this is my element.

P... Phosphorous You scored 38 Mass, 42 Electronegativity, 41 Metal, and 10 Radioactivity!

You're high energy... really high. Unfortunately, you don't always put your energy to calm constructive use and sometimes let it all out in intense bursts. If your energy can be harnessed however, you will produce truly great things. I suggest you take up a job that runs you ragged... like opening and closing a Sodium-Potassium pump. Socially you ought to hang with a crowd that is even more social than you. If you don't, well... all those people who spontaneously combusted throughout history... you guessed it, phosphorous people who didn't have enough to occupy themselves. When picking friends make sure most of them rated high on the electronegativity scale... Chlorines, Oxygens and whatnot.

My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 48% on Mass You scored higher than 82% on Electroneg You scored higher than 22% on Metal You scored higher than 40% on Radioactivity

Link: The Which Chemical Element Am I Test written by effataigus on Ok Cupid, home of the 32-Type Dating Test

the google test: part II

What Kari Wants:

kari wants to do 43 things
Kari wants to touch everything
Kari wants to fix “Via Ferrata Style” 150mm long “step bolts” onto the second and first step to speed up the climbing for everyone.
Kari wants to play forward
Kari wants to avoid Peter and the pain he brings
Kari wants readers to believe that her brother was a good driver
Kari wants to surprise her husband, Tyrone, with a fifth anniversary backyard makeover

well, color me suprised...

is this a real shock to anyone?

how many kids do you have?

wow. that's all i can say about this. wow.
they are having babies for the rest of us, i guess.

some pics!

props to Grizzly Adamfor the use of the these photos!

props to jege for the idea!

what do i need? well let me type "Kari Needs" into google and find out...

Kari needs to do something serious and that isn't direct to video
Kari needs to learn how to drive a car at night
Kari needs help with her fashion
Kari needs to prevent her-self from going under
Kari needs a Line Cook
KARI needs an effective system
kari needs high temperature
Kari needs a rest
Kari needs to go run a business someday, perhaps a flower shop
Kari needs to stick with Brad's plan, or at least agree to talk with him before changing their plans.
Kari needs to see the shot.
kari needs the phone *stab*
Kari needs to be a member of the Association.

tonight's setlist

courtesy of echoingthesound.org:
Love Is Not Enough
You Know What You Are?
Terrible Lie
The Line Begins To Blur
March of the Pigs
The Frail
The Wretched
Closer
Burn
Gave up
Eraser
Right Where You Belong
Beside You In Time
Wish
Sin
Only
Reptile
Suck
Hurt
The Hand That Feeds
Head Like A Whole

oh....mi.....god.....

what an amazing fucking show.
holy crap.
best show i've ever seen.
they played for two hours. phenomenal show. trent is ferocious on stage. the band was so solid. i'm just shaking my head in amazement at how good it was. i knew it would be great, but holy crap -- expectations surpassed by miles and miles.
in short, i need a cigarette.

highlights:
the wretched
reptile
eraser and right where it belongs (with accompanying screen of images including animals, blood cells, bombing victims and george w. and laura dancing. felt like a punch in the stomach in a meaningful way.)

okay, every song was a highlight, but i'd never seen reptile done live before. wish is always great, as is suck. hurt always destroys me just a little bit (even with the drunk frat boys singing along next to me). the hand that feeds might just rival head like a hole as far as angst-anthem status.

and he said we were a great fucking audience. yay, approval from t-rezzy!

in short, i'm like a 15 year old girl all over again. sadly i must now advance back to 30 and get ready for work in the morning. an exciting news design meeting awaits and 9 a.m.
blech.

a good time had by all.

the face of a happy girl

leaving for NIN concert soon --- yay!!!

this guy is a total rat

http://mediamatters.org/items/200508310004

i got this link from cadaverpolitik.blogspot.com originally, and it pissed me off so much that now i'm blogging about it.

it's october 11!!!

and what does that mean? well it's c. george tongen's 22nd bday, so props to him. tomorrow is the 32nd birthday of my lovely aimicita, and i wish i was there with her for it!!!
and also...
TONIGHT IS THE NINE INCH NAILS SHOW IN ST. PAUL. HURRAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
so how difficult is it to just sit at work, waiting for stuff to do while i'm watching the clock? IMPOSSIBLE. i would actually like to go home and sleep for a little while. we'll see how early i can vacate my post.

and is this for real? did i just not know this about U2? *shudder*
i feel so dirty.
http://newsmax.com/archives/ic/2005/10/10/131502.shtml

the best thing since sliced bread.

http://www.walken2008.com/

desperately botox-ing

so i'm watching (by accident) my first episode of "desperate housewives." i'm not incredibly impressed thus far. maybe it's the thought that right now in the white house, the first lady is watching -- and enjoying -- this show.

as she said it, she is a desperate housewife.

*shudder*

i really needed to get some laundry done. after doing minimal writing at panera today i watched some x files. and napped. and watched another x files. i'm seriously considering more x files in a little while. you know, for consistency.

two days until NIN.

my family...

... in the style of South Park.

horse saliva? what?

last night at quizno's i was drinking dr. pepper. dustin said that there is horse saliva in dr. pepper. and he was serious. can anyone dispute this for me before i throw up?

just in case you were wondering...

i have seen yet another meg ryan movie. i just caught the last 1/2 of French Kiss on TCM. or is it AMC? i don't know which channel, but kevin kline with a french accent is a decent way to end an evening.

i cook!

it's true! this is what happens when a manic high enters the picture. i went to the farmers' market last weekend and bought all sorts of good eats. however it's taken me this long to get to the eatin' part, so in my craziness i decided that i needed to prepare and/or eat all of them, so they don't spoil.

i made a tossed salad with cucumbers, baby tomatoes and romaine lettuce. (currently sitting in fridge, uneaten. hopefully i can depend on dustin for that.)

i blanched (cooked until transparent) radishes in seasoned olive oil. (currently sitting in fridge, uneaten.)

i cooked a butternut squash. i think it's a butternut squash. is that the small green one? i poked little holes in it with a large knife so that it didn't explode for the 12 minutes in the microwave. then i cut off the exterior, scooped out the seeds, chopped it, added butter and brown sugar and maple syrup. so basically i negated any nutritional content it had and turned it into candy.

this is not sitting, uneaten in my fridge. this is mostly in my stomach.

i may take ye olde puppy for a walk today, b/c it actually seems like fall outside. in these parts of the country, fall is a fleeting notion that pops in and out without any sort of consistency. four days ago it was 80 degrees. yesterday it was 39. today? a fair 52 degrees. that i can live with for a long period of time. sadly i know that's not to be.

dustin and i both agree that the pacific northwest is probably the ideal climate for us. we like rain, we like grey, we like non-extreme temps.

last sunday i went to panera because they have free wireless and they are within a few miles drive of my house. while there i was able to accomplish a great deal of writing on a story that popped into my noggin, so tomorrow i shall attempt more work on the story that i'm really only writing to prove that i can:
1. think up a semi-original idea;
2. convince myself that i can do more than just be a couch lump on sundays;
3. prove that i still know how to use proper punctuation and capitalization.

can't...stop...posting!

i was very devoted to doing laundry last weekend. mostly in an effort to avoid doing the dishes.
however since the addition of a insanely cheap used and incredibly wonderful dishwasher, i have now neglected my laundry. why can i not find balance?
oh, and can anyone give me a tutorial on adobe illustrator? my skills are less than what i'd like them to be. and then i can avoid laundry AND unloading the dishwasher. nice.

polls? he doesn't need any stinking polls..

it's a darn good thing that W. doesn't do his job according to the polls, b/c the polls are choking in a big way.

"The far right is starting to be very open about their claim that he's not a real conservative.''

well DUH! the way he spends (on our grandkids' dime, i might add) like a drunken sailor on payday*? the people that put him into office and participated in his crap have no excuse -- the created this mess, they can clean it up.

*i mean no offense to sailors. it's simply an expression.

okay, now i'll go back to blogging about non-confrontational things, like fluffy little bunnies.

my cell phone is a piece of...

...you know.
well, maybe it's a glitch with being dropped/falling out of my pocket...repeatedly. basically it's a three-piece sort of deal, and the face plate pops off upon impact, thus releasing the shotty keypad that has broken into two pieces: the top piece contains OK, CLR, the arrow keys, the green phone, the red phone and numbers 1-9; the second piece contains *, 0 and #.

well since it just fell a short two feet off of an endtable, i cannot find *, 0 and #.

my solution?

i simply will not use these blank keypads. which is unfortunate, as checking my voice mail require two of these three characters. so don't leave me any messages, as i can never check them again. ever.

wait! a pen! i can do the bob dole thing, carry a pen at all times and always be able to check my voice mail. hurrah!

friday night=movie night

here is our cat, little brother. and he is sleeping next to my leg, currently adorned in the best pajama pants on earth.


she's the best.

the kiddo and i have just returned home from an evening at the cheap theater -- we intended on seeing the potentially horrible "fantastic four" but instead saw "charlie and the chocolate factory" for the third time. then i told her the story about when i was her age, i saw "ghostbusters" in the theater NINE times. her response:
"oh, i have your soul!"

she destroys me with stuff like that.

and the plan for saturday? hopefully it involves cocoa wheats, morning cartoons and remaining in pajamas for as long as humanly possible. and my pajama pants are so snazzy, as you can see above, that i could wear them out of the house. but i won't, b/c that defeats the purpose.

i'm all about the pajamas. not only for the comfy factor, but there is something symbolic is wearing them. it says "i no longer have to leave my house today." sure, i could run those irritating errands, but hey, i can't cause i'm already in my jammies. the act of changing clothes at a certain point in the day shows the move onto something else. just as mr. rogers took off the suit coat and the fancy shoes and changed into the cardigan and sneakers, i see the change in attire as necessary for the rest of the day/evening to unfold.

my changing into pajamas says "i am moving out of one part of the day to the next. the part that doesn't involve going to work or the bank or the post office. the part that involves sleep. and count chocula cereal."

holy funny!

“While our attention was focused on fighting evildoers,” said the president. “Our country was attacked by a new enemy, Mother Nature.”

oct. 31

sweet, sweet henry.

north dakota weather

crazy weather back home.

a better end to a crummy day

the day started off pretty rotten, but i have to say that, without going into the long story, that things are looking up.

and i scored some cool mom points today whilst picking up the kiddo from school. she has been dealing with a rotten kid who likes to tease classmates. my kiddo, being the sweet, kindhearted soul she is, stands up for these teased kids, only to have this monster begin harassing her. today she received a mean note from this monster kid. i sent kiddo on her way to do crossing guard duties and, as i was reading the note, i looked over at the monster child and gave her the patented look of parental disapproval. not a sneer, but a definite stare. i told kiddo of this and i received not one, not two, but THREE high-fives!
nobody messes with my kid.

think about it, though -- if there had been even a few times where someone had stood up for the columbine kids, or any other kids who freaked out because they were being teased too much --- maybe it would have made a difference. i like to think that my kiddo is a difference-maker.

but the downside of this sensitive-soul child is that when the harassment is aimed at her, she has a really hard time letting go of it. just as she feels deeply for the kids who are being teased, she feels 10 times that when her feelings are hurt. and she doesn't forget it anytime soon.

case in point: i went to a wedding a few years ago with dustin. our main duty there was to babysit my niece and nephew, therefore it was easier to not take kiddo. kiddo went to her dad's a couple of hours early, and we figured that would be the end of it.
six months go by and one day i find a framed photo of dustin and i from that day flipped down. why? because she didn't get to go, and the photo reminded her of that.

a chip off the old block, she is.

props to jege!!!

this LINK rules!!!

yawn...

i was going to post a whole damn thing about which countries have visited my blog lately, and then i realized half way through it was nothing more than "blah blah blabitty blah blah." and honestly, who needs to spend time reading that?

too wonderful to be true

props to adrienne for sending me this link!

t-minus six days....

sigh.........

two horsemen bringing in a third...

bringing more scientologists into the world. yikes.

rainy days and ... wednesdays...

last night whilst waiting around for the power to come back on at home, we hung out at a neighborhood watering hole that did have power. in addition to booze.

on the big screen was a swimsuit pageant. not a "scholarship pageant" or a "beauty pageant," an honest-to-goodness swimsuit pageant. the hooters swimsuit pageant. that's right, hooters girls from around the globe were competing for the title of...hooters employee who looks the hottest in a swimsuit, maybe?

as i stared up on the screen, i kept telling dustin "you know i will never, ever look like them, right? you know that, right?" he remained seated next to me, so here's hoping that he knew i was serious and not just being coy.

but we kept watching -- the audio was turned off (like anyone in that bar cared what they had to say) and dustin asked me what i thought of stuff like that. and i guess they are calling it exactly what it is, not under the guise of something else. and predictably so, some yahoo in front of the big screen kept making gestures and groping actions in front of it -- CLEVER, i tell you. and he kept doing it, probably b/c that was the closest he would ever go to actually doing that to Miss Venezuela.

what else do i think about it? do i wish i had a lean physique, as opposed to what could be seen in the reflection of a fun house mirror? oh sure, why not? but when you are that hot, there is little importance in being cool, witty, interesting, or even possessing a smattering of common sense. when you are not that hot, these other traits are honed to a fine point. so i may not be as svelte as i was back in the day, but i'm a whole lot cooler.
(this is a technique i like to call "rationalizing a situation.")

and before all the hot people in the world who read this get all upset, i know that many hot people are cool, witty, interesting and filled with oodles of common sense.

a night in the dark

well a dandy of a storm came through last night -- it lasted quite a few hours -- and it knocked out the power in our neighborhood from 8pm to 2am or so. at first i thought i'd be SO clever and blog about being out of power while that was going on... until i remembered that our wireless router plugs into the wall. so no internet. which, if you are like me and practically joined at the hip with a computer both at work and at home, is pretty excruciating. we watched some of the Daily Show's Indecision 2004 dvd on the not fully charged laptop, so that lasted a short while. what else to do?

so we drove to a neighborhood watering hole that had power to watch some karaoke.

as for my migraine, it's done. i kind of feel like i've been beaten up, but compared to the headache, it's a definite improvement.

tonight will be the kiddo's first day with an instrument at home --- which will lead to me posting some photos of the ritual of afterschool practice. i'm so excited for her! and a part of me is looking forward to seeing if i still remember how to play at all -- it's been a million (okay, 17) years since i picked up a trombone.

the kiddo and i were in her room talking last week and she made the comment "i can't believe that i'm halfway to 18. before you know it, mom, i'll be packing my bags for college."

i laughed at first, but judging how fast this first month of school went, i don't think her estimate is far off. oy.

i love my porch

i'm on the porch right now (yay wireless!), listening to what might be the last thunderstorm of the season -- i hate to miss it b/c of silly tasks like laundry and cleaning up the living room. the news was speaking of snow and even though i've heard thunder during winter, thunder accompanied by rain is as good as it can get for me.

sidenote: is it wise to be outside, holding a piece of electronics in your lap as there is a lightening storm going on?

i'm also in the works of burning a cd that i'm calling the soundtrack of my life. i do this every so often and it gives a little insight into that gray matter inside my skull. which, by the way, is beginning to not hurt so damn much.

so i love my porch. my dog is sitting out with me and she's horrified by rain. not so much the thunder, but the rain really worries her. because i think she knows that if she were wet, it might give her the option of being fresh-smelling and clean.

i was hoping to hit the cheap theater to check out "the island" tonight for a buck, but that may not be in the cards. i'd like to not have my hand go numb a second day, so i find myself compelled to just lay low.

today's score:

migraine: 1, me: 0.

a quiz:

what's worse than not being able to sleep around 4:30 a.m.?
knowing that you have to start your day in two hours.

so glad monday is nearly over

just a really long day at work. but the evening was topped off nicely by a trip to the arcade bar in st. paul with sarah m. now i must wash off the layers of smoke that has glued itself to my skin. eww. i smoke, but eww, it's not pleasant. however if there is one thing that comes before cleanliness, it's (besides blogging) Count Chocula cereal. mmmmmmmmmmm Count Chocula, you are a tasty treat!

you guessed it, jege!

who, me?

i am going to make a cd tonight. not from scratch, mind you, for i haven't the technology. but i will use itunes to compile a compilation. a soundtrack of me -- along the lines of "if my life were a movie, these songs would be on it."
trying to keep it from being overwhelmingly nine inch nails. but let's face facts: it will be 50 percent nine inch nails. with maybe a smattering of liz phair (circa 1994) and just a hint of pj harvey and a dash of sarah mclachlan.
maybe. we'll see. and i'll report on the progress.

it's time for...

Guess What Movie Kari is Watching!

here are some hints....

"why can't you just be a friend? why are you such a mega-bitch?"

and

"i don't patronize bunny rabbits!"

and who can forget

"bulimia is so '87."

time in a pastry shop

the badge of cool that one feels while using a mac in public is undeniable.

doesn't anyone stay together anymore

if this pair can't make it, what hope do the rest of us have?

fall chores

yes, the chores o' the season. how exciting that i not keep those chores all to myself! from washing the blankets to breaking out the space heater...well maybe those are the only chores i can think of. there it is that's it. blankets and a heater. so by making it sound like some sort of event -- "Fall Chores 2005!" -- i've made it more lame.

i don't really have the stereotypical seasonal changes for my life -- "Spring Cleaning" usually means "more crap in a box that i have to sort through or i might just throw it all out before the cat pees on it." but that sounds less charming than Spring Cleaning.


my thoughts are slightly jumbled at this somewhat late hour. i fell asleep putting the kiddo to sleep (children are mini heaters -- it happens easily)-- and have just woken up. right before i left work today i found out that i had screwed up on a couple of pages of a monthly newspaper that built. while it's nothing that will keep me up at night, it still bothers me that i was too busy to notice that, in the midst of switching ad A with ad B, i forgot to put in the B. basically one ad ran twice in the same paper, while one was left out completely. shite happens, i know, but it still sucks finding out that you are not the freakin' genius you once thought.

(pausing to recall when i once thought i was a freakin' genius...hmm)

ah well, for now i shall relax near the space heater and enjoy the warm air blown out that contrasts with the cold air seeping in through the windows. hmm. conditions in my room are ripe for a thunderstorm.

i heart you, craigslist!

a show of hands -- who loves craigslist?
i was introduced to this site by a co-worker and my quest for crap i don't need really began. i'm on there a few times a day and i always remember to log on first thing in the morning, just in case i can be the first one to find a great deal. meaning something free. you never know when you'll find the job listing of your dreams (unlikely but worth a shot) or an ipod for $50 (even less likely). but i did find a split boxpring for my king sized bed for no money whatsoever. here are some goodies that i don't need, don't want, but ohmigod, it's funny that they are even listed:

1. Beautiful Tiara. Never worn, $20.
2. Patriotic Leather Jacket (flag decoration), $75.
3. An American Hat. Dark blue with the American flag on it. (seller says he no longer has a need for this hat.) $4. (Patriotism is the new black, i think.)
4. Six unicorn figurines, $40.
5. Under employment: Attention College Cheerleaders... (we don't really need to know what THAT entails...) and this seques PERFECTLY into...
6. Penthouse and Playboy Collection, $62.
7. The AB Lounge 2, $70.
8. An ad under "Casual Encounters" noting the availability of a sperm donor. I'm guessing it's not for a fertility clinic, though...

there is also a Barter section -- if you need something, you can ask for it while offering up something on your part. For instance, one person on there right now wants to learn how to drive, and they are offering to help the willing party with learning Chinese.

so it's the damndest thing i've ever seen. no, that's not entirely true. the damndest thing i've ever seen was some kid on a bike flipping off a train crossing the tracks. that was funny.
but it comes close.

movie night

so i'm thinking about a couple of possibilities for this evening:
a. go to a movie ("exorcism of emily rose")
b. do some laundry
c. clean my living room
d. watch fox mulder take a bite out of that ice cream cone over and over again
e. watch fox mulder eat those sunflower seeds over and over again
f. wish like hell that i could be an ice cream cone or a sunflower seed

now, i could do b and c right before doing a. or i could continue doing d, e and f and just take momentary pauses to do b and c. but then i can't do a. what's a girl to do?

you down with CSP?

the good folks at CSP have spared some space for me again HERE. It's a little something I had on my mind whilst the painting project.

sweet, sweet x files.

enjoying the xfiles evening.
time at the shrink was well spent.
feeling a little bit numb.
that happens post-shrink sometimes.

one hell of a work day

okay, so i'm outside having a smoke during what has become a hellacious work day (when it should have been simple) and i saw a squirrel. my first thought was to move slowly away from the squirrel, as it was etched into my brain when i was young that all squirrels have rabies. instead i decided to move closer, b/c if it bit me, i'd be able to go home early today.

THAT'S the kind of work day it's been. a preference of rabies shots to work.

that's more like it.

Your hidden talent is writing Your hidden talent is writing. You have a unique way of viewing the world and are able to express your thoughts eloquently on the page. Some people might think that you are weird, but you are just the next Pulitzer prize winner. Take this quiz at QuizGalaxy.com

hmm.

don't blame me, i didn't invent the quiz.

You have a sexual hidden talent You have a sexual hidden talent. You might not look it but you are a dynamo in bed. Most of your lovers think that it is from years of practice, but really, you were just born with it. Take this quiz at QuizGalaxy.com

now everyone knows my secret!

Your darkest secret is: You voted because Diddy told you to Take this quiz at QuizGalaxy.com

quiz galaxy kinda rules.

You most resemble Marlon Brando You are very smart, and very talented, although you don’t really enjoy social company. You prefer to live alone, go to movies alone, cry alone in the corner... Take this quiz at QuizGalaxy.com

What is your epitaph?

Props to the dandy Joe Mammy for this link.

Take this quiz at QuizGalaxy.com

nice.

monday monday monday

so tomorrow is monday. as i'm sure you are all aware of. and for some of you it's already monday.
point being, it's shrink day, and i'm nervous.
why?
well i can always tell when things are shaky. and things are definitely shaky is shakey spelled with an e? shakey? no, i like shaky better.
anyhow, i digress.
i've not been there for a few weeks and i kind of feel like by going there i'm opening up a pandora's box o' emotions that have been bottled up and i don't feel mentally equipped to handle them. crap.
i'm so tired of being this way. and i know it wreaks havoc on the people around me, so that is frustrating as well.
oy vey.
on a completely unrelated note, i love sitting on my porch when it's raining otuside. there is a nice breeze and at some point i need to acquire some sort of swinging apparatus for the porch. a swing, a hammock, something. i've been saying that for months, but i really do mean it.

"horses horses horses horses"

ahhhh, my day of total laziness.
i've finished "you've got mail." i've spent a few hours in bed watching a variety of "x files" episodes. what is next? well as long as there is cookie dough, there is a meg ryan movie. i'm now starting "sleepless in seattle."
but don't worry -- after this i'm planning to watch "nightmare on elm street," so everything will be in balance again.
quotes that i enjoy:

"bees. i'm allergic to bees."
"it's the same with harold and bees."
"harold wasn't always allergic to bees."
"what about harold and bees?"
"i'm allergic to bees."

that was for you, Meg.

not even cookie dough...

is enough to make fall feel better. and i like the season -- i have no ill will toward the change from humidity and flip-flops to sweaters and sensible shoes --- but man, fall is a tough time. and every year it happens and every year i think it will be different.
i think i'm going to spend the night eating cookie dough and watching meg ryan movies. so there.

my kitchen ...

... smells like freshly baked chocolate chip cookies.
why?
because i baked chocolate chip cookies. that i made. from scratch. not a container or a tube.
and i used butter.
and the cookies are delightful.

and this morning i realized i had lost five pounds. and then i made cookies....

rita, rita, rita...

come on, sugar, just lighten up on the coast, will ya?

and there was a freakin' earthquake in california early this morning?
what in the hell... and don't start with that "end of times" nonsense, you lunatics.
i don't even know what lunatics i'm speaking of.

we're watching last night's "daily show" and jon stewart -- who is usually funny as all get out anyhow -- is in rare form.

and rob corddry (sp?) is moving up toward being in my list of five.

oh, come now, YOU know about the list of five ... i first heard of it on "Friends" and it's that list of five people you'd be allowed to ... you know ... without any consequences from your significant other.

and the stipulation that i think is important is that they really need to be celebrities -- you know, people you would never, ever actually have the chance to sleep with -- otherwise you could say it about anyone you meet. and that would make it too easy. then you could just nail anyone.

so my list? let's see...

trent reznor
john cusack
ewan mcgregor
jon stewart
... and there are a few in rotation, depending on the mood, including (but not limited to):

philip seymour hoffman
mark ruffalo

who's on YOUR list?

why am i still awake?

it's midnight. the kid is asleep. i should be asleep. but i can't sleep. my brain is wide awake.

tomorrow will be a day of making chocolate chip cookies. with real butter. to hell with the slimfast for the weekend. the trick to good cookies? use a bit more vanilla than it calls for, and if you MUST use margerine, try to use half margerine/half butter.

and that's about as domestic as i can sound without making myself giggle.

there is very little that is nicer than being able to crawl into bed and know that you needn't set the alarm for the morning. of course, saturdays i always have an alarm who sleeps down the hall from me, and that alarm usually wakes me before 8 a.m. but that will change someday. someday she'll be an angst-ridden teenager who complains if i wake her before 2 p.m.

or she could be like me (as she proves more and more everyday, much to my chagrin) and be an early riser forever.

funny memory: i'm probably three years old and i've woken up long before my parents. i decide to pretend i'm in a shampoo commercial. in lieu of shampoo, i use baby oil in my hair. i spend some time talking to myself in the bathroom mirror, pretending i'm the damn breck girl. then my memory jumps to my mother discovering my greasy, greasy hair and hauling me off to the bath. washing out oil with water ... i'm sure that was awesome for her. must remember to call and apologize for that one.

i've discovered more and more that for everything the kiddo does that i recall doing, i feel the need to call my parents and apologize. and ask them why they didn't leave me to the gypsies. (they say it's b/c they love me, but i'm pretty sure it's b/c there aren't a lot of roving bands of gypsies in the ND countryside.)

my favorite picture.

kari dad picture
Originally uploaded by kllnin.

if i ever write a book or put out an album, this will be on the cover. seriously. my favorite picture EVER.

Holy F**king Rita!

Holy F**king Rita!
Originally uploaded by kllnin.

Christ, that's a storm...take care, you guys!!! And remember, it's not looting if you leave an IOU... seriously. Find what you need to be ok.

a few moments in the basement

well, we heard a bit o' the tornado warning sirens this evening, so we spent a few minutes in the basement and now we're back above ground. it's an interesting perspective for me to have a child who is afraid of storms -- as much as i was when i was her age. by the time i had abbey i was a big fan of thunderstorms, so it's not as though she has grown up, watching me panic about it.

i remember the first storm that i actually did not vomit from fear -- it was 7th grade maybe (can't recall for certain, i might need amycita's help on this one) and i was sleeping over at my best friend amy's house. we had to go in the basement b/c the sirens went off and, in north dakota, sirens only went off in the event a funnel was spotted. well down in the basement we hung out and ate suddenly salad with mixed with crab, something her mom had whipped up earlier that evening. and i was trying so hard to be cool and not panic that i guess i just started to enjoy myself. thanks for that, amycita!

i even remember how severe that storm was -- the next day we heard that there were a total of 7 funnels around the minot area and a tree in my parent's backyard was broken in half due to a lightening strike.

and as a slight tangent, i have tornado dreams about once a week. i'm in a big room which resembles a community type room at my grandparent's apartment complex -- only the walls are made of glass and there are tornadoes dropping out of the sky all over the place. and i can look up and see them swiriling and starting to form. i never dream i'm injured or that any of the glass walls even break, it's just this sense of what COULD happen. the walls COULD shatter and slice me into 17,000 pieces. the tornadoes COULD go on forever and ever. i'm just waiting, expectantly, for the worst to happen.

i remember being so afraid when i was little -- i don't recall many daytime tornado warnings in minot, mostly middle of the night ones until i got much older. so there's that whole "can't see what might be chasing and could destroy your entire life" thing.

and ever since that night at amy's house, if the sirens would go off while i was sleeping, i somehow would wake up a minute or two before the sirens, kind of like waking up right before an alarm clock. i have no explanation for that.

what a wordy post thus far. and i might just keep going, as it will make up for the fact that my recent posts have been largely photo-dependent.

had a bad head day yesterday. i could blame many things or i could blame nothing, as there need not be anything in particular to bring it on. i guess what throws me off and makes it even harder is that i spend most of my days under the illusion that i have it all under control. then days like yesterday morning happen and i realize that i'm controlling only two things (this is for you joe mammy) - jack and shit. jack left town.

the kiddo is delighted with her room. she called me at work today when she first saw it and she said it was "awesome."

me: do you like it?
her: you bet i do!

(this is her new phrase, which came into use after her short-lived "you betcha!" phase.)

tomorrow may prove to be a hectic day. we'll see.

for any of you on the gulf coast --- take care of yourselves. get out of harm's way. i hear that there is a nice ranch in crawford to visit...

this past 24 hours...

here i am last night, so excited to see beck!


here is dustin, showing no emotion at all about pumping gas.


here are some photos of the kiddo's finished room:

the room

and view 2


so you can see that there were spots that i totally f**ked up on, but by god, it's done and i can always do touchups on it. you know, when i feel like bleeding out my eyes again.

and can i just add something on an entirely different note? i really like tom brokaw and dan rather. the emmys are honoring them (and the late peter jennings as well) and it's nice to see them speaking again

the day of the paint

how long did it take to paint the kiddo's room? let me express it few different ways:
58 nine inch nails songs
two pounds of water weight GONE
three excedrin
i started around 4 ish, and with breaks and whatnot, have just finished.

i'm done. finally done. and i'd go upstairs and take a picture of the room but that means i would have to step back into that room------

wait....JON STEWART IS ON THE EMMY AWARDS. good stuff.

okay, i digress. to go into that room might just make my nose bleed at this point of the fumes.

FINE, fine fine, i'll go up and take a photo. just hold your horses.

tonight's plan...

i will watch the emmy's simply to see Zach Braff.

movies on the brain...

a note to god

dear god,
if you are out there, please deliver one of these portable dishwashers to my house. it's simply out of control.
thank you.
kari

oh sweet, sweet friday...

sometimes it's so nice to know that the morning holds nothing more than the promise of morning cartoons, frosted shredded mini wheat cereal and wearing pajamas until noon. what does my saturday look like?
- morning cartoons
- frosted shredded mini wheat cereal
- wearing pajamas until noon.
- go to elementary school book fair w/kiddo at noon-thirty. (that's right, i said "noon-thirty.")
- go to potentially bad romantic comedy "just like heaven" with the kiddo (from the dir. of "mean girls" and "freaky friday," two movies which she enjoyed)

a nice little saturday planned. might paint the kiddos room on sunday, but we'll see hwo that comes together.
working on possibly seeing Beck on monday night here in town. and then less in a month there is NIN. and on oct. 27 there is liz phair at first ave. and then ben folds at some point thereafter. holy concertville it is. however i take issue with liz's ticket price of $25 bucks BEFORE ticketmaster makes it hurt. $25 bucks. i don't know, but once i've seen a performer in a venue like first ave for 15$, it's hard to pay much more than that. but she does have a child to support, so who knows. and i heart the music of old liz rather than new liz, but she made a good point in an interview once that, during the period of her really, really solid music, she wasn't a very happy person. but is that any excuse for her sound to go to a bad place? i don't know...but to hear "fuck and run" live, with liz a mere ten feet from you? well that's worth something, too. i'm torn.

dustin had himself an interview with the target corp. yesterday, so we're keeping the fingers crossed on that. that would be a good, good thing.

so today's posting is not so much interested and witty as it is informative. i'm okay with that. i can't be a superstar everyday, afterall. (delusions of grandeur)

having a tough time keeping up with the whole therapy thing. i guess it's in my pattern to go with great dedication for a while, then drop off the face of the therapeutic earth. i don't know why that is. i am well aware that i need to go, but it's tricky. sometimes it's just easier to not discuss things, not to think about things and to vocalize things that will ultimately upset me. i just get tired of that part of me and sometimes it's nice to think that those parts of me don't actually exist.

our cat, little brother, is so effing loud. wanted: bottle of ether, dry cloth.

on a different topic: these are shows i wish i would have gotten into immediately but now feel as though it's probably too late:
1. the office
2. nip/tuck
3. 24
4. arrested development
5. lost
6. six feet under

notice there are NO reality shows in that list. maybe it's never too late. maybe i need to rent an entire season at a time from the video store and hunker down for a day or two. that's not a bad idea...

i'm stealing an idea

props to michellend for this little goody, because i'm now using the same general idea.

so, anyone interested in a mixed cd exchange? if you've ever seen High Fidelity, you know how both cool and tricky it is to make a mixed cd for someone. if you are interested in making a mixed cd and passing it along to others in the mixed cd club, just lemme know and we'll get the ball rolling.

it can be any music you are or ever have been interested in. you can jot notes in the liner on why you chose the songs you did, or you can keep it a complete mystery.

plus, isn't it fun to get mail that isn't from a studen loan officer?

who's with me? i say we limit it to 10, otherwise postage would just be absurd. you can do it as often throughout a month as you want, but i'd say that one cd per month is a good goal.

ready, set, go!

kiss

doisneau_kiss
Originally uploaded by kllnin.

who doesn't love this photo?

introducing: my new desktop image!

props to c.george for this link. no words can explain how funny i think this is.

The First Day of Fourth Grade

she's so grown up. wow. fourth grade doesn't seem like it should be that long ago for me, but holy crap, it is.

a show of hands...

who loves a screenshot?

tommy lee is going to college

maybe i'm a bit out of the loop, but tommy lee is in college? in nebraska? wha? has the whole world gone mad?

and the instrument of choice is....

trombone! the kiddo will be playing trombone this year... and i'm thinking it's genetic, given the fact that i played, my oldest sister AND my dad played. and hopefully she'll be better at it than i was. yikes!

ewwww.....

what a horrible f**king nightmare.

a scene from our night

dustin and i: watching cspan and w.'s tour of new orleans. here are the things that catch our ears...

1. "de-watering" used in a sentence. new orleans is being de-watered. just so you know.
2. "there is lots of information floating around." (dustin added "no pun intended.")
3. he also wants to "knit" up the country.
4. "i've come from an extraordinary event. i've been working." to be fair, he was talking about a church he had attended where they were feeding people. i just thought it was a clever freudian slip.

dustin mowing

dustin mowing
Originally uploaded by kllnin.

what can i say? this man sure can mow.

house

house
Originally uploaded by kllnin.

in case you have ever wondered, this is what our house looks like.

me and the sister

me and the sister
Originally uploaded by kllnin.

one of my favorite pictures. ever.

this week in pictures

the young mr. adam files was in town on his way to move to NY this week...


jackie, ian and jack were also in town...


photos were taken...


armpits were displayed...


it's always nice seeing friends...

I like Nick Coleman

"...In the past days, I have heard Fox News' Bill O'Reilly say you shouldn't count on government to protect you. I have heard radio's Rush Limbaugh say that expecting the government to build levees is an example of a welfare mentality. I have heard many ideological zealots excuse the appalling failure to save the sick, the elderly, the children, by shrugging their well-tailored shoulders and saying there is a limit on what government should do and the private sector should be called upon first....I have a suggestion for another American Experiment. If anyone still thinks government should not be responsible for saving people, let's lock them in an attic where water is rising to the roof. Without an ax."

http://www.startribune.com/stories/357/5604602.html

truman

the buck
Originally uploaded by kllnin.

i think this photo speaks for itself.

a must read

courtesy of David at Clark Schpiell, a VERY GOOD READ.

a decent editorial piece

Give THIS article a look-see.

(then yell at me for being partisan.)

MN State Fair

MN State Fair
Originally uploaded by kllnin.

we came, we saw, we took a photo.

katrina

i'll refrain from any comments regarding the band katrina and the waves, as that's probably unnecessary.
f**king horrible. can't belive how long it took to get those aquatic vehicles of supplies to those people. i go from angry at the slow response to the chaos to unbelievably sad about all the loss and how it's still in the beginning stages of moving forward.