Something Came Up | Issue 22

Posted 11:53am Saturday 10th September 2016 by Isa Alchemist

I'm not good with glasses. I keep taking them off and putting them on, covering them in sticky finger marks, and shoving them onto my head where they drop onto the floor. One of my friends pointed out, politely, that they were very dirty. I was surprised. When I'm wearing them, it feels like Read more...

Something Came Up | Issue 20

Posted 12:49pm Sunday 21st August 2016 by Isa Alchemist

I’m a terrible traveller. I have no sense of direction, and I escalate into pure terror at the mere thought of finding an airport gate. I once got lost in Nelson airport. But I am good at taking medicines with me. Particularly ones for diarrhoea. I have accumulated an impressive list of cities Read more...

Something Came Up | Issue 18

Posted 1:21pm Sunday 7th August 2016 by Isa Alchemist

Some lumps came up on my face a while ago. Horrible lumps that hung around for days. One to start with. It progressed from a hard lump under the skin to an open sore. I covered it with iodine solution (my go to for any sore), and it multiplied. Soon there were four lumps, one right under my eyebrow. Read more...

Something Came Up | Issue 16

Posted 11:55am Sunday 24th July 2016 by Isa Alchemist

Human bits. Pimples, hairs, dry skin, scabs. Peeling skin can keep me happy for hours. I liked to pick at the soft white skin between my toes. Until it bled. Then my dad discovered me absorbed in my toes. Disbelief, disgust and a dawning realisation that I was probably the source of his smelly Read more...

Something Came Up | Issue 14

Posted 11:48am Sunday 10th July 2016 by Isa Alchemist

It’s not as if you can say to your flatmate/classmate (pharmacists and doctors in training though they may be) “can you take a look at this?” You can’t even scratch it without diving into your clothes and having it look like a desperate solo attempt at sexual Read more...

Something Came Up | Issue 12

Posted 11:54am Sunday 22nd May 2016 by Isa Alchemist

Poo, shit, faeces, crap, stools, bowel motions. Something most of us do daily, yet we discuss it very rarely. “Good shit today?” Not much of a greeting, is it? I wish we did. I wish it were more out in the open (no double entendre here). Increasing numbers of us live our daily lives Read more...

Something Came Up | Issue 10

Posted 12:32pm Sunday 8th May 2016 by Isa Alchemist

I get headaches a lot. I used to think they were hangovers, but then I gave up alcohol, and I still have them. I get them when I read a lot. I can read a Stieg Larsson book for three hours before I get one. If I’m reading the latest government update about changes in regulations, I get one Read more...

Something Came Up | Issue 8

Posted 12:03pm Sunday 24th April 2016 by Isa Alchemist

I’ve always been chubby. “Big boned” according to my mother, and just “fat” by my brother. I am no stranger to the diet fads that sweep through the western world. There are the big international diet organisations which weigh you weekly, and have an individual or Read more...

Something Came Up | Issue 6

Posted 11:39am Sunday 10th April 2016 by Isa Alchemist

I've always been phobic about spiders.  Especially little ones. I usually let out a high decibel scream and continue to pant hysterically until it’s removed. I tried to rationalise to a friend that I’m scared it will crawl into my ear or another orifice. But then I realised Read more...

Something Came Up | Issue 4

Posted 12:59pm Sunday 20th March 2016 by Isa Alchemist

AM I SICK ? We’re all back in Dunedin and should be ready to take on the world. But at this time of year, a lot of us aren’t feeling too well at all. The problem is that at this time of year 20,000-odd people gather together from all over the globe and breathe on one another in the Read more...