BDay fun

almost forgot... so my bday was Tuesday... and it was a fun time... had dinner with friends... and then closed out the evening w/a lovely time over at Vintage 1740. here's a few pictures from dinner... unfortunately didn't get pics w/all the girls... the pics were too dark... my camera doesn't like PF Chang's lighting too much! anyway... thx to everyone who helped make my bday fun this year... love ya!

beauty of grace

you know how sometimes you might love the sound of a song... the music... the beat... the melody...? but then you read the lyrics and you're like what the $#%@* are they talking about? and then there's times when you really like the lyrics of a song... but maybe it's not the most well composed musically? or the singer might not be the greatest?
yeah, well, i heard a song the other day that i loved the lyrics to... and i'd hate anyone to miss them because they may not enjoy the music... so... click on the link below if you're interested...

sometimes you just need something... and the other day these lyrics were the something for me... surprised i got through the entire song... i almost changed it when i heard the first "La de da, la de da da" but for some reason i didn't... who sings "La de da, la de da da" anyway? that should only be allowed to be sung by leprechauns or something...
oh well... i like the rest of the lyrics anyway.

love thy neighbor

tonight i caught a M&M commercial that said to go to www.becomeanmm.com
and so... i did. and i became an M&M. Earbuds and all. i'm wearing gloves & snow boots because WHAT? it's freakin cold outside right now!

so i'm going to try to go to sleep at a normal hour tonight... last night it was reading... the night before i think it was tv... the night before that i'm sure it was music... and who knows about the nights before that...
anyway... my point is that this is going to be short and sweet...

the other day, after it started sleeting and icing and all that... my neighbor (who is an elderly man) was outside in his tall boots and knit cap shoveling the sidewalks. and i'm talking he was going around the entire section of our building... cleaning it off for everyone... even up to their front doors. and then later i saw him out walking the sidewalks and throwing that salty ice-melt stuff down... walking through the entire length of our building... throwing the mixture down on the sidewalk...
one day, when i grow up, i hope to be like my neighbor... shoveling and de-icing sidewalks out of the goodness of my heart... even if it's freezing ass cold outside... not saying a word... just shoveling... and de-icing. i think i might ask him to dinner sometime. i wonder if he's ever been to Diamond Jack's...

anyway... i had to blog about my neighbor... cause his act of kindness made me stop and think...

BRRR...

it's cold... the roads aren't super friendly due to all the sleet we've been getting.
i had to get out of the house though... i was experiencing cabin fever... went to the store and walked around a bit... rented a movie... interacted with some other humans... got some batteries in case power goes out... got some more food...

i've been browsing around the web and watched a podcast... look at one of the things they featured: http://www.babyrockrecords.com
kinda cool...

and another site i visited... thanks again to ABC's podcast: http://www.barcodeart.com
hope everyone is staying warm... ciao for now...
k.

lipsaver

I have to tell you about this wonderful product. For the last couple weeks... with the changing weather going on... i've been experiencing some serious chapped lips. it just kept getting worse and worse no matter WHAT i tried! i've never had such a bad case in my life... I'm talking parched, cracked, & bleeding. anyway, THANKFULLY, my dear friend Rebecca intervened. She bought me a Carmex click stick (cherry flavored!) and i'm like a whole new person. I'm not exaggerating... i'm completely serious. i love it. let me tell you... you need to stop wasting time and go do yourself a favor and go buy some of this right now... you will be so glad you did.
Ever have one of those weeks when you feel like no one sees you? Ever feel like no one notices and no one ever will? And then someone surprises you w/a random act of kindness? Yeah, me too.

gifts...

don't know if anyone read my super long entry from Dec 18... but I've been thinking a lot lately about the gift(s) that God puts in each one of us...

and if any of this strikes a cord with you... or speaks to where you're at in your life...
then here's something you should read that was written by my friend Mike. no, really... read it... what else are you going to go do right now anyway? go check out some more stupid clips on YouTube? you have 3 minutes... i know you do... so take it.

Hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas! much love, k.

it's late...

you know how sometimes the things that are obvious to you are simply not to other people? like when someone you know is extremely talented or gifted in one area and they don't see it? well, i realize that can be true with myself too.... and so tonight i asked Rebecca if there was something that she could see in my life that maybe i don't or don't pay enough attention to that she might see as a natural thing... something that i could/should do... a path or direction i could go... that would be more natural for me. there are special unique things that are in each individual life that is a part of their own unique dna... and some people never make use of their uniqueness... they never use their gift. never flex that muscle or go that direction... i do not want to waste what i've been given.
and i will not. i will not be one of those people. well, Rebecca's response was thought provoking... and as she mentioned, to NOT do what God has gifted me in... would be wrong. why run from the things that God has put in you? it's funny because i hear stories about people who spend their lives going one direction and then one day they decide to step out and do something totally different- do the things that God put in them. be one of those people... start small if you want... but START. start moving in the direction where your gifts lie... those things are in you for a reason. and it's your duty to share them... right? i feel like i'm already using some of my gifting... i'm not sure what it's going to look like 40 years from now... but at i'm going to start working it more... and more.
i dare you to ask one of your closest friends if there's something they see in you that maybe you don't (or don't want to see). don't ask your smart-a friend... ask the one who really knows you... the one you can talk to about anything.
side note: have i mentioned that i love music? man, i'd love to work in music in some capacity... geez... (YES, i'm listening to music right now.) maybe i can have 2 jobs... yeah, i think that's what i'll do... totally do-able...

have you ever truly tried to put yourself in someone else's shoes? have you ever imagined what it's like to be them, look through their eyes at what they're looking at, step on the ground they walk, eat the food they crave, smell the scents in their life, feel their hurts, feel their joys, depend on the money they depend, sing the songs they sing, drink what they drink, hear the songs they hear, feel the passion the feel, cry their tears? sometimes when i read things, i try to imagine myself as that person...
but in real life, imagining yourself in another person's shoes can also help you understand them...
i say this because on saturday night i went to eat a local restuarant where they have been serving some of the best specialty sandwiches and deli-type food in tulsa since 1965. yes... since 1965... almost 42 years. well, i'm guessing that many of the patrons we shared our meal with on saturday night may have very well been coming to this restaurant for these 42 years. and i tried to put myself in their shoes...
went with my dad, mom, & grandmother. at first it seemed as though we'd walked in on a special dinner for the elderly... and then i saw the elderly gentleman sitting on the stage playing his keyboard and singing the tunes from his younger days. wow. talk about walking into someone else's world. we sat down and ordered. and then the gentleman started playing and singing "It Had To Be You". and several of them started singing along... and they sang and they sang and they sang. and they sang. they sang the entire time we were there... and i sat there and watched and listened and tried to put myself in their shoes. i was honored to be eating with them on saturday... they were awesome. i imagine that many of them go there every saturday night... or maybe they travel back and forth to their favorite local diners... but they stick together and they dress up and they remember together and they sing their songs... and they laugh... and they sing. there's something special about this specific generation... their songs are different... and when they're gone... a part of their songs will go with them... because no matter how much we try to put ourselves in their shoes we don't have the memories associated to the songs that they have... the first time they heard "It Had To Be You"... the world was a different place then. not only that but think about what a night like this would be for a group of people who were from the hippie era... what about the punk rock era? i have a feeling that the music from these other generations won't have that same warm nostalgic feel... they'll have feeling... but not the same!
my grandmother started singing along a little bit... and i could tell that she was loving it... and i tried to put myself in her shoes... and i could see why she was loving it...
they were still singing when we left... maybe i should frequent there more often on saturday nights... call me a romantic... but i think they're cool.

my sweet brother, Jared, graduated from OU this weekend. i'll post a couple pics soon. but my pillows are calling my name right now... much love... k.

5 things...

Steph tagged me to share "5 things that you don't know about me".

okay, if you know me at all… you know that I’m open book… so I really had to think to come up with 5 things that people wouldn’t know about me… had to go way back… to childhood stuff… so here you go:

1. when I was a little kid (like 4ish) and my parents used to take us on road trips, I would stare out the window the whole time… looking intently at each street sign we passed… looking for Seasame Street… I never found it…
2. when my brother was about 5 and I was about 9ish, I punched him so hard that it knocked the wind out of him… and it scared me SO BAD that I never hit him ever again (not with my full strength anyway).
3. My first pair of Nike shoes played a big part in a terrible incident that left me hanging upside down from the fence in our yard… by my shoelaces. (yes, please, take this time to imagine little me dangling upside down by the shoelaces.)
4. One of my favorite meals as a kid was baked beans & dogs heated up in a skillet w/ some mac-n-chesse on the side. Hhmmmm… actually…. that sounds really good right now… ☺
5. The first memory I have of going to the movie theater… was to see Annie. And I loved it… loved the music. Yeah, give me a break… I was 3…

Speaking of childhood… today one of my childhood friends is getting married. Wow, not sure I’m ready to go to this wedding… I hope I don’t have to be escorted out… I just might be crying my eyes out on this one. It’s weird to feel like you know someone… even though you really don’t know the most recent things in their life. I know the boy in him from our innocent days… the boy from tree climbing days… from baseball in the summer… from teenage years… and struggles… and we were close… soulmates. We used to write each other letters. Getting letters from him was one of my most favorite things in life…
I’m looking forward to seeing him tomorrow… and being at his wedding.

just elfing around

thanks to Steph, i have a fun little jig for you... enjoy this Merry Christmas dance... from me to you.

whoohoo!

Layna & Joel!! They just got engaged today! whoohoo!

yeah, my cousin Joel popped the question today & is now engaged to Layna! Congrats to them & whoohoo! I'm excited to have another girl in the family! geez!
anyway, tonight i'm typing from my hotel room in Austin. Here for a business seminar. i've already met some interesting & friendly folks. i sat at a table tonight that was full of people from the east coast... we talked about NYC... and it kinda made me miss it... i'm definitely going to have to make a NYC trip every couple years (at least). going on trips solo makes me more outgoing. i made friends with a New Yorker in the car rental line... and we raced each other out of the airport parking lot. who says New Yorkers aren't friendly??
can i just say that i HATE Austin's roadways!! Good Lord!! what the heck?!?! luckily i have a GPS system in my rental car... but even the GPS system can't figure it out quite right! when i realized it was leading me in the wrong direction, i turned around and told it to reconfigure... and then it was fine... but that was a close one!
on the plane trips here i sat next to women on both flights. and both of these women were mid-fifty and pleasantly plump(i don't know why i say pleasantly... it's just the nice thing to say i guess). and both women were very friendly... but they didn't force me into any conversation... you know, sometimes i just don't want to chat on planes... sometimes i do... but sometimes i don't... so it was nice not to have to. both ladies could easily be characters in movies or on tv. they were funny... and had fun personalities. the flight attendants on my second flight were crazy. they were yelling at passengers and were very short-tempered... yikes!
my hotel room is nice... there are 2 beds... and 7 pillows on each bed! i'm thinking i'm going to surround myself with 14 pillows tonight and drift off into a blissful, pillowful sleep.
well, i'm going to go ahead and jump into those pillows and try to get some sleep... i have to get up early tomorrow! hope everyone is doing well! ciao for now.

fun times

Why do I do this to myself? Why do I start writing something late at night? Ugh! I need more sleep in my life! Especially as of late… 16 hours in uncomfortable shoes on Sunday was enough to cripple me… I’ve been hobbling around for the past 2 days… trying to act like my feet aren’t still killing me. Geez! Anyway, that being said, don’t judge me for my poor punctuation skills tonight.
So I’ve been meaning to write for awhile… in fact, I wrote something about a week ago… I wrote this huge long thing… and right as I hit the “Submit” button, it was all deleted. 2+ hours down the drain. Yeah, I said 2+ hours… needless to say I was annoyed… but what could I do but just wave it good-bye and go to sleep? So that’s what I did…
Anyway… to Bethany, Steph, and whoever the rest of you are who occasionally read this… yes, I had a great time in NYC. A better time than I expected… but I guess part of that would be because I had no idea what to expect to begin with. I bought a camera the night before I left… and I’m so glad I did. I took tons of pictures. Spent a lot of my time in the Manhattan area… it was such a colorful experience. The sights, sounds, smells, people… the energy really was captivating. Easy to get caught up in. Talk about a romantic place! It was a very surreal experience… I felt like I was literally in the movies for the first couple of days but then I got into it… I started to become accustomed to the busy way of life… I started walking the way they walk… I started crossing the streets the way they cross (there’s a way)… I started to communicate & talk the way they talk(just the facts please)… I started living in it… and I liked it. BUT I don’t think I could live there permanently… I could definitely do a vacation home or something (yeah, like $ isn’t a factor). We went to tons of places and saw tons of things but we still didn’t have time for it all. Thanks to myspace, I was able to reconnect with Matty G and he showed us around a bit… took us to fun places like Little Italy, Chinatown, Time Warner Center, and tons of other stuff. Ingrid & I went to Macy’s and just walked the city one day. It was a lot of fun… eating dogs in Central Park, strolling down 5th Avenue, touring the Empire State Building, taking a Harbor Tour and seeing the Statue of Liberty… good times.
Yeah, so thanks for asking Blee… I can send you (any of you) some pics if you’re interested. It was interesting just to live in the NYC world for a little bit… totally different than anything at home. GEEZ, the taxi rides alone were definitely life-changing experiences! Brought me closer to God I tell ya! I was praying for forgiveness & salvation, recommitting my life to God in those first few taxi rides!
Well, I’ve been listening to some great music tonight… the kind that makes me think about climbing mountains & busting down brick walls & driving at 100mph… the kind that makes you think crazy world-changing Big Ridiculous Impossible thoughts. The kind that spurs dreams that you can’t escape… the kind the rekindles the fire inside. I say all of that to say that I could write all night… and go on and on about stuff… and change the world and everyone in it with just this one entry… but it’s raining and it’s late and I need some sleep… and I think tonight’s rain will help me sleep… but I’m going to write some more stuff soon… so look for it. Hope everyone is doing well. Ciao for now.

Manhattan(s)

yesterday, late afternoon, I surrendered and joined myspace. yup, sure did. still haven’t worked on my page… haven’t done the about me or anything yet… but I’ll get around to it… :) anyway, here it is: http://www.myspace.com/playintune

my parents came over last night to hang out for a bit… and they brought Marie Callendar’s pie with them. oh hallelujah… yum.
boy, am I one sleepy kid today. stayed up kinda late again. and my neighbors didn’t help… they were making all kinds of ruckus last night! the joys of living in an apartment.

I’m headed to Manhattan, KS to a friend’s wedding this week… leave on Thursday. They call it “The Little Apple”… how cute. I like Kansas… it’s under-rated.
anyway, get back from all that jazz on Sunday. Then I’m going to turn around and leave for the “Big Apple” on Tuesday morning! Yup, I’m headed to Manhattan, NY!
I get to visit both Manhattans within a few days of each other… how funny is that?
Anyway, it’ll be my first time in NYC. I’m really looking forward to it… and I’ll be sure to take plenty o’ pictures! If anyone has any “must-see” suggestions, email me!
ciao for now!

McFreakinAwesome

i have a little toad friend who's recently showed up... he greets me and welcomes me home in the evenings when i get home after dark. he's not always there... but i look for him and wonder how he's doing when he's not there. i think that a lot of people have toad greeters or toad doormen. i know for a fact that my friend sarah does... and i can think of a couple of others too. hmmm... i guess that toads are friendly little buggers... must be socialites. i wonder if they having a greeting committee... maybe that's where he is when i miss him and he's not at my doorstep... at the toad greeting committee meeting.

so about my audio class... i know you're wondering about that Steph! it was a huge HUGE success. basically left class with a huge goofy grin on my face... i always thought that i had a good ear... and it was only proven last night. everyone loved LOVED Rebecca(vocalist). In fact, they loved her singing so much... that they freakin' gave a standing-o! yeah, i'm not kidding. i'm siked. i'm ready to start recording like a mad person! i asked my teacher tons o' questions...

anyway, everyone loved it and my teacher said it was really REALLY great. and that's quite a compliment coming from him. i love GarageBand! i can't wait to learn all about ProTools!

again, it obviously could not have been a success without Rebecca (McFreakinAwesome), Danny, and Joesf... so thanks to them!!!

i'm listening to Blue Merle's cd "Burning in the Sun" tonight. they're good... check them out. i like their life-like sound. does that make sense? sounds like they're right here in my apartment singing... his voice isn't crowded out by the music... it's above the music bed... it sounds great. the sound of Blue Merle reminds me of DMB... but it reminds me of David Gray and others too... but yet it's still original... different in some way. but i don't like some of the songs because they're depressing... so i just skip those when they start to get me all depressed. why don't people make happier music anyway? not that everything has to be happy all the time but things don't have to be freakin' depressing all the time either. Blue Merle's happier songs are the type of music that i would like to paint to... or write to... or drive to. a few of my favorite songs of Blue M so far are "Part of Your History", "Bittersweet Memory", and "Places".

okay- i'm out- later ya'all- i gots to get some sleep tonight.

I ♥ Music.

i'm sitting here listening to Sufjan Stevens... his "To Be Alone With You".
I like it... it's more than what it seems.... it's deep.

anyway... we recorded music tonight. we recorded the song i needed for my audio class. it went really well & it was a lot of fun. Good thing was that i didn't end up having to do the guitar part... hallelujah! i met a guitarist at the music store yesterday... so he played for us tonight. Rebecca did the vocal... and she did awesome... no surprise there. i have a feeling that my recording is going to be better than anybody else's... thanks to Rebecca, Joesf, & Danny. :) It sounds soooo great... love it.

it's weird cause i'm sitting here listening to Sufjan... and i like a lot of his music... but there's some of his stuff that i could do without. so it's funny how you can like one artist and then turn around and really like another artist that's totally different. Guess that's the beauty of music... that it doesn't all have to sound the same to be good... to be enjoyed... by someone. We briefly talked about Janis Joplin tonight... and it's not like she had a stellar sound 100% of the time... I mean, think about Janis trying to make it on American Idol... not too sure she'd be able to make it past Simon in the try-outs!
And i'm sitting here thinking about Sufjan's music... a lot of the titles are whacked out... such as the titles on his Come On Feel the Illiniose! album... read these whacked out titles. Luckily crazy titles don't stop people from loving him and his music.
To each his own... that's all it boils down to.

i think Sufjan Steven's music reminds me of the movie "I ♥ Huckabees" in some weird way. Saw the movie "Little Miss Sunshine" last week and i recognized one of the songs in it as a Sufjan song... i think it might have been the song "Casimir Pulaski Day" or the ending of "The Transfiguration"... the 2 songs can sound similar to me. Not that anyone cares about this besides me... anyway... hope everyone has a great week... it's time for me to hit the pillow... cause i'm half asleep!

Happy 1st day of October.
love ya'all.

stepping out

so as i was buying a bag of "FUN SIZE" Butterfingers the other day I was thinking... why call this little mini-sized candybar "FUN SIZE"? To me, the "FUN" size is not the 1 inch piece of candy... i would think that it would make more sense to call the KING SIZE candybar the "FUN SIZE". I don't know, maybe it's just me... but i think that the more candy you get, the more "FUN" it is. They should call this little 1 inch bar the "JUST ENOUGH". Everyone knows that this is the size that you buy to hide in your desk drawer at the office or in the kitchen cupboards...

Ever have those moments when lights of clarity go off and flicker in your head?? Maybe while listening to a song, while singing a song... or while talking with a good friend?? I've experienced some of those moments- some of those "lights" lately... while doing those 3 things. Don't you love it when that happens? Those are the moments that keep me going... the things that i have to remember when i feel like i'm literally battling... blood, sweat, tears stuff. I pray that God keep you & guide you as you battle whatever you're facing. I pray that you have little lights and moments of clarity that make it all make sense... make it all come together in your head to give you the bigger picture of what it is you are fighting for or against...
or maybe you're not fighting anything at all... i hope you can still experience those flickering light of clarity moments regardless of where you're at in life right now. those moments are important.
speaking of fighting, i read a quote today that almost brought me to a Braveheart battlecry.
even though it may not make sense out of context, i'll share it with you:
"If you are willing to do a frightening thing, if you are willing to run toward the sound of the guns, if you would fight with all your strength against self-righteousness: step out of yourself and see the truth your adversary sees." -Roy H. Williams

no, i'm not a Roy H. Williams groupie... seriously... those people weird me out. any and all groupies weird me out... not just the Roy groupies.

awesome

Lightning photo courtesy of spaceweather.com

So I'm taking this audio techniques class on Monday nights now.

Much to my surprise, the professor is actually going to the trouble of teaching us the VERY fundamentals of sound... for example, we're learning about at what frequencies the human ear hears and things like wave paths. It is fascinating stuff... I'm not sure any of us were ready to leave when class was over.

GET THIS: Do you know what the sound of thunder is??

The sound of thunder is the sound of all the notes in the musical scale at once.

I cannot tell you how cool that is for me... all the notes in the scale... all at once... thunder is... not just noise... it's music. how can all the notes in the musical scale all at once be an accident? Reminds me of the string theory and the theory of everything.

it's awesome... I am so excited about the things I'm learning in this class. And I thought all I was going to be getting out of the class was how to do audio mixing!

and get this: the end of the course project is to record/produce a song.

sounds way more fun than most of the classes i took in college.

hope everyone is having a great week.

later.

coordination skills

just in case you missed this rockin' awesome live performance from the OK GO boys on the VMAs...
here it is: OK GO.

i need more

the long weekend is winding down. bummer. oh well, at least that means that we'll have a short work week. :)
last night i drove down the highway on my way home with the windows rolled down, sunroof wide open, and the music turned way up. and i was happy... i was happy for the invention of cruise control and the invention of the sunroof. the wind was blowing my hair all over the place... it was a wonder i could see anything... it was so therapeutic. it was really great.
i own a pink chair. it's an antique. i acquired this chair from my grandmother... and i love it. i think i've almost decided that it's my most favorite piece of furniture that i have. i got to thinking about why i love it so much... and i think i've uncovered why i love the old pink chair. call me sentimental... but i think i love it so much because i know that my grandfather once sat in it... reading his newspaper... or sleeping... or watching tv... or smoking a cigarette. it was a part of his life... and now it's a part of mine. since he died when i was 1-year-old... there weren't whole lot of opportunities in that one year to get to know each other... and so you take what you can get... and for me, it's the chair. i guess you could say that the pink chair brings us together in a way... it's a part of the family. hmmm... who knew all that could be wrapped up in a chair? seriously haven't ever thought about it until today. funny...

p.s. found a fun blog if you're interested: http://hughe2030.blogspot.com/

nicole, steph, & me

from Steph's visit... out on our girl's night. :)

2 things

1
the scripture of the day:
Many plans are in a man's mind, but it is the Lord's purpose for him that will stand.
Proverbs 19:21 (Amplified Bible)

2
the dictionary.com word of the day:
tete-a-tete \TAYT-uh-TAYT; TET-uh-TET\, adjective:
1. Private; confidential; familiar.
2. A private conversation between two people.
3. A short sofa intended to accommodate two persons.

Tete-a-tete??? i've never once heard this word used in conversation. anyone? anyone?
I'm going to go sit on a tete-a-tete now and have a tete-a-tete. that's right you heard me... a tete-a-tete on a tete-a-tete.