And now an update from our celeb-stalking news desk....

Anyone fancy a trip to California, say Decemberish?
Maybe around the 8th-10th?
Maybe do a little conventioning?
Stalk some nice Canadians?
Ok?
See you then, fan-geeks!
I'll be the tall red-head being dragged out by security.

Cause you can't jump the track we're like cars on a cable, and life's like an hourglass glued to the table, no one can find the rewind button now

Its been a week since my last blog, and thirty years since my last confession.
I am in a weird mood, more so than usual. Perhaps its because my sister and I got drunk last night and I always feel a little quiet after a skinful of sauvignon blanc...maybe its because I've been listening to that lovely Anna Nalick song that was on Grey's Anatomy and its so sad and truthful and beautiful and now I'm listening to Damien Rice and yesterday it was all about James Blunt....perhaps its because life never ceases to be interesting...or perhaps its because my rice wafers are all broken (Note: that is not a metaphor for some deep seated psychological trauma, the rice wafers are actually broken).

The good news is, I am now the proud owner of the following DVDs: the complete Firefly, the complete Black Books, Serenity, Labyrinth and Pi.
All I need now is Blackadder, the Young Ones, the complete X Files, Buffy, Angel, The West Wing and M*A*S*H, and I need never achieve anything again!!! Also, a telly would be good. I'll put that on the shopping list too, as well as a remote control for the DVD player so we have more options than stop and start.

I am going to the travel agent in an hour to get my tickets back to NY.
I wonder where I will end up? I want to be here, to live in the same city as my family, and in this country which is by far the greatest in the world, I want my children to grow up here, but I don't know how to do that. If I plan on acheiving my ambitions it will be many years before I can live here, buy a house and get myself all settled. Even if I end up teaching at a university, my options are few. There are only 4 universities in NZ that I would work at, and I wouldn't live in Australia again.
It feels a bit like I will have to choose between two types of life. I should be grateful I have the option really.
Ok enough of this shit.
Here's a picture.

Why drive when you can fly?

Aha, I'm only flying because the freaking roads are closed, and because my Dad is an angel and didn't want me to miss the conference in Dunedin this weekend, so in a few hours I will be off to cold snowy Dunedin for a weekend of drinking, partying and the politics of sport in a globalising world. Fun.

Umm....I miss my friends in NY, its cold here but still good to be home, am not working as much as I should, and I broke my niece's arm*.

*It was totally an accident and not remotely my fault, it was only a tiny wee greenstick fracture, she doesn't even need a bandage let alone a cast, everybody knows it was not my fault I only picked her up like I have done a thousand times before and she doesn't seem to mind at all she still loves me and was standing on her hands last night so it can't hurt that much at all.....none of which distracts sufficiently from the fact that I BROKE ROSIE!!!
Am currently awaiting a call from CYPS who will likely arrest me, lock me up in a special Bad Auntie prison and throw away the key.

There's no place that I can't be....

Aha, here is my official coming out party....I AM A GIGANTIC NERD!!!!

And I am going to marry this man and have lovely little Canadian/NZ babies.
Sorry Hesty.

In other news, I went horseriding yesterday with my niece, and I have a remarkably sore arse today.

Ok bye.

I'll take you over...

Here is the next month:
June 23rd-26th: Dunedin
July 4th-7th: Auckland (well Whangaparoa to be exact...or maybe Orewa....)
July 14th-17th: Wellington

Also to do: Wanaka, and possibly Mount Hutt.

In the last five weeks I have been in:
Syracuse, New York
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Phoenix, Arizona
Los Angeles, California
Auckland
Dunedin
Wanaka
Queenstown
Arrowtown

Such a busy wee bee....it turns out that three months really isn't that long when you're at home and have many things to do and lots of people to see and then end up working as well....
Its a good thing I'm stopping off in LA for a wee holiday on my way back isn't it?

In other news.... life is good. The usual dramas and worries of course, but all is well.
How are you all doing?

Listening on the misty frequencies....

Last night we had a BBQ. It was an unseasonably mild evening, and there was a brand new BBQ to christen. Much fun was had....

This morning, after a night of thumping rain, we awoke to snow. It keeps coming, and in a town that is not equipped to deal with snow, it makes for an interesting sight, and a quiet political science department!

So now I'm stuck at work, waiting for my Dad to come and pick me up in the Land Rover because the road up the hill to my sister's house where I live is closed to pretty much everyone except people in Land Rovers.

One thing about living in NZ: unpredictability. You don't like the weather? Wait 20 minutes!
Never a dull moment.

Fuck

I had a root canal this morning....and the anaesthetic just wore off.

Ouch.

I just had a hot bath and now am all scrummy
Ah, the sheer joy of dial up!!!
I tried to email a photo to someone last night, and ended up having to give up because the combination of a dial up connection and 5 mega pixel photos was all a bit much.

So....I wonder if I have any blog friends left after my recent erratic presence on the internets.

Let's see, aye?

Here are a couple of good-looking boys for your viewing pleasure.

Its a hard road finding the perfect woman....

I am kind of back online, but you know how it is....busy busy busy.
Actually I am surprised at how busy I have been since I got home, and at how much I have drunk. The day before yesterday was the first day I didn't drink any booze since about a week before I left NY, so very soon I will have to do a big old detox and stay off the booze for a few weeks so my poor old body doesn't collapse.
But not tonight, because my bff and her plp are coming over for dins, and there will be wine, and much rejoicing.

I now have an office in my old dept at uni and the university is paying for my internet access and so I can't really spend too much time blogging or I'll get in big piles of barney....so I'm off now to look up who can give me the fastest dial-up, because most of my family still live in dial-up land and seeing as how I am living with them in their various houses, I too must live in dial-up land.
Me Mum has gone to the land of the Jafa this weekend, so I have her house to myself until Thursday.....party anyone?

Photos to follow.....