honeyspider | Entries tagged with this is tectonic plates shifting

Last night we had a combined birthday party for Lara and Alison, and I made them a cake. BEHOLD!

( cake! )

To be fair, Woot made the actual cake itself since I was just doing to make a flat one but he decided 3D was the way to go. I really didn't think it was going to survive - you can't tell but it's on an impressive lean. It was delcious though and you can tell it's meant to be a Tardis so that's all that matters really. (The both of them are big Who fans, obviously. I only like old Who but I liked making the cake!)

Tomorrow (except it's today now because it's gone 5am) I have an appointment with a dental specialist to talk about a wisdom tooth. I need to get it removed but it turns out that the root is wrapped around the nerve or something so the dentist point blank said he wouldn't take it out. Which... fun. The appointment tomorrow is $200 and that's just for an x-ray and the guy telling me what I can do about it. I dread to think how much the actual removal is going to cost. It literally makes me whole body tense up just thinking about it. (The tooth I got pulled the other week only cost me $140 and I honestly almost cried with relief in the dentist chair.)

Money stress! Everyone loves money stress! I am currently earning $30 under what my rent is which is not at all stressful and making me constantly worried - who would worry about such a thing as that! The current reason for my lack of funds is actually a bit ridiculous - it's because I got a job. I was working a temporary typing position and since I'm on a government benefit I had to declare that money. Which would be all fine and dandy but the job paid fortnightly and the benefit pays weekly, and if you don't declare your earnings every week they have to fine you for it. But if I declared it by the week then I would have a week in between where I had no money whatsoever. Fun, right?

But I'm not working that job anymore and hopefully the next one I find will be weekly! (Not that jobs are exactly easy to find right now. Christchurch being earthquake city it's kind of difficult to find jobs unless you're in the construction business. That one is booming!)

It's my birthday in two weeks-ish and Lara made me put together a list of things I wanted that she could pick from. The list turned out to be all books and comic-related things. I'm rather predictable. (If I was her I'd just pick whichever thing was cheapest. I'm not really fussed about getting presents but she enjoys giving them.)

Speaking of comic books, I went to the Armageddon Expo a few weeks back, which is the geeky sci-fi/fantasy/comics/anime etc etc event we have here each year. It's not exactly ComicCon but we're a wee little place so I suppose that's fair. I even made a costume this year

( costumes! )

Am I not the spitting image of Jean Grey? (After she'd eaten all the other X-Men, obviously.)

Further comic book ramblings: CAPTAIN AMERICA 2: WINTER SOLDIER. Holy shit, Winter Soldier SO EXCITE! It was pretty obvious from the first movie that they were going to eventually bring Bucky back and do the whole Winter Soldier in some way, but still I'm excited by the confirmation! All I need is Bucky/Natasha, you guys. IT'S ALL I WANT IN THIS WORLD. Please please please let me have my comic book true loves on screen! I know it's not likely since Avengers was really setting up Black Widow/Hawkeye as the pairing but BLACK WIDOW/WINTER SOLDIER THEY ARE THE MOST BESTEST LOVERS IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD. (Or, at least, in comics. No comic relationship is better... except for Carol Danvers/Jessica Drew - shh! It's real! Shut up!)

Lara and I are both really excited for Silent Hill 2 as well. In my case I don't know why since I am terrible at horror movies! And having now watched the trailer I have even less doubt of my ability to actually make it through the movie without crying in fear. Terrible at horror movies! Atrocious! And yet... want. We're going to go to the movies to see it: this is a Bad Idea. The last horror movies I saw at the cinema were House on Haunted Hill and Thirteen Ghosts, both of which still sort of haunt my memory to this day. So... yeah... cool.

It's started raining. This means busing to appointment adventures in the rain. Always fun!

Yesterday - in the horrible heat - I went to the Nimbin Show and got swallowed up by all the freaking quaintness within it. They had produce judging, you guys. People brought in their fruit and got to be awarded the ribbons of Best Lemons or Best Eggs. It was like being in the 1950s! They even had Best Scones and Best Chocolate Cake, in which there was a Drama because someone had tried to enter a Chocolate Mud Cake and was thus disqualified. Oh my god, I cannot even tell you how sweet and country town I found all this. There was crocheted blankets being judged!

Today I'm home alone, with both dad and Gwen having gone out to do a wedding at Byron Bay (dad drives the fancy cars and Gwen does the celebrant stuff). But it was too got for me to go to Byron and being here is less melty. I was going to go see Jane Eyre at the movies (Fassbender!) but I've got a shitty copy of it somewhere on a computer anyway.

I went to a gallery opening the other night which was really cool - wine and cheese and artists oh my! - but it became less cool as I got hotter and hotter inside the gallery and people walking past things made them shake and made me begin to panic a little bit. Logically I know that there's no earthquakes here. Logically I know this. But it didn't stop be clinging to dad's side and staring up at what parts of the roof I thought would fall down first.

Uncool, tectonic plates.

I've been watching the episodes of Camelot I have with me here. Well, sort of watching. Okay, I've been fast forwarding whenever Morgana isn't on screen. I predicted this would be the outcome of this show. Eva, I love you so bad and with my body parts. Morgana and Merlin are the only characters of any interest and they need to get to the nasty hate-sex right away please.

Current Music: Village Green Presevation Society is an earworm. blame the country fair!

Tonight I went to see the extended Two Towers at the cinema because HELLS YEAH EXTENDED! I have been bouncing around about how thrilled I was that I could see those bits on the big screen!

Peter Jackson appeared on screen right before it and I may have squealed a little. And I was so prepared to have a good cry when Sam did his speech at the end but instead we'd JUST reached past the mid-point of the movie when - AND THIS WILL BE A SURPRISE TO EVERYONE EVER - a huge earthquake tried to shake the cinema down and we had to evacuate. OH MY GOD, YOU GUYS, I'M DYING.

I thought maybe we could hang around and wait for them to start it up again, but then we saw the cracks through the tiles in the lobby. So... yeah. We came home.

This is all sort of ironic in that a portion of ticket sales go to earthquake appeal.

Current Mood: annoyed

Way too tired for this.

Here's all the earthquake news nice and up to date minute by shaking god damn minute if you want it.

Christchurch mayor Bob Parker said officials were "still in the information gathering stage" but the city was unlikely to be plunged back into a state of emergency.

JOY OF JOYS.

Apparently I've reached the point of exhaustion where I don't care any more about the shaking. Whatever, shaking.

Oh, and the water is off again.

Current Mood: exhausted

FUCKING FUCK!

That was a really big aftershock and I am very quite upset and not okay right now and I was clinging to the doorway and almost burst into tears. I haven't done that at the aftershocks for a little while.

But we still have power and water. Thank god for that.

aaaaaand there's the little aftershock to follow it. I may have just run to the doorway chanting "no no no no no." I'm calm. I'm collected. I'm cool.

The sirens on the street outside are going mad.

( Stupid drawers. You can stay there! )

Current Mood: distressed

Went in to get my flu jab today and on the way home we drove through town and I got to see Colombo Street at the cordon for the first time.

Oh.

Wow.

It's... not good. It's really really not good. For the first time since the earthquake this shit is actually starting to sink in for me. Our city is so very fucked. All bricks and cracks and streets we can't go down. The video on this page is really upsetting.

I read that they're hoping to open up the central city again by the end of October. I'm not sure how anyone can think this is back to normal when we can't even get into the CBD for another seven months.

Current Mood: distressed

Watching Pulp Fiction. Holy shit, I remember now how much the scene where they give Uma Thurman the adrenelin shot traumatised me as a kid. I'm betting it's a large part of the reason I never tried hard drugs.

Last night I watched Inglourious Basterds so I'm thinking tomorrow it had better be Kill Bill or something and carry on my Tarantino week.

The city keeps shaking and things are blaaah but movies are awesome and I shall continue to live in them instead.

Current Mood: okay

It's been a week since it happened now.

phfa always manages to write these long thoughtful posts about things that go on forever down my page and make me think and make me happy and sad and emotional but I can't write like that. So all I will say is this:

I don't have enough ♥s for this city, this wonderful, amazing city with wonderful amazing people that have given me so much and made me so happy (and sometimes so sad, but those parts are important as well) and I know that we're going to make it through and be stronger. We will rebuild (in every way) and when we finally come out the other side of this horrible thing we'll be stronger. I have to have absolute faith in that.

And I do.

Current Mood: okay

Christchurch is a city of 350,000 and since the quake and more than 50,000 have flown out. That doesn't count all the people who've driven out.

That's... somewhat eerie to me, all those people getting the hell out of dodge.

Current Mood: sick

Death toll is 147 and the police say the final number will likely be just over 200.

Part of me says thank god it's not more, but then the rest of me knows that every one of those lives is connected to other lives that will be in mourning for a very long time. I'm so relieved that none of my friends are among the missing or dead.

Of all the photos I've seen of the city, of all the tumbling buildings and broken churches and piles of rubble, I think this simple view down Colombo St disturbs me more than any other.

So many people are fleeing the city (one of the reports said ten thousand?) and I don't know how many of them will come back. I don't know what they're going to have to come back to if they do. The recovery cost for this is looking to be more than 10 billion. (That's... not a small amount.)

113 dead, 228 still missing, and the last person recovered alive from one of the buildings was on Wednesday afternoon. It's Saturday morning. 60 percent of the city is still without water, 25 percent is without power. (Power, obviously, we have.)

Fuck it, I love this god damn city and I'll leave it when they pry it from my cold, dead fingers.

Current Mood: depressed
Current Music: Bic Runga - Gravity | Powered by Last.fm

I've discovered that unless I'm completely exhausted when I go to bed, every tremor wakes me right up again. I need to just lie down and pass out or else I won't sleep at all. (This proves a problem as I'm not one of those people who just falls asleep once they get into bed. I have to lie there for half an hour at least.) So this is me yawning away in front of the computer because I'm not tired enough yet.

I'm not dealing well with these aftershocks. The aftershocks we've been having since September haven't bothered me but these ones are so much sharper and harder and last time I didn't have the experience behind me of what it felt like when they went all out in an attempt to bring down the entire city. I tense with the beginning rumble of every single one of these, though I only sometimes run for the door now. Usually I'm sitting there all 'frozen rabbit in the headlights' while Lara and Alison remind me that it's okay.

Except one of the times it might not be okay and everything will come flying at us again and the house will fall in and we'll all die. (That's not going to happen. This house is very sound and it really shouldn't break, not ~~until~~ unless a really big one hits us again. But I have the paranoia. Days of watching pictures of houses fallen in makes one a little wary.)

I miss running water and indoor plumbing, but it feels ridiculous to even complain about that with everything going on. I'll never take a flushing toilet for granted again though. It also feels ridiculous to complain that I did something to my back tonight and now it twinges painfully every time I move.

Current Mood: tired

Ali and I took a walk around the neighborhood this afternoon in the hopes of finding chocolate. (We'd heard tales that the petrol station nearby was open. COMFORT FOOD!)

( photos )

New Zealand Red Cross has launched the "New Zealand Red Cross 2011 Earthquake Appeal" to support those affected by the recent Christchurch earthquake.

All funds will be used towards the New Zealand Red Cross response to the disaster, including transport and provision of goods. As weeks go by, different needs will be identified and Red Cross, there for the long haul with your help, will be meeting them. A 6.3 magnitude earthquake hit the Canterbury area at 12.51pm on February 22. The quake, approximately 5km underground and located 10km south east of the city has caused wide spread damage, bursting sewage lines, damaging buildings and homes, cutting power and telephone lines to many areas of the city.

Donations to this appeal can be made by:

• Secure online donation at www.redcross.org.nz/donate

• Cheque to: New Zealand Red Cross 2011 Earthquake Appeal, Freepost 232690, PO Box 12140, Thorndon, Wellington 6144

• Direct Credit Transfer to our Special Appeal Bank Account: Kiwibank 38-9009-0759479-00 and the account name is RED CROSS.

• Direct Credit Transfer to our Special Appeals Bank Account: ASB 12-3192-0015998-02

• At any branch of PostShop Kiwibank, ASB and ANZ bank

-

some more photos, bigger than most of the ones going around.

Current Mood: discontent

$honeyspider: (JWW: I have seen a thousand fractures)$

The Grand Chancellor hotel is one of the tallest buildings in the city and in each aftershock it is now rocking. It's move about a metre horizontally and is now on a lean to the east. I think Alison said they've evacuated everyone from all the blocks around which is good since when it comes crashing down like they're waiting for it's going to make an awfully big bang.

This is my favourite photo of the earthquake damage because instead of horrifying me it makes me giggle. (The giggling could be panic, so don't rely on that.)

The park across the road from us is being turned into a refuge center. I wish we didn't have to worry about how water and food or I'd cook up a shitload of comfort food for those people. Alison and I are considering going over with the massive collection of children's books we've got but we might just end up getting in the way so we'll probably just hand them over and leave.

Current Mood: indescribable

My beautiful beautiful city.

I was home by myself when it hit and I ended up in the doorway of the kitchen which turned out to be not the best place because there's a high shelf there and a bunch of things came tumbling down on me. Nothing big enough or hitting me right enough to hurt but still not helping with the comfort. I ended up sliding down in the doorway to cry and laugh because, joy, hysterics. And then the first big aftershock that happened Lara had called me and she had to listen to me screaming and crying while I went diving for a doorway again. (Where I got really wet because the hot water cylinder in the roof either broke or fell over and emptied itself through the walls at me.)

I can't actually process anything today and every single one of these aftershocks makes me want to curl up in a doorway and have a little cry. I'm glad Lara and Alison are being the Calm Ones for me.

As of ten pm at least a hundred people are still trapped in buildings and now there's fires and flooding and the ground keeps fucking shaking.

But I am in awe of all the stories I've heard so far of how people are helping each other through this. That makes me cry too but in much better ways.

Current Mood: distressed

WAKE UP, CIRCE! WAKE UP! IT'S SIX AM AND THIS IS YOUR 5.1 WAKE UP CALL! YES, RUN TO THE DOORWAY WHILE I DISTURB YOUR PEACE OF MIND! I WILL NEVER STOP SHAKING AND YOU WILL ALWAYS BE SUBJECT TO MY TECTONIC WHIMS!

But fortunately The Powers That Be have invested me with the superpower to go from dead asleep to 'hey, what am I doing in this doorway?' See, didn't even have to grow up in an earthquake country to know this stuff. Years of television have prepared me well! (With this thought in mind, I'm pretty sure I could perform an emergency tracheotomy with a pen without even panicking, or fly a Colonial Viper in a one on one dogfight with a Cylon Heavy Raider. I also know never to try and climb out of the elevator when it's between floors because you will get cut in half, and that you should never be relieved when you open something and find that the scary thing you thought was there isn't, because it means it's right behind you when you turn around. Honestly, don't you listen to musical cues or watch any horror movies?)

Alison and I just finished watching Misfits which I had been purposely avoiding since it started as it didn't really look like my kind of thing, except it turns out that it's awesome and totally my kind of thing and now I have to wait for the third season to actually come out. Balls. (I only have a few major annoyances with it, like: you killed people I really liked and thus you better show me better fall-out next season that you just did. The rest of my thoughts will be saved for the next time I see Sena, as she's the only real life person that has also watched it.)

The ground has stopped shaking completely. Bed would be nice again, I have to admit, but I think I'm up now. Again, balls.

Current Mood: sleepy

The earthquake that just happened then was the biggest one I've felt since coming back from Australia. Apparently it cut out power in the CBD and they evacuated offices? All I know is that a shitload of stuff in our house fell of shelves and that's the first one that's actually made me go run for a doorway. Eik.

I had no idea how aftershocks worked before this thing. I totally thought it was a few of them and then nothing but it's now been, what?, a month and a half since the big one? And still with the daily shaking! Not so much as it used to, but still it's crazy.

Don't worry though - the kettle is OK.

Current Mood: uncomfortable

HOLY CRAP CAKES.

That was a rather large shaking of the earth. It's been a month, Christchurch. I thought we were done with this?

Current Mood: shocked

It is indescribably strange to be here in Australia while, back home, something so huge is happening. My poor beautiful city is getting pummeled by this earthquake and its aftershocks and I've not even seen it yet other than in photos. On the one hand I feel incredibly lucky that I was here when it went down, because it means I haven't had to deal with the freaking out, the lost sleep, and the power and water losses, but on the other hand I hate that I'm here instead because all the people I love and spend my time with are going through this massive thing together and I won't be a part of it when I return. Is it selfish to think that way? Because everyone there can only be thinking 'uh, why would you WANT to be here?' But I guess it's a bonding experience of sorts for all of the city and I'm not going to be... bonded.

This all makes me homesick. I'm hardly ever homesick when I travel, only a few times when I lived in Ireland in fact and never when I'm here with family. It's odd and different. But I'm glad everyone back home is as safe as they can be and the fact that no one has died is the most amazing and wonderful news I've ever heard.

On a less flat note, however, I have been having a good time here, especially the other night when we had the cocktail party and Alison and I whipped up a serious storm of drinks from everyone. It was the day we'd found out about what was happening back home so we found a drink called Earthquakes to make. They were so good and way better than the real thing. I was the Queen of Drinkings and all bowed before me. As they should.

( I'll cut the recipes for the best drinks we made... )

Holy crap, how excited am I to find out that sleazy sexist, racist, all-other-ists Abbott will not be the Australian Prime Minister? THANK GOD. Finally something right there!

This is my last night in Nimbin. Tomorrow I have an early bus up to the Gold Coast and will be staying with mum until the 12th and then it's finally back home! (While I'm in Brisbane though? There's a Valentino retrospective. I WILL BE BEHOLDING VALENTINO GOWNS AND MY LIFE IS MORE COMPLETE FOR IT.) Dad also bought me a book on Alexander McQueen and I am happily basking in fashion. It's lovely.

Everyone talk to me! Leave me comments of adoration/hate! I feel so out of the loop with all my internet/Christchurch people. Basically, if you're reading this post, I ♥ you. ~~(Unless you're certain people who sometimes stalk it and to those people: I~~

Current Mood: contemplative

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Page generated Jul. 10th, 2025 01:26 pm

Chasing chimeras

But i just want to touch something that'll last tonight

Entries tagged with this is tectonic plates shifting

Look, I remembered to post again!

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Faramir was about to 'show his quality' wink wink nudge nudge

It's always about earthquakes from now on, okay?

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Movies

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My livejournal is so depressing recently.

Night will close us down and change the view

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A few less dramatic photos...

Red Cross Aid

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Earthquake post, like I can think of anything else right now.

Balls.

Oh, it's another post about earthquakes

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August 2012

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