The Countdown Is On

In exactly one month I will be flying out of Wellington, headed for Norway and three weeks of summer and seeing family and friends.

At the moment I’m trying to finish (lies – start) my final assignments for this trimester. I’ve got three essays due to be handed in on the 13th, 14th, and 16th of June. They all have to be between 2000 and 3000 words.

As for what I’ve been doing lately, I’ve got three words to sum it up: uni, boyfriend, parties. I’ve spent far too many days (and nights) in the library so far this year, writing essay after essay, doing research and drinking coffee. When I’ve had a day or two off I’ve escaped to Christchurch to be with Nathan, or he has come to Wellington for the weekend to see me. This long-distance thing is really working quite well (apart from the economical side of it, naturally. But it’s all worth it). Thursday last week I jumped on a plane and flew down to spend the weekend (as well as Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday) with my man, because he got some days off work due to a back injury, so I wanted to be there for him and keep him company. Plus it was his birthday last Monday (he turned 22), so of course I wanted to be there for that.

Nathan and me at my flatmate's 21st

I had just come home from university last Thursday and looked up flights to Christchurch, and there happened to be a really cheap flight that afternoon, and a cheap return flight for Wednesday (yesterday), so I quickly threw some things into my suitcase and got a taxi out to the airport, and an hour or so later I was in his arms at Chch airport.

For once I was a bad student (but a good girlfriend); I missed out on all my lectures this week as well as two out of my three tutorials. Oh dear. Thank god for Blackboard.

I took Nathan out for dinner on Sunday night because he had to go to work on Monday, but on Monday night we went to the movies, so at least he got to do something fun on his birthday. Then on Tuesday night we went to his auntie and uncle’s place for dinner, which was great, and on Wednesday night (our 5-month anniversary, incidentally), I flew back to Wellington.

This Sunday he will fly to Wellington to do a course just outside the city, so he will (hopefully) get a chance to come and visit me every weekend. After his course is finished he has a week off work, and that’s the week before I fly back to Norway (and the week when all my assignments are due), so it’ll be great to have him around then.

As for the parties I’ve been to lately… Well, most of them have been held at the house where I live. We had our awesome flat warming, and so far we’ve had two 21sts, and the party for the second one is actually tomorrow. It’s got a 1950s theme, so I went and bought a dress for that today.

My flatmate's 21st (Hollywood themed)

So much is happening right now, and I love it. This year has been amazing in almost every aspect so far, and when I get back from Norway I will seriously start looking for a part-time job. Also, in one month’s time, when I’ve handed in my three assignments, I’m halfway through my bachelor’s degree. Fancy that, huh.

Me dressed up as a gypsy at our flat warming (circus themed)

Love and other drugs

Hello, hello.
First of all: Happy New Year to you all. I hope 2011 will be a great year for everyone I know. Myself included. (And I think it will be.)
There hasn’t been much action on my blog in the last month, but that’s only because there has been so much happening in my life. Trust me, I’m still alive.
Three weeks and two days ago I met someone who completely changed my life. My past, my present, my future – it all looks entirely different to me now thanks to him.
(Warning: This story may contain sappy parts. Consider yourself warned.)
Here are the odds we beat: I’m from Norway; he’s from Upper Hutt. He lives in Christchurch; I live in Wellington. He’s in the army; I’m a student. I was visiting a friend in Upper Hutt; he had just come home for Christmas a few hours before. His best friend is my best friend’s best friend. He was on his way to a friend’s 21st with my best friend’s best friend; my friend and I were at her parents’ Christmas party, and got invited along to the 21st at 11pm.
I was tired and not intending to go, but said ‘What the hell, I’ll go’. We met when they came to pick us up at my friend’s parents’ place. Instant thought: ‘Holy shit. Hot guy. Tall guy.’
Turned out he is 6 foot 7. And in the army. That combination alone was enough to draw me to him. Then I discovered that he’s the nicest and most caring guy I’ve ever met, with a great sense of humour and an awesome playfulness. WINNER.
After the initial meeting we decided to meet again, and three days later he drove to Wellington to see me, and from then on we pretty much lived together for the three weeks he was on leave.
I’ve never been happier.
We went and did so much together, and there wasn’t a moment of boredom. I got to spend some time with him in Upper Hutt at his mum’s place, helping out with various jobs and exploring the place.
Then, of course, came the time for him to go back to his job in Christchurch.
I went out to Wellington airport with him to see him off, and it was so horrible saying goodbye. There were tears once he’d disappeared through the gate.
Now I’m counting down the days until I see him again, which will hopefully be on the 29th this month. Then I’m going down to Christchurch sometime in February, and we’ll go on a roadtrip down to Dunedin. Having something to look forward to helps me get through the days.
In other news: I’m moving to another flat before the end of the month, to live with friends. Tomorrow I’m going on a camping trip to Somes Island, which is the island in the middle of Wellington Harbour.
So much to look forward to, and all I can think about is how much I miss my amazing man down in Christchurch.

Graduation!

No, no. Not me. My graduation is still two years away.

I just witnessed a batch of graduates parade down Lambton Quay here in Wellington. Led by a kilt-clad, bagpipe-playing orchestra, they walked in groups according to their area of study. So you had, amongst others, education, humanities and social studies, law, science … and my memory fails. Jesus, I study at Vic, and I don’t even know what else they offer.

The reason I went into town to watch is that one of my friends is one of the graduates today. He was in the science group. I have seen the same progression down Lambton Quay once before, earlier this year, but that was a pure co-incidence.

Seeing the students in their graduation outfits, complete with the hat with the tassel, makes me want to be a graduate so bad. I met up with my friend last night, and he told me how it all works. Apparently they really do the whole ‘throw-their-hats-in-the-air’ thing which, for some reason, I assumed was only the case with American graduations.

It’ll be interesting to see when (if it happens at all) I become a graduate. At the moment the plan is to complete my bachelor’s degree, and that’s it. Which means that if I pass all my courses, I’ll be a graduate in more or less two years to the day. Exciting.

However, if my desire to learn even more is stronger than my desire to graduate in two years’ time, then I’ll do at least another year at uni, which is likely to be a one year course in screenwriting (you can tell that I’ve already thought about this).

At the moment I can’t possibly imagine leaving Wellington, but who knows how I might feel after another two years here. It’s a fantastic place, and I love so many people here, but if I’m no closer to starting a career here once I’m ready to graduate, then there’s nothing to keep me here, really.

Wellington is absolutely abuzz today. I’m currently sitting in my favourite cafe in Lambton Quay, enjoying a lunch consisting of a mocha and a bowl of fries, typing away on my wee netbook.

I heart cafe offices.

Graduation time is an amazing time, because the city is full of all the students who have returned for their graduation, as well as their families.

That is what I look forward to the most about graduation, to be honest. Getting my family down here to watch me graduate, and celebrate with me. The best thing about putting off graduation is, for me, that it leaves more time for my family to save up money for the huge trip down from Norway – it’s not as if they’ll be coming down for just a weekend, plus they have to pay for six people, if everyone is coming…

Right, better finish off my fries now. I’ve taken up a table for three all by myself for more than half an hour, and the place is packed. I’m sure the staff would be shooting me dirty glances right about now if they weren’t so nice in this place.

Movie night

This afternoon I bought a ticket for the midnight screening of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1.

I didn’t plan on going to the midnight screening, because I’m not really that much of a hard-core HP fan (although I love the books) and not desperate to watch it straight away; I’d prefer to go with someone if I went, and anyway I assumed that all the tickets would be long gone. Then I read on the cinema’s Twitter page this morning that there were still some tickets left to the midnight screening tonight, and I was like, ‘why not?’

So during my stroll around Wellington this afternoon I stopped at the cinema and bought a ticket. I’m going by myself, but that’s alright. I’m sure the experience is going to make up for it. I wonder if there will be people dressed up as HP characters…

The “official” world premiere is, as far as I know, November 19. However, that doesn’t seem to apply to NZ. Here the date is November 18, and thanks to the time difference between NZ and Europe (read: Norway), and me going to the midnight screening, I’m going to see the movie way before anyone in Norway does. Wicked.

If I was a mean person, I’d run home after it was finished and tell all my friends in Norway who are HP fans everything that happens. But that would be cruel, and I’m not going to do it.

Before the movie I’m having a wee drinking sesh with one of my friends from Norway, who just happens to live in Wellington as well. I’m meeting her in half an hour or so, so I better get going.

I’ll provide you all with my opinion of the movie as soon as I’m able to…

Summer dreams

Boy, I’m a slacker. For now. My love for the beach actually caused me to miss out on a public lecture I wanted to go to tonight, by a UK expert. It was about employment in the film industry, and sounded very interesting and useful. However, I didn’t manage to drag my arse away from the beach early enough for me to get home and have a shower and make it there in time.

Time to sharpen up. I need to sort out my priorities. Living on the sunny side of life is definitely a little too high up. Hopefully that’s going to change in a fortnight, when I’m investing in a bike. Improved means of getting around = a more efficient me, right? I’m super excited about it. Just knowing that I’m about to get a bike makes it feel like Christmas has already arrived.

Anywho, here are some nice and summery photos from my day at the beach, to make all you people enjoying a cold, dark winter in Norway drool with jealousy. Sorry.

Move along

Life

is

so

darn

sweeeet.

The last 24 hours have been rather amazing. Last night out on town was ah-mazing. Today was AMAZING. One word for it? Yeah, amazing.

Also, I now have beers in my fridge. Fuck yeah. Speights, at that. I am one VERY happy girl. AND a bottle of wine. AND a bottle of gin. Does life seriously get any better??

Oh, yeah – it was supposed to be raining all day today. Instead it’s been sunny for most of the day. Someone is definitely on my side.

I have a newfound love for Australians and football players. And cafès in Wellington. (That last one was a lie – I’ve always loved the cafès in Wellington.)

Now to cook dinner. Then I’m having a movie night with my bud. Rock on, world.

The Battle for Middle-Earth

…is soon coming to a town near you.

I always get my priorities right. Really, what would you do: Stay at home and polish an essay that’s due in the next day, or spend 3 hours outside, surrounded by like-minded people, supporting a cause that means the world to you? OK, so maybe that was a little biased, but hey, I have to do something to make myself feel better for once again downgrading the importance of getting this essay right. (I think that’s a lost cause, though; that’s why I’ve stopped trying. Now I just want to hand it in.) At least I’m fully prepared for an all-nighter if need be (and I’m sure it’ll be necessary).

But that’s not the main issue today. I want to say something about the rallies that were arranged today to support filming of The Hobbit in New Zealand. I arrived in Civic Square about an hour early to secure a good spot, watching the people from Weta set up loudspeakers and TV screens etc. I had fun trying to recognise people, however it wasn’t until Gino Acevedo turned up that my heart skipped a beat; he works for Weta as a prosthetics supervisor and did a lot of the special effects on the LotR trilogy, and even got a cameo in The Return of the King as a pirate (on the right in the photo below). It was exhilarating seeing him in real life, after seeing him so many times on the behind-the-scenes footage from the extended versions of the LotR trilogy.

The second arrow points to Sir Richard Taylor; he runs Weta Workshop with his wife Tanya and is the creative supervisor. The biggest moment for me today was seeing him, as he talked to the crowd several times, reading a statement from Peter Jackson himself, as well as sharing some anecdotes from the production of The Lord of the Rings, making everyone laugh. Man, I love these people. Liz Mullane, the casting director on the Rings trilogy also spoke to the crowd, and shared a few of her own stories from behind the scenes, to highlight the way NZ pulled together to get the LotR trilogy made, and how they sometimes hit a few bumps along the way…

My heart swelled with pride and affection at seeing how much people in NZ care about their film industry. It was something special to hear stories from the making of the LotR from the people who were involved in it, even though it happened almost 10 years ago. It still means so much to them, and judging by the response their stories received, it still means just as much to everyone else.

After the last person had said their piece (there were several speakers, including the mayor of Wellington, several Weta workers and a couple of filmmakers), people released colourful balloons that had been handed out by the people who arranged the rally, and everyone was in a really cheerful mood. I very much wanted to say something to Richard Taylor, but didn’t know what, so I just went over to where he was standing, and snapped a couple of photos before I left…

For more photos from the rally, go to http://picasaweb.google.com/randikleppe90/HobbitRallyInWellington25101002?feat=directlink

Only bummer of the day was that I brought my video camera, thinking that it was fully charged, only to discover as I began filming that I had less than 10 minutes of battery life left… So I got about half of the mayor’s speech, and none of Taylor’s, Mullane’s and Acevedo’s anecdotes from the Rings days. Sad face. But at least I got to hear it in person, and to me, that beats nearly everything. Almost as good as being there myself (the filming of the LotR, that is).

Now I really need to finish the essay. All of a sudden it’s nearly 6pm. And I still don’t feel a panic attack coming on. How weird.

Opting out

 

A couple of days ago I was asked by the editor of the local newspaper in my home town back in Norway to participate as a blogger on their new website due to be launched in a couple of weeks’ time, and I’m absolutely thrilled to say that I agreed to do it. I’m not yet sure exactly what it involves, all I know is that I’ll be sharing the task with 7 other people, each posting once every 8 weeks. Another blog to maintain, excellent. That ought to get my creative juices flowing.

Speaking of, I have a theory that Facebook kills my creativity. Lately I’ve been trying to study for my exams, so naturally I have spent a good 18 hours every day procrastinating on Facebook. And in less than two weeks my exams will be over, so I’ll go back to spending on average 8-10 hours a day on Facebook again. This has got to stop. So today I made an executive decision to deactivate my Facebook account for an uncertain period of time – all I know is that I will not activate it again until after my exams are over. If I’m past the sweaty palms and fevered dreams stage due to my abstinence from Facebook at this point, I will consider extending my absence indefinitely, to see if this will increase my attention to various creative projects I have started but not made any progress on lately.

This desire to be creative (and thus, to do something to make it happen) has been greatly spurred on over the last few days by the drama surrounding the production of The Hobbit, with the latest reports saying that Warner Brothers have decided to move the production offshore. Apparently they want to shoot it in a studio in England, where they shot Harry Potter. I am simply outraged by this development. Ever since I first heard that The Hobbit was going to be made into a film I’ve had mixed feelings about it, because ever since I first read the book, I’ve wanted to be involved in the making of the film version (preferably I would be the one making it). So at first I was against Sir Peter Jackson directing it. Then they announced that Guillermo del Toro would be the director, and I decided that I’d rather have PJ direct to keep things consistent with the mood and feeling of the LotR trilogy. Then GDT dropped out, and the whole thing was stuck in limbo for a while. It hadn’t been greenlit, the studio was bankrupt, there was no director – the problems seemed to be neverending, and the film destined not to be made. Then, just as we heard words of progress, some Australian douchebag union decided to royally fuck things up. There was a boycott of the film, demonstrations, marches, secret meetings, press statements, verbal abuse, anxiety, still no green light – and all of a sudden came the press release from the studios that the film had been greenlit, PJ would direct, and shooting would commence in February 2011. But wait… There was nothing about where it would be shot.

The fight instantly on between a handful of countries all wanting not just a slice of the cake but the whole goddamn thing, The Hobbit seemed set to be pried from the shores of Aotearoa. Tax breaks, cheap labour, no Australian unions – England, Scotland, Canada and several Eastern European countries all put their offers on the table, and Warner Brothers took the bait. According to the newspapers today, representatives are coming down to New Zealand next week to arrange the moving of the production offshore. After all this time, New Zealand is set to lose one of the bound to be biggest franchises of the next decade.

One of the main reasons I decided to study in Wellington was that The Hobbit was supposed to be made in Wellington during my stay here (originally there were reports that shooting would commence in March this year, but we all know that never happened), and now that is no longer the case, and the long-term effects of this move is likely to more or less shut down the smaller film industry in Wellington, I see no future for me here. Maybe I should transfer to London? I hear they make some films over there…

Well that went just like clockwork!

I won! My Alex DeLarge outfit won first prize in my film class’ dress-up do today. It was so cool wearing it to uni, I felt pretty awesome. Several people told me it was a cool costume as we waited outside the lecture theatre, and I actually started singing ‘Singin’ in the Rain’ in the foyer… Not in a shy mood today, in other words. Or maybe I actually adopted Alex’ buoyant behaviour as well as his clothes.

The people who had dressed up had to go up on stage and introduce themselves one by one, and when it was my turn I held up my glass milk bottle and said, after I’d said I was Alex from A Clockwork Orange, that ‘I’ve even got my milk!’. One of the tutors then repeated our “names”, and whoever got the loudest applause would win. Guess who was very pleasantly surprised when the tutor said my name and the whole room erupted with applause and cheers, after very polite applause for the people before me. There were a few other people whom I thought might beat me, but according to the tutor, after everyone had had their round of applause, it was pretty clear to him who the winner was: Alex from A Clockwork Orange! What a great feeling it was to hear those words. I made a few bows and spectacular movements, in line with Alex’s strange behaviour.

First prize was two movie passes, so now I have to choose what to do with the second one – be selfish and go to the movies twice, by myself, or go with someone and treat them to a free screening? The second one is more tempting, but then the question remains; who shall I share it with?

See any resemblance? (The lecturer and the tutors took heaps of photos in the lecture today, so if/when they post them online I will post them on my blog, so you can see what other costumes I was up against.)

I spent the rest of the afternoon running around town getting my grocery shopping done, battling the ferocious wind all the time. When I finally got home it was almost tea-time, and after some time trying to decide what to make (I bought lots of yummy foods today) I finally decided on burgers. (Mmmm burgers.) I haven’t had a burger that didn’t come from McDonald’s or Burger King in at least a year (or maybe like 10 months).

They were sooo darn good. (I was starving when making dinner, hence the large number of burgers. I was close to vomiting when I forced down the last bite.)

Now I’m about to have a shower, a glass of gin and tonic, and then set out for town to see what it’s like. Friday night, wooo!

All shook up!

 

That was quite some news I woke up to this morning. The first thing I noticed when I opened my eyes was the sunlight shining on my window, which was a pleasant surprise after the horrible weather that arrived last night, with thunder and lightning, even hail! But you know what they say: After rain comes sun…

But the stark contrast between the sunny weather in Wellington and what actually goes on out there was pointed out to me the second I went on facebook and noticed several mentionings of an earthquake by my friends in the South Island. So I went to Stuff.co.nz to see what it was all about. I instantly found that there had been a major earthquake at 4.35 am right outside of Christchurch, magnitude 7.1 (initial reports said 7.4, but it was later downgraded). Several buildings were destroyed, and roads, power lines, sewage systems, water pipes etc suffered severe damage in many parts of the region. Luckily no deaths had been reported. The quake was strong enough to be felt over most parts of the South Island, and reports also claim that it was felt by some as far north as Wellington and Palmerston North. Personally, I don’t think I felt anything, although I did have a very uneasy sleep and woke up several times during the night. One of those times it may have been due to the earthquake, but I don’t know. If you’re interested in seeing photos of the destruction, this is a good site: Quake photos – they are constantly updated, as well.

 

I was supposed to spend as much time as possible today writing a philosophy essay which is due in next Friday, so that I can go out tonight feeling that I’ve done something productive, but I’ve just wasted away 4 hours keeping up to date with what’s happening down in the South Island, instead. The fact that it’s a beautiful day in Wellington doesn’t make it any easier to stay inside, either. I actually turned my desk away from the window so I won’t have to look at the perfect, blue sky while I’m trying to study… Desperate times calls for desperate measures.

I’m craving lollies/chips/chocolate. And I don’t have any. Aaaaah.

Flowers in Spring, Surprises in the Mail and Nothing in the Fridge

 

Today is the third day of spring. Yes, I do know that I’m a little behind (what’s so special about it being the third day? I should have done this on the first day of spring), but I have a tendency to refuse to go with the flow, so when “everyone” was going on about the arrival of spring a few days ago, I chose to ignore it. That’s just what I do.

 

Wellington was almost as good as it gets today. At least up until now. A southerly change is expected this afternoon, and judging by the thick clouds that have suddenly appeared, we can expect some nasty weather real soon. This morning (while the sun was still shining from a spotless sky) I went to Exodus, a gym in the city, to work out (I was given a 7-day trial a couple of days ago), but I didn’t feel too great, so after I’d walked all the way to the gym I decided to give it a miss. Instead, I went for a stroll in the city; I even ventured into the supermarket, which is a very dangerous place for me at the moment, considering I’ve got less than no money for another week. The prospect of being penniless for that long does not appeal to me (I miss having a steady income!), and I could see it happening already last Monday, so on Wednesday I went down to the headquarters of Mojo to inquire about barista training and potentially a job, and was told by the friendly staff to give them my CV, and they would get back to me. If I get a job with them, they provide the training for free.

When I got back from the city I checked our mailbox, and it’s usually quite boring unless I’m expecting something, and at the moment I’m not, so it was a lovely surprise when I opened the mailbox only to find a very interesting-looking envelope, which had my name on it! Upon closer inspection I found that it was from Sony Music NZ, one of my Twitter friends. A couple of weeks ago they gave me two tickets to the preview of Going the Distance – you know what I’m talking about. Excited as a 4-year old on Christmas Eve I ran up to my flat, and opened the envelope. It contained a CD – the Going the Distance soundtrack, in fact. Free stuff = a happy student.

I then proceeded to make lunch. And I was scared by how everything I’ve got in the fridge disappears at a much faster rate than I can afford. I reckon that by Sunday night I’ll be out of ham, cheese, salad, cucumber and eggs, and I can’t buy more of it until next Thursday. Le sigh. Plain toast and coffee it is, then.

Counting down

…getting ready for take-off…

 

I have a big night planned. In fact, I’ve already started drinking, and I’m not looking forward to going back to this blog entry tomorrow to see how many spelling mistakes I made (blame the alcohol!). The loud music isn’t exactly helping, either. But never mind, that’s how I want it. I don’t feel like thinking or feeling anything anymore, at least not tonight. I don’t know exactly why, but I feel kind of depressed right now. And I drink to forget all my sorrows, and lull myself into a false sense of security and positivity, which at least helps me feel better for as long as it takes me to get sober again. And I enjoy that state of false hope and happiness. I know it’ll be gone when I wake up tomorrow morning, but how much don’t we humans do to feel happy, even if only for a short while?

 

Being stood up by someone I thought I could count on to accompany me tonight didn’t exactly improve my mood, either. But that’s the story of my life. Never trust anyone. Once again, I ask myself: Is it because of me? Of who I am? Does something about me shout out to the world that it’s OK for you to abandon me at the last moment, that I’ll survive? I don’t know, I don’t always give a fuck (although tonight I do), but I’m sick of it. I try my best to be a kind and caring person, but it always backfires. I never receive anything good in return, just cold shoulders and rejections. Destined to loneliness? Yessir, I think so. Real friends are hard to come by. In fact, so hard that I think I’ve only ever come across one. And she’s not here (or maybe I’m in the wrong place?), so I’m by myself once more, just like I’ve been for the most of my life.

But enough ranting. I hate bringing other people down because of my problems, and it sounds so very weak, to boot. And I don’t see myself as a weak person. So just ignore everything I wrote above (you know what they say, it’s supposed to help to ‘unload’ your troubles), and focus on the awesome night I’m about to have. I’m pretty sure I just started drinking at 5pm for the first time in my life, and it was amazing. Just keep in mind that I’ve got a fridge full of beer, wine, sparkly drinks and last but not least, gin, to keep me going all night.

 

So keep on counting down for me, please. It’ll be a big night, and who knows what’ll happen (I sure as hell won’t, because I’ll be beyond drunk). I might even meet someone nice out on town to drown the rest of my sorrows with. Wish me luck.

I once knew a funny story…

 

…but now I seem to have forgotten what that was, so let me tell you another one instead:

The brain really works in mysterious ways. Forget about any so-called deities working in mysterious ways – it’s your brain you ought to worry about. As late as this very evening on which I am writing this blog entry, I realised something very funny about the way my brain works. I had decided to make a very simple dinner, which I knew wasn’t going to fill me up, so I decided to have some ice cream before dinner (I know – I’m a Rebel with a capital R). The reason why I had what many people would correctly label as ‘dessert’ before my dinner is simply the fact that when I have ice cream I get so awfully cold (can’t possibly imagine why), and so I need to eat or drink something warm to heat up again. In this case, my dinner would restore me to a normal temperature. So I loaded up a bowl with yummy vanilla ice cream and ate it all up (it felt so good) whilst cooking dinner. When my dinner was all cooked I was just about to find a new bowl for it, when I changed my mind and cleaned the one I had just used for my ice cream, because otherwise I would have to clean two bowls. And I suppose you now see what makes this a funny story. No? Well, of course I had to clean the same bowl twice, anyway, so what’s the difference? But in my mind it was more work to clean two different bowls than it is to clean the same bowl twice. Also, when I went to sit down at the table with my dinner, I was just about to turn off the light in the kitchen when I realised that when I do that, my brain tends to think that the dishes I’ve used to prepare my dinner have magically vanished, which often makes me put off doing the dishes ‘till the next morning, and that is not a fun realisation to wake up to. So what did I do? I left the light on, of course. And you know what happened? I did the dishes the moment I had finished eating. I like to think that it was because of my awareness of the mysterious ways in which my brain works. I don’t think it had anything to do with me manipulating my own mind.

 

Guess what I’m doing tomorrow? Oooh I bet you are excited now. So am I, by the way. I am going to a pre-screening of the movie Going the Distance, which is a new romantic comedy starring Drew Barrymore and Justin Long, and is about the trials and tribulations of a long-distance relationship… I got free tickets from the very awesome Sony NZ (I don’t get paid to say that, honestly), and I am going to make it into a big night – that includes the 30 minutes it takes to travel (by train) to where the screening takes place, which is in Lower Hutt. I’ve never been there before, so that’ll be interesting. At least I’m going with someone who seems to know the place (better than I do, anyway). I’m also going to feast on unhealthy foods, so there will be no breakfast, lunch or dinner tomorrow.

What I’m loving this week: The weather. I spent an hour sitting in the sun down by the waterfront on Monday afternoon, and I got some colour on my arms as a result! Would you believe it – technically, if we go by the rule that the seasons are the complete opposite in New Zealand compared to Norway, it’s still only late winter here. Not approaching summer, or even early spring. Late winter. And it’s possible to get a tan from sitting in the sun for as little as one hour. I love it.

Another thing I love is the decaffeinated coffee I got from the supermarket today. Last weekend I consumed over a period of 72 hours more coffee and various other energy drinks than most coffee-drinking people probably consume over 2 weeks. It really messed me up, in more ways than one, so now I’ve put myself on a strict low-caffeine regime, and today I’ve only had one double-shot and one single-shot cup of coffee. Yesterday I had one triple- or quadruple-shot (is there such a thing?) and one double-shot. I am finding it really hard to cut back on coffee after the hard weekend, and suffered from a horrible headache most of yesterday. Today I really felt like just chewing on some coffee beans or something, and so when I went to the supermarket I spent about 10 minutes in the coffee section, trying to pick a decaffeinated coffee but always finding myself back in front of the normal ones. Eventually I picked up a bag of decaffeinated coffee and ran for the exit (well, not literally, but almost). Since I returned home I have had 3 cups of it. I love how it tricks my body into believing that it has got its caffeine kick, because it tastes like coffee, but I don’t have to suffer any of the side effects (plus, I can drink it all day and all night long – my life is complete!).

 

(There will be no more of this for a while.)

Chocomania

 

Every woman knows that it’s her very own best friend and worst enemy – the chocolate bar.

I confess that I’m a huge fan of these blocks of divine goodness, and I don’t care how “bad” they are for you – I eat my fair share of chocolate, and as long as it’s just every now and then, and I don’t indulge in every other unhealthy food that money can buy, I don’t see a problem with that. I’m also very active, so a bit of chocolate just keeps me from becoming too skinny (although my clothes are telling me that that has already happened – either that, or all my clothes have suddenly expanded two sizes).

 

If you ask me, the best accompaniment to chocolate is, first and foremost, coffee. As I have recently purchased an espresso machine, I can now make those delicious coffees you normally get at cafès in the comfort of my own kitchen, which has infinitely improved my daily life. A good book and some instrumental background music really tops it off. For however long those “ingredients” last, I’m in my own personal heaven.

I’m all set to write an(other) A+ essay, with these things at hand. (There will be no dinner tonight, by the way.)

Sunday silence

 

Sundays are great. Especially when you haven’t been out drinking the night before and can appreciate every second of the last day of the weekend. And when Wellington surprises everyone by providing nice weather instead of the heavy rain that was predicted, it gets even better.

 

I stayed up way too late last night, though. I meant to be in bed before midnight, but that didn’t happen. As you know, I went to see Inception, and that finished at 11:15 pm, and I thought I’d missed the last bus home, which I was very unhappy about when I left the cinema and discovered that it was absolutely pissing down and windy and cold (at least it was a good night for a movie). However, as I started walking along Courtenay Place, I saw a bus drive past me, and it happened to be my bus, and I thought ‘Bugger!’ because there was no bus stop right there. But then I looked ahead, and there was one almost right in front of me, so I ran over to it, got on the bus and escaped the long, cold and wet walk home, which was such a relief. I can’t tell you how good it was to get home and take off my wet socks, wrap myself up in a blanket and just chill out. This was just before midnight, and of course I had to go on Facebook, and there one of my friends started chatting to me, so that kept me up even longer. Eventually it was almost 3 am before I went to sleep, so I didn’t exactly have an early start this morning, but that’s alright.

 

I went to the supermarket this afternoon. I wasn’t sure whether I should go or not, but when I had the last of my bread for breakfast this morning I decided I’d better do it. I’ve got three days to go until my budget for next month kicks in, and I think I’ve got just enough money left to make it. That’s quite surprising, and I’m really impressed with the effort I’ve put into staying within budget (and that’s the purchase of the espresso machine included!).

 

Now I’ve just had a late lunch, which consisted of ice cream and coffee. Yum. Going to try and do some more reading now, and just chill out with my music playing in the background. Totally relaxed.

I heart Sundays.

Break on a budget

 

So.

 

I’m on holiday.

 

It’s the semester break. As I’m not doing any courses over summer this means that the first half of my first year as a university student is over. I had my only exam on 15 June, and since then I haven’t been doing much. Unless you count the flat rental company business, but that’s just something I got involved with to avoid dying of boredom. (OK that last bit was a lie, but sometimes I think to myself that considering that it’s me we’re talking about, it might as well have been true.)

Unlike many of my fellow students, I have already had a two-week break, and I know I shouldn’t be complaining at all, thinking about all those poor students who had their exam(s) only yesterday and will only get a two-week break in total. I get four weeks.

When my break started I was really excited about it. Really. I was supposed to be moving to Mt Victoria, spend lots of time outside and explore Wellington and hang out with people. So far I’ve accomplished two out of four things: I’ve been spending a lot of time outside, walking all around Wellington. However, after I’d walked around Central Wellington a couple of times, I realised how bad it was for my wallet, as it is so easy to fall into the trap of buying coffee/lunch/a snack at one of the hundreds of cafès while wandering about. So I decided to approach the idea in a different way. It was time to go back to being a tourist.

The first thing that came to my mind was that I still hadn’t seen the famous location used in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring where the four hobbits tumble down a hill and land on a forest path. It is conveniently located in the forest on Mt Victoria, so on a rainy and cold day I defiantly put on some warm clothes, packed a minimal lunch and set off. I despise looking like a tourist, but there’s no denying I must have strongly resembled one, when I made my way past Cuba Street and Courtenay Place dressed in wind-proof trousers and jacket, carrying a light backpack .

I eventually found the location in the forest (I think), snapped a few photos and started making my way back. Of course, it had been raining all the time, but as I was halfway home it stopped, and we didn’t get any more rain that day. It makes sense.

After that wee excursion, I have stuck to wandering about the city itself, mainly because I can’t think of any other ‘nature’ tracks around this area. So I’ve walked along the waterfront a couple of times, strutted through Lambton Quay and up and down The Terrace on several occasions, walked down Willis St (pretty much all of it), sat in Courtenay Place looking for Sir Ian McKellen and otherwise explored more or less every side street in the CBD. All the while trying not to be lured into spending all my money on the fantastic winter sale bargains.

Of course, it’s impossible not to buy anything when the shops sell most things for under half price, but after I went completely crazy once or twice, I decided that it was about time I imposed some ‘safety measures’ on my spending to avoid going broke. So what did I do? Well, for starters, I bought a ten-pack of noodles. That’s food for a week. Then I went and bought a pair of shoes. I think I’m pretty good at getting my priorities right.

I also decided that I’m not allowed to spend more than about $10-15 each day, and if I spend more than that in one day, it means that I don’t get to spend anything the next day. This seems to be working fairly well. Because I try not to spend any money, I spend a lot of time checking out various shops and supermarkets to compare prices on things I want and/or need. I’ve recently decided to make vegetable soup/stew a weekly meal (after I’ve killed the ten noodle packs, mind), so I wanted to compare prices of the various ingredients. First I went to New World, then I went to a place I’ve never been to before, which turned out to be an Asian supermarket. When I had walked past the fruit and vegetables that were placed at the front of the shop, it was like entering another world. I don’t think I would have been able to name or even identify a single product beyond the fruit stalls. It was glorious – so many weird things, it was simply amazing. Anyway, the Asian supermarket won – their prices were way lower than New World’s, thankfully. My wallet let out a sigh of relief.

So far I’ve been doing most things by myself. No, wait. Everything. I’ve been waiting for a couple of people to be in touch, and I’ve tried to arrange things with others, but no one seems to be keen, or they are busy. Hmph. But this Sunday I’m going to meet some of the All Whites players with a friend from Dunedin who’s in Wellington for the week. Yay, human contact at last.

Today was a wee cracker of a day in Wellington. Absolutely gorgeous. I spent about three hours walking around the city, and bought a loaf of white bread, European style, and some ham, and then I treated myself to a mochaccino at my favourite cafè in Lambton Quay. When I got home I made a late lunch, and I enjoyed every last crumble of it.

Now I’m just going to let some photos sum up the past week, as this blog entry is getting a wee bit long.

 

The people have spoken… We won.

Changing my secondary plan of staying at home tonight is one of the best decisions I’ve made in a very long time.

The All Whites, New Zealand’s national football team, played their first match in the FIFA World Cup at 11.30pm today, and I did not want to miss it. So my initial plan was to go to a pub to watch it, albeit I didn’t really want to go by myself, but I decided that if it was necessary, I would. However, due to a terribly hard day (with an early exam and some flat trouble), I didn’t feel like socialising or drinking, so I thought I’d just stay at home and find a website that had live streaming of the match.

After dinner I felt much better, though, and decided I’d go to the pub after all. A bit nervous, I left my flat just before 11pm and walked into town. As I entered the pub that was my first choice (Four Kings), I was shocked to find it already packed with supporters, some even had facepaint to show their support. I stood awkwardly by a wall and stared at the screens over the heads of other people (I guess that’s one good thing about being tall, eh?), trying not to get in anyone’s way.

There was a generally loud round of applause as the All Whites entered the pitch and the New Zealand national anthem started playing.

And just for the record – whoever says I’m not really a Kiwi, who do you think you are? You don’t know me. If you had felt 1% of what I felt when I stood there in that pub, you wouldn’t doubt me, you wouldn’t even be doubting yourself. My heart swelled with pride, so much it was painful, and I felt a desire to get up on a chair and sing along with the national anthem (which, thankfully, I didn’t).

There was an excellent atmosphere in the pub (note to self: future All Blacks games will be watched from there). The All Whites started out really well, which made people really enthusiastic about the game.

One of the things I was impressed to discover was that the people actually understood the rules of football. Not do I know when this became common knowledge in NZ, as football has always been a minor sport here, while rugby has been the area of knowledge for the common man.

As the match progressed, and the All Whites lost control of the game, some people became more subdued and some simply left. Traitors. Others (myself included) remained behind to support the guys to the end.

When about 10 minutes remained of the match I decided I’d better cross my fingers for luck, because I had a feeling that they could still make it a draw. So for the last 10 minutes or so I tried to keep them crossed – and they did get closer to scoring a goal – but every time they almost scored I forgot about keeping my fingers crossed in the frenzy that followed. After a minute or two I’d realise that I’d stopped keeping them crossed, so I’d do it again, and they would get closer to scoring again. So in the last (additional) three minutes, I kept reminding myself not to slip up, because we couldn’t afford it. So I kept them tightly crossed, and whaddayaknow – in the very last minute of the match the All Whites scored a goal!

(Now I finally know why my luck has left me – I seem to be giving it away in such kindly gestures as that.)

When the All Whites scored the final goal, it was like a bomb went off inside the pub. The entire room exploded – security guards, avid supporters, bartenders alike – everyone cheered as if New Zealand had just won the World Cup. (It is fair to mention here that the last time NZ qualified for the World Cup was in 1982.) Everyone missed out on what was said during the last few seconds of the game, but it didn’t matter – people were hugging strangers, cheering, jumping up and down and celebrating all over. When we vaguely discerned a whistle being blown and the referee put his arms up, the place erupted all over again. Wild applause and chants ensued for some time. Then people eventually started filing out, and as I exited I heard Dave Dobbyn’s song ‘Loyal’ being played over the loudspeakers from the upstairs pub and into the dark night outside, where people were standing in little crowds, discussing the game and smiling and nodding at friends and strangers alike.

As I started making my way home, I heard and saw cars tooting and hooting; people were shouting and cheering everywhere, there was a mile-long queue at McDonald’s, and there was a general feeling of festivity in the air, as if it was New Year’s Eve or a similar event (I heard on Twitter that somebody fired up some fireworks in Brooklyn – a suburb – which pretty much sums it all up).

I had to walk all the way back to my apartment, but due to my elated mood that wasn’t a problem, and as I was waiting to cross the road at some lights there was a taxi waiting for a green light just in front of me, and there I was, grinning broadly (and stupidly) all by myself, and when the taxi drove past me the taxi driver smiled and waved at me – totally made my night even better.

As of now, it’s almost 3am (yes, that’s three o’clock in the morning for those of you who may not be used to the whole am/pm thing yet), and I’m extremely tired (ah, yes, I mentioned that I had an exam this morning), but I feel too happy to go to sleep just yet.

Tonight, NZ was one, its people was one, and we all seemed to agree on one thing: We won. Maybe not in hard numbers in the football game, but in our hearts and in our minds, we achieved so much more than that. I think this showed that New Zealand has finally discovered the beauty and the passion of football, and I’ll be damned to say it was about time.

Open spot!

So, for those of you that haven’t heard: Guillermo Del Toro, the guy who was supposed to direct the two upcoming ‘Hobbit’ films, has abandoned the project. Jumped ship. Fled the country. Left the director’s chair. Unlike most people who have commented on the news article at stuff.co.nz, I couldn’t be happier. For years now, I have been angry with Sir Peter Jackson for deciding to make ‘The Hobbit’ into a movie. Not that I object against that book being made into a movie. No, the problem was that it was too soon. Because ever since I first read ‘The Hobbit’, I’ve been wanting to make a movie out of it. I love that book so much, and leaving the responsibility of making it into a movie in somebody else’s hands is to me like leaving your children with a homeless guy, and trust him to know how to look after them. Unthinkable. Even if Sir PJ was the producer, and would have final say about the look and feel of the film, and although I loved the look in ‘The Lord of the Rings’ - ‘The Hobbit’ was my movie.

When I first heard that PJ wasn’t going to direct ‘The Hobbit’ himself, after he had said that they were planning on filming it, I was beside myself with fury, at least up until they said who the director was going to be: Guillermo Del Toro. When they said that, I basically gave up all hope. But two or three years later, here we are – the movies (oh, and I despise the fact that they are making it into two films) are yet to be greenlit, the pre-pre-production has been going on forever, however no actors have been cast yet, and now the director has just left the show. And I’m cheering on the inside. Give me another couple of years, and I’ll be sitting in that director’s chair. If another director shows up in Wellington before that to direct the movies, I’ll start an underground guerrilla war to sabotage them.

I almost choked on my coffee when I checked my Twitter account this morning and saw that two people had linked to news articles about Guillermo Del Toro departing ‘The Hobbit’. These things almost never happen. The alleged reason was that he had committed to a movie project that was supposed to last for three years – and now we’re looking at six years in total (considering the fact that he’s been living in NZ for two years or so already, working on the script and doing pre-production, and the movies haven’t even been given the green light yet). He missed his family and needed to get on with other projects, so he packed his suitcase and was out of here.

I think I might have some lobbying to do at Weta these next few months…

Standing tall

I. Love. Wellington.

I won’t venture to tell you the entire tale about last weekend. It’s too grand to be put on my blog. On any blog.

I will, however, say something about it.

There I was, sitting by the bar at Public, my favourite place to hang out on a Saturday night. That place always comes with some good stories. The first time I met two lovely women from Auckland, whom I’ve been invited to stay with if I visit Auckland some time. This time I got dragged over to a table surrounded by basketball players. I was introduced to all of them, and I can honestly say it was some of the best company I’ve had for a while. They were all so tall, I felt tiny for pretty much the first time in my life! When they said they were a basketball team from Hamilton I pictured a group of amateurs. Silly me. Last night (Sunday night) I decided to do some research about the team, and it turned out that the Waikato Pistons (which is the name of the team) are the best team in the basketball league (or whatever it’s called), and that several of the players have played for the Tall Blacks, New Zealand’s national basketball team, and/or famous teams overseas. I was a little bit wow-ed. I’m glad I didn’t realise this on Saturday night. Tipsy as I was, I probably would have been a little starstruck. I know, how lame. So I’ve just figured out that when I’m a famous director I just have to be a little tipsy whenever I’m around all those big names, and I won’t be intimidated. Awesome.

Anyway, it was a night to remember. That’s for sure; I got home at 7 o’clock. In the morning.

I swear everything is still happening in slow motion. Still slightly hungover? That’s a possibility. Also, I’m still waiting for my voice to recover. Having to talk over the music for 5+ hours sort of killed it; not to mention that having to talk even louder in order for those tall guys to hear it way up there was a bit of a mission.

Thankfully I had the best Sunday possible, in Tawa, with the best company.

I wonder if I have time for another coffee or two, or three (or four?) before heading over to uni. Or maybe I should just buy a red bull. Yeah, that sounds better. I’ve also got a bottle of Coke. I better get ready. I just got out of the shower (aaah!) - I’ve had such a lazy morning; I got out of bed at 10.30 am. But I guess I needed that sleep, having suffered from sleep deprivation all yesterday (I got 4 hours of sleep Saturday night). It’s going to take me the rest of the month to recover from the weekend. Haha. I’m sure you all got that.

I better go.

Caught in my immobile flight

Oh, the choices I have to make…

I’m currently sitting in my flat, trying to write a really important essay about Atonement, but my motivation is hiding (I think it might be hibernating) somewhere, so instead I’m just wasting time and playing around with everything that I shouldn’t be doing at the moment, like updating my blog, taking photos and listening to music (some music from The Lord of the Rings just started playing, so now I want to watch that). As you can tell, I’m also keen to read Harry Potter rather than write about that other friggin book. Besides, it’s so unbelievably cold in my flat at the moment; I think that’s why my brain has shut down. I’m unconsciously trying to conserve energy to heat up my body. I’ve put on three layers of clothes, slippers, gloves, a scarf and my bath robe, I’ve had a cup of tea and held my hands under boiling water, and I’m still freezing cold. Good to know that winter is just getting started…

To be quite honest, writing this blog entry has revived some of my brain, probably because I love to write when it’s not for something that someone else is telling me to do – I should get back to my essay while it lasts.