March 2009
Amanda Fucking Palmer.
9th March 2009.
Okay, I've not written in ages. The reason, Dwarf Fortress. A very addictive ASCII game. It's been eating my life, and my brain. Arse, got ditracted in to playing it again just now and it's now past bed time. Writing this shall have to wait for tomorrow.
11th March 2009.
Yesterday Dwarf Fortress ate what little of the day I was awake enough to computer. And now I'm packing and leaving in about 15 minutes for the airport. I'm off to see Amanda Fucking Palmer, it shall hopefully be awesome. Will have to catch up write once I'm back in a week. If my flatmate hasn't burnt down my flat or sold my computer.
20th March 2009 - Cuthbert, Bp. and Conf.
So, in the time not covered I've mostly just been playing a few hours of Dwarf Fortress a day and then sleeping off the unpleasantness that computer use does to my stupid sickly head.
On the 11th I caught a plane to Wellington. At the airport I caught up with Mark (someone who I am sort of friends with though never really have anything to do with). He'd lost so much weight that I didn't recognise him. It was weird. The flight was okay, though slow and in a tiny, tiny plane. Then a bus ride to Thorndon for fish and chips to eat while I walked up the hill.
Thursday, I went to the Monet exhibit at Te Papa. I started feeling very not good while I was there. It was probably the lighting or something equally typical of things that take me out but I felt like blame the impressionist art and whatever games it was playing with my visual cortex. I ended up sitting on a chair in the middle of it trying to neither pass out nor throw up. I've got so used to my life being within certain limits that I occasionally forget what brought said limits on. I really have to learn to remember that I'm quick sickly so it stops catching me out so often.
After a nap at Oli's dad's house (where I was staying), and dinner, I headed to Bar Bodega for the gig. I had forgotten that with musicians a start of 8:30 means that the warm up band won't start until almost ten. They were pretty good when they got going, and fortunately working a reasonably small set. But the chunk of time before they started was unsettling. I'd not realised what weirdoes Wellington has. While there were normals, there were a large number of complete freaks (from an aesthetic point of view). Subculture groups in Wellington must have just enough numbers to really go out of their way to not be mistaken for similar subcultural groups.
21st March 2009 - Benedict, Ab.
Once Amanda got started, the concert was awesome. I couldn't really get any decent photos as I was a long way back and tall wankers kept pushing to the front. Tall people suck. She ended up getting an extra stand for her electronic piano and doing the gig standing up - which mostly went fine and meant I could see her head. The gig was mostly a mix of song from her album and a selection of Dresden Dolls song, with a couple of new songs, and one she wrote at the venue especially for the night. After the encore songs ('Girl Anacronism' and 'Guitar Hero') she disappeared off stage and then ran out through the audience weilding a ukulele, climbed up on the bar and ended the night with a cover of 'Creep'. It also lead to me being basically directly under her while she performed, making the pictures I took maybe a little dodge. After 'Creep', I bought a couple of T-shirts (as after preparing my album covers to bring up for signing, I completely forgot to pack them) and joint the giant queue for signitures. After that queue was done, another was formed for photos and hugs. It was much shorter as most people had gone by then, but I decided I had to get one decent photo after an evening of my failing at camera skills. So I waited, and after taken a photo on someone else's camera of two girls kissing Amanda, one on each cheek, I went up for a plain boring standing together photo - which is pretty much what I got. However, she then actually stopped and chatted to me for a minute of so, playing with my beard and rubbing my belly and cupping some moob. While I could feel objectified, I mostly just felt awesome. All the little teenage fans were giving me evils for quite accidentally holding the attention they were failing to win, no matter how they tried. It was great. On the walk home the feeling awesome almost made up for the feeling very not well (as comes of anytime I stay up late now, stupid sickly body I have).
Friday, I did head out till almost lunch and then it was to get myself to Upper Hutt. Having missed the 12.05 train, I ended up busing out to the Hutt, and then out to Brown Owl. Tina would live about as far away from Wellington as it is possible for someone to live while still being in Wellington. I got a tuna sub from Subway on the way there (Sub of the day, and Lent friendly) and then found Tina's house. It is quite nice. I guess it is a marginally better time to buy a home than it has been in a while.
31st March 2009.
Anyway, Tina's baby turned out to find me entertaining and was all on her best behaviour and sleeping when she was supposed to and the like. So Tina convinced me to stay longer and I ended up staying the night and not getting back to Wellington until going to the zoo with them the following day. I'm a big fan of zoos, though the enclosures in the Wellington one are a little smaller than I'd like. As a child I mostly went to Orana Park, and it left me with standards that Wellington Zoo doesn't quite reach. Was still a fun afternoon though. Then I got back to Oli's dad's place and napped until dinner. For dinner I went to town and met up with Tavendale who took me out to an asian place (one of the south east asian sort, but I can't recall exactly which sort - possibly Cambodian) for dinner and then to the movies. Underworld: Rise of the Lycans was pretty much exactly what it promised. Terrible but entertaining about it.
Sunday (the 15th - I really am way behind) I had a nice slow sleeping-in-ish start before pottering down the hill to Catriona's. Her flat was quite nice, and catching up with her is always fun, and geeky. I spend a calm and relatively quiet afternoon and evening with her watching random episodes of things and a very good Top Gear.
On the Monday I realised I had four lots of people left to catch and only one day to do it so actually had to sort myself. A pleasant lunch with my cousin Anita was followed by onesies with Susan. Then while I waited for people to reply to text messages I looked in JB Hi-Fi. Fortunately Meg replied before I had had the chance to bankrupt myself and I headed for Karori on an electro-bus. Proving unable to spot the concrete ediface of the College of Education up there I went to the Public Library to ask directions and found Michiel there (the one person who I'd not managed any sort of responces out of with my txting - so it worked well). I got myself to Meg on time and walked her home from work and had a cuppa before walking back to Karori and going for tea with Michiel and Cathie, and their spawn. It made for a good evening, and meant that I was pretty sure I'd caught up with everyone on Wellington that I really ought to have.
First thing Tuesday morning I packed up and headed off to bus to the airport. Wellington's airport is so conveniently bus friendly. The flight went fine, and the guy I sat beside on the plane dropped me in to town, saving me from having failed to sort transport. That evening, I headed out with Oli, Bridget and Greer for St Pats, and had my only beer of the year so far. I decided with how much I've weaned off my avaoid-alcohol-meds, that I'd earned it. It hit me much, much harder than expected and that one Guiness left me feeling very, very warm and cozy (and with even vaguer memory than I usually have). No-one has told me off for inappropriate text messages, so I guess I was behaved enough. All I really remember is the warm, and the with alcohol in me I was sure Greer found me to be constantly bothersome.
Wednesday and Thursday following I pretty much spent in bed. Turns out all that faking being human in Wellington had completely burnt me out.
On the Friday I went to the dent school to meet my new dent student and get a treatment plan. Mostly I think I was just there so they could get $60 for poking me in the face. I'm extra suspicious as things were checked on that I'd never had a problem with but one of which I developed less than an hour later (I currently have a jaw that clicks painfully when I yawn - this fails to make me happy). In lighter news, one of my former chemlings kept checking I was being looked after and was coming across entertainingly protective. It's nice to know some people survive a semester of my teaching and like me afterward.
In the weekend, other than a bit of hanging out a Oli's and winning the quiz, I mostly just slept and Dwarf Fortressed.
The week following, pretty much as the weekend but without the quiz (ie. I remember nothing not worthy, other than spending much of the week getting more and more annoyed by my flatmate's retardedness). Did have casino dinner during the week as we had extra vouchers that needed using. We have so very many vouchers for the casino restaurant that it is being work to use them up.
This weekend just been, I walked around Ross Creek all afternoon with Oli, Bridget and Greer. It was quite nice and good to get out. We did just about all the track there in the end - the original plan having just been to find the glass steps (which were more than a little disappointing in themselves).
Sunday I went and had dinner with my grandparents, for the first time in what seems like ages. Then off to win the quiz again.
Yesterday was mostly sleep.
And I'm finally back up to today.
