Seattle update

I don't know whether it's just shopping with my sister or what, but we keep spotting toys or things that had significant places in our childhoods. Yesterday we both bought those glitter wands with water and sparkles in them. I don't know if you remember them Zoe, but we'd stare at the damn things for hours, just tipping them back and forth. I was reading a great book last night but kept having to put it down to stare at that purple magic wand for a few minutes.

It's great being here. I went through a terrible time getting here though. My Auckland flight was an hour late, so I just barely missed my 1pm LA connection and signed up for standby. There were so many people traveling, combined with the electrical damage at the Seattle airport, so I couldn't be placed on the 5:20pm flight. I was finally placed on the 8pm, which was slowly pushed back in 15 minute increments. Once on the plane, the captain informed us we couldn't leave until 11:30 because Seattle could only accept 20 planes an hour since there was no RADAR working and landings were taking place the old fashioned, human-sight-powered way. Jesus.

But all that's a distant dream. It's just so rad to see my sister. All my recent worrying is gone for the moment. For lunch today she's taking me to get a great hot dog which is so badly needed in NZ. She's dating this boy Scott who digs her big time and he's the smart laid back type. Mental high five!

Alright, there need to be more poi options. Here's what I'm thinking: stretchy poi. Depending on the angle of force you apply, the poi could be made to move in more oblong paths. Also the spinning radius could change depending on the speed. And finally, you could do yoyo tricks and bounce them up into your hands or out to the side and back again easily. Another option is hacky sack poi. Maybe it already exists, but wouldn't it be fun to spin around poi and then kick the bean bag ening with the back of your leg? Much less painful and much easier for the beginner who wants to bounce poi off their body.

It is so so cold here. I'm eating pomegranates and clementines and drinking hot chocolate. This is the only sensible approach to winter. I've been dreaming about pomegranates for the last month but I'd forgotten how labor-intensive it was. Kate has these two rats and was letting them run all over her bed yesterday. It freaked me out a tiny bit at first, but then I was ok with not knowing where they were at every moment. They're ok. For rats. Rats are a lot like people. They have little human hands, eat what we eat, are super curious but also explore in small restricted patterns at first. Something about their mannerisms...much more human than cats or dogs.

HOT DOG TIME KATE LET'S GO EAT HOT DOGS.