I've moved to Tumblr!

This blog is basically dead, BUT I NOW BLOG HERE:

http://katharinec.tumblr.com

Check me out! It's REALLY ACTIVE! Way more active than Aptronym ever was!

I'm tumbling! Yay!

I just signed up for tumblr!! I'm really excited about this - I have a feeling this internet experiment of mine will go really well! PLEASE check it out, subscribe to the RSS feed, bookmark me, friend me on tumblr (is that possible on tumblr? I'm actually not sure) etc!

Link: http://katharinec.tumblr.com

It's far more stream of consciousness + scrapbook conducive than blogger. I'm psyched! I'll probably update multiple times per day but the entries will be SHORT SHORT SHORT!

Don't consider this blog dead though. The two blogs will probably be towards different ends, but my tumblr blog will probably get a lot more play, at least for now.

My friend Adrienne, kicking major arse!

My awesome friend Adrienne just linked me up with her appearance in an episode of the TV series, "Secret Lives of Women," that focuses on eating disorders. She was profiled as she is in recovery from anorexia. Above is a preview clip, and also check out the full episode synopsis and show times so you can catch it in full! I can't wait to see the whole thing!

I am so overflowing with happy feelings for you, Adrienne! And pride and respect! For so many reasons, and to top it off you're speaking out - this is what makes the world a better place, Adrienne, consider me humbled and inspired by your strength and courage!

If you like your sushi with a side of orgasm...

Okay, so Sushi Mike's is ridonculous and amazing, especially considering it's just a little hole in the wall in downtown Dobbs Ferry with like the worst ambiance ever (way crowded - take out is the way to go)! Well, I'm really harsh on the ambiance, but for some I'm sure they'd find it charming, but I just find it stressful.

I am OBSESSED (like obsessed... very obsessed!) with their Chef's Specialty Rolls. So far I've had 5, 6, 7, 14, 15, and 18 (otherwise known as Out of Control Roll, Spider Roll, S and S Roll, Best of the Best Roll, Mr. Fuji Roll, and Out of This World Roll) and every single one was, undeniably, completely orgasmic!

And whoever had the idea to make soft shell crab tempura was a genius. A genius!

/obsessive entry about how awesome Sushi Mike's is.

I'm totally getting a couple specialty rolls tonight too.. delicious!

To be fair, I had one odd experience with Sushi Mike's... I got some takeout salmon sashimi, and it was marginally frozen. Gross. Doesn't really jive with how amazing they have been every other time... so I'm just trying to forget that happened...

My no longer top secret weekend project!

I spent the weekend helping to create this: Obama '08 (A grassroots social media Mixx community!)

It was top secret, because Mixx communities were in alpha, but now you can come get involved! TechCrunch has the story here, and Mixx posted about it here in their official blog!

Mixx is a GREAT GREAT site, a true standout in the social media arena, and they have all sorts of communities (including one run by the GOP, but CLEARLY you want to check out the Obama community instead! ;-)) and now that this feature is public, anyone can start a community.. and about anything!

And if you love me, which I know you do, you'll join the Obama '08 group that I run with another Mixx user, BrettRowls, and get involved in our great grassroots community!

I would also like to thank Mixx staff, particularly Chris and Kerry with whom I've been interacting a lot the last week or so. I have never, ever, EVER (ever... ever not even close, ever) dealt with a company where the people who run it are so accessible and helpful - at lightning fast speed too! They continue to completely shatter through and exceed my expectations, over and over again!

So this blog entry is an ode to Mixx the product, an ode to Mixx the community, an ode to Mixx the people who work there and started it, a shout out to Barack Obama and a plea to others to get involved with his campaign and this great new tool to help you do so, and also a self-promotional sheepish request to my friends to be supportive and check out this little project which I threw my mind, heart, and soul into this weekend:-)

Sincerely,
a massively satisfied Mixx user (katharinec),
huge Barack Obama supporter (yes we can:-)),
Katharine

China, why don't you love me? :-(

So, China released a document that says I cannot go to the Olympics.

The rules also bar entry to smugglers, drug traffickers, prostitutes and those with "mental diseases" or contagious conditions."

(Well, more than even just that, click away on that hyperlink for more info.)

I've been to China - I've even been to Beijing, China, in fact, and I went to the '96 Olympics in Atlanta. However, for the "mentally diseased" such as myself, China doesn't think we're up to China+Olympics concurrently.

I wasn't planning on going anyway, China, but it kind of hurts anyway.

I kind of want to go now, hide my meds in a body cavity or something when entering the country, take a photo of myself in front of some landmarks and Olympics goings on, leave the country, and post photos of myself on Facebook with a witty caption....

Seriously though, it pisses me off. I'm not being cute.

Katharine, what is up with your blog!?

Actually, I am not sure! But stay tuned, I'm sure this will turn into something. I received an e-mail from someone wanting to buy my beloved blog, to which I say NO!!! This is my beloved, neglected baby! So what if my posts are very "linky" lately... and I had a gap of about two months. This is for me to turn to when I feel like it, and I won't give up on it! I bet this will turn into something. I'll probably be posting more regularly in the upcoming days and so forth, but don't you ever think this blog to be dead! Mmmkay? Okay! And my experimentation continues...

Add Andrés Idarraga to my list of heroes...

I am so moved and inspired by this guy, Andrés Idarraga! Here's a blurb from The Sentencing Project:

Andres Idarraga has been accepted to Yale Law School – ten years after the Rhode Island Adult Correctional Institution accepted him into its system for a cocaine conviction. Idarraga, who graduated this year from Brown University, has since become a prominent advocate for restoring the right to vote to thousands of persons disenfranchised in Rhode Island because of a felony conviction. As a result of his and others' efforts, Rhode Island law was reformed in 2006 and now allows individuals with felony convictions to vote immediately after being released from prison. Now, Idarraga will further hone his legal talents at Yale. "I … realized that the odds against an ex-offender can be very high, particularly if he or she is reaching for the stars," said Yale graduate and Corrections Director A.T. Wall, who personally drove Idarraga to New Haven for an interview with the law school's dean. "There was no doubt in my mind that Andres had the ability, the intellect and the drive to succeed in law school."

Also, check out this bit from Brown Univeristy and this from The Providence Journal!!!

How cool? I am humbled and inspired. I will try to live a good life, and people like Idarraga give me the gift of hope.

Obama being awesome, Father's Day style!

Obama is awesome and should be president. I recommend reading the article and then the transcript and then watching the video. The article gives a brief overview, the transcript is to the point (and rather short), and the video has the impact of his delivery, plus he embellishes a lot on the speech as prepared for delivery.

Article: "Obama Calls for More Responsibility From Black Fathers" - New York Times, June 16, 2008

Transcipt: Obama's Father's Day Remarks
(below are some excerpts)

Of all the rocks upon which we build our lives, we are reminded today that family is the most important. And we are called to recognize and honor how critical every father is to that foundation. They are teachers and coaches. They are mentors and role models. They are examples of success and the men who constantly push us toward it.

But if we are honest with ourselves, we'll admit that what too many fathers also are is missing – missing from too many lives and too many homes. They have abandoned their responsibilities, acting like boys instead of men. And the foundations of our families are weaker because of it.

You and I know how true this is in the African-American community. We know that more than half of all black children live in single-parent households, a number that has doubled – doubled – since we were children. We know the statistics – that children who grow up without a father are five times more likely to live in poverty and commit crime; nine times more likely to drop out of schools and twenty times more likely to end up in prison. They are more likely to have behavioral problems, or run away from home, or become teenage parents themselves. And the foundations of our community are weaker because of it.

How many times in the last year has this city lost a child at the hands of another child? How many times have our hearts stopped in the middle of the night with the sound of a gunshot or a siren? How many teenagers have we seen hanging around on street corners when they should be sitting in a classroom? How many are sitting in prison when they should be working, or at least looking for a job? How many in this generation are we willing to lose to poverty or violence or addiction? How many?

Yes, we need more cops on the street. Yes, we need fewer guns in the hands of people who shouldn't have them. Yes, we need more money for our schools, and more outstanding teachers in the classroom, and more afterschool programs for our children. Yes, we need more jobs and more job training and more opportunity in our communities.

But we also need families to raise our children. We need fathers to realize that responsibility does not end at conception. We need them to realize that what makes you a man is not the ability to have a child – it's the courage to raise one.

I know what it means to have an absent father, although my circumstances weren't as tough as they are for many young people today. Even though my father left us when I was two years old, and I only knew him from the letters he wrote and the stories that my family told, I was luckier than most. I grew up in Hawaii, and had two wonderful grandparents from Kansas who poured everything they had into helping my mother raise my sister and me – who worked with her to teach us about love and respect and the obligations we have to one another. I screwed up more often than I should've, but I got plenty of second chances. And even though we didn't have a lot of money, scholarships gave me the opportunity to go to some of the best schools in the country. A lot of kids don't get these chances today. There is no margin for error in their lives...

...The second thing we need to do as fathers is pass along the value of empathy to our children. Not sympathy, but empathy – the ability to stand in somebody else's shoes; to look at the world through their eyes. Sometimes it's so easy to get caught up in "us," that we forget about our obligations to one another. There's a culture in our society that says remembering these obligations is somehow soft – that we can't show weakness, and so therefore we can't show kindness.

But our young boys and girls see that. They see when you are ignoring or mistreating your wife. They see when you are inconsiderate at home; or when you are distant; or when you are thinking only of yourself. And so it's no surprise when we see that behavior in our schools or on our streets. That's why we pass on the values of empathy and kindness to our children by living them. We need to show our kids that you're not strong by putting other people down – you're strong by lifting them up. That's our responsibility as fathers.

Barack Obama's Speech on Father's Day: Barack addressed the congregation at the Apostolic Church of God in Chicago, IL on June 15, 2008.
Pass it on, and please share your thoughts, whatever they may be! :-)

Because I hate Dr. Phil, and this is funny!

Okay, so hate is a strong word that I don't think really applies to the way I feel about anyone, including Dr. Phil, but I strongly dislike him, and I strongly lament his horrible, detrimental impact on public perception of mental illness, among other things, how he takes advantage of those on his show, among others, and just generally, how generally icky his various products/business are.

The following is from 236.com. I guess there was some hoopla recently relating to bailing cheerleaders out of jail, and 23/6 created this lovely flowchart of his thoughts.