Kate

I'm a 30-something chickadee who is a recent transplant to the "real" South from Texas. I love it here, but I miss home like MAD.

I have a foul mouth, and sometimes foul temper, but at the same time, I'm really, really kind. I'll do almost anything for just about anyone who needs it.

A few years ago, I married the best one-night stand I ever had. He's from Germany, and is very stereotypically what Americans think of as German (tidy, prompt, strong work ethic, uh, uptight-ish). I'm a born and bred Texas girl, and I'm probably just about as opposite as I can be of all of those "German" qualities! We're working on starting a family, but it's been super slow going so far. That stinks, but I'm handling it with my typical (sometimes inappropriate) sense of humor.

In general, I enjoy clean design that has a bit of mess or noise to take the predictability out of it. Tailored, clean lines would generally cover my aesthetic sense, though.

In general, I also have a "green" sensibility. I buy organic when I can, and I use products that are environmentally sound. I like to find new uses for found objects- I'm definitely a re-user. At the same time, I'm really not that wound-up about it- I'm inconsistent at best. I won't chase you down for throwing a can in the trash, but if you were to ask me why I use canvas bags, I'll certainly share...

Oh, I love a little of everything. I'm an 80s child, and as a teen, I wanted more than anything to take off and follow the Cure on tour (or Depeche Mode or R.E.M. or New Order or...). Since that time, I've obviously grown a lot as a music lover. I'm interested in all types of jazz, blues, hip-hop, rap, folk, pop... gosh- anything but Tejano or super modern experimental classical music (a la John Cage).

I'm a classically trained violist, so I have a deep love of classical music, too, but in some ways, it's almost separate from my "entertainment" music experience.
In my CD player currently, you'll find:

Royksopp (Melody AM)

late 50s/early 60s bebop-ish mix

U2 (Rattle and Hum)

Meat Beat Manifesto

"party" mix, which includes: Lenny Kravitz, Mazzy Star, Bjork, Ludacris, Tribe Called Quest, James Taylor, and many, many others

Beethoven early quartets

I just read Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen. I really enjoyed it.
Other than that, I'm really into Margaret Atwood, but at times I have to be in the right mood to read her because she can be kind of dark sometimes. I kind of liked The Time Traveler's Wife for the same reason, though . Beautiful and sad, but romantic, and a little dark at the same time.

I like stories that are told in a unique way (via a series of emails or letters, or told from a more distant perspective).

In general, my favorite books are non-fiction that are written in a more narrative style, like most of Bill Bryson's books. I also like Blink and The Tipping Point (Malcolm Gladwell), and Freakonomics (Levitt, Dubner).

I've been spending waaaaay too much money on hobby books lately (sewing, knitting, recycled home decor, photography, gardening, general crafting, etc.).

I read. A lot. Constantly. Way, way too much.

Oh! It's so embarrassing, but I really love romantic comedies. I also have been on a John Cusack kick lately (but only comedies).
If I have to pick one and only one favorite, it would probably be Grosse Point Blank.

I also really liked Love Actually... the BBC Pride and Prejudice mini-series... 50 First Dates was really sweet.

My general opinion is that real life is stressful enough, so I really enjoy movies that are escapist, non-stress inducing events, thus, romantic comedies.

Battlestar Galactica!

Scrubs

Gardening by the Yard

Futurama

I also really enjoy semi-crappy reality television. I always get sucked in and then feel really foolish for caring so much about a bunch of strangers! I enjoy Bravo TV a lot(Top Chef, Project Runway, Kathy Griffin, etc.), and will even admit to watching VH1 reality shows as well. Oh, and totally addicted to the Biggest Loser. It reminds me that I'm still on a track to lose more weight, and how other people are able to lose waaaaay more than I need to, and to do so in a methodical way.

knitting and crochet

drawing

sewing

collage work

photography

cooking

baking

gardening

I'm always up for trying some new type of craft that I've never tried before. I'm not a big scrapbooker, though. I've made exactly one (extremely beautiful) scrapbook. It took a long time, and was not as much fun as I thought it would be, even though the end result was so worth it. I don't see myself trying again any time soon.

What I love:

-jewel tones (not neon-ish bright colors, and definitely not pastels). I'm really digging blues and purples lately, though green is another favorite. I'm a deep color kinda person. If it tells anything about me, though, I would live in jeans and a black tee shirt (with the occasional grey sweater thrown in as needed).
-supersoft fabrics and yarns. Although I love cashmere, it's too scratchy for me. Wool and Kate do not get along. Cotton is great by me, and modern, soft synthetics (like a chenille) are great, too.
-squares. I love squares. squares within squares are even better. Tetris speaks to me, and Rubik's cube fascinates me. simple geometric patterns repeated. tidy spirals. graphic prints. My aesthetic sense is very much ruled by a sense of order. However, I'm almost as equally charmed by whimsy.
-I love repurposed items. I love to see things being reused in an unexpected way.
-I like balance. I like things that "go together". Harmony is important.
-collage is very cool. multimedia art is cool. found object art is cool. macro photography is cool.