Saturday, February 28, 2009

An incredibly superficial post (because there's too much deep stuff on my mind to share)

I am usually the most thrifty person when it comes to shopping; I don't like spending a lot of money. But my latest purchase is from Urban Outfitters and I shipped them back to Texas (because I do not trust the mail system in my building. It's hellish)

I indulged myself. It may have been wrong, but I think both are worthy purchases.
The first is a flower headband because I think it's really pretty and I'd want to wear this while drinking tea in some cute shop or something.

The second...a pair of loud, soft, ear-covering headphones that also look very very cute, in my opinion. Big headphones are coming back into the indie-crowd, and, well, I fly a lot-- these will come in SO handy on airplanes to drown out other noises. The little ipod earphones end up hurting your ears after a while!
Yay teh cuteness. Posh.

This was a ridiculously superficial post. It's an escape. I've been immersed in deep thinking. Spiritual, relationship... it's a whole bunch of stuff filling my brain. Also my brain is covered in cold sickness. That doesn't help. Curse you, foul headcold-cough-virus spreading everywhere on Manhattan!

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Which is more natural to the human being, Eastern or Western philosophy?

When their mother is out of their sight, to the baby, she doesn't exist. Eastern thought

As the child grows up, he learns that she actually does "exist" when out of his sight. Western thought

The baby cannot tell at an early age if things are different from one another. Eastern thought

He grows up to place labels on objects, and label feelings and people. Western thought

He is taught that family is important and should make other people happy. Eastern thought

He is taught that the individual is more important and should want for things to accentuate his individualism. Western thought


I love my Buddhism and Beatniks class. Although we brought up today that we weren't being taught anything about Bongos and I joked that we were only getting 2/3rds of what we were promised upon signing up for the class. In all actuality I don't care. The reading material is excellent.

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Hedgehogs? ...Wait, what?

I'm writing a play. They say you should write what you know... well, life imitates art, as they also say. There are lots of embellishments, and a whole lot of truth. I hope others find the dark comedy in my life; I'll try and help by making it interesting with a more interesting plot.

My play is called either :Seekers" or "Landslide Birds," but of course both are just ideas. Be excited!

It will include (tentatively...)

-soldiers
-airplanes
-voice acting
-romance
-war
-religion
-eastern philosophy
-drugs
-sex (just kidding. I couldn't write that with a straight face)
and
-deep discussions over the occurrence of wild hedgehogs in the Afghanistan countryside.

Peace.

Friday, February 20, 2009

A response to Trish (and a selfish indulgence all the same)

1: How do you envision your life five years from now?

Five years from now, I will be one year graduated from college, won't I? Hmmm... By then I either hope to be on a year-long tour seeing the world/country, or in some sort of artistic endeavor that pays the bills, but in all actuality I see myself working a day job as some low-paid intern for a network somewhere while auditioning my brains out in all my spare time. That, and living in an apartment with responsible roommates and a pet rabbit, and taking lots of walks, and writing lots, and cooking even more.


2: Tell the interwebs about your Aha! moment. Every actor has one. What was yours?

"Aha" moment? Hm... this one's tricky. I've never considered this before. Maybe I haven't had mine yet. But if I did, I think it would be in acting class sophomore year of high school with Eric Porter. I only think this might be my "aha" moment because for some reason, I could never seem to shake this from my memory. Anyway, we were all watching this senior kid who had instructions to enter the scene as if he had discovered a hole in his slipper before the entrance. He couldn't seem to understand; he would enter walking and then look down and see the hole. He didn't get it. I was dumbfounded that no one else seemed to understand either. It struck me then that I seemed to be the only one there who could grasp that the characters had an important and vast history any time before and after they are onstage, and that things actually happen to them before they enter a scene.

I don't really think I've had a real moment yet. I've had plenty of "WTF THIS CAREER SUCKS IT'S SO UNFAIR" moments, though...


3: Would you rather be interviewed by James Lipton, Oprah, Katie Couric, Joan Rivers, David Letterman or Diane Sawyer? Why?

David Letterman, because I think his show is quite entertaining and it would be fun to be on one of those night shows with a big audience. :) ALSO, I would most like to be on Jay Leno and play with lots of exotic baby animals, but sadly that was not one of the choices...


4: You are, in my opinion, living a very exciting time in your life. Do you feel like you live in the moment? Do you feel like you're able to enjoy and appreciate your experience?

Right now I feel like I'm not living in the moment as much as I should be. But then again, I feel like "living in the moment" means getting shwasted partying with the theater majors, which, I mean, is fun and all, don't get me wrong, I love most of my fellow studenten, but... then again it could mean going to auditons 24/7, which was my initial goal in moving to New York, which I'm not, and I don't know how and that bugs me... I'm not sure how I'm supposed to live up to each and every moment, like I'm not snagging something I should be. I'm not sure what I'm doing and I don't quite know what to get out of it... This is probably not the answer you were looking for at all... but in a way I guess it's good that I'm considering this. How on earth do I get the most out of what I have?

5: Of all the artists (and by 'artists' I mean actors, singers, writers, painters, et al) who have ever lived, whose career do you hope yours most emulates?
JULIE TAYMORE. Culmination of all things creative: designer, director, moviemaker. I want her career.



And thus Frosty, there you have it. These were probably much more depressing and long-winded than you were looking for, but they were very good questions and did a good job of catching me off guard.

P.S. WHO GAVE ME A "WTF" RATING??

P.P.S. Oh yeah, the whole point. If you let me know you want to do this interview too, then I make five questions specifically for you and you fill them out yourself. It's like a smarty artistic interview.


AND IF I GET ONE MORE 'WTF' RATING I AM TOTALLY TAKING THOSE OFF. I'm very hurt :(

Monday, February 16, 2009

Student blogger

When I sent in my app to become a Pace student blogger, it hadn't occurred to me that I couldn't reuse my personal blogs as my student blogs.

Case in point: my Mario post.

Which, by the way, I am totally disappointed in everyone who reads this because I received zero comments on my last post, which I thought was relatively entertaining. It had screen captures and everything, I mean, come on people.

Thursday, February 12, 2009

I should be a game designer

So, it's CIS. We're all completing Excel spreadsheets for our grades. David and I have already finished ours, so what are we doing?

Playing Mario, of course!

It's all fun and well until I see that there's an option on the main screen called "edit level." An evil grin passes my face.

I present to you: Kate's Super Mario level of Doooooom.


Hey, this level looks all right... wait... why is it called that? Is... is that its title?
Ok, so, um, that's a little unsettling. Never mind though. Tum tee tum...

Ok, so, let's start. Hm, we're in the castle.
Oh, ok, we start out with some coins and a block. No big deal.
This looks pretty easy. Who designed this anyway? PSH- LAAAAME.

So I'm just gonna come over here and-- wait... what the fuck, is that a fire swirl?
..and...flying turtles? And fireballs? Already?

I don't... HOLY SWEET JESUS WHAT THE HELL
Wha... wha.... .......?!?
YES. THAT'S RIGHT. FIFTY THOUSAND FIREBALLS, FLYING TURTLES, FIRE SPINNERS, A GIANT CANNON, AND TWENTY CONSECUTIVE VENUS FLYTRAPS ABOVE A LAVA PIT.

But clearly, the only way to get across it is with the invincibility star, which I have very kindly and secretly planted in the beginning spaces.

If you are somehow able to get past the hell-fire pit of death and destruction, you come to a simple staircase with a pool below.
That tunnel doesn't go anywhere. Obviously I am not a very good programmer.


Then you literally run through about 7000 miles of pure nothing before you get to the finishing tunnel.

Why? Because I got bored of it and stopped making things.
(You see this screen for about 4 minutes)
Keep on truckin', Mario....

Then there's finally the ending tunnel. What is at the other end?

BOWSER!
...who will ultimately kill you. See, this is you getting killed by Bowser.

Yes, there is no way to win Kate's Super Mario Level of Doom.
It is like life. You will always die in the end.


(Moral: I should not be a game programmer)

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

So, I really hope I get this job in Maine. I have some alternatives in mind if I don't, but here is a rough list of my summer possibilities:

1. Work in Maine at the Quisisanaiansna whatever it's called, and make moneys.
2. Stay in Texas and do voice overs... which I don't want to do because Texas is hot as balls and grody, and there is no pool at my parents' house.
3. Stay in the city and audition for lots of stuff and work some menial job at a restaurant or bird store.
4. Live on the streets with a guitar and make people give me change.
5. Go to Japan, raid one of the idol agencies and demand they make me famous.
6. Go to India, become elephant trainer.
7. All of the above...?

Sunday, February 8, 2009

And with someone else I'll hold to the ground

I started a new stop motion today. It's nothing ground breaking, nothing exceptional. Nothing, even, much different from any stop motion I've made before. Making the little movies is my way of dealing. It's a therapy. It's an outlet. A creative outlet, a painkiller, cement for the hole.

My roommate is bugging me to get ready to go to the gym downstairs with her.

How do you run off two years?

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Plans

Today New York is filled with an epic cold. It isn't normal cold, it is epic cold. Painful and epic.

Today's plan, forever's plan... the plan for today or tomorrow.
1. Read the Diamond Sutra
2. make tea
3. do CIS homework (before midnight)
4. get mail and packages
5. go vegetarian (and this time, mean it)
6. meet Dalai Lama
7. ignore the pretentious ass who sits in front of me in Buddhism class wearing a beret
8. end war
9. live in following places: Zaire, New Zealand, Ireland, England, Singapore
10. clean room

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Fish?

The only place to get a fish around here is Petland. FUCK PETLAND.

I don't even know what stores to damn trust anymore!

Monday, February 2, 2009

Further proof my dance training in Texas was ACE.



These were a fun bunch of kids back in those days.

Sunday, February 1, 2009

I WILL tase you, bro

I think I should invest in a taser. It would allow me enough time once I knocked the person unconscious with enough electric volts to run away into a subway station somewhere, where I would hide until the next creepy old man would come around and kill me.

I don't know why this sudden paranoia came on. Maybe it's because I went to a killer sweet Superbowl party at Olivia's place in Washington Heights. Now, her apartment is HUGE, and beautiful. She has enough room for a table to eat on, even. It's very un-New York. And they can climb out onto the roof for this awesome view of the bridge. Granted, she DID get it through a broker, which is damn expensive, which I most likely won't do, but still. It's a really nice place for a very, VERY decent price.

And anyway, first off, I feel like if I lived in that neighborhood I would have to learn Spanish, fast.

Secondly, my fellow dorm-er from the party and I left around 11 to take the A back to campus. Mind you, it's Sunday, so everything runs local. It took us more than an hour to get home and I've never felt so skeezed out in my entire life. The usual paranoia of getting stalked by strange lonely rapist men increased tenfold as we were surrounded on the train and I actually felt acutely aware of us being stared at from multiple angles.

Perhaps I'm overreacting, as I usually do. I'm just so very conflicted because Liv's apartment is so big and lovely, and it seems like a nice place to live, during the daytime. But at what point should I sacrifice cheap living for a decent neighborhood?


Postscript: The poll indicates that 77% believe a taser is a better investment than a fish. I'm still getting a fish.