our fun evening included "fake" jazz (as in the line was entirely too long to wait in), a flask (which should have been drank during said line, but wasn't), mexican food, swing dance partners hijacked from their original plans in actual swing dancing (but they so looked the part!), late night dancing with a "rating" system, and lots of laughing. ♥ to all of you.

♫ it was still light at 5 pm yesterday. yes. spring is on it's way.

 // i got a new camera (thank you ♥) and it is da. bomb.

"Let everything happen to you. Beauty and terror. Just keep going. No feeling is final." — Rainer Maria Rilke

// this was the bomb.

♫ spotify

“I hope you will have a wonderful year, that you'll dream dangerously and outrageously, that you'll make something that didn't exist before you made it, that you will be loved and that you will be liked, and that you will have people to love and to like in return. And, most importantly (because I think there should be more kindness and more wisdom in the world right now), that you will, when you need to be, be wise, and that you will always be kind.” ― Neil Gaiman

sometimes everything to think has already been thought and everything to be said has already been said. thankfully, the interwebs makes it easy to go through the stacks of words and you find thoughts in beautifully stitched sentences ready to share. i've been riding the wave of winter blues. it's not terribly fun, but it will pass. one molecule at a time. i hope you all had a happy new year. here's to 2013. ❤

Well, here we are. At the end and at a new beginning.

Happy New Year!

photo mosaic made with this awesome free download by andrea mosaic original image found here

// fine. i admit it. i am, always was, and probably always will be a cat lady. but they are too cute not to be!

// bursts of color help to brighten the gray days // silhouettes // diners // lights and fog // rain // many variations on the christmas tree // miscellaneous from the streets of new york this holiday season

Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukuh, Happy Boxing Day, Yay Kwanzaa, Winter Solstice (the days are going to start getting longer - the seconds will start to add up - just watch!), Festivus and whatever else you celebrate!!I hope you have a wonderful day filled with delicious food, laughter, fun family moments (even awkward ones), rest, and lots of love.

xoxo
kk

p.s. For those wondering about Lavi cat (from the last Christmas video), she has taken permanent residency with Ms. Diane, where she is happiest.
p.p.s. Yes, I know...I've become a cat lady. Oh well, I might as well embrace it!

... to celebrate! Chrisnakwanza, friends moving to NYC, friends leaving NYC, friends finishing semesters, Sandy leaving, Santa's blasted around NYC, birthdays, 2012, and a-n-y-t-h-i-n-g else!it was a success.// thank you all for coming! the rest of the photos are here! 

These photos are quite old, but they were too pretty to not post! It's funny what you find when having to make space on your machine!

i. visualii. aurali. some new (and old) pieces in an art show at cccp gallery. the opening reception was splendid (thank you to those that could make it!)ii. a serenade by some very talented friends (thank you for dinner and the song)re: the last photo. moments before this, hayden was walking to the chair and slipped...but the performance was not disrupted. 

IMG_249

//the night i took myself on a date to see my favorite band, azure ray. soko was delightful, singing of mermaids and songs which she coined as sad.  i drank a red wine and ate a fried-green tomato pizza - it was delicious. ♥

// these are the things that make up home. i♥wa.(the first shot is not iowa, but the detroit airport). i hope you all had a wonderful thanksgiving filled with lots of ♥.

5:43 pm EST/4:43 pm CST

I am in Iowa. Right now I am sitting at Cup of Joe with reliable internet and alternating sips of hot cider and cold water. I feel the slight pulse of a headache in my temples....the most wonderful thing just happened. i realized i had more time than i thought! 5:43 was speeding towards 6:00 and I have dinner plans at 6:30, which meant leaving in 15 minutes for a 30 minute drive, but then the glorious thing happened while looking at my phone to see what things I hadn't finished from the list. I realized was actually 4:44 CST. Phew. More water. More breath. More of this. There's something about being home that always makes me slightly anxious - or something - I can't put my finger on it. In the past five years, I've probably spent a cumulative total of one week at my house. The childhood one. The one where you can probably find a dried pile of cat puke from 15 years ago (yes, really). The one with memories of a kitchen that are too hard to think about, but that always flash through the brain upon entering the door. Too many t-h-i-n-g-s from too many years passed. The thing about those approximate seven days is that whenever I've returned/return to the place I now call home (from 88th Street, 94 Street, 135 Street, to my favorite place with the two cats and the occasional fresh cat puke for they absolutely hate their lysine-mixed wet food) wishing I'd spent just a little longer at the childhood home. Coming home is an instant reminder of where you're from, and what you are from. What parts you decided to leave behind and what parts are still lingering in the tiniest bits of the soul? Or perhaps they aren't tiny at all, because this sudden collision of thoughts happens and you realize that these new thoughts and old memories are everything that define you and make you, well you. You are one with all of it. The small girl, who grew up way too fast and who was actually rather lonely despite being surrounded by cats is now a woman with the curious heart of a child, still loving cats and people, but still struggles with moments of loneliness despite being surrounded with loved ones and having cracked the tough nut that is self-love. But the shell has been cracked and it's constantly learning new things. I am learning new things; about myself, the world, and how I want to be. In this moment, with past and present colliding, I am thankful for all of it. I am thankful for friends, family, chaos, cats, art, expression, technology, other people's writing, and so much more. I am thankful and excited for future moments and new dreams. I am just thankful.....and on this trip home, I am spending justabit more time at the childhood house.

november 2, 2012 // lower manhattan still powerless, but filled with cars // cops acting as traffic lights // the east river ferry // long lines at the gas station on metropolitan