9/25/06 - 9/27/06 (Monday thru Wednesday) What Book Should I Read Next? I’ve been an avid reader for as long as I can remember. In primary school I always looked forward to the new Scholastic Reader book catalog and the free prize if I convinced my parents to order nearly all the books offered that month. Once the order was place, I had to endure the difficult wait until the books arrived. In those days it was the Chronicles of Narnia (7 books), From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, Tin Tin (does that count as reading material?), A [View Full Entry]

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9/24/06 (Sunday) Donavin’s Been Nuked (Like a Poodle in a Microwave) It was a bit ironic the day after watching Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth” I found myself directly below the largest hole in the ozone layer (the film was about global warming so in fact a very different but related topic). New Zealand was exposed to UV rays 25% stronger than a typical day. In the grand scheme of things I was like the ant at the business end of a magnifying glass, the light and radiation was so intense. I could feel the heat from the sun cooking me [View Full Entry]

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9/23/06 (Saturday) Shakespeare In Auckland Saturday was one of those cold drizzly mornings that you’d just rather stay inside. I had other plans instead. Auckland city council had sponsored a week long event called Auckland Heritage Week. Various public and private entities had opened up their doors for public tours and programs. I had reserved a spot for the tour of the Auckland City Library Special Collections Department, which houses rare books, manuscripts, photographs and maps. All that attended the tour were in for a treat. The first book that the librarians pulled out [View Full Entry]

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9/18/06 - 9/22/06 (Monday thru Friday) Long Silence Yes, I know it’s been a while since I updated my blog. This week was a week of doubt and questioning. I guess it’s what you’d expect six weeks into a new chapter of life. But this is not the venue to record such topics so I will, with your permission, change the topic. This week I didn’t get the memo that the quiz night IEP group meeting had been cancelled. I arrived at the pub, ordered my dark Guinness and moved into the patio area expecting to see familiar faces. I startled [View Full Entry]

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9/16/06 - 9/17/06 (Sat and Sunday) Martha Stewart Weekend This weekend was not your typical backpacker’s weekend for me. In the sprit of Martha Stewart I swamped house, did some grocery shopping, flower arranging and even some extravagant cooking (maybe not extravagant but definitely not something I typically do). Saturday I have officially been domesticated again (short term only as my last blog mentioned; just 2 years). Stephanie (one of my flat mates; see earlier blogs) broke her back earlier this year and found keeping up with some of the larger (nonessential) tasks around the [View Full Entry]

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9/11/06 thru 9/15/06 (Mon thru Fri) Wait For It….. Wait For It…. Whoomp There It IS! I know, I know you all want to hear about work; but your just goanna have to wait and read the following first. No fair reading the end of the blog first! Wait for it…. When does something become a tradition or habit? I think I’ve reached that point with our weekly pub quiz night. While I’m not partial to the Empire Pub any other night of the week, and thus could never shoot a Cheers equivalent, I am a recognized regular at the Empire [View Full Entry]

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9.9.06 thru 9.10.06 (Sat and Sun) I’d volunteered to help some friends of my flatmates run a charity clothing drive on Saturday and Sunday. My volunteer job, handing out flyers on the street, was not was not what I had expected. I’ve never done anything quite so humbling, humiliating, or embarrassing. When I learned what I would be doing I was contemplating leaving early or pleading an illness. I was to go out in the rain and stand in Newmarket, the place to be if you have high end shopping to do and want to be seen. I stationed myself at [View Full Entry]

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Prologue: I’ve neglected my writing for the last week and hope that this catches me up. I have no good excuse other then the fact that I’ve spent the last week cooking and debating/discussing (with my flat mates): food/drink, sports, politics, relationships, music, countries, and all the other topics people from different cultures like to discuss. Tonight I had to sneak out to the internet café just to complete these blogs (I’m sending the first blog at 11:30pm my time Wednesday evening). 9.4.06 Thru 9.8.06 Week in Review, Up early, out late, too much to do, not enough to [View Full Entry]

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9.3.06 Stay Left….., Stay Left (Not a Political Endorsement) “Stay left young man, stay left……” Those were words of advice uttered to me by a caring old gentleman. Was this a political statement? No, it was the admonition given to me by a friendly (but humorless (PS: Mark M. thanks for your advice I took it!) gentleman at a bike shop on Waiheke Island. Why was I on the island? For weeks I’ve wanted to get out to this rumored Garden of Eden. The weather had never cooperated with my plans and I was loosing hope that I would ever see [View Full Entry]

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9.1.06 Late Evening & 9.2.06 Day Last night the offer came through from SKM (at 4:45pm Friday afternoon). Very pleased and excited to strike out in a new direction. Should sign doc’s on Monday or Tuesday. My thanks to everyone who has helped me get to this point, you don’t know all that it means to me. Met up with a long time acquaintance (Alisha) from IEP at the Borders café. I use the word long term in the sense that unlike most people that strike out shortly after arriving in Auckland, we find ourselves still here (for me nearing four [View Full Entry]

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