3 months later ...
Must mean it's time for a telethon. After a very full day I managed to head down to the arena by 4pm. I got there just in time to see Jordan Luck singing In Cashel Street I Wait, which is probably the best known Christchurch song, even if the words are a bit (okay a LOT) odd. Now, he's not my favourite singer but he interacted really well with the crowd and they really loved it. Technically, this was the music I should be most interested in - they were very popular in the early 90s when I was at university (heh, so that tells you how ancient I am), and in fact those were the songs they were singing. But I was there for one reason only - Kids of 88 were playing live. Judging by the teenagers surrounding me (I managed to wiggle my way to the front) I wasn't exactly the expected demographic but I didn't care. They were really great. The sound check was 4 or 5 songs and due to the vagaries of TV their actual set (which was supposed to start at 4.45 but didn't start til something like 5.05) was only one song. But the sound check was fantastic. They did several songs that I know and really love and one that I don't know but suppose is a new one (hopefully from a new album). I've seen them live on TV before and wasn't impressed (though to be fair that was at 6.30 am on a very cold morning and they were outside) but today they were really great. I'm not much interested in telethons as such (far too many memories of conga lines and 'thank you very much for your kind donation' songs and unfunny antics from the old ones in the 80s). But, you know if Kids of 88 were playing I was going to be there :D I have pictures, but LJ isn't interested in letting me put them up right now *glarey eyes at LJ* The telethon is about to end, and the total is pretty amazing for 12 hours fundraising. The final total is $2,500,000+ which is just stunning. To put that in perspective all past telethons we've had have been 24 hour jobs and the last one raised $1.2 million altogether.
In another fundraiser that's running today my good friend in London,lorelaisquared , is climbing all the way to the top of the gherkin building (a whopping 38 floors up, 1037 steps in total). I'm so grateful to her for going out and doing something directly that raised a significant amount of money for the city's recovery. She starts off in an hour or so and I'm sending all the good wishes and support I can her way. It's been an awesome fundraiser and altogether they have raised something over £275,000 (which is roughly twice that in NZ$ I think) - and amazing effort from the other side of the world. Anyway, check out her page at http://www.everydayhero.co.uk/hannahw it explains what it's all about.
I said at the two month point that I hoped that month #3 would be a happier update and I think I've turned that corner now. It's been hard at times, and will continue to be hard I imagine, but I feel happier now somehow. I know we've got a long road ahead and I know it's going to be hard and there will be disappointments. That rumour about QEII being unable to rebuilt because the land is so stuffed is gaining a lot of noise, and has been published in the paper, for example, and if that goes it's going to be extremely hard to deal with. But overall I just feel like eventually it's going to be okay. I went to the Share an Idea thing last weekend and I've signed up for the public workshops next weekend. I just have this feeling like if I do everything I can to have my say then I can complain with a clear conscience about all the things they do 'wrong' :D If I do what I can then it's easier to let go of the rest somehow - being active about it all leaves less room for assuming the worst. If we all do the best we can then it's going to be fine - one day. It may take years, decades even (let's be realistic), but it's like this t-shirt I saw today: 'Never, ever, ever give up'
It's been a long three months (a long nine months if we want to be really specific) but it's getting easier as time goes on. I think the 'new normal' is just becoming part of the fabric of our lives now. A lot of stuff isn't nice or easy, but it's almost become background noise and it takes people from outside mentioning it sometimes for me to even remember we're going through them. That's good, I guess, and the rest of life is almost back to usual. The hubby isn't working full days as yet but for the most part family life is pretty normal (apart from that persistent chemloo thing). Like I said before, I feel mostly positive - and looking back to even one month ago that's a really amazing gift.
In another fundraiser that's running today my good friend in London,lorelaisquared , is climbing all the way to the top of the gherkin building (a whopping 38 floors up, 1037 steps in total). I'm so grateful to her for going out and doing something directly that raised a significant amount of money for the city's recovery. She starts off in an hour or so and I'm sending all the good wishes and support I can her way. It's been an awesome fundraiser and altogether they have raised something over £275,000 (which is roughly twice that in NZ$ I think) - and amazing effort from the other side of the world. Anyway, check out her page at http://www.everydayhero.co.uk/hannahw it explains what it's all about.
I said at the two month point that I hoped that month #3 would be a happier update and I think I've turned that corner now. It's been hard at times, and will continue to be hard I imagine, but I feel happier now somehow. I know we've got a long road ahead and I know it's going to be hard and there will be disappointments. That rumour about QEII being unable to rebuilt because the land is so stuffed is gaining a lot of noise, and has been published in the paper, for example, and if that goes it's going to be extremely hard to deal with. But overall I just feel like eventually it's going to be okay. I went to the Share an Idea thing last weekend and I've signed up for the public workshops next weekend. I just have this feeling like if I do everything I can to have my say then I can complain with a clear conscience about all the things they do 'wrong' :D If I do what I can then it's easier to let go of the rest somehow - being active about it all leaves less room for assuming the worst. If we all do the best we can then it's going to be fine - one day. It may take years, decades even (let's be realistic), but it's like this t-shirt I saw today: 'Never, ever, ever give up'
It's been a long three months (a long nine months if we want to be really specific) but it's getting easier as time goes on. I think the 'new normal' is just becoming part of the fabric of our lives now. A lot of stuff isn't nice or easy, but it's almost become background noise and it takes people from outside mentioning it sometimes for me to even remember we're going through them. That's good, I guess, and the rest of life is almost back to usual. The hubby isn't working full days as yet but for the most part family life is pretty normal (apart from that persistent chemloo thing). Like I said before, I feel mostly positive - and looking back to even one month ago that's a really amazing gift.