The Friendly Teacake

This is how you are going to have a magical night:

2012-01-23T22:54:00.002+13:00

1. Make yourself a drink (look how fantastical the packaging is, some person did a great job on that one).

2. Go up the ladder to your loft (you all have one of these, right?).

3. Take off your shoes so your feet can be free! Also place your shoes neatly so that they please your eyes (I could have been a bit more tidy with my laces so don't copy me).

4. Read this book because your friend showed it to you (and she has great taste in both books and people so you should trust her). You also want to read it so that you can learn about the impassable wilderness and admire the beautiful illustrations.

5. Then drink in your chai slowly (because it tastes like christmas in a cup).

Muzak! Bam!

2012-01-23T22:38:00.001+13:00

The other day I went to a couple of gigs. One of them was the Prophet Hens, starring Penelope! I had a very nice time. I sat at my own wee table with a cider and listened to their jangle-y tunes quietly. Plus one of the members I used to think was an overseas famous music star because I had his album on my itunes (only overseas famous people feature on my itunes, you see), so that added another dimension.The Prophet Hens played very well...

...I know what you're thinking: I should write music reviews.

I quite like this photo, all washed out and dreamy, plus I think my thumb is in the upper left corner.

Shutter - man, that's freaky.

2012-01-22T15:46:00.001+13:00

Yesterday I saw part of that Shutter movie, you know the one with Joshua Jackson (Dawson's Creek, holla!) with a polaroid camera that takes spirit photos. After watching the movie something strange happened. In the photos that I have taken there have been ghost like creatures in all of them. I don't know what's going on BUT if you don't hear from me in a couple of days call the ghostbusters. I may need some serious help.

2011-12-09T23:15:00.001+13:00

My sister Laura is amazing. She is really good at dancing and always seems happy. Sometimes I think that she's magic.

And this is how you are going to have an average night:

2011-12-07T21:55:00.001+13:00

1. Go to the harbour

2. Eat wasabi peas (so spicy)

3. Read a book and eat strange japanese candy

This is how YOU are going to have an awesome night:

2011-12-06T18:17:00.001+13:00

1. Eat this

2. Then read this

2. a) And look at hot babes like this

3. Then watch this (because it's the only movie left on your computer after you accidentally deleted everything)

Do you like my daisy garland?

2011-12-05T18:41:00.001+13:00

I stole the idea from Leilana. She is wonderful and full of great ideas.

Now for a tour of Elizabeth's house.

2011-12-05T18:24:00.001+13:00

Elizabeth lives in a new house with her lovely boyfriend, a small lady who is lovely and makes things, a lady that is in the circus, and a tall czech gentleman. Their house is wonderful. They have a large kitchen filled with fresh food (except for that gnarled old parsnip which Elizabeth promptly threw out), a clawfoot bathtub, a glass house, a trampoline, and a lovely garden. Elizabeth also wears a visor and peg bag (which is like a apron crossed with a bum bag) when she hangs out the washing (I find this highly amusing).

I'll show you some photos - though to be honest, they don't really do the house justice.

Living room.

Display cabinet.

This was my favourite shelf of the display, such pretty teacups!

Elizabeth is a great host, look at her offering you some coffee! Charming.

This is a bath (quite self explanatory really).

Elizabeth's work space.

Bright colours

2011-12-05T17:56:00.001+13:00

So, Summer is here! Squee, how exciting. I never thought of myself being a summer person as I am generally pasty and get sunburnt and heat stroke just glimpsing the sun. But this year, boy! Things have changed.

Last week I took some days off work and went to Wellington with my brother. It was lovely. We went to many restaurants, cafes, bars, went on runs, went on the train, went to pub quizzes, went to karaoke, went to the beach, went to the movies, and went shopping. And all that time the weather was beautiful.

Here are some photos of some bright things in celebration of the new season.

Lyall Bay.

Thickshake in Garrett Park.

Delicious orangina and latte - champion's breakfast.

Earl grey tea at Kreuzberg.

Colourful construction on Webb street.

Gross floor and nice shoes at Welcome takeaways on Vivian street.

Train to Petone.

Looks like a garage out of a movie, huh?

Queens wharf in Petone.

I just like the colour of this.

Look at the crazy sparrows - they are the smudged things because they are moving so fast.

Scorching Bay.

If you zoom in you can see a man standing with a snorkel on, he was standing pretty still, probably peeing in the water...

Pushing Daisies

2011-11-27T21:42:00.001+13:00

I love the show Pushing Daisies, even though there are only two seasons. Hence why I drew a picture of Charlotte 'Chuck' Charles while I'm watching it for the second time.

I've also started to watch Dead Like Me, which is also great - but again there are only two seasons. I always seem to like tv shows that are cancelled.

Voting.

2011-11-27T10:11:00.001+13:00

Yesterday was election day (hooray!). We went and voted at my old school, which I loved. Every election (by every I mean the 2 before this year) I've gone there and it just feels nice to vote there. The school has changed a lot - there's like additional fancy big buildings and no longer a naughty square BUT it still feels the same. I can remember making little houses in the trees that surrounded the field and that time that one of the neighbours of the school sunbathed topless and heaps of the kids stood on the fire escape stairs to watch her. One of my favourite things about primary school was the fact that I walked home via the back gate a.k.a. the cool gate. When you walked home at my primary school you walked home with whoever was going your way. It was very inclusive and nice.

Gnome.

2011-11-23T21:55:00.001+13:00

Also, this gnome lives outside my house. I despise this gnome, he always looks so happy. So imagine my utter delight when I came home to see him drenched from the rain...Admittedly I was also soaked. But still, it was a small victory.

Hotness

2011-11-23T21:45:00.001+13:00

Ok, I hope I don't offend any of my friends by drawing cartoons of them - which don't even portray their true beauty (especially Amanda's, I just couldn't draw her, she was too hard!). I am really lucky because all of my friends and immediate family are total foxes and this makes them very easy on the eyes. Of course this isn't the only reason that I hang out with them (just one of them, I like beautiful things).

I'd also like you to watch the video clip below that Leilana sent to me because I just love the dancing, it's amazing. Shakira's talents are truly underrated.

They're growing!

2011-11-21T21:28:00.001+13:00

It's like a bad M. Night Shyamalan movie.

Leaves.

2011-11-21T21:04:00.001+13:00

It's in your stars ooooOOOOOOoooo

2011-11-21T19:59:00.001+13:00

On Saturday we went to a psychic fair or "fear" as Lucinda put it. I didn't even know that psychic fairs exist BUT apparently they do. I must admit that I am quite closed minded when it comes to such things (which is strange because I love reading stories and watching programmes and just about anything about ghosts, I find the idea of ghosts quite romantic). Leilana and I both got our cards read by the same lady who I thought was very nice. She seemed like she was a good soul. I thought my fortune was quite applicable although not quite as cheery as what I would have hoped for. But then I do think your fortune is what you make it - in that both when getting a fortune read, you create it and also select the parts that you want from it. So perhaps I'm just a wee bit cynical/sassy - a great combination!

As for ghosts and the great beyond: I think you should listen to the episode of radiolab (it's free) called proof. It's short (only like eight minutes long) and I think has some beautiful ideas. Go on, I'll put the link right here.

Hey!

2011-11-20T03:03:00.001+13:00

Don't you sometimes think at 3 o'clock in the morning, while you are eating cereal out of a recycled takeaways container, that everything is just so beautiful?

Obviously, I do, like right now.

Take this picture of Leilana, she looks amazing and so happy, even though you can't see her face. I don't know how she does it but I'm glad that she does.

It's nice to have friends.

2011-11-16T22:33:00.001+13:00

Marianne and Lulu have been friends for years. They met one day while at the creek. Marianne was trying to catch cockabillies but was highly unsuccessful as her net had a hole. And even then she didn't know what she was going to do with them once she caught them...Probably look at them swim around in her bathtub, then get bored and take them back to the creek. Lulu was at the creek conducting highly scientific and confidential experiments on classified materials that one cannot discuss. They bonded when Marianne got out her little argyle thermos and offered Lulu some soup. Lulu was and is the biggest soup fan, especially when it contains pasta - which Marianne's did.

These days Marianne and Lulu meet every Thursday, each week with a different checklist, containing one activity, one thing, and one song. Lulu brings her little music player, then they go collect the thing mentioned from the appropriate place, find the song written on the list and go do the activity described while listening to the song. So far they have:

1. gone abseiling with googles on while listening to Elvis Costello.

2. roller-skated on the beach, carrying dictionaries, and listening to Mariah Carey.

3. Slept in sleeping bags at the railway station with an inflatable snowman and listened to M.I.A.

Among many other things.

Sometimes they run out of ideas and on these occasions they just eat soup. Soup is really good.

Happy birthday!

2011-11-15T00:20:00.001+13:00

I hope that you have a lovely day filled with lots of dancing.

Here are some random photos, friends.

2011-11-14T00:06:00.001+13:00

Sometimes I think, man...my photo skills are seriously lacking! There are amazing photographers out there who take just beautiful pictures. But what I love about photos is that it doesn't matter. Each person's photos show a wee bit of their personality. They capture a shot slightly differently. I'd like to think that my photos are akin to that of what a small child would take, running around with a pinhole camera made out of a tin.

Our intermediate school was amazing for art and we had the best art teacher. She was so enthusiastic and would exclaim about how superb our art was. By the end of one of her pep talks you would feel like your art had super powers. One day we made pinhole cameras and then took photos outside, later developing the photos in our darkroom (yip, we had our own darkroom, so cool). When I think about this memory it's always in black and white. I think because the photos were black and white. My photo was of the trees, the grass, and the sky...I think? Now, as I'm thinking of all us eleven year olds running around in black and white with cameras around the school grounds, I am listening to a song called Posters by a band called Youth Lagoon. You could imagine that memory and listen to that song too. Then it would be like you were there...And that's nice. I bet you were a fantastic eleven year old.

Peculiar succulent flowers.

Heart shaped headstone.

Evil gnomes in Leilana's garden.

The lady sealion that owns the beach, far away, cause you need to respect her space.

Lucinda and DJ's amazing upper portion of their living room.

Magnolias

2011-11-08T00:19:00.000+13:00

As I'm sure I've told you before. I LOVE magnolias. They are so beautiful and if you read their wikipedia page they are also very interesting. In order to save you time I will tell you a snippet: they are an ancient genus that evolved before bees. Therefore their job was to attract beetles (in my mind I would think scarab beetles but this is not accurate, just awesome) and they had to be really tough.

Tough wee flowers, those magnolias were. Tough but beautiful. I think if flowers had personalities then magnolias would also be wise and respectable. Like a stern but fair grandmother.

Now I have also been rather nostalgic tonight. And if you want to be too you should look up Spoongoose and listen to our old band. We were quite...ummm...low fi....I used to get embarrassed when listening to it, entirely because of my terrible voice and unskillful xylophone playing. But now I like it. It's rough yes but I think that the songs are endearing and well written (thanks to Elizabeth's excellent lyrical abilities). Plus that Leilana really knew how to shake the maracas!

And then if you find that Spoongoose is not your style (you crazy thing, you). Then listen to Vincent O'Brien by M. Ward. That song is beautiful.

Day 6 of those outfit-y posts, plus how great is Romana's bed?

2011-11-06T16:40:00.002+13:00

So first of all: this is my sister's sweater (which I stole, bad person alert!), jeans, a necklace of two icecreams that one of my other sisters made, and boots.

Secondly: last night I slept for twelve hours, chiefly because of my sister's bed (second photo). It is the MOST AMAZING bed in the world! Honestly it is like heaven. So so comfortable. She is currently away for two months on an island doing adventures, so of course I have taken full advantage of this. What a cure for poor sleep. I will seriously consider investing in a clone bed, it is that tremendous!

Moving on: I also took some photos of her cute stuff (the third and fourth photos). As I said, she's away...and I'm a bad person. But it is pretty cool and we have similar tastes ie. there are sylvanian families, picture books, neil gaiman books, and a pineapple with sunglasses :O But let's be honest, who doesn't like that stuff?

And finally: the remaining photos are of our cute family pets, Lily, Mungo, and Lizzy. Awww.

Old photos

2011-11-05T22:01:00.002+13:00

Tonight I looked at all the photos on my mother's frankenweenie computer (I call it this because it is a hybrid of my sister's computer and my old computer Master Hotdogs, it is also the name of Tim Burton's film that he made as a young man). It was so funny. It's weird to think how young my siblings looked (though it should not be that surprising). Like in the bottom photo the little girl, rather than the baby, is my sister Emma and now SHE has a baby. CRAZY! The top photo is a picture of my Nonno's family. I just like it. :D

Day 5

2011-10-30T23:40:00.000+13:00

Yesterday I had a meltdown of epic proportions. It was terrible. I recommend not having meltdowns and always being stable and calm in everything you do. However I woke today with very little sleep and had a marvelous day (even though I worked for like all of it). Hmmm...I don't really know what the moral of the story is.

Day 4

2011-10-28T18:59:00.001+13:00

Today I slept in. It was terrible. I woke up and thought, man I wonder if it's time to wake up. Then I turned over to look at my clock and it said 8:21. Unfortunately I start work at 8:00. So I had that horrible feeling where your stomach goes to your boots and then you just go into speed mode (ie. washing, brushing, dressing and leaving the house in less than 4 minutes).

I think that the problem is that I haven't been sleeping. I don't know why. I just can't go to sleep until 3 in the morning. The other night I made a tomato and cheese toasted sandwich in a pan at 2:30am. It was delicious.

Day 3

2011-10-27T18:52:00.000+13:00

Black dress, leopard tights, black shoes, black cardigan.

Day 2

2011-10-27T18:48:00.000+13:00

White blouse, black pants and funny metallicy cardigan.

This week

2011-10-25T21:23:00.001+13:00

I'm going to post the outfits I wear for the whole week. Mostly for Liana, so she better read this. Plus I haven't posted for so long it's a nice way to get back into it.

Recently these are the things I have liked:
1. Watching all of pushing daisies. My goodness is that Chuck beautiful! Plus I love the alliteration and general niceness of all the names.
2. Falling asleep to Stardust by Neil Gaiman. The only problem is that I fall asleep so I haven't progressed very far.
3. Eating pasta with tomato sauce and cheese, it's delicious.
4. Wearing my new Beau Coups shoes (I will post a picture about them next week in my up and coming shoe week which I said that I would do ages ago) they are so pretty and black and shiny.
5. Sleeping, hugging my giant carrot. It's nice to be reunited with him after 11 months.
6. Walking to work listening to wake up by arcade fire. You should do it too, I swear it makes you walk faster, run even...
7. Going to cemeteries. I know it's not that cool and slightly concerning but I still find them so calming and a lovely place to reflect on things.

Ok outfit number one: floral dress, blue cardigan and blue tights (I like to colour coordinate).

Apple and orange

2011-06-12T21:02:00.000+12:00

Up a tree, k - i - s - s - i - n - g.

Just joking that is so wrong, different species and what not.

Although I bet an oranapple would taste delicious!!

I drew a picture of what an apple and orange may look like if they were in love. Note the holding hands, a good sign if you are not sure. Lovers hold hands a lot.

Plus I added in some photos of my feet. A few years ago I did a post on my shoes. I think I will follow it up this week with my shoes now (however some are at the cobbler). It will be kind of like that movie "now and then" (but will not involve Christina Ricca or Rosie O'donnell). I hope you like it.

Friday night

2011-06-12T00:55:00.001+12:00

Last night I went to my amazing friend's house. Her house is so interesting it should be declared a museum of fine arts and curiosities. I drew a picture from her house. See if you can guess from which picture???

Ok so it's really not that hard, is it?

my picture

party!! :D

Creepy dollies

cream, delicious

Politicians and embroidery

Could this be the picture??? :O

Elvis and the Fonz made out of dibs

George and Mary

A cute wee apple and elephant, plus a work out book!

Pretty record playing

Tangy tangi

Rolos on a cute saucer, delicious

yeti, my love.

2011-06-05T00:06:00.001+12:00

Last week I was looking for a topic for my speech when I came across cryptozoology (A GREAT TOPIC...although I did not use it). One cryptid that I do have a soft spot for are yetis. For one thing Yeti is such a great name and so is The Abominable Snowman. For another thing, I would imagine that they would be lovely creatures. They would be shy, silent and clever, leaving nothing but footprints for Himalayan travelers. In my head they would also be like Totoro and if you got lost out there in the cold they would find you and let you lie on their belly as they take deep deep breaths, in and out, in their slumber. Just thinking about yetis makes me tired, happy, peaceful, and in love.

Too bad they don't exist.

Baba Yaga

2011-05-03T23:32:00.001+12:00

We used to have a book called Bony-Legs. I found it really disturbing as a child. More so than other books. I can't remember all the details about it but it must be an adaptation of Baba Yaga - the book was about a witch who lived in a house on chicken legs.

Baba Yaga is from Slavic folk law. Wikipedia tells me that she flies around on a pestle and eats small children. Her chicken legged house also (depending on what version, but I like this version the best) has no windows and doors. Our hero can however call to the house and ask it to turn around and the door will soon become apparent. She has a fence made from skulls on poles, with one special pole skull-less, awaiting our hero's demise.

What I like about Baba Yaga is that she has so many names (depending on what country the story is told) and there appear to be so many stories that she features in. Sometimes as a very malevolent creature but at other times a source of wisdom. She sounds very three dimensional (although still perhaps someone who you would not want to cross).

I've been thinking about fairy tales a lot lately. Probably because I have been listening to a lot. The fairy tales that I read are never fair. I think this is why I like them. They're pretty realistic really (if you take away the chicken legged houses and magic and stuff).

Toadstools.

2011-05-02T20:58:00.003+12:00

Yesterday my sister gave me multiple pictures that she had taken of toadstools. Yip, she could have taken photos of people or flowers but instead chose fungi.

I sometimes wonder about my family's obsession with fungi. I have probably told you about my father and how he always mushroom hunts. First of all he will spy a certain tree where he knows his target mushrooms live. He then sneaks up on the unsuspecting creatures and plucks them from their previously happy homes. Finally he cuts up all his bounty and dries them on the kitchen bench. It can create quite the pungent effect on a sunny day. Once I tried to gift him all these field mushrooms that I stumbled upon from back from my trip to the river. But unfortunately I only had a towel to carry them in and they ended up, well, smushed.

And, even though my mother would argue that she isn't obsessed with anything, look what she cooked up for tea tonight! Mushroom risotto (plus I added in the rest of the meal because it was delicious). Coincidence? I think not.

Is that a drawing?!...Yep.

2011-05-01T21:56:00.000+12:00

I like acorns. Some larvae live in them, like a teeny tiny home. They also remind me of the music video for Blur's "Good Song". That poor, poor fairy.

Photos at night

2011-05-01T19:55:00.003+12:00

Tonight I went out in the garden in search of objects that I could make wee sculptures of. You see, I have a few days off work so I have ALL THIS TIME! I was thinking of finding pods, twigs and old leaves. But it was all a bit too dark to see anything. I took these photos instead.

There is this man who I met the other day who has never been able to see or hear. He has Usher syndrome which is a rare genetic disease which leads to deaf-blindness. There are different subtypes of Usher syndrome with differing severities. I find it impossible to comprehend what it must be like to not even have a memory of spoken word or images. I think in both images and words. I wonder what he thinks in.

I took a photo of a Patricia France painting. Can you make out the faces? I find it quite eerie.

Cemeteries

2011-05-01T19:17:00.000+12:00

New Zealand has some wonderful cemeteries. They are always full of old trees and lush surroundings, which is nice, I think, for a place for the dead to rest.

On good friday we visited the Northern Cemetery. It is so interesting and peaceful. I always leave feeling quiet and somewhat sad (you always see gravestones where multiple children have died in the same year, or find a ill kept gravestone that you feel sorry for).

My favourite gravestone finished with:

"and Archibald
died in infancy".

Poor Archibald.

Easter.

2011-05-01T19:03:00.000+12:00

Every year we do the whole decorate eggs and smash them thing at Easter time. This year was no exception. Apart from the fact that I decorated 3. No one else seemed that enthusiastic about decorating more than one. Therefore I had to take one for the team. Sigh!

I love Easter! I guess it's the tradition. Especially with things like hot cross buns and egg decorating. It's nice to imagine how people celebrated Easter hundreds and also thousands of years ago (if you include celebrations for the northern hemisphere's vernal equinox). I bet they didn't receive giant kinder surprise eggs like we did - as Ferrero was founded in 1946, and the average kinder surprise egg has only been around since 1974. But the eggs that they decorated would have been beautiful.

Easter eggs.

Giant Kinder surprise toy.

More Easter eggs.

Egg 1

Emma's egg

Egg 2

Egg 3

Easter lunch.

Giant volano-esque quince pavlova.

Our bud

2011-02-12T22:04:00.001+13:00

We also made a friend at the zoo. Here they are. I'm not sure if our friend is a male or female. They literally followed us around the edges of the large enclosure. When we moved, they moved. They then proceeded to get as close as possible to us and just stood there considering us. I felt so loved and had fleeting thoughts of busting the bird out of the zoo with my brother's jumper over it's head so that the bird looked like a very shy child with alarmingly skinny legs. If I had gone through with it, I would be sitting here now, with my friend snuggled up beside me as we watch the second season of buffy together....or I would have been in trouble, perhaps even in jail :O

I think, from my internet research, that this bird is a Brolga/Australian Crane, formerly known as the native companion (whoah, just like Prince!). The brolga is apparently a gregarious bird (which I could have told you without doing any research whatsoever) and is known for its mating dance.

According to wikipedia:

"The dance begins with a bird picking up some grass and tossing it into the air, catching it in its bill, then progresses to jumping a metre into the air with outstretched wings, then stretching, bowing, walking, calling, and bobbing its head. Sometimes just one Brolga dances for its mate; often they dance in pairs; and sometimes a whole group of about a dozen dance together, lining up roughly opposite each other before starting."

Amazing.

A giraffe!

2011-02-12T21:33:00.000+13:00

The zoo.

2011-02-12T16:22:00.000+13:00

Yip, again! We went again. And I took so many photos and videos that my phone died out of exhaustion. My small videos are a bit dorky but I think capture the animals' loveliness better than a still photo.

1. Some flying foxes shivering, well really just jiggling around.

2. A cheetah, just hanging out.

The planetarium

2011-02-12T15:29:00.000+13:00

Situated at the top of the Wellington Botanical Gardens is the Carter Observatory, complete with planetarium. During the week you can catch shows at the planetarium every hour until four, then in the weekend you can go in the evening and look through the telescope. Exciting! We watched a show about astronauts and the effect of space on your body. It was even narrated by Ewan McGregor! Dreamy. There is also an exhibition at the observatory where you can read all about the universe, including our solar system. I still get small pangs of sadness when I think of Pluto's demotion. Poor wee pluto, out there, all alone, cold, and shunned from the 'real planets'.

Wellington

2011-02-12T15:20:00.000+13:00

Last week we went to Wellington. In that week we went to a lot of restaurants, watched 2 movies, went to the planetarium, the zoo, the museum, an open lecture, a gig, had cocktails, bought some books and started watching the first series of Buffy.

Of the restaurants/cafes we went to, these are my favourite:

-Kazu

-Deluxe

-Baobab cafe

-Aunty Mena's vegetarian cafe

-Kreutzberg summer cafe

But there are much more wonderful places to eat. If you ever need any recommendations, let me know.

The dog in this trailer is so adorable

2011-02-03T23:01:00.000+13:00

I love him.

The forest.

2011-01-23T17:14:00.001+13:00

Well I haven't been in the forest. I've been dwelling in my room all day, drawing and listening to stories. No wonder why I am so pale and sullen looking!

Also below is a dessert that I had on my dad's birthday. We went to a lovely restaurant by the sea. My creme brulee was very delicate and very delicious.

Cat fairy!

2011-01-19T22:35:00.002+13:00

My goodness! Two drawings in two days. Today's is a picture of a cat fairy that I was lucky enough to see a few weekends ago. Cat fairies can usually be seen along the eastern coastlines of the island. They can be quite elusive but on a nice sunny day, if you are lucky, you may spy one searching for sand mice along the dunes.

The bottom two photos are from my room. I am very lucky to stay in such a beautiful room and have wonderful people who buy me such lovely things. Every night when I go to sleep I feel so cosy. However my bed is pretty big so there is room for you and your family in my bed if you need it. We'll be just like a page out of Dr Seuss's Sleep Book with all those buddies packed into bed like sardines. Perhaps we should invest in some sleeping caps?

Cat fairy.

Jug and Tray.

The creatures on my bed.

Drawing.

2011-01-19T00:26:00.002+13:00

I drew this picture on my wee laptop. My poor laptop has been in rough times lately. The other morning when I closed my computer I must have slammed sometime in between the keyboard and the screen. Now the screen has a crack mark and about 1/6 to 1/5 of the screen missing on the left side. This makes it terribly difficult to use the toolbar at the top of the computer (thankfully though the computer does still work). After using my tablet to draw this picture I realised that it would have been a lot quicker and easier to just draw a picture on paper and then scan it in. Never mind!

The photo below is from inside the movie theatre where I went to Harry Potter for the third time at the movies. I know, crazy. But I LOVE going to the movies. It's just so dreamy. I love the previews, getting a coffee, taking off my shoes and wearing warm clothes and warm socks. And to be fair I did go to three different movie theatres. My favourite was The Embassy in Wellington. It has the most beautiful toilets. When I go to Wellington I'll have to go to the movies, just to take a photo of the toilets for you.

I've been working full time for 2 months now, hence why I have been quiet on the drawing front. I actually love working full time, even though I am not yet used to the hours. Late in the evenings I've still been listening to my podcasts from: RISK!, This American Life, The Moth and RadioLab. However this week, I've begun my third round of listening to the Harry Potter audiobooks (I got jealous of Anthony: see his blog here). I think I may have a problem.

Papatowai and the Lost Gypsy Gallery

2011-01-11T00:15:00.002+13:00

On Sunday we travelled down to Papatowai to this place called the Lost Gypsy Gallery. It's a small caravan filled with magical things like: a train that lights up light bulbs as it travels around, a franken-charlie brown with a light up head when you put his hands together, little feet contraptions, a wee mirror for a mouse, a love robot that is broken because it got too much love and much much much more. Apparently the gadgets are called automators. Then outside the workshop window where the amazing man who owns the place works, is a bush that shakes when naughty children come too close. All of this is free!

...But if you do want to spend a meagre 5 dollars (and to be honest, you would be pretty crazy, like rabies crazy, if you didn't) WELL there's a gallery behind the caravan. It's just lovely and 'swonderful and will make your eyes sparkle - so I didn't put up photos, you can't capture sparkle in a photo.

Oh, and everything is run by solar and wind, so if you are an "eco-warrior" (for example), well it may be just up your alley.

Shall we go sometime?

Oh! WAKA!

2011-01-10T23:30:00.000+13:00

And now christmas is over :(

2011-01-05T23:33:00.002+13:00

Scenes from my new years break

2011-01-05T23:02:00.001+13:00

Scenes from boxing day

2011-01-05T22:37:00.004+13:00

Scenes from my christmas

2011-01-05T22:32:00.001+13:00

Hello again

2010-12-09T23:25:00.001+13:00

I've been away a while.

I've been doing all sorts of things, like moving my things, starting a new job, eating delicious food, getting my clothes cleaned and ironed for me from a wonderful lady, going to the beach, wearing gloriously tall shoes, sleeping and having luxurious baths. If this isn't living, then I don't know what is.

I drew you a picture just before. I came home quite late so didn't quite finish it. For some reason I think it looks like Lindsay Lohan. Yes. I think it's the lips.

I have another podcast for you to listen to (if you don't already, that is). It's called RISK! The shows are about an hour long and consists of writers, performers and apparently everyday folk sharing stories that they wouldn't normally share. As you know, I am a sucker for a story. It often has Janeane Garofalo telling stories. I love her. When I think of her i think of the truth about cats and dogs and romy and michelle's high school reunion and that can't be bad. It's nice to fall to sleep to her talking whilst also remembering Lisa Kudrow and Mira Sorvino wearing high heels as they work out on the treadmill.

He's wearing a uniform but what for? Who knows? Do you?

2010-11-21T23:39:00.002+13:00

Piggle in Uniform

So I graduate soon... On Friday we had our prize-giving and I realised that I am not one for ceremony. I like the prize-giving part, but all the speeches and the pomp and circumstance! - not so much. This does not bode well for sitting still in the town hall for 3 hours waiting for my name to be called out. Let us all hope that there is an intermission, otherwise there may be an outburst.

I have also moved cities once again and therefore had to say goodbye to my little home. This was both sad and a relief. I had new neighbours move in. Although they are probably super lovely, the man did look suspiciously like a serial killer and drove a white van and I really didn't fancy spending eternity under his floor boards (but as I said before: I'm sure that they are super lovely and not stabby at all).

Stay tuned tomorrow for another post (I am tired and Secretary is on tv and everyone loves Maggie - oh and please excuse all my spelling and grammatical errors in this post, my head has gone fuzzy).

It shall be grand!

View from Alex's balcony

2010-11-05T21:45:00.000+13:00

Because I have no view out my window. And I just found a copy of Eclipse on my computer. Sadly it is only part one. There is no part two. I am not a huge twilight fan (although I do like that Kristen Stewart) BUT it is really annoying not being able to see what happens. Will the wolves and vampires successfully kill the newborns? Guess I will never know.

view from Alex's window.

2010-11-04T22:54:00.000+13:00

Unicorn!

2010-11-02T20:45:00.001+13:00

This is Laura and her unicorn! Beautiful!

Announcement

2010-10-31T15:45:00.002+13:00

After much consideration the friendly teacake will now be a FOOD BLOG! I mean just look at this photo. Doesn't it just scream " I want to be on a site dedicated to food!"

Why yes, yes it does.

If you were wondering what this food even is, it's pesto and mushroom gnocchi with mozarella. Now for the exceedingly difficult recipe...

cook mushrooms
cook gnocchi
throw in some pesto
tear up some mozarella

THE END!

-Note, that this blog will not actually be turning into a food blog (and after the above recipe you are probably quite relieved). Sorry, once again I lied.

2 Photos

2010-10-31T14:12:00.000+13:00

Our small friend Alex was gifted an iphone yesterday. Boy it's nice to have access to a camera again! Here are a couple of pictures he took using one of those "apps".

Happy halloween

2010-10-31T14:06:00.000+13:00

Yesterday I saw a picture of the skeleton dance on lazy oaf so I, of course, had to watch it. You may have already watched it on boing boing last year, but if you haven't here it is from youtube, in all it's glory. I find it HILARIOUS!! There are also some pluto videos that I remember watching when I was little (you'll remember them too if you are closely related to myself). They used to be on a Saturday morning in between cartoons and we had the two below on a video. The music and sound effects are amazing in them. Being the sound effects guy back in the day, now that would be been a gas!

bear!

2010-10-27T21:00:00.001+13:00

2010-10-21T20:15:00.001+13:00

This is also pretty cute http://catversushuman.blogspot.com/

Outfit of the day

2010-10-21T19:55:00.004+13:00

Do you like this ensemble from twentysevennames? It's so simple, I love it.
There are other great outfits on their site

and the boots and socks = nice combo.

The Moth

2010-10-18T17:31:00.004+13:00


Alex the parrot

I've been listening to the podcasts from The Moth. The Moth is a not for profit storytelling organization in New York. The podcasts consist of stories from various people and are WONDERFUL. But then listening to stories is my favourite past time so I may be a bit biased. Most of the podcasts are about 15 minutes long, so if you do have 15 minutes free you should listen to one and see if you like them. I've listened to a substantial amount now.

Some podcasts that I would recommend are:
-Starlee Kine: Radical Honesty.
-Steve Burns: Fameishness.
-Meg Wolitzer: First Love, Long Island circa 1975.
-Mike Daisy: What Was Lost.
-Sarah Jones: A Walk On The West Side.
-Master Lee: Chink.

The two that I especially loved are:
-Irene Pepperberg: Alex And Me.
About Alex the parrot (see drawing above). You'll love it! - I cried, just a wee bit.
-Andrew Solomon: The Refugees.
About an amazing Cambodian woman and her story during the Khmer Rouge rule and beyond.

You can go to their website here or access archives from here.

Hug a hedgehog!

2010-10-17T18:41:00.000+13:00

just because they are spikey doesn't mean that they don't need love too...Although they are pests in NZ so maybe only hug them in the UK?

more diamonds!

2010-10-13T19:06:00.001+13:00

I've gotten into this drawing with lots of diamonds thing. Today's picture: girl made with diamonds.

The little armored one

2010-10-12T22:08:00.003+13:00

It's crazy to think that armadillos even exist. They look like they came right out of Labyrinth or the Dark Crystal. When I went to the museum in Melbourne there were so many specimens of deceased armadillo adorning the platforms in the animal room. And let me tell you, that they are just too beautiful (along with pangolins). Armadillos belong to the super order Xenarthra which means "strange joints" as their vertebrae have unique articulations. Also in the super order are sloths and anteaters (who are equally awesome). Apparently my extensive research tells me that there is an armadillo called the Screaming Hairy Armadillo. Hilarious! Also, that hardly any armadillos can roll up into balls when frightened. The North American Nine banded Armadillo just jumps up into the air. It doesn't jump very high so I don't really get the point (the rolling seems much more advantageous).
The population numbers of nearly all species of armadillo are threatened due to habitat loss and overhunting. I've heard they taste pretty similar to pork (I'm a vegetarian so this is not from person experience). The status of our dear wee armored kiddo below is unknown due to insufficient data but there has been extensive destruction of its habitat so it may not be faring well. By the by he is a pink fairy armadillo that I saw in the Natural History Museum in London and really should be a salmon colour but somehow ended up blue. Sorry.

ZOO

2010-10-08T15:18:00.002+13:00

Zoos are very interesting. I love going to them. In fact I went to one last weekend. BUT I still get that uneasy feeling whenever I think about them. Yes, Zoos are not what they used to be, well in New Zealand anyway. There are no bars on the enclosures, the animals' coats look pretty shiny and the chimps no longer have tea parties. Yet I still feel guilty gawking at what I see as very sentient beings.

I suppose that I feel like I should be above all that and it should be enough just knowing that there are animals out there in the wild. I'm not above it though. I feel that as a human being I try to make connections with everyone, whether bald, furry or cockroach-y and this is pretty much what I live for. Hence why I always feel terrible when I feel like I can't get across what I am trying to communicate to another human.

Then there was that time when that gibbon grabbed my finger and placed it on her head so that I could scratch it for her. It was AMAZING. It was so nice to be able to somewhat understand what another species was trying to communicate. Plus she was really soft to touch.

Sweater dress

2010-10-08T14:08:00.011+13:00

You people should get a sweater dress.

Oh so cosy.

Other recommendations:

Listen to the podcast frenemies from This American Life. Pretty interesting.

Buy this dress, for me, for my graduation, please. It's from Lonely Hearts and I think it's beautiful!

Look at this blog. These kiddies' art is amazing!

Word of caution

2010-09-29T21:16:00.002+13:00

If you listen to Lykke Li and draw, this is what happens. I do not know how or why.

Ps. there is nothing like a hot blackcurrant on, well, any evening. It's heaven.

2010-09-28T19:47:00.001+13:00

Last week...

2010-09-27T21:00:00.005+13:00

I attended a lecture on Quantum Physics and the Large Hadron Collider. It was quite grand. The lecture started with a whirlwind tour through famous physicists before going on to explain what is happening beneath the French-Swiss border at the moment.

One of the physicists they talked about was Wolfgang Pauli. Later when I was talking to Alex about the lecture he told me a wonderful story about Pauli. Apparently things had a habit of ceasing to work when Pauli was in the vicinity of equipment. This phenomenon was therefore named "the Pauli effect" and Pauli himself quite enjoyed when the said effect would occur. Apparently (wiki tells me) an experimental physicist by the name of Otto Stern (don't quite know he is yet, my physics knowledge is still oh so primitive) banned Pauli from his laboratory for fear of potential malfunctions.

Any who, if you are a major dork, like Alex, you can keep up to date with the Large Hadron Collider by following this blog here. To be honest it's a bit too hard core for me.

My shoes.

2010-09-27T20:53:00.006+13:00

When I went to Melbourne I got these beautiful shoes. I like to think of them as my ice skating shoes, all white with lovely laces. They look a lot more white than the drawing.

2010-09-16T22:58:00.002+12:00

Cleaning your house feels so good sometimes. It's like taking a deep breath in and getting all this fresh oxygen in that you forgot was out there. It's nice. It's also easier to go to sleep knowing that you know where all the wee belongs that you have collected over the years are. They all are in their proper place.

My house is not yet completely clean but it is getting there. Once it's finished my mind will be so clear, so white.

Does that even make sense? It makes sense to me.

Space

2010-09-14T21:02:00.010+12:00

I used to hate the idea of space. Don't get me wrong, I liked looking up at the stars just as much as the next Joe. However, that was as far as it went. I was completely unenamoured with it. Space just wasn't for me. Too much stuff on earth worth exploring to worry about what's out there.

Now, however, well, NOW is a whole different story.

I hope that one day some being somewhere finds that voyager golden record and listens to "Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground". Wouldn't that be beautiful?

Link love.

2010-09-06T21:04:00.002+12:00

Look at these cookies! DELICIOUS! It looks like a wonderful shop!

Books.

2010-09-06T14:29:00.010+12:00

Yes, indeed, today's post is about books. Picture books.
Here are some to share:

1. The Way Back home:
- about a boy and a martian who get stuck on the moon. All about meeting friends in the most unexpected places. Like, you know, when you're next on the moon...Or perhaps dining out with Buzz Aldrin in a shiny new colony on Mars...

2. The Quiet book:
-all about the different kinds of quiet there are in the world. Some examples are: "first snowfall quiet", "best friends don't need to talk quiet" and my least favourite " last one to get picked up from school quiet" (that page has a sad little moose sitting on the stairs alone with his backpack, poor wee moose).

3. Eric:
-everybody's favourite. It's about a foreign exchange student that comes to stay. He's the coolest exchange student in the universe.

4. All Kinds of Families:
-This one is about how you can make families, well, pretty much out of anything. For example:
"Bottle caps, gingersnaps, buttons, or rings. You can make families from all sorts of things!"

5. Moomin:
The Moomin family is beautiful and that Moominmamma is pretty carefree, what with leaving dirty dishes under the bed until the next time it rains. She's crazy!

6. The Acme Novelty Library:
The most prized book that you'll ever own. It even has a map of the heavens that feels embossed. I love running my fingers across it.

Here is an excerpt from the cover:
"FANS OF LITERATURE, POETRY, and ART
- not to mention MUSIC, THEATRE, CINEMA, GASTRONOMY, and PUPPETRY
WILL BE GRAVELY DISAPPOINTED BY THE CONTENTS OF THIS VOLUME
as it assembles only the most puerile, foolish, and insensitive dregs of the remaining uncollected contents of the once marginally successful comic strip periodical
The ACME NOVELTY LIBRARY
while offering nothing of the trade mark warm hearted, expansive, and humanistic "up with people" bonhomie of the author's more sophisticated stage act."

This is my face, well, side on.

2010-09-05T21:28:00.010+12:00

Some unrelated notes on things occurring in my life...

Ok, So I haven't drawn on my wee computer for a long time. SO I decided that I probably should. Living alone gives me few subjects to draw, so I drew myself. I apologise. The nice thing about drawing myself, however, is the fact that there is no possibility that I will get offended by the drawing and think "that looks NOTHING like me!". It is also easier to draw my face as I know it quite well by now.
On Saturday I was going to go to the aquatic centre to have a sauna - I've never had one and was curious if I would like it. BUT it costs 7 dollars. I thought that was a bit steep because the most likely outcome would be that I would hate it! SO, I made my own sauna, in the shower: by not turning on the fan, shutting the door and the window (my bathroom is not very big), and sitting on the floor of the shower in my togs. It was wonderful! I thoroughly recommend it.
I am currently studying oncology. It is so interesting and somewhat overwhelming. There are so many types of cancers out there and they seem to all behave in such unique ways. The human body is crazy and sometimes so cruel to the occupant living inside it. AND then there are all the drugs! Ahhh! So many, with weird, weird names (for example: cisplatin, paclitaxel, vinblastine, bleomycin, epirubicin, etc.). Will I ever know even a drop of all the knowledge that is out there? The answer is to this question is probably no. Regardless, the speciality is amazing, especially all the patients. So many lovely people.

Melbourne

2010-08-26T16:57:00.010+12:00

Last week I went on a visit to Melbourne. Unfortunately I left our camera over there so I cannot show you the few photos that I took.

Instead, why don't we go through some of the things that I did while I was over there?

The Melbourne Museum
I found out all about deep sea creatures, had a look at their impressive taxidermy collection of animals from around the globe, saw some bugs, looked at their psychology exhibit, and looked at the human body exhibit. Pretty interesting to see how information is communicated. My favourite part was in the human body exhibit. There was this display showing you how you digest food. At the end of the display there was a plastic model of a poo with a button beside it. I pressed the button and it made a fart noise. PRETTY EDUCATIONAL!

-Also read this wiki page on angler fish, especially the section on their reproduction. It's wildly interesting.

The Tim Burton Exhibition
This was better than I thought it would be. It had a lot of Tim Burton's sketches as a young boy. There were costumes from his movies and models. You should just see it if you get the chance. I think you would like it even if you are not a huge fan. It's nice to see someone's creative process and I think this exhibition illustrated this well.

The Melbourne Zoo
Orangutans are AMAZING. They are such wonderful creatures. I do not recall ever seeing them before BUT my goodness, it's hard not to be in love when you see them huddled with sheets wrapped around them like little babushkas!

The NGV
We spent a good 4 hours or so looking at all the art and artifacts. Some of it was really beautiful. We didn't go to the european masters exhibit though as it is coming to Te Papa soon. I loved the Modigliani painting they had there. It was beautiful. I think partly why I loved it is because I think Alex kind of looks like a Modigliani, what with his long nose and narrow face. He is so lucky.

Let's have a look at a picture of Alex and compare it with a couple of Modigliani portraits...

Alex:

Portraits:

Do you see it?

Or is it just me?

...Probably just me.

Well I think that's enough for one post. Tune in soon when I will do short reviews of the many eateries that I frequented during my stay. I ate out for every meal. It was an epic feat.

Radio

2010-08-03T22:13:00.003+12:00

As it may be already very clear to you by now, I love audio. It may actually be my favourite medium. I propose the hypothesis that this stems from an early love of stories, being read stories, and, of course, reading stories to other.

Since my move to a more person sparse place I have relied on audiobooks. I get bored of tv (expect for the repeats of Malcolm in the Middle: no laugh tracks and Lois, what more could you ask for?) and having noise just makes me feel still connected to the world. Yup, you are correct, I am one phone call away from being one of those senior citizens that ring up talk back radio about their cat...I guess I am also one cat away from that as well.

But anyway, I digress, my main objective was to inform you of these podcasts that I love. They're on itunes and are science essays from WNYC's Radiolab. All of the ones that I have listened to I have found wildly interesting. There's one about saving a giant lobster, one about putting a fake bus stop outside a retirement home in Germany to collect those tricky escapees that suffer from alzheimers, there's even one about Fu Manchu, the orangutan that can pick locks with a wire that he hides in his teeth. What else do you need to know? You just need to start listening.

You can go to their website here!

And of course, spades!

2010-07-10T20:53:00.001+12:00

Clubs!

2010-07-10T19:48:00.000+12:00

Hearts!

2010-07-10T19:30:00.000+12:00

Diamonds!

2010-07-10T13:20:00.000+12:00

Do you have a headache now??

2010-07-09T21:29:00.008+12:00

Carrote is probably not that pleasing to the eye, me thinks. Too many brown and orange lines emblazoning themselves onto your retinas. It's how I spread my carrote propaganda.

I'm pretty bored at the moment. Let's just say that Palmerston North is not the most exciting place in the universe. I've drunk copious amounts of coffee and drawn a lot of carrots as a result.

I think it's also just that time of the year. Lull time (yip, Palmerston North, I'll cut you some slack. In theory I could hike up and look at some wind turbines, you do offer me that).

There's only one solution...
Listen to some Rain Dogs and fill that coffee cup yet another time...I've got some more things to draw. Promise they won't be carrots.

Wow, is that cake on your head?

2010-07-01T19:00:00.004+12:00

What's it doing there?

Sometimes I draw pictures and I just don't know where they come from. Really? A bald baby with a cake on a plate on his head?

The brain is a intriguing thing, filled with neurons, connecting through synapses, and with dendrites branching out from the somas. I think that the impulses that spread down my axons may be somewhat peculiar...

Too much cake, perhaps? It's poison!

Roberto

2010-07-01T17:29:00.006+12:00

Have you been looking for a dance partner? My friend Roberto is looking for a lady friend (or a gentleman friend who will to take on a more feminine role) to samba with. Roberto bought a couple of Latin-American dance video tapes from a garage sale a few weeks back. He's been practicing every night and, between you and me, has become quite the Fred Astaire when it comes to dance. He's even started looking on trade me for bejeweled outfits. So really all you need to do is let me know you're keen, I've give Roberto your details (and dress size - one really must have matching attire), and it will be Strictly Ballroom all over again - in all its shiny 90s glory!

Turangi!

2010-06-29T20:38:00.007+12:00

In the weekend we went to this wonderful place called Turangi. I think it was one of the nicer weekends that I've had. We played cluedo, a super awesome game that I don't know the name of, and headbands. We also drank mulled wine and ate mountains of food. All in all: we lived like kings, big ol' gouty kings (think Henry the 8th, that was us). I also had my first big experience at the hot pools. Warm steamy water, perfect environment for growing amoeba ready to jump into your eyes and mouth and give you a mean case of the mengies. AWESOME...Well, it was. I LOVE hot water. To be honest I wish that the hot pools were hotter.

Other great things that happened were:

watching fantastic planet, I think that I'm still slightly scarred by it but have a strange compulsion to watch it over and over. You should watch it too. It's very interesting.
eating a 4 pack of hubba bubba. Delicious.
being part of a quadra-slave when we lost at the super awesome game.
having lovely lovely people to be friends with.

Some not so great things that happened:

vomiting at the public toilets on the way home. Carsickness, we meet yet again.
hmmm, I don't think there is a second point for this one...

Okey dokey, below is what I looked like at the hot pools. It's a very accurate depiction. I kid you not, have I lied to you before?

Answer is no!

Alex sent me these two links.

2010-06-13T22:04:00.005+12:00

Don't tell him but I love them both. So much. So I'm sharing them with you. Maybe you have seen them already? I don't know where he got them from.

http://www.lettersofnote.com/2010/06/pixar-films-dont-get-finished-they-just.html

http://30.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l3cnkvAgdA1qzktcho1_500.jpg

Plus here is some algae my sister sent me. ALGAE! One looks like a banana, the other one's just pretty. It's crazy to think about what is lurking around at microscopic levels. Sometimes I wish I was that small. I think that I'd make a mighty fine copepod. There's probably youtubes of copepods, you should look at them. They are just the coolest creatures. I love how they zip around.

Lenny Bear, the woodsman.

2010-06-13T13:38:00.003+12:00

Lenny Bear loves walks in the forest on a cold Sunday morning. He pops on his bush-shirt over some lovely merino long johns and away he goes. Sometimes he finds treasures on his journeys. Once he found a road cone. It now sits proudly in his living room. He uses it as an umbrella stand. He knows that it's not technically legal to claim a road cone as one's own so please treat the information just disclosed to you sensitively. Lenny bear is rather fond of his road cone and would like to keep it in his possession (I don't actually think you get into trouble for finding a road cone and keeping it but I guess that they would make you give it back).

As you might have guessed,

2010-06-12T23:36:00.008+12:00

my phone died the other day. The saddest part about it, apart from having to buy a new one, is that sometimes I receive text poems from a lovely friend. Now those texts are gone forever, to wherever texts go when they die - I doubt that it's text heaven, that just seems highly illogical to me.

I love it when I read poetry from people I have met. Earlier in the year I read poems from a girl who did medicine. I didn't know her well at all but her poetry was so beautiful and honest.

Sometimes I feel like poetry's a bit naughty. Kind of like I shouldn't be reading it. It's just TOO personal. It reminds me of a book we had in our library when we were little. A book that I LOVED to read. It was a pop up book called 'the naughty nineties'. You could do things like pull a tab and two bald headed men would slide over to in front of a lady's chest so that their heads would look like breasts, that kind of thing. I always felt so deliciously sneaky looking at that book as I hid behind the couch. This is quite strange considering I come from such an open household and if anyone would have caught me they would have found the fact that I was so covert about reading it somewhat peculiar.

Well anyway, here is one of my favourite poems. It's by Li-Young Lee. I like him.

p.s. don't you sometimes wish that you had a grandfather figure like Gandalf who would protect you and boom "you shall not pass" to anyone to tries to get up in your grill. I do. Sorry, random thought.

Any way, Li-Young Lee...

Eating Together:

In the steamer is the trout
seasoned with slivers of ginger,
two sprigs of green onion, and sesame oil.
We shall eat it with rice for lunch,
brothers, sister, my mother who will
taste the sweetest meat of the head,
holding it between her fingers
deftly, the way my father did
weeks ago. Then he lay down
to sleep like a snow-covered road
winding through pines older than him,
without any travelers, and lonely for no one.

Oh and I forgot to tell you...

2010-06-11T22:39:00.002+12:00

I bought some awesome clothes the other day online...as you do. See lazy oaf flowers oversized t shirt and lazy oaf tuxedo dress. I also bought this wee necklace because I thought it looked cute. Turns out when it got here it had grown!!! I was shocked (I really should have read the measurements). I'm absolutely certain that I howled with laughter at the beast for about 10 minutes (I don't wear big blinging jewelery usually). However, now I have become quite attached to my giant skull. I am soooooooooooo GANSTA!

The end.

Family trees

2010-06-11T21:26:00.003+12:00

Does your family tree look like this? Do you have a brother gary with a monobrow or an aunt nora who's a real card? Mine doesn't look like this at all. Family pedigrees are quite interesting aren't they? They are important in paediatrics. One has to know what's going on in a child's family. This picture may not be the most refined in the world but as you know, it does fit my geometric theme.

So what are you doing tonight? Are you going to a concert? The opera perhaps? Whatever you do, don't take your phone into the bathroom. It can end in distaster when you hear a splash and discover that phones do not like water. Not one bit!

More weird creatures

2010-06-03T18:55:00.004+12:00

I really like shapes at the moment. Let's say that this is my geometric phase. I always have weird phases. I believe I have what some may call an obsessive personality...and yes, I am chewing two pieces of hubba bubba while writing this.

Sadly my local video store closed down today. No more amazing array of 80s films. *Tear*.

Yowzah, cold!

2010-06-01T17:26:00.004+12:00

Ahh!!!!! It's still so cold. Gather your friends close and steal their warmth. It's all about survival of the fittest at times like these!
Take this picture for example, the blue guy definitely looks the happiest. It's due to being him being the piggy in the middle and therefore being heat rich. Jealous.

I'm going to have a tofu burger and chips for dinner. Delicious. :D

Hai.

2010-05-31T10:54:00.005+12:00

Hello,

Boy is it cold at the moment! My feet feel positively chilled but never fear, the kettle is boiling in preparation for a hot blackcurrant. I am currently on paediatrics which is lovely but there are only 3 children on the ward. THREE! This is excellent for the children of course, but does make my life quite quiet. I love paediatrics though, children are just tooooo cute. Especially the little babies that I get to see. The doctors are also lovely which makes it all the better.

Here is a list of my current obsessions that I would like to share with you:

Saturday Night Fry: I bought the audio book the other evening and have been listening to it every night before I go to sleep. The BBC radio show features Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, Emma Thompson and Jim Broadbent. I'm pretty sure that it's wonderful, however cannot be certain as I fall asleep about 5 minutes into the show.
Richard P Feynman: my favourite physicist (yes, that's right Alex, I like him more than you do now). He's my new life hero who I plan to base my whole life around (yip, I am a thoroughly obsessive being). I stole Alex's book he got out of the library called "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!: Adventures of a Curious Character". It was the best book I have read in ages and I recommend that everyone gets it out of the library now.
My alpaca rug. Such a warm and cosy rug is essential this winter. I wrap myself in it when I sleep, when I eat breakfast, when I study, when I watch TV, pretty much at any opportunity. My rug is brown and inviting...I'm wrapped up in it now.
Gum...but hey, I'm addicted so it's an ongoing thing.

Here are some things that I enjoy:

Coffee
watching all the weekly releases from the video store. I have recently watched such excellent movies as: the big chill, ferris bueller's day off, fast times at ridgemont high, the jane austin book club, philadelphia, sixteen candles, teen wolf, star trek, kung fu panda, milk.
Cluedo. I bought a new game of it the other day and it's changed! Surprisingly for the better (who would have thought that they could have improved on such a classic?). I've only played it once and even though I didn't win (stupid people blocking my guesses) I loved it.

Here are some things that I am not so enamoured with:

Dorito chips. They're kind of crap. I bought them the other day for nachos and was very disappointed. "Mexicano" corn chips are a much better buy.
The array of movies currently showing at theatres. There is just nothing that I want to see.
Hmmm, I think that is it. I'm not much of a hater...

So that brings us up to date with the lists in my life.

Mmmmm, mojitos!

2010-04-27T00:41:00.005+12:00

Sadly, even though I have not been very present of late, the friendly teacake is going on holiday. Do not fear, it will be sipping mojitos on a beach somewhere in Florida with some charming old dears. See you back when I have a camera and wonderfully exciting things to inform you about.

Much love!

Reunite with nature.

2010-04-18T20:14:00.008+12:00

Hello my friends. My sister asked me to help her with a poster for an event that she is organising called 'Reunite with nature'. The event consists of a nature walk, picnic and guest speakers. I therefore did a couple of water colours. They may not be the most appropriate thing for a poster but they were very enjoyable to do.

I have also been doing a lot of baking. Look at this coconut loaf! LOAF! Delicious.

My friend Zamzam came down this weekend and stayed with me. She is just too lovely. We went to town and I bought this book! It's going to be wonderful. Imagine the amount of treats that I can bake. Yup, a whole lot of treats.

Yip,

2010-04-09T17:20:00.010+12:00

I am in Wellington so I can post more! Here are some photos from easter where the light went all crazy in photos so I took heaps of Alex playing the guitar (obviously there are more photos than the ones that I have posted here). Below is also the present I got in the mail from my Mum. I fell in love straight away. Donna Wilson (link!) is amazing and this fellow is especially endearing. Sometimes I just look at him and smile - which is needed at times when you don't feel that flash about life in general (yes this happens to me as well, life is not always rainbows and kittens...although it does contain rainbows and kittens...hmmm).

I love you Toadstool. You are the apple of my eye.

Watercolours

2010-04-06T22:51:00.006+12:00

A collage-ey picture of my water colours. I hope that you like them. I do. This is rare but I like how they seem earthy. I also like how they all go together. I have never painted a series before. I will take better photos of them in the future so you can see the detail.

How is your week going buddy?