The ALC

I am sure that most of you who read this (and I am actually not sure how many people that is) also have access to Facebook and have figured out who these wonderful people I speak so highly of from Auckland are. However, just in case you haven't worked it out, or would like some confirmation, or have not idea at all I am going to introduce you to the awesome fantastic and amazing ladies that make up the now internationally renowned Auckland Lesbian Choir...

This is the awesome and wonderful Miss Rebecca Lee...by day at Primary School teacher, by night Auckland's only ginger Madame and hardcore dominatrix, known for her tool of choice being a blue leopard print cat toy...MEEEOOOOW!!

Next we have Miss Nemo Craig Multi Box (a.k.a Lord Nemo). She is of the slightly unfortunate hindrance that she actually has some singing ability...but we forgive her for that and when we randomly burst into song, provided no one can actually hear that there is the occasional note in tune, then it is fine. Her passions include 'Rent' and 'Wicked' and if you ever happen to face the horrible misfortune of losing her, just look down...not only is she the only member of the choir that can sing, she is also the only member of the choir that needed a booster seat when we went to see the Rocky Horror Picture Show so that she could see the stage...TRUE STORY!

This is Kay...she could not by any means be described as the most dedicated member of the group, but when she is there you can almost guarantee she is the most entertaining! Up until very recently she faced some serious struggles with her sexual identity, however, since joining the ALC (and as the picture demonstrates fairly well), she has embraced her sexuality and in her own words "It feels like a disco ball has just exploded in my heart!"...Good on you girl, welcome out of the closet, it's a lot more fun out her, I can promise you that!

Meet Rivka...our official ALC Chairperson and another faintly talented member of the group, although this skill often goes TOTALLY unnoticed given Riv's almost pathological inability to remember lyrics to any song, ever, how ever many times she has heard it! Thankfully, when you do karaoke there is a screen in front of you telling you exactly what you have to say!

Finally, there is Nicole. She is a slightly unwilling member of the group, partially because she does have an element of shame and partly because her taste in music means that she often doesn't actually know the songs that we randomly burst into...it's not that she just doesn't know the lyrics like Riv, she has often genuinely not heard to songs before. HOWEVER, that said, put on a Disney soundtrack and rock out some Lion King or Aladdin and you get to see a whole different Nicole...this is the Nicole that secretly loves her membership to the ALC!!

And that's it...they are the wonderful wonderful ALC...well of course there is me...but you know me...don't you?! Would you like me to do a little bio about myself?! Okay then, you twisted my arm!

So, just to confirm something before we go on, this picture is not me in pain, oh no no, it is me singing along (probably to 4 non blondes) with more passion and enthusiasm than you will ever again see from someone who couldn't hold a tune or a note to save their life. I am probably the least talent member of the group...no wait...that's a lie...I AM THE LEAST TALENTED MEMBER OF THE GROUP, but what I lack in skill I make up for in enthusiasm, passion and often volume. See, my problem is, when I get into a song and there are other people singing with me, I don't give a shit that I sound shit, I just want to give it my all...and I often do, hence the picture that looks like I am in a lot of pain...there is some serious effort going into hitting that note which is about 4 octaves away from where it should be!

So there you have it, the ALC, they are fabulous, wonderful and amazing!! One day we might go on tour and you may get the chance to see us, but for now it is generally just unfortunate passers-by in the street and the poor people who came into the bar for a quiet drink, only to find out that there way karaoke and the next four songs when listed to be sung by...you guessed it...the ALC!!

Salutations All!
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I have failed as a blog writer!

May I start by announcing my sincere apologies at my total and utter failure to keep up my blog recently. The reason for this makes my failure even more significant as I have been doing so much and have therefore not had the time...hmmm...I think I have just realised that this blog writing thing can occasionally put you in a bit of a Catch-22 type situation...I am going to attempt to bring you up to speed on everything I have done over the past few months in as much detail as I can without sending any of you into total information overload or on the other end of the scale boring you so much that you just give up and stop reading! So, here goes!!
Job-wise I will keep this very short and sweet because it is definitely the least note worthy aspect of the last two months. In a nut-shell, very soon after I wrote my last entry I stopped seeing my private student, we just never seemed to have coinciding free time to see each other and to be honest, I was starting to burn out a bit not having a single day when I was free all day to just relax, so I was fairly pleased about that. I continued working at the school and continued to love it for the whole time I was in Auckland. I literally worked up until the last minute and have been given a lovely reference from the Principal of the school who told me that if I am ever back in Auckland and looking for a job then he should be the first person I call! I was very flattered.
So, now the good stuff. Also very shortly after my last entry I became friends with a big group of girls when I was out on a night. Initially I thought that this was just going to be one of those, meet on a night out, have a good time, never see each other again type situations...it turns out I was wrong. At the end of the night we all exchanged numbers and the next weekend there was a big party happening that as a result of this number exchanging I got myself an invite to. Long story short, this was the start of a lot of socialising and hanging out as a group and having some seriously amazing and memorable times together...they are a seriously fabulous group of girls.
In the two months that we had together while I was in NZ we went on two group roadtrips, one to Hamilton to see the 'Balloons over Hamilton' festival, which was beautiful and was possibly the most fun that 6 people have ever had in Hamilton...it is not a very 'happening' place, but we soon discovered that when we were all together as a group, it didn't really matter what we were doing, or where we were, there would be a lot of smiling and laughing...and indeed singing involved! It was during our weekend in Hamilton that we formally established the ALC (Auckland Lesbian Choir). This group was formed out of our occasional...regular...constant desire to randomly sing in public when we are in each others company. We decided that there were only 3 criteria that you had to meet in order to qualify for membership to the ALC...1) fairly obviously, you need to be a girl that likes girls 2) you need to have absolutely NO shame 3) you cannot under any circumstances have any singing ability...AT ALL!
The second roadtrip that we went on was to Rotorua (or Rotovegas as it is affectionately known). This was an equally fabulous adventure which involved continued random public displays of musical genius, luging in the pouring rain...always fun, amazing amazing polynesian natural hot spas...mmmmm and lots and lots and lots of yummy food!
The final roadtrip that I embarked on was just me and Rivka (one of the girls in the ALC) and was to the Northland, which is basically everything north of Auckland and is where most of the real Maori heritage of NZ lies. This trip was planned for Bank Holiday weekend and so was 4 days long and going with Rivka meant that I was going with someone who was part Maori, knew a lot about her Maori heritage and had a huge amount of knowledge about the area and it's significance in general.  It was an amazing amazing trip. I honestly can't even begin to describe how beautiful this area of NZ is and how fascinating some of the stories and the history behind it are. The landscapes, the sunsets, the stars...the whole feel of the area, it was like nothing I have ever seen or experienced before...it was truly truly mind-blowing!
When I wasn't going on roadtrips or working, most of the time I was hanging out with the girls...either going out for dinner or going for drinks somewhere...nothing massively exciting most of the time but like I said before, you put us together in a group and it often results in lots of loud laughter and singing, not always in that order and not always just us laughing (but I refer you to stipulation 2 to membership of the ALC).
And that was my last two months in NZ. Having had no luck on the job front to begin with and very little joy finding a hostel I liked or people I wanted to be friends with, I left having found a great job, a lovely hostel and some of the best friends I have ever made...I can tell you this for free right now...leaving was not easy! But, the travels had to continue, my visa was expiring and I had plans elsewhere, so it was time to move on...next stop, back to Sydney!
And that is where I find myself now. Before I go on, I would like you to either look back on, or simply recall the stresses and troubles I went through trying to settle myself in NZ when I first got there...do we remember...yes...OK, then I will continue.
I arrived in Sydney at 2pm on Sunday (22nd May), I had not slept for nearly 40 hours so I went straight back to the hostel from the airport stared into space for a couple of hours, said hello to one of my friends and then went to bed at 6pm. Next morning I woke up at 8.30 feeling much more human and ready to attempt a restart on the life sorting game. Aims for the day...go to bank and sort out money, sort out phone, start looking for short term/part time jobs, start looking for somewhere to live and research amateur dramatics societies in Sydney. Roll on to 12pm...bank - done, phone - done, job - done (start working the night shift at the hostel that I lived at last year), flat - already seen one that I liked and was seeing another at 5pm, amateur dramatics society - emailed. Roll onto 7pm: all of the aforementioned 'done' tasks are obviously still completed, add to that, flat - done, 3 month contract signed, moving in the following day, amateur dramatics society - done, invited to new members meeting on Wednesday and auditions on the weekend.
How's that for hitting the ground running. In less than 24 conscious hours back in Sydney I had settled myself in and was ready to start this leg of my adventure. I have now moved into my flat, I have the new members meeting tonight and my training shift at the hostel will be at some point this week!! Hell yeah! I can do this being a grown-up thing, it's not so hard once you've got the knowledge!
Right, so that brings you up to date I believe...I am sorry again for the lack of updating, I will try my absolute hardest to not let this happen again. I also hope that having to read this all at once hasn't sent you into a total tail-spin...if it is any consolation it has been a fairly epic mission getting this all down. Tis a good thing that I am super efficient and therefore have the spare time now to sit down properly and make up for my seriously lacks blog keeping ability!

Much much love to you all from my world of incredible organisation and efficiency...if you need anything doing, just let me know...I've probably already done it! :)
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