oh ho ho HO

Auckland Zoo is getting a pygmy marmoset (or dwarf monkey) next year.

mum's house

Tea and scones and my dear Mama's house on Sunday. She just threw it all together.  Hope you had a marvelous weekend. I had a mum date that was the most "Susie" day ever. We went to the Parnell Festival of Roses, had brunch and then bought some strawberries and fancy bread. While I was lazing with the cat at home, mum made scones. By the way, our phone chat was just the best, Lou-lou-la-lou.

Sent this photo to my friend who works in a very busy television newsroom (from here): 

her: oh my goodness

  his little face!

 me: eeehheee!

15:48 just standing on some cheeseburgers

  that is my kind of art

 her: currently stiffling silent laughs in the newsroom

15:49 me: mua ha ha!

15:51 her: aaand now it's my wallpaper

 me: YES

15:52 her: I want to know what's going on in his head.

  I imagine it's "oohhhweeeeiiirdddwwhhhyyy"

15:55 me: hahahahah!

 her: someone just asked me what's wrong because I had my shirt up over my mouth and my eyes were watering

peas and other things

I love eating frozen peas straight out of the freezer! Another really good thing to do is to smash them with broad beans and pop them on some toasted ciabatta with a wodge of mozzarella. Another thing I feel like eating is ravioli. Like, really good hand-made ravioli from Maria Pia's, covered in sage butter. Dripping in it. I could also go a giant American hot dog, with onions and mustard, cheese, and a medium-to-low quality sausage in the middle. Yesterday I ate the rest of the Gouda that Lou gave me while making a lemon and asparagus risotto, and that was pretty good. I would like some lamb, marinated for hours and cooked on a barbecue. A cheeseburger from a fish and chip shop, cooked on a grill. I had Cocoa Pops for breakfast. I wasn't allowed them when I was little but I figured "Hey! I'm a grown up! I can eat whatever I want!". Take that, Mum. We bought the most incredible honey-cured streaky bacon from the Kerikeri farmers' market on the weekend, it made my fingers smell delicious. The market also had beautiful orange juice - or perhaps a mix of orange and tangerine - which we actually kept a secret from our friends waiting for us back at the bach so we would not have to share. Corn fritters with fresh mozzarella. Vietnamese salad with mint and lemongrass. Mushroom lasagne with bechamel and no tomato. Pizza blanco with Gorgonzola, prosciutto and big basil leaves. 

gosh, it has been a while

Lou is on the Wedding Committee and I'm on the Art in the Dark Committee, so we have both been very busy over the past couple of weeks. I'm going to write about mine later on - once all the photos come back - but if you want to have a look at Art in the Dark, the event in Ponsonby that I helped organise with three of my greatest friends (and lots of other amazing helpers) click here!

Now that Art in the Dark is winding down, I'm starting to work on other more superficial projects: getting my eyebrows threaded; buying foundation; looking for a dress to wear to the Wedding Committee's project in March. I think these Miss Crabb dresses may well be the winners on the day. Which do you think I should get? I'm quite fond of the second one, but then the first looks very versatile and sens-u-aaal. I really, really want to buy one (or both!)so I hope they're not, like, thousands of dollars. 

dance dance revolution

Got far too drunk too early last night. We were dancing in the lounge when - WHOOP - one of the dudes took his shirt off and  - WHOOP - then the other one did, too. The Rolling Stones played on and boy of boy did we twist. Hats were stolen, shoes came off. Don't worry, us girls stayed fully clothed. Today I went round to that house to have a sun bathe and - WHOOP - someone had hung their camera from a light fixture and filmed the entire toplessshakeytwistydance party. It was twenty minutes long and didn't even capture the whole thing. I feel no remorse.

hey LOU, also

I'm re-reading "BALLET!"* 

A breathless thriller of two lovers swept up in a mounting tide of passion and international terror.

*SHOCKINGLY BALLETIC

the look

See this? I made it. As Lou mentioned earlier, about two years ago I spent a year making it. My flatmate found the pattern in a magazine. It meant learning how to cross stitch but I did it. I was doing Honours at the time and would cross stitch on the bus, or while watching tv, or when I was meant to be writing essays. Once, I cross stitched it while watching Pride and Prejudice. I spent more money than is rational on embroidery thread. I found a pretty cushion cover in the Sallies, washed it, attached the cross stitch to it, made a black velvet border and tied bows on each corner. I gave it to one of my oldest friends (the one who the Mr Darcy obsession began with) for Christmas that year and when she opened it all she said was: "You win. YOU WIN". The bows have mostly fallen off because she hugs it so much. Notice the way I attempted to make him resemble a devotional icon with the golden rays emanating from his head. I have seen other Mr Darcy cross stitches on the internet but I have never seen this one's equal. 

in the dark

Do you guys know that I'm helping to organise an art event called Art in the Dark?

Its an amazing thing. We've challenged artists to create works that touch on the themes of community, environment and utopias, and they're going to be presented in Ponsonby's Western Park over two nights in October. The artworks will explore those themes while addressing more practical considerations: light, mobility, night, and conservation.

western park

There are five of us on the Art in the Dark team and we're all relative novices at organising light-art festivals (surprise!)But that isn't really a problem; people are generally happy to help us when we ask for advice or an expert eye. The Art in the Dark team are all friends. We're also all girls, and we're all about the same age. We meet after work, have a glass of wine and some chips in a cafe with our laptops out, plotting our next move. Or else we'll go to one of our houses for a shared dinner or brunch and work while we eat. We surreptitiously work on it while at our "real jobs". 

our pre-launch

Somehow, we've managed to create things like sponsor-packs, budgets, websites, artist workshops, and pop-up events; we've even given  interviews to magazines, newspapers and radio, presentations at community centres and at council meetings. We have actors, sculptors, cyclists, designers, poets, dancers, installations artists, musicians and film makers creating works for Art in the Dark, and all for free. We even have a (tiny) presence at Semi-Permanent. Art in the Dark has grown beyond our expectations, and it is so exciting.

that's us

If you're in Auckland on the 15th and 16th of October, you should come to Western Park and wander through the trees with a lantern in hand. 

The entry to our launch. Pretty, no?

Photos by Hans E Hammonds.

happy monday lou!

Don't you love it when you're walking home late at night and a song comes on and sweeps you up? One that swells further and further to a tipping point before crashing down? That just happened to me, walking home after too many wines. I crossed the road and had to walk down the median strip in the middle of the road, headlights on either side, listening to A Sunday Smile, of course.

so charming

Look, its PACEY. He's being charming and is reading aloud from Dawson's Creek scripts at Pacey Con 2010.* He played "I Don't Wanna Wait" on a tiny CD player. He's even wearing a Pacey shirt. He handed out Dawson's Creek fan fiction he wrote himself to his fans. Can you imagine the joy I would have felt, had I wandered past? WHY ISN'T HE MY BOYFRIEND?
Pictures from ontd.


*apparently it was for a funny or die skit but I don't care, its still awesome and I bet it was all his idea, because he's PACEY.

speechless, really

chip chip chip chip chip

Sorry to tirade you with posts about my life which only Lou will care about BUT look at this photo of my family's new kitten. His name is Chip! I wanted to call him Rudy but my sisters said no. This photo was taken around the time that he had the, err, snip? Apparently he wept a single tear, but afterwards was fine. Anyway, just LOOK AT HIS LITTLE FACE.

my dear it seems to me you're in a muddle

The last twenty four hours have been inspiring and incredibly moving. Now I feel (to quote Mr Emerson, my current hero from fiction) like I'm in a muddle. A very good one, though. The bottom image is from "Telematic Dreaming", a truly beautiful artwork and concept which has captivated me for years. The other is of the CAVE, a similarly fascinating art-invention. Furthermore, you should listen to Phoenix covering "Playground Love" on NPR's tiny desk concerts today. My word of the day is "winsome".

figaro!

Today was the first day of rehearsals for our latest opera, The Marriage of Figaro.
I love the first day the most - when all the disparate strands of the production come together for the first time. And there is nothing (NOTHING) like hearing some of the most beautiful singing imaginable while you work...



So exciting! Those aren't our singers, obviously!

spoken word

This article from the New York Times, about a father who read to his daughter every night for years and years and years is the sweetest thing I've read in ages.

"In those nine-plus years, they survived many close calls. When Kristen was still in elementary school, her father and older sister went to Washington. “The phone rings at 10:45 at the hotel and it’s Kristen,” Mr. Brozina recalled. “She says, ‘Dad, we forgot The Streak!’ Fortunately, I always travel with several books and we read right then and there.”

the sound of my brain exploding

JUST SAW LADY GAGA LIVE AND IT WAS AMAZING!!!

IT WAS THE BEST CONCERT EVER.

a view from up high

I have a huge obsession with flying. Not in my dreams, or like a bird, but on a plane, I love it. I get this incredible giddy feeling in my chest during take off, bursting capsules if you will.

I love the views from the sky and I love the tiny ice crystals that form on the windows if you fly long enough, or high enough, or overnight, I'm not entirely sure.

I saw this film on the weekend, Up in the Air. It was alright. It was basically a George Clooney vehicle and was almost exactly what I expected and I was really, really glad that he didn't score the young girl at the end (it's not a plot that one should worry about having spoiled, but sorry just in case).

My three favourite things about the movie were these:

1. The opening credits. They very nicely depict exactly what it is I love about pressing my forehead against those tiny plastic windows. A few months ago I flew into Melbourne on a glorious sunny afternoon and was so amazed by the view. It's a vast and sprawling city I live in, and with the tiniest crop of tall buildings popping up right in the middle. It's real life scale models, tilt-shift, I love it. Watch the whole sequence here

2. Danny McBride aka KENNY POWERS was in it (and Melanie Lynskey, NZ pride).

3. The soundtrack was surprisingly good.

one night stand

Best Weekend Ever!

In the wee hours of Saturday morning I flew out to Auckland for two of my bestest friends' engagement party, it was so much fun!! I got to experience the joys of international travel with only carry on! I didn't even take a pair of flats (eat your heart out sea of shoes)! I had a blast 'DJ'ing and dirty dancing with my beautiful friend Natalie and drank far too much chamagne. Actually, too much bubbles, not enough champagne... Someone told me I look tanned! I got to see so many of my favourite people all in one place and also made some new friends! My feet hurt! I'm exhausted! But it was worth it, thanks so much to the lovely Kate and Scott for such a wonderful party, and as usual the hospitality, and now I CAN'T WAIT for the wedding!

xxx