I was chuffed to be able to play “yah nah” in Words w Friends the other day. Yah nah is a way popular Kiwi’ism that means no way in hell, but in the nicest possible way.
Including the kitchen sink
Yesterday we went to the big (biggest in Auckland??) Sunday market at the old Avondale racetrack. It’s part flea market and part produce / farmers market.
It was super crowded, and as white, English-speaking people we were definitely in the minority. But in ways that are hard to describe it didn’t feel like you’re gonna get your pocket picked or otherwise molested. Nice friendly New Zealand. There was some jostling… there’s a certain type of mostly elderly person who just wants to get their shopping done RIGHT NOW!
We invested in one of those little rolling carts that you use to go to and from the market and bought some veggies and tasty steamed pork buns.
Birthday presents
Movie tickets from work and fancy dinner with my honey!
Mosaic mosey
In glass class yesterday the teachers were talking about the exhibition of mosaics they’d been to the night before. So we decided to check it out for our Saturday afternoon outing.
It was held in Orewa, a sleepy-but-growing beach town situated right about at the limit of acceptable commuting distance from Auckland. The broad beach was gorgeous, with just enough waves for kids to have fun and try their hands at tame surfing. We did a little op-shop shopping, had a good meal in a cafe on the strand, and then walked to the exhibit.
We didn’t know “doing mosaics” was even a thing, much less a thing with its own juried National Exhibition… but it is. There were separate categories for 2-D and 3-D art, and a lot of really cool stuff on display.
A lot of the pieces had a strong element of fun, even while showing off a lot of craftsmanship. We could both imagine ourselves enjoying doing some mosaics… or at least imagine ourselves spending hundreds of dollars on glass and tiles and tools and patterns and…
Week 6 and week 7
We are both at approximately the same point in our lead light windows. And after yesterday’s class we are only a tiny bit further along. Maybe stained glass is like sex: getting the curvy bits to fit just right takes practice.
Stuck on you
Not our white minivan, to be sure, but a sight that makes you think about how differences in the expression of that one little gene for “impulse control” can have a lasting impact on a person’s life.
Low bridge ahead
We went to Eden Park tonight and watched the All Blacks thump the Australians.
On the way out we passed the player entrance. As you can see from the sign, some of them are quite tall.
(The obvious title for this post was “Tall Blacks” but that’s the name of the NZ basketball team.)
Midwinter in Auckland
Means jackets at the beach and early-blooming trees.
A deep sense of accomplishment
Inbox zero on a Friday afternoon.
Come Saturday Morning
Early morning fog gives way to bright sun and a few minutes of our local parrots enjoying the blossoms on that pink tree… another tough Auckland winter.
Alert! Weak crema detected!
I can just imagine the superhero dispatch centre where a cadre of elite espresso technicians await the emergency calls…
The Answer to This Puzzle Will Drive You to Distraction
Clue #1:
Driver, Pearl, Mouse, Skirt, Me, Cooper, apolis, mum
Har, Ho, Calu, Igno, Anti
Clue #2
Johnson, Morrison, Cliburn, West (that’s a NZ insider reference), gelis, ity
Ati, Di, Cara
Clue #3
The thing that is just about as far away from the motorcycles, Spitfires, and RX-7s of one’s youth as a person could reasonably go
And the Answer Is……….
Matariki Starlight Jazz
Last night I went to the Matariki Starlight Jazz concert at the Cathedral. Still great to live five minutes walk from such a nice venue.
Take a deep breath before reading this next sentence… The event turned out to be tacked onto the Matariki festivities (Māori new year) only as a matter of convenience and was actually a fundraiser for an event called Whānau Walk for Wellness that will be happening in late 2019 based on the organiser’s efforts to interpret and share her experiences walking the Compostela pilgrimage in a way that is relevant to other Māori women – but not just women because We Are Inclusive – who are themselves on a mental illness journey or joining members of their whānau (family/community) on a mental illness journey as caregivers or otherwise. Ok, you can breathe again.
Altogether seven or eight different singers and their rotating band members performed. Some only got a couple of numbers, while the headliner Whirimako Black did about a 45-minute set.
So was it a good show? As pure entertainment I’ve definitely seen better. However, my ticket bought well over three hours of music and earnestness, and cupcakes at intermission, so at the very least it was good value for money.
Further, my clarinet habit makes me a bit of a jazz student these days, and I think that might have been the best way to appreciate this show. There were some really good musical moments, I heard some songs I didn’t know, experienced some arrangements I would never have thought of, and learned a little bit about the whakapapa (genealogy/pedigree) of the people who keep the NZ jazz fires (ahikāroa) burning.
And my earnestness quotient increased substantially: I’m one big blog post closer to being one of those insufferable pākehā who stuffs a Te Reo Māori word or aphorism into every other sentence…
Brattleboro Adventure – the Auckland Edition 