Keira-anne.com

Meet Kat Von D, tattoo artist extraordinaire. She’s number one. Numero uno in what, you ask? I’ve decided that, due to lack of excitement and interest in my own life, I’m going to start a weekly blogging series dedicated to women who kick ass. These are the women I look up to because they are women of substance.

A few months ago, Krista mentioned a TV show called Miami Ink that she got into because of a “hot” tattoo artist named Ami James. I never checked it out, but out of boredom a month ago, I flipped on TLC and watched. Sure Ami’s hot, but it was Kat Von D that caught my attention.

When Kat first meets the eye, she’s obviously a striking girl. Completely unconventional looking and sharply beautiful. Her ink only adds to her beauty and individuality, and though I can never ever imagine a day where I’d be covered in as much ink, it’s all representative of the girl she is.

Kat is just a tad younger than I am, but for 24 she seems years ahead of where she should be. Beginning her craft ten years ago, inking up her sibilings and friends, Kat has quickly become a highly respected tattoo artist, known for her amazing portrait tattoos. Like I said, I can’t ever see myself covered in nearly as much (if any) ink, so that’s not the reason I admire Miss Von D. Not only has she pursued one of her greatest passions, but she has also carved out a career for herself in doing so, working out of both the Miami Ink studio in South Beach, as well as a studio in L.A. she co-owns with Chris Garver. Her drive, her passion, her self-confidence and her down-to-earth nature are why Kat Von D leads the “Women Who Kick Ass” series.

Kat Von D on the Internet:

Kat Von D - Official Site
Miami Ink
Kat Von D on MySpace

How uncomfortable did my last post make you? The truth of it all is that I am perfectly okay being me, although sometimes it’s difficult not to bow to pressure to be something else. So, in the spirit of rollin’ with the rocks that I got, I thought it only fair to counterpost and list all the reasons men should want to be with me. Don’t consider this an exercise in bragging, but rather an attempt at being appreciative of who I am. You have to take the good with the bad, right?

- I have soft hair.

- I love to smile.

- I love to listen and I try not to interrupt.

- My breasts: they’re real and they’re spectacular.

- I love my family.

- I love my friends.

- I have extra long, girlie, pin-up eyelashes.

- I have excellent family values and realistic life goals.

- I am independent.

- I bake wickedly good cookies.

- My skin always smells lightly of cocoa.

- My hair smells delicious…amazingly like Emily’s hair.

- I have an excellent and varied taste in music.

- I actually like sex.

- I am open-minded.

- I can practically quote “Big Trouble In Little China” in its entirety. You’d be surprised at how handy that comes in.

- I try to be an encourager wherever I can.

- I have a realistic and objective view of life.

- I sleep very still and I love to cuddle.

John Mayer - “Your Body Is A Wonderland”

Here is a really bad picture of me. Click the picture to read the commentary. I promise it’s cool.

A few weeks ago I stated that I am Jell-o. I think that concept was lost on a lot of people, so let me spell it out for you. I suppose this post’s subtitle could be “Jell-o For Dummies.” Please don’t be offended.

Over the course of my 26 years and 16 days, I have met probably somewhere in the range of 6-7 men that I’ve truly desired an actual relationship with. Only one of those men ever turned out to be my boyfriend, and that lasted two months. Rad, hey?

So what about the others? Why am I not crème brullee and instead a cheap, jiggley dessert? Why is it that these men do not desire a relationship with me? I have unlocked the caramel secret, but more about that later. This post is about why men won’t step up when it comes to moi.

- My face is blotchy.

- When I cry, my face gets even more blotchy and my nose becomes some serious competition in the “who gets to pull Santa’s sleigh this year?” debate.

- I have body fat. About 15 pounds of body fat around my stomach, thighs and bum. Sometimes, I even create muffin top. Thank goodness for long, loose shirts.

- I burp. Loud!

- My nose gives Brock a serious run for his money. Mazel tov!

- I have moles and lots of them.

- When I tilt my head back, my eyebrows slope down like Jason Priestley’s.

- President Bush’s administration has been incessantly contacting me. I believe they’re interested in the deep oil wells on my face, otherwise known as my crater pores.

- I probably fart in my sleep.

- When I smile big, you can see more gums than teeth. I hate that I smile like Gwen Stefani.

- I believe I get a little obnoxious when I drink if I’m with people I’m not entirely comfortable with.

- Have you seen the stretch marks on my hips?

- After a long, hard day at work in dress shoes, do not go within ten feet of my…feet.

- I love Degrassi re-runs and always will.

- I have some heinous zitage going on up on my forehead these days. Though I believe it compliments nicely with the zits on my jawline. Kind of like that whole symmetrical thing.

- I don’t look good in a thong: never have, never will.

- For the most part I like what I wear. But there are more than enough days where, deep down, I leave the house knowing that I look semi-tragic. And I don’t care.

- I get annoyingly excited about stupid shit.

- Food is always getting stuck in my teeth and it’s gross.

Want me to keep going? I’m sure that I’ve driven the Jell-o home now. So that is why that guy and that other guy (and now apparently that other guy too) will never ever be with me.

Daaaaang I’m nasty.

Stellar!

Has it really been nearly six days since I last blogged? I must be slipping. Either that or I’m busy. It has, however, been a whirlwind of a week, and with only five more sleeps until I head home for my much overdue Christmas break, I’d be surprised if I got any more blogging in before I’m on the Island.

The remainder of the week saw my mood getting somewhat better. I spent Wednesday evening with the Aww, and we hit up Granville Island after disgusting “goodies” from Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory. I was tres disappointed. I stayed that night at Matty’s because I can never resist the lure of Family Guy and cute dogs. Thursday night saw the Storm of the Century pass over us, and saw me huddled under my duvet in the fetal position until falling asleep around 4 a.m. On Friday our office celebrated with the HTLN Christmas Party in our boardroom. Needless to say, seeing my boss get drunk was more than amusing. It was also sad because it was also the day we had to say goodbye to Marika, who is off to bigger and better adventures and I’ll miss being her angel.

By some great miracle of a higher power, Matt convinced the dudes at Salt to sell him a bottle of the Winchester Cellars 2004 Sharp Rock Pinot Noir. I would say we uncorked the bottle on Friday night, but much to our chagrin, the wine is a TWIST TOP! Ridiculous, I do say. After that I made some really bad coffee and we fell asleep early because we’re losers. Yesterday I finally got rid of the “bimbo blonde” in my hair and went back to my natural colour, thanks to the Jason David salon on Howe Street. Over the remainder of the weekend I managed to squeeze in q.t. with Ryan Lee, a cookie baking disaster (never pull any old recipe off the internet) and I am very proud to say that I finished my Christmas shopping. I think.

So, kids, that’s your fill for now. Not much of a fill, is it? Hmmm…so anyways, I’ll leave you with U2’s “Angel of Harlem” from the Rattle & Hum record. For some reason this record always remimds me of Christmastime though it isn’t a Christmas record, per se. Anyways, little background on the song: it was written about the captivating Billie Holiday and also, it’s a good song. Bye.

U2 - “Angel of Harlem”

Okay, I get it…most people are getting frustrated and stressed because of all the obligations that come along with the Christmas season.

I am an exception.

I thrive on shopping for others, wrapping gifts, baking cookies, writing cards and planning meals. However, it’s all my anticipation of such things that’s stressin’ on me. I know that my holidays start in a week and a half, so my mind is already there while my body is stuck eight weekdays behind. Therefore, I have turned into one big ball of highly irritable and endlessly ignitable aggravation. Even the way some people laugh is enough to make me want to rip my hair out by the roots. Am I the only one experiencing this?

This is the kind of post that I used to write that Brock didn’t like much. It’s about nothing that is important or about anything that really matters, and in fact, is about something of a material nature.

I am Emily.

Well, at least I am clean like Emily. My shower greatly reflects hers in terms of products. In desperate need of a new shampoo product that works well without build-up (and without formaldehyde, for that matter), I took a cue from Ms. Dyck and splurged on some Bumble and Bumble. Direct from B & b salon in New York (there’s one uptown and one downtown), the products smell luscious and fresh without being overly girlie, and clean my hair without overly drying. And the best part is that the shampoo is so highly concentrated, only a small amount needs to be used.

Aside from the haircare, I took a more “monumental” step in my skincare routine. For years I have been pledging allegiance to Clinique, but yesterday, all of that changed. I am switched to Aveeno for several reasons, but the main ones being that it is more affordable than Clinique and also that it contains soy extracts instead of oodles of chemicals. So basically, I’m trying to go a more natural route all around with my skin and with my hair, rather than the chemical route.

The verdict so far? Two polished thumbs up.

Find it on the Web:

Bumble & bumble.
Aveeno

I’ve got absolutely nothing note-worthy to blog about. However, I also don’t want to get lazy with my blogging so here I am. Miami Vice hit DVD yesterday, so I purchased and watched that, zipping back to the scene where Colin Farrell takes off his burglar mask and re-watching that instance. It’s too entirely hot.

There are only 18 more days until Christmas and I find myself behind on my Christmas shopping. I’m hoping to have all that taken care of before this weekend so I don’t need to fight the mall crowds.

I also find myself counting down the seconds until I can get back to the Island to spend Christmas with my family and a few friends. I haven’t been home since the end of October, so it’s the longest I’ve gone without being home in quite a while. Yesterday my brother returned back to the Valley from Fort Nelson in hopes of finding a job that will better utilize his career skills, so I know the fight for my truck will be on. But truth be told, he already loses. He’s got a perfectly good car in the garage that he could insure, technically speaking. Therefore, I always get the truck when I want. And if need be, my mom’s got a super Civic with Trevor’s name on it.

Alright, I was officially rambling about three paragraphs ago. Therefore, if you’re any good at math, you’ve figured out that this entire post is a ramble so goodnight.

U2 - It’s Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) - and yes, he is coming home very soon.

Yesterday I turned 26. 26 isn’t a scary number by any means, and it actually feels much smaller than what I feel on the inside. I’ve never been much of a party girl, so the idea of having a big celebration with lots of friends sounded like more headache than it was worth. Therefore, I nixed Matt’s idea of a dinner party and suggested a trip a-deux to Salt with Uncle Merle tagging along. It was Merle’s first time there, so Matt and I definitely were excited to de-flower a new Salt devotee. Because it was my birthday, we got oodles of meats and cheeses, including Pecorino cheese (my favourite Italian hard cheese) and a whole special plate that was strictly wild boar proscuitto. The glasses of Winchester Cellars Sharp Rock 2004 Pinot Noir were flowing between Matt and I (Merle’s a non-drinker), and then we capped it all off by ordering every dessert on the menu. Needless to say, not a single scrap of food went to waste. Only to waist. Click here if you want to check it out - and I recommend that you do!

All in all, December 2nd was a great day. It was low key and exactly what I wanted. Matt made me a delicious breakfast with coffee in bed, I did some Christmas shopping and spent quality time with Andy-pants, and got oodles of love from my friends. I have so much I’m looking forward to, including Christmas, my VSO show date with Ryan, Christmas baking, finishing Christmas shopping and the lovely holiday gatherings that should be happening with the Ladwassen crowd. Also, not to mention Stathi’s classy Christmas party.

Thanks for reading…I bid you all adieu.

P.S. Thanks for the fun afternoon, Jess!

On a side note, Amazon.com changed their soundclip format, so for now, the sound clips are being retired on my blog. I’ll try to post new and interesting songs or videos when I get the chance.