I still hate titles

Yup, two pathetic blogs in one day.

Tonight is Sarah's 21st, I'm trying to conserve the energy I still have for it. I'm about to have a nap, really I'm just blogging 'cos I won't have the chance to later on.

Useless

I missed ANOTHER day. I'm useless.

This time I was busy at work, then I went out.

Here's what I was doing instead of blogging...

Cheers!

long, long day

I had to work late today. All in all I worked 12 hours. Yuck.

To tell the truth I'm still working, but not as much, not as urgently and from home - which is much nicer.

Mostly I just want to go to bed.

Titles Suck

And because they suck Holly and I have devised a game.

We email each other throughout the day to make it a little more interesting. It's fun, but to make it even more fun, we're playing a subject-line game. It works thusly: the person to send the first email of the day begins with one word in the subject line, the replier adds a word, then each time we reply, we simply add a word.

To make our game a little more challenging, we've decided that, should one of us forget to add a word, that person has to use that ridiculous sentence (today's was something about 3 hippopotomi in polkadot pajamas edit: it was "Yay, today might just be a wonderful day because I saw 3 blind hippopotomi dancing on the street wearing polkadot pajamas") as a blog title - and then structure that day's blog around the title.

At least it should improve our blog content!

The final book in the Tomorrow When The War Began series came today. I've been buying them off TradeMe using a saved search (which is the best possible way to find things you want at a price you're willing to pay - you've just got to have patience) for a while now. I wanted them all paperback, all in reasonable condition - and now I've got all 7 - that makes me happy.

We're going to a movie in the park tonight. Should be good fun. Hopefully I'll get to have a look inside that truck!

I sometimes don't know why I bother

I'm shocking at this blogging thing at the moment, I really don't have much to say.

Meh

Section 92A is on hold - horah!

The Oscars - I liked the cut back style but was not at all surprised by the winners.

Bedtime for Kat.

Sunday and Pizza

I've introduced our flat to Al Volo pizza - possibly the most delicious food on the planet - and right now I'm trying to convince myself I don't want to go down and get a pizza...

It's not really working. I think I'll be calling them once I've finished this blog - so naughty!

I've finished Season 1 of Lost - though, I was already half way thru it at the beginning of the weekend - I'm now 2 episodes into Season 2. I'd recommend everyone rewatch Season 1 before/while watching Season 5.

Been a bit of a nothing day - I cleaned the house a bit though, so now it's not a complete sty.

Book buying

I generally buy my books second hand.

Since I've given up my DVD habit I've taken to collecting old favourites from when I was at school and other random things. It's meant that my book collection has grown fairly substantially lately and my collection is now a motley crew of young adult fiction, series books (mostly fantasy), chick-lit, literature and then a few randoms thrown in.

Today I went down to the Sallies. They sell their books for 50 cents each, which always makes me feel like I've ripped them off - especially when I come away with 10 or so books, all excellent.

Today I came home with...

• A Book of Narrative Verse - containing Chaucer, Milton, Pope, Wordsworth. Coleridge, Byron, Keats, Tennyson, Browning, Hardy, Rober Louis Stevenson, Kipling and many others besides.
• Girl Guiding by Lord Baen-Powell - this is the Girl Guides manual. God knows what happened to mine but I'm pretty wrapt I could pick it up!
• Olivia Joules and the Overactive Imagination by Helen Fielding - same author as Bridget Jones so I figured it was worth a go.
• Little Altars Everywhere by Rebecca Wells - same author as Ya-Ya Sisterhood and the first page looked enticing.
• The Spin by Anonymous- this is a 'novel of New Zealand Politics', so clearly I couldn't leave that on the shelves!
• The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
• Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh - this was my favourite book as a kid and it's the exact same edition that I owned.
• A Walk to Remember by Nicolas Sparks - I love the movie, I can't wait to read the book.
• Summer Sisters by Judy Blume - An adult novel by Judy Blume, I couldn't resist.

All in all I think I'm going to have to raid the Sallies more often because there were some real gems in there and the price is pretty unbeatable!

Yay, new books!

Lost

I'm going to spend the weekend doing a Lost marathon.

I've got some GREAT Italian pizza (real pizza, none of this Hells or Dominos stuff), stretchy pants and a comfy sofa.

I'm in between episodes now.

Bring on the rainy weekend!

Man I love this show!

Lily Allen - It's Not Me It's You

I like Lily Allen.

I don't care that she makes an ass out of herself at awards shows, advocates drugs or likes to show off her third nipple for reporters - her music is fun, her concerts are good and she says the things in her music that we're all thinking anyway.

Her new album It's Not Me It's You is out and I've been listening to it for a couple of days, and I like it.

For some reason I often relate to her songs. Some - like Him - just kind of echo my thoughts to a large extent. Others - such as It's Not Fair - remind me of situations I've had the (mis?)fortune to experience myself.

Each song is done in Lily's signature quirky style which has never discriminated genres - her lyrics and the upbeat style definitely place her firmly in the genre of pop, but the sounds on her albums take liberally from country, rock, folk, disco, house and many others I'm too lazy to identify.

As much as I'm enjoying the new melodies and beats Lily is bringing to my iPod, every album has a stinker song (a song which is noticeably worse than the rest of the album or, in some cases, just plain sucks) and on this album it's definitely the song 'Fuck You' which is a commentary on George Bush and his exit from the Presidency, something that is both badly timed (this song would surely have been received in a slightly better light six months ago) and just plain difficult to listen to. Anyone playing Lily Allen will expect sexual innuendo, comedy and swearing, but no one wants walk down supermarket aisles to a chorus constructed around the line "fuck you very very much" - which, combined with the melody and Lily's vocals, comes off more as a twisted ad for Cadbury Roses than a decent tune.

It's hard to tell if this sophmore album is better than Alright Still, her debut, because Lily Allen is one of those artists whose music becomes tiresome after a while. To be honest I haven't listened to Alright Still in quite a while, so I put it on for a comparison. While Alright Still was quite relaxed and fun, It's Not Me, It's You is definitely more up tempo and poppy, listening to both albums also highlights the digital editing undertaken on Allen's vocals on It's Not Me, It's You - it's lighter and much sweeter than her debut.

Overall this album will stay on my iPod for 2 weeks before I begin rotating out the weaker tracks for new ones, in 6-8 weeks it'll probably become an 'occasional' album like it's predecessor.

3.5/5 little gopher guys.

Narf

I came across this little gem today.



It's based on a viral video of a woman who missed her flight from Hong Kong. Someone took the video and added subtitles. I found it so hilarious that I was actually crying with laughter. I can't help but think that this could be me if I'd missed the flight!

Speaking of which, I managed to get some very cheap flights ($26 return) yesterday on JetStar down to Wellington for my birthday. I'll be down for 4 days from the 14th to the 17th of September, it's all very exciting.

Good day

I had a really good day today.

I'm happy, I'm awake, I've been productive at work all day, I've been to the gym and now I'm chilling out at home with a glass of wine.

While I was at the gym a Z-Trip set came on my iPod - that made me happy, as did all the emails I recieved and sent Holly. It's nice having someone to email during the day.

Little things.

I think my perpetually good mood has a lot to do with my walking to work. It's really true that exercise gives you endorphins and I give my body a whole heap of them each morning just by going to work. I've been pretty much constantly happy since my holiday in Mahia, I think the combination of 10 days at the beach worrying about nothing in particular and the fact that I have a job I like and a flat with a fantastic location has been really good for me.

I don't honestly think I've been this happy since before everything turned to custard for me back in Wellington all those years ago - I feel like I've finally found the old me.

And that is certainly something to celebrate.

Another space filler

Last month, I posted a random photo of me and a gnome. I kinda thought it would be cool to do a regular blog segment (it might be monthly, maybe fortnightly) with me and something random that I own.

I'm going to try make everything I pose with something significant - the green gnome is sort of significant because I like gnomes and I had just bought it. It's not my favourite gnome though (I have 3 other gnomes) so I'll probably put the rest of them up here at some point as well.

Because I am unimaginative, I'm going to call this segment 'Something Random that I own'.

February's Something Random is a photo that was on the front page of The Dominion (back before it became The Dominion-Post) after the New Zealand Premiere of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.

I'd managed to get off work a couple of hours early and decided to go check out the premiere. I got autographs, developed quite an obsession with everything LotR and awesomely enough, I managed to get on the front page of the paper the next morning!

The sign Peter is holding actually belonged to the two guys next to me, but the next year my flatmate and I stole the idea and had one that said 'Take another bow Mr. Jackson' which got us on the hourly news update.

Front page photo from The Dominion ~20 December 2001, I'm pointing at myself

My father got a copy of the photo from The Dominion, and gave me money to frame it. I chose a cheap, plain plastic Warehouse frame and black paper, which I painstakingly hand painted the elven writing from The One Ring onto in gold paint (it's both above and below the photo, although you can barely see it here). Unfortunately, last year it fell off the wall and the glass of the frame smashed, so I'll probably use that as an excuse to get it properly framed at some point in the future.

Random facts about the picture: I was 19 when it was taken, I had just begun my projectionist training, I had just met Holly, I still had my libret piercing in, I miss the pink top I'm wearing - I really liked it.

Magic

Last week, Sarah and I went out to the Busking Festival. While there, we saw Magic Brian, who is from New York.

As part of his performance, Magic Brian took off his shirt.

Now, I am a dirty perve so I got out my camera, saying to Sarah as I did 'he's this month's Guy With His Shirt Off'.

So, here is Mr February - if you happen to see him doing a show I'd recommend you stay and watch (he'll be in Wellington next weekend for the Cuba Festival).

Luck

In September last year I happened to find an autographed copy of a book by John Green for $3 in a Whitcoulls store in Wellington. This was amazing for a few reasons -

1. John Green isn't well known in New Zealand - I only know of him through his work as half of the Vlogbrothers on YouTube.
2. John Green has never been to New Zealand - that copy was signed somewhere in the States
3. I don't live in Wellington - I was visiting at the time.

A series of conincidences meant that a signed copy of Looking for Alaska came over to New Zealand and ended up in a Whitcoulls store in Wellington, where it was picked up by one of the few people who will actually genuinely appreciate it.

Something similar happened again yesterday.

After work I went to Real Groovy. The real point was to pick up a ticket for a show I wanted to go to tonight, but while I was there I started wandering around. I wandered through the racks and, on a whim, I decided to look for Z Trip because he's my latest musical obsession.

There, sitting on the shelves of a Real Groovy store in Auckland, New Zealand was a copy of Uneasy Listening, Vol 1.

That won't mean much to anyone likely to be reading this blog, but there are only 1000 copies of this album in existance. They have been known to sell for US$500 on eBay. It's an important album too because it is credited with beginning the mash up/mix up genre.

And I picked it up for $11.95.

I've looked it up and checked - I do have an actual, original copy of the CD. I've had the mp3s on my iPod since the Big Day Out (you can download the entire album, free and legal, from DJZTrip.com) and love them - I even want to have one of the songs played at my funeral (for future reference, track 8, the Dust in the Wind remix which is also the first song at the start of part 2 of the mp3 downloads). Owning the CD is another one of those things that just makes me happy.

Terminally Single

Hi my name is Kat, and I am terminally single.

What I mean by that is I am single - and usually am. This is not an unusual state for me to be in, the fact is, I quite like being single.

But there are a few times of the year when it has the ability to be not-ideal.

Christmas, for example, is getting to be horrible without a partner - all my cousins are paired up and being the single one makes me feel a little like Bridget Jones pre-Mr. Darcy. Valentine's Day is an obvious one. It's a day specifically to celebrate love and relationships and I have spent each of my 26 years single on Valentines Day.

I've been talking to a few of my friends, and I've had a couple feeling a little down that they're missing that Special Someone to celebrate the day of love with, so I figured I'd share my views on being single on the 14th of February.

Being single on Valentines Day is exactly what you choose to make of it. You can mope about not having someone to hug, kiss and buy chocolate for, or you can choose to enjoy it. While cities are overrun with couples on Valentines Day, there are also usually a number of events for singles - you've just got to find them.

My first Valentines Day in Auckland, for example, was spent at the supermarket where they got you to choose a cereal that you thought 'matched your personality' - the point of it was to start conversations with strangers and to be honest it didn't really work, but had some fun as a group of single girls.

Last Valentines Day a friend of mine bought me my first ever Valentine. Then we hung out and surfed the 'net before what was arguably the worst night I've ever worked.

This Valentine's Day I'm planning to go to the Cross Street Carnival and a gig in town, possibly even by myself if it comes down to it.

The fact is, just because I am without a man, it doesn't mean that I should get depressed about one day of the year. It means that I should go and find the singles and have a good time!

Take a look at Facebook, mall websites, gig guides and newspapers. There are plenty of good things going on if you look, and while the majority are aimed at couples, some smart people have realised there is also money to be made in catering to singles on Valentines Day. Some events will cost money, many will be free. Find a single buddy and go along. Your Valentines Day mightn't be so lonely afterall.

Viral compassion

There's a video around the Internet - you've probably seen it - of a koala, drinking water from a bottle fed to her by a fireman during the fires in Australia.

I don't think it's possible to be a blogger, especially a Kiwi or Australian blogger, without saying something about this tragedy - every couple of years there is something like this: bombings, hurricanes, tsunami, fires, and every couple of years these tragedies bring the world together in grief.

We might not personally have known a single victim of 9/11, or anyone who has ever lived in New Orleans. We may never have spared a thought for anyone living in any of the many nations that were affected by the 2004 tsunami and we may not know anything about Melbourne - but we feel grief for their communities, their countries, the families (and the animals) involved in every large-scale catastrophe.

In the face of it all, there is always hope. There is the hope that a fireman will stop to help a koala, or that the lessons of what went wrong will be learnt from and work to prevent further tragedy. There is hope that perhaps our shared compassion could maybe work to not only help those in trouble and protect others from having to live through the same horrors again, but also that our shared compassion and humanity might one day last beyond the time that the tragedy heads our nightly news broadcast.

Maybe one day this compassion will lead to greater things - for now, my thoughts and prayers to the victims, their families, friends, acquaintances and all Australians.

Outdoor Movies

My flatmate Eru and I just got back from a screening of Eagle vs Shark at the park across the road. The weather's been on and off all day so we weren't sure at first if we'd go, but we live so close to the park that whenever there's an event on we naturally get curious and wander over. I'm very glad I went today.

Part of me was sure it'd be a DVD projected onto a shonky little screen, but when I wandered over, I saw this:


Which kind of reduced my worries. It's very, very cool to see a giant blow up screen. Before the movie, the projectionist was adjusting the lamps, and I realised we'd be watching 35mm. I was highly impressed.

The sound was good, the audience relaxed, the picture was great too (all relative to the fact we were watching it on a blow-up screen, out of a van of course). There's a screening every Wednesday for 3 weeks over the road - next week (The Rain of the Children) we're going to take more cushions, pizza and wine.

I should also be going with projection geeks next week so I might go and see if I can see what's inside the magical projection van:


My money's on reel-to-reel, which I'm pretty keen to check out.

If you have an open-air cinema running near you, I strongly suggest you check it out - it's a good time, for free!

Great Song

I just found this little beauty...



N.A.S.A. "Money" feat. David Byrne, Chuck D, Ras Congo, Seu Jorge, & Z-Trip from Paul Griswold on Vimeo.

Freaking awesome.

I'm too hot to think of a title

Too hot.

Too muggy.

Apparently, Auckland reached 100% humidity last night, right now it's gotta be over 80%

Sometimes, other people just say what I'm thinking much better than I ever could (this song ALWAYS gets stuck in my head when I'm too hot).

Music

I've been noticing over the last few weeks that slowly but surely, the music on my iPod I used to love, is no longer matching my tastes. It's strange but now I cringe when I hear a lot of the stuff I used to consider my favourite music.

So I decided to undertake an experiment. I haven't really listened to any Top 40 music in the last few weeks, so I have no idea what the top 10 songs on iTunes are. I looked them up, played them on YouTube and guess what? I pretty much hate them all.

I've never experienced anything like this - nobody I know has - my entire tastes just shifted and suddenly I'm into a completely new thing. It's awesome and at the same time pretty scary.

It doesn't apply to Sexyback by Justin Timberlake though. Apparently I will never tire of that song.

Lantern Festival

I've been saying I was going to go for years and tonight I dragged Sarah out to the Lantern Festival with me. We got lanterns, gave money to Chinese Gods of some description, ate meat on a stick, and saw lots of pretty lights.

Again, I'm just going to do a photo blog of the event. I was going to go to the Big Gay Out but today was really hot and I just couldn't be bothered in the end.

The quad at uni

Sarah with a lantern

Me with two lanterns

Sarah with the luccy guy

Me with the lucky guy

Busking Festival

There's a busking festival on in Auckland, and today Sarah and I decided to go and have a look and see what was on. I had my camera on me and I got some pretty awesome shots throughout the day. Here are some of my favourites.

Andy Zap juggling fire

Magic Brian in chains and a straightjacket (Magic Brian will make a reappearance on this blog in a few days)

Debbie Robinson putting together a 3d street art. I'm hoping to go back tomorrow to get a photo of the final product.

Slim Pickings' hat trick. (Click to view larger)

The Circus Firemen

The Circus Firemen

Matilda from The Circus Firemen

Angus from the Circus Firemen

The crowd watching The Circus Firemen

The Circus Firemen

Big night

After work yesterday we went for drinks. Somehow, when I go for work drinks, it increasingly leads to going out.

The after-work drinks were quite short. We were well behaved and I ended up catching the bus home with Sarah. We both decided that it would be a good idea to have a few drinks and some fun, so we had a few more drinks as a flat with Eru 'til a couple of my mates turned up.

Four of us (everyone minus Sarah) went into town for a boogie at about 11/12. We tried out Galatos but it was pretty average so we ended up moving onto Coherent which was just as awesome as the last time I was there (after the BDO). The music was good and the crowd were having a good time so we hung out there for a while til the next DJ came on, then we ended up moving next door to Ink.

It was at Ink we met two random girls, we had a conversation about purses and shoes, and we were having a good time, so after everyone else had bailed I ended up going out to A'isha with them as well. They wanted me to hear the sound system because it was supposed to be amazing, and they were right. From the moment I got into A'isha I could plainly hear the difference in the sounds. It was much nicer to listen to than the stuff at Coherant/Ink, so I'll probably make an effort to hit A'isha next time I go into town (which at this rate is next Saturday).

I got home at 5.15am this morning, had a shower and fell into bed. Unfortunately, the wine I'd had earlier in the night made me get up about 3 or 4 hours later. Alcohol sucks like that - it always makes me wake up early.

Today I've pretty much just had a lazy one. I was going to go see the dragon parade down at the Lantern festival, but it looks more likely I'll go to the Lantern Festival with Sarah and one of her friends tomorrow. They've got fireworks on Sunday, so I might try get to that as well.

So far my weekend has been rocking - even if I didn't actually do much today, I enjoyed it. Yay for long weekends!

Blogging for the sake

I'm drunk, therefore I probably shouldn't say much more than this is my blog for today

Ooga Booga

Following my super-early night last night I had insomnia until about 4.30am this morning. That kinda sucked. It also means that right now I'm really tired.

So to avoid an equally super early night tonight, I'm skulling a V before I attack the huge pile of dishes in our kitchen.

What an exciting life I lead.

I'm really excited about the long weekend this weekend. I'm going to go to a few events (such as the Lantern Festival which I've managed to miss every year I've been in Auckland) and I'm also going to try explore a few new areas of the city. Given it's probably my last year here I figure I should try and actually see it and go to the big events that I've missed over the last few years.

Has anyone seen the new TV2 ads in bus stops? The catch line is 'Where else but 2' which annoys me because that is a question and there is no question mark. There's also one advertising Desperate Housewives which says 'Desperate Housewives is back' which is technically correct as it's a TV show title, but I keep thinking it should really say 'Desperate Housewives are back'.

So picky.

Totally forgot to blog!

It's currently 2.34am on the 4th of February and I just woke up realising I'd totally, absolutely forgotten to blog.

I've been taking training sessions at work for the last two days and when I got home yesterday I was so exhausted I fell asleep half way through Shortland Street (which is equally a comment on the quality of that show so much as how tired I was). I didn't even have dinner.

Luckily there is no longer a punishment clause I guess!

Debt

Last night, after I wrote my blog, I sat down and worked out exactly how long it will take me to pay off all my debts.

I worked out that, as long as I stick to it, there is no reason I can't have my debts paid off and a fairly substantial figure in my savings account by the end of the year. I won't even need to alter my lifestyle too much! Even if I move to Wellington or prices rise marginally I should theoretically be able to do it because I didn't account for future pay rises, promotions or the tax cuts coming in April (on the flip side I also didn't account for redundancy but I don't honestly think that's a problem for me).

Watching as the debts slowly come down to zero was a little intoxicating to tell the truth - even with the huge sum I've given myself for celebration after the last one is cleared, I could still buy a plane ticket anywhere in the world by the end of the year.

My major problem has always been one of consistency and perseverance but in the last year I have blogged every day, remained strong to the resolutions around sex and relationships I created last January, and I've managed to stay largely gluten-free for the last 3-4 weeks. I'm slowly proving to myself that I can do this. I believe I can. If I stick to the plan, I can help myself - which is something I should have been doing for a long time but I never really believed I could.

By the end of 2009 I will be debt-free. Fuck the recession, I'm helping myself out of this mess.

Travel Expo

I went to a travel expo today. It was good fun. I like expos because of all the competitions and free stuff. Past that however, it's pretty much just made me want to go overseas even more than I did before.

I don't think there's anything I want to do more than to travel - to finally leave the beautiful shore of New Zealand and see the rest of the world. I really think it's time I knuckled down to actually achieve the travel goals in my list. Most of my goals are travel related. There are plenty I can achieve in New Zealand, but the majority of them are overseas.

So I guess it's time I really start thinking about how I'm going to do this and where I'm going to go first.