Christchurch Pettys September news

The big event down here has been Jonathan’s concert. We had practices on Saturday for 3 weeks. Shakira, Alice Cammock and Malina Kelderman all performed with Jonathan, and the Kurene and Su’a girls did a Samoan dance as well. It went really well. There was a very nice informal atmosphere, as well as being very professional in the quality of performance. Jonathan has such a lovely stage presence, that he takes the audience along with him. We got Jared Bell to do the announcing, which he did really well. He too has a very nice relaxed, yet professional style. Jonathan, Mark and Jared all wore suits, and the girls and I wore white tops and black skirts, which all looked great. At the end we sang “Sing” – which was written by Joe Raposo, who also wrote the Sesame Street theme. We only got about $675, but that wasn’t totally the point of the exercise – it was more to keep RSVP happy that we were doing something towards getting Jonathan to New York.

Earlier in the day, Richard turned up with a sound man and cameraman to film us getting ready for the concert and also he asked us more questions. He was very envious of the location of our accommodation in New York. We told him the street – Mott St, and he straight away knew where it was, and said we were really lucky. (Or words to that effect). I had a look later on Google, and he’s right. It is just near Soho, and Little Italy and Chinatown. So lots of reasonable and interesting food. Ah so many restaurants, so little time. I’m losing weight in anticipation – sort of a pre-emptive strike.
William remains in Rotorua – and got his full driver’s licence as he was in a threesome for a couple of days and was the only one even near to getting a licence. He seems to be doing just fine on his mission
Two of our videos are on the front page of Google. If you do a Google search on “p-value”, the first link is Wikipedia (not a shock), then there is another reference called graphpad.com and then our “Understanding the p-value” video. The ucmsci has 76 subscribers. I’m writing a paper about making the videos, to take to a conference in Slovenia next year.
On Saturday evening we went to the opening of an exhibition of the art by Des O’Neill (Nicola’s brother-in-law) and his classmates at Papanui night school. It was rather crowded, but the paintings were really nice. Mostly representational, which I prefer. I like paintings to look like something, even if it is stylised. There was a painting of Llangollen where Nan comes from.
On Sunday night (the day before my birthday) I invited Gran over for dinner and we had salmon with lemon risotto and salad from Traiteur. I also made some cupcakes on Saturday – carrot with cream cheese frosting, and hokey pokey with caramel choc marble frosting. I took them all to work except for a few for Mark.
Spring here in Christchurch is as spectacular and wonderful and surprising as ever. Man I love this city. It can be breathtakingly beautiful. Some of the blossom is so abundant it seems almost outrageous. Like showing off unnecessarily on behalf of the tree.
We had a memorable day on Saturday 26th September. Susan Barnes had borrowed some of my DVDs and I wanted to see Hitch before we go to New York. I’m really glad I did, for two reasons. The first reason is that I saw the rice pudding place, just around the corner from where we are going to stay. It is called Rice to Riches. In the movie, Sara and her friend meet there for pudding. The far more important reason is that we probably saved Susan’s life.
The three of us biked over to her place on Saturday afternoon, having rung and checked that she was at home. When we got there, she was standing in the driveway saying that she was frightened, and she didn’t recognise me. She was suffering from severe hypoglycaemia. Susan is has been a type 1 diabetic since she was 7, and has almost no vision, almost no kidney function, half a breast removed in the last few months, with accompanying radiotherapy. She is one sick person, who still manages to live alone with her guide-dog, Sam, and keep herself alive, cheerful and fiercely independent. Before her kidneys failed so badly she managed to get a Masters degree at University, and I walked with her in the procession.
So when she was standing there helplessly saying she was frightened, I knew there was something very wrong. Mark and I managed to get her into the house and on the floor in the hallway, then I called the emergency medical line. They sent a paramedic, who brought her around for a bit with intravenous glucose, but then she went down again, and they took her to hospital for more extensive help. I brought in her washing, cleaned up the vomit from the carpet, locked up the house and biked home. Mark and Jonathan had gone soon after the second paramedic arrived with the ambulance. I cooked dinner, then went back into the hospital to see how she was and take her home, staying with her over night if needed. Her mother arrived at the hospital the same time I did, so I didn’t have to do all that, but it was good for me to be able to tell her what happened, as she couldn’t remember anything except coming around, throwing up on her brand new carpet, telling them she didn’t want to go to hospital, then passing out again.
It is an odd feeling. If we had not arrived when we did, she would probably have died, and if not, she would have lost what little is left of her vision or some of her considerable brain function. Every time I thought about it for the next day I would cry. I don’t think I will ever feel the same about her again. I seem to remember in one movie or a book it saying that one culture believes that if you save someone’s life you are then responsible for them.
We have had some very strange weather lately. On Tuesday Jonathan was at home and noticed that it was hailing so he rushed out and brought in the washing. Very cool. He looked so pleased with himself later when Dad was telling me about it.
We took Jonathan to the airport on Monday morning to fly up to Auckland for the Braille Music camp, and he elected to travel on his own, rather than sitting with Leao and her sister. That was a nice show of independence. We flew up on Wednesday morning, then drove down to Hamilton and went to the temple. We saw some people from Dunedin and Nelson, who were asking after William. It was nice to be able to say that he was on a mission and Jonathan was on TV.
On Thursday we had a quiet morning in our very nice motel, then drove down to Putaruru to see Nan and Grandpa. The place was looking much lighter with the trees gone. We had a nice meal at the Loose Goose in Tirau.
Then on Friday we drove up to Manurewa to see Jonathan’s concert at the end of his music camp. It was great. I had a headache (still) so went outside for the loud items, but it was wonderful music. Jonathan played the Sesame Street theme, and accompanied the choir for New York State of Mind, and played in the Jazz band, doing some great improv. He really is coming along so well. We have various ideas of what he could do for a living – or a supplement to his benefit. He is getting more amenable to the idea that he might play for money. He certainly still has the gift.
And that was actually in October.
October will be full of adventures for us - so watch this space.