I started reading The God of Small Things yesterday, in the bath. Once I got past the first page or so I really liked it. I read til the water was luke warm.

I kept reading til 2am (in bed now). Outside it was storming with angry wind and rain. I had my window ajar so the blind was puffing in and out and I could feel a tiny bit of rain on my cheek.

I like when a book is that good and the weather is that dramatic.

I wish the wind would stop soon though. At this rate I'll hardly ever get to wear my new billowy summer dress!

Now that I'm 33 year old cougar this is my favourite kind of anecdote...

[Yeah, this is really similar to a previous post but it just proves the trend]

JJ Murphey's waitress: Can I see some ID?
Me: [blank look - I only ordered coffee and corn fritters for lunch]
JJMW: Sorry, we have to ID you to serve you anything on the premesis, if you look under 25.
Me: :)


[I think it's the chubby cheeks - they make me look cherubic and youthful!]

* * *

And these are my favourite songs from my Adele CD.

Tunnel

I was walking home at 2am on Christmas night through the Mt Vic Tunnel. (About four Rosebuds and four Mojitos and a fruit cocktail and a wine.... )

It was so quiet. Probably the whole time I walked through only half a dozen vehicles came (and that's a 6 minute walk or so). I liked it. Oddly peaceful. And I had on my comfy sneakers and my summer dress that swishes as I walk. What is usually the nosiest place in town was the quietest.

I could actually hear noises in there I'd never heard before. Trickling water and a humming noise. I saw a plastic bag floating very American Beauty-esquely down the empty road below.

Three fire engines sped through, no sirens but flashing lights. I wondered where they were going. I suppose it was to the gymnasium fire at Rongotai (as I heard on the radio the next morning).

Today I was walking through again, just after lunch and it was was noisy. I tried singing, really loudly (The Lion Sleeps Tonight, for some reason), and I could barely even hear myself. Kinda liberating singing at the top of your lungs in public without anyone hearing a note of it.

Quite a contrast though. Christmas day is the eeriest time in Wellington city.

It's like the whole populace have had a mass exodus back to their turangawaewae (or at least to the Hutt). Back to their secret home towns that their new urban identities have tried to hide away from public view.... where their labels mean nothing......

* * *

Today is one of those days where I like my friends. Not that I don't always like them, I just had a really nice time with two separate bunches of people. All fairly spontaneously planned. Nice.

>

And I won Trivial Pursuits (with Fishy). The point is that we beat Sam. It is worth noting any time we do that. My knowledge of mid-90s All Blacks trivia was surprising, given I couldn't name more than three players in the team nowadays.

.

My friends are smart. That's the way I like them.

.

Nice to see Charlotte using presents I gave her as a babe. Hungry Caterpillar DVD (and 'Catch the Moon' - cute). I liked that a lot because Roger McGough was the narrator, I think.

.

And a music box thingie that I thought would break after a day or so is still going strong. Woohoo!

.

I tried to explain to her that I'd bought them for her last year, but her 2 year old mind did not comprehend that and she looked at me like I was a crazy person and she snatched them back off me, saying 'Charlotte's!' emphatically.

It's a wrap

Done! A ribbon on every one.

My wrapping theme had nothing to do with Christmas really. More a chance to cut up some Frankie magazines and use the rainbow of ribbons I got at Spotlight the other week. And the screeds of awesome old-school brown paper I've had all year.

My brother's getting a gortex jacket from the Kathmandu clearance sale - don't tell him! He walks in the rain heaps.

And my self-presents (dress, cushion and two necklaces and an Adele CD and a tub of peanut-butter icecream, not pictured). Just what I wanted! The dress has pockets and plenty of belly-room for mass eating.

.

Also pictured are my birthday-pictures (the framing of which were my birthday blow-out last month) - all by Pete the Painter. One of them's the interior of Fidel's and the original used to hang in my living room in its glory days. He left the prints as a gift last time he stayed (he now has a wee baby called Olive). The others are the Asian lady with graffiti and the street-lamp.

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Merry Christmas to me and the family and you (if you're reading and I like you - you know who you are!).

Christmas is nearer

I rehurt my finger at netball tonight :( It had just got almost full movement back. I had to shoot and pass nine fingered for most of the back to back games I played. It's not swelled up again, but it's regressed about an inch back in recovery.

So.... people who have had Instant Kiwi seasons greetings
- Richard
- Michelle (with two wins!)
- Brendan
- Ben and Anna
- Fish and Sam
- Flatmate Geoff

So far Michelle is the only lucky one (with a free $1 scratchie then a $3 win - she's gonna take the money and run). The netball peeps had not scratched when I saw them, so not sure if they won $10,000. Fingers crossed!

I'm getting my dad a book that has the best science writing of 2010. I ran it by him as an idea and he was surprisingly keen. He's also getting Mad Men Season 1. I think his wife would actually like it more than him - but she already has a couple of presents (Nood shopping basket and Adele CD).

And that's all the presents I'm telling (I already told him most of that on the phone, so it's not secret anymore).

Yay to Morgan and Cal and their bubby, Willa.

* * *

I finished reading a book today. Momentous! This one was the 10pm Question. It was high-school reading, but kinda sweet. Spoiler alert....





It's about a guy whose mum has that disorder where you can't leave the house. It made me remember that we were family friends with a woman like that when I was little. She used to come clean our house twice a week, so I didn't really realise. But she'd get really anxious out in town apparently. She had a breakdown in the library once. We used to take her sons to the cricket with us.

* * *

Christmas presents are tricky. I am at the age where I realise the only people who truly like what you give them are kids. Adults are fussy buggers. Other than a couple of CDs I picked right, I don't think my dad and his wife have every particularly used anything I gave them. So I'm gonna still with edibles or experiences for them. Or an Adele CD.

* * *

Me and Michelle are among those who don't have exciting Christmas getaways and are just going to the Hutt for lunch. So we're having grown-up drinks on Christmas night. It gives us an excuse to leave the festivities and blob with cocktails after we've had our family fill :)

* * *

People seem shocked when I say I haven't done my Christmas shopping (going back to that). But I'm a teacher! I still have three full shopping days. And town isn't as busy as people fear on Christmas Eve. I think people all stay home because they think it'll be so crrrraaaazy. And it's actually fairly quiet. In my experience. I speak not of the supermarket, though.

* * *

I have bought Instant Kiwis to give to people randomly as the Christmas spirit takes me. If you are special and see me in the next few days then YOU might get one!

Moore Wilson's has good customer service.

Girl at Counter: Moore Wilson's card?
Me: No.
GaC: ID?
Me: (aside) Hehe
GaC: Whoa - you look good for your age.
Me: See, Michelle. I told you so.

* * *

I'm going to the Wiry Rapper with Cass, Fish and J9. Should be a nice quadrio of people to spend a few chill-out days with and herald in the holidays.

* * *

When I come back I will have a MOUNTAIN of washing that needs attacking.

* * *

My knee is just owie now. It hurts to kneel.

I was taking photos of our final assembly, trying to be unobstructing of views, so I started kneeling down and it hurt a lot.

And a student asked if I wanted her seat (not cause she knew my kneeses had grazes, just cause she's a nice kid). I said, 'Yes, thank you dear,' like an old lady.

* * *

Toffee milks are still pretty freakin' awesome. I got a box from Moore Wilson's and gave them out to my classes as treats. They last ages. And I like how the texture changes from brittle and hard to chewy goodness.

* * *

We had a nice dinner with Justin. He told us the story of his origins (much like a super hero would). Me and Michelle thought it was awesome.

* * *

I should go and get some crap to take to the shared lunch at work tomorrow. I hate shared lunches. I like eating them, but I inevitably leave buying stuff to take til 9pm the night before. Every time!

My bruised finger is beautiful like a sunset.





I will not update the images of my knee.

I only just read to the end of the second-skin instructions where it says 'Warning: Do not apply to open wounds'.

I've had it on all day 'cause I had nothing else big enough and I liked the idea of having a window to my wound ....

My knees are weeping. They are beautiful like raw meat.

My Boo-Boos

At indoor netball I hurt my kneeses. And my finger. My flatmates have given me remedies. But I is still sore.

It hurts to type. But I'm breaking through the pain barrier because I'm brave. And tough.

Since I stopped icing my finger it has swollen a lot more. It has a bump. Washing my hair will be hard. Putting my car into reverse is hard also.

December Already

Things keep rolling on.

I went to Toast Martinborough for the first time. I thought the wine would be cheaper.

I went to the Eastbourne and Thorndon fairs. Fair fudge.

I went to the Rocky Horror Picture Show. The transvestite guy was good.

I did a quiz at Chicago. We should listen to Morgan more often - he is a Da Vinci Code expert.

I had some christmas lunches already.

I had a birthday.

I watched a sexual thriller with Rich.

I sat underneath the christmas tree and looked up.

I went to the Downsies group. We danced like Abba.

I have been eating lots of strawberries, peas and beetroot salads.

I discovered pear cider and elderflower cordial.

* * *

Today my class debated the moot 'That social networking is good for friendships'. I wanted the negating team to win. It seemed a more interesting case. They didn't.

* * *

For my birthday I got three of my Pete-prints framed properly. In white frames. Apparently they are ready so I can go pick them up tomorrow. Fun.

* * *

A game I often play with myself is the where's-that-from game. I'll look around my room and try to find as many things as I can that are from my childhood, or gifts from people or things I've bought myself.

Anyhow, one of my favourite things from my childhood is a vase that I have. It has tulips painted on it in bright summery colours. At the Thorndon Fair I saw a fundraising calender for sale and my jug was on the cover. It was a calender of jug photos. I tried to find out more about my jug, but there were no additional details.

I had always imagined it was a one-off, so this was a surprise.

My Review of 'Ghost Writer'

The film ends with a key moment of revelation that involves a boolean search on Google.

Enter potential baddie's name + CIA and see what comes up.

I think if a world conspiracy could be solved by a computer literate ten year old, you wouldn't need to make a thriller about it.

Polanski seemed to just give up on subtlety more and more as the film went on. I won't even mention the final scene.

And just because you can cast Kim Cattrall in a serious role, doesn't mean you should.

On the plus side, it was nice aesthetically and Ewan McGregor was ok, as was the wife.

* * *

And I saw The Room again. It wasn't as funny this time, but I did enjoy being able to join in on all the interactive bits. I threw a lot of spoons and yelled, 'But he's your best friend!' and 'Oh, hi Denny!' a few times. And we still don't know why they were all in tuxedoes, or what happened to Peter.

It is still wondrous how Tommy threw the whole movie together in quite the way that he did. I think most of the audience might have been film students - the movie is a wonderful teaching tool on how not to write a narrative and dialogue.

My dad got tickets to the Leonard Cohen concert on a whim. He asked me if I wanted to go. I said 'no thanks' just because I felt like saying no. I would not be so easily placated after his stand-ups of late. I'm on a family-strike. And I don't like Leonard Cohen $120 worth (and my dad should know that).

Then my brother rang me to ask what the plans were, and he sounded pretty good. And I haven't seen my brother in ages. I didn't realise he was going.

And then I heard it was a great concert.

And maybe I should've said yes.

Dad took me and my brother to Michael Jackson and Bob Dylan and Elton John concerts. It's his 'thing'. Maybe that was him trying to say 'sorry - I should do more stuff with my own kids, as well as my step-family'.

Maybe he was disappointed when I didn't go. Maybe we're even now and I got a bit of bad karma by missing a good concert because of my sulking.

Or maybe it had nothing to do with me and it was just a concert and it was just some tickets. It's hard to know sometimes. I doubt my dad over-thinks things like that, anyhow. He's a guy.

My new sneakers are still awesome. By the way. I didn't want to buy 'netball' shoes on principle (I ain't no netballer) but it may have been a good recommendation by the pushy shop lady. My team-mate even commented on how bouncy they looked. (At first I thought she was only pointing out how new and white they looked, which was a fair comment - they glow like Michael Jackson's socks!)

I like my team this season - I'm mainly playing high post so I've become a jump-shooter again. In this grade they don't really defend high post too closely so I get heaps of open shots. One time I even shot a turn-around shot in rhythm (though that was in the low post.... but came from my increased shooting zen). Haven't done that in ages! The grade we were in last season was way too good - I was pressured and double-teamed pretty much every time I got the ball and hardly shot at all.

Now I'm a lazy-ass elbow-shootin' high-post again. The way I like it. I'm really quite a terrible low-post player.

We played a Chinese team tonight that had three ex-students of mine in it. I coached two of them in the Senior-B when they were at school. In the end we beat them pretty soundly with only six players..... That could partly be a sign of how rubbish my coaching was :)

* * *

I was all set to finish marking the drafts my students emailed me after school, and then go watch X-Factor....

.... when the last one I read through was full of stuff I suspected was plagarism. Grrr. Takes ages to try and prove plagarism if it's even reasonably clever. There goes my TV watching time.

DAMN YOU, GOOGLE! ONE DAY YOU'RE MY BEST FRIEND, THE NEXT DAY YOU'RE MY ENEMY.

* * *

My cooking experiment has continued.

I made a chicken pilaf thingie with cranberries and pine nuts and white wine.

The first attempt tasted fine, but the rice was a gluggy mess (apparently not quite the texture I should've aimed for - it had perplexed me when the recipe said to 'fluff it up' and mine was a gluey hunk ..... and the chicken was bleeding a bit when I first cut into it.....). It passed for a bad risotto better than it passed for a pilaf.

The next attempt, however, was pretty awesome. I forgot to take a photo though, so you'll have to take my word for it. Good texture in the rice, I added the cranberries sooner so they plumped up better and the chicken was cooked just right.

See, my strategy is to buy enough for the whole recipe but only cook a half-dose each time. Gives me a chance to improve. Does mean I have to eat the same thing three or four nights in a row.....

BUT TAKE THAT, PILAF! You are now in my repertoire.

I got a 'Best of 85' mix CD from The Warehouse. It's full of classic syth-rock angst. It's got A-ha and Billy Idol.

Then in the middle of all that it's got 'I'm Walkin' on Sunshine'. I thought that was a bit of a weird and lame addition to my grunty car CD.

But.... to my surprise.... I am LOVING that song! It's the absolute best morning song. I love going to work after listening to it! The intro rocks.

I have it on repeat.

And don't it feel good!

* * *

I haven't come across anyone in my circles that isn't happy with Wellington's new mayor.

* * *

My new sneakers haven't given me blisters.

And I sneak around in them.

* * *

I made zucchini fritters from my recipe book. It's my new signature dish.

Paul Henry Rant - Victory for the People

I'm feeling quite chuffed that Paul Henry resigned.

In my mind he was fired (it makes me happier - I picture him being pushed down the plank to the sharks in the press gallery).

I think that it's unacceptable to make such public and blatantly racist remarks in any profession. I wouldn't even let school kids get away with making those comments without a wee lecture. A grown man has no excuse left. He knows exactly what he's doing and it's arrogance rather than a lack of self-control or a naive kind of ignorance that is the issue.

It boils down to some sort of public bullying. I think people who defend him with lines like 'he's only saying what most people think' forget that even if lots of people think those kinds of things they would express them in a more private context. A public forum (not to mention one governed by Standards and a Charter) is a situation that demands more discretion. It speaks for more than one person's opinion.

And what a public broadcaster deems as acceptable banter for its light-hearted morning shows is an indicator of what's acceptable banter for NZ society. It's not some extremest niche channel and it's not an adult-only time-slot. There is no warning saying 'content may offend some viewers'. There are gonna be kids watching.

And he's not a fictional character set up as a foil for a moral protagonist - he's a real person who writes his own scripts (or at least the ad lib bits, which is where he gets in trouble).

A few people I know (on Facebook mainly) have defended him - saying it's freedom of speech. I think freedom of speech is fine - but it has to exist on some kind of continuum with censorship. We do live in a world that tries to be civilised. Human nature is such that to be civilised we do need some rules and standards. People are flawed and lack self control and empathy.

Censorship steps in where people's emotional safety is threatened and freedom of speech comes into conflict with rights protected in the Bill of Rights. I might not have that exactly right, but it's essentially what makes us different from America (they have nothing that is higher than their freedom of speech - we do). In the case of TV it's the Broadcasting Standards Authority that steps in if something is not 'decent' or is 'offensive'. In reality, it is a body that doesn't have much teeth. It can make you publicly apologise.

A much more powerful tool in the age of capitalism is consumer demand. I think anti-Paul-Henry-ites were smart enough to see that the real way to TVNZ's heart was complaining to advertisers and threatening to boycott the other TV1 shows. While a lot of the people who were offended by Henry probably didn't even watch Breakfast, they make up a bigger percentage of the One News audience.

I think it's a sad thing that you have to go for the ratings-jugular in order to get a real reaction. It would be kinda nice if a bunch of people saying 'Oi - this guy is a racist jerk, take him off the air!' was enough but moral righteousness is very muffled in a consumer driven economy until it turns into some kind of dollar force. TVNZ does have a commercial impetus that is increasingly over-riding its cultural one.

It'll be interesting to discuss with my classes tomorrow, see what 'the youth' thinks.

Essentially he's the kinda guy that would've pissed me off at high school. In my experience, most of those guys have matured since then. Maybe not all. Arrogant git.

I wonder if Fox News is looking to hire...

Fixed a fuse all on my own.

And waterproofed some shoes (all these years I've never done it - I feel like a savage).

* * *

Yesterday my hands were really blue. I thought maybe it was my bad circulation. Thought maybe another fainting spell was coming on.

Was mildly concerned. Kept rubbing my hands together to warm them up and get circulation back.

Then I cooked dinner and they seemed to come right.

Then they turned blue again. Just as I was pointing out my blue hands to my flatmate I realised I had them palm down on my jeans. My new jeans.

New dark blue jeans = smurf hands. Apparently.

I cooked. Proper food. Using a recipe.

Kumara mash, sage and garlic pork steak, green apple and red onion salsa.

That's quite an effort for me!

* * *

It's fun seeing all the different types of dogs along Petone's foreshore. Today there was an Alsatian and a doberman and lots of others. Cassie's dogs are the bravest and busiest.

* * *

I think deers are the new owls of the fashion world.

* * *

I haven't quite convinced my head I have to go back to work on Monday. I still feel like it's holidays. I like being a lady of leisure. I stay up late, get up late, coffee a lot, read things. It's all very unstressful.

* * *

I like this time of year. I love my jandals. 7pm doesn't seem so late anymore.

* * *

I am not well informed enough to care who won the election. I like that John Banks lost.

* * *

Me and Michelle wanna do run-around stuff in the weekend. Like tennis. Or even Frisbee. It's kinda nice enough weather now. Might organise a Saturday avo tennis outing some time. I'm feeling suitably unfit, following my winter hibernation period.

* * *

If you see Cassie, she will preach to you about the fries at the Empire. Belgian fries, they're called, with mozzarella and gravy (a whole pool of it at the bottom of the bowl).

* * *

I have finally taken my camera in to get fixed (yes - that's why there have not been oodles of facebook photo tags of you and me in the last few months). I will hopefully be back and snapping away soon.
* * *
I always feel guilty going into shops and trying stuff on, but then not buying anything.

Hence, I must always buy something! Every shop I go into!

Something like that.

Today I bought heaps. It was my holiday blow-out.

• summer work shoes (my other slip-ons are actually starting to disintegrate from so much wear)
• sneakers (my other ones have so little grip that my feet totally slipped from under me at netball, like a cartoon character, I assed over)
• salon shampoo

Thus ends the list of things I actually needed to buy for practical reasons.
The shoes were $20 off because I have giant feet (apparently they discount size 11s so they can get rid of them since not many people have sasquach feet). And they threw in a pair of free ortho sandals (which are ugly as sin and I will never wear them - anyone need/want them?).

• a red sweater (I love red tops - they go awesome with jeans)
• a black dress (Ashley Fogel - down from $320 to $130 - my favourite purchase of the day - love the sale rack at Miss Wong and the fact that only trendy, skinny people shop there so big sizes often get left over)
• jeans (down from $175 to $70 - bargain - the shop lady said, 'We get these in for ladies with wider hips' - go Sable and Minx! - another score at Miss Wong)
• two necklaces (Goodness has super expensive clothes, but reasonable jewelry - a tip for keen shoppers - one has a picture of a deer on it, the other has a bow)

Thus ends the list of things I didn't 'need'. But, so be fair, all the clothes were on sale racks.

Though jeans are never a bad purchase. These ones are exactly like some other generously-hipped ones I have from the same brand, but a darker denim (and evidently pocket-less).


* * *

I am now hanging out for a reasonable time to buy my take-aways. Japanese night!

Japanese is practically not take-aways because it is so wholesome.

That's what I tell myself.

Basketball coaches from high-school should not be allowed to drag up unflattering teenage photos and put them on Facebook. It should be illegal.

You think you've buried those photos, then things like this happen (on top of your dad dragging them out at your 30th).

* * *

It's a tricky thing when a cafe expands. Parade has moved across the road, to the old tug-boat. It's lost its claustrophobic feel and you no longer have to queue out the door.

But for some reason today there were only middle-aged rich women doing luncheons and couples in matching Country Road outfits there. Maybe not quite the hip demographic I'm used to?

You can't lose with an ocean view though.

* * *

Cassie treated me to a double-birthday beauty afternoon. We got eyebrow shapes and tints, eyelash tints, a full body massage and mani and pedicures. I feel pretty now! Oh, so pretty.

That's my first full body massage. I was trying to not picture what she could see when she was doing the upper-thigh thing (that involved much jiggling). Definitely my least favourite body part. Felt much better when she unclasps my bra and moved onto the back.

Then I got Barbie-coral-pink nails (I'd asked for something subtle...) but I'm embracing them. I'm doing a whole pastel-look for the week. It's funny how our body can sense even microscopic changes. It felt really weird typing when I had just got home with my new nail polish on. Now the end bits are starting to chip away, so it feels normal again.

Then there's the comedic duck-walk you have to do when the toenail polish is drying, with the folded up paper towel between your toes.

Totally indulgent and a scrummy present. Thanks, Cass! It's good to be a girl. I've never liked my toenails more.

* * *

I'm into Series 3 of Mad Men - rocketing through! That Don Draper is a card.

It's really well made. I'd say I like it more than The Wire, which is smart but kinda bracing to watch at times. This show has the comedy as well as the darker bits. But it does the dark so well. While a lot of American shows are about building up chemistry between characters until they hook up, this one is more about the disintegration of relationships. Much more interesting to watch!

It has little cut-away scenes with no dialogue that are just meant to build up characters. Most shows wouldn't bother doing that. And the climaxes can just be little glances, rather than tad-dah moments. Betty Draper is interesting. On one level she's totally unlikeable - a horrible mother (sends the kids to watch TV most of the time) but kinda brave in her own way.

She's just found out Don's big secret (which has been building since series 1), so I must get back to watching!

* * *

I wonder how many other people have a PIN number on their ATM card that has a link to their teenage self. Mine's definitely teen-me. And that's all I'm saying, so nobody can rob me.

* * *

It's a sad, sad day when the Glee cast beat a Beatles record on the charts. Teenagers are morons these days. IT'S ALL AUTO-TUNED! ALL OF IT! AND THE ORIGNALS ARE WAY, WAY BETTER! It makes me angry.

Also Chris Carter makes me angry for saying his travel expenses were only focussed on 'cause he's gay. I think (from what I saw at the time) anyone who spent exhobitant amounts on their spouse travelleing was publicly called out for it.

That only person who ever seems to make an issue out of him being gay is himself. He's grasping at straws, or the media is purposely pushing that line of his into the headlines (which I guess would be the most homophobic thing happening).

* * *
And here are the only clues Cassie's giving me about my 'birthday surprise' tomorrow:
You will need to bring jandals

Have something to eat beforehand but not too much as you may feel ill later.

Shaving your legs and armpits could be an adavantage to make you more comfortable but if you run out of time...no real biggy

No makeup

Bring yourself and be excited...its going to be fun :)
Hmmmm. I think I'm going to be a model for a body-painter? That would be the weirdest present ever.