the truth about new zealand

for the past week or so, my away message has been "i'm moving to new zealand."

typically, this sort of news is kinda ridiculous -- or at least, a few years ago, it'd have been utterly impossible. but nowadays, now that i'm an adult (mm yeah..), i guess i could technically up-and-move to new zealand if i wanted to. my mom would want a damn good reason, but in reality, new zealand is as possible as ... say, ohio.

in truth, no, i'm not moving to new zealand. it's the type of message that i put up (rarely) when i want to escape life for whatever reason -- good, bad, and ugly. last year, in the midst of spring and decision-making times, i would regularly think about moving to new zealand. it's gorgeous, it's a land unexplored and far far away, and it would support my need for fresh air and aimless wandering. specifically, i used to declare that i'd be moving to a cave in new zealand, and then, nelson and i would proceed to stake claims on supposedly-unoccupied caves where we could live in peace, as hermits, with hairy toes. haha :)

anyway, in response to my away message, i actually got an amazing number of replies. a few of friends asked if they could come along, some wanted postcards, and a few ventured a question -- "really? are you really going?" i guess it really is plausible. new zealand would be pretty cool, wouldn't it?

i realized the other day that i'm still rather unsettled. for the most part, unsettled isn't a bad thing; it's part of that natural process of life (oh, philosophical thoughts), but i'm curious as to what "settled" actually feels like. would i like it? do i like suburbia? not really.

do i like california? i definitely think so. it almost hit 75 today, and the daffodils, crocuses, and tulips, which usually peek out from the depths of boston's muddy ice and snow mounds in mid-april, have already bloomed. they remain swaying in the breeze in early march, completely unaware that they're kinda early. then again, i'm still acclimating to the west coast. hello, pacific ocean.