Did a bit of an flist cut.

I've been using LJ mostly to follow only a few blogs, specifically those of some more established friendships. So, I've cut people I don't really talk to much, or whose blogs I don't read much.

If you've been removed, this is in no way person. You're still an awesome person, else I wouldn't have added you in the first place. However I've added many people in order to get to know them (mostly mates of mates), but haven't managed this, usually due to time constraints meaning I skim my friends page and only really pay attention to the entries more established friends.

If you think I've cut you by mistake, give me a comment and I'll re-add you. Grazie :)

FRIENDS ONLY

Comment to be added.

I only really add people I already know though.

(And I never add Chievo or Juventus fans.)

Apparently, I don't update enough.

So here's a picture of me in a chicken suit.

(More pictures on my Facebook album... including an adorable one of me and two kids! Aww...)


Now that I have your attention...

New userpic is for Mischa. And her alone. Everyone else can just squint and pretend it's a picture of a cat with a humorous caption. Probably my cat Shah standing by my grill with the caption "GET YER TITS OFF MY HOT PLATE!" Which is appropriate because even if that WAS the new userpic, Mischa would still be the only one to get the reference. I'm mean like that.

Everyone should join nowhiringdjs. Happy now Zoe? I promoted your enjoyable community. Now give me back my kidneys.

( Randomosity aside, here's how my last few days have been )


Organise your safe tribal war
Hurt maim kill and enslave the ghetto

So, today I got to see the collective media orgasm inducer that is David Beckham, AND I got to have my photo taken with several Phoenix players.

And yet the pic I choose for this entry is me with winzig , because she's too cute to not show off ;)

I look awful though. Hockey hair, terrible moustache, and my eyes half closed thanks to the sun? HISSS!

Wellingtonians, please forgive me by the way - that's not the top of a Wellington Hurricanes jersey. It's the top of a Los Angeles Galaxy jersey.

Am I traitor? A turncourt? Am I cheering for LA to beat the Phoenix?

If you REALLY had to think about that question, you obivously don't know me well.

I bought the top as a memory, and I wear it because it's awesome. I deliberately got the yellow one instead of the blue or white because yellow = Wellington. That, and it was cheaper.

I hope Beckham scores the only goal against the Phoenix, and the 'nix more than make up for it. I bleed black and yellow. PHOENIX TIL I DIE!


(but I'll be cheering for the Galaxy next MLS season. Sister-club kind of thing.)
---

So anyway, my day today has been AWESOME. Started off with Mischa asking me out for lunch - nothing special other than the company, we had Burger King haha - then after I dropped her off at her work, walked all the way from the CBD to the airport. Legs hurt part one.

When in the airport, went to the arrivals lounge to get ready. While searching for a good place to stand, a member of the Galaxy staff saw my top, said hi and asked me a few questions. As in, a proper media interview. I stuttered and stammered and looked like a twat, and I kinda told him I'm from Seattle (I said Seattle was "my area" when I meant that I support Pacific Northwest sports teams). But that's life.

The arrival was tops - there was a traditional powhiri (a Maori welcoming ceremony) , followed by speeches from the mayor and the respective club presidents of each team. When the 'nix chairman, Terry Serepisos, took to the podium, some blokeused the silence to yell out "YOU LOOK GOOD BECKHAM!" Terry turned around and said "What about me?" Haha.

The Galaxy repaid the favour for the powhiri by singing "Olé, olé olé olé!" as a joke, which we all loved, then Beckham went around signing autographs. I tried to get my Galaxy top signed, but no luck. It was pretty aggressive too, there was a teenage girl who tried pushing me out of the way, but FAIL!

After that, I walked back home, this time taking the scenic route...climbing Mount Victoria. Legs hurt part two. Got some awesome photos though.

Finally, there was the members only pre-sale function at the club store. I'm broke until...well, tommorow, but I had NO MONEY so I was basically window shopping and drinking free coke. But best of all? Six Phoenix players came along - Greg Draper, Jacob Spoonley, Jeremy "Plodder" Christie, Tim Brown (who came a bit later), and two of my favourites - Costa Barbarouses (Wellingtonian teenager who was a star for Raf's team last season), and TONY LOCHHEAD! (Our best D-man, he played for New England and is from Tauranga, like me!)

Me and Plodder had a good laugh, after shaking eveyones hand:

JC: "You have a good firm handshake, Robb!"
RG: "Wrist exercises mate"
JC: "Oh, I BET you do!"
RG: "Well of course, I'm a goal keeper. What did you think I meant?"

I made several of my idols crack up laughing. How good is that?

After that, Tim Brown arrived and stopped to have a chat with me and some other guys. To have the vice captain of the Phoenix (not to mention vice captain of New Zealand!) engage in conversation with his fans is just class. We're really taken care of by this club, it's awesome.

I've not got a team photo poster signed by the aforementioned six(I had one already, but not signed) and their signatures on a postcard in addition to having Stephen O'Dor's signature on another poster.

I'll show you guys how awesome my room is once I get around to cleaning up.

PS Todays song is a kiwi classic...that we're using as a chant against Beckham, because his wife is named Victoria. BWAHAHA.

Go 'Nix.


Victoria, what do you want from him? Want from him?
Victoria, what do you see in him? See in him?

Sondage#1096513 Robb should...
Ouvert à : Tous, résultats détaillés visibles par : Tous, participants: 1

Hair

Facial hair

What should I wear to the Beckham match?

I don't know what makes me the most excited about December 1st.

Is it getting to see the Phoenix take on the Los Angeles Galaxy and David Beckham?

Or is it that I *finally* get to shave off my damn moustache!

Now in the hustle and bustle of this month, what with work, moving, school and lacrosse, I never actually mentioned much of my participation in Movember.

Along with several other Yellow Fever members, I've been growing a moustache over the month of November as part of an international campaign to raise awareness of men's health issues, as well as fund raising to help combat prostate cancer.

As such, I've gotten no sponsors (my fault) but it's not too late! If you wish to make a donation to the Prostate Cancer Foundation of New Zealand, go to Movember.com, click "Sponsor" and for the rego number, use 66067.

I was originally going to do a weekly progress thing, but a mate broke my camera and I've only just been able to get my replacement. But that's probably for the best considering how bad my mo is.

"Did you only start Movember last week, Robb?"
"No, I only started puberty last week"

And remember blokes, get your prostate checked, no matter how...unpleasant it is...



Now he's trying the whole day / to switch off time by causing train-delay

BWAHAHAHA

England.

BWAHAHAHAHAHA



Okay, now that that's ov....wait..there's still a bit left.

BUAHAHAHAHA

Okay, now that that's over, I'm gonna tell you how awesome yesterday was.

There's nothing really better than being at the football with mates. Usually it's just me and Mayank, sometimes Lorna or Jaspreet will come along, but along with Mayank I dragged along Ben from Gecko, Robbie E (1_5_15671) who was down from Auckland, and the lovely Mimo (winzig) who I finally had the pleasure of meeting in person that day (Note - She's cuter in real life! Never thought it possible! ;) haha)

We all went to the Ring of Fire to catch the All Whites (NZ national football team) kick Vanuatu's arses, to support NZ's REAL sporting heroes (All Blacks, psht) and to just have an awesome time in general.

Unfortunately we were only joined by 2500 others (TERRIBLE crowd), mostly on account of lack of advertising, but those who were there made it count (including the three Vanuatuans...Vanuatans...Vanuatians....people from Vanuatu)

We shouted, we cheered, we chanted, we sung, the typical kind of awesomeness that makes the atmosphere at Wellington football matches so special.

Even with such a small group, we were loud enough to dominate the radio, and clear enough to be heard perfectly by the stretcher carriers.

We won 4-1. HELLS YEAH.

I'll be seeing Mayank again on Sunday, Mimo again on Sunday, and Robbie sometime before he goes back to JAFA-land. One hella awesome day.

Now everyone else on my friends list, get your butts down to Wellington to come hang out with me. Especially you.

...Oh, and I moved into a new apartment. I'd tell you my address, but the flying men are watching. WHERE ARE THE FLYING MEN?! THE BIRDMEN ARE COMING!!!

Psht. England. BWAHAHAHA.

PS - AIM users can now add me - ForzaGialloneri

I'm the Master of my Wheel of my very own Wheel / Universal and recurrent

So yeah, turns out I'm not as shit as I thought I was when it came to lacrosse. In fact, I feel I actually deserve the title "the best lacrosse goalie in Wellington" rather than having it by default.

Couldn't sleep the night before my flight, so ended up staying up panicking to Jessie and Alie over MSN. Showed up to the airport with caffeine sickness, an ear infection, and lack of sleep. For the first time in my life, I felt air sick. Quite an achievement when you remember I grew up on an airbase. Other than that, I still had a blast (I *LOVE* flying, it's my guilty pleasure), and getting to see the Ring of Fire from the air made my day!

Landed at Auckland Airport and, while I love airports, I couldn't stand trying to escape from this one. Rather than pay $15 to get a lift into town on an Aitport shuttle, I thought I'd walk out, find a public bus, and spend $14 on a day pass that would take me everywhere all day. Well, there are no public buses at the airport. LAME. So I had to cough up. Went to catch a shuttle from one of the two bus stops the airport signs incorrectly indicated. The bus driver corrected me, pointed at the correct stop (less than ten feet away), drove there, and rather than wait three seconds for me, drove off.

At the same stop, he told a woman that we had to wait on the exact corner of the stop, then drove off as she moved there. What. An. Ass.

Eventually got a ride from another shuttle, then spent the rest of the day walking around the city. I took quite a few pics but unfortunately by camera got damaged so it'll be a little while until I recover them.

I ended up stumbling across Auckland University, which I found rather weird, but not in a bad way. They accepted me for a BSc in Sport and Exercise Science when I was too young to get automatic entrance, and yet didn't have proper qualifications to get in. I got a conditional acceptance from the course staff on account of the impression I made with them and my background in sports studies. I ended up choosing their rival AUT though as they had a program in conjunction with Bay of Plenty Polytechnic, where I had been studying at the time, and as such could stay at the same place, live at home, and earn my degree. I also almost went there this year - it was my second choice after Vic, but after meeting Kristy last new years it almost became my first choice. I was oh, so very close to moving to Auckland to pursue a relationship with her, but the only thing that stopped me was fear - last time I changed my life for a woman was you-know-whore, and most of you know how awful that turned out. While this could be construed as me still letting YKW control my life, it worked out well as I love being a Wellingtonian, even if I do miss Kristy haha.

Went down to Papakura for the first match, where we bet Waikato-Papakura Pirates. It was a very scrappy match, but we all put in a great effort to get the win. I did a decent job, I was happy with how I played but felt that I'd need to do better. I'd give myself a C or C-.

The next day, we lost to Harbour Hawks, and I did okay again, probably a C+. Took a break, and then we played Eastern Chiefz, where I put on a freakin' clinic! I actually put out a good performance! B+ or A- even! The whole team did well, we came from behind to win a close, hard fought game, and it will ALWAYS be the best lacrosse game of my life. It was so good, Tamaki Titans asked me to play for them straight after, which I accepted...and we beat...HARBOUR HAWKS! Buahaha so good. They even tried to pull the trick they used to score on me twice while playing for the Swarm, but I managed to stop it this time around. I wish I could have swapped the results around and had that match be a Swarm win, naturally, but I had a great time and I'm now something of a Tamaki Titans fan. Even though straight after, I was asked to play for ANOTHER team, Waikato-Papakura! We lost to the Wildcats, but I still put on a decent performace albeit while dehydrated and knackered.

The next day we had a training session under the tutelage of Mark Freemon, the national team coach! The fact that he took time out for us is massive considering how busy he is, and it was really a privelage to have him. Since I'm not going back home straight away, it was also my last training session with Ben, who's heading off to Perth for a year. Best of luck buddy!

I'm now in Tauranga at my parents house, all beat up and knackered haha, but satisfied I had a good tournament. I'm going to keep playing lacrosse, even if it is somewhat against doctors orders, but scale back a little bit yet do what I can.

Your friends all complain that you're going insane / But the truth is they're just afraid
Hey somewhere / You threw your fear in the Sea of No Cares

The worst thing about losing all my RSS feeds thank to my hard drive dying a few weeks back (Dear HP - Die in a fire) is I forget which ones I subbed to orignally, and when finding them again, realised i missed gem's like this from a few weeks ago:

"Apologies for the absence, during which I appear to have missed the Phoenix’s best win to date. I’ve been on holiday in England, which is living in a strange sporting universe at present. There is precious little football going on, because of the international break, and instead it has temporarily become a nation of rugby supporters.

But don’t worry. They’ll be over it by next week and it’ll be another four years before anyone remembers that England has such a thing as an international rugby team. That’s in stark contrast to New Zealand, where it’s only once every four years that we realise we haven’t got an international rugby team. "

BWAHAHA. Hilarious.

Speaking of football, today on the way to lacrosse practice, I bought some shinpads to give me some extra protection for the tourney and also to use should I take up football next season, as me and my buddy Ben are hoping to. For once, they weren't made in China! Instead, they were made in...CHELSEA!? WTF? BOOOOOOOO!!!! Freaking Chelski... (I'm a Fulham supporter when it comes to English football, and Chelsea is our local rival haha)

After that, I got some pasta from the La Famiglia cart outside the Fever Lounge, and had the pleasure of meeting the guy who runs it - Raf de Gregorio, who plays for Team Wellington (our other local football team in the NZ competition), the All Whites (NZ's national team) and formerly the Football Kingz (predecessor of the NZ Knights, who folded last year leaving room for the A-League to expand to Wellington, leading to the Phoenix!). Had a great chat about football, lacrosse, NZ, Italy, stuff like that. I took the chance to practice my Italiano and he only had to correct my pronunciation once, which isn't too bad IMHO.

Then I went to lacrosse practice, the final one before the tourney and the only one I've been able to make over the last couple of weeks - which is a shame because even though other players announced they'd be there today, I was the only one there. LAME. They probably changed the location and didn't tell me - heck, they started Wednesday practices and didn't tell me anyway. So I'm gonna evaluate how long I stay in the tournament. The other goalie might be coming up, and I earlier offered to step aside and play midfield or something for a match so he can get some game time too. The only reason why I decided to go to the tournament was because I was flying up anyway and I didn't want to let them down, even though I've been all but ordered by my doctors to quit weeks ago, but if they're going to treat me like this then I don't see any reason to continue after the first match, the only one they'll need me for if the other goalie comes up. Either way, I'm quitting after the tourney.

Anyways...JAFAS! Here's the sitrep on me coming up.

This Friday, my flight arrives at 0930. Our first exhibition game it at 1730 that night. Tournament is on Saturday, at Bruce Pullman Park in Papakura. We play the Harbour Hawks at 1300, and the Eastern Chiefz at 1515. Our second and last exhibition match is at 1100 on Sunday. I have no info on the venues or opposition for the exhibition matches. I'll be going to Tauranga on Sunday night, either before or after the Phoenix match away at Adelaide, which means I'll need to find a bar in either city that'll play the football.

The week after, I'm coming up on Friday again for my brothers kempo competition, and will be up until Sunday, I think we're staying on the North Shore - if so, 1_5_15671, where's a good pub? :P

So anyways, Aucklanders, Taurangites, this is your chance to see me haha I hope to hang out with as many people as possible. And hopefully I'll be around for when Shelly gives birth, exciting stuff!

Ciao4now

...never for money, always for love, cover up and say goodnight...

This is for il mio amore, Mrs Gialloneri aka raven22, who didn't get to see the best goal the Maple Leafs will score this season! ;)

(GO SENS)

Now I'm gonna take a nap, then make myself PIZZA for lunch, then go to the calcio. FORZA PHOENIX! Central Coast is going DOWN.

Me sleep now


We each retreat to the corner that's defined by you / To the ring to the right point of...

It's quarter past four in the morning, I am sick with a throat infection, I am the most nauseous I have ever been since my scuba diving days, I have a long exhausting day ahead of me trying to contribute to Gecko's aim of collecting 4000 more signatures for the Hector's and Maui's dolphin campaign, and I'm working on a herpetology assignment that I dreaded starting out of how difficult it is to get any work done with my condition (hence the hour for a relatively easy assignment). Since we weren't allowed to do my favorite herp, namely, the majestic Tuatara, I consulted the IUCN and and because of this I am probably the only person in this hemisphere using Elgaria panaminta as an ecology case study. It's a rare lizard that only lives in a small part of California. And the more and more I work on the assignment, the more and more I think that choosing Ecology & Biodiversity is the best decision I've made in my entire life, only rivaled by breaking up with you-know-whore, choosing to move to Wellington instead of Auckland, and buying a Wellington Phoenix FC season pass without ever having watched a football match in my life.

And the complete opposite of my worst decisions - sticking with you-know-whore for so long, persisting in driving home when I knew an attack was coming on, and choosing "scuba diving" as my NatCert Outdoor Rec major :P

Anyways, so you know what I'm ranting on about, here's E. panaminta, the Panamint Alligator Lizard




As for Tuatara...well, personally I find very few species as adorable as members of the Sphenodon genus, and that's not just my Kiwi pride shining through (especially since I'm only half NZer). So what could be cuter than a Sphendon punctatus? How about....BABY TUATARA!




I really find the little buggers cute haha Maybe I should consider a career in herpetology? Mind you, most of that will be centered around me and my loved ones clarifying "No, that's not what herpetology is about, it's the study of reptiles and amphibians, NOT genital warts!"

For those who don't know BTW, Victoria University does a lot of work on Tuatara conservation, and we even have an on-campus enclosure! MY ALMA MATER IS A ZOO! haha I visit the sphendons every day and know two of them by name - one I've touched in herpetology class, SO COOL.

Anyways, I got you a present...click here for a whole page full of baby alligator photos! There is NOTHING cuter than a baby alligator! Except raven22, and strider7901 if she isn't wearing makeup (injoke)

Now I'm gonna finish my assignment with a spring in my step....err...a spring in my mouse click?...oh wait, no mouse....umm....

LOOK BEHIND YOU! IT'S A BABY ALLIGATOR!





...Seem to vanish like a gamblers lucky streak / When were out together dancing cheek to cheek

Now that I've got your attention...

Mrs Lustofapioneer (raven22) has tagged me to name ten things that make me happy, so lest I sleep on the virtual couch, here we go.

1. The Phoenix, DUH! As if anything else could come first. As I myself shouted outside the stadium : "I CARE MORE ABOUT FOOTBALL THAN MY MARRIAGE!" (referring to the failed engagement you-know-whore, of course, not the future engagement to Mandy haha). All the on-field and off-field success is AWESOME. So looking forward to the match against Los Angeles - one third of capacity tickets were presold before they even went on sale! (season ticket holders and VISA card users)

2. Argentina's success in the Rugby World Cup. I've been a Pumas fan for years (I was rooting for them to be added when Super 12 expanded back in 2005), and have lived with their underrated status for all that time, so right now it's sweet sweet redemption. Even if we don't beat South Africa, we'll still be either 3rd of 4th giving us our best ever record! That being said, I'll be cheering my lungs out against South Africa (even with me moving there in 2010!)

3. Uni is FREAKING AWESOME. I've mathematically passed BIOL132 already so anything else I get is just bonus credit. I've passed my internals on BIOL114 so I can sit my exam, all I need to do now is pass that.

4. I'm doing really well with cooking lately. Lots of yummy Italian food. I'm sick so I'm just keeping things simple, I had gnocchi in a quattro formaggio sauce the other day, and today i'm having sausages and bread but might also have some pasta in a red sauce as well.

5. Insanity Prawn Boy rocks my world. I WANT CONDOMS! Buahahaha

6. Found some headphones at the disability study rooms, so yesterday while waiting for my Gecko meeting to start, I just plugged them in and chilled out to Bob Marley. Hell yes. Great way to unwind after my endocrinology/immunology test

7. Minus. Could it be, a G rated comic that is awesome?

8. Listening to as many different versions of "Baby, It's Cold Outside" as I can get my hands on.

9. Me and Mayank are going to the Rugby League test on Sunday, HELL YEAH. Naturally, I'm going dressed as Reg Reagan, for the second time I've gone in costume as him haha

10. My fishy tagged me first before anyone else, BUAHAHAHA


...O que a mente não faz questão /E nem tem forças para obedecer...

My laptop has been fixed!

Now, I could provide detailed commentary on how useless HP are, or on the rugby results (All Blacks losing to France, Argentina beating Scotland...)

BUT I WON'T

NOT UNTIL YOU EAT YOUR CARROTS NOT UNTIL YOU EAT YOUR GREEN BEANS

Biatch.

I am surrounded by awesomeness

- Friday test for BIOL132 - I aced it! Don't have the mark yet but I only needed 4% overall to pass the paper, and I managed to answer almost everything confidently. I reckon it should be at least a C+, which isn't my best, but that module wasn't a good fortnight for me either (health crash AGAIN, dammit).

- Had a "date" that night. Felt nervous as hell, I haven't had a date since I started going out with TC, who along with FL is the only real relationship I've ever had (I've had heaps of girlfriends that were either glorified one night stands, or only lasted a short time and was very little emotional attachment, and you-know-whore no longer counts in my eyes). It wasn't a date per se, but two new friends dressing up and going to a nice restaurant. I managed to slip that I was hoping it would end up as a date and she smiled, no protest, so I'm taking that as a good sign. Fingers crossed things will go well.

- Start of the Wellington Marine Bio Blitz! Had effectively six hours of study at the opening ceremony haha. Had five or so public lectures from area scientists, including people from NIWA and the university. Good network\ing, managed to impress a biology professor, made a few friends, and had a lot of fun. The WWF set up a booth for their Hectors and Maui's dolphin campaign (http://www.stoptheirextinction.org.nz) but the people they sent to staff it weren't WWF workers, but volunteers who (while very friendly and helpful) knew very little on the subject, so I ended up doing their job for them while they went out and did field work (They took back over when I went into the field) and managed to collected another 40 or so signatures, as well as educate a lot of people on it. I'll do an essay on the topic on here (Livejournal/Facebook) soon, I have one written up but need to edit it a bit first.

- PHOENIX HAD THEIR FIRST WIN AT HOME! We *demolished* Perth Glory 4-1. My boy Tony Lochhead scored, which is always a plus, and Glen Moss (my favorite player once you ignore the Bay of Plenty bias I have re: Lochhead) played an excellent game save for the soft goal Perth were LUCKY to get. So much fun, how did I celebrate? Got a text from a flatmate asking me to pick up toilet paper on the way home. I always avoid plastic bags, either using a backpack or the re-usibles they sell, but since I had neither on me I just walked home from the stadium carrying 12 pack of toilet paper. Got lots of ribbing from other fans, stuff like "You've got a great night planned!" I just responded for "I got it for the people of Perth, because their football team is shit!" Went home and had a glass of cabernet sauvignon with chocolate as a modest actual celebration

- ARGENTINAAAAAA!!!! :D Bet Ireland. I'm Irish on my moms side, but still, I'm a huge Pumas fan. Quarter final against Scotland next Monday, which is sweeet because Scotland had to beat Italy (fathers side) to do it...and did so by 2 points. I missed that game because of the bio blitz, but also missed the Argentina match because I was so knackered. I'll buy it online if I have to, I'm gonna watch it!

- Last unit for BIOL132 (Conservation and Biodiversity). Two weeks of herpetology. We have an ASSIGNMENT instead of a test. Since all I can really do is learn more and build upon and existing pass, an assignment is hella easier. I can probably get an overall B pass this way! :D Anyways, the module (Herpetology) is run buy one of my favourite lecturers. She spent twenty minutes lecturing and then the next twenty minutes we actually got to see and hold some native skinks! It gets better....THEY'RE BRINGING IN A TUATARA!!!!

Now I better get to class. Ciao4now

I GOT 83% ON MY MOST RECENT ECOLOGY TEST

Because of my new medication, this is my first test where I haven't had my illness play a massive hampering effect.

This is my true ability.

If I make every lecture and study without my illness getting in the way, I can get an 83%

The Nortriptyline isn't perfect, but it helps me get results.

At this rate, I'm going to South Africa.

I know what I'm capable of.

Nothing is going to stop me.

I had a massive attack today when studying for BIOL114. My worst in a long time. I almost couldn't hide it. Imagine feeling the most afraid you've ever been in your entire life, then having an asthma attack. That's what it feels like. I still need to get past it. But I've done it. I did it for this module, I can do it for any module.

I was lucky to have minimal affect for those two weeks. These last two weeks have been awful, but I'm gonna do my best to get back on the horse.

Sorry Maury, I'm not a gymnast?*

STUFF THAT. HI-HO, SILVER!

Now sod off, I gotta study

(strider7901... BUTTS LMAO)



*It's funnier because I used to be a male model.

I'm going to drop my teaching degree and aim to finish my BSc (Ecology & Biodiversity) in 2009. That way, I can do an exchange year in South Africa in 2010 for a Masters in Conservation Biology, DURING THE 2010 FIFA WORLD CUP, IN A WORLD CUP MATCH HOSTING CITY! HELL YEAH!

football football football football FOOTBALL (aka soccer but really FOOTBALL)

And be back in New Zealand in time for the 2011 Rugby World Cup. HOW CONVENIENT.

Cross your fingers the All Whites qualify for 2010 and play their matches at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium

In other news, I'M FAMOUS...kinda.

Firstly...the Green Party of New Zealand's blog mentioned "protesters" walking from Oriental Parade. I prefer the term "activists" as we didn't protests, all we did is collect petition signatures. AND LOTS OF THEM. Part of this involved having someone walk around in a dolphin costume caught up in fishing nets. And for a short period, that was me. Yes, you can see it now, lustofapioneer walking around the famous Lambton Quay in a dolphin costume. We also scared the bejeezus out of the receptionists at the Ministry of Fisheries. A bunch of people wearing WWF uniforms, one in a dolphin suit caught up in fishing line, two holding pictures of mutilated dolphins, asking to speak to someone regarding the new plans regarding the Hectors and Maui's dolphin. They called down a manager while pondering calling security. Much to their surprise, we THANKED the manager for all the hard work the Ministry has done, while also urging them to take further action to prevent their extinction. Co-operation is a GOOD thing. Which is why Greenpeace radicalists suck :P

PS: I didn't go to Parliament with everyone else. Me and one other went to the town hall to collect signatures, and got HEAPS. Lucky I knew my facts too because these people, while the nicest, were also the most inquisitive. Which is a good thing. These people, be they skeptical or merely interested, not only helped an important campaign but also learnt more about the ecology of NZ's native dolphins thanks to me. Because I rock. And now, they're more likely to help and tell others to help. Yes, I do rock, we've already been over this!
PPS: http://www.stoptheirextinction.org.nz
PPPS: You're a PPPS:

Secondly, I WAS ON TV! Sure, it was cable TV (Sky Sports), and it was only a cameo shot, but still! If you watch this video clip, you can see me walk past the camera at approximately 6:15. I'm wearing a beanie, the Phoenix kit, and my glasses. I look really, REALLY dorky...but it's me so MEH. This is the second time I've been on TV, the first was more blatant - an upper body shot of me playing air guitar haha I was like, 7, at my primary school eisteddford. The second shot was a classmate of mine yawning. Fun times.

In awesome news, I met a girl. She's very lovely. Problem is, I'm now taking a different approach, one that involves trying to start a relationship instead of "tap it and gap it". Yes, I've given up on sluthood. I'd like to start a proper relationship for a change. Hopefully we might be seeing each other this week on a quasi-date (we haven't used that word yet) and hopefully she'll give me a chance to be more than just a friend, but DAMN am I nervous :S I haven't had a serious relationship in a year, and that was somewhat of a rebound (With TC. I loved her, but I still loved Laura which kinda shut things down). Other than that it's only been Laura and FL, and of course raven22 haha. So yeah, nervous. When I organised the first date I was smooth, second time I talked about it I was all jittery. DAMMIT. Hopefully it'll happen, I don't want to bug her lest I drive her away. Something I tend to do in PLATONIC relationships, guh, stupid social fuckupery...

I got rid of Cammy the Camry, my third car. My first was Super Beast, a Mazda 323 that I gave to my mom in exchange for my second car, the Shaggin' Wagon, a Subaru Legacy that will always be my first love when it comes to cars. I loved this car more than most girlfriends. I still love it more than a certain ex fiancee, which is ironic because even though the Legacy was a second hand, decade-old station wagon, less people had been inside it! BUAHAHAHA.

Anyway, my third car (after I *sniff* wrote off the Legacy) was Cammy. My flatmate RS reckons "Christine" would be a better name. Seriously, Cammy was haunted. She broke down more than a hormonal woman would while watching movies about healthy people falling in love with cancer patients, children dying of starvation, and diaryofadrongo's sex life.

(No offense to any woman or Tim, I just couldn't help but make the joke)

BTW, we got Cammy cheap. Because a murder-suicide occured in the back seat. So there IS cause for it to be cursed. Spoooooky!


Now I gots to go study (aka go buy a bottle of red wine to go with his tricolore pasta in a red sauce and scotch fillet cooked in Australian herbs, why yes I am a good cook)

G'day mates!

I'm looking at maybe going back home for the first time in ELEVEN FREAKING YEARS! :-O Specifically, I want to fly to Melbourne to watch the Wellington Phoenix play them in January, and maybe spend a day or two back in New South Wales - namely checkingn out Nowra again for nostalgia and spending a day in Sydney to make my mom (who's originally from there) jealous haha. I'll probably be relying on Australian friends to put me up (couch surfing is no problem for me, I don't need a spare bed haha) so if anyone is keen to have me around next year lemme know!

PS HELL YEAH PHOENIX! 2-1 OVER SYDNEY FC!

NZ students get US visa boost

GREAT SUCCESS!

I've been considering doing postgrad study in the USA (if I can get the scholarship to do so), but if that's not an option I can now do a years work over there. Working in a place as ecologically diverse as the US would be awesome for my career, not to mention the networking possibilities!

But this also means the yanks on here will have to put up with me. Mostly Mil, because I'd be looking at somewhere west coast. Portland or San Diego maybe.

In other news, FUCK THE WELSH

(If you know which song my subject is from, you get a cookie. Unless you're welsh. And no, it's not the one on my music)

PS Yesterday was the 5th anniversary of me meeting Laura. That's 25% of her life. Of course, I'm celebrating that it's NOT the 5 year anniversary of our relationship. I'm lucky to be rid of her. Oh, and the Phoenix lost 0-1 yesterday. Which hurt FAR MORE. And led me to scream "I CARE MORE ABOUT FOOTBALL THAN MY FAILED MARRAIGE" at the top of my lungs outside the Ring of Fire

It's 6AM and yet at least a million NZers (a quarter of the population) are up early. Why?

IT'S MOTHER RUCKING RUGBY WORLD CUP TIME!!!!!

This one is gonna ROCK. Make sure you tune in.

I'm betting on an All Blacks - France final.

As for the preliminaries....

GROUP A
Nations: England, South Africa, Samoa, USA, Tonga
Matches to watch: England vs South Africa on September 14 will be the highlight of this otherwise so-so group. South Africa will likely rest some of their best players against the US and Tonga as badly needed rehabilition after a long Super Rugby season and Tri Nations. Whoever wins this match will probably win the group.
Dark horse: Samoa. An upset against England or South Africa, and wins against USA and Tonga could set them up for finals.
Player to watch: Johnny Wilkinson of England. The English will be relying on him playing well, if his 2003 form doesn't show, expect the reigning champion to come third. Thats not to say the rest of the team is bad, far from the case, but Wilkinson was the 2003 X-Factor. Losing him will lose the cup for England.
Prediction: South Africa, England, Samoa, Tonga, USA

GROUP B
Nations: Australia, Wales (sub-host), Fiji, Canada, Japan
Matches to watch: Anything with Wales! With the Wallabies expected to come first, Fiji, Canada and Japan are looking to get an upset win against Wales. The Welsh will need to stave off these attacks to ensure a second place. A good result against Australia would certainly help the Dragons
Dark horse: Japan. Now this looks biased - I'm a huge fan of their coach John Kirwan and I speak some of the language, and I was rooting for Japan to win hosting rights for 2011 (not that I mind NZ getting it, especially since I live in Wellington!). Japan is the darkest of all horses but if they play smart, they could make it.
Player to watch: Mike Pyke (Canada). This guy can make magic happen, as everyone in Waikato Stadium found out. He and Justin Mensah-Coker could help give this defensive team some offensive spark.
Prediction: Australia, Wales, Fiji, Japan, Canada

GROUP C
Nations: New Zealand, Scotland (sub-host), Italy, Romania, Portugal
Matches to watch: Scotland vs Italy (Saturday 29). The last match in the pool will probably be the competition for the final playoff spot. The entire competition behind this pool will be Scotland and Italy fighting for this spot. Because NZ owns the first playoff spot. Simple as that. No bias - I grew up in Australia and cheer for Ireland and Canada haha. Scotland may have an edge with two games played in Edinburgh, but one of them is against NZ so unless an upset happens then, it wouldn't count for too much
Dark horse: Romania. I don't pick them to make the finals, as much as I'd love to see it. But since an upset against NZ is pretty much not going to happen, an upset would be against Italy (less likely against Scotland with the Murryfield atmosphere). This is the best time for the Oaks to do it - if enough Romanians show up, you never know.
Player to watch: Richie McCaw (NZ). Kiwis often claim the All Blacks captain is unfairly targeted by referees. I don't put too much stock in that claim, but a lot of NZ's power will rely on him being able to play his game.
Prediction: New Zealand, Italy, Scotland, Romania, Portugal

GROUP D
Nations: France (host), Ireland, Argentina, Georgia, Namibia
Matches to watch: Ireland vs Argentina (Sunday 30). Same as Scotland vs Italy. I'm a fan of both teams and I consider myself damn lucky to be part Irish so that I have an easy choice as to who to support! I'll be watching every match these two I can.
Dark horse: Namibia. The Wednesday 26th match against Georgia will almost certainly be a wooden spoon playoff, whoever wins this match will win fourth place. Namibia will want to earn respect and the best way to do that is to focus on this one match. Unless Georgia wins an upset against Ireland or Argentina, but I wouldn't bet on it happening.
Player to watch: Brian O'Driscoll (Ireland). His leadership and form will hopefully inspire his team mates to perform at top level
Prediction: France, Ireland, Argentina, Namibia, Georgia

QUARTER FINALS

Australia b. England
New Zealand b. Ireland
South Africa b. Wales
France b. Italy (revenge for FIFA 06? :p)

SEMI FINAL
New Zealand b. Australia
France b. South Africa

FINAL
New Zealand b. France


Now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna focus on the opening ceremonies that I've been partially ignoring for YOUR benefit (You know you love me buahaha) and then watch France-Argentina! Hell yeah!

In other news, thanks to my f-king cellphone alarm NOT going off, I missed my bus to Palmerston North, which messed up my plans to see the rugby AND a friend I haven't seen in ages. A trip that had been planned for months.

So I went to lacrosse instead, and injured my shoulder. Hurts like crazy, but that didn't stop me from playing on. My wrist injury didn't, did it?

WELLINGTON SWARM TOUR AUCKLAND OCTOBER 26TH-28TH, FOR MORE INFO SEE
http://lacrosse.wellington.net.nz

SuPaHfLy

I just quit a job that I love in order to mar\ke sure I have enough time to study, sleep, and cook.

The sacrifices I make for my education :'(

In case you ever wanted to hear what I sound like, THIS IS ME!

Apparently I read "September" and think "August"

Roberto Aragosta, achieving much for the Australian stereotype that we're all a bunch of thick as bricks, beer swilling yobbos :P

Thank you anonymous stranger!

Welwitschia mirabilis

Although considered endangered due to its very slow growth and despite the fact that older plants are often sought by collectors, a fair number of plants exist in the wild. The plants living in Angola are generally considered to be better protected than the plants in Namibia, owing to the relatively high concentration of landmines in Angola, which keep collectors away

Am I a bad person for finding this terribly amusing?

"Bwahahaha! I don't care that this plant is endangered, and that my actions may impact upon global biodiversity! It can go extinct for all I care! What's really important is that I can sell it to some rich bastard just as selfish as I am just because he likes to show off his rare plants to other selfish rich bastards! Now to steal the plant I just have to walk up to it and..."

WHA-BAM!


HAHAHAHAHA

Fuck you, poachers.

"I want to see your magic wand" sighed Ron lustily, and he stepped closer to Harry
"Well, it's more of a broomstick" he replied, and he closed his eyes and leaned in, lips pouting

I *finally* found the Harry Potter slash I wrote for vrhalit and her sister ages ago

Funnily enough, I remember there being more...


Robb - I jiust got home from a three state killing spree, and I feel better now says:
"Harry Potter and the Philosephers Bone"

Shan {Can I get a handclap, for the way I work my back?} says:
harry/voldemort? kinky

Robb - I jiust got home from a three state killing spree, and I feel better now says:
"You're hiding something from me, Harry" said the Dark Lord.

Robb - I jiust got home from a three state killing spree, and I feel better now says:
"Something...in your pocket"<.I>

The things I save eh? Here's some Stalin for you. Happy Stalin! :D

lustofapioneer: Hi Aniseed!
strider7901: OMG POST MORE BITCH BITCH MOAN MOAN SOMETHING ABOUT BOURNE WHINE POUT
lustofapioner: Um...okay...
strider7901: ILU

Now for any excuse to post content...my current list of life goals!

Visit the Galapogos Islands
I'm an ecologist. This place is sacred ground. It's where Darwin went to come up with the "theory" of evolution.

Dive/Snorkel the Great Barrier Reef
While it's still there...

Visit important archaeological places, namely...
...Macchu Picchu, The Great Pyramids, Troy, Teotihucán

Visit Antarctica
While it's still frozen...

Walk...
The Inca Trail, the Appalachian Trail, and at least part of the Great Wall

See the remainders a Nazi concentration camp, a Soviet gulag camp, the Berlin Wall, and sites relating to the Rwandan Genocide
Because people can be really f-ked up

Attend an ANZAC Day dawn service at Gallipolli
Any Australians or Kiwis on my flist are free/encouraged to join me

Sports events...
Superbowl, Grey Cup, a Stanley Cup final, State of Origin, a Brazil soccer international, an All Blacks match (DONE!), an Olympics opening ceremony

See Great Big Sea live in St. John's
I'd also love to see David Bowie live, but the odds are kinda slim...:(

Two chicks at the same time
Okay, I lie, I don't care about this one, just couldn't resist making an Office Space reference...

Amorphophallus titanum is the scientific term for one of two plants called the "corpse flower" (the other being Rafflesia arnoldii). It earnt this title by producing a scent similair to that of rotting flesh, in order to attract carrior feeding insects for pollination (and thus, reproduction)



Why do I highlight this A. titanum instead of R. arnoldii?

Because the name Amorphophallus titanum literally translates to "giant, mis-shapen penis."



Now somebody help me buy textbooks so I can become the worlds greatest biologist, and discover new and exciting plants that I can name after phallic references!

Yes, I know only dicks make Amazon wishlists. But dicks get plants named after them, and I WANT A PLANT NAMED AFTER ME DAMMIT!





...that is all.

Already everyone, quit yer bitching, I'm updating. For the first time in months, oy vey!

Okay, what's new. Well, uni was a mess. So I got a cruise ship job based in Seattle traveling up and around Alaska. Mostly fitness instruction but a bit of relief barteneding as well. I didn't have any experience behind a bar when they first gave me the job, but I had a lot of experience in front of one so that qualified me. I make a mean Alaska Martini - gin, vermouth, and salmon. It tastes terrible but it helps get rid of excess salmon and we can convince the rich bastard tourists that it's a local delicacy, that way they think they'll partaking in Alaskan culture. I got an award!

Okay so now I'll stop bullshitting. Whats been up?

Those who know me relatively well know that I suffer from several mental illnesses that have made my academic life utterly chaotic and impossible. Because of them, a university degree might be out of the question, even though I have the knowledge, smarts, skills, passion, and dedication to get one. I just have this big obstacle in the way that's only been getting worse over the last six years. I'm looking at medication again. The one or two people who know me REALLY well know my apprehension towards chemical treatment, and the reasons why, so you can consider it a sign of me being so desperate to achieve my goals that I'd risk my wellbeing.

That being said, I've had excellent support from the staff at university. I had to drop two papers (History 118 and French 112) because it was impossible for me to catch up with my learning disorder. I almost dropped a third (Education Studies 112) but with the advice of the course staff (my tutor and main lecturer), my counselor (one of the few health professionals out of hundreds I've dealt with who I feel is a positive part of my life), my campus doctor and disability support, I stuck with it and did my best to pass using only the knowledge I had gained through years of teaching experience through work, sport, polytech etc. Thanks to them, I may have passed at least one paper this trimester. It's a start.

I'm swapping my Arts degree for a Science degree, with Biology (Ecology and Biodiversity) as my major and Environmental Studies as my minor. A friend of mine has urged me to consider doing History again on account of her knowledge of my lecturer (apparently she makes the Holocaust, her area of expertise, sound dry and dull) but I'm thinking, depending on my mental health, of giving French another go, if only for Canadian immigration purposes. But right now I'm focusing on completing this year and fixing my health. I'll be doing to biology papers (one a major requirement, the other a recommended paper for those doing Ecology), an economics paper (requirement for Environmental Studies) and a management paper which has nothing to do with anything except allowing me to later do the only sports management paper at uni - something I enjoy and excel in. Plus having management papers will always boost my resume eh? So I'm dropping the history, French and classics papers I originally had signed up for. I'm still doing teaching of course, thats the eventual goal and I've been accepted so that's all full steam ahead.

I'm currently in Tauranga for a weeks break, starting with the All Blacks / Canada match. WHAT A GAME! And to think it was almost ended early because of some dickheads throwing bottles on the pitch. I had grandstanding seating behind the 22s so wasn't next to the action, but it was still near enough for me to see faces. Dumb bastards. They media is reporting that the match was 30 seconds away from being called off before the PA announcer told them as such. Other than that, the game was awesome. Much to the despair and the fellow Canuck sitting behind me, we lost by 51 points, but Canada played their guts out for the whole game against a far more experienced and skilled side. Mike Pyke's try, however, will keep replaying in my head ALL YEAR LONG! Intercepted off an All Blacks pass behind Canada's 22, runs along the touch line all the way to the end and scores! WOO! That kicked ass.

Now I've got a week with my family before going back to the capital. Missed lacrosse yesterday, DAMMIT, I'll make up for it somehow.

Biongiorno! Happy Republic Day!

I like to celebrate my ancestral holidays, and as such have already celebrated St. Paddys and St. George's day in honor of my mothers ancestors. My father also has Scottish, French, and Italian, so I had to celebrate Republic Day. Plus I owed Caitee a restaurant dinner after she took me out to Little India for Achaari Lamb. And she insisted I finally try butter chicken. I don't see what the collective popular orgasm over butter chicken is, it's not spectacular at all! Gimme achaari lamb anyday, mmm....

ANYWAYS, we went to Maria Pia's, a small trattoria and wine in Thorndon, and I can promise you that while I spent just over ninety dollars, I'm going there again. Food was great, especially the Puglian roast potatoes, but the best thing of all was the service. Maria herself came out and talked to us, it was great! Really nice person, asked us to keep in touch, and was impressed that I wished her a happy Republic Day. I WAS WITH MY PEOPLE! lol.

Oh and she gave us free biscotti. And not just because I'm a wog lol.

Aneesa's been bugging me to update LJ.

So I'm gonna post a picture of what my new lacrosse helmet should look like.



Bear in mind this is a simulation, and that my helmet will have a throat guard attached to it, since I'm a goalie. Kinda need it, as demonstrated today when a shot undid half the buttons on my current throat guard. Bent the cage a little too.

Happy now, Aneesa?

Okay, okay, I'm posting! So stop bitching, strider7901!

Been living in Wellington for a month or so now, AND FREAKING LOVING IT. I don't miss Tauranga in the slighest save for my family and my old job. Not that my new job doesn't rock. I work for...yes, YMCA Wellington. My references were that good. I managed to thank the Tauranga staff in person when they flew down to Christchurch for an OSCAR conference, changing planes in Wellington. My friend Sheralee, the leader for Gate Pa OSCAR, told me beforehand so I surprised them at the gates and caught up with my old friends. Even better, Adrian (my OSCAR boss) had gotten married since I last saw him, so it was wicked to make fun of him :P I sent him flowers the day before and his now-wife Janine took them to the wedding and had them on the sign-in table. This meant so much to me - it was like I was there in some way when I couldn't make it (I wasn't invited anyway but sweet lol). I must have made a good impression on her for her to do such a thing because I've only met her twice.

Anyways, I'm not working holiday programme down here - I'm on call for the standard hold prog and on call for Camp Kaitoke. Yes, the Y has it's own camp out here! :D It's out past Upper Hutt but it's a great place and I really hope to hear from the boss soon. I only work one day a week for OSCAR but also two days a week for...GYMNASTICS COACHING?!? Yes, I'm a gym coach. I've never done gym in my life but hey, gotta learn somehow. I've also been doing birthday parties for the Y, SO MUCH FUN, I love it!

As for uni, I did a terrible thing and got an A+ on my first French assignment. NO PRESSURE BOBBY! Second mark was a B. French is okay, made a few friends. History is pretty cool, ESPECIALLY the tutorials. History tutorials are so much fun, I musn't be learning anything. Stimulating intellectual conversation....dammit raven22, maybe we're both in the same Hogwarts house after all.

Education however is surprisingly LAME. I already know everything, just not their way of defining it. So I get the bollocks bored off me. I start my actual teaching papers in the third trimester which will hopefully be more fun.

As for next trimester, I have to drop French. French 112 is the last French paper i'll ever take. The one where I got an A+ in. Why? Course structure. I need to do 200-level French next year. I can't without doing all four 100-level French papers. Which I cannot do until next year. So I'm ditching French to picking up Biology as my second curriculum area. Fingers crossed I'll do well. I'm actually considering switching my BA for a BSc if it's allowed. BSc stands for Bachelor of Science. BA standrs for Bugger All.

Budgeting as a student is a pain in the ass. I have a minor credit card debt as the result of paying off an old gym debt and a date that cost me $90 for the activity alone (she paid for dinner) but was totally worth it. My overdraft? Almost used up. DAMMIT! Why does Wellington have to be so awesome?! So much to do! I've been to two plays already (one being one I went to by mistake starring 1_5_15671, BEST MISTAKE EVER) and a Hurricanes game. And buying stuff. They have Borders here. SO AWESOME. And they sell GREAT BIG SEA CD'S! I've already bought two. What can I say, I don't like stealing music. Especially of The By's.

I've also taken up lacrosse and loving it. Now just to sign off, April Fools day was awesome in that the McTunabreath sibilings rock at bastard pranks. My sister sfubc pranked me and others on her friends list. And I pranked my best friend in Wellington:
( Le pranq )

Perhaps I'm a Slytherin?

Toss around what is up, what is down
In between, would ya like to dream
Step on in, ya dont have to play to win
But then you might

Well here I finally am. College, if you're a Yank. University, if you're a Canuck.

But I'm a kiwi so it's just Vic Uni.

Been a hard trip, even though my mom did all the driving. With good reason.

The night before sucked more than a vacuum cleaner saleswoman reduced to prostitution. Nobody showed up for my "Early 21st/Goodbye" drinks, so in typical Irish fashion I drowned my sorrows.

In typical idiot fashion, I accepted drinks from almost-total-strangers. Some of which may have been tainted.

In typical asshole fashion, I gave my brother the taxi fare then went home with some chica. As ya do.

Unfortunately she lied about having a license so I had to walk home. About 15km? Ouch.

So I'm now giving up accepting drinks from anyone, even people I trust. Because trust is based on judgement and judgement is clouded by alcohol.


The trip itself was better, and I'll upload photos later on.

My mom and I decided to make it more of a road trip than just a drive down. We stopped at the Prawn Farm in Taupo. I haven't had prawns in years, and forgot how much I love them. Best seafood ever. Sorry surimi, but DENIED! Their seafood sauce was delicious, and just think about those prawns.....*drool*

They also had a driving range. Yes. You could fire golf balls off along the prawn farm. Imagine being a prawn. You get up from your prawn bed, let your prawn wife stay in bed as you take your little prawnlings in your prawn car to prawn church, and halfway through singing about prawn jesus, WHA-BAM! The whole place collapses under my Slazenger 9.

Next stop was in Waiouru, in the Volcanic Plateua. Just seeing the mountains again....wow. This is my home. I used to see the mountains from my verandah every day, I saw Ruapehu erupt from my front lawn. As for the desert road...well, until a few years back *cough globalwarming cough* New Zealand didn't have any desert areas. The so called "Desert road" was named so because the hilly landscape made driving on it feel as if you were driving across sand dunes. In a ironic twist of fate, it is now an arid desert that vaguely reminds me of Australia. Made me sick.

Waiouru, however, was much better if only for the Army Museum. I grew up on an RNZAF air base and my maternal grandfather was in in the Army during WW2, so I do have a military streak in me (even though I'm a secular humanist and a green :P). The major high point? They had a motorbike just like the one my grandfather rode. The picture on his funeral pamphlet was him in uniform on a bike just like the one we saw.

The most important stop was in the highway stop of Bulls.

Anyone who's been there would never have expected that sentance.

I lived in Bulls for ten years of my life, and it was a personal hell for me. Or should I say, Clifton School was. I won't go on about what happened at that place because those sub-humans don't deserve the space in my thoughts, but I went back to that school anyway for motivation. I'm gonna pass uni and become a teacher so that I can do a better job than anyone at that school could have.

However, when I entered Bulls, I entered via the north end, not the south end I was familiar with due to commuting to Palmerston North for middle school. Which means before even reaching Clifton, I came across my old kindergarten and my old Scouts hall. Good memories came back. I loved my kindy, and I loved Boy Scouts. It was then my subconscious woke up to the obvious. Bulls wasn't a bad place. Clifton was. NZ isn't a bad place, and neither is the Manawatu.

I'm no longer afraid to admit that I'm a New Zealander. That has to count for something.

Now I've been living in Everton Hall for a few days and I've got the net up and running on my lappy now, but I'll get onto those details later, with photos, woo!

You heard 'em tellin' stupid jokes
You heard 'em laugh every time you spoke
But you don't let nobody put you down.

I made a wunderbar new friend in a fellow Vic student named Helen, courtesy of Emospace. (Stressing the "new", as all my friends are wunderbar. DUH!)

Anyway, I'm explaining the concept of S'mores for her, and I make an offhand remark about how I'm tempted to microwave some marshmallows and see how they turn out.

Then she pretty much tells me I have to do it :P As some of y'all know, I don't respond to demands. Unless it's in good humour.

Humourous enough for me! :D
















Yeah I know, it's supposed to be graham crackers and chocolate. But malt biscuits was the way I was taught in Boy Scouts, and thats they way I like 'em.




SMILEY! My carefully arranged marshmallows, in the nuker for 20 seconds...




WHO'S SMILING NOW, BIATCH? That actually does look kinda cool...




Wow, these Malt biscuits have hung together pretty well, considering they've been stuffed in the bottom of my pack for so long along with the other crap I couldn't be bothered pulling out.




Scooped onto a biscuit with a spoon, the "s'more" is served.

AND DELICIOUS! But no-where near as good as campfire smores. But hey, I'm a bushman. Everything sucks by comparison when I'm in civilization :P Still, I think I'll have some more :-D

( The thrilling conclusion! )


See Helen? Told you it was worth it :-P


Cause It's Got That Vague Suggestion
Of A Town My Heart Got Lost In
Though I Haven't Felt That Pain Since
I Did Report It's Absence
And Other Circumstantial Evidence
That's The Story Of My Life

*Robb puts Kit Kats and energy drinks on the counter*
Robb: Can I also please get a $20 Vodafone topup?
Cashier: Okay, that's two chocolate bars, two energy drinks, a vodafone topup....and a lion?
Robb: Huh?
*Cashier puts forward a plush lion that looks nothing like the one in the photo*
Cashier: Go on, isn't he adorable
Robb: Um, I'll pass thanks
Cashier: Get it as a valentines day gift?
Robb: Me and my girlfriend just broke up
Cashier: Surprise gift for your sister?
Robb: She lives in Canada, the shipping would cost more than the lion
Cashier: Gift for your mom to say thanks for doing your laundry
Robb: I do my own laundry
Cashier: GAH! Okay, that's $28.....there's gotta be someone you could buy a lion for?
Random guy behind me: His mistress?
Robb: Shhh!

This would probably surprise a lot of my friends who know how random I am. Why, Robb? Why didn't you buy the Lion? You so would buy the lion! It would totally be me to agree to buy it for "my mistress" but alas, I only had $30 in my bank account. Gutted.


I attended the first three days of after-school care to help the new supervisor out. She's very capable and I'm glad to know I'll be leaving Papamoa OSCAR in good hands. She offered me another weeks work upon finding out I was available, which is awesome coz I love my job lol. Hopefully by the time I leave (NEXT SATURDAY!) the Y will have hired another male - with Matt gone and me going, there won't be any male role models.

Which is one of the biggest problems in education today in the first place.

As for me being available to work this week, it was spurred by me canceling all my plans due to budget constraints. I had to cancel going to hang out with 1_5_15671  and catch the penultimate Johnny Doom and the Forcefields concert. Which sucks because a) that band rules, and I'm not biased/sucking up and b) It's always fun to hang out with Robbie. But the other plan I had to cancel? Valentines Day in Whangarei. With Kristy.

Luckily I won't have to cancel a much more important holiday than Valentines - Steak and BJ Day.diaryofadrongo is a terrible influence.

He happened to shine his flashlight in the alley down the street
The cook was standing in the door she said oh deary me
I feel so terrible lonesome will you keep me company

I'll get the major bollocks out of the way.

Me and Kristy are no longer an item.

She was all ready to move to Wellington, but got offered a job that she'd be crazy to pass up. She's now going to be working for C4, NZ's answer to MTV (except it doesn't suck as bad).

Unfortunately the job is in Auckland, which is kinda inconvenient for a Wellingtonian such as myself.

But at least we're still friends. Who knows, maybe things will change, but for now I'm just happy I have such aan awesome person in my life.

The fact that she'll be in Auckland absolutely rips me to shreds, to the point that I'm honored my Irish and Scottish ancestors by hitting the bottle, and my English ancestors by bitching and moaning. But she has my complete and total support. It's in her best interests.

Robb: Me too. But your happiness means more to me than anything. I'd rather you be happy without me than unhappy with me

Kristy:: unhappy with you... impossible

The scary part of all this is how close I came to using the L word....no femaleinvert, not that one :P I mean the four letter word beginning with L i've been petrified of using ever since you-know-whore.

God I wish it were possible.


In other news, Amy from Wellington (not Amz from Wollongonmg) despises me. This is because she is, in her own words, possessive, and she "likes" me. She introduced me to some people and (after I initially gave up on the possibility of a relationship with Kristy) tried to set me up with someone, then after finding out me and Kristy were back on, she went apeshit at me and started making demands. Somewhat reasonable demands, but demands nonethless.

Advice for anyone who ever wants to get something out of me - Ask nicely, use your manners, be polite, and explain the circumstances. Your chances are MUCH higher than if you flat out treat me like your servant and threaten me with excommunication should you not get your own way.

She excommunicated me. I'm kinda glad now.

BITCHING ASIDE, I went to a) my first top-level international sports event, and b) my first FIELD hockey match. Field hockey is an awesome sport. It's more like bandy played on a field than hockey played on a field, but still, excellent sport. The match was close and exciting, the Kiwis gave the Dutch a good run for their money. The Netherlands won 4-3 in a close, hard fought match. Plus, this series (the first two tests where played in Auckland, TYPICAL!) was the national team debut of Andy Hayward, a former classmate of mine from Tauranga Boys College. So it was wicked to see him succeed.

( Photos under the cut )


But if you try sometimes well you just might find
You get what you need
Oh baby, yeah, yeah!

KRISTY IS COMING TO WELLINGTON!

She's leaving a week after I move in, but still, why is she down there?

She's considering moving to the capital to be with me.

Who would of thought someone would move across an entire island to be with me?

Sounds too good too be true. Murphy's putting ten bucks on her finding someone else and twenty on her hating Wellington and moving back to Northland.

AND NOW FOR BITCHING

I'm sick. Again. I've had the week off work. I have a nasty skin rash that is probably the shingles, hence, I'm a walking chickenpox vender,

"Chickenpox, come get your chickenpox!"

A week away from my friends and my kids. I miss everyone so much.

It's improved though so I went in to get clearance to go back to work tomorrow, AKA festival day, where "Spongey the Clown" is supposed to make an appearance. But as mmmjonah would have figured out, Spongey can't go due to a case of the shingles.

Which means I'll forever be Skippy the Elf in the hearts of those kids, not Spongey the Clown.

I hate letting the kids down, but the alternative is a chickenpox epidemic. Responsibility can be a pain in the ass.

Oh, and the result of getting a clearance? A no, followed by "You know, maybe Monday is TOO soon for you to go back"

END BITCHING

To cheer myself up, I channeled my man-gina and went shopping.

raven22 and Alie are bad influences on me, because I picked up a copy of The Kooks - Inside In / Inside Out. YES PEOPLE IT IS STILL POSSIBLE TO LEGALLY PURCHASE GOOD MUSIC. I do it as much as possible. Unfortunately NZ isn't known for carrying East Coast folk music, else my bookshelf would be full of Great Big Sea, Ron Hynes, Shanneyganock...

I bought myself a Queen t-shirt as well. I made a resolution two years ago to buy more music merch but noooo, didn't do a single bit. So I bought my very first own band shirt. I have a Blindspott band shire but that's not mine, that's Kristy's. I'm just holding it hostage to make sure she comes to see me :-D

And I bought a gelato from Bella Mia, used some of my limited Italian while I saw at it. My family usually frequents La Barca for out Italian fix, but I quite like Bella Mia as well. I might go there for my 21st, before walking down to Usual Suspects to get ubriaco

In other news, Girven Road takeaways does delicious crumbed chicken, but their sweet and sour pork has a bit too much egg for my taste.

Some of it is just transcendental
Some of it is just really dumb
But I...I love it when you sing to me
And you...you can sing me anything

Chances are high that I smell like a moose.

Today, we took the kids to Marshall's Animal Park (their advertising slogan - SEE THIS YAK!). Brilliant idea! My nine kids loved every minute of it. The Y bought a bag of animal feed for every child (some went through them faster than others, I bought three bags myself and topped everyone up) so they had a blast hand-feeding the animals. I joined in, trying to set an example for the more nervous animals, that and I'm a genuine animal lover / country hick. I felt so at home.

I outran an African Ostrich in a footrace. I'm not a fast runner, but now I can say I outran an African. Wicked!

I was bouncing off the metaphorical walls when we came across a moose! The kids loved my enthusiasm for this majestic animal, and relayed that to one of the senior leaders.

Oh, and I am SO a teacher. I engaged the kids in conversation about our surroundings and taught them words like "nocturnal", "herbivore" and "endangered." When I taught them that NZ has the worlds only living dinosaur, the Tuatara, one child was so enthralled by this new information that he enthustiatically ran up to the next leader we saw and relayed this fact to her.

I didn't present the information, I taught him something he absorbed and will remember for a while.

God I love my job.

I have stacks of photos, gonna upload them to a YMCA album, will pass on the URL later.

PS sfubc, message me next time you see me on MSN, I have a photo you HAVE to see!

Talk becomes slow but theres one thing Ill never forget:
Hey, you gotta pay your dues before you pay the rent.

Until tonight, I hadn't shaved since new years in that every time I smelt shaving foam, I missed Kristy.

Mental note - GET THE FUCK OVER IT.

I fell for her. Hard. If I wasn't terrified of a certain word beginning with L, I might even have used it.

But another word I can use is "denial"

I've emotionally approached the first 9 days of this years as if I had a girlfriend who was on vacation in Whangarei. I've been so excited with have this awesome person in my life that I've put the whole "unattainable" thing in the back of my head.

But look at my track record. The only woman I feel stronger for lives in Newfoundland, which is slightly further than Northland, albeit closer in the dictionary.

And sfubc , but that's more fraternal than sexual

Oh yeah, and then there's you-know-whore. Vancouver, for you newer friends listers. BC, not WA, but both are pretty bad when you're living in Tauranga.

So now I've had to face reality. Which sucks. Yesterday I was tempted to bring out the vodka, but I knew I wouldn't stop at just one drink so I decided to stick it on.

Waking up today sucked more than a vacuum cleaner saleswoman moonlighing in a glory hole.



But at least I love my job!

Words cannot describe how much better I feel every day I walk into the Mount Maunganui Sports Centre. The kids, the work, the staff, everything.

(Just had to leave the entry on a positive note)

Trail of direction that is saving his house
Your modern day slaughter belongs to the past
With daily extinction and cosmic blast

MY DVDS ARRIVED! BOOYAH!

I've been impatiently waiting for my GBS fix since last year...okay thats nothing. December last year? Again, zilch. 15th December - okay thats a bit better.

AND NOW THEY'RE HERE!

I watched Great Big DVD today, every single bit of it, and I love it. I *must* see the b'y's in person some day. Tomorrow, I shall watch Courage & Patience & Grit, which I'm sure will also kick ass

So anyway, today is the day that car's hate us. My Camry has been grounded due to a faulty regulator that has left my drivers side electric window permanently open. When taking it in to find out what the problem was (before we learnt it was a regulator), the car wouldn't start.

My first flat battery.

Roadside rescue came to save our butts (we can't jump my car without risking the circuitry), we charged my car up then took it into town, to find out what the problem was. Next step, FIXING IT.

Me and Kit were going to drop off his CV at Usual Suspects with my friend Hayley so he could become a bouncer, but at the least minute we remembered his back lights were out of action. We quickly fixed them, and a few miles in....had to cancel the trip due to transmission issues.

It's a conspiracy.

Boys and girls are fishing together
45 from Carbonear

Catch a hold this one, catch a hold that one
Swing around this one, swing around she
Dance around this one, dance around that one
Diddle um this one, diddle um dee

I got separated from my friends after New Years.

I couldn't find my best friend, my brother, or anyone else.

I got fed up with searching after an hour then walked home, a 12km journey.

7km later I realised it was the best thing that ever happened to me all year.

I came across a random girl wearing a Blindspott band shirt and a Santa beard made entirely from shaving foam she happened to be carrying around. She wished me a happy new year, I reciprocated then kept walking. Then she asked me if I was related to the front man for Kiwi band "The Bleeders" Apparently I'm the spitting image of him. LIES AND DECEIT

Then she randomly asked me if I wanted to go into town with her. Why not? So we walked back to where I started, introduced ourselves and shook elbows (her hands were covered in shaving foam)

By the end of it, I was wearing her spare band shirt and a shaving foam beard similar to hers.

We serenaded a Brazilian who's birthday fell on New Years

We had a conversation with random Argentinians where I put good use to my Spanish (¡Madre de dios! ¡Es El Pollo Diablo!)

We rolled down the incline on someones front lawn

By the time we reach the Mount, we realised we were pretty much perfect for each other

Unfortunately, she's an Aucklander who was down for New Year's, and I'm effectively a Wellington. Neither of us believe in long distance.

So we had a summer romance that lasted about 10 hours or so.

We lay on the beach and watched the sunrise together

We walked around Mauao holding hands

We made fun of foreigners in distant earshot then mentioned what we liked about their cultures when out of earshot.

Ten hours with Kristy has possibly given me more happiness than any other I've been in.

I miss her SO GODDAMN MUCH.

On the bright side, we're both internet addicts who use MSN and Myspace on a regular basis, so we get to keep in contact and have a friendship that lasts longer than new years.

Though it's no secret between us that if a relationship were possible...

Cross your fingers. If you see her, tell her to move to Wellington.



MY NEW YEARS RESOLUTIONS

1. Detach myself from negative relationships. Be less forgiving and more brutal with friends who are less reliable than they should be
2. Be more responsible when picking sexual partners. Think about the repercussions before banging people such as friends. coworkers, and psychotic religious fucktards
3. Procrastinate less with my studies. This is the big one education wise. Remember all the sacrifices I've made, all the accomplishments I've made
4. Spend more time doing positive stress relief such as working out and playing sport
5. Be home for Christmas
6. Attend more concerts (Kristy's influence)

I'm tempted to add 7. Convince Kristy to move to Wellington. Maybe I should stick to "suggestive nudging" though.

Until then, I'll make like a Norwegian Blue and pine.


No more empty self possession,
visions swept under the mat.
It's no New Years resolution,
it's more than that.

Well I suppose having a digital camera means it's now worthwhile getting a Flickr account

Yesterday I FINALLY got to see Billy Madison again. I used to have it on VHS, but that's hiding somewhere with my Game Boy cartridges and audio cassettes. Or it exploded. Either way, I've been wanting to re-watch it for ages. I finally remember to get it when at United Video (I have a terrible memory for video store shopping lists) along with the last two discs of Lost Season One. Tried watching Billy Madison first but, well, it didn't work. Kit (the technical one of the family) told me someone tried to use cleaning product to repair it. When I returned it, the said cleaning product turned out to be....well, fly spray.

WHO CLEANS CD'S WITH FLY SPRAY?

A dumbass, that's who.

I swapped it for Ed Wood (wicked movie, Landau was awesome as Lugosi) with the promise of a resurfaced Billy Madison hire gratis a few days later.

The same day, watched the last discs of Lost: Season One. Addiction resumed. I *had* to see the next few episodes at least. United Video was closing in ten minutes, and was about 5-7 minutes drive away. I drove down with my fingers crossed, hired every DVD of season 2 except the special features, and watched Lost all night long. Now I can't wait for Season 3 to hit NZ.

Got back Billy Madison, clean but scratched. Bugger skipped on me. Third times the charm, and yesterday, weeks after the original hire, I finally got to see the damn thing. I'm gonna make sure to thank the staff at United Video for their efforts, must have been a pain in the butt for them as well. I mean, honestly, fly spray?

While picking up the DVD, I did a bit of shopping as well. Picked up a battery charger, something I kinda need now that I own a digital camera :P Also picked up "Lonely Planet's Guide to Micronations", fascinating book, good for a few laughs too.

I want my DVD's (they arrive about January 8th)

Bedouin Soundclash kicks ass

I got nothin'

PS Shani, I donated your $10 to the Child Cancer Foundation.  Now to figure out the rest of the donations...

Laughing out to no one's joke.
Looking 'round but it's remote,
You won't see no one you know.

My week has royally sucked. I'm not gonna bitch too much though. I will say that my family was awesome in supporting me on Christmas Day, which sucked for me coz I've been really sick since Christmas Eve, and still am. I was asleep most of the 25th on the insistence of my parents, and still feel like utter crap. Throw in my best friend having nasty problems no-one should have to deal with and a psychotic woman harassing me again, it's not fun.

But good notes:

1) My family is awesome and I'm gonna miss them bucket loads
2) Big thank you to my Christian friends who haven't tried to force their perceptions of Christmas onto me. You guys set an example that I wish more of your fellow believers should follow, not to mention one that the more militant of us non-believers should
3) Pap Tav sucks more than a thirsty Tijuana hooker at a donkey farm.

I also must apologize for not sending out the Christmas cards like originally planned. I'll send y'all postcards instead.

And now, since sugrie demanded I make good use of my new digital camera, ( Xmas photos! )

Remember, VOTE WHICH CHARITY I'LL DONATE $100 TO!

I've been having too much fun on Harvest Moon : Friends of Mineral Town lately.


Why yes, I am easily amused.

It's now winter. Winter in FoMT would be much better if there was a hockey festival where I can beat the crap out of Won.

Work was wicked, I suggested to Matt that we get a cheap Stickmas tree and let all the kids make a decoration to put on it, but his idea was much better. We're making a Stickmas tree using cut-out tracings of kid's and leaders hands. It's starting to look cool. I'll take a photo of course.

After that we had a spin class, WITH A DIFFERENCE! We had the stationary bikes set at a medium intensity, then our instructor (my mate Alan) went around asking trivia questions. Every question we got wrong, the intensity would be turned up. Every answer we got right, the intensity would be turned down. Good strength training. We followed up by post-class bubbly and healthy snacks (fruit kebabs, berries, rice crackers and Philadelphia....and chocolate)

Then me and Alan went and worked the snacks off. Yes I'm a masochist, workout after spin class. It's compensation though. I was obese at 16, great shape at 18, now at 20 I need work. I want to be fit by 21 and in optimum shape by 22. Weight loss will be easy next year with my buying and cooking my own food. I'm getting a George Foreman grill for Stickmas so I can knock out the fat.

You know, like how Muhammed Ali knocked out George Foreman in Zaire

...okay, so it wasn't a knockout, but you know what I mean!

But houshold chores need a power resolution
I went to the store and purchased the solution

I got a pressure washer I like it a lot
'Cause it makes cleaning destructive

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