Started about 3.45pm yesterday afternoon and now 14 hours in I'd thought I'd post a little about the experience so far.

Have read 6 books so far.. the books and the times I started and finished them are listed below

1. Babylon's Ark: The Incredible Wartime Rescue of the Baghdad Zoo by Lawrence Anthony and Graham Spence. Started: 3.45pm/Finished 7.30pm (also had dinner during that time and Erik distracted me for a bit when he got home from work)
2. Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne. Started: 7.55pm/Finished: 12.08am (Saturday)
3. The Word on Love : A Biblical Celebration of Love by Barbour Publishing, Inc. Started: 12.15am/Finished: 12.28am
4. Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom. Started: 12.39am/Finished: 2.47am
5. Garfield Sits Around the House by Jim Davis. Started: 3.01am/Finished: 3.24am
6. Duet by David Hill. Started: 3.40am/Finished: 5.12am

And have just started 25 Ultimate Experiences: Wonders of the World by Rough Guides

Am finding it ok so far.. am a little tired and very cold.. I did have a hot water bottle up my hoodie. I'm keeping track of the books I read and the times in my little red journal and writing what I thought of each book for when I journal them on BookCrossing Sunday morning after I finish.

Am also starting to feel a little bit hungry... will have a mandarin soon I think. I plan on treating myself to pancakes or something for breakfast so might head out in a few hours with a book, journal and pen in my handbag.

I have found this to be a good exercise in reflection while reading also and am enjoying myself. I'm feeling quite stoked that $90 has been pledged and donated... the awesome thing is that it has been all BookCrossers that have donated so far. Thanks!

Starting tomorrow afternoon I am doing a challenge of a 40 Hour Read-A-Thon where I will read for 40 hours over the weekend. A girl from ITC was organising the 40 Hour Famine and since this year they are encouraging people to do something different I decided I would read for 40 hours..

If you would like to sponsor me my online page can be found here - https://www.famine.org.nz/faminebook.aspx?username=alkalinekiwi and I will be posting a list on this journal (and maybe twittering through books read) of what books I will be reading during the 40 hours of reading.

I have made a label to stick inside the books I read and will later release for the challenge.. whipped it together in Paint.Net

• 12:02 Went to the doctor's last night.. appears I have a sprain or muscle spasms.. have been given pills for this.. #
• 12:05 Erik bought me chocolate for our 1 year, 4 month anniversary... random but sweet #
• 18:38 Going out to a birthday dinner of a friend tonight :D Yay #

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• 15:45 Took today off course and slept all morning.. feeling better as far as the cough is concerned but my shoulder hurts like woah :( #

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• 08:19 Is at course and coughing.. plan on having a nap when I get home this afternoon #
• 13:38 @geg_thomas Happy birthday! #

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So I'm here in Wellington for the third night of my holiday so thought I should update while I still have access to the internet (Jay's flat has wireless yay)

Saturday started about 5:30am when me and Erik got ready and had last minute packing. We were out of milk and not wanting to make any dishes before heading off we dropped in to McDonalds on the way to catch the bus.
Caught the bus without any trouble and it was fairly comfortable. There was toilet stops at Hamilton and another town (Taihape maybe?) that I can't remember the name of, and meal breaks in Rotorua (we had a kebab) and Palmerston North (Chinese) and we rolled into Wellington about 8pm where Jay met us at the railway station not long after.

Back at Jay's we had more food (homemade tomato soup and cheese scones) and sat around chatting until we went to bed a little before midnight.

Sunday we got up around 8:30am so we could head into town to catch the service at 10:30am at Wellington City Corps. Having never been to the church in Wellington I found it quite impressive and enjoyed the speakers and the music was nice too. After the service we chatted to some people, telling the corps officer about BookCrossing (he seemed really interested in it) and we got an easter egg for morning tea.
Headed to a fruit and vege market after the service where we got lunch and some snacks before wandering around the city for a bit. Went to a pet store and went ga-ga over puppies and kittens.

After 2pm we caught the Flyer bus service to the airport to collect skyring and [Bad username: kayjay_haitch"], there was hugs all round when we saw them and then back to Jay's place where we sat in the lounge, talked and swapped books. Had very yummy homemade pizza with lots of toppings for dinner... I am drooling remembering it.

Today we went for a visit to Te Papa (Jay gave us the guided tour) then had rolls with a range of fillings for lunch in a nice spot out of the wind. Then some more of a tour of Te Papa after lunch.

Pete, Kevin and Jay headed off to pick up MissMarkey from the airport after Te Papa so Erik and I visited Pulsar Max where we both spent more than we expected to (I bought a couple of mangas and Kingdom Hearts cards) then we raced off to meet the others along with a couple of Wellington members for dinner, was going to have dinner at Mac's but as they were closing the bar we ended up going to One Red Dog which was a good choice.. I had a yummy spicy cajun soup for dinner.

After dinner we headed back by bus to Jay's where we have just been packing and catching up with internet things.

though what I didn't realise was that the bus was booked for today. Yes lj friends, we booked the wrong day for the bus from Auckland to Wellington, only realising this afternoon when we checked out information.. yikes indeed.
Thankfully we managed to book 2 seats on tomorrow's bus but I was quite panicked for a while there. Plus we paid for a trip we didn't end up using.. meh
All our other bookings are for the right days though..

So I have all my books packed, everything that needs to be charged is charged ready for the trip tomorrow, have most of my clothing packed (few last things being washed and will be put in the dryer as soon as they come out) and my pre-numbered labels and other BookCrossing supplies ready.

So leaving Auckland just after 8 tomorrow morning (provided there isn't a big delay due to traffic) and arriving in Wellington around 8:15pm where we will be met at our stop by Jay/discoverylover, looking forward to seeing her again.

I have a few books packed to release during the stops.. and a lot to read on the bus!

I have been blogging on my new (mostly) book and reading related blog found here and try to post there at least once a week. I do realise that I have been very slack with my livejournal but here is an update.

Have been busy with course lately and am still getting pretty good marks, mostly As with some Bs scattered in there as well. Just have 3 weeks left of my first course (the travel and tourism one, level 3) and then get a short break before starting the second course (International travel, tourism and IT, level 4)... have been thinking about going back to do the diploma level 5 course after I work for 2-3 years but that is something I will think about more in depth further down the road.

On my short break in April I am taking part in a road trip! Jay suggested to me that I go on a pre-convention (being the BookCrossing 2009 World Convention in Christchurch) road-trip along with some other people (and Erik too).. so the plan is
11th April: Erik and I will take the bus from Auckland to Wellington (which is about a 12 hour journey... yikes) where we stay with Jay
14th April: the road trippers take the ferry over to Picton and in Picton pick up two rental cars. Make our way to Hamner Springs where we stay overnight at a backpackers
15th April: Go from Hamner Springs, stopping off at Kaikoura while most of the group does whale watching (I'm going to explore Kaikoura instead along with Erik) and then heading through to Christchurch where me and Erik are staying with family for a couple of nights.
17th - 19th April: BookCrossing convention, staying at Christchurch Central YHA
19th April: flying back to Auckland in the afternoon, ready to start my level 4 course on the 20th.

So looking forward to it and have a bit to sort out before I go.. like what books am I taking and loading up Erik's iPod with some music (I lost my iPod at Parachute in January :( )


This morning I had church and going to youth group tonight (yeah I realise I am probably a bit old to be going to youth group but there are people who are older than me who go and the over 18 girls normally do our own thing anyway). Have started going to a young adults over 21 home group every second and fourth Tuesday of the month though I sometimes feel a bit lost as I haven't read the whole bible yet, just parts of it (I know I should read it everyday, funny how I can read all these books and find it hard to pick up that book.. must make an effort) and when the rest of the group have these deep type discussions that I can only follow bits of.. ah well I'll cope. Still haven't talked to Heather about finding me a mentor so will have to ask her next week.

Bret.. though Jemaine is awesome too

Found this on katma's lj

The first 5 people that respond to this post will get something made by me. It will be about, or tailored to, those first five people who respond.

This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:
- I make no guarantees that you will like what I make.
- What I create will be just for you.
- It'll be done this year.
- You have no clue what it's going to be. It may be a mix tape. It may be fic, or a poem. I may draw or paint something. I might bake you something and mail it to you. Who knows? Not you, that's for sure! (probably not likely I will draw or paint anything.. unless it is a stick figure in paint)
- I reserve the right to do something extremely strange (you really should be worried at this point).

The catch? Oh, the catch is that you have to put this in your journal as well... pay it forward and all that.

Comfortable

Was 101 last year, down on the 117 in 2007.

January
1. Maus - Art Spiegelman
2. Tales Of The City - Armistead Maupin
3. Theater Hopper: Year One - Tom Brazelton
4. The Stone Rose (Doctor Who)- Jacqueline Rayner
5. The Naked Man Festival : And Other Excuses to Fly Around the World - Brian Thacker
6. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
7. Rainbow High - Alex Sanchez
8. The Trouble with Harvey: Tales of a City vet - Tony Sheldon
9. Maus II - Art Spiegelman

February
10. King Dork - Frank Portman (library book)
11. Boy Culture : A Novel - Matthew Rettenmund
12. The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid - Bill Bryson
13. Rainbow Road - Alex Sanchez

March
14. Conversations with My Cat - David Fisher
15. Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life - Bryan Lee O'Malley (library book)
16. Planet Simpson - Chris Turner
17. The Price of Paradise (Doctor Who)- Colin Brake
18. My Point... And I Do Have One - Ellen Degeneres
19. Tell it to Naomi - Daniel Ehrenhaft
20. Practical Demonkeeping - Christopher Moore

April
21. A Walk in the Woods - Bill Bryson
22. Good Books for Teenagers - Agnes Nieuwenhuizen
23. Mamotte! Lollipop Vol 1 - Michiyo Kikuta (borrowed from a friend)
24. Merde Actually - Stephen Clarke
25. Not Another Book About Italy - Ann Rickard
26. Smarter Than Jill: 95 True Animal Stories - Jenny Campbell (Editor)
27. Kingdom Hearts Volume 1 - Shiro Amano
28. The Last Battle - C.S. Lewis
29. Round Ireland with a Fridge - Tony Hawks

May
30. Murder in the Frame - Dave Warner
31. A Foreign Affair: A Passionate Life in Four Langauges - Valerie Barnes
32. The Coming of Saska - Doreen Tovey
33. Max and Rastus: The Road They Travelled - Logan Sutton
34. Inside Out: An Australian Collection Of Coming Out Stories - Erin Shale (Editor)
35. Out Walked Mel - Paula Boock
36. The Rules for Cats - Fancy Mews
37. Theater Hopper: Year Two - Tom Brazelton
38. The Howl and the Pussycat: More Tales of a City Vet - Tony Sheldon
39. When Hitler Stole Pink Rabit - Judith Kerr
40. The Cat Who Went Into The Closet - Lilian Jackson Braun
41. About a Boy - Nick Hornby
42. Poetry for Cats: The Definitive Anthology of Distinguished Feline Verse - Henry Beard
43. Extraordinary Cats - Olivia Manning

June
44. More Tales of the City - Armistead Maupin
45. He Died with a Felafel in His Hand - John Birmingham
46. Barrel Fever - David Sedaris
47. Hello Sailor!: The Hidden History Of Gay Life At Sea - Jo Stanley & Paul Baker
48. Stupid White Men.. and Other Sorry Excuses for the State of the Nation - Michael Moore
49. The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency - Alexander McCall Smith
50. A Taste of the Unexpected - Roald Dahl
51. Miramar Dog - Denis Edwards
52. Cat's Eyewitness - Rita Mae Brown & Sneaky Pie Brown

July
53. Made In America - Bill Bryson
54. Lionboy - Zizou Corder
55. Is It Just Me or Is Everything Shit?: The Encyclopedia of Modern Life - Alan McArthur & Steve Lowe
56. Fried Eggs with Chopsticks - Polly Evans
57. The Leading Man - B.Clay Moore & Jeremy Haun (borrowed from Erik's collection)
58. Sophie's World - Jostein Gaarder
59. Otherwise Pandemonium - Nick Hornby
60. Around the World in 80 Days - Michael Palin
61. Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident - Eoin Colfer

August
62. If Not Now, When? - Primo Levi (Blog a Penguin Classic - lost)
63. Book Club: An Unshelved Collection - Bill Barnes & Gene Ambaum (library book)
64. Pug Hill - Alison Case
65. DIY: The Rise Of Lo-Fi Culture - Amy Spencer (library book)
66. Manga Messiah - Hidenori Kumai & Kozumi Shinozawa
67. Your Cat's Just Not That Into You - Richard Smith
68. Cross the River to Home - Kaye Kelly

September
69. Dreams of the Peaceful Dragon: Journey into Bhutan - Katie Hickman
70. Freakonomics - Steven Levitt & Stephen Dubner
71. How To Read A Book - Kelly Ana Morey
72. The Six Pack Two: Winning Writing from New Zealand Book Month - Various Authors
73. The Story of Mr. Sommer - Patrick Suskind
74. A Long Way Down - Nick Hornby
75. The Dragon's Apprentice - Linda McNabb

October
76. The Year of Eating Dangerously - Tom Parker Bowles
77. Stories We Could Tell - Tony Parsons
78. Encounters with Japan: Twenty Extraordinary Stories - Jennifer Duffy & Gary Anson (Editors)
79. The Screwtape Letters - C.S. Lewis (library book)
80. Point Blanc - Anthony Horowitz

November
81. Dave Barry Is Not Making This Up - Dave Barry
82. Holocaust Tours - Julian Novitz
83. Sil - Jill Harris
84. Twisting Throttle Australia - Mike Hyde (library book)
85. Kama Sutra for Cats - Burton Silver and Margaret Woodhouse
86. The Little Book of Bad Taste - Karl Shaw
87. Animals are Smarter than Jack - Jenny Campbell (Editor)
88. Everything I Know I Learned from TV: Philosophy Explained Through Our Favourite TV Shows - Mark Rowlands
89. The Rainbow Singer - Simon Kerr
90. Bibliotherapy: The Girl's Guide to Books for Every Phase of Our Lives - Beverly West and Nancy Peske
91. A Passion for Travel: New Zealand Writers & their Adventures Overseas - Tina Shaw (Editor)
92. The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of The Oxford English Dictionary - Simon Winchester

December
93. The Notebook - Nicholas Sparks
94. Merde Happens - Stephen Clarke
95. The Cat Who Came For Christmas - Cleveland Amory
96. A Treasury of Narnia - Brian Sibley and Alison Sage
97. Slam - Nick Hornby
98. The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Guide - Joshua Piven and David Borgenicht
99. Expensive Habits - Peter Mayle
100. Mister Monday - Garth Nix
101. The Six Pack Three: Winning Writing from New Zealand Book Month - Various Authors

I am making goals, not resolutions. I will post them on my lj in the next few days.

I was happy to find that the OBCZ was stocked up with books when I checked it on Sunday. Most of the books there were unregistered so last night and today I have been using prenumbered labels to label them then activated them to make release notes on.

Some of the books are kinda old and not in the greatest condition (I threw out the ones that were missing pages or were really battered), if the opshops are open again before I head back to Auckland I plan on picking up some books so I can swap some of the books our of the OBCZ so I can wild release them and add some other books in there.

- Having the best sleep I have had in months.. no loud traffic noises, bottles breaking etc. Was great!
- Going to church with Erik and his family (followed by a yummy morning tea)
- Catching up with some friends
- Catching up with some more friends
- Roast dinner at Mum's
- Erik fixing this computer (has been not working for a couple of months)
- Getting to sleep in the bed here, next to Erik with Cola curled up at the end of the bed.

- Well getting up at 4:30am didn't make me feel particularly happy but because I was heading to Greymouth it did make me happy.
- Finally arriving in Christchurch after a 4-5 hour delay in our flight from Wellington.
- Getting to see Erik's parents who picked us up from Christchurch
- Seeing snow on the way to Greymouth (probably not a good thing but it looked cool)
- Having dinner with Mum, Kevin, Mishae, Tyler, Miley (who was very well behaved), Tyler's family and Erik.
- Seeing Cola and Spook.

- One day until we go home to Greymouth yay!
- Getting stuff sorted for the trip
... well the main thing that made me happy today was that we are going to Greymouth tomorrow... woo

- Slept in this morning which was nice
- Did some Christmas shopping this afternoon in Newmarket
- Wrapped presents and filled out some cards
- Talked to my Dad and Shelly this evening on the phone
- Only one day til the trip down to Greymouth (leave Saturday)

- Last day of course today. Passed the test I had today (with an A) and the test on Monday I had to redo one question so that was a B grade.
- Had an early lunch with some people from course
- Had an early evening nap with Erik before dinner after he finished work
- Went out with Erik for dessert before to celebrate the completion of the special edition copies of The Kiwi's Tale

Completely forgot about it doing this yesterday... bad Kirsty!

Anyway things that made me happy yesterday
- Being able to sleep in for a bit as we had a course field trip and that was all course related things for the day
- Popped into church and saw the CO (Corps Officer) Heather who had been in a conference in England. So we had a short catch up, she said next year they'll set me up with a mentor who I can call and keep in contact with to help me in my walk of faith. Also they're be starting new home groups next year so will join one of those
- Released some books and got a catch AND the finder signed up for BookCrossing. I think that spot might be a good release spot (was on the bench by TVNZ offices) http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/5997691
- Got a mango smoothie in a cafe and spent a while reading Slam by Nick Hornby (which I finished last night). A very good book though not sure what to do with it next.
- In the evening me and Erik ordered a pizza, had a quiet night.