It's raining - so the plants are getting fed and the lakes are getting full.
The sky is grey - so I remember the dorky quote that is on the inspirational calendar hanging in my bathroom that my Grandma bought us for Xmas last year: A cloudy day is no match for a sunny disposition. And I smile.
I am to be arriving in Auckland at 5:15pm. 2 hours after my friends arrived from Christchurch to meet me. I hate being late... but it seems to be inevitable at this point.
I arrive in Auckland to find it still raining. And I am greeted by my beautiful friends Sam and Tessa. They are en route to Montreal to become WOOFers (google it) for a wee while and then settle down and hopefully have wee french speaking babies.
They bought me tickets to see Kimya Dawson because it is my birthday on Thursday and because we all like Kimya Dawson.
The only problem for me is I am having a hard time being really present to all that is going on. I have a presentation tomorrow that I do not feel prepared for. I shush the voice in my head and try to focus.
So Sam, Tessa and I are collected by our other beautiful friends Kylie and Jordan. Jordan is driving their recently repaired motor vehicle. Which is evidently not so repaired as it chooses to crap out on the motorway. With 5 people crammed in along with Sam and Tessa's entire life possessions, Jordan managed to stay calm and collected and guide us along the motorway shoulder with hazard lights blinking and arms out windows etc etc. I actually filmed the whole thing but looking back, there were some expressions of frustration that probably don't need to be shared with the world. So imagine the hilariousness/stressfulness of it all if you will :)
So I spent much of dinner sucking on edamame, talking on the phone and working on my presentation - much to the disgust of my friends (and myself). We did, however, manage to squeeze in a good chat about Spore.
The Kimya Dawson Concert was everything I didn't expect and more.
It was held in the Auckland Girls Grammar School Hall... possibly the least intimate venue imaginable and Kimya reminded us of this with frequent comments like 'i feel like i'm back at school doing a recital' and 'i'm nervous'. Humbling!
The gig opened with a very enjoyable show by 'The Teacups'. A cute indie/anime trio, one was full Indonesian, one was half Indonesian and one was no Indonesian. Their music made me want to dance and open curtains to bright sunshine and cook breakfast.
Followed by a french dude who I think was Kimya's husband.. (?). He told us he was brought in to 'break up the cuteness'. Which he did successfully... end of story.
And then finally Kimya tiptoed onto stage... and put me into a world of big trees, animals, sleeping bags and pillows (i forgot i was in an auditorium...and i forgot about my presentation).
Unfortunately for the teens sitting behind us, Kimya didn't play 'Loose Lips' until the very end - the teens had to leave early to catch their ferry. This was also unfortunate for half the crowd who were probably waking up early for school the next day, were getting collected by parents, or who had fallen asleep on their parents lap in the duration of the night.
We left happy. And Kimya told us she wants to come back to NZ and play in our houses in the spring and have barbeques. Unlucky for Sam and Tessa who will be in minus 20 degree weather in Montreal...
Kylie, Tessa, Jordan and Sam outside the concert venue.
