“We all go a little mad sometimes.” ~psycho

Rich got back from the duathalon World Championships a couple days ago; he got 31st in the world, which is really, really good. He trains so much that he deserved to do well. He was gone for about a week, and I missed him.

Last night Rich’s running team had a Quiz Show fundraiser. He somehow convinced me to be on a team with him and his buddy. Most of the questions had to do with New Zealand so I wasn’t much help, but it was still fun. It was at a bar, and the three of us finished three pitchers of beer during the competition, so that loosened me up. And we didn’t finish last, which we were proud of. It wasn’t fun getting up at 7:30am the next morning for class, but I was glad I went.

Tonight Rich, Matt, Perrine and I had dessert at this restaurant called Tull (named after Jethro) that specializes in dessert. It was really good. Matt and Rich each got a Chocolate Massacre, which is a plate of three of their desserts. They got certificates for finishing it; it was huge. I would have tried it if I liked coffee (one of the desserts had coffee flavoring) and if it were a little cheaper ($15 is a lot to blow on one dessert). It was a good restaurant, though. And now I'm stuffed.

“Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die!” ~the princess bride

I LOVE that movie.
Have I mentioned I’ve been really happy lately? Everything’s been going well. Of course that always makes me nervous, because I keep expecting something bad to happen. But, for now, I’m extremely content.
Of course there are little moments of unhappiness, though. I’ve become addicted to New Zealand Idol, and the girl I wanted to win got voted off last night. All the judges agreed that she was by far the best singer out of the group and that she should have won the entire thing, but the stupid teeny-boppers who are voting seem to prefer the few hot guys that are left, despite the fact that they can’t sing. I’m very bitter about this. Yes, the guys are hot, but this girl has one of the most amazing voices I’ve ever heard. Hopefully she’ll get a record deal anyway. I was seriously almost in tears; that’s how mad I was. I definitely would have cried if my flatmates weren’t there. So I don’t think I’ll watch the show anymore. It will just anger me even further, and I don’t need that. I’d like to maintain my general state of happiness.
The one other factor that detracts slightly from my good mood is schoolwork. I have an essay due on Thursday for Victorian Literature. I talked to my lecturer about it and he convinced me to go in a slightly different direction than I was planning. It made sense to me while we were talking, but now I’m thinking that he really didn’t understand my idea and I might have been better off not taking his advice. But I can’t change it now because I’ve gone too far with this and I’d have to basically scrap the whole thing and start over, and I don’t want to do that. So I’ve got to figure out a way to make this theory hold up. Which is proving to be very tricky.

“I want the fairytale.” ~pretty woman

I HAVE A NEW BABY COUSIN! I’m excited. I’m pretty sure this’ll be the last cousin I get; my aunts and uncles are getting old. I have 10 cousins now, and I’m the oldest. My new cousin’s name is Chase. I can’t wait to see him. I’m so happy!

“I think people should mate for life, like pigeons or Catholics.” ~manhattan

heehee. Woody Allen is funny. I love the implication that Catholics aren’t people.
In my New Zealand Society & Religion class, I’m learning all about the history of religious tension in NZ (there’s lots of it). It’s such an interesting class. It’s a little difficult for me, though, because I don’t know anything about NZ history, and it’s sort of assumed that you already know all that. But I got an A+ on my presentation, so I’m coping pretty well I guess! We’ll see if I still feel that way after I get my essay back (that’s worth 40% of my grade. Gulp.)

So I’m very popular now. Last night three different people/groups of people wanted to hang out with me. Aren’t I cool? (don’t answer that). But I’m still boring at heart, so I went for the low-key option of going out for coffee (or hot chocolate for me because I don’t drink coffee) and seeing a movie with my friend Nicole. Anyway, this coffee place that we went to is amazing. They serve the drinks (coffee, hot chocolate, etc.) in soup bowls. My hot chocolate was like chocolate soup; I ate it with a spoon. And it was soooo good.
This morning I had brunch with the girls next door. They cooked eggs, french toast, and Swedish pancakes (one of the girls is Swedish). It was incredibly tasty. And we watched The Italian Job as we ate.
I have an essay to write this weekend and a book to read and I’ve done nothing. Tonight I’m hanging out with Nicole again. I figure that I need to have some fun while I’m here. My grades won’t transfer back, so I just need to pass all my classes and I’ll get credit for them. I’m not exactly slacking, but I’m less stressed and more willing to have fun than at Richmond. And I like it.

“Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” ~ferris bueller’s day off

I’m going crazy. I was walking home from class this morning and I stopped because I thought I left my umbrella in the classroom. So I turned around to go back and get it, and finally realized that it was raining and I was using my umbrella. I WAS HOLDING MY UMBRELLA OVER MY HEAD AS I WALKED BACK TO GET IT. At least I realized it before I got back to the classroom. I’m losing my mind.

I love getting emails from best friends. It’s seriously pathetic how excited I was when I got one today. If anyone reading this wants to write to me, please do. I love getting emails. I’m awful at writing them, but I love reading them. So if you’re looking for someone who will listen to you vent or if you just want to recap what’s going on in your life, I’m your girl.

“Sometimes there’s so much beauty in the world I feel like I can’t take it, like my heart’s going to cave in.” ~american beauty

I found this file saved on my computer; it’s the 400 best movie quotes of all time. 400 is a lot. I was reading through it as a form of procrastination yesterday. Anyway, I’ll use some of my favorites as my opening quotes for the next few entries.

Today was my last day of history tutorials. It’ll be nice to have that extra hour every week. Did I ever mention that my tutor, Jennie, looks exactly like Eden Espinosa? She does. I think that’s cool. And she gave me an A+ on my presentation, which is also very cool. I was so nervous about that.

I only have 3 weeks left of classes; that’s really amazing to me. I still have 2 months here, though. Finals are spread out over a month, which is both good and bad.

I’m still adjusting to the fact that we call our lecturers and tutors by their first names. Calling my teachers John, Tom, Jane, and Rob is still strange to me. In fact, I can’t bring myself to do it.

I just found out that my education advisor back at Richmond, who is also my favorite professor from that department, isn’t there anymore. It surprised me. Wouldn’t she have known that at the end of last semester, and shouldn’t she have told me then? I was planning on emailing her and telling her what’s been going on over here because she told me to keep her updated, and now I get an email from the education department saying that she’s gone and that I’ve been assigned a new advisor. I’m bummed about it; I used to love talking to her. I guess it’s a good thing I didn’t try to email her yet.

Matt’s hogging the internet and it’s pissing me off. I want to go to bed but I can’t because I need to email myself an essay so that I can print it tomorrow from a computer lab (I don’t have a printer here). So I have to wait for him to get offline. I hate sharing dial-up internet access with four other people. Anyway, that’s why I’m rambling here. I’m typing this entry in Word and waiting for the internet. I’m trying to keep myself occupied. And I’m getting grumpy. I think I’ll go bug him again and tell him to hurry up.

Well, I hope you’ve enjoyed the smorgasbord that is today’s entry. Start preparing yourself for tomorrow’s great movie quote.

“You’re a doll.” ~jeff goldblum (speaking to me)

Today was another really good day. Despite the fact that it snowed. It was, however, a sad day in New York, due to the closing performance of The Pillowman. The Pillowman was, in my biased opinion, the best play on Broadway. The script is absolutely brilliant, the actors gave amazing performances, and it’s a shame that it closed today. So, in honor of the show, here’s a couple pictures of two of its talented stars.

I know, I know, I post this Billy Crudup picture all the time, but can you blame me?! Isn’t he gorgeous? He’s such a talented actor. He’s done some great films (Almost Famous, Big Fish, Stage Beauty) and, despite what’s been going on in his personal life over the past couple of years, I can’t help but love him.

And Jeff Goldblum. I can’t say enough about him. He’s such a funny actor, he’s got great comedic timing, but more importantly, he seems like a really classy guy. So farewell to The Pillowman, and hopefully it will someday return to Broadway so that more people can appreciate its genius.

“Here’s your sign.” ~bill engvall

Last night I watched the Blue Collar Comedy Tour dvd and I’ve never laughed so hard in my life. It was hi-larious. I think things are much funnier when you’re watching them with other people who think they’re funny. I was with some friends who are all American girls (except for one Swede) and two of them have seen it many times before; they love it. So they’d start to laugh when a funny part was coming up and that would make me start to giggle simply because I knew a good joke was coming on. Laughter is infectious. So anyway, I recommend watching that, especially with some friends who will appreciate the humor.

The NZ election was last night, and the candidate that I preferred won, so I’m happy. It was really close; she only won by 1.1%. Yep, the Prime Minster is a woman. And she was just reelected to her third term. I saw her speak at our school a few weeks ago, which was cool. I love how none of the Kiwis I know attended her speech. And they’re the ones that can vote, not me. I think I followed the election more closely than most New Zealanders. It was really interesting to me; it’s very different than the American system. I won’t bore you with the details, but it’s pretty complicated. You can form coalitions with other parties (there are lots of political parties). Most Kiwis admit that it’s pretty screwed up. And the debates here are crazy! There’s hardly any structure. The moderator will ask a question and the candidates will just go at each other. They’re not given specified time to talk, it’s more like a conversation, so they’ll start yelling at each other and talking over each other and the audience yells at both of them. After a while the moderator will decide that they’ve screamed at each other enough and will ask a new question, and they’ll go at each other again.

“My dad wonders why I choose to be like this, but the truth is, you have no choice, and that’s what makes you feel like killing yourself…Telling me I can do anything I want is like pulling the plug out of the bath and then telling the water it can go anywhere it wants. Try it, and see what happens.” ~nick hornby

Don’t worry, I don’t feel like killing myself because of the fact that I can’t change who I am. I just think that’s a really interesting analogy.
I’m having such a good, relaxing weekend. Last week I had two essays due and two presentations, and it feels soooo good to be finished with all that. I went to a really fun party last night and got to unwind. Tonight I’m going out for Thai food with some friends. I’ve never had Thai food and I’m a really picky eater, so I’m not sure why I agreed to go, but I figure I should be adventuresome. So I’ll tell y’all how it is.

“It’s music rage, which is like road rage, only more righteous. When you get road rage, a tiny part of you knows you’re being a jerk, but when you get music rage, you’re carrying out the will of God, and God wants these people dead.” ~nick hornby

I love this quote. I’ve definitely experienced music rage before. When I just want to shake someone and say to them, Why don’t you get it? Why hasn’t music changed your life like it has mine? Luckily I’m good at restraining myself.

I have an essay due on Friday that’s worth 40% of my grade. I haven’t started it. Today I opened up Word and wrote my name; that was as far as I got. Instead I listened to Bare. It made me cry; it always does.

This week is a crazy one. I have two presentations and two essays due. I’ll be glad when it’s over. Even though I’ll have more work to do next week.

I turned on the TV today (despite all the work I have to do) and the first episode of Party of Five was on. They all looked so incredibly young. That was a good show.

“If you haven’t heard him…man, it’s like he boiled down all the melancholy in the world, all the bruises and all the f**ked up dreams you’ve let go, and poured the essence into a little tiny bottle and corked it up. And when he starts to play and sing, he takes the cork out, and you can smell it. You’re pinned into your seat, as if it’s a wall of noise, but it’s not-it’s still, and quiet, and you don’t want to breathe in case you frighten it away.” ~nick hornby

That quote is about Nick Drake, but it can apply to lots of musicians. Well, maybe not lots. More like a select few. It’s hard to create music that meaningful. But when you do…it can knock people off their feet. If those people are willing to listen for the melancholy.

I have discovered that I’m a housewife at heart (but I’d like to think I’m not desperate). I love cleaning and cooking. I was mopping today and I actually liked it. It gave me such a sense of accomplishment.

I have also realized that I’m really happy right now. I know that can change in an instant, but I just feel incredibly content. Today I was sitting in the living room with Matt and Rich and the door was open and the sun was shining in (our front door is a sliding glass door). We weren’t talking; Rich was reading the paper and Matt and I were snacking. And I felt so peaceful and…happy. For no reason. But it was cool. And it made me realize that I really do love it here.

“People go on about places like Starbucks being all unpersonal and all that, but what if that’s what you want? I’d be lost if JJ and people like that got their way, and there was nothing unpersonal in the world. I like to know that there are big places without windows where no one gives a s**t. You need confidence to go into small places with regular customers-small bookshops and small music shops and small restaurants and cafes. I’m happiest in the Virgin Megastore and Borders and Starbucks and PizzaExpress, where no one gives a s**t, and no one knows who you are. My mum and dad are always going on about how soulless those places are, and I’m like, Der. That’s the point.” ~nick hornby

This is Nick Hornby week. Which means every day that I post I’ll start with one of his quotes. I love today’s quote. That’s exactly how I feel; I get uncomfortable in those small stores. I love getting lost in a store. There’s no pressure on you when no one notices you. Yes, I’m anti-social and I never quite feel completely comfortable around people (those I like, those I don’t like, those I know, those I don’t know), but at least someone understands. Never mind the fact that those feelings are shared by a character who tries to kill herself. The point is, the novelist wrote that, and even if he doesn’t feel that way and is just giving those ideas to one of his characters, he was able to articulate the feeling and had to think of it in the first place.

Have you ever heard the question, Do you have a different personality when you speak a different language? I’ve thought about it before, and lately I’ve come back to it. As I’ve been getting to know Perrine over the past few months, I’ve discovered that she’s really funny. And I think she must be even funnier in French, her native language. She’s got pretty good English, but she seems somewhat reserved and uncomfortable and worried whether or not she’s saying the correct thing when she speaks in English. Now that she’s been here a while and I’ve spent more time with her, she’s been opening up more. And she’s absolutely hilarious. And I know she must be even funnier when she’s speaking in French because she’s more comfortable with the language. I’ve seen her with French friends and, even though I usually can’t understand everything she says, I can see a difference. She talks a lot, she speaks incredibly quickly, and she laughs more. So I can understand why people have said that you have different personalities in different languages. I would slightly amend that statement, however, to say that your true personality is best expressed in the language with which you’re most comfortable. It’s interesting.

Ooh, guess what? PATTI SMITH IS OPENING FOR U2 IN NOVEMBER! I'm excited to see her. She's much better than some of the other opening acts for this leg of the tour (and needless to say she's also a lot better than the opening act for the first leg of the tour).

The women's final of the U.S. Open is starting now. I want Clijsters to win so badly. But I know not to get my hopes up.

"As my memory rests but never forgets what I lost, Wake me up when september ends." ~green day

In my Education class today we had a guest speaker who spent some time in NYC as a literary consultant. She really pissed me off. She worked in the Bronx for a few months. I know the educational system there isn't perfect, but it still really annoyed me to hear someone else (particularly a foreigner who only spent a few months there) criticise it (which is mainly what she did). And I think the class got the idea that the entire American public education system is like that (in shambles), which it isn't. She didn't even live in the Bronx, she lived in Manhattan. You can't fully understand the system when you don't even live in the same environment where the kids come from and when you don't even spend an entire school year there. I know that I haven't experienced that school system yet, but I know I'll be teaching and living in NYC (probably one of the outer boroughs) right after I graduate college. Anyway, she pissed me off. But I didn't say anything.

It's really difficult to write an essay with a partner. I'm working on that now and I've learned that I'm an independent worker and I'm not very patient. My partner is one of my friends and I get along with her and I really like her, but it's still hard. She's been typing, and I'm used to typing and revising as I go along but it's harder to do that now. I'm used to doing projects together, but not writing 5-page essays. I suppose it's a learning experience that will develop my cooperation skills.

I'm in love with Nick Hornby. Add him to my list of future husbands. I don't know how I'll manage to marry all of them. But he's definitely on my list. He's a genius. Never mind that he's a middle-aged Londoner who doesn't know I exist and who is probably married (I don't know if he is, though. I'll pretend he's not). I want someone like him who's witty and articulate and hilarious and who "gets" me (isn't it funny that I feel like he "gets" me and we've never met?). I'm afraid I'll never be satisfied if I don't marry a famous novelist or a rock star or something like that. I've got to lower my standards, because I don't think Nick Hornby will be knocking on my door any day soon. Besides, it seems like those famous geniuses (writers, musicians, etc.) are the ones who are often troubled. Like the amazing qualities that make them so appealing are the ones that end up bringing them down and making them miserable and misunderstood. So I should probably try to find a normal, average, happy bloke and be satisfied with interacting with those extraordinary guys through their art (reading their books, listening to their music, etc.).

Oh, and another thing. I can't stand Andre Agassi. Robby Ginepri better beat him in the next round (I've met Robby and he's a nice guy).

And another thing. I'm in a computer lab right now, and there's only one other person in here (which normally would be a miracle, except it's pretty late right now) and she's talking to herself. Which is a little creepy. She keeps mumbling things and seems to be getting really worked up.

And one more thing. I'm obsessed with eBay. Someone needs to keep me away from that site. I've spent way too much money there, especially lately considering the fact that I haven't made any money in a while and am spending lots of it. That is all. For real. I think.

"And if you jump, you just might fall..." ~u2

I'll start to post pictures of my mid-semester break. So here are some bungy jumping pictures. I'll post a sequence of them. The first one is a far-away view of the bridge, the next one is me jumping (check out my perfect dive), the third is me bouncing back up after being dunked in the water, and the last one is me falling back down.






By the way, the comment on my last entry was so comforting. I really needed that reminder of the effects of the huge amounts of junk food I've eaten in the last week. *eye roll*

“He looks at her and he says, ‘We’re going to a party. It’s a birthday party. It’s your birthday party. Happy birthday, darlin’.” ~bright eyes

I love that song. I love that album. I love that band. I wish they would open for U2. Still waiting for an announcement on the opening act for my show(s). It should be soon.

Thanks to everyone who’s sent me happy birthday wishes. It was very sweet of you all. :-)

It’s funny how the littlest things can be so important. A simple ‘Happy Birthday’ sign from my flatmates made me so happy this morning. I didn’t think they’d even remember my birthday because it’s the last day of the holidays and they’re all getting ready to go back to school. It was my turn to cook tonight but instead they took me out to dinner. Then we drove up to a great lookout of the city; it was absolutely beautiful to see all the lights of Dunedin. Back at the flat we had one of the best chocolate cakes I’ve ever had. They got it from this really fancy bakery in town, and it was soooo rich. Matt tried to convince me to go out to the bars tonight but I wasn’t in the mood, so we stayed in and watched the movie A View From the Top. It turned out to be a really good day. Almost as fun as my kidnapping on my birthday last year. I’ve only lived with and known these people for two months, but they’re like my family here and they were really great today.
I got some great birthday presents from the fam. The O.C. complete season 1 dvds, tickets to “The Woman in White” on Broadway for when I get home (2nd row!), and other Broadway-related stuff like a few cast recordings and a great book on the history of Broadway.
I can’t believe I only have 6 more weeks of classes here. It’s gone by pretty quickly. I think I’ll miss it when I go back home, even though right now I do miss a lot back in the U.S. I’m weird like that; I’m never satisfied with what I have at the time. I guess it’s kind of like “you never know what you have until you lose it.” Right now I appreciate everything back at home that I usually take for granted, and when I’m back there, I’ll begin to appreciate the amazing opportunities I have here.

"They're singing, "Happy Birthday," You just wanna lay down and cry..." ~jonathan larson (tick, tick...boom!)

It just turned midnight here, so I'm officially 21 (well, I guess so, although it's not September 4th in the U.S. yet). I'm not sure what I'm doing tomorrow (or today I guess). Probably just work. I go back to school on Monday and I did nothing over the break. I said goodbye to my family awhile ago, and I miss them already. We celebrated my birthday tonight because their flight is early tomorrow morning so I won’t see them before they go. We had a great week, though. I want to try and write down everything we did, mostly for my own purposes (because I know I’ll forget and I want to remember). Perrine came with us on our vacation, and it was great to have her there. She’s my best friend here. I miss all my friends back home; everyone's back at Richmond now, and I wonder what I'm missing. To cheer myself up I'm recapping my week.
Saturday: We saw the All Blacks play South Africa in a rugby match. It was so much fun to watch, even if we all didn’t really understand everything. They do the wave here, except everyone throws beer cans in the air when it gets to them, and beer showers down over the crowd. It was gross, but sort of funny.
Sunday: We drove to Te Anau, a really cute little town. We stopped at the Lord of the Rings filming site for Fanghorn Forest. That night we went on a glowworm tour, which was cool. We took a boat inside a cave, and there were glowworms hanging from the ceiling. They looked like stars. Unfortunately we weren't allowed to take pictures, so you'll have to imagine it for yourself.
Monday: We took a ferry up Milford Sound. It was absolutely amazing. There are lots of Lord of the Rings filming sites there; I think they were Isengard, Rivendell, and some others that I don’t remember. We saw dolphins and seals and the most beautiful scenery.
Tuesday: We went to Queenstown, a beautiful town. I went bungy jumping, at the site of the first bungy jump ever, where it was invented. It was so much fun. I’m an adventurous person, I love doing stuff like that, but even I had butterflies as I looked over the edge before I jumped. It was scary. The jump was over the river that was used as the River Anduin in the Lord of the Rings. I asked to touch the water with my hands, but they miscalculated and I ended up being dunked from the waist up. And remember it’s winter here. The water was freezing, but I didn’t even feel it until after the jump. It was such an exhilarating experience. My mom and my brother jumped as well. My dad did paragliding instead.
Wednesday: Skiing! In August! On Brett’s 18th birthday. The snow wasn’t great. We’re all good skiers (we mostly stick to black diamonds; I’ve been skiing since I could walk) and there weren’t many good black diamond (expert) runs open. In the morning there was lots of ice and by afternoon it was mostly slush. But we skied a full day and it was still fun.
Thursday: Jet-boating up the Dart River, then funyaking down. The wind was incredibly strong and it blew dust on us the whole time. I’m still picking sand out of my ears. I had to close my eyes during most of the funyaking as I paddled. But it was absolutely beautiful. More Lord of the Rings sites there, and sites where they filmed the new The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe movie coming out in December. NZ is so amazingly beautiful, like nowhere else in the world, so it’s the perfect setting for those fantasy locations like Narnia.
Friday: Arrowtown then back to Dunedin. In Arrowtown we saw my favorite Lord of the Rings site, the Ford of Bruinen. That’s where Arwen (Liv Tyler) rode on horseback across the river carrying Frodo in the first film.
Saturday (today): the Otago Penninsula. We saw penguins! Yellow eyed penguins, the rarest kind in the world (only found here) and blue penguins, the smallest kind in the world. We got so incredibly close to them. We also saw seals.
Tomorrow I’ll post pictures. Now I’m tired.