Recent stuff

No more apologies, I'm pretty much done with personal blogging besides the occasional check-in such as this, which is mainly for my future self (but if you enjoy it too then, great!)

Everything is now booked for Australia, and I'm in the process of saving spending money. October's almost over already so it's going to come around verrry quickly. I am doing so well! Praise me!

I managed to go to World of WearableArt for free and it was flipping amazing. I'd never really paid much attention to it in the several years I've lived in Wellington, other than noting an influx of middle aged women clogging up the footpaths. To be honest I assumed it was a very pretentious runway show of fancy costumes and never looked further into it - it's sooo much more than that, and felt more like a circus experience than anything else. Will definitely look at buying a ticket to go again next year.

Since Gone Girl's NZ release I have re-read the book once and seen the movie three times, so that is my review, take from it what you will.

I watched White Bird in a Blizzard the other day and was underwhelmed, despite my love for Eva Green. Jimmy Fallon just talked it up way too much. You'll probably like it if you go in with low/no expectations. Or with a burning desire to perve on Shailene Woodley's boobs.

It was Charlie's birthday at the start of the month and I got him a rather nice Stolen Girlfriends Club ring, a Batman plush collectable thingy, and Bun B's Rapper Colouring and Activity Book so I think I am pretty much the best at presents ever.

I had more to write about, but would you look at the time...

Confessions of a Compulsive Spender

Note: This post has been added to over a handful of days since the start of September.

Charlie and I both started new jobs halfway through this year and it's all very exciting and something I should have blogged about extensively and may do some day, but this is not the post for it.

After working in retail for all the 'New Years' [it's just the plural of New Year here, Mum, I'm sorry] of our relationship I was hopeful Charlie's new job would mean seeing in 2015 together somewhere other than Wellington. Unfortunately not this time.

But I'd already been thinking so much about going somewhere exciting during the summer, that I started considering going solo. Visiting one or both of my two good mates in Aussie and have a holiday by myself.

I have been terrible with money ever since I first discovered the concept. I don't know why - my parents aren't rich, but they sure are disciplined and sensible when it comes to spending. My little sister has been saving for years - spending on both necessary and luxury things along the way, but always with a healthy balance left in the bank.

But me? As a kid and tween I would get a few banknotes for my birthday and spend as soon as possible - the same day if I could. I would get a late birthday card with $30 enclosed and head straight to the toy store to blow the lot on a fancy teddy bear.

And then I got older and older and this just continued (although I finally grew out of teddy bears... new ones, that is. I still have several of my old buddies on a shelf in our bedroom...)

I'm 25 years old now, I have been working a part- or full-time job since I was 15, and I still live paycheck-to-paycheck. Sometimes I need help to get to that next paycheck. It is shameful.

I have a relatively-small student loan from a foolish attempt at study when I was not physically nor mentally fit to complete it. Thankfully it's interest-free, and decreasing merrily with every pay. I have an overdraft of $2000 that I gleefully accepted during those student days and this means I float around in the red and now pay monthly interest. But I'm paid fortnightly and my bank account has not been in the black since I accepted that overdraft and went shopping all those years ago at 17. Thankfully I don't have a credit card. It could be much worse. But it still needs to change.

--

It's the 3nd of September and this evening I sat down and made a solid plan to save for an Australia trip at the end of January. I looked on Kayak at different flight options, and worked out how much I can afford to save if I stop wasting money - it's exciting, and achievable. If I can stick to my plan and can confirm dates that work for both friends and my work, I should be able to book flights in early October, and accommodation after that. And then I'll have over three months to get a tattoo appointment locked in with a deposit, and save a healthy amount of spending money.

Young Adventuress Liz posted this old blog post on her Facebook page today and it could not have come at a better time. I clicked through some of the posts she linked to too, and saw a tip for when you're thinking about making a unnecessary purchase - think what could I buy on holiday with that money instead? Seems bloody obvious, but I really haven't ever had that mindset before.

It's ridiculous that I haven't travelled (on my own money). When people ask if I want to travel and I practically shout yes, my response to why I haven't is "money"/"too poor"/"can't afford", and that's not true, I make a decent income. It's my spending problem, and that's not an excuse. I see this Australia trip obviously as a holiday, but also the first step towards being a "saver" and going on holidays further abroad. Those of you who know me and/or have read my blog for a long time will know my desire to go to the States. If I can achieve Australia in a few short months, I'm sure I can achieve my American dream a year or two after that!

--

It's the 8th of September, my first payday since I decided to save for Australia. Managed to make the remainder of my previous pay last until today and put a little excess into my savings account so for me that's off to a good start!

From my pay today I put around 35% into my savings account and put aside money for the dentist this Wednesday. I paid all my bills (wahhh, electricity) and expenses (including Child Fund sponsorship - yup, maybe an "unnecessary" expense but a damn fulfilling one I won't be giving up), and did a grocery shop this evening for some seriously healthy food - 80% fresh fruit fruit/veges/raw foods, and 20% packaged-but-still-healthy food. Nary a chocolate-anything in sight. The leftover money I have budgeted to a small daily allowance for the next fortnight to use on miscellaneous expenses and any extra food I need. Going to try my best to spend next to nothing from that until I have to, so maybe I can treat myself to a meal out or a couple of beers later in the fortnight.

I don't want to get ahead of myself, hence keeping these updates in one post for now. Writing all this publicly and then failing would be terribly embarrassing, and I have a decade of poor money management to overcome (oh, hell). But my mindset is really different this time. I've seen lots of lovely clothing and art items online during the past week, and in the past I would bookmark them for a payday spend-up, but this time I've quickly closed the tabs. Maybe a little way to go before I resist clicking the links at all! I glanced at overpriced fresh flowers on the way into the supermarket this evening (a regular frivolous expense for me) but walked right on by thinking that's another tenner in Aussie! If I can get through to my next pay without borrowing money or touching my savings, I'll hit publish and continue these posts more regularly... and less lengthy!

--

It's the 9th of September,  and despite what I said yesterday, I'm going to hit publish today. I just read Kelly and Rochelle's posts about "Brokeass September" and if they can be open about money stuff, I can too. I have all my (mega healthy!) food for the day planned out, so won't be spending a cent and today's allowance can carry over to tomorrow. I got this.

Summary of August 2014

This month last year

It was the middle of Breaking Bad's final season, I got my Captain Von Trapp tattoo.

Entertained by

We watched the first two Hunger Games movies, they were alright. I bought a stack of books from the Book Fair, and re-read Black Like Me and Willow Tree and Olive. Listened to Broods' Evergreen and 3ree6ixty's Utopia.

Purchased

Books, a couple of dresses, a necklace, a cactus.

Highlights

Going to Broods with old-work people and 3ree6ixty with Charlie.

Lowlights

Robin Williams' death.

Art progress

Only a couple of drawings at the start of the month.

Looking forward to

No big events coming up. Lorde tickets go on sale tomorrow which I was pretty keen for but have decided not to go. Going to try not to spend money in September.

Summary of May 2014

Note: I scheduled this post a couple of days ago. The month is ending on a terribly heartbreaking note, as we have lost a beautiful, gentle, caring member of our SYAONZ community and I attended a service for her today. Rest in peace, Moira.

This month last year

Last May I spent a night in Auckland for an Arthritis New Zealand advocate workshop, which was the start of a lot more work and enthusiasm for SYAONZ, including the start of our website. My little sister Emily graduated with a Bachelor of Nursing from Massey University. I took the day off work for my 24th birthday for a hospital appointment, and then spent the afternoon with Charlie.

Entertained by

We have been watching a few episodes of The Office pretty much every night after work - currently on season 6. We started just after I saw Lauren mention she was re-watching it, and how emotionally involved in Jim and Pam's relationship she is. Oh gosh, me too, so much.

After teaching myself the New Zealand Sign Language alphabet one evening, I've been thoroughly impressed by the New Zealand Sign Language Dictionary app and trying to pick up a few words each night. Seriously, check it out, fantastic app.

Music-wise has been same old, but I'm in the 'love it' team for the video to Chandelier by Sia.

Besides my usual subscriptions on YouTube I've also been watching a lot of Jimmy Fallon videos (Drew is one of my favourites), UFO sighting videos (yup), and videos of extreme waterparks. Oh, the places you'll go.

Purchased

Two Rimmel lipsticks, a L'Oreal lipstick, six Milani lipsticks, and another lipstick holder. A clear case for my phone (what's the point of getting the fancy gold one if you can't see it?) Chelsea Winter's cookbook for Mother's Day, and a present for Mum's birthday (haven't been able to give it to her yet).

Highlights

I got about 20cm chopped off my hair! Absolutely love it, Jacques did such a great job and I'll definitely go back to him in the future.

Starting my new job has been a massive highlight and obviously the most significant part of this month. Absolutely loving it, and still pinching myself that I get to wake up on weekdays and head off to do something that I love. We had a great development day in Martinborough with the whole team.

Spent a night in the Wairarapa for my friend Alishia's leaving party which was a really good night.

It was my 25th birthday on the 17th which was mostly spent in Martinborough. The weather was gorgeous, and we had a lovely lunch at Medici. Was super spoiled with lovely gifts.

Looking forward to

Going to Auckland for a day of work. Going to Ellie Goulding with some old-work mates. 

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Stunning colour during a Wellington sunrise - no filter.

Circa 2005

While at my parents' house I found a shoebox of negatives from my school days, and my friend Samantha loaned me her negative scanner! Long weekend coming up, so I might try and scan them all (it takes a while).

But above are a few I scanned tonight - Ash and I took A LOT of pictures over the years! Top left is Ash and me (lip ring!) with a Tiny Teddy cookie and a lot of emotions, age 16ish. Top right is myself and Ash at school, age 16-17ish. Bottom left is me in my after-school-job uniform (Write Price, Lotto counter), age 16. Bottom right is Ash and me in nurse uniforms at our combined 17/16th birthday party.

Summary of April 2014

This has been a busy month to out-do all other busy months, so I should have been blogging as I go, but I have not. So this is a little lengthy.

This month last year

It was my Dad's 60th birthday so we had a lovely family lunch at Mirabelle in Carterton, and Emily, Charlie, Emily's boyfriend Sam and I gave Dad his helicopter flight voucher. Gay marriage was legalised in New Zealand and I was elated and super proud of NZ - anyone who was less than indifferent can get off mai internetz. There are not many other memory-triggering posts on my blog or Instagram. Looks like April last year was when Charlie showed me Lil Dicky's music, so his success in the 12 months since is pretty inspiring.

Entertained by

The QuizUp app! It's so much fun, you absolutely need to download it now if you haven't already. Similar concept to Words With Friends etc. in that you're playing your friends or strangers, but you battle in timed quizzes - so many categories to choose from, and I haven't noticed a speck of advertising so far, so get in there while it's hot and free.

Our dear buddy Dylan gave us access to his Netflix account which is pretty much the best thing ever and what was life before it? Last week was pretty busy, but this week I've been having a good ol' relax and watching all the things - Luther (brilliant, S01E04 was phenomenal - Nicola Walker is a-ma-zing), The Office (US version, had never tried it before but it really is just as good as the UK version once you get past the too-similar pilot episode), Weeds (good so far, love Haley Hudson), and The Brady Buch Movie and its sequel (such innuendo! Amazing! Went right over my tween head). Dylan, Charlie and I watched Bad Words and The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete - highly recommend both. Amazing child actors in both movies, but oh my gosh the little boy who plays Pete in the latter is the most adorable kid ever.

Charlie and I went to see The Lego Movie and it was pretty funny. We went to a late night screening which was good since it's school holidays, but even though there were hardly any other people in the theatre there was one individual with the most ridiculous laugh I have ever heard. Ever.

Was loving My Kitchen Rules (spoilers ahead, NZ, skip to next category) until Thalia and Bianca were eliminated, such a shame the pressure got to them. And the bad-brows girls beating the surfer dads was the end of it for me.

Purchased

I bought a bunch of clothes from ASOS which arrived at the start of the month. Everything fits great and I am loooving the cat scarf and ribbed tights shown below. I bought my sister a bunch of things for her birthday and a gold hanging pot from Typo for myself. My birthday's in a couple of weeks and all I really want is some house plants - we only have one and I want more. Our lounge gets so warm even in winter, so should really be taking better advantage of that.

Highlights

So many!

At the start of April Charlie and I went to his friend's leaving drinks at St John - he's off to live in the States, lucky guy. It was one of the last warm evenings before we had a lot of stormy weather, so it was really nice having beers and cocktails on the lawn in the late afternoon sun.

Cocktails at St John

I finished my job which was a high and low. Everyone was commenting on my non-stop smile during my last week, but I swear I was sad to be leaving! Mainly couldn't stop smiling because I've never had so many compliments, a shame all the praise doesn't come pouring out until you're leaving! Had some leaving drinks at Southern Cross on my last day which was really nice.

Went to Masterton on Easter Sunday with my sister and her boyfriend, stopping for brunch at Go Bang Espresso in Petone on the way which was delicious. That evening I went bowling with my family at Master Bowl - definitely wish it had existed when I was a teenager! I was much better than I anticipated and came second after Dad - a mix of crappy gutter balls and some good'uns, but I am usually the worst-at-sports so it was great fun. Then it was my sister's birthday on the Monday, caught up with my friend Alishia in the morning, then went with the family to Castlepoint beach in the afternoon. Lovely weather, I miss the Wairarapa winters so much - often so icy cold and still, rather than Wellington's hot/cold howling wind and rain.

Bowling scores

Super cold but super sunny

Sam and Emily

Beautiful Castlepoint

Next highlight was also a lowlight - did some more filming which is possibly more than I can say but didn't get any specific confidentiality instructions so whatever. It was in my own house and first thing in the morning, and far more nerve wracking than the last filming I did. But y'know, another good experience. Hopefully they'll be happy with the outcome. Planning to keep up YouTube filming to keep improving my speaking/camera skills, but it's pretty hard to be engaging on camera when you're speaking about really personal stuff, man.

Then Dylan stayed with us for a few nights, we all went to dinner with Charlie's mum on his first night, then lazed around at home the next few days due to rubbish weather and lack of funds.

My favourite boys, that fluddy mound of Wallace included

Lowlights

Leaving my job was sad - said a few words in my last morning tea acknowledging the fact most people there saw me as a quiet person, and how much I appreciated them making me feel immediately welcome despite that. I wanted to say a lot more but felt myself getting a wee bit teary, so kept it very brief! That's probably the only real low light of this month, as The Lego Movie dudes would chorus everything is awesome!

While in Masterton I finally got an iron infusion (IV) at the hospital that I've been needing to have for a long time. The nurse that put my line in was an absolute champion - fist try, minimal pain. IVs for steroids when I was 16/17 were a nightmare - once I had nurses and then doctors having multiple attempts to get it in my arm. Mum suggested quitting fizzy drink and being more hydrated might have improved my veins, who knows. The gross-coloured bag bag of iron-y goodness took about 3 hours to drip and thankfully I was on a bed rather than a chair so I pretty much napped the whole time. Felt like absolute crap the next day, but have been fine since. No dramatic increase in my energy levels at all so far, but if it'll keep my GP happy with my blood test results then all good. Pretty much all the people I know who are tested regularly because of their arthritis needs have low iron, so I'm curious to know whether it's an arthritis thing, or whether the average young adult has shit iron levels but most people don't have regular blood tests so no one knows...?

Looking forward to

I'm starting my new job on Monday! So very excited, nerves haven't kicked in yet but sure they will closer to the weekend. Was scrolling through my Facebook yesterday and saw a humblebrag from an old classmate doing their crazy awesome dream job, and had my initial "sigh, jealous" reaction followed by "wait, no, so am I next week!" I know this isn't even humble you guys, I'm truly proud of myself and on such a go me, go me buzz.

Also coming up is my 25th birthday on 17 May. I was one of the younger people in my class year at school, so pretty much all of my friends' birthdays are before mine and I play catch up to each age. So I feel like I've been 25 for ages already which is stupid, but yeah... still always get IDed (drinking age in NZ is 18) so definitely can't be claiming any quarter life crises at this stage, thanks baby-face (I guess).

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Summary of March 2014

This month last year

Struggling to remember - my blog was hit with screeds of spam comments so I took quite a break from posting.

Entertained by

Watched True Detective and loved it - fortunately I didn't start until all eight episodes had aired, so wasn't following along theories/recaps and didn't know what to expect. Matthew McConaughey is too good. I read Who Killed Scott Guy? on the iBooks app. Enjoyed playing with the French Girls app - submit a selfie for a stranger to draw, and receive a stranger's selfie to draw.

Purchased

Bought three work-appropriate dresses, a black cardi and Never Been Kissed on DVD.

Highlights

This month has been intense - these would all normally be posts in themselves, but there's just been too much going on.

I quit all fizzy drinks (soda) at the start of this month, including energy drinks. Only had one single ginger ale while out for dinner, and a couple of beers on Fridays for after-work drinks.

I went out for a lovely dinner at Charley Noble with Charlie and his Mum, then we all went to Power Plant at the Botanical Gardens which was amazing. Far less visual than I expected and so much more sound, which I loved. Do not understand why the posters had children on them - I think if they want to go then great, but it probably shouldn't be marketed as a family event imho.

I applied for an administration job and had a great meeting with some of the nicest people I've ever been interviewed by. They offered me the job and I was really excited about it. AND THEN...

I was contacted by someone I've met through SYAONZ and my medication - we had planned to meet up around Christmas time after I did that filming for AbbVie but it fell through. Long story short, we met up and she offered me a job. A job that ticks every single box on the 'Job Wishlist' I'd had on my Notes app since the new year - something I hoped to achieve in maybe five years, not within a matter of weeks. I'm so excited to say all the blogging and vlogging and Tweeting and SYAONZing and art and pretty much everything I do for fun has amounted to this opportunity.

On the day I got my contract, Charlie also got offered the job he had applied for! So we're doing pretty damn well right now.

My Dad did the helicopter flight we gave him as a gift last year and loved it - check out the photos on his blog.

Lowlights

Resigning is bittersweet - too excited for words about my new job, but I have had so many great times in my current job, and will miss the great people I've been working with a lot. Also having to turn down the other job offer sucked!

Looking forward to

Dad's birthday, Charlie starting a new job, Easter, having friends visit, starting my new job!

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Put some effort into my make up for Ashley and Dave's engagement party.

Summary of February 2014

This month last year

Paul Holmes passed away, and I sold a portrait of him for charity. Again, the weather was better. We're having the odd stunning day but overall it's a crap summer.

Entertained by

Got back into movies this month. Loved Her. Enjoyed About Time a lot more than I expected - loved The Time Traveler's Wife book but not so much the film, and this was significantly better. Didn't really enjoy Enough Said - the late James Gandolfini was darling and I admire Tavi Gevinson so much. But the story was kinda silly; how can a grown woman be so out of touch, especially with the daughter plot. Watched all of Brooklyn Nine Nine - hilarious - and the first season of House of Cards (thanks, 3NOW) and loving My Kitchen Rules of course. Been listening to Kate Miller-Heidke again in anticipation of her new album out next month. Also been listening to Simon and Garfunkel, Fionn Regan and Jimmy Eat World. Variety, mate.

Purchased

Finally won a TradeMe auction and scored a leggy couch, and its little sister! Thank you to legendary Mum and Dad for picking them up, and to Dad and Charlie for 'dismantling' the old one. And we bought a new desk chair for Charlie so he can actually sit and play computer games without leaning to the side. They only had the floor model left so we got it with a discount and carried it home (I did help until we got to the hill…) I also bought a new work-appropriate dress and blazer.

Highlights

Mum giving me a lovely ring and card for Valentine's Day. Having a few more summer days and hanging out with my sister at the beach. Getting rid of the old couch.

Lowlights

Tough stuff at work - not directly affecting me, but still not fun. Finding out Louis Cole was hanging out at Wagamama's on the waterfront and not going to meet him.

Looking forward to

Gift shopping for a few birthdays coming up. Interview with The Wireless going up probably next week.

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Honourable mentions

Summary of January 2014

This may or may not become a monthly update. I may or may not add more categories. Keeping you on your toes. Inspired by my cousin Amelia's questionnaire series.

This month last year

I think the weather was better. I went to Wings Over Wairarapa with my parents which was nice. No stand out memories.

Entertained by

I'm so addicted to all-Australian reality TV at the moment. Big Brother, The Bachelor, The Block, My Kitchen Rules. It's excessive. Had a few things spoiled for the ones that have already finished airing in Australia, so watching the rest as it airs over there. I've been listening to a lot more news radio lately too. Music wise I've been listening to Childish Gambino and of course Lorde.

Wish list

The search for a couch continues - looking for a perfect combination of price, size, and legginess. Also really considering chopping my hair, but that's not a wish so much as a to-be-decided.

Highlights

A couple of evenings having dinner at the beach and playing games with friends. Buying a little writing desk from Trade Me and setting up an art space again. Starting a new commission which I think will be a lot of fun, and looking forward to sharing it later in the year.

Lowlights

The earthquake. So far so settled, but it's in the back of my mind a lot of the time. An episode of Coronation Street that I can't talk about with any NZ fans because I'm the saddo that keeps up with the latest UK episodes.

Looking forward to

Visiting my family tomororw. Taking next Friday off work to have a four-day weekend with Waitangi Day. And Charlie's having a well deserved holiday for most of February.

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Reflections of houses and clouds.

Plate, abate

Alishia Anderson

I was going to start this post with 'ooh, another earthquake post' etc. but soon realised the earthquake post I wrote last year never made it out of my drafts folder. I couldn't get my thoughts in order, hyperbole took over, then re-wordings became understatements. For my local readers, a play-by-play of my thoughts and fears during the shakes we've had over the past few months would be a bit of a snore - we all have our own earthquake stories, varying in levels of drama.

There was a bit of damage around the place - my friend's house north east of Masterton was quite a mess yesterday  as shown above, and it was a similar story following the Seddon 'quakes that affected Wellington in 2013. A big fat nuisance, concern for loved ones, the sad loss/damage of posessions and property; a decent bloody fright.

There's not that much to say about this latest shake either, now everyone's accounted for. Just keep-calm-carry-on towards the apparently imminent 'big one'.

Meeting Offline

Last Monday after work Charlie and I met up with Caitlin and her husband Rob who have been visiting New Zealand from New Mexico, and were in Wellington for one night. After excited/awkward meeting-people-from-the-internet introductions we wandered down Lambton Quay to the cable car - which is so expensive now! I'm sure it was a dollar each way the last time I used it. The weather wasn't great and there's a lot of scaffolding at the top of the cable car right now, so the view of the city wasn't spectacular. We walked back to the city via the Botanic Gardens (which they'd totally heard about h/t FoTC/The Simpsons) and Parliament, then around the waterfront to get beer and pizza at Lovelocks. Which I know isn't the classiest choice but the main reason is that it's two-days-before-payday and I knew gluten-free wasn't a problem there.

I've known a lot of people 'online' over the years and have met and befriended quite a few of the New Zealand ones, and one who came to live in NZ from the UK. But this was the first time I'd met someone who I'd got to know online and was just visiting. It was so much fun just chatting about their trip, our lives, comparing countries. You can read about their whole holiday over on Caitlin's blog - always interesting to see a visitor's perspective on the country, and they did a lot of hiking and exploring rather than the tourist hotspots which is awesome.

Five days of work to go until my Christmas break. I absolutely cannot wait, but this week will probably be pretty intense. Also, up until Christmas I am doing a sort-of Vlogmas on my YouTube channel - I'm not sure they're terribly interesting but it's great speaking practice and putting them together every few days is pretty fun. Watch them below, or watch the whole playlist here.

Look at moy

A couple of weeks ago I was filmed speaking about my experience having ankylosing spondylitis and using Humira, to be used by AbbVie for educating healthcare providers and patients. I also had a few photos taken by Jess Bovey - here's a couple of my favourites because narcissism.

Everything I can think of

My biggest problem/barrier when it comes to blogging is not having the time to make it a priority. Obviously the day job comes in at number one because it pays the bills. And lately my work for SYAONZ has come in at number two because of all these events I've been invited to (goodbye weekends) and the fact we've set up a website which still needs a lot of content to be written or assigned to writers. Which is fantastic, and I'm so excited by all the stuff that's happening, but that takes a lot of time too. Then there's my art which is so very neglected right now, due mostly to the lack of time but also to the lack of space in my house. And then there's all the video footage I have stored on Charlie's iMovie (sorry) which I need to whittle down into interesting videos for my YouTube channel, just because it's already helped my speaking-confidence substantially (that and public speaking). And lastly there's blogging. Which I miss. And Caitlin's visiting NZ in two weeks which is so exciting, and I suspect is what caused me to gain a new follower today (hi!) even though I'm posting nothing...

The GUILT!

I'm going to try and play catch-up this week, and perhaps that will get me back into the habit... It's tricky too though, because all the SYAONZ stuff I want to recap here from a personal point of view, I kinda also need to post on the new website in a more professional way.

I should stop apologising and explaining myself and just write, right.

For some reason this image looks better on Facebook than Blogger?

Okay, we covered the Fit for Work Summit in another post. Next was a Halloween party Charlie and I went to at our friends' house. It was a small gathering which was perfect for me because sitting around chatting and playing drinking games is far more appealing to me than mingling with strangers. And the food, oh the food. Best hosts ever. Charlie dressed as La Parka, and I dressed as Becky from Sin City. The absurdly expensive facepaint I bought from Gordon Harris was TERRIBLE, and flaked off my skin within an hour or so of application. I was terribly unimpressed. Followed all the application instructions for prepping my face and using thin layers etc. Tried a sponge and a brush. Just terrible.

The day after that party was almost summer-like so Charlie and I caught a bus and went to visit Wellington Zoo - the first time for both of us in years. Quite a few of the enclosures had changed a lot since the last time I went, and definitely for the better. I do have mixed feelings towards zoos in general, but can't deny I just love seeing the animals. And after missing all kangaroos when I visited Australia (okay, I think I missed a roadkill spotting while dozing in the car) I got to pat one, so that was exciting.

The next highlight after that expedition was throwing out everything I'd said about running my iPhone 3GS into the ground, and instead swooping on a gold iPhone 5S with Telecom as soon as my contract with Vodafone ran out. I just couldn't resist, and I'm so glad I went for it. Had no problems with Vodafone's customer service etc. but their reception in my hometown is terrible, and Telecom offered a better data deal (though still atrociously low. Seriously, who uses the bajillion minutes and texts these plans offer? It's such a scam). So yeah, having a phone that reacts instantly is fabulous. Even though I knew it'd be shoved into a case, I still desperately wanted the gold because I'm an irrational, easily-swayed consumer. This is probably a blog post in itself, but the difference between this phone and my very first cell phone ever (which was such a dream-come-true at the time) is hilarious. I got the Sony Ericsson T206 when I was probably about 14 (?), and boy did I think I was fancy.

Next was the Arthritis New Zealand conference on 9 November at the Waipuna Conference Centre in Auckland (great venue), where I stood up and gave my (slightly adapted) speech again in front of 220+ people on a proper stage. It was exhilarating to be honest, I loved it. I got a laugh at one point and was kind of shocked so probably looked a bit startled-possum before chuckling and carrying on... Really hope I get more opportunities to practice/improve my skills. We had workshops in the afternoon which were really interesting - one brilliant presentation on employment law in relation to chronic illness. Definitely a major to-do of posting notes from that on our website. It was unfortunate there still were very few younger people in attendance, so SYAONZ will definitely try to encourage more of our lot to attend next year. The content of the conference itself is quite valuable for a lot of people on a personal level, but it'd also just be great to make more of an impact with having a lot of younger faces in the crowd. Sarah still got a comment from another (elderly) attendee that she was too young to have arthritis. Groooan.

On Friday just gone I flew up to Auckland again for a one-and-a-half day workshop with 30ish CEOs and managers mostly from not-for-profit organisations in the health sector. I got invited after my Wellington speech at the Fit for Work Summit, and while a lot of it was well above the level SYAONZ is at, it was still super interesting - even relating back to my day job at a not-for-profit - and pretty inspiring to speak to leaders of organisations who started out just like us. We're in such a good position having over 600 people already involved in our community, it's just hard to know where to take it next, so is still an ongoing discussion. Would definitely be easy to over-commit and crash and burn, so we'll be doing some careful thinking about that.

On Friday evening all the workshop participants went to dinner at Vivace which was delicious and a lot of fun. Dylan came along after a work event for a few beers, and as always it was really great to catch up with him. Got back to my hotel room in the wee hours, and contemplated watching a movie before seeing the cost, crap TV, and rubbish selection. Watched YouTube instead. Could surely get used to staying in hotels though! BUT I have to say, the front desk service at Rydges was so bad. So very cold, not at all welcoming. I wasn't asked at all about how my stay was or anything like that on check out. I don't even think the guy said goodbye. Pretty appalling, and I checked out well before there was any line in the lobby. Guess I didn't look rich enough.

In amongst all of this (okay, a while ago now) I got a new tattoo, which those of you following me elsewhere have probably already seen. I'd originally hoped to get Malika Rose to do it, but it was getting a bit iffy as to whether she would be at the Tattoo Expo in New Plymouth or not, so I decided to get Michelle at Sinatra's (now Tattoo Freaky) to do it instead, and I'm thrilled with how it turned out. I still haven't taken a decent healed picture even though it's been weeks, so that one snapped right now in terrible lighting will do for now. Yes, it's Captain von Trapp from The Sound of Music. Because reasons.

Also some time ago I had a lovely day with my family - one of Wellington's first summery days this season. We had brunch at Chalk on the waterfront which I really liked, and then later in the day I took my parents and sister to see Gravity (the boyfriends weren't keen, unimpressed).

That's it. That's all my photos have managed to jog from my memory. We're all caught up.

I'm still here... just not, well, HERE.

Life's gearing up to be busy again! Last week I attended the Fit For Work Summit with Arthritis New Zealand. Professor Stephen Bevan from the UK spoke about his research on musculoskeletal disorders and work... and I spoke about my experience with AS.

Yep, it was pretty damn scary, but I'm so glad I did it. Pretty much prepared it only the night before, and though there was a lot of 'umm's, I'm pretty proud of myself and kind of enjoyed it. There were maybe around 50 people there, which doesn't sound too scary, but after initial introductions around there room there were enough "former MP", "CEO", "doctor"s to make me feel a liiitle bit intimidated. Everyone was super lovely though, and it was a really interesting day. From that I've been invited to another workshop in Auckland later in November. And before that I'm going to the Arthritis NZ open day also in Auckland.

Have been tidying up our website a bit in preparation - so we can actually give interested people the link without an apology - ooh, it's a bit of a work in progress.

Besides all that, I have an idea brewing for my art. And the first problem is finding some space to get creating. Our house is getting just a wee bit small (well, we're accumulating more and more stuff) and while I absolutely don't want to move anytime soon, I'm going to need to either downsize some furniture or find studio space elsewhere.

Next week we're going to a Halloween party to kick of a very busy November. Been working on the best way to do my costume... hopefully it'll turn out well on the day.

Since this blogging thing is clearly just becoming a place for me to throw tidbits for future reference, I won't bother trying to recap the past few weeks (months?) I've skipped over. Highlight of October has probably been going to see Gravity (twice), it is phenomenal! I'd go see it a third time if tickets weren't so absurdly expensive.

Monday Funday

The finale of Breaking Bad has aired, and I have to wait another two hours to get home and see it... torture! The weather's miserable so I'm spending my break at my desk unable to browse any part of the internet for fear of spoilers. This show has been such a huge part of my life for so many years now. I think I first started watching early 2009, catching up on the existing episodes in a big binge, then devouring each new release over the following seasons. I've watched season one to five-and-a-half through more times than I can remember, and so many one-off re-watches when there was nothing else to do.

It's been a long time since I wrote on this blog and I am starting to miss it. I've said this before, I know. But I'm not really sure what direction I want it to go in anymore. Space is serevely limited at home, so the past couple of drawings I've done have been quick pieces resting on my coffee table in front of the TV which is less than ideal. Over the weekend I found out my old bloggy pal Caitlin is coming to New Zealand for a holiday later this year which is SO EXCITING, and that news especially made me miss the old days of blogging whatever the heck I liked. Summer's approaching, so I'm going to try harder. I bought a better camera recently and have recorded a couple of YouTube videos which is super fun, but I'll try to take more photographs with it too.

The last couple of posts I've made have still been getting hits, so I guess some people out there are still dropping by! (Thank you!) Break's over. The countdown begins.

Oh, hi!

It's been a long time since I last blogged. After spammergeddon, I was very much sick of it all. But now I've got to the point where I actually miss it, so hopefully I'll be posting on the regular again soon.

It's all been business as usual around these parts really. I turned 24 in May. Spent time with a couple of friends I don't see nearly enough. Spent a Saturday building a wall of bookshelves with Charlie. Watched three seasons of The Sopranos. Got semi interested in games thanks to The Last of Us. And did just one drawing; a portrait of Lil Dicky which he retweeted and made my day.

I've felt kind of overwhelmed by the number of other projects and activities I'm getting involved in, all the while juggling it with regular work and keeping healthy. Everything is really exciting, but there just aren't enough hours in the day and it's hard to put as much effort into everything as I would like to. It's enjoyable though, I feel like I'm really getting to a point where I know what my priorities are, and where I want my life to be heading.

I'll try my best to get this blog back to where it used to be. It's kind of daunting to post again after such a long break; feel like I should be posting something truly profound or thrilling... but this will do for now.

Hope anyone who's still following me on... Bloglovin' I guess (?) is well.

Mini Rambly Update

My sister Emily graduated from Massey University today! My aunt has the photos on her camera, so I'll post those at a later date, just a couple from my phone for now. Dad's face in that last photobooth picture is cracking me up. It was a beauuutiful sunny day, this weather is so ridiculous and amazing for May. The graduation ceremony itself was actually really enjoyable, I suspect it wasn't as long as those some of my friends have attended because it didn't drag on at all. Emily looked beautiful as always, and it was lovely celebrating with the family. Super proud of my little sister!

I ended up coming back to Wellington after dinner tonight rather than going to my parents' house. My birthday on Friday is going to be pretty busy with a couple of medical appointments (lucky me!) and just celebrating with Charlie, so I think I'll do some big time cleaning around home tomorrow and hopefully some drawing once my workspace is tidy again... Busy weekend ahead with another Arthritis New Zealand event on Saturday (I'm speaking on a panel) and a family lunch on Sunday. May is mad.

I'm being really common and listening to this song a lot lately. Those of you overseas may have already heard it after it got some Buzzfeed attention. To be honest I didn't see what the fuss was about when I first listened. And something about her face reminds me of someone from my past I have no good feelings towards. But after that one listen I had it stuck in my head and went crawling back to it again after a couple of days of  repeating 'royyyals... ruuuler' under my breath. I love her hair in this video so much. Super styled I guess, but it still kinda sorta makes me want to stop damaging my hair with straighteners and let the curls go for it... When I was at high school I used to wear it curly a lot, and it formed such nice ringlets. It's so damaged and dry now that no matter how many treatments I try, the curls just frizz apart. This post is going somewhere really boring so just watch the damn video and goodnight. Haha.

 

Thoughts from my weekend in Auckland with Arthritis New Zealand

I've just returned from a super inspiring weekend in Auckland, attending an advocacy training workshop run by Arthritis New Zealand. Prepare for a lengthy post!

I was aware after I started Humira and almost all of my pain symptoms stopped that I lost a lot of enthusiasm for attending our Super Young Arthritics of New Zealand support group meetings. I felt like people who were still in constant pain wouldn't be able to relate to me anymore, and being able to move around freely while others in the group were often unable to walk unaided made me feel almost like I'd be rubbing it in their face. I've slowly been realising that's a stupid way to think, and this weekend has really brought home how much I can help and that I can probably do even more for people than I could have when my own condition was at its worst.

A few of the other people there also have ankylosing spondylitis, and for one of them it's quite evident that they are unable to move their neck. I initially sat there feeling quite emotional, thinking that if it wasn't for how successful Humira has been in treating my condition over the past few years I could easily have ended up the same way. It was pretty incredible that when I said that to Sarah later in the day she said 'bro, that's exactly how you were before Humira'. I knew my movement had been limited but to hear that it had been so visible was actually pretty shocking to me.

We learnt a lot of skills around advocating for individuals; assisting people in coming up with their own plans for solving problems, getting effective treatment etc. It was interesting to learn about the distinction between support and advocacy too. For a lot of people I've met through SYA of NZ, they don't necessarily need someone to be working through their issues with them, but just want an emotional outlet, someone to tell their story to. For others, they do need that advocacy side of things. Something that stuck out for me during discussions was that advocating is 'helping people to find their voice rather than being their voice'.

We had MP Peseta Sam Lotu-Iiga speak to us yesterday about how to get local MPs' attention, and the kinds of things that will impact politicians and make them pay attention to your cause. I have an o‐kay knowledge of that side of things, but it was mostly inspiring for me to consider ways to really getting involved and take action, rather than just sitting around thinking about issues. Sarah and I had a brief chat with him afterwards and he's a really cool guy. Very engaged with social media and seemed really interested in our group.

Today we had media commentator/columnist Chris Trotter speak about a similar thing but from a media perspective which I was a lot more familiar with. One of the most important things I took away from today had nothing to do with training, but discussing Arthritis New Zealand's ad campaigns. There is this one I've embedded below that has been running on national TV for a while now about ankylosing spondylitis.

For me personally and for several other young people in our group, it seemed to be a very inaccurate portrayal of the reality of AS for many people; glossing over the months or years of experimentation with many different treatments before hopefully finding one that does work effectively to treat symptoms ideally without nasty side effects. I definitely felt like the ad diminished the harsh reality of living with chronic pain ‐ go see a doctor for some medicine, you'll feel good as new! And as someone who had to go through almost a decade from the first pain symptoms to finding an effective treatment, it made me feel like the struggle to make the general population understand how serious it can be at its worst would be even more difficult ‐ oh yeah, like that active race car driver on TV?

The reality is something we probably should have worked out for ourselves but hadn't really considered; that the funding for that campaign was from drug companies, and obviously they don't want people to know that their products are not a quick fix (I should point out that for all my ravings about Humira, I know quite a few people now who have tried or currently use it, and I'm the only one who found it totally effective literally overnight. It does happen, but for the people I know personally it's either been a gradual improvement or has not worked for them at all.) From Arthritis NZ's perspective, it greatly increased the number of people going to their GPs and getting referrals to rheumatologists which is fantastic. I just still feel that harder hitting campaigns would still encourage people to seek medical treatment. I wouldn't want it to be scaring the shit out people with worst case scenarios, but just convey how serious it can be and the huge impact it can have on people of all ages.  It was great to hear acknowledgement that other appeal campaigns have been "too soft" and will hopefully improve.

I've been thinking a lot about the fine line between staying PC when raising awareness about arthritis (there was talk about not using the word 'suffering' for example) or not downplaying the strength of people who have the condition, and making people realise how serious it is. As Chris Trotter said (paraphrasing), people will think 'oh, they're not suffering? Well great, they're fine then!'

I've certainly been given a lot to think about, and I spent last night in our hotel room with Sarah, Keryn and Lauren drinking cider and brainstorming some pretty exciting ideas (I also haven't laughed so hard in ages). In two weeks I'm going to be on a panel with Sarah, Keryn and a few other young Wellingtonians, speaking to teenagers with arthritis. I had been looking forward to it, but am pretty excited for it now. I'm hopeful I can offer some kind of valuable advice for someone there, but also so keen to hear their ideas and needs. It's amazing how much has changed in terms of communication since I was diagnosed mid teens. There's so much work that needs to be done in getting diagnosed people aware of the support available but with Facebook especially it's a hell of a lot easier than when I was 15.

Slightly worse for wear this morning.

Anyway, we shot a few brief interviews with speakers so I'm going to start editing them while its still early. I have a really busy week at work coming up with our national conference so I better get as much sleep as I can.