders of her help and advice and her piercing questioning about my purpose in life will never fade.

Thank you Margo.

Warren

At daybreak the wind began to blow hard again, and the heavens seemed to predict a gale (Jules Verne)

Wie geht's?

I don't often read three books concurrently, but I have this past week (second and last week of my term break).

Not simultaneously yunnerstand - I read a chapter or two at a time and rotate them until I'm done.

Usually I find that difficult but somehow these three books have worked well in rotation.

The three: Martin Chuzzlewit (it's a biggie -800 pages long so it's taking a while - I'm a bit over halfway); Around The World In 80 Days (Jules Verne's classic); and Diana Wichtel's Driving To Treblinka.

The Jules Verne because we watched the TV show on demand recently - it was okay, and the film version with Steve Coogan and Jackie Chan (rubbish! And I love Jackie Chan). I am keen to rewatch the Michael Palin documentary from 1988, as I have good memories of it, and have had to buy the DVD set on TradeMe. It's not available via streaming, YouTube or to buy new so TradeMe it is.

It's Driving To Treblinka that was finished first.

I knew Diana briefly when our lives intersected in the early 1980s when we were both studying for our masters degrees in English at Auckland University. She was Diana Alpers then as she was married to Philip Alpers. During that time she left Philip, started up with her new partner, Chris, and changed back to her maiden name.

Driving To Treblinka is about her search for information on her father, but it doubles as her autobiography.

As I knew her, albeit briefly, I was keen to read it and see if she mentioned me. Ha ha.  

She doesn't btw. Smiley face.

It was still fun reading her story leading up to the years I knew her. I had no idea what her life had been like up to that point. How much do we ever really know about anyone?

In truth, she was more of an acquaintance, rather than a close friend, because she shared a work space in the English Department offices with Margo. At that time I think she'd started a PhD - hence the office space.

I knew she was Canadian because she spoke with a Canadian accent (without the Canadian 'eh') but that was about it. We attended some mutual parties, I'd say hi when visiting Margo, which I did that a lot - Margo was an amazingly brilliant person and deserves a book of her own, and then we all left University. Margo went into advertising, I went to New Plymouth and Diana started writing a TV column for The Listener.

We haven't seen each other since and she hasn't returned my Facebook friend request (yet).

Her book is excellent by the way - really engrossing despite all of the Polish names and the unfathomable horror of the Treblinka death camp (which her father miraculously escapes but the rest of his immediate family does not).

As with Passepartout, Mr Pinch, and Mr Fogg, I cheered her on as she negotiated the search and the fallout from her dedicated pursuit.

She's a hell of a writer! 

Love and peace - WNP

We can't chase after time but we can see clearly the value of life from it (Hsing Yun)

Love birds

Wie geht's?

April again. That means all those anniversaries pop up with startling regularity. Long standing readers will remember a variety of posts over the years in April that celebrate our family weddings. Here's last year's version frinstance.

I think I've used a great passage from 266 Days With Wisdom for the 21st of April before - that date happens to be our 39th wedding anniversary.

It bears repeating:

Anything of value should not be temporary; it should last into the future. Anything of value should not depend on superficial factors; it should be realized from the depth of the heart.

Love and peace and happy anniversary baby - Woz

If the wind is right you can sail away and find tranquility (Christopher Cross)

Wie geht's?

You find us in Taupo celebrating Jacky's latest completion of a tour around the sun - officially that happened on April 14, but a big shout out to the birthday girl!!

We've had a great stay and shared the celebration with Michelle and Gav. 

One of the highlights - a lovely trip on the Ernest Kemp  (above, with a view of the mountains along the way) to see  Ngātoro-i-rangi - a carving made in the rock face around the lake - only accessible by sea.

Worth including on your list for visiting one of my favourite places on the planet, let along Nu Zild. So many memories here.

As I said to Ma Belle - would be fun to do a time lapse of the last 60 years' Huka Falls visits from first times with my parents and Ross through to my own children to now. Scenery wouldn't change much right? But I'd go from child to grandad before your eyes!

Love and peace - Wozza

If I was a painter, and was to paint the American Eagle, how should I do it?...I should want to draw it....like an Ostrich, for putting its head in the mud, and thinking nobody sees it...(Charles Dickens in Martin Chuzzlewit)

Photo by Emiliano Vittoriosi on Unsplash

Wie geht's?

Thanks to me mentioning our first sighting of students using AI in their work submitted for assessment (having signed an authenticity form), our weekly family catch up via zoom featured an interesting discussion around AI generated work and ChatGPT.

Subsequently, the Morning Brew newsletter had an article on a movement advocating a pause in AI development.

Which got me thinking about my consumption of media post our AI assisted world. On our zoom, I jokingly said I'd not be reading anything published post 2020. I'd have to include music in that too right.

Which is nonsense. 

I watch CGI material in movies without too much bother (except when it's glaringly obvious - like the backgrounds on David Tennant's Around The World in 80 Days series aiming to evoke the 19th century); I've flown on planes using auto-pilot for decades; I have no real issues with photo-shopping of static images; or with robots building cars and thousands of other consumer items. Adam told us he uses ChatGPT in his work as a communications manager - no issue with that, either.

You get the idea. The genie has well and truly left the bottle. The horse has bolted and the stable door is flapping in the breeze.

As Keegan indicated, seemingly - it's now more a case of dealing with the AI assisted work as a fact and something to be analysed, rather than as a dangerous anomaly that is considered cheating and needs to be banished. 

It feels like teaching is going to have to evolve quickly to deal with it on those terms (I'm an optimist but I don't have too much faith in teaching's ability to do that - just sayin').

Love and peace - Wozza

P.S. for what it's worth - posts on my weblogs will always be AI free.

Keeping an eye on the world going by my window (The Beatles)

Wie geht's?

We can think otherwise but we can't hide from our genes.

Recently a colleague said that she saw me as a methodical and detail person. I balked at that description initially. It sounded like my dad and my brother, but not me. I like to think of myself as a big picture guy but then I realized - who am I kidding?

I'm more like my dad and my brother than I'd like to think. Just one look at my music collection and my bookcases will give me away.

So, yes! I can now embrace that description LH. You're spot on!

Love and peace - Wozza