GPOY!

A few months ago, my friend and photographer extraordinaire allowed my to take part in his ongoing GPOY! project, in which he shoots Gratuitous Pictures Of Yourself for anyone who wants to come play with him. And I just can't say no to some fun camera time. Here are my favorite shots:

A Headache Cure

Last Monday, at the beginning of my two-week mini break in between camps, I got a little headache on the left side of my brain. It was like my body had been storing all the stress from last month and a half and waiting patiently for an appropriate time to let it run rampant. It's been a little over a week now - and I still have the headache.

You guys, I NEVER GET HEADACHES.

I mean, it's not constant, it comes and goes. But still. Someone mentioned that it might be a tension headache, which led to a dream in which it was actually diagnosed as a tension headache, but in dreamland a "tension headache" meant "hole in your brain".

My brain is weird.

Anyways, this morning was especially bad. I was starting to feel like a rich old recluse, a la Big/Little Edie, shut up in my apartment and being forced to lay down a spell anytime the pain got too great. Luckily Ricky got out of school early and made me to go out with him before we both had to go to work. And wouldn't ya know it, my headache went away.

Lil' Woody's Burgers. Burger heaven.

So, like usual, we wandered around and it was sunny and I felt better and better about life the more we walked around. Funny how that works. 

I picked up some cute little handmade cards with the intention of sending them off to my friends as a nice little I'm-thinking-about-you-and-I-love-you surprise (maybe a little inspired by the always inspiring Kelle Hampton). But then I realized I don't know any of my friends actual addresses. I know their e-mail addresses, and their facebook pages, and their tumblrs, and diligently follow their tweets, but when it comes to their physical location in space? You got me.

So maybe, friends, if you are reading this, could you do me a favor? Could you discreetly send me your address so I can discreetly file it away and then a little while later I will send you a lovely handmade card and you will get it and be filled with love and you can say "What a surprise! That Kate is so nice to think of me, and completely of of the blue like that!"

Yes, I think that plan will do just fine.

Oh, and those of you who sent me your addresses for the giveaway I did awhile back? I lost all of them. I over-zealously cleaned out my inbox of the literally thousands of e-mails I had stored in there, and my carelessness and eagerness to be finished with the task got the best of me. 

So, if you are one of those people, maybe you should resend it. 

 That's all. Happy Wednesday.

PS. My headache is gone for the moment, but I know it will come back. It always comes back. Does anyone have any real headache cures they want to offer up? I've been popping Advil like it's going out of style, drinking tons of water, and resting a lot. Is there something I'm over-looking?

Gotta get some words out.

For some reason, I think perhaps because I went so long without posting, when I think about writing a blog post now I get all twisty and nervous. Like, whatever I have to say won't be interesting or funny or blog-worthy enough to blog about. Which is just dumb. Not because everything I do is thrilling, but because I like writing and I like chronicling my life and that is enough. 

So there, self.

I have been wandering around the neighborhood some more, trying to break in the new camera (whilst avoiding looking like a creepy stalker taking pictures of strangers).

Side Note: If you have never seen a game of bike polo being played, getcho' ass to Cal Anderson park on Capitol Hill around dusk any summer night, settle in with some Molly Moon's Ice Cream from around the corner, and prepare for the most intense sporting event you have ever witnessed.

Other than that, not a whole lot new to report. Aching to dance more, to perform more in general. Still on the hunt for a daytime friendly job. Still counting down the months (nine!) until the NYC move happens. Oh, and Ricky has steadily been building his underground bartending empire.

PS. He's got his own blog now, so if you are alcoholically inclined, check him out!

And while we're posting links, I have a special one. I just woke Ricky up from a nap to show him, and while he was enthused he was also really sleepy and thus his excitement didn't translate appropriately. But maybe the internetz will care about me. Because some of my photo shoot pictures are up and I'm bursting with excitement!.

So go look at that, if you please. I'm the girl in the superhero outfit. You can't miss it.

Hey there, stranger

Well hi there, blog land. It's been awhile.

My hiatus, while completely intentional, was not welcome. In fact, it was a little miserable, and I don't mean just the not-blogging part. I've been really busy, you guys.

My days for the last six weeks have been as follows: get up at eight AM, zoom through a Starbucks for some much-needed caffeine, and arrive at camp by 9:15. Between the hours of 9:30 and 3:00 wrangle children, break up fights, make sure they eat lunches, attempt to teach them dances, avoid being bitten. Rush home at 3:15, eat something, do my hair, head off to the casino by 4:45. Walk around in heels, serving drinks until two in the morning. Get home by 3:00 AM and attempt to get as much sleep as possible before waking up and doing it all again.

I think it goes without saying that there have been a lot of tears. Tears of pure exhaustion. In fact, in a moment of sheer desperation I called my mom on the way to work and told her I was going to quit my casino job that very night. She, as mothers tend to do, persuaded my to maybe think that decision over after I'd had some sleep.

What would we do without mothers?

Anyways, I have a two-week break from the camps before my last round of madness, but I'm using this lull in my schedule to get Blatheration up and running again. Because I've really missed blogging. Also, sleeping. I've missed sleeping a lot.

And now for a short list of very important updates from the last six weeks:

1. I (finally) got a camera. No more phone pictures for me!

2. Ricky has taken to blow-torching the kitchen on a regular basis. He has this thing about fruit flys, and now spends his free time with a small can of WD-40 and a lighter manically purging the kitchen of the tiny offenders. The result has been an influx of fly carcasses and black smudges all over everything that give the appearance that the kitchen recently underwent atomic bomb testing.

3. Although the heat wave that is wiping out the entire country is blatantly avoiding Seattle, it is finally feeling a bit like summer around here. Sometimes I go to the park beside my apartment and if I squint my eyes just a little, it feels like Paris.

4. I've made some important life decisions. As much as I enjoy my job (well, as much as I enjoy making such good money) I've decided that it's time to move on. Working at night has prevented me from auditioning for things as rehearsals often take place in the evening, and performances always do. So I haven't been performing. Which is a problem. Also, I miss having evenings free, cooking, seeing Ricky every day, having a social life, ect.

So. Things have changed a bit around here and more changes are on their way. But stay tuned! I'm back for good this time. Promise.

Self-portrait. Couldn't help it.