21 posts tagged “iowa city”

so, hello. it's been awhile i know. facebook has kind of ruined my blogging. but i hope to rectify that.

this winter i was kind of slumpy and had a hard time getting motivated to do much of anything. but that seems to be changing as spring keeps trying to make it's presence known.

one of the cool things that i've done lately, is make this video that'd i'd love for you to check out. it was filmed on April 3rd, the day the Iowa Supreme Court legalized gay marriage.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VC33i6uFxPM

As I watch opportunities keep unfolding and opening up for me here in Iowa City, I feel that even though Baltimore is on the horizon- that horizon isn't as immediate as I once thought- or was trying to make it. I've recently joined Iowa City's Public Access Television to start work on video projects ideas that I've been toying around with for awhile. Also, I've started practicing Reiki again- something I've taken a hiatus from since the late 90s. The work with Reiki has been very rewarding and I plan on continuing and expanding this practice.

Also over the past couple of weeks- maybe three now, I've been very fortunate to see old friends and make new ones.

My dear friend Brandon came to visit over a three day weekend. I snapped what he considers "unflattering" pictures of him taking a nap. Flattering-schmattering. Adorable is as adorable naps. And, um... kind of funny.

                                                            Moni's scarf never looked better!

Also, I made a brand new friend in a fellow creative, sagittariun soul named Shane. He's an artist who also loves to work on re-creating clothes, plus he is interested in collaborative performance and creating a public art studio space. Sagitarrius in spades. Here is in modeling his handmade "Pan" mask:

My friend, Amelia from Omaha- who I had not seen in 4 years (!!!), visited last weekend. I introduced her to Iowa City and it's varous charms (of course, this was during an "away game"- otherwise, I'm afraid those charms would have been lost in the drunken din of yellow and black Hawkeye Fans clogging the streets and soundscapes. go...hawks...). She stayed at the Fancy-Schmancy Vetro and really enjoyed it. 

One specific spot I got to introduce her to was Home Ec Workshop. She sat down, pulled out her knitting and joined the Saturday morning breakfast crew in the ever-welcoming circle of crafting.

And that is a very general synopsis of what I have been up to as of late, my friends. I took a break from crafting for a while, but I've been inspired to get back into as of this week. More pics on those creations as they are completed!
 

hey kids-

Moni took some really great photos at my graduation  party back in the end of May. I compiled most of them into a little "movie/slideshow" which I then uploaded onto youtube. You can watch it here on my blog or click on the video and go to youtube directly. For some reason I don't understand, when you are on the youtube site you have the choice of "standard" or "high quality"- as if anyone wants to watch the extra pixelated version. So my suggestion is to go watch it on youtube in high quality- cuz we all look much cuter in higher resolution.

Howdy, howdy.

So, currently, I have been getting crafty. Just a smidge, but I am planning on wading further and further into the world of fabrics and paints and stamps and knitting and god knows what else. I've wanted to learn to sew for years and years, and now, thanks to the Home Ec Workshop, that dream is slowly being realized. I am almost done with this bag that I hope turns out just cool enough. Cool enough for a project of this complexity. However, I will post that pic when it is completed.

In the meantime, I did manage to get some patches that I hand painted sewn onto a pair of jeans that my friend, Jon, donated to me. It is really all experimental right now. And I tend to go for sloppy-chic while figuring out how to make what I like actually work.

The text on the patches are part of a poem I wrote years back. The complete poem goes

"Outlive your demons.
 Transform them
 into a pool of raw resources.
 Nourish not only yourself
 but all those around you
 willing and able to accept and benefit.

 When being chased by tigers,
 make pancakes.

- The Lesson of Sambo"

"Kat be nimble, Kat be quick"- I'm doing the mambo with a limbo stick. And by that I mean the feeling of limbo that I've been experiencing after graduation. I'm sure it is fairly common. The deal is I'm still in Iowa City, looking out to the East- but the future is still cloudy. What next? How soon? What to do?

David from Bmore came to visit last Thursday and we had a really great time- having dinner with friends- and of course Gen and Alex dazzled and delighted all with their exquisite cuisine. But while sitting at the dinner table surrounded by my beautiful, loving and supportive Iowa City friends, Baltimore started feeling like a scary uncertainty. Not "bad"- just so new and devoid of all the comforts I've accumulated here in Iowa City. It really made the idea of loss of my current life hard to think about.

Over the course of a few days, I've realized that I do not have to rush off to Baltimore by a certain time in a certain way with absolutes that I must achieve once I get there. After processing lots of feelings and thoughts with friends, I've realized that I can wrap things up here in Iowa City a day at a time. I can just stay open to the moment while things unfold- I don't have to go rushing off to a future life just because I have graduated. I can put the pieces together gradually, rather than searching for an instant outline of "what's next." What's next is this moment, and then this moment, and then the one after that. I will continue to research things in Baltimore but while doing so, I will enjoy taking care of the immediate business of life in Iowa City. I so dearly love my friends here. As much as I am excited by the prospects of a future life of art and activism, I am also enjoying the all the fruits that have blossomed for me over the past three and a half years here in Iowa City. I want to savor and share them for as long as possible.

So Baltimore is still on my horizon, as far as I know. But I am also going to check out some other cities just so I have somethings to compare and contrast. What with this being my life and all, I don't have to sell myself short by getting attached to ideals. There is a lot of room for movement and new possibilities. I want to listen to what they all have to say and then go dancing with the ones that promise the most fun, the most growth and the most progressive, healthy change. I am content to wait and listen until I hear that laughter riding against my front door. Then I can step out with confidence that the flow of new life is with me- and not get tangled in expectations set on ideals. That just sounds like a lot more fun- and much more friendly.

So there it is. I'm still in IA City- and will be for part, if not all of the summer. Keep your love flowing this way and I will return it with a hug.

Kman

Do you know the Keeper of Thy Gems? She and her posse of glimmering gals rocked the hizzy at Picador. Despite the technical difficulties with Leslie's mic, the show was a blast. The only point where the show started to lag is when Leslie invited some ladies onto the stage and named their sweaters- and almost knocking out the teeth of one of the gals in the process (yikes!). And of course, that part would have been so much better had I been invited onto stage in my hand made bedazzled shirt (see final picture), but oh well.

Hey everyone!

So I've been super busy working on a multitude of projects- one of them being my radio show on KRUI. I have made a separate blog for this show as to keep the professional and the personal from getting to mixed up. Please check out my other blog: http://katarahudarro.vox.com/ and tell me what you think!

Got to get back to it!
Kman

hey everyone-

so i am going to be hosting a radio show on KRUI, the University of Iowa's radio station. this show is about promoting community, and social and environmental justice. the intention is to help create a better community for all of Iowa City and ideally, beyond. the working title for the show is "Vox Uncommon: Exploring the Experiences of the Underrepresented." The show is scheduled for Wednesday's from noon to 1pm. I plan on interviewing people from various groups and clubs that are working to promote equality in one way or another. I will post upcoming interviews on this blog, so check back.

while writing this entry, i've been listening to an interview on KEXP.Org with Lisa F. Jackson, who just completed a new documentary: The Greatest Silence: Rape in the Congo
 

"10 Darfurs have happened in the Congo in the last 10 years. Four million people have died. It's unimaginable."

the documentary will be coming out on HBO in April.

Please check out the trailer:

here are some pics from Naomi's bday party. these are pics from after about half the crowd had left. some of the remaining ladeez (including Nomi) had themselves a good many shots. i was just there to feel the love and document the debauchery.

so here we are, post xmas and pre-new year.

went to my family's for a few hours on xmas day, then hung out w/ my friend Brandon in Omaha on the 26th. i found that even for one day, i was not comfortable in Omaha. just for that one day, i felt like i was wearing this big heavy, dirty coat that i used to have to wear all the time. which is not to say that i am not grateful for all that Omaha taught me and for the experiences i had there. and i love the friends i made while i was there, even though i am only in touch with a small handful of them (that is just the natural consequence of moving away and starting your life somewhere else). but i just couldn't get comfortable or relax. and i think part of that was also my fears of graduating in May following me around. i've been so eager to rejoin the world of adults, but at the same time, there is so much cushion when you are in college. and there is no guarantee as to what comes next. i do trust my path and i do trust things will work out, but that doesn't exclude the possibility of turbulence along the way to landing. so i guess this winter break will be a good time for me to get clear on some decision making and some action taking.

here is a pic of Brandon when we were having coffee/tea and scones at Caffeine Dreams:

and here are a couple of pics of my family: