September 2013 – Life in the Cheese Drawer

best.day.ever.

September 30, 2013 kate Comments 5 comments

i knew that the big gay race and crypticon would be fun, but i didn’t know it would result in the best day ever!
i drove up to the cities the night before and stayed with jane so we could get an early start on the big gay race. after a breakfast of granola bars, jane and i drove to minneapolis and waited to run the race. it rained almost the entire time we ran, and it got increasingly cooler as the day progressed, but we finished with decent times and got out of there before we caught our death of cold.
took a shower and get ready for crypticon. after getting to the hotel the long way because someone read the website wrong (note: not me), we finally got to the hotel, but almost got lost while there. there was no signage! ugh! but we found it in time to see billy dee williams talk (lando calrisian of star wars fame) and left about halfway into his talk. so we decided to find TED RAIMI.
woo!!!
got his autograph on a picture i had from xenacon 2000 (which he found kind of humorous) and got record-scratch silence when jane mentioned we sang the joxer song the night before. after realizing we weren’t serial killers and just huge nerds, he let us take his picture.
woo!!!!
we wandered around for a bit and looked at all the stuff the vendors had for sale. we wanted to go see the zombie killing guide but ended up listening to writing tips from a horror writer, which was actually pretty good! since the zombie guide thing was rescheduled later, we decided to go to the moa and peruse the halloween shop so jane could get some fake blood and makeup.
got back and had a couple beers before heading back over to get my face done up by ex-whatever dude who does zombie makeup now. it was pretty cool. also got advice to stick around afterward because of afterparty stuff next to the pool.
MEANWHILE, jane and i kept seeing wil wheaton’s doppleganger everywhere. we knew it wasn’t him, but did a double-take every time. so i tweeted willw.
AND HE TWEETED ME BACK. 😮 😮 😮 😮

we were watching the costume contest and i happened to check twitter. there was an @ reply to my tweet!!! i nearly died from nerd celebrity exposure!!!
already on cloud nine, me from wilw, jane from ted exposure, we went up to the zombie prom to see what was going on. at this point we’d had a couple drinks from poolside adventures, so we put in vampire teeth and blew bubbles and had a blast – and TED WALKED IN. AND DANCED!!! AHHH!! so we danced too, but not with ted because we were chicken.

walked out and i called megan to see what we should do. she gave some sage advice, but darned if i could remember what it was because i was tipsy. went back to the prom and saw ted again dancing, then saw him walking out. awesome!
back to the pool and met up with ex-whatever and his zombie model and drank WAY WAY WAAAAAAY too much. jane will attest.
i think we left between 2 and 3, got back to jane’s where i puked gloriously.
best. day. ever.

keep on truckin

September 26, 2013 kate Comments 0 Comment

i want to write another post for medium, this time not something pulled from my archives. i get about 2 views a month through medium on my portapotty post (which i consider my pinnacle blog post).
but my dilemma always is: what do i write? how do i fill the white void? from where in my mind do i pull tendrils of memories and translate to something readable?
maybe that’s what i need to write about. the void that needs to be filled. we’ll see what i can do.

wordless wednesday

September 25, 2013 kate Comments 3 comments

um, what now?

September 23, 2013 kate Comments 0 Comment

i packed my prompt book in a box 🙁 all my books and movies are packed, which is a huge thing. the next huge thing is the kitchen. at this rate, i’ll be ready to move in 2 weeks.
i am not a reminiscent person when it comes to things, so why do i have so many things? as i mentioned earlier, i like pretty things. but, i also like things neat and uncluttered for the most part. i look at some of my knick knacks and think – why? why do i have this? oh yes, it’s because so-and-so gave it to me. oh yes, it’s because i got it from my grandma. oh yes, my mom might ask me in 10 years if she can borrow it and will be severely disappointed if i no longer have it (a set of crystal glasses that i would gladly sell if not for this).
but my things are nothing compared to the YEARS of writing i have stored on my hard drive and binders full of old school papers (graded, of course). i still have my math tests from my pre-calc class i took at scsu because i like looking at my grades occasionally.
and then i take a step back. i helped liz unpack this past weekend, and i realize that i don’t have a ton of stuff. my mom has a lot of stuff. liz has more stuff than i do. it just seems like i have a lot of stuff when i’m packing it up. nate complains about the amount of stuff we own, but i have to reassure him that, no, relatively speaking, we don’t have a lot of stuff.
last time we moved, i did a massive purge. this time i might not have so much stuff to donate, but i will still have at least one trip to goodwill. i got rid of a couple books, one of which i haven’t cracked since 1999, one of which nate purchased 8 years ago with the intent to learn 3D programming and never cracked, and one that i will never read again. why keep it if it’s not going to earn its keep? do we keep things just so we can remember the memories? do we dwell on the past? should we keep things that resurface memories, even though we know we will always hold those memories? keep the memories but look to the future? i don’t know.
well this turned into a rambling mess of junk.

why i'm faux goth

September 20, 2013 kate Comments 4 comments

when i was at st. ben’s taking my computer art III class in 2001, my professor had a tragus piercing. this was right around the time the cartilage piercings were starting to take off, and when i saw that tragus and how it was completely different than anything else out there, not to mention looking good on a 45-55-year-old woman, i decided then and there that i wanted one. (on a side note, that was the ONLY graphic design class i took in my entire college career, grad work included.)
before that i had already decided i’d get a tattoo at some point. my uncle and cousin had tattoos that i’d admired (even though they did not).
so when i had the cash, i got the tattoo first, and then less than a year later, i got my tragus pierced. at this point i’d already had my cartilage done (with a gun, unfortunately).
then they started cropping up all over.
this wasn’t a bad thing; i just considered myself an early adopter.
when i saw a picture of a triple forward helix three years ago or so, there was another moment where i said, “i want that”. and today i went in to get it.
unfortunately, my ear isn’t designed to accommodate a triple forward helix, so i just got a couple helixes farther up my ear. not exactly what i wanted, but i’m still happy with them.
what is the cause, though? i couldn’t tell you besides the idea that when i see something i like, i normally go for it. my tattoos are not your stereotypical picked-out-of-a-book tattoo with biker symbols and skulls and death that most people associate with tattoos. my piercings are all removeable if i want them to be (no). i like pretty things. i like meaningful things. i don’t consider myself goth (they are too emo) like my mom thinks i am. i just think things are pretty that she doesn’t.

Houseblog: the offer!

September 18, 2013 kate Comments 0 Comment

last time i wrote an entry like this was in 2008! last night nate and i went to see some houses in st. charles and decided to take a look at one again this morning. our realtor said we’d better act fast on it if we wanted it because it was a really good price and other people were looking at it.
so we took a look in the daylight and i still loved the kitchen. the *real* hickory floors are glorious, and there is enough space for us while we slowly finish the basement. speaking of the basement, i took a look at the water heater usage and it’s a pretty darn efficient one! all the appliances are energy star. i’m hoping my electric bill plummets! there is enough room in the back and to the side for some garden beds, so that’s one checkmark on my list.
we made an offer. he had already drawn up most of the paperwork last night, so all we had to do was sign a bunch and decide on an offer. we offered full price plus closing, and added an addendum for some cash for a washer and dryer.
well, he sent it over to the other realtor and once i got back home i headed over with a check for earnest money. then a waiting game.
finally a phone call! they accepted the offer but reduced the amount for the washer and dryer (which i was ok with). tonight nate and i had to initial a couple things, but the house is set, and we’ve got a closing date on halloween! woo!

food interlude

September 17, 2013 kate Comments 0 Comment

let’s take a momentary break from HOUSEBLOG to dwell on something truly glorious: the panera chocolate cupcake.
take a moment to dwell on the perfection of this cupcake form. now imagine a moist cake part that is full of chocolate chunks and a GOOEY CHOCOLATE CENTER. not to mention the frosting wasn’t gross or crusty at all. totally worth the 500 calories the website claims.
ok, now that that’s over, nate and i are looking at the awesome kitchen house again tomorrow morning and my dad is coming along to take a look. he drove past this afternoon and sounded like he approved (unlike our house in st. joe). i’ll try to remember to take more pictures and who knows. maybe tomorrow we’ll make an offer. hmmmm.

getting prepared for another disappointment

September 16, 2013 kate Comments 0 Comment

nate and i went to look at another 5 houses tonight. the last one we looked at was gorgeous on a teeny tiny lot that has a backyard that looks into tall trees, so doable. unfinished basement, but the upstairs is more than sufficient.
unfortunately, the selling realtor might have sold it this afternoon, which would go right along with nate’s and my luck regarding househunting this time around. but the kitchen *drool*

booooo

September 16, 2013 kate Comments 2 comments

i am getting frustrated. every house that both nate and i get somewhat excited about doesn’t pan out. we were going to go look at a house tonight that we scoped out last night. it has a gorgeous front porch that wraps around to a deck in the back. guess what? sold last week. ugh.
so, back to the drawing board. ;( i am not totally disenchanted yet (as opposed to DISENFRANCHISED, which i used incorrectly last time househunting happened, pointed out thanks to a random livejournal reader).
maybe we’ll live in a grass hut.

finalists

September 15, 2013 kate Comments 2 comments

today nate and i are going to look at a couple houses that were finalists from my visit yesterday. one is an older home on an amazing lot with a huge garage and heated workshop. i still want to live out in the country thought! but if i were to live in town, this is the kind of house i would want to live in. (actually, put it on 3 acres out in the country – perfect.)
http://www.edinarealty.com/homes-for-sale/MN/Chatfield/55923/418-Winona-Street-SE-82174150
the second is a newer home split level that’s on a bigger lot, but i’m not enthralled by it. i just wanted nate to see a comparison.
http://www.edinarealty.com/homes-for-sale/MN/Chatfield/55923/1005-Suden-Circle-NE-98559946
we’ll see what nate thinks and what will happen from here. i still prefer the country, but i think that requires more money than we have. 🙁