Here's to you, Mrs.Robinson

The Graduate

1967

Directed by Mike Nichols

Amazing soundtrack by Simon & Garfunkel

The Graduate is a film I keep especially close to my heart.  The soundtrack, completely by Simon & Garfunkel, reminds me of riding in the car with my Pop as a child.  Every single time "Sound of Silence" or "Scarborough Fair" starts up, I get the chills.  It's such a sweet story about the uncertainty of young adulthood, love and going after what you want.  Not to mention, Dustin Hoffman and Katharine Ross looking mighty fine.  I don't know how everybody hasn't seen this movie, but it is an absolute treasure among films.

xoxo

Kassie

MUSIC MONDAY

Courtesy of Matablog

Today's Music Monday subject is Julian Plenti, also known as Paul Banks of indie-rock band, Interpol.  His first solo album is titled Julian Plenti is...Skyscraper and I am madly in love with the entire thing!  I recently learned that he's working on his second full-length, and I couldn't be more excited.  Banks is pure talent at its finest.  He truly has an ear for amazingly emotional and raw music.  I can't wait to see what he's planning for his next album.  Here's one of my favorites from Julian Plenti is...Skyscraper.  It's called "Games For Days."  Hope you enjoy as much as I do!

xoxo

Currently...

So I've decided that I would really like to try promoting my blog and getting it out there as much as possible so I can share my crazy, wild thoughts with the entire world!  [insert evil, conniving laugh here]

In order to do this, I have got to stop playing around and come up with a real plan for this blog.  I've thought about just completely starting over, but I believe I have a few great posts on here so I'll just stick with what I have so far.  Therefore, within the next couple of months, I'll be experimenting with different varieties of posts.

Since I sort of wanted to make this a music blog originally, I'll definitely keep up the Music Mondays, and possibly post an entire playlist at the start of each month.  Because I'm such a movie/TV snob as well, I'd like to throw in a weekly post about whatever film or show I'm currently obsessing over.  Food is another area of interest for me so maybe I'll post a recipe once a week, chat about whatever craving I might be enduring or talk about little changes I'm making to try to eat healthier. I'll also be a copycat and make a Friday post for "weekend links."

I've decided every Sunday I will try to complete a "Currently" post, so here's the one for today:

My mom and I on Thanksgiving Day, 2011

Currently obsessing over:  Tattoos!  I just can't seem to get enough of them lately.  Ever since I started reading Danielle's blog, my passion for big, bright, beautiful ink has grown tremendously.  She's such an inspiration to me, being a successful high school English teacher turned stay-at-home-mom with a Master's degree.  She is proof that it's possible to have a love for tattoos (and be covered with them) and still be a respectable woman with class and prestige.  I love her reply to disapproving people that try the whole "just think how you'll look when you're old and wrinkly" argument.  She says that most everyone will be old and have wrinkles someday- at least hers will be pretty and colorful!  That's exactly how I feel.  Who cares?  You're old and probably way over your self-consciousness anyway.

Working on:  Sprucing up my blog and getting it out there so the world can see what a sweet soul I am!  (See more on this in the paragraphs above the picture.)

Thinking about:  My future.  It's so cliche, but it's so hard not to think about what's to come.  I'm 23 with a Bachelor's degree in an extremely competitive field that I'm not even super interested in anymore.  I have a pretty secure job in the hotel industry, and I'm starting to think it's not so bad after all.  I had a nice chat with my mom about it today, and she's encouraging me to stay in this field  because people will always need hotels so it's financially safe.  Although I do get stressed and overwhelmed easily at work, it can be glamorous and interesting at times.  I've seen mild celebs, gotten free tickets to events, met some really classy people and learned a lot about myself and how I react in certain situations.

Anticipating: The return of Mad Men on AMC.  It's been nearly two whole years since a new episode of Mad Men has aired on live television.  That's just ridiculous!  Something about people involved in the show unhappy about the amount of money they were making.  Even more ridiculous (in my opinion).  Jason and I started re-watching season four last night because we can barely remember what all happened leading up to this upcoming season.  If you haven't seen an episode of this super-glam show, I highly suggest you get on that ASAP.

Listening to: The Kills.  I used to listen to this duo back in high school, but I was never THAT into them.  I liked a few songs here and there, but I couldn't listen to a full album all the way through without skipping songs.  However, their 2011 LP, Baby Says, is pretty great if you ask me.  I've been listening to it tons lately.  I can't get enough of that dark, yet upbeat sound.




Eating: I've been on a cereal kick these days.  Most mornings I have to be out the door by 6:30 a.m. for work, and I used to never eat breakfast.  I know, I know, shame on me...breakfast is supposedly the most important meal of the day.  So as of late I've been packing a small bowl of Oatmeal Squares or Mini Wheats with blackberries.  It's so tasty, especially with almond milk (my new thing).

Wishing: I made just a little more money so I could finish decorating the apartment and get a new TV.


And that concludes my "currently" posting for the day.  I've been yacking and yacking and I didn't even mention the colossal amount of fun I had last night at Carli's bachelorette party!  I'll leave those stories for a later post.

Happy Sunday :)

xoxo

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Happy Love Day

happy valentine's day, lovebirds.

So happy I have the day off from work so I can spend ALL day primping and prepping to look my absolute best for my special date tonight with my best friend/lover/inspiration.  We have tickets to the Alamo Drafthouse Valentine's Day Feast.  They're showing The Princess Bride while serving a four course meal with wine pairings.  I am so excited!  We've been to one before a couple of years ago for New Year's Eve, and it was spectacularly unforgettable so we couldn't wait to attend another!  I still haven't decided what I'm going to wear, but I'm thinking red lipstick is a must.  (he he!)

I am just absolutely giddy on this day- a day I used to despise.  It's funny how it works like that.  Although, I don't believe this day is just for romantic couples.  It can be for all types of relationships.  My parents always give me Valentine's gifts, and it's tradition for Nana to send me a card with a little somethin' inside.

In honor of this lovely little day, here's just a handful of some of my favorite love songs:

I think we're just gonna have to be secretly in love with each other and leave it at that.

‎"He had made a request for his usual escort- the one from his days on the circuit- to meet him at the pier by way of the Green Line bus. As always, she was late."

The Royal Tenenbaums

A film by Wes Anderson

2001

Houston, Murder, Sickness & Music

Happy Monday, all.  Jason and I had a fabulous weekend in Houston visiting my family.  We drove in Thursday afternoon and made a quick stop on the Northwest side of town to see my Nana, who is doing much better after her open heart surgery last summer.  Then, we ate some lunch at the fine Willie's Ice House before heading over to the east side to Mont Belvieu where my mom, sister and brother live.  We ordered pizza and chit-chatted to our heart's content until we crashed for the night.  Friday, they all had to go to work and school, so Jason and I drove over to Baytown and caught the noon showing of THE GREY with my celeb crush Liam Neeson.  It was awesome!  Neeson vs. wolves...doesn't get crazier than that, my friends.  That night, my mom made her delicious harvest chowder with corn bread and we sat around playing Scattegories and Clue.  On Saturday we all went down to Seabrook to hang out with Aunt Kelley, Uncle Steve, Aunt Kandace, Nana and my cousins.  We had a Kitchen-family traditional lunch of taco soup and cheese dip, superb as always.  During a heated game of Clue later that night, my mom asked my Aunt Kelley about a creepy "Murder Mansion" story she'd been told that supposedly took place in Seabrook, just a few miles from where my aunt and uncle live.  It turns out the story is true.  Apparently this millionaire sex offender named Bill List moved to Seabrook from Ohio in the '70s and had a huge 32,000 square foot mansion built right on the bay.  The mansion was super ugly and looked more like an office building than a home.

The Murder Mansion

In his free time, List would peruse the streets of Montrose and Westheimer in downtown Houston for young, homeless "street" boys.  He would bring them back to his mansion in Seabrook and give them food, shelter, drugs, or whatever else they might want, and in return, he expected sex.  Oh, and they were also his prisoners- they had no way of getting out.  There are rumors that he murdered some of the boys, but I don't think anything was ever proven.  However, List was said to have been abusive and into sexual pain.  One night, four the boys got together and formed a plan to kill List.  The next morning after List went to work, the boys did heroine and completely trashed the house, writing obscene things on the wall.  Smiley, one of the boys, wrote "Bill List is a sick man.  He is going to die" and signed it "Smiley, 1984."  When List got home, Smiley shot him in the head as he was heading up the stairs.  I think the boys were eventually caught because we found something online about Smiley getting out of jail on parole, and he evidently lives just ten miles away from where the mansion used to be.  The mansion was knocked down about four years ago and condos were built in its place.  Some of the residents that now live in those condos claim to have seen a creature and shadows roaming the property at night.  I was super-intrigued by the story especially because I've been going down to Seabrook ever since I was about eight years old, and I had no idea of its history.  Plus, I'm really into haunted houses and spooky stories like that.

When we left Aunt Kelley's that night we had to drive over to the condos where the Murder Mansion once stood just to see if we ran into Mr.List or happened to catch a glimpse of old Smiley.  Of course, we didn't see anything, but it was neat to see where all of that took place!  The next morning, Jason and I went over to my Dad's and hung out there for a few hours before heading back home to Austin sweet Austin.  We caught the very end of the Super Bowl, which was fine by me.  Congrats, Giants!

I woke up this morning with a sore throat, which is usually the first sign that I'm getting sick.  Thanks, world.  Sorry, body.  So, basically I've just been taking it easy today.  I took a bath earlier, gave myself a much-needed pedicure, made cream cheese and herb scrambled eggs and made a grocery list.  Now, I just need the energy to get off the couch, put some clothes on and get to the grocery store.  I might take a nap first... :)


I'm super excited to try a new dinner recipe tonight- Griddled Polenta Cakes with caramelized onions, goat cheese and honey topped with ground chorizo and served with a sweet potato.  Doesn't that just make your mouth water?

Since it's monday, I'll leave you with some music.  This is my favorite song by London indie-rockers, Yuck; it's called "Suck":