Dudley Benson in Akaroa

On Sunday I went to Akaroa for the first time, to see Dudley Benson perform. It was an incredible day. I went over with Gina, Rose and Hannah. We walked around town, explored the wharf, ate chips for dinner, and met up with some friends of Gina's.
The concert was in Gaiety Hall, and the crowd of about forty were in for a treat. It was the most amazing show I've ever seen - the best concert I have ever attended. I'm a big fan of Dudley's, and he was just spellbinding; so heartfelt and talented, and a fantastic performer. The show was entirely a capella (he was accompanied by a four-part choir and a beatboxer) and all the songs from his new album Forest: The Songs of Hirini Melbourne were performed, as well as a few from The Awakening. The older songs were amazing, as they were re-arranged especially for the tour, and sounded incredible.
Dudley was such a warm, earnest performer, who clearly loves what he does. It felt like I was covered in shivers for much of the show, and tears welled up occasionally. At the end of the show, the audience were invited to share a tea or coffee with the performers. I'd interviewed Dudley in the previous week (recording online soon), and he was so nice to meet

The drive home was dark and quiet. We stopped near Little River to look at the stars; the sky was incredible. It was such an enjoyable day.

Flying

I was sitting on the porch. It was hot and clear, and I looked up at the sun overhead. The awning obscured its orb, but it was radiant, and illuminated a large part of the sky in a pale blue.
To my amazement, I could see angels. An uncountable amount, gliding in all directions, interacting with each other. They were tiny and white - the closer you looked at them, the harder they were to perceive.
Way way way higher up, they moved around the sun in slow circles, and in that moment I knew that everything was going to be okay.

Denouement

Last night I was in town, and it was warm and I was wearing short sleeves. And I biked around by myself.
I like being in town. I really enjoy the urban environment - it feels like it's all filled with so much promise of things to discover, people to meet, and occasions to stumble upon.
I made a couple of pastings that I wasn't happy with, and I started feeling really bummed out. It was frustrating because the rational and irrational parts of my mind were at loggerheads, and I knew which part should've won, but it's never that simple.
I rode home as fast as I could, listened to Matt and Kim, read Shoplifting from American Apparel and fell asleep, still not feeling quite right.

The Paper Heart Project

This has been going for a long time, though it's taken ages for me to actually post about it. It's pretty straight-forward though. A bunch of hearts, with nice messages, on the streets of Christchurch.
The two in the middle column were the first I put up, months ago. A few are left for people to add their own touches, like those on the right ('I Belong To Johnny -Bianca xoxo'; 'Dear Tracey... Love, Vincent').

Oh, love.

Authors

Note: this post is a bit different. First, listen to the story in this post if you've not already. Then, when you get to the triple asterisk (***), please stop reading, click on them, and listen to the story.
With uni finished, I've been reading a few books that I've been wanting to get in to. I find that the author I read always have a strong influence on how I write, and how I think. The style of their writing that I hear in my mind tends to carry on after I've closed the book.
I'm making a start on Bill Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything, a book I've read once in the distant past, but is so wondrously interesting that it's drawn me back for further inspection. I'd highly recommend this book - I thought I had a handsome grasp of science, but Bryson is more than proficient at explaining lofty subjects.
Another I'm revisiting is Mark Danielewski's House of Leaves. It's a multi-faceted book, with narratives that frustrate and lull the reader. And a structure that                 tries                      to                      re   flect                  the
e
v
e
n
t
s           in the book. Plus - Short punchy sentences. And ones which are long and drawn out like an old tangled rope winding their words around your brain and holding it, transfixed and unmoving with a thrum of ideas in the background that can't emerge, but no, no rope at all, there never was a rope instead a pile of ancient dirt surrounding and ultimately compressing your body until with no other option, your eyes follow these words, my words, in a hypnotic stream.
And then Tao Lin, who I've been reading recently, and who's had a big impact on the way I think ***

And I wonder if this kind of post will eventually catch the attention of Tao Lin, and I realise that 'hey, the internet is a pretty connected place. It seems like there is a reasonable possibility that it will'

Falkor!

I recently bought a large roll (100m!) of newsprint, so large scale pastings are pretty much imperative. First up was Falkor, the luckdragon from The Neverending Story. I was really impressed with how he turned out. I first found some pictures online, and traced it from the screen to a transparency, before using an overhead projector to get the image on to some newsprint I'd stuck up on my wall. Then out to the driveway to poster-paint the lines, and cut him out.
T'nealle and I stuck him along the edge of a carpark building. Neither of us are very good at heights, so it was quite exhilarating, but it turned out so well!
If you'd to see him, head to the Lichfield/Madras corner, and look up Lichfield (he's above The Bedford)

We've made a dedicated paste blog at PasteCity. I guess there are questionable legal issues regarding pasting, so check in there for future updates (though I'll certainly be letting you know about the other awesome projects as they unfold!)

University completed

My exams are finished, and for the foreseeable future, I am done with uni. It's been quite a long path (briefly: I went to Massey in Palmerston North when I left high school and studied bio, dropped out for a number of reasons, got a degree at The School of Life, moved to Christchurch to study astro, and finally swapped over to bio (bless cross-crediting)), but I have finally completed a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science. Neat.
In the days following my last exam, I felt a number of inevitable feelings: what now? what is my degree good for? how to occupy the days?
I guess the main one is that I feel very 'open'. All sorts of things can happen, though I guess I'm quite scared that inaction will be the winner. At the moment, I'm trying to occupy myself with creative endeavours, and I know that things will work out okay. To sum up and try deal with these feelings, I made a wee zine. It's nothing much, but if you'd like a copy, send me an email at superchai@gmail.com (I need to use my uni printing credit)