The Surface Area of Volcanic Ash

My Dear Princess and Dear Fellow,

The people around me keep my days interesting and - uh - surreal. 

Let's take Briar for example. She did eventually supply me with that playlist and it was ASTONISHINGLY good. It's not what you think. I have not suddenly turned into a Tay-Tay fan but it turns out that Briar likes a bit of country/blues. There were loads of "bangers" on her playlist as she puts it. 

I was impressed. Briar is cool. Not according to her. She describes herself as a "psycho" and a "weirdo". But I enjoy her company. It turns out she is obsessed with sharks. This came out of nowhere and she seems embarrassed by it. But yes. Sharks. 

Also volcanoes. 

"Volcano Shark!" suggested Ellie. And I must admit this sounds like a brilliant cartoon. But no.

Briar studies volcanoes and has written a paper on the study of volcanic ash which she delivered to a group of us today. It was to help her rehearse for when she does it at uni. In exchange for this we got to sample her home baking and learned about issues in the study of volcanoes*.

Briar was supposed to come out with Corrie, Jefe, Manda, Mo and I tonight but dropped out due to feeling "stressy" about her presentation.

We planned to go out for for Korean chicken. Korean chicken is a big thing in Aotearoa which I do not think I ever encountered in the UK. I guess Aotearoa has more Koreans. 

Nevertheless, I'd never been to a KFC** place before and Corrie was HORRIFIED. So she took us all to a place called Zzan where we enjoyed Korean beer and chicken. It really was beautiful, but more importantly they had AIR HOCKEY there. 

I love air hockey.

Jefe and I did a War of Independence Grudge Match special and came out even. I won a match, he won a match. Then Mo took on Manda and despite her American grit, his extensive reach won the day. 

Finally Corrie took on Aarzoo, pictured above. I was glad Aarzoo came out with us tonight. She is very quiet and very reserved and really quite sad because of some horrid things going on in her life. 

So when she starts to feel comfortable and starts to laugh it's really wonderful to me. It makes me happy to see her happy - again, as pictured above. 

I told her she was being inducted into the CST Whānau tonight. And as we left the Korean place to try a saki bar she seemed to forget her troubles for a while. 

And we were all happy together.

S.

* Like, it's f*cking dangerous, for starters.
** Korean Fried Chicken.