so long.....low song....

Where do you start when its been a ridiculous stretch of time since you last posted....?


So much has happened in the time since...... I'm just going to do this in some kind of backwards timeline bullet pointed list format...

waiting in a hallway while people talk about me...

• I quit teaching! I was driving home one day, miserable that I wasnt in a job where I was somehow creating SOMETHING each day...... Heard an ad on 95Bfm for the post-grad course in graphic design @ AUT... went home.... inquired....enrolments had actually closed the previous day....they gave me a week..... completed proposal....had interview....was accepted.....resigned from job..... 2 days later school ended for the year. This was all in the space of a week! Yeah that was planned..... hmmmmm..... best way to do it though! Like pulling off a bandaid! I love changing shit up.... Cant wait to start making and designing every day!!

• Said goodbye to the raddest class ever.... they are all off to intermediate this year... they've grown up so much since the beginning of the year. I created a class facebook page so we could keep in touch.... we still chat every now and then. I miss them heaps already and hope they come find me when they are all grown up!! These kids were what kept me going through all the other crap that comes with teaching - inspiring me to challenge their thinking and expand their understanding of the world around them. We explored so many interesting topics this year; C.C.D - Colony Collapse Disorder (of Bees), making zines and even creating a Zine-ing station complete with typewriter! Graffiti art - focusing on local auckland artist FLOX and visiting the Cut Collective Street Artist studio behind K-Road...just to mention a few... (By the way, thought I should add... these pics were taken on their graduation day so thats why some of them are dressed all fancy - usually they are a pretty chilled slightly rugged bunch!)

• Went back to Sydney for a family christmas at my little brother and his gorgeous girlfriends house in Manly. Me, Ma and Pa stayed with them in their cute little apartment and Helena's parents came and spent Xmas day with us too. Helena cooked up a storm and blew us all away with her amazing cuisine; every meal she whipped up was done with such grace and delight, exceptionally fresh ingredients and a lot of love!

 

• Also went and visited our relly's in Oz - our first cuzzies and aunties and uncles! So cool! Recreated this photo of us 4 kids - my how we have changed! Was so lovely to see them all, especially getting to properly meet their awesome kids and see their beautiful new homes! Thats cousins Ben and Melina and my little bro Braden in the foreground!

Photo by Sue Tsang

• Went to Raglan and spent New Year then the following 2 weeks with this delightful boy......... Had the best time ever!!............. Gettin knees up and low-bus on the new year d-floor in Jo's kitchen.......... running round with giant sparklers in the backyard to celebrate 2012.......... jumping off the bridge and being a shoulder for Ben to lean on to bust backflips off the top rail.......... doing bombs (or attempts) and backflips of the jetty.......... eating fresh fruit yoghurt icecreams.......... having a deliciously floral alfreso evening meal with my flatmate Eve and her lovely dude Sam - Eve topped it off with a mushroom pie emblazened with a pastry phallus! Classy broad she is!.......... busting totally hilariously stupid Spoonerisms....... Drinking too much 'Hole in The Wall' coffee (mmmmm).......... watching a sweet boy surf waves and wishing I was on them too (just bought a board today!) .......... eating Raglans legendary Tofu Masubi (MMMMMM).......... sharing beautiful meals with Bens flatmates.......... crackin up at random shit round the dinner table.......... rummaging round at Kahu's Nest (The Xtreme Waste dump shop).......... trying to recapture my chai-making youth.......... staying up late assisting in making shoes.......... cranking raucous wild beats in the workshop.......... playing on the industrial sewing machine.......... making shoe bags and a wallet and generally helping out with my organisational MacGyver style set of skills........Ha! All resulting in a trip with him back up to Auckland to set up his amazing display in the Sitka Newmarket store.... Looks freakin awesome!

Photo from Solscape Website

• And last but definitly not least... I am about to spend a week at this amazing place!! I think I may have mentioned that I was doing some design work last year... well this is it! I designed the brochure for Solscapes 'Eco-Logic Learning Adventure' course.... of which I will be attending as a barter for my design services! What an amazing opportunity! Will let you know how it all goes on my return; well rested and inspired to begin a year of creating!

Love to you all xoxox peas!