Happy Daydreams that I Hope Come True

, originally uploaded by teenangst.

I had a daydream today of sometime in the future (hopefully somewhat near future) and the thought has made me happy all day.
I've just moved into my apartment, my FIRST EVER apartment, and I've set up everything. My apartment is cute and I'm excited, so what do I do but build a giant blanket fort right in the middle of the main room. And then I put white lights all over the room and put on a fun movie and a cute set of pajamas. I'm thinking pink stripes for some reason though I never wear pink striped pajamas. For the sake of the daydream I look more like, oh, I don't know... a brunette Leelee Sobieski or something.
I'm gleefully watching my movie from the confines of my first apartment tent when the doorbell rings. And here the daydream has two scenarios. The person behind the door is either a middleaged mother of three who lives a few doors down and is welcoming me to the neighborhood or a rather nice looking guy my age (who for some reason assumes I'm his age) and we end up getting married some years later. Whoever-it-is smiles at my pajamas and may make a "oh, did I wake you up?" comment, to which I reply with my usual perky "oh no of course not!" And then they look just past my shoulder and their smile becomes a little confused. I look back for a second and then at my guest, and, shrugging my shoulders and smiling sort of sheepishly but still happy and proud, I gleefully say "I made a tent!"

And of course I instantly become the favorite of every kid in the complex.

I'm definitely making a tent whenever I get in to whatever apartment I ever end up making it to. They're just awesome. And no one will be able to tell me to tear it down.

At Long Last! A Metal Project!

Some of you know that I recently completed wish granter training with my local chapter of the Make a Wish Foundation. This means I will be meeting with a wish kid, figuring out what his or her wish is, and then planning and coordinating it! I decided that since completing the training is called "earning your wand" that I would make a wand worthy of the occasion. I ordered some thin brass (because it was cheap...I'm not made of money, even working two part times around Christmas!), finally had an excuse to buy a jewelry saw, flux, and borrowed some tools and a ridiculously awesome soldering iron/torch from my friend Matthew.
My original plan was for it to look something like this:

But I don't know enough math/geometry wise about making it all fit, so I'm going to bell it out and solder the points together, so there's open airspace inside. Here are some work-in-progres photos.

I based the triangle on a repeated isoceles triangle having two 36 degree angles and one 72 degree angle (because all the angles within a triangle add up to 180 degrees, correct?). This proved difficult, and I'm not sure where I went wrong. Probably I misjudged the tracing. Anyway, it worked out pretty well.

Here are my pattern stars on top of my old play therapy textbook. Don't they look just so happy?

Then, I put two sheets of brass together with one of my pattern stars. Then I drew the detail I wanted on the pattern. Notice that other than tape I completely forgot adhesive. Yes, that will come back to bite me. I've used Matthew's snips to cut out the star (with some interesting and large scraps to play with!!) and have begun sawing out the scrollwork. The problem is that we didn't have a drill bit smaller than 1/18 so I have to get rid of the ugly holes. I also have had some creative jewelry saw positioning since the star itself is wider than the saw and I have to reach a few things. I've almost finished sawing out two of the tips and hope to finish the rest before Thursday so I can give Matthew back his tools when I see Kristen to bake cookies! More pictures to come!

Kate

A quick departure from the current montage for a Public Service Announcement

Hello, dear readers!
I have just started my volunteer work as a wish granter for the Make a Wish Foundation, which does its best to provide the dearest wish to children ages 2 1/2 to 18 who are diagnosed with life threatening conditions. It began in Phoenix, Arizona in the 1980s when a police department rallied together to provide a young boy with his wish to be a police officer for a day. Make a Wish is a not for profit organization and 80% of all its donations go to wish granting. The other 20% is divided up between publicity, fund raising, and staff salary. Because of the recession in the United States, the Make a Wish foundation has been forced to make the difficult choice to cut down on staff in order to continue granting wishes as donations become fewer and farther between.
I know that times are hard for many and this time of year people are especially feeling the strain as they tighten their purse strings and attempt to stretch even more expenses into an ever shrinking budget. However, if anyone at all would be willing to donate to your local chapter (Make a Wish has locations all over the world) or to the foundation in general, the Make a Wish foundation would be incredibly grateful.

Click here for their main site. There, you can find your local chapter and find out about pending wishes, review the office's wish list (most offices are in need of donated office supplies), and make a monetary donation. You can also read the stories of a few wishes that came true! In order to find your local chapter, click on the map in the upper right-hand corner. For my international readers, you can go directly to world wish to find your local chapter and find out how you can help.
Many of the pending wishes are in need of enhancements, which are usually donations in kind (one volunteer in my chapter is a make up artist and provides makeovers for a lot of wishes), so if you cannot give money, see if you can provide a service!

Share the Power of a Wish!

Kate

Current song running through my head 12/10

Jim Croce "I'll have to say I love you in a song"
I discovered Jim Croce when I was in ninth grade. I went through a "let's make mixed tapes" phase, and went through all my parents' old cds. (Incidentally, I fell in love with U2 and The Police because of this same event.) I came across the album "Photographs and Memories" by Jim Croce. I remembered hearing a tiny portion of "I'll have to say I love you" on one of those CD commercials and thought it sounded really beautiful (I was right), so I listened to it in full. And then I listened to it again. And again. And then I memorized it. And then, being a true angsty romantic teen, I sang it with as much feeling and tears as I could muster, completely missing the simplicity of the piece. I even imagined someone calling me up and singing it to me.
Seven years later, this song feels to me like the most simply honest love song out there. No attempts at flowery speech, no elaborate key changes, and no sweeping orchestral movements. Just beautiful pickwork (one of the surest ways to my heart is pickwork on the guitar. One of these days I plan on mastering it. First I have to focus on getting my guitar re calibrated so the strings will actually hit the frets!) and simple, honest lyrics. I truly am enamored by this song to this day.

The current song running through my head 12/9

"If you want to sing out, sing out" - Cat Stevens

Some friends of mine in my senior year of high school were obsessed with a band called Relient K. We all joined in the fun of making birthday packages for them, we listened to their cds in the car, and they read their bios and printed and distributed transcripts of their interviews. This is how we found out about Harold and Maude.
It seems that in one of the interviews the guys got tired of answering things and said that their favorite movies were Harold and Maude and The Graduate (and I think one other movie that had to do with an older woman seducing a young man). "Harold and Maude?" they said, and of course they rented it. And despite their being a bit horrified by the movie, they had us watch it at every social gathering.
Despite the stranger parts in this movie, and some of the awkward scenes between Harold and Maude, I think this is an important movie. It really is about finding your way and living life (not being obsessed with death). I love the last scene.

I was trying to decide how to say how I feel about this song. I think I will sing it as a lullabye to my kids one day. And I think that's all I need to say.

The current song going through my head 12/5

Originally I was going to post videos of myself singing the songs running through my head...but I thought about what last shred of privacy I had, and about how I don't really sing incredibly well right now (something about nasal problems I think). Anyway, I'd rather not reveal to all of cyberspace exactly why I realized I wasn't fit for broadway. ;)
I first saw Cabaret when I was sixteen. A very naive sixteen, though I thought myself to be more worldly than I was. Cabaret was famous, I was broadway crazy, and I loved Fosse and Joel Grey. I figured I could take it being a bit dark because hey, I LOVED Into the Woods!
I was so not ready for that movie! I don't know now if I'm ready to watch it again (though seriously, Mein Herr and Don't Tell Mama, in addition to my butchered rendering of Maybe This Time, are amazing songs).
Anyway, this song gets to me. I rediscovered it recently because I stayed up late watching "Connie and Carla," a movie about two dinner theatre hopefuls who witness a murder and then run off to LA and hide out pretending to be drag queens. Their audition piece is this song.



I'm pretty much addicted to this song right now. I've been singing it all week, in my room, in my car, I even hummed it to one of the kids who wouldn't sleep at work. I think it's because it's at the same time a self-dig and a profession of hope. I think it's very much an anthem of coming out of the dark, and it could really be used for all sorts of things, not just men. I'm fairly certain I'll be singing this on the way to my interview (if I get one!!!). It's like "Suddenly I See" by KT Tunstall, only a showtune.
Seriously, the dark musicals have some of the most amazing hopeful songs (perhaps because then it's more tragic when the people are broken).

On my choice of using the "Connie and Carla" version instead of straight from Cabaret: The Liza Minelli version is a concept musical, where it cuts in and out of her singing on stage and the real life situation it's about, so the song doesn't go through in its completion. Secondly, I think that the idea of harmonizing this song is beautiful! Thirdly: Nia Vardalos. Toni Collette. Dressed as drag queens and singing. Need I say more?

Why do I write a blog?

This is something I've asked myself lately. The other blogs I read are rather thematic, and mine is, just as my header says, full of "random things I say and do."
I know that I started this when people were starting to get interested in the things I knit and crochet (which, incidentally, is why I joined flickr), but because I can't seem to crochet without causing injury to myself (wrist problems. My most uncharitable brother says I'm weak) and because I realized I don't like to sell things, I'm not doing that. Then, when I started finishing pieces in my jewelry making class, I got excited and used this to share my art. But now, I'm not in a class and don't have the resources or the space to make anything (I keep telling myself things will be different when I get my own place, which will happen when I get my own job, which seems to be harder than it should have been).
So what is this for?
Unfortunately, I think I know the answer, it's just not something I'm very proud of.
I suffer from this delusion that I'm rather clever. That the things I say are interesting to others. That people WANT to hear my stories (which often seems to prove untrue...the groans of my classmates in school still sting). In high school I was voted "Most Outspoken," a title I (and my government teacher) lobbied for, though there really was no contest. I've always had a need for a venue to unleash these opinions upon, and what better than cyberspace, right? Because then I'll meet all these interesting people from all over the world who read my blog daily and soon I have a huge following of people who really, truly want to know what I have to say, right? About anything. Rant about the traffic this morning on the way to work and they'll comment about how traffic was equally horrendous on their way, too. Sigh over how difficult things are, and they'll tell you to cheer up, they're pulling for me. Yes, I think I write this blog so that I can get attention. How pathetic is that? I have my own little stage and I'm writing these ramblings that every now and then someone reads, and I really don't have much to say.