Almost ready.

I leave for New Zealand tomorrow morning. I am pretty darn stoked. This trip is going to be a big deal for a lot of reasons. I have never flown alone. I won't know anyone in the group. It will be my first time in the Southern Hemisphere. I will finally get to participate in a conservation project. Basically, I am expecting this trip to be mind blowing.

I don't tend to get excited easily over these kind of things, but I can feel the tummy upset starting. The last couple times I flew to England, I ended up throwing up because the airplane food doesn't always sit well. I think it's always their breakfast foods. I don't know what it is, but things like Egg McMuffins and packaged sausage and blah blah has always made my stomach roil. So I think I will try packing or buying something that hopefully won't make me grab desperately for the barf bag.

I also feel kind of funny from my good byes. It's almost like this will be the first time that I will actually...miss people? I have never been homesick before, though I am always wanting to go to England, which is where my heart is. But when I hugged everyone at the Venue good bye and they looked genuinely sad...it felt funny. I kept telling myself that no one would miss me, that I am not a big deal in anyone's life so no one would really care. But I get the feeling that they really will. And that means I will.

But I will definitely be taking the time to call and email. I need to learn how to keep in contact with friends. I am growing up. I can't cut all ties like I did when I was a kid. I found some old letters a middle school friend wrote to me after she moved. I know the letters stopped because I wasn't writing much to her. I love my friends and I want to keep them, even if I end up moving far away. I want to be able to visit them every few years and catch up on all times. I guess this will be a training session.

I guess I am excited :)

Perfume

Today I watched the movie Perfume. Let's just say I was nothing short of amazed.

I think the movie was so extraordinary partly because it walked a fine line very close to being completely ridiculous. If I was to tell the story to someone, they would probably say it sounded totally stupid and weird. But the way the movie was composed and directed made me just eat up every bit of it. The things that happen are so extreme but yet somehow understandable. I believe the film was a really beautiful examination into the search for love and the power of innocence.

Not to mention Ben Whishaw was absolutely beautiful in a creepy way. I swear his neck is five miles long. Mm.

All Wet

My oh my the day I have had!!

I went out on my bike to enjoy the evening since a quick hail storm had cooled the day down. I was amazed how green the city looked from the rain and the overcast sky. Barely five minutes into my ride I found this guy hanging out by the lake in Julia Davis Park.



I have never seen a heron just chill and walk around, so it was pretty amazing! I am glad I didn't scare him off into flying away.

I had to keep stopping and rerouting while I rode, however, because huge chunks of the Green Belt were blocked off. Basically, the flooding they predicted a few months ago is coming true.



That is from atop the Friendship Bridge. You can clearly see that the water is reaching the bottom branches of the trees.



This was the first flooded spot I encountered, under Broadway. While I was taking pictures, a couple hard core bikers went ahead and rode through. I was wearing jeans and was not willing to do so. Little did I know, I was going to end up soaked later anyway.



I caught this guy further down the Green Belt. He said he hadn't expected the water to go very far. Turned out he was sadly mistaken!



This was under Parkcenter. I ended up riding east after taking this picture, into a residential part of town I had never seen before. I was amazed to see the nice houses over there. I was extremely amazed to see that some of them had pools. Houses with pools are fairly rare in Boise.

The moment I left the fancy neighborhoods, the wind picked up and I had to ride into it to get back over Parkcenter and to Winco. I was barely moving and my legs were aching on the way. Getting over the bridge was probably the hardest part!

Once I finished getting a few things from Winco and I had my bag on my back, I realized my ride home was about to get much worse. As I crossed Myrtle to start up over the Capital bridge, the light rain started. Then the hail started. And finally, right when I was over the bridge, the heavy torrential rain started. I had sunscreen running into my eyes and my glasses were completely wet, so I could barely see let alone ride my bike. When I crossed University, I totally ate shit when my bike lost traction in the water. When I finally got home, my light grey clothes were all a very dark grey, and I was soaked clear down to my underwear. Unfortunately, I got no pictures of this as I got right into the warm shower, afraid I was going to catch pneumonia.

It was still a really nice day since I got to see Boise in a rare green state. I also cooked my first dinner in the apartment. Whole wheat penne with alfredo sauce and ground turkey, with some tomatoes and parmesan on top. Delicious.

Get summer started right.

Today I went on a bike ride with my room mate. It was the kind of day that I have been waiting for. Winter lasted way into Spring and some days feel like Late Summer. But tonight was just the perfect temperature and perfect light. It felt good to spend time with someone as well, since I have been a bit of a loner for the past few months. I got to talk about things I have been needing to get off my chest with someone who is willing to actually respond instead of blow it all off.

I am glad the semester is over, and I am close to going to New Zealand. I feel good about this summer. My room mate is an art student too, and hopefully we will work together on some stuff to keep our minds working creatively. I really want to make a pin hole camera from my oatmeal container. I also want to buy a Holga camera (not some reworked overpriced one from Urban Outfitters), a polaroid (preferably a Sun 600), and a Duaflex (so I can do some through the viewfinder stuff). Hopefully I am not setting my sights too high :)

In other news, I shaved my head.



Exciting!