On Rain

Ah, Wellington. Windy Welly, Wet Welly, Winter Welly.
If the last few weeks can tell me anything is that any and all nicknames that Wellington has are well-earned. We hardly saw the sun last week (17-23rd June) and had one of the worst storms the country has seen in 40 years. I don't know if the country's just showing off for Kaitlyn and I (since we've been here we've had: the hottest and driest summer in 60 years, the worst storm in 40 years, etc) but I don't really apprecaite it, to be honest. I don't want to get blown away when I'm walking home from work. And it's not so much that I mind the rain, but rain for 3 weeks straight is ... not fun. And it isn't even real rain. It's more like someone constantly blowing raspberries right into your face.
 But there's not a lot I can do other that bundle up and try to make the best out of the crappy weather: make lots of warm, hearty food and take lots of pictures of the trees outside our kitchen window.

On Learning To Cook

When I started this blog in April, I didn't think it would end up being 90% about me dragging myself into the adult world; but that's just what my life, upon examination, has turned out to be.
As a part of my Great Kiwi Adventure Into Adulthood, I am teaching myself how to cook. Well, Kaitlyn is forcing me to learn how to cook because getting fast food or take away every night is "bad for you" and "a waste of money" or that consuming my body weight in sodium is "not a good idea" PAH! GROWN UP NONSENSE, I SAY. MCDONALD'S FOR DINNER EVERY DAY, IT'S THE AMERICAN WAY.
Up until this year, I knew how to confidently make 3 things:

1. pasta
2. sandwiches
3. scrambled eggs

I balked at the idea of cooking anything with meat - mostly out of fear of under cooking said meet and dying a horrible undercooked meat death, and a little bit out of fear of burning my apartment down because I don't know how to cook with oil (that happened, luckily one of my roommates was home and knew what to do with a pan that was on fire).
Fun side note: that very same apartment burnt down less than a year after I moved out

And it's easy to get into the habit of going out to get most of your meals, skipping the grocery store and heading straight for that tasty Indian place that's just down the street from our flat... But no! Going to the grocery store and farmers market on the weekends has turned into a staple for us, and has really helped me realize how impractical my eating habits were.
That's not to say that Kaitlyn and I never eat out, we rarely do (because food in wellington is pricey and we generally have stuff to make at home) - but it's a treat, rather than a common occurrence.

Actually paying attention to what I'm consuming has made me 100% sure that I am lactose intolerant - a fact I have blatantly ignored for the last few years because, really, ice cream is so dang tasty. And curbing my dairy and sodium intake (along with having to walk everywhere) has helped me get to a healthier weight than I was at when I left the states in August.

I wouldn't say I'm at the point where I look forward to cooking - it still makes me anxious, sometimes. But I like knowing that I can look after myself and I know some recipes and how to poach chicken and defrost meat and make casseroles and thicken dairy based sauces and (some would say most importantly) not to leave oil on a hot pan unattended.
Learning, y'all!

On Reading (#2)

I'm going to start posting Book Reviews on the first monday of every month. There probably won't always be 5 books a month (I'm catching up on what I've read so far this year) but there'll at least be one a month.  YAY READING.

Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness
Would Recommend If: you read the first in the series, Geraldine Brooks' books, 'magic is real but shhh' type books
I'm a bit conflicted about this book, to be honest. I really enjoyed the first one, A Discovery of Witches, but this one ... just not quite as much. I still quite enjoyed it, and I liked the direction she took the series in, but it didn't move as well or feel anywhere near as exciting as the first one. It's nice that the main character only got kidnapped once (I think it was only once. It might've been twice) this time around, but it made for a slower read. I'll definitely read the next in the series ... whenever it comes out.

Madness Underneath by Maureen Johnson
Would Recommend If: you like Maureen Johnson in any capacity, supernatural/mysterious/sad YA books
I'm a big Maureen Johnson fan, so it comes as no surprise that I loved this book. It's a great sequel so The Name Of The Star and it's creepy and sad and just great. And, Johnson doesn't spend a lot of time catching you up on what happened in the last book (a bit of a pet peeve of mine) and jumps right into the action. The end is a bit frustrating, but it's still a fast and fun read that makes you want another book in the series.

Dodger by Terry Pratchett
Would Recommend If: you've read any of Pratchett's other works, Oliver Twist with a twist HAHA I AM HILARIOUS
I am on a (not so secret, if you've looked at my goodreads) quest to read all of Terry Pratchett's books. And there are a lot of them. Somewhere north of 40 books, I think. And this one is no exception to the quality I've come to expect from Pratchett. The characters are great, as is the story and the world it's set in - you can really tell that Pratchett has a love for the era and for his characters. A great/fast/funny read. But, then again, all of the Pratchett I've read has been.

Vesuvius Club by Mark Gatiss
Would Recommend If: you're a fan of Gatiss' other work (BBC Sherlock, many episodes of Doctor Who), sassy assassin/spy men in victorian england type books
I have mixed feelings about this one. I think because I didn't get sucked into the story or characters immediately, it took me a bit longer to read. And, because of that, Gatiss' writing style took me a bit to get into every time I picked the book up. Other than my problems with the prose, I quite enjoyed the book. It was very clever and relatively kept my interest over the month it took me to read it.

Infernal Devices Series (Clockwork Prince, Clockwork Angel, Clockwork Princess) by Cassandra Clare
Would Recommend If: you've read the Mortal Instruments series (same universe), sad/supernatural/romance/mystery/victorian london YA books
Oh, The Infernal Devices. I have a love/hate relationship with this series. I loved the idea of it, but not so much the execution. I think I might be a bit old for this series (aimed at "teens", which oftentimes in YA books means 13 year olds can read it) and that is where most of my problems with it came from - the one trope that YA can't seem to leave be is the Love Triangle and this series was no exception. Dragged the love triangle out for 3 books. Drove me a bit mad. The characters had a lot of other stuff to deal with and liking more than one boy for the majority of the series seems like taking the easy way out (and getting them both in the end - blegh. My eyes nearly rolled out of my head while I was reading the Clockwork Princess). I did enjoy the series, other than the lovey triangley bits though.