Balancing

FACEBOOK

I have been prioritising Facebook over Blogger for a few days - I feel disloyal. Blogger has been good to me over the last year.... other than the fact that inserting pictures tends to bugger up my paragraphing (which, as an English teacher, I am very fussy about).

Facebook seems to only really encourage brief interactions. I've been perusing people's 'walls' and there are a few comments - most of which are from months ago. People find each other and say, 'Hey - good to hear from you - what are you up to?'..... and then disappear again.

The only communication I have generated on the whole has been from posting unflattering photos of other people. I feel a backlash coming up....... It really isn't intentional - I'm just egocentric and only look at myself ........ you bystanders are insignificant :) Oh, and I think you ALWAYS look fantastic......

* * *

POET TRY

I came up with an idea for a junior poetry activity late last night (while in bed and half-asleep) and tried it out today..... and it went really well!

One student wrote about 'my head overflowing/thoughts sinking down/as I try to pull them to the surface' and another one describled writer's block as 'purple/cut off circulation of ideas' and another described her exercise book as a 'paper-stage' and another girl has a teacher harrassing her to let her see her poem but she tries to explain 'It's written down/inside my head'.

Step 1

Write for two minutes on the topic I am about to tell you. It is a race and we are going to count how many words you come up with, in full sentences. The topic is - LOVE! GO!

Note: Everyone is trying to beat Ruby because we've done this activity before as a brainstorming stage and she always seems to win. Amanda's competitive streak comes out (she is a rep soccer player) and it's a two-horse race....

Step 2

Ok - I tricked you. Love is totally irrelevant to what we are going to write the poem about. All we did that for was to go through the process of trying to get ideas and then put them on paper under pressure.

Answer the following qustions

1 - Describe what the process of getting ideas written down is like for you [feelings and adjectives].

eg - I have too many ideas in my head - hard to pick one. I was blank - nothing came to mind. Writing is hard for me - I see an idea in my head, but it doesn't come out the same. I can write lots - but it doesn't make sense - it's all ramble.

2 - If that activity was a running race, describe what your 'performance' was like compared to the rest of the class [extended metaphor].

eg - I stumbled at the starting blocks. I raced ahead but ran out of puff, words failing me and my pen stopping. I wrote steadily, in the middle of the pack.

3 - Can you think of words to do with water that you can use in relation to your writing process? [extended metaphor]

eg - They flow through my head. They drip onto the page slowly through my pen. They freeze in my head and then melt slowly onto the page. They are dammed up - but suddenly break free like a waterfall. They trickle. They swell up like a wave then crash down on the page.

4 - Look at your paper. Describe what the actual writing you just did looks like [visual details]. Can you give it a personality? [personification]

eg - My words are scruffy and crooked. The writing looks like it's been shot and smattered across the page. It stands in tidy rows. It flows and curls.

5 - Look at your pen and your hand when you are writing. Describe what the pen is like, how it writes, what your hands does when you write (or stop writing) [visual details and interesting verbs].

eg - My hand waves back at me from the page. My pen is thick and inky and writes fat lines. My pencil is blunt and drags across the page. My hand stands frozen. The pen dances across the paper.

6 - Think of as many words or images as you can to do with the idea of BEING STUCK [diction, building up an idea].

eg - In cement. Crammed. Blank. Frozen. Still. Empty. Quiet.

7 - Think of as many words or images as you can to do with the idea of HAVING A JUMBLE OF IDEAS [diction, similes].

eg - It's like a maze of ideas. A gumball machine filled to bursting. Overflowing. Scattered. Vines. Tangle.

STEP 3

Write a poem about what it's like trying to write something on paper.

Eg

My Reluctant Poem by The Teacher

Thoughts grip and stick inside
Refusing to slide easily down
As I grapple for ideas.

Moments ago they frollicked freely
But now they freeze in fear

Of being trapped in the paper-cell.

I push and prod some into lines.
They surrender and plop darkly
Into smudgy pudgy splashes
Black-inky cross-armed
Scowling from the page
They bruised along the way.

The more they stare
The more I muddle.
Ideas scamper to corners
For fear they'll be pluckednext
And letters criss-cross quickly
Before I chain them into words.

The piteous few who didn't escape
Feel naked and fragile to prying-eyes
Of teachers and students
And me.

My jersy-sleeve covers them inshame
And only the towering t's and f's
Peek wearily from frayed
edges.

They hate what they have become.

An awkward-gawky, ug-lumbering

Poem.

Me and the Age of Technological Networking

I have again joined the bandwagon on another internet thing. I am what we, the Marketing Majors of the world, call a 'late adapter'. I wait until other people have tried stuff out (to see if it's gonna last, wait til the bugs are sorted out and it comes down in price) and then I give it a go.

I was a late-comer to MSN, relatively late-comer to Blogging (by Morgan and Svend time-lines anyhow - I joined in the Sam's-friend-wave of 2006) and now I am officially in Facebook.

I'm not entirely sure what the benefits of it are, above and beyond those already offered in oldfriends or blogging or myspace..... but I am sure there are some. I don't quite understand why you would want to 'poke' someone yet.

The big news is that I have 13 friends! That's a dinner party, baby. I can leave it at that and now pretend that I'm not really trying, you know.... Who cares about popularity...... Besides which, they're a good looking bunch of people - they reflect well on me. Start adding the riff-raff and my coolness stakes might go down.

I have added four friends from high-school, three ex flatmates and four fellow-teachers.... and Morgan and Kirsten. There's a Christmas song in there somewhere. I have little hope of adding any relatives - they are mostly older or younger (none in that 20-something demographic that I am still proudly a part of). And I don't know if it would be prudent adding too many work people.... the two I know who have it are fairly religious and may frown somewhat on my drunken ways in some of the photos/videos (they already give me 'the look' when asking how my love-life is at the moment, at the ready for sympathy or glee at good gossip).

I liked the idea that you could give people 'gifts' (not the actual gifts - that's lame - they're just icon thingies - but you could at least put interesting comments with them). But now I find out that after the first one you actually have to PAY to send them. I'm not that desperate for approval from my 'Friends' (even if they are super-cool Internet-land friends). That's just odd.

I like the idea of easily sharing and storing photos. And then I realised that the time I seem to most like taking photos is when I'm drunk. It seems a challenge to try and take a photo where I don't actually LOOK drunk...... A challenge which lasts a long time............ Again, not sure if that's the best image to be portraying for colleagues and old school friends (many of whom are also, for the record, fairly religious).

So we shall see.

I don't know if I have enough computer-time in me to maintain TWO regular sites. Updating my blog takes enough effort as it is. Trying to keep up with Facebook goings-on on top of that may mean that I have to cut back on real life activities like netball and supermarket shopping. It's a choice I'll have to make at some stage.

It is certainly an EXCELLENT tool for stalking. I looked up a guy I had a crush on at high-school. Got to find out what his job is now and what his new wife looks like..... He's actually quite good looking still - which I initially thought was a good thing, testament to my good taste, but then Reidun pointed out that it's actually much preferable to be able to look down on him and say, 'Hmmmph - you woulda been LUCKY to have me. You hear me, LUCKY!'

For now this is all I shall say - ADD ME TO YOUR FRIENDS LIST IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY!

Last night was Ed's 30th birthday dinner at Tulsi. Me and Ange got there ridiculously early but insisted on going down to the table all on our lonesome.

We were in the middle of taking some self-portraits of us sitting at the table for 20 by ourselves when some more guests arrived.

Ed got there eventually. Fashionably late to his own birthday.

As usual, we gravitated to Ryan and quizzed him about what he's eating at the moment and when his next body building thing is. There was much unwanted physical contact from him, but it's our 'special thing'.

Dunc and Jerry (the famous duo from down in Dunners) were there and sang a stirring rendition of Desperado for Ed. Brought a tear to the eye.

@#$(*@#$*&#@$

WARNING: This is a basketball thing, won't make sense to many. Just wanted to vent a little so I can get it out of my system.

Ugh. Just reffed a yucky game. To be fair, I am not the super-duperest coach in the world..... but I'm not crap. I am competent.

But any time you ref basketball the hardest thing to call is the fouls, because to an extent it's a bit subjective. A little bit of contact is allowed, but you have to draw where the line is .... and you have to do it almost instantaneously - not time for reflection.

And I'm a bit slow at that! So, I generally don't call as many fouls as I could, and if you run into the right combination of teams they can start getting a bit tetchy and overly physical with each other as the game goes on....

The young girl I was reffing with wasn't too bad - but she made one strange call that our coach disagreed with (and I did too, actually). One of our girls went to block a shot, the shot went in but on the follow-through she hit the player's arm. The ref called that the basket counted but the foul was after the shot so they got the ball at the side. I said to her that I'd give a free-throw because the foul was committed in the act of shooting, but she insisted it was AFTER the shot had been released .... and she was a young girl and I didn't wanna over-rule a call so I said, 'Ok then - your call.' But I think after that our coach was on the war-path a bit, being very difficult.

The first half was fine. Then in the third quarter it got yucky. The coach from our team, and his son, were yelling at us refs from the sideline..... the girls were getting called for fouls and then bitching about it, and giving each other little pushes.

The coach's daughter got called for two offensive fouls by the other ref (which I thought was fair enough - she was putting the shoulder in out of frustration) and she got very aggro. A few plays later she pushed a girl over and for a few seconds all hell broke lose (ok - slight exaggeration - but we're talking about a team that in the past I have called my Mini UN because they're so cute and lovely).

Two girls from the other team (a private girls' college, would you believe) came running over to confront her..... I actually had to pull them apart and blow my whistle lots!

I had one of those 'Hmmmmm..... so much just happened in a few seconds that I can't quite figure out what to do....' moments....... So I just recommended to the coach that he take his daughter out because she was losing her cool and gave the ball to the other team.

After that we called every bloody foul we could lay our eyes on and both teams got in the penalty pretty quick.

But it was ugly basketball.

I don't think the coach from our school likes me much now :( Oopsy daisy. Couldn't wait for the game to end. I don't think anyone was enjoying it by then.

I just hate it when sport's not played in good spirits. And I hate when I feel like it's party my fault for not controlling the game properly. And I hate when I feel a bit off-side with people from my own school. It's not a positive way to spend a Friday night.

Growing Up

Today I had to get new tyres for my car. That is a first for me. I had to go out and write down the details on the side of my wheel and then tell the guy on the phone.

Apparently my wheels were quite out of alignment. The guy reckoned that when the lady drove into the side of my car it might've moved the chassey (?) a bit. Bloody mean lying lady! I had just gotten used to having to correct my direction frequently (like one of those people drive a car in front of blue-screen in an old movie, turning the wheel willy-nilly either way, without looking at the road).

It was fairly painless.

Now I just have to figure out how to get the bloody new bulb into the headlight thingie on my car and I'll be able to pass my warrant!

* * *

'My Kid Could Paint That' (film fest doco) was great.

In the morning I went with two of my best and brightest students to a lecture by the director at the American Embassy. We had to walk through metal detectors and hand in our cell-phones and pass our bags under a scanner. Very serious stuff.

One of the kids has a wallet with Communist symbols on it.... she realised this just as she was getting it out to produce photo-ID.... Oops. She hid it in the palm of her hand. Bless those angsty liberal teenagers and their political statements.......

The talk was very good. It was this American guy, possibly of Turkish descent (Amir Something), who was quite pleasant looking and olive-skinned, wearing traveller's clothes. A bit short for me (plus he was holding hands with a girl at the screening that night).

He told a good story and explained things nicely. It was a perfect documentary to talk about with Media Studies students - all about the ethics of making a film about people you have gotten to know, and how he was conscious that how he framed 'the truth' in his film would affect them hugely. It was very reflective on the whole construction-of-truth process, the film, because the main issue is that we don't really know if the kid was really do the art unaided or not. There are elements of doubt both ways.

I went to the film that night with Reidun, who has an art degree, and he spoke afterwards, holding the audience's attention for a good hour or so until he waved us all good-bye. It was interesting talking with Reidun about what constitutes 'art' and where the value comes from and what modern art is (etc) because she has sold abstract art for decent money and has her own views and what she wants people to get out of her pieces.

We ate Tangy Fruits.

THE POWER

OF THE EX

I was trying to think of something to write about (other than infected toes and dead fish and knitting and Harry Potter - which perhaps aren't the most gripping of topics!) and the first thing that came to mind is the extent to which several people I know's lives have been affected by exes lately.

One of them came home from The Warehouse and was visibly shaken from seeing the new partner of an ex shopping for homeware, which brought about fears that The Ex had moved nearby. She kept only getting half-views of the woman and had to stalk her through several aisles before confirmation was possible (somewhere in Manchester, I believe).

Another couple of friends are on that horrible puppet-like string where they can only unconvincingly say, 'Yeah - I'm better off without him/her'... but then a few minutes later they can admit the truth (with a sigh). Horrible place to be in! That place where you logically 'know' it's over, but there's still that little hopeful part of you..... which needs to be STAMPED ON AND EXTINGUISHED. The little part that, any time you get a message on your phone, still hopes it's them.

This is further evidence that the best way to break up is The Sticky Plaster method, where you do it in one fell swoop (sure, it hurts at the time) and then it's OVER. You cut all contact for a while, wallow in misery, but eventually get over it. As long as the ex is still in your life in some way, still making contact, it's bloody hard to forget about them!

I recently saw an ex after six months or so, and it wasn't too painful. Ok, so I had that brief feeling of, 'Oh yeah...... I remember why I liked you,' and feeling nostalgic about the good stuff..... but it was reasonably quickly followed by the remembering of the OTHER stuff. The stuff that made it a good idea to break-up. Anyhow, now I can happily run into him on the street and not have to quickly duck down a side alley to avoid contact (it's been done!). The potential for awkwardness has been conquered.

Anyhow.... all you smug* coupley people out there, take a second and stop and feel sympathy for the Plight of the Singles (the angst and melancholy, the highs and the lows....) and thank the lord that you are no longer one of us. I tell ya, it can be emotionally exhausting!

* * *

I have finally waxed my legs. It's been weeks, possibly even months, since I did that last. With no basketball and not much boy-contact there's just been no motivation. It has severely limited my work wardrobe (no footless stockings or 3/4 length pants or skirts without stockings) and I have worn long pants to netball for a while now.......

I am a woman again!

* * *

I am going to a lecture by one of the directors in the Film Festival (the one about a child art prodigy) with a few students. It is at the American Embassy and I have to take photo ID. Exciting! I have often gone past that high-walled, heavily guarded compound and wanted to sneak in...... While I don't actually have to sneak, I'm still going to hold onto that mind-set of being somewhere I shouldn't. It'll be like I'm James Bond, on a special mission.

I may challenge my students to

1) Find evidence that Bush is linked to some September 11 conspiracy

2) Take as many free things as possible

* * *

*ok, so most of you aren't 'smug' - but it helps us to feel better about our side of the fence to imagine you are.

I hope Reidun was house-sitting last night. I decided to have a marking-break at 10pm and play my guitar and sing along really loud. I had the house alllll to myself (I'm fairly certain).

TA DA! IT'S FINISHED!

I took my wee Mazda in to get vehicle-tested. I knew it would fail because it's got a headlight that needs a new bulb (I have bought the bulb but can't for the life of me figure out how to get it in there!). But figured I had a free afternoon so would see what the damage was all up.

I have to get a new tyre as well - and the guy said I might as well get both front ones 'cause the other one's not far behind. And get the alignment checked 'cuase he reckons it's a bit off.

Ah well! I was expected that and was surprisingly chipper afterwards. He didn't say anything about the brakes or tow-bar sized hole in the side.

* * *

I thought posting a picture of my buoyent dead fish wasn't bad enough.... so here's a photo of my still-infected toe! Close up! I purposefully left the flaking skin on there, for effect. I like how there's a line where the infection stops very suddenly, and the peeling stops as well. I like to poke the red bit and say, 'Sore!' and then poke the not-red bit next door and say, 'Not sore!' It's a fun game.

Two Things Happened Today.

I entered the Harry Potter craze by joining the queue and buying my first ever book in the series. The queue stretched out of Borders and down the road a bit. The English teacher in me smiled at the thought of people lining up to buy a book.

Me and Marty then formed a two-person book-club for the afternoon and ate, drank coffee and read in near silence. Every now and then I'd break it with my ignorant questions like, 'So is Malfoy a bad guy?' and 'What's The Burrow?' but he was very wise and sagelike and knew the answers to everything.

I am up to page 99 and will continue reading now.

* * *

Penfold was discovered dead. He used the be the black fish, but has discoloured somewhat with his sudden illness. Ange claims he starved to death. I claim the other fish just kept beating him to the food. The other fish is swimming happily about his dead body. Long live Motley!

Woohoo!

The Senior B lost by only 9 points tonight! 26-35. That beats losing by fifty points most weeks..... They way we were all congratulating them afterwards you'd think they'd won it :)

I may have been the only ref, and I may have let a few steppy-fouly things go by.... But still! You can't ref the ball into the hoop - they did that on their own. I was dressed differently from in the photo (that was earlier this week when I was relieving for a PE class - I make my students photograph me most lessons, for my archive....). I struggled tonight with my whistle. I bought a cheap one from Rebel sport .... but it came without a strap. So every time I blew the whistle and then opened my mouth to explain what the call was, the whistle would drop down onto the floor ....... By the second half I got the hang of it and kept hold of it in my hand.......

That's the third night in a row I've stayed late at school - Wednesday was a Senior A basketball game unitl 6.30pm, last night was parent interviews til 7pm, tonight was Senior B basketball til 7.30pm. And now I am very very tired from a full week back at school and will go and have a cup of tea and knit to calm my nerves. If you had to teach my form class three days in a row you'd need a cup of tea too.....

* * *

Many people are excited about Harry Potter coming out tomorrow! I am going to go down with Reidun and buy a copy - it will be my first ever book in the series. I figure I ought to get on the band-wagon before it's too late.

Might give this whole 'reading' lark another try........ I am, after all, a teacher of the English.

Answers

Some of my clues were brilliant! They had triple meanings. You may have overlooked them (or not read them in the first place). I shall take the time to explain them.

1. The clue refers to the iconic White Sweater which was ceremoniously released back into nature when Morgan got his new Brown Sweater.

2. The arrogance of the writer means this one could only be ME. Also obvious Gollum reference.

3. The only man on the list with the eye for style necessasry to carry off cufflinks is obviously Damon.

4. This shot is of the 'best' man at Sam's wedding giving their speech - Richardo.

5. My flame haired friend, Angela. A lock of it is visible in the shot.

6. Fish would do that! Especially at her hen's night.

7. Sam's wedding ring is visible. Also steady hands are required for most of his areas of expertise - lab work, model planes, photography and goal shooting.

8. Svend has a 'd' on the end - though it's silent. It is often missed off.

9. Cassie was the one who did the bidding on the CASH BATTLE quiz show. She also bids for a lot of wedding bargains on Trade Me.

10. James - always played D in netball.

11. Holly is fair haired, feminine and will be seeing London Bridge any day now (hopefully not burning down).

12. That Jewel lyric was from a song called 'Fade Away'. Jon always shoots fade-aways. He also offers to fill in a lot (hence his hand is up, volunteering).

13. Simon.... We just used to tease him a lot about being slim and elegant. Like a giiiirl.

14. Who would say that quote? Robin. Who do we know who will answer to the name Robin? Ed! Also apparently has 'batmanlike qualities' according to his ratemyteacher comments.

15. Erm. Mike - I thought having him in a suit would put people off. He never dresses like that really! The word 'estimate' was a cheesy reference to his teaching maths..... and his love of puns.

16. Rebecca the blonde brazen proud Cantabrian.

17. Ryan - always takes a protein bar with him. Even to a restaurant, due to the body building regime.

18. Sam R - PE Teacher who refuses to play late netball games at 9.40pm.

19. 'Suits him' brings attention to the lovely blue-checked suit (as does his 'checkered' past). This is a memorablye outfit of Ken's. 3rd base is a reference to 'three quarters' which some of us will understand.... others won't.

20. Kirsten doens't look short here! Also her surname links into the movie title 'Come Home, Lassie!'

21. Nicky was the crazy budgie lady.

My Poor Country

National continues to sweep in chilling changes. Word on the street is that the consultation being done is lip-service - purely conducted so that when the make the inevitable change they can smugly say there was proper process. It seems futile to resist.

The privatisation of prisons is a scary prospect. If the bottom line is making a profit and cutting costs, some of the most vulnerable people in society will be royally screwed. I'm not condoning people who break the law, but I think they shouldn't live in scummy, heartless conditions (probably factors that lead to them being there in the first place). We shouldn't be a vindictive society. There are aspects of society that shouldn't have budgets as their primary concerns. I'm sure things like opening up education possibilities for inmates will be quickly chopped and parole will be given much more keenly to get 'em out and free up beds.

I'm sure there have been sci-fi movies that explored the idea of privatising prisons - and it wasn't a good thing. It'll be the police force, hospitals and education next. Roll on the changes, National.

There was an article about it on Stuff, from the NZPA. I like how the 'little people' were essentially laughed at. You can hear the frustration in what they're saying. They know whatever they say, it won't be properly considered - it's a done deal. I kinda admire them for calling a spade a spade and getting in a few insults. I think in cases like this the media could take a more pro-active stance.

I have heard legal aide is next on the chopping board and they're in the midst of 'consultation'.

This scares me. When did NZ turn into this capitalist mecca?

I studied Economics at university and saw the God that is 'The Market' and how everything will solve itself, given time and a free market economy. There was very little mention of 'at what cost?'. I think I took one Econ paper that considered public policy, marginal utility and altruism in a way that I could see how Economics could be 'nice' - but it really requires consideration for the 'little people' by the policy makers and 'big people'.

When I took a Media Studies paper that required me to write an essay suggesting alternatives for how the country could be run it was mind-blowing. It is so ingrained in our psyches that capitalism is good. Money is the most important thing. Efficiency. It had never really occured to me that there could be anything else. I think I studied how you could be ecologically-centred as a government. At first I thought it was kinda crazy hippy talk, but then I realised.... why couldn't you be?

Anyhow. Scary. It's hard to believe they haven't actually be in power all that long. Labour seems a long time ago already.

A GAME FOR YOU ALL!

GUESS WHOSE HANDS THESE ARE!

I have The Gollums. I like hands. Here are the hands of lots of my friends (possibly yours!). Get your pen and paper ready and play along!

Round One - pictures 1-9

All of these people have blogs and are links from my page. They include - Fish, Sam, Cassie, Ange, Morgan, Kate, Richard, Svend, Damon

1 (below)

Two (below)3 (below)45

6

7 8

9

Round 2 Pictures 11 - 21

The below hands are not bloggers, but are well known to a lot of you. They include -

Nicky (ex flattie and fellow teacher)

Rebecca (same as above)

James (from netball)

Girl Sam (from netball)

Ken (from the posse and netball)

Mike (from my staff)

Ed (of posse fame)

Ryan (Ed's body building flattie)

Jon (of netball fame and from Hutt posse)

Kirsten (the little one)

Holly (Ken's woman, Sam's co-worker)

Simon (ex flatmate from Hanson St)

10 (below)

11

12

13

14

15
16

17

18 19

20

21

The scarf progresses. It reminds me of the cover of that Boy in the Striped Pjamas book.

* * *

Me and Reidun have sprinklings of an idea to join a gym. I've always resisted that movement for various reasons. But for the first time I'm thinkin' why not give it a go. It'd be fun going to one with someone else, anyhow. I'm a team player - and if I have someone else I'd be letting down by not going I think think that'll keep me on track more.

Plus one of the things my ex-boyfriend used to hassle me about was that he thought I'd make up my mind about something, and be unmovable after that (stubborn and righteously opinionated, some would say). For example, I've in the past made up my mind about not wanting to go to the gym (without really having experienced it myself) and that was that. I think he was referring more to the idea that I never really clicked with his friends and he figured I'd given up trying after the first couple of times.

There's perhaps some truth in that - though I was trying to connect with them; my shy side just kept taking over (even after I'd given myself pep talks beforehand and plied myself with the liquor - perhaps too much). There are other exes where I liked their friends better than them. She's a hard road finding the perfect man.

So anyhow - why not do something out of character? I'm quite good at taking constructive criticism and working on it (sometimes). So I'm gonna give something a go that I had previously had an aversion to. Previous relationships can be good learning tools.

Besides which, having inadvertently ended up not playing basketball I have been living a much more sedentary lifestyle than I should. I need more exercise and I HATE HATE HATE going outside in the cold and wind and rain. So I nice warm indoor gym has its appeal.....

We shall see. It is not yet written in stone.... but this is certainly the first time I've shown a genuine interest in the idea.

Perhaps what it is really a sign of is that I'm turning thirty this year. Argh! The only consolation will be if I actually look better than I did when I was 25. I haven't set the bar too high, luckily :)

* * *

I went out to Eastborne with Ange and her flatmate, Marty today. It was delightful. Ange has long told fanciful and exaggerated stories about a mystical pub out there with giant jenga* and yummy pizzas. Turns out the stories were true!

Also turns out (not surprisingly) that I am the GIANT JENGA QUEEN OF THE WORLD and everybody else crumbles under the pressure I create. Marty and Ange lost three games each - I lost none. NONE! Undefeated. Steady-handed perfection.

Ange had an aggressive style and perfected a move she called 'The Tablecloth' where you tap a block out a tiny ways and then just whip it out in one motion. It was surprisingly successful, especially in the latter games where we included the rule that you had to take out the first piece you touched (like chess). Marty used a combination of methods and was a worthy adversary but again, not good enough.

The challenge has been laid. All-comers welcome.

* The pieces were not as giant as we had envisioned. We pictured them almost reaching the ceiling, and having to stand on a step-ladder to place our pieces on top..... The tallest tower we made probably came just above my waist.......... Still. Relatively giant.

Yang.

To balance out having drunken a bit last night (Friday), tonight I stayed in watching chick-flick DVDs with Reidun and knitting.

I may have done that thing I do when I drink the alcohol where I point vigorously at people's faces with my Gollums and send inappropriate texts. Sam's take on my drunken state was that I get sillier and stubborn. It could be worse. The words 'mildly obnoxious' were not uttered (he may have been holding back). That would make a good blog entry, Sam - list our drunken personas and see if people can mix-and-match the blogger to the drunken persona. I love a good mix-and-match activity!

I have faith that all the free-agent netballers will come crawling back to be a part of Team Kate (Inc). I let you drink water and have subs (if the budget allows it). You don't know how lucky you are! I may add a surcharge to the weekly price in reaction to your strike-threats. I'd say $15 a game for the pleasure of playing in Team Kate (Inc) would be reasonable and generous.....

* * *

Ask Ange how the looming is going. She's been looming a lot.

* * *

In my dedication to knitting, I was working on my scarf in several public places this week - on the bus, in a doctor's waiting-room and during the previews at Harry Potter. Why waste time thinking and observing when you can be adding another stripe to the scarf? Idle hands are the devil's playthings, I always say. I'm up to 58 stripes now. It shall be completed soon-ish.

And then I will remember that my chin is slightly allergic to real-wool products and every time I wear my new scarf I will get eczema *.... and thus will stop wearing it. Then it will get dusty from un-use, and will give me dust-allergies any time I try to wear it again (eczema be damned!).

* Is that how you spell 'eczema'? It's the best solution spell-check had for me.

I have good self awareness.

Fashion and beauty come with a price. Discomfort and irritation and pain are no strangers to me in the quest for aesthetic perfection..... and besides, it is the therapeutic act of knitting the scarf that gives the most pleasure, not the wearing of it. The journey, if you like, rather than the destination.

I was talking with Ange about how knitting and crafty stuff are no longer economically cheaper than buying things ready-made and thus have become luxury activities - quite the opposite of what they were in our parents' days. We both used to wear home-made clothes around and it was a treat when we got a store-bought item to as a treat.

I had little dresses and pinafores Mum had made and dungarees and shirts with domes.... I used to love that little tool that puts domes on things. I'd squish my fingers in it between the rubbery parts. Actually, I have no idea if that's what it was actually for - that's always what I imagined its purpose to be, though.

I am certainly the first generation of women in my family to lose the skills of making things. Not sure if that's because my personality type just wasn't interested in learning them - I'm sure Mum would've loved teaching me to sew or knit or preserve things - or if there just wasn't as much time for that kinda thing, once Mum was back at work and things were cheaper at Dowsett's anyhow. I feel somewhat inferior to those previous generations.

I'm trying to think what skills I have that they didn't...... Certainly not cooking either. I guess I'm much more computer savy than they ...... What a poor trade-off. I need to work on developing my time-honoured skills to pass down to future generations...... Blogging and Photoshopping pictures just isn't as magical.

TRACEY is NOW BLOGFAMOUS and Target - 20 stripes by nightfall

I'm not sure if she's ever actually ready it - but Tracey was dead keen to get her face plastered on my blog. And so she should be! I have a readership of about 10 people - and they're all very discerning. She can now be stalked as well. She was one of the more popular girls in our year group, having a many a young Levinian boy having crushes on her due to that girl-next-door charm that netball-rep physique.

This is me (left) and my school friend Trace the Ace (right). She has always been short compared to me. Nothing has changed. She is almost a Major in the army. I like to think of myself as a Major in the class-room. I'm sure we both have to put on our bossy sides every now and then.... I just don't get to use a gun......

Obviously she went to school with Ange too, and Sarah (for those who remember her). Together those three friends formed a tria-corners of the Horowhenua. Ange represented Shannon, Sarah was from Koputaroa (sp?) and Trace from Ohau. I hung with the country kids! I myself was what we call a 'townie'. Born and bred in the hustling hub-bub of the township, not having to take a bus to get to school (it was a ten minute walk) and easily able to bike to school on those days where a cycle was required for PE.

Note that I had to crop the photo because I had my thigh protruding at juuust the right angle for it to take up half the shot. Quite a masterful pose, if I was hoping to form the 'before' picture of a thigh-master ad. Best kept off-line.

* * *

I am afraid Tracey does not warrant her own blog entry. She must share it with my scarf.

This is the progress on my scarf as of this afternoon. I have since added a couple more stripes. Should reach my target at approximately 1945hours. See, I'm using army speak - just like Tracey would.

It'll be about 40% finished at that stage. Excellent progress! I'm hoping to finish it by Friday so that I can get Lynne to cast off for me (is that what you call finishing your knitting - not sure on the terminology).

In The LVN

I had a wee trip home* this weekend. It was nice to catch up with the elders. They have a fire place. In honour of my visit they served pudding**. Lynne put the electric blanket on for me. Libby the dog is looking trim but Phoenix the cat is very very fat.

The reasons I went home were

1. Dad's Birthday

It was my father's birthday. I bought him an MP3 player. He got in the spirit of things and carefully chose all the music he wanted on it - it was a nice wee trip down memory lane for him. He even tried to be hip and put a Violent Femmes number on there. And he played along as I tried to teach him what buttons did what (to be honest it's not the most user-friendly of players, but what can you expect for $50). I had spent a good hour fiddling with it beforehand, figuring out what could go wrong and how to fix it.

We ended up with the following folders of songs

- The Beatles

- Kinks and Stones

- Bob Dylan

- Alanis Morisette

- Dave Brubeck Quartet

- Cat Stevens

- Simon and Garfunkel (and Paul Simon solo hits)

- Singles (a variety of things from The Cranberries to Robert Palmer)

Time will tell if he utilises the technology. The ear-plug thingie kept falling out of his ear and he has big stubby fingers that don't like pressing small buttons. But he sure does like music. And he walks to work most days. Walking and listening to music is good.

Anyhow, Lynne said he set off to work this morning with his walking stick and MP3 player - hip, just like the kids!

2. Cleaning out the Garage

It was ideal weather for this - icy and rainy. My fingers would go numb after ten minutes of sorting through boxes. I would have to go back inside and warm them by the fire. Evidently nobody in the Judge household owns a pair of gloves. Too bad! My little finger was honestly without feeling for a good hour after I quit and went into town to forage for food. I had to keep sucking on it. Must have looked odd. But I was only in Levin.... looking odd is par for the course.

I threw out lots of stuff. Crappy mugs and bowls from my student flatting days and old business studies text books I will never ever have a need for again were the big losers. I kept a bagful of stuff for me, including a toastie-pie maker. I then got to the box with dolls' clothes that my mum and grandma had hand-made..... none of those could go! I gave up at that point and put it off for another day. A small dent was made.

On my visit into town I made the obligatory pilgrimage to the GIANT MARKET GARDENER. He was looking good. I don't know if it's new, or if I'm just unobservant, but they have this lovely kinda Celtic looking swirly iron pattern on the top of the little fence that surrounds him. It's befitting of a giant icon.

* * *

In other news, I have started my arts-and-crafts project for the holidays. I am knitting another scarf. I knitted one before - in my first year of teaching. So that's...... a long time ago. Five years? It was huge. If I had charged $10 per hour for my labour, it would have cost over $300, I calculated. That's an expensive scarf.

I started off knitting very slowly. I am now much faster and more nimble.

This one is going to be shorter and thinner and thus quicker to make. It is blue and cream striped. Kinda the blue of the Finnish flag. A lovely blue. I'd forgotten how nice it is to knit. It's totally mindless (when you're only knitting a scarf with the easiest stitch available, anyhow) and slightly addictive. Much like Solitaire on the computer, but you have something to show for it at the end!

I would take a photo of my progress, but my camera is shite and refuses to co-operate.

* * *

My fish are still alive. The water has not frozen them yet. I have not fed them in days. They are being trained SAS style to survive in any condition. I don't want sissy fish. The motley one seems to be coping best and is fairly lively. The black one is too fat. I will starve him some more.

I think their names are going to be Motley and Penfold.

* * *

*LVN people are slightly mongrel looking. I don't know what it is..... It actually does look like some inbreeding is going on up there. But it's my home, damnit.

* * It was an apricot danish thing with custard. It was good. Lynne didn't eat any because she has a strange stomach disorder at the moment and sweet things make her bloat painfully, along with many non-sweet things. It is sucky beyond description.

WE ARE THE SING STARS!

Cassie had a knack for striking a pose at the right moment (sometimes at the expense of her score). It's amazing how you can actually tell from a still photo what a terrible dancer I am..... It translates into 2-D well.

Last night was SING STAR (TM) night in the Hutt. Yeah, baby! That's my idea of a Friday night of fun (seriously).

We had a wee pot-luck dinner at Cass and Ant's (they are sans mother at the moment, so have the run of the joint and can have candle-lit meals without Joan interrupting and wanting them to do the dishes or pass the salt). Ange brought the nibbles, I almost made a salad (I brought the ingredients and let Ant put them together a la 'Ready Steady Cook') and Ant made a rice risotto.

Very nice!

Then the main attraction began. I got out the Canadian Club and ginger ale and me and Cass limbered up our vocal chords. As the night progressed, any time our voices got a bit croaky we took another swig of the whiskey - that's what the professional rock stars do, I hear.

We are truly stars (no matter what the stupid programme says). It's all attitude - and we have plenty of that. We found our signature song - Shannon Knolls' version of 'It isn't Fair' (that may or may not be the real title of it). It has lovely soft bits, a great story and then really really LOUD bits we can yell out at the top of our lungs. Ideal! We sang that lots of times.

We discovered that rap is bloody hard to do and Dolly Parton's 9-to-5 is also very hard to keep up with. How does she do it?

Today I did some more shopping - had to get a wee present for Kirsten's 30th and my dad's birthday. I finally got my dad a cheap 1gig MP3 player. I will put lots of songs on it for him, because he's not technologically blessed and will probably never get around to doing that for himself. In theory it will be handy because he walks to work most days. In practicality he will probably barely use it - but the thought's there. He can give it back to me and I'll use it myself if he doesn't like it :) It's also got an FM radio and can record voices too. Multi purpose!

My impulse buys included a badge (that perfectly matches the sweater I am wearing in below pictures), a bracelet ($12 bargain) and a pair of stockings with birds on them, further progressing my strange penchant for clothes with birds on them. I could do a whole outfit now (no kidding - stockings, skirt, top, earrings). And an Elliott Smith CD - double CD for $35. I've always liked the kid. Ever since the Good Will Hunting sound-track. And now he's dead.

Notice how the Gollums help emote the song and how very shiny and healthy my newly cut hair is :)

Angela refused to sing and become instead our specialist photographer, including herself artily in some of the shots.

Two Widdle Fishies

The only photo I could muster before running out of batteries. Little motley one loves the camera but black one is a bit shy. The bowl is a tad small.... but the only one I could find. I tried putting the castle toy in that we used to have in the old bowl, and it took up half the bowl... Not good. Must downsize my toys.

Quiz

We can a rather uncreditable fourth place out of ten. Largely due to an abyssmal 2/10 on the geography round and a couple of other 6/10 rounds to boot. Shame shame! Will have to redeem ourselves some other time.

Justin will now be known as 'The Silver Dagger'.

My intuitive knowledge that Sean Connery is in fact married came into play. As did my ever-useful recollection of the TV show 'Hawaii 5-0' and the fact that it is thus called because Hawaii is the fiftieth state. I'm sure I got some other stuff right..... but I can't recall what it was.

Me and Reidun caused a to-do by sending out coffees back. They were only luke-warm. I tried mine first and commented on that.... You know how you wanna be able to savour a coffee, kinda cradle it in your hands for a while and blow on it..... Well, it was already at the temperature where you'd better drink it before it gets cold.... and hurry up about it. And then Reidun said hers was even colder. They gave us dirty looks and then intentionally fell over themselves to ask if the next one was to our liking. But by golly, it was a darned sight better and I hope they learnt their lesson about serving hot drinks more promptly!

And yet again, our team didn't win any of the spot prizes - I swear it's a conspiracy. I even had some of our entries folded, some not folded (I dunno which ones he goes for more often - so hedged my bets) and I scattered them throughout the pile. I am sick of The Locals always bloody winning something..... They must be stopped! They've even got a menu item named after them. It's just favouratism....

Fish

I bought two fish yesterday. Then I got home and realised I can't recall where my old fish tank is..... So they are living in a bucket for now. It's like a big adventure for them! They are getting to know each other in very close quarters. They will either become the best of friends - or start eating each other. I'll take bets either way.

I got a little Black Moor and a motley one (bubbakanooshkin - or something). I was going to get three but the lady in the pet store seemed to think that would be pet abuse, given the sized bowl I wanted to put them in .... and I didn't want to reveal my true self to a stranger, so I vowed to go to a different shop to get the third fish. Then my social experiment can truly get underway! Who will be top of the tank? Who will slowly starve away into oblivian?

Hmm.... It sounds cruel when I put it like that.

Once they are situated in a tank I will post their photos on here and possible name suggestions can be tendered.

Flog

Yesterday I went off the wagon a bit. Hey - I'm only human...... I started with the pistachio gelato, then had a caramel slice for lunch..... and a few wedges at the pub quiz...... Today I'm back with a vengeance! No more crappy food. NO MORE!

I have yet to address any of my other Temple goals. No exercise since Monday. No hobbies. No books read. Goddamn it! My mind is not a temple yet. The rain is not helping either.

My fingers are cold from typing. That's not good. Must stop now.

Yuck.

I just ate my tub of pistachio gelato. It's been sitting there for nearly a week untouched. It had to go eventually....... And I don't do things by halves, so I had the whole tub.

It was good at the time - but now I feel not so good.

Yesterday was another good FLOG day. I did the tactical trick of eating my dinner for lunch, thus allowing myself a very light dinner (half a pineapple that had been sitting in the fridge and threatening to go the same way all my other half pineapples have gone, and rot into oblivian).

I also got new pillows. The top of the range that The Warehouse has to offer. Then I washed all of my linen - sheets, pillowcases and even duvet cover, and took them down to the drycleaners to dry in their industrial dryers.

What I observed while down at the laundromat with the locals is that none of them know how to bloody close a door! I was sitting right by the door and everybody who came in or out left it open.... and there was a jolly cold breeze. Laundromat people are idiots! Anyhow, it cost me $3 to get everything toasty dry and in the meantime I managed to clean out my handbag so it's now super organised with no loose mints or receipts in the bottom of it.

My new pillows were good. I slept well. And my neck did not hurt. My old ones had got so thin that I was having to make a stack of one and a half pillows, which is hard to do.

* * *

Hi Marty!

* * *

Here's a line from the past that Cassie reminded me of the other day - DON'T WORRY, I'LL PUT OUT YOUR INVISIBLE FLAMES!!!! Haha. That still makes me laugh. That'd be another good name for an indoor netball team - 'The Invisible Flames'.

* * *

I am going to buy gold fish today. Well, no necessarily gold fish - just little fish of some description. I might get three. Then you get to witness some interesting interactions. There's usually one big bully fish, one passive fish who gets eaten and never seems to eat anything, and one kinda independant fish who keeps away from the fracas. The latter is usually MY fish.

* * *

Lots of people haven't blogged in ages - and those that have seem to have all blogged about The Transformers movie.

* * *

What's with all the tornadoes???? I was saying to Reidun last night that if my grandma had to die somehow, that being killed by a tornado would be a pretty good way to go (some granny up north had that happen).... I think I sounded kinda callous.... but I meant it in a good way (if that's possible.....).

I just figure there are boring ways to die (in your sleep), embarrassing ways to go (choking on a sandwich

I got me hair cut.

Me hair is much shorter. There was piles of it on the floor once we'd finished. You coulda made a decent sized wig out of it. I think he took a good 3 inches off. I asked for a sweeping fringe (ok - I asked for something I had to ramble on about to try and describe, he finally figured out that's what I meant) and the hairdresser responded kinda unenthusiastically...... So that might be a mistake - but time will tell! For now I have a slightly sticky-uppy bit on the side (which I purposefully cut out of this shot). It gives me character. But I like it.

My hairdresser is a top guy! He's on the Terrace now and it's still only $65 for a cut and straightening - and the guy is meticulous. He straightens tiny little sections at a time. Oh, and you get a free latte and scalp massage with the orgasmatron!

My hair has that too-clean feeling to it now. It has a bit more bounce and shine than usual. I think I'll like it better tomorrow, once I get a bit of natural oils into it and it sits down a bit (hopefully the sticky uppy bit will settle down).

* * *

Went for lunch with Cassie Bo Bassie. We both did well to resist the many scrumptious but gratuitous goodies that Pandoro's had on display. I went with the soup and roll option and she got a bagel. It was the strongest act of will-power I have displayed to resist the very reasonably priced and attractive almond croisants that were sitting on the counter......

* * *

I got me a Jose Gonzeles CD.

* * *

Don't know what to get Dad for his birthday. All I have thus-far is a jar of gourmet blueberry and

My Foot. Again.

This year I have developed somewhat of a penchant for posting photos of my feet. I had the itchy bite photo, and the swollen foot one as well. Now I have the infected toe. It started on Friday, and the red infection has spread. I am watching with morbid fascination. Ange reckons it could be the flesh-eating virus. I think she could be right. I'll buy some Detol tomorrow.

If I squeeze it - it weeps. Too much information?

* * *

Breakfast at Tiffany's was D-lightful. Me and Cass went in with our cups of coffee and there were a few people dressed in theme. Very civilised! It's a quirky little film. Audrey Hepburn can play barre chords too - I was impressed with her little version of Moon River. The man sitting next to me breathed very loud. At one stage I was cringing at the thought that the woman next to him may have been giving him a hand-job in the dark, as he made odd noises. But, come to think of it, she looked more like she'd be his daughter. I think he just had nasal passage issues.

* * *

I hope my infected toe does not impinge on my shopping abilities tomorrow! My boots are made for walking.... down Lambton Quay, and Cuba Mall............... Many shops to peruse.

* * *

I took advantage of my flatmates not being home to practise my geetar playing. I'm all about the singing-along aspect, rather than trying to play all that well. I'm trying to pick which song I'd use to audition for the ukulele band at school.

And I'm practising for the Sing Star challenge this Friday. I shall dominate! You hear that, Cass and Ange - DOM-IN-ATE!

* * *

Here is what I ate today

Breakfast:

1/2 pack of M&Ms (mixed)

Lunch:

Banana

3/4 pack of salsa flavoured rice crackers and feta dip

Dinner:

Apple

Small tub of Salt and Vinegar Pringles

Latte

Supper:

1/2 share of nachos

Mochachino

Good thing my temple programme didn't start today!

I aim to lose 2kgs these holidays. It's ambitious - but I like a challenge! I'm inspired by Fish and Cass's efforts.

* * *

Thirty is such a yucky word. It just is. It wouldn't be so bad turning thirty if the word sounded more pleasant. It just begs to be kinda spat out with disdain.

Much like the word 'atheist'. It sounds negative. I think it was unfair to make it such an awful sounding word. Sounds evil.

My Body is a Temple

Ange has inspired me to start a healthy regime during the holidays. I will say this in a public forum so I have more accountability. This regime starts tomorrow (because I bought some yummy stuff yesterday that I have to consume today).

1. I will not eat crap. This includes lollies, chocolate, chippies, gratuitous bread products, fries.

2. I will drink more water. I aim for eight glasses a day. I may burst.

3. I will exercise four times this week. That will be difficult as I have accidentally ended up playing for neither of my basketball teams. I will find a way though!

4. I will take up a new hobby project. Something crafty. Possibly a knitting task.

5. I will read a book to exercise my mind.

6. I will go to bed by 11pm every night. That will encourage me to get up earlier to read and knit and exercise.

There! I will feel tops by the end of the week. I will give progress reports as to how I'm doing on all those fronts. Feel free to enquire and put me under a little pressure to perform.....

* * *

I did in fact see Trace the Ace yesterday. It was grand! She has this sense of humour where she takes the piss out of herself all the time - kinda takes away from MY role in the conversation (I like to do that!) but I love hanging out with people who have no pretensions. She arrived in a bright gold car. Very bling - like a rap star. She could BE a rap star. If she had rhythm.....

She gave me some inside info on the SAS documentaries. She knows Fish. Cool. Fish the SAS dude was cool. She doesn't know Fish of the Hutt. Different kettle of fish altogether :)

I took her to Maranui. She said it could just be her favourite new cafe - and that it all rested on the peanut butter cookie she was saving for desert. It was good! So it's now her favourite. She was swayed by the primo window seat I nabbed while we were in the queue. After we finished eating we saw the new queue people eying us up, waiting for any signs of upwards movement so they could swoop on us. Vultures! We just started avoiding eye contact and continued hogging the good table, even though we'd consumed all our food and drink. And there was NOTHING they could do about it, buddy!

We then took posed photos on the timer. She likes doing that too! Actually... what girl DOESN'T like doing that???? I've had many a group of friends who have been into trying to take the 'perfect shot' using the timer. Me, Nicky and Rebecca were pioneers back in 2003, then Ange and Cass took over the mantle. Apparently the army chicks up in Palmie North have been doing a similar thing up there all this time. We both liked the second photo better - slightly side on, much more flattering. I will be posting it once she has photo-shopped it so that she doesn't look THIRTY and emails it to me.

She, like everybody else in the wooorld, is engaged. She got engaged in February and is getting married in December. It's the year for it, I say! My friends Clint and Lu are marrying early next year, as is Cassie.

* * *

I'm going to Breakfast at Tiffany's with Cass tonight at the lighthouse. Jolly good fun! I'm going to wear my Audrey Hepburn jacket and drink something classy.

There is also a Singstar night in the planning. Possibly Friday. At either Cass's or Ange's (they have a GIANT SCREEN and HUGE SPEAKERS). There is talk of it being a theme night - dress as someone from an 80s cartoon.

It won't eventuate.... but we liked the idea of coming as Jem and the Holigrams, or the Misfits (our songs are better!). Or the Scoobie Doo gang.

* * *

I just ate half a pack of giant M&Ms. I ate the other half last night. It is my final chocolate binge before the Temple programme starts tomorrow. I still have a gelato binge to do today. Busy times!