Shambot! » Katie

Hello? ARE YOU THERE?

Katie — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 00:02:46 +0000

Hey everything/one in Shambot-land.

I have a request. I have this feeling, since you all are cooler/more tech-savvy than I, that you all have these “twitter” things. WHAT THE HELL WEIRD. But anyways, John and I are trying to break into the world as Dude and Chick (that would be our establishment of stationery sweetness–www.dudeandchick.com) and now we have twitter. And Tumblr. Please follow us so I can follow you and John and I can have friends that aren’t weird porn spammy friends.

http://dudeandchick.tumblr.com/

http://twitter.com/dudeandchick

Also, comment to let me know your usernames and I can follow you too!

SWEET.

Love,

Katie

I am cool.

Katie — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 14:44:43 +0000

Did you see the new Vita.mn, on the rack until next Wednesday? OH WEIRD.

Actual text can be found here: http://vita.mn/story.php?id=16641991
I am super disappointed that my fashion prediction of cut off t-shirts and fanny packs was edited out of my interview, but you gotta take the good with the bad, I guess. THAT’S FASHION.

PLANETS

Katie — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 22:53:53 +0000

Well, hey there Shamby. This post is brought to you by the letter C, for Carrie Hartman.
And also the letter A, for AWESOME.
Without further ado, here is Holst: The Planets, transcribed direct from the manuscript generated by Miss Emma Trithart, Mr. William Ferenc, and Miss Katharine Wilson. During class hours. That we paid for.
“The mothership is approaching!”
“Assemble the troops! Come on, everybody (you ALLLLLL everybody!)”
The first wave of the star fleet was sent but KABOOM! they are wiped out in a barrage of flaming missiles and stuff.
Is all lost? The other pilots are unsure of what to do…
Everyone is looking around, what will happen?
Pieces of the ships float by the admiral’s ship.
All is quiet and calm now. Suddenly, a space nymph appears! She dances around the admiral. Her hair is really long, and she is scantily clad. With flowers. She caresses the stars, healing them, bringing them new life. She fades back into space. The admiral looks forlorn, yet he understand what he must do. HER.
Flying back to his base, he passes a space flower. (cue montage of what just happened, except fuzzy, with sparkles)
Memories of childhood, his father teaching him to fly a spaceship, him and his spacedog flying past galaxies. Calm. Quiet.
Back at home, an unknown ship flies over his house. It lands. Exit an elderly woman with long gray hair. The Admiral, still a child in his memory, runs to see the commotion gathered around the ship. IT’S GRANDMA!! She has cookies and pie! YES!!! She tells the admiral what he must do. The future that lies ahead, the war, the turmoil. She gives him a birthday card with a ten dollar bill inside to fund his collage career. Later the pilot opens a space account.
In the future… the pilot is in collage taking his final flying exam. “WOAH THERE.” He barely misses a comet. He passed his exam! Jollies! They’re out for drinks. Mojitos!
THEN its the graduation ceremony. The graduating class stands before the flying school dean with their Star Fleet outfits on. HATS ARE THROWN! and then… who is this??
A NYMPH APPEARS. From beauty school! She is lovely and manicured. She takes the pilot away .. to the garden (?) There are horses. She looks like LADY GODIVA. and they blow kisses, sparkles fly from horse’s butt. Something curious is happening. Maybe this is all a hallucination? NO. Married. Rings. Babies! A family, a house! Another spacedog! They’re out for a walk in the space park. Swimming. Climbing a beautiful (?) space mountain.
He’s the young admiral now of the Star Fleet. Things are quiet, too quiet. Maybe his age is playing tricks on him, space looks darker, blacker than it used to. “Admiral” The young recruit is on the intercom. “Permission to EXPLORE” “Permission granted but BE CAREFUL. I’ve got a bad feeling.” The young recruit, Joel, flies to the unexplored giant meteor, leaving the admiral with uneasy feeling. Stars. A comet flies by. On the surface of the meteor, a mysterious silhouette follows Joel. A shadow reaches for the young pilot. Slowly.. slowly… and then the recruit is no more. His beacon disappears form the admirals radar?!?!!!! “What happened” -Admiral. He eases his ship towards the meteor. Stars. Another comet. Searching the meteor. Searching. Then, a small glint of light. The admiral finds Joel’s medal of joining….. fade to black.
The shadow returns! The admiral chases the shadow across the meteor’s surface. Leaping over craters and chasms. Where did it go?! This is a sick and twisted game. SUDDENLY…
the monster attacks, the admiral shoots to kill. The monster points to a cave, then closes its eyes and passes. The admiral explores the cave, gooey things are everywhere. WHATS THIS: a tiny monster?! Grab it!! The admiral lunges and catches the baby and escapes the meteor just in time. The meteor explodes behind them silently (it’s space). Back on base, the crew discovers the monster!! “Do we kill it?” one asks.
“No, it is just a babe.”
“But its kind killed our recruit! He was just a babe himself.”
“We dare not stoop to their level.” The crew nods solemnly in agreement.
A message is being sent through space from a foreign planet. It glides in its container through galaxies. Years pass.
You’ve got mail–the admiral eagerly opens his space mail. His eyes scan the words, quickly at first, but slow upon reading the final word…WAR.
Love, The Bad Guys.
The tiny creature they kept all along it seems does not belong to them. He is the sovereign prince of X’Tshiszt. The admiral finds the child, his tentacles glistening and fangs gleaming.
“What have you brought upon us?”–the admiral.
“Bludsjsgdkaf jafhka”–the creature.
The amiral feels hatred, but the creature has become a part of him, almost a son. The nymph calls the admiral.
“What do you want for dinner?”
“I’m….not hungry.”
BACK TO THE PRESENT.
The admiral is getting damage reports. Alarms sound.
“We’re reporting massive core flooding and engine failure.”
“The back-up capacitors?”
“40% capacity.”
“We were not meant to survive this.”
“What about the creature child?”
“Put him in an escape pod.”–admiral
“But there’s only one left!!”
“There’s no chance for us–he deserves this one courtesy.”
The creature is released into space never knowing the fate of his temporary caregivers.
THE END!

1564

Katie — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 15:25:56 +0000

Every time I look at Shambot, I am confronted with my inadequate performance in the breathtaking race to the most-post title, which I am constantly narrating in my brain when I see that little sidebar.
I’m coming for you, Angie. Even if every post on the way is as lame and half-assed as this one, I’m just saying.

Rest in peace, my smokin’ hot man.

Katie — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 16:55:28 +0000

Okay, this is possibly the most depressing thing to happen to me in recent memory. Remember this beautiful piece of brooding man candy?

Yes, me too. I remember the first time I saw Tom and Huck (and yes, I did indeed see it more than once) and the boy to catch my ever-so-diserning 9 year old eye was Mr. Renfro himself. Mmm, greasy haired rebel is so fantastic, don’t you think? Particularly when offset by the squeaky clean JTT. Sigh. Of course, he went on to fade into obscurity by taking vital roles in Ghost World and The Jacket, but no matter. I stood by him. And now, my man has greasy-rebelled himself straight into the great beyond. Brad, what about our wedding plans? What am I supposed to do now? THIS IS WHAT I’M LEFT WITH, WORLD:

He’s trying to brood, but it’s just not the same.

By the way….

Katie — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 18:23:32 +0000

I just read Shambot after a little hiatus, as my poor little laptop was at the doctor, getting fixed. (there is an apple a day joke in there somewhere, I just know it. But I can’t get there yet, as I just woke up.)

Anyhow, I was going to comment on a bunch of your individual posts, but instead, consider this entry one overarching comment.

I miss you guys SO MUCH. SO, SO much because you are my bestest ones and I love your faces to pieces. I’m telling you, the tiny purses almost pushed me over the edge.
Hearts, rainbows, ponies, and myself barfing in my mouth a bit because this is a sappy post obviously brought on by my mother forcing me to attend P.S I Love You with her yesterday, and therefore slightly destroying my cynical sarcasm gene (but don’t worry, it was very much still active in the theater),

Katie

p.s. I love you.

(I definitely just wrote this post so I could throw that gem in.)

put em up

Katie — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 15:55:54 +0000

If you’re still miserable this morning (at work) and slept through your alarm for the first time (ever) putcha hands up!

If you just dropped Michael Mott’s book he was checking out (oops) putcha hands up!

If you’re hoping Gregg doesn’t notice (but he probably does) putcha hands up!

if you love spelling things wrong because they sound so right putcha hands up!

If you only had three (Angie signature) drinks last night and you don’t remember much putcha hands up!

If you just got paid putcha hands up!

If you’re feeling better thanks to a bit of coffee putcha hands up!

WORD. You know what I’m sayin.

Katie — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 16:28:12 +0000

So, here I am, at work, reading Shambot, when I noticed that I have been conspicuously (or maybe not so much) absent from le posting. Well, here I am. Hurrah.
Here is my update, summarizing my 2-plus months of MIA in the blogging community:
-working at Lunalux next semester, where I will get my letterpress on. Cross fingers for fun.
-Still courting the sweet mistress Coffee, who has yet to do me wrong. Except for those nasty caffeine depravation headaches. Turns out Coffee has this partner in crime, Ibuprofen. Together they are unstoppable.
-Making lots of the arts. School has a way of coaxing that out of me. Check out all the lovely things emerging from my magical pencil here.
-Also, did I mention I wrote all the HTML, java and CSS for that there website? Thanks to the Anginator for her neverending patience and support.
-While we’re on the website topic, all you Shambotsters should take a gander at those “Clips and Phrases” pieces on the site (there’s a separate page that the thumbnail will take you to). I’ve got about 18 of those bad boys left from the art sale and you all have one coming your way for a Gradubirthmakus present if you so desire. I haven’t figured out which ones are gone yet, but I’m also keeping a few. However, I can make you another/get you a print if you’re feeling really strongly about the matter. Comment for dibs.
-I’ve got 95 pages of novelly goodness under my belt, and it’s all going to be revised by the end of next week. Over break, I’ve been instructed to get feedback from people who aren’t Margie McGee. I’m finishing it up next semester as part of my senior project, so it’s still very much in progress, but if you’re willing, please do make me aware of that fact.

I think that’s all. Words fail me. They’ve all been sucked into that unwieldy of a half-novel.

Katie — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 13:48:38 +0000

Well, kids, guess what time it is?

That’s right, it’s time for the Big List of Shit You Need to Know is Going On In My Life!

-Next week, the parentals are coming to town. For the first time EVER. All shambotsters are required to meet them. They have never read this blog (as far as I know–otherwise, hey Mom!) so never fear. Your reputation has been shaped only by my comments about you.

-I am learning XHTML for portfolio.net. And I actually like it. This is odd, and shaking all of my techie prejudices to the core. (The question “why DO I love Joel despite his geekly profession?” may have finally been answered.)

-Coffee is my new BFF. Friends ON, coffee! But coffee can’t hold me like you guys do, non-beverage friends. So I still love you, even though you are not piping hot and caffeinated and contained in a lovely mug.

-ANTM is rockin this round, mostly thanks to the Yalie (what are you doing, Connecticut? You are WAY outta yo league) and Miss Asperger poster child (who is allowing ANTM to be considered “research” for my novel that I’m writing for Margie). I only wish I had all my ladies to watch it with me, because I am physically unable to wait until Sunday. Luckily, Evan is pinch-hitting grand slams in the form of chili and curry. My kind of grand slam.

-I’m officially marking the beginning of post-graduation job search this weekend, as my portfolio is now all put together and pretty. Let the cover letter writing commence!

-I have lots of shit I should be doing that’s not posting on Shambot. I should go do that.

I think I will.

The All-too-Familiar Conversation

Katie — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 15:14:06 +0000

Oh–hi there, Shambot! No, I didn’t see you ….yeah, you look totally different! It hasn’t been that long, has it? Really? Man. Did you lose weight? Been working out? Huh. Must be the lighting.

So how have you been? Me? Well, you know, busy. That’s why I haven’t called. It’s been hectic. But good, character building. What–oh, har har. Yes, this coffee is the size of my head. I was going to try meth, but this was cheaper and I have sensitive nostrils. Actually, it’s free at the ‘brary and the greeting card company, and I can make it as strong as I want. Sort of like my own personal dealer –who always gives me the best cut.

Here, could you hold my bag for a second? Let me get your number…where’s my phone? God, this purse is a disaster. Okay, what is it again? Eight-six-oh–shit. I can’t do this when my hands are shaking. No, I don’t want to switch to tea. I do tea, just not as often. That’s how you found your chi? Well, good for you. I prefer to double team my caffeine fix. No loyalties here (or chi, for that matter).

Okay, I better be going if I’m going to get to class. Yeah, we’ll do lunch or something. I’m pretty busy this weekend, but maybe next.

Good to see you, Shamby! Call me!

A short announcement

Katie — Sun, 19 Aug 2007 14:18:43 +0000

Well hey there, fellow shambotsters. I would write a little blurb here about how crappy I am about updating this thing, but we’ve all heard it before. So, I shall substitute the normal “oh, I can’t believe it’s been so long since I posted” with this:

I AM COMING HOME TO THE APPLES ON THURSDAY.

Yes. Less than a week. Far less, in fact. More like half a week. I miss the living hell out of all of you, and I when I see your faces, I will squeeze you until your brains pop out of your ears and ooze into your hoodies.

More later, potentially.

skyline

Katie — Sun, 24 Jun 2007 18:17:36 +0000

Well hey there. I’m back, on a lovely rainy Portland afternoon, hanging out at Hilary and Scott’s house on Skyline, where I am currently house/dogsitting. It’s beautiful up here, particularly since they’ve remodeled, and now you can see the view from almost anywhere in the house. When it rains, I like to open the windows just a crack so I can hear it and smell the nice fresh west coast air. The dogs are downstairs drying off after a wet jaunt around the yard, but when I’m finished here we are all going to curl up on the couch.

Things around here have actually been pretty busy. I’m working at BenchCraft again, and after a sickening stint as Chief Folder Folder, I finally acquired a desk and am currently handling the design work for ImageMedia (a sub-company that does design for various clients). It is wildly exciting. Note to self: when searching for a career, work somewhere that has a GOOD sense of design (read: no gradients, no shadows on text, etc). After a semester of not really touching the computer in any of my illustrations, it’s good to be brushing up on that.

Other interesting things, in list form (since I am too lazy to write out paragraphs):

-bought tickets to go see Wilco in August with Benny. Hooray!

-Learned to make mojitos. Will be utilizing this skill ASAP when I return to Minneapolis.

-Am going to the movies with my dad today, who is the coolest guy ever.

-Currently obsessed with “That Time” by Regina Spektor, who is very pretty.

-Watched the first half of the first season of the Office and fell in love with Jim all over again. I challenge anyone to watch this show and not love that man. Just try.

-Hil and Scott have a world map on their shower curtain, so each day I look at where the Ben is and map out his next few destinations. I know, the height of cool.

That is all. I am homesick for you all at MCAD. I’m pretty sure it’s been too long.

the only living girl in new york

Katie — Wed, 30 May 2007 13:45:09 +0000

Well. Here it is, Wednesday. And I leave New York City on Saturday, to return to my beloved city of Portland. But New York, you were seriously better than I ever could have imagined.
Here is a list of things that make me teary-eyed when I think about leaving:
-the subway. Oh, it may be disturbingly filthy, and it may have caused me to have multiple dreams about rats and various other rodents, but you just can’t beat it.
-my apartment. The little hobbitt hole of goodness, site of many cozy evenings spent by my lonesome drawing, reading, or watching Law and Order. Hopefully, it is the smallest space I will ever live in. But I will miss it, and I will also miss living by myself (although I can’t think of better roomies, Emma and Alli!).
-Harper’s. Naturally. Besides the obvious satisfaction I still get from seeing my name on the masthead, I loved my art directors, the other interns (in all their weird, smart ass glory) and all the editors (most of whom still know me as just “the art intern”).
-The pizza. Don’t even try to compete with it. It’s the best.
-The bagels. Seriously, I will never be able to eat bagels anywhere else. Here, they are fluffy chewy little pillows of carb-filled goodness. Especially when paired with my coffee/hot chocolate combo mixed from the gas-station machine thing at the cheap bagel place on Montague Street.
-All the little munchkins I babysat for. Yes, I bitched about them endlessly, and I am glad to have my days as a nanny-whore behind me. But they’re so little and cute! And they like me!
-Gallery openings. Always free wine. Sometimes good art.
-And lastly, the people. Specifically, the ones that I like and hang out with. Special shoutout to Intern Suzannah, that froyo loving, horse riding, Coney Island going, ANTM watching bundle of cynical love that I will miss like crazy.
Well. I still got stuff to do and places to be before I head out. Two quick things:
1. Went to see the Daily Show with Jon Stewart with Intern Suzannah last Thursday. It was totally sweet, and he is really, really short.
2. Went to the movies Monday night, and behold: ran into Kim (yes, little cutie lesbian Kim) from ANTM! She had sort of an odd mullet-esque haircut, but was just as hot and sassy in person.
THE END.

Super quick post!

Katie — Wed, 23 May 2007 11:25:43 +0000

Update:
I am alive. Just (as usual) shirking my blogging duties. Here’s why (in a nutshell):
-Harper’s = almost over.
-Nannying = also almost over, and my boss extra-booked me this week. As a result, it is 7.22 am and I must run out the door to an 8.30 job. Blargh.
-The Ben was in town. Now he is in Israel, and I am writing him very long (and probably boring) emails because I miss hearing the sweet, lilting sound of his voice on le phone.
-New York = almost over. Sadness. And I must properly re-experience everything I love here before leaving so it’s fresh in my head like a bad aftertaste.
Must go sit on the babies. Real post later. Love and kisses and other silly things.

D-List celebrity sighting!

Katie — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 01:26:54 +0000

Dudes.
Anyone who knows me, even a little bit, is aware of a certain ridiculous obsession that occasionally overcomes me. It has probably made a few movies and television experiences that we’ve had together hellish. Here what this little tick looks like:
Me: Don’t you recognize that person on the screen from somewhere?
You: Eh. I guess they look familiar. Don’t know.
Me: I think I recognize them. WHO IS THAT GUY?
You: What?
Me: I can’t hear you. I am obsessively Googling various traits of this particular person so I can figure out who they are, because if I don’t, I will not sleep.
Remember that one?
Well, NYC has been more than a little difficult, because I see people often who look vaguely familiar. And since it is New York, they probably are familiar for a reason.
Exhibit A:
This afternoon, I was rushing down the stairs to the subway to catch the F train at Broadway-Lafayette to get from work to a babysitting job. A bunch of people were getting off the V train (runs on the same track) and there was a mildly cute guy I noticed. We looked at each other for a second, and I thought I recognized him. And, just now, as I was eating some quality frozen yogurt and watching The Office, it hit me.
Yes, I definitely saw Chili this afternoon. As in, Chili who was Johnny’s friend at the Newport public high school on the third season of the OC. (Rest in peace OC. You were an amazing prime time soap of the gods.)
If you recall, Johnny was the guy who was a really good surfer, wanted Marissa’s ass, and eventually got drunk and jumped off a cliff, killing himself. Chili was his lame surf buddy and maybe had two lines in his few appearances. The (amazingly talented) actor who played him is named Johnny Lewis, and he is currently filming a show called “Eight Days a Week.”
And yes, I am feeling like the biggest nerd-o on the planet.