Cat Ears & Coffee: Fall

Little Bits: October On Instagram

7:37 PM
7 Comments

Little Bits: September On Instagram!

Of course I wait until mid-October to post a recap of September, of course! I am a full-fledged Party Cat, but I am also the pokiest of puppies. September was a fantastic month, despite all of the ups and downs. Work has been brutal, trying so hard to stay on top of things, and I am still pretty skint, but I am managing. I have the love of so many wonderful people in my life, and that has kept me going when I have felt so very down. It is hard to believe that the person writing this blog post was such an introverted control freak a year ago, and has transformed into an almost free-spirited outgoing-introvert. People can completely change their mentality, alter their views, learn new strengths, and acquire a new disposition in as little as a few months. Personal growth, and all of that good stuff.

Anywho! Onto some of the highlights of the past month, there were quite a lot of them:

-Comics! When you forget to pick up your comic pull for a few months, you end up with loads of delicious reading material! Go figure.

-A new blog title for the new adventures that will be had and *hopefully* documented on this blog.

-The Michigan Renaissance Festival! I have always loved going up to faire, but this year was vastly different. I not only ended up with a few little jobs helping out with merch, I camped out with some of my closest friends almost every single weekend. I made some incredible new friends as well, and have never met such a welcoming, loving group of people in my life. I value each and every one of the friendships that I made, and cannot wait to see those wonderful faces again.
*Thanks to Sergio Mazzotta for the pics below!

-Weezer! This was my first Weezer concert without Kyle, and I was lucky enough to have one of my best friends (and fellow Party Cat!) Jen with me to make some new Weezer memories. It was also their first time in Michigan in five years! So it was kind of a big deal.

-Enjoying being home. Granted, I am gone almost every weekend, but I have made time to hangout with my brothers, bake cookies, and eat all of the food in the house. Word.

Currently I am working on my costume for Theater Bizarre, and getting ready to hit the gym with Jen, so here is where I leave you lovelies. Happy Wednesday!

Follow me on instagram @CatEarsAndCoffee

6:38 PM
10 Comments

Autumn Reads

Fall

Winter doesn't officially start until December 21st, but I am not sure if I will get a chance to finish the book I am reading before then. I just looked at my Goodreads goal for the year, and was disappointed to see that I only read 16 books so far this year. In my teenage/early 20s years, I could read 2-3 books per week, even while working full time, and in college. Now? I don't know what my excuse is.

I think one of my goals for 2015 will be to bring a book with me wherever I go, like I used to, and read that instead of scroll through my phone whenever I get bored. I used to go to the bar with Kyle and the guys, and while they played pool, or darts, I would sit and read. It was really nice, because I felt like I was "out" being social, but still felt like I was getting some alone-time in. Another plus-side to this: annoying drunk people will still come up to you if you're on your phone, not so much if your face is buried in a book. So there is that.

Anyway, onto the books! I only read four, sadness, but they were all really great!

Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets- By J.K. Rowling. I started re-reading this series towards the end of the summer, and I am so glad that I did! The plot follows Harry's second year at Hogwarts, during which a series of messages on the walls of the school's corridors warn the "Chamber of Secrets" has been opened, and that the "heir of Slytherin" would kill all pupils who did not come from all-magic families. These threats are followed by attacks which leave residents of the school "petrified" (frozen like stone). Throughout the year, Harry Ron, and Hermione investigate the attacks.

Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azakaban- By J.K. Rowling. The book follows Harry, and his friends at Hogwarts, in their third year at Hogwarts. They spend the year investigating Sirius Black, an escaped prisoner of Azkaban whom they believe is one of Lord Voldemort's old allies.

There isn't much to say about these books, aside from the fact that I still love them as much as I did when I was a teenager. What is notable, however, is how much the movies not only changed certain events in the books, but also character traits. They really made Ron Weasley seem like a chump at times in the movies, when he was a witty little shit in the books.

The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test- By Tom Wolfe. A non-fiction book published in 1968, the book is remembered today as an early example of the growing literary style called new journalism. Wolfe presents an as-if first hand account of his experiences with Ken Kasey and his band of Merry Pranksters, who traveled across the country in a colorfully painted bus name "Further". Kasey and the pranksters became famous for their use of LSD and other psychedelic drugs in the hopes of achieving inter-subjectivity. The book chronicles the Acid-Tests (parties in which kool-aid laced with LSD was given out to obtain a communal trip), the group's encounters with famous authors, the Hells Angels, and The Grateful Dead, as well as Kasey's exile to Mexico.

Being a HUGE fan of of "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest", I really wanted to read this book for awhile. I took an intro to journalism course at Oakland University, but had no idea what 'new journalism' was. This book was amazingly written, that needs to be stated first. There are times when it is quite obvious Wolfe sat back and just wrote down everything he observed, and there are little interviews with pranksters peppered throughout the book, reminding the reader that this is a journalistic piece. However, Wolfe goes into such vivid detail, that is just so easy to slip into the mentality that an actual prankster wrote the book. Another thing to keep in mind: this was during the mid-late sixties, before acid became a main-stream drug, so the rest of the world was completely baffled by this group. Cops would constantly pull them over, just to let them go again, because they didn't know what to think of them.

The mentality of the Merry Pranksters is something to be in awe of. They maintained a constant balance of non-conformance, and communal well-being. They shared housing, they shared food. They decked themselves out in Day-Glo paint to the point where they were unrecognizable. They accepted the mentality that everyone was their own, individual person, in their own "movie", but you were also either "on the bus", or "off the bus".

William Shakespeare's Star Wars (Verily, a New Hope)- By Ian Doescher. A non-cannon book, retelling the story of Star Wars, as if penned by William Shakespeare.

I borrowed this book from my friend Aaron over the summer, and just got around to reading it. This was just for fun, and it was really cute! It is completely written as if The Bard himself wrote it, and it is perfect for someone with a BA in English, who also grew up watching Star Wars. ;)

There you have it, the books that I read at a snail's pace on my 15 minute lunch breaks, while walking in the treadmill, and sometimes before bed. What have you guys been reading lately?

*Photos by Kyle.

11:54 AM
10 Comments

Gobble Gobble

Fall

8:17 AM
12 Comments

Golden Hill

Fall

11:00 AM
9 Comments

Eats: Cinnamon Butter Cream Frosting

Eats

8:52 AM
7 Comments

The Truth Is Out There

Fall

In junior high, I really loved The X-Files. In junior high, kids were mean, and teased me for loving The X-Files. Not all of the kids, most of them didn't really care, but there were a few that would snicker, and mock the awesome T-shirt my parents bought me for Christmas one year. It hurt, a lot more than it should have, because I am was an overemotional person. It wasn't just my taste in science fiction TV shows, I was soft-spoken around most people, unless I was with my friends, then I was a loud asshole. I had socially-awkward down to a T!

Eventually, we all made it to high school, where nobody gave a shit what you liked/what you wore/what you did, etc. I was still pretty awkward, and there were a few instances of teasing, but it got better. It got better because I made it better. Somewhere along the way, I developed a defense mechanism, and it is called self-deprecation. I found that by beating people to the punch by lightly making fun of myself first, threw people off guard. For instance: I remember walking up to a friend as they were talking to a group of people I did not know well. They were discussing The Beatles (like most 9th graders do) and I, I was wearing a black shirt with the members of BSB-more fondly known as The Backstreet Boys-plastered all over the front of it. I remember one girl turning her nose up at my shirt as I joined the group. The first thing I did was mention my shitty taste in pop music, and of course one or two people went "ugh! I HATE that band!", but a few admitted to liking them, and asked what else I liked-The Beatles! Go figure. I felt like acknowledging the obvious worked for me, and to this day, I still do it.

It isn't that I am trying to "fish for a compliment", it is usually when I know that something is obvious (at least to me), so I just go ahead and point it out. If I have a giant soup stain on my shirt at work from spilling my lunch? Before my co-worker even asks, I am already explaining how I eat like a toddler. I usually apologize for my shitty voice at karaoke before the song even begins to play. Is this healthy? I have no idea. But I honestly feel like it becomes less of a big deal, if I let every know that I don't think that it is a big deal.

So what is the point of all of my rambling? The truth (see what I did there?). The truth is, we are not perfect. We all do weird things to get through the day, the week, the rest of our lives, or whatever. The truth is that we all have issues to deal with in our lives, but sometimes social media, and even blogging, make it appear that we live these perfect lives. Do I occasionally go on rants on Facebook and Twitter? Yes. The thing is, we all choose how we want to share our issues. Some people are very straight forward with their problems, others never post anything negative, and then there are people like me who turn most things into a joke. Instead of complaining on twitter that I haven't lost weight, I joke about the pie I had for breakfast. Instead of letting everyone know that not having a dryer is a big, pain in the ass, I tell an anecdote about trying to dry my underwear in the oven (don't do that).

All I am saying is that although I don't always directly say it, my life is far from perfect. I don't ever want this blog to portray me as having all of my shit together all of the time. Yeah, there are days when everything is groovy, and I have everything on my list done, and I feel awesome possum, but there are days when I feel like giving up because things go wrong/I am tired/I am sad/ I hate everything/ Taco bell put beef in my taco salad instead of chicken and I was pissed as hell but too nice to complain so I made Kyle take it back. It also comes down to what we feel like sharing. Some people share everything, where others, not so much, and it often leads to that "perfect" image that we know isn't true. Does it make people 'fake' for only sharing the positive things in their lives? It might come off that way, but I don't think it does. People have a right to pick and chose who they share personal information with is all.

In the end, we all have problems. Just some of us have back-asswards ways of showing it.

Details

Cardigan & Necklace-Forever 21

Shirt, Boots, & Hat-Target

Skirt-Thrifted

Tights-Leggs

Glasses-Warby Parker

8:34 AM
10 Comments

Eats: Sweet Potato Pie

Eats

1:13 PM
9 Comments

Lennon Memorial Park

Doctor Who

4:20 PM
11 Comments

Blue November

Fall

This dress, this stupid dress! The boat neck style makes it so that I have to either wear a strapless bra with it, or always layer something under/over it. It also has no shape, so it needs to be belted, something I unfortunately did not do for this particular outfit. It is also a little fitted around my bottom half, but really lose on top (hellllooooo pear-shape!), which is not flattering at all. Yet, I still love this dress. Probably because it has a late 60's/early 70's vibe to it, but also because Kyle bought it for me for my birthday last year. Stupid unflattering, but lovable garment!

Moving on, Kyle has been really awesome lately with all of the outfit photos. Normally he grumbles (especially in the winter), but lately he has been really cool with driving around, looking for a nice park, where he will take a bunch of awesome landscape-type photos of trees and shit (I LOVE trees and shit!). Or, he will quickly take a few early morning ones if I bribe him with coffee and a baked good from Red Hook in Ferndale before work. This is a great spot, because there are a few awesome brick walls to choose from, and I get really good coffee afterwards, and Kyle gets to go into work early, which means he gets to leave early. Win-Win! Sadly, we have only been able to grab our stuff and go, as I have had soooooo much to do at work lately, I haven't had the time to sit down for breakfast with Kyle, or the occasional friend, in about two months! Stupid adulthood, ruining breakfast.

In other news, I am basically counting down the days until vacation. It is going to be an amazing stay-cation! I have plans to touch up the paint in the kitchen, a small trip to IKEA, run a 5k with Kyle, get my living room back in order, get breakfast/lunch out at a few places that are always busy on the weekends, see some movies, spend a day just lounging about watching TV, taking the dogs for longer walks to get coffee, and of course, Thanksgiving! Aaaand it is only the 11th?! What is that nonsense!

Happy Tuesday, everyone!

Details

Coat-Forever 21

Dress, Shirt, Tights, Purse, & Hat-Target

Boots-Payless

Scarf & Necklace-Gifts

Glasses-Warby Parker

2:09 PM
7 Comments

Doors & Canals

Detroit

A few Sundays ago, Kyle and I were driving around after getting coffee with Kyle's brother Chris, and his wife Michelle. We ended up in Grosse Pointe, and after stopping in the Barnes & Noble for a book for Kyle, we headed out for a place to take outfit pics. We wandered through Grosse Point Park, and headed back into Detroit. We came across a bridge that looked cool, and when Kyle went to pull over, we parked by this house. The entire fence was made out of old, and vintage, doors! When we got out of the car, some people who were walking by asked if we lived there, I wish! When we walked around to the little bridge, we realized that it was over one of the canals that lead up to the Detroit river. Imagine coming out of your house, and at the end of your backyard was a little dock on a canal. There were a bunch of guys out on a little boat, sitting around, having some beers on this Sunday, and it just seemed very relaxing.

Of course it was windy as hell, so my outfit pics are a little crazy, but I still liked how they came out. It was a little awkward when a couple of guys came up on their bikes to take pics of the door-fence. I hate taking pics when people are around, I get all sheepish. They were nice though, and said "hi" to us.

When we were leaving. the lady who lives next door to the house came out and asked if we had taken any good pics. We mentioned that we thought the doors were cool, and she just laughed and said "Well, that is one way to save on a fence!". Now Kyle wants to do this to our house. I honestly would not complain, anything is better than the ragged, crappy fence that we have currently.

I just picked up this cardigan for $9 at Forever 21, and I really love it! I think I need to go thrifting for some thicker, warmer sweaters though. These thin cardigans are cute for layering, but it is supposed to get cold this weekend. Speaking of, I am working a half day on Saturday. I don't really want to, but the overtime will be nice, as it looks like Kyle's car is dying. Ugh, adult things. Such bullshit. I do love having the office to myself though! I have been alone all week, and have finally been able to catch up on some things that I have been neglecting, An entire office to myself for a week? An introvert's dream!