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The MixJuly 4

Thank you, and see you at the museum!

I have been writing this column for three Christmases now. The first Christmas I was delighted. Christmas. What a great topic, that’s an easy two columns. One of them I quite liked, writes Kate Oktay.
Thank you, and see you at the museum!
Thank you, and see you at the museum!
The MixMay 16

Vegetarianism isn’t that flesh

My month of vegetarianism was badly planned. That is the nicest way of putting it. A more truthful way would be to say that I am not a very good vegetarian, writes Kate Oktay.
Vegetarianism isn’t that flesh
Vegetarianism isn’t that flesh
The MixApril 18

No more meat in the sandwich

I have always had the palate of an 80-year-old man. My ideal breakfast, lunch and dinner are animal fats on bread, writes Kate Oktay.
No more meat in the sandwich
No more meat in the sandwich
The MixFebruary 21

A dress for best

At work, I'm surrounded by beautiful young things who care about fashion, and style. I work alongside them feeling slightly dishevelled, but wearing a lot of make-up to balance things out, writes Kate Oktay.
A dress for best
A dress for best
The MixJanuary 24

Slices of heaven

On New Year’s Eve I weighed myself. This was a mistake, writes Kate Oktay.
Slices of heaven
Slices of heaven
The MixDecember 6

Let’s make 2021 a new kind of bad

It is my last column for this year, and I would like to take the opportunity to say "Goodbye 2020, you absolute dick", writes Kate Oktay.
Let’s make 2021 a new kind of bad
Let’s make 2021 a new kind of bad
The MixNovember 8

Hauling up the big girls’ pants

I am officially a middle-aged woman. When others aren’t around to witness it, I have started sporting a floppy hat, jeans that have not been fashionable in a decade, and gardening gloves, writes Kate Oktay.
Hauling up the big girls’ pants
Hauling up the big girls’ pants
The MixOctober 11

A vote of appreciation for the South

The bottom of the South Island is an oasis of calm in the middle of a whole world going mad, writes Kate Oktay.
A vote of appreciation for the South
A vote of appreciation for the South
The MixSeptember 13

Extinction distinction

On many levels I imagine I am a fairly disappointing mother, writes Kate Oktay.
Extinction distinction
Extinction distinction
The MixJuly 19

Speaking in tongues

For a few months, every couple of years since I was 20, I follow a predictable chain of events. I get enthusiastic, or the guilt climbs to a point where I cannot ignore it anymore, and I resolve to learn whatever language I am most surrounded by, writes Kate Oktay.
Speaking in tongues
Speaking in tongues
The MixJune 21

Just horsing around

Childhood memories are a patchwork; random snatches of scenes mostly hidden, but suddenly surfacing when jolted to consciousness by the smell of sunscreen, or the feeling of flannelette sheet against your cheek, or the pages of a book. In my case, one of those books is The Illustrated Horse Doctor, printed in 1873, that I found last week in a box in my brother’s garage, writes Kate Oktay.
Just horsing around
Just horsing around
The MixMay 24

Food that time forgot

Leaving lockdown has been a slow emerging from a world that seemed to stop, writes Kate Oktay.
Food that time forgot
Food that time forgot
The MixApril 26

Quality bogan absurdity

Predictably enough, the world’s top distraction during these extraordinary times has been a one-season, seven-episode, meth-fuelled, lion-pitted ode to craziness, writes Kate Oktay.
Quality bogan absurdity
Quality bogan absurdity
The MixMarch 22

Wanting not to waste

Everyone has something that makes them quite annoying to live with. A tiny, wee thing that even you, the person with the least objective opinion in the world, can admit must be mildly irritating, writes Kate Oktay.
Wanting not to waste
Wanting not to waste
The MixMarch 22

Wanting not to waste

Everyone has something that makes them quite annoying to live with. A tiny, wee thing that even you, the person with the least objective opinion in the world, can admit must be mildly irritating, writes Kate Oktay.
Wanting not to waste
Wanting not to waste
The MixFebruary 23

Thanks but no thanks

Sometimes it's more about what you don't do. . . writes Kate Oktay. 
Thanks but no thanks
Thanks but no thanks
The MixJanuary 26

Generational anxiety

Lately, there have been a lot of awkward conversations, both real and imagined, writes Kate Oktay. 
Generational anxiety
Generational anxiety
The MixDecember 22

Soaring like a turkey

Because I am a bad person, I go overboard with Christmas celebrations, in the hopes that I will make a clear point to my small daughter that my own holiday celebrations are much more fun than my husband’s, writes Kate Oktay.
Soaring like a turkey
Soaring like a turkey
The MixNovember 24

The thoughts that count

OK, I know that it is not OK to talk about Christmas now, writes columnist Kate Oktay.
The thoughts that count
The thoughts that count
The MixOctober 27

It has not grown on me

Kate Oktay always imagined she'd love gardening. The reality is somewhat different.
It has not grown on me
It has not grown on me
The MixSeptember 29

A whiff of crisis and patchouli

Every few decades, a generation sees the need for change, and society jolts forth,. writes Kate Oktay.
A whiff of crisis and patchouli
A whiff of crisis and patchouli
The MixSeptember 1

Happy Father's Day

For those of you in the part of the Venn diagram that means (1) Father’s Day is news to you, and (2) you know someone who may have expected you to remember, I’m truly sorry for the terror that is now settling in your heart.
The MixAugust 18

Doing our (little) bit

Living in NZ, especially, I suspect, in a small community, when you are middle-aged, is a long succession of attending community meetings to plan fundraising initiatives, writes Kate Oktay.
Doing our (little) bit
Doing our (little) bit
The MixAugust 4

A queue in place of a cure

I was going to write something more cheerful this week. Something positive, and upbeat, and joyful. But then my daughter got sick and I had to go to the urgent doctors, writes Kate Oktay.
A queue in place of a cure
A queue in place of a cure
The MixJuly 21

A column in six parts

There are only so many articles you can write about cats, muses columnist Kate Oktay. 
A column in six parts
A column in six parts