Brown eyes

Have been working on an art piece lately and it's almost finished, so far i have spent 33 hours and a half on it and it's called 'Brown Eyes'. My first attempt on mounted canvas for the exhibition
Chapman come in the other day and i think he quite liked it as now all the other RAs ask how its going and if i'm entering the Hayward art competition, so he must have told them.
While i'd like to keep the piece hidden away now until it's finished and pretty but i can still share my picture inspiration for it, and references i have been using.

Images are from Nirimmi, Kirsten Shaylee and unknown sources.
The feel of these images are how the painting will become, all painted in soft delicate oil paint
When Chapman came in he showed me a trick on my camera and made swirling shapes:

Also had Hat visit the other week, she is great fun to have around though was was rushing everywhere all day. We had a cute breakfast together that turned into brunch and when i ordered an affogato the waiter told me i was his idol for ordering ice-cream for lunch. Amazing food and far too much of it while we talked and then Hat was rushing off again for lunch and the chocolate factory.. saw her again in the evening as we had a cute sleepover with Kate that turned into us watching finding nemo with wine and gummy lollies, there were sharks and we put the sharks in our wine for fun. Hadn't seen that movie for such a long time that i jumped for the sharks and jellyfish like i first did. We were tipsy by then, especially Hat considering how much alcohol affects her now, so we took videos of ourselves dancing around, singing along to something on the webcam and were generally -too cute and embarrassing- It was good fun

(stolen from Hat)

Sisters

Sometimes i forget how close my sister was to dying as a child
She was born blue and everyone was terrified
Baby photos all show her crawling around wheezing with a constant tube down her nose
As a kid when she coughed or laughed she sounded like a duck
We spends months living in Auckland at the Ronald McDonald house where i caught so many super-bugs from being at the hospital that i had to go to hospital myself..

apparently i was feeding her leaves, i am a fantastic sister

For a long time she was in and out of hospitals as she had such a rare condition, she was in a ward with other small children with serious conditions. I think one of the little boys in her room died shortly after we were able to go home, but another child with the same problem (narrow airway) is still going strong.

She had problems breathing on and off for a few years; one day we were visiting a family friend who became her piano teacher, i liked her house a lot as the pathway down to the house was made of shells and she gave me a glass window mosaic to hang up so that all sorts of colours would light up through my window. We walked down to the beach and it was a very windy day, then my sister stopped breathing. She was in a baby carrier that you put on like a backpack, so it took dad a moment to work out what was going on. She turned purple and we ran so, so fast home to call an ambulance/ the fire brigade. The problem was the nearest hospital was extremely far away, so the fire brigade got there first and was faced with an oxygen starved baby. They lay her down and took an oxygen canister and inserted it down her neck.. I have no idea how it worked as i probably wasn't very aware of what was going on. Maybe half an hour later the ambulance turned up and took her to hospital, a bit slow really.
She still has problems with sports and running, and had problems breathing on windy days (hard to avoid in wellington), but i would be walking home with her and she would put her hands over her mouth gasping as if she couldn't get any oxygen in as the wind was ripping it all away.

She was in the newspaper this year:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/6993009/Julias-venturing-against-the-wind, they got a lot of things wrong really.. but that's journalism
I'll bet anything she never said that scouting has given her the confidence to embrace life... seriously?
I remember the speech therapy but i don't think it was related so much to the condition, just her reluctance to talk.. or so i thought?

at least you have a doctors note to get out of cross country now!
proud of you xx

The ball

We just had our ball and it was pretty, it's theme was 'the secret garden'. Although it was missing a boy in a wheelchair like the book. There were fairy lights, strings of ivy and candles strung up around the beautiful old hotel room it was hosted in that had chandeliers and wooden floors to dance on. Myself and Kate took our time getting ready as it could be our last ball ever, and it turned out Chloe is a bit of a professional hair stylist in her spare time and curled my hair very skillfully.. though i then pinned it all over to one side of my head because 'why not'. Apparently it resembled Florence Welch from Florence and the machine's style when i added dark lips, a resemblance i'm quite happy with though i am not a red head <3 I do enjoy her music

We had quite some fun dancing all night and then out into town with the girls afterward, everywhere was fullest I'd ever seen it in town. We went to fever to dance on the lit up floor, someone grabbed me on the way out of there and attempted to perform a strange handshake with me involving spinning me around, knuckles and a slide-away handshake. Then we went to urban followed by metro where we danced to old music before the hungry ones took us through McDonald on the way home

 

Our RAs :)

Live band, they were pretty good

'bubbles' upon arrival

King and queen

Italy

I want to go to Italy
Everything i hear about it just increases that feeling
Language block, yes. But everyone there is so lovely and there will probably be a few scattered people who know English. The people are so friendly and loud, embracing others on the street and not at all the way we know it where eye-contact is awkward and everyone is so very judgmental.
New Zealand is apparently friendly seeming too? Italians leave us behind in the dust, their way of life is everything i would like mine to be. I love their food as well.

But the best part is this, http://searchingfortomorrow.com/posts/sleeping-in-italy
One of my favourite photographers, and a generally lovely person went there on a trip and took photos ... I want to jump on a plane there right now. I'm going to mention it around my family as often as possible even though my sister has already, for no good reason at all, decided she doesn't want to go there.

She sums it up for me better than i ever could:
"And no matter how many countless times I have visited Italy, their way of life always astounds me. It leaves me yearning for more, and that's what makes trips so special. When you leave feeling sad because you'll miss everything about it, and you know it's only a matter of time before you're back to explore again. The wetted appetite for more adventures, and that heroic stir in the stomach for journeying to a new place and loving it so deeply is what keeps some motivated. I feel it's possessed me too." - Kitty Gallannough

I miss Caitlin

I want to travel like Anna just did

and see Viv over summer <3

and so many many more people...

Holiday - Queenstown

SEASONS
Found the tumblr i created a little while ago http://itstruckachord.tumblr.com/ entitled Summer's coming..
clearly i was missing the heat. I certainly am now, i like summer and autumn best of the seasons.
In spring it rains all the time so we are huddled indoor by the fireplace, listening to it pat against the roof. Or pulling our faces deep inside a raincoat, believing it is still Winter and missing the small blooms on cherry blossom trees, for me cherry blossoms are the only tree around me that tells me what the season is.
In Autumn it turns all the colours of gold, crimson, and crispy brown, not many other trees in New Zealand do that... they're all evergreens.
BAD NEWS
It is winter now, my fingers are stiff and my knuckles are icy if i press them to my face, which makes typing uncomfortable. I've been told arthritis runs in the family, genetically i can see it's true:
ALL my grandparents have the condition and my dad is beginning to feel it. This is not what i want to hear as an 18 year old when everything i love to do uses my hands..
Already i have had a day where i used my hands for writing too much and by the end could not even hold my pen, i just thought i needed to change my study technique.

It is holidays for two weeks now, less than any other university.
I'm at the end of my second week.
We went to Queenstown for the first week and it was beautiful but i think we all need time apart after so many months of seeing each other almost every single day.. it's only natural. I haven't seen either Max or Kate much this week, though i would love to meet his puppy. I've just been relaxing.. and it is very nice.

Here are a few pictures from the week from Kate's camera and mine:

xx

Final

Final exam tomorrow! So excited.. then my hairs going to be dyed in a way it never has been before
Autumn colours
Chemistry was a little easier than expected :)

No idea where this came from, but i love it

I wonder what the strangest thing is that's been worn to an exam...
There's been people in pajamas in lectures

Rainy Day

Study technique: Turn all the lights out except your desk lamp. Even if you feel like you're sitting in a cave at 1pm, it focuses your attention on what the light IS shining on. Thanks Wong!


Ever since open day when it froze and rained and soaked us because Caitlin visited, it hasn't warmed up. Drinking hot drinks and the occasional noodles when they don't give us enough food and seconds time is years away, I even went and bought fruit to try feel healthier. The mandarins were amazing. I've tried to learn how to row and really didn't like it.. i wasn't very good at all, of course if i practiced i could get better at it.. but i really didn't like it, I was scared we would tip. It's just not for me :) Also learnt a little while ago to surf with Hayward, we got lessons for free and it was really fun, I managed to stand up on the board which is something i genuinely thought i'd never do. 
My heater keeps leaking on my bed and now it burned me when i touched it


A singer I like at the moment: Casey Abrams, 19 year old. Sweetest person ever with some sort of crazy talent that you don't expect. He even sang with Jack Black, and the judges used their idol save on him - have a flick through, not to everyone's taste


The only audition i've ever enjoyed watching: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-Eto8n-WJ4&feature=related
'Georgia on my mind'. You have to wait for it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YI4RGwdEWZo&feature=BFa&list=LLD72QIttzYmK0rljM_Y4SfQ
Casey little thing called love: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNCPzXavn5o&feature=BFa&list=LLD72QIttzYmK0rljM_Y4SfQ


I've been taking some photos to show what it's like at the moment, though no photos have yet/will ever be taken of myself dressed in fat pant, puffer jacket, fluffy hat, huge slippers with a mug of lemon and honey, which has been my classic take on girl-is-sick-and-has-exams-so-looking-nice-really-is-bullshit

Portrait made at the airport of Nirrimi
Incomplete.

From Judge

The last image is me today, that's my chemistry exam that i got to take home.. one huge pile of joy right there..


Time for Physics now