Radness as of late

I had a few rad things happen to me lately, and wanted to jot them down.

Things that are amazingly rad:
* Attractive bank tellers. Especially when they're at banks that are open later than usual when you really need some cash.
* Getting asked to dance. I got asked to dance 4 times tonight!!!! Holy cow!! Hooray for going Contra dancing for the first time, ever.
* TEMPLES! I'm so excited to receive my endowment on the 27th! CRAZY AMAZING!!
* My awesome family! I GET TO SEE THEM IN LESS THAN A WEEEEEEK!!!!!!
* Finding an extra quilt by accident RIGHT when the weather gets super cold.
* Bethany Dillon. I loves her musics. They're quite radtastic.
* My lovely Carmen San Diego coat that I wear FREAKING EVERYDAY!
* White Elephant parties. Oh boy, I'm stoked for this year's Sorensen Bash.
* Ben & Jerry's Chocolate Fudge Brownie. It's pretty much the most Homer-sound-worthy substance known to man.
* AMAZING Christmas parties thrown by neat people at church! The party on Saturday was probably the best non-Sorensen party that I've ever, EVER been to. That's saying something.
* Kitties.

And I don't count this with the rad-list, but I'll give it an honorable mention. Remember The Princess Bride? I TOTALLY saw an R.O.U.S. in downtown Oakland. What's an R.O.U.S., you ask? A Rodent of Unusual Size. I was on my commute home a couple days ago when this freaking possum the size of my aunt's dog goes waltzing across the street. It was freaking disguisting. Anyway, I'd show you a Fireswamp clip from youtube, but there seems to be a dearth of them. So here's a few of my favorite scenes:

Gratitude Week Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday!

I'm grateful for friends. I've said this before, but I truly, TRULY am surrounded by phenomenal people wherever I go! Whether we're going to Denny's, making paper cranes, or watching TV, there's nothing that compares to being with people I love, and who love me!

I'm grateful for silly t-shirts. They crack me up!

I'm grateful for my Carmen San Diego jacket! It makes me happy on the inside of my heart. And my face.

I'm grateful for my teachers. They really care about all of our education, and help me out a TON.

I'm grateful for the scriptures! It's wonderful to be able to flip them open to the perfect passage that I didn't know I needed to hear right then. There's so much in there that I've been finding lately that's absolutely blown my mind with the awesomeness.

I'm grateful for Bethany Dillon, India.Arie, and Switchfoot. I really admire what they stand for and what they do.

I'm grateful for Thoroughly Modern Millie. It really, REALLY makes me want to dance in an elevator. Really badly.

I'm grateful for the Beatles. I haven't appreciated them much until recently, and I've only just scratched the surface of their radness.

I'm grateful for all the leaders in my church, whether they're Prophets, Apostles, Bishops, Relief Society Presidents, or my Tutoring Committee Co-chair, Paul. When I follow their council, things work out for me. It's increderific! :D

Gratitude Week part Monday

I'm grateful for the power of optimism. It's a law of my life - when I believe with all my heart that things are going to work out, things get better and work out. That's been happening all the time this week - kindness from friends, calls from my family, charity from teachers. I'm loved in so many ways!

I'm grateful for my health. I've had great health through all my life which has allowed me to follow my dreams, so I'm grateful!

I'm grateful for sunshine! Things always seem better after sitting in the sunlight for a few minutes. I'm grateful for people who are sunshine in my life. I'm also grateful for people who see sunshine in me! That's come up a lot this year and it's a kick!

Gratitude Week Friday, Saturday and Sunday!

After a delay, I want to continue my gratitude week!

I'm grateful for the power of Jesus Christ to heal without a scar. I'm grateful that even when I act in ways which don't work for me, and even when I represent Christ in a way that he would not act, he forgives me and gathers me under his wings. I'm grateful for the chance to change, for the chance to learn who he TRULY is, not just my arrogant portrayal.

I'm grateful for my family! They never give up on me. I'm grateful for my mom, who lets me be whoever I want to be and loves me no matter what. I'm grateful for my dad, who supports me through thick and thin, laughs at my jokes, and makes me feel like the beautiful, empowered, rad woman that I am. I'm grateful for Mike, Laura, and Ella and the beautiful time it was my privilege to share with them. I'm grateful for LIZ!!! She looks out for me. She always, ALWAYS has and I'm grateful to her! I'm grateful for my wonderful aunts and uncles who have watched me grow and have given me so much love along the way. I'm grateful for cousins who are as close as siblings, who laugh with me, cry with me, and blow up snowmen with me.

I'm grateful for friends! Holy cow. I'm grateful for people who could hold a grudge who choose not to. I am SO GRATEFUL for people who believe in me when I choose to not believe in myself. I'm grateful for New Era Trainings. I'm grateful for what it stands for, and the world of possibilities that I've been able to reawaken in myself from my experiences there. I'm grateful for what my family and friends have been able to experience as a result of me going through this so far. I'm excited for new possibilities for the future!

I'm grateful for dancing! For YEARS I told myself that I can't dance, but I finally, FINALLY have begun to give myself a chance, and I really LOVE DANCING!!!

I'm grateful for strength, courage and wisdom. I've recently rediscovered that I'm chalk full of all of them - even when I think I'm not.

I'm grateful for the healing power of art, in all its forms. I'm SO grateful for music, oil pastels, paint, clay and pencils.

I'm grateful for my computer! It's taken some hard knocks over the last couple weeks, and it's still standing strong.

I'm grateful for being able to hang out in a tank top and feel freaking sexy.

I'm grateful to be beautiful.

Things I'm thankful for!

I was reading a friend's blog, and got inspired by her entries before Thanksgiving where she talked about things that she's grateful for. It's time for....wait for it....

GRATITUDE WEEK!

I'm SO GRATEFUL for all the awesome, wonderful, BEAUTIFUL people that I've gotten to meet this year! Holy cow, I've been so blessed, especially lately! People love me, and through their love I have grown TREMENDOUSLY and I've had SO much fun! It really amazes me that I haven't quite been here for a year yet. With all the people I've met and the experiences I've had, it feels like it's been enough to fill up lifetimes and novels.

I'm also grateful for all of the wonderful friends that I've been able to keep in contact with from before this year - My beautiful family including my WONDERFUL cousins, MY NEW BABY NIECE, Best friends, old roommates, old bishops and friends from church, friends from High School, friends from college, etc. etc. have supported me SO incredibly well not only this year, but through all my life. I love you all!

I'm grateful for my talent in art. It's been downright therapeutic to reawaken my artistic expression. I've been able to create pieces that have literally changed my life and go to museums that have helped me heal from old battle scars that I've picked up along the way. Through this I've learned that there is truly meaning in everything.

More tomorrow.

Posted by one who often complains of the cold...

I found this on a friend's blog, and it seriously made me cry. Neal A. Maxwell's so rad!!

Let us not then complain of the heat.

In the 1979 February Ensign, Elder Neal A. Maxwell wrote:

"Make no mistake about it, brothers and sisters, in the months and years ahead, events are likely to require each member to decide whether or not he will follow the First Presidency. Members will find it more difficult to halt longer between two opinions. President Marion G. Romney said, many years ago, that he had 'never hesitated to follow the counsel of the Authorities of the Church even though it crossed my social, professional or political life.'

"This is hard doctrine, but it is particularly vital doctrine in a society which is becoming more wicked. In short, brothers and sisters, not being ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ includes not being ashamed of the prophets of Jesus Christ. . . . Your discipleship may see the time when such religious convictions are discounted. . . . This new irreligious imperialism seeks to disallow certain opinions simply because those opinions grow out of religious convictions.

"Resistance to abortion will be seen as primitive. Concern over the institution of the family will be viewed as untrendy and unenlightened....Before the ultimate victory of the forces of righteousness, some skirmishes will be lost. Even in these, however, let us leave a record so that the choices are clear, letting others do as they will in the face of prophetic counsel. [emphasis added] There will also be times, happily, when a minor defeat seems probable, but others will step forward, having been rallied to rightness by what we do. We will know the joy, on occasion, of having awakened a slumbering majority of the decent people of all races and creeds which was, till then, unconscious of itself. Jesus said that when the fig trees put forth their leaves, 'summer is nigh.' Thus warned that summer is upon us, let us not then complain of the heat."

Here's the full article if you're interested:

http://lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=1846d0640b96b010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&hideNav=1

Yay!

Well, the election's over, I'm done with my homework, and my tummy's actually full, so that means that I have *dun dun DUUUUN...* LEGITIMATE FREETIME! Wow. This has been long awaited in the world of Kathydom. So I'm using it to show you some things that I did in my class:




(This one's inspired by the fanTASTic Lolcats.


I made this guy in class today. I loves me some Calvin and Hobbes!

Prop 8

I want to post a few things about how I feel about Proposition 8, but before I do, I wanted to warn any readers who I know this is an extremely sensitive issue for. If your mind's made up on this issue, then I'd like to congratulate you and I encourage you to go out and vote for what you think is best knowing that you absolutely have my full blessing! However, if you would like more information about the Yes on Prop 8 side of the issue, then I encourage you to read on.

I'd like to start with a funny overview that I found tonight on a friend's site:


My institute director at my church in Berkeley, Brother Celaya, composed a couple of really incredible entries on his blog about Prop 8. I'd like to refer you to there also. Here is the first entry and Here is the second. Brother Celaya is one of the most kind, sincere, and intelligent men that I've ever known.

Finally, WhatIsProp8.org is pretty much the webular guru in regards to information about this Yes standpoint. Please check it out, it's EXTREMELY useful.

Now that you have access to many references, I'd like to just close by saying that I care deeply about this issue, and I care deeply about my friends. I have friends who are straight who feel so incredibly troubled about this issue and I send them my love and support. Many of my best friends are living a gay and lesbian lifestyle. I love them deeply and will honor their God-given right to choose whatever lifestyle that they'd like to choose, and hope that they will honor the life that I have chosen for myself.

I love you all, and thank you for taking your time to read my blog!

Poke me enough and you get a response!

Hi guys!

I've had 3 people talk to me about wanting me to blog again in the past week, so I get to give you guys an update! And it's going to be a good one.

First the Big News! I have a film that will be appearing in a film festival on the 25th, so less than 48 hours away! Don't believe me? Go to this site for the proof. The film's called "You Should Watch This" and you get to watch it by clicking on the video below!



Also, I've completed a SECOND film since that one, and it was definitely a lot of fun. The story behind it is that I sat next to a practitioner of Falun Dafa, and we wound up chatting for the entire plane ride, which was 4 hours long. She told me about the persecution that followers of the practice have been forced to endure in mainland China which are lightly touched on in the film, so let me show that to you:



There's a lot more information about the persecution that is going on at faluninfo.net. The stuff that these guys have gone through is just absolutely wrong and we need to do something about it. The best solution would be for the American government to put more pressure on the Chinese Communist Party to put an end to the persecution. If we were in a similar situation, I'd only hope that someone would do the same for us. So write your congressman. Get whatever wheels turning that you can.

And the final news I'm going to share even though there's much, MUCH more to tell is that I've completed my first website! Check it out:
http://studentsites.expression.edu/~kcarlsto/

Oh, My Turn on Earth!

When I was a kid, my parents had a lot of LDS videos, books, and CDs lying around the house. We had our favorites, like some of the Living Scriptures series (those things were rad), Tennis Shoes Among the Nephites, or Saturday's Warrior. I was perusing through things at Seagull Book today, and found the absolute classic, My Turn on Earth!

We had a movie night at institute tonight, and this was one of the movies I brought to be voted on. I was really hoping that it'd either be this or Spice World. Instead, we wound up choosing a very heavy drama, The Interpreter, which is a movie I love, but like I said, it's a pretty significantly heavy drama. I think our night could have been significantly more filled with laughter at the campy and hokey goodness that this musical provides. I got home and couldn't sleep so I turned this on and it's playing in the background. I haven't watched this for literally 15 years, and I'm so surprised: I TOTALLY can sing along to all of the songs still! And they're better than I remember! So here are some lyrics to sing you to sleep, and hopefully make good use of YOUR time on earth. This movie really makes me want to get a ginormous pencil to write My Story. Bigger is better - My 'large in stature'ness is enough proof of that.

Eenie Meenie Miney Mo, you can choose the way to go, but if you choose right you will see just how happy yoooooou can beeeeee!!! *groovy 70's beat*

Music Gear I

After a very long leave of absence, I found myself reading 3 very competent blogs, namely this one, this one, and this one, which has gotten me sufficiently bitten with the blogging bug. The pun's intended, and to get what I'm referring to, check out this post on theChung's blog. Ouch!

I'm going to put a disclaimer on this post up front: Though I'm CERTAINLY interested in music gear in all of its forms, I'm self-taught, and inexperienced in most of the musical world. I like to play around, sure, but I am by NO means a professional. In fact, there are 3 Chinese kids who I've been tutoring in piano for less than a month who already play better than I do. So this post is the opinion of a n00b. I'm someone who's figuring this stuff out for herself, and I have no more expertise and credibility than you do. Be prepared, and take it for what it is. kthnx<3. The first piece of gear and the whole of this post:

Takamine's EG523SC - Acoustic-Electric Guitar

Kind of a funny story behind how this lovely guitar came into my possession. I was doing temporary work for the county's HR department over in Martinez. They gave us a whole hour for lunch, which was absolutely unreal for me, as I take 15 minutes for lunch, tops. Lucky for me, the county offices are mere blocks away from Martinez's adorable little downtown area, so I'd take walks up and down Main Street to pass the time. The third day I did this, I bumped into a really nifty guitar shop, where the owner let me goof around on this beautiful little guitar that I'm talking about and let me ask him millions of questions about all things music - especially live looping. I spent the whole of my next day's break there also, talking his ear off and jamming to my heart's content. As I left, I was resolved to purchase this guitar as soon as I had saved up enough money from my job. I returned to work after that break, where the office had been run by all of the temps while the full-time employees were at a mandatory retreat. 3 o'clock rolled around, and the full-timers came back, exhausted from the day. Three of them, one of them being my boss's boss, went into a spare office behind my desk to chat and unwind from the day. I was at my desk working on a massive and mind-numbing project, listening to a book on tape in one ear. A few minutes after they started talking, I hear someone say "Neil Diamond." Then a couple minutes later, someone says "Rod Stewart," and I couldn't help but smile to myself. After yet a few more minutes, my work hit a snag. I got up to ask someone in that office a question, and as I reached the doorway someone in the room said a sentence that had the word "generation" in it. I couldn't help myself. This just came tumbling out:

"At the extreme risk of getting fired and speaking of generations, only people in your guys' generation would be sitting around in the middle of the afternoon talking about Rod Stewart and Neil Diamond."

Needless to say, I got fired the next day. I still stand by my joke, and were I to have the chance to do this all again, I would've done the exact same thing. However, this change of events left me jobless, and without fundage to pay for the guitar that I was madly in love with.

Later that night, I was talking to my sister, and she got it in my head that I should start getting serious about making art my career. I jumped on CraigsList, and within that first week, I made 2000 bucks worth of deals in exchange for commissioned artwork. My sister's a real smart lady. Anyway, after that week, I decided to go back to that guitar shop in Martinez. While I was there, I mentioned that I have some experience in web design, and wondered if we could strike a trade - a website for the guitar. He was not only down with the idea, but he was really excited about it! I'm still working on the site, but he let me take the guitar in advance.

Whew! That was a really long, really rambly story! It's late, and I tend to ramble on little sleep.

Now on to talking about the actual guitar! All of the guitars that I've played before this little baby were the crappy $30 variety. This is a mid-range guitar ($800), with a built in tuner and a 1/4" amp output. It has a jumbo body, which gives it a gorgeous, round tone which I am ABSOLUTELY in love with. It's also a dream to play. There are a couple of key things that I really appreciate - the main one being that the fret board is slightly bowed out, which makes bar chords RIDICULOUSLY easier to play than any of the guitars I've played before. Also, it sounds great whether it's plugged in an amp, or generating its own sound. Plus, it's pretty, and that makes it awesome!

VW Key Hack

For anyone who doesn't know, I have a 2002 VW Passat. His name is Wilson, being named after the volleyball in the movie Castaway. Back in 2005, I had the bad habit of falling asleep with my carkey in my pocket. I know, I know, it's weird to sleep in jeans in the first place, but bear with me. It didn't take long before I had slept on top of my keys, and had depressed one of the buttons on my car key all night, thus draining the battery. The next day I called the dealer to see if they could fix my key.

"No ma'am," they said, "you'll have to buy a new one."

I confidently asked "How much will it cost?" I expected a figure around 20 or 30 bucks. It's a laser-cut key, so it's not like they're making a replica at home depot, so I was thinking high end.

"$150 dollars for a key without buttons, and $250 if you'd like it with buttons."

Needless to say, I've made do with the key that I destroyed.

In 2006, I got a job at RadioShack. One of the routine scenarios that often plays out is helping little old men replace the batteries in their valet keys. There would always be a little door at the back which I could easily pop open. I looked at my key, and couldn't find anything like that.

Jump to yesterday. I was playing with my key, and found something. There is a small groove which I popped a flathead screwdriver into that I had never noticed before. This opened the key right up. First I separated the half with the blade from the half with the buttons, and then I split the half with the buttons along the seam and lo and behold, what do I find inside but a CELL BATTERY! I went to RadioShack today, got the correct battery, and viola! Good as new! Now if only I would've been smart enough to figure that out 3 years ago! Sheesh!

Dizzy Gillespie

Dizzy Gillespie. Say it out loud. It's fun to say, huh? Well, he's even more fun to listen to. All day I've been working on my computer and listening to Mr. Gillespie among others, like Mr. Davis and Mr. Crosby. And I haven't said the best part. I've been listening on antique RECORDS! WOW!!! If that's not rad enough to blog about in allthingsrad, then nothing is. Anyway, I HIGHLY recommend picking up any and all of Dizzy's albums to anyone with a pulse. Seriously. Go to Borders. NOW!

Better watch out for your kids!

23

Oh, this makes me laugh.

Batteries not included

Being the former RadioShack employee that I am, nerdy hacks of any sort are always a big hit with me. These videos were definitely interesting to the nerdy part of my soul. Enjoy!

6V Battery Hack

6 Volt Battery Hack! You'll Be Amazed! - Watch the top videos of the week here

As fascinating as the above video is, a word of caution. Usually the cheaper 6V batteries have these awkward D-battery-ish monstrosities. The following illustrates what you can do with those suckers.

The TRUE 6 Volt Battery Hack. Save Yourself $$$ Not A Repeat! - Click here for the most popular videos

12V hack:

12 Volt Battery Hack! You'll Be Surprised... - Watch the best video clips here

12V hack parody:

It's A Parody! - More bloopers are a click away

9V hack:

9 Volt Battery Hack! You'll Be Surprised... - The best free videos are right here

9V parody (my personal favorite):

9 Volt Battery Hack Spoof - More amazing video clips are a click away