Call me a pessimist but every time I hear somebody talk about their 'happy place' I cringe. This has to be THE most over-used phrase of New Zealanders in 2018. As a journalist we were taught never to get mixed up with over-used phrases and plenty spring to mind...."taking the world by storm," was a classic (or not), and yet I still read it everywhere. Another that did my head in was when somebody in the community thought up a new concept for something and then it was referred to as "the brainchild of..." UGHH. Anyway, enough about that. Christmas is coming and we should all be happy happy joy joy. I got a message from an old colleague on the West Coast last week who told me Jeremy Wells from Seven Sharp had been in town and was doing a story on guinea pigs. Apparently he has been subscribing to the local rag ever since his trip south 15 years ago, when he and Miss Wordsmith went around Greymouth hassling the locals for 'street comment.' I have to say I was quietly stoked about that and must remember to put him on my Christmas card list. Right back to my 'happy place,' in the garden amongst the strawberries.
