The world is a book, those who do not travel read only one page

A wee bit drunk, on all of three beers, and sprawled on the bed at Booklover's BnB where we're staying during our visit to Wellington.

I think I entered Vacation Mode today. Partly this is because we went rafting yesterday, which was so outside my frame of reference it felt unreal, and partly because I've managed not to think about work today. Hooray!

We flew down today, spent about 45 minutes in the air which barely gave the cabin crew time to bring out the snack cart, and then enjoyed a taxi drive through Wellington to our BnB. The city has sort of a San Fransisco vibe going, with steep hills and plenty of small hole-in-the-wall bars. We had steaks and beer at a place called Coyote, where the drink list contained things like Cookie Monster, God Father and Quick Fuck, which contains Baileys, Kahlua and Midori. Not sure if that might be the most delicious thing ever, or liquid evil.

Tomorrow we're renting a car to drive around Wellington and surroundings for a while. Perhaps visit Helm's Deep and Isengard, and definitely going to Weta Cave, though that may be Saturday and not Friday.

I forgot my book, The Gum Thief, on the plane down, for some reason. We have a twelve hour train ride back to Auckland on Sunday, so I figured a new book might be a good idea. We found a big bookstore on a side street from the main drag in Wellington, which turned out to have a very well-stocked sci-fi and fantasy section. I wanted something new, so I asked one of the employees what I should get.

"What do you like?" he asked. I listed Gaiman, Gibson, Stephenson, Barker and Reynolds. According to my brother, the guy's smile got wider and wider for each name. "Obviously you're a man of good taste", he said, which is something I can't argue with. He proceeded to ask me if I had read some of the obvious stuff (Dune, Ender's Game, etc) and then pointed me to Peter F Hamilton. So now I have a brick of a paperback on the sidetable for the ride home.

Vacation Mode feels really good right now. Relaxed. Laid-back. I think I will be well rested, at least mentally, by the time I get back home. Shutting work out like this is absolutely necessary to mental well-being, or at least I think so. I hope this will be true for me in two and a half weeks' time.

The most important thing is the element of chance that is built into a live performance

This weekend has been all about rest and recharging my mental batteries. I've had three Saturdays in a row, and tomorrow, Monday, is Sunday. And we've gone through six movies so far, aiming for nine. Sweet!

Only two months into 2009, and already it looks like this will be a superb year when it comes to live music. Currently on the calendar, I have Wintersleep on March 7th, 36 Crazyfists and Poison the Well on the 30th, Woven Hand in May and the Arvika Festival in July, with Depeche Mode headlining, and I Are Droid, Burst, Thåström, my friend Magnus' band Engel and a shitload of other bands playing as well.

Really, the prospect of a good live show is something that can elevate my spirits almost infinitely, and I know both Woven Hand and Depeche Mode will be mindblowing. So I have decided that 2009 will be a good year, musically.