| just don't call me Mrs. |
[Mar. 22nd, 2007|10:21 pm] |
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© Tony Stewart
On the 17th of February I got married! Holy shit! All modesty aside, it was the best party I've ever been to. I don't expect so many people I love to be in the same place again until I die, so it was pretty damn special. Also special was the getting married part. Also special is my husband. LOVE!!!
(There are a few more pix on my Flickr account -- probably a few hundred more to come...) |
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| (no subject) |
[Nov. 16th, 2006|08:20 pm] |
ok. so, i'm getting married in three months (and one day). i guess it's about time i had a little bridey meltdown.
i think i'm better now. i had a big row with my mother a couple of days ago, and had simultaneously convinced myself that i'd posted our wedding invitations into an anticlimactic black hole of disinterest.
anyway, it's all right now, but i'm bracing myself for a bit of a rollercoaster ride the next few months. this marriage stuff is nice and lovely and stuff, but it's also a bit of a head-fuck. |
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| oh me |
[Oct. 16th, 2006|04:45 pm] |
one of the advantages of being vegetarian is that you don't really have to worry about the sort of food hygiene pitfalls faced by meat-eaters. if your food is a bit raw, it won't kill you. or so i thought. turns out that defrosting frozen soy protein 'tuna' in a bowl of warm water will, actually, damn near kill you. silly me. i have been in a haze of food poisoning for the past day and a half. i feel very ill and sorry for myself. poor me!
in the small window of opportunity post-dodgy-fake-tuna-sandwich, pre-oh-god-my-stomach-i-think-i'm-going-to-die, i went to see a show. it was one of the tempo dance festival acts, billed as: "everything you have ever wanted in a cabaret show but were too afraid to ask nudity, feisty table dancing, wild stories, prizes galore and some shocking dance routines". if you ever, ever get the chance to see the show -- Private Dancer, featuring one Ms Fortuna -- it's only fair to warn you to RUN, RUN, RUN LIKE THE FUCKING WIND IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION.
honestly, spending the entire next day puking up bile was WAY more erotic. it's entirely possible that i don't have food poisoning at all, that my body has just gone into shock at the horrifying and frankly upsetting lack of talent on display. ms fortuna was an erotic back hole, sucking every ounce of sexiness from the audience and transforming it into a grotesque caberet travesty. i am still upset about her baggy chicken skin. |
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| (no subject) |
[Oct. 4th, 2006|09:45 pm] |
*ahem*
i'm a bit out of practice.
where did i leave off?
ok, so i moved back to new zealand accidentally, then my betrothed moved here too, then we were miserable and unemployed and broke in christchurch for a few months, then we moved to auckland and got jobs and a place to live and everything was excellent again. i had one work contract, then it finished, i enrolled in a paper at university, then we went to london for a few weeks, we came back, i started a new job, and now i'm working a bit and studying a bit.
there you go.
really, not much has been happening. it was very strange going back to visit london -- i'll always love it, but i don't miss it nearly as much as i thought i did. and it's filthy, and it really does smell of wee. it was great to spend heaps of time with the in-laws-to-be, who were one of the main reasons to visit and who are amazingly lovely, and we packed up 13 boxes of stuff and shipped it to auckland. we've got about six weeks to figure out where we're going to cram it all when it arrives. or move.
it was great to see everyone in london. i'm still finding it tough to be this far away from my friends, but it's a completely different life there, compared to my life here. it was pretty sad in lots of ways, because it became really clear that one of the most fun times in my life was over, and there's just no recapturing it. i can't live that lifestyle anymore, and since i moved back home, i don't think i want to.
which isn't to say that i'm not happy here. i'm so happy i'm practically drooling most the time. it's a very small life though, just the two of us. eating nice food, watching stupid tv, going to the gym, sitting on the couch tapping away on our computers. selling stuff on trade me! it's kinda boring, but lovely, and really it's a lot like what i've wanted all along. but i haven't had any new stories to tell in a while, or perhaps just not enough people to tell them to, and i suspect i really need to get out more or we will actually merge into one big conjoined blob with the blue couch and there won't be anyone left to get married, just a sofa with four arms and a beard. it's just so comfy and nice though, isn't it? |
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| Much Better |
[Apr. 19th, 2006|10:47 am] |
i'm moving to auckland this afternoon!
future huz got his working visa two weeks ago. stress has been noticeably melting off me ever since. things are Much Better Now.
i temped for two months in a PR office. it was the most unhealthy working environment i have ever seen -- every PR cliche you have ever heard is true. they offered me a job, kind of, but then something Much Better came along.
to cut a long story short, future huz got offered his dream job, in auckland. we decided to go for it, and about five seconds later i scored myself an awesome temp job that's so geeky it's cool. Very Very Exciting!
so, i'm moving to auckland this afternoon, and the fella and all our stuff is following me in a few days. everything i own is nearly all boxed up in our garage, and i have a LOT more shite than i thought i did. it's going to be really cool to have all my useless crap unpacked and in one place again, after 3.5 years of living lite.
christchurch has turned out to be a real nice place to live; maybe we'll move back here again one day. but auckland! woo! fun times ahead. |
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| the oh-six |
[Jan. 7th, 2006|10:53 pm] |
happy belated new year, all!
after welcoming myself into 2006 by throwing up over a balcony in front of a large group of strangers, i had no choice but to pick my drunken self up by the scruff of the neck and throw myself out of my own exclusive little pity party.
my first month home? oooh, a shocker, it was.
but a couple of honest-to-god real-life friends visited sunny christchurch over christmas and the new year, my lovely fella gets here on wednesday, the visa application paraphernalia is slowly coming together, i'm refusing to entertain any more worries about my temporary lack of job and money, and i'm slowly and faulteringly learning to accept that it might be ok if everything changes, even if everything was perfect exactly the way it was before.
so, things are looking up.
2006 is a complete mystery still. i have no idea where i'm going to live for the year, although it's looking like it'll almost definitely mostly be spent in the southern hemisphere. which is amply vague, but vaguely exciting.
the british high commission doesn't want to give me a student visa, and i can't find another way of getting to the uk and being able to work at least part-time (a shotgun marriage will be nothing but counter-productive, according to my immigration sources). so, future husband's relaxing five-week holiday is turning into a possible year-long antipodean experience, with more red tape than christmas. and i'm liking the thought of being coser to home, albeit just for a year or so, not least for the fact that i've done what i swore i would never, ever, ever do...
i've gone a bit... bridey.
god help you all. |
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| home again |
[Dec. 23rd, 2005|07:04 pm] |
i just watched judy bailey give her last goodnight to the nation. the last five minutes of the tv1 news tonight were a photo/haircut montage to the strains of 'hey jude', and a tearful judy walking down the tvnz corridor into the arms of a haka.
i cried. i'm on a fairly low crying threshold at the moment.
i'm home. i love it, i hate it.
today i drove a car for the first time in nine years.
i ate whitebait fritters for dinner (well, they're nearly vegetables).
i'm about to have my first summer christmas in four years. it's raining, windy, and cold.
i'm really liking a lot of things about christchurch. i never, ever thought i would say that.
in the last three weeks, i've seen one friend, once.
i have absolutely no idea what i am going to do on new year's eve.
i also don't know what country i'm going to live in next year. we are lining up a variety of immigration hoops and preparing ourselves to start jumping. it's fucking terrifying.
i'm really thin all of a sudden.
last time i was home for christmas, i had two grandmothers.
there are more than a few reasons to feel really fucking sad. i'm fighting it, hard. except for occasional self-indulgent whinge-fests, obviously.
i'm nearly 30, completely broke, and living at my mum's. i'm also living with my step-father for the first time in my life. it's weird and a bit not-cool.
missing my lovely boyfriend lots, yes. a lot more than lots!
missing everyone lots. missing the london whanau christmas. missing some important birthdays.
feeling very nostalgic for the very recent past.
feeling very excited for january 11, for the arrival of my beloved, for a whole bunch of road trips, for camping, for being a tour guide!!!
this is what it's like to come home. i love it, i hate it. i don't want to go back though, not really, not at all.
i think yesterday was the worst day, and it's going to get better now. |
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| BIG news... |
[Nov. 14th, 2005|06:06 pm] |
it has been an awfully long time since i wrote anything in here that told anyone about anything that's been going on in my life. life's been a whirlwind over these past six months, and i've thrown myself into it – loving just living it, rather than writing about it.
but now i've got some really big news. i haven't quite finished emailing everyone i know yet, so if you read it here first i'm really sorry about that, but it's well past time to make the big announcement.
so... about three weeks ago, my lovely boyfriend asked me to marry him. and i said yes. woohoo!!!
we are pretty much the happiest people on the planet! it's very, very, very exciting. a bit scary at first, too, but mostly i'm just really, really excited and very, very happy!
well, i have gotten a little bit sad this week. i'm leaving london on friday, you see, headed home (via new york! attention ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) rhodamine, fonem and kellianne!) for christmas, a summer holiday, a bit of a break from london, and a good friend's wedding in february. also, to apply for a student visa to come back to london at the end of february! and to show my lovely fiance around when he comes out for three weeks in january/february! so it's not all that sad, really. when i'm not dwelling on my separation anxiety, i'm actually really looking forward to spending some time at home.
as for later plans? all going well with the visa, i'll be back in london from late february until the end of the year. then we head to new zealand for another summer down under... and to get wed!!!
it's amazing how fast life can completely, utterly change. and so, so good to know it can just as quickly and just as easily change hugely for the better!
i'm not sure i'll be writing much here for a while. i'm thoroughly enjoying a more offline sort of life since i finished work, and i think i want to keep it that way for a while. no doubt i'll be back again, maybe more anonymously, maybe less so. i'll let you know where and when though, and i'll certainly keep reading...
xxx |
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| things to do in london when you're broke and unemployed, part 2 |
[Oct. 6th, 2005|07:10 pm] |
archive your entire digital life, then reincarnate your computer as its younger, cleaner, faster self. hopefully.
that's right folks. i'm about to reformat my hard drive. ooh!
if you don't hear from me for a while, it's all gone horribly wrong. wish me luck.
edit: or, i would have re-formatted my hard drive if toshiba hadn't given me recovery discs for the wrong machine. GRRRR. |
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| things to do in london when you're broke and unemployed, part 1 |
[Oct. 5th, 2005|01:30 pm] |
for the past month i've been unemployed and, legally speaking, unemployable. when you're working, you think that if only you could have a few weeks off, you'd finally get around to crossing all those things off your mental to-do list. make those mix tapes you owe all those people. email all those friends you haven't been in touch with properly in forever. do some exercise. read some books. put some photos online. have pretty fingernails. do some interning or volunteer work. write something, like, every day.
but... meh.
getting motivated to do things with absolutely no time pressure is really, really difficult. so far, i've done a fair bit of settling in (rearranging everything) at my new abode (the bachelor pad). i've been managing to get up at a reasonable hour, drink coffee, then stare passively and somewhat blankly at my computer screen (not much change from having a job there, then). i've done quite a bit of research into various visa options (although we've not yet made any firm decisions or applications). i've attempted to draw up a budget (although vague and at this stage unfortunately entirely theoretical). i've made a lot of lists of things to do. i've done a bunch of dishes and laundry. i've gotten interested in cooking again and added a few new things to the jaded vegetarian cooking repetoire. i've had a lovely day out in cambridge. i've gotten completely addicted to fahrenheit, is which more fun than i ever thought a video game could be. i've clocked up more tv hours than i have in the past two years, total. i've eaten way more than is usual or remotely necessary. i got a swim membership for the local lido. i've ridden my bike a bit. i've been to a couple of museums.
now i've written it out like that, i realise i'm actually having a pretty nice time. i feel like i'm often just mildly bored, but it's really more a general sort of listlessness/cabin fever, than boredom. i have a whole lot of things i want to do, i just can't get motivated to do them. motivation does arrive eventually, but not until about 8pm most nights, and i'm really trying hard to avoid the classic unemployment trap of staying up all night, sleeping all day. i really just need to get into some kind of routine.
i've got about six more weeks of this before i head back to new zealand -- where i'll probably have quite a bit of time on my hands as well. then there's the possiblity of coming back to london again for a while next year, and not being able to work full-time then either (more about that when decisions have been made...).
so, seems i have an indefinite period of free time lying ahead of me that will likely stretch to months. if anyone has any advice they can offer on how to be unemployed, while retaining one's motivation, energy, regular-ish hours of wakefulness, and not eating six meals a day or spending any money, i'd really like to hear it.
---
of course, having another unemployed person here to hang out with all day makes things a whole lot more fun.
yesterday, i was very hungover following monday night's darren hanlon gig (if you need cheering up, go listen to some dazza). an offer of home-cooked macaroni cheese for lunch presented the perfect solution. and to go with the mac cheese, what else but mtv's incisive, hard-hitting documentary, 'the rise and rise of britney spears'?
delicious comfort food. fabulously trashy tv. could i have any more fun? why yes, yes i could.
( behold, the chef... dressed in theme ) |
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