kat(i)e's adventures in adulthood

indeed

2008-03-31T11:50:00.001-04:00

Festival Schmestival

2008-03-21T11:43:00.011-04:00

Hi Seattle Festival-Goers....

For the 2-3 of you Washingtonians who check this blog on a regular basis, be sure mark your calendars for the 2008 Sasquatch Festival, three days of indie-rock bliss over Memorial Day Weekend at the Gorge in George, Washington!! The Polson Kids (well, 4 out of 5 of us...plus Cousin Martha!) are crossing the mountains yet again to get sunburned, pelted by golf-ball size hail (perhaps), drink overpriced beer, and listen to some fabulous music in a truly sublime setting.

Here's just a taste of the aural wonders we'll be taking in.... Jealous?

Saturday, May 24: REM, Modest Mouse (Love), MIA, The New Pornagraphers, The National (LOVE - 3rd time I've seen them this year), Beirut (La-La-LOVE), Okkervil River.

Sunday, May 25: The Cure, Death Cab for Cutie (LOVE), Cold War Kids (3rd time in 2 years), Mates of State (LOVE - 2nd time), Rogue Wave (Who doesn't love Lake Michigan??), White Rabbits (Yeah, Brooklyn!)

Monday, May 26: Flight of the Conchords (!!!), Built to Spill (La-La-LOVE-Longtime), The Hives, Yeasayer, Battles (AMAZING. Again, go Brooklyn.), The Little Ones

Mmhmm...that's right. All that musical goodness in one place. Get your tickets now! And let me know if you want to bunk with me and Nick at the luxurious Traditional Inn in Quincy (closest motel to the Gorge).

Sadly, I won't be in town the week before to attend a festival nearly as fabulous as Sasquatch: THE SEATTLE CHEESE FESTIVAL!!! Mmm... I loves me some cheese.

Whiter than you!

2008-03-14T12:01:00.003-04:00

Stuff White People Like that I Also Enjoy:

#88 Having Gay Friends
#85 The Wire
#84 T-Shirts
#81 Graduate School
#80 The Idea of Soccer
#78 Multilingual Children
#77 Musical Comedy
#75 Threatening to Move to Canada
#74 Oscar Parties
#73 Gentrification
#72 Study Abroad
#71 Being the only white person around
#70 Difficult Breakups
#69 Mos Def
#68 Michel Gondry
#67 Standing Still at Concerts
#66 Divorce
#65 Co-Ed Sports
#64 Recycling
#63 Expensive Sandwiches
#62 Knowing What’s Best for Poor People
#61 Bicycles
#60 Toyota Prius
#57 Juno
#56 Lawyers
#55 Apologies
#54 Kitchen Gadgets
#52 Sarah Silverman
#51 Living by the Water
#50 Irony
#49 Vintage
#48 Whole Foods and Grocery Co-ops
#47 Arts Degrees
#46 The Sunday New York Times
#45 Asian Fusion Food
#44 Public Radio
#43 Plays
#42 Sushi
#41 Indie Music
#40 Apple Products
#39 Netflix
#38 Arrested Development
#36 Breakfast Places
#35 The Daily Show/Colbert Report
#34 Architecture
#32 Vegan/Vegetarianism
#29 80s Night
#28 Not having a TV
#27 Marathons
#26 Manhattan (now Brooklyn too!)
#25 David Sedaris
#24 Wine
#23 Microbreweries
#20 Being an expert on YOUR culture
#19 Traveling
#18 Awareness
#16 Gifted Children
#15 Yoga
#14 Having Black Friends
#13 Tea
#12 Non-Profit Organizations
#11 Asian Girls
#10 Wes Anderson Movies
#9 Making you feel bad about not going outside
#8 Barack Obama
#7 Diversity
#6 Organic Food
#5 Farmer’s Markets
#3 Film Festivals
#1 Coffee

70/88 posts= I am currently 79.5% White

I need a fix

2008-02-25T00:56:00.006-05:00

Kat(i)epo: (pressing down on Power button): I'd really think a lot more of you if you could give me a new episode of The Wire right now.

Cable Box: ...

Impossible

2008-02-06T00:50:00.000-05:00

"There are so few people given us to love. I want to tell my daughters this, that each time you fall in love it is important, even at nineteen. Especially at nineteen. And if you can, at nineteen, count the people you love on one hand, you will not, at forty, have run out of fingers on the other. There are so few people given us to love and they all stick."

-Anne Enright, The Gathering

Routine

2008-02-05T20:56:00.001-05:00

In the bliss of routine

-coffee, love, pond afternoons, poems-

we feel we will live

forever, until we know we feel it.

Donald Hall

Feliz Navidad, Rocket Man!

2007-12-21T11:50:00.000-05:00

Proof that NPR can be both informative and entertaining!

Where's the fun in that?

2007-12-11T14:53:00.000-05:00

TP : A new Seattle law makes it illegal to harass homeless people... WTF?

A Very Special Seattle Thanksgiving

2007-11-23T20:33:00.000-05:00

i heart david horsey.

Overheard at NYU Law

2007-11-16T14:38:00.000-05:00

Overheard at the NYU Law Annual Alumni Fall Lecture...

Fundraiser Extraordinaire:
"This is the oldest group of law alumni I've ever seen - and not a planned gift among 'em!"

Work-a-day with TP

2007-11-07T16:56:00.000-05:00

Overheard at Work by guest blogger TP :

Dead Silence, then:

Kit – Thom do you know any one that is gay because this guy I used to work with is now selling Avon who keeps trying to be my friend.
Me – Yea I have friends & family that are gay.
Kit – I don’t know what it is, maybe the way I was raised but I just don’t believe that god made people to be that way.
Me – Ok
Kit – Yeah I don’t have any gay friends but I think they just chose that lifestyle
Kit – He sells Avon, hehehe!

Then she finally stopped talking after I kept ignoring her.

(TP's commentary)
Are you serious! And mom says I only tell stories about her because I don’t like her…

I love the effects of poverty & ignorance… Keep going to church, the praying is really paying off.

And why does it smell like a litter box in here!

Real Talk!

EVIL!!!!!!!!

2007-11-02T15:49:00.000-04:00

It's finally happening... Seattle's losing the one team it has that has actually won a championship (big surprise). And where are the Supes headed? Okla-friggin'- homa, OKAY!

I told you no good would come of this more than a year ago. But did anyone listen?? NOOOO!

Stop me, oh oh oh, stop me...

2007-11-02T14:43:00.000-04:00

Mark Ronson is the most adorable man ever. Here's proof.

Plus he puts on a hell of a live show. My crazy coworkers and I caught him earlier this month at Webster Hall - mmmgood!

Safire on Sketchy

2007-10-01T17:04:00.000-04:00

I'm all for life-long learning and teaching old dogs new tricks and whatnot, but I really could have done without William Safire using his new words in this weekend's NYTimes Magazine ("The College Issue") :

"I am not about to yam on (“humiliate”) readers with a lexicon of making purple
or doing the do other than to note that the most original compound along the
amatory line is the verb sexile, defined as “being locked out by your roommate
who is using the premises for an assignation to which you are not invited.” This
is somehow related to hallcest, the definition of which has not been vouchsafed
to me, but I suspect it is an extreme example of what diplomats call “proximity
talks.”

Sexile?! Hallcest (or floorcest, as it was known back on C6)!! Sure, I had occasion to use these words many times during my four-year, fun-filled stay uptown; but it does not mean that they should be printed in the New York Times. Sheesh.... Is Safire off of his meds again?

Nerd Alert

2007-09-21T13:28:00.000-04:00

TP: Ken Burns WAR is going to be the truth. Word!

Kat(i)e : Heard him on NPR this morning and got a warm, fuzzy feeling inside.

TP: Yeah, I heard him too. We have been mo' educated by NPR.

Fortnight of Fury!!!

2007-09-06T16:44:00.000-04:00

Do you have the strength of mind, character and liver to go all the way??? Read on....

From the twisted minds of Pacific Standard:

...Fortnight of Fury, a (roughly) two-week period during which we'd like to
see all of you, our old and new friends and neighbors, as much as possible. We
very much want to set a laid-back, affable tone and clientele for the bar early
on, and of course we don't want to seem like some kind of vast, unexplored rift
of a bar. Regardless of your plans to frequent our beer-hole in the future,
these couple weeks are paramount, seriously, in getting our bar off on the right
foot population-wise.

And, yes, we wouldn't ask you to sacrifice your time and energy towards the
excruciating task of drinking and enjoying yourself without providing some kind
of reward. Though we imagine all your gases during this fortnight will be noble,
we have decided to honor three distinct levels of fortitude, named after three
distinct noble gases:

Radon: Attendance at all 14 days, with consumption of at least 50 total
drinks. Plaque with your name on it placed at an as yet undecided (but fine,
fine) location in the bar, three books of your choice from our library, 10
old-school baseball cards of your choice, 4 Pacific Standard beer cozies.
Argon: Attendance at 9-13 days, with consumption of at least 30 total
drinks. Two books of your choice from our library, 10 old-school baseball cards
of your choice, 4 Pacific Standard beer cozies.
Helium: Attendance at 4-8 days, with consumption of at least 20 total
drinks. One book of your choice from our library, 5 old-school baseball cards of
your choice, 2 Pacific Standard beer cozies.

Special Prizes for Pacific Standard-Related Valor may also be distributed,
which may include posters, beer, food, or Other.

How do we verify your attendance and drinkitude? You'll see. Just ask your
bartender for a card.

The official beginning of the Fortnight will be this Friday, September 7;
it will run through Thursday, September 20. But for those of you who have
already begun a streak tonight, on Wednesday the 5th, we'll count that if you so
choose, so your Fortnight will last through September 18.

For shits AND giggles, take a gander at the Drinking Robot, too.

Almost Amazing!

2007-09-03T21:41:00.000-04:00

Thanks to all of you obsessive youtube posters, I've had the pleasure of rediscovering the best of late 20th century northwest comedy : almost live! for those of you who didn't live in the seattle area in the late 80s-mid 90s, AL was a locally-produced (go king5!) half hour of sketch-comedy goodness that rocked the sets of the pacNW from 11:30pm-12:00am every saturday night. (That's right; we pushed back SNL for this shit!)

This AL bit, a parody of West Side Story, is one of my all-time favorites - all about the deep-seated rivalries that lie within the much hated "city across the lake" (and my hometown!), bellevue, washington.

"There's a plaaaace for uuuuus.... perhaaaaps it's Aaaaberdeeeen, or again it might be Hooooquiaaam... or Yaaakimaaa or Keeelso... Beeeellinghaaam! Marysvilllllle! Monroooooe!"

Ahhh, it's enough to make a girl homesick...

Hipster Olympics

2007-08-29T10:11:00.000-04:00

i know this has been all over the blogosphere for the past week, but i can't get over it. if you've never had the distinct pleasure of watching hipsters in their native environs (aka williamsburg), this parody will pretty much give you the low down.

Another One Bites The Dust!

2007-08-27T09:58:00.000-04:00

He's outta here!

Tell Me Where It Hurts

2007-08-21T19:50:00.000-04:00

Wowza, Washington! Where's your pioneer spirit and grin-and-bear-it attitude? Guess you left 'em back in the 90's with grunge music, flannel and the Kingdome.

But we're still not as hepped up as our neighbors in Oregon, California, Utah (Err... Coffee? Bad. Oxycontin? REAL Good!), South Dakota and Missouri. We are a weak, weak nation.

Either that, or Rush Limbaugh has upped his habit big time.

quotes of the day

2007-08-20T21:46:00.001-04:00

ahh, family... you gotta love 'em!

kat(i)e p: i just don't get what she sees in him. i know we have different tastes, but i need at least a shred of testosterone in my men. But I guess I'm not one to judge...
t(h)om p: i am!

kat(i)e p: did you get the article i sent you about the girl from alaska who flew to seattle without telling her parents? did it remind you of anyone? hehe...
mary griff: ha! well, at least you ran away to see a broadway musical, not an internet boyfriend.
kp: exactly. not quite as bad...
mg: but you were so young. imagine what would have happened if one of those actors had asked you out. who knows what you would have done? i mean, look at everything you've done since without that happening!
kp: thanks, mom.

Vacation Schmaycation

2007-08-19T14:23:00.000-04:00

It's taken me a little while to post these (it's a busy time of year in the fundraising world!); but here's some proof that I actually took time off of work this summer....

Mary Griff: Come over here and let me take some pictures. I need one that looks good enough to put on my wall. You look awful in all the rest of them!
Kat(i)e: Not our fault. We got our genes from you.
MG: Not all of them...

Jeff & Kathleen's Wedding in Portland, OR

Crazy Dancing Fun Time!

"The Ladies of New York" loved Portland!

That's Cold

2007-08-17T16:52:00.000-04:00

You know how I know you're insane?

You'd beat someone who chose to sing a Coldplay song at karaoke night. (And in Seattle of all places!)

Nickelodeon + Indie Rock = All My Friends

2007-07-27T16:13:00.000-04:00

Do you remember the once (kinda) famous redheads from Nickelodeon's Salute Your Shorts, The Adventures of Pete and Pete, and Clarissa Explains It All? How about Marc Summers, the OCD-afflicted host of Double Dare? Brooklyn indie rockers The XYZ Affair must have been fans - they put 'em all in the music video for their song, All My Friends. Take a gander...

Since the Griffster revoked her children's cable privileges way back in '91, I don't remember seeing many episodes of these programs. But I caught a few of them while weekending Chez Gaylord (Papa Polson), which was chock full of cable TV and sugar cereal (and my very own waterbed!). Oh, to be a tween in the early nineties...

Ten Things

2007-07-22T01:50:00.000-04:00

Ten things I love about my new apartment:

1. My landlady gives me tomatoes from her garden
2. It's only three blocks from the bar that three of my West Coast friends have (almost) opened
3. Nearly every train stops a 1/2 block away from my building
4. TARGET!!!!
5. Fabulous brunch spots to be found in every direction (because a weekend without a Brooklyn Brunch ain't much of a weekend at all)
6. 24-hour laundromat & dry cleaners two blocks away
7. The best bathroom EVER - full bathtub, classic (and clean) black & white tile AND a built-in hamper
8. More closet space than I can fill (a luxury that only New Yorkers can appreciate)
9. House Cats - all the benefits of having pets (basically, something to pet) without all the muss and fuss of taking care of them
10. Enough space to fit a bed, couch, sideboard and more in the main living space!

I heart Brooklyn.

The East Side is totally f*****

2007-07-18T22:17:00.000-04:00

Did Michael Chertoff have a gut feeling about this, too???

OK + 10

2007-07-11T18:30:00.001-04:00

Gah! It's been ten years since the release of one of my favorite albums of all time, Radiohead's OK Computer. (So old....)

In honor of the anniversary, Stereogum AND Hypeful have posted covers of every track on the album.

Check 'em out here and here.

So Pretty.

2007-07-09T23:21:00.001-04:00

Quote Board

2007-07-05T17:06:00.000-04:00

"You're an NYC establishment and I miss you like bagels." - Jeff

"There is still plenty of time to live it up before things start sagging, drooping and ballooning... although some ballooning in the "back" might not be so bad!" - Kathleen

"Okay, I'm going to play your mom now: 'Are you seeing anyone special?'" - My crazy OB/GYN

snarky tees

2007-07-03T10:27:00.000-04:00

my new favorite t-shirt.

check out more great stuff at unicornburger.com !

Boomtown USA

2007-07-02T10:01:00.000-04:00

"...there was a rootedness to Seattle that evaded most boom towns. The cautious, Lutheran, Scandinavian character of so many of its settlers perhaps helped; likewise the Lutheran, Scandinavian quality of its weather. Manic elation is difficult to sustain under the low grey skies of the Pacific northwest, and Seattle was never likely to emulate the dizzy excesses of Los Angeles or Las Vegas. Hemmed in by parallel mountain ranges to the west and east, its livelihood grounded in tall trees and deep water, the city stood at an odd, proud, provincial angle to the rest of the US, insulated by its geography from the crazes and fashions that took hold elsewhere."

This weekend's Financial Times featured the longest damn article I've ever read about Seattle in a publication that wasn't geared specifically toward Seattleites. Love it. Read on...

I'm THIS Many Years Old

2007-06-19T18:42:00.000-04:00

1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1 = late twenties!

debauch-laur-ette party in soho/l.e.s.

2007-06-17T23:53:00.000-04:00

You can't take us columbia girls anywhere. Especially if : (a) we're fete-ing the upcoming marriage of one of our own; and (b) have a bunch of ridiculous props in tow (baby seal floatee, horrendous pink leopard-spotted plastic hat, random sailors...). Made for many laughs and quite a few picture perfect moments!

Free Summer Shows in NYC

2007-06-08T17:00:00.000-04:00

There are tons of fabulous FREE concerts happening in the big apple this summer. why waste your time and money paying for music over the next few months? here are (more than) a few choice picks:

*The XYZ Affair, Chinese Happy @ Matchless - June 11, 8:30pm
*Television, Apples in Stereo, Dragons of Zynth @ Central Park Summerstage - June 16, 3:00pm
*Martha Wainwright, Chris Thile, Jim Campilongo, Ari Hest, The Bees @ World Financial Center - June 26, 7:00pm
*Rodrigo y Gabriela, Vietnam, JDH & Dave P @ Central Park Summerstage - July 1, 3:00pm
*Fujiya & Miyagi @ South Street Seaport - July 6, 7:00pm
*Spoon @ Rockefeller Park - July 11, 7:00pm
*Menomena, Beat the Devil @ South Street Seaport - July 13, 7:00pm
*Blonde Redhead, I'm From Barcelona @ McCarren Park Pool - August 5, 3:00pm
*Camera Obscura @ South Street Seaport - August 24, 7:00pm

So go get your listenin' on! Check out the full list courtesy of ohmyrockness.com.

Taking It Back To C6

2007-06-06T23:32:00.000-04:00

i went to my five-year college reunion this past weekend, which made me feel simultaneously like the OLD new yorker that i am and the 18-year old, naive, native PacNWesterner that i used to be. quite a trip, to say the very least. i spent many hours in the company of folks who had the distinct pleasure of seeing little kat(i)e grow up, in more ways than one. i really learned to drink, think, smoke, hurt, love (or just f***?) and other things with these people, and i was very pleased to discover that the more things change, the more things say the same. no matter that some of us have gained and lost jobs, weight, fiance(e)s, etc., we're pretty much the same people. should that be comforting, or sort of scary??? i guess we'll all be the judge of that...

A Planet Full of WHAT?

2007-06-05T13:33:00.000-04:00

My dear friend mo recently posted this video on my myspace wall and it's been slowly driving me crazy ever since. I don't know what kind of evil genius came up with phrase "Planet Unicorn Heyy," but it is damn near impossible to get out of one's head...especially if you're trying NOT to think about it while walking to work at 8:30 in the morning.

Help me!

Are You a Pooper ?

2007-05-31T15:53:00.000-04:00

Ganked from the mind of melloduce:

workdude: there's gonna be a new asian chick in qa but unfortunately i think she's married.
me: what, you're looking for chicks at work?
workdude: no no no of course not.. i was just saying. anyway, you don't look for guys at work?
me: i don't poop where i eat.
workdude: i poop everywhere, as much as i can!

200 Years of N.Y.U. Goodness

2007-05-25T15:19:00.000-04:00

In Villager news:

N.Y.U. picks team to devise long-range growth plan

New York University last week chose a planning team to help draw up the university’s strategic plan intended to provide guidance for N.Y.U.’s academic needs and physical development over the next 25 years.

The strategic plan, long awaited by Village preservationists anxious about the impact on the neighborhood by N.Y.U. projects, will involve several meetings over the summer seeking input from community groups and representatives of elected officials, according to the university’s May 17 announcement.

The strategic plan is known as N.Y.U. 200, looking forward to the university’s 200th anniversary in 2031.

If I am still at this behemoth of an institution when it turns 200 (IN 2031 - gah! ashrhghasrhsah!) , my 50-year old future self will have worked here for 28 years. Umm...yeah.

A Drink & A Quick Decision

2007-05-24T23:27:00.000-04:00

If you like this....

Then you'll love this...

You can check out Grand National's new album, A Drink & A Quick Decision, here BEFORE it's released to the public.

Happy listening & see you at the show!

my new mantra

2007-05-22T16:40:00.000-04:00

"If you leave the coffee pot low, you fail at life. Please make more coffee!"

time flies...or does it?

2007-05-19T18:02:00.000-04:00

kat(i)e p: whoa, it's may 19th. i'm going to be 27 in a month.
t.p. with a twist: yeah, me too.
kp: actually tom, you're not.
tp: what do you mean?
kp: your birthday is in august...and you're only turning 26.

Craigslist strikes again!

2007-05-17T23:24:00.000-04:00

So, I've finally done it. After a two-month hiatus from paying rent, I've finally found a place worthy of my hard-earned dollars to call my own. In Brooklyn. Three years ago I left the best of outer boroughs swearing up and down that I'd never move back...but here I am. (Well, not just yet... I'm still blogging from my outpost in Manhattan. Chances are I won't be giving up the NYU pad until mid-june.) The photos above were taken in my new place right before the last tenant moved out, so it's a lot emptier now. But bright and beautiful and so ready to be my new home. Home. I like the sound of that.

Schadenfreude !

2007-05-15T17:50:00.000-04:00

Should I feel bad that I feel really good about this ?

Nope.

And my man over at Slate.com, Timothy Noah, is gonna tell you why:

"He was a bigot, a reactionary, a liar, and a fool. Herewith, a Falwell sampler:

On Sept. 11: "The abortionists have got to bear some burden for this because God will not be mocked. And when we destroy 40 million little innocent babies, we make God mad. I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People for the American Way—all of them who have tried to secularize America—I point the finger in their face and say 'you helped this happen.' "

On AIDS: "AIDS is the wrath of a just God against homosexuals."

On homosexuality: "I believe that all of us are born heterosexual, physically created with a plumbing that's heterosexual, and created with the instincts and desires that are basically, fundamentally, heterosexual. But I believe that we have the ability to experiment in every direction. Experimentation can lead to habitual practice, and then to a lifestyle. But I don't believe anyone begins a homosexual."

On Martin Luther King Jr.: "I must personally say that I do question the sincerity and nonviolent intentions of some civil rights leaders such as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Mr. James Farmer, and others, who are known to have left-wing associations."

On Martin Luther King Jr., four decades later: "You know, I supported Martin Luther King Jr., who did practice civil disobedience."

On public education: "I hope I live to see the day when, as in the early days of our country, we won't have any public schools. The churches will have taken them over again, and Christians will be running them."

On the separation of church and state: "There is no separation of church and state."

On feminists: "I listen to feminists and all these radical gals. ... These women just need a man in the house. That's all they need. Most of the feminists need a man to tell them what time of day it is and to lead them home. And they blew it and they're mad at all men. Feminists hate men. They're sexist. They hate men; that's their problem."

On global warming: "I can tell you, our grandchildren will laugh at those who predicted global warming. We'll be in global cooling by then, if the Lord hasn't returned. I don't believe a moment of it. The whole thing is created to destroy America's free enterprise system and our economic stability."

On Bishop Desmond Tutu: "I think he's a phony, period, as far as representing the black people of South Africa."

On Islam: "I think Mohammed was a terrorist. I read enough of the history of his life, written by both Muslims and non-Muslims, that he was a violent man, a man of war."

On Jews: "In my opinion, the Antichrist will be a counterfeit of the true Christ, which means that he will be male and Jewish, since Jesus was male and Jewish."

Rest in peace, you blowhard."

All That's Known

2007-05-15T10:32:00.000-04:00

Eleven nominations, son. Eleven.

Single = Skinny?

2007-05-10T23:17:00.000-04:00

Quote of the Day:

Liza (landlord's secretary): Look at you! You're so skinny!
Kat(i)e: Oh, uh...yeah. Thanks?
L: You know, don't get married. I used to be tiny...
K: Ahh...
L: I used to think that getting married would make you wiser. Now I know it only makes you wider.

Oh, You're So Swede

2007-05-02T09:25:00.000-04:00

'Breakfast By The Mattress" = my new theme song. thanks kristoffer!

Out with the...

2007-04-22T22:30:00.000-04:00

And in with the....

2007-04-22T22:29:00.000-04:00

Sad, but true

2007-04-21T11:06:00.000-04:00

Recent email from the Fathership...

----------------
From: Gaylord P! <gaylord@blahblahblah.com>
To: Kat(i)e P! <kate@overpriceduniversity.com>
Date: Friday - April 20, 2007 9:31 PM
Subject: Virginia Tech

Worldwide since 1980 83% of all gun related (non-war) fatalities / killings have occurred within the US.

...and don't forget to pay your NRA dues.

gaylord

Monday Night Fever

2007-04-13T17:26:00.000-04:00

Sometimes you discover a song or a band at just the right time. The Postmarks' airy tunes seem to be a good soundtrack for me right now. Bonus: their next show is on Monday, April 16 at the Knitting Factory! And who, pray tell, is headlining? Seattle's favorite tweenage sister group, Smoosh! Oh yes, it might just be my day to shine, folks.

Sorry, Grateful, Regretful, Happy

2007-04-12T01:30:00.000-04:00

Things I'm thankful for today:

1. I'm alive.

2. I work for an institution that, in the best and worst of times, keeps reminding me just how smart/lucky I was to leave i-banking 3.5 years ago for a, err, career (???) in higher ed.

3. Although my old, slightly charred uws studio apartment was, is and will always be near and dear to my heart, I am in heaven on the 11th floor of my new building. Five large windows facing north, west and south, which fill my apartment with light and offer fabulous views of the empire state building, the dirty jerz and lower manhattan at all hours of the day. Bedroom (no futon!), dining room, bathtub, cable tv... i could go on, but i won't. Sadly, it's only mine until the end of june.

4. I've only been back to my building once - a couple hours after the fire - but was able to get a few cherished items: the nicest piece of jewelry i own, my favorite dvd, some coats and shoes (but no boots!), a couple of books from my (surely stinky) french studies library, and a few choice photos.

5. Three fabulous shows in five days - sitting on-stage at spring awakening, rocking out to cold war kids, and dancing like a fool at the junior boys' show.

6. My favorite bellevue boys, mo and zuber, came out (east) to play!

7. I may be slowly drifting toward thirty, but I still charm 'em like I'm in my early-to-mid twenties... Who knew?!

i'm still trying to process all the things, awful and wonderful, that have filled the past few weeks. there's part of me that feels like i left my real/former life back on west 65th street, and that the one i'm leading now is on some new, crazy z-axis. is it all completely random? fate? what have i learned ? what should i take away from all this?

talk amongst yourselves while i try to figure it out, figure it out. i'll let you know in my time.

Mo' NYC fun!

2007-04-11T14:34:00.000-04:00

Blog Without Forgiveness

2007-04-10T23:05:00.000-04:00

Someone sent me the following poem recently and said that it reminded him of me (ouch? probably...). It's funny - I actually came across it a few months ago in the December issue of the Paris Review. Oh, well... I still like it.

--------------------------------------------------------------
Poem Without Forgiveness

The husband wants to be taken back
into the family after behaving terribly,
but nothing can be taken back,
not the leaves by the trees, the rain
by the clouds. You want to take back
the ugly thing you said, but some shrapnel
remains in the wound, some mud.
Night after night Tybalt’s stabbed
so the lovers are ground in mechanical
aftermath. Think of the gunk that never
comes off the roasting pan, the goofs
of a diamond cutter. But wasn’t it
electricity’s blunder into inert clay
that started this whole mess, the I-
echo in the head, a marriage begun
with a fender bender, a sneeze,
a mutation, a raid, an irrevocable
fuckup. So in the meantime: epoxy,
the dog barking at who knows what,
signals mixed up like a dumped-out tray
of printer’s type. Some piece of you
stays in me and I’ll never give it back.
The heart hoards its thorns
just as the rose profligates.
Just because you’ve had enough
doesn’t mean you wanted too much.

-Dean Young

baby steps

2007-04-07T12:38:00.000-04:00

last week
erik: you smell like a campfire.
kat(i)e: my apartment building burned up and i'm homeless. give me a break.

yesterday
cashier: thank you for shopping at duane reade. by the way, you smell really good.
kat(i)e: umm....thanks.
cashier: keep doing what you're doing.
kat(i)e: will do.

I miss...

2007-03-30T09:19:00.000-04:00

Woman in Cardiac Arrest Is Rescued From West Side Fire

By THOMAS J. LUECK and REBECCA CATHCART

Published: March 28, 2007

By the time Lt. Ken Voisin smashed through a locked window security gate and made his way inside Apartment 3C of an Upper West Side building yesterday, he could see nothing through the thick smoke. Only keen instincts and modern technology — a thermal-imaging camera — saved the two people huddled inside, one of them already in cardiac arrest.

“It was a miracle we got to these people so fast,” said Lieutenant Voisin of the Fire Department, recounting the rescue that he and three other firefighters carried out shortly after 8 a.m. in a burning five-story apartment building at 42 West 65th Street, between Lincoln Center and Central Park. His camera viewfinder, he said later, “was a black screen with two white outlines of people.”

Michael Weinlein, assistant fire chief and Manhattan borough commander, said one of the two people found there, a 31-year-old woman, was carried outside with no signs of breath or a heartbeat. She was taken to St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital Center and resuscitated.

“For all intents and purposes, she died and was brought back to life,” Commander Weinlein said.

A 29-year-old man next to the woman was taken to the hospital suffering from smoke inhalation. A firefighter who helped rescue the man was burned on his face, but his injuries were not considered serious, officials said.

The blaze began in a clothes dryer in the basement, fire officials said, where a buildup of lint ignited, sending flames racing upstairs in the pipe recesses between the building’s front facade and an inner wall.

Most residents of the building managed to get out, some by climbing down front and rear fire escapes.

But on the third floor, fire officials said, a window security gate had been padlocked shut, in violation of city rules, barring access to the fire escape for the two occupants inside Apartment 3C. The gate had to be forced open by firefighters.

“We don’t like to see gates like that,” Commander Weinlein said. It was unclear if the locked gate would lead to citations.

Robert Byrnes, the Fire Department’s assistant chief fire marshal, said the third-floor apartment also lacked a working smoke alarm.

Officials declined to identify any of the victims, but neighbors’ accounts and government records indicated that Apartment 3C was occupied by Cyril Doherty, 60, the building’s superintendent.

Other residents identified the woman who was injured as Shannon Doherty, Mr. Doherty’s daughter. They said the man who was with her was Ms. Doherty’s companion.

The blaze, brought under control shortly after 10 a.m., left dozens of people homeless, some of them bound for hotel rooms provided by the American Red Cross, others to stay with friends or relatives. A total of 12 people were injured, 10 with smoke inhalation or minor injuries.

Residents and firefighters described a harrowing sequence of events. “We woke up to it,” said Kellee Miller, 28, who lived on the first floor. “You couldn’t see, there was so much smoke, so we left right away.”

The fire quickly moved from the basement to the fourth floor. Different groups of firefighters were dispatched to various parts of the building. Lieutenant Voisin led the group looking for victims on the upper floors. After reaching the third floor, “I heard one of my members say we have victims in here,” he said. “There was zero visibility.”

Fire officials said thermal-imaging cameras are carried by every fire ladder and rescue company, and are used to pinpoint pockets of fires and locate victims in dense smoke.

The woman in Apartment 3C yesterday was unconscious and the man had swallowed much smoke, so the firefighters immediately strapped their own compressed air masks over the victims’ faces. “Without the masks they would not have lasted 10 seconds,” Lieutenant Voisin said.

The man was led down the rear fire escape. But because an unconscious person is hard to carry down a narrow fire escape, Lieutenant Voisin and his team used the interior stairway to carry the woman, even though they had to walk through dense smoke and fire.

City records indicate that the building is owned by the Koppelman Family Limited Partnership, a Manhattan real estate concern. A man who answered the phone at its office yesterday declined to identify himself or to provide a message to members of the partnership.

crazy hootie vegas fun time!

2007-03-27T00:38:00.000-04:00

Quote Board, Vegas Edition

2007-03-25T23:33:00.000-04:00

Some memorable quotes from my trip to Las Vegas with my coworker-in-crime, Sara:

Sara: Every time you see someone sporting Mom jeans, a fanny pack or a mullet, you've got to take a shot.
Kat(i)e: Mom jeans and fanny packs and mullets, oh my! I'm in trouble...

Kat(i)e: There are 8,000 people at this conference...and not one good-looking guy. Why do university administrators have to be so homely?
Sara: We should check out the other conference...for funeral directors. There are lots of hot undertakers in the building.

Kat(i)e: Shield your eyes - this body hasn't seen sun in months. The extreme paleness of my midriff may cause temporary blindness.

Sara: The Golden Nugget: Where Vegas goes to die.

Sara: I don't want to leave...
Kat(i)e: I know. I'm going to miss having a TV in the bathroom. Hell, I'm going to miss having a bathtub...and TV, for that matter!

Random Vegas Guy 1 (to Sara): Hoo-ahh! (a la Al Pacino in Scent of a Woman) Your friend is smokin'!

Random Vegas Guy 2 (to Sara): Can I be your stripper?

Random Vegas Guy 3 (to Kat(i)e): Hey, stewardess! (For the record, I was wearing a green shirt dress and a short black blazer. If anyone out there knows which airline outfits their cabin crews with this garb, please let me know.)

Kat(i)e and Sara (in unison): HOOTIE!

Short People (Quack!)

2007-03-24T17:20:00.000-04:00

Little guy leads Oregon against Florida (yeah! go ducks!!!!)

ST. LOUIS (AP) - Tajuan Porter knows what people think the first time
they see him on the basketball court.
Little guy, 5-foot-6 on his best day, a body that's not exactly built for power. No way Oregon's pint-sized point guard is going to be able to hang with the big boys, let alone bust out skills that will leave folks speechless.
Go ahead and dismiss him, Porter's used to it. Be warned, though. There's a long line of teams - good teams - that paid the price for underestimating him.
"I think about that a lot when I'm out there on the court," Porter said Saturday. "Because obviously my size was an issue. That's why so many schools shied away from me. So I'm just trying to take advantage of the opportunity and prove everybody wrong."
The freshman has been doing it all year long, averaging 14.8 points per game and setting an Oregon record with 108 3-pointers. Now he's got the chance to show folks outside the Northwest what he can do when third-seeded Oregon (29-7) plays top-seeded Florida (32-5) on Sunday in the Midwest Regional finals.
"I thrive in this moment," Porter said, his eyes lighting up. "I always wanted to play in this environment, on this stage."
Porter is the reason the Ducks are a game away from their first Final Four since 1939, when they won the national championship. UNLV couldn't contain him Friday night, and he went off for eight 3s and 33 points on 9-of-17 shooting to lead Oregon to a 76-72 victory.
Yet growing up, all he heard was that he was too small.
Porter's father and older brother, Terrance, are both 6 feet. He so badly wanted to reach their height when he was younger that he'd hang from things, hoping to stretch his body.
Most kids his size would give up the game when they realized they weren't going to grow anymore, go play something else. Not Porter.
"You can be whatever you want to be. Tajuan proves that," Oregon coach Ernie Kent
said. "If you've got a big enough heart and a big enough game, you play at this level
and play beyond this level."
The Detroit native teamed with Oregon teammate Malik Hairston to lead Renaissance High School to a state title in 2004, then added another in '06. He was all-everything his senior year, when he averaged 26.3 points, six rebounds, five assists and five steals a game.
But while some schools showed casual interest - he got a letter from Florida - only
the Ducks were begging Porter to come play.
"I really liked him," Florida coach Billy Donovan said. "I thought he was a tough kid. I thought he was a great competitor. I thought he wanted the ball in his hands. I thought he wanted to take big shots. I really admired him.
"But ours was more our numbers, of what we already had."
The Gators were more than set at guard with starters Lee Humphrey and Taurean
Green, and Walter Hodge off the bench. It might have been the same scenario at other schools.
To Porter, though, it was more people telling him he couldn't play.
"I've heard it from so many people and sometimes I'd really go home discouraged," he said. "My mom told me don't let anybody steal my joy. Don't let anybody tell me I can't do something."
The same could be said for the rest of the Ducks.
Florida returns the starting five from last year's national championship team, and are trying to be the first team to repeat since Duke in 1992. They have size
in Al Horford, Joakim Noah and Corey Brewer. They have speed in Humphrey and Green. They're so talented, they can play any style that's thrown at them. They've struggled a bit in the tournament, coming from behind in all three games. But whenever it's needed, they find a way to seize control.
"They're always on ESPN and stuff like that," said Aaron Brooks, Oregon's leading scorer. "You see them running and playing hard and winning games and stuff. They're a great team. They've got a great front court and great guards, too."
People aren't as familiar with the Ducks - but don't tell Donovan that.
"I feel like you're trying to sit there and say we don't know anything about Oregon. We know plenty about Oregon," Donovan said, testily. "We know how good they are. We know how big this challenge is."
It's not a question of respect, though. It's geography.
"I didn't know about Oregon," Porter said. "I didn't even know Oregon was a state until Malik came here." (What are our schools teaching the kids these days??? Oregon has been a state for quite awhile now! Oregon Trail is just an old-school computer game, not a reality !!!)
Oregon is a Pac-10 school, with games that start when most folks on the East Coast are going to bed. Most people never see a Ducks game. They might catch
a highlight or two.
"It doesn't bother us that people don't get to see us play," Bryce Taylor said. "It's our job to make sure that when we do get the opportunity to play in front of people who haven't seen us play, we represent our team to the fullest and make sure we let people know what Oregon basketball is about."
So far, the Ducks have done pretty well. They traveled to Georgetown in November and won, 57-50. They handed UCLA its first loss, the first time Oregon had beaten a No. 1 team since 1974. They also beat two other top-10 teams, Washington State and Arizona.
They like to run 'n gun and shoot the 3, and all five starters average in double figures. They're also pests defensively.
"If you look at their personnel and see what they do individually, it's almost scary," Noah said. "They're a team that can really score from any position, 15-20 points easy."
Even that little guy who everybody said would never make it to the big game.
"He's definitely a diamond in the rough. He's been showing that the whole year," Brooks said. "We're glad to have the little guy."
Hmm...hate to say I told you so.

Countdown to...

2007-03-14T11:37:00.000-04:00

Only a few more....

Days until Vegas, baby!:
Continuing education is a beautiful thing, especially when it translates into an all-expense paid vacation, err...conference in Las Vegas. NYU is putting me and my best Operations cohort up at The hotel at Mandalay Bay while we represent NYU Law at the Sungard BSR Summit. Now, I spent approximately 36 hours in Sin City over the course of Ultimate Roadtrip 2003, and I feel like I got my fill of the casinos and clubs (and that one IHOP - remember, rockstar?) in that short amount of time. But I think I can manage another five days of lounging by a ginormous pool, comped meals and more than a few seminars on the latest in fundraising software. Tough life...

Weeks until the NW invasion:
Two of my best Bellevue/Sammamish pals are finally getting their asses out here to play with their favorite NYC gal pal. Super happy fun times to be had in late March and early-mid April: Spring Awakening (can't wait to possibly get kicked onstage); Cold War Kids & Junior Boys concerts at Bowery Ballroom; and lots of b-day parties, bar-hopping and brunching ! Plus, with more and more Sammamish alumni moving east these days, I predict a mini-reunion sometime soon - can you feel the Totem love??

Months until the BIG day:
Nope, it's not a birthday or wedding or vacation; it's B-day, the day I take the helm of the Development Operations' team at NYU Law (B=Big Boss Lady). Part of me is scared shitless; the other is quite excited for this opportunity. Only time will tell... Let's just hope there's a salary and title bump to go along with this added pressure.

...and until Knots, Knots, Knots galore!:
How many friends of yours got engaged/married last week? My magic number was four...which means my vacation time will be spent watching friends walk down the aisle. Luckily, only one of them will take place in PacNW (i'm so done with "hometown" weddings - already been home for four in the past three years - gimme a break!). One is a bit closer to my adopted home and scheduled for late summer in the dirty jerz. Another might happen in INDIA around New Years...sweet!

i heart nordic pop

2007-03-13T16:23:00.000-04:00

Billy Elliot + Napoleon Dynamite + quirky pop beats = I'd Rather Dance With You. (I think this was released a few years ago - definitely missed the with-it bandwagon - but I just discovered Kings of Convenience after hearing a song clip this weekend on This American Life (public radio + indie music = happy kat(i)e).)

I don't know what it is about those crazy Scandinavians, but a lot of them are making some damn entertaining music these days: Annie, El Perro del Mar, Jens Lekman, Peter Bjorn and John, September, Shout Out Louds...

Hmm, I've got twenty-odd vacation days coming to me. Summer in Stockholm, anyone?

PacNW Love!

2007-03-12T13:49:00.000-04:00

It's that time of year again - time for all of us fairweather college hoops fans to join office pools and make asses of ourselves in neighborhood sports bars! Though I've only been paying attention to the scores for the past couple of weeks, I'm geared up to root loudly for three PacNW teams in this year's NCAA Men's Bball Championship: Oregon (#3 in Midwest); Washington State (Go go go, you hick farmboys from the east...er, Cougars! #3 in East); and Mary Griff's alma mater, Gonzaga, or Goo-U to those in the know (#10 in West). The 'Zags may have a tough time with #7 seed Indiana, but I fully expect the Ducks and Cougs to thrash their first-round opponents - both seeded 14th (bah!)- Miami (OH) and Oral Roberts. Don't let me down, boys - make this left coast expat proud!

And let's hear it for the ONE Ivy League team in the competition, Penn. (Sorry Columbia, it's never gonna happen.)

Uncle Jim's 90 Seconds of (Yahoo!) Fame!

2007-02-23T17:14:00.000-05:00

Check out Uncle Jim's commentary on Yahoo! News's special multimedia feature on Chinese New Year in Small-Town America. He's the president of the board of the Mai Wah Society - a group preserving the Asian history of Butte, Montana. (He also keeps bees!)

If any of you wonder why I have a tendency to speak rather slowly, listen up! It's all in the genes, people.... :)

between the lines

2007-02-08T23:58:00.000-05:00

i need a new laptop. i want to redecorate. i have a finite amount of money to spend. what to do?

laptop. i've had my dell inspiron 4000 since i got back from a fun-filled sejour parisien in the spring of 2001. nearly six years later, it's starting to give...the screen doesn't always come on, the c key has been on the fritz for months, and now the shift key is on its way out. a new computer would be a good, sensible buying decision. i know what i'm going to get. i've thought about this option for a long time - i keep going back to the dell website, time and time again, trying to decide whether to finally go for it. i know it would be smart to just hunker down and go for a sure thing. so why haven't i done it yet?

redecorate. i don't need to do it; i'm perfectly fine with my current setup. it holds a lot of sweet memories: painting the big kitchen wall bright green; putting together crappy ikea furniture; cramped soirees with old friends. it's a little scary - to redecorate an old apartment is to transform something very familiar and comfortable into something brand new. Something you might not like...or like a whole hell of a lot more.

or i could just sit tight, not spend, wait for the next big thing to catch my eye. bide my time...

go for a sure thing, risk it on the unknown, or do nothing? it is a puzzlement.

check it out...

2007-02-05T15:45:00.000-05:00

It's official! My favorite pair of Jo(h)ns are getting ready to open their bar, Pacific Standard, in late March. (TONY has a brief profile in their latest issue.) Warning to Borough-phobes: it is in Brooklyn...but very easy to get to by subway. Plus, the coin-operated robot at the bar will surely spit out more than enough 'Ferris Bueller' and 'Back to the Future' quotes to make your outer borough trek entertaining, at the very least.

More stuff to check out:

The Trucks - Bellingham's best foul-mouthed electro-rock girl group right now. Though they won't be heading back east anytime soon, they've got a bunch of shows scheduled in the PacNW. Favorite Tracks: "T*****s" and "Why the..?"

Arcade Fire's new album, Neon Bible. It hasn't been released to the public just yet (official US release date: 3/6/07), but my source for new music hooked me up with a copy last week. Now, it's no Funeral, but has enough choice tracks to make it worth your while to download the whole album.

Modest Mouse's new single, Dashboard. THE band from the 'Quah has added a new member, the Smith's guitarist Johnny Marr, and their forces combined have produced a song you can't not dance to. I'm so not kidding about this one; it's impossible to resist starting a car-, desk-, futon- or bar stool-dance party while listening to this track. (Matter of fact, I'm groovin' right now...)

El Perro del Mar @ Bowery Ballroom - Thursday, March 1, 2007. (Also playing at Neumo's in Seattle on March 9!). Check out the animated film for their song 'God Knows' here.

Junior Boys @ Bowery Ballroom- Wednesday, April 11, 2007. Tickets went on sale last week and will probably sell out soon, since this Canadian duo's latest album, 'So This is Goodbye', was a favorite among the indie set (#37 on KEXP's Top 90.3 of 2006), not to mention the fact that they always put on a damn good show.

deja (deja deja) vu

2007-02-05T01:07:00.000-05:00

I've spent the past few days in Seattle - my fourth trip back "home" in a little over nine months. It's funny; no matter what brings me back - music festival, wedding, holidays, and now a funeral - I seem to have the same experiences every damn time...

There's the seemingly neverending game of "Which Polson kid is screwing up today?," which was played again this weekend. Past winners have included TP (May - unemployed), EP (August -relationship issues) and AP (December - questions about graduation, smoking, discipline, (fill in the blank). This month's champion? I'd have to say it's an AP repeat, though he insists he will be graduating in June...which means yet another trip back here. (The youngest Polson has never, and probably will never make the list, given that he seems to be the most levelheaded and together one of all of us. And even with the moderate amount of drama in my life right now, I'd like to think that the eldest Polson child is in the clear. Of course, as the sole judge in this contest, I might be a smidge biased...)

Something always happens with the car... Back in late May, I was forced spend hundreds of dollars on a rental car because my brother wouldn't let me take OUR '94 honda accord to the Gorge for the Sasquatch Music Festival. (Let me please note that he didn't even leave the house that weekend!). When I was back in August, the car got locked in a state park after dark. I was nearly convinced that I'd have to spend the night in a poorly lit parking lot- the perfect bait for a mad serial killer- until the park ranger making night rounds saved the day. The stereo was stolen out of the car right before my New Year's bash, which was valet parked in the hotel where I was throwing the party! And on this trip, Tom and I almost came to blows again over who got to use the car on Super Bowl Sunday. I was victorious this time...because I'm in better shape and could threaten him with a mean beatdown :P

Finally, there are always the questions about "life in New York." Sometimes they're asked by close family members at festive (or not so festive) occasions; other times by friends whom you haven't seen in years: "Do you really like living in New York?" or "Do you ever think about coming back?" The responses are always the same: "Yes, I really do. It's home now" and "One of these days..." I'd really like to switch up my answers on the next trip and tell people that I hate New York and never ever think of coming back to Seattle...but then, I'd be lying.

Home sweet home, right?

Who'd Win in a Fight: Crazy Lighter Fluid Guy or Retiree with Cane?

2007-02-02T16:47:00.000-05:00

What to do if a psycho tries to light you on fire on the streets of Seattle? Well, if you're a spry 82 year old, just whack him with your metal cane!

When the stranger ran up behind Gus Jones in
downtown Seattle Wednesday and dumped liquid on his back, Jones, 82, said he
immediately recognized the odor of lighter fluid.

Jones hollered and whacked Paul Pearson with his metal cane, which he believes prevented Pearson from hurling a match at him.

Two women standing a short distance away weren't so lucky.

The attacker turned from Jones and sprinted several feet
toward the women at the corner of Third Avenue and Union Street. After dousing
them with lighter fluid, Pearson managed to set the women on fire, according to
Seattle police.

The women, 41 and 35, weren't seriously injured,
police said. Both said that their hair and jackets were singed, Seattle police
spokesman Jeff Kappel said.

Jones said he had just left his doctor and was walking
to the post office when someone grabbed his shoulder. Jones said he thought it
was his son, but when he smelled the lighter fluid on his coat and heard
strangers yelling, he knew something was wrong.

Jones said he fell to the ground after hitting Pearson
so hard that it bent his cane. He said Pearson never said anything to
him.

"I'm pretty peeved about this. I feel as though people
like this shouldn't be out on the street," Jones said. "This man was
crazy."

Jones, who retired to Seattle after owning a grocery
store in San Francisco, served with the Navy in the Pacific during World War II.
He uses a cane because of recent hip surgery.

"I'm not a tough guy; I don't bother nobody and nobody
bothers me," he said. "But if somebody is going to harm you, you got to harm
them."

Peace

2007-01-20T13:56:00.000-05:00

To the best seaman I've ever known...

check it out...

2007-01-13T02:32:00.000-05:00

how to entertain yourself in the big city these days...

babouche - if you're at the corner of prince and mercer, and have a big group of pals looking to party, stop by this new soho moroccan restaurant. i spent last saturday night celebrating my old UES roommate, elize's 28th bday - noshing on the "best chicken ever," getting an unexpected bellydancing lesson, and enjoying a couple of perfectly chilled martinis - with a bunch of old friends (and a few new ones...). we followed up our late night feast by hailing a stretch limo (yes, my friends, it can be done) and heading west to manor. once again, the tried and true formula for nyc fun proved successful: elize+kat(i)e+nyc hot spots = an unforgettable night.

cold war kids @ union hall - jan. 17th
for some CRAZY reason, i am loving so-cal indie bands right now, especially these guys and another feel-good outfit called the little ones. cwk put on an amazing show at pianos on wednesday night (tiny venue, sold-out show...and who managed to get tickets? i'm so good!), so their brooklyn follow-up should be sweeter than sweet. a couple other not-to-be-missed shows: the virgins (w/cwk) at mercury lounge on jan 24th; dirty on purpose, also at mercury lounge, feb 15; the arcade fire at judson memorial church, feb 13-17; and el perro del mar at bowery ballroom on mar 1.

spring awakening - nytimes theater critic charles isherwood named this new b'way musical one of the ten best shows of 2006; and, in his full review, dished up this praise:

"In exploring the tortured inner lives of a handful of adolescents in 19th-century Germany, this brave new musical, haunting and electrifying by turns, restores the mystery, the thrill and quite a bit of the terror to that shattering transformation that stirs in all our souls sometime around the age of 13, well before most of us have the intellectual apparatus in place to analyze its impact. “Spring Awakening” makes sex strange again, no mean feat in our mechanically prurient age, in which celebrity sex videos are traded on the Internet like baseball cards."

though my favorite rockstar and i will definitely be seeing it from the onstage seats in april, there's no way i'm waiting 'til then to catch a bunch of pretty young boys singing sheik-y rock ballads. say what you will, coco, i have no doubt it will be one astounding night of theater. sure, it might not have the cross-country pull of RENT...but who the hell cares?? i'm already here!

for your reading pleasure, check out the latest issue of the atlantic (cover story: "Why Presidents Lie - and Why Their Worst Lies Are to Themselves"... rather apt, no?); the winter edition of the paris review (don't miss dean young's poems); and the echo maker by richard powers, winner of the 2006 national book award.

as for 'net entertainment, uptight seattleite is always good for a laugh...and a reminder of this PacNw native's ridiculously drizzly, liberal, conflict-avoiding roots:

"If there's anything we don't tolerate, it's intolerance. All the more reason for you to express your differing opinion in a tolerant way. There are phrases you can use to express your opinion without invalidating anyone else's. Remember that being confrontational just makes things worse. So try a "humorous" approach. A little bit of the funny can go a long way toward deflating dissent.

Such as: "Whoa! Slow down there, Mr. Grumpy!"

Or you can say: "It is complicated, isn't it? Let's put a semicolon on this for now and come back to it some other time."'

good times...

Houston Street EXPLODES!

2006-12-29T00:34:00.000-05:00

I leave New York for one week and look what happens!

Hmm...my office is just a few blocks from this mess. Does this mean I don't have to go back to work next week???

Top 5 of 2006? Pick 'em

2006-12-21T15:26:00.000-05:00

The best radio station on the dial (or internet, if you're not in Seatown) wants to know your picks for the Top 5 Albums of 2006. Vote here!

kat(i)e's picks:

built to spill, you in reverse

the decemberists, the crane wife

cold war kids, robbers & cowards
junior boys, so this is goodbye
cat power, the greatest

last year, i was uber hip; my top 5 picks were at the top of kexp's top 90.3 of 2005: sufjan stevens, clap your hands say yeah, bloc party, death cab for cutie, the decemberists. though, perhaps that just makes me 'kexp' hip - hip in a northwest, indie but not too out there kind of way...

other notable '06 musak:
'dreamgirls' motion picture soundtrack (favorite song: 'it's all over' - one of the most exciting pieces of ensemble work I've heard in a long time)
the little ones - sing song (ep)
tv on the radio - return to cookie mountain
gnarls barkley - st. elsewhere
asobi seksu - citrus
band of horses - everything all the time
dirty on purpose - hallelujah sirens
grand national - kicking the national habit
editors, the back room

silliest band name of the year:
someone still loves you boris yeltsin

From the Griffster's mouth...

2006-12-17T23:59:00.000-05:00

The things that come out of my mother's mouth after TWO whole glasses (eek!) of wine:

"When you have a child, you just assume that it's going to get all of you and your partner's good stuff. So when the kid turns out not to be perfect, you say, well that's not my fault; that's the other person's bad stuff. It takes a while to admit that your child is the product of both of you, and will inevitably get all of your stuff. Remember that...and choose wisely."

"You're a grownup now...I think."

"It's like I've always said, the boy needs a PET scan! There's a part of his brain that is just not there!"

"The happiest couples I know are the ones with good sex lives. It makes a huge difference twenty, thirty, forty years in to a marriage. Sex gets you through the bad times."

"Life is messy, pure and simple. And if one's unable to understand that, unable to just accept it, then they're gonna have a hell of a time."

STORMWATCH 2006 (Take Three)

2006-12-15T14:58:00.000-05:00

Awww, shit...

From the Seattle Times:
One MILLION without power
Winds wreak having, killing 4
Woman dies after being trapped in flooded basement

From Seattlest.com:
Old Trees Try to Take Out Old People
Wow It's Bad Out There
Welcome Back to Dialup Internet

Gothamist's PacNW blogging brethren also had a little non-storm fun mocking kat(i)e's hometown:
I Knew Brooklyn. Brooklyn Was a Friend of Mine. And Bellevue, You're No Brooklyn.

Brooklyn, once, was a metropolis unto its own. It had its own baseball team, its own transit system, its own dialect, its own culture.

Bellevue has never, and will never, have any of those things. Meet someone from Bellevue in Brooklyn, they'll tell you they are from Seattle. Meet someone from Brooklyn in Bellevue, they'll tell you they're from Brooklyn. Proudly.

It's funny because it's true.

Free Show at The Delancey

2006-12-12T12:35:00.000-05:00

Brooklyn indie rockers Dirty On Purpose are throwing a free bash at The Delancey on Wednesday, December 13. The show is the last stop on their tour and - BONUS - there will be one hour open bar before the show. Doors are at 10pm, their set starts at 11pm...

It's no RENT, but...

2006-12-10T23:25:00.000-05:00

I don't know if you've heard, but there's a little flick called 'High School Musical' that's sweeping (or, to be more exact, has definitively swept) the nation's 9-14 year-old set...which means that it's one of the biggest things out there in pop culture. Now, as with many popular phenomena (bangs, provocative Halloween costumes, skinny jeans), I ranted and scoffed and turned my elitist nose up at it for quite awhile. But, at long last, I've jumped on the bandwagon. This afternoon, wearing my favorite pair of skinny jeans, I screened HSM with my 12 year-old little sister. Don't get me wrong; it's no RENT. (Hell, it's no 'Hello, Dolly!', which I really can't stand.) But, in the presence of a tweenage girl, this twentysomething cultural snob actually enjoyed watching a bunch of semi-talented pretty kids sing and dance their Disneyfied hearts out.

So, go ahead, say it; call me by my rightful name. It's no longer "scarf-alicious" or "je m'appelle" or "I'm in the library." No, from now on, it's Kat(i)e "hypocrite" P! And if anyone needs me, I'll be in the corner, eating some delicious humble pie... and chuckling about this ridiculous week(end), filled with quality bro-sis time (that's right- TP's back in town!), b'day celebrations, farewells and welcome-backs to old C.U. pals/roomies, odd references to dwarfs, and one great massage:

K: That was the best massage I've ever had. I'm definitely coming back here.
E: I know! They hit all the pressure points: the neck, the shoulders...
K: The ass! That was the most butt action I've gotten on a massage table.
E: Well, it's a big muscle. It should get some attention now and then.

The way to a girl's heart...

2006-12-06T23:59:00.000-05:00

Deli Guy: "You're beautiful. Can I make you a sandwich?"
KP: "Thank you. And, no."
Li'l Sis: "Is it free?"
DG: "Umm...no."

Your move, December 2006

2006-12-01T00:21:00.000-05:00

2006 started off on a particularly low note for your favorite PacNW-lovin', NYC-livin' Mademoiselle. But, despite a few rough patches, things are definitely looking up as the year comes to a close. I finally received the thin piece of paper proving that I am indeed a Master of Arts. My long awaited promotion to NYU middle management is starting to pay off, by reducing my short-term debt and increasing my standing in the University Development circuit (sounds silly, i know...). Had the pleasure of watching Seattle break a very old record and generally freak the f*** out this week...from afar, of course! Saw this and this and this and can't wait to see him...or them (why must I choose?). All this, AND my former UES roommate/absolute favorite party girl is back in town and ready to recommence the adventures that began back in 2002. And let us not forget that the hostess with the most-ess (along with a few of her trusty companions) is throwing two (yes, TWO!) parties to round out the year - one on each coast!

SAVE THE DATES:
Friday, December 15th
Character-rific Holiday Bash
Chez Leon, NYC

Saturday, December 30th
Fourth Annual SHS Reunion/Nearly New Year's Shindig
A "Suite" Downtown Seattle Hotel
(Belltown? Capitol Hill? Queen Anne? Emerald City! We love it! We love it! We love it!)

scenes from a holiday weekend

2006-11-30T10:01:00.000-05:00

One big, crazy, happy, dysfunctional family :)

More pics here and here.

Quote Board

2006-11-26T14:28:00.000-05:00

MB: Charming on the outside, morally corrupt on the inside!

KP: You know, God is so laughing at us right now.

MH: You have a good night?
KP: My friend got rather drunk and made out with a few of her lesbian admirers. Oh, the joy of old friends!
MH: I wish more of my friends would make out with lesbians...

KP: Sam '98 returns...in Seattle! And he's studying social work? Probably the best damn looking social worker ever.
LB: I know! It's enough to make me want to move to Seattle and start beating children!

HH: I hate "nice." Nice is what you use to describe someone when you don't have anything else to say about them.
KP: So you don't consider yourself nice?
HH: I'm lovable, dammit!

And a special Thanksgiving addition from the Griffster herself...

MG: Let's go. I've got to get away from these people. I swear I was switched at birth.

Stranger than Fiction, indeed!

2006-11-20T23:43:00.000-05:00

I saw 'Stranger than Fiction' on Friday night, which, while unexpectedly enjoyable, wasn't half as entertaining as the fictionalized musical version of the life and times of my favorite clique and the girl who changed (took over?) our lives in ways we couldn't have imagined...

Now, the strange thing about watching someone play you onstage is that SOMEONE IS PLAYING YOU ONSTAGE! She may not look like you, sound like you, dress like you (LJB - where did you get those costumes???), but this stranger manages to bring a good deal of your personality, mannerisms and embarrassing catchphrases to life. 'Jill Flynn' is far from being a katiepo clone (no matter what y'all say!); but I realized that my onstage persona must not be that different from the real deal after a few cast members immediately identified me as Jill at the post-show festivities. Although we members of KKLL are multifaceted, complex individuals, once reunited, we definitely fall back into our nerdy, sassy, bitchy, blunt, neurotic, (wo)man-eating "roles" (especially when musical theater, Dallas BBQ and 4 AM cab rides are rolled into one ridiculous night!). So here's a great big huzzah to the cast of 'Beware: Bernadette!' for one of the most surreal and truly exciting nights of my life, and an even bigger one to the mad genius behind it all.

'Thursday' (on a Monday)

2006-11-20T13:34:00.000-05:00

Fingers crossed that Asobi Seksu will be at at Sasquatch '07!

Flannel Pajamas

2006-11-15T16:27:00.000-05:00

"This movie is all about ass biting."

I've been itching to see the sleeper hit of Sundance '06 ever since I saw the trailer before The Science of Sleep last month. Flannel PJs opens today at the Angelika!

Only in Seattle

2006-11-14T00:44:00.000-05:00

"This is very underground. This is Seattle grunge. This is our Kurt Cobain."

— Steve Kaneko, design director of Microsoft's music player Zune

**How much money do you think Bill Gates pays Mr. Kaneko to make such idiotic remarks???**

Weekend Round-Up!

2006-11-13T23:52:00.000-05:00

*Kicked the weekend off a little early on Thursday night with Sarah, my old Brooklyn roommate and partner-in-crime. We enjoyed a little grub before catching John Doyle's new production of Company. (Can't believe it's been nearly a year since I've seen a B'way show. The last one was also a Doyle-directed Sondheim classic, the highly entertaining Sweeney Todd.) The show is still in previews and not set to open until November 29, so it was predictably a tad rusty. The cast didn't seem to be in sync the entire time, a lot of the comic timing was off (though that could also be attributed to the extremely dated book), and not all of the actors seemed fully comfortable belting out Sondheim lyrics while pushing basses and lugging trombones around the stage. But Raul Esparza's Bobby is already a gem to behold (even from the last row in the house), and once the ensemble gets a few more performances under their belt, I'm sure this will be an amazing show. (Not one that I'd pay $100+ to see again, but definitely Ticket Central's reduced prices.)

* Friday night was spent at my new favorite restaurant, El Rey del Sol, with a couple former residents of Carman 6. Over a pitcher of cantaloupe margaritas and Mexican food, Lauren, Helen and I bitched and moaned and laughed about boys, jobs, parents, grad/med school and everything else that makes old friends enjoy being together. It's hard to believe we've known each other for 8+ years and still haven't driven each other completely mad... Or have we?

* Due to a prior engagement, I was sadly unable to console my despondent Berkeley pals after the Cal Bears's 24-20 loss to Arizona (what happened???!!) on Saturday evening. (No fear, guys; we'll commiserate over post-turkey beers in D.C.) Instead, my Irish p-i-c and I took in the trashy ambiance at Trailer Park and a little film about an enterprising Kazakh journalist on a cross-country journey across the good ol' U.S. of A. (have you heard of it???).

* As predicted weeks ago, my tweenage lil sis insisted that I take her to see Flushed Away on Sunday afternoon, as well as buy her craptastic, artery-clogging fast food and watch nearly two hours of saccharine Disney Channel sitcoms with her and her brother. Okay, okay, I'll admit it...a little part of me really enjoyed it - perhaps only because I got to watch TV for the first time in a couple weeks! (Do you realize that the DC still broadcasts episodes of 'Sister Sister'???? That show was on when I was her age!)

* Sunday evening gave me a couple free hours to catch up on emails and some old Netflix picks that had been lying around Chez KP for far too long. For some crazy reason I never really understood why Warren Beatty was considered the sex god that he was (is?) for every woman (and many men, I'm sure) over the age of 40. I love him and Faye Dunaway in 'Bonnie and Clyde' and thought he was great in Bugsy; but now that I've seen Reds, I totally get it. Mmmm... Aside from the Beatty appeal, the movie also has a stellar score (Sondheim strikes again!), great dialogue, not to mention a knock-out performance by (Griffster's former doppelganger) Diane Keaton. Put it on your queue, rockstar!!

Of course, Monday mornings always come too soon...and mine began far too early when some idiot from the 718 called my cell phone at 5:45AM this morning. Gah!!! Oh well, here's to a quick work week and a weekend that will bring the other half of KKLL (and hopefully a few more familiar faces) back to NYC for the premiere of the...week!

Quote of the Day

2006-11-09T12:19:00.000-05:00

Liz C. to Kat(i)e P. :

NPR is my most reliable boyfriend- providing stability and variety all at once :)

It's raining...

2006-11-08T23:57:00.000-05:00

It's raining Democrats in Washington, D.C., my beloved home state and the Griffin heartland!!!
It's raining to the point of flooding in NoSnohoCo (Good job, Steve Pool).
It's raining hard enough in NYC to dampen my fabulous brown suede boots...but not enough to keep me from enjoying a Wednesday night out.
It's flushing the Sonics out of Seattle...gah!

And (bonus!) it looks like lap dances will remain legal in Seattle.

I don't know if we should be celebrating or crying, BUT y'all should look forward to an amazing post-Xmas, pre-New Years' party in SeaTown!!!

A la prochaine...

2006-11-07T09:12:00.000-05:00

All good things must come to an end. And it's usually for the best.

Are YOU a real New Yorker?

2006-11-03T18:06:00.000-05:00

I scored 116 points on the TONY "Essential NYC" Quiz! What about you?

"You know more than most of your friends, but less than that one friend you have who knows everything. And you can tell yourself that you're cool with that, and that you have a social life and you don't sit at home memorizing facts about the city, and maybe you can even convince us, but you know who you can't convince? Yourself. Still, good job."

This is what Oct 31 is all about!!

2006-10-30T16:31:00.000-05:00

Ahh, this is what Halloween is all about! Kids (like my little cousin Paul - cutest child ever!) eating candy, playing outside in the crisp fall weather, dressing up in their first costumes...and scaring themselves half-to-death in the process. (According to my Auntie Kathy, Paul wouldn't stop crying until she took him out of his adorable dinosaur costume. He obviously find the Batman get-up much less frightening.)

Bucking the "Sexy" Trend

2006-10-29T22:36:00.000-05:00

Let me tell y'all, I'm so f**king sick of walking into costume stores and only finding "sexy" get-ups: sexy witch, sexy opthamologist, sexy porn star... It truly disgusts me that these are the "options" for us post-tweenage females who want to enjoy a night on the town on October 31; and that "liberated" women claim it's fine that this day has turned into Slutoween because NOW we can dress like hoes on our own terms... to feel empowered! Flaunting one's T&A on Halloween has become "a mark of independence and security and confidence.'' Bah! This logic makes about as much sense to me as that of "choice" feminism - that women should feel fine about turning their backs on good educations and great work prospects to be stay-at-home moms just because they choose to.

Oh, I yearn for the good old (pre-1990s) days when I could dress up as a princess, bunny or She-Ra (yes, She-Ra!! The coolest costume EVER!!!) without worrying whether my modest (or, back then, non-existent) bosom would fill the top half of my candy-gathering garb.

So what's a chick to do if she wants to trick-or-treat in the city, but not look like a video ho? Well, I for one am bucking the "sexy" for scary. And who's scarier than the Bogeyman, the Grim Reaper and an IRS Auditor combined? For most hetero men, at least, in this city, it's a certain grown-and-(I'll say) sexy redheaded Times columnist. Take that, vixen sanitation worker! Though my costume will undoubtedly go unnoticed by a majority of NYC's under-25 population, I'm sure a few of my more well read cohorts will get it. Especially when I combine a stunning skirt suit, high heel pumps, fishnet stockings and a copy of the Times with a bottle of temporary red hair coloring and a button that reads, "YES, You Are Unnecessary!" (No, you're not unnecessary....but it will make the outfit!)

Ladies, how are you going to celebrate Dress-Like-A-Whore Day????

Who will play you in the...musical?

2006-10-27T18:20:00.000-04:00

Over the course of our four-year stay at Columbia University, my friends and I spent far too much time mulling over who would play us in the story of our lives, KKLL: The Movie. During our senior year, we postered an entire wall in our four-bedroom suite in Hogan Hall with magazine photos of potential Kates, Lizzes, Leons, along with character actors adept enough to bring the emotional range of a Gareen, the slanted gait of a Jesse, and the hacking cough of Professor Mason "Cookies" Cooley to life. (I believe Mary Tyler Moore was slated to play yours truly...no joke.)

Of course, our college days are far behind us, which is probably a good thing; I don't think our livers or our collective (in)sanity could have taken much more. But now you, YES YOU, have the opportunity to go back in time and relive those heady late 90's-early 00's days with us...or at least with singing, dancing versions of ourselves. KKLL's casting director extraordinaire has brought our fearsome foursome (and a few others) to life in his new musical fable, Beware Bernadette!...and I'm more than a little scared. Not only because my dear friend seems to have some peculiar ideas about how I should be portrayed, but also because I've heard that the actress cast as kat(i)e has me down pat.

Still, it should be some funny shit. Check it out.

Y'all are just wrong

2006-10-25T16:28:00.000-04:00

Why are so many of you crazy readers-o-blogs out there searching for pictures of "baby crying"??? And why are you obsessed with this particular wailing child? My blog has gotten numerous hits over the past week because once upon a time I posted a link to this picture. People have visited my Adventures in Adulthood in Japan, France, Sweden, Lithuania, Russia and Finland (not to mention Georgia, New Jersey, New York, Virginia and Wisconsin) looking for this teary tot. Wha?????

Other odd search queries that have brought readers from all around the world (perhaps YOU?) here:

"friendster it's complicated" - Kuala Lampur, South Korea

"uny sex" - Belgium (wha??)

"chehalis trooper" - Sequim, Bellingham WA & a couple of OR towns

"tony benetatos" + firefighter/girlfriend/married/single - too many to count...seriously.

and my favorite....

"what to do for odorific coworkers" - San Diego, CA

Edmund Phelps: Nobel Prize Winner, Narcoleptic

2006-10-09T21:39:00.000-04:00

"Edmund S. Phelps, a Columbia University professor, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economic Science today for his contribution to an understanding of the relationship between inflation and unemployment. He was the fourth Columbia economist to win a Nobel in the past decade." (Continue reading the New York Times article here.)

Though I'm sure every econ nut and his mother is congratulating my old professor for winning a Nobel Prize, I'd like to honor him with another award: the Polson Prize in Sleeping while Pretending to do Something Else!

Prior recipients include:
*Grandpa Al, for sleeping while pretending to listen to my rousing rendition of 'A Tisket, A Tasket' on the clarinet;
*My dad, for sleeping while pretending to watch Sammamish High's 1996 production of Neil Simon's lesser-known comedy Rumors;
* The Griffster, for sleeping while pretending to pick me up at the airport (ok, this is a stretch, but there wasn't much competition for the PPSPSE in 2000)

You see, when I took Professor Phelps's World Economic Problems course in the Fall of 2001, I was expecting an interesting class with a world-class professor. Yes, it was interesting at times....when "Ned" (as he's affectionately known by other Nobel Prize-winning economists) was awake. I swear the man had a mild case of narcolepsy! One moment, he'd be going on about the effects of weak property rights in such-and-such African country, the next he'd appear to be nodding off at the lectern. We'd all wait with bated breath to see how long it took him to come to. It was one of the many times during my four short years at C.U. that I said to myself "I can't believe I'm paying $45,000 a year for this."

But, in all seriousness, let's give a big huzzah for my old professor...and all the other smarty pants in the CU Economics Department (Take that Princeton! Ka-Pow, UChicago!). Best of all, I can now say that a Nobel Prize-winning economist once gave me an A+ !

blah blah

2006-10-09T12:24:00.000-04:00

Updating a blog after you've forgotten about it for a while is a real pain. So I'm not even going to try to write some witty banter about how exciting my life has been over the past few weeks.

Just gonna make a list....

Netflix is back in my life - recommendations:
Clean
Elevator to the Gallows
The Godfather, Parts I & II
Syriana
United 93

Been to lots of movies:
See 'The Departed'. Skip 'Open Season'.

Got a new (free) iPod - 60 GB video - thank you premiumipods.com! (I'm taking bids for my slightly scratched 4GB nano)

Listening to some new music:
Cold War Kids - Their album comes out on Oct 10th, but I got a couple of their songs off of KEXP's Song of the Day podcasts - provisional rating of 8.5/9.5 fingers
The Decemberists - The Crane Wife - 7.5/9.5 fingers
Junior Boys - So This is Goodbye - 7/9.5 fingers
Boy Kill Boy - Civilian - 5.5/9.5 fingers

Read Sarah Vowell's Take the Cannoli (thanks, mo). Pretty damn funny, even though I'd heard her read most of the stories from the book on This American Life. Now on to John Irving's A Prayer for Owen Meany.

Been to the gym...once or twice. (The lure of the treadmill is not as strong as it used to be....)

Blah blah... man, i'm already bored with this post...

The NYT is laughing at you, Seattle

2006-09-26T21:15:00.000-04:00

Hmm, when will the Monorail be up and running again? Keep scratching your head, Seattle.

the trick is to keep breathing

2006-09-17T18:17:00.000-04:00

I passed my M.A. exam, so I'm officially done with grad school. I was recently promoted to Assistant Director of my department, no longer feel like I'm floundering at work and am now earning a salary that will help me to pay off my outstanding debts. Pretty happy in my current romantic relationship. Have recently seen many old friends on both coasts. My family is relatively happy and healthy. All is well.... right?

This is the first time in a long time that I shouldn't have anything to worry about. So why do I feel a little anxious about my current state of being? (At least I'm not the only one feeling this way...) Perhaps we over-achieving, mildly neurotic urban creatures need that little knot in our stomachs to keep pushing ourselves forward? When we find ourselves at these oddly carefree junctures, why oh why do we seek out things to fill our neurotic void?

Did New York make me this way? Or is it genetic?
How'd a girl like me get to be a girl like me?

Sarko Show hits NYC

2006-09-13T12:04:00.000-04:00

“I run. This morning. In Central Park. With T-shirt firefighters.”

So said the man who will most likely be France' s next president. I would have given my eye-teeth to see Nicolas Sarkozy jogging around the CP loop yesterday with a bunch of New York's bravest. If anyone out there caught a glimpse (or even better, a photo) of what was surely a ridiculous spectacle, please let me know ASAP.

be back soon...promise!

2006-09-03T20:24:00.000-04:00

Hey there! Remember me? I'm Kat(i)e and I used to blog with some regularity. Just wanted to let you all know that I'm alive and will hopefully back to my normal, happy-go-lucky blogging self in a week or so. Five days until my M.A. exam...then life should be back to "normal."

Since my return from Seattle (another pilgrimage to the homeland for a high school pal's wedding) nearly two weeks ago, I've hosted a couple job/apt seekers, which cut into my studying time and made the apartment a bit cramped, but was still pretty fun. And now, with TP off to St. Louis and Andrew in his new pad on the UWS, I have Apt. 1A all to me, myself, five 3" binders of class readings, four notebooks, about 20 books, eight term papers to review and I.

TP's Hard-Knock Life

2006-08-25T11:58:00.000-04:00

the best part of having my jobless, homeless brother stay with me in my 2-room studio apartment is that i get to tell him to "dust, vacuum and scrub my floors," just because he's taking up half the space. i love (still) being the bossy older sister.

just tear it down and call it a day

2006-08-14T13:01:00.000-04:00

just kidding about the earlier monorail post. it only took two days for the damn thing to break down again...quelle surprise.

good googly-moogly

2006-08-11T17:31:00.000-04:00

Thank goodness I didn't have to deal with this mess yesterday!
(For those of you unfamiliar with Sea-Tac Airport, this picture was taken in the freakin' PARKING GARAGE)

A little bit of good news: Seattle's infamous Monorail is up and running. Let's hear it for Emerald City public transportation...no matter how unreliable and limited in scope it may be.