she gets too hungry.

today little sister graduated from high school. not wanting to brag here, but she had the best shoes in the whole building. i really appreciate the graduation scene here. you know how some places, graduation is just a very special experience? something that people put their sundays best on for, a prayer is offered and a single inspirational speech is given before the graduates are called one by one to walk across the stage in commencement to the rest of their lives? graduation here is nothing like that.

in past years, the "event" has been held at the fair grounds pavilion. you didn't skip a page here. my graduation was held right across the parking lot from the blue ribbon pigs and the puke on the ground outside the funnel cake stand. while they've since moved it inside to an air-conditioned building and instituted the need for a ticket for entrance, the whole thing is kind of like a basketball game, fog horns and all. to be fair, the speeches were actually excellent and quoted all the great minds we've got: eleanor rooseveldt, billy joel and lynard skynard.

and another thing. the high school always has a killer band. seriously. the director is a world-class musician and the kids in the band are always suuuper talented. before the ceremony (another word that probably needs quotations), the band presented a montage of songs. you know, a musical snack to shut everyone up. the first was "new york new york," a great song about moving on to bigger and better things. this was followed by "when i was seventeen," presumably an homage to the graduates' ages and stating that for them all, it has been and hopefully it will be a very good year. i was just a little confused by the third and final in the set "the lady is a champ/tramp." i guess many of the graduates get to hungry to wait for dinner at eight.

the joy of dashboard confessional.

so this weekend, i've come back to my roots in a quick trip to my hometown for my sister's high school graduation.

normally i don't have much nice to say about the place, but today was the most BEAUTIFUL drive. sure wish i'd brought my camera.

as i made my way through the home stretch, which is largely farm land and rolling hills, i thought to myself, "i've seen this exact day before...where was it?" it was here:

yeah. my old stomping grounds look eerily similar to the default dell wallpaper.

the fab scenery along with the opportunity to scream old dashboard confessionals music at the top of my lungs with my brother really kept me alive during the ridiculous pilgrimage home.

hats off to you, chris cavanaugh, for writing such loud whiny music about all your breakups. it really gets me through the hellish chore that is road-tripping.

my new favorite.

let it be known that i think the world of a good cover. david cook's "always be my baby," which is right down there on my playlist reminded me what can be done to make an awesome song that i may be a little embarrassed to still love, even more awesome and oh so relevant to today's sound. i'll always love mariah carey, but while i merely love her, i'm kind of IN love with david cook. so there you go.

this latest cover gem i've heard is off the satc soundtrack. india.arie covers "heart of the matter," a new(er) version of the old don henley tune. i found a video for india's version on YouTube from 2006. why i didn't know about it sooner is a tragedy to say the least. the video's a little cheesy so i'm not going to plaster the thing up here. but anyway...

as an aside, i actually really like don henley and the eagles. sometimes those "listen while you work" radio stations really get it right. you don't have to agree with me out loud because i know you know exactly what i mean. i would gladly listen to don's raspy rendition any day.

anyway...check out "heart of the matter" on my playlist to the right. you won't be disappointed.

i've missed you, india.arie. you spoke to me senior year of high school with your anthem proclaiming that you're not the average girl from the video and you ain't built like a supermodel (even though you are. we all got over it.)...

carrie and the crew teach me and you.

i may only be a fair-weather fan (just see episodes on tbs when i catch them), but today i saw this article and i have to say: i really did learn these lessons from the girls.

open your mind and pour it in.

get a job, dina lohan. i mean a real one.

today i did something that i feel terribly conflicted about. i watched "living lohan." now, you'll notice here on kathleen's blog that i'm not the only one in a tizzy about this show. besides my issue with the program's title (the jury's still out on whether or not what dina lohan does is, by definition, living), i just like, i mean, what the heck?

for those of you with lives who may have missed it, the premiere episode features ali, lindsay's little sister, recording a song in what appears to be a small bedroom on what appears to be a casio keyboard with what appears to be a hanger-on named jeremy. btw - JEREMY- mad props for sneaking your way onto cable reality television under the guise of helping a 14-year-old cut a record. meanwhile, dina, as joel mchale would say, "takes time out from her busy tanning schedule" to google her famous daughter all day and call people threatening to sue if they don't take down the lies about her daughter.

don't get me wrong - as a person who deals with the actual, legitimate media for a living, i despise the paparazzi with the fire of a thousand suns. they give real reporters a bad name and encourage our dear celebrities to go on the defensive. i don't really care so much that this cramps their style as much as it makes it harder for real reporters to get in there and sell themselves as the bona fide truth tellers they are. but c'mon. they'll give anyone a blog these days. even me! and who knows what libelous chatter i'm splashing up here. anyhoo...

the episode also features the litigious miss dina driving a white range rover and calling her assistant, alexis, to google lilo while she's not near the pc. suffice it to say, i look forward to the soup this weekend...especially if denise richards' show starts this week too.

p.s. i actually think that ryan seacrest was actually doing ok money-wise before he created this show. i think that the kardashians could probably support his pomade habit. i'm just saying.

i'm serious.

a while ago, i mentioned that i would really like to get eyelash extensions. sound off, people:

i got my stimulus check. should i blow it on eyelash extensions and a pair of designer jeans? i'm thinking that there might be a more responsible use of $600 but i'm having a real difficult time coming up with an example.

my apologies, dc4c.

i'd like to take this moment to apologize for not giving a shout out to death cab sooner for another valiant effort for their newest album, "narrow stairs." devotees will recall this post celebrating the first single, "i will possess your heart" (see my playlist to the bottom right). i expected a lot from the band and they did not disappoint.

i've gotta tell you, this album, upon first listen, doesn't grant instant gratification. don't get me wrong - i could keep this cd on loop all day, and i sometimes do. but if you want to blankly bob your head to sythesizers and mindless lyrics, i've got a lot of bands like that for you, too. try britney spears for starters. i will not hyperlink ms. spears. google her on your own time.

most songs on the album, more than even normal dc4c music, are quite narrative. it's really a collection of stories. looking for a catchy beat? try "no sunlight." here is a killer acoustic video of that one. an emo anthem? "the ice is getting thinner." classic death cab rhythm and emotion mix? "i will possess your heart."

and speaking of the emo anthem "the ice is getting thinner," if it sounds familiar to you, it may be because you watched the finale of gossip girl, the best drama on tv. if you haven't watched the finale yet, don't worry, i'm not mad. just do it and listen for dc4c doing what they do best: acting as a backdrop for languishing teenagers. and i mean that in a good way.

...it's a marriage of my two favorite things, really.

someone gag me.

today while i was browsing headlines, i came across this little number which is a fantastic read, if you want to know. put plainly, it exposes heidi and spencer's plot to take over the world.

now, the best part about this whole thing to me is that they think they are taking over the world and going right for our brains, when really this poor reporter warning us about it has actually fallen victim to their plot.

"They want to become bigger than Ryan Seacrest. They want to become bigger than
Oprah. If Ryan Seacrest and Oprah had a baby together, and that baby grew up and married Suri Cruise and THEY had a baby, Heidi and Spencer want to be even bigger than that baby."

see, you know and i know that heidi and spencer are only taking over the world they share together in their minds. you and i notice that in all "guerilla-style," "paprazzi" photos, heidi and spencer are always camera ready, always looking at the camera, and are always looking at it with their eager puppy eyes..."ooo! photograph me, sir!" i will also cite an important quote from "the soup" from several months ago where our pal joel comments that all heidi does is "take out the trash 17 times a day in hopes of being featured in us weekly's section, 'stars: they're just like us!'"

i get the irony that i'm here devoting a whole post to heidi and spencer when i claim they have no hold on me. but puh-leeeese. i didn't miss them at the hills finale for a second. in fact, i didn't realize they weren't there until i read this article.

i will though, hand it to the writer for having journalistic integrity and telling us the full story. just be sure to check your facts next time, buddy: i think you mean spencer's sister stephanie, not heidi's.

bow in the presence of greatness.

david cook is the american idol.

you've always been my american idol, david.

for josh schwartz

dear josh shwartz, genius and creator of the oc and gossip girl,

i've been wanting to tell you how i feel for a while now. when i heard seth cohen ask, "who's winning: me or my hair?" i knew i was in trouble.

i thought i fully understood complete television obsession when i saw ryan walk out of the building with a blueprint in his had and say, brow furrowed, "hey kid. need some help?"

but all that was child's play compared to my experience with gossip girl. oh, chuck's conflict, being madly in love with blaire but unwilling to surrender control. oh, lily's concern for her daughter overpowering her love for her daughter's boyfriend's dad. oh, serena, thinking that she killed that guy. oh, nate, being so very very attractive.

how do you do it, josh schwartz?? what a conflicted, witty, well-dressed childhood you must have had! how i wish they would give you a summer hiatus project!

continue being amazing, josh schwartz, because i will continue to watch the shows you create, even if one day your run out of good ideas and your work becomes total bs.

xoxo
hollylynn

three summer shows to rot your little brain.

ok, my little brain. i mourn the season's end to my three favorite shows: gossip girl (i HIGHLY recommend going here for episode synopses, cast bios, photo galleries, video previews and "an extensive community" that's even too nerdy for me), 30 rock (i've got a link to this bad boy right on my "i like" list) and american idol. these shows have given me the perfect mix over the past months: drama, comedy, and reality.

lucky for me and america, three summer shows are sweeping right in to tide me over till fall, and i'm giving all y'all a little preview. you're welcome.

the bachelorette: it's our drama. if you're still buying the "reality" angle to these shows, i just feel sorry for you. this season of the bachelorette stars DeAnna (i have to use caps for her name because she has that irritating capital RIGHT in the middle), one of the two girls who got snubbed by that one bachelor...not the english one. the one just before.

last comic standing: there's your comedy (or tragedy, depending on the skill of the comics in competition). pay attention to the one from riggins, id. on the commercial, he sounds delightful, lamenting his non-opportunities to go to places like a chuck-e-cheese or a mall, because he lived in riggins, id. i kind of feel the pain a little.

so you think you can dance: now this, my friends, is reality. because the title is kind of taunting the contestants, and i like that. i'm a virgin to this series but am totally stoked about getting into it. i mean, check out those abs on the girl on the homepage. if that's not motivation for swimsuit season, i don't know what is.

and so gossip girl, 30 rock and american idol, i bid thee adieu. i will miss you terribly and anxiously await your return in the fall. will dan and serena make it, or will georgina continue to snake in and ruin everyones' lives? will little j receive the popularity she thinks she wants or the trust of a father that she truly desires? will jack and liz ever get together? will kenneth ever rise above paige status? will paula abdul get even more crazy, with even better hair? will ryan seacrest ever be funny or hit a growth spurt? so many questions...we'll just have to wait.

unnatural disaster.

i don't like to get too political on my little blog here, but today while doing a little reading, i came across this article. i haven't completey digested each nuance of what the writer is saying, but i caught myself nodding in agreement an awful lot while i was reading through it. i kind of felt like it needed the kathleen-ism i love best as a pull quote, "i am so sorry...that there are consequences for my actions!!"

my new boyfriend, norton.

today i (well the it guy at work) updated the antivirus on my computer. it took the better part of an afternoon to load and when i popped up the window to check on its progress, i saw this:



to which i thought, "sure, ok! i'll give you as much time as you need! gee, norton...thanks for being so helpful." i mean come on, how great is it to finally have a program that really helps out? i took a moment to think on all the things being fixed:

1. my inability to get a really good tan
2. those 2 or 3 confusing personal relationships i wish i could work out
3. the occasional 14-year-old-esque breakouts i still endure
4. my mono (after all, this product IS an anti-virus)

i took a look at my reflection on the back of my ipod when the software was done loading, and i have to say, i look just as white and just as broken out. the mono's hanging on for dear life and those relationships? no resolution yet.

wow, norton. that was really an empty promise you made. greg would have a word or two for me about you.

i'm elderly.

you know it's pretty bad when you go to your grandparents' house and your grandmother asks you what you did this weekend so you tell her, and then she looks at you like you lead the lamest life ever. that's when you know.

if i were in high school too, i'd stand by you.

i said i love david cook and merely like david archuleta, but lemme tell you: mormon david really gave rocker david a run for his money tonight. i especially LOVED his rendition of "stand by me," one of my favorite songs of all time.

no duh.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24397323/?GT1=43001

what's next, science? eating food curbs hunger?

choices, choices, choices.

i'm not some emo teenager or anything, but i love the book the bell jar. i think i like it because it reminds me of the importance of choices in life and how easy it is to totally lose it.

I saw my life branching out before me like the green fig tree in the story. From the tip of every branch, like a fat purple fig, a wonderful future beckoned and winked. One fig was a husband and a happy home and children, and another fig was a famous poet and another fig was a brilliant professor...and another fig was Europe and Africa and South America...and beyond and above these figs were many more figs I couldn't quite make out. I saw myself sitting in the crotch of this fig tree, starving to death, just because I couldn't make up my mind which of the figs I would choose. I wanted each and every one of them, but choosing one meant losing all the rest, and, as I sat there, unable to decide, the figs began to wrinkle and go black, and, one by one, they plopped to the ground at my feet.

i mean, can't you relate?