We Like Sarah

Is It Really All That Hard?

2010-10-11T23:22:00.000-07:00

First of all, let me say that I love this song. The Boys II Men version is beautiful, and I imagine I will always love it. (Here's a link to the original, which is also fantastic.) This song is like a time machine- all of a sudden it's 1992 and I'm standing in the NSHS gym (wearing something simultaneously fabulous and appalling) and I'm fighting back the tears as my classmates perform this song in a choral or talent show, willing the school year never to end and nothing ever to change... It felt so hard back then to imagine that there was life after high school- relationships were just so intense, and there's pressure remember every moment and write lasting and important messages in yearbooks... For years to come this song would make me cry every time I heard it.

Fast forward to 2010. This song came on while I was at work last week (thanks to Beth's sweet playlist). Much to my surprise, I didn't find myself reliving the emotional turmoil of sophomore year, and there were no automatic waterworks. For the first time ever I found myself thinking, "no, actually, it's not that hard." In fact, there are many things about yesterday (and all of the days before it) to which I am more than happy to say goodbye. I've done and said a million stupid things (which, thanks to the lack of social media for most of my life, are mostly forgotten, I hope) and have had plenty of bad experiences, just like everyone else. And I just stood there thinking about how much happier I am with my life now than I have ever been before, and how saying goodbye to all of the past crap that makes me feel bad and/or guilty sounds kind of awesome. Why hadn't this ever occurred to me before? Today is pretty spectacular, and tomorrow promises to be even better! Sure, there are loads of people and good times that I hope I will always remember, but my realisation is this: I might like to reminisce about the past, but I never want to live in it. So goodbye to yesterday, and hello to NOW. (There, now that wasn't all that hard!)

Honeycrisp Apples- Who Knew?

2010-10-01T13:02:00.000-07:00

Photo courtesy of New York Apple Association © New York Apple Association

I just had the most delicious apple I may have ever had in my entire life! It was crisp and tangy, but not too tart. It was just sweet enough, and it left me sad when the bowl was empty. Amazing! I know I live in Washington and that I should have apples like this all the time, but I never really paid attention before to when fruits are harvested, and it seems that it can make a HUGE difference in how an apple tastes! You all probably know more about these things than I do, but I grew up in Georgia, where seasonality wasn't a big deal- if it isn't in season there, you can get it from Florida or Chile, so there's never really a time when you can't get something- it's just more expensive out of season, I suppose. But that's not always the way in places that don't border the Sunshine State. While living in New Zealand I had a craving for blueberry pancakes one day, so we headed down to the Pak'N'Save, and lo and behold, not a single blueberry in sight! It was then that I really started to notice when certain items of produce could or could not be easily found. Lots of things grow in New Zealand, and sometimes they grow really big (see this celery photo from a previous post), but if something's not growing at the moment, it's gonna cost a lot to ship it, so we might as well just do without until the next growing season. What a concept. Now, I'm not going to go all locavore on you- while that idea definitely has some upsides, I know that certain things I want to eat (like rice, for example) are better grown elsewhere and shipped to my neck of the woods. (There's a lot of good information on the pros and cons in this book.) But I think there's value in understanding when things grow and are harvested for fresh, delicious meals, and when one is buying an apple that's been in storage for nine months and is going to taste like mothballs. That said, we have just become members of a local CSA, and will be enjoying big boxes of fresh, organic fruits and veggies on a bi-weekly basis. So far we have received one box, and already we've upped our fruit and veg consumption and are branching out and trying new things! I hope to tell you all about it in a future post. For now, if you live in Washington, go out and find yourself some super fresh honeycrisp or gala apples. You won't be sorry! =)

Alive and Well in Seattle

2010-05-10T22:27:00.000-07:00

Hello, friends! As you may have gathered by now, updating my blog has somehow fallen by the wayside lately. I have lofty goals of keeping up with everything in my life- friends, family, husband, cat, laundry, cooking, baking, cleaning, writing, reading, crafting, sewing- not to mention getting all the way through "Battlestar Galactica" and figuring out what to do with the rest of my life, but lately it seems like I just can't do it all. It wouldn't be quite so frustrating if I didn't feel like once there was a time when I did do it all. I used to have more energy or time, or maybe I was a better prioritizer or something, but I look back about ten years and have an image of myself getting things done and making it all happen while still spending the quality time I wanted with my friends and family. (It is entirely possible that this is a total lie and that I'm looking back with rose-coloured glasses at a time when I was simply overly busy, but I don't remember it that way at all. I remember being both social and productive.) Now I do spend quite a bit of quality time with my husband and cat, and I do work enough to pay the bills and keep Clevie in organic kitty treats, but I rarely see or even talk to my friends or family, and I seem to be behind in every other aspect of life. I have an enormous list of things to get done which I call my Panda List, because I keep it in a pink notebook that has pandas all over the cover. The tasks are mostly small- have the stereo repaired, make a dentist appointment, host a movie night, send a (late) wedding present, hang pictures in the frames that we bought nine months ago- that sort of thing. But I guess I'm just not trying hard enough, because while I have the occasional productive day when I check off five things in one fell swoop and I feel really good about it, most days I'm just adding more things to the list that I halfway already know I'll never get around to! Then there are the things that I want to do in the future (learn to play the piano better, start going to the gym, etc.) that don't even make the list- the list is for things to get done ASAP, and future endeavours will have to wait. But what if there is no future because there is no end to the list?! What is a girl to do? Unfortunately, this isn't going to be some kind of uplifting post where I tell you all about my amazing action plan to make the most out of life, mostly because although I love to be uplifting, I really don't have a plan at all! I'm just wondering what I'm missing. I see people out there with a bunch of kids or really time-consuming jobs, and I really wonder how they get everything done that they want to do! If you threw a couple of kids in the mix right now, I would absolutely tear out my hair (probably good, since I wouldn't ever have time to wash it), and would most certainly end up in some sort of mental facility. Perhaps I have too many interests? Perhaps I have a ridiculous sense of time and think things take a lot less time than they actually do? Perhaps I should get up earlier in the morning? Perhaps I need to seriously rethink my priorities? I really need to spend some time thinking about these things, because I have to say, it's tremendously unsatisfying to feel like I'm living a list, the end of which I'll never see. Every day I am disappointed at how little I have accomplished, and every day I am anxious about how I will ever "live" my life when I feel like living is only possible after all of the items on the to-do list are crossed off. Wow- this went from a "I'll just post a quick vacation picture and say 'hi' to everyone" post to something wayyy less fun! I didn't mean to be Debbie Downer tonight, but I guess I have some things on my mind. And don't get me wrong, all in all, I would say I have a fabulously simple life and I am very grateful for it. I just have a few things I need to get figured out. I'm going to go add "figure out life" to my list. ;) (Here's that vacation picture, anyway! It's from our March trip to San Francisco, where we stayed with our friends Debolina and Jason and had an AWESOME time.) Thank you for listening. The end.

Today!

2009-08-26T23:24:00.000-07:00

I copied this idea from a blog I love to read called Chez Larsson. She apparently found it somewhere else (as described in this post). I used to loooove to make surveys in school (I know you Spartans totally remember), and this is kind of like taking one myself! So here is what today is like for me. =)

Today...

Outside my window... crows are crowing, little birdies are tweeting, and something is fascinating my adorable kitty. Cars are going by, wind is blowing, and a really annoying dog somewhere is the vicinity is making a bizarre noise (that he makes all the time, btw) that sounds like a hungry/injured sea lion.

I am thinking... that though I am very sleepy I can make it all the way to bedtime and still be my lovely and charming self tonight at dinner with Michele and Jason. Now I'm thinking about how unlikely that actually is. Now I'm thinking about what time would be best for a nap...

I am thankful for... Jess Wetter and her generosity and willingness to help me today with all of my errands (and for just making the world a little bit nicer place to be)! Also for my awesome friends in general. You guys are just really amazing and supportive and nice people. That's why I like you. =)

From the kitchen... cometh nothing at the moment. (Although once upon a time I did make lasagne!) Right now there are some decaying bananas in there just begging to be made into banana bread. I'd better get on that.

I am wearing... moderately clean jeans. I noticed after I put them on that there's a 3"x 3" sticky patch on the front of my left thigh from when I wore them to work the other day and had leaky raspberry jam in my apron pocket, but I had already gone to the effort of putting them on before I realised they were kinda gross, and it was 8 in the morning and I couldn't be bothered changing pants. (Hey, you asked!)

I am creating... more work for myself with every moment I'm alive! How is it that I always seem to have a list longer than my hair of all of the stuff I want and need to do?! I'm always coming up with ideas and plans and schemes and never actually have enough time to do most of them! So many lists... Does anyone else have this tendency? Any advice?

I am going... to the San Juan islands for the first time this weekend! Our good friends Aaron and Vanesha are coming to visit from the UK and we're going for a cycling trip with them and another couple they know in the area. Awesome! =)

I'm reading... a book! I know, I totally can't believe it, either! Right now it's Bee Season by Myla Goldberg. So far, so good. It's about spelling, among other things. I enjoy spelling. =)

I am hoping... that someday I will know the glorious feeling of having an empty email inbox once again. (That doesn't mean I don't want you to write to me. I just want to be able to write back to you without a 4-6 month delay. I'm pretty sure that's reasonable.)

I am hearing... a lovely mix of tunage being spun by my CD changer. So far I have heard Indigo Girls (from their new CD- a vast improvement on the previous one), They Might Be Giants, Cat Empire, The Decemberists, The Clash, Cloud Cult, and something I didn't recognise.

Around the house... chaos and disorder rule the day, but not for long! The time has come for pictures to be hung, shoes to be stashed, laundry to be folded, and kitty fur to be swept away by our new little vaccuum that looks like this.

One of my favorite things... is finding really cool and unique stuff at the thrift store. I freakin' love the thrift store! Just think of all of that stuff that people could have thrown in a landfill that is being found and used and loved by someone new- I just love it! =) Goodwill is reasonably good here, but nothing beats the thrift stores in the ATL! I love Last Chance Thrift Store on Half-Price Monday! =)

A few plans for the rest of the week... Clean house, go pick up car from shop, have nice dinner with friends, clean house, replace spark plug for scooter, work on bike, work, work, meeting at work, clean house...

A picture to share... Here is a picture of some leeks. Thanks for reading! =)

Death Valley, Washington

2009-07-30T02:47:00.000-07:00

A.K.A. Seattle! We are in the middle of some kind of crazy heat wave out here! Today we broke all kind of records around the region - most notably the one where Seattle had never hit a temperature above 100, and today the weather forecasting station near our house recorded a temperature of 105! (That's 40.5 for all of you smarty centigraders out there!) No wonder walking to the post office (6 blocks away) today felt like walking to the sun! Good thing we took smoothies with us on the walk, or we might never have made it home! As you may know, most of us Seattlites don't have air conditioning, so we flock to movie theatres, libraries, and restaurants during these times. The restaurant where I work was insanely busy tonight- so much so that I didn't finish work until an hour after closing because there was so much left to clean up! As I sit writing this, it's 2 in the morning and it's 82 degrees out! What is going on?! The forecast for tomorrow is 99 and sunny, and it doesn't look like it's letting

up any time soon. So if you guys are looking for a tropical beach holiday, this may just be the week to visit us! ;) Here is a picture of Gordon and I being hot. (It's from 3 years ago in Florida. We were almost as hot then!)

How is it suddenly July?!

2009-07-28T23:57:00.000-07:00

What happened here? Have I been time-travelling again? How did I get here? This is not my beautiful wife! (How could I grow up in the 80's and not think of the Talking Heads at this point?) Six months have passed since last we spoke! Let me get you guys up to date on what we've been doing! In January we moved back to Ballard and found a lovely apartment walking distance from all of the good stuff! It was very cold, and I spent most of February in flannel pj's unpacking boxes and looking like this. It was all worth it, though- we're loving the new place and being so close to everything, though we have made a little too much use of the proximity to the phở restaurant... In March we went to Atlanta for our awesome USA wedding party. (Thanks again to everyone involved!) In April we were in Costa Rica for my cousin Kevin's wedding to the lovely Kathlen, who is from Costa Rica. It was an amazing trip!! I can't really remember much about May, but by the end of it I had a job! June was work, work, work, and somewhere in between all of those things there was a trip to Oregon, some hiking, some cupcake baking, and even a little bit of sailing! (Thanks, Jess and Wayne!) July brought an awesome visit from our UK friends Jo and Emma, and just after they left our furry new roomie moved in- Cleveland the cat! He's slowly getting used to us and seems to be settling in quite nicely. He very much enjoys chasing Gordon back and forth down the hallway, playing fetch with us, hiding underneath the laundry racks, and leaving tufts of black fur all over our beige carpet. (But what's a little bit of extra vaccuuming among friends?) Now we're all just trying to survive the heat! I can hardly believe it, but it was in the mid-90's today and tomorrow it may go above 100! Seeing as Sea-town is not big on air-con, we're all running around in our tiniest clothes and buying up all of the box fans we can find! Gordon and I were smart and got a fan a few months ago before the high temps hit, but it's still quite toasty in our top-floor flat, and Cleveland doesn't seem too enthused to be wearing a thick, fluffy fur coat... Today G and I decided that if you can't beat the heat at home, then it's a great time to go to the beach! (Cleves doesn't much care for the beach. He decided to stay home with his blue teddy bear.) So we rode our bikes down to Golden Gardens and soaked up the rays for an hour or two and ate Sno-Cones. It was awesomely hot outside! A collapse on the floor and cool shower later, I made a lovely curry from the book Jo got us as a wedding gift (Thank you, Jo!) and we hung out and watched a documentary about Mardi Gras beads and an episode of Heroes. The end. I'm going to stop writing now and get this thing published so I can go to bed. It's not so much that I'm out of things to tell you- it's more the fact that Gordon has already moved the fan into our bedroom... So I hope you're all staying cool where you are, and I'll be updating this again sooner than later! =)

Back in the 206

2009-01-30T15:20:00.001-08:00

Ah, Seattle! The Emerald City, land of soy lattes and vegan donuts... With all of the moving around we've been doing, I hadn't even thought about Seattle and what it would be like to be back here, but so far I'm loving it! I know we haven't been gone that long- just under two years- but coming back to Ballard (my neighbourhood, slightly northwest of downtown) really feels like coming "home" in a way. Everything's pretty comfortable- I know where things are, I run into people I know in the streets, many of my closest friends are here in the neighbourhood- it's great! Add to that the fact that they're opening a Trader Joe's down the street, and I don't think it could get any better! (Unless, of course, all of our Atlanta peeps decided to move out here! Come on guys! We have really pretty mountains and stuff!) So right now we're just hanging out at Jess's house while we hunt for apartments. We have a few prospects, but nothing's final yet. Totally can't wait to have an address again so I can get mail, get my CD's out of storage, and set up our kitchen with all of the fabulous kitchen gadgets and cookware we have received as wedding/shower gifts from our awesome friends and family!

On another note, I have been tagged in this post by Kass, so here is the 4th photo from the 4th picture folder on my computer. I appears to be a family of really puffy sea lions. (I can't take any photo credit- I'm pretty sure it came from Cute Overload.) The explanation? There really isn't one except to admit that I have a sickness. I looove cute animals. I can't get enough of them. I stay up into the wee hours watching videos of guinea pigs and Roomba-riding kitties on YouTube, and sometimes I see adorable animal pictures online that are so cute I save them in a folder so I can look at them again later. And the 4th folder on my computer is where I keep them. =) I'm not tagging anyone else, because I don't really know other people with blogs besides Kass, but if you guys want to e-mail me the 4th pictures from your 4th photo folders I'd love to see them! =) Okay, peeps- gotta get back to work! Searching for apartments, jobs, furniture... Hope to talk to you soon!

Back in the USSA!

2008-12-10T10:40:00.001-08:00

I'm ba-ack! =) Fresh off the plane from the South Pacific and ready to blog again! =) I'm currently staying with my mom and Kevin in Atlanta for the holidays and will return to Seattle in mid-January. It was not easy to leave gorgeous, sunny NZ or my adorable husband behind, but I get to see all of my peeps here for a while, so it's worth it! Besides, Gordon is meeting me in Seattle in January (just six short weeks from now), and summer will come to the northern hemisphere eventually, right? RIGHT?! (I say this as I listen to the rhythm of the pouring rain on this gross, grey winter day...) At the moment we're just getting ready for Christmas, which always means spending some quality time at Macy's and Target and enjoying the delicious buffet at Sweet Tomatoes. Life is good. Here are some pictures my mom took of my adorable baby cousin, Gianna, eating a cupcake. There's enough cuteness there for five blogs, so that should keep you all happy until Christmas, just in case I don't get around to writing again! ¡Feliz Navidad!

Pengins! =)

2008-10-05T23:31:00.000-07:00

Who doesn't love penguins?! I can't think of any major anti-penguin groups operating in the world at the moment, and people don't eat penguins, right? So I think it's safe to assume that writing about them here will not only serve to keep my legions of current readers happy, but perhaps to attract millions of new fans to my blog. ;) (By the way, a quick Google search for "anti-penguin" did yield this weirdness.)

I don't want to talk about emperors, those penguins who march across Antarctica (though you should probably watch the 30-second version of that movie re-enacted by bunnies here), and I don't have much to say about rockhoppers (the ones who apparently compete in surfing competitions). Instead, I would rather fill you in on the cutest and tiniest of the penguins- the little blue ones! =)

Little blue penguins are known as fairy penguins in Australia and as kororā to the Maori people of NZ. They belong to the genus Eudyptula (Greek for "good little diver"), and they only live down here in the southern hemisphere, so you'll have to come and visit us if you want to see some. =) I have met some of these little guys, and boy are they cute! =) At 16 inches, they are the teensiest of the 17-20 modern penguin species, while the emperor is the largest at about 3'7". (The largest extinct species of penguin we know of is called Nordenskjoeld's Giant Penguin, who lived roughly 40 million years ago and whose fossils have been found here in NZ. He was a big guy- taller than me (close to 6 feet tall!) and way fatter (200 lbs)!)

Little blue penguins usually live for about 7 years, but some individuals have been known to live for over 20! They spend their nights in cosy nests in sheltered rock crevices or dug-out burrows and spend their days out in the sea hunting for yummy food like squid, plankton, krill, and anchovies. (Mmm... krill...) At dusk they all come home with full bellies, usually in groups (called rafts) so they're better protected against predators like seals, killer whales, and large gulls. (Some penguins opt for more urban accommodation and build their nests under buildings and stacks of timber. Also, they have no problem accepting the artificial nest boxes that humans sometimes build for them. I'm totally going to put one in the backyard and see if any penguins come to live with us.)

Breeding begins around age 3. They're monogomous (like me!) and return to the same burrow every year to breed (not like me)! They lay 2 eggs at a time, which take about 5 weeks to hatch, and males and females take turns incubating the eggs and caring for the babies. (Very egalitarian. I like that.) They can lay up to 3 sets of eggs per season. After about 2 months of hanging out in the nest and being fed regurgitated food, the chicks have lost their down have grown waterproof feathers like their parents. They naturally know how to swim and are ready to fend for themselves, so their parents kick them out of the nest. They disappear from the colony for at least a year, but will return to the same site to breed, usually within a few metres of where they were raised.

Here in Christchurch you can see some of these guys at the Antarctic Centre, though I'm pretty sure they don't actually live in the Antarctic- it's too cold for tiny penguins down there! They have a small colony living in captivity at the Centre, most of whom wouldn't survive very well in the wild due to various conditions and injuries. Here's a picture of Elvis, who is blind and does a lot of singing. I'm not sure why she's standing on one foot. (All of the other penguin pix here are from the Centre, too.) They live all over the place around the South Island- apparently they're fairly easy to see in the wild, though I still haven't managed to spot any! (We did see a yellow-eyed penguin in the wild, though, and that's far more rare! There are only about 4,000 of those in the world compared to about a million little blue ones!)

So, in conclusion, little blue penguins are short, blue, and very cute. You should come to New Zealand some time so you can meet some. The end. =) (P.S. If you enjoyed reading about the penguins here, you might want to take a look at the similar work done by Julian and Charles from Anderson's Creek Primary school in Australia- they have excellent illustrations on their page.)

UPDATE: September 2010: Ancient giant penguin unearthed in Peru! And he wasn't black (or blue) and white! See story here.

Mawwiage. Twoo Wuv.

2008-09-20T00:37:00.000-07:00

Man! Two and a half years can fly by when you spend it living on three different continents with the man of your dreams! =) It doesn't seem all that long ago that I was driving back and forth to Canada (which is really big) on the weekends to spend what little time I could with Gordon before he was potentially whisked away back to a place where he could live legally, and now I get to keep him! =) Forever! =) How cool is THAT?! For those of you whose e-mail addresses I don't have for whatever reason, let me just clarify- WE'RE GETTING MARRIED! =) Hooray! =) I couldn't be more excited if a Dr. Pepper van pulled up in front of our apartment and started giving out free Big Gulps, a vegan Chinese restaurant opened in the empty lot up the street, and a new pair of shoes magically grew in my closet every morning to match my outfit! Seriously. I am ecstatic! =)

As one might imagine, this exchange of vows, being a Kiwi-American affair, may have its share of complications, but none of them are gonna rain on my parade! In the immortal words of Matthew Wilder, "Ain't nothing gonna break my stride!" The big kahuna is all of the crazy, complicated paperwork required to make it so Gordon can come back to Seattle with me! (There are soy lattes just waiting to be sipped at Vérité, and we can hear the call of Mighty O donuts all the way down here!) Who knew there were so many forms a person has to fill out in quadruplicate! Quadruplicate! I have to agree to be on the hook for all of Gordon's bills for ten years or so, just in case once he gets to the US he decides that sipping soy lattes all day is actually his new career path. Also, we'll have to go to one of those interviews like in Green Card where they ask me what colour his toothbrush is and how we met, and then he gets all confused about what kind of face cream I use... Yikes! (For the record, I don't use any- what is face cream? Is it that stuff girls in movies are always wearing with cucumbers over their eyes when their hunky love interests come over for a surprise visit? I think it is, but I can't be sure. I'm thinking it's in the same family as cold cream, another elusive beauty product for which I apparently have no use.) Bronte in Green Card uses Monticello, not Monte Carlo. And that "big, French oaf" can't get the answers right and the feds toss him out like last week's escargot! Oh la la! That's just the kind of thing that can tear a perfectly legitimate couple apart! :o Gordon, if you're reading this, my toothbrush is green and my favourite food is broccoli. =) Yum.

So, there's going to be a party in Hotlanta. We're thinking early 2009. It will be SO MUCH FUN to have some of our closest peeps together in the same place! =) I can't wait! =) I want to keep it pretty simple- I'm definitely not the Bridezilla type, but I could see how I could become one if I had to deal with the colour of chair sashes or cream v. buttercream tablecloths! I don't want to be all stressed out, throwing a tanty the night before the wedding because of some insignificant detail! I'm sure it's every bride's intention, but I want to keep the party pretty small, fairly simple, and more or less free of stress. We'll see. Of course, we can't set a date yet- no idea when G will be legal to attend. We'll just have to wait and see what the good folks at US Immigration have in store for us, and then I'll send out invites. =) Sweet. =) I'm totally getting a tiara. ;)

So, thank you to everyone who has replied via e-mail and snail mail to our announcement- you guys are the best! (Speaking of the best, check out this fantastic card Kass made us!!! =) I love it! =) Especially the sombrero and the cute little pedestal I have to stand on to be as tall as my squid husband. =) Spectacular. Thank you, Kass!) I'll respond to all of those awesome e-mails really soon, and I promise there will be penguins on this blog ASAP! Thanks for the well wishes! Talk to you all very soon! =)

Phone Book Day!

2008-08-26T01:13:00.000-07:00

I went out to get the mail yesterday (my favourite time of the day- I love mail!), and there was a small pile of wet, plastic bags full of heavy, soggy phone books just waiting to be claimed by residents of our building, who would presumably give them good homes and lovingly blow-dry their sodden pages... The sight of all of those disintegrating phone books brought up a lot of thoughts and questions for me. I'd like to share some of those thoughts with you now and see what you think.

1) I'm sure there's a reason our phone books were delivered on a day when it was raining heavily, but could the people who deliver them perhaps have tried to find a more appropriate location to dump them other than in a heap on the ground beside the mailboxes (where they are not only not under any kind of rain shelter, but pretty close to sitting in puddles)?

2) Printing and delivering millions of phone books seems like a huge waste of paper, ink, plastic (for shoddily protecting them), and petrol (the gas that's used for the massive trucks needed to ship unnecessary quantities of enormous books all over the place). Shouldn't there be some kind of system whereby a person can opt out of (or, better yet, opt into) receiving phone books?

3) Do we need new phone books? We already have some, and we've never even used them. Not even once. I mean, aren't phone books a little bit antediluvian? Does anyone ever even use them anymore? Isn't the Internet easier/better?

4) Who's going to clean up the pile of plastic and pulp that's left by the fence over there in a week or two when the people who live here have all declined to take wet, (arguably useless) books into their homes?

I think that's enough questions. Now for my answers/opinions.

1) Yes. Leaving them in the rain was dumb/lazy. They could easily have been left by our front doors where they would have been more sheltered from the elements, and thus not rendered useless by water damage.

2) I think there should absolutely be a system whereby people who want phone books can tell the companies who print them that, yes, they would like phone books, please. (Or, at the very least, that no, they would not like phone books, please.) According to paperlesspetition.org, the Yellow Pages industry dropped over 540 million phone books in North America in 2006- that's way more than one per person! (In the UK, according to the Yellow Pages website, it was 28.3 million copies in 2006. That's about one for every two people, which is still a lot!) Why so many?! Well, in the olden days when people still had landline telephones, they would automatically receive the Yellow Pages. Now that more people are switching to cell phones, there's no real list of recipients, so they use a system of "saturation distribution" to make sure everyone and his brother/sister/dog/goldfish can get his hands (paws/pectoral fins) on a copy. Also, there can be many different versions in a single market- some people could get as many as 10 different phone books! Also, if Yellow Pages wants to make money, they have to say things like "we have a distribution of 70 gajillion" so that advertisers will fork over the cash to get their ads in there. If people could easily say no to phone books, those numbers would go down; maybe it would be harder to convince advertisers to splash out on pricey half-page ads. Yellow Pages apparently makes 97% of it's revenue ($14 billion in the US in 2006) from printed directories, and only 3% from online ones. That's why there are so many phone books! Some people try to opt of of receiving them, but it's not easy. I read one account of a person who had called the distributor and requested not to be sent any more phone books, but who continued to receive them. When she called to find out what was going on, she was told that the delivery people are given a list of people who do not want to receive the books, but it's so few people (since it's practically impossible to figure out how to make the request in the first place) that it's easier just to deliver them to everyone than to have to check the list. It's really hard to not get phone books. But I say there's got to be a better way. Maybe it could even be a system where you put a card on your doorknob like the "Do Not Disturb" ones at hotels. Yeah, that's it! The week before phone books come out, they could send a postcard out to everyone letting them know when the books would be delivered. That postcard could have one side that says "NO PHONEBOOKS, PLEASE" that you could hang on your door on delivery day. That way nobody has to keep track of addresses, which seems pretty complicated. It would be simple and easy. I am a genius. (I know that sending out millions of postcards seems like a waste of paper, but it's not as bad as millions of giant books, and it's the best I could come up with.)

3) As for the usefulness of phone books, well, I had to give this one the most thought. My first reaction was that they should just stop printing the things, but having considered it a bit more, I'm not so sure that's the way to go. Though some people argue that phone books are antiquated and want to get rid of them (like the good folks over at Paperless Petition), some people still find phone books to be quite useful. You may be surprised to know that although I use the Internet all the time, I am actually one of those people. Okay, sure- it is completely ridiculous to print 540 million copies of something that's going to be outdated almost as soon as it hits the presses. One could argue that if the phone directory were online, it could be easily updated- no need to print another 540 million books in a year's time. Sounds good. But not everyone has access to the Internet. And not everyone wants to/can afford to pay to call for directory assistance when he/she needs to find a phone number. If I needed a plumber, the first place I would look would be in the book. I like the ease of being able to circle the numbers I have called and make notes next to different companies if I'm comparing price quotes. I find that difficult to do with online directories, and I'm a paper person by nature, so I find the phone book easier when I want to find certain things. That said, I would still opt out of receiving new phone books if I had the option. I can sacrifice a little convenience in the name of saving some trees. Besides, most of us have old phone books lying around the house; I'm happy just to use those for a while longer. Surely some of the businesses that existed in 2004 will still be around, right? It's not really life-threatening for me not to have all of the latest listings, is it? But it is life-threatening to a bunch of trees, so I still think I should be able to decide if I get phone books or not. (Please see my brilliant plan under number 2. It works well in this case, too. I don't have to opt out forever. If I feel like my 2004 book isn't cutting it anymore, I can get new ones. But I don't have to. Did I say "genius" already?)

4) Who's going to clean up the mess over there by the mailbox? Well, judging by past experiences with other people's unwanted mail, probably me. Humph. Stupid, useless, wet phonebooks! Grumble, grumble... Maybe after they dry out I can use the pages to make some kind of phone book crafts like the trees and angels people used to make with old Reader's Digests? Hmmm...

So what do you think? Phone books- only good for dinosaurs, or "keep 'em coming; I hate trees!" I'm interested to hear your thoughts!

P.S. There really are penguins coming your way in a post or two- I just really needed to talk about phone books! I'm done now. Thanks for your patience. =)

Canterbury Adventures

2008-08-19T17:51:00.000-07:00

It's been a busy winter for us in cold, cold Christchurch! Our friend Jo from the UK (see her guest blog here) came to visit for about a month, rousing us from our state of apartment hibernation! It can be hard to make oneself want to leave the flat in the icy winter, but with the help of thermal underwear, Jo's new winter wardrobe from Glassons, and the promise of lots of coffee and cake at our city's fine cafés, we managed to get ourselves out and about quite a bit!

On Jo's birthday we went for a lovely walk (partly in the snow!) in the Port Hills, which separate Christchurch from Lyttelton Harbour. We walked from the Sign of the Takahe restaurant to the Sign of the Kiwi, a small café on Coronation Hill. From there we got a great view of the Cashmere Valley and of the harbour. All the way along our route there were stunning views of the snow-capped mountains in the distance and the chilly weather was actually perfect for a nice, long walk. Here is a picture of Jo and I at the Sign of the Kiwi.

Later that week we drove through NZ's longest road tunnel (yikes!) to get to Lyttelton, where we met up with our new friend Suzanne who lives there. We did a little shopping at the farmers' market, then Suzanne took us on a beautiful (and steep) walking tour through one of the cemeteries and back down into the town. It was lovely (and tiring). Luckily, I had consumed enough All Blacks Powerade to get me through the day. (I think the flavour is called Silver Charge, but it says All Blacks all over it, so I decided it tasted like All Blacks. They play rugby really well, but I have to warn you- they don't really taste all that great, especially when warm. I'm definitely more of a Gatorade girl.) Lyttelton, incidentally, is where Peter Jackson shot The Frighteners and where Joe Bennett, the guy who wrote this book I just read about underpants lives. (It was a really good book. You should read it.) Here's a picture of Lyttelton.

We (literally) took the scenic route home from Lyttelton, skipping the tunnel and instead heading over the hills to Sumner, where we ate fish & chips on a bench on the beach promenade. (Jo had the fish; G and I had the chips. We found that the three of us are a lot like that nursery rhyme about Jack Sprat. We make a good team.) Jo had two thumbs up for the yummy snack, but Gordon was distracted by something to the right over there. Was it a bird? A plane? A guinea pig playing soccer? A seven-year-old gymnast doing five press handstands? We may never know...

We're really happy that Jo came to see us; we had a great time! There are more posts to come about our fascinating adventures, so stay tuned! There will be penguins! =)

Joss Made Me Do It

2008-07-09T22:35:00.000-07:00

Voila! The teaser for Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, the new and exciting series from Joss Whedon, starring Doogie Howser MD and Captain Mal Reynolds from Firefly. Joss told me (and everyone else who can read) to spread the word about Dr. Horrible, so I am. When Joss says "jump," I say "to what planet?" And seeing as how he's a far better writer than myself, I'll let him explain the master plan, which I stole from the official Dr. Horrible website.

A LETTER FROM JOSS WHEDON

Dear Friends,

At last the time has come to reveal to you our Master Plan. BEWARE! Those with weak hearts should log off lest they be terrified by the twisted genius of our schemes! Also pregnant women and the elderly should consider reading only certain sentences. Do not mix with other blogs. Do not operate heavy machinery while reading this blog. You must be this tall to read. ‘Kay?

It is time for us to change the face of Show Business as we know it. You know the old adage, “It’s Show Business – not Show Friends”? Well now it’s Show Friends. We did that. To Show Business. To show Show Business we mean business. (Also, there are now other businesses like it.)

ONE WEEK ONLY! AN INTERNET MINISERIES EVENT!

"Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog" will be streamed, LIVE (that part’s not true), FREE (sadly, that part is) right on Drhorrible.com, in mid-July. Specifically:

ACT ONE (Wheee!) will go up Tuesday July 15th.

ACT TWO (OMG!) will go up Thursday July 17th.

ACT THREE (Denouement!) will go up Saturday July 19th.

All acts will stay up until midnight Sunday July 20th. Then they will vanish into the night, like a phantom (but not THE Phantom – that’s still playing. Like, everywhere.)

And now to answers a few Frequently (soon to be) Asked Questions:

1) Why, Joss? Why? Why now, why free, why us?

Once upon a time, all the writers in the forest got very mad with the Forest Kings and declared a work-stoppage. The forest creatures were all sad; the mushrooms did not dance, the elderberries gave no juice for the festival wines, and the Teamsters were kinda pissed. (They were very polite about it, though.) During this work-stoppage, many writers tried to form partnerships for outside funding to create new work that circumvented the Forest King system.

Frustrated with the lack of movement on that front, I finally decided to do something very ambitious, very exciting, very mid-life-crisisy. Aided only by everyone I had worked with, was related to or had ever met, I single-handedly created this unique little epic. A supervillain musical, of which, as we all know, there are far too few.

The idea was to make it on the fly, on the cheap – but to make it. To turn out a really thrilling, professionalish piece of entertainment specifically for the internet. To show how much could be done with very little. To show the world there is another way. To give the public (and in particular you guys) something for all your support and patience. And to make a lot of silly jokes. Actually, that sentence probably should have come first.

2) What happens when it goes away? Does it go to a happy farm for always like Fluffy did when mommy was crying and the neighbor kept washing his fender?

No, Dr horrible will live on. We intend to make it available for download soon after it’s published. This would be for a nominal fee, which we’re hoping people will embrace instead of getting all piratey. We have big dreams, people, and one of them is paying our crew.

And somewhat later, we will put the complete short epic out on DVD – with the finest and bravest extras in all the land. We’ll go into greater detail about that at Comiccon, but we’re changing the face of Show Friendliness a second time with that crazy DVD.

3) Joss, you are so kind, and generous, and your forehead is like, huge, like SCARY, like I think I can see Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint hanging off it… what can WE do to help this musical extravanganza?

What you always do, peeps! What you’re already doing. Spread the word. Rock some banners, widgets, diggs… let people know who wouldn’t ordinarily know. It wouldn’t hurt if this really was an event. Good for the business, good for the community – communitIES: Hollywood, internet, artists around the world, comic-book fans, musical fans (and even the rather vocal community of people who hate both but will still dig on this). Proving we can turn Dr Horrible into a viable economic proposition as well as an awesome goof will only inspire more people to lay themselves out in the same way. It’s time for the dissemination of the artistic process. Create more for less. You are the ones that can make that happen.

Wow. I had no idea how important you guys were. I’m a little afraid of you.

4) Joss, do you ever answer a question simply or coherently?

Shledzguohn?

There’ll be more questions, and more long, long answers, but for now I’m just excited that we’re actually making this happen. We (and a lot of other people -- gushing to commence soon) worked very hard on the show and we hope/think you guys will be pleased.

Until July 15th , I remain, yours truly, -j, of the firm j, j, m & z.

So there you have it! I hope everyone will join in and log on to enjoy the sing-along hilarity!

Ridiculously Cute!

2008-07-08T05:12:00.000-07:00

Kitties. Sooooo cute. I wish I could have one of my very own to squeeze, but that would involve living in a country for more than a year at a time. Hmph. I lieu of that, I present to you some of my favoourite "lolcats" from I Can Has Cheezburger- perhaps the most adorable site on the entire interwebz. (Kass turned me on to it- she has a nose for cuteness!) Here you goez!

And the cutest of them all...

Sometimes I Read

2008-07-05T06:29:00.000-07:00

I used to read constantly as a kid. When I sat on Santa’s lap at the Ohio Valley Mall, every year I asked for the same thing for Christmas- books. (I’m sure there were additional items on my list, but none come to mind except for Fruity Pebbles cereal.) Now, I’m not saying I was demanding Dickens or anything- at age 10 it was mostly Sweet Valley Twins and The Babysitter’s Club for me; I absolutely adored them! I begged and pleaded with my poor mom to get the newest ones as they were released- she must have spent a fortune at B. Dalton, but I had to have them! I’m sure I read at least 30 or 40 of each series, and a lot of those were read and re-read. When I found these pictures of the original cover art on Amazon, I was blown away by the flood of memories they brought back! Not memories of me as a skinny, nerdy kid with no friends, but memories of Sweet Valley, where Jessica joined the Unicorn Club with Lila Fowler, and where Elizabeth redecorated her room in navy blue and beige, and of Stoneybrook, where the Babysitter’s Club met at Claudia’s house and talked about their “charges” and Kid-Kits and wrote a journal about their experiences… I got totally lost in those worlds, and I remember so many of the details! It’s amazing how things like that can still be lodged in my brain after 20 years! I can barely remember what I had for breakfast, but I can still conjure these vivid scenes of an imaginary middle school from the 80’s… I continued my love affair with literacy all through middle school, when I tried to go through the entire fiction section of the school library in alphabetical order. (I didn’t succeed, don’t worry. I’m not a total freak.) I especially loved Ellen Conford, Mabel Esther Allan, and Paul Zindel. Sadly, though, high school hit and books all but disappeared from my life. My reading habit has never fully recovered. As an adult I’ve gone through a few periods of heavy reading, but they’ve been pretty short-lived, and even then it’s been more non-fiction than anything else. In the last couple weeks I have read four fiction books (I’m pretty proud of myself) and I’m starting to realize how much I’ve really missed it! I miss fiction! I just finished The Jane Austen Book Club about an hour ago (it wasn't earth-shattering, but it held my interest), and I’m going to make an effort to keep this little bookworm ball rolling by diving right into something new tonight! I’ve got a few books on the shelf waiting to be read, but when those are done I’ll be looking for suggestions, so if you’ve just read something fantastic, please leave me a note in the comments! Gotta run! It’s time to go get cozy with a cup of tea and a new adventure! See you at the library! =)

Word of Mouth

2008-07-02T02:57:00.000-07:00

I have been tagged! I think that makes me some kind of official member of the blogosphere. What are tags and how do they work? Well, I'm not entirely sure, but it seems to me that they are a way for your friends with blogs to make you write about whatever they want, presumably because they think you are a gifted writer and value your opinions on the topics they have selected. (But maybe it's really because they know you're too lazy to write your blog at all unless publicly asked to do so, and then linking to it, so you can't get out of it without everyone knowing! Tricky...) So, I am honoured, of course, to have been tagged on Kass's 3rd Word of Mouth post. This means that it's my turn to think of things I enjoy and recommend them to you, the public at large. =) So here goes! =)

A classic. I used to use this as a kid because my mom always had it around. It came in a big ol' plastic tub with a screw-off lid that I could almost stick my whole 8-year-old paw into if my mom wasn't around to see it. ;) My mom eventually moved on to (inferior) Neutrogena face products, and so did I. (While I don't like their soap, I have to say that T-Gel is my hero. I would have it on my cereal if it wouldn't make me throw up.) In my teens and twenties I branched out to all different face products, and even fell for the hype and ordered that (also inferior) Proactiv stuff that Jessica Simpson is always peddling on tv. But now I'm back where I started! I looove this stuff! It leaves my skin all soft and nice, doesn't make me break out, smells good, isn't too pricey, and isn't tested on any of our furry friends, so what's not to like? =)

Who woulda thunk it? I like modern fiction! Those of you who know my reading preferences would likely be surprised that I should deign to read anything not written before 1900... Really, anyone current enough to have had access to a typing device (aside from Barbara Kingsolver) is inconsequential as far as my literary habits are concerned. (I'm not saying it's right; I'm just stating the facts.) But Gordon left this one out on the table and I read it. I don't know why I never listen when he tells me there are good authors under 100 years old, but I should. (I hope he doesn't think I'm one of them- if he reads this I'll surely be eating my words!) Anyhow, this book was very good. =) It had interesting, believeable characters, the writing was really smart and very funny, and there were many mentions of office supplies. Definitely recommended.

Man! How is this show still so good? It's nothing short of brilliant! I remember watching it with my mom on tv the first time around and loving every episode, especially the ones with lots of Ed Chigliak. I love that guy! My adoration for the show (and Ed) was shared by my penpal Donna who even sent me a pocket-size Northern Exposure notebook, which I'm pretty sure I still have somewhere. Gordon and I have been watching the series again on DVD recently, and it hasn't lost anything over time. Okay, maybe the jeans are a little high-waisted, and the music on the DVD's is nowhere near as good as the original music, but it's still just great. First thing on my list when we return to Washington is a weekend trip to Roslyn, where it was filmed. I know we won't run into Ed, but we can still go to The Brick for a brewski!

Pigs. I'd like to recommend pigs. I'm not sure for what, but definitely not for eating. Pigs are friends, not food! Here is a picture of me with my friend Edgar from Best Friends Animal Society in Utah. He is very, very cute and does not enjoy romaine lettuce. I kinda feel like pigs don't get the respect they deserve. I mean, people are always on about how other animals (like dogs) are so great (and they are- look at cute Rockford), but if we're grading on intelligence and personality, pigs are actually smarter than dogs, and just as playful and loyal. (They're even smarter than 3-year-old humans.) They know what's going on. I know of at least one person who really appreciates pigs- Judy, the founder of Pigs Peace Sanctuary. Such a cool lady and an awesome organisation. Go check it out- hooray for pigs! =)

Lastly, I'd like to recommend Google Reader, my new best friend. There must be other programs like this out there, but I'm a big fan of Google because they make everything so easy for those of us who are maybe not-so-techy. So I subscribe to all of my favourite blogs, and then I never have to look for them again- I just sign in to Reader and it tells me if any of them have been updated and shows them to me right there on the same screen! It's like subscribing to the newspaper and only getting the sections you like to read! Brilliant! =) Try it- you'll like it! =)

I hope these suggestions have been useful! I'm tagging everyone!!! Every last one of you! Now, go forth and recommend stuff! =) (Okay, I kid. But you could always recommend your favourite things in the comments!)

Ruggers!

2008-06-21T20:41:00.000-07:00

We went to see the rugby last night- my first rugby match ever! =) It was New Zealand playing England at AMI Stadium here in Christchurch. (For those of you who don't know, New Zealand's national team, the All Blacks, are arguably the best team in the world. I get the impression that all of the other teams are really scared of them. If you saw how big some of those dudes are, you'd probably be scared of them, too.) It was freezing, but I was wearing so many layers of fleece I couldn't bend my arms, so I was pretty comfy. Things started out a little weird- there was a marching band and fireworks and a couple of people in military uniforms riding around in a jeep and singing songs we couldn't really understand- it was strange. But then came the choir to sing the national anthems, which were great, and then the haka, the traditional Maori dance they perform at the beginning of each match. I love the haka! It's a ceremonial dance to mentally prepare the team for the match. The other team usually stands there and tries to look bored or unaffected even though they're more likely shaking in their rugby boots! It was really cool to see it live! (Leave it to me to be most impressed by the dancing portion of a sporting evening!) Anyhow, the game itself was excellent. =) New Zealand pretty much trounced England- the final score was 44-12, which didn't really surprise anyone. In fact, I don't think any of the English fans even noticed- they all continued to drunkenly sing really loud, out-of-tune songs (as they are wont to do) in the streets after the match was over. (They love to sing Swing Low, Sweet Chariot. What's that all about anyway?) It was a little bit hard to tell what was happening in the match at times without the commentators (even when there are commentators I sometimes don't get it!) so Gordon had to explain a lot of what was going on. I also took a few cues from the French guy sitting right behind us- any time something went wrong for the All Blacks he would say "Oh la la!" really loud and Frenchily. There were a few more Frenchies around- I overheard at least a couple of others. They really love the ruggers in France, especially the All Blacks! I heard somewhere that they actually sell more All Blacks merchandise in France than anywhere else in the world. So, who are my favourites, you ask? Well, my long-time favourite is Rodney So'oialo (seen above with Joe Rokocoko in a picture I borrowed from apdz07 on flickr. He's the one with the dreads). He is a large, muscley Samoan guy who has great hair that flops around while he crushes his opponents. Then there's everyone's favourite, Dan Carter, who looks quite a bit like Superman and who models underwear in his spare time. Here he is on the right looking very superheroic. =) My new favourite, though, is cute Ma'a Nonu (below)- you've gotta admire his skills and his awesome neon dreads and tattoos! Here he is scoring a try in last night's match. (You can watch videos of Ma'a in action with fantastic soundtrack music by Lovage here and by Wax Tailor here.) At the end of the match we watched as all of the players shook hands and congratulated each other in a very sportsmanlike way. Then some of the All Blacks signed autographs for people and took pictures with kids in the crowd. =) They seem like very nice guys, despite looking like large, angry warriors! I was really impressed by their willingness to interact with the fans and media and to be so accommodating after 80 minutes of running and getting smashed around and all of that. =) It was a great kiwi experience! =) Now that I can officially call myself a fan, I can't wait to see the match against South Africa in a couple of weeks! =) Go AB's! =)

Read Me!

2008-06-16T04:30:00.000-07:00

I'd like to take this opportunity to recommend a a New York Times article I came across today. (It was published in January- I'm a little bit slow!) It's about the factory farming of animals for food, and the effects it has on us and on the planet. I know it's not really a fun thing to think about, but it's a pretty short article and it's on a subject that's very important to me, personally. (I believe it's important to lots of people, whether they're aware of it or not.) I promise it's very interesting. So if you have five minutes, I would love it if you'd take the time to read the article. All comments welcome (as always). Click here. This cute cow and I thank you. =)

Best Package Ever! =)

2008-06-14T18:53:00.000-07:00

Remember when I said there’s nothing quite so good as receiving a nice, handwritten letter in the mail? Well, I lied. There is something just as wonderful- receiving an awesome care package from your mom in the mail! I arrived home from work Friday in a crummy mood, because right at the very end of the day I'd managed to smash my hand in between my desk and the arm of my chair, and it was very, very ouchy. =/ But I arrived home to find a (curously heavy) parcel awaiting me, and as soon as I opened the box, all thoughts of my (permanently disfigured) hand flew right out the window! My mom really outdid herself this time! There were dozens of my favourite hair ties, awesome Uni-ball pens, homemade dishcloths (yes, she crocheted them! They’re too pretty to use!), among other delightful prizes! Most importantly, there were delicious American foodstuffs! She sent Twizzlers (still haven’t found an acceptable foreign substitute), grits (quick grits AND instant ones!), teas, coffees, and most surprisingly-DILL PICKLES! I looooove pickes. Just thinking about them now is literally making my mouth water! (That’s how you know if you have the mumps. You have to think about dill pickles, because it makes your mouth water. If it hurts or tingles funny, you’re in trouble. I learned that one from my granny.) I haven’t found good pickles (what they call “gherkins”) in New Zealand, and somehow my mom found little plastic snak-paks of them! And they’re my favourite brand! Amazing! I could hardly believe my eyes (or my salivary glands)! I know my mom will read this, so THANK YOU, mom! This is for sure the best package ever! Mmmm, pickles…

Bad Handwriting Kills

2008-06-12T03:08:00.000-07:00

That’s right- I said it. Bad handwriting actually kills people. Thousands of people die in the US every year because of doctors’ notoriously bad handwriting. Medical charts are misread. Pharmacists can’t decipher the prescriptions doctors write. In a landmark 1999 case, a cardiologist was fined $225,000 when his illegible handwriting caused a patient to be given the wrong drug- the patient had a heart attack and died as a result. Some states have now passed “safe script” legislation- pharmacists are encouraged to turn in doctors whose prescriptions they deem unreadable, and the doctors are issued fines. And the FDA now makes drug companies test new drug names by simulating the process of writing prescriptions by hand to lessen any confusion that might be caused. (Interesting article here.) But forget the doctors for a minute- how about this case in the UK? A guy was picked up for hunting for game on someone else's land, but the police report was illegible, so his lawyer was not able to prepare a defense. The lawyer said that it was a breach of human rights laws not to be able to read the case against the client and the magistrates agreed. The case was thrown out of court. All this is to say that handwriting is important. I’m really not trying to be some sort of penmanship elitist. Admittedly I’m no slouch when it comes to putting pen to parchment- my handwriting is pretty good by conventional standards. I even won the penmanship award in second grade. But I promise I won’t think any less of you if your grocery list doesn’t look like an engraved invitation. (“To: Mr. Whole Grain Bread and Guest. You are hereby invited into my trolly…”) As long as you can read it, who cares? But I think a person should be able to print or write legibly in any situation where someone else might ever have to read it. Simple as that. Am I asking too much? Do I sound slightly miffed? As if I have perhaps recently been on the receiving end of a chirographic catastrophe? Indeed, this rekindled interest in penmanship does come on the heels of an incredibly frustrating couple of days at work... I was asked to type a list of names, employers, addresses, and e-mail addresses from a training seminar- they’d passed around a sheet and everyone had signed up to receive their certification card for having been there. There were maybe 100 people on the list. No problem- should take less than an hour, right? Hah! I spent over 4 hours trying to decipher these people’s information! I’m not from Christchurch, so I am not familiar with the street names; I had to look a lot of them up on the internet to make sure I was reading them correctly. I had the phone book out, too, just in case by some miracle I could actually read a person’s full name, then I could look up the address in the book for clarity. I spent additional time calling the recipients’ workplaces to ask them for correct spellings… I would not have gone to all of this trouble if it were not for work- these people pay me, so I do what they say. But as far as I’m concerned, if you can’t even write your own name properly (let alone your address or email), then you simply do not deserve to receive whatever it is you’ve signed up to receive. (Oh, you didn’t get the e-mail/letter telling you that the out-of-town meeting was postponed and you need to change your flight and hotel arrangements? Too bad! We couldn’t read your writing- it’s your own fault you’re stuck at an empty HoJo’s in Tulsa! Hahaha!) I mean, four hours of my life were wasted trying to find patterns in one-line samples of people’s writing- that must be an “o” because that one over there is an “o,” but it looks like a “w”… Hmmm… For four hours I did this- these are your tax dollars at work, New Zealand! And I’m sure it happens all over the world- administrators of all sorts wasting countless hours, wanting to tear their hair out, trying to decode people’s insanely bad penmanship… Seriously, how hard can it be to write your own name? (Grrr… ) So, we know that people get dead, cases get thrown out of court, and office workers (myself a shining example) come dangerously close to going completely off the rails- all because of bad handwriting. But what would happen if we just typed everything or spoke into some kind of voice recognition device, as some people suggest? Could that be the solution to all of our problems? (Read an article about computers for doctors here.) Would we be missing out on anything by just not learning to write at all and letting technology take care of things? Not surprisingly, yes. According to a recent study, learning to write is actually an important part of the educational process. Kids do better with spelling and math when they don’t have to worry about not being able to write the letters and numbers correctly- when it’s more automatic. (Read more about it in this Newsweek article.) As crazy as it sounds, I have read arguments for dropping handwriting from the school curriculum entirely and “progessing” toward the use computers instead of teaching kids to write properly (see one article here, and be sure to read the comments). Basically, the author says that she never uses writing in her own life except for signing credit card receipts, and her kid is having trouble learning it in school, so they shouldn't teach it anymore because it's archaic anyway. There’s no way I could adequately respond to the absurdity of this article in this very small space, but let me just say that maybe this author lives a privileged life where she can do absolutely everything electronically, and maybe she doesn't care if her kid can ever sign his name without the use of a computer, but that’s just not the reality for most of us. We fill out insurance forms at the hospital; we take phone messages for co-workers. I just don’t think computers can be used for 100% of our written communication. To list a tiny few of the most obvious problems, what if the electricity is out? What if there’s an emergency and you need to leave a note for someone? What if you can’t afford a computer or voice recognition software? It’s absurd to think that there won't ever come a time in a person’s life when it's important to be able to write legibly. More and more things are able to be accomplished with the use of computers, but decent handwriting is still of vital importance, as far as I’m concerned. (And with that I bite my thumb at all of those guys whose offices I called to get the spelling of their names right. Punks.) Sooo… your handwriting is terrible- what can you do? Well, ideally you could seek out a handwriting improvement course like the ones being taken by some doctors. Or try these exercises from wikihow and ehow- it might even change your personality, as suggested in this (quasi-scientific) article. If anyone does any of these, I’d be interested to see how it goes! I think good writing will be with us for a long, long time. It may change form- italics is the new cursive (what does the future hold for cursive?) just like the Uni-ball is the new quill- but writing is always present in our lives. There’s still nothing quite so nice as receiving a handwritten letter from someone far away… And if you made it this far and have enjoyed this post, please let me know. I may just express my gratitude for your positive feedback with a handwritten thank-you note. =)

Cricket is cool!

2008-06-07T18:34:00.000-07:00

It’s cricket time in the northern hemisphere and the kiwi team is currently doing a tour of England, which I figure makes this a perfect time to tell you about my first cricket experience! Back in (hot, hot) February I went to my first live match, and it was awesome! =) We saw the Black Caps (NZ) versus England in a one-day international match in Napier. I shall hazard a guess that most people reading this know little about the game of cricket, and I can’t say that I know all that much more than you do, but I’ll try to shed a little light on the subject. =) First of all, matches range in length from five-day test matches right down to the newer 20-20’s which only last a couple of hours. The one we went to was somewhere in the middle of those two- it was a one-dayer, so we were there for about eight hours. =) Also, cricket is a little bit like baseball, but only a little bit. =) There are pitchers (bowlers) and batters (batsmen) and catchers (wicket keepers), but their roles are really not all that similar to baseball players’… Ah, methinks it far beyond my expertise to explain it well, so I refer you to Cricket Explained for Novices. That should clear everything up. =) One wacky thing about cricket is that they don’t alternate batting like in baseball. In our match, England batted for a few hours and then after lunch (yes, lunch!) NZ had to “chase” the number of runs England had racked up. (In this case, England got a whopping 340 runs! That’s a big number to chase!!) It was weird to just sit and watch England bat for 3 or 4 hours before NZ even got a turn! Another thing that’s odd is that tons of the players are bowlers. In baseball, pitching is really specialized, and half the time those guys never even have to bat! But here, each guy can only bowl ten overs (1 over = 6 balls bowled), so you need at least five guys who can bowl on your team, and nobody ever bowls more than one over consecutively, so they’re always moving around into different fielding positions and switching bowlers and that kind of thing. Also, this was only a one-day match, so the teams wear whatever colours they want, but in a 5-day match everyone on both teams has to wear white! It’s surprisingly not all that confusing and it looks quite nice on the pitch! My favourites from this match are Daniel Vettori (NZ’s captain and awesome bowler), Jesse Ryder (always seems to being doing something cool like getting people out), and Jamie How, who scored 139 runs all by his lonesome! On the English side I like Stuart Broad, but only really because he looks just like Malfoy from Harry Potter and he’s tall and skinny. (That's him with hirsute Ryan Sidebottom to the right there.) He also gave away a ton of runs this match, which worked out well for NZ. =) So, what happened, you might ask?!?! After eight hours of hard work, it really came down to the very last ball- as far as I can tell, NZ should have come back to win it, but some mishaps right in the end made it less and less likely until they scored one last run on the last ball that tied the match. I would have been really disappointed if we’d lost, but a tie is okay. Probably fair, really. Glad cricket doesn’t go into extra innings; we would’ve need our sleeping bags! :o

Snow!

2008-06-06T21:29:00.000-07:00

Old Man Winter has officially arrived! As I sit here in our warm and cosy lounge (in my pink fluffy bathrobe) I can see big, chunky snowflakes falling outside the window... Oh, it's just lovely- see? =) I love it when it snows! =) In honour of the first snow of the season, I think we should talk about all things snowy! =) First of all, what is snow? Whence does it come? How do I get rid of it? Could I see some pictures? Look no further than All About Snow! And about the structure- could it really be true that no two snowflakes are alike? Find out more about snowflake physics here. Oh- and all of those animals who live in the snow- they're so cute and fluffy! =) There's the adorable arctic hare; there are arctic foxes and white ermines (see photo) and unimaginably cute harp seals, and polar bears, of course! And who could forget the snowy owl? It even has snow in its name! =) Speaking of things with snow in the name, there's that guy from Canada called Snow who had a big hit in 1993 with the (bordering on ridiculous) song "Informer"- you can see the video here. And there's the band Snow Patrol (I guess somebody has to keep an eye on that Canadian guy if he's gonna go around informing on people all the time), who are from Ireland and do a lot of good stuff, including the hit "Chasing Cars." Even though they're Red Hot, the Chili Peppers also got in on the snow action in 2006 with their song "Snow (Hey Oh)." I really like that one, though I have no idea what he's on about... Wikipedia offers some insight here. If all of of this doesn't satisfy your snow curiosity, you could go to Snow College! I don't know what they really teach there, but surely there's something about snow in the curiculum? Ahhh, snow! =) I hope it's a little bit warmer where you are, but I'm perfectly happy to hang out here and watch the snow. =)

Hello, Winter? Is That You?

2008-05-30T18:26:00.000-07:00

It’s almost winter here in the southern hemisphere. The leaves have changed colour and, alas, so have I- my marvelous tan from a summer spent (strategically) lazing around on New Zealand’s sandy beaches has faded away to almost the same pale, pasty grey as the sky was when I was walking home from work today. The days are getting colder and shorter and so am I (well, my hair got shorter last week), but through the cold and gloom I often catch myself smiling thinking about all of the exciting things that I associate with the colder seasons. And there I was this morning donning my scarf and gloves for the frigid three-minute commute to the office, grinning away for no outwardly apparent reason, when it suddenly dawned on me- this is not the winter that I know and love! :o I mean, it’s the end of fall (autumn for you non-Americans), so didn’t we miss my birthday? And what about Thanksgiving?! By my confused brain’s calculations Thanksgiving should have been last Thursday! Where’s my green bean casserole?! It feels like winter, but it’s all backwards! :o The thing is, I really love this time of year! I love the crispness of a clear fall day when all the leaves have just changed colour- the streets are beautiful, like rusted rainbows, with all of the reds and yellows and browns… Fall gives me such a cuddly feeling! I love the smell of the fallen leaves- it makes me feel all autumnal… Christchurch has been beautiful the last few weeks! But then comes winter which usually means sleigh bells and icicles and snow and Christmas with my family and hot chocolate… Now, don’t get me wrong- I don’t want to disparage a kiwi winter- I haven’t even experienced one yet! But I’ve started to wonder just what there is to look forward to in winter in New Zealand! =/ Once I got my head on a straight enough to realize that it’s actually May and that there’s no pumpkin pie or Silent Night looming close on the horizon, I started to wonder how all of these kiwis make it through such a dreary time of year without all of the good stuff! In our immediate family the birthdays start with my mom’s in late August and roll steadily by until November, so every month there’s something to celebrate. Then comes Thanksgiving- my favourite holiday (not so much for the massacring of native peoples as for the broccoli and mashed potatoes). And then it’s time to get in the holiday spirit, which means an endless rotation of my 100+ CD’s of Christmas music for a month! Everywhere you go there are decorations and twinkling lights, and there’s that special wintery Christmas tingle in the air… But not in New Zealand! Christmas is in the summer and they don't have Thanksgiving at all! I have conducted a little research, and though skiing and the Queen's birthday were mentioned, it seems like the main attraction here in winter is rugby. They're rugby mad down here! So, though I’m not entirely convinced it will be as magical as Christmas lights and candy canes, I’m going to the rugby next month- the All Blacks against England here in Christchurch. I’m sure it will be wonderful, and I may even love it more than I expect to, but I have to say- it’s just not pumpkin pie, is it?

Brrrrrr!

2008-05-28T23:03:00.000-07:00

It’s cold in here! There must be some Toros in the atmosphere! (It’s okay if you have no idea what that means. If you knew instantly what I was talking about, it’s okay if you pretend you didn’t. Personally, I love Bring It On! I am not ashamed. I’ve got spirit- yes I do.) Anywho, it is chilly in Christchurch! Winter is upon us! (I don’t care about equinoxes and dates! If it’s this cold, it must be winter!) I suppose it’s not really any colder than other places I’ve lived, it just feels like it. There are two main reasons for this. First, a lot of the buildings here just aren’t as well sealed or insulated as they could be. (We live in an older building and I swear there are Antarctic winds coming from the edges of the bathroom window. The floor in there feels like a polar ice sheet. Penguins help me get dressed in the morning.) Secondly, there’s a definite lack of central heating. Some fancy folks have heat pumps, but a lot of people just use oil heaters (like the one next to which I’m huddling in the photo) and little fan heaters. (A rare photo, by the way, as shortly after it was taken I invested a giant, pink terrycloth bathrobe- like this- which I only take off when I’m in the shower or at work. It makes me look about 100 lbs. heavier than I actually am, and I bear a very close resemblance to that fuzzy guy from the Pink Batts insulation commercials. Surely Gordon has never found me so attractive. Whatever- I’m warm!) So I hope you northern hemispherians are enjoying the warmth of summer! And if it gets too hot, remember you can always come visit us (and the bathroom penguins) in icy Christchurch! (FYI: BYO bathrobe.)

Christchurch!

2008-05-25T04:05:00.000-07:00

Oops! It occurs to me that whilst prattling on about all of our road trip adventures, I may have neglected to mention that we found an apartment and we’re living in Christchurch! We’ve been here for two months already! :o Time flies when you’re having yummy vegan pies at the Gravity Café! =) Christchurch is a lovely, gardeny city of roughly 400,000 people- it’s the largest city on the South Island and the second largest in the country (after Auckland). There’s a beautiful cathedral in the square (Christ Church Cathedral) which is especially striking at night when the stained glass is all lit up. The river Avon runs right through the centre of town, and there are all kinds of beautiful places around which to meander like the banks of the river and the botanical gardens. It’s all nice and flat here, too, so all that meandering doesn’t completely tucker you out. =) The city is up to its ears in used book stores- soooo tempting, but not so good for the weight of my luggage! Otherwise I could seriously spend days browsing in Smith’s Bookshop- a three-story book lover’s Mecca… Quite possibly the best bookstore I have been to in any country (though it must be said that the old Book Nook in Atlanta served me very well in days gone by). There are tons of great cafés and bars and movie theatres around, and they’re all very easy to get to from our prime central city location. =) Everyone should visit. =) So far we’ve had two houseguests. First was Keri, who only had two days with us due to our opposite travel schedules, and very unluckily for her those days happened to be the ones when we were moving into our new apartment! :o I wish we’d had a little more time together, but it was fun to catch up and make stir-fry together in our new place! (Here’s a picture of the three of us- Keri is showing her excitement about the variety of ice cream flavours NZ has to offer.) Then came Gretchen, with whom we had a great time wandering around the city, going out for coffee (see photo), and watching terrible movies on TV late into the night while gorging ourselves on “blobs,” our new favourite chocolatey addiction. (E-mail me if you want the recipe- they’re YUM!) It’s been great fun having visitors- next in line is our friend Jo from Nottingham! Can’t wait to see her in July! =) We love our cute little (coldish) flat in the Garden City, but miss all of our peeps abroad- hope to see some of you soon when you come for ski holidays in August! =)

Best Hostel EVER?

2008-05-03T03:59:00.000-07:00

Back to the East Cape… Maraehako Bay Retreat really shouldn’t be called a hostel- the more correct term in New Zealand is “backpackers’ accommodation.” Besides, that word “hostel” sounds so… hostile. I never did like it much. So, best backpackers’ EVER? Well, if it’s not, it’s gotta be pretty high on the list! =) This place was awesome! We stopped there on the recommendation of a guy we met at Brian’s Place in Tokomaru Bay. We meant to just drive up and see if we liked it, but it was wayyy down a really steep, narrow driveway, and by the time we had navigated that and found a place into which to wedge our car, Pihi, our gregarious host, was right there with a warm and friendly greeting, and offered us the last double room he had left- a cosy caravan right by the water. =) How could we refuse? =) The Lonely Planet called Maraehako a “paradisaical hostel [that] owes more than just a little to Robinson Crusoe.” Now, admittedly, I'm not really up on my Defoe, but I couldn’t agree more with that paradise part! It’s a big, multi-level house with all kinds of steps and ladders and trees growing out of lots of decks and balconies, all of which look out onto the sea. There are nets and ropes and plants everywhere, and it’s literally right on the beach. This is actually the view from the window of our caravan. Beautiful! We spent our afternoon there paddling around the bay in the kayaks that are free for guests to use and climbing on the rocky shore looking at limpets and snails and such… After dinner we sat around the big driftwood fire and chatted with other travellers, and there was even a little singing. =) It was lovely. =) Though we awoke to crummy weather, we slept quite well in our cosy little room. =) I totally recommend this place to anyone traveling the Cape, but bring your sleeping bag if you’re staying in the bunks, because they don’t provide linen in the dorm-style rooms, and stock up on supplies before you get there, because you’re totally not going to want to leave to find a grocery store once you get sucked into this amazing place. =) I hope you get to go there sometime, and if you do, please say hello to Tiger the kitty from us. Prrrrrrr... =)

Too much travel, not enough SOUP!

2008-04-28T06:16:00.000-07:00

Is this what I hear you saying? Could the distant rumble I hear be the combined voices of my ever-loyal readership (of two or three) humbly beseeching change? Does the bread-and-water diet of travel tales I have been feeding you leave you hungry for something with a bit more bite? Something you can sink your teeth into, perhaps? Well, you’ll be pleased to know that your cries have not fallen on deaf ears, my friends. I concur with your findings, and I second the motion for a shift of subject matter. To that end I shall dispense with the camping chronicles (for a limited engagement of one post only) to bring you a delicious, simple, and healthful recipe! =) Hooray! =) (Don’t worry- it’s easy to make, and it goes quite well with bread and water.) Have you ever wondered what to do with all of those pesky broccoli stalks once you’ve stripped them of their tasty florets? Do you hesitate to throw them in the trash (or have a small, broccoli-obsessed child who picks them out of the garbage and demands that you cook them)? And celery- the celery here can be HUGE! What am I ever going to do with all that celery?! It doesn’t even fit in out refrigerator! It turns out that the simple solution to this surplus of stalks is a scrumptious and savoury soup! =) I took the recipe from one of my favourite cookbooks, Cook Vegan by Richard Youngs. It has been tested on both Gordon and Gretchen (my friend Jess’s ex-housemate Amy’s sister who’s staying with us) who gave it two (or four?) happy thumbs up! I hope you will, too! =) If you try it, let me know what you think! =)

Broccoli & Celery Soup

Ingredients
1 ½ tbsp. sunflower oil
1 small onion
2 handfuls broccoli stalks
3 small stalks of celery
2 ½ cups water
2 ½ tbsp. soy sauce

Method
Roughly chop all the vegetables. Over a medium heat, briefly sauté the chopped broccoli and celery in the sunflower oil. Add the remaining ingredients, bring to the boil, cover, turn down heat and simmer for 25 minutes. Liquidize and serve. Yum! =)

Raukokore

2008-04-20T18:23:00.001-07:00

There are all kinds of small (and not-so-small) landmarks dotting the East Coast of New Zealand, from painted caravans on the beach to giant, rusty, 660-metre piers. One of our favourites was this sweet little Anglican church in Raukokore. It was built in 1894 and sits right out by the water on its own little promontory, all by its lonesome… (You can get a better idea of its isolation and picturesque setting from this beautiful photo by Don Smith.) Actually, I suppose it’s not all by its lonesome, as there are penguins who live under it, possums that stop by to inflict damage (go back to Australia, possums!), a steady stream of tourists dropping in, and surely people who go there regularly to worship. But when we were there, we were the only ones around. We didn’t see (or smell) any penguins, and the space was just lovely and clean and sunny and quiet. =) The little church may be standing there all alone, but it doesn’t seem lonely- just peaceful. =)

Big Big Tree! =)

2008-04-19T03:37:00.000-07:00

They've got some big trees in New Zealand! This one is special- it's the country's (and most likely the world's) largest pohutukawa tree! It’s 350+ years old and lives in the schoolyard in Te Araroa. It’s about 22 metres high and 40 metres across and has 22 trunks! Here’s a picture of our car underneath it when we visited- it’s massive! They flower from November to January, so if we’d been there a few weeks earlier, it would’ve been covered in bright red flowers and looked like this, only bigger. That's why they call the pohutukawa NZ's Christmas tree. I'll bet this guy would look pretty spectacular all decked out in his finest stamens for the holidays! Pohutuhohoho! =)

Camping a la Kiwi

2008-04-15T05:26:00.000-07:00

How awesome is camping in New Zealand? Let's just forget all of the beautiful scenery and wildlife for a minute and focus on the actual camping. First and foremost, New Zealand campgrounds have KITCHENS. That’s right, kitchens. Anyone who’s ever camped in the US and Canada can tell you that it’s strictly BYO if you’re looking for a stove on which to boil your broccoli, but not here! They have kitchens! Not to say that they're all spectacular- some are fancy and newfangled with all the amenities, while others are less impressive, i.e. crooked burners, a fridge, and a kettle. But there’s always a stove, sink, and fridge, and usually far more than one of each (depending on the size of the place), so you can take cold stuff like milk and butter (or soymilk and Olivani!) on the road without having to buy ice for your cooler every other day, and there’s plenty of room for cooking and clean-up without having to step on other campers’ toesies. Some places even supply dish soap and towels, and some will lend you pots and pans if you don’t have any. Awesome. The coolest part is that these things are very standard. We never once had to resort to peanuts and bananas for dinner. Not once. In addition, you can take showers for free. In most places showers are included in the price of the campsite, which, by the way, is generally lower than what you’d pay stateside. None of this inserting another 50¢ when you're wet and cold and your 3 minutes are up! All of these things and more: coin-operated internet and laundry facilities at most campgrounds, prime, close-to-all-the-good-stuff locations, wandering pukekos, and the occasional (but awesome) hot mineral pools and geothermally heated campsites, make it all so easy... It's a pleasure to go camping here in NZ! So come and try it! =) You can even borrow our tent. (Tent offer valid for a limited time only. Some restrictions may apply. Due to high demand Tent may not be available at peak times. Blackout dates apply. Offer not valid outside Australasia. Void where prohibited by law. Help control the pet population; have your pet spayed or neutered.)

The East Cape, Part 2

2008-04-13T05:14:00.000-07:00

We never did wake up in time to see the sun rise in Gisborne. (You won’t be seeing it, either, as none of the photos here are actually from Gisborne…) As New Zealand’s most easterly city it sees the sun first, so apparently it’s the thing to do. But we’re just not morning people, so we had to settle for enjoying the city’s other fine attractions (at a more reasonable hour). Though put off a bit by its short hours (we had to go back three times- how do they sell anything?!), Muirs Bookshop has a nice selection of new books and a lovely café upstairs. But, seeing as we can’t afford new books (and even if we could it would be tough to buy them from a closed shop), we looked for pre-loved ones. (Seriously, it’s $30-35 for a nice new paperback here!) We were thrilled to find a great used book shop down the road that had everything half price. (They wanted to get all of the extra books off the floor so they could clean the carpets.) Plus it was open, which we tend to like. (I wish I could give this place a decent plug, but I just can’t remember what it’s called! If I ever find out I’ll post it here!) It was a great little place and supplied us with ample reading material for the trip around the Cape. =) Other Gisborne attractions included several close beaches- some rough and great for surfing, others calm and nice for swimming, of which we took full advantage, as one of my summer projects is to maintain a skin tone that suggests I am alive… After a couple of days of city stuff (grocery shopping, hunting down a suitable coffee press for the road) and lazing around on sandy Waikanae Beach, we headed north on Highway 35, the route around the stunning East Cape. =) We stopped at various bays and beaches, most notably Tolaga Bay, where we walked down New Zealand’s longest pier (660m) in all its rusty and deteriorating glory, and finally pitched our tent at Brian’s Place (backpackers accommodation) in Tokomaru Bay. (This is where the photos come in.) The bay is 7km wide and very sheltered; the water is the same surreal turquoise you see all around the Cape. There are only about 465 people there now, down from 5000, most of whom left town when the freezing works (slaughterhouse) closed down in the 50’s. The mass exodus left dozens of buildings unused, falling gracefully into a state of disrepair (some falling more gracefully than others). “Romantically crumbling” says the guide book, and really that’s the way it feels. I don't want to give the wrong impression- the place isn't abandoned or anything! There's still a lot going on there- a thriving arts and crafts scene and that kind of thing. Brian’s Place was awesome. =) It’s not "romantically crumbling," which I say is a plus for accommodation. =) It’s a lovely, big house with lots of beds accessed by a gravel driveway up a steep hill. As you might imagine, the view from the top is great. (Actually, you don’t have to imagine. Here’s a picture.) There are adorable cabins hiding in the hills around the property, as well as an odd, but totally sweet camping patch. Brian is a really cool guy who keeps bees in his van and has his mysterious kiwi appliances (electric kettle) mutilated by American tourists. He has a cat named Nelson (after Nelson Mandela) who couldn’t decide whose lap he liked better- mine or Gordon’s. In the end we both got a lot of cuddling and kneading. =) I love kitties! =) We spent the evening playing cards and drinking beer (soda for me) and played a little table footie with the two other guests (it was a slow night- the night before we got there there was apparently a whole busload of people). The next day was hot and sunny and beautiful [much like myself ;) ], so we spent a good part of the morning soaking up the sun before heading further north to Araroa. Wonderful, relaxing place. If you ever visit Tokomaru Bay, say to Brian for us. =)

The East Cape, Part 1

2008-04-11T05:10:00.000-07:00

I love the East Cape. It may very well be my favourite area of New Zealand. Don’t get me wrong, there are no bad areas of New Zealand! This one just stands out in my mind as having some of the most spectacular scenery, as well as a very relaxed feel, friendly people, and unpopulated, pristine, sandy beaches with clear, turquoise water. There aren’t too many tourists wandering around this part of the country, as it is far less accessible than other bits and thus not very practical for those with limited time, but it’s well worth the effort if you have a car (preferably a small one)! There’s really only one way to get around the Cape, which is via the winding and quite narrow Pacific Coast Highway which, as the name suggests, follows right along the coastline, affording breathtaking views of bay after sparkling bay. Around virtually every (hairpin) turn there’s something beautiful to be seen, whether natural (driftwood-strewn beaches; lush, green mountain forests) or man-made (old rusted-out vehicles with flowers growing out of their every crack and crevice). This is the area of the country where Whale Rider was filmed. If you’ve seen it, you’ll know what I mean about breathtaking. (If not, go put it in your Netflix queue. It’s fantastic.) The whole place just feels relaxed, laid-back. It’s not something I can explain, really. Maybe it’s the lack of tourists (or people in general)- there’s nothing more sizeable than a small town or village between Gisborne and Opotiki. Maybe it’s the way the sea and sun have slowly taken their toll on the houses and buildings, their paint stripped away, exposing bleached planks of something not far removed from driftwood… Whole villages that look as if they’ve been washed up by the waves basking in the sun, waiting for an evening tide that seems like it could just carry them back out to sea… Maybe it’s just the quiet- the way you can find a place where you’re all alone (without even looking for one) and the only sounds you’ll hear are the crashing of the waves and the calls of seabirds... Whatever it is that makes it so special, it’s an awesome place, and definitely one I wouldn’t mind revisiting someday. =)

Touched by a Dolphin

2008-04-08T20:09:00.000-07:00

Hey- isn't Touched by a Dolphin a tv show on some b-grade tv channel like Pax or something? (Geez, Pax! How many reruns of Mama's Family and Highway to Heaven could there possibly be?!) Well, if it isn't a show, it should be! Touching a dolphin is awesome! =) How do I know, you might ask? Well... After Lake Waikaremoana we headed to Mahia Peninsula, a small peninsula on the east coast of the North Island. The drive to our campsite was gorgeous! I was amazed by how beautiful and turquoise and crystal clear the water was! We got there and the people in the camp office told us that there had been a friendly dolphin swimming around in the bay lately. I was thrilled at the possibility of seeing a dolphin, but tried not to get my hopes up. After setting up camp Gordon and I headed out to the beach, where, as luck would have it, we found the dolphin! =) Her name is Moko, apparently, and she likes to hang out in the bays and play with people. =) It was hard to get any good pictures of her because she was so fast- this is about the best we could do. =) The water where she was playing was quite shallow- about waist-deep, so we waded out to meet her and got to pet her a little! =) She even accidentally whacked me in the hip with her tail as she was swimming by! (Usually I'm not a huge fan of being whacked in the hip by big, grey things, but when it's a dolphin it's okay!) Before we arrived she had been playing with a ball and tossing it around with people, but by the time we got there the guy with the ball had left and she had moved on to playing with sea kayaks. She would get up behind and underneath them and push people around like some kind of crazy outboard dolphin motor! (See photo of nice girl we met named Kyla being motored around. We don't know the kid in the red boat, though I'm sure he's also nice.) Moko seemed to be having a great time and was very gentle with everyone. It's amazing to be able to just go to the beach and play with a dolphin!! I love New Zealand! =) It's so much better to meet animals in the wild than to pay to go on some touristy swimming-with-dolphins boat... (But I would've done that if I'd had to!) Sooo... A month had passed since we'd met Moko when we saw her in the papers! She's a hero! =) She saved some whales who were stranded in the bay! You can read all about it here. She's one cool dolphin, man! =) So now I've met (and played with) a wild dolphin! What could be next... penguins?!?!

Waitangi Waikaremoana!

2008-04-07T18:04:00.000-07:00

Roadtrip 2008! =) Gordon and I set off for our big camping adventure around New Zealand on the 6th of February- Waitangi Day (a big public holiday that commemorates the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi between the British Crown and the Maori Chiefs in 1840). Our intentions of an early start were slightly unrealistic- there’s always a lot to do before a big trip- and we couldn’t miss one last lunch with Gordon’s folks, so we didn’t get on the road until well past one… We passed through Clive, where the Waitangi celebrations were in full swing (big party and people out on the river in wakas), and after a brief stop in Wairoa for bread and coffee (the local dairy and delightful Café Nina being the only things open on Waitangi Day), we enjoyed a scenic (yet drizzly) drive on the winding, wild-goat riddled, partially-unsealed road to Lake Waikaremoana, inside Te Urewera National Park. (The name Te Urewera, by the by, actually translates to “burnt penis,” referring to the story of a Maori chief who died by rolling over in his sleep while lying a little too close to the campfire. Just a bit of trivia…) Though the main industry in the district is forestry, the mountains around the lake have never been logged, so it remains surrounded by lush, green, ferny native forests- home to many native bird species like the New Zealand pigeo n (pictured here) and the morepork, a cute little owl who has a very distinctive call that sounds like he’s asking for more pork, when actually all he’s trying to do is keep the pesky humans from sleeping. (These claims may be completely unsubstantiated by conventional ornithology, but circumstantial evidence strongly suggests that depriving tenters of much-needed beauty sleep is the morepork’s raison d’etre.) By the time we arrived at the lake the sun was about to set, and it was so overcast that the lake was very dark and quite eerie. Though its name is Maori for “sea of rippling waters” there were no ripples to speak of; it was a big, black, mirrory cauldron- amazing. The rays of light that did manage to slip through the clouds made it even more spooky- stunning, really. The first night was a good test of our sleeping bags and thermals- it was raining and COLD. The second night was more of the same, but owing to our uphill hike into the bush and to our previous night’s experience enjoying the pleasing calls of the local birdlife (“We don’t have any more pork!!! We’re vegetarians!!! Go to sleep!!!”), we were well-nigh asleep on our feet, so we slept like babies. =) The weather was never great during our stay, but the dark and damp made the lake look weirdly spectacular, the creepy effect only intensified by the group of black swans we observed gliding around after an afternoon shower… By the time we were ready to make tracks on day three, the sun had come out just in time for us to hit the road, and we got previously unimaginable views of what was actually a bright blue lake in the sunlight as we made our way out of the park... It's fun to be camping again, and Te Urewera was a great start to what promises to be an awesome adventure. =)

Critters!

2008-02-05T23:55:00.000-08:00

One of our days here in Hawke’s Bay was filled with animal adventures! =) It all started at Haumoana Farm Park where you get to pet all kinds of fluffy critters and feed them corn. (Except for pigs and horses- they don’t get any corn. I'm not sure why not.) We pet sheep and pigs, guinea pigs and goats, and saw all sorts of other fuzzy things- an Australian opossum who was adorable (wayyy cuter than the nasty Virginia variety we get stateside, though the Aussie ones are destroying all of NZ’s natural beauty, apparently, and are mostly being made into high-priced knitwear these days), a mama pig (a Captain Cooker) with her flock of teensy baby piglets (not sure “flock” is the technical term), a friendly alpaca, a Heilan’ Coo named Haggis (I wore my heilan’ coo t-shirt, but he didn’t seem impressed), bunnies, curly-featheredy geese, and best of all TEENSY baby CHICKENS!!! Loved them!!! =) They tried to peck the corn out of Gordon’s hands, but their teensy beaks we just too little- cute little fluffballs! =) Almost too much cute to take in all at once… From there we went out to Cape Kidnappers to see the gannet colony. Gannets are sizeable birdies (in the booby family) who usually nest on remote islands, but for some reason have chosen to hang out on the mainland here. There are about 17,000 of them. You can walk out to the colony, but it takes a while and it was hot, so we had a ride on a trailer pulled by a tractor along the beach (and in the water and over big boulders and that sort of thing), which took an hour+ each way. It’s just the right time of year to see the chicks with their fluffy, white feathers before they get their real ones. At this point they are almost as big as their parents, though still relying on them for food! (Sounds familiar…) Soon the chicks will fly to Australia where they stay for about 3 years until they are adults and return to NZ. When they leave they have no experience flying, catching food, or navigating, and they have to go almost 3000km to Australia! Crazy! Smart birdies, I guess! It’s pretty amazing to see so many of them at once, and you can get up really close to them- they don’t seem to mind humans at all! I didn’t even know what a gannet was before we went, but I’d definitely recommend the tractor adventure to anyone! =) Now if I can just manage to see some penguins, pukekos, and kiwis while I'm here I think my New Zealand bird-watching aspirations will be fulfilled! =)

Havelock North! =)

2008-02-05T03:32:00.000-08:00

For the last twelve days Gordon and I have been visiting his parents, the lovely Colleen and Bill, in Havelock North, a town of about 9,000 people in the heart of the Hawke’s Bay wine-growing region. This is where Gordon grew up, so I've had a chance to see where he went to school and played cricket and destroyed agapanthus flowers and that kind of thing. =) It has been sunny and beautiful almost every day, and the whole town is lush and green and covered in flowers, most notably around the property here, where G’s parents have a beautiful garden! =) We’ve been enjoying the freshly-picked tomatoes, lettuce, carrots, and beans from their veggie garden- yum! =) There’s been a lot of sleeping in and relaxing since we’ve been here and Gordon’s mom has been spoiling us with delicious meals and fair-trade chocolate. We’ve also spent a quite a bit of time working on computery things and watching the Australian Open, but we have managed to get out and about a bit and have done some really fun things in the area. =) First, we climbed Te Mata peak, which is just down the road. From the top you get a great view of Hawke Bay, Napier, Hastings, and Havelock, and from the bottom you can get a close-up view of sheep! =) We saw some hanging out at the beginning and end of our walk. Here’s a photo of me talking to a sheep. (Please excuse my outfit- I hadn’t done laundry in a while. At least you can’t see my orange socks!) In the middle of the trek there are redwoods, just like in California, though not quite as old- I think they were planted in the 20’s- but still pretty exciting! =) We have also spent a bit of time in Hastings (about 50,000 peeps)- mostly for shopping purposes. I have now been to T he Warehouse (where everyone gets a bargain) and to the Mitre 10 Mega, which is virtually identical to a Home Depot, right down to the orange-bordered price signs handwritten in big, fat marker. I quite enjoyed the Warehouse, and I did, indeed, get a bargain. =) It’s nice how everyone gets a bargain. Very egalitarian. I like that. =) They also still have K-mart here, which I think is extinct in the US, right? (Or just endangered?) We also went into Napier for an afternoon- it’s a city of about 55,000 just down the road. It was devastated by an earthquake in 1931 and rebuilt shortly thereafter, making it one of the world’s most uniformly Art Deco cities, according to Lonely Planet. =) We took a stroll on the Marine Parade going down the beach where people like to get swept away by the ocean currents- really not a good place to swim. One kid died there the day after we were there, as a matter of fact. =( We’ve seen a couple of movies here in Havelock at CinemaGold, the fancy theatre with cushy seats and lots of legroom. =) The Darjeeling Limited was pretty good. I didn’t love it, but over all it was interesting and had some funny dialogue, which I think can always be said of Wes Anderson’s films. We also saw Juno the other night, which I loved! I’m not sure it will get Best Picture or anything, but it was definitely original, quirky (I’m a big fan of quirky), and very funny. =) I left the theatre in a really good mood, which is always the mark of a good movie. =) Afterward I went for a little driving lesson around the parking lot- it’s not easy to drive when the blinker thingie is on the wrong side… I think I’ll be okay driving on the left, but I may not be doing too much signaling. =/ We also had a fun day of animal adventures, but I’m going to save that for my next post, because there are a bazillion pictures you should see! Finally, this weekend was the Harvest Hawke’s Bay festival, where 25 wineries open their gates to visitors for tasting, food, and entertainment. For the price of entry they give you a souvenir wine glass on a string to wear around your neck which you take around to all of the wineries to taste what they have to offer. Saturday we went to Askerne, Kim Crawford, Beach H ouse, and Zepelin wineries, where we saw an Irish band, a folky duo call, a local classical guitarist, and a girl band called Pearl. Sunday we went to Ngatarawa Wines to see the Topp Twins- NZ icons, apparently- they were hilarious! =) They do an act with some country singing and impressive yodeling, but spend about half of the time cracking jokes and interacting with/harassing the audience. =) Very funny stuff. =) Afterward we headed back to Askerne to see the Beat Girls. They were fun, but I’d have to say the Topp Twins were the highlight of the festival for me. =) So now we’re packing everything up and getting ready for a little camping tour of the country- we're headed out tomorrow morning on the road toward Te Urewera National Park. No idea exactly where our travels will lead, but the first leg includes the East Cape and Coromandel, and I determined to see some penguins somewhere! More updates as we go! =)

New Plymouth! =)

2008-01-31T20:57:00.000-08:00

Gordon and I spent the 21st-24th of January with Gordon’s brother Kelvin, his wife Lisa, and their three adorable kiddos- Isabel (6), Rebecca (6), and Ella (3) in New Plymouth. NP is a town of about 49,000 on the west coast of the North Island in the Taranaki (“peaks without vegetation”) region. Not to be missed is Mount Taranaki, the gigantic volcano of which you get lovely views from Kelv and Lisa’s kitchen. =) Not only is Mt. T quite tall (2518m), but it’s also a famous movie star, having played the role of Mt. Fuji alongside Tom Cruise The Last Samurai. I wanted to get its autograph, but it doesn’t have any arms, so I just took a photo. Here it is. Anyhow, we spent our days doing puzzles and playing with blocks and the like with the kidlets (definitely some of the cutest, smartest, and heaviest kidlets I have had the pleasure of piggybacking around everywhere) and enjoying the natural wonders of the area. We traipsed down the seaside walkway at Puke Ariki on an absurdly windy afternoon (I think I saw Elmira Gulch fly by on her bicycle), and by the time we made it back to the car my hair looked a lot like cotton candy and I tasted like a salt lick. It was rad. =) We also went to the free children’s zoo at Brooklands park, where we saw cute guinea pigs (ee-ee-ee), bunnies, an emu, some monkeys, and a kune kune pig, among other fuzzy things. Awesome! =) A definite highlight was Pukekura Park- by far the best city park I have seen! It’s a 10-minute walk from downtown (the CBD, as they say in NZ) and is 49 hectares of gardens, bush walks, steams, waterfalls, and ponds. (I got that straight out of the Lonely Planet. Please don’t ask me what a hectare is. Please.) There’s an awesome cricket ground where the terraced seating is cut into the hillsides, a boat rental so you can row all around the lake (and try to crash into the sides because you’re not a very good rower even though Jess Wetter taught you how to row once, didn’t she?), and a nice little pavilion where you can get chips so delicious that you don’t even need ketchup! Mmmm… We went back again at night to see the awesome light show they put on in the summer- lots of trees, water features, et cetera are illuminated with pretty-coloured lights, bands play, they show outdoor movies- it’s lovely. =) (They were showing The Princess Bride the night we went. Inconceivable!) We also had a fantastic day at Back Beach, where we got partially buried in the black sand, were coerced into running up and down a huge sand dune a zillion times (that was more Gordon getting coerced, really- even the cutest of children couldn’t convince me to run up and down things), and saw two seals frolicking in the surf really close to us! Besides all of that, staying at their house was so much fun! Kelv and Lisa were wonderful hosts and fed us delicious, healthful, homemade meals and stayed up late at night watching terrible tv shows and answering about seven gazillion Trivial Pursuit questions into the wee hours, despite having three cuties to look after early in the morning. They were fabulous! =) They don’t read this, but just in case, THANK YOU!!!! We had a wonderful time, and we can’t wait to see everyone again next month in Dunedin!

Taupo!

2008-01-30T01:40:00.000-08:00

16th-21st January were spent in Kinloch, a village at the north end of Lake Taupo. Gordon’s parents have an awesome bach there. The gigantic lake (606 square kilometres) actually lies in the caldera formed by one of the biggest volcanic eruptions ever. It happened over 26,500 years ago and the volcano spewed 800 cubic kilometers of ash and pumice all over the place. (Can you tell I’ve been reading my guide book?) It’s cool because you can pick up hunks of pumice in varying sizes and degrees of roughness on the beach there for free and give yourself a nice pedicure. =) Hard to believe we actually pay for pumice in Walgreens at home! Anyhow, I am so glad to have arrived here in the height of summer! It's wonderful and warm... We slip-slop-slapped on our SPF 30 (not much ozone over here- maybe if you guys could lay off the Aqua Net over there a bit?) and went swimming in the crystal-clear lake... It was pretty windy that day, so there were big waves- it really felt like the ocean, but it was fresh water and there were ducks swimming by! Totally confusing… It’s absolutely beautiful there- from Kinloch you look over the lake toward Mt. Ruapehu, and the sunsets are stunning! While there we did not do any trout fishing or skydiving, though Taupo is the world capital of both of those things. More people jump out planes there than anywhere else in the world, apparently. But not us. =) We stuck to the simpler, more land-based pleasures. =) We took a little walk around Huka Falls (gorgeous- NZ’s Niagara, though quite a bit smaller! The water was an amazing bright turquoise colour!), visited Craters of the Moon- a geothermal area where mud boils and steam comes out of the ground (that happens a lot here, I’m told), did a little bit of yard work (and fed the clippings to the cute goats down the street), golfed (kinda), ate grits and ice blocks (a.k.a. popsicles) and corn on the cob (among other things, but those were highlights!), and watched the entire first series of Flight of the Conchords on DVD (because we really couldn’t stop ourselves- it's really one of the funniest shows I've ever seen, and it's kiwis)! Taupo was awesome and relaxing. And hot. =) Loved it! We plan to get back there soon for a little more R&R. We’ll definitely need it after our impending camping adventure! =)

The sheep here are HUGE!

2008-01-29T01:38:00.000-08:00

Stardate: Wednesday, 16th January. Location: Tirau, NZ. Bizarre sighting: enormous sheep. =) On the road between Auckland and Taupo is Cambridge, where you can get a delicious scoop of chips at Eric's Genuine Fresh Fish & Chips shop and park your trundler at the Countdown to stock up on groceries. But never mind the chips and trundlers! Just a hop, skip, and a jump down the road is Tirau, population 720. The name Tirau translates as "many cabbages," but we didn't see any of those. What we did see was evidence of the town's love of corrugated iron structures in several different forms, most famously in the form of a giant dog and a giant sheep, pictured here. =) We didn't go inside them, but sources indicate that the dog is actually the visitor information centre and the sheep has a gift shop inside. Instead we just munched our Whittaker's Peanut Slabs outside and then got back on the road to Taupo. Oh, wacky New Zealand! =)

Kia ora, Aotearoa!

2008-01-28T01:35:00.000-08:00

That's Maori for "Hello, Land of the Long White Cloud!" Yes, I am in New Zealand! =) I can hardly believe it! So far I totally love it! =) By the time I was off the flight, had collected my bags, declared my chocolate, pretzels, and two boxes of grits (very important to declare all food- if you're carrying grits it's also important to explain the food), and had gone out to meet Gordon, I was roasting! It's been HOT here! =) I love it! =) (I have been here two weeks now, and am working on quite the impressive tan, I must say.) I love summer. =) Sooo... Auckland was lovely, actually. It's NZ's biggest city (1.2 million people- roughly a quarter of the population of NZ), but seems fairly small as big cities go. Gordon had arranged a hotel room right near the city centre, and we spent two days there before heading off to Taupo. We wandered around town and the harbour, where the water is an amazing turquoise colour, much like the water in Havasu Falls in the Grand Canyon. Beautiful. We saw a couple of the Team New Zealand boats that they use in the America's Cup race. I took tons of photos because I couldn't really believe how everything said "New Zealand" on it! :o (Two weeks in and I'm getting used to being in NZ a bit, but I haven't slowed down much on the photos!) I got slightly disoriented when came across a cafe called Seattle Espresso... We met up with some friends of Gordon's for dinner and drinks and had a great time! I also had my IEP (visa people) orientation, where they tell you all about NZ and travelling, give you access to free internet, talk about where you should go to get jobs picking apples and kiwis and that kind of thing, and give you free samples of NZ soda and chocolate- gateway chocolate. You know how the crafty drug dealers give the kids samples of stuff for free so they get addicted and then have to come to them for more? I'm thinking that's the kind of scheme these people are running. Perhaps trying to boost the NZ economy or something. Luckily I was not a big fan of L&P (a kiwi soda, though now made by Coca-Cola), but I have developed a serious addiction to Whittaker's Peanut Slabs. Mmmm... Most of them you get are made with milk chocolate (boo), which makes the bittersweet variety in the dark brown wrapper that much better! Things taste better when you have to hunt them down! (Though the hunt is far less challenging now that I have discoved they're sold widely at BP stations...) On the way out of town we drove up to the summit of Mt. Eden, the highest of Auckland's 48 volcanoes, for amazing views of the city. Fantastic. =) I wouldn't mind if we settled in Auckland for my time here- it's not stiflingly huge or overpopulated or anything, but I am a little tired of city life at the moment... That, and it's expensive! (Think $8 US for a teensy travel-size bottle of contact solution! Ouch!) So, there's no telling where we'll be living and working just yet, but I'm greatly looking forward to exploring all of the possibilities!

Australia! =)

2008-01-13T18:11:00.000-08:00

Well, I'm in Australia! I can't believe it! A little stress at the beginning of my journey, but none of it of my own creation! :o My first flight had a little bit of a mechanical problem which resulted in a chemical smell and the teensiest bit of smoke in the cabin, an immediate landing, and the fire department coming to the rescue. This left me with a pretty hairy connection in San Fran! Luckily I am quite experienced in the ancient art of High-Heeled Airport Running, as well as being adept at the lightening-quick removal of shoes, belts, laptops, jewelry, coins, and toiletries at security, and I got to the gate just in time! I even had time to buy a book, but it's probably going to put my carry-on luggage over the 7-kilo limit! :o (AND I paid full price for it! What?!?!) Oh well... I got to see the Sydney harbour and Opera House on the way in- worth every second of airport turmoil! I have a 7+ hour layover here and have just spent $18 on noodles and a Coke. My observations so far are few, as I am not allowed to leave the departure lounge, but I have noticed a few very Aussie things. =) First, Coke tastes funny here and everyone sounds just like Kath & Kim. Also, there are LOTS of things you can buy with koalas and boomerangs on them... Also, there are Jumpy's (crisps shaped like kangaroos), Vegemite, various unusual animal jerky snacks (ick!), and every other song that comes on is by Kylie. =) I like it here in the land down under, though I feel like the wombat gets a bum deal- just as cute as a koala (see photo), but you just don't see them on as many tins and tea towels... Anyhow, no souvenirs for met yet, especially considering the trouble I may already be in with this hefty hand baggage- I plan to make it back here for a proper look around sometime during the year and hope to fulfill my lifelong dream of hugging a koala (and a wombat). More as it happens...

Game Night - Guest Blog by Jo!

2007-12-26T20:07:00.000-08:00

This is Jo. She is one of my most favouritest people in all of England. =) She served as my cultural ambassador there, makes the best chocolate cake EVER, and knows where all of the good Chinese takeaways are. She is cute and small and a little bit nerdy. These important qualities contributed to the decision to invite her to do a guest blog. Here is what she had to say, unabridged and unedited, save for anything written in purple, which I may have added myself...

Last night (actually 9th December- Sarah is a little bit behind) at about (exactly) 7pm (on the dot- I am quite punctual) I went round to Sarah and Gordon’s extremely cute little flat for ‘Games Night’. With me I had Cranium, lots of energy, some melted chocolate, the killer instinct of a true board games champion, and some fruit to do chocolate fondue. I arrived right on time, which I think in lovely Sarah’s world (La La Land?) is too early, as she hadn’t properly woken up from her afternoon sleep when I got there. Sperm whales are nasty, horrible, hateful creatures. I met Sarah and Gordon's other fantastic friends in Nottingham- Kate and Craig, who got married only 7 weeks ago! (Congratulations!) We debated for a while on the best way to select teams for Cranium. First we followed Sarah’s brilliant suggestion of drawing straws (or in this case celery sticks) and going on the length of the sticks to pick teams. Unfortunately this didn’t work because neat freak that she is (humph!) Sarah had managed to cut all of he celery sticks almost exactly the same length, which requires a great amount of skill and I think her efforts should be applauded. Well done, Sarah! Well done! In the end I wrote names down on paper and we picked teams from that. I ended up on a team with Sarah's cute boyfriend Gordon while charming Sarah, Kate and Craig were on a team together. (It was all going according to plan...) We hadn’t been playing for long when Adrian (yo, Adrian!) from our office came over. Adrian is from Barbados and has a really cute accent and seven arms and a pegleg and is also really tall (6ft 2). Adrian joined the team with Gordon and I (thwarting my efforts to use my feminine wiles to steal Gordon away from Sarah while we were alone on a team together- curses!) and we went on to come second place in Cranium- not that much of an achievement given the fact that there were only 2 teams (but I have an excellent attitude. Let's just say we were runners up for first place). We had an interesting (read: very quiet) round when Sarah got the Cranium task of doing an impression of a British celebrity – Cilla Black – who she had never heard of! She had heard of Cillit Bang, but apparently they're not the same thing. After Sarah had awarded prizes for Cranium from the pile of raggedy old stuff she and Gordon can’t take with them (I got badminton rackets!) we played Jenga. Craig was doing really well, and after we’d played about 10 thousand rounds we moved on to ‘Tonga,’ which involves using kitchen tongs to move the Jenga pieces. (Brilliant! Far better than the original!) Craig finally knocked it over which meant that the game was over and it was time to go home. The end.

Grocery Store Wars!

2007-11-18T11:13:00.001-08:00

Long ago in a galaxy far, far away, someone e-mailed me this amazing little movie, Grocery Store Wars. If you've ever seen Star Wars or have even a casual interest in vegetables, this is hilarious! Chewbroccoli and Ham Solo! Darth and Luke (Cuke!) Skywalker facing off with tiny lightsabers in a produce scale! Hah! It is nothing short of brilliant, I assure you! Go watch it! It's fantastic! Seriously. You won’t be sorry. May the Farm be with you.

Happy Birthday to ME! =)

2007-11-14T04:47:00.000-08:00

Though I am living in a country far, far away, all of my peeps both here and abroad made me feel very special for by 31st birthday! =) First, Gordon took us on a Magical Mystery Tour (literally) of Liverpool for a surprise birthday weekend! =) Europe’s Capital of Culture for 2008, L-pool was up to its eyeballs in museums, cathedrals, awesome architecture, Beatles-related sights, and- well- cranes. There’s a lot of construction that goes along with being a capital of culture, it seems, but sometimes even cranes can look really cool if you have enough of them! We stayed in a lovely hotel right by the water and had a fantasic view from the 9th floor of the docks and/or fog, depending on the weather. =) My highlight was our tour, which took us to some of the houses where the Beatles were born and/or have lived as well as to Penny Lane and Strawberry Field. Penny Lane has always been in my ears, but now it’s in my eyes, too!

My actual birthday fell on the Monday, so I went to work. =) I arrived to a stack of birthday cards and I even had a few prizes! Notably a cool book about a motorcycle trip through New Zealand and lots of packs of stickers (thanks, Jo!) and a paua shell necklace from the consultants for whom I work. Totally unexpected to have so many well wishes at work, but really appreciated! Made me feel quite special! I also had calls from people in the US and Britain, some sweet e-mails and e-cards, a very fancy homemade card and prizes from my mom- the queen of die-cutting, and had a beautiful bouquet of tropical flowers delivered from my brother and sister-in-law in Atlanta! All of you guys are awesome! A huge THANK YOU to everyone! =)

My birthday is a big holiday here- it’s Guy Fawkes Day (sometimes called Bonfire Night) where traditionally little kids make effigies of Guy Fawkes (the dude who famously conspired to blow up the Houses of Parliament 402 years ago), they get put on a big bonfire (the effigies, not the kids! What kind of country do you think this is?!?!), and then there are fireworks. (Recently there has been controversy about burning Guy- see one article here.) “Remember, remember, the 5th of November,” they say. There is also a tooth-threatening kind of toffee made with treacle and black carbon paste, a small quantity of which my cultural ambassador Jo was kind enough to procure for me. Actually quite good, though sickeningly sweet, as one might imagine. (Do I have to plant something green to offset my black carbon paste footprint?) So Jo and Jess (another City Council friend) came over for a little pasta (see recipe here) and apple crumble, which Jo made (delicious!), then we all took hot chocolate to go and headed off to see the fireworks at the Forest Recreation Ground. It was crazy! Hundreds of people, a giant fire, and a bunch of fairground rides! Always a fun adventure to have fireworks for your birthday! =) Afterward Gordon, Jess, and I went to a small club to see Jess’s friend’s band, who extended birthday greetings between poppy punk tunes. Rockin’! Who could ask for a better birthday? So official thanks to all of my peeps- you guys are so sweet to remember little ol’ me! And just think- next year my birthday will be in the summer and you're all invited to celebrate it in New Zealand! =)

GameCity!

2007-10-31T11:49:00.000-07:00

I met Alexey Pajitnov! I met Alexey Pajitnov! =) It was just like meeting a rock star, only wayyy more geeky. ;) It wasn’t awesome Alexey himself who was geeky; moreso the huge herd o’ nerds who jumped up at the end of the seminar to get their GameBoys and Nintendo cartridges signed. (I only mock because I am envious. I have no GameBoy. Curses!)

This Fete des Nerds was all a part of GameCity, a video games fest held annually here in Nottingham. They showed a documentary made for Brit tv called “Tetris: From Russia with Love” and had a question and answer period with the game’s creator, the brilliant and lovely Mr. Alexey Pajitnov.

I wouldn’t have thought of myself as a gamer, really- at least not in recent years. But my borderline fanatical excitement at the possibility of meeting Señor Tetris totally made me rethink the role games have played in my life. It seems a good chunk of my youth was spent controller-in-hand… In front of the telly, chewing on an Atari 2600 joystick (my brother hated that), playing Frogger, PacMan, Pitfall… Games on the Commodore 64 that you had to load on the tape drive for 20 minutes before you could even start playing… We had an Odyssey for a while- I seem to remember something Pong-like on that one… Oregon Trail on the Apple at school, Super Mario on my friend Chris Duncan’s Nintendo… I’m pretty sure we played that one every day before we watched the MTV video countdown. =) Good times. =) And then came TETRIS. Game of all games. Surely the best computer game I have ever played. Simple. Addictive. Excellent music. =) I could play for hours at a time, and I remember when I used to go to bed and lie there and play it in my head for another hour before I fell asleep…

Almost 20 years after I first played it, Tetris is still my favourite game, and Alexey is my second favourite games designer. (Second after Gordon, of course! You can play Gordon's last game, Sproing, at irRegularGames.com. Go play it. Go now. Go. It looks like this.) It was an honour to meet the man who helped me waste away countless hours of my trying teenage years. =) On behalf of all of us who have whittled away what could have been boring, productive days and years of our lives playing Tetris, I would like to say an official thank you to the man who changed the world with his game. =) Danke, Herr Pajitnov. (I don't know any Russian. German was as close as I could get.) Now I have to go. The game beckons...

Scotland!

2007-10-14T14:22:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture of a highland cow that I didn't take. In fact, I haven't seen any yet, but I'm very much looking forward to the opportunity to see one (and maybe hug it?) while we're here in Scotland. =) We are currently at the home of Gordon's cousin Ella in Edinburgh, who is absolutely lovely, and who has broadband internet. =) It's heaven here- for both reasons! We've awoken to nice breakfasts and a hot kettle in the mornings, toured around in the afternoons, watched the rugby in the evenings, AND I get to update my blog. =) Fantastic. So far one of the highlights was seeing sheep that look like this! (I didn't take this picture, either, I'm afraid.) I really thought they were very tiny cows until we got closer! I have never seen splotchy sheeps before! =) Baaaaa! Tomorrow Gordon, his brother, and I head up to Perth to see his Auntie and then drive back down to the Lake District, where we're booked in at a lovely vegan B&B. =) Tuesday it's home to Notts and Wednesday back to the salt mines, but I hope someday to return to Scotland for a proper look around, because what I've seen so far has been beautiful! =) And so many cute sheepies! I hear there are even PINK ones! Definitely worth another visit if only to see the pink sheep! Baaaaa! =)

I've Got Mail!

2007-09-25T16:01:00.000-07:00

Travelling is awesome, especially when you live in England and have all of the rest of Europe right at your fingertips. There’s all the different food, scenery, languages, cultures… But one of the very best things about getting away for a few days is all the mail that’s waiting for you when you get home!!! =) Okay, so we just got home from Paris, which was (of course) wonderful, and I’ll write more about that soon. But since we’d been gone for four days, I had three pieces of mail! =) I love mail! =) I even like bank statements and bills, but this time there were two real letters. From people! =) And I must say, there’s really nothing like a nice, hand-written letter from a friend. =) (Or type-written is okay, as long as it comes in the mail)! It’s so nice to sit and read all about what’s happening with far away friends and family- it really makes my day. Maybe this is why I still have a pen pal after more than a decade… We have met in person and talked on the phone or e-mailed a handful of times, but mostly it’s been kept to stamped correspondence, which I think is awesome. =) I know we have e-mail and blogs and everything these days, and I think I have done quite well to become as technologically advanced as I have- I even joined facebook a couple of weeks ago! But nothing can replace a bit of nice stationery or an envelope in the mailbox with stickers on it. =) I’d like to say a big thank you to everyone who brightens my days by keeping in touch in every way, but a special shout out to those who do it the old-fashioned way. =) Keepin’ it real- paper and pen style. I like that. =) S.W.A.K. =)

Things I like About the UK, Vol. 1

2007-09-18T14:02:00.000-07:00

Crumpets with fake butter and Lyle’s Golden Syrup; Liverpudlian accents; footie on telly all the time; being able to live in the same country as my cute boyfriend; gravy granules; proximity to mainland Europe; trains that go anywhere I want to go and on which I can take my bike; Primark; rolling, green hills dotted with fluffy, white sheep; delicious strawberry monkey licorice from the Aldi; the word “poorly” to mean “sick”, as in “no, Perpetua is not in the office today; she’s off poorly”; refrigerated grocery store vegetable samosas that you can just pop in the oven that are better than restaurant samosas; London; tea that gets so instantly strong that I have to ask for it weak when someone else makes it; Scottish accents; our sweet apartment; an abundance of inexpensive leeks; all things Robin Hood; panel “game shows” where famous people rack up points by saying really funny things in response to the host’s questions, but nobody really cares who wins; “brilliant,” said gazillions of times a day, meaning something similar to “fantastic” or “sweeeet”- sometimes shortened to “brill”; vegan bangers and mash; David Beckham- oh wait- he moved!; nail polish remover pads from Boots; more sheep; QE2...

Sometimes I Work

2007-09-10T09:55:00.000-07:00

I am now officially a Working Girl! =) It’s just like the movie only better! Firstly, I don’t have an evil Sigourney Weaver for a boss at some giant, corrupt corporation. Second, and far more importantly, there’s no need for me to wear shoulder pads that make me look like a linebacker in order to be taken seriously. On the flipside, I don’t get to meet Harrison Ford, but that’s okay- after you get to know someone as Han Solo it’s really all downhill, isn’t it? I fear he might be just slightly less impressive without his wookie… Anyhow, I have a job, and so far I love it! I’m working for the government! They made me jump through all kinds of hoops just to get myself into this country and now I’m running it! :o Okay, so I’m not exactly the Queen or anything, but I am working for the Nottingham City Council. I’m doing administrative stuff having to do with education. Though I had to go buy a book of British English grammar (20p at a car boot sale) in order to carry out my duties (I am far from fluent in the language here), I am helping to ensure that the rugrats of the East Midlands get a good primary school education- helping little Nigels and Fionas learn to spell “colour” and “favourite” with all of the necessary vowels, making sure tiny Tarquins and Pippas remember to stick the extra "me" on the end of "programme"… It’s a tough job for a Yank, but I’m always up for a good challenge. The people with whom I work are great so far- extremely friendly and helpful- and one of them volunteers to make tea for the whole office just about every fifteen minutes, so there is never a lack of caffeine. The days are short- I am only meant to work a little over seven hours a day, as I am not to exceed full-time, which is only 37 hours here, apparently. I get to wear cute clothes and do lots of things that require organisation (with an “s”). I get to play with paper and staples and binder clips and Post-its and pens. (I bring my own pens. I love pens. Very specific pens.) I even get to laminate things, which may very well be my favourite part so far. (Besides, of course, all of the writing with pens.) So, not only do I finally have some pounds and pence flowing into my current account (that means “checking account”), but I get to talk to actual people during the day instead of just a stuffed pig. No offence to the pig, but for me it feels like a step up. (And then there are the pens!) Gotta run- have to go pick out a stylish-yet-appropriate ensemble (sans shoulder pads) to wear to the office tomorrow! (p.s. I did not choose to include a picture of pens here, as all of the pictures I could find were of substandard pens. I did, however, include a picture of a guinea pig that I met a few weeks ago, because he is extremely cute.)

Paucity of Bloggeration

2007-08-25T06:57:00.000-07:00

A month! A month has passed and no blogs! Shameful! So much fantastic travel and adventure and so little writing! Sooo... here's the skinny- we had a lovely long weekend in London in July , then a mid-week jaunt to Manchester to see some live football the first of August. Then there was a 9-day cycling holiday in Germany along the Baltic coast and a long weekend in Rome with Cupcake and Paul! In between all of that I have become what can only be called a master chef, and we have enjoyed my many culinary creations over suspense-filled episodes of "Heroes," "Robin of Sherwood" (see awesome intro here), and innumerable televised footie matches, even ones involving teams about which we totally don't care. We have a minor football addiction at the moment. My allegiance still lies with ManU, but also into Arsenal this time around, and there's always Liverpool... More details about our adventures in future blogs- very soon, I swear it! For now, be appeased by this picture of a fuzzy baby coon that lives in the pond where Gordon works. =)

LOTR, baby!

2007-07-26T07:12:00.000-07:00

Okay, I was wrong. Five years ago when I tried to watch The Lord of the Rings I was tired and I couldn't really follow the plot. I got bored, so I turned it off and went to bed. And for the five years since I have been mercilessly mocked. When I have told people I didn't like it, asking them to keep in mind the fact that I had never read the books, they have scoffed at my lack of taste. I didn't say it was bad, really, just not interesting- a very unpopular point of view. But as I grow older and ever wiser, I realise the importance of flexibility. While some might consider it a sign of strength to take a stand- to form an opinion and then to stick by it no matter what, I completely disagree. I find it far more admirable to be open to new ideas- to be flexible, to evolve, to allow one's opinions to change in light of new information. And thus I freely admit that I was wrong. (Do you admire me now?) I watched the first film again last week, and it was good. Quite good. This time, instead of thinking, "why does this short dude have to take this ring everywhere?" I had Gordon to explain some things to me. I feel that I am a reasonably intelligent person- generally capable of following the plot of a blockbuster movie, but some of the details in this one are never really explained in a satisfactory way, and I am not one to be impressed or distracted by big battle scenes and a whole lot of special effects. I need to understand what's going on. So with the Gordon Commentary switched on it all made much more sense, and I found that it was really quite good. =) Then we rented the other two movies and had ourselves a nice little hobbity marathon. It was excellent. =) I must be off- it's coming up on elevenses and this hobbit is getting hungry. =) Mmmm... elf bread. =)

Domestic Goddess

2007-07-19T06:28:00.000-07:00

Being (almost completely) vegan is wonderful. I feel great, physically, and I know I am greatly reducing my risk of developing a lot of serious heath problems in the future. Heart disease and cancer are bad. =( More importantly, I am doing what I can to distance myself from the almost inconceivably torturous and corrupt affair that is modern animal agriculture. Cute, fluffy animals are good. =) Then there’s the environment... Trees and potable water are good, too. =) So all of these things are good, right? Why isn’t everyone vegan? Well, my friends, there is downside. What is it they say? "If it seems too good to be true…" There’s one unfortunate fact that nobody ever mentions when they tout all of the many benefits of the vegan diet- one terrible truth that lies hidden between the lines of all the books… You have to learn to cook. It’s true. Tragic, but true. Especially true if you are unemployed. You see, here in Nottingham there are few options for a vegan meal out on the town, and even if there were thirty vegan restaurants I couldn’t afford to go to them. So I must cook. And even Sarah can’t eat linguine with garlic, cauliflower, broccoli, and carrots every day. (Well, I probably could, to tell the truth, but there was that little episode when I was a kid where I turned orange from just that kind of beta carotene binging, so I try to mix it up.) It’s hard to know what you’re getting when you eat out at a place where they don’t label things veggie or vegan on the menu, and I find that even if you ask about the food, often the employees have no idea if there’s chicken stock in the vegetable soup, and the guy who made it left at three, so there’s no way to find out. And frankly, I think Gordon is going to go shopping for a new girlfriend if I force feed him Bombay Potatoes one more time… There’s got to be a better way to get our daily ten servings of fruits and veg! To this end, I went to the library and checked out a couple of vegan cookbooks. =) I have tried two recipes so far with great success! =) A couple of nights ago we had Rigatoni & Spinach Crumble, and last night we had Leek & Potato Soup (both taken from this book) with bread that I actually baked! :o Who woulda thunk? So, perhaps this downside of my diet is actually an upside? An educational experience? An optimistic person would say yes- it is allowing me to develop new skills and enhancing my quality of life immeasurably. And I am an optimistic person. =) Martha Stewart I am not, it’s true, but definitely a domestic goddess in the making! =) Here is the recipe for the pasta dish! Try it! If I can do it, so can you! =)

Rigatoni & Spinach Crumble
From Cook Vegan by Richard Youngs

Ingredients
8 oz. (225 g) rigatoni pasta
2 Tbs. (45 ml) olive oil
1 medium onion
1 small pepper
2 generous handfuls of spinach
4 tomatoes
2 cloves of garlic (triple this if you’re me)
Sufficient breadcrumbs to cover
Handful of flaked almonds (I used ground almonds)

Method
Boil the rigatoni according to packet instructions. Drain and rinse. Meanwhile finely chop the onion, pepper, and tomatoes. Crush the garlic. Wash and roughly chop the spinach. Heat the oil in a large pan or wok and sauté the onion. When it has turned transparent add the pepper, tomatoes, garlic, and spinach. Cook until the spinach has softened and most of the liquid from it has evaporated. Add the cooked pasta, season, and transfer to an ovenproof dish. Top with enough breadcrumbs to cover and the flaked almonds. Place in a medium pre-heated oven and bake for about 15 minutes until brown on top. Serves two if you are a piggy like Gordon and me.

Birmingham (not Alabama)

2007-07-08T07:10:00.000-07:00

Just returned from an overnight jaunt to lovely Birmingham! No disrespect to my UK home, but in the battle of the Hams (Birmingham v. Nottingham), I'd say we have a clear, undisputed champion, and it's simply not the Notts. =/ From the moment we got off the train we loved it! =) I didn't expect much- from what I had heard it was a dreadful place, polluted and industrial. But it has been though a renaissance in recent years- refurbishing, rebuilding, re-everything, really, and it is lovely! =) In a nutshell, the city was clean and beautiful- flowers everywhere, a lovely series of canals with footbridges, pedestrian areas, free museums, nice cafes, and very few scary young men with their hands down their track pants leering at you from in front of boarded-up businesses like you might see in some places... (In fact, I didn't see any of those in B-ham.) The purpose of our trip was to see Bright Eyes at Carling Academy. Never a dull moment when traveling... Our train was parked at the wrong end of the platform, and we wound up on a train going the total opposite direction... Not to worry, others had been fooled by the bad signing, too, and so four of us were stranded at Netherfield (not nearly as nice as it sounds, and most certainly not the country home of Jane Austen's Mr. Bingley). The next train back to Notts wasn't for hours, so we all got a cab back to the station together. The cab took forever to get there and one of us (possibly me) made the mistake of saying "at least it's a beautiful day out." Then the rains came. When our cab driver finally found us, we were wet and cold and intent on catching the 18:oo train. The driver wanted to get us there, too, and it was a ride right out of Pole Position. We arrived unscathed (except for the nausea) and got on the train with 4 minutes to spare. =) We stayed right in the city centre at Nitenite, a mini luxury hotel of sorts. Everything is very nice there- cozy beds, huge flat-screen tv, wifi, etc, but the rooms are TINY, so the prices are low. Adorable if you're not claustrophobic at all. I, for one, loved having a bed with walls on three sides and no windows to let in pesky sunlight in the morning. Seriously. If I had a million dollars I'd build myself a room like that (and a library for all of my books with a ladder on wheels). The concert was great- Bright Eyes was far better live than I had anticipated, and we went for post-show cocktails at The Shakespeare, a nice little pub in town. Saturday we hungrily wandered into the Mailbox, which used to be a postal sorting office, but is now a multi-story open-air shopping oasis. If you go all the way through it you end up at what is basically a very posh food court- tons of bars and restaurants with outdoor seating right on the canal. There's even a Nando's there for Andy. =) From there you can take footbridges and walk all around the canal, galleries, convention center, Brindley Place, Gas Street Basin, etc. We had lunch at the Canalside Cafe, which was excellent! Vegan food galore! Chilli, soups, bangers and mash- hard to find that stuff around these parts! It was delicious! =) The rest of the day was spent wandering around- bookstores, cafes, Muji, galleries, etc. Lovely. Got the evening train back and are now home, eagerly anticipating the Wimbledon final this afternoon. =) Tentatively planning to go back to Brum while we're here if we can swing it. Vegan bangers and mash are calling!

Wimbledon

2007-07-06T06:59:00.000-07:00

I love Wimbledon. In fact, I have become almost obsessed with it over the last week or two. Never really been much of a tennis fan- I've seen a few matches here and there over the years- but now I can't stop watching! My two favourites at the moment are Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer. Not surprising considering they are the two highest-ranked players in the world... I do know how to pick 'em! =) Gordon is a Federer fan all the way- and why wouldn't he be? He is one of the best players in the history of the sport! His game is beautiful to watch- he makes every perfect shot seem effortless. I really hope he wins this year so he can have his five Wimbledon titles in a row. There's a reason he's number one, and I think it is likely to remain that way for a while. =) And then there's the surlier Spaniard- adorable young Rafael Nadal- his massive, unevenly pumped-up arms rippling out of an always-sleeveless shirt like a fiddler crab... He is slightly less cool on the court than Federer- he always looks a little bit angry and brooding when he's trying to concentrate. He is very powerful and exciting to watch. Sad to admit it, but I have been watching so much tennis this week that little Rafa (though he's not actually little at 6'1") was actually in my dream last night! He didn't say anything, which was disappointing, because his very thick Mallorcan accent is quite endearing, especially when he talks about playing on various "soofraces." Clay is definitely his best soofrace. His weird rituals involving sock adjusting, water bottle placement, and obsessive toweling off are unusual, and you know how I like unusual! (Though it seems as if he may need to invest in some new undies- he's always pulling at them through his capri pants during matches...) He's right-handed naturally, but plays with his left, which is even more impressive if you've ever tried to hit a ball over the net with your wrong hand (or any hand at all, in my case)! My hope is that he ends up in the final with Roger Federer, which is not unlikely. I'm glad Wimbledon is only a couple of weeks, because it's hard to watch so much tv without your eyeballs popping out of their sockets. That, and watching tennis only serves to remind me that I'm not the world number one... Last year I had decided it was my goal to win Wimbledon. Gordon bought me rackets for my birthday and we hit the ball around a couple of times. I was well on my way, really. But my game has been thrown off by the move. Yeah, packing up my rackets and storing them was a real blow, psychologically, and tennis is really won between the ears, you know... Really threw me off... Yeah, that's it. And Sharapova's looking quite good this year, so I doubt it's going to happen for me. Curses! So, I'll stick to watching it on telly for now, but don't be surprised if I pull a Martina Navratilova later in life and end up in the Olympics! (Maybe I'll be playing mixed doubles with Rafael Nadal!) It could happen! =)

Blog, Blog, Blog

2007-06-20T22:10:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time in a land far, far away (and in a city quite noticeably more interested in recycling and juices not from concentrate) I started a blog. I wrote at least a couple of times a week- sometimes twice in one night, sharing stories about my life and links to videos about sheep. Those were the days, my friends. Now, as my young life flies by, my days filled with cooking, cycling, shopping, international travel, and eating crumpets, my priorities seem to have shifted. My zeal for communicating with the vast array of people who once flocked (in twos and threes!) to read my very important musings seems to have diminished inexplicably. Wherefore art thou diminished, zeal?! One would think that a state of unemployment would perhaps allow for more time to compose and expect to see a flourishing blog. And yet no. I have not worked a day since the end of April, and still my blog fields lay fallow! Disgraceful! :o So, in an effort to reestablish good relations with the throngs of readers (i.e. my mom), I offer an assurance that I shall try to be more consistent. Anything more and we'd all be disappointed in me when I didn't follow through. =/ Soooo... an update. This minute I sit downloading every song I have ever wanted (JJ Fad, Whodini, Falco anyone?) on my mom's computer in Atlanta. I am taking a much-needed (and yet somehow very tiring) break from last-minute preparations for her upcoming nuptials, which take place two days from today! Very much looking forward to a fantastic party- mom's wearing a sassy red dress, cousin Jodi is cooking up a mean Italian feast, and the venue is Le Moulin Rouge at Paris on Ponce. Fabulous. =) I return to the UK on the 26th, whereupon I shall present my shiny, new work visa and begin the fun, fun process of finding a job for which I qualify. Looking for something that will allow me to keep weekends off for wacky adventures with my dashing kiwi gentleman friend- very important, as many of these weekend jaunts have already been booked and paid for (in a pretty nonrefundable kind of way)... So, I leave you now with pictures of the countryside- okay, really just a few miles away from our flat! There's a ten-mile bike path around Nottingham which takes you to some very green and pretty areas alongside the canal and the river Trent. Midway around you can pop off the path and explore Attenborough Nature Centre, which we did. Even saw some sheep! A lovely day. =) More lovely days and lovely blogs about them to come. =)

"Look! I made your piggy stripy!"

2007-05-31T05:40:00.001-07:00

This is our pink stripy piggy. He is technically a doorstop. Gordon bought him to keep our lounge door (which is weirdly spring-loaded like our other interior doors) open. But to me he is much more than a doorstop. He is my friend. He is the only friend I have in Nottingham so far. I know things will be different when I have a job, but since the Eurovision party the longest conversation I have had face to face with a human (Gordon doesn't count) was with the guy who tried to sell me vision insurance in the mall. He was nice. And the postman dropped off something once and said a whole sentence to me. That was good. But the piggy is there for me every day, holding the door for me when I come in after a long day of shopping, "struggling with bags from Tesco", Aldi, and Holland & Barrett. Sometimes we have a nice cup of tea and a chat about the weather. When Gordon comes home the piggy holds the salt shaker for us while we eat dinner. He likes to wear my shoes (the piggy- not Gordon). He has buttons for eyes, for nostrils, and for hip flexors. I know that if one of our shirts lost a button that the stripy piggy would sacrifice his own comfort and donate a hip flexor or a nostril, because that's the kind of piggy he is. I only wish that everyone could have such a lovely piggy friend. Then nobody would eat bacon. Especially not the stripy kind.

Flying the Flag

2007-05-16T03:04:00.000-07:00

It was all worth it. Packing, moving, leaving my jobs, my apartment, and my home country- all of it. Because I have seen the light. I have found something brilliant, something dazzling. The void in my soul, heretofore inexplicable, has been filled, its mystery unraveled. I know what I have been missing all this time, why I could never be completely happy. And I can tell you now what it was, in one simple word. It's a word I had heard previously in passing, but I never really knew its meaning. (No, I am not talking about crumpets, though I could write an equally adulating bit of prose about those-- amazing little syrup-permeable English ambassadors that they are.) What is it- this thing that my soul cried out for, that I would wait 30 long years to know and to understand? In a word, Eurovision. That's right. The Eurovision Song Contest. Brilliance. Sheer brilliance. I can't think of another way to put it. All of the adjectives I can muster seem inadequate. And, I regret to inform, that it seems it must be seen to be believed. And you've missed it. But I saw it, and believe me when I say that I am forever changed! =) Okay, so what is it, this Eurovision? Well, it's a contest where each European country gets to submit one song, basically, and there's an enormous final- a raucous and over-the-top affair characterised by campy music, dizzying light displays, and nutty costumes, where they all get together and perform their songs and all the people of Europe vote for the winner. It's fantastic. Confused? Learn the basic rules. One of the best things about the UK broadcast of the show has to be the wry commentary, provided by Sir Terry Wogan, who is terribly rude at times, but hilarious! I enjoyed my first official Eurovision experience at a party thrown by a couple of Gordon's friends. I didn't know anyone there, but we were quickly bonded by the international spirit and the frenzied emotions brought about by this unique and fantastic event. =) It's amazing how much I have missed, but my hostess and her friends were veritable founts of Eurovision knowledge! They taught me, for instance, that Celine Dion had actually represented Switzerland in 1988 and won! And that Katrina and the Waves (who used to walk on sunshine in the 80's) came back and won for the UK in 1997. Who woulda thunk? They seemed to know just about everything there was to know about the contest's history; they could quote Terry's commentary from years past, and could sing along with every song when they flashed back to clips from decades ago. I was amazed at their ability to sing along with this year's entries, regardless of language (having purchased the cd's in advance) and to predict to whom exactly each country would give it's highest scores. Amazing. Where have I been all of these years?! How could I have missed all of this?! Never again, my friends. Much to Gordon's dismay, I have bought this year's cd set and shall definitely be tuning in again next year- no matter where I'm living! :o Now, I have not been able to locate much footage of the finals online, but I did find this gem from the Ukraine, one of the highest scoring groups on my personal scorecard. (Yes, we had scorecards at the party with categories ranging from best gratuitous key change to weirdest lyrics or costumes- extra points for wardrobe malfunctions, along with a rousing game of Pin the Tail on Macedonia. Quite the shindig!) Other favourites included the entries from the UK, Greece, France, and Sweden, none of which actually did very well in the official voting. The Ukraine actually did quite well, but they were sadly kept in second place by the unimpressive ballad-y entry from Serbia, to my surprise. The western countries did quite poorly on the whole, and there are quite a few rumours going around about some kind of corrupt Eastern European "block voting" practices, the details of which I do not yet understand... Anyhow, Eurovision may have its critics, but I found it fantastic! Many thanks to Craig and Kate for inviting an ignorant stranger to the party of the year (and for making vegan chili)! And for those of you in the States who can't be here to enjoy this, don't worry- I'm "Flying the Flag (For You)!"

Home Sweet Home

2007-05-14T02:52:00.000-07:00

One week in Nottingham and things are going well. Thus far there have been no major catastrophes, though there was one minor incident wherein cycling shoes were destroyed, a pair of nice jeans was compromised, and I was honked and laughed at by a car full of teenagers whilst lying on the ground in the rain unable to disentangle my legs from my traitorous fallen bicycle. Add to that the fact that I have not enjoyed a hot shower since my arrival (water heater due to be fixed on Wednesday), I have made grave errors in judgment where packing weather-appropriate clothing is concerned, and I seem to have brought the rainy winter weather with me from Seattle, and one might think that I'm having a bad time of it here. But no, not I. Despite the minute challenges presented me since my arrival, I am not discouraged. No lack of hot water is going to keep me down. No mocking teenage ne'er-do-wells can crush my globetrotting spirit. Jeans will be patched and new bike shoes purchased. And I, I will survive. Now, it seems like I'm focusing quite a bit on the negative. And I am. Because challenges are what make us stronger, right? But non-challenges are what make us happy! So let's have a look at those, shall we? =) First and foremost, my arrival was in no way difficult. Gordon had already gone about the difficult business of finding an apartment, had learnt his way about town, and had stocked up on all the necessaries (hand soap, wine, chocolate, etc.) before I even got here. He made the actual travel quite a bit easier by renting a car and driving us back up here so that I could avoid the potentially harrowing travail of dragging my valises and bicycle all around the Kingdom on trains. Most importantly, I get to live in the same country as my boyfriend! =) I have friends in this country to whom I am quite glad to be closer, and I have a month to get the lay of the land before I have to figure out where I want to work when I get back here. Things really are good. In addition, we live in an amazing apartment! =) I've not had an opportunity to photograph the building from the outside, as the weather has been most uncooperative, but here's a picture I found on the Internet. It's a Grade II preserved building. Used to be some sort of mill but now it's home! =) Our apartment is unbelievably cute. =) The main living area includes the lounge (British for "living room") and kitchen, and is very small. But what it lacks in spaciousness it more that makes up for in cute! =) We have a tiny sofa and chair with spotty pillows, a little glass tv/stereo stand, and an odd but cosy little area rug. There is exposed brick on the wall with the big windows, which is painted white. Gordon bought a doorstop shaped like a pig. He's stripey. He really pulls the room together. =) The kitchen has a small glass dining table, plenty of cabinet space, and is finished very nicely with chrome and wood. Everything is brand new, and we have the most adorable appliances my American eyes have ever seen- a tiny stove (called a "hob" here), a tiny oven, a tiny washer/dryer (all in one!), and perhaps the cutest little microwave I have ever seen. =) The bedroom and the bathroom are both quite large in comparison, and the bedroom is decorated with bed linens that match the spotty pillows in the lounge. =) They have even provided color-coordinated potpourri and flower arrangements! Definitely the cutest place I have ever lived! So, that's good. Really starting to feel quite at home there. We have access to a small gym and to secure bike storage as well, which is quite handy! All of the amenities (minus the hot water)! Many more wonderful things about Nottingham to be revealed in future posts as I do a little more exploration, but for now I must head home, as I have been promised a feast of Roast Veggies a la Gordon and all of this blogging has made me hungry!

Sarah.co.uk

2007-05-10T03:34:00.000-07:00

I'm here! =) It's a beautiful, sunny day in the 'Shire! =) As I sit typing, I am watching ducks and swans (and Canada Geese! Why so far from home, geeses?!?! I guess they are kindred North American expats!) swim and frolic in the pond here at the University of Nottingham, workplace of my adorable boyfriend Gordon. (I am in an atrium area really close to that roundy building, which is the library.) Much has happened since last I posted here, and I shall attempt to be brief in my summary of events (though we all know that being brief is not necessarily my greatest strength). Leaving Seattle was more hectic than I ever dreamed it could be, as I was in quite the impressive state of denial for most of the three weeks leading up to my departure. Several people stepped up to help with the insanity at the end, most notably: Jess Wetter, who was over at my house many an afternoon to help pack and move and provide invaluable moral support, Britton, who supplied me with a last minute storage solution for the odds and ends that simply could not be crammed into the storage space, Cupcake, who came over and cleaned out my cabinets and is lovingly caring for my sweet car in my absence, Michele and Chris, who made the apartment nearly spotless before I even started cleaning, Suzanne, who selflessly ran all of my last-minute errands with me and wouldn't even let me buy her dinner, Wayne, who didn't have to help, but did it anyway, and countless others who provided much needed work breaks and conversation when I was knee-deep in cardboard boxes and lack of motivation. (Whew! That was long. This post may never end. But thank you to all of you. Really.) My last weekend in Seattle was divided between grueling phyisical labour and catching up with friends. =) Friday night I had a few few cocktails with my peeps, Sunday I spent all day running errands with Suzanne, and Monday I had a nice lunch with cute Katie in the U District. My last night in Seattle was pretty much perfect. I had a lovely dinner with some of my dearest friends at India Bistro, which was both wonderful and sad- it's hard to think of leaving so many amazing friends halfway across the world! After dinner (and dessert at Ben & Jerry's) Jess and I stayed up most of the night trying to get the place in shape for the inspection and only got 2 hours of sleep before we had to leave for the airport! (I'm pretty sure I had blocked that part out when I described the evening as "perfect" earlier in this post.) I did manage to get to the airport on time, though getting to Atlanta was not without incident... Once I finally arrived in the ATL I spent a nice few days dress and shoe shopping and watching Lifetime Television for Women with my mom. Quite relaxing. =) It was Kevin's birthday and we went out for dinner Friday night with Virginia and Ray. =) Then I came here. No problems at all with the flight, baggage, customs, or finding a smiling Gordon most patiently awaiting my arrival at Gatwick. =) He had rented a car, and we drove into London for a lovely brunch with Andy and Katie before we headed up the motorway to the Midlands. =) And there you have it. More on my new home in future posts- this one has become quite long! I hope everyone back home in the Colonies is doing well, and I'll be in touch as best I can! E-mail is still the best way to find me, though I should have a phone soon- I'll send the number out as soon as I know it. Until then, cheerio! =)

I'm Not Going to Freak Out

2007-04-20T00:34:00.000-07:00

I have roughly ten days left here in the Emerald City. But I'm not going to freak out. I have a house full of furniture and a list longer than my hair (used to be!) of things left to do before I leave, but I'm not going to freak out. I'm moving to another country and have not had adequate time to learn British. But I'm not going to freak out. This unidentified screaming rodent (USR) is a visual representation of how it feels in my brain right now. I have started having stress dreams- the ones where it's the day of my final exam and I have forgotten to go to the class all quarter... I know it's all in my head, so I'm not going to freak out. I know I can do it. But every now and then I begin to doubt my ability to get everything done to my satisfaction whilst retaining some semblance of sanity. Sadly, it appears as if some of my peeps may also be succumbing to this incertitude... Rebecca came over the other night for my End of Garage Sale/Come Drink All My Wine party, where she witnessed the state of my apartment. She said nothing even remotely discouraging- in fact she has been very enthusiastic during this whole process- but I know what she must've been thinking! All of the furniture is still here, along with piles of empty boxes just waiting to be packed. How will it ever get done in ten days?!? It's enough to make anyone make this face! But I'm not going to freak out. Cupcake and Paul, two of the other witnesses of the moving mayhem, appear to be equally concerned about all of the work that is left to be done. Perhaps they also fear last minute calls for help moving pianos and such, seeing as they live right down the road and are so very robust and able-bodied. They keep saying supportive things, but look at those skeptical faces! I know what they're thinking! I have ESPN! But I'm not going to freak out. Simone (my roomie's kitty) is in denial about the whole thing. She doesn't want anyone to move. She may not have a complete understanding of what's going on, but she knows that her beloved electric blanket is going into a box, and I assure you that she is not amused. She can't stand to watch. She must avert her kitty eyes. I don't blame her. Bjorn and Kass are not covering their faces because they will miss their electric blankets. Or me, even. In fact, they live in Vancouver and probably have little concern about or interest in my moving process. They are covering their faces because they know that at some point I have to pack all of the dishes, and they are afraid of plates. They fear that the plates will explode and blind them. (Without going into detail, allow me to assure that these fears are not at all unfounded.) Even little Timothy Hutton is concerned that there's no time to pack all of this stuff (or that Kass and Bjorn will be blinded- it's hard to tell which). Don't worry, little Timothy Hutton! Everything is going to be fine! =) I'm not going to freak out. I'm fine. Everything is fine. (Calm blue ocean, calm blue ocean...) I have faced seemingly insurmountable moving challenges in the past and made it through (though not entirely unscathed). I have a fine network of friends to love and support me in my time of need. (And by "love and support" I mean "pack and move.") So if any of you lovelies feel the urge to join in the moving fun, give me a call and I'll put you to work! ;) Otherwise, just leave me to toil on my own and then show up for the fun part- drinks at the Lock & Keel Friday the 27th! =) See you there, and leave your skeptical faces at home, because you know they'll end up on the internet! :o

21 Days and Counting

2007-04-10T23:49:00.000-07:00

In 21 days I shall be on a plane heading out of Seattle. In 21 days, all of my things will be packed up and either stored in Ballard or riding in the trunk of the car on the way to the airport. In 21 days I will have completed all of the tasks that are still before me- everything on my lengthy list will be done. =) In 21 days I could learn C++ or any number of other computery things. (I know, because I looked it up.) But instead I think I'll just spend my time saying goodbye to friends and tying up all of my loose ends in Seattle. =) I do plan to come back, so it's not really sad, just moving on to different and exciting things. =) I am thrilled! But I have to admit, 21 days seems to be getting shorter and shorter... Off I go to pack! This kitten is 21 days old. (I don't know who it is- I stole the picture from somebody's website online. Is that bad?)

Look, Ma! No Cavities!

2007-04-04T23:55:00.000-07:00

This is Sebastian. He lives in Atlanta with our adorable friends Tara and Bill. He's looking at you that way because he knows that you haven't been flossing. Don't ask me how he knows; he just does. He thinks you should accept resposibility and start flossing.

This is Chween. Chween and her husband Nate live in Orlando, Florida, where she is studying acupuncture and Chinese medicine. Chween is saying, "Even me, Sebastian? But my teeth are so pretty! Look! Do I have to floss, too?" Sebastian says yes. Even the Chween must floss.

This is me. I am smiling because I went to the dentist today and had a cleaning and exam and I have no cavities! Along with flossing, I found out that it is very important to have one's teeth cleaned. I went online and found a list of the Top Ten Reasons to Have a Dental Cleaning for your perusal. =) Sebastian and Chween both think you should read it. =) Me, I don't care at all. Let your teeth fall out. See if I care. (Okay, I care! Read it!)

My Mom

2007-04-02T23:48:00.000-07:00

This is my mom, Barbara. This adorable photo was taken just a few short years ago when she was a senior at Bellaire High School. Every time I tell my mom that I have a paper due for school and I don't know what the topic will be, she says I should write about her. Well, it never seems entirely appropriate to make her the topic of a psychology paper or linguistics essay, so I respectfully decline her requests. But I can write whatever I want on my blog! So here goes! =) My mom has two lovely children- my brother, Jay (now 33) and me (now 30). Here is a picture of us when we were still small and cute. =) (Check out my bro's sweet "Mork and Mindy" tee shirt!) When I was little, my mom used to make a lot of my clothes, so my dress always matched my headband. She is very crafty. She also got a big kick out of dressing us funny because it was the seventies and everyone else dressed funny, too. Here is a picture of us going to church for Easter in 1981. Notice how my mom was actually the same age as I am now, had two kids, and was beautiful and thin! How is that possible?! (Hold on, I have to go get on the treadmill for a minute...) My mom stopped making my clothes as I got older, but she was always into something artistic and creative, whether it was painting ceramic figures or making our costumes for Halloween. (Except for the year that my brother went as Richard Nixon. He had a mask. She didn't make that.) For as long as I can remember, she has always had a camera in her hand, taking pictures of bees and baseball teams and of my brother, mostly. She likes him better. ;) One of the most important things she taught me was never to leave the house without a camera, which has served me well. =) Here is a picture I took of my mom when we went out one day to take pictures of kudzu for my friends in Seattle who didn't know what it was. This is my favourite picture of her. =) My mom also enjoys scrapbooking (at which she is truly a genius). She creates amazing cards (and even more amazing scrapbooks) for her friends and family, such as this adorable thank you card she sent after her visit to my house last year. =) My mom will be getting married sometime in June (we're not entirely sure about the date yet) to her fiancé Kevin, whom she met many years ago at the office while they were both working at Galileo International. Kevin is also very nice, but isn't maybe so good at the scrapbooking. ;) Here they are at Everybody's Pizza (my former workplace) last time I was in Atlanta. (My mom made the earrings she was wearing. She's so crafty!) In addition to Kevin, my brother, crafty stuff, and me, my mom also really loves Rocky, the undisputed Cutest Dog in the World. She loves him so much that not only did she bring him out here for my birthday last year, but she recently taught him to type and helped him set up a Gmail account so he can add comments to my blog! Amazing! =) While my mom obviously adores Rocky, she also likes to hang out with other people's babies and she tries to keep them when their parents want to take them home. Here she is with cutie pie O'Neill, our friends Virginia and Ray's little one. =) My mom is very sad that I'm moving to England instead of Georgia. (I'm not going to show you the picture she took of herself pouting and left on my camera because I'd really like not to be disowned. That, and I might need it for blackmail later.) But I think she's secretly excited to come and visit. I hear she really wants to go to the Tales of Robin Hood thing where she gets to touch and smell the days of yore. =) My mom is one of the funniest people I know. My mom likes square ice (not round ice). My mom said one boy, here are two. My mom prefers not to be thrown in the gladiolies. (My mom will understand these inside jokes and I hope she will giggle.) So, there you have it. I hope you all like my mom as much as I do, but you can't have her, 'cuz she's mine! =)

High Maintenance

2007-04-02T03:37:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I don't read that much anymore. I used to read constantly as a kid- every time the Ohio Valley Mall Santa Claus asked me what I would like for Christmas I asked for books. In middle school I made it my goal to read every work of fiction in the school library alphabetically by author. (In three years I only got through L or something.) But when I tried to write a nice list of my favourite books for my blog profile I realised that I haven't read any fiction worth mentioning in a long, long time. I felt a pang of regret at the degeneration of my reading habits. Immediately I went over to my bookshelf and selected something I had picked up at Goodwill for 99 cents. It was High Maintenance by Jennifer Belle. I decided to write about it here because I'd like to keep a log of the books I read and this seems a good place to start. So, let me begin by saying that 99 cents might have been too high a price to pay for this book. Look how the cover has words like "hilarious," "exceptionally funny," and "bestseller!" LIES, I tell you! (Okay, the bestseller part is probably true, but it only goes to show that Americans will buy just about anything.) This book was basically 350 pages of lackluster writing with perhaps the sum total of one page worth of funny and/or interesting lines thrown in sporadically. The plot: a rich woman divorces her cheating husband and has to move out of the apartment over which she obsesses for the rest of the book. She becomes a real estate agent and spends a lot of time showing apartments- comparing them to her old one and passing judgment on just about every client. Basically, the protagonist is unlikeable, her thoughts inane, and her actions contrived. Her love interest is clearly insane, married, and lies constantly. He is vile and offensive to both the character herself and to the reader, and there's actually a scene were he bites part of her ear off and she has to get it sewn back on by a veterinarian. Ew. I am glad to have finished the book- I would've quit reading but I genuinely wanted to see what would happen in the end. Not a whole lot- things did get wrapped up tidily as they tend to do in these kinds of books, but I never really liked any of the characters anyway, so I just didn't care. To add insult to mediocre writing, she dishonors my brethren, the nerds. The main character doesn't care for her best friend's beau. Allow me to quote: "Her new boyfriend played Dungeons & Dragons with two other guys every Sunday night. I'd rather date a married psychopath than a man who did that." Preposterous. All I'm saying- don't read this book. As for me, I'm on the road to bigger and better works. Up next is "Gone With the Wind." If I can't bring myself to enjoy that one, perhaps I should just stop reading altogether! :o

Pack It Up, Pack It In...

2007-04-01T23:38:00.000-07:00

...let me begin... Packing and moving, that is. =) A storage facility has been rented and the first of many boxes moved into it! Yay! =) This photo was taken during the truck unloading portion of my last real move- from Atlanta to Seattle- a reenactment of which I am trying desperately to avoid. As my mom, Kevin, and Chween can attest, the Atlanta segment of the move was completely disastrous! I won't go into great detail, but it involved many vehicles, including Kevin's truck, a rented moving truck, and a giant semi truck. (I have to use the word "truck" while I still can- I hear they don't have those in the UK!) It also involved collecting my effects from a second-floor storage unit (sans elevator), my mom's house, a friend's house, my own house, and from Target! (That's where my Vespa was living.) Add to that the excavation and toilsome removal of many boxes from a dark, moldy, 100-degree, mosquito-infested basement where most of my clothing had deteriorated into kind of a stringy, black liquid and many of my other belongings had similarly decomposed, and you begin to get the picture. We all worked until literally delirious, and there were at least two nights when I never went to sleep at all. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank the people involved in that torturous experience- without their help I would surely have fallen asleep during loading and been shipped across America in the back of a semi loaded with all of my stuff and 30 tons of cat food or diapers. I'd also like to assure all of those kind souls that their services shall not be called upon for this move or any other laborious and time-sensitive project with which I might become involved in the future. In an effort to avoid a repetition of 2003's Moving Mayhem, I have already begun work and intend to have everything done on time and without the suffering of any of my dear friends and relatives! (Though to be completely honest, I wouldn't refuse any volunteers!) I have 30 days until I'm on a plane out of Seattle and there is much to be done, so back to work I go! =) Let the moving begin! =)

Sherwood Forest

2007-03-30T23:30:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time, my friend Andrea (left) and I (right) were enjoying a fine afternoon on a high school field trip to the Georgia Renaissance Festival when we spotted the sign for Sherwood Stage. At the time we probably only chose to take our picture with the sign to bring back for our friend Blair Sherwood (seen here as my prom date), but I'm pretty sure it was foreshadowing, for lo! A few short years hence, I'm moving to Sherwood Forest! =) Okay, so maybe I'm not exactly moving into the forest (and maybe it's been a little longer than a few short years), but Gordon and I shall be moving to Nottingham, in County Nottinghamshire, the home of one Robin Hood and his band of merry men! =) (I love merry men! And by merry, I mean gay. I'll bet they have really good clubs there.) There are all kinds of variations on the story of Robin Hood, but I feel that either the Disney one (where the main characters were cartoon foxes and bears and sang a lot) or the Kevin Costner one (where the main character had a little trouble maintaining a convincing English accent) are surely the most accurate. (Obviously Cary Elwes's representation was farcical and therefore not considered in my serious contemplation of the subject.) Perhaps my opinions are skewed by the fact that those are the only versions of the story with which I am familiar, but I am comforted by the fact that there is much to learn about the man (and his men) in Nottinghamshire. First, there is the Robin Hood Festival held each summer, where I can watch various and sundry medievaly events such as jousting whilst wearing an adorable green chapeau and gnawing on weaponry (and my fingers) like these two festival-going cutie pies. Second, there is the Tales of Robin Hood tourist attraction on Maid Marion Way in Nottingham, where I can "ride through medieval Nottingham in unique adventure cars and see, hear, touch and smell expertly captured scenes" from the times of Mr. Hood. Third and finally, if that doesn't satisfy my yen to learn about Britain's most famous outlaw in tights (though how could it not with all of the seeing and smelling?), there is actually a master's degree in Robin Hood offered at the very prestigious University of Nottingham (though I'm sure I'd have to have a bachelor's in something important or wear my Chamber Singers dress from high school to get into it). Needless to say, there will be plenty of non-outlaw related activities in the 'Shire, and I'll be sure to report on those at a later date. But with so much Hood in our 'hood, how can our friends and family stay away? =) See you there! =) (Shirt and tights required.)

So Exercisey

2007-03-26T22:59:00.000-07:00

Today I went to Green Lake and walked around it twice. Fast. That means I walked a total of 5.6 miles, and I did it in 1 hour and 5 minutes. =) (No jogging.) Since I went all by my lonesome I needed to share my success in conquering the lake with someone, and ALF didn't seem especially interested. (Though he was keenly interested in wearing my glasses and a lei.) So, yes, I am a champion. Thank you for reading and sharing in my triumph. =)

London Calling

2007-03-25T23:58:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I can't say which city I'll be off to specifically, but I can say that I'm moving to England!!! Plans have been made, tickets purchased, and luggage upgraded for the journey. =) The plan is as follows: I leave Seattle on the 1st of May to spend a couple of days chez Barbara in sunny Atlanta- snuggling with Rocky, perhaps going to Costco to find an industrial-sized bag of Mrs. May's Almond Crunch before I leave the Colonies... Then I head off to scenic Gatwick airport on the 5th of May on BA, official airline of my last trip to England. (Last time they fed me Indian food! I have already requested my vegan meal and hope for something equally delicious this time!) I arrive the 6th of May at 7:30am, and I'm not sure what the plans are from there! (More details as they become available.) I'll be back in the states shortly thereafter, though, because my mom and Kevin are getting married in June! =) (More details as they become available.) So there you have it- I'm moving somewhere in the UK and basically all I know so far is what date I get there. But it's more fun that way. =) I do like an adventure. =) And there's nothing to fear- my adorable boyfriend Gordon and delightful friend Andy await me there with the experience and expertise in London living to answer all of my questions, such as: What is a barrister? Are bangers and mash vegan? How do you get to be the Queen Mum? (That one's for my mom. She really wants to be the Queen Mum.) What is brown sauce made of? Should I have my aubergine, swede, rocket, and courgette sandwich on a bap? With chips or crisps? Can I eat that on the tube? (Blimey! What am I on about? That sandwich sounds like total pants!) Should we hire a pantechnicon lorry if we need to move our hoover down the motorway to our new flat, or will it fit in the boot of a saloon car? What if we can't get it through the Rory or up the apples? What if I haven't got the bees to pay me Burton? Does the drain water go anti-clockwise? What is orange squash? Does Colin Firth live near here? (Gordon Bennett! That's a lot of questions!) But I'm sure that all of these and more shall be answered in time. (More details as they become available.) Until then, cheerio! =)

Happy Anniversary

2007-03-24T23:43:00.001-07:00

This is me, one year ago yesterday. I was trying my hand (and, more accurately, my butt) at snowboarding with my good friend Jess as instructor. We enjoyed a good hour or two of my falling all over the place and her laughing and helping me up after I had planted my face in the snow; it was a lovely afternoon on the slopes at Whistler. =) But for me there's something more to this picture. When I see it I think of two things: the fun time I had with Jess that day, and the unpredictability of life- one just never knows when she's on the brink of something exciting! I didn't know it at the time, but the next morning I was going to meet a wonderful person with whom I would share the next year of my life... I rented some skis from an adorable kiwi boy with a green cast on, and the rest, as they say, is history! =) I choose to write about this now because it is the one-year anniversary of that meeting and as we are far apart at the moment, I wanted to have a little celebration. So this is it. =) Thanks for joining me. =) I hope that Gordon is not too embarrassed by my very public display of affection, but it seemed like some sort of observance of the day was in order. So happy anniversary to us! =) It's been an amazing year, and now that we have traversed the North American continent together it's on to a new adventure. =) Next stop- EUROPE! =)

We Like Kass

2007-03-23T02:07:00.000-07:00

This is Kass. Kass has beautiful red hair and a sparkling personality and enjoys long walks on the beach. And as you can see by the photo, Kass is ready to party! =) Though her real birthday was Wednesday the 21st, Kass and her crew of Canadian cohorts will be ringing in her 23rd year in style somewhere in Vancouver this evening, and I wanted to take this opportunity to say an official HAPPY BIRTHDAY since I am not there to join in the festivities. =/ Hang on... Rocky? Rocky the undisputed Cutest Dog in the World? Rocky, how did you learn how to use a cell phone? What's that? Kass is stuck in the well? No! You want to write a birthday poem to Kass! And you want me to post it here? Okay...

Rocky like Kass
Because she is pretty,
But Kass like me better
If I were a kitty.

She likes to read news
Like People and In Touch,
But Kass lives in Canadia
So Rocky don't see her much.

When Rocky has garbage
He puts it in the receptacle,
If Kass not come see me soon
It is "Unasseptable!"

So big happy birthday
Now you are twenty-three,
A big puppy hug to you
But now Rocky have to pee.

The End

P.S. Rocky also like birthday cake.

The Path To ?

2007-03-21T23:41:00.000-07:00

Whilst wandering through the new Olympic Sculpture Park with Gordon, Cupcake, and Paul a couple of weekends back, I stumbled across this lovely sign. It wanted to have it's picture taken and I happily obliged, but it seemed as if there were something more it wanted to say- more words it wanted to express- but someone did not want that to happen. Why would the good people of the park want to censor such a nice little sign? What could it mean? What is under your tape, sign?! What were you trying to thank us for that someone decided was not suitable for the eyes of the young or the faint of heart? Thank you for staying on the path of least resistance, you lazy lima beans? Or thank you for staying on the path of righteousness; you are going to heaven and all of the angels will sing to you? Thank you for staying on the Path of the Fury so you could catch those space pirates and get your revenge on them? What else could it possibly be? Any ideas?

Pet Food Recall

2007-03-20T01:22:00.000-07:00

This is Duncan. Gordon and I met him and his brother Duffy last year when we were in Maine. He is cute and very loving. He would not like to hear that his food might make him sick. He would also not like the way the pet food company is handling the situation. Here is an article I just read about the recall.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/308221_petfoodrecall20.html

Now, I guess this is my problem. Menu Foods started receiving calls about this in December and now it's March and they've just recalled the food. In addition, they apparently lied to the FDA about when the calls started coming in so it looked like they just jumped right on the problem and started new testing a week later. To top it all off, that testing was done on 40-50 otherwise presumably healthy dogs and cats, exposing more animals to food that has obviously sickened a number of pets already... So maybe I don't know anything about figuring out if something is wrong with food or not, but if it were, say, shredded wheat and the company that made it had been getting calls for a couple of months, I seriously doubt it would be considered a good idea to just feed it to a test group of people for a while and then see how many of them died. And yet that's what this pet food company chose to do and nobody seems to be at all concerned about it. Pet owners are worried about their own pets, but where is the outrage over several news outlets reporting a line such as "1 in 6 animals died in tests..." I mean, how can we can read these articles and not be appalled? They already had plenty of evidence that the food was poisoning animals- isn't there some way of testing the ingredients in the food that they suspected might be the cause of the illnesses instead of feeding it to animals to see how many of them die? Am I crazy, or does this seem completely absurd and unnecessarily cruel? Is there another way to see this that I'm just missing? Any thoughts?

18 Things I Like

2007-03-18T19:13:00.000-07:00

Some things I like: Aloo gobi from India Bistro in Ballard, movies that make me cry, learning Italian, getting massaged by a kitty, strawberry Kool-Aid, hugs, broccoli, mix tapes, playing cards, painted toenails, getting stuff in the mail (even bills!), glowy candle light, being sore from exercising, Dr. Pepper (even though it wants to leach the calcium from my bones), new notebooks, mechanical pencils, the sound of footsteps in Grand Central Station in NYC, Earl Grey tea, "Gilmore Girls", mashed potatoes and gravy, the daily crossword, Converse shoes, and being in the moment. =) Happy belated anniversary to Jay and Jamie (it was yesterday) and happy belated birthday to Dan, Ro, and Darien (also yesterday)! Here is a picture of a cat dressed like a chicken. =)

Sometimes I Jog

2007-03-16T21:55:00.000-07:00

It is common knowledge that I am quite sporty. I mean, sometimes I ski, sometimes I play tennis or badminton, sometimes I toss a frisbee around, and sometimes I do a little yoga. And by "sometimes" I mean that I have participated in each of the aforementioned activities at least twice in my adult life. But as of four o'clock this afternoon I can now proclaim to the world (with a straight face) that sometimes I jog. That's right- I'm a jogger. Until today, I felt that any kind of running or jogging could only be appropriate if something either wild or rabid (or both!) were chasing me and looking hungry. Or if I were wild and/or rabid and hungry. Or if I were a greyhound. But there I was, in my track pants and t-shirt, iPod in hand, having a brisk and satisfying walk around Green Lake, when I was overcome by the urge to go faster! Now, normally I might have been stopped by the nagging voices in my head reminding me that I am indeed not a greyhound and that I would look ridiculous flailing around in public and running from nothing. But I took a moment, looked around me, and realised that everyone else looked ridiculous, too! There were people in mismatched, sweaty 1980's gym gear, fanny packs galore, and parts of people that one might rather not notice jiggling all over the place! And though most people did look a little bit silly running around in circles in the out-of-doors in unforgivable tiny running shorts and appalling man-tights and other atrocities of Spandex, they also looked fit and thin! And that was the deciding moment. I realised that if I ever wanted to be able to leave the house in entire outfits made of synthetic stretch fibres and feel good about myself I would have to take the plunge. I decided that no matter the length of the next song on my iPod I was going to jog for an entire song. Midway through I really wanted to give up, but I persevered! I finished the song out of breath and with red hot cheeks, but I made it! It was a grueling 2 minutes and 16 seconds. But I felt like a champion. =) I took all of that excitement and channeled it into a couple more small jogging spurts during my hour-long walk. I felt triumphant. And fit and thin. =) And ready to do it again. =) Anyone up for a jog on Sunday? =)

Sheep Are Very Fluffy

2007-03-14T23:57:00.001-07:00

I feel as if my last two posts have been just the teensiest bit on the gloomy side, what with all of the whining about Gordon's return to the Isles... But I am not one to be forlorn for long! I have decided it is time to get ahold of myself, stop all of this whinging (see how I'm already British?), and focus my energy on something fluffy. And as you may already know, sheep are VERY fluffy. =) Here is a link to a most adorable (and yet quite informative) video about sheep! Watch it! =)

http://youtube.com/watch?v=d4NEbU_YkZw

Elvis Has Left The Building

2007-03-13T22:30:00.000-07:00

In other words, Gordon has left the continent. I have recruited Rocky, the undisputed Cutest Dog in the World, to use his puppy dog eyes to try to express the sadness that I feel about Gordon's departure. I would never be so sappy as to compose an ode to Gordon to be viewed by the masses, but Rocky, the undisputed Cutest Dog in the World, feels he must be heard. He has put his paw down, and I must respect his wishes or he will lick me to death in my sleep when I get to Atlanta. He calls this piece "Ode to That Tall Guy that Came to Visit For a While This Summer."

Roses are red,

Violets are blue;

Don't go to UK,

'Cuz Rocky will miss you.

Roses are red,

Il Ponte Vecchio is Florentine;

Rocky come visit you,

But Rocky don't like quarantine.

Roses are red,

English food is terrible;

You should go back to Seattle,

Because Aunt Sarah is so sad she has lost her ability to accurately interpret and transcribe my brilliant doggie poetry and I fear my vision and my credibility as an artist are threatened. And English food really is terrible.

The End

Tot Henge

2007-03-12T23:10:00.000-07:00

Tater Tots. You know where they probably don't have Tater Tots? England. And that's where Gordon is going tomorrow. At 19:30. And though I shall join him there in early May, I find myself quite saddened by his impending departure. In an effort to console myself I have built a henge. Of tots. Here it is.