There is a tumblr called Things Organized Neatly that is all pictures of (yeah, I will state the obvious) things organized very neatly. In spite of the fact that my bedroom is so littered with wine bottles, take out containers, and various articles of clothing that can be described with some form of the word “sweat” that you can hardly see the floor (or more likely, because of that fact) I love it. 
Also, I realize this made the internet rounds awhile ago, but I didn’t really care until now. Which is curious, since my overall level of cleanliness has only declined.
Author: Katy Kelleher
I’ll join your apocalypse team.
My friend Graham and I have a game: we like to organize our survival “team,” i.e. who we would want on our side were the apocalypse to come. With his farm-boy history and ability to slaughter animals, the boyfriend is always on the list, as are my brothers and sometimes other miscellaneous people we meet with relevant skills (martial arts, carpentry, etc). This slightly morbid, obviously strange discussion occurs at least once a month, if not more, and usually draws in whoever happens to be sitting nearby. We also periodically assign jobs. My job is usually to find food.
Which isn’t actually why I bought this book. Unlike some of our other, far more superstitious friends, neither of us believe that the apocalypse is actually coming — we just like to play a slightly more adult, Cormac McCarthy-inspired version of pretend. I bought this book because when I was a kid, I was obsessed with finding edible plants. I tried to eat a lot of things I found in the woods, and when I was too scared, I convinced my brothers to do it. Usually this turned out fine, though once I lied to my younger sibling and told him the red berries I had gathered were completely safe, and very nutritious. He ate several handfuls, only to throw them back up again a few hours later. Good times.
But I’ve been learning. We’re going camping in a couple of weeks, and I am looking forward to trying out my new-found skills. I will try my best not to poison anyone.
Playlist: Snowy Monday
Today was the first day of spring, yet it snowed all day long. I’ve been stuck in bed with a horrible cold (or possibly the flu, though I don’t really know the difference) and have nothing to do but work and feel generally despondent. Hence: the new Playlist. Perfect for lazing around.
Life Imitates Animation
Yesterday morning, March 5 at dawn, National Geographic Channel and a team of scientists, engineers, and two world-class balloon pilots successfully launched a 16′ X 16′ house 18′ tall with 300 8′ colored weather balloons from a private airfield east of Los Angeles, and set a new world record for the largest balloon cluster flight ever attempted. The entire experimental aircraft was more than 10 stories high, reached an altitude of over 10,000 feet, and flew for approximately one hour.
I love it when scientists are playful. More pictures (the colors!) and information here.
Joan knows best.
To assign unanswered letters their proper weight, to free us from the expectations of others, to give us back to ourselves – there lies the great, the singular power of self-respect. Without it, one eventually discovers the final turn of the screw: one runs away to find oneself, and finds no one at home.
In case anyone needs cheering up on this rainy Monday morning, I found a great—little bit silly but really adorable—video from Inspired by Iceland (via super awesome site NotVentures). I already was dying to go there, but this makes me want to hop a plane even more. And to further incite travel-lust, here’s an amazingly beautiful Flickr album, shot in—where else?—Iceland.
Though I don’t normally want to hang out with (to borrow from Stieg Larsson) men who hate women, in Hemingway’s case A. It’s debatable and B. It’s Hemingway!
Here’s a picture of Hemingway (refuse to call him Papa) boozing it up. And here are some of his drink recipes. Very cool & via awesome photography site Codex xcix
Playlist: Boy Crazy
Earlier this week, I decided to make a playlist called Boy Crazy (or, on my iTunes OMGIMBOYCRAZY!!!). When asked by the boyfriend what inspired this particular collection of songs, I told him quite honestly: “well, after downloading that Best Coast song, I realized I have about a million songs about boy crazy girls and the resulting obsessiveness.” In retrospect, what I should have said is “I’m just soooooo crazy about you!” or something sweeter. Oh, well.
Anyway, since I’m far too lazy to actually type out each song, here’s a screenshot of my totally rad collection of heteronormative love songs (I kid, but not really). Some of them are really awesome songs (if I were ever to pull a Lloyd Dobler, my boom box would be blaring ‘Flower’) while others are just kind of fun to whip my hair around to (if I believed in guilty pleasures, Taylor Swift would be my number two [Nickleback’s number one]). So yeah, enjoy.
http://www.thefeast.com/syndication?id=111620929&path=boston
Here’s something kind of cool: I shot a video on Tuesday with the guy who manages midnite movies at the Coolidge Corner Theatre. Though I’m obviously still pretty new to video editing, I think it came out well, considering.
It was also one of the most fun videos I have done so far. As anyone who knows me is well aware, I’m pretty obsessed with horror movies. Partially because I like the constant stimulation, but partially because they are, in their weird way, really lady-friendly. There is so much space in horror for revenge and power grabs and subversion. Much like camp, horror is a space where weird things can happen; the element of parody is practically built in to the structure, which makes it a virtual breeding ground for under-the-radar messages and unsaid meanings. There’s space for slippage and play and movement and all of those Derrida-ian post-structuralist things. (Okay, I admit it, I’m getting nostalgic for Lit Theory 101).
Oh, and in case this gets lost: it’s also really, incredibly fun. Horror movies are such a social experience—I like watching them with people and making bets on the order of deaths.
Finally, my last word on the subject for now: I’ve been watching two good post-apocalyptic series, ‘The Walking Dead’ on AMC and ‘Survivors,’ which was a British show about a group of—you guessed it—survivors. Though ‘Walking Dead’ is getting all kinds of attention lately, I’m actually way more into ‘Survivors.’ The characters are better, there is more action, and the overall effect is much, much scarier. But out of patriotism, I trudge on.
…and my relationship advice
The Shining: A Romantic Comedy.
Katy Kelleher 