niagara falls (USA side)

Understandably my expectations of the falls was that they'd be HUGE. After a bit of research I discovered they are 53m high. A mighty 2m shorter than Bridal Veil falls in Hamilton. Here is a picture of Bridal Veil Falls in Hamilton, New Zealand. 

Admittedly, Niagara falls has a flow of 600,000 litres per second. I'm sure this is much more than Bridal Veil falls (can't find the amount online, probably an amount which doesn't pull the tourists).

Niagara Falls is much more impressive from the Canadian side because you can look at them front-on, but I took those photos in a different format and can't seem to upload them. Here are some photos instead from the US side, for now:

Two countries one photo.

You could pay ridiculous amounts of money to wear a thin yellow poncho probably of a similar quality to that which you would buy at a two dollar shop and stand underneath large amounts of water and become quite saturated and then get mad at yourself for forgetting to bring a spare pare of clothes and trudge grumpily back to your car and get chaffing between your thighs along the way. Dad said, "do you want to do that?" I said "no thank you."

The international bridge between the States and Canada (did they used to swim before it was built?)

Boat's gettin' owned.

Churr Dad. I really did enjoy the trip, honest. Sorry if I didn't look happy. I'm gonna blame the jet lag.

ground zero

They are re-building the World Trade Centre.
And also they are building a memorial scheduled
to open on the tenth anniversary of 9/11 (September 11 this year).

Seems like a crazy idea to me.

I'm not sure why they are six storeys less than the original towers.

If you look up, there is an obvious gap in the skyline where all the towers lean in guarding over some sacred space. But the space is occupied by cranes and orange plastic tape, so it is not truly empty. Or sacred.

On a sunny day with people walking back and forth and the hum of machinery it is hard to believe that such tragic events took place, though it was a long time ago.

There is a fire station right across the road.

One of the new towers under construction is reflected in a puddle which runs into a grill, my shadow adds to the palette of grey.

I was nine when the twin towers collapsed. 13 days before my tenth birthday. I heard about it all day over and over and got really pissed off that no-one would shut up about this event. I got sick of people asking me, "did you hear?", "have you heard?" YES I KNOW ALREADY. EVERYONE KNOWS. As if they has some exclusive news that no-one else could inform me of but them. Then I got home and saw the footage on TV and actually understood what had happened. And I felt small and silly.

Someone told me 7,000 people had died, but it was actually 2,753 plus the 19 hijackers.

In the aftermath of 9/11 a Sikh man was murdered. His murderer assumed he was a Muslim, because of his turban. Other people have died from illness attributed to toxic dust from the wreckage of the burning buildings. In the twelve months after the attacks, the road death toll increased by 1,500.

I was looking through a book at the memorial centre and there was a photograph of a leg on the ground. Just a leg. No body attached. Also photos of bodies in motion, self-hurled down the side of the building. Pretty crazy feeling, in these moments, viewing these photographs.

Strange, strange world we live in.

new york, new york

 in the subway

you are being watched

 i love lady gaga/thank you for not

 WET PAINT WET PAINT WET PAINT WET PAINT

 actually legit yellow school bus

 I pop pills!!!/WOMPWOMP

 DO

           DO

keep new york city clean

 risque automobile rendezvous affair/dad

 SO MUCH YELLOW

canbagman

hello my name is iii hilly???
(suggestions welcomed, I cannot decipher)

 that human looks whipped

++ unusual squat-bending position

bird extravaganza on hatched metal gate

 large uncuddle-able teddy bear/small people
WHY IS IT ALL YELLOW

 starbucks rules the city
KING ew
so many starbucks in my life

 I actually don't know exactly who david letterman is oops
I know you have to enter a ballot to get a ticket to his show
I know you cannot defer your winning ticket

could be rotorua geyser but it is not

thank you panorama function

 graveyard in NYC = one of few grassy patches

 wall st

 mama flag baby flags (flag jr)

 market + musicians

<-- corner -->

 strange vacant place amongst crowded concrete jungle

could be forgiven for thinking this was times square (it is not)

dad is lunching

 so serious

Yes Caitlyn there is a bottle of oil on EVERY table.

seasonal conflict

I am in summer brain now, and it is winter.

When I am arguing with you, confronting you or questioning you please don't be offended - it means I feel more comfortable with you than other people.

He gestured to me to step down. I said no you have to come up, I like the view here.

Like, I used to be an upstairs dweller. Now I am a cave dweller. Semi-literally.

Potential events about 40% more likely if I had a phone.

I am not lonely always but I am very aware of my aloneness. Things are generally more enjoyable when I can do them by myself exactly how I want to do them at the pace I would like to do them and experience them in the way that I want to. This is problematic and what people name 'selfish' but that's why I want to do them alone, so no-one else has to be affected. There should still always be people surrounding me but they should not be 'with' me or connected to me. This is why I like the city and being amongst large crowds and to-be-individually-completed activities.

I ate a 10 pack of Twizzlers on the way back. An average of one every 1.3333333 (recurring) hours.

On the back of the Canadian $20 note it says, "Could we ever know each other in the slightest without the arts?" which is a quote from Gabrielle Roy. Wikipedia tells me that she is a Canadian author. It made me feel like Canada cares about me. Canada wants to take care of me. Canada will look after me. I am electing myself as Canada's adoptive daughter.

Jamie wore an NZ shirt especially to pick me up from the airport. But actually just fell asleep wearing it last night.

The first thing I did when I got out of the airport was buy a coffee. America does not do espresso or soy milk. America does terrible freeze-dried burnt-tasting instant machine coffee with 'half-and-half' "milk" substitute which is really just cream and chemicals. Sick.

I never liked coffee until I started working as a barista.


Large amounts of tags in one post. Scatter-brain.


Back in the Kingdom of Bel Air.

brooklyn bridge 101

Maybe it was because I was listening to Santogold on the way over but I really wanted to walk across Brooklyn Bridge.

 1) Lots of stickers (in lots of places including here).

 2) Left side is cycle lane, right side is pedestrian lane.

2.1) If you walk in the cycle lane you will get belled at.

 3) Super Dinlonyc or Super Dinlo NYC? 

(I saw Super Dinlo NYC but this is probably because I am a tourist).

 4) Large amounts of plastic + 1 Starbucks cup.

 5) I am not the only tourist.

 6) If you don't like gay marriage, don't get gay married.

 7) Large amounts of strings.
7.1) Cables.

 8) Nic Loves Katherine/Party People/Emergency/Posing Asian.

 9) Shirtless joggers about.

 10) Don't Jump! (Upside down. Yellow.)
10.1) AUDITION
10.2) Sneaky abs (Thanks Caitlyn).

 11) Yellow taxis are not just in movies.

 12) Manhatten bridge is very close to Brooklyn Bridge.
12.2) Why do you need two bridges in almost the same place?
12.3) One is new, one is old.

 13) Two-tenths of a mile. 321.87 metres.