alkaline-kiwi's blog

A picture of something that makes you happy

This is a small part of my book collection (is very disorganised.. obviously I have not yet gotten around to organising my shelves.)
The written word is such a big part of my life and I adore reading. Curling up with a good book is my idea of bliss (bonus points if there is a purring cat beside me, I have chocolate or a snack and drink).
I get a lot of books secondhand.. my favourite method of acquiring books is through BookCrossing.. I love sharing books, passing them on and releasing them into the wild. Generally once I have read a book I will pass it on through BookCrossing unless it is one I want to keep hold of.. but even those I will lend to trustworthy friends.
I find it easier to name favourite genres than to name favourite authors or even books. I read a lot of travel writing, books about animals (especially cats), oddball non-fiction, GLBTQ fiction & non-fiction, YA fiction and books related to music.

Another picture of you and your friends


This one was taken around April last year on Queen Street while waiting for the Airbus for Jay to go to the airport. Was after the BookCrossing convention.. am using this photo as I don't have my external hard drive near to go looking for pictures.
On the left is me with my ITC keys hanging around my neck. I think I might have had course that day which might explain the black jacket.
Next to me is Kevin and Jay, who I have talked about previously. Two of the nicest people I know.
We all share a love of books, Questionable Content, chocolate and random odd conversations that go late into the night.

A picture of you and your friends


I have different groups of friends and the friends featured in this photo are those who were part of the Wellington to Christchurch road trip for the BookCrossing Convention held in Christchurch April 2009.

On the left we have Kevin. I first met Kev at the Melbourne BookCrossing Convention in October 2007 and since then he has been an awesome friend who I chat to online just about every day. He's huggable, geeky and a booklover so we get along really well. After the convention he stayed up in Auckland with us for a couple of nights. I refer to him as Aussie Kev, as my stepfather is also called Kevin.

Then next to Kev is Jay who is my BBFF (or BookCrossing Best Friend Forever). As I mentioned in my first post of this challenge I first met Jay at a BookCrossing convention in Wellington. Jay is such a smiley and positive person who is a lot of fun. She also knows how to cheer me up and there have been times when she has completely surprised me, like sending me flowers when I had been having a rough week, or calling me for my birthday when she was in America for their Summer.

Then of course that's me in the white BookCrossing tshirt.

Next to me is my sweetie Erik. I first met Erik in late 2003 when I started going out with someone else who is one of Erik's close friends. The story of how Erik and I started dating will be saved for another post but we have been together for coming up to 3 years in January. Without getting too mushy Erik makes me laugh and cares a lot about people. His motivation and plans always inspire me.

Next to Erik is BookCrossing legend Pete aka Skyring. I met him at the same BookCrossing convention that I met Jay at.
Skyring is always good fun and he's famous for his hugs and generosity. We talk about books and he makes really lame jokes which I roll my eyes at but he is really a funny guy. The New Zealand BookCrossers love him so much that they declared him an honorary kiwi.
I love reading his blogs and he has several. My favourite would have to be Hello it's me which he co-writes with Jay.

At the far right is Janice or MissMarkey. The rest of us on this road trip all knew each other to some extent but MissMarkey from the UK was someone new to us. It did not take long for everyone to click. Don't let the sweet look fool you, she's a bit of a rebel (posing for a photo on top of a parked police car in Christchurch for example). I talk to her online whenever I can and hope to catch up in person again one day. When we parted ways in Christchurch at the end of the convention she gave me a copy of one of her favourite books with a nice note.

So that is some of my friends and I could post a lot more about them, or my other friends (most of whom I don't have many photos of). I did have a lot of fun writing this post though.