National Coming Out Day

FIVE YEARS.

Reblog with how many years you’ve been out of the closet as either a proud member of the LGBTQ community or as an ally to LGBTQ rights and equality.

Day 30: Well, How 'Bout That? BEDA is over.

Ok, so I failed miserably at blogging every day. But you know what? I'm calling it a personal success because it got me blogging again. I really will try to keep it up now.

Yeah, you've heard that one before.

Important things I want to tell you before BEDA ends:

1. Twice now during this blog post I have typed VEDA instead of BEDA. That in itself should tell you how serious I was about this project. No, but I really did try!

2. The special ed teacher has still not asked me out, although he does still say hi to me when we pass each other. We haven't had much conversation beyond that, but I haven't given up hope yet. Also, I've decided to change his alias to Hottie McGorgeous, because (a.) he is, and (b.) that's how we've christened him on Twitter.

3. THIS PAST WEEKEND WAS MY BIRTHDAY AND I WENT TO NEW YORK CITY. OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMG. It was amazing because (a.) I crashed with Sean and got to hang out with him all weekend, (b.) Sean and I drank screwdrivers at 11 AM on Saturday, (c.) WE MET MARKY and got to spend an entire day with him and his super-fun friends, (d.) I went to Coney Island for the first time and rode the Cyclone, which is the world's most amazingly fun roller coaster (and let me tell you, if your girl moves her body like THAT cyclone, your life is awesome), (e.) Sean's production company premiered its film Dots on Saturday night, and we all got to attend said premiere, (f.) I met Sean's brother Tyler, who is fun and adorable, and proceeded to get plastered in NYC with said brother, and (g.) we took some exciting video footage, which you can see tomorrow on SHVP!

4. My afternoon school as a whole no longer makes me want to commit suicide, but my fifth period class still does. Almost cried today. A football coach had to intervene. I wrote two kids up - my first write-ups!

5. I'm about halfway through Mockingjay, so don't spoil me.

6. My scary-looking (but probably very nice) assistant principal told me that my lesson plans were very good. She probably wouldn't know it if they were bad, though.

Ok, I'm tired. And I'm recovering from a weird sickness I picked up over the weekend. And I need to read some more Mockingjay.

End-of-BEDAtastically yours,
Kaitlyn

P.S. That's three times now that I've typed VEDA instead of BEDA. Fail.

Day 18: At Least I Looked Cute Today

I am sleepy and cranky. I don't like how exhausted I am after school every day.

At least Meet the Robinsons is on tv. Boy, do I love this movie.

Today was a pretty hard day. I actually had a great day at my first school. My other school gave me a lot of grief, though. Those kids are so obnoxious. I don't think it's their fault, really; I feel like teachers have treated them a certain way for so long that they expect everyone to do the same. I tried to plan a really fun fine arts class. It should've been an easy A as long as they participated. But nooooo, they were so offended that I actually wanted them to do stuff. The few who did participate had to complain about everything.

So tomorrow we're going to watch a movie in silence. They're going to watch a movie, while I sit there and silent worry that everyone is going to quit my choir.

"Phineas and Ferb" is now on. I love this show. If you don't love this show, you must be completely unaware of how brilliant and hilarious the music on this show is. I don't remember why I decided to mention "Phineas and Ferb" in this here blog post. That's how tired I am. Either way, I love it.

OK, SO MY COMMENTS APPEAR TO BE WORKING NOW!!! So feel free to leave comments. And if you're really feeling ambitious, you can always go back and leave comments on previous BEDA posts. :-P

K, I'm going now. Let's hope tomorrow is better than today was.

Blaaaaaaahhhhh-ishly yours,
Kaitlyn

Day 17: I Believe I Can Fly

OKAY! I reverted my blog back to one of the default templates, so I'm hoping that will fix the problem with the comments. If you STILL can't comment now, please tweet me again @kaitlynwithakay. Thanks to everyone who did that yesterday.

On the bright side, it's nice to know that people have been trying to leave comments after all. I guess I'm not so uncool after all.

Today was day 2 of teaching, and it was another good but CRAZY day. I'm in love with my 2nd period fine arts class. They're a lot of fun and pretty open to trying all of the crazy games I make them play. My other two fine arts classes are out-of-control crazy and probably don't understand what I'm teaching them, but hey, it's a hell of a lot more fun than math. I'm a little worried about the choir. Our numbers are small due to scheduling problems, and I have several severely untalented singers. But they're there and they're willing, so I'm going to do my damndest to teach them.

In other news, my dad got laid off. He was an award-winning district manager at a pharmaceutical company, so I thought for sure he'd be safe. But for now I'm the only person in this family with a full-time job. He doesn't seem too worried, though. Hopefully he'll find something else soon.

In OTHER other news, I'm about to book a flight!!!! To where, you may ask? You will find out in due time, my readers!

Secretively yours,
Kaitlyn

Day 16: I'm in the Real World Now

Well, I survived my first day as a teacher! I had a really fun day. Most of my students are pretty crazy, but I think I'm going to like this job.

I'm already totally smitten with one of my coworkers. I know, ridiculous. I spotted his beautifulness immediately when I got to my first teacher meeting, but I didn't say anything to him then. I didn't say anything to him the next day either, but before I left he came up to me and introduced himself. He smiled at me, and it was glorious. Then TODAY he made sure to walk past me and say hi during the morning assembly.

So basically, I'm pretty sure we're in love. Not to get ahead of myself or anything.

He's the special ed teacher (so he must be sensitive, right?), so from here on I shall refer to him as Mr. Sped.

Is anyone having trouble commenting on my blog? More than one person has told me so. If you're reading this and you are unable to comment on this post, please tweet me @kaitlynwithakay. Anyone know how to fix this problem?

Now I'm going to finish planning tomorrow's lessons and go to sleep. Tomorrow they're learning the parts of the theater! Woohoo!

Theatrically yours,
Kaitlyn

Day 15: To Insanity and Beyond

Life update: I think I want to go to grad school in publishing.

Why am I telling you this now, on the eve of my first day as a REAL TEACHER?
-it was on my mind
-I haven't blogged in a few days
-writing this blog right now means I don't have to work on my lesson plans and syllabi yet

Besides, I've always known that I don't want to get my masters in music.

I will now tell you the reasons why I want to study publishing.
-I love books more than I love most other things
-I love grammar and correcting other people's grammar
-I'm a pretty good writer
-I feel like being immersed in the world of books would be wonderful

I attempted to procrastinate further by looking up grad programs. A program such as this one at Emerson College would be perfect. I know that grad programs in publishing aren't all over the place, so they're probably pretty hard to get into. We're just talking ideals here.

On a slightly different note, Emerson also has a masters in theatre education that looks pretty fun.

So yeah, I'm going to be a teacher tomorrow. I'm ready mentally, but not so much physically. I don't mean, like, my body - I mean that my syllabi and other important paperwork are not ready. My procrastination knows no bounds. If I hadn't procrastinated I could be out boating on Lake Pontchartrain with the rest of my family, but it's also pretty nice to have the house to myself today. Besides, I had to go to Shreveport yesterday to visit choir camp (which was weird and nostalgic, but it was so great to see everyone)!

I guess I should start working now, but first I'm going to finish reading this article on Inception theories. FASCINATING.

In other news, I have finally found a male celebrity crush in Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Beautiful, beautiful man. I've gotten over Emma Watson after that interesting haircut of hers.

See you on the other side, kids.
Kaitlyn

Day 12: I'm a Success Story (Even When I Fail)

So clearly I am not blogging every day, but at least I'm blogging at all.

I am tired and therefore only have three things to say:

1. I saw Inception. HOLY FUCK. OMG. So crazy. I forgot how to use my brain for at least two hours after watching that. Incredible.

2. I started my first real job! I'm the new choir teacher at two high schools. My first day of training was today. It was alright - lots of meetings, lots of meeting people. I have one very attractive coworker, but I haven't talked to him. Tomorrow will be a lot like today was, and then I start teaching on Monday! Yikes.

3. Tomorrow I'm going to Shreveport once again! It's tradition for alumni to come back and visit during choir camp, so really excited to go there and see everyone. I miss that life so much.

And now I'm going to bed. Woohoo. Sorry for the boringness of this post. Sometimes I am boring.

Boringly yours,
Kaitlyn

Day 9: I'm Officially an Adult

It's day two of being brunette, and I still love it. I love it even more than I did yesterday. I look like a different person, so I feel like a different person, which is a good thing at this juncture of my life! So yes, all is well in the hair department.

Today I went to a meeting with all of the choir teachers in my parish (that's the Louisiana word for county). Actually, I'm technically in a different parish than the rest of them, but as I'm the only choir teacher in my parish they let me come to their parties. Since I grew up doing music in this parish, about half of my colleagues used to be my teachers. It is SO weird having to call your old teachers by their first names. Difficile est.

I just watched Kristina's monday video on fiveawesomegirls, and she mentioned that she wants to visit all 50 states before she dies. I've always had the same desire, so I counted up how many I've visited so far. My current number is 34, which means I'm well on my way. And check out how organized my map looks.


visited 34 states (68%)
Create your own visited map of The United States

I also want to visit all 7 continents, but I've only made it to 3 so far (North America, Europe, Australia).

And now I'm extremely sleepy. Goodnight.

Jet-settingly yours,
Kaitlyn

Day 8: I'm a Whatnette?

Yes, you read that right. My hair is brown. Not only is it brown, but it's DARK brown. Like, DARK BROWN. I love it. Here's a picture.



Granted, I didn't use permanent dye, so it's going to fade. I think I want to make it permanent. Maybe even go darker. But I want to stay brunette for a while. I put my hair in a ponytail and stuck on blue bow headband, and I won't say I looked exactly like Zooey Deschanel, but it was the closest I've ever come!

Last night I ate some sushi, worked on my senior letters to choir underclassmen (yeah, I'm a bit behind on that), hung out with some choir friends while drinking CHOCOLATE WINE (!!!!!), and caught up with an old friend (ok, old crush) over a few amaretto sours. I slept for about three hours and couldn't fall asleep again, so I got up for the early church service. And now I'm back home and extremely sleepy and still a bit nauseous. Can't blog anymore.

By the time I reach this paragraph it is now officially Monday. I start teaching in ONE WEEK. I'm excited, but I am SO not ready. I need more summer!!!

Brunettely yours,
Kaitlyn

Day 7: I Failed Already

You may be wondering what happened to Day 6. Well, Day 6 is stuck in a timewarp of nonexistence. It may never find its way home.

Ok, fine. I didn't do Day 6. I spent most of the day driving to Shreveport and the rest of the day having fun with my friends. Is that really so wrong?

If anyone out there is actually reading this, you may leave punishment suggestions in the comments below.

Well, as I said on Day 5, I am here in Shreveport, where I went to college, for the wedding of my friends Caitlin and Trae. Yes, I have the same name as the bride. It's weird enough watching your friends get married, but it's even weirder to hear the minister say, "Trae, do you take Caitlin..." etc. But it was a really nice wedding. The bride was beautiful, and she started crying before she even hit the aisle.

If I were on my own computer right now I would post pictures. I'll work on that for tomorrow's blog.

Now that I've caught up on fiveawesomegirls and changed out of my uncomfortable sticky bra (which has started to lose its stickness, increasing my discomfort), I suppose I ought to find something fun to do tonight. Most of my college friends are gearing up for choir camp, which makes me feel old and out of place. But it's still nice to see them and party like a college kid.

Oh, and I'm dyeing my hair tomorrow! I still haven't decided on a color. Part of me wants to stay blonde, and part of me wants to go back to red. What I REALLY want to do is go black, but I'm not sure I'm brave enough. We shall see.

Indecisively yours,
Kaitlyn

P.S. I had tons of Indian food for lunch, and then I ate at the reception, and now I'm hungry again. Three cheers for mild hangovers!

Day 5: They're Here, They're Queer, Get Used To It

Well here I am in my friends' apartment, chilling out after helping them move in. The friends in question are Laura and the Kathryn, the sisters of my best friend Benjamin. Kathryn's boyfriend Tyler lives here too. I don't know Tyler too well, but I figure he's pretty cool since he's currently wearing a v-neck t-shirt.

I'm attempting to blog from my amazing Samsung Impression mobile phone because it doesn't look like I'll get home before midnight.

Speaking of my amazing Samsung Impression mobile phone, while driving around today I've been turning down the radio and pulling up "California Dorks" from YouTube on my phone and jamming to it nonstop. I. AM. OBSESSED.

OK. Here's something you should know about me. I'm pretty darn liberal, unlike the rest of my family. So I definitely should not have been listening to Rush Limbaugh's radio show this afternoon. He was firing off some cockamamy bullshit about how supporting gay marriage means you want to rip the U.S. Constitution to shreds. And then some pissant bitchface calls in and says that she thinks America is too far gone to fix, and she supports the secession of the conservative states. She actually said that we should have another civil war. And Rush agreed. I swear I was cussing at the radio a hell of a lot more than when I'm singing along to rap music. I just need to move to England already.

Well, I better stop now since Ben is ready to go home and I'm the one with the car. Tomorrow we're roadtripping to Shreveport!!! I can't wait. But can you believe I'm going to ANOTHER wedding on Saturday? Yep.

Unwedly yours,
Kaitlyn

Day 4: They're unforgettable

Guten morgen, blog readers! Or rather, guten 1 PM (again).

I'm trying to think of a cutesy name for you (potential) blog readers. All I can come up with is "bleaders" or "breaders." Neither of which sound very appealing.

So last night my mom and I watched It's Complicated, that Meryl Streep and Alec Baldwin movie. There I was, just staring at the tv, when suddenly I saw MYSELF. Sort of. The girl who plays the youngest daughter, Gabby, looks like me from the side. It's freaky. The actress' name is Zoe Kazan. Look at her face from the side and tell me that's not me.

In other news, I just made couscous! All by myself! It was delicious. I put blueberries and spinach in it.

Hmmm.....what do you guys want me to talk about? Any ideas? Controversial topics into which you'd like me to delve? Just say the word!

Ooh, book review time!
I finished reading The Year of Secret Assignments yesterday. It was really fun to read. I thought it was really witty and clever, and its structure was fairly original. Occasionally, though, I did get a little annoyed with some of the characters, particularly Emily. She was so petty sometimes, and her misuse of words drove me crazy. Granted, some of her misused words could have been Australian slang I'm not aware of, but I doubt it.
Grade: B

Finally, I just need to make sure that all of my bleaders (yay? nay?) are aware of "California Dorks." It's a wonderful antidote to the worthless drivel that is Katy Perry's "California Gurls." I know I'm a little late to the party, but I finally watched it last night and I'm OBSESSED. And I'm getting my Facebook friends obsessed too. :-P It's worth a watch or twelve.

Dorktastically yours,
Kaitlyn

Day 3: The One With the Weddings

I find blogging daily to be much easier when it is mandatory.

Today I am going to try a different blogging strategy called "Blogging in the Morning," although it is actually nearly 1 PM now. I tend to sleep late during the summer while I still can.

I have a bone to pick with ABC Family, and it is this: Sabrina the Teenage Witch is supposed to be on right now. However, it is not on. Why, ABC Family, WHY??? So I am stuck watching Victorious on Nickelodeon, which is admittedly a pretty cute show. But it is NOT Sabrina.

Well, as it is the "morning," nothing much has happened yet in my day. So I suppose I will have to use today's blog to talk about THE PAST.

This past Saturday I went to not one but TWO weddings. The first was for my college friend Tene and her super adorable fiance Daniel. I got to sing in the wedding with some of our friends from school. She was really beautiful and I nearly cried a few times, which is so unlike me.



The second wedding was my for cousin Salena and her dude Chris. This wedding was very traditional, which is not really my style. But it was a nice wedding and she was also beautiful. And, like, my ENTIRE dad's side of the family was there. We were like sardines at that reception.



And yes, I DID wear two different dresses. Wouldn't you?

Well, my mother wants my brother and me to do all sorts of annoying things like clean and vacuum my car, so I better start pretending like I'm about to do those things. 'Til tomorrow, then!

Victoriously yours,
Kaitlyn

Day 2: A Mind is a Terrible Thing

WHEW. I MADE IT IN TIME. But just barely.
This whole blogging every day thing is going to be difficult.

I'm such a nerd that sometimes instead of saying "this is difficult," I will say "difficile est," which is Latin and also fun to say.

A few hours ago I arrived with my best friend Benjamin at the GRAND CINEMA (which has a GRAND total of, like, eight cinemas) to see Inception, because EVERYONE is talking about it. However, the lovely teenaged employee informed us that our showing of Inception was canceled. No Inception, but would we like to see something else for free?

HELL YEAH WE WOULD.

So we saw Dinner for Schmucks for free. It was incredibly stupid yet bizarrely heartwarming.

Luckily we live literally one minute from the theatre, so I arrived home with FOUR MINUTES TO SPARE. And by SPARE I clearly mean BLOG. And here we are.

Other notable things I did today include going to the DMV for a new driver's license (and finally I have one with an attractive picture!), read some of The Year of Secret Assignments by Jaclyn Moriarty (I'm on page 230), watch the Disney Channel, eat some gnocchi and grilled salmon, and nap away my headache.

On second thought, it appears as though nothing I did today was of much note. Welcome to summer.

I will end today's blog with my favorite quote from Dinner for Schmucks:

"You may say I'm a dreamer.....but I'm not."

Sleepily yours,
Kaitlyn

Day 1: The Party's Just Begun, Cheetah Girls.

WELL, HELLO THERE, POTENTIAL BLOG READER!

Do you exist? We will find out!

This is just a quick message to let you all (two people) know that I plan to participate in the latest incarnation of BEDA.

That's Blog Every Day in August now.

Ergo, I plan to blog EVERY SINGLE DAY in August.

I haven't blogged in FOREVER, as you know, so this could be a difficult endeavor. But that is precisely why I need to do it!

I'm starting my first BIG GIRL JOB in a mere 11 days, so at least I'll have interesting things to tell you. Maybe. I hope.

That's all I have time for today, potential readers! And yes, I did space out these sentences so as to make this blog post appear LONGER THAN IT ACTUALLY IS.

What's up with all this CAPITALIZATION? Who the heck am I, MAUREEN JOHNSON?!

BEDA-tastically yours,
Kaitlyn

In which I whine about boys

Every year around March I start to feel depressed. It's really annoying. I think I do believe in seasonal whatever disorder because I'm pretty sure I have it. I guess it's the fact that I'm an end-of-the-year type of girl (I love fall/winter/CHRISTMAS) coupled with the feeling of impending doom and THE-END-IS-NEAR-ness weighing heavily on my chest. Plus there's the teeny little issue of how completely not over Viktor Krum I am.

I know. I KNOW. It's ridiculous. My acceptable period of sympathy is nearly over. We were together for less than two months. But I can't shake it, guys. Not even a little. And I'm usually pretty good at letting people go. So why am I having so much trouble being heartless right now?

Here's where you're going to start hating me. It's not like I couldn't replace him if I wanted to. In fact, I have not one but TWO members of the male species currently pursuing me. One is a really good friend, and the other is a nice guy who's not an acquaintance but not quite a friend. I went out with both of them last week (not simultaneously, of course), and I had a really good time on both dates. But I haven't spoken to either of them since. They've both been calling (Yes, actually CALLING - not just texting), but I keep sending them to voicemail. I feel like a completely ass. I would be lucky to date either of these awesome guys. But I ignore their calls because I just don't feel like explaining that I really, REALLY can't do this right now so please don't expect anything from me.

This is just my luck, isn't it? I went to this school for 4.5 years without anyone wanting to date me. And now, in my very last semester, it's like everyone wants to. Where were you guys when I wasn't completely emotionally unavailable? And why are none of you Asian? That would help me a lot.

(I have a thing for Asian guys. I don't know why.)

So yeah. Any advice, kids?

In other news, I jogged an entire mile today without stopping!!!! I had never done that before, but I was determined to run a mile before I graduate in May. (Btw, did I mention that I like to run now? I do. I have no idea how this happened.) I'd been having trouble getting past half a mile, so I wasn't sure I was going to make it. But somehow I knew today was the day. I guess that's what happens when you're full of anger and resentment! I had to get it out somehow. Silver linings ftw?

I should be in bed. I'll talk to you all again soon, I hope.

Story Time

HOLY GEEZ. I HAVE NOT BLOGGED IN SO LONG.

My computer cord died, and I only just got a new one earlier this week. So much has happened. Since you guys last heard from me, I began and ended student teaching high school choir, gained and lost a boyfriend (I know, right?!), began student teaching elementary music, consumed four Chipotle burritos, and finally accepted that I love Lady GaGa. Basically, it's been so long that my desktop background image is still Karen Kavett's 12 Days of Nerdfighter Christmas. Yeah.

I can't possibly recap everything you missed, so I'm just going to tell you about one particular day. The most ridiculous day of life. Also known as the day after the boyfriend (whom I have codenamed "Viktor Krum" to protect his identity) broke up.

Now, before I begin, I have to clear something up. I'm alright. Viktor and I are alright. We're actually friends again, for the most part. Sure, I'm not really over the situation, but that will happen with time. So let's not go ex-bashing in the comments, ok? No name-calling. I just had to say this little spiel because I know how loyal some of you are to me, which is amazing, of course. But let's not go crazy.

So yeah. It's the day after the break-up. I hadn't gone to sleep until about 5 AM, and my body decided to wake me up at 8:30. 8:30 AM being a completely unacceptable wake-up time on a Saturday morning, I forced myself to try to sleep some more. No luck. By 10:40 I had to get up.

I decide to allow myself exactly one day to grieve in whatever matter I felt was necessary. So, naturally, I grabbed Costas (the one who stalked Bruce Willis with me) for a picnic lunch of burritos (my new obsession, btw). We talked.

Then I needed some alone time. I was sad, but it was such a pretty day. I decided to go read in the gazebo swing but bring my pillow in case I wanted to nap. Turns out I did want to nap. And when I awoke, I saw three children in fancy clothes looking down at me. Umm, what? The little girl said, "Your hair is really pretty!" I was confused, but I smiled and tried to hide how upset I was. Someone called over to them, and I looked over to see an ENTIRE BRIDAL PARTY. Yes, I was just hanging out in the back of someone's bridal photo shoot, and no one knew I was there. I lay back down because this was MY grief day, damnit! And I wanted to swing. Once I heard a woman ask, "Is she still there? Could she move for a minute?" but no one ever asked me to. So I didn't. And that bride will forever have my invisible presence in the background of her pictures.

Eventually, though, I did have to get up and get ready for my show. It was the night of the final performance of my last Musical Theatre Group show. As if I wasn't emotional enough already, right? My friend Amanda can tell something is wrong with me, so we go outside to talk. At some point I start crying (more as a stress release than because I'm sad), so we go in for a hug. We're hugging, and suddenly I feel something gross on my hand. I take a look and discover that it's bird shit. Yes. A BIRD FLEW OVERHEAD AND SHAT IN MY HAND. WHAT. IS. MY. LIFE?! Of all the times for a bird to poop on me... I hate a bird.

Ok, maybe this day doesn't seem quite as ridiculous when you're just reading about it, but it really was! I promise. Especially when you consider that earlier in week I passed out during a rehearsal and started gushing blood for no apparent reason during "Somebody to Love" on opening night. That is a lot of crazy shit for one week.

I think that's enough for one blog post. I do have quite a bit to tell you all, though, so I'm hoping to be back soon. I've lost interest in tracking my consumption of Yeero Yeero and Pop-Tarts, so I'm not doing that anymore. Any ideas of what I should track now? Let me know!

-K