A few weeks ago, some guys from work took me down to The Armory, which is basically an airsoft arena for close quarters battle. In short, its a bit like TF2, or any of those first person shooter type games, except real. Instead of playing with a screen and a headset, you don safety gear, get given a big giant (and also fake) gun and off you go.

You run around the arena and try hit the opposition. Its hard work, and painful, but an awful lot of fun. Or so I suspect. When I went I was dressed in a skirt and tights, and wasn’t brave enough to get in the arena. I shot for a bit in the range (which, once I started hitting the targets, delighted me no end). And I watched through the windows as the boys played in the arena. It wasn’t unlike watching The Ex play all his computer games, except that it was a billion times more awesome. I have alot more respect for boys that get out there and actually play in arenas like this, rather than sittin at home and playing the games over the internet.

I’m pretty keen to get involved next week, if I can. The social atmosphere was brilliant, all the guys were super nice, all decked out in camo gear and fancy masks.

I am slightly apprehensive about the mentatlity of actually SHOOTING at someone . . . its a bit different from sitting in front of a screen, cackling as you charge someone with a flamethrower. I know they have safety procedures and things so the guns can’t be mistaken as real ones, and so you can’t actually hurt anyone. If I hadn’t seen how much fun it was, if I hadn’t shot at the targets, and if I had been itching to get into the arena, I would probably turn my nose up at it.

But I did see how much fun it was, and I did shoot at the targets, and I was itching to get into the arena. I’m so going back. I’ll let you know how it goes . . .

Auckland Museum has this great initiative on, in that if you live in Auckland it’s free to go visit. So, while Liz was back we trekked up to the domain and had a look around. I totally <3 the Museum. I love wandering around the exhibitions, particularly the Maori Court section. I’m so in love with the Maori Portraits done by Goldie. Something about them seriously touches home. They are pretty brilliant.

I also get a huge kick out of the Dinosaur exhibits. I’m pretty sure they are replicas, but when your standing next them, their sheer enormity is pretty brilliant. Being able to see the difference in skeletal structure between a carnivore, a herbivore. Between a land-based dinosaur and one that swims.

Brilliant, right?

A few of us (The Second Quarter, my girl JZ, Liz and I) visited Kelly Tarltons last week, which is Auckland’s Aquarium. It’s been a while since I was there last, and its changed a fair bit. They’ve switched the way you come in (so the entrance is now the exit, and the exit the entrance) which confused me for a bit.

The tunnels are still the same, for which I’m glad. They have these giant underwater tunnels, which have glass domes and converbelts, which mean you can wander through the tanks and watch the fish and sharks and things swim above you. I have some pretty fond memories of camping overnight in the tunnels on a school trip when I was all of six years old.

The penguins are still delightful (watching them swim in and out of the water is pretty amazing) and I’d forgotten how giant the sting rays were. They’ve also added a cafe, and the interactive area I probably would have appreciated more if I was maybe 20 years younger, or had children. Still, JZ and I climbed all over the sculptures and things they had. The Second Quarter broke one of the displays demonstrating the strength of a squids sucker rings.

Generally a fun time was had. It was a pretty brilliant way to spend an afternoon.

The second crazy campaign The Yellow Pages did was The Taste of Yellow. That is to say that this guy named Josh was given a task: using only the businesses listed in the Yellow Pages, launch the worlds first chocolate bar that tastes of Yellow. He did it, he did. There are a whole bunch of videos you can watch to see what he did to get it done. Some of them are pretty hilarious.

By the time it was launched, everyone had seen the ads and heard the story. And it was stupidly hard to get your hands on a bar or twenty. By the time I managed to find a bar, most supermarkets had sold out, and people were making a killing on trademe. It was a bit of a fiasco, really.

But, I did get my hands on a bar. A guy from the office brought two into work for everyone to try. The packaging was pretty nice. Well designed and cute.

The first think you notice is the smell. It’s strong, and overpoweringly sweet. For those of us that either had kids or had worked in an ECE centre recently, it smelt a bit like playdough or plasticine. It tasted alot better than it smelt. A bit like pineapple lumps and custard and yes, a little bit like playdough. It was incredibly sweet, there was no way I’d be able to eat a whole bar.

I’d say Josh achieved his goal of making yellow chocolate taste of yellow. I think that overall it was a successful campaign, and got alot of people interested. :) Have you tried anything that’s overwhelmingly quirky lately?

I’m a web designer. I design cute websites, like loveharder.org, or custom blog designs, like justonemiss.com, and even sometimes blog headers. While there was alot of designing going on, I definitely didn’t consider myself a graphic designer. So when a Osborne Street asked me to design a poster for their Sunday Jam Sessions I did that Tall Poppy thing, and said I couldn’t. Wouldn’t. I wasn’t a graphic designer, it wouldn’t be any good. Perhaps I could TRY but they shouldn’t expect greatness.

And then I gave it a shot. And now I’m a little bit proud of what I’ve done.

Pretty, right? I still wouldn’t call myself a graphic designer, but it’s nice to know that I can produce something visually pretty if asked. :)

July last year I wrote a post about Kiva: an organisation dedicated to alleviating poverty via micro-loans. That is to say, that instead of digging a few gold coins out of my purse and depositing it in a bucket for a faceless cause, I used my credit card to loan Maria Espinoza, a magazine retailer in El Alto, Bolivia $25 so she could expand her business. I was one of 10 people who were able to provide Maria a mico-loan that she wasn’t able to get from the bank, so she could expand her business, earn more, and provide for her family.

This week, she paid off her loan in full. And my $25 was returned to me.

I looked through Kiva, and honestly, the number of people whose lives could be made a little more self-sufficient, a little brighter by not a donation, but a LOAN was phenomenal. And I like the idea that I could help someone be a little bit self-sufficent. Giving a man a fish and all that.

So, I used the $25 that was returned to me to help another person. Meet Rebecca, from Koforidua, Ghana.

She’s 35 years old, with two school-aged kids. She runs a roadside grocery store and has done so for the last 4 years. With the Kiva loan, she hopes to expand her business.

It actually blows my mind that she runs a roadside grocery store. On the side of the road. Different places, different people, different customs. I think it’s really amazing, and I was more than happy to help, where I could.

If you’re interested in helping out someone yourself, please check out Kiva. I’ve added some additional information on how Kiva works, just in case you were curious. :)

About Kiva

Kiva’s mission is to connect people through lending for the sake of alleviating poverty. Kiva is the world’s first person-to-person micro-lending website, empowering individuals to lend directly to unique entrepreneurs around the globe.

1) Lenders like you browse profiles of entrepreneurs in need, and choose someone to lend to. When they lend, using PayPal or their credit cards, Kiva collects the funds and then passes them along to one of our microfinance partners worldwide.

2) Kiva’s microfinance partners distribute the loan funds to the selected entrepreneur. Often, our partners also provide training and other assistance to maximize the entrepreneur’s chances of success.

3) Over time, the entrepreneur repays their loan. Repayment and other updates are posted on Kiva and emailed to lenders who wish to receive them.

4) When lenders get their money back, they can re-lend to someone else in need, donate their funds to Kiva (to cover operational expenses), or withdraw their funds.

Last Friday was gorgeous. Like, actually. Blue skies, lots of sun, warm breeze. It was the kind of day I was ridiculously sad that I had to work. I work in air conditioned office, and it just seems SO UNFAIR that the day was that gorgeous and I couldn’t be out there enjoying it.

I’ve got this friend, Zes, who didn’t go back to work till today, and on his last free weekday he did a Zoo trip. Talk about JEALOUS! One thing I love about my friends though, is that they make the effort and are awesome. Zes sent updates as he meandered through the zoo, sending me txts and pxts as he went.

First up, Zebra’s. I requested Rhinos next, with an antedote about how I went on a Zoom tour and pet a Rhino. Sure enough, I got a pxt of a Rhino with a cute comment about how there was a kid calling it a rhino-saurus.

There were txts about the lazy cheetah’s, and the kiwi that hunted right by the glass and all sorts of cool stuff. Just like being there. Virtual tours from my desk. I’m very much in <3 with friends who make my work day go a little bit faster. :)

Last week I thought I was done with my Christmas Shopping. I congratulated myself on getting things sorted early so I didn’t have to wade through the chaos that lives in shopping malls. And then I realised that actually, I’d forgotten some people. They live overseas, see. And they had completely slipped my mind. I almost cried at the thought of fighting my way through stores to find something suitable.

And then I thought fuck it. In the day and age that we live in, it’s perfectly acceptable to shop online. And a friend of mine had recently pointed out endemicworld.com. A cute New Zealand based design store, filled with cute design and New Zealand MADE stuff!

So I poked around and with some difficulty picked a few things out (I say with difficulty, because I often forgot that I wasn’t shopping for me). They arrived on my doorstep the next morning (yay for overnight couriers!) and inside, I was surprised to see not only the purchases I’d made, but a secret santa gift and a handwritten card:

Endemic World had sent me a present too! I was their Secret Santa for the day I shopped. And I was ever so chuffed. So right on for Endemic World, who are incredibly awesome. If you’re looking for cute NZ-based design, check them out.

[disclaimer] This was post was not sponsored by endemicworld.com, they don’t know I’ve written it, and didn’t pay me to write it. They sent me an unexpected secret santa gift in the mail with a handwritten card and I got excited about it. :) [/disclaimer]