one of the things that my one counselling session taught me was that i too often over book myself monday to friday and then spend weekends at home thinking i have no friends. but not doing anything about it. it is my form of being socially spastic.

but it doesn't happen every weekend.

this weekend was all highlights, all the time.

i should probably start with blackalicious.

fifteen out of ten. it was off the charts. or off the hook. or whatever the young kids say. i know i'm old cos i turned up two hours early for the show. but pay off! cos i also got to be pretty close to the front when blackalicious came on stage and - after getting caught literally in the middle of a fight - i heard opportunity knock and found a posie right at the front. close enough to get serenaded by gift of gab during some love song i didn't know. and at some point in the song we locked eyes and he pointed at me at the part in the lyrics where he says "you complete me" (this may not literally have been the words but it was the subtext). i have thought about it since, and i should have stayed for the after party. but if i did i probably would have hooked in to gift of gab. on the plus side he is tall and famous, on the down side i'm more into his home boy lyrics born, and i also plan to marry kanye west or simon le bon.

on saturday, i day dreamed about what my life would have been like if i'd succumbed to the obvious chemistry. but mostly i distracted myself with an art gallery tour of wellington. the dowse for craft 2.0 (and some stationery. have i mentioned i heart stationery?) and pataka for the patricia grace related exhibition.

i heart craft 2.0. but there seemed to be fewer people there this time. not that i ever notice the people really. only when they get in the way of me and notecards. the sun was a plus and there were even stalls OUTSIDE. just like a summer market.

i also heart pataka. they have a shantytown you know!!!! you must check it out. if only for the shop window display....

what the???

there is also an exhibition of photos by my favourite photographer ever. desiree dolron. check out the pataka website here for clues at how awesome she is. or deireee dolron dot com here.

being cultured is exhausting though so i had to have lots of pit stops for coffee, tea, berry crepes and fruit toast (the latter coming from the aunt daisy cafe in titahi bay, 8/10 for decor).

in the evening i went to 24hr pp. and it was awesome.

have i told you i'm so in to robert palmer right now? this outfit was loosely inspired by the simply irresistable girls. plus with a lime green bow how can you go wrong?

i had sore feet so was waiting for sux, or less good songs, but finding a chance to sit down was impossible. as i tried new dance moves (more twirls and footwork as well as some bgirl fusion - adapted from blackalicious the night before). hrc and i also got to dance with some of our favourite dancefloor celebrities as well as adopting a new friend for the evening who knew almost as many words as i do. almost. luckily the verve was played at some point and i had an excuse to leave. that point didn't come until after three sometime.

then this morning i went to the zoo zoo zoo with ryles. he was less interested in the animals than in pretending to be one. there was a heartbreakingly cute moment where he saw three otters lying in the sun and he demanded that he be put inside their enclosure so he could play with them. i could understand that. otters look like they would be wonderful to play with. he ws disappointed when i wouldn't lift him up. and when i said that if anyone was getting otter hugs it was me. but i handled the resulting tantrum the way any good aunt does. with ice cream.

then i spent the rest of the day watching dvds and trying to rest up for the working week. i watched the original (not harrison ford remake) of sabrina (7/10 overall, but 10/10 for the wardrobe and for audrey hepburn's eyebrows), and pillow talk with doris day (7.5 for the movie, 12/10 for rock hudson for being dreamy).

i am such a nanna these days that i have to set myself staying-out-late goals. shame. the plan - after some discussions - was to go here and stay until it closed. atomic at the san fran bathhouse. eighties punk through to new wave through to pop. LOVES IT.

so anyway, i went. and started the dancefloor when duran duran's planet earth came on. noone has ever done such a good job of interpretive dancing to i ran by flock of seagulls as i did last night. and we requested the buzzcocks. ever fallen in love with someone you shouldn't have fallen in love with? it rang true, and after a moments contemplation i again assaulted the dance floor with a stella perfomance. the dance floor really was mine. i have the badge to prove it (a gift from mr dj).

by one am i was dehydrated (not helped by swimming during the day and cocktails at the cross immediately before going to the san fran bathhouse. fyi the elderflower mojito at the cross is pleasant enough but too sweet for my liking). so took a break but all the underaged drinkers who had somehow got past security were smoking on the balcony and ruining my buzz. fortunately the dancefloor was smokin' as well - even without me - so i went back for more.

then some drunk underaged girl kicked me . she was trying to get on stage when blue monday came on. i was just trying to dance my heart out. her exhibitionist tendancies offended me. so i told her off. like a nanna. i thought about getting security involved, but who likes to cause a scene?

oh and some chick knocked over my drink with her handbag. she was good about it. however, since i was alread dehydrated i kind of lost perspective and thought this was the end of the world. plus, you know, it was waaaaay past my bedtime. i was ready to rumble.

so after nearly getting in to two fights i went back to concentrating on the dancing. i fell back in love with simon le bon. mr dj played hungry like the wolf and i just about passed out due to the excitement.

at three i thought it would end. but mr dj has stamina and put get into the groove on. i thought i might collapse. i had been gearing up to a three am finish. so i went to the coat check. got my jacket and vacated the premises. i knew i'd gone hard, but i was running on empty. a few more songs would have been the death of me.

i await the next atomic so i can make another attempt at staying out until the end of the event.