Monday, January 22

Happy New Year (its still holidays-I'm allowed to be slow)

Hello and welcome back for a new year on the blog. I haven't decided what the content will be for the year - seems boring to just have my little comings and goings. But for now I'm still on holidays and filling my time with all sorts of interesting and less interesting passtimes. Working backwards (maybe thats the way my mind works) I had my last day working at the chemist today. They even bought me a lemon tart to celebrate-very nice it was too. It was a little bit sad to be leaving, but by the time I come back from a week away (starting tomorrow) they'll be opening in a different building, with a different name and different owner! Times are changing.

I've also done some painting work for my Dad at a property he's doing up. Its not too painful - mostly I do the cutting in and Kate or Dad do the larger scale roller-ing. And we can only do first coats until the floors get sanded - apparently it makes so much dust which is hard to get completely off so its better to do the second paint coat afterwards. Some beams holding up the floor (it is an old house) were resting straight on the ground and were rotten through, so they all had to be replaced. The plumbers were there the other day putting in pipes in what will be the bathroom (no more outhouse hurrah - not that i've used it, partly as I don't like the seat which is more a bench with a hole!) Anyway its definitely improving. And Dad even admitted I was good at painting, even if I am too busy to do much!

Other than that, I've had some good time catching up with friends - some chilling with Tahnee. We went to see the movie Apocalypto on friday with some other people - I didn't really find out much about it beforehand, so it was a little more violent than I usually choose to see. It was quite graphic in some parts - although it was not the sight of blood and guts that is offputting, so much as the thought of humans being so brutal to each other. Especially between tribes of people who look nearly the same to me! But they did have good names - Jaguar Paw, Turtles Run, Flint Sky.
Amusingly, the IMDB website has this about the movie:
Goofs: Anachronisms: The buildings in the city co-mingle architectural styles from three separate Mayan civilizations: Tikal Classic Maya (800 CE), Puuc (c.1050 CE), and El Mirador, a Pre-Classic metropolis that existed around the year 0 CE.

Yesterday Tahnee and I went with her parents and some others to see the performance of Aladdin in the Botanical Gardens. All was going well, and we were enjoying the show along with quite a mob of adults and even some children. Then it began to rain. They asked if they should keep going and we said yes and all shuffled in under the trees some more (we were at the second location of three) but then it really bucketed down. We couldn't hear what they were saying because of the noise of the rain as well as everyone muttering and chatting. We all ran for cover under the restaraunt and after a while the actors (still in their lovely but not very waterproof costume complete with Arabic style hats) came to tell us we could keep the tickets and come back another day. Sadly they are only on for the rest of the week and I'll be away so I don't get to know the end - although I have my suspicions young Aladdin gets the girl and all is well. But it would have been nice to see it played out - they said it was a bit different to the movie version.

So with our afternoon plans... dampened, we ran to the car, getting completely drenched on the way. Amusingly, I realised I was wearing the same shirt (yes all i was wearing was a skirt and short sleeved shirt - not much good in a downpour) that I wore in Cambridge when Tahnee and I again got drenched to the skin while having a trip on the river Cam! After a quick change at home, then a cup of tea with Tahnee's parents at her place we ventured out with raincoats to the video shop - the giant video city in New Town which I'd never been to. After some deliberation we armed ourselves with 3 more anime ones we'd been making our way through last year - studio Ghibli/Miyazaki movies. We got The Castle of Cagliostro, The Grave of the Fireflies, and Laputa, The Castle in the Sky.

The Castle of Cagliostro was pretty early on I think, and it was amusing, but more like Tintin - big goofy really. The Grave of the Fireflies is set in WWII Japan and had some really sad moments. Not so cheerful, but I thought it was good - showed that even with the threat of air-raids, for the orphans in the story it was actually the unkindness of other people that was most unpleasant. Laputa seemed quite long, but had some good bits, and some good robots and flying machines too. And again it was 2 orphans who meet when one falls from the sky!! Pazu says 'A girl just fell from the sky, boss!' and next thing he's helping her run away from pirates, the army and find a hidden castle in the sky! There are a few more Studio Ghibli ones to see, but after that I don't know what anime is any good. Some just looks wierd....!

As well as all that, I went away about a week ago to Bicheno with Mum and Hamish, his parents, my aunt and uncle, cousin and some others. It was a stunning weekend with gorgeous weather. I squeezed in a most enjoyable mix of reading, swimming, fishing, drinking coffee, fishing, swimming, eating out at the French restaraunt (delicious food - I had duck), eating at cousins shack (delcious food-we had rabbit), playing a board game, doing jigsaw puzzles and just relaxing. I left early on the monday (oops before some of the cleaning was finished!) to head home to collect my aunt from Melbourne at the bus station, had lunch and catch up with her, and headed to see Mark after his 3 weeks in NSW. All in all, a top weekend!

There was also the whole adventure of Christmas and Falls. It already seems quite a while ago. And I do have photos to put up, but once again they are not here in the same house that I am in. For now, Christmas involved, dinner with Dad (and Kate, and grandmother), breakfast on Christmas Day with them, lunch with Mark, his family and some international students, driving to Bicheno, random meal with whoever was around, big dinner of boxing day night with Mum's family. Few days there then back home and I was off to Falls. I camped with Tahnee and her boyfriend and his friends who were good fun. I enjoyed heaps of different bands - John Butler Trio, Modest Mouse, Blue King Brown, Michael Franti, Benjafield Collective etc. Was nearly tempted to watch the sun rise on new years morning, but at quarter to five we decided it was actually a fair way off!! Instead we slept until about 8, woke and realised it wasn't necessarily a sunny day heading our way, so plan to linger and go to the beach may be foiled, so instead packed quickly and left the site by 9 and were home by 10. Certainly did better than some others caught in traffic as the day went on! Another top way to welcome the new year.

And thats a not very brief run-down of me lately... well the bits worth writing. Lots more happened in the gaps - no wonder I have barely touched a computer! Still plenty of time for that when term begins soon enough - then I will actually have something to procrastinate about!

Oh and tomorrow I'm off to Southport for my annual sailing/kiyaking Anglican camp. Seems we'll have about 18 kids, and 14 leaders (better than the 13 we were looking at earlier in the week - i recruited 4 more!). New venue - should be exciting. Hoping for good weather. Will write about that one in another few months!!!