yay! blogger is working

wow - a whole blog free week. and while it hasn't been THE most exciting week of my life, it would have been nice to keep up to date - considering i now have my own computer! yay for my new laptop. it's a winbook-somethingorother.

so - catch up on my week...

FRIDAY
i spent the day here:

and on my bed, working on my essay, on my new computer (hallelujah for new toys, shame about using them for homework)

so when it got dark and i got sick of staring at this beautiful screen, i got me fancied up and went out with smore and her boys... warning: drunk boys.

So the party was fun. The boys were generaly drunk, but totally entertaining without being gross.

SATURDAY
Went raking leaves with people from Emmaus, after having my breakfast of poptart, snickers and frappucino. healthy eh? and leaf raking was followed by wendys. not a particularly healthy day, but leaf raking was good exercise. and it was so much fun with the kids - i miss kids. i think i must collect them at home but i haven't collected any here yet. it was really cool, i dunno wat it is, but kids are so fun to talk to and play around with, even when you're raking leaves. And there were quite a few leaves... okay, so no that many on the ground in this picture, but millions around the corner - minus the gardens we had raked - which looked spick and span.

I'm not 100% sure what i did on saturday night, but i'm sure it was dull. and i'm pretty sure it involved my essay. and a movie or two.

SUNDAY

Breakfast with Brittany at Applebys, then Insiders bible study. Church, lunch at washakie with Chad and others then back to Amandas room to tease Chad and Amanda while doing homework and watching movies. Then i left and he finally asked her out.

So yay for me and my teasing. I'm like Emma. So as long as I get a Mr Knightly at some point we're all good. Any suggestions.

MONDAY

Should have been a panic session to finish paper but i just plodded away, didn't go the the gym as i felt kinda bad on sunday night - all achy and co.

Didn't get outside till class in the evening. Africa since 1800 was entertaining. People asked dumb questions. Ismail and I wrote notes and were entertained. Then our group planned out paper for a bit. Late night shopping spree with Amanda. i got phone card and box of tissues. woohoo.

TUESDAY

Actually made it to the gym. But worked on essay. Then went to see George Bush Snr chit chat with an ex-senator of wyoming, something Simpson. It was rather lame - but i saw Bush snr in person. They talked fluff basically. Country is divided and Bush jnr aint so popular so maybe his dad though he'd try to rally support by joking about old times with old friends in public. Only really good bits were the bits he probably shouldn't of said - like when he was laughing at himself. I kept thinking - this guy must have some shocking stuff on his conscience, wonder if he keeps in touch with saddam hussein, etc.

Then did a bit more of my essay (not finished... should have been panicking, but i'm unfathomably calm even when i shouldn't be) before i went and helped amanda cook for chad's birthday dinner. Got back at 6.30, essay due at 7, when i was supposed to have been in class, with my book finished being read, and preferably dinner in my stomach as class goes till atleast 9.30...

So ran down to computer lab with essay on my memory stick, edited it one last time, printed at 2 min to 7, bought ham and swiss croissant from king street market, ran to class.

and blessed classmate ordered us pizza! god bless him. handed in my essay and discovered i can edit it for a better mark if i want... whew. and barely discussed book at all. which was fortunate as was almost finished chapter 2... though, i am an excellent bluffer.

After class, watched Beauty and the Beast with Chad and Amanda (who are too cute, i'm so proud) then went to my room and stayed up too much longer...

WEDNESDAY

got to the gym again. yay for me. then breakfast, shower, and 2 hour nap. i'm an old lady. it's official. woke up and worked on a few things for meeting thisafternoon. meeting was good - ended up talking about home for about an hour. but our presentation is ready for tomorrow... hopefully. and my questionaire is done - atleast a draft. feel ahead of things. but i have to stay on top of it cuz 5 days in DC after a weekend with the Navigators and I'll be horribly behind. Again.

Hehe, watching 'for richer, for poorer'. So gloriously cheesy.

Anyway meeting, then hangin with amanda, dinner, and i'm here, bout to go to Navs. Doop de do. Photos of Bush Snr up soon. I'm looking forward to some nice political comments. Go on, you know you want to.

genuinely [expletive]y day

it started well. i didn't feel like going to the gym, but i went. and i used the other type of bike so i didn't hurt my lower back (good advice krystal!). Then i had breakfast and i've had better but not damage done. Very disciplined, as i can be occasionally, i started on the next chapter of my text book as soon as i was showered and dressed. Had a nap, as i tend to in the mornings now. I'm officially an old lady. But i love naps too much to deny it or give them up. Woke up at half10 and read some more Roediger. About midday decided to make lunch in my room. So i defrosted some wheat rolls and got out my avocado (oh, faithful friend), cheese, turkey, sunflower seeds. All ready to go, or so i thought, until, in a dramatic attempt to de-stone my avocado, i stabbed myself in the hand. it was pretty deep and bled a bit but 3 hours later looks like a paper cut so i think i'll live. finger and forearm aches randomly so my nerves are probably doing flip flops or something. anyway, i was kind enough to clean the swiss army knife rather than throw it out the window in frustration. used a few choice words to vent my anger, lost my apetite and read for another 1/4 hr before my meeting with my professor.

meeting was about going to American Studies Association conference in D.C. It's gonna cost be a bit but it's a once in a lifetime thing so i figure i gotta go. And i'll get to visit D.C. while i'm at it. Oh the photos will be on here, don't you worry. It's very soon. Two weeks tomorrow it starts! But with a little to-do list I was already to leave his office and get to work organising flights, ASA membership, rides, etc when he asks me casually, 'did you hear about ken?' and i'm like, 'the film guy?'
Turns out, my beloved film professor back in NZ died on friday. I barely know him. I mean I talked to him a bit more than most lecturers, sometimes, but I'm totally knocked for six by this news. I'm not really sure why. I keep thinking silly things like, he's gonna be so gutted to miss all the films that come out before christmas, and that i won't get to take his course next year - which i was really looking forward to.

This is the little eulogy on the American Studies home page at UC:
Ken Harris
We were all saddened to learn on Friday of the death of our good friend and colleague Ken Harris.

Harris, Ken. On October 14, 2005, in Christchurch. A highly popular lecturer on film history and theory and a deeply respected colleague, scholar and curriculum developer. Your work here, and the standards you set, will be hard to beat.Your friends, students and colleagues in the School of Culture, Literature and Society at the University of Canterbury will always remember your creative input into developing the 21st Century university.

According to the email my UW professor read me, he found out he had pancreatic cancer 10 days ago and kept taking his classes until the last day of term - which was friday. And he got to be with his partner and loved ones when he died. So that's kinda cool, under the circumstances. I guess the funeral was today or earlier this week.

Anyway, I managed, by some miracle, to finish Roediger thisafternoon, despite my heightened distraction - and considering my usual level of distraction this is remarkable. Needed a change of scenery before i get on with my midterm paper (due 1 week today. HELP!) so i came down to check the mail. And, God is Good, i get a card from Ray and Dot. But not only that, it's got notes from like a dozen ppl, including some of my closest friends in the world! Talk about a boost. Just what i needed. If any of the note-writers read this, THANK YOU! You saved my rotten day.

Hand aching. Should go work on paper as note writing usually involves my right hand only. Meanwhile, i have mini-stigmata on my left. That's what it looks like, i'm afraid to say. That's probably highly insesitive, i know very little about stigmata but that's what it looks like. I'll put a photo up. Better do it soon tho - it's amazing how fast the body heals.

Two other wonderful things about today -
- My hair is pretty. God bless good hair days.
- And it's smoothie night so i can go and have a healthy (and yummy!) supper after my evening class. Yay for me. And for highlights of low days.

Off to study and endeavour not to think about Ken.

lazy sunday

well, after the frat party that was, for about half an hour, then wasn't, krystal, my friendly neighbourhood masseuse, and i went to walmart, got pringles and braveheart soundtrack i've been dreaming of, then back to krystal's room. watched just married. ate pringles. chit chat and bedfordshire.

woke up at 8 without nearly enough sleep. managed by some miracle (and no help from high heel shoes) to get to church by 10 to 9 for insiders study. then church. lunch at washakie with amanda, chad and plenty of ppl to tease them. no mnms to throw tho.

"study" party in 3rd floor lobby all avo - aside from my 1hr massage (love u krystal) from 3-4. its amazing how much fun you can have with a box of tiny teddies, a laptop, several cell phones and "doing homework" as a general cover story. good times all the way to the bank. amanda and chad will have strange but cute kids.

dinner. mnms prevailed. the things they do to pepsi are just scary. and they also prove that we have very bad aim as none that flew went in mouths - rather in clothing or on the floor. amanda got tired of being picked on and took off. so we finished up, made the mess just a little more colourful. i love mnms.

got in the elevator, pressed 3 and every button above it. then it stopped at one and the girls that got on were NOT impressed. evil laugh.

got off at three and threatened the uprightness of amanda's door. and am now pretending to do homework, while watching 'the breakfast club' and still laughing at chad and amanda.

homecoming saturday

so, there's very little new and interesting to say about football. i left at half time, tired, sore eyes and reading to do, so i still don't know the score. but interesting points:

frat boys eh... they had the letters to spell out something creative along the lines of 'go cowboys' on their chests.
me and benedict - from germany. go the international students. although he keeps forgetting i'm not american because i 'speak really good english', at which i scoffed, and told him neither americans nor i speak 'good english'.
dumb song, but kinda cool shirts. not as creative, dirty or funny as 'save a horse, ride a cowboy' but an interesting addition to the scenery.
And, don't forget, the cheer leaders, the band, the american flag in the back ground, cowboyhat in the foreground. gee, where could i be?

alright. that'll do donkey, that'll do

week of naps

have had many naps this week. but inbetween times it was rather nice. relaxed with a much lower reading load, i blissfully exercised, ate well, signed up for nanowrimo (www.nanowrimo.org), watched a couple of movies, etc.

until, one fateful day, i realised my first major paper was due in two weeks and i didn't even have a topic up my sleeve. Lethargy attacked immediately. the gym lay helpless, abandoned to recovery sleep-ins, my stay-ahead-with-reading plan, a similar fate.

But i have started the blasted paper. It should be fine. But i'll be behind in reading again. ignorance was bliss for about 4 days. and then it was horrific.

Other events of the week:
UW navs equivalent of 'big squeeze' -

i won't even remember to know all names. starting at the front: half of jade's leg, jill (yellow shoes), chelsea, and on the floor her friend (tasty thumb), taking a pic on her phone, amanda, beside her a dear head (not mounted, but still creepy, glass eyes and all), matt on the floor, mardel on the sofa in black hoodie, john and no idea of guy-on-the-end's name but he's a character for sure.

Amanda and the deer. Poor, sad, dead deer. Mm, venison. Oh, and in the corner, the hand that pulled the trigger... Mardel

Pouty amanda, and Kat Smiley. So true to character. Love you amanda.

The evenings entertainment (after a wonderfully violent game of mafia). Some people are way too talented (cough-mardel-cough). Bluegrass is a nice introduction to truely terrifying country music.

the chad

the music did it's job. then we woke us up for charlie and the chocolate factory (yay for free movies at the union! and peanut mnms! twizzlers are a little weird tho.)

not a real post

its amazing what you find when researching identity and community in america...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4335160.stm

hehe

haere mai winter!

Winter has arrived!

So exciting. I love snow. Everyone here - well not quite everyone, but many - are not such fans. Meanwhile, I'm stoked.
So, took a couple of photos on the way home, but ppl were lookin at the weird (obviously foreign) girl with the camera... and this lab really isnt that far away from my dorm. and as a result... a parking metre and a fire hydrant.

Nice cozy evening in with Noelle, talking about silly things and freaking eachother out by talking about scary stuff. We both have horribly overactive imaginations. Talked too late, to be honesty, but still got up at 7 for the gym... And took my camera:

Autumn - i mean Fall - obviously thought it had a week or two to dispose of these pretty leaves but the snow will finish them off no worries. In the meantime i decided that this is what christmas trees will look like in heaven. Was very glad i didn't invest in renting a bike for the semester as it would have been one of the many that resembled ice-sculptures thismorning and just looking at them make me think of very cold bottoms and hands and snow in horrible places. No thanks.

Evergreens, flags (USA, Wyoming State and University of Wyoming in descending order), the 'green', a pretty statue and A&S building in the distance.

This is the pretty green Well, even prettier now that it's not green anymore. But the evergreens in the background are nice. In the distance is the Arts and Sciences building where Switchfoot concert was held.

The gym! I arrived safely, tho cold, and slightly asthmatic. Will take big jacket and scarf in future. And ventolin.
Snow falling over the carpark outside Washakie (the dining hall, under which is the computer lab i have taken up residency in) The cars are just reflecting my camera flash. Or else they're all walking home. Hehe, suckers.

Cars that are unlikely to recover from pneumonia.

My friend the bear. I'm afraid he may have died. Hopefully just hybernating. Tho looks comfortable as always. Oh, jealousy, thou art cruel.

Pretty trees. If america goes as crazy over christmas as the movies would suggest then these will gain lights and tinsel in a month or two.

red cars go faster... tho perhaps its not a good idea...

The view at breakfast. Chief Washakie must be cold. Ironically, he's facing west. Probably cuz the pilgrims are trying to kill him. Maybe someone should let him know that the sun never sets on the US Military.

sketchi

lovely day. had insiders study thismorning and it went really well. am starting to feel really at home at church.

after church went and got fantastic chinese restuarant that reminded me of Hill. Hi Hill! Miss you. And all the cool asian stuff at the restuarant made me very Hillary and Hong Kong nostalgic. and the food wasnt half bad.

then spend the afternoon in the lobby, waiting for the rain to turn to snow, and reading... well for a little while. then i got bored and coppied the pics from my book, and some photos. and voila:

coppied from text book - passage de choiseul in paris. cool little arcade i hope to visit one day.

photo i took of little river, from bridge, while in glasgow. thought it looked very... thomas the tank engine.

waverley station, edinburgh, platform 9 and 3/4. And this is the closest station to the Elephant cafe where JK Rowling wrote. Though i couldn't find the cafe. But i found the platform.

And then i wrote a letter to my grandparents.

Hehe, a whole bunch of guys just walked into the computer lab. it's really hot in here cuz of all the computers and no open door/windows. More noticable than usual as its snowing outside! Cool eh! Will put photos up as soon as i get some. Will walk home outside just for you!

these boots are made for walking...

bordering on country, but not quite. and will double fantastically for a superman outfit at halloween. yay!

shouldn't have used the flash on the camera though - at least i hope my legs aren't really that pale. shouldn't be considering the good hours i spent with them out the window of the van in africa, hoping that the zambezi sun plus the anti-malerials which make you super-susceptible to the sun, would do their magic and make me semi-polynesian princess-like.

so, in general a great week. succeeded in finishing 2 and 1/2 of the 3 books i had to read. cold returned with general stubbourness so gym got replaced by reading and it may have been a good thing.


navs on wednesday night was cool. david and nathan story - with a nice veggie tales clip! fun fun.

and then new tshirts, as previously featured. but there you go. and the backs say something about UW ladies weekend and then list out names. ta da! pretty cool i thought. although everyone thinks they say "i love navy boys" and while i have no particular distaste toward navy boys, that's not what they say.

Then thursday night, after my final class for the week, was girls bible study and then movies! went to see 'just like heaven' which was lovely and cute. total chick flick. but just what the doctor ordered.

Friday... spent most of day doing very little, marvelling at surviving the week and started new book for next week as have decided to stay ahead rather than relax when the work load does a dip. Friday night went to Brittany's concert...

act 1: orchestra
act 2: fantastic jazz singing group - guy in the middle was brilliant! love jazz... mmm...

act 3: Brittany's choir - she's 4th from the right on the back row. They were singing "i will follow him" from sister act! yay for whoopi.

Act 4: Boys choir. too many cowboys songs. enough said.

Act 5: Fabulousness personified in a jazz band with a touch of salsa and plenty of sax solos, not to mention the rather lovely trombone. mmm, love jazz.

Sam, Lena and Brittany after the concert, waiting to go for dinner...

Then out to dinner at Altitude- where the band showed up to play cowboy supporting tunes in preparation for football game following day...

Brittany and Lena and I had a nice expensive dinner (thanks to Brittany's B'day voucher) and then back to the dorms for bailiey's and hot chocolate, everybody loves raymond, my wife and kids, then i popped over to Amanda's room and watched the end of The Interpretter with her and a bunch of others. Brilliant film. I saw it months ago. So it sort of made sense. Worth seeing again though. I can be dense. Plus, i was tired. Anyway, then chatted with Amanda for half an hour and probably didn't get to sleep till 3.

But i was up at 8 thismorning for... Mardel's Birthday Breakfast.

So fun. Picture warning, we all look half awake and un-make-uped... and some of them were wearing pjs still.

After breakfast, put washing on, bought UW cap and tshirt and pompom for football, put washing in dryer and didn't turn it on. Went to football - 3 hours and lots of energy spent for nothing - but i feel sorry for that quarter back. He's gonna get some wicked hassles.

just a bit of healthy violence...

and some cheer leaders. and noise. and the guys who lift the cheerleaders up and throw them around a bit.

ready, steady... kill eachother!

Me and Lena, looking cool and smiley, despite the sad state of affairs. Like my new hat?

Came back, sort of napped as totally exhausted. Went to dinner with Lena and Noelle. Went to get washing from dryer... and decided i should turn it on first. Gr...

Then came to computer lab but honestly, don't know how much longer i can stay awake. so pathetic. It's 7:52pm. Noelle won't go to bet till midnightish though... and still have to do bible study for Insiders group tomorrow. and might do some more sketching. Copying cool picture of an arcade in paris from my text book - it's really similar to this unfinished painting i have at home but i don't want to buy paints here as i have so much to do and won't be able to fit everything to take home as it is. So sketchinng it is.

Ooh, and exciting other thing - just talked to Jess Eitmiller who i havn't seen in 8 years! yay! American girl, about a year younger than me. Her family lived in Auckland and went to church with us untill 1997 when they moved to Hong Kong. Then we did, completely seperately. But so cool to have friends there from home. They stayed in HK after we left, then moved to Taipei, Taiwan. Have recently moved again, to Shanghai, but Jess is in Sophomore year of college about 3 hours away in Boulder, Colorado. So, I might be spending christmas with their family as they might be coming to see her and that'd be just plain incredible. Oooh. yay.

Expressions of excitement are lame on here. So I'll torture no longer.

new tshirts!

hehe.