The start of a new decade...

If you didn't know this already, I crossed over the twenty something line on Christmas Eve this past year. It was a joyous week of celebration where I made a great new friend, enjoyed the company of my mother for a few weeks, and completed a lot of the "to do" stuff I have been putting off. I don't feel any different being 30, but coincidentally I have a lot of big changes happening this year. If I can actually commit to writing on here, I will keep you posted on all the new experiences this year brings. Cheers!

Well its been a long time

I've been bouncing around the internet world for awhile. I've had a year long affair with myspace, but its lost its appeal. Every person in the world can track you down there, so I'm trying to come back old friend, even though I'm not great about writing. The only thing I've learned in the past year is that Scott Baio is 45 and single, which means he has a girlfriend, but isn't married. How does this equate to being single? Inquiring minds want to know...

Past memories

So I should have posted this a few weeks ago, but I'm lazy, and then I forgot, but I saw something today that reminded me of how silly/strange people are. So, lets rewind back to January. I heard a song on the radio, and I'm like hrm..thats pretty good. I did a search on Itunes and was able to find it and some other songs. The band's name? 30 Seconds to Mars. Ever heard of them? Yeah most people haven't. Anyways, about a month ago I was browsing upcoming concerts and saw that they were coming to town, and that tickets were only $15. Score! So, I decided to take Luis for his birthday. I decided to read up on this band since I didn't know anything about them and discover that Jared Leto (aka Jordon Catelano from My So Called Life) is the lead singer. I was stunned just because I can't think of any actor who has successfully launched a music career. Now, I feel the need to list out solo acts that never made it; Bruce Willis, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Don Johnson, and Eddie Murphy. Has anyone ever bought a Bacon Brothers (Kevin Bacon) CD, or Dogstarr (Keanu Reeves). Nope. So, anyways, yes, stunned. Now forward to concert night. I have a good buzz going on, I bust through towards the front of the crowd. How did I do it? I was looking for my "friend" Julia. Anyways, it was a great show, so i'm like, ok, I'll go do the meet and greet thing. I'm frantically texting my sister to think of what to say (liquor = mind numbness) and she says to ask if his passion is in music or acting. Simple enough. So I cruise through the band, actually stopping and chatting with Shannon (his bro) for a bit. Nothing significant, but I like him. Plus he's wearing eyeliner and I'm a sucker for guys with eyeliner. Anyways I make it down to J.man and he doesn't really look at me, so I sort of shove my CD in front of him. I say "This is the point where I ask you something profound, right?" And he said "No, please don't". Well I'm drunk, but I'm thinking well my questions really isn't that difficult, so I ask him if he prefers acting or singing. He does give me direct eye contact this time, now lets freeze frame this moment. I've never thought Jared was attractive. Well, I mean, I could tell he is attractive, but he's very pretty, and I don't do the clean look. And for those of you who don't know, here are some definitions from the K.Love dictionary. Clean (as in reference to a person) - Nicely groomed hair, clean-shaven, dresses to impress, lots of times falls into the metro category. Dirty (as in reference to a person) - usually has facial hair, piercings, tattoos, dark hair, and tends to wear all black or dark colors. May wear eyeliner or nail polish. Anyways, now that Jared is a musician he has darkened his hair, wears all black, and yes, lots of eyeliner that makes his baby blues pop. He's more my type of guy now, but judging by all the US I read I know this is just for the stage and he's more clean in his day to day life. Anyways, now that reality is moving again he says "It really doesn't matter does it because I don't have any talent". Then he sort of tosses the CD at me and turns away. I was a bit stunned. Was he looking for sympathy? No, I believe he was intentionall being a jerk. Now the liquor wanted me to say "Well that may be true, but thats not what I asked you", but my mind said "Get your ass out the door before security carries you away". So that was it. Anyways, time has passed and I resumed my listening of their music. I received notice that they apparently put out this new video, so I give it a watch. Now its actually a pretty cool video, sort of The Shining feeling, but there is this one part where Jared runs into himself, and they appear to be singing at each other, and then simultaneously scream at each other. I laughed out loud. It looked quite silly. Its hard to explain. Its just one of those things you need to see. Anyways, Jared thanks for the laugh, but I still think you are a jerk.

A word about the gym...

So I hate working out, but I like the gym because this is how you see people for how they really look. They don't care about clothes, hair, or make-up. Well, except for this lady a few weeks ago who came in with full on makeup and huge 80's hair. I actually got up and moved across the gym because the smell of AquaNet and perfume was making me sick. She even worked out with a personal trainer. Of course, the way she lifted weights is the way I lift peas up to my mouth that are on a fork..slowly and cautiously so as not to cause a disturbance in the force.

Well, my fun this day was this girl jogging in front of me. I didn't really notice her at first, but then I looked at her and noticed about every 5 seconds her pants would fall half way down and would expose her *sexy* black thong. Now I have always been against the spandex movement, and actually against the size 2 girls who wear size 0 jeans and somehow manage to make it look like they have a fat roll, but wear clothes that fit and don't literally fall off you body. I watched here in this weird jogging situation for about 1/2 an hour. I was mortified since, although not a plump girl, she should not be showing her thong let alone RUNNING in it. Sheesh!

Well hi!

Oh yes I didn't realize I had fallen off the face of the earth for so much time. I think I just got lazy. Its been a long, grueling day at the office and I'm ready to take off shortly, but thought I'd practice typing again. I'm nursing a sprained foot from Saturday's fun at the Music Festival. I got to hear G.Love and Train, but ended up spending most of my time in the port-a-pottie line. At least it had a view of the stage. In my drunken happiness I sort of slid across the sidewalk, spared my ankle, but mangled my foot. Such is me..such is life. Cheers!

Happy Tuesday

So I haven't seen any hearts or flowers yet today, which is nice. I have however received some online cards and lovely texts. Not much news in the way of Kristie's world. Only 2 more days and I will be with some of my buds I haven't seen in awhile in the city of Austin. Hooray for..uh...what is Texas famous for? Death Penalty? Ribs? Well I hope for the best. Everyone have a great president's day weekend.

In response to Captain Jack's 2/7/06 post which can be found here: http://markzak.com/blog.asp

Hrm, I typically make it a point not share my views on anything people are willing to start wars and/or die for, but I am a walking contradiction, so I never make any sense.
This whole "freedom of speech" comes from a document that governs the U.S. only, not any other country. While I too am all for it, I don't really expect a lot of the rest of the world to adopt or understand it since there are places where women are forced to still cover there faces or people (yes men too) are fined a rediculous some of money if they don't vote. (That last point might cause an uproar, but in the U.S. voting is a right, not a requirement).
That aside, I assume these people that are rioting are looking at this from a religious aspect. I think most if not all religious groups actively speak out against anything that may poke fun at their beliefs. Religion is basically a foundation most of these people have built a life upon, unlike in the U.S. where I think there is a lot of apathy and people look at sunday service as an obligation or a burden, not something necessary, like lets say eating. Remember when the Last Temptation of Christ came out? The Catholic church through a fit and tried to stop it from ever hitting theatres. Or more recently, the Da Vinci code. Again, this book was readily attacked by the Catholic church who would have, I'm sure, stopped its publication were it invading the writer's freedom of speech. JC to these folks is like a father figure, so to speak. If I were to write a book about him eating people, and it gets published as a work of fiction because clearly (i hope) it isn't true, I think you'ld be slightly hocked off at me.
I suppose my point is I understand why they are mad. Heck, Republicans get mad at political cartoons published by liberal papers and yell "false!" all the time. I do think it seems silly in our eyes because they are reacting in violent ways. Keep in mind they are in countries where unfortunately your voice isn't heard unless you make a big fuss. I'd say that we in the U.S. are just as guilty of this silly behavior, but we pick money over violence and are incredibly sue happy. You get burned by coffee? Sue! Somebody said you have an eating disorder? Sue because you have a rep to maintain!
There we go, thats my 2 cents. :)

El beste del oeste!

You look confused. Yes, so am I. I'm on day three of having my house ripped apart. The drilling isn't so bad, but I've noticed the mariachi has slowly gotten louder. Today is a fun new addition, as one of the workers (even as I type) is singing along in his falsetto voice. After hearing Pemma talk about them, I have invested in a pair of noise reduction headphones to help ease my pain. They do work, however I must remove my newly purchased armor when I go to the restroom, go outside, or go anywhere in general. The lead dude has informed me that they will be done tomorrow, and next week the carpet will be changed. Its a different group of workers, so I'm curious as to what musical I'll be exposed to.

Aside from being annoyed, and now retardly broke, I have yet ANOTHER trip coming up. Yes folks, I am looking for that new town to move to, since I started to get that scared "omg..I don't want to be here for the rest of my life" feeling. Up next I'll be going to Austin with some of my closest friends from Cali and Maryland. Now, its been quite some time since this group has gotten together. These were the guys I hung out with back when I was completely insane. I'm now moderately sane thanks to medication. ;) Ok, I really have no idea what I'm talking about anymore. *sigh*

Welcome back, Kristie!

Well its been a few weeks, but now I'm back in AZ. I went on vacation to San Jose for a few weeks to visit the fam, then went down to the New Orleans area with Pemma to volunteer some time for Hurricane Katrina relief for animals. If you have some time, visit bestfriends.org or Best Friend's Network specifically for Hurricane Katrina survivors. Lots of stories to tell from there, I'm trying to find some time to collect my thoughts. Right now its kind of hard though because as I type, my floors are being ripped out. Yes folks, I've decided to do put some new tile and carpet in the house. Its not the entire house, but it is a significant portion. Afterwards I will probably be changing my rediculously bright walls to different and more annoying colors. I'm hoping this makeover will trick my brain into thinking that we've moved again, and I can sit pretty for another year or two. And FYI, I just learned when a telemarketer calls they get REALLY hocked off when you have drills going on the background because you can't hear anything. She actually hung up on me! Ah, fun stuff. Well, back to work (or as much as I can do since its very hard to concentrate).

Don't Trust a Big Butt and a Smile!

What does that mean? Well its just a summary of the past weekend. Friday night I went out for my birthday (which is actually on X-mas Eve). We started off at Ra with 1/2 price sushi and saki bombers. We stayed about 3 hours and my roommate, Brian, and Luis were trashed, but I was fine (thanks to Robb for years of training!) The real fun started at Macayo's. A few other people showed up, and I decided to "act" like I was kissing Pemma. Well it worked, sort of. I threw her back from her chair, cupped her mouth, and was a good 2 inches away. The crowd gasped and she, with her fine laughing skills, starting laughing in my mouth. How is this possible? Its hard to describe, but I could feel the vibration from her laughter. I did not laugh (which was good because I would have dropped her), and that was the end of my show. My roommate ended up suckling on my ear later. Why? Because I told her to go ahead to the club and I'd meet her and she thought I was mad so she was trying to soothe me. I believe she thought she was being sexy, but having a drunk girl slober all over the side of your face is anything but a turn on. Later, Brian fell off of his bar stool. I didn't see why, but I saw the aftermath of friends helping him up so we would not be kicked out. I then helped him finish his tacos (by this I mean grabbing handfuls and shoving it into his mouth) and then it was off to Margarita Rocks. Jen and Mike pumped me full of Vodka, and I was finally in the land of drunkeness. The music was "old school" and this song Poison came on. Brian told me it was Bell Biv Devoe, a group of teens who I had not thought of in years. Then there was a big drunken mess, saying goodbye to samir, eating at Greasy Tony's, and then waking up naked in my room with the TV on. I deduced I had set Brian up in the guest room, was planning to watch TV in mine and was trying to change my clothes, but must have passed out.

The next day, all partied out, I accompanied Jen and Mike to their annual Intel party. I sat and watched this Mardi Gras festivity, although nobody was being festive except my companions. I was happy though, since it was free food and drink. At then end of the night, I stole some masks and noticed the HUGE face outside the building. "How fun would that be to take?" I said. So Mike is all "Lets do it". No, picture this, there is a roundabout with a 6 foot mardi gras face hanging from the top of it. There are 4 valet guys hanging out there, and partygoers all coming out. We pull up in Mike's truck, Jen leads her head out the window and says "Hey, we just want to let you know that we are supposed to take the head". Now, we have no idea if this is company property or the country club property, but the one valet dude looked confused and said "uh..ok". Mike jumps in the back, yanks down the sign, and we take off. It was just like being in high school again (back when I used to steal roadsigns). It was a good laugh that finished off the night.

Ok, that had nothing to do with anything BUT I decided to download the MP3 of Poison. So I estimate at this time these guys were probably around 16 years old, but I was listening to the lyrics, and holy cow are they sexual. My favorite line, however, is when the youngest one sings "Don't trust a big butt and a smile". You know what means? Yes, dear readers, I too an classified as Poison.

Kristielove.com up and running!

Well kind of. Ok, not really, but its better than it was. I posted movie reviews for the following: Assault on Precinct 13, War of the Worlds, George Romero's Land of the Dead, The Skelton Key, Guess Who, I Heart Huckabees, Dukes of Hazzard, Paragraph 175, and yes my favorite, Glitter.

Friday laughs

Well I've managed to make it through another week without too much excitement. So, I encourage everyone to watch Debbie Downer for a pick me up. My favorite line? "By the way, its offical...I can't have children". The delivery of this line is classic. Keep you eye on Horatio Sanz too. He tries to dry up his tears with Mickey waffles. Flawless! (takes a bit of time to load.)

So, over the course of this year, I have lost that sparkle of life people seem to enjoy. I have been, for the most part, a hermit. So what does a girl do? Why chop off all her hair of course! My hairstylist even gasped. I've had her for 3 years now, and while we've played with color, we've never really chopped off this amount of hair. It ended up clogging their little vaccum up. Anyways, after that she put a red base to even out the color, then put a little Manic Panic in to "bring in da funk" a tada! I've gotten nothing but good comments along with "wow, only you can wear that hair and make it look good". (you don't see it here, but in sunlight it looks pink!). So my boring attitude has fallen away with my boring hair, I think. Put the Love back in K.Love, baby. :) 

Walk for Animals! First, thanks to everyone who pledged. Weiland and I raised a little over $300, which equals helping 2 homeless pets! It was a great day FULL of free stuff. Weiland has toys and several boxes of biscuits. I couldn't resist buying this rediculous hat for him. We spent the first hour browsing the stands, eating lunch, and visiting Santa (thats right! Santa in the park!). After some absurd warmup routine we got in the pack near the back, because hey, I walk slow. It was awesome. All the dogs were off, except of course my boy, who got confused and was walking sideways. When we FINALLY made our way, he pulled and made me go fast enough so we were in the lead pack. One lady was like "Wow, he means business!" He's dedicated to walking for his homeless brethren, I suppose. It was a well organized walk, with water stations set up every so often for pooches to stay hydrated. As we rounded the turn, I'm feeling pretty good until I realize we are walking WAY close to the lake. Some girl was like "Don't jump!" and there was Weiland, standing at the edge, eyes all aglow. I actually took note that all the lab owners were pulling their dogs off the edge. Gotta love water dogs. We did find some steps, and when I saw other dog owners letting their dogs in, I let Weiland jump in for a quick swim. Newly refreshed, we finished the race, lounged in the grass for a bit, and headed home for a nice long nap. I unfortunately just realized my official race photo is going to be posted in two days, but I think I threw the website away. No matter, you can see my attempt at capturing this day here: http://albums.photo.epson.com/j/AlbumIndex?u=4119026&a=31967262&f=. Thanks for the help everyone!! 

And I'm back!

I'm back from my vacation, and no I did not get the writing done I was planning on, but I got in a lot of staring time with Tobias. It was great. He'd stare at me for an hour, look away for like 2 minutes, and look back at me with a crinkled brow as if saying "who are you?". I get to see him again for x-mas. I'm hoping he'll know how to smile by then because I feel like I bore him.

Other than that all is well. My friend from Iowa, Sarah, came to visit. She didn't have much money, so we only went out of the first night she was here. It was just like old times. Nothing too unusual happened except some guy I gave a good-bye kiss too decided he liked my tongue ring and bit my tongue. I know, makes no sense right? We actually did some landscaping when she was here, and fixed up the house a bit. The yard looks much nicer, and it really showed her there is more to this world than Iowa. Of course I hate to see visitors go, but it will be nice to get a full night of sleep.

Thats all on the news front for now. Events coming up: Walk for the Animals on Sunday! Weiland and I will post photos. Also, Weiland turns 7 on Monday! Make sure to get your birthday cards sent in time!

Oh, boring halloween.

For the first time that I can remember since I've been in AZ did just about everybody I know leave town. No big parties, and no big excitement for this holiday for those of us who stuck around. On a pleasant note, Eric Anderson did come to town for a few days. Other than that, it was a humdrum weekend, but I DID get some movie watching done. Yes, yes, I will be on vacation next week and devoting part of my time to getting my site http://www.kristielove.com/ up and running. Well, HAPPY HALLOWEEN TO ANYBODY WHO CARES!

I'm a loser baby...

First, I think Stay is an awesome movie, I highly recommend. It was while watching this film I decided I want to marry a guy like Ryan Gosling. Don't get me wrong, Dave will always be my dream guy, but Ryan seems more tangible to me. While Ryan looks eerily like my ex bro-in-law, he as absolutely fantastic to watch on film!

So I promised (I think) to post regularly on my supposed weight loss. So while I'm still too shy to reveal my actual weight, what started this journey, but I put on 20 lbs over the summer. I've just finished up week 4 (even though I've only worked out 3 weeks since I twisted my ankle last week) and I'm +5 lbs from where I started. Thats right, now I'm 25 lbs heavier. The good news? I had put on 10 lbs in the first 2 weeks, and have lost 5 of that already. Apparently my body is adjusting to the trama I put it through, but this is good news. At least I'm heading in the right direction. I can't find my starting stats for weights, but here is what I'm at now:

Leg Extension - 75 lbs
Leg Curl - 50 lbs
Abductors (inner thigh) - 70 lbs
Abductors (outer thigh) - 100 lbs
Leg Press - 140 lbs
Chest Press - 52 lbs
Seated Row - 50 lbs
Shoulder - 30 lbs
Calves - 105 lbs

So I'm not a lifting champ, but I did manage to go a bit from where I started. For now, I'm stuck on a stationary bike and only working upper body, but hopefully I'll have some more good news in month 2's weigh in. :)

Weiland and I are participating in a walk hosted by the Arizona Animal Welfare League to Walk for Homeless Pets. Its AZs largest "no kill" shelter. If you have a few spare bucks and would like to donate, Weiland would be most happy. Please let me know and I can send you my home address if you wish to mail in donations. Our goal is to reach at least $150, since that is the cost to save one homeless pet (vet bills, etc). Thanks to those of you who already pledged. Weiland and I will send you photos of our event! 

They used freaking "laser" beams!

First, I am the hugest klutz and managed to twist my ankle with the first 2 minutes of my workout with my PT. ARGH!

Second, thank you, whoever, for Julian McMahon. I've been having recurring dreams about him and they are SO good.

Anyways, I decided to give over to vanity and try this laser hair removal thing. I'm too lazy to shave my legs as much as they require. So here is my experience with it. First, they stick you in an ice cold room and give you a little robe to wear (i was getting my legs and armpits done). She loaded me up with towels though to keep me from freezing. Then I got handed a pair of VERY squiffy goggles to protect my peepers from the "laser". The "laser" itself is about nickel size, and while blowing ice cold air on the area its treating, it beeps as it zaps. She drew all over me with a white pencil (since the "laser" is drawn to pigment) and asked if they offered to sell me some numbing cream because this was going to hurt. Actually, no they hadn't, but I didn't really want to invest more money. She then handed me a squeeze ball for my stress. Oh boy.

She started with my armpits. The pain was more shocking then anything because it was such a small area to treat. However, I really got to feel it when she did my legs. People say it feels like being snapped with a rubber band really hard. WRONG! I've felt that pain, and it stings and lingers a bit. This actually reminded me of an 80s contraption called the epilady. The new epiladies are cute, but the original ones had this slinky attached to it. Your hair would get stuck in it and ripped out by the roots. Thats what this felt like. All my hair was being ripped out (even though it was being zapped out of existence). Unlike the epilady or a rubber band, the pain was instant, and then gone. I felt fine most of the way, I didn't need any breaks, and I did squeeze the ball when she went up my shin and around my ankles since I had no fat to lessen the pain. She was so happy she exclaimed "wow. You have a HIGH pain tolerance. I want to crank this machine up." So after about 1 1/2 hours in the chair i left the clinic with red blotches legs. I couldn't use lotions, or even sweat, for 2-3 days so I would not irritate my skin.

The results are fantastic so far! I have 4 more sessions scheduled (the next in jan), but this is what I've noticed so far. My hair growth has slowed down immensely. I have not shaved since I had it done (5 days) and I only now have some stubble that would have taken me only 24 hours to grow before. I do notice a bit of my hair hasn't grown in at all. Apparently it can take up to 3 weeks for the hair to fall out, and I should only expect about 20% per session (so next time would be 40%, then 60%, etc).

The verdict? Its great. Totally worth it if you can handle some discomfort for an hour or so. People get tattoos and piercings and all sorts of weird things. The only great thing about this is that when I turn 75 people won't say "what the hell was she thinking when she did that", well, unless leg hair on women becomes stylish someday. As an extra note I should add the hair should stay away until the time (ha ha!) I get pregnant. Apparently since all a woman's hormones are in high gear they start to grow more coarse (or even just more) hair. The horror.

K.Love

ok, I haven't mastered the art of this blog yet, hence the separate entries for the pics, but he looks like a smurf here. I love it! That's his daddy, Mikael. He's swedish hence the funky spelling. (and yes folks, he has watched the Swedish chef on the muppet show, and alas, he is *not* speaking swedish. Oh the horror!)