Pawan Kumar Kurudi

Hi Jessica,

When I am not playing music or listening to music or working or cooking or doing chores, I fantasise about just hanging out on my ample window sill, smoking cigarettes and drinking coffee with someone who can adequately converse with me. I don't want somebody plain and polite. I want somebody who will be frank and rude (if necessary) to me because I firmly believe that steel sharpens steel. Let's hang out. I think you're worthy. Also you totally are, hanging out with you rules.

Pawan

I went to meet Pawan at his flat in Newtown at 1pm on Easter Monday as he had the day off work. I arrived a few minutes early and waited for him in the living room while he finished getting ready. Pawan made us coffees and we sat and drank them at either end of his bedroom windowsill. We talked for a couple of hours. Before I left he showed me new some music he had been working on.

Pearl McGlashan

Met Pearl in Newtown at 9.30am for a coffee date.

Pearl bought us secondary coffees to-go. We walked into the city with my paper shredder that I needed for my writing workshop. We stopped for a break at the Basin Reserve.

 Pearl walked me to the gallery where we said goodbye.

Morgan Ashworth

Can I have a date with you?

I have class most of the days but don't start until 2pm on Tuesday 7th. Can we have lunch or coffee at Olive that morning?

Morgan

Met Morgan for lunch at Olive. We sat in the window and talked for a couple of hours.

Having had two coffees this morning already I had to settle for a soothing peppermint tea.

Keri Ann

Hey Jess,

I guess I sort of know you, we are friends on FB but I am still a little nervous to be e-mailing you. I have actually started this three times...I like the concept of your performance

Let me know if you have time. I'm pretty flexible. I'll meet you at In Good Company and wisk you away to a fav coffee spot...?

Best,
Keri

I arrived at In Good Company to find Keri sitting at my desk. She took me to a little cafe called Red Rabbit where we shared a chemex and kept shelter from the rain. 

Afterwards Keri walked me to my bus stop.

The Bachelor Dinner Party

Dear Jess, 

How are you? I hear you are coming to town, how wonderful! We would like to invite you to be the honoured guest to a dinner party at our home in Newtown. If you are free on Tuesday, we could even watch the Bachelor together and flick through our fav gossip mags. We can promise wine and tim tams and good food. 

It would be great to hear back to you with regards to your availability, 

From Louise

(and Ruby, Lucy, Aria, Abe and Elisabeth)

I arrived at the flat at 7pm. It was a pretty rainy walk up to the house but luckily I was staying close by. I brought a box of Cadbury Favourites with me as I don't like to show up empty handed even though Louise had assured me not to bring anything. Entering the kitchen I was amazed to find an incredible dinner spread and cinematic Bachelor set up.

 Louise & Ruby set the mood for live streaming The Bachelor by lighting a series a of candles and placing them around the kitchen. By candlelight we completed quizzes from gossip mags.

 Had my height measured against Ruby's bedroom door. Felt very much a part of flat family.

 The Bachelor begins. Watched with tea & tim tams (6x packs). We did some live tweeting and got a favourite from yoga bachelorette, Poppy

 To wrap up the evening we ended with a youtube dance party. feat Taylor Swift karaoke. I was quite reluctant to leave. This was a 10/10 date night.

Elliot Ashton-Stretch

Hey dude,

Just read about your Happy Together work, such a cool project!! I'm pretty fascinated by the ways in which people use social media to interact/try to fill the void created by loneliness and even studied it a bit at uni - if you have any spare time left I would love to wax lyrical with you about that and probably other stuff too!

Met Elliot for coffee at Memphis Belle at 9am to discuss themes of loneliness & social media. Elliot is making a zine so he is interviewing me about my art practice & recording our conversation with this gadget on the table.

Mariya Kupriyenko

Mariya & I have decided to turn our date into a 'Dating Internship' this afternoon at Wellington City Gallery. Having both deemed ourselves 'failed romantics' this involved much pseudo-psychoanalysis of our love lives and exchanging of stories. All of this discussed loudly in an echo-ey building.

 We are still figuring it out.

Emma Lattimore

Met Emma at 10.30am for tea & cake at Nikau cafe. We spoke in depth about Oculus Rift technology & Honours research projects.

Martin Andrews

Met Martin at Te Papa on Thursday morning and fought my way through a swarm of children to greet him on the far side of the lobby. We walked along the waterfront and patted a St Bernard by the pools for while. 

Martin drove us up into Mt Victoria to a secret park he had been telling me about, accessible via slide & with great views of the city. On the way we listened to a song that he had written about a young girl running away from home. This was a very well curated date.

 Afterwards Martin took us out for milkshakes. I had chocolate & he had salted caramel.

Amaresh Ray

I met Amaresh at In Good Company while setting up for my writing workshop. Sure enough, I got an email from him a few hours later asking if I'd like to go on a Wellington coffee tour together. I only had time for one coffee stop at Caffe L'affare.

Amaresh was on holiday here from London and had come traveling alone. Today was his last day. He knew one person in New Zealand that he had met online through his web design job. Coincidentally this happened to be someone from my high school. This date was very serendipitous.