Saturday, December 29, 2007

Christmas Celebrations

So Christmas is officially "over"I guess but I'm not back at work yet so the holiday isn't over:)

I have to admit I wasn't particularly into Christmas this year - most likely due to the stress of starting a new job two weeks before Christmas and a few other things that were going on at the time.

But I did get to catch up with a few of the girls pre-Christmas - got to hang out with Jess after work one night and have a gossip. Plus Jess gave me two of my favourite sorts of present - a handmade present and a present for me to craft with! Jess made me a wee bracelet which was very cute and also a badge making kit - excellent:)

Ange also came over for a catch up one night and dropped over a Christmas cake and drank tea with us and discussed the merits of "Deal or no Deal"(although Ange says we have some classy ladies on our version of the show compared to the women on the Aussie version).

I also managed to catch up with Celia and Simon for drinks and gossip on my last night in Wellington.

I headed to New Plymouth via plane on the 21st and when I got to New Plymouth it was SO hot! Carolyn came and picked me up at the airport and after lunch I filled in the afternoon by looking around town (I have to say New Plymouth is getting better all the time - some very cool shops there now).

In the evening I was Carolyn's "date" for her work function which was held in a Taranaki institution "Andre's'' - to start with I was a bit worried about going there as it's a "fine dining" kind of place so I thought it may all be duck liver pate and other vegetarian unfriendly type meals. But when the meal was served it was a smorgasbord and as well as being a whole bunch of meat there was also vege's a plenty and they were all so fresh and just fantastic!

On the Saturday my mum came over from Stratford to pick me up and take me home - and my little brothers look was one of happily surprised disbelief when I arrived home, very cute.

On the Sunday I had my first "Christmas"of 2007 with my family which was great fun - but as always I ate too much and felt stuffed **meh**

When it was time for my Bro and Dad to take off and milk the cows (oh the joys of the farming life) my mum and I went on a bit of a tiki tour and caught up with a few of mum's friends.

On Monday (Christmas eve) it was time for a bit of a North Island Odyssey for me - I left New Plymouth at about 7:50 am on a bus heading for Hamilton, I arrived at Hamilton at 11:45 am and then hung about the bus terminal until 12:30 when the bus left for Tauranga. The bus to Tauranga wasn't much fun WAY too packed and I got stuck sitting next to an overly talkative elderly woman, but I figure I may have made her day by actually listening to her.

So since Christmas eve I've been at Rich's parents place doing the whanau thing and eating and drinking way too much - we've even managed a trip to the Morton Estate Winery....now the only people left at the whare are Rich and I and we are taking off with Jo and Andre tomorrow for a bit of a tiki tour and then heading over to Hamilton for New Years.

So that was Christmas 2007 - bring on 2008!!

Happy 30th Birthday Martha!

Yesterday would have been the 30th Birthday of my dear friend Martha who passed away earlier this year - I've been thinking of her a lot over this holiday period - especially since it's the first Christmas in quite a few years that a Christmas card hasn't arrived at my door from Marth.

Happy Birthday Marth!

Thursday, December 20, 2007

Some Christmas Crafts

So yes - it's that time of year again when the streets are mad with people trying to find "that" present. But I decided to make a few things this year - here's a couple of my efforts...
For my "little" Bro Jake - a wee purse type thing to put his cards in when he heads out.


Some beeswax candles I made - some for Rich's parents and some for my mum.
For some of my friends - scrabble necklaces! I really like these:)

Of course I will be sharing the love with fimo and barbie bling a plenty!

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Craft 2.0

Last Sunday Rich and I had a stall at Craft 2.0 but there was much confusion leading up to the event!
Initially we were told that Craft 2.0 would love to have us but they had run out of room, they may be able to make more room at the museum (New Dowse Gallery) and if they do this then they will let us know and we can have a stall.

We waited and waited to hear if we had a stall - but after no word from the organisers we thought we must have lucked out but planned to go out to the New Dowse and check out the crafts at Craft 2.0.

But then on Saturday morning Rich checked our e-mails and discovered that we DID in fact have a stall at Craft 2.0 and the nice folks had sent us a map of where we would be sitting on the day.

We had a brief **yikes** what do we do moment - but decided to push on with doing Craft 2.0 so spent all our Saturday night crafting our wee hearts out.

Below is one of my new fimo designs that I came up with on the night - it's a pulled tooth (in a cute way!) which appeals to my dark side.



The Craft 2.0 markets were pretty darn cool when we got there - although we ended up being REALLY hot as we we stuck in a spot in the court yard of the New Dowse with no shade what so ever! But we seemed to escape the day with only the smallest amount on sunburn (due to the fact that Rich was smart enough to bring sunscreen).

There were a lot of really cool stalls at Craft 2.0 and I could have spend HEAPS of money - but I was quite restrained. I bought a soy candle making kit, which I haven't had a chance to use yet and I guess it will stay unused till after Christmas at this stage **sigh**.

But I did manage to pick up another super cute soft toy - I call this one corduroy boy!

Monday, December 17, 2007

A beautiful evening in Wellington

So many of my friends who live in "the other" big city in the North Island refuse to believe that we ever have good weather down here - in fact when I head up to the other city I'm often are hit with a barrage of comments like "you see that big round shiny thing in the sky? Up here we call it the sun".

Well - in the spirit of "you can't beat Wellington on a good day" (and there's been good days a plenty recently) here's some pretty amazing photo's Rich took from our deck last night.

Wellington ROCKS!



I FINALLY have one!!

Yes - finally I have one! I bought it last week - I think that fact that my gym continously plays ZM (ewww...) was the final straw - what the hell am I talking about?

I finally bought an MP3 player!! You would have thought I would have bought one years ago - I am the sort of person that MP3 players are designed for after all. I'm an urban dweller who walks everywhere, I go to the gym regulary and I'm a music nut (Rich and I own about 300 plus CD's).

But I just didn't seem to get around to buying one - it seemed like a lot of money to spend at once on something I didn't need (yes I am PATHETIC!).

But over the last few weeks I decided it was really time I got one - there's only so many times a girl can listen to pathetic top twenty hits and even more pathetic morning DJ "chat" first thing in the morning.

So now I have a little Philips MP3 player that holds up to 450 songs - not enough for my entire album collection but still more than enough to keep me happy:)

Rich has even loaded a few albums on it for me by bands that I actually like that actually have talent - so when I walk to work or go to the gym I can rock out to Iggy and the Stooges, Modest Mouse or TV on the Radio and this is only the beginning.

Only question now is which CD's get loaded onto the MP3 player and which get left in the cold?

Friday, December 14, 2007

....and the geeks shall inherit the earth...

Kat sent me this link to a really interesting article yesterday from Stuff about how us geeky types now rule the world. I thought it was pretty interesting and I think I must be part Cardy Rocker part Film Tradgic!


Revenge of the nerds: Geeks take over

Outsiders no longer, brainy, bashful, obsessive geeks are now the dominant force in popular culture. John Bailey and Melissa Kent report on the evolution of the nerd.

Not so long ago, experts considered The Geek an endangered species.
Their lack of natural defensive abilities made them easy prey for jocks, toughs and alpha males, and their lack of social skills reduced their reproductive opportunities.

Surely they were doomed to extinction. But somehow, the geeks have inherited the Earth.

They're running our corporations (take Microsoft's Bill Gates), gracing our glossies (musician Ben Lee), and dominating the ratings (TV's Rove McManus).
In fact, it's not "them" any more. In our tech-dependent, fantasy-loving, trivia-generating world, geeks are us.

Even fashion is full of geeks: Balenciaga's Nicholas Ghesquiere is inspired by robots, Miuccia Prada dressed this year's models in woolly knee socks and granny glasses, and Marc Jacobs found his new muse in Pixar's animation feature The Incredibles.

So what is a geek, exactly? Definitions vary. Some suggest that a geek is anyone smart who isn't ashamed of it. Others add a lack of social grace, or an over-enthusiasm for a particular obsession - say, Battlestar Gallactica or Nancy Drew.

You can subdivide the overall category infinitely: the film geek is a different breed to the maths whiz or the gamer.

But how did geeks come to influence all aspects of pop culture? From rock stars in nice cardigans to the world's hottest nerds, we're full of geek pride. Not convinced?

Take a look at Australia's new Prime Minister. Kevin Rudd's "Computers for all" and "Let's upgrade our broadband!" catchcries are both daggy and endearing - and what other world leader would celebrate election victory with Iced Vovos and a nice cup of tea?

GEEK PRIDE
The negative stereotype of the geek can largely be traced to teen flicks of the '70s and '80s. No image of a high school or college campus was complete without a resident bespectacled dweeb ready to be flushed down a toilet.
The epitome of this demonisation came with 1984's Revenge of the Nerds, justly reviled but somehow spawning sequels into the next decade.

At the same time, however, geeks were taking over behind the camera. Steven Spielberg and George Lucas drew on the geek lore of their adolescence to create blockbuster hits inspired by comic books and sci-fi stories - seducing a whole generation with power fantasies about lonely dreamers destined to save the universe.

In the '90s, the film geek gained ascendancy. Quentin Tarantino appeared on the scene as the Man Who Knew Too Much (about obscure cult movies), populating his hugely successful films with loving footnotes of pop-trivia scholarship.

There is no shortage of role models for the aspiring geek these days.
Wes Anderson's 1998 film Rushmore quickly gained cult status with anyone who had ever felt themselves the underrated individual in high school, and the director's 2001 follow-up flick, The Royal Tenenbaums, furnished us with a whole family of eccentric obsessives and genius outcasts.

Now he's inspired a whole wave of arch, dweeby indie filmmakers who know how to light a cardigan.

Napoleon Dynamite (2004) raised the bar higher, with a central character so unapologetically dorky that he instantly became a T-shirt, an action doll and a role model for the next generation of shy boys. Ladies, you have been warned.
Meanwhile, the Hollywood power producer/director/writer Judd Apatow - creator of successive box-office hits The 40 Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up and Superbad - has proven that the geeks now rule Tinseltown. And just consider where his troupe got their start: short-lived late-'90s TV show Freaks and Geeks.

Now? We're all geeks now. Monty Python's Broadway hit, Spamalot, just opened a Melbourne franchise.

Hip-hop sex-god Pharrell Williams proudly names his musical side project N.E.R.D.

And where are the geeks heading now? Into the nightclubs, if reports from urban cool epicentres such as Brooklyn can be believed.

More than 50 science clubs have formed across the US to unite physics and partying, according to The New York Times, performing science experiments in bars while DJs set the beat.

GEEK GIRLS
She's as familiar with solariums as her boyfriend is with gyms. Her clothes are second-hand, customised, or hand-knitted.

She blogs about the books she's been reading but sniggers at Facebook's emphasis on friends. If she sounds like you, you might just be a geek girl.
The geek girl's rise has been as steady as her male counterpart.

Buffy finally gave the geek girl a heroine of her own, but it was as likely to be the vampire slayer's library-loving bestie, Willow, as the high-kicking blonde.

And there's a new girl on the block - Kristen Bell's Veronica Mars is the modern-day Nancy Drew (another girl geek icon), a wise-cracking brainiac proficient in the latest spyware. And if there were any doubt about her credentials, the Geek Magazine covergirl has just become one of the mainstays of Channel Seven's surprise hit, the geekfest Heroes.

Maybe Enid Coleslaw - the cynical brat of the movement's lodestone film, Ghost World - sums up our geek girl's philosophy best. When she describes the film's socially inept record-collecting dork, Seymour, it's like a motto for the movement: "I kind of like him. He's the exact opposite of everything I really hate. In a way, he's such a clueless dork, he's almost kind of cool."

HOT GEEKS
When New Woman magazine surveyed 10,000 women last year to find the world's sexiest man, the latest Doctor Who, David Tennant, outranked Justin Timberlake, Colin Firth and Hugh Grant. The weedy Tennant may demur, describing himself as "the least sexy man on the planet", but even Kylie's spending quality time with the Doctor this Christmas.

Geeks have never had it so good with girls: in film, overweight, unshaven Seth Rogen played Katherine Heigl's love interest in box-office hit Knocked Up; on TV, the ratings battle was won by music nerds (Spicks and Specks), political pranksters (The Chaser boys) and manga fanboys (Heroes); and in music, a barefoot nerd called Gotye won a swag of ARIAs.

But it's the comics who really brought sexy back to geekdom, such as surrealist Demetri Martin and four-eyed storyteller Daniel Kitson.

WHAT GEEK IS THAT? A NERD-SPOTTER'S GUIDE
Gamers With the advent of online games in which players share massive virtual worlds, gamers can fend off accusations of antisocial behaviour by pointing to the incredibly gregarious avatar they've designed for Second Life.
Gearheads Like a walking copy of Wired magazine, gearheads show off their latest tech acquisition before you've even heard of it. And they're willing to explain - at length - why it's already obsolete.

Otaku In Japan, "otaku" denotes someone with an obsession so fanatical - with videogames, for example - that they seldom leave their bedroom. In the West, however, it's more often a positive self-description for hardcore fans of Japanese anime and manga.

Cyberpunks Combining enthusiasm for high-tech gadgets with a rough and dirty punk aesthetic, cyberpunk fans envision a future where we are all cyborgs - internet-enabled, prosthetically enhanced, and ready to rumble.
Cardy Rockers From the retro-geek rock of '90s-era Weezer through to today's Brunettes, Concretes, and Shins, the easy-listening sounds of neatly dressed, baby-faced bands have become the soundtrack to a new generation of dress-alike fans.

Librarians For some, books aren't just collections of words - they're faithful companions, though each comes with its own needs and wants. If a friend fobs off your drinking plans in favour of a secret rendezvous with a new novel, you might be dealing with a librarian.

Boffins Plenty of people are smart, but only some wear their brain on their sleeve. Usually possessing prodigious knowledge on obscure and, sometimes, completely useless topics, a boffin should never - ever - be corrected on a point of fact.

Hogwarts Alumni For a generation who've grown up with the series, the adventures of Harry, Hermione and Ron are today's answer to Luke, Leia and Han. Expect similar lifelong dedication.

Film Tragics Some buffs take the study of favourite films, directors and movements to new levels of obsession. And like a friend with a new partner, they'll find ways to relate any conversation back to their true love - even if it's Italian slasher movies of the late '70s.

Saturday, December 08, 2007

www.craftster.org

So all my crafty friends out there will know about craftster - it's a crafty institution for modern/alternative crafty folk.

I couldn't really look it much when Rich and I were stuck in the dark ages with dial up but now we have broadband I'm a craftster junkie.

What is craftster - you may ask? It's a crafty online community - people can network, arrange swaps and the like. But my favourite thing about craftser is that people can post photo's of what they have made and other people can comment on what they have made.

I'd been thinking about posting a picture of some of my work for a while but I kept on chickening out - but then I decided maybe I should post a picture of the beads I made Jess for her birthday on there as I was particulary stoked with them.

Today I got a post from someone who said "That is one mad cool necklace".

Yah! Feeling the love for my craft:)

Finally - it's all over!!

Yesterday was my last day at work - so I'm officially unemployed for one WHOLE weekend:P

I can't believe how busy yesterday was at work and how much "stuff" I'd accumulated over 2 years! My drawers seemed to be packed with draft documents which should have been sent to the recycling bin some time ago.

So I spend most of the day going through my drawers, filling in "I'm leaving" forms and taking down stuff from my walls (I had a lot of stuff on my walls!).

I got the good old giant leaving card yesterday - but I was rather bummed at how many people spelt my name with an "h" but stoked one person said I was the "best dressed person in the office" excellent:)

I was equally stoked with my leaving present - a $100 voucher for Illicit Clothing:)

Last night I went down for drinks at the Dog and Bone with my work mates which was pretty fun but a bit sad as there are a couple of people I'll be sad not to be working with anymore:(

A few non-work friends came down as well so I was feeling much love.

So now it's time to relax and chill for one weekend - before I start at my new job on Monday.

Friday, December 07, 2007

Christmas is NEARLY here!

Maybe I'm too old to make a Christmas list - but I don't care! I made one anyways.

I admit that the list was primarily for Rich but if anyone else out there feels like being generous I won't object :)

1) Brass Finger Cymbals - you can get them from Indeja (My bellydancing teachers shop)

2) A book of how to make bellydance costumes or a pattern of how to make bellydance costumes - try trademe? The internet?

3) A "Blythe" Doll - you can get them from Iko Iko :)

4) A nice notebook with nice white pages that I can write down/sketch all the ideas I have for crafty projects - small enough to fit in my hangbag so I can have it with me all the time for when I am suddenly hit by inspiration

5) A felting kit (I'm not sure where you get one - I've seen them online on American Website but you can get them on trade me I am sure)

6) A Living Dead Doll - to keep my zombie doll company! They sell them at that comic book shop by Rex Royale

7) The Beauty Myth by Naomi Klein - I really should have read this by now!!

8) Stuff that smells nice from Lush

My Last Day at my current job!

I can hardly believe that today is my last day at my current job - this last month since I've given notice has gone SO quick!

This morning I have to hand over all my work and clear away all the stuff in my desk - last night I bought home some of the toys I had on my desk - which was a bit sad.

Today I'll have to pull down my photo's a posters and everything else.

It does feel a bit sad to be leaving behind the friends I've made at work - but at the same time I'm really excited about my new job because it's such a great opportunity and I'm sure I'll meet lots more great people at my new work.

But still I am a little sad but at the same time it's time to move onwards and upwards!!

Monday, December 03, 2007

Johnstone Hill Walk

On Sunday Rich and I felt it was time to get out and about and have a walk. Our original plan was to walk through Kaori Cemetary to Otari-Wilton Bush. But whilst in the cemetary we saw that there was a walkway to Johnstone hill and we had never been up there so thought we'd check it out.

Although the walk up was REALLY steep I'm so glad we did the walk - as we had the most amazing views of the city from the top of Johnstone Hill.
















Bookclub Christmas Celebrations

On Saturday night we had our bookclub Christmas celebrations which was so fun - seems like the first time in ages the whole bookclub posse has been together!

We ended up going to my favourite restaurant Harem (I didn't even suggest it - but I was very stoked to be going there!).

Here's a photo of the bookclub posse after our dinner:)

It's ZOMBIE time!!

I'm sure the whole world is aware of how much I love horror movies - zombie themed horror movies in particular. So when Rich came across an ad on http://www.thebigidea.co.nz/ looking for people to play zombie extras - I was really excited!

So last Sunday, thanks to the big idea, Rich and I got to play zombie's in a Wellington made zombie film - which was really exciting. The makeup artist that did our make-up was AMAZING.

Here's a photo of us venturing into the world of the "Living Dead".
The zombie film is due for release (in an online format) in January - I'm VERY excited!

Sunday, December 02, 2007

A rather busy Saturday night...

So last Saturday night was kind of nuts with two of my bestest friends having celebrations on the same night!

So it was a rather busy night for me - the first event was Jess' Birthday dinner celebrations at Flying Burrito Brothers which was awesome. I love flying Burrito Brothers but it's so hard to get in there if you haven't made a booking and you can't make a booking unless you have 10 people or more! So a birthday is the perfect occasion to head there:)

I made Jess a set of purple (her favourite colour) fabric coloured beads for her birthday - here's a photo of my creation - I have to say I was quite stoked with the way they came out.

Unfortunately none of the photos I took at Flying Burrito Brothers seemed to be particular good of anyone so they were deleted from my camera! How strange that I the "crazy camera lady" shouldn't be able to take a photo - it seems very strange? Maybe it was the lighting? Or the "electric lemonade" cocktail I had?

After hanging out a Jess' birthday for a while it was time to take off to my next "Event" (I'm like sooo popular).

Ange, Rich, Ross and I headed over to Kat's place for her cocktail evening - which was really cool. Kat's landlord had FINALLY cleared out her back garden and given it a decent mow and tidy up.

Kat and her flattie JP had dragged her old shop counter into the garden and were using it as a bar - and JP was a legend at making the cocktails seen as he was a bartender in town. Other features of the garden for the evening included sparklers (I missed out but Rich and Ross got one!), and a mannequin in the garden as well as an open fire.

It was one of the best parties I'd been to for a while as everyone was really chilled out and it was such a nice night to be outside.


Although - I think this last photo should be titled "Trees and her tall friends" (Ange is leaning over and is STILL taller than me!). I read somewhere once that 5'6 is the average height of a NZ women, I AM 5'6 - how did I acquire so many tall friends?