Five

(Poached, obviously, from 5ives.)

Five abilities I would like to have

1. Ability to read a map.
2. Ability to make really good pancakes without a recipe.
3. Ability to fit into pants without some parts gapping and some parts binding.
4. Ability to drive stick shift.
5. Ability to go one single day in my life without someone coming up behind me and going “Ooh, your tag’s out.”

Five abilities I do have

1. Ability to make excellent hot chocolate (the secret is to use twice as much chocolate as called for).
2. Ability to transform my nearest and dearests into my financially uncompensated mental health professionals with the power of a single five-screen email.
3. Ability to imitate a breaching whale (in chest-deep water only).
4. Ability to nod my head and say “Mm hmm” and “Oh girl, NO!” and “That is crazy,” real good.
5. Ability to bicycle shimmy.


Five things I love about Wellington

1. My friends.
2. Fidel’s.
3. The fact that I never have to walk anywhere but can instead just let the wind blow me physically down the street; almost like flying!
4. The beach at Island Bay.
5. Having gelato from Kaffe Eis on the waterfront on a sunny day.

Five things I miss about Seattle

1. My friends.
2. Monday night bellydance.
3. Cupcake Royale.
4. Ballard Sunday Market.
5. The cloud room.

Five things I miss about Miami

1. My friends.
2. My mom and sister.
3. Morros y maduros with extra garlic sauce.
4. The 7-ll on the island.
5. Driving really fast past the boy I had a crush on’s house and honking the horn in Amy’s 1985 navy blue Ford Tempo.

Five things I have purchased from various two-dollar shops around Wellington

1. Days-of-the-week mustache kit.
2. Kitchen scissors.
3. Disco ball.
4. Illustrated solar system poster (with Pluto still classed as a planet).
5. Bandanna with Eminem on it.

Speaking of mustache, five types of mustache I would grow, if I could grow a mustache

1. Amish beard (technically not a mustache).
2. Crazy long thin Fu Manchu-style.
3. Stern Victorian muttonchops.
4. Evil turn-of-the-century villain pencil.
5. Gelled spikes around chin, worn with corresponding horizontal reverse Mohawk around head to look like some sort of sun god.


Five time I wore high heels that ended up in tears

1. White low heel, high school graduation, 1993 (ingrown toenail).
2. Gold platform sandals, college graduation, 1997 (twisted ankle).
3. Black suede peep-toes, Halloween, 2005 (scrunched up toes).
4. Brown suede spikes, college performance of The Mousetrap, 1995 (strained knee).
5. Black contrast-stitching wedges, salsa dancing, 2005 (twisted ankle again and also weird pain in calf).


Five songs I have obsessed over at various times

1. Amadeus by Falco, 1985,
2. I Am Stretched On Your Grave by Sinead O’Connor, 1989.
3. Your Sweet Voice by The Reindeer Section, 2004.
4. My Secret by Anna Ternheim, 2005.
5. The Bleeding Heart Show by The New Pornographers, 2006.


Five things I wear a lot

1. Plain black bra and undies.
2. Mermaid charm necklace.
3. Black Mary Janes.
4. Oil Of Olay SPF 30 sunscreen stick.
5. An octopus on my shirt.


Five things I eat a lot

1. Vogel’s multi-grain porridge with sultanas.
2. “Gourmet” dried apricots from the bulk bins.
3. Bell tea with half a sugar and milk.
4. Homemade EasiYo yogurt, either the Greek or the reduced fat kind.
5. Penne with sautéed asparagus, lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper.

Five things that should be at every party

1. Swimming pool.
2. Playlist heavy on the Stevie Wonder and Thriller-and-before Michael Jackson.
3. Making out.
4. Jello wrestling.
5. A good cheese plate.


Five favorite exhibits at Te Papa

1. Marae carvings of people in various occupations: teacher, doctor, farmer, miner.
2. Kakapo sex video.
3. The sign that mentions that the Italians of New Zealand brought new foods with them with them when they emigrated, “such as garlic.”
4. Fake moa being attacked by a fake giant eagle.
5. Sign where it says “Here in New Zealand it rains and rains and rains.”

Five words I have mispronounced since arriving in New Zealand

1. Pukeko.
2. Feijoa.
3. Fisher and Paykel.
4. Paraparaumu.
5. Capsicum.


Five places from which you are potentially reading this entry, judging from my sitemeter location stats

1. Lund, Skane Lan.
2. Recklinghausen, Nordrhein-Westfalen.
3. Star, Idaho.
4. Reykjavk, Gullbringusysla.
5. Beaverton, Oregon.


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10 responses to “Five”

  1. Sarah Avatar
    Sarah

    Is it cheating to cut the tags off your shirts to begin with? That way, they are never poking out…

  2. Amy Avatar

    It’s not you, it’s the pants. I’ll be done with school in 6 months and then I can make you some custom pants and you can tell all those other crappy pants to go bother someone else! Ha!

  3. Kendra! Avatar

    I can totally hear you saying, “Oh NO, girl!” while making double hot chocolate and rocking a mermaid necklace, tapping your Mary Janes all the while.

    I may copy this listage. ‘Tis good.

  4. molly Avatar

    This makes my heart swell with five kinds of love for you.

  5. Ian Avatar
    Ian

    Would it be too much to ask you to try to write out how those five words are pronounced in New Zealand?
    The Fremont PCC was selling tasty feijoa recently, but I don’t remember I don’t remember if they were imported from New Zealand or not. PCC called them pineapple guavas, so the pronunciation wasn’t a problem.

  6. Chiara Avatar
    Chiara

    Ian’s wish is my command.

    Pukeko POO-kee-ko, not poo-KAY-ko.

    Feijoa. Fee-JO-ah, not fay-JWAH. (This resulted in gales of laughter at my supper club).

    Fisher and Paykel. PIE-kel, not PAY-kel.

    Paraparaumu. The full name is pronounced Pa-RA-pa-RA-oh-moo but everyone here abbreviates it to Par-ah-pa-RAM.

    Capsicum. Cap-si-cum, not ca-pis-cum. This one was just caused my my refusal to wear my glasses at New World, I think.

  7. boegeman Avatar
    boegeman

    Noshiro, Akita, Tohoku, Japan

  8. Ben Avatar
    Ben

    and the Ballard Farmer’s Market misses you too :O)

  9. sylvia Avatar
    sylvia

    I wonder if I’m the Star, Idaho. I’m actually in Boise. Probably there’s someone over in Star (maybe 10 miles from here) who’s reading too.

  10. Anna K Avatar
    Anna K

    That Lund, Skane Lan should have a little circle over the a in Skane and that’s the southernmost county “landskap” in Sweden. Yay, to all the Swedes out there reading!
    Chiara, I miss you! Kiss-kiss-kiss!