Why I smiled this week...

Okay, my last few posts have been kind of...um...crappy? Pun totally intended. But I also have noticed that they have all been about the random misfortunes that seem to follow me like a bad smell. (Another pun, boy I am on fire...)*

So, for a change of pace, I thought I would do a little post on things that have made me smile in the last week. If you don't want your heart to melt or to indulge in saccharine silliness you may want to avoid this post. Or watch the following clip -

So, where was I? That's right, things that made me smile in the last week. There were a lot more things that I originally thought so I have narrowed it down to the top ten.

One: This video of Adam Savage from Mythbusters singing 'I Will Survive' in the voice of Gollum. Gollum finds his inner diva.

Two: Having coffee and the world's best bagel with one of my dearest friends. (Seriously, it was the best bagel with smoked salmon and cream cheese plus the pesto was brilliant.)

Three: Ordering a Kindle on Friday and having it arrive on Tuesday. Now, before you start jumping up and down claiming that a book lover should not have a Kindle let me tell you the main reason I clicked the buy now button - I travel quite a bit and if I buy, on average, 3-5 books on every trip it makes my bag heavy and costs quite a bit. This way I'll always have a book on hand. Hey, wait a moment, why the hell am I explaining myself to you...I wanted one so I bought one.

Four: Dancing like a loon on 'Just Dance 2' on the wii - and consequently getting my arsed kicked by a twelve year old.

Five: Getting a birthday call from my youngest neice. At two her English isn't great but it sure is funny. After saying 'birthday' she screamed 'muffins' at the top of her lungs and just giggled for three minutes.

Six: Having a load of washing go through without stopping. (My washing machine is far too old and hates me and every five minutes I have to go and untangle everything)

Seven: Realising that someone had, stupidly, gone through the bag of poo thinking that they had scored a new pair of jeans...(This isn't exactly a nice reason to smile but I did laugh. )

Eight: Hearing that my sister finally found a new house to rent. She lives in Christchurch and, especially with the quakes, has been finding everything difficult.

Nine: All the lovely birthday wishes from all my great friends, old and new, from around the world. You are all awesome.

Ten: This!

Well, that's all for today. I should be back to my normal snarky self come Friday. Peace and pancakes all.

*This kinda proves how reclusive I am, right? That I find puns so enjoyable?

In which I bemoan the blank page of doom...

I am currently staring at the blank page of doom while the ideas on what to write fight battle royale style in my head. I am somewhat amused by how this image is going down in my head and I have to laugh at how my imagination integrates movie scenes in my head with ease.

This blank page of doom is actually scaring me because I want to write. I want to get published so I can call myself an author and I know that there are many others in the world who are currently in my position. I don't want to be one of those people who talk about writing the next great thing but never have the guts to go through with it. I know that this may sound a bit harsh but you have to admit that nearly everyone you meet will say that they want to write or they'd love to write a novel.

I have actually written a novel and, although I feel I must tweak it some more, I do want to send it off to a publisher and I am going to do that. Nothing like a bit of positive affirmation in the early morning. Well, it isn't as early as it was. For some strange reason my mind told me to wake at 5.30am and so now I am holed away in the corner of the shop (which doesn't open till 12 by the way) and have been for sometime. Hence the blank page of doom bemoaning. At least I am only on my second cup of coffee.

In other news I am finally watching The Hurt Locker and so far I am really enjoying it. I wasn't sure what I was going to think of it but the camera shots and angles are gritty and I love that kind of technique. The acting is pretty great so far as well but I have to watch the film in full before I can give a proper review. I am waiting for 127 Hours to finally start here as well as Black Swan both films that I desperately want to watch but since I am currently residing in the middle of nowhere I must rely on my stores of patience.

If there are any other films that you could recommend leave me a comment. Also, if you happen to know any sure fire cures of writer's block let me know. I've nearly gone through all the ones that I know.

P.S. My sister and her children are now safely up here. They left Christchurch on the first plane that they could get on. So I have a rather full house and have moved myself to the small bach out the back mainly to give them some space and to make sure I retain at least some form of sanity.

P.P.S. Dead Space: Extraction for the Wii is pretty damn awesome. It is a simple game but the story is excellent. I guess my next expense will be Dead Space for the P.C. since I don't have an XBox or PS3...

P.P.P.S. I've stopped playing WoW - mainly because my free trial is nearly up and I don't know if I can afford to pay for it since I can barely afford to buy anything else at the moment.

P.P.P.P.S If you've gotten this far go you! I just felt like writing the letter 'P' and this gave me the excuse I needed. But, since you have gotten this far I will give you something. Hmm...::*::looks around the table::*:: Um, I don't have anything off hand but I can recommend a musician that I just heard - Justin Nozuka. His songs are brilliant - especially After Tonight and Save Him.

Peace and Pancakes

In which Christchurch is hit by a 6.3...

My sister and her two children live in Christchurch. Yesterday at 12.51ish  an earthquake centred in Lyttleton and only five kilometres deep rocked the city with a 6.3 force and for a moment the entire country of New Zealand stopped breathing be it in disbelief or shock my guess is probably both.

For over four long hours we waited, trying any means necessary to get through to her, just to hear her voice and to know that they were okay. This is the same thing that millions of others were trying to do which meant phone lines were clogged and the panic rose sharply. The news footage was raw and unedited and I, like many, could not tear my eyes away from it.

But, at the same time I was overwhelmed by the support that was coming in from all over the world. Thankfully John Key and the New Zealand government accepted help though this is still going to be one of the biggest disasters to hit our small country in many years.

In this time of trouble it is amazing to see the support and caring that comes through even though it only shows during such tragic circumstances.

For those who were wondering my sister and her two girls are fine. Hopefully they will fly up here for a visit or even relocate permanently.

Thanks to Facebook and Twitter for providing me with realtime updates and photos. Through both of these social media sites I was able to find out that many of my friends were okay.  

Sorry for the shortness of this post but it is still quite difficult to talk about. All my thoughts and hopes and prayers are going out to the people of Christchurch and the rest of New Zealand as well.

All donations can be made to Red Cross Donations though I haven't been able to get through to the site due to how busy it is.