Oh the places you'll go...

Who knew I would need to buy so much stuff in order to go all the way across the world and into the southern hemisphere.
I'm very excited though. I can't wait for all of the gear I've ordered to arrive so I can wear it all at once like the dork that I am. Hopefully everything will fit...
I got a sweet backpack, rain/wind jacket, thermal underwear, wool socks, awesome sleeping bag, and hopefully I can find the right shoes.

Anyway, I just wanted to let everyone know what's been going on.
I fly out Jan 21st so I'm sure there'll be updates leading up to it.

Happy New Years Everyone!!!
Love,
Kate

If Cochabamba Can, You Can Too!

Water is a universal human right, as well as vital to life so let's keep it a global public good.

A Poem

This Transitory Life:

in this world of change
moving is my only constant

like an independent snail
carrying my home upon my back

i belong nowhere and everywhere
making a space for myself wherever i go

the freedom of renewal calls
but still I long for roots of certainty

Towards a Grand Adventure

Hello Everyone,

So I've just sent out an email to a large number of various people giving them the url of this blog. Thus, if this is your first visit to KnowingKate, Welcome! I hope you'll enjoy reading about my adventures in the southern hemisphere. I'm still trying to finish up exams this week here on campus but sooner than I can imagine, I'll be on a jet plane flying across the great big Pacific embarking on what will hopefully be a splendid semester in New Zealand and Australia.

More to come later of course, but I will say that since I've committed myself to keeping this blog while I'm away, then I will try my hardest to keep it up to date while I'm there. Also, feel free to comment or send this blog on to friends.

Signing off for now,
International Corespondent:
Katie

Still Alive!

I'm still alive!
Just wanted to let everyone know.

Also, I've been pretty busy trying to get stuff caught up for finals and everything in order for study abroad next semester. Hopefully, I will be able to continue this blog, in fact I plan on it as long as I have internet access.
I'll probably edit this later when I have more time but if I put it up there then it will force me to do it. Not that I need to be forced to do this blog...

Peace,
Katie

A Simple Little Shoe Company, With A Whole Lotta Heart

Some of you may know about my slight obsession with shoes.
If not, that's ok too. Everyone has some guilty pleasure right? (Right!?!)
Ok, well, I'd just like to share my favorite shoe company with all of you and I hope you check out their philosophy as well as their amazing (and super comfortable) shoes.

Here's a short video about the the story of Simple Shoes.



Peace and love,
Katie

p.s. Happy Thanksgiving!

Greetings From North Carolina

Hello All,

Apologies for not updating recently. Things have been crazy of course. Halloween was super fun with Rachel and of course we had THE BEST costumes, esp since they were homemade. (See pictures on facebook)

Also, I just wanted to say hello to everyone and let you know that I have now been on a plane! and am currently in Raleigh, NC at a Sustainability conference. I'm sooo pumped about it and hopefully I will have some great updates and info to share with everyone. I'm also hoping to talk to people from other schools and maybe find out about some graduate programs. My professor who I'm here with is lots of fun and I think we're going to have a great time.

I miss everyone so much and I can't wait for Christmas to see all of you.

Love,

Katie

p.s. Clouds from a plane are amazing!

Clean Coal is NO COAL!

Check it out.
http://www.coalisnottheanswer.org

Also, shout out goes to Ivan Stiefel, who received the Brower Youth Award for his community and environmental work in Appalachia. Check out his video here. http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=603025445066&oid=29067472997
I hope that works.
(I meet Ivan this summer in Georgia)

Love to all,
Katie

RACHEL!!!!

BAH! Rachel!
Where did your blog go????
Am I just dumb or did it really disappear? I'm so confused about all of the crazy internet blogging stuff that's been going on.
Also, what's up with Halloween? We need to call each other. : D

Busy as usual. Although it's a weird busy because sometimes I have sooo much to do and then other days I don't know what to do with myself because I don't have anything pressing to get done. I guess I'm just trying to find something really positive about each day and not let them slip by. I went to Ikea yesterday which was a lot of fun and I bought some super cute colorful bowls and cups that match my plates. Let's see if I can find a picture of them...
Finally, I think that I've just been really off lately. Still having fun every once in a while, but generally I don't know where I fit and kind of crazed emotionally. I think that it's going to change though because I like being happy more than whatever this crap is so that's what I'm going to work on for the next couple of weeks. Maybe I just need to get out of the country and start fresh with some new people and new places and new experiences. We'll see.

Enough of that for now. I hope everyone else is where they want to be and remembers to find something to smile about each day.

Love and hugs,
Katie

BAM!

Apology

I must apologize to Liz for removing her blog link from my 'other blogs' list.
For some strange reason I didn't realize that she would keep updating hers after this summer. So, sorry Liz and I'm really glad that you are keep up so I can read what's going on with you.

Love to all,
Katie

p.s. Thanks chelsea!!

Runaway Days

I apologize for the lack of postings. It's just so easy to get caught up in school and activities and roommates, etc. that sometimes I forget about my little piece of cyberspace.
I'm sure that there are exciting things I should be sharing, but honestly I'm sleepy and I will just have to settle for tell you that I'm a live and well.
This weekend was actually really fun, which was great because lately my social life/weekends have sucked and been really boring. So this was a nice change. However, this also means that I have loads of homework to work on tonight so I must bid you adieu.

Love,
Kate

HALLOWEEN!!!!!!!!

So,
Rachel and I, in our infinite (and it is infinite) wisdom have decided to be supervillainesses for halloween!
Oh yes, you won't know what hit you when we come to knock on your door asking for candy.

Anyways, here's a picture of us for halloween.


That emotion you're feeling,
it's called jealousy.

peace,
K

What the Heck! How is it OCTOBER!?!

Wow.
I am really freaked out that it is October today. Where did September go?
I need to make sure that I enjoy and recognize everyday instead of just letting them slip by. I mean, its already my junior year in college. And, if everything goes well, in less than 4 months I'll be in New Zealand. CRaZy!
So I'm sure there are other important things that I should be talking about here but I have so many errands and things to do this afternoon that I'm not even sure what I have time to talk about.

On a random side note, I got a 100% on my first Ecology test!! Woot!

And, a few shout outs to people,
Mom- I'm so excited to see some of your watercolor paintings and proud of you for going back to school!
Rachel- I'm happy that you're enjoying school and I love that you blog still!
Chelsea!- You're in freaking FRANCE!! Enjoy it all for me, I hope you appreciate every moment.
Liz- How are you? What's up with you?
Pattie -Where's my Dr. Pepper punk?!? : )
Anyone who's read this far down: LOVE YOU!

Kate

Confusion, Frustration, and Spastic Mood Swings

Unlike the title of this blog, all is not terrible or doom and gloom. I've just been very spazy lately. I'm just so busy and crazed and stressed but still enjoying myself mostly. I think that as usual I have a ton of stuff going on and finding balance is a continual exercise. Thinking about balance on this particular day is quite appropriate since it is of course the fall equinox. Maybe I just need to stay organized and not procrastinate, like I'm doing right now.
Some things that are going good though:
ceramics/pottery!
attending conferences (enviro/sustainability ones)
most of my classes actually
finding some really great instrumental music (check out Mythos, E.S. Posthumus, and Robert Miles)
reading some interesting books (although I've had a drought in my fiction reading so if you know of anything good...)
making progress on my study abroad plans
Swing dancing and bellydancing!

So, I think that's enough for now. I really do have to work on my paper/exam for a class...

sending you thoughts of balance,
Kate

p.s. Chelsea! thanks for getting hooked up with a blog!
p.p.s. Rachel, who knew grass could attack!
p.p.p.s. Anyone else who's reading this, give me a shout out, I could use some hellos...

This is Your Nation on White Privilege

Here is a link to a very interesting and well-written article by Tim Wise. Check it out, leave a comment, post your own thoughts to it. It really makes you question and think about all of the ideosyncracies in our society.

http://www.redroom.com/blog/tim-wise/this-your-nation-white-privilege

-Katie

"Too much safety seems to yield only danger in the long run"

This is a quote by Aldo Leopold.
Check him out.

Off to an OASES!

So I'm headed off to the Ohio Area Student Environmental Summit in Columbus!!! I'm very excited if you can't tell and I hope its amazing!
More to share once I get back.
Love,
Kate

An Experiment...

So I've started another blog. Crazy I know.
It's called UD Thinks. check it out
udthinks.blogspot.com

feedback is appreciated

Love,
katie

The Incredible Ability of Our Minds to Learn

They (whoever that might be) say that it's easier to learn new things when you're younger. I guess this might be true to some extent, but I think it ignores how amazing our minds are in terms of learning new skills and the amount of knowledge we can know. I feel that everyone has such incredible potential to expand their minds and grow every day.
The reason why I'm so excited about learning is because of my ceramics class. The first day I attended I was so overwhelmed and frustrated that I was worried I'd never even figure out how to center my clay on the wheel. However, after just one more class and a few hours on my own, I'm amazed at what my hands can make! Now I'm not saying the things I've made have been anything spectacular, but they are recognizable shapes and decent ones. I've also been watching youtube videos of people throwing on the wheel and I'm like, wow, I can do that too. And it just looks so cool when you watch it! Maybe I'll have to find a good one an post it.

The other exciting news is that I baked TWO loaves of bread the other day and they turned out sooo good. I think this is going to be a good semester.

Maybe all of you learn something new today.
Love,
Katie

Real Fast

So I'm about to sleep but I just wanted to say that I've been in school work a week now and I think I'm going to like it. I've enjoyed almost all of my classes and I hope to have a lot of fun this semester as well. I also love being able to cook my own meals and hang out in my new hammock!!
Pictures of Luke to come (as I've decided to call my new hammock)!

Finally, I wish that everyone would keep up their blogs (good job Rachel) even though school has or will start. I think its great to just read everyones thoughts every once in a while.

Well,
Goodnight,
Katie

New School Year, New Beginnings

A new semester of college begins tomorrow at 8am and to me this means many things.

Part of me is really excited because I love the first day of school. I always, pick out my outfit, pack my lunch go to bed early and wake up early because I just love that new beginning of classes and new start of learning. I'm really excited about this year because I have a feeling that junior year will be full of fun and new things. I really hope to branch out in my classes and experiences this year in many ways. I'm living in an apt this year so I will have to cook most of my own food. I'm also living with 5 other girls which should be both lots of fun and very crazy trying to coordinate and just physically live together (ie showering, cooking, having friends over, etc). I'm taking more diverse classes, where I will hopefully learn new and interesting and useful things. I'm working with some great people and involved in the amazing Rivers Institute. Hopefully, I'll meet some new people (coughnewboyscough). And I'm also really pumped about my ceramics class, so maybe some of you lucky ones will get a Katie original. : D
And, if all goes according to plan, in January I'll be leaving on a jet plane to the far away southern hemisphere to learn and experience the amazingness that is New Zealand and Australia. We'll see.
So, I suppose I should jump into bed, get some beauty sleep and get ready to start my JUNIOR year of college.
Wow, we are juniors... blows my mind sometimes.

Good night and sleep tight,

Love,
Kate - girl wonder: ready for anything! (see below)

Boredom: Good or Bad?

Good boredom is one of those things that is really hard to appreciate because it is so easily turned into bad boredom. I haven't had much to do these past couple of days on campus and I've been trying really hard to keep it a good not busy, but I still feel like I should be out and about hanging out with friends and visiting and making the most of my time here without classes to get in the way. I am glad the summer is over and I can't wait to start school, if not only to give me something to do, but to learn! I also want to cook delicious food and make the most of my time with my friends.
Hm, so I've been reading this book called Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver and it's really got me thinking a lot about food, and the food that we eat and how I really don't like the majority of the food that I consume. One way that I hope to really fix this is by not going out to eat. Not that I do this very often anyways, but I think it will not only save me money, but it will also save my conscience and my health.
I should probably post some pictures soon. Maybe I'll get a good one of my new room tomorrow and put it up so everyone can see my cute little desk/bed space.
I really hope I get to see people before they go off to school this semester, like you Chelsea and Liz, so maybe we can plan something around Labor day? Any thoughts on this?

I guess finally I will share with everyone my schedule for this semester since Rachel has shared hers and I am pretty excited about mine as well.

-Water and Waste Water Management (a Civil & Environmental Engineering course)
-Thermodynamics (a Mechanical Engineering class -I'm taking this so I can take Renewable Energy Systems next year)
-Environmental Justice (a Social Work class)
-Ecology
-my required honors class which is basically a big research project
-CERAMICS!
-River Stewards mini-course

So that's all.

Miss and love all of you!
Katie

Sunny Side Up

Wow.
So much has happened since I last posted.
I spent a few days having fun with Alice and Margaret, hitching my way south. Then this past week I spent with 25 amazing people learing sooo much and having a blast doing it. And now I'm in sunny Florida, soaking in the sun and the waves and the reading. I'll be back to Dayton on the 10th and I hope to see everyone super soon!

Love,
Katie

One Last Note Before I Leave Civilization Behind

I'm at work, and this will probably be my last for sure internet access until August 3rd or 4th. If you need to get a hold of me, you can try my cell, but there's no guarantee that it will work either. I'm not sure whether I'm happy or sad to be leaving my dorm room today. I think a little of both. I'm definitely ready to move on and be done with this summer, but I have made somewhat of a place for myself there.
I wonder if I'll know how to interact with so many people around again. I hope so. I think I've become really quite this summer just by the fact that I've not had many people to talk to. And no, I haven't really talked to myself either, so I don't even have that.
Overall, I would recommend that people not stay on campus over the summer unless they know for sure of several friends who they will see on a regular basis. It's also a strange experience to be in this place where you're so used to seeing people and friends and such, that when you're here over the summer, it's like the heart and soul of the place is gone. Try to imagine UD without the people and that's a start to what it's like to be here during the summer.
So, in closing, I would like to make a list of all the things I have learned this summer:
-I LOVE being around people
-I do NOT want to work in a cubicle ever again
-I do not want to do research
-I do not like really cold air-conditioned buildings
-Even though it's really boring, I can waste a lot of time on the computer if I have to
-I like working with fun, friendly people at the Rivers Institute
-I never want to live alone
-It's hard to be the only person to initiate fun
-buying shoes online can become addictive
-Dayton does have stuff to offer, you just have to find it
-Farmers are VERY hard to get in touch with
-Blogs and emails can only convey a small portion of a conversation (i miss inflection and emphasis)
-I love chai tea (hot and cold)
-I can cook some things
-I get stupider in the summer
-Reading classic literature is hard because whoever decides books are classics has strange taste
-I can't wait to travel! (esp to NZ and Australia!)

and finally,
I've learned that one summer of being alone with myself is plenty of introspection for me

So, in the famous words of Edward Murrow,

Good Night, and Good Luck,

Kate

An Adventurous Ending to A Not So Advenurous Summer

As many of you know, this summer has been a myriad of different experiences for me. I have spent countless hours, or evens days, alone (or at least lonely because the people around me are just strangers and not people who you get to know. Unless you like randomly talking to people eating lunch at the cafeteria...). This summer has also been filled with pointless hours of mind-numbing work in my half cubicle. However, I have also had good times, as I have tried to point out in this experimental blog of mine. Now you may be wondering why I am speaking of summer as a thing of the past, when, you know quite certainly that it is only the end of July and, well, there's at least a few weeks left before that thing known as school must begin. Well, in some ways my friend you are indeed correct, but for me, the summer that I have known (and hated) is quickly coming to a much awaited end. Here's the deal:

Tonight my parents are coming to move the rest of my stuff out of my small dorm room and take it home with them. They are doing this because they are wonderfully nice people, unlike the housing folk who decided to put conference people into my apt, causing me to be unable to move into it early.
Then tomorrow I will be catching a ride with Alex to Knoxville, TN to visit Alice darling! Can't wait to see her. Hopefully, I will be seeing the Dark Knight with them.
Then onward to Chattanooga to visit Margaret! and finally to Georgia for a week long environmental training seminar.
At the end of that week, my parents (whom I love dearly for all that they do for me) will be picking me up on their way to Florida, where we will spend a weeks vacation relaxing. At least, that is the plan. We are hoping this trip does not degrade into what last summer's vacation turned into: 7 hours of food-poisoning hell.

Anyways, after that week, I'll be back in Dayton for a super duper week of River Steward love. I am SOO excited about this. Drew (and the other Stews) get ready for some awesome fun, campfire stories, paddling excitement and general all around Stew-tastic adventure.

Then, it's about 5 days of hanging out, reuniting with long lost friends, and school shopping, before classes start.

So, if any of you non-UD friends would like to see me before school starts....hm...that could be tough. We'll work something out though, maybe you could visit before school starts. We'll see.

I also wanted to share that when I was packing all of my stuff to move out, I found an old fortune from a fortune cookie and it was just so perfect. It reads, "friends long absent will return to you" or something along those lines, I can't remember it exactly cuz it's on my desk in my room. But I just thought it was perfect.

So. I also wanted to say that my mom came to visit for a night and that was lots of fun. It was kind of like 'bring your mom to work day' which was good, and then we ate Thai food and generally had a daring adventure. : D

I guess lastly I wanted to let everyone know that I will probably not have internet for the next 2ish weeks. I might have it here and there but I can't guarantee anything.

Love you all!
Katie

p.s. I bought these new amazing sandals and they rock! I'll post a picture if I can find one online.
ciao!

Weekend At Home

Nothing long right now, but I will be home this weekend doing lots of busy things with the fam so I'm not sure how much time I'll have to type. This weeks highlights include watching the Jane Austen Book Club movie, trying a new Italian restaurant (the white pizza was pretty darn good), driving around downtown Dayton with Beth and Mary Ellen trying to decide whether to go into Therapy Cafe or not, biking all over campus, watching lots of Gilmore Girls, and making scones at Mary Ellen's place.

Less than one week to go before I'm on my way to Knoxville, Chattanooga and Georgia! Look out Tennessee!

Glad the summer is coming to an end (sort of),
Kate

A Pat on the Back and Then Some Shameless Advertising for Others

So this is going to be quick, but I just wanted to let everyone know that Franz has some really great discussion going on at his blog. He's got excellent dialogue about biking/alternate transportation and renewable energy legislation. I'm glad someone is getting these things out and talked about. So check out his blog and jump in the frenzy.

Also, I get emails from and environmental news and humor group called Grist. In their latest email they had this little diddy which I think could be a great opportunity for anyone (esp Franz) to jump in and ask some questions to these self-proclaimed semi-experts. Here it is below:

"Let's Talk About Place, Baby
Calling anyone who lives, well, anywhere: we're starting a column on public transportation, walkable neighborhoods, urban agriculture, green building, and the other nifty ways communities can get greener, and we want your questions! Wondering if green building is worth its weight in concrete? Or how to find out who's in charge of adding bus lines in your city? Can't figure out why your suburban neighbors are packing up and moving downtown? Enough about global problems and international agreements -- let's talk about where you live. Send your question now . "

So check it out and I'll write more later. Now I'm going home to my hobbit-hole as my mom likes to call it to cook some yummy dinner!

Keep on thinking those thoughts,

Katie

(added later after dinner)

I'm not sure how much most of you care about my cooking skills, but I'm pretty excited about what I did for dinner. Now it may just sound like pasta to you, but you would be sadly mistaken. The reason I'm so excited is because I made my own pasta sauce from just a can of diced tomatoes. And it turned out quite delicious. This was one good combo of pasta and tomatoes because It had whole wheat organic rottelle pasta, organic diced tomato sauce a la katie, Parmesan cheese, crumbled italian crutons and ice cold limeade to drink. Yum!
Ok, enough about food. Now I'm off to the library to get a book and pick up my movie, The Jane Austen Book Club, that I ordered.
LOVE,
Kate

p.s. the picture is my lunch for tomorrow. oh how i love leftovers!

Not So Good

So apparently I have become a bed potato, stick in the mud, bum in a box, no good loser who watches endless episodes of Gilmore Girls instead of actually doing anything in life.

Lonely and alone with my DVD's,

you friend formally known as Katie. She has now become one with her mattress.

(p.s. but on a good note. I started packing my room and made pasta and I'm going to this cafe place tomorrow for a dating game thing...hm. wish me luck. maybe I'll take a shower and morph back into not-a-bum so I don't scare away the guys with my non-showering scent.)

Postcard from Columbus

Hello Everyone,

This weekend I've been chillin in Columbus with Pattie. It's been so great to see her and spend time with her. We haven't hung out in a while so I'm glad I found time to come up. We've been doing some fun stuff so that's good. I also got to see my old RA from last year yesterday and we talked soooo much. This is Pattie's butt in the picture, which I'm sure she won't appreciate but she doesn't really read this so... : D

We went and got donuts at Buckeye Donuts which I guess is a must if you go to OSU. They were yummy for breakfast. We also got lost twice today while driving, which is also a must when Pat and I are together. : P

I watched Across the Universe. Yes, Alice, now I have finally seen it. It was pretty good. I don't think it's my favorite or anything, and I can see why people like it esp if they like the Beatles but did not actually grow up when the Beatles together. It's a fun love story musical, which I know Pattie is a sucker for.

Hm..what else. Still haven't heard from the stupid housing people about moving into my apartment. Grrr.

Ok, I hope to see everyone sooooooooooooooooooon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love,
Kate

p.s. I'm not sure why I started using Kate, but feel free to call me what you like. Just no bad names please.

Coffee, Cake, Coffee and Cars

That title of this post is actually backwards chronologically, but I guess we'll go with it.

Cars: The wonderful people of the Rivers Institute took a field trip today to visit the Thomas More College River Station on the Ohio River and that was a lot of fun. I have some pictures but I'll put those on facebook probably.

Coffee: The book club met tonight to discuss The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver. It was an ok book and actually most of the people there tonight thought it was just ok as well. It didn't foster much discussion, but we still had a good time. The next book should be interesting if only because it's so long (I hope). If you feel like reading this 1,000 page monster, it's Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follet.

Cake: I went to the grocery earlier today and bought some whipped cream to go with my red raspberries that I picked and the angel food cake I had. Emily and I ate that after the book club and it was DELICIOUS! I just LOVE fresh fruit, esp in the summertime.

Coffee (again): So a one Mr. Drew Morrison has got me on a mission to seek out all of the cool coffeehouses and cafes in the Dayton area which I have compiled a list for. I'm thinking that it will be really fun to go to each one with a few people and rate them all by different things. Kind of like we are food critics. Like we can rate them on atmosphere, friendliness, coffee/chai, location, etc... I think this will be a very good investment in moving away from the campus bubble. Any takers?

Finally, I don't really have any major thoughts but I do want to say that I am not just a number and I would rather be judged by who I really am and not by my social security number and GPA and bank account balance. Granted those things are part of me, but they do not define me. I'd like to think that the book of who I am has much more to it than what might appear on the cover.

I also think that traveling is important and so is reflection on experiences and oneself because it's always important to know oneself.

Tired but content for now,
Kate (or Katie, or KT, or Katherine, the choice is yours)

A Robot Has Stolen My Heart!

Yesterday I went to see WALL-E with my family and I LOVED it.
He was soooo cute and the movie was lots of fun.
It was funny and sad and adventurous.
I also really liked that there were some important social issues addressed in the movie. They did an excellent job of presenting issues in a way that would make sense to everyone but was also subtle.

I think I'm going to go see it again.

Well, I guess I need to talk to my family so I'll post more later.

yours,
Kate

Photo Frenzy

So lots of pictures tonight.

First we have my porch room made of sheets that reminds me of sheet-tents we used to make as kids. Basically this is where I slept while at the lake with my family because there was no place else for me to go. It was actually lots of fun!
This is us bike riding in Yellow Springs. It was sooo fun. Liz, Emily, Jon and I went for a nice 16mile ride or so. Then we ate delicious pizza at HaHa's.
The bike path.

Stopping for water and a break.
Sheesh, this picture makes me dizzy just looking at it.
The most people I've ever seen at Riverscape!
Fireworks from downtown tonight! They were pretty cool, and CityFolk was fun too. Although a bit crowded.
Going home now for the 4th so I'll write more later.

Thinking of everyone and hoping you are all safe and happy.
Kate

Summer Apex -- A Poem

July first is the high noon of summer
It's been climbing to the top of my calendar for a month
waiting, rising, intensifying
I feel its bright and lonely scorcher sear
my alabaster, ginger-pale skin reddens
This July first brings both deadly UV and change
Here it comes
following closely behind this cronological apex
I gaze east and see August like a pale full moon
filled with promises
escape, nights of cool lunacy, you.
These 31 days can't fall off the horizon fast enough.

No Words

What if....

What if I signed up for a ceramics class to learn how to use the pottery wheel?

Cuz I think I'm slightly crazy for just doing that. Not that 22 credits is a lot or anything... ; )

Oops.

Maybe I'll make you something.

Sorry if it's lopsided.

Sorry if I don't know what I want.

Sorry if I can't stand grey cubicles.

Sorry if I hate my research job.

Sorry because all I can think about is laying out my towel in Humanities and not getting up until school starts.

But honestly, I'm not sorry. Except maybe for the lopsided part...

Hmm.

This has transformed into quite a strange post.

Perhaps I should not drink two Dr.Pepper's in one day.

Or, perhaps I'm slowly going insane. : 0

Always a possiblity.

Until my next spastic episode.

Almost all my love, (because Dr.Pepper and his tastyness has stolen some)
KT

It's Business Time

The new van.
Need I say more?




-Kate

"Jam, let's jam" - from the Glass of Milk and the Ovaltines ArtStreet Jam CD

Let me tell you a story.
Once upon a time, I was productive. Then I got a job at a research place and productivity fell to about 5%.

So this past Friday I went home and got ready to go to the lake with my family. On Saturday we drove up to the lake and got settled into our cozy cabin that is my 2nd home. (I've been staying for a week at this cabin every summer since my birth.) This year we made this really cute and fun 'tent' out on the back porch because there were not enough bedrooms for everyone. I'll get a picture of it tomorrow when I go back up to the lake. Sunday, Monday and Tuesday I spent time with my extended family sailing, eating, boating, swimming, eating, talking and just doing all of the normal jamboree things that go on at the lake. It's kind of hard to explain what the lake is like without first hand experience. I did go sailing twice with my dad which was great because it was kind of like a father's day redo and also because I don't spend enough time with him. Someday I'll have to have him really show me how to sail. (I mean I kind of know how, but not like he does). I also spent time cooking with my mom. We made 6 pies with the help of my brother's girlfriend, which was fun and delicious. I also got attacked by lots of insects that decided they really liked me. Esp. cicadas, ick.

The rest of this week has been pretty chill. I've been getting together some of my study abroad stuff and financial aid. Just boring things like that. I am going kayaking today with the Rivers Institute people so that will be super! I think we're going to try kayaking on a different part of the river than we normally do so that should be exciting.

Finally, I would like leave you with some thoughts on life.
As one of my favorite book quotes says: Love as thou wilt.
And that means in all aspects of your life. It's kind of like saying, put love at the forefront of your life and just accept love in all its forms. I don't know if I'm explaining this very well so maybe Alice can help me out cuz I know she's read the Kushiel books by Jacquline Carey, which is where the quote is from. I just really like that these people value love above everything else.

Love,
Kate

Fond Fairwell For Now

Just wanted to update real quick.
I'm sorry for throwing out all that nonviolence, philosophy, deep thinking stuff all at once.
Also, I'm going to be gone this weekend with my family until around Tuesday so hopefully that will be fun and I'll have lots of pictures to post.

yours,
Kate

Satyagraha

Tonight we had the second meeting of our little book club. I thoroughly enjoyed our discussion and despite the fact that we talked for almost 2 hours, I think we could have talked for so much longer. The book we read was called Nonviolence: The History of a Dangerous Idea by Mark Kurlansky. Now, I did enjoy the book and I thought was good and I would recommend it, but I enjoyed the discussion so much more. I think I might get into some of the topics that we discussed, but I do have several quotes and ideas that Kurlansky brings up which I would like to post here so that you can ponder them as well. (Also, if I put quotation marks around text that means it is from the book and I'll include the page #'s if anyone really wants to take this further)

The first major point is that there is no word for nonviolence. "While every major language has a word for violence, there is no word to express the idea of nonviolence except that it is not another idea, it is not violence. In Sanskrit, the word for violence is himsa, harm, and the negation of himsa, just as nonviolence is the negation of violence, is ahimsa -- not doing harm. But if ahimsa is "not doing harm," what is it doing?" (pg.5)
This leads him to the question: "If we lived in a world that had no word for war other than nonpeace, what kind of world would that be?" (pg.6)
Which then leads him to: "Mohandas Gandhi invented a word for it, satyagraha, from satya, meaning truth. Satyagraha according to Gandhi, literally means 'holding on to truth' or 'truth force.' Interestingly, although Gandhi's teachings and techniques have had a huge impact on political activists around the world, his word for it, satyagraha, has never caught on." (pg.7)
To this I say, then let us take it up again and make it catch on.

Another point Kurlansky makes is that "peoples who got to war tend to become mirror images of their enemy" (pg.43)
What he means by this is that "in war one becomes what the enemy is accused of being." (pg.139) And what he means by this is that both sides become the monsters that the other accuses them of being. Does that make sense? I feel like it might be a bit confusing.

I also really agree with him when he says, "the cause of perpetual war lies not in the nature of man but in the nature of power." (pg.51)

Something else he discusses is the quote unquote founding fathers of the U.S. and the Constitution. He says "But they knew that they and their work were flawed. Jefferson, too, believed in the perfectibility of humans, or at least that they would steadily grow wiser, and wrote that the Constitution should be rewritten in every generation to avoid having society 'remain ever under the regimen of their barbarous ancestors.'"
I have always thought this and wondered why we hold up the Constitution and its authors as these unquestionable and perfect items. Were they not just like us today? Now I'm not saying the Constitution is terrible and that we should just throw it out, but that like the Bible and the Koran and the Torah, and any other text written by humans, it should be acknowledged that it in fact WAS written by humans and being thus is imperfect.

Now to get back to satyagraha.
He says "Only if the nonviolent side has the discipline to avoid slipping into violence does it 'win'....The moment the nonviolent adversary accepts violence...then it has been conceded that violence is acceptable, and its only a question of who has the greater physical force." (pg.162).
Something that goes along with this and that I think few people truly realize and understand is that satyagraha takes incredible courage and is not an easy pacifist, inactive engagement.

Two examples of active "nonviolence" he gives:
This one is talking about a man named Bayard Rustin who was marching against the Korean War in 1951. "he was attacked with a stick by an angry spectator. Rustin handed him a second stick and asked him if he wanted to use both. The attacker threw both sticks down." (pg.154)
I think that is a powerful statement and takes tremendous courage.
Then, "A.J. Muste, borrowing an idea from Thoreau, refused to pay his taxes starting on January 1, 1948. Each year he sent the IRS a letter explaining why he was neither filing nor paying. The IRS did not even respond for the first 3 years, and did not charge him until 1960, at which point they said he owed $1,165, plus penalties. Finally the court ruled that he could not be charged the penalties as he was following his conscience, though he did owe the taxes. But they had no way of collecting, since Muste owned nothing and did not even have a bank account." (pg.157)
This makes me think a lot.
I don't really want to own anything or have a bank account. What would that be like?

There are many other great examples of big and small movements and instances of people choosing nonviolence, whether individually or as groups, but I will not relate those here. If you want them I can point you to a few, or you can explore them for yourself. I personally find the non-Western and lesser known ones to be the most compelling, but I'll get on with it.
One of the last thing Kurlansky discusses before the end of the book where he gives the "Twenty-Five Lessons" is this:
"Both sides claim that God is on their side, but the god cited is a god of killing not found in the religions of either side. 'The issue,' said Kenneth Kuanda, 'is not whether God is on our side, but if we are on God's side.'"
This, I think, is something very powerful to be considered.

So here are a select few of his Twenty-Five Lessons:
1. There is no proactive word for nonviolence.
(I would argue that satyagraha is that word)
4. Once a state takes over a religion, the religion loses its nonviolent teachings.
5. A rebel can be defanged and co-opted by making him a saint after he is dead.
(Take MLKJ for example.)
12. The state imagines it is impotent without a military because it cannot conceive of power without force.
(What are some other very powerful tools other than force?: Love, compassion, empathy, greed, intelligence, boycott, etc)
25. The hard work of beginning a movement to end war has already begun.


Good Night and Good Luck,
Kate

Hm...

Hey Everyone,

Sorry for not posting in a while. I haven't really been in the mood to blog lately. Plus I've been kind of busy, although not really. Anyways, I'm actually not really in the mood to blog now either so maybe I'll write tomorrow during work.
Thanks to everyone for the comments to my last post. Hopefully there will be further discussion all around on these engaging topics.

As for me. I'm feeling pretty useless in general.

One good note though, the pool at the rec will open tomorrow, so maybe I can finally start my swimming schedule I had all planned for the summer.

Love,
Kate

p.s. I do have a picture though

Swing, Swing and the Philosophy of Changing Minds

So yesterday I went kayaking again. That seems to be a reoccuring theme does it not...
It was lots of fun though and we had a blast despite the hot sun. I think kayaking has become one way that I've been able to get through this summer. It keeps me connected to the river and away from offices, the color grey and unproductivity.
After our watery trip, Emily and I ate dinner at the wednesday night dinners that some of the other students on campus are hosting. I brought one of the loaves of zucchini bread that I had made earlier, and everyone LOVED it! I was amazed. I mean, it was pretty good, but there wasn't any left after dinner. Hm...I guess that means I can sort of make zucchini bread now. Cool.
Then I did laundry because it was getting to the point of absolute necessity. I think all of you know what that means. Cough*nounderwear*Cough
And while I was doing laundry I ran into (although not literally) Kevin, who I knew was on campus but had not had a chance to talk to yet. So we chatted about work and other things. It was good. However, I was supposed to watch Memento with Beth, but by the time I was done watching Keving iron (hahaha! yeah, if you know Kevin you'll be laughing too) Beth was already tired so no movie. tear. We'll watch it soon though, because I've heard good things about it.

Then today I drove out to WPAFB and attended this workshop, conference, seminar thing that included 3 speakers, lunch and a keynote speaker during lunch. The morning speakers were good and I actually knew one of them so that was interesting. The topic/theme was energy and specifically how it related to engineering (despite the fact that I am not an engineer). Acutally, I was the youngest person there. *shrug* It was a worthwhile experience. Then lunch was good except for the fact that I asked for a vegetarian meal and then had to wait an extra 5-10 minutes for them to make something and then bring it out. By this time though everyone else was mostly done. And they brought me linguine in a butter sauce covered with mushrooms. Gross. I do not like mushrooms because they have spores. Ew. Spores are just gross. Seriously people. SPORES! Just think about that for a while. The keynote speaker was very interesting though because he worked for the state of Ohio and had some important information about how Ohio is addressing various energy issues. One thing that I found very positive was that somehow (I think he said through some sort of tobacco lawsuit or something, I'll find out) they have $5 billion to put towards building and refabing schools. BUT the catch is that all of the schools have to meet LEED Silver certification at the very least. This is not only good because it helps schools, promotes LEED, and works towards environmental sustainability, but it also encourages more people/businesses in Ohio to get LEED certification so they can actually build these schools.

Ok, enough ranting about LEED. It was a good morning/lunch overall even though I got a stain on my shirt. (Does this always happen to anyone else?)

That takes us to about now. I'm at work. I've done some stuff, but not much. I've listened to some NPR and some music. And that's about it.
Tonight though should be good because Beth and I are going to meet up with some friends and go to this swing dancing event! Yes Drew and Pete, we're going to swing dance without you. Wish you could come but...you chose to leave the country and so must live with that decision. It should be lots of fun though.

Then tomorrow I'm going to eat perogies!! Which are delicious and if you don't know what they are look them up. Then Saturday Miss Alice will be here!

Other then that, not much has been happening.
One thing I have been thinking about though is that I kind of wish/regret that I had chosen to go to a more liberal school. Now I know that there are liberal minded people here and all but, I just think that maybe I could be profecting my protesting skills and getting more substantial goals accomplished related to environmental sustainability and justice and peace and nonviolence. However, maybe it's good that I'm here so that I can change people's minds here, but that is one hard task. I really bothers me that some people want to hear/care about is the $bottom line. Seriously people, money is the last thing that is important. Now I don't really want to have the debate about money, but I really think that if people just thought about the economy, business, profits, capitalism and the politics in an unconventional and creative manner instead of perpetuating the cycle of cutthroat capitalism then maybe we could solve some of the world's truly pressing and important problems. Any thoughts?

I will let you get back to your life now, but one thing that I would challenge everyone to think about: What is the big picture? And I mean think about this in relation to everything and anything.

introspectivly yours,
Kate

True Love

I FREAKING LOVE DR. PEPPER SO MUCH!

ok, so I'm realllly bored at work, but my trusty Dr. Pepper is sustaining me.

That and the knowledge that I will be out on the river in about an hour and a half.

I love the river too.

There's just a lot of love going on here. Except love for work that is...

lovingly yours,

Kate

Where the Sidewalk Ends

I think that as much as I was/am unsure about blogging and all that it implies, I'm glad for it. It gives me a way to contact everyone and also allows me to peak into the experiences of those far away.
I also think it's cool that while others are away in far off lands trying new things and new foods, I can still be here and try new foods. Today I baked some zucchini bread. I had an extra zucchini to use and I didn't feel like just eating it so I baked it up with lots of sugar and flour and eggs. It's not quite as zucchini'y as I would like it to be, since I only had one zucchini, but it's still tasty. (See the picture below that Emily took of my messy table in the lounge : D) I'm also excited because I bought this Indian food called Dal Makhani which I'm going to try soon. It's supposed to be lentils and kidney beans and tomatoes and ginger. Did I already talk about this? I feel like I have but I don't want to look at my old posts to find out.

Ok, so below is a sidewalk that just ends. It made me think of Shel Silverstein and I wanted to share.

Today after work and pilates Emily and I went to this "after work" social thing for interns in the area. It was ok. They had it at this fancy restaurant and we got free appetizers, so that was good. I apparently have this mentor lady who graduated from my school a couple of years ago. I guess this should be cool. I'm just looking forward to the free baseball tickets.

Hm...so, that's mostly it for tonight. I finished my book Kushiel's Scion tonight and it was so good. I'm sad that it's over but I have already ordered the next one so I shall be back with the characters soon enough. I have to start reading the book for the book club though, so other things must wait.

I suppose I will go and read. Hope to hear from all of you soon.



Hugs!

Kate

Berries Galore!

Hm, where did I leave off...
Ok, well, Sunday I slept in and then me, Beth, Mary Ellen, and Dave drove to the strawberry festival. We had a lot of fun there even though it was, to quote them "hot as balls". Really though it was ridiculously hot there in the sun. In the shade it was ok. So we ended up eating lots of strawberry treats and drinking strawberry smoothies to fill our bellies and attempt to cool off. Below is a picture to show the festivalness.

This is a picture of the world's largest strawberry. My mom is still trying to figure out if this is legit or not.
Look how big it is!

So that was that.
Here are some pictures from today.
This is my shadow waving to everyone.
HELLo!

Here is a statue I found while walking around this very peaceful garden. I really liked it.

Sigh...even the trash cans and mailboxes have paired off.
SKY!So this morning I went to IKEA and hung out with my mom, brother, aunt and cousins. We had a great time eating breakfast and walking around. I did buy some cool stuff including these awesome rainbow plates, a can opener, a cheese grater, a whisk and a really awesome stainless steel bowl.

Okie Dokie. I think that's all. No deep thoughts tonight. (Not that I don't have any of course :D)

yours,
Kate

See Katie Kayak!

Ok, so yesterday was lots of fun!
In the morning I had a phone conference with my boss and another professor in New York state. We talked about surveys and other such things. This was pretty good and it kind of got me excited about my project again.

Then, we had a little party at my other job for one of the guys who had received a big award that day. So that was fun too.

THEN! We got out the kayaks and put them in the river and had a great time! It was just me, Emily, Liz and Tim but it was so amazing. I forgot how much I missed being out on the river. Liz was a little nervous cuz it was really windy and the river was up a lot because of the rain we've been having but we were just fine. In fact at one point there were almost some mini rapids. Nothing nearly dangerous but still exciting because usually its just flat with a slow current.
I was planning to jump in and swim but by the end I was kind of tired and plus it wasn't a very good spot for it, so I'll do that next time.
We also decided that we're going to try and go out at least once a week if we can! This not only means loads of fun but also huge biceps like Dusty! (Oh yeah, he gave me a hug today, I know you're so jealous Drew : D)

So then after I came back and showered I hung around and ate some really yummy nachos I made for dinner. These were not just any nachos because they had refried beans, salsa and cheese! Yum!

After that around 8:45, Beth, Mary Ellen and I drove to a nearby drive-in. We were a little worried about the area of town it was in, but it ended up being just fine (mostly). We saw Kung-Fu Panda and Indiana Jones. They were both good, but I think we had such a good time because it was a beautiful night, we snuck in lots of snacks and it was just great to hang out and make fun of the movies. I'm glad that Mary Ellen had such a good time though because she had never been to a drive in before. Maybe we'll get to go back soon then.

I was pretty tired this morning then because we were up so late last night. But this morning I got up and the three of us plus Dave went to a paddle, kayak thing at one of the parks around here. We meet Emily and Liz there who were working a table/booth. The weather was really gross and rainy, but we still tried out some of the kayaks, which was fun. I had to take over working the table with Tim for a while. After that, nothing much happened. Mostly I had to drive a huge van back which I was proud of myself for doing. Then I took a nap and hung out with Beth and watched 10 things I hate about you.

Oh, and we saw these two crazy guys out Beth's window dancing around with these light up ball things. And we were so curious that we (me, Beth and Anna) took a walk to see what they were doing. At first we thought they were training to be Jedi's because they were all like, swoosh, spin dance, lighted colorful balls on ropes, we're cool. But when we got close it was just these two crazy students dancing around in the parking lot jamming out to some music coming from there car.
Oh the strange things that people do late at night to amuse themselves....

Now to sleep because we are going to a festival tomorrow. So much fun to be had!

Photos:
Good song I was listening to at work.

Smile!
Kate

Drive-In

Long day, long night, early morning tomorrow so I'll type later about what all happened today.

peace,
kate

Tofu and Orange Tic-Tacs

I made dinner tonight.

That may sound insignificant, but it wasn't. When I say I made dinner, I mean, I cooked for 5 people and we ate and it tasted pretty darn good. : )

When I went to the grocery store earlier this week and bought lots of good food, I knew that I wanted to make a big stir fry dinner. So I bought stuff to do it and tonight, I did it!

I cooked brown rice all by my self. I was really nervous about it and worried that I would ruin it, and you know, you can't really have stir fry without the stir right? (I'm assuming that the rice is the stir, although the vegetables are not really fried so...)
However, despite a little longer cooking time than expected since I didn't have the heat high enough, the rice actually turned out good. It wasn't crunchy and was just sticky enough. Although I must admit since it was my first time I did get a bunch of rice stuck to the bottom of the pan. BUT, it was not a non-stick pan so maybe it wasn't all my fault.

As for vegetables, I cooked up some onions, peppers (red and green), carrots, zucchini, and snow peas. It think that was all... Anyways, I also put some scrambled egg in, like in fried rice, which they thought was weird but I liked it. And I also marinated some firm tofu in soy sauce and other stuff and then tossed it in with the rest of the veggies and egg.

So when it was all said and done and cooked, we ate it and it was delicious. The tofu was a bit strange and squishy, but with the rest of it mixed in it tasted good. My dinner guests were Emily, Beth and Mary Ellen. But there were also some other girls from my floor there so we ate and talked to them and it was a lot of fun.
Mary Ellen also brought yellow cake with chocolate icing and pink lemonade so we were very full at the end.

Then, after much discussion of weird/bad scary movies, we decided to watch Juno since none of us had seen. I'm glad I watched it. I did enjoy it and I thought the girl was very cool. It was kind of weird though because it wasn't that long. And I kind of felt like I had popped into this girl's life and was just watching a part of it. It was interesting and I really liked the song were they said, "I'm sticking with you because I'm made of glue." It was cute. (and the guy really liked to eat orange tic-tacs if you're wondering why that's in the title of this blog)

So tomorrow is another day and that is just beautiful. I'm also excited because we (Me, Beth, Mary Ellen and hopefully some others) are going to the drive-in movies. Oh how I love the drive in.

Finally, Drew, I'm not sure how Tim got away with being a closet poet but I think you would enjoy his music. And I'm excited about said comfort mystery food and Beth and I will surely make heart shaped biscuits. And Pete, don't beat up any small children. (also, I'm glad you like the food there)

Here's today's photo:



Peace and Love,
Kate

Biscuit of My Heart

I'm pretty tired, so I don't think I'll type much. However, I did want to share a few things about today. First of all, I'm sad because I did not get to see my mom, brother and aunt this morning for yummy cinnamon rolls. But, we will do that soon so it's ok.

Next, my boss at work told me that the project I'm working on is turning out to be more important than he thought it would. Apparently he was talking to some corporate and EPA people at a conference this week and they were all interested and excited about my research. So that's good news. I guess I should live up to their expectations though...

I'm also bummed because I was supposed to go to a free concert tonight with Beth but the stupid severe storms and rain etc, kept us from going. Grr...

Despite this, Beth and I still had fun. I've been craving and wanting to make biscuits for no apparent reason other than that they sound tasty and I've never made any before. So tonight, Beth and I, as Beth so eloquently phrased it, lost our biscuit virginity. And I must say, it was wonderful! We hit a few bumps while making the dough cuz it got to sticky, but it all turned out delicious. Honestly though, they were soooooooooooooooo good. They were warm and buttery and wheaty and with jam and butter they were just amazing. We also decided that we are going to perfect our biscuit making skills so that we can make heart shaped ones for our roomies next school year. Oh yeah, we're so cool I know.

That's mostly it. Below are two pictures I took today. I had no idea that hearts were going to pop up twice today so I thought it was kind of fun and decided to put up both of them. The top one is from work and the bottom one is the heart biscuit Beth made and that we baked.

nouveau biscuit goddess,

Kate

Melancholy, Melody, and Men

Melancholy: I just finished reading The Time Traveler's Wife. I knew it would be a sad book because I was forewarned by others, but I still cried. I think it was partly because it did have sad parts, but also because I really liked the characters and I didn't want it to end. Overall, I would recommend it. I think that it's really interesting how throughout the book I mostly thought the time traveler was the "main" character, but in the end I would agree with the author in that it is truly the story of the time traveler's wife. This book really got me thinking about love though. (As did The Alchemist, which we discussed in our book club today). But, it made me wonder if I had met my future husband and love when I was six, if that would mean that you actually loved that person, or if by meeting them from the future you just knew that it was already going to happen. It gets me thinking about how time can be thought of in many ways: linearly, circular, or even as all happening concurrently. I think that's the word I'm thinking of. Anyways, it's just interesting to think about.

Melody: I found out today that one of my friends/co-workers, Tim, plays the piano, guitar, sings and writes songs. I listened to some of his music today and I really enjoyed it. It's very mellow and thoughtful and beautiful. There's one line he says, "I'm tired of dreaming of windows and looking for something I'll never see." So I just thought I'd share that because it's neat how even when you think you know someone fairly well, there's always something more to learn about them.

Men: what is there to say? I'm not sure. Maybe I'll have more to share on this topic later. Mostly I just included it because I've been thinking about the men I've been reading about in fiction and wondering if I'll ever find Mr. Darcy.

So something that was brought up today in our book club discussion was the idea of living life in a nonlinear fashion. Emily was saying that sometimes she feels like her life is very linear. Meaning that after high school she knew she would go to college and then after college you pretty much know that you're going to get a job and have a house and a family, etc. I don't think I like this. And it's not even so much the feeling/idea that I don't want to conform, but more of the feeling that this is not what I think will make me happy. I struggle a lot with trying to figure out how I'm going to go to grad school, travel, get married, create social change, have kids, find a meaningful/fulfilling calling, etc. How do I make all of this fit together and happen in some sort of reasonable time frame? What I realized about Emily's comment though is that maybe my life doesn't have to follow such a linear path. I'm not sure what this means exactly, but I think that I feel better about it just knowing that I have the creative option of choosing to do events in the order/manner that I want. And maybe this seems selfish, but I've always been a proponent of thinking out side the box, or in this case, outside the linear norm of middle class American lifestyles.

As for some simpler things in life. I really love chai tea lattes. They just make me happy in one of those small ways that only comfort food and warm drinks can.
I didn't take any pictures today, but I'll put up one anyways.
These pictures kinda show how all of this rain is making me feel.


thoughtfully yours,
Kate

Fresh Bread and Stale Cubicles

I went to the grocery store today and it was so great to buy food! I think I like grocery shopping for myself. There's so many options and choices and delicious fresh things for me to buy and make and cook and bake! Yum!

I also helped Emily make bread today which I enjoyed very much. Actually though, it's not done yet but it will be soon. I think I really like baking. I also want to make biscuits this week. I just have a craving for them.

Enough about food though. Sorry I've been gone all weekend without a computer so I couldn't post anything. I went home and then bright and early (and I'm talking early, like 6:30am, early) we left for the lake. Drew had signed up his boat to take special needs people out fishing so we did that. Later my mom and I spent some time together which was nice. Mostly we relaxed, but it's always good to see the fam. Then on Sunday we ate breakfast on the porch and watched the lake. I enjoy this a lot because it's very peaceful and homey. After that we packed up and went down to the beach to read our books. Then I drove back to here and didn't do much after that.

Today I tried writing some poetry at work and didn't get very far but it was nice to just get back in the mindset of it. It felt kind of like things were all rusty in my brain and I just needed to grease them up before some decent poems could form. Lunch was great because Tim, Emily, Liz and I ate outside and had fun. We decided to take the kayaks out this week so I'm thrilled about that. We'll miss you Drew!

Looking online I found some things that are going on in Dayton this week and I think I'm going to go to this free concert, which should be fun. I am also going to get some people together to go to the drive-in movies. I LOVE the drive-in so I was very excited to find 2 in the Dayton area.

Hm...Our first book club is tomorrow so I'll let you know how that goes. We're going to decide what to read and when to meet so if anyone has suggestions, I'm all ears. Also, I think I might check out this community dark room this week and hopefully I'll be able to get in there this summer and process some photographs. I really liked being in there with my music. It's very strange but nice. It's like you step out of time for a while since there's no windows and the clock becomes this thing that you time the developing process by instead of something that tells you where you are in the course of the day.

So here's my picture for today:



Love,
Kate

p.s. I made tasty pumpkin bread too!

A Really Creative Title

Home again, home again...

So, as you might have guessed, I'm back home with the fam. Thursday was not terribly exciting although Beth and I did try to go to a bead store but it was closed. : (

Today, I tried really hard at work to find things to do but couldn't come up with much. I wish it wasn't so boring, but alas. I did however have time to read some blogs and search for some scholarships and loans and grad schools. So I am actually being productive, just not in the way that my boss might like. (It's sort of his fault cuz he's not here and I can't do much til I hear back from some people I emailed). I read all about Liz and her crazy plane flight. This makes me very nervous about flying to New Zealand, but I'm still going to do it. I also cannot wait to see some pictures from Liz! As for pictures from me, I'm at home and I don't have my laptop so I can't really put any up, but I will later. Also, I know I haven't posted my pictures from when I visited Senia, but....I guess I don't really have any excuse except for laziness.

So I met up with Meredith for dinner at Chipolte (YUM!!!) and Zip Dip (YUM!!!!!!!). And that was lots of fun. We talked and talked and caught up about all that we had been doing. She has a bf who sounds just great and I'm glad that she's happy. It's good when a fun, cool, sweet, smart, friend finds someone she's happy with.
Anyways, enough about boys ( :P) who needs them anyways right Liz?

: D

Hmm...I don't really have any deep thoughts for today. I've been thinking of everyone who is overseas, and even those who I just haven't seen recently. I'm also kinda bumed cuz K. Price is retiring and I need to see her too.

Wishes to everyone for a happy weekend.

Short and Sweet,
Kate

Please Excuse Me

Ok, so as Rachel has so kindly pointed out, Captain Shang is the BEST Disney man/hero. The only reason Beth and I did not include him in our discussion was because he was not, technically speaking, a prince. I must agree that Shang is amazing and hot. I apologize for any distress that was caused by this thoughtless comment. (Although, of the princes I still like Phillip. He's so much better then Eric)

Traffic Watching

Earlier today was pretty boring and typical at work.

After work though, I found Beth and we hung out which was uber fun!
We went to Ben & Jerry's and ate ice cream and watched the traffic at the light. Now, this may not seem that exciting, but we had a great time being creepers and people watching the drivers and passengers in the cars. There was this one dude who had a huge nose but thought he was totally cool. There was also this bus from OSU, don't ask me why they were there. Anyways, I decided to wave to the people on it, thinking that they were going to just drive by, but no, they had to stop right next to us and get out and eat at the fancy restaurant right next door. So of course Beth and I thought this was hilarious and embarrassing, but also lots of fun.
Then we went down the street to Boston Stoker and this really friendly happy guy asked us how we had enjoyed our day and if we had gone outside. So he gave us our DELICIOUS chai tea lattes and we sat around and read our books that we had brought, because of course you have to bring your book to the coffee shop and sit around and look cool and intellectual. I'm reading the Alchemist right now for out book club which is a very easy read, but pretty interesting so far.

After that we leisurely walked back to our rooms and then hung out eating fruit and discussing which Disney prince was the best (Phillip of course). We also tried to decide which fictional men we love and want to meet. (Oh, Mr. Darcy, sigh)

Ok, so here are some photos from today:


This is my half cubicle....I'm only slightly fond of it. Also this professor stopped by today and asked me if I was from New Zealand, and I was like, well, no, but I'm going there. And he told me all about how he taught there for 6 months and loved it and was homesick for it when he looked at my flag. He also told me he would bring in his 3 photo albums to show me. So that was an unexpected but fun thing today.


This is the awesome tiny English convertible I saw today in the parking lot. It was soo small and cute!

Coffee!!! (which I actually don't like , but w/e)

A sweet drawing on the Expresso Yourself board:
That is all for now my friends.

sleepily yours,
Kate

p.s. Drew, I think we should merge our book clubs (Emily and I have started one if I didn't tell you about that). We're meeting at Boston Stoker which is so chic. Anyways, lets do this!

Playing Ketchup

I must apologize for not writing this past weekend. I was in "wild and wonderful" West Virginia visiting my roommate Senia. And even though I got back yesterday afternoon I was just too tired to type everything that had happened.

I guess I'll start where I left off.
Friday: After going to a boring meeting in the morning I left with a friend to drive down to West Virginia. The drive went pretty well, a bit boring, but what else can you ask for? I got to Senia's house around dinner time and we ate. Then she gave me the grand tour of her house, which I must say is old and big and beautiful! I took some photos but it's hard to get the feel of the house without actually being there. Basically, the house has lots of little levels that "spiral" around a central staircase. West Virginia on the whole though is very mountainy/hilly and since we had great weather it was also very green and gorgeous. That evening we met some of Senia's friends at a local coffee shop and sat around and talked.

Saturday: Senia had to work in the morning so I woke up and spent it reading outside in the sunshine! I also talked to her grandmother who was very nice and cute. Then we went down to a sort of summer fair/festival thing with lots of crafts and music and food and dancing. Next we went thrift store-ish shopping. And I was so jealous because Senia found these sweet red jeans that were on sale for $3!!! I did get some great things too though. For dinner Senia's mom made some great food, including delicious cornbread. That night we played lazer tag, which, as some of you know, I'm not terribly fond of, but it was ok. Mostly I just found a good place to hideout and sniped people.

Sunday: We woke up early and walked downtown on this forest trail which was so cool. There were lots of trees and even a grave were two women spies from the civil war were buried. As we passed over this bridge, a train went under us and I took a cool video on my camera of it. We ate breakfast at this awesome little bookstore, shop, cafe. I really, really liked it. If it had been just a little funky-er I might have just stayed there all day. It was the kind of bookstore/cafe I would like to be a regular at. Then we ate homemade icecream and hung around the cool, old, stately library. The rest of Sunday wasn't too exciting. I hung out with Senia's sister and friend, ate yummy local steak for dinner, then Senia and I walked around her scenic neighborhood.

Monday wasn't much. I drove back to Dayton, took a nap. Read some. Mostly just chilled.

I must say though that I truly appreciate everyone's advice and responses and reassurances about my traveling and future fears. I think some of it is my jealousy at everyone else living their international adventures this summer. I think I will have my own adventures this summer too, just small ones though.

I did take some pictures while I was in West Virginia and I'm going to put those on my facebook. Since all of you have that, just check there for those so I don't have to spend a bunch of time uploading them here.

Hope everyone is safe. : D

yours,
Kate

p.s. Here is a photo though: (this is a small sculpture of a man trying to climb out of the side of a building!)