Long time, no post
Sorry for the long delay.
Things have been a little rough in what is usually my seaside paradise. Part of this is moving into a new and wonderful flat which does increase my necessary spending by about $200 a month. Ouch. I hate worrying about money, but I'm currently living as close to my means as I ever really care to.
Also, I'm supposed to direct a play for a local theater group, but things are not going well. The last play the group did was a financial flop, which totally changes the pressures on their next selection. Only they have a committee with 8 people and 12 opinions, so things are not going well. And I'm getting frustrated with the terrible communication. LE SIGH.
And I've been not-exactly-fighting-but-not-really-getting-along with a coworker. I'll let you guess which one.
And it is fucking autumn. Which means, no more summer. Which means, the waves are really big and the water is getting cold. GRUMPY.
But a few things are looking up. Despite the aforementioned flat/money worries, my flatmates might just be the nicest people in the world. K manages the iSite (tourist information center) in town, has trained as a chef, and travelled the world, so she has an incredible wealth of knowledge about almost everything I'm interested in, though her culinary interests are more Continental while mine are a weird combination of Southeast Asian and American. And she doesn't get angry at me when I forget to do the dishes. (Especially since I clean the bathroom on a pretty regular basis. I hate doing dishes, but I don't mind scrubbing the toilet... yeah, I can't figure it out either.) B, well, the best way I can describe him is to say he is a bloke. He's a big guy, and he likes big cars, rugby, and grilling meat. However, he will tolerate veggie patties on his barbecue, though he isn't sure about grilled mushroom caps stuffed with pesto. I'm going to keep working on that one. Also, I have never, ever, ever seen him eat any fruit or vegetable that isn't a potato, carrot, or some lemon juice squirted on fish. I'm not sure how he doesn't have scurvy or rickets, but I'm pretty sure my med school friends would love to find out. In return for me trying to convince him to take just one bite of some vegan food, he's trying to convince me that cricket isn't the most pointless and boring game ever invented. Neither of us will give up, but I don't think either of us actually expect anything to change.
Also, I've set myself the goal of participating in the Queen Charlotte Classic next spring. Which should renew my focus when it comes to exercise. I've lagged a bit lately, and I haven't been feeling good because of it. Now I just have to learn how to use an open-sea kayak. But, hey, I've got all winter.
Last winter, I started running with a local running club, the Harriers (original, I know), and some of the members have been at me about coming back this year for more races. Yay! They miss having the slowest person there! This was a worry last year.
However, I do need a greater goal for this winter. I've had one for each of the last two winters; the first winter in Christchurch it had to do with writing an essay on Shakespeare that I never did write, but had a lot of fun thinking about. Last winter it was writing my play, which turned into about 5 comedy sketches and some monologues, but was also fun to think about. Also last winter was the joy of learning how to do vegetarian cooking. (Still working on that, though I made a lovely shepherdess pie tonight; I totally didn't follow my recipe and used brown lentils instead of tempeh, and hot damn was it tasty... I'm making it again.) I'm not sure what my project will be this winter, but I need something. until then I'm going to walk around feeling all vaguely discontented. Which isn't good.
Soon to come (and I do mean that): Wellington Internation Ukulele Orchestra review, the best Kiwi movie I've seen in the last two years, and possibly more stories from last New Year's, because I never did talk about R&V; only Baywatch
Things have been a little rough in what is usually my seaside paradise. Part of this is moving into a new and wonderful flat which does increase my necessary spending by about $200 a month. Ouch. I hate worrying about money, but I'm currently living as close to my means as I ever really care to.
Also, I'm supposed to direct a play for a local theater group, but things are not going well. The last play the group did was a financial flop, which totally changes the pressures on their next selection. Only they have a committee with 8 people and 12 opinions, so things are not going well. And I'm getting frustrated with the terrible communication. LE SIGH.
And I've been not-exactly-fighting-but-not-really-getting-along with a coworker. I'll let you guess which one.
And it is fucking autumn. Which means, no more summer. Which means, the waves are really big and the water is getting cold. GRUMPY.
But a few things are looking up. Despite the aforementioned flat/money worries, my flatmates might just be the nicest people in the world. K manages the iSite (tourist information center) in town, has trained as a chef, and travelled the world, so she has an incredible wealth of knowledge about almost everything I'm interested in, though her culinary interests are more Continental while mine are a weird combination of Southeast Asian and American. And she doesn't get angry at me when I forget to do the dishes. (Especially since I clean the bathroom on a pretty regular basis. I hate doing dishes, but I don't mind scrubbing the toilet... yeah, I can't figure it out either.) B, well, the best way I can describe him is to say he is a bloke. He's a big guy, and he likes big cars, rugby, and grilling meat. However, he will tolerate veggie patties on his barbecue, though he isn't sure about grilled mushroom caps stuffed with pesto. I'm going to keep working on that one. Also, I have never, ever, ever seen him eat any fruit or vegetable that isn't a potato, carrot, or some lemon juice squirted on fish. I'm not sure how he doesn't have scurvy or rickets, but I'm pretty sure my med school friends would love to find out. In return for me trying to convince him to take just one bite of some vegan food, he's trying to convince me that cricket isn't the most pointless and boring game ever invented. Neither of us will give up, but I don't think either of us actually expect anything to change.
Also, I've set myself the goal of participating in the Queen Charlotte Classic next spring. Which should renew my focus when it comes to exercise. I've lagged a bit lately, and I haven't been feeling good because of it. Now I just have to learn how to use an open-sea kayak. But, hey, I've got all winter.
Last winter, I started running with a local running club, the Harriers (original, I know), and some of the members have been at me about coming back this year for more races. Yay! They miss having the slowest person there! This was a worry last year.
However, I do need a greater goal for this winter. I've had one for each of the last two winters; the first winter in Christchurch it had to do with writing an essay on Shakespeare that I never did write, but had a lot of fun thinking about. Last winter it was writing my play, which turned into about 5 comedy sketches and some monologues, but was also fun to think about. Also last winter was the joy of learning how to do vegetarian cooking. (Still working on that, though I made a lovely shepherdess pie tonight; I totally didn't follow my recipe and used brown lentils instead of tempeh, and hot damn was it tasty... I'm making it again.) I'm not sure what my project will be this winter, but I need something. until then I'm going to walk around feeling all vaguely discontented. Which isn't good.
Soon to come (and I do mean that): Wellington Internation Ukulele Orchestra review, the best Kiwi movie I've seen in the last two years, and possibly more stories from last New Year's, because I never did talk about R&V; only Baywatch