allons-y, alonso!

A very long estrangement.

katernater — Fri, 29 May 2020 00:43:32 GMT

Dreamwidth's recent password breach kerfuffle reminded me that I have a few very active (in theory) muses over on that platform, should anyone wish to engage:

mmkaternater - a general repository for active muses
iamthatgood - for all "house, m.d." muses
elementarysaidhe - for all "sherlock bbc" muses
theherotype - for the man, the playboy, the billionaire, the philanthropist muses
bestsellingego - for the "Castle" muses
southerncipher - for all of the albino FBI super!agent muses
callmeparanoid - for all of the "spooky" muses

for all queens who rule
for all fuzzy diplomats
for all willful human lawyers

autumn's here [ 2016 ]

katernater — Sun, 18 Sep 2016 01:36:48 GMT

“Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns.” - George Eliot

[ listen ]

l u p u s | r e g n o

katernater — Sat, 10 Sep 2016 02:09:46 GMT

I am made to tremble, and I fear, till the judgment be upon us, and the coming wrath,
When the heavens and the earth shall be moved.

A mix for the (were)wolves who rule.

(listen)

autumn's here [ 2015 ]

katernater — Fri, 11 Sep 2015 13:29:37 GMT

Available here.

autumn's here [ 2014 ]

katernater — Sun, 14 Sep 2014 22:30:19 GMT

Available here.

autumn's here [ 2013 ]

katernater — Tue, 03 Sep 2013 21:12:56 GMT

Available here.

I Am No Beast [ An EP for Guy Haines ]

katernater — Sat, 23 Mar 2013 01:44:57 GMT

Long time, no post. So, I joined another RPG, this time in the James Bond/Skyfall universe, and I am having a screaming good time with it. The game takes place three months after the events in Skyfall and my character, Guy Haines, is a certified baddie of the baddest sort. He's a member of the British aristocracy who moonlights as one of Ernst Blofeld's informants; a real sinner in the guise of a saint. You can read more about him here.

Anyway, as these things often do, my affection for this particular character manifested itself in a variety of ways, not the least of which was an eight track EP. I've included the 8tracks link here, for your pleasure. Download links for the mix are available upon request.

Listen here

autumn's here : an ep for fall 2012

katernater — Sat, 15 Sep 2012 00:11:24 GMT

This year's fall EP is located at my Tumblr.

katernater — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 01:26:21 GMT

Can anyone recommend a good Poe biography?

Happy Valentine's Day indeed!

katernater — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 00:22:12 GMT

YOU GUYS.

MY MOM SENT ME A PILE OF HOMEMADE SUGAR COOKIES FOR VALENTINE'S DAY.

A PILE.

This is the last time

katernater — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 00:03:26 GMT

I just read the news (via a TV Guide Facebook post, so take that with the pillar of salt it deserves) that this year will be House's final season. The finale in May will serve as the end of the series. The decision to end the show doesn't really come as a surprise; with Hugh Laurie focusing more and more on his musical career, it was impossible to sustain the show for much longer. I hear that it was a mutual call between Laurie, Jacobs, and Shore. I respect their decision to bow out. Ratings have slumped in the last two seasons and, while they rallied in the earlier part of this year, the show never came back after the departure of the "original cast."

I haven't watched any of Season 8. I admire the show, and Hugh Laurie, but I'm comfortable with the decision to end things. I'd very much like to see the return of old characters -- Cuddy, Cameron, Ridiculous Old Fraud -- and will probably tune in for the final episode, if for no other reason than to pay tribute to a show that has meant so much to me over the years.

In other news, Tim, Kate (a co-worker of mine) and I are doing a polar plunge this Saturday, and it would be really keen if you could make a donation. We're raising money to benefit Special Olympics Indiana. Our fundraising goal is $100, but any measure of contribution would be heartily welcomed. Absolutely no pressure, of course. You'll likely get pictures of the three of us freezing out butts off no matter what, so win/win.

Easy peasy.

katernater — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 17:41:59 GMT

I'm about to head out of the office in order to get the jump on the weekend's events -- including going to Indianapolis for Winter Beer Fest 2012, and a tour of the Vonnegut Memorial Library -- but realize that there is not too much to report otherwise. I'm at the front end of another busy semester and finally feel like I'm settling into the role of a teacher; at least, my interpretation of what kind of role I should play as a teacher. I've started going to yoga classes with a friend from work, and am really enjoying it so far.

I'm having a lovely time writing with another_myself, whose talent and creativity never fail to impress.

I suppose I'm drifting away from Livejournal, not just because of the "Update 88" fiasco, but because it takes time to update and I've just run out of that particular commodity lately. I'm certainly more active over on my Tumblr, but at present it's heavily Sherlock-centric, despite the fact that there are probably only so many ways to flail over Benedict Cumberbatch's incredible face. Then again, probably not.

I also watch this Sherlock fanvid at least once a day, because, EMOTIONS*:

* Spoilers up through the second series episode, "The Hounds of Baskerville"

Have a lovely weekend, everyone!

Sherlock will return!

katernater — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 20:44:22 GMT

Sherlock to return for third series

Sherlock will return for a third series, its creators have revealed after a dramatic conclusion to the second run of the BBC One drama. Ahead of series two, co-creator Steven Moffat told BBC News there was "no guarantee we'll be bringing him back".

But on Sunday night, Moffat wrote on Twitter: "Of course there's going to be a third series - it was commissioned at the same time as the second. Gotcha!"

It was watched by an average audience of 7.9 million overnight figures show. That compared with the 8.8 million average audience of the opening episode on New Year's Day.

The modern take on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's detective tales stars Benedict Cumberbatch in the title role.

Moffat's co-creator Mark Gatiss also wrote on Twitter: "Gotcha! And of course there'll be a third series!"

Conan Doyle's The Final Problem, published in 1893, ended with Holmes and his arch-enemy Professor Moriarty apparently falling to their deaths at the Reichenbach Falls in Switzerland. Conan Doyle later resurrected his hero.

Sunday night's episode was called The Reichenbach Fall. In interviews in December to promote the show - which also stars Martin Freeman as Holmes' sidekick Doctor Watson - Moffat, Gatiss and cast members had hinted the second series could be the last.

Asked by BBC News, how much freedom writers had to move away from the plot of Conan Doyle's original stories, Moffat said: "Complete freedom. It's like telling the story again so there's no guarantee we'll be bringing him back." And asked if there would be a third series in an interview published by website Digital Spy last week, Moffat replied: "If he survives."

There is no indication of when the third series would be transmitted, but it is likely to be next year at the earliest, as its stars are both involved in major Hollywood movies.

Cumberbatch was recently cast as the villain in the new Star Trek film, while Freeman is currently shooting The Hobbit in New Zealand. However, Freeman has signalled his willingness to return, telling the BBC's Graham Norton Show: "It's one of the few things I've done ever really where I think 'I'd like to do a lot of these'".

"It's a very nice way to spend your time.

"The hope, the plan, is that we will do a third series."

The latest, three-part series of Sherlock has been lauded by critics.

The Guardian's Sam Wollaston said Sunday night's episode was, at times "faithful to Sir ACD's The Final Problem, then it will wander, taking in mobile phone technology and computer hacking and what have you".

"But it doesn't feel like cheating; more like an open relationship, agreed by both parties."

The Daily Telegraph's Sarah Crompton said Cumberbatch was "riding the wave of what has been a triumph".

katernater — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 18:43:41 GMT

2012: A YEAR IN BOOKS

katernater — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 01:14:24 GMT

I recently asked my dad to let me "test drive" his Kindle, so as to determine whether or not I want to purchase an eReader in the future. I like the idea of having several books "on deck" while I make my way through another; I have decided to keep track of the books I read this year, and to provide a desultory rating system by which to grade what I thought of them. I would like to read at least twenty books this year -- either through the eReader or the tried and true paper versions -- and welcome suggestions for future picks.

Mostly, though, this list is for me.

2012: A YEAR IN BOOKS

1. 2001: A Space Odyssey, by Arthur C. Clarke | Rating: ★★★★★
2. The Man Who Loved Books Too Much: The True Story of a Thief, a Detective, and a World of Literary Obsession, by A. H. Bartlett | Rating: ★★★☆☆
3. Professor Moriarty: The Hound of the D'Urbervilles, by Kim Newman | Rating: ★★☆☆☆
4. Introvert Power: Why Your Inner Life Is Your Hidden Strength, by Laurie Helgoe, Ph.D. | Rating: ★★★★☆
5. The Mandala of Sherlock Holmes, by Jamyang Norbu | Rating: ★★★☆☆
6. Blind Descent: The Quest to Discover the Deepest Place on Earth, by James M. Tabor | Rating: ★★★★☆
7. Elizabeth the Queen: The Life of a Modern Monarch, by Sally Bedell Smith | Rating: ★★★★☆

2011 Year-End Roundup

katernater — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 22:55:27 GMT

2011 Scrapbook results:

Total Books Read: 14
Total New Movies Seen: 65
Total TV Shows Watched: 15

A more detailed run-down of the things I liked/loved/loathed in 2011 will probably follow after the first of the year. Have a wonderful (and safe) New Year's Eve, everyone!

Album Rec - "Ashes & Fire" - Ryan Adams

katernater — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 03:56:07 GMT

I have been a Ryan Adams (that's Ryan Adams, not Bryan Adams; if you're looking for sentimental pop ballads, you'd best take your search elsewhere) fan for years, ever since I heard "Firecracker" off of his sophomore album, Gold, back in my undergraduate years. (For some reason, the albums you listen to during college -- arguably your most formative years -- tend to stick with you more than others. They do for me, at least.) I have since seen him twice in concert, the second time being right before his self-imposed "retirement" from performance owing to a case of Ménière's disease, which kept him out of the music scene for close to two years. Now it seems that Adams is back, and in full force. His early work (starting with the seminal Heartbreaker) has developed into a solid, deeply introspective sound that comes to full fruition in his latest release, Ashes & Fire.

This album has earned the top spot in my list of Favorite Albums of 2011. It is Adams at his best: melancholy yet hopeful; earnest and painfully self-deprecating. It is one of those rare albums that I can listen to all the way through, without wanting to skip tracks. Adams's attention to lyrical detail -- honed and sweetly optimistic since his marriage to actress Mandy Moore in 2009 (I know, right?) -- is nothing short of brilliant here. The newly sober, newly lovestruck Adams retains his soulfulness while simultaneously breaking into new territory with tracks like "Come Home," "Kindness," and (my favourite) "I Love You But I Don't Know What To Say."

I highly recommend this album. Give it a try; I would love to know what you think, too.

Ashes & Fire
1. Dirty Rain
2. Ashes & Fire
3. Come Home
4. Rocks
5. Do I Wait
6. Chains of Love
7. Invisible Riverside
8. Save Me
9. Kindness
10. Lucky Now
11. I Love You But I Don't Know What To Say

Get it here.

This entry has an anecdote and some a capella

katernater — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 00:27:37 GMT

I got my first taste of the Christmas retail season this afternoon. I am taking the day off of work tomorrow to join Tim in Muncie, where David Letterman and Rachel Maddow will participate in a discussion at my alma mater. Tim and I are going to do a bunch of Christmas stuff after the event (we're going on a "tree tour" at the dean's mansion, then getting a live tree of our own to decorate), so I wanted a new holiday sweater to wear for the occasion (and for the inevitable photographs). I am on a strict budget this Christmas. Other than foodstuffs, gas, bills, and essential Christmas gifts for others, I am putting myself on a monetary fast until the new year. (But look out, January 1: I will very likely be hung over for you and wanting lots of pancakes.)

Suffice it to say that I was not in the market for designer labels, nor was I interested in padding out my winter wardrobe. This attitude is anathema to the average retail salesperson (often known by their scientific name: Gottagetium commissionicus), and as soon as I crossed the threshold of my neighborhood boutique I was swept up in the whirlwind of a saleswoman named Lisa, who proceeded to ply me with so many fibers, textures, and layers that it started to feel like a movie montage. You know, maybe to a Roy Orbison song. Unfortunately, I'm a teacher and not a hooker with a heart of gold, so I don't make that much money. A notion which I thought I made pretty clear when Lisa asked me what I did for a living. "A teacher, huh?" she asked, as she handed me three more pairs of trousers and a blouse that looked like it had come out of a sheet metal factory, "that's cool. You should try on this shirt. It would look amazing with a pair of heels and hoop earrings. All of our jewelry is on sale for 50% off." I looked back at my overloaded dressing room and cracked a tight smile: "I'm a teacher, Lisa. Not the dean."

I finally settled on a pair of black trousers and a sweater, pretty proud that I'd resisted temptation. At the counter, Lisa rang up my order and chatted amiably to her manager that I'd "found some nice items," but that I hadn't decided on any of the sixteen pairs of jeans she'd shown me. The manager's jaw dropped like she'd just been told I enjoy punting kittens in my free time. "You're not taking advantage of the BOGO sale?" she asked, at which point Lisa made a sympathetic clucking sound in the back of her throat. (The jeans, while not outrageously expensive, were approximately the same amount of money that I spend heating my apartment every month.) "I'll come back," I cringed, feeling sort of like I'd just told my ninety-eight-year-old grandmother that I would not be staying to play canasta with her and all of the other nursing home residents. Lisa smiled genially and handed me my bag. "Come back and see me," she said cheerily. I promised her that I would, took my bag, and left.

Now, let me say this: I have a lot of respect for people who work retail. I did it once, for a summer, and learned enough to know that I never wanted to do it again. Nine times out of ten, retail is a thankless job. Customers are needy, or fickle, or downright rude and often see the retail associate as a category of sub-human. I know that Lisa was just trying to do her job. I was never rude to her and I made sure that she knew I appreciated her time, but I never allowed myself to be pushed into buying anything I didn't want. That's the main reason I avoid shopping at places like the Buckle, where you are practically locked in a dressing room by a sales associate as soon as you walk in the door. It probably doesn't help that I experience sudden mood swings while shopping: one minute I'm tooling around the aisles, happy as can be, and the next it's all I can do not to sprint out to the parking lot with a bag over my head.

Afterward, I went over to Wal-Mart to pick up a few groceries. When I walked in, I met the eyes of the greeter stationed beside the door. He gave me a world-weary scowl and looked away, intentionally erasing me from his memory.

Ah, I thought, breathing a sigh of relief, my people.

Hey! This entry even has its own theme song:

"...And it was. It really was."

katernater — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 02:38:29 GMT

So, the Titanic 3D trailer should not have made me as emotional as it did. But, gah, I can't help it. When it first came out, I saw it in theaters something like seven times. Do you know long that movie is? It's more than three hours. Three hours times seven: that's over twenty-one hours. Every day in the world, 490,000 babies are born. The amount of time I spent in the theater watching Titanic is roughly equivalent to the amount of time it took 490,000 people to enter the world. Ri-freakin'-diculous.

My goodness, I can't wait until this week is over. I'll be going home over the Thanksgiving holiday. We've got Wednesday off from school, so I will leave Tuesday afternoon right after class. I'm swinging 'round Tim's place on my way back through town on Sunday. We're doing Thanksgiving with our respective families this year. In December he'll spend the weekend before Christmas up in Fort Wayne with my family, and then I'll join him and his family in Indianapolis for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

...It feels really grown up to say that. I've never spent real Christmas away from my family before. And I don't think I would consider doing that for anyone but Tim.

On episode 1x03 of Fringe and it's started to get weird. I mean. Comparatively speaking. :\

"Excellent! Let's make some LSD!"

katernater — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 02:33:14 GMT

I was feeling nostalgic for high school earlier today, for no reason in particular. I just sent off an e-mail to my former concert orchestra teacher, thanking him for the positive impact he had on my life. I told him that I, too, am now a teacher and while I don't teach music, I do carry some of his lessons with me "on stage" every day. Again, I don't know what prompted the retrospection. I guess it's in part because my 10-year reunion is coming up in 2012 and that, when face to face with visions of your high school self, it's hard not to take stock of what really mattered at the end of it all.

In other news, I have started watching the first season of Fringe. John Noble's character reminds me of too many of my relatives for comfort.

blessings.

katernater — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 02:23:57 GMT

I'm sitting here at the kitchen table having just switched the contents of my "fall" purse to my "fall-winter transition" purse (yes, I have such a thing, shut up), writing a couple of notes that I'll drop in the mailbox tomorrow, listening to the Edward Scissorhands soundtrack and drinking Sleepytime Tea.

My life: it's not exactly the fast lane, but it suits me fine.

There are a lot of parenthetical asides in this entry.

katernater — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 02:49:35 GMT

So it's the first week of November and my aspirations of starting a NaNo project have been hijacked by a visit (and two subsequent class observations) by home office, a cold, and an overwhelming feeling of exhaustion on account of both. I don't think I'm going to be nearly as productive as I had hoped this year. This week was pretty rough and I pretty much came home tonight, turned off my cell phone and fell into bed. If you texted or called and I didn't call you back, it was because I was engaging in some pretty serious Kate-and-pillow time and having my cell phone in the other room was roughly the real life equivalent of Frodo and Sam trying to get the ring to Mordor (albeit with less Lembas bread and a great deal more chintz, on account of my pillow scheme) and me starting to come down with a cold, which makes moving an even less appealing enterprise than usual. I have spent most of this evening watching episodes of American Horror Story (with Dylan McDermott replacing Matthew Fox as the most weepy character on prime time television) and mainlining cold medicine.

Last week was my birthday and I had a pretty good time. Tim came up for the weekend and we went to a staff Halloween party (as Johnny Cash and June Carter, respectively) and took a couple of walks, and held hands, and watched a football game, and stop me when this all gets too mushy to bear without an insulin shot. I'm going to Indianapolis to see him next weekend. We've already decided to spend Christmas together this year. There's even been talk of a skiing trip out west, maybe to Colorado. Neither of us can really afford extravagance -- he's a graduate student and I'm making a teacher's wage -- but I think we're mutually agreed upon the idea that, as long as we can see each other, anywhere we go will become like home. For my birthday, he bought me an Escher print (we had talked about our mutual love of Escher and Dali the first time we went out this year, which I really have to give it up to him for remembering), a bouquet of flowers (some of which I am pressing so I can keep), and an X-Men wall calendar of "epic battles" from 1995. (I love that this guy is as brilliant as all get out, but at the same time has total nerd tendencies. Like me.) On Sunday of last weekend we woke up and Tim cooked breakfast for us both -- complete with eggs and rashers and toast smeared with pumpkin butter -- and we listened to an episode of Cabin Pressure while we ate and my god, is there anything better than eating bacon and listening to Benedict Cumberbatch's voice with someone you love? You'd be hard-pressed to convince me that there is. Really.

I'm all caught up on my television shows and don't know what to watch next. another_myself recommended Revenge, and my dad has been talking up Person of Interest (of which I have watched half of the first episode, mostly because of Michael Emerson), but I haven't really found anything that captures my attention. Do you guys have any recommendations? What are you watching these days?

My guaranteed daily .05 seconds of elation:

katernater — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 12:43:57 GMT

There's a stack of boxed wall clocks in the break room at work. The boxes are of a certain dimension that, for half a second, I mistake them for donut boxes. When I remember what they actually are, I become very sad. This happens at least three times a week.

...It's good to be back in the saddle again.

This is really cool.

katernater — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 20:07:33 GMT

I volunteered at my family's church this weekend, packing meals for Feed My Starving Children. Initially I wasn't going to post about it because I always feel weird talking about volunteer hours; like, somehow, people will think that I'm mentioning it just so I can say I did volunteer work. But my dad sent me the final totals this afternoon and these numbers are just too awesome not to mention:

In three days we had over 1700 volunteers who packed 404,568 meals, which will feed 1108 children for a year.

Last year our total was 200,000 meals. This year, our goal was to hit 400,000. We hit that, and some change.

It feels really good to have been able to be a part of that experience.

A study in layaboutness

katernater — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 15:49:47 GMT

Just a quick update to let everyone know I'm on term break, not dead. I spent last weekend with Tim in Muncie, then came back home to Fort Wayne on Sunday evening. I've made some progress on my NaNo project this week, which was kind of a big shocker, because I usually just say I'm going to work on something like that and end up watching back-to-back documentaries about giant jellyfish instead. But no! Real progress! I admit that I'm kind of daunted by the idea of actually starting to write this thing, though. I'm pretty sure I'm not going to be able to finish by the November 31 deadline. To be honest, I'm just going to be glad to start the project. NaNo just gives me an excuse to pretend I'll stick to deadlines.

Today I am going to hang out with my dog and read Game of Thrones.

I am also going to try to watch Third Star without crying so much that I throw up.