From now on, I've decided to be pretty much...




...mostly just so I can use this banner.

Day 01 → Your favorite song
Day 02 → Your favorite movie
Day 03 → Your favorite television program
Day 04 → Your favorite book

Day 05 → Your favorite quote

"Be kind to others. Everyone is fighting a hard battle" Plato

Day 06 → Whatever tickles your fancy
Day 07 → A photo that makes you happy
Day 08 → A photo that makes you angry/sad
Day 09 → A photo you took
Day 10 → A photo of you taken over ten years ago
Day 11 → A photo of you taken recently
Day 12 → Whatever tickles your fancy
Day 13 → A fictional book
Day 14 → A non-fictional book
Day 15 → A fanfic
Day 16 → A song that makes you cry (or nearly)
Day 17 → An art piece (painting, drawing, sculpture, etc.)
Day 18 → Whatever tickles your fancy
Day 19 → A talent of yours
Day 20 → A hobbie of yours
Day 21 → A recipe
Day 22 → A website
Day 23 → A YouTube video
Day 24 → Whatever tickles your fancy
Day 25 → Your day, in great detail
Day 26 → Your week, in great detail
Day 27 → This month, in great detail
Day 28 → This year, in great detail
Day 29 → Hopes, dreams and plans for the next 365 days
Day 30 → Whatever tickles your fancy

Day 01 → Your favorite song
Day 02 → Your favorite movie
Day 03 → Your favorite television program

Day 04 → Your favorite book



Day 05 → Your favorite quote
Day 06 → Whatever tickles your fancy
Day 07 → A photo that makes you happy
Day 08 → A photo that makes you angry/sad
Day 09 → A photo you took
Day 10 → A photo of you taken over ten years ago
Day 11 → A photo of you taken recently
Day 12 → Whatever tickles your fancy
Day 13 → A fictional book
Day 14 → A non-fictional book
Day 15 → A fanfic
Day 16 → A song that makes you cry (or nearly)
Day 17 → An art piece (painting, drawing, sculpture, etc.)
Day 18 → Whatever tickles your fancy
Day 19 → A talent of yours
Day 20 → A hobbie of yours
Day 21 → A recipe
Day 22 → A website
Day 23 → A YouTube video
Day 24 → Whatever tickles your fancy
Day 25 → Your day, in great detail
Day 26 → Your week, in great detail
Day 27 → This month, in great detail
Day 28 → This year, in great detail
Day 29 → Hopes, dreams and plans for the next 365 days
Day 30 → Whatever tickles your fancy

I'm going to do the first three today, as it's the 3rd;

Day 01 → Your favorite song



Day 02 → Your favorite movie



Day 03 → Your favorite television program



Day 04 → Your favorite book
Day 05 → Your favorite quote
Day 06 → Whatever tickles your fancy
Day 07 → A photo that makes you happy
Day 08 → A photo that makes you angry/sad
Day 09 → A photo you took
Day 10 → A photo of you taken over ten years ago
Day 11 → A photo of you taken recently
Day 12 → Whatever tickles your fancy
Day 13 → A fictional book
Day 14 → A non-fictional book
Day 15 → A fanfic
Day 16 → A song that makes you cry (or nearly)
Day 17 → An art piece (painting, drawing, sculpture, etc.)
Day 18 → Whatever tickles your fancy
Day 19 → A talent of yours
Day 20 → A hobbie of yours
Day 21 → A recipe
Day 22 → A website
Day 23 → A YouTube video
Day 24 → Whatever tickles your fancy
Day 25 → Your day, in great detail
Day 26 → Your week, in great detail
Day 27 → This month, in great detail
Day 28 → This year, in great detail
Day 29 → Hopes, dreams and plans for the next 365 days
Day 30 → Whatever tickles your fancy

Oh god, my head. We had a farewell potluck dinner last night for Mitsuyo, the bosses wife's sister. She is an absolute sweetheart and has been here for a year. It was quite emotional but there was also a really good party atmosphere, mostly because the English contingent started drinking whilst we were all cooking - two hours before the meal started. We like to represent our country well. But I am suffering a bit now, bleeerrrrgh.
I'm getting more and more excited about the time we're spending both here at Rongo and just travelling in general - we're meeting fab people and the world is our oyster. I love swapping contact details with people, knowing that should we happen to find our way in suchandsuch a place at some point, there'll be a friendly face and great moments and memories. I keep reminding myself that whilst I'm sitting in the sunshine carving a wooden sign, or sitting next to the fire knitting, or even cleaning the beds of guests who've become new friends, some poor bastards are working in call centres and the like. I am really trying to embrace and appreciate every moment of this ride, and nights like last night are the perfect representation of it all.
I was in a mega grump for a few hours yesterday - for a variety of reasons and also because I was just in a bad mood from the moment I woke up. When I eventually dragged myself out of it I just had to stop and smell the roses. One will always be surrounded by arseholes, leeches, weirdos and just generally annoying eejits. I am in the lucky position of being surrounded by those people but also plenty of funny, sweet, kind and magical people too, in a beautiful beautiful place. Yeehah!

Like this!

In good news, I have started painting again. And I think I am a better artist now than I ever was before! I did a painting the other day and to be a massive bigheaded donkey, I think it's brilliant - I find it very soothing to look at. I in fact like it so much that I'm going to send it to England so I can keep it forever and ever.
The people that have seen it here have made positive noises but finally, finally I have got to the point where I don't really care what other people think. I'm doing it for me, my own satisfaction and expression, and it's really really great.

And I had an epiphany that my lack of creativity has been down to issues I had leftover from Sharise dying. But I won't go into that now because we've had enough misery for one day, eh? I wonder what else my brain is hiding from me.

Ew, from some stranger that tried to add me on Facebook;

" I am dean by name from the UK Birmingham single father of three kids willing to know you more better i got you so appealing and beautiful that why a i am interested in you and want to know you more do you have an email where i could reach you and we talk the over okay that is you don't mind have a nice day and hope to hear from you again okay bye"

Fuck offfffff! Do people use FB as a dating site now?!!? I keep hearing about people meeting their boyfriend/girlfriend 'on Facebook'. How does this happen? Surely you only add the people you know (and preferably, know and like).

Wow I just read all the Jan Moir stuff. What a poisonous witch! Charlie Brooker right as always.

:oO Stephen Gately! Very sad shame. :o(

We're here! It's awesome. Proper post...soon!

Ooh, how did I forget My Weakness by Moby on his Play album? Ooooh perfection in a choon.

And just for the record, Lucy Mangan, Shami Chakrabarti, Helen Mirren and Judi Dench are my favourite women. Stephen Fry and Michael Palin are my favourite men (well really, Fry goes without saying. The man should be somehow immortalised and made into a deity).

Also, do I forget about the sharks and go body-boarding tomorrow? :o/

namesofthedead has highlighted to me The Danny Dyer Conundrum.



How is it that he is laughably bad at tv presenting, a one trick pony when it comes to film roles (with the odd exception where he still plays himself, but really well, like in Human Traffic), but almost every single woman I know wants him to do sex with her in the filthiest ways imaginable? We know he's a prat, yet we still sigh lustily after him. For why?!!??

So Frisby and I have been swimming and body-boarding in the sea for the past few days. Today we decided to give it a rest but take the dog for an epic walk along the beach. It was glorious and lovely and in the end we decided we'd come back and swim after all, because the day was just so beautiful. We both turned to look back at the ocean before heading back to the house to drop off the dog, and it was at that point that we saw A GREAT BIG GROUP OF BLOODY SHARKS. We aren't sure what type - they could have been Hammerheads (from the photos we've been looking at of the types that you find around here). There were at least 6 of them. So we run along the beach after them going "wowww!" and "ohmygoddd!" and "...but they might be dolphins?" until they are out of sight. It was incredible.
We just came back to look up on t'internet whether you can actually get sharks here and if they may have been dolphins, and it turns out the dolphins don't get here for another few months, and don't tend to swim that close to the beaches. This area and another area on the South Island are the places you're most likely to get sharks, it turns out. There hasn't been a fatal attack since 1968, and there have been a mere 9 attacks in this region in the past 100 or so years...but I still don't like the odds! What that says to me is this place is overdue another shark attack!
The sharks were only about 10-15 feet out...we've been swimming that far out!!! And we went on a surfer's forum and it said "your only dangers are the shark infested waters". YOUR ONLY DANGERS ARE THE SHARK INFESTED WATERS?!?!??!??
We're gunna need a bigga beach.

Ahh just watched District 9!!! So good!!! Was on the edge of my seat within five minutes and stayed there 'til the end. Brilliant!

Ugh, I just found out who Michelle Duggar is;



The cold, dead eyes of fundamentalist christians.

*hatehatehatehatehatehatehatehatehate*

Love this!!!