what inspires you?

another fun little quiz. here's my results:

Kate, you're inspired by Learning New Things

You can't help but be amazed by all the wonders of the world, from the way things work to how your friends relate to one another. That's because you're an inquisitive individual with a sharp eye and a quick mind that never stops questioning.Whether you're spending hours glued to history programs or enjoy perfecting a new skill like anything from karate to knitting, you've got a serious thirst for knowledge. You probably constantly impress your friends with your diverse talents — and the facts at your fingertips. Besides, your constant curiosity charges you with a fun, childlike energy that others can't help but get a kick out of. So keep on with your curious ways. You're sure to stumble onto the next great thing any day now!

did i mention the radio?

people often ask me about the differences of living in l.a. vs. nyc.
and yes, it is very different. and i took a bit of time struggling to find the pros for the l.a. side of the argument. but i certainly did.
and one of them relates to the fact the radio stations in nyc absolutely suck.
i mean really. if you've lived there you probably know what i mean.
l.a. has very good radio, and i am pleased to say that one of my regular stations just changed format and is now THE PERFECT RADIO STATION. i kid you not. i absolutely adore it. one minute they are playing van halen circa "1984" and the next pearl jam, then sinead o'connor, styx...it is really a perfect mix of flashback music, all the styles, and all the relevant (to me) decades.
check it out.
(okay, yeah their web site needs a bit of work, but they *just* switched over....one thing at a time, people! hopefully they'll have streaming up for you to listen to very soon.)

the terri schiavo case

it's been all over the news non-stop...and the only thing that i can really say about this horrible situation is that it sure makes me glad i looked into writing a living will.
get on it, people.
do you want to end up the object of such a debate? most people i hear talking about this speak primarily about what they would want for themselves in this situation. so write it down and make sure your desires will be honored before it's too late.
if not for yourself, do it for your family. they will be the ones to suffer.

things i plan to do before i'm 40

i intend to keep adding to this list, but i want to post the things i've already identified so i don't start forgetting them.

1. run the nyc marathon
2. climb kilimanjaro
3. skydive
4. go on safari
5. write a book
6. travel to the continents i've yet to visit (africa, asia, antarctica, south america)
7. volunteer with habitat for humanity
8. hike into/camp the grand canyon
9. finish learning to ski
10. learn to tango
11. become fluent in at least one other language
12. replace any remaining hand-me-down furniture with chosen pieces
13. buy a home
14. have a pedicure
15. pierce my nose (again)
16. get fresh flowers for my home every week for at least 3 months
17. take my nieces and nephews on an outing
18. fall in love (again)
19. walk the moors of scotland

anything you think i should add, toss it in. maybe write your own. would love to know what you all want to do in your upcoming years.

yes, i'm back

i have returned to the real world...and here's what it greeted me with.

• more possible car problems
• extended water damage, leading to much mold
• ant problems, related to moisture from water damage and moldage
• internet being down so forced into library netting
• rain and wind
• no calls from my agent
• but i did get 3 auditions booked
• and i am very tan
• also, my missing cell phone was returned with no harm done

i suppose all in all i can't complain....

more on my trip when i am back online at home.

so glad to see this

this is a huge step forward and i hope to see many more judgments and happenings along these lines. let's stop teaching intolerance and prejudice to the next generations and start encouraging them to be happy with who they are and embrace the process of discovering it.

what fate has brought us here...

an old sometimes-friend of mine blogged about me and a conversation we had over IM a few months ago. and for whatever reason i've been thinking a lot recently about something in particular that he said.

She did the Instant Messenger version of a shrug & said she doesn't worry about it, she believes in fate. That's all fine & good. I confess, I'm more the blood, the sweat, the tears type, myself.

i do believe in fate, it's true. and i said those very words during the course of our IM conversation. however, what strikes me about his comment is that his thought process implies that fate and my belief in it precludes the blood, sweat and tears he reveres. this, in fact, is the exact opposite of the truth of fate i believe in. the fact that i keep looking him up whenever we lose track of each other should indicate that anyway....but let me just explain a bit further what i mean about fate.

i think that fate is about predestination but not necessarily anything about how we get there. i think there are certain things meant to happen, certain people we are meant to meet, and places we will eventually end up within our lives, even if our path to that destination is up to us. i also believe everything happens for a reason, and that doesn't always mean good or bad. and i think that fate is just the natural culmination of our desires and our work, whether that work be in the same area of our lives and selves as those desires or not. it's sort of like the butterfly effect, and the balance of karma.

so the end of that is, i believe in dreaming like everything is up to fate and living like everything is up to me. because using fate as an excuse to be lazy just offers up a different, less satisfying fate. and because i believe i do create my own destiny through blood, sweat, tears....and other things.

peace.

the things we do for love

this morning i got up at 6:30. i am an absolute night person, and i haven't had to get up this early since december, unless you count being in michigan and considering myself still on california time...

i took mathilda over to the dealer's shop in van nuys, pulled my bike out of the hatchback and biked from van nuys home to burbank through morning traffic. it took me 1.15 hours. and i was sweaty.

the good thing is mathilda will be equipped with her new tranny and back in my possession sometime today. as well, i have no need to convince myself to work out today, as those 10-15 miles this morning served the purpose quite well. meanwhile, i didn't have to ask one of my actor friends to get up with me at the ass-crack of dawn to drive me home from the shop, thereby not owing any huge favors, i.e., potential 5 am drop-offs at LAX. not that i would ever say no to helping a friend if i was able, but 5 am....ouch.

this also means that i will be able to drive to the beach on friday to enjoy a few hours of our first 80+ degree day of 2005! now don't be jealous, all my midwest and northeasterners. i still have my full-size futon--come on out and visit!

international women's day

yes, i am surpassing a reasonable number of posts for one day (at least for this blog), but i just realized that today is international women's day, and wanted to quote this little history behind it, while wishing all you fabulous goddess-like women out there a wonderful day. rock on.

>snip<
The Story of Women's Day
In the years surrounding the turn of the 20th century, women were entering the workplace in larger numbers than ever before, thanks largely to the expansion of nineteenth century industrialism. The jobs they filled were segregated by gender and were mainly in the areas of manufacturing, textiles and in domestic services where working conditions were dismal, and wages even worse. The political climate was one of turmoil and change - Socialism and Trade Unionism were coming into being as working people the world over sought to improve their status and working conditions. Additionally, Women's Suffrage, the right to vote, was a still un-realized goal.
The first Women's Day was held on the last Sunday in February 1908, initiated by groups of American socialist women for the purpose of demanding the Vote and to call attention to the political and economic status of women. It continued to be held on the final Sunday in February through 1913, when celebrations of the day began to shift to the first Sunday in March. When the Russian Czar abdicated in 1917, the provisional Government granted women the right to vote - this took place on February 23, according to the Julian calendar then used in Russia, but on March 8 according to the Gregorian calendar used by most of the rest of the world.
In the ninety-plus years since its inception, International Women's Day has formed a rallying point for coordinated efforts by the growing international women's movement to call for women's rights and increased participation in the political and economic process. It is also a time to reflect on progress made, and to commemorate the lives of women who have played courageous roles in the history of women's rights.

borrowed

i was reading this blog, which is pretty well read and respected~and i get why, it's quite a fun read~and i had to borrow these from part of a post re: 100 things which describe the author. sounds an awful lot like me....

i work crossword puzzles in ink.
i would be a really good mom, but i'm cool with being a really good aunt.
i am sometimes more perceptive than i would like to be.
i am fiercely loyal. sometimes, stupidly so.
i never play dumb. never.
i am way too hard on myself.
i am a change agent.
i sometimes cross that fine line between assertive and aggressive.
i am not afraid to tell people that i love them.
i am militantly pro-choice.
i am pro-adoption.
i know a little bit about alot of things.
i typically enjoy the company of men more than women.
i am capable of being really mean and nasty, but i fight it. hard.
i try and do the right thing. all the time. and it’s hard.
i fucking hate it when you think someone is your friend and it turns out that they’re actually a sociopath.
i set high standards for myself in all areas of my life, and I often expect others to do the same...without ever telling them.
i'm a bundle of contradictions. covered in secret sauce.
i hate it when people tell me what to do.
i’m a compulsive list maker.
i kick ass at Scrabble.
nothing pisses me off more than a closed mind.
i am 32 flavors. and then some.

that last one, she borrowed from ani. but that's just fine, ain't it. makes us even more frighteningly alike. odd how you can sometimes have more in common with a stranger than members of your family-and-friends circle.

so you think you know english?

yet another fun little link i found on another blogger site. the commonly confused words test.
there are 4 levels of questions. i scored "100% Beginner, 93% Intermediate, 93% Advanced, and 83% Expert" and higher than 99% of people my age and gender in all 4 levels.

well, we always knew i was a nerd. i have a spelling bee trophy, for cryin' out loud.

go 'head, i know you wanna take it.

the lesbians are coming! the lesbians are coming!

quick, run for the hills!

ugh...this is such b.s.

you know if these billboards weren't for this particular show, there is no way they would have taken them down. if they were for, say, victoria's secret, or sex & the city--or even a calvin klein ad, not only would no one have touched them, there likely would have been a revolt if anyone had!

such total b.s.

i am a toothbrush

i found this on another blog i sometimes read (since the author doesn't even know me i shall not link to him out of respect). check it out, it's fun. i got:

You are a toothbrush. You are a control freak. You love to be in charge of everything, and like to do things yourself instead of indirectly. Hands-on projects are your favorite. You like to accomplish things the hard way, even if it means getting dirty. You have high priorities and set goals for your life, which will make you very successful. However, you will have to dig deep and get rid of all the crap people throw at you in order to have a promising future. Most compatible with: Toilet Paper, and Windex.

but anyone who knows me knows this is reasonably accurate...
eh. it's fun for a kick.

the car, the wall, and the rest

okay, so mathilda is going to be fixed. the dealership is going to cover a portion (about 1/5th) of the repair cost. and the transmission is on order. and none too soon since i could barely get out of my friend's underground parking lot last night. verrrrry scarrrrrry. i decided that i really want to keep mathilda, even with all the trouble she's giving me, and that i inherited a bit of money from my dad just in time for a certain reason. so there you go.

the wall where the leak was....did i mention that the problem had been my upstairs neighbor's water heater blowing up? how he didn't notice that i'll never know....anyway, the wall was dried out, then the drywall dismantled and replaced yesterday by freaky "super" boy. now he'll have to come back at some point to paint. i hope it's not today cause i need space and quiet to get ready for all my appointments today.

and the rest....well i went for run yesterday morning for the first time in a while, due to a muscle strain issue in the front of my right calf. it started twingeing again while i was out there so after about 1.5 miles i started switching off between running and walking, and that seemed to help. i think i just need to find a stretch for that particular muscle. anyway, it felt good to be back out there, but i definitely believe i run better in the afternoon. and i swear i can feel the smog in my throat after running a bit. yuck. why did i bother quitting smoking? sigh

more of "the rest," i.e., beyond all that... i am getting very excited for my trip with my oldest and dearest friend. we are going down to the mayan riviera to do yoga, get massages, visit ruins, go diving, check out the cenotes, and generally heal ourselves. oh yeah, and enjoy spending some time together, since we live on opposite coasts.
i've been pleased to hear that she is obsessing about the trip as much as i am, and i know we will either have a really wonderful time, or the actor's curse will kick in and i'll get cast in something important and not be able to go. lol.

mathilda hath forsaken me

in case you don't know, mathilda is my car.

my recently purchased (september) pre-owned car. which i adore.

it's a subaru, which is supposed to run forever.

weeeellll apparently mathilda didn't like that idea. the gear issue i've been having is apparently not fixable in and of itself. it's not something simple, and subaru transmissions can't be rebuilt, they have to be replaced. just the nature of the beast, supposedly.
so i've been quoted a repair ESTIMATE (no less) of 1/3 the price i paid for the car in the first place.
i've asked their "board" to consider paying for at least part of it since i just bought the car from them (problem started in nov. but went away for a while) and i feel something this major should have been detected, right?... so they are going to discuss it at their meeting tomorrow. meanwhile they are trying to convince me that i might just wanna trade mathilda in for another vehicle they have on the lot of the same make year and model (but WHITE--ugh) instead of putting my money into the poor ol' gal. however because it has 25K less miles on it, i'd end up spending even more!
it's hard to believe people's thought process sometimes. i'm arguing with them over paying for the repair in the first place and they want to convince me to spend more. grumble. i guess i'll be spending the next 24 hours calling for other estimates and weighing my options.

one good thing came out of my visit to the dealership ripoff shop: i did get the chance to chat with erik hiljus while i was paying the $78 they charged me for 4 hours of sitting around waiting and the very bad news they finally delivered. i was so upset about mathilda i didn't get his number though. ah well...