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.