Dear Senator Obama,

I am writing to tell you how much I enjoyed your latest visit to Horry County. A couple of comments for you...

1) I suppose I must be an idiot to not realize that politics is the world of "putting on a show"...but I think I'm consistently baffled and somewhat sickened to watch how the people surrounding politicans go to great lengths to "create" a visual. I shouldn't have been surprised when your people started circulating the room passing out "handmade" signs. This came as more of a face slap when everyone was informed to leave their handmade signs outside, only to be handed campaign made ones on the inside. Very odd to me. But yes, I must be delusional to think everything about an event like this would be authentic.

2) I would be careful using the substitute of Carolina for either North Carolina or South Carolina. I have found people to be very sensitive to this overstatement. Of course, you could have been confused by the Coastal Carolina signs too.

3) One of my favorite "slogans" you espoused was in regards to building from the ground up. I'm always trying to express to my students the importance of grass roots social action...and I feel like you might be someone who understands this. I think I even got chills when you went through different examples of this building from the ground up...women's right to vote, civil rights movement. good job of building it into something great.

4) I think you may have won over a majority of the crowd when you spoke about having a glass of wine. sometimes, we just want to know that you are human...and I think you did a great job of admitting that with the wine comment. I go to great lengths to do this with my students...as I think the distinction made between roles puts us at great lengths from one another.

5) I'd chill it out with the Warren Buffet story...apparently Edwards is telling the same type of story.

6) The story you finished with was spellbinding. I looked around the crowd and you had everyone captivated...again, human qualities with the tiredness and grumpiness...which was excellent to hear. You are a great storyteller. "Fire it up!" and "Ready to go?" will always be stuck with me...and ending with a question and answer of these two...excellent. I'd give a raise to whoever came up with this idea, whether it was you or one of the suits behind you.

Anyways, thanks for your visit. I was completely star struck getting to see you. Come visit us again, Barackstar.
Katherine

The Storm

i woke up in the middle of the night last night because of a storm. i woke up to the sound of my house shaking with thunder. then i looked out the window and there were lightening storms all over the sky. as i got back into the bed, i had trouble falling asleep. the storm reminded me of another time period in my life. it was one of those dark periods in my life (as others have called it).

i remembered a night many years ago, when i was living in charlotte and there was a similar storm taking place. i think they may have been predicting a hurricane or tropical storm that night. they advised for everyone to stay inside, if possible. i chose to go out. i remember picking up a friend and sitting out on the porch at fat city (an old charlotte bar).

what bothered me and kept me up a bit longer was not this particular story, but more so...who i was at the time. i was in a dark place. see, for three years consecutively, i lost someone close to me. the first year, it was a friend who died of a drug overdose. the second year, it was my father who died with multiple sclerosis. the third year, it was an ex who died of a brain aneuryism. so yes, i had some dark years. but i was thinking about how difficult it is to experience the death of people you care/cared about. more specifically, how i responded to this.

it seemed like with each year and with each passing, i started caring less and less about everything around me. i gave up. i think the image that stuck with me was an image of myself at that time. i was completely out of control. i drank as much as possible. i took pills. and for the sake of sounding completely over dramatic, i was essentially hoping that in some way the universe would take me back. yeah, it was a dark period. i remember not being scared of anything at all.

i remember also feeling terribly alone at that period. there were very few people who could stand being around me. and those that were around me, completely took advantage of the fact that i didn't care about anything. you could always count on me to go out and stay out late. you could always count on me to blow an entire paycheck on drinks, for myself and them.

now, i'm not trying to glamorize it. in no way do i find it glamourous. it wasn't at the time and in retrospect, it certainly isn't now. i find it sad that i was self destructing. i'm awfully thankful that those years passed. i remember thinking i would never move past those moments while they were happening. i'm happy that i made it through those years and grew out of my young adult angst. i slowly learned how to find joy and happiness.

as i sat awake in bed, i thought how different i feel now. how that sad girl didn't feel like me at all. how i couldn't believe i actually was ever that person. i hesitated (as i am now) about writing about this, but at the same time that you outgrow the person you were...it is still part of your history. and since i don't write sad songs to recollect about those moments, this is one of the few places that i have to reflect on these experiences. and hell, this blog can't always be happy go lucky, now can it?

Groundbreaking Study...

today is my last vacation day before school officially starts. so far...i've sat on the beach for a couple of hours reading. isn't it sad that reading is something i have to find time for? and probably equally sad to you non-readers that reading is something i want to do when i have a day off? i also exercised...ha. again, probably not the top of a list for most...but i love when i have the time.

i was breaking my vacation rules and checking my email and i came across this groundbreaking study...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070821/ap_en_ot/youth_poll_race_4

wait....minority youth aren't as happy as white youth? what genius conducted this study? yes, i'm being tongue in cheek, but with everything we know about race...is this a huge surprise? it just stunned me that this is a study that is breaking news on yahoo's homepage. oh well...

i think i'll go delve into a world of cinema for the rest of my afternoon. i've been debating seeing the movie Superbad or staying home and sitting in my underoos on the couch watching hbo. i'll report back later.

Engagement Party

yes, tim and i had an engagement party of sorts this past weekend. i was nervous as all hell about the impending meeting of our families. we had lunch with our families at mert's. everything went brilliant. it was wonderful to see everyone again and spend the time with them in one of my favorite restaurants. my only complaint was that the time was too short.

later we met up with some friends at cuisine malaya for some sushi and drinks. there couldn't have been a better evening. i made the unfortunate mistake of taking part in all the drinking, but none of the eating. at the end of the evening, we ended up at tim long's place...and as usual, things start to fade. i remember going to the store for a second beer run of the night. i remember tim davis and i trying to convince tim long of the sheer genius of darren hanlon and david dondero (no doubt fresh on my mind because of the interviews). i remember some air guitar (not mine of course)...and i don't remember, but have the pictures to prove it...well actually i have about 30 pictures to prove it...but i went on a drunken picture taking spree...that's right, i even took one of my shoes...ha.

so, you've got the pictures to check out. there may be more added to the album, once my mom sends them on...click on the album below and you should be able to view all the photos from the evening.

Engagement Party

thanks to all our friends and family members who made our engagement a memorable day/evening.

A complete upheaval...

so, yes, i've had a complete upheaval...what does that mean? well, last week while walking, it dawned on me that there are moments when i feel a sense of urgency. what is the current sense of urgency? it involved my book project. i was feeling frustrated. i was having trouble getting in touch with one of my potential interviewees. and i received my first rejection. who would reject me? billy bob thornton. thats who. so i was walking out my frustration and it dawned on me...there is for 1) no reason for the urgency, as this project will probably be with me for a year or so...and 2) no reason to try to interview people i could care less about, even if that means having to self publish my book.

in that moment of clarity, i realized that i would rather collect stories from a wide variety of people. people that i'd like to hear about. people that i'd like to talk with...and so that is where i am now. then, once i had this moment of clarity everything started to fall into place. i suppose that is how it happens. now i'm on a rollercoaster of interviewing and planning.

then...last weekend...as my stepdad likes to say, "we had the broken family tour"...as my mom came to visit me (see the picture below) and then most of the rest of my family came to visit (dad, taylor, and jambe). it was so much fun to have mom visiting. we took an evening up at rockefeller's...then the next day spent on the beach trying to wear off a hangover. the next night, the whole "broken family" came together for a lovely, but stressful dinner. afterwards, tim, mom, and i stopped by a swanky bar to hear our friend, sam, play some jazz music. it was a grand time, though that hangover was still suspiciously around. well, and a sunburn too.

on sunday, tim and i drove down to wilmington so i could begin the interview process. i had plans to interview david dondero before his show. if you haven't heard him, well, go here and watch this video:



and then go buy his latest album from team love, called simple love. i swear you'll love it.

my interview went very well. then dave introduced me to the fella he was playing with that night, darren hanlon. darren is one of the coolest mother-uckers i've met in quite a while. and likewise, you should certainly check him out...i'm currently obsessed with his song, hold on...



as if these two interviews weren't enough to make me happy...on wednesday, i drove to DC for my interview with Bob Boilen. i had a wonderful trip, visited with some family members, visited the National Gallery of Art, and spent about 3 hours at the NPR studios being overwhelmed and amazed. my interview went great and again, i was reminded of just how cool this bob boilen is. if you don't about him...or his work with npr...go listen to some of his shows. you'll be happy that i told you about him.

http://www.npr.org/programs/asc/



so at the moment, i'm getting ready to make some tofu stir-fry. tim and i have a big weekend planned in charlotte...so there will be more to follow next week.

Happy Anniversary Myrtle Beach!

That's right, this weekend I'll be celebrating my one year anniversary here at the beach. I can't believe a year has already passed.

I've decided to create a top ten of my last year. The top ten experiences of the last year. I didn't rank them... I just didn't want to put that much energy into it.



1)When I accidentally said orgasm instead of organism my first day of class here.

2)Finding the North Myrtle Beach flea market for postcards and photographs

3)Rockefeller's...every single time. Is putting a bar on here weird?

4)The Flaming Lips show at House of Blues

5)The Sparklehorse show in Charleston (with my mom)

6)The Bright Eyes show in Atlanta

7)Spring Training, of course

8)All the new babies in my life...Emmett, Laila, and Paige

9)New friends (the few) and old friends.

10)Tim and I's engagement

Damn it, I thought I'd be able to fit it into 10, but I've got the runner up...which some may argue is the most important...

11)Discovering that I'm satisfied with life while walking the beach


What should I do to celebrate? Well, my mom is coming to visit this weekend. I'm so very excited. She hasn't been here before, so I'm full of ideas...I know for sure we'll be taking her out to hear some jazz music. I'm pretty damn sure we'll have to show her off at Rockefeller's. And well, there is the OCEAN.

What else is happening in my life? I've started working on a project for a book. I'm keeping it top secret right now, but I am working on some interviews. Just chew on this..I'm going to DC next week to interview Bob Boilen from All Songs Considered on NPR.

Besides the interview, I'm looking forward to some time on the road. I'm thinking of checking out UVA in Charlottesville for a potential school for 2008. I use to travel just about every weekend when I was younger. Listening to music as loud as possible, while smoking and drinking (ha, kidding....just wondering if you are still reading...yes, i do this to my students too).

That's it for now...I'm watching the after shock of the AFL-CIO Presidential Forum...and I'm feeling distracted.