Yeah, Whatever

Mike is just as Irish as I am Welsh. We may hail from different islands and he may know more about Ireland than I do Wales (not anymore!) but we are equally Celtic. I didn't know about Saint David's Day until last year when I went on a tirade about how stupid I think the American celebration of Saint Patrick's Day is. I was/am sick of people pretending to love Ireland when they don't give a shit about Ireland. What they give a shit about is getting pissed first thing in the morning and staying pissed the rest of the day. All while wearing green. Because that's what Ireland is all about.

My first issue with the celebration of St. Patrick's Day is an issue I have with the celebration of any saint's feast day- Catholics were and are persecuted in America for believing in and praying to saints. Other denominations believe praying to saints in lieu of God is heretical and blasphemous. Catholics would get beaten up because of it. So why would anyone and everyone celebrate saints' feast days? To get drunk or presents or drunk. Oh, you like beer but don't believe in saints? By all means, celebrate! (I am very well aware of the fact that many Irish are Protestant and therefore don't believe in saints but probably celebrate today as a heritage day- not a saint day per say.)

America has a long history of hating the shit out of Irish immigrants. Yes many, many Americans have Irish ancestry and that's cool, great even. However, there are probably just as many German Americans and Italian Americans as there are Irish Americans but we don't go around celebrating Saint Boniface or Saint Joseph to the same degree. And those groups weren't ostracized like the Irish. Is it simply because the Irish were Catholic? The Italians are known to be very Catholic. So why weren't they kicked around? Is it because they drink beer? The Germans drink beer. So bring on June 5th and let's get drunk and wear green for the Christmas trees St. Boniface is said to have invented. Oh, and just so you know- St. Patrick's color is blue. Not green. So why celebrate a day that remembers a people the Americans historically beat the shit out of?

Also, I find it horribly offensive and rude that the heritage day of Ireland is commemorated by drunkenness. Alcoholism is a real problem in the economically depressed Ireland. But by all means, honor Ireland by pissing your pants from being too drunk.


On the other hand, to those who take their ancestry seriously, Happy Saint Patrick's Day. May you enjoy your corned beef and your Guinness. Sincerely.

A Wasted Opportunity

It seems safe to say that I won't be able to do much more snowshoeing or cross country skiing this winter. Even if we have another storm March is so temperamental that any snow we accumulate will disappear within a few days of itself. I'm really bummed I didn't get out as much as I have in previous winters. This winter I was a hermit whether I liked it or not. In retrospect all the precipitation was less snow and more icy slush that would freeze over into treachery. Such a shame and a waste of a winter season.

When I was a kid in Upper Michigan I was outside in the winter just as much as I was outside in the summer. I didn't ski, I wasn't allowed to, but I sled all the time. We made snow men, ice forts, snow angels and snow balls. I tried ice skating but the lake we lived on was really difficult for novice skaters since it was unbuffered ice. (The rougher the ice the harder to stay upright and we didn't go into the town 30 minutes away for the ice rinks much at all.) I even loved shovelling snow. I still do. Seriously. I was outside in the winter all the time- we were outside for recess every day unless there was nasty precipitation and I was outside almost all weekend. Winter doesn't bother me- I look forward to it and relish it- even in Albany with the terrible (shameful really) snow removal.

The few times the snow seemed cooperative, less ice and more snow, I didn't have the funds available to me. Silly, trying to be more financially responsible and junk. This spring I'm going to peruse the sales racks and see if I can get a deal on a pair of snow shoes so those are available to me on a whim's notice and also get me some snow pants. The last time I wore snow pants I didn't know what sex was. I will remedy that situation. Next year I'm going to enjoy winter more as a participant and less as a spectator. I didn't enjoy this past winter as much as I could have. Not next year! No siree. Winter 2009/2010 will be my bitch!

He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother

My little brother Zachary (well, he's not really little- the dude towers over me like a sentinel) applied to an internship that would take him around the world teaching students how to travel on the cheap. This is something he has tremendous experience with so he's a shoe-in for the job. It would really be a shame if they don't chose him. He was kind enough to let me post this video here so I hope you enjoy it as much as Mike and I did. Just look at his charisma!



Charisma oozing out of every pore. My favorite part of the video is the kid who says students don't like to travel because other countries smell bad. What? What does that even mean?

I couldn't be more proud of his video. Even if he doesn't get the gig, at least he made something frakken cool and very well crafted. Way to go little bro!

Motivation Station

Lyrics aside, this song would be the song playing over my workout montage. It was the song in my head all throughout my first triathlon and it really kept me motivated. It's the powerful strings and booming drum that do it for me.



Another song of theirs was on my first 5k play list. In fact, it started my race.



People always put really clubby, thumping music on their workout list. I do, too. There's plenty of hip-hop and rap on my lists but there's something about Coldplay that really brightens my spirit and when my spirit is lifted, that's when I really take off in my workouts. (See what I did there?) So, their songs either begin my play list or I put them in the line-up where I know I usually drag. It makes a huge difference and my workouts are better because of it.

Let It Overtake You

Every once in a while two people reach out to each other in the darkness and between them both, they create a light. A light that they didn't know was there. But now that they've found it, they let it shine. They let it shine and grow and shine until it overtakes them. It overtakes them and creates something more beautiful than they could ever imagine. All they needed to do was open their hearts to let someone in. And the light was there all along.

Apocalypse Farm

Mike says he wants to own enough land one day to have a large vegetable garden. I call it his Apocalypse Garden because he got the idea when things started getting really crappy. I've since taken his idea a few steps further- I want to keep bees, a few sheep, some chickens, make a compost pile, set up a grey water system and some solar panels. I three-quarters anticipate some sort of crap hitting a fan and I would like to be fairly self reliant. I don't want to be totally off the grid. I would like to be self sustainable even if the crap stays where it should simply because that's how I roll- but I can live without the sheep should that be the case.

I would prefer to remain optimistic about the state of society and where it's taking us, but I don't know. Everything we thought about our country's stability and ability to lead in the world market is slowly crumbling around us. I think capitalism as we know it is collapsing onto itself and America must find a better, more effective way to exist. If that means more government involvement then what can we do? The big business model is failing horribly and we have a country with a constantly shifting populace- we cannot govern ourselves effectively. A single person possesses intelligence but put that person in a group and that intelligence is just gone. What you have is an unthinking mob. Just look at Congress. And that scares me. And that's why I'm turning to bees for some peace.

So, our Apocalypse Farm. The vegetable garden and compost pile are self explanatory- we grow vegetables and some fruit, reacquaint ourselves with the earth and save a little money along the way all while recycling our vegetable waste back into the earth through compost. Win-win! The chickens would also be a way to reconnect with nature and save some money. The bees, well, I just read an article about bee keeping and how it's very soothing for the keeper- the humming is calming and there's that reconnecting with nature again, you get some honey, and the bees pollinate your gardens. More winning! I chose sheep because you can milk them and sheer them. I can make sweaters out of wool for the sheep so they don't get cold, so don't worry about the naked sheep. Grey water is when you take water in the house and reuse it. For example, in a bathroom I would take the water from the sink drain and hook it up to the toilet. That way the toilet doesn't use fresh water- that fresh water will go somewhere else in the house. Think of the toilet as a way to recycle water. You can also hook up grey water systems with your washing machine, dish washer, kitchen sink and shower. There are kits I can buy for some of that. And solar panels are just a dream of mine.

I know what you're thinking- Katherine is full of crap, that's a lot of shit she has to learn. Yes, that's a lot of shit I have to learn, but even if we buy a house where zoning poses a problem for some things or the land is too small (can't have my sheep eating my tomatoes,) many on my list of self sustainability are possible. We can still grow some vegetables, we can still keep bees (seriously), we can still compost, we can still get a solar panel or two and we can still set up some grey water systems. I'm waiting for a book about urban homesteading. It has tips about how people living in apartments or on city blocks can still green up the way they live. I've been researching worm composting and will hopefully get that together soon. Just with recycling I've noticed how rarely we take out the trash- imagine how much better that will be when we compost our organic waste.

Good economy or bad these are things I would like to accomplish. Wish us luck! And send me some name ideas for the sheep and chickens. I'm thinking Wallace and Gromit for the sheep...

Butterbutts are Free, Too

This morning I decided to use the open shower at the gym. It seemed everyone was done showering and it was close enough to the normal work hour that anyone who would need the showers would have already used them. It seemed safe. I remembered how strangely freeing it was to shower in an open room. So, this morning, I bared all. And loved it. Even though my ass was on show I was comfortable. Maybe I should use that shower more often and learn to love my body. I mean, what can it hurt?

We Work Hard for Our Money

In Obama's stimulus bill there is $50 million portion going to the National Endowment for the Arts. Gov. Bobby Jindal says that's wasteful spending, that the $50 million needs to go to the private sector to create jobs. I don't know what he means by the private sector and I don't understand why he fails to recognize why the arts are a viable employer. His statement is ignorant and judgemental.

When my parents asked me what I thought I wanted to study in college I unabashedly said theatre. I didn't say acting, I said theatre. Even when I was in high school I understood the numerous professions that were available to me in the arts. My best friend at the time was an incredibly talented graphic artist, still is, so I knew of the possibilities in graphic art. I was also a choir geek so I knew of the possibilities in music. In college I learned about dance troupes, the culinary arts, photography and writing. There are endless ways people can make a working living in the arts. But when I told my parents "theatre" my father's whole body sagged as he sighed in futility. They just assumed I was going to live in a cardboard box and never be able to provide for myself. Over the years my mother pushed me to get a teaching degree so I "would have something to fall back on." I told her over and over again that I wasn't called to be a teacher and that wouldn't be fair to my students. She and my father finally gave up and let me pursue my aspirations.

While in college I found I wanted to work in not-for-profit theatre (something that exists almost completely thanks to NEA grants back in the 1960s.) When I met Mike's dad he asked me how I would get paid in non-profit work. It's an explanation I've made many times over- non-profit means that any proceeds go right back into the operation budget and not into the pockets of investors. Broadway is for profit- that's why it costs so much to see a play on the Great White Way. I find non-profit work much, much more interesting. It's smaller and can be more intimate for the actors and audience members. I feel like non-profit theatres are more of a community unifier. They offer community outreach and education. And I'm all about arts outreach and education. So I'm pursuing a career in non-profit arts.

The fact that so many people fail to realize that the arts is a viable career is frustrating. I feel I should be angry but I'm not. People just don't think about it. All the ads you see on television- the music, graphics, acting, the words they say, costumes, make-up- are all created by people with careers based in the arts. These people may not walk around saying, I make movies, or I make drawings or I play make-believe. But they are walking around trying to provide for their families in work they find fulfilling and rewarding. Isn't that something everyone wants? So don't be critical when funding is made available for these people to find work and take care of themselves. Just because they don't put on a suit everyday and have a B.S. in b-s doesn't mean their line of work is worth less than yours. So Jindal, and your fellow party members, get your head out of your ass.