Ow.

Have somehow managed to make right leg very, very sore. I hobbled around campus (My campus is one of those that needs a three-dimensional model, not a plain map, to communicate the sheer... three-dimensional-ness of it. Third floors segue into first floors. I'm not even kidding.) for three days, flinching and swearing under my breath ("gods damn, gods damn!") and almost killing myself getting down the hill to the train station in the foulest stretch of weather I've yet seen here. Winter is apparently deciding to start its swan song NOW, just to make sure all the final flourishes, crescendos and crashing kettledrums can be fully appreciated before Spring finally arrives. (I always imagine spring with flutes. Thank you, Grieg.) So, what with lugging the weight of a small child in textbooks around and not being able to drag even myself along, I had to call for pick-up from the train station to home. Very pathetic. Am kinda amused at own helplessness, but would really appreciate being able to walk properly right now.
I guess not everyone can manage to incapacitate themselves and have no clue how it happened.
Yes, that was a totally transparent attempt to find a silver lining.

Ok, /gratuitous parentheses, and /self-pity.


I promised a review of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Warning: I've had time to percolate my ideas a little, and the result is more a generalised and lengthy grumble than a systematic review. Anyway, here it is, a week or so late:

( Cut for spoilers and length )


PS: Can't believe I never made a Harry Potter tag before this entry. I am a disloyal fan.
PPS: When I was looking for the comparison cartoons, I also found this, which is hilarious.

I'm home!

Exams are oooover, and I survived my first trimester at University. I'm quite proud of myself, but am reserving final judgment until after exam results come out. After exams I went out with some old friends and new for a post-mortem and dinner at Nando's (Take note, Sounisian people. I totally only went there because I heard you all talking about it) and then gelato and bubble tea (NOM NOM NOM!) I also had my own private celebration by ducking into my favourite second-hand bookshop and buying myself two Dorothy L. Sayers books I'd put on hold. The joy of possession - I has it.


Three Whole Weeks. To do Whatever I Want. I think the occasion merits the gratuitous capitalisation. 

What have I done with my freedom so far?

Some looong over-due editing, some slightly tardy betaing, and even some of my own writing has finally been done. Yeah! I am accomplishing stuff!

I got sick. Blech. Every time I travel from home to uni or back again, I end up a sniffing, miserable mess. Could it possibly be the climate differences? Pass the echinacea, plz...

( I read Memory and Forged In The Fire and witter about them here in a slightly spoilerific way ) 

My school friends Ducky and Bear and I watched all three Lord of the Rings movies, back to back. Note well, not only did we watch all three, but they were the mega-awesome extended versions. We started at 6.10 in the evening and finished at 5.30 the next morning, still arguing over who was best: Aragorn, Boromir, or Faramir. (Yes, that is the kind of deep meditation Tolkien's epic inspires in our fangirl-y hearts. I am only slightly ashamed.) By the time we finished, we were holding our eyes open with our fingers, although I had slept right through Helm's Deep. That's what comes of living near a hospital - when the emergency helicopter doesn't wake you at night, it's a fair bet that 10,000 screaming Uruk-hai won't either.

( I baked, and took pictures )

Matariki, the Pleiades' rising, and Maori New Year, has come and gone. It's not an official holiday in NZ, but not for lack of trying, and has got increasing press these last few years. Seeing as we live in a part of the world where Christmas falls in Summer and Winter has no bright spots, my family always celebrates with a meal for the extended rellies, games and general jollification. We had a hangi (Maori roast, traditionally steamed underground, but we do it in an old beer keg with manuka sawdust) for dinner, and included mussels. Look what I found in one:
( Warning: may include close-ups of a crab ) 

And, just to complete the pic-spam, tiegirl  asked for some non-identifiable pictures of the area I live. Excited at the thought of exercising my camera, I immediately dragged tencups_i_swear out to take some snaps. We only managed to get a couple before the batteries died, but I found some other fairly generic pictures kicking around the hard-drive. They're all from around my home-town, not the city where I go to Uni.

.( Image-heavy! )
( Image-heavy! )
And that's all, folx!

*which exists in fiction only, yo. London in real life still looks pretty good.

PS: Happy Independence Day, Americans!

A tale of daring, derring-do and cultural diversity

As I am a poor benighted person, who lives neither in the USA or the UK, there are many things the folx over at sounissay that make me go 'bwuh?' and wander down strange and foreign paths. thelasteddis 's mention of  V8 vegetable juice was one of these. She was referring to this veggie drink ad campaign in the US pitching the drink as one of those 'make-you-smarter' things. Apparently the ads show people doing dumb things and then getting bopped on the head by someone who then says cheerily 'coulda had a V8!' i.e 'If you'd had a V8 you wouldn't be so dumb!'
Of course I was totally ignorant of all these subtle cultural overtones, and our conversation went something like this:

TLE: 'Coulda had a V8!'
Me: Bwuh?
Tiegirl/Philia/Ninedaysaqueen/TLE: *explain*
Ninedaysaqueen: *suggests how I can find out for myself*
Me: But, guys, this stuff sounds disgusting. Besides, it reminds me of racing cars. Hey, they're cultural... a bit.
Checkers: Lolz, you missed your chance to get your very own shipment of yuck!
Philia/Tiegirl/Checkers: *continue discussing it*
Me: Hey, people are still talking about this. Mayhap I should assuage my curiosity and expand my cultural horizons (Two birds with one stone! Oh frabjous day!) by trying some. Okayz, everyone? I'll tell you all if it tastes horrible.
Philia: You'll love it, really.

( A cultural lesson )
I feel all warm and fuzzy and culturally aware now. Thanks guys. XD


PS: The transcript is only loosely based on what people actually said in Sounis. Sounisians are very nice and give very helpful suggestions.
PPS: Heehee, the V8 website makes me giggle.
PPPS: Yes, I do enjoy gratuitous pic-spamming.

Why is it impossible to keep time in this city?

A.  The University does not appear to have ANY wall clocks, anywhere, excepting, of course, the ones handily placed BEHIND the projector screens. WTH?
It also has cellphone coverage that is patchy to say the least, so I can't look at my screen to divine the time. Everyone on campus must own a phone - what is wrong with this picture??

B.  I spent two hours tramping around the central city this morning trying to find a pendant watch. Why is that so difficult? This *is* an honest-to-goodness city, don't people need to get to, I don't know, appointments and meetings on time? Without having to fork out $200 for precious ones from actual jewellers?

Also, it would be nice if Metlink didn't randomly cancel the off-peak trains. Ok, some of them were replaced with busses, but NOT the ones from my station, and more importantly, HOW in the world would I have known if they had been? So I had to wait 40 minutes (in a freezing cold wind, I might add) to catch the next, and missed my tutorial. Which was compulsory. Gahhhh...

*headdesk*

Ok, complaints over.

I'm living with family who are very scientifically-minded, and put up with my Arts degree with some joking eye-rolling. When I moved in, I bought a bookcase just so I could fit in all the books I brought from home. I've also been book-shopping today, to spend the book vouchers I got at my school prizegiving last year.


Tonight I had this little gem of a conversation:

Sceintifically-minded Uncle: It's nice having you, Te Aroha, cause you've brought all these great new books to the house.
Me: (looking around happily at my stacks of books) Yeah, they're fun reads. Feel free to borrow...
S-M U: It reminds me of when (Scientifically-Minded Aunt) was studying environmental sciences. She'd bring home all these books...
Me: Environmental Sciences?
S-M U: Yeah, great books, and - (catches sight of my face)
Me: *Is laughing hysterically*
S-M U: What? What?

To each his own, I guess...



For anyone interested, today I bought:
 A lovely copy of The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, by C.S Lewis, my absolute favourite of the Narnia series, and the indispensible Penguin History of New Zealand, by the great and sadly lamented Historian Michael King. This is pretty much required reading for New Zealanders, and still in the top 100 NZ best-sellers list 5 years after publication. Not bad for a History book :D

     A few days ago, me and four others went up to Auckland.
     We were all from my A Cappella singing group, which is a type of choir only more fun. Ours is run by a really nice woman called Annie and we're really lucky to have her because she's very good.  We were Tee, whose car we were all squashed into, and who is a lovely lady who sings alto (medium-voice) for my A Capella group and always surprises me by being interested in things like clarinets and classical music. Also Gee, Annie's husband and the best (and only) tenor in A Capella , Me, My lovely friend Bee and Eryl, who is an elderly woman who loves music... and she's very good at it. We did a musical together a few years ago.
     Anywho, this talented bunch, and where were we going? Well, we were going to Town Hall to see the Messiah.
Yes... THAT Messiah. Handel's Messiah. You know, the one with the Hallelujah chorus in it? That one? Anyway, the Auckland Choral were putting it on and Annie, who sings for them, had got us tickets.
     So we did... and I am so, so glad that I went, because I almost didn't.  But how could I have missed this... this phenomenal music. It was marvellous. We were sitting at the very end of the circle, just above the musicians (first and second violins, violas, cellos, a bass, bassoon, two oboes, two trumpets,a timpani, a harpischord and a full-blown pipe organ... sighhh...) and with terriffic views of the choir. And we sat there, the five of us, for two and a half hours with our mouths open. * The four soloists were good, the orchestra was good, but the choir... the choir, all hudred-odd of them, made the most glorious sound I've ever heard. I just can't describe the impact of all those voices in perfect harmony, ducking and diving over and under each other but doing it all so gracefully... it made me want to sit there and listen forever.
     My favourite bit would have to be the Hallelujah chorus. Even if it is used 90% of the time as a farcical steriotype for shurch music. It was Brilliant. The best attempt at putting emotion into music I have ever heard. And the harmonies were sooo  good.
Sigh... and there is a tradition dating back to the very first showing of the Messiah, at which King George of England was so impressed by the Hallelujah chorus that he stood up. So of course everyone else in the building copied him - you cannot be seated when the king is not. And since then it has become a tradition to stand for the hallulujah chorus. And we did. It was such a cool bit, because it was like taking part - if a very small part - in that music.
     Also, I am very glad of the Auckland Choral's very own tradition of performing the Messiah every Christmas. Isn't that cool? Dating back to when thre choir was first formed, way back in the 1800s. Put this is perspective - we're a young country. The first European pioneers were fresh off, the boat, and what did they do? They got together and formed a choir. Brilliant.
     Next year? I'll be there.

*Well, mine was... i'd never heard live Classical music before.

Hello!

Well, I just got back from a camp up the valley. This valley shall remain un-named,  but it's a fantastic and very popular spot for trampers, campers, horse-crazy-people (no offence intended to my horse-crazy valley-dwelling friends) and people who just like to go bush.
Well, the camp was run by my good friend Steph, who is working towards camper accreditation, and it was soooo much fun. Steph, Alice,  Alice, Neroli, Amy and I plus two little Guides were there and we had a ball... swimming in the river (cold!) climbing the walking tracks (hot!) and lazing around campsite. The weather was very, very obliging the entire time and absolutely, absolutely fine, beautiful clear skies and sun so hot half of us burnt on the first morning. (New Zealand may be paradise, but it's also directly underneath the ozone hole!)  Steph had done lots of planning and Sue, Alice and I had done the shopping, so we ate very un-camp-y food like instant butterscotch pudding and brandy snaps. Yuuuummm...

I had to come home a day before the end of the camp to look after Jack, but otherwise, it all went  very smoothly. Oh, and I have acquired a Kaftan! Alice gave it to me and I love it. (It's also the reason why I didn't burn.)

Sigh.

   Today was my second brother (read: Fourth child, second brother younger than I am) Pascal's birthday party. He turned nine.
   Why, oh why did we let him have an animorphs party! I mean sure, let him invite seven other knee-high kids around and run around screaming in the reserve pretending to be animorphs while we act evil human-controllers and shoot them wth water-pistols.
   Yeah, why not?
   Anyway, I'm sure they all had a wonderful time bushbashing round te reserve (now what was wrong with the paths?) while we poor human-controllers had to crouch in cutty-grass bushes waiting for them to come near us.
   Ah, filial affection is a wonderful thing.

   His best friend Jack who is my babysittee is also staying the night and they are STILL talking. I am ignoring them in the hopes that this will have some effect.

   Olivia and Kieve might be posted here sometime soon. That's my WIP story. Shall I?