mix'n'match

other things I don't get
- people who climb in jeans: coz that'll be comfy. Not.
- boys who wear jeans hanging over half way down their ass: how do they stay up? My friend Kerry has a theory about this- seeing as the jeans sit well below the hip, she says there can't be anything to hold the jeans up apart from their man-bits and she says this must cause terribly chafing. I think about this when I see hip young teenage boys with a good 15cm of boxers showing above their jeans. One day I may even gather up the courage to ask one exactly what holds their pants up.

the little things
My friend Marie is currently posting on the progress of her wedding dress (or rather what she will be wearing at her wedding). I'm quite enjoying the intrigue of colour selections, material choices, buttons, trim, etc, etc. I like finishing detail choices. In one of her latest posts though, she mentions an overnight bag she bought and this is what she wrote:

When I was trying to decide between this selection of colours and the green colourway, the woman in the shop asked me, to help me make my choice, "What colour is your suitcase?" I found this question almost as perplexing as if she had asked, "Do you own any frogs?". The colour of my suitcase, if I had one even, is not in any way related to my choice of overnight bag.

Now Marie, I don't mean to diss you but how can your choice of suitcase NOT effect your selection of overnight bag?! Does everyone not colour coordinate when they can? How can they not? I did stop to wonder if maybe this is just an Aynia Problem. I know that it can get a bit out of control- take my climbing gear for instance. I like it to match. Shoes and chalk bag are both ochre and black. I have two screw gauges and ATCs but I use the ones that are gold and black, not the red and silver ones. My harness is green and black and it gives me sleepless nights* that no climbing accessories seem to exist in the same mossy green shade to help me balance up the green in my collection. But I digress, back to the bag. If you don't have a suitcase then of course you can't match the bag to it but if you can't decide between two colourways and you do have a suitcase, what's the harm in choosing to match? NONE.

I was also initially surprised that Marie didn't have a suitcase. I was all, "How can she hot have a suitcase?! That's impossible?" Well it's not really, at least not in NZ. Over here, everyone has suitcases because everyone travels a fair amount. Small wheely suitcases are everywhere. But back in NZ, the hiking pack is more common, or larger backpacks. Suitcases, not to much. I guess it's just a lifestyle thing. In an airport, the people with suitcases, no matter how large, will usually be European and probably American. People lugging massive hiking packs will usually be from Aussie or NZ. This can, of course, differ depending on the age demographic and purpose of the trip but on the whole, I think it stands true.

Also, please note my use of the term 'hiking pack'. I cannot for the life of me now say 'tramping pack' or, for that matter, use the word 'tramping' at all. Being over here has put a new perspective on the word for me. How can I possible say, "When I was on a tramp once..." or "when I was tramping one time" without starting to snigger. I mean it's just dirty.

*okay, so I may be exaggerating a little bit