The World Of Jadeey

Life is pretty damn great

2010-02-07T19:54:00.003+13:00

Once again it has been ages since I updated. I really thought when I stopped updating every day that i'd still be good about updating every once in a while. Apparently not.

What has been going on in my life, I hear you ask. Well, I've met an amazing guy and am incredibly happy. That's good news right? It's certainly news that I haven't been able to announce on here very often over the past few years. Usually the times that I have met someone they have just made me miserable. It's nice to be with someone who makes my life better rather than worse.

It started the way so many of my crushes start. I met him, became friends with him and then sent myself into a spin of knowing that I wanted to be more than friends with him, but being convinced that there was no way he wanted that. I'm a girl so I talked it out endlessly with various friends, but continued to believe - despite their protestations that of course he was into me (girls always tell each other that, even when it isn't true) - that he was out of my league. (leagues totally exist. Don't tell me they don't. I even studied it in psyc)

Not too long before Christmas I'd been far to obvious and he'd grasped the fact that I was totally into him. (Why can I never be subtle? That's a skill I need to work on) He pretty much told me to calm down and just let whatever was going to happen, happen.

You should have seen me in that moment, the one where I realised that maybe, just maybe, he really was into me too. Kat was there and was amused. I suspect I was pretty much walking on air for the next couple of hours. Anyway, I think I calmed down. I certainly felt a lot calmer -now that I had that small assurance I could wait.

The bad timing of it all was that it was Christmas so we were both busy with family stuff. I tell you, Christmas has never gone so slowly in my life. But the separation eventually came to an end and things since then have been great. Really great.

In other news, I'm off to America in about 5 weeks. AMERICA! I simply cannot wait. I'm heading to LA, Las Vegas, New York and Florida. It'll be a month of absolutely blissful fun. (Not least because I won't have to be at work.)

You never know, I might even find the time to blog from the trip. (Don't hold your breath)

A bunch of secrets

2009-10-26T09:23:00.004+13:00

Here are some of my favourite secrets:

I hate it when my mood drops this low

2009-10-25T23:18:00.005+13:00

I had really been looking forward to this weekend. The thing with Labour weekend is that it comes after a very long period of time without a long weekend so it's usually wonderful. This one was supposed to be wonderful for me.

It hasn't been though. It's been pretty shit, to be quite honest. (Surprise, surprise that's what's got me blogging again.)

Part of it is this time of year. From mid October my mood usually starts to spiral downwards. I thought this year would be different and it was. Until Friday evening. Suddenly the downward spiral started. It's not going to be too bad this time around. I reached my low point around 3pm today I think and now, while I'm still feeling crappy, I am also feeling better than I was and that can only be a good thing.

It'll be interesting to see if tomorrow brings a better mood. (I would hope so since it'll be Monday but I won't have to be at work!)

Ugh. It was supposed to be such a great weekend. This hardly seems fair.

I'm on my way

2009-10-25T11:56:00.003+13:00

I've been gone from this blog a long time. In fact, if anyone even reads this I'll be surprised as I'm sure everyone has given up on checking for updates.

I've been doing a lot of soul searching over the past few months and I now consider myself a different person to the one who was blogging here, a happier person.

The first big decision to come along was my decision to join the police force. The idea of joining has filled me with a passion for exercise that had previously been lacking. Where weight-loss wasn't enough to get me to the gym on a regular basis, my desire to get fit enough to pass the police fitness test is enough. (And gets me there at 5.30am most mornings.)

It's going to be a while before I go to police college. Even once I get accepted, my call-up could be 2-3 years away. I was a bit devastated when I first heard that. I'm not the most patient person in the world and wanted to go to police college next year. Now i'm okay with it though, I've realised it gives me plenty of opportunities to do some other things I've always wanted to do.

Ever since I was a kid I've dreamed of going to another country and volunteering for something, anything that helps those people less fortunate than me. Why didn't I ever do it? A complete and total lack of bravery. Up and leaving my friends and family, travelling to a new place all alone, being gone for a significant length of time - those were all things that scared the hell out of me.

Somewhere in the last few months I've found a courage I didn't know I possessed. That courage is enough for me to be completely relaxed and comfortable with the idea of going it alone. I can do it and I will enjoy it.

I can't do anything until at least November next year because it's my cousin's wedding and, as a bridesmaid, I need to be around to help with that. After that though? The world is my oyster and I think it's about time I gave something back. I'm looking into the various options at the moment. Sadly my skills are limited, but there are a lot of volunteer programs out there for anyone who wants to help, regardless of their skill-base.

Knowing that I'm now on the right path? It's a great feeling. For years I've just sort of drifted through life with no real purpose. Now I have one and it makes getting up each day exciting. I'm really, really enjoying my life at the moment and can't wait to get on with the next phase of it.

It's funny cos it's true

2009-07-20T20:41:00.003+12:00

You can find more funny at http://xkcd.com. Hm why didn't I link that properly? Not sure. Let's try that again. You can find more funny at http://xkcd.com

Don't dream, it's over

2009-07-19T19:26:00.002+12:00

Okay let's face it, I haven't been properly blogging daily for a month or so. I pretty much have two choices at this point -

1. I can find the motivation, catch up with my missed blogs and start making sure I blog every day.
2. I can admit defeat and give in

I'm going to go with option 2. I've thought about it a lot and I'm just not feeling it anymore. So i'm going to go back to only blogging when I feel like it.

Thanks to everyone who has been there and followed me over the last couple of years. I hope I've provided at least a small amount of enjoyment/amusement.

Stay cool.

A very non-productive Saturday

2009-07-18T21:16:00.003+12:00

As is often the case on my weekends, I didn't do half the things I was supposed to do today. I did go to the gym, so that's a plus. But I didn't do a whole lot of other things i'd planned to do. The problem is I always want to spend my weekends in a state of total relaxation. This often means I avoid the things I should be doing.

Luckily there's always tomorrow.

Last night I went to Kayla and Josh's for dinner. Aimee came along too, which was super awesome because I haven't seen her in ages. Kayla cooked us a delicious dinner, we talked to Malakai, we played Harry Potter Scene It (I won) and we chatted about anything and everything. It was a really great night.

Tomorrow night I'm going to see Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. I'm in a state of fear about it. I adore the book, it's probably my favourite of the lot, and I'm not looking forward to watching it be butchered. I understand that the film makers can't put everything in, but it still disappoints me when things that I considered important are left out. Not to mention I've heard they completely ruin the last scene, and that just happens to be one of my absolute favourite scenes of the books.

One day, somehow, I will learn not to get my hopes up about movie adaptations of books.

TVs most eligible bachelors, part 2

2009-07-13T20:33:00.000+12:00

Alright, I'm sure you've all been waiting for this - part 2 of TVs Most Eligible Bachelors. (I got a bit carried away)

Captain Mal Reynolds - Firefly

Pros: He's the captain of his own spaceship, he's free to go anywhere in the 'verse and he's unendingly loyal to his friends
Cons: He's in love with a prostitute (sorry, companion) although he won't admit it, he's a criminal (albeit a Robin Hood type, you know - with morals and stuff) and he's on the run from the Alliance

Doctor Simon Tam - Firefly

Pros: He's a doctor, he sweet and nice and he will do anything for those he loves - ie. his sister, even if it means giving up everything and risking his life to save her
Cons: He's a fugitive and the Alliance will do anything to find him and River, his sister will always come first and since giving up being a doctor he doesn't really have any money

Jayne Cobb - Firefly

Pros: He's sexy as hell, you'll always be safe around him because he's very good at killing and beating up people and did I mention he's sexy as hell?
Cons: He's not very smart, he's not really the relationship type - hookers are more his thing and he'll sell you out if the money is good enough

Colonel John Casey - Chuck

Pros: He's strong and very good at protecting people, he's very quick with the humorous one-liners and he works two jobs so is probably doing pretty well on the money front
Cons: His job is top-secret so you'll be left believing he's an energy consultant or something, he could disappear at a moments notice, he'd never disobey orders - even if his orders were to kill you

Chuck Bartowski - Chuck

Pros: He's a genuinely sweet, loyal guy, he's very intelligent and he's always keen to relax with a night of video games
Cons: He's sort of in love with his super-hot fake girlfriend, he has a super-secret government computer stuck in his brain so has to run off and do spy things a lot and whenever the bad guys find out about the super-secret government computer stuck in his brain they try to kill him

Rusty Cartwright - Greek

Pros: He's extremely intelligent, is sweet, sensitive and honest
Cons: He's very obsessed with his fraternity, he can get a bit whiny and he may have just stuffed up his chances of getting the degree he's studying for

Max Tyler - Greek

Pros: He's ridiculously intelligent, he's worked for NASA and he'll do anything for his girlfriend
Cons: Having had one girlfriend die on him he becomes over-committed very quickly, he's not great at talking to people and he's in love with Casey Cartwright.

Sam Oliver - Reaper

Pros: He's always tries to do the right thing, he's good at thinking quickly under pressure and he is very powerful
Cons: He's a bit of an underachiever, his soul belongs to the devil, oh and he's also the devil's bounty hunter

Detective Brett Hopper - Day Break

Pros: He's a good man, he will do anything to protect his loved ones and he's extremely sexy
Cons: He's been framed for murder, he's got a whole host of bad guys after him and he's living the same day over and over

Chad Shelton - Day Break

Pros: He's a good cop, he will go out of his way to protect those he cares about and if he's around you can count on the fact that you'll be safe because he's very good with a gun
Cons: He's completely insensitive, he holds a grudge and never listens

Jim Halpert - The Office

Pros: He's got an amazing sense of humour, he's ridiculously cute and he's willing to put himself out there over and over for the woman he loves
Cons: He's not above using other woman to try and get over the woman he really loves, he's completely in love with the receptionist (now fellow salesperson) and he's not actually a bachelor but I love him so much he had to get an honorable mention.

TVs most eligible bachelors, part 1

2009-07-12T19:34:00.010+12:00

I decided that today I'd list the eligible bachelors from some of my favourite TV shows. And, importantly, list the pros and cons of each bachelor. Here's part 1. Part 2 will follow tomorrow.

Dr Gregory House - House

Pros: He's a brilliant doctor, extremely sexy, great piano player and has a very good sense of humour (as long as you consider sarcasm to be a good sense of humour)
Cons: He's addicted to painkillers, doesn't really like people and spends most of his money on hookers

Dr James Wilson - House

Pros: Really cares about people, a good doctor and a genuinely nice guy
Cons: Has already been married 3 times, his best friend is sort of a douche and spies on Wilson at every opportunity

Tim Riggins - Friday Night Lights

Pros: He's mastered the art of broodingly sexy, he's willing to try and better himself for the girl he loves and he looks damn good out on the football field
Cons: He drinks a lot, trouble seems to chase him and he lacks any sort of motivation or drive

Matt Saracen - Friday Night Lights

Pros: He's sweet, sensitive and caring, he loves his grandmother and is a humble yet talented quarterback
Cons: There aren't really a lot of cons when it comes to Matt Saracen

Barney Stinson - How I Met Your Mother

Pros: He knows how to 'suit up', he's got a good job (I think) and has a very entertaining sense of humour
Cons: If you're dating him then you're also dating his friends, he's a bit of a womaniser and he's always determined that he's right

Dr Horrible - Dr Horrible's Sing-Along Blog

Pros: He's a great singer, very good at inventing things and actually quite sweet and shy underneath
Cons: He wants to be in the Evil League of Evil, this desire leads him to doing lots of semi-evil things and he's in love with a girl from the laundromat

Captain Hammer - Dr Horrible's Sing-Along Blog

Pros: He's hot and has particularly nice arms, he's sweet and he wants to do good in the world
Cons: He's pretty cheesy, he wears sort of stupid gloves and he doesn't seem to be very bright

Should I stay or should I go?

2009-07-11T21:18:00.003+12:00

So I've been really crap about keeping up with my blog lately. I'm starting to get pretty sick of this whole blogging daily thing. I would love to keep it up because I think reading it in a few years will be great - I'm just not sure I can be bothered keeping it up. Not enough happens in my weeks for me to write 7 days a week worth of interesting stuff.

I could give my opinions on a multitude of topics. But I don't think i'll actually be interested in reading that in a few years time. It's reading about what I was doing and how I was feeling that I'll be interested in.

As you can tell I'm pretty confused at the moment. I'm undecided whether to stop or keep going. I'll keep thinking about it, eventually I'll make a decision one way or the other.

The Children's Bookshop

2009-07-07T21:44:00.001+12:00

After work I met up with mum, grandma and Lincoln. We decided to take a trip to The Children's Bookshop in Kilbirnie. If you haven't been there before then you should definitely make the effort to visit.

It's an independently owned bookshop and they pretty much only sell children's books. There is the occasional non-children's book there if it happens to be a fantastic book, but for the most part it's kids books.

The staff in the store are amazing. They have read so many of the books they sell, it's amazing. You can go in there and say you're looking for a book for, say, an 8 year old boy. The staff will instantly come out with a stream of recommendations.

Yeah, I know it's geeky to be so excited about a bookshop. I can't help it though. I love books. (Why else would I have studied publishing last year?)

Stupid bus

2009-07-06T21:39:00.000+12:00

Today was my first day of early shift. So I got up at 5.40am, got ready and headed out for the bus at 6.21am. My bus wasn't due until 6.25am so I should have been fine. At 6.35am I came to the conclusion that my bus had turned up early and I'd missed it. Fuck.

I jumped in my car, crossed my fingers that it'd start and breathed a sigh of relief when it did. I did manage to get to work on time, and found a car park that only cost me $10 for the whole day, so that made me happy. Not as happy as I would have been if I'd been able to catch the bus, but still pretty happy.

And driving in had the benefit of meaning I got home a lot earlier than I would have if I'd caught the train back home.

2009-07-05T21:33:00.000+12:00

Today I had one very important job. I had to be at the airport to pick up Lincoln by 11.40am. Now, Lincoln is 8 years old so being late just wasn't an option. Not to mention they are very strict about who picks him up. My name was given so I needed to be there to show ID and sign for him.

Simple right? Yep it should have been.

But no. Because life is just never that easy, when I hopped in the car and went to start it nothing happened. I tried again. Still nothing except the tell-tale click of a flat battery. Cursing myself I checked and saw that I hadn't left my lights on so there was no reason my battery should have been flat.

I rushed inside and woke my flatmate Derek up. He came outside and took a look at the car, agreeing with my assessment that it was a flat battery. Derek can't drive himself so he has a taxi driver friend. He called the taxi driver who turned up within 5 minutes and took me to the airport for a damn good price.

Thankfully I arrived at the airport with plenty of time to spare. It cost me a hell of a lot more than I'd intended to spend to get there - but at least I got there. (And it was still a lot cheaper than it would have been with a regular taxi.)

My car is now going. Dad came down later in the day and charged my battery for me. I just think it's so damn typical that the time I urgently needed it was the time it decided to breakdown.

2009-07-04T21:25:00.000+12:00

It's been a pretty bloody good day. I haven't done a lot and that's what makes it so great.

I started playing Grand Theft Auto IV today. I've owned it for a while without getting around to playing it. Turns out it's pretty great. The freedom compared to other games is huge. So far all I've done is drive around the city and make friends. In most games you are thrust straight into missions, but with this game you are free to roam as you like and only pick up missions when you feel like it.

The only thing making me sad about the game so far is that I can't find any really good cars to drive. In GTA 3 I found a shop you could break into and steal a gorgeous, fast car. So far I haven't found anything like that in GTA IV so i've been driving around in shitty old cars. What's the point in playing a game where you can steal cars if the only ones you can find are pieces of shit?

hehehehe that reminds me of Adam Sandler's song Piece of Shit Car. God I loved that song when I was a teenager.

A week ago today he died...

2009-07-03T22:23:00.005+12:00

It's a week since Michael Jackson died. I finally got around to typing up the blog I wrote last week but was too sick to post. Here it is.

I'm still sad.

Today some video footage of his final rehearsal was released. He didn't look like a 50 year old man who was going to die of cardiac arrest 2 days later, that's for sure.

Here's the footage if you haven't already seen it:

Why did you forget me?

2009-07-02T20:34:00.002+12:00

Each Sunday I read Postsecret and every day I read LJ Secret. I like reading these websites. Some of the secrets make me cry, some make me relieved that I'm not living that pain, some I totally relate to and some just hit me in some unexpected way. Often I find myself needing to save a secret, sometimes to remind myself I'm not alone in my secrets and other times because something about the secret makes me sit up and take notice. As a result of this I have 320 secrets currently saved on my computer.

I have decided that every Thursday, for as long as I feel like it, I will post one of these secrets. Some might reflect my own secrets, others will have had a deep impact on me for one reason or another and still others will have been chosen because something small about them was enough to make me want to save it. I'm not going to tell you my reasons.

Don't read into them, don't think i'm trying to confess something. Because I'm not. I just want to share some of them.

And, if I have posted a secret that you made and you don't want it up there then please send me a message and I'll take it straight down.

Day 6 of Swine Flu (probably)

2009-07-01T20:43:00.003+12:00

Today is going to be my last swine flu day because I desperately want to go back to work tomorrow. It's not guaranteed that I will - my boss has said to wait until tomorrow to decide. But I'll have to be feeling pretty sick to stay home.

Sadly I'm feeling pretty sick right now. I'm hoping I don't vomit on my chair again!

My laptop has started overheating. I have to keep making sure when I put it down I am putting it on an angle so that the air circulates underneath it. That's the easy bit. It's when I'm using it that it's more annoying because it's uncomfortable to hold at an angle all the time!

Day 5 of Swine Flu (probably)

2009-06-30T20:30:00.000+12:00

The worst thing that happened today was that I vomited on my chair. Normally when I'm going to vomit I have enough time to get to my vomit bowl or the bathroom, somehow this one took me by surprise.

I don't like vomiting.

Other than yucky vomiting, I have been feeding my Adam Baldwin addiction. I have learned a few things about our man Adam.

1. He looks SEXY in black
2. White doesn't really suit him
3. He has a gun in pretty much every show he's in
4. He's huge - 6'4" and 250 pounds. That's big!
5. (This one is more about me than him) He's taken over top spot on my list - moving easily ahead of John Krasinski

Day 4 of Swine Flu (probably)

2009-06-29T22:23:00.002+12:00

Today my temperature was back to normal when I got up and it felt more like a regular cold. Unfortunately the temperature came back halfway through the day.

Worse than my symptoms though is that I am just so bored with being sick! It's not like I get to be healthy and just stay at home. Instead moving hurts and I have a headache so I'm pretty limited to sitting and watching tv. Even using my computer for very long hurts. I am veeerrry tired of watching television.

In other news this flu apparently makes my usual cat allergy a hell of a lot more severe. After a brief cuddle with my cat I am now sneezing, my eyes are completely bloodshot and scratchy and breathing is a whole lot more difficult than it was ten minutes ago.

Day 3 of Swine Flu (probably)

2009-06-28T20:52:00.002+12:00

I've been very sick. :(

I've written some blogs down on paper, but was feeling far too sick to pick up and hold my computer. I seem to be starting to get a bit better though so hopefully I'll type those up tomorrow.

Yesterday's blog is my experiences with having Swine Flu (probably). Even though I haven't typed that up yet I'll tell you about today's experience with having Swine Flu (probably).

I woke up this morning feeling ridiculously in pain. Lying down was too uncomfortable so I decided to get up (it was 10.45am by this stage anyway so definitely getting up time). Getting up didn't turn out to be anymore comfortable than lying down was. I stumbled into the lounge, put some water on to boil and collapsed onto a chair.

My thermometer happened to be sitting on the arm of my chair from last night so I decided to take my temperature. 39.2. Woah! I pretty much didn't move off the chair for about 3 more hours. (Derek was nice enough to put the water into my hot water bottle for me because I really couldn't move.)

Halfway through watching Serenity with Derek I realised that I concentrating was far too difficult so I went and had a sleep for an hour and a half. Thankfully by the time I woke up again I was feeling a bit better. My temperature was on the way down and I was even feeling a little bit hungry.

All in all I'm feeling a heck of a lot healthier than I was this morning. Still feel like absolute arse, but better than I was.

Michael Jackson videos on C4 helped me to feel better as well. I love Michael Jackson. :(

Gone too soon

2009-06-26T22:01:00.000+12:00

Michael Jackson, the King of Pop, died today. Sitting at work I heard his name on the radio, but didn't hear the news story. I checked the news headlines and saw he had been rushed to hospital, suspected cardiac arrest. I knew then that he was dead. I'm not saying I'm psychic because I'm not. Had he not been dead I would have told people I'd been so sure he was dead and that I was glad I was wrong and then I would have moved on. Unfortunately I was right and I felt no shock or surprise a little while later when the official announcement was made.

I'm devastated. Absolutely devastated.

On MJ's 50th birthday I wrote a post about him. I already said everything there that I would want to say here.

He was an amazing man. He was odd, absolutely he was. I don't deny that for a minute. But I don't think he was a bad man - I don't believe he was a child molester. It is my belief that he was just a weird, fucked up, astonishingly talented man that people took advantage of because of his oddness, his fame and his fortune.

It sucks that he died. But, you know, I hope he can find some peace now. I hope his children will be left alone to try and find a shred of normalcy. Most of all I hope that people will now, with his death, focus on his amazing talent rather than his often bizarre behaviour and appearance. His talent is his legacy. I can promise you that my kids will grow up knowing who Michael Jackson was and learning to sing and dance to his songs.

That's how every kid should grow up.

RIP Michael Jackson. You will be missed.

I want to be something

2009-06-25T20:16:00.001+12:00

Big Wednesday was lucky for me!

2009-06-24T21:29:00.004+12:00

I didn't win Big Wednesday today. However, my ticket was a lucky one. Why?

Usually I catch the 5.15pm train home. Today I decided to forgo my usual train and instead go and buy the Big Wednesday ticket I'd forgotten to pick up on my lunch break. After buying my ticket I wandered down to the train station and looked for the 5.35pm train. I couldn't see it so started to wander over to the nearest train guard. As I was wandering over he announced that trains to Melling were cancelled due to a power failure on the line so buses would be replacing trains.

That didn't help me at all. I don't live in Melling. I asked the train guard which platform my train would be going from and he said he'd check. He was about to ask into his radio when someone said over it, 'There will be no trains on the Hutt Valley line tonight. A train has hit a truck just near Petone.'

Because all the buses were already tied up going to Melling there would also be no rail replacement buses for a couple of hours. I walked out to the bus stop to find that there were no regular buses for half an hour, but there was a bus that would stop a 20 minute walk from my house. I figured I may as well take it.

As we were driving past Petone (50 minutes after my regular train time) I saw an absolutely packed train sitting on the tracks. I suddenly realised that it was probably my regular train. And was also probably the train that had hit the truck.

So, if I hadn't decided to go and buy a Big Wednesday ticket I would have been on a train that hit a truck and then sat in the middle of the tracks for at least an hour - probably longer.

Thank goodness for buying Big Wednesday!

People and trains suck

2009-06-23T21:26:00.003+12:00

There are a number of things I hate about people and trains. About once a week my train home arrives at the station a bit late. Because of this everyone who normally catches my normally very full train is standing waiting at the station. The train arrives and everyone surges forward, not allowing those disembarking the train to get off easily.

I just wish people would be a bit more patient about getting on the train. Who really cares if you end up standing? 10 minutes after the train leaves Wellington station enough people get off that everyone can have a seat anyway so surely rather than pushing and shoving each other some people could just resign themselves to standing for 10 minutes?

Why am I talking about this today? You guessed it - my train was late today and everyone was pushing and shoving. I got an elbow to the stomach by some middle aged woman and just about knocked right off my feet by a teenage boy. And this is when I was standing back allowing people to go ahead of me!

Yep, people and trains are damn annoying.

A little bit of tired and a little bit of Adam

2009-06-21T21:30:00.002+12:00

Just got back from Hamilton and I know I've got a lot of posts to catch up on, but I won't be doing it tonight because I'm exhausted.

I just watched Pauline Gillespie interviewing Adam Baldwin. He was in New Zealand??? No fair!!! The interview itself isn't great. At the end I think he can't quite understand her so the interview drifts a bit with neither of them really saying anything. Then Polly gets insulted and accidentally sort of insults Firefly.

I can't blame her though. If I was in the presence of his hotness I'd get completely flustered and not even be able to speak in cohering sentences. So in comparison to an interview I'd do with him she did fantastically. (I hate to say this but I think it might actually be his fault anyway - in the interviews I've seen with him he doesn't really come off too well. I don't think he's a naturally chatty person so that must make it difficult to interview him.)

Ok I just found the video on Youtube so I can link to it and you can all judge for yourselves.

Facebook etiquette

2009-06-16T21:36:00.002+12:00

Facebook seems to be the social networking site of choice these days. Pretty much everyone I know is on Facebook and that's where I get the news about what's going on in the life of most people I know. So many times in the last year or so I've caught up with someone I haven't seen in a long time, asked them what they are up to and then, as they tell me what they are up to, I've realised I already knew because I'd read it on Facebook.

In many ways it's actually hindering our (or, at least, my) socialisation skills. It's harder to make small talk with someone you don't see very often when you already know everything that is going on in their lives thanks to reading their status updates.

I've also noticed that some people don't seem to to be aware of the basic etiquette rules as they relate to facebook. Most people understand these unspoken rules, but some people seem to have missed the memo. So I thought I'd help out.

Facebook Etiquette
1. Don't break up with someone by changing your relationship status on facebook.
2. Don't post a deliberately vague and inflammatory status update in the hope of people commenting. (eg. Fuck you, bitch.)
3. Don't have a private conversation with someone via wall posts - everyone who knows both of you will have it come up on their home page.
4. Don't be rude about a mutual friend via wall posts - it's likely that the person you are writing about will read it.
5. Don't ask someone via a wall post how their crush on X is going. Particularly if X happens to be a facebook friend of the person you are asking.
6. Don't post naked pictures of yourself - when you post pictures they come up on the main page of all your facebook friends.
7. Don't tag a friend in a photo if you know for sure they won't want everyone seeing that photo.
8. If in doubt about a person's desire to be tagged in that (generally) drunken photo then instead politely point them in the direction of the photo and let them tag or not tag themselves.
9. If you ask someone to be your facebook friend and they decline you then don't keep trying - they don't want to be facebook friends with you.
10. A wall post is no substitute for actually talking to your close friends in person.

Guns

2009-06-15T21:39:00.006+12:00

I really don't like guns. I grew up on a farm and my parents kept a rifle that they used for shooting possums and the occasional wild goat. They, like the responsible parents that they were, never let me touch the gun, not that I even wanted to.

I went out hunting with dad sometimes. (I was old enough to know better than getting in front of dad when he was actually shooting.) In the end I had to stop because it made me too upset. There aren't many things I've heard in my life that sounds as horrifying as a goat screaming in agony as it gets shot. Hunting just isn't something I can do.

Even though real guns make me extremely nervous, fake guns are fine. I absolutely adore laser force. I guess the difference there is that the most dangerous thing about laser force isn't the gun - it's running into a wall in the dark! (Yes, I've done that.)

The strangest thing is that, on TV, I find a man holding a gun extraordinarily sexy. Take the following 2 pictures for example. This is the Casey that I absolutely adore. I think he's sexy as hell. Casey in general I like, but Casey with a gun I LOVE:

Chuck is funny

2009-06-14T21:05:00.001+12:00

As you all know, I am currently obsessed with Chuck.

Here is an ad that NBC were running on one Chuck evening. It is hilarious. (I particularly love the bit where Morgan Grimes speaks 'Pirate' instead of Australian.)

So long Regent on Manners

2009-06-13T21:01:00.000+12:00

Today I had lunch with a bunch of people I used to work with. The cinema I started in - Regent on Manners - is closing down so a group of us got together to have lunch and talk about old times. It was really fun.

It's going to be sad to see the cinema go. I haven't been to a movie there since I left the company, but I still hold very fond memories of the place. I made a lot of good friends there and grew up a lot while I was working there. It was because of that job that I moved out of home, it was there that I got held up and gunpoint and it was there that I learned just how much I am capable of.

So long Regent.

Bye bye DVD collection

2009-06-12T19:53:00.000+12:00

Over the last few days i've been thinking a lot about selling my DVDs. I've pretty much come to the conclusion that I'm going to do it.

Why? Well, for starters I could actually really use the money. I'm doing okay in the money department but I definitely don't have as much as I'd like. A little extra cash certainly wouldn't go astray. Not to mention I never watch most of them so it's really just dead weight. Might as well purge it now while I still have hope of getting some money for them. With blu-ray taking off it wouldn't surprise me if it's not long before DVDs head the same way videos did.

I'll also be getting rid of my xbox games, ps2 games, my ps2 and one of my xboxes. All in all I'm going to be having quite a few trade-me listings going on in the next little while!

Happy birthday Hugh Laurie!

2009-06-11T21:02:00.002+12:00

Chuck wins

2009-06-10T22:07:00.002+12:00

Right now I have 2 choices... I can either watch one final episode of Chuck before bed or I can sit and write a really great blog post and then go to bed.

I think we can all guess what I'm going to do.

Chuck (and Casey) wins.

Holly out.

Swine Flu

2009-06-09T20:53:00.001+12:00

It looks like Swine Flu is back and people are getting quarantined left, right and centre. I really, really don't want to get sick. But I would also like it if I got exposed (but never got sick) so had to be quarantined for a couple of days. Ideally the quarantine would happen on a Wednesday so i'll get a super-long weekend.

As for the fact that I wouldn't be able to leave the house? No biggie. I'm pretty resourceful when it comes to finding food in our cupboards and I can easily find stuff to do around the house. It'd be super awesome!

So yep, I would like to be quarantined, but then never actually get sick. Okay?

So cold!

2009-06-08T06:40:00.000+12:00

This morning when I got up I checked the temperature and it was 1 degree. As I walked to the train there was ice everywhere and I was very grateful for my scarf, gloves and coat. I checked the temperature again when I got to work and it was still only 1 degree.

Then, after I'd been at work for about 45 minutes I checked the temperature and it had gone backwards - it was now 0 degrees! I was very glad I was sitting in a nice warm office! (Well, in theory it was warm, but given the cold temperatures it wasn't actually as warm as it should have been. Sitting still did make me a bit cold.)

Winter is hard.

John Casey is the master of disguise

2009-06-07T21:05:00.003+12:00

I watched a lot of Chuck today. I've seen it all before, but Derek wanted to watch it and I couldn't possibly sit here and let him watch it without watching it myself. It's absolutely a good enough show to watch many, many times.

Unfortunately it probably won't be long until it's cancelled. It was a struggle even to get a 3rd season, and it's going to be a short mid-season show starting in March next year instead of the traditional 24 episode show starting in October this year. Gutted. Still, that's better than being cancelled!

My favourite part of Chuck is Casey. He's totally the master of disguise. Here someone else has put together their top 10 Casey disguises. I was going to make my own list, but why bother when that list is totally perfect.

Is there anything better than weekends?

2009-06-06T21:12:00.000+12:00

Today I went and watched my little cousins play soccer. It was pretty fun actually. It meant I had to get up early, but it was a lot of fun standing around watching 10-13 year olds playing soccer. And my cousins' team was really good! They smashed the other team something like 8-0. Go Kieran and Shaun!

After that I went to my friend's son's first birthday. That was also heaps of fun. I chatted with my friends, watched the kids play pass the parcel and watched my friend Josh get plates of cream thrown into his face.

All in all a great Saturday.

Guys... I know kung fu!

2009-06-05T22:33:00.001+12:00

I'm veeerrrry happy it's the weekend. I've got quite a busy one planned really. Tomorrow morning I'm off to watch my cousins play soccer. After that I'm heading to Stokes Valley for Malakai's 1st birthday party.

Sometime over the weekend I also have to fit in working on the website, finishing up my brother's wedding video and having a Chuck marathon. Okay, so I don't actually have to have a Chuck marathon. But I WANT to.

Chuck is awesome.

My blog

2009-06-04T21:33:00.002+12:00

Hilarious video

2009-06-03T21:23:00.001+12:00

Kat found this video the other day and sent it to me. I showed it to Derek today and he just about wet himself laughing so I thought I'd post it on here too. (Well, that and I'm lazy and can't be bothered thinking of something to write tonight.)

Well Chuck me

2009-06-02T21:34:00.002+12:00

I'm obsessed with Chuck at the moment. Here are some things I like about the show:

- Zach Levi, who plays Chuck, looks like John Krasinski
- Sarah is HOT
- John Casey is sexy
- The show is damn funny
- Chuck and Sarah make a really cute couple, if they ever become a real couple that is.

I was very sad to learn that the next season is only going to be 12 episodes long. Damn the recession ruining my shows!

A productive Queens birthday

2009-06-01T17:58:00.003+12:00

I've been very productive today. I've:

- Tidied my room
- Vacuumed my room
- Solved a problem that was stumping me with the editing my brother's wedding video
- Washed a heap of towels
- Worked out at the gym
- Am about to go off and win quiz night :P

A very successful Queens Birthday I'd say.

Once you're over 25...

2009-05-31T21:10:00.003+12:00

I'm over 25 and I guess that means an adult. Tomato Nation provides a helpful list of things that you really need to do once you are 25 or older.

I'm up to speed on most of them. But a few, such as writing thank-you notes, completely allude me. I'm not sure I've ever written a thank-you note in my life. I guess I'd better start!

Poor little ginger kitties

2009-05-30T22:17:00.005+12:00

Ginger kittens always look sad. Do you think it's because they know they are gingas?

And, well, this one here just makes me laugh and laugh. I find it incredibly funny.

I like dispensing advice

2009-05-29T22:01:00.002+12:00

Back in September last year I made a list of things I think are important for everyone to know. September was a long time ago so I thought I'd make add to that list.

Holly's list of things everyone should know (sadly I don't always follow my own advice):

1. Other people will forget the embarrassing thing you said or did long before you will, so you might as well quit worrying about it
2. Sometimes you've got to let other people just live their lives and make their own mistakes. Even if it hurts to watch
3. Money doesn't buy happiness, but it sure does make most things easier
4. If you're going to talk about someone behind their back don't be surprised or hurt when you find out someone else has done it to you
5. Life is short so don't spend it being miserable - find something good in your life and cling to that during the bad times
6. Right-wing governments will always suck
7. Not everyone can have a happy ending. If they could then it would just be an ending. Some people have to have sad endings just so we have something to measure the happy endings by
8. Sometimes it's okay to split the infinitive
9. Spiders are freaking scary
10. Only ever shop at Kathmandu during a sale - they have a new sale practically every week so you won't be waiting long
11. Same with Briscoes
12. Fart jokes are always funny
13. Incest jokes less so
14. Leonardo is the best ninja turtle
15. Roti sandwiches from Central Mexicano is the BNZ Centre taste AMAZING

Working in a cinema is great

2009-05-28T19:07:00.003+12:00

This isn't at all true for me, I'm pretty happy to be out of the cinema industry. I still love this secret though.

Each Sunday I read Postsecret and every day I read LJ Secret. I like reading these websites. Some of the secrets make me cry, some make me relieved that I'm not living that pain, some I totally relate to and some just hit me in some unexpected way. Often I find myself needing to save a secret, sometimes to remind myself I'm not alone in my secrets and other times because something about the secret makes me sit up and take notice. As a result of this I have 320 secrets currently saved on my computer.

I have decided that every Thursday, for as long as I feel like it, I will post one of these secrets. Some might reflect my own secrets, others will have had a deep impact on me for one reason or another and still others will have been chosen because something small about them was enough to make me want to save it. I'm not going to tell you my reasons.

Don't read into them, don't think i'm trying to confess something. Because I'm not. I just want to share some of them.

And, if I have posted a secret that you made and you don't want it up there then please send me a message and I'll take it straight down.

Things I learnt today

2009-05-27T20:50:00.002+12:00

Damn it! I meant to blog earlier, but completely forgot about it. So now, as so often is the case, it is time to do the dishes and go to bed.

I did learn some things today though:

Things Holly learnt today

1. Tool songs are HARD on the drums
2. Thinking you'll quickly slip through the train doors as they are closing isn't as easy as you'd think when the train is totally full
3. Look before downloading so you don't accidentally download a 1.1gb file that is completely useless to you
4. Check that you do actually know the person you are talking to before saying, 'Hey how's it going! I haven't seen you in ages.'
5. Daydreaming as you are getting ready isn't a good idea when you already got out of bed late so should actually be rushing

Sleepy

2009-05-26T06:37:00.003+12:00

I'm sleepy. Every morning when my alarm goes off the only thing that convinces me to get out of bed is to think about when my next sleep in will be. 3 more early mornings after today and then it's a sleep in. Woo!

I'm really tired of the rain. I'm sure it's been cold and rainy in Wellington every day for the last 3 weeks. Thankfully my office is nice and warm inside.

Star treking across the universe

2009-05-25T20:59:00.003+12:00

I'm going to see Star Trek tomorrow night. This time I won't be thwarted by a sold out cinema because I have booked the tickets online. I've now been trying to see this movie since it came out like 3 weeks ago or something. I hope it's worth it!

In other exciting news I managed to do Eye of the Tiger on Guitar Hero at medium level. I'm very proud of this achievement. At least it means I'm improving!

Back from the 'tron

2009-05-24T20:04:00.002+12:00

I had a fantastic time in Hamilton yesterday and this morning. I'll type up the blog from it some other time.

I'm very much looking forward to the long weekend this coming weekend. I'm so exhausted and am planning a weekend of relaxing and not having to do a lot. I need sleep!

Also, I bought some new pyjamas. They are pink! I love them.

It hurts when you're not loved back

2009-05-22T21:02:00.004+12:00

Yesterday I was too excited about it almost being Hamilton time so I forgot to post a secret. Since I forgot yesterday I'll put one up today. (I wanted to blog about how the Hurricanes had beaten the Chiefs but we didn't. We just lost. :( )

Each Sunday I read Postsecret and every day I read LJ Secret. I like reading these websites. Some of the secrets make me cry, some make me relieved that I'm not living that pain, some I totally relate to and some just hit me in some unexpected way. Often I find myself needing to save a secret, sometimes to remind myself I'm not alone in my secrets and other times because something about the secret makes me sit up and take notice. As a result of this I have 320 secrets currently saved on my computer.

I have decided that every Thursday, for as long as I feel like it, I will post one of these secrets. Some might reflect my own secrets, others will have had a deep impact on me for one reason or another and still others will have been chosen because something small about them was enough to make me want to save it. I'm not going to tell you my reasons.

Don't read into them, don't think i'm trying to confess something. Because I'm not. I just want to share some of them.

And, if I have posted a secret that you made and you don't want it up there then please send me a message and I'll take it straight down.

Hamilton again! Woo!

2009-05-21T20:57:00.003+12:00

I'm off to Hamilton this weekend to visit my family. I got cheap fares on Grabaseat, although it means I'm stuck with stupid times. I'm really excited though. On Saturday I'm going to watch Linc's swimming lesson and I'm going to get to cuddle Jacob and see a bunch of people who I don't see anywhere near enough.

It does mean I get no sleep-ins over the weekend though. That makes me a wee bit sad. But it's worth it.

I've bought Jacob a little Hurricanes outfit so he doesn't grow up a total Mooloo. I saw little Black Caps outfits too. You know what my baby will be wearing when I have one! :P

If I could turn back time

2009-05-20T20:52:00.002+12:00

The other day I said something to Kat about if I could go back in time and tell my 12 year old self anything it would be to take up running. She pointed out that there were probably other things I would also want to tell my 12 year old self. So we decided to make a list. Here's mine, and if you click on the link to Kat's blog then you'll be able to read hers.

Holly's list of things she'd like to tell her 12 year old self

1. (obviously) Take up running. If you fall in love with running you'll always be fit and skinny.
2. Don't give up playing the saxophone
3. Ignore mum and take up the drums
4. Take political science at university
5. Bet on France to beat the All Blacks at the World Cup. Every time.
6. You have the most amazing parents in the world. Stop being a little shit and making their lives miserable.
7. Don't date anyone who nicknames themselves Billbass - he's going to turn out to be a right-wing asshole and you will regret it. Do date Smash Williams - they don't get any better than him.
8. Join the debating team at school. I know it's scary, but it'll help you in the long run.
9. You don't suit really short hair. And you're a girl not a boy so dress appropriately.
10. Talk to your mum. She gives really great advice and will support you in everything you do. You don't need to hide anything from her.

New shoes

2009-05-19T06:43:00.002+12:00

I'm off to Star Trek tonight so not going to be much of a blog today people. (Hardly a change from normal!) It's 6.45am now and i've just eaten a yummy breakfast while watching Breakfast.

Today i'm going wear my new clothes to work. I'm in a bit of a quandry though because I wore my new shoes yesterday and was silly because I didn't prepare by preemptively putting on bandaids so now I have blisters. I can't decide whether to wear my old shoes or try my new shoes again and risk making my blisters a lot worse. I know I have to wear my new shoes at some stage (I love them!) so it's a tough call.

If you play an instrument i'll sleep with you

2009-05-18T21:52:00.002+12:00

Also, this comic is so totally true. (From the website Explosm.net. I recommend checking it out.)

Star Trek, woo!

2009-05-18T21:21:00.002+12:00

I'm finally going to go and see Star Trek tomorrow night. I've been wanting to see it since it came out, but still haven't got around to it. But yay, tomorrow night I will.

I seem to have a mental block about seeing movies on my own. I don't know what it is, but for some reason I can never motivate myself to go to a movie alone. All my friends went off to see Star Trek without me so it's taken me a while to find someone who wants to see it and still hadn't got around to it either. Thankfully I found someone. And thankfully he's someone I actually like.

So yeah, Star Trek here I come! :D

A successful day of shopping

2009-05-17T20:42:00.003+12:00

It was a very successful shopping trip today. I got 2 new pairs of work shoes, a new handbag and a new top. Considering when I went out this morning I was thinking I might get a new pair of shoes and that would be it, I feel very happy with myself. (And mum. Couldn't do it without mum.)

I also figured some stuff out today that has been bothering me for a long time. I'm hopeful that maybe everything is going to be okay afterall. I hate when people are cryptic on their blogs but I can't say anymore until I've talked to the person this concerns and yet I want to record this for myself and I don't have a secret blog. Just this one. So it has to go here and it has to be cryptic. Sorry.

Right. Bedtime for me. Another working week begins tomorrow. Bring it on.

Great weekends

2009-05-16T22:25:00.003+12:00

I love weekends where I don't have to do anything. I did have to work on the website and it did take me all day, but I could watch tv while I did it so it wasn't so bad. Tomorrow mum and I are going clothes shopping.

I also had a massive amount of sleep last night/this morning and yet I'm still exhausted. I think one of the things about being an adult is that you spend pretty much your entire life tired. It's a fact of life that most adults try and squeeze so much into each day that sleep plays second fiddle. It sucks too because sleep is amazing!

What Holly thinks about at work

2009-05-15T22:13:00.002+12:00

It's been a while since I did a list so I thought I might as well do one today.

Things Holly thinks about when she's not receiving calls at work:

- Whether anyone has written on her Facebook wall
- Whether anyone has put an interesting status update on Facebook
- What her next Facebook status update should be
- Whether anyone interesting is on Facebook chat to talk to
- What Kat will say in her next email
- What she should write in her next email to Kat
- What Corrina will say in her next email
- What she should write in her next email to Corrina
- What she should have for lunch (or if it's after lunch then what she should have for dinner)
- Whether she's going to have the will-power to go to the gym
- The time Stephen Fleming got 274 not out
- The time she saw Stephen Fleming in the Nike shop
- The time she saw Stephen Fleming walking down the street with his wife
- The numerous times she saw Stephen Fleming at the Basin

I think that's a pretty comprehensive list. So what have we learned today? We have learned that the main things I think about at work are Facebook, emailing Kat and Corrina, food and Stephen Fleming.

I'm very shy :(

2009-05-14T20:35:00.002+12:00

Am I insane?

2009-05-13T21:20:00.003+12:00

I think there's a chance I'm going a little bit insane. I've been having some very bizzare thoughts.

Example 1: A little while ago I was walking down a ramp towards the railway station. The woman in front of me started walking backwards back up towards me - I'm guessing to look at something she's spotted in the distance. When she started walking backwards my first thought was, 'Oh no I've hit rewind.' What the hell?? Why would I think i've hit rewind?

Example 2: The other morning it was raining so I drove to the railway station. It was no longer raining when I got off the train on the way home. As I walked past my car I thought to myself, 'Oh that looks like my car'. And then I kept walking... Halfway to my house (only about 3 minutes) I realised it actually was my car. I had to go back and get it.

Example 3: Yesterday there was a power surge at work. I jumped up panicking about needing to go and 'check on the projectors'. I haven't worked in a cinema in 18 months so power surges don't actually matter anymore and haven't for a long time.

So, yeah, it's possible i'm going insane.

(But not as insane as House in the most recent episode)

I love Fujiyama

2009-05-12T21:21:00.003+12:00

I went to Fujiyama Tepenyaki for dinner tonight and then to a movie. I never get tired of Fujiyama - and the one in the Hutt is actually yummier than the one in town. (And cheaper.)

The movie we watched was Ghosts of Girlfriends past. It is.... Not good. Not good at all. Actually, pile of crap movie would be the most accurate description. We should have gone to Star Trek instead!

Felix

2009-05-11T20:50:00.001+12:00

Felix is currently sitting on me and making it extremely hard to type. He's good like that. So, blame Felix for this almost complete lack of blog.

Another Sunday night

2009-05-10T21:00:00.003+12:00

I went to the food show today. It was only $20 to get in and then we got HEAPS of samples. I didn't end up actually buying anything, but I did taste a lot of really good stuff - next time I go to the supermarket I'll be tempted to get some of the stuff I tried.

Then I came home, went to the gym and played guitar. That seems like a successful day to me!

I also made mum some chocolate chip cookies for mothers day. She was very pleased! And she let me have one, and it was yummy.

A great night out

2009-05-09T23:06:00.002+12:00

Last night I went out with Antz and Lynn. We used to hang out all the time a few years ago, but we've been pretty slack over the last few years. So last night we decided to rectify that and have a night out just the three of us.

It started at Fujiyama Tepenyaki - the restaurant we used to eat at far too often for our own good. We then moved on to visit another friend for a little while and then to Lynn's house for some Rock Band.

It really did feel like old times. And we made a pretty damn good band - me on guitar, Antz on drums and Lynn singing. We could totally get a record deal.

That's nasty

2009-05-08T22:59:00.000+12:00

Today I read about a person who was eating at an outdoor restaurant. After they had finished eating the waitress came over and cleared the rubbish and wiped down the table. The person then noticed that a blob of mayonnaise had been left behind. Normal people would ignore it, this person used their finger to wipe it up and eat it. Turns out it was actually bird poo....

I'm not sure what is worse:

That the person couldn't tell the difference between bird poo and mayonnaise
That the person would eat something directly off a public table - those things are DIRTY
That the person ate bird poo
That the person would actually want to eat a small blob of mayonnaise

Yep. It's a pretty gross story for so many reasons.

I have a crush on you

2009-05-07T19:33:00.001+12:00

A couple of websites i'm addicted to

2009-05-06T20:28:00.003+12:00

I was shown 2 great websites the other day.

The first is Texts from last night. It's exactly what it sounds like - people put up amusing text messages that they sent/received often while under the influence of alcohol.

The second is F**k my life. People write about awful/amusingly horrible things that happened to them. I've read a couple of truly awful ones on there, but most are just sort of funny and make you glad they didn't happen to you.

These sites have been entertaining me a lot at work. They sure do make the day pass faster.

Pranks

2009-05-05T21:14:00.002+12:00

My team won at quiz night last night! Woo!!

There is a bit of a war going on at work at the moment. On Friday evening a few of the staff got a bit drunk and super-glued people's stuff to their desks. It wasn't very well thought through and when we were un-super-gluing our stuff on Monday some of the desk went with them. So now it's all on - the ideas of how to get them back are coming thick and fast.

My workplace is pretty damn fun. :)

Save the Children

2009-05-04T18:17:00.002+12:00

I hate the way the Save the Children charity attacks you for money at every opportunity. They've annoyed me many times as I've been walking through the mall. The thing I hate is that they won't take no for an answer and push you to sign up immediately - for a period of time of about 15 years.

Recently I've been reading a book on modern-day slavery and it kicked my social conscience up a gear.

So today I decided to look Save the Children up and actually check them out properly. I've been so put off in the past that I've ignored them and haven't really thought beyond the fact that they 'save the children'. I read about how they, only a few months ago, shut down a brothel in Asia that employed children as young as 8 years old, have put all of those children into foster care and provide on-going support and checks to make sure the children don't just get sent back onto the street.

They also seem to have got wise to the fact that offering a 15 year committment is hard for most people so they have 1 year contracts with get-out clauses if you lose your job etc. I decided to give it a go. It's only $35 a month which is less than I pay for the gym so it seemed wrong not to after I'd just been reading about it.

I feel pretty good about myself right now. And pretty annoyed that their ridiculously pushy attitude has put me off in the past. They should really get a clue and drop the pushy attitude, they might find they actually attract more donations that way.

Overused phrases

2009-05-03T19:25:00.002+12:00

I overheard a conversation today where one person was telling her friend that she overuses the phrase uh-oh spaghetti-O. It got me thinking about things people I know say all the time. Rather than naming and shaming people I thought I'd just talk about myself.

When someone asks me how I am I always, always reply, 'not bad'. It annoys me because it's such a stupidly neutral reply anyway. I could at least be more positive and say good or great. Unfortunately 'not bad' automatically comes out even though I'd like to reply something different.

When someone explains something to me I always reply with, 'fair enough'. Again it really annoys me that I say it all the time and yet I can't seem to stop myself.

Instead of saying so-and-so 'said' I often say 'so-and-so was like...' This one in particular bugs me. I cringe everytime I say it and am working hard on stopping. I definitely say it a lot less than I used to, but unfortunately it still comes out automatically a lot.

I can't think of anything else I say all the time. I'm sure there are other things though. Oh! I use the word 'though' WAY too much.

Yep, I'm predicitble.

And yet I can't seem to train myself to say 'bollocks' more often. Bollocks is the greatest word but I always forget to use it until too late. Sad.

New Zealand music

2009-05-02T22:36:00.003+12:00

I'm currently watching NZ in the 80s on C4. Unsurprisingly Dave Dobbin, Crowded House, Split Enz and Exponents feature quite heavily.

Two of my favourite Crowded House songs:

Message to my Girl

Better Be Home Soon (I love this song so much it hurts)

I love Neil Finn's little dances in Message to my Girl. Soooo funny.

Movie theatre adventures

2009-05-01T23:21:00.002+12:00

Kat and I went to Wolverine tonight. I really liked it. The funniest bit, though, had to be Kat before the movie even started. (She's going to kill me for this.)

A couple of important things you need to know before I start this story. The first is that people do stupid things at the cinema all the time and the staff laugh at them. The second is that Kat used to work in a movie theatre, in fact she worked in many movie theatres over a period of quite a few years.

So, Kat had our tickets and told me we were in M1 and M2. She'd worked in the cinema we were at a few years ago so I checked with her which side 1 was on. She pointed it out and off we went to find our seats. We find row M and there is someone in our seat. Annoying! I hate when people don't sit in their allocated seat. So we say to him that we are M1 and M2 and he replies that he is also M1. At the old cinema I worked in this double booking thing used to happen occasionally so I was convinced that's what had happened.

We talked for a bit and then Kat handed me my ticket and I started to try and read it. The guy very helpfully offered his cellphone so I could see. The problem? M was actually the rating of the movie. We were in O1 and O2 which Kat had read as 01 and 02, as in 2 digit numbering.

Hmmm maybe you had to be there, but I promise you - it was very funny and we laughed for a long time.

(Had our row been anything other than O, I don't think Kat would have made the mistake. When you think about it it's a fairly easy mistake to make.)

Photo booth photo

2009-04-30T20:54:00.002+12:00

Kat's coming to Wellington

2009-04-29T07:30:00.000+12:00

KAT WILL BE IN WELLINGTON TOMORROW! WOO!!!

I'm very excited that Kat is coming down. It's sort of a surprise visit because it's for work so wasn't confirmed until last week. But it's happening and she's staying until Sunday so clearly the world is made of awesome right now.

There's a reason they call it work

2009-04-28T20:23:00.002+12:00

Today at work was mind-numbingly, bone-crunchingly boring. I think I was the most bored I've ever been at work.

When I first got this job the HR person was worried that I'd be bored. I assured her I wouldn't, of course I did - I wanted the job. At that stage I'd been looking for a job for about 6 weeks, was looking at a job market where people were losing jobs rather than gaining them and the company happened to be one that would offer lots of career advancement in the future. So I spent a lot of time assuring her that I would find ways to entertain myself.

3 months in i'm almost out of things to do. Don't get me wrong - I love the company I work for and I love the people I work with. I just don't particularly love the boredom or repetitiveness of my day. The company offers courses to help its staff upskill and get promotions. I will be starting one of these courses soon so I can get the heck of the service desk.

Public transport

2009-04-27T21:09:00.003+12:00

I hate rainy days. Well, I should qualify that, I hate rainy days when I have to go to work. Normally I catch the train. I quite enjoy catching the train because it's a nice, speedy way to get into town. On rainy days I don't want to walk without cover all the way to the railway station so instead I catch the bus. This probably doesn't actually keep me any dryer since the bus stop doesn't have a shelter, but for some reason it gives me the illusion of being dryer than if I went to the railway station.

Buses are not my friend. The bus always runs late on rainy days (and every other time actually, unless I am running late myself and it will have been on time) and they get all steamy and smelly thanks to all the damp people climbing on board.

Ah the joys of public transport. I know it's good for the environment and it's cheaper than driving into town and paying for parking, but it really is the bane of my life.

An even more uninteresting post

2009-04-26T20:58:00.001+12:00

I did nothing that I was supposed to do this weekend, but I had a fantastic time. I'm a little concerned about this website i'm supposed to be updating because I didn't start it this weekend.

I think I might be having some late nights this week working on it. :(

A very uninteresting post

2009-04-25T18:14:00.003+12:00

My friend Sam is down from Auckland for the weekend so a bunch of us are going out tonight. It's probably good that something is dragging me away from my drums because i've barely left them alone since I got them last night.

I've got a lot going on tomorrow. And I just remembered that I've got to start on this website work that I've agreed to do too. Not sure when I'm going to fit that in, but hopefully i'll find some time tomorrow.

Boy i'm tired. It's a pity I don't have time for a nana-nap before I go out!

Awful tomato

2009-04-24T21:12:00.002+12:00

I decided to be good and have a couple of tomatoes because I was hungry. One must have been over-ripe or something because it tasted DISGUSTING. I had to spit it back out and work extremely hard not to vomit up my lunch.

In other, better, news I'm playing Guitar Hero and I rock! (Ha, or I think I do ;-) )

I'm allergic to my cat :(

2009-04-23T21:45:00.002+12:00

Pity I can't change the past

2009-04-22T20:55:00.002+12:00

My brain and my heart hurt right now. My brain hurts because I've been sitting and doing too much thinking. My heart hurts because the things I've been thinking about are painful memories.

It's okay, in a few days I'll be fine again - back to my happy-go-lucky self. But for now I'm just thinking about the past and missing someone that's long gone.

I'm sorry, I hate reading cryptic posts like this on other people's blogs, but I just can't think of anything else to write at the moment. I need to just wallow a bit tonight.

17 Again

2009-04-21T18:13:00.002+12:00

I'm off to watch 17 Again tonight. I don't expect it to be a great movie, but I do expect to enjoy it. I get a sad amount of pleasure from movies like this.

I do wonder at the casting though.... Why would they make the teenage version Zac Efron while making the adult version Matthew Perry? Don't get me wrong, I like Matthew Perry - but he's just not hot. He's cute, but not hot. Zac Efron is hot. It just doesn't work for me.

I think the adult version should have been played by James Marsden. Now he is hot!

Digging in the middle of the night

2009-04-20T20:43:00.002+12:00

Last night I was happily sleeping when I was suddenly woken up by a weird tapping sound. I lay there trying to figure out what it was (ever since we were broken into while I was sleeping I've listened very hard to odd noises.) I realised it wasn't anyone breaking into our house, but then thought maybe it was someone breaking in next door.

When the sound kept going for another couple of minutes I realised it couldn't be someone breaking in - it didn't sound right and it wouldn't go on that long. My sleep addled brain then decided that the next-door neighbour must be digging a hole. I briefly wondered why they would need to dig a hole in the middle of the night and came to the only logically conclusion. They were burying a body.

A little while after I'd decided this and was still wondering what I should do about it, Derek got up to investigate. He went outside and saw that they were doing roadworks. At 4 in the morning. Roadworks.

It only lasted until about 4.30am, but I was still violently angry. (Oddly enough, I was less angry when I thought someone was burying a body.)

Book shame

2009-04-19T20:57:00.003+12:00

A few years ago I didn't care if what I was reading was trash, and I didn't care who saw me. So what if I was sitting on the train reading Marian Keyes? I wouldn't even have been embarrassed to be reading something as trashy as Twilight. It never even occurred to me that people might judge me based on what I was reading.

Since doing my publishing course last year I constantly feel ashamed if I am reading something trashy. I'm slowly making my way through my book collection because it gives me something to do on the train and something to do on lunch breaks when I'm not meeting anyone or don't feel like wandering the shops. This means I'm reading a lot of trash. I own some quality fiction, but I also own a lot of not-quality fiction. I noticed the other day that if I'm reading something I consider 'not-quality' then I'll take great care to keep the cover hidden.

I yearn for the days of yesteryear when I wasn't ashamed of my reading material.

The guy with no shoes

2009-04-18T23:11:00.002+12:00

So far it's been a good weekend.

I ate dinner at Nandos tonight and a guy came in carrying his shoes. Actually, that's not true, he was carrying one of his shoes and his girlfriend was carrying the other. Were the shoes to heavy for him to carry both at once? And why, why, why was he not wearing shoes in the first place? I wanted to go and ask him these questions, but thought it might be a bit rude.

Right. Tired. I'm going to go to bed.

I love weekends

2009-04-17T21:40:00.002+12:00

I'm pretty damn happy it's the weekend. Despite only being a 4-day week it's felt extremely long. Work hasn't been bad as such, it's just been busy and irritating. It doesn't help that I've kind of been wishing I was still in Hamilton.

Thankfully i'm going up there for another holiday on the 23rd May. Yay!

Wow. This is yet another lame blog.

Take a chance on me

2009-04-16T21:48:00.000+12:00

At the gym

2009-04-15T21:07:00.002+12:00

I was at the gym tonight cycling away and out of the corner of my eye I saw a little person next to the rowing machine. For some reason I got very excited about this and desperately wanted to turn around but didn't want to be rude.

I couldn't resist so I did a big exaggerated turn and pretended I was looking at everyone. I was very disappointed to see that it was just someone doing some exercises on their knees.

Now, I don't want anyone to think I am prejudiced against little people. I just have never seen any little people at the gym. I also got very interested when I saw a kid working out one day because I'd never seen a kid there either. (He was like 8 or something.) I just like to see different people at the gym. It's weird I know, but there you have it.

Back from the wedding

2009-04-14T19:57:00.003+12:00

I'm back from the wedding. It was brilliant.

Poor little Lincoln has chicken pox now. When I was a kid I had chicken pox 3 times. I felt pretty ripped off considering you are only supposed to be able to get it once. The first 2 times I had it I only had it very mildly. The last time I had it I had spots EVERYWHERE. You think of a place and I had them there. Even in my mouth. It was truly awful.

I've got my fingers crossed that Lincoln's case of chicken pox isn't too bad.

Last blog before the weekend

2009-04-08T20:16:00.003+12:00

I'm off up to Hamilton tomorrow after work. I'm really looking forward to it.

It's 8.20pm and i've got a lot to do to get ready. I had planned to be all packed by now, but I'm a slacker so I haven't even started. I'll go and do it shortly.

There won't be any blogs from me over the weekend cos I'll be too busy with family and !wedding!

Catch y'all on Tuesday.

Parliament

2009-04-07T06:39:00.002+12:00

I'm off to Parliament tonight since it is Helen Clark's last week. Other than that it's just an ordinary day of work and sleep. (Hopefully lots of the sleep. I'm tired)

I know I should be hoping that the rain keeps away so we can finish the cricket off properly today and get a result... But that goes against every fibre in my body. I can't help it - I'm crossing my fingers for rain to wash out the rest of the test and force a draw. I'd rather draw thanks to rain than lose.

Quiz night

2009-04-06T18:02:00.002+12:00

We came 2nd at quiz night. Only because of a judges error. Really we came first, but friends of ours officially came first - and we didn't care anyway - so we let the places stand and didn't kick up a fuss.

Only 3 days until I'm in Hamilton preparing for the wedding of the year!

Stuck in my clothes

2009-04-05T20:11:00.002+12:00

I was in the shops with mum today trying on some clothes and I got seriously stuck in this top. I don't know what went wrong, but all of a sudden I just couldn't get it back up over my head. It was sleevless and I couldn't seem to get the angles right to get it off again. I panicked for a while trying to pull it while also desperately trying not to rip it. All of my efforts were in vain because it was stuck fast. I then wondered if I could somehow get mum's attention and get her to come in and help me.

Before I did that I decided to try pulling it down and stepping out of it. It was a struggle and I was terrified I was going to rip it, but it worked and the garment stayed intact.

Phew. (And also very, very odd.)

Public toilets

2009-04-04T21:55:00.003+13:00

I realised the other day that I have a very weird habit when I use public toilets. I should clarify that by saying I have a very weird habit when I use public toilets that I use on a regular basis, such as my work toilets.

I always, always, always use the same cubicle. In fact, if someone is using my 'usual' then I get very uncomfortable and feel like the universe is a little bit askew. I don't know why I initially pick the cubicle, but once I've picked it it'll be the one I use for good.

Strange.

The wedding of the year

2009-04-03T20:46:00.002+13:00

This time next week I'll be in Hamilton. Not only that but it'll be the night before my brother's wedding. I really can't wait. My brother and sister-in-law to be make the best couple and their wedding is going to be beautiful.

As well as getting to go to the wedding of the year, I also get to visit my two gorgeous nephews - Lincoln and Jacob. I love those two boys more than any other children in the world and I don't get to spend anywhere near enough time with them. In fact, in the 5 weeks Jacob has been born I've only seen him once. That's not enough.

So, next weekend is going to be fantastic. Bring it on.

Wall-E

2009-04-02T20:35:00.001+13:00

I have a dream

2009-04-02T20:22:00.003+13:00

Today I was looking at the New York Film Academy website. This is something I do periodically. I've wanted to attend the New York Film Academy since my first year of film classes at Vic.

They offer a great 1 year course. Unfortunately with living expenses added in (you're not allowed a job on a student visa) I'd need about $100,000 to do it. So I always go and look wistfully at the website, knowing I'll never be able to afford it.

Today I noticed a 4 week film editing course. Now, editing is the only part I've ever cared about anyway. Fees are $5000. I'd also have to find somewhere to live for the 4 weeks. But, you know, that's actually a possibility. Not this year, but if I save I actually could do it.

So... Perhaps.... I might end up fulfilling my dream of attending the New York Film Academy after all.

April Fools!!

2009-04-01T12:00:00.000+13:00

Hahaha I am so not a National supporter. And I definitely did not vote National on election day.

April fools. :)

A confession

2009-04-01T00:30:00.001+13:00

I have a confession to make....

For so long I have been a Labour supporter. I don't need to tell anyone here that. I was very vocal before the election that Labour was the party to vote for and I fully believed that. I believed it leading up to voting day, I believed it on voting day and I believed it in the car on the way to the polling booth...

While standing in the polling booth I suddenly realised that I had been wrong all this time. With sudden clarity I understood that Labour had gotten us into the mess we now find ourselves in and they certainly couldn't be the ones to get us out of it.

I voted National. And swore to myself I'd keep it a secret. But I can't keep hiding it. I can't keep bagging National when I voted for them and I fully support them.

So I am now confessing. I'm a National supporter. Not a Labour supporter.

National forever!

Dancing with the Stars

2009-03-31T20:59:00.001+13:00

I'm watching Dancing with the Stars. I love Geraldine Brophy. She's so nice. (And she goes to my gym.)

I am sad to hear that people on the internet and in the gossip mags are ripping into her. Stupid people.