Ticking along

So "we" have handed on "our" phd - although only one of us actually wrote it and will be called a Doctor at the end. Oh well I guess you don't just get handed these things for being a good person, apparently it does require a little more effort. Mostly being with M is what the last few weeks have been all about. We had a little party on Friday with the two of us and her flattie, Judith, to celebrate. Judith runs her own business doing "body work" - I can tell you all the things its not (massage, chiropractic etc) but maybe not what it is. Since I left the ranch I've had a really painful shoulder. Kind of stiff and just not coming right. Went to Judith and wow - I am 100% better and it was the most gentle process ever. She's amazingly skilled and you almost don't realise anything is happening at all. Not quite but it certainly left me much more aware of just where I do have aches and pains (protecting that gimpy leg takes up a lot of my time so I almost forget the rest of me). I've also been writing too which has been very good. Aiming to get "something" to the publishers to look at in July..........then of course they have to say it's fab and we want you, sign a contract and.......then I need to finish writing the rest of it. Both M and the new flattie have convinced me that I shouldn't find work until Autumn and spend the summer writing. Now that hasn't been hard to agree to! On the countdown to LV and I am making sure to save all my quarters, being the high roller that I am. Now here's a movie worth seeing The War Tapes: Armed with minicams mounted on their gun turrets, helmets and dashboards, three National Guardsmen capture an unprecedented perspective of the Iraq war in this powerful documentary culled from more than 1,000 hours of footage. Deftly interlaced with harrowing film of ambushes, explosions and severed limbs are the soldiers' complex reactions to the conflict and interviews with the women they left behind.
I'd never heard of it but the flattie had so we got it via Netflix, which is this very cool system where you sign on and order DVDs on line, they are posted to you, no late fees and you send them back using a return envelop. You can also watch a heap of movies on line as well......... But back to WT - it really is quite startling to see how they all change during their 12 month deployment. Quite graphic in places, gives you a real sense of what it must be like. It was filmed in 2004 - I bet they wouldn't let them do it now.

You know you've landed when.....

a. You go out and buy sheets, towels and sundry other items that make for a home
b. You not only remember your street address but your zip code as well
c. You boldly change your Amazon postal address, sure that you will still be here when the book arrives
d. You commit to buying a dryer for the flat (nothing else is yours, the flat really needs one and you need to start getting a credit rating) and your flat mate is delighted
e. The cat sleeps with you at least some of the night
f. You say things like "I'm heading home"
g. Your shelf in the fridge is full and you have your very own cupboard
h. You, who never does these things, has continued to put a little bunch of flowers, picked from the garden, on your dresser draw, just 'cos it looks nice
i. .............you really start to believe in a future, in this town, doing something you love

Viva Las Vegas and stuff

My second week in SC and I am happily settled in my new home. It could be life is just a series of coincidences but in the strangest twist of all it turns out my flattie (from here on in known as M) is doing her Masters in Fine Arts focusing on how new media facilitates everyone participating in the military – or something along those lines. We've only had a quick conversation but I couldn’t believe it given she didn’t know what my book was about; guess there’s a certain sense of serendipity. I’ve started a new blog too. It’s all about the process of writing the book. Really it’s my own rambling thoughts about some stuff so if you’re not into the writing thing best to ignore it. There’s a link on the right for those that care. I’ll keep going with nzalien focusing on “life in general”.
I’ve spent the last week supporting Michelle while she writes her Phd. Mostly just being here, getting her fed and generally reminding her that “this too shall pass”. I, of course, have a vested interest as we have booked ourselves on a cheapee deal to Las Vegas for three days/four nights staying at the MGM Grand on the strip to celebrate. We leave on 11 June through 14 June – yeeha. Neither of us are gamblers (except to sit at the pokies and get free drinks) but both like the spa thing. We’ve both been before so can skip some things and know what to expect. Day after we get back is Michelle’s actual graduation. Wow! Following week she heads back to NZ…….which also means she will be able to get some of the info I need for the book and post it back. ‘tis all falling into place.
I’m not going to look for anything resembling a job until after LV. I’m now riding around on Michelle’s bike – remember keep right look left. Toying with the idea of getting a motorbike as well. I expect this will complete my “mid-life crisis”. Not much point having a car in SC, buses are good and you can walk to most places but a bike would be good to get to some of the areas further out and, well, it just might be fun.

Happy daze

I have had a remarkable 48 hrs. First and most importantly - I have a home. I arrived to find a lovely note from my new flattie, a little bunch of flowers in my room and a very warm and friendly "goldfish" (ginger cat, who was happily lounging on my bed when I arrived). The cottage is small but sweet and Margaretha has lots of flowers and plants around. It's not at all flash but genuinely cosy with very lovely arty touches. My room will be a wonderful place to write and the house and the neighbourhood I live in mostly smells of roses and gypsophila with a mixture of truely rustic and highly cultivated gardens. The smells remind me of holidays in Central Otago and nana's house (which always smelt of some flower or another). It has also been incredibly warm here (around 23 but really humid).

The B&B I stayed in was full of people transitioning or changing their lives - or at least those were the ones I met. Everyone I chatted to was optimistic, full of enthusiasm for the day and all genuinely interested in each others success. I met a woman from NY who has spent years in marketing/sales/advertising and has come to SC to see if she wants to stay. Like me she has been on the move for several months and also doesn't want to go back to her corporate life. It's very inspiring to meet other people who have also stepped outside their comfort zone to discover new things. Even as people told their stories no one needed nor wanted to dwell on anything other that the optimism of their choices..........there's a book in there! Everyone was very enthusiastic about my book and I am going to start a data base of people (okay so I have two names) and invite them on the journey with me.........hopefully they will also want to read the book. I think too I will start a separate blog that is simply about the book.

The other big marker of the day is that we have sold all the houses. I have such a sense of relief. Managing things from afar and having to ask friends/family to do most of the leg work for me isn't ideal. Still I can't believe how my life has changed in the last 9 months and that I have arrived at this point; full of hope, optimism, excitment and possibility.

Reflections

It’s a strange world to be living in two places. Daily I am here, in SC, enjoying all the things it brings to me. Everything about being here is entirely manageable. I can walk the town – I like that – it is near the sea – I like that a lot – it is full of creative, eccentric, odd and genuinely engaging people – I remind myself to be present. Then I inhabit another world, the past. As I write I am thrown back in time. I am trying to capture not only the facts but the feeling - to convey something meaningful. I like writing. It has surprised me how much I like it. I am also surprisingly fearless in the things I say. I name people, some will be unhappy with how I describe my experience of them…….but it’s my experience. Some will disagree with how I remember things. Some will agree. But I don’t care – I’ve reached a point where I really don’t care. It is my story, as I would have it told. It’s not angry, mad, sad or bad. At least I don’t think it is – my “ghost editor” will keep me honest. When it is timely she will tell me if what I think I am doing is what I am actually doing.
What I think (and hope) is that it is genuinely interesting and thought provoking. At best it’s a good yarn, at better than best women who have served will read it and parts will resonate – that’s what I really care about – anything else is background. I have a single-minded determination to have this book published. I have only just realised that no other NZ women soldier (sailor nor air force personnel) has ever written their story. Why not?

Of first nights and wine flights

I have had the most amazingly wonderful week. The B&B, minus breakfast but with a kitchen we can cook in, is every bit as beautiful as promised. Lovely lovely lovely. I have really enjoyed cooking for myself again and the luxury of it all.
To celebrate just being here Michelle and I went to a local wine bar on my first night. They have this thing called a “wine flight” – we ended up drinking three glasses of the most amazingly surprisingly lovely wine from Slovenia and eating some very lovely snackeriles. It’s the most indulgent I’ve been since leaving el rancho – which was mostly indulgent.
Post that I’ve been looking for a place to live. I went and looked at the most lovely room – had everything I thought I wanted etc etc etc (with flatties – two guys). Then unexpectedly another place came up and I went to this cottage behind an old villa.- guy in front (landlord) just collects stuff……….I mean stuff………. it’s like Stepto and Son. But met this fab woman who is doing her masters at the University of SC (fine arts, digital media, I think she also does creative writing), has a ginger cat called Goldfish and it all just feels right. The room is much smaller than the first one I looked at, not glamorous, got a bed and a desk and some draws (really it matters in that order), no TV but wireless (Telecom should be shot) and cheap as chips in the scheme of things……….are we seeing a theme? I think it will be a very happy place to live so I’ve agreed to move in on Tuesday when my time at the B&B ends.
Michelle is also about 2 seconds from handing in her dissertation (after 8 years as a doctoral student it looks to me like the most torturous thing in the world to actually complete the writing process!). Given my own personal obsession and admiration for anyone that works hard and is focused on there dreams it’s a wonderful privilege to be here. In a bit of mutual support I walk over to Michelle’s every day (1 hour each way, although it will only be 20mins from the new place) we each work in our own worlds for a minimum of 4 hours. Of course the pay off for me is that it get to see more of her, hear about what she is writing and share some of my writing ideas too. And of course we just get to chat at the end. Sometimes I write the book sometimes I don’t. It works. I am liking being in SC and it just seems to keep going “do the right thing the right thing happens”.