tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-89737464501904267312024-03-13T10:42:59.717-04:00The Carnival Of The RandomWelcome to my journal of: Pop culture, Politics, Poetry and the utterly random things that fall out of my head.
This is the Official Motto: Be More Awesome, Curb The Suckage.Kristenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03961318431610601783noreply@blogger.comBlogger47125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8973746450190426731.post-44296823667467444602011-09-18T17:52:00.000-04:002011-09-18T17:52:19.323-04:00The whereabouts of The Carnival of the RandomCan be found at Wordpress.com, Tumblr.com and of course, Twitter.comKristenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03961318431610601783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8973746450190426731.post-53989461686427646352010-07-28T18:30:00.001-04:002010-07-28T20:37:10.541-04:00It seems Vanity Fair Magazine has issues with the internetI was furious at the patronizing, misogynistic tone in this article about successful female social media users. "Tweethearts," and other twee language being used to diminish women and objectify them does not make me giggle. However, @geekgirldiva covered it way better than I did, here. This morning, I was treated to this, before I had my first cup of coffee. Kristenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03961318431610601783noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8973746450190426731.post-81667593129321689592010-01-19T00:37:00.000-05:002010-01-19T00:37:10.320-05:00Things are happening and it's all kind of weirdHappy new year-ish.
This is essentially a drive-by post, because there are a lot of VERY COMPLICATED things going on right now, that I can't talk about in public.
The ultimate outcome is likely to be good. The walking-across-hot-coals period, may be lengthy.
Good things are: I've got an awful lot of love in my life.
Kind of chronic things I can live w/o: Pain of varying degrees and sources.
Kristenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03961318431610601783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8973746450190426731.post-79073912093466533962009-12-28T01:13:00.000-05:002009-12-28T01:13:29.228-05:00Spamalot, aka tweet me for realz or FUCK OFFI'm following A LOT of people on twitter. Like, almost 400. (BTW: next time you're whinging because a celeb, etc., hasn't replied to you - STFU. Do you have any idea what their feeds look like? n00b.)
A lot of people are following me. (I'm not entirely sure why, but I'm very grateful.)
I get cycles of spam. I get cycles of LURKERS.
Look, if you're marketing - you fail. Completely. If you like me Kristenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03961318431610601783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8973746450190426731.post-79901263761851850572009-12-27T00:09:00.001-05:002009-12-27T00:09:29.424-05:00A Voice From The Apocalypse (excerpt from WIP, "Not With A Bang..."
2058 -Andrews, S. N., Maj. Gen. RAMC
It began on a Wednesday. A series of tsunamis that struck cities that were only unexpected in the sense that we blinded ourselves to the eventuality.
It took three years. We know that the first indicators came decades before the fact, and we still haven't figured out how to solve it. It seems the Earth did. The floods and droughts, the epidemics Kristenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03961318431610601783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8973746450190426731.post-43048578684268877452009-12-26T22:58:00.000-05:002009-12-26T22:58:36.903-05:00The Honest Scrap Blogger Award...HELP MESo, you can see my nomination for this, here. I'm at a loss for a couple of reasons. 1. I'm not sure I can think of ten things that no one knows about me. No, really. When I say I'm an open book, I mean it. Sooo... here goes:
1. I love brussels sprouts and liver. I really do. I hated both as a child, and now I love them. My mother loathes sprouts, but I'm making them for xmas dinner anyway.
Kristenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03961318431610601783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8973746450190426731.post-4760249652874921022009-12-18T01:35:00.001-05:002009-12-18T01:52:44.046-05:00Why does poverty so offend those that are not poor?I have a theory, which I'll discuss later. Anyone who has read a sampling of my posts, knows that I'm not ashamed of being poor. It's a fact, being ashamed of it won't change it. I manage, I wobble, I falter, I pick myself up and dust myself off. I save and scrimp and feel guilty when I spend $20 on a night at a college bar (that's $20 including food, beer and tip.) I make choices. I buy a Kristenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03961318431610601783noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8973746450190426731.post-36124151196955531472009-12-06T12:22:00.000-05:002009-12-06T12:22:35.072-05:00Privilege?It's something that's come up recently, this notion of privilege.
Am I guilty of it? Am I privileged at all?
The answers are: sort of, and definitely.
I'm white. I'm fairly educated, (or at least self-educated,) I'm (mostly,) cis-gendered.
I keep coming back to thoughts of my own naivete.
I don't see the world the way I'm supposed to.
That, in and of itself, is a privilege.
I was raised to seeKristenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03961318431610601783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8973746450190426731.post-75405511252137212262009-11-26T16:57:00.000-05:002009-11-26T16:57:58.466-05:00Thanksgiving is the gateway holidayHolidays were always bittersweet. I have memories of about 2 Christmases with both my parents. After they split up, my dad wasn't around much. Ever. The last actual Christmas I remember seeing my father, I was 9. I was in the hospital at the time.
I grew up poor, but not impoverished. I was always encouraged to use my imagination, to play. Many of the Christmas or birthday presents I received Kristenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03961318431610601783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8973746450190426731.post-80206609041297837182009-11-24T21:44:00.002-05:002009-11-24T21:48:54.939-05:00ThanksgivingWhat am I thankful for?
This is a question that we often forget to ask. Too much is happening day to day, the world spins forward at an ever increasing rate.
It's been a difficult year. For most of us, economically, we're not doing as well as we'd expected. A lot of people are unemployed. The numbers are way higher than most people would like us to believe. It's nearing 20% unemployed. People Kristenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03961318431610601783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8973746450190426731.post-76460475060229125412009-11-16T00:20:00.000-05:002009-11-16T00:20:37.341-05:00Let the apocalypsing commence...wow, that was quick. Also, the hilarious adventures of the BouncyMouse(tm) and how a sparklepire got me through hellmart with my sanity intact. Ish.Today was to be the day of apocalypse. In my novel, yo. So, um...it turns out that at least in this draft, without you know, incredibly detailed end-of-the-world-porn and statistics and whatnot, the apocalypse takes about 500 words from a 2nd tier character. (Oh, did I mention I now loathe my leads? The shiny-happy-lovers-who-will-suffer, writing them is so alien. They're, y'know - normal.)
So, Kristenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03961318431610601783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8973746450190426731.post-38113120958796381022009-11-14T19:32:00.002-05:002009-11-14T20:00:53.025-05:00The inordinate number of things that make me spectacularly happy in very small waysI don't really talk about them much, I realize that. There are so many wondrous things in the world, that very often get drowned out by the horrifying injustices. As I've been ill recently, these have been invaluable. There's something profoundly wonderful about a cough drop that not only makes the scratchy, icky sore throat go away, but are chocolate. I talk for a living, trust meKristenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03961318431610601783noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8973746450190426731.post-84909040431515866312009-11-09T02:22:00.000-05:002009-11-09T02:22:49.425-05:00A short recap: first week of NaNoWriMo, political upheaval1. I'm terribly behind on word count.
2. I'm actually getting a sense of inhabiting the world I'm writing, so hopefully, the word count will improve.
3. I'm incontrovertibly naive about human rights. I'm better off, if not happier that way. The human race can be terribly disappointing in its intolerance.
4. Politics is bullshit. Correction, politicians and the acts of politics are bullshit. None Kristenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03961318431610601783noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8973746450190426731.post-11151495259824771402009-11-07T23:24:00.001-05:002009-11-07T23:25:20.402-05:00Health Care Reform - Exclusions and CompromiseTo begin, I don't know all of the details of the current bill. As we're waiting on the House vote, two things seem clear: We're not getting anything close to what, "We the People," need, and the politicization of our identities/bodies, marches on.
The Stupak amendment seems to have passed. This seems to prevent any insurer from covering abortion services.
There is also, (not sure of amendment Kristenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03961318431610601783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8973746450190426731.post-54422857789443225102009-11-07T00:37:00.000-05:002009-11-07T00:37:16.623-05:00Shaking the tree: Bad juju and focusing the lensThere is a plethora of information coming at us, 24/7/365 if we let it. It becomes a wall of noise, a tidal wave of data ready to capsize the ramshackle rafts artist sail. We're on an endless journey to find an island of stillness in this raging sea. It's harder than it seems. We're not trained in it, most of us. In fact, we're trained to the opposite.
Lately, it seems as if there is so much Kristenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03961318431610601783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8973746450190426731.post-27947835606947657432009-11-06T00:15:00.000-05:002009-11-06T00:15:32.644-05:00Random pretty things: Aromaleigh Mineral MakeupFor anyone scratching their heads over the topic... um... It's the Carnival of the RANDOM. This includes my occasional forays into deeply girlie things.
I confess: I'm a mineral makeup addict. I have been since discovering Bare Escentuals on QVC in 2003. I have problem skin. It's incredibly sensitive, yet oily-acne prone. When in doubt, my skin will break out rather than hive.
Kristenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03961318431610601783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8973746450190426731.post-49567155303571439112009-11-03T22:48:00.000-05:002009-11-03T22:48:26.577-05:00NaNoWriMo: Day 3I don't have that feeling of, "YES," yet. At least not for all of it. I'm almost 4k words in and it feels a little like rollerskating on marbles. I feel awkward with dialogue and I'm still getting a sense for my characters. I'm being introduced to peripheral characters pretty quickly. I'm not sure who's important yet and who's not. I'm pretty sure that 2/3 of them are gonna end up dead by the endKristenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03961318431610601783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8973746450190426731.post-24868632507552218762009-11-02T17:57:00.000-05:002009-11-02T17:57:21.984-05:00A cleansing breathNo one gets along perfectly 24/7/365. No one. We get on each others' nerves, we've all got little ticks and habits and compulsions that drive other people crazy. What keeps us from killing each other or living lives of hermetic isolation? The need for other people, the recognition that we ourselves are flawed beings and maybe love.
No one can hurt us the way the people we're closest to, can. We Kristenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03961318431610601783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8973746450190426731.post-74032901641370175842009-11-01T21:44:00.000-05:002009-11-01T21:44:53.130-05:00Out of the starting gate: NaNoWriMo '09 Today is the first day of my first NaNoWriMo, (National Novel Writing Month. No, I didn't know about it either.) I'm pretty sure I babbled my way through a prologue of 1774 words, (after losing 600 words when I did something silly here.) At least, through the graces of Paperclippe, I found the awesome yWriter software. It's free and has lots of very useful Kristenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03961318431610601783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8973746450190426731.post-82434118223893947042009-10-31T23:30:00.000-04:002009-10-31T23:30:47.106-04:00I begin to think - poemScattered words no more than usual
no less
than stinging
on a screen
no more duck's back water-roll today
today
I begin to think
I begin to think that these words are enough
I begin to think that I have words
Of my own
I begin to think
I'm worth the consideration
Of recognition
you
would rather be right than happy
you
would rather win
than say I'm sorry
you
would rather be here
than
more
I beginKristenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03961318431610601783noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8973746450190426731.post-45839614860759496402009-10-27T22:34:00.000-04:002009-10-28T02:09:13.666-04:00Why yes, m*****rf****rs, I WILL play the rape survivor card.Update: @ButMadNNW brought the Kitty Genovese case and this article by @MarkTyrrell to my attention.
This relates directly to the Richmond High School case. (See Below.)
There are about...four things that have happened in the last four months to make my gang-rape survivor radar, start blipping like the motherfucking Kraken is rising from the motherfucking Kristenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03961318431610601783noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8973746450190426731.post-58204550017282302832009-10-25T00:20:00.000-04:002009-10-25T00:20:23.203-04:00NaNoWriMo prep, playlists and KITTENS!If I could draw, I'd storyboard my novel rather than outline. The fundamentals of my writing process have always been a little bit of voodoo. I see a word, and it unlocks a door filled with images and sounds, tastes and smells. It's a little spooky at times, but it works. At least, it works with poetry. So far, the outlining is going ok. I've got a fair amount of the structure laid out, I've got Kristenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03961318431610601783noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8973746450190426731.post-41752600925011520552009-10-22T22:49:00.000-04:002009-10-22T22:49:25.859-04:00Shaking the tree of the spirit: Acts of creationNote: I recommend reading the previous post, and particularly clicking through the links and watching the video you'll find. (The second half, equally powerful is here.)
What do I want to say? Everything. I want to scrawl in abstracted, emotional hieroglyphs on the walls. I want to scream from the roof and show the world my battered and bloodied self and say, "I'm still here. I will not be Kristenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03961318431610601783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8973746450190426731.post-69159633071828090882009-10-20T00:12:00.000-04:002009-10-20T00:12:54.156-04:00Shaking the emotional tree: Art and experienceFrom time to time, I will expound on certain thoughts I have about being an artist. You can see earlier thoughts, here and here. I ask a lot of questions, I'm pensive and analytical.The rickety audio of my observations and experiences is here, Lives on Display and Beauty were my commentary after 2 seasons of slam poetry contrasted with a more academic point of view. The Kristenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03961318431610601783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8973746450190426731.post-9769979418295942942009-10-19T18:53:00.000-04:002009-10-19T19:05:06.671-04:00Random Geekery:Horror, Twilight, vampire overkill and Why I defend the sparklepireSooo... Yeah. I like Twilight. The movie. I've read the book. That's a separate issue, which I will address.
I've been into vampires since 1979, when I was 6. Why? Frank Langella, because well: OMG, HAWT. Now, I should mention that horror is practically a part of my DNA. My mom is a horror fangirl, old school. We're talking Hitchcock, James Whale, SERIOUS Vincent Price/Hammer horror kinda stuff.Kristenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03961318431610601783noreply@blogger.com2