April 2011 | Page 2 of 4 | Kate's Point of View

Shut the Heck Up

On April 24, 2011

Wonder Boy and I went to the Decemberists last night in Columbus for a fairly last-minute show after buying tickets from a friend who couldn’t go. It should have been awesome. And it would’ve been awesome if people around us would’ve SHUT THE HECK UP. Why do you pay good money to go to a show and chit chat with friends? It baffles.

It left me asking if the Decemberists had to take some ownership. As an artist, isn’t part of your job to capture the crowd? But could this particular crowd have been captured? Likely not since they were terrible. I’m happy I get a second chance to see the Decemberists shine in August.

My Ears Might Bleed … And It Will Be Worth It

By Kate

On April 22, 2011

In rock

Today I bought tickets to see the Decemberists play in August. I’ll get a preview of that show when I see them play tomorrow. I love when I have the opportunity to see a whole bunch of shows within a short period of time. It doesn’t happen nearly enough!

I should have been able to see my favorite band The Features play last Friday but I was sick so Wonder Boy went with Frank the Tank. I still have lots of concerts lined up to look forward to, though:

The New Pornographers with The Walkmen
Elvis Costello
Iron and Wine
Def Leppard with Heart
Decemberists

Doesn’t just thinking about all of that good music warm your heart? When we saw Guster recently it really was the beginning of the season!

B.I.G. Gets Bigger

By Kate

On April 21, 2011

In animals

The Notorious B.I.G. is a big boy. It’s part of the reason he has the name he has. He weighs in at a solid, and I do mean solid, 18 pounds. When he got to the rescue from which we adopted him, he weighed 14 pounds.

A lot of the weight has been gained at our house while we were intentionally trying to fatten Newton up. While Newton, who was struggling to maintain any weight, didn’t really get any fatter, Biggie and Addy treated life like an all-you-can-eat buffet. So now Biggie has this taught stomach then when you pat it sounds like a drum. When he is on his side, his stomach folds in two, and looks a little too much like a vijayjay. Gross.

Long ago Wonder Boy and I realized that the smartest thing we could do as cat owners was to buy an automatic feeder. That way, when the magical hour of breakfast rolled around the cats wouldn’t be sitting on top of us in bed waiting for food. Instead they would stare intently at the feeder, waiting for food to magically pour out. It has worked wonders.

I believe that when the makers of our particular brand of automatic feeder planned their product, they didn’t do it with our fat cat in mind. Biggie has discovered that if you knock the feeder over, the lid pops off and you can eat half a tub of food — about five days worth of food. When Wonder Boy taped the feeder’s lid shut, Biggie just ate through the tape. So now it is quadruple-taped and that seems to be working. But somehow, Biggie’s gut just looks bigger and bigger.

My Bling

By Kate

On April 20, 2011

In reviews

I recently reviewed bling eez, an As Seen on TV product, and I must confess that it was a half-hearted review. Here’s why: I recently bought the most beautiful jewelry holder from Etsy.

It’s a little shabby chic but mostly just awesome chic!

But. This display case holds a LOT of jewelry. And yet I still have storage issues. It’s embarrassing. Based on all of my jewelry boxes you would think I go out of the house blinged up from head to toe, and yet that’s very far from the truth. Let me illustrate to you the nonsensical jewelry situation…

In addition to the wall case, I have these three jewelry boxes:

I have one jewelry box dedicated to bracelets.

Another jewelry box houses almost nothing but pendants.

The third jewelry box has rings, watches and random necklaces.

And I’m actually not done yet because I still have this old suitcase holding jewelry.

This is my oldest and most anal retentive jewelry storage system. Inside are all of my necklaces.

The necklaces are filed in labelled envelopes…

Tonight I went through everything and tossed a few mismatched earrings or junk jewelry. I have stuff I forgot all about! If you have ways of storing your jewelry that are classier than suitcases, I’d love to hear about them. I’ve made some progress with the wall-hanging unit, but would like to minimize even further.

Walking In the Clouds

By Kate

On April 19, 2011

In travel

In Ghana, Wonder Boy and I went on a canopy walk in Kakum National Park. This was something I knew I wanted to do before we left and it was a big factor in why I switched from Lariam, which made me insanely dizzy, to a different anti-malaria drug. The pictures I had seen of the walk in my travel book just looked so awesome!

I forgot one little thing. I don’t like heights. I’m not scared stupid about them or anything. But to walk across a bridge that is essentially a plank of wood resting on a ladder suspended in the air by ropes? That just doesn’t make me feel safe.

The Canopy Walk consisted of 7 bridges and I made it across the second and was waiting on the platform when I went into a full blown panic attack. I won’t lie… there might have been tears. But once you’ve started the walk, THERE IS NO TURNING BACK. So I made Wonder Boy go in front of me and would only walk across the bridge when no one else was on it. And so we have all of these great pictures of Wonder Boy enjoying himself and very few of me. Fortunately for me, the ones I am in are not close-ups. I don’t think the expression on my face was very …. picture-worthy.

Here is a video thhat Wonder Boy shot while on the canopy. Lord knows I couldn’t have walked and have been shooting video at the same time!