to the light

My new favourite singer/guitarist in a while: Newton Faulkner.

I personally think he has the voice of Chris Rice and guitar skills of Kaki King. Brilliant combination :) I love this song of his "to the light". It was featured in one of the dances in the dance competition show "So you think you can dance (Australia)"- which I am totally addicted to now =P Go have a listen, it's such a feel good song, perfect after a hectic, manic Monday.

I'm taking a break because I'm losing it again
And I wanna relate without you thinking I'm insane
Oh, it's the same another train
Just sitting around with-a-record in my brain
You could have everything you wanted
But you would be still be wanting more
Cause the sun is always in your eyes
You search for stillness on a rock
That's spinning round and round and you're surprised

Take a break from all I know,
Just sit back and let it flow,
Then I find I've broken through,
To the light again.

Every time I find I'm thinking about the things I want to
That is the time I have nothing to sing
And every time I find I'm thinking about things that don't matter
That is the time I see everything
I want to know lord
Why it's got to be so hard
Wanna know lord
Why it's got to be so hard
I feel like a muppet with a drunkard puppeteer but I'll survive
I will survive.

Take a break from all I know,
Just sit back and let it flow,
Then I find I've broken through,
To the light again.
Then I find I've broken through,
To the light again

Speaking of which- sorry for the lack of updates. I barely had time to breathe, let alone blog. But I'm keeping on my eyes on the goal- graduation and getting that awesome job next year haha! 6 months to go- yeap that does seem very soon YET it's still so far away.

I've been talking to the postgrads in my lab, which have been very helpful. I've found my potential employer- Institute of Environmental Science of Research. Eyeing the forensics department ;P It's quite a sought after place to work at, especially for fresh grads, and a previous PhD student at my lab had went on to do her postdoc there, and she's coming back for a visit soon, so I'll get prepared for questions to ask her then.

To be honest, I don't have the slightest idea of where I'd be in 5 years' time. I can definitely see my friends getting married *wink wink you know who you are* and having babies, comparing diaper prices. I'll be the aunt taking photos of them. Fingers crossed, I'd have permanent residency by then, so my parents can retire here/travel around, maybe broaden my horizons and go overseas (again)- but really- who knows? But for the next 2 years, staying put (somewhere in the north island) would be my immediate plan. As for doing a PhD.... HMMmmmm not going to happen anytime soon though it does sound tempting to have the "doctor" title and scrap the "miss".

New things since I last blogged: I bought a new mouse and mousepad! Great gaming mouse and super smooth m/pad which I had always wanted to get. Bought a few tee shirts from threadless.com, sharing postage with Chyi my fellow KW buddy. Looking forward to the Pancakes coming down to Dunedin in 3 weeks time for their graduation ceremony :)

Ok more pics and stories to tell during the last day at Napier/Hastings during Easter. Gosh how I miss that place!

Day 4: touring around Napier yay

the "duck" bus/boat which nearly ran me over as I was taking a photo of it

on the way to the chocolate company, we found this beautiful park
I love this photo of Sam!

wallpaper, anyone?

Mich *wistful thinking* ;P
I like the windy footpath

group photo- joss, may, & sam
a fun park for kids at the background

nothing but blue skies!

hehe how cute!
*cough* Mich, Sam, and Janice in the future *cough*

finally, we reached the Silky Oak chocolate company and ordered the amazing "Hot choc extreme"- extremely rich melted chocolate with thick cream and optional chilli flakes sprinkled on top

ordered bacon & mushroom soup as well. YUMS

then we joined a tour around the former Napier Prison
the hanging yard- people did get executed here decades ago

fooling around...

...and again

there was even an actual graveyard where a few executed prisoners were buried at
*creepy* we saw the rooms and solitary confinement units etc: a real eye-opener indeed
It's now been made into a backpackers :P

we walked around the beach: rocky, not sandy!

then went up to Bluff Hill lookout just in time to catch the last of sunset
Had a great dinner (again, paid by mr pancake) at a restaurant called "the Thirsty Whale"- interesting name indeed. Had one of the best carbonaras I'd tasted ever + awesome customer service + great company

I'm thinking of doing skydiving. The prices are insane though. $249 for 9000 feet, $299 for 12000 feet, and $399 for 15000 feet. I'm wondering if a few thousand feet will make that much of a different once you're so high up on the plane waiting to jump. A few more seconds maybe? Do I have the guts to actually do it, though? =P I want to though; hoping that there's another person who'll want to skydive as well.

Till then, another song by Newton Faulkner- People should smile more.