dragon (ball z?)

puff the magic?

(note: does not do justice to actual copious amounts of green glitter involved. i am still finding it on my face, in my hair, on my elbow, etc.)

but wait katie...don't dragons...you know...

breathe fire???

that is my friend King. he blogs here. 

if you watch arrested development, you might think his costume is hilarious.

(note: I now know it was Parks & Rec. I'm behind the times.)

and yeah...

he barely escaped 3rd-degree burns, kids.

i'd be concerned about his PTSD if he wasn't a capable medical professional.

music: footloose & flashdance

so,

i can appreciate a good cover

[as long as said cover doesn't involve taking a perfectly good hippie song and turning it into a ska/punk monstrosity, that is. *shudder*]

just a couple gems i found this week:

"holding out for a hero"

from footloose, rendition by ella mae bowen
recommended by da baby sista

[still waiting for kevin bacon to do his own cover. stillll waiting, kevin...KEVIN ARE YOU THERE?!]

oh hi kevin.

[via people.com]

"what a feeling"

drew ryniewicz from x-factor did flashdance a serious solid

did i mention she's only 14? i mean...sweet huckleberries, child.

[now don't go crazy and do drugs and spoil that bright career of yours....]

[source]

p.s.

anyone seen the new footloose?

p.p.s.

....recommend any other stellar acoustic covers?

p.p.p.s.
hey, sometimes i do my own covers:
"firework" by katy perry
"build me up buttercup" by the foundations
"can't help falling in love" by the king

hob nobbin' it up

stumbled across the most delightful cafe with this lovely lady last night

the endearing name:

the elements of a happy ambience:

[note: the hot chocolate was the perfect temperature, flavor, everything. i recommend it in a big way.]

the feta & red pepper pizza:
[can't remember the exact name of it]

[i want to kiss whoever decided to put feta on pizza. why hadn't i thought of this?]

the company:

[we look a bit crazy-eyed. crunk on hot chocolate and feta?]

the people watching:

[bright orange curly hair, and an outfit with spiders and candy corn on it. my hero on so many levels.]

not to mention the coconut cake, the good-looking employee, and the plenteous uh-friggin-dorable halloween decorations

i officially consider it the perfect place to spend a drizzly tuesday evening

let's just say...

we'll be going back.

y'all phoenix amigos should checkity ch-ch-check it out too:

www.hob-nobs.com

dearest 1/2marty...we meet again!

all summer, any convo with mineself about a certain form of exercise went something like this:

hey katie

oh....oh hey

remember that time you used to be a runner?

mmm...yeah. i do kinda remember that.

so....what's the deal?

well it's summer, and....it's hot....

there's such a thing as a treadmill you know

well yes but then i'd have to go to the gym...

you could just get up early. it wouldn't be so bad.

but my sleep...my precious sleep...

you're making an awful lot of excuses

i'm kind of over this conversation in a big way.

don't tune me out. didn't you LIKE running?

i can't hearrrrr yoouuu....

[turns out i'm really mature when i talk to myself.]

...............................................................

well....

i figure it's about time for an announcement so ol' jiminy cricket in my head will stay out of my hooverdam bizness

*ahem*

i have officially registered to run another 1/2marty in january

applause! cheers! poetry snaps!

[me. ragnar del sol. remember that?]

looks like me and the ol' running shoes are about to re-form a seriously committed relationship

last year my goal was just to finish...

...this year i've got the clock on the brain

still negotiating my exact time goals

will report soon.

bring. it. on.

reminiscing on my running glory days:

dear finish line...

1/2marty eve

"i just felt like running"

2:27:27

tswizzle report: the good, the bad & the less pretty

what?

what's that you say?

you stayed up alllll night waiting to hear my report on the t-swizzle concert?

well, don't mind if i do.

what i liked:

i knew every single song

we bought a churro! i am obsessed!

a crowd of 14,000 is an electrifying experience

i saw a guy in a chicken costume

and two guys in banana suits

[i think this is how teenage boys justified coming to the tswiz concert...by making fun of it and pretending they don't actually listen to the music. i see right through your weak facade, pollo y platanos!]

many ballerinas were involved

[i find ballerinas fascinating. they're like lifesize dolls.]

fireworks....indoors

two of her guitarists had legit david bowie hair
["the power of the babe!"]

people kept popping out of the stage floor [like daises!] ... the use of the trap doors was quite fascinating.

the acoustic portion of the evening, in which she sat by a tree

don't worry, i took a low-res, glowing photo of it:

she uked it up on "fearless," which i utterly adored

[uked = played the ukelele. turns out she plays the piano too. look at her go!]

what i didn't like:

the sound system was lessthanawesome. if i didn't already know all the words, i would have had a hard time picking up on her lyrics. a couple of the mics were no bueno.

the over-choreography

[i've never been to a concert before that was as much about the show as it was about the music. my favorite parts were when she stopped acting and just sat down w/ the guitar and sang. i wasn't there for the broadway, my dear.]

[but for reals, serious props to miss swift for running around the stage, in high heels, and never missing a beat, all while singing, for 2.5 hours, and never once sounding out of breath.]

though it was cool when she flew around in a magical basket:

my thoughts on the venue:

jobing.com arena, what. the. hockeysticks. this place was terrible to navigate ["turrible." - charles barkley] we were misdirected by parking attendants like a bazillion times, and once inside we were faced w/ one elevator and two horrible, intertwining staircases that never seemed to spit us out on the correct floor.

what. the. hogwarts, you guys.

let's not even talk about the fact that they only had one guy selling merch [let's count it, ONE] to two huge lines of concert-goers wanting their tswizzle swag. by the time we got to the counter we could hear the show starting so i bought my shirt in a hurry...and picked a size too small. But that's okay, because i'm totes just going to cut it up and put it in a tshirt quilt anyway.

the good news is that you could buy a giant afghan with her face on it, if you wanted...

what i'm neutral about:

jon foreman from switchfoot made a cameo appearance. if they hadn't played "meant to live," i may have liked it more. i could have gone for some "24" or "on fire" or even "dare you to move," personally.

but what it comes down to, really:

my inner 13 yr old loved every. single. part. of. it. all.
and let's be honest, my inner 13 yr old pulls a lot of sway around here...

crowd surfing & t-swizzle

so...
i have plans this friday.

i have big, fat plans this friday.

[source]

read about them here!

got me thinking about all the concerts i've attended over the years
started when i was 14 or 15 or so

while i may be forgetting a couple, here's what i've got in my repertoire:

jimmy eat world x3

format x2

all american rejects

yellowcard [first crowd-surfing experience]

coldplay

backstreet boys [on ice]

john mayer

goo goo dolls

bryan adams

maroon 5 x2

journey

def leppard

mae

william fitzsimmons

brad paisley

rocky votolato

lady antebellum

mumford & sons

edward sharpe & the magnetic zeros

who i pine to see:

jimmy again

celine dion

ben gibbard

the bee gees

bread

phil collins

john denver

ingrid michaelson

schuyler fisk

straylight run

weezer

shiny toy guns

something corporate

hanson

and um...

jimmy, again.

what about you?

tell me 'bout your shows, old and upcoming and yearned for.

p.s.

yeah, i really did see the backstreet boys on ice

consider your life officially one-upped.

p.p.s.

some franken-twizzle lovin' from a couple years back, just for kicks

"i like the tin man"

paid a little visit to OrthoLand this morning

[note: it is not actually called OrthoLand. i would not get my teeth fixed at such a place, if it exists. that's like calling the number on those "free dental implant" billboards you see in the sticks. um, nothankyou.]

anyway,

i can't tell you when i'm getting the metal mouth off

[i rambled about it being a surprise somewhere in here]

but i will tell you

that my grill is officially rubber-banded shut

for the next month

seriously,

i can't even open my teeth

talking?

laughing?

absent-minded snacking?

fuhgeddaboutit

[source]

needless to say,

i got the giggles in the ortho chair

[and still have them]

because seriously,

i sound like this kid in the aviator hat

[watch that clip like 5 times for your own good. it makes me laugh every time. mostly because of the look on ralphie's face at the end....i want to look at people like that app. 100 times every day.]

want proof of my woes?

i recorded this video for my bestie

and for her only

to cheer her up

but goshbieberitall

i just know you all deserve to see it

so let's all have a hearty laugh at my expense

you're welcome.

p.s.
let's not focus on the fact that i had an encounter with a beautiful man in scrubs this afternoon.
he smiled.
i smiled.
he said,
"nice braces."
i tried to say something clever...
but oh yeah,
my mouth is banded shut.
FAIL.

writing: stitches, scotch tape & staples

i had always thought

though i never openly acknowledged it

and never pointed it out

that when you tilted your head a certain way

i saw the faintest hint of green in your eyes

and i could tell you now

but it would be so overdue

i know it would mean little

i know i mean little

but if i had the chance,

and the bravery,

i would have told you,

i wrote a song about you

did you know?

a few of them, in fact

also

i didn't mean what i said

that one time

or,

maybe i meant it a little

but i didn't mean to say it out loud

but,

i did mean a lot of other things

and i wonder if you think i didn't

well,

i did.

and

for the record,

you changed me

breathed me in

and exhaled me

with pieces missing

and some parts new

tacked on as you pleased

stitches, scotch tape and staples

and i've yet to determine

if i think i'm better this way

though,

being that i can't change it,

i like to think i am

or,

that one day i will be.

[mesmerized by the bellagio fountains, july 2007]

if i had moneys, vs. 2

mmmm

more of that online "window shopping"

and....ok maybe i made one purchase

but first, what i wanted:

[but denied myself, like a good little girl...]

[via]

[via]

[via]

[via]

um...

i would rock those earrings

in a big. fat. hippie. way.

surriously, i can't even look at them without feeling disgruntled that i don't own them...

but,

the above items remained snugly in their snooty, we-shouldn't-be-so-absurdly-expensive stratospheres

[except the dino boots...those just aren't made in adult sizes. roadblocks to shopping success come in many devious forms these days.]

however, the following treasure has a little date with my mailbox:

[via]

....my happy dance is about a mile big just looking at that thing.

i cannot wait to have it on my wall!

in which my roommate takes pictures of me whilst i sleep ▲

there were many good signs from the beginning that this girl was bound to be a good fit to share a room with me. the list of supporting evidence has grown exponentially, including but not limited to:

+ asking if she could take a nap in my bed while i was at work
+ making me climb on the roof with her to spy on a drug bust
+ the time she became emotionally attached to a stray cat and we walked around the neighborhood with a can of tuna, looking for little Skeeter
+ waking me up for a week by singing the theme song from Fox & the Hound
+ digging through the dumpster
+ letting me videotape her digging through the dumpster

but today.... today took the cake. i texted the aforementioned roommate about a less-awesome workday. she texted back and said she had something to show me...

behold:

Look at you! You love to awkwardly hold your arms up near your face as you sleep...

And....position #2 about 3min later as you were stirring awake. Poor chap! Yet still, the arms...

And the final one, number 3!! Haha how cute you are!

fact: i've recently been (repeatedly) accused by another amigo of always having "awkward arms" in photos. i guess it turns out this happens in my sleep too. i mostly like how i'm gripping my blanket for dear life. i very much wish i knew what i was dreaming about.

katilda

katie and the great [accidental] punkin dessert

this story begins about yonder six months ago

there i was, in the pudding aisle at the grocery store

[what, you didn't know it's called the pudding aisle? well...i know.]

and lo and behold, butterscotch pudding!

10 for 10

i says to myself,

"this seems like a grand idea, self."

[note: what i should have said to myself is, "do you have an excess of cupboard space in which to store an inappropriate amount of butterscotch pudding?" but 10 for 10 pudding is not time for logic.]

fast forward to last sunday evening

blissfully making punkin [aka pumpkin] cake for monday's church potluck

but when i went to flip the cake out of the pan...

the following happenstance occurred:

the punkin cake and i, we stared at each other for a bit

and then i went upstairs...

...and went to bed.

and dreamt frightful, punkiny dreams

monday morning, i woke up in a fussle

[just go with me on that word]

i grabbed my smartyphone and did what any good chef would do

i googled:

"what to do when your cake falls apart"

and then,

the internets told me about a little dessert known as trifle

oh the trifle and i

we became fast friends

layered cake crumbs and other goodness??

well, what do you know

but i had all these convenient cake crumbs in my kitchen

i then googled:

"what kind of pudding goes with punkin cake?"

[except, i had to play by google's rules and spell pumpkin the conventional way. psh.]

and lo and behold

what did google have to say?

butterscotch

butter-freakin-scotch

and we all know

what kind of pudding i happened to have in plethorous amounts

it went down as follows:

and let me tell you...

raving. success.

writing: on risks & regrets

 when i'm old and wrinkly

i want to be able to look back and say

"i don't regret anything i did"

and

"i don't regret anything i didn't do"

i want to be able to say i went for it

i want to say i was brave

i want to be able to say that i asked myself,

"what do i have to lose?"

and when my only answers were pride and comfort

i want to say i stopped hesitating

and jumped

i want to be able to sit down with my future daughter and say

guess what, baby girl?

your mama didn't play it safe

she took risks

she said words that needed to be said

even if she was afraid

she peeled the difficult phrases off her lips

even if they terrified her

she bought plane tickets

and went on road trips

because her heart told her to

even when it wasn't cheap

and it wasn't convenient

because, she had hope

and even when it didn't go the way she planned

she never once regretted it

because

it always felt better to say she tried

and because someday,

she wanted to be able to tell you

stop hesitating, baby

and go for it

and what are you waiting for?

and why not?

and she wants to say those words

like she really, really means them 

G to the chat: lizzie mcguire & horatio magellan

[the only relevance of this picture is that it is currently the profile pic of my co-star in today's blog content]

[...who am i kidding? when are the golden girls NOT relevant?]

when you combine me + the kels + the internets

these are the kinds of things that happen

on a daily basis, kids.

it's potentially out of control.

sept. 28

me:

my chicken nuggets are too spicey

  it's making me sweat and say crazy things

and misspell spicy

she:

do you have some sauce to dull the spice?

me:

i'm drowning them in ranch

  ain't doin nuttin

she:

geez! is it making your nose run?

me:

yessss

  i'm weak

she:

 my nose runs when i just say the word "spicy"

  or when i don't say anything at all.

  it just runs. perma-run.

 me:

when you say nothing at all....

whole new meaning to that song now

she:

alison krauss had no idea what she was writing

  so naive

me:

i bet she's never had a bad nostril day in her life

she: 

and i hate her for that

  but i still totally dig her songs

and voice, she's really quite wonderful

me:

yeah ok, props props

  she's all, "i'm a good singer, i can be insensitive about other people's olfactory conditons"

  jerk.

she:

you know, that's the first thing that happens to people when they get famous.

  it's a curse, really

 me:

michael jackson just got rid of his nose altogether

  voldemort too!

  what gives

 she:

AND ashlee simpson almost did!

  they know something we don't

me:

hilary duff's aim was off a little and she got rid of her cheeks

  then again, she's never been the brightest crayon

she:

no. the most annoying? YES.

 me:

makes movies in which she sings pop at a classical musical school and gets away with it? who knows how!

she:

AND falls in love with a hot guy there?

  THERE ARE NO HOT GUYS IN MUSIC SCHOOL!

me:

he wasn't hot, he had weird hair

  bleached tips?

  post-90s?

she:

that's not hot?

  i've been so blind

me:

FOR THE LOVE OF GORDO, KELS

she: 

 hahahaha no I'm stifling the laughter..

  which are turning into tears

me:

you're lucky; mine's turning into snot

  this conversation just came full circle

she:

all back to the nuggets.

  that needs to be on a shirt

me:

i still have 5 to eat

  I'M NOT READY

  i've eaten 3 and i'm suffering

she:

 HA! only 3?! were they dipped in that awful green spicy death asian stuff?

me:

wasabi?

  no, that's for sushi

 she:

  wasabi sounds like the asians' name for the devil

  isn't sushi the nugget of the sea?

me:

 i......can't think of a single reason why it shouldn't be

she:

 i think we just discovered something

  i don't know what, but i feel like this conversation got really intellectual

me:

on that note, i'm ready to eat another nugget

she:

bon voyage

me:

it's sailing the sea of my esophagus

she:

that actually sounds super fun

 me:

well....you're welcome any time

 she:

how's she handlin'?

 

 me:

swaying a little starboard but holding steady in the galleys

i can't do it

  i can't eat the other 4

  ABANDON SHIP

 

 she:

 none of us blame you, cap'n. you fought as long as you could

speaking of cap'ns. Did you know Cap'n Crunch's whole name is Cap'n Horatio Magellan Crunch?

 me:

is it really?

  can we call him Old Hor for short?

---------------------

...and that's all for today, kiddos.

trust me when i say,

i'm never going to grow out of conversations like this one.

p.s.

is it wrong to post more than one blog within a week with motifs of chicken nuggets and mucus? i'm going to go with a BigFatNo.

"stay hungry, stay foolish"

let's just say...

what a legacy.

[via apple.com]

love this tribute on the apple home page, and love this video, narrated by mr. jobs himself

love this quote by pres. obama:

"The world has lost a visionary. And there may be no greater tribute to Steve's success than the fact that much of the world learned of his passing on a device he invented."

and, i really love the 2005 commencement address he gave at stanford, read or watch it here

my favorite steve jobs quotes:

"Much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on."

"Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever."

"Don't lose faith. I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle."

"Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart."

"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life...Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary."

i am such a believer that nothing is a coincidence, and, i'm a believer in taking big, bold risks. his life is an amazing reminder of the way these "random" things and rough patches can someday shape our lives.

RIP, mr. jobs.

i'll try and stay a little extra hungry and foolish, and maybe wear a black turtleneck or two.

have any thoughts on steve jobs?

favorite quotes from the commencement speech?

music: we own the sky

[via nshir.blogspot.com]

sometimes blogger plays dastardly tricks and won't let me embed videos

but this music vid tickles me so much

it is worth posting a lame link

[awesome video] + [lame link]

=

[cancelled-out lameness]

yes yes.

so click here and enjoy!

when a friend shared this w/ me on facebook, my response was as follows:

 i.........was sold at the kites and blatant thrift-store threads. though i have no idea what came out of the sky at the end, if it turns into confetti and inspires osculation, i can't even pretend to be opposed to it.

i stand by this reaction.

your thoughts?

[on the video or the song, i would be pleased to hear either opinion]

p.s.

i miss pop-up video

come back to me, 90s!

blogger's block?

i tried to blog like... a [insert big number] amount of times in the last couple days

but,

my brain simply wasn't having it!

i felt entirely lacking in wit and clev

[yes, wit and clev, i said it]

sometimes my fingers just glide across like the keyboard like freakin' kristi yamaguchi on ice

and then other times it's more like that first time you go to the ice rink and have to grip the side rail and inch along, immediately recognizing whether or not you've chosen appropriately thick socks

normally i might have something really good to say about socks

but today,

[and yesterday and perhaps tomorrow, it seems]

i am without interesting words

so,

here's someone else's pretty words to appease your thirst for more garrulous happenings round these parts:

[photo via mysmartypantsphone, somewhere in southern oo-tah]

[by hafez, via yes and yes]

This place where you are right now,

God circled on a map for you.

-----

Even after all this time,

the sun never says to the earth,

"You owe me."

Look what happens with a love like that.

It lights the whole sky.

-----

Ever since happiness heard your name,
it has been running through the streets trying to find you.