A Blog That's Still Haphazard

Ok, so just to prove that I am indeed still alive, here's another post for you.
And in a sporadic moment of wanting-to-freshen-up-a-webpage, I've gone and feng shui'd the place and made it all purty. Hope you like the changes. It's a New Year, after all.

As Russell Howard would say, "Soooo... what's been happening?".

Well, it's been about two months now, right? Let's see... I've been working part time over summer, hosted two radio shows on local access radio, had several items chewed by my family's dog, had my sister move out... oh and of course move up to Auckland for the university year.

Yes indeed, I'm now amongst a large chunk of the country's population, just in time to possibly screw up filling in my first nationwide census.

On top of taking my usual share of Computer Science papers, because I am no longer taking a Japanese course I'm using the opportunity of my free time to initiate self-study and take on the Japanese Language Proficiency Test, or JLPT for short. In brief, it's a way of showing my aptitude for the Japanese language (or lack thereof), and as a bonus it's great for CVs; which will be great when I hope to apply for the JET programme (or Japanese Exchange & Teaching, for long) later this year.

Moving up to Albany was a pretty big deal, though. As if finding the right postage rate wasn't enough, it was a very amusing afternoon when I tried to transport six very large, flattened cardboard boxes across the shopping centre and into a bus without getting:
a) Run over,
b) Blown over by the wind that picked up in speed only during the time I was transporting the boxes,
c) Stared at, or
d) All of the above.

...none of those happened.

I have also been beaten to the punch by my sister for officially fully moving out of the house. I don't know what it is about being a brother, but I guess when you grow up with a sister, in your mind you never really acknowledge that they've actually grown up - that is, she's still my younger sister, and she's moved out to flat with her boyfriend?! Well, that's what I was thinking when I heard the news back in December. She's working full time in Wellington. I wish her the best of luck for the year.

But oh man, that dog at home. Here's the back story:
Ever since that Lotto ad with the loyal terrier aired on TV, Jennie wanted to get her own Wilson (presumably to fetch a winning lotto ticket? Not sure how that would have worked), to fill the gap of having to give the previously-adopted cat to someone else because my sisters weren't feeding it. Terriers, as it turns out, were expensive, and so the final result was getting what was called a Bichon Frise.
So Wilson was given puppy training and everything, but unfortunately the common problem is one many new parents experience - that is, if you leave stuff out, the little ones will find a way to reach it. Case in point, we think that after Wilson got hold of Jennie's prescription pills, his legs grew to twice the length. We don't know if that was actually what happened, but long story short we don't really consider him to be a pure-bred Bichon any more because of that.
And it's not like I hate dogs, but after several chewed shoes, wallets, DVDs, remote controls, Christmas decorations, glasses cases and an overturned meat loaf, I pretty much reached my tolerance limit within two weeks of moving back home after Palmeston North.
Right now though I think the family's general and repeated annoyance with Wilson, now unofficially called "ARRGH! DOG!" (said with the capital letters), has gotten so equally bad and hilarious I think it's reached "sitcom plot-line" status.

So in the meantime that's just a quick recap of what's been happening. Expect more content... eventually.

Quick Diversion
Anyone heard that Taylor Swift song, I Knew You Were Trouble? Well if I could just snatch a few more seconds of your time...

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