Ess and Gee

I just really love Simon and Garfunkel. Hands down, they're the number one group I wish to see live. (Well and The Beatles. But that's, like, duh.)

Q

October 30th marked the one year anniversary of my grandma Q's passing. While of course I miss her dearly, I have a calm reassurance that she's spent the last year catching up with her friends and family, laughing the entire time. She's likely been playing golf with my grandpa on acres of freshly mowed grass that stretch for miles and miles, the view so pretty and the company so pleasant they don't even care if they lose a ball in the pond.

{via}

1) A pillow Q stitched that I keep on my bed. In the bottom left corner you can see her initials.

2) Jar of buttons that I inherited from Q. Growing up I use to always sneak into her closet to look at them. There are brass buttons from my grandpa's uniform from WWII along with pearl buttons from a blouse she wore as a little girl. It's such a nice keepsake that I'll always cherish.

3) A quiet forest that looks like a good spot for contemplation.

The Cowboy

Lenny, definitely not by choice, is a cowboy every Halloween. It usually lasts for a good half hour, but then we just feel too bad and take it off him. With his old(er) age, and simply because he is the best dog in the whole word, he doesn't even put up a fight when we put the costume on him. Unfortunately though, he kept slipping in the costume so it had to be taken off. Lenny looks petrified in this picture. I'm glad that my mom threw in the pumpkin as a nice touch. I think it adds a lil something something to the picture (and it hides Lenny's ba-dunk-a-dunk).

DANCE DANCE DANCE

Those moves are sooooo fine.

Brothers

Having two older brothers is a healthy reminder that you're always closer to the bottom than you are to the top.

- Andy Roddick

Dear Andy, I couldn't agree more.

I must say

I have been very pleased with my Zazzle purchases.

This one I got for my roommate Mallory for her birthday. Because, well, plain and simple, we both think Billy Madison might possibly be cinema at its finest.

This one I got for my brother Kevin's birthday. Because, well, we both think Karl Pinkerton, Stephen Merchant and Ricky Gervais are the bomb diggity.

What? People don't say bomb diggity anymore?

In unrelated news: I am at the union doing homework (kind of) and writing my column for the week (kind of). There is a man asleep in a chair about ten feet away from me. He has three empty Coke bottles next to him. And he just farted really loudly. Was it immature that I laughed? Would you have too?

Football + Family weekend in Madison

This weekend I had to get stitches on my chin.

In short,

slippery bar floors + sandals with no traction whatsoever

=

Kathleen plummeting like a rock and smacking her face against the hardwood floor.

Having these stitches on my face has made me realize how

A) often I rest my chin on my hand

B) difficult it is to put on a shirt without touching your chin

C) laughing is a good thing EXCEPT when you have a laceration (what the doctor kept calling it) on your face.... every time I move my jaw my entire chin has this swelling and pulsing feeling that makes me want to cry.

But the chin incident (hence chincident) came after a laughter and smile filled weekend with my family. 23 of my relatives drove up from Chicago (or flew in from Florida) to experience a weekend as a Wisconsin Badger. We went to the game, ate popcorn and drank beer at the terrace that overlooks Lake Mendota, played bags and flag football, ate pumpkin bread and probably had too many cheese curds.

It was such an overwhelming joy to share this city with my family.

I want a repeat of the weekend !

(minus the whole falling in public and having a huge gash on my face. That, I could do without.)

The Giving Tree

I've decided that if you don't like this book, then you don't have a soul.

That simple.

Viva Las Vegas

{Me and the roommates at the tailgate}

Catch up time. I went to Vegas two weeks ago for the Wisconsin vs. UNLV football game. Well we didn't actually go to the game (we didn't have tickets), but we did tailgate at the stadium and eat brats and drink beer. It was a fun (to say the least) but exhausting trip.

I'm convinced that in Vegas people don't have faces. Just bodies. Everyone is moving so quickly it's difficult to make out who anyone is. And most people have cameras pressed up to their face so it is actually quite literally difficult to see them.

Highlights of the trip:

1) Piano bar where our requested song "Sitting on the Dock of the Bay" by Otis Redding was played and we sang and danced along. Another good song we jammed to at the piano bar included Sweet Caroline.

{PS I have told many a person that if I were to ever try out for American Idol (which I wouldn't because I can't sting) I'd sing "Sitting on the Dock of the Bay". Sara Bareilles version is "whoa good" too}

2) Saw a Beatles Tribute band play at Planet Hollywood! Costumes and all! My favorite was when they played "While my Guitar Gently Weeps" and "Twist and Shout".

3) Laying out at the pool with my gals and lazily reading.

4) The water show at The Bellagio.

5) Watching my roommates make money. I quickly learned I am not cut out for gambling. I ost $30 within 1 minute. YIKES! But then I regained $6 of it by playing the slots. Oh yeaaaaaa.

{Mal saw some Wisconsin fans doing the Cupid Shuffle and, naturally, she wanted in}

{Scenery at the tailgate}

{Mallory, me, Lauren at The Flamingo}

{Mal, me, Shauna, Alli, Lauren, Ann and the Beatles}

Home Sweet Home

Land o Lincoln, some other places, family & friends.

Who enjoys a pixelated video? I know I sure do!

Song: "To Go Home" - M. Ward

Marcel the Shell

Is anyone familiar with this? I was crying while watching this because I was literally laughing THAT hard. Omg I want Marcel!

Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans

I'm always happy when I'm reminded of how much I love this song. Thank you iPod shuffle for shuffling your way to this beauty when I was walking to class yesterday. A crisp wind on my face, a pumpkin bar in my backpack, and a gem ringing in my ears.

Oh, also. Once a week I write a column for my school newspaper. Silly shenanigans and such.

My column prints/is posted online every Wednesday. Here is my 3rd column if you care to take a look.

Anyway, here's the song!

{Considering his far too early death, I find the lyrics "I can hardly wait to see you come of age" particularly heartbreaking}

Fortune Cookie

Usually whenever I get a fortune cookie it tells me something stupid or heartbreakingly disappointing.

Stupid = "Your cat is on the roof again. This will bring you good luck." Ummm I don't even own a cat.

Disappointing = "On the 6th of this month you will meet your soul-mate." Too bad the 6th already past and I definitely didn't meet no Romeo.

Bummer.

Well, this summer I went to a Chinese restaurant downtown with a few galfriends. Surprisingly, I opened a mention worthy fortune cookie:

"Very little is needed to make a happy life."

The fortune came at the perfect time in my life too.

I was just about to head back to school.

Needed to get rid of crap I don't use.

Needed to stop holding onto things that cluttered my life.

Needed to take time to appreciate the people in my life.

Needed to take time to relax and laugh.

Needed to stop worrying about things I have no control over.

So freaking simple, right?

Not quite. But I'm getting there.

Here is one of those little things that definitely add to my happy life.

PIE.

{Pie from the Madison Farmers Market. Eeeeek!}

Back to School

I had my last, first day of school yesterday (Thursday). My mom left me a really sentimental voicemail wishing me luck the next morning and saying oh how many years it has been and telling me how she wished she could be there with me. Only problem was that she sent the message two days early. For a moment the voicemail really made me question whether or not I did have class the next day. And if I did in fact have class the next day, I was going to really regret playing chandeliers at Whiskey River. But alas, she was wrong.

So, ya.

Today was the first day of school.

If I owned a sharpener I probably would have sharpened my pencils.

If I owned shoe polish I probably would have polished my shoes.

If I owned an alarm clock I probably wouldn't have slept through my first class.

PSYCH!!!

One time my friend Sam slept through her Spanish final. At the time it was pretty horrific. But now we can joke about it. Right, Sam?

Too soon?

Well anywhoooooo, here is my favorite movie EVER (well top five). And guess what? It takes place in a school setting. So, uh, I thought it would be appropriate to post it. Not the entire film, silly. But just the trailer.

The Lull

{via}

Here is a contemporary Shakespearean sonnet that I kind of really really like.

The Lull by Molly Peacock

The possum lay on the tracks fully dead.

I'm the kind of person who stops to look.

It was big and white with flies on its head,

a thick healthy hairless tail, and strong, hooked

nails on its racoon-like feet. It was a full

grown possum. It was sturdy and adult.

Only its head was smashed. In the lull

that it took to look, you took the time to insult

the corpse, the flies, the world, the fact that we were

traipsing in our dress shoes down the railroad tracks.

"That's disgusting." You said that. Dreams, brains, fur

and guts: what we are. That's my bargain, the Pax

Peacock, with the world. Look hard, life's soft. Life's cache

is flesh, flesh, and flesh.