tragedy

Heath Ledger is dead. I couldn't believe it when I heard. Apparently he died of a drug overdose and I can't help but thinking, "What a waste." What a waste of talent, of life, what about his poor 2 year old daughter, just what a waste. I don't think I'll be able to watch 10 Things I Hate About You or A Knight's Tale for a wee while now as all I'll be able to think is, "He's dead. He was so young. What a waste."

Another tragedy, although this is somewhat old news by now, is that Terry Pratchett has Alzheimer's. Now that one is really tragic. I think Alzheimer's has to one of the nastier diseases to hit us later in life, or maybe it's just a personal thing for me and the idea of the deterioration of the brain that is quite horrific and scary and the contrast involved between the person that was and the person they become. It seems though, that at least on the public face of it all, Terry (I did a phone interview with him once for Radio One, I'm entitled to be on a first-name basis) has a very healthy attitude to it all.

PS I would just like to draw attention to everyone reading the above that this should be interpreted as 'I am not dead'. I will, of course, be dead at some future point, as will everybody else. For me, this maybe further off than you think - it's too soon to tell. I know it's a very human thing to say "Is there anything I can do", but in this case I would only entertain offers from very high-end experts in brain chemistry.

I like the Granny Weatherwax reference and hope that Terry proves to be as crotchety and tencious as the good lady herself.

And on a completely different note, I read my most crap horoscope in ages the other day. Shelly von Strunckel is losing her touch, let me tell you. Listen to the inane rubbish she had for me the other day:

It will take weeks, if not months, to fully understand the potential and extent of the ideas and events triggered by Jupiter's stunning alliance with Saturn this week. What's already clear; however, is that the more options you explore, the better informed you'll be when it's time to turn these concepts into lasting plans.

No shit Sherlock. Regardless of what Jupiter and Saturn are up to, exploring all my options always seems like a good idea and I'm all for being best informed to make my decisions. I DO THIS ALREADY. Frankly, I expected more from the lady who liberally sprinkled words like retrograde and ascension but apparently she was having a non-motivated day and reverted to wordy tree-hugging-hippy crystal mumbo-jumbo speak. Shame on you Shelly.

AND...

I'M GOING TO DO A YOGA DIVING COURSE.

Also very berry excited about that one. God knows exactly how Mr. Credit Card is going to juggle it all but I have faith in his superpowers. Eeek- I also have to start getting diving gear. Would a very very old and very very rich man marry me ASAP and then die (also ASAP) and leave me everything (or failing that a nice tidy sum)? If you could, that would be great and very muchly appreciated. I am an excellent cook and do great baked goods.

I'M GOING TO MARSA ALAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

After much persuasion, I finally succeeded in my pitch as Marsa Alam as the ideal location for my friend Kerry to celebrate her 30th birthday. She wants to swim with dolphins and Marsa Alam came highly recommended by people at work and with all the internetting I've been doing on it, well I've fallen in love and now we're gonna go and it's awesome. Now I know I may not get to see dolphins as they're a wild pod but the whole place in general sounds amazing with even great snorkeling and coral opportunities just off the beach. And even better, since our birthdays are 5 days apart, we'll be over there for mine as well. Woot!

oh woe is me

I definintely fall under the stereotype of the person who hardly ever gets sick and when they do, they do it in style. Yesterday, just after lunch, I started to feel like someone was slowly stuffing my head full of cotton wool. Then they started to slowly pour in a viscous liquid. And then, clearly feeling they needed to ice the cake of discomfort, they decided to take to me with a piece of 2x4. I ache. Everywhere. So needless to say I'm not at work but I had to venture out this morning to get supplies and I am now going to retire to the sofa to continue ODing on vitamin C. I've had so much of it already in its various forms that I wouldn't be surprised if I start sweating it out my pores. But to sweat I would need to be warm and I even have my thermals on under my trackies. I'm about to go put on a Die Hard movie (probably 2 because I watched 1 again at the weekend) and am hoping I'll pull my party trick of falling asleep when the action gets going. I don't know what it is about the constant noise of gunfire and explosives but it lulls me to sleep...

feeling better now

I am, by now, well over my ohmyGodI'vecommittedtoleavingtheUK angst and am instead well into hallelujahI'mgoinghome mode. Even if I have no idea where 'home' will be. That aspect doesn't actually bother me as much I thought it might. I'll be with the family and that's what counts. (At least to me.) As for what happens when I get there... well I have some ideas but really it's just gonna be one more big adventure which I'll have to take as it comes- which is fine by me. I have till the end of the year to wrap things up here which even me, with my supreme powers of procrastination, should be able to do. Also, it was good talking to friends at the weekend about it because even though they will be sad to see me go, they were excited for me doing this awesome thing and were the first ones to remind me that this is what I want. And it is. Sun, sand and, most importantly, WATER and out of this concrete jungle.

life changes

For someone who was (is) definite in her mind that she wanted to leave the UK for good at the end of the year and has just booked the ticket to enable that action, well I'm feeling a little bit more unsettled than I imagined I would.

I'm sure it's down to a combo of things (and these are in no particular order):
1- going "home" will actually involve going to Auusie, not NZ, as my parents have moved
2- that is strange in itself
3- I was expecting to be able to book this in about July but happened to look online and since I'm using my airpoints to get back, there were only 4 seats on one day available in the month so I realised that I pretty much had to book then and there before they all disappeared and I was left with another UK Christmas or worse, having to pay actual money for my flight. *shudder*
4- making choices like this because they are 'life choices' and not I-hate-this-place-I-want-to-leave-and-set-fire-to-it-on-my-way-out choices is always hard

And so I am feeling unsettled. I should probably be heading out for someone's birthday drinks tonight but I think that I shall instead be making a lame-ass excuse and heading home to watch some comforting chick-flick and I try to re-zen myself. I should be happy, I really should. I should be jumping for joy because I know more than anything that this big city is not the place for me. That said, after almost 3 years, it is home and I have great friends here and love my work and the people I work with. Maybe I should just go home and look at pictures of beaches, that'll refocus me. Or I could go to the pool and try out my new pro look as my goggles and swim cap arrived today. Oh yes I will be the hottest thing in the pool. *cough*

the long overdue post of miscellaneous interesting links

This stuff reminds me of the Calvin and Hobbes illustrations where Calvin is a skeleton.


interesting sculpture
http://thinkorthwim.com/2007/10/12/a-few-sculptures-by-erwin-wurm/


cool but bit dark
These paintings are a weird mix between girly adn cute and yet somehow a bit dark and sinister. Definitely interesting.


intricate


cute ladybug animation
The pacing on this animation is great. I like how it takes the time to enjoy itself. Be warned, it's fairly long and might take a while to load.

cute body art animation
www.ondanews.com/2007/11/25/body-love-animation/

amazing cakes
www.mikesamazingcakes.com/default.asp?audvar=true&aud=Turn+Music+Off

technology these days
It's amazing how far animation has come.

speaking of cool but disturbing...
www.raycaesar.com/pages/GalleryIndex.html

cool cat pics

I like the idea of photographing cats as naturally as possible and treating them like human portraits.

carved pencils
This is just cool. So intricate. I'm in awe.

selfridges birmingham
Does it make me sad that I would go to Birmingham just to see this building?

like I really need another baking site...
www.joyofbaking.com

ceramic cans
www.detterer.de/xue.htm

yet more interesting art
www.raquelissima.com/web/index.html

best Christmas card ever

Thanks J! xox

bobbing along

Okay so I'm officially back to hating Kura again- which is how my raging jealousy chooses to manifest itself- otherwise it'd be depression and I find the anger side of emotions far easier to manage. I get back from a cold and wet Edinburgh to a colder if not-at-the-moment-as-wet London and find her facebook status to read "Kura Carpenter is back from a great day cruising the lagoon of a neighbouring tropical island." hatehatehatehatehatehatehatehategrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr I want to be snorkeling in a tropical lagoon. [enunciated in a whining 4 year old, stomping my foot on the floor voice] I'm thinking I'm going to have to cut back on how often I look at her blog. Today her largest trial seems to be deciding how to eat her pawpaw.

Eat it raw? Blend it with crushed ice and vodka? Maybe bake it with brown sugar and serve it with ice-cream?

Oh my heart bleeds....

I've started swimming in the local community college pool and although it's chlorinated water (not unusual for a pool, I know, but I prefer the ocean), it's usually VERY empty and being in water in any form makes me happy. But I need goggles because the chlorine kills my eyes and I'm thinking of getting a cap so I don't have to always wash my hair, all of which combines to make a vision of total hilarity, the humour of which is only increased by the fact that it turns out that I'm quite a spaz when it comes to swimming. I'm fine underwater with fins and an air supply but all this flailing around on the surface and being made to coordinate by arms and my legs and my breathing, well it's all a bit much... So I'll be dressed like a professional but without the body and the actual swimming ability of a Labrador. Brilliant.

2008 already?

My Christmas was spent in Northern Ireland with family friends and apart from being with my family, these were the bestest, most lovely people I could have spent Christmas with. I only got to see Sean and Daisy for an evening and a morning and took none of the pictures or videos I'd intended to because when I was actually holding them or watching them, I couldn't bring myself to let them go or look away. Daisy has abbreviated 'Aynia Lasagne' to a very Italian 'a-lasagne'. I will be forever amazed at how 2 small children have completely stolen my heart. In this photo, for those interested, is Santa (aka Steve), Anita (aka Mrs. Claus) and Santa's Little Helper (aka moi).


New Year was spent in Edinburgh which was slightly less cold than I had been led to believe but I think that was only because I had brought enough layers so wasn't freezing my proverbials off all the time. That said, I was still bundled up to the nines. This pic was taken from beneath a fairground ride in front of the Scots Monument. It's kinda like a miniature (and non-enclosed) version of the London Eye but what caught me was the placement of something so garish beside this ancient gothic-styled monument.


This was the view from the top of the ride. Just amazing. I don't know that Kez saw much of it as she spent most of her time clinging on to the pole in the middle and telling me in no uncertain terms to stop moving.


Fear not! These people were not getting ready to set fire to the city but rather a march for charity.


Of course Kez and I took part. How I was meant to not walk around with a 60cm high candle?

As for New Year's Eve itself, well we were on the street for the 'street party' and witnessed amazing fireworks, tried unsuccessfully to meet up with Hayden (his bad, he blames the booze) and had a great laugh. The atmosphere was awesome and I was mostly surprised at people who apologised if they jostled past you. I'm not used to that in London, I've forgotten what normal manners are. That and hilarious Scottish accents although we seemed to meet more antipodeans that Scots...

breaking my heart

I'm spending Christmas with family friends in Ireland and just called up to confirm that they had all my flight details etc and got to talk to the kids, Sean and Daisy. I can't believe I didn't blog about my trip there at Easter. I thought I did but cannot find a post about it anywhere. At any rate, the relevant point about that trip was that Sean, who at 4 years old (now 5) was really getting into his words, realised that Aynia rhymes with lasagne so I spent 5 days in Portugal being called Aynia Lasagne which is something I haven't been called since I was 8 years old and thought I had done a pretty good job at stomping out. However- when a 4 year old boy with a heart-stoppingly cheeky smile is so proud of himself for 'inventing' this name for me, well I just didn't have the heart to quash it.

When I got to talk to the kids just now, Sean gets on the phone and proud as punch, announced, "Hello Aynia Lasagne!" to which I had to reply, "Hello Seany-prawny" (you say it's lame but it was his suggestion). But then Daisy gets on the phone and, bless her soul, she proudly tries to say the same thing but it comes out more like 'Aynia lagnana' and my heart nearly broke from the übercuteness of it all. I'm only going to get to see them for a night and part of a day before they fly back to Portugal so goodluck to their family getting near them in that time.

island paradise

That's it, I'm moving to Rarotonga. Or at least going for a VERY long holiday. Apparently their library is chocca-block stocked with quality literature (my penchant for this is my now-not-so-secret shame) and between that, the sunshine, the sand and the scuba, I could be happy for a veryvery long time.

pining

Fresh on the heels of my Egyptian trip, the aftermath of which is a strong rekindling of my need to live by the ocean and be on the water, I decided to add insult to injury by checking out Kura's blog. She's living in Rarotonga and the bitch (I say that with love) manages to make it sound and look pretty bloody idyllic. Her husband just completed his PADI course and saw eagle rays and sharks. Eagle rays and sharks!!!To say I'm spitting with jealously would be an understatement. I have to keep reminding myself that there are reasons for my being in London at the moment and have to resist the urge to ship myself across the world and spend all my life savings (which is sweet f*ck all at the moment and would get me nowhere) getting myself into the water. I've been back for almost 2 weeks now and it's still pretty much all I can think about, I think I've caught this bug bad. I also think I need to stop whinging and moaning about it though as I'm wearing out sympathy and starting to get a smidge annoying... ;-)

living on a prayer

I came across this photo in my weekly UK Climbing newsletter, for some more stunners check here but this one was definitely the winner.



The caption reads: James McHaffie on the finishing jug of Masters Edge - look at that run out! For those not in the know, 'runout' is the distance between 2 pieces of kit and if you look at the photo, that lad has a looooooong stretch of rope below him not clipped in to anything and it makes my breath catch to think how big a fall he'd take if he came off. "Eeek" doesn't even begin to cover it.

not surprising really

Killing time on a Friday, I had to try this philosophy quiz I saw on Marie's blog.



Apparently I'm existentialist (no surprise) with a penchant for justice which is pretty much me.

joining in

So I've come back from my holiday all rejuvenated and inspired and all go-go-go and eager to do new things. I spent my flight back from the UK planning my holidays for next year and let me tell you, they were awesome and action-packed. But then I spent the Monday night doing some rough budgeting and planning and the sad reality is that I can't afford to do them all so will have to pick and choose. Plus there are things in London I'd like to do as well and ultimately it comes down to an annoying financial balancing act.

I've decided that I'd like to take up swimming because it makes sense to be a good swimmer if you're going to be a diver (and by good I don't necessarily mean styley, more like stamina) so after some research, my local community centre pool is looking like the best bet. They also offer courses of all sorts and reading through their brochure yesterday had me laughing out loud and regaling my colleagues with quotes.


Now I love flowers and have always though I might enjoy something floristry-esque but TEN WEEKS worth of 2 hr sessions? I don't know.... I like that the course is "open to all levels" although it made me giggle as I tried to imagine what "extreme floristry" might be like: "not for the faint-hearted and recommended for people with over 300 hours floristry experience this course is a rewarding experience in dealing with the more adventurous side of floral arranging..."


I might have been peeing with laughter over this one if I wasn't almost silenced by shock. I mean it's great that they have a course introducing people to Macs but really 1Macs are pretty bloody intuitive and you'd think it's PCs that need the intro course and 2 How the HELL do you need EIGHTEEN HOURS to decide whether "a Mac is for you!"?!?!?! You'd think just one hour (max) would be enough....


This just amused me because there is Spanish stage 1 and 3 but what ever happened to stage 2?

oh I do like to be beside the sea

This was my instructor Claudio. Or rather, this is Claudio who was my instructor. When I did things right I'd get the okay sign, if it went rather well I'd get the okay sign with both hands and when I got something perfect it was full on rock hands like in the pic. We had a ball. It's funny how well you can communicate things underwater even when you can't talk. (And yet at the same time some things are very confusing.... ;-)


Claudio again. He's inflated his drysuit to try to make it look like he has big muscley arms. Goodluck.


And here is me with some people who were on my boat and their instructor. We've exchanged emails but you never know how good people will be at keeping in contact. Jess is Irish and I think we were without a doubt the two craziest girls of whichever boat we were on, we made a right pair.

I can't pinpoint exactly what it was that made my holiday so great because it was a combination of the people and the place itself... Camel is a great place to stay and the staff are genuinely friendly and helpful and it was very cool to come back and have people remember me from 9 months ago. Now I'd like to put part of that down to the staff being cool but I will also have to take part of the credit myself as I make a point of smiling nicely and saying hello and thank you and all that. Especially traveling by yourself, I think it's important. Heading over, I had been a bit anxious about being Little Miss No-mates (3 weeks by myself in Greece seems 5 years ago, not 2 1/2) but I had an absolute ball. I was on boats regularly with some of the same people so we'd meet up for dinner or drinks in the evenings. There is definitely something to be said for traveling solo because it does force you to socialise whereas otherwise it's easy to just be lazy and hang out with the people to are on holiday with.

Despite being a busy place (even in winter, Sharm is a tourist meca), the atmoshpere still feels very laid-back. Maybe it's the sun, maybe it's being by the ocean. Regardless of what it was, it was a reality check for me. I love my job, I love the friends I've made in London, I love my flatmates but I'm not living the lifestyle I want to. I'm a seaside girl, I will have to be honest and even on my last day, when I couldn't dive, I got myself onto a boat for half a day so that I could at least be on the water. Some might crassly describe me as happy as a pig in shit when I'm on a boat but I prefer to be compared to a dog hanging its head out the window of a fast car. But my time here (London) is not yet done so I'll just have to last it out.

oh I do like to be beside the seaside

I'll write something decent very soon but for now, here's a pic of me diving.

are we there yet?

Ok so I know I really need to blog before I go but suddenly there are so many things to tell or at least cool links to share, that the task gets increasingly daunting as the days go by and the easiest way to procrastinate is to, well, simply not do it at all.

But there are some big goings-on in the life of A:

1 My parents are moving to Australia

2 I'm going to Egypt for a week on Saturday to do some diving. WHOOPEE!!!!

I've also got tendinitis where my biceps tendon attaches to my shoulder but that's not so much big news as my being a cripple. I haven't climbed in a week and with another week off for diving it should come right.

Ooh and also- my sister met Giovanni Ribisi. I got a text from her saying that she was talking to him in a bar in Wellington and that's all I know. I'm SO jealous. I hope he was interesting to talk to.

Fluffy Stuff
This is a link to a crazy animated gif.


I came across some paintings which I really like. And I mean really REALLY like. I think they look awesome and I might almost be tempted to get one but 1-cost 2-it'd have to be shipped from the states 3-I think I'd like to see my art in person before buying it. Still, I think they're amazing. I think finding one to fit a room might be a bit of a mission because they're quite intense but I am totally and utterly in love with the style at the very least. I love the bold shapes of the strokes, the ways the colours mix and yet sit as blocks and the way it all feels so chunky and textured and alive.
Read more about how the artist does them here.


This little guy is so cute!

disturbing meat art
And yet somehow cool.

I've found a new cooking blog
And how could I not love it, given that it's called Yumsugar.


It even had a sister site called Geeksugar. That is like so totally me.

And this is another cool cooking blog I found. Lovely pictures. Although this recipe on Baking for Britain is on my hitlist. It looks AMAZING. All that fruit, yumyumyummy.

Right- for now I think that's gonna have to be it. I'll try to post as soon as I'm back from Egypt.

inferiority complex

Two of my friends are all off having adventures. Like big fuck-off huge amazing adventure-of-a-lifetime adventures. Of course I'm jealous. Of course I sit in front of my computer reading their blog feeling like I'm wasting my life and not living it at all when they are building memories of a lifetime. So of course I'm going to use this forum to complain about it.

They are traveling from the UK through to Thailand and doing the whole thing by train over 3 months. This is mainly because Lauren has issue with flying but it's an awesome way to do a trip and see a lot of countryside.

One of my favourite segments so far has been from the entry on Mongolia. Lauren has an acerbic and cry wit and the best of times and I like that when she gets going, I can hear her telling the story and see her facial expressions as I read it. Sue is a blonde which on the Asian continent would seem to be quite the novelty. Here is my fav snippet so far:

Next morning after breakfast we had all signed up for a horse ride. They kitted us out in helmets and chaps, gave us saddles and then we watched them corral the horses and put the saddles on - there was a LOT of nervous laughter at this stage. We all hopped onto a horse and were away - at this stage we noticed Sue had her own person Mongolian Herdsman who had a firm hand on the reigns of Sue's horse. I only started to worry when I noticed them riding away into the sunrise. I am not sure what happened for the time Sue was away from the main group but when they returned the herdsman refused to let go of Sue... and her horse....
At one stage we heard singing (a traditional Mongolian courting ritual) and when Nick went up to see if Sue was ok (I was too busy trying to get my horse to go slower) he got the "leave my woman alone" stare from the herdsman. Sue denies the romance but the whole group could feel the magic in the air.

After the horse ride and lunch we headed out to see the Nomad family in action (Sue paying particular attention, so that if her Mongolian romance worked out she would know her place as 3rd wife).

You can read their blog at Where in the world is Sue? but I must warn you, I'm not fussed with the setup by the people hosting it. I find it annoying to get only segments of entries as tasters and when you click through to read an entry, you're left stranded with only the back arrow on your browser to get you back to the main entry list. DUMB. And annoying.

I do have other things to blog about but for now work calls.