Lost in:

Ok, after a bit less caffeine (which I *don’t* get to make in organic chemistry… drat), and rather more TimTams (mmmm chocolate) and a bit of a nap, I’m going to see things better, damnit!

The wind’s been blowing here a lot today (it’s night now, but…). I love it. It goes so well with the general fall-ness of the season, tho I admit to looking forward to yummy veggie thanksforgiving and yule/ x-mas, rather than the horrors of easter in autumn, but…

So I was walking to class (i do that a lot) and the wind just really picked up, swirling around, then changing, and whipping past me. The strong wind reminded me so much of standing at the lighthouse at montauk point. The wind there comes right off the ocean, and it’s been moving for a long time. it blows right in your face, so hard that if you’re me, or like me (scrawny little freak, I be) you can put your arms out, and in big clothes, you can jump up, and get pushed back a foot or two. Heck, without big clothes you (I) can just stand there, and lean wayyyy into the wind, and not fall down. Obviously there’s a point that you’re too flat, but… I usually wimp out before finding it.

Anyway, that’s the kind of wind there’s been here today, blowind straight up the hill by my place, so strong I felt like leaning into it, or pulling out my hairstick, saying the hell with the tangles, and standing there, at the top of the hill, the wind and my hair whipping around me, like some Waterhouse painting, only without the great clothes. not to get too off topic, but I am in love, desperately (this happens a lot, sorry) with Francesco Hayez (and here and here). How could you not lust after his work? I mean… the textures… I always feel like I could just reach out and touch the people, like the contessa’s dress… I want to steal it off of her, and just stroke the fabric.

But back on topic. Honestly. Things I like about it here-

strangly, a bunch of the stuff I love is also the stuff that was driving me nuts last night. The smell of the sea, the was it’s so soft, how it smells… Somehow, it always seems to smell wet. You know, that just rained smell? all clean, and green, kinda heavy/ crisp? like the snow smell, only softer. Which might have something to do with it being warm-ish, and nearly always raining, but I’m going to say it’s because that’s just the way it smells here. Damp earth, and plants, and streets… it’s just… I don’t know, this great kinda smell that never really seems to go away. Except when it actually *is* raining. But then it smells like that instead. With a bit of a fishy tang.

And the clouds. They’re always here. If I were one of those “gotta have blue sky” people, it’d drive me nuts. But… there are so many things you can see in the clouds. Even at night- watching the stars race across the patch of sky I can see between the trees and the roofs of the buildings… the clouds floating past going the other way. It’s great.

Mmmm. And Timtams. I worship TimTams. They are what I ate today. oh, and about a liter and a half of coke, but… I had a test, ok?

Whatelse. The courtyard here. It’s like something in a book I read, or maybe it was a movie. Heck, it could even have been a TV show. it’s a nice courtyard, between the different blocks of buildings in my court (hence “court-yard”- gotta love english- it’s like german, only worse). There are trees, of course, But I have no idea what type, and bike racks, and a couple of picnic tables (including the one I lounged on last night), all the stuff you need in a courtyard (well, no pool, pool table, beer machine, or hot tub, but….). And it has a great paving pattern.

Boring, I kow, but… lying out there last night, listening to sappy music (moon river,  the way you look tonight, pictures of you…) It’s all romantic, and sparkly, and… I don’t know. it has potential, ok?

Gotta say, the damp gives me nasty wanderlust, tho… I just want to go out, and walk through it, see what it does to the world. Like hiking through a fog bound forest, no matter how many times you’ve taken the trail before, with fog, it’s somehow… I don’t know, makes you think there’s really magic in the world, fairys, and unicorns, and talking animals. Wow, I’m a sappy romantic freak. How cute.

So back on NZ… hmm.. books available in the states…. here’s one, and…. something a bit thick… and… pretty pictures also available here (many of which I lust after, none of which I can afford- I know, everyone should buy neat books and mail them to me… as gifts!)…. and this looks interesting, but not a clue what it’s about. They’re just links people- used bookstores, libraries, whatever.

On a totally unrelated subject (what? another?) anyone coming this way anytime soon want to bring me strawberry chapstick and a shaker of tony chachere’s cajun seasoning? I’ll buy you a beer…
j.

Tags: art, food, New Zealand, school, Travel

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 4th, 2006 at 5:44 am and is filed under Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.