... Teach them well and let them lead the way.

Sometimes teaching is fun and it makes me laugh. It's good to have a job where you can laugh.

1. NIN

First thing this morning, I'm walking to my classroom and there's a girl standing outside the door. She says to me plaintively, 'Miss, I'm afraid to go in!'

'Why?' I reply suspiciously. This girl is mischievous, but secretly one of my favourites (though she'd never believe it, having had me gleefully confiscate half of her jewelry collection when she was in my form-class into a special envelope with her name on it).

'I was in the common room before everyone else this morning.... So I played some Nine Inch Nails. Really loud. And ..... nobody would stay in there. They all left. They all hate me!' She says this with a twinkle in her eye though. She is the only kid in Year 12 with dread-locks.

'Well, blimin' fair enough then - you kids and your devil-music,' I say, while laughing at her.

I get a real kick out of her. She has this I-hate-school exterior and often wags classes or even gets suspended, but whenever she is in class she stays behind afterwards and talks to me about obscure arthouse films she's seen. And she always ends the conversation with really sincere recommendations of, 'You should see it, Miss! You'd love it!'

I told her to go listen to the Johnny Cash version of Hurt. Me recommending a country singer to her will tie in with the fact that every time she saw me walking around school with my i-pod on last year she'd ask what I was listening to.... and while there is a plethora of 'cool' and 'hip' stuff on there I'd always be up to the Norah Jones song for some reason..... It was eerie. Norah does not impress her.

2. DAMNED EMOS

I had a great discussion with my Year 13 Media Studies class. It was supposed to be a five-minute starter activity (while Miss got her mind into gear and decided where to start with the real lesson), but turned into a really passionate dialogue on all kinds of recent events in the media.

You can't often have those conversations with a class of teenagers - a lot of them would look at you blankly. But this class are 'special'. They all watch the news and talk about politics with their parents. They are neato!

We started with the Virginia Tech coverage and I was very nearly convinced of the public need to see the footage the murderer sent to NBC. A few convincing kids talked about how it struck a chord with them because of the closeness in age, and how the human issues in it created an actual need for closure and explanation. They argued that because we, as an audience, struggle to understand such acts that go against human nature we are comforted that there is reason behind it.

We segued into the use of blogs as a forum for public sympathy and whether such a soulless form of communication (compared to face-to-face contact) could be effective. There was discussion of what makes a murderer and what might happen in a dystopic (?) future if you could somehow scientifically tell someone had a propensity for that sort of violence while they were in the womb or a baby. There was talk of the biased representation of pit-bulls and their owners in the media and the Jennifer Lynch revelations and how they represented the US Government. There was praise and criticism of Michael Moore and George Bush (in equal parts).

It was fun!

The funnest bit was when the other kids jokingly said one of the girls in our class fits the profile of a school-yard-killer (she wears a lot of black, admits to being proudly cynical and plays bass in a rock band). I put on my innocent teachers-have-no-clue-about-pop-culture voice (which I often use when quoting lyrics to hippity-hop and rap songs or talking about sex as if it's a dirty word and I'd never have it in a million years - they love it and make me promise to never ever try to talk about that with them ever again) and said totally dead-pan, 'Yeah you do - it's because you're an 'Emo'.'

That always gets a rise out of her! I have learnt that calling a kid Emo is about the biggest insult you can give...... And thus I put on my 'special' naive voice and do it as often as possible....

3. Interview with the Teacher

Parent interviews were even good! Actually, they usually are, I just angst about them a bit because you're entering the unknown each time a parent steps up to your desk. I learnt that a few quiet girls who don't say boo in class are going home and watching movies with their parents and making comments like, 'Oh.... I actually understand why they do that now....... ' Bless!

I have ruined the ability to watch a movie without analysing it for another generation of students.

4. Off the Cuff

I did my favourite speaking activity with a class today. It's an impromptu speech game Nicky made up years ago, which I have perfected. It's basically an extended version of the 'Ummm' game (you're out if you say 'Umm') with extra rules and a scoring system.

I give them easy or hard topics (hard ones are worth double points!) such as 'Lawn Bowls', 'The Best Place to sit in a Movie Theatre' or 'Cheese' and they talk for as long as they can, gaining points for their team.

It's hilarious - some kids last 3 seconds, others get past 30. But the humour of it and the team camaraderie takes away from the scariness of being up in front of the class speaking by yourself. It tricks them into getting more confident!

Highlights were one of the more shy and anxious kids getting the topic of 'Frisbees'. For most kids this would be a bugger of a topic. But she happened to know the entire history of the thing and told us all about pie-tins and other fascinating stuff.

The other highlight was an immersion kid getting the topic of 'The Benefit of Learning Another Language' and having the idea of giving her speech in Maori. She told us the equivalent of 'umm' in Maori before she started and we had a couple of other immersion kids in the audience monitor how on-topic she was. The word 'korero' came up a few times - so I was convinced.

As usual, they were skeptical when the words 'impromptu speech' were mentioned but by the end of the lesson they were all asking if they could have another go and if we could do it again tomorrow.

Public speaking is FUN!

Pickled Onions and Sardines

Just about everyone I know who's seen 300 hated it. Boys, anyhow. My two male flatmates were both gravely disappointed by the lack of plot. I agreed that a fair bit of it was stolen from Gladiator/Star Wars/Braveheart/Lord of the Rings......

But as a girl, I went into it with absolutely no expectations. I'd seen the shorts and when all they show in those is fight scenes, I can generally guess it's going to be a crap movie. So, I didn't want to see it at all. I only went because other people were going......

And I can honestly say that we girls didn't mind it! I can go on about the use of chiarascuro (I use that term whenever possible, now that I can pronounce it) and the visual style..... but at the end of the day we were mostly persuaded by the hot bodies. Some liked the thighs, some likes the abs...... But rarely has such a top notch collection of male specimens been seen on screen together!

It at the very least gave us an insight into what it's like to be an objectifying male..... It's fun!

* * *

Is there any better singing-loud-in-the-car-by-yourself-song than Pearl Jam's Jeremy? I think not.

INCONCEIVABLE!

1. Gelato

Last night we (mainly Ange, to her credit) discovered the new gelato place on Courtenay Place. It's the same name as the place on Oriental Parade, but I'd never been to that one. Kaffe Eis (something like that).

It is YUMTASTIC. There are at least 20 choices of flavours, about half fruity and half chocolately goodness. And for less than the price of a handle of beer, you get to try two flavours in a little pottle with a tiny little spoon (so it lasts for ages). And it has absolutley no calories, so you can eat as much as you like! (This may be a delusion of mine, but please don't correct me - it makes me happy to believe this.)

We ate our little pottles silently for a good ten minutes, only stopping to say inane things like, 'It really DOES taste coconutty..... It's so good!' And within that time there was no talk of boys or other frivalous gossip. It may well be true that gelato is better than sex. For that particular moment we were fairly satisfied, anyhow.

I had raspberry and caramello, Ange had strawberry and coconut and Lauren had mixed berry and chocolate chip. We all raved. I really think you can't go wrong.

I am going to make it my mission to try every single flavour....... I wish I hadn't started this mission so close to winter.......

2. Sporty Stuff

We played netball today for Michelle's team. It was a good close game. My woeful shooting/passing/running/general-playing continued. It's very odd. I feel like Austin Powers.... who stole my mojo?

Then there were some ballin' shooing games between me, Morgan and Ben. I believe I was the overall champion. Morgan had fun in his own special way (he'd have hours of fun with just a stick and a rock). I was somewhat concerned that Ben managed to sneak in a few victories as I am usually undefeatable..... I'm sure I can come up with some viable excuses, given time.

3. LVN

I caught up on some great family gossip and got fed well on my trip home for the day.

Apparently my step-mum has turned into a self-confessed grumpy old trout. She is that grumpy lady that makes a scene in a shop. She tried to return a can opener at The Warehouse and ended up storming out of there, with the supervisor following her insisting she take the good in question with her - but Lynne yelled out, 'I don't want your bloody can-opener! You can keep it. Give it to the manager for christmas!' and after further provoking she said, 'You can stick it up your ass!' That story had me in tears. She went back the next day and apologised. Chronic pain does funny things to people.... Evidently it makes you far less tolerant of stupid shop policies.

My dad tried to notice something to do with 'fashion'. He asked if I'd thinned out my hair (in a nice way). I explained that it's the straightening..... takes away the frizz. He nodded and went, 'Hmm!'

Then there was the story from the wedding. I liked that one. He was at my cousin's wedding and had had a few drinks. Lynne said it was time they went home, at which point he nodded and started taking his watch off. While wobbling on his feet and leaning on the wall he said, 'Hold this, dear'. Then he took off his shoes and gave her his wallet too.

Lynne thought it was time to get him home, so went off to get the car. At this point, people suspected Dad was about to collapse or fall over, he was so shaky on his feet (he uses a cane even when he's sober....). But all of a sudden he straightened up, took a few strides towards the swimming pool and jumped in.

According to reports, people starting laughing and clapping. So he got out and bowed. At this point Lynne came back, he walked up to her and gave her a big wet hug. And then they went home. Sopping wet.

Dad likes to do strange spontaneous things sometimes................ He went back the next day and my cousin said, 'Uncle Merv - my friends think you're a legend now!'

Home is good, though. It helps that their house is like something out of a Home and Garden magazine. It is just delightful.

Libby gave me fleas. I have two itchy bites of my hip.

* * *

Back to school tomorrow. Stink! Only good thing is that I'll be able to wear some of my new clothes. That'll be fun.

Just for Ange.

Righto, I have to think of something to blog about so Ange isn't bored at work (how could you get bored working in the power industry? Sounds like mad-cap fun to me!).

Killing Spree

I'm having a conscious lack of interest in the Virginia Tech killings. I hate that the media have plastered that video he made all over the place. It would have foiled his plan if the person who'd opened it in the mail-room at NBC had just thrown it straight in the bin. It would've been a hard but incredibly noble thing to do.

The guy wasn't a genius or particularly psychologically interesting - on a lot of levels it looked like he was doing it purely to become notorious. And the media have helped him succeed in that.

I have a healthy interest in serial killers and the like, but only really the ones who do it and don't want to get caught and purposefully don't tell the police or media deatils about what they've done or why. There's something at least interesting about someone who would do something like that for private rather than public motivations. I do a lesson on Ed Gein to my Media Studies students, as he was a key influence in early pscyhological horrors, like Psycho and Texas Chainsaw Massacre (the first real 'next door neighbour' serial killer that was discovered by the popular media - he was this unassuming old man who had bodies buried in his backyard and had lamps made out of human skin, among other things).

There's something boring about anybody whose primary motivation is fame (from politicians to entertainers.... to I guess even mass murderers). It's kinda pathetic. It puts them in the category of Winston Peters or Britney Speares.....

Anyhow, I didn't mean to trivialise the issue at all. I think that showing the tape he made and giving great attention to him as a psychological specimen is serving his own egotistical wants rather than helping society in any way, particularly families of the victims. Sounds like he was a rather miserable kid who had all kinds of issues that were somewhat beyond his control, so I feel sorry for him in that regard. Probably just wanted somebody to take an interest in him and tell him he was fascinating.... and this kinda forced that to happen (wow - that reminds me of Education for Leisure, a poem I have taught - it starts with the line 'Today I'm going to kill something.......' and the narrator goes on to have delusions of grandeur and desperately wants people to recognise him as a genius).

That's my speil on that issue!

Just for you, Ange.

Actually..... here's that poem. I liked it the first time I read it (came across it looking for something on budgie-torture - long story). She's a great poet anyhow - a lot of teachers at my school have followed my lead and done a unit on her recently. If you look closely you can notice the use of violent verbs, the detached tone, the only use of imagery being associated with violent fantasies, the progression of voilence from verse to verse, the ambiguity in points, the delusional tone, the distance between his/her belief that they are a genius and the reality (the Shakespeare quote is misinterpreted), striking use of second-person pronoun in the last line......

Education for Leisure by Carol Ann Duffy

Today I am going to kill something. Anything.
I have had enough of being ignored and today
I am going to play God. It is an ordinary day,
a sort of grey with boredom stirring in the streets.

I squash a fly against the window with my thumb.
We did that at school. Shakespeare. It was in
another language and now the fly is in another language.
I breathe out talent on the glass to write my name.

I am a genius. I could be anything at all, with half
the chance. But today I am going to change the world.
Something’s world. The cat avoids me. The cat
knows I am a genius, and has hidden itself.

I pour the goldfish down the bog. I pull the chain.
I see that it is good. The budgie is panicking.
Once a fortnight, I walk the two miles into town
for signing on. They don’t appreciate my autograph.

There is nothing left to kill. I dial the radio
and tell the man he’s talking to a superstar.
He cuts me off. I get our bread-knife and go out.
The pavements glitter suddenly. I touch your arm.

* * *

I might go home to the LVN area tomorrow. I haven't been home..... in ages! Not since January, probably. Gosh. There may be new buildings and super-highways have been built since then...... or maybe not.

I anticipate they will be renovating something, and that they will claim this is the last thing they need to renovate (for about the millionth time).

I anticipate freshly baked savoury scones.

I anticipate Libby will jump all over me and leave a trail of dog fur on my clothes. Also she will be very very fat.

I anticipate Dad will show me through all the family research he's been working on this year. He has joined the local geneological society. I think I'll enjoy that.

I will have boxes of 'stuff' foisted on me to take back to my flat. Hopefully some of it will be useful.

It'll be a nice day!

Strange.

1. Vonnegut

In his passing, I was reminded that ages ago I bought the movie of Slapstick for $1.97 from a bargain bin at The Warehouse. I mainly bought it because it seemed like a really odd book to try and turn into a movie - I wondered how they'd do it.

Badly, is the answer. Any film starring Jerry Lewis as the father is bound to be ..... slapstick. And they made it into a movie by only including about the first 1/5th of the story-line and ignoring all the best bits and somehow inserting an alien spaceship into it where I don't remember there being any aliens.

Hi ho.

2. Netball

Last night's game was much better. Jon thinks the aliens must have returned me safely (though five minutes late). It was four players from our Monday team, just under a different guise. In a much better grade.

Evidently our Monday team is in grade 2, which is ..... high. We must've done something to piss Georgie off. Has she never seen Ken play???

3. Music

With my new broadband I have watched the JCB song three times. It is just adorable. You may have seen it when it was on C4 late last year, but if you haven't - watch it! It's got a cartoon of a yellow digger and Optimus Prime. I'm Luke, I'm five, and my dad's Bruce Lee. Drives me round in his JCB.

Being as Ange is lining up gigs and auditions for me left right and centre I figured I'd better dust of the old geetar. I learnt me a new song yesterday, the Evermore one that's got the video with Sally from Home and Away.

It is hard to play the geetar with one sore finger. It is also hard to play it when you haven't played in ages and your once proud callouses have all but disappeared. Making new ones is owie.

I think my best song is now a Bob Dylan one - It Ain't Me, Babe. Bob Dylan songs are easy to sing and play! Bless folk singers. I was about to say something mean about Bob's vocal stylings but I must remember that Woodie Guthrie said he actually liked them. And he knows more than me.

PS - Vogels cereal is the shizm (as the young folks say). I got the golden syrup one. I am salivating at the thought of it...................

Girly Night

1. Shopping

I went shopping today for a skirt to match my new boots (which are fairly manly flat-boots, but doggone it are they comfortable!). Anyhow, tried on a skirt at Cue which was $169 ...... and I would have had to take tiny little lady steps in it or risked ripping the seams open.

Then I went to Country Road. I have never in my life bought anything there..... but I came across the best sale ever! I bought $480 worth of clothes for $72. It was 75% off the sale price. I got two skirts, two camisoles (one of which was silk) and two tops for that bargain total!

For the record, I don't think their clothes are all that fantastic. A lot of them aren't really much of a step up from your basic shop in terms of quality. But I'm not gonna complain when I'm getting tops for $5 and skirts for $20.

And because I saved so much.... I went and bought a $150 red woollen throw rug from their home store...........

I need to stop shopping. The holidays are dangerous.

2. Watching

Me and Ange had our first weekly girly night of watching Dancing with the Stars at her flat. It was fab! We got quite emotional about it all. We were both visibly shaken when April got voted out rather than Michael Laws. Unjust!!!

Our biggest improvers of the week were Frank Bunce and Greer Robson. Always solid were Megan, Brendan and Suzanne Paul (a crowd favourite). Paul Holmes and Michael Laws sucked again. One of them needs to be voted out! Paul Holmes physically repulsed us (Angela couldn't actually bear to watch him try to look sexy doing the rumba, and hid her face in her sleeping bag).

3. Movies

I watched the new Australian adaptation of Macbeth. It was ok. The lady playing Lady Macbeth was quite good. It was a rather action-movie version. I think they didn't really cover the angle where Malcolm and Macduff were nicer people than Macbeth.... everybody had a bit of blood lust in the end. Always interesting to see how a modern director will tackle one of Shakespeare's play in celluloid though. I find it amusing how they stick to the script so loyally. In order to bring Birnham Wood to Dunsinane, the fellows hopped in a logging truck laden with wood...... That was a bit of a stretch. And the scene with the apparitions was basically an orgy which was dumb because I'd say they'd have made more money in DVD sales if it was rated under R16 and could be used in schools. I didn't like that at points they changed the script to 'modern' words (just the odd one). Maybe I just know the play too well so it jarred with me. I guess the overall aim should be for the audience watching the play to understand it.........

I also am trying to watch Saw III. I'm not so into it. I really liked the first two, but this one is becoming formulaic. Not as clever as the other two. Or maybe preceding it with Shakespeare didn't prepare me well........ Bit of a let down anyhow. Maybe since watching the last one I've become pretentious and arthousy (nooooooooo - I still love my Gilmore Girls).

4. Gomez

We may have left our run for tickets a bit late - word on the street is they're not selling any more. Damnit! Anyone for a Saints game instead?

And just in.....

Perusing the Dom Post website I found two things of interest to me.

1) Craig McMillan is a hero

I always knew this. He was on my exemption list. He has always been a lucky charm for Fleming. I do wish I had Sky and could actually watch some cricket...... I would now delete Michael Rapaport from my exemption list. I don't like him in The War at Home.

2) Wills broke up with Kate

That makes me sad! I was living vicariously through her, as a fellow brunette girl named Kate. It was the next best thing to me actually becoming the queen of England (my childhood fantasy). I do wonder what Cassie has to say about that (being a royalist).

Ange's Thing.

Last night was good fun. Ange's flatmate is fun to take the piss out of. We manged to negotiate with him for her to have control of the remote control Monday through Thursday. That is a big concession because he is of the opinion that 'live sports takes precedence'. And we warned him that we would be having a girl-night round there every Tuesday while Dancing With the Stars is on. We may have even talked Blair/Dale into joining us for girl-night. We were all most impressed with Suzanne Paul's performance last week. Mixed reviews about the others.

There was a fairly heated discussion about the merits (or lack thereof) of rugby league. Clint pointed out that a lot of girls he dated have preferred it to union. I pointed out that that may have said more about his class of lady-friend than which sport was best.... To further back up his point he said that he thought girls preferred it because it was a bit simpler than rugby union to follow.... Again, I referred back to how that was more of a reflection on his class of woman.......

I am a rugby league snob - I admit it. HATE the sport. It's just moronic. And everyone who plays it seems to be an absolute knuckle-head. It annoys the heck out of me when they squirm around on the ground trying to eke out penalties and none of them seem to be able to resist a fight. And the jerseys are ugly. So yeah........ That's my anti-league speil. I will not be swayed on this matter.

I got my photo taken by a Japanese tourist at Molly's, whilst dancing with his teddybear (his request). That was odd. He singled me out and my friends parted like the red sea. That photo could end up anywhere......

We tried several times to take the dance-floor by storm, but it just wasn't crankin'. And American Pie is a bloody long song to sustain your dancing through. At the end of it the band thanked us for our enthusiastic singing-along (I like to think that was aimed at me and I also like to think he wasn't being sarcastic.....).

I was quite purposefully holding my liquor well to make up for my new year's eve embarrassment (that is the only other time I've been out with Ange's flatmates and boy do they like to remind me about it). I think other than the odd instance of mildly obnoxious ribbing from me, I was charming and held my decorum well last night.

We ran into a guy we went to school with. He said I looked 'fantastic'. I said, ' I know!' (Monica from Friends style) and walked away. That's all I will say about that so as not to embarrass young Angela.

We briefly explored the new Malt House but it was too crowded and my ex-flatmate (the one I kicked out) was there. The demographic there actually made us feel 'young' for a change.

* * *

Today ...... I wore socks with jandals because it was bloody cold. I even wore them out to Chicky's to get some chicken. It's Upper Cuba St - they're all freaks too.

We watched Little Miss Sunshine. I liked it. They reminded me of my own family. Bless! We liked the grandad and the uncle the best. The little girl was cool too. We've all had those experiences where we had to push-start a van. Good times! Mine was at a basketball tournament in Wanganui. There were certainly laugh-out-loud moments (LOL moments for you funky text writer types). I may add it to my class-room-movie-posters.

My finger is still fairly sore. I suspect severly deep internal bruising.

That is all.

On the Scrapbooking and Laminating channel today.....

Project 1 - The Album

This project involved making a photo album for Ange's birthday. I was trying to hunt down a present yesterday and the best I came up with was a funky lookin' album from Iko Iko (on special!). So today I had to adorn it a bit.

Above: I matched the album title to the colours on the cover. You can't see that, but trust me. I laminated my personal note on the left (just for the hell of it - I had spare laminate).

Step 1

Find lots of photos on laptop. Select and transfer to school network via memory stick.

Above: Photos from our night at Kai in the City, one of me and Ange's patented self-portraits and the posse going lawn bowling (ok - so Ange isn't in that photo, I just like it).

Step 2

Insert pictures into a word document and resize.

Above: The three amigos helping themselves to the buffet at Cassie's birthday dinner this year and some photos from Cassie and Ant's potluck dinner last year.

Step 3

Print out on the school's flash colour printer and hope the rather serious techie guy doesn't tell you off or nark on you.

Above: The nativity scene I made (Ange and me are angels, Cassie and Ken are farmyard animals - thems the breaks) and the three amigos re-enacting a blogging moment.

Step 4

Guillotine. Hope that the incessant creaking noise of the guillotine doesn't annoy the techie guy enough that he comes and tells you off.

Above: A rare photo of Ange in a dress and another of our patented self-portrait serieses.

Step 5

Look up 'vintage wallpaper' and 'scrapbooking paper' on google image search and copy and paste approriate images to word as background patterns. Print out, and again hope techie guy doesn't pay much attention to what you're doing.

Step 6

Guillotine. Quietly.

Step 7

Go home and magic dot it all together. Go for chronological order, but accidentally miss out a page and screw that up. Realise you have lost several photos somewhere along the way.

Step 7

Wrap prettily. Use the ribbon you accidentally dropped in your pumpkin soup when Ange came around unannounced to use your hair straighteners and you had to hurridly pack up her present. Done! Project 2 - The Indoor Netball Team Draws

I laminated them! I pity the fool!

I used to have a nightie with glow in the dark stars on it.

1.
The yawning article was much better than the obesity one. I learnt that yawning is a sub-conscious act (people being watched and monitored are much less likely to yawn) and it is contagious. Also that it is often triggered by a change in your state of being (going from sleepy to awake, or awake to sleep, or interested to bored). Oh, and that I'm not alone in yawning when I'm nervous. Some people yawn just before they're going to play a big sporting event. Oh, and that babies from the end of the first trimester can be seen yawning in the womb. Cute!

There was also an interesting paragraph comparing a yawn to an orgasm. Apparently some people on Prozac trigger orgasms when they yawn as an interesting side effect.

Next I might tackle the autism article. That's an area of interest for me because my brother's on that scale somewhere (probably down the Asperger's Syndrome end) and I've taught a couple of kids with those traits. The definition for Asperger's is widening all the time to the extent where they think a fairly decent sized proportion of the population have some mild form of it - I wouldn't be surprised if I fit into that wider definition. It would explain my apparent lack of tact on occasion (so people say!).

PS - apparently even just reading about yawning, people ar more likely to yawn. Did anyone yawn while reading that?

2.
I read some bits of a thing on Morgan's blog about 'trolling'. I have no idea what trolling is but it's something to do with people who comment on blogs. I wanna do some trolling! It sounds neat. Or maybe some people reading my blog can do some trolling. It would be cool if some grumpy little guy who lived under a bridge was reading my blog! It sounds controversial. Maybe I need to write about some more controversial stuff to ignite some trolling. Like.......... eating live goldfish. For or against?

Internet verbs are fun! Spamming is fun too. Spam - it's ham in a can. Almost as good as tufting, but not quite.

3.
Having finished Series 1 of the G.Girls I have moved back to re watching Series 2. I have a whole new context for it now.

Here's some Gilmore Girls trivia you might not know unless you watched the special features (like meeee). The title song, Where you Lead, is of course a Carole King song. I love Carole King - she has so many great, simple, beautiful songs. But the trivia is that she sings that particular version with her own daughter. How very appropriate for the Gilmore Girls opening credits! They have different surnames, so you might not pick that up without watching the special features (I hope I'm not wrong there - the printing on the screen was very small).

A defining Carole King moment for me was that Divas series they had years ago. In the first series they had all the biggest divas - Mariah Carey, Celine Dion, Aretha Franklin. At the end they sang Natural Woman, which is a song that has become an Aretha signature, but which we all should know Carole King actually wrote. Anyhow, at this point in the show Carole comes out for a guest appearance to play piano and sing along. And the only diva who shows her any respect or admiration was Celine. Aretha just sang right over the top of her. I used to like Aretha, but after that I didn't. And while I still don't like Celine's music, I now appreciate that she might be a lovely human being.

4.
Looking forward to Ange's birthday dinner tomorrow. I'm looking forward to eating at Matterhorn. I hear it's good stuff. And the cocktails are tops. I like a good cocktail. Especially if it has bits of mint and lime in it. I've had mixed experiences there though. The first time I ever went there, years ago, I felt very much like the only person who wasn't a Size 8 (or 'fashionable').

Then we went there on Fish's hens night looking for Jack Black. We never did find him.

Oh yeah, and there was the night of my flat's cocktail party. I was the only one out of our group that the bouncer would let in to Matterhorn (what was he thinking?) so I was sent on a search party for Sean The Large American. That was an 'interesting' night. I was lumped with The Teacher Guy. I've actively sought out guys' numbers through their friends twice in my life and both times were disasterous. One took on a mild-mannered stalker persona and the other ended a night of me giving him no positive attention with, 'So which side of the bed is mine?' I have moments of bad judgement, evidently. I blame the alcohol and flattering lighting.

Then the plan is to migrate to Mighty Mighty for more drinks and chitterchatter. I like the big red velvet curtains that make it look like a magic show. And, of course, the big jugs of Sassy Red (the beer, not Ange).

5.
My basketball game got cancelled tonight. That would usually make me happy because it would mean I got to stay for all of pub quiz night.... but nobody was going. So my two fun Thursday night events were both off. Do I sound a little sad there? On so many different levels....

Play-doh food.

The obesity article was much harder work. Lots of statistics and finicky things about BMI (Body Mass Index). I think it was trying to undemonise being obese and show that statistics that have been used about mortality rates have been biased and similar studies could be done for being underweight too.

Also comforting that at any one time 75% of Americans are trying to lose or maintain weight. That fits with my observations of people. Almost all my female friends are in that category (myself included). Even if it's just that pesky 2kgs that are the difference between 'acceptable weight' and 'slightly concerning weight'. And then there's Sam, who loses weight he didn't need to lose without even trying. Bastard!

It has put me off reading scientific articles (albeit the best American ones of the year). But I shall persevere. Maybe the one about how yawning is in fact contagious on a psychological level will win me back.

* * *

The Gilmore Girls (Series 1) has been more satisfying. Luke must be modelled on Rhett Butler. He rules. It's nice to be reminded of all the back-stories that developed over the other serieseses. And I've just met the elusive Rachel (the one who broke Luke's heart).

* * *

I went and bought espresso coffee from the supermarket and cranked up my machine for the first time in about a year.

It was good. Coffee helps me read scientific articles. Well, it helps me read them faster, anyhow.

* * *

I thought I'd lost something. But I found it under my bed. What a cliche!

One of those books with lots of words and no pictures.

The Game of Champions (and computers)

I found a copy of the elusive 1st season of The Gilmore Girls today. I knew it existed out there at $39.99 and searched hard until I tracked it down.

Then to balance out my shopping and stop my brain from rotting away during the holidays, I bought a book called 'The Best American Science Writing 2006'.

The first article was about chess programmes - those ones that beat grandmasters (I love the term 'grandmaster'). The kind that beat Kasparov. I love Kasparov. I briefly wanted to marry him. I read his biography back in my chess phase in the late 90s. I liked him and Tal. Tal was just a crazy mo-fo who did lots of psychological stuff to put the other player off as well as having a slashing kinda style, and Kasparov beat Karpov who was the epitome of anal-ness. My brother was a Fischer fan. Fischer was one crazy fellow too (there seems to be a motif here - grandmasters are all a little nutty?). I think in the end he thought aliens were after him and became a hermit.

So that was an easy start for my reading foray into the science world. It needs to be easy because I quit science after fifth form. Though, let it be noted, I got 90% for it in School Cert.

It kinda made the point that these computer programmes are getting so advanced that they're seeing possibilities that even humans wouldn't have considered. Moves that a bunch of grandmasters can sit around and watch and have no idea where they're going with certain moves until deep into the game. Moves that contradict opening and endgames that have been staples for decades.

Some former grandmaster guy said, 'Computers helped me to discover a number of fundamentally new positions that no one had ever expected, some of which were outstandingly beautiful.' I love that a board game can be 'outstandingly beautiful.' And another top ranked player said he played crazy moves people weren't expecting - moves that are 'computeresque'.

That point being that computers can almost be creative or intuitive...... rather than just robotic. Real players do well by imitating the play of computers, not the other way around. It's a switch in the programming style, which previously tried to create computers that mimicked the playing style of certain grand-masters.

But I don't know if I buy it. I don't know if I want to buy it. I think all us real chess fans appreciate the difference between a move that will win the game and a move that will win the game elegantly. I like the image of a computer programme being ruthless and robotic (like Karpov). Not elegant and creative (like my hero, Kasparov).

It's one of those sad frontiers that has been crossed though, when there are computer programmes that no human can beat. It's one of those things that everybody knew could be done, but maybe it sh0uldn't be. I don't like that a game full of guts and grace and creativity can basically be broken down into probability and statistics. Where's the fun and psychological warfare in that?

There was this sad little story about a fairly good player out there who was playing against some internet opponent and became convinced it was Bobby Fischer (he who became a hermit and disappeared from the world chess scene at his peak). He even said to the Sunday Telegraph that the games were 'what an undiscovered Mozart symphony would be to a music lover'. Anyhow..... turns out it was just a computer programme the was playing, and the guy running it had purposely made a few errors at the beginning to dig the computer a hole to work its way out of as an experiment, which it did with a certain amount of flair. Disappointing!

Anyhow. One article down, many many more to go. I might delve into whether or not there really is an obesity epidemic or if it's just a theory that's been popularised by scientists commissioned by the diet industry now.....

* * *


And since my science book reading project is such a lofty goal, I thought buying some pretty new earrings would help. I concentrate better while wearing pretty earrings.

* * *

Chess advice my dad gave me during my Year of Chess.

1) Spend the early part of the game establishing a strong hold over the centre. Work your centre pawns out in a V-formation so that they're backing each other up and then work the bishops and knights out to defend the pawns or attack your opponent's ones. This is the part where you're digging your trenches and lining up your soldiers. You're both sussing out who has the best weapons and who'll do better if you actually attack...... Once you think you have the upper-hand, then go for it..... but there's nothing wrong with patience. A good game's a long game.

2) If you can get your knights working together you can get a strong position. This isn't essential, but it's neat when it happens. They're the only piece in a chess game that can jump over other pieces, so they're much more useful than other pieces at the beginning when the board is crowded. They can cause a good fork (where you move to a square where you'll be able to take two different pieces, so your opponent can only save one of them).

3) Don't be afraid of forcing an exchange as long as you'll come out better off (maybe you lose the same number of pieces, but you force them to double-up their pawns). The good old sacrificial pawn..... I like getting rid of a few pieces to open up the game and will try to take away the pieces my opponent likes the best :)

4) Don't bring Queenie out too early (you'll just have to waste moves retreating her if she gets threatened - wait til she has room to move, then let her fly).

5) The worst thing you ever have to do is take back a move. It wastes two turns. It's better to do something tiny like move a pawn forward than to do something dramatic that you will just have to retreat from.

6) Sometimes the only defence is a counter-attack. If someone traps a piece of yours, form a distraction somewhere else on the board by threatening one of their pieces to buy time. Don't give up hope too soon! It's like Black Hawk Down..... that's your little guy out there, do your damnedest to get him back to safety!

7) The basic values are: pawn (1), knight/bishop (3), rook (5), queen (8) and king (invaluable). So, for example sacrificing a bishop and a pawn to take your opponent's rook could be a good thing to do.

8) Try to avoid pawn islands (broken rows of pawns)

9) Try to avoid doubling up pawns (having two in the same row because you've taken a piece with one of them).

10) When you place your piece down on the board give a 'knowing look'. It will make your opponent think you have some devious plan somewhere down the line. They hate it when they think you see something they don't.

Had his his hurts before? Ay, on the front.

Another photo of a Gollum. They crave media attention.

I'm trying to use Macbeth quotes in real life as often as possible (in my head, anyhow - saying them aloud seems a tad eccentric).

I feel satisfied to have exited today's sporting marathon with my hurts in battle. According to the wise people in Macbeth it's ok to die (or lose) as long as you have your hurts while trying. There's honour in that!

If you pay attention (and I will do a quiz one day, to reward the people who read my blog word-for-word) you might have heard me give a nana-speil about hurting my finger last week. What were the chances of catching a ball on exactly the same finger this week? 1/10, I'd say. That's fairly slim!

I have also put me back out a little. I blame John Ball. I'm coming to the conclusion that he is to blame for most things in this world. I'm sure I had to move more quickly than my body was capable of at some stage today, trying to guard him at basketball, resulting in my back protesting. He's a pesky little blighter.

Ah, good times!

* * *

Note my new duvet cover. I like it.

The sweet sweet smell of bander sheets

Pan's Labyrinth

I went to see this yesterday with Ange. We liked it. It was more than I expected. I thought it was gonna be a kids' movie, but it deserved its R16 rating well.

It was more of an allegory about loss of innocence or the blood-shed of innocence, set in the Spanish Civil War in the 1940s and centering on a young girl who sees the faun and believes she is the missing Princess of the underworld. As Ange pointed out, it had lots of elements of different fairy-tales wrapped up in it. If I knew my classics I'd probably have understood all the allusions better.

Anyhow, it was a good old fashioned gothic story. Lovely visually and some great moments of gore and torture. Takes quite a bit to have a modern audience squirming in their seats, but there were definitely a few times Ange was covering her face with her hoody. The guy with eyes in his hands was fabulous! He was the stuff of nightmares, with sickeningly white skin hanging off his bones and the blood of fairies around his mouth.....

Actually, I think this movie represented fairies in the way they're supposed to be. Kinda devious.

I also liked that I recognised the odd bit of Spanish from the 100-level paper I took at uni. 'La puta' seemed to come up quite a bit.

Can't wait to see what Richard has to say about it on his site :) I love how he personalises his scoring system to the movie he's rating (took me a while to click to that - I was thinking that scoring things out of 300 was a bit random at first....).

The next movie I'm looking forward to is Zodiac. Nothing else on at Reading took our fancy. A lot of crap looking action movies.

* * *

My favourite $3 pre-movie snack is still the roti with peanut sauce from Satay Kingdom (I could have the wrong name there) in the food court. They serve it so quickly! And you get to sit in those ornate wooden tables and chairs.....

* * *

Dancing with the Stars starts tomorrow. Jolly good! I'm not to psyched about this year's lineup though, other than Frank Bunce. I could see him being quite dapper.... Me and Ange are going to watch it together every week. Anyone who wants to join us for this ritual is most welcome.

Our male flatmates are less likely to overthrow us from our TV watching seats if we have a group of people.....

* * *

Seems to be allergy season. Me and Ange both were sneezing yesterday. Is it true that tanines are bad for allergies? I heard that once from a pharmacist. He said that drinking alcohol while you have allergies kicks them into 'turbo-allergies'. My experiences of drunken-sneezy nights back this theory up. Clayton said something about that last night too.

I should be a more well-known fact. I might dedicate some time and energy to promoting this information.

* * *

Me and young Cass are going to donate blood tomorrow. It's a good thing to do. And, of course, we may turn it into a competition. She will win though. Her blood flows like a mighty river. Mine is an ambling stream. I have discovered that you wanna drink a LOT of water before donating. That seems to up the pace a little.

It's one of the few things I do in life that I know is going to hurt but I do it anyhow - voluntarily. Usually I procrastinate about that kind of thing.

* * *

Procrastinators - the leaders of tomorrow

Party

Above: The front of the party invite designed by Scooter. He's a very talented little brother! Every detail was painstakingly done from scratch.

Cassie (and Ant's) Engagement Party

It was one of those affairs where they brought around platters of food, each one with a new delicacy on it. I like that. Particular favourites with myself and Ryan were the devils on horseback (prunes in bacon) and some dip with coriander in it. Many times I was too slow and the platter passed me on by, but I altered my style and started actually following the platter around. That's tactics.

We got to meet Cassie's wee brother, Scooter. He complimented me on the my use of type-face in my blog. I was most flattered. He followed that by saying he'd used Cassie's mock-up of what she wanted him to make her party invites like as an example of 'what-not-to-do' in one of his lectures on typography stuff. Funny! Cass was most offended. Apparently it's not the 'done thing' to use five different typefaces on an invite. Who knew?

The party really got cranking once Cass put on her 'Best of the 80s' CD. Ryan was a one-man dance show. He got his groove on with moves such as 'the skier' and 'the giraffe'.

There were some classic lines....

Anthony: My mother is NOT a MILF!

Cassie: (hassling Francis about some pizza shop guy......)
Kate: You can't talk, Cass. I got one word for you - carnie!

It was a nice touch that the only speech of the night was Anthony getting everyone's attention so that we could sing happy birthday to Angela. Ken had spoiled the cake-surprise by coming over to our group and loudly saying in his 'whisper' voice that there was a cake and he suspected someone at the party was having a birthday (right in front of Ange). I tried to shush him, at which point Francis added, 'No, there's definitely a cake - I've seen it too.' Ange squirmed.

Above: The pile of towels me and Ange got as our present for Cass and Ant. Big fluffy ones in her requested 'mauve' and associated colours. Having helped Cassie tidy her room a couple of years back (which was a full two day project) I understood her need for matching linen. In addition to her hoard of 7 different duvet covers, she had a mishmash of dozens of different towels. She has now been instructed to search and destroy. No more crappy odd towels, you hear me!

There was a table full of presents. Me and Ange managed to buy the most biggest present - that was quite satisfying. It was a pile of towels. We actually had to put ours on top of lots of other presents so that they would all fit on the table. It was unavoidable - honest. Me and Francis (the other bridesmaid) tried to fulfill our present-opening and recording duty, but Cass would have none of that. She said we're going to have to save it all for the wedding day. Pity!

We made do with picking up and shaking each present and having a good guess at what was in each one. We suspect there are several platters, a vase, some wine glasses and a picture frame (among other things). We coerced Anthony into opening one of them while Cassie wasn't looking. His trickery was not appreciated and we got a good telling off from her.

I had almost a whole box of chocolate covered coffee beans. That's a good pick-me-up! I almost bounced a small child off the trampoline.

Many thanks to Joan (Ant's mum) who I think did a lot of preparation stuff before and on the night. She is becoming Cass's surrogate north island mummy. Aww! The garden was a myriad of twinkling fairy lights and the gazebo was impressive (after having taken 3 hours to put up and having almost caused the end of what was a beautiful relationship between Cass and Ant). That's what happens when you lose the instructions.....

I loved the bit where Cassie loudly came over to the group we were chatting in and said, 'Ange and Kate - there's a single man over there!' (evidently the only one at the party). The single man then proceeded to come over to us and try to strike up conversations. He seemed particularly fond of standing right beside me. I suspect there was match-making afoot. Unfortunately for him, the idea of dating Anthony's prodigee seems somewhat strange to me......... It would upset the hierarchy of things.

* * *

That'll do.

* * *

I am up to page 103 in the book Sam lent me in December last year. 1/4 of the way through. I'm a slow reader. I'm up to 'F' (each chapter is a different letter of the alphabet).

* * *

PS - I think I may have just spelt Francis's name wrong (is it Frances?) all through that. I get confused because my Mum's maiden name was Francis. But in retrospect I think when it's a girl's name you spell it with the E....... But I can't be bothered going back and changing it. Sorry!

How to make a delightful crocheted tea-cosy....

Walking.

It was a gorgeous day. As Ange pointed out, it was 'crisp' (that signifies 'birthday weather' to her - which is tomorrow, by the way) but sunny.

I woke up on this my first day of holidays.... to three texts. Silly people were texting me early in the morning. On the first day of holidays. Cruel.

In typical form Ange managed to wrangle me out of bed before 10am to go for a walk with her. We walked and mused about things girlie. People jogging past us may have heard some juicy tid-bits of gossip. She had an interesting dream about 'things' falling off..... Ask her about it some time.

Anyhow, we walked for a good hour and twenty minutes.

Balling.

I don't care what Sam says, when I text him saying I've been '...balling with Morgue, Jono and Ben....' it all about the basketballing. I dunno what he's thinking of.

We balled for hours. It was good. I would so much rather play basketball every day than go to a gym. The Davie boys were beating each other up in the key, elbows flying every which way, and Jono was running hot from the outside and Big Joe was running everything from his seat in the shade. There were all these little basketball junkies that were hanging around the court, waiting to be invited to play. Good stuff.

Pity I can't get my layups in! We mighta won EVERY game if they had, instead of just most of them :)

I hurt my finger a little (but you wouldn't have noticed 'cause I'm tough). I was showing off the bruises later that night at .....

Gaming.

I turned up a wee bit (couple of hours) late and missed some crazy pirate board game they were in the middle of. It sounded confusing. There were sailors and fame points and parrots and cannon cards. I ate my Subway while they duked it out.

Anyhow, I had a game of Evo which involves excavating pyramids. Me and Sam combined to make one team. He only did that so that I couldn't beat him. He's scared of my game-playing prowess. And he knows that if I don't stand a chance of winning the game I'll just try to take him down with me. We lost by two points in a cliff-hanger. We'll get 'em next time. Richard was not a bastard - he kept out of our way.

Then Fish borrowed my laminator for some laminating business. It's in hot demand. That was a pun!

Home Again.

I got home to find the boys sprawled on the couch in their matching slippers. They're so cute. I heard the story of how Clayton was having some beers up in the Love Shack last night, and was about to come back down to the house. So he was standing just outside the Shack's door and started saying, 'Whoa.... I don't feel very well....' and he lost his balance, fell backwards and literally rolled down the hill.

Hilarious! Paul was telling the story with tears in his eyes. Anyone who's ever walked up to the Shack understands how well you would roll down it if you were drunk. It's steep. And Clayton's always endearing when he's drunk. He just gets giggley. I wish I could see an instant replay.

* * *

And that's that. Holidays are good! I have lots of little plans interspersed with my sleeping in and shopping.... should be good.

Looking forward to Cass and Ant's engagement soiree tomorrow night. That's three nights in a row I'll be spending in the Hutt. I'll be picking up the accent soon.....

Selecting.

Here's a random photo from the archives. Damon has inspired me to dredge it up. Me and James have both grown our hair out a bit. I believe we are watching an All Blacks game on Kirsten's bed at Fish and Sam's engagement party. Something like that.

Good old Booner.

* * *

I got to select the basketball teams at school today. I don't know if I like the pressure! But both the coaches deferred to me for the final selections. I tossed up a few names..... It's not nice knowing that you could have just stunted the dreams of some young player. On the other hand, I'm sure I made a few people happy.

In both teams there were about 9 or 10 obvious choices, but hard to separate after that. I might have got a bit inventive (ie - that girl's mum usually provides transport, so she's handy to have..... that girl's never played basketball, but she's tallish....... that girl's sisters are pretty good, so she must have potential.......).

* * *

I saw about a minute of Morg and Jono's game tonight. It was confusing since they left the court, then went back on for a jump-ball, then fouled someone and the game was over. Then I figured out it was 'golden goal'. That sucks. We had to play that once. I guess it's better than a draw. But not much.

The one time we had it it was the final of our grade. And the coach was yelling at us, 'The most important thing is to WIN THE JUMP-BALL. Whoever wins the jumpball will probably win the game. Kate - it's up to you.' At this point I thought (or maybe even said out loud), 'F***. I never win jump balls! I don't think I've won one all season.'

But I'll be darned, I did win it! I tapped it straight to a player from our team..... they fumbled it and got a back-over-half call. Then the other team scored and won the game.

Bugger it.

I have made my difference.

We all go into the teaching profession hoping to do that. I think I have now achieved my greatness.

I made my Year 12 Media class analyse a couple of scenes from Amelie. And now lots of them have gone out and bought the DVD or hired the movie or dug it up from their parents' collections.

My job is done.

* * *

I am also putting my laminator to use by printing out movie posters of all of my favourite (underR18) movies to pin up on my classroom wall. My classes of minions shall flock to them and become just like me.

I told them all to see The Heart of the Game (it is one of my posters).

Laminating rocks. But you can't laminate rocks (not literally).

* * *

I was helping to finish off the Year 9 quilt today. It is a gift from our year group to the retiring principal. I got bored last week and made four panels for it (out of 130 completed panels that makes me the dominant contributor - it's quantity, not quality!).

Today I was helping with the 'tufting'. I love that as a verb. I found 'tufting' very relaxing.

And now the yang.

Hello adjudicators, chairperson and ladies and gentlemen. Today we are debating the topic of 'Cell phones are a good thing'. I am now affirming the moot. We have defined 'good' as favourable and beneficial.

I would firstly like to rebut the point made that most texts are from people giving bad news. While the first text I got today was, in fact, from someone saying they couldn't play netball tonight, I then got two texts from someone else suggesting an alternative player. That is a ratio of 2:1 in favour of helpful texts to annoying ones.

I like that on cell-phones you can give people nicknames. That's a good thing. For example, Sam is 'Sam the Eagle' and Cassie is 'Cassinova'. I like how Ange has saved Cassie as 'Cassie!' (with an exclamation mark). I do believe at least one person has me saved on their phone as 'Mango'. It makes me laugh to see these nicknames come up on my screen. Sometimes it is good to laugh, especially if your dog has just died.

Also, there are people in this world who are late. I am not one of them, but I have come into contact with such people. For them, the cell-phone is a good means of alerting their rendez-vous-people to their impending tardiness and giving a new ETA. It is a thoughtful and proactive use of the cell-phone. It allows the person sitting by themselves in the cafe, waiting, to animatedly respond to the text by rolling their eyes and mouthing 'He's just running late' to anyone who happens to be looking. This lets them avoid looking like a loner, which is a bad thing.

Cell phones also can have cool ring tones. My phone does not because it is cheap and oldish. It does not have what they call 'polyphonic ringtones'. I did, however, programme in the tune to 'The Gambler' one day when I was bored. It sounds vaguely like Kenny Rogers' version and sometimes cheers me up when I hear it because it is a happy song about winning money.

My third point is that cell-phones have calculators in them. Sometimes this is very useful. It is useful if you need to calculate a phone bill.

That is what I like about cell-phones. They are all good things about them.

Thank you and I hope that I have proved that cell-phones are a good thing.

* * *

The above speech would gain a 7/10 in Year 9 English.

* * *

The funniest thing was did at t-coll was maths-debate, eh Fish.

* * *

I once acciedentally assigned both teams in a debate to the same side of the argument. I made them do the debate anyhow. It was farcical. One of the girls was also losing her voice, so could only manage a highpitched whispery squeeky noise. That is one of only two times that I actually have had uncontrollable laughter as a teacher. I got in trouble for it.

The other time was when a group of students were doing a scene from Macbeth where a messenger comes in. The messenger pre-empted their cue by bursting in three times before they were actually supposed to. I laughed by the third time.

* * *

I coached a Year 9 debating team once. They didn't win a single debate. What I didn't realise as a young first year teacher was that you don't actually just sit back and let the students write their own speeches..... Novice mistake! I think I would have been a great debater if I'd taken it up as a sport. I might just start debating against myself more often. I think I have found an intellectual purpose for my blog!

Please ensure all cell phones are turned off.

As a teacher I consider cell-phones with a healthy amount of suspicion and disdain. It is an inbred reaction in me to prick my ears up at the unmistakable sound of keys tapping or the dull vibration of a message alert, even when the offending item is buried deep inside the bowels of a school-bag. It’s like a reverse Pavlov’s dogs thing. I have become negatively conditioned. Cell phone noise = people having the nerve to not pay me their full attention.

I have learnt to notice the down-turn of eyes and the buried hand under the desk. I even appreciate the blind hand fumbling for keys inside a skirt pocket. The tricks are many. I consider mid-class requests to go to the bathroom as occasions warranting a pat-down of girls’ pockets. I have had children claim a parent is dying in order to win my sympathy and stop me from confiscating their precious phone.

Thus, my first instinct when I see a cell-phone out during a public event is to want to confiscate it. It doesn’t matter if it is in a movie-theatre, or a colleague during staff briefing. There’s something rude about not being able to give the event at hand your full attention. I feel impotent when it’s a fellow adult and I can’t actually order them to stop texting. I see it as a public act of defiance.

Alternatively, it is an example of good etiquette when you’re on a date with someone and they purposefully leave their phone in the car. It shows that they aren’t looking forward to a text from anybody but you, and since you’re with them there’s no point in having the phone around. I like that. It’s one of those things smooth guys do very pointedly. Smooth guys always get the girls for a reason. They’re good at what they do.

Blatantly receiving a text message while talking to someone in person is the modern equivalent of whispering into someone’s ear whilst cupping your hand so nobody else can see. There’s something clandestine and rude about being in the middle of a conversation with one person, and simultaneously getting a private message from someone else (and replying). You wouldn’t actually have the gall to do that physically (walk over and interrupt the conversation) but it’s become somewhat socially acceptable to do it in text. It’s an adult version of passing notes maybe. And there’s a certain paranoia you can feel, being the one who can’t see what the note’s about.

And really, 99.9% of texts are not urgent. If they were urgent the person would have called. Or hunted you down in person, the old-fashioned way. Most of them can wait until you discretely excuse yourself to go to the bathroom (assuming you don’t get the pat-down on the way and have your true purpose discovered).

That is my rant.

It stems from Friday night. I was at a function for our principal who is retiring. Various guests of honour were giving heart-felt speeches paying homage to her. And while this was happening, a bunch of youngish people a the back of the hall were busy typing on their phones. Since they’d recently left school I couldn’t say a damned thing to them. It was frustrating. All I could do was look in their general direction with a furrowed brow and give them my mildly disapproving look. The one I’m perfecting for when I’m middle-aged.

Of course, this rant would be much less passionate if I was looking forward to a text. I currently have no potential texts that excite me. I’ve had eras where there were several people who could spark my interest with a spontaneous text. The thinly disguised ‘I’m thinking about you’ texts that perk up your day. Nowadays I’m more likely to get a text from someone at the last minute saying they can’t play indoor netball. The cell phone is a source of disappointment and frustration! Or the cringe-worthy break-up text. This is another modern phenomenon that highlights how impersonal and cowardly we can be. Though, my house has a lot of windows so I’m not throwing stones here.

I think I’m done.

Tomorrow I might write an opposing thesis, gushing about the brilliance of the cell. It can be my good good friend while sitting lonely in a café waiting for friends to arrive.

Lazy Sunday

Morgan was right (should I ever have doubted that?). The Heart of the Game is a great little basketball documentary. I was actually physically on the edge of my seat when they were playing in the final tournament. I was quite caught up in it. Another film I'd thoroughly recommend. Possibly more fun if you're into basketball (I was surprised at how blimin' GOOD the girls are over there - it's highlight reel stuff, twisting in the air and cross-overs and finger-rolls) but I think anyone would be drawn in by the people in it. Nice little cinderella story with lots of personal struggles.

I loved that he got this team of girls to yell out 'MAKE THEM BLEED!' as part of their chant.

I also watched The Three Burials with my flatmate. It started kinda slowly, with a very confusing plot that had three different time-zones going on. But after that it got kinda quirky. Certainly not predictable. Tommy Lee Jones was nutty in a good way. My flatmate thought there was too much unresolved at the end. Possibly right.

* * *

I had my now ritual early morning text from Ange suggesting a debriefing brunch to go over the weekend's events and non-events. I pre-empted her saying 'I'll be around in five minutes' by suggesting we meet in half an hour. That meant I had time to look for clean clothes for a change. And wash.

We went to Maranui. We saw a cute little toddler walking along outside on the footpath. And he had on a cute little red tshirt and jean-shorts and a hat and bare feet. His parents were carrying his shoes so that he could purposely walk through the sand that had gathered on the side of the footpath. We liked that.

One cafe is never enough these days, so we then ventured into the city for our post-brunch coffee. Ended up settling on Starbucks again (yes, further confirmation that we care not about slave-labour and the chain-store syndrome). I got the blackberry-raspberry juice blend. I was parched. Ange branched out from her usual latte and got a banana-coconut frappa. She was impressed. Say what you want about Starbucks, but they have the best selection of iced drinks. I like a good iced drink.

The Starbucks on Willis St is a great place for people-watching.
We saw
- a lady who may have been pregnant, but also may have had an unfortunately large belly
- some unfortunately red-headed people (Ange has standards for gingas - some don't cut the mustard)
- a female couple who looked similar and we dressed the same, holding hands
- a hot guy who got a coffee and newspaper from our Starbucks
- some twins I teach
- a guy she's met before who makes chocolate cakes and is as camp as a row of tents

People are funny things.

* * *

Ange is now Aunty Ange. Her little sister had a bubby. That's fun! I don't think I'll ever get the chance to be a genetic aunty. My brother is unlikely to ever reproduce.

* * *

Only four days of school to go. And what with our end of term retirement celebrations for the principal, there's really only two and a half days to go. I think I can manage that. Then I'll sleep all day on Friday. Ah, the holidays. And figure out what to buy for Cass and Ant's engagement party.

* * *

I think I am the only one yet to be sucked into Coronation St.... I am fighting the good fight................... Peers all around me are succombing. I think I can manage turning 30 this year, so long as I haven't become addicted to Coro St. I'll still be young at heart then.

On the other hand.... I'm very much looking forward to a new series of Dancing with the Stars. What's not to like? Though, I was shocked at the news of another affair happening between contestants last year. I think if I had a famous husband I'd not let him on that show.

Friday Night - Nothing to do

I was wandering aimlessing around the top of Courtenay Place last night (as I often do) when, quite by chance, I ran into Morgan. I followed him to the Welsh Dragon. As chance may have it, there were more people he knew. One of those fortuitous random events! As it turns out it was recently Morgan's birthday, so everyone was glad to have run into him.

I bet Sam at pool. That very rarely happens, so I will be reliving it for a while now. He will be reminded many times. I do believe there were three of his balls left on the table when I finished. SAM IS USELESS - KATE IS THE BEST! (I never said I was gracious in victory.) He made the old excuse of small tables favouring the weaker player, but I refuse to accept that reasoning. You're only as good as your last game.

Some cranky old fella scolded Sam for having started a game of singles (on a long-empty-at-that-stage pool-table). He seemed a little strange. I briefly thought he was one of Morgan's friends..... and was questioning his judgement.... But it turns out he was just a publican, unconnected to us.

I reacquainted myself with the lovely Svend as we formed a formidable guard at either side of the door. We talked about his mammoth encyclopaedia collection and quilting. I caught up with a few Ultimate players who remembered me from my four game stint last year. I was reassured by Sam The Second that Ultimate is the only sport where you have a 'hammer-throw'...... That harks back to a question at pub-quiz that I was vetoed on. People never listen to me! And there was wee Fraser too.

For some reason I like to write Ultimate with a capital letter. It seems fitting.

Evidently their Ultimate club has expanded to three teams and has plans of dominating the world. Their tentacles are spreading.....

Richard had on a lovely shirt with a funky stripes and paisley thing going on.


I will make the next bit small type because very few (if any) people will be interested. Michelle pointed that out last night after we'd talked about 1980s basketball players for long enough..... While remembering people like Andrew Toney and Danny Ainge is fun for us basketball fans, it's somewhat dull for others.

I was unimpressed by Ben and Jono's ignorance about things basketbally :) For those of you unfamiliar with Michael Cooper, one of the all-time great defenders, here is a picture of him. As I said last night, he used to wear long socks so that his almost-blind grandmother could pick him out on the TV screen. Awwww! Nowadays it's trendy, but back then it was original.
In his 12-year NBA career, he was named to eight NBA All Defensive Teams, including five First Teams. He won the NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award in 1987. In the 1983-84 season Laker Michael Cooper ranked second in the league in three pointers made with just 38. (wikipedia). That is the best 3-point statistics I could verify, but I'm sure he was right up there in terms of 3-point shots made in playoff games (in the late 80s anyhow - before they moved it in and small children and grandmothers could start shooting them).

In my research to find those things I realised that Scottie Pippen actually is one of the greatest players ever (statistically - not just in my honest and biased opinion). He's in the top ten all-time stats for heaps of things. Good on him! I totally missed the end of his career due to not having Sky and not caring about a league where boxing-out was a thing of the past and refs seemed to have forgotten the intricacies of the travelling rule (as long as the three or four steps ending in a dunk).

What else.....

* * *

Norfolk and Chance is becoming a pub-quiz team to be reckoned with. Anchored by Sam the Trivia Man, we have developed a good wee crew. The quiz-master gives us our props as a weekly contender. This week we came second, though only by a few points.

We were only beaten by a team that's anchored by a fellow from my school. He was dux the year before I was. Smart people from Levin seem to be the common link.... LEVIN IS A FORCE TO BE RECKONED WITH!

* * *

My impulse-buy-blue-dress is getting excellent use. I estimate that I've won it over half a dozen times. I wore it last night to a function at school and tonight Ange is borrowing it for a cocktail party. My goal of wearing it until I get it down to $10-per-wear is within sight.

* * *

I went to Borders today, the new bookshop on Lambton Quay. Ange said it's the Starbucks of bookstores. Sam pointed out that Maori language books are filed with 'Foreign Language' books. A series of the Gilmore Girls goes for $59.99 (you can usually get the early serieses for $39.99 from the CD Store).

I do, however, like the range of notebooks and stationery. Funky colourful little numbers. I bought a notebook that has black and red and green pages in it.

And after that I got a banana-java-chip-frappachino from Starbucks.

I AM A CONSUMER! And it was a damned good frappa.

Some rugby player guy from the Bulls tried to push in front of me in the line at Starbucks. The line was obviously going back out the door, and he tried to sidle in through the side..... I stepped very pointedly in front of him when it was my turn. I'll not be bullied by tall Seth Efrican rugby players! Starbucks is the great equaliser - his fame means nothing there. We all pay $5.80 for our coffee and that's all that matters to them.

* * *

I might have a nana-nap now. We stayed out til 2.30am last night. That's way past my bedtime! It reminded me of my youth............ Back when I walked 10 miles in the snow every day just to buy a 1cent lolly at the dairy. Those were the days.

Go....

...mez are apparently coming to Wellington some time in about a month. I'm dead keen to go to that concert! It's at the Bath-house. Snug wee venue. $48 or so.

Sounds good to me.

Can someone else organise a posse to go?

* * *

I helped Paul carry a couch up to the sleep-out today. If you have seen the location of the sleep-out (or 'love-shack' as he calls it) you will know that is a feat worth reward. I got me a beer for it.

He's calling it the 'love seat'. It is intentionally small so that any girl unfortunate enough to have to 'crash' at his shack will say, 'Excuse me, Paul. This couch is not comfortable for sleeping on - can I share your king-single bed?'

If that tactic fails, he says he will tell them he has no spare linen and throw them a towel.

The dude is a smoooooth operator! The worrying thing is that he may in fact score using those tactics. Life is unfair.

* * *

While watching Target tonight with my flatmates and discussing real life incidents of tradespeople doing dodgey things in people's homes I realised something.

Bloody tradesmen must've stolen my favourite bra last year. There is no other logical explanation. Damnation! I'm not like Ange; I don't just lose underwear. I always wear it home with me.

Rats.

I watched 'The Departed' tonight with my two xy-chromosome flatmates. One of them asked me, 'Are you gonna watch it?' and I replied, 'Yeah - as much as I can handle,' knowing that Scorsese movies usually bore me.

One of my students had the misfortune of doing an assignment on him last year in Media and realising that she hated his films. Something about every single female character being either a wife they fucked around on or a whore. This movie did not change that image.

But I liked it. It had a clever plot running through it. And my goodness, Leonardo has filled out well! Plus he can act. Anyhow... I really liked it. I found myself looking at the timer on the DVD player and being sad that there was only 20 minutes or so to go. I was enjoying getting to know the characters. So there's an earnest recommendation for the non-Scorsese fan out there. Watch it anyhow.

My big question is what did the ending mean?

I think it was simple. The dude who shot the dude in the last scene (names omitted in case anyone hasn't seen it and doesn't want it ruined) was doing it out of revenge. Plain and simple. It had to do with what was in the yellow envelope.

BUT my flatmate thinks it's some kind of conspiracy theory and that because there was a rat on the banister outside that was symbolic of the dude who lived being the ultimate rat.

I think he's reading too much into it.

* * *

Our flat is literally full of rats. But they've taken the bait. We are now sitting back and waiting for the sweet sweet smell of rotting rat corpses to waft through the kitchen....

* * *

The guy Morgan was defending tonight at indoor thought he was in a Scorsese movie, I think. All that, 'You wanna start something? If that's the way you want it to be.... I'm just warning ya that I'm bigger than you.... But if you wanna start something.....'.

Another example of someone being a jackass within the contexts of social sports. It's just not cricket. I hate that they won. His reaction woulda been precioius if they'd lost.