I filled my car up with petrol today since it's going up in price tomorrow.
I am feeling unispired.
We watched the Incredibles again this week. It was very good.
The house needs cleaning before my family comes over on Saturday.
On Saturday morning I am going to try on wedding dresses. I am concerned that I will fall in love with a bouffy white meringue.
I don't like TV but I'm drawn to it.
Reality TV is getting worse and worse.
Charmed is silly. Very very silly. Although Uncle Phil from Fresh Prince is on it. Hi Uncle Phil!
Singstar makes songs be stuck in your head. Yesterday it was Spandeau Ballet's Gold. Today is Franz Ferdinand Take me Out.
Giffy's house is nice, but a bit cold. Maybe it was just that the window had been left open in the conservatory? Lots of lovely storage and a good layout. I am impressed by the awesomeness of the kitchen.
They don't reveal the main character's name in Feed until page 106. I think this is an awesome, awesome trick. If only they didn't mention his name like, a zillion times on the dustcover. I am completely in love with this book, which you may know already from my babbling yesterday.
I'll be able to go to just less than one week of daytime film festival this year, if I can save money and have it left after Rarotonga. I can book tickets for evening stuff in the second week when I'll be back at work.
What fills me up for lunch on one day leaves me with a hole in the belly the next day. I don't know why.
It's funny to watch kids get up on the seat by the paid internet PC and try and get it to do stuff. Like, it won't do a goddam thing unless you type in a paid code, but the kid just sits there, types some things, refreshes the screen, sits and stares. Nothing happens.
Sure I could go over and tell the kid as much and point them towards an OPAC which has the kid's catalog on it, but I prefer to wallow in the irony. Kids are completely impatient about waiting for pages to load up, if it isn't instant, they walk away. But a computer that *should* work and doesn't? Well, they can stare at that screen for minutes and minutes before admitting defeat.
Adults will do the same thing, but they tend to actually read the sign that says 'paid internet' and move on pretty fast.
Feeling Ok about being back at work, although my back and neck have been giving me all sorts of grief. I think I need a new pillow? Probably need to excercise more as well.
I am reading Feed by M.T. Anderson which is a futuristic teen novel. Everyone is implanted with a chip in their brain which they recieve the 'feed' from. Basically advertising; banner ads, etc but smart. The feed sees what you see and tells you where you can buy clothes other people are wearing, music that you hear. It knows where you are and gives you restaurant recommendations for the area. It can hear what you think and supply you with the word you can't think of.
Once I got a hang of the slang it's very easy to get into. I am loving this book and I'm only a few chapters through.
I made up a word for the title. You like?
I'm playing Sims 2 University and liking it a lot. It really adds dimension to the game, and I like the new clothes. Wuss that I am I nearly cried in the cut scene when my original Sims 2 Mom said goodbye to her daughter, crying and hugging her as she moved into the dorm.
Meep. That's it for now. I think everyone was intimidated by my mega long post on Sunday, so I'll keep this one brief. If I ask for comments like Giffy does, will you guys comment for me?
I remember waking up Waaaaaaaay too early one Easter Sunday with the excitement of impending chocolate. There was me and my sister being entertained in the very dark lounge by my brother who was making his torch do rocket impressions.
Anyhoo, no such excitement today. Lee and I bought our eggs with our weekly shopping so there's no surprise...I already ate a bunch of eggs too. Mmmmm chocolate.
Let's see. I should catch you up on things, yes? Thursday night was Giffy's party which was all kinds of fun. I talked to lots and lots of different people and had yummy pizza and ginger ale and then I started dancing and Lee said it was time to go home. Giffy sang very well and I started an appreciative "Woooo!" for her after the second line so she could tell we were enjoying it. I was sad she didn't sing more. The band were very cool though, and I would definitely consider having them at our wedding except with the cutting costs it's very unlikely and besides, Lee's happier if we don't have dancing.
On Friday we drove around lots and went to Chelle and Jase's. Lee went to play network games and I went to gossip. Chelle had new wedding magazines for me so we pored over them together with Rachel and it was just really nice.
Saturday: Got up and did my pilates DVD. Good Jenni! I was interrupted half way through by a uniformed police officer knocking on my door (knocks on the door which aren't preceeded by a call on the intercom being exceedingly rare). He was going around the entire building asking people if they'd seen anything regarding a suspicious fire. Of course, we were out all day Friday so completely un-helpful.
Went into town for a new computer cooling thingie. Global Fabrics don't have much interesting stock right now. I was disappointed. Looked in Lazule and found the bracelet I really like. It's $130. Ouch. Then we went to the Fabric Warehouse on Thorndon Quay and found some very pretty silvery jacquard-type fabric. It was really cheap so I bought 2.5 metres on the off-chance I can use it for a wedding dress. It isn't a bright colour like I've been thinking I want, but Lee and I both found it very attractive so I thought what the hell? I can always use it for something else.
Got grumpy because I couldn't go to Luminary and buy pretty sparklies, and there was a freaking car show on outside my house. It was all drag racing and burn off competitions. I don't understand the appeal. Matt and Debbie came over to get Lost off us and we played Gloom and Bohnanza. Gloom is awful/awesome. In a game where you win by making your people most unhappy, then kill them, positive descriptors don't make sense. I love the game though, and I would like my own copy.
The car show ended with them doing something so incredibly loud that our windows were rattling with impact and it literally sounded like people shooting huge cannons at each other. It was some kind of jet engine car as it turned out. Maybe they'll do it again this afternoon...it was a bit like being in a Natural Disaster/Alien Invasion movie.
We went into town to meet Rachel and watch Deep Blue. It's a BBC doco about the ocean and all the beasties who live in it. Yes, we are so intellectual, seeing a nature documentary on a Saturday night. Marvel at our superiority and my attempt to be po-faced. Or Edgar Allen Poe-faced which made Rachel laugh and laugh. The movie was lovely. Not quite Travelling Birds quality as it felt like the movie of the series (which it was) but good all the same. I would have liked some kind of scael reference for the blue whale, since y'know. It looked big and all, but when it's just a whale in the ocean it's hard to tell just how big.
I liked the penguin sequence because they were so fat and waddley. I felt bad for the males all hudling together in the blizzard though. Octopuses remain freaky. I like sting rays and sharks, and kind of hate orcas now, since they were only portrayed in a mean eating machine kind of a light. Other favourite bits include the weird-ass deep sea creatures that look more like things you'd make out of plastic bags and glow-sticks and the awesome wave photography right at the very start.
I am very tempted to run a Toon game where everyone is some kind of weird sea creature that's come on land to make it big...I'd like to see someone playing one of those seahorses that look more plant than animal. They creep me out. I'll be the one that just looks like a bunch of interlocked glowing rings. He was cool.
Then Lee and I came home with much homemade fudge and I watched some Chobits.
This morning I dreamed I was working at a summer camp for troubled kids and it was a haunted summer camp. The toy lawn mower and plastic toy car had come alive and were menacingly watching me head to the eating hall after dark from the walls of a shed. They were gravity-defyingly evil! This may be based on the Robots trailer we saw which seemed frighteningly Brave Little Toaster-ish...upgrade or be destroyed. Appliances revenge? Maybe not.
They so didn't know what previews to put before Deep Blue. We got Robots, Hillary Duff's Raise Your Voice (Which I quite want to see because it looks like Centre Stage but a music school not a dancing school, and I'ms something of a sucker for school stories) and Vin Diesel's the Pacifier. Rachel and I are both bad people because we laughed in this trailer. In my defense it was the cute little girl falling to the ground and saying "Land! Land!" because she thought she was going to die with Vin Diesel driving the mini-van, but still. Bad movie. Will not see it.
Then I had yummy chicken at the noodle place and bought Practical Magic on DVD. Bad Jenni! That's not saving money! I also wanted Bowling for Columbine and The Crow. *sigh*
Actually, that's a pretty weird threesome isn't it?
I love to be eclectic.
Found the tshirt I had planned to make for Zephfi online. I didn't manage to make the tshirt in time for her birthday, but maybe I can manage to buy it online before Christmas?
I'm now taking bets on this actually happening.
My odds are 2 to 1 people, place your bets!
Tshirts at thinkgeek. Can you guess which one I want for Zephfi? I'm taking bets on that too, if you get the right answer you win a prize.*
*Prize may be non-existent.
Sorcerer last night was cool. It was really very cool. Even though my character didn't achieve his goal (well, he became a hero cop, but didn't get promoted) I think he learnt some things and will actually have a proper life now. With friends. Well, maybe a girlfriend?
I felt like I did justice to the character and I did good roleplaying. The game seemed to work smoother last night than in earlier sessions (or maybe they are just so long ago now I can't remember them clearly). I had a lot of fun, so yay for my Gamer Boyz and Grrl and hurray for roleplaying!
Hanging out for today's workday to be over so that I can go to Giffy's party and have a holiday weekend. I really feel like I need it. I slept through Wellington's weather again. I heard Auckland then I phased out and back in for Christchurch. Ah, well. It's not going to effect me marvellous much anyway.
I'm feeling pretty grumpy this week.
I had a good moan to the quiz night people last night, which made me feel better for a while, but this morning I am grumpy again. I think it has to do with daylight savings. The sleep in is good, but Lee won't let me go to sleep at the usual time, so I'm all out of whack.
The weather's pretty whack as well, cold/hot. Drizzley grey, fog, dark early.
Quiz night was OK, I got to answer some of the questions which made me feel smart, but the usual annoyance at the obscurity of the music round pissed me off. I must begin to study popular music from the 70s and 80s. Then I will reign supreme!
Sorcerer roleplaying tonight. I think being grumpy is quite a good frame of mind for Sorcerer, in particular the end-game which we will play tonight.
I need a new pillow. I'm sure I wouldn't be as grumpy if I didn't wake up with cricks in my neck and back.
Moan, moan, moan.
Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux is a very different beast to the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical movie. I'm sure none of you are surprised by that statement, but I'm going to elaborate anyway.
On Friday I bought five classic novels for $20. Phantom was one of them, and since I am somewhat obsessed with the music I am now reading it. It is a fantastic book; well written, funny, scary and exciting, but I am struck again and again by the fundamental differences between the Phantom I know and the book.
First and most striking point: Raoul cries a lot in the book. Mostly because he loves Christine and she is acting like a crazy bitch, but still. He cries a LOT. He never cries in the movie.
Second: well, mostly I'm just sticking with the crying men thing. The Phantom himself cries too. I think it must be Christine, she makes men cry with her crazy.
Thirdly: They keep performing Faust. In the movie they perform Il Muto *and Hannibal. I don't know why the Faust bothers me except for the fact that it seems to be all they perform ever.
Fourthly: Well, it's longer, obviously. There's much more explaining of the story points, and backstory. Everyone calls the Phantom by his actual name (Erik) which is somewhat different.
Ok, so mostly men cry in this book. I haven't read many books where the men cry. It's neaty.
In other news I was concerned this morning to hear many gunshots. I think it was the cannons on Roseneath but I have no idea why they were firing. It's no one important's birthday is it? Anyway they normally do salutes at midday, so we assumed it meant the harbour was under attack.
Sure enough when I looked out the window there was a distinctly military** looking ship moving around by the docks. The news mentioned nothing about us being at war, so I'm going to assume they're trying to keep it secret.
*Is Il Muto even a real opera? Or is it something that Lloyd Webber made up? I don't know, but if it's a real opera I'm frightened. It seems awful.
**It was all grey. Not just partially grey, but all grey. Like a sky satelitte dish.
I don't know how many of you read/believed the sensationalist headlines of the Dom Post on the weekend, but I recieved this through work mail and though y'all might be interested. They quoted him all wrong.
(This is cut and pasted from an email from the actual guy. I am not making this up.)
Colleagues
You will have seen the front page Dominion Post in the weekend with
alarming predictions of global sea-level rise for the next hundred years,
based on comments I am supposed to have made during a presentation to the
Environment Committee of the Wellington Regional Council. For the record I
specifically told the the Dominion reporter, Colin Patterson that the
scientific consensus on sea-level rise as reported by the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in its 2001 assessment report
was 0.5 to 1m by the end of the 21st century. In subsequent phone
interviews I reiterated to Colin Patterson that it would be incorrect, and
irresponsible to suggest a sea-level rise of more than 1m in the next
hundred years. This was 2 weeks ago, and he indicated that 1m was not
newsworthy and that the article would not go ahead. However with the
recent storm surges affecting Hawkes Bay the Dom Post have clearly seen an
angle to link that coastal inundation with sea-level rise caused by
climate change. The reports of 5m sea-level rise in the next 100 years,
and 10m in 150 to 200 years attributed to me are dishonest reporting.
The 5 to 10 m sea-level rise scenarios were presented to WRC as a worse
case scenario involving total collapse of both West Antarctic and
Greenland ice sheets which would only happen under conditions of continued
greenhouse gas emissions and certainly were not expected in the next 100
years. It was stressed that sea-level rise of several meters would take a
number of centuries. The whole climate change issue is extremely topical,
and the press are looking to put alarmist comments up against skeptics.
Its irresponsible and not helpful for the public. In case you are asked
what is going on, below I provide the likely scenarios/consequences for
climate change in the next 100 years as reported by IPCC and the NZCCO
Policy for Regional Councils. You may
· 0.5 to 1 m global sea-level rise as a consequence of greenhouse gas
emissions and global warming (loss of ice mass and thermal expansion of
the ocean)
· 1.5-4.8 degrees C increase in temperature (2-3 degrees C likely for NZ).
If global averge temperatures increase by 2 to 3 degress general concesus
is that the Earth will face catastrophic climate chnage.
· doubling of 1990 atmospheric carbon-dioxide levels. Pre-industrial levels
were 280-ppm. CO2 is currently 380ppm (30% increase which is likely to
double).
· Increased influence of El-Nino climate patterns with increased rainfall
and more frequent flooding in the west of NZ and droughts in the
east?.warmer and wetter.
Recent observations are showing greater ice-mass loss from Greenland, West
Antarctica and low to mid-latitude glaciers than anticipated in 2001. The
Andean ice cap, glaciers on Mt Kenya and Kilimanjaro, in Alaska and the
European Alps have lost up to 50% of their area. Sea-level rise of 1m by
end of the century now seems quite likely and the above predictions will
be reassessed in the IPCC 2005 report.
Dr Tim Naish
Geological Time & Past Environments Section
Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences
so yeah. Media sensationalism again. It just makes you wonder how often this kind of exaggeration takes place and we'd never know it.
It also reminds me of the spooky stuff I saw in The Corporation about how it's not illegal to lie on the news in the USA. Must buy that on DVD so I can make people watch it.
Spent a lovely afternoon yesterday playing singstar with Chelle and Rachel. I *am* the Darkness, George Michael and Atomic Kitten. (I think I won Atomic Kitten?)
Also went to a crazy different restaurant for Yum Char because our regular place was all booked out. It was pretty much the same, except the pork dumplings were better and the BBQ pork buns weren't as good. Also they served us no coconut buns at all so I don't know if I'm happy to go back. I love the coconut too much.
On Saturday we went to two different engagement parties. That was fine, although the weather was all crazy and I couldn't cope with the muggy-ness. I wore my warm fluffy to the evening party and got too too hot.
Daylight Savings ended and that means I get more sleep in the mornings. i.e. my favourite time of year (apart from my birthday). You can definitely feel the autumn in the air now, as soon as the sun went down yesterday the temperature dropped enought for me to shiver. Today it's all fog and cold.
Apparently the airport's been closed three days running, which must suck for people trying to travel.
I ate lots of bad crap over the weekend: Butter chicken on Friday night, KFC on Saturday, Yum Char Sunday morning, Hell pizza Sunday night. Why must deep fried/buttery things taste so good???? WHY????
Must eat many veges for dinner.
On Sunday morning I dreamed that Chelle, Janjo and I were Companions (like in Firefly) and at a big Companion Convention on some planet that looked like Auckland. It meant we were all dressed very beautifully and we were all very sexy. (Just like real life, yah?)
A while back Svend blogged about a dogblog. I didn't check it out until yesterday and I think it may be an unending source of joy for me.
(Obviously the unending is a speculation since I only started looking at it yesterday.)
Here it is. Just some guy taking photos of dogs he sees around San Francisco. He writes little comments about each one and he's really very funny and the dogs are gorgeous and it makes me really really happy.
Unfeasibly happy really since it's just photos of dogs and I class myself as a cat person. But look at those dogs! They're amazing!
I finished Malcolm and Juliet and it was awesome. Cringy in a hilarious way. It's by Bernard Beckett. Check it out.
Some thoughts on some of the movies I watched this week.
Little Women (Version with Winona Ryder); Classic story shot gorgeously in period with wonderful actors. Problem: How does Kirsten Dunst grow up into Samantha Mathis? Strangely feminist story in which all characters end up happily married. It reminded me of when I first saw it at the Midcity movie theatre with Regan. It made me want fresh bread and an orange.
Raising Helen: Beautiful beautiful Kate Hudson the fashionista must raise her sister's suddenly orphaned kids. She can no longer go clubbing, but has to buy turtles and tie shoelaces and date a school principal. I love to watch Kate Hudson anyway but I really liked this movie. It was true in its depiction of sisterly relationships and moving on a chick-flick stepmom level. It was also funny and romantic. (She finds happiness with guy and children but the movie implies that she would have been happy without them too, in her old life.) It also had that classic 'Make-Jenni-Love-It' bit where the lead character falls down. It was hilarious.
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow: Stunning to look at. It was literally a comic book come to life. It had the crazy plot of a Jules Verne novel and the actors were all very good-looking and fit right into the characters. I think the place it fell down as an entertaining movie is that we've all grown out of that kind of storytelling. Sure it's a 40s recreation thing, but we're in the noughties now. We can watch movies with more depth. I dunno, I struggled to stay interested and I think it's the same as if I tried to watch all the Saturday morning cartoons I used to watch. I've grown past that.
But it was gorgeous to look at.
Lee has his full licence test today. In about an hour. Good Luck Lee!
I had to catch the bus to work, and will catch the train home so he can use the car for the test. Of course, today I have an out-visit to a child care centre, so work will be paying for my taxis there and back.
I have finished Girls in Pants by Ann Brashares and it was very good. I am now reading Malcolm and Juliet which is in the children's book awards. It is about a high school student who is doing a documentary on sex for his science project. It is funny and well written and refreshingly free of the usual stereotyped characters which are present in all the novels for teens about sex that I have read. (What a fantastic sentence that was.)
I'm trying to get through my stack of teen novels so that I can get started on the classic novels Rachel lent me. I reluctantly returned The Phantom of the Opera to the library unread, but with the promise to myself that I will read it eventually.
Not much other news. I had a very vivid dream conversation with Regs and Zephfi this morning, a real heart to heart about how we feel and what angers us and how other people can be more sensitive to us.
Yesterday I booked a marriage celebrant. Now we just need to get a caterer and we can breathe easy for a while.
Those of you who read Cleolinda or Simeon through my lj buddies will have seen these already, and some of you just won't care, but this website is hilarious for those of us who ever read/watched anything to do with superheroes.
Superdickery featuring weird-ass comic covers and a whole gallery of Superman being a real Dick.
Some more double up for Cleo readers, but I had to share the joy: Romance novel covers with funny fake titles. I personally love the Sheriff of Gay County. There's also a very good reader submissions gallery featuring Dude, Where's my Sword? Hee hee.
My Chobits mangas came this morning. (is manga a plural in itself or is mangas ok?) Hooray for new things!
I have already read number three and am eagerly awaiting my devourment of the fourth one. Heh.
I forgot to mention that I went to Svend's housewarming on Friday and had a fantastic time. (Except for the bit where people implied that those of us who are less than tall are more dirty. Grrrr.) Lovely nibbley food, lovely house, lovely sitting and talking to lovely Rachel and others. Interesting theories posited about interweb user names. It was a very nice night and I wouldn't have minded staying to the wee hours but I had to go to work Saturday morning for the Wadestown Fair. It was an OK morning and I bought a bunch of Girl Guide biscuits ("are they made with real girl guides?") but coming back from work I became extremely grumpy and hard to please. I went for a wander through town and found tiaras and expensive fabrics and dresses and Portman's and bought nothing.
Lee had to cope with my mood. We didn't go bowling. We did go to my darling sister's house for a roast lamb dinner and I cheered back up again. The Sunday happened, but you've already read about all that.
Today has been busy and hot in the afternoon but cold in the morning. Am seeing my parents and my darling sister again after work for a BBQ dinner. Am spoilt.
Ok, so a big heaping spoonful of chocolate sauce will make me a bit hyper, it turns out.
Today we went to see the probable venue for our wedding; the castle on Brooklyn hill. It has been a spectacular Wellington day and the view was amazing, straight across to the South Island on one side and endless ocean out the other way. The whole of Wellington laid out before you.
The castle itself is completely awesome, and we're both very keen on it. I am very excited. We wrote out a wedding guest list so we'd have some idea of numbers and we got to 110. That is about 30 people more than we'd thought we were having and that was quite a shock. I guess there will be some culling going on....so if we don't talk to you for the next year, you'll know why.
Oh, and it looks like Sunday February 5th for the date. We were thinking of Saturday 4th but then I pointed out it'll be Waitangi Weekend so it wouldn't put anyone out if we had it on the Sunday. I've read that caterers and so on are cheaper on Sundays because most weddings are on Saturdays and therefore they get booked out. Then people still have a day off work to recover from the party, and us a convenient day to spend with relatives who have travelled and want to watch us opening presents.
After an afternoon of wedding talk with Lee's parents we went to the Bristol for dinner and I had a burger and Lee had a pizza and slice of lemon meringue pie which came swimming in a pool of chocolate sauce. It was very good sauce.
In other news my sister and I went to a wedding show this morning and it was lovely. I got free cake and a free easter egg and a pen and I met a lovely woman who makes tiaras.
My heart's going pretty fast. I'd better have a glass of water and sit quietly for a bit.
After Frank kindly explained how I can get my own account on Madman (i.e. ignore their recommended birthdate entry format and do it athe regular way) I joined up and went ahead and bought the next two editions of the Chobits manga that I needed. They cost more than Fruits Basket but then I am closer to having one complete set instead of two half started sets. It makes sense to me.
Anyhoo, it's not that bad since I do still have a bit of money since last pay. The engagement party didn't cost me as much as I'd thought it would even with going out for dinner and a movie after it. I feel a bit guilty about wedding-saving but then this will make me happy in the short term, and isn't that what it's all about?
I love ordering things. It gives me a warm consumer-whore glow.
Found a very beautiful dress in a wedding magazine last night. Red bodice with gold embroidery, white skirt with red applique flowers flowing from the bodice down the skirt. I like the idea of having just a white bodice, or just a white skirt and some bold colour for the rest. Looking forward to fabric shopping on Sunday after the wedding show. I have bext Friday off from 1pm too, which I will spend in town looking at tiaras and shops like Sherazad.
Lee complained to me last night that although I have my book of wedding stuff I haven't done anything constructive towards the wedding yet. I pointed out that there is very little I can organise without a date and a venue and he went a bit red. Maybe I should order the mini-noodle boxes I saw on trademe and start making up place marker favours. On second thoughts that'll probably make him less happy.
I don't have anything to say about vivisections I just like the word.
Actually I'm blogging because I am frustrated. I have been trying to join up to Madman so that I can buy myself delicious Fruits Basket mangas, but it refuses to accept my birthdate. I swear I am putting it in correctly (mm/dd/yyyy) but each time it comes back that it's the wrong format. There doesn't seem to be anyway to email them with trouble signing up too, so I don't know what to do.
*pout*
Of course, it's really a blessing in disguise because if I can't sign in then I can't buy manga with money I'm meant to be saving. *sigh*
I want to get some wedding stuff sorted out but I can without having a date set and we need to see the venue before we set a date. I think we're getting to see it on Sunday (fingers crossed.) I also need to go fabric shopping but my weekend has filled up alarmingly in the hours of fabric-shop-opening. I could go at lunchtime but then when would I eat lunch?
Oh, the trials.
Awww a lady I've never met before just talked to me about wedding plans. *Grin*.
Mostly I wanted to post because today's poll on stuff is about how big your student loan is/was and mostly the "I've never had a student loan" is winning. I put in my vote for $10 000 - $25 000. We need more!
I'm not sure if stuff polls ever really mean anything, or if they're used for stats in any real way, but it reminds me of the Good Morning polls where the people voting were all thinking one way. I like to add my opinion to them for a bit of balance. It's free to vote, so you'll lose nothing.
We had the end episode of our My Life With Master last night, it went very well for my character at the end. In fact for almost the whole session I was working with the 'good guys' against my Master Atari, so that'll teach him for giving me such a vague order as "Be Useful!". I went straight to my Daddy (President of the USA) and made him happy by telling him things about the secret base, etc. Because I got to narrate my own happy ending it was Super-Happy. I got the guy and the fame and the rock band and the magazine covers... ("President's Gorgeous Daughter!")
*sigh*.
There was also a lot of lovely angst roleplaying between the other characters and their connections. It was great fun. I didn't get very many quotes down and I have now forgotten them. Maybe I'll post them when I get home. Maybe not. On the whole I found the system pretty limiting, and that is frustrating but the setting we used the characters were all so cool that it was a fun game. Not sure I'd sign up to play it again....Next time we play it'll be the last episode of Sorcerer which is all set to be freaky-intense. Looking forward to getting the story finished though.
Had Hell Pizza for tea last night. Yum yum.
I am reading An Ordinary Princess after Giffy's recommendation, and it is lovely. Witty and Whimsy.
I re-watched the ending of Fruits Basket last night and had a good cry. I also did three pages of scrapbooking so yay me. Am inspired to do some more but of course I have roleplaying tonight, which will certainly get in my way.
I'm really looking forward to daylight savings ending on the weekend. I get so tired this time of year and I could really use the extra hour's sleep.
I've found a new favourite place. Something to take the place that flyingpig.co.nz once held in my heart (before it went under for the last time)....fishpond.
Like New Zealand's very own Amazon. Awww, isn't it sweet? I really like having all the prices in NZ bucks, and they have a bunch of stuff you can't buy in the shops. (My first check is always Francesca Lia Block books, and lo! They are there!)
In a few months, when I have money again, I may even buy something from it!
Lee couldn't sleep last night. Combination of how it suddenly got hot after the sun went down, extremely howly winds outside the window and a bit of a tummy thing. Lee and I have both had sensitive bellies since Saturday. Might have been the Monsoon Poon, more likely it was the stress/excitement of the party.
So, because Lee was tossing around on the bed and sighing *I* had a broken night of being woken up at all hours. I was able to get back to sleep pretty fast but when Lee got up in the wee hours to use the bathroom and there was an almighty crash I woke right up. He'd just knocked his electric toothbrush over as it turned out.
Yesterday was lovely and restful and I'd like that to have continued into the week but alas, I must work instead. My neck and back are complaining about last night.
I finished reading (finally) the Regency House Party book and I highly recommend it to anyone interested in that period of history. I also read Simply Alice for some stress relief and a couple of wedding mags. May have a colour theme for the wedding, but it all kinda depends on what fabrics I can find so won't disclose it yet.
Our dining table is covered with gifts, although most of the cooking type ones got used yesterday. Hurrah!
The egg is settling in nicely.
Yesterday worked out fantastic.
Lee and I got up early for us on a Saturday and headed off to drop off the food we'd prepared the night before to Lee's parent's place, where we found his mother ironing the floor.
We picked up everything else we needed at Moore Wilson's (50 plastic cups, 50 paper plates but 100 plastic knives?) and then I made a heap of vegetable kebabs (of which I ate none, were they any good? I don't know.) I stabbed myself in the palm with the very first kebab skewer. Skewmata.
We had a heap of people arrive on time which was lovely, my parents and Lee's parents gave each other congratulatory hugs which made me happy. I flashed my ring around those who hadn't already been forced to admire it and fielded such questions as "when's the wedding?" and "What colour are you making me wear?" and "are you really having a tiara?".
It was wonderful introducing my friends from different spheres and seeing them connect. Introducing my family round was fun too. I took about 32 photos and wish I had more. If only because in the only one I have of Lee and me he has his eyes closed and I look like I'm in pain. Should have given the camera to Lee's brother who wasn't doing much. Shoulda Woulda Coulda.
I was overwhelmed by the amount and beauty of the presents we recieved. Thanks to all who gave us something! We had a full car boot which took two trips of both of us to get it all into the apartment. I am so grateful and humbled. It's wonderful to feel so loved, and I am glad that I made Russian fudge of pain to share with my friends. (If only to give a little somthing back!)
Today we went to Freedom to spend a voucher we had been given and browse through Early Settlers. I want a dressing table and a fold down writing desk. We currently have room for neither but as I said to Lee "someday". We might stay in our current apartment until a building that's going in on Willis St is completed (probably 2 years away or more) and we can get a bigger place. I'm pretty happy to stay in an apartment if I get afternoon sun and a bit more space. No spiders is quite a big plus for both Lee and I.
Anyway, that's all speculation. I'll blog about Constantine later, maybe tomorrow. For now I'll just say: I loved it. Oh and I was also reminded why I don't drink (much) alcohol. After the two lovely glasses of Riesling the lovely Regan bought me at dinner I spent the night with a sore belly. It was probably compounded with excitement and time of the month but still. No more wine for Jenni. I'll stick with the two bottles of Lover's Mead we were given yesterday. Yum.
ps. we didn't get to look at the castle today. Fingers crossed for soon.
Yeah, so I'm pretty tense. I've been grinding my teeth in my sleep and I read a completely innocuous comment on a friend's lj and had to walk away from the computer before I flamed in the comments. Me! Flaming! Unheard of!
I think it's safe to say it's because of my engagment party which 57 people have said yes to attending. 57! Party numbers have never really bothered me before. But then I was never allowed to have such a big party before. It is somewhat upsetting, since we're supposed to be feeding these people and even though I *know* we're going shopping tonight and tomorrow morning the only food that is already in existence for the party is Russian Fudge. One medium sized fridesmart Tupperware full. That won't feed 57 people!
My theory here is that if I rant enough online I can stop this pain in my jaw by relaxing. So far, not working. More rant needed.
OK, so I know what I'm going to wear but I don't want to wear it to cook/prepare in before the party so I'm gonna have to pack a change of clothes in the morning and get changed right before the party. Or I could zoom back home and have a relaxing glitter bath and return to the party in full splendor pink and flushed. But it seems ridiculous to have a bath at home in the middle of the day when I'm going to be at the party venue all day. Lee's talking about leaving for Moore Wilson's at 9.30am....I want to sleep in but I know it'll be impossible since it took me ages to get to sleep last night and I knew there was nothing to worry about.
I had to get Lee to rest his hand on my forehead for ten minutes. For some reason that really relaxes me (until his hand got hot. Then it was oogie.)
Right. Feeling a little better now. Might go and play with my virtual paper dolls. Feel free to offer advice and/or outrage about my freakout rant.
Last night they were doing sound checks for the Neil Diamond concert. I heard Holly Holy sung by presumably, the big man himself. (Thanks to Hix for reminding me.)
The problem is that the train tracks are closer to our apartment than the stadium so whenever one went by Neil was drowned out. It sounded pretty tinny and awful from the distance too, so if people want to come by and sit in out apartment to hear him you're probably better off just listening to an album. You'll be less frustrated by trains and tinny sound quality.
Tonight I've got a book awards meeting and then tomorrow after work the plan is to go to the supermarket for party supplies and do some baking. The off to Moore Wilson's Saturday morning for the food and then to Lee's parent's place to set up. Phew.
I have nothing interesting to say today except:
I got new Pyjamas! A surprise present from my soon-to-be-Mother-in-Law. She may in fact be the World's Nicest Mother-in-Law. She saw these gorgeous Elle McPherson pjs on sale at Kirks and thought of me.
They consist of: white comfy singlet with a red feather screenprinted on the lower right hand side and baggy red cotton pants with one big white feather at the end of the right leg and a smaller one further up the leg. The pants tie with a ribbon with a bead on each end. They are so gorgeous and the red is a deep kinda crimson, like our bedroom walls actually.
Aaaah how I adore new pyjamas. Especially surprise ones!
Oh and I went to WARGS last night and successfully found a man. I mean, terrorized James. I mean, we recruited him for a Kapcon 15 Larp conspiracy. Should be great.
Oh and we should be able to go and have a look at the Castle we want for the wedding on Sunday. Fingers crossed.
I found this via work email, believe it or not. CornEvil. I thought it was something to do with "corngate" or GE corn, but no. It's not even a fringe festival show. It's a freaking haunted corn maze!
A part of me is tempted to go and try it out. The other part of me (the part that's a huge wussy-burger and squealed when the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory trailer came on before Vanity Fair) is like "No way am I ever gonna go there. Nuh-UH!"
I'm kinda morbidly curious though so I looked through all the photos of people dressed up freaky and had flashbacks to the movie Hell House which is a documentary Lee and I saw a few years back about the Christian version of a haunted house that they run over in Texas. Instead of showing ghosts they show kids sinning and then being sent to Hell. Freaky stuff. Escpecially since one of the scenes of sin was a gay marriage.
Anyhoo, I thought people might be interested in the freaky corn maze you can go to here in NZ.
As for me, last night I made Russian Fudge again. It went differently this time. Still painful and exhausting and soul-draining but different. My fudge is way darker than last time, kinda toffee coloured. It will be served at the engagement party for those curious. (And yes, I did burn myself on it again, blood price paid.)