Kitty Mao's Right Ons!

1. I am so seriously not kidding right now... being at ISU. Don't laugh. I'm totally serious. Things are so cool right now.
2. My movement class. Just believe me, because I'm beign sincere. As in Not Joking.
3. Joseph Cornell.
4. Rachel's.
5. I act/improvise every day. I get to get up and try it again EVERY DAY.
6. How I'm scared to do that, and I do it anyway. The cat is brave. She a yion.
7. Finding out that I want to know about something or try something and then going and finding out about it or trying it. I'm a cat with agency.
8. Smoothies in a blender. With berries and bananas.
9. Any kind of nut butter, but most especially almond and cashew butters.
10. Getting lots of movies from the library and watching them while I eat the smoothies.
11. My apartment, the Ghettoasis.
12. Eating Chinese food with my mom.
13. My bangs (they're hot).
14. My office.
15. All new beginnings and opportunities for more discovery and... yeah. All that stuff.

A mao-
K

vibelation get you stimulation

Hi, m'loves! I've been back in Bloomington for several days and having some good times. It was really cool just to be home by myself for a while. I thought about using the entire week to travel and visit, but then thought better of it. It was nice: No pressure, no worries, no obligations... I caught up on homework, I caught up on my movie-watching a bit (The Man Who Knew Too Much, Shadow of a Doubt (rewatch), Pollock (meh), Keep the River on Your Right (interesting!), Intermezzo (schmaltzy, but Ingrid Bergman is great as always), and some others. I also memorized EVERYTHING I need to memorize for the next several weeks. So my head is a-swim with Shakespeare. I leisure-read!! It was Utopia Parkway: The Life and Works of Joseph Cornell, since you're asking. And I made lots of healthy, ice-creamy smoothies with my NEW BLENDER. Which is actually my dad's OLD BLENDER. Works really well, though.

O.K., going to class. E-mail me, you sexies!
Love, K

having a fine time with your friends, you must be a dab at life!

I had so much fun last night! I went to CSPS (my first time ever) to see a film festival, which was SO cool. Way cooler than I thought it would be. I think I was prejudiced because the only other film festivals I'd seen in Iowa were Thaw (which was great, just totally experimental) and Hardacre (which is more chaff than wheat [Pavilion of Women?! Bluh]). Of course, that was a while ago. They've maybe improved their selections. And you can't beat the kettle corn the local boy scout troop sells outside the theatre. But so I was expecting it to be corny (get it? Iowa film festival? Corny?). But it was actually really excellent. There were some that were experimental and some that were documentaries and some that were short features. It was SO good... And I ended up running into people from my old job there, and catching up with them, and I got to meet one of the artists that was the subject of one of the documentaries (Elaine Beck, she's brilliant)... just another reason to miss home.

I'm going to visit the pops tomorrow and see how he's doing and then I'm back to Bloomington. I need to focus and get some stuff done. I need to memorize, memorize, memorize!

Mao-
Love,K

keep happy friendship with your pets

Hi! I'm in IOWA! I went to Lou Henri yesterday for lunch. I think they should give you a prize if you eat the whole Tempeh Burrito, that thing is ridiculous. It's like a vegan version of a 12-ounce steak... why would you even serve that much food when you know it' not possible to finish it??? Let's see... Summit House is still the shizzle hizzle, as far as I'm concerned. There is now organic homebrew on tap in the basement for two dollars a glass. Wha???! That's right, two dollars. It's delish, and the whole thing is rigged to come out of our old deep-freeze that died last year. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle! (I'll drink to that, hahaha.)

Also, I am overcome with inspiration. I got my own office about a month ago and it's just a wee cinderblock walk-in closet, but it's mine, all mine. So I was thinking that I would use these stamps that I got to put quotes on the wall and then paint chery blossoms around them, but then I started thinking about how cool it would be to have a bicycle wheel just hanging somewhere. Some inexplicable found art just pasted up or strewn around... THEN I started thinking about Joseph Cornell and his shadowboxes, and that's when I realized that my office is going to be a masterpiece. I just have to keep my eyes peeled for good junk.

Wow, I miss it here. Maybe someday I can come back to Iowa. Though, I have to say that it's wonderful and more sweet than bitter to love a place so much. And to love my friends so much. I mean, even missing people feels good sometimes.

please stand at assigned place and raise your head for two seconds

I can't WAIT FOR SPRING BREAK! I am going to sit in the nook the whole time. Actually, I have to go home and see my papa (he just came through another surgery successfully, not a serious one, but I wanna see him all the same), and then my mama, and then Sister & Co., and then I want to settle into the nook and stay there.

And also eat the imported chocolate fondue from here. Look under sauces. Oh, mao!

I'm mooning all the morning, morning all the night

Mao! I just heard from FLOSSIE! She's doing great. If any of you Osh-Vegas cats want to hear from her, e-mail me and I will hook you up.

Marisol is over. What an experience. I loved it, and I think I loved the process more than the performance. This play marks the beginning of a new approach to acting for me, and it's really exciting and wonderful. The only thing I don't love about the play it the fact that the run is over, because it seemed like every time I rehearsed or performed it I found something new to do. I don't know, I'm feeling strong lately, in general. Really focused and centered and powerful. If you need someone's ass kicked, let me know, because I think I could probably do it.

Seriously, I think I'm feeling this way because things have been going so well for me, with regard to my studies. It's ironic really, because in some ways I'm probably not giving very good performances... I think back to some of the stuff I did in Iowa and how I did it, and the product was good but the "how" was all wrong. So I'm making adjustments to my process and they're causing tectonic shifts in me as an actor. And I think it's changing me as a person ( how could it not, really). It's exciting.

O.K.

Top Five Albums for Today, Monday, March 7, 2005
Rachel's, Systems/Layers
Various Artists, Gravichords, Whirlies, and Pyrophones
Missy Elliot, Under Construction
Iron and Wine, Our Endless Numbered Days
My Tribe Called Quest CD