purekatherine

I was tagged by Cait to do this a little while ago, and it’s kind of cute. Plus, I’ve got a bunch of posts that I can’t seem to finish and I need to have my fingers on the keyboard right now, so here’s a chance for me to type!

Here’s the rules.
1. You must post these rules.
2. Each person must post 11 things about themselves on their blog.
3. Answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post and create 11 new questions for the people you tag to answer.
4. You have to choose 11 people to tag and link them on the post. Go to their page and tell them you have linked him or her.
5. No tag backs and you legitimately have to tag 11 people.

11 Facts
1. I call myself a swing dancer even though I rarely actually go out dancing. I miss it terribly, but it’s just one expense that I can’t justify right now.
2. I connect random things to people based on the most inane conversations that we’ve had at some point.
3. I am far more insecure than most people will ever believe.
4. I don’t believe in guilty pleasures. If I like something, I will probably own up to it. Even if I know that you’ll judge me for it.
5. I’m an idea person. I’m not so great at implementing those ideas.
6. I’m trying, rather unsuccessfully, to become more of a minimalist. (Pun intended.) Some of my hoarding tendencies make this difficult.
7. The feeling of typing is often as soothing to me as getting the words and thoughts out of my head.
8. For the first time in my life, even while acknowledging things I don’t like about my appearance, I am truly starting to believe and feel that I am beautiful.
9. I would love to start practicing yoga, but there are two reasons I don’t. 1, Same reason I don’t get out to swing dance so often, 2, I’m scared I won’t be any good at it!
10. Potatoes are really, like, the best things ever. Ever.
11. I will cook every meal for you if you just do the dishes for me.

11 Questions for Me
1. What do you wash first when you’re in the shower?
My hair. Mostly because I leave the shampoo and conditioner on for a few minutes each, so I do other stuff while those “set.”
2. Favorite birthday celebration?
Last year’s trip to Chicago and seeing all the people who I didn’t even really know come together to help me celebrate was awesome!
3. What’s your favorite movie? (Or top 3, because I know I couldn’t pick a favorite.)
Shit, I don’t know. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy and the Harry Potter series are my go-tos for having something on while I need to get something done.
4. Who changed your life the most?
I have! But Lexi and Ashley have had more of an impact than I think I can ever really express to them.
5. What’s your shoe size?
8-9 ½ depending on the brand. 8 ½ is the safest bet.
6. If you won the lottery, what is the first thing you’d buy?
I’d pay down my debt first, and then buy a loft in Chicago so I could go to school there and have the best apartment ever. Hopefully with Nico, Bob and Erini living with me. (Totes rent-free guys, just y’all do the dishes, ok?)
7. What trait/skill do you have that you’re most proud of?
My creativity. I really think that my mind works differently than a lot of people’s. Sometimes this is an asset, sometimes it’s actually not so helpful.
8. Do you have a favorite scent of lotion/perfume/cologne/body wash? If so, what is it?
I really love Bath & Body Works’ Twisted Peppermint, so of course they are discontinuing it. They’ve done that with 3 scents on me now!
9. Which celebrity would you love to meet?
Josh Groban. He seems like a lot of fun and he’s got to fall in love with me at some point!
10. When was the last time you cried? What was it about (if you’re comfortable sharing)?
Last Friday evening. A friend offered me something I could have never imagined. That friend knows who she is and I hope she knows how much I appreciate what she did. It means a lot to me.
11. What position do you normally sleep in? (On your stomach, on your back, etc.)
I always start out on my side, but I roll over before I fall asleep and I stretch my back out. It just feels so good!

11 Questions for You
1. What is it that you most want to do? Are you doing it?
2. If you have a favorite holiday, what is it and what makes it that?
3. What’s your favorite TV show? (Doesn’t have to be currently on the air.)
4. If you could live in the fictional world of any book, which world/book would that be?
5. What’s your favorite way to eat ice cream?
6. If you could cast the movie about your life, who would you have play you?
7. Do you own slippers? Do they look like an animal?
8. What are you most looking forward to in the next year?
9. What’s your favorite Disney movie?
10. If you do karaoke, do you have a go-to song?
11. What is your cocktail of choice?

Tag! You’re It!
This is for anyone who wants to do it. Really, you interested? You’re tagged!

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I’m going to keep going on the Once Upon A Time thing, but this time I’m going to talk a little bit more about Grimm. There was a bit of buzz about the two fairy tale shows coming out at the same time, and I couldn’t have been more excited about either of them.

I don’t know that I’ve talked about it much here, but I’m kind of a Science Fiction and Fantasy fan. I mean, my last semester at Sacramento State was planned around being able to take the Science Fiction option of my senior portfolio course. And I’ve come to terms with possibly dating a guy who is shorter than me by relating the situation to Battlestar Gallactica. Do I really need to say any more?

Both of these shows are definitely Fantasy, and it’s just awesome.

Once Upon A Time has a lot more happening in the fantasy world, what with the town of Storybrook being under a spell that keeps the entire town from knowing that they are all characters in fairytales. There are lots of flashbacks to tell their original stories, which then play out in current times. Oh, and none of the people in Storybrook age I guess.

It’s not a perfect show, it occasionally borders on campy and I don’t think that’s the intention at all, but I still enjoy it. There are plenty of different fairy tale stories to tell, and while those unfold, the curse that keeps them in the dark about their identities is being explored.

The one that I really can’t get enough of though? Grimm!

First off, this is what you’re forced to look at during the episode.

Image Source

I know that’s just awful, but if you can get past that, there’s this awesome combination of the fantasy world and a crime show that is just perfect.

It’s like they took the Law part of Law & Order, and just moved it into the fantasy world with a really attractive man. It’s Law & Fantasy and I want more!

Since I initially wrote this, Grimm has been given a short break that worried me, when I factor in the fact that the shows I really like rarely get picked up. Fortunately, that break was followed up by a special Thursday episode and a regular Friday schedule. I’d totes be down for some Thursday Grimm action. Crossed fingers that they make the move!

If you haven’t watched either show, I recommend trying each of them out, but I have the feeling that Grimm is going to have a wider type of audience. If you have seen them, what do you think?

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One of the things that I’m planning on working on the New Year is growing that whole glitter shoe business I’ve got going on. So I’m learning to be more comfortable talking them up and handing out my business cards. I’ve got some interesting ones for free, which I actually get complimented on all the time, but I’m not completely sold on them.

My problem is that I don’t really know what to have on my cards.

Once upon a time it was super easy, name, business address, phone number. Is that still the standard? I’m sure that replacing the physical address with a URL is cool, but what about the phone number?

Sure it would be great to be able to hand out to guys, but that’s not what the card is about, right?

I’m also looking forward to finding someone to help me with pictures of the shoes so I might be able to use those as a background or maybe a full color photo on one side, with my info on the other? Is that a thing now? Can I do that?

Or is that even a good idea? I would like to expand into other things, would putting shoes and the phrase, “glitterer of shoes” on the card pigeonhole me into only shoes? If you think it would, do you have a suggestion as to something else I should include?

I’ve been thinking that things besides business cards might be fun to have too. As luck would have it, Overnight Prints has provided me with a gift card to check out what they’ve got, and I think I’m going to do just that with some postcard printing! I’m digging their prices, so I think I’m going to try a few different designs.

Do you have a business card? What do you use them for and what do you have on them? What do you think of the postcards? What would you put on those? And do you want one?

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I’m not terribly active on DailyBooth. I follow friends, and I check in every day to see what they’re up to, but I don’t actually post myself very often. It’s something that I’m hoping to change in the new year.

It’s called DailyBooth, so why not take one daily?

Anyway, that’s not what I want to write about right now.

Tonight I DID post. It was kind of a lame picture, I look pretty blah in it, but I’m drinking my Dr Pepper, so I don’t really mind.

The picture did earn me a new follower though, as well as a fantastic new message from a wonderful young gentleman asking me if I wanted him to follow me, in return for following him.

He was also kind enough to tell me about another site that’s similar to DB, but with GIFs instead. If I wanted to follow him on there, he’d follow me there as well.

Isn’t that nice?

It’s people like him who make me want to write back and just say, excuse me, but you’re doing it wrong. Social media is not about following someone because they are following you. You should follow someone because you like what they are posting and want to see what that is.

I’ve never understood the follow for follow idea. Followers to me mean nothing if they are only following me because I’m following them. Plus, those usually aren’t actually people I care to follow.

Can someone please explain the follow for follow idea to me? Or is it really just a way to grow numbers?

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The other day I got into a conversation with a friend about how frustrating it can be to try to make changes to your life. There’s all this stuff to be done and you want to do it all, so it seems totally overwhelming. What does that lead to? For me, it means sitting back and doing nothing.

So instead, I suggested something that we could do next year. We’re going to decide on 12 changes we want to make and incorporate them into our lives one by one. We’ll give each new change a month to take hold and become habit before going for the next one. That way we’ll have a drastic difference in our lives by the end of the year, but we won’t have made any dramatic changes.

Sounds kind of cool, huh?

I put the call out to twitter only a few minutes after deciding that we were going to do it, thinking that it would be really cool to have 12 people make 12 changes in the 12 months of 2012.

And then the responses came. We had 24 people interested in about an hour. In the 48 hours or so since then, we’ve grown to over 36!

This is looking like it could be something really awesome.

The conversation that Stephany and I had was about being healthier and making better food choices, but with almost 40 of us there will obviously be some varied goals. I know that Erini started a list and came up with way more than 12, while Grace doubted that she would think of 12 without seeing some other people’s lists. This is why this will make a fantastic group project!

We have just under 4 weeks until January 1. In that time, I’d love for everyone to come up with a list of at least 9 items. If we share those on blogs and through email, those who are having trouble coming up with 12 will be able to catch some inspiration and those who have more may be able to decide which ones they will have the best support on! Hopefully we’ll have a group blog to start sharing on soon, so we won’t have to rely on my shoddy ability to get email out to everyone!

I actually have the feeling that I’m going to have more than 12 things, and some of those I might decide to implement together. In that case, I might actually have 18 things on my list. Shocking and scandalous I know, but that’s the kind of thing that I mean, this is everyone’s project and we can all do it in our own way.

How about you? Want to join us? Make sure I have your email address and I’ll make sure that you’re on for future communications!

Let’s make some big changes in 2012!

If you need some inspiration, here’s my rough draft of things to change.

1. Drink more water every day.
2. Keep my place picked up every day.
3. Eat breakfast daily.
4. Bring lunch to work, cooking on the weekends.
5. Run at least once a week.
6. Wash my face every night.
7. Fold my laundry as soon as it’s done and PUT IT AWAY!
8. Blog twice a week.
9. Give or throw away a bag/box each week.
10. Read for 15 minutes each day.
11. Write a note to a friend every week.
12. File paperwork as it comes in.

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Has anyone else been watching Once Upon A Time? I’m a little bit in love with the little leather jackets that Emma’s been wearing on the show. I don’t really understand why she has at least a few of them when this week’s show made it a point to show that she lives pretty minimally, but that’s just the way that I watch shows and notice some weird details like that.

Image source.

I’m a little bit in love with the little leather jackets.

I wonder if there’s a chance for me to find some to try on. I noticed when she was on How I Met Your Mother that Jennifer Morrison, the actress who plays Emma, doesn’t actually have a lot of curves to her body. I’ve lost some of mine with the weight loss last year, but I still have a pretty small waist and I like to show that when I can. I don’t think that these jackets are really the best way to go about that.

They seem to actually kind of be perfect for someone like her.

I got a couple of super cute skirts at Old Navy a month or so ago for only $7 each, and I could see these jackets working with them, but will they work for me? This is why I need to have a chance to try them on somewhere!

I’m tempted to go somewhere like Forever21, but I don’t think that I would really trust the quality of F21 for something like that. I mean, I’ve had plenty of their things fall apart on me.

Where else might I find some of these jackets at affordable prices? I want to be trendy guys!

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Ok, that caffeine thing, I’ve kind of stopped that.

I don’t consider this a failure because I made the choice that right now, while I’m inexplicably tired beyond reason, that I’d like the comfort of Dr Pepper. It’s more of a comfort thing for me than it is about the caffeine. If I could buy caffeine free somewhere in Sacramento I would be all over that, but my local bottler doesn’t make it, so I have to settle for the real thing.

Damn.

While I’m typing this, I am just shy of 1150 words for my NaNoWriMo Blog Edition, but I slept for 4 hours this afternoon when I didn’t mean to and now I have my caffeine back, so I think I’ll be able to get through 2000 by tonight. If I’m really motivated, I think I’ll go for 3000!

I actually have a list of about 23 topics on which I plan to write at least 300 words, but I left that list at work. When I have that, I’m sure that I’ll be able to blow through 5 and 10 thousand without too much trouble.

I’m hoping that tonight I’ll simply be able to come up with a few more topics and get a few hundred words from each of those. It would be really nice to have that many posts ready and waiting to post, get rid of some blogging guilt while also being able to get other things done. Well that’s just the best of both worlds, isn’t it!

As of the end of this post, I’m now past 1300 words, I think I can get through 3000 in the next two hours if I just keep on going!

Word count update for the night
9:19PM, 1331
9:45PM, 1597
10:21PM, 1887
11:50PM, 2273
12:53AM, 2527
1:21AM, 2800

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Hello and welcome to the first installment of Driving Lessons with Katherine!

I’m glad to have you with me, and since you’re roaming the internet freely, I’m going to hope that you are at least 16 years old and eligible to drive. In which case, you have probably already taken some sort of driver’s education, hopefully even passed a driving test and are officially licensed to drive. However, so are the people who I see driving around on the road every day.

Those people who do some really stupid things. Enter yours truly to alert you to some of the mistakes that you may actually be making yourself.

Truth be told, I some times make most of these mistakes myself, and it’s kind of ridiculous how angry I get at myself when I do, but please rest assured that I do get angry and am thusly punished.

For today’s lesson I am pulling from the drive from my house to the bar for trivia tonight.

Unfortunately, there was an accident on my way here, though it was on the other side of the median and it should not have slowed my 6:15 drive much. Yet it did!

For reasons that I don’t understand, people slowed down and watched all that they could of the accident on the other side of the freeway. Would you like to know what they saw? They saw the flashing lights of a fire engine and an ambulance. And about a tenth of a mile before that there were the flashing lights of a police cruiser.

That’s all that you could see in the northbound lanes. Why is it that people needed to see that? I could see it from half a mile away!

So today’s lesson, DON’T BE A RUBBERNECKER!!!

I understand the slowing down a bit on the opposite side of the road, but really, even if you can see things, you can only see them for a moment, and then what are you going to know that you can’t find out by Googling it the next day?

The only thing that your severe slow down does is irritate drivers like myself, who understand that there’s nothing that I can do for the situation and just want to get to their destination.

So please, slow down a little so as not to disturb the emergency crews, but fight the urge to need to know everything that’s happening over there, you’re not going to anyway!

No, if the accident is on your side of the road, that’s another story, and another lesson.

I won’t be sure enough on my stance on the matter until it comes up again, so let’s hope that lesson is a long way out!

This has been Driving Lessons with Katherine. Drive safe all!

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Apparently I’m the kind of crazy who doesn’t look at her schedule very carefully before deciding that she’s going to take a break from caffeine.

I don’t actually drink a whole lot of caffeine in the first place. I don’t like coffee, and I’m not a big fan of tea, but I do love my Dr Pepper! The thing is though, that Dr Pepper doesn’t actually have much caffeine in it. When I drink that to keep me awake, it’s probably more the sugar than anything else.

Even so, I really do like Dr Pepper enough that when I start to drink it, I tend to drink too much of it. I can drink enough of it to become dependent on the small amounts of caffeine it does provide. I don’t like the times that I end up getting headaches and things like that because I haven’t had enough caffeine.

So every now and again, I start to taper off. For the past week or so I’ve either limited my consumption, or tried to have a glass of water for every glass of Dr Pepper. Then on Tuesday morning, when I poured the last that I had at home into my travel cup, I decided that I wouldn’t be buying anymore for the rest of the month.

Never mind that I made this decision at 4:30 in the morning, before heading to a shift starting at 5, or the fact that it was the first of four shifts like it this week. No, I’m taking my break from caffeine starting now and that’s just the way it’s going to be.

As I write this, I’m only about a day and a half in, but I think I’m going to do ok. I’ve already had way more water than I was drinking before. I think this will be a very good thing.

How do you do with caffeine? Think you could ever give it up for a while?

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Wow, when I’m not living up to a challenge I like to hide. Which is really just another way of saying, “Hey, you know how I haven’t posted much in October? That’s because I haven’t kept up with that thing I told you I was doing.”

Some things came up, mostly one really emotional day, and I got derailed in my clearing out efforts. Those are still continuing, just at a much slower pace. I’m proud to say that the spots I have cleared out have stayed that way and I haven’t added anything to them, which is a great motivator to keep going.

This month though I’m onto another challenge.

Many people participate in NaNoWriMo in November, which is National Novel Writing Month. In the 30 days of November, these brave souls attempt to write 50,000 words of fiction.

I’m not a fiction writer though.

There’s also something called NaBloPoMo or National Blog Posting Month, in which people get into the practice of blogging by posting every day for a month straight. Sounds like a great idea, but it sounds like something I might have already done.

So, what if I still wrote 50,000 words, but I just did it in blog posts?

Before you start figuring out how much that means I’ll be posting, don’t. I don’t plan on posting them all this month. I’m just going to write them, and then edit them before I post them over the next several months.

Here we go with 250!

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