:: Katnip ::
What's in this section?
The stuff I'm digging at the moment, stuff that makes me happy and stuff that makes my little heart smile. :)
My new wish list car
Wednesday, January 05, 2005
Albie sent me this vid that i think is definitely worth sharing.
You can download the vid by clicking here. It’s a 4.6MB download, so it takes a bit of room, but it you’re ever been into the transformers, this is totally worth it! Ok, enjoy! Thanks Albie!
Up in Smoke
Monday, December 20, 2004
The Peter Bernstein Quartet *must* be completely compelling to get people out to a show on the first snow of the winter.
Peter Bernstein and his Quartet consisting of Brad Mehldau, Doug Weiss, and Bill Stewart (all of whom i was very unfamiliar with) played a wonderful set at Smoke Jazz Club on Sunday night. I love jazz but am so utterly ignorant of jazz in all its forms and all of its glory that it was probably somewhat of a waste since i understand that these chaps are quite good. 
It was quite a pleasant evening with Jammie and J9. Oh, except the part where we waited outside in the snow and wind for about 20 minutes. That part wasn’t so great.
All i could think was, “Wow, this would be a great Lindy,” or “I bet you West Coast Swing would go well with this...” Ah, i miss dancing. Anyway, it was a great night, full of music and non-alcoholic beverages that cost $10. The waitress apparently had never heard of mixing fruit juice and ginger ale before. Ah, new experiences every day!
Anyway, here are some nice pics of the evening. Enjoy!
The wonderful ambiance to the sort o’ snooty upper west side jazz club
Such a warm idyllic glow...and all we could think of was ‘Where’s our ginger ale!?!"
As BAZ as it gets!
Wednesday, December 08, 2004
Despite the negative tone to the title of this post, it’s GREAT news! (if you’re a Baz Luhrmann fan)
I, being completely out of it as usual, did not know that Chanel commissioned Baz to do a commercial for their Chanel No. 5 fragrance. While i’ve seen the print ads of Nicole posted all over the city, i had no clue that there was any related material of such magnitude available on TV! Woo hoo! Baz and Nicole back together again! I love his hyperbolic sense of romance...it’s so over the top dramatic that it loops back to being totally awesome. Baz is my favoritest director in the whole wide world! Anyway, enough talking. Here’s the link so that you can download the vid for yourself if you’re like me and don’t get to see it on TV.
Chanel No. 5 CM by Baz and Nicole
Right click and “save target as” to get the file.
Enjoy!
'Tis the Season
Saturday, December 04, 2004
Christmas is happening all around me, and I can’t believe it’s already that time of the year.
I start to feel all nostalgic at times like this. Even something as simple as seeing a room decorated with white twinkle lights with the room lights low reminds me of happy warm times in South Hall, staying up until early hours of the morning talking about nothing and everything all at once. The crisp weather is really making it seem more “wintry” than normal. Plus, being NYC, everything is already decked out in Christmas gear. It’s great. I guess i’m just feeling sappy right now. I have a great group of friends on both coasts now and I really appreciate the warmth that they provide as my “home away from home.”
There’s just something really special about Christmas. Maybe it’s because it’s that one time of the year when everyone, knowingly or not, is focused on Jesus. Even if they’re not saying his name, they certainly are trying to act more like him now than during any other time of year. I wonder if this time of year makes him happy or sad, seeing the altruism but also the commercial greed. I wonder. I hope the answer is happy.
I wish upon you, as a holiday wish, all the warmth that a venti peppermint mocha from Starbucks would provide! Merry (early) Christmas!
Good God!
Wednesday, October 20, 2004
Many think of NYC as a city of sin (or at least a location of ample opportunity to find sin), but if anything, moving here has really put me in a position to rely on God.
Often times God’s working shows up in relatively small incidents, but really the fact that they are small moments only reinforces that fact that God is really good. If he chooses to take care of the most piddly of my problems, I know I have nothing to fear about when it comes to the big things.
So here were my piddly problems:
Problem 1
I had gotten called out in class – my professor pointed me out at the end of a lecture regarding our readings, saying pointedly, “Kathy, you don’t understand this do you?” or something to that effect which was followed by me trying to verbally dig myself out of the hole my non-verbal communication of distress had dug. “Oh, me? No…I get it…as far as it can be gotten at this point in time…er…” I began to stress hardcore because I did not want to be labeled as “The Dumb One” or “The Slacker Who Never Reads For My Class” or “The One Who Reads But Just Doesn’t Understand Anyway.”
Problem 2
I am coming home for Thanksgiving after all because of a friend’s wedding. So I booked a ticket to come home on the 20th of November. This means that I am skipping class. Three (3) classes to be exact. One of them is the same professor that is mentioned in Problem 1. And with that experience looming over my head, the need to rectify that situation, and the need to ask permission to sort of blow off her class, I considered not even asking but just not showing up for that class. I wanted to hide and be dishonest, but I knew I couldn’t do that. That’s just a bad habit. Needless to say, I was a nervous wreck all day Monday.
The Solution
I prayed constantly all day. I realized fully that I hadn’t even consulted God on the Thanksgiving thing. Was it even a good idea? Doh. Forgot to ask. So I asked for mercy so that even if I made a mistake that it would resolve well somehow.
With prayer in mind, I went to class that night. Lo and behold, the discussion went somewhere that I could understand! And I was able to comment intelligently about a point that the professor kept referring back to during the rest of the class. Then after class I managed to get up the gumption to ask about Thanksgiving break. While I was talking, she actually smiled about the wedding and told me that it would be fine. I don’t mean to imply that she is not a kind person, but it’s difficult to tell someone that you made plans to specifically miss their class.
These things may seem small, but to me they meant the world on Monday! I had literally stressed all day about the situation! If my prayer was answered by merely giving me insight and gumption to talk, then for that I am thankful. I think there was some heart-softening going on too, though.
Bottom line: God is good.
Sabbath/Yom Kippur Romp in the Park
Sunday, September 26, 2004
What do Yom Kippur and romping in the park have to do with each other? Absolutely nothing!
That being said, I’ll will still say a hearty “Happy Yom Kippur and Shabbat Shalom!” You know, I’ve never really lived anywhere near large masses of Jewish people. It was kind of cool this Sabbath to see everyone out with their Yarmulkes and food, hangin’ out at synagogue. This is actually completely and totally unrelated to the subject of this post, which is, “What we did this Sabbath.”
I’ve gotta say, I’ve met a great group of people at Advent Hope. Good peoples all the way around. We hang out and have good, clean fun! AND they got me involved pretty much the minute I walked through the door! I mean, last Friday night, I actually accompanied the choir, which, if you know me, if INCREDIBLE because I don’t really play the piano anymore (I am no Jannine replacement, that’s for sure!). They have some magic power to get me to do stuff. I hope they do not abuse this ability.
So this Sabbath, we ended up at Central Park – the most beautiful place in NYC. We sang songs, played games and napped. It was great. It was all followed up by yummy Mexican food at El Paso Taqueria on 104th and Lexington. People in Cali, you are spoiled, SPOILED with awesome/cheap Mexican food. This place happened to be pretty reasonable, but I’ve seen normal burrito plates go for $15 on average. How can that be? Man, I miss my Cuca’s.
Just chillin’ on the grass w/ the church peeps
Keep your eyes open, Albi!
Anyway, here are some pics of the day. For the full set of zipped pics, just click here.