Thursday, December 31, 2009

Last Night, Ten Years Ago, and Tomorrow

Last Night:
the PIRATE TRAIN

I was on a foreign island of a foreign country and it was hundreds of years ago and everyone's wearing period costumes, all fancy dresses; but mostly we're all immigrants, wearing shoddy draperies or tousled pirate clothes. I am with a small group of comrades and we are trying to hide, for whatever reason. We board a train. Now, there are good pirates and thief pirates; we're hiding from the thief pirates who are rumored to attack our train, and the good pirates (a more bumbling, old-fashioned kindly breed of pirate) are helping us. Most of the people on the train are poor immigrants, and they are fairly helpful. In my group of comrades, looking disheveled and messy in our ragged clothing (I'm the only female wearing pants, of course; I think we're thieves but not thief pirates) we don't have seats so we run from car to car talking to passengers about the current literature of the time period. Suddenly, the train is attacked by thief pirates and I freak out and duck under a seat until they leave the car. A little immigrant girl comes up and asks me to tell her a story. I agree to under the condition that she lets me hide under her blanket if more thief pirates come. Later I look out a train window and it appears we're on a very small jungle island. How far can the train even go, if we're on such a small island? Perhaps in circles. I'm not quite sure. I woke up some time after I started considering the terrain.


TEN YEARS AGO: FWAFA
I left public elementary school, an environment in which I had no friends and I cried daily because teachers were mean to me because I was constantly thinking but not about the given assignments, a problem that still affects me to this day, but I digress; I left public elementary school in fifth grade for this new school in the city where the Texas Boys' Choir studied. It was small and cool and adventurous and there I met some fantastic friends. We were the "punks" of the school. By that I meant that we painted our nails black with sharpies and laughed at the straight-laced "popular" kids and talked about how much society sucked and how much we liked Avril Lavigne. But I still studied hard and made good grades and all that, because no matter how much of a rebel I wanted to be, I couldn't shake off the nerd. Oh, and gray became my favorite color, which is still true to this day. But I made great friends from that time. I started working at Funimation as a voice actor and I started to value myself as a performer. And that was that, I guess. Yup. A whole decade ago, in 2000. Bizarre.


Today and Tomorrow: 2009 & 2010
2009
: fade in on girl, about 20, sitting at computer, struggling to write a blog entry.
[Tracy enters.]
Tracy: What up.
[Kate looks up at Tracy]
Kate: Not much.
Tracy: I love that headband. I love going through your stuff. I always find lots of... cute things.
Kate: [types away]
Tracy: You writing some kind of happy family entry? ...no? Ok.
Kate: [continues to type furiously]
Tracy: Man, you type fast.
Kate: ...Wait, don't go away.
Tracy: K.
[There is a pause. Tracy puts things away in the room]
Kate: Do you have any New Years Resolutions?
Tracy: [looks over Kate's shoulder at screen] Why are you writing this all verbatim?
Kate: Urrrrr I dunno.
Tracy: Um, yeah, I'm gonna lose at least twenty pounds.
Kate: That works. [continues typing. Tracy sits on couch next to two useless but happy dogs]
Tracy: I'm always so sad to take the tree down. Especially this one. This one was so nice. Didn't you like it?
Kate: Mhm. [types for a while, then pauses and swivels chair]I love this tree. It's a little lopsided.
Tracy: Well that's cause it's a real tree. Oh look, iz Charlie, hey little buddy! [Tracy makes cooing noises at fat useless dachshund, who wags tail and pees a little] What dreary weather. Some time, though, you know it's gonna get up to 70 and we're gonna end up having drinks on the patio... Are you writing down everything I say?
Kate: [laughs] No...
Tracy: [coughs, hacking up a lung]
Kate: Are you feeling any better?
Tracy: A little bit, yeah. ...Are we going to Angelo's to see the Thayers tonight?
Kate: No, I'm going to Lauren's. I love Angelo's but I can't handle that much meat.
Tracy: When do you want to take the tree down?
Kate: I dunno. I'll help you though.
[Tracy fiddles with ornaments, then steps behind Kate's chair and looks at computer. She guffaws, almost as if offended, and saunters out of the room.]
Kate: [over shoulder] It's a playwriting excersize! ...Kind of!

"TOMORROW"
A collection of New Year Resolutions
1. I will become proficient in Japanese, and memorize the two other alphabets other than Hiragana (Katakana and as much Kanji as possible)
2. I will gain a basic knowledge of French, Mandarin, and possibly some other language.
3. I will be as kind as possible and gather up lots of good karma.
4. I will figure out exactly what it is I plan to do with my degree.
5. I will start writing a play called "Landslide Birds" that will make people laugh and cry and become philosophers.
6. I will finish planning my philosophical short film "Solipsist" and perhaps even work on filming it.
7. I will buy my brother Pocky because he just discovered that I ate his box he got for Christmas.

Monday, December 14, 2009

I would be more excited about Christmas

but I've got a six-page research paper to write.

I would be more excited about Christmas

but I have five different points to research in the library tomorrow.

I would be more excited about Christmas

but I have two callbacks tomorrow, on top of the research paper I have to finish.

I would be more excited about Christmas

but tomorrow is the last big day of rehearsals for Once On This Island,
and I have to work on my part as the "Beautiful Goddess of Love,"
on top of that damn research paper.

I would be more excited about Christmas

but I have a full 8-hour (at least) work day immediately upon my return home.

I would be more excited about Christmas

but I have five finals to study for, including at least two that are ≥7 pages long and will take a full three hours to complete the same day I leave for the airport.

I would be more excited about Christmas

but I haven't done any of my Christmas shopping or gift preparing because of my insane life.

I would be more excited about Christmas

if it weren't for this feeling of "wait, why the hell am I complaining about time when I'm sitting here blogging about my lack of time to get excited about Christmas?"


I'm plenty excited about Christmas already.
The tree is up at the South Street Seaport and I just remembered that my mummy and ol' army man are coming up in a couple days.

I have plenty of time to get excited about Christmas. It's just a busy time right now.

Gotta remember it's the simple things that matter.

And on that note, I should go shower.

Peace, love, and pickles, everyone. Remember that you are, in fact, Seymour's fat lady.
xxx

Saturday, December 12, 2009

Japanese 101: the Epic Adventure

"I've gotta feeling that tonight's gonna be a good good night..."

Note: I must preface this entry by saying that if you are going to mock me for my blatant geekiness, then please stop reading this now and go watch something terribly generic and awful like The Hills or Gossip Girl, like every other average American with a TV set. Otherwise, you can shut yo mouf. I am my own person and I am quite proud of that fact. Thank you. Carry on...

"tonight's gonna be a good niiight..."
I should have played that song in my head yesterday morning, but there was audition music and awful Japanese techno and Korean girl-bands playing instead.

After a late afternoon voice lesson, I got a text from a friend in my Japanese class to meet them at Astor Place for a night of hanging out and general merriment.

Before we continue, I must introduce to you my friend group of Japanese class. Since I didn't take pictures, I drew them instead.

CAST OF CHARACTERS

Andy: Speaks fluent Korean. Possibly the most "normal" of all of us, he is also most likely a ninja.

Winston: Scratch that, Winston is probably way more normal than Andy. He's chill and cool. He hails from the nation of Taiwan. 'Sup.

Jye-san: Far too adorable and awesome, she hails from the nation of China and sings in Mandarin. <3

Steven: Could be an MT major in a heartbeat but chooses to sing Korean pop music instead. Which I fully support. He'll be famous before me-- also speaks fluent Korean (and always makes better grades in Japanese than me.)

Dylan: Oh Jesus. Dylan, Dylan, Dylan. Where do I start? He's a self-proclaimed, perverted, anime lover with a weird, weird love for Asian females. And somehow he fits perfectly into our group. I hope that doesn't say anything about the rest of us.

Osiris: He has an Egyptian name and he can eat rice like nobody's business. Pretty quiet generally, but will randomly spout something subtly hilarious. Oh, and his hair is longer than most girls'.

Me: I'm your resident waspy female taking a Japanese class 'cause it sounded like fun. The boys spent most of the night trying to get me and Jye to make out. It didn't work.


THE COURSE OF EVENTS

1. We meet up at the Astor place Starbucks. It's friggin cold the whole night.

2. Tiny Japanese hole-in-the-wall joint where nothing is over five bucks and most of them don't speak English. All of the customers were Japanese, hardcore (That's how you know it's legit.) We got seated in the back and pigged out on yaki sake onigiri (grilled salmon rice balls) and sashimi and miso soup and eel and dumplings and anything else Japanese. Since the menu and bill were only in Japanese, it was good practice. And cheap.

3. We head over to a Tokyo toy store and Dylan dashes in to Pomme Frites because I mention "oh, that's a really good place to get fries." He's intensely thin, yet he eats a full course meal every five minutes. Anyway. We go inside the toy store and it's amazing and I have to restrain myself from buying every Gloomy Bear and Hello Kitty item known to man.

4. After that, we all head a couple blocks away and I quickly get some takoyaki (fried octopus dumplings) since, hey, it's like a night of Asian madness, and I may as well.

5. The Japanese supermarket. Our professor, Kurahara, had mentioned this store and how all the Japanese people in NYC go there, so we went and oh lord is it magical. No one spoke English (this is a common thing throughout the night) and we bought Pocky and noodles and oh my god whatever that Hello Kitty snack is and I don't know because I can't read Japanese and is this egg flavored? And then, why would they make Hello Kitty marshmallow snacks flavored like eggs? Because they're Japanese and they do what they want. (I realize this didn't make sense. It was my thought process at the time)

6. From there, we had some time before the real fun part of the night, so we went to a restaurant called Saigon-- due to certain delightful circumstances we got to pay about twenty percent of the original price, and this is a friggin nice restaurant. It's huge and fancy and the food is AMAZING. Our table shared fried noodles and shrimp dumplings and spring rolls and Thai tea (on the house) and rice and some kind of kimchi-beef thing (which I didn't eat because I don't eat beef or kimchi) but it was amazing. Brilliant restaurant. You should go there, and take your girlfriend to impress her.

7. Ba ba baaaammm...... KOREAN KARAOKE TIME.
So there's this Korean Karaoke bar place in the tiny but bustling K-town of Manhattan that Steven knew of. We got there and had to wait-- the place was packed busy, even so late at night. Our karaoke session didn't start until 11:45, a couple minutes after we arrived.

So we get there and the place is dark, with disco/ravey lights, a bar, and this really cool, dark atmosphere that's hard to describe. The music is thumping and loud, and hosts are dressed in classy black vests and suits, serving drinks and fruit trays to rooms. Here's the thing: Asian countries' karaoke is different from America's because rather than make a fool of yourself in front of a huge restaurant, your group of friends rents a room by the hour. This is your karaoke room, and there are two large TV screens, couches, a coffee table, two songbooks, and two microphones. So we went in and Steven and Andy (the two Korean-speakers) work out our deal with the hosts, and we went into the room and started plugging songs into the computer for us to play.

I sang Japanese songs, I sang English songs, I sang Korean songs that I didn't know what the fuck was going on but I sang them anyway-- we did everything. Everyone sang everything. We stayed in that room for THREE HOURS OF AWESOMENESS AND MERRIMENT. The time flew by far too quickly. The host kept bringing us beer and beautiful fruit trays-- it was so, so marvelous. And each time the host would enter the room, Andy or Steven would thank them and order more things in Korean (which is a highly attractive language, much more mature sounding than Japanese but less harsh than Mandarin.) We sang, we danced, we drank, we ate, we laughed, we sang some more, and we made absolute fools of ourselves in the best way possible. Jye serenaded us in her native language of Mandarin, Steven crooned Korean boy-band songs, Osiris and Dylan belted Beatles songs, and Andy and I acted out Barbie Girl because that's how we roll. It was pretty hilarious.

So we left the karaoke joint by... er... three something, and stumbled back out into the cold, bleak night of New York. By that time we were all pretty tired, but it took us two more hours of walking around the city and train-hopping before we somehow ended up back at the school and half the group had to go all the way back up to Queens.

The Japanese 101 Group's Epic Adventure came to a quiet close as I happily dragged my tired feet into bed, throwing aside my new Gloomy Bear bag, now full of Pocky and complimentary yogurt drinks from the Koreans. It was a good, good night.

Fin

Next entry: the differences in friend groups: theatre people vs. Japanese class people

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

I'm making another post from my phone, how cool is this? I'm at LaGuardia. Nearly two hours early for a flight. It's a little crazy.

So here I am, biding time listening to the Postal Service and hoping it isn't too warm in the country of Texas...

Haha, Billy Mays is on the tv! It's amusing whenever I watch tv. Such a rare instance

Monday, November 23, 2009

Orca Sanctuary

I have a vision of these whales
huge, sleek, glistening beasts
moving as if in their natural habitat
but through the air instead;
an expansive room
Aristotle, Socrates, Sophocles, Heraclitus, Plato,
Descartes, Kant, Locke...
they float, these megaton mammals,
yawning and sighing sorrowful whale-songs
with tails flinging forever in slow motion
What should I ask them?
They are the most beautiful things,
perfect giants, wet, seemingly,
although far from real water
Isn't the sky made of water?
To float with these sharp-toothed porpoises
is impossible-
to sing and sigh
they needn't ponder because they already know
When you unknowingly make so many people think, for years upon years,
you continue to live
but in a new sense,
and in a new body and form.
The whales sing what they have been
singing for hundreds of years,
kept in constant motion
in their sea-air-sanctuary.

I am Ai,
goddess of my own private world that doesn't exist.
I am a pirate, a lover of birds,
a lover of whales, a lover of philosophers
reincarnated as flying whales.
I am to find this sanctuary where the great old minds are
and ask them not the purpose of life
but why everyone keeps trying to find it so.
They are enlightened
they are orcas
and they are hidden


...What if I started a book that way?
Yes, it is literally about philosophers reincarnated as orca whales that fly around in this kind of nirvana-like garden.
What would happen if I tried to write an epic poem that spanned the length of a full-fledged novel? What if I wasn't brought down by the fear of being mocked for making a book about-- wait, what the fuck-- flying whales that are actually ancient philosophers reincarnated? And this girl who has to find them in their secret location so she can have the answers to life? What if I wasn't so afraid of posting these secret things, these things that I sometimes write in my private journal, that it didn't take me hours of doubt to make this post public? What then?
"I can haz teh enlightenmentz?"

Writingがすきです。
私は馬鹿です...
ケイトはかわいいじゃないです.
My Japanese grammar is ever so poor, yet my English grammar is written with such care...

Friday, November 20, 2009

Hours of fun in David's room

Sometimes I go to David's room. He's like the dude version of me. We're both exceedingly geeky and love ourselves for it. We mostly play video games and eat Hot Pockets, but sometimes when he's playing I go to Brandon's computer and make movies.



http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/video/video.php?v=215565809950&ref=mf

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Monday, November 16, 2009

Life

is a crazy sonofabitch.

In other news, Thanksgiving is coming around the corner! And that means a kickoff for CHRISTMAS!!!!!1!!111!11!11!1one LOL OMG WTF BBQ.

So, I must tell you that I will soon get over my swine cancer death and make an AWESOME HUGE ASS POST with pictures and stories and lots of lovely wonderful things that make blogs fun to read. Ok, bye!

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

K so right now

I am totally dying a swine flu death.

...Actually that's not true at all. It's just the normal regular old flu. You know, the normal flu that actually kills a thousand times more people than swine flu? (The media is so awful. "SWINE FLU: DEADLY TO EVERYONE?!" "ARE YOU NEXT? SWINE FLU OMG WTF BBQ")

I'll be fine in a couple days but this sickness is causing me to neglect all of my ridiculous amount of obligations that I for some reason agreed to because I'm overambitious. Those things include but are not limited to the writing center, student blogging, student video blogging, and others... things that I really didn't have to do but I did anyway, therefore making my life a thousand times more stressful.

Everytime I try to type "flu" I type "fly". I had to go back and fix it a bunch of times already. Fly fly fly flu flu fly fly flu fly

Saturday, November 7, 2009

I Don't Like Carousel Part 2; AND, my next student blog

Sorry I haven't posted lately, I've been
SCHOOL BUSY
which means busy with not-fun stuff.

Actually, one of my endeavors has been really quite fun, and that thing is being the spotlight operator for my school's production of City of Angels (not to be confused with City of Angles, the Geometry Musical)

Which I will write a student blog on later.

However, today's post will be a short one, as I just wanted to write down some lyrics from a song I have to learn for class. It's from "What's the Use of Wond'rin" from Carousel.

And those of you who really know me also know my stance on the show Carousel.

Don't get me wrong, I completely understand the time period and how acceptable this was back then. But the last chorus of my song just sounds like... well, it sounds like a dog is singing it. It really sounds like the girl is Lassie singing about her boy.

"And somethin' gave him the things that are his,
one of those things is you!
So when he wants your kisses,
you will give them to the lad,
and anywhere he leads you, you will walk,
and anytime he needs you,
you'll go runnin' there like mad!
You're his girl, and he's your feller,
and all the rest is talk."

Little known fact: Carousel is actually about Lassie Come-Home, the collie.

Peace out.

Oh, and GO SEE MEN WHO STARE AT GOATS. It's awesome.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Aphros

Our school has a literary magazine called Aphros, where students get poems and short stories and pictures of their artwork published. I had no idea this existed until I was working the booth for Writing Center Awareness Week (people walking by only noticed the candy we gave out) and I became addicted to reading other students' work. I might submit my "Tag Team" inspired by Ginsberg thing, but I'm not sure if it's a poem or prose or what. I write like this a lot. It isn't poetry; it doesn't really have stanzas, but it has short paragraph-type things that eventually taper into one or two lines.

I've edited it a little... I added more lines that reference Ginsberg from the original "America" and sprinkled in some Buddhist thought. Note the balloon boy reference as well. Haha!


Tag Team- inspired by the Beats

America he gave you all and he became nothing.
America when will we be told the real truths? When will you stop these nervous breakdowns over the newest fad catastrophe?
When will your people, and the other people, become capable of selflessness? What, even, is selflessness? What is there to care for, to listen to above the incessant murmur from your weary citizens? They care, but often for the wrong things. Perhaps I care about the wrong things too. How can we even be sure? America when can we appreciate the Beats without sending accusations flying about insincerity? Where is Kerouac when we need him?

We seek to become nothing.

America I grow nervous, not tired. Is this your intention? With the fumes of the Times the poisonous blogs and your noxious CNN? Pandemics and rages and who blew up, flew up into the sky this week. It's the impression we get. This is your second letter, America, to my knowledge, and you failed to listen when Ginsberg first wailed a lonely howl to your polluted sky.

Nothing, he learned, is all we can be.

America I could boycott your food and hurt only myself. America I could boycott your culture and nothing would change. America if I boycott my native country I shall end up on a boat slowly going insane like the man who already did that once in revolutionary era. Wasn't that a Vonnegut?

There is no chase: strive for nothing. It's all we can do.

America why didn't you listen to Ginsberg?

Dharma Bums is my favoritest.

Friday, October 16, 2009

I made a meme


I JUST LOVE HIS LAST FACE SO FREAKING MUCH.

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Triphallus, to Punctuate!

I believe as human beings we operate under many different philosophies.

In studying the various philosoph(ers/ies) I've come to name some of the life philosophies I adopt depending on my situation. It isn't even a conscious thing, but the way I function in certain times can be labeled as one of the philosophies I've studied. Lemme explain...


When I audition or wait to hear a result, I am a solipsist. My thoughts can affect the outcome. If I believe something will happen, it won't; If I convince myself it won't, it will. (This also attributes to my theory of balance of good and bad in a day, which is pretty solipsist because it ends up being a self-fulfilling prophecy anyway, and it is all a product of my mind.) The solipsist believes, at its most extreme, that their mind is the only thing that exists and everything around them is a product of their imagination and can therefore be controlled by it. I simply believe that the way I think will affect something I have no control over in the first place. I never said it was right, in fact, I accept its ridiculousness.

When I become angered by others, I am a moral absolutist. People are either completely good or completely bad and harmful. In my more neutral mind, I know this isn't true, but it comes out in the worst way when this happens. I don't forgive, I only forget to be mad. Terrible philosophy to adopt.

When I get discouraged by my own actions, I am an existentialist. Life is absurd. People are absurd, and act in such a way. I am absurd. You are absurd. Existence is absurd and surreal. Nothing matters, yet it completely does. I am a failure waiting for Godot who will never come.

When I am determined, I am a utilitarian. The things I strive for, I strive for based only on their ability to make me happy in the future. This usually fails me. When I become determined to dance well, for example, the actual act of dancing makes me so unhappy that it erases all trace of utilitarianism, no matter how good my initial intentions may be.

When I am sad, I am generally still existentialist, because life is absurd and pretty much sucks balls.

But most of the time I have to forget everything shitty around me and fall into some form of Zen, the only "philosophy" (if one can really call it that) that doesn't pull me one way or another. My head is tired from all the thinking I do every day. I tend to zone out, all the time. I'm not lost in a zone of "no-thought," in fact, I'm doing the opposite: I think too much. I follow a thought and follow and follow and the thought grows and becomes global:
Why can't I keep my balance on that pirouette?
Why don't I have good balance at all?
What if this affected the way I walk?
How will me doing a turn help anyone in the world?
Am I following a selfish profession? (I'm not, btw)
Why are people allergic to shellfish?
I heard somewhere that alpacas are the fastest growing industry...
Etc, etc, etc.
It's a vicious cycle.


My mind doesn't wander.
It sprints.
Into a manhole.
And through the sewers.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Don't even read this

I would like to introduce Pickle Relish
And this is the reason I spend too much time on the internet.

You see, facebook has this terrible little app called Pet Society. You make a little creature and you earn coins to decorate their house and buy them clothes. Most of the pets look like rabbits, or hamsters, or something.

I don't know what Pickle Relish is supposed to look like. I bought her a giant retro red wig, a lolita outfit, and obscenely large sunglasses, and now she's a little punk hooker. Hamster. Thing. I'm not really sure.

I'll make a really good post one of these days, I promise.

Sunday, October 11, 2009

I agree with Calvin, actually


^^^^ click to enlarge! The tiny size doesn't do it justice at all! ^^^^


And this just because I found it really funny...

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Ur doin it rong

こんばんは。

I feel like I really need some positive affirmation right now. But then again, the only person who can give me that is myself... or so positive people say.

Today was one of those days where I felt like I'm the only person in the world who makes dumb mistakes. I know that isn't true (entirely,) but today was one of those days that just made me want to curl up into a little ball and read Calvin and Hobbes until I forgot about my mistakes.

Now I'm gonna go study for a Japanese quiz. さよなら。ありがとう

To make this post a bit merrier, here is a story from an audition.

There is a young guy and an older guy waiting to go in. The audition is strictly Gilbert and Sullivan.

Young guy: So what're you singing?
Older guy: Pirate king.
Young guy: Oh really? What's that from?
Kate: *facepalm*
[/operetta joke]

Sidebar: video.

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

My life as a comic

MAH STUDENT BLOG IS FINALLY DONE FOR THE MONTH!


Except it kind of blows. And sometimes people getz mad at meh.


Hm... what can I do to make myself feel better?

...Maybe I'll just play the ukulele until I come up with something.

By the way, I'm not shirtless. It's a pink tank but it's way small and my hair is way big.


Once I was a cute little whipper snapper, with bangs, and I looked like this:

Now that my bangs have grown out, I look like this:
(that's my grandma! She looks pretty good for an old broad, right? I think we look kind of similar)

Saturday, September 26, 2009

On Food in Dorms

TODAY I WORKED SOOO MANY HOURS. Namely 7, which isn't a lot compared to the normal cubicle work day, I guess. But I stood in a booth and read lines in a high pitched voice. And I got lots of free anime DVDs. I gave 'em to my brother. :-)

And now I'm gonna try to "student blog". I'll edit (i.e. censor) it for school, eventually...

Thank God I'm out of the horrid freshman meal plan, which requires you to basically eat every meal in the cafeteria so as to spend all your money or have it vanish into the black hole that is Pace's debt as a university.

I have to write a student blog, and I'm procrastinating like mad. So I'm gonna write it about food and cooking for yourself in the dorm.

Preface:

My roommates are all really, really excellent cooks. Sarah makes healthy steamed vegetables all the time, Whitney has a well organized index of delicious home-cooked meals, and Rebecca always seems to be making some Brazilian dish foreign to my Texan palate.

And me? Usually I just boil water for Ramen and eat it out of the pot. OR, I eat goldfish crackers. Or frozen pizza. (Reminder: Kate needs to buy more frozen pizzas.)

Here are some recipes that are good for lazy college kids such as myself.

MICROWAVE SECTION:

1. S'mores Casserole
Ingredients: Small marshmallows, a chocolate bar, and teddy grahams.
Place a square of chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl, then pour marshmallows over it until you feel the ratio is about equal. Microwave for about 10 seconds or until the marshmallows puff up considerably. Take it out and pour teddy grahams, however many you like, into the bowl and stir up into a messy, sticky, teddy graham-y mess of smores tasting delight. It's the lazy man's s'mores in a bowl, eaten with a spoon. Don't blame me if you gain another freshman 15.

2. Microwave Ramen
Don't have a stove? Well, if you're dorming there's one down the hall. But sometimes you're just too lazy or they're already occupied. So you can make Ramen in the microwave if you're really desperate for that sodium-packed noodly goodness. Fill a big glass measuring cup, or a bowl, with water, and nuke for 2 minutes or until boiling. Put in noodles and boil another 2 minutes. Not as perfect as stovetop Ramen, but it'll do for a hungry student.

Other common microwave foods are easy mac, cup o' noodles, and other unhealthy shit, but those are a given. Of COURSE we'll eat those.

Downtown NY is kind of shitty for late night food choices because most of the local food joints cater to business men on lunch hours, not hungry/stoned/drunk/bored/otherwise ravenous students craving food.

Why is my blog so often about eating? Gah, y'all, Kate's a fatass. =P

I'm gonna go procrastinate more 'cuz my dad is home a couple weeks early from flight school and we're gonna go do family things, I guess. Yay for him not being in Iraq! He passed his fixed wing course! <3

Au revoir...

Friday, September 25, 2009

The Misadventures of Flying Standby at LaGuardia

I am hooooooommmmeeee!

Weird, right? I was just so excited about getting back into the business of school life, what with my Goodnight Moon poem tribute and all that nonsense, when suddenly work calls and I have to be quickly shipped back to Texas for some adventures in voice acting.

Which is kind of cool. I mean, it's really fun, despite how jaded I've become with flying in general.

I made a video during the day, starting with sitting at the airport and going until I'm sitting at my home base kitchen! (But obviously it was not filming the whole time. That would be a six hour movie. And there is only one Gone With The Wind, which is plenty.)

One of the great things about getting to visit home is that you get fed home cooked food. And if you're my mother's daughter, you get Tex Mex doggy bag food from the local Tex Mex venue. Which, considering we're in the best state for Tex Mex, is awesome.

Although I didn't like guacamole until I moved to New York...

But I veer from the point.

Tomorrow I go into work at 11 (whee! The life of an actor is sweet for those who stay up late on youtube!) and after that I may hang out with my BIRD.....

こんばんわ、よろしくおねがいします!

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Cheese sticks.

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

It's very hard to keep a lightly sleeping roommate sleeping when you're up late and doing things. I feel bad. I tend to bang things around, sometimes.

So I wrote a poem, for very little reason other than it makes me happy to do so.


Two rivers got the best of me,
The Hudson and the Trinity;
yet only one led out to sea.
The bridges must be weeping.
While half my world is vastly paved
The other's wand'ring minds have caved
To Just How Many Souls Are Saved?
But hush, my roommate's sleeping.


Goodnight <3

Thursday, September 17, 2009


私輪悲しい。とても悲しい。

It doesn't quite translate well, but screw google translate, I typed it myself and it totally makes sense.

P.S. I found this on stumble and it is pretty much me, perfectly.

"I am in a constant battle with my mind. i go from thinking that i am special for being "intelligent" to realizing that being aware of my being special is, in fact a sign that i am just seeking attention and simply something i like thinking about myself. then i realize that being aware of that fact counter-acts itself, and i am stuck in an endless paradox of myself. i have not yet learned how to stop and just say 'it doesn't matter' "

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Saturday, September 12, 2009

Schoolingness / Worst Audition Ever-ness

School hath beguneth again, and thus the stress of auditions. I'll spare you the aches and pains I have with the closed environment of school theatre in general, as well as my insecurities about a college major that guarantees I won't have a job for more than a year at a time, and instead I'm going to make lists! Because lists are fun!


My roommate has a ton of gorgeous clothes and I'm totes jealous,
But it's cuz I'm a shitty ass cheapskate, for the record, and therefore my clothes are shitty. Haha.


THE PROS AND CONS OF HAVING DOUBTS ABOUT BEING AN MT KID
1. PRO: You.... think for yourself, I guess? psh. Everyone thinks for themselves.
2. CON: Your life is anxiety. My life IS anxiety.
3. PRO: You drink more. I will not be a lightweight dammit! ...Is this a Pro?
4. CON: Your friends sing in the streets. You say that singing in public is like using magic in the muggle world, and then they give you hateful looks.
5. CON: They hate you when your correct their grammar. I'M SORRY I JUST LOVE THE APOSTROPHE


WAYS MY ROOM IS AWESOME
1. Rebecca doesn't like overhead light at all, so instead we have those huge ass white paper lamps, two round ones from either corner and one gigantic wine-bottle shaped one by the window. It gives the room a romantic glow.
2. I HAVE A WINDOW WITH A GREAT VIEW OF DOWNTOWN/MY SCHOOL! :D It's next to my desk! I have sort of a little study nook.
3. I have a really sweet badass desk, with a lot of space and shelves, which is great because I already have to memorize a whole bunch of Hiragana by Monday!
3. My roomies let me put my art up to cover unsightly wall blemishes and fuse boxes.
4. We have a shit ton of kitchen supplies as well as a very lovely big kitchen.
5. All this space and I'm still in New York. Manhattan, nonetheless!


And so, I am going to TRY to have a glimmer of hope about the goodness of this coming year even though I had the official worst audition of my LIFE yesterday. Worst. Audition. Of. My. Life. And that's a lot of auditions to compete with for title of Worst Audition Ever.

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Goodnight, Moon (My vers)

In the great purple room
There was a cell phone
And a red suitcase
And a picture of--
The Beatles walking over the road
And there were three little sock monkeys sitting on chairs
And two little dogs
And a pair of socks
And a little toy ukulele
And an external hard drive
And a glass and some ice and a bowl full of rice
And a sleepy college girl who said "life is nice."
Goodnight room, goodnight moon...

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

What's Happening This Semester (and why I need to learn time travel)

Hi. How are you today?
I'm stressing a little bit.

Here is my normal week schedule for this coming fall, as of now...

MONDAY
10am-11:15am : Japanese
1:25-4:10 : Musical Theatre History & Repertoire
4pm-5:50 : Critical Writing
(You may stop here and wonder: How can I make a class that starts at 4 when the previous class ends ten minute later? EXACTLY.)

TUESDAY
10am-11:05 : Jazz dance
11am-3pm : Work in the writing center (the predicament presents itself again here)

WEDNESDAY
10am-11:15 : Japanese
2pm-5pm : work in the writing center (a moderate break for lunch, joy!)
4pm-5:50 : Critical Writing (wait, what the fu... work til 5 then time travel back an hour so I can make a writing class? WTF)

THURSDAY
10am-11:05 : Jazz dance
12:20-3:05 : Voice and Movement with the God figure of our theatre dept
3:00-5:00 : work in the writing center (Once again, writing center, WTF?)

FRIDAY
10am-11:15 : Japanese
...and then presumably a voice lesson somewhere Friday. Oh lord I'm a busy sonufabitch.

Friday, August 14, 2009

An Epic Adventure

This has nothing to do with anything, but now that it caught your attention (because everyone loves Little Foot) then you may as well keep reading. :)


This week, I went on an epic adventure. Because sometimes, those are just necessary.

My original plan was to fill up my little white volvo Ishmael and drive the 200 or so miles to Austin without asking permission. I figured Tracy would be at work and I'd be safe and I'd drive back that night. She'd be at work all day anyway.

Well, what ended up happening was that my friend Moseley's brother Matt was planning a drive down to Waco to visit his apartment for law school and thought it'd be cool to hang out in Austin for the day as well. So at 8 that morning (with Tracy's knowledge) I got picked up by Matt and Moseley and we headed down the crazy Texas freeway!

Our Adventure to Austin, Day 1:

1. We stopped at Czech Stop, which is a totally famous gas station / bakery / awesome food place. Definite yum. I can never go without picking up a ginger molasses cookie. I mean, how awesome is a ginger molasses cookie to begin with?

2. When we arrived in beautiful and exciting Waco, (a university and maybe some churches around it, oh, and Dr. Pepper) we checked out Matt's soon to be apartment which was really cool and industrial. I said it was bigger than probably anything I'd ever live in once I move fully into NYC. It's true. Cue Moseley and Kate Instant Dance Party! *uns uns uns uns uns uns*

The woman showing us the apartment probably disliked me a whole bunch because I remarked at how unique it was that Baylor doesn't have ANY co ed housing. Me: "So there's no co-ed buildings at all? Floors?"
Woman: "No. Everything is strictly men or women and they aren't allowed in the other's."
Me: "Huh, you know, you only see that kind of thing here in the South. All my neighbors are dudes!" *big goofy smile*
Woman: *purses lips, ignores me, and walks off offendedly*

3. A couple more hours of passing cornfield after cornfield and we came to AUSTIN!! Now, Austin is one heck of a sweet little town. I call it the biggest small town ever. Austin is made up entirely of UT students and bums, and often people may fit into both those categories. Everything is clothes shops and coffee shops and more indie little coffee houses, and some ghetto places and more coffee places. Oh, and if you drive just a little more you're in the middle of the wilderness, which is really cool. Number 3 on my "list of stuff we did" was go to Cafe Medici right across from the UT campus. The coffee was really strong. I should have expected that.

4. I realize that my trip is so impromptu that I have not packed enough clothes for a 2 or 3 day trip. So we head right down the street (I believe it is Guadalupe St) to an Urban Outfitter, where I get a dress for like 90% off because the zipper is partially broken. Man, UO stuff is always so overpriced so this was almost getting it for something reasonable. Almost. Mostly I'm just desperate to get a new dress. It's cute though, so that's a plus. I almost feel like a bona fide Austin hipster.

5. I realize that I am a way different breed of person than the Austin hipster. I'm a New Yorker. Bitches. ;)

6. Matt is hungry even though Moseley and I filled up on cookies, so we head to Mellow Mushroom and get some pizzaaaaaaahhhh. Meantime we are trying to find Will so we can hang out with him, since he is the one I came to visit and all that. He finds himself caught up in a long job interview. Matt says he wants to go see a mountain he heard about.

7. Matt drives like a lunatic and we go to the top of this huge ass hill, park, and climb up a zillion steps (probably closer to 30) where there's this sweet lookout point
and if you turn to the left from this point you can see the Austin skyline! We had fun looking at all the millionaire's houses dotting the hill below. I can see why rich people would get a house down here. It'd be pretty fun; college town madness and serene wilderness right next door.

So we wait around for Will. He has what I like to call Time Management Disfunction Disorder (my mother has it too) in which you completely underestimate how long it will take you to do something. The three of us realize we're outside in Texas heat, about 120 degrees (and of course Moseley and I are both wearing skinny jeans, because, hey, we need to look like hipsters) so we get back in the car and Matt continues to scare us with his insane driving.

8. We FINALLY meet William at a cool half-outdoor cafe called Spider House. Spider House is amazing. I'd have ordered a beer, and I should have seeing as the guy most likely wouldn't have carded me, but I got cold tea instead. The four of us sit outside at this place, which is the beautiful lovechild of the Hip Pocket theater and the coolest coffee house you have ever been to. It's all wooden boards and hippie furniture that doesn't match cuz it's too cool to match, and all these cool young people are everywhere being cool, and it's just so Hip Pocket if it were a coffee house. That is what Spider House is. Spider House is freaking amazing. No one is cool enough for Spider House. But that's okay, because Spider House will welcome you anyway, and make you feel really cool. That's how cool it is.

9. After this, we decide to go hang out at a lake. I think it's lake Austin (might have been lake Travis, although that one might be closer to Georgetown) so we drive there, the four of us, and climb down a bunch of jagged rocks and hang out there. The water level is low due to the drought. This makes the treasure hunting on the rocks much more interesting. We find capsized jet skis and petrified tree stumps.

10. The Moseleys depart and Will and I drive around while I remark on how cool Austin is. We head to Georgetown so I can stay with my grandparents. On the way we stop in the middle of a country road in nowheresville, get out and look at stars. We look at the stars for approximately 8 seconds, get bored, and continue the drive.

Then we start to pull into the giant undeveloped old people city of Sun City Georgetown and I see something in the road I think is a beagle.
THE DEER RESCUE STORY

I yell at Will "Stop the car. I think I just saw a beagle."
"Was it dead?"
"No, it was moving! It had big floppy ears and was kicking its legs! Except it was really skinny!"

He does a U and we come back to the animal. We stop. He gets out. It's a deer.

Yup. It's a deer. I'm gonna say it's a female because it wasn't breaking any tines. I named her Belle.
She was about this age, between fawn and yearling...
but obviously that isn't Belle. This probably isn't even a real deer, I just pulled it off google image. It just gives you an idea of how big she was. When we found Belle it was midnight, and she was lying on the side of the road with her tongue hanging out in shock, often going into flipping-out mode where she kicked all of her good legs while her front left leg hung limp, completely snapped and hanging on literally by skin.

The condensed version: I was really really upset. Will decided to help me because he knows I'd have probably never spoken to him again if he drove off. Nah, he wanted to help it too, even if he isn't as passionate about saving animals as I am. Another woman came who does this sort of thing all the time. She called all her friends at the local animal rescue places and none were open except for some random one in a town somewhat far away. My grandparents were already furious at me, first for being three hours late on account of helping Belle and secondly for helping a deer at all. My grandpa picked me up remarking how "there are too many damn deer around here. And they won't kill 'em either, they just ship 'em out to some ranch somewhere. It's dumb." I remarked that they were here before we were and that humans were overpopulated, not wildlife. He chose not to remark. He knows who I voted for.

So anyway, the woman helps us figure out a way to get Belle to the back of Will's car (she's equipped with towels and a burlap sack to lay her on; she'd have taken her but she already had two rescue dogs in her car. This part is really tricky because her legs are super powerful and her hooves are damn sharp, so we have to work together; Will takes the back legs and the woman and I take the front and torso. I scramble to give Will directions to the emergency vet place and he leaves. Cue twenty thousand worried twitter updates about Will and Belle because Will doesn't have a phone (real smart) and I want Belle to be okay.

Next morning: Will calls around five or six. He couldn't find the emergency vet nearby so he took her to the Austin wildlife rescue near his house. But they took her. And Will didn't die. And hopefully Belle didn't either. This all happened on Monday.

Then today, a couple of hours ago, Will said he went back to visit her and to donate money to the shelter. They said they take all their deer to a wildlife sanctuary in the country. I hope that doesn't translate to that "we took Sparky to a farm," parents say when Sparky had an old dog heart attack, and they are legitimately helping Belle recover. She didn't have any head injury, it was really just her leg. My dream would be that they would put a cute little deer cast on her leg and Will would have a cute little pet for his backyard until she got big and then she'd go to a lovely farm with a family who would feed her carrots and-- and anyway that was Austin.

The next day (Tuesday)
was spent at Petsmart getting Will a fish, a blue betta named Jerry. We drove around being bums and drinking coffee at various places. Later we ate ramen with his bum housemates and watched South Park: Imaginationland.

The next morning I went to the train station and took a lovely train ride. Train rides are so romantic and literary. I read books and listened to music while we whizzed through miles of endless fields of corn and cotton and sunflowers.
Out the window of the train. It was really cool. It was cool enough that I could ignore the woman one row over talking the ENTIRE FOUR HOUR RIDE, using terms such as "kinfolk" and excitedly calling me a "yank!!!" when she asked where I was from.

And that was Austin. Pretty much.


*RIGHT NOW*

I am sitting here with a laptop watching Flight of the Conchords. I got my wisdom teeth out yesterday. I look like the lovechild of John McCain, Nixon, a retarded fat bulldog and a chipmunk on steroids. I have been eating soup and hummus and ice cream, which is great. Apparently I sang during the entire surgery, and I dreamt I was at a Mt. Righteous concert whilst leaping over ancient Aztec structures with Will's fish Jerry who had incidentally turned into a monkey.

But if you follow me on twitter or facebook you've already heard all of this incessantly. I'm just so bored being bedridden and all that I seem to repeat my stories. Sorry.

Also, I took a whole six minutes to write this so if I don't get some communtz mah feelerz will be hurted.

Sunday, August 9, 2009

No one likes a sad, contemplative blog entry

...Apparently.

So here are some photos for your viewing pleasure.

This is my car in the background, named Ishmael. (Well, it's Trish's from high school, but it's the exact same make & model as my Ishmael.) Ishmael is what I'm driving right now since Atticus Finch, the red volvo, is quite broken. Proof that Trish and I had the same car!

This is me and my brother before the Harry Potter Half Blood Prince premiere, which was excellent in every respect. Although now I'm considering being a Slytherin for the next movie since Draco Malfoy was really smokin' hot in this film.
Jack is Harry, obviously, and I am just Ravenclaw Babe.

Naw. Ravenclaw for life. That's mah HOWSE, represent. Most of the costume stuff is thrift store, and the tie is a four dollar tie with silver spray paint. Isn't it awesome?!

My bffl Lauren was Luna Lovegood (who had an excellent funny role in this film)
xoxo

Friday, August 7, 2009

Maybe I should follow this advice



...since I am sleepless and all.

source: http://www.ordinarycomics.com/march2008/web/17march2008.jpg

Monday, August 3, 2009

Every important book in my room reviewed in under a minute

I LOVE projects. I don't know where I got the idea for this... it may have been done before, but I had fun making it.

Peez enjoy!

Saturday, August 1, 2009

Don't worry baby, there are Cupcakes in the Sky

Last night I saw Mount Righteous and they were AWESOME

(clicky)
Licorice Nights mp3

This was off their CD and it's one of my favorite songs.

Don't worry baby, there are cupcakes in the sky!
Everything will be all right, you're the apple of my eye!
We'll take a paper airplane flight to the licorice nights...

I love them. Their concert was so happy and awesome and exciting.

Here's the music video for, I think, maybe, their most famous song

Friday, July 31, 2009

I made it myself!

Sometimes in my spare time, I re-dub things. It all started when my childhood best friend Marshelle and I used to mute Disney movies, assign characters, and go crazy. Thus, I bring you this. Propaganda films from the 50's are sooo funny anyway, so I had fun messing with it... I love iMovie! ^_^

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Nyah!

I like photoshop. Can you spot the poor photoshop skills required to make me look thinner? I've lost a few since this was taken, but I liquify tool'd the heck outta my limbs. Heh heh.

Ssh! No one else knows!
I wanna go to Strand though. Recycled Books in Denton is all I have for now.

Peace love and pocky.


:edit: Oh please, someone leave me a comment, for I feel so horribly lame and friendless without readers.

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

On Insomnia and Bubble Tea

Many of my favorite interwebz writers make multiple updates daily, and often those are much more entertaining to read than having to wait weeks and weeks for a long ranting post. So I'll aspire to write more. Because I am an actor and therefore love attention. Writers love attention too though. Right?

Not much has been happening lately. I'm reading and cooking, mostly lazing about and trying not to eat copious amounts of food.

I've also had problems sleeping though. I've always taken about three hours to fall asleep and never thought anything of it, until last week or so I couldn't fall asleep the entire night. I tossed and turned and then before I knew it there was light filtering into my bedroom. I sat up and snapped this picture through my window blinds...



So finally I decided to stop fighting the insomnia and I woke up, fed the dogs, and proceeded with my day.

It was awful.

This happened again a couple days later, but I did manage to get a nap in the morning.

So I decided to get serious. Today I went to Bath & Bodyworks and bought some lavender shower stuff and lavender "pillow mist," basically good-smelling stuff for your pillow so you sleep better, and now must refrain from electronic activity (or underwear-clad dancing time) at least an hour and a half before I go to bed. I'll conquer insomnia!



Bubble tea always makes me feel better. In the summer I like cold jasmine tea, but in the winter my favorite is a strong black tea with strawberry. And, of course, tapioca bubbles :-)


Scrumptious.


Good night everyone. Soon I'll be in New York again and I cannot wait until then.

Monday, July 13, 2009

Things I have achieved this summer thus far

1. Worked back enough to pay for most of last semester's various expenses on this new show (which the press release FINALLY came out for)
2. Danced six hours a day, two weeks solid... and still suck at it
3. Went to the gym a lot... and still managed to gain weight
4. Started cooking a whole lot, which probably explains #3
5. Had often-fun, often-not-fun family time
6. Went to Disneyworld... FO FREE. And hung out with my best friend Kelly in Orlando!
7. Discovered that I may in fact actually be allergic to sunlight
8. Painted! I painted a big six-canvas dorm room piece and two cardboard owls.
9. Bummed around with the Attractive Geniuses Incorporated, filmmakers extraordinaire
10. NOTHING

Things I wanted to achieve this summer but failed to do...
1. Work at that resort in Maine
2. Visit New York
3. Go to Singapore/Japan/Malaysia/Hawaii
4. Lose 20 pounds (which would be ridiculous, but I figured if I said to lose 20, I would lose 5)
5. Work 1000000 hours at Funimation... unfortunately I work ridiculously fast. Which is good...?
6. Become renown and famous and wonderful
7. Find happiness

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Shark Hat

I desire it upon my head

...Eating my head, rather


nananana SHARK HAAAAT

Monday, June 29, 2009

It's a weird life

It's a very weird life.

Boys come and go, I guess. I mean I guess they have to. And life is all about second guessing yourself and asking if you did the right thing or wondering if you've messed up anything good you could ever hope to have. And you just have to keep going, I guess, and making all those mistakes and eventually you've mapped out some weird plotline for the weird trippy novel that is your life. So it goes, I guess.

Thank god I have a friend who knows what I mean when I tell him I'm "fwijjed".

Thank god I have a word to describe it perfectly, to begin with.

Thank god I have people who care about me, even though I'm a psycho lunatic.

I'm lucky to have friends to tell me that I'm not a psycho lunatic after all-- I'm human.

So it goes, I guess.

So it goes.

Friday, June 26, 2009

Hello all. I must apologize.

I could say I've been busy, but that isn't always the case: sure, a lot has happened since I last wrote

1. I moved out of school
2. We did the freshman cabaret (er, switch the first two)
3. I went to the Texas hill country and played with baby animals
4. I read countless books
5. I went to DISNEYWORLD FO FREE and bummed around Florida with my bestest friend Kelly
6. A whole bunch of other scattered friend activities, of which I took some pictures, maybe

but the thing is I can't find my camera cord, nor can I find inspiration recently. Consider me on hiatus until I find that cord, but til then, keep checking in!

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Serious blog neglect, you guys. But I promise you, an
EPIC BLOG OF
EPIC PROPORTIONS
is coming!!

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Cold bagel winter to Blackberry Summer

Summer has begun! In the past four days I've traveled hundreds of miles, cuddled piglets and baby goats, been bitten by a rambunctious mule foal, meditated on a crooked tree, finished two books and written about 20 journal pages. Also today I had a good bit of work as we finished up the series we've been working on, which kind of sucks. I'll miss that project. It was really fun to work on.

And so, after coming back from our annual family Memorial Day hill country trip, a new blackberry summer has officially started. Every summer I'm in Texas is called a blackberry summer because we have three or four blackberry bushes growing in a line in our yard, and during the last part of May I go out every day and eat a huge snack straight from the plant. Their fruit is plentiful, and now I can't ever eat blackberries from a store because I've been spoiled by the most organic berries you could ever get, growing wild from our yard with no human intervention.

Also, today at work on break the sound engineer and director made me take a quiz that determined if you were a pirate, ninja, knight, or cowboy. I was a pirate. (Although cowboy came in at a close second.) Yarr.

Friday, May 22, 2009

So, there's this old friend named Allison

We went to high school together, both in theater.

She is dressed up like a lion dancing with light sabers.

She has the greatest sense of humor ever.

She had a goal to make it to reality TV... and it was achieved. Watch the awesomeness.

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

BEING HERE IS WEIRD!
Hello all. It's a sneezy sort of day. There are a lot of things I can't talk about but that I really want to. Whether it's contractual obligations or personal dignity holding me to secrecy, they cannot be revealed.

But what if there's this big thing going on in LA that I want to go see that I'm not contractually obligated to go to but it would fulfill many personal joys? On the other hand, I think I would be sad that I wasn't performing IN said thing, but perhaps I would be "discovered" and be, per se, the first "American" to "join" said "thing." Which would then obligate me to "leave" "America" and "join" said thing, making me "big" in "____". I shall say no more.

Also, I've totally been eating cookies at every meal. This is not good.