Love — I had some realisations about love recently — time alone in airports & on planes & walking around with headphones on is good for me! One of the things I became aware of is that true, real love doesn’t have to be a competition or have any kind of goal, it’s just pure & gleaming & clear, & without expectation or demand. It doesn’t have to go or be a certain way for it to be valid. Another thing I realised is that there is an infinite supply of it, & the more you give away, the more comes back to you. There is no time limit, no rush. Tonight, next month, whatever. Doesn’t real love stretch beyond the horizon, beyond this life, into another dimension? You don’t have to love someone, move in together & get married. It’s possible to love someone in a way that is distant & vivid & magnificent, to love someone the way a virgin loves a unicorn, the way teenage girls love the night sky, the way children love sugar. Love coloured by the hand of fantasy, spun through with magic thread, not tangible, invisible to the human eye. Love which is fabulous & overwhelming, the kind of thing you only see when you’re dreaming. I don’t know where all this awareness came from, but all of a sudden it’s more true than I ever thought possible, & not just a philosophical ideal like it once was, it’s an actual real life truth for me. This is a major shift, & it brings me more joy than you could ever believe.

“Two-thousand-&-divine” is my new way of saying ‘2009’. I encourage you to do it too!

Hoop anticipation! Yesterday I ordered two hoops from Hoopnotica — the Harajuku Girl Fitness Hoop & the Fitness TravelHoop in pink/gold! I am so, so, SO excited about receiving them, learning some new tricks, & getting my hoop on! I am even more psyched about having a TravelHoop — they collapse down & sit happily in suitcases for international nomads & playgirls (& boys!) of all stripes! Mmmm, yes, hoop mania, it is true what they say! I’m also loving making seemingly incongruous hooping playlists: Bikini Kill, Beyonce, The Hold Steady, Missy Elliot…

Routine — As much as I love impromptu adventures & bouts of tree-climbing, ultimately I am a creature of habit & I really love having a daily system. Auckland was totally sweet but it’s excellent to be back in Wellington, where I have my hoop, my exercise DVDs & my Bose SoundDock! Yes ma’am! I’m going to be out of here soon, so I’m soaking up as much routine as I can before it all goes mad again!

SXSW — Yes! I am officially going to SXSW & yes! I am officially speaking at SXSW Interactive 09! I am super-excited & psyched to go. The panel I’m on is called A History Of Growing Up Online (& was originally called Growing Up As An Internet Oversharer, which honestly, I preferred very much) & my angle will be how I took what I learned as an online journal girl in the late 90s & early 00s & spun that into what I do today. It is going to be so much fun & I can’t wait to explore Austin, I’ve heard such good things about it, & I know a whole bunch of people who either live there or will be in town for SXSW, so it is going to be a GOOD TIME! Plus it’s nice to have a travelling deadline — in my case, I’ve gotta be back in the USA by March 13th! Phew!

The 365 Project — It’s actually a lot more fun than it sounds. “Take a photo every day” is kind of a boring concept, but what about if you make that photo representative of your day? Outfit, mood, events, etc.? I’ve already noticed some interesting progressions in my pictures & other people’s, so hopefully this challenge will help bring a bit more interest to my daily outfit photos, too! (By the way, you should start it too! I am determined to rope in everyone I know!)

Honourable mentions: Being brought coffee in bed; people offering to do amazing favours; inspiring treehouse talks; chemistry, sparks & electricity; real hugs; alternative dimensions; emails sent in the bat hours; walking around Auckland with headphones on; wearing sunglasses in the airport (it’s hilarious, people stare much more, I guess they think that if they can’t see in, you can’t see out?!); dancing in my plane seat; metaphysical adoration; soaking up life & all its deliciousness; crystal rings which cast rainbows everywhere; being a carrier pigeon between sweet boys; unbelievable anticipation about two-thousand-&-divine; editing adventure videos; flying over New Zealand (sometimes I can’t believe how beautiful it is); songs which gives you chills over your entire body; writing love letters I’ll never send; “& you say New York City!”; old friends who already know all your back-story; conversations which twist your neurons — we like to call it “brain sex”!; working on the plane (I love love love it! A change of scenery is excellent writing fodder); Coeur de Pirate; Stick It (“What country are they gonna represent? The state of deluuuuusion?!”); emails which make me laugh with pure delight; intercontinental brainstorming; this & this (I sweeten my blood with the tea of the innocent! …I’ll make her skin into a kite.); being spotted in Shibuya!; hustlin’; huge eye-widening full moon action; bat glasses; fun plottings, & this exchange…

Starstruck dude: You’re Jon Lovitz!Jon Lovitz: Jealous?

Oh, so funny. Alright, how about you, little one? Lay yo’ love on me!

P.S. Who you know fresher than Hov?! Riddle me that!