Two Months + Three Months

In a week's time, I'll be boarding a flight bound for Hong Kong, where I'll meet the aeroplane which will take me home. I've been away for two and a half years. Not a huge absence, but the hugest to date, and I've got a mixed bag of emotions. Mostly they're of the positive, apprehensive sort, and where they're not, they are concerns based around how much money I will actually need to pass a summer in New Zealand. I've lost my understanding of the value of the dollar, except where it relates to the value of the pound - which is a sore point of late!

Some people who visit the Backyard will be aware that I was fortunate to be offered redundancy from my job of two years working for MCPS. This came at an excellent time and has been a very positive experience, mostly because I wasn't feeling in the least inspired by my role and because it's given me the opportunity to do whatever I want for the last two months.

Now I regularly face the question: "So what have you been doing for two months, O lady of leisure?" I usually have to think for a minute, musing that for the most part, I've been so busy that I'm not sure how I used to have time to go to work! And what have I actually been doing?

I spent time with my cousin Allyson who visited from Melbourne, I've had visits of varying durations to Bratislava (hi Mikhal!), Vienna and Budapest, and closer to home, to Birmingham (hi Dubber!), Devon (which I persist in calling Dorset), and Manchester (hi Paulie!). I've had countless lunches and run 160km. I've been to see The Black Seeds, Art Brut supporting Pixies, the Mountain Goats, Easy Star All-Stars, Jaga Jazzist supporting Efterklang, Grizzly Bear, the Drones, Röyksopp, Liam Finn, the Flaming Lips, Her Make Believe Band, a Manc metal band called Bisonhammer, Monsters of Folk, the Decemberists and finally, Dangerous Heresy. I've spent an inordinate length of time perfecting my CV and I've secured an internship with Topspin Media for my return to London in March.

I've been too busy to keep my flickr up to date, although I have been putting the odd set of gig photos up at songkick. Speaking of which - one project of mine while I'm in New Zealand is to find my old diaries and post a load of New Zealand gigs to this excellent database of live music. I reckon I can easily top 200 in my gigography. Check it out, get involved! Maybe we've been to some gigs together?

The next three months will see me in New Zealand, catching up with friends and family, attending several weddings, soaking up the scenery and the summer, not to mention a few gigs. I'm already giddy with excitement at the propsect of seeing Faith No More for the fourth (and fifth ;) time in a fourth country! Not to mention Big Day Out, Campus A Low Hum, Laneways, any number of great-sounding Mystery Girl events, and perhaps even the Fourth Annual Wellingtonista Awards (affectionately known as #T4WA).

Let's catch up.