Cartwheels Around the World

I hate taking boring vacation pictures. Here’s me in front of the Eifel Tower…just standing. Ok now I’m standing in front of a Mayan ruin…yep same pose. So I decided to remedy this by taking cartwheel (and yoga and jumping) pictures everywhere I go.

I’ve cartwheeled in Mexico, Belize, Puerto Rico and every other vacation spot in the past two years! My New York City and Boston cartwheels were done in my inline skates to add even more excitement and fun to the pictures.

Taking these pictures makes for more interesting pictures and it’s also much more fun just taking them. When a friend told me it looked like we had a professional photographer following us around on all our trips, I knew all the ‘hard work’ was worth it. So next time try something new and silly with your pictures…it’s fun!

Cat “Cartwheeling” Cathy

Jane of All Trades

'They' say the average person will have 3-5 careers in a lifetime. When I started thinking of all the different jobs I’ve had I realized I have far surpassed that number already. Granted some were not profitable and some were college jobs and hardly considered ‘career’ opportunity but still….there will be no 25 years and gold watch for me, that’s for sure.

In some ways it is stressful having so much to do and so many career paths but in many ways I like it. I enjoy variety and each new career provides a little insight into a different life I can lead and introduces me to different people. So I try to look at it as a positive thing and unless I had the perfect job (i.e. Rock Star) I think I would rather hop around and experience new things a bit.

Here is just a short list of some of my professional and non professional careers:

Asbestos Coordinator
Petroleum Cleanup Engineer
Roadway Engineer
Podcaster
Roller derby skater
Pro-am Jet Ski racer
Freelance news producer
Parade performer

When I look at my list I’m actually impressed and have lots of great memories. It also explains my blogging which has covered topics from travel to sports adventures to balloon dresses to Tiger Woods. I guess my personal life is just as A – D – D as my career life!

Cat ‘which hat to wear today’ Cathy

Vampires and Werewolves, Oh My!

Little did I know when I went to the movies in December that it would be the beginning of a month long obsession. A movie called New Moon was playing. I didn’t know anything at all about the movie but it looked…interesting. Well I loved it and was hooked. I especially enjoyed the innocence and young romance. I think it reminded me of my youth. Of course having several buff ‘werewolves’ walking around with little on didn’t hurt the appeal from my viewpoint.

During the movie I realized it had to be some kind of sequel and a coworker confirmed this for me. So next up I rented the original movie Twilight which I also enjoyed and watched several times. I couldn’t get enough of the ‘first kiss’ scene.

Then my obsession continued when my coworker lent me all four books in the series. They’re meant for girls half my age so I’m a little embarrassed to admit it but I really enjoyed reading them. Luckily I’ve talked to several friends and it turns out many of them had read the books too so I’m not alone.

So it’s over a month later and I’ve finished all the books and I’m suffering from PTD (Post Twilight Depression). Luckily the next movie will be out in the spring so I have that to look forward to.

Now I just have to figure out the great question of the millennium…would you chose Jacob or Edward?

Cat “I’m Choosing Jacward…or maybe Edob” Cathy

Blue Latitudes - Boldly Going Where Captain Cook has Gone Before

I did something unusual recently….I read a book…from cover to cover no less. I read a lot of books when I was younger but in this technology age with so many things vying for my attention I hadn’t taken the time to just read a full book in many years. I read lots of blogs and other short snippets but it is hard to find time for full novels.

But I recommend making the time for this one called Blue Latitudes- Boldly Going Where Captain Cook has Gone Before”. It is about Captain Cook in case you didn’t figure that out already. If you know who Captain Cook was then you are already one giant step ahead of where I was when I got the book…thanks to my less than adequate Flor a duh education. But I learned a lot and it was an enjoyable read.

Blue Latitudes chronicles Captain Cook’s travels as he ‘discovered’ the world for Europe and the author’s travels as he visited many of the same places Captain Cook went. I liked this book for many reasons from learning a little about history, the sense of adventure involved in being the first to explore unknown territories and seeing how much the world has changed in just over 200 years!

I have to say that the first half of the book about Captain Cook’s first voyage was the most interesting to me and it got a little slow for the remainder. But I still recommend finding a copy and encouraging a friend to read it as well since you will want to discuss the book with someone. If no one is available just send me a note!

Cat “Over the Sea” Cathy

Nude Nite - Take 4!

Every year I attend a trendy 3 day art event called Nude Nite. As you can probably guess from the name all the art featured is based on a nude theme but done in a (mostly) tasteful way. But this year instead of just attending I was an artist and a model in the event!

As I wrote previously, the director of the event liked my idea of making balloon dresses live at the event. My balloon partner, model and I quickly got to work making dress forms, coming up with dress ideas and accessories and lots of practice twisting. It was a busy and a stressful week of practice and performing at Nude Nite. I twisted for 6 hours straight on two nights at the event. I was so into the twisting that I totally skipped dinner on those nights…hopefully this will help my diet.

The last night I needed a break from twisting so I spent most of the night modeling one of my creations. It was fun to be in so many pictures and to joke around with everyone. I had a balloon weave top that didn’t look like balloons since they weren’t inflated so I had to explain to everyone that it was made out of balloons too. Then I explained that everything was made out of balloons…even my boots! After everyone looked down at my boots I would let them know I was just kidding about the boots. I also joked that you could find the outfit at Wal-Mart and that it was $10 per balloon pop.

We had 5 dresses by the end of the event and we let patrons try them on and take pictures. We were a big hit! I spent a small fortune on balloons and supplies for no compensation but I enjoyed it and improved my twisting skills and now I can consider myself and accomplished artist and model. I’m happy I tried it and I hope to make fun dresses for special occasions in the future. I’m pretty sure my model had a good time even though she was working very hard too. My partner on the other hand is still undecided as to if he had fun but I appreciate his help and hope we can twist together again soon!

Cat “Do These Balloons Make Me Look Fat?” Cathy

I Don't Want to Be Like Mike!

The Tiger fiasco has brought to my attention just how many things are endorsed by professional athletes and other celebrities. I’m not sure if you care but to me it seems almost insulting that companies think we are like sheep. Baaa baa Tiger says it’s good so it must be…baaa baa…I don’t think so!

I’m smart enough to use this little thing called ‘the internet’ to research products and to decide for myself. I’d personally like to see the day when products were purchased based on quality, need and cost and not to “be like Mike”. We would all get cheaper products and all the elite athletes would have to learn to ‘get buy’ on only a few million a year…so sad. (note sarcasm).

So let’s start a campaign to buy based on quality and price and avoid marketing that makes us seem like mindless idolizing sheep. Baaa!

Cat “Black Sheep” Cathy

Can't Anything Ever be Easy...Rant!

Sorry but I just need to vent a bit today. Ever since I got my new car it has been a pain trying to get things done to it and get comfy with it. I never cared if my old beat up truck had issues as long as it got me where I was going. Unfortunately with the fancy new wheels I feel like it has to also look good getting me there. It hasn’t been my car’s fault so I can’t blame Blue Latitudes (the name I’ve chosen for it). The fault lies in all the companies I’ve had to deal with or in my choice of companies at least.

First I put a hitch on the car. (If you put a hitch on your brand new Mercedes, you might be a redneck!). I needed it for my jet ski and mountain bike rack. Unfortunately the guy I chose was a total idiot. After 7 hours and two trips the lights for the hitch still didn’t work. So I showed the car to my brother who fixed the biggest problem in less than a minute. Note to hitch guy: positive is plus and that is where the power wire should have gone!

Then I brought Blue to the car wash. It was only 3 dollars for a drive through one and I wanted to check it out. The guy working there tried to twist my antenna off. I didn’t stop him since I figured he knew what he was doing. Well it didn’t come off but it was lose after he twisted it and he just sent me through the car wash anyway. Naturally the antenna came out and water got all inside my rear light and electrical area. I spent the rest of my lunch hour retightening the antenna and drying out the water. While I was doing this some nice people drove by and shouted “love your booty”. Seriously? That was about the oddest ‘random car passing screaming’ compliment I’ve had. Plus if they really loved it so much why didn’t they stop to help?

Anyway, I’m done venting… for now. Thanks for listening and I wish all of you the best of luck with simple things staying simple.

Cat “not positive today but my hitch now is” Cathy