lotto!

today i found a dollar on the ground. think i'll buy a lotto ticket. imagine if i could turn a free dollar into $10,000.... that would be over a million percent profit!

giving back :: check

one month after arriving, i submitted an application to volunteer at karori [sanctuary for native flora/fauna]

two weeks ago, i was asked to be a guide, but training starts after my return [august XX] to the states.

in the mean time, i have received monthly volunteer newsletters and invitations to karori parties.

three days ago, i got an emergency call to fill in for "bill" the next two weeks. thinking about all the postage they have spent on me i had to say yes.

every even day for the next fortnight, i spend four hours delivering wombaroo [milk goo] to four feeders spread around the massive center. i monitor birds with tags. i can identify 4 different birds by their call.... and i leave muddy... very, very muddy...

soul retrieval

• day 187: lost my writer's notebook, travel log and soul. also, my pen dried up.
  
• day 188: thrown in existential crisis. vowed to never write again. bought new book and pen. get email that "mine book's been found" [german accent, imagined].
  
• day 189: arrange to pick-up the book from <monica>'s mailbox.
  
• day 190: book is not there
  
• day 191: play it cool
  
• day 192: send email and check again. no book.
  
• day 193: check again, no book.
  
• day 194: check again, no book.
  
• day 195: give up book for dead.
  
• day 196: get explanatory email. i now have the book back.

i checked to make sure she didn't graphitti the book, or tear out pages. it seems fine. then held it close to my chest since there was an unfamiliarness when it rested in my pocket.

now, i can get over my cold.

video :: two chocolate chip cookies

video week :: my hands

video week :: the box

veggie garden

i met an organic gardener who also keeps chickens. i was surprised that chickens produce an egg per day. but that's a side story.

i'm inspired to garden despite fall's fast approach. thankfully cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower can still survive a NZ march planting.... today at the grocery store, i bought a 9 seedling pack of those veg for $3... this weekend i plow my girlfriend's garden.... there's got to be a better way of saying that, but tobias funke would be proud...

tax academy awards speech

thanks² :: turbo tax for free eFiling for half-year workers
thanks² :: me for having the sense to take half a tax year off
thanks² :: the generous people of minnesota for giving me money i could give to the government to eventually get back in a massive sum.

i landed... safely...

i landed safely.
the red faux-hawk survived unscathed.