Katie Goes...

Watch "Beyond Coal", and the next episode is in Asheville:  Asheville Beyond Coal | Beyond Coal Thank you, Sierra Club, for the following information: Mining our Mountains In Appalachia, mining companies literally blow the tops off mountains to reach thin seams of coal. They then dump millions of tons of rubble and toxic waste into the streams and valleys below the mining sites. This destructive practice, known as mountaintop-removal mining, has damaged or destroyed nearly 2,000 miles of streams  and threatens to destroy 1.4 million acres of mountaintops and forests by 2020. The mining poisons drinking water, destroys beautiful, biodiverse forests and wildlife habitat, increases the risk of flooding, and wipes out entire communities. Who Gets Hurt Mountaintop-removal mining pollutes waterways and allows toxic heavy metals such as cadmium, selenium, and arsenic to leach into local water supplies that Appalachia's people rely on. But the danger isn't limited to dri...

How interesting to delve back into the world of acting and film.  As a kid I only wanted to be an actress or a C-5 pilot (my Mom was in the Air Force).   It feels like at least three lifetimes have happened from then to now.  Being forty and still unsure of what I want to "be" when I grow up is halfway between embarrassing, and, well, still exciting.  I'll be working with the New York Studio for Stage and Screen, as their development and social media manager! They are an incredibly talented group with an impressive array of professional instructors.  Ha.  Now this sounds like a commercial.  I'm just excited to be around people who love what they do and do it to the best of their abilities. Go Asheville for welcoming a professional acting conservatory!!  Here's the website, and a demo reel.  Enjoy! http://www.ashevilleactingclasses.com/ The New York Studio for Stage and Screen(NYS3) Commercial Highlight Reel

The theme for my birthday was "halfway to 80", so, naturally, a totally awesome '80s party (in a cool basement) ensued...it really was fantastic.  The music was perfect, the champagne was plentiful, and the pool table and firepit were hot all night!  All of the stress leading up to this "over the hill" moment dissolved like a bag of pop rocks and 1am found me outside with two of my best friends, toasting to love and gratitude, with a light snow falling in the background.    I am incredibly blessed and grateful for amazing friends and family. Thank you for a rockin' 40.  I think it was Carl Jung who said, "everything before 40 is just research"...excellent, let's get to it then! (cue Simple Minds' "Don't You Forget About Me"...)  

For the next six months I'm going to do something amazing every day.  It might be having a salad for dinner, or going to the gym...or happy hour at Mai Tais.  (Depends on the day) I approach forty like an eating disorder, which will be easier to deal with in hindsight, but here I am now.  Geneen Roth wrote a wonderful and heartbreaking book called, "When Food is Love" and I read it through tear-blurred eyes, the first time, when I was about 13.  One chapter, in particular, has stayed with me- the part about the little girl and M&Ms: A mother brought her overweight daughter to Ms. Roth, frantically overwrought that her daughter kept gaining wait and she was so young.  Ms. Roth asked the little girl what was her favourite treat, "M&Ms!!!" she cried.  The mother was instructed to get a pillow case and fill it with the chocolate candy and have her daughter carry it around with her wherever she went.  The mother did as instructed and the daught...

"The time is now, the walrus said, to talk of many things..." Well, in 6 months, I turn forty.  Yeah, yeah, I know, it's just a number.  Regardless, I started taking a Social Psychology class and there was an "about me" portion to fill out on our profile.  I know I'm coming up to a time that is a huge right of passage, and it might take 10 years to get through it...but I feel it. Here is what I wrote: As a social entrepreneur, I look at a problem as an artist views a blank canvas, and my mediums are storytelling, art therapy, music, theatre, spoken word, and film. I have engaged in community activism all over the world, but the experience closest to my heart is when I produced and directed the musical HAIR. The event was preceded by a host of local events, workshops and panel discussions that created dialogue on race, sex, drugs, war, and the environment. Among those who were engaged in this production were the Asheville chapter of the Veterans for ...

I love this woman; I love this blog.  I appreciate the comments and am so happy there is a conversation.    Now everyone get out your copy of The Beauty Myth and then watch "Killing Us Softly". http://bellejarblog.wordpress.com/2013/04/22/dove-does-not-give-a-shit-about-whether-or-not-you-feel-beautiful/comment-page-2/#comment-5637

Since January 7, I have been teaching 5th and 6th grade Language Arts at a Catholic School in Hawai'i.    After a brief rent-compelled stint at Macy*s, I called the Catholic school around the corner to see if they needed a substitute teacher; lo and behold, they needed a full-time replacement for the spring semester.  Even though I've done this before, I still went in with big ideas.  My sails were full to bursting on my ship of academic creativity and I had a full-fledged fantasy in place of bestowing the magic of at least 15 of my favourite novels from middle school, linking verbs, and of course, vocabulary.  I love words, the subtle nuance and power of erudite discourse, and I was ready to shower my new students with all the love and wonder language and grammar can bestow.   *This is where heartbreaking reality of fifty-six 10-12 year-olds with no discipline nor skills comes crashing down and I venture to cover it up with self-deprecating and cyni...