Three thousand times whattt

My brain is scatterbrained. See already, the word Brain here and there, in three pieces in two sentences.

Makes me think of middle school. The scene: a band concert. I played the flute. Tweet tweet tweet so swee--ee--eet.  It was a concert, and my Grandpa Ross came, which I loved.  After our performance, he pointed out to me, in the bulletin/program thing, that the principal's name could be anagrammed as "Brain Danger" which was a happy bit of irony that I also loved.

Funny how a word, an organ, gets attached to a memory from 16 years ago, and sticks.

Speaking of middle school, I saw my bff since 7th grade yesterday. Lindsay and I got manicures, had lunch, walked around the mall, laughed, caught up, and laughed. I don't think anyone in the world makes me laugh as hard as Lindsay does. Maybe Ryan. I think it's a tie.

Sola loves twist ties. Straws. Hair ties. Pieces of tan bark. I had bought some cat toys when she was a kitten and just threw them away because she doesn't care about them if she can have a plastic straw. Cats are so weird--I love it!

Love. 2014 is the best year ever! I love it so much. I have even read 11 books already this year, in six months. Not a record, but I feel good about it. Shoutout to the 118--couldn't have done it without you! Yes, I'm talking to a freeway. The app called Audible has really helped me on my commutes. Since I spend at least 90 min in the car per day, it's a good time to soak up content before I get home and start the food-cookin', dish-cleanin', cat-pettin', man-enjoyin' fun times of day to day living.

I was putting in my contact lenses yesterday morning and started giggling. Ryan asked me why. I was thinking of that song, "IF YOU. want to buy my flowers... just go ahead now." Laughing because, think about it. Just go ahead now.

Why do cats sleep so much?

I did my crocheting, did my giggling, my cleaning. Shit, there's a lot of cleaning to do. Why?

Why?  I'm not even a messy person. Well, maybe that is why! Haha.

I woke up at 5:45 this morning and was like, yes it is Sunday thank gooooooodness. And then got up and went running which was perfect.

hmmmmmmm

more silliness forthcoming. that is all for now.  OH WAIT except for my happiness graph--hold up.

Seriously, 26 is the best year of my life.

In other news...

I feel like poetry has been in low tide. But the tide is coming in.

Emoji Paintings

Collage, 2014.

My Brain is Wider than the Sky

I wonder what this blog would look like to someone who doesn't know me. 

All I do is look at my cats, listen to pop music, eat vegetables, and fall in love?

Hey, I also listen to Nina Simone! I clean my house a lot. I feel like I am constantly sweeping the floor. The litter box spills and I cannot handle things sticking to the bottom of my bare feet. Clean surfaces. Deep breath. Wow, that little meditation just made me feel really good!

I spend a good deal of time driving and listening to audio books.  I also read print books and travel in the car as a passenger. I imagine living with my man and what life will be like when we have a family together. 

And with that, this blog is fully representative of my life. Time will reveal how true that is.  I guess I can always talk about the past.  Life wasn't always this way, but I sure do like it!

I wish there were some good emojis on here! I really do like telling pictorial narratives via text message with emojis.  It is one of my favorite late night pastimes. I will share one someday.

The title of this blog post is from the Emily Dickinson's poem. If you didn't already know that, please google it immediately (I plead-iately).

Last night I dreamed I accidentally came to work in my shabbiest sweatpants. It was ten minutes until the department meeting, and I had to tell one of the executive managers that I needed to go shopping and would be late for the meeting... When I woke up this morning, I put on a pencil skirt, which is almost as far away from sweatpants as possible.

Except this skirt is stretchy and cozy!  

Okay, see you later insulator.

ktb

The Mystery of the Grapelid

I've been playing Scramble with Friends a lot lately--do you know this game? It is essentially a timed-word search competition. What I want to know is: why isn't grapelid a word? Excuse me, I need a new hammer because my grapelid broke my old one.  Have you seen the new grapelid? On shelves this summer.

I've got the sillies. Raffi says to shake the sillies out, but tonight, I shake them out of my fingers.

One image that has stuck with me in a powerful way is from the end of Beauty and the Beast. Spoiler Alert! The beast turns into a human--but as he does so, he levitates, and light shoots out of his fingertips.  This is the way I feel sometimes, and this is the way I feel now--floating with light shooting out of my fingertips.

This is a natural reaction to the combination of caffeine and falling in love.  I am still always falling in love. Still with Ryan of course!  He is silly; I am silly. I could run around willy-nilly, desultory, but then he keeps me grounded.  Calls me out and holds my hand. Smiles and jokes back instead of rolling his eyes.

I haven't decided what I think grapelid means. Do you know what it means?  I just know that when I played scramble one day, I was like, man, that's it. That is the next word I need to learn. But it wasn't the next word I learned.  The next word I learned was nadir, which means low point. Lowest point.

Today my friend Carrie was there for me when I needed her fashion advice. In fact, she has always been there for me when I've needed any advice.  Today I asked her about how to wear high-waisted pants well. She told me that the point of them is to accentuate the length of the legs, so it's good to wear a top that doesn't make the pants lose that effect. Or belt one that would have done that!  I consider this advice to be sound.

I  bought high-waisted trousers on my lunch because the pants I had worn were uncomfortable, which I had forgotten. It was a throw-on-clothes-and-run-out-the-door morning, but in a good way. I love sleeping!

Waisted is not a word, it tells me. Grapelid is not a word, it tells me. BUT THEN WHAT IS THIS?

High-waisted grapelids, my friends.

With a bow,
Katie

What if there was a bow for your hair that was shaped like someone bowing down?  It would be a bow bow. You could put it on your elbow, climb a tree, and sit on a bough. Then you would have an elbow bow bow on a bough.

Just sayin'.

Christina Aguilera

Lip syncing at my desk all day!
"I think we're on our way!"

All day.

On my Ten

This weekend Ryan and I will be seeing Janelle Monae at the Hollywood Bowl, and going out to dinner at The Wine Bar there in celebration of his new job.

Yesterday I visited my cube neighbor (NP who sits next to me at work) and said, "I just have to say... I am so happy. I love my boyfriend. I am so thankful for him."  It is just fun.

Recently I had a hard time physically and emotionally.  I felt like I was exhausted for almost two weeks.  Going to bed as soon as I got home.  But whatever that was, I am over it and feel well now.  I was thinking yesterday how nice it was that Ryan was there for me through all of that. He even did my dishes for me all weekend! He gets the "exceeds expectations" rating all around.

How much can I write here on a ten-minute break?  Well, I can tell you that I am still listening to Beyonce and John Legend nonstop.  The kitties are doing well, and are as cute as ever. I keep waking up with cat toys on my bed, and Luna meowing like come on, mama.  Sola is still obsessed with the bathtub and with going outside, where she hunts flies. And eats them. That is so gross. I try to just laugh, but seriously, ew.

I'm going to do some beading and crocheting this weekend, I think. Some walking, hiking, smiling, and breathlessness on some sun-sweating mountain.

Getting this in to your head to you can so you can sing along with me and Janelle on Sunday:

Happy Birthday to Snip 4!

Violet and my mama baked some beautiful cupcakes today in celebration of Snip 4, beanie baby cat, who is 5 today.
I had to share!

What a Week!

I'm tiiiiired.

Katie's World of Infinite Vegetables

Some days I think, "Shoot, I bought too many vegetables."  NAH AH. 

It was one of those days. I had gone away for the weekend, and came back to my refrigerator with the overwhelming question: What is for dinner?

When I can successfully answer this question by cooking my own food, I am proud of myself.  I am still new enough at considering myself an adult that these little achievements are like jewels on a bedazzled jacket--each one saying more about me. Before I get carried away: to say I define myself by my cooking would be an overstatement. I just feel in my heart that mastering this basic aspect of caring for myself is a milestone.

Gosh, I haven't even had my main course yet.

What I am eating is corn and red cabbage, sauteed with butter, salt, and pepper. So simple, sweet, and tasty. This is why I am so happy in this moment. I am grateful for corn. I am grateful for cabbage. 

And omg, butter, yes, obviously.

Steamed green beans have been in my life this evening.

I'm also makin' a split pea soup.

When I was a kid, I was not interested in cooking. I just wanted to read, and my parents took care of that. We just set the table sometimes, and helped with the dishes. Gotta give mis padres lots of credit for that. They've done a hell of a lot of dishes too!

Luna keeps jumping on the table to try to sniff at my corn-dish. I say it all the time, "No cats on the table!" but she isn't very good at English yet. Ryan pointed out to me, that she does know her name. Which is SO cute.

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That message was brought to you by the Luna the Cat.  I want to tell you all about my weekend, but that will have to happen tomorrow!  Dinner is just about served.

My relationship with food has never been so good.

Woman Smiling with Salad

I am so grateful that someone created the blog of Women Laughing Alone with Salad.  This is my contribution to the important subject.

This semi-smile is all I could mustard jk muster, because I actually had my mouth full when I was taking this picture. 

#unnecessary

Sola, no.

But this is also sort of adorable.

Cats, Peonies, Artichokes

I like when the cats can't stop moving, then look at me and freeze, like I caught them red-handed, in the empty paper shopping bag on the floor.

Sola is fascinated by cut flowers. I've been buying them and bringing them to work since she badly wants to tear them apart.  Yesterday I bought pink peonies, tight spheres. This morning, they've opened up to the idea of opening.

I am going backward in time. Last night, I cooked two artichokes. I had tried once, unsuccessfully, to cook one by boiling it. I think I just took it out too soon. Last night, equipped with internet assistance, I steamed two purple artichokes in water with garlic, lemon, and a bay leaf. Ate it with veganaise. Oh, and also with rice and salad and fish.

First Weekend in June

I want to use adjectives to describe my weekend to you, but I won't. I think at the end of this, you will know.

Friday night, Ryan and I stayed in, made dinner, and watched a movie… lazy Saturday morning: granola with blueberries, dancing around, silly.  Errands to run: off we went to Third and Fairfax!  We rode the bus, which was an exciting adventure since I had not taken a bus in Los Angeles before (San Francisco, sure). Inside, the bus was clean and new, solid bright yellow with patterns of deep blue.

Outside of Whole Foods, I read the graffiti on the green-painted wrought iron. "Neckface" someone wrote. The fence is full of jasmine. Everywhere is full of jasmine! I turn around--I'm smelling jasmine. My lotion, my windowsill, the grounds around work: jasmine (jasmine. Jasmine.  Jasmine! I hope you like jasmine too!)

We went into Whole Foods for lunch, but prior (and despues), I had a fun time with the lotion samples. I had run out of purse lotion, so I became a bergamot jasmine. A fragrant fig of Egyptian musk!  Wash hands again.

I have to say, since I grew up in a family sensitive to fragrances (sister and Papa with allergies), and I am not allergic to fragrances, I sometimes feel there is no greater luxury than to coat myself in so many scents that I become a giant walking blossom with layers of aroma.  Unfortunately, the grocery store is not the place for this, and lunchtime is not the time for this, so I washed it all off and had some lunch.  Potato salad, brussel sprouts, grilled mango with blueberry coulis, ginger lemonade.

Laundry Interlude

On Sunday we went to the SAGE company picnic, a lovely event with free fun things, like cotton candy and face painting. Wholly enjoyable. I was craving onion rings, though, so Ryan and I bounced around 2:30 and went down to Neptune's Net.  The place was packed and we had our food within ten minutes of ordering. Great job, guys!

We drove down to the Malibu Country Mart to wash the grease off our fingers. We walked around the plazas for some time.  I got a trinket and a trifle at a little shop, which I can describe in more detail on another date. I gave myself a half hour writing limit tonight and the details will be better later.

Ryan bought gelato for us. The flavor I chose was "pompelmo" which I thought had to have meant "pomelo" but was advertised as "pink grapefruit." Is "pompelmo" Italian for grapefruit?  They taste too similar for me to know what was going on, but I liked the experience.

We walked across the street and ate our gelato by the lagoon. We laughed and laughed. I don't know how anyone can know me so well that I will laugh that much. But Ryan does that. *swoooon*

The sun dropping lower, it was time to head back through the canyon, but my windows were dirty; my gas tank, empty: Shell fill-up and carwash here we come!  We were behind a gray Mercedes that was about to enter the car wash when Ryan honked and got out. He closed the gas cap on the Mercedes as the man got out of his car and thanked him. The man looked at me and said, "You've got a really good guy here!"

"I know!" smile smile sigh

When we got out of the drive through, the man knocked on my window, and said, "Can you do me a favor and buy this fine gentleman a martini?" and handed me a $20.

"Well, okay, sure, thank you!" I said. And we did just that. Ryan knew of a fancy place on the PCH (Malibu Beach Inn… I think?) with a little restaurant right on the water, and we sat and ate some shrimps. The waiter brought a blue blanket and put it across my shoulders. A fire pit ten feet away, five feet wide.  The water, blue, the Sunday quiet.

We drove back through Topanga Canyon. We snuggled with the kitty cats when we got home.

"How was your weekend?" The usual adjectives don't do the trick this time.

Full of all this love and happiness,
Katie