Start spreading the news, I'm leaving today, I'm gonna be a part of it....

Thats right folks, I'm going to New York.
Oh yeah.
I got an offer. Not just an offer but a BIG FUCK OFF ASSISTANTSHIP PACKAGE WORTH FOURTY THOUSAND US DOLLARS.
Syracuse, New York, to be exact, for a PhD.
Why, you may ask? Because I am awesome. And ridiculously hot. And they love me.
The fact that it helps not to know me is lost on them apparently, because they want me.
THEY WANT ME!!!!
I have to be there in the middle of August, and I have so much to do in the next three months, including pack up my life, get visas, get buckets of money, sell my car, not make myself known to Homeland Security... I don't even know where to begin.

Oh shit. What have I got myself in for?

NEW YORK, BABY!!!!!!

Suck on that, naysayers.

Well at least we're not boring.

Never a dull moment, really.
My poor old mum has fallen over and broken her ankle. Sucks to that. What also sucks is that she lives in a split level house on a hill, where all the essential things like bedroom, kitchen, big fuck-off telly with Sky, are upstairs. I was wondering whether I could install one of those chair-stair-lift things in her house, like in Gremlins, but given how badly that ended in the movie, I am reluctant to. Oh well.

In other news, I have a TA offer from a uni in the US, unfortunately its not my first choice. Which is a nice way of saying its in Redneckville. When I was in Brisbane a couple of weeks ago, a bunch of people I had only just met had a wee intervention to stop me from going there, cos they were convinced that I would hate it. I have until June to make a decision.

Last night Christchurch got completely hammered by the most awesome thunder storm. There was REALLY LOUD (drowning out the telly loud) thunder, and super bright lightening, and buckets of hail and rain, and it was cool. Unfortunately the kittens weren't down with it, and kind of freaked out. I think they're over it though.
It appears that winter has arrived. Its now so cold that I can see my breath inside, its raining sideways, and its about 1 degree. OK, maybe a little more than that, but not much.

Winter is awesome. Oh yeah.

She says that my sentimental side should be held with kid gloves...

I feel like I'm stuck in limbo. Its weird. The last few days I've being going hard out on my work, and I'm a bit blah. It might also be because I think I'm coming down with this nasty cold thats been going around. The good thing about being me, however, is that whenever theres a nasty cold or flu going around, and lesser mortals are laid up for a week or two, Super Claire gets a wee sniffle, a sore throat, feels like arse for maybe two days, and is back to her usual super-ness in no time at all. My immune system could rival Wolverine's skeleton: made of adamantium and virtually unbreakable.
Or it could be that I'M HAVING TO WAIT AND I HATE WAITING AND AM REALLY REALLY CRAP AT IT. Just in case you hadn't guessed.
Little Miss Instant Gratification.
I want to know if I'm going to the university in the US. And I wanna know now!!!!!!
Actually, if its a no, I don't want to know at all, cos then I'll be all depressed and moping and you'll all have to put up with it.
Ah fuck it.

I think its been a few days since I've done this, but are you aware of just how awesome Interpol are? ( the band, although the international police aren't too shabby either. But thats not important right now) Its important that I make it quite clear to you all, and I strongly encourage you to go out now, yes now, dinner can wait, and buy both their records.

Also, this arrived in my inbox this morning. It might take a few minutes to load unless you've got some fancy high-speed loving going on, but tis good. Nice to see so much support for something thats so important.

Go and see Robots. Nike and I had a smashing dinner last night, and went to see it, and goodness gracious me its a bit of a giggle. Random Britney Spears moment as well, which is always funny. The messages in it are good too, perhaps this is further evidence that I think about things too much, but given that children are being raised by the media way more than we ever were, it becomes increasingly important what sort of messages they are recieving. And for this one, the messages are all good and healthy, and the ruthless pursuit of money once again fails to overcome the human (or robot) spirit, and the kid with the hand-me-downs and the blue collar family is the good guy.
I haven't spoiled the plot, don't worry, its a kids movie, forChrissakes, you know whats going to happen.

I was going to go to the gym, but bollocks to that, I'm going to visit my dear old Dad.
Have a super day.
(I'm feeling better already)

I must remember to buy catfood on the way home.

I'm feeling a bit blah today. I think I know why though. I've been sitting at my desk all day, calculating REALLY FUCKING CHEERY statistics, such as number of battle deaths, and average numbers of people that died as a result of combat per month in the Asia Pacific region since 1945. Did you know that over the space of six years, 1.5 million died in South Vietnam because of internal conflict? Thats well before the American war, too. It works out at nearly 24 thousand people a month. One thousand people per month are still dying in West Papua. And thats only since 2000. Since 1989, 64.5 people die a month in Aceh. 5% of the population have died. Name 20 people you know, and pick one.

Maybe it should be making me grateful, because I live in beautiful NZ and don't run the risk of being a statistic of violent conflict.

Or maybe its just the fact that I've been sitting at my wee desk all day, and still haven't heard from Our Friend in America, aka Programme-Running-Guy, as to whether or not I got into the university. If patience is a virtue, then I'm not a particularly virtuous soul. Although apparently chastity is a virtue as well, so HAHAHA!!!!!!

I am considering a rant about the new Pope, but it will have to wait. Its brewing.
I am also considering writing a big blog about the universe and everything in it, but that one will take a while.

Now I must buy catfood.

And Jay: they're pink. With Snoopy on them.

I am Woman, hear me Roar
meow

I have just posted and emailed a bunch of stuff to the last-american-university-I'm-going-to-apply-for. I'm a little nervous. As I wrote to the guy who runs the programme, it is very difficult to plead ones case via electronic medium, additionally I was restrained in that particular form as I presume my usual tactic of "I'm fucking awesome give me bunches of money bitch" probably has limited tenure in academia. So now I am waiting for The Boss Man who is currently MIA in London to get round to writing a letter of recommendation for me, to go with the other two (that hopefully say "Claire is awesome, give her bunches of money you bitches") and then to hear back from programme-running-guy. I wrote a wee letter to go with all the material I sent him, the closing line being "Yours, in anxious anticipation". I attached it all to an email that said something along the lines of "I've done the best job I can trying to sell myself in electronic form, and so all I can do now is drum my fingers nervously on the keyboard awaiting your decision".
Argh.
*drums fingers nervously on the keyboard*

But hey, if that fails, I'm moving my arse to tropical Brisbane to get me some of that Queensland love. And the American university is very near the Canadian border, and although that brings me closer to one of my lifetime goals of scoring a Mountie, I hear it is a bit chilly.
And of course, tropical climates are best for pasty white freckly gingas.

My friend got a PhD on Friday. Well, she got it ages ago, but graduation was on Friday, so I sat there with her mum and step-dad, and clapped and cheered, and snoozed through all the other people. Then, of course, we went out for dinner on Saturday night and needless to say there was drink involved. Bubbles, sauvignon blanc, beer, merlot, feijoa vodka. So Sunday was fun.
Actually Sunday was cool, despite being a bit OverHung, cos I spent about four hours on the sofa watching Buffy on the big screen. The big screen being the living room wall, cos we got ourselves some of that data projector loving, at least until my schoolteacher flatmate has to return it when school goes back in three weeks.
Lots of Buffy time.

Time to get back to work now.
Oh piss.

Update not at all related to anything: apparently our MPs have begun referring to each other as "front bums" in the media.
Now thats classy.

If I get there early will it be the right time?
Our heaven is just waiting so put your hand into mine...

Calling all People With Taste.

There is a festival that goes by the name of "Splendour in the Grass" in Byron Bay in July.

Interpol are playing.

Whos coming with me?

Listen up, bitches!!!

Write this in your diaries.
There will be a party.
It will be on May 14th (probably).
It will be at The Bounty.
It will be awesome (definately).
There will be a theme (to be decided, suggestions in the box).
The choons will be great.
The people will be beautiful (with several notable exceptions. No, not me, I'll be there in all my Patsy-like glory).

The cause.....

.....the second annual "Claire and Dave have mostly the same friends so we may as well combine our birthday parties plus it makes us feel like we have more friends than we actually do" party.

I will be 21. Again.
I'm getting quite good at it now, I really feel like I'm getting the hang of this whole "21" thing. It doesn't help though, that my next birthday will A Big One.

Dave will be 17.

I nominate the following out-of-towners to attend: Stacey, Bianca, Greg, Bridget, Hester and Mr Hester, George...hell, all of Wellington. And Jeff, Michelle, Anna, and Sara. I'm hoping for a 50% strike rate from that list.

You have been warned.

Also, I wrote a very interesting post the other day about all sorts of important stuff that was witty and succinct and politically relevant. Needless to say blogger ate it. Fucky.

Bye now. Essays to mark.

Warning: Superlative overload imminent

Wow. What a freaking rollercoaster.
The last few days have been insane. Man, I love conferences. I have received so much information and met so many awesome people and learnt so many new things and gained so many new friends and drunk so many glasses of wine and become so much more inspired about the work that already I loved.
I met people from Denmark and the US and England and Colombia and Sweden and Australia and Indonesia and East Timor and Cambodia and they were all really cool and inspiring and dedicated to our work and so intelligent and came from all different backgrounds and had really interesting perspectives that were different from my own.

And then once it had finished, I got to spend some time with someone truly awesome and we caught up with Anna and went to a museum and on a boat and wandered around the shops and one of Brisbane’s many casinos and I got to make a new friend who is…oh dear. My superlative function has overheated and consequently shut down. Suffice to say that the Dutch aren’t nearly as bad as Nigel Powers makes out.


Do you think I should tell him about the blog?

Oh, and my paper ruled. Man, I fucking OWNED that panel!