forty-five thoughts for my daughter and my virtual daughters
By Francesca Lia Block.

i always believed if i had blond hair, pixie face
big breasts
everything would be all right
not realizing that culturally idolized beauty
is not only foolproof
but potentially dangerous
if you believe in your own unconventional beauty
when you are young
you will accomplish twice as much and suffer half so
turn off light bulbs and light a candle
walk don’t drive
plant a tree
wear sunscreen
dancing is an antidepressant
kindness is the new status symbol

I have always been a proud Canadian, my citizenship is something I will never ever will walk away from. I adore New Zealand, but in my heart and soul could never be a Kiwi. Being a Canadian is just too much a part of my nature. I have come to realize that I did take a few things for granted while living in Canada: the main thing that comes to mind is that I didnt view travelling around my own country as important as visiting far off lands. Now …

It’s hard to believe I came back from Queenstown a month ago, that Ive been at the Most Awesome Job Ever for three weeks, or that I’ve settled into a familiar routine here already. After six months of insecurity finally having stability in my life is a beautiful thing.
I worked on a budget for the next six months this week. Among the things I will (!) accomplish are

getting my CDN credit cards under control
saving up for a week-long holiday to Fiji, Tahiti, Samoa or Cook Islands to be …

Sorry for lack of updating. In the last few weeks Ive gone travelling around the South Island, moved into my flat which as of yet does NOT have internet set up (cmon Vodafone), and started a new job. Also, my site was shutdown by my web host for about a week as something on the index.php file was causing problems on their server. So all of this put together means no blog for you.
Hopefully home internet situation will be sorted tonight, and I can start recapping my last few weeks …

I turned 36 a few days ago. This was the first time Ive ever celebrated my birthday away from home, and while I definitely missed my mom’s annual 4pm phone call, I had a great day. To celebrate, before I went to Wellington Ash, Elisa, Donna, Melissa and I all went out for Indian (we had to do it early bc its a crazy time of year in everyone’s schedules). We ate WAY too much, and drank even more wine. On the day, Elisa took me out for dim sum …

I’m back in Auckland now but last week I spent several days in Island Bay, a suburb of Wellington on the Cook Strait. This photo is was taken about five minutes from the house that I will most likely be subletting a room from. It’s pretty much a done deal, although I am waiting to hear back from the people I stayed with just to know for certain. It’s a far cry from the noisiness of Grey Lynn, where Im currently living.
Ive always said that I hated the suburbs, and …

Take one trip outside of Auckland a month. Probable trips: Northland, Waitomo, Rotorua, Wellington, Christchurch, Nelson, Fox/Franz Josef Glaciers. Not all have to be full-on holidays, even just a weekend will do (esp for localish stuff on North Island).
Spend as much time out of doors as possible
Work as much as possible so that I can stop working in September, leaving October for travelling around New Zealand
Visit Thailand (9 days) on way home
Continue redevelopment of portfolio site (incl. possibly moving site over to Word Press)
Continue to expand javascript knowledge and use
Go …