[hot pink american summer]

Dearest Maroticats,

I am writing because today is significant. I am writing because it's Geelite's last day of work before her 6 week Pompeii adventure. Geelite is a member of an archeaeological team in Italy and will spend her hot summer weeks digging in the sun, drinking cheap alcoholic beverages with names like Hell Beer and befriending wild dogs. She has been doing this for several years now and it is simply the coolest thing ever, if you ask me.

Over the course of the past 6 weeks, I have been lucky to spend much of my time in the ceramics studio working on mosaic projects and chillin' with Geelite. We have had So. Much. Fun. The breaks, the conversation, the inspired chats, the future collaborations. So much of this has motivated and excited me. It's great to finally be hanging out with her again.

For those of you who don't know Geelite, we became friends sophomore year at The University and then lived together in a messy pit of clay dust, raviolis and beer cans our junior year. She helped me get the work study position I had in the studio, as well. We joined together for such academic pursuits as making homemade music videos to Disco 2000 by Pulp and re-enacting a little thing we like to call "hello mr. squirrel" to Ween (Anonymous-X, Nugget, you know of what I speak)... Point is, there were good times. And it's great to know that despite having wandered apart for a chunk of time, we are still having good times today. And there will be more good times. Great times, in fact. Roger Waters comes to mind. Artistic collaborations involving informercials and Tire Rubber come to mind. Life is good.

Tonite we will drink in honor of a summer session well spent. Tonite we will drink in ode to Geelite. Have a safe, fun and fantastic adventure in Italy. May your plane fly you rapidly, safely and bump-free to Pompeii and may you never die of Tetanus.

Summer Session 2006

_______________________











Love, your hot pink blogging friend, Kristen

[corcoran update]

I just got off the phone with my admissions advisor and she said that she's received one of my letters of recommendation (the two others are on their way) and my high school transcripts. She also said that she will be meeting with the graphic design head to discuss my application on Monday! She said that many of my credits have transferred and so technically I could be admitted as a sophomore, however she was concerned that I don't have any basic design courses under my belt and does not want me to be behind the other students in the program. I know that despite having not taken those courses, I have a strong sense of design and so we ended the conversation with a 'let's wait and talk on Monday'.

I'm so excited!

[sloppy joes, slop sloppy joes]

My New Project:

Those of you who know me, understand that I'm a pretty emotional person. Extreme is a word for it. tracie argues that I feel everything in its most extreme form. The Boyfriend, since the beginning, has called me a Fire Cracker. Explosive, I suppose? Ha ha. Well, it's totally true. (AND NO - by admitting this, you are NOT allowed to post SARCASTIC 'duh's' - you KNOW who YOU are.) I've always been ruled by food as well and I'm starting to seriously wonder if there is some sort of serious correlation between these two things. Emotion > Food > Exercise. I know it's common sense that those things are super tied together, but what if - for me - they DEPEND on eachother. Maybe my severely emotionally intense moments are, in fact, driven by something I just ate? Maybe a high sugar content food consumed an hour ago is responsible for the emotional peak I'm currently experiencing (hypothetically - I'm totally in a good stable mood right now)? Or maybe it's the opposite?










So on behalf of my emotions and metabolism, I am going to start a notebook where I can track these things. I think since food does play such an important role in my life (for example: I get so lightheaded when I'm hungry that I'm virtually useless - can't function, emotional extremes, etc.) that it would be intelligent to track everything that I consume. This could be an excellent way to monitor my exercise and activity, mood swings, etc. Initially, I was considering starting up a second website for said project, but the longer I think about it, it will be far easier to have a handy dandy notebook to carry everywhere. But don't worry. For those of you who I know must be SO thrilled by this new project of mine - I will try to do updates on my progress, any connections I'm noticing, etc.

Of course, I haven't bought the notebook yet, but it's coming. Maybe I'll start Monday?

(Photo: Courtesy of http://cnp.sde.state.ok.us/cnp/cnp_nslp.html)

[it's just the kind of day to leave myself behind]

Some Random Points
____________________
It's so hard to believe, but....

Countdown: 8 Days
until...
The MilChic Summer Gig!!

In 8 days, The Boyfriend and I will be hopping on an airplane and flying out to Milwaukee's Mitchell Airport early in the a.m. We will be meeting up with Nugget, Cousin Louie K and Mahoney and that very night we will be enjoying the Tom Petty and Pearl Jam show at Summerfest. Does life get any better than that? Cold beers, beautiful Milwaukee air, my new summer dresses! Sigh...

If you remember, Mahoney just bought a place in Chicago and now she is trying to come up with the perfect nickname for it. Of course, you've got the typical "the pad" and such, but I was thinking something more along the lines of "the bungalow" or "chalet", "villa"? Any suggestions for Mahoney? Something sexy?

Most mornings I talk on my cell phone to my mom on my walk to the office, however, on the mornings that I don't, there is nothing better than putting the cell on silent, popping on the ipod that your kickass bruter gave you last Xmas and rockin' out to some good ol' itunes. Today I had the awesome experience of listening to "Tuesday Afternoon" by the Moody Blues. For some reason, that song really hits me...one of those songs that forces you to smile on your walk to the office box. It gives you that intense excited summer feeling, that pre-concert feeling, that butterflies in my stomach we're going to a huge ass house party tonite feeling. I love that song. I love the Moody Blues.

I hope you get that feeling today.

(Photo: Courtesy of www.wikipedia.org)

[for the love of the content]

After returning from a quick visit to Cone E. Island with tracie for a soft serve vanilla yogurt bludgeoned by crumbled peanut butter cups, I decided it was a good time to start printing out my beloved website. I plan to do this as often as possible (ideally, weekly) to then insert them into a three ring binder. I've seen what happens to people's souls when their website is suddenly no more...when evil people do evil internet things and drag you and your internet character down with them. I won't let it happen to me! Although blogger.com is a pretty big thing and there are thousands and thousands of bloggers in their family, it almost makes me wonder when the huge disaster will strike and BOOM! down goes blogger.com and you will be able to hear the sobs, the tears will be leaking down the front of your monitor as the error page presents itself in the rubble of a site that is no more. Think of the children! The horror. I may lose my internet pages one day, but at least I won't lose my content. I WILL HAVE MY CONTENT! And that is all that matters.

[exhilaration:a birthday]

I was in the 7th grade when I fell in love with the poetry of Emily Dickinson.

Exhilaration is the Breeze
That lifts us from the ground,
And leaves us in another place
Whose statement is not found;
Returns us not, but after time

We soberly descend,
A little newer for the term
Upon enchanted ground.

Happy Birthday to my Official Running Buddy...Running Guru...
My Father-Away-From-Home.

You run. You teach. You heal. You inspire.

Love always,
me.

[ingredients for studification]

Reasons Why My Man Is A Stud
___________________________

1. He's got big muscles.
2. He's the most disciplined person I know.
3. He is an outdoorsy-tie-my-own-knots-carry-my-multi-tool-everywhere kinda guy.
4. He used to work as a lobsterman and do marine construction - labor is hot.
5. He graduated from the GW Ceramics M.F.A. Program with a 4.0
6. He's an amazing teacher - naturally.
7. He has beautiful arms and a foxy chin (yes, chins can be foxy).
8. He drives a badass red truck.
9. He's an amazing artist.
10. He loves our kitties so much.
11. He loves me so much.
12. He does the laundry.
13. He watches as many romantic comedies as our netflix queue allows.
14. He shaves his head.
15. He says things like "if you ever touch Kristen again, I'll kill you" to boys who cross the line - aka, he's my knight in shining armor.

[maybe i'm an optimist?]

It feels like it's been such a long time since I've posted anything here. I'll admit I'm in kinda weird spots, but they come and go. I'm hungry, so that's a contributing factor. It's also Tuesday, which means I'm back at the office box thinking about the lab reports I can't locate. Tough break. At the moment, though, I'm thinking about Sunday night. I spoke with tracie about it and now that I've thought about it from a non-hungover standpoint, I'm weird. I don't understand boys. I don't understand why boys and girls can't be friends. I don't understand why everytime I go out with someone new and they know I have a boyfriend and they know I just want to be their friend - why must it get sexual? Flirting is one thing. Having fun is one thing. It's quite another thing to start to feel someone up. It's quite another thing to try to kiss someone repeatedly when they say no. Although I tend to make up excuses that people get drunk and lose a certain element of control, the point remains this happens to me on a pretty regular basis.

On Sunday, a boy I work with put the moves on me. It was the first time I've ever felt a loss of control in this way. A way that forced me to tears later on. A way that left me feeling embarassed. Aggression. A way that made The Boyfriend want to kick his ass. A way that makes me uncertain about how I feel. I feel weird.

Although I removed myself from the situation on Sunday and I did nothing to lead the boy on (that I'm aware of), I'm still balancing many different feelings in my mind. A sense of guilt that I allowed myself to be in that situation. Not wanting to get that person in trouble - he's a great kid usually. So many mixed emotions. And at the same time, I want to never see him again. I can understand (on a very miniscule level, of course) how rape victims often feel guilt and shame in what has happened to them. It's easy to look back at the last several times I've had a guy cross the line and say - well I got drunk or I was being super friendly and flirty. It's like when you try to remember the details of an event and the longer you play it over and over, it changes..you wonder if you've remembered correctly, if your role was somehow different?

I certainly was not raped nor was what happened on Sunday something that is going to scar me for life. But it is something to think about. Maybe men and women can't be friends. Maybe I'm an optimist.