Well . . .

I was over checking out Ben's new site today. Same as the old, just in a different, cooler place (I say that with a grumble because blogspot USE TO BE the cool place and now it has been usurped (bigger words because I am studying for the GRE). Anyway, on his page he has a list of blogs that he reads and mine was up there. It has been up there for awhile, even though there really isn't anything new to read here EVER! When you put your arrow over my site there is a Benesome (Ben and Awesome combined - totally just made that up and I don't think I like it) caption to go along with the title: "She is not watching TV for a year. Read all about it." That made me chuckle a bit, because I don't really talk about that much. I think the only people that have to hear much about it are the people that live with me.

I have been in countdown mode since January when I passed the six month mark - but the countdown hasn't really been that big of a deal. I'm almost to the point where watching TV or movies doesn't really matter. Sure it does on a Sunday afternoon when they are going to watch Ghost Town or something, but in the end it really doesn't matter - I just spend some more time in my room reading.

As if I wasn't already weird about society and how much I dislike the attitudes that I have embraced as being a middle class, white, sub-urban, American - this no TV thing has opened up my eyes to so many more negatives about society. Instant gratification vs. delayed gratification, the over use of sex in the media, and the pedestal we put actors and actresses on. I love instant gratification, and putting people on pedestals, and using sex to sell a hamburger - but that is so wrong. When did we go from looking at solders as heroes to forgetting their sacrifice and looking at people to see what Brittany is doing today?

Katie comes from a long line of leavers . . .

welp kids, this has been an interesting weekend, to say the least. am i going to be vague about it? you betcha.

i had a pretty open weekend - the first in over a month. i spent saturday reading and taking my dog for ridiculously long walks because it felt about 75 outside and it was amazing to be out in it on february 7. there have been many thoughts swimming in my mind of late. i don't know if you know this about me or not - but i am pretty content with my life. it started sometime in the fall (i can't pinpoint the day, or even the month). a calm came over my life that i can't quite explain other than God is showing me that things are ok. paul talks about it when he wrote the philippians - and i think i finally understand what he is talking about. i didn't have teen angst when i was growing up, but i did have 20's angst . . . to the extreme. things still bother me, or upset me, but i think i have begun to see the bigger picture and know that it is bothersome now but in a few weeks it will be just fine. anyway, the thoughts swimming in my mind are really related to what direction my life needs to take. what i am doing is fine for now, but there is no challenge, other than the physical challenge of work. it isn't challenging my mind. and on the rare occasions it calls for brain work it is on random things that shouldn't be analysed. so my ongoing question has been, what is next? where do i need to do next? is this it? i don't know if i ever expected those questions to be answered - but many options came poking me this weekend. out of nowhere in particular, why does He like to work that way? so i am weighing my options and seeing if there are any bites.

as i weighed and pondered today (some more) i got a call. "yes, the tax man does want all of your money." what i thought was a mistake in the way i was doing my taxes was no mistake at all. while i have most of the money that uncle sam wants, i don't have all of it - and that my friends is where my new found contentment (and trust) comes in. i did all the right things, my accountant did all the right things, my employers did all the right things, i saved the right amount out of the money from the work i did on the side for people this year, there is no one to blame (i usually blame myself, but i'm not this time because it was truly a fluke). it is an interesting thing really. such a sum of money never really entered my mind as being possible, and now it is just like a bad dream - one that i hope is over soon.

thinks she is turning japanese

Well I guess it is about time for me to write you again. It has been some time since I have taken any pictures, or thought about writing. Still no photos, and . . . TA DA, I'm here writing. I saw this today and thought I would share:

Anyway, I guess this is the start of many conversations with Gladys. I suppose now I'm going to have to go every so often to watch those on YouTube.

Today was a great day to be outside. Not so much to work, but just to be outside. Let's see, I painted a curb, I cleaned up some leaves, I fixed a salt spreader - don't be envious, you all know you want my job, but right now it is taken. That was said with all the sarcasm this little heart could muster.

Well I guess that is about all. OH, I did make some biscuits today. Not as good as my Grandmother, but I did alright. I just did the thing where you drop them onto the pan instead of rolling them all out and then cutting them out with the fancy little cutter. That was fun for me. Now I have approximately 19 left over that I'm not really sure what to do with. Is that an exaggeration . . . you know me.

Is it just me, or does this biscuit look like a frog?
Maybe a catfish?

has had a hard day's night

I think I am going to leave that status up for another day. The snow is finally over and that means that I get to take a bit of a break. This first real snow of the season wasn't too terrible, if I do say so myself. It was a good one to really get my feet wet (literally and physically). Not only did it snow a lot over about a day and a half we also had a plow go down. That was the BEST part. I say that will all the sarcasm my heart can muster (which as you know is quite a bit). The picture to the left shows the exact moment that I knew we wouldn't be plowing any more that night . . . or was it morning? I don't really remember - my days and times are a bit fuzzy right now. All is well, and actually it was an easy week. All I know is I love going in over night. I don't think I would love it everyday, but there is something about 3 am that has a peace about it.

Oh, and the picture to the right is from when we went sledding Tuesday night. It was snowing huge flakes and it was coming down hard and fast. It was awesome. I got a new sled for Christmas and Tuesday was it's maiden voyage. It is the best sled I have ever owned. It is huge, first of all, and second it is super fast and you don't really feel the bumps (like the curbs).

Oh, and my status from before was: Shot a man in Reno just to watch him die. So in honor of that - HEEEEEERRRRREEEEE's Harvey:

Want's To Leave A Legacy

My friend Ben just got back from Haiti. I was really excited for this trip because they were taking him to shoot video footage of the area and what it was like there. I wanted to learn more. Not because I'm ready to pack my bags for Haiti - but I could . . . I don't know, you know me, I won't. I just like to hear and see places I have never been in hopes that one will strike a chord and maybe I will know what is next for me. I think I know, but it has been a long waiting game with that one. Anyway, Ben posted a video of something that happened on their first day there - and this my friend is what it means to leave a legacy. It doesn't have to be big things that make a mark, it can be in the small things too. I encourage you to take some time and watch - turn up your speakers a bit.

http://todaysawesomeness.blogspot.com/2009/01/day-205-video.html

Katie is a lumber jack and she's OK!

The post/status today comes from . . . . Monty Python. You are correct. And yes, I will put you up to date. The statuses you missed were:

• Heard you on the wireless back in fifty two (Video Killed the Radio Star)
• Katie is takin' out the papers and the trash (as in yak-ity-yak, don't talk back)

I have heard it said that no news is good news and that is exactly what all this non-updating has been. I refused to talk about how cold it was (one more time) so there really wasn't a lot to report. BUT TODAY. Oh my today is glorious. Close to 60 and it was amazing. Tomorrow it is back down into the 40's but I can totally handle that. I have been trimming trees for the past few days (hence the lumber jack reference) and it has been a ton of fun. Yesterday I was climbing a tree to trim it and that is always a bonus. My last few nights have been full of reading and of course the inauguration. I may post pictures later (yes I did, I took pictures of the TV), but I am just too lazy to download any photos today. I didn't take pictures of the screen because I think Obama is the answer to all of our political, personal, emotional, health, war, problems - I took pictures because I want to remember the day that an African American took office. Did I vote for him? You will never know - I'm so elusive about this vote, can you even stand it? Vote for him or not - he is my President now and I stand with him, and stand with others who see this as a turning point in history that, as he said, 60 years ago his father couldn't even be served in a restaurant, and now he is taking the oath of office.

was just in the middle of a dream, she was kissin' Valentino by a crystal blue Italian stream

I was by a stream . . . of water coming out of a big blue tank . . . but no one was with me . . . and I was awake. I kind of wish I had been dreaming, this had to have been one of the longest days in a long time. It took over and hour to drain each tank, and about another hour (a little less depending) to fill it back up. "Why?" you ask. Well in case of an emergency - of course! Worst part is I didn't get finished today. I still have one that hasn't completely drained, ergo, it needs to be filled tomorrow.

wants to be a paperback writer

Ben asked me to be a guest blogger (well he asked all his readers, and I volunteered and then he agreed) so today was my day - hence the status update. Anyway, I just posted that which has to be one of the most sappy posts I think I have ever written. I'm just going to leave it at that.

Just so we are up to date (because it matters in the space time continuum that we find ourselves trapped in) other status updates that I have not shared include:

• can't live on bologna sandwiches (as in the "hidden song" from Down Here that says, "Rock stars need money, they can't live on bologna sandwiches. Rock stars need money and it comes from you, and you, and you, and you . . . and you.")
• wonders if she had a hammer, would she hammer in the morning

My life has been pretty devoid of any news besides the weather and how cold it has been, so I have chosen not to talk about it. It is cold, I need to get over it. Back to the blogging thing I have an observation. Of my blog I think I may have 5 readers that regularly visit the site, or have me on a blog reader roll, or something. I may be generous by saying 5. Some may stumble upon it, say "oh that is nice that she has a blog" and never come back. I'm good with that. I'm good with all that. I think I may have had 3 good posts over the life of this blog, my personal favorite being one where I said that Darth Vader was my hero. Ben, on the other hand has many, many more readers. One, because he knows so many people, and two he is a hilarious writer. Blogging is one of those things that becomes kind of a community of people. He has 5 guest bloggers while he is out of town, and in turn those people get some traffic that they may not have originally had. He had another friend of mine write one yesterday. John did a great job, and because of that and my little link here he may get a bit more traffic. There are much larger blogs - say Dooce, that gets hundreds of thousands of people visiting every day (I think that is a conservative estimate), that have friends with the same number of visitors daily - and they guest blog for one another, and it just grows into something bigger and bigger. I think blogs mimic what happens in life. I have a friend, and then I meet their friends, and in the end it just grows bigger and bigger into our realms of influence. Well, that growth of influence is going on right now in my living room, and I have neglected it long enough. I had some things I needed to do (i.e. Ben's blog) and now that is done - so I am off to interact with the living.

Katie is like a heat wave . . . burning in my heart

What a day! I spent it huddled inside. I was out for about 20 minutes, but that is about all I could do. Other than that I would go out in short bursts of maybe 3 minutes each. The temperature gage on my truck read 0 when I went into work and 13 when I came home. Not going to be much better tomorrow. I have a few things still to do inside, and so I think that is where I will stay.

whatever you're doing inside of me, it feels like chaos but somehow there's peace

Wow, it is really cold outside. Tomorrow? Even colder. The day started off pretty fair, I think we were close to 38. It was good until about 10:43 and the wind kicked up and immediately the temperature started dropping, and all the leaves I was trying to pick up were blown about. I saved all my inside work for tomorrow in hopes to stay warm. I will be a frozen architect by about 8:15 while I ride on the Gator for the morning rituals . . . but hopefully the rest of the day will be spent in the balmy 59 degree shop.

is taking a quick break from songs to ask if anyone has an old ATT phone I can buy or have

It is just as it says. For awhile now we have been joking about the "strobe light function" my phone has. The screen blinks on and off. Now it is more of a "blank screen function". It is on for about 3 seconds then there is just a blank stare. There are a lot of options for a gal like me needing a phone - but many of them are expensive, some are out of the question, and others are just plain a headache. I don't really want to re up my plan for 2 year, but I might have to . . . unless you have an old ATT phone that will take a SIM card.

Katie made the sign of a teaspoon, he made the sign of a wave

Well here is my version of the weekend update:

1. Wall washing. Need I really say more about that. I had a great time washing walls and just thinking about the home and the people for whom I was washing the walls.

2. dAN's concert. What was once to be at Cicero's was moved to The Elvis Room at Blueberry Hill. What a great place to have a concert. It looked and smelled like a locker room - but it was awesome. I'm not sure if it is totally Kosher, but I took a few video's and took a few pictures. For music see his MySpace Page: http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewProfile&friendID=76103867. If you get a chance to see him - just do it and don't ask questions. Anyway, a few pictures. My roommate Gina was one of the singers - so that was exciting to me to hear her belt it out with dAN.






3. I got to see some friends of mine that I hadn't been able to see in awhile. It was an incredible time playing a little Wii, and opening my last Christmas present of 2008 Christmas. Probably one of my favorite gifts - a sled. For those of you who don't know, I LOVE to sled and I hope for snow daily . . . even in July.

Katie was dancin' and singin' and movin' to the groovin'

Today was another full day. I don't have the time to go into it all right now - my bed is gently calling my name. I did get some of the pictures from dAN's concert touched up a bit and you can see them on the sidebar there on the right. He sure did play that funky music white boy. I will probably do a whole weekend wrap up tomorrow when I have more time to sit and think and write about it.

I was asked today (and yesterday) about some books that I have been reading - mostly concerning Carie (red in one afternoon) and The Grapes Of Wrath (still wading through it). Maybe I will have those insights later on in the week as well.

Off to bed, after folding laundry and sitting on my sled praying for some good snow.

Is Forever Young

No not Forever Young by Rod Stewart . . . although I might have a post about being sexy sooner or later. Anyway, it was a reference to this song:



Nice hair! The outfits were great as well. If you look for some of their other songs: Big In Japan is a must see - mostly for the video itself. It seems a little like The Wall for a bit of it, but then gets more into the regular 80's stuff we have all come to expect and love from that era. I especially love that he looks menacing and yet is inviting them to be forever young - "Look kids, you can look crazy just like me!"

Well, I had a big day today, not the least of which was going to see dAN Hartke in concert at Blueberry Hill. One of my roommates sang with him today as well. Pictures to come tomorrow. For now it is off to walk the dog one last time and try to finish The Grapes Of Wrath - it is taking me forever.

To Her Alma Mater, O...S...U

I don't really know why I chose this lyric today - maybe because of the football game that was totally lost by OU last night. I didn't watch the game, I was sleeping. I did see the first two touchdowns of the game (one each team).

I don't really have anything to say today. Maybe that is why I don't blog much - I rarely have anything to say. I see blogs that have purpose: they are informational about crafts, they have a theme, they are for profit, or they speak about certain topics that are important to them. My blog has no real purpose other than outlet. Well that is how it started. I don't know that I really need this outlet anymore. I mean, look at the web address - where is my couch. When I started this I needed a couch to sit on and talk about what was going on in my head that I couldn't get out. Many times . . . most of the time, my thought are a jumbled mess in my brain. I think at one point I compared it to a highway at rush hour. My Ginny once told my Dad, "Butch, you think too much." Well I got that from him. I think a lot. I don't know that my thoughts are ever really profound or anything, I just think and analyse things . . . sometimes for hours. So in an effort to empty out some of those thoughts I wrote here for anyone and everyone to read. Funny, now that I am working a manual labor job, I don't really get traffic jams like I use to. Sure I went to counseling for real, and that helped a TON. But nothing has really done it for me like this job. Maybe it is the lack of real responsibility. My main responsibility is to show up when I am suppose to and work my tail off the time I'm there. Not hard. Well I work hard, but you know what I mean. I think the working unclogs the jam. So all that to say, do I need this outlet? I keep it because it is here - that is really the only reason.

says, one and one and one is three.

Well today was totally different that yesterday - in the fact that there was nothing picture worthy today. We did hang the swings this afternoon, and maybe I should have taken a photo of that.

Anyway, today's lyric comes from a Beatles song: Come Together. Ben talked about mash ups today on his blog - and come to find out that is what I was going to talk about today. Today's lyric is also a part of one of my favorite DJ Earworm mash up: Together As One. He has been doing these for awhile now and has them available for download on his site . . . for free. I haven't been back to his site in many months, and when I visited this afternoon he had released a plethora of new music! Very exciting!



Sorry if this post seems a little disjointed - maybe it is just how I write. But today I am trying to multi-task while writing. Downloading the new DJ Earworm stuff, writing the blog, going to get links to incorporate to the blog, and listening to pieces of the songs I am downloading.

Anyway the songs in the video are:
U2 - One
Beatles -Come Together
Diana Ross - Someday We’ll be Together
Mariah Carey - We Belong Together

Is Young, Heartache to Heartache She Stands. No Promises, No Demands.

A pretty chill day for me, not much to report. Should be noted that the status updates are song lyrics or titles (hmmm, bet you didn't figure that one out), but that they are not necessarily pertinent to my day. I try to make it fit my day, but that takes way too much brain power and I would rather spend my lunch break reading than trying to find a song lyric that matches my day. Sometimes I win, sometimes I lose - it is like gamble chocolates. If you don't know about gamble chocolates, go watch some Jim Gaffigan and I am sure you will come across that joke (I think it might be mixed in with holidays or maybe his Halloween bit).

OK, so I lied there is A LOT to report tonight:

1. Finished the fixing and painting of my three benches/porch swings. I have one more tweak job to do on one of the swings, but it will be a piece of cake.
2. I was inches away from grabbing my camera today to take it to work. I keep telling myself that I should because that will prompt me to take more pictures. One of my goals for 2009 is "more pictures", hence my Flickr account. Well I didn't take it, and about 10 things happened today that I wanted pictures of, and that was just at work. Log splitting, and appliance demolition just to name two things that would have been great to have photos of. Especially if someone had taken a photo of me doing some demo - because I was told that I reminded them of Sigourney Weaver in Aliens. I always did want to shave my head.
3. And, saving the best for last, we went to see Isaac tonight. He is only the cutest baby ever! I just wanted to sit on the couch and watch him, and watch his parents interact with him. It was incredible.

So anyway, as you can see my song lyric really has nothing to do with my day - but it was a fun day. Doesn't look like it will be as fun tomorrow. Doing some transplanting and not getting to go see a color-coordinated-blue-steel baby.

wears her sunglasses at night

so, technically it was morning - but it was still dark. spent the early morning putting out a bit of salt. have to tell you, it wasn't a lot of ice but it was EVERYWHERE. I haven't heard that many wrecks reported on the radio in a long time. people just weren't paying attention to what they were doing. you can't go 70 on ice, no matter how thin the film is, it is still ice.

spent the rest of the day painting - wooo doggy! i think this afternoon calls for a little art work, a long shower, a bit of reading, and a heating pad for my back. oh, and a tub of lotion for my completely cracked hands - that potassium chloride really sucks out all that moisture.

is just dust in the wind

all i can really say about that status is that i feel like i am just being blown around. that sounds really dramatic, but i don't know how else to say it exactly. i follow directions from many different people - that is all i am saying - it isn't dramatic. so therefore i am dust in the wind going where? i'm not sure. also, still in the beginnings of the grapes of wrath, so there is a lot of talk about dust and dirt, and (in the last chapter i just read) Jesus and sin.

one of the reasons i feel like dust - when did i become a painter? last i recall i was a landscape architect parading around as a landscape contractor. but by the looks of my shoes, the work i did today, and the work i have been doing for the last 3 weeks - i'm a painter now?

oh and thanks to ben for pointing out my grammatical errors on my last post. due to the fact that i generally like to leave stuff alone to keep people on their toes - it will stay as is. and go check out his site, he usually (ok always) has something awesome to talk about - and click on some of his adds. while you are at it - click on one of mine.

stepped into a church she passed along the way

another facebook status, but dropping the morgan. i think i like that better, without the morgan.


well i did step into a church today, but i didn't just randomly pass it - it's where i go, its what i do. i'm not typically a knee prayer though, maybe i should start. we got a new music pastor today, we voted this afternoon. well they voted and i watched. they strike me as a wonderful family, and a great addition to the team and our church body. i think the fact that they are coming is great. we have been in need for about two years - the search started in january of 2007. i do feel sad for them though - moving away from such close connections they have to come to a place so new and different. let's face it st. louis is different.


i have been doing a lot of reading and a bit of writing over the last couple of day. emphasis on a bit when it comes to the writing part. i am in the middle of carrie right now, by stephen king. it is very interesting. i like the way king describes things and the way he weaves a story - "its a gift my friend, don't hid that in a bushel basket" (jim gaffigan). i just keep thinking about high school and how hard it was, is, and can be for people. my favorite part about the book is the way the word popular is spelled with a capitol "p", like it is a proper name. i think in high school i would say our popular group had a capitol "p" as well. though in my mind there was popular and then there was the even better - "high" popular. i was in neither group. i had many friends - some of them even in the popular and "high" popular groups, but i wasn't a capitol p. anyway, after that i will finish reading the grapes of wrath by steinbeck. i started it last night and have already been captured by the way he describes dust. DUST, there i said it. the man knows how to make you feel the dust.