Dear Christine,

Life in Bel Air this year has been horrible.
I might even go so far as to say, it's deplorable.
Every time I want so bad to see you
I must slap my own hand and say, "Stop! I will beat you!"
"If you do not stop this abominable wish
To see someone so far away as Africa... ish...
You will be miserable, take it from me
I've been there, you know, the depths I have seen--
The depths of the pit of Hell and despair."
(Okay, this drama thing is going nowhere)
But alas, through all of my self-reprobation,
I miss you; my heart is one huge conflagration.
It's burning and aching... oh, no, here we go...
Melodrama went out three decades ago.
Regardless, my dear, Christine, my friend,
I miss you a lot. So this poem I send.
My yearning for you is true ever-present;
Without you, it's quite hard to be effervescent.
So come back at your earliest convenience
For I miss you with all of my love and allegiance.


Kathryne

extravert?

am I an extravert?

I am doubting my introversion. I know I adore having time to myself being busy and such, and I need it, and I enjoy it... but dear me. talking with people and seeing people makes me so happy!

and "words of affirmation" is most definitely my "love language," if you will. therefore, when people talk to me and ..umm...affirm... me, it just makes me smile.

first day of school, by the way. goodish day.

and a boy asked for Kristen's email address today... lol. he invited her to come to his pool on Saturday. that made me smile.

Kathryne

Awkwardness + WO-AH-AH-OH

Sooo, yeah.

16/(can't drive) + (professional world)(happy hour) = supreme(awkward)

But this bar at which the happy hour was held (the same one that I had to attend for 2.5 hours while attempting to camouflage with the wallpaper-- even though there was no wallpaper) was Irish. So they played cool music. I thought about asking for the playlist... but nonexistent wallpaper does not ask for playlists, does it?

I think I held up pretty well. But even when professional people do not get drunk, they do drink at happy hours. And alcohol + people = LOUD.

...but I can't deny that seeing my English teacher and hearing her compliment me to her mom was nice :)

Talk about your sensory overload.

Aaaaanyways. CHECK IT OUT!! it is finally up!!! yayyy for Facebook and... hey... social media connections with brands/companies/artists and fans! (seriously, if you were at Rock, and even if you weren't, click that link for a bit of nostalgia).

...never mind. I'll just post it. I'm too happy to not.

[!!!!!!!!!!!!!]

Kathryne

music makes me happy :)

Lots of great things today.

This morning I played piano for Megan's chorus at her church. We did The Precious Blood. I was happy, because I learned that piece for school. It was the one that convinced me that learning to read music might actually be a good thing and chords are not always the answer.

And even though I goofed a few times and the girls made it suuuuper slow, it still was received very well.

Then there was the CYMA leaders' debrief, but that is unrelated.

THEN I went into one of the upstairs rooms at church and continued teaching myself Eet. Before you ask-

• yes it is Regina Spektor,
• no it is not easy,
• yes it is in C# major,
• no I do not like to abandon a project once started, and
• yes I do rue the day I decided to start it.

It wants me to stretch the fingers on one hand more than an octave! I have little hands, okay?!

Then there was practice for the evening service at church. My church. hehe. And, before you ask-

• yes it was fun,
• no I did not know more than 4 of the songs,
• yes I can fake it pretty well,
• no I could not hear myself,
• yes Mr Phil is one of my new favorite people,
• and no I do not mind if people know that. OKAY?! :P

I like those people.

Now I am at home listening to more music and wishing that I had had more initiative when I was younger and had time to learn all these cool instruments... it seems as I get older there is hardly anything to learn for which I have both opportunity and drive. So I must amend that, somehow. I can cut stuff out. Like sleep.

Kathryne

PS- give way to the coral >:)

whooooCYMAisoverandIneedtobreathe...

yikes. the week is over.

I am working on the videos... final stretch! one down, one to go.

BTW, pardon my sacrilege, but forget Motivational Red Wall Paint. Motivational Hoarded Chocolate Bar works much, much better :P

I am sad to leave all of my small group girls, but... OH! two of them gave me poems :) I will transcribe them (spelling error for spelling error... including my name)

For: Katy (the best L.I.T in the world)

Roses are red

Violets are blue.

I've never met a L.I.T

As good as you.

Sunflowers are yellow

Daisys are white

I'm so lucky to have you,

im filled with delight.

Tulips are pink,

Sprouts are green.

Your smart, your pretty, and

lucky you your 16!

Katys favorite colors green no wait it purple I dont know, maybe it's gurple (a mix of green and purple).

(aww! I do like purple, and I've never considered gurple.)

K- Kind to everyone

A- Alot of friends (including me)

T- tasty fashion since [ed. note- "sense"]

Y- You R the coolest funniest Best LIT EVA

This girl read it out loud at closing. It was a total surprise. It made me blush :)

Kathryne (or Katie)

CYMA exhaustion!

It's a happy exhaustion. Today, at least. Yesterday... well, ahem, anyways.

Today one of the girls in my group said that small group was her favorite thing about CYMA :)

Happy.

Off to do video stuff!

Kathryne

happy things!

So, there's this thing going around Facebook...

"If you like this status I will post on your wall something I like about you. Make this your status if you'd like a challenge :)"

(originally the smiley was going the WRONG WAY. oh, that bugs me!!! but I changed it.)

Sandy thought (reasonably) that one of us OI people started it, but I am sad to say I did not. Idk about anybody else.

It's an amazing way to challenge yourself to think positively not only about circumstances but also people.

AND... oh, Sandy, you made me smile OUT LOUD.

One thing I like to do, as a private, modified Optimism Initiative, is to take a person I don't like all so much (no names) and write something positive about them every day for 2 weeks. I have never actually carried this through all the way on paper, but I'm about there...

Kathryne

While today was (mostly) great, some things that stood out:

• Happy Mother's Day!
• CHRISTINE!!!! HI!!!!
• Got to wear "new" lacey shirt for first time. Got compliments, yay.
• Mr Phil is cool!! :) (although, he & Mr Ray are a tad scary... hehe)
• Best reaction yet to "I threw out my hairbrush. I don't own one."

Kathryne

Cousin It, Oscar the Hamster, and other things

first off--

I would like to make the point that having thick, curly, side-parted hair is good for more than just fun and crazy hair contests and avoiding eye contact.

It can also hide your eyes completely from your teachers, if you hold your head at the right angle. VOILA! you can now feel free to sleep, even if there are only four people in your class.

(Unless you have a teacher like my Calculus/History/Latin teacher, who tells you to move your hair and calls you "Cousin It")

secondly--

I took Tag for a walk :)

Ran into some old friends.

It was a great encouragement. They were the ones who gave us the quesadilla maker the last time my mom was sick. Of course, that time it was only 10 weeks and now it's been almost three times that...

anyways.

It is also extremely encouraging to receive compliments when you feel kinda like an antisocial, procrastinating, strange, disorganized, frizzy-haired mess!

third--

IT'S OSCAR'S BIRTHDAY!! (he's a rodent, so he has one every 54 days.)

Kathryne

Greatness

First:

When I grow up I am going to get a job that involves tearing duct tape. Is it just me, or is there something incredibly satisfying about that nearly-perfect RIP?

Second:

Tag.

my puppy =P

Third:

I love dancing.

to dance

it's just that feeling

when nothing else really matters

except the movement

communication

and synchronization

and the shift; and the smile

and it doesn't matter

and I hate to say it, but I've been looking for the kind of night I had tonight for a very, very long time. I got to hang out with 2 of the people in my Book of Awesome People!!

...and even received a compliment from one *blush*

...about my dancing, which is even more *blush* because it's one of those few things I can never tell if I'm doing well or horribly.

((Sidenote-- this basically means, I generally couldn't care less about compliments because I am very aware of what I do well, and also very aware of what I don't. So when somebody surprises me it's pretty ...thrilling =) ))

Oscar Wilde Quote of the Day:

"All bad poetry springs from genuine feeling."

Kathryne

Hilariously Depressing

First (and this has nothing to do with the title), I just wanted to say that I love chocolate.

So today I packed two (very large) brownies in my lunch. As I'm eating the second, larger one, my Lit teacher says, "How do you have such nice skin?! That thing is as big as your head!!"

that made me laugh.

It was only about 3.5 inches squared... =P

ALSO.

Grading papers.

There was a map.

(groan)

So, who here can tell me where the Atlantic Ocean is? Anybody??

Yeah, well, 60% of these 7- 9th grade classically trained students got that question wrong. There were three areas on the map numbered and labeled as "water," and they had to tell the name.

The answer for one of them was "the Atlantic Ocean."

Now, the Atlantic Ocean, today, was:

[blank]

"The North Sea"

"The English Channel"

"The Pacific"

"The Mediterranean"

(and my favorite)

"The Ottoman"

(*GAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH*)

but it did make me laugh/cry/laugh harder.

Oscar Wilde Quote of the Day:

"The reason we all like to think so well of others is that we are all afraid for ourselves. The basis of optimism is sheer terror."

Kathryne

Victory Dance!

YAYAYAYAYAYYY!!!

Today was the LAST day of Debate!!!

Because it is CANCELLED for the second semester!!!

YAYAYAYAYAYYYY!!!

Also, we had Nellie Bly day today

(travelled around the world in 72 days 6 hours 11 minutes and 14 seconds),

so we got out of History class and had a fantastic pot-luck-ish lunch, and we got to dress up!

There's something really fun about wearing a kimono to school...

And also, it's GREAT to have a friend who wears your size nearly exactly! Thank you Sandy!! You got lots of compliments!

Oscar Wilde Quote of the Day:

"It is only the intellectually lost who ever argue."

Kathryne

*EDIT* forgot...

why is it that second-hand compliments make me so happy?

it makes no sense.

it's not logical, or rational, or NORMAL at all.

I watched Pride & Prejudice in class yesterday and today (and critiqued it... MORE SMILES!)... and there was that whole talk about being "accomplished."

I like to imagine that I could have been called "accomplished" then. I found the quote (since I'm too lazy to type it) ...

"Your list of the common extent of accomplishments," said Darcy, "has too much truth. The word is applied to many a woman who deserves it no otherwise than by netting a purse or covering a screen. But I am very far from agreeing with you in your estimation of ladies in general. I cannot boast of knowing more than half-a-dozen, in the whole range of my acquaintance, that are really accomplished."

"Nor I, I am sure," said Miss Bingley.

"Then," observed Elizabeth, "you must comprehend a great deal in your idea of an accomplished woman."

"Yes, I do comprehend a great deal in it."

"Oh! certainly," cried his faithful assistant, "no one can be really esteemed accomplished who does not greatly surpass what is usually met with. A woman must have a thorough knowledge of music, singing, drawing, dancing, and the modern languages, to deserve the word; and besides all this, she must possess a certain something in her air and manner of walking, the tone of her voice, her address and expressions, or the word will be but half-deserved."

"All this she must possess," added Darcy, "and to all this she must yet add something more substantial, in the improvement of her mind by extensive reading."

I love this. It's so characteristic of that time.

So anyways, I'd always imagined myself as the "accomplished woman." Aside from the "air and manner of walking" thing, I dunno if that would ever be possible. But it was all just imagination.

Then, today, a good friend of mine remarked that another one of the people I very much admire asked her, "Is there anything she can't do, that a girl can do?" (speaking of me... I do a lot of random stuff, none of it extremely well but I do it anyways.)

*blush*

To which my friend (who knows me very well) replied, "She can't run!"

(true that. I also can't cook. and I hate Chemistry.)

Kathryne

2 days

Yesterday:

best greeting ever: "What are YOU guys doing here?!"

(see, it was a surprise birthday party =) )

Today:

more compliments that might keep my flying for daayysss!

Very, very talented lady with an amazing voice and ear, with whom I have ALWAYS wanted to sing, remarked to several people she thought I did very well leading worship today!

and then... get this... not 25 minutes after I wished that she would come on as a sub or something while I'm a part of the team, SHE comes up to ME and asks if I want to sing on her Saturday night team sometimes!!

(ohmyyyyy!)

Kathryne

I Could Have Danced All Night...

how 'bout a video? (I have this song pretty much memorized but I'm not about to sing it for y'all.)

So, basically, tonight was a SWING DANCE night. I <3>

Now, to pick a "smile moment"...

well, funnily enough, it's pretty much exactly the same thing that happened that got the Optimism Initiative started. It was another swing night, sometime in March, and I was just smiling so hard when I came home I couldn't NOT journal it.

So, tonight, I was told (straight up) that I was the BEST "follower" there. Meaning I read the leader well and don't backlead. and I'm good :)

Then, later, heard 2 guys discussing me and how good I am. It made me *blush* like seriously.

and no, this is not a roundabout way to brag, I promise.

But I was reading Gary Chapman's "The Five Love Languages" earlier today, and even though "Quality Time" is my "native language" (wow, that's a lot of quotes in one sentence... more to come...), "Words of Affirmation" are definitely high on the list.

Mark Twain once said, "I could live for two months off of a good compliment." Now, I'm not THAT self-sufficient, but it sure does put me on a high for a few hours. Especially the second comment.

When someone compliments you to your face, it can be hard to tell whether they're flattering you (or flirting with you, depending on the person). But when you overhear compliments about yourself (inverted gossip, I say) there's no fake to worry about. It's a wonderful thing and I wish it on everybody.

Kathryne

(ooh! bonus! found another guy who has a "misspelled" name... Nathanael. Oh. It's not underlined in red. So maybe not technically misspelled. ANDAND he has a friend who speaks Russian ANDAND he thought I was in college.)